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C,v'» ,\ v '' She McHuffte Jragress VOL. XXIV. THOMSON, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1923. NUMBER 39. SALE OF COTTON MILL CONFIRMED The sale of the Couch cotton mill at Thomson was confirmed Thursday of this week and transfer of papers made to the Candler interests of At lanta. Speculation is rife as to what will be done with the mill. Those who are in close touch with affairs con cerning the property are of the opin ion that it will not be many days until something is done one way or another. It is quite certain that the property will not be junked, as mill men from South Carolina who looked it over spoke encouragingly of its value and prospects as a paying in vestment. Demand for cotton mill property in the South has picked up consider ably within the past year. Northern interests are looking this way more than ever before, working conditions being one of the main incentives. Other mill properties in the state are getting ready to spend three or four million dollars on improvements and extensions. Mill men here confidently expect to hear something favorable about the Thomson mill within the next few days. WANT TO RETAIN A COUNTY AGENT The Thomson Chamber of Com merce held a called meeting Wednes day afternoon for the purpose of taking steps toward supplying- means of retaining a county agent for Mc Duffie county for another year, Mr. Drexel’s term having expired this month. The all important question was to decide as to whether the Chamber of Commerce would supplement the agent’s salary to an amount that would justify hiring him. A com mittee wa3 appointed to see the busi ness men of Thomson and ascertain whether sufficient subscriptions were forthcoming to do this. Mr. G. W. Lokey, ordinary of Mc Duffie county, was present at the meeting and said the county would pay the same as last year toward the salary of the agent. CATERPILLAR HITS M’DUFFIECOUNTY The army worm, or caterpillar, has hit McDuffie county with a vengeance. Cotton fields that two weeks ago were green and flourishing have been literally stripped of leaves. They seem to have started the early part of last week, and by Sunday the work of devastation was about com plete in many fields. Cotton was advanced to such a stage, however, that damage from the caterpillar will not be so great as it would have been had they started on the leaves before the bolls were matured. As it is, about all the bolls had matured to such extent that they will now open up rapidly since the leaves have been stripped from the stalks. Then, too, the boll weevil will in all probability not do so much damage to the bolls since the leaves have disappeared. Farmers of McDuffie county say the caterpillar visitation is about the best thing that could happen to the cotton at this time, as it hit the crop at the psychological period. There is something very peculiar and interesting about the caterpillar. The rapidity with which they increase and the short time it requires them to eat the leaves off a field of cotton. Matters not how large the field, it appears they get all over it about the same time,and only the cotton leaves are attacked. Where they come from in such large numbers and all at once makes the pest all the more mysterious. It is quite evident that the worms do not crawl from one field to an other, but is more probable they are hatched out on the very stalk of cot ton which they attack. They seem rather “delicate” in size and struc ture but with a morbid appetite for cotton leaves. He is a wonderful worker, and the completeness with which he accomplishes his job is in deed marvelous. WEEKLY DIGEST FROM THE NATION’S CAPITAL NOTED NEGRO LEADER OF AUGUSTA DIED WEDNESDAY Rev. Silas X. Floyd, noted colored preacher and leader of his race, died at his home in Augusta Wednesday. Rev. Floyd was well known in Thomson and McDuffie county, where he was highly esteemed by both his own people and white people. Floyd was a deep thinker and was always working for the betterment of his race. The writer had the pleasure of hearing him preach at a local colored church, and was deeply impressed with his earnestness. No doubt he has done a great deal of good in advising his brothers how to walk the narrow way. They have lost a good friend in Silas Floyd. PARENT-TEACHERS MEET ING NEXT TUESDAY P. M. There will be a meeting of the Parent-Teachers Association at the school auditorium next Tuesday af ternoon at 3 o’clock. It is urged that a full attendance of both parents and teachers be pres ent, as officers for the next term will be elected. A short musical program will be given, after which the subject “The Parent and Teacher,” will be dis cussed. FORD AGENT SETTLES HOTEL BILL HE LEFT CITY OWING Washington, Pa.—In response to a telegram from Henry Ford, L. C. Rutherford, local agent, Sunday paid the bill incurred at a local hotel last week by the Detroit automobile man ufacturer. Rutherford explained that Mr. Ford and his party left in a hurry and forgot to settle with the management. ROAD BUILDING The gravel being used in front of the Palace Drug Store and City Bank came from the farm of Mrs. Lulu Farmer, and was donated by her for that purpose. There is a large bed of this gravel on Mrs. Farmer’s place, just about one mile from town, covering 113 acres, and has been highly recom mended by engineers and road build ers as a covering for highways. It has a high iron content and becomes firm and secure when hardened. This gravel is attrating the attention of road engineers, several having been here only recently with the view of securing the material for road work. Washington, D. C., Sept. 20. FARMERS AND SHIPPING RATES In a recent address Commissioner E. C. Plummer of the United States Shipping Board, replied to the charge thnt grain was being carried on Ship ping Board boats at a loss to the Government. “Of course, we are car rying that grain at a loss,” said Mr. Plummer, “but that loss goes back to the American farmer.” Speaking of the higher rates on grain charged by foreign shipping- companies, Mr. Plummer very forcib ly declared, “Call it by its right name: skinning the American public on shipping rates.” He added: “So long as the Shipping Board controls rates we will continue to help stand the loss and give the benefits to the American farmer.” Commissioner Plummer has taken an advanced stand favoring govern ment operation of American ships, and he says that the government can not only open new lines, but that there is no need for it to be ineffi cient. He has called attention to an article in a recent number of “Fair- play,” England’s maritime voice, which gives full credit to the Ship ping Board for its achievements. The paper says: “The Shipping Board is not only giving the shipper ample service all the year round, instead of for a lim ited number of months, but is sailing its boats on regular dates that the shipper can absolutely depend on. This want of regular sailings has been in existence for many years past, but the European owners have made little effort to supply it.” “The direct financial handicaps which hamper American vessels in our foreign trade are not due to in efficiency either in the deck force on the engine crew,” explained the Com missioner. “They are due to Ameri can standards of living which affect American ships from the time (In u* keels are laid—wages being the larg est item. To overcome these disad vantages government aid is neces sary, and is wholly appropriate. To quote the words of the late Presi dent Harding, ‘If government imposes upon American ships burdens which their competitors are not compelled to bear, then government should bear those burdens.’ ” BOLL WEEVIL MEET DIES AT AGE OF IN NEW ORLEANS vestigation of the Department of Commerce into the volume of invis ible exchange said: • “For 1922 there was due us from foreign countries, from the excess of our exports over our imports of mer chandise, an amount of $754,000,000. However, when we take into account such ‘current invisible’ items as the movement of interest, remittances to emigrants, tourist expenditure, ocean freights, etc., we find that our citizens have sent to or spent in for eign countries a net balance of about $425,000,000 more than we have re ceived on such accounts, and thus the balance due us arising from mer chandise is reduced to about $329,- 000,000. As affecting this sum we have received about $240,000,000 net gold and silver imports and in addi tion have exported capital in the shape of purchases of foreign secu rities, etc., over and above the im ports of capital of the same charac ter to the net amount of about $669,- 000,000 during the year 1922, and were there no previous obligations to be accounted for this would amount to an investment abroad of more than the amounts due us.” CARRIER PIGEONS RELEASED HERE SUNDAY MORNING. One hundred pigeons, shipped here from Charleston, S. C., arriving Sat urday, were released at the Georgia depot Sunday morning at seven o’clock for the race back to Charles ton. They were carrier pigeons, belong ing to members of the Palmetto Club, of Charleston, and no doubt there were wagers up as to which would arrive at the dove-cote first. Several men and boys got up a little earlier than usual for Sunday morning to watch the birds take wing bn their long journey back home. As Mr. Goolsby, express agent, released them, the pigeons at first started south, but pretty soon found they were headed wrong and turned east ward, their inborn instinct telling them in which direction they should go. 100 YEARS OLD, VISITS SON. Mrs. Sarah Elling Johnson, who lives on Gordon street, spent last week visiting her son, Mr. R. L. Johnson, in Lincolnton. Mrs. John son was 100 years old July 18th of this year, and considering her ad vanced years it is considered remark able that she is still able to travel and visit her relatives. She was ac companied to Lincolnton by Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Ansley and children and Mrs. George Arnett. MAN PARDONED AFTER 19 YEARS VISITS THE CAPITOL F. M. Allens, of Coweta county, visited Atlanta for the first time in more than twenty years Monday. He came to thank Governor Walker for pardoning him, after service of 19 years at the state prison farm, on a life sentence for murder. “I don’t know how to get around in Atlanta now, hardly, and I don’t know what to do with myself. I’m so accustomed to being ordered what j to do and what not to do,” Allens said. “I am young enough to start 1 life over, if I can find something to do. I was in the furniture business when I was sent to prison.”—Atlan ta Journal. SELLS SHIPPING BOARD SHIPS. The United States Shipping Board has sold seven combination freight- and-passenger ships, known as the 502 type, to the Dollar Line, of San Francisco. These vessels will be operated in an around-the-world ser vice, starting at San Francisco and touching Japan, China, Philippines, Java, Straits Settlements, Singapore, India, through the Suez, Egypt, Med iterranean ports to New York, thence through the Panama Canal to home. By arrangement with the Board, this service is guaranteed for live years. This will be the first round-the-world servie of this kind that has been in augurated, for while the Dollar Com pany is maintaining freight boats on this service today, there are no other ships now in a continuous service around the world under any flag. The Shipping Board is of the belief that this service will be of a great value to American travelers and mer chants, and it will have the full sup port of the Board in its effort to build up an American marine. of REGISTRATION OF MOTOR V EHICLES. The Bureau of Public Roads the United States Department of Ag riculture says that on duly 1 the total registration of motor cars and trucks amounted to 13,002,427, an increase of 764,052 since the first of the year. In these figures allow ance has been made for registration and non-resident registrations as far as possible. "The rate of increase is the same as that wliich has prevail ed since 1916 during which time reg istrations have increased from 3,- 512,996 to 13,002,427 in a period of six and one-half years. Trucks and commercial cars now number 1,371,058, an inc v ease of 92,- 254 since January 1, and the rate nf increase is greater than that for the total registration of all vehicles. TRADE WITH JAPAN. Trade of the United States with Japan totalled 585 million dollars in the fiscal year 1923 against 149 mil lion dollars in 1913, 65 million in 1903 and 30 million in 1893. That the trade with our neighbor across the Pacific has far outgrown that with other parts of the world is evi denced by the fact that the 1923 trade with Japan is 19 times as much as in 1893, 30 years earlier, while our total foreign trade in 1923 was only 5 times as much as in 1893. Atlanta, Ga., Sept. 20.—Bankers here and in other parts of the state and the South, according to reports reeived in Atlanta, are taking un usual interest in the forthcoming Na tional Boll Weevil Menace Conven tion which is to be held in New Or leans October 16th and 17th. Governor M. B. Wellborn, of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, covering the states of Georgia, Ala bama, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, has urged bankers throughout the sixth federal district to attend the convention. The Atlan ta Bank, it is stated, is vitally in terested in the solving of the boll weevil problem, affecting as it does the largest agricultural territory of the district. It is estimated that the loss to American commerce by the boll wee vil, according to bankers here, is a billion and a half dollars in the last five years. It is well called “the bil- lion-dollar” bug, as they point out. Governor Wellborn, of the Atlanta Federal Bank, and other leading fin anciers, who have discussed the sub ject here, show that the enormous losses caused by the weevil fall upon the shoulders of the farmers, bank ers, transportation, manufacturing and mercantile interests. It is there fore, bankers assert, a problem which seriously affects the financial inter- eses of the South and one which the bankers should assist in solving—if any solution may be found. The New Orleans convention has been called by the Louisiana Bonk ers Association joined by Governor John M. Parker, of Louisiana, and Mayor Andrew J. McShane, of New Orleans, to devise ways and means to combat the losses by the boll wee- /il. It is expected that the convention will be attended by the most repre sentative body of business men ever held in the South. In attendance will be business men in all lines of industry, including manufacturers, bankers, railroad, steamboat - and steamship represntatives, as well a3 those engaged in agriculture. Pointing to the fact that the com ing convention is both “timely and wise,” cotton men show that the South’s great staple since the civil war and prior to the world war, was responsible for the favorable trade balance. They show further that supremacy of the United States as the greatest cotton producer in the world is threatened, and the national prosperity in consequence, due to the menace and ravages of the Mexican boll weevil. EIGHTY-FIVE YRS. Mr. Thomas Raley, a Confederate veteran, died at the age of 85 year* at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Ellen Rabun, on Gordon street, Sat urday afternoon at 12:30 o’clock. While he had been confined to his bed only a few days prior to hi* death, Mr. Raley had been in feeble health for some time, due to his ex treme age. He is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Ellen Rabun, and several grand children. Interment was at Zoar church, in Glascock county, Sunday afternoon, Rev. C. C. Kiser conducting the fun eral ceremony. MR. R. T. ADAMS DIED LAST WEEK Mr. R. T. Adams, of WrightsborO, died at his home last Friday night about 9 o’clock after an illness ex tending over several months of tuber culosis. He came home Sunday from the sanitarium at Alto, where he went with the hope of securing relief from the malady. Doctors there told him there was no hope of a cure, so he returned home with the result that he died the following Friday after his return. He was about 60 years of age. Mr. Adams is survived by his wife and the following children: Guy, Bob and Ellis Adams; Mrs. Joe Reese, Mrs. Earl Norris. Also one brother, Mr. A. G. Adams, and three sisters, Mrs. W. T. Reese, Mrs. Bessie Smith, Mrs. S. F. Dunaway. Interment took place Saturday af ternoon at 5 o’clock at Pine Grove cemetery, funeral services being con ducted by Rev. P. V. Berry. POSTAL SAVINGS. The largest increase since Decem ber, 1920, was recorded in Postal Savings accounts during the month of August over that of July, accord ing to figures received by the Post master General. DOMESTIC BUSINESS. Early figures on business condi tions for August received by the Bu reau of the Census, Department of Commerce, indicate increased produc tion in several lines, such as locomo tives, illuminating glassware, corn grindings, Northern pine lumber, and naval stores. Declines from July are reported in the output of pig iron, in zinc production and in building con struction. Wholesale prices for Au gust compiled by Dun and Bradstreet increased, but the price index of lumber and finished steel declined. Employment in factories showed a very slight decrease. Business failures increased in number over July, but the amount of defaulted liabilities declined. A smaller amount of agricultural loans were made by the War Finance Corporation in Au gust and repayments increased. EDUCATIONAL PICTURES. During the fiscal year ending July 1, 1923, motion pictures of the De partment of the Interior were shown to 2,567 audiences totaling over 693,000 persons in 48 States and Alaska. The Department through the Bureau of Mines has 301 sets of films in circulation, of which 185 sets are distributed by its Pittsburg sta- merchant tion and 166 are loaned to educational centers. During the year 42 sets were shown in 9 foreign countries by Government officials of the highest rank and officials of foreign technical associations. 36.3 per cent; April, 149,100,000 kil owatt-hours, 39.9 per cent; May,150,- 100,000 kilowatt-hours, 41.3 per cent; June, 151,100,000 kilowatt-hours, 38.9 per cent; July, 146,300,000 kilowatt- hours, 36.7 per cent. INVISIBLE EXCHANGE. Secretary of Commerce Hoover in his summary of the results of the in ELECTRIC POWER. The average daily production of electricity by public utility power plants for the month of July was 146.300.000 kilowatt-hours, about 3 per cent less than the average rate for June. Apparently there occurs each year what may be called the “July slump.” No explanation can be advanced at present for this slow- ing-up of the production of electric ity in July. The records for other years indicate that the average out put for August will be greater than the rate for June. The average daily production of electricity for each of the first seven months of 1923 and the proportion produced by water power were as fol lows: January, 153,300,000 kilowatt- hours, 34 per cent; February, 154,- 400.000 kilowatt-hours, 33.9 per cent; A GOOD LEGAL RECORD. During the past two years, 32,211 appeals and legal matters relating to public lands, pensions, retirements, oil and gas leases, Indian allotments, and war minerals relief cases have been passed upon and disposed of by the Solicitor’s Office of the Depart ment of Interior. For the preceed- ing two years 20,797 similar matters were handled showing that an in crease of 54 per cent in the amount of legal work performed by the Solic itor in 1921 and 1922 without any in crease in the numerical force of the office. GOOD LIVE INDIANS. The Indians of the Kiowa agency ONE WEEK MORE SPECIAL OFFER Remember, the special offer of $1.00 for one year’s -subscription to The McDuffie Progress closes Sep tember 30th. After that date it will be $1.50 per year. As stated before, it is the purpose to give the subscribers the benefit of any premiums that might be offered for getting up subscriptions, and wS are leaving it up to the subscriber* to take advantage of this cut rate for the month of September only. This offer applies to both old and new subscribers, and many of both kinds are taking advantage of it. The Progress is gratified at the large number of new subscribers coming in, and for the hearty response of re newals. Cotton Rolling In; Brings Good Price Cotton came in lively this week, several hundred bales coming to the gins and warehouses here. Farmers were very busy picking, taking ad vantage of the pretty weather that has prevailed for the past three or fuor weeks. Prices in Thomson ranged above 29 cents the latter part of the week with good prospects for 30 cent3. TRAFFIC RULES AUTHOR GETS DOSE OF HIS OWN MEDICINE -q Utica, N. Y.—A motorist who said he was Vincent M. Brennan, of De troit, member of congress, and circuit judge-elect, who drafted the Detroit located near Anadarko, Oklahoma, traffic regulations copied in many have established a record in making cities, was arrested on a charge of rapid strides toward civilization. , reckless driving here Saturday night. Out of 1,940 families on this reserva-j He deposited $50 bail for appearancfl tion but 75 are now living in tents 1 in the city court Monday but forfeit- or tepees, according to data collected ed the bail. by the United States Indian Office. CARS—LOTS OF THEM. Despite the fact that loading of revenue freight for the week of Sep tember 1st, amounted to 1,092,567 cars, the greatest number for any week in history, the railroads of the United States had on that date 66,559 surplus freight cars. Brennan was ax-rested after his car had struck and wrecked a boy’s bicycle. TENT MEETING ATTRACTING LARGE CROWDS. The Gospel tent meeting at the corner of Journal and Greenway streets, which has been in progress for the past several days, has been THE ALASKA RAILROAD. largely attended. " <• The revenues of the Alaska Rail- The services are being conducted road for the fiscal year ending June by three women preachers, Mrs. Nina 30, 1923, showed a gain of $200,686. Dean and Mrs. Wright and daughter. Revenues for the fiscal year of 1923 | Many Thomson people are taking a were $758,031. The revenues for. the profound interest in the meeting. It previous fiscal year of 1922 were i was not learned how long the aer- March, 152,500,000 kilowatt-hours, $557,344. vices would be continued.