tUoo&mff Count!) Uetus,
VOL. VII.
McCRORY, ARKANSAS, THURSDAY, JULY 2, 1908.
NO. 33.
NEWS OF
ARKANSAS
Pistol Fight in McGehee Street.
In street light at McGehee Thurs
day night between striking car men
and Italian strikebreakers, John Grain
ger a special agent of the Iron Moun
tain Railroad, was shot in the leg by
p 3 Ferguson, a striker. About 7
o’clock three Italian strikebreakers in
company with Special Agent Grainger,
came from the strikebreakers’ quar
ters which are on the company’s
property, to the town. While they
were passing a crowd of strikers, some
one made a remark which brought
forth remarks from both sides, and
then one of the Italians pulled a re
volver. That was a signal for a gen
eral pulling of revolvers in which both
Grainger and Ferguson took part.
Grainger aimed point blank at Fergu
son and pulled the trigger twice, but
each time the hammer snapped and
while he was snapping his revolver
Ferguson pulled his and began firing.
When the smoke cleared away the
three Italians had escaped unhurt and
Grainger was the only one injured.
First Train to Heber.
The first passenger train over the
Missouri and North Arkansas Rail
road to arrive in Heber reached there,
or almost there, Wednesday at 3:20
p. m.. In charge of Conductor Edgar
Ferrell and Engineer Floons. The
train went as far as the rails are laid,
which is a quarter of a mile east of
town, and went for the purpose of
meeting Messrs. Sauls and Scullen, of
ficials of the road, who were expected
to arrive from the west, but failed to
do so.
Conductor Ferrell said passenger
trains would run into Heber from now
on. The train left Searcy at 11:15,
stopped at Pangburn one hour, and ar
rived at Heber at 3:20. The citizens
of Heber were not expecting the arriv
al of the passenger train, but hundreds
had gathered to see the steel laid as
the construction train neared town.
Three Die of Paralysis.
Three deaths have been reported at
Fayetteville this week from paralysis.
The first was that of Jessie L. Fletch
er, of Middle Fork, who was 82 years
old. He was well known and h:ghly
respected. Another was Mrs. Nancy
Clark, who lived on the Goshen road
and who was a sister of Joe F.rost.,
of Fayetteville. She was 62 years old.
The third death occurred in Madison
county, the deceased being Sam N.
Welton, one of the most prominent
men in that county and a man witn
many friends in Washington county
and Fayetteville.
Tries to Pass Bogus Money.
An attempt was made Monday by a
stranger who stopped in Argenta to ob
tain cash for a five-dollar Tennessee
road warrant made to resemble a five
dollar bill. The stranger premised a
small boy 5 cents if he would take
the "bill” to some business house and
have it changed into silver. The lad
took the paper to Henry Miller’s book
store, but Miller suspected the paper
was not genuine and refused to make
the change, calling Patrolman Charles
Brown. Brown made an effort to find
the stranger, but he could not be found.
Heber Postffioce Robbed.
The postoflice at Heber was broken
into Thursday morning about 3 o'clock,
the safe was blown open with nitro
glycerin and robbed of $1,000 in cash.
No one knew that the robbery had oc
curred until about 6 o'clock that morn
'ug. The night watchman heard the
explosion, but, hearing no further
n°lse, and thinking it was a gun dis
charged, did not make further investi
gation. He saw a man pass hurriedly
along the street about ten minutes af
ter the explosion, but did not notice
anything strange or unusual about his
cbnduct.
A Profitable Crop.
The Irish potato crop is proving to
he one of the most profitable in the
vicinity of Ptescott. A carload sold at
Prescott for $518.16.
Hatches Freak Chicken.
One of the eggs in O. F. Bruder’s
ncubator at Fort Smith produced a
chicken with four well-developed legs
and three wings.
Building Big Planing Mill.
One of the largest planing mills in
> stern Arkansas is being built at
a nview and will soon be complet
* The last car of machinery for the
a>U was placed on the ground Fri
day.
Iron Tank Collapses.
The big iron tank at the Grassy
8 e sawmill near Crawfordsville col
Psed and the mill was shut down
r a w®ck until the tank could be re
constructed.
Pullman on Frfoco Train Goaa Into
Ditch.
A Pullman on train No. 5, known as
the "Cannon Ball,” on the Frisco, left
the track at Cavanal, 20 miles south of
Fort Smith, at 11 o’clock Tuesday
morning. Four persons, all railroad
men, were injured. V/. Moore Monett,
a brakeman, will die. T. R. Griffith,
traveling auditor, of St. Louis, received
sever scalp wounds. R. Scott and Tom
Slaughter of St. Louis were severely
cut about the head.
The Pullman was empty after leav
ing Fort Smith, although every berth
was taken when it left St. Louis.
The train was going at a good rate
of speed when, without apparent rea
son, the Pullman lurched, broke the
coupling and rolled down an embank
ment. After going completely over
the car righted itself. The other pas
sengers on the train were badly shak
en up. Moore and Griffith were pass
ing through the train to the Pullman
when the car lurched. Intense heat
is believed to have warped the rails.
May Be Lynched If Caught.
A telegram was sent all over the
state Tuesday by Sheriff C. M. Phtlpot
of Pine Bluff, offering $250 reward
for Prince Mansfield ,the negro who is
charged with attempting to assault
Mrs. Hugh Harper in that city Monday
afternoon. The negro has thus far
eluded the officers, who spent the en
tire day scouring the woods for miles
around the city. The officers have
bloodhounds and hope to capture
Mansfield soon.
Hugh Harper, husband of the wom
an who was attacked by the negro,
arrived Tuesday afternoon from War
ren and has joined the officers and
citizens’ posse in their chase.
If captured it is believed the negro
will be lynched. He is reported to
have been seen in the woods west of
Pine Bluff at 1 o’clock Tuesday after
noon and the officers are hot on his
trail.
Of the $250 reward, $200 is offered
by the state and $50 by Sheriff! Phil
pot.
Henry Brashears Killed in Bed.
Henry Brashears, a well-to-do farm
er, 45 years of age, was found dead in
bed at his home a few miles southeast
of Corning early Sunday morning with
a buckshot in his head, having been
shot sometime during Saturday night.
Suspicious circumstances caused the
arrest of his son, Jeff, after which he
is said to have confessed his guilt to
the officer who had him in custody. He
alleged cruel treatment of his mother
by his father as the cause of the
deed, his parents having been separat
ed for some time.
The young man escaped for the time
being, but by the aid of bloodhounds
he was located at his mother’s home
at Hornersville, and was taken to
Paragould and placed in jail to await
the action of the Grand Jury, the kill
ing having been done just over the
line in green county.
Monticello Boosters Promote Inter
urban.
The Boosters’ Club of Monticello
and Drew county has under considera
tion and is preparing to promote an
interurban railroad between Monticello
and Fine Bluff, which shall run along
the middle of the fruit belt, extend
ing from a point several miles south
of Monticello for a distance of about
35 or 40 miles north toward Pine
Eluff. The fruit belt is one of the
most prolific undeveloped stretches in
the state and produces peaches, straw
berries, watermelons and other fruits
of the finest quality and unexcelled
flavor.
Run Down By Automobile.
An automobile ran over and seri
ously injured Mrs. J. T. Tudor and
two little children at Lonoke. Mrs.
Tudor and children were riding in a
buggy when the machine crashed into
the rig, spilling the occupants out on
the road and mashing the buggy tnto
small pieces. Both Mrs. Tudor and
two children sustained severe inju
ries.
Negro Gets 21 Years.
Wade Burton, who killed Judge Al
len, the aged janitor of St. James’
Episcopal church at Texarkana, about
a month ago by beating him on the
head with a loaded whip handle, was
convicted in the Circuit Court Tuesday
and given a sentence of 21 years in the
penitentiary. Both the slayer and his
victim were negroes.
History of Skeleton’s Owners.
Several stories have been advanced
as to the identity of the men whose
skeletons were found at Fayetteville
by the workmen digging ditches for
the sewers on College avenue, some
saying that they were killed by “bush
whackers” during the Civil War. The
true story, however, is probably that
told by Alph L. Williams, who got
the story from his mother. According
to this information the n»n were bu
ried in 1841, and all died of natural
causes.
UNCLE DICK'S #
"WONDERFUL
}* &
JIMMY BRODERICK'S Uncle Dick
was not only a great Inventor,
but one of the kindest men that
ever lived.
Although he earned his living by In
venting useful things like automatic
plows that would plow a whole field in
the night time while the farmer lay in
bed asleep, and automatic fish poles
that would bait their own hooks and
throw out their own lines and pull in
their own fish and take them off and
bait the hooks over again, still Uncle
Dick was ready at a minute’s notice to
drop all that sort of thing and invent
something to give a boy pleasure.
Jimmy Broderick knew this and he
took great care of Uncle Dick, carrying
an umbrella for him when it rained and
watching to see that he ate his meals
regularly, for like all great inventors,
Uncle Dick could not take care of him
self very well.
“What would you like for the Fourth
of July, Jimmy?” asked Uncle Dick
about a week before that important
day.
“I would like most of all to have a
great big sky rocket,” said Jimmy.
"You shall have one,” said his uncle,
and immediately went into his inven
tory shop, which is the funny name
that he gave to the little room where
he invented things.
The telephone bell rang a good deal
that day. On the very next morning a
big truck arrived from the city with
two big casks on it. They were painted
red and marked “Danger! Powder!” in
big letters. There were also huge rolls
of thick pasteboard, each sheet big
enough to make the whole side of a
house, and there were so many of
them that the horses could hardly pull
them.
ijuuie ruuueu uia imuuu auu
chuckled like anything when he saw
the material.
"You shall certainly have a sky
rocket,” said he to Jimmy. "And the
best of it is that the greater part of
the country for hundreds of miles
around will have one, too.”
Jimmy was very curious and still
more puzzled, but he knew that Uncle
Dick did not like to explain his inven
tions beforehand, so he asked no ques
tions, but merely kept his eyes open
and did not go out, of sight of the in
ventory shop all morning.
Before noon a great gang of men ar
rived, and under Uncle Dick’s orders
they began to carry all the material to
the pasture, where they deposited It
around a huge old dead pine tree that
stood smooth and straight reaching
into the air fully 80 feet without a
branch to break it except on the very
top, and that was soon gone, too, for
Uncle Dick sent men up there and
they lopped it off so that then the
tree stood sleek and smooth like a
mast.
Then the sheets of pasteboard were
laid on the ground and rolled into a
great cylinder 30 feet long and at least
ten feet in diameter.
As soon as a sheet was rolled into
shape the men tied it tightly with
yards on yards of rope and then an
other sheet was rolled around the first
and more rope tied around that and
so on until all the pasteboard had been
used up. and that was such a lot that
It took the men all day with the hardest
kind of work.
The next day they opened the casks
of powder and began to load it ia and
In, hour after hour, until the last grain
was pounded in good and hard, and
Jimmy’s Uncle Dick said:
"So! There’s 800 pounds of powder
in there. That ought to make her fly.”
"But how about the stick?” thought
Jimmy. He did not say it, knowing
how easy it is to spoil an inventor’s
ideas by interrupting him with friv
olous conversation.
He was to learn very soon how about
the stick, for as soon as the mighty
cylinder was all finished. Uncle Dick
had a derrick rigged, and up went the
big thing until it dangled alongside of
the dead pine tree near the dizzy top
of it.
Then mighty cables were sent up
and the men lashed the loaded paste
board cylinder to the tree until it was
completely hidden by ropes.
"Now for the fuse,” said Uncle Dick.
He set the men to work untwisting
ropes until they had more than 300
feet all unraveled. Uncle Dick went
up the derrick and put the end of the
unraveled rope into the bottom part of
the rocket. Then he poured kerosene
oil all over it and rubbed gunpowder
into it.
That afternoon Uncle Dick sent out
invitations both by mail and by mes
senger to places as far away as 200
miles, saying:
"Jimmy Broderick respectfully in
vites you to his Uncle Dick’s farm to
■ee him set off the biggest skyrocket
in the world on the evening of tbe
Fourth of July.”
Uncle Dick also sent word to the
papers abeut it, and on the evening of
the Fourth more than 10,000 people
were at the farm, wondering at the im
mense skyrocket and trembling all
over at the thought of the explosion
when she went off. And all over the
land people who could not go to the
farm were watching the heavens and
paying very little attention to the oth
er fireworks of the United States, be
cause the papers had told all about the
rocket and had explained that it could
be seen hundreds of miles when it
went up.
When the time came. Uncle Dick
gave Jimmy a big piece of lighted punk
and then he stood in front of the tree
and said:
‘‘Ladies and Gentlemen: You will
notice that this tree is inclined toward
the north. My calculations tell me
that when the rocket is lit it will pull
the tree clear out of the ground and
go north for at least 1,000 miles, which
will bring it over uninhabited country,
where it will fall without hurting any
body, unless a bear or a moose should
get in the way. Now, Jimmy, touch
her off!”
Jimmy touched the end of the fuse
and then everybody ran away to a safe
distance. The fire climbed swiftly, and
suddenly with a bang that shook the
hills and broke the windows even in
towns 100 miles away, the giant rocket
went off.
Out came the tree, roots and all, and
sailed grandly into the sky with a hiss
ing trail of fire behind it. The amazed
I TT7 I
“Ten Thousand People Were There."
spectators watched it for more than
half an hour, getting smeller and
smaller, till it disappeared in the
northern sky.
For days after that the pnper printed
reports from distant places from peo
pie who had seen a wonderful fiery
thing in the night. By means of these
reports, it was possible for Uncle Dick
to pursue the course of his wonderful
rocket until he found that it had gone
far over Canada; but he could not
learn where it had fallen and he did
not learn until recently.
But about a week ago a hunter who
had been in the very far north of Can
ada, near Hudson bay, shooting musk
ixen, visited Uncle Dick. He told a lot
of interesting hunting adventures, and
finally said;
“The Queerest thing that I saw was
far up in the barren lands where there
are no trees. One day I saw something
odd some distance away, and I went
there on my snow shoes.
“What do you suppose I found? A
mighty tree! That was queer enough
up there. But queerer still was the fact
that this tree did not. stand in the
ground as other trees do, but stood
roots up with its crown buried deeply
in the soil. It was the most marvelous
sight I have even seen, and I can hard
ly believe it yet. I would give a good
deal to know what caused this strange
freak of nature.”
Uncle Dick chuckled and winked at
Jimmy.
“Did you ever hear of Jimmy’s won
derful skyrocket?” he aske'd.
“No, never,” said the hunter. “You
know I have been in the wilderness a
long time.”
So Uncle Dick told him. After he
got through the hunter said: “I am
glad to know this. I intended to write
a book about it, but now I shall be
able to save myself the trouble."
Arkansas Seventh In Cotton States.
According to the bulletin on cotton
production, received at the Board of
Trade, from the Bureau of the Census,
the total cotton crop of the United
States for 1907, on a basis of 500
pound bales, was 11,375,461 against
13,595,498 in 1906, and 10,804,556 in
1906. In this production Arkansas
was represented by 770,214 bales. This
included running bales, counting round
as half bales, and including linters.
Arkansas ranked seventh in the cottoD
producing states.
The figures for the United States, as
finally revised for the crop of 1907,
including linters and counting round
as half bales, show a total of 11,325,
882 bales, as compared with 13,395,256
bales for 1906. The 1907 crop is 2,
220,037 bales, or 16.3 per cent less
than 1906, and 570,905 more, or 5 per
cent, greater than the crop of 1905.
Of the total production in 1907, the
territory west of the Mississippi river
contributed 4,769,609 bales, or 42 per
cent. The condition in 1906 was the
reverse, as 53.2 per cent of the crop
was grown west of the Mississippi
and 46.8 per cent east of it. In 1905,
however, the proportions were about
the same as 1907.
Texas, which has held first rank
among the states in the cotton pro
duction since 1899, showed the great
est decrease in production, reporting
a falling off of 14.9 per cent, as com
pared with 1906, and producing only
20.8 per cent of the total for the coun
try, as compared with 31.5 per cent
in 1906.
Next to Texas the states showing
the greatest losses are Louisiana and
Arkansas. Arkansas’ loss was about
one-fifth.
The boll weevil appeared last sea
son in more or less destructive num
bers over considerable areas in Texas,
Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma
apd in several counties in Mississippi.
“Especially noteworthy in this con
nection,” says the bulletin, “are the
results of the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture, proving that
through a more careful selection of
planting seed and better methods of
cultivation, the ravages of the insect
can be controlled until the bottom
and middle portions of the maturing
plants are out of danger. The cot
ton plant can be bred so as to throw
nearly all of its life and force into
the lower and middle portions of the
plant and the maturity of the crop
can be hastened by the use of com
mercial fertilizers and methods of cul
tivation so as to develop a large per
centage of the bolls before the wee
vils have multiplied so as to damage
the crop materially.”
i ne iouowxng xuuie suuws me iuiai
number of bales ginned, counting
round as half bales, in Arkansas dur
ing 1907, according to counties:
Arkansas county 5,269 bales, Ash
ley 22,328, Baxter 3,029, Boone 393,
Bradley 4,337, Calhoun 4,568, Chicot
25.240, Clark 8,757, Clay 9,688, Cle
burne 3,011, Cleveland 6.368, Colum
bia 17.243, Crittenden 27.545, Conway
14.403. Craighead 7,767, Crawford 14,
738, Cross 8,245, Dallas 3,897, Desha
12,014, Drew 14,595, Faulkner 13,289.
Franklin 11,639, Fulton, 2,494. Garland
1,675. Grant, 2,439, Greene 6,416. Hemp
stead 16,038, Hot Spring 4,443, How
ard 9.255. Independence 7,730, Izard
3.512, Jackson 17.395, Jefferson 35,203,
Johnson 9,207, Lafayette 8,284. Law
rence 12.908. Lee 21,411, Lincoln 15,
301, Little River 10.602, Ixrgan 16,900.
Lonoke 27,540, Marion 1,551, Miller
5,993. Mississippi 28.057, Monroe 15,
121, Montgomery 3,655, Nevada 10.895,
Newton 351, Ouachita 8,482. Perry
3,582. Phillips 25,219, Pike 4.411, Poin
sett 3,359, Polk 2,547, Pope 13,939.
Prairie 7.757, Pulaski 15.5S0, Randolph
6.051, St. Francis 22,564, Saline 3,722,
Scott 4,969, Searcy 1,376, Sebastian
9,364, Sevier 7,318, Sharp 2,706, Stone
1.175, Fnion 10.137, Van Buren 4.286,
White 13,292, Woodruff 23.663. Yell,
17,723.
This gives a total of 751,951 bales
of cotton, exclusive of linters, ginn.^
in Arkansas during 1907.
Sixty-eight cars of strawberries were
shipped this season from Judsonia.
About 15 cars of Irish potatoes have
been shipped and at least eight or ten
more cars will be shipped during the
next 10 days. Several cars of toma
toes and blackberries were shipped
last week.
The peach crop is very good, but a
small part of the crop will be shipped,
as most of the growers will can their
peaches.
13-Year Old Boy Is Sent to Peniten
tiary.
In the Miller County Circuit. Court
Monday Earl Young, a 13-year-old
white boy, pleaded guilty to a charge
of burglary. He will be sent to the
Arkansas penitentiary, from which it
is thought he will be transferred to the
Reform School by the state authori
ties. The boy’s father, who lives at
Shreveport, informed the authorities
some time ago that the boy was abso
lutely incorrigible and that he had
given up all hope of reclaiming him.
On history’s crimson
pages, high up on the
roll of fame,
The story of Old Glory
burns, in deathless
words of flame.
It is the old red, white
and blue, proud em
blem of the free,
It is the flag that floats
above our land of lib
erty.
—Benjamin-Sutton.
The “Star-Spangled Banner” Is gen
erally taken for granted. One seldom
hears Its why and where
fore called in question.
With its every display in
city and hamlet, on tur
ret and hall, comes a lit
tle discussion as to its
history and development.
It transpires that the
American flag is, like the
human species, a thing
of evolution. This is so,
indeed, with the insignia
of most countries, not
ably of England, whose
flag began with old King
Egbert’s dragon upon
which was incorporated
the three Norman lions
of William the Conqueror.
M pired to the crown of
France he added the
'Bn? fleur-de-lis. James I. dis
VI pensed with both and
& ' adopted St. George’s
^ cross and finally in 1801
B the “Lion and the Uni
^ corn” began their long
fight for the crown,
which has since contin
ued on canvas, in every
latitude of the world.
The colonies, of course,
lived under the British flag. In 1680
the flag of New England was white,
charged with St. George’s cross in red
surmounted with the crown. In the
center was inscribed Jacobus Rex.
While Manhattan was in possession of
the Dutch the ships waved a flag on
which was a beaver, the then insignia
of the New Netherlands. 1707 the
colonies adopted the Union Jack of
Great Britain. This was formed by a
combination of St. Andrew's and St.
George’s crosses, and of course was
typical of the fact that the two coun
tries had become one when Queen
Elizabeth died and the Scottish kl .g
succeeded to the English throne.
At the time of our revolt from Brit
ish authority the Union Jack was in
general use, usually bearing some
patriotic motto of which “Liberty and
Union” was the favorite. Directly aft
er the battle of Lexington a new flag
was improvised with the motto of the
state of Connecticut, viz., “Qui trans
tulit sustinet.” This soon gave way
to regimental colors, each being dis
tinctive in shade. At Bunker Hill a
blue flag tvas chosen to designate New
England troops—the first sign we see
of union in the colonial army. This
flag had St. George’s cross in one
corner. It was growing beautifully
less within our limits and soon after
I wards disappeared when Gen. Put
nam displayed a red banner on Pros
pect hill with the motto “An Appeal
I to Heaven.” The colony of Massa
chusetts sent out cruisers in the
spring, supplying each with a white
flag on which was painted a green
pine tree. When armed vessels were
i commissioned in Washington they
were furnished with flags of similar
| kind.
To Col. William Moultrie of South
: Carolina is due the honor of raising
; the first republican flag. It had a
white crescent on a blue ground. This
was unfurled on the east bastion of
the fortress in Charleston harbor.
June 14,1777, the Continental con
! gress, realizing the inappropriateness
of longet using British colors, resolved
i “that the flag of the 13 United States
be 13 stripes, alternate red and white;
that the union be 13 stars, white in a
blue field, representing a new con
stellation.”
The 13 stars of the flag of 17t7
were arranged in a circle, although
there was no officially prescribed
form. In 1794, after the admission
of Vermont and Kentucky into the
union, it was resolved by congress
that from and after May 1, 1795, “the
flag of the United States be 15 stripes
alternate red and white, that the union
be 15 stars, white, in a blue field.”
No provision was made by this act
for future alterations, nor were any
changes made till 1818, although a
number of new states were admitted
meanwhile into the union. On April
4 of that year a bill embodying the
suggestions of Capt. Samuel G. Reid,
who recommended the reduction of
the stripes to the original 13 and the
adoption of stars equal to the number
of the states, formed into one large
star, and a new star to be added on
the Fourth of July next succeeding the
admission of each new state, was ap
proved by President Monroe, and the
flag thus established was afterward
hoisted on the hall of representatives.