Aeroplane's Limitations

as Seen by an Expert

[Orville Wright]

    

      In the opinion of one of the most celebrated air-sailors of the present day, the aeroplane, which he regards as the most practicable vehicle used for flights through the air,will never do much of a passenger business. And if this is true of the aeroplane as a common carrier, how much more true must it be when taken in connection with these military "invasions" about which so much has been written? Anyhow, this is what Orville Wright said just before he sailed for Europe this week to join his brother, Wilbur: 

     "I believe our machine is he best means of navigating the air. The aeroplane will fly faster, is cheaper to run and easier to handle than any other machine. The airship will have its uses, but will never be as practicable as the aeroplane.

[Soldiers at Fort Myer pull the 1909 Wright Military Flyer out of its temporary hangar.
Taken from Wright Brothers Aeroplane Compay website:
http://www.wright-brothers.org/Information_Desk/Just_the_Facts/Airplanes/Military_Flyer.htm ]

     "I do not think that air machines will ever take the place of trains and boats as passenger carriers. Our present machines, of course, are not built to carry more than four or five persons, but when the demand comes we will build machines that will carry a great many more. I would not begin to predict what the passenger limit of the aeroplane will be, but I believe it will eventually be used in special passenger service, to transport a small number of passengers from point to point."

     The English—even more so than the French—have been expressing alarm over the prospect of an aerial invasion by "the enemy." According to one estimate that has served to excite the London fire-eaters, an invading army of 100,000 men could be borne across the channel during the night. It sounds terribly practical to the layman, in view of the successes made by the Wrights; but Orville Wright now wakes the dreamers up rather rudely. Practicable as the aeroplane is, its use is apparently very limited. And this authoritative view is matched by the opinion offered by a foreign scientist, who shows that even if it were possible for all the aeroplanes that would be required to carry 100,000, an army of invasion, to make a massed attack, which, he argues, it is not, the still greater difficulty would remain of directing the movements of the aeroplanes safely and smoothly.

     These views are not merely conservative; they are eminently sensible.

[Raleigh Times (Raleigh, NC) 13 Jan 1909

THE POUGHKEEPSIE MYSTERY.

SINGULAR LETTERS FOUND UPON THE MAN ARRESTED IN HUDSON ON SATURDAY.

            Poughkeepsie, Dec. 19.—On Saturday Officer Thomas P. Bryant, of Hudson, came to this city and informed the Police here that, at 3 o’clock in the morning, he had arrested a well-dressed man in Hudson, who was suspiciously loitering about a store on Warren Street. On him were found letters which seem to indicate that a serious crime had been committed at Greenville, Pitt County, N. C. When arrested he gave his name as “John Y. Johnson, of Washington, D. C.,” but afterward said the last place he came from was Poughkeepsie, where he had been a student in a college. One letter found on him was addressed to “H. E. Nelson, Poughkeepsie,” and dated “Greenville, Saturday, Oct. 30,” and signed “Your devoted wife, Lizzie Nelson.” Besides other matters of a private nature are these sentences:

            “I do not know what to write you. In your first letter you expect me to believe you are coming home. You know that I know you can never, no, never, come home again. If you had given me more warning when you left, if you had intimated anything was wrong, if you had let me know it was an everlasting farewell, it would not have been so hard. *** You know I expected to go to the convention, and of course went to work to get ready. If you had only warned me. *** Let me hear from you. Do not run any risk to do so. I am afraid to send this. This may be the last you will ever get from me.”

            Another letter found on him was dated Poughkeepsie, Nov. 23, but not signed. It was addressed to no one, and seems not to have been enveloped. Among other things in it are the following:

            “I have only been a drawback to you ever since I was married to you. It is hard, so hard, to part with you. While I may have treated you wrong in a great man instances, your happiness was my only thought. But it is all over now. I have nothing more to look forward to. Our little boy is too young to know anything. My only hope is to see you and the baby once more and kiss you both and lay down and die beside my little girl. When you have received this I shall have solve the great mystery. I shall, the good God willing, be with my little girl and my mother in that better world. I shall have learned whether the good God is lenient or kind with such a wre3tched man as I am. I shall be before God to receive the reward; I am not afraid to go; not afraid to meet my darling little girl. And Oh, my darling, we will plead so much for your happiness. You must look as everything happening for the best. I would have only been a burden to you. You have no further risk to run in writing to me. This is the last letter a human being will receive from my hands, and this requires no answer, for in a few hours, if the Bible is true, I shall know what the future is. My last words and blessing, and a prayer to good God to watch over you that you may know no want or suffering. Kiss our little boy good-bye for me, and for God’s sake, for the love you have for me, don’t let him forget me. If I could take you in my arms and kiss you both, but to die so far away from home is hard. May God forever bless and keep you, and may we meet in that other world where all is brightness and joy and peace, is the last prayer and last words of your miserable husband.”

            The above, it will be seen, was penned a month ago. There was also found on the man a diary, in which was written the following:

            “Left Poughkeepsie on my tramp Dec. 14; roads full of ice and snow, and I walked 13 miles with nothing to eat. I passed through Pleasant Valley and Washington Hollow, and slept in a barn with a farm Laborer.

            “Dec. 15—Started at 8 A.M. and passed through Clinton Corners, where I bought 10 cents’ worth of crackers and cheese, and staid all night with a Mr. Case, at Case’s Corners, where I was well treated.

“Dec. 16—Started again at 8 A.M., and Dr. Herrick gave me a ride for a mile. Then I walked and passed through Rock City, Upper Red Hook, Clermont, and Blue Stones. Staid all night at this latter place, at a farm-house.”

            The diary contains no record of what he did on the 17^th. When he was arrested he said he was looking for work. He said that the letters found on him were given to him in Savannah, Ga., by a man named Nelson to send to Greenville, but he had neglected it. While a student in Poughkeepsie he boarded in Crandell Street, and went away owing considerable board, and also took a student’s overcoat, which the Hudson Police have recovered. When he first came here he seemed to have plenty of money, and paid his tuition fee in advance and paid some board in advance. He also spent money freely among companions. Ion his diary also wee names of females known to the Police as disreputable. It also contained numbers of disreputable houses and sporting houses in New York City. One letter found on him was, apparently, from his sister, and in it she thanks him for a large sum of money sent her to complete her education at some college. The entire case is yet shrouded in mystery, though the Hudson police are of the opinion that the prisoner has committed a serious crime. Letters describing the case have been seen to Greenville, Pitt County, N. C.

[The New York Times, Published December 20, 1880]

MYSTERY SOLVED.

____________

IN WAKE JAIL

___________

Henry E. Nelson, the Defaulting Postmaster at Greenville, in Limbo Here—His Crime and its Consequences

____________

            As was mentioned in this paper yesterday, Col. T. B. Long, superintendent of the United States mail service for this district, on Sunday brought H. E. Nelson, the defaulting postmaster at Greenville, N.C., to this city from New York, and placed him in the care and keeping of Sheriff Nowell. We had an interview with Nelson in his cell, and he was quite outspoken. Entering the jail, we gained access to the upper floor through a tiny doorway, and thence to a cell at the northwest angle of the building. In this lies the prisoner, in company with two other culprits.

            There was a clank and a clash of bolts and bars and the double doors swung open. Entering the cell, the first thing observable in the uncertain light was the figure of a man standing with pipe in mouth at a window slit. This proved to be the prisoner Nelson, about whom so much has been said. He is a man 36 years of age, and looks all of it. Rather squat in figure, he has a tolerably heavy beard, and is poorly clad. His manner impresses one by its uncertainty, for while at times he looks at one squarely, at others there is a sinister shifting of the glance, coupled with a dogged look.

            The man speaks in a mater-of-fact way of his crime and its consequences, acknowledging his faults, reproaching himself bitterly for his cowardice and expressing a willingness to accept the consequences, how hard so ever they may be. His statement of the facts of his life and the crime is as follows:

            … He was appointed postmaster at Greenville, Pitt county, in February of the present year. He held the office until August, when he was horrified, he says, to find that he was behind in his accounts. He was too great a coward to go and face the sureties on his $10,000 bond and tell them of his deficiency. His only idea was to get away, and, as he declares, get into some employment in which he could make enough money to set his accounts square by reimbursing his sureties. He went to New York, therefore, in the latter part of August, and in a day or two went thence to Poughkeepsie, on the Hudson, where, under the name of J. Y. Johnson, he entered as a pupil of the great business college there. He had in earlier life studied bookkeeping, and his desire was to perfect himself. He only remained at the school about nine weeks, and then concluded to come home. He had gotten as far as New York City, when his pocket was picked of all his money, which was but little, he declares. He managed to get back to Poughkeepsie in a few days. He knocked about there for a space, finding no employment, until finally he met a man who informed him that work was probably to be had at Hudson, a town forty miles away.

            To this town of Hudson Nelson then tramped, arriving there about two weeks ago. He reached the place late at night and started out to walk the streets until morning. About 3 o’clock in the morning a policeman arrested him and took him to the station house. There the officer charged him with being with a couple of men who were engaged in an attempt to enter and rob a jewelry store. These two men had been watched by the policeman and had finally run off. Nelson declares that he neither knew nor saw the two men, but was merely walking along the street. The authorities searched him, and on his person were found [the letters presented above.]        … Col. Thos. B. Long at once went to Hudson after him. He … was brought to this city. Nelson … refused an offer of bail which was made.

            The prisoner throughout the interview reproached himself bitterly for “not being man enough to face his sureties.”  He declared that in all the months he was absent life was a terror and a curse to him. He was glad to be back in North Carolina, though he lay in jail, for he had had more peace of mind since Col. Long got hold of him. “Life had been a perfect hell,” said he, and remorse and shame struggled for the mastery. He declared that he would not give bail unless he became seriously sick.

            In regard to the shortage of his accounts as postmaster, he was rather reticent, saying that in his hurried examination in August last, when he first discovered it, he estimated it at about $600. Col. Long estimated it at $1,800, and that amount his sureties were called on to pay. Both the post office and money order accounts were involved.

            Nelson says he wrote his wife only once while away, signing his own name to the letter. This he did while at Poughkeepsie as J. Y. Johnson. She had written him once using his own name. He did not tell her of the deficiency in his accounts before he left home, but the investigation by Col. Long in August showed her the facts in the case.

[News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) 31 Dec 1880]

     General Jeremiah Slade was born in 1775 in Martin County, NC. He served in the state House of Commons from 1797 to 1800 and as a state senator from 1809 to 1815. He was a Brigadier General in the War of 1812. He commanded the Fifth Brigade of the Seventh NC Division of Militia which included recruits from Martin, Edgecombe, Halifax and Northampton Counties. Slade died in 1824.
    Beginning on June 27th, 1819, Gen. Slade traveled from Martin County, NC to Nashville, TN. His daily diary of the trip seems to present a curmudgeon who found fault with many things along the way. We will not go all the way with him, but will follow him until he reaches the University in Chapel Hill.

27th.

 Dined at John Griffin's, stopped at Wilson Sherrod's, fed and rested my horse, bill 25cs., and arrived at Tarboro [Edgecombe County] that evening.

28th. 

After arranging some private business and visiting my friends with whom I had some agreeable conversation on the subject of my journey, set out about 10 o'clock, bill Mrs. Gregory $1.50, McWilliam $1.20. By 121/2 arrived at Mr. W. Parker's to dinner, spent about 2 hours in very agreeable conversation with him and his amiable lady; bill 50cs. Set out at 3 o'clock, stopped at Daniels a few minutes to have my horse watered and get some grog, went on, met very unexpectedly an old acquaintance, Mr, James Blount, from Georgia. After usual ceremonies went on and arrived at sundown at the well known stand in Nash County, Mr. J. T's, where I put up the night. Went to bed supperless. Saw there all the features of uncivilized life and that Mr. T 's daughters though unmarried all had separate names, as Polly H , Ann B &c. 

29th.

Set off from T 's before sunrise. Bill 50cs. Memo. a lame man with a blind horse staid last night at T's who had been eight days traveling from Raleigh there, only thirty-five miles. Arrived at Major Alford's to Breakfast, where I met with every attention, and treated very hospitably. Bill 50cs. Arrived at Raleigh [Wake County] at 12 o'clock, at Col. Cooke's. After dinner having dressed strolled out to stroll up and down the principal streets without appearing to notice one of the puffed little great men of the city, being resolved to observe as little ceremony towards them as they are usually in the habit of showing to all strangers, and after visiting my cousins at Mrs. Pullum's, conversing with them for a while, I returned to my lodgings. In course of the day had occasion to call on the deputy clerk of the Federal court on business, was ushered into his office with all the hauteur of a French exciseman, and treated with every mark of supercilious pride and haughty arrogance and finally dismissed with contempt. After supper I retired  to my room where I was visited by J. B. Slade, my relation, who staid with me all night & we pass the time much more agreeable than I had done during the day. 

30th. 

Left Raleigh at Sunrise, Bill $2.00 with a perfect confirmation of former opinion "that the citizens are a perfeet set of blood suckers who prey upon the vitals of the State and wallow in luxuriant indolence." Arrive at Jones' to brkft, ; bill (60cs. Arrived at Chapell that evening in a severe shower of Rain ( which tho' not so agreeable to my situation was most acceptable to visitors to that part of the country, as it was and had been for some time so dry as to endanger the crops of corn in all the upper country. Wheat crops uncommonly good, price 25cs per bus. & and little or no demand for it at that or even any price). At Mrs. Mitchell's Hotel was met and greeted as soon as arrived by cousin Jeremiah and Thomas B. Slade, dined, after the shower was over went with Cousin Thomas to Mr. Mooring's Hotel, was introduced to several collegiates of respectability & to Mr. Mark Henderson, attorney at law, whom I found particularly agreeable, polite and attentive, & as we returned to Mr. Mitchell's invited us to his father's, Pleasant Henderson's Esqr. to sup & spend the evening, which we accepted, (Cousin Thomas from an inclination to be with the young ladies of the family & I for the gratification of an acquaintance of so respectable a family). On entering the house I was introduced by Cousin Thomas to a Miss Kittrell & to Miss Eliza Henderson, only daughter of Mr. P. H., who, take her all in all (tho' not a Venus di Medici in form & feature) is as pretty, agreeable, and desirable as is rarely to be met with. She was easy in her manners, gracefull in her actions & movements, condescending and affable in conversation, still modest and unassuming. We spent the evening till late bed-time in very agreeable conversation, when we retired to Mrs. Mitchell's & rested for the night.

[As that appeared in The Raleigh Minerva (Raleigh, NC) 2 Jul 1819. This was about the time that Jeremiah Slade passed through.]

Thursday, July 1st.

After breakft. visited college which appeared almost deserted, except now and then a solitary Bachelor silently gliding across the long passages. The Dialectic Hall appeared much improved since my last visit, the library has received a large acquisition of books to the amt. of five hundred dollars within the last year. Met there Mr. Thomas Green, ov Va., late of the senr. class. He appeared very much reserved, and tho' we had been formerly acquainted he seemed not disposed to renew it. Returned to Mrs. Mitchell's to dinner and shortly after set out for Hillsboro, accompanied by Cousin Thos. Bill with Mrs. Mitchell $2.00. We arrived at Thompson's Inn in Hillsboro at sunset, disappointed in our expectations of meeting Mrs. Doctr. Pugh & others on their way to Louisiana, nor did they arrive during my stay in Hillsboro.

2nd.

Lef Hillsboro after Breakft, Bill $1.80. Crossed Troliner's Bridge about 12 o'clock: had a smart words with Mrs. Troliner about the toll, paid 20 cs and parted in friendship.

["Slade Genealogy" at  http://www.sladegenealogy.net/g0/p353.htm ;

How Col. Pulaski Cowper Lost his bet on Uncle Tom's Shooting.

     Some years ago Col. Pulaski Cowper … was reading law in the town of Jackson, the county seat of Northampton county. In the vicinity of Jackson lived Uncle Tom Wheeler, who was as well known in Northampton as Col. Cowper is in the State. It is said that Uncle Tom was possessed of considerable means though somewhat miserly, at any rate, very few people saw him spending money.

     One characteristic of Uncle Tom was, when away from home, he was never seen without his gun. "Old Betsy," as he always called it, as well as his dog, always accompanied him. And though he never went anywhere without his gun, no one ever saw him with any game.

     It made but little difference in what direction Uncle Tom started from home to take a "little hunt," it was always nearer to go via Jackson; and some of his neighbors insinuated that the "wet groceries" had some attraction for him, as it was almost a daily occurrence for him to be seen in town' and while he was ever ready, if drinks were proposed, he was never known to "set 'em up."

     This reminiscence occurred during a court week in Jackson, and, on account of an important case to be tried, there were a large number of people in attendance, estimated by some at five thousand. Near the court house was the store of Mr. John Randolph … .

     Randolph's store had a very large piazza on which were seated some fifteen or twenty men, including Uncle Tom. He had set "Old Betsy" inside the store and near the door, and he was setting in the porch, about midway between the two front doors of the store.

     Col. Cowper …walked out of the court house over to Randolph's store, where he found the crowd in the porch teasing Uncle Tom about always carrying his gun and never having any game, and some intimated that they did not believe he could kill anything. Col. Cowper, seeing Mr. John Calvert, who was inside the store, take up the gun, and draw out the shot, leaving only the powder in, and set it back where Uncle Tom had left it and being confident he had a "sure thing" on the old man, joined in with the others in teasing him. 

     Col. Cowper proposed to bet treats for the crowd that Uncle Tom could not hit his hat, it placed on a large oak stump about fifteen feet off. (Col. Cowper had on a fine silk hat, for which he paid $5.00 the day before.) Uncle Tom said, "Well, Laski," (that's what he always called the Colonel) "I don't want to hurt your new hat, but as you insist upon it, and propose drinks for the crowd and as I feel a little dry, if you will let me take a rest, I'll see what Old Betsy can do."

[From FineArtAmerica Website:
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/gentleman-wearing-a-silk-top-hat-called-mary-evans-picture-library.html ]

     The Colonel said, "All right, you can take a rest, and sit down too, if you like."

     The Colonel sent five or six boys around town to tell everybody to come quick around to Randolph's store, there was going to be a "free treat." He and Uncle Tom then went to the oak stump to put the hat in position. It was some little time before Uncle Tom could place the hat exactly as he wanted it. While all this was going on, John Calvert took up the gun, which was near to the shot pouch, and filled her about half full of shot and set it back in place.

     Everything in readiness, Uncle Tom took up his gun, remarking, "Old Betsy, you have never failed me, now do your best." Seating himself in a chair he rested the gun on the railing, took aim, pulled the trigger, and — Uncle Tom was picked up at the other end of the piazza, and the gun went cavorting through the air, and landed on the other side of the street. The hat, not a piece of it as big as a ten cent piece, could be found in the whole town. "Snaked, by jings," exclaimed Col. Cowper. "A conspiracy, someone has played fool on me; but I'll set 'em up," and all were invited to a saloon nearby where he arranged with the proprietor for drinks for the crowd. The Colonel then went to the hotel to get his dinner. The line was formed, and the drinking commenced. They would go in at the front door, get a drink, and pass out at the rear.

     About sunset the Colonel went over to settle the bill, when, to his astonishment, the drinking was still going on; the line had resolved into a ring, and was repeating; and ever and anon there would go up a yell, "Rah for Cowper." He called a halt on the bartender, who, knowing the Colonel's ability to pay, was keeping the glasses filled. He asked for the amount of the bill. The proprietor told him, "It would take some little time to count it up, as he had chalked it down on the side of the house."

     The colonel asked how many barrels they had drank, and was told about two. He said he would pay for it at wholesale prices, and it was compromised for $117.50. 

     Disgusted with Jackson, he took the next train for Raleigh (Wake County).

[The Smithfield Herald (Smithfield, NC) 15 April 1897]

COURTING IN A BUGGY

By Kemp Plummer Battle

     Those who have tried it say that there is no better courting time and place than in a light buggy drawn by a spirited team. But let the amatory youth take a waning from the mishap of a friend of mine. He borrowed of his grandfather a barouche and pair and took his lady-love on a four mile ride, determined to bring love matters to a focus. After skirmishing around with preliminary sweet speeches, he turned his head to gaze into her face while he asked her to share his life. As he did so he discovered that the boy, whom he had employed to hold his horses at the house of his girl, had jumped up behind and was listening with grinning delight to all tender words. The shock was so great that the opportunity was lost—and as matters turned out, lost forever. My readers need not weep over this story. "Mrs. Grundy" said that the young lady would have refused him. 

[From FamilyOldPhotos.com]

     Another "smart" young man driving over Franklin street saw a cow lying contentedly in the way. He thought he would show his skillfulness as a driver by running one wheel over her side. Much to his grief the animal suddenly rose, upset the vehicle, and turned him and his lady-love sprawling into the sand.

     Unfailingly courteous, too, were the beaux of fifty years ago. I give one specimen of this: A lady friend of mine was taking a ride with a student of the forties. The buggy wheel ran into a deep rut on his side of the road and threw the lady with some violence on him. She said, "I beg your pardon, sir!" He replied with evident sincerity, "Not at all disagreeable, madam!"

Kemp Plummer Battle was born in Louisburg, Franklin County, NC. He was valedictorian of the 1849 class of UNC. He worked at UNC as a tutor, as a lawyer in Raleigh, Wake Co., NC, and as a trustee to the University. In 1876 he became president of UNC.

[Taken from History of the University of North Carolina by Kemp P. Battle; 1907]

NEAR BEER

A Real Problem

____________________

            From the earliest days of our history, there have been temperance movements attempting to ban the production and use of alcoholic beverages — with varying degrees of success. Finally, in 1920, the 18^th amendment made the production, transport, and sale of intoxicating liquors illegal. The temperance fight led to many incidents that we might find curious today. "Near beer" was supposed to have only a very small percentage of alcohol, but it didn't always work out! Below are a few examples of North Carolina's battle against “near beer.”

[Raleigh Times (Raleigh, NC) 12 Jun 1905]

***************

Supreme Court Case

Is Licence Requirement to Sell Near Beer Legal?

____________________

     In 1909, the North Carolina Supreme Court heard a case challenging the right of Charlotte [Mecklenburg County] to require a $1,000 annual licence for the sale of near beer. Attorney general Thomas Bicket argued the case for the state, and he described near beer the starkest of terms.

  "What is near beer? The testimony in this case shows that it is a beverage that finds ready sale as a substitute for real beer. Our bibulous* constituents cry for it as children cry for Castoria**. It is made by the people who make beer, and drunk by the people who drink beer. It looks like beer, smells like beer, tastes like beer. … It is shoved across the old oaken counter, and the mirrored back bar, with the pictures of Aphrodite … springing from the foam, making the illusion complete. And sometimes in the gloaming the alchemy of a shadow projected from a policeman's expansive back and falling athwart the bar, works a transformation and suddenly, even as the thirsty one lifts the cup to his lips, near beer becomes the real thing.

     "And yet this court is asked to relegate this lusty beverage, this scion of centuries of vats, to the insipid level of soda water. Perish the thought! It proclaims itself in North Carolina as sole heir to and successor to the gaudy fluid. It boasts of its bubble, and sparkle and snap. It says to the disconsolate legions in an arid land, 'I may not be entirely wicked — but try me.' It capitalizes its kinship with Budweiser and Schlittz. It scorns soda water as Roosevelt scorns a mollycoddle, and lords it over grape juice like a mint julep over a milk shake."

     The state won the case and the lic
ence was enforced.

      

* excessively fond of drinking alcohol

** a laxative

[Taken from News and Observer (Raleigh, NC) 17 Nov 1909]

The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC) 11 Aug 1888

***************

Sells Near Beer on the Water.

____________________

     Deputy Marshall Wilcox returned from a business trip to Currituck county Tuesday night. While on the trip Mr. Wilcox discovered a floating near beer joint down in Currituck which presumable pays no state of county tax.
     The proprietor of this establishment has secured a house boat and located at a convenient point, and he was doing a good business.

[Taken from The Advance (Elizabeth City, NC) 23 Jun 1911]

[The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) 28 Oct 1899]

***************
FIFTY-THREE DRUNKS
______________________

Were Arrested By the Police During

the Month of February—
Banishment of Near-Beer Saloons May
Result in Decrease of Drunkenness.
______________________

[Taken from The Wilmington Dispatch (Wilmington, NC) 1 Mar 1911]
______________________

BEER SALOONS ARE NOW ALL CLOSED
______________________

       The Board of Aldermen of Elizabeth City (Pasquotank County) passed an ordinance in April 1910 regulating the sale of near beer. It stipulated that dealers who sold near beer must pay the Trustees of the Graded School of Elizabeth City $500 to be used for educational purposes.

     In addition, stores selling the beverage were required to open on Matthews stgreet east of Martin and Poindexter street and north of Matthews. The beer had to be sold within ten feet of the front door and all screens, curtains and other obstructions had to be removed from windows and doors.

     It was believed that this ordinance would put near beer saloons out of business. It was noted that "a few days ago, the near beer saloons… were running wide open and they were thriving too."

[Taken from Tar Heel (Elizabeth City, North Carolina) 15 Apr 1910]

[Raleigh Times (Raleigh, NC) 21 Jun 1899]

______________________

Rocky Mount Closes Near Beer Saloons.

     Rocky Mount, June 4.— Every near beer saloon and firm selling near beer and like beverages was closed yesterday and for the first time in years a resident in Rocky Mount cannot get the real stuff, or the near article. All near beer applications were filed before the city aldermen last night, and it was this body that denied the privilege of selling, and this morning the proprietors of the four establishments were met at the door by an officer who informed them that they could not open, as the city had denied them license. 

     The problem was that in the four saloons, beverage was being sold that was making many offenders drunk. The proprietors were ordered to sample all their stock and send it off for analysis. State law said that over thee percent makes "near beer" into the real article, and it was found that every man in the business was selling the near article that contained at least three and a half and even up to five percent alcohol.

[Taken from The Daily Times (Wilson, NC) 7 Jun 1910]

[News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) 7 Oct 1900]

PINHOOK

            Pinhook was a small community in Durham County that, by 1906, was a suburb of the city of Durham. Why the place was called Pinhook is not known, but it went by that name for a number of years before the Civil War.

Some questionable characters kept a resort at Pinhook, and near by was a grog shop. Close by this place was a camping place where wagons stopped on their way to Raleigh (Wake Co.) and other eastern towns before the time of railroads. The campers got water from the Pinhook well and made use of the grove near by where they tied their horses and were protected somewhat by the trees from the weather.

It is said that a man, who later was a citizen of Durham and became quite rich, was a pale, sallow-looking boy at the time Pinhook was experiencing its balmiest days. He carried watermelons out to the old camp ground, piled them up in the fence corners, and sold them to the wagoners who doubtless found them refreshing after their long draughts of fiery corn liquor which they bought from the Pinhook grog shop. In this way, he started a fortune which became quite considerable before his death.

[Taken From "Buy Garden Plants Online" website:
https://buygardenplantsonline.com/watermelon-georgia-rattlesnake/]

            Besides being a favorite stopping place for the wagoners, Pinhook was known for miles around. Its fame spread as far as twelve or fifteen miles northwest, as may to this day be learned from the old inhabitants of the country communities and even the students of the University at Chapel Hill had the habit of coming over when they wished to go off on a lark. It was known as a place of brawls and rough-and-tumble fights, drinking, gambling and other forms of amusement, where the natives and visitors met to have a rough, roaring, and to them, glorious time.

[Taken from An Annual Publication of Historical Papers: Published by the Historical Society of Trinity College

, Durham, N. C. 1906]

AIRMAN BADLY INJURED AS 

PLANE HITS PERSIMMON TREE.

__________

     Raleigh, Jan. 30.—While attempting to take to the air again on the trip to Raleigh, airplane No. 24, of Langley field, Norfolk, in charge of Lieutenant James, pilot, and his mechanic, Sergeant Pemberton, crashed into a persimmon tree at Wendell [Wake County] Thursday, breaking the arm and dislocating the shoulder of Sergeant Pemberton and badly damaging the machine.
     The airmen alighted at Wendell for gas and repairs about 1 o'clock. The landing was made safely, but it was when attempting to start the flight toward Raleigh that the machine crashed into the tree.

[Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, NC) 31 Jan 1919]

Raleigh Aviation Meet

November 16-17, 1910

“Soaring way up into the blue, dashing low over house tops, skimming the ground as birds ready to alight circling in swift flight through miles …  .” This is the way the Raleigh News & Observer (17 Nov. 1910) described the flights of Eugene B. Ely and J. A. D. McCurdy, the stars of the two-day Aviation and Automobile Meet at the NC State Fairgrounds. 

            Incoming trains, both regular and special, had brought large crowds for the event. The streets were crowded, and there was a rush for the cars going to the Fairgrounds. Conditions were excellent for the flights they had come to see.

            On the first day, between 4 and 6 o’clock, both Ely and McCurdy made successful flights. McCurdy flew first. He circled the race track and flew some distance to the east, but, when he made his descent, he alighted at such high speed that he would have crashed into the race track fence, but for the fact that the machine careened and the right wing dug into the earth, smashing the wing and otherwise damaging the machine. McCurdy was not hurt.

            Ely made two flights. The second was described: “Mr. Ely’s machine circling high in the air like a mighty eagle, curving gracefully and landing perfectly.” [News & Observer: 17 Nov 1910]

Douglas McCurdy. From Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:McCurdy_in_plane.jpg

The Flights Were Daring.

            On the second day, Ely flew the same plane he had used the day before. McCurdy used a plane repaired with parts from several other planes.

Both aviators made daring flights. Ely went higher and made the longest sweeps in his longer stay in the air. At one point he was “fully a thousand feet in the air, rising from the ground as a bird, sailing high up in the blue, and descending as gracefully as any bird of the air.” [Ely’s first flight lasted three minutes and covered about three miles. His second flight lasted 4 ½ minutes and scattered a flock of buzzards.]

McCurdy made time in low flights that were at terrific speeds. Though his machine met with several mishaps he showed that he is an aviator of skill and daring, forcing his disabled composite machine into the air and landing each time in safety

            During Mr. McCurdy’s first flight, as he turned from the northeast back to the Fairgrounds his machine made a perceptible lunge and drop, but he righted it and came with ease to the ground, but, “as he landed, the machine rushed along on its bicycle wheels and the wooden rim of a rear wheel split, and the tire slipped off.” [News & Observer, 18 Nov 1910]The wheel was quickly replaced and McCurdy was ready for another try. . [McCurdy’s flight lasted 2 minutes, 42 seconds.]

Aeroplane Against Automobile.

            There was intense interest in a planned race between an automobile and McCurdy in his airplane. The sharp turns above a half mile track were obstacles to McCurdy, but he was game and prepared for the race as the Hudson 20 horse power automobile sat at the starting point, ready for the five mile contest.

            A band played stirring music as McCurdy in his biplane made a start, but the intermittent sound of the engine gave notice of trouble and instead of rising in the air, Mr. McCurdy ran it down an incline, the engine having failed to give the necessary power.

            But McCurdy did not give up. His machine was pulled to the starting point again while the automobile stood panting for the word to be off. This time the plane took the air, but flew low as it rose near the east end of the field. For a moment it seemed as if it would soar, but in another it began to descend, its engine again failing. It landed at the end of the Fair grounds in a cotton field. Again, Mr. McCurdy landed without injury to himself or to the biplane.

Ely and his wife. From Naval History and Heritage Command: 
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1981/january/short-eventful-life-eugene-b-ely

Ely in a Great Flight

There was no time left for the race between Mr. McCurdy and the automobile; but hardly had the biplane made a landing outside of the grounds before Mr. Ely’s machine was in the air in the greatest flight of the meet. He took the air in splendid style, and kept mounting higher and higher as he circled above the Fair grounds over Oberlin and again over buildings of the A. & M. College [NC State University]. 

The great crowd gazed up in breathless interest as the aviator went up and up until he was over a thousand feet in the air. Then from away to the northeast he began his descent, coming down with a rush, till near the earth, when he skimmed his biplane just above the earth, settled down on it as if landing on eggs and came to a stop, after a short run, perfectly made. “It was cold up there,” said Mr. Ely as he spoke of the conditions a thousand feet above the ground in the great flight which brought to a close the great and successful Aviation Meet. [The flight lasted 3 minutes.]

[News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) 17, 18 Nov. 1910; Charlotte News (Charlotte, NC) 17 Nov 1910]

Note: Ely was killed in a crash in October, 1911

EIGHT KILLED WHEN TWO SEABOARD TRAINS CRASHED HEAD-ON

ALL TRAINMEN, NO PASSENGERS HURT; TWO ENGINEERS DIE

Nos. 81 and 84, Both Through Trains, Meet at Full speed Near Norlina—Locomotives Splintered Yet Sleeping Coaches are Left on Rails

___________________________

By W. Bost

            “Norlina, Nov. 19—Nos. 81 and 84, the fast through trains of the Seaboard [Railroad], tore into each other’s crew below Granite this morning at 3:54 o’clock and both have a toll of eight lives. [Granite was the first crossing south of the VA line. It no longer exists.]

            “Drawn by the Union Pacific type of the mightiest passenger engines, they charged each other a few yards this side the Virginia line, upon the high fill about half a mile beyond Granite. [Fill was material such as dirt or rocks used to level the ground for the track to cross.] Each with a weight of 216,000 pounds, pulling a string of ten cars, bore down up the grade and met where the strain was the heaviest. Railroad men estimate a million and a half pounds behind each engine when they came hurrying to the center of the fill. There is no piece of mechanism, however small, left on these beauties of iron and steel. The very numbers by which the machines are identified have been effaced.”

DEMOLITION AND DELIVERANCE.

            Amazingly, although the front of both trains was totally demolished, passenger cars remained on the track, completely intact. No passengers died or were seriously injured.      

            “Leaning low to take the grade upon one of the sharpest of curves, the engines met apparently well steamed. The very sight shows the fury of the plunge. The six-foot drivers, lying close to each other, mark the spot of earth upon which the lunge of the locomotives took place. They had a steam poundage of 200. They were keyed for a pull over the two hills. They met at the maximum of pressure down grade. The wheels alone are left of the wreck. They are but little hurt.”

            The demolition of the engines was so complete that it was impossible to see how they ended up placed as they were found. However, two men “declared that they saw the Beckham boiler rise to a height above the pine trees and fall fifty yards from the culvert over which the two trains appear to have met.

An Early Seaboard Airline Railroad Engine
Taken From Seaboard Airline Railroad History
https://railga.com/sal.html

            “Both trains, very long and heavy, must have gone furiously at each other. What prevented demolition to every day coach … no man can say. Not a passenger was actually hurt and some of them thought that the brake had merely dropped and that passengers on the Pullmans were aroused by the excitement of outsiders rather than damage to insiders.”

            …

The Northbound’s Blunder.

            Engineer Beckham, in charge of northbound train No. 84, was supposed to have pulled off the track at Granite, a short way to the south of the accident. Engineer Faison, in charge of southbound train No. 81, had the right-of way. So, instead of meeting at Granite, the two trains met on the track a half mile from Granite.

            The misunderstanding probably occurred because of a misreading of the orders, leading the northbound crew to believe they were to continue to Grandy.  “Whether he read the orders for meeting at Granite or Grandy, nobody now knows. The officials do not hesitate to say that their operator at Norlina, young Watson, gave the orders correctly and that they were read wrong by the northbound crew.

Engineers Beckham and Faison, killed in accident
News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) 20 Nov 1912

            “The body of the engineer [Mr. Beckham] was beneath the wreckage of two engine gears, the twelve big drivers and four trailers, a baggage coach and piles of timbers. The bursting of the steam pipes turned the water into the fill and flooded the place.….”

People Flock to Place.

            “The killing of only eight persons was the marvel of the people and there were a thousand there at any period of the day. Twenty-seven automobiles were seen in the road at one time, and the fields abounded in horses and buggies.

            “Two hoboes escaped. They are worth while to show the element of miracle that crept into every play. They declined to give their names, but took up collection and, walking to Norlina [Warren County], paid their way to the next point. They were riding the blinds between the first and second day coaches. They were battered against the wall, but barring dirty faces and bruised foreheads, they were none the worse for wear.

            …

            “The railroad men declare that the steel cars saved the passengers. Their weight kept them on the track and their strength prevented telescoping. Crashing on a curve, one sees no explanation for their standing up. But all were left intact and taken back to the stations.

            …

______________________

SCENE OF WRECK.

(By James A. Parham.)

            Norlina, Nov. 19.—…

Where the Collision Occurred.

            “…north of Granite station, which is about seven miles north of Norlina on the Seaboard’s trunk line from Richmond south. The scene is about one and a half miles south of Roanoke river and nearly twelve miles south of La Crosse, where engineer Faison receipted for his last order. Granite is the nearest station to the State line on the North Carolina side and the next station, less than five miles distant, is Bracy, in Virginia.”

[Taken From The Farmer and Mechanic (Raleigh, NC) 26 Nov 1912]

The Track and Curve.

            “Going north from Granite the track is straight for a half or three-fourths of a mile. Right on a fill perhaps twelve feet high, the track begins a fairly sharp curve which extends through a rather sudden cut. It was right about the beginning of this curve that the engines plunged into each other. Mr. Beckham’s engine was just ready to take the curve or was taking it, while Engineer Faison was on the curve just ready to leave it, and had just passed through the cut. The collision occurred right over a small culvert in the center of the hill. On account of the curve and the cut, a very sudden stop would have been necessary to avoid the collision at best, after the engineers could possibly have seen each other’s engines. Moreover, the shafts of light shot straight forward from the headlighter of the engines evidently crossed each other as the two approached almost at the very second the collision occurred.

Masses of Wreckage.

            “The two engines and tenders and three cars—all combination passenger and baggage or express—were demolished completely. The engines were of the Seaboard’s heaviest type, weighing 108 tons each. Both boilers exploded, both were completely stripped of engines, tenders, trucks, smoke stacks, steam chests, cabs, bells—nothing left but tubes of sheet iron, shredded and torn at both ends with sheets of iron sealed off from the sides …. They landed on opposite sides of the track. The engine driven by Mr. Beckham was carried by the contact and the explosion fully 100 feet back down the track and fell at an angle of about forty-five degrees with the track, its nose apparently and strangely having struck the ground first. It settled on its right side, which was buried a foot or so in the ground. The other boiler, that drawing train No. 81, settled nearly upright in running position and close beside the embankment and parallel with the track. Its back was split lengthwise by the explosion.

            “… This huge mass contained also the flattened, crushed remains of a tender, supposedly that of the northbound engine, which was battered and crumpled like an old tin pan, while the other tender, in the same condition, lay on the opposite side of the track. Fifty feet from the track lay one of the huge cylinders from one of the engines. Three hundred feet in the forest, on the east side lay large Y-shaped iron pipe that would weigh hundreds of pounds. It apparently had been blown over the tree tops and had fallen, without striking trees and half buried itself in the ground.”

…

Expressage Scattered.

            “Most of the chests and safes and strong boxes from the express cars were left intact, but the packages of merchandise, many of them, were demolished. Scores of dead chickens were scattered among the debris, while dozens of fowls that escaped with their lives, gaining liberty, were hanging around the scene of the catastrophe looking for food. Dozens of boxes of fresh fish and lettuce and other vegetables were demolished and scattered; also pork, beef, sausage, millinery, clothing, etc. etc. One dog was killed.”

…

[News &Observer (Raleigh, NC) 20 Nov 1912]

Wreck Hurls Woman Into a Man’s Berth

___________

Her Head Makes Clean Hole in Thin Partition—Headache Her Only Injury.

            “Boring a clean hole through the partition between two Pullman berths, a middle-aged woman hurtled into the berth in front of her when the two Seaboard trains crashed into each other Tuesday morning near Norlina. In the berth which the woman so unceremoniously entered was Lee Reinheimer, a cigar salesman, from Richmond, VA. Mr. Reinheimer was too courteous to ask the woman her name.

            The only unpleasant result of the woman’s plunge was a headache. The partitions between compartments of a sleeping car are made of light, but tough, material. The partition was not knocked down in the crash that sent the woman through it, but a space the size of her head and shoulders was jammed through. Her entrance was the first Mr. Reinheimer knew of the crash. He was slightly hurt, having a sprain on the little finger of his right hand.

[News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) 21 Nov 1912]

William Jennings Bryan, Biography
https://www.biography.com/people/
william-jennings-bryan-9229920

MR. BRYAN CALLS ON STRICKEN WIFE

______________

Of Engineer Beckham, Killed in Wreck

______

ENGINEER  BROUGHT GIFT

____________

To Mr. Bryan Monday—Fine Basket of Tomatoes—Nebraskan Orders Flowers

            “ … Hon. William Jennings Bryan* … was detained here for several hours on account of a wreck on the Seaboard near Norlina…. Yesterday morning he expected to leave Raleigh for Savannah on the 5:40 a.m. train, but the serious wreck near Norlina, in which Engineers Faison and Beckham were killed detained him in Raleigh all day, and he did not leave until last night.”

            “On Monday morning, shortly after 11 o’clock, Engineer Beckham called at the home of Josephus Daniels to see Mr. Bryan. He was a great admirer of the Nebraskan, and called to pay his respects and carry a basket of fine tomatoes. “I thought I would like Mr. Bryan to have something nice,” he said to Mr. Daniels, “and as good tomatoes are scarce at this season I brought you these.” Then he remained for a visit to Mr. Bryan, chatting pleasantly and happily, and left with hearty good wishes to Mr. Bryan, expressing the hope that he would one of these days see him in the White House.”

            “’I am greatly shocked and distressed,’ said Mr. Bryan when he learned of the catastrophe which resulted in Mr. Beckham’s death. ‘His splendid physique, his cordial manner and his geniality pleased me greatly, and as he bade me good bye yesterday morning, I little thought he would so soon be called from a world which he made happier by his cheerfulness.’”

            “Mr. Bryan ordered some lilies of the valley sent to Mrs. Beckham with expressions of deep sympathy to his wife and family. Later in the day Mr. Bryan called in person with Mr. Daniels at the home of both the brave engineers to add his sympathy to that which was felt and expressed by the whole city.”

*Willliam Jennings Bryant was an orator and politician. He ran three times for the Presidency of the US. He is well known for his participation in the Scopes Trial in which he opposed Clarence Darrow, arguing against evolution.

[News &Observer (Raleigh, NC) 20 Nov 1912]

Moving Picture Health Car

Every County Had One

In 1916, movies rattled into rural North Carolina communities in the back of a souped-up Studebaker “auto-truck” called the Moving Picture Health Car.

Warren Booker, working for the Health Department, and W. C. Crosby, working for the Education Department, had created an all-in-one vehicle that could deliver lights and movies to any location, and the Moving Picture Health Car was born. Their goal was to bring health education and entertainment to poor, isolated farm families in North Carolina.

The truck was outfitted with a movie projector and a canvas screen. A gasoline engine coupled with a generator provided sufficient power for lights and the “moving picture machine.”  A Victrola offered a musical interlude to begin the entertainment and supplied suitable dramatic accompaniment to the silent films. Black-out curtains darkened the hall. A switchboard allowed the show to be run from a central location, and there was a fire extinguisher. Camping and cooking equipment were included for roughing it.

Taken from The Health Bulletin, Vol. XXXI, No. 2; May 1916

The car had a two-man staff. H. E. Hamilton, a “mechanician,” took care of maintenance and kept the Health Department up to date.  Roy Tatum, knowledgeable about medicine, instructed the audiences in good health practices.

In the November 27, 1916 News and Observer, Booker reported that it took  twenty to thirty minutes to set up for a program.  This included hanging the screen and running the cable through a door or window to the motion picture machine in the hall.

It was a big deal when the car rumbled into small out-of-the-way crossroads communities bringing “real” motion pictures and offering “intensely interesting” health information. The promise of dazzling lights and moving pictures flickering across a canvas screen inevitably drew a crowd. It was magical for isolated people, some of whom would have no electricity until after World War II.

Fairview, a tiny Wake County community, got an early look at the Health Car show. According to the April 3, 1916 Greensboro News, it was the “first moving picture show ever given in the country in this State.” The show ran for over two hours.

Each show featured five or six reels of film—about sixteen to twenty minutes each. An opener might be an uproarious slapstick comedy, a film depicting a scenic landscape in a faraway land, or perhaps a western with fast riding cowboys and lots of action. This was followed by several movies offerings health information. The conclusion was usually a comedy—maybe Charlie Chaplin in The Tramp or Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Buster Keaton in The Butcher Boy.

The purpose of the Health Car was to teach disease prevention, sanitation and hygiene. Programs highlighted topics like tuberculosis, typhoid fever, venereal disease, oral hygiene, and cleanliness. One film focused on a campaign against flies and included directions for making a fly trap that were distributed to the audience.

The lessons were embedded in dramatic action stories. One popular show was The Man Who Learned.  The herky-jerky, black and white, silent film projected onto canvas with scratchy Victrola music as the background taught a lesson about typhoid prevention through sanitary milk production. The story was gripping and the Victrola played music appropriate to the scene—intense, foreboding, or jubilant as needed.

The audience is enthralled by the action. Hearts are thumping. Eyes are wide. At the end, the important lesson has been learned.

The shows were a rousing success. Care-worn farm women in faded dresses, men in shabby bib overalls, and children bouncing with excitement and anticipation arrived at places like Pikeville (Wayne County), Mount Mourne (Iredell County), or Lemon Springs (Lee County) on movie night. They came in wagons hauled by mules or worn-out horses. One man declared it was better than a Methodist camp meeting.

The car circulated around the state visiting each of the 45 counties that existed at that time. It remained in one area for three weeks, visiting up to twelve locations each week. The vehicle carried enough films to present a fresh line-up for each return visit.

The price of the truck was $750; its extra engine and generator went for $360. It cost $90 a week to operate the car, which was paid for by the communities hosting the exhibit—usually by the local government or generous donors.

 People turned out in huge numbers. One report placed daily attendance from 450 to 900. There were times when the evening productions were moved outside because no venue of adequate size was available.          

In 1917, the state legislature appropriated $25,000 to provide a Moving Picture Health Car for each county. The cars would turn rural schools into community centers, provide health information, and bring communities together in ways they had never been before.

The cost of an outfitted car was $3,000 with $2,000 paid by the county. By late 1920, every county had a movie car.

           

African Americans had little access to modern innovations like movie cars. However, in 1919, black teachers joined the North Carolina Tuberculosis Association in the sale of Tuberculosis Christmas Seals to finance a movie car. Every county had a quota, and, in almost every county, the quota was met. Over $5,000 was raised; this was used to purchase a Dodge panel truck, a Delco lighting system, and an Atlas projector. A new movie truck hit the road.

Dr. E. T. Ransom operated the car on a circuit of one week visits around the state. Each week, he presented six to ten programs. In addition, local doctors were sometimes brought in to treat people who came to the show. In some instances, Dr. Ransom also made home visits.

During the first six months, Dr. Ransom visited twenty-five counties and recorded an attendance of 34,148. The car met with such enthusiasm that a second car was added the next year.

           

A hundred years ago, it took a vehicle loaded with equipment, driven miles over terrible roads, with electricity furnished via generator, for a farm family to see a movie. Today, we can watch whatever we want, in real time, on devices we hold in the palms of our hands. We’ve come a long way since days of the Motion Picture Health Car!