The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-01-20

Decides Against Increasing Number OF
superior Court Disaricts Proposed
Educational Bfll-Oussed Fusionisss
kicking
Messenger Bureau
Raleigh, n. c., January IL.

AGA ~ SoAA0 -
The directors of the North Carolina
railway met here today and declared
a semi-annual dividend of 3 per cent.
This afternoon the special joint eom-
mittee of the legislature on election law
met at the Office of Democratic State
Chairman Simmons and heard his
views and those of some other promi-
nent democrats as 10 the most desirable
law. The committee will hold daily
sessions at the same place and its chair
man, Mr.. Harvey Stubs, asks your cor
respondent to say that it is desired to
get the views OF all good democrats,
in person or by letter, as TO the import
ant matter Of an election law. The
committee decides o to report any
| bill before February 18th, and may not
be ready by that date.
Sheriff Page will spring the trap and
end the life of murderer Jim Booker
here tomorrow. There will be thirty
six witnesses (the limit within the gall
lows enclosure. Sheriff Page says that
if the execution We're public as many
people would witness it as ever attend
ed a circus here.
Captain Day, penitentiary superinten-
dent, tells me that the two p%enitentiary
farm supervisors, McCaskey and Dixon,
whom he has dismissed, will retire to-
day. He was asked if they would make
a fight to stay in and said they would
get right out; that they could not man
age the farms and that the crops would
never have been gathered had they re-
manned in charge. 1t is a hard hit at
the populists, who were put in by the
last legislature.
Late last night Mr.. William Rufus
Tucker, only son of the late Major R.
S. Tucker, died at his home here, of
consumption. His age was 35 years.
He was a graduate of the University of
North Carolina and was a director of
two or three of the railways composing
the Seaboard Air Line system. His
family is a large holder of stock in
these lines and also in the Atlantic and
North Carolina railway.
For the state museum a lot of pipes
and jars made quite recently by the
Cherokee Indians of western North
Carolina have been secured and put in
the cases beside specimens of their ear
ly work. The Cherokees are up to date.
They now make arrow and spear heads
out of thick clear glass and bury them
in the earth. They then dig them up
and sell them to collectors as pre-
historic Implements"
1t is nov plain that there is to be a
big fight before the legislature on the
question of maintaining or a%bolishing
the liquor ~dispensary at Fayetteville.
Portraits of Chief Justice James Ire
dell and George Davidson have been
painted for the North Carolina Society
of the Sons of the Revolution and next
month will be placed in the supreme
eourt o as gifts from that society.
Mrs. Williams Of Faison, N. c., is the
artist.
Three white boys, none over IA years
OF age, are charged with highway OBJ
reby in this county. One Of them is in
jail. The others have fled. They held
UP a white boy, a cotton mill employee,
last Saturday, and beat and robbed him.
The state will publish Judge Walter
Clark's Sketches of North Carolina
Regiments in the Civil War"
Messenger Bureau
Raleigh N. c., January Is.
The democratic caucus decides
against increasing the number of SUI
perior court judges. Up to a week g
it was thought to be pretty certain that
the two criminal circuits would be
1 oho1irhoI ND 90 1o-1& &-,0
court districts established. But to
|, make this change would have ousted
two good democrats, men of high char
acter, who were elected criminal court
judges, and so that idea was abandoned.
1t seems that there will be some
changes made in the composition of
the districts.
The committees on education will, it
is expected, recommend a. bill which
will make it the duty Of county boards
Of education to distribute the public
school fund so as to give each school in
a county, white and colored, the same
angth of school term each year, and
making such apportionment of funds to
have due regard to the grade of teach
ing required. In other words, negro
teachers can be employed at say half
the cost of white teachers.
The bushes men of Raleigh are
greatly pleased at the deal by which the
Seaboard Air Line is sold and becomes
really a great through line. This city
will reap many advantages. 1t has
never been On a through line.
Some of the supervisors of the peni-
tertiary farms appear to be making a
fight to prevent their being ousted.
Your correspondent does not believe
they have any show for retaining their
positions, as some of them certainly
hold no commissions. Under the law
they are required to hav commissions
from b superintendent of the peni-
tertiary. 1t is quite an interesting
point. McCaskey, one of the s~upervis-
ors dismissed, is here and was before
the board of penitentiary directors to-
day.