Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1899-03-26
Municipal Ownership Of the
Water Works.
PROPOSITION TO PURCHASE
Dr. Abbott VIII RcIin1uish Claim TO
Omce of NniIrond Commissioner
Excess Bn-gngc Rate to 30 Inves-
tiCatcd Expelled From Masonic
order For Nincty.ninc YoRrs-An-
other Legislative Mistake.

Raleigh, n. c., March 25.-Therc is
good deal of talk here over the water
works being purchased and controlled
by the municipality. The majority oil
the citizens seem to be decidedly IN
favor of this. 1t seems that during the
last snow a fcrtilezer company placed
a lot of guano over one of the man
water pipes. and this leaked through
and tinctured the water with sulphuric
acid, which may by healthy, but hardly
nice as n regular diet. Apart from
this as an incident, there arc other OBJ
jections raised to the private ownership
IF the water supply; and 1t is said that
the dignity of the capital would best
be maintained by city ownership OF this
most important feature of municipal
life. even if the main success OF such
ownership be to remove aspersiohs
upon private persons.
ABBOTT WILL. NOT CONTEST
DR.. Abbott has about decided TO aban
don his purpose to contest the right of
Mr. Bcddingfield To the office OF Rail
road Commissioner
That is to say he will not contest
unless the deCisien-e& the Supreme
Court i'll the Day case is such as to
make 1t pretty certain that he VIII win
the contest. DR.. Abbott is not the sort
of man to chase hainbows or but his
brain out against II wall that he can
not scale.
He is now at his home. in Nande-
mere, Pamlico county, and will hardly
come to Raleigh again on Railroad
Commission business. He writes that
he has about decided to prefer Van
demere to Raleigh. Mr. Beddingticld
will be sworn in on April 9th.
11NCESS BAGGAGE RATE.
The first matter touching railroads
that will come before the new Corpo-
ration Commission Will be the new rate
on excess baggage.
On March 18th the Southern railway,
Seaboard Air Line ana Atlantic Coast
Line increased their rate on excess
baggage rs follows:
Books of face value $25, formerly sold
ut S15. advanced to $50.
Books OF face value $40, formerly sold
at 81. sale withdrawn.
Books of face value $3.50, now sold
for $40.
This increase in rate was put into
effect by the roads without saying any
thing to the commission. There are
those who claim that the increase was
made out of spite toward the drummcrS
for the part they took in securing the
passage of the Jim Crow car bill"
However this may be, the commission
has never acquiesced in the rate and
it will investigate the matter at its first
meeting
NIASONS EXPELLED SMITH.
The Raleigh BLADE. II weekly paper
published in the city by Robert Il. Rus
sell, n progressive colorcd man, con-
tains the following item of general i'll
terest:
1t will he remembered that Repre-
sentative Isaac Smith voted to erase
the name of Col. James II. Young from
the cornerstone of the Deaf ana Dumb
Asylum. We'll. the Masonic order at
New Bern. of which Bro. Smith was Il
member expelled him at n recent meet
ing for ninctyrnine years.
ANOTHER LEGISLATIVE MISTAKE.
BY ridiculous mistake in enrolling
the new charter of Godsboro the last
Legislature put the people of that oity
in Il box"
Section OF the charter reads: chat
said board OF aldermen shall provide
for each ward two ballot boxes, one in
which shall be deposited all voters for
mayor and the other In which shall be
deposited all voters for aldermen"
In order to prevent the escape of
these boxed voters this section further
provides: each Of said boxes shall
have an opening through the lid OF
sufficient size to admit /. single folded
ballot, and no more"
DIR. GREGORY DEAD.
DR.. II. II. Gregory, of StovalI. n. c.,
died at his home, at this place. at 800
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