The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-09-22
For Mr.. Anthony and Against
Audubon Society.
CHIMNEY SWEEP KILLING
Mr.. CrOwson Says That Mr.. Pearson Was Backt d
by Little Children and 0 d Maids in
Having Passed Foolish
Law.

WSSh NHSH IL Was ledFueu lIdJ
Mr. G.. w Anthony, one of the most
wealthy and influential citizens of Bur
l;ngton, had been arrested, charged with
the killing of chimney sweeps On all
sides are heard expressions of indignation.
For the past several months Mr.. An
thony has been greatly annoyed by hun
dreds of chimney sweeps infesting his
chimneys. They congregated by hun
dreds, knocking down trash on his car
pets and every morning his housekceper
had to clean up after the birds. One
evening last week after the rain, Mr..
Anthony concluded to try and destroy
them. He put a screen over the top OF
the chimney and set the chimney on fire,
destroying several hundred. Being ignor-
ant of the fact that he had violated the
law he told some friends of the destruc
ton of them and it soon was published
III the newspapers The Hon. T. Gilbert
Pearson, the chief manager and inaneier
of the Audubon Society, read of the act
and sent a. man from Greensboro with
instructions to one of the leading attor-
reys of this town to prosecute Mr. An
thony and he would see that he got we'll
paid. Mr.. Anthony was made to appear
before a magistrate and was bound over
to court to answer the charge of burn
ing out his chimney to rid it of chimney
sweeps that had been continual menace
and nuisance.
Now, any one can see at a glance that
the action was an injustice to Mr.. An
thony. 1t has always been a custom and
law to destroy nuisances whenever or
wherever they exist, and in destroying
these sweeps Mr.. Anthony was simply
ridding his home of a dangerous and re-
pulsive nuisance. Some one might say
that he ought not to have covered the
chimney and burned them up. Well, he
wanted to kill them and this was the only
way to do it. He had smoked them out
dozens of times and they would always
return. The same person might say that
bed bugs ought to be electrocuted or left
2live-(for if anything is nearly as horri-
Die as the bugs 1T Is the chimney sweep
that carries them into the homes,) If
the Hon. Gilbert L. Pearson, with his
legion of women and children hackers
think that they can compel intelligent
people to put up with a nuisance like this,
o. if they refuse indict them, he is mis-
taken. 1t may not be put in the paper,
but so long as the abominable things
worry the life out of the house keepers
and endanger nice homes by carrying
trash into the chimneys to catch fire
when it is dry, they are going to be
killed, and they will not be electrocuted
or given ether, but will go by the same
old time honored route, viz, burning out
The truth of the whole business is,
that Mr.. Pearson, backed by the little
children of the country and old maids,
made the last Legislature enact a very
foolish law, under the pretext of protect
ing song BIRDS sea gulls and other of
the feathered tribe. They passed a law
taxing nonresident hunters $40 for the
privilege of coming into our State to
shoot birds. This $40 to go into the
hands of Mr.. Pearson to keep him a job
and furnish funds to prosecute people for
killing chimney sweeps and bed bugs
in the old way. In dozens of counties in
this State there are hundreds of families
that are supported almost entirely by
these nonresident men who are to pay
this tax of $40, or prosecution fund.
These men come into the country and
pay about forty dollars for every bird
they KILL and for every dollar they take
out of the State they leave a hundred.
There is a gentleman who comes to this
county occasionally to hunt. He has
certain farmer he always visits and this
man keeps his dogs for him and gets big
pay. Some time ago this man became i'll
and his Doctors bill had become i'm
mense. When this nonresident c2.aS
down here some time afterwards ne didn't
dc thing but pay this mans doctors
bill and bestow upon him many other
favors. In many counties these hunters
pay the taxes on hundreds of acres of
land, and there are no visitors who come
to our State who help us more than these
men, and yet these old maids, school chill
dren, headed by Pearson, got the Legis-
lature to put a tax on them to keep them
away or make them pay for the lawyers
fees and court costs in prosecuting men
that make their ovTn living without
working up job at the hands of the
children and sympathetic women folks.
In his great zeal as the leader of this
Audubon Society and in his efforts to
protect the chintz carrying chimney
sweeps Mr.. Pearson forgets that he is
protecting them at the expense of good,
well-meaning, honest people The feel
ings of a man who is not conscious of
having done wrong, in having to suffer
before a magistrate, is nothing in Mr..
Pearson's eyes, but when he hears the
squeak of sweeper his pulses thrill and
he rings for an officer, and after seeing
that there is enough funds left to paw
his own forthcoming salary he dispatches
a message TO spare no pains nor money
in the prosecution-for The non resident
devil is footing the bill
We believe In protecting animals, birds,
everything, from cruelty, but when we
have to spit on a mosquito to drown him.
administer gas to bed bugs, and pen dirty
chimney sweeps up and let them die Of
old age or let them alone, we think it
time to kick, and the above is our kick
o. +. CROWSON.
Burlington, N. c., Sept. 81 1903.
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