Amagon Citizen Was Given 21 Years
For Killing John Barton—Attor
neys Will Appeal.
The jury in the case against Will
Davis, charged with first degree mur
der for the killing of John Barton, re
turned a verdict of guilty Friday
night at 8:30, the defendant being
given 21 years in the penitentiary.
Attorneys for Davis, who are C. M.
Erwin and G. A. Hillhouse, have an
nounced their intention to apply for
an appeal of the case to the supreme
court, and were given by Judge Cole
man until next Thursday to file their
motion in due form. Davis will re
main at liberty on his present bond
until then.
The case went to the jury shortly
after four o’clock Friday afternoon.
Barton and Davis with their fami
lies moved to Jackson county from
Oklahoma several months before the
killing, and were neighbors near
Amagon, Barton being employed by
Davis on the farm. In March, 1918,
it is stated, the men engaged in a dis
pute, but the matter was settled. In
November Barton, it is said, sold his
possessions at Amagon to Davis, pre
paring to move away. A few days
before the killing both men came to
Newport, and irom an accounts were
in a friendly humor. On the 8th of
November the men met in the road
way near their homes, with the re
sult that a short time later Barton’s
body was found, Davis surrendering
to the officers late that afternoon.
There was no witness to the killing.
Davis claims that Barton shot at him
first, there being no explanation of
the trouble which led to the killing.
Witnesses for the defense claim that
a gun was found in the wagon in
which Barton was riding when he
met Davis.
MR. HENRY WILL GIVE
LOVING CUP AND MED
ALS TO BOYS AND GIRLS
—
In one of the display windows of
Wolff-Goldman .Mercantile Co. are
one loving cup and three medals which
will be given to the boys and girls of
£ Jackson county who raise the largest
nupiber of chickens or exhibit the
best pens and breeds of poultry. The
loving cup and medals will serve to
stijnulate an interest among the boys
and girls of the county engaged in
poultry raising and egg production,
which the government recommends
' highly as an aid to food production.
These gifts, a handsome silver lov
ing cup, fourteen inches higrh, and
three medals, gold, silver and bronze,
arfe presented by Charles G. #Henry,
president of the Arkansas Bank &
Trust Company.
Mrs. Mary Austin, home demon
strator for Jackson county, is very
appreciative of Mr. Henry’s interest,
and has already formed a number of
poultry clubs in the county and re
ports a great amount of enthusiasm
among the .members. Mrs. Austin
has also been very busy this winter
arranging for her canning club work.
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|y| AD ALINE THEATRE
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ELKS’ MINSTREL WILL
BE PULLED OFF MARCH
TENTH AND ELEVENTH.
i
It was definitely decided Saturday
morning to stage the Elks’ minstrel
' in Newport on Monday and Tuesday,
I March 10 and 11, Jas. Q. Blackwood,
chairman of the committee on ar
rangements, having received a tele
gram from the well known minstrel
man, Joe Brenn, that he will be able to
give the lodge those dates. The con
tract has been signed, and the com
mittee will continue to make all ar
rangements. Talent for the perform
ance will be selected soon and the
real work of preparing the program
and rehearsing is to follow.
Local Elks are enthusiastic over
prospects for a successful perform
ance on both dates.
THE SOUTHERN COTTON
OIL COMPANY HERE IN
SURES ITS EMPLOYES.
The Southern Cotton Oil Company,
with numerous plants throughout the
>uth, one of which is located here at
Newport, has presented to each of
its regular employes who has been
six months or longer in its service, a
life insurance policy for $500.00 or
$1,000.00, according to salary paid,
which policies are kept in force by the
company without cost to the employ
PS.
R. H. Scruggs, manager of the
Newport plant, states that‘this is but
an indication of the interest this com
pany has always taken in the welfare
of its employes and that it has prov
en a blessing to a number of families
where the bread winner has been tak
en away during the present epidemic
of influenza.
Miss Lochie Graham arrived home
this morning from a six weeks’ stay
! in the east, a month of that time be
ing in New York City, where sh»
studied all the new styles in millinery.
She will have charge of the trimming
department at Mrs. H. Clay Sanders’,
which is quite an honor for her, and
! where she is capable of doing her
| work. On her return home she
! stopped off in Philadelphia where she
I enjoyed a visit with the Crossland
family, formerly of Newport, whom
! she reports well and getting along
splendidly.
\
! -
: A FAITHFUL WORKER
FOR THE RED CROSS.
For nearly two years past, since
thousands of women all over the land
have been steadily working under di
: rection of the Red Cross, no really
I earnest woman has worked for self
aggrandizement or has sought praise
for what she took to be her duty and
her privilege to do. But, to those who
have given so loyally and unselfishly
' of their time and labors, it is only
right and proper that just recogni
tion be made of their services, and in
Jackson county the worn oi wrs, w.
A. Billingsley is truly worthy of hon
orable mention and a service badge.
I In May, 1917, shortly after our
government declared war, Mrs. Bil
lingsley began correspondence lead
ing up to the organization of a Red
Cross Chapter, which was done in
i June following. Because the entire
organization of the American Red
Cross, by reason of the war, had to
, be enlarged and reformed, there were
-many delays, and it was December be
fore the sewing rooms were opened
and ready for work, with Mrs. Bil
lingsley as chairman of this depart
ment. But during all this interval,
She had been very busy, corresponding
and securing authentic instructions,
patterns and materials for the work.
Mrs. Billingsley also organized the
Surgical Dressings class and the
Nursing Service, which today enables
us to have the valued services of a
county nurse, and during the influen
za epidemic last fall when the work
rooms were closed, devoted her time
to making pneumonia jackets and
otherwise assisting in getting out
the emergency supplies incident to
that call upon the chapter.
For more than a year, Mrs. Bil
lingsley has devoted practically every
day from nine to six o’clock to Red
Cross work, and attended to a vol
ume of correspondence regarding it,
in the evenings. This service has
been rendered cheerfully and gladly
and with no thought of praise, but it
is a pleasure to render “honor to
whom honor is due.”
People of East Side Want
Sidewalk Across Causeway
The people of East Newport are up
in arms, and not without cause. They
are complaining about the present
condition of the causeway, over whidh
many persons pass every day and
night to and from school and work.
Following inclement weather the
causeway is made almost impassable
by reason of mud which accumulates
in vast and slippery gobs, and the
standing water in the roadway is
thrown to one side by passing vehi
cles, splashing against persons who
happen to be in close proximity.
The people of East Newport are
asking that a board walk be built
across the viaduct. About fifteen j
high school children pass over the .
place every day and a great majority
of persons of the East Side come to j
Newport regularly to and from work
or on various business or missions.
At this time these trips can be made
with no degree of comfort, and espec- (
ially at nights, we are told, is the trip j
not only disagreeable and difficult j
but precarious.
Another condition which confronts
the people of East Newport is the
matter of free mail delivery service, j
We are told by Postmaster George R.
Hays that should he report the con
dition of the causeway, undoubtedly
his office would be ordered by the
government to discontinue the ser
vice until repairs are made or an ad
equate walkway built. He says he
believes the only reason why the gov
ernment has not stopped the service is
because the government has not been
notified of the condition.
The causeway is represented in
the Bridge Improvement District No.
1. The commissioners are W. D. Mc
Lain, Junius Cox and James Grubbs.
The Independent was unable to get in
touch with either of these gentlemen
today to learn if there is any contem
plation of an early remedy for the sit
uation.
Residents who are complaining say
they would be content even with a
board walk across the viaduct, in
order to avoid the mud. During
high water the causeway was cut at
two places to allow a water passage
and its former state has never been
restored.
I
BANK GUARANTY BILL.
Special to Independent.
Little Rock, Feb. 22.—House Bill
No. 2, Representative Beard’s bank
guaranty bill, which is virtually iden
tical with the Greathouse Senate bill
which suffered an ignominious death
two weeks ago in the senate, reached
the upper branch of the General As
sembly yesterday and was read twice
and referred to the Committee on Fi
nance and Banking.
It is not expected that the Beard
,
bill will meet with a better fate than
the Greathouse measure, as the senate
has not changed its complexion since
the decisive vote against the bank
guaranty principle. Advocates of the
plan are preparing to initiate such a
law by popular vote, it is said.
——. ,
Mrs. Allen Babcock, Mrs. G. E.
Yeatman and Mr. and Mrs. Joe Gray ]
of Batesville were guests at the Col- ]
umbia hotel last night on their re- i
turn from a two or three days’ stay ;
at Hot Springs. 1
NEGRO WHO MURDERED
HIS WIFE AND ANOTHER
WOMAN REPORTED DYING.
Dr. G. K. Stephens has received a
telegram from the hospital for the
insane stating that Frank Johnson,
a negro sent to the asylum a year
ago, is in a critical condition, the out
come being uncertain.
Johnson, it will be remembered,
was a tenant on the Stephens farm
near Newport, where about a year
ago he shot and killed his wife and
another negro woman named Bernice
Suttop, and seriously wounded a ne
gro man named Crump Sutton one
Sunday afternoon. After a search
of several days Johnson was found
and brought to the county jail, where
it was determined that he was insane,
being sent to the state hospital.
Johnson was one of the most inter
sst'ing figures ever confined in the
:ounty jail. He claimed that he was
under the spell of a “hoodoo man,”
who directed him to commit the mur
iers with which he was charged, and
uis case attracted a great amount of
attention.
EFFORTS DEFEATED.
Special to Independent.
Little Rock, Feb. 22.—Efforts to
amend 22 counties out of Senator Bob
Dollins’ bill for a uniform system of
auditing of county books by the State
Auditorial Department, led by Sena
;or Johnson of Carroll county, were
lefeated yesterday in the senate.
Senator Collins answered the only
serious objection to his bill by submit
;ing an amendment reducing the
:harges made on the counties for the
work. The schedule of charges is
aroportionate to the volume of county
ausiness. The bill will come up for
inal passage next week, in the sen
ate, after which it will go to the
louse.
I
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»
Announcing
First-Showing
- of Shirts For
Spring 1919
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V ' ' . ' *' ■ I']
yVjAacntjSnxi
MANHATTAN
AND
WILSON BROS.
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$2-50 and up I
■
’ p
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.
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THE STAR CLOTHING COMPANY
“THE APPAREL STORE FOR MENS
i
! P. H. Van Dyke, Chairman, Suggests
Citizens For Roads Department
of Chamber of Comniccre.
P. If. Van Dyke, chairman of the
Good Roads Committee of the Cham
ber of Commerce, has presented the |g|
names of the following men to the
Chamber as suggested members of
the committee:
C. G. Henry, W. D, McLain, Judge
John Melville, J. R. Holden, Will Run- .
yan, Sidney Mack and S. M. Bains of
Newport, M B. Hare of Auvergne,
Mike Denton of Grubbs, Nimrod Gra
ham of Tuckerman, R. D. Wilmans of
Diaz, Roy Moon of Swifton, W. D.
Williams of Newport Route 1, W. N.
Nance of Eight Mile, W. A. McCart
ney of Remmel, J. R. Carter of Pen
nington, Dr. Wm. Thomason, of Grand
Glaise, I/. B. Mason of Bradford.
The duties of the committee are to
encourage the building of good roads
in Jackson county and lend every aid
possible to the development of senti
ment for better highways.
INDUSTRIAL COMMIS
SIONER SEEKS LOCA
TION FOR FACTORY.
J. IT. Mara, industrial commissioner
of the railroad administration, with
headquarters at St. Louis, is seeking
a location for a dimension mill to be
operated by a big chair company. Mr.
Mara would help locate the mill
in Newport if a sufficient amount of
timber can be assured for a ten years’
run at five million feet per year. The
company would buy timber from land
owners or purchase timber land
wherever possible.
In yesterday’s paper it was Sta*q4-'»afcs*
that James Buchanan, who conducts
a lumber mill on Black river, would
positively erect a mill in Newport. •
We wish to correct the statement and 1*1
say that Mr. Buchanan will move his
mill to Newport if a suitable location i
can be secured, freight rates adjusted ' |
and a switch built to the site of his
proposed mill. Mr. Buchanan is one
of the best mill men in this section, *
and it is hoped that he will be sue- . ;
| cessful in his efforts here.'
■ ; • ■ $ *. -/f
W. J. Robertson was down from '
Swifton yesterday and made this of- ;
fice a pleasant visit. He has been a *
subscriber to the Independent since;;
its establishment eighteen years ago : l
and says he never tires of reading it. ‘i
Mr. Robertson comes to Newport to ! | .
do much of his trading and says many
persons from his section of the coun- ■ v"
ty would visit our city more frequent- i|
ly if the roads were in better condi- Jj *
tion.
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NEWPORT BUSINESS + |
FIRMS ARE LOSING A I
MONEY. £ fi'J
— V
As remarkable as it may ^
seem, there are still a few ^
firms in Newport whose bus- ^
iness managers do not be- ^
lieve in advertising. Such ^
firms are losing money for ^
that reason. They probably ^
are making expenses, and ^
even earning some profits, ^
but they are not reaping the
benefits which a well direct- ^
^ ed advertising campaign ^
4 would give them. We are ^
^ glad to say, however, that ^
^ Newport business men are ^ r
^ advertising more than ever ^
^ before. That is explained 4
^ by the fact that they have ^
^ come to realize that it pays ^
^ to advertise—the Independ- ^
^ ent has proven that it pays. ^
^ A year from now more ^
4b business firms will be adver- ^ J
^ tising, because it takes time
4b to bring men to realize their
^ short-comings. And; a year ^
^ from now the Independent ^
4b expects to be printing eight ^
^ pages—all home print—ev- 4)f
4b ery day, because Newport 4^
4b will be bigger then and the ^
4b merchants will have learned 4^
4b more about advertising. ^4t
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