The Chapel Hill News from Chapel Hill, North Carolina • 1

-Af 1 1 3- li Ji lit $150 a Year in Advance Sc a Copy CHAPEL HILL CL FRIDAY FEBRUARY 18 1927 li VoL 4 No 49 LOUIS GRAVES Editor of Revaluation ABANDON PLAN OF 'TOWN EXTENSION Survey Shows It Would Not Be Good Business for the Municipality NOT ENOUGH NEW INCOME i a The proposal to have an elec- tion on the question of extending the Chapel Hill town limits has been abandoned because a i survey has shown that the expansion of the municipal services would cost a great deal more than the town would get in the form of new taxes The extension of the limits was suggested some time ago and has been discussed by the aldermen and other citizens interested in municipal-affairs The aldermen finally authorized Town Manager Knox to make a tentative map showing the area that might be taken in and also to calculate as accurately as possible the new revenue that might be expected This map is now on the wall of the manager's office The present town is bounded by a red line the proposed larger area by a black line A glance at the map shows that the extension if effected would take in the Pittsboro road section as far out as the filling station this side of the bridge the country club neighborhood the Gimghoul castle all that part of the former Strowd plantation upon which homes have been built running down the hill more than half way to the one-mile bridge and on the north the houses across the ra- vine from Cobb Terrace and the section around the negro school at the end of Church street At the first look the idea of extension seems rather appealing but Mr Knox says that a full consideration of the burden that it would bring upon the A town shows it to be financially imprudent A sewage disposal plant would have to be built many hundreds of yards of twater mains and sewer pipes would have to be laid the town government would have to' resurface existing roads and build new ones and there would be the expense of electric lights hydrants and policing The question reduces itself simply to one of dollars and cents When the outlying areas are more thickly settled that is when the erection of more homes have created new taxable values then it may be decided to ask the legislature to provide for an election on the extension plan This Is the Year This is the year when a revaluation of property for purposes of taxation must be made The law known as the Machinery Act which determines the methods to be employed is now in process of formulation at Raleigh Mr Doughton the commissioner of revenue has been working on it for several weeks In Chapel Hill as in every other community the event is looked forward to with keen interest Since the last valuation was made four years ago there has been much new construction and many shifts in values have taken place Last issue of the Weekly gave a list of the assess Tractors Are a Show Crawling about Stadium Excavation They Annuo Onlooker The three caterpillar tractors that crawl about in the great excavation of the Kenan stadium in the woods south of the University campus are not merely highly serviceable machines They are a show Every day people stand on the hillsides and witness their operations with the same fascinating interest which might be bestowed upon a pageant a parade or a prize-fight These queer-looking things snorting and wheezing now plunging down one slope now clambering up another do indeed look like the ugly little beasts for which they are named But no feat of strength seems too difficult for them to attempt They drag huge boulders over the rough ground as nonchalantly as though they were handling toothpicks At some places the contractor has encountered masses of solid rock which have to be shattered with dynamite A steel rope attached to a tractor at one end at the other entl is wound about a fragment often weighing several tons that has been torn loose by the blast Then the tour across the excavation begins The monster lump is deposited at a low spot where the level of the ground is to be built up and the tractor turns about and goes back for another load The steam shovel the tractors and a dozen or so trucks are making a fast job of ihe excavating Mr Page the superintendent for Thompson Bros spoke this week of the remarkably good fortune they had had in the way of weather He said that not more than half a day had been lost since the middle of January For the two or three weeks the main effort has been directed toward building up a fill where the land falls away into a deep dip at the northeast end of the field This was the only place where nature did not have a ready-made slope for the concrete structure Andrews' Truck Goes On STALLINGS PLAT HERE NEXT WEEK 'The Big Parade" Will Be Shown Thursday Afternoon and Night ORCHESTRA COMES ALONp Laurence celebrated motion picture play "The Big Parade" will come to Chapel Hill next week This "romance of love thrills passion 'and laughter" will be shown twice at the Pickwick Thursday afternoon and Thursday night An orchestra of 15 pieces will play during the show the music program being made up mostly of the tunes that were popular among the soldiers in the World War The touring company includes projector operators electricians and a carpenter The expert personnel is necessary to the precise timing of the music with the films Back of the screen great drums boom at certain times to represent cannon-fire Youths probably University students will be employed to produce these sounds and their movements will be regulated by electric signals from the front of the house America at war in France this is the background of "The Big Parade" Mr Stallings presents the scene and the action with the same rare skill which he revealed in his play "What Price Glory" The two leading characters are Jim Apperson a soldier and Melisande a French peasant girl These parts are played by John Gilbert and Renee Adorce King Vidor directed the production of the films Wcttach Recovers Car Chevrolet Which Wu Stales Found In Kurhy Mount It II Wcttach professor in the University's law school has recovered the Chevrolet sedan which was stolen from him in Durham a few weeks ago The news thatit had been found in Rocky Mount came to him from the theft bureau of the revenue deiwrtmenf in Raleigh He notified the insurance company and the company got the car Mr Wettach was just on the point of receiving the cash in-denmity called for by his insurance policy Thu specified time had claimed and when word of the finding of the car reached him all the formalities except the actual passing of the money hail been disposed of He cannot tell exactly to what extent the automobile has been damaged since it disappeared and so he know (and probably know until he has run it for 'a while) whether he gains or loses through getting the car instead of the insurance money The worst damage is a large hole burned in the front seat apparently the result of the loose handling of a lighted cigar or cigarette Coming Basketball Games This evening Friday February 18 the Carolina Freshmen vs Bingham School in Chapel Hill at 8:30 Tomorrow Saturday February 19 Carolina vs Maryland in Chapel Hill Next Tuesday February 22 Carolina Duke in Chapel Hill Friday February 25 the beginning of the Southern Conference tournament in Atlanta A Talk on Taxes Smith Richardson of Greensboro president of the Vick Chemical Company talked about taxes in Gerrard hall londay evening It is a pity his audience was so smalL for the information he gave and the suggestions he made were a valuable contribution to a discussion of the highest importance at this time in North Carolina The examples of how the present system operates have become fairly familiar to the public through the medium of the newspapers so I will not detail them here His main emphasis was upon the unwisdom of attempting to levy a heavy tax upon "intangibles" such as bonds and mortgages Many editors in North Carolina and others who have expressed themselves on this matter have condemned this form of levy for several years It has been demonstrated a hopeless failure As proof of this -nothing more is necessary than the small total of personal property listed for taxation in the a total which everyone knows is only a minute fraction of what would be taxed if the law were strictly obeyed Mr Richardson is on sound ground when he declares that it would be wiser for thefstate to fix the tax on intangibles at -a rate which would "get them on the books" He cites the experiences of other states notably Kentucky to show that such a course increases the revenue from bonds notes etc and decreases the proiwrtioii of the burden that must be borne' by land One simple illustration suffices to reveal the folly of the present system: A person in Chapel Hill holding a 6 per cent note for $1000 would have to give up about $2750 of the $60 income if the note were listed for taxation under the law In order that a lower rate may apply to intangibles a constitutional amendment is essential since the constitution now requires all property to be taxed at the same rate In passing it may be said that the constitution is violated everywhere and every year inasmuch as land is not assessed at its "truu value in but at a figure hardly ever greater thut 60 er cent on the money value and often much less than that fXAhought Mr Richardson was talking good sense when he at tacked the talk about "North (Continued oh page four Doctors Make a Flying Trip Three physicians from Virginia James Hall Beverly Tucker and James II Royster came into Chapel Hill Sunday evening to fiersuade Dr Mac-Nider to go on with them to the medical convention in Columbia South Carolina He did not want to lie absent from his classes Monday morning so he turned down the invitation But he got off to Columbia Monday afternoon Bynum Has Not Bold Yet The announcement recently published that Southern Dairies Incorporated had acquired the establishments of Curtis Bynum in Winston-Salem and Asheville is inaccurate Or at least premature The company has been negotiating with Mr Byhum for the properties but the transaction has not been completed Chapel Hill Chaff Sometimes I hear people talk of "unseasonable weather pronouncing the adjective in a tone of disapproval Unseasonable weather that is cold is the kind I dislike To me the balmy days of this month have been a delight Within my memory Chapel Hill has never had such a riendly February and far older men than I say they cannot remember its parallel To my readers here in the village I am elling nothing they know already but I feel I must vaunt a bit for those who are in far-off frigid climes It may make them so homesick that they will decide to come back for a while anyway A few minutes ago (I am writing these words-Wednesday afternoon) I was admir-ng the glorious yellow winter jasmine along Mrs Fred Patterson's east wall The pear tree whose boughs almost touch the printshop window is a mass of buds and looks as if it might burst into bloom at any moment The door stands open and now and again I steal away from work to go out on the little stair platform sit on the railing smoke a pipe and look across the street at my old friend Liza Jenkins who was our family servant before I was born pottering around oh her sunny front porch Before supper I will find a quarter of an hour for a stroll through the campus a fine village on a day like this By the time this paean of praise is published we may be in the grip of a blizzard but I do not let that chance disturb me now Bobby House David Hoefer Cameron Murchison and Pemmy Rees the oldest of whom is about seven were seen running at top speed Wednesday afternoon along the road leading west from Park place They crossed Battle lane and kept on to the Arboretum gate People who saw them wondered why they seemqd so excited They came slowly back a minute or two later looking rather disgusted Pemmy Rees explained to an inquirer: "We thought it was a big fire but when we got to the campus gate we found it was just the sunset" Sometimes when I am passing back and forth between home and work I serve as deliveryman for my printshop The -Institute for Social Research was in a hurry for its envelopes the other day and I took 'em bjr on the way to the midday meal As I debarked from the car the (Continued on page our) Legion Post Supper Tonight The Chapel Hill post of the American Legion will have a supper in the Episcopal parish house this (Friday) evening at quarter past six It will be' served by the Legion Auxii iary with Mrs Featherstone in charge Weston quar tet will sing Every Legion member who has paid his dues or who will pay when he comes tonight is eligible to attend this entertainment Collector Here Monday Mayes representing the state department of revenue will be at the Bank of Chapel Hill from nine to five Monday to assist the citizens of Chapel Hill in preparing their state income tax statements He has all the necessary forms Cake Sale Saturday The Junior chapter will conduct a cake sale In the Peoples BaalE Bufldlng Saturday ments upon real estate in Chapel Hill A number of citizens expressed satisfaction that the figures had been laid before the public saying that they would be a useful basis for public discussion of the problem' In 1922 a committee appointed by the town government made the initial assessments Then followed several meetings at which owners were invited to appear and present their views upon the value of their property No doubt the same procedure or one very nearly the same will be followed this year The present assessments are supposed to be around 55 or 60 per cent of market value Thought This Was Duke Phlladelpkisa I at the L'nivenity lie Didst Expert to Attend William performance in one of the Playmakers comedies last week brought out the tale of how this young man happened to be at the University Mr home is in Philadelphia The fame of Duke University impressed him and he decided to become one of its students When he got off the train at Durham he asked a bystander how to get to the University He meant Duke but the person of whom he made the inquiry thought he meant the University of North Carolina and so directed him to the bus station He got on the bus came to Chapel Hill went up to the campus and registered He stayed here two or three days before he found out this was not Duke Then he packed his trunk returned to Durham and matriculated in the institution which was his original choice lie found however that he had come under the spell of Chapel Hill within the short time he had spent'in the village Once more then he packed up and once more made the trip from Durham hither He experienced no further dissatisfaction here he is Playmakers Draw Big Crowd The Carolina program last week was unusually successful They appeared Thursday and Friday evenings Thu favorable report spread about after the first performance brought to the second a crowd that more than filled all the seat The most conspicuously competent acting was that of Miss Josephine Sharkey Charles IJpscomb and Hubert Heffner The troupe 20 strong leaves next Tuesday for a tour of four states to present "Trista" by Elizabeth Lay Green "Old Wash Lucas" (formerly named by Paul Green and "In Kitchen" by Ellen Iay and Wilbur Stout The itinerary is: Siler City Lynchburg Va Farmville Va Louisburg Badin Concord Gaffney Anderson Athens Ga Gainesville Ga and Greenville Miss Katherine Batts will join the troupe for this tour Jonas to Bo the (Speaker Charles Ai Jonas of Lincoln-ton will be the speaker at the Washington's Birthday exercises in Memorial Hall Tuesday at 10:30 So as make the chapel period half hour longer than usual the regular eleven classes will' meet ai 11:35 and continue for only 25 minufcg The exercises are under the auspices of the Chapel Hill Alumni Association Organ Recital Sunday Moaic Program at the Episcopal Church Sunday Afternoon Mrs A Wheeler will give an organ recital at the Episcopal church at five Sunday afternoon Her program is as follows: Sonata No 1 Borowski 1 Allegro ma non troppo 2 Andante 3 Allegro con fuoco Ave Maria No 1 Bos Fountain Revery Fletcher Pan a Pastorale Godard Fugue in minor Bach Meditation Serieuse Bartlett Toccata in minor Nevin The Wrestling Tournament The state wrestling- tournament will be held here next Fri day and Saturday February 26 and 28 On each evening the wrestling begins at seven o'clock While the Andrews-Henninger delivery truck was in front of Garage one day last week undergoing repairs of some sort it suddenly burst into flames The alarm was sounded and in a moment the engine came shrieking and snorting out of fire headquarters only a few yards away The presence on the truck of a big can oil caused considerable anxiety among the bystanders but the fire was put out promptly and the truck has'Jxen going the rounds with its usual fidelity ft i i.