dfl
15 32 ,
Box " 11 • . : *. : :•;
THE PRISON
PUBLISHED MONTHLY ,
В К
77/E STATE PRISON DEPARTMENT
VOL. VI
THE STATE’S PRISON, RALEIGH, N. C., JANUARY 1, 1912
No.l
MORE THAN FIVE HUNDRED
RECEIVED REMEMBRANCE
Prison Christmas Activities Garnered
High Commendation From Inmates
Keen attention and real interest held more
than five hundred members of this caged
colony, quiet and serene, Sunday afteriloon,
December 27th, when a large number of
interested friends from the citizenship of
Raleigh, journeyed here and presented a
Christmas program, exceptionally well ren¬
dered in every particular, that appealed to
many responsive hearts; wiped away the
bitter tears of melancholy and seemed to
lift every one, present, to a bigger and
better way of thinking. A beautifully decor¬
ated Christmas tree afforded a most pleas¬
ing back-ground for the entire occasion.
After the opening song, “Swing Low
Sweet Chariot,” sang by more than three
hundred colored seceders, prayer was offer¬
ed by J. H. Weathers, a long time friend.
A mixed quartet from Edent'on Street Me¬
thodist Church choir, composed of Mrs. Le-
Roy Theim, Mrs. Barett Wilson, Mr. Wilson
and Mr. Harvey Maness, accompanied on
the piano by Mrs. J. P. Pillsbury, sang
several beautiful Christmas Carols. Mr.
Wilson rendered a baritone solo, which, along
with the superb presentations of the Christ¬
mas Carols, appealed impressively to the
entire audience.
A class of five little girls under the dir¬
ection of Miss Lilly Mae Scruggs delight¬
fully entertained with their childish voices,
singing sweet songs of old Santa. Mrs.
Jas. W. Fuller with her two daughters,
Misses Lavina and Hilda, lured the audi¬
ence further into the spirit of the occasion
with strains of sweet music from the cornet,
cello and piano. Mrs. Reeves came with a
class of children from the Methodist Or¬
phanage and in an excellent manner pres¬
ented several readings intermingled with
song.
Rev. Louis S. Gaines preached a short
forceful sermon from John 3: 16. In a
clear, ringing appeal he presented two
thoughts, “Oh, Lord teach me to know
myself and teach me to know thyself”.
One of the most noticeable things about
the splendid occasion was the attentive re¬
sponse given by the entire body of inmates
and their words of commendation.
An Old Bible Printed 1834 Bears
Gen. Sherman's Comments.
Christmas Rooster Dinner QUEER SANDHILL STORY
Young roosters, some three hundred or "SCOTCH CAPITAL-
more, just stepping • out bowed to the
supreme eventuality the day before Christ¬
mas, when Steward Bowen Dorsey ordered
their execution preparatory to the serving
of a good Christmas dinner with all of its
requisites on the Day over which Santa
Claus holds head place.
There was rooster roast, rooster dressing,
rooster this and rooster that, but the* best
of all was the rooster pie. In spite of the
fact that the opinion once held that rooster
meat was fit for nothing but chicken salid
there are over five hundred inmates ready
to say that nothing yet can touch the
delicious taste of young rooster pie. There
are several things all put together that
made this dinner what it was. Mr. Dorsey
evidently had had previous experience in
dealing with young roosters and knew about
the astute taste derived from such a dish.
The men in the cook room certainly knew
their business when they joined together
all the seasoning. The boys on the farm
where the roosters were groomed certainly
lenew how to manage them in their adolescent
period. Every body around this prison
colony knew their “onions” when they stuck
their feet under the Christmas dinner table.
Speaking for seceders the Prison News
wishes to thank Mr. Dorsey for the splendid
Christmas dinner.
LISTEN SON
“Listen, son: I am saying this to you as
you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under
your cheek and the blond curls stickily wet
on your damp forehead. I have stolen into
your room alone. Just a few minutes ago,
as I sat reading my paper in the library, a
hot, stifling wave of remorse swept over me.
I could not resist it. Guiltily I came to your
bedside.
“These are the things I was thinking, son:
' I had been cross to you. I scolded you as
you were dressing for school because you
gave your face merely a dab with the towel.
I took you to task for not cleaning your
shoes. I called out angrily when I found
you had thrown some of your things on the
floor.
“At breakfast I found fault, too. You
spilled things. You gulped down your food.
You put your elbows on the table. You
spread butter too thick on your bread. And
as you started off to play and I made for
By Col. Fred A. Olds
A new angle on the last days of the
“War between the States” is here set out
by the writer, in the way of a queer story
of the North Carolina Sandhills; a leaf
from the writer’s note book.
We are bound for Raeford, the county-
seat of Hoke, and jolly Mr. T. B. Upchurch,
who is to be our host, is at the bus station,
at Fayetteville, in his automobile, waiting
to take us to “the haven where we would
be,” so we go on past the dainty “communi¬
ty-house” in the middle of the street and
climb “Haymount,” where the old U. S.
arsenal used to be, until the Federals burned
it in March, 1865, and then the 22 miles to
one of the most Scotch communities in all
the United States; the home of the “God-
blessed Macs,” as they are fondly termed.
After “lunch” the writer was taken to the
excellent public school, which “sits pretty”
next door to the court house, and there for
an hour told stories to the children; until
the time came for the “talk” before the
very active “Woman’s Club” of the town,
of which Mrs. Upchurch is the president.
The writer had brought a fine letter to the
Woman’s Club from Mrs. Alexander Webb,
of Raleigh, eldest daughter of the late
Major General Robert Frederick Hoke, for
whom the county of Hoke was named, in
February, 1911. It is next to the “Baby
County” in the state; Avery holding the
latter honor. The writer told the splendid
story of General Hoke’s life and services,
as soldier and citizen, and developer of his
state. He was the officer selected by Gen¬
eral Robert E. Lee to succeed the latter in
case he was incapacitated for service in the
army.
Raeford is named for its very numerous
MacRae family, and for Mr. Williford, who
gave the site for the court house. The
first and last syllables of the two names
gave the word. The school site is the gift
of Mr. J. W. McLaughlin, and is set in
splendid long-leaf pines; in this respect
perhaps unique in all the State. Mr. Up¬
church was one of the early settlers in
Raeford. His wife is a writer of poetry.
The Woman’s Club, of which she is the
(Continued on
росе
four.)
(Continued on puce three)
(Continued on pace four)