Volume I
Number 6
THE STATE
A Weekly Survey of North Carolina
Kntmd ■■ Mtond-rUM natter. Jun* I. 1933. si tlie I’ottoflire »t luicljh. North Carolina, ond'r the Act of Uarch 3. 1879
July 8
1933
The Low-down on "Pete" Murphy
Some Inside Information on the Man Who Is in Charge of the Eighteenth Amendment
Repeal Drive in North Carolina
★ ★
The Hon. Walter Murphy sat in his
office at the Carolina Hotel in Raleigh,
with his coat, hat, collar and necktie
discarded and his shirt unloosened at
the neck. A blue shirt.
Two stenographers — both of them
red-headed — pounded away at type writ-
tors. They represent the present office
force of the Association for the Repeal
of the Eighteenth Amendment, of which
Mr. Murphy is executive secretary.
“How come,” I asked him, “that your
name is Walter and everybody calls
you Tele'?"
“It dates baek to the time I spent
at the University,” he explained. “We
were reading Das Ralte Here, which
was one of the books prescribed in our
course of German reading. The leading
character in the book is Kohlenmonk
Peter. I was on my feet, translating a
certain passage, and had just spoken
the word ‘Kohlenmonk Peter’ when Poss
Ransom, who was sitting directly be¬
hind me, jabbed a pin into a very ten¬
der part of my anatomy. I let out a
terrific yell, and members of class ragged
me about it for some time afterwards.
One of the consequences of that episode
was that they tagged the name of
‘Peter’ on me, and it’s stuck to me
ever since.”
Pete reached over on his desk and
picked up a paper with which he fanned
himself vigorously. It was u mighty
hot morning. As active head of the
fight to put across repeal of the Eight¬
eenth Amendment, he is going to be
somewhat in the spotlight for the next
few months, and a good many people
have asked what kind of a chap he is.
He’s interesting. He was born in
Salisbury ’way back in 1872, which
makes him 61 years old, according to
our figures. After graduating from
School at Salisbury, he went to the Uni¬
versity of North Carolina, where he
made quite a name for himself. He
established the University Tar Heel
100% DISAPPOINTMENT
According to John Umstcad, the
following comment concerning the
advent of beer in North Carolina,
was made a short while ago b/
Old Mon Dave Kerr, who is super¬
intendent of the Champion Fibre
Company's plant at Conton. Said
Mr. Kerr:
"Everybody is disappointed in
beer. The preachers are disap¬
pointed because folks aren't lying
out on the sidewalks, dead drunk—
and the drinkers arc disappointed
because they can't hold enough
to get drunk."
★
and also the Alumnae Review. After
completing his regular course, he was
secretary at the president’s office for
a couple of years or so. And for six or
seven years he was a member of the
University football team. Played cen¬
ter. That was the first team the Uni¬
versity ever had. The late Stephen C.
Bragaw was captain.
When he got through with the Uni¬
versity, Pete went back to Salisbury,
where he started practicing law, and
he’s been practicing ever since, with the
exception of such time as he has spent
at the State Legislature.
As a legislator, he is one of the most
active that North Carolina ever has
had. He has been a member of seven¬
teen sessions, including special ones,
and he was speaker in 1914 and 1917.
He is married and has two children — a
.son and n daughter. The son is Spencer
Murphy, of the Salisbury Post, and the
daughter is Miss Elizabeth Murphy,
who is just as attractive as her daddy is
homely.
An outstanding characteristic is that
he sticks out his tongue occasionally
while he’s talking, and licks the left
part of his upper lip with it. Watch
him the next time he’s on his feet, and
you’ll see how he does it.
He is one of the smoothest speakers
that there is in North Carolina, al¬
though Clyde Iloey probably would con¬
test him rather closely for this honor.
The words — er-a — I mean to say —
nnd-uh — and others of that type, can’t
be found in Pete’s vocabulary. He never
hesitates for a word, and he ran string
out a list of adjectives until they look
like frankfurters, all hooked up to¬
gether. It was he who engineered the
passage of the bill in the last session
of the legislature, calling for a conven¬
tion to consider repeal of the Eighteenth
Amendment. If he hadn’t handled that
matter very carefully and very diplo¬
matically. the thing would have flopped,
absolutely. But Pete bided his time.
As a time bider he is very good indeed.
And when the psychological moment
arrived, he introduced the bill, had it
passed in the house, and then slapped
it over to the Senate, where it also went
through without any difficulty.
CONTENTS
OF SPECIAL FEATURES
The "Low-down" on Murphy _ 1
What’s Goins on in North Carolina 2
Chas. H. Dickey . . 3
Picture
Раке
. 5
Industrial News . 6
Editorials _ 10
Ben Dixon MacNeill . . . 13
The Most Considerate Man . 16
Book Reviews . . . IS
One Thing After Another . 19