Volume XXXIV. —No. 6.
County Agrees T * t Lease
o \_
Hospital Back T, Board
Chowan County commissioners Mon
day adopted a resolution of intent which
will lead to the new county hospital be
ing leased to Chowan Hospital, Inc., for
20 years.
Chowan Hospital, Inc., a non-profit
corporation, agrees to transfer all its
property to the county.
All property, once the sl-million in
hospital bonds are sold, will be leased
to the existing hospital board of trus
tees for “‘construction, operation and
maintenance”.
W. J. P. Earnhardt, Jr., hospital at
Ibe public parade
And So It Goes
Each January aliens must register with
the State Department. As a matter of
convenience, this little chore is handled
on the local level by another federal
agency—the U. S. Post Office.
Recently a woman appeared at the
counter here and asked for an alien
card. The clerk turned to obtain the
necessary document, then had second
thoughts.
“Weren’t you born in this country?”
he inquired.
“‘Oh, yes sir,” she replied. “But this
is for my son. You see, he is ailing
something terrible and I want to fill out
one of those cards so he can get some of
that insurance.”
Well, you can’t win ’em all!
Good Question Raised
Preliminary plans have been made by
Chowan County Board of Elections to
have a new registration and establish the
loose-leaf system for our election books.
The new registration would be con
ducted prior to the May S Democratic
Primary.
However, Roy L. Harrell, who twice
ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Eden
ton, has requested that the board aban
don plans for the new registration. He
claims the best system would be to trans
fer the name already on the books.
In a letter to the elections board, Har
rell states:
“I would seem to me that our first
interest would be to keep as many good
citizens on our books as possible, and I
am sure you can see that we stand a
chance of from ‘o’ to ‘loo’ per cent not
going back to re-register.
“It would seem to me that our first
( for this gamble. I think our last elec
tions have indicated that both Chowan
County and Edenton have become as
“politically healthy’ as it has been in
many a year.
“I say, if they wanted to vote and
got on the books let’s do everything we
can do to keep them there. I am all
for clearing our books, and getting them
up to date, but we have many ways to
do this without having our good citizens
to go through registering again.”
We think he has a point.
Complete new registrations are costly
to the county and inconvenient to the
citizens. However, if this was the only
route available to purge the books, then
we would favor it.
There can be a purge of existing books
when the names are copied on the new
loose-leaf cards. There might be a few
that slip by but very few since our regi
strars personally know most of the people
in their respective precinct.
The board of elections should take
another look at this problem. All ave
nues should be explored with the com
plete new registration being the last one
to travel.
Lots Os Good
Well, we went up to Elizabeth City
Saturday night to meet the Secretary of
Agriculture and find out what he is do
ing for the fanner.
A press conference had been planned
for 6 P. M. Since not many public of
ficials welcome such a confrontation, we
were little surprised when 6:15 came and
the bright lights for the TV cameras
had not been turned on.
But it wasn’t Orville Freeman’s fault.
He was trapped in a receiving line and
by the time be had passed so many pleas
antries, he was prepared to face the re
.' posters. Moreover, be was ready for the
THE CHOWAN HERALD
torney, presenU %'t resolution which
had already beer, r? ' ed by the board.
He and Jesse L. -1, hospital board
chairman, said the plan followed the rec
ommendation of Medical Care Com
mission.
During the discussion, Commissioner
Dallas Jethro, Jr., inquired: “Suppose
we want some changes made (in the
hospital board or operation)?
Earnhardt replied: “Your way of par
ticipating will be through your appoint
ment of members to the board.”
Thomas Surratt, hospital administra
tor, pointed out that the commissioners
now name two members to the board
and the combined boards or representa
tives name four members-at-large.
“‘You now have a fairly good repre
sentation,” he added.
It was explained that the hospital
board is currently composed of 12 mem
bers. The commissioners appoint two
and one each is appointed by Edenton
Town Council, Board of Public Works
and Chowan .Medical Society. A com
mittee composed of representatives of
these four groups appoint four addition
al members. The remaining three vot
ing members are the chairman of county
commissioners, the mayor and hospital
treasurer.
Harrell said: “I don’t see any im
provement that you could make to get a
good representation from throughout the
county.” He did assert that some dis
cussion is being held concerning limiting
the number of terms a board member can
serve.
The attorney said if the county wants
to go into the hospital business, no mem
ber of the board would object. To this
Harrell added: “Whether you lease it to
us or carry it yourself, I couldn’t care
less.”
It was explained that the federal gov
ernment requires that assurance be, given
that a facility will operate for the stated
purpose before federal participation can
be assured.
Voters in December, 1967, approved
the sale of bonds for the construction of
a new 60-bed hospital. Option has been
exercised on a 25-acre site next to Cho
wan Medical Center.
Preliminary work is now underway and
it is expected that the bonds will be sold
within the year.
Hi %
■k. A
TO SPEAK Os CHOWAN—SIate Agricul
ture Commiuionar Jama* A. Graham will
be principal speaker at Hie annual Edenton
Chamber of Commerce Peanut Banquet
February It. The 7 P.M. banquet, honor
ing the top 50 producers in Chowan County,
will be held at Rocky Hock Community
Building. T. C. Byrum, Jr_ is chairman
of the Agriculture Committee and Earl
Smith is handling arrangements for the
banquet
Graham, Mabe Chosen To Compete For Student Title
John Graham, Jr., and Jeff Mabe have
been selected as Outstanding Teenagers
of America for 1967.
The students, nominated for this hon
or by John A. Holmes High School, will
compete for state and national awards in
the program. They were selected on
the basis of ability and achievement.
John Putnam, president of the Out
standing Americans Foundation, has said
it is the goal of this awards program “to
recognise and encourage the ability and
achievements of today’s young people.
They are America’s leaders of tomor-
Graham is an outstanding Senior at
Holmes High. He is president of the
He is a member of the
Edenton, Chowan County, N. C. 27932 Thursday, February 8, 1968.
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FI ECTRIC SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS—Four qiant transformer* were put into place at the Freemason Street substation of Eden-
S^Sf , tStmaJdS.«£!r In the bottom picture are the "four black cats" as they rest on the* pad.
Local Electric System Being Improved
“The three black cats have increased
in size and become four.”
This was the smiling statement of
Supt. Richard N. Hines of the Electric
& Water Department, during an inter
view this week.
Action Taken To Provide Offices
a a w Jh -A
A request from Edenton-Chowan
Board of Education for an administra
tive building was denied by county com
missioners Monday, who moved to ter
minate the lease on a portion of Hotel
Joseph Hewes Building and renovate a
Claims Decrease
There are currently 70 less people here
filing claims for unemployment insur
ance than last year at the same time, ac
cording to R. E. Cheek, office manager
in Edenton for Employment Security
Commission of North Carolina.
Cheek said this indicates better eco
nomic conditions in the area.
In a report of activities during Janu
ary, Cheek said 142 new applications
were taken, 66 from women and 26 from
veterans. There are now 382 applica
tions on active file.
Eighty people were referred for jobs
during the month and 48 actually se
cured positions.
Personnel in the office conducted 57
job counseling interviews, mainly among
high school seniors.
Overton Winner
C. J. Overton, Jr., of Edenton, has
been named eastern regional winner of
the N. C. Wildlife Federation’s award
in the field of wildlife conservation.
Overton is district supervisor with
the Protection Division of the N. C.
Wildlife Resources Commission.
D. Station Inscoe, chairman of the
N. C. Conservation Education Founda
tion, announced the winners.
National Honor Society.
He has lettered in football and basket
ball at the school, is art editor of the
ik' H*
John Graham and Jeff Mate
P»|j ML
Hl.**«#>/
Edenton’s electric system is undergoing
a sizable improvement and up-rating of
facilities.
Between March 9 and 16, 1968, the
first steps in this direction are scheduled
to be completed. This will mark the
i k 3 1 ■ •‘i -4
part of the structure lo p. w ; . 4he
school superintendent with office space.
Commissioners listened as school board
members and Supt. Bill Britt outlined
the need for additional office space.
Dr. Edward G. Bond, chairman, said
space is needed for a minimum of 10
offices and the board has looked into
several different locations. After find
ing nothing suitable, the board had a
preliminary plan made that was accept
able to them.
He said it was for 2,700 square feet.
The estimated cost is $50,000.
Bruce F. Jones, a school board mem
ber, said more space is needed now be
cause of federal programs. “The super
intendent has more people directly under
his supervision,” he added.
Other board members expressed the
urgency of the situation.
Chairman W. E. Bond assured school
officials that commissioners are aware
of the need for additional space. “Some-
Contlaaad 4
State School Term Being Discussed
The North Carolina school term runs
for 180 days per year. With the excep
tion of summer terms in some systems,
buildings stand idle one-fourth of each
year. Are we being inefficient and
wasteful? Are children being short
changed in getting an education?
Business does not operate in this fash
ion. Neither do schools in most places
outside the United States. In 51 foreign
countries, the average elementary school
has 210 days; the average secondary
school has 204 days.
The Governor’s Study Commission bn
school paper, circulation editor of the
yearbook and is a member of the Glee
Club.
He is an Eagle Scout and holds mem
bership in Order of the Arrow.
Graham is an outstanding youth leader
in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
Mabe, a junior, is the son of Mr. and
Mrs. Glenn Mabe. Like Graham, Mabe
is an outstanding academic student.
He is a member of the school band
and plays football. He is a member of
the National Honor Society, sports edi
tor of the school paper and vice president
of the Student Council. .
MW is an Eagle Scout and vice chief
of the Order of the Arrow.
He is an active youth leader in Eden
ton Methodist Church.
ms&t
Single Copy 10 Cents
completion of a double circuit line from
Jackson Street to Granville down Free
mason Street.
The conversion of Jackson Street Sub
station to a switching station, and a
change of voltage level purchased from
VEPCO from 4160 volts to 12,470 volts
will be made. The installation of trans
formers and facilities at the Freemason
Street U>la.t, completed i
Thi■!> con. < ru-.tion work and cutover
has been jc o.nplishtd by the E&W De
partment personnel at a cost of $65,000
which is well under the engineer’s esti
mate of $72,000 for this phase of the
work.
This makes possible further up-rating
of the facilities which at present can han
dle 5,500 Kw. This will be changed to
a 20,000 Kw level. To reach this, how
ever, will entail considerable more con
struction work and it is anticipated most
of it will be accomplished by the De
partment’s personnel between now and
1975.
Engineering estimates covering this
work amount to $491,000.
Edenton’s electric system’s past growth
rate supports the basic 15 per cent per
year increased used by the engineer to
anticipate the needed 20.000 Kw level by
1975.
In 1908 when the Town Council took
steps to make available to the citizens of
Continued on Face 4
v
the Public School System is currently
studying the feasibility of keeping schools
open year-round.
One plan under consideration would
divide a school year of 11 months into
four equal quarters. All schools would
be closed during July. About 75 per
cent of the student body would be in
school during any given quarter. The
remaining 25 per cent would be on vaca
tion. Or, a child could elect to attend
school for all four quarters and finish
high school in three years.
The advantages, economically, are con
siderable. Teachers could go on an 11
month contract. If 75 per cent of the
pupils are in school at any given time,
schools could reduce their staffs by 25
per cent. Likewise, available building
Cwtlnatd an Pace d
The Chowan Herald is coopera tint with
the Governor's Study Commission in at
tempting to find oat what the people
thiwfc of some of the issues about the
schools. What do you think of the pro
posed four-quarter plan? Send your re
sponses directly to the Governor’s Study
Commission on the Public School System
of North Carolina, Box 22, Baleifh'
North Carolina 278 M.
I have children in school. I favor
the four-quarter plan.
1 do not have children in school.
I favor the 4-qnartsr plan.
1 favor the jrmsat^syntein^fjl
1 faverwrtnndhac the school term
«• M moths.