Telephone Gy6-3283 Ten Cents Louisburg N. C? Tuesday, September 9, 1969 (Six Pages Today) 100th Ye?r Number 59
Town Council Groans,
Snaps, But Fails To Bite
Although the minute book makes
no mention of it, the Louisburg Town
Council meeting here Friday night
revealed that some Council members
are grossly dissatisfied with the way
things are being run.
A reliable source said the matter
came up when Councilwoman Lois
Wheless expressed her dissatisfaction
with a number of things pertaining to
the town government operation. The
source said Mrs. Wheless told the
Council she was not satisfied with the
way the town was being operated,
saying the town is dirty, there is a
need for better recreation facilities and
there is a lack of organization.
Councilman Grover Harris, Jr. add
ed his views to the discussion, the
source reports^ by saying "We might as
well burn the ordinance books for all
the good they're doing". Harris re.
portedly pointed to an ordinance pass
ed unanamiously about 18 months ago
which forbids the dumping of boxes
on town streets and sidewalks between
late afternoon and early morning. The
law was passed because winds blew the
trash, it was reported.
According to the report, Town Ad
ministrator E. S. Ford was instructed
at the time to write letters to all
merchants informing them of the or
dinance. Harris is reported to have told
the Council his check of this two
months later revealed that the busi
nessmen had no knowledge of the new
ordinance. Harris said, according to
the source, that Ford replied to his
question as to why letters had not
been sent by saying that he (Ford)
didnt know he was supposed to write
letters. Harris contends that the or
dinance has never been enforced and
this is apparent. He also said there are
a number of other ordinances not
being enforced, according to the re
port.
Councilwoman Breattie O'Neal is
said to have joined Mrs. Wheless and
Harris in expressing her dissatisfaction
with "the way things are being run".
One report quoted Mrs. O'Neal as
saying, "The town is being run in a
haphazzard way and I'm tired of It and
I'm going to see that some changes are
made"
Pedestrian Killed
County Gets
Sixth Highway
Fatality
A 57-year-old Route 2* Franklinton
Negro became Franklin County's sixth
road victim of the Year Sunday when
he was struck and killed on NC-56
about three miles west of Franklinton.
The man, identified as Eck Green
was struck by a car driven by Ral
Alston. 36, of Butner, N. C. about
1:15 A.M. Sunday, according to re
ports.
Franklin had experienced an 84-day
death-free period on its highways prior
to Sunday's accident, the first pedes
trian killed this year. The last road
fatality took place on June 14 when a
20-year-old Negro was killed in a single
car accident just east of Pilot. The
county went 97 days from January 24
to May 1, this year without a road
death. The modern record of raod-free
deaths was set in 1965 when there
were 119 days without a fatality.
Nine persons were killed on Frank
lin highways last year and five had
been killed at this same period a year
ago.
The source said that Councilmen
Jonah Taylor, H. D. Jeffreys and
George T. Bunn are believed to favor
retaining the present Town Adminis
trator. Mayor V. A. Peoples reportedly
told the council if it was ready to
clean house, he was ready in Friday's
meeting. Mayor Peoples said he knew
nothing about the move of the three
councilmen prior to the meeting. Mrs.
? O'Neal reportedly told the Council
that a visitor here recently commented
to her that this was "the dirtiest town
she'd ever seen".
The source reports that the Council
agreed to bring in an Institute of
Government expert to study the situa
tion and to make recommendations.
This action was not recorded in the
Council minute book and one council
member expressed doubts that it "will
ever be done".
Other actions by the Council,
which were made a part of the
minutes, included pay hikes for 16
town employees ranging from in
creases from $80 per week to $90 for
some supervisory personnel to hikes
from $49 to $55 for unskilled
laborers.
A motion by Mrs. O'Neal and
seconded by Harris was approved and
authorized the Town attorney "to
proceed with the necessary steps to
organize a public housing authority for
the Town". A claim for damages suf
fered in a fall on a town sidewalk by
Mrs. Effie G. Wheeler was denied by
the Council and bids were ordered for
a new street sweeper and a new police
car. ? ' ? I
Monday Avg. $74.39
Leaf Prices
Good Here
Prices on the Louisburg Tobacco
Market averaged $74.39 Monday as
the sale of this year's golden leaf
moved into its second week. The three
local warehouses sold 295,354 pounds
for $219,830.28, according to William
Boone, Sales Superviser. Two local
houses registered the exact same aver
age Monday, an event which Boone
termed unusual.
Total pounds sold through last Fri
day's sales reached 1,219,910 for a
total receipt of $882,408.58 and an
average of $72.33, according to figures
supplied by the Sales Superviser.
Flue-cured tobacco prices improved
Monday on markets in North Carolina,
South Carolina and Virginia, the Fed
eral-State Market News service report
ed.
Most grade averages on the South
Carolina-Border North Carolina mar
kets showed gains ranging from $1 to
$3 per hundred pounds over last
Thursday's levels.
On the Middle Belt, increases
amounted to $1 per hundred in most
instances and were centered on leaf
and smoking leaf. Blocked sales con
tinued at most markets. Quality im
proved as a small percentage of non
descript and more smoking leaf was
offered. More than two-thirds of the
sales consisted of leaf and smoking
.leaf.
Weather
and not a? warm today with
showers. Wednesday, fair and mild.
Low, around 70; high, low 80s.
Local Green Hill Country
Club Hit By *30,000 Fire
Fire, believed caused by lightning
during a heavy thunderstorm here Fri
day night,' inflicted between $25,000
and $30,000 damage to Green Hill
Country Club. Heaviest damage was
suffered in the furnace room, the
locker rooms, bar and pro shop. The
ball room, kitchen and parlor areas
were damaged, for the most part, only
by smoke and water. The ceiling and
roof over the west portion of the
building was burned almost com
pletely away.
Club President L. C. Hasty gave the
damage estimate following the blaze
and said the club was "adequately
covered by insurance". Louisburg Fire
Chief R. G. Person, Jr. said he believed
lightning ran down a wire to a switch
box inside the furnace room and start
ed the blaze. The fire is believed to
have started during one of the worst
electrical storms to hit the area in
years.
Franklin Sheriff William T. Dement
discovered the blaze shortly after 7
P.M. when he had stopped at a hearby
farm equipment firm. "Hie blaze
caused a burglar alarm to go off and
the siren was heard by Dement and
others at the equipment place. Dement
said he could see the smoke before he
traveled the relatively short distance to
the club house. He said he had dif
ficulty reaching the local fire station
due to his car radio not functioning
properly and had to go to a nearby
phone to call in.
Fireman Joe Perry reports the
alarm came in at 7:20 P.M. and Chief
, Person says his crew left the scene
around 9:30 P.M. Person expresaed his
appreciation to fire units from Bunn,
Justice and Epsom and said without
their tankers the fire could not have
been extinquished without con
siderably more damage to the struc
ture.
The 18,000 gallon capacity swim
ming pool, located directly behind the
club house had been drained the day
before following the closing of the
swimming season. This left the facility
without any adequate water supply
with which to fight the blaze. Person
called for the rural units as soon as he
arrived at the scene and by the time
the Louisburg tanker was dry, Justice
arrived to take up the fight. Person
said he did not call Centerville because
it is a practice never to call all county
units. Centerville, he explained, was
left on standby for any possible blaze
In areas usually covered by the units
engaged In the Green HID fire fight.
Some club records snd minutes of
meetings of the clubs Board of Direc
tors were lost along with a number of
sets of golf clubs and shoes and bags
belonging to individual club members.
Many items were damaged In the pro
shop which is operated by Club Mana
Pro Shop Damage
i
ger Louis Wheless. His operation was
reopened in the dining area Sunday
afternoon.
Chief Person said that "traffic con
gestion hampered firemen in their ef
forts". Another reliable source re
ported that Louisburg Police Officer
Lewis Evans was actually struck by a
spectator's car as he attempted to
direct traffic in the small area fronting
the club. One fire tanker operator said
an unidentified man stopped his car in
the middle of the narrow club drive
and got out and would not move to
allow the tanker to get in to the fire.
Others said a number of cars belonging
to spectators had to be pushed aside to
allow the fire equipment td get to the
blaze. No arrests were reported of any
of the violators and no estimate of
what additional damage this situation
might have caused.
Hasty said Sunday that damage
would be repaired as readily as possi
ble.
Roof Gutted
Dog Warden Gets Suspended
4-Month Jail Sentence
Franklin Dog Warden Tyree Lan
caster was found guilty in two cases of
assault and a third charge of inter
f erring with an officer in performance
of his duty in District Court here
Monday. A third assault charge was
dismissed on motion of the defense
attorney.
Judge Linwood Peoples sentenced
Lancaster to be "Confined in the
common jail of Franklin County for a
term of four months snd assigned to
work the roads of the state under the
supervision of the Commissioner of
Corrections. Sentence suspended for
six months on condition defendant
remain of good behavior; not violate
any laws of North Carolina for six
months and pay into the office of the
Clerk of Superior Court the sum of
$200 for the use and benefit of the
Town of Centerville, N. C. for pur
poses of law enforcement and that he
pay the costs".
Lancaster had been charged with
assault with a deadly weapon on
Bobby Deb nam, 18; Cloice Burnette.
Jr., 18, and Rufas Jones, 16, during an
affray at Centerville on Saturday night
and early Sunday morning of August
16-17. The youths and others were
reportedly disturbing the community
with automobiles and one report said
at the time they were drag racing. No
charges were lodged against any of the
estimated 25 youths gathered at the
scene for racing. Two were charged
with reckless driving.
The charge against Lancaster for
assault against Jones was dismissed snd
he was convicted on the other two
assault charges Monday. He was also
found guilty of interf erring with State
Trooper C. G. Todd.
Urged To
Check Cards
The tobacco markets In this area
opened Tuesday, September 2. All
producers are urged to check their
tobacco marketing cards sfter each
sale to determine If ssles have been
deducted from the card correctly.
After each tobacco sale, farmers
?hould pick up their tobacco market
ing cards from the warehouse since it
Is against regulations to leave cards In
the poanssion of warehousemen unless
the farmer has tobacco on the ware
louae floor that has not been sold.
i.
Lancaster's son, Jerry, was found
guilty of simple assault against Deb
nam and was taxed with a fine of $20
and court costs. Lancaster's brother,
James, was hospitalized and the six
charges against him were continued
until September 22.
The Dog Warden, accompanied by
three Centerville citizens, made an
appeal to the Board of County Com
missioners in the regular meeting here
September 2 that he not be discharged
from his job. Reliable sources reported
at the time that some Commissioners
had expressed intentions of suspending
Lancaster until the outcome of the
trial was seen.
The Lancaster?, had contended that
they were unable to obtain a State
Trooper to come to Centerville on the
night of the incidents and had at
tempted to break up the disturbance
themselves. Kranklin Sheriff William T.
Dement and Trooper Todd arrived
around 1 A.M., it was reported.
Dement said he was not called and
Todd was busy near Bunn with a
drunk driver and an auto wreck when
' he was informed he was needed at
Centerville.
Centerville Mayor John Neal, who
spoke to the Commissioners in Lancas
ter's behalf, said things are better at
Centerville now and praised the High
way Patrol for their work in curtailing
what Neal and Fire Chief L. S. Ward
indicated was a serious racing problem
in the area.
Twenty Arrested For
Hunting Baited Field
Twenty dove hunters were arrested
Saturday and charged by federal and
state game officials with hunting a
baited field. Using a helicopter to aid
in the capture of the host of hunters,
agents of the federal and state wildlife
departments struck at the lx S. South
erland farm off N. C. 39 -the Bunn
highway near Louisburg-and the John
Wilson farm In the Margaret Gom
munlty.
Heading the federal agents was
Special Agent Lupton with the hell
copter pilot and two assistants. Head
ing state agents were E. D. Chin,
District Supervisor, Wade Redgteter,
Assistant Supervisor and Burley A.
Clark, Franklin Game Warden.
Arrested and charged with the mis
demeanor, which carries a state max
imum fine of $60 and a federal max
imum of $600, were the following:
Steve Leonard, w/m/19, 1210 E.
Green St., Frank linton; Robert Lee
Burger, Jr., w/m/23, Route 1, Frank-,
linton; William E. Trent, w/m/34,
4628 Reuse Drive, Raleigh; Mac Beck
ham, w/m/18, 104 Field St., Franklin
ton; J. E. Neville, Jr., w/m, Box 809,
Butner. N. C.; J. E. Nelville, Sr.,
w/m/53, Church St., Creedmoor and
Heniy Davis, w/m/32, Box 284, But
ner, N. C.
Abo arrested were: Steve Andrews,
w/m/17, S22 Inglewood, Raleigh, N.
C.; Wllbem Andrew*, w/m/38, 5212
Inglewood, Raleigh, N. C.; Harold Jen
kin*, w/m. Box 502, Butner; Joseph
demon Coley, w/m, Rt. 1, Louisburg;
Charlie Graham Holmei, w/m/22, 304
N. Main St., Louisburg; Aubrey S.
Tomlinaon, Jr., w/m/26, 306 E. Noble
St., Louisburg; and Wesley Franklin
Jackson, w/m/30, 206 Joyner St.,
Franklinton.
Others arretted include James
Ralph Umberlake. w/m/25, 321 Noble
St., Louisburg; Flnley Snipes, Jr.,
w/m/21, 1006 Salem St., Wilson, N.
C.; William J. Parker, Jr., w/m/23,
6315 Nancy St., Wilson; Laurence
Douglas Mercer, w/m/21, 812 lYinton,
Wilson; Harry Drew, Jr., w/m/21,
1119 Park Ave., Wilson and WIDiam
Tltchenok. w/m/19, 1118 Wataon
Drive, Wilson
Trent and the two Andrews paid
off charges of (10 fine and $16 court
costs, according to Clerk of Court
records. *"
' The Southerland farm was re
portedly being rented by Ransom
Stone, Route 1, Louisburg farmer at
the time of the arrests. Oftkan claim
the fMds were baited to allure dovsa
there for the kill which is In violation
of the law, according to one source