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VOLUME 73 Subscription: $3.00 A Year; $4.00 Out Of State, 10? Per Copy WARRENTON, COUNTY OF WARREN, N. C. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1969 NUMBE R 41
WHERE TORNADO STRl'CK AT BETHLEHEM CHURCH
Time Of Terror
Tornado Strikes Near Eaton's Ferry
WIND DESTROYS NAVE OF BETIILEMEN CHRISTIAN CHURCH
BROKEN AND IIP-ROOTED TREES IN TORNADO'S PATH
ACROSS THE KOAD. NORTH. WIND SCATTERS DEBRIS
. 3' SHSBMt
B.v BIGNALL JONES
A tornado, which struck first
In the Vaughan section around
2 o'clock on last Thursday
afternoon and leaped to the
Lake Gaston Bridge area, caus
ed thousands of dollars worth of
damage to buildings and trees
with the greatest damage occur
ring in a half-mile stretch from
Bethlehem Christian Church to
a point a short distance south
of Eaton Ferry Bridge.
Due to the widespread area
anything like an accurate esti
mate of damage is hard to de
termine.
The greatest loss occurred to
Bethlehem Christian Church
whose front part was broken off.
A nearby hay barn belonging to
A, S. Bugg was blown away.
Just this side of the Church
Grey's Store had part of its
roof and the back part of the
building blown away. In the yard
of the store at the time was a
Pine State milk truck, which had
its windshield blown out, and re
cords and money taken away by
the wind. Two hundred yards
northwest of Grey's Store, part
of the roof and the windows of
a dwelling house had been de
stroyed, and a short distance
northeast the winds had twisted
and torn down a section of pine
woods and Friday afternoon it
looked like'a bulldozer had cut
a path some 50 yards wide and
two or three hundred yards
deep In these woods.
Friday afternoon the writer
followed the path of the tornado
as well as it could be follow
ed on the highway and other
roads and with a short trip
on foot. He talked to many
of those who suffered loss, who
witnessed the tornado, and
with those who knew five minu
tes of sheer terror as the
tornado struck the buildings
they were inhabiting. It took
hardly more than five minutes
for the storm to pass over, but
they were a terrible five minu
tes, several of the persons in
volved said.
The tornado seems to have
originated just south of the rail
road a half mile west of
Vaughan where It damaged sev
eral buildings, leaped about a
31 lie and a half where It dam
aged more buildings and trees
and then again touched town near
Grey's Store and the timbers
bordering Gaston Lake. From
there it crossed Gaston Lake
lifting a sheet of water 50
feet Into the air, according to
a man who was fishing beneath
Gaston Lake bridge. Heavy
rains proceeded and followed
the tornado, but witnesses said
there was little or no rain when
the tornado struck.
At Vaughan the homes of Sam
Powell and George L. Bullock
on the old Macon-Vaughan dirt
road were struck by the twis
ter. At the home of Powell a shed
attached to the rtahla and part
<X the stable was blown away.
His neighbor, George Bullock,
had the top of his stable blown
away and his smokehouse de
stroyed. - ; l :
? nearby Vaughan a resident,
who insisted that Us name not
ha uqed, told of seeing the horl
big Ay and timbers aad tin
circling in the wind. He wi
the timber and tea from
on the Powell m
.jF^?.-V'V
Commissioners Consider
Sunday Sale Of Beer, And
Wine Only In ABC Stores?
Air Strip To Be Built
At Old Airfield Site
Plans are underway for a
2,000-foot air strip to be built
on the site of the old Airport
between Warrenton and Macon,
Frank Reams, County Industrial
Director, told the board of coun
ty commissioners Monday
morning when he appeared be
fore that body to request a
small amount of financial
assistance from the county.
Reams said that the strip
would be 100 feet wide and 2,000
feet long which would be large
enough to handle all business
type planes and some small
jets.
He SEld that Hal Connell had
agreed 'o sub-rent the property,
which he rents from the W. H.
Dameron estate, for $150
a year. The strip would be built
and maintained by the local
National Guard Engineering
Company for only the cost of
deisel fuel. In addition the
county might be required to pay
for drainage pipe between the
road and the strip. He esti
mated that this would cost
around $68 and expressed the
hope that the state would pay
for this pipe. At the most, he
said, building the strip would
hardly cost the county more than
$250 the first year, and $200
each year thereafter for the
lease and fuel oil used in main
tenance.
He said that the Cochranes,
who are presently grading land
here for a furniture factory,
have their own plane, and many
prospects for other Industries
use their own planes. In ad
dition, he said, It would be a
great convenience for many
persons visiting the county. At
present these persons have to
use the airstrip at Oliver Davis'
development on Gaston Lake,
some 15 miles from Warrenton,
the Roanoke Rapids field or the
Raleigh-Durham Airport. He
said the airstrip would not only
be a great convenience to per
sons now having business in the
county, but would be a further
Inducement In attracting other
Industries to the county.
The commissioners agreed
that the air strip would be a
great convenience to the county
and Is badly needed but said,
| unfortunately, the county does
not have any money budgeted
for this purpose and does not
know where they could find the
money. They agreed, however,
if any surplus was left at the
end of the fiscal year to reim
burse the Industrial Commis
sion for funds on hand and al
lotted for other purposes. No
minute was made of "the gen
tleman's agreement," which
should Insure the building of
the strip.
The commissioners placed In
the 1969-70 budget the sum of
$1,000 to be used toward the
extension of sewer and water
lines to industrial sites in the
county. Selby Benton, presi
dent of Bute Development Com
pany, appeared before the com
missioners to Inform them that
a quarterly payment of $250
was now due Hal Connell for
work at Norlina, and to request
that the remainder of the bud
geted fund be given first
priority and allotted to Bute
Development Company for
water and sewer lines to Coch
rane Furniture Plant, where
construction is to start soon.
The commissioners agreed
after Frank Reams, Industrial
Director, had told them that
there was no chance that any
other funds for this purpose
(See AIR STRIP, page 4)
Norlina And Warrenton
To Play Here Friday
The Norlina Blue Waves,
In a re-bulldlng program, will
be seeking their first win and
the John Graham Yellow Jack
ets will be seeking to again get In
the win column following Its
loss to Loulsburg, when the two
teams meet on the John Gra
ham Athletic Field on Friday
night.
The Yellow Jackets have a
record of three losses and one
win. They have lossed to Park
View, Weldon and Loulsburg,
and a high scoring win over
William R. Davie. Park View,
Weldon and Loulsburg are un
defeated and are leading their
conferences.
ivh m jii 1
LEDELL
Policeman
Replaced
By Town
William Ledell, 36, of Roa
noke Township, has been ap
pointed Negro policeman (or
the Town of Warrenton by
the Board of Town Commission
ers. He succeeds Theodore Wil
liams, who has served in this
capacity since July 1.
Williams resigned to accept a
position as Deputy with the War
ren County Sheriff's Depart
ment, succeeding Theodore
Vaughan, recently released by
the county.
Ledell has had two years
police <_yperience with the Mili
tary Police in Germany. He has
recently been self-employed
as a carpenter. He is a grad
uate of John R. Hawkins High
School.
Ledell is married and the
father of five children. Mrs.
Ledell is employed at the Jay
Too plant at Littleton.
wneuier wine sales snouiu oe
restricted to the ABC stores
and whether beer should be sold
in the county on Sunday may be
determined by the Board of
County Commissioners at their
November meeting.
Off-premises sale ofbeeriji
the county on Surday has been
permitted for some time in Ma
con as well as at Middleburg
in Vance County.
Tommy Blanks, operator of
Blanks' Minute Mart on the
Norlina Road, told the commis
sioners at their meeting here
Monday morning that this works
a hardship on country mer
chants. He said that it is not
so much the loss of profits from
beer sales as it is the loss
of sales on other products. Cus
tomers buying beer often buy
gasoline, bread, luncheon meats
and other merchandise. Know
ing that he does not handle
beer they do not stop but go to
Norlina, he said.
Charlie Williams, who oper
ates a store in the Snow Hill
Community, was before the
commissioners at their Sept.
meeting asking that the com
missioners permit the sale of
beer on Sunday, and using the
same arguments used by
Blanks at the Monday meet
ing. Williams was also pre
sent at the Monday meeting
and added his support to Blanks'
plea.
The commissioners told
Blanks and Williams thai the
county commissioners had no
authority over the sale of beer
in Incorporated towns of the
county, and agTeed to table any
action until the next meeting
so that more thought could be
given the matter. Williams're
quest at the September meet
ing of the board had also been
tabled for the same reason.
After Blanks and Williams
had left, John Brltt of Hender
son, State ABC officer for Vance
and Warren County and Sheriff
Clarence Davis appeared before
the commissioners to give their
views at the request of the
commissioners.
Brltt told the commissioners
that Sunday sale of beer would
greatly simplify the enforce
ment of the ABC laws, as both
beer and wine Is being Illegally
sold In the county on Sunday.
Law enforcement officers know
this, he said, but It Is very dif
ficult to catch the violators. He
recommended thai should beer
sales be permitted in the county
on Sunday that it should not be
permitted during church hours
and thai only off-premises per
mits be issued.
Britt further recommended
that all wine sales be restrict
ed to the ABC stores. Sale of
cheap wine is one of the coun
ty's biggest problems, he said,
(to explained that most of the
cheaper wine. is made from
<*>?} of wbiafcermanHfacture
with enough alcohofr added to
bring It up to 30 per cent
alcohol. This makes a me an type
(See BEER, page 4)
Youth Program To
Be Combined Here
The youth program In four
churches of Warrenton will be
combined.
At a special meeting in the
basement _ of the apartment
house of First Baptist Church
on Monday night, youth coun
selors from the Baptist, Epis
copal, Methodist Churches,
along with some of the youth
leaders, met and voted to com
bine the program in the four
churches. To be known as the
Community Youth Fellowship or
CYF, the program will in
volve some 70 young people,
ages 12 through it-. ?- '.y
The group will be divided Into
two sections with ages 12
through 14 meeting at the Meth
odist Church and IS through 18
meeting at the Baptist Church.
Counselors from all churches
will help to coordinate the
program and lead In the acti
vities.
The first meeting will be held
on Sunday, Oct. 12, at 6 p.m.
Viice County Bond
Refuses To CfcaRft
A number ot parents from
Warren County am and be
fore the Vance County Board of
Education at * called meeting
last Tuesday night request fog
that their children remain ta
1 The board took no
reverse its )
Oaaaty by Oct. 1,<
H
Peeler Tells Procedure
After Pupil Withdrawal
Supt. J. R. Peeler of Warren
County Schools has written par
ents of Warren County school
children entered In Vancr- Coun
ty Schools and then withdrawn,
explaining procedure that fol
lowed. The letter follows:
It has been brought to my at
tention that a number of par
ents whose children have re
cently been denied admission
to Vance County Schools are
stating that I was responsible
for the action taken by the
Vance County Board of Educa
tion. The purpose of this latter
is to present the facts in the
case. They are ss follows:
1. The superintendent of
schools and-or the Warren
County Board at Education had
nothing to do with the children
being assigned to thft* Vance
County schools and to the sub
sequent denial of enrollment by
the Vance County school auth
orities. The entire decision was
Tarn
If;
; %?* r '
Education being responsible for
their attendance In a school.
3. Vance County school auth
orities did not ask the Warren
County Board of Education for
an agreement on assignment of
pupils; therefore, any exchange
of teachers between the two
units was Impossible. Teachers
are allotted by the State Board
of Education. The controller of
the State Board of Education
Informed me (without Inquiring
If we tad a surplus of teachers)
that the St*e could not legally
allot Vance County additional
teachers because of the court
order of Judge Algernon Butler,
(See PEELER, page Q
CORRECTION
Malvern Halthcock, Jr.,
president of "Concerned Citi
zens of Warren County" said
that the account of the delega
tion'* Hpeenaoe before the
Board ot Education last
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