Watch The Label On Your
Your Subscription E z p i r e a.
Paper, As It Carries The Date
THE ENTERPRISE
Advertisers Will Find Our Col
Homes Of M ? r t i a County.
umni A Latchkey To Over 1.600
VOLUME XLIII?NUMBER 35 WUliamtton, Martin County, North Carolina, Tue$day, April 30, 1910. ESTABLISHED 1899
Two-Weeks' Term
Of Superior Court
Ended Here Friday
Deed Upheld by the Court in
Case of Williams Versus
J. H. Harrell
The special two*weeks term of the
Martin County SupenorCourV caU
ed for the trial of civil ca?f ?"ly (^'"
SvarS
the tribunal after getting .? to ?
Slow start the 'tn'^eek accomplish
ed much during the second week"*
removing a goodly number of cases
'^i.'rolTh.rd-fought cases and
delayed decisions by the jurymen
featured Z activities of the court
cases hokhng the )urors^n session for
against J. H Harrell, the jury, after
deliberating five hours decded m
favor of the defendant. Its verdict
was accompanied by recommenda
Uo", offered in behalf of the plain
tiff however. In the first issue,
the plaintiff have sufficient mental
capacity on March 25, 1939. to ex
ecute a deed to the defendant?' the
ecuie a , the second
jury answered Yes. 1
issue "Was the execution of
homeland garden nowtKTup?d<
hv the plaintiff. The jury recom
provt^ t'heVa^ntiHw^h'mrtteiSnt
a note by deed of trust or by cash
settlement. and a
mistrial ordered in the case of A. E
James against Mrs Minnie Leggett
3"in"the"case of Fannie Hassell
against J E. Pope, administrator of
William Hassell. the court approved
settlement of the estate by payment
lb the plaintiff Reporting to the
court that full ^ttlement could be
effected at once, the administrator
explained that a claim to a portion
r Mctate had been tmtered toy <?
B Williams, allegedly the
mate son of William
tffe Rdl^uate. reputedly valued at
sets,1!
mln^^'noT^he ?
land versus Beliflower case, the
to receive *284 eacn, j s-ii??heth
aon and Ora Johnson and Elizabeth
fngsagainst Leonard Holliday and
M D Wilson was non-suited as to
plaintiffs, a settlement having been
reinhthebcater^mpanul D. Roberson
rassse&s
er^Cthe,Cplamt.ff to sell certain
rhe cases '" p uJifferV
Two Hurt In Truck
Wrecks In County
Two persons were painfully hurt
and one or two others slightly
scratched and bruised in two road
accidents in the county last week
end Property damage was listed
slightly in excess of $150,
Kenneth Harris, young grandson
of Rev. Tom Harris, suffered a brok
en collarbone last Friday afternoon
when the car driven by the minister
and in which the boy was riding, was
struck by a Standard Oil Company
truck driven by Theodore Gurgan
us. Mr. Harris was driving from his
home into North Haughton Street
when the truck came over the crest
of a hill and plowed into his car.
Damage to the car was placed at
$137 and that to the truck at $15.
Last Saturday afternoon Mrs. Jane
Perry, aged white resident of Wil
liams Township, was painfully hurt
when she was thrown from a horse
drawn cart to the highway near
Sweet Water Creek. She was able to
be up yesterday, but it was said that
she was suffering right much from
the injury. Mrs Perry was thrown
to the ground when the cart in which
she was riding was struck by a log
truck driven allegedly by W C.
Bedwell. The truck driver did not
stop and when he was arrested by
Patrolman Whit Saunders, Bedwell
declared that if he hit the cart he
did not know it. Going in the same
direction, the truck driven by Bed
well is said to have sideswiped the
cart on the curve just beyond the
creek, the driver declaring that he
could not have heard the impact as
the truck was rattling badly.
At a hearing before Justice Has
sell here yesterday, Bedwell was
bouhd over to the superior court for
trial under a $100 bond.
Reserved Juniors After Tomorrow
After tomorrow evening, the 46 young girls and
boys pictured above will be recognised as a group of
reserved Juniors. The 1939-40 sophomore class is one
of the largest In the history of the school.
Seated?Joseph Gurganus. Robert Jones. Joseph
Warren, James Car row, Theron Gurganus; J. B.
Taylor. Jimmie l,eggett, fiennie Weaver, Frank Lil
'ey.
Second?S. K. Edwards. Fatsy King, Alice Belle
Jenkins, Betty Hoard, Nannie Manning, Beatrice
Cherry, Sarah Grimes. Madelyn Taylor, Audrey
Hardison. Mary O'Neal Fope. Annie Gurganus. Kena
Howard. Evelyn Griffin, Mrs. S. R. Edwards:
Third?Daisy Straw bridge. Betty Rose Gurgan
us, Elisabeth Ward. Bessie Newbern;
Fourth?Josephine Daniels, Mary Warren, Millie
Biggs, Garnette Swanson, Nellie Gurganus, Mamie
Coburn;
Fifth?Emma Belle Ward, Myrtle Jones, Jack Sul
livan;
Sixth?Gelmer Gardner, Clarence Revels, Ellis
Chesson. W. A. Roberson;
Last?James Manning, Jim Critcher, George Cor
ey, Irving Gurganus, Stephenson Grimes; Fabain
Barnhili, Carlyle Langley, Irvin Cullipher.
County Liquor Sales.
Continue To Increase
FOR COMMISSIONER
-j
Mr. C- C. Firming. Jamesville
business man farmer, is a candi
date to succeed himself ax coun
ty commissioner for the James
ville-Williams district.
Youthful Singers
Heard Here Friday
Making their annual appearance
in the local high school auditorium
last Friday evening, members of the
Oxford Orphanage Singing Class
were well received by a huge and
appreciative audience. Offering an
entirely new program, the class of
fourteen members headed by Mrs
Sadie Hutchinson, executed their
"parts well, especially the drills.
While the attendance was large, it
was not up to the mark reached a
year ago when the youthful perform
ers appeared here. There were com
paratively few adults in the au
dience, but thuse few along witn the
children enjoyed the program.
No admission fee was asked, but
the audience and spenal .solicitations
by leaders of the Skewarkey lodge,
sponsors of the program, raised $90
as compared with $80 a year ago.
Rev. John L. Goff led the assem
bly in prayer and R II Goodmon,
master of the local lodge, briefly ad
dressed the audience and expressed
his appreciation for the attendance
and offering
Making an early start the next
morning, the class went to Hyde
County's coastland to continue its
tour of the state.
Total Of $620,728.45
is Spent For Spirits
Since Stores Opened
l-iixl (Quarter Sale* Arc lairgt-r
Were u Year Ago
I.egal liqu?r consumption in Mar
Triv County for the first quarter ttrtr
year measured in terms of dollars
was $6.312.20 larger than it was in
"the?first "Three months or Itnjt), the
recent sales being the second largest
for any first quarter on record since
the stores were opened in July, 1935
It is estimated that the four legal
liquor stores sold nearly 5,000 gal
lons of the liqtud during the three
months or about 950 gallons more
than were sold In the first three
months of last year. Measured in
terms of barrels, the last quarter
sales stood right at 100 or 19 more
than the sales for January, Febru
ary and Mutch of 1939
A break-down of the audits for the
first quarter in 1939 and the corre
sponding period in 1940 shows the
comparative sales for the two per
iods, as follows by stores:
1939 1940
Williamston $13,705.25 $16,303,85
Robersonville 6,581 40 9,331.15
Oak City 2,889.10 3,364.35
Jamesville 2 231.30 2,719 90
Totals $25,407.05 $31,719 25
On tlie profit side of the ledger, the
legal stores during last quarter made
their second best showing for the
particular period since the stores
were opened nearly five year# ago
The total profits now stand at $137,
585.41, the last quarter earnings
amounting to $7,703.77 as compared
with $5,768.68 a year ago. The last
quarter profits were slightly larger
than they were for the correspond
ing period in 1938 when the sales to
taled $33,325.62
Net profit, reported by stores, is
as follows lor tne IkSl qukilel. WII
liamston, $4,257.58; Robersonville,
$2,207 58; Oak City, $723.29; James
ville, $515.32.
The apportionment of profits is
shown in the audit for the period as
follows: Town of Williamston,
$813.35; Town of Robersonville,
$485.38; Oak City, $167.89; James
ville, $135.77; Martin County, $3,
183 81; Reserve for law enforcement,
$529.57; State of North Carolina, $2,
(Continued on page six)
Farmers Make Plans to Start
Setting Leaf Crop This Week
Their operations delayed by unus
ually cold weather during the past
week or ten days, Martin County far
mers today are making preparations
for the transplanting of their tobac
co crop on an extensive scale. Re
ports from the field late yesterday
and today point to a busy period in
the tobacco fields beginning the lat-j
ter part of this week. However, the
plans now being advanced are sub
ject to two possible factors of an ad
verse nature. Blue mold can upaet
transplanting plans and cold wea
ther can cause further delays.
Attacking plant beds in spots ra
ther than eausing damage in whole
communities, the blue mold this sea
son is proving a baffling problem.
One farmer, reporting an conditions
in his community, stated that he had
several beds, that blue mold had
attacked one and had not appeared
in the others. In the one bed where
the mold was present an extensive
damage resulted, the farmer stating
that the plants were killed down to
the bud, that a delay of two weeks
in transplanting was certain even if
the plants survived the attack. The
damage caused by the mold is said
to be more disastrous this year than
at any time since 1931,
Several farmers, starting to trans
plant their crops, were forced to stop
before they were half done with the
task, the blue mold reducing their
plant beds to mere scalded spots.
Individuals are certain to exper
ience a shortage of plants, but this
county as a whole is almost certain
to have an ample supply unless the
blue mold damage becomes more
.widespread and more disastrous
Reports state that transplanting ac
tivities are fairly general over a
widely scattered area in the county
at this time.
CANDIDATE
Mr. Joshua L. Coltrain, until
recently a member of the Mar
tin County Welfare Board and
former county commissioner, is
a candidate fbr commissioner
from the Jamesville-Wllliams
district.
Two WPA Projects
Arc Still Pending
Plans for enlarging the public
cemetery and extending water and
sewer lines -here in cooperation with
the Works Progress Administration
are still pending, Engineer Henry
Rivers said yesterday. Maps and
cost estimates have been placed in
the hands of WPA district office but
no report has been made by that or
ganization's engineers.
However, it was learned that prog
ress was being made proposed
project calling for the extension of
the public cemetery and that its ac
ceptance by the Raleigh and Wash
ington offices was expected. The
project calling for the extension of
local watfr :inH vi.u/f.r u/n? r.nt.
lined by the town engineer and en
tered with the WPA office on April
12th. I
A&ked ibuui the?progress being
made on the street improvement
project already underway in coop
eration with the WPA, the town en
gineer said that the workers were
moving about as fast as they gener
ally do on similar projects in other
towns.
Democrats Plan
T o Participate
In Conventions
While no treat interest has
been expressed in scheduled
Democratic precinct meetings for
May 4, reports state that the
county convention in the court
house here will attract poseibiy
a record attendance on Saturday,
May iL
There may be no factional
fight centered on a third-term
movement for Roosevelt, but
Martin County Democrats, if
preliminary reports are to be
considered, are planning to take
no chance and will attend the
county convention in numbers
with the definite idea of sup
porting a third -term movement
for Roosevelt. Other reports
state that more interest is being
shown in organisational polities
than in years.
Martin County is entitled to 26
votes in the State Convention
convening in Raleigh on Friday,
May 17, and it Is believed that a
large delegation will represent
Martin County there.
Local High School
Closes 19411 Term
Tomorrow Night
Dr. Frank. Graham To Deliver
Commencement \?lilre*?
\i 8:15 o'C.loek
The local high school w ill bring i
ta a successful close the 1939-40,
term tomorrow evening at 'a I
o'clock when the thirty-four grad- ,
uates receive their diplomas and join
with their parents and patrons in
hearing Dr. Frank Porter Graham,
nationally known educator and Uni
versity of North Carolina president.
deliver the commencement address
The appearance of Dr. Graham on
the program is to be recognized as a
climax in the high school career of
the twenty-one young ladies and
thirteen young men. It is the first
appointment for the university man
m this county and a record attend
ance upon the exercises is anticipat
ed
Members of the graduating class
of Williamston High School for
1940 are Misses Virginia Williams.
Lily Belle Hardison. Ray Leggett.
Nancy Biggs. Maude Taylor. Caro
lyn Lindsley, Katherine Manning,
Marjorie Grey Dunn. Lucile Cowan, i
Mary Ruth Ward. Eleanor Brown.
Anne Ruth Moore. Edna Earle James.
Louise Grimes, Janie New ton. Mary
Gwen Osborne, Dare Perry, Marie
Perry, Grace Jones, Katherine V ork,
Monteria Hardison aiul Warren
Pope, Raymond Rawis. Juan (. rot
ton, Joseph Thigpen, J E Uoykin.
Stuart Critcher. Haywood Wynne. K
"T TTardTsoh. Martin Anderson. A.
v M .noitiii
j naiuiavui,
thur Anderson. Jerry Manning.
Frank Weaver, JamesJ3am?i?hchoU_
sonTXiUle Bobby Manning is mas
Thts evening at 8 15 o'clock in the
high school auditorium, the seniors
will hold their class exercises which
"will be centered around the theme.
?America's Place in the World " The
program follows
Introduction by class president,
E Boykin; Salutatorian, Marjorie
Dunn, "America's Place in the
World ". Class history. Stuart Critch
"Pi-ogress of school Athletics. Jo
scph Thigpen: UovernnieilT.Tt Boil
ics Carolyn Lindsley, Clubs. Maude
Taylor; Solo, "The Trumpeti-cr. .
Juan Crofton,
Prophecy: Prophecy, Nancy lligg*.
? Snirit of America," Janie Newton;
Agi n ulturr; Hay wnmT =Wyrmrr
Church, Edna Earle James, Democ
racy, Lucile Cowan; Unemployment,
Dare Perry, Medicine. Ruth Moore;
Last Will and Testament, Martin
Anderson; Announcement of Class
Gift class president; Class Song, sen
ior class; Valedictorian, Katherine
Manning, "The Promise of Tomor
row" "God Uless America, Au
dience.
The program for the graduation
exercises tomorrow evening at 8.15
o'clock was nil used today t? Pi"'~
el lint D. N. Hix. as follows
Processional. Girls' glee club, sen
iors, seventh grade, "Lullaby. Mo
zart, Girls' gjee club; "Soldiers of
the Captain," Spohr, Boys quartet,
introduction of speaker, EU? i I *?
Peel; commencement address, ui
Frank Porter Graham, president Uni
versity of North Carolina;
Presentation of Diplomas, presen
tation of certificates of merit; presen
tation seventh grade certificates, an
-nouuu mint uf special aw-mls. Hugh
Horton; benediction.
Paul Auto Supply
Firm Locates Here
The Paul Auto Supply Company,
one of the largest distributors of au
touiohlle parts and accessories in the
State, is opening a store in the Bow
en Brothers building hen on Wash
ington Street tomorrow Mr Frank
F. Siephenson, until recently head of
oL the company's branch in Green
ville, will be in charge of the new
store here, it was announced.
Handling a wholesale business only
the company will stock a complete
line of automobile parts in its store
here and offer an improved and
quicker service to local patrons and
to those who can be ideally served
from this, a recognized logical dis
tribution center.
Registrations Off To
Slow Start in County
SPEAKER
Paul Ciradv. one of the seven
democratic candidates for gov
nor, will deliver the Farm l.ifc
commencement address Friday
afternoon at 2:30 o'clock
Rev. Jas. H. Smiill
Delivers Sermon to
Local Senior ('lass
Atlcmluticc Report for Sun
day Schools ami livening
Srrvirrs (riven
REV. JOHN IIAKHY, Rector.
Church Of The Advent
The people of Williarnstoo were
not given ^an opportunity on Sunday
by the weather h> have a religious
icution hut many of them took ad- I
intage of the union service at thof
high school to declare line
11 is the custom each year for all
of the churches to dispense with their
morning service on the Sunday that
the baccalaureate sermon is preach
'd at the high si Inml This is a heircr
tiful spirit on the part of the relig
ions bodies, to honor the seniors, yet
the spirit is marred by the i'uiluie of
many to attend the service There
was a fair attendance Sunday, the
auditorium being about two thirds
full.
The Rev. James Smith of the Bap
tist Church preached a most force
ful sermon. He challenged the sen
iors and the other young people pres
cut with the theme of "Christ and
the Young People of Today
The service began with a proces
sion by the choir and Seniors, sing
ing "God of Our Fathers " After the
procession, Miss Ellen Taylor sang
the "Lord's Prayer." hv Malollc^The
cHoir and congregation then sang,
"All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name "
The scripture reading and prayer
were by tin- Rev. John Hardy. For
the special music the girls' trio, com
posed of Misses Catherine Mewborn,
Cut hi nnr Manning and Elizabeth
Parker, sang Mendelssohn's "Lift
Thine Eyes to the Mountains"; and
the mixed, chorus sang Gevaert's
"The Sleep of the Child Jesus "
After thi' sermon ihe choir and
congregation sang, "Fairest Lord
Jesus." Mr Smith pronounced the
benediction and the choir and Sen
iors marched out in recession. The
highlights of the service, which were
well' planned ami minim led, wen?
the sermon and the special music
The attendance -at the scrvi'ce^-m
the various churches Sunday was as I
ollows
ch
Y.P. P.M.
Baptist 125 18 49
Holiness 101 40
Presbyterian
Episcopal
Methodist 78 30 60
Christian 117 65* |
? -Combined Y.P. an<J P M ser !
/ices conducted by Mr. Arthur Bei - j
olet.
Only 1,360 Citizens
Register In County
Precincts Saturday
Voting Sirrngtli Will Hardly
lie liiiilt I p in Time
For May Primary
Martin County's voting power, re
duced to zero by the order of a new
registration, will hardly be built
back to anything like a representa
tive size in time for the May 25 pn
mary judging horn tin- first reports
coming from the precincts last Sat
ui day. Before the books were closed
last Saturday 1.300 citizens had reg
istered. the number representing
hardly one third of the voting pow
er actually expressed in the June.
1038. primary. Political observers de
clared the early activities at the reg
istration points were disappointing,
that unless more interest is shown
in the registration, western North
Carolina Republicans are certain to
make a marked gain in the coming
November election.
No registration troubles were re
potted last Saturday, but in William
ston's Precinct No. 2 several com
plaints were heard, one report stat
ing that the registrar was testing
the qualifications of each person re
porting to enter his name on the
books. 7t was unofficially reported
that a dozen or more were unable to
qualify to the satisfaction of the reg
istrar
Parly reports from the registration
imwaiV thai llie LJeniucTalic Parly '
is gaining a considerable portion of
the Negro voting power so far ex
pressed in the registration. Last Sat
urday, 1.287 white citizens declared
with the Democratic Party, nine
colored persons lining up with the
party in Williamson's No. 2 Precinct
mhis
name'were listed in the Republican
books. An independent registration
?reported ui Kuhrrsonvillo:?but
according to instructions received
by the registrars last week the name
I)
K
l>
R
117
7
0
1
45
0
0
0
80
0
0
U
91
3
0
0
137
1 .
n
I)
183
3
9
0
130
0
0
0
235
8
0
0
42
(I
0
0
45
0
0
0
Q
49
1
0
?u
u
55
0
0
0
1270
23
9
1
*imiv no i'ii
tered in the general .election regis
tration books and nothing will be
heard from him in the primary on
Saturday. May 25
A review ??f the last Saturday reg
istrations follows, bv precincts
jf, White Colored
Precinct
Jame.sville
W illiarns
Griffins
Bear Grass
Williamston 2
Cross Roads
ttobersonville
Gold Point
Poplar Pomt
Hamilton
Hassell
Goose Nest
Totals y
That the new registration will fall
Far short of the voting strength evi
:lenced in the old registration books
is expected, but judging iroin the
first Saturday registration the coun
ty's voting strength will be reduced
more than sixty per cent when com
l<ared with a full count of the names
on the old books.
Just before the old books were
ruled out by an election board order
calling for ,i new registration, there
were 7,479 names on the registration
book.* in Pn * rountyi The number in ?
dude* tin nanus of those who have
moved---away and-those- who have
passed on to thru reward Poasihlv?
i re-listing of the voters' names
would have automatically reduced
the number to u figure little larger
than 6,000 or thereabouts. As far as
(t can be learned no new registration
wis been hold in this county for a
general election in more than forty
years However, the !>ooks have been
altered from time to time to remove
the names of those who had died or
moved away. The alterations did not
(Continued on page six)
Commerce Croup Seeks Law
To Curb Peddling - Soliciting
Holding their monthly meeting last
evening, the directors of the local
Chamber of Commerce discussed the
need for a law regulating peddling
and soliciting in some cases and the
elimination of both in other cases.
Armed with laws passed by other
towns, a special committee was nam
ed to meet with the local town com
missioners next Monday evening for
a discussion of the proposed law with
the view of appealing for its passage.
In the general discussion, the com
merce group directors cited recent
cases where numbers of local peo
ple had literally been robbed in some
cases and where solicitors had creat
ed a nuisance for many housewives.
There was the young woman who
was out selling magazine subscrip
tions lie re not so long ago to earn
money for the purchase of a cork
leg. Quite a few lost their initial pay
ments. There was a man around some
time ago selling common lS-cent
floor-oil mixed with a cheap shellac
preparation for $1 25 a quart. The
problem created by the magazine
sellers was discussed along with the
peddling nuisance, and the board was
agreed'that some action was taken
to curtail this business of house-to
house canvassing While it is possi
ble the passage of the proposed or7
dmance will benefit local merchants
to some extent, the discussion hurt
evening clearly bore out the fact that
the housewife and business man were
in a position to ?hjoy the most bene
fit.
A proposed trade event with a lib
eral offering of prizes was called off
by the directors when it was learned
that postal authorities would not ac
cept advertising material promoting
a lottery.
Th*? commenv seeretary was di
rected'to make a survey looking to a
half holiday for local stores during
the month)i of June, July and Au
gust.
Country Store Is
Robbed On Friday
Tin small country store operated
l>y J. H. Griffin, colored, over in
Williams Township on Highway No.
B4 was robbed some time during last
Friday night. The owner discovered
the robbery the following morning
and. found a goodly portion of his
dork missing. An entrance was gain
ed through a side door where a lock
was fbrced. ' 1
two cartons of cigarettes, two
boxes of candy, two dozen spools of
:otton, a dozen cans of pork and
beuns, a dozen packages of crackers,
a pair of brass knucks and fifteen or
twenty pennies were stolen. Griffin
i-xplained he had the small weapon
there for a purpose.
It was the second time the little
itore had been robbed since early
last fall when cash in the sum of $18
was stolen from the small-scales?r
chant.
Griffin thinks he knows the guil
ty party, but his suspicious
be substantia tad, reports stats.