North Carolina Newspapers

PAT PAT WAR BOND DAT rof tranm$?uvt mum THE ENTERPRISE OVtR TMt TO* " FOR VICTORY UNIT 10 suns WAR BONDS-STAMPS VOLUME XLV?NUMBER 47 IVilliamtton, Martin County, North Carolina, Friday, June 12, 1942. ESTABLISHED 1899 Superior Court Will Open Regular Term Here Next Monday Judge John Jay Burney Will Hear Criminal and Civil Cases During Week Opening next Monday for a one week term, the Martin County Su perior Court will hear both crimi nal and civil cases with Judge John Jay Burney, of Wilmington, on the bench. Judge J. Paul Frizzelle, of Snow Hill, was scheduled to preside over the term but an exchange was effected and Judge Burney will come here. Few or no civil cases have been definitely scheduled for trial dur ing the term, and only twenty crim inal cases had been placed on the docket up until late yesterday for trial during next week A review of the docket shows few cases of any great importance, and the court, almost certain to wind up its business and adjourn for the term long before the week is spent, is hardly expected to attract very much attention from the general public. The following criminal cases await the attention of the court: The old case charging Henry Elli son with drunken driving rounds out a full year on the docket, officers stating that he has long since left for parts unknown to them. No disposi tion of the bond in the case is re vealed in the court minutes. The case charging Howard Griffin with forgery, was continued from a previous term. Bound over by the county record er, the case charging Wesley James with bigamy was continued from a previous term, presumably for the defendant to get himself out of the tangle. The case charging Harry Davis with aiding and abetting forgery and with false pretense were also con tinued last seialon. Boatman Bland, charged with larceny, faces the court for trial next week after having appealed from a coUrt. Marvin Smith, charged with reck less driving, is appealing from a lower court judgment. A. J. Hardison, charged with steal ing an automobile, was scheduled for trial in the "big" court when probable cause of guilt was found at a preliminary hearing before Record er Coburn. Charged with carrying a conceal ed weapon, Ben Biggs is appealing from a judgment entered in the low er court records. Given a preliminary hearing by a justice of the peace, Harry Lanier (Continued on page six) ? Current Rationing Plan For Gasoline Has Been Extended llnil Value of Cards Now Held By Motorists Will Be Doubled ? Apparently unable to complete plans for introducing a more rigid system by July 1, Federal rationing authorities advised the Martin Coun ty Rationing Board this morning that the old plan would be extended un til July ISth, the holders of A and B cards to receive six gallons of gas for each unit beginning next Mon day. It should be remembered that the increased allotment per unit is not toward a liberal plan, for the motorist will be expected to make the cards last fifteen days longer than was originally planned, the ra tioning administrators reasoning that by doubling the value of the card for the last fifteen days in June the motorist would have sufficient gasoline to last him during the first fifteen days of July. The new system, which was to have gone into effect on July 1, was delayed in order to train registrars and supply local rationing boards with instructions and material, Price Administrator Leon Henderson said. Beginning at 12:01 a. m. on Mon day, June IS, motorists will be able to get the more liberal gasoline al lowance, the OPA declared. 'The new plan, which replaces the present temporary plan, will apply more rigid and more complete con trol over the flow of gasoline throughout the Eastern shortage area," Price Administrator Hender son said. "This necessarily entails more detailed regulations than were needed for the emergency plan. For this reason, some time is needed to train registrars, and supply local ra tioning boards with instructions and material for carrying out the plan. "We are making every effort to eliminate all confusion in issuing the new coupon books, and make it as convenient as possible for car own ers to obtain their ration." Card holders who have exhausted the units on their present cards by June 18 may apply to a local ration ing board for extra ration. The OPA warned, however, that such a ra tion should be for gasoline needed between July 1 and July 15 only, since the rations allowed by the (Continued on page six) Many County Farmers Plant In Excess Of Tobacco Quotas Despite reported labor shortages and heavy penalties, many tobacco farmers in this county are apparent ly planting in excess of their 1942 quotas, the excess coming after an estimated 90 per cent of the growers took advantage of increased allot ments granted this year over those of 1941 by the farm program. The number of farmers planting in ex cess of their 1942 allotments is far greater than it was a year ago. It is true that the excess acreage for the individual farmer is not very great, but according to an estimate based on 175 cases the total increase over the quota allotment will run into the hundreds of acres. The excess figures range from one-tenth to seven-tenths of an acre in the 63 cases out of 175 checked by the su pervisors to date. More than one out of every three farmers whose acreages have been checked have planted in excess of their allotments. In some communities the percent age of farmers planting in excess of their allotments is much larger, while in other parts of the county there are few instances where the allotments have been exceeded. There are not many cases where the excess was planted intentionally, most of the farmers explaining that they measured their land and think ing they did not have quite enough went ahead and put a few more rows into cultivation. Very few cases have been report ed where cotton farmers have ex ceeded their allotments Farmers planting tobacco in excess are be ing notified and they must plow up or destroy the surplus within 15 days after being notified or pay designated penalties. Cotton farmers, planting in excess of their quotas, have only ten days after being no tified to comply with the program or pay the penalty PREPARING D Apparently there'll be no food shortage In Martin Counyt any time soon, if plans so exacting ly explained to the rationing board here materialise. Yester day, the office handled between 90 and 100 applications for su gar to be , used In preserving fruits and other foods. A family of two, it was stated, claimed they were going to can around 1,600 quarts of food, that they needed about 400 pounds of su gar. The applicant wanted so much sugar that the board clerks delayed action on the re quest. It is possible an lnvesti gatlon will be made to check up on some of the claims for sur plus sugar allotments. The applications for sugar call for from 25 to 400 pounds, most of them asking less than 50 pounds. Probable Cause Of Guilt Is Found In Oxen Stealing Case Gus Cowhii Pleads Not Guil ty At Hearing Held Here On Wednemluy Pleading not guilty, Gus N. Cow an was bound over to the superior court for trial at a preliminary hear ing before Justice J. L. Hassell here Wednesday in the case charging him with the larceny of three oxen from R. S. Critcher on the night of April 20th. Bond in the sum of $500 was required. Reject Eleven White Draftees From County Thirteen White Men Are Assigned Places In Army Recently No July Call for White Draft ee* Ila* Been Received in Tin* County To Date A few weeks ago twenty of twen ty-four colored draftees reporting for army service from this county were rejected on account of physi cal defects or low literacy standards. More recently eleven of twenty four young white men reporting for auny service frum the county weie rejected for the same two major reasons, according to an official re port received yesterday from the Army induction center. The report was not open to public inspection and definite causes for the rejections could not be learned. It is understood that five of the eleven could not or did not measure up to certain educa tion standards, that most of the oth er six were rejected on account of trouble they did not even know about. More than half of them were rejected because of hernia. In those cases where the draftees have remedial troubles, they are continued in the 1-A classification and are subject to call again. No July draft quota for white men has been received in this coun ty so far, and it is understood that no colored selectees will leave this month but that there is a call for col ored" men to be^inswered some time in July. Fairly sizable July calls are being received in other eastern counties, an unofficial report stat ing that Washington County is be ing called upon to furnish two groups of men next month. One call is ior 35 men and the other for about 25, it is understood. Several of the white selectees leav ing this county recently and who were accepted by the Army have al ready been transferred to other lo cations, some going to Mississippi. A furlough had been tentatively ap proved by one of the young men, Luther Harris, but had already been Taking the stand, Mr. Critcher de scribed the steers and told the court that he had them tied in a woods about five miles above Hamilton, that he saw them on the evening of April 29th and missed them the fol lowing day. He tracked them across fields and down little-used roads to a point where they were loaded more than a mile from the place where he had been using them in logging op erations. He valued the three ani mals at $490 H. R. Whitley, one of the main state witnesses, identified two of the steers as those of Mr. Critcher and stated that Cowan got him to help load the animals and haul them to a point a short distance beyond Suf folk. "Cowan told me that the steers belonged to him, that he had only rented them to Mr. Critcher," Whit ley explained. According to Whitley, they went for the oxen late one night, led them for more than a mile to a truck where Josh Pritchard was waiting for them. The three men drove to Virginia where the oxen were sold. Josh Pritchard said he was with Cowan and Whitley and helped load (Continued on page six) SHORTAGE A New York business man Is thoroughly convinced that there is a gasoline shortage. At least all the argument in Washington and the Individual opinions of the wise guys throughout the nation do not impress him a bit. Leaving New York this week, he made it to Baltimore where he found more liquor on hand than gas. After spending half a day there and failing to get a gallon of gasoline legally or il legally, the business man load ed his ear on the boat and made It to Norfolk where he got en ough gas to stake It out of the elty. Stepping at nearly every filling station along the way l?e gradually built ap a small re servo in Us tank by the time he (Continued on page six) Former Resident Passes In Wilson Mrs. Frances Gurganus Anderson, former resident of Williamston, died in a Wilson hospital Wednes day afternoon at 2:30 o'clock follow ing an illness of only a short time. While she had bfeen in ill health for some time, Mrs. Anderson was be lieved to be getting along as well as usual until last Saturday when her condition became serious and she was removed immediately to the hospital. It was not until a short time before the end that her condition was regarded as being critical and news of her death came unexpected ly and as a shock to her many friends here. The daughter of Mr. J. Henry Gurganus and the late Mrs. Gur ganus of this county, Mrs. Ander son was born on December 23, 1906 She attended the local schools and made her home here until 1930 when she was married to Thomas M. An derson and moved to Wilson. Con genial and possessed of a friendly character, she made friends readily, her unpretentiousness and marked sincerity commanding the admira tion of all who knew her. Besides her husband and father she leaves two sisters, Mrs. Henry D. Harrison, of Williamston, and Miss Hennie Gurganus, of Norfolk. Funeral services were conducted yesterday afternoon at 5 o'clock ir the Wilson Methodist Church by hei pastor, Rev. Hugh A. Ellis. Baptis minister, and Rev. H. B. Porter, ol the Methodist Church. Intermem was in Maplewood Cemetery. Wil son. UNCLE SAM BATTLING TO UPHOLD Americas Freedom THE 26TI1 WEEK OF THE WAR Pacific Fleet Commander Nimitz reported two and possibly three Japanese aircraft carriers and a destroyer were sunk, and three bat tleships, six cruisers and three trans ports were damaged in the Battle of Midway Island. All planes on the two carriers definitely known to be sunk were lost. Admiral Nimitz said. One U S. carrier was hit and some planes were lost, but casualties among the IT. S. personnel were light he said Gen. MacArthur reported within six days allied naval and air forces sank seven and possibly eight enemy submarines, two heavily loaded ami -1 ed supply ships and an armed trans port, and also badly damaged a 7,-| 000-ton vessel. Allied losses in the Southwest Pacific were two cargo | vessels. In air raids over Rabaul. Lao. Salamaua, Atamboea, Tulagi, Koe pang and Dili, and Burma, 12 en emy planes were destroyed, one enemy tanker sunk and runways, airdrome installations and parked planes damaged. Three allied planes were lost. The Navy said allied mer chant ships losses totaled 21 during the week, including nine U. S. ships, running the grand total to 254 Production U. S. production of planes has reached the level of "nearly 5,000 a month," and by next year we will have reached the President's goal of 10,000 a month, the Senate Appro priations Committee announced. Army Air Forces Commander Ar nold congratulated the Vega Air craft Corporation at Burbank, Cal ifornia, on being six months ahead of schedule on production. WPB Chairman Nelson, after a tour of the automotive industiy in Deliuil,~said the American industry could "more than double present production by 1944." He also said the Government synthetic rubber program would be able to take care of "all war produc tion and essential civilian needs" by 1944. Despite the fact that almost twice as many light arms are requir ed per man since the development of parachute troops, the army has en ough weapons to arm every soldier in the U. S., and all it can send abroad under present shipping con ditions, War Under Secretary Pat terson reported. He said over-opti mism regarding production sched ules is unwarranted, however, be cause of rubber, nickel, and copper shortages. A record total of 58 ships were de livered into service during May, while 65 other ships were launch ed and keels were laid for 75, the Maritime Commission reported. This compared with 36 delivered and 51 launched in April The President asked Congress for an appropriation of $1,100,000,000 for the WSA to ac quire and operate merchant vessels to carry American arms. Federal agencies asked labor-man agement committees in 800 war pro duction plants to keep American workmen fit and healthy because sick and injured war production workers are now causing a loss of 6, 000,000 work days every month. War Declared against Balkan StatM Tho U. S. declared war against Bulgaria, Hungary and Rumania. The President said the three coun tries previously declared War on the U. S. as instruments of Hitler, and currently they are engaged in mili tary operations against the United Nations and are planning to extend those operations. The Justice De partment said enemy alien restric tions will be applied against nation als of the countries in the United Statse. Assets of these countries here have already been frozen. Foreign Relations The U. S. signed a lend-lease agree ment with China, substantially the same as its aid to Britain, and pro posed lend-lease agreements on the same terms with the Norwegian, Belgian, Polish, Gfeen and Nether lands governments in exile. Lend lease Administrator Stettinius said under the joint control of the com bined boards in London and Wash (Continued on page six) SCRAP RUBBER Going on the air thia evening (or a five-minute talk. Presi dent Roosevelt will outline plana for an extensive scrap rubber drive. Tentative plans are to open the drive next Monday. Collections will be centered at every filling station In the na tion, the sellers to receive one cent a pound. The filling station operators will turn it over to the distributor-dealers who will in turn deliver it to the govern ment. Old automobile tires and tubes, rubber balls and other discard ed items will be acceptable. The campaign Is to last two weeks, and the success of the drive will have some effect on gas ration ing, it la believed. Plaits Are Advanced for Fifth Draft Registration In County Tentative plans were announced this week by R. H. Goodmon, chair man of the Martin County Draft Board, for holding the fifth draft registration in this county on Tues day, June 30th, Eight registration centers will be who has not registered previously is required to register on Tuesday, June 30th. Under the terms of the present Se lective Service Act, those men un der 20 years of age are not subject to military service, but there.is much talk about lowering the age limit maintained, it was announced as follows: Jamesville. Farm Life, Wil liamston, Everetts, Robersonville, Hamilton and Oak City. Those per sons, or as many of them who pos sibly can do so. who handled or aid ed in handling the past registrations are being called upon to volunteer their services again. The new registration is being held for those men in the late teen group. Evrey young man who was bom on or after January 1, 1922. or who was bom on or before June 30. 1924 and from twenty to include those young men eighteen unit nineteen years of age. Those young men who were born between January 1 and July 1, 1922. are subject to call under the present laws, but it is not quite clear how their order numbers will be de termined It is possible that their numbers will be filtered in with those in past registrations. According to the best estimates obtainable, approximately 625 young men will register in this county on the designated day Timely Statement By Returned Missionary Prepares Petitions For Eradication of Liquor from Camps Dr. Chan. Leonard Recall* lli* Kxperiences Before War At lloiiol Villi 1 By I)K. CIIAS. A. LEONARD (Missionary to Manchuria and the Hawaiian Islands) I never thought of drinking until I came to this place," answered fine young man of the army as I tried to lift him up out of his drunkenness in one of^the parks of Honolulu, ad joining which we have a mission. When a handsome Navy man was reminded how r.potloiiM wim his uui form until smeared with yomit, and that a mother and father, and maybe a sweetheart, hack at home were probably praying for him, he re plied with resentment: "Yes, so it is, hut how can you expect a man to do other than drink when liquor is poked out at him on every street corner, in every cafe, and in almost ( very store you enter? There wasn't much one could say to these dear fellows. I, too, felt re sentment, that Americans, simply for the taxes collected, were willing that their sons, brothers, fathers and sweethearts be so tempted and treated! It wasn't long until "M.P.s", military police, came along, beat the men into submission, shoved them into police patrol wagons and carried them off to prison. There they were punished for drinking the very stuff their country desired to sell them for the collection of taxes. A few days before an address had been made at the Honolulu Army and Navy Y M.C.A. to chaplains of the Army and Navy at their month ly get-together dinner. My subject was "Japan's Huthle&Sness Versus America's Inconsistency," I bad been impressed with both, especially dur ing the recent years of more than 30 spent in north China and Manchuria We missionaries, for a long time, warned against the sale of war ma terials to Japan. But some cared lit tle so long as certain Americans were making money therefrom. Others were afraid we would offend Japan. We were sowing to the wind and have since certainly reaped a whirl wind. At that time Japan had not yet .stabbed us in the back with the sword we so willingly placed in her hands. On that score we are now awake to our inconsistency. The equally in consistent sale of intoxicants in and around our army camps and the help thus given to the enemy does not, (Continued on page six) 1 MOSQItlTOKS The mosquito attack contin ues in full fury in this section, hut this community is relative ly free of the pests as compar ed with infestation in the Is lands section of Williams Town ship, according to a declared statement coming from Farmer Frank Barber. Ills property vir tually destroyed by flood waters two years ago, the farmer inti mated that he had just about as soon have the water as the mos quitoes in the numbers they are swarming around him now. "I have seen the time when I had to wipe the mosquitoes off my gun barrel before I could shoot, but now the pests are so the barrel," the farmer said. At no time during the quarter of a century he has been ill the is lands have the varmints been so numerous, the farmer said, add ing that many of them are ma laria carriers. Shortage In Vital Metals Threatens Future Production SliipMuyn Mii> Siaiiil 1.11. aiitl Ammunition Linen Slow Down for iVIeliil Lurk > War production demands have cre ated a shortage <>i materials m the United States that will grow more serums as the war progresses, Wil liam U Baits, chairman of the Re quirements Committee, WPB, and A. I Henderson, newly appointed Di-1 rector <>f Materials, warned both in dustry and civilian consumers June 8th. Mr Batt said he could not over emphasize the difficulties of the job j he has turned Over to Mr. Hender son as his successor as Director of Materials. "As the vast production machine which has created over the last two years swings into action, the diffi culty of providing materials to feed it will become more and more ap parent," Mr. Batt said. "This comes as no surprise to us who have been living with the prob lem. I can sec times ahead when aj shipway may stand idle for lack of steel and an ammunition line may slow down for lack of copper and brass Backbone ()t Dry Season Is Broken Stunting the growth but not ma terially damaging crops, the long dry season in this section has been checked by spotted rains during the past seven days. Widely scattered and of a freakish nature, the rains have fallen so frequently in some communities that framing operations were halted while in other commun ities, just short distances removed, the rains have hardly been suffi cient to lay the dust. Every section, however, has had rain, and the pros pects today for bumper crops are usually bright. Tobacco has grown rapidly dur ing the past week, Farmer and Warehouseman Johnny Gurkin stat ing that some crops had almost dou bled in size since the first rains fol lowing the dry season. More lain ?2.78 inches?fell at this point during the past seven days than was recorded during all of May and half of April. A fraction over one-thrid of the rain fell in a single afternoon at this point. The total rainfall for the year to date is several inches below the total for the corresponding period, a year ago. N "Our civilian economy is fast go ing on a minimum subsistence stan dard. Vita! materials no longer can he used except for .war and for the maintenance of those things neces sary to carry on the war. "The past months have been rela tively easy. The military has taken from the civilian to meet its needs. This pool is nearly dry. From here on out it will be a continuous prob lem to provide materials to meet the needs of our fighting forces. Indus try must get ready to 'patch and pray' to keep existing equipment at (Continued on page six) DKFKNSK MKKT A county-wide defense meet ing will be held in the county courthouse on Wednesday eve ning of next week at 8:30 o'clock, H. G. Horton, civilian defenae chairman, announces. The meeting will bring Major Dewey Herrin, I'. S. Army, W. F. Nufrr and Kemp Battle, rank ing figure* in the war defense program. A moving picture will also be shown in connection with the program. Martin Coun ty citixens will find the meet ings quite timely, informative and entertaining, and they are earnestly urged to attend the meeting. No admission fee is asked, and everyone is invited. Allied Powers Make Plans For Opening a Second Viar Front KiiMrtiuii Line* Threatened ut Sevastopol and in the Kharkov Area Detailed reports from the great iiuVeil 1'iigugemt'ni on Midway in tne Pacific last week and history-mak ing developments on the diplomatic fronts of the world have claimed the spotlight in the news during the past past day or two, but fighting or the Russian and Libyan f'onts and in China rages in ail its fury and with threatening possibilities against the defenders. The Allied Powers have agreed to open a second front in the war against Hitler, but the world is left I guessing when, where and how it will be done. Developments support | the announced agreement, however, and it is to be guessed that large convoys, troops in numbers and vast stores of supplies are not moving across the Atlantic for nothing. Sec ond front action is expected before the remainder of 1942 is spent. In addition to planning a second front, the United States, Russia and Great Britain have agreed on post war plans, guaranteeing Russia a seat at the peace table and a major rob.- in post-war reconstruction Ac companying this development, it was announced that Russia and Brit am had signed a 20-year mutual as sistance pact, and agreed that no separate peace would be considered. These developments on the diplo matic front an- accepted as a green light on the European war front, hut leave China in the lurch The shaky neutrality now narrowing separating Russia and Japan was not disturbed by the developments. The diversion of Japanese power to Russia would greatly relieve the hard-pressed Chinese, but the developments are not at all heartening to the Chinese. Aboat-fthc only thing that will save China fur Hie Allies now is the deliv ery of vast quantities of supplies, and. that is an admittedly difficult task with Japan continuing- it:* ^trungulu tion work. The problem in India is rapidly be coming acute, but no immediate ac tion is anticipated there on account of the weather. The Allies are build ing up a great defense there, but while they are doing that the Indian leaders are asking them to get out Back to the war fronts, an offi cial report tells of the Midway bat tle. The Japs lost IB ships sunk or damaged in what has been describ ed the greatest air-naval action in history, and 200 or more Jap planes were destroyed, reliable estimates placing the enemy loss at 10,000 men. More than 50 Jap ships were in the invasion armada. The U. S. Army Air Corps lost two bombers and their (Continued on page six) Few Present For lingular Session Of County Court llulf of <!um4*h On Docket Arc Cont iniinl I 'lilil W ei'k After Next Few spectators and not many liti gants were present for the regular session of the county recorder's court last Monday. The session, a rather uneventful one, lasted hardly an hour. Those few who were present heard Judge Robert L. Coburn fol low up his order directing all va grants in the county to either go to work or go to jail. None of the al leged members of the order of unit ed sons of rest has been rounded up, but reliable reports declare that of ficers are taking down quite a few names and checking the records. As far as it could be learned no favor itism is to be shown, and some good excuses must be offered if the alleg ed violators of the vagrancy laws a're to escape road terms or fines. Six cases were called at the ses sion last Monday, the court contin uing half of them for the defendants' until week after next. The county court will not sit next Monday as the superior court will be in ses sion for the trial of criminal and civil cases. Proceedings J. C. Hendricks, charged in two cases with passing worthless checks, pleaded guilty, the court continuing the case under prayer for judgment. The case charging Kelly Purvis with assaulting a female, was con tinued until June 22 for the defend ant. Judgment was suspended upon the payment of the costs in the case charging W. H. Roebuck with vio lating the motor vehicle laws. The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge. A continuance was granted Colum bus Ward in the case charging him with drunken driving. Trial is scheduled for June 22nd. C. W. Burrus, Hyde County man charged with drunken driving, ap parently got lost and told arresting officers he was looking for the hos pital in Washington at the time he was taken into custody on William ston's North Haughton Street. The (Continued on page six)