It,
;
i
E SURE TO ATTEND THE FARMERS' DAY CELEBRATION IN SMITIIFIELD WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11
Jesse W Bailey 1-1-44
otastoomi
Unconditional
Surrender !
Unconditional
Surrender!
VOL. 26
SELMA, N. C , THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 1943.
Single Copy 5c
NUMBER 32
Kiwanis Governor Is
Border Belt Tobacco
LITTLE JACK HORNER
Heard At Meeting Here
V Tl
IS :
CREDIT rOB.
' :
i
Nazi Surrender Orel
As Red Army Scores
Berlin Admits German With
drawal From Great Eastern
Front Fortress As Russians
Enter City Streets to Battle
Rear Guards Protecting Re
treat of 250,000 Men.
A German broadcast today
C"hnYnAav unnnnnrpH thp pv-
cuationc Orel after the Ri
- i J i 1 ' i. 1.1 .'tf.J
smnsnaa uruKen iiuv me luureu
city and started driving the
desperately - resisting enemy
rear guards through its streets
in hand-to-hand fighting.
A German official DNB agency
bulletin recorded here shortly before
1:30 a. m. admitted the first great
summer triumph of the Red army in
the capture of the city, an anchor
point for the entire German front,
which the bletzkrieg hordes of the
German Wehrmacht had taken near
ly 22 months ago.
DNB's announcement said:
"It is learned that most powerful
Soviet attacks have been repelled at
the shortened flanks of the Orel
salient and that after the evacuation
of all militarily and war economically
essential installations according to
plan, the German lines have been
taken back behind the remnants of
the town.
"Disengaged" Themselves
The agency added that "unnoticed
by the enemy" the Germans had "dis
engaged" themselves and taken up
more favorable positions "prepared in
advance long ago."
v "Several hours after the method
ical evacuation movements, the Sov
. lets probed their way in the direction
of the new German positions," DNB
said.
It meant that the shattered German
garrison was fleeing for its life to
escape a Red Army death trap, after
being driven from one , of the most
strongly-fortified towns ' of the eas
tern front.
Smashing the German rear guard
fighting to save the main enemy body
of some 250,000 men, the Red army
broke through along the railroads
north and south of Orel and poured
into the city streets with submachine
guns and pistols blazing and hand
grenades wiping out the German last
stand guards posted in machine gun
nests and windows of buildings.
Entire German units were wiped
out as the Russians drove with crush
ing force, through 80 towns and vil
lages for gains of more than four
miles. , .
More Places Freed.
Forty inhabited places were taken
by storm southwest of Orel alone.
There the German rear guard had
tried to hold a line of hills and forti
fied villages to protect the main body
as it reeled in defeat back along the
only paths of escape open to them,
dirt roads and forest trails, through
a gap now less than 12 miles wide.
Prisoners reported that the 211th
German' infantry division, thrown in
to reinforce the lines, had lost 70 per
cent of its 8,000 men northwest of
the city. -
Nineteen hundred Germans were
killed in fighting southwest of Orel
' Tanks, guns, laden motor trucks,
more than 1,000 machine guns, shells,
supply dumps and spoils of all sorts
fell to the Russians as they charged
in for the kill.
Fifty-four German planes were
shot. down over the lines.
As the Red army rapidly closed in
its drive to trap the entire German
garrison and make Orel, another
Stalingrad, the Soviets also opened
new offensive in the Begorod area,
to the south at the lower end of the
Kursk salient. The Russian communi
que reported gainftoiTBr than ate
Rules in was. area. i- ;
;A .third Red Army;- struck out
from the Mius river area southwest
of Voroshilovgrad, in the rich Donets
Basin, in a sudden attack which en
larged the Russian bridgehead on the
German-held side of the river.
The Russians were attacking over
a 350-mile front on a scale which
even before Wednesday's climaxing
performance had cost the Germans
236 tanks disabled or destroyed and
138 planes downed in 24 hours ended
Tuesday midnight, the Russian com
munique said as recorded from the
Moscow radio.
Great Victory.
But Orel was the great battle, and
the Russians were bidding for con
solidation of their greatest summer
victory and one of their great vic
tories of the war.
Revival To Begin At
Presbyterian Church
A series of revival meetings is
scheduled to begin at the Selma
Presbyterian church Monday, August
9, ' and continue through Friday,
August 13th.
The Rev. A. Leslie Thompson of
Raleigh will do the preaching. He will
be assisted by the Rev. Howard F.
Newman, student supply pastor. Mr.
Thompson is a Wst u impressive
speaker, and the public is invited to
hear him.
Services each night at 8:30 o'clock.
The regular preaching services will
be held next Sunday by the Rev. Mr.
Newman.
Well Known Clayton
Man Dies Monday
Clayton. Funeral services for M.
R. Ferrell, 66, will be held Thursday
afternoon at 4 at Clyde's Chapel
Baptist Church near his home with
the Rev. C. H. Norris of Wake Forest
officiating.
He died at his home on Route 2
after a long illness, Monday morning
at 4:30.
Marriage Announced
Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Benson an
nounce the marraige of their daugh
ter. Katherine R. Benson, to Edward
Lee Heath on Sunday, August 1, 1943,
in Richland, N. C. .
The groom is the son of Mr. and
Mrs. A. K. Heath of Richlands.
Apology.
We wish to apologize to those
of our subscribers in the town of
Selma for failure to get the pa-
S;r ready in time for Mailman,
scar Creech to reach you this
(Thursday) afternoon. Our lino
is resDonsible. and not Shorty
Standi, our efficient operator.
Joint Meeting of Selma-Smith
field Clubs Spirit of Kiwanis
Breeds uood Will wnerevi
Kiwanians Meet.
. Whatever may have existed in tl
form of jealousy, envy or strife whl
the record of the nast mav have heU
as between Selma and Smithneld, all.
this was forgotten at the joint meet
ing of the Selma-Smithneld Kiwanp
clubs held here last Thursday even
ing to hear Governor Charles Erwin
of the Carolinas Kiwanis District.
Where the spirit of Kiwanis exists
good will and neighborly kindness
abounds. Kiwanis knows no bounds
in its scope of fellowship and broth?
erly kindness as good fellows mee
again. This was not only true of the;
Selma meeting last week, but the
Same spirit prevails throughout K:
wanis International. No organizatii
is more thoroughly devoted to the
spirit of good will than Kiwanis.
in his address to his fellow Kiwani
ians here Thursday evening, Governor
Erwin laid much stress upon the gi
gantic task confronting Kiwanis and
other civic organizations in the course
of post-war planning. He said, re
gardless of whatever those in au
thority might have. to offer in their,
post-war program, their decision
not be accepted just as a matter ' of
fact, but should be subjected to what
ever criticism that may seem just
and proper to insure the continuance
of our democratic, way of life in,
America.
: Governor Erwin, speaking of the
war and post-war days, warned that
the going is going to be tough and
the road long and hard, but if we4
will-only measure opto the task, and
as Kiwanians and civilians, each one
manifest a willingness to do his part
we will find that , we are more the
stronger and the. reward wijl be the
greater for so doing; He emphasized
this point by telling of a trip to; th
Reside Mountain ft Wetvl
em .North Carolina. There were t
ways laid before him in which to ge
to the top of this mountain one by
highway, another by a narrow, rug
ged trail. He chose the hard way and,
as he climbed, each step seemed more
difficult, and at many points he found
that one misplaced step would have
sent him hurling down across many
boulders hundreds of feet below; but
as the climb grew more difficult he
found that he must exercise greater
care in placing each step upward.
Finally the top was reached and then
he walked out on the top of what
seemed a new world as he walked
around with freedom, where he could
view the wonders of God's creation
as he looked upon towering peaks in
all directions enshrouded in superb
beauty and grandeur. "This,"he said,
"was typical of the kiw world we
shall witness in the post-war days
when we shall have come through
great tribulation."
Giving another illustration along
the same line of thought, Governor
Erwin referred to the great "dust
bowl" out west several years ago,
when thousands of people found
themselves stranded and looking for i
somewhere to go. Thousands left j
their home and farms with the sav
ings of a life time and went into
strange lands to start life anew,
while dust storms continued to rav
age two or three states and the en- j
tire populace of many localities. He
told the story of one brave farmer
who, after attending a meeting of
citizens in an effort to formulate j
plans for the future, left the meeting
Johnston Man Paroled;
Sentenced to Die In Chair
Convicted of Slaying Etisha
Price in Johnston County 23
Years Ago Found Guilty
First-Degree Murder and
Sentenced to Die In Electric
Chair.
A white man sentenced in 1918 to
die in the electric chair for first
degree murder was granted a parole
yesterday by Governor Broughton.
The man is Arthur Peedin, whose
death sentence was commuted in
November, 1918, to life imprisonment.
On December 30, 1940, Peedin's sen
tence was commuted to 30-40 years.
He was convicted of slaying another
white man, Elisha Price, in Johnston
County.
Parole Commissioner .Hathaway
Cross, in announcing the parole said,
"This prisoner is now nearly 70 years
of age, and there are many recom
mendations before me for his release
at this time. The conduct of this man
Noted News Man To
Speak Farmers' Day
Richard Wilson, War Correspon
dent, Was Held Prisoner By
Japanese Will TeU of His
War Experiences At the War
' Bond Sale In Smithf ield Farmers'-Day,
August 11.
Richard , Wilson, who was United
Press correspondent in the Far East
before Pearl Harbor and who spent
seven months in a Japanese prison
camp before returning to America on
the Gripsholm in an exchange of
diplomats and correspondents be
tween the United States and Japan.
wiJJ. tell of his war experiences at
the war bond sale to be staged in
Smithneld on Farmers' Day, Aug. 11.
Wilson, who pulls no punches in
bringing the facts about .the Pacific
war home to, Americans, is devoting
his time: now to telling his story to
Llecture audiences through the nation
unojirone management of the Nation
al Concert and Artists Corporation.
, Announcement of his scheduled ap
pearance there on the Farmers' Day
war rally program was made Monday
by G. A. Allen, president of the
Smithfeld chamber of commerce.
' In his talks, Wilson tells a heart-
stiring story of Japanese brutality in
the capture of Hong Kong and the
subjugation of its people by the Nip
ponese 'war lords.
y His story of the privation to which
American diplomats and newspaper
correspondents held as captives after
December 7th. has already aroused
the hearts of thousands of red-blood
ed Americans.
! , Wilson witnessed the Japanese as
sault on Hong Kong. He was so close
to the ringside, in fact, that he was
atttured by the Japanese two days
before Hong Kong capitulated. As a
captive, he was forced to walk 10
ahiles ever the hills of the island and
after abusive treatment was; kept a
prisoner in a hotel for. two months
after other British, Dutch and Amer-
ican.qtwhahs i Jn Hmg Kong. had been
M w a concentration camp. The
'9W treatment abided him, he
was to discover 1 was 1nrder that
ra ii.cig uugiii propsgsnaa i ior
Japan as well as broadcast English
commentaries over the Jap radio.
They "never succeeded in inducing
him, to either write or broadcast.
determined to stick to his acres in
the dust bowl, let come what may. He
took the hard way, but not many
months thereafter the dust storms
subsided and grass began to grow
again upon the fertile plains of the
west, and today he is entrenched in
a veritable paradise of plenty, while
thousands of his fellow citizens who
chose . what seemed at that time, the
easy way, but many found the "easy
way" the hard way, and are still
scattered to the four corners looking
for the end of the rainbow.
In the absence of Past Internation
al Trustee Ralph Barker of Durham,
who was to introduce the speaker,
President Howard V. Gaskill of the
Selma club, introduced Governor Er
win. After the recognition of guests, the
program for the evening was turned
over to President Bill Joe Austin of
the Smithfield club.
Miss Genevieve Medlin of Smith-
field, sang two vocal numbers. "I
Heard A Forest Praying," and "When
the Lights Come On Again," accom
panied at the piano by Miss Helen
Wallace, also of Smithneld.
Kiwanian H. H. Lowry. chairman
of the music committee of the Selma
club, led the entire group in several
Kiwanis songs, accompanied by Mrs.
D. M. Clemmons.
has not been good for the entire
period of his confinement, and there
is an escape record against him, but
I am reliably informed that his atti
tude has materially changed during
recent years and his conduct has been
good. - 1
"His release at this time is recom
mended by the trail solicitor and a
number of officials and former offi
cials of Johnston County. The prison
er will have a home to go to upon
his release, and he will have gainful
employment."
; Mrs. Nellie Parrish Hughes, who
has been employed as engineering
aide for Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio,
has been transferred to Baltimore,
where she holds a position with the
Glenn L. Martin Aircraft production
plant Mrs. Hughes has recently been
attending school at Wesleyan Uni
versity. West Virginia. Before going
to Baltimore she spent a fe days at
Westfiekl. Mass, with her-hushani .
President Local Club
.klUIBi.:,;JLMMBmlvl
HOWARD V. GASKILL, presi
dent Selma Kiwanis club, pre
sided over joint meeting Selma
Smithfield Kiwanis clubs last
Thursday evening and introduc
er Governor Charles Erwin.
16 Johnston Boys
Enlist In Navy
Navy Recruiter John Stallings re
ports that 16 Johnston county boys
enlisted in the Navy during July.
The group included: Vernon Lee,
Norman R. Sellers, D. V.- Carter,
Reuben Darhv Dt:feHw,W.- H.
Webb, Fate Barnes, Jr., N. B. Xee,
Jr;, Jf. M. Jones, IT. A. Tew, K. B.
Jd.," J. iWoodrd, Jr, Lubbie
Barnes, A. T. Barefoot, G. H: Easbn,
and A. M. Register. r
These boys will receive about seven
weeks of "boot" training and will be
given an opportunity to apply for a
Navy trade school for 16 weeks of
specialized training. '
The Navy still has openings for 17
year olds and they should apply at
once, Stallings stated.
Women interested in the Waves
may obtain complete information
from Recruiter Stallings.
Selma Boy Just Back
From Sicily Battle
Dannie H. Wilson, son of Mr. and
Mrs. D. H. Wilson of Selma. arrived
Wednesday to spend a 5-day leave at
home. Dannie says he is just back
from the fighting front in Sicily. He
is in the Navy and was in the first
fleet of ships to make war on that
important Italian island. He says our
boys are making a rapid mopping up
campaign on Sicily and thinks it will
not be long now until the entire
island is in allied hands.
When asked as to which he had ra
ther fight, Germans or Japs, Dannie
said, "give me Germans every time,
as the Germans will quit when they
see they are beat, but the Japs fight
on until they die."
Pvt. Robert Parker
Starts Recruit Drill
, KEESLER FIELD, Biloxi, Miss.,
Aug. 2. Pvt. Robert G. Parker, son
of Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Parker, Selma,
N. C, Route 1, started his recruit
drill this week in the Basic Center at
Keesler Field, a unit of the Army
Air Forces Training Command.
Private rarker will undergo sever
al weeks of orientation, gas mask
and bayonet drill, comouflage and
physical training, and rifle firing. He
then will be assigned to duty or sent
to a technical school for special
training.
Selma Bov Gets
Promotion In Navy
Morgan M. White, son of Mrs. H.
T. White of Selma, has been promoted
to Aviation Machinist Mate First
Class, his promotion taking effect on
July 1, 1943. Morgan is in the U. S.
Navy stationed somewhere in the
Pacific. His many friends here will be
glad to know that Morgan is making
good.. . -
Farmers are asked to market hogs
at not heavier than 230 pounds. It
takes more feed to put aa extra
pound 0.gttftjfB.
Light Sales Forecast Average
of 40 Cents or Better Antici
pated Quality Fair C. B,
Stafford, Fairmont Sales Su
pervisor, Says Farmers Are
Still Curing and That Sales
On That Market Are Not Ex
pected To Be Heavy For Two
or Three Weeks.
Border Belt tobacco markets
in the Carolinas will open for the
season today, (Thursday) but
exceptionally light sales were
forecast from the seven North
Carolina auction centers last
night.
Most Market officials said
they expected the opening day's
average prices to be close to the
$41 p e r hundred "weighted
average" price ceiling establish
ed bv the Office of Price Ad
ministration a week or so ago.
Last year's opening day average
was $37.37 per hundred pounds, with
5,934,246 pounds being sold. In 1941
a total of 6,291,536 pounds were soI4
on opening day on the North Caro
lina markets for an average of $26.93
per hundred. , '
Some of the larger markets of the
belt reported fairly large offerings
on warehouse floors, but smaller mar
kets said that only a small amount of
tobacco was on the floors last night
and that very light sales are expected
today. One. or two of the markets
said that they expect to clear all
floors by shortly after noon.
Quality of the first off erings was .
reported as "fair." One warehouse-
man said that there was some gootV
tobacco and "a lot of bad" on hanaV'
Sales will start at 9 a. m., and wilf-.'
be concluded at 5 P. m. if there's '
enough'-tebaeefr rt 4un4Ci8pekt
ceremonies are planned for tM open- .i ,
ing of sales on the Tar Heel markets. ; , . ,
W. P. Hedrick, State Agriculture, a . ,
Dpatment Ltobacco specialist,, yes- -7 1 '
terday'vfeityd' leVeral .majkets si4 iyu.,
reported last night that sales fcMUy--,
appeared likely to be the lightest in" ' .V
years. He said the quality of the leaf
already on the floors was below that
of last year.
He attributed the light offerings to
the fact that farmers are still curing;
their tobacco and haven't had suffi
cient help to get their weed ready for
market Another factor is that many
farmers are holding their leaf until
they find out if the OPA is going to
grant the request of the State Grange
(Continued On Page 5)
Seen and Heard Along
THE MAINDRAG
SSSSSBy H. H. L. SSSSS
C. HUB BROWN and LEON GOD
WIN spent the week-end in High
Point buying furniture for their new
home in Selma, in fact, HUB says
they bought out an entire furniture
company in High Point or rather all
the manufactured goods the company
had in stock they are moving into
their new quarters this week it
seemed like old times to see TOM
BARHAM (MRS. R. A. WALKER)
on the Maindrag yesterday TOM
was one of the town's most popular
young ladies before taking her de
parture for the "down south" her
many friends are delighted to have
her with them again JAMES LU
THER , MIDNIGHT is a colored
man and he lives in the town of Sel
ma SUPT. H. B. MARROW of the
County Schools, ran across his name
in his office a few days ago and call-
! ed our attention to it didn t know
I we had a Negro named MIDNIGHT
living in our midst until MR. MAR-
ROW told us at the Kiwanis ban
' quet last Thursday night EDITOR
j TOM LASSITER of The Herald and
EDITOR M. L. STANCIL of The
Johnstonian-Sun, had seats side by
side and these gentlemen talked
"newspaper" to their hearts content
JERRY EASON went to Raleigh
this week and enlisted in Uncle Sam's
Navy JERRY has been working in
a shipyard in Wilmington for the
past several months glad to see
MASON CORE on the Maindrag
MASON, who is in the USA, is spend
ing a few days with his patents, MR.
and MRS. L. B. CORE, before going
to a hospital in Temple, Texas, for
treatment for wounds received in the
South Pacific the carnival has come
to town and is drawing crowds each
night it is sponsored by the Junior
Woman's club, the' proceeds to be us
ed for entertaining visiting service -men
MR. OWENS, the manager,
seems to be a very clever gentleman
he is inviting all the children of
the town and community to be his
geesta o next Saturday afternoon.
I.