North Carolina Newspapers

The Rocky Mount Herald VOLUME 1. NO c, 1 Many Thefts Laid 4o Wilson Negro "One Man Crime Wave" Believed Broken Up With Arrest of Wil .'■* llam White \ Wilson, Feb. 2.—One man crime wave in the person of a Ntgro who worked with a local firm by day and robbed at night crashed on the locks here yesterday when he waß , arrested by Oflicer P. R. Hartis and placed in jail. Hartis said yesterday that the Ne gro had stolen around $3,000 worth of loot in the last 30 days from va rious places in this section. The Negro, William White, 21, is alleged to have admitted moat of the robberies the police credit him with, Hartis said. He will be given a hearing be fore Judge O. P. Dickinson in coun ty court Tuesday afternoon, and in the meantime is being held under $5OO bond in each of five charges * against him so far. White was arrested the other night after Hartis had waited for three hours inside his house for him to show up. The Negro arrived home at 5 in the morning. He drove up I iu an automobile he had stolen from George Allen, local man. While Har ' tis wus"waiting at White's home sev eral other Negroes came in and Har tis kept them all in the place uu- the wanted man showed up. ' Hartis said that with the excep tion of some articles that White is alleged to have stolen from the store of R. L. Corbett in Maccles field all the loot stolen by the Ne gro in the last month has been re covered. White is charged with the theft of T! another automobile belonging to W. A. Finch, prominent local attorney, and several other robberies besides those mentioned above. He is eharg cd with the theft of a number of articles from the home of Frank Benton here; the robbery of Wal t ston's store in Saratoga and the at * tempted theft of several more auto mobiles here in Wilson. Detective C. P. Hocutt npd Officer C. W. Fulglium, also helped investi gate the case. School Board i Has Regular Meet Discuss Disposition of Abandoned School Buildings in County Nashville, Feb. 3.—The Nash co unty board of education met here 'j Monday morning for its regular monthly meeting and considered, among other things, the disposi tion to be made of abandoned school buildings which exist iu sev oral sections of the county. A committee from school district number six attended the meeting and requested thnt the board authorizes tho use of one of these abandoned buildings in tho construction of a J reposed gymnasium at tho Benvenue I High School. After some discussion, . this authority was given. » The board also authorized K. H. Melntyre, teacher of agriculture at the Red Oak school, to move the old dormitory dining room and use it for an agriculture shop there. The old pavilion that stands on the grounds of the Nashville school was authorized to be moved for its > evontual use as a shop for tho ag riculture department. Superintendent L 11. Inseoe was authorized to be out of his office I for the last eight days in February in order that he might attend a meeting of the Department of Su perintendents of the National Edu cational association which will bo held in New Orleans during that weeks. The trip was presented to Mr. In seoe by tho school teachers of Nash county as a Christmas present. The meeting will take place one week after the Mardi Or as festival there, luid according to the superintendent, that part of the- festival in which the New Orleans school children par ticipate will be reproduced for the benefit of the school superintendents attending the meeting. Collision Injures Three Residents i Of Two Reported Satlsfac tory At Local Hospital Three residents of Rocky Mount, were injured in an automobile col lision on the Raleigh highway near Pilot. At a local hospital where two were taken they were said to be re covering from their injuries. Jean Reid received cuts about the face and bruises and Bessie Hilliard suffered a concussion. W. I. Reid, with whom the girls were riding, received a slight cut and bruises but was not confined to the hospital. Jonas Austin, an elderly Negro farmer of Spring Hope route 1, turn ed into the road in front of Raid's car, according to Highway Patrol man T. R. Burdette. The accident occurred two miles east of Pilot. Burdetts indicated today that reckless driving charges may be pre ferred after further investigation, I* but said none had been brought this I morning. INWMGTO?! UNITED STATES^SENATOR ****** Often some highly constructive piece of legislation is thrown into the Congressional hopper and lost in the grind because it lacks dramat ic appeal. In other words, its great significance is not* quickly grasped. Such a measure has been offered by my distinguished collca-i gue, Senator King of Utah. It asks the President to call for Federal and state and conferences on the subject of taxation wPh the objec tive of bringing order out of chaos in the taxing field. There is no single issue of great er importance to our people today than the need for settling once and fof all the proper sources of tax revenue for the Federal Government, the_ states and their political sub divisional. The present method of double taxation, whereby the Fed eral Government and the states, and often comities and cities, tap the same tax reservoirs is having a dis astrous effect. The situation is steadily growing worse. One example is gasoline. The Fed eral Government collects a gas tax, every state levies such a tax, and in many sections county and cities have superimposed gas taxes. The result is that in many areas the combined taxes exceed the price of the commodity. Another example is cigarette taxes. In one state the users of cigarettes pay a Federal tax of six cents and state tax of five cents, or a total of eleven cents on each package. At this rate, the use of one package of cigarettes each day means an annual tax bill of $40.15. Here arc two flagrant in stances of double taxation,.. ->thc:'a could be cited. The existing duplicate taxation, made possible through hidden taxes —levies included in the purchase price of a commodity with the re sult that buyers lose sight of the heavy taxes they are paying—has been an important factor in waste in all forms of government. Citizens fail to realize just how much taxes they are paying. Finding it easy to grab these tax "Pennies from Hea ven," legislators, national and state, often lose sight of equity and abil ity to pay, and bow to expediency. This is particularly true in times of emergency such as we have recently gone through. And repeal of emer gency taxes when emergencies pass is the exception rather than the rule. War taxes levied by Congress were not eliminated until 1928, and many liav e been reenacted. The primary reason for these con ditions is, of course, tho fact that our citizens are not tax conscious. I have said that they fail to realize how much they are paying. Only a comparative few ptijpple would be able to sit down and figure their total tax bill on the basis of direct and hidden taxes paid for all forms of government. If a great number did this, the wave of public resent ment would bring quickly a new era ,of lower taxes, economy in govern ment and the end of needless ex penditures. On the basis of estimates of Fed eral tax revenue for tho fiscal year 1037, every man, woman and pay an average of $54.00 in Feder al taxes. In 1931, they paid an j average of only about twenty dol lars. Per capita figures on state, county and local taxes are incom plete, but it is indicated that with Federal taxe3, the total is in tho vicinity of $lOO. For a family of five, this means a total tax bill of $500.00. Obviously, this tax burden is too great and it is carried be cause our people do not realize its weight on the family budget. Of course, there are times when taxes cannot be immediately reduced without the curtailment of wide spread governmental activities. We are passing through such times at present. However, it is not too early to plan for normal conditions. Conferences of Federal and state tax experts with the view to draw ing the lines for sources of taxa tion, to the end that one unit of government will not invade the tax field of another, ar e sorely needed. The basis for such conferences is already at hand. Four years ago, a subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, headed by the able Representative Fred M. Vin son of Kentucky, made an exhaus tive inquiry into the subject of dou ble taxation. Its factual preliminary report offers a startling indictment of existing conditions. In its review of the situation, the Vinson subcommittee offered the following questions which, in its op inion, should be discussed and sol ved ; "First, which taxes are most adap table for the use of the Federal government and which taxes are most adaptablo for the use of the state governments f "Second, what taxes may be prop erly imposed by both State and Fed eral governments without serious ob rPl»n*p turn to onge four) ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA, FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 5. IM7 Tarboro Woman Attempts Suicide A few moments utter walking out ot the rest room of a lovui down town cafe, a woman identified as Mrs. Lucille Feur, 30, of Tarboro, collapsed on the street. At the hospital here where she was taken by Police Officer J. B. Robin son, Mrs. Feur was treated for poi soning. She was reported to be sleeping but because of the slow ac tion of that poison hospital attend ants would muke no statement as to whether she will recover. On the seat of the car which Mrs. Feur drove over from Tarboro Of ficer Robinson found a bottle con taining a poison (bichloride) iu tab let form with two of the tablets missing. She had bought the poison, Robinson said, earlier in the morn ing at a drug store here, giving her uaine to the druggist us Mrs N. C. Cook. Ruby Fussell, 18, of Tarboro, who was with Mrs. Feur at the cafe, told police and reporters that Mrs. Feur wa s despondent as a result, she thought, of a misunderstanding last night with her husband, "Biackie" Feur, said to operate a Tarboro cafe. Mrs. Feur instructed her, Miss Fussell said, when they drove over from Tarboro, "if any thing happens to me take the car back to my husband." Mrs. Feur had not told her, she said, that she intended to take poi son. Miss Fussell, who said she was married but had been separated from her husband for six months, said Mrs. Feur had come to her house in Tarboro and had persuaded her to come over to Rocky Mount with her, though not for any particular rea son. Say Bootlegging Shows No Gain Wilmington And New Hanover Of ficials Hasten To Deny Charges ' Of Barton Raleigh. Feb —'tnng i»v '"iji'ly publicized" statements of the "RuT?- Arthur J. Barton, thai bootlegging has increased in New Hanover since opening of the county ABC stores, ollilliicials of the city of Wil mington and county of New llun over have hastened to deny iu whole and in part assertions of the Wil mington minister. Chairman Addison Hewlett, of the board of county commissioners and a lifelong dry both in personal hab it and public record, openly de claims that the county system has been a success. "I think the operation of ABC stores in New Hanover has been a success. We certainly had liquor before and we have it now, but we do not have the numerous dives there were to be found scattered around over the county," lie said. There has been no increase in drunkenness and I am sure that bootlegging has been materially re duced and is confined to small op erators who are doing a re-sale busi ness." In the opinion of Chief of Police J. S. Lane, who cites statistics to prove his statement, conditions in Wilmington are materially better. "Arrests on account of bootleg ging decreased from 201 for the fis cal year ending Juno 30, 1935, which was the last year prior to opening of the liquor stores, to 112 for the fiscal year ending Juue 30, 1936,'' he said. "There is every evidence that bootlegging has decreased fifty per cent at least and I would say there hag been a one hundred cent decrease in the operation of speak easies. "In my opinion conditions, so far as liquor is concerned, have great ly improved sinco the Alcoholic Beverage Control system has been in operation." .Sheriff C. David Jones, of New Hanover feels the same way about conditions in the county. "I wish to state personally and as sheriff of New Hanover county that the liquor situation lias improv ed materially in respect to the manu facture and sale of illegal liquor since the opening of the ABC stores in this county," he said. Negro Held For Robbing Store Macclesfield, Feb. 1. —Willie White former driver of an ice truck for a Wilson firm, was held in jail at Tarboro today after Wilson finger print experts linked his name with the robbery of the R. L. Corbett store here Saturday night. Bloodhounds were called out Sun day morning to aid in the search for the burglar who broke into the store Saturday night carrying away, according to the manager, $20.88 in cash and several articles of merchandise. Meanwhile, Wilson authorities arrested White whom they said confessed to robbing the store. They said White's finger prints corresponded to those found on _ tho cash register of the store which was entered. It was tho third time in two woeks tfiat th© Oorbett store had been entered. Youngest Congressman Marries I j | jK^^m Wmdmj®m7 Congressman Lyle Boren and his bride, the former Miss Christine McKown, who were married recently at Stillwater, Okla. Mr. Boren, who is twenty-seven years old, is the youngest member of congress. This Is A Serious Matter May we again call attention to the citizenship of Rocky Mount the importance and seriousness of the question of removing the railroad tracks from the city of Rocky Mount and again ask our Board of Aldermen, who are the constituted authority, receiving their commission from the people, to act with great caution and deliberation be cause of the grave consequences that might fall upon the people themselves by reason of a wrong step taken or an tagonism created which would affect the life time earnings of property and home owners of this city. We have talked with many citizens of Rocky Mount engaged in diversified buisnesses and we have found no spirit to chastise the railroad company, rather than chastkc the railroad com 'i>: T, is a feeling i.n £fte breast of our people fTTat the large amount of money spent by the railroad company in Rocky Mount to its employees has lifted Rocky Mount from a flag station of days gone by to what, we think, is the best city in Eastern Carolina. We cannot agree with the following editorial that the business men want to chastise the hands that have fed them and we do not believe this represents the viewpoint of our citizenship. If chasetise ment be in the hearts of a few, it is not in the spirit of the •many. Evening Telegram, January 19, 1937. Editorial Entitled: Chastising The A. C. L. "The business men of Rocky Mount have seldom spoken in a louder or more unanimous voice than was heard here last night when they, by their actions, issued a virtual ultimatum to the Atlantic Coast Line Roalroad to sink its tracks or route its trains around the city. The action seemed to come from pent up feelings which had their first opportunity to pour out at the meeting last night." "Rocky Mount knows that the A. C. L. has been a kind friend in the past—but rather one made after years of thinking about the problem of having trains disrupt traf fic and fill the business district with smoke and cinders several times each day as they came thundering through." "For year, business men have suffered mostly in silence as they contemplated the growing inconveniences and dang gers of having the "choo-choo" dashing through the cen ter of town. They have been every sympathetic toward the roailroad. even while many of them thought of altering the course of the business district. There also has been a marked cordiality between municipal officers and railroad bigwigs. The present situation should not alter this friend ship. . The above editorial entitled, "Chastising the A. C. L." is not the spirit of Rocky Mount in our opinion, in fact, editorials are usually written from the viewpoint of the writer and his opinions and his own conclusions. The peo ple are entitled to the full facts, in this case, the facts, as we have been informed have been largely with-held and the public is still in the darkness as to what is behind the whole movement. At the first meeting of the so-called Cit izens Committee, we were advised that one of the citizens, a bank president who was put down as probably favoring the movement, when the question came up not only did not vote on the matter but got up and addressed the assembly and told them that the matter was of such serious consequence that he had refused to vote because he felt he did not have enough information and had not made sufficient study to act on such an important ques tion in such a hasty manner. This is the viewpoint of our leading men who have had such important part in the development of our city. It has appeared in print, that the Board of Aldermen was unanimous in its action, but we were further advised that the Aldermen were not unanimous in their action and two of the members voted openly against the proposition, with probably others of the same viewpoint. It is generally known that the South-end business section of Rocky Mount has been largely handicapped by not having good crossing facilities. It is a long travel from Bas sett street crossing to Marigold streets without be ing able to cross the street and this has handicapped Wash ington street very much. Some feel that this agitation will have the effect of denying to that section of the city the much needed street improvement in the way of the Jordan street underpass. Now where is the money coming from? The Highway Commissioner informed the Board of Aldermen; accord ing to information, that they would be expected to pay in the neighborhood of four thousand dollars for expens es already i jarred. The contractor is demanding damages for the witmlrawing of the contract, and if the railroad is removed and we start into the building of a new rail (Plcase turn to page four) Salvation Army feeds Refugees To Serve 12,000 Meals Per Day To Sufferers in Louisville Major C. L. Frazier of the Salva tion Army post hero has disclosed a telegram he has received from Ma jor W. W. Bouterse in Louisville, Ky., describing Salvation Army ac tivities to aid refugees in the flood stricken area. The telegram said: "The Salvation Army today serv ed 6,000 meals in the city of Louis ville. Work of feeding the refugees is divided between the Salvation Army and the Red Cross. The Red Cross distributes canned and un cooked bulk food, and the Salvation Army serves meals. In the dry area, four restaurants and seven kitchens are now operated under the direc tion of Major Bouterse and Briga dier Range. Additional restaurants and kitchens are to be opened to morrow. This will increase the feed ing capacity to 12,000 meals per day. Major Bouterse ha s a blanket or der from the mayor of Louisville to commandeer any merchandise, food or supplies necessary to keep the community going. The Salvation Army Industrial Home and Hospital are marooned by water. The headquarters building is partly under water. This is reached by a pontoon bridge." Tar River Is At Standstill Tarboro, Feb. 3.—Tar River, far out of its banks and but a few in ches from the floors of houses in Princeville, a Negro suburb here, was virtually at a standstill today after passing the predicted 25-foot crest by a few inches. Meanwhile, iu answer to an appeal of Dr. L. L. Parks, county health officer, approximately 250 persons gathered at Princeville school in what was thought to be the largest typhoid immunization clinic ever helil in the county. The clinic was held as a precautionary measure a l '- " r Parke had determined wells in th?' "Wte polluted. The uf- 1 feeted section has no e'tv water con nections and depends entirely -tvj wells for drinking '-vater. Dr. Parks himself in bed with flue after visiting all houses in the section to warn against drinking un boiled water and to urge the tak ing of typhoid treatment, turned the task of typhoid immunization over to Mrs. LyJia Simpson, county health nurse. The high water caused much in- ] convenience and brought the threat of disease but resulted in no ap preciable property damage. Hold Services For Mrs. Letha Wilder Wife of J. E. Wilder Buried in Wil son Cemetery Mrs. Letha Garris Wilder, 38, wife of J. E. Wilder of 901 Falls road, was buried in the family plot 'n the Maple Wood cemetery of Wilson following services at three o'clock from the Summerlin funeral home with Rev. W. R. Hales and Rev. N. W. Grant, Methodist ministers, of ficiating. Mrs. Wilder died in a Raleigh hospital following an illness of sev eral years. Besides her husband sho is sur vived by two sons, Richard and Norman Wilder; three daughters, Mrs. Mixine Thompson, Mrs. Hettie Ruffin and Miss Frances Wilder, all of this city; her mother, Mrs. Sar ah Garris of Wilson ;a brother, J. R. Garris, of Wilson; and five sis ters, Mrs. Lydia Walston, of Wal stonburg, Mrs. J. L. Lancaster, of Belhaven, Mrs. W. G. Morris of Kinston, Mrs. John F. Owens of Wen dell, and Mrs. J. A. Bell of this city. ALUMNI AND ALUMNAE MEETING Greensboro, Feb. 4. —Alumni and alumnae secretaries of colleges be longing to the southeastern division of the American Alumni council will meet at the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina Friday and Saturday, February 12 and 13. The district iB composed of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Ala bama. Meetings will be held in the new alumnae house on the college cam pus. Built during the past two years and opened in January of this year, the house is now available for offi cial college and alumnae functions. NOTICE Those desiring to subscribe to The Rocky Mount Herald may do so by sending $l.OO with name and address to The Rocky Mount Herald, Rocky Mount, N. C. Name : Town State , Route No $l.OO PER YEAH [English Airline | Officials Visit Local Airport Gilbert Miller, an English airline official, and Mrs. Miller were visit ors at the city airport here Manager R. E. Lane said. Forced by bad weather to inter rupt their trip from New York to Florida, they left their new Stia son plane at the airport when thejr arrived and continued their trip by train. Their pilot, Frank Steinnian, flew the plane to New York. The new radio-equipped plane bore an English license, Mr. Lee said. The travelers had been delayed all along by bad weather. They had left Florida Saturday, they told Mr. Lee and yesterday came here from Georgetown, S. C. Will Try To Get 100 Musicians Hooker Hopes 100 School Children Will Take Up Music A goal of one hundred additional boys and girls playing musical in struments by the close of the school this spring ha s been set by the in strumental department of the city schools in its intensive campaign to make permanent the music pro gram in the public schools. "It is not impossible to achieve this end," comments H. Vernon Hooker, director of instrumental music. "Last year when the parents had to assume the outright pur chase of the instruments approxi mately ninety pupils were enroll ed in the instrumental classes. Now that we are planning a rental pro gram on instruments a goal of at least one hundred young musicians is not visionary." Letters have been sent to the homes of the pupils of the fourth fifth and sixth, and seventh grades explaining in detail the rental plan and the scientific music tests which will lie given by Hooker this week t.i 1,200 pupils in the above grades. JThese tests will determine the boys and ~!4*fPis "host adapted to various musical instruments. Ttrtfl - selection of ability plus the low cost to parents are the two chief features of the plan for building the instrumental department. Hook er further stated that records of the musical aptitude displayed by pupils in the high school have been kept and those receiving the highest rat ings will be given further informa tion about the rental plan. Tarboro Sheriff Much In Demand Tarboro, Feb. 2.—Sheriff W. EL Baruin lias complained long and loud about the silly calls he gets, but they keep ou coming in. Not long ago he missed his supper and drove five miles in a pouring rain in answer to a -telephone call for help, only to learn that a wom an who eouldn't manage a recalci , trant son wanted the sheriff to make the boy bring in some wood. Soon thereafter, he left a warm bed at 2 A. M. A man, lie found, want ed to ask him not to let the land lord put him out on tlio street the next week. Last night, mourned the sheriff, a long distanco call came from Scotland Neck with the charges re i versed. He accepted them and heard | a man say that a Tarboro Negro in Scotland Neck had no way to get ' home and wanted the sheriff to come for him. For once, ho did not follow up the call. "What in heck do these folks think I am?" the sheriff wanted to know. W. G. STINSON, 62, DIES SUDDENLY OF IIEAHT ATTACK W. G. Stinson, 62, died suddenly at his home at 200 East Spring street. Ho went to work but was stricken with a heart attack. ne is survived by his wife, Mrs. Fannie J. Stinson; two sons, W. C. Stinson of Big Stone Gap, Va., and H. L. Stinson of r - Francisco, Ca lif.; and three da 'ers, Mrs. J. Z. Dickens of Weldo.. Mrs. A. L. Haywood of Danville, Va.. and Mrs. E. C. Englehardt of San Antonio, Texas. Funeral arranbements were incom* plete pending the arrival of rela tives.