The Rocky Mount Herald
VOLUME 5, NO. 4
LOCAL PRODUCTION CREDIT
ASSN. MAKES FINE RECORD
Reports subfnitted by officers and
directors of the Bocky Mount Pro
Iduetioj, Credit Association at the an
nual Stockholders meeting in Bocky
* (»Mount on Tuesday, January 25 in
dicated that this farmers' coopera
tive credit organization had anoth
er successful year in 1937. The re
ports showed an increased volume
of business done and, notwithstand
ing* the recession in farm prices, a
' good collection record.
Complete and detailed reports
were given to the stockholders at the
meeting, which was well attended
by farmers from Nash, Wilson, and
Edgecombe counties, which aro serv
ed by the association. The financial
+ o,tement of the association was dis
played on a big chart and other in
teresting data showing costs of ope
ration, etc., were likewise display
ed on charts.
Reports were made to the meet
ing by S. H. Crocker, president;
J. G. Vick, secretary-treasurer, and
M. F. Morgan and W. F. Woodruff
members of the board of directors.
8. H. Crocker was elected to servo
on the board of directors. Other
O-I members of the board, whoso terms
did not expire this year, are M. F.
Morgan, W. F. Woodruff, 8. R. Jen
kins and C. B. Walton.
The reports revealed that the as
sociation made 786 loans for a to
*| Ita* of $416,081 in 1937.
Ernest Graham, president of the
Production Credit Corporation of
Columbia, addressed the stockholders
at the conclusion of the business ses
sion. Mr. Graham stressed the fact
that- the production credit associa
tion is a permanent, dependable
source of credit for responsible
farmers organized on a cooperative
■basis. He said theeo associations
have systematized farm financing,
are farmer controlled and operated,
- mrnC money only to fa.rmftra. awt
'all of the farmers' short-term cred
it needs and are operated by farm
ers in the interest of farmers.
Whilo the association is a local or
ganization, having local control, it
has the advantage of being connect
ed with a nation-wide system.
Others who spoke at the meeting
were Frank P. Spruill and Wiley
t W. Meares.
Officials Set On
Resettlement Stere
Despite efforts made by both by
Congressman John H. Kerr and sev
eral others who are interested, it ap
pears that the Resettlement admin
istration is determined to place a
cooperative store in tho Roanoke
Farms area to serve the government
tenants.
Objection to the proposed store as
.government competition with retail
establishments which tax
es has been voiced in Iweral quar-'
ters» but apparently scant heed i?
being paid to the objections by the
Resettlement officials at Washington.
Congressman John H. Kerr wrote
The Commonwealth this week that
his efforts to eliminate the store
'have been unsuccessful and Senator
Reynolds also wrote The Common
wealth that he did not know what
could be done about the matter.
Ijjfforts will b e continued by in
terested parties, however ,and it was
intimated to The Commonwealth this
week that if necessary an engage
*ment will be sought with President
Roosevelt and strong objection regis
tered to the establishment of the
store.
A report o n this gathering receiv
•eJ: as The Commonwealth wont to
press late yesterday indicated feder
al officials had not changed their
plans at all.
Another Limit?
future shortage of golf wood
clubs in the United States may re
sult from a new disease killing per
simmon trees, it was intimated her 0
yesterday by George H. Hepting of
tho U. S. Department of Agriculture.
Practically all woods are made of
persimmon, Hepting said, and a new
disease discovered in Tennessee is
killing persimmon trees as fast as
the chestnut blight wiped out the
chestnut trees.
Hepting, of the Asheville station,
was addressing the North Carolina
Association of Nurserymen,
Candidate
9Hr
Hk WSSm
mm JjSUg
To be a candidate for Judge of
Nash County Recorder's Court, in
the race two years ago Grissom was
defeated by a majority of 388 votes/
A change of 195 votes orit of ap
proximately eight thousand cast
would have given him the nomina
tion.
AB C' S ARE
RESCUED FROM
SCRAP HEAP,
Child; Guidance Authority Say
Youngsters Should Learn Well
His ABC's
(By Lydia Gray Shaw)
Boston— Thoee well-worn ABC's
once thrown into the trash basket
along with Mother Goose ajid th
multiplication table, have been pul
back into circulation.
Starting news in this day of pro
gressivo education, but it . omei
from Dr. Donald D. Durrell, profes
sor of education at Boston Univer
sity and director of the Educationa
Clinic there.
Dr. Durrell takes exception to th
progressive thesis thatroadingshoul'
[be taught by training the child t
learn words from their appearand
on the page.
All In The Curlicue
"You wouldn't believe it," he says
"but the most common error in chil
dren's reading is the confusion of
the word 'girl' with the word 'dog. l
Children see the curlicue of the let
ter 'g' and get the words mixed up.'
Stupid, but how are they to tell the 1
words apart when they can't spell
—have never even heard of the let
ter g'f"
Lest progressives start tearing at
his throat, however, Dr. Durrell is
willing to compropiiso. He will con
cede tho value of phonetics if they'll
let him teach the alphabet along
with it.
Dr. Durrell then returned on meth
ods of determining a child's intelli
gent quotient. A bright youngster—j
analytical, thorough, quick—can't at-1
tain his proper I. Q. if he's a slow!
reader, says the alphabet advocate,
because the tests have "to be read to
be comprehended.
Proof Of The Pudding
He has devised a method of test
ing a child's ability to understand
the spoken as well as the written
word. The child minus the alphabet
gets along beautifully with the hear
ing comprehension section, but falls
down on the eye tests. That proved
|to Dr. Durrell the alphabet isn't
dead yet.
Exhaustive tests have shown boys
—they're more analytical, have more
patience. They also have shown thi3,
he says.
Two children of the same age,
background and previous education,
starting the same reader under the
same teacher, will stumble over dif
ferent words. There's no accounting
for it, tho educator feels, so the on
ly thing to do is to adapt method's
accordingly. The alphabet, says Dr.
Durrell, leads the way.
Swine influenza is causing con
considoiaible trouble to farmers in
Bertie County, at first it was
thought the animals wero infected
with cholera but inspection by a
federal veterinarian showed the
to bo "Swine Flu."
The best things in life are the
things wo miss—at least it seems so
from reports our friends bring us.
ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA, FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 1938
AUTO DEATHS
SHOW GAIN
FOR 1937
1,123 People—2s More Than Pre
vious High Of 1935 Lose Their
Live:—Many Accidents
Automobiles killed 1,123 persons in
accidents in North Carolina i n 19-
37, setting a new yearly record for
highway fatali.iea, the motor vehi
cle division reported Monday.
Last year's toll was 25 more than
in 1935, when the previous high was
established, and nearly 100 moro
than in 1936, whe n 1,026 persons lost
their lives in highway mishaps.
Tho division said there was our I
fatality for every 341,168 gallons of
gas consumed in 1937, compared with
one highway death for every 331,-
404 in 1936 and one for every 284-
433 gallons in 1935.
Every 522 nd car was responsible
for on e death in 1937; every 536t'i
for one in 1936; and every 468t!i
for one in 1935, the division report
ed.
The report for 1937 showed 7,413
accidents, resulting in 7,980 injuries.
CITY SELLS
NEW BONDS
me," he said. "I want them to iden
tify me as 'ex-Governor William It.
(Alfalfa Bill) Murray.' Then I won't
care who files."
"Alfalfa Bill" went straight to u
hotel, parked himself in the mid
dle of the bed—hat, shoes, muffler
and all—and held open house,
"Don't ask me how I feel," he
growled. You're not a doctor. You
wouldn't know what to do if I felt
bad. But how do I lookt"
He looked in excellent health.
He is 68.
He asked photographers not to
snap him with his mouth open.
"There are only three animals
that go around with their mouths
open," he said, "a monkey, a pos
sum and a new dealer. But don't say
anything about the new dealer. I
want to keep this a pleasant dis
course."
Murray may have hard sledding
if the New Deal undertakes to pun
ish him. He refused to vote for
Roosevelt in 1936 and supported
Governor Landon, the Republican
nominee.
By producing 69 weighed bushels
of corn on one acre, Frederick Gra
dy of Duplin County won the 4-F1
corn club championship of the coun
ty this past season. The club mem
ber will feed his corn to hogs in
another 4-II project.
Dissention in the Nazi Ranks?
No, gentle readers, Der Fuehrer is not daring the gentleman at right
to start something. Thfl seemingly threatening left in the swastika dec
orated sleeve belongs to Herr Frits Todt, general inspector of the Ger
man auto-road.s, and is as thing but a forceful gesture which he employed
while introducing some of the oldest workers on these roads to Chan
cellor Hitler.
Rocky Mount Values "Mother- Wit 99
i
The Rocky Mount Herald has permitted citizens to write
in its forum column! on subjects they may think of public
interest all along.
In last weeks issue there was a letter addressed to the
Herald, signed by a citizen, suggesting that there was in
contemplation by the city manager and the governing au
thority a very important change in the personnel of the
Chief of Police office. That the present Chief was to be
supplanted and an employee from another department of
government was to .take his place, and that the city was
| planning to send him away, at much cost to prepare him for
the duty of the offifce to take G-training. There was fur
ther suggestion thatj the public was not being informed of
these contemplated ehanges so vital to them.
While these suggestions are the thoughts of the writer
yet it invites discussion. Other than what appeared in this
letter of the citizen we have no information
and, of course, know nothing as to the facts, however, may
we say that the law enforcement department is a very im
portant part of the city government and it is always im
portant that citizens have respect and confidence in this de
partment. Some time back there was contemplated a change
in the Chief of Police office and many of our citizens op
posed the change and as above stated we know nothing of
'the fact. However, we might suggest to the governing
authorities that it is an important matter and the people
I are entitled to be informed. There are some people that be
lieve that the police department should be maintained as a
military organization with military discipline officers sa
luting and bowing to each other.
We do not believe that Rocky Mount desires such a po
ice department. For if the officers have to spend their
;ime bowing to the associate officer, observing military
jrocedure they will have no time to protect the public in
he enforcement of the law. We have no knowledge of the
natter but merely make this as a suggestion that it is an
mportant matter and should be dealt with in a way com
nensurate with its importance. We don't know much
about G-Men and G-Training. Rocky Mount wants Moth
er Wit in its Chief of Police.
THE CHILD CANNOT PROTECT HIMSELF
The campaign for the eradication of syphilis is now in
progress with 12,299 cases imported last year. We note that
Rocky Mount only repoi'ted two cases, Nash County 139.
and Edgecombe County is not listed in the press report. We
hope that this great work is advancing faster than this re
port. would indicate. Our information is that this campaign
is needed as much in Rocky Mount, Edgecombe County and
Nash County as anywhere else. This is especially true of
the congested areas. We believe Rocky Mount should give
special emphasis to this great work. All people coming in
contact with children as nurses should be examined at once,
and if found infected should receive treatment.
DR. DURRELL DISCUSSES TEACHING ABC
Some time back our paper in its editorial column took
issue with the State Educational Department in its meth
ods of undertaking to instruct or to teach a child to read
before the child has been taught its letters.
Having observed the difficulties of young children in this
mongrel and confusing method we felt that somebody
should have something to say to bring it to the attention
of the public mind, and we have been informed that many
teachers who actually teach the children are of the same
opinion that we are, but are unwilling to take issue with
their superiors in office, and for that reason are having to
teach a system which they think is wrong.
In the press yesterday we have a very enlightening state
ment from Dr. Donald D. Durrell, professor of education at
Boston University and director of the Educational Clinic
there. Dr. Durrell takes exception to the progressive the
sis that reading should be taught by training the child to
learn words from their appearance on the page.
"You wouldn't believe it," he says "but the most com
mon error in children's reading is the confusion of the word
'girl' with the word 'dog.' Children see the curlicue of the
letter 'g' and get the words mixed up. Stupid, but how are
they to tell the words apart when they can't spell—have
never even heard of the letter V?"
Lest progressives start tearing at his throat, however,
(Please turn to page two)
GOVERNOR HOEY SPEAKS
TO ROCKY MOUNT PEOPLE
LOOKING AT
WASHINGTON
(Hugo S. Sims, Washington Cor.
respondent)
F. D. R. FEELS SECURE
The idea is abroad in some
quarters that the President feels
that his Administration is on mucn
firmer ground since the retirement
of two Conservative Supreme Court
Justices and their replacement with
men of the same political philosophy.
Whilo the President, in his battle
against what ho considers econom'c
privilege, has been able to win elec
tions by enormous majorities, his
program has been successfully resist
ed in tho Courts because his oppon
ents feel that the five Conservative
justices would stop tho New Deal
even when the ballot box failed.
LEGAL POWER SHIFTS
The recent elevation of Stanley
Reed to the High Tribunal onds the
domination of the Conservative group,
and is a shift in tho balance of gov
ernmental power which ia far-reach
ing. Consequently,, business men
now realize that thoy must mak'j
terms with the President or else seek
to thwart him by arraying Congress
against him. This may bo accom
plished temporarily bat, in the long
run, there can be little hope that
tho people of tho country will turn
conservative in their attitude toward
high finance and big business.
NEW DEAL WINS CASES
Tho President's troublo in the
Court began with his early legislat
ive measures but since last February,
when Mr. Roosevelt opened his at
tack on the Supreme Court Conserv
atives, the opposition lias lost one
legal battle after another. Since the
beginning of tho Court struggle,
there has been consistent Court ap
proval of New Deal laws—in fact,
legal victories of the Administration
have been exactly one hundred per
cent. When tho Court declared the
Wagner Labor Relations Act consti
tutional, approved the Social Securi
ty Aet and refused to upset the Se
curity and Exchange Act and the
power phase of the TVA and PWA.
it wa s apparent that business had
been completely defeated. Conse
quently, industrial and financial
leaders havo the alternative of ad
justing themselves and their opera
tions to the present situation or of
seeking to defeat the Roosevelt pro
gram at the polls. This latter course
promises little or nothing in view
of the trend shown in recent con
gressional elections.
SEEKS CO-OPERATION
The President last week continued
his series of conferences with lead
ing business men of thai nation.
As nearly as we can get it, the Chief
Executive is sincerely anxious for
business men to cooperat 0 with the
Government but he does not intend
to abandon reforms which, he feels,
lmvo been endorsed by the voters
of tho country in overwhelming
fashion. In other words, the extent
of the cooperation depends almost
entirely upon the willingness of the
business men to accept basic reforms
and to contribute to tho settlement
of evils in business practice.
HOLDING COMPANIES
This explains the President's state
ment advocating tho abolition of all
holding companies, whether in tho
public utility or other fields, and
whether they are top or intermediate
concerns. It applies particularly to
holding companies which control
banks and operating utilities. The
President asserted that holding com
panies with $600,000,000 of assets
can control $13,000,000,000 of utility
(Please turn to page four)
m ' " 1 1 1 i i "■ ■ 1 i m
NOTICE 1
I
Those desiring to subscribe to The Rocky Mount
Herald may do so by sending SI.OO with name and ad
dress to The Rocky Mount Herald, Rocky Mount, N. C.
f
Name
Town » State Route N0..„«
- .
SI.OO PER YE Aft
Declare® Soak-The Rich Taxes Wont
Work To Relieve Average Maa
Rocky Mount, Jan. 25.—Governor'
Hoey said tonight that new soak
the-rich taxes probably would yield
little income, and warned that the
average citizen must expect to foot
the bill for any increased govern
mental servcie.
"The intelligent citizen knows that
neither the State nor national gov
ernment can raiso any money ex
cept by taxation, and whether di
rect or indirect, it must be paid
by the general public," the Govern
or said in a speech, at a banquet of
the Rocky Mount Chamber of Com
merce.
Many persona, the Chief Executive
said, complain about the trend to
ward centralization of government
and, at the same time, demand larg
er grants of money from the central
government.
"The taxes cannot all be raised
by levying tribute on rich peoplo
or large corporations," the Govern
or asserted.
"We aro taxing wealth in both
State and nation rather heavily, and
to. increase the taxes more woalil
probably not produce any greatly
increased amount of revenue—for
we can easily reach the saturation
point," he said.
The public, Hoey continued, should
decide whether the Federal govern
ment should curtail its spending fio>
that the budget may be balanced
under' existing taxes, "or whether
other forms of taxes should be lev
ied to continue the spending and try
to balance the budget at some future
date."
"The President very properly has
asked what reductions the public
will recommend," Hoey said. "I think
it is up to tho to accept tho
opportunity and in good faith offer
suggestions for decreasing the na
tional expenses, and specify the gov
ernmental services that should be
dispensed with.
"Of even greater importance than
balancing the budget, in my opinion,
is the full restoration of confidence,
and I wish to commend warmly the
recent efforts of President Roose
velt to unite business and govern
ment in a definite forward move
ment to end the recession and in-»
crease employment with the full as
surance that business is geared for i\
continuous and sustained advanco,
with the sympathetic cooperation of
government."
12,299 CASES
OF SYPHILIS
REPORTED
j The Division of Epidemiology re
ported lliat Charlotte topped other
North Carolina cities during 1937
in reporting syphilis eases, listing
1,286 of the 12,21)9 reported from tho
entire state. Larger cities led in cas
es reported, the board said, as they
are population centers and most of
them have clinics.
The Health Board emphasized the
necessity of reporting syphilis cases
last year more than ever before, the
total number doubling the 6,08$
listed in 1936, tho 5,189 in 1935, and
the 5,201 in 1934.
Winston-Salem listed 1,190 cases,
Asheville 674, Greensboro 634, Ra
leigh 537 and Durham 530.
Some reports were: Beautfort 135,
Cabarrus 124, Columbus 217, Cravon
56 and New Bern 219, Cumberland
469, Franklin 130, Granville 109,
Harnett 332, Moore 282, Nash 139,
and Rocky Mount 2, New Hanover
40 and Wilmington 369, Pitt 359,
Richmond 231, Robeson 256, Ruther
ford 104, Surry 160, Vance 211,
Wayne 60 anT Goldsboro 362.