The Rocky Mount Herald VOLUME 5, NO. 14 Big"Drive Safely" Crusade Started Here Friday, Apr. 1 Statewide Safety Effort Includes sl,- 000.00 In Monthly Prizes For Mo- The most widespread "Drive Safe ly Crusade" in North Carolina his tory got under way on Friday, April 1, it was revealed today by Wiley L. Moore, President of the Purol Oil Company. 0 Mr. Moore, stating the purpose of the plan, said that the Crusads is being undertaken in an effort to reduce the accident and death toll on our highways and streets "Our aim is to get every motorist thinking about safety," ho said,/ "safe-driving, observing road, and highway rules. In 1937, in the United States, 39,700 people were killed on the highways and 1,360,000 people injured. In North Caroliua alone, the death toll was 1408. We must make our roads safer for ev eryone." Details of the Crusade, will be announced in newspapors throughout the State this week, Mr. Moore said. The first step for participation in \ the Crusade, which will be open to everyone without'cost or obligation, will come in the singing of a pledge to drive safely and to observe the Golden Rule of the road. Pledge signers will then be given license € plate emblems signifying that the car driver has "pledged to drive sa fely." "We will make thig Crusade a sus tained, concerted attack on careles3 driving," Mr. Moore said. "As a fur ther incentive, we want suggestions from motorists on what should be done to make eople more safely ( conscious. Tho newspaper announce ments will cover this point in de tail, for then will be announced the rules of the contest which will run during the month of April. Sev enty-five cash prizes are being of fered, with a first prize of $250.00, a second prize of SIOO.OO, and 73 other awards for the best safety slogans' of ten words or less. "Ae each awards for the April contest in North Carolina total $1,000.00." Mr. Moore, long prominent in ci vic, educational, charitable and in ' dustrial circles, k devoting his time and energy to leading the Crusade. Many organizations and prominent public officials from all parts of tho state have promised enthusiastic support as co-sponsors for the Cru sade, he said. Drive Safely pledge cards will be obtainable from Purol- Pep dealers, and contest entry blanks will also b e obtainable at { the same sources. It is not our thought or intention to permit this "Drivo Safely" Cru sade. to bo commercialized in any way," Mr. Moore announced, "and I have instructed all of our dis tributors, dealers, and service sta tion operators not to ask any mo torist to make purchases of any kind when people come to our sta tios to secure pledge cards and prize contest entry blanks." In Rocky Mount J. B. A. Daugh tridgo l oca l representative of the Daughtridge Oil Company is direct ing the "Drive Safely" Crusade acti vities. MARKETS FOR STRAWBERRIES TO OPEN MON. Strawberry Crop Is Earliest In 15 Years; Prospects Appear Bright Wallace, April 6.—Unceremonious ly and simultaneously, North Caro lina's seven strawberry markets will open Monday to handle &n es timated $1,500,000 crop, the earliest in 15 years. Randall B. Etheridge, chief of the North Carolina Department of Ag riculture's markets division, follow ing a tour of the strawberry, belt reported growers generally had re duced their crop approximately 22 per cent thig season, adding that "ideal weather now exists and with continued favorable conditions, an excellent, high-quality berry crop, can be anticipated." Markets at Mount Olive, Warsaw, Rose Hill, Burgaw, Chadburn, Ta-| (Ptease turn to page three) Starts Safety Drive H m lj : . iMflvrr WILEY 1.. MOORS President Purol Oil Co. EDGECOMBE OFFICIALS ARE REAPPOINTED W. Stamps Howard Will Serve Ano ther Year As Judge Of Record er's Court Tarboro, April 6. W. Stamps Howard yesterday was reappointei judge of county recorder'a court by the county commissioners. His terra of office will bo one year. Cam eron Weeks was reappointed vice recorder. Other officials renamed by the board are Chauncy Leggett, solici tor, and M. L. Laughlin, auditor. REELECTED Dr. L. M. Massey of Zebulon was reelected Chairman of the Wake County Board of Elections at its biennial reorganization meeting in Raleigh Monday. Lynn Wilder, Jr, was renamed secretary. Members o? the board remain unchanged. ROOSEVELT SAYS WAGES IN SOUTH ARE FAR TOO LOW Southern Industry Can't Succeed On Present Inadequate Pay Scales, President Tells Georgians In Speech Delivered At Galnsville Gainsville, Ga., Mar. 30.—President Roosevelt took off the gloves hero in dealing with low wages, and with these people who "insist that the balancing of the budget is more im portant than making appropriations for relief." "Today," he said, "national pro gress and national prosperity are being held back chiefly by selfish ness on the part of a few. "This nation will never perma nently get on the road to recoVery if we leave the methods and proc esses of recovery to those who own ed the government of the Unite! States from 1921 to 1933." Buying Power Too Low Calling Georgia "my own state," the President went on: "The buying power of the peo ple of Georgia and of the peoplo of many other states is still so low that the people of these states can not purchase the products of in dustry. Therefore, industry is cut off from an outlet which it other wise would have. People cannot buy at stores unless they have cash or good credit. Stores cannot fill their shelves unless they have cus tomers. Mills and factories cannot sell to stores which have no custo mers. "Georgia and the lower South may just as well face facts. The pur chasing power of the millions of Americans in this whole area is far toS lent. i I 1 I Wages Held Inadequate "Most men and women who work for wages in this whole area get (Please turn to page three) ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA, FRIDAY, APfilL 8, 1938 PUROL CO. IS PROMOTING SAFETY DRIVE IN THE STATE City officials, representatives of :he Rocky Mount police department and representatives of the local r vic clubs attended a meeting ft Purol dealers and service station op erators at Buck Overton's place on the Nashville highway last Thurs day night, hearing plans for a Pur ol Company crusade being conduct ed by the company throughout North Carolina. Last instructions were inad e con cerning the" campaign, which began Friday. The meeting was presided over by J. B. Daughtridge, president and manager of Daughtridge Oil Com pany here. The statement of Wiley L. Moore, Pure Oil President on the purpose of the crusade: "Our aim is to get every motorist think ing about safety, safe driving and observing road and highway rule*. In 1937 in the United States 39,700 people were killed on the highways and 1,360,000 were injured. In North Carolina alone the death toll was 1,123. We must make our roads safer for everyone. Pledg 0 signers will be given license plates emblems. "We Will make this Crusade a sustained, concerted attack on care less driving,'' Moore stated. Mr. Daughtridge turned the meet ing over to Mr. Curtis of Greens boro, representative of the Pulrol Company who gave a very interest ing discussion of safety and ex plained in details the safety drive, that is being inaugurated in this state by tho Purol Company. Several short addreeses were madj by W. S. Wilkinson, H. F. Hinson, Solicitor Elmore, and J. R- Thomas, Assistant chief of the Fire Depart ment and by former Lieut. Govern or R. T. Fountain and Prof. Feizer of West Edgecombe School. SERUM IS FATAL Nine women in Orlando, Florida have succumbed to tetanus caused by a cancer serum. The serum, known as Ensol, has been orderod seized throughout the country pending an investigation into the deaths. Several other patients are dangerously ill from the treatments. Finish Caldwell Rural Power Job County Has Approximately 300 Miles Of Electric Lines Serving 1,200 Lenoir, April 2.—The Caldwe l ! County rural electrification project reached its completion yesterday morning at 10 o'clock when the Mill er Electric Company, project con tractors,- completed the final link to give'electric service to the Edge combe section, Manager G. F. Mes sick announced. The final link consisted of sevei miles of connecting link, which will be energized as soon as the season al customers have paid their charges for seasonal service. Completion of this link marks the conclusion of construction on th 9 project by the Miller Electric Com pany and gives Caldwell County 298 miles of rural electric lines, which will serve approximately 1,200 cus tomers. Eight hundred homes have already been wired for service. At the present time the construc tion company is making an inven tory of the project, after which sim ilar inventories will be made by government engineers before final acceptance by the Rural Electrifica tion Administration in Washington. During construction on the proj ect, the Rural Electrification Admin istration has paid in to the Cald well Mutual Corporation, incorproat ed name of the co-operative, the snm of $324,574.02 for construction and other necessary expenses, in addi tion to $22,000 for wiring and equip ment installations. Of this sum, $240,338.60 has been (Please turn to page three) Egyptian Tea Party Atop Pyramid Modern American skyscrapers and their luxurious observation towers have nothing on the ancient tombs of the Pharaohs. Visitors to Egypt are enjoying a sun bath atop the pyramid of Cheops, while afternoon tea is served them by a native dragoman. In the background is the pyra mid of Chephren, second largest of the pyramids at Glzeh. The vaca tionists are members of the Pyramid club, to which guests of the Mena house at Gizeh are admitted. The pyramid of Cheops, largest of the group, is 451 feet high. Visitors make the ascent and find all the comforts of a modern skyscraper at their disposal. Acquiring Park Site Should Not Be Delayed Long We have had many inquiries relative to what had been done to acquire a park site opposite the Lutheran church. In answer to these requests We can only state that we feel sure that the city of Rocky Mount could not afford miss ing the opportunity of acquiring this particular block of land, within three blocks of the heart of the city. This land is vacant, no buildings will have to be paid for and it is something unusual, in the history of a city for a block of land to be left in the heart of the city that can be ac quired by purchase or condemnation for the use of the public without paying high prices. We do feel that the city council should make some statement to the public as to its intentions so that the citizens may have some assurance as to what will be done pending this coming election. The on ly place that the citizenship can be heard in a Democracy is at the Ballot Box. and we feel that the Aldermen who are up for reelction could afford to give the public the benefit of their views on this question. Th e lack of money cannot be the cause of the delay for money is still being spent in Rocky Mount. There is no question of the right of the Board of Aldermen to condemn this land if it can not be bought. The Supreme Court has all ready held that needed park sites come within the law of necessity and can be purchased by the Board of Aldermen without the vote of the people. We are going forward with a night baseball ground for the benefit of the out-of-town owner ship and it is meet and proper that we do something for the benefit of our own people. SMALL HOUSE PERT RISK The mildness of winter and the cheapness of land in the south has made the large apartment houses not so desir able for homes in the south as in the north and the invest mens have not proven so satisfactory in the past. Even though it appears to be much easier through the loaning agencies to finance a large house than a smaller one, and from past experience the small family's residence house has also proven a good investment and a desirable risk. Very little money has ever been lost on the small type residence. The guarantee made by the government for loans for people who desire to acquire and build homes should make this kind of loan desirable investment. However, many of of people are not trained in business and many of them feel that they do not know just how to start about get ting one of these loans. This, of course, leaves the build ing operations more to the investor rather than the home owners. We hope that this condition can be remedied and it can only be remedied by those who have the money to lend. There seems to be an idea in the minds of many would-be home owners that the matter is too heavy laden with Red Tape, especially when the lender does not de sire to fool with small business. PUROL OIL CO. INAUGURATES SAFETY DRIVE The Purol Company has inaugurated a state wide cam paign to reduce the accident and death toll on the high ways and streets of North Carolina through its President, Mr. Moore. This movement has the indorsement of the po lice department, the sheriffs office, and the state highway patrol office. In 1937 there were 39,700 fatalities on the highways and streets as a result of traffic accidents and 1,360,300 in jured. Of this number 1,123 persons were killed in North Carolina and 7,990 injured. Gasoline which is the motor power in this state is sold by the oil companies and the great oil companies are in a better position to undertake this great work than any other agency. It is a crusade and we feel that the Purol Company should be commended in its undertaking. The drive in Rocky Mount is headed by J. B. A Daughtridge, President of Daughtridge Oil Com pany. This is certainly a movement in the right direction. TARBORO OFFICERS NAB THREE MEN NEAR STILL EDGECOMBE MAN SUICIDE IN JAIL HERE Farmer Hangs Self With His Tie While Other Helpless Jail In mates Look On Tarboro, April 4.—While his hor ror-stricken and helpless cell-mates looked on from their adjoining and locked cells, Sam D. Joyner, 56 year old Edgecombe farmer, took his tie from around his neck, knotted it to the top of the iron grating, plac ed it around his neck, and stepped off his bunk into eternity, without a single word. Joyner had been arrested at 10:30 Saturday night in front of Hotel Farrar, charged by Officer Jack Spruill with drunkenness. He had been assigned to an empty cell in the four caged City 'Jail, to await trial on Monday morning. Apparently awaking from a short nap, he arose about 11:15 and look ing around found he was locked in jail. He spoke to Will Keel and Roy Person, both ef Bethel, in the nest cell, who carried on a short conver sation with him. Keel said that Joy ner, whom he knew in Bethel, asked him "What are you in for!'' and he replied "Slick." He then is reputed to have asked Roy Person "What ani I in jail for?" To which Keel replied "You were brought in drunk." Shortly thereafter Ben T. HarreH and Buster Hoard, imprisoned across the room in another caged cell, saw Joyner take off his tie, from around his neck, wrap the tie around the top of the cage, knot the end into a loop, and placing the knotted end under his chin, proceed ed to let himself off tho cot, so that the weight of his body hung from the knotted tie, under his chin, and around his neck. His feet bare ly scraped the floor. He raised no sound, made no motion with his free hands to loosen the tie around his neck. By this time all of the inmates of the cells were raising a howl for someone to come and help them, shouting at the top of their voices, (Please turn to page two) DEATH LOOMS FOR YOUNGEST GAS_VI CTIM Governor Unlikely To Halt Execu tion Of' 16-Year-Old Negro Boy On Friday Raleigh, April 4. —Governor Clyde Iloey, like Judy Can ova'a brother Zeke "ain't a-sayin," but there are strong indications tha the Chief Executive will not interfere with the execution of Mann (Hiawatha) Smith, Negro rapist and younge?t person ever to be sentneed to die in North Carolina. Unless executive clemency, in the form of a commutation, is exercis ed Smith will die in the lethal ga3 chamber Friday of this week. The governor has had the entire caso rec ord before liim since last week an! has been giving it prolonged and in tense consideration. If there were no aggravating cir cumstances in the case, it is almost certain that Governor Hoey, one of the kindliest and most merciful of men, would have little trouble ar riving at a decision. The very idea of executing a 16-year old is re pulsive to him, but the Smith rec (Please turn to page two) NOTICE 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. Name Town , State Route No..— SI.OO PER YE AM Warrant Out For Fourth Man; Three Stills Destroyed In Two Days Tarboro, April 6. —W. J. Newsomo and S. T. Anderson, A. B. C. of ficers, arrested thre e men at a cap tured still yesterday. They hava n warrant for a fourth man. Richard Pope, Lum Smith, and James Armstrong were arrested near the still, found in No. 5 Township on the E. C. Winslow farm, the o£fi- cers said. Zeb Smith' is the missing man. The still, a 50-gallon copper affair with kettle and worm and. 400 gallons of mash were destroyed. The officers said also that a search of Pope's home revealed a small amount of non-taxpaid whiskey. Pope is out in $250 bail and Smith and Armstrong are in jail, awaiting hearing before Judged. P. Kccch. Capture of still was the third ia two days for Newsome and Andec-» son. Monday they destroyed a 50- gallon copper outfit and 100 gallons of mash back of the Dupree farm m No. 13 Township, and a 50-galloa copper pot and 100 gallons of beer mash in No. 3 Township. ACCIDENTS TAKE HEAVY TOLL IN N. C. More Than 1,600 Lost Their Lives In This Manner During 1937, Report Shows A study of vital statistics compil ed by the North Carolina Stata Board of Health released the past week show that preventable acci dents are killing off Tar Heel citi zens at the rate of more than 1,600 a year. During the year 1D37, for which comploto figures have been compiled 1,633 persons were fatally injure!. The total for the preceding year was 1,610. Automobiles do their share of re moving tho earth's inhabitants, but there are other preventable routes taken by humanity. For example, last year's total of those who died from burns was 244 compared with ( 203 the preceding year. In 1937 thera were 153 persons drowned, 88 died from firearms accidents and 98 were victims of railroad accidents dthar .than those connected with automo biles. In two brackets —accidents on railroads associated and disassociat ed with automobiles —decreases wore, shown. In 1936, 109 persons were killed in railroad accidents, as such,' and 43 in combination railroad and automobile, as compared with % 35 in 1937. So far this year, reports compil ed through February shows 231 per sons have been the victim of pre ventable accidents in North Caroli na, including those listed above. This is 12 less than had been reported the first two months of 1937. Not iceable is the decrease in the num ber of automobile fatalities, although there have been some other decreas es that are marked. An increase is reported in the number of per sons burned to death this year, tho total through February having been 69 as compared with 51 the corre sponding period last year. Jackson County farmers have pur chased 544 tong of ground lime stone cooperatively since last Sep tember. Cooperative orders of shrubbery through the county agent's office in Orange County havo resulted in im proved plantings of home ground? this spring.

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