The J ohnstonian-Sun
DESOLATION LEFT BY MUNITIONS TRUCK EXPLOSION
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Explosion Follows Fire
Caused by Collision or
Munitions Truck and Car
Night Policeman Charlie Straughan and Fire Chief
John Jeffreys Painfully Injured — Mr. Straughan
Tells of Receiving Telephone Call for Help to Ex
tinguish Burning Truck — Very Few People There
When He Arrived — Ambulance Carrying Injured
Persons Involved In Wreck Prior to Explosion to
Hospital Had Just Left — Water Supply Gave Out
and Then All Warned Not To Go Near Truck.
RUINS of Hotel Talton, three-story SundTn’the ruins. ^Mrs. R. L. Hollomon, who
Selma early Saturday morning. Charred bones of two_peisons \veie louna ..
Selma early Saturday morning, cnarrea ownedR- Talton. of Smithfield, who pti-
onerated the hotel, died three days later of injuries. Hotel was oi\nea y y —News and Observer Photo
inates his loss at $50,000 to $60,000 with no insurance.
Seven persons are known to be dead and nearly 100 injured as the result
of a munitions truck explosion near Gurkin’s Taxem about one mile south
west of Selma last Saturday morning at 3 o’clock, when 33,000 pounds of
explosives went up in smoke, following an accident about an hour and a
half before in which one person had been fatally injured when a Pontiac
car driven by Mrs. Minnie Lewis, of Raleigh, ran into the munitions truck
—;).bursting the gas tank on the
Slayer Mrs. Bessie
Brewer Is Given
30-Year Sentence
EXPLOSION TAKES
SEVENTH VICTIM
James Joseph Ellis Who Killed
Salvation Army Worker At
Smithfield Army Headquar
ters, Gets Second Degree
Verdict.
Important Meeting!
. The case of James Joseph Ellis, 23-
year-old New Jersey youth, charged
with the murder of Mrs. Bessie Brew
er at Salvation Army Headquarters
in Smithfield several weeks ago, was
the outstanding case in Johnston
County Superior Court last week. The
case was taken up for trial Wednes
day morning and consumed the en
tire week from then on.
Solicitor Claude Canaday worked
hard to obtain a first degree verdict
against the slayer, who admitted the
killing of Mrs. Brew’er at the Salva
tion Army Home in Smithfield with
a hammer.
Judge Clawson Williams- began his
charge to the jury at 8:15 p. m. Sat
urday night and at 10:35 he gave the
case to the jurors. In his charge.
Judge Williams allowed them four
possible verdicts: first degree, second
degree, manslaughter or not guilty.
The jury then retired for consider
ation of the case, and after being out
for one hour and 20 minutes the
12 men in whose hands lay the desti
ny of a human life, filed back to re
port that they had agreed on second
degree murder. On first ballot the
jurors stood 8 for second degree and
4 for first degree, but on the second
ballot a full agreement was reached
in favor of second degree murder.
Ellis, who had’ sat with head lower
ed throughout the trial, brightened
and appeared greatly relieved -when
the verdict was announced. His moth-
er, Mrs. Florence Ellis of Jersey
■ City, N. J., who came down for the
trial, was not in the courtroom when
her son was sentenced. When told
that the youth had escaped .the gas
chamber she appeared very happy.
Judge Williams pronounced a sen
tence of 30 years in the State prison.
There will be an important
meeting of .the Red Cross Emer
gency organization held at the
Selma Woman’s Club building
tonight (Thursday) at 8 o’clock.
Public urged to attend. We have
are literally asleep as to the im
portance of the task before us.
Let us bestir ourselves lest we
find it too late. Don’t let the Japs
find us asleep when they arrive,
and arrive they may if we don’t
get ready for them. Wake Up!
Wake Up! Wake Up!
Mrs. R. L. Holloman, Operator
Hotel Talton, Dies In John
ston County Hospital of Inju
ries Sustained As Result of
Bhtst—Govei-nor Asks Army
To Convoy Munitions Trucks,
Estimated Property
Damage In Selma
Around $100,000
Railroad Detective^s
Assailant Convicted
Robert Turner, Raleigh Negro, was
convicted of assault with intent to
kill- on Police Officer R. Britt, of Sel
ma, in Superior Court in Raleigh
Tuesday and sentenced to the State
penitentiary for a term of 10 to 15
years. The Negro assaulted Mr. Bri.tt
on April 29 on the railroad yards m
The Maindrag presented a sad ap
pearance Saturday morning — hun
dreds of big plate glass windows were
strewn from one end of .the main bus
iness section of the town to the oth
er—hardly a place of business in the
city left with a window in it—many
thought an air raid was .taking place
—in fact we thought we heard an air
plane over the town immediately fol
lowing the blast—and dozens of oth
ers thought the same .thing—truck
load after truck load of broken win
dows were hauled from our streets
Saturday—one man thought two big
engines on the Coast Line railroad
had collided—while another said he
thought a cyclone had struck his home
—many believed it was an earthquake
—messages by the dozens began to
pour in a few hours after the explo
sion from people in distant states to
relatives here asking if they were
safe—one mother from distant lilli-
nois wired her son wanting to know
if he was all right—a daughter in
far-away Louisiana wired her moth
er asking if she was o. k—big news
papers all over the country soon be
gan calling for information — this
writer answered several calls before
9_ o’clock from papers in Atlanta, Bal
timore, Washington City and other
places—all wanting the facts—we
told them-what we knew, and that
wasn’t much—more than five hundred
long distance calls came through the
Selma .telephone office that day—two
hundred and fifty thousand people
here Sunday viewing the ruins—they
came from many states—the 21 stute
patrolmen had^^ busy day—the chief-
I"* /» 1. /» - 1 yT C « OOl O-foVTTCS
The munitions truck explosion near
Selma Saturday, which counted its
seventh victim Monday, “would not
have occurred if ordinary precautions
had been followed,” Governor J. M.
Broughton said Monday in a letter to
.the Army ordnance department.
Mrs. R. L. Holloman, 62, operator
of Hotel Talton, died in the Johnston
County Hospital Monday of injuries
suffered when the Hotel Talton was
demolished by the nearby explosion.
She w.as the seventh victim.
Sheriff Kirby L. Sose said a search
of .the ashes of the building revealed
no additional victims. Scores of per
sons were injured by the explosion.
Meanwhile, th e board of directors
of the Winston-Salem Chamber of
Commerce passed a resolution asking
the Governor to make a thorough in
vestigation of the “negligence or lax
ity” behind the disaster.
Governor Broughton suggested that
the Army either convoy its munitions
trucks through the state in the fut
ure or notify the State of their move
ment so that highway patrolmen can
be assigned to the job.
YOUNG MAN DIES
IN DUKE HOSPITAL
Estimate of damage in Selma and
the mill villages has been placed
around $100,000. A Johnstonian-Sun
man interveiwed several of our lead
ing business men today and asked
each as to what they thought the
damage to business houses, churches,
homes, school buildings, etc., in the
town and mill villages would amount
to. Below are a few we interviews
and the estimate placed by them: E.
V. Woodard, $100,000; Ed Creech,
$200,000; Hunter Price, $150,000; A.
L. Langley, $175,000; Tam Corbett,
$75,000; W. R. Smith, $100,000; Roy
Smith, $150,000; Ryland Gregory,
$100,000; C. E. Kornegay, $200,000,
Dr. E. N. Booker, $75,000; Raleigh
Griffin, $50,000.
An estimate on the number ot
windows blown out in .the town has
been placed at 15,000. More than 100
large plate glass windows were brok
en in store fronts.
Many homes suffered heavy dam
age by falling plastering, chimneys,
etc. Ed Creech, Hunter Price and
Carl Worley, who have just built
handsome new homes report plaster
ing cracking in their homes since .the
explosion occurred.
On another page will be found an
account of damage done to many ot
our business enterprises, churches,
school buildings, homes, etc.
ARMY OFFICIALS TO
PROBE EXPLOSION
Coroner E. N. Booker Impanels
Jury Tio Aid In the Investiga
tion As To Any Liability For
Recent Munitions Truck Dis
aster At Gurkin’s Tavem.
Jesse Lee Hamilton, 22, died in
Duke Hospital Thursday (this) morn
ing at 3:30 .o’clock. Young Hamilton
was stricken with pneumonia about
ten days ago at his home on Selma,
Route 1. He was' .taken to the hospital
last Friday, where he continued to
grow worse until his death.
Funeral services will be held Fri
day afternoon at 3 o’clock from the
home. Burial will take place in the
Batten cemetery near McCall’s Cross
Roads.
Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Viola
Creech Hamilton, and two sons, Jesse
A. and Tarry W. Hamilton, of Selma,
Route 1; his mother, Mrs. Lillie Ham
ilton; one sister, Miss Lottie Mae
Hamilton; one brother, James Per
son Hamilton, all of Selma, Route 1;
two half-sisters, Mrs. Chester Wall,
and Mrs. Roscoe Stallings, of Roan
oke Rapids; and one half-brother,
Fletcher Hamilton, of Selma, Rt. 1.
WHITLEY SENTENCED
TO 15 TO 20 YEARS
R. A. Jones To Be
Honored At Dinner
Raleigh when ^he ^attempted to^^^rrest
him. ^
Rex hospital for treatment. He re
turned .to Selma a few days later but
is still under the care of a physician.
W. Rose, of Greensboro, captain
H.
of police for the Southern railway,
handled the case in S^erior court.
Ritter-end, standing part, and bite
of the line are Naval terms used in
knot-.tying.
were tired fellows when Old Sol went
down behind the horizon—but we are
getting back to normalcy—the store
fronts, or most of them, are again
filled with merchandise for display—
it’ll be a long time before we forget
3 o’clock, Saturday morning, Febru
ary 7, 1942, just as it will be a long
time before we forget December 7,
11941, if we ever do.
There will be a supper given at the
Selma American Legion Hut on Fri
day night, March 20, at 7:30, honor
ing Adjutant R. A. Jones, who has
received a call to enter the Naval
Service within a week or two. Mr.
Jones has been one of Selma’s most
useful and beneficial citizens since
coming to Selma, and .this supper is
being given in his honor to show in a
small way the appreciation of the
American Legion members for his
unselfish service.
•Kent Whitley, 32-year-old Johnston
County filling station operator, was
,sentenced by Judge W. C. Hams of
Raleigh to from 15 to 20 yeap m
State Prison after he had pleaded
guilty to a charge of manslaughter in
connection with the slaying of Willi
ford Murphy on the night of Decem
ber 14, 1941. .
The plea was submitted at the con
clusion of state’s evidence, and in
accepting the plea, Judge Harris sta
ted that he was taking off five years
of the sentence because the plea had
been made.
The judge stated that he under
stood from the evidence that Whitley
went out of a filling station “to whip
Murphy” 'and when the latter was
getting .the best of him, Whitley got
mad and shot Murphy, but had not
intended to kill.”
The slaying took place at Mooney-
ham’s filling station at Barnes Cross
Roads in Upper Johnston county. The
shooting occurred after the two men
had engaged in a fight which follow
ed an argument.
Official investigations by Army au
thorities and by a Johnston county
coroner’s jury have been launched in
connection with the explosion disaster
at Gurkin’s Tavern Saturday morn
ing in which several persons were
killed and numerous other persons
were injured.
An official board of inquiry from
the Charleston Ordinance Department
has been assigned to look into the
tragedy. On the board are Lieut.-Col.
J. D. Polley, Capt. J. S. Jenkins,
Lieut. J. W. Hunter and J. N. Pearre,
explosives expert.
Coroner E, N. Booker said that as
soon as the injured victims who are
still in the hospital recover sufficient
ly to testify, his coroner’s jury would
begin a thorough study of the inci
dent and try to ascertain whether
there is any criminal negligence
responsibility.
The jury—made up of H. B. Mar
row, Ira Ford, Jack Wooten, John
Ellington, J. N. Wiggs, and M. L.
Stancil—have already viewed the re
mains of the known dead up until
Saturday afternoon, and a formal in
quest is planned.
JUDGE WILLIAMS
KIWANIS SPEAKER
Needed - 20 Machine Shop inspect
ors'in Central North Carolina plant.
Learn the details at your nearest
United States Employment Service
oifice.
Judge Clawson Williams was the
guest speaker at the Selma Kiwanis
club on last Thursday evening.
Judge Williams devoted most of his
talk the spirit of true patriotism for
the American cause. He said that we
need to become conscious of the trials
through which our forefathers had to
go in order to establish our democrat
ic form of government, and .that the
Bill of Rights and the Constitution of
the United States are emblematic of
the achievements bought with a price
that no man can visualize. Judge
Wiliams said that we need to bestir
ourselves and face the task of 1942
with equal determination .to win as
did our forefathers who faced untold
hardsjiips and even death in order
that we might be free.
Judge Williams was f-he guest of
Kiwanian H. H. Lowry. He was intro
duced to the club by Dr. E. N. Booker.
Kiwanian Jimmie Woodard was in
charge of .the program.
SOYBEANS
Preliminary reports from Wilson
The Marine Corps rejoices that its 1 county farmers indicate a substantial I
1. UaI/1 1 evprvdav *’fi:reens” have been mod-1 increase in the soybean acreage thisly,v,ww w -~
car and setting fire to both th©
automobile and the truck.
The Lewis car ran into the
munitions truck at the intersec
tion of the two highways at that
point. Someone telephoned to
Selma for help, and Charlie
Straughan, night policeman
here, went to the scene immedi
ately with the Selma fire truck.
He did not turn in the fire alarm
and it is fortunate that he didn’t
as this would probably have
meant some of our men on the
fire department would have
been killed, besides many others
who would have gone had the
alarm been given.
Mr. Straughan says when he arriv
ed at the scene the ambulance had
just left with those injured in the
wrecked and burned car, which was
still burning. He immediately went
to work with a few others present
to extinguish the fire, using what
water was in the emergency tank on
the fire truck. He said .the munitions
truck itself did not appear to be
burning very rapidly, although the
blaze was lapping around the tires
and chasis of the truck, but when
.the water supply had been exhausted
he used some chemicals he had on the
fire truck to prevent further spread
of the flames, and although there
was some traces of smoke, the flames
had been extinguished and the fire
was apparently extinguished. But as
they had no further means of fight
ing any fire tha,t might rekindle, all
were asked to stay away from the
scene until they were sure .the fire
was all out. There was soon some
evidence that the fire was redindling
itself, and after the Smithfield Fire
men arrived they made an effort to
extinguish the fire, but when they
learned that the truck was loaded
with explosives they fell back sever
al hundred yards to see what might
happen.
Mr. Straughan said that when he
arrived on the scene .there were very
few people there, and for an hour and
a half the situation was apparently
calm, with only a few spectators on
hand, some walking around, some in
the lunch room at Gurkin’s Tavern,
calmly carrying on as though there
was no danger. Mr. Straughan said
he and Raymond Avery, driver of .the
truck carrying the deadly munitions,
were walking along in front of the
filling station near Hotel Talton
when the explosion went off. The
concussion was so great that he was
thrown to the ground. Mr. Straughan
said that had he had any idea that the
.truck was going to explode he would
have had business elsewhere.
Mr. Straughan was almost render
ed deaf by the explosion, and is still
undergoing treatment for his ears
which were badly ruptured by the
blast.
John Jeffreys, Selma’s fire chief,
who arrived at the scene after Mr.
Straughan, was also there when
the explosion came. He, too, suffered
some severe bruises and lacerations,
but is able to be out again now.
There is no way of telling just
what .the damage in material losses
has been to Selma and community as
the result of the blast. In Selma alone
the damage is high. In broken win
dows alone it will probably take
$75,000 to replace the loss, but this
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