The Johnstonian-Sun
VOL. 25
SELMA, N. C., THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1942.
Single Copy 5c
NUMBER 28.
Dunn’s New Armory Dedicated Last Friday
DUNN CITIZENS PROMOTED such an event on last Friday as to gain state-wide publicity
when they dedicated their handsome new $125,000 WPA-built armory, staged a mamnioth mili
tary parade and presented other spectacular events. Dunn’s Victory Celebration was all that any
city could ask for; it exceeded all expectations and was a tremendous success. Thousands turned
out to pay tribute to Dunn’s General William C. Lee, chief of the Airborne Command. National
and State dignitaries joined the homefolks in honoring the city’s most distinguished son.
DEFERRED 1-B MEN
WILL BE INDUCTED
BEGINNING AUG. 1
Early Induction Of Regular
Quotas of Men In 1-B Selec
tive Service Class Because of
Minor Physical Defects An
nounced by Army.
Johnston Youth Is
Wounded by Gun;
Attempted Suicide
Warren G. Hargis in Fort Bragg
Hospital from Self - Inflicted
Wounds
Warren G. Hargis, 21, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Arthur Hargis, who lives
about seven miles northwest of Pour
Oaks, is in a government hospital at
Fort Bragg suffering from seif-in
flicted gunshot wounds.
The young man, a soldier, station
ed at Fort Bragg was at his home
AWOL over the week end. Monday
afternoon around 6 o’clock he went
to the home of a neighbor, asking the
loan of a rifle stating that he wanted
to kill a chicken. A short time later
the report of the gun was heard and
a brother, Tyson Hargis, suspecting
something was wrong, went to in
vestigate. He found his brother in the
woods near the home leaning against
a tree.
He was taken to the Johnston Coun
ty hospital and later 'removed to the
government hospital at Fort Bragg.
A note was found on his person
supposedly meant for his mother,
which stated, “I have given you
nothing but trouble for the past 21
years. You will find me asleep at the
barn.”
Rather than go back to Fort Bragg
young Hargis decided to take his life,
officers said.
The bullet from the rifle went
through his left side, barely missing
his heart. It is thought he will re
cover.
Selectees Receive
Thorough Examination
At Induction Station
SUGAR RATIONING
DATES ARE LISTED
A telegram to Rationing Board
Chairman G. C. Uzzle from Guy W.
Rawls, state organization officer of
Price Administration, states that
sugar certificates are available and
negotiable immediately.
Stamp No. 5 is valid between June
28 and July 25 for the purchase of
two pounds of sugar.
Stamp No. 6 is valid between July
26 and August 22 for the purchase of
two pounds of sugar.
Rev. Mr, Newman To
Preach Here Sunday
The Rev. H. F. Newman, student
at the Union Theological Seminary,
Richmond, Va., will preach at the
Selma Presbyterian church Sunday
morning at 11 o’clock and Sunday
evening at 8 o’clock. The public- is
cordially invited to hear him.
Mr. Newman is spending the week
here directing a Vacation Bible
School at the church, and will remain
over for the Sunday service. There
will be something special for this
service as a ■ result of the Bible
School.
Starts Army Course
Smithfield, July 7.—William Pope
Lyon, son of Attorney W. H. Lyon
and the late Mrs. Lyon of Smithfield,
has started his Army recruit drill at
Keesler Field. Private Lyon is a
graduate of "the University of North
Carolina.
The current high rate of rejections
of selectees at the induction station
is disturbing to the public mind. This
is understandable since the public is
so vitally interested in every phase
of Selective Service. There is a satis
factory explanation for it and the
■public is entitled to that explanation.
Prior to January 1, 1942, complete
physical examinations were given the
selectees by local board examining
physicians. After a few months of
experience, these physicians were
passing men who very closely met
the Army’s requirements. Rejections
at the induction station at that time
were almost entirely of men with
borderline conditions, men who had
contracted diseases between the time
of their local examinations and the
time of their delivery for induction,
and men rejected as a result of chest
X-rays which were never a part of
the local examination.
Under the regulations now in force,
the local examining physicians do not
make, a comprehensive examination
In fact, they make only a casual,
“screening” examination and are
guided by a list of defects, one part
of which sets forth non-remediable
physical conditions which manifestly
disqualify the selectee for all military
service, and the second part of which
sets forth those non - remediable
physical conditions which manifestly
disqualify for general military serv
ice, but qualify for limited service.
The local examining physician has no
alternative but to follow this list
specifically. With these limitations,
the examining physician can reject
little more than the obviously unfit.
Another reason for the large num
ber of rejections is that local boards
no longer have the authority to dis
qualify registrants who are below the
minimum literacy standards for mili
tary service. Prior to January 1, 1942,
they had such authority and did not
send to the induction station regis
trants who were below such stand
ards. Regulations now provide that
all such men, otherwise qualified for
military service, must be sent to the
induction station for final check and
rejection by the Army.
It can readily be appreciated by
those who understand the regulations
in force that a higher percentage of
the men forwarded for induction may
be expected to be rejected for the
reasons above given and local boards
and examining physicians should not
be criticized for a condition over
which they have no control. They have
no choice but to send the men to the
induction station even if they have
reason to believe that a large number
will be rejected on account of their
physical condition or lack of educa
tional qualifications.
Oil drained from the crankcases of
the 6,000 vehicles belonging to the N.
C. State Highway Commission, is re
refined and used over again.
A committee is a meeting of im
portant people, who singly, can do
nothing, but to-gether can decide that
nothing can be done.
Cost of Synthetic
Rubber Not So Great
Two Big Plants Turning Out
This Much Needed Material
At Lower Cost Than Expect
ed.
Washington, July 5.—With two
major plants in production, govern
ment officials have discovered that
making synthetic rubber won’t cost
as much as they thought it would.
Money is no object in the 800,000-
tons-a-year program, but rubber Co
ordinator Arthur B. Newhall was
pleased nevertheless today to report
that the program probably would not
require all the $650,000,000 which
Congress authorized for it.
Goodyear brought the first unit of
the government-financed synthetic
plants into production in May and
Firestone the second in June. United
States rubber is scheduled to turn out
buna S in August, and B. F. Goodrich
in November.
As the program now stands, about
three-fourths of the synthetic rubber
is to come from use of a petroleum
base and the remainder from use of
alcohol.
However, the corn belt, supplying
grain for alcohol, may play an even
greater part in beating the rubber
shortage.
A 200,000-ton increase in the pro
gram is under discussion. Farm-mind
ed senators are backing legislation to
assure that this expansion would call
for use of grain.
Lowered cost estimates of the
synthetic program result in part from
what WPi? calls the “strip-teasing”
of specifications—the substitution of
cheaper and more plentiful materials
for steel plates, copper and other
scarce metals in plant construction—
and in part from the natural reduc
tion of cost per ton because of mass
production.
Despite the driblets of synthetic
already coming in, a survey of the
rubber situation at this time shows
nothing immediately encouraging for
the motorist who is worried about his
tires.
Washington, July 3.—The Army an
nounced intention today of starting
the induction of regular quotas of
men placed in the deferred 1-B selec
tive service class because of minor
physical dfects.
Beginning August 1, men with only
one eye or complete deafness in one
ear, among others, will be inducted
for limited military service, provided
they otherwise meet requirements.
They will be assigned to duty with
corps area service commands and the
War Department overhead organiza
tion, and thereby release an almost
equal number of fully qualified sol
diers with task forces.
Induction, under the. new standards,
“will be limited to those with minor
physical defects who are able to bring
to the Army a useful vocation which
was followed in civil life,” the War
Department said.
Men found upon re-examination to
be qualified for full military service
will be inducted as 1-A registrants.
Among those now classified as 1-B
who would be eligible under the new
ruling for limited service status are
men:
Whose weight and chest circumfer
ence do not meet 1-A standards but
do not fall in class 4; who have mini
mum 20-40 sight in one or both eyes
if correctible with glasses to 20-40 in
either eye; whose hearing in one or
both ears is not less than 5-20, with
complete deafness in one ear permit
ted if hearing in the other is, 10-20
or better; who have insufficient teeth
if the defect is correctible by den
tures.- .
Bomber Falls,
KOling Seven
Rocky Mount Boy
Is War Casualty
Rocky Mount, July 7.—The War
Department today notified Mr. and
Mrs. L. E. Smith of Rocky Mount
that their son, Sgt. Lubie E. Smith,
Jr., 24, was a war casualty.
No details of the death were re
ported in the telegram received by
the local family.
The last time the Smiths heard
from -their son he had been stationed
at a hospital in Australia. Sgt. Smith,
a graduate of the class of 1937 at the
Rocky Mount High School, had been
in the U. S. Army for two years.
Surviving, ih addition to his par
ents, include three brothers, W. T.,
Bobby and Johnny Mack Smith, all of -
the home; three sisters, Mrs. Joe Har
per of Leggett, Mrs. M. A. Armstrong
of Rocky Mount and Mrs. Richard
Crause of Laurel, Md. The father is
employed by the American Telephone
and Telegraph Company here.
Mr. Smith, who was in Selma to
day, stated that his son, Lubie, left
California about two months ago for
the far east, and that they had only
heard from him one time since that
time. The Navy Department wired
the parents, Mr. Smith said, that the
body of their son would be interred
and shipped home after the duration
of the war if requested.
Young Smith was a nephew of Mr.
R. .1. Smith, of Selma-
Army Plane Crashes In Flames
In Cornfield Five Miles West
of Selma — Wing of Craft
Drops In Farmer’s Yard —
Bodies Bunied, Badly Mangled
The dead:
Pvt. - Samuel R. McDonald,
former sports editor of the
Raleigh News and Observer,
Raleigh. McDonald was draft
ed early this year and was
stationed at Columbia Air
Base.
Capt. Joseph Plant, pilot,
Long Beach, Cal.
Second Lieut. Howard Hen-
thorn, co-pilot, Ludloy, Ky.
Staff Sgt. Louis F. Turner,
Jr., radio operator, Chester,
Pa.
Staff Sgt. Arlyn A. Gustaf-
foon, Wausa, Neb .
Pvt. Joseph A. Schmidt,
Toledo, Ohio, passenger.
Pvt. Frank Sailer, Kane, Pa.
Bad Wreck Occurs
At Airport Thursday
Four Men Are Seriously Injured
When Struck by Car Driven
by Milton Massey — All Sent
To Hospital — Driver of Car
Placed Under Bond.
Nazi Star Witness
Registration For Gas
Rationing Starts Today
Registration cards for rationing of
gasoline for passenger cars and mo
torcycles gets under way in Johnston
county today, Thursday, July 9th, and
continues through Saturday, July 11th
from 9 a. m. until 5 p. m., war time:
Smithfield—Old A.B.C. Store.
Micro—At School.
Four Oaks—At School.
Clayton—At School.
Princeton—At School.
(Pocket registration cards are re
quired of all applicants).
Dealers and Distributors
The second registration will be that
of dealers and distributors who will
register at the local Rationing Board
in Smithfield, from 9:00 a. m. until
5:00 p. m., on July 13th, 14th and
15 th.
Trucks, Pick-Ups, Tractors, Etc.
The third registration is for those
owning trucks, pick-ups, tractors, etc.,'
and car owners that require more
gasoline than is allotted on the so-
called A cards; these will all register
at the local Rationing Board in
Smithfield, from 9:00 a. m., until 5:00
p. m., July 16th, 17th and 18th.
(Truck owners in addition to having
pocket registration cards must be
able to furnish the following informa
tion: Miles driven during May, 1942,
mileage to be driven July, August,
and September, 1942, and average
miles per gallon.)
A serious accident occurred at the
Selma Airport filling station, half
mile east of Selma on the Selma-
Pine Level highway, Thursday night
at 10:30, when an automobile driven
by Milton P. Massey, manager of a
filling station on highway 301, south
of Selma, ran into a group of men
standing near where William Norkett
was working on another car parked
near the filling station.
Massey, who was traveling east,
says he was going about 45 miles an
hour when he reached the incline at
the A. C .L. railroad crossing, and
that he did not see the car until too
late to avoid striking it. He claims
there was no light on the parked car.
C. A. Bailey, of the Bailey Undertak
ing Company, was called to the scene
and took four of the injured men to
the Johnston County hospital. Those
injured wefe as follows:
Joe Palmer, an employee of the
Southern railway, received a broken
leg and serious bruises. He is report
ed by Capt. S. M. Parker, general
foreman of the Southern railway, who
visited the injured man Tuesday even
ing, to be getting along as well as
could be expected.
Virdell Cooper, Negro, also employ
ed by the Sauthern railway, suffered
a broken right leg and mangled left
foot. He was later taken to a Durham
hospital.
William Norkett, manager of the
airport and filling station, sustained
a broken jawbone, lacerations of the
face, as well as shoulder and leg in
juries. He was treated at the hospital
and later brought to his home near
the airport.
Aaron Wall, Jr., an employee at
the filling station received a broken
wrist, teeth dislocations .and minor
injuries. He was later released from
the hospital.
Massey, driver of the car, escaped
injury. He was placed under bond for
his appearance before Mayor B. A.
Henry at a preliminary hearing to be
held as soon as the injured are able
to appear in court.
Wearing full uniform of the Nazi
Luftwaffe, Lieut. Hans Peter Krug
is shown (right) leaving federal
court in Detroit after testifying
against Max Stephan, the Detroit
restaurant keeper accused of aiding
the German flier when he escaped
from a Canadian prison camp last
April. Accompanying Lieutenant
Krug is a Canadian oflicer of equal
rank.
Two Negroes Are Held
After Johnston Raid
Tom Jack Watson and David Wat
son, Negroes, were arrested in a raid
in Wilders township led by Joe Royall
Smithfield township constable, Brad
McLamb, Banner township constable.
Officer Whiteside of Goldsboro and
E. A. Bennett of the Federal Alco
holic Tax Unit.
A 125-gallon still was destroyed
and 20 barrels of mash were confis-
An Army bomber crashed during a
summer storm five miles west of
Selma, and one and a half miles
south of Wilson’s Mills, late Wednes
day afternoon, killing all men aboard,
Eye witnesses said the plane caught
fire in the air and exploded as it
crashed. One occupant was tossed 13D
yards, three others were nearby and
five were believed burned in the de
bris of the Completely - demolished
bomber.
The twin-motored medium bomber
lost part of a wing half a mile from
the cornfield' in which it crashed, and
fragments were scattered over a 15-
acre area from the two craters
gouged in the soft field by the motors.
It fell in a corn and soybean field
on the farm of Jasper Beasley, about
a mile south of Wilson’s Mill in John
ston County.
The witnesses advanced conflicting
opinions of the cause of the crash be
ing divided between theories that
motor trouble, lightning or a sudden
cyclone downed the ship.
A. D. Stephenson, a tobacco farmer,
said he was watching the plane when
it fell.
“It was running all right,” he said,
“Then part of the left wing flew off
and the motor began roaring. It
circled and then began twisting every
which way. About 30 feet from the
ground the motors went off and
flames blazed all over the plane.
“It was burning when it fell, and
(Continued on page four)
Seen and Heard Along;
THE MAINDRAG
. By H. H. L. I""" T
Since BILL CREECH went down to
Holt Lake a few' days ago and took
a bath—it is reported the state health
authorities have condemned the lake
— EVA MASSEY and HARVEY
STANCIL went fishing a few days
ago—EVA says she didn’t even get
a bite (mosquitoes and red bugs not
included) — JOHN HARRIS, is 85
year old today (Thursday)—JOHN,
one of Selma’s well known gentlemen
of color, has been with the BRANCH
BANK as janitor for nearly a genera
tion — RALEIGH GRIFFIN and
bride are back from their honeymoon
spent in the north—RALEIGH was
missed from the Maindrag—we ex
tend a cordial welcome to his better-
half — MR. J. S. BROWN, who had
charge of the bank during his absence
made many friends while here who
regret to see him leave — LOUIS
LEVINSON, of Benson, was on the
Maindrag yesterday—LOUIS is prose
cuting the docket in Recorder’s Court
during the absence of the regular
solicitor, BILL GODWIN, and is
making good — BILLY BLACK and
HARRY OLIVER went swimming in
Pullen Park Lake, Raleigh, Monday—■
DONALD BROADWELL has accept
ed a job at Holt Lake as life guard—
so send your kids on down and DON
will see that they are taken care of—
a letter from LEON HOWELL, who
is in the Navy, now stationed at
Seattle, Washington, informed his
cated.
Both Negroes were bound over to 1 parents that he was planning to come
federal district court after a pre-1 home soon on a visit—^his father,
Hminary hearing in Raleigh. CAPT. D. P. HOWELL, immediately
Another 125-gallon still in the same I wired his son to come by air, as the
HELP WIN THE WAR! — Take
all your scrap rubber to your nearest section, near the Josh Flowers place, 1 young man would only have four days
filling station. 1 was confiscated. 1 at home if he made the trip by train,
ii