J ohnstonian-Sun
SELMA, N. C„ THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 1942.
Single Copy 5c
NUMBER 34.
=>l
Smithfield Will Have Two Sets of Buyers This Season
Five Warehouses All Set For
Another Big Selling Season—
Extra Set of Buyers Gives
Added Encouragement To All
Local Tobacconists — Market
Opens August 25th.
Navy ‘Takes Over’
Smithfield, August 18.—Two com
plete sets of buyers, representing the
major tobacco companies of the world
will follow sales on the Smithfield
market this season, it has been an
nounced by the local warehouse asso
ciation, and all signs indicate that
Smithfield is about to launch upon its
most successful tobacco-selling year
The market here will open its 45th
season Tuesday morning, August 25
and five spacious warehouses manneo
by efficient and experienced personnel
stand prepared to ■ give the tobacco
farmers of Johnston and neighboring
counties the maximum of service in
handling their 1942 crop.
With two sets of buyers, Smithfield
will be an ideal market for the grow
ers in view of the rationing of tires
and gasoline. Two simultaneous sales
each day will mean that a lot of the
congestion on local floors will be
eliminated, and farmers generally
will be able to get a sale on .the day
they unload their leaf at the ware
house, makingMBpx:essary extra trips
to town and .^Sxtra consumption of
tires and gas.
Any way you look at it, the 1942
season promises to be a banner sea
son for Smithfield warehouses.
Judging from the $40 averages paid
on .the Border Belt markets, prices
this fall will be the best farmers have
seen in many, many years, and farm
ers have learned by experience that
prices paid on the Smithfield market
are just as high as prices paid on
any market and that Smithfield ware
houses are just as eager .to get the
high dollar for their patrons as ware
housemen elsewhere.
Better Service
Smithfield is particularly gratified
over landing two sets of buyers for
the coming season because the mar
ket will be in a better position to
serve the thousands of Johnston
County tobacco farmers and those
farmers in Harnett and Sampson
counties who regard Smithfield as the
logical place to sell .their crop be
cause Smithfield is their nearest
market.
Situated in the heart of the second-
largest tobacco-producing county in
the United States and situated as the
nearest market for hundreds of farm
ers in neighboring counties, the
Smithfield market, as long as it had
one set of buyers, was not able to ac
commodate its home growers ade
quately. Many farmers who preferred
to market their tobacco in Smithfield
were forced to travel long distances
at great expense to markets in other
counties. These growers will welcome
the opportunity of patronizing the
expanded Smithfield market this fall,
saving not only their time and ex
pense but their tires and gas.
Same Opertlbors.
The same warehouse operators who
Seen and Heard Along
THE MAINDRAG
:By H. H. L.
PVT. JIM PRIDGEN’S death came
as a great shock to us and .to his
many friends in Selma where he was
held in high esteem by all who knew
him—it was indeed sad for his mother,
who was expecting him to arrive
home for a visit on the very day he
he died—he was good to his mother,
sending her part of his salary each
month when he was working in
Raleigh—JIM was a natural born
mechanic and upon arriving at Lake
Charles was placed in the mechanical
department of the airplane training
base at the camp there— congratula
tion to BILL AYCOCK—he is now
CAPTAIN BILL AYCOCK, having
been promoted recently at Font Ban
ning to captaincy—BILL is the son
of JUDGE and MRS. W. P. AYCOCK,
of Selma, and his host of friends here
and over North Carolina wish him
luck—one the town’s oldest and most
beloved citizens, MR. T. M. BENOY,
has been very ill for .the past several
days—we trust he will soon be on the
road to recovery—the manager of the
Brick Hotel, MR. E. M. GORDY, is
sore at the Southern Railway, and he
has a right to be—a freight .train
arriving around one o’clock has been
blocking the three highw'ays leading
south from the town, and guests of
the hotel for dinner have to wait an
hour sometimes to get to the business
section of the town, or walk about a
half mile east or west to get across
the tracks—MR. GORDY says a
freight blocked these three s.treet
crossings more than one hour on last
Tuesday—don’t we have a town law
prohibiting the blocking of streets by
trains? ALTON STANCIL, who is
doing K. P. work at Fort Bragg,
writes that the food is fine but wash
ing dishes three times a day for 2,000
soldiers ia no cinch and ia entirely
out of hia line.
A thousand employees of the Gen
eral Cable corporation plant at
Bayonne, N. J., walked out shouting,
“Let the government take over.”
The President ordered the idle plant
taken over by the navy, an action
which had been threatened earlier
by William H. Davis, WLB chair
man, shown as he was interviewed
by newsmen.
Dr. W. H. Carter
Makes Statement
Goldsboro, Aug. 18.—Dr. W. H.
Carter of Goldsboro, before return
ing to, Benson Monday to continue
revival services, which officials of
the Cape Fear Baptist Conference
had attempted to close by legal pro
cedure, made the following statement:
“I did no.t go to Benson to create a
disturbance, but only because I was
invited, and to preach the Gospel. I
would never have gone if I had not
been duly invited by the members to
conduct a revival in the Free Will
Baptist Church there . The .three
preachers. Rev. C. A. Jackson, Rev. J.
A. Blalock, and the Rev. W. B. Strick
land, all of Dunn, who secured a tem
porary oijier restraining me and my
assistant, the Rev. Stedman C. Davis
of Benson, from going on with .the
revival, do not live in Benson and are
not members of that church. Officials
of the Benson church say that the
action of these preachers was nothing
but professional jealousy.
“The Dunn group never saw me
personally or wrote me one word of
their objections or intentions. They
got out a restraining order, and had
it served by a deputy sheriff at the
church following the Wednesday
night service. Thursday morning Mr.
Davis and I, my lawyer, and the
chairman of the board of deacons of
the Benson church went before Judge
John J. Burney at Clinton, and pre
sented an affidavit signed by every
member of the board of trustees, and
every deacon of the church. The Dunn
plaintiffs and their lawyer were also
present. After hearing both sides of
the question. Judge Burney dissolved
the restraining order, and told me I
could continue with the revival. We
did not miss one service. The revival
will continue throughout this week
and perhaps longer.”.
Dr. Carter explained that the re
straining order was secured on the
grounds that he was ejected several
years ago from the Cape Fear Con
ference because he accepted the pas
torate of the Tabernacile Church in
Goldsboro, which is an independent
church belonging to no denomination.
AYCOCK PROMOTED
TO CAPTAINCY
W. B. (Bill) Aycock, of Selma,
Has Been Promoted to the
Rank of Captain In Infantry
At Fort Benning, Ga.
have given Smithfield its new deal in
recent seasons will again be on the
scene when the new season s.tarts
next Tuesday. Holton Wallace will
continue to operate two warehouses,
known as Wallace’s No. 1 and No. 2;
Roy Pearce, Oscar Boyette, and
Frank Skinner will carry on at the
two Gold Leaf warehouses; N. L.
(Perk) Perkins will be on his old
stamping ground around at .the Dixie
Warehouse.
Farmers bringing their leaf to
Smithfield will be assured of the
strongest kind of competition for
their product. Between 15 and 20 to
bacco companies doing business in all
pants of the world wiU be represented
on all sales here.
Among the companies slated to buy
on Smithfield floors are the Ameri
can Tobacco Company, R. J. Reynolds
Tobacco Company, Export Leaf To
bacco Company, Liggett and Myers,
Imperial, J. P. Taylor, 0. W. Dudley,
Cunningham Tobacco Company, Dixie
Leaf Tobacco Company, Venable To
bacco Company , P. Lorillard, A.^C.
Monk Company, Dibrell Bm*’’'
IP. Watson, and
William B. (Bill) Aycock, son of
Judge and Mrs. W. P. Aycock of Sel
ma, recently has been promoted to the
rank of captain in infantry at Fort
Benning. Captain Aycock received
his B. S. degree at State College in
1936. At State College he was major
in the ROTC regiment. When he
reached the age of 21 he was com
missioned as second lieutenant. He
later was promoted to first lieuten
ant, and was called into service in
January. After receiving his degree
at State College, Captain Aycock at
tended the University of North Car
olina, where he received his master’s
degree. He continued his studies at
Duke and Harvard.
He taught in Greensboro for .two
years and a half and then accepted
a position with the National Youth
Administration in Raleigh where he
was located at the time he was called
into service.
While at State College he was a
member of the Blue Key, national
leadership fraternity, the Golden
Chain, Kappa Phi Kappa, Phi Kappa
Tau, and Interfraternity Council. He
served as secretary and later as pres
ident of the North Carolina Federa
tion of Students and vice-president of
the National Federation of Students.
He was married to Miss Grace
Mewbom of Raleigh and Snow Hill
last October.
Judge Stevens Urges Officers
To Rid County Of Prostitutes
SELMA SOLDIER DIES
AT LAKE CHARLES
James H .Pridgen, Who Entered
The U. S .Army Last May,
Died At Lake Charles, La.,
Saturday Morning — Body
Brought To Selma For Burial.
Harwood Acquitted
Of Ma^laughter
Raleigh Man Pleads Guilty,
However, to Driving Car
While Intoxicated
D. L. Harwood, Raleigh service
station operator, who was due to be
tried this week for manslaughter and
for driving while intoxicated, pleaded
guil.ty in court to the former charge
and was acquitted of the latter.
It was agreed that Judge Henry
Stevens, who is holding Johnston
County court should hear the evidence
and render the verdict in the driving
charge, and the judge found him not
guilty.
For the other offense, Harwood was
given a six months suspended sen
tence and put on probation for five
years. In adition to the usual terms of
probation, Harwood was forbidden to
use any kind of intoxicating beverage
for two' years and to refrain from
driving a motor vehicle on the State
highways or on the streets of Raleigh,
but is allowed to drive around his
place of business. He is further re
quired .to pay $250 each now to Lewis
W’illiams, father of the hian killed.
A message was received here last
Saturday about noon by Mrs. J. H.
Pridgen announcing the death of her
son. Pvt. James' H. Pridgen, which
oceurred Saturday morning in a
hospital at Lake Charles, La. News
of his death came as a distinct shock
to his many friends here and else
where.
Young Pridgen, who was 27 years
of age, was employed in the mechani
cal department of the Yates Motor
Company, of Raleigh, when he was
drafted in the service last May.
He had written his mother earlier
in the weel^ that he had been granted
a leave of absence, and was coming
home for aVwo-week visit.
' The body was brought to Selma
Monday night at 11:15, accompanied
by an escort, Sgt. Leamon E. Quick,
stationed at Lake Charles.
Funeral services were held from
Edgerton Memorial Methodist church
by the pastor, the Rev .0 .L. Hath
away, on Wednesday afternoon at
3:30 o’clock .Burial took place in
Oakland cemetery in Smithfield. All
the business houses -in Selma closed
during the hour of the funeral out
of respect for the deceased.
Surviving Jjfsides his mother are
one sister, 1ms. B. T. Coley, of Jack
sonville, Fla., and two brothers, Elton
Pridgen, who holds a position in the
insurance office of Mr. J. C .Avery in
Selma, and Paul Pridgen, also of
Selma.
Pallbearers weis Bob Suber, C. L.
Davis and Mr. Johnson of Raleigh,
James Person, Paul McMillan, and
Narvin Creech.
Sehna Man Reappointed
Welfare Superintendent
Mrs. T. J. Lassiter, Sr., Resigns
As A Member of Public Wel
fare Board—Mrs. B. G. Mat
tox Named Her Successor.
and to Columbus Lockamy, father of
the one injured, and to pay $50 to
each in August, 1943, 1944, and 1945,
making a total of $800.
The trial resulted from an automo
bile accident on June 14 on Highway
701 in .the lower edge of Johnston
County near Newton Grove, when the
car driven by Harwood met and col
lided with the one driven by Melvin
Lockamy and occupied by two other
Negroes, Samuel Williams, who was
killed in the accident, and Almond
Lockamy, who was seriously injured.
The driver of the Negro’s car was
not seriously hurt.
The resignation of Mrs. -T. J. Las
siter, Sr., as a member of the John
ston county public welfare board has
been tendered and Mrs. B. G. Mattox
has been nominated as her successor.
Mrs. Lassiter was the member of
.the board named by the state Depart
ment of Public Welfare, and as soon
as the state department approves
the nomination of Mrs.. Mattox she
will assume her duties on the board.
The other members are J. B. Woot
en of Princeton, a member of the
board of county commissioners, who
was named to the welfare board by
the commissioners, and J. W. Earp of
O’Neals township, who was chosen by
the two other members of the welfare
board.
The welfare board this week ap
proved the reappointment of W. T.
Woodard, Jr., as county welfare su
perintendent.
At the recent meeting of the board,
the first since two new case workers
were added to the county welfare
staff, the results of closer supervision
of case work were apparent. Revisions
and terminations of cases cut $105
from the amount being paid to cli
ents. Two old-age clients and six chil
dren were taken from the list of those
who had been receiving grants be
cause .their circumstances had chang
ed since they were last checked.
- Revisions upward, which totaled
$24, were made in five old-age and
three ADC cases.
Addressing Johnston County’s
New Grand Jury, Judge Henry
Stevens Raps Down On Vice
and Crime and Tells Officers;
To Get Busy —- Thinks War
Will Prove A Blessing If We
Don’t Lose Tao Many Boys,
State College Reports
Openings For Training
Selective Service
Eliminates 1>B Class
Local Boards Will Place Regis
trants Believed Not Totally
Disqualified Into Class 1-A.
Junk!
Washington, Aug. 19, — Selective
Service headquarters, -in a double-bar
reled move to increase .the Army’s
manpower supply and simplify draft
classifications, today ordered reclassi
fied as 1-A all 1-B draft registrants
not totally disqualified physically
from military service.
The class 1-B category—for regis
trants fit for limited military service
•—will be eliminated entirely effective
tomorrow.
Men already in 1-B will be reclassi
fied over a four-month period starting
September 1. Those not totally dis
qualified physically will be placed in
1-A. Those found unsuited for any
military service will be placed in 4-F.
The action followed the War De
partment’s recent decision to draft
men with minor physical defects.
Selective Service headquarters said
“future calls for selectees will be for
class 1-A men only.”
This, however, does no.t alter the
fact that married men with or without
dependents will be drafted as the need
arises .It was pointed out that as the
pool of available manpower dimin
ishes, some men presently classified
3-A would be reclassified 1-A and
tubs b^ome subject to call. Some
married men already have been draft-
ed.
Service officials said dis-
jthe 1-B’s will meatj.>' vt
board eventually ,^ ' '
I'per into ' r
# '. -y"
now deferred because of dependents.
One official described as a “misun
derstanding” a Boston report quoting
a Selective Service spokesman .that a
general draft of 'young married men
with dependents will come “in the not
far distant futre.” It was said there
is “no likelihood” of a change in a
July 15 directive .to local boards that
such men not be called up until fur
ther instructions from Washington.
Elimination of the 1-B classification
came amid disclosure that .the War
Manpower Commission, seeking tight
er control over civilian manpower
resources, will ask President Roose
velt to stop all voluntary military re
cruiting and turn over procurement of
fighting men entirely to the Selective
Service.
Not more than one-fourth of the
present 1-B men in each local draft
board area are .to be reclassified each
month, under the new program. It is
expected the reclassification will be
Completed by January 1.
Local board will place registrants
believed not totally disqualified into
class 1-A pending examination at
Army ind^Jion centers. There, if
passed, the" men will be assigned to
general or limited military service,
depending on their physical qualifi
cations. Those rejected for serious
physical defects will be placed in
class 4-F.
Draft headquarters caqji vned local
boards .that in i
“full consider
Selective Servic
determents
y 'tonah'
X 
There are 12 openings for students
in aircraft, sheet metal training ex
isting qt present in the Vocational
Educational Department at N. C.
State College in Raleigh. Some of
these openings are in each of .the
three shifts, as follows: 7:00 a. m. to
3:00 p. mV; 3:00 p. m. to 11:00 p. m.;
11:00 p. m. to 7:00 a. m. It is neces
sary for applicants to secure their
referral cards from the Employment
Office before being admitted to these
classes . These are open to men and
women who are 18 years old or over.
Also, there is an opening for a Me
chanic Learner, Signal Corps Equip
ment—Persons to work in the over
hauling, maintenance, repair and in
spection of miscellaneous signal corps
equipment. Persons selected for ap
pointment will be trained by .the War
Department. The duties of the posi
tion are to receive instruction eight
hours a day in the fundamentals of
overhauling, maintenance, repair and
inspection of miscellaneous signal
corps equipment, including radio, tel
ephone, telegraph, power and light
equipment. Beginning rate of pay is
$1,060 per annum. Upon successful
completion of the preliminary train
ing course of ■ approximately six
monts’ duration, employees will be
promoted .to the advanced training
class at a salary of $1,440 a year.
Upon successful completion of the ad
vanced training period, trainees will
be eligible for Signal Corps position
at $1,620 a year. Applicants must be
citizens of, or owe allegiance to, the
United States. Foreign-born appli
cants must furnish proof of citizen
ship. Applicants fhust have reached
their 17th birthday and must not have
passed their 53rd birthday. Appli
cants mus.t be high school graduates
with at least one semester of algebra.
Prefer men with draft class, 1-A.
Will accept other draft classifications
if applicants are physically capable
of performing duties of this posi.tion.
I Four Senior Shoe Repairmen are
wanted at $1,260 per annum. (Must
have had at least 6 to 12 months’ ex
perience in fV’. up-to-date shoe shop,
making gene .1 repairs to shoes, us
ing modern n. ichinery.)
In his charge to Johnston County’s
new grand jury Monday, Judge Henry
L. Stevens, who is presiding over the
August term of criminal court, said
“Sometimes I feel constrained .to be
lieve that it might be a good thing
for this nation to feel some of the
horrors of this war.”
Nine new members of the grand
jury were chosen to take the places
of those whose time had expired. The
new jurors are: C. , A. Daughtry,
Princeton, Route 1; J. M. Jones,
'Smithfield, Route 1; J. W. Daughtry,
Smithfield; Willie Thomas Wilson,
Wilson’s Mills; W. H. Woodard,
Smithfield, Route 2; P. T. George, Jr., ■
Four Oaks, Route 2; Albert Thompson,
Smithfield; W. L. Strickland, Smith-
field, Route 2; and W. P. Creech,
Smithfield, Route 2.
Judge Stevens reminded his hearers
that the United States was one of the
few places in the world where bullets
are not flying and civilians as well
as troops were not subject to the
horrors of war. “God in his protecting
power has been unusually good to us,”
said the judge. “Unless we lose too
many of our men, the war may be the
means of saving the nation from
something worse.” We had gotten soft
physically, mentally ,morally and
spiritually. Unless we got everything
we wanted we felt like we were not
being treated right, ,
Lesson in Oonitrast. '*
“This' thing is going to teach us
self-control,” he continued, “control
of our passions, not necessarily sex
passion, but passions for going to the
extreme in self-indulgence. If we can
get by without losing too many of our
boys, it will be worth it. Money isn’.t
everything, it is only a means of ex
change. If we are spending huge
sums, what difference does it make
if we are able to save for our little
ones those four freedoms of which our
President talks, freedom of speech
and .the press, freedom to worship
God as we choose, freedom from fear,
and freedom from want.
“God has been kicked off the throne
by Hitler; the Japanese are fighting
an anti-Christian war, a war against
God as well as against us,” continues
the judge.
“ “Those of us who are not young
enough to enter into actual combat,
may help by scrimping and saving
and investing in war bonds and by
conducting ourselvqs so that time and
money, might be used in defense and
will not have to be used bringing
people to trial and conviction,” de
clared the judge.
No Mercy for Prostitutes
Referring to the spread of social
diseases, he said, “it takes a man to
undergo the rigors of our mechanized
servile today,” and emphasized the
terrible havoc such disease plays upon
the physical condition of .those affect
ed. He said .the prostitute need not
look for any mercy when they come
before him, that one who conveys the
disease does more harm than a Jap
can do with a bullet. Unless the bullet
kills, the soldier recovers, he said, but
syphilis is followed by mental and
physical disease and is conveyed to
the next generation. He classed the
taxicab driver^ who carried the pros
titutes from camp to camp along with
the actual offenders.
He urged officers to do their part
in subduing such crimes and not let
it be said in the county that “we have
thrown up our hands and cannot con
trol it without Federal aid. It .is our
God-given duty .to protect these boys
all you can, I expect you to do that,”
he declared. *
-h
ENTERTA^NS AT DINNER
Thomas Reunion
Set August 23
Mrs. W, T .Woo.iard entertained at
dinner Wedip''T'^.j|,,'yhe following
tv^Mrs. T. C.
'ord, Mrs.
^ St^t Bell of
''hg-, dland and
,®esfl^lma, and
(i>ten, of
'V'l
The Dan Thomas family reunion
will be held at the C. B. Thomas
home on Smithfield, Rt. 1, on Sunday,
August 23. It will be an all-day af
fair with a picnic spread at noon.
The Rev. J. F. Blackmon of Buie’s
Creek will be principal speaker. AH
relatives and friends of the Thomas
family are invited to attend with
well filled .lunch baskets.
Stop hesitating. The man who goes
to the bottom of things arrives be
cause he knows. Don’t stand on the
bank shivering; jumpjn v- ^
•K'
the depths.
3;
i