HPT ¥¥"^ ¥ 4 T 1"V Roanoke Rapids Township Irlr Hr R Al D | 31 pER cent [ 2 0 0 2 2 I 4 44 44^ 4 mLMi^AA Of Halifax County Population --l OF THE TWIN CITIES-ROANOKE RAPIDS-ROSEMARY ; VOLUME 17._ROANOKE RAPIDS-ROSEMARY. N?C., THURSDAY, MAY 7th, 193L NUMBER 4. MAYOR STARTS CITY DIVE CLEAN-UP Mrs. Plummie Byrum Suicide STEADMAN OF HALIFAX IS MEMBER Editor o f Greensboro Daily News Is Made Chairman of New Commission REPRESENT STATE Governor 0. Max Gardner submit ted to the Senate Monday, for its confirmation his appointees to mem bership on the State Highway Com mission. The new Commission con sists of seven members. Under the provisions of the State Road Law, enacted the present General Assem bly, the commissioners are appoint ed to represent the State at large and no member is the representative of any particular district. The list announced by the Governor is composed of James H. Clark, Blad en County; N. L. Stedman, Halifax County; T. L. Bland, Wake County; Janies L. McNair, Scotland County; E. B. Jeffress, Guilford County; C. A. Cannon, Cabarrus County; and Will W. Neal, McDowell County. The Governor appointed E. B. Jef fress Chairman of the Commission and T. L. Bland as the Republican member. In announcing the personnel of his Commission the Governor stated that he had maturely considered all the recommendations made from every section of the state and in addition had conscientiously considered nomi nations made by himself with a view to selecting seven of the most able men in North Carolina to compose ; the commission which he considers ; perhaps the most important and use ful body he will appoint during his entire term of office. No member ap pointed was a candidate for the po sition. “There is not a man on the Com mission,” stated the Governor, “who is not endowed by ability and inter est with high capacity to success fully develop our highway and road policy and to insure '.he efficient and economical administration of the road law. I consider the composite membership of the Commission one of the best balanced, most cohesive and constructive bodies to be found in North Carolina.” Mr. Clark of Bladen County, a brother of Congressman Bayard ('lark, is the president of James H. Clark and Company, Incorporated, dealers in general merchandise, cot ton and guano of Elizabethtown. He is president of the Bank of Elizabeth town, and is Chairman of the County Board of Education of Bladen Coun ty Mr. Stedman of Halifax County is a business man and banker. lie is se nior partner in the Halifax Dry Goods and Notions Company, the Halifax Hardware Company, the Halifax Mill ing Company, N. L. Stedman and Company, Stedman Stores Company, operators of a chain of grocery stores and a firm operating a number of public gins in Halifax and Northamp ton Counties. He is also a director of the Bank of Halifax. Mr. Sted man has been a member of the Boards of Education and of County Commissioners of Halifax County, and has represented his county in the State Senate. Mr. Bland of Wake County is president of the Griffin and Bland Hotel Company, operating several large hotels in North Carolina and Virginia. He ig a director of the Ra leigh branch of the North Carolina Bank ana Trust Company, the Capi tal Construction Company, and the Occidental Life Insurance Company of Raleigh; of the Rocky Mount Mills, the Rocky Mount Insurance and Real ty Company, of Rocky Mount, and of the Carolina Telephone and Tele graph Company of Tarboro. Mr. McNair of Scotland County is (Continued on back page) Motor Army To Pass An army force, motorized, of 35 of ficers and 630 enlisted men. with tanks, armored cars and trucks, field artillery motorized, mounted machine guns, etc. will pass by here from Fort Kustis, Va., to Fort Bragg. The army will leave Fort Eustis on May 13, and will camp near Jackson that night, passing by Roanoke Junction some time the morning of the 14th on the way to Raleigh where camp will be made the second night. TRUCK KILLS NEGRO MAN YESTERDAY Highway Across River Scene o f Horrible Death By Logging Truck INSTANT DEATH Charley Mills, 30 year old Negro laborer, met instant death late yes terday when he failed to catch hold of a log truck and fell under the wheels. The accident took place on the highway between the last two bridges between here and Camps Store. The log truck heavily loaded was making the last trip of the day from the Martins Hill to the saw mill near Camps Store. As it hit the highway from the 'teep side road, Mills endeavored to jump on and ride to the mill. He made a leap for the cab, slipped and fell. The rear wheels passed over the entire right side of the body, crush ing it to a pulp. He was dead when the others reached him. Another Ne gro was with him and he caught the truck on the other side. Joe Powell was driving the truck which was owned by I. A. Coleman, lumberman of Littleton. Mr. Cole man was on the hill at the time of the accident. He arranged for the funeral today. The Coroner’s jury tendered a verdict of unavoidable ac cident. Mills lived near Aurelian Springs and was working for Mr. Coleman. The 5:30 mill whistle had just blown when the accident oecured. I SPECIALIST Clothing School for Home Dem onstration Club Leaders of County Miss Willie Hunter, State Clothing Specialist, assisted by Mrs. Hazel E. Wheeler, Halifax County Home Dem onstration agent will conduct an all uay clothing school for Halifax County’s twenty-seven clothing lead ers in the County Club room at Ha lifax on May 14. This is the second clothing school for club leaders this year. The first school was held in the club room on March 9. The lessons were “Pat terns” and “Making a Guide Pattern and Fitting.” The second school will be on “Line and Design in Clothing.” The County Clothing leaders are: Mesdames R. L. Applewhite, W. H. Hedgepeth, R. H. Sawyer, Norman Davis, Rudolph Anderson, H. M. De Berry, L. G. Barnhill, J. H. Pope, L. C. Barbour, T. R. Whitehead, A. C. House, R. L. Capps, S. E. Gupton, Paul Boseman, W. E. Powell, Miss Lula Neville, Miss Winnie Burt, Mes dames W. D. Dickens, C. H. Hale, L. M. Butts, E. C. Dickens, C. L. Kelly V. C Matthews, N. E. Ranes, E. S. Fulghum, Tom King, E. S. Jenkins. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Special Mothers Day services on Sunday, May 10, at the morning ser vice. Special music by the choir with a solo by Mr. Wallis. Public cordially invited. ONE MORE WIN GIVES JAX CONFERENCE TITLE - ALSO AFTER STATE RACE TITLE Local High School Baseball Team Is Slipping Quietly Into Hall of Fame With Little Excitement From Fans The Roanoke Rapids High School baseball club has a fine chance to win both the State title and the Northeastern Conference title this year. By defeating Chapel Hill at Henderson Wednesday, they went in to the Eastern finals of the State race, playing the winner of the Er •vin-RoIand tilt this week in the fin als. They also defeated Rocky Mount 7 to 5 on Tuesday to take the lead in the Eastern Conference. They will play Elizabeth City there Friday and this win will give them the Con ference championship. In the State race, if Erwin wins over Roland the Eastern finals will be played at Rocky Mount. If Roland wins, the local boys will play them at Goldsboro. If they defeatE Elizabeth City this Friday, it will be the third Conference win for the local High School. They defeated Chapel Hill 8 to 7 Wednesday in a fast game. Colon Womble pitched good ball for eight innings, being relieved by Starke in the 9th. Dickens, Hardison and Starke led in batting for the locals. In the Rocky Mount game Tuesday, the opponents were held scoreless af ter the second inning. Shell held them down until the last inning when Starke, who has developed into a splendid relief pitcher, went in the box and finished the game quickly. Sullivan hit a three bagger with the bases loaded to spell victory. The season is almost over before local fans begin to realize that Coach Hoyle has built up a winning machine Support has been slight and there has not been the excitement which prevailed over the winning teams of the past. The boys have lost only one game in the Conference race and none in the State fight. Should they win both titles, it will be the first time a local team has achieved such a record. 1 COUNTY IV OMEN PLEDGE HELP TO COTTON FESTIVAL HEREi Committees for the Cotton Week and Cotton Festival here the week of May 18th were announced Monday at Hie monthly meeting of the Womans Club by Mrs. R. P. Beckwith, chair man of the Festival activities. She told the 35 members present that the success of the Cotton Week depended on the work and cooperation of all the members of the Womans Club, the local mills, the business men, the farmers and the womens clubs of the county. On behalf of the latter, Mrs. Ha zel Wheeler stated the rural clubs would join,, take part on the program enter the contests and give special programs by the rural school chil dren. In the cotton dressmaking contest, the entries have been added to and the list is now as follows: best morn ing dress, best sports dress or suit, ■ best afternoon dress, best evening dtess, best school girl dress, best childs dress. There was also added prizes for the best Cotton poster by primary and graded school children and the best essay written on Cot ton. These contests can be entered by any person in the county. Much interest is being manifested in the election and crowning of the Cotton Queen. The coronation cere monies take place Friday night, May 22nd. The Womans Club hopes to have a special Cotton Edition of The Her ald next week which will explain all the programs in detail and will car ry cotton advertising from local and cotton business firms. This will de pend on the success of the advertis ing committee, Mrs. George Hayes, chairman. While the Cotton Festival took much time and attention at the Wo mans Club Monday, there was an in teresting program arranged by the Better Homes department with Mrs. A. L. Taylor in charge. The princi pal address was by Mrs. Neville, rep resenting the county rural clubs. Club members were especially inter ested in her report of the curb mar ket here. A report of the State Fede ration meeting at Greensboro was given by Mrs. Bahnson Weathers. Mrs. C. A. Wyche presided. Legion Post Back Boy Scout Troop; Poppy Day May 30 Some thirty members of Damask Post American Legion were entertain ed at their regular meeting Tuesday night by a string quartet composed of Jay Sanderson, Lewis Johnson, Russell Buxton and Crawford. The Post voted unnimously to spon sor a troop of Boy Scouts. This work will be under the leadership of Com irandre hied Manning, assisted by “Big” Speight. Several Legionnaires volunteered to help in this work, which is one of the major activities of the Legion. The Post will interest the wives, mothers and sisters of the members in selling poppies on Poppy Day, May 30th. The money from this will go to the wives of the uncompensated veterans at Oteen Hospital and to underprivileged child work. Damask Post has a membership now of 95, the highest number in its history. The goal of the post is 100 members by June 1st. COTTON Roanoke Rapids Market: 9 1-4. FIRE TE AM Squad From Local Fire Depart ment Return From Fire School The team of eight firemen from the R. R. F. D., that attended the State Fire School April 14 to 17th, re turned and brought with them plenty of new data on fire prevention and fire fighting. The boys received instructions not only from the fire chiefs in the large towns of this State but from the largest cities in the entire United States. Not only did they get the actual experience but they brought with them notes from all lectures and pictures taken from actual fires in larger cities. The Third Alarm was shown as an educational picture whic’h was at tended by all members of the party. This picture will be shown at the Peoples Theatre this month. The members of the Fire Depart ment wish to thank the citizens of the Twin Cities for their cooperation in this task, and can assure them that they can handle the great fire demon with more satisfaction in the future. SHOTGUN IS DEATH WE_APON Body Found By Her Friend, Miss Rainey, About 4 O’clock This Afternoon WAS DESPONDENT Mrs. Plummie Byrum, formerly Miss Plummie Squier, well known here all her life, was found at her home on the Lawrenceville road late this afternoon. She had been dead for hours. The cold body was found by Miss Ruth Rainey, who lived with Mrs. Byrum, when she returned from Roa noke Rapids after the storm thig af ternoon. Death had been self inflicted. Mrs. Byrum had evidently sat on the side of the bed, pulled off her shoe on the left foot and pulled the trigger of a single barrel shot gun with her toe. The load took effect under the left ear and carried away the entire back of the head. She had then toppled to the floor with the gun under the body. Miss Rainey left at about nine this morning to come here and give less ons in bookkeeping to her pupils. She begged Mrs. Byrum or “Miss Plum mie” as she is well known here, to come with her as she often did. But the latter told her she would stay at home although she was feeling despondent, as she had for several weeks. Friends tell of hearing her talk of taking her life but they never took her seriously. Julian Glover, manager of the Cen tral Cafe was at the house about noon to purchase some chickens. But the house was locked. Miss Rainey says this was unusual and Mrs. Byrun', killed herself between nine and noon, is the theroy advanced by officers. It was about four this afternoo?i, when Miss Rainey returned to find all the doors locked from the inside. The daughters of Kidd Rook, neigh bors, told her that they had seen nothing of Miss Plummie during the day nor after the storm. The looks of things around the outside, such as the garage door blown open by the storm, led Miss Rainey to fear the worst. She broke in the front door and found the body in the front bedroom. She called her sister, Mrs. Bab cock, and J. R. Wrenn, who called deputy sheriff Gray and Chief Mas sey. They went over from here and locked the room, notifying the coro ner of Northapmton, who had not arrived at 6:30 ttys afternoon. Mrs. Byrum was well known here. She lived on a nice farm just over the river and was a constant visitor here. For many years she drove an old model gray Hupmobile. She was reputed quite well to do, owning three or four prosperous farms. Her hus band was killed at Franklin about 16 years ago. He was a freight con ductor and was caught between two cars. The deceased had no near rela tives. Her closest kin was an aunt, Mrs. Annie Person, of Portsmouth. — 145 ATTEND SENIOR H.S. BANQUET Junior Class Acts Host To Graduating Class And School Board Wednesday night the High School Junior Class entertained the Seniors by giving their annual banquet. The banquet was a large success. The food was prepared by Miss Blount (Continued on back page) STORM One of the worst wind and rain storms in history visited here this afternoon at 3:30. Huge trees were uprooted, plate glass windows fell, awnings were ripped away. No re port of injury to persons were re ceived at press time but property damage here will reach hundreds of dollars. The storm came from the South and blew a gale for several minutes. CHARITIES BODY HAS NO FUNDS To Continue Good Work of Last Year, Anoth er Canvass Will Be Made OFFICERS ELECTED The associated Charities met at the Episcopal Church Sunday after noon for its annual meeting to hear reports of work done and to elect officers for the ensuing year. Only a very small number attended but enough to carry on the business of the meeting. The treasurer reported the receipts of the Association for the year end ing April 30th were $1073.43. Of this amount all but $11.15 had been spent for the needy. So they are starting the year with just $1.15 more than they started with last May at the or ganization of the Association. The officers elected for the year were as follows: Rev. J. N. Bynum, president; Mr. Ned Manning, vice president; Mrs. Geo. Hayes, secre tary; Mr. T. M. Jenkins, treasurer. The Relief Committee will stand as of the past six months: Mrs. T. M. Jenkins, Rev. V. H. Grantham, Mrs. George Hayes, Mrs. Will Taylor, Mrs. Clyde Wheeler, Mrs. W. P. Joy ner. A committee of two was ap pointed to audit the treasurer’s books The Asscoiation finds it necessary to go to the community with another canvass for funds. This will be ar ranged for within a short time by the finance committee. All who are interested in helping the less fortun ate should plan now to make a con tribution. Later articles will tell the people what has been done by the Associa tion. Much relief has been given but not all that was needed. However, not a single one that appeared worthy upon investigation has been refused help to some extent. They have sup plied groceries, clothing, medicine, and in several cases, some work. Some few people, mostly from the country continue to go from house to hou.ie begging. In some of these cases they have been found unworthy by the Association and refused. But because many believe their stories and give them something they are encouraged and continue to annoy the public. Some have been made beggars by the people giving to them instead of sending them to the Re lief Committee of the Association that they might investigate and give the bes t relief. Cooperation with the Association in this way will save lots of annoyance to residents. Basco Girls Defeat Silver King Team Staging a great batting rally in the early innings, Coach Glenn Gurley’s Rosemary Basco Girl’s Team defeated the Roanoke Silver King girls 9 to 6 in Roanoke Rapids Monday. Lois Stansbury, High School basketball star, pitched a steady game for Rosemary, although she got very good backing from her team mates. She was opposed on the mound by Stainback, another High star. Miss ‘“Weinie” Hux was the bat ting star for the downtowners and •also was the big noise with her fancy fielding at first base. The Misses Stainback, Nethercutt and Batton featured at bat for Coach Gurley’s outfit. The Rosemary team is plan ning on playing a regular schedule this season. GUILTY IN VAGRANCY CHARGES Police Arrest Six In One Place After Com plaint By Several Citizens GOT TOO BOLD Using Chicago methods in dealing with undesirables, vagrancy charges were pushed by Mayor George Tay j lor after a raid on a city dive had resulted in five arrests and warrants for a sixth woman. As with A1 Capone and other Chi cago undesirables, the police were unable to get sufficient evidence to warrant bring ing the women to court on more serious charges, so the vagrancy law was brought into full play and five of the women were found guilty by Mayor Taylor in City court yesterday afternoon. Mrs. Eva Hudson, Mrs. Willis Mabry and Glynn Long were given a 30 days jail sentence which would be suspended if they paid the cost and agreed to leave the city at once and not return for twelve months. Ac cording to some in the court room, the women stated they were already on their way out of town. Frances Short and Isabelle Lewis, arrested on the same charge, were found to be under 16 years of age and were bound over to the Juvenile Court. A warrant was issued on the same date for Belle Long but the warrant has not been served by Chief Massey, who believes the woman has left town. The women were living on Second Street, that section known to some facetiously as “Quick Street,” over the vacant store formerly occupied by the Ever-Ready Cleaners. Offi cers report that some of the women moved here recently from that sec tion on the Weldon Road known as “Skunk Bottom.” They report the place as being quiet for a time and then the girls became very bold. Vile language was heard and the disturbance became so annoying to business men and the passing public that complaints were made. Mayor Taylor took the case in his own hands, had the warrants is sued and tried the women. The offi cers were unable to get necessary evidence to try the women on serious charges but were able to easily prove the vagrancy charges, which seemed sufficient to cause them to leave town rather than serve the 30 days sen tence in jail. If they return in twelve months, they must serve the full sentence. DOCKET IS ALLWHITE Recorders Court adjourned Tues day afternoon after disposing of six cases, a very light calender for this court. It will be noticed that in ev ery case the defendant is white a lather unusual occurence. C. F. White, white man of Scot land Neck plead guilty to operating & car without li