Carolina’s Only TABloid NEWSpaper
1 The Roanoke Rapids Herald
VOLUME NINETEEN_ ROANOKE RAPIDS, N. C., THURSDAY, MAY 11th, 1933. NUMBER FOUR
Local Youth GRAND tuR YV[N
CAMION MURDER CASE
JOYNER
MEASURE
KILLED
Northampton Bill
With No Vote Like
S. B. 242 Defeated
(Special to THE HERALD)
Representative White, of North
ampton, aided by Representative R.
Hunter Pope, of Halifax, Monday
night succeeded in killing a Nortn
ampton County measure which in
some instances was similar to S.
B. 242.
Senator Will Joyner had passed
thru the Senate his bill which
would have saddled the road • debt
of four Northampton townships on
the county as a whole. The bill was
mandatory nad failed as did 242,
to give the people of Northamp
ton the right to vote on it.
Mr. White explained the facts
on the floor of the House. He said
the bill was a bad one; it took the
made it compulsory that the other
townships of the county help pay
it off, altho deriving no benefits,
county resented this and resented
most bitterly the fact that Senator'
Joyner’s bill was mandatory and
sought to shove the proposition
down their throats without right of
franchise.
R. Hunter Pope, of Enfield, who
led a similar and successful fight
against Senator Long’s 242, arose
and praised Mr. White’s stand and
asked that the bill be killed.
The question was put and the
measure was killed by a thunder
of Noes with not a single Aye.
MRS. ELLA OWEN
Mrs. Ella Owen died may 9th,
1933, at 6:50 o’clock, after an ill
ness of three weeks, at the home
of her son-in-law, W. H. Moore,
911 Jackson Street.
She is survived by one son, E.
B. Owen, of Roanoke Rapids, and
two daughters, Mrs. J. J. Talbott,
of Durham, and Mrs. W. H. Moore,
of Roanoke Rapids.
I~ 1 — —1 —i— im.i ■
FIREMEN
MUST PAY
POLL TAX
Disapprove Bill
Exempting Firemen
From Poll Taxes
(Special From Raleigh)
Senator Long’s strange bill to
exempt 30 members of the Roa
noke Rapids Fire Department from
future payment of poll taxes re
ceived an unfavorable report from
the Finance Committee of the
House Monday night and was plac
ed on the unfavorable calendar by
Speaker Harris.
The committee reported the bill
was unconstitutional as written and
approved by the Senate. A chorus
of laughs greeted this part of the
report.
Friends of several members of
the Roanoke Rapids Fire Depart- i
ment say the boys knew little or
nothing about the bill and certain
ly had not requested it. These
friends resented the idea of plac
ing the members of the local de
partment in the same class with
paupers and aged who are exempt
from poll tax payment.
It was also assailed because no
other Fire Dept, or other group in
the county were exempted and be
cause the payment of poll taxes
goes, not to the city, but to the
county.
(More Inside)
Vepco Observing
New Office Hours
Starting this week, the local of
fice, Carolina headquarters for the
Virginia Electric and Power Com
pany, will observe summer office
hours.
Instead of the usual hours of
8:30 A. M. to 5 P. M., all depart
ments will now open at eight o’
clock in the morning and close at
four-thirty. This tends to better ef
ficiency among employees during
the summer time, officials of the
company state.
Local People Testify At First Hearing Of
John D. Cannon; Edw. Holmes May Get
Release On Bond; Long Conducts Argument
3 FROM
HALIFAX
ON BOARD
City Publisher To
Enter State Field
Carroll Wilson, city publisher,
has seen the popularity of his tab
loid weekly Herald grow until he
decided to establish The North
Carolina Weekly News, which will
make its appearance around June
1st, and will be state-wide in
scope. Full details and comment
from the state press will be found
on inside pages.
Roanoke Rapids Is
Well Represented
At Music Contest
The Roanoke Rapids High School
entered ten events in the High
School Music Contest ending April
28th at Greensboro. Over 3,000
were present as the awards were
given out, and the contest, which
was participated in by some 87
schools, was held at Aycock Audi
torium at the Woman’s College.
At a district contest held here
on April 22nd, the local school en
tered eleven events, winning nine
first places, which allowed them
(Continued on back page)
Geo. Washington Cannon,
alias John D. Cannon, 20-year
old local textile worker was
sent to the Mecklenburg grand
jury in connection with South
side Virginia’s most brutal
massacre, the killing of four
recluse farmers on the night
of March 31st, after a three
hour hearing before three Jus
tices of the Peace at Boydton,
Va., Wednesday afternoon.
Edward Holmes, 18, also of
Roanoke Rapids, was ordered
to be released on S500 bond
for his appearance at the
grand jury hearing June 19,
as material witness.
ihe brutal killing of the four
farmers, Ben L. Cannon, 77, and
his brother, Willis Cannon, 82, and
their two nephews, Thomas W.
Cannon, 56, and Bill Cannon, 28,
at their home near La Crosse, Va.,
has attracted a great deal of local
attention because the murdered
men had so many relatives here.
Every step of the case has been
watched with unusual local inter
est, particularly since the arrest
heiv two woeks ago of the local
youths.
D. L. Lynch, 24-year-old filling
station operator who lives here fol
lowed Constable John Keeton as
the second witness, and said he had
known Cannon for nearly a year
and that Cannon had approached
him several times regarding his
“rich uncles” in Virginia, saying
they had $30,000 which was easy
to get.
James Peavy, 26-year-old local
mill worker said that last July
Cannon told him of the uncles,
claiming they had given him a
“dirty deal” when he lived with
them, and he wanted to “get even
with them.”
Peavy, an ex-convict, said Can
non knew he wouldn’t tell on him.
He further testified Cannon said
the uncles had in excess of $35,000
and that once he took Peavy to
Dick Lynch’s and said he could
get a pistol if Lynch would get a
(Continued on back page)
Miss Cherry, Green. *
And Faucett Are On
State School Board
A joint session of the Legisla
ture Tuesday cut down Halifax:
County’s nominees for the Board
of Trustees of the Greater Univer
sity from five to three.
The three new members of the
new Board are Misses Annie Cher
ry of Roanoke Rapids, George C.
Green of Weldon, and W. D. Fau
cette, who now resides in Wilming
ton. They serve until 1941.
B. B. Everett, of Scotland Neck,
and W. L. Long, of Roanoke Rap
ids were the two nominees not el
ected.
Representative R. 0. Everett, of
Durham, brother of the Halifax
man, was elected. J. D. Grimes of
Beaufort, wasi substituted for B.
B. Everett, and Cameron Morri
son was substituted for W. L.
Long.
Representative Pete Murphy in
making the motion of substitution
for W. L. Long explained that he
was withdrawing Mr. Long’s name
at the insistence of Mr. Long him
self, and substituting that of Mr.
Morrison.
Packed galleries listened in on
the joint session with much inter
est.
Results Of Pre
School Clinic
Held Recently
Herewith is a complete report
of the Pre-School clinic:
Number of children on census,
287.
Nunmber attending clinic, 189.
Number of defects found, 101.
Number of children having de
fects, 84.
Number taking toxoid against
(Continued on back page)
STATE NEWSPAPER PLANT WILL BE LOCATED IN CITY
Jax May'Be State Champs Again
THREE MAJOR CHANGES IN CITY BUSINESS FIRMS iSB pd^eas1ls