THE ROANOKE RAPIDS
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VOLUME TWENTY-THREE ROANOKE RAPIDS, N. C._THURSDAY, MAR. 3, 1938 NUMBER 34
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UP AMD DOWN
”Ghe Avenue
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• • Last Saturday night at Long’s Store near
Seaboard, two Negroes, George Barnes and Buck
Davis were fighting. Up stepped Elijah Provi
dence, 38, a nephew of Barnes, to act as peacemak
er. When he tried to separate the fighters, they
turned on him and in the melee, Elijah was stabbed
three times in the chest and stomach. He died.
Blessed are the peacemakers.
• • The Fire Department of Roanoke Rapids is
sponsoring a show this Saturday night at the High
School auditorium which will feature The Johnson
County Ramblers, Miss Crewe and her Acrobatic
Dancers, Tap Dancers and as highlights, those
clod hopping black-face comedians, P. D. Harris
and Charlie Nixon. The curtain rises at 8 p.m. All
firemen, have tickets.
• • Minstrel-Revue rehearsals for the 7th annual
Kiwanis Club show which will be staged here the
night of April 7th and 8th will start on Monday,
March 21st... All old members of the cast are re
quested to report and all new talent will be given
an opportunity at try-outs ... Funds made will be
used to continue the city-wide Dental Clinic, help
build the kids a skating rink and for other work
for the boys and girls of the city . . . The Club’s
slogan this year is: “Help us Help Them.”
• • While visiting relatives near Capron, Va.
Sunday, Mrs. Ernest Bryant, whose husband is a
Patterson Mills Co. employee, was stricken ill. She
was brought to the Roanoke Rapids Hospital in W.
C. Williams ambulance . . . Mrs. Jake Vincent of
near Vultare was brought to the hospital Friday
. . . Marvin Cook, 919 Jackson St., with pneumonia
was reported improved yesterday . . . Capt. Peter
Koolwyck gave his travel talk to the Boys Class
of the Rosemary Methodist Church last Sunday.
Roland Johnson is the teacher . . . Larry Meade
will leave Monday for Chicago, where he will take
a course in radio engineering at Coyne Electrical
and Radio School. After 8-months of study young
Meade hopes to land a job on a ship . . .
• • Roanoke Rapids Skeet shooters will have
more tough going Sunday, March 13th, when they
meet the Remington Skeet Club of Richmond, Va.
here at 2 p.m. Dr. and Mrs. Webb and other fine
shots of the crack Richmond team will be here.
Chief Dobbins, chief shooter for the locals, is wor
ried.
• • Deputy sheriff G. F. Gray was the only wit
ness used when Claude Bowser, 22 year old Negro
who killed his sweetheart, Lizzie Bowser, “because
he loved her,” was brought before Judge Daniel
Tuesday. Claude had no lawyer, did not testify.
He was sent back to jail, no bond was allowed, and
he faces Superior Court in May on a charge of
first degree murder . . . which means premeditat
ed. Sheriff Gray reports that he had threatened
the girl prior to the killing, also told others he
planned to kill her. He has admitted the killing,
telling how he cut her throat as she laid her head
on his shoulder to be kissed.
Operated On
THE REV. LAWRENCE STELL
stricken with appendicitis yester
da$ was operated on last night at
the Roanoke Rapids Hospital. His
condition today is good but it will
be several days before visitors are
permitted.
His pulpit at the Presbyterian
Church will be filled Sunday morn
ing by Dr. D. W. Richardson of
the Union Theological Seminary,
Richmond, Va, There will be no
evening service.
In Hospital
DR. JOHNNY MARTIN
Fatterson Mills Co. physician and
chairman of the Halifax County
Democratic Executive Committee,
who is ill tonight in the Roanoke
Rapids Hospital. Dr. Martin said
tonight he hoped to be able to re
turn to his practise the first of
next week.
Cannon Asks
Braintwisters
_ “What Do You Know About Your
Home Town and Its Industries?”
was the question asked Kiwanians
at their weekly meeting tonight by
program chairman Lewis A. Can
non, and he asked every member
a braintwister about the cotton
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PATTERSON HOME TO
BE MADE INTO EIGHT
APARTMENTS AT ONCE
The Sam Patterson home on Roa
noke Avenue will soon be convert
ed into an apartment house con
taining seven or eight fine apart
ments, according to plans now be
ing made by Mrs. S. F. Patterson.
Mrs. Patterson left Roanoke Rap
ids Tuesday night for Norfolk, Va.
where she and her daughter, Miss
Mary Patterson, will live in the fu
ture. Moving vans were busy yes
terday and today hauling the fur
niture from the house.
The Patterson estate, covering
the entire block between 6th and
7th Streets on Roanoke Avenue, is
one of the show places of this sec
tion of the State.
The contractor plans to start
work immediately converting th*
big residence into apartments of
which there will be sev n or eight,
some with three roojr ■ and bath
and others with four rooms and
bath. It is understo that heat
and water will be f r iislied with
the apartments.
_'yn^ __
BOND ELECTION 5KT
FOR MAY 3 IN CltY
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City Board In
Busy Session
Here Tuesday
It was busy session Tuesday for
the City Board of Commissioners
in monthly meeting, with the street
paving project, traffic and parking
problems, carnivals, skating, street
lights, street signs, opening of new
I streets, firemen and police prob
lems and a few other sundry ques
tions to be discussed or settled.
With the city signing the paving
petition, the project had gone over
the top with, at present, 70 per
cent of the property owners hav
ing signed, representing more than
60 per cent of the property in
volved. Mayor Jenkins reported a
conference with Massilick &
Mitchell, New York bond attorneys,
in which it was agreed that the
earliest time a bond election could
be held is on May 3rd, which is al
so city election day for two Com
missioners, M. D. Collier and R. I.
Starke.
With the bond election carried
and all preliminary work done, the
contract can be advertised for bids
and the bonds sold at the same
time, making it possible, if no
hitches, to start work on paving
the streets by June 1st.
T. W. Mullen, chairman of the
School Board, and C. W. Davis,
School Supt., asked the Board to
open up four blocks of Cedar St.
between 3rd and 7th to connect
Vance Street and Clara Hearne
schools. It was pointed out that
this had been blocked in the past
by the refusal of T. Lee Whit
taker to grant an easement thru
his property and this work would
be done when such an easement
was given. The city board voted
$75 toward payment of the build
ing of an outdoor skating rink for
the children.
The rink planned will be oval on
lots 90 x 140 feet on the corner in
front of the High School. The rink
will be paved from 12 to 14 feet
wide. Total cost is estimated at
between $700 and $800. PWA labor
will be used and the cost locally
will be about $250. The money will
be raised from donations by the
city, schools, Kiwanis and Lions
Clubs.
Supt. Davis asked for street
lights around the new school
buildings, saying that “necking
parties” were going on at nights
back of the schools. Seven street
lights were authorized.
Mr. Collier reported that new
street signs had been ordered for
Roanoke Avenue. There will be
two signs at each intersection, one
for the East side of the Avenue,
one for the West side.
A letter was authorized to the
Lions Club Safety Committee
thanking it for the safety sugges
tions made and stating the sug
gestions were being looked into. A
discussion of some of them lasted
for some time. Parking on both
sides of 10th Street was said to be
dangerous and cause of many ac
cidents by Commissioner Manning.
Lack of parking space oh the
Avenue in the business blocks, ad
visability of a parking limit, the
need for more police if more park
ing laws were passed to give full
time to traffic, use of alleys by
trucks loading and unloading, U
turns. especially at 2nd and 10th,
the city bus stopping by fire hy
drants, and other matters were
discussed freely.
The Board donated $50 to Asso
ciated Charities which is now de
pleted of funds because of the
heavy drain of the past six months.
F. S. Kemp for the American Le
gion and Sherrod Crumpler for the
Firemen-Boy Scouts, asked the
Board to waive the city license on
carnivals for them to sponsor the
Strate Shows here next month. The
Board took no action as there was
a question as to which group had
a contract with the shows. Action
will be taken at the adjourned
meeting which will be held next
Tuesday.
Uniforms and soft ball equip
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