THE ROANOKE RAPIDS
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VOLUME TWENTY-FIVE ~ ROANOKE KAP1DS, N. C. THURSDAY, Apr. 4, 1940 NUMBER 38
AFFIRMATIVE
Margaret Robinson and Charles Davis, above,
upholding the affirmative side of the Triangular
Debate question, defeated the negative representa
tives of Greenville at Tarboro last Friday, gaining
the right to enter the State finals at Chapel Hill
April 18 & 19. (NewsKut by Crumpler & Brigman)
NEGATIVE
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Victoria Vester and Nick Long, in above pho
tograph, won a decision over the affirmative repre-1
sentatives of the Tarboro school at Greenville last
Friday in the annual Triangular Debates. They!
will vie for State honors at Chapel Hill April 18
and 19. (NewsKut by Crumpler & Brigman)
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IN FIREMAN’S SHOW
Above is' pictured a part of the cast of the Fireman’s show, “Romance
in the Ozarks,” which will be presented in the high school auditorium
Friday and Saturday nights, April 13 and 13. Reading left to right:
Mrs. Dorothy Shearin, Reese Welch, Carl Churchill, John Ingram,
Beaunie Holliday, Burnett Connell, and Ruby Wood.
(NewsKut by Crumpler and Brigman)
SHOT
TONIGHT
Robert Squire, 26 year old colored
employee of the Halifax Paper
Company, was shot to death tonight
about nine o’clock in front of the
W. A. Vincent store at Vultare.
James Robinson, negro employed
as night watchman by Mr. Vincent,
was lodged in the Northampton
County jail at Jackson, charged
with tiie shooting.
According to Robinson, he shot
Squire after Squire had hit him on
the jaw with a good sized rock.
Robinson told a Herald reporter
that Squire had come to the door
of his room, a small shack in the
store yard, had thrown the door
open and hit him with one rock
and had thrown another which
missed its mark, the negro cursing
him all the while.
After the negro threw the rocks,
Robinson said that Squire stood
outside the room and called to
him, trying to make him come out.
It was at that time that Robinson
shot him, the load taking effect in
the throat and chest.
Squire ran a few yards around
the front of the store before he fell
dead by the roadside.
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APRIL 13 BIG DAY
FOR DUKE-WAKE
FOREST BATTLE
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Byrne To Oppose
Big Bob Vickery
Saturday, April 13, is the big day
for the big five baseball classic in
Roanoke Rapids. Fans will be priv
ileged to witness two teams that
have gone through the season thus
far without having a single defeat
chalked up against them when the
mighty Blue Devils lock horns with
the Demon Deacons from Wake
Forest.
On the mound for the Deacs will
be none other than Tommy “Lefty”
Byrne, the fireball ace that set
them down for the Owls here last
summer. For the Duke team, Bob
Vickery, big righthander from
Philadelphia, will probably get the
nod. Vickery was the Duke’s
mainstay last year, Winning sis
and losing none. If Vickery is
found unavailable for the classic
here, Bill Mock, from Altoona, Pa.,
will get the assignment. He was
the leading hurler for the Imps last
year. He is a curveballer, but has
a fast one to mix in when it is
needed.
Other stars that wiH be seer
when the two leaders meet here
will be one George McAfee, whoir
some will remembr as the pounding
back that set the nation on its ears
for the past two football seasons
Truetoe Tony Ruffa will also be
in the Duke lineup, behind the bat.
Crash Davis, hefty second baseman,
believed to be the most likely look
ing big league prospect in the
South, will show the boys how it is
done.
For the Wake Forest team will
be, besides Byrne, Big Blond Bill
Sweel, the loud and loquacious
catcher, whom the fans saw here
last summer on the Colonial
Heights team. Dave Fuller, anoth
er former Owl, has been converted
into a pitcher and is doing a swell
job, according to reports. He may
get into the game if Byrne should
weaken against the Dukes.
Prior to the game, a big parade
will be staged up and down the
Avenue with bands and banners.
Fanfare will be plentiful; traffic
will be orderly; the crowds will be
efficiently taken care of—for the
Kiwanis Club and the Lions Club,
co-sponsors of the game, have
worked out the plans in detail, giv
ing every possible angle their care
ful attention in order to make ev
erything click.
After the game both teams will
be treated to a barbecue and stew.
At the banquet members of the
teams, of the civic clubs, and city
officials will voice their opinions
on various topics.
I
TAKEN
NEAR
HALIFAX
Big Manhunt For
Deputy Killer Is
Staged Last Night
E. E. Keeter, who shot and killed
Deputy Sheriff William A. Pope of
Weldon last night about 8 o’clock,
was captured today shortly after
11 a.m. on the Atlantic Coast Lino
tracks about a mile north of Hali
fax. Sheriff Joe Riddick, Chief H.
E. Dobbins of Roanoke Rapids, H.
L. Pittman, Jack Whitehead, and
Cliff Strickland learned of the
whereabouts of the hunted man and
closed in for the capture, Pittman,
Strickland, and Whitehead making
the actual arrest.
Keeter, who offered no resistance,
was taken to the Halifax County
jail at Halifax, but when a crowd
of citizens from Halifax and Wel
don started milling around the jail,
the officers decided it expedient to
move him to another county for
safe keeping. It could not be of
ficially learned tonight where the
officers carried him.
Keeter, unarmed at the time of
his arrest, told officers that he did
not know who Pope was when the
deputy went to arrest him at the
J. S. Turner Lumber Company
plant early last night, according to
reports received here. He further
claims, according to officers, that
Pope fired the first shot.
Jack Abernathy, who accompa
nied Keeter to the premises of the
lumber company last night, is be
ing held in jail at Halifax as a ma
terial witness. Abernathy is said
to have told officers today that he
was with Keeter when the shoot
ing started, but ran immediately
and as a result did not see which
way Keeter fled after the shooting.
Keeter is reported to have told of
ficers today that he spoke to Aber
nathy after the shooting, saying to
him, “I believe I have killed a
man.”
The shooting occurred early last
night when Pope went to the lum
ber plant, where Keeter had for
merly served as a night watchman,
to serve a capias on him. Keeter
had escaped from Halifax the day
before, after having been tried and
fined in Recorder’s Court for carry
ing a concealed weapon, an auto
matic pistol that is said to have
belonged to the lumber company.
After sentence was passed by Judge
Daniel, Keeter is said to have slip
ped out of the court room and es
caped to Weldon, where he has
been making his home for the past
several months. He hid in the
woods there until last night when
he and Abernathy came to a small
building on the lumber company
premises, where he had been living
while acting as watchman, to get
his clothes and leave.
Pope, in a routine check up on
(Continued on Page 8, Sec. A)