VOLUME TWENTY-SIX ROANOKE RAPIDS, N. C. THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1941NUMBER 45
Avenue Wreck
Above axe the two cars which collided head-on at the intersection of
Sixth Street with Roanoke Avenue about 8:15 Sunday night, May 18.
Byron Gurley, City Commissioner of the South Ward, and Miss Elizabeth
Wilder, High School teacher, were both injured in the car shown in the
top photo. Gurley received possible fractures to ribs and a broken nose;
Miss Wilder received a fractured finger and cuts about the face. She
was not admitted to the hospital. C. A. Adams and Chas. Ennis Carr,
both of Virginia, were the occupants of the machine seen in the bottom
photo. Neither was hurt seriously. Carr was jailed at Halifax in default
of a $300 bond in connection with the accident. Complete details of
wreck in this issue of Herald. (NewsKuts by Brigman)
WOMAN CAPTURES
PROWLER IN CITY
WITH STICK "GUN"
David Bellfidd, Negro of near
Vidtare in Northampton County,
had the tables turned on him in
an alleged attempted burglary job
here last Saturday night.
There was the story of Dillin
ger's much publicized jail break
that he affected with a wooden
gun, while others have been suc
cessful in robberies and what-have
-you with dummy weapons of one
and another kind. Yet it remain
ed for David Bellfield, reputedly
very timid until he got some for
tified wine “under his shirt”, to
become the victim hmself when
he allegedly attempted to enter
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ed
Gray at the corner of First and
Washington Streets.
Mr. Gray had retired for the
evening when Mrs. Gray, who re
mained up, heard a scratching at
the window. Thinking it" was at
neighbor, she cleared her throat
to let the person know that she
was still up. The scratching con
tinued, after which she arose to
investigate. Going toward the
door, she saw the screen partially
open, then close again.
Picking up a stick that lay near
by, Mrs. Gray opened the door
and stepped out. There near the
door crouched a man. Mrs. Gray
told the man not to move or she
would “kill him”. The man re
mained still, until she ordered him
to get up and stand before the
light that came out the opened
door.
When he did this, she saw that
it was a strange Negro and called
her husband to come with his gun.
Mr. Gray then entered the pic
ture, holding the man at the point
of the gun until Mrs. Gray could
call Policeman Jim Adams. Mr.
Adams arrived on the scene in a
few minutes and placed the Ne
gro under arrest.
After a hearing before the May
or Monday afternoon, Bellfield
was bound over to Superior Court
under a bond of $200 for attempt
ing to break and enter. He was
also fined $5 and the cost for
public drunkenness.
EXONERATE CHIEF
t i i A 1 i i 1
____ I_I
GURLEY
HURT ON
AVENUE
Commissioner and
Teacher Victims
Collision Sunday
Byron Gurley, Roanoke Rapids
Commissioner, Miss Elizabeth Wild
er, teacher in the local high school,
and C. A. Adams, of Chester, Va.,
were all injured in a 2-car auto
mobile accident at the Sixth Street
-Roanoke Avenue intersection here
Sunday . night about 8:15. Mr.
Gurley was driving one machine,
and Chas. Ennis Carr, of Hope
will was driving the other.
Mr. Gurley, who suffered a
broken nose and possible rib frac
tures, remained in the Roanoke
Rapids Hospital Monday afternoon.
Miss Wilder was treated for a
broken finger and slight lacera
tions about the face and shock.
She was allowed to leave the hos
pital Sunday night.
It was learned later this week
that Gurley also suffered a fractur
ed ankle in the collision. His con
dition was pronounced "good” at
the hospital today.
Adams, who was in the machine
with Carr, suffered an injured an
kle and abrasions about the chin.
The two machines collided head
on a few feet from the west curb
of the Avenue at the corner of
Sixth Street and the Avenue. The
Gurley car was headed south while
the Virginia machine was being
driven north.
Carr was allegedly driving on
the wrong side of the road, hit
ting the Gurley machine in the
southbound traffic lane. He was
being held in the Halifax jail ear
ly this week in default of a $300
bond for driving drunk.
A large crowd of passing motor
ists and pedestrians gathered a
bout the wreck scene and south
bound traffic was directed around
the spot for about an hour.
IS APPOINTED
BY GOVERNOR
F. C. Williams, above, accepted
recently an appointment by Gover
nor J. Melville Broughton to the
Chairmanship of the Halifax Coun
ty Unit of the United Service Or
ganizations, created for the pur
pose of coordinating all war work
in the county. Mr. Williams at
tended an organization meeting in
Raleigh today.
Penny Joins
Herald Staff
George A. Penny, formerly with
the Dunn Dispatch, joined the edi
torial staff of the Roanoke Rapids
Herald on Monday of this week.
Mr. Penny will replace Zeb Denny,
who is leaving the paper to accept
the principalship of the Aurelian
Springs school in the county.
Mr. Penny’s resignation from
the editorial staff of the Dunn pa
per came after he had been with
the Dispatch since September, 1936,
as editor.
Mr. Denny’s resignation is to
become effective as of June 1. He
has been with the Herald since
July, 1939.
VEUDICT
GIVEN AT
INQUEST
Mars Woynded By
Chief Died May
16 Bn Hospital
That Herbert Johnson, Negro,
came to his death as a result of a
pistol wound from a pistol in the
hands of Chief H. E. Dobbins,
which act was justified in the dis
charge of his (Chief Dobbins’) du
ties, was the verdict of the Coron
er’s Jury impanelled here Tuesday
by Coroner T. M. Cooper in the
investigation of the death of the
Negro who died in the Roanoke
Rapids Hospital late Friday after
noon.
The jury was composed of C. C.
Shell, W. E. Moody, F. D. Wilson,
M. H. Hedgepeth, Sam Young, and
I. B. Rainey.
Witnesses who testified in the
hearing were Policemen W. M. Er
win, Deputy J. W. Walker, Chief
H. E. Dobbins, R. L. Harrison,
John Black, W. C. Allsbrook, and
Mrs. Jack Newsome.
Alter Mae Hatfield, the victim of
the alleged attack leading up to
the Negro’s arrest, and Mrs. Sallie
Hatfield, who was the victim at the
time of the alleged assault, were
called to testify after the jury had
been given the case by the Coron
er.
Mr. Allsbrook and Mrs. Newsome
were asked to testify in regard to
actions of the Negro, who was i
dentified as being in the Allsbrook
Five and Ten Cent Store on the
Saturday before the alleged attack
upon Miss Hatfield, where he al
legedly insulted the women clerks
in the store.
Policeman Erwin was the first to
take the stand in the hearing. He
said that he had received word
through John Black that some col
ored man had assaulted a white
lady and that they wanted to keep
it jauiet until the Negro came back
to "the store (John Black’s). Mr.
Black drove up (on the night of
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