■1 —^
1 S WINFIELD HASTY, Army, Aogu* I®, 1®4S
, JAMES W. wmBI, Navy, WTI-TTAM SCOTT. Navy, Feb. 19*4_
VOLUME XXIX ROANOKE RAPIDS, N. C. THURSDAY, MARCH 9,1944 NUMBER 32
WAR DEPARTMENT MESSAGE
RECEIVED HERE BY MOTHER
Second Lieutenant Carlton L. (“Bootsie”) Grissom, son
of Mrs. Mary E. Grissom, who was reported on February 16
as “missing in action somewhere over Germany,” is now a
German prisoner of war, according to a telegram received
vesterdav bv his mother. The messara t*»ll in or of I *
CAMPAIGN OFF
TO FINE START
SAY REPORTS
The Red Cross War Fund cam
paign for $15,000 got off to a good
start last Monday, according to
Rev. Gordon Price, chapter chair
man, and L. S. Neal, War Fuind
chairman.
Majors for the various districts
of the city were busy with their
workers throughout the territory
assigned to them, and they are
meeting with splendid response.
However, this is no indication that
the enthusiasm and work for the
campaign should be allowed to
“get cold.” Fifteen thousand dol
lars is a lot of money in any
sense of the word, and every man,
woman and child will have to do
his or her part if the goal set for
the Roanoke Rapids district, which
also includes Littleton, is to be
attained.
If you have not made your con
tribution to this most worthy
cause get in touch with one of the
workers immediately and do so.
Remember, “the Red Cross is at
his side and the Red Cross is
you.”
In the list of majors published
in last week’s issue of The Herald
the name of Frank C. Williams
was omitted. Mr. Williams, how
ever, has a big part in the cam
paign, being chairman of special
gifts.
Benefit Dance
Friday Night
According to an announcement
made yesterday by W. A. Thorne,
captain of the Roanoke Rapids
Auxiliary Police, a. beinefit square
dance will be given next Friday
at the Downtown Hall for the
local Chapter of the American
Red Cross. All proceeds, said Mr.
Thorne, will be turned over to
the War Fund of the Red Cross.
The auxiliary Police in the past
have made several contributions
to various organizations, among
them being $50 to the Boy Scouts,
$50 to the Girl Scouts, and $50 to
the Red Cross from its present
funds. This is in addition to the
benefit dance Friday night.
The auxiliary believes there is
no better way to deal with the
child delinquency problem than
through the Boy and Girl Scouts,
hence it has been liberal with its
contributions.
Mrs. F. P. Reusch, formerly
connected with the Charlotte Me
morial Hospital, has joined the
nursing staff of the Roanoke
Rapids Hospital here.
capture was sent by the War De
partment and reads as follows:
“Report just received through
the International Red Cross states
that your son, Second Lieutenant
Carlton L. Grissom, is a prisoner
of war of the German government.
Letter of information follows
from the Provost Marshal Gen
eral.”
Lieut. Grissom, 25 years old,
was a pilot in the Eighth Army
Air Corps, stationed somewhere
in England.”
On January 29 hundreds of
American and RAF bombers were
over Frankfurt, Germany, in one
of the war’s largest bombing raids,
and it is believed this was the
engagement in which Lieut. Gris
som participated and from which
he failed to return.
A native of this city, he is
known to hundreds. Prior to en
tering the service he was em
ployed by the Rosemary Manu
facturing Company.
Mrs. Grissom has two other sons
serving in tne armed forces.
THREE MEN
IN HOSPITAL
AFTER WRECK
Three men were hospitalized and
a third received first-aid treat
ment as the result of a head-on
collision between two automobiles
Sunday afternoon about 5:30
o’clock in Gaston. The three men
who were taken to the Roanoke
Rapids Hospital were: J. M.
Capps, Tommy Newsom and Har
vey Taylor, all white, while Thom
as Ferguson received treatment
for minor injuries.
The cause of the wreck is not
known, according to Patrolman J.
C. Long, but an investigation is
being continued.
Reports state that Ferguson, the
driver of one of the vehicles, and
accompanied by Capps, was head
ed in the direction of Emporia,
Va., while Newsom, driver of the
other car, and Taylor riding with
him, were coming toward Roa
noke Rapids when the colliaelon
occurred.
Newsom suffered a severe cut
on his head, but was discharged
from the hospital today. Capps,
the most seriously injured, suf
fered a broken leg and foot and
will be hospitalized for several
weeks. Taylor was injured to the
extent of a broken foot and arm,
and Ferguson, who suffered only
minor cuts and bruises, was re
leased after receiving treatment.
Ship Sponges
Mrs. F. T. Jarman has announc
ed that the local Red Cross sur
gical dressing room shipped 46,000
sponges on March 2.
I v l •
COMMITTEE IS
APPOINTED TO
INVESTIGATE
At a meeting held last night in
the Municipal Building, attended
■Tgy about 60 business men, indus
trialists and farmers, plans for
getting g prisoner of war camp
located in this section were
thoroughly discussed. The purpose
of having a prisoner camp here
,'a to relieve the acute shortage of
; Imior in this section, and it was
*4 stated by several of those in at
tendance at the meeting last night
that it is believed sufficient work
tcan be found in the county to em
jdoy 250 or more war pisoners the
2^ar round.
As explained at the meeting the
first thing that will have to be
done is the selection of a site. The
army will then 'inspect it and if
Kproved the next step will be to
ise the necessary funds for
, • proper housing, lights and water
and sanitary installations. Cost of
the labor will be at the prevailing
[ wage rate for the type of work to
he done. In addition to this there
WM be a charge of from 15 to
20 cents per prisoner, this money
to be paid to the government and
if in turn will be used to reimburse
those who put up the guarantee
covering cost of obtaining, the
w !
Each employer of prison labor
will have to use a minimum of
10 men, provided the army is
Short of guards. If there are
Plenty of guards available, of
dfttrse, it is understood fewer
prisoners may be employed.
County Agent Davis inquired as
to the transportation of the pris
oners, and it was pointed out
that each employer of the prison
eff must furnish transportation to
and from the prison camp. This,
said Mr. Davis, is going to be one
of the biggest problems to be solv
ed by farmers wishing to obtain
1 the men. “The shortage of suit
8 trucks, gasoline, and the more
sferious tir situation,” he said,
will be a vital factor.”
It was brought out at the meet
Iing that the war prisoner camp
located at Creedmoor, is one of ,
t#;y most efficient and productive
in the South, and it is believed ef
forts will be made to pattern the
camp here along the same system,
provided of course, the Army
grants the application, when and
ifjgn* is placed before it.
Practically every phase of the
situation was discussed and ex
plained by those present, and a
committee was appointed to inves
tigate the possibility of obtaining
atl^mp. Those named to the com
mittee are:
C. S. Alexander, chairman, Scot
.iaod Neck; W. O. Davis, Halifax
Cjopity Agent, secretary; O. J.
f ?f|ltinued m Pȣ6 8, Sec. A)
Two Brothers^tfaking Good ^
'mmmm ; wsammi i——i
Above are two sons of Mrs. Annie L. Hawkins of route X, who are
making good for Uncle Sam. On the left is'Pvt. Paul E. Hawkins,
awarded the Purple Heart, and on the right is Sgt. Russell D. Hawk
ins, awarded the Good Conduct Medal (See story on page 5, Sec. A).
REGINALD MIDGETTE IS
WOUNDED IN ACTION IN
SOUTH PACIFIC BATTLE
Pvt. Reginald H. Midgette, U. S.
Marine Corps, has been wounded
in action against the Japs in the
South Pacific, according to news
received from the Navy Depart
ment by his parents, Mr. and Mrs.
H. H. Midgette, 1016 Rapids St.
He received head wounds from
?un shots in action on January
rth, but the report was delayed
until recently. One letter has been
received from him by his parents
since the engagement but he had
ittle to say about his condition.
Reginald is serving with the 7th
Marines. His address is care Fleet
Postoffice, San Francisco. He has
seen overseas for 22 months. Reg
nald, who is 19 years old, attend
ed Roanoke Rapids High School.
Another brother, Sgt. Hurley
Midgette, is with the Army Air
Jorps somewhere in Italy. A let
;er was received from him today
jy his parents in which he said
ie might be over there for a long
;ime yet. His address is APO 650,
rare Postmaster, New York.
Williams Ordered
To Chapel Hill
Frank C. Williams, Jr., is now
n the U. S. Navy and has been
>rdered to the Navy V-12 school
it Chapel Hill. He recently had his
L8th birthday and passed the V-12
jxaminations.
" i
FBIOFFICERS
HERE TODAY
Continuing a series of confer
ences with local law enforcement
officers in North Carolina, special
agents of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation met here this after
noon ir! the Municipal Building
with many officers in Halifax and
surrounding counties present.
The conference is under the
direction of Edward Scheidt, spec
ial agent in charge of the Char
lotte office. Mr. Scheidt will dis
cuss “evidence” during the meet
ing, and Walter Helwick, another
FBI agent, will also address the
conference. Another feature of the
session was the showing of a
short movie, “Battle of Britain.”
Slides were also shown of badly
wanted local fugitives and men
wanted by the FBI of national in
terest.
H. E. Dobbins, Roanoke Rapids
chief of police, said officers from
Halifax, Northampton, Warren,
Vance, Wilson, Edgecombe, Nash
and Hertford counties attended
the conference.
The FBI men came from Wash
ington, N. C., where they held a
similar meeting yesterday. From
here they will go to Raleigh for a