myuil|mUMmiMmi||immilUHU||Hlimimill|amm Vernon Edgar Whitley, Marvin William Scott, William H. Camp, Jr, Robert E -May, R. H. McCommong, James W. Whitby,
W » I "H H Nlfl . . II n ,11 m|| • J Grover Woodruff, Winfield Hasty, Daniel E. Faison, Robert Lee Moore, Curtis E. West, Edgar H. King, Robert Lee Ingianh
.jH iw 11 ml lul H iiiU lu| II l|i ]l mil hi Thomas A. Cooper, Marvin F. Matkins, James G. Whitby, Thos. H. Cook, Jr., Elmer E. Chambliss, Randall White, Robert I.
iHll..lh.J mim»ilmilHmT»"""l”"l""™*™”l"""« Harris, Joseph A. Crouch, Davie L. Harper, Brutas W. Rook, Robt. R. Northingtn, Eugene Basil Glover, William C. Moody,
Frank W. Harris, Wayne C. Green, Rufus S. Finch, Lawrence W. Myrick, Walter G. Cooley, Charlie L. Whitby, Melbourne Barry Jones, Robert A. Rogers, Rufus J. T. Wood*
ruff, Clinton P. Deberry,_■
THE ROANOKE RAPIDS
t VOLUME XXX _ROANOKE RAPIDS, N. C., THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 1945 NUMBER 41
Qray Kills Himself
Ill Health Is
»Cause Of Act
Family Says
Edgar Lee Gray, 63-year-old resi
dent of this city, shot and killed
himself about 8:30 o’clock Wednes
day morning in the back yard of
his home at 101 Washington street.
Gray used a shotgun, placing
the muzzle of the gun in his
Couth and pulling the trigger with
yardstick. His body was found
by his wife and son, Francis, ne&r
the kitchen door. He died in
stantly.
Mr. Gray, a master mechanic at
the Patterson Mill, suffered a
stroke about 10 years ago. He
gave up his work after that and
about a year ago suffered another
light stroke. ,
Members of the family attribute
' ^;he act to his long illness which
^nad begun to affect his mind.
Funeral services will be held this
afternoon from the First Baptist
Church with Rev. Gordon L. Price
officiating. Interment will follow
in Cedarwood cemetery.
Surviving are his widow and two
,3ons, Howard and Francis Gray.
Beale Held In
*Bond $5,900
Stanley Beale, white, who last
week was arrested on charges of
assaulting his wife and step-dau
ghter and burning their clothes,
was given a preliminary hearing
Monday afternoon.
Evidence brought out during the
hearing caused a warrant to be
issued for Beale’s arrest on felony
iAharges of a serious nature. He
j^vas ordered held for trial in Hali
fax Superior Court under bond
of $5,900.
WOUNDED
MEN ARE
'SPEAKERS
Main speaker for the 4-day War
Textile Week program here this
week is Lt. Colonel Robert E. Wal
lace, a native of Huntingdon, W.
Va. He has been in the Army
since 1934. Colonel Wallace was
wounded in Germany on Nov. 30,
1944, in action in the Ruhr River
offensive and is now a patient at
^>liver General Hospital, Augusta,
Three wounded enlisted men
from Moore General Hospital at
Swannanoa, N. C., are here mak
ing talks to textile employees. Lt.
T. J. Bardzil, Industrial Services
Officer of the 4th Service Com
(Continued on page 12—Sect. A)
i
Reading from loft to right are: Pfc. Marshall H. Holybee, Cpl. Carl M. Bester and Pfc. George G.
Wheeler. Pfc. Holybee and Pfc. Wheeler are both here participating in the programs being held to boost
textile production for Army needs. Cpl. Bester was unable to come.
Army Team Gives Splendid
Show Yesterday Afternoon
Killed In Action
Shown above is Pfc. John
Wayne Thomas, 21, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Davis Franklin Thom
as, who was killed in Germany.
On State Board
J. R. Wollett of Littleton, well
known lumberman and banker, has
been appointed to a six year term
on the Board of Conservation and
Development by Governor Cherry,
The united States Army incen
tive Team gave a splendid show
yesterday at Roanoke Mill No. 1,
witnessed by about 900 employees.
The show was put on from a plat
form erected on the mill yard, and
though the weather was unusually
hot, the crowd enjoyed it immense
ly.
The program began with the in
troduction of Lieut. T. J. Bardzil,
public relations officer, 4th Ser
vice Command, by Capt. Frank S.
Kemp, commanding officer of the
Roanoke Rapids State Guard, 14th
Company. Lieut. Bardzil, after a
few words, introduced each mem
ber of the team, who in turn spoke
very briefly.
, Major B. Otey, wounded veteran
of World War I, who went back
into the service at the age of 47,
featured the program with a short
address stressing the importance
of textile workers remaining at
their post of duty, and citing in
stances where the materials manu
factured by textile mills are badly
needed. He told of being wounded
in the first war, being shot
through the neck. “If it hadn't
been for the gauze manufactured
by textile mills, I woyld have died
in 5 or 10 minutes,’f Major Otey
declared. “I took thfe gauze, and
stuffed it into the wpund at both
ends and it saved my life.”
“It’s two down and one to go,”
he said, “and you men and women
out here have bovs and girls,
(Continued on page IB—Sect. A)
* I
Real Veteran
..
ssss .. as
Above is Pvt. David Koehl, real
veteran of the present war, who is
here this week participating in the
four-day program at local textile
mills.
Offices Closed
Two Afternoons
The offices of the Roanoke Rap
ds War Price and Rationing Board
will be closed each Wednesday
afternoon and Saturday afternoon
until further notice, it was an
nounced today. This action was
taken in order to get out the
large number of applications now
being received
VETS GUESTS
LOCAL TEXTILE
EMPLOYEES
A U. S. Army Incentive Team
arrived in Roanoke Rapids Wed
nesday for a four-day visit to the
local textile mills which will be
concluded Saturday night. Purpose
of the visit is to impress on textile
employees the importance of tex
tiles in the war against Japan.
The team includes Lt. Colonel
Robert E. Wallace, Major B. Otey,
Lt. T. J. Bardzil, Pfc. Marshall
H. Holybee, Pfc. George Wheeler,
Pvt. David Koehl, (the three en
listed men being wounded vet
erans), and a small arms demon
stration unit, under Major Otey,
consisting of M/Sgt. Ned D. Sim
mons, S/Sgt. Madison C. KersWndr,
S/Sgt. Harry J. Russo, Sgt. Otis
L. Earnest and Sgt. Charles Rice.
The 4-day program reaches its
peak each afternoon at 3:15 when
talks are given and a demonstra
tion of small arms in action at
each of the textile plants. Yester
day the team was at Roanoke
Mills Co., No. 1, and today at
Roanoke No. 2. Friday they will be
at Patterson Mills Co., at 3:15
and Saturday at Rosemary Manu
facturing Co. The team is also vis
iting all the mills and observing
the work at each.
Yesterday and today restricted
war films were shown for textile
(Continued on page 12—Sect. A)
Meet The Boys
On Gun Team
Major B. Otey with five serg
eants form the Small Arms Dem
onstration unit which is here for
the 4-day program of War Textile
Week in Roanoke Rapids. The
unit is from the Army Air Forces
Overseas Replacement Depot at
Greensboro and is giving demon
strations at each of the mill plants
at 3:15. Friday they will be at
Patterson and Saturday at Rose
mary Manufacturing Co.
Major Otey of Denver, Colo., has
had 30 years in the Army. He
served with the First Division ih
World War I and was wounded
and gassed at Charpentry and Ex
ermont in France. He retired and
was recalled to duty in 1942 and
is now in charge of the School
of Musketry at the Replacement
Depot in Greensboro.
M/Sgt. Ned D. Simmons of Hin
ton, W. Va., has had li years
in the service and was at Tientsin,
China, when the Japs first started
their period of aggression with
the Marco Polo Bridge incident on
July 4, 1937. He was discharged
at the end of his enlistment period
in June, 1941, and returned as a
volunteer in March, 1942, and has
served as a small arms instructor
at various Army posts. He ie now
chief non-com officer in charge of
marksmanship at the ORJD in
Greensbibro.
S/Sgt. Madison C. Kershner of
Anderson, Ind., is one of the
Army’s experts on small arms,
(Continued on page 12—Sect. AJ
Returned Combat Veterans Visiting Here This Week