*_Roanoke Rapids Pay Roll $10,000,000.00 Annually... Biggest In All Eastern North Carolina I ★ ★ ★ THE ROANOKE RAPIDS ha's l’arm What Roanoke Rapids Makes —Makes Roanoke Rapids Hcra,d aa88Uied ****** ^ Gets Quick Results ★ ★ 'a VOLUME XXXIII ROANOKE RAPIDS, N. C. THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 1948 NUMBER 12 Roanoke ,j Ramblings l i*Ws^¥¥VW<>AA^A>vwi>^^iuilding in the South Rosemary iection having been furnished by he Kiwanis Club. Before closing the meeting, nembers of the public relations committee distributed a news iheet, "Kiwanis Kwips”, which wmmittee members said prom sed to be an interesting and lewsy publication. In schools established by the tfavy in Trust Islands of the Pac fic, classes in the practical use >1 English an bald tor tha Mt « ohiUxan. ,__ Won’t Oppose Kerr Julian Allsbrook Weldon Tied With Raleigh In Total Traffic Fatalities 11-Month Report Shows _ i-—— Despite its small size, in com parison with other communities of the state, Weldon was in a tie with Raleigh in the matter of traffic fatalities in 1947 through the month of November, a re port released this week by the State Department of Motor Ve hicles discloses. Covering November specifically and the 11-month period of 1947 generally, the report showed Charlotte leading all cities with 20 persons killed; Fayetteville second w’ith nine; Asheville, Dur ham, Wilson and Winston-Salem, third with five each; Raleigh and Weldon, four each; and Greens boro and Kannapolis, three each. Halifax 2 in November Lincoln county, with seven fa talities (six in one accident), led in traffic deaths during Novem ber. Durham county with foul was second. Eight counties had three fatalities each and Halifax County was in a fourth place classification, along with nine other counties, each of which re ported two deaths each. Slate Deaths: 751 Through November 30th, 751 persons had lost their lives in North Carolina traffic accidents, with 234 killed during the month of NcArember, the last month cov ered by the report. Col. L. C. Rosser, Motor Ve hicle commissioner, estimated that when the year-end report is compiled, it will show that a round 830 people were killed in the state during the entire year of 1947, a decrease from the 1,028 killed in 1946 traffic accidents. Funeral Here Today For Local Man Who Dies In Chicago Funeral services will be held at 4 o’clock this afternoon from the Wrenn Funeral Home for Bernard Keeter, who was found unconscious and dying on the streets in Chicago, Illinois by police last Thursday. The Chicago officers said the man was taken to a hospital im mediately but he died shortly af terward. They traced his identi ty through the FBI fingerprint records in Washington. He was first identified as a man named “Keith”, about 47 years of age, but this later prov ed erroneous; and BenjamirvBut ler, a brother - in - law, went to Chicago Monday to make posi tive identification. The body arrived in Weldon yesterday afternoon. The services will be conducted by the Rev. J. R. Edwards, pas tor of the First Methodist Church Df Roanoke Rapids. Survivors include his wife, Mrs \llie Keeter; one son, Charles; me daughter, Daisy Lee; his mo ther and father, Mr. and Mrs. Charlfe Keeter; one brother and four sisters. Former Littleton Resident Severely Hurt in Auto Mishap Mrs. Henry Lee Sloan, Jr., niece of county comissioner C. Shields Alexander, of Scotland Neck, is a patient at Graduate HospitaL Philadelphia, Pa., aft er she and her husband sus tained severe injuries in an automobile accident last week. Mrs. Sloan, the former Mary Shields Justice of Littleton, suffered two broken lags in ad dition to lacerations of the face and neck, liar husband. Dr. K. L. Sloan. Jr« who was cut a botii Dm (mi auks ii iIm ft 1m ibft bNpilftis Local Teacher Group Sanctions Requests For Special Session [ The Roanoke Rapids unit of the North Carolina Education Association voted unanimously to adopt a resolution endorsing the action of the Department of the State Superintendent and the N. C. E. A. Board of Directors re questing the governor to call a special session of the Legislature to consider emergency needs in education caused by the increas ed cost of living and operational expense of the schools. The resolution, which was ad opted at the regular January meeting of the local group and which has been forwarded t o Governor R. Gregg Cherry, fol lows: “Whereas the inflation follow ing the lifting of OPA regula tions has advanced the cost of living since the salary increase granted by the 1947 Legislature, and “Whereas the training period is lengthy and expensive and the | duties of the teacher are exact ing, the present salary is insuf ficient to attract young people of high calibre to the teaching pro fession, and ‘‘Whereas the enrollment of schools has increased and will increase in successive years, the children of our state face inade quate and inferior educational training which will result from a teacher shortage, and “Whereas the State Board of Education has set up require ments for certificate renewal which will make summer school attendance imperative for a targe number of teachers, and “Whereas the legislators of this district favor the calling of a special session of the Legisla ture to increase teachers’ salar ies, “Be it therefore resolved, that the Roanoke Rapids unit of the N. C. E. A. affirm its complete endorsement of the Department of Superintendents and the Board of Directors of the NCEA in re questing the Governor to call a special session of the Legislature for the purpose of making addi tional appropriations to the pub lic schools of the State in order to increase the salaries of school personnel and safeguard the ed ucational opportunities of the children of North Carolina.” (Continued on page 6—Sect. A) Pre-School Clinics Slated By Robert F. Young, M. D. County Health Officer The Halifax County Health Department has scheduled the preschool clinics for all the schools, both white and colored, in Halifax County for the com ing year. These clinics will be gin on February 2, and will con tinue through February 25 for all schools in Halifax County ex cept Roanoke Rapids white schools where the clinics will be held April 28 and 29. The sched ule for the larger schools is en closed in this article; however, the complete schedule will be advertised throughout the com munities in Halifax County. The Halifax County Health De partment and the three school systems in Halifax County will follow the same ^licy during the coming year that was follow ed last year with reference to re quiring all children being admit ted to school for the first time to be adequately vaccinated for j smallpox and adequately immun-| ized for diphtheria and whooping I cough. No child can be admitted to the first grade in school next fall unless it can present certi ficates for these immunizations on admissionn. Any child not presenting these certificates of immunization will be refused ad mission to school until such time as these immunizations are com pleted. The importance of this im munization program has been very forceably emphasized in some of our communities during the past year, /here we have had diphtheria, for instance, to break out among the older age children in school. We feel that it is probable that there would have been a considerable epidemic from this disease had the children not been given booster doses or adequately im munized at the begining of their school career. With further reference to the booster doses for diphtheria and whooping cough, all children who have not been recently immu nized, or certainly immunized withinn the past two years, will be given a combined booster dose for diphtheria and whoop ing cough at the preschool clin ics. Pre-school clinics in the larger schools have been scheduled as follows: Enfield, white, Thurs day, February 5, at 10:00 a. m.; Enfield, colored, Thursday, Feb ruary 5, at 1:00 p. m.; Weldon, colored. Friday, February 6, at 9:30 a. m.; Scotland Neck, col ored, Monday, February 9, at 10:00 a. m.; Eastman, colored, Monday. February 9, at 10:00 a. m.; Hobgood, white, Monday, February 9. at 10:00 a.m.; Hob good, colored, Wednesday, Febru ary 11, at 11:00 a. m.; Weldon, white, Friday, February 13, at 9:30 a. m.; Scotland Neck, white, Monday, February 16, at 10:00 a. m.; Roanoke Rapids, colored, Wednesday, February 18, at 1:00 p. m.; Aurelian Springs, white, Thursday, February 19. at 10:00 a. m.; William R. Davie, white, Thursday, February 19, at 1:00 p. m. Seaboard Child Dies Of Injuries Received When Struck by Car Funeral services for Wilbur Leon Pegg, six, who died Fri day night in Roanoke Rapids Hospital from injuries received earlier in the evening when hit by an automobile near his home in Seaboard, were held Sunday morning at 10 o’clock from the Seaboard Methodist Church, of which the child’s father is pas tor. According to witnesses, the boy was riding his tricycle along the sidewalk near his home when he ran off into the highway di rectly into the path of an auto (Continued on page 6—Sect. A) City's Protestant Churches Cooperating For Overseas Relief; Drive Ends Feb. 1st Cooperating in North Caro lina’s drive to “Fill a Ship with Friendship” the Protestant chur ches of Roanoke Rapids are now collecting materials for over seas relief. The drive will con tinue through Sunday, February 1st. All contributions will be ship ped through Church World Ser vice, the United Program of the Churches of the USA for the re lief and reconstruction of people in and through the Protestant Churches in the war - torn coun tries of Europe and Asia. It is expected that the materials re ceived from the entire state will be enough to form a complete ship’s cargo. Rev. Willis Stevens is chair man for the drive in Halifax County and Rev. John Walker for the city of Roanoke Rapids. The following churches are par ticipating in the effort and will serve as collecting stations: Ro semary Methodist Church, Rose mary Baptist Church, Christian Churchy Church of God, South Rosemary Methodist Chapel, Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church, Pentacostal H o 1 i n e ss Church, First Methodist Church, and the First Baptist Church. Suggested items for giving are , new or used clothing of all kinds or sizes — both outer garments and underclothing — sweaters, jackets, coats, shoes and over shoes; sewing materials, includ- ; ing cloth, scissors, needles, thread ] thimbles, and elastic; wool and cotton for knitting and crocheting • games and toys for children who have nothing to play with; kit chen and tableware, tools of all ! descriptions; soap, candles, first , aid supplies, vitamin tablets, Bi- , bles and Testaments. Residents who have not yet made preparation for their giv ing are urged to go through the , clothes and linen closets and pick out items which they do not act ually need. Items which we sel dom use here are daily neces sities in the lands shattered by war. Bring your gifts to your own church and they will be prompt ly shipped to the Church World Service distribution center at New Windsor, Maryland. North Carolina leads the nation in gifts through World Service and this state - wide campaign scheduled for January II • February 1 will be our primary effort toward maintaining that reputation in The Local Week.. FIGHTS EXTRADITION A man, identified by local po lice as Joe John Shumate, white, of Roanoke Rapids, was arrested this week in Charleston, West Virginia, on charges of abandon ment and non-support of his family here. He was released un der $500 bond and police said he has elected to resist extradi tion proceedings which are scheduled for hearing in the governor’s office in Charleston, February 16th. — NEW NORTHAMPTON AGENT P. H. Jamerson, teacher of vo cational agriculture at the Wood land-Olney school and former Pasquotank county agent, has been appointed Northampton county agent succeeding E. L. Norton, who resigned to become Northeastern District Agent. Jameson’s appointment was an nounced by Dean I. O. Schaub, director of the Extension Service at State College, who said the one time assistant farm agent in Edgecombe county had made splendid records in his former positions. SMOKE EATERS MEET Approximately 150 members and guests of the Roanoke Fire men's Association attended the group's regular bi-monthly meet ing Ut tfrffrid Tuesday night It was the first meeting presid ed over by R. W. Britton, newly elected to head the organization. The next meeting will be held in Weldon on the third Tuesday in March, officials announced. NO BUILDING PERMITS There were no building per mits issued in the Roanoke Rap-1 ids city building inspector’s office this week up until noon Wednes day. INVESTIGATE BREAK-IN Local police this week were investigating a reported break-in at the Colonial Stores establish ment in the uptown section of the city last Thursday night. Po lice said it was reported to them that someone entered the back door and took five or six tender ized hams. MARINE RECRUITERS HERE Two Marine Corps recruiters, Master Sergeants John Faulkner and James Duckworth, will be at the postofice building until Saturday for the purpose of answering questions or enlisting any young men interested in Seining up. The men pointed out that the Marine Corps Institute now has over 106 educational courses available to enlisted Ma riau; College and high tchool WOdlta mb obtainable through then oounaa. they added. V- V. . Paperworker Union Accepts 5-Cent Hourly Pay Increase Superior Court Criminal Docket Has 27 Cases The January term of Halifax County Superior Court will be gin Monday with Judge Clawson L. Williams of Sanford presiding. On the Criminal docket are the following cases: one for aband onment and non - support; one for assault; one for assault with intent to kill; four cases of brea king and entering; two cases of crime against nature; one case of false pretense; two cases of carnal knowledge; 12 cases of drunken driving; four cases of larceny and one case of speeding in excess of 75 miles per hour. The U.S. Department of Agri culture recently estimated that 1,040,000 long tons of United States, grain and grain products were exported in November, 1947. 10 Year Old Halifax Negro, Missing Ten Days, Found Dead The body of a 40 year old Negro, Gilbert Watson, who had been missing from his home near Scotland Neck since January 6ih, was found in some woods near the W. T. Eure farm, between Halifax and Scotland Neck, Friday morning by county officers. Coroner Rufus Britton said death was caused by the com plete severing of the main art ery and all leader veins in Watson's right leg, apparently by the accidental discharge of a 12 gauge shotgun he was carrying. The coroner's verdict was that he came to his death by reason of excessive bleeding caused by an accidentally in flicted bullet wound and no inquest was deemed necessary. Britton reported that the gun wadding was found in the dead man's shoe. Official Notice Received Discontinuance of Marketing Quotas on 1948 Peanut Crop -1 — Official notice has been receiv ed by the Halifax County Agri cultural Conservation Committee hat marketing quotas for the 1948 peanut crop have been sus pended, it was announced today by C. L. Kelly, Committee chair man. “Farmers will be permitted to plant in excess of allotments es tablished for 1948 without being penalized,” Kelly said. Under marketing quotas, pro duction in 1948 would have been approximately 2,359,000 acres compared with the approximate ly 3,378,000 acres harvested for nutSt in 1947. Thus, seid Kelly, the 1948 allotn&KvV wWild have been about 30 percent less than the average acreage harvested for nuts during the 1942-46 per iod. “Peanut producers voted in favor of quotas for the next three years, however,” Kelly de clared, “thus making the quotas machinery available for 1949 and 1950 in the event conditions should make it necessary to im pose marketing quotas for pea nuts.” Under the Agricultural Adjust ment Act, peanut quotas are in effect for three years following a two-thirds favorable vote in the referenndum held on Dec ember 9th, but the Secretary of Agriculture may increase or ter minate quotas for any year if he finds, upon investigation. that either action is warranted. 2 Negroes Escape From Law But Only Temporarily Finally halted in a 10 mile es cape dash from three highway patrolmen when their 1936 Ford automobile wrecked over an em bankment early Sunday morning, ;wo Garysburg Negroes took to ;he woods and water and got a vay — temporarily. Corporal Logan B. Lane said le and patrolmen Woodall and Petteway were patrolling N. C. iighway 46 in the Gaston area about 12:30 Sunday morning vhen they sSw the Ford pass, veaving all over the road. Lane said they started after the car >ut it wouldn’t stop and they :hased it about 10 miles toward ..awrenceville, Va, when it sud lenly wrecked. One Negro climbed out the •ight side of the car with a shot jun, loaded with Number 8 shot and cocked, in one hand, and a lalf gallon of moonshine in the bther. When he dropped to the lavement, both these articles vere knocked to the ground and le ran into a nearby creek and jot away. The driver, later iden ified as Santee Hicks, jumped >ut his side and took the same ‘scape route. Lauds Davis' Assistance Lane said that without the as Continued on page 6—Sect. A) Merchants Association Will Elect Officers Por 1948, Feb. 11th The ennual meeting and election oi officer* oi th* Roa noke Rapid* Merchant* Auo dation will be held in th* Blue Room oi th* Roaemary Cafe Wednaiday night February 11. It wai announced today by oi Hclali oi the organliation. Th* announcement cam* in conjunction with th* n*w* that February S. I and Wh are to he ttlyu Dollar Day* in Dm Btk* lUiUa MMM19 AmmIi* ^ mwiiiHi After voting to strike for higher wages from the Hali fax Paper Company on the 17th of last month, members of Local 697, United Paper workers of America, C.I.O., voted Friday to accept a five cents an hour wage increase in stead. The increase, retroactive to January 12th, was tendered by the company folloiwng two con ferences with federal and state conciliators; one conference held January 6th and the other on Friday. It will be a straight five cents an hour across the board wage hike to all employees. Commissioner Frank Crane of the State Department of Labor and Commissioner J. N. Maxey, federal conciliator, had proposed that, on the basis of figures from the U. S. Bureau of Labor statis tics, the wage increase be effect ed to offset an increase in cost of living from June 6, 1947, to January 6, 1948, union officials said. Representatives of the union meeting with the conciliators were Stewart Harrell, president, C. T. Keeter, financial secretary treasurer, Roland Hancock, Joe Green, W. P. Mann, Crawford Erwin, John Woody and Roose velt Cherry. Company representatives were K. F. Adams, J. B. Edge and Dick Stainback. Area director Harry Scott, of the CIO, and Robert Turner, field representative of the United Paperworkers of America, also attended the meetings. Contract Expires in June The local contract with the company expires on June 6th, union representatives said, and the union will meet with the management prior to that date to bargain for improvement of working conditions along with a substantial wage increase. r Union spokesmen told report ers that the approximately 350 paperworkers in the bargaining unit unanimously approved the five cent hourly wage increase on a temporary basis. Dimes Drive City Chairm'n Lists Helpers Veterans Will Donate Dance Receipts To Increase Fund Local workers for the Lions Club - sponsored March of Dimes drive were named today by the Rev. Edmund Berkeley, cam paign chairman for Rcanoke Ra pids, who announced that ihe Veterans of Foreign Wars are donating the receipts from their weekly dance this Saturday night to help swell the fund. Also under consideration are plans for a Jaycee sponsored President’s Ball on the night of January 30th, although Mr. Berk eley said these plans were only tentative. Dot Bemiett and H. C. Johnson have been named co chairmen of the President’s Ball committee and plans will be an nounced later. As has been its custom in the past several years, the Young Men’s Club of Roanoke Mill No. Two is having a special fund raising program, the chairman said. Local Workers me local worKers are as ioi lows: Publicity—W. Graham Lynch, radio and newspaper; Harvey Woodruff, signs and window cards; Schools — Robert Holler, for both white and colored schools; Dime banks — Jim Bat ton, Jr., George Pappendick (ci ty chairman for all banks), John Lackey, Jack Livesay, Raine Wilson and Sleepy Fleming. Treasurer — Bill Batton (in charge of special contributions through checks); Girl Scouts — Elva Martin (also collections in theater lobbies);* Boy Scouts — George Brown (also in charge of sale of lapel buttons on Satur day, Jan. 24, and Saturday, Jan. 31). Publicity in churches — all min isters; Special Contributions In dustries — Scott Benton and tharles Wills; and helping with the collections in the theater lob bies on Sundays will be mem bers of the Business and Prof essional Women’s Club. STOLEN CAR FOUND