North Carolina Newspapers

In these columns will be found e fair presentation of local and county news of general Interest. Volume lll.—Number 39. Edenton School Starts Off With Enrollment Over 800 More Scholars Enter All I Grades Opening Day Than Last Year CLASSES CROWDED Several Changes Made In Faculty; Colored School Opens Today With an increased enrollment over last year, when the Edenton school was crowded, the first day of school Monday morning again presented a problem for John A. Holmes, super intendent, and his corps of teachers. A total of 759 enrolled the first day, 546 of this number being in the grammar grades and 213 in the high school. Last year’s figures were 724, es which 534 were in the gram mar grades and 190 in high school, making this year’s increase over last year 12 in the grammar grades and 23 in high school. Aside from the 759 enrolled, there are approximate ly 25 students who are taking the commercial course taught by Mrs. T. B. Smith and are not included in the enrollment reported. Later reports Wednesday, how ever, are to the effect that enough new students entered school to boost the figures to a little over 800. Enrollment in the various classes follows: First grade, 92; Second grade, 78; Third grade, 68; Fourth grade, 72; Fifth grade, 82; Sixth grade, 78; Seventh grade, 76; Eighth grade, 67; Ninth grade, 61; Tenth grade, 54; Eleventh grade, 31. In the Advance school, which is part of the city administrative unit, there were 67 children enrolled as against 63 last year. Crowded conditions prevail in of the class rooms, in some in stances the number of children far outnumbering the seats provided in the room. However, the teachers en tered their work with a vim and de termination despite the handicaps and by Wednesday the school was organized sufficiently to carry out the regular schedule of classes. Much of the time the first two days was consumed in the rental of books. However, despite this incon venience during the first two days, Mr. Holmes says the arrangement will greatly help the situation, for otherwise the matter of students se curing proper books ordinarily drags along for several weeks, thus hold ing up progress that can be made at the outset. There are several changes in the faculty this year, three new faces appearing among the teachers. David Holton replaces Leon Brogden as teacher of history and athletic coach, while Miss Pauline Sprinkle takes the place of Miss Betty Bloxton as teacher of mathematics in the high school. Miss Sprinkle’s home is in Marshall, N. C. There is also a change in the ele mentary grades due to the resigna tion of Miss Sara Wood as teacher of the second grade. Miss Emma Blanche Warren, first grade teacher last year, has taken Miss Wood’s place, while Miss Emily Smithwick of Merry Hill has been secured for the first grade, taking Miss Warren’s place. Added to-Mr- Holmes’ worries the first few days was requests by pa rents to have children enter school who have not yet reached six years of age. The law is very specific in that regard this year, making it necessary for all children entering school for the first time to be six years old on or before the first day of October. There were about a dozen children refused entrance whose sixth birthday occurred short ly after the deadline and whose pa rents were hopeful of having their children start school this year. Last year the deadline was November 15, and according to daily newspapers a test case of the new school ruling 4 will be made in Greenville. A considerably larger number of students are taking advantage of the book rental system this year and both Mr. Holmes and He teachers anticipate a well organized and suc cessful session. The colored schools opened this morning. Masons Plan Tonight To Entertain Visitors The regular meeting of Unanimity Lodge will be held tonight at 8 o’clock. J. A. Curran, mfester of the lodge, urges a large attendance in order to arrange plans for the enter tainment of a delegation from Wil liamsburg, Virginia, on Thursday, October L THE CHOWAN HERALD A HOME NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF CHOWAN COUNTY 1601 ENROLLED IN COUNTY SCHOOLS FIRST TWO WEEKS Average Daly Attendance For Period Is 540 In County Unit; No Room i For Extra Teacher At the close of the first two weeks of school in the county administra tive unit there were 601 enrolled in the white schools of the county, with an average daily attendance of 540, according to figures released early this week by W. J. Taylor, superin tendent. In the Chowan school there were 245 enrolled in the elementary grades and 128 in the high school with an average daily attendance of 117. The enrollment and attendance at other schools follow: Gum Pond—32 enrolled; average | daily attendance, 24. Center Hill—s 4 enrolled; average daily attendance, 46. Beech Fork—36 enrolled; average daily attendance, 34. Oak Grove—73 enrolled; average daily attendance, 63. Elmo—33 enrolled; average daily attendance, 29. Seme of the grades are extremely crowded, but under the present ar rangement for holding school there is no room for an extra teacher. Raleigh Boosters Arrive In Edenton Next Thursday Plans are under way for the four teenth tour of Raleigh boosters to the eastern part of the State, ac cording to John A. Park, of Raleigh. This trip is conducted by Raleigh business and professional men as a better acquaintance tour, and as a feature of the trip a brief discussion of the North Carolina State Fair will be given. The trip this year will take place on Wednesday, September 30, and Thursday, October 1, the party to be escorted by the State Highway Pa trol with the State College Band furnishing music along the route. The schedule of the tour calls for the party’s arrival in Edenton next Thursday morning at 10:10 o’clock, and will remain here 10 minutes. In a letter to Mayor E. W. Spires Mr. Park says the members of the party are looking forward to this event with a great deal of satisfac tion. Mr. Spires urges as many of the business and professional men as possibly can to be at the Municipal Building to greet the Raleigh dele gation. Fall Fashion Show At Taylor Tuesday Jimmy Earnhardt, manager of the Taylor Theatre, has arranged a fall fashion show to take place on the stage of the theatre Tuesday night- The affair will be held at 8:45 p. m., between the two regular showiiyf of pictures. In this revue leading Edenton merchants will display on living models the latest creations in fall and winter styles for men, wom an and children, and will give the buying public a pretty good idea of what can be purchased in the local stores. In connection with this revue the feature picture will be “Public Ene my’s Wife,’’ starring Pat O’Brien and Margaret Lindsay. Open Bids Friday For Roof On School Although nothing definite on the part of the County Commissioners In financing the erection of a school at Cross Roads and making nececssary repairs to the Edenton school will be done until the regular meeting of the Board the first Monday in Octo ber, the trustees of the Edenton administrative unit met Friday night at which time they declared an emer gency exists at the school and forth with submitted plans and specifics; tions for a new. roof on the building. Bids have been received and will be opened Friday, when a contract will ,be awarded to have a new roof-put on the school immediately. Considerable damage has already been done to the walls as the result of water leaking in, and only this week water trickled in the building fallowing a rain. Edenton, Chowan County, North Carolina, Thursday, September 24,1936. HURRICANE SKIPS EDENTON ON WILD RUSH TO_NORTH Yet Left Much Lively News and Apprehen sion In Its Wake BAY EMPTIED Town Becomes Journal istic and Radio Cen ter For Albemarle As a much forewarned hurricane last week’s storm was a pretty mild sort of a blow in Chowan, by no means being remotely comparable to the great destructive gale of three years ago. Yet there was lots of jittery apprehension and many com mendable precautionary measures en gaged in, and when dawn came on Friday morning the citizenry had an l opportunity to see a waterless har bor for the first time within the memory of the oldest living inhabi tant, and, maybe, ever before. The “casualty” score included a lot of old dead tree limbs, a barn that curled up on the C- Y. Parrish farm, on the Soundside Road, and another collapsed stable on the C. H. Barber place, out on Paradise Road. Without seeming too ungrateful for a merciful providence that made escape possible from the ravages of devastation, it can be said that even The Big Bad Wolf could have put on a better ex hibition of puffing and blowing than did last Thursday night's “hurri cane.” Still there is plenty to say about the storm. If nothing else those who scoff at science fail to consider its greatness. As far back as Tuesday of last week coastal North Carolina was warned by the government me teorologists that a storm of hurri cane proportions was gathering in the Bermuda section and that it woutd strike with telling force within 48 or 60 hours along eastern Caro lina. Naturally there were many who didn’t believe it and just as many who did. Those who were apprehensive grew very much so, and when mid after (Ccntinued on Page Two) Sinclair Refining Co. Plans Service Station At Broad And Queen That another great improvement in the appearance of Edenton’s business section will soon be made is evident from the fact that on Monday R. K. Hall, building inspector, signed a permit for the Sinclair Refining Company to build a brick service sta tion on the northeast comer of Broad and Queen Streets. The present dilapidated frame dwelling house will be tom down, the trees on the lot disposed of and the corner transformed into another at tractive business place, making three filling stations at the intersection of the two streets. Mrs. Alice Cason Linberger, of Belmont, owner of the property, has leased the site to the Sinclair Com pany for a period of ten years, the lease calling for what improvements are necessary to be made at the ex pense of the Sinclair Company. This Company will start on the erection of the new and modem sta tion just as soon as the old building is tom down, and according to infor mation the new structure and fix tures will represent an investment of around $7,000. Joe Towe, of Hertford, is distribu tor for Sinclair products in this dis trict and though he would not di vulge the name of the party who .will manage the new station, he did say that it would be one of the most efficient service station men in Edenton. Upper Classmen At School Elect Officers That students in the Edenton High School will take an active part in school activities is evidenced by the fact that already the senior and junior classes have elected their of ficers for the year: The seniors will have the follow ing officers: President, Mable Ruth Harrell; vice president, William Al len White; Secretary and treasurer, Dolly Spencer. The junior class elected the fol lowing officers: President, Junius Davis, vice president, Junior Travis; secretary, Mary Forehand; treasurer, Jennie Ruth McAlily; critic, John Byrum. ROWELL ADVISES FARMERS ABOUT SOU PAYMENTS Committeemen Now In Fields Checking On Acreage sendsTetters Growers Complimented For Destroying To bacco Stalks In letters addressed to farmers and tobacco growers in Chowan, and mailed yesterday by N. K. Rowell, County Agent, attention is called to soil building practices and pay ments, and to the preparation of to bacco lands for next season’s crop. Committeemen are now busy mak ing maps based on work sheets, and Mr. Rowell urges that they be given every possible help in their efforts. The letter “To All Farmers” as drafted by the County Agent is as follows: “The committeemen are now' in the field making maps of all the farms that have been covered by work sheets, and I hope you will give them all assistance possible. I feel that most of our farmers will qualify for both the Class I and Class II payments, but those who do not have soil conserving crops such as beans and peas planted with com, beans and peas planted alone, pas tures and other legumous crops, will not be able to qualify. “The Class I payment is for the reduction you make from your cot ton, tobacco, peanuts and general crops. You will have a soil building allowance measured by the number of acres which you have in soil con serving crops. You are paid for soil building practices up to the amount of your soil building allow ance. The soil building practices mentioned below will be SI.OO to $1.50 per acre and in some cases more, depending upon the practice adopted : “Seeding clover, Austrian winter peas, vetch or pasture. “Turning under as green manure, after the crop has obtained two months’ growth, soybeans, velvet beans, cowpeas, clover, lespedeza or crotalaria. Rye, wheat, winter oats or a mixture of these. “Applying limestone and super phate to a soil conserving crop or pasture. “Turn under all the green manure crops you can by October 31st. Also plant all clover, vetch, Austrian win ter peas and pasture you can by October 31st. As soon as this is done,fill out, sign and return the en closed card to me. You can plant' all idle land in a winter cover crop. You can also plant cover crops after truck, in cotton just after picking and peanuts at digging time. “Those of you who did not sign a work sheet and want your farm in cluded, let me know at once.” The other letter to tne tobacco growers compliments them at the outset for having already cut down their tobacco stalks and plowing them in for a winter cover crop. This, Mr. Rowell sets forth, is a good practice as “when you destroy the tobacco stalks you destroy in sects and diseases as well as grass seed.” The proper seeding for a cover crop is mentioned by the County Agent, and for such seeding before October 31, the soil building payment, he said, is to be $1 per acre. Workers* Council Meet At Parsonage Thursday Evening A meeting of the Workers’ Coun cil of the Methodist Sunday School, comprising the Board of Christian Education and teachers of the school will be held at the parsonage tonight (Thursday) beginning at 6:30 o’clock. This is a quarterly meeting of these two groups and as usual a supper will be served in connection with the meeting. Matters of vital importance and plans for promotion day on Sunday will be discussed, necessitating the presence of every teacher as well as members of the Board. SERMON SUBJECTS SUNDAY AT METHODIST CHURCH Rev. George W. Blount, pastor of the Edenton Methodist Church, . an nounces the following sermon sub jects for Sunday: At 11 a. m. he will speak on “Adventurous Stewardship,” and at Bp.HL, “The Straight Road.” All are invited to attend. Record Low Tide Reveals Joseph Hewes’ Shipyard CHAIRMAN EVANS CALLS MEETING OF DEMOCRATS OCT. 3 Executive Committee Will Meet at Court House Saturday Afternoon, October 3, at 3:30 O’clock B. Warner Evans, chairman of the Chowan County Democratic Execu tive Committee, has called a meeting of the Committee to be held at the Court House on Saturday, October 3. The meeting will be called to or der at 3:30 o’clock in the afternoon, and all members are urged to be present. Mr. Evans has been informed by J. Wallace Winbome, State chairman, that although Chowan County failed to collect its full quota in the drive for funds in June, the county was topped only by one other county in the total amount sent in. This fact was cause for much encouragement on the part of Mr. Evans and he ur gently requests his co-workers to be present at the called meeting in or der to plan for the campaign which is already under way. The district meeting will be held in Ahoskie on Friday of this week, be ginning at 10:30 A. Mv, when it is expected a large delegation from Chowan will attend. No definite plans for the trip have been an nounced by Mr. Evans, he being of the opinion that various groups will arrange parties and leave from their respective neighborhoods. A barbecue dinner will be served to visitors by the Hertford County Executive Committee. New Merchants Well Pleased With Business That both of Edenton’s newest merchants were well pleased with their opening day Saturday and subsequent business this week was evidenced by statements made to The Herald by H. J. Cuthrell, mana ger of CuthreTs Department Store, and E.. L. Peaice, manager of Eden ton’s latest feed and seed store. H. J. Cuthrell, son of J. H. Cuth rell, owner of the small chain, and who will remain in Edenton as man ager, says more people visited the store and more business was done than he had anticipated in view of being handicapped by a hurried com pletion of the arrangement of stock and failure of some merchandise to arrive. However, this merchandise is now arriving and new fixtures will be installed which will add greatly to the appearance and efficiency of the new store. E. L. Pearce likewise was agree ably surprised at the large number of people visiting his new feed and seed store in the E. C. White build ing, and appeared very much en couraged at the prospect of building up a good business. He also was handicapped on opening day Satur day because of the failure of a con siderable amount of merchandise to arrive in time for the opening. This delay was caused by the storm which held up shipments out of Norfolk. Aside from serving customers from his store on Broad Street, Mr. Pearce will operate a truck through out Chowan and adjoining counties in an effort to serve farmers of the entire section. Williamsburg Masons Visit Edenton Oct. 1 Masons of Williamsburg, Virginia, will visit in Edenton Thursday, Octo ber 1, according to J. A. Bozarth, secretary of the Williamsburg lodge. This visit is being made in return for a visit made by Edenton Masons about three years ago when a dis pensation from the grand lodge of North Carolina was granted for the degree team of Unanimity Lodge to confer the third degree upon N. Bunch in the Williamsburg lodge. The exact number coming to Eden ton is not known at present, but local Masons are going on with prepara tions for the entertainment of the visitors. BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP UNDECIDED; SERIES TIED An effort to play off the deciding game for the championship of the Bertie-Chowan League last Sunday afternoon failed to materialize. Perrytown and Edenton each won three games in the post-season se ries and due to the fact that mem bers of each team had gone away to school or were otherwise prevented from playing, it was decided by the managers to let the series end in a tie. This newspaper is circu lated in the territory where Advertisers will realise good results. $1.25 Per Year W. D. Pruden Describes Remarkable Find Off Blount Street Home MUCH CORAL ROCK Most Interesting* Contri bution to Local His tory In Years Bringing to light what has for many years been more or less of a supposition, the actual site of Joseph Hewes’ shipyard in Edenton was re vealed Friday when this section ex perienced the lowest tide within the memory of the oldest inhabitants. Observation of the old shipyard was made by W. D. Pruden, who lives on the waterfront adjacent to the shipyard site. Mr. Pruden has the following to say regarding the ex perience : “Joseph Hewes was. undoubtedly, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence from North Caro lina. It is said, also, upon very good authority, that he was responsible for the appointment of John Pail! Jones to a command in the Ameri can Navy, when Hewes was chairman es the Committee on Naval Affairs in the Continental Congress. “Hevres was a merchant in Eden ton. The site of one of his places of business is on the corner of Main and King Streets and is suitably marked. “He had another place of business, a shipyard at about the point where Pembroke Creek meets Edenton Bay on the Albemarle Sound. My home happens to adjoin the place where the old shipyard is supposed to have been. Its location and existence are considered matters of historical fact, which I have always accepted with faith, but without proof. “During the r«“cent storm we had a strong Northwest gait which tends to blow the water out of the Creek and Bay. On this occasion it caused the lowest tide in the memory of any living inhabitant. We have only wind tides and generally the varia tion does not exceed two or three feet. Yesterday (September 18th) there was a drop of not less than six feet. I might say more, but I wish to be conservative. The bottom of the Sound was exposed for about a mile beyond its normal shore line "At the lowest point of the tide I walked out on dry land and explored the shipyard of Joseph Hewes, which had been submerged for more than a hundred and fifty years. “It had evidently been built con siderably higher than it is today, but had been washed down by the storms and tides of a century and a half. There was an outer bulkhead of solid logs, still perfectly preserved in the fresh water. Inside the bulkhead were large stones, such as are never found in this part of the country. We have no stones here larger than a pebble. These were evidently bal | last rock from vessels which came to the port of Edenton long years ago, when the inlets leading to the Albemarle Sound were deeper and when the draft of ocean going ships was lighter. I found a quantity of coral rock. No one will maintain that Edenton produces coral. It must have come from foreign lands. “I also found a railway'. Inianu people think of a railway as support ing a train of cars with a locomo tive in front of it. On the coast, it sometimes has another meaning. It may mean a contrivance, rather like a railroad track, which is used to haul ships out of the water, to be repaired. “The railway on the shipyard was obviously very old. It was made of rough hewn timbers. There were no iron rails, such as more modem ma rine railways have. The parallel wooden bars were probably twelve feet apart. Considering the fact that a ship is usually wedge shaped to ward her keel and much broader along her water line, the railway must have been able to accommo date ships of considerable size, for those days. “I talked with a colored man on one of the docks on th« water front. He had been working there since my earliest recollection. He said he was seventy-five years old and had never seen such a low tide. Per haps it won’t happen again in more than seventy-five years. Therefore I contribute this description of it, for what it may be worth to historians. “I may add that its approximate location is shown and marked as a wharf on a map of Edenton publish ed in 1769.”