John T. Eggleston
Given Sentence Os
Life imprisonment
Negro Changes Plea In
Charge of Raping
Little Girl
Shortly after The Herald went to
press Wednesday of last week John
T. Eggleston, 30-year-o.ld Negro, was
sentenced to life imprisonment, thus
escaping the gas chamber on a charge
raping little Margaret Alexander,
seven-year-old white girl, on the
morning of February 27 as she was
on her way to the Edenton school.
At the conclusion of the sentence
Judge Chester Morris adjourned
court without trying any of the civil
eases on the docket. Judge Morris’
decision on abandoning trial of civil
cases was based on action taken by
members of the local liar, who agreed
not to calendar any cases, thus elim
inating further expense to the county.
In taking this action niembers*bf the
Bar took into consideration, also, that
farmers and fishermen are very
busy at this particular season and
to serve'or a jury would have caused
some hard os.
In order to sec-re a jury to try'
Eggleston, Judge Chester Morris or
dered a special venire of 50 men from
Bertie County. '0 of whom reported
at the Court House Wednesday morn
ing. Only six jurors were retained
after the regular jury list and 50
others in Chowan summoned had been
exhausted. Seven of the Bertie
RESOLUTIONS OF RESPECT
WHEREAS, the untimely passing
of the Honorable C. Everett Thomp
son, a beloved, respected and com
petent Jurist, resulted in the loss to
his family of a devoted husband and
father and to the citizenship of North
Carolina of a most valuable member,
and distinguished Jurist; and,
WHEREAS, the Chowan County
Superior Court at its regular March-
April, 1947 term, and all officers and
officials thereof, individually and col
lectively, desire to express their ap
preciation for his life and service and
to mourn his death; therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, that to the
members of his family there bp ex
tended our sincere and profound
sympathv; and,
RESOLVED FURTHER, that a
copy of these resolutions be sent to
the bereaved family, that a copy he
sent to The Chowan Herald and to
The Elizabeth City Daily Advance for
publication, and that a copy be spread
upon the Minute Docket of this Court.*
Done in Edenton this thirty-first
day of March. A. D. 1947.
W. S. PRIVOTT,
r* JOHN W. GRAHAM,
i> .1. N. PRUDEN,
MARVIN WILSON.
Committee.
For Board of Public
Works
I wish to announce that I will
be a candidate for re-election as a
member of the Board of Public
Works in the May 6th Primary I
Election. I solicit the support of
the voters of Edenton.
J. H. Conger
J. W. WHEELER
SURVEY WORK
OF ALL KINDS
Office—lo 6 East King Street
EDENTON, N. C.
Phone: 177-J
COMPLETE LINE OF
Rings and Watches
Also a Complete Line of Watch Bands and Watch Crystals
Fitted While You Wait
ONLY mm SERVICE
. ON ALL WATCH REPAIRING
■
T. M. FOREHAND, Jeweler
309 Citizens Bank Building Edenton, N. C.
' jurors were secured from the first 13
I examined, so that after the jury was
: impaneled to try the case, P. H. Bell,
; Negro attorney of Plymouth, who was
assigned as Eggleston’s Counsel, en
: tered a plea of guilty to being an
accessory before the fret to the
j crime of rape upon a female under
112 years of age. Eggleston pre
viously had entered a plea of not
J guilty.
Bell’s pit* a was accepted by So
j licitor John W. Graham, who took
into consideration the mental and
physical condition of the little vic
tim who showed signs of nervousness,
and whose competency to testify
might have been questioned by an
swers to questions which would halve
been asked.
Judge Morris said that he felt
j reasonably sure the Negro would have
been found guilty of rape had the
girl testified, but under the circum
stances he was in accord with Solici
tor Graham’s action in accepting the
| changed plea of Attorney Bell. 'Judge
•Morris also complimented the parents
of the victim and those in the Court
• House for their behavior during the
trial.
Though Eggleston denied the
charge when arrested, officers who
| took him to State prison Thursday
said he admitted haying committed
the deed.
“StateOTThellJnion”
i Scheduled April 23
(Continued from Page One)
They presented seven plays that
season, two performances each week
in Abingdon and three in neighbor
ing communities. They begged and
borrowed all. equipment, kitchen uten
sils, china ware, table silver, tools,
stage properties and everything they
needed for residence and theatre. The
people of Abingdon contributed with
generosity and amusement. Most of
them doubted that "that Porterfield
boy, the actin’ one,” could make his
venture work.
New York producers gave stage
equipment and the cast-off set from a
“Rose Marie” road company. Bob
bought nothing for the simple reason
that his total capital upon arrival in
Abingdon was one dollar.
All the world knows now that Por
terfield opened his theatre on the
basis of barter —35 cents in cash or
the equivalent in victuals. Eighty
five per cent of the patrons paid in
produce that year. Each succeeding
season, as prosperity returned, the
proportion of produce decreased and
the cash intake increased until this
year hardly more than 10 or 15 per
cent of the revenue is barter and most
of that goes to the Barter Residence
i kitchen to be turned in for box office
| credit slips. With the present food
J shortage, Porterfield wished more
people had paid in produce last sum
mer.
As Barter is not bringing along its
own kitchen or commissary, produce
will not be accepted during the pres
ent season.
Boh operated from 1933 to 1942. in
; elusive, then closed down when he
For You To Feel Well j
24 hours every day, 7 days every
week, never stopping, the kidneys filter
waste matter from the blood.
If more people were aware of how the
kidneys must constantly remove sur
plus fluid, excess acids and other waste
matter that cannol stay in the blood
without injury to health, there would
be better understanding of why the
whole system is upset when kidneys fail
to function properly.
Burning, scanty or tot- ireijuent urina
tion sometimes warns that something
is wrong. You may suffer nagging back
ache, headaches, dizziness, rheumatic
pains, getting up at nights, swelling.
Why not try Doan’s Pills'! You will
be using a medicine recommended the
country over. Doan's stimulate the func
tion of the kidneys and help them to
‘lush out poisonous waste from the
blood. They contain nothing harmful.
Get Doan' « today. Use with confidence.
At all drug storee.
THE CHOWAN HERALD EDENTON, N. CJ„ THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1947.
donned Uncle Sam’s TJSAAF uniform.
He was discharged in the fall of 1945,
sojourned in Hollywood long enough
to appear in “The Yearling” with Gre
gory Peck, one of the prize Barte;
graduates, then returned to Abing
don.
There lie decided to make another
afctepipt with Barter; he interested
civic leaders who moved upon Rich
mond and the Virginia Conservation
Commission with a plea for an ap
propriation of $50,000. The tiommis
sion came through with SIO,OO0 —not
what Bob needed, but it was a starter
and an endorsement. More import
ant, it meant the formal adoption of
Barter as the State Theatre of Vir
ginia, another significant pioneer- step
by the Old Dominion.
The people of Abingdon, Bristol,
Marion and other Southwestern Vir
ginia communities raised nearly
$4,0110 more.
The year 1946 in Abingdon was an
eye-opening experience. People at
tended Barter as never before. At
tendance reached 100 per cent over
the best pre-war years, then 2(H) per
cent. Nearly 40,000 saw a total.of
113 performances of 12 productions.
Every night Bob called for a count
of hands and every night between 20
and 25 per cent of those present were
from out of. the state.
The funds raised made it possible
for Porterfield to change his sum
mer company into a year-round en
terprise and to tour the state, taking
the best of professional drama-all
his company were recruited in New
York—to all the people of the Com
| monwealth of Virginia.
Robert Porterfield is a tall, broad
j shouldered Virginian with a disarm
ing smile and a reputation for turn
ing. misfortune to his advantage.
In the winter of 1936 Porterfi'.ld
had been bedded with in ltie:i"a He
had an idea. The idea was to make
an award to the best actor of the
year. He invited Mrs. Roosevelt to
make the presentation. She accepted,
mentioning a luncheon. Broke and
embarrassed, Bob asked his Broadway
friends to buy tickets to a luncheon
for the winner, Laurette Taylor, and
Mrs. Roosevelt. Six hundred accept
Dailinr eveiymanshid e
supplied ex t r» cxiet »- avtkuaJt,*.
says you’re only young once ?
Take a look at this trim, new Buick
or better, take its wheel and see
just how wrong that old saw is!
One look at these sleek lines, the
long, taste-of-tomorrow fenders
and just watch yourself start getting
young ideas.
„ Find an open road, gun this beauty
just a bit i- and see how the spirit of
springtime wells up in your soul and
t sets the red blood coursing.
Good road or bad, on these soft all*
coil springs you take everything with
youthful zip and zest, quite freed i
from jar or jolt.
City street or country road, with all
this poised and husky roadweight
beneath you, you travel your level
course, steady and non-swerving
even on curves.
Pull up somewhere and see how
people turn to note the Very
run* in HENRY I. TAYLOR on Hio oir fwico wmfcfjr
GHAS. H. JENKINS MOTOR CO.
105-XO9 E. QUEEN ST. EDENTON, N. C.
’d. It was the biggest thing of its
I kind in Broadway history and has be-
I come an annual event, and famous.
I
Six Chowan Students
Now At Wake Forest
Six students from Chowan County
are included in the record-breaking
enrollment of 1,577 students at Wake
j Forest College this spring.
Edenton is represented by five
students. These are West Byrum, Jr.,
and Lloyd Griffin, freshmen; James
i Chestnutt, Jr., sophomore; Murray
1 Small, junior; and Melvin Layton,
senior. From Tyner is David Byrum,
junior.
Chestnutt is a member of the Pan-
Hellanic Council, governing body of
the social fraternities. David Byrum,
Chestnutt, Layton and Small are vet
j erans.
David Byrum is contemplating a
• career in dentistry; Chestnutt in
I medicine; Layton in coaching; and
Small in business administration.
] West Byrum and Griffin are taking
• the regular course leading to the
j Bachelor’s Degree.
Such professions as law, medicine,
| teaching, journalism and the ministry
j have claimed the majority of Wake
| Forest graduates, but a good many
| have gone into business, dentistry,
engineering, etc.
j Wake Forest is the oldest and larg
est Baptist College in the United
States. During the past year ap
proximately $15,000,000 has been add
,ed to the college's resources. Hi hulk
of which consists of the Smith Rey-
I nolds Foundation Fund, valued at
around jl IJWO.OO'.t. This fund is
being donated on the condition the
j college be moved to Wms-toh-Salem
and that sufficient funds 1.0 raised
SHEAFFER ANT ~
PARKER PENS
I CAMPEN’S
Important Person who’s arriving.
Take it through the tangle of traffic
and see how nimbly it maneuvers
check it at a boulevard stop and see
howsureand positive itscontrolsare.
In all truth, here’s a car that’s any
man’s darling, every man’s pride. A
car that not only meets your needs
for transportation, but satisfies
your every hankering for size and .
power, style and room, solid /
worth and top-dollar value. I
Naturally, it’s a much wanted car. /
America’s most wanted automo- /
w
\
during the next five years to acco'njo--
date a student body of around 2.1)00
men and women. A planning com
mittee has been appointed by Wake
Forest’s Board of Truda u :.
architects’ skeo-h's are being pio
pa; d which,- will s..ow the tentative
layouts of the proposed campus and
necessary buildings.
j To The Voters Os Edenton I
I wish to state that I will be a candidate for the office of |
I I Mayor of the Town of Edenton in the May Primary. X
I am seeking this office at the solicitation of a large number f
of citizens, who have requested me to do so solely in the interest J>
of efficient and economical city government. They assert that |
my record and past experience as Mayor, together with my f
abiding and continuing interest in the welfare of the Town will f
justify my candidacy. f
If elected, I can gi the office practically all of my time, t
and if the voters desire my services, I will be glad to render the $
best of which I am capa.de. f
Respectfully, I
J. T WIGGINS |
Pepsi-Cola Company, Long Island City, N. Y.
PEPSI-COLA COMPANY OF ELIZABETH CITY. N. C.
Greeting Cards
For All Occasions
CAMPEN’S
JEWELERS
l *
bile, in fact. Definitely not the num
ber to be picked up off the counter
any time, anywhere.
That’s why forethought pays and
prompt decision gets results. You
are simply playing safe when you
get your order in nowl
*'*»«< ,o,„ I
*«»«.« * wto ■
;r—r f
BODY »Y flSHot ■
PAGE THREE