THE FRANKLIN TIMES
Issued Every Friday
?10 Court Street Telephone 888-1
A. F. JOHNSON, Editor and Manager
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THE INEVITABLE EFFECT
It is no wonder that the Senate W'ar Mobilization
Committee in a recent report declared that the home
front is "sagging dangerously." A free people have
found themselves shackled by. bureaucratic red tape at
almost every turn.
They try to increase production? .they try to get a
war job ? they try to raise crops ? and in many instan
ces they are slowed down or actually stopped by some
restriction, decree or law that has so complicated our
economic life that a citizen used to doing things for
himself is stumped by a multiplicity of bosses.
Don't forget that the success of our war effort has
been due to the drive of free private enterprise. Don't
expect to hamstring that enterprise and not confuse and
bewilder, and even destroy, the spirit of individual ini
tiative and independence which built, maintained and
must perpetuate this nation if our country remains as
"we have known it.
uOQ
A SAFE BET
Secretary of the Navy Knox has predicted a crude oil
shortage within a year, and exhaustion in 14 to 20 yeaVs
of present known supplies.
Almost these same words were used during the last
.World War, and then the oil industry evolved new
drilling methods, found new fields, greatly increased the
products taken from crude oil, and gave our nation the
greatest supply of oil products on record.
There was incentive to do the job. If our lawmakers
and regulators will but give the oil industry half a
chance and allow a fair return for the risk involved, it
is a safe bet that this country won't be out of oil in one
year, or twenty years.
Cut the red tape before an artificial shortage iscrea
ted, and give American enterprise a chance to meet any
emergency. Any other policy will be fatal to a nation
that uses gasoline and oil products almost as freely as
water.
ooo
A FEW FACTS TO REMEMBER
Since the last World War, $10,000,000,000 has been
spent for improvements to American railroads. For
...every dollar of additional stocks and bonds, the railroads
have spent $10 for additions and betterments. In 1918
there was an average of $10,000\vorth of railroad equip
ment for each man employed. Now each man uses
$20,000 worth.
Moving fijjhting equipment and fighting men, war ma
terials, food and fuel has been the biggest transportation
job in history. Railroads ifi 1943 are moving twice as
many ton-miles of freight as in croresponding period in
1918. .
? Freight rates generally are no higher now than when
the war started.
There are 600,000 fewer freight cars in service today
than in 1918, but thpy carry 22 per cent more. The av
erage freight train does more than twice as much work
in an hour.
There are 26,000 fewer locomotives than during the
first World War, but they are better loeonffltives and
turn out more work per day.
In the first three months of 1943, passenger traffic
was virtually double that of the corresponding period
in 1918. Troop movements quadrupled those in the
fiijst \yorld War.
Tfie general level of railway travel costs in recent
years has been the lowest in railway history.
Railroad employes in 1942 averaged 1,271,000, as con
trasted with 1,842,000 in 1918, and in 1942 employes re
ceived in wages $2,932,000,000, as against $2,614,000,000
in 1918.
Railroad taxes, per dollar of revenue, increased from
4.6c in 1918, to 16.1c in 1942.
THE LOW DOWN
from
HICKORY GROVE
I get Borta in a lather about a
sales tax every time I see people
spending money
like it might
grow on a tree.
A sales tax
?would cost me
some muz uina
but in the long
ran it will cost
me and every
body else more,
if we don't hare
a tax now. It
Uncle Samuel
don't this
surplus dinero,
somebody else
will. The night
Jo Son
spot*, or any place tnat will open I
tip a door , gets business.
, A llUmj g?nt making 100 per
riuRt j&'jns r.*i
4 dollars. Or a dinner at 85
cents, If It was 95 cents by tack
ing on a 10 per cent tax, would
not slow down anybody. You
could set up a roulette wheel,
and 1( the police did not get you.
you would go to town.
1 But I am hopeful. Congress
has its tail over the dashboard
tand is showing a touch of ginger
and gumption. They are start
ing to trim off a few Govt, frills
and fancy notions ? maybe a sales
tax will be next.
Yours with the lown down,
JO SERRA.
o
There are apparently sufficient
amounts of nitrogen and phos
phate fertilizers for all food and
feed production in 1844. but
there may be a slight {ItortuCe of
potash to meet :i<wal raMlr<
mente. . *?? **
? o ?
Wheat and wheat floor export
programs, in operation since
1938, will not be renewed for the
coming flical year because of 1
shortages In the TJ. 8., say# 44* 1
PICKING DAISIES
? 4.
FRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORY
By REV. E. H. DAVIS
The Union soldiers left this
section in May 1865 after a few
days of peaceful occupancy with
no damning record of spoliation |
or violence in the life of our peo
ple which synchronizing with
their appearance here were after
wards identified by the name of
Sherman. The freshet in the
streams of the Eastern Carolinas
and Virginia in the early spring
of that year the highest of record
up to that time was for years re
membered as the Sherman fresh
et. In that same spring or sum
mer there appeared here for the
first time the collard bug or pest
afterwards known as the Sher
man beetle ? the vanguard of a
horde of similar destroyers that
have depredated upon us regular
ly since. And then there was
what came closer to all thau
either of these ? that leveler of
all distinction and non-respecter
of persons, scabies ? the Itch.
That able and victorious Union
General throughout thts section
was best and longest remember
ed as associated with one of these
? the Sherman freshet. The
Sherman terrapin bug. the Sher
man itch. President Lincoln's
Emancipation proclamation com
ing Jan. 1, 1883 had little or no
effect in the slave holding States
while the war for their emancipa
tio nwas still in progress. For
the most part throughout this
section, notably" in Franklin the
condition of the ante-bellum ne
(Ko or slav6 was not one of hard
ship, cruelty and degrading pov
erty. The masters were not all
tyrants ? the overseers were not
all Simon Legrees. There are
those living here today who eas
ily recall the sight of the old
plantation with the cabins scat
tered over it not always In rows
or groups but located generally
on the acreage its occupants were
expected to cultivate ? the cabins
built generally of oak logs, with
stick or rock chimney and con
sisting of one big room and attic
aoove wun noara lean-to Denina.
There was always a garden en
closed by a rail fence in which
not only the familiar vegetables
of that day were grown but also
flowers. The first Princess feath
ers this writer ever saw and the
most luxuriant were grown in
the gardens of slaves and orna
mented their humble but some
times really attractive homes.
The same conditions obtained in
large measure after the- surren
der. With the bestowment of
freedom and the ballot the negro
as a race did not lose its head
and run amuck. The sudden
transition from slavery to free
dom and the ballot was attended
with far less disruption and
iriction than so great a change
would seem to necessitate. Be
yond the possession of the ballot,
its well nigh universal exerciso
and with but very few exceptions
unvariabiy in the same direction
there was comparatively little
change to be noted. Many of
them, possibly most of them con
tinued-right where they were be
fore, living in same Cabin, culti
vating same ground, even plow
ing same team. The work day
began with the rising of the sun
and terminated as before with
the going down of the same.
Every member of the family able
to work did work. There were
no schools for the younger ones
of the race to attend. They came
afterwards as the necessary and
inevitable consequent of the right
of suffrage. That one should
continue to jcast a ballot that he
was not able to read was incon
sistent and should be made im
possible even in the estimate of
th? former slave owner. Negroes i
wW*rtor to 1868 learned to read :
anfc'wite as some did acquired i
that ^knowledge not through I
schools but climbed up some oth- ]
er way. John H. Williamson, of :
Franklin, who for a number ot <
years represented the county in '
slave in the State of Georgia in
1844, the property of Gen. John
N. Williamson and his wife Tem
perance Boddle Perry, of Frank
lin. On the death of Gen. Wil
liamson the family came back to
Franklin bringing young John
with them and made their home
in Loulsburg. Speaking of him
self and his early struggles to
learn John says this in his diary.
"Although I had learned the al
phabet I could neither read nor
write. So knowing this Sam (?)
teased me and said no Georgia
nigger had sense enough to read.
Naturally proud and resentful
those words stung me. So I re
solved then and there not to rest
until I could read and write. I
had a Webster blue back speller
and was advised by Mrs. Shaw to
get the Ajjgell's series. She
started me off in the first book
and in one. wepk I could spelt
any word and read any line in it.
And then the second and third
and on lintll iV*6 . months I' had
mastered tllte of Ave. At
this tinfe Mr. Shaw then u
boy of 10 was attending s?hool
at the Academy. He generally
placed his books on the bureau
on going to bed ? Webster's dic
tionary and Morse's geography,
end I would slip them out to the
wood house to read and return.
It was one of my duties to play
with him and as he would 140
over liis logons I would go with
him. in this way I got all he
had learned." These words from
this ambitious and determined
negro boy born in slavery who
despite all handicaps achieved
honor and distinction deserve a
place here antjt.are worthy the |
study of our youth today, white
and black, whose lives are crow
ded with opportunities utterly
dented him but which they so
frequently ignore and sometimes
despise.
Williamson represented the
County in the Legislature for a
number of terms. Of his career
there J. 0. Hamilton In his book
"Reconstruction in N. C." says,
"he was the ablest representative
of his race ever ln.that body and
often took prominent part in its
debates." More than once he
was a delegate from the 4th N.
C. District (o the Republican Na
tional Convention. He was how
ever too much in sympathy
with his friends and neighbors in
the opposite party who however
regularly voted against him to be
in entire accord with the- leaders
of his own party and so for one
reason or another they steadily
pulled against him. This culmi
nated in 1892 when he came out
as an independent candidate for
Congress against the? regalar
Democratic candidate and the
machine candidate of his own
party. He ran on a platform of
his own election showing the
same Independence in thought
that ever characterized him even
whep classified as a party regu
lar. Two planks in that plat
form were (1) payment by the
National government of $1,000
for every formef slave still living
? to be divided equally between
that slave himself and his form
er Master, if living; (2) the open
ing of Tar River for navigation of
vessels of light, draft as far as
Loulsburg. That last plank may
seem well night ludicrous to us
now but for a long time before
Williamson's day, before the
rails were ever laid to our town
that matter had been one of real
Importance and -fttfeived serious
thought.
Witness this ?
Tar River Navigation Company
At a meeting of the President
md Directors of the Tar River
Vavlgatlon Company held at
Louisburg on the 13th of March
Instant it was resolved that five
per cent be paid on or before the
1st of May nett bj the stockhold
ers In said Company t6 the
Treasurer. The stockholders are
lereby notified tp pay the same
l?$>rdln*ly. Those failing to
mspty- with this' ?rder will be
proceeded against according to h
:he provisions of the Act of in
corporation. e
Joel King, Treasurer. g
March 14, 1821. ^
The slaves were never paid (or J
ind their emancipation, according a
to Williamson's ideology was an e
ict of Confiscation by the parent a
Sovernment of the private prop
erty of a large body of its citizens tl
? he himself never found his way g
[o Washington as Representative j
from the 4th N. C. District and j
the Tar remains to this day un- <j
navigable for vessels of any draft (
to Louisburg. After his retire- c
ment from politics and the Re- r
publican party Williamson be- ,
came Editor of a paper in Raleigh
where the same fluency and ?
brightness characterised h 1 s
printed words that he had shown
on the stump and in the Legisla
ture. He was ever a fluent
speaker and an effective cam
paigner who did not hesitate to
tackle any adversary the opposi
tion might send against him. He
was easily the ablest, leader of
his race in the county and de
serves high place among those
who led them in the entire State.
MITCHELL-SHANNON HOUSE
Miss Dorothy Ann Shannon
house, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Joseph Granberry Shannonhouse,
of Raleigh, became the bride of
Lt. Jerry Mitchell, Jr., of Charl
eston, W. Va., and Wilmington,
Del., son of Mr. and Mrs. Jerry
Mitchell, of Charleston, W. Va.,
Saturday afternoon at 5:30
o'clock at the First Presbyterian
Church.
The Rev. M. 0. Sommers, pas
tor, was the officiating minister,
and the wedding music was ren
dered by Mrs. C. P. Wharton,
organist, and Edward Hill, voca
list.
The bride was given in mar
riage by her father. Her white,
floor length gown was fashioned
with a sweetheart neckline, and
three-quarter length sleeves. The
bodice was of lace with long
torso, and the skirt was of mar
quisette over taffeta. Her finger
tip veil of illusion fell from a
tiarra of mother of pearl orange
blossoms. She carried a shower
bouquet of white stephanotis, cen
tered with a purple orchid.
Mrs. Henry J. Wiemann wasj
matron-of-honor and her sister's1
only attendant. She wore a floor
length dress of pink, fashioned
like that of the bride and her
bonnet was of pink marquisette
edged with a narrow ruffle. She
carried a shower bouquet of mix
ed pink and blue flowers.
Honorary bridesmaids were
Misses Mary Evelyn Mitchell, of
Charleston, W. Va., sister of the
bride-groom; Catherine Nichol
son, of Troy; Peggy Massey, Hel
en Andrews, Dorothy Durfey, An
abel Standi!, ' Elizabeth Bolton
and Betty Miller.
Jack Darden of Farmville at
tended Lieutenant Mitchell as
best man, and ushers were A. i
W. George and Henry J. Wie- 1
mann.
The bride's mother wore a
dusty rose two-piece dress of
shadow crepe with matching ac
cessories. Her corsage was of pink
roses.
The bridegroom's mother wore
a navy chiffon dress with white
accessories, and her flowers were
gardenias.
After the ceremony, the couple
left for awedding trip to New
York City. j
For traveling, the bride wore
a two-piece, navy corded silk )
dress edged, at the neck and;
sleeves with white organdy ruf
fles. Her small white hat was
trimmed with navy bows and a
veil. Her accessories were white,
and she wore the orchid from
er bridal bouquet.
Mrs. Mitchell attended the Kal
igji public schoola. She Is a
raduafe of Needham Broughton j
Ilgh School and attended Peace)
unior College. For the past year
nd a half she has been employ
d by the Equitable Life Assur
nce Society.
Lieutenant Mitchell attended
he Charleston schools and was
raduated from the Charleston
ligb School. Before entering the
Irmy Air Forces, he was a stu
lent at North Carolina State
College, where he was a member
>f Delta Sifema Phi social frater
ilty. He is now stationed with
he Army Air Transport Com
mand in Wilmington, Del., where
be and Mrs. Mitchell will make
their home. ? News-Observer. r
Lt. Mitchell is the nephew oC
Mrs. W. B. Barrow, of Loulsburg,
and a grandson of the late Rev.
J. R. Jones, who resided near
Louisburg.
A total ot 249 beef and dairy
cattle have recently been placed
In Warren County.
FOR SALE
One good Milk Cow. Milking
two and a half gallons daily, See
P. W. Justice, R. 1, Louisburg,
N. C. 7-30-lt
ALL
STRAW
HATS
... AT ?
HALF - PRICE
THE STERLING STORE
COMPANY
Franklinton's Shopping
Center
What Your Bank Means To You:
YODR
; CHILD'S
EDUCATION!
FqgyiCTOKY
BUY
UNITED
?TATBS
WAR
b/BONDS
B AMD
^STAMPS
Don't wait till your son or daughter graduates from
high school to start saving for his college education.
Putting away a moderate amount regularly all through
the years will relieve you of the strain of sudden ex
penses. Teach the children to save with you in a sav
ings account.
FIRST - CITIZENS BANK & TRUST COMPANY
Memlpr Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Corner Main A Hash Sts. Louisburg, N. Carolina
Banking Honrs: 9:0Q A. M. to 2:00 P. M.