WEATHER
Partly cloudy, quite warm
and humid today and
Wednesday. Chance or widely
nattered afternoon or even
ing thundershowers. Low to
day, 68; high, upper 80s.
The FrankMn Times
Published Every Tuesday & Thursday Serving All Of Franklin County
Your Award Winning County Newspaper
rr*l. OY 6-3283
Ten Cents
Louisburg, N.C. Tuesday, June 11, 1968
(Eight Pages Today)
GIGGLE
It would be interesting to
hear today's teen-agers tell
their children what they had
to do without.
99th Year-Number 33
Screening Of Applicants Set
Search Underway For
Development Director
J. Harold Talton, Chairman of the
Franklin Industrial Development Com
mission, disclosed this morning that
a meeting has been set for the Com
mission Friday night for the purpose
of studying some fifteen applications
for the post of Industrial Develop
ment Director.
The $9,500 per year position was
vacated the first of the month when
W. J. Benton, who had served In the
poet for the past six years, resigned to
accept a similar position In Halifax
County.
Talton said that he has personally
Interviewed "two or three" applicants
but Indicated that all applicants would
be given proper consideration when
the Commission meets this week.
"We're going to screen them and go
over them," he stated.
He did not estimate when he felt
a new Director would be named, but
with action expected on the applicants
shortly, It is assumed that an ap
pointment will be forthcoming In a
relatively short time.
Prior to Benton's departure It was
reported that there were one or more
prospects for plant locations In the
county. Talton traveled to New York
recently to work on acquiring Industry
here. It was not learned what results
If any, the northern trip netted.
Benton, meantime has taken up his
duties In Halifax County and a note
from him, received this morning, says
the Job Is "keeping him busy."
Locals Get District
State Party Posts
Franklin County gained representa
tion on District and State Democratic
leadership levels in the aftermath of
last week's State Party Convention,
Mrs. Betsy Pemell, County Party
Chairman disclosed today.
Named to the State Executive Com
mittee were Mrs. Coleen Ott and Clint
Carlyle. Mrs. Pemell was elected Vice
President of the State Convention.
Elected to important District pod- *
tions were: James Speed and E. F.
Griffin, District Congressional Com
mitteemen; A. C. S tailings, Joe Den
ton. District Judicial Committeemen;
Neil Jennings, L. S. Ward, Al Pearce,
District Solicitorial Committeemen;
and Baxter Harris, District Senatorial
Committeman^
Delegates elected to the National
Convention from the Second Congre
ssional District are: Carroll Singleton
of Henderson; Sonny Hoyner of
Garysburg in Northampton County;
Gardner
Rally Tonight
A large number of ana Republicans
an expected to attend a fund raising
dinner and rally tor Jim Gardner here
tonight. The GOP gubernatorial hopeful
la scheduled to speak at Ford's Ware
house following the dinner at 7:30 p.m.
Vance County party leaders and Gard
ner supporters are expected to Join
Franklin supporters and some esti
mates say that as many as 600 are
expected to attend.
The Fourth Dlatrlct Congressman
was nominated In the May 4 primary by
hla party aa the GOP candidate for
Governor. He will oppose Democrat
Lt. Gov. Bob Scott. Both camps are
already Involved In vigorous cam
paigns.
Gardner opened thla portion of hla
campaign this morning In Roanoke
Raplda, spoke In Littleton and visited
in Warrenton today. He will complete
hla day's campaigning here tonight.
Rainfall
The deluge of rain that hit the area
Saturday and again Monday afternoon
wasthe greatest in several months ac
cording to Louisburg weatherman G.
O. Kennedy. The Saturday downpour
netted the area 1.01 inches and Mon
day'. storm accounted for an addi
tional .8 of an inch.
This total of 1.9 inches for the two
days exceeds the 1.73 inches which
feU on May 27-28 this year.
According to Kennedy, both read
exceed the one inch of rain which
on April 6. That reading was one
of the greatest for the year.
Predictions are for more widely
scattered thundershowers again this
afternoon.
Robert Siler of Rocky Mount; and W.
G. Clark of Tarboro.
Alternates to the National Conven
tion include Shields Pittman of Halifax
and H. D. Hedrick of Oxford. The
Presidential Elector for the Second
District is Maynard Hicks of Snow HOI
in Greene County.
Louisburg
Cancer
Drive Ends
The town of Loulsburg and adjoin
ing areas made their final report to
Mrs. N. A. Brown and Mrs. W. C.
Tlmberlake, the Franklin County Cru
sade Chairmen, on Tuesday. A total
of $1606.02 was collected by the group
because of the generosity of the citi
zens and the excellent work of the
fallowing people: Mrs. J. T. Anderson,
Miss Esther Andrews, Mrs. Jones
Beasley, Mrs. Perry Beasley, Mrs.
Ralph Beasley, Mrs. Lee Bell, Mrs.
W. J. Benton, Mrs. Sidney Boone,
Mr. J. H. Boone, Capt., J. H. Brown,
Mrs. Max Brown.
Mr. Parke Brown, Mr. R. A. Butler,
Mrs. Jessie Collins, Mrs. David Dan
iel, Mr. George Davis, Mrs. Jackie
Dean, Mrs. O. C. Debnam, Mrs. R. L.
Eagles, Mr. W. D. Egerton, Mrs. Ned
Ford, Mrs. Fess Fuller, Mrs. Wade
Goldston.
Mrs. E. F. Griffin, Mrs. C. A. Har
ris, Mr. G. C. Harris, Sr., Mrs.
Molly Harrison, Mrs. L. C. Hasty,
Mrs. J. B. Hlght, Mrs. Gleolla Hol
den, Mrs. A. J. Holton, Mrs. Roland
Horne, Mrs. Mary Hoskln, Mrs. J. L.
Ivey, Mrs. Nelll Jennings, Mrs. Lula
B. Johnson, Mrs. Merla Johnson, Mrs.
Forrest Joyner, Mrs. William King.
Mrs. Ralph Knott, Mrs. W. G. Lancas
ter, Sr., Mrs. W. G. Lancaster, Jr.,
Mrs. Betsy Lavender, Miss Eugenia
May, Mrs. John Mills, Mr. I. D.
Moon, Mrs. Earl Murphy, Mrs. Gene
vieve Perry, Mrs. Jake Perry, Miss
Marlon Taylor Scoggln, Mrs. William
Shelton, Mrs. John R. Shllllnglaw.
Mrs. Lonnle Shuplng, Dr. and Mrs.
Cortland Smith, Mr. and Mrs. R. W.
Smlthwlck, Mrs. A. H. Spencer, Jr.,
Mrs. Grace Stalllngs, Mrs. C. Willis
Strother, Mr. H. R. Strother, Mr.
C. R. Sykes, Mrs. Leslie Tharrlngton,
Mrs. W. W. Thayer, Mr. Jones Thomas
Mrs. Raymond Thomas, Mrs. Wallace
Tlppett, Mrs. Seth L. Washburn, Mrs.
Elizabeth Webb, Mrs. Grace Wtaless,
Mr. Arch Wilson, Mrs. Hugh Wilson,
Miss Gertrude Winston, and Mr. L. M.
Word.
Gay Products Creates New Sales Post
Clearwater, Fla., June 3
Mllton Hartley, until recently
with the Sheldon Company In
Greenaboro, N. C., baa joined
Oay Products, Inc., to fill the
newly created poaition of
sales administrator. This waa
announced today by Kyle W.
Smith, Oay Products rice
president and sales manager.
Hartley held the position
of aaslstant to Irwin Morgen
stern, president of the Shel
don Company, a manufac
ture!* representative firm op
eratlni throughout the South
east. The firm has handled
the Oay line of casual alumi
num furniture for several
and Hartley comes to
Products well recom
mended and with Morgen
gtern's approval.
Although Hartley has of
ficially Joined Gay at this
time, he will ?pend some time
at Gay's Loulsburg, N. C?
plant obeervlng branch open
tlons and production
methods before coming to
Florida. Upon arrival in Clear
water he will assume direc
tion of operations within the
sales department, Involving
supervision of the Inventory
In Gay's three factories (Flo
rida, North Carolina and Tex
as) and eleven warehouses lo
cated In major cities through
out the United States which
comprise Gay's "Nation-wide
Priority Service" system.
Duties of the new sales
administrator position will al
so include directing, assisting
and maintaining liaison with
the over BO Gay representa
tives throughout the country;
coordinating the sales depart
ments of the three branches
and assisting in the marketing
plans for new additions to the
company's adult and juvenile
furniture series.
Hartley, a native of Bir
mingham, Ala., served four
yean in the U. S. Air Force as
a personnel specialist. Upon
leaving the service in 1959, he
joined Bon Marche Depart
ment Store* In Seattle, Wash.
He later became toy buyer
for the Paradies Co. based in
Atlanta and supervised inven
tory for all their stores. Prior
to joining the Sheldon Co., he
was senior toy buyer for the
Leitzsey Co. of Columbia, S.
C., and also managed their
inventory in six warehouses
located in the Southeast and
Southwest.
Oay Products, Inc., with
corporate offices and one of
its plants in Clearwater, Fla.,
is one of the nation's largest
manufacturers of casual lawn
and patio aluminum furni
ture. It markets nationally
under the Gayllne and Gay
line, Jr., labels.
Workshop Participants
Photos above show participants In tha Resources Conservation Workshop. Top
left to right, Alvln Hamlet, Sales Supervisor forStalllngs Milling Co., who present
ed a check to Tommy May, center, to cover expenses of the workshop, and at
right, Bennle Ray Gupton Chairman of local supervisors. Bottom photo shows,
J. P. Tlmberlake of Franklin Milling Co., left, who presented an expense check to
Jimmy Boone, center, and at right, Gupton. Photos by WUton Smith.
School Troubles
Started In 1962
By Clint Fuller
Note: On June 20, this
month, a hearing has been slated
on the plan to do away with the
dual school system in Franklin
County as ordered by the federal
courts. This series recounts the
many incidents and the series of
court actions leading up to this
month 's hearing.
In an article, appearing on these
pages on March 4, 1965, entitled
What Next For Franklin County
Schools" it was said, "The most acute
crisis coming up is the problem of
integregating schools. Franklin
County, like so many others through
the country and especially in the
South, is now faced with this reality."
Prophetically, the time seemingly
has come. The Franklin County Board
of Education has been ordered to
appear for a hearing on a proposed
plan of integregation on June 20 in
federal court in Raleigh. The Board
lost its last avenue of appeal last week
when the Fourth Circuit Court of
Appeals denied its petition for a re
hearing of the case which began in
December, 1965.
A ruling by the U. S. Supreme
Court the week before, knocking out
freedom of choice in three systems in
varying parts of the country, indicates
very strongly that any appeal to that
body would be futile in the local
school case.
Franklin County has a six-year his
tory of struggle in the field of school
desegregation dating back to the fall of
1962 when several Negro students
applied for admission to what were
then, all-white schools. The county
system, operating under the N. C.
Pearsalt Plan ruled that proper applica
tion had not been made and thereby
denied the applications.
In 1963, as schools opened in Sep
tember students boycotted the River
side School in Louisburg and a number
of parents inarched in front of the
Negro school carrying signs complain
of certain discrepancies in the
ool. The Board of Education and
leaders of the NAACP, which sponsor
ed the boycott, quickly resolved their
differences and things returned to nor
malcy within a few days.
In June, 1964, eight Negro students
applied for admission to white schools
and these were rejected by the Board
for various reasons, including improper
applications. Jn January, 1965 repre
sentatives of the School Board attend
ed the first, in what was to become an
ever-mounting number of meetings
with federal officials for instructions
on various plans of desegregation. This
initial meeting was staged in Raleigh.
In April of that year, the Board
received an inquiry from an NAACP
attorney on a petition received by the
Board in March, 1964, and signed by a
number of county Negroes, requesting
the desegregation of the school sys
tem. Later in April, the Board appoint
ed Supt. Warren Smith, attorney E. F.
Yarborough and Board member Clint
Fuller, a committee, to formulate a
plan which would meet the require
ments of the Office of Education in
Washington.
The Department of Health, Educa
tion and Welfare was by April, 1965,
pressing all school systems in the
South to comply with guidelines,
which were not even Issued until m'ch
later that year, although State aut' ori
ties released a suggested guideli.ie in
April. Also in April, 1965, four repre
sentatives of the School Board flew to
Washington attempting to get some
idea of what was being required.
The Board finally adopted a plan
on May 3 and after several amend
ments, and a summertime of con
fusion, agreed to desegregate four
grades. Before Washington would grant
final approval in late August, the
Board was forced to agree to desegre
gate all grades the following year.
The plan contained a provision for
transfer of students from one school
to another who were not included in
the four grades where a free choice
could be made. The provision, called
"Lateral Transfer" soon became the
focal point of the enttre desegregation
plan and was to lead to three years in
federal courts.
The federal guidelines required that
in order for a student to transfer from
one school to another, that one of two
circumstances must prevail. One, the
child must desire a subject not being
taught in the school to which he or she
was assigned and two, must change
residence. The latter was automatic In
Franklin County. The first provision
had also been s policy of the system
See SCHOOLS page 8
Harris Breaks Tie Vote
Commissioners Again
Refuse Land Request
Chairman Richard Cash stepped down,
temporarily here last Friday as the
Board of County Commissioners held
still another meeting to study the bud
get and offered a motion that the body
grant the Board of Education's re
quest for title to a 60* x 90' tract of
land on county hill. Commissioner |
Brooks Young seconded Cash's motion.
Vice Chairman George Harris pre
sided over the vote which ended In a
two-two tie, as Commissioners Nor
wood Faulkner and E. M. Sykes voted
against the move. Harris cast his tie
breaking vote against the proposal and
the controversy still rages.
Several weeks ago, the School Board
requested the Commissioners to
transfer title to a plot of land In front
of the present Education office on the
county Mil complex. The Board had
received approval of federal funds for
an $83,000 building provided the Board
could gain title to the land upon which
the building was to be constructed.
The Commissioners have refused to
transfer title to the property, which
Is county owned, but have suggested
purchasing adjoining property for the
purpose of erecting the Methods and
Material Center. The Board of Educa
tion has twice sent a formal request
to the Commissioners, saying the pro
posed site is the most desirable and
functional.
As matters stand today, the Board
of Education has only 19 days re
malnlng If It Is to save the building.
Federal requirements demand that the
funds be committed for the building
not later than June 30. Informed source
see this as an Impossible task. Re
ports have It that the School Board
Is attempting to gain a delay from
Washington authorities In order to gain
necessary time for working out the
land tangle. Thus far, no delay has been
granted and chances for such a delay
are slim, according to reliable sources.
Meantime, word Is expected from the
State Board of Education on a request
by the Franklin Board of Education for
approval of tbe project. Supt. Warren
Smith attended a meeting of the State
Review Panel last week to make the
request. Without definite word as to
the ultimate location and ownership of
property for the building, tlx possibi
lity of State approval Is questionable.
In other actions, the Commissioners
approved the $241,484.23 Welfare De
partment budget for the coming year
and restated an earlier position that
the Franklln-Vance-Warren Oppor
tunity, Inc. agency be the community
aotlon group for Franklin County.
There was one other spilt vote dur
ing Friday's meeting. Commissioner
Sykes moved to grant Jailer Walter
L. Faulkner the sum of $100 vacation
pay. Commissioner Faulkner seconded
and Harris voted In favor. Com
missioner Young voted against the mo
tion. ? ?
County Youths To Attend
Conservation Workshop
According to Mr. Bennie Ray Gup
ton, chairman of the Board of Supervi
sors of the Franklin Soil and Water
Conservation District, the Stallings
Milling Co. is sending Tommy May,
son of Mr. and Mrs. Bob May or Route
1, Castalia, N. C., and Franklin Milling
Co. is sending Jimmy Boone, son or
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Boone of Route
4, Louisburg, N. C., to a one week
Resource Conservation Workshop at
North Carolina State University in
Raleigh, during the week of June
10-14, 1968. This workshop is being
sponsored jointly by the N. C. Chapter
of the Soil Conservation Society of
America, N. C. Association of Soil and
Water Conservation Districts, and the
N. C. Soil and Water Conservation
Committee.
According to Mr. Gupton, those
students attending will receive instruc
tions in many phases of conservation
and natural resources development in
cluding soil and water conservation,
wildlife conservation, forestry, and so
forth. In addition, a well rounded
recreational program has been planned
including swimming, basketball, and
other suitable sports at various times.
At the conclusion of the workshop,
tests will be given and prizeftawarded
to those making the highest scores. A
two hundred fifty ($250.00) dollar
scholarship will be awarded, at the
banquet, which will be held Thursday
night.
Mr. Gupton indicated that this is
the fourth year of this workshop and
that interest throughout the state is
apparently very high based on the
present indications of the number of
boys expected to participate. He fur
ther stated this workshop should 9erve
to create a far greater awareness of the
need for proper stewardship of our
natural resources.
Both of these boys are rising Jun
iors at Edward Best School.
Killed In 1958
Glacier Named In Honor
Of Franklin Airman
The United States Naval Support
Force, Antarctia has announced that
the United States Board of Geographic
Names has named a glacier in honor of
a Franklin County airman, killed in
line of duty in 1958.
(Glacier Bumette has been so desig
nated in honor of Airman Second
Class Robert L. Bumette, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Burton B. Bumette of Rt. 2,
Louisburg, near Wood.
Airman Bumette lost his life on
October 16, 1968 when the C-124
A/2C Robert L. Bumette
Globemaster transport plane in which
he was flying crashed while en route
from Chrischurch to McMurdo Sound,
Antartica. The craft crashed into a hill
while attempting an air drop to an
outpost near the South Pole, according
to reports at the time.
Five others died in the accident and
seven were rescued and survived. Bur
netts attended Gold Sand School and
enlisted in the Air Force in April,
1955. He is survived, in addition to his
parents, by a sister, Mrs. C. E. Evans of
Rt. 2, Louisburg.
The citation, accompanying the an
nouncement states in niU, 'The Unit
ed States Naval Support Force, An
tarctica announces that the United
States Board on Geographic Names has
honored A/2C Robert L. Bumette, U.
S. Air Force for his contributions to
the antarctic program by naming for
him Bumette Glacier, which is located
in Antarctica at Latitude 72 deg. 56'
South; Longitude 170 deg. 10' Eart".
The document is signed by J. L.
Abbot, Jr., Rear Admiral, U. S. Navy
Commander.