MAYOR PEOPLES
AND MRS. PERNELL
Warehouse
Official Passes
James Harris Turner, 64, official of
Ford's Tobacco Warehouse here for
many years, died this morning in
Franklin Memorial Hospital following
several months of declining health.
Turner was bookkeeper and office
manager for Ford's warehouses here
and was a life-long resident of Louis
burg.
Graveside services will be held
Wednesday at 3 P.M. from Oakwood
Cemetery, conducted by Rev. Nor
wood Jones, pastor of the Louisburg
Methodist Church.
Surviving are th'ree sisters: Mrs.
Tracy Stockard, Mrs. Frank W.
Wheless, Jr. and Miss Francis Turner,
all of Louisburg. two nephews and one
niece.
Vote In Union
Tarboro-Traffic Department em
ployees of Carolina Telephone on
Thursday voted 721 to 490 in favor of
collective bargaining representation by
the Communications Workers of
America, AFL-CIO.
With approximately 1,300 traffic
employees eligible to vote. 1,235 part
icipated in the secret balloting. The
election was conducted at sixteen
points within the company area by
representatiges of the National Labor
Relations Board.
Meters To
Be Checked
Louisburg Police Chief Earl Thar
rington announced today that his de
partment will begin checking parking
meters on Wednesday afternoons. The
action is to become effective tomor
row, Wednesday, September 25.
It has been a long-standing policy
of the department that meters not be
checked on Wednesday afternoon dur
ing the summer months. Beginning
Wednesday, however, cars will be
tagged, Tharrington said.
Society To Meet
The Franklin County Historical
Society will meet Thursday night at 8
P.M. with Walter R. Wooten of Chapel
Hill as principal speaker. Mr. Wooten is
a native of Granville County and a
graduate of UNC.
He taught history in Merced High
School, California for three years and
served as Staff Historian of the N.C.
Historic Sites Division in Raleigh. He
participated in the Historic Halifax
Restoration and restored and operated
Alamance Battleground State Historic
Site near Burlington. Mr. Wooen has
also served as Administrator of the
State Highway Historical Marker Pro
gram, and is currently working with
the State Highway Commission.
Anyone interested in history is in
vited to attend Thursday nights meet
ing which will be the first of the
1968-69 season. The meeting will be
held in the Conununity Room of First
Citizens Bank on Bickett Blvd.
(Morgan Speaks At
Democratic Ribbon-Cutting
I State Senator Robert Morgan of
J| Harnett County and a candidate for
j North Carolina Attorney General was
I the principal speaker here Friday after
r noon in ribbon-cutting ceremonies*
opening the Democratic Party head
J quarters trailer. The event was attend
ed by a number of party officials and
private citizens.
Morgan was welcomed to Louisburg
by Major V. A. Peoples and the youth
ful candidate was introduced by Mrs.
Betsy Pernell, Chairman of the Frank
lin County Democratic Executive
Committee. He was accompanied to
Louisburg by Burley Mitchell, a for
mer Franklin native, now managing
the Morgan campaign. Clint Fuller,
Chairman of the Second Congressional
District Campaign Committee escorted
the candidate downtown.
"We've had good government under
the Democratic Party leadership in
North Carolina since 1900," Morgan
told the crowd. "We need to remind
our people in Franklin and Harnett
Counties that North Carolina has ten
percent of the paved highways in the
United States," he remarked in prais
ing the Democratic leadership. He said
that North Carolina has fewer state
employees per 10,000 population than
any state in the union except four.
Morgan spent more time campaign
ing for the entire state ticket than in
talking of his own aims. However, he
did explain his plans to introduce
training into our public schools to give
students an understanding of laws. He
said these plans were being formed at
present.
At one point, the former manager
of the Beverly Lake state campaign,
referred to Franklin school desegrega
tion problems as being similar to those
in his home county of Harnett, which
like Franklin is under federal court
order. Morgan is attorney to the Har
nett County Board of Education. He
said simply that he could understand
the problems being experienced here.
The trailer, located on East Nash
Street across from Murphy's Super
Market was decorated with pictures of
Morgan and gubernatorial candidate
Bob Scott. The speaker's platform was
decked with red, white and blue paper
with Morgan signs attached. Inside a
number of visitors gathered to meet
and chat with the candidate personally
before and after his speech. Lapel
buttons and window posters along
with other campaign material for both
Morgan and Scott were passed out
inside the trailer.
Following the ceremonies, Morgan
met briefly with a number of local
supporters and party leaders in a local
restraurant. A prior committment in
Nash County prohibited him from
attending the Louisburg-Franklinton
football game as previously announc
ed.
Sales Holiday Not
Needed Says Royster
The managing director of the Bright
Belt Warehouse Association said Mon
day that "barring a totally unforeseen
development," he sees no need for a
sales holiday on flue-cured tobacco
belts this season.
"I think everything is in very satis
factory condition," Fred Royster of
Henderson said. "We're over the
hump. The sales last week were just
about in line with what was expected
? some 80-odd million pounds."
Meanwhile, it was announced that
the industrywide Flue-cured Tobacco
Marketing Committee will meet in
Raleigh Wednesday at 8 p.m. to take a
look at the marketing situation and
draw up sales schedules for next week.
"The marketing situation is greatly
improved in comparison with last sea
son," Royster said. "For one thing,
we're dealing with 200 million pounds
less tobacco this year because of the
cutback in 1968 production."
"Furthermore." he added, "wea
ther conditions couldn't have been
more perfect as far as marketing is
concerned. A year ago we were having
a lot of damp weather. This year it's
been dry and we've had cool weather
much earlier. We haven't had any
difficulty in the tobacco being high in
moisture content."
Royster said in addition to the
reduced production this season, several
other factors have helped ease the
marketing situation.
He cited the work of the industry
wide committee, the pre-sheeting of
tobacco, the scheduling of deliveries
by growers with warehousemen, and
the tobacco allocation based on a
combination of basket-poundage.
The 1967 marketing season was
marked by sales holidays and also a
curtailment in selling time because of
the congestion at redrying plants.
The industrywide committee, head
ed by Frank Bryant of Boonville, met
in Raleigh Sept. 12 and drew up the
current sales schedule on the various
belts. At that time, an official said if
the belts weathered the next two
weeks the marketing situation would
be in good condition.
FRANKLIN COUNTY FAIR SCENE MONDAY NIGHT - FAIR OPERATES THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT
Questions Raised Over Attack
On Franklin School Tuition
Criticism of the Franklin County
Board of Education's new policy of
charging a tuition for students whose
parents live outside the state, by the
Raleigh News and Observer and The
Raleigh Times last week has raised a
number of questions here.
A North Carolina State University
student and part time economics
teacher, identified as Harold Reid, was
quoted extensively and critically in
both articles.
The franklin Times has learn
ed thai a Harold Reid was fxirol
ed from Stale Prison on June 13,
1966 after having served por
tions of two sentences for
"Common Imw Robbery" in
Cumberland County in 1958.
Prison records disclose that a
Harold Reid was sentenced to two
terms in January, 1958, one from 6 to
10 years and another to run consecu
tively for 6 to 8 years. He reportedly
completed his high school education
while in prison.
Reid was quoted in the Raleigh
news articles as saying he knew Mrs.
Beatrice Scott of Franklin County,
whose three grandchildren had been
denied admission to Franklin schools
because they could not afford to pay
the tuition. He said he became ac
quainted with the woman last summer
while working in Franklin on a study
of the federal Food Stamp program.
Reid told the ncwsfmpers the
three Seott children had been
attending Franklin schools " all
along". He said, "One, is in the
fifth grade, another in the
seventh and another in the
ninth". School records show ,
however, thai only one Scott
child attended last year under
the Scott name. This child was
Gwendolyn Eugene Scott, age
13 of Rt. 2, Franklinton and was
enrolled in the 9th grade at
Youngsville.
luition lor two other Scott child
ren was paid Monday of last week,
before the Raleigh news articles were
published. The fees were paid by a
white friend of the Scotts. It was
learned that Mrs. Scott, who works as
a domestic in the Youngsville area, is
employed part time by the person
paying the fees. The tuition was in
payment for the 13-year-old child and
Steven Scott, a first grader, not in
school last year and Stephanie Scott,
entering the second grade this year. All
will attend Youngsville High School.
There is no record of the Scott
children referred to by Reid in the
articles. It was also learned that at
least one daughter of Mrs. Scott, be
lieved to be Mrs. Wilma Lee of 5808
Foot Street, NE, Washington, D. C.
was in Louisburg and discussed the
tuition payment with officials here.
Reid stated that "The children's moth
er .. . has not been home for two or
three years."
It was also reported that Mrs. Scott
has a second daughter, believed living
in New York who, according to the
source, called by phone to inquire
about the tuition.
In the articles by-lined by
News and Observer writer Jack
Childs and Raleigh Times writer
Chuck Mooney, Reid is quoted
as saying, "Mrs. Scott works as a
maid two or three days a week
and is a Food Stamp recipient. It
is impossible for her or her
husband - who works only dur
ing the construction season to
/xiy a large sum for tuition. "
The Franklin County Welfare De
partment reports that Mrs. Scott is not
receiving any assistance from the wel
fare and is not a recipient of Food
Stamps as reported by Reid. The
Department has no record of Mrs.
Scott, her daughters or the three child
ren mentioned in the articles.
Sixty.dollars was sent to the Frank
lin County Board of Education last
Monday night as part payment for the
three Scott children's tuition. The
partial payment was declined by the
Board and it was then that a white
man, whose identity is not disclosed,
came to Louisburg and paid the entire
fees amounting to $130. It was under
stood that the man was lending the
$70 to the Scotts who would repay
the loan.
The Uelfare Dc/xirtment re
ported that a check of some 250
cases, reveals that only three
families have children out of
school due to their inability to
[mi \ the tuition, h'our children
arc involi'cil. one of it liu li is a
while chilil.
Reid was quoted in The Times
article as saying. "This is mostly used
against blacks. It's a method of fight
ing back against the blacks for trying
to go to white schools".
The North Carolina Attorney Gen
eral's office ruled in 1958 and again in
1960 and more recently in the Frank
lin case that children whose parents
live outside the state are not eligible to
attend North Carolina schools. Frank
lin school officials set the fee policy
this year to avoid hardships with the
announced intention that such child
ren will not be allowed to attend
schools here next year.
It has been estimated that at least
ten classrooms are needed to accom
modate these children and this repre
See QUESTIONS Page 8
Drive Underway
Louisburg Mayor V. A. Peoples is shown above with Mrs. Shirley Dean after
issuing a proclamation here Wednesday in support of the Cystic Fibrosis
Foundation fund-raising campaign now underway. Mrs. Dean is County Chairman
of the drive designed to raise funds in support of research care and teaching
programs for children born with Cystic Fibrosis, which is described as a "chemical
disorder". Mrs. Dean reported that a number of local women are aiding in the drive.
Staff photo by Clint Fuller.
Weekend Marred By
Three Wrecks, One Shooting
Three automobile accidents, taking
place at almost the exact same time,
and a shooting early Sunday morning
marred an otherwise uneventful week
end in the county.
The three accidents took place
around 11 P.M. Saturday night at
Franklinton, Centerville and near
Hart's Store between Louisburg and
Youngsville. The Franklinton Rescue
Service reported no one was injured in
the accident there and names of the
victims were not learned.
At Centerville, two cars were in
volved and four teenagers were in
jured. Susan Burnette, 15, Mary Bur
nette, 16, Ronald Dement, 16, and
Shelby Tippett, 17, suffered minor
injuries and were taken to Franklin
Memorial Hospital by the Centerville
Rescue Service. Drivers of the two cars
were not learned. All live on Louis
burg, Rt. 2.
The accident near Jones Hart's
store sent two youths to the hospital
at Louisburg and later both were
transferred to Wake Memorial in Ral
eigh. The two were identified as Ellis
Neville, w/m/21, and Harold Kearney,
w/m/21. Neville is from Wake Forest
and Kearney is from Youngsville. Both
suffered head and neck injuries and
were transported to the Louisburg
hospital by the Louisburg Rescue Ser
vice.
Sheriff William T. Dement reported
his department is looking for a man
identified as Vernon Fogg, c/m/21,
originally of Rt. 3, Louisburg and
recently living in Washington, D. C.
Fogg is being sought in the Sunday
morning shooting of Alphonza Davis,
c/m/30, at the Cresent Motel near
Franklinton.
Dement said Davis was wounded
with a .32 or .38 caliber pistol bullet
in the shoulder, lung and spine. His
condition was listed as critical at Duke
Hospital. Fogg has been charged with
the felony, assault with a deadly wea
pon with intent to kill. The incident
occurred around J: 30 A.M. Sunday,
Dement said.