> The Pilot Covers B%ick County STATE PORT A Good Newspaper In A Good Community Most of The News All The Time g! trfl >?-; : NO. 5 6-pages today Southport, N. C., Wednesday, May 14th, 1947 91.50 PER YEA* PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY Furpless Heads Overseas Kehet prive In County I Theatre Manager ?c rharee Of Pro TikeSDesigned To Collect CnS Per " " Clothing |<&N MAYE1S8 - 25 %ram For Entire State This Year L Furpless. manager of \?nu theatre, in Southport, named Brunswick coun 'JImh of the Overseas Re S,, Drive Committee. Ruark. of Chapel '? a 3tate chairman for this *Lting Mr Furpless on the I s uthport will be If j w Ruark. Trinity Metho K; rturch. Miss Annie May KLxVe Southport Baptist Mrs. Clayton Hickman, ?w.terian church; Mrs. Fraiirt yemsee. St Phillips Episco rturch: Mrs. Paul Foilale, . lea rt Catholic church; Eger McKeithan, Holiness I Hj r>" It. Furpless has revealed facts ,. .. needs overseas which are the drive for clothing, L..-; and shoes throughout state. Despite two years of m he said, it will take a ir? time yet to restore the eco of whole nations under ^ant warfare for six years, n textile mills destroyed. live Mi lulled and driven away, IfLtiny ami clothing burned. Me populations are wearing \i eless shoes and rags. Lack soap has made, deterioration fabrics worse than normal. Although Americans have given irouslv in the past for over relief much of the clothing last year is now worn out. i 100,000.000 pieces which ! abroad from American ws closets a via. ago do go far' when distributed' |? 150.000.000 people. The Brunswick County drive iv 18 through May 25, has a |pal of at least a pound a per This means 18.000 from lit; entire county. Mr. Furpless [panted out that this sounds like i lot. but when reduced to the ?Mual donor does not work !? hardship on anyone. For ex wle. he said, a pair of men's fees weighs over a pound, while ? winter suit or overcoat weighs |?wal pounds. However, the goal ? "a pound a person" does not [revest anyone from giving 25 or 30 pounds if they have that lunch surplus. Mr Furpless is urging al! Sew, vives to combine their left at the State Port not office. IritfNtu, Flathti of lil 1HME CHANGED Effective Monday. May 19. tat show each evening at the , >ami theatre. Southport. will ^ k?w at 7 o'clock except on Sat- 1 "toy. when the first show will! at 6.30 o'clock. r?WVAL MEKTING spring revival meeting 1 ??"n3 Neck Baptist church w - ; Sunday nijht, Miy IS. with 1 P'Ayo- ami 5,,,,^ service ':30: 1 1 ? clock follower) by preaching at ; I"; "'clock. Rev H. M. BaVer. of 1 Southport Baptist church, will do I?* preaching. Everybody is in ,ntol to attend. Bl'IU) ROOMS S L. Furpless has been named ttairman of the building fund ??mittee for Southport Presby church with the objective '? Rising money for the erection Sunday school rooms. Con ^W'.ons are being solicited from throughout this com *Waty. Stevens Speaks Before Wildlife Group Monday \ ; Executive Secretary Of North Carolina Federation Of Wildlife Clubs Southport Visitor Ross O. Stevens, executive secretary of the North Carolina Federation of Wildlife Clubs, was the speaker at a meeting of the Brunswick County Wildlife Club here Monday night in the courthouse. rrior 10 tne appearance 01 mr.i Stevens on She program, a busi ness session was held, with the following officers being elected j for the coming year: President, | E. J. Prevatte; vice-president, | Dillon L. Ganey: 9ecrctary-trcas I urer, W. B. Keziah, who was re I elected to this pose, i Mr. Stevens summarized the ' activities of the Wildlife Federa I tion in bringing about the separa j tion of the Game and Inland Fioh ! ing Division from the old De ; partment of Conservation and De velopment. He said that victory | in this matter was only an in ' dicat?'n of what can be aeccm ; plished by the sportsmen of this i state any time they will coop lerate on any program. I ' Ha told the club members that Governor Cherry row has before j him the names of 27 men from i whom he will name the 9-man ! commission who will direct the affairs of the new set-up on | fishing and hunting, and he urged all sportsmen to back thein up i to the limit. While very careful not to make \ any : crrwned by the May Queen, who offered a prayer for all the mothers of the world. Each child then approached the altar to leave her gift of flowers and of |fer a similar prayer. During this ? ceremony hymns in honor of the j Blessed Mother were sung by the choir. | Father McCarthy explained to j the congregation the meaning of j the service. "For Catholics the I ceremony is not one of worship j of a statue nor indeed of Mary," I he said. 'Since Catholics worship i only Cod. It is a gesture of love, affection and devotion to the Mother of Jesus, through whom He came to us. For all Catho lics Mary, the immaculate mother j of God, "is the most truly benu I tiful Mother in the world and heaven, and was given to the world by Jesus dying on the (Continued on Page Four) Flower Show To ; Be Held Friday Of This Week j Entries Will Be Received I Throughout Morning Up ; Until Noon; Judging While Doors Are Closed j SCHOOL CHILDREN TO VISIT SHOW Climax Of Day Will Be Woman's Club Tea Start- ;| ing At 4 O'clock In Afternoon The annual flower show spon sored by members of the South port Woman's Club will be held on Friday at the Community Building, with Mrs. Helen Bra gaw serving as general chairman. Entries may be made during: the morning from 10 o'clock to 12 o'clock, with club members who are on duty during that time allowed one extra hour for mak ing their own entries. Judging will start at 1 o'clock and will be done while the doora are still closed. Children of Southport school will be given an opportunity to view the exhibits with their teachers, beginning at 2:30 o'clock. If children wish to at tend the show at any other hour, it is requested that they do so in company with their parents. The flower show will be open to the general public from 3:30 o'clock to 5:30 o'clock, and a cordial invitation has been ex tended to the public to attend. The Woman's Club tea, climax to this annual event, will be held at 4 o'clock. Mrs. H. T. St. George, president of the club, will be in charge of this attrac tion. New Bridge Is Taking Traffic Two - Way Flow Of Traffic Being Routed Over Ten.-. porary Structure At The Brunswick River Bridge In This County The new temporary bridge across the Brunswick river, built to serve traffic on routes 17, 74 and 76, is now affording a safe and satisfactory two-way route around the scenes of the new bridge-building activities. Traffic proceeds either way without a halt, but in the in terest of safety both trucks and cars are required to slow, down while crossing the temporary . bridge. Work of dismantling the old steel bridge began last week and the plans of the highway com mission are understood to be to remove and re-erect it on some road where travel is not so heavy and the needs of a wide struc ture are not so great. The new bridge that is to replace the old one will be on the same level and will be built of reinforced con crete. Railings will have an in side clearance of 37 feet, giving what is known as a four-lane bridge. An estimated ten months will be required to complete the structure. The new bridge across Alligator Creek, a mile further east, will be under construction at the same time. It will be of the same width and general type, but much shorter. Building Fund Dance Benefit Still adding to their building fund towards the time when they have enough money on hand to begin construction of their new hut, the Shallotte Post American Legion Is planning a big dance in the school gymnasium Thurs day. night, May 29th. Odell Williamson, chairman of the building committee, says that this is the first instance when a large scale dance has been staged at Shallotte on anything but a concrete floor. The permission to use the gymnasium for a dance as an aid to their construction plans, is very much appreciated by Mr. Williamson and the others of the building committee. Aldermen Hold First Session Here Thursday E. R. Weeks And AH Other City Employees Are Re appointed By Members Of New Board At First Official Meeting HERRING NAMED MAYOR PRO-TEM Aldermen Are Assigned To Various Committees And Other Organizational Details Completed I Mayor John D. Eriksen and members of the new board rf aldermen were given the oath of office at noon last Thursday, and held their first regular meeting that night. S. B. Frink was named city at torney and Dwight McEwen tax attorney. E. R. Weeks was re appointed clerk for the City of South port and all other regular city employees were re-appointed. In tddition, Ed Daniels was en gaged as a fourth engineer for the cily power plant at a salary of $130.00 per month. The salary of Hugh Spencer was raised t) $123.00 per month and Tom Hick ;nan, one of the engineers at the, power plant was given a $10.00 per month raise to bring h.s salarv up to that paid by other (Continued on Page Four) Officers Take Couple Stills Raid In Northwest Town ship Results In Capture Of Unit; Men And Equip ment Taken In Town | Creek i Deputy Sheriff O. W. Perry and A.T.U. officers Plate and Steptoes made a raid in the low er Northwest section of Brunswick county, near Delco, last week. They captured a 100-gallon steam whiskey still and 400 gallons of molasses mash In this foray, j Friday Deputy Perry, accom panied by Deputy V. B. Pierce, i Constable C. L. Lynch of North west and Game Warden Charles Skipper, made another raid this time near the upper end of the river road, in Town Creek town ship. This time they also took a 100-gallon steam whiskey still and 300 gallons of mash. Not the least of the haul was the taking of the alleged operators of the still. Earl Goodman and .Kier Cal ^on, both of Wilmington. Our ROVING Reporter W. B. IMU1 Last spring Clerk of Superior Court E. O. Falkner, of Vance county, spent a week here with Sam T. Bennett, the Brunswick county clerk. Before returning home Mr. Falkner subscribed to this paper and has since been a regular reader. He writes us he expects to be down here again before the end of the month to spend several days with friends. It is hoped that the friends who send this paper news, especially those who send in personal items, will not min^ the suggestion that when they are writing of someone visiting their parents they should give the names of the parents also. When a newspaper carries an item that "John Smith" visited his parents only one or two people out of each hundred readers get any idea of who he visited. Still another person oajM* up with something regarding the 1 whipping post on the court house 1 square, this week. Calvin Wes cott, of Southport, is kind of doubtful of the post having been j erected for use when it became necssary to give somebody a j drubbing. Mr. Wescott's father [ lived to way up in the ninties j and Calvin says he does not re- j member ever hearing him say j anything about anybody being I whipped. At tht same time Calvin says he remembers seeing two boys being given 20 lashes each. This whipping, he says, was given upstairs in the courtroom with the late Sheriff John Knox doing the whipping. When he was asked about the fishing Saturday, our friend John W. Garner, of the Anchor Hotel at Shallotte Point, spoke very truthfully ar.d to tie point when (Cob turned On 8) I Identity Of Murderer Of Sgt David J. Duvoll Is Still Cloaked In Mystery Former Postmaster Traces More History Of County Former Postmaster W. R. Holmes, Of Shallotte, Recalls Use Of "Letter Stump" By Patrons Former Postmaster W. R. | Holmes, of Shallotte, an au- | thority on old post offices in j Brunswick county, says that a good many years ago there was a postoffice at Seaside named Walden. Mrs. Lue Gause appears to have been the only postmis tress at that place. At the time! Seaside was known as Tubbs In- 1 let. A star mail route ran between 1 Georgetown, S. C? and Wilming- j ton at the time, serving Waldon! and other postoffices along the! Wilmington - Georgetown road, j Only one trip was made each week by the carrier and that made it longer between mails than the time that the Governor ( of South Carolina told the Gov ernor of North Carolina was be tween drinks. The Wilmington - Georgetown Star Route carriers were versa tile chaps. In addition to the mails they carried everything in i the way of country produce that1 they could accumulate along the route, amounting to a good deal j and being sold at a good profit; when they reached their destina-, tions. Among these early Star Route carriers of which there is any record were "Hominy" Brown, He was succeeded by a man named Stevens, and Stevens gave place to George "Grasshop per" Simmons. It is not known how George got his middle name of "Grasshopper." Adding to the picturesqueness of these early mail days, about four miles south of Shallotte there is said to be what remains of the "Letter Stump." Forest fires have gotten most of it. This "letter stump" was a rem anent of turpentine days. Of lightwood and with a hole cut into it to provide shelter, it was a regular stopping place for stage coaches and the infrequent Star Route man. They never failed to find the hole in the "letter stump" filled with letters await ing their kindness of getting them to Wilmington or George town. In return the stage boys and star route men always re filled the letter stump with let ters and things they had brought in for people in the neighborhood. Commencement Program Will Begin Here Sunday _ ? Shallotte Man Brings Souvenirs Brunswick county men who served in many theatres of op erations during World War II brought home with them many interesting souvenirs, ' and among the more interesting items are a couple of pistols now in the possession of a Shallotte man. While serving In France, L. C. White acquired a pair of beautiful French dueling pis tols, made in 1887. The guns have wood and brass grips, load at the muzzle with a ram rod carried under the barrels, and were fired with percusion caps and hammers like those on the old time muzzle-loading shotguns. The barrels are 7 inches long and the bore is the same as a 16-gauge shotgun. Merchant Dies In Wilmington Henry Thomas Lewis, Long A Respected Merchant Of Navassa, Dies Follow ing Long Illness Henry Thomas -Lewis, owner and operator of the Navassa Grocery company at Navassa for more than thirty years, died in a Wilmington hospital Thursday. He had suffered fbr some years with asthma and heart trouble, but was able to continue with his business until a few weeks pro ceeding his death. He was 54 years of age. At the time of his death Mr. Lewis was treasurer of the Le land Lions Club, of which he was a charter member. He was an elder in the Woodburn Presby terian church and was highly esteemed in the Leland and Na vassa communities. Funeral services were conduct ed Saturday afternoon at 4 o'clock from the Woodburn Pres byterian church, with Rev. J. D. Withrow in charge. Serving as honorary pallbearers were: Mr. W. C. Mebane, Dr. R. T. Sin clair, R. V. Williams, W. L. Pa den, Sr.; D. J. Ellers, McD. Jones, G. R. Ennis, E. A. Rusher andj W. Eugene Edwards; Active: James T. Paden, Mac Floyd Jones. W. G. Adams, Sr., U. L. Rourk, Bruce Russ and Joseph Ganey. Surviving Mr. Lews is' his wife Mrs. Margaret Reynolds Lewis, three sons: Paul of Wil mington, James Edward and Thurston of Leland; eight daugh ters, Mrs. Daughtry Heath of Marysvilie, California. Mrs. Al berta RofcbJns of Le!aed Mrs. (Continued on page 4) I Baccalaureate Sermon Will Be Delyivered Sunday Morning At 11 O'clock By Dr. J. M. Waggette CLASS NIGHT TO BE HELD TUESDAY District Solicitor Clifton Moore Will Deliver The Graduating Address Wednesday Even ing The commencement exercises of Southport high school will be gin Sunday morning, May 18, with the baccalaureate sermon by Dr. J. M. Wagget at 11 o'clock in the high school auditorium. Dr. Wagget, pastor of Southport Presbyterian church, moved here recently. This is the first oc casion on which the people of this community have had the privilege of hearing Dr. Wagget in a union service, and a large congregation is expected. On Tuesday evening, May 20, at 8 o'clock the Class of 1947 will observe class day. Exerciscs will be in the form of a one-act play, which will include the traditional features of class day. There will be a woodland set ting, arranged as for a picnic. Friends of the school are invited especially the families and friends of the senior class. Graduation exercises Wednes day evening, May 21, at 8 o'clock, will formally close the school term. The address to the graduat ing class will be by District Solicitor Clifton L. Moore, of Burgaw. Sixteen graduates are expected to receive diplomas, of whom Louis Newton is saluta torian and Ann McRackan vale dictorian. The public is invited. Armed Bandits Hold Up Place Customers Of Former Char lie Hattem Place Near Navassa Held Up Early Monday Night Customers of the former Charlie Hattem place near Na vassa, were held up and divested of their pocket books by two white men early Monday night. State Highway Patrolmen C. J. Ferguson and R. E. Sherrlll. who are nearly always on hand when anything happens in that community, were patrolling Route 74, just below the scene of the holdup when a car sped by them, occupied by two men. Although they were unaware of the hold-up, they gave chase and near Delco they overtook and captured the car and men, dis covering later that instead of speeders they had acanuxlated a (Continued on ptft 4) Officer# In Two State* At Work On Case Seeking Slayer Of Soldier From Army Air Base At Myrtle Beach BODY DISCOVERED IN THIS COUNTY However, Preponderance Of Evidence Points To Possi bility Of Murder Elsewhere Investigations by Brunswick county sheriff and his officers into the death of Sgt. David J. Devoll, of the Myrtle Beach Army Air Base, are now wait ing moves by the South Caro lina officers and the FBI, and it appears that any break in the case will have to come from South Carolina. Devoll, married to a resident of Waccamaw township for about a year and making his home near Ash while he continued In the service, was found shot to death in his car, parked by the side of the road a mile and a half east of the South Carolina Une last Friday at noon. The discovery of the body was made when Mrs. Adrian Long, a nearby resident, stopped to look into the car as she was passing on her way to a grocery 'store at Longwood. Several people had seen the car parked on the shoulder of the road earlier in the morning, but no one stopped to look in or investigate. Kstce# Hewett had seen the car as early as 7 o'clock. Sheriff John White and Depu ties Coleman, Formyduval, Leon ard, Tripp and Herring all con verged on the scene soon after the body was discovered. It wa? found that Duvoll had been shot through the left side of his chin arv" throat, apparently with a smaii gauge shotgun. The entire load, including the wadding, had emerged just back of the right car and at the base of the skull. Subsequent investigation revealed several No. 6 shot lodged in the skin at the back of the head. With only a small patch Uf blood on the seat of the car where his head rested and a few bloodstains about the door of the car on the outside, it was believ ed that the man had been killed elsewhere and that his body had afterwards been placed in the car and the machine driven to the point where it was found. A baby's diaper and an article of woman's clothing was found under the body. Devoll had one stepchild by* a former marriage of his wife, who was divorced from her first husband the first of 1946. Mrs.' Devoll advised of ficers that her husband had left for his duties at the Army Atf port early the preceeding morn ing and that she had not seen him since. The officers had found Devon's wallet in his left hip pocket, containing $92.00. This eliminated robbery as a motive and strengthened the other-wom an angle that was revealed by J the finding of garments under the body. Following up the belief that the crime had been committed In South Carolina, the officers went to Myrtle Beach and from vari ous information suspicion center ed upon a service man at the air port and his wife. The Bruns wick officials questioned this young woman, who has a II months old baby. She is said to have admitted being friends with Devoll. Her husband was also brought in for questioning, the airport officials warning him beforehand that under military law he did not have to answer. He is said to have admitted knowing the dead man and 40 have also made some statements that were later found to be mi true. Unable to question him fujly or to take any action, the local officers returned home after the commander at the airport had given assurance that the FBI would be called upon to make an investigation. It is understood ? that the FBI is now working on the case. They will not be handi capped by state lines. Devon's body was brought to Southport and prepared for burial at the Kilpatrick funeral home, later being taken to Wilmington for shipment to North Bend, Ohio. Mr. Kilpatrick, who was nam ed acting coroner In the case, will hold an inquest into the death at the earliest possible moment. If developments do not bring out definite Information that the killing waa done outside of Brunswick county.