North Carolina Newspapers

HFt7 T7TT" I H P News FORT Largest Circulation In Carteret County The Feople'a J Newspaper The best advertising medium published in Carteret Co. ( KEADINGTO THE MIND IS WHAT EXERCISE IS TO THE BODY WATCH Your label and p fc ur subscription VOLUME XVIII 10 PAGES THIS WEEK THE BEAUFORT NEWS THURSDAY OCTOBER 10, 1929 PRICE 5c SINGLE COPY NUMBER 40 Carteret County Sues To Recover Large Sum Nearly $900,000 Involved In Suit Started A gainst Simmons Construction Corporation, F. M. Simmons, G. W. Huntley, W. L. Stancil, George J. Brooks, C. K. Howe; Complaints Filed Monday; Allege Many Fraudulent Acts Probably the largest law suit ev er started in Carteret county got un der way Monday when complaints were filed in the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court, wherein Car teret county is the plaintiff, seeking to recover the sum of $870,992.01. Three separate complaints were filed all of which are closely related. The defendants named in one of the com plaints are Simmons Construction Corporation, F. M. Simmons, G. W. Huntley, George J. Brooks, C. K. Howe and W. L. Stancil. In another one the defendants are George J. Brooks, C. K. Howe, F. M. Simmons, Simmons Construction Corporation, W. L. Stancil and George W. Huntley In the third complaints W. L. Stan di and George W. Huntley are nam ed the defendants. Thes uits above mentioned are based upon an audit which has been made for the county by C. F. Dela mar of Durham and his assistants. Mr Delamar is a native of Beaufort but has lived in Durham for a number of years and is a professional account ant. Mr. Delamar and his aides have been engaged in the Carteret county audit for several months and have gone through practically all the records at the courthouse in their search for information. The attor neys who have represented the coun ty in the proceedings are McLendon and Hedrick of Durham and E. H. Gorham of Morehead City. Some weeks ago the Board of Commission ers held a hearing for the purpose of getting information about county mat ters and caused to be eaxmined the defendants above named and several other persons. The complaints re ferred to allege that the county has been defrauded of the sum mention ed above. Several former county board members are not included in the suits. The suits against the Simmons Construction Corporation and others seeks to recover the sum of $778, SG2.12. That against eGorge J. Brooks, C. K. Howe and others is for $76,423.06 and the one against W. L. Stancil and Georgo W. Huntley asks for $16,206.83. On account of limitations of space the News canot publish the com plaints in their entirety. However several excerpts are printed below which are sufficient to show the na ture of the suits. The complaints are on file at the office of the Super ior Court Clerk. Excerpts From Complaint "3rd" That beginning with the year 1925, and continuing up tov and including the year 1928, the Board of Commis sioners of Carteret County, under the guise of a program of progress and improvement, covering the entire county of Cartere1:. put on an exten sive road building campaign: that from the 1st day of Ic. 1924 to the day of April, 1928. J. E. Wood land was Chairman of s.ii Board of County Commistor.ers of Carteret . County, and from the 7th day of May 1928, to the day of December 1928, the defendant, G. V. Huntley was Chairman of said Board of Coun tv Commissioners of Carteret Coun ty, he having succeeded the said J. E. Woodland upon the latter's death: that during the entire period of time, heretofore mentioned, the defendant W. L. Stancil was the acting clerk to the Board of County Commissioners of Carteret County, and together with the Chairman of the Board were in charge of the finances of said Coun ty, and entrusted with the finances of said County by the Board of County Commissioners of Carteret County, and during the period of time men tioned above, and hereinafter to be mentioned, the said W. . L. Standi and the Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners had: under control a the funds of the County of Carteret; that the other members of the Board of Commissioners of Car teret Couity knew very little about the financial conditions of the Coun ty, leaving the entire matter in the hands of the Chairman of said Board and the defendant W. L. Stancil, act ing clerk. 11. T.iiit upon information and belief, plaintiff alleges: That it was the duty of the said W. L. Stancil, us County Auditor or County Accountant, and as acting Clerk to the Board of County Com missioners, at least once a year to file with the Board of County Com missioners of Carteret County a com plete statement of the financial con dition of the County of Carteret and its subdivisions, showing the receipts and expenditures of the different de partments of said County and its sub divisions, including the department of public roads and the department of I public schools, all of which he wilf ul- ly ami IltllrilLl,v Itllieu IU uv, muni was known to his codefendant, and others, and which his codefendant, and others, acquiesced in and approv ed, and willfully and unlawfully con done each and every act of commis sion and omission of the said W. L. Stancil, County Auditor or County Ac countant, and as acting Clerk to the Board, and said codefendant and oth ers with W. L. Stancil agreed to con fuse the records of Carteret County in an effort to cover up all the illeg al acts of all the defendants, and in I furtherance of their scheme to cheat I flfponil tha Pnimt-v nf Cnrf-prpf. out of large sums of money. 16. That upon information and belief, plaintiff alleges: That the "Budget Estimate" refer red to in paragraph Fourteen of this complaint should have been submit ted to the Board of County Commis sioners bv the said W. L. Stancil as ; County Auditor or County Account j ant, and as acting Clerk to the Board i of Commissioners, -and the County j Board of Commissioners at least twenty days before the adoption of 'thj appropriation resolution, should j have filed the budget estimate in the office of the Clerk of the Board, where it should have remained for public inspection, and should have furnished a copy of the budget esti mate to each newspaper published in Carteret County, there being two, and should have caused to be publish ed in the County of Carteret a sum mary of the budget estimate showing at least the total appropriation rec ommended for each separate fund or function as defined by law, all of which the said W. L. Stancil, in the capacity aforesaid, and his codefend ant and others, wilfully and negligent ly failed to do, in furtherance of their utter disregard of the law, and of their collusive and corrupt scheme to defraud and cheat the County of Carteret and its taxpayers out of large sums of money. 20. That upon information and belief, plaintiff alleges: That during a period of four (4) years, commencing with December 16, 1924, and ending November 28th 1928, the salary of W. L. Stancil, as County Auditor, County Accountant and as acting Clerk to the Board of County Commissioners was $12,000, 00, which covered services rendered by him to this plaintiff, Carteret County, of every nature, kind and de scription, but during said four (4) year period, with the approval, know ledge, consent and acquiescence of his co-defendant George W. Huntley and others, the said W. L. Stancil caused to be issued to himself, checks or vouchers on the County of Carter et in the total sum of $13,324.56, and said checks or vouchers were signed by the Chairman of the Board of County Commisioners, thereby ov erpaying the said W. L. Stancil in the total sum of $1,324.56, which ex cess sum the said W. L. Stancil and his co-defendant and others knew he was not entitled to receive and the said W. L. Stancil has converted the said sum of $1,324.56 to his own per sonal use, with the full knowledge, consent, approval and acquiescence of his codefendant and others, in a direct attempt to cheat and defraud the County of Carteret out of large sums of moneyt, and this plaintiff is entitled to recover the sum of $1, 324 56 excess payment from-both of the defendants. 23. That upon information and belief, plaintiff alleges: That over a period of years from 1920 up to and including 1925, there was delivered to the said W. L. Stan cil, as County Auditor or County Ac !counant, and as acting Clerk to the (Continued on page eight) EVANGELIST MAKES FINE IMPRESSION! Crowd Of 2000 Present Sun day Night; Meeting Will Continue Through Octo ber 20th. ''America's Greatest Danger" is the subject announced by Evangelist W. Carey Barker for the service Sun day afternoon at three o'clock. This service is for everybody and it is said that it is one of the best attended services ofan entire campaign of this kind. The message will deal with present day conditions and also with American ism. A great crowd is ex pected to be present for this service. Sunday night Mr. Barker announc es as his subject "Power vs. Foolish ness.' He especially invites anyone to this service who is at all skeptical about the Bible. This is also expect ed to be one of the great services of the campaign. "Sin" has been announced as the subject to be discussed Thursday night. The young people of the pub lic schools are especially invited to the service Friday night. The ser vice Saturday night will have to do with "The Second Coming of Christ." and the speaker announces that as his subject for the time. The attendance upon the services continue to surprise everyone. It is conservatively eestimated that at least 2,000 were present for the service last Sunday night. The attendance during the week has also been a rev elation to the most skeptical. The evangelist has failed to use any sen sensational or high pressure methods but has only resorted to the preach ing of the gospel to attract his hear ers. Many visitors have been noted in each service from the surrounding towns and community. The interest in the prayer services being held in the homes for the wom en and the stores for men has been very gratifying to the workers. These meetings as well as the revival effort will continue through Sunday Octo ber 20. " POLICE COURT ITEMS." There were three defendants in Mayor Chadwick's court Friday af ternoon. All submitted to the indict ments against them. Wilbur Willis, parking on wrong side of street, was let off with the costs. Donald Mason, drunk first offense, $2.50 and costs. Rosa Belle Pigott, drunk, $5 and costs or if days in jail. TIDE TABLE Information as to the tides at Beaufort is given in thi3 col umn. The figures are approx imately correct. Some allow ances must be made for varia tions in the wind and also with respect to the locality, that is whether near the inlet or at the heads of the estuaries. High Tide Friday, Oct. 2:17 A. M. 2:40 P. M. Saturday, Oct. 3:20 A. M. 3:35 P. M. Sunday, Oct. 4:13 A. M. 4:21 P. M. Monday, Oct. 4:26 P. M. 5:11 P. M. Tuesday, Oct. 5:39 A. M. 5:52 P. M. Wednesday, Oct. 6:15 A. M. 6:30 P. M. Thursday, Oct 6:50 A. M. 7:09 P. M. Low Tide 11 7:56 A. M. 8:56 P. M. 12 9:00 A. M. 9:50 P. M. 13 9:57 A. M. 10:35 P. M. 14 10:35 P. M. 11:05 P.M. 15 11:10 A. M. 11:32 P. M. 16 11:52 A. M. 12:15 P. M. , 17 12:28 A. M. 12:57 P. M. Marriages In North Carolina Were Slightly Less In 1928 Than In 1927 Washington, D. C, The Depart ment of Commerce announces that, according to the - returns received, there were 21,373 marriages perfor med in North Carolina during the year 1928, as compared with 22,204 in 1927, representing a decrease of 831 or 3.7 per cent. In 1916, there were 21,337 marriages performed. During the year 1928, there were 1,609 divorces in the state, as compar ed with 1,642 in 1927, representing a decrease of 33 or 2 per cent. In 1916, there were 668 divorces grant ed. There were 29 marriages annul ed in 1928, a similar number to th::t reported for 1927. The estimated population of the state of North Carolina on July 1, REGULAR MEETING OF COUNTY BOARD Commissioners Adopt Resolu tion To Prosecute Suits With One Dissenting Vote All members of the Board of Coun ty Cummisioners were present for the regular monthly meeting Monday. The fir-t matter disposed of was the adoption of a resolution authorizing and directing the Chairman to veri fy complaints in suits and authoriz ing attorneys to proceed with the suits. The complaints are those in suits instituted against the Simmons Construction Corporation, F. M. Sim mons and several former county of ficials. All members voted in favor of the resolution except Commission er Lee who said he did not know any thing about the matter and therefore voted against it. A delegation of citizens from Mer rimon came before the board and ask ed that repairs be made on the road to Merrimon. Messrs. J. M. Carra way and C. S. Nelson spoke very earnestly about the matter saying that for a space of about 6-10 of a mile the road was almost impassable. Chairman Bushall informed the gen tlemen that he would inspect the road as soon as possible and see that it was repaired. Mis. F. C. Salisbury spoke briefly about the necessity of having school children vaccinated against typhoid fever. She said the county could get the serum free. No action was tak en on the matter. Mrs. Hattie Parkin asked that she be relieved of taxes on her home in Beaufort. She said that she was in destitute circumstances and unable to pay any taxes. The board advised j her that the matter would beinvesti ' gated. j C. G. Gaskill presented to the board la telgram from F. U. Pitt of Nor j folk, Va., asking that his place on j North River road be not sold as ad i vertised. He owes the county $5000 j on it for principal, also .interest on I not and . taxes. He was informed Jthatif 'he did not raise $1404.27 "by I October 14 the place would be sold. i Attorney E. H. Gorham represent ing O. H. Reynolds of Florida ask.d jfor an adjustment of taxes which it appeared had been paid twice. It seems that the property, which is in Newport, was listed twice. The mat ter was adjusted. ! W. P. Norris of Pdletier asked to j have a change made in the valuation of his property. He was innform Ud that under the law the board 'could not make any change at this time. L. J. Hardy a blind man from Stacy asked to be relieved of his taxes. The allowance was made from the Coun ty Poor Fund. J. H. Potter Sr., asked to be allow ed to correct an error made in his abstract. The request was granted. The boa"d then adjourned. INFORMATION WANTED AS TO ANCIENT STONES ! A few days aeo Harbor Master Bryan Arthur received a letter from Niels Thorbjarnsen of Fredrikstad, Norway asking for information in re gard to some stones supposed to be in : Carteret county near the former i home of Captain Dave Ireland. He has made inquiries of this kind here before but no one knows any thing about such tones. If any one has .any such information Captain Arthur will be glad to have it. The stones nre supposed to have some Norwegian names and inscriptions on them. Mr. Thorbjarnsen says that in 1886 he sailed on the selu'oner "Martha' from ( Beaufort under Captain Ireland. He! was told about the alleged stones at that time and is anxious to find out something about them. 1928, was 2,938,000. and on July 1, 1927, 2,897,000. On the basis of these estimates, the number of marr iages per 1,000 of the population was 7.3 in 1928, as against 7.7 in 1927, and the number of divorces per 1,000 of the population was 0.55 in 1928, as against 0.57 in 1927. The number of marriages was re ported by the Register of Deeds and the number of divorces by the Cli rk of the Superior Court, of each coun ty. The figiues for 1928 are prelim inary and subject to correction. Ac cording to the reports Carteret Coun ty's reeo:d for 192S and 1927 was: marriages , 121 and SI, divorces were 6 in 1928 and 9 in 1927. Driving While Drunk Only Case In Court Only one case was tried in Re corder's Court Tuesday. In that the defendant Sam Chadwick was charged with driving a car while under the influence of liquor. He is a white man and lives near Wildwood. He was arrested by Sheriff Davis at a bout 10 o'clock on October 1st and the sheriff said he was drunk at the time. I Lee Murdock, Jesse Murdock, . A. Murdock and C. T. Murdock testi fied in the case. Their evidence was that Murdock was under the influ ence of liquor in the afternoon of October 1st and that he drove the car in a wobbly fashion. Chadwick denied being drunk in the afternoon but admitted that he was drinking that night. He testi fied that one of his arms is partly par alyzed and that he cannot drive very well for that reason. He said that he has four children and his wife in the family and that he depends upon his daily labor for support. The court's verdict was that the defendant was guilty. He was sen tenced to jail for 90 days and to pay the costs in the case. Prayer for judgment was continued as to the jail sentence upon condition that Chadwick show good behavior for twelve months and that he not at tempt to drive a car for six months. Superior Court will be in session next week and so there will be no Recorder's Court until October 22. EVANGELIST AND SINGER GOING TO HARKER'S ISLAND Evangelist Carey Barker and his singer Mr. W. Plunkett Martin have agreed to hold a service at Harker's Island Saturday afternoon at 3 o'clock It is expected that a large crowd will be presen t for the service. The meeting which has been in progress in Beaufort ten clays under the leader ship of Messers Barker and Martin has drawn people from all parts of the county and much interest has been manifested. Firemen's Association Hold Convention Here The district convention of the Eastern Carolina Firemen's Associa tion, held here Tuesday evening at the Inlet Inn, proved to be a well at tended and enjoyable affair. Most of the towns in the district were represented and some had large dele gations. The meeting was called to order a few minutes after eight o' clock by the President Richard C. Leach of Washington. After an excellent sea food sup per had been disposed of a short bus iness meeting was held. The roll was called and as each town's name was callfdd the delegates arose to their feet. W. C. Manning, former j President of the association was call-1 ed on for a speech and responded with an admonition to the firemen not to forget the serious side of their duties. He said firemen must live up to their reputation as defenders of life and property. President Leach introduced as the toastmaster of the evening State Highway Commissioner C. R. Wheat ly who gave the firemen an enter taining speech himself and then call ed on several other Beaufort men. Dr. S. H. Hildebrand, Superintendent of the U. S. Biological Station, who spoke of the tremendous yearly loss from fires, said to be a billion and a half dollars, and showed the great service firemen may do not only in extinguishing fires but in educating people to prevent them. Judge E. Walter Hill spoke on the valu- of the Beaufort Fire Department in partic ular and firemen in general. F. R. Seeley said he admired the fighting spirit which firemen hav: and spoke of the actual cash value to a commu nity of a good fire department. W. G. Mebane extended a welcome to I Beaufort to the visitors in a brief j speech. The next meetir.a: of the as-: sociation will be held in Washington in January. The convention adopted a resolution thankine the citizens and firemen of Beaufort and the Inlet Inn management for the entertain ment given them. MISS HELEN HENDRIX ELECTED MEMBER OF CLUB Brenau College - Conservatory, Gainesville, Ga., Oct. 3 Miss Helen Hendrix of Beaufort, N. C, has been elected to membership in the Cush man Club, an honorary oratory so ciety, of Brenau College, according to an announcement today. To be elected to this organization one has to be distinguished in oratory, espec ially Dramatic Art, which is one of the chief factors on which the can didate is judged. COUNTY SCHOOLS MAKE GOOD START Reading And Science Most Popular Subjects; Adult Ed ucation Necessary (Department of Education of Carteret County Carteret County Schools have made a good start on the work for this year. Every classroom in the coun ty is providing for at least two cen ters of interest. Reading and science most classrooms have more than two centers. They are keeping pace with modern educational views which tend to stress teaching children to work to gether, to live together, to work with things and ideas rather than a form al program which helps them just to store up facts. In order to promote interest in growing a larger variety of vege tables and growing them the year a round, garden projects are used in the grammar grades. The farm agent and home demonstration agent are cooperating in this program so that the children may learn to do these things scientifically. An Activity Program for primary grades has been successfully worked out in this county. Miss Annie Wil cox one of the teachers of Newport First Grade has been asked to talk at the District State Teachers Meet ing in Charlotte on the Activity Work in Newport Elementary School. Since an Acttivity Program has been, worked out for primary grades, that will be continued and developed this year and more attention will be giv en to developing such a program for the grammar grades. New Movements In Education Probably the outstanding move ment in education today is the move ment for adult education. Several million adults are engaged in some kind of serious study. This varies from the man or woman taking tech nical courses to increase efficiency in the trade or profession, to the great army of men and women taking cul tural courses for the pleasure of the work. One of the decided angles of adult education is the rapidfy enlarging in terest in parental education. Foster ed by such organizations as the Parent-Teacher Association an increas ing number of parents are studying dren. and learning of the child, his nature and needs. There have been two state-wide conferences held on parental educa tion, besides a number of county con ferences, fostered by various inter ests, particularly the North Carolina College for Women. On November 13th this county is to have a conference or institute on this important subject. The motto of the North Carolina Education As sociation for the year is "Child De velopment." A cooperative plan ha3 been worked out to make a confer ence for the county on "Child De velopment" very much worthwhile. The New York Board of Education, the North Carolina State Board of Health, The North Carolina College for Women. Miss Parrott of the North Carolina State Department of Education, and county school and other child leaders are all behind the movement in this county. Dr. Ruth Andrus of the New York State Department of Education will be the leading speaker. There will be other specialists on other phases of child interest, including someone to present health, education and school interests. An attempt will be made to present physical, mental and social development side of the child life. Responsibility of the different social units will br shown. Parents, teachers, members of ad ult S. S. classes, pastors, members of the Parent-Teacher Association and any other adult- interested in children will be welcome. The time and place of the conference will be announced later. North Carolina is taking its place in this great work and the interest shown in this con ference will be one indication of the interest shown in children. REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS William Nelson and wife to A. M. Fulcher, tract Hunting Quarter Town ship, for $300. C. G. Dickinson and wife to G. C. Garner and wife, 5 1-2 acres New port Township, for $500. Ezra L. White and wife to Town of Morehead City, 11 lots Morehead City for $50. J. F. Duncan, Commissioner to Mrs. Melissa Wade, 1 lot Morehead City, for ?110. J. F. Duncan, Commissioner to W. A. Ball, 1 lot Morehead City for $95. Carolina Fish & Oil Co., to J. How ard Smith, 3 acres Gallants Point, for $1000. J. H. Davis Sheriff to E.'H. Howcr ton, 920 acres Hunting Quarter Township for $650. 7T "