THE County TIMES-NEWS Northampton County's Only Advertising and News Medium Vol. 82 No. 2 THE ROANOKE-CHOWAN TIMES — Established 1892 THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 1973 ☆ THE NORTHAMPTON COUNTY NEWS — Established 1926 lOc Per Copy Rich Square, N. C. 12 Pages White Blanket Covers Roanoke-Chowan Area f'vj' / > - X 1 > ^ n\ RICH SQUARE — As a fifth grader your news editor began the following poem this way; SNOW Snow, it comes but once a year The Time when birds fly south; And all the children raise a fuss To get outside the house. Snow came to Eastern North Carolina this week, and although a whole lot deeper than the “average” the county fared very well during the event. “Most county offices remained open and most county services, with the exception of the solid waste program, were not interrupted,” said County Accountant Tim Ellen Wednesday. “Better than 50 per cent of our employees were at work Monday and the number increased to better than 90 per cent Tuesday.” According to Atlas of North Carolina snowfall is reported as such: “Except in the mountains, snowfalls are infrequent and light, and snow does not lie on the ground long. I^me winters pass without measurable amounts over large areas, on the other hand, a single storm may occasionally phone Co. Pays $25,327 In Tax result in a snowfall exceeding the average annual total (Wilmington, with an average annual total of 1.5 inches, once had llinches in 24 hours).” Actual closings through the Roanoke-Chowan differ from county to county as Hertford, quite the opposite of Northampton, had their county government closed up at noon Monday and all day Tuesday. All area schools have been closed and, with more of the same weather slated for the end of the week, it looks as though our students are having an early Easter Holiday. More about that when April gets here. Rich Square Has Less Rain In '72 RICH SQUARE — Approximately five inches less rain fell in the vicinity of Rich Square in 1972 than fell in 1971, according to measurements maintained by Miss Alice Elliott of the Eagletown community. Total rainfall for 1972 came to 44.78 inches, whereas a total of 49.83 inches fell in 1971. May was the wettest month of the year when 6.23 inches of rain was measured. A measurable amount of rain fell during 17 days in the month. August was the dryest month of the year when only 2.21 inches of rain fell. The largest amount of precipitation during a 24- hour period fell on July 12, when 2.25 inches were measured. There was no measurable amount of snow in Rich Square during the entire year of 1972. II w i'-iv. -iy RICH SQUARE — Carolina Telephone and Telegraph Company’s 1972 county and city tax bills in this area amounted to $25,327. Woodland, 1,215; Jackson, 1,089; Seaboard, 1,013; Gaston, 795; Conway, 602; Garysburg, 44; Severn, 44. shows the county itself getting $18,268 with the following towns getting individual amounts. They are: Rich Square, $2,257; , ,, , , . J. L. Holmes, district The overall breakdown commercial manager, said that the tax payments covered ad valorem taxes on the company’s property in Northampton County' as well as the other eight incorporated communities in the county. A revislpn ih tk* tax laws and the company s continuing increase of investment in buildings, equipment, and outside facilities contributed to the increased taxes over 1971, Fire Destroys Home Of Eight AHOSKIE Internal Revenue Service Representative Bud Streetman has reported that the IRS service office in Ahoskie will be open to answer questions about the income lax forms on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. until the April 15 deadline for filing income tax returns. Streetman said that in the past, tho Ahoskie office has been open for this assistance on Friday but due to a change in schedule, the office will now be open only on Wednesday. The IRS office is located in the post office building in Ahoskie and serves the four county Roanoke-Chowan Area of Hertford, Northampton, Bertie and Gates. County and municipal 1972 taxes paid by the company in its 40-county operating area totaled over $3,800,000. Carolina Telephone’s entire operating tax bill for 1972, including all state and federal taxes, is expected to come to more than $22,000,000. It was pointed out that this did not include an estimated $7,700,000 in 10 per cent federal excise taxes which were billed to telephone users by the company. These taxes are remitted to the federal government upon collection. GASTON — A family of eight became hon\eless' Mondaj/y. when, fire destroyed tii$;ir i^r-room house o^^^S: 48 north ot Gaston. The frame dwelling, located just north of Jordan’s Crossroads, already had burned to the ground when 12 firemen from the Gaston Volunteer Fire 'Department arrived on the scene shortly after 11 a.m. The home was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. William Garner and their six children. According to Fire Chief John Acree, the house was heated by a coal heater and fire apparently started around the chimney of the small home. Mrs. Bonnie Anderson, a spokeswoman for the firemen, stated Tuesday the family is in need of ■ clothing and furnishings. Persons wishing to donate items should call Chief Acree at 537-1303 or Fountain Lashes Out haated .heat(‘r w'as’ ® 1JL I ■ 'AgrBCulturas Cuts ugene Cline on U.S. carry the donation? by the ’ Fire Department. An overh^Ted .heatf'r w'as fisted as ca_ at 11: lb Mom home of Eugene 301 north of Garysburg. Two rooms were charred WASHINGTON, D. C. — and the small frame house “Several recent anti-farm sustained considerable smoke actions taken by the present damage. Fifteen firemen Administration have extinguished the blaze. profoundly disturbed me,’’ A false alarm was received Congressman Fountain said at 12:25 a.m. Monday to a today, “especially the recent point north of Henrico. Twelve and startling news that the firemen in two trucks Congressionally-established searched the area but found no Emergency Loan program is Quarantine Situation ,, Unchanged I Administration action,” tenter hooks awaiting word Congressman Fountain noted, from the Administration as to He continued, “As I whether or not they would be interpret this information, the allowed to receive the help Secretary of Agriculture does they so despCTately need,” fire. Accident Injures Child to be drastically — even radically — curtailed.” “A curt,one-page news release containing this key sentence — ‘No other Secretarial designations are expected for the balance of 1973’ — was the way we learned of the latest not plan to act on the long standing applications by Caswell, Northampton and Halifax Counties for designation as Emergency Loan Areas during this new Congressman Fountain said. “Now we have the Administration’s answer: don’t look to us for help.” “Many farm leaders fear that the ultimate result of this I i Zgmmm GASTON — Laura Jean Thompson, a seven-year-old Wakefield, Va., girl was reportedly in satisfactory condition yesterday by authorities at Halifax Memorial Hospital after having been seriously injured in a freak automobile accident here last Friday night. According to Gaston Police Chief Charlie Ball, the child fell out of her uncle’s car while he was pulling out of a drive-in restaurant near the intersection of N. C. 46 and N. C. 48 nere. Chief Ball listed the accident as unavoidable and no charges were made against Gurman Frazier, driver of the late-model vehicle. According to police reports the little girl, daughter of the driver’s sister, Mrs. Barney Jean Thompson of Wakefield, Va., fell from the front seat of the car and was run over by the front tires. According to accounts given (See ACCIDENT, Page 12) Excise Tax Reduced On Telephone Service TARBORO ~ Your total Carolina Telephone and Telegraph Company bill will be slightly lower starting this month. The Excise, Estate and Gift Tax Adjustment Act of 1970 provides for a 10-year reduction schedule of the federal excise tax for telephone service, beginning January 1, 1973. Telephone statements rendered on and after January 1 will bill the excise tax at nine per cent. Under the present legislation, each subsequent January 1, the excise tax will be reduced by one per cent until January, 1982, when the total repeal is scheduled. The excise tax on telephone service is a carryover from World War II days. Since then, this tax has been removed from all other services and year — despite the fact that denial of help (primarily low- two years of extremely bad interest emergency loans to weather have ruined certain affected farmers) will drive crops in some areas and many rural families onto the niished manv farmers to the welfare rolls,” Congressman "’all.” Fountain stated. “For many weeks now the The Second District farmers in these counties and Congressman said, “I have others have been kept on urged the Administration to reconsider its curtailment — in effect a cancellation — of the Emergency Loan program not only in regard to our badly-hurt North Carolina counties, but also others across the country.” “As I’ve said many times, agriculture is basic, it is the bedrock on which our very society rests, we can’t live without food and fiber, and we must not allow sizeable numbers of our farmers to be wiped out,” Congressman Foutain concluded. products. Efforts to repeal it in past years have been unsuccessful. For the average Carolina Telephone residence customer, it will amount to only a few cents per month. However, a penny saved is a penny earned. ROANOKE RAPIDS A report from the Hog Cholera Control station in Roanoke Rapids stated that the quarantine in Northampton (ilounty was still in effect and (he discovery of a case in Hertford County hasn’t altered the operation in North ampton. The only change in the situation since it started the last of November when the quarantine was established has been the fact that Virginia will now allow hogs from Northampton County to be moved to packing houses in that state provided they are inspected by a licenses veterinarian and are moved under a permit. The final decision on a release from the quarantine will come from Washington, D. C. The quarantine in Hertford County came after the disease was found in Northampton and then in Virginia. It was found on a farm on S. R. 1314 about a quarter-mile from the Northampton County Line. / If 7 gf'" f-x-’ X y I'^ Conservation Help Is Still Available .’Mitiiii m- MAGNOLIATREE IN FULL BLOOM IN JANUARY? Hardly, but the snow on the leaves of this tree in Rich Square did give it the appearance of being loaded with blooms. Although the heavy snowfall did cause problems, it also provided much that was beautiful to the eye. JACKSON C. W. Taylor, chairman of the Northampton Soil and Water Conservation District, said today that the termination of the Rural Environmental Assistance Program (REAP) will not have any bearing upon farm ers receiving technical assistance for carrying out drainage and other conservation practices. Mr. Taylor said that technical assistance through the local Soil and Water Conservation District will still be available as in the past. Mr. Taylor said that assistance can be obtained through requests from the District for assistance from the Soil Conservation Service and other agencies to help plan and lay-out conservation practices such as tile drainage, open ditch, grass waterways, terraces, field borders and similar conservation practices. Land owners interested in receiving technical assistance should contact any of the following District Supervisors: Charlie W. Taylor, Edward M. Lanier, Harold G, Taylor, Clyde Jenkins or Thomas W. Grant or contact the District Office located at Jackson. I RENOVATION OF THE COUNTY JAIL, which should begin early next month, will include the extension of the building from its present location at right to a point 22 feet (next to the tree) at left. County Accountant Tim Ellen and County Jailer John Cox are almost silhouetted against the bright outdoors as they survey the proposed work. Ellen said that the delay in starting the work was centered around delivery of the materials. The contractors have 240 days from November 6 to complete the job.