North Carolina Newspapers

j ACCURATE, terse I TIMELY K)LUMN XXXIII MX FEES AIRED I BEFORE G. JURY ?i nt || 5liinner Explains itiemuu v^i. Paving Julius Hanzet For His Services J board IS COMMENDED I Fees paid Julius Banzet, county!, attorney, for bringing: suit against I, delinquent taxpayers was aired be- I fore the Warren county grand jury I yesterday when John Skinner, I member of the board of county commissioners, was summoned be-1 fore that body to answer complaint I, drawn by a taxpayer in the name I of John Doe. I Other commissioners, present at J I Warrenton in regard to the hear- I ling, were not called after Mr. Skin- I ner appeared P. M. Stallings, coun- I tv auditor, appeared with Mr. Skin-1 I^Bner. J, ' Mr. Skinner said yesterday af-l ternocn that he explained to the! 'grand jury that the law provided! that when suits were entered Iagainst delinquent taxpayers a sum I no: to exceed $10 for attorney's I fee was to be taxed in the bill of I - has the sum / (cost. ? charged exceeded this amount, he said. The law provided also, Mr. Skinler continued, that the beard of emmissioners might make (different arrangements with the attoriey bringing these suits. Under he straight $10 a case plan, the ittorney would have been entitled to a $10 fee on the approximately 1500 names published as delinquent taxpayers during 1929 and 1930. The commissioners entered into rrangement with Mr. Banzet hereby he was to receive $20 for ich case where the actual sale is made, but would not receive lything for non-suits and for llections made without sales. Vfr. Banzet, in addition, was to eive nothing for his services in completed suit if it developed t there had been error on part :he county or any listtaker. He instructed before beginning :e suits, Mr. Skinner said, to ry such delinquents that a suit to be brought. The attorney, ding to the commissioner, :ted thousands of dollars in taxes in this manner for a lie received nothing. Ten rs of costs in completed suits taxed in the bill of costs. The icnal $10 was taken from the al fund. . Skinner said that under the made by the commissioners Banzet received something r V. ^ +V?,> I less man siauu ior eauu ui m?s past two years, instead of the from $12.000 to $15,000 that he might have been strictly entitled to under the other plan. He Lclaimed that the amount of back Itaxes collected, and the efficient : manner in which this matter was i attended to, contrasted 'with the experietice of neighboring coun- ' ties, justifed the expenditure from t the general fund. 1 Commissioner Skinner told the i grand jury that prior to 1927 the I commissioners had no way to give ] a valid tax deed and as a result 1 thousands of dollars worth of taxes were never collected. Through the i efforts of the State Association of i' County Commissioners a law was 11 passed in 1927 that made it possi- j 1 b!e to give a good deed for land t sold for taxes, and under this law i thousands of dollars had gone into ? the coffers of the county. (i Questioned yesterday afternoon i after the hearing, Mr. Skinner j said that the county in the last,. four and one-half years had cut its , 1 general debt in half, paying off' i indebtedneiis to the amount of < $251,000. This was done, he said, I in snitp r f ? 1 i" v? uiasuc snrmxage "? ' H valuations and cuts in the tax rate. He said that he attributed H most oi Uis to the fact that every taxpayer, great and small, are re quired to bear his part of the bur den of government. In conclusion, he said that the i ^^State Association of County Com^Bmissioners, through its secretary, i offered a reward cf $100 to any 1 ^ citizen who will devise a workable 1 ^Bplan to collect delinquent taxes 1 H without a tax suit. 1 The grand jury, in its report af- 1 I fer the hearing, oom mended the board of county commissioners 'for the efficient manner in which I they have handled the county afI Mrs. E. L. Hudgins, Mrs. John A. 1 Hudgins and daughters, Misses! * Nellie ariri a?~s~ -- ,muic xiuagms, and J i granddaughter, Josephine Hudgins, 11 spent Friday of last week in Raleigh 11 *ith Miss Madge Hudgins. While s B there they attended the Cotton t p&r&ae. at WA Negro Girl Found Gu Attempt Case; Go< Judge Daniel; Hysterics broke into the solemnity of court Wednesday afternoon as Judge Daniels meted out a sentence of from three to five years to Maggie Griggs, negro girl of the Wise section charged with attempting to poison the family of Eddie Terry. The young negress was motionless when the jury returned into the court room and said that she was guilty of the charge, but when tne jurist announced the penalty she should pay for the attempted act, she began weeping and wailing. Her mother added to the excitement with screams. The court room was in a state of confusion as officers moved the two women from the Temple of Justice. Their emotions were still out of control as they were carried across court square to the jail. During the trial the Griggs girl admitted that she put arsenic of George C. Green Named Member Of School Body George C. Green of Weldon has been named a member of the State School Commission as a representative from the second congressional district. Mr. Green, who for a number of years has served as chairman of the board of trustees of the Weldon school board, was educated at the old John Graham school here and at the University of North Carolina, where he studied law, in which profession he has attained high rank in the state. Much of his boyhood was spent :at Warrenton with his grandmother, who was at that time postmistress. Since he entered the profession of law he has been a frequent visiter here during terms of Superior court and is well known to many Warren county citizens. In making his appointments, Governor Ehrinerhaus described the 11 members of the school board as "a strong group of schoolminded men." He commented on the school experience of each member, particularly pointing out the services of Carr, Doughtery, Green and Pait. "There's not a man on the board who hasn't had wide experience in the administration of schools," he asserted. Under the 1933 school law the School Commission, of which the Governor is ex-officio chairman, is the most powerful school administrative body ever created in the State. It will have practically unlimited power in reaching decisions involving operation of the eightmonths school term. The chief executive pointed out that Atmore had years of school experience behind ham. Green has served on local school boards for many years, Graham, Spruill, Poller and Dwire have taken leading places in school movements in their acme communities and in the State. riarr nn attnmpv has served many times as chairman of the Wilmington school board. Pait a merchant, was highly recommended by school people, the Governor said, as were Gaston, who is secretary of the Gastonia Chamber of Commerce, and Holler, who is an outstanding citizen of Rutherford rounty. Dr. Doughtery, president of the Appalachain State Teachers College, is regarded as one of the best college administrators in the South2ast. The State treasurer and state superintendent of public instruction are ex-officia members of the School Commission. Regular members will serve two years, but when that period expires the Governor will make his appointments on a staggered basis of two, four and six years. Per diem pay, expenses and travel allowance of the Commissioners will be limited after the first year to $1,000 annually. No limit was fixed for the first year, when, more meetings and travel will naturally oe of necessity. * 11 I Qf/M*AO T Ljlill^ iV/ll UIV/l \*o t U Close Wednesdays LITTLETON, May 25.?AH retail merchants of the Town of Littleton will close their respective Maces of business on each Wedlesday afternoon at 2:00 o'clock jeginning Wednesday June 7th, md continuing each Wednesday hereafter through the month, of August. v iff m RRENTON, COUNTY OF W, ilty In Poison Into Hysterics As i Pronounces Sentence lead in flour, carried her mixture to the home of Eddie Terry and exchanged it for some more flour. She testified that Robert Branch, whom she went with before his marriage to Terry's daughter, told her to give the poison to the Terry family so it would kill his wife and he could marry her. Branch admitted that he had gone with the Griggs girl some, but denied the charge of advising her to administer poison to his wife or other members of the Terry family. He was found net guilty, as was Mary Prances Davis, negro girl who accompanied the Griggs girl when she went to the home of Tel Jones where she secured the arsenic of lead. Although the flour that contained tne arsenic 01 ieaa was maae inio bread and eaten by members of the Terry family, the poison did not prove fatal. Fly, New York to Asia IK ' '*: C i v.wv.v.v:-.*, . Twice having flown the Atlantic, Gen. Francesco De Pinedo of Italy came to America for a specially designed plane with a cruising radius of 8,200 miles, planning to fly solo, New York to some point in Alaska. Mrs. J. A. Dowtin Dies At Home Here On Monday Night Mrs. John A. Dowtin, 63, wife of ReDresentative Dowtin, of Warren county, died at her home here Monday night at 10:45 o'cock. Heart disease was the cause of death. She had been in poor health for some time. Funeral services were conducted from her home Tuesday afternoon at 4 o'clock by Rev. C. R. Jenkins, Presbyterian minister. Interment was in Fairview cemetery. . Mrs. Dcwtin before her marriage was Miss Mary Patterson, daughter of the late Dr. and Mrs. R. A. Patterson of Halifax county. She is survived by her husband, four sons, Pryor Dowtin, Roger Dowtin, Armistead Dowtin and John Dowtin; two daughters, Mrs. Sam Davis, and Miss Louise Dowtin. She is also survived by three sisters and three brothers, Mrs. W. B. Fleming of Warrenton, Mrs. J. H. Norman of Halifax, Mrs. S. T. Thome of Airlie; John Patterson ' of Littleton, Joe Patterson of Airlie, and Roger Patterson cf Havre, Mont. Warrenton Golfers Defeat Henderson The Warrenton golf team took an easy victory from the Henderson club in a game played on the I local links Wednesday afternoon. i'The match ended 38 to 19 in favor fof the Warrenton golfers. Low score of the afternoon was made by S. O. Nunn who rounded the course twice in 77 strokes. The lowest score made by a Henderson man was made by Jesse White, who went the rounds twice in a tctal of 82 strokes. G. V. Boyd won three points over his opponent with a total score of 80. On the second trip over the course Boyd finished with a 36, one under par. ILLUSTRATED LECTURE The Warrenton Garden Club cordially invites the public to attend a lecture on "Landscape Gardening and Design", illustrated by sixty beautiful colored slides to be given in the Court House on J Tuesday evening, May 30th, at 8 .'o'clock. There will be no admission V1MU5C* Misses Nora Newman, Alberta H.byes and Mrs. Catherine Caulby of Richmond, Va., were the dinner gutsts of Mrs. W. H. Martin Sunday.. Mtiss Mae Elizabeth Weaver spent Sunday with Miss Florence Martin mm* f & I armt ARREN, N. C., FRIDAY, MAY JUDGE FRIZZELLT HERE NEXT WEEK Trial of Civil Cases Expected To Be Started This Afternoon MANY TO BE CONTINUED Judge Paul Frizzelle of Snow Hill will come to Warrenton Monday to preside over the civil term of Warren's Superior court, it was learned yesterday afternoon. Judge Daniels will sit on the bench in his home county of Wayne. The exchange, it is understood, was arranged by the two jurists as a matter or convenience. Trial of civil matters is expected to get underway this afternoon, according to an opinion expressed in court yesterday morning by Solicitor W. H. S. Burgwyn. The solicitor, addressing his remarks to Judge Daniels who had called members of the bar before him to discuss civil matters, said that there were two cases on the criminal docket to be tried, but he thought these matters could be i cleared up by Friday at noon, if not before, and trial of civil cases . could be started. Although there are nearly 50 ' cases on the civil docket, it is not 1 expected that anything like this number will be cleared up at this : session of Warren's Superior > court. Some of the cases were con- 1 tinued yesterday morning by Judge : Daniels while taking up with at- 1 torneys just a portion of the civil 1 calendar, and it is practically sure 1 thing that others will be continued during the week. 1 The first case on the civil docket 1 set for trial is the case of Robert i B. Arrington, administrator cf John B. Arrington, against Gurney P. Hood and others. Other cases ! mat were yesterday marked ior 1 trial are: T.izTiip Tin vis. Lucinda Davis and 1 Ellen D. Jones against Grover C. Brown, executor of estate of Byron Brown; W. H. Dameron & Company, against H. C. Radford; Chas. A. Nicholson against Eva Amelia Nicholson; Mrs. H. P. Robinson, trading as Littleton Sales Co., against E. E. Phillips, trading as Phillips Furniture Co.; Norlina Hotel Corporation petition for receivership; Roy D. Hardy against Mattie Shaw Hardy; W. B. Bobbitt against Minnie Bobbitt; judgment to be signed in the case of L. R. Powell and W. H. Anderson, receivers of Seaboard Air Line Railway Co., against C. L. Nance. Cases that have so far been continued are: Alfred J. Ellington against the Weldon Coca Cola Bottling Co.; A. E. Morris against Mrs. J. R. 1 Harris; T. R. Morris against Mrs. J. R. Harris. Five Are Hurt In Automobile Crash i I J. C. Watkins and children, Ann, j I Helen and James, of Drewry and I Anthony J. Abbctt of Montclair, N. J., are recovering at the Henderson J hospital from injuries received on | I Sunday night when a car driven j by Mr. Watkins collided with a J I parked truck between Manson and .1 I Norlina. Abbott was driver of the J truck. Ann Watkins, aged 10, sustained la fractured leg; James, aged 3, Jwas bruised about the face and (sustained a froctured leg; Helen, ' I aged 2, was bruised about the face land sustained a fractured leg; Mr. J I Watkins received severe bruises. I Abbott, the driver of the truck, Jwas standing beside the truck at j the time of the crash. He received ja fractured leg and bruises about jthe head. The accident occurred during a J heavy rain storm. Rollins Re-elected Head Vance Schools HENDERSON, May 24?E. M. J Rollins was unanimously re-elected J superintendent of schools of Vance county at a meeting of the county beard of education on Monday. He was first elected in 1912 and has served continuously since that time and the new term of two years will, at its completion, make a to*-"1 m vpars he has served in uai vi xw j - that capacity. In 1923 he was elected superintendent of the city schools and since that time has been head of both city and county systems. Mr. and Mrs. John Garrett and Mr. William Palmer were dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. Edgar i.Brantley at Henderson last night. Sterol 26, 1933 Subset Prison for Boy ' i i Despite a highly emotional trial a jury of twelve married men. returned a verdict of murder in the second | degree against Harry Murch, 16-yearold N. Y school boy for stabbing a 12-year-old playmate to death. The penalty is 20 years to life imprisoa-J meat. Warren Affairs In Good Condition, Grand Jury Says Affairs in Warren county are in good shape, according to the grand jury report turned in to Judge Frank Daniels late yesterday afterday afternoon. The reports recommends that a rest rocm for ladies be erected in the east end of the Register of Deed's office as soon as possible, and that a ceiling in the room occupied by Miss Lucy Leach be painted. The county commissioners were especially commended for the manner in which they have handled the county affairs, and a word of praise frcm the investigating body for Mrs. E. 0. Lovell for her action in preventing an attempted jail break. In accepting the report Judge Daniels thanked the men who had served on the Grand Jury, complimented the county for the fine record it always maintains and spoke of his pleasure in coming to Warrentcn. "I have been coming to your county for a good many years now and I always find it a pleasure to be here," the jurist said. He added:' "I don'.t know how much longer I will be coming to Warrenton, but t trust that I may have the pleasure of seeing you gentlemen cnce again." The report in full follows: "Hon. Frank A. uanieis, judge Presiding "May Term 1933 Superior Court "Warren County, North Carolina. "We, the Grand Jury selected for the above term beg to make the following report. "We have carefully examined witnesses and passed on all bills presented to us by the Solicitor. W. H. S. Burgwyn. We have examined witnesses and made presentments in all matters brought to our attention. We have visited the County Home by committee, we find the property and premises clean and in good condition, and inmates well cared for. "We examined the jail in body and found same in good condition. "All offices in Court House were visited by committee and found to be in excellent' condition. We recommend that the ceiling in the cffice occupied by Miss Lucy Lcach be painted. "We also recommend that a rest room for women be erected in the East End of the Register of Deed's - - ? 1-- ? ??:uirt Dliioe as cany aa pu^iuic. <rWe find the following J. P.'s have not made their report to the (Continued on Page 8) .Displeased Rockefellers Diego Rivera, celebrated Mexican mural painter, whose work was halted ' ] and payment made in full for the ( fresco he was working on in Rockefeller Center, R.C.A. building. The Rockefeller family objected to the r portraying of Lenin and red flags in S the mural 4 r\ f ription Price, $1.50 a Tte??. Penalty On 1932 1 Taxes Cut In Half, London Writes Penalty on unpaid 1932 taxes, beginning February 1, 1933, was ^ cut from 1 per cent a month to one-half per cent per month, according to a letter received this week by John B. Phlmer of W!arrenton from H. M. London, legislative reference librarian. "This ap- ^ plies also to towns in the counties w affected, among which is Warren C( county," Mr. London added. g Under date of May 22, Mr. Lon- tl don wrote: "The provision in the a new 1933 Machinery act under ^ 'Quadrennial Assessment' allows p the county commissioners to make j, a horizontial cut or a quadren- n nial assessment. In the counties of Mecklenburg, Tyrrell and Lincoln j only it is mandatory on the com- D missioners to make a horizontal j cut of not less than 33 1-3 per cent. ^ The News and Observer was in er- h ror in stating that this horizontal C( cut of 'not less than 33 1-2 per cent cf the present assessed valuation 0 was optional in all counties.'" le The board of commissioners of a Warren county at the first Mon- y day in April meeting ordered a s) horizontal cut of 25 per cent. n b John W. Allen b Observes Birthday ? John W. Allen, one of the five ^ remaining Civil War veterans in Warren county, celebrated his 87th ^ birthday quietly at his home here 1 on Monday in what he describes ? as one of the biggest days of his life. J Friends of town and country began dropping in at the Allen home early on Monday morning and it was after 9 o'clock that night before the last of the guests departed. ' Many of these visitors not only I i i_i. ~ fV?oir <rrwi I pruugllb tile vciCian WJHVH4 wishes but also presented memen- ^ toes of the occasion. Mr. Allen said yesterday that he ? had not felt as good in several a months as he felt on Monday and t( asked that this newspaper express n his appreciation for the thought- 8 fulness of his friends. h " rtfTTrfte-of-hte-e'?-years, Mr. Allen V experiences no difficulty in read- ? ing without glasses and appears 11 remarkably healthy for a man of his years. For 60 years he has y served as a magistrate of Warren ti county and takes a great deal of g pride in this record. He said that a: he had no idea how many cases ei he had tried during that period, but he guessed that he had mar- g ried about 1500 coupes during his T tenure of office. Mr. Allen added t< that many of these ceremonies o were performed shortly after the n Civil War when it became neces- ri sary for former slaves, living to- E gether under their master's sane- E tion, to be legally married. o Auxiliary To Sell J Poppies Saturday s A America's flower of patriotic re- v, membrance will be carried to the n people of Warrenton on Saturday, a; May 27, by corps of women volun- a teers organied for the work with c< ?rmv efficiency. Completion of the ti organization for the poppy sale was J announced today by Mrs. H. W. Isr Rodwell, poppy chairman of the w Limer Post Unit of the American tl Legion Auxiliary. More than 15 ts women have enrolled in the poppy a! forces. c i The local poppy corps will be a si part of an army of 100,000 women w who will go into action on a na- tl ticn-wide front on Poppy Day to cl recal to America the services of the w World War dead and to raise the re funds to aid the war's living vie- di tims. Before the close of the day bi these women hope to place the b< flower of remembrance on ten mil- d< lion coats, and to receive contribu- uj tiens which will enable the Amer- b ican Legion Auxiliary to carry on o\ its relief and rehabilitation work cl for disabled veterans and needy de families during the . coming year. h( Making poppies for the sale has le given hundreds of disabled veterans to employment through the winter and H spring- months. These disabled men I h( are the only workers in the Aux- I Bi diary's poppy program receiving ga pay, all others donating their serv- C. ices. All contributions received above the cost of making the pop- fri pies is used in the Auxiliary's wel- wl fare work. te W( QUARTERLY CONFERENCE ht Quarterly Conference will be ht held at Warren Plains on Satur- ar day at 11 o'clock, the Rev. E. C. Durham, Methodist minister, an- fj, lounced yesterday. Following the ge lermon and business meeting, co lunch will be served. MOST OF THE NEWS ALL THE TIME ;'*y NUMBER 22 YRECK CASE TO BE TRIED TODAY iorthington Trial to Mark End Crimipal Procedure At May Term )ANIELS IS PRESIDING The trial this morning of W . H. orthington on an assault charge 111 bring to a close criminal procure in this session of Warren's uperior Court. With the closing of lis case, which resulted from an utomobile wreck that occurred beiveen Northington and Mrs. P. R. egram of Vaughan, the wheels of ustice will be set in motion on latters of a civil nature. Court opened here Monday with udge Frank Daniels of Goldsboro residing and Solicitor W. H a iurgwyn of Woodland prosecuting. Ithough the docket was somewhat eavy, it contained no cases of aunty-wide interest. Yesterday was spent in the trial f Ed Hudson, one of the men aliged to have accompanied Roger nd Bennie Falkener and Aubrey Williams when Roy Davis' service Lation was broken into on the ight of March 1, 1932, and robed cf a radio, shotguns and rifle, athing suit, clock, sparkplugs and ther items which amounted to bout $300. The two Falkeners were tried at tie May term of court last year nd are serving time for the of;nse. They came from the prison amp yesterday to testify that Ed [udson was with them when the rime was committed and that he jceived his portion of the stolen aods. Hudson denied the charge, nd stated that he was not in barren county at the time. Witesses testified that they had seen Lm here. Roger Falkener admitted that he ad signed a paper before Governor ollard of Virginia stating that Ed [udson was not with tme when the ervice station was broken into. He jld the court yesterday that he lade the statement before the Virinia for the reason that Hudson ad come to the outside of the barren county jail where he wpa icarcerated and threatened his - fe if he implicated him. Just before court adjourned late esterday afternoon the Jury reamed a verdict that Hudson was UJLXl/jr U1 oiAsic-vicaiuxig, laiicuy, nd receiving. Sentence is expecti to be passed this morning. John Burchette, Warrenton nero, was convicted of manslaughter "uesday afternoon and sentenced > jail, assigned to work the roads f the State, for a period of six lonths. The manslaughter charge ssulted from the death of John ieid, local negro blacksmith, whom turchette struck with a cold chisel n the 30th day of August, 1932. The verdict of the jury removed rom the criminal docket a case hat had been pending since the eptember term of court last year. ,t that time members of the Jury rere unable to agree as to the inocence or guilt of the accused man nd Judge Paul Frizzelle ordered mistrial. At the January term of 5urt, Judge Daniels agreed to connue the case until May. Burchette was at Reid's blacknith shop on August 30. Ed Baldin, Warrenton negro, was also lere. Burchette and Reid were Liking and joking one another aout school closing when Reid ime over to where Burchette was tting and got a drink of water. Tiat was left in the dipper he i t-? i ii.i. r),,M irew in isurcnene s lace. xjui lette picked up the bucket of ater and threw it on Reid. Reid marked "Old John liked to have rowned me that time," and went ick to the wheel on which he had sen working. There he reached )wn in the slack barrel, gathered 3 some water and dashed it on urchette. Burchette reached back <er his head, grabbed a cold lisel and threw it at Reid. The sath bearing mlssle went to the sad of the blacksmith. Burchette ft immediately and Reid walked the office of Dr. W. D. Rodgers. e died later in a Rocky Mount sspital with a fractured skull, rrchette came to Warrenton and tve himself up to Magistrate W. Fagg. The two negroes were close lends, according to the witnesses 10 came into the court room to stify. Burchette said that Reid as one of the best friends that > had, and that prior to his death > stopped by his home every night id read him a newspaper and lapters frcm the Bible. He testl;d that he and Reid worked toither frequently and told the urt that he was not mad with (Continued oo Page 8)