?mmr" ~" -???? Printing .756, Lo?i?i Hrrorii VOLUME 73 Subscription: $3.00 A Year; $4.00 Out Of State, 10? Per Copy WARRENTON, COUNTY OF WARREN, N. C. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1969 NUMBE R 41 WHERE TORNADO STRl'CK AT BETHLEHEM CHURCH Time Of Terror Tornado Strikes Near Eaton's Ferry WIND DESTROYS NAVE OF BETIILEMEN CHRISTIAN CHURCH BROKEN AND IIP-ROOTED TREES IN TORNADO'S PATH ACROSS THE KOAD. NORTH. WIND SCATTERS DEBRIS . 3' SHSBMt B.v BIGNALL JONES A tornado, which struck first In the Vaughan section around 2 o'clock on last Thursday afternoon and leaped to the Lake Gaston Bridge area, caus ed thousands of dollars worth of damage to buildings and trees with the greatest damage occur ring in a half-mile stretch from Bethlehem Christian Church to a point a short distance south of Eaton Ferry Bridge. Due to the widespread area anything like an accurate esti mate of damage is hard to de termine. The greatest loss occurred to Bethlehem Christian Church whose front part was broken off. A nearby hay barn belonging to A, S. Bugg was blown away. Just this side of the Church Grey's Store had part of its roof and the back part of the building blown away. In the yard of the store at the time was a Pine State milk truck, which had its windshield blown out, and re cords and money taken away by the wind. Two hundred yards northwest of Grey's Store, part of the roof and the windows of a dwelling house had been de stroyed, and a short distance northeast the winds had twisted and torn down a section of pine woods and Friday afternoon it looked like'a bulldozer had cut a path some 50 yards wide and two or three hundred yards deep In these woods. Friday afternoon the writer followed the path of the tornado as well as it could be follow ed on the highway and other roads and with a short trip on foot. He talked to many of those who suffered loss, who witnessed the tornado, and with those who knew five minu tes of sheer terror as the tornado struck the buildings they were inhabiting. It took hardly more than five minutes for the storm to pass over, but they were a terrible five minu tes, several of the persons in volved said. The tornado seems to have originated just south of the rail road a half mile west of Vaughan where It damaged sev eral buildings, leaped about a 31 lie and a half where It dam aged more buildings and trees and then again touched town near Grey's Store and the timbers bordering Gaston Lake. From there it crossed Gaston Lake lifting a sheet of water 50 feet Into the air, according to a man who was fishing beneath Gaston Lake bridge. Heavy rains proceeded and followed the tornado, but witnesses said there was little or no rain when the tornado struck. At Vaughan the homes of Sam Powell and George L. Bullock on the old Macon-Vaughan dirt road were struck by the twis ter. At the home of Powell a shed attached to the rtahla and part <X the stable was blown away. His neighbor, George Bullock, had the top of his stable blown away and his smokehouse de stroyed. - ; l : ? nearby Vaughan a resident, who insisted that Us name not ha uqed, told of seeing the horl big Ay and timbers aad tin circling in the wind. He wi the timber and tea from on the Powell m .jF^?.-V'V Commissioners Consider Sunday Sale Of Beer, And Wine Only In ABC Stores? Air Strip To Be Built At Old Airfield Site Plans are underway for a 2,000-foot air strip to be built on the site of the old Airport between Warrenton and Macon, Frank Reams, County Industrial Director, told the board of coun ty commissioners Monday morning when he appeared be fore that body to request a small amount of financial assistance from the county. Reams said that the strip would be 100 feet wide and 2,000 feet long which would be large enough to handle all business type planes and some small jets. He SEld that Hal Connell had agreed 'o sub-rent the property, which he rents from the W. H. Dameron estate, for $150 a year. The strip would be built and maintained by the local National Guard Engineering Company for only the cost of deisel fuel. In addition the county might be required to pay for drainage pipe between the road and the strip. He esti mated that this would cost around $68 and expressed the hope that the state would pay for this pipe. At the most, he said, building the strip would hardly cost the county more than $250 the first year, and $200 each year thereafter for the lease and fuel oil used in main tenance. He said that the Cochranes, who are presently grading land here for a furniture factory, have their own plane, and many prospects for other Industries use their own planes. In ad dition, he said, It would be a great convenience for many persons visiting the county. At present these persons have to use the airstrip at Oliver Davis' development on Gaston Lake, some 15 miles from Warrenton, the Roanoke Rapids field or the Raleigh-Durham Airport. He said the airstrip would not only be a great convenience to per sons now having business in the county, but would be a further Inducement In attracting other Industries to the county. The commissioners agreed that the air strip would be a great convenience to the county and Is badly needed but said, | unfortunately, the county does not have any money budgeted for this purpose and does not know where they could find the money. They agreed, however, if any surplus was left at the end of the fiscal year to reim burse the Industrial Commis sion for funds on hand and al lotted for other purposes. No minute was made of "the gen tleman's agreement," which should Insure the building of the strip. The commissioners placed In the 1969-70 budget the sum of $1,000 to be used toward the extension of sewer and water lines to industrial sites in the county. Selby Benton, presi dent of Bute Development Com pany, appeared before the com missioners to Inform them that a quarterly payment of $250 was now due Hal Connell for work at Norlina, and to request that the remainder of the bud geted fund be given first priority and allotted to Bute Development Company for water and sewer lines to Coch rane Furniture Plant, where construction is to start soon. The commissioners agreed after Frank Reams, Industrial Director, had told them that there was no chance that any other funds for this purpose (See AIR STRIP, page 4) Norlina And Warrenton To Play Here Friday The Norlina Blue Waves, In a re-bulldlng program, will be seeking their first win and the John Graham Yellow Jack ets will be seeking to again get In the win column following Its loss to Loulsburg, when the two teams meet on the John Gra ham Athletic Field on Friday night. The Yellow Jackets have a record of three losses and one win. They have lossed to Park View, Weldon and Loulsburg, and a high scoring win over William R. Davie. Park View, Weldon and Loulsburg are un defeated and are leading their conferences. ivh m jii 1 LEDELL Policeman Replaced By Town William Ledell, 36, of Roa noke Township, has been ap pointed Negro policeman (or the Town of Warrenton by the Board of Town Commission ers. He succeeds Theodore Wil liams, who has served in this capacity since July 1. Williams resigned to accept a position as Deputy with the War ren County Sheriff's Depart ment, succeeding Theodore Vaughan, recently released by the county. Ledell has had two years police <_yperience with the Mili tary Police in Germany. He has recently been self-employed as a carpenter. He is a grad uate of John R. Hawkins High School. Ledell is married and the father of five children. Mrs. Ledell is employed at the Jay Too plant at Littleton. wneuier wine sales snouiu oe restricted to the ABC stores and whether beer should be sold in the county on Sunday may be determined by the Board of County Commissioners at their November meeting. Off-premises sale ofbeeriji the county on Surday has been permitted for some time in Ma con as well as at Middleburg in Vance County. Tommy Blanks, operator of Blanks' Minute Mart on the Norlina Road, told the commis sioners at their meeting here Monday morning that this works a hardship on country mer chants. He said that it is not so much the loss of profits from beer sales as it is the loss of sales on other products. Cus tomers buying beer often buy gasoline, bread, luncheon meats and other merchandise. Know ing that he does not handle beer they do not stop but go to Norlina, he said. Charlie Williams, who oper ates a store in the Snow Hill Community, was before the commissioners at their Sept. meeting asking that the com missioners permit the sale of beer on Sunday, and using the same arguments used by Blanks at the Monday meet ing. Williams was also pre sent at the Monday meeting and added his support to Blanks' plea. The commissioners told Blanks and Williams thai the county commissioners had no authority over the sale of beer in Incorporated towns of the county, and agTeed to table any action until the next meeting so that more thought could be given the matter. Williams're quest at the September meet ing of the board had also been tabled for the same reason. After Blanks and Williams had left, John Brltt of Hender son, State ABC officer for Vance and Warren County and Sheriff Clarence Davis appeared before the commissioners to give their views at the request of the commissioners. Brltt told the commissioners that Sunday sale of beer would greatly simplify the enforce ment of the ABC laws, as both beer and wine Is being Illegally sold In the county on Sunday. Law enforcement officers know this, he said, but It Is very dif ficult to catch the violators. He recommended thai should beer sales be permitted in the county on Sunday that it should not be permitted during church hours and thai only off-premises per mits be issued. Britt further recommended that all wine sales be restrict ed to the ABC stores. Sale of cheap wine is one of the coun ty's biggest problems, he said, (to explained that most of the cheaper wine. is made from <*>?} of wbiafcermanHfacture with enough alcohofr added to bring It up to 30 per cent alcohol. This makes a me an type (See BEER, page 4) Youth Program To Be Combined Here The youth program In four churches of Warrenton will be combined. At a special meeting in the basement _ of the apartment house of First Baptist Church on Monday night, youth coun selors from the Baptist, Epis copal, Methodist Churches, along with some of the youth leaders, met and voted to com bine the program in the four churches. To be known as the Community Youth Fellowship or CYF, the program will in volve some 70 young people, ages 12 through it-. ?- '.y The group will be divided Into two sections with ages 12 through 14 meeting at the Meth odist Church and IS through 18 meeting at the Baptist Church. Counselors from all churches will help to coordinate the program and lead In the acti vities. The first meeting will be held on Sunday, Oct. 12, at 6 p.m. Viice County Bond Refuses To CfcaRft A number ot parents from Warren County am and be fore the Vance County Board of Education at * called meeting last Tuesday night request fog that their children remain ta 1 The board took no reverse its ) Oaaaty by Oct. 1,< H Peeler Tells Procedure After Pupil Withdrawal Supt. J. R. Peeler of Warren County Schools has written par ents of Warren County school children entered In Vancr- Coun ty Schools and then withdrawn, explaining procedure that fol lowed. The letter follows: It has been brought to my at tention that a number of par ents whose children have re cently been denied admission to Vance County Schools are stating that I was responsible for the action taken by the Vance County Board of Educa tion. The purpose of this latter is to present the facts in the case. They are ss follows: 1. The superintendent of schools and-or the Warren County Board at Education had nothing to do with the children being assigned to thft* Vance County schools and to the sub sequent denial of enrollment by the Vance County school auth orities. The entire decision was Tarn If; ; %?* r ' Education being responsible for their attendance In a school. 3. Vance County school auth orities did not ask the Warren County Board of Education for an agreement on assignment of pupils; therefore, any exchange of teachers between the two units was Impossible. Teachers are allotted by the State Board of Education. The controller of the State Board of Education Informed me (without Inquiring If we tad a surplus of teachers) that the St*e could not legally allot Vance County additional teachers because of the court order of Judge Algernon Butler, (See PEELER, page Q CORRECTION Malvern Halthcock, Jr., president of "Concerned Citi zens of Warren County" said that the account of the delega tion'* Hpeenaoe before the Board ot Education last lE&vSi v

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