Warrenton Me-n.Libi
117 S.Maln St.
Warrenton, N.C. 27 59i
Wc\t Marrat fRecard
Volume 94 25e Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, September 13, 1989 Number 37
GEN. CLAUDE BOWERS
General Claude Bowers
Dies Tuesday At Age 90
Major General Claude T.
Bowers, 90?the Warrenton resi
dent who was appointed Adjutant
General of North Carolina and for
whom the state National Guard
facility in Raleigh was named
died Tuesday, Sept. 12.
A native of Halifax County, he
was born July 18, 1899 and was
the son of the late T. R. Bowers
and Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Dowtin
Bowers. In 1918, Gen. Bowers
entered North Carolina State Col
lege, where he joined the United
States Army Student Army
Training Corps, continuing that
affiliation until the corps was
disbanded after the World War I
Armistice.
In 1921, Gen Bowers enlisted in
the North Carolina National
Guard, Company B, 120th Infan
try, 30tb "Old Hickory" Infantry
Division, serving until called in
to active duty on Sept. 16,1940. He
was also given various assign
ments in the First Division and
the Third Army in Europe, which
continued until the end of World
War II. He was promoted to Col
onel in July^l945, and was
(Continued on page 10)
iv\an Accused Ot Selling
Timber Of Others Jailed
The Roanoke Rapids man?
who failed to appear in Warren
County District Court last month
on a charge of selling $23,000
worth of timber which was not his
property?was brought back to
Warren County from Georgia last
week and released on bond to
await a preliminary hearing
scheduled here next month.
David Langston, 29, had been
charged in July with obtaining
property by means of false
pretenses, after allegedly selling
timber to a Jamesville logging
company. Hie timber had been
cut in the Enterprise community
near Littleton and was the prop
erty of the family of Forrest
Ryals.
After the suspect failed to ap
pear in Warren County District
Court for a preliminary hearing
last month, a warrant was issued
for his arrest and bond set at
15,000.
According to Sgt. Lawrence
Harrison, Warren County Sher
iff's personnel learned last week
that Langston had been appre
hended and confined in the Col
umbia County Detention Center
in Georgia. A fugitive warrant
was issued last week and the sus
pect waived extradition.
Sgt. Harrison was dispatched
Thursday evening to the facility,
located about 10 miles outside of
Augusta, Ga., and returned to
Warren County on Friday of last
week. After Langston's $5,000
bond was posted last weekend, he
was released. The suspect's next
preliminary hearing in Warren
County District Court has been
scheduled for Oct. 18.
Low Tar Heel SAT Scores Fail
To Produce Surprise In Warren
Educators Are Not
Caught Off Guard
By THURLETTA M. BROWN
News Editor
Tuesday morning's televised
and printed announcements that
the mean SAT scores of North
Carolina's students had slipped
one more notch?dropping from
49th to 50th in the nation?did not
catch the Warren County Board
of Education off guard.
Superintendent of Schools Dr.
John Thompson had received ad
vance notification from the office
of the State Superintendent that
South Carolina and North Caro
lina had "traded places" with
regard to student performance on
the Scholastic Aptitude Test
(SAT).
At press time, the Warren
County Schools central office had
not received statistics concerning
the performance of local students
on the test.
The SAT, a standardized test
administered by Educational
Testing Service (ETS) for the
College Board, is used by many
colleges to select students for ad
mission. Divided into two parts,
students receive separate sub
scores, ranging from 200 to 800,
for the verbal and math sections
of the test. Combined scores on
the test range from 400 to 1600.
Each year, the College Board
publishes mean scores of stu
dents from the test administra
tions of the previous school year.
With that information comes
the caution that states should not
be ranked according to the mean
scores of their students.
But each year, that caution is
ignored.
And each year, assumptions
are made with regard to the
quality of education provided by
the lower-ranked states.
According to Tuesday morn
ing's media reports, the national
average this year for the SAT is
950 out of a possible 1600 points.
North Carolina's average is 836.
The state was ranked lowest on
the verbal subscore, and was tied
with the District of Columbia and
South Carolina on the math
subscore.
"A test preparation component
should be implemented into the
Warren County school system to
prepare our students to take
standardized tests," Dr. Thomp
son told the board Monday night.
Questions had been raised con
cerning test preparation courses
for those juniors who would be
taking the PSAT/NMSQT (a pre
liminary SAT test which is used
in the competition for scholar
ships awarded by the National
Merit Scholarship Corporation)
and seniors who would take the
SAT. Also discussed had been
SAT-preparation programs to be
(Continued on page 10)
Illegal Drugs Confiscated Friday
Illegal drugs valued at over
1800,000 were confiscated on Fri
day of last week in Warren and
Vance counties, following a raid
conducted by the combined
forces of law enforcement of
ficers from Warren and Vance
counties, and the N. C. Highway
Patrol.
According to Warren County
Det H. B. Askew, a search of six
undisclosed sites in Warren Coun
ty resulted in the discovery of 400
marijuana and a quantity of
"This was just a part of the
continuing crackdown on drug
pushers that has been taking
place all summer long," Askew
said. "It's a long and hard pro
cess, but we're going to try to get
as much of it off the streets as we
can."
Det. Askew said that over
$2 million in drugs have been con
fiscated this year in Warren
County.
In the Vance County portion of
the search in an area off Satter
white Road near 1-05, an addi
tional 100 marijuana plants were
found.
Acting on information received
from two state officers in a N. C.
Highway Patrol helicopter, War
ren and Vance county officers
went on foot to the sites and cut
down the marijuana plants. The
marijuana plants were destroyed
by fire at the Warren County
Landfill.
Det. Askew said that arrests
were pending, but declined to
give more information.
In addition to Askew, other
Warren County Sheriff's person
nel involved in the bust were:
Chief Deputy D. B. Bolton, Sgt.
Harold Seaman, Deputy J. A.
McCowan and Animal Control Of
ficer J. M. Williams. The Vance
Coisity officers were: Det. Sgt.
W. R. Currin, Det. D. J. Johnson
and Deputy W. H. Aiken. Norlina
Police LL James Champion also
participated in the drug-eradi
cation effort.
Warren County EMS workers remove Gertrude
Hooker, above, from a 1982 Chevrolet she had beep
driving after it was struck on the right side by a
1989 Ford Escort, pictured below, at the intersec
tion of SR 1001 and the Manson-Axtell Road (SR
1100). Booker and three passengers In the other
vehicle were all treated and released from Maria
Parfaam Hospital. Damage to the Chevrolet was set
at $1,000, while damage to the Ford was estimated
at $10,500. (Staff Photos by Diane Davis)
4 Persons Hurt In Monday Wreck
Four people were injured in a
two-car collision at the intersec
tion of SR1001 and the Manson
Axtell Road (SR 1100) Monday
morning just before eight o'clock.
Ms. Mamie Gertrude Rooker,
49, of Warrenton, was driving a
1982 Chevrolet west on SR 1001
when the vehicle was struck on
its right side as it entered the in
tersection with SR 1100. The vehi
cle is owned by M. R. Williams
Wholesale Distributors.
The other vehicle, a 1989 Ford,
struck the Chevrolet as it entered
the intersection. It was driven by
Bennie Bernard Richardson, 17,
of Rt. 7, Henderson, who was
charged with failure to stop at a
stop sign.
Ms. Rooker, Richardson and
the passengers in Richardson's
car, Edward Seward, 38, of Rt. 7,
Henderson, and Ervin Terry, 20,
of Welcome Avenue in Hender
son, were taken to Maria Parham
Hospital. All four were treated
and released, according to a
hospital spokesperson.
Damage to Rooker's car was
estimated at $1,000, while,
damage to Richardson's auto was
set at $10,500.
Week Of Fun And Amusement To Begin
For Warren Residents On Next Monday
Inners Amusement Company
will return again to provide a
total of 16 rides for this year's
week-long fair, to be held Sept.
18-23. These rides will include the
ferris wheel and merry-go-round,
he said, and many others.
The gates will open Monday,
Tuesday and Friday at 6 p.m.,
and the fair is scheduled to open
Wednesday at 3 p.m. and Satur
day at 1 p.m. for school days.
By DIANE DAVIS
Staff Writer
Area children and adults will
find themselves provided with
plenty of fun and amusement
when the Warren County Fair
comes to town next week.
J. B. Thompson, fair manager,
said Monday morning that the
fair is "guaranteed to be in full
swing" next Monday night, Sept.
18, when the gates open at 6 p.m.
Prizes worth a total of $150 will
be offered on Wednesday, with a
drawing to be held at 7 p.m.
Tickets for fair day will be
distributed in all the schools, and
all students are encouraged to
keep their ticket stubs to remain
eligible for the drawing.
The cost for all rides will be of
fered at a special rate until 7 p.m.
each school day.
Home-cooked meals, hot dogs,
hamburgers and french fries will
be served by members of the
Warrenton Lioness Club in the
air-conditioned dining room in
side the Lion's Den. All food will
be prepared by Dorsey Capps
and his staff, Thompson said.
Exhibits can be entered on
Monday, between the hours of
8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. All exhibits
will be Judged beginning at 9 a.m.
on Tuesday.
On Monday night, fairgoers
can pay one price to get into the
fair and ride all of the rides at no
extra cost.
Tuesday night will offer senior
citizens free admission, and in
dustrial employees will be ad
mitted free with a pass.
Fireman and their families will
not be charged admission Thurs
day night.
The fair will open Saturday at
1 pm Premiums for winners win
be paid Saturday from 8 a.m. un
til 13 noon. Exhibitors who fail to
(Continued on page 10)
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