THE ZEBULON RECORD
Volume XXIV. Number 17
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Pictured is Staley Denton, linotype operator for Theo. Davis Sons, at
work on a statistical table for a set of associational minutes. The local
printshop is the largest producer of these minutes in the South. The
tabular work is painstaking, with thousands of figures on the small
est tables. Each figure must be correct, and for perfect alignment
the lines must be accurate to .007 inch horizontally and .0005 inch ver
tically.—Record staff photo.
Staley Denton Is a Linotypist, But
He Also Qualifies as an Old-Timer
This article is the second in a series designed to acquaint you with
the men and machines that produce your newspaper.
Some of the workers at the Theo. Davis Sons plant have been
with the printshop since it was founded, but Staley Denton goes
them one better. He has been in the printing business in Zebulon
longer than there has been a permanent printing establishment
D. D. Chamblee Makes
Talk on Agricultural
Progress in Community
“This whole community will be
hurt,” D. D. Chamblee told the
Zebulon Rotarians Friday night,
“if the farmers do not learn di
versified farming before the bot
tom drops from under tobacco
prices.” D. D. explained at length
hpw the one-crop system is a one
way ticket to poverty.
Members of the club were call
ed on for comments regarding
what best can be grown in this
part of the state to replace to
some extent the tobacco now
planted.
Sweet potatoes were cited as an
excellent money crop when prop
erly grown and graded. “But,”
warned Early Moser, “it takes
smarter farming to grow sweet po
tatoes for the market than it does
to grow tobacco.”
D. D. advised that much of the
land now going to waste in Wake
and surrounding counties could be
successfully used for cattle, but he
reminded the club that before cat
tle can be grown at a profit here,
a market where they can be sold
must be available.
in the town. Staley started his
printing career back in 1921 under
A. L. G. Stephenson on the old
Zebulon News. He moved to Siler
City in 1924 when Baylus Whitley
carried the News, shop and all to
that town, and returned to Zebu
lon in 1937.
Staley first saw the light of day
in Franklin County (he was born
near Pilot), but his parents, the E.
P. Dentons, moved to Zebulon
when he was so small that the
first thing he remembers is seeing
the few buildings in town around
1907 or ’OB.
Old BuiMings Listed
Among them were John Bunn’s
wooden building which burned
some years ago, located on the lot
next to Bunn Electric Co., the
Bank of Zebulon edifice, the old
frame N. B. Finch store, Robertson
and Nichols’ store (now City Mar
ket), L. R. Temple’s grocery, W.
G. Cone’s store (where Worth
Hinton’s dry cleaning plant is now
located), the hardware store
building, the old drug store (now
occupied by Martin’s Case), A. G.
Kemp,s store, and the old Zebu
lon Supply Store.
At that time from Martin’s Case
to the present bank building there
were no stores at all, and there
(Continued on Page 7)
Zebulon, N. C., Friday, June 6,1947
Town Board Votes to Drill Deep
Well, Make Extension of Sewer
In their first official meeting, Zebulon’s nev Board of Commissioners ordered wells to be
drilled immediately to replace the present water supply system of the town. The motion was unani
mously passed after costs of operation and maintenance of the present system were discussed.
Construction of sewer lines costing about $4700 a’so was ordered by the Board.
Mayor R. H. Bridgers spoke strongly in favor of drilled wells as a source of water, telling of his
Cannery Contributions
Returned to Donors
By Local School Board
The Wakelon School Board,,
meeting Monday night, June 2,
voted to return all funds given to
the school cannery project, and
checks were mailed Tuesday by
Principal Roy Lowry to the origin
al donors.
A total of $699.04 was contribut
ed by residents of the community
during the 1944-45 school term for
use in equipping a cannery in co
operation with a federal govern
ment project. The government,
however, withdrew its support af
ter the local community lived up to
its part of the agreement, and as- 1
ter the county school board had
agreed to assume part of the cost
of construction and equipment.
Foods canned by the school unit
were to be used, in part, in the!
school lunchroom. (At present thej
Wakelon lunchroom is cited
throughout the state as an out
standing example of school cafe
terias, and was selected last year
by the State Board of Education as
a model unit to be shown to the
Finnish minister of education, then
on an inspection tour of American
schools.)
The local school board retained
the funds for nearly three years
hoping that the federal govern- j
ment might reverse itself again,
but with no prospect of building
the cannery in the near future, the
decision to return the funds was
made.
Six More New Homes
In Zebulon Soon to Be
Ready for Occupancy
Six new homes in Zebulon are
nearing completion, and will be
ready for occupancy in approxi
mately a month. Exterior work on
the Fred Beck residence and the
R. L. Phillips residence, both on
Arendell Avenue near the school
house, has been completed, as it
has on the Earl Horton home south
of Zebulon on the Morpheus Bridge
road and the Ferd Davis home on
Sycamore Street.
The Baptist parsonage and the
house being built by Riggsbee
Massey next to the Sherwood
Chamblee home on Sycamore
Street have been stormsheeted, and
are ready for brick veneering and
weatherboarding.
These homes will make a total
of 23 new houses completed within
a one-mile radius of Zebulon since
last June.
Masonic Notice
A
Special communication
Zebulon Lodge No. 609
Friday night, June 6, 8:00 pm
for work in the first degree
recent trips to neighboring towns
which are supplied by wells.
According to figures given by
the Town Clerk, cost of electricity
to power the present system ip l
Zebulon rurs about $l7O per
month. Chemicals cost the town 1
S7O monthly, bringing the actual
operating expenses to about $240
per month.
In additon, the Board was told,
the 1,000 foot water line from the
Little River pumping station to the 1
water plant in Zebulon is so filled
with sediment that immediate
cleaning is necessary. Cost of this
is estimated at SISOO. Many sec
tions of the water line are above
ground, needing to be reburied.
The 2300-volt power line running
| to the river pumps is in a state of
! disrepair, requiring immediate at
tention.
Mayor Bridgers compared these
figures with the operating costs of
the Spring Hope system, which
1 uses wells. That town, using near
| ly twice as much water as Zebu
| lon, pays actual operating expenses
of less than SBS per month for
! electricity, has no chemical costs,
and maintenance costs are prac
tically non-existent.
If the drilling is successful and
the wells put into operation, the
Town of Zebulon will save enough
in their operation to pay for the
wells and new equipment within
three to four years,
#
Engineer Gives Opinion
Mr. J. D. Davis of Durham met
with the Board to give an estimate
of the costs of four proposed sewer
extensions which were approved
by the old Board of Commissioners
Three of the four were reapproved
for immediate construction. The
fourth, which was planned to run
from back of Phil-Ette Motor
Company 1,100 feet along Highway
US 64 to join with the county sew
er line, wa postponed indefinitely
by the Board. Cost of this line
was estimated at $3,000.
The first of the three lines which
were approved will run north
along Arendall Avenue to the city
limits, the second will go one block
to Gill Avenue at the cemetery,
and the third one block along Sy
camore Street to the corner of
Liberty and Sycamore. Costs will
be about $4700.
Bids for the sewer extensions
will be accepted until 11 a.m.,
Monday, June 16, and the Board of
Commissioners will meet Monday
night to consider the bids and
award the contract for the work,
which should begin immediately
thereafter.
Compensation Studied
The Board asked that a study be
made of costs and benefits of
workmen’s compensation insurance
for employees of the town, includ
ing the policemen, street worekrs,
and firemen.
The tax rate for Zebulon was
again set at $1.85 on the hundred.
After consdering the necessary ex
penditures for the coming year,
| the Board felt that a reduction in
(Continued on Page 7)
Theo. Davis Sons, Telephone 2561
Chamber of Commerce
Organized Last Night;
Fourteen Pledge Dues
The Zebulon Chamber of Com
merce was officially organized
last night when a group met in
the Masonic hall to adopt a consti
tution and by-laws for the organi
zation. Fourteen members were
present at the meeting, and over
three hundred dollars in member
ship dues was pledged for the
coming year. Bob Sawyer, man
ager of Colonial Frozen Foods,
presided.
The next regular, meeting of the
group will be held Thursday night,
June 26, at 8:00.
The chairman called the meet
ing to order and temporary secre
tary Barrie Davis read the propos
ed constitution and by-laws as pre
pared and recommended by the
constitution committee. Both were
adopted without change by those
I present.
Committees Appointed
After the adoption of the con
stitution and by-laws. Sawyer ap
pointed Ralph Talton to head a
committee to solicit memberships
from businesses. He named Ra
leigh Alford, Ed Hales, Avon
Privette, R. H. Bridgers, and Vance
Brown to work with him.
Purpose of the Zebulon Cham
ber of Commerce, as stated in the
constitution, is to promote the civ
ic, commercial, industrial, eco
nomic, social and general welfare
of Zebulon and its surrounding
communities.
Memberships for the Chamber
of Commerce will be signed for
the next two weeks. Associations,
corporations and estates will pay
$25.00 per year, and individuals
will pay SIO.OO per year dues.
To sign individual memberships
he appointed Howard Beck, M. J.
Sexton, Joseph Tonkel, Ferd Davis,
(Continued on Page 7)
W. L. Simpson Gtes
Good Neighbor Policy
In Home Community
After preparing his land for
transplanting his tobacco plants
from the bed, last Friday morning,
W. L .Simpson found that someone
had robbed him of every plant in
his bed. His land was ready—but
he had no plants.
But friends and neighbors heard
of his plight. Before half a day
passed, they had given Mr. Simp
son over 3,000 yards of plants. Al
though he is sorry to lose his plant
bed to thieves, Mr. Simpson says
he is more than happy to find that *
there are so many friends willing
to help a person in trouble.
One colored friend, on hearing
of the loss, told Mr. Simpson: “I
ain’t through setting my tobacco,
but I got 200 yards and we’ll both
set on that till it’s gone.”