North Carolina Newspapers

Adiwtban Wifl Pad Oar Col una a Latchkey to Owr Sixteen Hoadrad Ifartia Coonty Homea VOLUME XXXIV—NUMBER 88 REQUIRE BRAKES ON TRAILERS OF 2 TONS CAPACITY Several Owners Are Sum moned for Failure To Observe New Law The atrict enforcement of the law requiring all owners to equip their trailers of two tona or more capacity with effective brakes was reported here last Friday. Drfreri of several trailers unequipped with brakes were ordered to park the vehicles and their owners notified to appear in court to answer the preferred violation charges. As a result of the action, owners are buily engaged equipping their heavy trailers -with brakes this week. The new law was resented to some extent but trailer owners accepted the man date and are now complying with the law, it was learned yesterday. Traitors of less than two tons ca pacity are not affected under the new law, which became effective January 1. Trailers operating with a license of a ton and one-halt capacity and car rying more than two tons are also inclnded under the law. Owners op erating trailers of less than two tons capacity are warned not to overload them or brakes will be necessary. Very little discretion can be shown where violations of the trailer-brake law are noted, and first offenses are subject to prosecution. The law, passed by th? 1931 General Assembly, 'in connection with brakes for trailers, read as follows: "Section 70. Brakes on trailers. "Every traiter or semi-trailer of two ton* or over shall be equipped with adequate brakes, that can be effective ly operated while the trailer is in mo tion: Provided, that until January first, one thousand nine hundred and thirty two, this section shall not apply to trailers or semi-trailers licensed or in use on the highways of the State at the time of the passage of this act." Section 71 goes on to say that the violation of the act ia a misdemeanor and the violator of the provisions there in ia subject to fine or imprisonment in the discretion of the court as for other misdemeanors. Owners of trailers used for hauling logs are finding it difficult to install brakes, but in an effort to comply with the law, the owners are equipping the vehicles with mechanical brakes. ALL IS QUIET ON PEANUT FRONT Enterprise Now Allowing 2-Year Subscription for Bag Goobers Very few peanuts have been deliv ered to The Enterprise since last Fri day, when the company started allow ing a two-year subscription to the pa per instead of one for a period of three years. The decrease in prices offered for the goobers brought about the change, but even thf low offer ia a real bargain, and any subscriber wish ington to take advantage of it is cor dially invited to do so. Members of the Enterprise force have been very liberal in that they have advanced needy people pocket change from time to time, in so far aa they were able. Now thaf the change ia no more, the publishing company hu stepped in and has started dish ing out peanuts to the hungry ones. Agd one would be surprised to see juat how many of the goobers have gone that way. All one has to do to gal i "bait" of peanuts ia to enter the oftce, show signs of want, and swear ha ia hungry, and not all the time ia the oath required. ♦ /. s. Meeks Is Now Champ Turnip Grower Mr. J. S. Meeks, Martin farmer livfag on the old Everett-Williamston road, ia a champion turnip grower for the season so far. Mr. Meeks exhib ited one at thia office yesterday, weigh ing six pounds with the top and roots removed. The farmer planted the seed just foar months ago, using no fertilizer except compost. Mr. Meeka ia one of those farmers who ia not too lazy to work that he might have something for the rainy day that generally always comes for every one. Frank Cox Continues at Large, Late Reports State Reports heard here and statiag that Frank Cox, sentenced to prison for 30 years for the murder of J. H. Jolly in this county several years ago, had retarned to the Caledonia farm, follow ing hie eacape several days ago, were declared unfounded, according to the latest information received from pris on authorities. Cox it said to have traveled toward Virginia a few days following hia es cape. It waa reported that lie ex changed part of his clothes at a col ored home on hit way to Oat State. THE ENTERPRISE Town Is Meeting Obligations Despite Slow Tax Collections Heavy Bond and Interest Payments Have Been Paid by The Town During Past Few Days, Treasurer N. C. Green Tells Board in Regular Meet Last Night Although tax payments are being re ceived slowly at the present time, Town Treasurer N. C. Green stated - last night in the regular meeting of the town commissioners that all bonds and interest were being promptly met, that heavy bond and interest payments ' had been made during the past few ! days. An upward trend in 1931 town I tax collections is expected within the next few days, and it is believed that collections will be greater at the end pf this or the middle of next month than they were at the same time last : year. - The meeting last night was given over to a general discussion of various topics, some of them of world-wide •SFUNNY WORLD I Ju«t a few ahort week* ago Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian Na tionaliit leader, waa the renowned and honored guest of England'a king at- Buckingham Palace, In London. Today he ia resting in Yeroda Jail, near Poona, in India, at the order of the Britiah Govern ment for "good and sufficient rea sons." Funny world. BEAUFORT MAN HELD ON COUNT OF CONSPIRACY Harvey H. Dixon, of Near Wharton's Station, Put Under $2,500 Bond Charged with manufacturing and transporting liquor and conspiracy to violate the prohibition law, Harvey H. Dixon, of near Wharton's Station, in Beaufort County, was held under bond in the sum of $2,500 at a hearing held in the courthouse here yesterday by U. S. Commissioner W. C. Man ning. The case, one of the most prominent heard by the commisfioner here in sev erai months, developed the latter part of last November when several charges were preferred against the defendant. Since that time, his cause has been pleaded by his young and attractive wife, Lawyers H. Clay Carter and Judge Sam Blount, of Washington, representing him at the hearing held yesterday. District Attorney Wheel er Martin had a part in the hearing as representative of the Government. Dixon has been convicted and served time in Atlanta for violating the prohi bition laws, his record supporting rum ors that he was one of the biggest violators in this section of the State. Offering the testimony of four wit nesses, the defendant vigorously con tested the case, but when one of the witnesses admitted that he had ap proached one of the three witnesses called by the Government in behalf of Dixon, a new angle to the case re sulted. According to reports on the hearing, a government witness was facing a State assault charge, and that Dixon, through his witness, was trying to have the government repre sentative alter his testimony with the assurance that testimony against him would be given favorably. Probable cause being found in the case, Dixon was bound over to the next term of Federal Court for trial in Washington next April. County Court Goes Into Afternoon Session Today The County Recorder's Court went into afternoon session today aa a re sult of a marked increase in number of cases originating over the week end. Liquor charges, thefts and assaults of various kinds figure in several of the casea, Judge Joa. W. Bailey »tat ed at noon today. Fair sized audiences were in at tendance upon both the morning and afternoon sessions, but no startling cases were on docket for trial, the judge said. Gross Farm Income Is Lowest Since 1911 - - i ii Waahington, Jan. s.—The agricul ture department today said preliminary estimates indicate a total gross farm income of f6,920,000,000 for 1931. This ia 26 per cent leas than the gross returns of $9,300,000,000 for 1930 and 42 per cent below 1929. The es timate includes the value of farm prod ucts sold and thosa consumed in the farm homes. The Department said the gross farm income for the United States in 1931 was probably equal to the pre-war 1909-1913 average and was the lowest since INI. » - Williamston, Martin County, North Carolina, Tuesday, January S, 1932 importance. But nothing definite was ' done in any of those matters, the com missioners officially inspecting and ap proving the general run of monthly bills and granting the colored people permission to hold a square dance here within the next few days. The board granted permission for holding the ; dance, provided one-third of the gross receipts went to charity. An investi gation was ordered of a round dance held several days ago when charity received approximately $3 out of S6O [taken in by the promoters when it was i to share to the extent of one-third of I the gross receipta. In the absence of Mayor R. L. Co | burn, Mr. L. P. Lindsley, mayor pro tem, presided at the meeting. EDUCATIONAL BOARD MEETS Make Many Adjustments in Insurance Policies on School Plants Meeting in annual session here yes terday, the Martin County Board of Education made a number of adjust ments in insurance policies carried on the various plants, effecting a saving in their maneuvers amounting to ap proximately S2OO, Mr. W. O. Griffin, chairman of the board, stated this morning. Insurance was arranged on the 40 school busses now in operation in the county at a cost of $144. No 'insurance has been carried on the trucks heretofore, and looking forward to storing the machines in one build ing this summer, the members of t)ie board considered the insurance neces sary. Arrangements are now being made to have the trucks stored, but no definite action has resulted at this time, the board chairman explained. Minor changes were effected in one or two bus routes, eliminating a mile or two and reducing costs slightly. All members of the board were present with the exception of Mr. Jav an Rogers, who is ill at his home in Bear Grass. TAG SALE NEARS THE 2,000 MARK + - ■ - i Slips Arc Issued To Man' Auto Owners Requiring Them to Buy Licenses Many slips have been handed mor torists in this vicinity who were driv ing their cars without new tags at tached. In giving the little slips, Pa trolman Braswell warned the owners that the next step would be arrest with the victim subject to prosecu tion. Cars have been driven under shelters, but by some means unknown to many persons, numerous auto own ers have viiited the bureau and pur chased their new plates. The bureau here will remain open until the 15th of next month, but it is believed that proaecution will be or-. [ dered any day now for those who at tempt to operate their cars without proper licenses. I According to reports released' late yesterday, the local automobile license bureau is nearing the total sale of tags 'reported for last year, the bureau hav ing sold 1,515 auto plates and 185 truck tags up until yesterday, as compared !with a few over 1,900 sold at the bu jreau altogether last year. OVER 100 TOWN CAR TAGS SOLD Sale ot Town Licenses Is About Half-Way Mark; No Arrests Yet • - The sale of town automobile tags here was netting the half-way mark yesterday, when the treasurer's office reported that more than 100 of the yellow-black plates had been procured by car owners. No indictments have been made a gainst those car owners who /4tave failed to display the tags on their cars, but they will be subject to prosecu tion within the next few days if they do not purchase the plates, Chief of Police W. B. Daniel stated yester day. Approximately 250 tags were sold in the town last hardly more than 215 will be bpiight this year, as H it believed that many cars will go out of use and not be replaced for the present ♦ In the Great Smoky Mountain Na tional Park, Tennessee, is a spring .which discharges water for 7 minutes and than remains inactive lor f min utca—thus alternating continuously from an active to inactive state with clock-Hke precision. COUNTY BOARD REGULAR MEET FIRST MONDAY Commissioners Accept Role of Welfare Agents In Aiding the Poor Other than handling a few tax prob lems, the Martin County commission ers, out of necessity, accepted the role of welfare agents at their regular monthly meeting held yesterday. Nine new names were added to the county poor list, bringing the number up to 102, and calling for a monthly expenditure for county unfortunates up to nearly S3OO, aside and apart from the expense incurred in the operation of the county home and the care of its increasing number of inmates. AH day long the commissioners listened to the pleas of the poor, refusing aid in several cases and doing their best to alleviate suffering in others. Rou tine business was completed before the noon hour, and the officials were ready to adjourn but for the continued num ber of calls for aid. Thorough inves tigations were made in each case, the commissioners refusing aid to two or three applicants who had recently left Pitt County and settled in Martin. A. T. Lilley, Jamesville Township, was relieved of the payment of spec ial school taxes, listed in error. Thomaj U. Rawls, Bear Grass Town ship, was allowed $2.50 a month, coun ty poor account. Mrs. Effie Mobley, Robersonville Township, was allowed $2.50 a month, account county poor. The commissioners provided Henry Baker with $45 for hospital treatment, making the allowance under the dition that he raise the remainder of the amount necessary from other sources. Recommendations were made to the State Highway Commission, asking that body to place on the State road map the One-mile stretch of roal start ing at Holly Springs way No. 90, running by Luy*m Har dison's and back into No. 90 below Mr. Andrews'. James Ed Sniithwick, aged colored man of Williamston Township, was allowed $2 a month, county poor ac count. Peter Thompson, colored, of Goose Nest, will share in the poor fund to the extent of $2 a month. Mrs. Charlie IVrry was allowed the sum of $2 a month for a period of three months. Taxes on $425 listed by error in Hamilton Township, by Alice Eorrest for the years 1928, 1929, and 1930 were refunded and applied on the 1931 levy. A relief order was granted W, H. Gray for taxes on $1,500 mortgage exemption allowed by law. Mrs. Charlie Whitaker, Cross Roads Township, was allowed $1.50 a month. Frances Keys, colored, of Jamesville Township, was allowed $1.50 a month. The resignation of Mr. J. H. Ed mondson as constable in Hamilton Township was accepted. Mr. Edmond son goes with the "State Highway Commission. Mrs. Ola Simpson'was allowed $3 a month for a period of three months, Wilson Manning, aged man of Ham ilton Township, was admitted to the county home. % Leon Hack, Jamesville Township, was allowed $2 a month, account coun ty poor. Finland Farmers Going Bankrupt In One Group Helsingfors, Finland, Jan. 4. —Small farmers of Finland, who said they were in distress, decided today to sign a mass petition in bankruptcy. The obligation of those who have signed the petition total 300,000,000 Finnish marks (about $4,500,000). The petition would be filed with the gov ernment whenever debtors owing a total of 1,000,000,000 marks had sign ed it. Senator Wheeler Proposes the Free Coinage of Silver The cause of silver was again ad vanced yesterday, when Senator Bur ton K. Wheeler, of Montana, intro duced a bill in Congress for the free coinage of silver on a 16-to-l ratio. Back in 1896, William Jennings Bry an, the Great Commoner, pleaded for the same thing, and even though he is dead, the spirit of his pleadings con tinues on. ( HIGHER RATES 1 Emergency freight ratee, recent ly Vanted the Railroads of the country, went into effect Monday, I causing no great change in tft* ! coat of shipments from this sec j ticks. 1 liti s late shipments (are - not affected, it was learned at the local oAce of the Atlantic Coaat Use Ksilroad thia week. . Peanut, tobacco, and fertiliser shipments to point outside the State carry an increase of 1 cent par 140. pounds, it is understood. Few Tenants Are Moving This Year; Few Have Places To Go CARDWELL SAYS TRADE BALANCE AGAINST SOUTH South Sells at Low Figure and Pays East a High Price for Its Goods By GUY A. CARDWELL In an address made before the State Legislature of Mississippi, Dr. James S. Thomas, University of Alabama, in discussing the relation between agri culture and industry in the South, a mong other things, said: Much of the farmer's prosperity is dependent upon industry. The East is industrialized and will be glad for us to continue a • predominantly agn cultural people, feeding them at low prices while they continue their in dustrial development by making neces sary articles for us at high prices. The East may be suffering from overindustrialization as we suffer from under-industrialization. Hut there is no argument about who gets the wealth in this unequal balance of industry and agriculture between the East and the South." This is simply another way of tell ing us that the balance of- trade is alarmingly against the Southeastern States. Most of us will admit that our in terests are predominantly agricultural —that we are heavy producers and shippers of raw products—that our markets are long-distance markets— and that we do not retain a reasonable share of crop-dollars produced. But what can we do to help this situation? Every chamber of commerce in every city and town in this section is aware that we are undec ; industrialized, and a constant clamor goes up for in dustries. Industrial growth, however, is slow, and of necessity msut 1h- slow to be safe. We can not have indus trial development simply because we want it and need it: But if we .do de sire it strortgly enough and keep on wanting it, we may, in time, work out a program under which we can suc ceed in raising local capital with which to finance numbers of small industrial plants suited to our conditions. , At the same time, we should, of course, keep in touch with outside capital and industry that may be restless and in clined to seek new fields. As ljmg, however, as we continue to ao willingly send our agricultural dol lars north and west to buy processed food and feed and thousands of house hold and farm articles, many of which could he made in the South, just so long will our capable neighbors eager ly cater to our desires and needs. We often hear that "A fair exchange is no robbery;" and it would be emi nently unfair for us to say that our industrial neighbors, beyond our bor ders, have filched us of the new agri cultural wealth created year after year. They have bought quantities of our unprocessed goods, but unfortunately 'the dollars paid for these products [have had strings tied to them. We J have been permitted only to finger this money momentarily and then it was 'pulled back home. Dr. Thomas puts it this way: j "Dollars dropped on the ground here 'in the South since the Civil War start rolling and never stop until they get down deep in some Yankee's pocket." Several years ago, Dr. E. C. Bran son, University of North Carolina, in referring to our unsound economic con dition, said that seven out of every ten cotton and tobacco dollars go 1 North and West to pay for food and , feed that could be produced here in the South. He'might have added that j the other three dollars also take wings and fly away to pay for goods which. •in part, (night be made nearer home. | A dollar saved for circulation with in our borders has the value of many dollars spent elstwhere, so let's start the New Year with intensive study in each and pvery community in the South to learn how we can make and save mora dollars for more skillful and therefore more beneficial spending than has been practiced in the past. Equality of trade between all sec tions produces a healthy business con dition; but when the balance of trade is too largely against particular sec tion, an unhealthy economic condition arises, due to this lack o£ balance. This condition should be remedied promptly to produce the best results for the whole country. 120 Pejsons Lose Lives in ■A New Year Celebrations More than 1?0 persons lost their live* during New Year's Eve, the next day and Saturday in the pnited States it was learned yesterday from press repggM. Deaths (Ami New Year cele bration! resulted in more than a score of deaths, highways, of nearly every state and airways of the Middle West resulting in nearly 100 others. j Hog-Killings Order o For Far With all the major crops about marketed in this section of the State, farmers are turning their attention to meat packing for the coming season. The work is be ing carried on very rapidly in this county at this time, and it now looks as if the ole hog jowl and cornbread with home-made mo lasses as a finishing touch are com ing back into their own as never before. Unusual hog killings have been reported throughout the section, farmers everywhere stating that they have plenty of 'taters, corn and meat to run them twelve months or longer. Killing a one-year-old tiog last week, Mr. John A. Ward packed away, more than 400 pounds of meat for use during the coming months. HOOVER SENDS SURPRISE NOTE TO CONGRESS Leaders Assure President That program Will Be Hastened If Possible Washington, Jan. 4. President Hoover sent a surprise message to Congress today renewing his appeal for prompt passage of his proposals for bettering business, and in response lie received fresh assurances that in ter-party differences would not delay their enactment. Leaders of both parties were quicß to say that consideration of the Chief Executive's legislative program would be hastened as much as possible. "The need is* manifestly even mote evident tlvat the date of my mes sage a month ago," Mr. Hoover said. "We can and must replace the un justifiable fear in the country by con -1 fidencc.' "Our justified hope and confidence for the future rest upon unity of our people and of the government in prompt and courageous action. Action in these matters my Congress will go far to re-establish confidence." The Senate Hanking Committee spent most of the day at work on the key bill of the President's pro gram, a measure to establish a s2',- 000,000,000 ■ reconstruction corporation 'equipped with $500,000,000 of govern- Iment money, the remainder to be | subscribed privately! 1 After deliber ating for six hours, the group failed 'to reach an agreement, and decided ,to continue its study tomorrow. [ Party leaders of both branches of Congress meanwhile joined in pre dicting prompt consideration. "We will give the administration's economic program the first practical consideration," said S|>eaker Garner, of .the Democratic House. Represen tative Kainey, the Democratic floor leader, said: "We would have co-operated in the absence of Mr. Hoover's message." "We are going to work out this program just as rapidly as we can," said Senator Watson, of Indiana, the Republican leader. "The reconstruc tion finance corporation bill is about ready for Senate consideration and will be taken .up promptly." Senator Robinson of Arkansas, the Democratic leader, staid "everything possible is being done to secure prompt disposition of the reconstruc tion finance corporation bill and I expect favorable action on it in a short time." He said Close study was being given other measures by the President, but emphasized Democrats were not delaying or a voiding action on the program. Many Lawyers Retained In F. & M. Bank Suits According to rumors heard here and. there, unemployment among lawyers in Eastern North Carolina is just a bout to end. The rumors maintaffr that stockholders of the old Farmers and Merchants Bank have retained lawyers all over the section, prepara tory to contending the suits brought to procure stockholders' liability. With a few exceptions, notice of the suit has been "served on all the stock holders. Visiting Father Mr. Irving Rogers, of Boston, ar rived in the county Sunday to visit his father, Mr. Jmn Rogers, who is ill at his home in Bear Grass. ' Watch the Label On Your Paper A* It Carrie* the Date When Your Subscription Expiree ESTABLISHED 1898 CONDITIONS IN MANY CASES ARE EXTREMELY BAD Usual Moving Rush in This Month Is Conspicuous By Its Absence Because they have 110 place to no, very few tenant families have vacated the home occupied by them during the past year, and the moving rush ordi narily witnessed on the highways and by-ways in this section has not been in evidence this year. Landlords who have carried their tenants during the past year at a loss, and some for two or more years, are still lenient in that they are not forcing the tenants from their homes, even though no cr»>|> will Ihe cultivated hy tenants o farms this year. It is believed, basing the estimate on reports received from fanners all over the county, that more ten ,nVs will be without crops and homes in this county during IW2 than ever before. The landless farmers arc hardly more than squatter?; on their landloid's land, where they are awaiting a return of prosperity or something to turif up. Some, it is certin, will be forced to seek shelter in other places, but, thanks to a majority of the landlords, the number facing severali««nmths of winter weather in the wide open spaces is not so great. Already the supply "of food has been exhausted in many homes, and woeful conditions are following. Several fam ilies residing in small ( farm houses and who have followed some other occu pation are facing serious difficulties, it was learned from Sheriff ,C. H. Roe buck and Chief of Police W. IS, Daniel \ esterday. Investigating two cases last Friday and Sunday, the officers found at one | place a mother and seven children j with the father away ill. Meal hour passed time and again, with peanuts picked up in the fields as the only food. The children were almost in rags, and so touching was the scene that the officers went'to their own [homes and packed up flour, meat, lard, potatoes, preserves, and sundry Other , foods and tarried theniMo the family. I One of the little tots, the sheriff said, | just could not wait Tot a meal to be i prepared and cooked, and he removed 1 the top to a half-gallon jar containing I prvserves and with bis hand scooped lup a fair-size helping) the first time. The sugar carried to the home was the first seen there in more than four months, the mother stated/ With a dingy shuck mattress rest ing on the floyr as their bed, and with i one ji|uilt fcjr cover, two negro chil j drcn, ages 6 and 8 years old, were I'found in the Tyner Town section last ' Friday cooking a little corn meal made | soggy with water. The father, pro fessing to be a preacher, would leave ibis children thexp alone to find their food the best way they could. Ibe sheriff talked to the man, and threat | ened him with arrefct utiles he pro- Ivided better children. | There are many similar cases, some more distressing, others not so bad in this community, hut as a whole the majority of the populace is getting a ! long very well, considering unfavor able conditions existing everywhere. ELTON BENNETT DIES IN HOSPITAL Son of Mr. and Mrs. F. C. Bennett, Near Here; Funeral Last Week P Eli Elton Bennett,'l7 years old, the son of Mr. F. C. Bennett, of near Wil liamston, died in a Washington Hos ptial last week of head trouble with which he had suffered for some time. It was first thought that his tonsils were causing ill health, and an opera tion followed. Growing gradually worse, he was later operated on for mastoiditis, d,ying two weeks after that operation. Funeral services were conducted at the home last Monday by Rev. C. H. Dickey, pa,tor of the local Baptist I church. Interment was in the Bap tist cemetery here. . * His father, a step-mother, three sis terv Pattie Ray, Velma, and Nina Bennett, and four brothers, Jasper, • Garland, Melvin, and Carroll Bennett, • survive. Farmers Mutual Insurance Meeting Here Saturday - The Martin County Branch of the farmers Mutual Fire Insurance A*»o ciation will hold its annual meeting of members in courthouse here next Saturday morning at 11 o'clock, it has been announced by . the secretary, James L. Coltrain. Members of the organisation are urged to attend the meeting.