Advertisers Will Find Our Col umns a Latchkey to ovjer 1,600 j Homes of M a r t i n County. THE ENTERPRISE 1 Watch the Label on Your Paper, As It Carries the Date Your Subscription Expire* VOLUME XLII?NUMBER 2 Williamston. Martin County. North Carolina. Friday. January 6. 1939. ESTABLISHED 1899 President Delivers Annual Message To The 76th Congress Great Activity In Nation's ^ Capital As Congress Starts Work ? Pleading for the continuance and a greater support of three institu tion!?religion, democracy and in ternational good faith ? President Roosevelt addressed the 76th Con gress Wednesday, the two major highlights of the message centering around defense "for democracy's sake" and spending to reach an eighty billion dollar economy "It has become increasingly clear that peace is not assured," the chief executive said, and then in a mo m en to us message spread to the fai reaches of the world and in several languages, he declared that this na tion must be able and ready to de fend and maintain its freedom against threats of the dictator which arises elsewhere. Mr. Roosevelt spoke in broad terms of affairs both at home and abroad, but throughout his address he held to the keynote of "democra cy." A few of the highlights of the President's message: "No nation can be safe in its will to peace so long as any other pow erful nation refuses to settle its grievances at the council table "We can and should avoid any ac tion, or lack of action 4^ucH will I encourage, assist or build up an ag gressor. "We have our difficulties?but we are a wiser and tougher nation than we were in 1929 or 1932. "And we still intend to do our own thinking. "We must have armed forces and defenses strong enough to ward of sudden attack against strategic posi tions and key facilities. "We have learned that survival cannot be guaranteed by arming af ter the attack begins?for there is new range and speed to offense "Even a nation well armed and well organized may, after a period of time, meet defeat if it is unnerv ed by self-distrust, endangered by class prejudice, by dissension be tween capital and labor, by false economy and by other unsolved so cial problems. "Our nation's program of social and economic reform is a part of de fense as basic as armaments them selves." The message received a varied comment, the remarks being iden tified mostly by party lines. Following the President's mes sage, events have come thick and i fast. The Congress is breaking rec ords in the introduction of new bills, ft is evident that with few excep tions, the Democrats will draw their lines tighter to combat the strength ened Republican ranks. Professor Felix Frankfurter was named yesterday to succeed Justice Benjamin Cardorn on the Supreme Court bench. James P. Pope, former United States Senator from Idaho who spoke in Ahoskie about a year ago, was named to the Tennessee Valley Authority board. Yesterday, the President' sent his annual budget message to the Con gress, asking for nine billions to carry on the activities of the gov ernment during the next fiscal year. A request for a deficiency appro propriation of 875 million was made to prevent a shutdown later this month. The President asks about two and one-quarter billion for relief recover in the newt fiscal year ,a sum about one billion less than the amount asked for the current year. Martin Farmers Preparing Plant Beds on Extensive Scale Martin County farmers are mak ing preparations for the extensive plantings of tobacco beds this sea son, reports from the local FCX yes terday ktating that enough seed had already been cleaned for nearly 400, 000 square yards of beds and that more than two bushels were on hand and ready to be dumped into the cleaning 'machine. And the work of cleaning seed was just started this week. Some farmers hesitate to di vulge their plans for the coming sea son, but judging from the amount of seed already cleaned they are plan ning a big tobacco crop in the coun ty this year. At least, Martin farm ers are anticipating no shortage of plants when transplanting time tolls around next May. When the two bushels of seed now awaiting the machine are cleaned, Martin farmers will have enough to seed approximately 788, 000 square yards of plant beds or about ISO acres. At one time, a far mer planted around 100 yards of bed for five or six acres of tobacco. This year the indications are that they will seed 100 square yards and pos sibly even more for each acre of to bacco. On that basis, the few farm ers who have already had their seed cleaned can transplant nearly 8,000 acres of tobacco. Comparatively few farmers in the county have seeded their tobacco plant beds, but nearly everyone not engaged in hog killings is busy pre paring the ground. Plant bed ferti lizers are moving in such quantities that one would think the peak of the season is at hand Reports fromother counties indi cate that the farmers are preparing plant beds on even a more extensive scale than the growers in this coun ty. Present indications are that there will be a large acreage planted to the crop in this section of the State this year. Illicit Operators Had Tough Time Last Year RETURNING Judge N. A. Sinclair, one of the several emergency jurists in the State, is scheduled to pre side over the April term of Mar tin County Superior Court, Clerk of Court L. B. Wynne was notified today by the governor's office. It will be Judre Sinclair's first visit here since he set the verdict aside in the famous Smithwicks Creek church case in March. 1930. The jurist was retired from the active list last month and comes here in April for Judge C. Everett Thompson who is slated to preside over a regular term of court elsewhere at that time. Williams Township Farmer Dies At His Home Last Tuesday Funeral Services Conducted There On Wednesday Afternoon ? ohn Hermit Heath, well-known Martin County farmer, died at his home in Williams Township last Tuesday afternoon at two o'clock, following a short period of declining health. Pneumonia was given as the immediate cause of his death Large of statue, Mr, Heath was a perfect picture of health and strength until a few months ago when his health broke and he was confined to his home a greater part of the time. A native of Lenoir County, Mr Heath was about 62 years old When a small lad, he moved with his par ents, the late Tom and Bettie J. Heath, to this county, locating in the Hardison Mill section of Griffins Township. About 35 years ago he made his home there, marrying Miss Irene Lcggett, of Bear Grass He was an industrious and hard-work ing farmer. While his advantages in life were limited, he never asked no quarter of any man, always accept ing the task before him with a hon est determination to win. He lived at home, and his life was marked by its rugged individualism. Besides his widow, he is survived by ten children, Mrs Grady Modiin, of Jamesville; Raymond and J. T. Heath, of Williams Township; Mrs. Octavius Barber ,of Jamesville, and Jesse, Elbert, Blanche, Bennett, Du lene and Jurlene Heath, all of Wil liams Township. He also leaves three brothers, Turnice Heath, of Tarboro; Henry Heath, of LaGrange, and Joe Heath, of Goldsboro, and one sister, Mrs. Wesley Hines, of Kinslon. Mr. Heath was a member of the Eairview Christian church, and his pastor, Rev. Mr. Lilley, of Washing ton, assisted by Rev. W. B. Harring ton, Baptist minister, conducted the funeral services at the late home on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock. Interment was on the farm, near the home. ?? Story Hour At Library Will Be Held At 10:30 The Williamston Public Library announces that the regular weekly story hour will be held Saturday morning at 10:30 o'clock. Industry In County Estimated Loss Of Around $75,000.00 Officers Wreck 165 Plants In This County in the Past Year Watched and hounded .by officers, the illicit liquor industry in this county is estimated to have exper ienced a loss of approximately $75, 000 during the year 1938. The startl ing estimate is embraced in the growing report of Special Enforce ment Officer J. H. Roebuck just re leased for the year As far as it could be learned from comparative re ports, the drive against illicit li quor in this county reached its greatest climax during the period, equalling if not exceeding the hey day of R F. D. liquor manufactur ing back in the prohibition days. Starting out single handed, ex cept for aid offered by the sheriff's office, Special Enforcement Joe H Roebuck wrecked an even dozen il licit liquor plants during the first month of 1938. The business gradu ally dwindled as the months passed until it reached a low point in July when only five plants were wrecked by the raiders. Apparently prepar ing for a busy fall, the operators set up at least twenty plants in August, the enforcement officer wrecking that many. The number of plants in creased to 22 in September, but ad verse economic conditions following a poor'tobacco harvest is reflected in the catch for October when twelve plants were torn up. Conditions, as lar as the economic side of the man ufacturing business was concerned, were even worse in November and only eleven plants could be found by the wrecking party. Short of cash as a result of near to the manufacturing business in December. Apparently they were an ticipating an increased business at Christmas time, but their hopes fad ed before tin- relentless drive of En forcement Officer Roebuck and his aides An all-time record was estab lished in that month when thirty one manufacturing plants were wrecked in various parts of the county and more than twenty thous and gallons of beer and nearly one hundred and fifty gallons of liquor were poured out. The end of the year found tftft il licit liquor manufacturing plants on the junk pile, 264,400 gallons of beer and 775 gallons of liquwr in the gut ters. Sixty-seven people were ar rested for violating the liquor laws in one way or another. Forty-two of them were convicted Four automo biles and various properties were confiscated. The officer drove his own car some over ten thousand miles in the big attempt to destroy the illegal industry. Quite a few of the 67 arrested for alleged violation of the liquor laws are awaiting trial in the spring term of the federal court Nearly all of them are out under bond at the pres ent time. Just how successful the attempt was is a matter for debate, but the officer is of the opinion that most of the operators of illicit manufactur ing plants have been taught that the business is unsound ecbnomically if not morally. Assisted at one time or another during the year by the sheriff's of fice personnel, including the sher lff and Deputy Bill Haislip, Jailer Roy Peel and Special Deputies Wil liam Roebuck and Sewitt Edwards, Officer Roebuck firmly believes the illicit manufacturing business is on its way out in this county. The of ficer is certain of one thing and that is he will not better the 1938 record this year. ? Applicants Flood Office For Places In CCC Camps e With fifty or more applicants to choose from, the Martin County De partment of Welfare will send six youths to Civilian Conservation Corps camps next Tuesday. Ten of the boys, all white, will be offered for examination in Washington that morning, Miss Mary Taylor, head of the department expressing the hope that it would be possible to hive the quota of six increased. The youths accepted into the ser vice next Tuesday will be assigned to camps in this section of the coun try, it wss learned. The names of the boys who will be selected for service have not been released. Farmers Turn To Credit Agencies To Finance Crops Government Agencies Show Increased Number of Applications Martin County farmers, uncertain of credit facilities this spring, are hustling here and there seeking credit for financing their 1939 activ ities! Already the Farm Security Administration has received fifty more applicatons than it handled a year ago, and the Production Cred it. .Association-is., reporting an?in* crease of 20 per cent in new business year up to the present time over that of a year ago. The Farm Security Administration applications for loans, but only 32 had been accepted at that time. Many farmers are turning to the ad ministration for credit for the first time, reports state. Stating operations only a short time ago, the Production Credit As sociation has already received 35 applications for loans. Quite a few of the applicants borrowing from the agency a year ago are asking for larger loans this season. "Some are asking for not quite as much, and most of them are applying for the same amounts they borrowed a year ago," Mr. L. A. Clark, recently as sociated with the credit agency, said yesterday. No official?statement?on loans made by banks is available, but it is understood that credit is limited to those who are in a position to of fer more than a crop lien as collat eral Time merchants are not at all active, and accounts handled by them this year will be closely watch ed. The situation takes an even more serious outlook when* the farmer who lives from hand-to-mouth is Considered. At the present time no credit sources are available to that group, and unless .the seed feed loan fund is re established it is very like ly that they will be unable to fi nance fanning activities of their own this year. There is some doubt, just now, if the fund will be made avail able this year. Farmers, fighting control for to bacco with the intention of increas ing their acreages, are in many cases, finding it difficult to finance a farm program no larger than the one followed a year ago Planting ten acres under the control plan last year, a farmer is said to have set out to obtain credit to finance twen ty acres this year. He tried four credit agencies and was refused by all four. ? Presbytery To Meet Here On January 10 The Presbytery of Albemarle will convene in the Presbyterian church of Williamston at 10:30 a m. next -ttVMfiltfMfcr--- ?t: - : j The Kev. Dr. Scott, of Goldsboro,! is the moderator. The Rev. R E McClure, of New Bern is its stated clerk ? ' The regular business of the Pres- l bytery will be discussed. The Rev W D Mclnnis, chairman of the Home Mission Committee, which supervises the extensive mission work of the Presbytery, will ad vise the Presbytery concerning the vacant mission fields of the Pres bytery. Dinner will be served at the Ho tel George Reynolds. The Presbytery will adjourn fol lowing the completion of its busi ness in the afternoon. Third Grade Dairy Is Planned In This County -9 Farmer Ven G Taylor is complet ing plans for the construction of u third grade dairy plant in this coun ty. Contracting with a Greenville firm, Mr Taylor plans to sell milk wholesale from fifty cows by early March. Work on the new plant is to get underway shortly. The other grade plants are lo cated in Parmele and Williamston. ? v ADVANCING Peanut prices continue to gain strength on the local market, late reports stating that good bunches are commanding three and three-quarter cents at the present time. It Is estimated that there are around 85,000 bags of the goobers left in this territory snd advises state that moot of the farmers are holding their crops for a four-cent market The advancing market follows an unusually weak and inactive one during the holiday season. Hund reds of Ch i Id ren A ttend X-ray Clinics Here This Week (By DR. E. W. Ft'RGl'RSON) The two tuberculosis X-ray clin ics held in the offices of Doctors Saunders and Brown here on Wed nesday and Thursday of this week were well attended. Examining 2192 school children last fall, health au thorities found 400 showing a posi-l tive reaction to the tuberculin test. | Out of these 400 children who show > ed a positive reaction, a total of 3331 reported to the clinics and received chest X-rava. ? Mr. H. L. Satterwhite. chief tech nician from the State Sanatorium and his assistant, Mr H W. Timber lake, were here to assist in the work Attendance among the white chil dren who ing to her claims, she returned to Williamston and later in the day i continued to her home in the Spring Green section. r*--) "The door- to- the smalt - room where the station operator was found in a dying condition about fi o'clock the morning before Christ mas by his son, James Lilley, was not forced open. It was an inside job and we believe a woman is in the case," Sheriff Roebuck commented. Hoey Addresses General Assembly Yesterday Noon Recommends Specific Nine teen Point Program to Legislators Delivering his address to the North Carolina General Assembly yester day. Governor Hory recommended a specific nineteen point program and casually mentlohed a zutn deal ing with a retirement fund for State employees, but the main body of his talk to the legislators appealed for the litutus quo m Statu government" and politics. The address was marked by the absence of even casual mention?o?~ secondary Toads, a platform in the governors campaign back yonder, and a remedy for crowded condi tions in the institutions for the in sane. Causing hardly a ruffle in the State's sea of politics, the address was rated as another part of a well prepared program and quite a few legislators were home when the message was delivered to the joint session of the House and Senate yes terday noon. The governor's program is wrap ped up in the following nineteen points (DA balanced budget. No lax re ductions. including the sales tax, un less governmental service is trim iiied accordingly: (2) uniform elec tion laws. (3) revision of the absen tee ballot law; (4) refusal to submit a constitutional amendment to pro hibit highway fund diversion; (5) issuance of $5,000,000 in road bonds; (6) a 12th grade in the public schools, by adding an eighth grade to grammar school courses; (7) a "permanent" state tax measure; (8) mlaryincrements for ten years for school teachers, instead of eight years as now; (9) pay for teachers divided into 12 equal installments, instead of monthly as they work; (10) increased tuition in the colleges and university operated by the state. (11) Provision of graduate and professional courses for Negroes at North Carolina College for Negroes and the A. and T. t^utlege T12) a new state-wide registration for pri maries and elections; (13) splitting | of large voting precincts; (14) re turn to ' electrocution for capital punishment, abandoning gas; (15) giving Juries and judge$ discretion in imposing the death penalty or life imprisonment for rape, arson, bur glary and murder instead of man datory death sentences for the crimes; (18) increasing the highway patrol by 50 men in the interest of highway safety; (17) amending the laws limiting hours of work in in dustry "to more nearly harmonize with present ^iwDtrh- " f 101 i-nnfin ued provision for state advertising; (19) creation of "a real tax research division". Governor Hoey told the legisla tors they could be especially proud of these things:??; ' ~ (treat Building Program 7 (I) The greatest building pro gram ever undertaken in all the his tory of the state, now underway to extend through 1939; (2) the sale of $4lH2tM)00 state bonds for the build ing program at a record low interest rate of 2.07 per cent, (3) the eco nomical administration of state gov ernment. so that less than five cents of each tax dollar goes to pay the cost of government, and the school administration's efficiency which allows 82 cents of each school dol lar to go into teacher pay; (4) the line progress made in public educa tion in the schools and colleges, for whites and Negroes. (5) The progress of the Negro race (Continued on page six) More Movi ng Reported i n 7 h is County Than in the Past Year Approximately 225 families in this county will change their places of residences this year, preliminary re ports indicating that there is more moving this year than last. The annual shift, reaching into fairly stable communities for the first time in a number of years, is principally confined to the county, it is understood. However, new faces from adjoining counties and a few from 'listflht sections srp appparint here and there throughout the coun ty. Both white and colored are be ing caught in the shift, some reports stating that landowners, dishearten ed by the indifference sf their old tenants, anxious to have them leave the little shacks that dot the hillsides. Good tenants are in great demand, but with some exceptions, of course, most of the moving is be ing done by the recognized shiftless. Landowners are not looking for that type to cultivate their lands, and it is believed that the annual shift will find numbers of squatters here and there throughout the county. To date, the shifting has not ma terially affected the attendance upon the schools, the office of the board of education explaining that as fast as some pupils' families move, oth ers come in to take their places, leaving the enrollment virtually un changed. But the moving is far from complete, reports stating that num bers of families have been directed to vacate their homes and find places elsewhere. Those places are hard to find, and it is apparent that the lot of the tenant farmer is becoming harder and harder as the seesaws come and go. The highways are marked by loads of furniture, ptost of which is mov ing-worn. So fsr nary a cow or pig' has been seen crowded in with the household goods.