Newspapers / The Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.) / March 31, 1939, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Advertiser! Will Find Our Col- | umni a Latchkey to over 1,800 < Homes of Martin County. THE ENTERPRIS1 Watch the Label on Your Paper, As It Carries the Date Your Subscription Expires VOLUME XLII?NUMBER 26 Williamston, Martin County, North Carolina, Friday, March 31, 1939. ESTABLISHED 1899 Prominent Citizen Dies Wednesday In Raleigh Hospital Funeral Services Today At 2:30 For Frederick J. Roebuck Frederick J. Roebuck, prominent Martin County citizen and a well known farmer of this section of North Carolina, died in the Mary Elizabeth Hospital, Raleigh, last Wednesday morning at 8:20 o'clock following a major operation. In de clining health for several years, Mr. Roebuck was removed to the hospi tal on Monday of last week when his condition became critical. Born in Edgecombe County on | December 8, 1859, Mr. Roebuck | uppnt hin ?*|>r|y boyhood thfrrA. TTIO ing to the Spring Green section ol I this county soon after the close ol | the Civil War. At maturity Mr. Roebuck chose to continue on the farm, and through his own ingenui ty and the application of a careful experimental work he met with in creasing success as a planter and was recognized for a long number of years as one of the outstanding far mers in this section. In recent years due to his advanced age, he had vir tually retired from his farming ac tivities and turned them over to his son, but he continued to show a marked interest Jul the_general farm program. He was the son of the late George I and Martha Purvis Roebuck, and| was a member of the Primitive Bap tist church at Spring Green for| nearly a quarter of a century. In the home, Mr. Roebuck was a | thoughtful husband and a consider ate father. He lived for the members | of his family, offering them advan "? tdies^hat 'aware ignored the youth L"f the reconstruction period seventy and seventy-five years ago. Mr. Roe buck, enjoying a large friendship | circle in his community, was influ ential in promoting worthy under takings, including the schools and religious activities in his adopted county. He was held in high regard by all who knew him. Besides his wife, he leaves nine| children, five daughters, Mrs. W E Grimes, of Williamston; Mrs Willis Nettles, of Washington, D, C.; Mrs. W. S. Magel, of Petersburg; Mrs. Francis Worsley, of Baltimore, and Mrj. Joe D. Martin, of Raleigh, and four sons, Claude L. Roebuck, of Oak City; Dr. C. T. Roebuck, of Coleraine: D. Alphonsa Roebuck, of Williamston, and F. J. Roebuck, Jr., of New York City. He also leaves sixteen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Funeral services are being held at the late home this afternoon at 2:30 o'clock by Elder W E. Grimes and B. S. Cowin, of this county, and El der A. B. Denson, of Rocky Mount Interment will follow in the family plot in the Spring Green Primitive Baptist churchyard The grandchil dren are the active pallbearers. Board Will Call Town Convention Meeting in regular seaion next Monday evening, the local town commissioners will call a nominat ing convention and set up machin ery for the registration of new elec tors and the election of town offi cials for the two-year period begin ning July 1. It is likely the commis sioners will order the convention held about the middle of April, the election to follow on May 2. Registration books will be opened tomorrow week for the registration of new voters. The registrar, to be named at the next Monday meeting along with two judges of election, will hold the books open on each Saturday through April 29, and on the fourth Saturday, April 29, the books will be open for the challenge of any new registrations. Very little interest has been shown to date in the forthcoming convention and election, unofficial reports stating that Mayor J. L. Has sell and Commissioners N. C. Green, M Luther Peel, L. P. Lindsley, V D. Godwin and G. H. Harrison will be candidates to succeed themselves In their respective positions Canvass Funds For Control Of Cancer The women's field army for the control of cancer, headed in this county by Miss Lora E. Sleeper, chairman, will sponsor a drive for funds during April. This is a new n?g?nlt*^lnn mil little ran be done to establish clinics for indigent cases without financial aid. Miss Sleeper Seventy per cent of each dollar stays in North Carolina and thirty per cent goes to the New York of flee to print educational material Soil Conservation Payments Are Proving of Much Value Bridging the long gap between long and often disappointing mar keting seasons, benefit payments under the soil conservation program are proving of great value to the farmers and general business in this county at the present time. While the payments are generally small? few exceeding $100?they are hav ing a favorable effect in nearly ev ery line of business. No one is get ting rich from the payments, to be sure, and general business is not to be compared with a fall rush, but the distribution of checks from Tom Brandon's office is proving to quite a few that all the money isn't gone, that a thoughtful government is try ing to solve the farm problem to the ?farmer's advantage. Anxious to meet their every obli gation, numbers of farmers receiv ing their checks are settling their tax accounts. Others are paying off small obligations here and there tit.II nihgrt are financing as far as possible their fertilizer purchases The approximately one hundred thousand dollars already distribut ed in the county is injecting new life into the blood stream of busi ness, and the distribution is certain to make iteslf felt for quite a few weeks to come. Experiencing a near crop failure last season, but complying with the soil program, one farmer was re ported to have bought $50 worth of clothes for his family at one time this week. "We were hardly on" leap removed from nakedness," the father of the family said, adding that he was not certain what he wuuld llli M nil tile 11 mauling dni lar. Big Tobacco Acreage' Increase Is Expected f VISITORS ) ?i anticipated here this week-end when the federal authorities transfer pos sibly forty prisoners from Ral eigh and other points prepara tory to the opening of the spring term of federal court in Wash ington next Monday. The pris oners will be held in the jail here just a short time or until they can be carried before Judge Meekins, the unfortunate ones in the group to move on to Atlanta and the othen OljK re leased. Ordinarily held in the Wash ington jail, the prisoners are being brought here while a new jail is being built over in the Beaufort capital. Sheriff Charlie Roebuck and Jailer Roy Peel are making ready to welcome the prison era- hut there'll he no sight-see ing. Suj>erior Court In Final Session Of Term Last Tuesday' Large Number Civil Cases Are Removed From Docket * After clearing a large number of cases from the civil docket, the Mar tin County Superior Court complete ed a "two" weeks term last Tuesday tually given to the trial of civil cases, the court succeeded in re lieving to a great extent a crowded calendar under the direction of Judge C. Everett Thompson who made many warm friendships dur ing his first visit to this county as a member of the Superior Cpurt bench. In the case of Standard Fertilizer Company against Sallie McNeill, the plaintiff was awarded a judgment in the sum of $164.19 with interest from. October 1, 1938 This was the last case handled by the court be fore Judge Thompson ordered an adjournment at noon Tuesday. A hurried review of the files holding civil cases pending trial in the superior court shows that there ere approximately 115 regular suits awaiting attention. In addition to that number there are possibly 75 old tax suits awaiting attention, un official reports indicating that most of them have been invalidated by a ruling of the supreme court. It is understood that the owners of the tax certificates can push their claims by instituting new suits, that work is going on toward that end at the present time. Most of the regular cases in the files are considered of no great importance, and it is possi ble that in some instances the par ties to the actions have forgotten all about the suits that have never been cleared from the calendar. It is understood that some of the liti gants have passed on to their re ward, and that only an old-fashion ed house-cleaning or throwing out and burning up will lighten the weight of the file contents. Meeting a few days ago, the coun ty bar association prepared a tenta tive trial calendar for the two weeks special term of the superior court convening in April when Judge H. A. Grady will occupy the bench. No Short Crop Is Likely In Bonier And Georgia Belts Preparations Going For ward For 11 Per Cent Increase ? Reports maintaining that Georgia and the border tobacco belts would j find it impossible to get sufficient plants to warrant an increase in the. I crop acreage this season Hhave been declared unfounded, and instead of a short crop a substantial increase in acreage is now certain in those sections. Hearing that eastern North Caro lina farmers are expected to exper ience a shortage in plants dTid will be unable to increase their crops, Georgia farmers are said to be mak lng preparations 011 a larger scale I than ever to increase their crop acreages. Some farmers in this sec tion have been thinking along the same lines and making preparations to increase their crops because Georgia and the border would come up short. Well, it now looks as 1. neither will gain at the other's loss, but the Georgia farmers with a suf ficient supply of plants already available have a slight advantage in the old game where one increases his crop to offset the decrease in another's crop ftrpurtS coming oui <71 Georgia say that while the season is late in this section, excellent weather, has prevailed in the states south of here :<nd farm work is far advanced with good prospects for an ample supply of plants and good stands. Trans planting is already well underway in Georgia and Florida, and the crop j is being increased there by about 1Q or 12 per cent. Traveling through the border belt this week, a local man said upon hn eturn that indications point to no plant shortage there. It was report ed several days ago that the bordei farmers would increase their plant ings by 12 per cent, but according to the traveler there can be seen from one to five new barns going up on many farms and that he would say the farmers there would increase their crop by more than 12 per cent. Reliable information indicates that Martin County farmers are planning to increase their crop by about 25 per cent. Other counties in this belt can be depended upon to farmers. Of course weather condi tions are to be reckoned with, but it is generally agreed that the in crease can be cared for now al though many farmers reported that the rains of a few weeks ago had damaged or ruined their plant beds If weather conditions are even hall way favorable from now on, there will be a large acreage transplanted to tobacco this year. Transplanting* will be late as a general rule, but blue mold and other unfavorable factors will have to have a terrific effect if excessive pants are not to materialize. C. E. Jenkins Heads Modern Woodmen Group * Holding a meeting here Thuraday llie lucal?organization of Modern Woodmen of America, elected C. E. Jenkins, council commander. Thia organization, just recently formed, is holding regular meetings and increasing its membership each week. Gain More Evidence In Three Months Old Lillev Murder Ease County Officers Are Link ?i?K Joe Johnson Closer? To Brutal Crime 4 . Gaining additional evidence a short time ago, county officers are [ now planning to go before the Mar tin County grand jury in June and ask that Joe Johnson, colored, be indicted for the brutal murder of Paul Lalley, white filling station op erator, near here on last Christmas Eve morning "We are still working on the case, but to date we are ol the honest opinion that we have enough evidence to get a bill of in dictment for first degree murder against Johnson," Sheriff C 13 Hoe hock said yesterday after reviewing the case history. The first break that shedded any light in the case came last month wHen Johnson was arrested and f??i mally charged with the robbery of the C. B. Allen filling station on the Hamilton Koad The crime com pared, to a certain extent, to a rob bery of the Lilley filling station last November and again on-the morning Lilley was murdered. A rifle, stolen from the Lilley filling station in No vember, was proved to have been in Johnson's possession. With thus evi dence as a starter, officer question oil Johnon during long penods," and while he firmly denied any connec tion with the murder, he led his questioners to believe more than ever that they had the right man. But, expecting more evidence in the case to "break" in the three months old murder case, the offi cers delayed a trip to the grand jury last week. They marked their time, and a few d?*ys ago it wfea learned that Johnson was seen leaving the Lflley filling station on the morn ing the owner-operator was mur dered. The sheriff is withholding ad ditional information that will place | Johnson at the filling station on 01 I about the time Lilley was brutally knocked in the head and then shot On the evening before the mur der the following morning, John son, the officers learned, had asked if Mr. Lilley remained in the station all night and?if he stayed?there alone. When questioned just a short time before he was carried to prison to start serving a seven-year term for the Allen station robbery, Johnson became unduly nervous and refused j to talk about a pair of pants that be j longed to the murdered man and, which he was informed had been found in a woods between the fill , ing station and the railroad. He merely turned his head ami said' nothing. A true bill was returned by the grand jury in the case charging Johnson with robbing The Lilley station last November, but it was for the reasou that the facts in the euse will be of value in -prosecuting him in the case charging murder. Holy Week Program In Methodist ( hurcli The Holy Week program in the lo raI Methodist church is both inter esting and varied It will open Palm Sunday morning with a special pro gram by the Young People's choir and will close Easter Sunday night with a program of Easter music by the regular choir of the church On Good Friday the Union Choral club will present a program for all of the churches of the town. Beginning Sunday night the pas tor will conduct a special series of services in a program of evangelis tic enlistment based on the recent is of the town. Eftch ni^ht the speaker will discuss one notable conversion as related in the Book of Acts and each morning he will speak on one of the "Five Musts of the Christian Life." The general emphasis in this series of "Decision Week Services" is comprised of a night study on "How Religion Changes Life" and a morning study of "Essentials in Christian Life." The first of the morning services will be gin on Monday The public is invit ed. Board Of Commissioners To Hold Meeting Monday No special business has been plac ed on the calendar for consideration by the Martin County commission ers when they meet here next Mon day Road problems now pending in ?the county aie nut expected to tome up at the regular meeting, Chair man J. E. Pope announcing yester day that it is likely a special meet ing of the authorities will be call ed at the convergence of highway officials later on in the month. Legislature Slaps Counties in Face When It Refuses A Review Of Claims to Highway Refunds Few Arrests Made Following Judges Visit Few Days Ago Jailer Roy Peel is flower garden ing and the sheriff's office gang is j busy making tax collections as a re sult of Judge Thompson's visit here last week and the payment in recent days of thousands of dollars to far mers complying with the soil con servation program. ?Since Judge?Tliumpsun?stjited pronouncing sentences upon robbers j and rogues a week ago last Tuesday, in the county as compared with sev | enteen arrests in the week before | Two of the four arrested were | young colored boys in Rpbersonville They attempted to break into a store there last Sunday morning, officers reasoning that the boys had not heard about the judge and his sen fences. The jail is virtually empty except for the four from thus county and a few from over in Beaufort who^e officers continue to patron - i/e the hoosegow here while the WPA works on a new one over there. Jailer Hoy Peel is doing quite i a bit tidying up around the court house, preparing circular flowerbeds and all that stuff. Down m the shonlTs omce. the force has been fairly busy handling tax collections from farmers who a re receiving t he i r so 11 co rise r v a t ion" money The sheriff estimates the oT fice has collected more than $3,000 m small accounts during the past few days. With the number of arrests de creasing and with tax collections in creasing, there are no Grunipies around the courthouse any more these days. Seine Fishing Gets Underway in Roanoke First (latches Arc Encouraging at the r p Jainesville Fishen Season Will Heach Climax During the First Two Weeks in April Delayed during Hie gicatei part <>f iwii weeks by-iiigh water, seine I fishing finally got underway in the ! Roanoke at Jainesville yesterday at | ternoon at J o'clock, reports sianng that the first catches were indica five of a successful season for th fishermen during the next four or five weeks. Making only two "hauls" yestei day afternoon. Mr. Fleming, opera tor of the plant at Jainesville, e\ plained that normal catches were i.ot to be expected because the net was stiff and did not reach the hot torn. However, approximately hall thousand herrings, four or five shad And one or two rock were caught: The size of the catches was reported larger today as activities at the fi.ih ery were fast settling down to a nor Considerable time has been spent this week impairing damago done to the fishery by recent high waters, but present indications point to i favorable season with peak catcher expected during the second and third weeks in April. Mr Fleming plans to start opera tions at his Camp Point fishery, sev eral miles below Jainesville, next Monday. Operations were starteid at the Hampton fisheries in the low cr part of the county yesterday when fair-sized catches were report ed. Quite a few visitors were present for the opening of the season at Jamesville yesterday, and thous ands of others will visit there be fore the season comes to a close on or about May 10. Business activities in the county town were revived, and orders were placed for addition al goods, including ABC products ?Apparently?the shad is coining back to the- waters in this section in greater numbers; Reports from fish ermen in the Albemarle Sound state that as many as 1,200 shad were tak en in a single day there this week Wrecks Record-Size Still In Free Union ? One of the largest copper liquor kettles ever found in this county wds wrecked in the old Mill Neck section of Free Union, Jamesville Township, this week by Special En forcement Officer J H. Roebuck, as sisted by his son, Julian Roebuck The kettle was of a 150-gallon capa city. The plant was in operation when the officers reached in, but the op erators, hearing the enemy, ap pfoaching, eoeoped. About 300 gaU Ions of beer and two gallons of li quor were poured out. Up until yesterday morning, the raiding officers had wrecked sixteen illicit distilleries in the county since the first of March. MORE CHECKS The distribution of soil con servation money coiiynufs in this county at a fairly rapid rate, the office of the county agent announcing yesterday that an additional $5,000 in checks had been received the day be fore for delivery to those com plying with the program re quirements. The total amount received to date is Hearing $100, Tarmers, as a general rule, are greatly pleased with the the soil program. \\. I). \\ Mine Sues I (ami I ton (HTieer Tor $1,000 Damages _V - f Suit Against Joint S. Ayers Filed In Superior Court This Week A $1,000 law suit was filed hi the Martin County Superior Court here this week by W I) Wyniui^gainst ( John S Ayers, Hamilton peace offi cer. The suit is one <?T tin* few tha' have been filed in the county in re cent months. On January 1 of this year, the Plaintiff Wynne points out in the lomplaint filed by his attorney, E. S Peel, that he was standing and talk ing to a number of friends at the htoki'a iilnna aiatioiij}m itumiltmij main street It is maintained in the complaint that the plaintiff was do ing nothing wrong and was not talking boisterously The defendant came up while the conversation was in progress, and the complaint al leges Wynne was ordered home by Ayers Maintaining lie bad a right to bQ|Up town, that he was doing nothing wrong, Wynne, according to the complaint, remonstrated withj the defendant, who without cause oi provocation is alleged to have! turned on Wynne- with a walking] stick The blow was directed at the) plaintiff's head, the complaint reads. hut Wynne raised his arm in de fen.se and the stick struck him on| the wrist, breaking a small bone his arm. Wynne further alleged thatl Ayers started to raise the stick to direct a second blow oh his body, that he grabbed the cane and took| it away from the defendant. As a result of the "unwarranted"! attack, Wynne alleges he has suffer ed great injury, that being a poor man he was unable to have the break X-rayed and his arm proper ly set Th* plaintiff is 68 years old and has been unable to work since the attack, he alleges in his com plaint, and asks'$1,000 damages. Plan Organization Book Club At Library Tonight Everyone who is interested in u-aHing n??u,' honks is cordially rn vited to be present at a short meet ing to be held in the public library tonight at eight o'clock. The major purpose of the session will be to organize a book club for the library. (lountv Taxpayers Are Disappointed Bv Litest Action Delayed For Another Two Years, Proposal To Be Revived North Carolina's "democratic" legislature directed a stinging slap to lilt1 races <?! hundreds of thous ands of taxpayers yesterday when i* refused to provide a review of sev cra 1 coun ti es' claims . t( > money ex - pended years ago for the construc tion of highways - highways that form direct connecting links in a nation wide road system and high ways that are used more by the for eigh traveler than by many, many of those who are helping to pay off those road bonds floated to finance the great road program Taxpayers on the streets today expressed bitter disappointment when they learned that their legis latum had refused to ascertain the validity of their county's claim not to mention the repayment of any claim that might have been estab fished Their anger openly expressed against Ha Leigh policies of "lording M oyer" the people will not let the question die, and it is certain that somebody will be asked in the fu ture to determine the validity of the road claims and act accordingly Aside from the merit of the claims the matter of investigating what thousands recognize as art honest debt due the taxpayers by an all } powerful highway commission has been handled after a disgraceful fashion. The people have no doubt as to the advancement of underhand tactics employed m recent years to defeat the road claims Commissions have been appointed, but they were JiPl'j.l.r.cntly created nunc for the apj? peasement of the claimants than for an honest-to-goodness study of a perplexing problem Local people reason that the legislature refused a review of the claims for fear the claims might be established and the heavily laden money cart in Raleigh routed back to the people The bill to establish a commission of one man to make a study of the claims and report to the next legis lature was passed on its first and second readings, but was voted down in the House s on the third reading 35-46 after much heated de 1 bate. . I Zebu Ion V. Turlington, of Iredell, 1.championed?the measure for coun-? I ties that "have not had their day in I court " He pleaded for a chance to prove the claims of counties like Iredell, which spent $400,000 in | State roads, in a judicial manner. 'All we want is to relieve our people of taxes they are paying to meet these obligations," Turlington -said. "If- we can't pcov4* our claims we will be ready to step down and out." He asserted that counties had been led to waive immediate claims with the assurance that the State would pay eventually 'If they had been New York bankers on Wall Street, this great state of North Car olina would have run all over itself to pay them Imrk," he said Gregg Cherry, mentioned as a candidate for the governorship in 1944, that the hill would accomplish nothing. S. O Worithington, of Pitt, said the highway commission had led c? unties to tear up their contracts ami should not pay thcnv-Re assert* ed that it was unjust to repay some (Continued on page six) Teachers' Salaries For Seventh Month Employees in the Martin County school system received their seventh month salaries this week, the pay - roll for the period amounting to $19,309.85 The 105 white teachers received $11,201.60, and the 94 colored teach ers were paid $7,321.75 Thirteen janitors received $435, and the $7 truck drivers got $351.50. Included in the total were the salaries of principals and special teachers. The wage payment to whtte teachers in the county was $106 88, while that for the colored teachers was $77.89. Checks for the eighth and final month will fall due on April 28, the cost of operating the schools for the term approximating $118,000.
The Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 31, 1939, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75