i-j-a-si THE ENTERPRISE Advert if n Witi Pind Our Col umns A Latchkey To Over 1,600 Home* Of Martin County. VOLUME XLIII?NUMBER 28 WUliamtton, Martin County, North Carolina, Friday, April 5, 1940. ESTABLISHED 1899 Judge Peel Hears Nineteen Cases In The County Court Large Docket Attract* Big Crowd During Monday Seaaton Idle two week* while the Super - lor tribunal wa* in 8es*ion' county recorder's court faced a crowded docket last Monday morn ing When Judge H. O. Peel and Soli citor D. E. Johnion went into action to handle a big day * work. The court had it* high spot* that rated on the vulgar side, but for the most part, the cases were turned out in rapid order and after a routine fashiom Charged with non-support, Mitcn ell Peterson was directed to pay $15 a month to his wife for a period of twelve months and report for fur ther judgment at the end of that "joe Thad Savage, facing the court on a rather serious assault with a deadly weapon charge, was sentenc ed to the roads for a period of twelve months. Charged with larceny and receiv ing. Sam Hardison was given three months on the roads, the sentence to begin at the direction of the court at any time within the next wo years The case charging Jasper Wilnams with an assault with a deadly wea- J pon, was continued one week after | the defendant pleaded not guilty. Pleading guilty in the case charg-| ing him with larceny, James Horton , Hunter was sentenced-to the roads for four months. Charged with being drunk and dis orderly and assaulting a female, | Mitchell Moore was sentenced to the roads for three months. Jesse Williams was fined $50, tax ed with the cost and had his to operate a motor vehicle revoked for a period of one year in the case charging him with drunken driving. Charged with drunken driving, L.. L. Davenport pleaded gui'ty ?f be ing drunk on the highway. The plead was accepted by Solicitor Johnson and the court suspended judgment uDon payment of the cost. The case charging Willoughby Jones with bastardy was continued until thf first Monday in June Jake Cooper was sentenced to tne roads for three months in the case charging him with larceny and re -charged with larceny and receiv ing Pete Peel and Wilson Griffin were sentenced to the roads for nine ty days, the sentence to begin at the direction of the court. In a second case charging Wilson with larceny and receiving, he was sentenced to the roads for ninety days, the sen tence to run concurrently with that meted out in the first case. Warren Griffin, charged with larceny, was sentenced to the roads for six """The case charging Charlie Ran dolph with violating the motor ve hicle laws and drunken driving was continued until April J# Adjudged guilty of drunken driv mg .nd not heeding an officer's sig nal to stop, Joe Lame Oodard, Jr-. of Jamesville, was sentenced to the roads for four months. His license m operate a motor vehicle law was revoked for a period of one year In the smutty case against D. D Hill, charging him with asaatHting a female, the defendant was fined $10 and taxed with the cost. Charlie Barnes, the colored fellow who was arrested within an hour af ter he completed serving a road aen in the Martin County prison camp, was returned to the roads for ninety days in the case charging him W JametwMRhodes was fined$80 and taxed with the costs in the case charging him with carrying a pis tol. The weapon was ordered confis cated by the court Charged with aiding and abetting larceny, George Ruffin was sentenc ed to the roads for sixty days, the sentence to begin at the directiOTi of the court at any time within the next tWHo?rt Ralph Hunt, of Kto'ton' was fined $80, taxed with the cost and had his license to operate a mo tor vehicle revoked for one year in the case charging him with drunken driving. Lists Contagious Diseases In March A marked drop in the number of communicable diseaaea wai report ed in the county last month by the health department. The records with one exception reflected good health conditions for the period. For the first tea la several months there were no diphtheria cases reported, the records Indicating that the drive to check the disease is making no ticeable progress. Included in the list of reportable diseases last month was a case of typhus fever among the white pop ulation in Williamston. Whooping cough, while greatly decreased, hung on with two cases being reported among the colored population in Jamesville Township. Twenty eases of chicken pox were reported among the white children in Williamston. While the rtlssasi has been centered principally in Williamston, it went out of Its old bounds during lest month when a lone case wax report ed in Robereonville Township. There wee one eaae of soarlet fever, the repeat plertng the disease among the white population in Robemonville. Board of Elections Will Name Precinct Officials Tomorrow Plans for holding the 1940 elections in this county will be virtually com pleted tomorrow when the board of elections meets in the courthouse here and names the registrars and other precinct officials. The board is almost certain to create an addition al precinct for the Williamston vot ing district, and thirty-nine officials will have to be appointed to handle the elections in the thirteen pre cincts. > Even though wages to registrars have been materially increased no large number of applications for jobs have been received, as far as it could be learned here today. Registrars are paid at the rate of $5 a day for the three registration days and two cents a name for registrations entered on the books on other days from the time the books open on the 27th of this month until the Uth of May. The members of the county board of elections are going into the meet ing without recommendations for ap pointments to the precinct positions, Wheeler Martin, acknowledged lead er of the Republican party in the county, and E. S. Peel, titular head of the Democratic forces, stating this week that they planned to offer no suggestions and that they would abide by the action of the board. It is very likely that many of the old precinct officials will be re tained, but a few changes are certain. It is understood that two and possi bly all three members of the board have made investigations that are to determine, in part, the appointments at the meeting tomorrow morning. "More importance is being attached to the registration this year and we are anxious to get the best officials possible," one member of the board said this week Unofficial reports from the several enumerators state that the census survey is progressing slowly but steadily in this coun ty. Some of the enumerators have placed well over a hundred names in the records, but in the rural communities, the agricul tural census and housing survey are holding the enumerators to a slow pace. "The people are cooperating willingly and no one has even hesitated to answer the numer ous questions." an enumerator said this morning, adding that he was finding a few who were indifferent. Congress Exj>ected To Amend Tobacco Act This Session Delegation Supports Changes At Hearing in llapltal This Week Discussing the tobacCu situation at a conference this week in Washing ton, farm leaders, business men and national legislators harmoniously ap proved five amendments to the Agri cultural Adjustment Act as it re lates to the tobacco control section. For once, Senator Josiah Bailey came out into the open with a vote har monizing with ideas and wishes of farm leaders. The wholehearted up- i proval given the proposed amend ments at the conference is expected to have its effect when Congress is asked to amend the tobacco section of the agricultural act. J. E. Winslow, president of the Farm Bureau Federation; Eld ward O'Neal .president of the American Farm Bureau, and Billie Woolard, Greenville banker, were among those who conferred with the senators and representatives, including Messrs. Bailey and Warren. The six amendments as listed fol lowing the conference, follow: 1. "Hie determination of marketing quotas shall not Include any tobacco which the Secretary of Agriculture determines Is stored temporarily in the United States because of war or other unusual conditions delaying normal exportation. This amendment would make it possible, in fixing the marketing quota, to make allowance for any temporary increase in the carry-over of tobacco in this country arising from the storage of toba<*o, which, under normal conditions, would be exported and stored m foreign coun tries. 2. Substitution of 20 per cent rath er than 10 per cent as the margin by which quotas could be adjusted up ward "to avoid undue restriction of msrketings in adjusting the total supply to the reserve supply level." 3. The option of having a one- or three-year control program would be presented to the growers The (Continued on page four) Politics Warming Up As Period For Filing Nears End With the treasurer** team of flee candidates remaining the ?use. Interest In county poli ties drifted to the commissioners' front when Mr. Joshua L. Col train today announced for a place en the board, creatine ? race between himself and Com missioner C. C. Fleming from the JameovUle- W illiajns district. Mr. Fleming, earlier In the week announced his candidacy for the re-nomination in the Democra tic primary on May Z5. There is a marked absence of Interest in several county of fices, no candidate* baring filed fer the three open places on the beard of education, the Judge and solicitor of the recorder's court. J. Sam Oetsinger is filing fer of deads today. of Prominent County Citizen Passes In Hospital Thursday Funeral Service* Today For Benjamin M. Worsley In Oak Citv ? ' Benjamin M. Woraley, prominent county citizen and a recognized lead er of the Oak City community for a long number of years, died "in a Rocky Mount hospital yesterday morning at 3 o'clock. Experiencing failing health for some time, Mr Worsley entered a Rocky Mount hos pital for treatment last Friday. His. condition was not considered criti cal, however, until just a few days ago, death being attributed to a com plication of ailments. The son of the late Nathan W Worsley and wife, he was born at the old family home near Oak City in Goose Nest Towjiship 52 years ago the second of next month. He spent his early life on the farm, but .?iimn f'tlfflgerl in merenntilo ..-..rL la tor entered the banking business ill Oak City. In more recent years he devoted his time entirely to farm. ln? Interests In the Oak City area On August 3, 1922. he succeeded by special appointment Mr. Joseph T Waldo as a member of the Martin County Board of Education. He held that position until April, 1931, when he accepted membership on the Oak City district school committee which place he held at the time of his death. Mr Worsley led an active life, but he always found time to devote at tention to those affairs that were up lifting and for the betterment of his community and county. The thriving nttw community in which he lived and loved looked to him for counsel and leadership, and he was recogniz ed as a trusted friend by persons in all walks of life. He lived and had his beingsn the interest of his family his community and his fellowman! Few men devoted a greater interest and gave of his time and means more freely than he did in the ad vancement of general education. He seemed to find enjoyment in his work that centered around educa tional progress, for in his humble opinion he recognized in education the means of attaining a definite end, a means to the finer ideals In life. His walk through life was an un selfish one. He shared freely with and had compassion upon the less fortunate. In the home Mr. Worsley was a thoughtful husband and a considerate father, and while his passing is recognized as a great loss there, hundreds of others including those With whom he lived and worked for many years In the com munity share the burden of sorrow and recognize in his passing the loss of ^a good friend and a noble neigh When a young man ha was mar ried to Miss Nannie House, of Pitt County She, with four children, Benjamin, Francis and Hassell, and Miss Nancy Worsley, survives He is also survived by one brother, Mr. Nathan Worsley, of Oak City, and five sisters, Mrs G C. Weeks, of Scotland Neck; Mrs John Wiggins, of Tarboro; Mrs. B. L. Johnson, Mrs. W Gray Keel and Mrs. Effie Ches son. all of Oak City Mr. Worsley was a member of the Masonic order for a long number of years and Masons of the Skewarkey lodge here and those in other lodges in this section will conduct the last rites at the grave. Elder A. B Ben s'"''Prj"lltl*e Baptist minister of Rocky Mount, will conduct the ser vices at the home this afternoon at 3 o clock. Interment will follow in the Oak City Cemetery Work Started On Garage For Power (lompany Here Work on the construction of a gar age for the Virginia Electric and Power Company was started here yesterday by Contractor F. B. Bir mingham at the direction of the Bap tist Church Trustees. The building is being located on the church par ?mage Just back of the power com pany's store room between Church and Main Street in the busineaa dis trict. The building, estimated to coat ?5, "00, will be of concrete and steaL Late Tobacco Crop Is Predicted For i Section This Yeari ??? Plants Said To B?* As Murh As Thrw Wooks Late In County Present indications point to a late tobacco crop in Martin County this season, numerous reports from far mers stating that transplanting ac tivities will range from two to three weeks behind the schedule of a year ago. No general alarm over the pros pects has been expressed, but many farmers who were completing the transplanting of their crops last year by the middle or latter part of April will hardly start the work before the tenth or middle of May. It is es-1 timated that transplanting activities as a rule, will get underway this year about the same time they were completed a year ago. Last year quite a few farmers had transplanted their crops by the middle of April. Plants at this period of the month a year ago were forming rapidly, and far-1 mors were getting ready to prepare! their lands for transplanting. Reports now state that the cur rent crop of plants is considerably behind a normal growing schedule, that the plants, as a whole, are no larger than quarters and few as large as a half a dollar. A few farmers maintain that some type of disease is already attacking their plants and turning them a pale yellow. There is some doubt if it is blue mold, one report stating that possibly the cold weather damaged the plants. Farm work is being advanced rap idly in the county at the present time. Most farmers will complete "breaking" their land this week, and a few have already started planting j corn. Next week will see many planters in operation. Reports from Georgia state that a few farmers have already started transplanting their tobacco crops, that the work will get underway on a large scale about next week. There is an ample supply of plants there or enough to double the size of the crop allotted under the soil conser vation piogiain. Unconfirmed reports from other counties in this State indicate that while the Crop wil| he late, the de--. will hardly be as long as it is expected to be in this county. Native Of County Passes Wednesday Mrs. William H. Hopkins, aged na tive of Martin County, died at the home of her daughter in Rocky Mount Wednesday evening at 6:30 o'clock following a long period of declining health. Going to visit her daughter about two weeks ago, Mrs. Hopkins suffered a stroke of para lysis oh Wednesday of last week, death coming gradually a week la ter. The daughter of the late David and Mary Ann Stallings Carraway, Mrs. Hopkins was born in Jamesville Township eighty ye'rrs ago. More than half a century ago she married Mr Hopkins and the couple lived most of their lives with the Smith wicks in Williams Township She was a' member of the church at Fair view for more than a quarter of a century, and walked humbly before her Creator. She was a good woman, a thoughtful neighbor and friend. Besides her husband she leaves five children, Mrs. Theodore Mob ley, of Rocky Mount; Mrs Ben Dan iel, of Williamston; Lee Hopkins, of Bertie County; Howard Hopkins, of Williams Township, and Thade Hop kins, of Bear Grass. She also leaves two sisters, Mrs. Josephine Webb, of Greenville, and Mrs. Ida Hoff, of Richmond, and two half-sisters, Mrs. Tim Waters and Mrs. Cornelia Dixon, both of Plymouth. Funeral services are being con ducted from the Daniel home, near here this afternoon at 3 o'clock by Rev. W. B. Harrington assisted by Rev. John L./Goff. Interment will follow in thi family cemetery in Williams Towrnship. Decreased Liquor Business Reported Experiencing a relentless enforce ment program, illicit liquor manu facturers in this county are on the way out, according to the opinion of A. B. C. Officer J. H. Roebuck. "They keep on trying, we keep on cutting their plants down and the opera tors are now working on a compar atively small scale," the officer add ed in commenting on the enforce ment'bureau's activities for the pest month. Last month the enforcement bur eau head and assistants wrecked thir teen illicit liquor plants in the coun ty, poured out 6,200 gallons of beer and 31 gallons of liquor. Four per sons were arrested, the courts con victing three of them. The officer tra veled 1,222 miles handling his work. On Wednesday of this week the officer and his assistant, Hoy Feel, wrecked two plants in Bear Ona* Township. There were only 400 gallons of beer at the two plants. Fanning operations are getting un derway, and a dull month is antici pated for the illicit manufacturers. Postal Receipts Near Record Figure in First Quarter Flere Williamston's pos toff ice neared the all-time high record in its stamp sales for the first quarter this year when Postmaster Pete and his force sold one-, two- and three-cent stamps to the tune of $5.022.70 In two-cent de nominations. the sales represent some over 250.000 stamps, or just a quar ter of a million. The high record was recorded in 1937 when first -quart*! sales totaled $5,197.34. Up until this year, the record for the first quarter was established in 1939 when the office receipts amounted to $4,643.65. The upward trend is considered encouraging by Postmaster Fowden who is optimis tic over the prospects for the cur rent year. The gain is not traceable to any one source, the postmaster stating that the revenue was bolstered over the business front as a whole. Meters were installed by two firms here dur ing the quarter and while the ma chines, the first ever used locally, may have boosted postage sales they did not materially affect the busi ness income for the three months period "Wr are just naturally grow ing. that's all. and when you sec gams in postoffice receipts, you can generally rest assured that your town is on the forward inarch." Postmaster Fowdoit said. "Of course there'll be variations, and possibly slight losses, but when you stop and consider that the postal business has more than doubled itself here with ing the past decade or thereabouts, you can bet that progress has been the keynote for the town during the | same period." Mr Fowden added While stamp sales were increasing. tin- psail order ?>r money order bus iness jumped from $18,221 07 in the first quarter of 1939 to $19.875 72. a I gain of $1,654 05. Decrease Reported in Building Construction Downward Trend Is Reflected In Home Construction Costs Fifteen New Home* ami Nine Commercial House* Itiiilt Here in Pant Year """BTTTTcfTng1 construction, reaching an all-time high peak here in 1938. re flected a downward trend for 1939, according to a report released this week by Building Inspector G. P Hall. In numbers, the high record established in 1938 was almost main tained last year. There were fifteen new homes built here during the period at a total cost of $43,200. Con struction of non-residential houses underwent a marked decrease, but the unit count was larger than in 1938. The cost of nine pew ctimmer' ciul buildings was placed ut by the inspector for the past year. The town's building expansion program last year for both residen tial and non-residential construction activities was valued at $76,635. In addition to that amount, owners spent $4,275 repairing their homes and $1,600 remodeling or repairing commercial buildings, making a grand total of $82,510 for new con struction and repairs. The $43,200 spent for home con struction in 1939 compares with $89, 700 spent .for that fype of construc tion in 1938. The average cost of the nineteen homes built in 1938 com pares with $2,880, the average cost of the fifteen homes built last year. Several costly homes were con structed in 1939, the figures running as high as $9,000 in some cases, but in a number of cases, the cost was as low as $500. In 1938, non-residential construc tion was boosted by $45,000 for the construction of the new postoffice. Commercial construction was valued at $96,650 as compared with $33,435 last year. A review of residential and non residential construction and of re pair costs for 1939 by units, follows: Residential N