North Carolina Newspapers

NEARLY 1000 MARTIN COUNTY SERVICE MEN NOW READING THE ENTEPRISE IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD EACH WEEK. THE ENTERPRISE NEARLY 1000 MARTIN COUNTY SERVICE MEN NOW READING THE ENTEPRISE IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD EACH WEEK. VOLUME XLVIII—NUMBER 7 Williamston, Martin County, North Carolina, Tuesday, January 23, 1945 ESTABLISHED I8VV _ Makafinal Rfpatfi On T. B. Christmas Seal Sale In.Comte ford. Chairman Reports Assigned a quota of $600, Martin County more than doubled that sum when its citizens raised $1,318.19 in the recent T. B. Christmas Seal Sale drive, Mrs. Asa Crawford, chairman, reported this week. The various schools of the county contributed the following amounts: Bear Grass, $38.64; Oak City. $51.15; Jamesville. $53.00; Hamilton, $26.68: Hassell, $6; Everetts, $40 15; Farm Life, $40.43: Williamston. $182.24.— a total for the schools of $438 24. A total of $63.82 was raised at the Saturday booth sales, and the bangle day sales amounted to $54.90. In addition to bond purchases al ready acknowledged, the following organizations and business men sub scribed to the following amounts: Williamston Peanut Co.. $10: Dixie Motors, $25; B and W Tire Rebuild ers, $10; C. G. Crockett, $5- Darden's Dept. Store, $5; Martin-Elliott Co., $5; Skinner Tobacco Co., $10; King Tobacco Co., $10; Senior Woman’s Club, $5; Williamston Pkg Mfg. Co., $5: Saunders and Cox, $10; Dr. Jno. D. Biggs, $5; Williamston Motor Co., $10; Chas. H. Jenkins Motor Co., $5;! Mannings’ Laundry, $5- Harrison Oil | Co., $5; G and H Builders’ Supply j Co. $5; Pender’s, $5; Williamston Supply Co., $5. One-dollar contributions made by mail and not previously acknowledg ed, follow. Williamston (town): Ralph Parker, Henry Handy, Lucy Ward, John Tul loss, Clyde Hassell, W. C. Bailey, J. D. Leggett, G. A Harris, James Bul loch. M. E. Turner, David Modlin, W. R Banks. E. L. Etheridge, Joel Muse, K. D Worrell, J. E. Asbury, C. U. Rogers, J. R. Pcele, N. R. Man ning, Randolph Allen, Mrs Era Cobb, Mrs. P. B Cone, Jessup Har rison, H. 'T. Taylor, Jerry Humble, Woodrow Tice, Mrs. Travis Kitchin, R. T Griffin, Chas. Mobley, Julian Harrell, W. H. Dickens and J. C. Eubanks. Williamston (R. F D ): T L. Rob erson, Woodrow Holliday, Mrs. David Keel, C. F. Perry. M. D. Tayl or, Chas. M. Peele, S. J. Tetterton, Pleny Peele, Lewis Roberson, L. T. Hardin, M G. Perry, W. A. Perry, S H Mobley, B. F. Lilley, Exum Ward, Nathan Rugers, Henry Oak ley, G. F. Godard, Lee Hardison. Jamesville; W. F. Holliday, P. E. Getsinger, A. E. Manning, W. M. Davis, Mrs. Levi Davis, Mrs. Dare Brown, Mrs. J. L. Davenport, J. R. Williams, J. F. Martin, J. C. Kirk man, H W. Barber, Mrs. P. C. Blount. Everetts: Mrs. Gertrude Peele. Oak City: Mrs. C. W. Cowey, W E. Early, R. C. Brown. Sidney Mal lory, S. W. Cooper, Mrs. Annie E. Savage, Mi and Mrs. H. S. Piland, B. L. Johnson and L. H. Rouse. Hamilton: Harvey Williams, Asa Johnson and R. A. Edmondson. Hassell: J, A. Haislip and Mrs. M. H. Ayers. 20,000 Casualties Returning Monthly With Army casualty lists steadily increasing and because of the crit ical shortage ot Army nurse? and technically trained Medical Depart ment Personnel, General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff, U. S. Army, announced today the start of a new and vigorous recruiting drive to en list Wacs for the newly created Wo men’s Army Corps Medical Units for service at the Army’s 60 General Hospitals in this country and called upon the governors of the 4ft states and the com missioners of the District of Columbia to exercise their lead ership in aiding this vitally urgent program. In his letter to the governors and commissioners asking for local aid, Genera] Marshall said: “The care of the increasing numbers of casualties returning to the United States, to gether with the acute shortage in nurses and hospital personnel gen erally, necessitates urgent measures being taken to recruit and rapidly train women for service in Army hospitals We urgently need Wac un its for our 60 general hospitals. Your leadership in recruiting these wo men will be of great service to the Army.” Casualties are being returned from overseas to Army General Hospitals j in this country at the rate of 20,000 per month. The Medical Department load is therefore higher now than it has ever been in the Army’s history. For this reason ,the Army has set up one all-Wac enlisted technicians’ school at Wakeman General Hospi tal, Camp Atterbury, Indiana, and has opened three other technicians’ schools which had formerly been us ed to train men. These are Beaumont General Hospital, El Paso, Texas; Fitzsimons General Hospital, Den ver, Colo., ana Brooke General Hos pital, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Women, ibis is an urgent appeal, write or call the U. S. Army Recruit ing Station, P. O. Building, Wilson, N. C. imtfDj wtrHtrrdfy A Third Complete In County from the direct mail appeals drop ped oif considerably last Saturday and Monday, but they were be'ieved to be picking up some today. •Reporting on the drive, County Chairman L. B. Wynne said that hardly one-third of the $2,262 quota hod been raised so far, but he ex plained that only a few reports had been receiv ed. Possibly the most en couraging report received so far came from the local elementary school where $212.19 had been raised and turned in late last Friday. The report, it was pointed out, is not quite complete. Returns from direct mail appeals yesterday totalled $373.50, an amount considerably be low expectations. Preliminary reports received from other parts of the county state that ' ?:«:n _ apv _ _ t7; hv'iQ, and it is still believed ulSP the goal will be reached. Martin County reported three cases of in fantile paralysis last year. Well o”er a thousand dollars was spent by the Infantile Paralysis Foundation »n nursing one of the little victims. All expenses have been met and the money now being raised will be used in advancing research work and as a reserve for meeting future emer gencies. Chairman Wynne is anxious to complete the drive this week, and the leaders and school children are earnestly asked to do all they can to push the county over the top by that time. In Williamston, the Jun ior Woman’s Club will sell lapels Saturday, and in other towns and communities school children will handle the lapel sales the same day. Prominent Citizen Of County Died Monday f $6,600 QUOTA ^ Assigned a quota of $6,600.06 for the 1945 Red Cross War Fund the Martin County Chapter Is making tentative plans to meet the solemn obligation the early part of March. V. J. Spivey was named chairman of the special drive at a meeting of county and district Red Cross representa tives here last week-end. The Martin County Chapter includes Jamesville, Williams, Griffins, Bear Grass and Williamston Townships. The other five townships are in the Roberson viile Chapter. No definite date for launch ing the campaign has been fixed, but it is thought that the drive will get underway about the 5th of March. Williamston Youth Missing in Belgium T/5 John Foster VanLandingham, Williamston youth, has been missing in Belgium since January 4, his mother, Mrs. Emily D. VanLanding ham was advised by the War Depart ment here last Saturday morning. The young man entered the serv ice December 15, 1942, and had been overseas since last June. He was in the field artillery until the early part of last December when he was transferred to the infantry. In his last letter to his mother on Decem ber 30th he stated he was getting along all right, but did not like the transfer He was 23 years old last December 14th. A twin-brother, Paul, now serving in Belgium, has been wounded twice and was reported missing four days. Technician VanLandingham is the seventeenth Martin County young man to have been reported missing since the outbreak of war December 7, 1941. Six of the number were la ter reported killed, two others have returned home, two are prisoners of war, one returned to his station and is now in action, and no late word has been received from the others. He was the second county man reported missing on that front. Pvt. Wm. B. Partin In Army Hospital —«— Dictating a letter to his wife here under date of January 6, Pvt. Wil liam B. Partin, who was wounded in action on the Western Front in Belgium last December 30, stated that he was getting aTong very well in an Army hospital somewhere in England. He was wounded in the left shoulder and arm, but he assur ed his wife that the wounds were not serious. Former representative here for the Royal Baking Company, Raleigh, Pvt. Partin is left handed, making it necessary for him to have someone else write the recent letter to Mrs. Partin. NO MEETING f After listening to numerous applications during a period of several weeks, the Martin Coun ty War Board called off its reg ular meeting last Friday when it was learned that no farmers had filed applications for permanent or temporary release from the farm. There has been no marked trend in evidence so far, but re ports indicate that some of those farmers who quit the land for other jobs are returning to the country, apparently as a result of proposed changes in the man power regulations. Last Rites At Home This Afternoon For Joseph L Holliday Religious And Educational leader, Was First Farm Agent for This County Funeral services are being con ducted at his late home at Macedonia this afternoon at 4 o’clock for Joseph L. Holliday, prominent county citi zen who died at his home yesterday morning at 9:30 o’clock. His pastor, Rev. Dennis W. Davis, is conducting the last rites, and interment will fol low in the family cemetery on the home farm. Mr. Holliday had been in declin ing health for several years, retiring from active duties about three years ago. He had been able to be up much of the time until about two weeks ago when he was taken ill with pneumonia. His condition became critical last week when he lapsed in to unconsciousness, the end coming gradually and peacefully. The eon of the late Thomas S. Holliday and Sarah Leggett Holli day, he was born in the community where he spent all his life. After at tending the schools in this county, he went as a youth to White Hall School at Seven Springs, returning to teach in the county schools at Lilley’s Hall and Macedonia and oth ers. On June 12, 1898, he was mar ried to Miss Mamie Leggett and es tablished his home on the family farm where he was early recogniz ed as a progressive farmer and keen student of agriculture. At the same time he interested himself in reli gious and community affairs, and was numbered among the leading citizens of the county. About 1915 he took special courses of instruction in agriculture at State College, Raleigh, returning home to serve the county as its first farm demonstration agent. He worked dil igently with the farmers of the coun ty, introducing many new innova tions and figuring prominently in preparing a solid foundation for scientific advancement in the coun ty’s agricultural field. Permanent pastures were prepared on a larger scale, and the farm program was en hanced after theoretical and yet highly practical methods. He retir ed as county agent and accepted a position with a fertilizer company as its demonstration agent in eastern North Carolina. He resigned that po sition to devote his entire time to his own farm. As a member of the Macedonia (Continued on page six) Me usage Received From Jap Prison of War Camp ■o, Taken prisoner by the Japs soon after war broke out in December, 1941, Rudolph Smithwick, writing to his sister, Mrs. C. F. Thomas, here a few days ago, intimated that he was still in the Philippines, that the drive on Luzon was encouraging and that he hoped for liberation soon and looked forward to returning to the States soon. Smithwick, formerly of Windsor, stated that he had just re ceived a package that had been mail ed two years ago. The letter was the second received from him in about three years. Dealers May Have Their Sugar Inventories Adjusted -f, The county rationing board an nounced last week-end that whole-1 salers and retailers with inadequate1 sugar inventories may have them ad-! justed by making proper application ; to the office of the board in the 1 agricultural building. Applications for adjustments must be filed immediately, it was pointed out. Pfc. Clifton R Moore has beer? mother, Mrs. Lucy P. Perry, RFD i, Jamesville. No details could be learned im mediately. He is the third Martin County man to have been reported miss in; in actio n in the European area in recent days. Onward L. Gardner, also of the Jamesvilie community, and Foster Van Landingh&m, of Williamston, were previously reported miss ing in Uiat area. TOWN - FARM IN WARTIME (A weekly new* digest from the rural press section of the OW1 news bureau) “Essential” and “Critical” Draft Guides The guides set up by the War Man nower Commission for Selective Service in inducting men in the 26 through 29 age group make a nice difference between the “essential" industrial employment and that which is considered as “critical” to the war production program. Most smaller communities (excepting min ing and specialized manufacturing towns) which are closely related to their agricultural areas, will find that most of the men in the affected age group fall in the category of “es sential” employment when they work in such fields as the following: Agricultural Services: Commercial poultry hatcheries, seed processing, initial processing services of thresh ing, cleaning, shelling, curing and the like, farm repair and mainten ance services, farm product assem bly services, custom grist milling. No “critical” employment is listed un der the WMC guide for agricultural services. The production of packag ing materials for shipping and pre serving essential products is also listed as an essential class of em ployment. In the category of “critical" em ployment, as it may affect the draft status of citizens of non-industrial smaller towns, is listed such work as the repair of automobiles, busses, trucks, tractors and farm equipment. However, it is intended that in the i category of repair services consider ation be given only to individuals qualified to render all-round repair services on the types of equipment included in the essential list. Types of repair service other than the above are deemed “essential.” In the field of health and welfare services the critical classification is applied to physicians, surgeons, den tists, oculists, osteopathe, sanitary engineers, veterinarians engaged in farm livestock treatment, pharma ceutical services, hospitals, nursing services, and institutional care. Into the “essential” class go mortuary services, church activities, accident and fire prevention services. Only educational service considered criti cal is the United States Maritime Service Training Program; most oth ers are listed as essential services. In the forestry and lumbering fields the only critical classifications are those of timber tracts and log ging camps, cutting of pulpwood, wood for tanning extract, sawmills, veneer and planing and plywood mills. Substantially, the guide system set up by WMC, which is in accordance with the directive to Selective Serv (Continued on page six) Starts Training After Fifteen-Weeks Delay ■ —» June Beach, Martin County youth, has entered upon his training as an apprentice seaman at Bainbridge, Md., after a delay of nearly fifteen weeks. Entering the service nearly four months ago, the youth was tak en ill with cerebro spinal fever and was confined to a Navy hospital un til just a short time ago. THE RECORD SPEAKS . . . After breaking into the acci dent record columns during the second week of the current year, motorists on Martin County highways last week held the line and scored a perfect safety rec ord; that is, as far as reports reaching the highway patrol show. The record to date is not so bad, and by exercising just a little more care and discretion, motorists can materially hold the record to the present figures. The following tabulations of fer a comparison of the accident trend: first, by corresponding weeks in this year and last and for each year to the present time 3rd Week Comparison Accidents Inj’d Killed Ham er 1945 0 0 0 $ 000 1944 0 0 0 000 Comparison Tn Date 1945 2 1 0 $ 150 1944 1 0 1 500 .SO YOtJ'THlNR II S UJlu T^T IP YOU THINK you’ve had reason to complain of the cold, take a look at Pvt. Charles Preston, Nicholasville, Ky., us he cleans the snow from hts machine gun mounted on his jeep somewhere in Belgium That metal gets so rold you can't touch it with your hand without serious conse quences. This is an ofllcial Signal Corps Radiotelephoto. (International) Farmer Greets Robber With Load of Bird Shot Rod Rodgers Taken Into Custody Later By County Officers Farmer Fliarles Pale ('amjlit Mail Coming Out «>f 11 in Home in Williams A nagging series of thefts and rob beries reported in and near here during recent months was believed to have been abruptly stopped last Sunday afternoon about 4 o’clock when Farmer Chas. Pate caught Rod” Rodgers coming out of his (Pate’s) home over in Williams Township and fired a load of bird shot into the intruder’s legs. Instead of stopping him, the shot pushed Rodgers into high gear and he left the country in strides so broad that officers could hardly maintain the trail from one track to the next. Farmer Pate did not know the in truder, but other parties saw Rodg ers in that community earlier in the afternoon and officers, Sheriff C. 11 Roebuck and Patrolman W. E. Saun ders, picked up the clue and arrested Rodgers about two hours later at his home near Skewarkey. Troubled by prowlers over a per iod of months, Farmer Pate last Sun day did not accompany his family to church but took a stand in one of his outbuildings. Rodgers slipped in to the house and when he started out with ten pounds of sugar, a pair of overalls and a few other items, Pate called to him to halt. Rodgers said nothing hut started fumbling around iris pockets. Pate was quoted as saymg that he thought Rodgers was feeling for a gun and he fired the load of bird shot from a point about 50 or 00 yards away. The far mer then told Rodgers to halt or he would shoot him with a load of buck shot. Rodgers depended on speed and went away before a second shot could be fired, leaving the sugar and overalls. When he was arrested and the of ficers found the shot in his legs, they were certain they had the right man. However, Rodgers maintained that he hud walked down the railroad toward Jarnesville and that someone shot him while he was sitting on the creek trestle. Rodgers is said to be a good work er but that he has "taking” ways. He has been in the courts for alleged thefts. No hearing has been sched uled in the case, as far as it could be learned late yesterday afternoon. Former Local Hoy Ih Now Serving In Pacific Area Seaman 1/c Charlie Gilbert Mob ley, son of Mrs. Bettie Mobley Lilley, of Wibiamston and Plymouth, re 1 cently notified his wife that he is now serving somewhere in the Pa cific. The young man entered the Navy last May 26, received his basic training at Camp Peary, attended a four weeks special course at Camp Shelton, Va., and spent nine weeks at the armed guard center, New York, before being shipped out last November 14th. Loral Hoys Meat In Fan A nay Calcutta Recently According to reports reaching here this week, “General” Herbert (Skip py) Cov en and Lawrence Lindsley, Jr., met by chance in far-away Cal utta, Im’ia, recertly. It was a joy ous meeting, the boys learning that they were stationed hardly four xiiilca apart. ROUND-UP I,oral, county and state offi cers maintained about their us ual pace in rounding up alleged violators of law and order in the town and community when they arrested and temporarily detain ed five persons last week-end. Two were hooked for public drunkenness, and one each for driving drunk, breaking and en tering and one l'or% being drunk and disorderly. The ages of the group ranged from 27 to 51 years, and two of the men were white. Brother Of Local Resident Wounded S/Sgt. Andrew Lewis Morris is in in Army hospital somewhere in France recovering from wounds re l ived on the Western Front in Hel ium. his sister, Mrs. C. R Whitak r, 300 W Main Street, Williamston, was advised last week-end. He was a paratrooper. The young man's mother, Mrs. A. J. Morris, of Richmond, received a telegram from the War Department on January 14, stating that he had been killi d in action on December 20. Letters received direct from the young man under date of December 20 and 20th stated that he was in the hospital recovering from wounds, that he had received the Purple Heart and that he had been recom mended for the Silver Star. The di rect information shows the death an nouncement was made in error. Sgt. Morris, formerly of Ahoskie and Woodville, wears the Bronze Star for service in the invasion of France on D-Day. Sgt. Bonnie Taylor Wounded in Action T/Sgt. Bonnie M. Taylor was slightly wounded in action in Ger many on January 3, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. B. K. Taylor, RFD 2, Wil liamston, were advised by the War Department last Friday afternoon. Volunteering his services in Oc tober, 1940, Sgt. Taylor was with the Rangers. He has been overseas since November, 1943, and while he talks little about Ihe war, it is known that he has seen rnuch action. He was in the first group of American troops to land in France last June. Twenty-four years old next month, the young man attended school at Bear Grass and farmed until he vol unteered for service more than four years ago. PRISON LABOR ) v) While most of them are being assigned 10 industrial plants, quite a few German prisoners from the local Prisoner of War camp are being employed on farms in this county. According to reliable informa tion gained this week, 463 pris oners were assigned to farm jobs in the county last month. They worked a total of approximately 3,500 hours citing wood for to bacco curing barns, shrubbing ■uid eatborin corn. The labor cost the farmers approximately "850. No prisoners have been used I to cut wood for commercial use. German People Are Russians I.css Than 150 Miles of Capital; Big Drive in West Is Predicted Late reports corning through Swe den and yet unconfirmed declare that civilians and quite a few of the high ranking authorities are fleeing from Berlin as the Russians continue their great five-prong of fensive from the East. Hitler, believ ed to have been idle in the military affairs of Germany for some time, is being taken from the “cedar chest” to boost his countrymen’s morale, the report adding that he is leaving for the Eastern Front presumably to direct the defense of the Fatherland along the Oder River. Adolf will have to hurry if he is to reach the Oder ahead of the Russians, late re ports stating that General Konev's Red Army has the river defenses under fire and that the Russians are now within 150 miles of Berlin. Ger man morale is now believed facing tiie supreme test. Never before has it great war been fought on German soil and the German people are about to crack under the new exper ience. They were told back yonder that they must kill and murder the Russians to save the Fatherland. Now, the Russians, remembering the brutal slaughter in more than 100 of their big cities and thousands of towns, are marching toward Berlin. The first few days of the Russian drive have not materially weakened I he Germans in manpower, one re port stating that hardly half as many prisoners were taken in the latest campaign as had been taken in prev ious offensives. Less than 25,000 pris oners were taken in the first few days of the drive, hut the courted dead numbered around 60,000. It is believed that the Germans withdrew, hastily to be sure, to the Oder Riv er where an all-out defense is likely. Some observers think the Germans will offer a stubborn defense along that line and then center their strik ing power for offensives in the West. This line of reasoning runs counter to much of the optimism expressed at the present time. However, oth ers point out that German morale is at a new low point, that Germany is likely to crack within even before the Allies deliver the all-out mili tary blow. While the Germans may hank on the Oder River defense line, they have a serious problem to the North where General Rokossovsky’s Red Army is driving rapidly from Tan nenberg toward Danzig, threatening to cut off 200,000 of the enemy. This action is in progress while General Cherniakovsky’s Army is pushing down from recently captured luster burg in East Prussia. A third Rus sian army under General Zhukov is pushing toward Poznan, and far ther south, General Konev is almost within sight of Breslau, capital of the Silesian Province. Still farther south, General Petrov's Army is ac tive in the Carpathians. The five armies integrated in one big push are offering a serious threat to the Fatherland all right. Over on the Western Front where a big Allied drive is being predict ed, the Germans are having a tough time all along the line with the pos sible exception of the Strasbourg area where the enemy continues to attack fiercely. The enemy’s retreat from the Belgian bulge has been turned into a route, and vast German movements have been smashed. In an all-day attack yesterday, Allied air men pounded 3,000 German vehicles in their flight from the Ardennes sector toward the Siegfried Line and (Continued on page six) Eighty-three Tires Allotted By Board Eighty-three tires—77 for cars and six for trucks—were allotted by the Martin County War Price and Ra tioning Board last Friday night. Certificates for the purchase of Grade I tires were issued to the fol lowing: W Robert Everett, Hyman Clark, B S. Courtney, Woolard Furniture Co., R L. Coburn, Velma Bailey, Raleigh Lilley, Geo. W. Wynne, H. W Modlin, J. T. Thompson, S. J. Lil ley, Richard D. Jones, Noah Boston, Kader Lilley, Matthew Cotten, W. I. Watkins, J. H. Mooring, Nathaniel Coltrain, A. R. White, Willis Wil liams, L. C. Brown, Pr. J S Rhodes, Royal Gurganus. Standard Fertilizer Co., W. W. Waters, J. H. Hopkins, Geo. C. James, Henry Haislip, James Bailey, Adrow Smith, Mary Slade, H M. Peel, W. L. Taylor, Octavious Barber, F. W. McDaniels, J. D. Eth eridge, Frank Bell, J. Ernie Gard ner. C P Hopkins, Mrs. W, Henry Gray, Mrs. W. R. L. Purvis, G. A. Wetherington, Roy Martin. Cortez Bowen, Ernest Harrison, Simon Lil ley, Carl R. Wynne, Clayton Revels, Luther Lee Whitfield, C. D. Bullock, W. B. Peel, J. D. Suits, H. C. Rober son A. F. Coltrain, E. D. Mizelle, Wil lie Long, Sam Moore, Irving G. Rob erson. White and Everett Certificates for truck tires were i sued to the following: A. C. Boyce, Farmville-Wood ward Lumber Co,, Standard Fertilizer Co., M. B. Ward.