North Carolina Newspapers

’ Have You Shared In The United War Fund Drive Now Under Way? NEARLY 4,906 COPIES OF THE ENTERPRISE GOING INTO THE HOMES OF MARTIN COUNTY AND TO COUNTY SERVICEMEN THE ENTERPRISE NEARLY 4,00fi COPIES OF THE ENTERPRISE GOING INTO THE HOMES OF MARTIN COUNTY AND TO COUNTY SERVICEMEN VOLUME XLVIII—NUMBER 86. Williamstont Martin County, North Carolina, Tuesday, October 30, 1945 ESTABLISHED 1899 Quotas Assigned To -,» CmatiuflHrHUa ¥ Last Bond Campaign ——$ Martin Asked To Invest Half Million Dollars Between Now SnH Deeember 8 -«> Quotas for the various county dis tricts in the eighth and last bond drive were announced today by D. V. Clayton, drive chairman, who ex plained that Martin is being asked W to invest $544,000 in appreciation of victory. The chairman continued that while the war is over, millions of American young men are still in the service, that tremendous sums are necessary to get the young men back home, and that a large segment of the armed forces must be main tained. Of the $544,000 this county is ask ed to invest, $243,000 is in "E” bonds ^ and $301,000 in negotiable instru ments. The quotas announced for the various townships and districts follow with the “E” bond quota list .ed .first and the negotiable bond quotas second; Jamesville, $7,300 and $9,000; Wil liams, $4,700 and $6,000: Griffins, $12,250 and $15,000; Bear Grass, $8, 500 and $11,000; Williamston, $103, 000 and $128,000; Cross Roads, $7,300 and $9,000; Robersonville, $73,000 and $90,000; Poplar Point, $4,850 and 'f $6,000; Hamilton, $9,800 and $12,000; Hassell, $5,000 and $6,000; Goose Nest, $7,300 and $9,000. Commenting on the Victory Loan Drive, Chairman Clayton stated that he was of the firm belief that the amount can and will be invested without any great trouble, that the people of Martin County can be ex pected to meet the challenge and far exceed the quotas. Again the county chairman, Her ^ man A. Bowen, and the campaign chairman. Mr. Clayton, are calling on those district leaders who have work ed so willingly in the past, asking them to carry the Victory Loan Drive appeal into every home and business in the county. Last May-June, the people of this county were asked to invest $745,000 in bonds. They invested more than double that amount, raising $419, 742.25 in “E" bonds and $1,250,698.50 4 in negotiable bonds, a total of $1, 670,440.75. If such a record was pos sible in the summer months in this county, the present challenge should be met very easily. Some few sales have already been reported since the drive was official ly opened yesterday, but they arc quite limited so far. One of the most popular bonds offered in the present drive is the $200 Roosevelt bond. ^ The demand has been so hqavy, that distribution of the bond has been de layed. but a supply is expected in the county today or tomorrow. Numbers of bonds have been cash ed in throughout the country, but bankers declare that comparatively few people in this county have cash ed in theirs. A few needed the money for emergencies and then that few who merely wanted to . squander their savings have demand * ed the cash. While the bonds may be exchanged any time for cash, the purchasers are asked to hold them for the specified time. -« Escaped Convict Is Recaptured Sunday . Wandering from the Martin Coun ^ ty prison camp last Sunday after noon in the company of two other grade A prisoners, William Taylor, serving a six months sentence for violating the liquor laws, was recap tured near Oak City that night. The two other wanderei s returned to camp late that day. one report stat ing that the trio slipped away and participated in a drinking party. Taylor, sentenced in this county 4 the early part of this year, was al most drunk and explained to friends that he had completed his road term. He hired a taxi to take him home. The 28-year-old colored man was sentenced to the road, but the term was suspended upon the payment of a $50 fine and costs and on the fur ther condition that he reimburse the one who financed his trip to court. He started a crop and ran away with * out effecting a settlement, and was taken into custody and delivered to the camp about two months ago. Firemen Called To Home In Everetts Last Sunday Local volunteer firemen were call ed to Everetts Sunday morning about 8 o’clock when an oil stove went out ^ of control and smoked the home of Chas. B. Stalls. Other than that caused by smoke there was little , damage, according to reports reach ing here. “CountyITmngTftant^ven Discharge By The Navy After a long period of service, Dal lr las Biggs was’ discharged by the Navy last Thursday, the young man returning to his home in Everetts immediately. The son of Mrs. Eula Biggs and the late Bisco Biggs, he was overseas one year in the Pacific. PEARL HARBOR PHOTO ONE OF NAVY'S 100 BEST mT i i • "X~ - % i CHOSEN BY THE NAVY as one of the hundred best war pictures taken by Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard photographers, this shows the U.S.S Shaw exploding after a hit in the Jap sneak attack on Pearl Harboi four years ago Picturing terrific action and dramatic in every detail, the photo was long withheld from publica tion Now it has been selected for the gallery of fame. U.S. Navy photo. (international) Farm Bureau Gives Support To National Peanut Council Meeting with the membership can vassers committee in the courthouse last Friday evening, the Martin Countv Farm Bureau executive com mittee heartily endorsed the Nation al Peanut Council Program and agreed to promote the work among all farmers in this county. The Council, it was explained, is advanc ing e xtensive research work in an ef fort to create new uses for peanuts and to promote increased consump tion among the edible trade. Agri culturists in Washington are agreed that increased consumption offers about the best solution for the prob lem confronting peanut growers. Cleaners, millers and manufacturers have been supporting the council and its program for some time, and now the growers are being asked to par ticipate by paying one cent for each bag sold. Farmers in many of the peanut producing counties have al ready agreed to support the plan, and I when it is explained to them Martin County farmers are almost certain to ■ participate. | The meeting last Friday night cli maxed the Farm bureau's annual membership drive. President Chas. L. Daniel explained that the drive had exceeded the goal, that at that time 1,694 paid-up members were on the roll, that the number will exceed 1,700 when all reports are received. Messrs. Daniel, H. U. Peel, E. C. Harrison, Sam T. Everett and Carl Griffin were elected to represent the county at an important meeting call ed by the State Bureau executive committee to be held in Raleigh Fri day morning of this week. On November 9, the county organi zation’s executive committee will meet to determine delegates to the national convention to be held in Chi cago next month, and to plan for the annual election of officers. 4-H Club Members In Roper Contest -« The annual Ritual and Parliamen tary Procedure Contest was held in Roper last Wednesday. The con testants were composed of the five officers from each of the five chap ters of the F. F. A., which were as follows: Jamesville, Oak City, Col umbia, Ropet, and Creswell. The Ritual Contest consisted of the various chapters going through the ! opening and closing ceremonies and the Parliamentary Procedure Con test consisted of the making of mo tions and voting or carrying on busi ness in a business-like manner. Out of these five chapters, James- | ville received first place and Oak i City followed up with second Hav- j ing won the Federation Contest, Jamesville will participate in the District Ritual and Parliamentary Procedure Contest, the time and place of which will be announced at a later date. -a Farm Fife Parents And Teachers Hold Meeting The Farm Life P. T. A held its sec ond meeting Thursday, Oct. 18. The meeting was opened by the singing of “Home on the Range,” after which Mr. P. E. Getsinger conducted the devotional. Plans for the lunch room were discussed. The parents were asked to donate a platp and five quarts of vegetables for each child they had in school. The time for the meetings was changed from Thurs day night to Thursday afternoon. Mr. Milton Griffin’s room won the prize for having the most parents at tending the meeting. \ REGISTER FIREARMS j Owners of certain types of firearms are being warned to have them registered with the proper authorities, that failure to so do may subject them to heavy penalties imposed by the federal government. The types of fire arms include mostly those used | in warfare ?nd shipped into tes malic shot guns and ... weapons used in common ordi nary game hunting are not to be registered. Details for registering such weapons as machine guns and others discharging several shots at one pull of the trigger will be released shortly, it was learned. Report Two Wrecks In County Recently No one was hurt and no great pro. perty loss resulted in two highway accidents reported in this county during the past week-end Drivingtoward Stokes on the Rob ersonville-Stokes Highway last Fri day about 3:15 o’clock Mrs. L. L. Whitfield started to make a right turn into a driveway when Raymond Louis Phelps, traveling in the same direction, tried to pass her on the right side of the road. He sideswip ed the Whitfield car and continued on down the road for almost 200 feet before stopping his vehicle, a light truck. Damage to the car was esti mated at $200 and that to the truck at $25 by Patrolman W. E. Saunders who investigated the accident. Phelps, it was learned, is to face the courts for operating a motor vehicle without proper brakes and possibly for careless and reckless driving. In Everetts last Saturday about 6 o’clock p. m., Major Bryant, driving a tudor sedan, sideswiped a large truck and trailer loaded with tobac co. No one was hurt and Patrolman W. E. Saunders, investigating the ac cident, estimated the damage to the car at about $100 and none or very little to the truck. Bryant, found in the back seat in an intoxicated condition, declared that the driver ran away. He later said he was under the wheel and still later denied he was driving, Patrol man Saunders explaining that Bry ant was and he wasn't. -at Many County People See Show Last Night This county was well represented at the “big top” in Rocky Mount yes terday afternoon and last night. “If all the people from the county had been asked to stand up, about half the crowd there would have respond ed,” one witness conservatively de clared. Bill Bob Peel will remember the event for a long time, he declares. Some his pockets- arrd re* eluding the admission tee. He bor TWiand money f#©». friends and made his way into the big tent, but there was little enjoyment there for him. Quite a few people got turned around and were lost for several hours, the parade home lasting well into the early hours this morning, the last straggler pulling in about 4 o’clock. PRISONERS ^_ J No more German prisoners of war will be made available for general farm work, according to a recent order issued by the Fourth Service Command, At lanta. Prisoners may be used for harvesting food and feed crops, but they may not be used for ditching, shrubbing or other gen eral farm work. While the use of the prisoners is being limited, the number be ing made available is hardly large enough to meet stipulated needs, the office of the county agent explaining this week that the prisoners had been booked for several weeks ahead. Henry D. Cooke, Williamston Native Died Last Saturday --- Funeral Services Are Held Last Sunday Afternoon In Hopewell, Virginia Henry Duggan Cooke, native of Williamston and retired engineer machinist, died in a Hopewell, Vir ginia, hospital last Saturday morning at 7 o’clock following a long period of declining health. Mr. Cooke re tired several years ago, but was get ting along very well until some time during last Thursday night when he suffered a heart attack. When he failed to get up about his usual hour Friday morning, members of the family visited his room and found him unconscious. He was removed to the hospital where he died without regaining consciousness. The son of the late John E. and Mary Emily Duggan Cooke, he was born on January 9, 1869, in the old family home where the Godards now live on Marshall Avenue. Mr. Cooke spent his early life in Williamston and engaged in machinist’s work be fore going with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company as an engi neer. Retiring some years later, he engaged in the mercantile business with his brother here for a short time before locating in Hopewell, Virginia, about 30 years ago to enter the em ploy of the Allied Chemical and Dye Works as consulting engineer. While in Hopewell he introduced a number of labor-saving devices. When a young man he was mar ried to Miss Virginia Smith of Wil (Continued on page six) r WAR FUND J v. Considering the small number of reports received, material progress was made in raising money for the United War Fund in the county since last Thurs day. Williamston special gifts committee handed in several hundred more dollars, boosting the total raised and actually re ported in the district to date to $2,528.88. No other reports were received, other than one from Oak City where the chairman explained that several of the canvassers had quit, but that the work was still being carried on with success. The drive is not n? lnuiini t'W. Ikldkii ■ Sialf of the districts have jssade even a preliminary report, ap proximately (4,000 of the 513, 223 96 quota has been raised and turned in to date. Several coun ties in this section with larger quotas have already rearched their goals, it was learned yes terday. First Deli veries A re Made To Although their plant is not quite ready for operation, owners of the Dixie Peanut Company yesterday re ceived their first peanut deliveries. Farmer Toby Bowen, of Bear Grass, delivered approximately 200 bags from the current crop yesterday af I ternoon. Other purchases are being made as rapidly as possible, and the company plans to continue on the market without interruption. Pur chases will be stored until the plant is placed tn operation when the large plant will be able to take care of nor mal deliveries. The company, just recently organ ized by Messrs. Johnny Gurkin, Car lyle Langley, John A. Manning, W. C | Windley and Bob Edmondson, has' just about completed the construe-' tion of one of the largest plants in this entire section, on the Washing ton Road at the railroad just across from the Williamston Lumber Com pany. The engine, one of the largest ever seen in this section, has been installed and masons are bricking up the boiler today. Workmen are busy installing elevators and the various machines, Mr. Gurkin stating yester day that the firm was making every effort to place the plant in operation by early December. The firm was delayed many days by unfavorable weather when construction was first started on the large plant and stor ago houses. Reports from the farms state that harvesting was being advanced on an increased scale yesterday, and with fair weather during the next few days tl - crop will start to mov ing to market in volume. In addi tion to a reduced crop, quality is not measuring up to expectations. Very few crops so far have graded over 13 percent extra large, but the meat content is fairly high and the bagged goobers are weighing unusually heavy More Martin County j w Men Enter the Army Twenty Three White Men Report Durin The Past Few Days Fourteen Leave For Pre-In tint-lion Tests ant! Nine For Final Intlnelion 'TQ The order of the draft and service discharges that once called for fifteen men and discharged one is now in re verse and gaining rapidly, late re ports indicating that the services are discharging about fifteen men every time they call one. But Martin Coun ty men—fathers, farmers and teen agers—are still being called by Selec tive Service. Last Wednesday, fourteen men re ported to Fort Bragg f.a' pre-induc tion tests. On Monday of this week, nine left for final induction. Of the seventeen white men called for preinduction last Wednesday, three were transferred to other boards. Only four of the seventeen were called from the farm, ann’i'nere was only one father in the group. All but five were 20 years old or young er, most of them being just eighteen years of age. There was one volun teer in the list. The names of the white men called for the pre-induction test and their addresses follow: Lollie Bryant Williams, RFD 3, Williamston. James Robert Bullock, RFD 3, Wil liamston, and Norfolk. Claude Moore, Williamston Geo. David Martin, RFD 1, James ville, and RFD 2, Williamston. Richard Earl Bland, RFD 1. Oak City. Charlie Daniel Price, Hamilton. Manuel Edward Harris, RFD 2, Williamston. Samuel Morris Rogerson, RFD 2, Williamston. James Robert Smith, Hamilton. Clifton Loelen Whitaker, Rober sonville and Baltimore. John Dinwiddie Mobley, Williams ton and Washington. Henry Brown Winslow, RFD 1, Robersonville and Raleigh. Dixie Elliott Greene, Roberson ville. Julius Thomas Price, Hamilton. William Henry Warren, RFD 1, Hobgood. Joseph Eugene Wynne, Williams ton arid High Point. Moses LeRov Merritt, Jamesvilie. Henry B. Winslow was transferred to Raleigh, Clifton Whitaker to Balti more, and Dixie Elliott Green to Hillsboro. Of the nine white men called Mon day for final induction, four come rom the farm. All are listed as single, and their ages range from IK to 23 (Continued on page six) Throws Brick At llusbund And Breaks Store Window - ■— Angered because her husband would not accompany her to church, Annie Johnson, colored woman, threw a brick or rock at him, missed and smashed a plate glass in one of Margolis Brothers’ store windows on Main Street here Sunday morning at 10:30 o’clock. The act is * lx- aired before Jus tice* J. L. H- . this evening. — - I- (,4'ls W illilifHSlOfl} F^ytMeviUe will succeed Williams ston as a member of the Coastal Plain Baseball League, it was an nounced following a meeting of the league directors and officials in New Bern last evening. Bids submitted for the berth by Wilmington and Jacksonville were rejected, it was learned. f N TOBACCO SACKS v-J Even though a large percent age of tbe crop has already been marketed in this section, tobacco sales on the local market have continued to hold up unusually well during recent days. And prices have held up, too, the mar ket averaging just a little under $10.75 yesterday. Through yesterday, the market had sold I0,095,9MK pounds for $4,751,894.44, a resulting average lor the season of slightly more than $44.33 per 100 pounds. A large majority of farmers have completed the marketing ol their crops, and with few ex ceptions those who have not completed the task have hardly more than an average of one barn left for sale. Claude Nelson Died Late Last Saturday At Home In iTasseTl I'uiK-ntl Scrvicr llrlil Monday For RcH|)ei i<‘il <!niinlv l{csiil«‘iil Claude LeRoy Nelson, highly rc spected county citizen and well known farmer, died at his home in Hassell last Saturday night at 11 :35 o’clock following a long period of de dining health. Suffering a heart at tack three or more years ago, he had been confined to his home and bed most of the time for many months. The son of the late J. M. C. Nelson and Nancy E. Nelson, he was born in Pitt County on September 12, 1891, and spent his early life there. When a young man he moved with his father to this county and located on a farm in the Hassell community where he spent the remainder of his life. Mr. Nelson was a progressive farm er and took a great interest in the af fairs of his adopted community. He served as secretary of the Modern Woodman Camp for about thirty five years, and worked for the main tenance of peace and order as jus lice of the peace for a number of years, giving of his time arid means in support of worthy undertakings Mr. Nelson was a faithful member of the Christian church at Hassell for a number of years and was devoted to his family and enjoyed a large circle of friends. Twenty-eight years ago he was married to Miss Mabel Haislip of Hassell and she survives with two children, Claude L. Nelson, Jr., and Miss Frances Ruth Nelson, all of Hassell. Funeral services were conducted yesterday afternoon at the late home at 2 o’clock by his pastor, Rev J. M Perry, Robersonville minister, and interment was in the Hamilton cem etery. ROUND-UP Nine persons were rounded up and placed in the countv jail last week-end, five for public drunk enness, two for assaults and one each for none-support and disor > * umtueK Thti-f<r+x of U\? gr«V>}* - from 19 to 39 vears, and three of tie sH«e - mi Up until yesterday, 65 persons had been placed in the county jail during the current month. In October, nineteen years ago, nine persons were arrested and jailed, and most of the increase came during the past several years. U. S. S. Destroyer Siii< Oil i Part In Recent War Marlin Count) Youllt Goes W ilh Ship Through Danger Of Many Missions Wherever there has been any ac tion of much importance, Martin County has been represented with possibly a few exceptions. A story just recently released and reviewing the great part the 1T. S. S. Destroyer "Shaw" played in World War II, in directly tells about a Martin County boy, Chief Petty Officer Albert Gay Bennett, son of Mr and Mrs. Hugh Bennett of Oak City. The young man was on the U. S. S. Downs when it was wrecked by the Japs at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 11)41 He was immediately trans ferred to the badly Crippled Shaw. The following account released by the Navy picks up the story from there: The saga of the gallant destroyer Shaw, .twice healed of gnev-. tie wounds at Mare Island, was re vealed hy Navy authorities who cred it the ship’s crew with destruction of a Jap destroyer, a gunboat, a freight er, nine enemy planes as well as par ticipation in It) bombardments of Nipponese shore installations. Through no fault of hers, pointed out the Navy’s public relations office, the Shaw bail a rather ignominous but spectacular introduction to war. I'o the Shaw went ttie credit for fur nishing one of the most dramatic ex plosion pictures of this war, when Jap planes blasted her in drydock. at Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1041. She returned to Mare Island then with a stubby false bow. The temporary job was replaced by a prefabricated, standard set-up and the Shaw head i d back to even the score. Like her sister destroyers, the Shaw was part of “the dungaree navy,” the workhorses of the fleet. In the initial invasion of the Philippines, she brought in fog oil to conceal the first landing. She then transferred ammunition and torpedoes from Sur agao to ships in the invasion force. Fighting off torpedo and dive-bomb er an attacks on ammunition ships and tankers loaded with aviation gas was one of her jobs. Willi three other destroyers and 12 landing craft, she was in the first group to supply the Army after its initial landing at Ormoc. Bombed twice and strafed continually, they were able to drive off the attackers W.iihuiit, Then, 12 suicide bombers came in. The first made directly for the Shaw. His aim was bad, or the maneuvering of the commanding officer, Lieuten ant. Commander Victor U Graf, U. S. N , was good. The Jap missed the stern by less than JO feet and crash ed. So close was the plane that an unfurled parachute from the plane brushed the ship, before billowing clouds of water carried the silk down as a shroud for the plane. The 11 other planes followed in r apid succession. One destroyer was damaged, three landing craft were sunk, before the blasting AA fire of the Shaw and the other ships scored heavily enough to break up the at tack. Credit for three planes went to the Shaw. Another destroyer got two, and out planes, providing air cover gol two more The remaining five decided that suicide was not the bet ter part of valor and broke off the engagement A battle with a Jap destroyer out side Manila Bay disposed of that ship almost before it knew what hit it. Witti three other destroyers the Shaw closed in on the Nip. The first salvo seemed to explode the engine room. The blast lighted the midnight sky, illuminating the target fully. Al most as the stunned Jap started to fire her forward guns, another direct hit plowed into her forward maga zine. Ammunition was still explod ing in the sky as the Jap took “the deep six”, and disappeared from sight. i'.onnty Younft Man l{etnrnn Home from Pacific Theater i After spending eighteen months in the Pacific theater, Pfc. Erwin Cul lipher received tiis discharge at Fort Bragg last Monday afternoon and was home a few hours later. In the service nearly three years, the young man, son of Mr. Herbert Cullipher, was with the amphibious engineers and served on New Guinea, New Britain, the Philippines and spent thirteen days in Japan. The Japs are fairly modern, having electric trains and other late devices, but the area from Yokahoma to To kyo was badly wrecked by fire bombs, he said, adding that he was happy to be back home. The young man lost his mother while he was in the Philippines h'attkeu's /« ---4'yiiirally !ll hi Hospital Mrs. M nnie Matthews, well known Hamilton citizen who enter ed the local hospital a few days ago for treatment, continues critically ill there, it was learned this morning. Very little hope is held for her re covery, it was reported.