North Carolina Newspapers

NEARLY 4.00# COPIES OF THE ENTERPRISE GOING INTO THE HOMES OF MARTIN COUNTY AND TO COUNTY SFRUfFW ' oixm: XLix~-N&mm w WiUiamston, Martin County, /Vorth Carolina, Friday, February 22, 1946 NEARLY 4.009 COPIES OF THE ENTERPRISE GOING INTO THE HOMES OF MARTIN COUNTY AND TO COUNTY SERVICEMEN 1_!_Li^SS ESTABLISHED WW Plans Go Forward For Annual Stock Show On April 26 Thirty-six Club Boys and Girls Apr Entries For largest Show By C. J. Goodman Assistant County Agent Martin County Third Annual Fat Stock Show has been set for April 26. Forty one baby beef calves are now on feed and they are progress ing nicely. The 4-H Club boys and gills are spending much time in fit ting and training their steers, each expecting to have the Grand Champ ion. Johnny Gurkin, Jr., produced the Grand Champion in 1945 which sold for 80c per pound. The 4-H baby beef club has grown from four the first year, 1944, fif teen in 1945, to forty one, 1946. Each club member is visited each month by the assistant county agent. They receive instructions in feeding, care and management during these visits. Approximately $275.00 will be giv en in prizes at the Fat Stock Show. A portion of this prize money will be used in the swine department. Each 4-H Club boy is encouraged to enter * a pen of three fat hogs or an individ ual hog. The Civic Clubs and the Farm Bu reau will again sponsor the Fat Stock Show. The Civic Clubs in the coun ty are: Rotary Club Robersonville, Ruritan Club, Oak City, Kiwanis and Lions Clubs in Williamston. The following 4-H Club members will enter baby beef steers in the Fat Stock Show. Eight members arc girls. Billy Knowles, RFD 1, Jamesville; Ross Knowles, RFD 1, Jamesville; Peggy Joyce Gurganus, RFD 3, Wil liamston; Mildred Gurganus, RFD 3,1 Williamston; Jack Woolard, RFD 2, Williamston; Jack Williamson, RFD 2, Williamston; May hue Bailey, RFD 2, Williamston; Ira Rogerson, Jr., j RFD 2, Williamston; Ben Simon Co wan, RFD 2, Williamston; Raymond Bennett, RFD 2, Williamston; How ard Bennett, RFD 2, Williamston; Noah Bennett, RFD 2, Williamston; John Walden Lilley (2* RFD 2, Wil- , liamston; Bobby Lilley, RFD 1, Jamesville; Ben Bunting, RFD 2, Williamston; Eugene Andrews, RFD 1, Williamston; Free Griffin, RFD 1,! Williamston; George Ayers, Jr., (2),; RFD 1, Oak City. Paul Stevenson, RFD 1, Oak City; Doris Stevenson, RFD 1, Oak City; William Hackney High, Oak City; James Rogerson, RFD 2, Williams ton; Edith Rogerson, RFD 2, Wil liamston; Billy Bailey, RFD 2. Wil liamston; Horace Ray, Jr., Williams ton; Roddy Everett, Williamston; Priscella Roberson, RFD 3, Williams ton; Robert Price, RFD 3, Williams ton; Henry Gray Corey, RFD 2, Wil liamston; Jack Roebuck, RFD 1, Rob ersonville; Furney James, RFD 1, Robersonville; Thomas James, RFD 1, Robersonville; Jimmy Peel, Wil liamston; Lynette Haislip, RFI^ 1, Oak City; Ruth Haislip, RFD 1, Oak City, and Clayton Savage, RFD 2, Williamston. The Farm Bureau will have their annual picnic following the sale on April 26th. The judge of the Fat Stock Show will be Dr. J. E. Foster, in charge of beef cattle and sheep research of the N. C. State College. Mr. L. I. Case, in charge of animal husbandry ex tension, Mr. Howard Stamey, Ani mal husbandry extension specialist, and Mr. Jack Kelly, animal hus bandry extension specialist, will be present to assist with the show and sale of hogs and steers. Flees From Sheriff And His Conscience Facing on charge and, as far as it could be learned, not wanted for any law violation, Thomas Purvis, young colored man. took no chancer and fled at full speed across a quur ter-mile field to the woods last Tuesday when he saw Sheriff C. B Roebuck traveling in his direction. The young man and his brother, Clarence, were on a wagon spread ing manure on a farm near Hamil ton when the officer went to serve a warrant on Clarence Purvis for al leged non-support. Recognizing the officer, Thomas, saying nothing to his brother, jumped off the wagon and set a rapid pace which was maintained all the way to the woods. He had not been heard from late Wednesday, Sheriff Roebuck said. “Why is he running?” the officer asked Clarence. “I don’t know, sir,” Clarence answered. “I don’t want him, but I have a warrant for you,” the officer explained. “Yes, sir, and it would have been me going across this field if Bud had not left so quickly with these young mules," Clarence, now under $100 bond, ad mitted. Thomas Purvis recently returned from the Norfolk area, and whik he thought he was running from t.ne sheriff, the sheriff believes Thomas was running from his conscience. (Juti'T County by flume fh vision _ _——#. Nin“ty-six quail we«p shipped into the county Wednesday for distribu tion. They were hatched and raided on the state farm near Fayetteville and were “planted’’ by District Game . .WArtiw W O A Mutt*. ...... i Completing Plans for Annual Red Cross Drive In Chapter annual Plans for conducting *lu criiss-ftsi'ii'fFW4 CP vm u^tsa are being completed today by the chapter chairman, Jas. C. Mailing, and the diiva. ^vJSflHSri, V. J. Spivey. Quotas for the wb;fe copulation in the five towrisKpj'MW^risIng the chapter have been tentatively fixed, and the chairmen are contacting leaders in the various districts today. At a meeting last Friday evening in the courthouse, colored citizen leaders, including school teachers, preachers and others, agreed to ap peal for $675 as their part in the new fund drive, leaving approxi mately $3,000 to be raised among the white populations in the five town ships as follows, Jamesville, $375; Williams, $75; Griffins, $350; Bear Grass, $350; and Williamston, $1, 775.00. The over-all quota for this chapter is $3,600. The second chap ter in the county with headquarters in Robersonville in asking for $2,000 in the townships of Cross Roads, Robersonville, Poplar Point, Hamil-! ton and Goose Nest. SAFETY ME ASURE ) v-j In an effort to promote safety on the highways, patrolmen and local law enforcement officers recently distributed several hundred copies of the special article, “And Sudden Death,” which appeared for the first time in 1935 and which was publish ed a second time last December. Written by J! C. Furnas, the ar ticle was placed in the hands of high school seniors and distrib uted to motorists on the high ways and streets with an appeal urging all to read carefully and act accordingly. A few copies are still in the hands of patrolmen and may be had upon request. Ejectment Cases In The County Court -« Five ejectment cases, reflecting the serious housing shortage in this sec tion, have been placed on the docket for consideration in the Martin County Recorder’s Court. It is un derstood that in most cases, the de fendants are willing to move, but they can’t find a shelter to cover their heads. Several other ejectment cases are pending in the courts, it is understood. Idle last Monday because several lawyers ar.d court officials were out of town, tin county court resumes its work next Monday with a fairly large docket. Up until early yesterday about two dozen cases had been placed on the docket and others are almost certain to find their way in time for consid eration at the session next Monday. Several of the cases originated in the Oak City area where a little crime wave was said to have struck during the past week-end. In addition to the ejectment cases, defendants are charged with non support, drunkenness and disorderly conduct, bastardy, disorderly con duct and assaults in various degrees. A property line dispute is also ten tatively scheduled to be heard at the session. Minor Car Accident Reported In County No one was hurt and no great property damage resulted in a high way accident on the edge of Gold Point early last Monday evening. William Li Roy Beach, just recent ly discharged from the Navy, started bo driv< his 3941 PontiacjMa ■ n Williams on the Gold pGint-Kob ersonville Highway and crashed in to V/illiam Thomas Andrews who wac; driving his 1941 Chevrolet into Gold Point. Investigating the wreck, Patrol man W. E Saunders estimated the damage to the Beach car at $150 and that to the Andrews car at $50. -i. Former Loral Minister Returns From the Pacific ——<t Rev. James H. Smith, former pas tor of the local Baptist church, re -ently returned from the Pacific theater where he served about nine months in the service as a chaplain. Expecting his discharge shortly, the minister is now with his family, on RFD 1, Marion, N. C. I WILD LIFE CLUB j v-/ Ross O. Stevens, executive secretary of the North Carolina Wild Life Federation, will ad dress a meeting- of the Martin Count^dub^iMh^ounty court housf'Ter^JSH^Wfeelay e v'e/P** Srr,g' At If oVWk:' *he ! new veer will be eleSe^aRha* i time, and all hunters and fisher- I men are invited to attend. Plans are being advanced for a big fox hunt and barbecue some time in March, it was announc .f#,.. _ _ The Reci^]!ross^jhlvgMdjj^jjPt>r T Hundreds of thousands of American youth continue in the armed services, and tens of thousands 3re still m hospitals. The organization is being called upon to ’naiiclie iJKT'duties as a result of the war, but now that the war is over, expenditures will not be as great and the quota for this chapter has been reduced by almost fifty percent. Last year, $8,300 was raised for the organization in this chapter. Special appeals are being address ed to the people, urging them to sup port the drive beginning March 1. Ministers are asked to take a few minutes of their pulpit time to point out to their congregations the need for maintaining the humanitarian work of the organization. School teachers are asked to present the ap peal to the children, and the citizens of Martin County are being asked to lend their support willingly and help push the county over the top during tiio first few days of the drive. Church Cowin Died Tuesday Evening; At Home In Bear Grass -<*. Funeral Service Conducted By Rev. John Goff Wed nesday Afternoon -«> Church Cowin, well-known farm er, died at his home in Bear Grass last Tuesday evening at 6:30 o’clock following a long period of declining health. He had been confined to his bed following a stroke of paralysis suffered nearly three weeks ago, and the end was expected. The son of the late Simon and Tim mie Mizelle Cowin, he was born in Bear Grass Township seventy years ago. With the exception of a few years spent in Washington, he lived and farmed in the community of hi* birth all his life until failing health forced him into virtual retirement. M. Cowin was a member of the church at Sweet Home for a long number of years. He was a thought ful friend and a good neighbor, and a man who devoted most of his time to duties on the farm and around the home. In early manhood he was married to Miss Etta Rogerson who survives with a son, Opheus Cowin of Tar boro, and a daughter, Mrs. Fannie Shelton, of the home. He also leaves four grandchildren and two brothers, Elder B. S. Cowin and Mr. Bunn Co win, both of Bear Grass Township. Funeral services were conducted at the late home Wednesday after noon at 3:30 o’clock by Rev. John L. Goff, Williamston minister. Inter ment was in the family cemetery on the Bunn Cowin farm near Bear Grass. More County Youths Enter The Services —— Five Martin County young white men were called Wednesday to Fort Bragg for final induction into the armed services. Four of the five answered the call this week, but the fifth one, Simon Lilley, Jr., RFD 1, Williamston, vol unteered and entered the Army Air Corps on the ninth of this month. All five of the young men come from the farm, and their ages range from 18 to 21 years. Names and addresses of the four young men leaving Wednesday fol low: Naaman Knox, RFD 2, Roberson ville. Jerry Saunders Raynor. RFD 3, Williamston. i Alton Dean Andrews, RFD 2, Rob ersonville, and RFD 3, Bethel. Vernon McNeal Coffield, RFD 1, Palmyra. The call was the first to be an swered entirely by boys from farms in this county. Layman's Day Program In Methodist Church Sunday -e June Rose, superintendent of the Greenville schools, will speak in the Methodist church here Sunday morn ing, featuring a Layman’s Day pro gram in the church, Pastor B. T. Hurley announces. -t Sixth Month Pay For County School Teachers -• Most of the Martin County school teachers and other school employees are receiving their sixth month pay checks today. Approximately $35,000 is being distributed. Observe Golden Wedding Anniversary Lest Tuesday -» . a BP'WJ>J. wi. wn j.o :, R observed their golden weeding anni versary at their home on Pa-> Street here last Tuesday. No formal reception was planned, but a few friends visited them during the day and quite a number of anniversary cards were delivered to the couple that day. 1 Shangri-La Airman Evades Capture In Homeland Of Japs Seaman Jf. iii{t*hufsf!ffl?P ijiits Thrilling Story About A Friend i Following a detailed account ot the part played by the aircraft car rier, “Shangri-La,” Seaman James S. Whitehurst, Martin County young man, submits the following story about a friend who eluded capture in the Jap homeland island of Kok kaido for sixty-eight days: “One of the war's most amazing tales of ingenuity, high courage, dar ing and just plain will-to-live came to light when Oliver Rasmussen, ARM 1/c, returned to the Shangri La after eluding capture on the Jap anese homeland for 68 days. “Reported missing in action and definitely given up for lost when on July 14 the Helldiver in which he was rear-seat gunner failed to re turn, Rasmussen came back from the dead to collect his most important possession: a one-way ticket to the states by plane, priority 2. “But before it left Rasmussen’s story, that of a modern Robinson Crusoe, had been wirelessed to the states by every major news agency and he had recounted most of his ex periences to the Shangri-La crew. “Rasmussen’s odyssey began back on one of those overcast strike-day mornings in mid-July when the whole air group was up for an all out blow against Hokkaido. “Low clouds forced the pilot, Lt. (jg) Howard Eagleston, to fly low and while in the overcast the plane struck a mountainside. Rasmussen was knocked unconscious momen tarily and Eagleston was killed in stantly. "Dazed and suffering from shock, Rasmussen tried unsuccessfully to extricate his first-aid kit from the wreckage, and then stumbled back into the hills away from the plane to avoid capture. He carried nothing but the clothes on his back, a small packsack and no food. He had only a vague idea of his location; he knew only that he was in northern Japan and that it would be a good idea if he didn’t get caught. "Then started days of wandering through the rugged countryside of Hokkaido, living off the land, dodg ing Jap surveying parties and trying to reach the coastline. "He finally found the coast on July 31 and had his first real nourishment in two weeks. He found a farm house and noticed a cow staked near by. That night, weak from hunger, he crept up, milked the cow and gorged himself on fresh milk. "This, Rasmussen decided, was the place to wait for the allied rescue planes. So every night for nine days he helped himself from the farmer’s one-cow dairy and began to get his strength back. It would have gone on longer, Rasmussen said, hut the Jap eventually turned the cow loose because it wasn’t producing. “ 'That Jap was sure fouled up, but he never got wise that I was the guy getting all the milk,’ he said. "His best supply of food gone, he wandered back into the mountains after first successfully trying to launch a small fishing boat through the breakers. “Eventually he discovered a small railroad shack for living quarters and for nearly a week lived on raw onions, raw frogs’ legs, eggs from bird nests and uncooked rice. But on the 16th of August a Jap workman discovered him and he was forced to pull up stakes in a hurry, leaving behind two possessions worth their weight in gold by then: 20 pounds of raw rice and a bit of saki he’d found. "For the next week Rasmussen said he would no more than get com fortably settled in some hideaway thant the Japs would get too close and he was forced to move on. “But the cows of Japan came to his rescue again. He found lumber • smd built a little..shack in spot, yet strategically located among five farms. During the evening he noticed the farmers putting their milk in containers in the river to keep it cool, ^Tiat was enough for him. “ ‘1 only took the cream off the top and put the container back so (Continued on page six) THE RECORD SPEAKS . . . Motorists on Martin County highways really aggravated the accident record during the eighth week of the current year, adding another mark to the death figure and materially boosting the injured count and property loss. record so far this year is f5r worse than it was a year ago, and is rapidly becoming worse as time marches on. The fojowing tabulations of fer a cor$5arison of the accident trend: first, by corresponding for each year to the present time. E k&hth Accident. Invd Killed Dam’ge j 1946 3 5 1 $ 1,250 1945 3 1 0 455 Comparisons To Date 1946 19 13 2 4,800 1945 8 2 0 930 County Liquor Sales Establish New Record Total of $2,555,128.40 feSjpent For Liquorj Since Stores Opened -9 Sales Last Quarter $45, 145.40 Larger Than Those For Any Other Period Pushing on toward the quarter million dollar figure, legal liquor sales in this county last quarter broke all previous records. Placed at $217,671.65, the sales last quarter were $45,145.40 more than those re ported for the months of October, November and December, 1944, and were the first to go over the $200, 000.00 mark for any period since the stores were opened in July, 1945. The figures mounted despite rationing and stock shortages. From the time the legal county stores were opened in July, 1935, up to the first of this year, liquor sales amounted to $2,555,128.40. The sales gradually increased quarter by quar ter during the first few years the stores were in operation, but in more recent times the amount of money spent for liquor in the stores is six times greater than in the correspond ing period in 1935. It is estimated that beer and wine sales, plus the bootleg business in white lightning, will boost the total spent for alcoholic beverages in the county last quarter to possibly $400, 000 or more, an amount almost twice as great as the entire tax levy for all of 1945. A review of the audit just recently released by the certified public ac countants shows that of the $217, 671.65 spent in the stores, $164,829.61, or nearly two-thirds, was sent out of the State to the distillers. Of the $52,842.04 gross profits, $5,216.10 went for operating expenses, leaving a net profit plus discounts of $48, - 249.98. The $48,249.98 profits for last quar ter were divided, as follows: Martin County, $21,423.98; State of North Carolina, $18,494.46; Town of Wil liamston, $2,833.60; Town of Rober sonville, $1,474.38; Town of Oak City, $585.45; Town of Jamesville, $462.56. The ABC board set aside $2,975.55 of the profits for law enforcement. The Martin County ABC Board now has assets in the sum of $123, 215.42 $92,770.93 in cash, $30,424.78 in inventories, and $13.71 in fixed as sets. The board has accounts pay able in the sum of $47,000.27—$39, 306.64 due distillers, $7,303.83 in ac crued taxes and $395.80 in accrued expenses. The system owes in un distributed profits, $37,240 45 to the county treasurer, $4,955.41 to the Town of Williamston, $2,563.66 to the Town of Robersonville, $983.53 to the Town of Oak City and $807.51 to the Town of Jamesville. The reserve for law enforcement now stands at $17,658.59 and the surplus amounts to $12,000.00. Expenses were listed as follows: salaries and wages, $2,850.74; rent, $306.00; supplies, $10.82; heat, water and lights, $47 81; repairs, $54.00; unclassified, $22.60; cash, over-und er, $2.80; administrative and general, $1,922.17, a total of $5,216.94. Net profit from operations for the fourth quarter in 1944 and the corre sponding period in 1945 is shown, by stores, as follows: 1944 1945 Williamston $21,472.58 $25,275.35 Robersonville 11,751.51 13,382.69 Oak City 4,161.43 5,330.46 Jamesville 4,093.90 4,261.48 $41,479.42 $48,249.98 Total sales for the two quarters under comparison follow, by stores: Williamston '^JjVon v i 11 < - Oak'City Jamesville 1944 $ 88,088.10 49 015.15 i 7,844.40 17,578.60 1945 $112,649 05 60.91ii.75 24,3 19,749.90 $172,526.25 $217,671.65 A review of legal liquor sales and profits, by quarters, from the time (Continued on page sixj Pulpwood Price Is Increased By OPA The North Carolina Pulp Company reports an announcement from the O. P. A. 01 an increase of ceiling price on pulpwood of $1.40 per cord of 128 cubic feet to be paid to the producers. This increase is based on pulpwood loaded on cars and barges. This increases the price of pulpwood from $7.60 to $9.00 per cord of 128 cubic feet. This results in a price of $11.25 per unit of 160 cubic feet. River Falling Slowly After Reaching Crest Last Monday .... ■ Reaching a crest of 11.6 feet last Monday, Roanoke River at this point , sfahing gradually, Hugh Spruill, TjnSfekecper, W.tflE. a dropped in th three-temiis of fi foot ifonoHMEay j until Wednesday, and it was pointed ; out that a fairly heavy rain fell Tues- j day night and that possibly the flood | stage would be maintained a few i days longer. 1 TO CALL 4-FERS )\ v--: ■*”■ Approximately ton .y-sevei, i Martin County men in the tow age groups with 4-F draft clas sifications are now subject to call for duty in the armed forces, according to unofficial reports heard here this week. It is quite likely that some of the thirty-seven men—fourteen white and twenty-three colored —will not puss the pre-induction examinations, meaning that the new regulation will not mater ially affect the present trend in the Selective Service program. One report stated that possibly some of the men in the group of thirty-seven would be called next month. Brotherhood Dinner Wednesday Evening -•$> Rev. John Goff and Attorney El bert Peel were the principal speak ers at the brotherhood dinner at the Woman’s Club here Wednesday night. The occasion of fellowship was in observance of a Week of Com passion on behalf of the peoples of Europe and the Far East who have been uprooted and displaced by the war. Disciples of Christ through out the United States had thousands of such occasions of fellowship this week. The dinner was served by the wo men of the local Christian Church to the approximately 125 in attendance. Several members of the church read greetings from state churches and letters from the foreign field. Families of the church made sacri ficial giftH which will be used for the work of Christian relief and rehabili tation. The goal of the Disciples of Christ in the United States is $500, 000. Three fifths of this amount will be channelled through the Church Committee on Overseas Relief and Reconstruction. The remainder will be used to complete projects begun during the war in camp and indus trial communities, to provide pension fund payments for chaplains still in service, to st roughen the brother hood’s Commission on World Order, and to reconstruct missionary pro perties in the Philippines. Ban Man from Town For Several Months A frequent defendant in the local courts during past months, Rufus Taylor, facing his umteenth charge of public drunkenness, was banned from the town for six months by Justice J. L. Hassell here a few days ago. The defendant was sentenced to the roads for thirty days, the court suspending the road sentence upon the payment of $11.50 costs and guaranteed good behavior during the six months suspension period. And the defendant is not to return to town during that time. Taylor, ar rested by local police, spent several days in jail and his board bill ran up the costs. Other proceedings in the justice’s court: Charged with disorderly conduct, John Hyman was fined $2.50 and re quired to pay $7.50 costs. George Purvis, charged with dis orderly conduct, was fined $2 50 and taxed with $11.50 costs. Facing a similar charge, Major Latham was fined $10 and required to pay $11 costs. Damaged - By Wind In County High winds, approximating torna do force, damaged several buildings and swept covers from tobacco beds in the Henry Modlin section of Jamesville Township last Tuesday evening, according to reports reach ing here. Roofs were blown off several homes and barns, the report stated, and tobacco cloth on a number of plant beds was either left in shreds or carried away. The wind was ac companied by an unusually heavy downpour. Wind damage was con fined to a comparatively small area and the main blow lasted only a short time. APPLICATION r i The first applicaUpn filed in this county for building loan was handled yesterday by the IVlartin County Building and Loan Association. Filed by Ray mond Cherry, Jr., local young 3 BWBjaaiht fil-^ ! ropean theater, the application <•: I Is i'irTffltif, m.ix'tuUiU, and carries priorities for the purchase of materials. The young man has a lot on Williams Street where he plans to build his home. Increased Tobacco Acreage Indicated In New Farm Plans "Hardly Seventy Percent of the Farmers In County Have Signed Plans to an incomplete hurried• Biview of farm plans sub mitted by an estimated seventy percent of Martin County farmers, most of the tobacco growers will in crease their tobacco acreage this year to absorb most of the extra ten percent allotment allowed by an ord er coming from Clinton P. Anderson, the nation’s Secretary of Agriculture. Troubled greatly by labor shortages last harvest season, a few farmers declared in their 1946 plans that they planned to decrease their acreages to the crop this year. They are so few in number, however, that they can be counted almost on one's hands and certainly on one's hands and toes. A small number plan to hold to their 1945 acreages, but the ma jority plan to increase from one to ton percent, most of them making preparations to go to the limit. No accurate report can be had on the general farm program in the county at this time, for it is impos sible to make a complete study until all the plans are prepared. One township, Williams,hadn't submitted any of its plans late Wednesday. However, a preliminary study of the plans signed and submitted to the office of the county agent show in addition to the facts about the 1946 tobacco acreage that possibly cotton plantings will be increased. If the cotton acreage is increased, it will be the first time that a gradual reduc tion recorded in the crop acreage ov er a period of several years will have been checked. The increase predicted in the to bacco and cotton acreages will be made at the expense of peanuts, ac cording to the best information avail able at this time. Slight variations are to be expected in acreages plant ed to other crops, but present indi cations point to increases for tobac co and cotton and a decrease in pea nuts. County Man Tries To Shoot Way Out Sentenced in this county last Sep tember to serve two years for the larceny of an automobile in Rober sonville in July, 1944, Frank Beach, a native of this county, attempted to shoot his way out of a prison camp in western North Carolina a few days ago. Snatching a gun and am munition, Beach, 29, held up several guards, but another guard moved in and shot him down. Shot in the leg, Beach was removed to a hos pital. Jesse Griffin, sentenced in this county in the fall of 1944 to serve from 15 to 20 years for manslaughter, continues at large following his es cape from a Durham prison camp on the 3rd of this month. Unofficial reports state that Roose velt Fagan, colored man sentenced in this county, recently escaped from a prison camp. The report could not be verified immediately. Two Men Reported Missing In River —«>-— According to reports reaching here this week rio word has been received from two Bertie County young white men since they were last seen in a small boat in Roanoke River below Cedar landing late on Monday of last week. Milton Harrell and his brother, residents of the Cashie Neck section of Bertie County, were paddling a small boat in the river when last . ,.]. f the boat has been found, and boats manned by coast Httaidsmen •ntbs'.’-i'- -mere, unsuc cessful in ibeir attempts in recent lays to locate the bodies, it was learned here yesterday. They are the sons of John Harrell, Bertie citizen. Inheritance Divindles To A Very Small Figure The inheritance recently falling into the hands of Sam Zemon, local merchant, and reported to be in the big figures, has dwindled to a com laratively insignificant sum. Offic ial reports, heard yesterday, stated that the inheritance amount to about $ 1,000 or about $99,000.00 short of the amount mentioned in first estimates. Checks in the sum of $1,000 and *100 were received Wednesday by the beneficiary from the administra tor of Belle H. Sternheimer, late of Baltimore. -* County Young Man Gets Discharge From the Navy —-■$>- ... Earl Roberson, gunner’s mate, 3-c, was one of 184 men honorably dis ^hare^d^^rrm^ at the The sou o! Mr and 1 rs. Juhii H. RoLc'isoii, RFD 2. Williame ton, he had been in the service since May 29, 1943, and spent twenty-four months in the European-African theaters.