North Carolina Newspapers

THE ENTERPRISE IS READ BY OVER MARTIN COUNTY FAMILIES TWICE EACH WEEK ENTERPRISE VOLUME XLIX—NUMBER 55 William ston, Martin County, North Carolina, Tnr-sduy, July 9, 1916 THE ENTERPRISE IS READ BY OVER 3.900 MARTIN COUNTY FAMILIES TWICE EACH WEEK EST\iiLism;n ihw Farmers" Income Hits Record Hijrh Mark Dur ing War ItU'rcdt.v vvf {v*«> HiirKimi Percent Reported; Future Bright -:-■&!— War brought Ameiica’s farmers their most prosperous years in ! history, increasing their net in come 200 per cent and piling up a $10,000,000,000 backlog in casli and government bonds, the Com mt tee Department said recently. _ Looking ahead, the department declared that “farm prosperity should continue at least until into 19-18, but after that there is no assurance1 that the old farm prob lem—lack of adequate markets and hidden farm unemployment —may not again appear.” The department said present farm prosperity “is due directly to high wartime earnings of American labor that enabled mil lions of persons for the first time to enjoy something like an ade quate diet and to dress satisfac torily.” It added iu an anaysis of post war farm markets that the net income of farmers increased from $5,000,000,000 to $14,800,000,000 in the 1940-45 period. This boost came about despite tlu fact that 5,000,000 persons left the farm during that period. In 1940, it said, there were 30, 000,000 pe ople living on farms, or 23 percent of the total population. Jn 1945, the number decreased to 25,000,000 or 18 percent of popu lation. So far, the Department said, there is “no evidinee of any ex tensive back to the farm move ment even on the paid of veterans drafted from farm areas. Despite a small increase in farm popula tion figur*-- for January thi. year over 1944 arid 1945, the farm pop ulation is still 4,600,000 below January, 1940. The Department said the “ef fective size” of tlu postwai farm market will depend in part upon whether farm savings go into pur chase of goods or into speculation ill farm properties, where, it ob served, the situation is “reminis cent of the speculative boom fol lowing World War One.’* Last March 1, the Department’s index of farm land prices was 69 percent above the 1939 index fig ure, compared with a 70 percent increase in the index from 1913 to 1920, “However, per acre farm land prices have not yet reached the ievi 1 ef 1920 and oni relatively favorable factor in the present situation is that credit financing of sales lias been a minor factor.” the Department said, adding that more than half of all 1945 farm land sales were for cash. The analysis included these ob servations 1 1. “The best insurance of con tinued farm prosperity lies, in an adequate number of jobs in busi ness and industry for the excess farm population and continued business prosperity and a high level of wages so that the people can continue to buy farm pro ducts.” 2. About half of the nation’s farms produce some nine tenths of all farm output, and many farms “furnish only a meager subsistence and a very little cash income to their operation.” 3 “The birth rate un the farms is larger than that in the cities and \his, coupled with the trend towards increased mechanization and larger farms, means that in creasing numbers of farm people will be seeking industrial employ ment.” Churches To Hold Union Wednesday —*— Members of the Disciple Church will hold a one-day union meeting in Plymouth on Wednesday of this week with Rev. John L. Guff, local minister, presiding. The program will feature an address by Thomas P. Inabinett, director of religious education for the denomination in this state. The opening session will be held at i0:30 o’clock in iiie host church. Lunch vvill be served at 12:30 and the program will be brought to a close at 3:10 that af ternoon. All churches in the dis tiiet are invited to send represen tatives. housing-SflOftVWTF,,lA?PiW/W' visited ey KMily BLAMING IT ON THE HOUSING SHORTAGE and the crowded quarters at his In-laws, Chester Gillette, Heidel berg, Pa., is pictured in his cave-home on Bowman’s Hill. Gillette, who has been living in the cave since the housing shortage, is shown as he was visited by his wife, Eileen, and their daughter. The “caveman,” who is unemployed, spends most of his spare time looking for work. j ( (International Soundplwto) Series Of Accidents Reported In County ROUND-UP --j Despite tIk* Fourth of July holiday and a long week-end, arrests held lo about a nor mal figure in this county dur ing the period, according to fairly complete reports com ing from various law-enforce ment officers and agencies. Seven persons were arrest ed ami placed in the county jail during the period, four for public drunkenness, two for drunken driving and one for operating a motor vehicle without a driver's license. Two of the seven were white and the ages of the group ranged from 20 to 57 years. Two Persons Are Treated Locally For Wreck Injury Four Highway uml Street Accidents Reported In Few Days Two pi isont wi'iT painfully but not seriously injured when the car in which they were riding turned over on the Roanoke River till near herd last Sunday morn ing at 3:01) o’clock. The injured, Miss Patricia Lampman and Floyd Hicks, both of Newport News, were removed a short time later to Brown’s Community hos pital for treatment. No official report on the victims’ condition could be had immediately, but it was believed late yesterday that both of them would be able to return to their homes shortly un less complications resulted. Miss Lampman and Hicks with two other young men and a young lady were accompanying Charles Gaston to South Carolina where he was to be married. Driving down on U. S. Highway No. 17 in a 19-10 super deluxe Buick sedan, the wa dding party decided to travel the alternate route from a point near Edenton across Albemarle Sound. When they reached Washington the driver picked the wrong end of No. 17 and was traveling north when the accident happened. Complete details of the accident could not be had, but one report stated that the driver of the car was blinded by the lights of an other cur, that he ran onto the shoulder and lost control, that the machine continued off the fill and turned over in the swamp. Investigating the accident, Pa trolman W. E. Saunders stated that the damage to the car would approximate $500. His plans interrupted for the present at least, Gaston was re ported to have returned to his home in Newport News, -» Here From Fayetteville Miss Doris Hall, nurse in Fay etteville’s Highsmith hospital, vis ited Miss Josephine Andrews, nurse in the local hospital, recent ly. -* Five Persons Are Hurt In Week-End ! Wrecks In County —<i>— Croup On W ay to Wrildiu: Party Wlirn Bifi Car Tunis Over -» Five persons were injured, none seriously, and a property damage estimated at $820. resulted in a series of automobile accidents on town streets and highways in this county during the past several days. All of the victims were able to continue on their respective ways following treatment in doc tors’ offices. Its brakes impaired temporari ly by heavy rain, a truck owned by tin' G and 11 Builders’ Supply Company plowed into the rear of an automobile on the Jamesvillc Highway just outside of Wil liamston’s town limits last Wed nesday afternoon. The car swerv ed and struck aonther, causing about $270 damage to both cars. No damage resulted to the truck, and tlr damages weiv settled out of court. Saturday meaning near Par mcle three persons, Marshall Tay lor, colored, of Philadelphia, and “Poor” John Williams and Queenie Clark, both of Ports mouth, were painfully hut not badly hurt when their 1938 Ford coupe went out of control and turned eiver. The colored woman received an eight-stitch cut on her hip, Williams’ arm was cut and his shoulder sprained and Taylor’s leg was hurt. Investigat ing the accident, Patrolman W. E. Saunders stated that Williams fled from the scene of the acci dent that the man without re ceiving medical attention had boarded a bus in Bethel for the return trip to Portsmouth. The (Continued on page six) Marriage Licenses Issued In the County Last Week -t—:— Two marriage licenses were is sued m tins county by the regis ter of deeds last week to: Charles Ernest Jones and Cath erine Bullock, both of RFD d, Williamston, and to Rowland Rudge of- Philadelphia and Jero dine Humble of Williamston. | LICENSE TAGS v. During the first six months of 1946 the local state auto mobile license bureau of tiie Carolina Motor Club sold 6,545 motor vehicle tags as compared with 6,295 tags sold in the first six months of 1945. Prices have been reduced fifty percent and the bureau, headed by Messrs. Harrison and Carstarphen in tlieir of fices in the Cifeo. Reynolds Hotel building, anticipate an increase in sales during the next few weeks and months. Mon' Farmers In County Reporting Excess Acreages -- Nearly One Oni Of Five Said To lla\e KvcchIhI lli. ii Allotments ——® According to a report coming from the office of the farm agent's office this week, approxi mately one out ol every five to bacco farmers in this county has exceeded his tobacco acreage al lotments for the current crop. The report covers only about one third or one-half of the t nans, but the trend has been maintained al most in that propoition since the first measurements were review ed about three weeks ago. So far, t!7t! farms have been measur. d in the county, and Ui2 of them were found with excess acreages. The excess ranges from a low of about one-tenth an acre to as much as (12 acres in one ease, The average tor the excess acreage could not be had imme diately, but it is not mi great ac cording to one unofficial esti mate. Quite a few farmers are Sc.id to be differing with the reported findings, bul as far as it could be learned Monday few have made deposits to support the cost of re checks. It has been pointed out that a farmer may appeal from the supervisor’s reported meas urements. But he is required to -make a deposit to support the cost, it the checker finds that the farmer is within his allotment (Continued on page six) Scott Declares In Favor ()! Quotas Raleigh.—In the opinion of Ag riculture Commissioner Kerr Scott, tlic outcome of the forth coming tobacco quota election, Friday. Julv 12, '“will nut only af fect the welfare of tobacco fann ers in 1IH7 but will also largely deti rnmie their economic position in the post-war era.” II. i. are some of the rathei ob vious n aeons the Commissioner lists for continuance of the quota system: 1. In North Carolina we pro duce 70 percent of the Nation o supply of flue-emed tobacco. Without quotas it is quite prob able we should lose our com manding position. 2. Tobacco represents better than 50 percent of our gross in come from agriculture. The loss of the quota system would tend to reduce this income for North Carolina. 3. Tobacco has been successful ly grown under the quota system administered by the A. A. A. without harm tu any other crop area or segment of our economy. 4. Tiie efficiency of production and the improvement oi quality, plus the cooperation of growers and handlers of tobacco, improv ed under the quota system. 5. The quota system is not only needed for protection of capital invested on larrn.- and in towns but also to assure the continuance of a fair wage to labor and farmer alike. drop Losses Are Mounting Intake Of Record Rains; —_*~ tanner* Stripping Toltacoo Fields To Save Part Of The Crop , No official or even semi-official ! reports have been released but individual fanners declare that the tobacco crop, as a whole, has I been greatly damaged by exces sive rains falling in this area din ing recent days. In some few in stances, entire crops have just about been wiped out, and in others the damage, it is estimat ed, will run as much as fifty per cent while the crop, as a whole, has been impaired as much as ten to twenty-live percent, according to tiie best estimates to he had. Despite the discouraging re ports on the general outlook for tobacco in this county, some farmers declare they have unus uallv good crops. Farmer Joseph Harrison of Poplar Point said Monday that he was certain his hoys have one of the best crops they have ever had, that if no more rains fall, they will harvest right close to 2,000 pounds per acre. “They have finished three curings already, including one that was partly damaged by fire inside the barn, and the quality is unusually good," Mr. Harrison said. As for his corn crop, the farmer declared that the pros pects Were the best tie had ever | known. “Counting two tuckets, there were five silks on right monk stalks,” the farmer said. According to the reports, tobac co on reasonably stiff and black | ] land is holding up very well ex-I I eept in those centers where the rainfall has been heaviest. But even in those places, the heavy | rain Sunday and the hot sun Mon I day dealt the crop a heavy blow. Over in Williams Township, ob servers saw one of the best crops ever produced on thi Perry farm. Yesterday, the outlook was next to dismal there. While the rainfall locally has set no new record, tremendous .showers have been reported to the south and southeast of hero during the past several days. Only about four inches of rain had fallen in July at Williamstun’s Roanoke River Bridge up until today, hut some sections reported nearly that niueh in a day or day and a half. In the Hardison null section a cloudburst .forced the owners to cut the mil! dam twice to save the mill house .Sunday afternoon. In addition to the water damage in the field, tobacco is proving a problem in the barns, many farm ms declaring they are experienc ing great difficulty in curing the leaf. Reports on the condition of other crops are not so discourag ing, hut grass is gaining us a re sult of the recent rains. The corn crop *s holding up slill and looks very well. In the Bath section of Hi aufort County farmers are stripping all tobacco from the stalks as fur as barnroom will permit. The crop is so far gone that only by im mediately harvesting it will the farmers save any part of it. In one instance wh< t e a fat mi r had harvested a burn, the heavy rains Sunday flooded the barn and left tin: burners under several feet of watei. Reports received here yester day declared that the prospects for tobacco in Halifax County were the poorest in ten years. Farmers Pay $62,2flit For Prisoner Futon -■» Martin County farmers paid $()2,2<iU.Ul for prisoner of war labor duimg the time the War Di purtment maintained a camp in tins county. The prisoners worked a total ol 207,5UJ hours on the farms. A record of the amount paid by industry for prisoner of war labor could not he hud but the labor bill ran into several hundred thousands of dollars. -.» County Funner Helm ns Home From Hospital --» ill for several months, Mr. Hugh Bennett, Martin County far mer, has returned to his home near Oak City after undergoing special treatment in Duke Hos pital foi weeks. His condition re mains little changed, last reports reaching ! ere stated. rge Farmers to l ake Part In Leaf Referendum Friday | Hie approximately H ;>00 tobac | co farmers arc again urged to | take part in the referendum on I Friday of this week and support 1 lira, ki'ting quotas for the next three years. They are reminded of 1 !)3i) when quotas were killed by indifference on the part of farmers and tobacco price aver ages went down to around four teen cents a pound. It is generally believed tiiat a majority of tobacco growers in this belt favor the continuance of quotas, but unless they show in terest and get out and vote on Fri day, the proposal can and will be lost. Every person having equity or a claim to part of the proceeds from tobacco is eligible to vote, but regardless of how many am s I or fjnib he owns and operates he may vote but one time. Tin.' polls will open Friday morning. July at 7:00. .—.i : _ and close that night at TOO .'.'clock j in the following places in this j county: Bear Grass Township in Bear Grass School, Cross Roads at Ev eretts, Goose Nest 1 and 2 at Ay ers’ Store in Oak City; Griffins at Manning’s store in the Pincy Grove Community, Hamilton at Hamilton, Hassell at Ha. sell, Jamesville 1 and J at Jamesville Town House, Poplar Point, and Williamston-al agricultural build ing m Williamston, Kobcrsonville 1 in Kobersonvile (regular voting place), Robersonville J at Gold Point, Williams at County House. No Serious Holiday j Accidents In County -®_- 4 Observance One of (Quietest Reported Locally In Years Had Weather Held High way Travel To Volume Helow Normal -® Martin County people lived through tlu' long July 4 holiday and week-end without serious ac cident, according to reports com ing from various official sources, several of which declared that the observance was possibly the quietest in this area in years. No formal celebrations were seheul ed in the county on July 4, and family and friendly gatherings were just about rained out. There were no highway or fire works accidents in this county on July 4, but several were reported during the week end. No persons were arrested and jailed on the holiday, Jailer Hoy Peel stating that the ole hoosegow was empty from Thursday noon until late Saturday afternoon. Travel on the highways drop ped to a volume lai below normal reported on most any day of {he week, the almost continuous rain that day and the preceding days causing many to cancel reserva tions at the resorts. Pew people were seen on the streets and with one or two exceptions business was at a complete standstill in this section. Their crops ruining under the heavy rains, quite a few farmeis worked in an effort to save some of the lower leaves in their tobac co crops. Their Fourth of July plans dis rupted, quite a few vacationists worked at their individual jobs cm the Fourth and left for the week end just to run into heavy rains and OO-mile-an-hour gales at some of the beaches. In the nation, as a whole, record crowds thronged the beaches, New York’s Coney Island report ing 1,300,000 there for the Fourth. Beach houses were forced to close when the crowds filled them to overflowing. A complete tabulation of fatal accidents has not been officially announced, but first reports stat (Continued on page six) V. wak mum: j IVfrs. Edison Moore and in fant son are scheduled to ar rive in New York today on tlie NS Zchulon Vance from their former home in Bridge water, England. Mrs. Moore, the former Miss Hilda Smith, is one of several war brides who have arrived already or are en route to this county to make their homes. In accordance with ar rangements made by Mrs. Ed na l.aughinghousc, nome ser vice director of the Martin County Kid C ross Chapter, and the Wakefield Home Ser vice (NY) Bed Cross, Mr. Moore will meet his war bride ami their sun in Rocky Mount possibly the latter part of llus week. I V l*Ki:SII)KM Hildreth 1*. Mobley, local insurance man, was recently installed as president of the Williamston Lions Club. Draft Officials Mark Time Under New Instructions Sixteen Out of The hast (iroup of Twenly-fmir Cusa Examination* When it comes to supplying tlie nation’s armed foiecs with per sonnel, the selective service hoards are doing little more than marking time, hut arrangements are in ing made to call upon single men and non fathers nineteen to forty-l'our years of age, inclusive. The questionnaires are being studied again to pick out avail able men in that group, and mar ried men, regardless of then clas sifications even -I K ratings should notify the board if there have been additions to their fumilie. Lust month the draft board in tkiLi-county sent .. f white men to Fort Ifragg for pre-induction ex aminations. Most of them had made the trip before and were in 4 F, hut sixteen of them were ac cepted, it was officially learned this week. Eleven of the sixteen accepted were designated for lim ited service. When the war was in progress most of the men were rejected. Now, when there is no wat, most of the men are accept ed. So far thi . month only one call for men has been received. Thu board has be i n instructed to send down to Fort Iiragg live colored men for pre-induction tests. Only two are available for the trip whey they arc to make Wednes day. It isn't likely that any white men will be called for preinduc tion examinations this month, and there is some doubt it any will be called for final induction, Continuvn (Juile III In Rocky Mount lliisjiittil Miss Effie Waldo, a patient in a Kocky Mount hospital lor about three weeks, continues quite ill, reports reaching here Monday stated. Mr. Frank llaislip was called from Hamilton yesterday to go to the hospiiai to give her a blood transfusion. IVin s I vise From ft lo 3 Percent W ithouf the4 OP V Pofnvcii Passu;'*' of Bill 5s Crrtain To lie Frit In At thi1 ddm n[ the fir t OPA less week, the following report was prepared by a New York consum er editor: If there wa ever any doubt about it, what happened to com modity food ind rent | rices dur ’lj> the lira OPA-le: week was piain warning that cost of , ssen tial items are running away. Fur thermore. tin diki restraining prices on clothing and household goods is crumbling first. Prio s of :-■< nsitive commodities all-important in the cost of living have already gone up eight to 13 percent. These increases will be pyramided as they pass through the hand. of manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. When John Consume! and family step up to the Counter to pay the new bill, they will -hell out at least 20 to 30 percent more for these goods. That’, for the gouge that look place this week on corn, flour, livestock and meat, fats and oils, metals, hides and chemicals. Surveys at the week end also reveal that price: a clothes and home furnishing are going to .jump very shortly and even be fore the new high priced raw ma terials are li 'isfurmcd into the goods we eat, weal and sit on. Most drastic increases in cloth ing prices according to trade es timates will be in men’s wear, with prices going 20 percent high er. One lea ’ ng textile mill, Tex tron, Inc. ha. already announced it is raising its prices. Various items of women's and children' clothing will also bourns An t .1 minted rise of 15 pe rcent on knit goods will come if controls art not reinstated. Full-fashioned nylon lockings in tin finer qualilii: will be priced at from $175 to $2 a pair, as again.-1 forint i (dings of $1.45 arid $1.55. A clear picture of what will im mediately happen to prices of washing machines, refrigerators and titin r much want. I major ap pliances is now available. Prices loi these will be Inked 10 per cent ' in a relatively short time,” according to companies polled by Retailing authoritative trade journal in that industry. That means prices 35 percent higher than in 1941. In othei home furnishings goods, sueti as upholsti t v fabrics, jobbeis and nvanumctureis anti cipate increases up to 25 percent. The ucci.-.i of Sen. Hubert A. Taft (R. ().), Kenneth Wherry (K Neb.) and W. Lev U'Uamel (1) , Ti x.) and the ust of the anti OPA crowd in delaying passage ot new legislation ha also boom ed price:- of lumber and other building material- urgently need ed in the nationwide housing shortage. Controls were off only three days win n pim wa. telling at $5 above the former black-market toll. Other woods were silting i at i et ail voids at Irotn $.2 to $10 per thousand ft et more than the old ceilings. The building indus try also looki d for sharp rises in plumbing and other metal fix tures lor dwellings as zinc and lead broke through the OPA prices. Hut the rise vv.it most shocking on the scarce food commodities. • Cash wheat brought $2.10 at the end of tin wi i k, not only 21 cents over the OPA ceiling, but the highest price since November, (Continued on page six) Germany Reports Parson Shortage A special dispatch from Frank fort on the Main to the New York Times reveals that the1 problems of reconstruction of the Protes tant Chinches in Germany are greatly complicated by the acute shortage of clergymen. The re port says that it is estimated tnat not less than lti.5 percent of Ger many's Protestant clergymen were killed lit the war. In great er Hesse, which had ll.OtjS) Evan gelical clergymen before denuap tieution, the dispaleh said, many ate taking care ot as many gg three parishes.