North Carolina Newspapers

THIS ENTERPRISE IS READ BY ^ OVER 3,000 MARTIN COUNTY r FAMILIES TWICE EACH WEEK THE ENTERPRISE IS READ BT OVER 3.000 MARTIN COUNT1 FAMILIES TWICE EACH WEEK w u .jg;, ■ VOLUME L—NUMBER 17 Williamston, Martin County, North Carolina, Friday, February 28, 1917 ESTABLISHED 1899 Twenty-four Cases Tried Last Monday Jii(!se J. C. Smith Imposes Fines In The Sum Of $490.00 ■-* In. a regular session lasting more than three hours, Judge Smith last Monday in the Martin County Recorder’s Court called twenty-four cases and imposed fines amounting to $490. Sever al defendants were sentenced to the roads and two or three cases were continued until next Mon day. A fair-sized crowd heard the proceedings. A spectator in the court was surprised when he heard his name called, but was relieved when he learned that a defendant charged with drunken driving had the same name. Proceedings: The case charging James Al bert Rider with speeding was no! prossed. ■"* Judgment was suspended upon the payment of the costs in the case charging Lee Tyner with be ing drunk and disorderly. Pleading guilty in the case charging him with disorderly conduct. Anthony Lanier was fined $10 and required to pay the costs. Charged with non-support, Au gustus James was adjudged not guilty. The case charging Clarence B. Ayers, Jr., with drunken driving was continued for the defendant until next Monday. Warren Jackson Riley was fin ed $50. taxed with the cost and had his license revoked for one year in the case charging him )with drunken driving. Charged with drunken driving, James “Red” Reason pleaded guilty and was fined $50, taxed with the court cost and had has driver’s license revoked for one year. Charlie Whitaker, colored, pleaded guilty when called to trial for drunken driving. He was sentenced to the roads for . six months, the court suspending A the sentence upon the payment of a $100 fine and the court costs. His license to operate a motor ve hicle was revoked for fifteen months and he was ordered by the court to allow no one to oper ate his vehicle for him. It was the second drunken driving charge brought against the de fendant. John H. Smith was charged in - three cases with issuing.w/orthless checks. He pleaded not guilty in each and was adjudged guilty in all three cases. Fines, amounting to $65, were imposed and the de fendant appealed to the higher courts. Bond in the sum of $350 was required. The case charging C. L. Hadley with issuing a worthless check was continued for prayer for judgment until r\f-xt Monday aft er the defendant pleaded guilty. Pleading guilty of drunken driving, Luther Leggett, Jr., was fined $50, required to pay the court costs and had his operator’s license revoked for one year. ... hr#t'XOUiOS, charged' ’ wltFi assaulting his wife, was sentenced to the roads for thirty days. Charged with an assault with a In J 'Continued on page eight) Former County Resident Dies Mrs. William H. Taylor, a resi dent of tnis county for several years, died in a Savannah, Geor gia, hospital last Friday following an operation. Mrs. Taylor, about 70 years of age, was the former Miss Ida E. Gann of Georgia. She was mar ried to Mr. Taylor and lived in Sanford, Florida, for some time before locating in Everetts about 1935. Following her husbands death in January, 1945, she re turned to Georgia to live with a brother, George Gann. Funeral services were conduct ed last Saturday and interment was in a Savannah cemetery, friends in the county were advis ed. —-o Local Man Improving In Durham Hospital -- Undergoing an operation for a broken hip in Duke Hospital last week, Mr. Wilson G. Lamib was reported yesterday to be improv ing very eaUviactorily. Catch Store Robber Here Tuesday Night -0 r VICE PRESIDENT J R. H. Goodman, manager of the Albemarle <Williamston) District of the Virginia Klec trie and Power Company since 1932, this week was elected vice president of the company by the directors in a meeting held in New York. He will maintain headquar ters here. Memorial Fund In County Increasing According to a report released this week by Commander John W. Hardy of the John Walton Hassell Post of the American Le gion. contributions to the Martin County war Memorial Fund are still being received. “We are re ceiving additional donations al most daily,'’ the commander said, quoting a report from the com mittee. Several weeks ago, the com mittee mailed out several thous and direct letter appeals to prop erty owners in the county, and most of the contributions are com ing from that source. So far no j individual memorial contribu tions have been received. Commenting on the project, Commander Hardy said: “These letters were sent with the hope that every person in Martin County would feel that they have a snare in providing a means of honoring those who have made the supreme sacrifice in order that democracy might re main a way of life and not a poli tical ideal. These boys faced their call to duty with our pro mise of constant support. This memorial is a small attempt to continue that promise so that those who come after us w'll know of our regard for their sac rifice. In a few days the amount of cash on hand and the amount pledged will be announced.” -a—— Re< nnl*T I nit To Visit County —»— A special mobile unit of the Army Recruiting Service will make two stops in this county in early March, it was announced this week. The first stop will be made in Williamston on Wednes day of next week, and m Rober sonville on March 10. Sgt. Charles C. Reel of the Greenville recruiting station and a prisoner of the Japanese for forty months, will recall a few of his experiences. Youi g men in terested in entering the service may talk over with the repre sentatives openings in the service. I TRYING TIMES | v Personal reports received in this county by individuals from relatives in London re fer to trying times in the Em pire capital. Staring death by freezing almost in the face, residents there arc said to have cut away and burned stair rail ings, smashed chairs and even picture frames to feed the fires and keep warm. “W’e are chopping up the piano now,” a mother said in a let ter to lier daughter received ui the county a lew days ago. Ex-Marine Denies Connection With Other Robberies —*— Iowa Native ami Farmer of Near Here Trapped In Pittman’s Store -« In an exciting and dining ar ! rest, local and county officers shortly after 8:00 o'clock last Tuesday night are believed to i have solved a series of robberies which have baffled them since I early last December. Trapped in i Pittman's store that evening, | Glenn Chase,a native of Atlantic, ! Iowa, and an ex-Marine corps 1 man, was taken into custody after playing hide and seek in the con | necting stores of Pittman's and ! Firestone. After they got their ! hand’s on him. Chase resisted the ! officers and only submitted after Sheriff C B. Roebuck planted ! two blows on the head with the ! butt end of a light pistol. Questioned in connection with sixteen other robberies reported i locally since early last December, ! Chase denied them. The seven teenth one, centered in Woolard’s ! hardware store just before the ar ! rest was made in Pittman’s store, I was also denied, but he finally | admitted going there and taking about $4.50 in nickels and dimes from the cash register. The man has been fingerprinted and a check is being waited from the State and Federal Bureaus of In I vestigation. During the mean lime, the man is being held in [the county jail with no prelim ’ inary hearing yet scheduled. It was learned that he had asked1 for no hearing and no one had visited him or offered to furnish bond. Discussing the case yesterday, officers stated that the robberies last Tuesday evening were simr ! lar to several of those reported I during the past three months, and : added that they were fairly cer j tain that Chase is the man. When C. D. .Pittman and his ' brother closed their jointly oper ated stores Tuesday evening they saw Chase silling in iris car, park ed in the back lot. They thought nothing of his presence. About two hours later C. D. Pittman returned to his clothing aioi e, and as he tillered the door iie saw a man dart acioas the 1 ear end and go through a connecting door into the Firestone store'. The owner gave chase and the robber ran up stairs and attempted to | gi t through the roof trap door. Pittman called he police and con-i tinued to maintain a watch. Chief C. R. Mobley answered the call and Sheriff C. B. Roebuck joined him. After checking the outside to see if the man had man an es cape, the officers closed in. While the sheriff and the owner were searching behind and under counters downstairs, Chief Mob !<.»>• ’.;•«*•»«» A- he wrlksd by a pool table stored iij toe old Lotus Club, the officer was push ed aside by Chase who then turn ed and made a break for the steps that once led down to the front of the building and out into the street. The street entrance had been closed and an opening was made into the Firestone store at the fiont. Chief Mobley’s loud (Continued on page three) -o Auto Parts Firm Opens Next Week A new concern, the Welch Auto Supply Company, wholesale dis tributors of automotive parts and equipment, will open in Wil liamston, Monday, March 3rd. This new enterprise will be locat ed, until the operators can con struct their own building, in the Louis Cocker building recently constructed on the Everetts hgih way near the county home. The business is Owned and will be operated by Messrs. K. L. Welch and II. M. Browning. Mr. Welch formerly served with the United Motors Service Division of General Motors. To celebrate their opening the management will have a free motion picture at the Williamston high school gym Monday night, March 3, at li o'clock. Red Cross Drive Plans Completed In Local Chapter Several Hundred Dollars Already Received From Special Donors Plans were announced virtual ly completed today for launch ing the annual Red Cross drive in the five townships—Jamesville, Williams. Griffins, Bear Grass and Williamston—comprising the Martin County chapter, the early part of next week. Fund D'ive Chairman Claude B. Clark. Jr., stated that chairmen had accept ed their tasks in most of the dis tricts, and that the canvass would be planned among the colored citizens at a district meeting of teachers here next week. Mrs. R. J. Hardison will head the $40 canvass in Williams. Mrs. J. Eason Lilley is again working in Griffins where $225 is to be raised. No chairmen have been named for Bear Grass and James ville, but the fund head express ed1 the belief that the people there will measure up to expectations and meet the challenge. Ministers are being asked to urge support for the drive from their pulpits this Sunday. Others are being asxed to get behind the drive and help push it to its $2, 500 goal in a short time. Plans for the drive are not quite complete in this district, but the chairman announced that $350 had already been contribut ed by special donors, as follows: Dr, John D. Biggis, $15; Stand ard Fertilizer Co., $15; William ston Package Manufacturing Co., $15: Welles-Oates Lumber Co., $15; Guaranty Bank and Trust Co., $15; Branch Bank and Trust Co., $15: Williamston Motor Co., $15; Williamston Peanut Co., $15; Williamston Supply Co., $15; Ro anoke Chevrolet Co., $15; Dixie Motor Co.. $15; Chas. H. Jenkins Motor Co., $15; W. I. Skinner To bacco Co., $25; King Tobacco Co., $25; Harrison Oil Co., $15; M'ar tin-Elliott Co., $15; W. G. Peef $15; Lindsley Ice Co., $15; Martin County Building and Loan, $15; Woolard Vurniture Co., $15; J. Paul Simpson, $15. The special solicitations were handled by N. C. Green, Garland Woolard and Paul Simpson, the fund chairman announced. List Hybrid Seed Corn Suitable To Soils In Countv j -t Not AH Hybrid Types Suit able To Soils In Coun ty, Agent Says By J. W. SUMNER Assistant Martin County Agent Hybrid corn is a new develop ment and consequently there is an ever increasing demand for in formation on what hybrid corn is and how it is produced. Possibly the simplest way to give a gen eral idea of what hybrid corn is, is to compare it to the mule. A mule is the first generation hy brid between the mare and the ass, and partakes of the better quality of both parents. A corn hybrid is the first generation hy brid between two strains of corn. Its value is for seed in the pro duction of a crop of commercial corn. This corn will grow, but cannot be used for seed without a loss in yield in the succeeding generations. A corn hybrid, then, like a mule, must be produced anew each generation for its value in itself, not for reproduc tion. During that generation good hybrids produce larger acre yields of high quality corn than do the best commercial varieties. Finally, neither all mules nor all corn hybrids are efficient. Hybrid seed is produced for commercial use by growing rows of two parents in an isolated field and detasseling the plants of the female parent. From 2 to 4 rows of the female parent are planted to every row of male parent. During blossoming time the field is gone over at regular inter vals, and all the tassels are pulled from the female parent plants be fore they shed pollen. The seed are saved from the female plant only. Hybrid corn produces its larg er acre yield to a considerable ex tent because all of the plants do their part. There are very few barren plants in a Jield of hybrid corn, and a much smaller per centage of nubbins. This not only increases the yield but also the ease of harvesting. The trouble of harvesting hybrid corn is still further reduced by its ability to stand up better. Hybrids also (Continued on page eight) Elect R. H. Goodmon YEP Vice President Southern Division Head To Maintain His Offices Here ■ ■ "» Succeeds Jos. T. Chase Who Is Retiring After Long Service Period » R. JT Gondiri.>B, nvsnnger otipc* Williarnston district of the Vir ginia Electric and Power Com pany with offices here since 1932, was elected vice president of the company by the board of direc tors in a meeting held recently in New York, the promotion climax ing a long period of able service with the VEP Company. Succeed ing Mr. Jos. T. Chase, the grand old man under whose guidance the company’s operations were greatly expanded in North Caro lina during the past quarter cen tury, Mr. tioodm<>n started with VEPC’O twenty years ago as a re cruit in the engineering division. Mis first work centered on the construction of a 33,0(X) volt transmission line from Boykin to Lewiston, a project marking the leal beginning of the company’s expansion program in North Car olina. Completing his rudimentary training in that department, he was promoted to sales manager for the Roanoke Rapids District, and was transferred to Williains ton on October 1, 1932, to man age the company’s newly created district, a position he held until his big promotion this week. His work as manager here attracted attention throughout the entire system of the company where he soon became known as one of its youngest and most popular cx (Continued on page seven) - —< COMPLICATED v.-* Just when they thought they had solved the series of sixteen robberies reported here over a period of three months, local police Thurs day found the crime wave more complicated than ever. While they still think Glenn Chase, young Iowa white •nan arrested in Jfitltnav’s*. store last Tuesday evening, was implicated in some if not most of the previous robber ies, the officers are now baf fled to explain two robberies reported here early Thursday morning. Chase was safe be hind the bars at the time. The Lindsley feed store on Washington Street was en tered but nothing was missed. Breaking a front door glass, robbers entered Lindsley’s main store and stole $7 or $8 in cash early Thursday morn ii.g. Nothing else was missed Raise The Price Of School Lunch To offset a deficit incurred in the loss of federal aid, the local schools beginning next Monday will increase the cost of lunches front 15 to 20 cents, it was an nounced this week by the prin cipal. Milk, if desired, will be made available at an additional charge ol 5 cents. ' The action is regretted, but the increased charges are necessary if the lunch rooms are to be main tained, it was explained. More schools in the nation are operating lunch' rooms this yeai than last, and the funds appro priated were not ..utljuuit ' Plan Organization To Promote |Exportation 01 Leaf Tobaccos Ragland Loses Appeal To The State Supreme Court The verdict handed down by the jury and the death sentence imposed by Judge Henry Stevens at die last November term were upheld by the North Carolina Supreme Court this week and Otis Ragland, young Granville County Negro, w'ill go to his death in the State Prison gas chamber on Friday, March 14 un less Governor R. Gregg Cherry intervenes in the condemned man's behalf. Reviewing the case only a short time ago, - the court found there hud been no error in the trial pro ceedings, and apparently recog nized all the evidence offered by the prosecution without question Justice E. B. Denny wrote the | opinion which ruled there was no j error and that Ragland had no just claim for a new trial. Breaking out of the Martin County prison camp on last Nov ember 8 along with seven other i long-term prisoners, Ragland five I days later criminally assaulted Mrs, Floyd Moore at her home in Williams Township. He was ar rested a few houis later by a posse headed by officers, deputies and members of the highway pa trol. All but two of the prisoners escaping with Ragland from the camp have been recaptured, most of them now being held in shackles at the camp near here. Ask Improvement In Lunch Room Project COMMISSIONERS | V-y i Meeting next Monday, the boards of county and town commissioners have little or no new business on their cal endars at the present time. However, it is possible that roads will be discussed by the county body, and it is likely that the town author ities will set up machinery for holding the town's first primary in accordance with a recently enacted law. A registrar is to be named and the registration hooks are to be opened before the next regular meeting of the town board. No meeting of the county hoard of education is sched uled for next Monday. Minor Fire In Peanut Factory —®— Believed to have started from a spark blown into a shaft opening from the smokestack, fire did minor damage to the third and fourth floors of the Dixie Peanut Company ,p!ant on the Washing ton Road here about 11:30 Wed nesday night. No official esti mate of the damage could be had immediately, but one report stat ed that it would not exceed $100. Employes, making a regular in spection, discovered the fire in its early stage and almost brought it under control by the time fire men reached the plant. A small hose line was brought into use bnmlfffacTburued small holes in the flooring. Opel ations of the plant were not interrupted. Local firemen were called out for the third time this week at 2:45 Thursday afternoon when sparks from burning glass fired the garage roof of Joe Gydard on Marshall Avenue. Very little damage was done. Tenant House Is Damaged By Fire - .. Considerable damage, possibly exceeding $1150., was. done by file to u tenant house and contents on the farm of Mrs. Mamie Rober son in Bear Grass last Saturday morning. • The occupants had removed a heater in one room and plugged the hole in the chimney with a suck, locating a wardrobe where the heater once stood. That morn ing the occupants started a lire in the kitchen stove, and the wind blew sparks against the sack and fired it and the- wardrobe. The attention of the family was at tracted to the room a short time later when burning bullets start ed popping. They managed to confine the fire to the one room. Members of the family lost ail their wearing apparel except the few work clothes they were wear ing at the tunc Officials Review Health Programs To Aid Children -o I’.-T. \. Delegation Nnmeil To Appeal For Heller (Conditions Tlic regular meeting of the local Parent Teacher Association in the grammar school last Mon day evening heard a review of the health program advanced, at least in theory, in the county schools. Following brief talks by John Williams, county health officer, and W. H. Gaylord, Jr., county sanitarian, the meeting conducted a meaningful discussion and i oundly attacked deplorable con ditions prevailing in the local high school lunch room. A dele gation is to appeal to the Martin County Board of Education at tin; April meeting and urge that con ditions be remedied. Offering the treasurer’s report, Miss Mary Whitley stated th.al.j the treasury was holding its own with $18.50 in hand. Making a progress r e p o r l, Committee Chairman John Henry Edwards explained there hud been none, but hoped developments would follow. The association now has ■127 members, four having joined since the last report, Mrs. I. M. Margolis, chairman, announced. A fairly encouraging picture of the health program scheduled in the schools was painted by i)r. Williams, who admitted that for one reason or another ds execu tion was slightly behind .schedule. "f’uTrWil^lTm-ffia^fTe had found a well-organized and well-staffed department when he returned to the county about six years ago, the health official explained that nearly everything had happened since that time to interrupt the program. “A nurse broke her nose, and that was the first in many obstacles the department has encountered," the officer . aid. After discussing briefly the treatment of socal diseases and how the eases were handled. Dr. Williams told about tile move ment. to corn ct as many as pos sible rear dial debvts in children before they cntcicd school. "We examine the pre school child, sug- | gist treatment and follow the! V. U!CK\ I,using his |»o«-kel Imok con taining several Jiundred dol lars while ^oiiiK from his lin ing station to his home late last Monday night, .lack Dix on was greatly disturbed when lie discovered the loss the next morning and could find no trace of the wallet. During the meantime, Her man Williams of near Ever etts had found the pocket book and returned it and the contents intact when he con tacted Dixun later in the day Eucaday. --ft County’s Farmers Asked To Donate Some Over $1,000 Proposal \\ ill Be Discussed At Farm Korean Meeting Here Friday Night The flue-cured tobacco belt threatened economically by de clining export markets predicted in high places, farmers, ware housemen. bankers and other business men in several states are proposing the formation of an or ganization to “promote the ex portation of leaf tobaccos and to bacco products.” At a called meeting of the Mar lin County Farm Bureau in the courthouse here Friday night of this week at 7:30 o’clock, the pro posal will be discussed. If its need is recognized, plans will be made to raise $1,083.62, Martin County’s share of the cost in sup porting the organization for one year. In addition to the discussion of the proposal to perfect the or ganization, the meeting will hear a report from the Farm Bureau delegates to the State convention held in Asheville a few weeks ago. Announcing the meeting. Chas. i, uaniei.. president ot me Mar lin County Farm Bureau, said, “In llie interest of the tobacco grow ers, I make a definite appeal to farmers and business men to at tend the meeting." Mr. Daniel added, “This meet ing is to give consideration to the development of a program for dealing with the tobacco situation in foreign countries. As you know, the flue-cured tobacco growers are dependent upon this outlet for approximately 50 per cent of their production. The out look today, based on the best in formation available, is not too bright, and it is the considered judgment of many of the tobac conists, along with the leading farmers, that we have a definite ri sponsibility in trying to protect our interests under the recent Trade Agreement Laws to the fullest extent. Unless this can be done, our export outlets will soon begin to diminish and that will necessarily reduce the amount of Tobacco that'we can grow in tins country.” It has been pointed but by lead ers of the movement that $11)0.000 will be needed to support the pro gram, that dealers are being ask ed to raise $15,000; bankers, $5, 00,0; merchants and fertilizer dealers, $10,000; warehousemen, $20,000, and farmers in the entire belt, $50,000. A statement from the State Farm Bureau office, reads, in part, as follows: “It is proposed to form a non ( C t >P.f t'fi Mman ■ three) --—•£>— - -— Fire Sweeps Over Fairground Field Its origin not definitely known, fire swept over the grass field in the old fair ground property at West End shortly after 3:00 o'clock. Tuesday afternoon, dam aging building material: placed on lots there and threatening homes in the new development. Some lumber was slightly burn ed and a few asphalt shingles were damaged. Local volunteei fiicmen were called and bv the time they rcach > d there, the fiu: was :w. oping across the field, sending blinding smoke across Highway tit. Fence posts were fired and wood on sev eral individual woodpiles caught --sfr ' llrotlirr Of Mrs. M Into Hasses In Hospital Hubert W. llodges, prominent Washington business mim and brothei' of Mr. Arthur K. White ol Willianiston, died in a Rich mond: hospital Tuesday night fol lowing a long period of declining health. He was 57 years of age. funeral services were conduct ed at the late home in Washing ton Thursday morning and inter ment was in Oakdale Cemetery thue.