North Carolina Newspapers

^ THE ENTERPRISE IS READ BE OVER 3,000 MARTIN COUNT! FAMILIES TWICE EACH WEEK THE ENTERPRISE THE ENTERPRISE IS READ BT OVER 3,000 MARTIN COUNT! FAMILIES TWICE EACH WEEK VOLUME L—NUMBER 69 Williams ton, Martin County, North Carolina, Friday, August 29, 1917 ESTABLISHED 1899 ✓ Stimson Explains ^Why Atomic Bomb Was Used In War -<»> - Former Secretary of War Was Man To Make the Recommendation (Having told of work done by the Interim Committee and of the heavy casualties that might be ex pected by conventional methods of warfare. Mr. Stimson now ex plains the writing of his memor-. andum to the President and gives portion of that memorandum. It indicates the trend of things at the time.—Ed.) It was already clear in July that even before the invasion we should be able to inflict enorm ously severe damage on the Jap anese homeland by the combined application of ‘‘conventional'' sea and air power. The critical ques tion was whether this kind of ac tion would induce surrender. It therefore became necessary to consider very carefully the pro bable state of mind of the enemy and to assess with accuracy the line of conduct which might end his will to resist. With these considerations in mind, I wrote a memorandum for the President, on July 2. which I believe fairly represents the thinking of the American Govern ment as it finally took shape in action. This memorandum was prepared after discussion and gen eral agreement with Joseph C. Grew, acting Secretary of State, and Secretary of the Navy For restal, and when I discussed it with the President, he expressed I his general approval. "Memorandum for the Presi dent. Proposed Program for Japan “(1) The plans of operation up to and including the first landing have been authorized and the pre parations for the operation are now actually going on. This situa tion was accepted by all members of your conference on Monday, % June 18. "(2) There is iea;on to believe that the operation for the occu pation of Japan following the landing may be a very long, cost ly. and arduous struggle on our part. The terrain, much of which I have visited several times, has left the impression on my mem ory of being one which would be susceptible to a last-ditch defense such as has been made on Iwo Jima and Okinawa and which of course is very much larger than either of those two areas. Accord ing to my recollection it will be much more unfavorable with re gard to tank maneuvering than cither the Philippines or Germ any. "(3) If we once land on one of the main islands and begin a forceful occupation of Japan, we shall probably have cast the die of last-ditch resistance. The Jap anese are highly patriotic and cer tainly susceptible to calls for fan atical resistance to repel an in vasion. Once started in actual in vasion, we shall in my opinon (Continued on page eight) • r DOCKET V. Judge J. C. Smith and Sol icitor Paul D. Roberson en joyed a holiday last Monday when the county court sus pended activities for the to bacco market opening. But the court officials are certain to pay for the holiday. Clerk of Court L. B. Wynne an nounces that thirty cases are already on the docket for -trial next Monday and point ed out that others are likely to be docketed between now and Saturday. The thirty defendants are charged with just about everything in the book. Eight are charged with assaulting females, four with drunken driving, one with violating the health laws, one with at tempted rape, two with an as sault with a deadly weapon, two with plain assault, one with disposing of mortgaged 4 property, four with operating motor vehicles without li censes, two with speeding, one with disorderly conduct, one with carrying a conceal ed weapon, one with reckless and hit-and-run driving. Tobacco Farmers Urged To Take Advantage Of Loans Ah urgent appeal to tobacco farmers of Martin County to take full advantage of government loans through the Flue-Cured To bacco Cooperative Stabilization Corporation, was made today by C. L. Daniel, Williamston, presi dent of the Martin County Farm Bureau. Daniel said that many farmers are now selling their* tobacco be low the 40-cent per pound average gunranU ed support price which is made on a pro-rated grade basis. This is in keeping with the gov ernment’s commitment to support tobacco prices at 90 percent of parity as of June 15 each year pre ceding market openings. The tobacco farmer—the actual owner of the tobacco—is the only person who can authorize tobacco to be turned over to the Stabiliza | tioa Corporation fur iuan purpos-] ! es. Mr. Daniel quoted from a state I ment by Carl T. Hicks, President | of the Stabilization Corporation, I i in appealing to Tar Heel farmers | j to get a fair and stable price for 1 'this year’s crop. "Many farmers j do not remain with their toba<*eo 1 until sale is completed. Ware housemen will co-operate by set I ting the tjme of sale to enable the ■ farmer to be present. He can then | arrange for his tobacco to be plac led under loan if the price falls be I low the support level.” To elimW»te con fusion'on the warehouse floor, farmers may join the Stabilization Corporation prior to taking tobacco to the mar ket. Memberships may be obtain i ed at the local tobacco warehouses lor the Stabilization Corporation 1 office, Raleigh, N. C. File $30,000 Suit In Superior Court Here I ORDINANCES > ! Ordinances, regulating parking and traffic on the town’s streets, will go into ef fect next Monday with the promise to violators that they will be subjected to court ac tion. The ordinances, passed at a recent session of the town board of commissioners, pro hibit parking in alleys, re quire proper parking in the marked spaces. A petition, carrying just about every sig nature of business operators and clerks, calls for the re moval of cars owned and op erated by the business houses and clerks from the main streets. If the petition terms are met, no hour limit park ing is expected, but if local people insist on all-day park ing on the main streets an ordinance limiting parking is to be expected. Robbed Of Money J B Vautrin, young white man of Wildwood. Fla., was held up and robbed by three colored men |on the river fill during the rain Wednesday afternoon Accord ! ing to the story told officers, Vuu tnn was relieved of $72 in cash and a diamond ring valued at $250. Riding a motorcycle, Vautrin I stopped on the fill and took cover | under a small canvass. While he i was waiting for the rain to stop | the three men allegedly held him ! at the point of a shot gun and ; took the valuables, j Highway patrolmen and officers . investigated the hold-up but they ! have been unable to establish a lead in the case so far. I Officers Wreck Two Distilleries • Raiding in the Parmele section j last Monday afternoon ABC Offic Jer J. H. Roebuck and Deputy Roy i Peel wrecked a crude liquor plant [ and poured out' 150 gallons of sug ar beer. The plant was equipped with an oil drum and foui 50-gal i Ion capacity fermenters, j It is believed tiiat liquor made I at the still was used at the 'barbe Icue party” in Parmele last Satur day night when Fred Little was ' murdered. ' In a rdid Tuesday morning in i the Brown's Spring section of i Williamston Township the officers j wrecked a small plant. The outfit apparently had not been operated for several weeks. -—■*> Killer Released Under $1,000 Bond Tin* W eek William Roosevelt Kirkman, colored of Parmele, was released this week under $1,000 bond. He is ’charged with the murder of Fred Little, colored, in Parmele early last Sunday morning. January Accident Claimed One Life And Hurt Several -.<•> Fiv<* Plaintiff* Suiny Frank Green ami Leslie Hardi son for $30,300.00 -o Damage suits, amounting ta $30,300 and growing out of a cai truck accident at the intersection of the Bear Grass-Washington Highway intersection last Janu ary. were filed by five plaintiffs in the Martin County Superior Court a few days ago against Les lie W Hardison and Frank Green. The eases, filed by Attorneys Peel and Manning, are tentatively slated for trial at the special term of the superior court convening in November. James Garland Bailey, well known Bear Grass farmer, was killed and four others were injur ed. all more or less seriously, when Frank Green, colored man operating a 1040 Ford log truck belonging to Defendant Hardison, crashed into W. A. Bailey’s car about 7 30 o'clock on the night of last January 18. In the complaint it is alleged that the defendant. Frank Green, acting as Defendant Hardison’s agent, was operating the truck at a dangerous rate of speed on. the wrong side of the road and while in an intoxicated condition, that the truck was not equipped with brakes reasonably calculated to render it susceptible to control, and that Green was not keeping and exercising a due and proper lookout. The complaint also al leges that Green’s character was questionable when it came to the safe and sane operation of a mot or vehicle. Mis. Kathleen Bailey, widow of Garland Bailey and administrator of his estate, is suing the defend ants for $15,000, pointing out that her husband was riding with W. A Bailey as an invited guest along with others. W. A. Bailey, driver and owner of the car. alleging that his car was demolished and that he suf fered severe head, back, chest and stomach injuries, is asking $800 property and $4,000 personal dam ages. He points out in his com plaint that he was a hospital pa tient and that he was unable to work for several weeks. Johnnie Wynne, riding in the Bailey car at the time of the acci dent as an invited guest, states in his complaint that he was severe ly and permanently injured, that he was hurt between his shoulders and in his chest, that he incurred large doctors’ and medical bills, was unable to work for a long time and suffered greatly. He is asking $4,000 damages. Roland Harrison, another guest passenger in the ill-fated automo bile, is suing for $2,500 damages, alleging that he was severely and permanently injured. Verna Let- Harrison, eight years old and suing by his next friend. Roland Harrison, is asking $4,000 (Continued on page eight) Two Are Injured In Car Accident Two persons were injured, neither of them seriously, in an automobile accident between Everetts and Robersonville Wed nesday evening at 9:15 o'clock. Howard Franklin Williams, of Williamston, received painful head injuries, and Willie B. Boyd, colored of Robersonville Town ship, was cut and bruised about the face. Treated in the Ward Clinic at Robersonville, they were released a short time later. Jasper Bowen, Jr., colored of Robersonville Township, started to make a left turn into a dirt road near the railroad crossing with his 1941 Willys. Williams, driving a 1936 Ford, was traveling toward Robersonville, and plowed into the right rear side of the Willys, knocking it around but not over. The Ford continued down the highway a short distance, swerved and turned over in a field. Boyd, riding with Bowen and several others, was the only one hurt in the Willys. Williams was accom panied by Henry Wynne who es caped injury. Damage to the Ford was esti mated at $350 and that the the Willys at $201) by Patrolman W. E. Saunders who made the investiga tion. Harry Schultz, 112 Hawthorne Road, Baltimore, and his bride of a few days escaped injury when their 1939 Plymouth skidded and plowed into the trash dump at Sweet Water Creek near here early last Tuesday evening. No damage was done to the car, but the machine had to be pulled out with a wrecker. Driving from Plymouth, Schultz said he was forced off the hardsurface by a truck and lost control of his car. Negro Held For Attempted Rape Charlie Lewis, 511-year-old col ored man, was jailed by Officer Clias. R, Moore here early Wed nesday evening for allegedly at tempting to rape a 12-year-old colored girl in or near the Odd | Fellows Cemetery here earlier hi I the day. Lewis, a native of Ceorgia but a resident of Edenton folowing his releasp from federal prison some months ago, is allegecl to have lured the girl from her home on the railroad, a quarter mile from the cemetery. He was said to have offered her money to fol ic,w him, hut the girl reportedly ran when he ti led to harm her. Lewis waived preliminary hear ing Thursday and his ease was doeketed for trial in the superim court here next month. World War II Vets Twice All Others -9 A1 least 1G.000,000 veterans will come out of World War II, accord ing to latest Veterans Administra tion estimates. By comparison, World War I produced 4.627,000 veterans; the Civil War, 1.849,000 Union Army veterans, and the Spanish-Ameri can War, 381,000 veterans. This makes a combined total of 6,857, 000 for the three wars, or consid erably less than one-half of the minimum estimated for World ; War II alone. I THE RECORD SPEAKS . . . After trailing the 1946 rec ord for months, motorists on Martin County highways last I week forged ahead with a greater number of accidents. However, the motorists are still more respectful of limb, equally considerate of human life and more saving when it comes to property. The following tabulations offer a comparison of the ac cident trend: first, by corres ponding weeks in this year and last arid for each year to the present time. 34th Week ; Accidents Inj’d Killed Dam’ge 1947 4 1 0 $ 400 1946 1 0 0 300 Comparisons To Date 1947 85 38 3 $18,445 1946 83 68 3 20,750 Upward Price Trend Reported On Tobacco Market Thursday w bales first four Days Are 555,860 Founds on Market Prices Higher For Meiliiini Anil Common Grades Of Tobacco While the general average con tinues to trail that of last year ■ from six to eight dollars per hun dred, prices on the local tobacco market were said to be stronger Thursday. The market strength ened especially on the medium and common grades, unofficial es timates showing an increase of $11 to $10 for some grades. Two com panies apparently had their maxi mums increased, and quite a few piles brought 5!) cents Thursday with an occasional one bringing sixty cents. No official average could be had immediately for the Thursday sale, but farmers, questioned shortly before the sale was com pleted, voiced the opinion that the fin ices were about the highest, if not the highest of the season. A few tips were offered with prices ranging around seventeen ar.d eighteen cents for some of the of fetings. However, they were not offered in such quantity to .mater ially affect the general average which was declared certain to push on toward $-17 per hundred for the day. That the prices were stronger for the medium and common grades was evidenced when far mers placed very few of those typos in the Stabilization Corpor ation. A few of the better grades were being turned into the cor poration, but tile transfers were at ii fairly low percentage figure for ihe day. Government grades were upped in some instances, it was reported. Approximately 100,00(1 pounds (Continued on page eight) Uniform Fund Drive Organized A group of hand parents and band friends met at the office of County Superintendent of School James C. Manning Wednesday night and mapped opt final plans for the campaign to raise $1T>()0 to purchase uniforms for the Wil liamston High School Band. The meeting was called by Rev. John L. Goff, chairman of the drive, to work out a definite plan of action. Because many business houses always like to know about what they are expected to give or what their fair and proportionate part in such a movement would be, a complete list of the firms and pro fessional offices of the town was gone over and various suggested amounts set down. No firm i.s limited to the amount suggested nor ( xpected to make a contribu tion in that amount if they are not in position to do so. Out of town concerns doing business in the town will be con tacted by letter with the approval of their local representatives. More details of the drive will be released over the week-end but a thermometer with a white back ground, black lettering and a red "temperature” indicator is to be placed in the front window of The Enterprise during the week-end. Because of the liberal donation made by the Wil'iumston Volun teer Firemen the thermometer i.s to have a spot or red reaching to the $100 mark when it is put up. Information regarding the band and the drive fin uniforms cun be had from Jack Butler, band direc tor, pr Rev. John L. Goff, chair man of the uniform fund cam paign. • » ■-o Vandal* Danilina Slum Front Auninga Here Acting the part of vandals, two young men whose identity has not been definitely determined, have been damaging store front awn ings here in recent days., Taking their pocket knives, the two, pos sibly along with others, ripped open several awnings on Wash ington Street recently. Ministers A pprove Petition Limiting, Beer-Wine Sales The first tangible step to ban or limit the sale of beer and wine in Martin County was taken last Tuesday when the Williamston Ministerial Association met and adopted the following resolution: “Because of facts submitted by the law enforcement agencies of Martin County, the Ministerial Association approves the circula tion of a petition to the Board of County Commissioners of Martin County to hold an election to stop the sale of wines and beers except through the State licensed Alco holic Beverage Control Stoics." The resolution, calling for the cir culation of the petition was sub mitted by Rev, John L. Goff and the group unanimously adopted it. No plans were announced for circulating the petition which must have fifteen percent of the registered voters’ signatures. Just how long it will take to get the signatures is not known, but the religious leaders are confident the movement will have strong sup port. At thei- meeting this week the ; ministers pointed out that the movement to include Bible study in the local high school curricu lum had not been advanced far enough to add the course at the opening of the school next week A religious cencus of the town is to be taken on Sunday after noon, October lit. the ministers announced. Dates for revival meetings in the various churches here this autumn were announced as fol lows: At the Methodist Church, September 29 to October 8 Octo ber 12 to 24 was held as open dates if the Presbyterian Church J desires to have a meeting. The revival at the Baptist Church will be October 28 to November 5. The Christian Church revival will be | November 9 to 29. Retain $2 Town Tax Rate For iNew Year Raise Water Rate Minimum to $1.25 And Alter Scale ■ • FVw (lliang<‘H Mml«» In Tin* Srlirilnlc It Urnisc Tax es For Current Year 1 -- Steering clear of an increase in the general tax rate, Williams tori’s Town Board of Commission ers in special session last Wed nesday evening voted almost sol idly to leave the levy on its high $2 perch and turn to water con sumers to make up the deficit. No general schedule B license taxes were adopted, the town to follow the general state schedule as it applies to specific businesses. General operations for the town exclusive of the water department can be carried on without an in crease in rate, it was pointed out, but large expenditures for new welis and for repairs and for bad ly needed improvements in the water department demand special consideration. Attention was cen tered on the water rates when it was pointed out that a new water tower, costing anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000 will have to be installed possibly next year or the year following if not this year. After studying the water rate schedule, the officials found that it was somewhat below the aver age for the towns and cities in the State, that while the new rate may seem high, costs of mainten ance and repairs and improve ments in the department have soared. “It is hardly fair to ab sorb tlic increased costs by upping the general tax rate when so many property owners have no water,” one commissioner ex plained. Commissioner N. C. Green, call ed from the meeting before any action was taken to balance the budget, went on record as oppos ing a water rate increase and ex pressed the belief that an increase in the general rate structure would prove more satisfactory. Two citizens appeared before the meeting but only one of them voiced an opinion. The spokes men expressed the belief that an increase in water rates would be more equitable. Effective in September, the town will increase its minimum water charge from $1.00 to $1.25 and readjust its brackets. The new plan means that the small consumer will add 25 cents more to tlic treasury each month while the larger consumer’s bill will be increased accordingly. In study ing the rate schedule,, the officials found that the reduction in the (Continued on page eight) j SIMICIVI, MKKTING | v-/ Farm Bureau officials and representative farmers from all of the tobacco producing I counties met in Raleigh Thursday afternoon at il.OO o’clock to study current to bacco marketing conditions. 1 The group went on record as favoring the immediate fix ing of tobacco acreage quotas for the 1948 crop, thinking possibly that a substantial de crease announced now would have a tendency to bolster the markets. Messrs. C. L. Daniel and Geo. C. Griffin represented Martin County at the meet ing. Question Officer In Arrest Case -* Captain John Delbridge, head of tlio Martin County prison camp, is being questioned in connection with an alleged attack on a con vict recaptured in Halifax Coun ty last week. An investigating committee is expected here mo mentarily to confer with the of ficer. Accompanying Captain Sessom and bloodhounds in the search for Claude Gregory and Marion Knott Williams, convicts who had escaped from a state highway prison camp, Captain Delbridge told newsmen Wednesday night that Williams, following Ids arrest last week near Littleon, had call ed him a liar and that he (Del bridge) slapped Williams with Ins open hand in the face. The camp superintendent said that the pris oner was not handcuffed at the time, that the blow was not a hard one and did not hurt the prisoner. ■'i— Sliul llaH Vovkvt llool» From Slow II cdnrmlay -• Literally snatching a pocket book from Margolis Brothers' store here Wednesday afternoon, a woman hurried from the store and drove away in an old model car bearing a Florida license. The pocketbook, belonging lo Miss Marie Mobley, an employe of the store film, contained several dollars in cash and valuable re ceipts and other papers. -o (jaunty ( iniiniixsiontos To Hold Meal Monday ..■* ■ — Other than routine matters very little business is scheduled for consideration at the regularly scheduled meeting of the Martin County Commissioners here next Monday. Town Board \sked Fo Intervene In Discuss Problem an Hour \l Special Session; (Kail Traffic Manager A little taxi war between two factions while a third holds its distance across the street was car ried before a special session of the town commissioners here Wednesday evening for settle ment. So complicated and baffl ing, the problem, after a full dis cussion hour, was carried over to a later time or until the traffic manager of the Norfolk-Southern Bus Company can come here and discuss the matter with the offic ials. Some time ago the taxi firm of Baker and Harrell leased a spot on the union bus terminal lot. the independents numbering eight or more, plying their trade from stands in the street in front of the bus terminal. The arrangement was not very satisfactory, and some complaint was made from time to time, but the problem reached the explosive stage just recently when an order was hand ed down b.v the board ruling out angle parking. The new order wiped out just about all but twu or three of the cub stands in the street in front of the bus station. With Attorney Edgar Gurganus | as their spokesman, the inde pendent taximen pointed out at the meeting Wednesday evening that then' are three driveways for ingress and egress at the bus sta tion and maintained that two should be adequate It w 3 also 1 declared that much property had been roped off in front of the sta tion. blocking independent taxis and limiting spare for bus ta trpns to load and unload. Miller Harrell, representing the firm of Baker and Harrell, point ed out that they had a working agreement with the bus company, that they had leased a portion of the bus terminal but had to yield the third driveway to busses when necessary. The independents through their attorney pleaded for eight park ing places, three in front of the station, three on Washington Street next to the dime store and two in front of the Central Filling Station. Brink Li 1 ley. independ ent operator, pointed out that his group literally hud to operate from the vicinity of the bus sta tion to make a living After the lengthy discussion the officials ordered parallel parking placed in effect in front of the station. The special or third drive way in front of the station and used, more or less, by the Baker liar re 11 taxis, i^ to be left open for the present. Taxis will take their turn along with the public in front of the station until the bus company's traffic manager can come here It is thought that some arrangements can be work ed out with the terminal operat ors to solve the problem. The hearing marked by raised voices and rather heated argu ment, attracted just about all the independent taxi operators and a number of spectators. | K V I K KKIUJCTION ] v_ Effective next month, the Virginia Electric and I’uwrr Company will reduce its resi dential light power rate and oiler industrial and commer cial users a live percent dis count on their net hills, it was announced this week by K. H. Goodnion, company vice president. The rcsidenti I rate i-, re cognized as a permanent rate while the discount < 'ended commercial and industn.i' us ers is contracted for one ear only, beginning Septembei t. At the present time, resi dential customers are pay ing five cents for the first 50 kilo watts, a.t) cents for the next 100, 1.9 cents for the next 100 and 1.5 cents for excess, len der the new rate, the residen tial customer will nay 5 cents for the first 50 kilowatts, 2.5 lor the next 150 and 1.5 cents for the excess. It is estimated that the new rate and discount will save power and light customers about one and one-half mil lion dollars during the next twelve months.