Newspapers / The Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.) / Sept. 30, 1947, edition 1 / Page 1
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THE ENTERPRISE IS READ BT OVER 3,000 MARTIN COUNT! FAMILIES TWICE EACH WEES THE ENTERPRISE THE ENTERPRISE IS READ HI OVER 3.000 MARTIN COUNT1 FAMILIES TWICE EACH WEES VOLUME L—NUMBER 78 ESTABLISHED 1899 Williamnton, Martin County, North Carolina, Tuesday. September 30, 1947 Last Quarter Liquor i .Sa les Broak-Reroinls Total Of $3,704,9571 Spent For Liquor Since July In 1935 Sales Last Quarter $2,000 Larger Than They Were One Year Ago ——• Legal liquor sales in Martin » County tor the second quarter {his year were the largest for any cor responding period in the* history of the stores according to a quar terly audit just recently released by the Martin Alcoholic Bever ages Control Board. Reporting a gross income of $157,994.75 in the three months of April, May and June, the board pointed out that totgl sales since the stores were Opened in July, 1935, amounted to $3,704,957.55. Sales last quarter were just about $2,000 larger than the rec ord sales reported in the corre sponding months of 1946. Profits last quarter amounted to $38, 291.46 and boosted the total net income received since 1935 to $893,889.63. Completing the fiscal year last June 30, the stores sold over $811, 000 worth of liquor during the period, the sales representing about one-fourth of the total for the twelve years the stores have been in operation. At the end of last June the Board had assets in the sum of $91,766.15. including $41,924.43 in cash, $49,828.07 in inventories, and $13.65 fixed assets. Liabili ties were listed. $8,482.80 accounts payable, $48,780.62 due county and towns, $22,502.73 reserve for law enforcement, and $12,000 sur plus. Expenses exclusive of cost of j sales were $0,094.61 for the quar- | ter, including salaries and wages, I $3,097.50; rent, $366.00; store sup- ' plies. $12.79; heat, water and lights, $41.60, building and equip- j men! repairs, $41.05. Administra tive and general expenses amount ed to $2,534.27, including salaries 1 for warehouse, office and admin- 1 istrative, $615; insurance prem ium, $14; stationery and office supplies, $937.45: telephone and telegraph, $20.20; travel and hotel, j $70.50, retirement, $256.20;' audit and legal. $75.00; federal and state i licenses, $195; drayage, $331.09. A review of the sales for the corresponding quarters in 1946 and 1947 shows thai Ihe gross in come varied a bit. Williumston reported an increase of nearly $5.- ! 000 and Oak City gained about ; $1,500. Sales decreased in the stores at Robersonville and James ville. as the fofciwing figuies show for the quarters ending June 30, 1946 and 1947: 1946 Winston $ 82,810.00 R’ville 37.482.70 Oak City 18.507.30 Jamesville 16,624.20 1947 $ 87,306.10 35,389.70 19 920.40 15,378.53 j $155,624.20 $157,904.75 While sales decreased in two ■ stores only one showed a smaller j profit last quarter than it did a year ago, according to a review of net income for the periods, as fol- j' lows: Winston R’ville Oak City Jamesville 1946 $18,730.38 8.093.55 3.990.54 3,600.12 1947 ; $21,701.12 j 8.319.72 4,719.67 i' 3.550.46 ! $34,415 39 $38,291.46 ‘ The profit pie was cut as fol- , ^ lows: Martin County. $18,895.05; 1 State of North Carolina, $13,-1* 429.55; Reserve for law enforce-j1 ment, $1,243.10; Town of Wil- j liamston, $2.718 65; Town of Rob- ! (Continued on page stx) Father Of Uilliamslon Citizen Dies In Hospital Mr. James B. Jernigan. a native f>f Coimtv and fnfht-r of Mrs. t1 \' ,ii'1 jj<>;iito\ in V*iinarni'* ton. died in Duke Hospital at 4:00 o’clock yesterday morning. He .had been a patient in the hospital ^several months. Funeral services will be con ducted in the Mars Hill Church Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 o'clock and interment will be in the Colerain Cemetery. r Peanut quotas North Carolina has been al lotted 325,702 acres of peanuts under the quota system estab lished for the 1948 crop year, accoding to unofficial but re liable information received last week. The new quota is about 50,000 acres below the plantings reported by the eleven main peanut producing counties in the State in 1944. The national allotment is ap proximately 600.00 acres less than the plantings in 1944. North Carolina once number ed at the top in peanut pro duction. rates hardly ten per cent of the 1948 allotment. Quotas for the counties have not yet been determin ed, they will be fixed within a short time. Twelve Marriages Wrecked Thursday In Superior Court a Mill (iriiid* Out Evph Doz en Divorees In Less Than One Hour Completing the trial of criminal cases at 4:00 o’clock last Tnurs day afternoon, tne Martin County Superior Court immediately cranked up its divorce null and in less than an hour of actual work ing time shattered forever the bonds of matrimony between a dozen couples, five other divorce cases were carried over when the court’s operating schedule was thrown out of gear by Judge Clawson L. Williams's illness tilt' week before. Most of the divorces went to white couples and were based on two-year separation grounds No licenses for remarriage were im mediately issued in this county to the freed parties, a review of Register of Deeds J. Sam Get singer's license registry showed. Based on two years of separa tion, divorces were granted to the following: H. B. Liley from Ruby Bennett Lilley. The court was advised by the plaintiff that a child born to the union was with its maternal grandmother, but supported by him. I James K Strawbridge from Be nita Strawbridge. The court rul ed that the defendant is to have permanent custody of a child, James Murray Strawbridge, born | to the union. It was explained to the court that the plaintiff is sup porting the child. Catherine Stokes from William (Continued from Page Six) -o CPrisoners To State Prison | Four of the six persons, convict ed a.,J sentenced by Judge Claw son Williams in the Mai tin Coun | ty Superior Court last week, are now paying their debt to society | behind prison walls. Deputy Murray Holloman deliv- j I ered Harold Clark., Charlie Lewis j and Matthew Williams to State's ■ j Prison in Raleigh last Friday, j i Sheriff C B. Roebuck and CpI. T. I Fearing delivered William Kirk- , ! man to the prison Saturday morn- j ing early. Clark is serving 18 months to three years; Lewis, 12 i to 15 years. Williams. 18 months | to three years, and William Kirk Iman, eighteen to twenty years. John D. W'ooten, sentenced to serve seven to ten years, and Webb Ward, drawing a three-to five-year term for manslaughter, are appealing to the higher courts and did not make the trip to Ral fieh. Woolen cjllino C ■■ . -■Ls-tvie-Tot ii.foffU build: pavd.-s^Offr for the remainder of the $400 i bond and gamed his freedom, tern-1 porarily at least, last Friday. , Ward encountered some difficulty in raising his $5,000 bond, but fin ally made satisfactory arrange ments to gain his fieedom pend ing action on his appeal to the higher courts. 'leaf Sales Well \ Over Six Million j ()»tXkatTVTciPRt^T ! Prices Paid Yesterday Were Highest Since Early September ——® Williamston’s tobacco market .went well over the six million ! pound mark yesterday with prices : pushing to the highest figure since September 10. j After holding to price averages I in the middle thirties week before 'last, the market last week started a noticeable upward trend in prices. The daily averages push ed right on up to $40 per hundred the latter part of the week on the market here and went over that figure yesterday when approxi mately 240.000 pounds were sold for an average right at $42 pet hundred pounds. While it is estimated that 40 per cent of the crop has been sold in the belt, it is believed that be tween fifty and sixty percent of the leaf has moved out of the growers' hands in this immediate j section. Centering considerable atten tion on the peanut harvest, farm ers in this section are not market ing their tobacco as rapidly as they did at one time. However, full-day sales have been main tained almost without interrup tion on the market here. Company prices yesterday and today moved on up to the highest figures of the season, the Ameri can paying sixty cents right along while the Export went as high as 02 cents per pound for the best grades. A report, covering activities on tiie eastern markets, follows: Eastern North Carolina flue cured tobacco prices rose to tbe highest levels of the season dur ing the fifth week of sales. Ac cording to the United States and North Carolina Departments of Africulture practically all grades showed increases ranging from $1 to $5 per hundred. In comparison with the previous week, leaf and smoking leaf picked up $1 to $5, cutters $1 to $2 and lugs and prim 1 mgs from $! to $4. The gains j were chiefly at $2 and $3. While higher prices generally affected all qualities, the largest advances were for lower quality leaf, smok ing leaf, and lugs. Top cutters and some fair green leaf were firm while the only declines were for common green leaf (lemon side) and poorest thifi nondescript. These were 50c and $1, respective- i lyv Despite the higher grade aver-' ages the 42,734,105 pounds sold for a general average of $40.01. This was only $1.80 at -e the previous week’s return, he id to this mini mum by the increases in the amount of leaf grades marketed. The volume was around 11 mii (Continued on Page Seven) Consent Judgments In -Superior Court Even though overwhelmed by a long, drawn-out criminal docket, the Martin County Superior Court last week managed to pass on con sent judgments in several civil cases. Settled by agreement, the case of Ben D. Courtney against Mrs. J. P. Fleming was cleared from the docket when the defendant agi eed to vacate certain property on or before next January 1. William Thomas Cullipher, Jr., injured when the truck in which he was riding was struck by a train at a crossing on the old Ev eretts-Williamston Road last Oc tober 3, agreed to a $400 settle ment in his $2,500 damage suit against the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company. The suit was brought through his next friend, W. T. Cullipher, Sr. In the case of Wesley Davis against R. A. Critcher, the court ordered a survey be made of pro perty in dispute. —''rhJ i i. !ui—w!■»■■ session-. The petition or Calvin Ayers and others calling for the idssolution of the Roanoke Tobac co Warehouse Company, incor porated, was set for a hearing be fore Judge Walter J Bone in Nashville on October 11 at 9:30 j o’clock. Most of the other civil cases on the calendar were continued. Local Tobacco Firm Signs Contract With 'flic Union. The W I. Skinner Tobaccn C<'W;m pany, operating onr of the largest independent tobacco redrying plants, in this section, signed a union contract last week-end with i District 50. United Mine Workers of the Ame'ican Federation of Labor. The terms of the contract were not immediately disclosed, but it was reported that the ne gotiations were advanced after an amicable fashion. The contract, covering wages, horns and work ing conditions, was t^iecuted wit/i out an interruption, of operations at the plant ' / It is the first ^contract entered into between a locally-own^d and locally-operated plant and'”a un ion, and operations under the con tract will be closely observed. So far the union forces have made comparatively little pro gress in unionizing local industry. They have interrupted operations at the plant of the Williamston Package Manufacturing Com pany, and the effects of the strike which is now in its eighth week, have been noticeable in unem ployment figures. However, other jpsivsf/y and farm operations, rushing at thi season, have ab sorbed most of the workers form i rly employed at the basket plant. Its operations interrupted bv a strike two weeks ago, the Wil liamston Lumber Company plant is gradually returning to a nor mal operating schedule. The com pany's Big mill was operated last week and plans call for continued operations. However quite a few of the plant workers switched to peanut fields this week but with the intention of returning as soon as the peanut harvest is complet ed. "We have reorganized our forces, filling all key positions and believe operations will go forward smoothly in a short time," one of the plant owners said. The first threats, emanating either from the union or union members, were heard here just a few days ago. A written warning, advising a truck driver to remain away fom his job, was found on a windshield of a truck on the plant yard. Other threats, said to have been verbally advanced against plant workers, are being investi gated, it was learned. First Traffic Moved Over New R iver Bridge Sa tu rday The new Roanoke River bridge here was opened to traffic last Saturday afternoon at 12:05 o'clock for about four hours when trash, floating down the stream, threatened to tear the temporary bridge from its moorings. The emergency over, traffic was re routed over the temporary struc ture. His name could not be learned but a Viiginian, driving a Buick eat, was the first to travel over the new bridge, and from that time until about 4:00 o’clock be tween four and five hundred ve hicles passed over the structure. The bridge has not been com pleted and it will be several more weeks before it is formally open ed to traffic. The contractors, al ready about, two months behind schedule, are planning to pour the concrete flooring on the bridge to morrow and it isn’t likely that traffic will be allowed on the bridge witKfin two weeks. Steel traffic barriers, operated by com pressed air, are being installed by representatives of the manufac turers, and just about all the con crete work with the exception of the floor on the bridge span and a . ft w spans where the dotc-ur | bridge connects with the main | structure on the Bertie County side. It is possible that the high wat er will delay the electricians in their work to some extent. How ever, the contractors are expected to open the new draw spar, to traf : t ic end operate it by hand if the I electrical work is delayed for any j great length of time. I HIGH WATER | v,—' High water in the Koanoke is expected to turn squirrel and deer hunters back when the season formally opens next Monday, October 6. i There'll he some hunting on the hills and ridges, but the swamps have too much water to invite the hunters. The Koanoke, now break ing over the banks, is expect ed to add about one more foot before it reaches a crest day after tomorrow. Charles Gurganus "Dies In Hospital! Charlie Gurganus, local fisher man, died in a Washington hos pital last Thursday afternoon at 2:00 o'clock following an illness of about two weeks’ duration. He is believed to have contracted typhus fever about two weeks ago while working in and around a local mule exchange, and that with complications resulted in death. Mr. Gurganus, a diligent worker who seemed to get a great deal of pleasure out of fishing and handl ing team, was born in Williams ton on January 5, 1880. the son of the late Virgil A. and Nancy Ray Gurganus. He spent his entire life here, living at peace with his fellowman. One brother, Henry G. Gur ganus, of Greenville survives. Funeral services were conduct ed last Friday afternoon at the graveside at 2:30 o’clock by Dr. Ira D. S. Knight, pastor of the lo I ■ f 3- Tot: , HUH • I was ii WooiU-awn Ceinevcty. ' IMPROVING IN HOSPITAL Entering a Durham hospital last week-end for the treatment | of an eye infection. Assistant I County Agent D. W. iiiady was j reported yesterday to be improv- \ mg and was expected to return j to his home here shortly. ' Paul Taylor Dies In Rocky Mount Paul Alio nTaylor, a native of Martin County, died at his home, 012 Paul Street, Rocky Mount, last Wednesday night at 9:50 o'clock. He had been in declining health and unable to work for about five years. He was a son of the late Archie j and Victoria Ward Taylor of this i county, and moved with them to I Rocky Mount about thirty years ago. He was married to Miss Mamie Bryani of Nash County and she survives with two chil dren. Allan Lee Taylor, and Vel ma Lee Taylor, of the home, a Mount; and three sisters, Mrs. J. A. Summers and Mrs. F. A. Paris of Rocky Mount, and Mrs. Pearl Todd of Kinston. Funeral services were conduct ed at the home Friday alternoorj at 2:30 o’clock by Rev. Mr. Casey, Missionary Baptist minister. In terment was in Woodlawn Ceme tery here at 4:30 that a|ternoon. |Two Minor Wrecks Oil County Roads —•— No one was hurt but a mule was badly injured in auto mishaps on Martin County highways last week-end. Driving south on Highway 17, Dillon Thomas Rogerson plowed into a pack of mules at Skewar key church about midnight Satur day. One of the animals had a rear leg broken, arid the owner, Mack Bowen, was advised to have the ,i'fi‘ieu<i klfU'd Tee IS !.:■ .-eO j others had broken out of their owners lot about two miles away. Approximately $75 damage was done to the Rogerson Pontiac ear. Two cars scraped fenders on a highway near Robersonville Sun day but no one was hurt. . Traffic moving to the games Saturday was about as heavy ash any ever seen here. I: Superior Court In Last Term Session j LateosTbttrsday; Cluis. Lpwte Given Fifteen Years for Attaek ami Kape Attempt Its first week called off on ac count of the illness of Judge Claw ! son L. Williams, the Martin Coun ty Superior Court folded its tent prematurely late last Thursday afternoon when it was explained : that the presiding jurist had a ! habeas corpus hearing scheduled in Lee County the following I morning. But the court did not | quit until it had meted out prison sentences totalling fifty-nine years and cleared the docket of all “jail cases.” Getting its second wind Thurs day, the court started turning out cases in pairs. It was one of the few times that two juries were out at the same time deliberating, one group holding forth in the regu lar jury room and the other de bating the issues of another case in the court anteroom. A final accounting was held just before the court completed the trial of the criminal docket that afternoon at 4:00 o’clock and shortly before the divorce mill was cranked up for rapid opera tion. Walter Lee Wilkins, charged with attempted breaking arid en I tering, pleaded guilty of forcible trespass, and he was sentenced to the roads for from eighteen months to two years. He was placed on probation for three years, Judge Williams warning him that if he drank any liquor or violated any criminal law he w'ould be sent to the roads to serve the term. Wilkins was the only person to be favored with a probationary term Harold Clark, 20-year-old white man charged with breaking and entering and the larceny of clothes from the Blue Star Cleaners in Williamston last Easter, was sen tenced to prison for not less than eighteen months and not more than three years. The young white man’s talk and appearance got a sympathetic response from Judge Williams. “Young man, 1 could send you to prison for ten years, but 1 don’t want to do that,” the jurist said, turning his head while meditating half min ute or so. “The law is the best friend you have. All that you do or hope to do, the law protects you and your rights. If you work and earn money the law protects your earnings against thieves and robbers. But you have tried to tear down what offers you protec tion. Your crime was not one of j impulse but a planned one,” the | judge said. Clark, talking to the court, told I how he had asked to be sentenced to the roads in Warren County for thirty days, but declared he did not know why he made such a re quest. He was booked for vag rancy. He also told the judge that he was sentenced to the roads for two years for bicafcfh'g*SJWffflW tering, that he was given an op portunity to go to a reformatory. After four months and some rough treatment there he ran away. Captured nine months later, he paid his debt to society on a road gang but got into society's debt again last year. James Walker. Jr., charged with the larceny of Dr. E. E. Early’s automobile last July 4, was sen tenced to the roads for six months when he was adjudged guilty. Booked for an assault and at tempted rape, Charles Lewis was found guilty as charged and Judge Williams sentenced him to hard labor' in State’s Prison for not less than twelve and not more than fifteen years. The judgment spe cified that the convicted man is to wear stripes. “You are fortunate in that you. were not on trial for your life,” Judge Williams told Lewis. “There are laws to protect virtu ous youth, and it is the earnest ■ i. ' Ifie" court to erri'.v those iaWs both for white and coi- | ored citizens,” the judge said, add- j ing that the records will show that the colored citizen’s rights . have been protested. Pleading guilty in the ease! charging him with violating the j liquor laws, Ralph Suggs was fin- . ed $100 and taxed with the cost. Suggs’s line was the only one ini-1 Hospital For County Discussed at Meeting Rodman \ddresses Civic Club Group Thursday Evening Suggests Naming of (lom inittei* To Stmly Needs Ami Act Soon -O Addressing the Williamston Lions Club and special guests of the club here last Thursday even ing, State Senator W. fe. Rodman discussed North Carolina's Medi cal Care Commission's hospital program .and suggested a commit tee be named in this county to make a study of hospital needs and take action without further delay. Enjoying a delicious tur key dinner, the large group, in cluding special representatives from other organizations in the county, was told frankly that the old country doctor is rapidly dis appearing from the modern-day scene, that there is a well-advanc ed trend to hospital practice and that Martin County is relatively high on the priority list for a hos pital. Mr. Rodman, a member of the State Medical Cure Commission, stressed the need for more hos pital facilities in North Carolina, and, while not an agent of any in surance organization, urged the people of Martin County to sub scribe more extensively to hospi tal insurance, declaring that the proposed hospital program would be dependent upon a large cover age. Lion President K. D. Worrell opened the meeting and introduc ed l ion Clarence Unffsn who wel comed the visitors and pointed out that North Carolina had appropri ated much money for medical care and that the people should ac quaint themselves with the pro gram. He introduced the speak er. Welcoming the opportunity to address the group, Senator Rod man referred to the public health as an acute problem. “Each age has its problem and each*age has a difefrent problem." the speaker said, referring briefly to the old Elizabethean and Victorian peri ods. "Today, we are in a scientific period. Two years ago the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima. The fed eral government is spending large sums of money to encourage the study of scientific problems, trier speaker said. Continuing he said, “All of this has a tremendous amount to do with the question before us now. Forty years ago in Beaufort Coun ty medical doctors were scattered around every ten or twelve miles. In Martin County you had doc tors in Jamesville, Williamston, Everetts, Robersonvrlle and Ham ilton. A doctor in those days could cover only eight or ten miles w- I i-,e had to--handle all kjn&" f practice. Patients died because they did not know what they were suffering with. Treatment was confined to the home in a large percentage of the cases," Rodman said, pausing to pay tri bute to the country doctor, "No finer citizens ever lived than the country doctors. Their memoiy will live long for what they did. In rain or snow, hot or cold weather they went to the indi vidual hurries and they did a mar velous job. But science is chang ing all that. The X-ray machine was invented, and many other sci entific instruments and dru^s have followed. Today, when one is ill he goes through a physical examination, calling for a dozen different kinds of testa. "That kind of treatment cannot ae had in the home because the :osts are prohibitive. The medical universities say it must be done scientifically, that the doctor must lave adequate equipment to liak.e.Jvsts amt .dot. ''mijv.’.‘i.,... , ,h,; jiiL.oH .L.i rii.ilcim- .. Briefly recalling tiie progress nade by medical science in the last century, the speaker told ibout the death of President Cal vin Coolidge’s son. "Today, mod uli drugs would have had the boy veil and out of the hospital in -Ik lours. Penicillin first vc as effect ive for only three hours. Now it ~~ <t I PAY DAY - - Wednesday of tliis week is pay day for Martin County’s more than 200 school teachers, 1 reports stating that the total salaries will set an all-time record for size. Drawing $213.33 gross sal aries last year, teachers hold- i ing A certificates and with | eleven years experience are receiving a gross check of $241.00 this term. The net check last year was $180; this ! year it is $198.00, an actual i increase of money in hand of $18. The increase is about the same for teachers holding other types of certificates. Youn^ Negro Man Ends His Life At Home Of Parents S. T. OiiUciImmI^c Had Bmi In Declining Health Recently S. T. Outterbridge, 36-year-old coloied man, ended his life at the home of his parents near Wil- i ltamston last Friday afternoon at | 1:30 o'clock by filing a bullet through his heart. He died within ten minutes and without offering a motive for the tragic act. Using a .32 calibre Spanish pis- | tol with the hammer missing, Out- j terbridge tied a piece of wire around the weapon, fitted a nail against the bullet cap and ulsod a I small machinist’s hammer to fire the missile which tore through | the body. Coroner S. R. Biggs and county officers investigated the killing which took place at the home of ] Outterbridge's parents, George Outterbridge and wife, on the Bailey farm a short distance off | the old Greenville-Williamston ! road. No evidence of foul play j was found and after questioning j members of the family, Coroner Biggs ruled a formal inquest un- i necessary. "It was the second ! suicide among the colored popula tion in this county in a long num- | ber of years,” Coroner Biggs said. I A longshoreman, Outterbridge \ had been working in Norfolk for j several years, but returned home about two months ago. One re port intimated that there might j have been family t*oubles and he i left his wife in the Virginia city, j It was reliably learned that he had experienced declining health I for some tim . Last Frida/, Outterbridge walk- 1 ed through the kitchen of his par- 1 (Continued on page (even) Called For Jury m In Federal Court -«- I Drawn .sonic time ago for jury duty in the federal district court at Washington this week, Mis. N. C. Green of Williamston was ex cused by Judge Donnell Gilliam yesterday noon, but not until she had stood by several hours for duty. Asked by Marshall Ford Worthy if she wanted to serve on the jury. Mrs. Green explained that she preferred to be excused. The marshall called the case to the at tention of Judge Gilliam who ask ed if she had an excuse. Mrs. Green explained that she had no legitimate excuse but since she was the only woman on the jury she w'ould like to be excused. Judge Gilliam w'as most accom modating and Mrs. Green return ed home but not until she had been remunerated for her time. Ordinarily members of the jury receive about $H for travel and i i i t 1 r Gicvii was U.,.., . fit.ti'Vie, County woman drawn for jury duty in the federal courts. Wheeler Manning, local volun teer fireman, was excused on that account when he reported yester day at the direction of the court. Thurman Nicholson, W. J. Mil ler, Sr., arid Hoke Roberson serv ed among others trorii this county as members of the jury this week
The Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.)
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Sept. 30, 1947, edition 1
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