SHE ENTERPRISE IS READ RY
OVER 3,MS MARTIN COUNTY
FAMILIES TWICE EACH WEEK
THE ENTERPRISE
-J
THE ENTERPRISE 18 READ «
OVER 3,009 MARTIN COUNtfl
FAMILIES TWICE EACH WHH
=53S
VOLUME LI—NUMBER 15
Williams ton, Martin County, North Carolina, Thursday, February 79, 794#
ESTABLISHED 1
I
People Of County
Offering Help To
‘Homeless’Group
Destitute Case Is Worthy
Of Aid Sheriff Chas. B.
Roebuck Declures
Advised of the pitiful plight of'
Ammie Ambrose’s nine-member
* family, local people were quick
to respond to the call for help.
However, there hasn’t been suf
ficient time as yet to determine
if the response will meet the
urgent need of the destitute fam
ily.
Dr. A. J. Edens led the response
with a $5 cash contribution soon
after the appeal wa*’ made pub
► lie. J. Edward Corey was next
with a $5 cash donation, and the
Smith-Douglas Company added
$10 to the fund after representa
tives saw a picture of the shack
in which the little group weath
ered, after a fashion, the recent
snow and cold weather
Mr. W. T. Stinnette, volunteer
ing his services, said, in part:
"I just read about the family
of colored people. If anyone will
give the lumber and materials I
will be glad to help a group re
pair the house without charge.”
A casual examination shows
that the shack is in such a bad j
state of repair that possibly it!
will be better to abandon it, using
some of the timbers in the con
struction of a two- or three-room
camp house on another founda
tion. However, more cash con
tributions are needed along with
material offerings before a defi
nite reconstruction program for
the family can be undertaken.
The case has been checked and
it is a most worthy one. It isn't
planned to make a personal solici
I tion in behalf of the members of
the pathetic family whose ages
range from three to nearly seven
ty years, but contributions will
be received either by Sheriff C.
B. Roebuck or The Enterprise and
directed to the most effective
program possible.
Other contributions received |
soon after the first appeal was j
^ made to the people of this sec
tion, include the following:
Mrs. H. S. Hardy, Everetts, $3;
Joe Everett, Robersonville, $5;
Mrs. N. M. Mobley, Parmele, $5;
J. C. White, $2.50; Evelyn Mc
Fadden, $2; Carrie McFadden, $1;
R. S. Critcher, $5.
Other contributions will be ac
knowledged from time to time in
the name of Ammie Ambrose,
0 the aged grandmother, who, it will
be recalled, had stolen from her
last November nearly $300 in
cash the family had worked for
and saved to repair their home.
The family has been helped by
neighbors and the grandmother
went to the welfare department
for a pension, but the $15 grant
per month is not sufficient to
hardly hold body $nd soul to
gether under the conditions. Mem
4$ bers of the family have not beg
ged even though they are living
a plank*or two removed from
out of doors, and hunger has
stalked them from time to time,
to say nothing of their scanty
clothes.
The current appeal for funds is
designed to provide a wall around
and a roof over the heads of the
destitute.
• In reporting the ease earlier in
the week, The Enterprise stated
(Continued on page six)
Officers Destroy
Big Liquor Still*
. •
Raiding in Bear Grass Town
ship last Tuesday, ABC Officer
. J. H. Roebuck and Deputy Roy
" Peel found a large liquor still
but did not find the manufactur
ing site. Apparently the owner
was moving to a new location and
had not had time to place the
still in operation.
The still was made of copper
and had a capacity of about 100
gallons. It was one of the larg
est kettles found by the officers
in this cqunty in recent weeks.
¥ Raiding in the mill nc-ek section
of Jamesville Township yester
day the officers found and de
stroyed another plant, equipped,
with a fifty-gallon capacity oil
drum and one fermenter contain- (
mg 50 gallons of cheap beer.
Town Lets Contract Today
To Sanford Firm For Well
Williamston's town commis
sioners in special meeting early
this afternoon acted to relieve the
local water shortage when they
let a contract for another deep
well to the Carolina Drilling and
Equipment Company of Sanford.
Bids were submitted by two
firms, the Layne-Atlantic of Nor
folk and the one at Sanford. The
Norfolk firm submitted a base bid
of $9,800 and the Sanford firm had
a bid of $6,500. Both bids were
based on a guarantee of 250 gal
lons of water per minute, the
water to contain not more than
75 parts salt in a million and it is
to be approved by health author
ities.
The Layne-Atlantic Company
agreed to dig three test wells
with the condition that should
additional ones be needed they
would be dug at $1,0(A each, based
on 500 feet. The Sanford firm
specified no limit to test wells,
agreeing to accept the decision of
| the town engineers and state
geologists.
Laync-Atlantic submitted a con
tract price of $10 per gallon for
the next 100 gallons in excess of
250-gallon guarantee, and $5 per
gallon for the next 100 gallons or
proportional part thereof. The
! Sanford firm contracted at $20
■ per gallon for the first 100 gal
! Ions in excess of the 250-gallon
1 guarantee, and $10 per gallon for
I the next 100 gallons in excess of
the 350.
Based on a 450-gallon-per-min
Ute supply, the bids compare:
Carolina Drilling and Equipment
j Company, $9,500, and Layne-At
| lantic, $11,300. Both bids did not
^ include screens which the town
| will furnish.
MEETING
'
V.
I
A meeting will be held in
courthouse here next Monday
evening at 8:00 o’clock when
workers and leaders of vari
ous governmental agencies
and relief organizations are
to discuss ‘needs and re
sources of the people of Mar
tin County”, it was announc
ed yesterday.
Mass unemployment, flar
ing up as a result of the para
lytic stroke dealt industry in
this section by weather con
ditions recently, caused con
cern, and it is likely that such
conditions will be discussed
along with an explanation of
agency policy.
Makes Report Oil
Paralysis Drive
j
The drive to raise $2,600 for
the Martin County Infantile
Paralysis Fund was $120.11 short
of the goal this morning, but
Chairman L. B. Wynne expressed
the hope that unreperted centers,
including Hamilton and Bear
Grass and four colored schools,
would carry the campaign over
the top. Reports are expected
from those areas today or to
morrow.
Funds raised and submitted but
not previously reported include
the following schools, Williams
ton High School. $46.71; Everetts,
$50.05; and Williamston, colored,
$70.48, the iate reports boosting
the total collected and reported
to $2,479.89.
Reviewing the canvass to date,
Chairman Wynne said that $915.75
had been received in answer to
direct mail appeals, $1,134.13 from
the white schools, $216.01 from
the colored schools; $87.71 from
Robersonville's Trio Theater, and
$7.25 from the Hamilton Theater,
and $119.04 from the coin collect
ors.
Pressman Badly
Hurt In Accident
Bruce Whitley, Enterprise press
man, was badly but not seriously
hurt yesterday morning shortly
before 8:00 o’clock when a board
slipped and dumped him into a
five-foot motor pit ^beside the
publishing company’s newspaper
press. He was removed to the
hospital here where thirty stitches
were taken to close a gash in his
left arm. He was resting well
this morning, but it cou}d not be
learned when he would be able
to be out.
He was oiling the press and
making ready for a paper run
when one of the boards covering
the pit slipped and he fell about
five feet to the concrete floor.
The press was not in operation at
the time.
Apparently his injuries were
limited to his left arm, reports
stating that no bones were bii/k
en.
-». -
Some Firms To Have a
Holiday Next Monday
■. • ■ —
The local post office and banks
will be closed next Monday in
observance of Washington’s birth
day. Few other business, if any,
will have a holiday that day. I
Mrs. Joseph Early
Died At Home In
County Yesterday
-*■■■ ■ ■ •
Funeral Today in William*
Chapel Chureh Near
Oak City
■■■ ■. ■ A . .
Mrs. Joseph Early, highly re
spected citizen and one of the
county’s oldest residents, died at
her home near Oak City yester
day morning at 12:20 o'clock. She
| had been in feeble health for some
time, but she continued very ac
I tivc for her advanced age until
January 20 when she injured her
self in a fall. Her condition had
been serious since that time and
the end was not unexpected.
The former Miss Felicia Taylor,
she was born in Halifax County
between Hobgood fend Scotland
Neck 90 years ago on April 27,
1858, the daughter of the late
William Roderick and Julia Ade
laide Nelson Taylor. Fallowing
1 her marriage, the family located
in this county about sixty years
ago. Held in high esteem by all
who knew her, she lived a useful
life in her adopted community,
taking an active interest in the
church at Williams Chapel where
she held membership for more
than half a century, and proving
a real fric-nd to all.
Surviving arc four sons, Messrs.
Henry A. Early of the home, W.
Edmond Early of Oak City, R.
Elwood Early of Carthage, and
Maurice N. Early of Norfolk;
three daughters, Mrs. George W.
Council of Norfolk, Mrs. W. Don
Hyman of Carthage, and Mrs. N.
M. Hyman of Palmyra; fifteen
grandchildren and eight great
grandchildren.
Funeral services are being con
ducted in the Williams Chapel
(Methodist) Church Thursday aft
ernoon at 2:30 o’clock by her pas
tor, Rev. M. W. Warren. Inter
ment will follow in the church
yard cemetery.
Sow Plant Beds In
County This Week
Delayed by bad weather for
weeks, Martin County farmers
jumped at the opportunity earlier
this week to sow their tobacco
seed for the new crop. A few
handled the task the early part of
January, but it is estimated that
ninety percent of the beds were
not sown until this week.
Although a 28 percent reduc
tion in acreage has been announc
ed reports indicate that about as
much yardage is being planted to
tobacco seed as was planted last
year.
Reports from one or two of
those few farmers who planted
their tobacco seed on or about
January 7 state that they have
plants up, Farmer Georgie Mar
tin in the Jamcsvillc section stat
ing that he has a good stand.
' ■ » ■■ ■
Stolen Automobile Found
Burned This Morning
-«. —
A 1941 Pontiac, belonging to
Dallas Godard of Jamcsvillc, was
reported stolen there some time
during last night. The car was
found burned at Tar Landing this
morning. It could not be learned
if the property was insured. t
Industry In This
Section Resumes
Normal Schedule
Economic Plight Reminds
One Of Depression
Days In lliirties
■ ■■
Closed down by weather con
ditions and bad roads for as long
as. two weeks and longer in some
cases, heavy industry is gradually
resuming normal schedules of
operations in this section, but the
resumption of activities did not
come until hundreds were thrown
into an economic plight remind
ful of the Hoover days back in the
thirties. Many filed for unem
ployment compensation, but the
payments did not come fast
enough to head ofi near want in
some cases.
Industry, plagued by one of the
worst winters in years, had not
operated at full production in
this section for months, with some
few exceptions, of course. Bad
weather on the peanut crop at
harvesting time last tall curtail
ed operations in the two local
cleaning plants, and operations
arc being staggered even now.
The William8ton Lumber Com
pany resumed a full-production
schedule yesterday when every
one of its men except one was
back at work. The plant had op
erated on a limited scale during
recent days.
The Wel)s-Oats Lumber Com
pany is still closed down, but op
erations are to get under way at
the plant on East Main Street the
early part of next week.
The basket factory is nqt yet
back in operation but it was
learned unofficially yesterday
that every effort is being made to
put the plant back in production
on or about the first of next
month. A new dry kiln is being
built to dry basket bottoms.
With the exception of a few
days lost last week, the Standard
Fertiliser Company plant has
maintained production schedules.
The smaller industrial plants
in this immediate section are al
so back in operation.
No official report has been re
ceived from the pulp mill, but
the plants is operating on a limit
ed schedule, at least, with the
possibility that full production
will be resumed soon.
To Hold Training
School In County
A threc-day recreational train
ing school, one of two scheduled
in North Carolina, Will be held in
the American Legion hut here
next Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday from 7:30 until 9:30 o’
clock each evening.
The school is to train county
and home agents, 4-H neighbor
hood leaders and 4-H club mem
bers and advance a successful
recreational program in the coun
ty.
Six counties, Chowan, Bertie,
Washington, Edgecombe, Halifax
and Beaufort, are to send six del
egates each and this county is to
have twenty representatives at-1
tend the school.
Miss Virginia Gregory of the
State Recreational Commission,
will conduct the school, and Jesse
James, assistant state 4-H club
leader, will represent the State
Extension Service. i
Town’s Fire Loss
In 1947 Largest
In Several Years
— ♦
Forty-one Calls Received by
Volunteer Firemen Here
During Period
Williamston’s fire loss in 1947
was the greatest in any similar
period during recent years. Fire
Chief G. P. Hall said this week.
While losses were confined to six
teen cases, the volunteer firemen
were kept fairly busy during the
year handling forty-one calls. *
Fire damage to buildings
amounted to $29,410 and contents
destroyed were valued at $22,200,
making a total of $51,610. More
than four-fifths of the loss, $44,
000, was confined to the basket
factory when it was operated by
the Williamston Package Com
pany. Insurance covered most of
the losses reported during the
year, but the basket factory own
ers accepted a fairly heavy loss in
the fire that destroyed a large
storage house and contents and
wrecked the large dry kiln.
Of the forty-one calls answered
by the local department in 1947,
about one-fifth of them or eight
were received from out of town.
There was only one false alarm as
compared with none in 1946 and
four in 1945.
In 1946 there were only eleven
fire calls received by the depart
ment and losses were reported in
only' four cases. The loss, about
one fifth of the 1947 damage, was
estimated at $10,925.
The year before that, fire losses
were comparatively large, the re
cords showing that fire destruc
tion amounted to $39,185. There
were 34 calls in 1945, but losses
were reported in only seven in
stances.
Studying the cause of most of
the fires, Chief Hall said that the
number of roof fires is dwindling.
At ory; time, fifty percent of the
fires were traceable to sparks fall
ing on inflammabU- roofs. The
trend is being picked up by oil
stoves which accounted for about
one-fifth of the fires last year.
Grass fires accounted for six of
the calls, and fires were traceable
to four defective flues. Cigarettes
accounted for two fires, according
to the fire chief’s reports. There
were nine causes of fire listed, the
records showing that the origin
could not be determined in three
instances.
While no record loss was re
ported in 1945, local firemen were
called to some unusual fires, in
cluding a tree fire on Rhodes
Street and a light pole at the high
school. The 32 other calls that
year were listed as follows: cigar
ettes, 2; short circuits, 2; sparks
on shingles and tar paper cover
(Continued on page nix)
PARENTS-TEACHERS
A regular meeting of the
local Parent-Teacher Associ
ation will be held in the high
school auditorium next Mon
day evening at 8:00 o’clock,
President H. P. Mobley an
nounced today.
A concert by the high school
band will feature the enter
tainment program. Reports
will be received and other
business will be handled tol
lowisg the concert.
First Highway Fatality Of
1948 Shows Up In Record
Last week was a hectic
period for the accident record.
Motorists had been flying low
on the highways of this coun
ty without serious accident
until last week when aided by
fog, snow and bad road con
ditions the Grim Reaper
claimed one life. Six persons
were injured and another was
killed in a single accident
which rates among the most
costly since three persons
were killed on the Roberson -
ville-Stokes Highway back in
December. 1946 Most of the
wrecks last week were minor
ones, members of the highway
patrol explaining that ve
hicles skidded into one an
other in several instances and
into roadside ditches on other
occasions. Two vehicles turn
ed over during the period un
der review, but as far as it
could be learned no one was
injured.
Despite the heavy blow di
rected against it last week,
the 1948 highway accident
record in the county so far
this year looks better than it
did for the corresponding
period in 1947. It is admit
ted, however, that with many
more blows similar to the one
felt last week, the record will
look mighty bad.
1th Week
1948 8 8 1$ 1,850
1947 3 2 0 750
1948 21 il I 4,025
1847 22 18 2 4.8^5
Last Call Made For
TB X-rays In County
Eleven Thousand
X-raved In Mass
Survey To Date
■ ■ ♦
Twenty-three Active Ami
Inactive (!am Found
So Far In Survey
A last and urgent call is being
directed to the people of this
county who are fifteen years old
or older and who have not already
done so, litterally begging them
to have their chests X-rayed be
for the mass TB survey is brought
to a colse on Friday of this week.
Up until yesterday afternoon at
5:00 o’clock, 10.848 persons had
been X-rayed in the county, and
the eleven-thousand mark was
passed early today, leaving the
survey possibly 3,000 short of a
desired or near-perfect goal. The
survey was interrupted by weath
er conditions in some sections of
the county, but those who were
unable to report when the mobile
X-ray units were in their respec
tive communities are urged to
make every effort possible and
have their chests X-rayed either
at Williamston or Jamesville be
fore 5:00 o’clock on Friday of this
week. Missing the unit when it
was in Bear Grass, about twenty
pupils in the school there were
brought to Williamston for their
X-rays Tuesday. Others who miss
ed the unit when it was in their
respective communities will be
welcomed in the centers where
the survey is still in progress.
Commenting on the survey to
date, Dr. R. F. Bell stated that
109 suspicious cases had been
found, that that many persons had
[been asked to report for further
examination. Of the 109, 74 have
already returned, the health au
thority explaining that twenty
three active and inactive cases
had been found. The health of
ficial has already recommended
that five persons enter a sana
torium as soon as possible.
A clinic where further exami
nations are given will hi' held on
t Friday of this week and another
is scheduled for all day next Mon
day in the health department of
fices.No more X rays will be tak
en after Friday of this week, but
a clinic will be held next Monday
the further examine suspicious
cases. The clinic at that time will
mark the close of the survey
which was launched in this coun
ty on January 27. All those who
have been or will be asked to re
port for further examination will
find it to their advantage to do
so before the clinic is closed next
Monday, February 23.
Today, the survey is underway
in Williamston, as usual, and two
other units are operating in the
lower part of the county, one in
Dardens and the other in Jarnes
villc for the first time.
Tomorrow, in addition to the
unit here, one will make « sec
ond stand in Jamesville, and an
other will be returned to the pulp
mill where the work could not
be completed yesterday. One re
port stated that 348 were X-rayed
at the pulp mill, that the supply of
blanks was exhausted, making a
second schedule there advisable.
Over in Williams Township at No.
90 filling station, 78 persons were
X-rayed yesterday. Approximate
ly forty were X-rayed at the
fertilizer plant here.
Brought here by the North Car
(Continued on page six)
Plan Fifth Sunday Sing
In Cedar Branch Church
———
A ‘Fifth Sunday Sing" will be
held in the Cedar Branch Baptist
Church near Jamcsville on Feb
ruary 29 at 2:30 o’clock p. ni., it
was announced this week by Rev.
E. II. Stewart, Baptist minister of
Hamilton.
The program, including solus,
duets, trios, quartets and choruses,
is being planned, and Rev. Stew
art is asking those who plan to
participate to notify him at Ham
ilton.
The Piney Grove and Williams
ton quartets and the Bear Grass
Trio are expected to participate,
and the public is invited.
TAX LISTINC
j
Completing the listing of
taxes the early part of the
week for 1948, Listtaker O. S.
Anderson said today that in
dications point to a fairly siz
able increase in assessed val
uations for this township.
However, he would make no
estimate on the size of the
gain. “We lost on peanut
holdings and a few other
items, but building construc
tion and the purchase of new
cars last year offset those
losses and should push on
toward a fairly sizable fig
ure," Mr. Anderson said.
None of the listtakers has
turned in a completed book
as yet, and the trend in values
for the county cannot be de
termined at this time.
Beloved Resident
Died Tuesday At
Jamesville Home
- ■ - #-■
Funeral Service Thursday
Afternoon For Mrs
J. L. Davenport
Funeral services are being con
ducted this afternoon at 3:00
o’clock in the Jamesville Method
ist Church for Mrs. Mary Ella
Davenport, beloved citizen of
Jamesville, who died at her home
there Tuesday morning at 9:45
o’clock. Her pastor, Rev. B. E.
Bingham, of Roper, assisted by
Rev. W. B. Harrington, county
Baptist minister, is conducting the
last rites and burial will follow
in the Methodist Church ceme
tery. The grandchildren will
serve as active pallbearers.
Mrs. Davenport, 70 years of age,
hud been in declining health for
several years, but was very active
until about the middle of 1943.
She suffered a broken hip in Sep
tember of that year, and after un
dergoing hospital treatment for a
long period she was just begin
ning to get about again when she
suffered a stroke in November,
1946. She had been an invalid
since that time, but she accepted
her affliction without complaint
remaining cheerful until just be
fore the end. Her condition had
been critical for about a week, but
Tuesday morning she ate and
seemed to enjoy her breakfast,
and dropped off to sleep, the end
coming while she was sleeping.
Mrs. Davenport was born in
Pitt County near Bethel on Feb
ruary 12, 1072, the daughter of the
late Rev. Samuel and Nancy Ward
Moore. In early womanhood she
was married to J. L. Davenport
and moved to Martin County, liv
ing in Oak City and Hamilton a
few years before locating in
(Continued on page six)
Order Transfer of
Whit E. Saunders
Whit Saunders, popular mem
ber of the North Carolina State
Highway Patrol with headquar
ters here for a number of years,
has been ordered transferred to
Washington, the change to be
come effective if and when a
house can be found there.
Learning of the transfer older
from other sources, local people
and others in the county voiced
telegraphic opposition, appealing
to partol officials to reconsider
and leave Mr. Saunders here. Up
until early today no direct ans
wer hud been received to the ap
peals.
Cplurrd llifth School Hand
To (rive Concert Sunday
-—o
The local colored high school
band, recently organized despite
many obstacles, is giving a special
concert in the school building on
Washington Street Sunday after
noon at 3:00 o’clock. The pro
gram, a benefit performance, is
sponsored by the Household of
Ruth, G. U. O. of O. F.
Declares Machine
Politics In State
On Its Way Out
•
Candidate for Governor
Says Machine Tries Pick
Governor in Advance
“Under the Democratic Party,
North Carolina has had good and
honest government and some real
political leaders, but today most
of these leaders are gone and the
machine they created has outlived
its makers,” R. Mayne Albright,
candidate for governor, declared
in a recent statement.
“Today the machine itself, oper
ated through a few state depart
ment heads and county leaders,
and financed by industrial inter
ests, is openly attempting to select
governors years in advance and to
control the state of North Caro
lina," Albright continued.
“Elections should be won by
votes—not dollars,” he said. “Tlje
people of North Carolina do not
want to see the highest office in
the state sold to the highest bid
der.
“The chief question before the
people of North Carolina in the
coming elections is who controls
the State—the people or the ma
chine? Unless this question is
answered satisfactorily at the
polls none of the pressing prob
lems of schools, roads, health,
wealth or progress will be ade
quately solved and our future citi
zens and our dependent citizens
will continue to suffer while the
State continues to build up a
$100,000,000 surplus.
"The danger of money in cam
paigns is that it defeats popular
government and puts the public
interest secondary to that of the
special interests which provide
the money. I believe the people
of North Carolina are impatient
with machine control, resent the
improper use of money in cam
paigns, and that they will go to
the polls this year in unprecedent
ed numbers to elect the candidates
who best represent the interests
of all the people of North Caro
lina ”
Albright, in his Field Headquar
ters, “The Challenger” has now
covered tld counties in his ‘take it
to the people’ campaign. His
statement today reemphasises the
need for a “new political awak
ening in order to take advantage
of this time of opportunity to re
store the government to the peo
ple and to launch North Carolina
on a real program of progress.”
Albright is the only candidate
who has called for a special ses
sion oi the General Assembly to
give emergency aid to teachers,
public employees, and for school
buildings. In his platform he has
continually stressed the need for
higher salaries for teachers and
state employees; state aid to coun
ties in school building and repair;
better home to market’ or “home
to school’ roads; planned progress
in agriculture, and in per capital
income; and “clean politics.”
“1 believe we have all the possi
bilities for moving into a new era
of real progress,” Albright says.
“North Carolina is rich in human
resources and natural resources
I and at the beginning of this new
era we have new skills, new train
ing facilities, new capital re
sources and a very large and
growing state surplus. I believe
(Continued on page six)
Justice Hassell
Hears Five Cases
—*—
Jlistin' John L. Hassell handled
five eases in his court here this
week after remaining idle during
I most of last week on account of
the weather. >. •.
Charged with being drunk and
disorderly, Edward T. Schmidl*
kofer, 38-year-old service man,
was fined $5, plus $7.50 costs.
Perlie Williams was fined $40
1 and required to pay $7 costs foe
crashing a red stop light.
Judgment was suspended upon
the payment of $5.50 costs in the
ease charging Odell Hart with
disorderly conduct •
Jimmy Watts, colored, was re
quired to pay $5.50 costs in that
case charging «iim with disutdtn^
ly conduct.
Lawrence Wiggins, char
with disorderly conduct, was 1
ed $5 and tased with $0,50 <;