Newspapers / The Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.) / Feb. 10, 1949, edition 1 / Page 1
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THE ENTERPRISE IS READ BY OVER 3,000 MARTIN COUNTY FAMILIES TWICE EACH WEEK THE ENTERPRISE IS READ BY OVER 3,000 MARTIN COUNTY FAMILIES TWICE EACH WEEK fcu.Tzru r '■ ..r. VOLUME LII—NUMBER 12 ESTABLISHED 1899 Williamston, Martin County, North Carolina, Thursday, February 10, 1049 I Thirty Cases In County Recorders Court This Week Thirteen Cases Cleared Last Monday By Judge Chas. Hall Manning With thirty cases on the docket, including one that was heard by a : jury, Judge Chas. H. Manning \ held the Martin County Record- j er’s Court in session until after three o’clock Monday afternoon. Fines, amounting to $560, were collected and road sentences, call ing for thirty-five months, were imposed. The list including thir teen speeding cases. Proceedings: Pleading not guilty of drunken driving, Herbert Oliver Peele was found not guilty by a six-man jury composed of C. P. Cullipher, Arthur Modlin, Lester Keel, S. C. Ray, W. B. Canon and John Arth ur Revels. Pleading guilty of an assault with a deadly weapon, Allen R. Rascoe was sentenced to the roads for three months. Charlie Bell, pleading not guilty of an assault with a deadly weapon, was adjudged guilty and he was sentenced to the roads for nine months. He appealed to the higher courts and bond was re quired in the sum of $250. The case charging Jesse Lee Jones with careless and reckless driving was nol prossed, but is subject to be reopened. Charged with careless and reck less driving, Ernest Wooten plead ed not guilty but was adjudged guilty of passing a car on a curve and was fined $15 plus costs. Pleading guilty of drunken driving, Leslie Earl Simpson was fined $100, taxed with the costs and lost his driver’s license for a year. Augustus Knight pleaded guilty of drunken driving and was sen tenced to the roads for four months, the court suspending the road sentence upon the payment of a $100 fine and costs. His li cense to operate a motor vehicle was revoked for one year. Entering a plea of guilty of drunken driving, Charlie Grimes was sentenced to the roads for four months. The court suspend ed the road term upon the pay ment of the $100 fine and costs and revoked his driver’s license for one year. Charged with violating the health laws, Jake Spruill pleaded guilty and was sentenced to the roads for thirty days. The judg ment was suspended upon the payment of the costs and on con dition the defendant take pre scribed treatment. Pete Dolberry was found not guilty of assaulting a female. Russell Sherrod, pleading guilty of an assault with a deadly weap on, was sentenced to the roads for four months. Levi Smith and Gordon H. Bar num, charged with operating a motor vehicle without drivers’ li re tww - A. gnilty. and. was fined $25 and taxed with the costs. In the case charging Joe Clark Henderson Ivioore and Grover Peel with the larceny of a hog, Clark was sentenced to the roads for four monlhs, and Moore and Peel drew three months each on the roads. Charged with operating motor vehicles without inspection stick ers, Roy Lee Dolberry, George Edward Leggett and Horace Wil lard Modlin pleaded guilty and judgment was suspended upon the payment of the costs in each case. —■-—o Fire Threatens Hamilton Home Fire, starting from a spark from a yard fire, destroyed the smoke house and woodshed and threat ened the large Waldo home in Hamilton early yesterday after noon. When it looked as if the big house wmuld catch on fire, a call was made to the volunteer fire de partments in Robersonville and Williamston. V- 'unteers in Ham ilton, using a garden iiose and buckets, confined the fire to the outbuilding, but the paint on the rear of the home was burned off. HELP CAME TOO LATE FOR SNOW-TRAPPED RANCHER RUMBLING OVER THE FROZEN prairie land* of northwestern South Dakota, a U. S Army "weasel" tows a sled carrying the body of a rancher who died in his snowbound home in the Buffalo, S. D., area. In the weasel are members of the dead man’s family, accompanying the body to town for a delayed funeral. Practically the only vehicle whicti could operate over the terrain, "weasels" rescued many trapped families. (International) Speedsters Have Another Day In County’s Court Fines Amount To $560; Road Terms Add Up To Thirty-five Months Alleged speedsters, most of them from out of the State who apparently are not acquainted with the speed laws, had another day in the Martin County Record er’s Court last Monday. Thirteen speed cases were booked that day before Judge Chas. If. Manning, all of the defendants pleading guilty. Before the minutes of the Mon day session were placed in-the re cords, Patrolman Whitfield, sta tioned in Windsor, appeared in the clerk's office with three alleg ed speedsters. The officer trailed them from a point just this side of Windsor to the lower end of Wil liarnston’s main street where they were temporarily detained. The patrolman said the three operat ors had breezed along at 65 and 70 miles an hour. The leader of the trio declared he did not travel over 55 nnks an hour, but the other two followed him when he got up to 65 and 70 miles an hour they declared A witness said j they zoomed by him when he was | running right at 55 miles an hour. They posted bond and continued southward. Two of the defendants in the court last Monday admitted they were racing to get to their homes in Mackeys. Evelyn Adair Klass and Norwood Leonidas Spruill were each fined $15 and taxed with the costs. One of the other eleven defend ants was most pleasant when he appeared before the clerk of court to arrange bond, but another de fendant, admitting a violation, acted down-right ugly when bond ^vas being arranged for her. it was (Continued on page eight} Divorce Actions r iled In Court Three divorce cases were filed in the Martin County Superior j Court a few days ago, all of the plaintiffs basing their claims on grounds of two years of separa tion. In the case of Blanch F. Barnhill against Paul R. Barnhill, the plaintiff says they were married j on April 18, 1942, and were sep arated on January 30, 1947, that the one child born to the union is with' her. Asking an absolute divorce, A. L. Harrison in his case against Thelma Elizabeth Harrison says they were married on June 24, 1933, that they separated on Sep tember 1,‘ 1946. Four of the six children, it was stated in the com plaint, are with the plaintiff and the'other two are with the de fendant. In his case against Gathy Har rell, the plaintiff, Paul Harrell i says they were married sometime , in March, 1921, that they separat j ed on October 27, 1945, and that all children born to the union are < now grown. THE RECORD SPEAKS . . . Motorists traveled through another week on Martin County highways and streets without serious injury to any one and without doing too much damage to property. Two of three accidents report ed last week were on town streets. So far nearly half of the ac cidents has been reported in the streets of the variouc towns. The following tabulations offer a comparison of the ac cident trend: first, by corres ponding weeks in this year and last and for each year to the present time. Fifth Week Accidents InJ’d Killed Dam’ge 1949 3 0 0 $ 150 1948 4 0 0 375 Comparisons To Date 1949 13 4 0 $ 1,915 1948 13 2 0 2,300 John Davis Died Early Wednesday John Thomas Davis, 51, died in the Martin County Sanatorium near here at 7:20 o'clock yester day morning. He had been in de clining health for many years and had been a patient in the sana torium since last April. He had received treatment on previous occasions, but his condition had been critical most of the time dur ing his last illness. He was the son of the late John and Charlie Beach Davis, and spent most of his. life in the Jamesville section. Surviving are two sisters, Mrs. Church Mobley and Mrs. Nellie White, both of Jamesville; one half-sister, Mrs. Ma'gie Steven son of Wiliiamston; and three ••fculf bre.-th-ers, Willie/ Ches-let.-asiS Dallie Davis, all of Wiliiamston. Funeral services are being con ducted this afternoon at 2:30 o’clock at thf home of his sister, .M: Chut. rnAhmiMm*«€ar James ville, by Rev. W. B. Harrington. Interment will be in the Modlin Cemetery near Cedar Branch Bap | list Church in Jamesville Town ship. Suffers Broken Leg in Accident I i The 5-year-old daughter of Luther Chance suffered a broken leg when she was run down by « pock-up truck just west of the railroad on Highway 64 in Par mele about 6:00 o’clock last Mon day evening. Reports reaching here stated that the child, , after waiting for a car to pass, ran into the road and into the path of the small truck. She was dragged only a short distance, Patrolman B. W. Parker, making the inves tigation, explaining that the vehi cle apparently was not being driv en very fast. The victim was picked up by the truck driver and carried to the Ward Clinic in Robersonville where she was treated and return ed to her home. State Boai*d Asks Changes Be Made In Election Laws —<p— Efficiency and Clurifica lion Sought In Siiftj{«*st p(l Amendments The State Elections Board is asking the legislature to straight en out North Carolina’s muddled registration system, and to clear up the hazy statutes surrounding creation of new political parties. The board also asked for five other changes in the voting laws, all of which it said were aimed “toward efficiency and clarifica tion.” At the same time, it an nounced that no complaints or protests were filed after the Nov ember elections, for the first time in more than 20 years. Executive Secretary Raymond Maxwell said the lack of protests, with four parties in the race, was “all the more significant and seems to show, that apparently the electorate is satisfied with the conduct of the elections.” ^he other recommendations t< the legislature were: 1. —A law to prohibit county election board members from be ing county campaign manager? for political candidates in elec tions or primaries or from cam paigning openly for candidates. 2. —A change in the laws on new parties to add the words “a group of petitioners,” to the phraseology listing privileges of parties which have qualified in the state. 3. —.Changing the distribution deadline for absentee ballots from Aug. 1 to Sept. 1, because new parties have only until Aug. 1 be fore an election to qualify. 4. —Moving the filing deadline for political candidates up from 6 p. m. to noon. The board ex plained that it must certify all un opposed candidates the day of th< filing deadline, and it would be ! simpler if the filing deadline wen I set at noon. 5. —Allowing a change of venue | to adjoining counties for criminal i trials of election law violators, i Also, making . victccl of violating election law; removable from office by their trial judge, and ineligible to hold office until their citizenship is re stored by law. To simplify the confused re gistration system. At present, pri mary registration books are kept in each precinct for both major parties, and a third book for the general election registrations. The addition of the States Rights party made the system need four books, and it will soon become “almost unworkable,” the board said. The system wu? adopted nine years ago to prevent members of one party from vot ing in the other party's primaries but ‘ that practice has about stop ped, we think,” the board said. Turning to the problem of new party laws, the board asked that the steps for qualification of £ party be cleared up. During the last campaign, the States Right; party took issue with the law re quiring prospective parties tc produce a petition signed by 10, 000 persons, and taking the law intrt court only left it more con (Continued on page eight) Handle Ten Cases In Justice Court In Past Few Days j One Defendant Bound Over To Higher Court In Road Accident Case Justices R. T. Johnson and John L. Hassell handled ten cases in their courts during the past few days. One of the cases, involving a highway accident, was sent to the higher courts for trial. Justice Hassell handled.the fol lowing cases: Charged with being drunk and disorderly, Walter Lee Pacetty was fined $10 and taxed with $10.50 costs. Drunk and down, L. W. Cobb was sentenced to the roads for thirty days, the court suspending the jail term upon the payment of $9.50 costs. Charged with assaulting Willie Moore, James H. Davis was fined $10 and taxed with $7.50 costs. Willie Moore was sentenced to jail for thirty days for being drunk and fighting. The sentence was suspended upon the payment of $8.50 costs. Charged with beating a board bill, Frank Simmons was sentenc ed to jail for thirty days, the court suspending the jail sentence upon the payment of $3.75 board bill and $5.50 costs. J. R. Brickhouse, publicly j drunk, was taxed with $0.50 costs. The following eases were handled by Justice Johnson dur | ing the period: | Charged with failing to give right-of-way, Sanford Gilliam was bound over to the county court for trial next Monday. Charged with disorderly eon duet, Walter McGowan was sen tenced to the roads for thirty days, the court suspending the jail term on condition that he remain away from the home of Mrs. Della Cher ry for twelve months. Charged with improper car re gistration, Leslie Bullock was fin ed $5 and required to pay $5.85 costs. (Continued on page eight) Big Damage Suit | Filed In Court Dallas Ray Green, four-year-old colored youngster of Parmele, through his next friend, Clarence W. Griffin, is suing Roy Bowers, Pitt County man, for $10,000 dam ages which he alleges resulted to him when he was run down by the defendant’s truck in a Par mele street on September 15, 1948. The suit was filed a few days ago in the Martin County Superior Court by Attorney Chas. If. Man ning. The plaintiff says in the com plaint that he was riding with several other passengers in Nath | an Thomas's car in Parmele, that T.ioma stopped the car a little to i the right of the center of the street It is further claimed in the moor that Bowers, meeting Li 10 l i i tniei.3 'car, on the left and just at the time the plaintiff got out of the car and started to the sidewalk. m* i‘- :» claimed *■ ,' J, ,;uf I fered a broken pelv’u bone, a I punctured bladder and other in I juries when he was struck by the ^ defend'red’s. ivHr,V.. It is. .rdso.. -.d J leged that the victim was treated i in the Robersonville Clinic and later moved to a Durham hospital where he spent several weeks. It is claimed that the injuries are permanent. Suffers Broken Leg In Accident Farmer Sam Mobley of Bear Grass Township suffered a frac ture of lire small bone in his i ight leg and the ankle bone was shat tered in an accident at the Lilley Brothers’ mill in Griffins Town ship last Tuesday morning at 11 o'clock. Mr. Mobley was moving lumber out of the mill shed when a pile oi boards back of him toppled over and caught his right leg. He was removed to the hospital here, late reports stating that while the in juries are painful he was getting 'along very well. ", John Coltrain Denied Bond At Hearing Held Here Yesterday Funeral Sunday In Roberson vile For Pvt. R. F. Rawls Young County Man Was Killed On Okinawa In the Pacific May 17, 1945 Funeral services for Pvt. Regi nald F. Rawls, 19, who was killed in action while serving with the U. S. Army in the Pacific Theatre, on May 17, 1945, will be conducted Sunday afternoon at 3:00 o'clock in the Robersonville Baptist Church by the Rev. Ralph Fergu son. pastor, assisted by Rev. J. M. Perry, Christian minister of Rob ersonville. i Pvt. Rawls received his basic training at Camp Wheeler, Geor gia, and served overseas in Ha waii, Saipan and Okinawa. He was killed when the 77th Infantry Division, of which he was a mem ber, was making a dawn attack on Okinawa. Surviving are his mother, Mrs. Dora F. Rawls of Robersonville; four brothers, Dennis of Norfolk, Herman of Richmond, Wilmer of Stokes and Ben of near Roberson ville; and three sisters, Miss Louise Rawls of Baltimore, Md., Mrs. Garland Matthews of Rober sonville and Dora Rawls of the home. Burial will be in the Roberson ville Cemetery where full military honors will bo rendered by the Murray R. Cargile Post of the American Legion in Roberson ville. The body will remain at the S. G. Wiikerson and Son Funera Home In Robersonville until one hour prior to the time of services Banquet Held For Boy Scouts Here la observance of Scout Week the annual Father-Scout banquet was held in the Woman’s Clut here last night with more than i half hundred fathers' and twice as many Scouts and cubs present. District Committeeman K. P Lindsley presided over the ban quet. He first recognized Wheel er Martin, a pioneer in Scouting in Martin County and an out standing leader in all boys’ activi ties over a period of many years. Following the introduction oi Scout Masters Dr. J. A. Edens anr: Little Bear, George Brown, fielc executive of Roanoke Rapids, wa; presented for the first time to the fathers and many of the Scouts "This banquet tonight is the mosl wonderful demonstration ol Scouting I’ve seen since I came t< North Carolina,” Mr. Brown said In his comments he pointed ou that Scouting is a way of life . . a good and wholesome life. Al though the scout executive’s re marks were brief he didn’t fail tr cdi’npumcnt G’eilo AnlUjau' ' 'W! preparing and serving the deli cious Brunswick Slew dinner. Troop 29 under the leadershif of 16. Little Bear’s number 2’ group has 18 Scouts. With one oi two exceptions they were al! pre .'.i.'.i uiiti the Cub Puc k was re pro sented with a 100 percent attend a nee. Fletcher Thomas, district chair man and Wheeler Manning, com mitteeman, were recognized anc Kxum Ward, representing th< Junior Chamber of Commerce sponsor of the Cub Pack, present ed Little Bear with an award fo outstanding leadership among th< youngsters; the Cub Pack. Fol lowing the presentation of th< award Little Bear congratulatec Buddie Fussell, Eddie Hardisor and Fred Chesson, Jr,, for the co operation they had given him ir his work with the Cub Pack "Without the assistance of these boys the organization of the Pad could not have been complete anc successful," the Scout Master stat ed. Little Bear also received a tro phy presented by Field Executivi Brown. He was credited with do ing more for Scouting than anj other person in the community ii I the year 1948. f INSPECTION LANE j j A lane for the inspection of motor vehicles and trailers of all types is scheduled to be opened here tomorrow for operation through Thursday of next week. There is some doubt where the lane will be set up this time since the black top on Warren Street has been dam aged by the equipment. One report stated, however, that it would be opened there or on some other street according to schedule. Find Inmate Dead In the County Jail At Noon Yesterday i Effort Was Krin^ Made To 1 Got Selector Andrews Into A Veterans’ Hospital —— Select;): Andrews, World War I 11 veteran, died in the Martin County jail about noon yesterday while authorities tried unsuccess fully to get him into a veterans’ hospital or into a state asylum for the insane. Doctor John W. Wil liams, who saw Andrews just a few minutes before he (Andrews) collapsed and died, said it was impossible to determine the cause of the man’s death. Showing signs of insanity, An drews, 31-year-old Parmele col ored man, was placed in the Rob ersonville jail Tuesday morning when he became violent and di rectly or indirectly threatened his wife. He was removed to the I county jail about 7:00 o’clock that | evening. Medical attention was I summoned and officers were ad ' vised to prepare papers for the j man’s admittance to some institu tion. One report stated that there was no room in the government hospital at Kecoughtan, Va., and before contact with the authori ties at the state institution could be established, the man died. Andrews, who served with the army in Northern France during the recent war, was said to have purchased cheap wines by the ease recently, and it is possible that death was attributable to over stimulation. However, it was said that the man was raving crazy, that he climbed the steam pipes in the jail, jumped up and down on his bi d and ran into the brick ' walls in his cell. The injuries re Iceived when he flung himself I against the brick walls are not be lieved to have caused his death, Jailer Roy Peel declared. No sedatives were administered and it was thought that Andrews I would soon tire himself down and | that he would go to sleep. Dur ing the meantime, members of the family were making arrangements him. A short time later, the jail er saw Andrews lying in the floor but before He could summon aid the man d - Andrews is the second man tc have died in the new jail. Pay $4,798.98 To County Treasurer Fees, fines and forfeitures, eol ■ lected by the several county of , fiees and in the courts and amounting to $4,798.98. were paid ■ into the county treasury last ■ month, according to reports filed with the board of commissioners ■ recently. The county court reported an income of $3,744.45 for the month, the amount including $l,994.0u ir court fines and $1,750.45 in courl costs. The clerk of court report : ed miscellaneous fees in the sun . of $220.21. The register ol' deeds office re ported fees in the sum of $558.45 the greater part of the amount . coming from recordings, certifi ■ cates and licenses. The sheriff’s oft ice reported ■ $275.87 income derived from serv i mg criminal and civil papers due jing the period. Cross Examination Points To a Plea Of Self-Defense — Only One Witness Ques tioned Before Justice Of Peaee R. T. Johnson Finding probable cause of guilt of murder in the first degree. Jus tice R. T. Johnson at a prelimin ary hearing held before a large crowd in the county courthouse here yesterday afternoon, denied John R. Coltrain bond and the de fendant was returned to the coun ty jail to wait until the week of March 21 when he will be called to answer for the murder of W. Thomas Roberson, prominent Griffins Township farmer, on Jan uary 26. Coltrain pleaded not guilty. With Attorney Clay Carter of Washington and Clarence W. Grif fin assisting in the prosecution, | District Solicitor George Foun I tain called only one state’s witness ! and at the conclusion of that evi dence Justice Johnson announced that bond would be denied. No plans were announced immediate ly by the defense, and it is likely | that no habeas corpus proceedings I will be instituted to force the | bond issue. The evidence offered by the state’s witness, H. Gabc Roberson, ! only elaborated reports gained shortly after the attack, but the cross examination pointed to a plea of self-defense. Suggestions advanced by defense counsel, Al bion Dunn, Greenville attorney, that Tom Roberson carried a pis tol on the morning of the fatal at tack and that Tom Roberson mov ed against Coltrain were simply denied by the witness for the ! state. The self-defense plea was | further developed, possibly very weakly, when the defense asked the witness if it were not a fact that the defendant trapped in the swamps in and around where the fatal attack took place. After reading the warrant charging that Coltrain did with malice aforethought, willfully and maliciously did kill and murder 1 William Thomas Roberson on Jan i uary 26, 1949, Justice Johnson j swore two witnesses, H. G. and ! Henry Roberson, but only one, H. i Gabe Roberson, brother-in-law of the deceased, was called. Answering questions asked by Solicitor Fountain, the witness said that he was with his brother in-law the day he (Tom) was kill i d, that the two were together and cut seven trees on January 19, and on the 20th took a tractor and pulled the logs across a slough to a hill where they could be reach ed with logging carts, and that he did not see the logs again until he i went there on the 26th with Tom I Roberson and Henry Roberson, ! Tom’s nephew. '' "We "went'Tn?Fe -WIGT IWU Mg* ging carts,” the witness continued. ''Torn was driving the one in front and Henry was driving the second i one. Tom vvas^^SRS^ffi^tfe XuhgUc ! of the first cart with his fee* hang I ing to the left side of the tongue and the right side of lus body faf fing toward the front. Tom was holding the reins in his right hand,” the witness said, explain I ing that he was walking about five feet behind the first cart. The witness said he did not see Coltrain until Coltrain stepped into the little logging path, held up his hands and said “whoa” to the mules. “I looked up and saw | Coltrain with a gun. The mules took two ore three more steps and Coltrain stepped toward the mules, holding the gun in his left hand and holding his right hand in the air just in front of the mules. "I want to ask one question,” the witness quoted Coltrain as saying. "When Coltrain asked, ‘Who cut those logs?’ Tom said, ’me and Cube.’ Coltrain then said, ‘Yes, g . . . damn you, I’m going to kill you.’ "Torn dropped the reins, got off the cart and started walking away.” the witness said Rober (Coutiutied on page eight) H
The Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.)
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Feb. 10, 1949, edition 1
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