North Carolina Newspapers

THE ENTERPRISE IS READ BY OVER 3,000 MARTIN COUNTY FAMILIES (TWICE EACH WEEK THE ENTERPRISE THE ENTERPRISE IS READ BS OVER 3,000 MARTIN COUNT'S FAMILIES TWICE EACH WEEK ESTABLISHED 1899 VOLUME LII—NUMBER 31 Williamston, Martin County, North Carolina, Tuesday, April 79, 7979 Critically Hurt In Car Accident Monday xAfternoon Mrs. Herman Reddick Mov ed To Roeky Mount Hos pital “All Broken Up” • Mrs. Herman Riddick of the Dardens coramun^.y was critically hurt and Mrs. Davenport suf fered back andychest injuries in an automobile eicident about two miles east of; Jamesville on High way 64 yesterday afternoon short ly after 5:00 o’clock. A report re ceived here late last evening from Rocky Mount hospital where she * was carried for treatment stated that she was “all broken up and that her condition was serious.” It was thought she suffered a broken shoulder and possibly a broken back. A preliminary examina tion at the scene of the accident said she apparently was paralyz ed from the waist down. Given first aid treatment here, Mrs. Rid dick was carried on to the Rocky Mount hospital in Horner’s ambu lance. Mrs. Davenport was carried to Plymouth by Messrs. W. O. Abbitt and Dick Elliott and was later re moved to her home near Dardens. Accompanied by Mrs. Riddick, Mrs. Davenport and Miss Helen Davenport, a student at ECTC, Greenville, Mrs. Fred Woolard was driving her 1937 Chevrolet coach toward Dardens when some thing went wrong with the steer ing mechanism. Running about 50 miles an hour, thg car went nut 120 feet down the right shoul der of the road, swerved and skid ded across the highway and turn ed over on its side in a deep ditch. The top was smashed, Patrolman M. F. Powers, making the inves tigation, stating that the damage to the machine would approxi mate $200 or more. Mrs. Woolard and Miss Daven port suffered slight shock but were not badly hurt. Mrs. Wool ard accompanied Mrs. Riddick to the hospital in the ambulance. About three hours earlier, Grady T Douglas of near Wash ington lost control of his 1939 Ply mouth convertible coupe about two and one-half miles south of Farm Life on Highway 17! and plowed a furrow about 140 feet long on the left side of the high way before swerving to his right across the road and tearing down two fence posts and rolling up a part of Farmer Coy J. Roberson’s farm fence before coming to a stop. No one was hurt and dam ages, estimated by investigating patrolman, M. F. Powers, at $65 to property and the car, were accept ed by the car owner, Mrs. Douglas. The driver was charged with care less and reckless driving. National Family Week, May 1 To 8 President Harry Truman call ed on the American people to “emphasize the spiritual values in family life” in a letter endorsing National Family Week, May 4 through the 8th (Mother's Day). Protestants, Catholics and Jews . - it* cVv.t* for the seventh year. “It is difficult to think of a stable home which is not under girded with a deep religious faith •—an implicit trust in the wisdom of Divine Providence and the guidance which alone comes from on High,” wrote the Chief Execu tive. r 'I ROUND-UP v. Seven persons were round ed up and temporarily detain ed in the Martin County jail last week-end by local, county and state officers. Three were booked for pub lic drunkenness, two for drunken driving and one for possessing illicit liquor. A seventh one, mentally ill, was held in the jaii because there wasn’t room in an institution for him. Three of the seven were white, including a young mother. Ages of the group ranged from 26 to 46 years. Postal Receipts Set New Record Here Last Quarter -»" ■■ ■ •— After showing n\ode'cat««BBMSsj for a number of years, stamp sales rat the local post office boom ed last quarter to break all rec ords for the first three months in any year, according to informa tion released a few days ago by Postmaster W. E. Dunn.. “If the gain ratio can be main tained throughout the year, the . office is almost certain to get a* first class rating," the postmaster j explained. After losing a little ground in January as compared with the revenue reported in the corres ponding month last year, receipts! jumped from $1,959,28 in F.ebru-| ary, 1948, to $3,012.23 in Febru-’ ary of this year. Receipts in March were more than $500 in1 excess of those for the correspond ing month in 1948. — NEW BAR MEMBER _—_/ Receipts for the first quarter this year wer« $9,708.51 as com pared with $8,250.06 in the first three months of 1948, a gain of $1,457.45 for the period. Money order business handled by the office also showed a gain last quarter over the first quar ter, 1948, figures, but the month of March business this year was about $2,000 below the figures for the corresponding month in 1948. The money order business in the first quarter of ttys year amount ed to $66,160.31 as compared with $62,782.96 a year a/o. While increases in postal rates on third class matter and parcel post accounted for some of the increased revenue, Postmaster Dunn fsaid that most of if was traceable to a general growth in the tdwn and community Passing the State bar in Ra leigh a short time ago, Junie Peel, son of Attorney and Mrs. Elbert S. Peel, was admitted to practice law in the North Carolina courts when he ac cepted the oath administered by Judge W. H. S. Burgwyn in the superior court here this morinng. After an interrup tion in his education during the war years, the young man j completed his courses at the ! University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, a short time ago, and is now in partnership with his father for the prac j tice of law here. _ | Superior Court i In Special Term The Martin County Superior Court opened a special two-week term this morning for the trial of civil cases only. No sessions were held yesterday, the court recogniz ing Easter Monday as a holiday. Other than witnesses, jurors, li tigants and bar members there were eery few in attendance upon the opening session. Judge W. H. S. Burgwyn of Woodland is presiding over the term. Sworn in as a practicing attor I nev in the North--Care-Ha-.* warts, Elbert S. Peel, Jr., was advised by • pr copy of 'TO,000 a Year’’ and read it carefully. “It’s the finest book on intricacies and technicalities of i the law,” the jurist said. Judge Burgwyn, administering the oath after a solemn fashion, said that it was a pleasure to swear the young man in as a member of what he considered one of the fin est professions in the world. “I have known your father almost all his life, and I knew your grand father. He was a great man,” the jurist said, wishing the new at torney success and happiness in following his profession. Attorney B. A. Critcher, recog nized dean of the Martin County Bar, spoke briefly, “In behalf of this fine young man, it seems that it falls to my lot to be called the dean of the bar by all these young men. I have known that boy since he was a baby. I have watched him grow and develop. I have talked with his father about him a thousand times, and I want to say that, knowing him as I do, the character and the ability he has, I am certain he will add honor to , the Martin County Bar.” Native Of County Died Late Sunday In Winston-Salem Funeral for Milts Codie Pur vis Wednesday After noon In Hamilton family well kr-iown in Martin County for many years, died in a nursing home at Winston-Salem' last Sunday evening at 9:00 o’clock. She had been in declin ing health for a number of years and her condition had been seri ous following a fall in which she broke her hip the latter part of last year. The daughter of the late Wil liam Weathcrsbec Purvis and Martha Howell Purvis, she was born in this county 8fl years ago on November 8t 1863, and spent most of her life in Hamilton where, she was well known and where she was a faithful member of St. Martin's Episcopal Church for many years. Some time after the death of a sister with whom she made her home in Hamilton for years, she moved to Salisbury to live with her brother, Dr. Surry Purvis. After his death she entered g nursing home in Winston-Salem. Miss Purvis visited her old home about a year or more ago for the last time. She was the last mem ber of her immediate family and is survived by several nieces and nephews in this county. The body was brought to this county late Monday afternoon and will lie in state at the Biggs Fun eral Home in Williamston until Wednesday afternoon when it will be moved to the Episcopal Church in Hamilton at 2:00 for the ser vice there half an hour later. The Rev. Mr. Matthews of Washington will conduct the service and inter ment will be in the family plot in the Hamilton Cemetery. -- Tourists Helping British Economy In England's severe economic plight not a little relief is being brought in by tourists, of whom ancstimated| 500j000 went to that country last~yearT"75t*tTiese about 75.000 were from the United States . The number of tourists visiting the islands last year was larger than in any other ye;rr for the past twenty-eight. The larg est proportion of visitors went on pleasure trips; officials estimated that not more than 90,000 went there with business in view. The tourist figures do not include for eign visitors in transit, of whom 27.000 were Americans, nor tour ists from Ireland. Britons went touring, too, in great numbers last year, despite currency restrictions, according to the report. Includ ing those going to the Channel Islands, about 1,500,000 spent va cations abroad. -- Receives Transfusions In the Local Hospital —— Little Miss Nancy Harrison, nine-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Harrison of Bear Grass, received her seventh blood trans fusion in the hospital here last week and was reported feeling fine this morning as she made ready to return to school. Local Boy Killed 1 [n Accident Near Camp Lee Saturday Funeral Here Today At < Grandmother's Home for Bobby Edmondson Fatally injured in a truck acci lent, Pvt. Bobby Edmondson, U. 5. Army, .and a native of Wil- 1 iamston died while being carried ' :o a Petersburg, Va., hospifal 1 ibout noon last Saturday. Few de ails cl the accident c^uld be Parned here immediately, but it vas reported that the young man 1 vas hitch-hiking home from hty ( station at Ft. Belvoir in Virginia c ind caught a ride on a truck, that , the truck turned over and fractur ;d his skull. It was also reported ^ that the truck driver was being field pending further investiga tion by Virginia highway patrol men. The son of Robert and Mary ' Davenport Edmondson, he was born in Williamston on November I 18, 1930. When a few months old he was adopted by his grandmoth er, Mrs. Clyde Owens, and spent most of his life here attending the local schools and handling various jobs. In June of last year he vol unteered for service in the army and had been stationed at Ft. Bel voir, Va., after completing his basic training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina. He was home for his last visit the previous week end. His body, accompanied by an es cort from Camp Lee, Va., reached here yesterday afternoon and fun eral services are being conducted at his late home on the Hamilton Road just outside of town this af ternoon at 3:00 o’clock by Rev. John L. Goff. Interment will be in Woodlawn Cemetery. Surviving besides his father and mother are a sister, Mrs. Helen Davis of Windsor; Three half-sis ters, Jill, Ann and Susie Edmond son, all of Williamston; five half brothers, Larry Edmondson of Williamston, and John H., Paul, William and Jimmy Manning, all of Bertie County; and five broth ers and sisters by adoption, Mrs. Wm. Whitley, Mrs. Tommy Bland, Arthur, Robert and J. T. Edmond son, all of Williamston. Jaycees Name New Officers Friday! Holding a regular dinner meet ing last Friday evening the Jun ior Chamber of Commerce con ducted their annual election of of ficers for the forthcoming fiscal year. The following were elected: Thad F. Harrison, president; J. O. Manning, Jr., 1st vice president; Edgar Gurganus, 2nd vice presi dent; T. F. Davenport, secretary; Lewis Pippen, treasurer; Dr. W. H. Gray, Jr., State director; Jack Ed mondson, sergeant at arms; Robert Cower, James Bullock and Worth Mobley club directors to serve two years. President Ward thanked Jay cee Nelson Leggett on behalf of the entire club for the wonderful job he did in directing and man aging the recent very successful minstrel show. Treasurer Billy | Biggs supported President Ward's I remarks by giving a financial re »HSU .iM»' tJlilu' fix minsi.v^i was a success. After a suggestion by Jaycee Ernest Mears the club voted to make the minstrel annua) project T“T *T A rousing round of applause j was given Bob Wilson for his very | fine coaching in the chorus that took part in the minstrel. Jaycee Thad Harrison announc ed his plans to attend the Jaycee State Convention which will be held early in May in Asheville. The club voted to contribute to the Fat Stock Show which will take place May 12 and 13. Two new members were added to the clubs’ roll when chairman of the membership committee, Ed gar Gurganus, received E. S. Peel, Jr., and Wilbur Jackson into the organization. The meeting was well attended and a bountiful meal was served by the Junior Class of Williamston High School. Edgar Gurganus pronounced the invocation. Bill Gray lead the group in singing the first verse of America. The fel lowship prize awarded by Oswald Stalls was received by Jack Mob ley. hundreds Attend Easter Services Here Last Sunday Sunrise Service in Wood lawn Cemetery; Churches Crowded for Worship Near-record congregations were eported at all the religious ser dees during the Easter season icre. The first in the series of religi tus events was the Easter can ata, “The Seven Last Words of] thrist" by Dubois, in the Mem rial Baptist Church Friday eve ting. The cantata, which was beauti ull.v rendered, was under the di ection of Miss Ida Privette, choir lirector. Accompanying the choir in the organ and piano were Mrs. f, M. Ward and Mrs. Wheeler dartin respectively. Miss Ida Privette and Mrs. Jeorgc Wynne, sopranos, Mr. Joe Davenport, tenor and Rev. Stew irt Simms, baritone, were soloists. Despite temperatures hovering iround the freezing point, a rcc )rd-size crowd was present for the lunrise service in Woodiawn Cem -tery. Led by Rev. Jim Lowry, he service was supported by the leveral denominations and at tracted quite a few visitors from he rural communities and sur ■ounding towns. Churches were crowded for Sunday school and the morning worship services, and fait attend ance figures were reported at the tvening services. The Easter parade was possibly a little more marked for its splen dor than the one it year ago, the weather apparently having little to do with styles and dress plan ned for the day. Traffic was heavy through here during the limited holiday, and it moved over the highways in this county without accident until yes terday afternoon. The Tragedy Of Road Accidents “The tragic part of any accident is that Fate has so little to do with it—and the individual so much,’’ Commissioner Landon C. Rosser of the Department of Motor Ve hicles said today in connection with North Carolina's current campaign to emphasize the indi vidual’s responsibility for traffic safety. "Drivers in nearly three-fourths of all fatal accidents in 1947, for instance, were violating some traf fic regulation at the time, as were three out of four pedestrians who were victims of fatal accidents.” Personal responsibility, and the fact that “It Can Happen to You,” Commissioner Rosser pointed out, is the theme of the traffic safety ci’ cational program being spon s r.d I " the Motor Vehicles De partment during April. “Your Life Is In ''. our Hands” is the official slogan of the program which is part of a national campaign spon sored by the National Safety Council. “Moat accidents go back,” Com missioner Rosser said, “to the un : 11 v-, own worst enemy, and that a traf fic-fool is everyone’s enemy. “Traffic accidents cost North Carolina 794 lives last yearTrTad dition to 7,490 injuries,” he said. “With a little more thought, or care, or both, most of these acci dents would not have occurred. Every individual must take re sponsibility for his own safety must assume that, potentially, every life around him is in his hands." The current drive, Commission er Rosser said, offers everyone the opportunity to save at least one life—his own. After all, the “other guy”—the mysterious vic tim of so many accidents—might be YOU. —-o Represented County At ECTC High School Event -• ■ ♦ Martin County was well repre sented at the High School Day held at East Carolina Teachers College in Greenville last week. Bear Grass School sent nine, Jamesville and Oak City la each and Williamston, 25. Drunken Mother Led To Jail By Her Son i Three Men Nearly! * i, Drown In Roanoke River Last Week Parents ami Companion \ Jailed and Boy Returned To Home by Patrolmen "It was one of the most pathetic! scenes I have ever witnessed,” Sheriff C. B. Roebuck declared when he told how a 12-year-old son took the hand of his drunken mother and led her into the Mar tin County jail last Saturday aft ernoon. “Mamma, please stop cursing and come on to jail where you can sober up,” the boy plead ed, according to the story told by the sheriff. The mother, accom panied by her drunken husband and a friend who was booked for drunken driving, staggered down the hall in the courthouse holdiiv; to her young son's hand. She en tered the jail, uttering one oath after another. The son, tears rolling down his face after he was left alone, de clared he was hungry. A dollar was offered by the sheriff and the boy at u local cafe proved he was hungry. Patrolmen relayed the youngster to his home somewhere between Pinetops and Wilson. . The parents, son and friend j went lo Jamesville on a fishing trip that morning. The friend, j driving the car while drunk, j ditched the machine near the riv- j er and Patrolman E. P. Simmons and Officer Dallas Holliday ar- i rested the man and his wife and friend and placed them in the [ county jail. After seeing the sun-1 rise Easter morning they arranged j bond and were released. The pathetic case followed i closely a near tragedy in the Roanoke at Jamesville, reports] stating that three drunks were dragged from the stream there. | Ignoring the warnings issued by several who know how treacher ous the Roanoke can be, and de-1 daring they could “master the damn river”, the three men, said | to have been in a drunken eondi- i tion, tumbled out of their small I boat a few minutes later. One caught hold of a limb hanging: over th(> river, and the other two held to tin' boat until they were rescued by a detail from Flem- j ing’s fishery. After thawing out] a bit they were transferred across the river in a big flat, one of them declaring he would not ride in a small boat. They later returned to their homes near Rocky Mount. Three persons lost their lives during the fishing season in the Roanoke last year, but no brown ings have been reported in the stream so far this year along the Martin County bank. |Club Department Offers Programj The Fine Arts Department of the local Woman's Club is spore ; soring a special program in the j high school ri'(litorinm this even I | mg ai !i;U0 o'rhJSP^FRe*progrmn* I is featuring special numbers by! Mrs. Patterson’s high school glee! j flubs,.. v.v.Vi'.L^qito rt< H, duets and ; vocal selections by Miss Ida l'n-l vett. A short film on cancer control I will be shown by the Martin j County Health Department. England Reports j Divorce Increase Wales almost doubled in the first postwar year, 1940, according to reports from London. More than .'10,000 divorce decrees were made absolute that year, nearly four times the yearly average for the previous ten years. More than 10, 000 of the marriages had lasted more than *en years, while 2,280 of the couples had been married twenty years or more. A large increase in the birth rate was also announced for 1940. There were 820,719 births, a rate of 19.2 percent per thousand popu lation. TRANSPLANTS Tobacco transplanting for 1949 was off on a slow sched ule in this county Monday af ternoon when Farmer J. S. Ayers started setting plants for his eighteen-acre crop on the Sherrod farm between Oak City and Hamilton. Handling tl.e task, Firmer/! Horace Johnson and Tom Christenberry plan to cofn- j plete it within a week or ten days. The plants were little dam aged hy blue mold, but the disease is playing havoc in other areas and transplanting will hardly get under way in this county on any appreci- ! able scale before (he latter part of this month, reports | indicate. Cost Of A Fatal Accident Figured At About $18,000 More* Than 700 Killed In Highway Accidents In Stale hast Year Nut only is the price of food I high these days, but even the cost of a fatal automobile accident has reached the luxury class, accord ing to Major Samuel L. Gaynor, assistant director of the Highway Safety Division of the Department of Motor Vehicles, which is con ducting the current safety cam paign in North Carolina. “Since the National Safety Council has estimated the unit cost of a traffic fatality at $1(1,200 on till' basis of wage loss, medical expense, overhead cost of insur ance and property damage, the human body has become a valu able piece of machinery,” Major Gaynor said in explaining the campaign’s slogan: “Your Life Is In Your Hands.’’ The purpose of the current drive is to make everyone who walks or drives aware of his personal re sponsibility for traffic safety. “If nothing else,” Major Gaynor said, "we’ll consider the campaign a success if we can impress upon the individual the fact that acci dents are something depending one-tenth on Fate and nine-tenths on human frailty. If you’re in an accident the chances are good that a part of the carelessness or disre gard for traffic regulations is yours,” he added. Every person exposed to traffic has too much at stake the $18,000 material loss and the incalculable , distress of his loved ones- to ig nore the fact that accidents are where you make them and that the bulk of them are definitely preventable, according to Major Gaynor. “Last year 32,000 persons died in this country as a result of traffic accidents alone,” Major Gaynor | 1 r' ^ 400 were injured last year right here in North Carolina so it can I be fatal to taken an impersonal,! H-caii’t-?iappen-to-me attitude ini the matter of traffic safety,” he concluded. More Jobs Open In Civil Service Tlit' U. S. Civil Service an nounced recently that examina tions for medical X-ray technician and tobacco inspector wlil be held shortly, that applications for to bacco inspector must be received by the Commission not later than the 3rd of next month and for X ray technician not later than June 7. The X-ray position carries a top salary of $3,974, and the tobacco inspector job pays as high as $5, 232 a year. Interested parties are directed to contact II. O Handy, local sec retary for the commission, at the Williamston Post Office fur furth er information. 1,616 Workers In Non-Farm Jobs In Countv Fast Year \verage Wages Kcccivnl In This (anility 810 Hclow Those for the State An all-time high in non-agri ■ultural employment in North 1’arolina was reached in the third quarter of 1948, in which the aver age employment covered by the State’s Employment Security Law reached 651,369 workers, a net >ain of 5.52 percent, or 34,03(1 workers in the third quarter of 1947. A decline of 43c in the aver age weekly wage, from $41.90 in the second quarter to $41.47 in the third quarter, is shown. These figures are included in the quarterly report of Hugh M. Raper, director of the Bureau of Research and Statistics, to Henry E. Kendall, chairman of the Em ployment Security Commission. Even with the decline in employ ment in the past few months, the conclusion is reached that employ ment now is as high as it had ever been in the State prior to 1948. The third quarter gain was attrib uted in part to the increase in seasonal employment in process ing leaf tobacco, to which is also attributed, in part, the decline in average weekly wage. In the 25 Mountain Area coun ties average employment declin ed less than one percent (0.73) from the second quarter. In manu facture the decline was 2.79 per cent. but this was largely absorb ed by gains in the service group. In 36 counties of the Piedmont area employment increased 1.75 percent, while in manufacture the increase was only 0.3 percent. In the Coastal area the gain was 7.48 percent over the second quarter, due almost entirely to seasonal to bacco operations. Construction e m p 1 o y m e n t reached its post-war peak in the third quarter of 1948, 8.18 percent above the second quarter. Manu facture showed a decline of 1.16 from the second quarter. Trans portation, communication and public ultilities reached an all time high, while trade and fin ance, insurance and real estate showed substantial gains. Service industries gained slightly. Martin County, in the third quarter of 1948, had 1,616 covered workers employed, a gain of 13.40 percent from the second quarter. They received quarterly wages of $601,928, an average weekly wage of $31.50. Broken down into ma jor classifications, employment, quarterly wages and average weekly wages in this county fol low: Construction, 18, $11,141, $47.61; Manufacture, 700, $303,735, $30.74; Transportation and Commerce, 94, $73,502, $65.00; Trade, 038, $241, 339, $31.00; Finance, Insurance and Real Estate, 12, $3,934, $27.00; Service and other, 94, 28,277, $25. Working on Radar Screen For Nation President Truman recently sign ed into law a bill passed by Con gress authorizing the setting up. ot a larlu, sci L't >1 u/uuiiLi i'ltiitli America to warn of the approach already has begun to build the warning system, with materials or, hand. The bill authorizes an initial $85,000,000 ho the prujeet, which Canada will help finance and install. It will cost the Unit ed States $161,000,000. Pressure for the screen was intensified a't er military leaders asserted the United States is vulnerable to ait attack over the polar ice cap. Re ports of the approach of enemy planes would be relayed from the radar stations to control towers, which would dispatch fighter planes to intercept the enemy. ( AGED INCREASE ] V--) The number of persons over 65 years of age in the United States will reach 18 million by 1075, or virtually double the 1940 total, Ur. Clyde V. Kiser of the Milbank Memorial Fund, New York City, has estimated. He urged "adequate and sound systems of social se curity.. lor the aged.