I THE ENTERPRISE IS READ BT OVER 3,000 MARTIN COUNT! FAMILIES TWICE EACH WEEK THE ENTERPRISE «*» • THE ENTERPRISE IS READ OVER 3,000 MARTIN COUNT FAMILIES TWICE EACH WEEK I a I > OLUME LIII—NUMBER 2 i Williamaton, Martin County, North Carolina, Thursday, January ,5, 1050 ESTABLISHED 1899 President Pleads * For “Fair Deal” Before Congress Delivers Stale of The I nion Message To Joint Group Yesterday Afternoon In his State of the Union mes sage to a joint session of the 81st Congress yesterday afternoon at I 1:00 o'clock, President Harry S. Truman pleaded for his “Fair Deal" program, urging the law makers to wait no longer in inaug urating • such sweeping social changes as compulsory health in surance, the Brannan farm plan, extension of rent controls, a hous ing program to help families in the middle income brackets and other proposals to boost the pub ^ lie prosperity. Repeal of the Taft-Hartley law was asked. The message was part of an over-all confusion setting, the President asking for a “moderate" increase in taxes, while lawmak ers on all sides declared for less spending and tax decreases. The lawmakers greeted the message with mixed and even vio lent reactions that plainly indi ll cated trouble ahead. The Demo crats, exclusive of a few, were for many parts of the outlined pro gram. Republicans snorted it was “socialism” and “rehash” and they booed and peered the Chief Exec utive of the United States to his face. More than one hundred Repub lican House members signed a round robin, declaring Mr. Tru ^ man had "again given notice that he is wholly committed to the eventual socialization of Ameri ca.” In his message, President Tru man took a broad sweep over a full century. He looked back over fifty years and the “miracle” he said it had produced in shorter hours, more production and better living. H He looked at the present and said this is no time to rest on the oars, to stand pat on achievements of the past. And he gazed a half century into the future to a time when he figured the income of the average American family might be around $12,000 a year-three times what it is now. “Today, by the grace of God,” Mr. Truman said, “we stand a free g. and prosperous nation with great • ™ rr possibilities for the future than * fny people have ever had before in the history of the world.” But to improve the financial outlook at the moment, he said, Some changes are needed in the tax system to bring in “a moder ate amount of additional rev enue.” He said the changes should “re duce present inequities” and stim ulate business. He promised more W definite recommendations soon. He sends Congress an economic report Friday and his budget for next fiscal year on Monday. With the Treasury taking in around $38,000,000,000 a year, the budget points to more red ink—a deficit of more than $4,000,000,000 in the fiscal year, which begins next July 1. Below is a digest of President ^ Truman s State of the Union mes \ sage: Taxes—"Make some changes in our tax system which will reduce present inequalities, stimulate business activity, and yield a mod erate amount of additional rev enue.” He said specific sugges . fcbm-wiiM&THfeuc sifoTTiy." Business—"Close the loopholes” in the anti-trust laws so as to bar “.monopolistic mergers." He pro mised to send the lawmakers later % a “series of proposals to assist small businesses and to encourage the growth of new enterprise.” Farm—Pass the Brannan Plan with its system of production pay ments; provide mandatory price supports for products which are major sources of farm income and are not adequately covered. Labor—Replace the Taft-Hart ley Act with ‘a law that is fair to all and in harmony with our ^ ideals." Expand the social securi ty program to provide higher benefits and greater coverage. Im prove the unemployment compen sation program to supply more jobless aid. Set up a labor exten sion service to encourage educa-1 tion in labor relations. j % (Continued on page five) Make Plaits For A Survey Of Sewer Line Extensions Plans, calling for a survey ofi sewer line extensions within the town and in the North Haughtonj Street and West End sections, are well advanced, Mayor Robt. Cow en said yesterday. The federal government has tentatively agreed to advance the funds for the survey which will likely cost between $2,000 and $3,000, it was explained. Detailed information and application for the money were filed with a government agency in Atlanta a few days ago. While the sewer line extension needs constitute a problem within themselves, there's the problem of whether to proceed on the basis of town limits as they are now con situted or to work with the view of a consolidation of the surround ing territory, principally the thickly populated area in the North Haughton and West End sections. Little has been said recently about incorporating those sections within the present town, but if such action is ever contemplated, officials point out that now is the time to consider it. The welfare of the town and the communities just outside the lirn-l its is likely to be discussed at a I meeting of the town officials at' their monthly meeting next Mon-1 day night. Anyone, including those inside or immediately out side the town limits, will be we1 corned at the meeting and their views will be appreciated, no doubt. Little business has been defin itely scheduled for the meeting which opens at 8:00 o’clock Mon day night. r LICENSES v. T Clearing (he L’s and M's in one big rush during the latter part of December, the Safety Division of the State High way Patrol is now issuing drivers' licenses to those per sons whose last names begin with the letters N, O. P and Q. Persons w'hose names begin with any one of those four let ters may get their licenses at the Martin County courthouse any Wednesday or Thursday before June 30. It isn’t ad visable to wait until the last minute to take the tests. A few' stragglers whose names begin with L or M are reporting for their licenses this week, but most of those in that letter combination have their licenses. Horton To Install Kiwanis Officers Hugh Horton, a past lieutenant! governor of the Carolinas District of Kiwanis International, will have charge of the installation of new local club officers at its regu lar meeting tonight. Officers to be installed include Fitzhugh Fus sed, president, C. B. Clark, Jr., vice president; W. H Carstarphen, treasurer; and Wendell Peele, sec retary. These men will succeed Sam Woolford, Fussell, Geo. Mah ler, and Bob Monteith in the same respective ol der of offices. In an organizational meeting held on Tuesday night, President Elect Fussed announced that a meeting of the various committees would be called following the new officer ceremonies. Monographs have been distributed to the vari ous committee chairmen to ac quaint them with the objectives of their individual committees. Heads Highway Patrol Radio C. D. Cavenaugh, while main-1 taining his home here, is now sta tioned in Raleigh as Chief Engi neer of the State Highway Patrol Radio System. It is understood his family will join him as soon as living quarters are found. M Stuart Davis, Jr., is succeed ing Mr. Cavenaugh as engineer in cnaige“oFTne wiTIiams'ton station, a position Mr. Cavenaugh has held since the stations were opened. Horace Gooding of Elizabethtown, a member of the radio staff in the State since the war, is succeeding Mr. Davis as engineer. Farmers Report Hogs Missing More hogs have been reported missing from Martin County farmers during the past few days, according to a report coming from the sheriff’s office. Two hogs, each weighing about 125 pounds, disappeared from the Forbes farm near Spring Green last week. Farmer Herbert Man ning who had a large hog stolen from his pen the latter part of last year, reported another hog miss ing this week. Ruritans Meet In Jamesville The Jamesville Ruritan Club held its regular meeting* Monday evening, January 2, at seven o’clock in the school lunch room. The meeting was called to order by the president who led the group in singing America. The chaplain then gave the invocation. The members enjoyed a delicious chicken dinner served by the Methodist ladies. The main business of the even ing was the appointment of the members to the various commit tee. The following committee were set up and the members ap pointed, the first named to serve as chairman. Recreation and Community Good Will: Arthur Wallace Lilley, David Holliday and C. G. Gurkin; Welfare, Health and Sanitation: Alva Roberson, E. N. Modlin, Charlie Russell, Luther Clark and C. T. Gaines; Program and entertainment: G. H. Baker, I A. Corey and V. B. Hairr; Finance: I Oscar Davenport, Elwood Brown, Howard Gaylord and Asa Moore; Agriculture: Carl Griffin, Marvin Jones, F. W. Holliday, P. M. Hol liday and H. A. Sexton; Economic Opportunity for Youth: V. B. Hairr, F,. H. Ange and Howard Gaylord; Rural Church: Ben Peele, W. L. Brown, J. C. Kirkman and E. H. Ange; Public Highways and Streets: Floyd Moore, C. C. Fleming, Arthur Modlin and W. C. Wallace; Education: Georgia Martin, O. W. Hamilton, and R. C. Sexton. These committee mem bers are to meet during the month to work out the projects for the year which will be presented at the next meeting. A. Corey, Georgia Martin, Carl Griffin and Oscar Davenport were selected to represent the club at the National Convention which will be held at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on January 23, 24 and 25. The following members were present for the meeting: Ira Alex ander, C. A. Askew, George Bak er, P. C. Blount, Jr., L. C. Brown, A. Corey, Oscar Davenport, C. C. Fleming, C. T. Gaines, Carl Grif fin, C. G. Gurkin, Howard Gay lord, O. W. Hamilton, V. B. Hairr, Jim B. Holliday, P. M. Holliday, Marvin Jones, J. C. Kirkman, Ar thur Wallace Lilley, W. E. Man ning, C. C. Martin, Georgia Mar tin, E. N. Modlin, Asa Moore, Floyd Moore, Ben Peele, Alva Ro berson, Charlie Russell, H. A. Sex ton, R. C Sexton and James Smithwick. V. B, Hairr, reporter. •o Few Observing Old Christmas — o Old Christmas, once widely ob served in this section, is passing today little noticed by anyone, indicating that the custom has just about been lost in the annals of time. About the only observant lo cally is Mr. Joe Godard over on Marshall Avenue. He is opening his presents this afternoon, but he explained there’s no holiday for him. January 5 has been widely ob served as Old Christmas along the outter bank of Dare County, but little has been heard from that* area and its plans for the day. Autopsy Points To Drowning As Cause of Death —<>— Unofficial Report Stated That I. L. Alexander's Heart Not Damaged -• The report that Ira L. Alexan der, well known timber man of Jamesville, accidentally drowned in Roanoke River near that town early Tuesday morning was said to have been supported by pre liminary findings during an au topsy performed here late last night. No official comment could be had at that time, however, and no final report will be available until laboratory tests arc complet ed by the pathologist, Dr, Arnold Strauss, of De Paul Hospital, Nor folk. The autopsy, arranged after the committal service in Columbia yesterday afternoon, was request ed by the Mcngel Corporation, employers of the drowning vic tim. The body was disinterred im mediately after the committal ser vice and returned to the Biggs Funeral Home here, Dr. Strauss and his assistant meeting it there. It could not be learned how long the laboratory tests will take, but preliminary findings were said to have pointed, more or less, defin itely to accidental drowning. One report, coming from unofficial but reliable sources, said that the heart was found not to have been damaged, that something like muddy water was found in the lungs, and attendants were quoted as saying that "it looks like drowning." The autopsy, taking about an hour and fifteen minutes, reveal ed that Mr. Alexander had suffer ed a stroke or some head injury some time ago, possibly several years or more. The body was returned to the cemetery in Columbia early this morning for final committal. Big News Stories Of The Old Year The reviewers had a great time pieking the big news stories of 1949. Two of the most widely published are the lists made (a) by American editors, and (b) by the editors in Europe and the Near East (Russian editors are not in cluded). The same item appeared first in both lists, but otherwise the two lists are widely dissimilar. The stories selected by the American editors were the follow ing: 1— President Truman announces atomic explosion in Russia. 2— Communists overrun China. 3— Coal-steel strike threaten American economy, 4— High naval officers challenge unification policies. 5— Jury convicts 11 top Com munists in U. S. 6— Kathy Fiscus dies 95 feet down a well pipe. 7— P-38 rams air liner at Wash- ! ington, killing 55. 8— Hungarian court convicts Cardinal Mindszenty of treason. 9— Vice-President Barkley mar ries Missouri widow. 10— Major league races end in baseball's closest finish. The list compiled by the editors of Europe and the Near East is as follows: 1— 1 resident f ruman announces atomic explosion in Russia. 2— The Atlantic Pact is signed. 3 British devalue their cur rency. 4— Communists overrun China. 5— West German republie is es tablished. 6— Tito splits with the Kremlin. 7— The Berlin blockade is lifted. 8 Catholics and Communists locked in struggle in Central Eu rope; Mindszenty trial. 9— Greek civil war ends. 10— Peace established in Israel. -—_ Con tin uca Critically In The Hoapitul In declining health for more than two years, Mrs. Fred J Roe buck yesterday afternoon was re ported critically ill in a Washing ton hospital where she was re moved to after a stay of several week with her daughter, Mrs, W. E. Grimes, near Stokes. Countv Board In Short Meeting Monday Morning Discus* Plans for Providing Rest Rooms for Women Jurors in Courthouse -,* With little scheduled business on their calendar, Martin County’s commissioners, Messrs. C. C. Mar tin, J. H. Edwards, W. M. Harri son, C. A. Roberson and 11. S. Johnson, handled the routine du ties and then talked about fann ing, bird hunting along with vari ous other topics at their regular monthly meeting last Monday. There were no visitors, and no re quests for roads or special consid erations. The officials observed along with many others the day before as a holiday, and possibly a change in the meeting date con fused the callers and no special appointments were made. After hearing lengthy reports from the heads of the various county departments, the commis sioners discussed plans for provid ing rest rooms for women juror! on the second floor of the court house. Quite a few women have been called for jury duty in this county, but only a few served, and they did so mainly because they could not offer an acceptable excuse. It is thought that the limited rest room facilities have had something to do with the ser vice record of the women, and the1 commissioners ordered a study of conditions be made. A contract for painting the in terior of the agricultural building was let to Noah Hardison who submitted a low bid of $465. There were several bids, the highest be ing around $1100. Making his monthly report to the commissioners, Tax Collector M Luther Peel said that $75,306.37 remained to be collected from the 1049 levy of $312,010.44. All but $9,645.77 of the $283,958.39 levy for 1948 has been collected. Mr. Peel also reported that there was a balance of $4,700.99 due from the $234,906.57 levy for 1947. Their work completed, the com missioners enjoyed their informal talk which centered around the county home and other unconnect ed subjects before adjourning shortly before lunch time. --<* JVIo Divorce Or Damage Actions Up until late yesterday no one had applied for a marriage license in the New Year and no divorce or damage suits had been filed in the Martin County Superior Court, Register J. Sam Get.si iger and Clerk L. B. Wynne said. There were comparatively few marriages in the county last month, and only six civil action.; I were filed in the court. There's quite a rush at the i money lending counters and courthouse employes are busy ••(• cording various types of mort gages and liens. Minor Accident Near Jamesville No one was hurt and damage hardly exceeded $100 in a road accident near Jamesville last Sat- 1 urday morning, according to a re-1 port released yesterday hy Pa ! trolmanT'Y Simmons. Paul Barber was driving on the Jordan Thicket road and stopped quickly to avoid striking a dog. William Modlin, driving behind Barber, could not stop in time to avoid crashing into Barber’s 1947 Chevrolet. Fire Damages Farm Tractor Fire damaged H. A. Sexton’s new farm tractor and burned the tires off a trailer on a farm near Jamesville about 2:00 o’clock yes terday afternoon. It is thought that gas leaked from the carburetor to the ground and caught fire. Damage to the 1 tractor was estimated at about ' $300. The fire threatened to 1 spread to the Darn where a corn i sheller was in operation, but it * was checked. t Motorists Had Murder In Their Eyes In This County Motorists had murder in their eyes when they traveled the high ways in this county last year. While motorists were not involv ed in as many accidents last year as they were the year before, they killed the largest number of peo ple than in any other year during the past five. Other than fatalities, the high way and street accident record in this county last year showed much improvement over the cold facts recorded the year before. There were eight fewer accidents reported last year than in 1948. | Twenty fewer people were injur I ed, and the property damage was . about $6,500 less. While some of the accidents can't be explained away, most of them are traceable to three main factors—speed, careless and reck less driving and faulty mechanical equipment. The last fatality was entered in the records when a man drove from a dirt road into the highway without stopping. Possibly more accidents resulted when motorists started to make left turns without giving proper signals than for any other reason. Following is a five-year com parison of highway-street acci dents in this county: 1945 87 47 (! $17,475 1946 126 1947 139 1948 150 1949 142 105 02 84 64 7 27.775 3 30,115 2 37,750 8 31,175 Approximately one-third of flic I accidents took place within the' limits of the various towns. The Enterprise is indebted to members of the highway patrol— Cpl. T. Fearing, J. T. Rowe, B. W.' Parker, M. F. Powers, R. P. Nar-! ron and E. P. Simmons—for the weekly summary on wrecks in the county. They have worked hard to protect the lives of our people and are keenly interested in sav-' itig life, limb and property. j Hold Funeral For i Accident Victim • - - Funeral services were held in the Columbia, N. C., Baptist Church yesterday afternoon at 3:00 o’clock for Ira Lewis Alex ander, Jamesville man, who was accidentally drowned in Roanoke River early Tuesday morning. Rev. W. B. Harrington conducted the service and interment was in the Clumbia cemetery. A short service was held at the home at 12:30 o’clock or just before the funeral procession left for Colum bia. Mr. Alexander, superintendent of logging operations for the Men ' gel Corporation, was walking around the rail of a logging boat' to wipe the windshield when his foot slipped and lie fell into the stream. He was born in Tyrrell County near Columbia f>4 years ago on i March 25, 1(195, and after spending his early life there located in i Jamesville about fifteen or twen- ! t.y years ago. He was a son of the ! late Henry L. and Sarah Frances Pritchard Alexander, and a mem- i her of the Baptist Church. Surviving are his widow, the former Miss Clara Melson, and three brothers, D. N. Alexander of Goldsboro, Dan Alexander of Durham and Vernon Alexander of Columbia, N. C. ---u Big Docket For County’s Court A hiy docket is certain for the Martin County Recorder's Court when the tribunal holds its first session since closing down on De cember 1!) for the holidays. Con sidering the long period of inac tivity, the docket is not so large, | after all. However, it is likely that more cases will be booked: during the next day or two in ad dition to the 45 already on the docket. Speeders are again monopoliz ing the docket with twenty-one eases. Eight others are charged with operating motor vehicles without driver's license. Four are booked with drunken driving. Jhree are booked for assaults j with deadly weapons, two for sim phr"a‘skaults, two for non-su'ppi*t, and one each for violating the h Quor laws, reckless driving, bas tardy, drunkenness, reckless driv ing and operating a motor vehicle without a chauffeur's license. Few Casas Heard In J. P. Courts! Despite all the stir and comrr.r,- ' turn during the holidays, peace and quiet reigned for the most ' part locally during the past few * days. t Justice John L. Hassell reported I ' no cases in his court, and Justice * K. T. Johnson had only two. | I Charged with disorderly con- ! I duct, Robert Purvis was 'axed c .vith $5.85 costs. James Edward Fleming, charged with operating i. i motor vehicle with improper t makes, was fined $5 and taxed t vith $5.85 costs. t RAINFALL After averaging around right inches per month dur ing the summer, the rainfall in this area dwindled to a low point the latter part of the year. In December, only 1.47 inches of rain fell, but the to tal for the year ended slight ly above normal or 53.69 inches. In 1948, 54.86 inches of rain was recorded bv llridgekecp er Hugh Spruill on Roanoke River here. The record for any one year was reported in 1947 when 57.12 inches of rain fell here. Huritans Meet In Bear Crass Holding their first meeting of the New Year last Monday eve ning in the Bear Grass lunch | room, members of the Ruritan i Club there heard several speakers 1 and heard an outline of the State's road building program. In the1 absence of the president, Lester j Terry presided. K. C. Harrison was program chairman and he presented K P. Lindsley, Henry, G. Shelton, district highway com-1 missioner, and W. N. Spruill, clis-1 trict highway engineer. Mr. Lindsley, reviewed Boy J Scout work and appealed to the dub, urging the members to sup-! port the scout program. It was pointed out that boys in the areal are interested in scouting, that the! club will support the program if a leader can be had. Commissioner Shelton told about the highway program, and Engineer Spruill explained the I highway set-up, stating that the' program is based on funds coming j from various sources, that so many roads can be built with State funds, so many with federal, aid funds, so many with bond funds and so on. Chairman Harrison said they had a good meeting and gained a better understanding of the road problems. Freak Weather Prevails Here The weather man handed this •section a regular March day here yesterday right on January 4. The mercury climbed well into the seventies and a brisk wind blew out of the south the greater part of the day. No comparisons are available, but the high temperatures are likely to match anything the weather man has offered this sec tion in years. While shirt-sleeve weather pre vailed here with a pneumonia threat, the Mid-west battled low temperatures and heavy snow storms. Blizzards howled across the Dakotas into Minnesota, blocking highways and grounding planes, leaving hundreds strand ed in bus and rail terminals. Preceded by rain today, a break ‘ in the weather is predicted for c tonight and tomorrow, the wea- 1 thermen saying it will be cooler j • tonight and colder tomorrow. t Marriage License Issuance Back To Normal In County ! —♦— Number of Marriages Fall | From Peak In 1946 To 229 Last Year The marrying business got back to about “normal” in Martin County lust year when the office of Register of Deeds J. Sam Get singer issued only 220 licenses, 110 to white and 110 to colored coup les. Dropping to around 200 marri ages each year during some of the war years, the business at the li cense bureau boomed to a peak of .335 in 1946. dropping fairly grad ually each year since that time. After outnumbering those go ing to white applicants for nine years, licenses issued to colored applicants last year were only equal to those issued to white couples. Licenses were issued in Decem ber to nine white and thirteen col ored couples, as follows: White Joseph Daniel Wynne and Betty Sue Gurganus. both of Williams ton. Dennis C. Mobley, RFD 3, Wil liamston, and Betty Speller, RFD 4, Windsor. Rufus Wynne, RFD 3. Williams ton, and Christine Leggett of Windsor. Obed Lenwood Lee of Edenton and Mattie Edmondson of Wil liamston. Jimmie Darrell Keel and Betty Jean Moore, both of Williamston, John D. Bunch of Colerain and Sophie Cullipher of RFD 4, Ahos kie. Sam Stewart Hardison and Bea trice Ward, both of Williamston. William Borden Ennett of Swansboro and Velma Rose Har | dison of Williamston. Cecil Nelson of Robersonville and Ruby Rogerson of Williams I ton. Colored Levie Dolberry of Hobgood anti Jessie Bell Little of Bethel. William Andrew Lyons, Jr., RFD 1, Williamston, and Mary Davis, RFD 3, Williamston. David Wallace of Everetts and Willie Ann Yarrell of Williams ton. Clarence Williams and Martha Beatrice Sharpe, both of RFD 2, Robersonville. Clavon Brown and Ida Mein tyre, both of Williamston. John Taylor and Magnolia Col lier. both of Robersonville. John C. Council of RFD 1, Beth el, and Elizabeth Cotten of Oak City. Robert Bonner and Lizzie May Williams, both of RFD 3, Wil hamston. Cornelius Jenkins of RFD 1, Robersonville, and Sarah Battle of RFD 2, Robersonville. Clinton Kewmer and Marie As kew, both of Ahoskie. William Arthur Moore and Mary Bell Williams, both of Rob ersonville. Willie 11. Downey and Mary Alice Berry, both of RFD 4, Wind sor. Guy Outlaw and Janie Raseoe, both of Windsor. I he following figures show the yearly issuance of marriage li eenses to white and colored cou ples from 1931 through 1949: Year 1931 1*32 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1933 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 White Colored Total 62 ... 103 116 122 117 147 126 61 92 126 100 74 72 95 145 64 11 166 165 129 139 146 156 78 81 100 120 129 118 114 190 126 too 269 281 251 256 293 284 159 173 226 220 203 190 209 335 (Continued front page five) Flans To Return To Hospital In Few Days Quito ill for several mohths, Mr. W. H. Williams has shown srjmu mprovement at his home here luring the past few weeks and ilans to return to a Rocky Mount lospital within the next day or wo for an operation.