I
THE ENTERPRISE IS READ BY
OVER 3,000 MARTIN COUNTY
FAMILIES TWICE EACH WEEK
THE ENTERPRISE
THE ENTERPRISE 18 REAS BS
OVER 3,000 MARTIN COUNT*
FAMILIES TWICE EACH WEE*
I
VOLUME LVI—NUMBER 78
Williamaton, Martin County, North Carolina, Tuesday, September 29, 1953
ESTABLISHED 1895
I
Two Fatally Hurt In
Train-Auto Accident
Brother and Sister
Killed Instantly
Near Williamston
Head of One Vietiin Cut
Off In Grade Crossing
Crash Sunday
-4»
Two persons, their bodies ter
ribly mangled, were killed in
stantly when their car was struck
by an east bound A. C. L. freight
train at a grade crossing over in
Williams Township at 1:03 o’clock
last Sunday afternoon. Death
struck so quickly that witnesses
said they never heard a scream.
Accompanied by his sister, Ma
rie Rodgers, 22, Jas. Willis (Bill)
Rodgers, 19, was driving toward
Holly Springs on the Farm Life
road, one report stating they" were
returning home from some re
ligious meeting to their home on
the Taylor Brothers’ farm near
Williamston. A light rain was
falling and the road was wet at
the time, witnesses declaring that
the driver apparently exercised
little precaution as he approached
the railroad which is referred to
as Hardison’s Crossing.
Frank Williams, nine-year-old
colored boy, was within about
thirty feet of the track when the
rqr passed him. He said the car
driver struck the brakes just be
fore reaching the tracks, releas
ed them and then applied them
just about the time the car was
on the track.
Tl% coupling on the diesel en
gine tore the left front door of
the car loose, and drove the
Reeling wheel and most of the
panel board against Rodgers’
chest. He also suffered a head in
jury, and it is believed one and
possibly both legs were broken.
The back rest of the front seat
was jammed against the back seat
Embedded around the engine
toupling and other parts of the
(Continued on Page Eight)
Three Sentenced
In Peanut Theft
Case Last Friday
\<)<iilional Kviilrncf Begins
To Leuk Oul From An
Unofficial Sourer
Three young colored men—
• Dscar Burnette, William Henry
Brown and Charles B. (Candy
Cake) Williams were found guil
ty and sentenced to the roads by
Judge Walter J. Bone in the su
perior court last Friday afternoon
in the big-time peanut larceny
rase dating back to last January
when 71 bags of peanuts were
Stolen from the Roanoke-Dixie
Warehouse in Williamston.
Found guilty only of larceny
titiu to and
Brown were sentenced to the
roads for not less than two and
not more than three years. Wil
liams, apparently a victim of cir
cumstances, was found guilty of
breaking and entering and larceny
and drew not less than three and
■ not more than five years in prison.
The action, it is generally be
a;*
bnes only partially solved. It
has been established that between
five and six hundred bags of pea
nuts were stolen last winter from
the Roanoke-Dixie and Planters
Warehouses, but only 71 bags
have been accounted for. When
the trial of the case was com
pleted and sentences were impos
ed idSt "f ■ fdaYV. y.ii T.’io1 fe'' fTf
mors were heard floating around
in the anterooms. Some names
were mentioned, but even then
some of the story is yet to be told,
officers believe.
Just before passing sentence at
10:35 last Friday morning, Judge
Bone called for a showing. The
.Stale called Officer Chas. R.
Moore to the stand and he said
that it was known that Brown and
Burnette worked little, that
Brown^i acked balls in a pool room
and had been indicated but not
convicted of gambling. The of
ficer said he knew little about
Williams, that he had never
(Continued on Pagj Seven)
f "STATION PERMIT j
\ __/
A permit was issued last
night by Building Inspector
G. P. Hall to Robert L. Co
burn for the erection of a
$7,500 bus terminal on North
Smithwick Street, just back
of the Hotel George Reynolds.
The structure, measuring 30
by 40 feet, is to be of con
crete block and brick con
struction, and is to be located
about 30 feet from the street.
The bus companies are |
now using a station that is a
disgrace to the town.
Intruder Turned
Back By 14-Year
Old'Girl Friday
(Jlygses Harrell Died In
Hospital At Tarboro
Sunday Night
Ulysses Harrel, 18-year-old
colored youth, was shot and fatal
ly wounded by a 14-year-old girl,
Hilda Dolberry, at the Dolberry
home near Oak City about 10:00
o’clock last Friday night. Harrell
died early Sunday night in a Tar
boro hospital.
Struck by a .22 caliber rifle bul
let, the man’s brain was pierced
by the pellet which lodged in
the rear of the skull. X-ray pic
tures, according to information
released by Sheriff M. W. Hollo
man who made the investigation,
show that bone and brains were
mixed inside the man’s skull, and
that possibly some of the man's
brains leaked out the opening
made by the bullet.
Harrell was carried to the hos
pital soon after the attack by
Officer Garland Bunting of Oak
City and Patrolman Jack Arthur
Harrell, accompanied by Clar
ence Myrick and Columbus Wil
liams, and three Hobgood girls,
Mattie Harrell, Eva Sta
ton and Rea Hill, went
to the Dolberry home
and tried to break through the
front door. Unable to gain an en
trance there, he went to a side
window and when he refused to
leave, the girl got the rifle and
fired through the window. The
bullet went through the right eye
and lodged near the left back of
the man’s head.
Following his investigation,
Sheriff Holloman said that Har
rell had been going with one of
tile Do,beny gills, that the man
had caused troubled and had been
ordered to stay away. The girl
using the rifle was one of ten
brothers and sisters at home that
night while their parents went to
Oak City, about three miles away.
No action has been taken aginst
prepared, and a preliminary hear
ing is to be held before Justice
Edmond Early in Oak City later
this week, Sheriff Holloman said.
It was the second shooting fa
tality in that are^uynp recent
months.
Mrs. Laura Modlin
Dies In Hospital
Mrs. Laura Stubbs Modlin, a
resident of Jamesviile for almost
a quarter century, died in a Wash
m&m-** -p^nr
ing at 8:25 o’clock.
She was born in Beaufort Coun
ty 66 years ago, the daughter of
the late Hgnry and Laura Jack-1
son Stubbs, She spent her early |
life in Beaufort County near Pine- {
town, and was married in early
womanhood to L. G. Modlin oi
Jamesviile.
Kmsv? au. fj-J'-ui'reg. wiert ceatSu'-t
ed at the home of her daughter,
Mrs. Samuel Henry Modlin, in
Jamesviile Sunday afternoon at
2:30 o’clock. Interment was in the
Jackson family cemetery near
Pinetown.
She was a member of the Mount
Olive Free Will Baptist Church
near Pinetown. Surviving are her
husband; two sons, Elbert Modlin
of Conetoe and Henry Modlin of
Rocky Mount; three daughters,'
Mrs. Willie Logan of Belhaven, i
Mrs. Hilton Squires of Tarboro, j
and Mrs. Sam Henry Holliday of j
Jamesviile; 20 grandchildren,
eight great-grandchildren; dnd a
brother, Arthur Stubbs of Wash
ington, N. C.
*
Oscar Anderson
Died In Hospital
Early Saturday
I Last Riles Conducted Inj
Riggs Funeral Home
Sunday Afternoon
Oscar S. Anderson, retired busi
ness'1 man, died in a local hospital
at 2:00 o’clock last Saturday
morning following a long period
of declining health. Undergoing
a throat operation more than two
years ago, he was able to be up
and attended to various duties un
til late last fall. Since that time he
had been confined to his bed,
spending the past several weeks in
the hospital.
The son of the la*e Arthur
(Lad) Anderson and Lula Hardi
son Anderson, he was born in
Williamston 56 years ago on Nov
ember 30, 1896, and spent all his
life here. Following his gradua
tion from the local high school, he
attended the University of North
Carolina and a business school in
Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He was as
sociated with the mercantile firm
of Anderson and Crawford for a
number of years and more recent- |
ly handled the tax lists in this
township for the county and
town. During the marketing sea- ,
son he was with the Production- |
Marketing Administration on the
local tobacco market and adjust
ed hail losses for a number of
leading insurance companies.
He was married in 1917 to Miss
Fannie Biggs Martin who died in i
1937. His second marriage was in [
1940 to Miss Gertrude Rodgers of j
Columbus, Ga., and Williamston.
Mr. Anderson was a member of j
the Memorial Baptist Church, a
Skewarkey Mason and a Shriner.
He was active in the civic affairs
of the town and community and i
a leader in the business field for
a number of years.
Surviving besides his widow are
four sons by his first marriage,
Lt. Col. Oscar S. Anderson, Jr.,
of Arlington, Va., Captain Arthur
Anderson of Tampa, Fla., Capt.
Martin Anderson, U. S. Air Force,
now stationed in Korea, and Ed
ward Ransome of Birminghatn,
Ala., and five grandchildren.
Funeral services were conduct
ed in the Biggs Funeral Chapel
on West Main Street Sunday aft
ernon at 4:00 o’clock by the Rev.
E. Gordon Conklin, pastor of the
Memorial Baptist Church. Inter- ,
I merit was in Woodlawn Cemetery i
| where Skewarkey Lodge Masons
| conducted the last rites.
Good Attendance
At P.-T. A. Neel
The Williamson ►Parent* ;
Teachers Ah.MK-ia'.itsi! held its, fast
meeting of the new school year
last evening in the High School
auditorium with President Asa
Crawford presiding and a goodly
number of parents present.
The association heard Sherwood
Roberson, member of the County
Board of Education, explain the
importance of getting a good vote
Saturday on the State School and
Mental Institutions bond issue and
later joined in a social hour dur
ing which teacher .vui'ld -gHM? ,
became acquainted with each
other.
Signing 194 members the group
awarded a door prize to Shep
Holliday and Mrs. Smith’s First
Grade won the attendance banner
and accompanying $1.00 prize.
Prisoner Of War Presented New Automobile
S Sgt. Martel Hardy, just recently returned after a stay of nearly three years in a communist
prisoner of war camp, was presented a new ear by the people of this county at a special celebration
held in Williamston last Thursday. The young man, all dressed up in a new uniform, embraces his
mother, Mrs. Nellie Hardy, as Henry A Johnson and Wm Everett present him with the car and
other gifts immediately after the special exercises held on Washington Street.
Jamesville Opens Annual
Committeemen This Week
Plans have been completed and
all is in readiness for holding
Jamesville’s annual community
fair, it was announced today. And
it will be bigger and better than
ever, a spokesman for the Ruritan
Club, the sponsoring organization,
declared.
A big parade, led by the Wil
liamston High School Band, will
open the annual event at 1:15
o’clock on Friday of this week.
The parade, forming near the A.
C. L. freight station, will follow
an indirect route to the school
grounds where Secretary of State
Thad Eure will make the princi
pal address.
The exhibit halls will be open
earlier in the day and will remain
open all that day and certain
hours until 10:00 o’clock Sunday
night. The Saturday hours at the
exhibit hall will be from 1:00
o’clock until 11:00 p. m., and on
Sunday from 2:00 o'clock until
10:00 p. m. Refreshments will be
served by the Jamesville Woman’s
Club from 10:00 a. m. until 0:00
o’clock on Friday in the school
cafeteria. Rides and other enter
tainment will be provided for
the youngsters. |
Efirly reports from the sponsors
state the exhibits this
year will be the best ever seen
at the fair. In addition to numer
ous commercial exhibits, there'll
be family live-at-home booths,
field crops, livestock, club fea
tures, school displays, and hund
reds of individual showings of
just about every item coming out
of the ground, from the store
houses and homes.
The people of Jamesville are
extending a cordial welcome to
the public to visit with them and
“take in” the fair this week-end.
f FIRST MISTRIAL J
The first mistrial recorded
in the Martin County Su
perior Court in years on ac
count of a ‘ hung" jury was
reported last Friday after
noon when the twelve men |
filed out of their room and
explained to Judge Walter
J. Bone, presiding, that they
were hopelessly deadlocked,
that they believed an all
night sitting would not break
the knot.
Seven stood for the convic
tion of Simon Jenkins, notori
ous bootlegger, who had ap
pealed from the county court
when he was fined $1,000
road sentence. .■ • >
Jurors had been withdrawn
in other cases, but not be
cause of a "hung” jury. The
case remains on the docket
and is likely to be called for
trial at the next term of court
to be held in December.
Suffer Eye Inuries
In Freak Mishaps
Tim, 7-month-old of the Rev
and Mrs. Gordon Conklin, and
Thomas Jackson Rhodes, son of
Or. and Mrs. J. S. Rhodes, Jr.,
suffered eye injuries in freak ac
cidents at their home here Sunday
afternoon and yesterday after
noon.
The infant was playing with a
newspaper and stiuek himself in
the eye, cutting the eye ball. He
was treated in a Greenville hos
pital and is getting along fairly
will.
Tommy, six years old, was beat
ing on a bottle with a hatchet
in his backyard and cut himself
Hj»'ht‘r severely in tin u,.,o oI
his eye when the bottle broke
and a piece of glass flew up and
struck him He was removed to a
Washington hospital where seven
stitches were taken to close the
cut. The outcome of the injury
will not be known for three days.
Son Shoots Father
For Attacking His
Mother In County
-&
Jake Downs (ioii(iiir<l To A
Hospital With 200
Shot In His Hotly
Explaining that, his intoxica
tion was the cause of it all, a
father pleaded in a Plymouth
hospital that his son be not jailed
for a shot-gun attack upon him
at their home in Jamesville Town
ship last Sunday aftcrmm about
3:00 o’clock.
During the meantime, the fath
er, Jake Carroll Down, 55-year
old white man, continues in a
serious condition m the hospital
with 200 bird shot in his body.
His right arm broken by the
main load, Downs is peppered in
the face, shoulder, chest and right
side with shut—200 by actual
count. Sheriff M. W. Holloman
said. However, he is expected to
recover if no complications de
velop, it^vvas learned early today.
Said to have been drinking
(Continued on Page Five)
Plan Funeral For
Accident Victims
Rouble funeral services will be
conducted in the Shiloh Bap
tist Church in Wilhamston
Wednesday afternoon at
2:00 o’clock for James Willis
“Bill” Rodgers and his sister,
Marie Rodgers, victims of the
Sunday afternoon train car acci
dent at Hardison’s Crossing on
the Holly Springs-Farm Life
road. Interment will be in the
ReddidtCemetrry neat Williams
Children of II. D. anti Van'Lee
Reddick Rodgers, Marie was born
March 18, 1931, and the brother
was born April 2, 1032. They sang
with different religious groups
And were loyal members of the
Cedar Hill Baptist Church.
[TobsccO’ Sales I^cis s ]\i2icvv j\iillj on Pomi Js
New Price Record
Set By Market On
Yesterday's Sale
I I* I JntifToduy Marki l Had
Sold 8,868,840 Pounds
For 858.71 Avrragf
—t —
High pmi record:;, chalked up
during merit weeks, have toppl
ed one after the other, hut the
greatest jn the history of the local
tobacco market was officially re
ported yesterday when $348,010
pounds were sold for $229,924, an
average of $66.06. Nothing to
compare with the sale yesterday
has ever been seen on this mar
ket, and the record will rate
(Continued From Page Six)
| County Fanners To Name
Community Fair on Friday
Meeting in Vurioas
| tin County farmers on Thur sday
| evening of this week at 7:30: o’
( clock will name nominees for
their Production-Marketing Ad
ministration community and coun
ty committees, Jt was announced
by the P. M. A. office this week.
The meetings, open to all farm
ers, are to nominate a chairman,
i vice chairman, regular member
and a first and second alternate
for the community committees,
and a delegate and alternate to
the county convention to be held
later. The meetings are to nomi
nate not less than ten and not
i more than fifteen for the corn
imunity committee posts, it was|
. KtMMkW. "
The nanjbs of those nominated
will be voted on later in elections
to be held in various parts of the
county on dates to be announced.
Meetings for the nominations
on Thursday of this week have
been scheduled as follows:
School auditorium, Bear Grass;
Taylor’s Service Station, Cross;
Roads; school auditorium, Goose
nest one and two; Farm Life
school, Griffins; P. C. Edmond
sor’s store, Hamilton and Hassell;
Ernest Whites Store, Poplar
Point; City Hall, Robersonville
ane an dtwo; school auditorium, i
Jamesville one and two; county
house, Williams; and agriculture
building, Williamston.
ROUND-UP
I
Before the superior court
had closed for the week last
Friday in its efforts to deter
• rtin County, cri
isuhai violations popped
up in numbers from one end
of the county to the other.
By late Sunday, fifteen per
sons had been arrested and
jailed and bond was arranged
in still others, not to mention
two others in which action is
being delayed.
Seven were booked for
public drunkenness, three
for drunken driving, two for
larceny and one each for vio
lating the liquor laws and
breaking and entering.
Nine of the fifteen were
white men and ages of (In
group ranged from 1!) to 52
years.
Martel Hardy Given
A Big Homeeoming
Two Thousand Or
More Present At
Celebration Here
_ A
Young Man and His Mother
Showered With Gifts
Including Auto
S Sgt. Martel Hardy, just re
cently back from Korea where he
spent nearly three years in a
prisoner of war camp, was given
a warm homecoming here last
Thursday afternoon when he and
his mother, Mrs. Nellie Hardy,
were showered with gifts, includ
ing a new 4-door Plymouth au
tomobile. Approximately 2,000
persons gathered here for the
event which was centered on
Washington Street following a
parade.
Delayed a short time, the pa
rade, led by the Williamston
High School Band, moved on
Smithwick to Main and thence to
the speakers’ stand. Sgt. Hardy
and his mother occupied the first
car, followed by other members
of his family, Mayor H. S. Eve
rett of Robersonville, Mayor
James Hope Avers of Oak City,
Sherwood L. Roberson, member
of the Martin County Board of
Education, members of the Mar
tin County Board of Commisr
sinners, Attorney Clarence Grif
fin, the main speaker, and mem
bers of the local board nf com
missioners. Mayor Robt. L. Co
wen was detained in court and
could not participate in the event
as planned.
piaster of Ceremonies Henry'A.
Johnson was on the stand to re
ceive the former prisoner of war,
his mother and the dignitaries.
Mr Johnson, on behalf of the
mayor, welcomed Sgt. Hardy
home and the visitors, aud after
recognizing the special guests, in
troduced Mr. Griffin.
Called upon for a few words,
the honored guest said he w’as
not much of a speaker, but his
iContinued on page eight)
-*
J
j CON OKI PLAIN'S
Plans are shaping up rapid
ly for launching the Martin
County Community Concert
Association member ship
drive, it was announced to
day by Mrs. Tom Skinner and
Mrs. Chas. H. Manning, co
chairmen. The drive is to be
launched October 19.
Mrs. Ben 1). Courtney, Mrs.
J. T. Llewellyn and Mrs. J.
Paul Simpson have been nam
ed division leaders, and de
tails for advancing the con
cert series will be discussed at
a meeting of the association
board this afternoon at 5:00
o'clock.
Special Venire Is
Drawn In County
In Murder Case
—<*.—
Our II1111<I1< <I ami Twenty
Six Left For Today Wil
son Superior C.onrt
One hundred and fifty Martin
County Citizens were called yes
terday afternon to report in Wil
son County Superior Court this
morning at 9:30 o’clock as po
tential jurors in the murder case
against Mrs. Doris Crocker, young
white woman who stands charged
with the- shooting of her husband,
John L. Crocker, at their home in
Stantonsburg August 26, 1952.
The case was called for trial last
May but was called off when sev
eral jurors become involved in a
drunken braw 1
The special venire was ordered
.in Wilson Superior Court by
Judge W H. S. Burgwyn yester
j day when it was shown that the
j case had been too widely publi
cised then4 for the court to get
a jury in that county.
Wilson court officials, accom
panied by the defendant, attor
neys and the dead man’s father,
came here soon after lunch and
spent more than an hour while
little Miss Shirley Daniels drew
150 names from the jury box.
Sheriff M. W Holloman and six
| deputies, Harry Jones, Cecil Bui
lock, Roy Peel, Dennis A. Rober
son, J. S. Ayers and Wiley Craft
immediately started the county
j wide search, and late last night
they hail served notice on 120 of
the 150.
Of tin4 twenty-four not making
the trip this morning several pre
rented medical certificates show
ing they were physically unable
to serve. Others were out of the
county, a few others could not be
found and in one case thy name
was typed in error, leaving the
particular venireman to escape by
the skin of his teeth.
The 124 making the trip from
central points in the county,
travel ing in private cars. Only
j one, realizing that he could be
“cornered” in Wilson for several
days, went -t C Ander
son carried his suit case.
The names of those not making
the trip include, Robert Hollis,
Mrs. D. R Everett, Mrs. Walter
Wynne, George B. Ange, Wil
(Continued on Page Eight)
Handle Operation
Saturation on 17
No official report could be had
immediately but it is believed
that operation “saturation” handl
ed bv the North Carolina State
Highway Patrol on U. S. Highway
17 over the week-end was most
satisfactory.
Pew details could be, learned
here, but it Wi».-» understood that a
goodly number of patrolmen were
assigned to the route last Fri
day evening at ti:00 o’clock that
they patrolled the road from
the Virginia to the South Caro
lina line from that hour until
midnight Sunday.
No fatal accidents were report
ed on the route during the period,
and few if any minor accidents
were listed. Speeders and other
traffic law violators were cited
to the courts in numbers, it was
unofficially learned.
Sensing the saturation tactics,
motorists by late Sunday were
exercising great care in operating
their vehicles on the route.
Court Quits With
Twenty-Six Cases
Left On Calendar
--
Liquor law \ iolator Seu*
tciicpd lo Roads For
Four Mouths
--
AfU. ch.ning twenty five
eases from its criminal docket,
the Martin County Superior Court
at 4 20 o'clock last Friday after
noon folded its tent for the week
end, leaving twenty-six cases to
be docketed again for trial at the
one-week December term. The
tribunal was reconvened yester
day for the trial of civil 'cases
only.
After getting off to a slow start
the early part of last week, the
court made ..pit hifea* A# 'fB-* *
clearing weighty cases from the
docket, but it encountered an
other snag last Friday in the
trial of Simon Jenkins, notorious
bootlegger who was charged with
violating the liquor laws for about
the fourth or fifth time in recent
years.
During the trial of the case,
ca-.•!.
laborer, moved in to take the
rap for Jenkins. Battle claimed
that the seven pints of illicit li
quor found under Jenkins’ bed
pillow last July 17 belonged to
him (Battle). It was pointed out
that Battle’s claim did not neces
sarily givp Jenkins a cle^n bill
of health, but the jury could not
agree apparently on that js§ue..
The case was called at 9.40 last
Friday morning and the jury filed
out its room at 4:20 that afternoon
declaring it was hopelessly dead
locked, standing 7 to 5 for con
viction. The court ordered a juror
withdrawn and a mistrial entered
in the records.
During the meantime and while
tHe jury was out an hour argu
ing the issues in the Jenkins
case, Battle was called to account
and he pleaded guilty of trans
porting and possession of illicit
liquor. Judge Bone sentenced him
to the roads for four months.
Anthony Lanier, charged with
(Continued from Page Six)