Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / July 20, 1934, edition 1 / Page 1
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A home newspaper dedicated to the service of Washington County and its 12,000 people. The Roanoke Beacon * * + * * * * and Washington County News ******* I Advertisers will find Beacon f 1 and News columns a latch-key to | 3 1,100 Washington County homes. = oiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiT VOLUME XLV—NUMBER 29 Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina, Friday, July 20, 1934 ESTABLISHED 1889 ROBERSON TRIAL SCHEDULED FOR SUPERIOR COURT —®— Complicated Matter To Se cure Jury to Try Pub licized Case -<s> Fraught with accusations of per jury and bribery, the famous case of W. VY. Roberson against the Virginia Electric and Power Company and the Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation will be given a new trial at a special one-week term of Wash ington County Superior Court that will be held here September 24. This case was remanded back to Superior Court here by the North Carolina Supreme Court in which it was described as “the vvierdcst of them all." Later Judge Walter L. Small wrote an opinion in the mat ter ordering a new trial for the case that at the first trial consumed about two weeks. i Governor Ehringhaus has set aside only one week for the retrial here with Judge W. A. Grady, of Kinston, as the presiding jurist. C. V. W. Ausbon, clerk of superior court here for close to 30 years, thinks that it i will take more than a week for dis-! position. So much publicity has been attach- | ed to this case that it will be almost impossible to find a juror that knows j nothing about the case or who has . not a relative or close friend among the other 22 plaintiffs who have cases similar to the one of Mr. Roberson. Another keen observer of the courts here is of the opinion that Judge Grady will not allow a venire from another county, and if this is so, then it will take almost the first | part of the week to sift the prospec- j tive jurors to determine the men who will sit in judgment on the mat- . ter. 1 tie first time the case was tried it cost the county $1,500 for the two j weeks court. This time it is pre dicted that it will cost at least $800 for the one week, Mr. Roberson charges the power company that through neglect a fire that was alleged to have been started by employees burned an area of for est owned by Mr. Roberson doing him a damage of $3,000. The fire was . alleged to have been set by the power firm’s agents to burn out a yellow jacket's nest. This was to have hap pened back in 1930. The fire spread to other tracts in the forest and as a result a total of 22 plaintiffs have similar suits as Mr. Roberson and the total amount asked 1 of the power firm would amount to 1 about $60,000. A jury awarded Mr. Roberson a verdict of $1,000 in the first trial which was appealed. j The chief witness in the case was Maurice Whedbee, a young mechanic here, whose grandfather was the plaintiff in the test case. Whedbee first offered testimony in the first trial and then later in a public depo sition repudiated this testimony and later declared that his affidavit was wrong and that his first testimony was right. j Then he incriminated a well known citizen who he declared paid him money to change his testimony to suit the power company. His first 1 testimony was that he saw the era- 1 ployees of the power firm start the | fire. In an affidavit he confessed this i was false and in a deposition declared that his first testimony was true. The supreme court could not de termine the matter upon evidnee of a witness of this kind and so Chief Justice Stacey asked that the case be remanded and Judge Small ordered a new trial. The supreme court had not had a case in years in which the chief witness had contradicted him self in affidavits and depositions. -® Issues Statement Relative To Closing Welfare Office -® Herewith is a statement made to the press hy Mrs. W. C. Brewer, superintendent of public welfare of Washington County, whose office was abolished by the commissioners in special session here July 5: “The county pays me the total of $83.33. This includes travel and sal ary. The cases the county sends to institutions 5 cents per mile is al lowed. "Last July the Board of Commis sioners with the Board of Education agreed to pay my full salary as the state would no longer pay half since the teachers are paid by them and the relief fund assumed so much of the poor relief. The State Board of Welfare requested my salary to he increased. The commissioners re quested I take the office for two years at the same salary. This I agreed to do. “I regret very much the Board feels the county must economize by abolishing the welfare office as the work is of vital importance and it has been a pleasure to serve in this capacity.' FREE SERVICE IS OFFERED TO UNEMPLOYED . —@— Luther R. Ausbon Is Man ager Of Service In Wash ington County -® “Is this the place where you sign up for a job?” Never a day passes but that ques tion is put hopefully, anxiously, by inquiring men and women at the of fice of the National Reemployment Service. The answer goes something like this, “Well, yes and no. You regis ter the fact that you are out of work and want a job. We’ll get you a job when and if possible.” The applicant duly impressed or not by the answer to his question, proceeds to register, giving a moder ately complete record of his life to date, including a work history which includes his “last job,” his “longest job,” and his "best job,” the latter invariably being the one at which he was paid the highest salary in terms of money. Having signed his name to the record, he goes away firmly expecting the wonder of a job to happen to him unless he is one of those skeptics who believe that “it’s no use to register, but I’ll do it any way. Maybe a miracle will happen.” Our files in Washington County are full of men and women who are anxious for employment, and are equal to most any kind of call that may come from employers. The ser vice is most anxious that there shall be more who will take advantage of its files. No job is too insignificant for its attention, and none is too large, for we have at our disposal the files of the entire state to draw from for such skilled men that cannot be furnished locally. Employers may find that former employees, laid off for lack of business, may be contact ed quickly through the reemployment service. We have found jobs for 153 men and women of Washington County in private employment since April 1st, when the CWA was brought to a close. Most of these placements were in seasonable employment, and of course will return to renew their application when this temporary em ployment is over. This service is a part of the U. S. Department of Labor, being a branch of the United States Employment Service and offers free service to all unemployed men and women who should take advantage of it and reg ister, or if you have registered, call at the office in Plymouth and renew your registration as all who had not renewed their registration on June 30th were cancelled and are not sub ject to call. This service is also free to all classes of employers, whether you are operating a saw mill, canning plant, farming, need a carpenter or painter for a job around your private premises, or a cook, nurse or other domestic ' labor such as trimming lawns and working gardens. Luther R. Ausbon, manager of this service in Washington County, with head quarters in Plymouth, is anxious for you to take, advantage of its files for your labor needs. Series of Sermons at First Christian Church Rev. Cecil Jorman, pastor of the First Christian Church, Plymouth, announces a scries of sermons which will begin next Sunday evening at 8 o’clock. There will be two sermons in the series. Next Sunday evening the subject will be, “What's Right With the Church.” The following Sunday evening, July 29th, the min ister will speak on “What’s Wrong With the Church.” The theme for the morning wor ship service Sunday, July 22, will be “Workers With God.” A cordial in vitation is extended to all. --® Club Schedule For Next Week Is Announced -s> By Eugenia Patterson, Home Agent Following is the schedule for home demonstration clubs for next week: Monday, July 23—Scuppernong. Tuesday, July 24—Cross Roads. Wednesday, July 25 — tool Springs. Thursday, July 26—Piney Grove. Friday, July 27—Lake Farm. Saturday morning, July 28—Curb market at 8:15. -S> Revival Meeting This Week At Oak Grove -® A revival meeting is being held at Oak Grove Baptist Church this week by the pastor, Rev. W. H. Hollowed, assisted by Rev. Richard Lucas of Plymouth. It began July 15 and will last over through Sun day night. The public is cordially invited to attend the services. Peg Cox Connected With Child Welfare Survey -$ VV. B. (Peg) Cox is now working in the child welfare survey being conducted in Washington County. I He is helping in the work started by | Mrs. Kitty Norman. Veterans of the World War are ! urged to see Mr. Cox or either re !port at the office, bringing their dis charge papers with them. Mr. Cox urges those who know of a veteran in this county to inform him about it so that each one will be visited in |the survey and a record made. BASEBALL TEAM ENTERS SECOND HALF STRONG -$ Plymouth Had Seven Hit ters Over .300 During First Half -® Into the second half of the Albe marle Baseball league went the Ply mouth team with seven hitters who had been tapping the apple at an aver age of over .300 per cent. Yet, this same group of clouters let their club struggle along with a low percentage of .427 in games won and end up in about fifth place. Hit ting when hits meant runs seemed to never be the fortune of these good batters. Opposing pitchers would conquer them when a hit was needed. Monk Morris, who has been a play er of many positions with an average of .381 leads the gang with the rfitick. Morris has played centerfield, second base and third base doing his tour of duty with the local club. Now he is playing shortstop for Preston Chap pell to hang around the keystone bag. Dallas Morris, at third has a weak batting average of .294 but he has scored 33 runs to lead the club in this department. As first man in the lineup he has been walked a number of times, thanks to his good efe on the ball. Baker Brown with a mark of .217 is at the bottom of the group but he has been doing some good catching. Release of Johnson who has been hitting at a .339 clip and who was the regular catcher called for Brown be hind the bat. He has been much bet ter here than on second s he was too slow for the keystone bag. However, i he is fast enough with the ball be hind the bat. He threw out three 'out of four fellows trying to steal second in one game. Ab. D. Morris, 3b .119 Chappell, 2b . 122 . Van Horn, lb .114 'Johnson, c . 68 Humphrey, p . 6 j M. Morris, ss .105 Edens, cf .110 ' Brown, c .106 |H. Burnham, p . 28 • Seitz, rf . 8 'Hudson, If . 68 Prof. Red Scully has been released. Clyde Humphreys has been named manager and has shaken up the squad in a good way. He will probably do some good work with the boys in the last half. A little more batting punch with some good hurlers should bring Plymouth out in a better standing in ■ the last half. Plymouth landed on top of the Albemarle League Wednesday after noon when they counted their first victory of the season over Edenton 7 to 5. The locals have played two games with Ahoskie and Edenton and won both of them in the second half. Monk Morris with three hits did some stellar playing also at short stop while Tex Edens with three added brilliance to his playing with ' repeated fielding games. Rudy Seitz did some good relief hurling, allow ! ing one hit in five innings and slam med out two hits himself. ] Clyde Humphreys started the game and being manager took himself out and put in Seitz. Plymouth was two runs behind. This was the first time Plymouth ever whipped Hoens in a good number of starts. H R Pet. 35 33 .294 46 24 .397 38 17 .333 23 10 .339 2 0 .367 40 18 .381 41 22 .373 23 10 .217 9 4 .322 0 1 .000 17 9 .250 Albemarle Club Holds Its Monthly Meeting S’ Skinnersville. — The Albemarle Home Demonstration Club held its 'monthly meeting with Mrs. Tom i Basnight on Wednesday afternoon at jher home on Holly Neck with ten !members and two visitors present. Tbe meeting was presided over by Mrs. Clinton Everett in the absence of the president. Miss Eugenia Patterson, home demonstration agent, gave a demon stration on beet relish and asked each member to pay 10 cents of the club dues by July 30. The remainder of the time was spent in making pickle recipes. Mrs. Basnight served ice tea, pound cake and cucumber pickles. The next meeting of the club will !be with Mrs. John Davenport on i Holly Neck in August. 1 PROCEEDINGS IN SUPERIOR COURT HERE LAST WEEK Favorable Report Made By Grand Jury Following Property Inspection -®-— A jury in Washington County Su perior Court last week acquitted Roy Lucas, but Herbert Holton, who was indicted in the same case on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, was found guilty. Mr. Holton was sen tenced to the roads for one year, but the road term was suspended upon the payment of the costs and good behavior for two years. The case against Roy Lucas for violation of the dry law was nol prossed. Otis Godwin was arraigned on a charge of an assault with a deadly weapon but was found guilty of a simple assault. He was fined $50 and taxed with the costs, and he must ap pear in January, 1935, to show that he has complied with the order of the court. Appearance bond was fixed at $200. Johnnie Oliver, fined $25 and costs for trespassing. His appearance bond was fixed at $100. He also must ap pear to show that he has complied with the order of the court. Aaron Pettiford was fined $10 and taxed with the costs on a charge of being a nuisance. Lade Stealcy, alias Lady Rascoe, was sent to the roads for three months for an assault with a deadly weapon. The case of I,. ID. Lamb against W. H. Clark was, on motion by counsel, dismissed. A complete divorce was granted Della Allen from Fleming Allen, Sr., as they have been living apart for the required two years. The case of Edward L. Owens a gainst the Atlantic Coast Line Rail road Company was dismissed. An ap peal was noted and bond posted. Howard Bateman was found not guilty in the case charging him with violating the prohibition law. Mike Atamanchuk was found not guilty of violating the traffic laws. This case was a result of a wreck in which Thurlowe Spruill was in jured. He recovered but still bears the scars on his face. Tie grand jury found everything in good condition in its inspection of county offices' and property. Ben A. Sumner was foreman of the jury. OWENS WILL NOT BE CANDIDATE IN HOUSE ELECTION -® Issues Statement to County Democratic Executive Committee In a statement to Edward S. Blount, chairman of the Washing ton County Democratic Executive Committee, Ambrose L. Owens def initely stated that he would not he a candidate in the November election for the House of Representatives from Washington County. It had been thought and Mr. Owens affirmed the reports last week that he was anticipating running as an independent in the coming gen eral election. However. Mr. Owens decided after a conversation with Mr. Blount to refrain from announcing his candidacy. This leaves the race unless a dark horse appears to J. Richard Carr, the Republican candidate, and Harry Stell, Democratic aspirant. Mr. Stell won the choice for nomination by leading J. C. Gatlin and E. L. Owens in the first primary and in the second nosed out the younger Owens by IS votes. Asked for reasons why he failed to announce as it had first appeared, Mr. Owens replied that "I am too good a Democrat to do such a thing.” Revival To Begin Monday In Creswell M. E. Church -® Creswell.—A revival of unusual in terest will begin in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in Creswell, Monday, July 23. The Rev. T. W. j Lee, of Windsor, will do the preach j ing through the series of services. Rev. Mr. Lee is a strong, convinc ing and pleasing speaker. The Christians and members of the dif ferent churches of Creswell and coiu I munity are urged to cooperate in the meeting, and the public is invited to attend all the services. -<5> Rev. Poteat To Preach Sunday at Chapel Hill Rev. J. H. Poteat will preach at the Chapel Hill school house Sunday night, July 22, at 8 o’clock. His sub ject will be "The Value of the Bible.” Everybody is urged to at tend. Big CrowdAtlends Field Day Program Held In Wenona Wenona.—Cloudy weather fail ed to dampen the ardor of the throng of farm men and women who gathered here today for the tenth annual field day of the Blackland Tes Farm that is op erated under the supervision of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. Diversification in farming and agriculture research were the fea tures of the occasion followed closely by the speaking of Den nis G. Brummitt, attorney gen eral of North Carolina; William A. Graham, commissioner of agriculture of North Carolina and other notables. Music was provided by the Belhaven String Band. J. W. Starr, of Creswell, presided over the occasion. Claude R. Wick ard, associate director of the corn and hog section of the AAA, spoke on the corn and hog ad justment program. The welcome was made by F. E. Miller, direc tor of State Test Farms. Invocation was by Rev. Cecil Jarman, pastor of the Christian Church in Plymouth. W. H. Rankin, of State College, spoke on soils. Mr. Wickard was in troduced by Earl H. Hostetler. Dinner was brought by many families and groups. A ladies’ program in the af ternoon supervised by Miss Eu genia Patterson was also a feature of the day. The afternoon was spent by the men in visiting the exhibits, engaging in contests and making field inspection trips of the plats. I CHAPPELL HURT I \/ Preston Chappell, star short stop on the local baseball team, suffered painful bruises on the leg but no broken bones when he jumped from an open Ford when he thought the car was going to crash into a Coast Line freight engine at a blind grade crossing on Washington Street in Wil liamston Thursday afternoon. A league umpire and another of the car occupants sailed out at the same time, but they were not badly hurt when they fell to the pavement. Player VanHorn, driver of the car, and another occupant held to their seats and cleared the cross ing with the auto by about 12 in ches, it was said. He was driv ing about 15 miles an hour when he saw the train only a few yards away. VanHorn said he saw no flag man and heard no signals when he approached the crossing. Chapell was left in a doctor’s office in Williamston for treat ment, the remainder of the team continuing on to Edenton for a scheduled game. Just how long Chappel will be held out of play could not be learned here today, but it is hop ed that it will be for a short while only. During the meantime, VanHorn is driving no more cars, he de clared immediately after the ac cident. CRESWELL BANK ASSETS SELL FOR VERY SMALL SUM Assets .Totaling $37,086.70, Bring $355. at Auction Sale Held Here Assets, totalling $37,086./() of the Peoples Bank of Creswell, brought only $355 at an auction sale at the courthouse door here, May 21, it was learned from a report of the commis sioner field by Attorney W. L. Whit ley in Superior Court here last week. This included $100 as a compro mise settlement between Zeb Vance Norman and the court which was ap proved. Included in the loans and interest charged to Mr. Norman were j five separate itmes that amounted to approximately $5,000. j Loans, discounts, interest, stock ' assessment judgments and real es I tate amounted to $5,333.20 not in 1 eluding 509 acres of Somerset Plan tation land the the Gibbs tract in | Lake Landing, Hyde County. All except the item bought in by | Mr. Norman were purchaed by J. F. Snell who was bidding for J. R. Snell, j Most of these items were barred from I collection by the statute of liniita 1 tions and many of those which were 1 good at the time they secured the loans are now insolvent. | W. O. Crump has been liquidating jthe bank under the supervision of Gurney P. Hood, commissioner of | banks of North Carolina. Mr. Whit lev has been acting for the bank com niissioner in a legal status here and ! has sold the property twice before I the court approved of the sale. Mr. Whitley recommended the ac I ceptance of the bid for the combined assets after finding that the property was swamp land that hail been cut over and that a buyer was hard to find who wanted the real estate bad enough to be responsible for the taxes. ! Reduction In Price Of Air Mail Is Announced A reduction in the price of air mail has been a nnounced here by Post master G. W. Hardison. Also there is a map prominently posted in the lobby of the post office here showing the route of the air mail. This re duction makes it possible for many to mail their letters at a reduction and get as good a service as hereto fore. TOMATO PLANTS CLOSED DUE TO DROP IN PRICES —®— Hoped That Canneries Will Help Take Care of Surplus -@ A break down in prices of toma toes caused most of the plants here to close this week. The Plymouth Mutual Exchange has not wrapped or shipped any green tomatoes to the northern mar kets since last week. Andrews and Knowles closed Tuesday. Ernest Arps has quit buying also. W. R. Hampton will operate can neries at Roper and Plymouth this year. He will probably help in tak ing care of the surplus. This week the season should have been at its peak but the break down in prices has resulted in the cessation of the wrapping and shipping. Last prices quoted here were from 25 to 60 cents a basket. This is much too low. Many times this price has been doubled in years gone by. The price does not justify the farmer in gathering and marketing. Unless the canneries do help out by taking the surplus, much of the crop will rot in the fields. COST OF GINNING MAY BE REDUCED IS NOW THOUGHT -® Proposed Ginners’ Market ing Agreement Turned Down in Washington Washington.—Prospect of a ma terial reduction to the farmer in the cost of ginning cotton, was seen by the farm administration, as it drop ped formally a proposed ginners’ marketing agreement. So long as the agreement had been a live factor, it was explained, gin ning prices stiffened. Now, how ever, administration officials said, there was every reason to believe that the “wide open" competitive situation created, would result in a big saving to the producer. The projected marketing agree ment, brought forward by the gin ners, was discarded, the AAA said, because the industry declined to ac cept it unless it carried rate-fixing provisions. This insistence upon guaranteed prices for ginning was manifested, it was added, in a dozen hearings throughout the cotton belt, com pleted only recently. Cully A. Cobb, chief of the ad ministration’s cotton section, an nounced the death of the agreement in these words: "The administration finds itself un able to sanction ami enforce fixed rates for ginning services, and as the industry felt this was a primary re quirement for successful operation of the agreement, we have but one al ternative—that is, to discontinue our present efforts to effect an agree ment.” The ginners had proposed rates, exclusive of bagging and ties, rang ing from thirty-five cents per one hundred pounds in sectiifhs of the Old South to forty-five cents in Texas. At* authoritative source estimated the mere prospect last season of the agreement, which bore only tentative approval, bad cost the farmers be tween $5,000,000 and $10,000,000 more for their ginnings than they would have paid otherwise, adding the rates proposed were widely charged for a time until growers began to demand reductions, learning the tariffs were merely projected and had no force of authority. -$ Harvests 200 Bushels Rye Seed from 10 Acres Planted -♦ J. J. Honeycutt of Cabarrus Coun ty harvested 200 bushels of Italian rye grass seed from ten acres planted. MRS. CHAS BOWEN WINS IN GARDEN CLUB CONTESTS -$ Gets Free Trip To Meeting In Raleigh; Mrs. Louis Bowen Is Second By MISS EUGENIA PATTERSON Each year the Federation of Home Demonstration Clubs of Washington County women offers a trip to the annual short cuorse from farm wo men and men, to the garden leader doing the most outstanding work in her project. This is a contest that is always warm and seems filled with friendly rivalry among the club gar den leaders, and the prizes are much sought for. The. year the garden leaders, all new in the ‘‘garden leadership game,” were handicapped by the weather con ditions in getting an early start in the work, but being full of determination and courage they all went forward with brave efforts. Some, of course, have been more successful than others but they have all done well. They started out with high aims and some have gone over the top in spite of hindrances. Some of the aims were as follows: 1. To grow at least two new vege tables never grown in their gardens before and to get each club member to do the same. 2. To plant enough vegetables to have a surplus to can for winter use, and to have an all-the-year-around garden. 3. To have a variety of vegetables in order that a balanced diet could be served 365 days to the year from the home garden and pantry shelves. 4. That each leader's garden be a community demonstration garden for each local community. 5. That each member have a garden plan, keep records of costs on and income from the garden. These were just some of the im portant goals and there were others, too. Now, some people may think that gardening is just a little past time work, but not real gardening; it is work, and the winners have well deserved their rewards. This year the Federation was for tunate in securing Mr. E. B. Morrow, State Garden Specialist, to judge the gardens and decide on the winners in [ the contest. Tuesday morning at 'eight o’clock, the judging trip was started. The first stop being at the "Baby Club" leader's garden, that of Mrs. Bettie Furlough of the Mt. Ta ,bor Club, and it was hard to beat. I Mr. Morrow says "her garden shows that she is no new hand at the job." .Of all the gardens visited, none had ■ the "old tirney" herbs that were in Mrs. Bettie’s gardtn. From tliere we went to Mrs. Janie Davenport's, the Cherry leader. Con sidering the dry weather tliere, she has done splendid. When you say .“dry weather” around Plymouth they Idon’t understand. I The next garden was that of Mrs. Fred Smith’s of Creswell. She has really had a garden and just two peo ple to eat from it. Her records have been splendidly kept and we congrat ulate Creswell Club on having such a splendid and interested leader as Mrs. Smith. The judge hurried on to the Scup pernong leader’s garden, and there we found that “old man weather” had left his imprint, but she is still work ing, even if the rabbits helped the weather out. Mrs. Cahoon is a splendid gardner for she showed us what she could do last year. About eleven o’clock, when the sun was getting things warmed up, we arrived at the home of Mrs. Lena Alexander’s in the Piney Grove club. She took us for a little stroll back in the field and did she have a big gar den? Everything was plentiful and prosperous looking. k’ot being able to stay at one place long at a time, we rushed on to see Mrs. Chester Spruill’s garden in the Albemarle club. Here we found ev erything in “trim.” She hasn’t just stopped at feeding her own family, but she has supplied several of her neighbors with surplus vegetables. She is a real gardner. Right next door lives the Pleasant Grove leader, Mrs. W. W. White. She let us check her garden and while we were busy at that, she was busy inside. On our return to the house, she served us with delicious lemonade. It was a real life saver, but besides her thoughtfulness she has kept nice records of cost and plantings, and gave in a splendid re port of the canned vegetables that she got from her spring garden. At noon time wc reached the Coun ty Bridge gardnener, but she isn’t “trailing” by any means. Consider ing that she had to make her garden spot and start in about three months after the other leaders, she did a splendid piece of work. The Roper gardener’s work was in spected next, this being that of Mrs. L. L. Mizelle. She has been handi (Continued on the back page)
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
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July 20, 1934, edition 1
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