Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / Aug. 27, 1937, edition 1 / Page 1
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A home newspaper dedicated to the r-r vice of Washington County ai.d its 12,000 people. The Roanoke Beacon » * * * + * + and Washington County News ★★**★*★ Advertisers will find Beacon and News columns a latch-key to 1.100 Washington County horn—. VOLUME XLVIII—NUMBER 35 Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina, Friday, August 27, 1937 ESTABLISHED 1889 MERCHANTSPLAN FALL CAMPAIGNS TO BOOST SALES Will Try To Make New As sociation 100 Per Cent; May Give Prizes The Plymouth Merchants Associa tion, reorganized about a month ago, is going ahead with plans for two campaigns to be conducted this fall. The first is a campaign for new members, which it is hoped will re sult in every merchant of Plymouth who has not already joined doing so within the next few months. The second is a sales campaign to be conducted along the lines of the one a year ago, when tickets were given every shopper who purchased goods amounting to $1 or more, and prizes distributed to holders of the lucky tickets. The present Merchants’ Associa tion was formed as the result of a reorganization of what had been the Business Men’s Association. It now includes 18 paid-up members, and mets regularly twice each month, on Thursday nights. L. S. Thompson is president of the association and T. C. Burgess is its secretary. In addition there are sev eral committees. -« Tobacco Barns Burn at Heavy Loss To Farmers Three Fires During Past Week Cause Estimated $2,000 Loss in County Washington County farmers suf fered losses estimated at well over $2,000 during the past week as to bacco barns caught fire and burned, destroying more than 2,500 sticks of tobacco. Probably the largest individual loss was that suffered by W. H. Gur kin, whose barn was on route 97 a bout two miles from Plymouth. He lost 829 sticks, and the barn itself cost $250 to build a year ago. It was of tongue-and-groove stock and covered with paper. “I cannot figure out what caused that fire,” Mr. Gurkin said. ‘‘It is the first time I have lost a barn in 40 years, and I checked the heat three minutes before it caught fire. The temperature then was only 146 degrees. I had hardly turned my back when there was a burst and a roar, and the whole building was ablaze. It burned up on the inside so hot that it melted the iron roof in many places.” Firemen from Plymouth sprayed water on another tobacco barn about 20 feet away, also owned by Mr. Gurkin, in order to prevent it from burning, though as it was mostly of fireproof tile construction, there was little that could have burned. Sunday night a barn owned by J. C. Tarkenton, a short distance from Albemarle Beach, burned with a loss estimated at close to $1,000. It had more than 1,00 sticks of to bacco in it at the time. This be longed to three tenants, Jesse H. Moore, H. W. Phelps and John Rawls The barn was heated by an oil burn er, valued at more than $100, and it is thought that this may have caused the fire. lew days Deiore x. vj. muuic lost a barn on the road to the beach from Plymouth. There are said to have been 400 sticks of tobacco in it at the time, owned by William Bell, Mark Pittman, and G. B. Blount Woman Believes Treasure Hidden Under Old House Or at Least Nancy Coffee Is Going To Watch Movers Closely—Just in Case When they start moving Nancy Coffee’s house at 202 West Main Street, Nancy is going to be right there every minute,—in case there should be any hidden gold under neath. There is a tradition that soldiers used to hide it in this old house dur ing the Civil War, that it contains secret passages and an underground vault. To many of the older residents of Plymouth it brings back memories of gay parties in the days when At torney Thomas S. Armstead owned it and it was one of the social cen ters of the town. Whether or not it was actually standing during the Civil War does not seem to be definitely known. It (Continued on back page) County Schools Open Thursday Next Week I TOBACCO MARKETS I The 1937 tobacco season got underway Thursday with prices for early sales ranging around 22 cents, nearly all the markets re porting the heaviest sales in several years. While the prices were described as not high, the farmers are reported to have said they were fair. Few complaints were heard during the early selling period. The market at Williamston re ported an average of $23.37 dur the first hour of selling, reliable reports stating that much infer ior tobacco depressed the price average. Two of Williamston’s warehouses were filled from wall to wall, and it was conser vatively estimated that there were more than 325,000 pounds placed on the floors for sale. KIECKHEFER CO. TO HAVE FINE WATER SUPPLY Well Driven at Country Club Gives Large Flow Cold, Soft Water Pure, fresh water, cold and crystal clear, was struck by workmen driv ing a well at the new Plymouth Country Club, according to W. W. Henderson, supervisor of the Kieck hefer Container Company. This water had not the least trace of the sulphur found in the town water and was very soft, he told the City Council at a special meeting Monday night. The well, at this depth of more than 300 feet, did not appear to have sufficient flow to meet the needs of the country club, which will require nine large sprinklers in almost con stant operation and additional water for the swimming pool, he said. The pipe was therefore raised to about 275 feet and there a flow of 235 gallons per minute was found. This water was not quite as good as that deeper, but is excellent water, even so, he said. Mr. Henderson appeared before the council to present a contract which would provide for the pur chase of additional water by the com pany from the town. He indicated that the company will probably not use a great deal of town water now that it has such a fine well, but stated that it desires to have its mains connect with those of the city so that during a dry spell it may be assured sufficient water should its own well prove insuffic ient. The contract, which he proposed to the town, was approved by the council after one or two minor (Continued on Back Page) Woman’s Shop Is Being Modernized n The Woman’s Shop has been un dergoing extensive repairs and im provements this week. A new wood en floor will replace the old concrete floor, the entire interior is being re painted, and the old front has been torn out to be replaced by modern show windows and an attractive new doorway. Mrs. Blanche Swain, the proprie tor, says she expects to be ready for business either on Saturday or the first of next week. She has been in business here 10 years, and has just returned from New York, where she purchased a line of fall merchandise. 136 Hogs Sold by 14 Farmers This Week —•— Fourteen farmers sold hogs through the Plymouth Mutual Livestock As sociation this week. The hogs were purchased by the Schluderburg-Kur dle Packing Co., of Baltimore, at $11.80 per 100 pounds F. O. B. Plym outh. Swift & Company, of Baltimore, entered a bid only 50 cents below this figure. Other bids were $10.50 and $11. One hundred and thirty six hogs were sold. The next auction wil be held on Tuesday, September 7, according to Farm Agent W. V. Hays. The auc tions are held regularly on the first and third Tuesdays of each month, and all farmers are welcome to bring hogs in for sale, he said. -* Supt. H. H. McLean Making Final Plans For Starting Term -^—— Has Few Teacher Vacancies To Be Filled; Attends Wilmington Meet With Washington County schools due to open on September 2, Super intendent H. H. McLean has spent a busy week engaging teachers to fill the remaining vacancies and com pleting the other necessary arrange ments. When some 3,000 boys and girls go trooping bask to their studies they will find a number of changes. This year, for the first time, the state is providing free textbooks in the basic subjects for elementary grade children, whereas in former years parents were required to buy or rent them. And six of the 20 school busses will be new this year. The state purchased Internationals to replace the machines which were discarded. Superintendent McLean left Plym outh Monday to attend the annual county superintendents’ meeting at Wrightsville Beach and stated before he left that he would probably be away until Wednesday night or Thursday. He said he has not yet completed his teaching force, but ex pects to have all vacancies filled with in a day or two. “For the benefit of those who have come to Plymouth during the past few months, I would like to say that the schools here are up to standard and children who attend these schools will receive full credit if they go elsewhere later,” he said. Several parents, who have come to Plymouth in connection with the new pulp mill and do not expect to remain for more than a few months have asked school officials if it might not be best to send their chil dren to Williamston when schools open. There would be no advantage in doing this, Superintendent McLean stated. All teachers will meet on September 1, the day before schools open for discussion of their fall and winter work, he announced. -<*. Rev. Richard Lucas Will Speak at Next Union Service Here Baptist Pastor Unable To Fill Engagement Sunday Account Sickness Union services of the Plymouth churches wil be held in the Dis ciples Church Sunday evening this week, with the Rev. Richard Lucas, pastor of the Baptist church, as the probable speaker. Mr. J_,ucas was 10 nave spoaen iasi Sunday at the Methodist church, but was unable to do so, as he had been sick most of the week and was hard ly able to preach the morning ser mon to his own congregation. Marshall Shives, of Duke Univer sity, speaking in his place, took as his subject, “The Fears in Our Lives” “ ‘I was afraid’—that is a phrase that could be written over countless tombstones,” he said. "How many banks have been forc ed to close their doors because some one was afraid and his or her fear spread to others until a run was started?” he asked. “What terible suffering has result ed from the closing of those banks. What a vast amount of human mis ery is the result of fear.” “But all fear is not bad,” he con tinued, “There is the fear that makes one look carefully up and down the street before crossing, and there is the fear of animals that makes men arm in protection against them, and the fear of rain and cold that makes man build houses to live in. “A small boy walking past a grave yard at night whistles to keep up his courage. How many of our fears could not be thus easily whistled a way, leaving us in a better state of mind to deal with those others which are based on reality. “Of these, the greatest is the fear of sin,” he said. “Let us so live that we need have no fear. And when the great re cording angel writes beside our names, let us have so lived that he will write there, ‘He was not afraid.’ ” HIGHWAY POLICE IN DRIVE AGAINST OUT-STATE CARS Patrolmen Warn More Than 50 Workmen at Mill To Get N. C. Licenses Several state highway patrolmen arrived in Plymouth this week, and within a few hours from 50 to 60 men working at the Kieckhefer plant were notified that they must obtain North Carolina plates for their au tomobiles. Visitors from other states are giv en the same privileges under the North Carolina motor vehicle laws that the states from which they come grant to residents of North Carolina. But the state, while generally per mitting visitors to spend 30 days within its boundaries before requir ing North Carolina plates, requires such plates as soon as a motorist ob tains work here. It is expected that the state pa trolmen will spend several weeks in and around Plymouth continuing their drive to enforce this provision of the highway laws, according to Chief of Police P. W. Brown. No Pulp Finishing Plant To Be Built Now at New Mill -® Supervisor Says Kieckhefer Company To Wait Sev eral Years at Least Several rumors that have been go ing the rounds in Plymouth for some weeks have at last been killed by W. W. Henderson, supervisor of the Kieckhefer Container Company. “It is possible, but not probable, that the company will build a finish ing plant here within the next few years,” he told members of the City Council at a special meeting. The second rumor: That either the Kieckhefer Company or one of the Dupont corporations would build a rayon plant here, was likewise de nied. “The Kieckhefer Company is not in the rayon business,” he said, and indicated that Dupont, so far as he knows, is not contemplating any plant here. “The Kieckhefer Company plans to use this plant for the manufact ure of rough pulp, which it would otherwise be obliged to purchase from foreign manufacturers,” he said. “The wars and extensive military preparations abroad have made it virtually impossible to purchase for eign pulp at any price during recent months,” he added. “Wood pulp that could be had for ?25 a ton delivered in New York a year ago was scarce at $54 a ton a few months ago, and cannot be found at any price now.” News that the Kieckhefer Com pany does not plan to build a finish ing piant here, at least for several years, came as a considerable disap pointment to local merchants, who had been looking forward to a sub stantial increase in business if such a plant, employing several hundred additional men, was added. Plymouth Man Cots Important Position With Firestone Co. E. F. Read Placed in Charge Of Brooklyn Area After 13 Years With Firm Mrs. Claudia Read, of Plymouth, was notified this week of the pro motion of her son. B. F. Read, to a position as district manager of the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, in charge of both wholesale and re tail sales for the Brooklyn, N. Y., dis trict. Mr. Read has been with the Fire stone company 13 years now, and has made steady progress from his first job as a traveling salesman for the Eastern North Carolina area. He was next placed in charge of the store at Norfolk, Va., and later was made assistant district manager of the Richmond and Washington districts. For the past 18 months he has been in charge of the national and stale government sales for the Southeastern zone, with headquar ters at Atlanta, Ga. Mi'. Read was born here, educat ed in the Plymouth elementary and high schools, and married a Plym outh girl, the former Nona Gurgan us. Mr. and Mrs. Read now have two children, Elizabeth, age 15, and B. F. Read, jr., age 9. Over 3,100 Acres Land in Lake Phelps Area Bought hy Federal Government Agency This Week A. G. Spruill Dead At 82 Years; Leaves ^ ife, Large Family Named for Great Italian Statesman; Had Lived Here 32 Years With the death of A. G. Spruill, the Methodist church here has lost one of its most faithful members and the county one of its oldest and most highly respected residents. Mr. Spruill was named Angelo Garibaldi for the great Italian, and once, many years ago, Giuseppi Garibaldi, then a political exile, came to Plymouth to see the boy who had been given his family name. Mr. Spruill’s father, Captain Ben iamin Mathias Spruill, had met Gari baldi in South America some years before his son was born and had come to have a great admiration for the famous Italian revolutionary statesman, so that the two became good friends. Mr. Spruill was 82 years old when he died last week, and had spent al most his entire life within a few miles of Plymouth. For the last 32 years he had made his home here. He was born in Pamlico County and came with his family to Roper at the age of about four years. Un til twenty years ago he was a far mer. For 61 years he was a mem ber of the Methodist church. And during all that time, he never failed to attend services if he could possibly get to the church. For 55 years he subscribed to the North Carolina Christian Advocate, and al most to the day of his death, he maintained a lively interest in its contents. Six weeks ago he suffered a stroke and after that failed rapidly. Mr. Spruill is survived by his second wife, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Arnold Spruill, and leaves eleven children. 17 grandchildren and five great grandchildren. By his first wife, Virginia Am brose, he had two children: Ray mond Spruill, of Norfolk ,and Clar ence Spruill, of Plymouth. The children by his second wife are: Mrs. M. B. Gillam, of Windsor, Mrs. J. A. Griffin of Norfolk. Mrs. C. M. Hill of Newport, Mrs. C. W. Dinkins of Plymouth, M. A. Spruill of Gainsville, Florida, W. C. Spruill of Winston-Salem, Attorney J. H. Spruill of Windsor, E. D. Spruill, of Portsmouth and Frank C. Spruill of Plymouth. The Rev. C. T. Thrift, pastor of the Methodist church conducted the funeral service, with the assistance of three former pastors, J. W. Wat >on, of Roper, E. N. Harrison of Wind sor and R. R. Grant of Williamston. All but one of Mr. Spruill’s children were present for the last rites. M. A. Spruill, of Florida, could not be reached by the family in time for him to attend the service. Four sons and two grandsons serv ed as pail bearers. Mrs. N. J. Sex ton, of Creswell, sister of Mrs. Spruill came to Plymouth to spend a few days and offer what comfort and assistance she could. Sales Tax Brings Protests As Many Merchants Pay Up Investigators Collect Hun dreds of Dollars From Storekeepers Here Plymouth merchants, with one or two exceptions, are feeling pretty blue these days, following the visit of state tax officials, who spent two weeks here checking over their books. Two merchants who sell beer were told that they must pay sales taxes amounting to more than $1,000. They had not been keeping complete rec ords, and were attempting to ab sorb the tax themselves rather titan pass it on to their customers, they said. However, Lhe tax investigators de clared they had not paid enough to the state during the past two years, and they are now preparing to go up on the price of beer. Other merchants were ordered to pay sums of from $50 to more than $1,000 each. Only one or two con (Continued on Back Page) f s ISSUES GRID CALL I V-, Cleaton Armstrong, new coach at the local high school, is ex pected to arrive here this week end and is anxious to get candi dates for the football team to gether at once to begin training. While it is not knowm just what day he will be here, Robert B. Trotman, new principal of the high school, has announced that candidates should be at the high school next Tuesday, as he will undoubtedly be on hand then. Mr. Armstrong is from Ayden. He was a coach for one year at I Bath, and here will instruct in history in addition to his ath letic work. He studied at Eastern Carolina Teachers College and did grad uate work at the George Pea body Teachers College in Nash ville. Half of 48 States Represented Here By Mill Workmen Many Like Jobs That Take Them All Over Country On Construction Work Fully half of the 48 states are rep resented among the engineers and workmen who have come to Plym outh to help build the Kieckhefer Container Company’s new pulp mill. Auto registration plates tell part of the story. There are plates from New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl vania, Wisconsin. Colorado, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, and many other states. But many of the men who have moved in to spend a few months in Plymouth do not drive their own automobiles. Wnen they leave here to look for jobs building more pulp mills, or dams, or bridges, some will ride by train and others will hitch hike. There is romance in far places and for many of these itinerant steel workers, carpenters, and technicians the only job that’s worth having is one that gives a man a chance to see the world. Take William Cox. for example. He is 19 years old, was born in Tex as, has seen 22 states, hopes to do a lot more traveling, and might even be on the move right now if it were not for the fact that he finds the girls in Plymouth unusually interesting. William came east with his par ents when he was a baby, so he does not remember anything about Tex as, but he left home at Canton, N. C., five years ago and has been travel ing about working at this and that ever since. At first there were jobs in grocery stores, then other shops and factories until 1 e had a few dollars saved up and set out to see die country, some times hitch-hiking, sometimes trav eling by bus. He came to Plymouth with a sub contractor putting in window sashes a .d skylights at the mill. Now that this work is about fin ished he may stay on for a while as a carpenter, he says, or he may go to Florida. “My company has a job starting up in Peoria, 111., in a cou ple of weeks, perhaps I’ll go out there,"’ he added. Former Local Editor Takes Vacation Trip C. V. W. Ausbon, clerk of Wash ington County Superior Court, and for 40 years editor of the Roanoke Beacon, is taking a little vacation today—his first since 1924, he says. He plans to visit Washington and Baltimore before returning to his work here. He said before leaving that he wanted to travel by water, and so would go to Norfolk, then lake a boat up Chesapeake Bay. During his absence, his son, James Ausbon, will carry on his work as clerk of the court. Two Pay Court Costs On Drunk Charges Two men arrested in Plymouth on charge of drunkenness were released on payment of $4 85 costs Monday night. They were George W. Powell, white, who pleaded guilty, and Percy Lamong, colored. Transfers Recorded |Show $90,089 Paid to \ i ne Former Owners Resettlement Investment in Creswell Area Reaches Total of $110.089 The United States Government purchased approximately 3,196 acres of farm land just north of Lake Phelps in Washington and Tyrrell Counties this week. The price paid amounted to more than $90,089. Four months ago the government purchased 840 acres at $20,000 in the same section. Thus, it now owns approximately 4,036 acres, worth $110,089 near the town of Creswell, one of the oldest farming sections jf the South. The purchase; were made by the Resettlement Administration of the Department of Agriculture, follow ing nearly a year’s investigation and study by surveyors, engineers, and farm experts. The land is now being drained and cleared by WPA workers and labor ers engaged by the Resettlement Ad ministration. i It is on the banks of several old I canals, dug in Colonial times by slave labor. During recent years these' had become partially filled and clogged so that the water did not flow off as it should and the farms have suffered as a conse quence. The ‘'Old” or Somerset Canal, which runs through the land ac quired by the government, was built to connect Lake Phelps with the Scuppernong River. Barges used to carry farm produce from the plan tations along the five-mile long ca nal down to the river, where it was reloaded into schooners and small ships, which carried it to Europe. Much of this land was originally granted by English kings in great tracts to their royal favorites, and has come to be known as the Mag nolia, Somerset, Western, and Shep herd Farms. The first piece acquired by the gov ernmenl was purchased from the A. E. Shore estate. It amounted to 840 acres and cost the government $20-, 000. The deed of sale was register ed in the Plymouth courthouse on April 21. The next pieces acquired were re corded this week as follows: From W. J. Comstock, 269 acres at $946.60: from J. R. Snell, 382 acres at $1,434.10; from D. E. Woodley, 282 acres at $1,126.96; E. S. Woodley, 258 acres at $1,034.19; from E. S. Wood ley, 100 acres at $402.10; from W. S. Ainsley, 54 acres at $325.25; from H. G. Walker and J. L. Phelps, 203 acres at $5,687.16; and from the A. G. Walker Estate, 1,648 acres at $74, 132.51. This land is as rich as any in the state, according to County Agent W. V. Hays. It has been used for many years for the growing of cotton, and is suitable also for soy beans and corn. When the Resettlement Adminis (Continued on Back Page) Monthly Droughts Face Delinquent W ater Tax Payers —®— Unless Payment Made by 20th Each Month, Water To Be Cut Off From now on Plymouth residents are going to have to pay their wa ter rents promptly or face another sudden drought like that of last week, according to T. C. Burgess, of the City Council. While city officials regret the in convenience which such drastic ac tion may cause, they are determined not to let the rents fall so far be hind again, he said. It is to be hoped that next time such action is necessary no one will be caught in a half-filled bath tub when the water is turned off, he added. The rule now is that if bills are not paid by the 20th of the month the town will stop furnishing water. Close to $600 was collected last week when 26 houses were cut off from the city mains, and all but three of those who had been delin quent either paid up in full or ar ranged to do so on monthly install ments.
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
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Aug. 27, 1937, edition 1
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