Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / Sept. 3, 1937, edition 1 / Page 1
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A. home newspaper dedicated to the service of Washington County and ita 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 homes. VOLUME XLVIII—NUMBER 36 Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina, Friday, September 3, 1937 ESTABLISHED 1889 Many Shed Tears as New Vault Installed In Bank This Week -<9> .. Little Accident Causes Con sternation at Branch Bank And Trust Company There wasn’t a dry eye in the Plymouth Branch Bank and Trust Company when Robert Penson, a Negro workman from Washington dropped a tear gas bomb while help ing install a new burglar proof safe. Clouds of pungent smelling, smok ey grey gas began to pour out of the old bank vault as the contain er struck the floor . “What’s that?1’ someone asked— he knew in about half a minute. From out of the murky darkness of the gas filled vault Negro work men came dashing, gasping, chok ing. rubbing their eyes. Customers ran helter-skelter out onto the street, but Mrs. R. L. Ed wards and Mrs. Dell W. Bowen, both bank clerks, did not leave their work. And Cashier H. E. Beam never left his window, and remained for full ten minutes, weeping profusely, but ready to take in or pay out money on demand One of the few customers who braved the gas to make a withdraw al was H. A. Blount of Plymouth. He left a few minutes later with eyes swimming in tears. The new safe will not be protect ed with tear gas, according to bank officials. In fact, that will not be necessary, as it is to be built of re inforced steel and concrete so heavy that no burglar could cut through it with either a torch or drill. The steel in the walls would break the cutting points of a drill and the cement would render ineffective the best torch ever invented. The door is eight inches thick and of solid steel with 24 three inch lock bolts. It has a double combination lock and triple time lock which will only permit it to be opened during banking hours. So fine is the mechanical preci sion with which the door was fitted, that it will not close if there is a hair in the way. This is so that it cannot be blown off with “soup” in the traditional yegg fashion. The old safe weighed about 800 pounds and the new one weighs close to eight tons. The new one is ten feet by 14 on its inside dimen sions, with walls 20 inches thick. It will require another week to com plete its installation. Electrocution Hurts Winston-Salem — Here’s how it feels to be electrocuted, as told by A. B. Rose, who should know as he was “dead” 15 minutes after re ceiving 2,300 volts, approximately what is used in the electric chair: “Every bone in my body seemed to be breaking, every tendon snap ping. A hundred million red hot needles stabbed me. Then I saw a sheet of blue flame and all pain ceased. “I died. “I knew when it happened. There was nothing I could do about it.” Rose, an electrical engineer, was holding a ground wire when light ning struck it. A fellow workman carried him to the hospital, where he ‘came back to life.” It’s A Great Life Atlantic City, N. J. — Jimmy Mc Guigan, a freckle-faced messenger boy enjoys his work—at least, part of it. Recently he delivered a telegram at a fashionable hotel. He knocked cn the door of an eighth floor suite. A beautiful girl, just 20 years old, opened the door. “Are you Miss B-?” Jimmy asked. Yes, the girt nodded. So Jimmy kissed her tenderly on the left cheek, then read her the telegram: “Happy birthday from Jimmy.” And another Jimmy in Chicago felt he had expressed his affection in a brand new way. -<s> Forbidden House Honolulu — Mrs. Doris Duke Cromwell, tobacco heiress, and per haps the richest girl in the world, started something when she began building a half million dollar home here, and named it “Hale Kapu,” Hawaiian for “forbidden house.” The house is designed in the Per sian style. It is situated on a rocky beach with a background of palm trees and has elaborate terraces, (Continued on Back Page) State Patrolman Assigned To Section; Headquarters Here Tom Brown, member of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, has been assigned to duty in this section with head quarters in Plymouth, it was unofficially learned here today. The information, gained from reliable sources, maintained that Brown would come here about the middle of this month. Mr. Brown, regarded as one of the most efficient and one of the best men in the patrol service, is now stationed in Washington. Other changes in the patrol line-up are !;3ir.g considered, it is understood, but no formal an nouncement of the proposed changes is expected just at this time. The proposed changes will possibly be effected when the patrol radio system is placed in operation, reports indicating that the five stations will be ready for broadcasting within the next few days. The assignment of a patrol man to this territory meets an urgent need that has existed for some time. Many leading local people have pointed out the need of the services of a patrol man and it is believed that their interest and the increased traf fic over this territory made it necessary for patrol officials to establish district headquarters in Plymouth. Government May Buy More Land in County I SHIP TUESDAY To date the Plymouth Mutual Livestock Association has ship ped 3080 hogs weighing 585,555 pounds, from which they re ceived §59,818.95. 290 farmers have participated in these sales. We now have several hundred head of hogs on feed in this County which will be shipped in the next 30 to 60 days. The next shipping date is Tuesday, September 7th. Those who plan to ship on this date will please notify the County office so ar rangements may be made for accommodating hogs delivered that day. Rev. R. H. Lucas Is Preacher at Final Union Service Here —*— Good Attendance as Summer Series Comes To End at Disciples Church The last of this season’s union church services was held here Sun day evening at the Disciples church with the Rev. Richard Lucas preach ing. Attendance at this final service was good. In the congregation were 13 Methodists; 26 Disciples; two Episcopalians; nine Baptists and 21 visitors. The Rev. Mr. Taylor, assisting in the service, extended a special greeting to the visitors: “We are happy to see that there is such a large number of visitors to Ply mouth who are interested in what we are doing here. “We hope that those of our visi tors who remain here will ally themselves with us in our work.” The Rev. Mr. Lucas took as the theme of his sermon the words: “In Heavenly Places.” Those words, he said, refer to things spiritual as opposed to things physical and earthly. A man who is not touched by the spirit of Christ is dead, he declared, and to illustrate this thought told of two men going to listen to fine music. One sits bored and restless, while the other is intensely moved by the melody. The first man, his soul untouch ed by the harmony, is dead to the beauty of the music, and it is just so with spiritual things, he said. -* Seeding of Greens At Club Finished —_ The work of grading and seeding the new Plymouth Country club is virtually completed, according to J. E. Maples, the Club professional. Mr. Maples, who has been super vising the construction of the golf courses, will spend the next month assisting with the landscaping work to be done about the 32 new houses which the Keickhefer company has built for its employes. These are nearly done now, ex cept for painting and minor details, and will be ready for occupancy in a short while. The new road run ning from the main highway, through the housing development to the country club is to be hard surfaced, and the grading and pre liminary rolling work is progressing rapidly. Construction of the Country club building itself has not yet been started, however. It is hoped that this will be completed in time for the aoenlng of the club in about a mon 6.000 Acre Tract Is Being Considered; Big Part in Tyrrell Would Bring Total Acreage Of Resettlement Group To Around 10,000 The Federal government is about to purchase approximately 6,000 ad ditional acres of land north and east of Lake Phelps, it was learned today by the Roanoke Beacon. These purchases, added to the 3, 196 acres acquired last week, and the 840 acres purchased several months ago will bring the total acreage of the Federal Resettlement Administration tract to well over 10.000 acres. The government has already spent more than $110,000 in acquiring land in the area, and will have spent very close to $300,000 by the time it has completed its purchases. The land to oe acquired next is partly in Washington County, but partly in Tyrrell. Like that al ready purchased it is rated as among the best farm land in North Caro lina and has been in cultivation for hundreds of years. Close to 75 per cent is said to be wooded, and it is expected that much of this will make excellent farm land when cleared of trees. The present timber on it is not thought to be especially good, for the most part. Titles to the additional parcels of land, on which the government has taken up options will be transferred as soon as the legal division of the Administration can complete the work of clearing the titles. -> Dead Man Makes Much Trouble for Several Officials —♦. Body Drifting on Roanoke Removed by Protests To State Officials Officials of three! counties are congratulating themselves today upon the fact that they have final ly disposed of the remains of Roy Keel, colored man who was drown ed in Martin County, and washed by the Roanoke River into Bertie County. The man was drowned nearly a week and a half before officials of Bertie County finally buried him following a protest to the State Board of Public Health by Coroner Jack Peal of Washington County. Coroner Peal notified state offi cials that the body was lodged in a bush on the Bertie county side of the Roanoke River near Gards Isl and and asked that something be done about it since the Bertie Coun ty officials had failed to remove it. Within two hours, the State Board had proded Bertie authorities into action, and it was agreed that the body should be at least given a de cent burial. The man was said to have been swimming in the river at Jamesville during the noon hour, and to have disappeared. Fellow workers at a mill where he is said to have been employed there reported him miss ing, but it was some time before his body was discovered drifting about the river. The captain of a river tug noti fied Coroner Peel of the case in the belief that it came within the juris diction of Washington County offi cials. Coroner Peel then notified Coroner Smith of Bertie. Freight Service by Railroad Discarded On 23-Mile Stretch Track To Bishop’s Cross From Mackeys Officially Abandoned This Week Railroad service has been discon tinued on the line from Mackeys to Bishop’s Cross, it was officially an nounced this week. The Norfolk & Southern Railroad had been attempting for several years to obtain permission from the Interstate Commerce Commis sion for the abolition of the 23 mile line. Freight to Belhaven from Mack eys will now be sent through Ply mouth and Pinetown on a triangle shaped route rather than direct. This means that there will be no more freight service to the points between Roper, Wenona and Won derland. Operation of the line has been unprofitable for many years, partly because of the increasing travel by automobile which has resulted from better roads, and losses on this short time have grown steadily, it is understood. During the past six or eight months all freight for Belhaven from Norfolk has been sent by way of Pinetown, pending favorable ac tion by the Commerce Commission, and as soon as this was taken, the line was discontinued officially last Saturday. Until Saturday freight trains were run two or three times a week to Roper from Mackeys. Judge Will Crack Down On Liquor Law Violation Judge Darden Issues Warn ing to Bootleggers In Recorder’s Court -® Bootleggers brought t^efore Judge John W. Darden in Washington County Recorder's Court from now on will find him much less lenient than he has been in the past. “I intend to break up this flagrant violation of the law which has been going on in some sections of the County,” he said today. “I shall co operate fully with federal, state, and local officers in putting a stop to this law breaking.” Judge Darden was prompted to this decision in part by a case which came before him in Recorder’s court Tuesday. D. O. Patrick, 49, a Creswell storekeeper was brought into court on a charge of assault upon J. D. Smart, 35-year-old electric welder and farm hand, who has been living in Creswell about two weeks. Shortly after Smart arrived there and went to work for T. C. Holmes, a story began to spread about the town that he was a revenue agent, come to check up on bootlegging. Last Saturday he went into Pa trick’s store to purchase a cigar. Pa trick closed the door after him and pulled out a knife. Another man in the store also produced a knife and the two allegedly threatened Smart. He protested that he was not a federal agent and they refused to believe him at first, but finally al lowed him to depart. “What made them think you were a revenue agent?” the Recorder ask ed. “X guess because I sometimes carried a pair of handcuffs about with me,” Smart answered, and ex plained that among other things he is a magician. Judge Darden found Patrick guil ty on the assault charge and gave him a six months suspended sen tence on condition that he pay $50 fine and costs and refrain from any further selling of liquor. Full-Time Nurse for Pulp Mill Employed —*— A full time registered nurse will be employed from now on at the Keickhefer Container Company mill, W. W. Henderson, the supervi sor, announced today. Miss Linda Stephens, who has had four years experience in industrial first aid work with the Blue Bell Globe Mfg. Co., largest manufactur er of overalls in the world, has been engaged for the job. The mill blue prints call for a first aid room to be well equipped with all the necessary beds, stretch ers, and medical supplies needed. Until the mill is completed and ready for operation. Miss Stephens will occupy the small wooden first aid building erected by the con struction company, and will be available for assistance to employes of either the mill or the contractors. School Days Begin Again for Washington County Children; 3,000 Students Back at W ork High School Band Practice Will Start Within Few Days High school band practice will start within a few days, L. W. Ziegler, instructor at the Ply mouth High announced today. Mr. Ziegler expects this to be a hard year for the band as sev eral of the most talented play ers were eliminated last June at graduation. “I hope that we will have some girls in the band this sea son,” Mr. Ziezler said. He plans to add a section of reed instruments if possible, and in preparation for this he spent much of his summer vacation studying the clarinet and saxa phone at the University of Pennsylvania. It is expected that the follow - nig members of last year’s band will return this year to form a nucleus around which the new organization will be built: Wil liford Whitley, Osborn Dunbar, William Satterthwaite, William Fagan and William Spruill. District Health Officer To Examine Children Work To Be Done W ithin Ten Days, Says Dr. S. B. Lewis Possible Skin Infections Main Object of Concern; Oth er Examinations Later Children in all the elementary schools of Washington County will be examined for possible skin in fections during the next ten days, Dr. S. B. Lewis, in charge of the newly organized district health work, announced today. There is always a possibility of children catching such things during the summer vacations, and some times parents do not notice them, so that there would be danger of other children being infected at school, he explained. The task of conducting these ex aminations is made especially diffi cult for Dr. Lewis and the public health nurses associated with him by the fact that schools in three of the four counties in his district open on September 1 and 2, so that all the work comes at once. Only Dare county will open its schools later, in about two weeks. As soon as the preliminary exam inations are completed, the Doctor and his staff will start work on the regular physical examinations which this year are to be conducted among children in the first, third and sixth grades of all county schools. These children will receive a fair ly complete examination, intended to disclose cases of tuberculosis, and other diseases, bad vision, defective teeth, and the like. As soon as someone can be found to qualify for the position, Dr. Lew is will have an assistant. But the requirements are very rigid and an assistant health officer must be a medical doctor and must also have had specialized training in public health work. It is thought that one may be ob tained by January. Also within a few weeks, it is (Continued on Back Page) -<s> Alcoholism Is Blamed for Negro's Death in Creswell Jesse Alton, colored, alias Jesse Ahburn, whose body was found sev eral days ago on the street in Cres well, died as the result of alcohol poisoning, according to Sheriff J. K. Reid. The body was found early in the morning, and the man had evident ly been dead for several hours, the sheriff said. He appeared to be about 35 years old, and is said to be from somewhere in South Carolina. He had been working in Jamesville. Auditors At W ork on Annual Audit Here The annual audit of the county books which has been underway for the last two weeks should be com pleted in a few days, it is expected. It is being made by the firm of Greathouse and Butler of Rocky Mount, with Frank Greathouse tak ing charge personally. With two as sistants he has been going over the books of every department of the county, and upon completion of this work, will return to Rocky Mount to draw up his official report ol their condition. I BAILEY IS SPEAKER I v___> "What yo get out of school this year wil be determined by the way in which you work and follow instruction of your teach ers,” Chariman Carl Bailey of the Plymouth School committee told students at the opening as sembly of the high school here Thursday. “Your parents pay taxes, and those taxes make this great edu cational organization possible,” he said. “It is up to you to do your part. This is not an organi zation devised to oppress you; it is rather a wonderful oppor tunity for you to obtain an edu cation, probably much better than that which your parents had.” 30-Mile Speed Limit Set for School Busses By Superintendent All Marliines To Have Gov ernors as New Safety Campaign Begins All school busses in Washington county will have governors on their motors so that none will be able to go faster than 35 miles an hour. The governors are set at 30 but there is a little latitude in the speed. Each governor is sealed in such a way that if it is tampered with the seal will be broken and school officials will know that the driver has been going faster than the speed limit. “I do not want any of you boys to touch those governors,” Superin tendent H. H. McLean said at a meeting of the bus drivers just be fore school opened. “If any of these seals are broken, it will be necessary to find some other boy to drive the bus. “Safety must be the watchword, and these busses must be driven slowly and carefully in order to pro tect the lives of the children riding in them.” Superintendent McLean asked state highway officers to make a careful examination of all drivers and also of all busses, thus estab lishing something of a precedent, and busses are not usually checked over in this way at the time the schools open. “Safety for the children riding in these school busses must at all times be the first consideration,” C. C. Brown, transportation engineer of the state school commission told the drivers. “Each of the boys who has been selected as a bus driver was picked by the principal of his school and approved by his local school com mitteemen as an outstanding boy and one to whom can be trusted the most precious cargo in the world, | young school children, and future citizens. “This is a grave responsibility, and every driver must realize it. I hope you will be so careful that this will be an accident free year.” The drivers were especially cau tioned to operate the busses in such a way as to avoid unnecessary wear and tear on them and to save the taxpayers the necessity of purchas ing new equipment as often as has been done in the past. Enrollment Increase Expected. Due To Influx in Population At Least 500 Additional Stu dents Expected Within Next Few Weeks -- School days began again Thurs day morning as more than 3.000 boys and girls in Washington County re ported for instruction in the several plants. Just what the enrollment will be this year is not yet known, but it is expected that there will be a con siderable increase due to the mov ing in of more families in connec tion with the pulp mill. Within a few weeks, when the crops have been harvested, there will be probably 500 more children in the schools than were able to attend today, according to County Superintendent McLean. Washington county is fortunate, he said, in being able to open the schools with all of the teachers needed, for many counties have been unable to find enough to fill all of the positions. Until a few days ago it was thought that the Plymouth High School would have to open without a home economics teacher, as school authorities had been inform ed by state officials not only of North Carolina, but Virginia, and South Carolina as well, that there was not a single qualified teacher available for this position. Katherine Kannis, state supervi sor of vocational home economics, told Principal R. B. Trotman of the high school that there were eight other schools in the state, all des perately trying to locate home ec onomics teachers, and that three of them had been obliged to open without any. She said she could not possibly supply one for Plymouth. Similar answers were received from school officials and teacher agencies of both Virginia and South Carolina. Then, just at the last moment, an advertisement in the News and Ob server brought a reply from Miss Emma Coley of St. Pauls. Miss Col ey is a graduate of the Flora Mc Donald school and lias had previous teaching experience. New teachers this year include: K. B. Trotman, principal of the Plymouth High School; Cleaton O. Armstrong, who will coach and teach history; and the following teachers in Plymouth; Emma Coley home economics; W. D. Starr, agri culture; Louise Curren, second grade, and Ruth Kiker, first grade. Other new teachers are Ella Tucker Smith, who will teach the second grade in Roper; Albert T. Brooks, new principal of the Cres (Continued on Back Page) Printing Plant for Beacon in Process Of Being Installed -<*> Paper lo Be 100 Per Cent Plymouth Enterprise; In vitation Extended Readers of the Beacon will no tive several changes in this week’s issue. The Beacon is growing and expanding and there will be addi tional improvements each week. For the past few years the paper has been printed in Williamston. From now on it is to be printed in Plymouth, making it in every sense a local paper. Last week a linotype, one of the very latest models, arrived from Elizabeth City, and is being install ed. Yesterday, workmen began in stalling a press, which should be capable of doing the finest printing job of any press in this part of the state, as it was built for high grade work. Within a few days new electric lights will be installed, and the ma chinery will be rolling merrily along. The publishers of the Bea con hope that their friends and readers will drop in and visit the new office in about a week when things are running smoothly. The operation of a linotype is fas cinating to watch, and there is something almost thrilling in the roll of a press.
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 3, 1937, edition 1
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