A bora* newspaper dedicated
to the service of Washington
County and 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 homes.
VOLUME XLVIII—NUMBER 38
Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina, Friday, September 17, 1937.
ESTABLISHED 1889
Many Farmers Face
Losses On Cotton
Crop This Season
Yield Will Be Generally
Poor in Washington
County; Price Down
Many Washington county farmers
about to begin picking cotton ex
pect losses this season, a few ex
pect to break even, and hardly any
hope to make any money.
With the size of this year’s crop
considerably larger than that of a
year ago taking the country as a
whole, the price is off several cents
a pound.
This places Washington county
growers at a great disadvantage be
cause of the fact that their crop is
relatively small and not of very
good quality.
The costs of production, on the
other hand, have been greater this
year because of the fact that the
first seeds came up late, and it was
necessary for many farmers to re
plant this year.
me nrst seeas were ior me mosi
part of better quality than those
used for the second planting, as they
had come from the best staple cot
ton, whereas at the time of the sec
ond planting there were only in
ferior seeds available for purchase.
As the result of the early dry
spell and the latter excessive rain,
this year’s cotton yield is expected
to be from 20 to 30 per cent below
last year’s in spite of the fact that
acreage planted in the county is
estimated at from 15 to 20 per cent
greater.
The outlook for peanuts, howev
er, is believed somewhat more hope
ful following announcement that
the government will come to the
aid of peanut growers with a pur
chasing program intended to divert
into other channels much of the
overproduction which would other
wise hold down the price.
It is expected that peanut digging
will begin by the last of September,
and while there is still considerable
difference of opinion as to what the
size of the crop will be, it is gener
ally believed it will be fair.
Many farmers look for some prof
it, even though small from their
peanuts this season. But it is believ
ed the price will probably not be
much above three and a half cents
-v
IT ISN’T
NEWS BUT—
It Really Happened
Plymouth— A very hungry snake
of the moccasin variety tried to
swallow a cat fish in the Roanoke
River. The catfish had no intention
of being swallowed, and extended
its fins in such a way that the snake
could neither get it down, nor cough
it up.
The two were found splashing
about in the shallow water near
the American Fork and . Hoe Com
pany, the fish’s head extending out
of the snake’s mouth. The snake was
all of five feet long and the fish at
least a foot in size.
A Lot of Work
Atlanta— The government fore
casts a cotton crop of at least 16,
098,000 bales this season. And this
means that cotton pickers will have
to pluck one trillion, three hunderd
and sixty-eight billion, three hun
dred and thirty million bolls before
the harvest is completed.
This calculation is based on the
premise that it takes 170 mature
bolls of botton to make a pound of
lint at the gin. There are 500 pounds
to a bale, and 85,000 bolls are there
fore needed to make one bale.
■ -*
It Sounds Fishy
Professor James Gray, distin
guished zoologist of Cambridge Uni
versity, is quoted as saying: “In all
its essential parts, the brain of the
fish is the same as that of man.”
•
It’s Grounds for Divorce
Detroit— Robert G. Davis asked
Judge Robert M. Toms to grant him
a divorce.
“I bought my wife an electric
sewing machine to make her work
easier,” he testified.
“She didn’t know how to run the
machine, so I showed her by making
a dress.
“The first thing I knew, I was
making all her dresses.
“Well, I still didn’t catch on, so
I bought her some electric cooking
equipment. From then on, I did all
the cooking. She tired herself all
out telling me how tired she felt.
Then, Your Honor, I bought her
a washing machine . .
His Honor interrupted:
“I know what happened next —
Divorce is granted.”
City Fire Siren Cuts
Tuesday and K<
Something went wrong with the
Plymouth fire siren on Tuesday
morning. It wasn’t that it would not
blow—quite the contrary—it wouldn’t
stop blowing.
When Chief of Police P. W. Brown
pushed the button to sound the usual
morning blast, instead of the regular
low whine, the siren let loose a full
sized whoop that brought members of
the volunteer department running
from bathrooms and breakfast tables.
The chief greeted them at the door
of the municipal building with a puz
zled expression and explained that
the only way to stop the noise was
to throw off the main switch. And
that cut off all the current to the city
Loose Here Last
>eps Right on Blowing
#—
office, the Are station, and the town
water pump.
So that all day, the only way the
city clerk could get lights in his of
fice was to turn on the fire siren—
he went without lights, and there was
1 no water pumped.
One of the first on the scene when
the siren began to blow was Casey
Jones, telephone technician. He ex
amined the switch and the relay coils
but could not discover what was
wrong.
Later J. B. McNair, Plymouth elec
trician now employed at the pulp
mill, was borrowed from the mill by
Chief Brown to look into the matter,
and worked several hours before fix
ing it.
But Four Old-Age Aid
Checks Received Here
I SCOUTS AID I
VV
Plymouth Boy Scouts are now
cooperating with State Trooper
Tom Brown in a campaign to
prevent accidents on the high
ways, especially at night.
Patrolman Brown, who was as
sistant scoutmaster in Washing
ton before coming here, spoke to
the boys at their meeting last
Friday night and asked them to
work with him.
He emphasized the danger of
riding bicycles after dark with
out carrying a light of some sort,
as required by law, and the
Scouts all pledged their support
in helping him stop this here.
They promised that they would
carry flashlights themselves and
try to get other boys to do like
wise.
Telephone Cable
Installation Here
Nearly Completed
Improved Phone Service Ex
pected as Result; New Di
rectories Ready Soon
Installation of a new telephone
cable to replace the one which has
been serving Plymouth for nearly a
quarter century, and possibly longer,
is nearly completed, it was an
nounced today.
The old cable had been a target for
so many rifle shots that it was in bad
condition, according to Casey Jones,
local service man for the Carolina
Telephone & Telegraph Co.
It is an actual fact, he says, that
innumerable .22 caliber bullets have
been fired at the line, and some of
the splices which were made to re
pair the damage done have been
causing much trouble.
About three months ago, probably
due to warm weather, it is believed,
the cable began to grow rapidly worse
making necessary its complete re
placement.
Listings of Plymouth telephone
subscribers have been nearly complet
ed, and within a day or two it is ex
pected that the corrected list of
names and phone numbers will be
sent away for publication in the new
directory.
The directory will be ready for use
in about a month, it is believed. It
will list approximately 165 Plymouth
phones, probably the largest number
in the history of the community.
Roper Parent-Teacher
Association To Meet
-$
The first fall meeting of the Roper
Parent-Teacher Association will be
held next Tuesday evening in the
school auditorium, with Superintend
ent H. H. McLean as principal speak
er, according to Principal D. E.
Poole.
There will be a reception for the
14 teachers, and it is hoped that as
many as possible of the parents will
be present. “I should like to see at
least 300 fathers and mothers come
to this first meeting,” Mr. Poole said.
Mrs. Ordie Blount, who was presi
dent of the association last year, has
been reelected, Mr. Poole said.
Next Parent-Teacher
Meeting Date Is Set
The October meeting of the Parent
Teacher Association will be held the
second Monday night in the Plym
outh High School Auditorium. All
men who are interested in the school
are urged to be present.
This association is planning to buy
new window shades for the high
school building at an early date.
Dr. S. V. Lewis, district health
physician, will be the speaker at the
October meeting.
Officials Must Go
Slow in Checking
Benefit Requests
Vast Amount Work Involved
In Verifying Statements;
Approve 40 Applicants
Only four old-age assistance checks
have been received up to this time
by residents of Washington County
who have applied for aid, although
the law granting such assistance has
been in operation since the first of
July.
As a result there has been much
criticism of the administration of the
law by aged persons who have re
quested aid but failed to receive any.
The delay of two and a half months
from July to the present time was
unavoidable, however, according to
Miss Ursula Bateman, coutny wel
fare officer.
It is necessary to make a thorough
investigation of every applicant and
to verify all statements as to age and
need carefully in order that there
may be'no possible fraudulent claims.
Difficult Task
This is a very difficult task in
many cases, she explained. Many
old people are unable to produce any
records that will satisfactorily estab
lish the date of their births, and it is
often necessary to look up old tomb
stones, hunt for ancient family Bibles
and consult officials of distant coun
ties.
One old colored woman from Roper,
for example, was finally able to es
tablish her age by means of a Bible
in which were recorded births as far
back as 1740. Only a few pages of
the Book still remain, and these are
wrinkled and torn. No new births
have been entered in the Book for
many years.
Tombstones Help
Another colored woman from Rop
er claimed to be 100 years old, and
this was finally found to be correct
after the date on the tombstone of a
woman who had been known to have
said she was the same age was
checked.
Approximately 112 applications
have been made so far for old-age
assistance, and as it was found im
possible for Miss Bateman to do all
the work of investigation alone in
addition to her parole work and gen
eral welfare duties, Mrs. Sybil Bowen
has been made her assistant.
Of the 112 applications received, 40
or more will have been approved by
the end of the week, Miss Bateman
said, and money should soon be com
ing through for these people.
In addition to the old-age benefits
there is now provision in the law for
aid to the blind and aid to dependent
children. Five applications have been
received from blind persons, and all
of these have been approved. Twelve
applications have been made in be
half of dependent and needy chil
dren, and so far one check has been
received.
The Law Explained
“I should like the public to have a
better understanding of these laws,”
Miss Bateman said, in discussing her
work:
"Funds for old-age assistance are
provided half by the Federal Gov
ernment, one-fourth by the state,
and one-fourth by the county. The
same is true of aid to children.
Funds for the blind are paid on the
basis of one-third by the Federal,
one-third by the state, and one-third
by the county governments.
"To be eligible for old-age assist
ance a person must be: 65 years of
age or over; a citizen of the United
States; must not have sufficient in
come or resources to live decently;
must not be an inmate of any public
institution or be receiving public aid;
and must have been living in the
state at least five of the nine years
preceding application.
"No assistance can be given where
a person has transferred property for
(Continued on Back Page)
New Police Radio
To Link Plymouth
With Entire State
To Bo Ready for Tests This
Week-End; Local Police
May Be Equipped Also
Plymouth will soon be linked with
the most remote sections of the state
in a police radio network now being
installed as part of the fight to pre
vent crime and capture criminals.
State Highway Patrolman Tom
Brown went to Raleigh this week and
left his cruising car there for the in
stallation of a powerful, compact, lit
tle receiving set.
With it he will be able to pick up
messages from the five police broad
casting stations in the state, and
when it is necessary for him to send
out a message from Plymouth, he
will be able to reach officers every
where by phoning Williamston and
having it broadcast from there.
It is expected that the set will be
ready for tests by Saturday and in
operation next week.
Receivers of the special type used
cost nearly $100 installed. They are
kept running all day, and can be
tuned only to the police wave length.
Special generators have to be in
stalled in the police cars to furnish
the current needed to keep them in
constant operation.
It is expected that city and county
qfficers in many communities will
have similar sets installed in their
machines in order to cooperate more
fully with the state police force.
Radios are also to be installed on
the state police motorcycles, which
will mean more than 200 sets in all,
as there are 100 patrol cars and 103
motorcycles.
It is expected that Plymouth po
lice will have a "Black Mariah” with
in a few months if it is possible to
raise the necessary money, and this
will undoubtedly be radio equipped, it
it said.
Plans for Women’s
Fall Federation
Are Going. Ahead
Miss Misenheimer Looks for
One of Best Meetings in
Organization’s History
Members of the Washington
County hotne demonstration clubs
are hard at work on plans for then
fall federation, to be held either the
latter part of this month or in Oc
tober.
Just who the speaker will be is not
yet known, but several are under con
sideration, and Miss Mary F. Misen
heimer is trying hard to get one in
particular.
Each club member will have an ex
hibit of some of her work; either
clothing, fancy work, canning, food
preparation, or some other type of
handicraft.
One of the features of the program
this fall will be the chorus, which has
recently been organized among the
club members.
"I believe this will be one of the
most interesting meetings in the his
tory of our Federation,” Miss Misen
heimer said today.
New officers of the organization,
who will be in charge of the meeting
are: Mrs. George Bowen, president;
Mrs. Kitty Norman, vice president;
Mrs. Edison Davenport, secretary;
and Ms. F. D. Wilson, treasurer.
Several Under Suspicion
In $80 Theft at Store
-»
Several persons are under suspi
cion in connection with the theft of
$80 from the store of Crawford
Lamb in Plymouth Sunday, accord
ing to Chief of Police P. W. Brown.
The money had been hidden in a
box under the counter, but the door
was left unlocked so that the thief
was able to walk directly into the
store.
Mr. Lamb was in the store in the
morning and said that the money
was all right at that time. When he
returned in the afternoon it was
missing.
f TO MOVE LIBRARY I
v/
Mrs. Clarence Ayers, new pres
ident of the Thursday Afternoon
Literary Club, is busy making
preparations for the moving of
the Plymouth Public Library1
from the courthouse basement
upstairs into the room formerly
used by Miss Mary F. Misenheim
er, home agent.
Mrs. Ayers took over the duties
of president at the last meeting
of the club a week ago at the
home of Mrs. H. A. Blount.
WPA workers are to repair 300
of the library books this fall, it
was announced.
County Home and Farm Agents Move
Into Agricultural Building This Week
The new Agricultural Building has
at last been completed, and County
Agent W. V. Hays and Home Agent
Mary Frances Misenheimer are get
ting established in their new quar
ters.
They moved out of the old court
house last Friday, but required near
ly a week to get their books, records,
and farm literature arranged on the
shelves of the new offices.
The public library, which has been
located in the courthouse basement,
is to be moved up into the room va
cated by Miss Misenheimer, and Mrs.
Ursula Bateman, county welfare of
ficer, will occupy the office formerly
used by Mr. Hays. She has been
located at the county home up to
this time.
The courthouse now has a new jan
itor, Sam Dixon, 31, of Plymouth,
who was appointed to take the place
of J. H. Hamilton, who resigned at
the last meeting of the county com
missioners.
In the new agricultural building,
there is an auditorium large enough
to seat about 200 people, a general
office for the county agent, a private
office, and a committee room for his
used.
The home agent has the same
amount of space with an office, a
laboratory kitchen and a conference
room.
Itinerary of Publicity
Party Includes Town
State Committee
Plans To Conduet
Tour To Plymouth
City Asked To Provide Lunch
eon for Party of Nearly
100 Visiting Publicists
Plymouth will entertain a party of
nearly 100 newspapermen, feature
writers, and travel bureau managers
next month, if the necessary arrange
ments can be made.
As part of the North Carolina pro
gram for resort and industrial adver
tising there is to be a grand tour of
the state by representatives of lead
ing newspapers, magazines, and trav
el agencies.
As originally planned, the itinerary
did not include Plymouth, but at a
meeting of the Lions Club several
weeks ago, Roy Hampton was asked
to contact the tour committee and
attempt to have the itinerary
changed.
In doing so, he pointed out the
importance of Plymouth as a grow
ing industrial center and the interest
it is attracting as the site of a $3,000,
000 pulp mill.
As a result the committee is now
prepared to make a change in its
plans in order that the party may
stop here, provided that Plymouth
will entertain the party for luncheon.
Ed Pickard, secretary of the Gov
ernor’s Hospitality Committee, is ex
pected to arrive in Plymouth Satur
day on a preliminary trip to deter
mine how the itinerary is going to
work out.
“I hope it will be possible to give
him some assurance when he comes
that Plymouth will furnish the party
with a luncheon,” Mr. Hampton said
today.
“The advertising value to the en
tire county will be enormous if these
writers and travel experts visit Plym
outh.”
He plans to bring the matter be
fore the Lions Club at its next meet
ing and may suggest that the coun
ty commissioners and the city con
tribute toward the cost of the lunch
eon.
Included in the party will be Ted
Gill, ed:tcr of the Associated Press;
Myron Glaser, of the Washington
Herald-Times; M. W. Burlingame, of
the Na ional Sportsman Magazine;
C. Lewis Herschel, of the Washington
Post; E. Jenkins, of the American
Automobile Association; Nelson A.
Loomis, chief of the U. S. Tourist Bu
reau; George W. White, of Thomas
Cook & Sons; and representatives of
the magazines “Travel and Trans
portation” and of “House Beautiful.”
The tour will begin at Asheville and
on the eleventh day will reach New
Bern, proceeding to Washington,
then to Williamston, and from there
to Plymouth—if this city is included.
The original plan was to have gone
directly from Williamston to Wind
sor, Edenton, and Elizabeth City,
then to Manteo and back to Eliza
beth City for the conclusion of the I
trip.
Roper Revival Series Ends
Sunday With 6 Baptisms
‘-a
Six persons were baptized at the
revival meeting which closed in Roper
Sunday night, with a sermon by the
Rev. Edwin R. Hartz.
They are: John Rawls, Arthur
Smith, Herman Gurkin, Elizabeth
Spruill, Thomas Ainsworth, and Ter
ry Craddock. The Rev. W. J. Wat
son did the baptizing.
C. W. Owens Reported
Still In Serious Condition
-*
C. W. Owens, 55, of East Main
street, Plymouth, who has been very
ill for the past week, was reported
still in a serious condition today. Mr.
Owens is well known as an old resi
dent of Plymouth and as a grocery
salesman.
r
MASONS EAT WELL
It will be a long time before
members of the Masonic lodge
here forget the chicken dinner
served by the American Legion
Auxiliary last Thursday.
Approximately 60 were expect
ed at the dinner, as the Persever
ance lodge was entertaining the
lodges of Washington, Beaufort
and Hyde Counties.
But, for some reason or other,
only about half the expected
number showed up, and as a re
sult all those who were present
had a double helping of every
thing.
“The food was paid for once,
and I can see no reason why we
should attempt to sell it again,"
Mrs. W. C. Jones, president of
the Auxiliary declared when
asked why she did not sell what
was left over instead of putting it
on the plates of those who were
present.
Cause of $1,500 Fire
Here Sunday Still
Unsolved Mystery
10 Minutes Before Barn Was
Reported in Flames Three
Men Saw Nothing Wrong
Cause of the $1,500 blaze which
burned a barn, a new passenger car,
an old model T Ford, a heavy truck,
and a bicycle at the home of W. A.
Vail on Third Street, Plymouth, early
Sunday morning, remains a mystery
today.
Scarcely 10 minutes before the fire
was reported, County Coroner Jack
Peele, Sheriff J. K. Reid, and Chief
of Police P. W. Brown passed by the
house without noticing anything
wrong.
But within a few minutes after the
first alarm was given, the entire barn
was ablaze and it was obvious to all
that nothing inside could be saved.
Only the fact that it had been rain
ing a short while before prevented
the fire from spreading to other near
by buildings and possibly causing a
general alarm.
So intense was the heat from the
blaze that the side of the Methodist
parsonage next door was scorched
and also broke into flames. The fire
men quickly extinguished these, how
ever.
The passenger car, which was de
stroyed. had been purchased by Mr.
Vail less than four months ago, and
had been driven barely 2,000 miles.
It was not insured. The truck was
badly damaged, but not beyond re
pair.
Nothing but a pile of twisted iron
and charred wood remains of the
Model T, and the bicycle, though bad
ly burned, may be repaired, it is be
lieved.
Plymouth Masons If ill
} isit /Veir Pulp Plant
Members of the Plymouth Masonic
Lodge have been invited to inspect
the new pulp mill as a group Sunday
afternoon at 3 p. m.
The invitation was extended
through Mr. Carroll, who is employed
at the mill and has been attending
lodge meeting here regularly since he
came to Plymouth.
Trio Barely Escape Death
,4s Auto Crashes Bridge
What might otherwise have been
a serious accident was averted when
an automobile driven by Bassie
Rhodes ran into the side of the up
per river bridge near Cherry and was
held from plunging into the river by
a piece of steel which was rammed
through the radiator.
Riding in the machine at the time
were Will Halten and Will Cornstalk,
in addition to the driver. Rhodes
was arrested on a charge of drunk
enness.
Building And Loan
To Elect Directors
On Friday Evening
Meeting Wednesday Not
Well Attended; 9 Men
Nominated for Board
-*
Nine men prominent in the busi
ness life of Plymouth have been
nominated to serve as directors of
the Building and Loan Association
now being organized.
Their names were submitted by a
nominating committee at the meet
ing last night in the county court
house. but as only 23 persons were
present, the election of directors was
postponed.
It will now be held on Friday eve
ning at the courthouse, after no
tices are sent to the 90 persons who
have subscribed to stock in the or
ganization.
The nine men nominated by the
committee were: A. L. Owens, J. C.
Tarkenton, E. H. Liverman, Z. V.
Norman, E. F. Still, J. R. Manning,
B. G. Campbell, W. W. Henderson,
and Dr. W. H. Johnson.
In announcing the selections made
by the committee Mr. Manning ex
plained that they were made on the
basis of the amount of stock owned
by each. The men named all had
subscribed to $2.50u worth jr more,
he said.
This basis for ihe selection
brought an immediate protest from
Attorney Carl Bailey, who declared
that the medium and small stock
holders should also have representa
tion on the board of directors.
“We do not want to have the im
pression go out that this is a case of
big hog eat little pig,” he said.
Attorney W. L. Whitley then pro
posed that the election be postponed
because of the poor representation
at the meeting.
There followed a protracted dis
cussion of what night w’ould be best,
and finally Attorney Norman inter
rupted to ask that some decision be
reached as soon as possible, adding.
“I’ve got to get home and put my •
feet to bed sometime tonight.”
He referred to the foot injured in
his recent automobile accident,
which has only been out of the plas
ter cast for a few days.
There are now 90 stockholders in
the organization and 170 paid up
shares, it was announced at the
meeting.
Among those present last night
were: J. C. Tarkenton, A. L. Owens,
C. L. Bailey, William Tetterton, H.
H. McLean, S. D. Davis, Frank
Spruill, G. W. Hardison, J. L. Hays,
Z. V. Norman, J. R. Manning, J. W.
Marrow, William Roebuck, B. G.
Campbell, R. L. Tetterton, W. L.
Whitley, Miss Agnes Davis and Mrs.
Harry Rogers.
Broadway Couple
Come to Plymouth
For Short Visit
Harlee Bell ami Joyce Arling
Visit Several Well-Known
Local Families
Among the recent visitors to Plym
outh are a couple whose names have
glittered in the lights of Broadway
for the past three years.
They are Harlee Bell and his wife,
Joyce Arling. Bell played an import
ant role in "Tobacco Hoad” and in
"The Last Mile,” and the two played
together for three years in the stage
production of “Boy Meets Girl.”
They came to Plymouth from Rich
mond, where they had been vacation
ing, and after visiting Z. Vance Nor
man, Miss Martha Homthal, and
Mrs. Z. G. Lyon here they returned
to Richmond. This fall they are
scheduled to appear again on Broad
way. Mr. Bell is a native of Suf
folk. Va.
Tivo School Heads
V rge A ttendance
— 4>— — ■■
Roper and Plymouth Princi
pals Says Results So Far
Disappointing
It is very important that parents
see to it that their children attend
school regularly. Principal R. B. Trot
man. of the Plymouth High School,
declared this week.
"I cannot too strongly emphasize
the need for regular attendance,”
added D. E. Poole, principal of the
Roper School.
There is a possibility that the state
may allot an additional teacher to
each of these schools if the attend
ance holds up as it should, but so far
this year it has been disappointing.
A very large percentage of the fail
ures made by school children are due
o the fact that they do not attend
regularly, according to Mr. Trotman
and Mr. Poole.