Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / July 14, 1939, edition 1 / Page 1
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The Roanoke Beacon * * * * * * * and Washington County News ★*★★★*★ A home newspaper dedicated to the service of Washington County and its 12,00* people. VOLUME L—NUMBER 28 Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina, Friday, July 14, 1939 ESTABLISHED 1889 Town opics Roy Hopkins, from Creswell, was in town last Saturday, showing pictures of “chub” taken from Lake Phelps and also a picture of a deer taken there last season. On the deer pic ture was Auditor E. J. Spruill. Frank L. Brinkley, and H. N. Starr. They were counting the "points” 01 prongs on the deer's antlers. A canceled check issued 1G years ago on the United Com mercial Bank here was picked up on the street the other day. It was issued by the Ford dealer here at that time, and the pic tures of the “up-to-date" cars at that time, pictured on the back, were decidedly in contrast to the Ford products of today. R. Bruce Etheridge, chairman of the Board of Conservation and Devel opment, came through here Saturday to pick up W. R, Hampton, also a member of the board. Later they were joined by J. L. Horne. jr„ in Greenville. They were bound for the board’s meeting being held this week at Morehead City. E. Stephen Askew, of Windsor and Oriental, said the other day that he believed he could estimate the age of the Roanoke River by certain trees and stumps on property that he owns in the Merry Hill section of Bertie County. Mr. Askew is a former WPA district administrator and well known throughout the state. Notification has been received by County Agent W. V. Hays that work ers in the county office should not be required to put in more than 44 hours a week, the same as other Federal employees, and the force is now ob serving these hours. Fourteen students in the for estry division of the University of West Virginia passed through here Tuesday on a tour of in spection of pulp plants, lumber mills and forests in the South, with their profssors, Drs. H. D. Erickson and Torkuel Holsoe, ac companying them. They visited local forests and the plants here. Miss Marian Reese has returned from a visit to the New York World's Fair with her father. Thomas W. Reese. With her sister and brother, Roxie and Jimmy Reese, she will live with her grandmother, Mrs. Roxie E. Reese, who has returned to her farm home near Plymouth. Thomas Reese will spend the summer here. Better bargains are offered in the Closing-Out Sale, being conducted now by L. S. Thompson, than in any previous sale or bargain event that he has ever held in Plymouth, accord ing to Mr. Thompson, who is being helped with the sale by .his brother, Herbert Thompson, of New Bern. Mrs. Blanche Swain, owner of the Woman’s Shop here, will close her story July 15 to reopen on August 15, at which time she says she will have in her new line of fall merchan dise, which she will buy on a trip to New York Wenona Man Given Suspended Sentence For Starting Fire Let Off With Payment of Costs; Other Cases in County Court -<$> Alleged to have started a fire to burn off vegetation on his property which got out of his control and started a forest fire that burned over a large area of woods land in the Wenona section, Robert Stokesberry was found guilty in recorder's court Tuesday and given a 30-day sus pended jail sentence upon payment of the costs. Jack Midgett, negro, was given his choice of two months on the roads or payment of the court costs for speed ing. He was also directed to get a driver’s license. Sewell Bowen, manager of the ABC store here, had his case remanded to a justice of the peace court on a charge of assault. Christopher Hyman, negro, was sen tenced to 12 months on the roads on a charge of having illegal liquor in his possession for the purpose of sale. He was caught by officers with five gallons in a bag on his back. Judg ment was suspended upon good be havior and payment of the costs. Solomon Perry, negro, was given i four months on the roads on a charge of assaulting Charlie Simmons with an axe. PULP MILL TO RESUME OPERATIONS ON JULY 24 f MAP OF PROPOSED IMPROVED HIGHWAY ] j MAP SHOWING PROPOSED STATE HIGHWAY FROM PANfEGO TO PLYMOUTH VIA PUNGO & WENONA This map graphically portrays the advantages of surfacing the turnpike road from highway No. 97 by way of Wenona and Pungo, to Pantego. In addition to providing an all-weather road leading to the Blackland Test Farm at Wenona, this route would effect a saving of nearly 40 miles for fishermen and truck producers in the Belhaven and Hyde County sections en route to Norfolk and northern markets. A mammoth mass meeting of proponents of this new routing will be held in Belhaven on August 9 to impress upon State Highway officials the necessity of surfacing the stretch of road designated above by the dotted line leading north from Pantego and connecting with Route 97 about 5lA miles from Plymouth. To Begin Foreclosure On Delinquent Taxes Three-Fourths of Farms Checked Three-fourths of the farms in Washington County have been visited by the compliance work ers, who are measuring the farms and checking them to determine eligibility of those applying for payments under the soil conser vation plan of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration. It was reported by Chief Clerk Stuart Blow in County Agent W. V. Hays’ office that the remain ing farms would be visited by the last of next week, but this will not conclude the compliance work as the statistics must be com puted and tabulated, which will take some time. It was estimated that about 615 of the 819 farms in the county had been visited by the compli ance workers. Wenona Residents Meet To Consider Prevention of Fire -<S> Plans Made Monday Night For Larger Meeting To Be Held Later -® Wenona.—Plans for a mass meet ing that is designed to impress on the residents of this section the necessity for the prevention of forest fires were laid at a preliminary meeting held in the office of the Blackland Experi ment Station here Monday night. J. L. Rea, Jr., manager of the test farm, Carl Heynen and Reuben Paul were named a committee to create interest in this mass meeting so that as many as possible will attend to hear the matter discussed. The date has not been set, as it is to be arranged for the convenience of W C. McCormack, of Raleigh, chief of the forest-fire control division of the Department of Conservation and Development. Those present, who had something to say at Monday night’s meeting were Mr. McCormack; P. W. Till man, Rocky Mount, district forester; C. L. Bailey, J. L. Rea, and W. V. Hays, with S. P. Darden, county for est warden, presiding. WPA Project for County Is Approved, But Wo One Knows Anything About It Information was received here this week from the office of Con gressman Lindsay Warren that the WPA had approve'd a project for renovation of public buildings in Washington County, carrying a Federal allotment of $7,398, but officials here disclaimed any knowledge of the matter. It was reported by the Representative that the approved project was sponsored by the Washington County Commissioners, but J. R. Campbell, chairman of the board, was unable to recall the commis sioners requesting any such work. It was pointed out that the project might have been for cleaning and repairing the court house, school buildings, or other public structures, but none of the local officials, including Mr. Campbell, H. H. McLean, county superintendent of schools, or Miss Ursula Bateman, superintendent of public welfare, knew anything about it. Auditor E. J. Spruill may know whether tli project was approved by the old board of commission ers before the present group took office last December, but he was out of town and nothing could be learned about it from his office. It was considered problematical whether the county commission ers could find the money avail able to pay the county’s portion of any such project. County Board Issues Order To Attorney To Institute Actions -<S> Several Other Matters Also Disposed of at Regular Meeting Monday Instructions were issued to County Attorney W. M. Darden by the Wash ington County Commissioners, in ses sion Monday, to institute forecloseure proceedings on al delinquent taxes for the years of 1936 and 1937. An agreement was reached also to fix a flat fee of $2.50 for the service of the lawyer on each certificate upon which action is instituted, the money to be paid at the conclusion of the services, including the fiiling of com plaint and issuance of summons. The county commissioners also fav orably considered the construction of a road from Mount Olive Church in Hyde County to the east end of Lake Phelps. None of the road affected would be in this county, so the com missioners did not adopt a resolution to this effect. C. W. Tatem, of Columbia, appeared before the board in behalf of the Richmond Cedar Works, asking a re duction in the valuation of land list ed by them in Skinnersville Town ship, known as “Bull’s Bay.” Since hearings on equalization problems have been closed, no action was tak en to effect an adjustment or reduce the valuation. W. V. Hays handed in the follow ing report of his activities as county agent during June: 23 days in field, 3 days in office, 1,650 miles traveled, 102 farm visits, 325 letters received, 429 letters mailed, 102 conferences, 232 telephone calls, 3 circular letters, and 200 bulletins distributed. -« Old Creswell School Building To Be Sold To Highest_ Bidder Board of Education Adver tises Structure; Must Be Torn Down The Washington County Board of Education agreed in its session here Monday to advertise the old Cres well school building for sale to the highest bidder, for cash, with all bids directed to H. H. McLean, superin tendent of public instruction. It was at first thought that the building would be tom down and WPA or PWA aid be secured for the construction of a garage in Plymouth or gymnasium in Roper and Creswell, but it was found that not enough money would be available to sponsor these projects. Since the new building cannot be used until the old building is demol ished, according to terms of a con tract made when the original PWA grant was made on the new structure, bidders for the brick and other ma terials in the old building must agree to tear down the building prior to the opening of the school this fall. Several bids were received, ranging in amounts from $800 to $1,200, for tearing down the old building, clean ing the brick and piling the other materials, but it was deemed better to advertise the old building for sale and let the purchaser do (his work. Local Board Orders Old Buildings Here To Be Condemned -® Police and Fire Chiefs Dele gated by Board To Make Inspections -® Dilapidated and dangerous build ings in Plymouth are to be con demned by ft special committee, con sisting of Chief of Police P. W. Brown and Fire Chief L. W. Gurkin. when they inspect all buildings in town in pursuance of instructions issued by the Town of Plymouth Council in ses sion here Monday night. This movement was started some months ago, but nothing grew' out of the plan to have the buildings tom down in order to eliminate fire haz ards, but when the committee ap pointed Monday by the councilmen make their reports, the city authori ties plan to take action to have the unsafe structures demolished. It was reported to the council by P. W. Brown and W. F. Winslow that the 85 street signs recently ordered had not yet arrived here. Nothing further has been heard relative to securing a WPA project and financial aid from the govern ment for the construction of exten sions to the water and sewer systems on Fort Williams and Monroe Streets and Brinkley Avenue. James W. Norman, councilman, was elected mayor pro tem, to serve whenever Mayor B. G. Campbell may be absent for any reason. Joseph T. Weede was named to succeed Bill Clagon as caretaker of the pump house, fire house, and to take fire calls. He is to begin work on July 22. His appointment is con tingent upon the decision of Clagon to enter the State Highway Patrol if he is appointed at the conclusion of the school which he is now at tending. -$ Growers Gel More From Hogs by Sales Through Exchange Annual Meeting Held Here Wednesday; Officers Reelected -$ It is estimated that farmers re ceived about 75 cents per 100 pounds more for their hogs by selling through the Plymouth Mutual Livestock Mar keting Association than they would have on the open market during the fiscal year from July 1, 1938, to June 30, 1939, County Agent W. V. Hays told the board of directors and guests of the organization at a luncheon here Wednesday. • Since only about 50 per cent of the hog growers sold through the coop erative and the other 50 per cent re ceived the benefits of these same bet ter prices, it was estimated the pro ducers in this section had benefited to the extent of $19,236. Receipts for the 6,719 hogs, weigh ing 1,252,425 pounds, totaled $91, 200.45. A total of 386 farmers from Washington. Tyrrell, Martin, Bertie, Chowan, and Perquimans Counties sold through the organization. In the number of hogs sold there were 1,086 graded "soft" and 1.012 graded “oily.” Short talks were made at the meet ing by L. I. Case, State College Ex tension Specialist: Joe S. Suggs, ag ricultural agent for a railroad; R. L. McGeheay, Beaufort county agent; H. H. Harris, Tyrrell county agent; and J. L. Rea, director of the Black land Experiment Station, Wenona. H. R. Davenport presided. A nom inating committee, composed of C. W. Bowen, Plymouth; L. E. Hassell, Roper; W. Jesse Vaughan, Wenona; Haywood Spruill and Harry Swain, of Creswell. was appointed. They nominated and the directors reelect ed the same officers who served this years; H. R. Davenport, of Creswell, chairman of the board; W. A. Mayo, Creswell, vice chairman; J. L. McAl lister, Roper, secretary and treasurer; Sam Spruill, grader; and R. L. Spruill of Creswell, director. Increase in Beei Cattle Production Interest in production of beef cattle in Washington County con tinues to increase, as 1,000 acres of lespedeza were sown during the winter and spring with this pur pose in mind, according to Coun ty Agent W. V. Hays. At the present time there are seven Hereford bulls in the coun ty old enough for use in breed ing, also two Angus and one Shorthorn, all of the beef type, Mr. Hays said. Among those seeding lespedeza acreage for cattle grazing are J. E. Phelps. H !>• Davenport, R. C. Peacock R l Stillman. L. E. Hassell, W. H. Thompson, L. S. Brev, S. C. Smithson, and about 20 of the FSA tenants who have purchased their own farms. Reopening Does Not Depend on Settlement of Delair Strike; Will Install Added Equipment Here Sidney A. Ward, Sr., Dies Here Saturday After Brief Illness Was Traveling Salesman And Former Town Councilman -# Sidney Ambrose Ward. sr„ 52, for 31 years a prominent and popular resident of Plymouth, and former town councilman as well as extensive property holder, died at his Main Street home here Saturday afternoon at 1:30 o’clock from an illness of only a few hours' duration, described by physicians as coronary occlusions. Mr. Ward became ill on Friday, while in Norfolk, but returned home that night and felt well enough to visit his physician, Dr. T. L. Bray, upon his arrival here. At 5 o’clock next morning he suffered an attack, from which he rallied, but soon after the noon hour he was seized with a second attack that caused his death. News of Mr. Ward’s death spread fast, and telegrams came from all over the state and in many places of the South, where he was known as a traveling shoe salesman. A native of Hertford, in Perquim ans County, Mr. Ward came here at the age of 21 to manage the store of Latham-Owens company. In March, 1918, he became a shoe salesman and his work in this line expanded until he was assigned a territory embrac ing several Southern states. During 1925 he stopped traveling and went into the insurance field. Two years later he resumed his form er work, continuing his insurance business as a side line, working it in off seasons and when home from his lengthy trips. At the time of his death he was connected with the Dunn-McCarthy shoe organization, of Auburn, N. Y., and was scheduled to attend a sales men’s convention in Charlotte on Monday of this week. During his residence here, Mr. Ward had acquired considerable prop erty holdings, and one of the largest deals he made in this line was the sale of the Dock Bateman farm to the Kieckhefer Container Corpora tion. This is the property on which the village and country club are now located. Funeral services were held in Grace Episcopal Church Monday afternoon, with the Rev. Sidney Matthews offic iting, assisted by the Rev. Paul B. Nickens, of the Baptist church. A large crowd attended the last rites for this well-known man. Interment took place in the cemetery adjoining Grace Episcopal church yard. In 1911, Mr. Ward married Miss Isolind Smith, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Smith, who. with three children, survives him. The children are S. A. Ward, jr., local attorney; James Harold Ward. Wake Forest student; and Miss Rebecca Ward, all of Plymouth. He also leaves three brothers: Harry Ward, Winton; Char lie Ward. Salisbury; and Clifford Ward. Elizabeth City: two sisters, Mrs J. G. Campen, Edenion, and Mrs. Nora Hughes, of Norfolk; and his mother, Mrs. Johnetta Ward, of Ed enton. Active pall-bearers were: Sheriff J. K. Reid, Dr. T. L. Bray, Judge J. W. Darden, Lloyd Horton. A. E. Dav enport and E. H. Liverman. Honorary pall-bearers were: R. A. Duvall. Fred Knight. C. V. W. Aus bon, W. C. Jones, Dr. W. H. John son, S. D. Davis. L. S Thompson, H. E. Beam, P. M. Alps. E. G. Arps, C. L. Blount, J. R. Campbell, E. S. Blount, H. A. Williford, W. L. Whit ley, W. R. White, W T. Freeman, J. |S. Norman, Z. V. Norman H. C. Spruill, E. R. Jackson. C. E. Ayers, W. F. Winslow, Abe Adler. P. Bruce Bateman, W. J. Mayo, Dr. C. McGow an, W. H. Clark, and Arthur Vail. Plant Accepts 45,000 Bushels Cucumbers ■G>— With 12,865 bushels of cucumbers coming to the plant of C. C Lang & Son here during the last six days, the total for the season has reached 44,348 bushels. This marks the larg est season the commpany has had since establishment of the plant here four years ago. To date producers have been paid $24,090.35 for cucumbers delivered to the local plant, and indications now are that the payroll next Monday will be about as large as it was last Mon day. Last year there were 39.337 bush els delivered at the local plant. It is believed by Manager P. H Roberts that practically all of the crop has been received and that next week will conclude the deliveries. Budget Is Cause of Coucern To Board Budgetary matters will be the important business tor consider ation when the Washington County commissioners meet on the first Monday in August, if they do not decide to meet before that time. Faced with the necessity of adding about 16 cents to the rate to rare for the payments on the new school building at Creswell, the commissioners are slashing i the budget at every corner to pre vent an increase to the present SI.80 levy. It is believed that the $23,000 asked for schools will be reduced, and that the welfare, health de partments and other county func tions will come in for their share of the cutting when the funds are set up for the county budget. Public improvements have been discontinued and different coun ty departments ordered to hold down expenses to a minimum un til the budget is fixed, so that each unit may know where it stands and how much it will have to spend during the coming year. Meunier Speaks at Meet of Workers Wednesday Night -ft Superintendent of Mill Here Makes Big Hit at Union Members’ Meeting A company mail made a big hit at a union meeting here Wednesday night, when L. J. Meunier, jr., super intendent of the North Carolina Pulp Company, spoke to members of the local unions, a visiting delegation of union men from Delair. N. J„ and a group of special guests invited to the open meeting. Several speakers preceded Mr. Meu nier, including Otto W. Weber, secre tary of the Central Labor Union of Camden, N. J„ and organizer for the A. F. L.; George Evaol. former presi dent of the independent union at Del air which is now an A. F. L. affiliate; John Brooks and Anthony Leonardi, of the Pulp and Sulphite Workers Union at Delair; G. W. Robey, of the Delair teamsters' union; and several local union men. However, the spot light was focused on the good-will building and friendly speech of Mr. Meunier, who is well liked by the em ployees. In the opening talk, Mr. Weber ex plained that hs igroup of five union men from Delair were here on a good will mission, and he favorably com mented on the fact that the local plant was to resume work on July 24, after being being closed for over two months by the Delair strike. Also in his talk he blamed the superin tendent of the Delair plant and the personnel manager for the misunder standing that prompted the Delair strike, but praised very highly the chief officials of the plant, including H. M. and J. W. Kieckhefer. Throughout the speeches made by the Delair men. there was praise of the good will existing between the management of the local plant and the employees. Talks were also made by Roscoe Bowers, electrical engineer; L. C. Odenath, master mechanic; and J. C. Swain, personnel manager. O. F. Magee, local president, presided. Mr. Weber said that the plant man agement at Delair had been asked for a union shop instead of a “closed shop." explaining that a “closed shop" meant that employees must be hired through the union; while in a “union shop” the company could hire any man they desired, but that after a specified time he must become a mem ber of the union holding the con tract. Contract Let for New Bleaching Unit; 150. Men Back at W Plan To Have Addit Equipment Installed' November 1 -H) . — O. H. Cox. general manager of the North Carolina. Pulp Company, an nounced Monday that the local plant would resuirtatoMMttaas on Monday, July 24, at the same time stating that re.sumptkm of work here was dependent on settlement of the strike in progress at the Delair plant of the parent company, which caused the shut down here over two months ago. It was^also announced that the company was preparing to go for ward with its expansion program here immediately, contract for the bleach ing plant already having been let. Additional machinery and equipment will be installed by November 1 which will make the local plant independ ent of labor trouble or shutdowns at any of the other mills of the com pany. The additions will also re quire the services of at least 200 more workmen than have been employed in the past, it was said. It was learned that approximately 150 men were back at work at the plant today, with others being called in almost daily. While the mill will not be operated at capacity when op erations are resumed, a formal state ment issued by Mr. Cox today con tained the information that local em ployees thrown out of work by the New Jersey strike two months ago would be given first consideration in the construction work jobs. It was said that at least, two new buildings would be rcnuir ■ ;d"'vtlona equipment,'includinfe\leaciu ^ puvh',, filtering plant, and two paper ma chines. When completed, the local unit will turn out a finished grade of container board, including that of the best quality. No developments were reported in the strike at Delair, but a delega tion of five union men from the New Jersey plant was in town this week, attending a meeting of local em ployees Wednesday night, where they made brief talks. The Kieckhefer company today took direct issue with the statement made by representa tives of the three Delair unions last week as to the causes of the strike, citing that friendly relations had been maintained for years with all their workers, with the exception of less than 25 members of the team sters’ union, which called several strikes at the Delair plant within the past year or so, in none of which the other workers joined. Text of Statements The statements of the company, is sued Thursday morning, follow: “The North Carolina Pulp Com pany is making arrangements to re sume operatoins at the pulp mill on July 24, 1939. It may not be possible to operate at full capacity at first, but some work is assured employees who have been idle since early in May, when tiie mill had to be closed down because of a strike called at the Del air plant of the Kieckhefer Container Company. “Arrangements have also been made to proceed at once with an ad dition to the present pulp mill, which will consist of a bleaching plant and filter plant. The contract for the bleaching plant has been placed and the plans for the installation are be ing made as rapidly as possible. “When the bleaching plant has been completed, operation of both pulp mill and bleaching plant will not be affected by labor troubles at Del air, as other outlets for pulp made at Plymouth will be available. “It is the company’s intention to use local labor in the construction of this plant and to give employment, wherever possible, to old hands whose service may not be immediately need (Continue on page four) August 30 Tentatively Set as Date for Opening Washington County Schools \ugusi au nas Been tentatively set as the official date for reopen ing of ail the schools in Washing ton County, according to H. H. McLean, superintendent of pub lic instruction, who said the early opening date would enable stu dents to get in a half year’s work before the Christmas holidays. It was suggested that the ear lier opening would mean the chil dren would be in school during some very warm days, but* this objection was met by referring to the hot weather experienced last | term during :viay. Those who favored the early starting of schools said the chil dren on most of the farms in the county were needed more for farm work in May than they were in the early fall, as there is lit tle they can do since cotton has ceased to be one of the major crops in this section. In former years, the various county institutions of learning have had different opening dates, but this year school authorities hope to open and close all the schools at the same time.
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
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July 14, 1939, edition 1
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