North Carolina Newspapers

The Roanoke Beacon I * * * * jf ^ * and Washington County News ★★★★★★★ VOLUME LIII NUMBER 53 Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina, Thursday, December 31, 1942 ESTABLISHED 1889 MAD imT PAT DAT BOND DAY Town opics Several local grocerymen queried today said that so far they had ex perienced no rush on the part of the public to buy canned goods and other items likely to be on the list of ra tioned articles February 1. All of them said that they planned to limit sales in the event a “run” on their stocks is threatened. Registration of young men who have .become 18 years old since June 30th has been lighter than expected in the county. out 20 have been registered at the office of the draft board here so far this month. No reports have been received from Roper and Creswell. The local rationing board of fice announced today that the time for receiving applications ,for War Ration Book No. 1 had been extended from December 15 until January 15, 1943. All con sumers must have Book No. 1 by January 15 in order to be eligi ble to receive Book No. 2. Both county and town tax collec tors are reminding tax payers that they can pay their 1942 taxes during the month of January. Beginning February 1. the state schedule of pen alties will be added to all unpaid tax accounts. Partolman M. B. Stewart said this week that he had cited an increas ing number of motorists for travel ing over 35 miles per hour during the past week or so. For a time most motorists observed the new limit, but a gradual speed-up has been noticed recently. Those halted by the pa trolman are cited to rationing boards in their home localities. Mrs. M. W. Spruill will serve as list take for the Town of Plymouth again this year and will be at the office of Mrs. Hermine Ramsey, list taker for the township, throughout the month of January. This enables those who live in town to list both their county and town pro perty at the same time. A total of 3,185 whiskey rationing books were issued in Washington County up to yesterday, according to J. R. Campbell, chairman of the ABC board. Books are still being issued by Mrs. Hermine Ramsey here, but the demand is dropping steadily, it was said. E. G. Arps, chairman of the board of county commissioners, was taken to a Rocky Mount hospital early last wyek to receive medical treatment Ur, v was able to return to his home here Saturday. He was reyojtsd to tfe steadily improving today, although Hi! will probably be required to re main at his home for a week or so. He will not be able to attend the county board meeting next Monday, i .ns Siated. 45 Colored Men Gel Notices To Report To Army Next Week Leave Friday, January 8; 22 of Number From Plymouth Notices are being sent out this week to 45 colored men to report to the office of the local draft board Friday morning of next week, when they will be sent to Fort Bragg for their physical and mental examina tions to determine their fitness to serve in the army. The original call was for 50 men to report at this time, but only 45 are available. Plymouth is called on to furnish nearly half of the entire quota, 22 of the 45 being from here. Roper is next with 9; then comes Creswell with 8 and Mackeys with 3. Three others are now out of the county, and their notices are being mailed to Elizabeth City, Norfolk and Ports mouth. The list follows: From Plymouth: Richard Rhodes, Cornelius McNair, David William Henry Norfleet, Elmo Dennis More, Mack Lindsay Bowens, John Henry Blount, Joseph Williams, Eddie Hy man, Samuel Wynn, Henry Fred Hudson, Leroy Gee, Joseph Cleveland Small. Louis Edward Moore, Nathan iel Vick, Cleonza Sutton, Biscoe Ran som, jr., John Amanthor Gaylord, Willie Samuel Belcher, David Henry Collins, Kader Junior Brown, Wil ~ (See DRAFT LIST, Page Six) IMPORTANT INFORMATION Following is a condensation of im portant information concerning ex piration dates of various raitioning coupons, as prepared with the advice of the local rationing board: Sugar—War Ration Stamp No, 10, good for three pounds until January 31, 1942. Coffee -Stamp No. 27 in War Ra tion Book No. 1 good for one pound until January 3. Stamps are valid only in ration books issued to per sons 15 years of' age or older. Fuel Oil—Householder Coupons marked Period 2 now valid for 10 gal lons to January 23, 1943. Coupons marked Period 3 became valid on December 28 and Householder Cou pons have a unit value of 10 gallons. Gasoline—Value of "B and “C" ! gasoline coupons now set at three gallons. “A" coupons No. 3 good for three gallons, valid until January 22. 1943. ' T-l” and “T-2” coupons good for five gallons each. Name and ad dress of owners must be written in ink on back of each “T” coupon. License number of automobile and state in which automobile is register ed must be written in ink on back of each "A", ‘ B" and “C” coupon. Tires—Tires on commercial vehic- ' les—trucks, taxicabs, ambulances,! etc.—must be inspected by OPA-li- j censed inspector by January 15. | Tires on passenger automobiles must be inspected by OPA-licensed inspec tor by January 31. To obtain new or j recapped tires, to be made available ' for essential driving, apply to local rationing board. Meat—the time for obtaining War Ration Book No. 2, to be used in con nection with the rationing of meat and other commodities in 1943, will be announced soon by the Office of Price Administration War Ration Book No. 2, cannot be obtained by persons who do not possess War Ra tion Book No. 1. Those who do not have War Ration Book No. 1 must apply for it at local rationing boards by January 15, 1943. Pay Rolls—On January 1, employ ers must start withholding the 5 per cent Victory Tax on amount of em ploye's salary in excess of $624 a year. Sons and Daughters Of Lions Guests at Banquet Last Night Students Tell What Schools And Colleges Doing To Promote Victory -<s> A variation of the father-and-son banquet idea was presented at a spe cial dinner meeting of the Plymouth Lions Club held at the country club last night, when sons and daughters of the local Lions presented a pro gram designed to show what schools and colleges they attended were do ing to further the war effort. Fifty two were present, including 24 mem bers, 27 sons and daughters of Lions, and Ben A. Sumner, county repre sentative to the legislature, who was presented and mate a brief address. Following a delicious chicken din ner, served by Mrs. Mary Horton, Manager of the club, the program was turned over to Wilford Whitley, son of Lion W. L. Whitely, who told of the war program at Davidson Col lege and presented the following rep resentatives to tell of the work at their schools: Miss Mary Lillian Campbell, daughter of Lion B. G. Campbell, Salem College; Harry Mc Lean, son of Lion H. H. McLean, Plymouth High -School; and Hoy Manning, son of Lion J. R. Manning, University of North Carolina. Special gifts were presented to E. L. Walker, the oldest married Lion present: A. Lloyd Owens, the young est married man; and T. C. Burgess, who had the most children present, three. The weekly drawing for war stamp prizes, $3 and $2, was won by Archie Riddle, jr., and L. J. Meunier, jr., respectively. Addresses 15 Men Wanted by Board The local draft board wants the correct addresses of 15 colored men to whom notices have been sent re cently and returned by post offices due to incorrect addresses. Relatives or friends of the men listed below are requested to notify the local board of their correct addresses by next Mon day, January 4, or they will be cer tified to the FBI as delinquents, which may result in serious trouble for them. The list of those to be cited and their last-known addresses is as fol lows: Garfield Blount, 319 Lewis St., Norfolk, Va.; Ira Barnes, care Plym outh Box and Panel Co., City; John Smith, 1045 Dallas St., Baltimore, Md.; William Henry Brown, W. Main St., City; Junior James, Plymouth; Jeff Turner Scarborough, Route 1, Box 388, Plymouth; Aloumd James Williamson, 117 Elizabeth St., Dur ham; James Chappell, care Oscar Mi zelle, Plymouth; Richard Ed Row son, care C. W. Pritchett, Route 2. Columbia; Jack Johnson Moore, Route 1, Box 95, Milford, Del.; Leon ard Lewis Leary, Route 1, Box 900, Suffolk, Va.; Johnny Lee Norman, Mackeys; Lora Tatem, Jackson, N. C.,; Jesse Vernon Sears, USS Corps., Ritta Camp, Clewiston, Fla.; and Ar thur Linwood Wiggins, 249 W. 116th St., New York City. Christmas Holiday Season Very Quiet In County; No Accidents, Few Arrests The Christmas holidays passed comparatively very quietly In Plymouth and Washington Coun ty last week. There were no automobile accidents reported, and very little excessive drinking, according to local law enforce ment officers. Fve colored peo ple were arrested here for fight ing; and an unknown person fir ed a shotgun into Aaron Cooper's pool room here Saturday night, which constituted about all the excitement reported locally. Sheriff J. K. Reid reported the holiday was very quiet, with no arrests for lawbreaking in his department. Highway Patrol man M. B. Stewart cited a few speeders to the state rationing authorities, but said th« holiday period was unusually quiet. Last year there were three or four au tomobile w'recks and four or more were arrested for drunken driv ing during the Christmas season. A colored girl was hit on the finger by a stray buckshot Satur day night, when someone fired a shotgun from “Sugar Hill” into the colored crowd in Aaron Coop er’s pool room here Saturday night. Police found the gun but were not able to locate the per son who fired the shot. A number of local people spent the holidays In other sections vis iting relatives, while many others quietly observed Christ mas at home. There were many hunters In the fields both Friday and Saturday. Penny Shortage Now Not So Great While there is still a shortage of pennies, the change-making situation has been somewhat re lieved here during the past few days by an influx of one-cent pieces, H. E. Beam, cashier of the Branch Banking & Trust Company, said today. Following his appeal last week to those who were saving pennies to put them back into circulation, Mr. Beam said that a great many people had turned them in. He also said that the bank had received a large quantity of small coins in addition to the pennies in recent days. There is no surplus of pennies yet, however, and Mr. Beam asks that as many as possible be kept in circulation. Representative Will Leave Tuesday for Legislative Session Asks People To Advise Him Of Wishes Concerning Proposed Laws .--<& Ben A. Sumner, Washington Coun ty representative to the 1D*3 session of the North Carolina General As sembly, will leave next Tuesday morning to attend the Democratic caucus Tuesday night and opening session of the legislature the next morning. Political forecasters in Ra leigh forsee a short session of the legislature, and it is expected that the lawmakers will be able to wind up legislative affairs within the regular 60-day period. Mr. Sumner has been assigned seat No. 35 in the house, and he said he would make the Sir Walter Hotel his headquarters while in Raleigh. He invites his Washington County con stituents to call on him if they go to Raleigh while the legislature is in session, and he also says he will be glad to hear from them at any time relative to legislative matters. Mail may be addressed to him in care of the Sir Walter Hotel. Tire county representative is enter ing upon his first term as a legislator, and he said today that he would re main on the job there as long as the session lasted. He said he had only one objective in view, to represent the people of the county to the best of his ability. Explaining that he was new at the kind of work which lay ahead of him, he stated that his actions would be governed entirely by what he considered to be the wishes of a majority of the people, and he will appreciate their advice on mat ters which affect them. Right at this time, Mr. Sumner said he had no specific legislative matters affecting tire county to pre sent, but said that doubtless some lo cal matters would come up for con sideration later in the session. Crowder Recovers Car Stolen Sunday Stolen from in front of his bro ther’s store in South Hill, Va., Sun day night, the Plymouth sedan be longing to Mr. and Mrs. Joe Crowder, of Plymouth, was recovered Monday in Blackstone, Va., about 35 miles from where it was stolen. Mr. and Mrs. Crowder and family had spent the Christmas holidays with rela tives in South Hill, and were prepar ing to return to Plymouth Sunday night when the car was stolen. Mr. Crowder had gone into his bro ther's store, leaving the switch key in the car, as he expected to return in a few minutes. He was gone only about 20 minutes before the car was missing. Virginia State police were notified, and an alarm broadcast. The missing car was discovered at Camp Pickett, near Blackstone, the next day by a military policeman, but Mr. Crowder was not notified of its recovery until Tuesday afternoon. He left yesterday to bring it back. It was reported that all four hub caps, the heater and other accessor ies had been removed. The thief evi dently was foiled in an attempt to steal the tires by lock nuts on each of the wheels. It is understood that the tar was not otherwise damaged. Fuel-Oil Coupons for First Period Good Until January 2nd -$ Time Is Extended Due To Delay in Mailing Out Allotments -® The local rationing board office force is still engaged in working out allotments of fuel oil for those with central heating plants, Mrs. J. K. Reid, secretary, said today. They will be completed and in the hands of consumers before Saturday, it was stated. In the meantime, fuel-oil ration coupons for the first period were sup posed to expire December 30. How ever, Mrs. Reid said that dealers would be asked to continue accept ing them through Saturday, Janu ary 2nd. No further applications for fuel-oil allotments for heating are being accepted by the board, last Saturday, December 26, having been designated as the deadline for mak ing such applications. Incorrect addresses given by ap plicants have caused 34 allotments of kerosene for lighting and cooking to be returned to the office of the board here. There were mailed to the ad dresses filled in on the application blanks, but were returned by post offices stamped 'unknown.” Persons who have made applications for such allotments are requested to drop a card to the office of the board here, if they have not received their al lotments. It is possible that the missing allotments may be included in the list of those with incorrect ad dresses. Attention is called by the ration ing board to the fact that an inspec tion must be made of all tires on trucks, ambulances, and commercial motor vehicles of all kinds before January 15th. Owners of private passenger cars have until January 31st to have the inspection made of their tires. Authorized tire inspection sta tions in Washington County are as follows: Manning Motor Company, Esso Service Station, Water Street Service Station, and Keel's Service Station, all of Plymouth; and Earl Davenport’s Service Station at Cres well. There is no official inspection station in Roper at this time. Mrs. Sarah Chesson Died Last Week at Home of Daughter -<*' Native of Roper Section; Had Been Living in Williamston -® Mrs. Sarah Swain Sitterson Ches son, 76, widow of the late Gillam Chesson, of Roper, died Wednesday afternon of last week at the home of her daughter, Mrs. J. W. Gurganus, in Williamston. after an illness thai lasted about a year. A native of this county, she lived all her life near Roper until about three months ago, when she went to live with her daughter at Williamston. Mrs. Chesson was the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Cleophus Swain, of near Roper, where she was born February 25, 1866. She was married to J. T. Sitterson December 26, 1883;'and, following his death, to the late Gillam Chesson about 12 years ago. She was long a member of the Saints Delight Christian church, where the funeral services were held Thursday afternoon of last week by the Rev. John L. Goff, pas tor of the Williamston Christian church, asisted by the Rev. B E. Taylor, .pastor of the Plymouth Christian church, and the Rev. Pres ton Cayton. of Edenton, pastor of Saints Delight church. Interment folowed in the cemetery at Saints De light. Mrs. Chesson is survived by four sons, J. D. Sitterson, Southern Pines; C. M. Sitterson. Norfolk, Va.; B. E. Sitterson, Craddock, Va ; and Rufus Sitterson. Norfolk. Va.; four daugh ters, Mrs. B. J. Bateman, of New port News, Va: Mrs. J. W. Gurganus, Williamston; Mrs. R. L. Bateman, of Plymouth; and Mrs. W. H. Daven port, of Washington. She also leaves 26 grandchildren and 14 great-grand children. Her grandsons served as pall-bearers and her granddaughters were flower bearers at the final rites. Superior Couri Will Begin Two Weeks' Term Here Monday -$ First Two Days Will Be for Criminal Actions; 20 Civil Cases on Calendar -$ Washington County Superior Court will convene next Monday morning, with Judge E. Everett Thompson, of Elizabeth City, presiding. Judge R. Hunt Parker, of Roanoke Rapids, was originally scheduled to be here for the two weeks mixed term, but an ex change was effected, and the Eliza beth City jurist will be here instead. There are only a few cases on the criminal docket, according to W. B. Cox, assistant clerk. Monday and Tuesday have been set aside for their disposition, with the civil calendar set for the remainder of the term. There are 20 civil actions scheduled to be heard. The criminal docket had not been made up by the clerk yesterday, but the calendar of civil actions set for term is as follows: Wednesday, January 6: M. T. El liott et al. vs. John Halsey; A. L. Owens et al. vs. D. M. McKnight et al.; The Cincinatti Time Recorder Co. vs. L. V. Fagon. Thursday, January 7; Farmville Woodard Lbr. Co. vs. H. W. Bowen; T. M. Bowen vs. N. S. R. R Co.: L. T. Weede vs. N. S. R. R. Co.; Geo. P. Askew vs. N. S. R. R. Co. Monday, January 11: Martha Creasman vs. Railway Express Agen cy; Lula Mae Ange vs. Virginia Ange: P. A. Toodle vs. P. H. Bell Adms.: House Chevrolet Co. vs. W. A. Beal et al. Tuesday, January 12: H. Lewis Horton vs. F. S. Winslow; W. R. Hampton vs. Tom Tharpe et al.; R. S. Browning vs. N. S. Bus Corp.; John Deere Plow Co. vs. J. H. Gay lord m. Wednesday, January 13: M. H Jackson et al. vs. T. G. Wallace et al; Alex Tillet vs. N. S. RR. Co.; M. T. Elliott et al. vs. C. T. Gaines et al.; Elizabeth Turst vs. Hulda K. Buckman; J. S. Shugar vs. Freemon Human et al. Cucumber Contracts Ready for Farmers At Lang Plant Here Prices To Be Paid in 1943 Are Higher Than for Last Season -® C. W. Dinkins and Harry McNair will again be in charge of the C. C. Lang & Son pickle plant here this season, and it is being annonuced this week that farmers of this sec tion who wish to grow cucumbers during the 1943 season may now call at the plant and make arrangements for contracts. Mr. Dinkins has been teaching school at High Point, and returned to Plymouth shortly before Christmas to resume active manage ment of the plant here. Contract prices for cucumbers will be higher during the coming sea son than they were in 1942. They will be machine graded, and the price schedule for 1943 is as follows: No. 1 grade (l'/i to 3 inches in length), $3.50 per 100 pounds; No. 2-A grade (3 to 4 1-4 inches), $180 per 100: No. 2-B (4 1-4 to 5l/2 inches), $1: No. 3 <crooke, l>/2 to 4 inches), 80 cents; and No. 4 'Oversize, not over 6 inches long), 40 cents per 100 pounds. The office at the plant here will be open each week-day from 8 a. m. to 5 p. m.. except Saturdays, when it will be open from 8 to 12 in the mornings. Contracts may also be se cured at the Blount Hardware and Seed Store, it was announced. Farmers who wish to plant cucum bers this season are urged to get in touch with Messrs. Dinkins. McNair, or the Blount Hardware store imme diately and arrange for their con tracts. Native of County Dies in Virginia Funeral services were held at Pleasant Grove Wednesday afternoon for Mrs. Martha Ann Spruill, 80 na tive of Washington County who died at her home in Kembridge, Va.. Mon day morning after an illness of a week. The final rites were conduct ed by the Rev. G. C. Wood, of Roper, assisted by the Rev. Mr. White, of Kembridge She was a member of the Kembridge Methodist church. Burial was in the Pleasant Grove church cemetery. Mrs. Spruill, who was the daugh ter of the late Mr. and Mrs. John Norman, was born in Washington County November 30. 1862. She was married to the late W. S. Spruill and lived in Mackeys until his death about 35 years ago, when she moved to Kembridge, Va. She is survived by three sons, C. R. and W. S. Spruill, of Kembridge, Va : and W. N. Spruill, of Blackstone, Va.: one step-daughter. Mrs. Thomas Chesson, of Elizabeth City: and a step-son. W. R. Spruill, of Miami. Fla. Tax Listing for 1943 To Get Underway in County Last of Week if REPRESENTATIVE f *-» Representative Ben A Sumner will leave next Tuesday for Ra leigh to attend the session of the General Assembly which begins Wednesday morning. Will Begin Drafting Men for Marines and Navy in February Calls for Army Already Re ceived; Other Will Be Made Later -@ Washington County will receive four calls for selectees in February, the local board was informed this week, when two calls were received. There will be two calls, one for white and one for colored, for selectees to go into the Army and two other calls —also one for white and one for colored—for men to go into the Na vy and Marine Corps. Both calls received so far are men to go into the Army. Tire first is for 35 white men to leave Friday, Febru ary 5; while the other is for 25 col ored men to leave Thursday, Febru ary 18. It was stated that addition al calls for men to go into the Navy and Marine Corps would be issued as soon as requirements for these branches of the service were de termined for tliit month. It is considered possible that all fu ture calls will be made on about the same basis. In this county the num ber of men classed as 1-A has been nearly exhausted, including single men and married men without child ren, Induction of 18 and 19 year olds will just about clean up this class in the next couple of months, after which future procedure is in doubt. Under present directives to the local boards, married men with children cannot be called, but it is not known how soon this directive may have to be rescinded. Washington County has two calls for men in January, the first for 50 colored to leave Friday of next week, January 8th; and the other for 75 white men Jaunary 26th. Four Cases Tried Recorder's Court There were four cases in record ers court here Tuesday, but three of them called for jury trials, and con sequent!’ the session was long drawn out, lasting most of the day. Follow ing is a record of the proceedings. Ernest Lee Johnson, colored, of Plymouth, was found guilty of non support by the jury. He was order ed to pay the court costs and $2 each week for the support of his child. Cyril Ange, white, of Plymouth, charged with assault with a deadly weapon, was found guilty of simple assault by the jury and Recorder E. L. Owens fined him $20 and costs. Willie Jennette, colored, of Plym outh, was found guilty of the theft of a watch and fined $50 and costs. He noted an appeal to the superior court. Clyde Allen, white, of Acre Sta tion, entered a plea of guilty to a charge of public drunkness and was assessed the costs of the court. Personal Properly Schedule of Values Set Up Las! Week Farmers Must Also Furnish List of Plantings Dur ing Past Year The annual task of listing all pro perty in Washington County will get underway in Washington County this week-end some of the list takers planning to start Friday, aJnuary 1, ■while others will start Saturday, January 2. All real estate, personal property and poll taxes must be list ed during the month of January in the four townships of the county: and penalties are provided for those who fail or neglect to see their res pective list-takers during this period. In addition to the tax listing, all farmers are required to furnish a farm census, showing number of acres planted to each kind of crop during the year 1942, as well as plantings planned during the com ing season. Information required al so includes total number of acres in farm, number acres cleared, number cultivated by owners and tenants, number acres waste land, number and kind of all sheep, cattle, swine, chicken,s etc. Farmers are asked by Tax Supervisor E. F. Swain, to pre pare lists containing all this infor mation and have it ready for the list takers. Early listing is advised to lessen the possibility of a last-minute rush. As a rule, the list takers have very little to do during the early days of January and then are overwhelmed with work during the last week. Those who w'ait until the last few days usually find long lines ahead of them, increasing the possibility of errors as well as suffering unavoid able delay. Mrs. Hermine Ramsey is the list taker for Plymouth Towmship this year, and she will be in her office ev ery week day from Saturday, Janu ary 2, to January 31. inclusive. List takers for the other townships in the county are: Lees Mill. E. M. Ches son: Scuppernong. Paul Belanga; and Skinnersville, W. W. White. For mer County Comissioner E. F. Sw'ain, of Creswell, is supervisor. Schedules for list takers of the three town ships down the county are being post ed this week, but were not available here today. There will be no change in real es tate valuations this year, except w'here improvements have been added or damage suffered during the past 12 months. At a meeting of the sup ervisor, list takers and county com missioners held Tuesday night of last week, a uniform schedule for listing personal property was discuss ed and the following scale agreed on: Horses, from $25 to $150; mules, $25 to $250; sheep, $2 to $5 head; goats, $1; hogs and pigs, 10 cents a pound; milk cattle, $40 to $75; other cattle, 8 cents pound: -poultry, .15 .cents pound; meat and lard. 15 cents pound. Automobiles will be listed according to make, model and type. 11 Accepted Out of 36 Men Last Week -@ Only 11 of the 36 colored selectees sent to Port Bragg Monday of last week were accepted for service by the army, according to information re ceived by the office of the local draft board. This is one of the smallest percentages of acceptances yet re corded by a group of men from this county, it was said. The 11 men accepted, who return ed to Port Bragg Tuesday to begin their training, are as follows: Isaac Grimes, Sam Pierce, Robert Ches son. Wilbert Channel, Lorenzo Mid gett, Henry Combs, General Robert Downing, Rossie Benjamin Fagan. Elmer Lee Norman, Wilbert Tread well, and Albert W. Arnold. Saturday, 9 A. M., Deadline for Filing Farm Statements at Draft Board Office Saturday morning. 9 a. m., is the deadline for farmers to file statements with the local selec tive service board, showing the number of acres of various kinds of crops cultivated last season and number of acres planned for the coming season, as well as livestock, poultry, etc., raised. This information will be con sidered in connection with pos sible reclassification of farmers considered essential to prosecu tion of the war. The local board will hold sev eral closed meetings sometime during January to consider n - classification of those who sub mit statements. Those who cul tivate crops and produce live stock or poultry equal to 16 war units will oe given a classifica tion of 2-C or 3-C. depending on whether or not they have de pendents. No authority has been received by the board here to low er the number of war units in or der to place farmers in this class, although such authority' was re quested by the board in a letter to state selective service officials. It was stated that the board mould not be able to consider any statements filed after 9 a. m. Saturday, January 2nd.