T'own opics County School Superintendent Roy Lowry left here Wednesday to attend a three-day session of the county and city school super intendents’ department of the soeiation. meeting in Wilmington Wednesday through Friday of this week. Mr. Lowry said that he planned to remain in Wilm ington for the entire three-day meeting. Miss Virginia Chapin student at East Carolina Teachers Col lege in Greenville and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Chapin, of Plymouth, was elected to the vice presidency of the Lanier Society at officer elections recently con ducted by the group. The Lanier Society is a literary organization at the Greenville college. The local post of the American Legion will not sponsor an Empty Stocking Fund in Plymouth this year due to the number of pro jects already undertaken by the organization, legion officials have stated. Up until Christmas of 1946 the legionnaires had sponsor ed the drive annually, abandon ing it last Yuletide because at the time there was no need for the fund. Reports from the law enforce ment officials in Plymouth state that a total of only five eases were tried in magistrates courts here during the entire month of November. The of ficials stated that this is a record-breaking all-time low in the Plymouth JP courts. They added that all five defendants were charged with public drunkenness. The long-awaited steam-heated serving counter for the Plym outh school lunchroom has ar rived and is being used, school officials reported. The counter is cold, however, since adequate labor to connect it hasn't been secured as yet. When it is con nected. operations in the lunch room construction will be finish ed, except for the laying of acoustic and mastic tile. Officials in the Washington County Athletic Association have reported that a total of $3,200 worth of stock shares have been sold to dfrte in the Association's current drive riur Owens of- Plymouth is sales chair man. Mr, and Mrs. W. Frith Wins low and Miss Ellen Winslow were & in Raleigh on Wednesday attend ing a meeting of the North Caro lina Art Society. Mr. Winslow had a portrait exhibited in the State Art Gallery for the meet ing. Shirley Davenport, eight-year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Davenport of Plymouth, who has been a diphtheria patient in a Rocky Mount hospital for the past two weeks is reported to be showing much improvement and hopes to return to her home here this week-end. She is the third victim of diphtheria to be re ported in Washington County this year. •--♦ Member Campaign vFinal Couni 376 --* The final count of the Washing ton County Farm Bureau at the cjose of its membership drive on Friday was 376, barely half of the county’s assigned quota of 600. W. T. Freeman of Plymouth, president of the organization in this county .stated that member ships will be accepted throiyth out the remainder of this year, but that no canvassing for new members will be done on a large scale. He added that the Bureau plans to have a big feed down in the Creswell section some time after Christmas, but that definite plans for the affair will be formu lated later. --♦ Officers Destroy Still Last Week County ABC officer L. L. Bas night. Officer Alvin Allen, and L C. Snell, captured and de stroyed a two-barrel whiskey distilling outfit in Deep Bottom Swamp, near the Maekeys Road, last Thursday, Mr. Basnight has reported. The ABC officer stated that the still was found by the three men just before operations for the day were to have been begun by the illicit business’s owner. He added that no mash was found in the barrels, but that the complete distillery was located and smash ed. The still operators, Basnight said, were away on other busi ness, when the officers paid their respect to his industry The Roanoke Beacon *★*★** and Washington County News **★★★★ "1 IF7 Shopping Days X J Until Christmas *t* »>« »» Oai a« t>a> ft» Sj&M&ift&ftk sw» o«i o^s «>«s ei^s 4 VOLUME LVIII—NUMBER 49 Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina, Thursday, December 4, 1947 ESTABLISHED 1889 List Takers Appointed At Meeting This Week Tax listers for Washington County for 1948 were appointed by the board of county commis sioners at their regular monthly meeting here on Monday and a special meeting of the commis sioners and listers was calk'd for Monday December 22, when the listers will be given procedure in structions and prices set on live stock, and other taxable items. Listers appointed by the coun ty governing body were as fol lows: Paul B. Belanga for Scup pernong Township. W. W. Whitt? for Skinnersville Township, R. W. Lewis for Lees Mill Town ship. and Mrs. Hermine Ramsey for Plymouth Township. Hubert L. Davenport was named tax sup ervisor for the county during the listing period which extends from January 1, 1948 until February 1. The joint meeting of the com missioners and the listers will be held in the commissioners room in the county courthouse in Plymouth at 7:30 p. m. on the date appointed. Town Building Is Ordered Sold I I ! Farm Training j j Meet in Roper j Any veteran in the Plymouth Roper area who is engaged in fulltime farming, who plans to do so next year, and who is in terested in receiving training under the Veteran Farmers’ Training Program, is requested to meet with Mitchiner Banks, Roper school agriculture in structor. at the Roper school building this Friday at 7 p. m. Banks said that applications for training will be received then and the program will be explained. He added that those unable to attend the meeting should contact him before De cember 12. F.ight of the 32 expected applications have been received. Education Board Relays Awarding School Contracts -» Action Due to Too Few Bids Received; Will Consider Matter at Called Meet Later -4 Due to the fact that only three bids were received for electrical installations, only one on heat ing plant work, and none for general construction and plumb ing in the planned erection of a new Negro school building in Creswell, members of the Wash ington County Board of Educa tion, meeting in Plymouth Mon day, voted to consider the mat ter of contract letting at a meet ing to be held later in the month. Advertisement for sealed bids on four different aspects of the construction of the school was made by the board several weeks ago. Separate contracts were to have been awarded for general construction, heating, plumbing, and electrical installations. Although no definite solution to the problem was adopted by the education board at its Monday meeting, the board members may decide to adopt the course of ac tion used in the construction of the Plymouth High School’s new class rooms in employing a con struction crew and supervisor on : a flat-fee basis. Date of the special meeting < was not set at the Monday ses- : sion and will be decided and an- ' nounced later. ] Agreement was made between ’ the board members and the Wash- i ington County Athletic Associa- ! tion whereby both the local high : school and the association would 1 be enabled to use the athletic ( field given the school by the Still 1 Realty Company in Stillacres. i Other business enacted by the i board of education at the meet- | ing this week was of a routine i nature. -4- , Discuss Schools - Ai Club Meeting -♦ Members of the Plymouth Ro tary Club, meeting in regular ses sion on Tuesday night, heard an t informal discuss’on by Rotarian t F;nley Ferguson concerning the , schools in Plymouth and what its graduates may expect when c they receive their diplomas. Club President Carl L. Bailey 1 jpened the meeting with a brief ’ talk on the prospective new athle tic field for Plymouth in the l Stillacres section. President • Bailey urged the wholehearted i support of the club for the pro- i iect. 1 Council Advertises City Headquarters, Fire Sta tion to Be Auctioned Next Month Plymouth town couneilmen. meeting Wednesday night, voted to advertise the present Munici pal Building for sale at public auction and ordered further that blue-prints and specifications for the remodelling of the Old Mark et Building and the construction of a new fire house be drawn up. based on plans presented by a council committee, and approved at the council meeting this week. The auction of the Municipal Building will be held at the county courthouse door at 12 noon on Monday, January 5, 1948, together with the present fire house. The council reserved the right to accept or reject any and all bids. Further terms of the sale will be announced at the time the auction is held. According to preliminary sket ches presented by the committee to the council, the proposed new fire-gtotMlt would, pe of brick, basemUBI. It also contain a toilet and'shower. The build ing would be 30 feet wide by 60 feet long and would have a double door with an 11-foot clear ance for the town’s fire trucks. It would be built on the city awned lot next to the water tank an Water Street and would be eonstructed at a cost of from 610,000 to $12,000. Plans submitted for the re nodelling of the Old Market Building which would house Plymouth’s municipal govern nentment disclosed the proposed establishment of five offices and a council room on the ground :loor, while six offices and two •eception rooms would be locat ed on the second floor. Two toil ets would be installed upstairs md two downstairs. The upstairs offices would exit hrough a single main entrance m Water Street and the down stairs rooms would open at the (See TOWN, Page Twelve! -4 Cub Pack Meet Here on Friday -- All parents of Plymouth boys tetween the ages of nine and 12 vho are interested in having their ;ons become members of a Cub leout pack here have been re vested to meet in the local high chool auditorium this Friday at :30 p. m. so that formation of the >eak can be discussed, Harold Vhitley, chairman of the Albe laile district of the Boy Scouts if America, has announced. Mr. Whitley said that advan ages available to members of a .’ub Pack would be explained to he parents at the meeting. An ither session, which would in lude the boys as well as the larents, will be called next week, le said. Board Agrees to Allow Joint-Use Of School Field -♦ Money Appropriated to Improve Athletic Faci lities in Creswell, Rop er, Plymouth -♦ Agreement was reached Mon day by the county board of edu cation. the board of county com missioners, and the Washington County Athletic Association whereby the rear portion of the Plymouth School property in Stillacres will be used jointly by the school and association for an athletic field. The commissioners also agreed to appropriate $2,000 to be used in grading the land. They also pur chased a lot adjoining the rear of the school tract, and owned by the association, for $800, the price paid by the association to the lot's former owner, M. O. Caton. In return for the county ap propriation and purchase, the Still Realty Company, original owner of the school land, acting through the athletic association, agreed to deed to the education board an additional tract of land to the rear of the school property, completing the area needed for an athletic field and extending the school property in Stillacres back to the Atlas Plywood pro perty line. Incorporated into the tract was the lot bought by the county from the association Final legal action transferring the title of the lands from the association and the realty com pany to the board of education will be made shortly. The plan ned ne\v Plymouth High School will be constructed on the front portion of the land and the ath letic field placed at the rear. The field will be used by both the school and the athletic associa tion. The county comnvssioners also voted to appropriate an addition al $2,480.83 which will be divid ed equally between the Creswell and Roper schools to be used by them for improving athletic fa cilities in the two schools. Plymouth Attorney Carl L. Bailey acted as spokesman for the athletic association committee who proposed the joint-use plan at the board of education meet ing Monday. -- Bond Resolution For Hospital Is Ordered by Board •-♦ County Board Reserves Right of Final Decision to Sell All Hospital Bonds or Not County Attorney W. L. Whitley has been authorized by the board of county commissioners to con tact bonding attorneys in New York to prepare a resolution au thorizing the county to issue $50, 000 in bonds for the construction of a hospital in Washington Coun- ( ty, according to action taken at the commissioner’s meeting here Monday. The resolution would !, be submitted to county voters later. j The bond issue proposal was!, made by the board of hospital | managers who stated that the ‘ county’s $75,000 share of funds in securing a state-aid hospital for this section would be impossible ^ to secure through public subscrip tion, but that a $25,000 drive, c backed up by a $50,000 bond issue 1 by the county ould be accom- ‘ plished with a minimum of dif ficulty. In pointing out the advantages 1 af such a step, the hospital board ‘ said that even after the issue of ' $50,000 in bonds, the county’s 1 bonded indebtedness would still ‘ be below the minimum 10 per f (See BOND, Page Seven) County Asks for Conference With Highway Official Commissioners Request Thorough Study of County’s Road Prob lems at Early Date -* The Washington County Board of Commissioners, meeting in regular session on Monday, in structed the clerk to contact State Highway Commissioner John Clark at Greenville, informing him that the Washington County Board had approved two more requests for road improvements in the county and asking that he arrange a meeting with the com missioners as soon as possible so that the county's highway prob lems can be thoroughly discussed. The county board added that they would be willing to meet . either in Plymouth or at Mr. Clark's office in Greenville but wishbd to hold the session as soon as conveniently possible. The road improvement peti tions' approved by the board were one signed by 91 persons and ask ing that the State fix up the Pea Ridgt Road from the E. O. Arnold place to the Scuppernong Church in Creswell, while the other peti tion. signed by 23 names and pre sented by a delegation of Roper section residents, asked that a four-mile section of road begin- 1 ning at US 64 west of Roper and going north to the Mackeys Rond be given an all-weather surface. In informing the Highway Commission of its approval of the petitions, the board stated that if the project of repairing the , old Plymouth-Columbia Road ' from the Patrick store to the Tyrrell County line is on the ap proved list of projects, the board members would rather that the Pea Ridge Road project be plac ed in its stead. The commissioners, examining a request from Mrs. Georgia Allen that her county tax assessment be reduced from $2,000 to $1,850. found no error made by the coun :y assessors and denied the re quest. A total sum of $4,480.83 was ap propriated for improving athletic facilities in the Creswell, Roper, ind Plymouth schools, and an i>800-lot bought from the Wash ngton County Athletic Associa :ion. Jury lists for the January :erm of civil and criminal court vas drawn and reports were aeard from the county auditor 1 rnd tax collector, and from the ;ounty home demonstration agent. County Attorney W. L. Whit- ' ey was authorized to write bond- ; ng attorneys in New York to ‘ prepare groundwork for the call- ' ng of a hospital bonds election * py the commissioners, and Jim ’ iamilton was employed as court louse and agriculture building f ustodian for the month of De- 1 ‘ember. s Christmas Lights j Nearly Completed i -4- S The canopy of colored lights lung over Water Street from 1 \dams to Jefferson Streets and *• iver Washington Street from f Vater to Main Streets has been 1 ompleted and workmen, under * he supervision of Police Chief P. f V. Brown, have erected a star v utlined with lights over the Old a Jarket Building. The strings of lights, Plym- a uth's first since 1941, hearld the d icginning of the Christmas holi- I ay season for the town and d iromise to make it at least one - f the most colorful since before Porld War II. Chief Brown said that original Ians to have a lighted bell hung t intervals down the two streets ,as necessarily abandoned due a the scarcity of light bulbs. He dded that if enough bulbs can e located, additional stars w'ill e hung at the street intersec ions in the business part of town. n J t. Plymouth’s Bid for Membership« In Albemarle League Accepted; Plymouth’s bid for a franchise o play baseball in 1948 with the Ubemarle Baseball League was ccepted by the league's board of lireetors at a meeting held in identon Monday night, officials n the Washington County Athle ic Association have announced. The Plymouth team may re ilacc Suffolk, who alone of the 947 League members was not epresented at the Edenton meet ng, but the local team will play lext year, even if Suffolk decides to remain in the game. League of- 1 Eieials stating that if such is the I ?ase.a seven-team schedule will be worked out, or they will let ( a franchise to an eight team if | one qualifies. t All clubs must post a $500 sure- I ty bond by January 1, 1948, if s they wish to play in the Albe marle League during next year’s 1 season. Present teams who have 1 announced their intention of 1 maintaining Albemarle franchises 1 are Edenton, Colerain. Windsor, > ilizabeth City, Hertford, and now | s ’lymouth. v Walter Holden of Edenton war i lected president of the league at r he Monday meeting. Carl L. I lailey acted as Plymouth’s rep- r esentative to the board, with a lermanent representative to be s cttled upon later. j County athletic association of- 1 icials and stockholders who at- 1 ended the meeting were Mr. t Jailey, A. J. Riddle, president; j doyd Owens, W. H. Joyner, and f oe Foster. s Growers Vote Tuesday on Controls for Peanut Crop Names of Five Women Drawn for Jury Service Five women were drawn by :he Washington County board of :ommissioners for jury service luring the January term of civil md criminal superior court, vhich is the second time in the ;ounty’s history that members of :he fairer sex have been sum moned to serve on a jury. If they serve, however, it will je the first time in this county hat women have been jurors, ;inee the four ladies selected for he October civil court all de •lined to accept. The five drawn or the January term are Mrs. Margaret Browning and Mrs. Dorothy Horton, both of Plym outh. Mrs. Mary V. Pharr of ■ Roper, route one, Mrs. Eva Har- j rell, of Roper, and Mrs. E. C. J Patrick of Skinnersville. If the five women selected by J the commissioners on Monday wish not to serve, they have a wide-open field to avoid service since the State law admitting j women to jury service not only j provides excuse on grounds of I household duties or sickness, but leaves a blank for any other rea son that the lady can think up. Presiding judge will be R Hunt Parker of Roanoke Rapids. Acreage Reductions In County Will Cut Income of Producers State, Local Officials Dis cuss Plans to Remedy Possible Result of Low er Acreages -——f With an approximate 500-acre obncco acreage reduction and i eduction of about 2,000 acres in jeanuts scheduled for Washing- : on County in 1948, approximate y 35 farmers met with county ind state agriculture officials in he Agriculture Building in Plym luth Monday night to discuss ome possible way to maintain ounty farm incomes which would )e cut sharply by the tobacco ind peanut acreage reductions. Although no definite decisions esulted from the general dis ussion of the problem, the con ensus of opinion of those present ndicated that the best avenue or action to maintain the farm ncome would be to expand live tock and poultry production, put ing a portion of the idle acreage nto permanent pasturage and to ;row more livestock feeds, such s corn, soybeans, hay, and small ;rains. It was also suggested that some orm of land rotation might be ffected including the planting of oil-building crops such as winter nd summer legumes which ' rould be plowed under thereby liminating some fertilizer ex iense for the farmer. Reporting to the farm group n the current fertilizer situation, 'red Sloan, farm management pecialist of State College, stated c hat in 1948 fertilizer prices t .'ould increase by $3 per ton and { hat the supply would be limited. < le advised Washington County < arm operators to secure their ’ srtilizer supplies as soon as pos- 1 ible. 1 Commenting on the tobacco and * eanut outlook for next year, c . E. Pike, marketing specialist rom State College, said that the i t rbacco situation is still uncertain, r ut that the peanut future is more !. romising due to continued [ 1 rorld-wide demand for the nuts I ( s a source of food and oil. I i B. Troy Ferguson district farm a gent, and Mr. Isley of the State i epartment of Conservation and I levelopment, summarizing the F iscussion suggested that Wash- u (See ACREAGE, Page Seven) K Jinkins tlecled Master of Lodge C. W Dinkins was elected 1 taster of the Perseverance Lodge umber 59 A. F. & A. M. in elec- 1 ons held by the lodge mem- ll ers here on Tuesday night. Mr 1 ankins succeeds Walter S. Bow- ’ a in the post of master of the vf >dge. ’ Other officials elected at the ' leeting Tuesday were L. E. loxey, succeeding Mr. Dinkins 1 s senior warden; W. A. Roebuc1' jcceeding Mr. Doxey as junior j 'ardcn: B. G. Campbell, treas-j1 rer; and John W. Darden, sec- j ^ etary. Mr. Campbell and Mi iarden were re-elected to theii espective posts. The new officers will be in talled on Tuesday, January 6 t nd will serve for one year. Fol- c jwing his installation, Mr. Din- r ins will appoint lodge members ? a the posts of senior deacon, f unior deacon, two stewards, tiler, t nd chaplain who will be in f tailed immediately s Examiner Says j Rush Has Beaunj According to License Exami ner James Boyce, the grand scramble of auto drivers whose surnames begin with “A" and “B" has begun with all remain ing in the A-B name bracket j making a concerted rush to take their driver’s license re-exami nations before the December 31 deadline. During November, he said. 250 persons were examined of which 32 flunked out. Eight., were new drivers and 24 were11 re-examinees. Boyce added that from the way things look right now, December will easily top November in the number of li cense re-exam applicants. Election of AAA Committees Will Be Held Tuesday -+ Delegates Will Select) New Triple-A County! Committee at Conven tion Next Week ♦ All county farmers who parti ipated in the 1947 Triple-A pro ;ram will elect a new slate of omniunity AAA committeemen nd delegates to the county AAA onvent;on next Tuesday, cast ng their ballots for the orgeniza ion election at the same time nd in the same places in which he peanut marketing quota ref rcnduni is being held. Ballot boxes will be placed in he Agriculture Bui'oing in Plym uth for the Plymouth-Long ! cere section, at the J. C. Tar enton store for the Pleasant 1 irove section, in the Pierey store ; l Roper for the Roper section, ' nd in the Barnes Sandwich Shop i Creswell for the Creswell-Mt. | leasant - Cherry section The i oils will be open from 9 a. m. ntil 6 p. ni. Only farmers who >ok part in the 1947 AAA pro- i ram will be eligible to have oice in the balloting. The candidates for the com uinity committee elections were . nosen at special meetings held nrlier this week by the old com- | lunity committeemen in their ( rspective sections of the county, j The County Ti ipIe-A conven- t on will be held next Wednes- r ay, the day ofter the communi- ] ■ and delegate elections, at which v me, the newly elected delegates t ill select a Washington County AA committee to serve during ie 1948 term The convention]^ ill be held in the Agriculture uilding in Plymouth at 10 a. m. nd the new' county committee ill take office as soon as elect- , rax Collector Reports <. On Intake in November * •-4 According to reports from E. J. i pruill, Washington County tax 5 ollector, mad< to the board of c nunty commissioners at their i londay meeting in the court- 1 ouse in Plymouth, $9,405.95 in £ axes were collected by his of- ( ice during the month of Janu- < ry c Voting Will Decide If Market Quotas Are to Be Placed on 1948, 1949, 1950 Crops Washington County farmers will cast ballots next Tuesday on the question of establishing marketing quotas on peanut crops grown in the next three years, with a two-thirds majority be ing required throughout the ref erendum area, which covers the peanut section of the South, for the passage of the proposal. Ballot boxes will be placed at the Agriculture Building in Plym outh for the farmers residing in She Plymouth-Long Acre section; while the peanut growers in the Creswell-Mt. Pleasant - Cherry section will vote in the Barnes Sandwich Shop in Creswell. Pleasant Grove voters will cast their ballots at the J. C. Tarken ton store and Roper section pea nut producers will vote in the Piercy store in Roper. The polls will be open from 9 a. m. until 5 p. m. All persons engaged in the pro duction of the 1947 crop of pea nuts are eligible to vote in the referendum, according to rules re leased by Miss Miriam A.usbon, secret. i;v of the Washington County AAA organization, spon sors of the balloting, although only one member of a family is allowed to vote. All producers must cast their ballots in the box provided for their residential section of the county. No voting by mail, proxy, or agent wi’l be allowed. Only persons who share ed in the proceeds of peanuts pro duced on a farm in 1947 on which more than one acre of peanuts was picked or threashed is con sidered as eligible to vote in the election. If the referendum is carried by the necessary two-thirds majority, juotaa will be placed on the pea 4 rut crops grown in. 1950 AAA comm eemen will be in soiling. Funeral Held for John E. Williams Last rites will be held this afternoon at 3 o’clock from the Albert Williams home near Jamesville for John Ed Williams, ?0, of the Cool Springs section of Washington County who died there Wednesday at 12:30 a. m. Following a short illness. The uneral will be conducted by the Rev. A. B. Ayers of Williamston. Interment will be made in the Williams cemetery, near William ston. Mr. Williams, who was a well ■cnown merchant of the Cool Springs section, was a native of Vlartin County, but had lived in Washington County for the past several years. He was visiting lis son. Albert Williams, at the ime of his illness and death. Survivors include four sons, \lbert Williams, Sylvester Wil iams, and Dempsey Williams, all if Jamesville, and George Wil iams of Portsmouth. Va.; one laughter, Mrs, Beulah Mobley of Cveretts: and one sister. Mrs. Z. 'f. Roberson of Hamilton Last Rites Held ForW. S. Spruill -4 Funeral services will be held rom the Pleasant Grove Metho ist Church at 2:30 o'clock this fternoon for W. S. "Will" Spruill. 7. of Pleasant Grove who died uddenly at his home there Tues av at 6 p. m. The Rev. B. E iingham of Roper will officiate t the last rites Burial will be aade in the church cemetery, ’rior to the funeral, the body rill lie in state at Horner’s Fun ral Home in Plymouth. Mr Spruill, a prominent farm r of the Pleasant Grove section, /as a native and life-long resi ent of Washington County. He /as the son of the late Jesse and innie Swain Spruill of Washing on County and was married in 915 to the former Miss Maude Ipencer of Tyrrell County, who urvives. He was g member of he Pleasant Grove church Besides his wrife. Mr. Spruill - survived by two sons. H. W Ipruill and Nathan Spruill, both f Roper: three daughters. Miss Itatha Spruill, Miss Annie Ipruill, and Miss Dorothy Spruill. 11 of the home; one brother, ’lyde E. Spruill, of Norfolk. Va.; nd one sister, Mrs. Alice Barnes f Roper.