North Carolina Newspapers

rown | topics Mancel W. Bradon, machinist’s mate, second class, U. S. Navy, son of Mr. and Mrs. Owen Bra don, of Plymouth, is now serving aboard the destroyer tender USS Bryce Canyon in the Pacific area. Friends of Mrs. Ella L. Ralph will regret to learn that she is in a serious condition as the result of a fall suffered at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Hilda Swain, here several weeks ago. She suf fered a compound fracture of her left arm. Removed to a Norfolk hospital last week, physicians are unable to do much for her on ac count of her age, and she is now at the home of another daughter in Norfolk. Local basketball fans should get their fill of exciting court play when the fifth annual Lions’ Invitational tournament opens next Monday night in the Plym outh High School gymnasium. Fourteen schools in this section will be represented by 14 boys’ and 12 girls’ teams and 24 games will be run off in the course of 8 nights of play. Officials of the local veterans’ organizations stated today that work began yesterday on putting in windows at the new veterans' building in process of construct ion near the Washington County Hospital. Several local veterans ,s were donating their services for ^ the task. Joyce Bailey, daughter of At torney and Mrs. Carl Bailey, sr., of Plymouth, was one of 78 Mere dith College students cited for outstanding academic achieve ment during the past semester by Dean Leishman A. Peacock, and their names placed on the Dean’s List of scholastic honors. Miss Bailey is also on the program committee for Religious Emphas is Week at Meredith. -♦ ¥ Assembly Records Tribute io Memory Of W. R. Hampton -♦ ^ Resolution Goes Through ▼ Both Houses by Unanim ous Vote Monday; Intro duction by Horton —♦— Both branches of the North Carolina GencUal Assembly Mon day night unanimously approved a resolution expressing appreci ation for the life and services of the late William Roy Hampton, of Plymouth. Mr. Hampton, chairman of the State Board of Conservation and Development, died of a sudden heart attack in a local hospital on January 21. The resolution adopted Mon day night was introduced by Sen ator Hugh G. Horton, cf Wil liamston, a long-time friend of Mr. Hampton. In the resolution, Mr. Hampton was commended for “contributing in many and ef fective ways to the education, political and industrial develop ment of his own section of the A| state and making his influence W felt in the cause of practical pro gress throughout the entire state.” It also noted that "In his later years as chairman of the board of conservation and development he played a particularly effective part in shaping the present polic ies and program of the depart ment of conservation and de velopment looking toward an improvement of the laws and ad ministrative procedure affecting commercial fisheries of North Carolina.” In addition to his long service on the board of conservation and development, Mr. Hampton was chairman of the committee on commercial fisheries of the de partment for a number of years, as well as serving as state sena tor from the second district and as a trustee of the Greater Uni versity. -* Local Church Group To Serve Dinner Saturday -♦ ^ A baked chicken dinner will ” be served Saturday at the Christ ian Church Annex, starting at noon, under the auspices of the Woman’s Council of the Christian Church. Plates, including dessert, will be sold for $1. The public is invited to attend. The Roanoke Beacon ****** and Washington County News ****** ill A home newspaper dedicated ;[l to the service of Washington ]' HI County and its 13,000 people. VOLUME LXII—NUMBER 8 Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina, Thursday, February 22, 1951 ESTABLISHED 1889 The number of Washington County men inducted into the armed forces since resumption of drafing last fall will be more than doubled as a result of a call received by the local board this week. The newest call is for 25 men to report for in duction on Monday, March 12. They will leave here at 9:50 a. m. on that date for the Raleigh induction center and from there will be assigned to the various units in which they will serve. Since reactivation of the se lective service board here last July 31st, only 20 men had been called for induction prior to this week. This figure did not keep pace with enlistments, which totaled 38 during the same period. With the 25 men being called to go into the ser vice March 12, Washington County will have a total of 83 or more men in the service be tween the draft ages of 19 and 26, since a few more may have volunteered since the figures were gotten up. The local board has recently completed the reclassification of 24 from 4-F to 1-A and 9 from 4-A (veterans) to 1-A. Notices were mailed yesterday to those affected by the re classification. Registrants re ceiving the notices will have 10 days in which to file appeals or furnish the board any ad ditional information that may affect their status. I Jaycees Revive Talk Of Second Bank Here At Meet Last Friday Public Concerns Taking Holiday As far as could be learned, no local business houses will ob serve Thursday, February 22, (today) by closing. However, the holiday observance of George Washington’s birthday will be made by at least two important local concerns—the bank and the post office. The Branch Banking & Trust Company here will be closed all day and there will be no mail deliveries in the town or rura areas from the Plymouth Post Office. This will also apply at the other post offices in the county. Register of Deeds Schedule of Fees Increase Proposed -- Bill Fixing New Rates Pass ed by House; Sponsored by Board of Counlf Com^ missioners -1 Fees for recording many legal documents in the office of the Washington County Register of Deeds would be increased under provisions of the bill recently passed by the lower house of the General Assembly. The measure was introduced on February 12 by Representative W. J. Woolard, passed the house on February 17 and has since been referred to the senate committee on salaries and fees. Recording fees in this county have not been changed in many years, and the county commis sioners had a new schedule pre ' pared and requested the repre i sentative to have it enacted by , the legislature. The revised I schedule will bring fees in this i county in line with those charg ed by other counties, according to the commissioners. Some of the main changes are as follows: For recording standard mort i gage form with note, present rate 20 cents: revised fee, 50 cents. For recording right of way for easement, minimum of $1.50 in creased to $2.; For recording standard deed of trust form, minimum of $1.75 in creased to $2.25; For recording auto sale con tract or chattel mortgage, mini mum of 50 cents raised to $1; For recording other sales con tracts, instruments or chattel mortgages, minimum of 50 cents increased to $1; For recording all other instru ments in writing, from 80 cents to $1 for the first 300 words and from 18 cents to 20 cents for each 100 words above 300 words. Effective date of the new sche- ! dule is fixed at April 1, 1951, in the bill. The old cancellation fee of 10 cents per instrument would i no longer be charged after that i date. I State Tax Man Here From March 5 to 7th E. Ross Froneberger, of Wil liamston, deputy collector of in ternal revenue for the State of North Carolina, has announced that he will be at the office of the clerk of Superior Court here on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday March 5, 6 and 7 to assist tax payer in filing their state income tax statements. This service is free to the public. Every single person, or married person not living with husband or wife, receiving annual income in excess of the $1,000 personal exemption, plus allowable de ductions, during the year 1950 is required by law to file an in come tax return. This applies al so to married women who receive income in excess of the personal exemption and allowable de- I ductions. Married men living with their wife are allowed $2,000 exemption, plus $300 for each child or other dependent. Every corporation or partnership is re quired by law to file a return, re gardless of the amount of income received during 1950. Returns must be filed with the Department of Revenue or its deputies on or before March 15. Plan lo Push Mailer If Suf ficient Interest Shown; Course of Action Is Dis cussed -♦ Efforts to secure an additional bank for Plymouth were revived at a meeting of the Junior Cham ber of Commerce here last Friday night, when that c.ganization went on record unanimously in favor of such a movement. Two previous movements to secure another bank here went for naught as interest lagged and the projects were gradually abandon ed. At the Jaycee meeting last week, that body passed a resolu tion asking Representative W. J. Woolard, former Jaycee and member of the banks and bank ing committee in the house of representatives at present, to de termine what steps would be necessary on the part of the local organization to interest another banking firm to locate here. The Jaycees plan further steps as soon as a course of action can be de termined. In April, 1946, officials of the Guaranty Bank & Trust Com pany, which has a number of banks in this section, with home offices in Greenville, showed in terest in locating a branch here. W. H. Woolard, president, and several other Guaranty officers, came here to confer with about 25 representatives of local civic and commercial organizations about prospects. They were favor ably impressed and made some suggestions about methods to be pursued in providing information essential for a presentation to the state banking commission. Other things intervened, and the matter was finally dropped with out further action. The Junior Chamber of Ccm merce appointed a committee to look into the matter about a year ago, but very little has been ac complished thus far. If sufficient interest is shown in the move ment launched last week, the Jaycees plan to push it to con clusion, committee members said after the meeting. Members of the committee stat ed that there is no criticism or lack of confidence in the local unit of the Branch Banking & Trust Company, but they said it was the concensus of their organ ization that Plymouth had reach ed a point in its development where two banks would be a de cided asset to both the town and county. W. J. Ruffin New Head of VFW Post —♦— A slate of post officers was elected to serve for the coming year at the regular meeting of Bosie Bateman Post No. 4023, Veterans of Foreign Wars, held in the courthouse here Thursday night at 8 o’clock. W. F. (Bill) Ruffin was elect ed to head the post as commander for the new term. Other officers elected as announced by Post Commander W. J. Weaver in clude: John Forbes Davenport, senior vice-commander; Douglas Gur kin, junior vice-commander; Denver Phillips, quartermaster; James Thomas, chaplain; and Dr. E. W. Furgurson, surgeon. The newly-elected officers will be installed at the April 1st meet ing of the post, Weaver said. -♦ Two Local Men Attending Meeting in New York City -4 E. M. Leavitt, resident man ager, and Robert E. Bowen, sup perintendent of the pulp mill, of the North Carolna Pulp Com pany, left Sunday for New York City, where they will attend the annual meeting of the Technical Association, Pulp & Paper In stitute. The sessions continue through most of the week, and they expect to return home Sat urday or Sunday. Registrants Urged To Follow Rules in Applying to Board -♦ Method of Presenting State ments and Making Ap peals Outlined by Draft Board Chairman -♦ Selective service registrants of this county should observe a few simple rules^in presenting their cases to the draft board. Clar ence L. Blount, chairman of the Washington County Board, stated that registrants and interested persons could help the draft board and themselves if they will observe the following three suggestions: 1. Present in writing a state ment of all facts which they be lieve will entitle the registrant to deferment. This should be pre sented at the time the question naire is returned. Any subse quent change in status that might warrant reclassification should be reported in writing. 2. File within 10 days after the notice of classification is mailed, a re quest for personal appearance be fore the board ,if desired. Such a request will be granted if filed within 10 days, but only one ap pearance will be granted after each classification. 3. Should ap peal be desired, give to the local board notice of appeal in writing within ten days after the date of mailing of the notice of classi fication. This applies to the not ice mailed after either the origi nal classification or the notice issued after personal appearance before the board. Mr. Blount pointed out that observance of these simple rules would give everyone assurance that the local board was fully informed of the facts which might have a bearing upon the registrant’s classification. He add ed that persons who wish to dis cuss a case with the board should request an appearance at the pro per time and not attempt to dis cuss it with individual board ' members outside of the local I board office. He pointed out that such practice would save time and that the interested parties could then be sure that all of the board members had complete know ledge of the facts which they wished to present, lie stated that the members of the board are do ing their best to determine the proper classification of each reg j istrant and that they earnestly request the cooperation of the ; public. Plymouth Man Named to Public Welfare Board -4 Clarence L. Blount, of Plym outh, has accepted an appoint ment from the State Board of Public Welfare as its member on the Washington County Board of Public Welfare, succeeding Frank Brinkley, also of Plymouth. The appointment of Mr. Blount is for a term of three years, be ginning April 1. Other members of the three-man board are R. C. “Dick” Peacock, of Roper, and Mrs. Edgar Woodley, of Creswell. -4—I Washington Street Break Is Repaired That big break in the surface of Washington Street, between Main and Third, which has ex isted since before Christmas, was finally repaved and surfaced by town and state crews during the past week. A broken sewer line necessi tated tearing up a big segment of the street shortly before , Christmas. After the sewer lines were repaired, the hole was filled ’ in, but several weeks were re quired for the dirt to settle be . fore it could be paved over and . fhe street resurfaced, t Town workmen got around to ■ pouring the concrete last week, : and a narrow lane was left for i traffic on each side of the break 1 until Monday, when a state high ■ way crew moved in, blocked off : traffic and completed the asphalt l surfacing. The street was thrown • open to traffic again Tuesday af ternoon. Would Eliminate Trial by Jury in Recorder's Court -^ Bill Introduced Last Week To Transfer Such Cases To Superior Court; En dorsed by County Board -♦ Representative W. J. Woolard last Thursday introduced a bill in the house providing for automatic transfer of criminal cases from the Washington County record er’s court to the superior court when demand is made for trial by jury. The measure has the en dorsement of the Washington County board of commissioners and is similar to a bill which failed of enactment in the legis lature two years ago. Jury trials in recorder’s court have been the cause of much dis satisfaction, both here and in oth er counties. The county commis sioners are against such trials because of the expense involved, and many law enforcement of ficers generally are opposed to them because it is seldom that a conviction can be secured against defendants. It is understood that the coun ty bar association has registered a protest against the bill. Chair man Frank L. Brinkley, of the board of commissioners, stated that the board would be glad to hear any objections of the law yers, although the matter had been considered at length by the commissioners before they re quested introduction of the bill, both th^ year and two years ago. The bill was introduced two years ago by Representative E. O. Arnold and was passed by the House. It went to the senate and died in committee after local lawyers intervened with the dis trict senators. Similar measures are already in effect in some counties, and bills have been in troduced at the current section to apply to Martin and other coun ties of this section, it is under stood. Senator Hugh G. Horton, of Williamston, has indicated that he would not oppose the bill applying to Martin County ac to reports. Jurors’ fees for the recorder’s court in this county last year amounted to $299.40, it was learn ed from the office of the clerk of superior court. This is not the total cost, however, as the sher iff’s office gets a fee of 50 cents for each juror summoned, and figures on this expense were not immediately available. The coun ty commissioners feel that most of this cost could be eliminated by doing away with jury trials in the inferior court, since most cases would be heard in superior court by the regular jury, which has to be paid anyway. It is also pointed out that the criminal doc ket at the July and January terms of superior court seldom requires more than one or two days for clearing, so the dockets cannot be said to be congested. Births and Deaths Higher in County --t Total births in Washington County in 1950 showed an in crease of 65 over the previous year, while deaths also increased, records in the Register of Deeds office here show. * A total of 398 births were re ported to the office during 1950, ! as compared with 333 for 1949. j Deaths, as reported to the Regis ter of Deeds office, totaled 127 j in 1950, compared with only 106 j for the year before, i Births and deaths were report j cd by townships for 1950 as fol j lows: Births: Plymouth, 219; Lees Mill, 111; Scuppernong, 37; and j Skinnersville, 31. Deaths: Plymouth, 59; Lees (Mill, 35; Scuppernong, 24; and Skinnersville, fl. ABC Sales (or January Given | A check of daily receipts at j the Plymouth and t'reswell ABC stores for the month of January showed that sales com pared favorably with sales for the same period a year ago, the sales at the Plymouth store showing an increase over Jan uary, 1950, while sales at the Creswell store fell below those of the corresponding month last year. Total receipts at the local store were $13,986.50 for the month, while last year the Jan uary total was $12,017.70. The Creswell store receipts for Jan uary totaled only $1,631.10 while for the same month of 1950 the total was $2,175.75. The figures were released by BUI Styona, manager of the Plymouth store. Annual Bed Cross Drive Begins in County March 1 Salt's of Aiiio LirniKi's ! Past 2.000 Mark Blrrr I Total sales of state license plates for motor vehicles for 1951 at the branch office of the Caro lina Motor Club at The Ethe ridge Company here this week had reached to within 730 sets of the total sold during 1950, figures released by Ernest Etheridge, manager of the office, show. For sales through Tuesday, the report showed a total of 2,240 sets, as compared with a total sale of 1950 plates at the local office of 2,970. The sales were broken down into the various categories and compare with sales last year as follows (1950 sales in paren theses): Automobiles, 1,898 sets (2,090); motorcycles, 18 sets (42); private trucks, 354 sets (488); farm trucks, 56, (66); small trailers, 155 (213); and commercial trail ers, 59, (71). County Organized For Annual Drive Made by Red Cross Chairmen and Quotas for Various Communities Are Announced; Final Plans Perfected at Meetings — The organizational set-up for Washington County in the annual Red Cross Fund campaign which gets underway next Thursday, March 1, was released early this week by Roy Manning, Jr., coun ty chairman, and Stewart Saun ders, publicity chairman, both of Plymouth. The chairmen of the various units and the quota as signed to each were listed as fol lows: Industrial chairman, Robert M. Bruce, quota $400; Business and Professional, no chairman named yet, quota $500; Residential, Mrs. Frances Jones, chairman, quota $375; Country Club Village chair man, Joe Peele, quota $115; Wil ison Street Extended chairman, j Miss Ida Davis, quota $75; l.opur .hWwnau, Mrs. Myrla [ Marrow, quota $200; Pleasant j Grove chairman, Mrs. T. W. Tar kenton, quota $35; Skinnersville ! chairman, Mrs. Walter White, quota $50; Creswell chairman, Mrs. Gladys Davenport, quota $150; Cherry chairman, Mrs. Har i ry Barnes, quota $60; Mackeys chairman, Mrs. Otis Chesson, quota $65; Wcnona chairman, Mrs. Glenn Ferbee, quota $60; and colored chairman for county, Rev. A. R. Winborne, quota $400. Final plans for the campaign were perfected at a meeting held at the Mayflower Restaurant here Monday night and reported else where in this paper. Admissions and Discharges At Hospital in Past Week -4 Records at the Washington County Hospital show that the following persons have been ad mitted and/or discharged there from last Thursday through yes terday noon: Admissions, white: Mrs. Ernest W. Furgurson, baby Catherine Sharon McCombs, Mrs. Milton Bowen, Mrs. W. M. Sawyer, I Mrs. Eloise Ralph, James I Thomas Stotesbury and Baby Garland G. Gardner, all of Plymouth; and Mrs. Ruth Lister BaKer and Mrs. Mamie Louise Roberson, of Jamesville. j Admissions, colored: Ursula 1 Clark and Annie Jones, of Plym outh; and Estelle Swain, of Rop j er. Discharges, white: Mrs. Ralph. Discharges, colored: Elaine Johnson and Ursula Clark. | -♦ Scouts Planning Easter Egg Hunt * Plans for a big Easter Egg Hunt for the children of this vici nity are being perfected by the Albemarle District, Boy Scouts of America. The hunt will be held at 2:30 o’clock Easter Sun day afternoon on grounds ad jacent to the Scout Hut in Plym outh, according to Farley M. Bowers, district chairman. It is planned to divide the grounds so that three hunts will be held simultaneously, with one section for boys and girls up to six years of age, another for chil dren 6 to 8, and a third for those 9 to 11 years old. Eggs will be hid under direc tion of the Boy Scouts and sev eral prize eggs will be distributed among the hidden eggs. Efforts are being made to enlist the aid of other groups which may be planning egg hunts, in order that they may be consolidated into one large hunt, rather than hav ing several smaller ones, it was said. Interest Goes Up On Unpaid Taxes Taxpayers in the town are reminded that the rate of in terest on unpaid 1950 taxes ad vance 1 to 2 per cent after March 1, next Thursday. The interest rate is fixed by State law, and local units do not have the right to waive the extra charge, according to the col lectors. Interest on delinquent taxes is fixed at 1 per cent during the month of February; 2 per cent during the month of March; and Vs of 1 per cent for each month thereafter until the tax sale is held. Property is supposed to he advertised in May and sold on the first Mon day in June, according to state law. Plan Adopted by Bridge Group in Session Monday Alligator - Crdatan Bridge Association Approves ol Plan ol Southern Albe marle Group The Alligator-Croatan Bridge Association, at a called session held at the Mayflower Restaurant in Plymouth, voted to adopt a plan recently drawn up by the advisory committee of the kind red Southern Albemarle Associ ation, relating to possible meth ods to be followed in efforts to secure bridges over the Alligator River and Croatan Sound. The plan, read to the group by P. D. Midgett, of Engelhard, vice-president of the Bridge As sociation, suggested four steps be taken: 1, ascertain total operating costs of present ferries; 2, get reliable estimated cost of propos ed bridges; 3, get approximate cost of financing bridges over a 20 year period; 4, request an ap propriation, either through the appropriations committee in the General Assembly or out of the Highway Commission funds to match Federal Aid. W. J. White, of Columbia, made a motion that the meeting ap prove the plan and have 200 cop ies printed for distribution to leg islators, the governor’s office, highway commission office, and others. This was agreed to, and the president of the group, W. S. White, of Mann’s Harbor, ap pointed a research committee to get necessary facts and figures to supplement the plan. Named to the committee were Floyd E. Cahoon, Tyrrell County; N. W. Shelton, Hyde County; P. B. Bateman, Washington County; M. C. Paul, Beaufort County; Frank Cahoon, Dare County; and J. H. Edwards, Martin County. The Alligator-Croatan Bridge Association was formed in 1950 for the purpose of sponsoring (See BRIDGE Page 12) Quota for County Is Set at $2,470; Representatives from All Parts of County Meet -♦ The annual Red Cross Fund campaign in Washington County will begin Thursday, March 1, it was announced this week by Roy Manning, jr., of Plymouth, county chairman of the drive. A quota of $2,470 has been set by. the County Chapter of the American Red Cross to meet community and national needs during the coming year, Manning said. Of this amount, 55.3 per cent will bo retained in the county for local use and the remaining 44.7 per cent will be for national use. Representatives from all parts of the county met Monday eve ning at the Mayflower Restaur ant here to receive instructions and materials for the coming drive. | Chairmen were appointed for the various communities and supplies to be used in the cam paign were given to them by the county chairman. The Washington County Chap ter, joining with more than 3,500 chapters throughout the nation, will offer every person in the county an opportunity to contri bute to the Red Cross and thus become a member of the organi zation for this year. Mr. Manning stated that “in order to maintain the high quality service in the ! community by the Red Cross, we will have to have full public sup port in meeting the $2,470 quota, which is based on minimum needs of Red Cross service.” The chairman also explained the rea son for the increase in the county quota this year, stating that the Red Cross Blood Bank program in the county will cost about $130 for each visit of the bloodmobile, providing sandwiches and other I refreshments for blood donors 1 and for other expenses. Miss Janet Cox, Red Cross field j worker from Rocky Mount, was I present and stressed that since the Red Cross is an organization of all pejple everywhere, that | surely the citizens of Washing I ton County will meet their re i sponsibilitics by raising means I for carrying out those services. | For the past few years Wash ington County ahs compiled an enviable record in the annual fund raising campaign of the Red Cross, being one of the first chapters in the country to reach its quota. Therefore, the county chairman pointed out, this coun ty has a splendid record to pro I tect and he is trusting that full 1 cooperation of all citizens 1 throughout the county will speedily put the drive over Attending the meeting were Manning, Miss Cox, Stewart Saunders, publicity chairman, Mrs. Frances Jones, Joe Peele and Miss Ida Davis, of Plymouth; Mrs. Myrla Marrow, of Roper; Mrs. T. W. Tarkenton, of Pleasant Grove; Mrs. Walter White, of Skinnersville; Mrs. Otis Chesson, of Maekeys; and Mrs. Glenn Fer bee, of Wenona. -♦ Scouts Are Given Truckful of Paper -♦ Although hampered by rain in the afternoon, the Plymouth Boy Scouts and Sea Scouts collected a truckload of scrap paper in Plymouth Saturday, it was re ported. Collections were sched uled for the entire town but the rain cut the canvass short and it was said that other parts of town, not covered Saturday, would be canvassed Saturday of this week. Parts of Plymouth canvassed Saturday included Stillacres, The Country Club Village and Main , Street. It was said that the can I vass for used clothing to be ship , ped overseas for the relief of un | fortunates was extremely disap I pointing. Local Cagers Enter I Couple Tournaments Both Plymouth High School basketball teams have completed 1 their regular schedule of play for the season, but are to take part : in two tournaments during the next two weeks. Thus far, in all games played, the girls have won . 10, lost 3 and tied 1, for a percen [ tage of .769. The boys have won ; 12 and lost 3 for a percentage of l .800. s The local teams go to Hert t ford Friday night for their first > tests in the Albemarle Confer ■ ence tournament, which starts s this afternoon. The girls’ team is seeded No. 1 and the boys’ team is seeded No. 2, and both drew byes in the first round of play. Tomorrow night the local girls meet the winner of the William ston-Ahoskie game at 7:30; while the boys will meet the Hertford Columbia winner at 9 o’clock. The finals will be played Satur day night. • The Plymouth teams also are entered in the Lions Club tour nament, which begins in the lo cal gymnasium Monday night. First games for the local teams will be Tuesday night, when the boys meet Roxobel-Kelford at 8 o’clock, and the girls play Slades vile at 9 o’cock.