T'own opics J. W. House returned home Thursday from Asheville after at tending a Chevrolet meeting held at the Grove Park Inn. Accom panying Mr. House on the trip were J. H. Edwards, of William ston, and J. G. Taylor, of Rober sonville. Mr. House reported that the weather was “very hot Mon day and Tuesday but nice Wed nesday.” J. D. Haddock left Wednesday for Wrightsville Beach to attend the convention of the life insur ance company which he repre sents. He expects to return to Plymouth late Friday. A. L. Singleton is undergoing treatment at a veterans’ hospital in Kecoughtan, Virginia. It is thought that he will be able to return to his home here within the next few days. We lifted this one from “Fut ure,” a Jaycee periodical, figuring it merited reprinting: “When you need to tighten your belt, it’s a recession: when you don’t have a belt to tighten, that’s a depression. When you don’t have any pants to hold up, that's a panic.” Mute testimony to the torrid weather this section has been sub jected to in recent weeks (or is it months, now?) are the wax crayons melted down in the dis play window of a Water Street store. “if you haven't yet paused to observe the display of pictures, news stories, features and column material in the window of the Coca Cola Bottling Works on Water Street, you’ve missed an attractive piece of work. Spon sored by the Pamlico Soil Con servation District and arranged by County Conservationist Harry Newland, it tells in picture and story the beneficial work the Soil Conservation Service is ac complishing. Mayor Reynold Spruill, of Roper, was in Plymouth yester day with his right leg in a cast. He lost his balance and fell about 6 or 7 feet from a retaining wall back of his home Monday, severe ly spraining his right knee, but breaking no bones. Although the injury was very painful, the mayor said he was getting along all right and he expects to have the cast removed in about 10 days. The Plymouth Municipal Build ing has had its face lifted in the past week by the application of a couple of coats of paint. The fording "Municipal Building” Rlso was repainted, and the structure now presents a much improved appearance. The Washington County Selec tive Service Board recently re ceived a directive ordering that all dentists and physicians in Priority No. 3 be classified. Only one man in the county, a physic ian, is affected by the order. The local board has no inf mmation as to whether or not his classifi cation is a preliminary to being ordered to report for active duty with the armed forces. CpI. C. W. Ange Visiting Parents -1 Cpl. Clarence W. Ange, son of Mr. and Mrs. Levin Ange, of the Angetown section just over the Washington County line in Mar fan County, was a visitor in Plym outh Tuesday afternoon. Cor poral Ange returned home last Friday after three years of serv ice with American occupation forces in Germany. The young man said he had been stationed at Landstuhl, Germany, with the 583rd Medical , Ambulance Company (Sep.), ser- , ving as driver of an emergency ■ ambulance. He has been in the , Army almost four years, reenlist- i ing last Septmeber for an addit- i ional hitch of six years. Ange said that he liked being j stationed in Germany very much, , and he hopes to be reassigned to j duty there at the conclusion of his ■ present furlough. He said he had run into several boys from this , general section, including Ralph ] LeFever, of Wenona; James Mod- < lin, of Jamesville; and Morton i Critcher, of Williamston. Ange is ( a subscriber to The Beacon, while ■jtoung Critcher receives the Wil- ( Tiamston Enterprise, and he said , they would get together and ex change papers every now and then. The Roanoke Beacon ****** and Washington County News ****** A home newspaper dedicated to the service of Washington County and its 13,000 people. I VOLUME LXIII—NUMBER 32 Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina, Thursday, August 7, 1952 ESTABLISHED 1889 | LIGHTNING DAMAGES METHODIST BUILDING HERE I ■ 1 A bolt of lightning Wednesday night of last week “peeled” the tall chimney at the new educational building of the local Methodist church, doing a considerable amount of damage. Bricks and mortar from the chimney wrecked a portion of the guttering around the edge of the building and on the furnace room below, as well as knocking out several panes of glass in the windows! It is understood the loss was covered by insurance.—Polaroid 1 Minute staff photo. Board To Close Last One-Teacher School Gcamril Meeting Put Off Monday The l'lymouth City Council did not hold its meeting Mon day night of this week, as origi nally scheduled, but will meet next Monday night instead, ac cording to City Clerk W. A. Roebuck. Delay in receiving the report of the recent audit and absence from town of two councilmen were given as rea sons for the postponement. , Auditors recently completed audit of the town books, and a study of the report was sched uled to be one of the main items of business this month. When the report was not re ceived in time for consideration Monday, it was decided to wait a week and avoid having to call a special meeting for that purpose. Total Rainfall in July Recorded at Farm 7.06 Inches -f Precipitation Recorded on 12 Days of Month; August Total i'hus Far Stands at 1.64 Inches -♦ Total rainfall for the month of fuly, according to figures releas ;d by the weather station at Tide vater Test Farm, was 7.06 inches, vith rains of more than an inch ailing on the 9th, the 23rd and he 30th. The heaviest rain during July ell on Wednesday, the 30th, the neasured precipitation being 1.18 nches. That of the 9th was 1.07 nches, and the 23rd, 1.05 inches There was some precipitation luring 12 of the 31 day's of that leriod. Rain fell on five succes ive days from the 6th through he 10th, the total for the five lays being 2.86 inches. Nearly an inch of rain fell on he 6th and almost a half-inch vas measured on the 18th and 9th but on the 10th and 16th it (See RAINFALL Page~12) Deep Bottom Colored Pupils Will Attend Other Schools In Plymouth and Roper Districts & —♦— \r* x-ie last one-teacher school in! Washington County was ordered discontinued at the monthly meet ing of the board' of education here Monday. The school is at Deep Bottom, a colored unit, lo cated on the Plymouth-Mackeys road at Westover. The Deep Bottom school, which had an average daily attendance of only 22 last term, is consider ed by the State Department of Public Instruction to be too small to carry on an adequate program of instruction. The order passed by the county board of education Monday directs that children who would have attended this school are to be absorbed into the ele mentary schools of the Plymouth and Roper districts. County of ficials say some of the pupils will go to Roper, some to Plymouth, and some to the Mount Delane school. Contracts of four teachers, three at Roper and one at Cres well, were also approved at the board meeting Monday. The teachers are Mrs. Beulah W. Gay lord, Mrs. Cordulia Hassell and Mrs. Pattie Starr Willis, all to leach at Roper; and W. E. Bate man, who will teach at Creswell. Request of the J. T. Pearson Plumbing & Heating Company, 5f New Bern, to transfer its con tact to install heating equipment n the Creswell physical educa :ion building to the Henry Baker Heating Company, of Wilson, was ipproved. The Baker firm has :he heating contract for the union tolored school at Roper and i igreed to take over the Pearson i -ontract at the bid figure sub mitted by the New Bern firm. Members of the board of edu- ■ •ation and the county superin endent met witn the board of 1 :ounty commissioners and re- : juested use of two wings of the I 'ormer county home for school ! jurposes beginning September 1, < 1952. The request was granted by he commissioners. One wing of 1 he old1 countyr home was used ' ast year to provide three class- 1 moms. It is understood that two more classrooms will be utilized here during the coming term. 1 Soil Conservation Meet Here Today -*- -♦- -1- ' E. H. Liverman, Carl Hevnen ; and Hoyt Davenport, Washington < County supervisors of the Pamli- 1 co Soil Conservation District, are i hosts today (Thursday) to the 1 regular quarterly meeting of the < district. The meeting was scheduled to i open at 10 a. m. at the Agricul- < ture Building here, where the regular business session is being ( held. i The group will recess for 1 lunch at the Mayflower Restaur- < int and in the afternoon will go >n a tour of the Test Farm near iere \nd also a group of Dismal arms, among them the farms of I. H. Liverman, Edward L. )wens and Tom Harrison. Good soil practices, as carried iut on the various farms, will be ibserved and discussed. The Pamlico District takes in he counties of Washington. Tyr ell, Beaufort, Hyde and Dare. Supervisors from each of these •ounties are expected to attend he meeting and participate in he tour. A native of Washington Coun y, Herbert D. Bateman, will be i special guest for the occasion. Mr. Bateman, who now lives in A’ilson and is president of the branch Banking & Trust Com pany, was born on one of the arms which will, be included in . he afternoon tour. Plymouth was host to a regular juarterly meeting of the Pamlico ^ District in August of last year, , ilso. Action by Board Only on Routine Matters Monday Commissioners Agree to A1 low Necessary Space in County Home for School rooms -♦ Action was taken on several routine matters at the regular monthly meeting of the Washing ton County Board of Commis sioners held here Monday. The board meeting opened at 11 a. m. in the commissioners' room at the courthouse with the following members present: Frank L. Brinkley, chairman; J. C. Knowles, H. L. Davenport and H. W. Pritchett. The county attorney advised the board that the county had no authority to issue a beer license to Mrs. C. C. Gibbs, of Roper, since the licensing of establish ments to handle beer is under supervision of the State Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and the county has no jurisdiction in the matter. Members of the county board of education, along with Superin tendent of County Schools Roy F. Lowry, visited the meeting re garding additional rooms to take care of the students this Fall. The board of commissioners agreed to allow the necessary space in the old county home to take care of the extra classroom space and Lowry was authorized and in structed to notify any tenants us ing the apartments in the wing of the building near the hospital to vacate those apartments needed to take care of the school chil dren. The clerk to the board, J. Ro bert Campbell, was instructed to write Henry W. Lewis for infor mation regarding the counties which had a revaluation of pro perty during either January of this year or of last year. The in formation is to be forwarded to Hubert L. Davenport, the Wash ington County tax supervisor. County Tax Collector E. J. Spruill reported to the board that the sum of 107.'H had been Collected by nis office during the month of July. Mrs. Frances M. Darden, home agent, and W. H. Pruden. county agent, read their reports of work accomplished during the month of July. Mrs. Darden extended an invi tation to the commissioners, the clerk and the county agent to have dinner at her home. The in vitation was readily accepted and following recess for the noon hour, the group enjoyed Mrs. Darden’s hospitality at a de lightful repast. Border Belt Had $54 Average for First Day Sales -♦ Price About $4 Higher Than On Opening Last Year, Despite Heavy Offering of Inferior Grades -* Despite inferior quality of the jfferings, tobacco prices averag ed about $54 on the opening sales n the border section of North Carolina Monday, according to jreliminary reports reaching rere. The price is about $4 per lundred above the average re jorted on the opening day sales > year ago. Those grades of average quali y and even the common grades ;old about $10 higher than they lid a year ago. and prices for the setter types averaged about $4 >er hundred higher, the prelim nary report indicated. The bulk of the tobacco sold on >pening day ranged in price from 140 to $69 with the practical top >egged at $70. There were a few cattered sales at $71 per hun Ired. Although the quality of the op >ening-day “break” was said to lave been inferior, it was rated lightly better than the quality of he offerings a year ago. Sales were comparatively light, ind farmers, hardly complete vith harvest, did not attend the ipening in great numbers. Takes by the Stabilization Cor loration did not average more han three per cent Monday—one >f the lightest transactions in sev ■ral seasons for this government iriee-supporting agency—and the luying companies usually stayed veil above the support price on he competitive grades. This was seen in a sampling of trades picked at random as fol ows: Low orange primings, with i support price of 28 cents, nought from 37 to 52 cents per lile; good orange primings, 53 ■ent support. 66 cents; good lem >n primings, 56-cent support. 59 o 70 cents; nondescript, 17-cent Tsee^BORD ER^ELT^Page^7~) Plymouth Schools Facing Crowded Situation Again Necessary To Use Two More Rooms at County Home and Two in Build ing Being Constructed Principal J. S. Fleming, of the Plymouth white schools, is be ginning to realize what the old lady who lived in a shoe was up against. Come September 3rd, when county schools are sched uled to open, and he will have so many children that already he doesn't know what to do. Going over the records last week, Mr. Fleming learned that absolutely minimum require ments would be 30 classrooms, 21 for the elementary department and 9 for the high school. Class rooms available, including a num ber of substandard and makeshift rooms, totaled exactly 26, leaving him two rooms short in the ele mentary department and two more in the high school. Since that time, the county board of education has obtained permission to use the former county home for two more class rooms and the contractor for the school additions here is doing everything possible to complete construction of a small structure to provide two classrooms by Sep- i tember 3rd, when the schools open. If everything works out i right, the schools will at least , open, but there will be no room for any further growth in the , foreseeable future. me local schools have earned two additional teachers as a re sult of the decreased teacher load authorized by the state depart ment and increased average daily attendance last term. There will be 21 teachers in the elementary department, 20 for grade sections and one public-school music teacher. There are nine high school teachers, eight for grade sections and one for the home economics department. Classrooms in use last year in cluded six at the old Hampton Building three at the former county "Aime, and three in the basement at the high school building. All these will be in use when school opens next month, as well as the two added1 rooms at the county home and two in the band and industrial arts building now under construction. Mr. Fleming said there would be three sections of each of the first four grades during the com ing term, two sections each of the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades; and two sections in each of the four high-school grades. In addition, there will be several extra teachers, including physical education, public school music and band, home economics and the principal. Last term's total enrollment was 931, membership was 867, and average daily attendance was 825. The local principal ex pects the enrollment figure to climb above the 1,000 mark dur ing the early days of the new term. It is expected that the sen ior class in high school will have a minimum enrollment of 46 at the start of the term. In addition to the band and in dustrial arts building, now un der construction, the foundation has been poured for an addition containing 11 classrooms. This will be added at the south end of the present high school annex. These structures, when complet ed. with the gymnasium and principal’s home, take up prac tically the entire high school lot, and playground space will be at a premium. Unless additional space can be secured in the im mediate future, there will not even be room to park the school busses while school is in session. Despite the crowded outlook, Mr. Fleming said it was expected the local school would open Sep tember 3rd with a full comple ment of teachers, and every ef fort will be made to make the best of existing conditions. ■ i Services Sunday For Moore Infant -♦ Funeral services were held from Saints Delight Christian Church Sunday for Joseph How ard Moore, jr., two-months-old son of Joseph H. Moore and Sybil Woodley Moore, of Orlando, Fla. The child died Friday morning at 5:25 o’clock at an Orlando hos pital. Surviving are the parents; the maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. L. E. Woodley, of near Roper; an aunt, Miss Jo Ann Woodley, of Raleigh; three uncles, A. B. Woodley, of Washington, D. C., M. W. Woodley, of Union City, Pa., and W. O. Woodley, of Tacoma Park, Md. Services were conducted by the Rfv. Paul B. Nickens, pastor of the Ludford Memorial Baptist Church, of Plymouth. Burial was in the church cemetery. LIGHTNING STARTS FIRE; DESTROYS PACKHOUSE | ■■ -—...-J Tins is all that was left of a pack barn on the Dr. White farm, just east of the Plymouth city limits, after it was struck by lightning and destroyed by fire during an electrical storm Wed nesday night of last week. The farm is under lease to J. I, in wood Knowles, who had three curings of tobacco, a quantity of hay, and numerous small farming implements in the packhouse when it was destroyed. The loss is estimated to exceed S3,000. Local volunteer firemen managed to save the tenant house just across the road in the background.—Polaroid 1-Minute staff photo. First Draw for Trade Prizes Here Saturday Registraiion Reported Light For Silver Harvest Day Event, But Interest Said Mounting -♦ Interest is retportedly mounting as the time approaches for the first prize drawing in the Silver Harvest Day trade promotion be ing sponsored in Plymouth by 37 firms. The first drawing is slated to be held at 2:30 p. m. Saturday of this week. The place—in front of the City Market on Water Street. Registration for the first draw ing began Friday of last week but most participating merchants have stated that registrations have been rather light. It is ex pected. however, that interest will really grow following the first drawing. Receptacles are displayed in the stores of all member firms and tickets are available to anyone over the age of 16 who wishes to sign his name and address and drop into the box. The tickets are free and there is absolutely no obligation to buy anything. Saturday, the boxes from the various stores will be emptied in to a larger box which will be lo cated at the point where the drawing will be held. Promptly at 2:30 o’clock the box of tickets will be well shuffled and a ticket drawn out. If the lucky person is in the crowd he will be asked to draw out a token from a bag, determining just what percentage of money he will receive out of the treasure chest established by the participating merchants. If the person whose ticket is drawn is not present someone else will be permitted to draw a token for him and the two will split the winnings 50-50, accord ing to the rules of the event. Many merchants declared this week that they find it necessary to explain to a large percentage of their customers how the con test works, but it is hoped that after the first few drawings everyone will become familiar with Silver Harvest Day and ex planations will be no longer needed. Following the drawing Satur day, everyone eligible will be free to register for the next drawing to be held the following Satur day. Drawings will be held each week thereafter so long as the event is sponsored here. -• No Fire Alarms Turned In Here in Past Week — ♦ No alarms were turned in here during the past week. Plymouth Volunteer Fire Department offi cials reported. Tax Collections j In July Record ! The month of July was a record-breaker for the collect ion of town of Plymouth taxes, it was learned yesterday from P. W. Brown, chief of police and tax collector. More than $30,000 was collected from all sources, as against about $24, 000 in July of last year, the previous high. A sizeable proportion of last month’s collections was ac counted for by the $28,000 worth of 1952 taxes, on which a 2 per cent discount was al lowed during July. About $1, 100 was collected on the 1951 levy, with the remainder being for license taxes and other mis cellaneous levies. Light Receipts of Bell Peppers Here As Season Begins -+ Lang Pickle Plant Gets Ear ly Harvestings from Con tracted Acreage in This County and Pitt -♦ Small quantities of Bell pep pers have begun to trickle in at ;he Lang Pickle plant on Brink ey Avenue, C. W. Dinkins, plant nanager, reported late yesterday. The Plymouth plant is the re ceiving station for peppers pro iuced on 120 acres in Pitt and Washington Counties. There are !0 acres planted to the crop in his county. It is the first time hat peppers have been contract ’d for in Dinkins’ experience and he growers who have planted he crop in this county are also lew at the game. Mr. Dinkins reports, however, hat the crop is pretty, especially nentioning those of Dick Nor nan. Harold Turner, Mamie Smith and A J. Riddle. Norman las the largest acreage devoted o the crop, with four acres of leppers. Some other farmers who are ‘rowing peppers this year in the county are Eli Phelps, jr.. Floyd \sby, Richard Sutton, E. G. Arps, Fames H. Ward and Melvin Tet erton. The peppers are used in mak ng sweet mixed pickles, a large iright red square usually being ~7seT PEPPERS^P^Tt) Damage Run High In Couniy Wrecks During Pasi Week Total Estimated Damages to Four Autos Involved in Three Recent Accidents Of $1,150 -» An estimated $1,150 damage re sulted from three highway acci dents which happened in this county during the past several days. The most serious wreck hap pened Friday afternoon at 4 o’clock on N. C. Highway 94 at Kilkenny. A. 1947 Dodge 4-door sedan was damaged to top and sides approximately $500 when it turned over after the driver, Cedric Arthur White, of Bath, fell asleep at the wheel. The car was traveling south on the highway when it went out of control. The car hit a roadside ditch on a sharp curve and rolled over. White received cuts on his right arm and was carried to a Columbia hospital for treatment. State Highway Patrolman J. E. Morton, of Roper, investigated the accident and stated that there was no evidence of high speed. No arrest was made. The left rear fender of a 1941 Ford belonging to Walter Edison Knowles, of Roper, was damaged to the extent of about $50 in a wreck Tuesday on U. S. Highway 64 a mile east of Roper. The car was driven by Walter Edison Knowles, jr. It collided with a 1940 Ford driven by Thomas El borne Gaylord, also of Roper, and owned by Gerald G. Gaylord. Patrolman Carl Gilchrist, of Plymouth, reported that it was raining hard at the time of the accident and that visibility was poor. Both drivers were charged with operating a motor vehicle to the left of the center line. Dam age to the front of the 1940 Ford was placed at $150. Thursday evening at 6:30 o'clock a 1941 Nash going north on the Piney Woods Road over turned and did about $450 dam age to the top and sides. The driver, Hal Eugene Moore, color ed, of Plymouth, told Patrolman Gilchrist that the coil spring at the left rear of the car dropped off and caused1 him to lose con trol of the machine. Me ore was unhurt and no ar rest was made. Gel Call for 27 Men Next Month -♦ Washington County will not have an induction call in Sep tember, the local selective board was notified this week, but 27 registrants will be called1 for pre induction examination on Thurs day, September 11. September will be the second straight month without an induction call, as none are to be sent during the current month. One-half of the group called to leave September 11 for examina tion will be composed of men previously rejected. They are now in 4-F, but are subject to reexamination under a directive issued earlier this year. However, very few of those reexamined have passed on their second trip to the reception center. A special bus will be chartered to take the 27 men to be called. They will report to the office of the local draft board in time to leave at 8 a. m., on September 11 for the reception center at Ra leigh. New Sewer Lines Installed Recently by Town Workmen -*— The town of Plymouth street force has been busy this week laying some new sewer lines. An B-inch line was put down from the veterans building to Peacock Swamp, a distance of about 1,100 feet, according to Chief of Police P. W. Brown. A small storm-sewer line was taken up and replaced with 36 inch pipe in the vicinity of the old union station. This line hand les much of the water from the Brinkley Avenue section, and it is believed the larger pipe, will end the flooded conditions that have prevailed in that area after heavy rains. Easy for State Service Men to Vote -♦- -A_ North Carolina has made things easy for military personnel who want to vote in this fall’s general election. Secretary Raymond Maxwell of the State Board of Elections pointed out that State law pro vides three methods service men ' and women can use to register! and vote. , They can send an application ; to vote to the Secretary of State ■ or to the Chairman of their coun- < ty board of elections or members :>f their immediate family can ap ply for them. If the service people are eligi ble to register and vote, their ap blication will serve to get them ! m the registration book even if hey are not registered. Maxwell said several thousand jersons in the military forces vot ;d in the recent primaries. Their ipplications for primary ballots vill entitle them to receive gen ral election ballots. In fact, added Maxwell, North i Carolina has gone farther than a strict interpretation of the Con stitution would permit in its laws tor voting by service personnel, fhe Constitution indicates that voters should appear in ^person when they register, but Maxwell said he doubted if anyone would :ontest the law. “We’re listed among the favor able states by a War Department agency which has been investi jating the problem of voting by iervice men,” said Maxwell.