**pOWHl
1 opicsj
Willis Bowen, county FHA
supervisor, said he passed the .
Carl Bailey residence last Friday
about noon and saw such a crowd
congregated in the front yard he
thought something terrible had
happened. Upon stopping to in
quire he found it was a case of
breaking and entering . . . and
into a lawyer’s home, at that.
Being just a deer, the miscreant
was not prosecuted, however.
Youngsters around Plymouth
probably got their fill of wad
ing, an activity dear to the heart
of most juveniles, following the
heavy rains that were a part of
last week’s storm. There were
plenty of places in town where
they could find ample water to
satisfy their desire.
J. R. Duff us, of Baltimore, Md.,
a representative of the C. C. Lang
& Son firm, and John Elliott,
of Brevard, were business visit
ors here Wednesday. Mr. Elliott
is a representative of Associated
Seed Growers, Inc., of Atlanta,
Ga., and travels North and South
Carolina for that concern.
The special meeting of the
Plymouth City Council scheduled
last Monday night was called off,
due to absence from town of sev
eral council members. The session
was ordered early this month to
consider bids for a new police
car and for work on the new fire
department building. Mayor A. J.
Riddle said Tuesday that action
* on these matters probably would
be delayed until the regular Sep
tember meeting, as a full attend
ance of the council was desired.
J. S. Fleming, pincipal of Plym
outh High School, announced this
week that his office at the school
is now open and he stands ready
to render every possible service
to school patrons.
Besides all the damage to pro
perty and crops, the “Big Blow”
last week cut Benton Liverman’s
vacation short by a day, but Ben
ton isn’t bemoaning the fact. He
was just glad to get home. Ben
ton and family, along with two
of his sisters, Misses Neva and
Mable Liverman, were vacation
ing at Carolina Beach, Wilming
ton, when Gale Barbara got un
derway .They left the beach at
noon last Thursday and got home
at 8 o’clock that night after a
slow journey. The wind was so
stiff that driving had to be limit
ed to a speed of 35 miles an hour,
Benton reports.
-4
i Cover Crop and
Pasture Seeds
Soon Available
Fair Prices From Seed Ven
dors Must Be Approved
By State P M A Office
First, Said
, -♦
Miss Miriam Ausbon, county
PMA secretary, stated Wednes
day that the local office will
probably be able to start issuing
purchase orders for winter cover
crop and permanent pasture
seeds next week.
Miss Ausbon said that fair
prices have already been sub
mitted by the seed vendors but
that before purchase orders can
be issued to farmers of the coun
fkt ty these prices must be approved
' in the local office by a PMA field
representative and then sent to
) the state PMA office at Raleigh
■ for approval.
The field representative is ex
pected to visit the office here
Friday, it wa-s said. When his ap
proval is obtained, the fair prices
will immediately be sent to the
state office and approval should
be forthcoming by Monday of
next week or soon thereafter, the
secretary stated.
Winter cover crops which have
been committee-approved for use
in this county are crimson clov
er, hairy vetch, Austrian winter
peas and Italian rye grass. Per
manent pasture seed so approv
ed include fescue, Ladino clover
and orchard grass.
-4
Votes Unanimous
For Crop Quotas
-♦
Eight farmers in Washington
County participated in the wheat
referendum held last Friday and
voted unanimously for the im
position of marketing quotas on
the 1954 crop. Miss Miriam Aus
bon, county PMA secretary, re
ports.
Although final national figures
on the referendum will not be
available for some time, early re
ports indicated an overwhelming
vote in favor of the marketing
quotas.
The vote was heavy in such
wheat states as Kansas, Nebras
ka and the Dakotas but light in
others. Eligible to vote in the
referendum were all wheat farm
ers who* were subject to quotas.
The Roanoke Beacon
****** and Washington County News ******
;::::::H:::£:::nu:2:iK!iinnn5n3E::aiH:a5Hr5£::nnn29r!
A home newspaper dedicated
to the service of Washington
County and its 13,000 people.
VOLUME LXIV_NUMBER 34 Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina, Thursday, August 20, 1953
ESTABLISHED 1889
BEACH HOMES AND PACKHOUSES IN COUNTY HARD HIT BY HURRICANE j
Expect Heavy Sales;
Markets Open Today
j Home Invaded j
| By Deer Here j
A young deer, apparently
driven from its natural habitat
by high water, jumped through
a breakfast-room window into
the Carl L. Bailey residence on
East Main Street here near
noon Friday.
No one was at home at the
i time, Mr. Bailey being uptown
and Mrs. Bailey and Carl jr.
having left earlier in the. day
for Danville, Va., to attend the
wedding of Mr. Bailey’s nep
hew.
County Game Protector J. T.
Terry, who lives in an adjoin
ing house, heard the noise and
went to investigate. He got
Police Chief P. W. Brown and
together the two men went in
and found the deer trying fran
tically to get out. It had cut its
nose on the way in through
the window and had bloodied
curtains, walls, floors, rugs and
furniture while it enjoyed the
run of the house. Also, its
hoofs bad badly scuffed the
floors. Other damage included
broken dishes, a bedroom lamp
and bric-a-brac.
Tlie deer was brought out
and released by Mr. Terry and
it fled from sight within a mat
ter of moments. Ladies in the
neighborhood came in to tidy
up the house.
J. 0. Highsmiih
Buried on Friday
-»
Funeral services were held
Friday afternoon at 3 o’clock
from Roper Methodist Church for
John O. Highsmith, 81, of Roper
The Rev. V. A. Lewis, minister
of the church, and the Rev. E. M
Spruill, of Plymouth, officiated
Burial was in Robersonville
Cemetery.
Mr. Highsmith, a retired mer
chant, died Thursday morning ai
7:30 o’clock at his home follow
ing a long illness. He had beer
in declining health for 12 yean
and had been confined to his bee
for the past four years.
The son of the late John H
Highsmith and Mahala Ware
Highsmith, of Pitt County, Mr
Highsmith was born in Martir
County May 31, 1862. He hac
lived at Roper for about 42 years
moving to this county from Rockj
Mount. He was married Octobe:
21, 1894, at Bethel to Miss Allii
Andrews, of that place. Mr. High
smith was a member of Rope
Methodist Church.
See HIGHSMITH, Page 7
Many County Growers Have
Tobacco on Floors for
Opening of Bright Leaf
Belt Today
-» -
It is expected that quite a bit
of tobacco grown in Washington
County will be among the leaf
that is auctioned on warehouse
floors of the Brig'ht Leaf Bolt as
the 1953 season swings into action
today.
Many farmers of this county
annually market their tobacco on
nearby markets in Williamston,
Washington and Robersonvilk
while some patronize markets in
larger, more distant cities such
ns Greenville, Wilson and Rocky
Mount.
Also, quite a number of loca
growers have sold some of theii
crop alrealy on markets of the
Border Belt and even farthei
south.
Tobacco started to rolling intc
the warehouses in volume earlj
Tuesday and reports were fo
good opening day breaks. It wa
reported that the Williamstoi
market, all set to launch its 52n<
'"^I^TlvtARILETSrPagrT?”'
Summer homes along: Albe
marle Sound belonging to a,
number of Plymouth people .
were badly damaged by the
hurricane last week, and the !
roofs were blown off several
pack barns in the county, as
shown in the accompanying
photos. Top photo shows two
cottages owned by George Sex
ton at Albemarle Beach that
were almost totally destroyed.
The shoreline of the sound
formerly was located about
where the post shows at ex
treme right, about 25 or 30 feet
of the ground having been cut
away by wave action during
the storm. Several other homes
at Albemarle Beach were badly
damaged, as well as others lo
cated farther to the east. Roof
of the pack barn on the left,
h located on the farm of Mrs.
Mattie Swain between Plym
outh and Mackeys, was blown
across the road and an undeter
mined amount of damage was
done to 6,000 sticks of tobacco
stored there.—Polaroid 1-Min
ute staff photos.
Marking Time in
Coniraci Parleys
--♦
Time is being marked in con
tract negotiations at North Caro
lina Pulp Company here while
information relative to an insur
ance program is awaited, Lewis
Price, international representa
tive of the Pulp, Paper Mill and
■ Sulphite Workers, stated Wed
nesday morning.
The anniversary date of the old
contract between the plant man
agement and the Engineer, Paper
Makers, Pulp and Sulphite Work
ers unions was August 1 but the
contract is self-renewing and
automatically continues in force
until 10-d.ay formal notice of ter
mination is given.
Mr. Price said contract negoti
ations will begin at Atlas Ply
wood Corporation's local plant
| during the week of September
1st, the anniversary date of the
self-renewing contract there. Re
presentatives of Engineer and
| Pulp Workers unions and com
pany representatives will partici
pate in the negotiations.
Much Damage Reported in County
Last Week in Wake of Hurricane
r
Next Blood Unit
Visit To County
On September 2nd
Red Cross Bloodmobile To
Locale at Velerans Club
Here; Blood Bank Lead
ers Hope to Gel 150 Pints
The Red Cross bloodmobile
from the Tidewater Regional
Blood Center, Norfolk, Va., will
pay its next visit to Plymouth
on Wednesday, September 2.
As usual for the past several
visits ,the set-up will be made at
the Veterans Building near the
Washington County Hospital.
Hours will be changed as an ex
periment, it was said. Blood may
be donated from 11 a. m. to 5
p. m. on this visit, rather than
from 10 a. m. to 4 p. m. as in the
past.
The unit visit is again being
jointly sponsored by the James
E. Jethro Post of the American
Legion and the Bosie Bateman
Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The quota has again been set
at 150 pints. On the two previous
visits of the bloodmobile to this
county this year 127 pints were
collected March 19 and 123 pints
June 12. The bloodmobile regu
larly visits the county once each
quarter under the blood bank
program established here several
years ago.
The Plymouth Woman's Club,
which has been in charge of ar
rangements for refreshments for
blood donors and for securing the
necessary nursing and clerical
help on previous occasions, will
again serve in this capacity.
It is hoped that the response
from both white and c lored citi
■/ns will,be s’.’-h th-i The bloody
mobile will realize the ,oj juu
quota' on the coming visit. 1 _
Scout Rally Set
ForTCext Month
-4
Plymouth Scoutmaster Carl L.
Bailey, jr., announced this week
that the District Rally and Fall
Round-up for Boy Scouts and
Cub Scouts of the Wasmarty Dis
trict will be held in Williamston
Wednesday, September 30.
The rally will be open to all
Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of
troops in Washington, Martin and
Tyrrell Counties, comprising the
Wasmarty District. The affair
will be held at the Williamston
ball park and will open at 7:30
p. m. There will be competition
between the various patrols of
both Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts
and about 45 boys from Plym
outh are expected to participate,
it was estimated.
Phil Liverman, of Plymouth,
is serving as Camping and Activi
ties chairman and K. P. Lind
sley, of Williamston, is in charge
of arrangements for the event.
SMALLEST TOBACCO BARN IN WORLD—MAYBE
__I
The tobacco barn pictured above may not be the smallest
in the world, but it will do until somebody comes along and proves
he has one smaller. Six by six feet in size, with a capacity of about
35 sticks, it is located here at the plant of the Soil Tone Corpora
tion, and is used by that firm in curing tobacco raised on its test
plots. That’s Bill Booth, plant foreman, at the door, and the barn
was built and is operated under his supervision. Heat is provided
by an electric radiant heating panel, dimly seen through the door.
About 75 sticks of tobacco have been cured in the barn this sea
son, an additional 25 or 30 having been lost due to the hurricane
last week, which just about wrecked the company’s test plat at
Roper. The barn is insulated with rock wool and is lined with
heat-rcflecting aluminum foil.—Polaroid 1-Minute staff photo.
Officials Designated
ForPeamiffE^y V ote
lenlahve List oi roiinoia
ers Announced by County
Farm Bureau President
This Week
Tentative pollholders for the
>eanut referendum to be held
Saturday, August 29, were an
lounced this week by James H.
,Vard, of Plymouth, president of
he Washington County Farm
3ureau.
Mr. Ward said there would be
hree polling places in the coun
;y_the regular PMA polling
daces at Plymouth, Roper and
jreswell. These, respectively, a.re
;he Agriculture Building, Know
les Grocery and Mike Davenport’s
garage.
Tentatively named as pollhold
■>rs were L. J. Beddard and Eli
Phelps, for Plymouth, Wade
Hardison and Roy Chesson,
Roper, and Mrs. C. N. Daven
port, jr„ and Leon Davenport,
Creswell.
SeTpEANUTsTPage 7
PLYMOUTH SCENES LAST FRIDAY MORNING, FOLLOWING THE BIG BLOW THURSDAY NIGHT
mmmmm?
V
■#$&
ZM
m&m 'i
SKS5 littered with, broken Umt* nndjwigs, a number o^ telev^ion -rnUswe^ blown down, nu«
ss^ss
crew when it reported for work. Top right shows a bg rie-ht shows Winesett Circle, where the drainage system was unable to
Street, with TV aerials dwn in the background Bottom right showsin several parte of the town, but VEP
wssrsftsi ? srJSHttzEs S >»*»«...... !»«„.
ute staff photos.
I
Name Baby Here
After Big Storm
The hurricane "Barbara,”
which ripped through this sec
tion late Thursday night and
Friday morning, gave a stormy
welcome to a newcomer here
and left a namesake in its wake.
A daughter born at 4:12 Fri
day morning to Mr. and Mrs.
VV. II. Gurganus, who live in
Winesett Circle, was named
Barbara Gale Gurganus.
Mr. Gurganus is an employee
of the North Carolina Pulp
Company. Their baby was born
at the Washington County Hos
pital shortly after the peak of
the storm here.
Tlie code name “Barbara”
was given to the hurricane by
weather bureau officials. Wine
sett Circle, where the Gurgan
uscs live, was hit hard by the
storm. A tree was blown down
across the power line, putting
tlie area in darkness and high
water flooded some of the
streets.
Mrs. Waters JJies
At Hospital Here
-4
Funeral services were conduct
ed from Christian Hope Church
of Christ Wednesday afternoon at
4 o’clock for Mrs. Kitty Brown
ing Waters, 64, of the Long Ridge
section near Plymouth. Mrs. Wat
ers died at 12 p. m. Monday at
the Washington County Hospital
after a brief illness. She had been
in declining health, however, for
the past five years. She was con
fined to her bed for two days.
Mrs. Waters was the daughter
of the late John and Odiliza
Swinson Browning, of Martin
County, and was born in Wash
ington County September 3, 1888
She was a lifelong resident ol
this county and was married at
Jamesville May 15, 1910, to Lloyc
C. Waters, of Plymouth, who sur
vives.
Mrs. Waters was a member anc
faithful attendant of Christiai
Hope Church. She leaves, beside:
her husband, four sons, Clarenci
and L. Ronald, both of Plymouth
Hubert F., of Elizabeth City, an<
James R. Waters, of Spencer
eight grandchildren and two bro
thers, W. W. Browning and Johr
Browning, both of Plymouth.
Services were in charge of thi
Rev. Robert Lee, of Washington
assisted by W. C. Chesson, o
Plymouth. Burial was in th<
church cemetery. . __
Rough Estimate of Field
Crop Damage Placed at
$160,000; Albemarle
Beach Hard Hit
-♦—
The hurricane which struck
this section with such fury last
Thursday night left in its wake
damage to field crops believed
to be about $160,000. «
Hardest hit of all crops was
corn, an important source of
farm income in thus county with
nearly 10,000 acres devoted to the
grain crop.
Other crops which suffered
from the storm were listed by
County Agent W. H. Pruden as
tobacco and cotton. The large
soybean crop came through with
out appreciable damage, Pruden
stated.
Emphasizing that any estimate
of crop damage which anyone
might make would be at best a
wild guess since the extent of
damage, especially to corn, de
pends to a great degree on the
weather from now until harvest
—as well as certain other factors,
Mr. Pruden said he estimated
damage to the corn and cotton
crops roughly at 20 per cent and
tobacco about five per cent.
Just last week, The Beacon
published an estimate released
by the county agent of total value
of all farm crops and other
sources of farm income for the
year. The overall figure was
placed at $3,557,891. The value of
the tobacco, corn and cotton crops
in the county was placed at $845,
000, $545,398 and $50,000, respect
ively.
On the basis of this estimate,
damage to the corn crop would
approximate $100,000. Damage to
tobacco would figure roughly
$50,000 and to cotton, $10,000.
Corn was flattened by the force
of the wind and rain and many
bolls were blown off the cotton
stalks, Mr. Pruden stated In
some fields, tobacco leaves were
badly shredded, also, and some
were stripped /rom the stalk.
Untold damage resulted to
home orchards, too, with most
fruit blown off apple trees, the
county agent continued.
Damage to the important to
bacco crop, highest in total value
of all county crops, would have
been quite a bit higher ex
cept for the fact that a high
percentage of the crop had al
ready been harvested. Even so, it
was reported that at least two
farmers suffered heavy damage
to tobacco stored in packhouses
when the storm lifted roofs from
the structures.
The roof was blown off a pack
house belonging to John West
near Plymouth and another pack
barn suffered similarly on the
S^niURRICANErPagrTi
Books Will Open
On September 5th
In Bond Election
-♦
Those Already Properly
Registered on General
Eleclion Books Not Re
quired to Register
■4
Registration books will open
Saturday, September 5, for the
special bond election to be held
on Saturday, October 3, W. T.
Freeman, chairman of the Wash
ington County Board of Elections,
announced this week.
The books will be opened for
registration at the polling places
at 9 a. m. on the fifth and will re
main open until sunset on Satur
day, September 19, it was said.
The various registrars in the
county will be at their respective
polling places for registering vot
ers on three successive Saturdays,
September 5, 12 and 19.
Since it is not a special regis
tration, all persons who are now
registered on the general election
registration books will not have
to register again in order to vote
in the special bond election, it
was pointed out.
Persons not registered on the
general election books in their
resident precinct will have to
. register in order to qualify to
. vote, however. Those who are not
: certain that they are now proper
i ly registered are advised to check
, with their precinct registrar on
l one of the three Saturdays in
; September mentioned above.
Two questions of whether the
i State of North Carolina shall is
sue $50,000,000 in school plant
> construction and improvement
, bonds and $22,000,000 in mental
! institution bonds will be settled
( in the special election called by
Governor Umstead.