North Carolina Newspapers

T'own opics Farley M. Bowers, an employee of N. C. Pulp Company for the past 25 years, has accepted a po sition with Bast Texas Pulp and Paper Company, Evadale, Texas, and plans to leave next week to make his home at Beaumont, Texas. Mrs. Bowers will remain here for about a month. Mr. Bowers was in the Sales and Ser vice department at the local plant. County Superintendent of Schools Roy F. Lowry attended a meeting of the North Carolina Committee on Elementary Edu cation held last Friday at Ra leigh. Mr. Lowry recently be came a member of the committee appointed by Charles F. Carroll, State superintendent of public in struction, to consider relation ships with the Southern Associ ation of Colleges and Secondary Schools’ cooperative program in elementary education and to make plans for the improvement of elementary education. Donald and Janice Somerville, son and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T. D. Somerville, of Plymouth, are making outstanding records at their respective schools. Janice, a junior at the College of Wil liam and Mary, Williamsburg, Va., recently made the dean’s list, while Donald, who is a senior at Fishburne Military Academy, at Waynesboro, Va., made the honor roll the past semester. Donald is also active in debating at Fish burne and recently was chosen as one of four representatives of the school in interscholastic debating. J. Shepherd Brinkley, local theatre man who was stricken ill Monday night, was reported as showing improvement yesterday. It is not expected, however, that Mr. Brinkley will be able to re turn to his duties for sometime. He is being treated at his home. Dr. A. L. Whitehurst attended the meeting of the Eastern Dis trict of the North Carolina Chiro practic Association held at Have lock last Wednesday. There were about twenty doctors in attend ance from various towns in the eastern part of the state. The auxiliary meeting was also held, simultaneously. Groundhog Sees Shadow } Here Tuesday at Noon -*— The groundhog saw his shadow here Tuesday. Which means, according to legend, that he went back into his hole to sleep for another six weeks while Old Man Winter en joys his final fling of 1954. Failing to see his shadow on February 2, legend continues, would mean that the groundhog would stay out and asknowledge an early spring. -- VFW Meeting Slated Here Tonight at Veterans Club —4 A regular meeting of Bosie Bateman Post No. 4023, Veterans of Foreign Wars, is scheduled to be held Thursday night of this week at the Veterans Club, Post Commander W. J. Weaver an nounces. Mr. Weaver urges that all mem bers be present. f -■*-_ Several From Here To Attend District Meeting Several members of the local Junior Chamber of Commerce are expected to attend a dinner meeting of Jaycees of the Tenth District at Elizabeth City Thurs day of this week. The meeting will be held at the VFW building and will be pre sided over by Edgar Gurganus, of Williamston, district vice presi dent. Jaycees will attend from Ahos kie, Windsor, Williamston, Co lumbia, Hertford, Edenton, Eliz abeth City and Plymouth. Cancer Clinic To Be Held on Friday -♦ The Northeastern Cancer Clin ic will be held Friday of this b week in Elizabeth City, at the Health Center, with registration beginning at 1 p. m. A free chest x-ray will be given anyone who wishes it along with the examina tion of the five areas of the body where cancer is most easily found and cured. There are no limita tions as to sex, race, physical or economic status at the Center; however, there are age require ments. Women should be 35 or more; men should be 40 or over, unless referred by a doctor, or unless one of the “seven danger signals” or symptoms is present. Only 30 people may be seen each month at the clinic due to limited facilities; therefore it is suggested that anyone who wishes to be sure of an appointment should write for a priority to: Cancer Center, Elizabeth City, N. C. Examinees are asked to bring a robe or housecoat with them, Mrs. W. W. Finlator, secre # The Roanoke Beacon ****** and Washington County News ****** A home newspaper dedicated to the service of Washington County and its 13,006 people. VOLUME LXV—NUMBER 5 Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina, Thursday, February 4, 1954 ESTABLISHED 1889 Listing Here Heavier Than Preceding Year The period for listing property for taxes in this county ended Monday but no reports was avail able late yesterday for the var ious townships except for Plym outh. Clarence L. Blount, Plymouth Township list taker, reported that 1,750 persons had listed with him during the month, as compared with 1,670 who listed in the town ship last year. Mr. Blount said that more than 90 per cent of the farm crop re ports were also in. He stated that the valuation was off consider ably in the township over the pre ceding year, due principally to a sharp decrease in valuation of automobiles and other motor ve hicles. He declined to estimate the percentage of decline in valua tions. W. A. Roebuck, list taker for the Town of Plymouth, said about 1,300 person listed property for taxes here. County Home Agent Assistant Requested SATISFIED CUSTOMER Few people in Washington County will fail to recognize this physiognomy, but for the benefit of the near-sighted it’s Dr. Claudius McGowan, of Plymouth. He had just topped off Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Spruill’s hog-killing dinner with several pieces of pie and three kinds of cake when this photo was made, and it's doubtful that he will ever be in better humor. Doc’s hair, incidentally, is not usually that untidy. Fact is, the pic ture was made outdoors with a near-gale blowing.Polaroid 1 Minute staff photo. Gel Fingerprints In Break-in Here Sheriff J. K. Keid secured fin gerprints and sent them to Ra leigh Monday following two break-ins over the week-end at a house belonging to Mrs. Mabel Griffin and located between the I old Roper Road and Highway 64. The sheriff said the house was entered before dawn Saturday and again Sunday night. He ex plained that the house is furnish ed and that the owner sometimes spends the week-end there but that no one was ih the house at the time. Entry was gained by breaking out a window and the sheriff stated that whoever en tered apparently was rather bad-| ly cut as blood was found thorughout the house. Missing were some canned fruit, a pillow case and bedspread. Sheriff Reid said he was notified of the break-ins by a man in the neighborhood who looks after the place. Total of 679 City Tags Reported Sold Thus Far City Clerk W. A. Roebuck re ported Tuesday that sales of Plymouth license tags totaled 679. as compared with 725 sold a year ago. All motorists within the city who have not yet bought tags are urged to do so at once. Board Answers Request and Promises To Consider; Several Other Matters Taken Up Monday A committee of county women, with Mrs. Roy Stillman, of Roper, as spokesman, appeared before the board of county commission ers at the regular monthly ses sion here Monday and requested that the board take under con sideration the appointment of an assistant to Mrs. Frances M. Dar den, home agent, in the next bud get. The board assured the group that the matter would be given due consideration but that no promises could be made that the item would be placed in this year’s budget since the results of the present revaluation pro gram could not be foreseen at this time. Several other matters of a rou tine nature were taken up at the meeting which was attended by Chairman Frank L. Brinkley, and Commissioner A. R. Latham, of Plymouth; J. C. Knowles, Roper; H. W. Pritchett, Creswell; and Hubert L. Davenport, Skinners ville. The board voted to ask that the county welfare department make an immediate investigation of the case of Mrs. Mary Lilley and the commissioners agreed to be gov erned in their action entirely by the report. W. M. Darden, a representative of the local produce auction mar ket, reported that 18 counties in the area had been visited and civic clubs, farmers and county agents visited with much encour agement being gained from react, ions in the area. Board Clerk J. Robert Camp bell was instructed to write to Highway Chairman J. Emmett Winslow and call attention to the condition of the Millpond Road, suggesting that attention be given to hard-surfacing of the road as soon as possible. The clerk was also directed to call the highway chairman’s at tention to a previous petition to improve the Backwoods Road near Roper. Three new road petitions were also approved to be forwarded to the highway department as fol lows: 1. Road from Highway (14 about 100 yards from Walter S. Knowles farm leading off the highway to Granville Nixon's residence. 2. Road running north of High See HOME AGENT, Page 12 fWo Slack' in | Tag Business ! There was no such thing as slack business Monday at the local branch office of the Caro lina Motor Club as droves of motorists came in to get state license plates for motor vehicles before the deadline. The number of plates sold here swelled to 2,959. Sales were broken down into categories as fellows: automobiles. 2,142: mo torcycle, 4; private trucks, 520; farm trucks, 85; Class Z trail ers, 170; Class C trailers, 38. Report Interest Running High in Produce Market Subslaniial Acreage Assur ed Throughout Area To Be Served By New Enter prise, Owners Say It now appears certain that a substantial acreage of truck crops will be grown in the 18-county area to be served by the Plym outh Produce Auction Market, W. M. Darden, W. T. Freeman and James H. Ward—owners and ope rators, announced this week. This conclusion is based on the fact that many plant beds for peppers have already been com pleted and seed dealers all over the area report brisk sales in both pepper and tomato seeds, it was explained. Many orders for other truck crop seed have been placed. Also, the certainty of a large pro duction has been further con firmed through personal contact with growers and through farm organizations. “The interest shown in the pro duction of truck crops for the new market has exceeded our expec tations,” Mr. Freeman stated. Considerable spadework has been done throughout the coun ties to be served by the new en terprise and the owners report that enthusiasm for the market is running high in every county, and they have visited all of the 18 counties at least once—some of them twice. County agents and other agri cultural workers are scheduling meetings throughout the area to See^WARiKET,~Page 12 ~ -» — Beaufort Lawyer First To Announce For State Senate -4 L. H. Ross To Seek One of Two Places; D. Victor Meekins, of Manteo, Is Possible Candidate It was reported here last week that L. H. Ross, of Washington, lawyer, had announced for the state senate from the second dis trict. The district is composed of seven counties, Washington, Mar tin, Beaufort, Dare. Tyrrell. Hyde and Pamlico, and has two sena tors. The district was represented at the last session of the General Assembly by Hugh G. Horton, of Williamston, and Malcolm C. Paul, of Washington. It is under stood that neither will be a can didate again this year. In a conversation with a friend here this week, D. Victor Meek ins, former sheriff and county commissioner of Dare County, said he would be interested in filing fo rsenator, provided Washington. Tyrrell or Hyde Counties offered no serious can didate for the office. Pamlico was the last of the smaller counties to be represented in the senate, Ram Dampen having served two terms, in 1949 and 1951. Dare has had a senator since Washington, Tyrrell and Hyde Counties, and Mr. Meekins said he would not consider running against a candidate from any of them. He said he was a strong '■x'liever in the rotation plan: but that if none of the other three ooun'ies offered a candidate, he definitely was interested. He said he had received some assurances of strong support and that he would make a statement about the matter in the near future. Under the terms of an unof ficial agreement existing in the second district, Martin or Beau fort provides one senator and the five smaller counties provide the other in rotation. It is also the custom for each senator to serve two years. However, the custom has been violated several times: and at the last session of the as semblv none of the five smaller counties in the district had repre sentation. Church’s $75,000 Drive Is Success Around 300 persons attended a “Loyalty Dinner” at the high school lunchroom here last Wed nesday night, in connection with the financial canvass being con ducted by Plymouth Christian Church, An excellent fried chicken din. ner was served tbe group by Har old Whitley. E. H. Liverman opened the meeting with brief remarks and then turned it over to the Rev. C. N. Barnette, who acted as mas ter of ceremonies. Brief sneeches were made by Mr. Barnette, Mr. Liverman, H. E. Newland, Robert E. Bowen and Wesley Hardison. The canvass, under direction of the Wells organization, had a goal of $7-5,000, which is the first step toward a new $160,000 brick church plant to be erected here on Main Street on a lot 150 by 400 feet and extending from Main to Third Street. Mr. Barnette stated late Wed nesday that the goal had already been pledged on a pledge basis of 150 weeks. The final renort c,n the Jl. canvass was to have been pre sented at a “Victory Dinner” held in the church annex here last night. Duplex envelopes are being prepared by volunteer workers, one side of which will be devoted to the building fund, and they will be sent to the entire church membership, it was said. Mr. Barnette declared yester day that the canvass “has been a wonderful experience, a finan cial success and a spiritual bless ing as well.” GREENVILLE STUDENTS GO THROUGH PULP MILL HERE LAST WEEK Thirty-three eighth-grade students from the Training- School at East Carolina College, Greenville, are pictured here in front of the personnel office building at the North Carolina Pulp Company last Thursday, following a conducted tour of the plant. The group, traveling in a large bus, was under the supervision of Miss Elizabeth Hyman, teacher, of Greenville, and Miss Helen Walters, of Portsmouth, Va., a student teacher. In addition to following operations of the big mill from log to finished paper, the students received samples of the various pulp and paper products produced here. Arrangements for the tour were made through the office of L. J. Darby, industrial relations director.—Polaroid 1-Minute staff photo. Farm Bureau Unit Hears Raichford On Price Support Speaker Discusses Reasons For Support Program, Al ternatives; Charter To In corporate Formed About 30 persons attended the meeting at the Agriculture Build ing Monday night of the Wash ington County Farm Bureau and heard Dr. C. Brice Ratchford, in charge of extension farm man agement and marketing at State College, speak on price supports. The meeting was presided over by T A. Morris, of Creswell, ' tjad offfie county unit of the Fin-m Pureau. Dr. Ratchford was intro duced by County Agent W. H. Pruden. The speaker stated the funct ions of a price support program as (1) bringing supply in line with demand at reasonable prices and (2) aiding the farmer to get a fair share of the national in come. Dr. Ratchford then advanced five reasons for having a price support program. He cited the characteristics of demand for ag ricultural commodities, the un certainty and unresponsiveness to price changes in the short-run, the uncertainties of exports, the possible wide fluctuations in free farm prices, and the importance of food and fiber to the public. Eight goals for a price support program were then listed, name ly: to provide reasonable price stability and help provide over all eeonomic stability, to maintain supply in line with demand with in a reasonable range of price fluctuations, to encourage effic ient production and marketing, to provide reasonable incomes for those in agriculture, to be con sistent with the accepted goal of maximum personal freedom, to be reasonable as to cost, to be politically acceptable and admin istratively feasible, and to pro mote conservation. Next, an appraisal of alterna Sce FARM BUREAU, Page 12 -♦ More Than Half of Tobacco Plan! Beds Now Prepared County Agent W. H. Pruden stated yesterday that over 50 per cent of the tobacco beds have been prepared in the countv. “Farmers are getting their beds in every day, now,” the agent said. “At least 10 per cent of the beds methyl bromide for the con bedsmethyl bromide for the con trol of weeds, nematodes, etc.” Mr. Pruden declared. Work on the plant beds was greatly hampered by wet wea ther this year. Plvmouth Scouts Observe National Boy Scout Week Plymouth scouts will observe National Boy Scout Week Febru ary 7-13, Scoutmaster Carl Bai ley. jr., has announced. Sunday morning the scouts will attend services at Plvmouth Christian Church in a body. Tuesday night there will be a father-son get-together at the Scout Hut, with the regular meet ing to follow. A number of the scouts also plan to camp out near the Hut over the week-end, the scoutmas . .. Ask Added Facilities For Plymouth School Group of Local Citizens Stresses Need for New Auditorium, Gymnasium At Board Meeting A request for additional school facilities at Plymouth was voiced by a small delegation of local citizens appearing before the county board of education at the regular monthly meeting here Monday. W. H. Booker, A. L. Owens, C. W. Dinkins, Lewis Price and Nyal Womble asked that the boau? give consideration to the buihr.uyof adtfiti3;.al school plant facilities at Plymouth, stressing the need for a new auditorium and gymnasium at the high school. The group informally discussed | the need for funds from tax 1 sources to supplement the present educational program here. It was pointed out that the present method of raising money with which to provide supplements for music and physical education programs at the school is haphaz ard and entirely unreliable. It was pointed out that enroll ment in the local schools had al 1 most doubled in the past 15 years j and that practically all the build, ings added here were to take care of the increased number of pupils I rather than to provide additional facilities. Also cited was the fact that considerably more than $35, 000 had been raised in the past few years by contributions to equip the home economics depart ment, lunch room, and to provide for the athletics and band pro grams carried on here. Mr. Booker, who acted as spokesman for the delegation, labeled a supplementary school ] tax for Plymouth as the desir able solution. Board Chairman L. E. Hassell and board members stated the belief that a countv wide supplemental tax would be more desirable than for a school district tax alone. Carl L. Bailey, sr., attorney for the board, expressed his opinion that to be legal the tax would have to be levied on property on a countywide basis since there is an overlapping of districts, with Plymouth colored students in high school going to Roper. See SCHOOLS, Page 7 ~ i Offices Begin j j Half-Holidays j Offices at the county court house here will begin closing at noon Wednesdays on Febru ary 10th and continue each Wednesday afternoon through the month of September. The offices will remain open on Saturdays until noon, as usual. At the commissioners’ meet ing here Monday it was agreed m nwriiuuii nunugs next week, since stores and ether business houses here are | taking the half-holiday each week. Demonstration At Farm Near Here County Agent W. H. Pruden stated yesterday that he was ex pecting a good number of farm ers to attend the pepper and to mato seed bed demonstration which will be held Thursday af ternoon of this week. The demonstration will be con ducted on the farm of A. J. Rid dle two miles east of Plymouth on Highway G4. Time of the demon stration is 2 o'clock. The beds are located directly behind the home of KIvin Adorns, a tenant on the farm. It is expected that there will bo much interest in pepper and tomato crops in the county this year because of the new produce auction market to be established here in May. The county agent pointed out that pepper and tomato beds should be seeded by February 15. i Tt is important to have good-sized plants early in ofder to catch the early market when the prices are strongest, Pruden said. He stated that prices of peppers per bushel dropped from an early high of $4 last season to $1. A1 Banadyga, extension horti culture specialist from State Col lege, Raleigh, will be in charge of tho demonstration which will show how to make the forms, prepare and seed the bed, etc. 1 FIRE DESTROYS HOUSE NEAR HERE LAST WEEK | Plymouth firemen were unable to do much about this fire, which destroyed the home of Annie Johnson, colored, on the Mac keys Road near here last week. An overheated oil heater caused the blaze, which completely destroyed the house and its contents. There was no insurance. — Polaroid 1-Minute photo by Henry ___ Chairman Praises School's Efforts For Polio Drive Check for $1,099.36 Turned In to County 1954 March Of Dimes; $2,500 Now in Hand -♦ County March of Dimes Chair man Thos. F. Hopkins, of Plym outh, reported Wednesday that $2,500 has been raised in the 1954 campaign to date. Over $3,500 is being sought in the drive this year for funds with which to fight polio. Mr. Hopkins had strong praise for Principal J. S. Fleming, of Plymouth High School, Mrs. Dick Norman and others of the school faculty, and the students for their outstanding work in raising $1, 099.36 for the fund. The county chairman stated that from information he has gathered at various district and state meetings of March of Dimes forces he is led to believe that Plymouth schools “raised more money per pupil than any other in the state.” The schools have repeatedly made a good record in the March of Dimes campaign year after year. Mr. Hopkins also stated that a very favorable report has been received from Mrs. Gladys Dav enport, chairman of the drive at Creswell. A full breakdown will be furnished later, it was said. The county chairman expressed his confidence that the figures would be pushed over the $3,000 mark within the next few days. Meanwhile, the 20 princesses who are competing for the title, “Washington County March of Dimes Queen, 1954,” were report ed busy soliciting funds and sell ing advance tickets for the an nual March of Dimes ball to be held at the Veterans Club here Saturday night of this week. Music for the dance will be fur nished by Bill Graveley and his orchestra from Washington. The dance will be held from 9 to 12 and the queen will be crowned at appropriate ceremonies during in termission. ~ A capacity crowd is eKpected for the affair. -i Farmers Urcred To Send in Cards on Vegeiable Crops The county agent’s office mail ed out cards Tuesday to farmers in the county listing various vege table crops and asking that thcr check the crops they intend to grow for market this season. Farmers who check and return cards to the county agent's office will be placed on the mailing list to receive valuable information on growing and marketing the vegetables. County Agent W. H. Pruden stated. It is requested that interest ed farmers get these cards in to the county offic? as soon as pos sible. -4 Council of Church Women Meet Here This Afternoon The Plymouth Councit of Church Women, made up of wo men of the Presbyterian, Episco pal, Christian, Baptist and Metho dist Churches, will hold an organ izational meeting at the Episcopal Parish House on Madison Street Thursday afternoon of this week. The announcement was made by Mrs. K. S. Trowbridge, presi dent of the council. Time of the meeting is 3 o’clock. County's Quota For Dinner $150 Carl L. Bailey, chairman of the Washington County Democratic executive committee, stated Wed nesday that the county’s $150 quota for the annual Jefferson Jackson Day dinner had not been raised, although a small amount was in hand. Mr. Bailey said he expected no trouble raising the county’s quota, however. In return for its money, the county will get three seats at the affair which is scheduled to be held in the Sir Walter Hotel ballroom Saturday night of next week. Senator Spesserd Holland, of Florida, will be the featured speaker at the gathering of party faithful, but the big news will be the fact that state politics ex pected to feature a battle for the U. S. Senatorial nomination will be in full swing by that time. Some counties have already turned in their quoins to Dinner Chairman John D. Larkins, jr. The party is seeking a total of $29,000 from the dinner. Mr. Bailey said he had no idea at this time who would represent ■