North Carolina Newspapers

T'ownt opieij » The Roanoke Beacon &:• A home newspaper dedicated to the service of Washington County and its 13,000 people. S I and Washington County News ****** ★ ★★★★★ VOLUME LXV—NUMBER 30 Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina, Thursday, July 29, 1954 ESTABLISHED 1889 The Rev. John Crisp Owens, of Plymouth, will begin his duties as rector of St. Thomas, Ahoskie, St. John’s, Winton, and St. Barnabas, Murfreesfeoro, Episcopal churches effective Sunday. He was ordain ed a deacon, the first order of the apostolic ministry, in Grace Epis copal Church here in June. He will make his home temporarily at the residence of Mrs. W. P. McGlaughon, in Ahoskie, but ex pects later to set up a bachelor’s apartment at 202 First Street. W. Willis Bowen, county FHA supervisor, and Mrs. Ernestine W. Basnight, county office clerk, are attending a Personnel Training district meeting of the FHA at Atlantic Beach on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday of this week. The local office, located in the basement of the county courthouse, will be closed until the regular opening hour Monday morning of next week and pat rons should please note. The oflice ot selective serv ice Board No. 95 here will be closed all day Thursday of this week, Mrs. Lorraine Hunter, board clerk, has announced. The office, located in the base ment of the county courthouse, will reopen Friday at the usual hour. Patrons of the office should please note. While visiting relatives here Saturday, Steve Cayton, nine year-old' son of Mr. and Mrs A. P. Cayton, jr., of College Park Maryland, went down to the Turnpike Canals to try his luck at fishing. As it turned out hi: luck was pretty good and he caught a two pound, 11 ounce large mouth bass. The fish measured 17 inches in length, ac cording to Gilbert Vaughan, the young fisherman's uncle. It was the biggest catch made so far b> the little fisherman. He was using worms for bait. Jesse Parks, who served ai student pastor of the Plymouth Presbyterian Church for some months, was one of four young ministers examined by Granville .Presbytery which met Tuesday al the Ernest Myatt Presbyteriar Church, Raleigh. Following theii examination, the presbytery ap pointed a commission to ordain and install the candidates as Pres byterian pastors. The ordination services and installation will be held in August and September Parks has been assigned to the Willow Springs and the Fellow ship Presbyterian Churches. He recently graduated from Union Theological Seminary, Richmond Va. Julian Weaver, of Little Rock Ark., arrived the first of Iasi week to spend his two weeks vacation here with his father, W J. Weaver. Young Weaver, whc received his degree in mechanical engineering at the Missour; School of Mines & Metallurgy at Rolla, Mo., in 1951, is now em ployed by Ihe Westinghouse Elec tric Company at Little Rock. He plans to leave Friday for hie home. Eugene F. Still, former mayoi of Plymouth who now lives ir Blytheville, Ark., spent several days here the first of the week * attending to business matters and " calling on some of his manj friends. Mr. Still, who headed the Plymouth Box & Panel Com pany as president for a numbei of years before the plant was purchased by the Atlas Plywood Corporation, is now engaged ir the automobile business at Bly theville. * 16-Y ear-Old Boy, Former Resident Slain in Virginia -* Harvey Kulman Said Unin tentionally Shot Saturday Night by 14-Year-Old Girl Companion Harvey Kulman, 16-year-olc son of Mr. and Mrs. Dave Kul * man, former Plymouth residents ' was wounded fatally by a .22 caliber bullet fired from a minia ture pistol by his 14-year-old gir companion while the two sat ir a car at a Hampton, Va., drive in theater last Saturday night according to a Norfolk, Va., news paper report Monday. Police there think the shooting was un intentional, according to the re ports. The boy’s father, Dave Kulman operated a clothing store in Ply mouth for about seven or eigh’ years, leaving in 1947 to buy £ store in Newport News, where the family have lived since. Har vey is remembered here as £ talented musician, while his mo ther was active in the Easterr Star, serving as matron of the local chapter. Hampton police said youn; Kulman died within a few min See RESIDENT, Page 12 Mercury at 98 Friday for 2nd Time If you were one of those per sons who complained about the heat or who wore that about-to give-up look last Friday you had a perfect right. The official high reading of the day, according to figures released at the Tide Water Test Farm weather station near here was 98. The low reading for the 24-hour period was 63. That 98 equalled the hottest weather recorded for July at the station, 98 on Saturday, the third. The temperature has hit 90 or above on 14 days during the month through Tuesday, the sta tion record shows. Seven of these came during the first eight days of July, high readings for the 1st through the 8th running as fol lows: 95, 95, 98, 96, 93, 86, 94, 90. On two days during this per iod of 27 days the coolest it got was 73 degrees. The lowest the mercury has dipped was the min imum reading for the 17th, 52 de grees. Sunday of this week the tem perature hit 89, went to 90 on Monday and then dropped back to 88 Tuesday. The minimum reading of 57 degrees Tuesday was the lowest since the 18th. Total rainfall recorded though Tuesday was 5.22 inches, with 3.11 inches of this falling on the 16th. Other precipitation was recorded as follows: 4th, .25 of an inch; 5th, .06 of an inch; 6th, .11 of an inch; 8th, .02 of an inch; 9th, .70 of an inch; 10th, .50 of an inch: 12th, .05 of an inch; 15th, .35 of an inch; 19th, .04 of an inch; 22nd, .03 of an inch. METHODIST MINISTER AND WIFE OBSERVE SILVER ANNIVERSARY | I Above are pictured members of the receiving line at the benefit reception given in honor oi the 25th wedding anniversary of the Rev. and Mrs. Dwight L. Fouts in the Fellowship Hall of the new Methodist educational building here recently. Silver contributions were accepted for finish ing the ladies’ parlor in the educational building and hundreds of guests called during the evening to extend congratulations to the popular pastor and his wife. Those in the photo are, left to right, front row: Mrs. E. W. Furgurson, Mrs. George Barden, Mrs. Lyman Mayo, Miss Betty Riddle, Mrs. L S. Thompson, Mrs. A. J. Riddle, Mrs. W. C. Jones, Mrs. Cecil Carter, Mrs. Harry Barnhill, Mr. Fouts. Miss Betsy Barnhill, Mrs. Fouts, Miss Dorothy Thompson, Miss Eleanor Sanderson, Mrs. Blanche Midgett, Mrs. C T. Robbins, Mrs. Miller Warren, Mrs. E. M. Leavitt, Mrs. Robert Camp bell, Miss Laura Jo Quinn and Miss Sue Riddle; back row: Cecil Carter, Fred Keyes, Lymon Mayo, E M. Leavitt, George Barden, Miller Warren, L. D. Jones, Tom Sanderson. Miss Betty Davenport, Dr. E. W. Furgurson, Z. V. Norman, L. S. Thompson, Harry Barnhill, Robert Campbell, B. G. Camp bell and C. J. Norman.—Photo by Weaver Studio. Post Office Showing Upswing in Business Increases in Praciic&llt.An Categories for Year find ing June 30 Over Prev ious Year -♦ Business showed an increase in most categories at the Plymouth Post Office during the four quar ters ending June 30, over the cor responding period preceding, ac cording to figures just released by Postmaster J. C. Swain. The largest single increase came in the stamp requisition bracket with a figure of $43, 212.66 for the fiscal year 1954 as compared with the 1953 figure of $27,544.25, or an increase of $15,668.41. Money orders sold during the fiscal year ending June 30 amounted to $379,720.05 as com pared with $374,745.73 for the previous year, or an increase of $4,984.32. Heaviest month during the year, naturally, was Decem ber with a total money order sale of $102,753.73. Next in size was September with a total of $92,439.36. Fees showed a drop from $4, 679.45 for the fiscal year 1953 to $4,507.85 for 1954. Increases were shown in the following classifi cations, 1954 figures given first, 1953 figures following for com parison: Second class postage, $169.74, $141,67; Non-metered, $1,588.24, $1,452.04; Metered, $1,550.00; $1, 300.00; Box Rent, $1,758.51; $1, 000.53. Receipts for bulk mail ing permits was the same, $50 in each instance. Figures for the quarter ending June 30 showed by months, April; money orders, $30,973.81; fees, $361.95; special request envelopes $212.52; stamp requisition, $1, 876.96; second class, $18.45; non metered, $116.76; metered, $100; box rent, $46.78; May; money orders, $29,963.97; fees, $348.55; special request envelopes, $278.16; stamp requisition, $1,825.25; sec ond class, $15.13; non-metered, $184.98; metered, $150; box rent, $4.28; June: money orders, $28, 651.63; fees, $346; special request envelopes, $1,215.98; stamp requi sition, $1,966.63; second class, $14.29; non-mtered, $65.10; per mit bulk mailing, $10; metered, $100; box rent, $310.44. Attendance Figures for Pettigrew Park Released 4 Park Ranger Paul E. Banner man, of Pettigrew State Park, near Creswell, reports that during the week ending July 25 a total of 531 visited the area. This was a decrease of 23 over attendance of the previous week. The number included 117 pic nickers, four tent campers, 70 fishing, 274 visitors to the mu seum, 44 hikers and 28 boaters. ■nmmm <4—». ..hmuiim* . -»> July Rainfall More Than 1953 Total rainfall for July through Tuesday of this week had al ready surpassed that for the month of July 1953 with an inch and .20 to spare, according to records for this county kept at the Tide Water Test Farm weather station near here. Total precipitation through Tuesday was listed at 5.22 inches while the tota last July, one of the driest on record here, was only 4.02. County and Town Board Meets Set -♦ County and town governing bodies, with the probable excep tion of the Washington County Board of Education, will hold their regular monthly meetings here Monday of next week. The county commissioners will meet at the courthouse Monday morning at 10:30 o’clock while the Plymouth Town Council will meet in the municipal building Monday night at 8 o’clock. County School Superintendent Roy F. Lowry stated Tuesday that the education board plans to wait until working drawings for the addition to the Plymouth Col ored School are ready and then hold a called meeting. Routine business is on the agenda for the other meetings, so far as could be learned. Noth ing special is scheduled to come before the county commissioners in their Monday session, it was said. A comparatively light session is in prospect for the city fathers, according to Town Clerk W. A. Roebuck. -1 Mr. and Mrs. Nooney Visit Son in Georgia ——♦ Mr. and Mrs. Joseph E. Nooney visited their son, Wesley P. Nooney, in Jesup, Ga., last week, while Mr. Nooney was on his vacation from Liverman’s store here. Young Nooney is woodyard and chip plant superintendent at the new multi-million dollar chemical cellulose plant recent ly established there by Rayonier, Incorporated. More than 5,000 people attend ed dedication of the new plant there on Wednesday, June 23rd, when Governor Herman Tal madge was the main speaker. The plant has a capacity of 87,000 tons of cellulose annually. Control on Wheat Carries By Slim Margin on Friday -» County's Six Eligible Voters For Control of 1955 Crop, Strictest Control Ever foi Next Year -» ■ - The six eligible voters in Wash ington County for the wheat ref erendum held last Friday all cas1 “yes” votes to go along with the majority as the nation’s wheai growers once again voted to ac cept controls on their next year’s crop. The margin, however, was the thinnest ever. The outcome means that the government will continue pay ing high support prices for wheal —somewhere between 75 and 9( per cent of parity. The rate is nol yet decided. But it also means that, in Sec retary of Agriculture Benson’; own terms, controls on wheat the farmer can plant in 1955 will be the toughest ever. Growers supporting control; cast 73.3 per cent of the vote ir Friday’s referendum, the Agricul ture Department calculated. Since a favorable vote of 66.7 per cenl was needed to continue control: the margin was thin indeed— much slimmer than was expected from advance indications. Some 267,000 farmers voted— a light turnout. Nearly a millior See WHEAT, Page 12 Veis Building Is Expected Site of Air Spotter Post -* Tentatively Selected Sub ject To Approval of Vet erans Organizations; Dr. Whitehurst Supervisor The Veterans Building here has tentatively been selected as the site for the local Ground Obser ver Corps observation post. The action came at the third in a series of meetings held Friday night at the Veterans Building, before a disappointing crowd. At the same time, Dr. A. L. Whitehurst was named super visor of the post and Charles Gardner and Carl L. Bailey, jr., chief observers. A complete roster will be announced later, Dr. Whitehurst said. The site must be officially okayed and it will then take 30 days to get the telephone system set up before the post can of ficially function and participate in alerts, the superviser explain ed. Before the site can be finally approved its selection must be passed upon by house rules com mittees of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts, commanders of those or ganizations pointed out. This is expected to be a mere formality, however. The project to establish a Ground Observer Corps post here is being sponsored by the Plym outh Junior Chjmber of Com merce of which Dr,. Whitehurst is president. A film of the explosion of an atomic bomb was shown by Lt. Gordon Jackie, of Durham, of the Durham Air Defense Filter Cen ter of the Ground Observer Corps, at the meeting. The regular meeting of James E. Jethro Post No. 164 of the American Legion was held prior to the meeting. Funeral Services For Mrs. Ambrose -1 Funeral services were held from the home Monday afternoon at 3:30 o’clock for Mrs. Eseneath Craddock Ambrose, of near Roper. Mrs. Ambrose died at her home at 9:15 p. m. Saturday after a brief illness. She had been in declining health for many years. Mrs. Ambrose was a native of Washington County, born August 25, 1876, to the late Isaac and Nancy Jane Overton Furlough, of this county. She was a member of Concord Primitive Baptist Church, Creswell. Surviving are four daughters, Miss Martha Craddock, of Roper, Mrs. Ethel Bagley, of Plymouth, Mrs. Nettie Skittletharpe, of Roper, and Mrs. Claudia Epstein, of Norfolk, Va; two sons, De ward Craddock, of Roper, and Roy Craddock, of Norfolk; a bro ther, Thomas Furlough, of Roper; cne adopted daughter, Mrs. An nie Oliver, of Roper; 13 grand chlidren and 10 great grandchil dren. Services were conducted by El der A. B. Ayers, of Williamston, assisted by Elder Ross, of Green ville. Burial was in the family cemetery at the home. -• Large Warehouse The main warehouse at the State Dock in Wilmington is 86, 000 square feet large. | PRICES DOWN AS LOCAL MELONS HIT MARKET U--—__1 The pickup truckload of melons shown in the above photo were frown on a new ground patch of one and a half acres near Roper belonging to Barton Swain. The tenant, shown on the left at the rear of the truck is Robert Morris. Others in the picture, from left to right, are Bob Winesett, local grocer, Billy Harden and Willis Jethro, of Plymouth. The truck was parked near Winesctt’s store on West Water Street when the picture was made. Some of the smaller cantaloupes were selling as low as five cents each, a far cry from the prices prevailing here earlier before the local crop hit the market. The dry weather cut the yield con siderably, Morris reported.—Polaroid 1-Minute staff photo. Murder and Suicide Ruled in Deaths Here Of Brothers Tuesday { Colton Growers { Urged To Dust raniiimeiHin «imi(miii(imi County Agent W. H. Pruden declared this week that dusting activity should continue on cot ton farms of the county in or der to control the new crop of boll weevils. Pruden advised that growers should dust this week and next, at least, and that fields should also be watched carefully for red spider infestation. Principal Sought For Roper School » A new principal is being sought for Koper High School. H. F. Brown, who has served several years as principal at Rop er, tendered his resignation last week in a letter to County Super intendent R. F. Lowry. The resig nation was reluctantly accepted and Mr. Lowry is now negotiating with several persons who are in terested in the position. Mr. Lowry said the local school committee must pass on any se lection made for the post, subject to approval of the county board of education. The new principal will be an nounced just as soon as final ap proval is made, it was said. j BUSY SCENE AT PLYMOUTH PRODUCE MARKET AS PRICES HIT PEAK Trucks loaded with green peppers waited their turn under the auction shed at the Plymouth Produce Market last week as prices ranged frm $2 to $4 a bushel, reports stating that good quality peppers were bringing better average prices on the local market than anywhere in the state. The firm market of a week ago had become dull this week, however, as peppers were being shipped from five states and prices here Wednesday were ranging from 95 cents to $1.25 a bushel, market operators reported. A stronger market is expected within the next few days, the operators said. The market is planning to handle red peppers within a few days, also.—Polaroid 1-Minute staff photo. Romulus Tellerlon, 67, and Bruce Tellerlon, 50, Dead As Tragedy Strikes Tues day -♦ Tragedy struck a double blow to a Plymouth family late Tues day afternoon. Dead are Romulus “Captain Rome” Tetterton, 67, and his bro ther, Bruce Tetterton, 50. Coroner Jack Homer ruled that the facts clearly indicated homi cide and suicide and deemed an inquest unnecessary. Coroner Horner stated that late Tuesday afternoon Bill and Worth Tetterton came to the funeral home and told him that Romulus Tetterton was dead, asking that he send an ambulance and that he notify Dr. Claudius McGowan and Sheriff J. K. Reid. Horner hurried to the home just beyond Windley Cemtery on the old Washington road at the outskirts of Plymouth and went in from the back porch where he found an empty 12-gauge shot gun shell. Horner said Romulus Tetterton was lying on his back in the hall with a 12-gauge short single barrel shotgun lying be side the body. The man’s face was practically blown off, brains were spattered about the hall and sitairway and there were powder bums on Tetterton’s chin, the coroner stated. The gun con tained an empty shell. Three brothers, Romulus, Bill and Bruce—none of them mar ried, lived together at the home place. Bill had gone to Plymouth to buy some fish and it was upon his return that he discovered the body of Romulus in the hall. He thought that Bruce was in the bedroom asleep and the fact that he had been killed was not dis covered until Dr. McGowan ar rived at the home shortly after the coroner got there. The doctor went into the bedroom and discov ered Bruce Tetterton fully dress ed but for his shoes which were beside the bed and lying on his back with an arm folded across his chest. He had been shot in the region of the heart and ap parently bled internally, there being only two small spots of blood on the bed, Coroner Hor ner stated. Indications were that death was instantaneous, the cor oner said, and the time of death was placed at about 4:30 p. m. Romulus Tetterton had been in poor health for some time and is said to have been despondent over the state of his health. The Tettertons were the sons of the late Augustus T. and Pat Sexton Tetterton, of Plymouth. Romulus was born in Washing ton County February 15, 1887, and had lived here all his life. He was a retired railroad worker and a member of Plymouth Christian Church. Bruce Tetterton was born Jan uary 5, 1904, and had spent his See BROTHERS, Page 7 Snap Theft Ring With Arrests at Norfolk of Trio -+ Automobile Seat Found by Plymouth Officer Near Scene of Local Break-in Plays Part A car seat found by Plymouth Police Officer Paul Basnight on the Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks near H. E. Harrison Wholesale Company here played a part in clearing up a series of 26 store robberies in Northeastern North Carolina over the past sev eral months, including the break in at the local wholesale firm and theft of between $600 and $700 worth of cigarettes week before last. The arrest of three men at Nor folk, Va., who confessed to hav ing darted down into North Caro lina at night, robbed the stores and rushed back to the Virginia city before dawn, was announced from Raleigh Tuesday by the State Bureau of Investigation . SBI Director James Powell - identified the three men, all col ored, as James McGlone, Bernie Frank Tyson and Harry Barry Whitaker. Powell said the trio would steal an automobile in the Norfolk area, use it in the rob bery excursions into this state and then abandon the machine upon their return to Virignia. While Norfolk police worked on the wave of car thefts SBI agents and sheriffs’ departments in Hali fax, Northampton, Gates, Hert ford, and Washington counties probed the break-ins. The case broke when Norfolk police picked up several suspects in the car thefts. The car seat found by Officer Basnight here proved to be from a 1951 model Chevrolet and it was found that the car was stolen July 13 at Nor folk. Recovered in the Virginia city, South Carolina license plates found in the car led to the ap prehension of Whitaker, it was said. Fingerprints taken from the ar rested men matched prints taken by SBI agents at the scene ot the store break-ins, it was reported. Powell said none of the stolen merchandise has been recovered but that ‘‘efforts are being made.” The three arrested Negroes have criminal records for breaking and entering, he stated. It was indi cated that the three, possibly with accomplices, might be link ed with 14 other robberies in this state. Powell listed three SBI agents who had taken part in the inves tigation as Walter Spence, Clyde Fentress and L. E. Allen. baiely Awards To Drivers of Buses Distributed Here Certificates From Motor Ve hicles Department and Automobile Association To 25 in County ♦ Safety award certificates are in the process of being distribut ed in this county to school bus drivers who successfully com pleted the 1953-54 term by con forming to precribed safety rules and regulations. The awards are presented an C. Department of Motor Vehicles C. Department of Motor Vehivles and the N. C. State Automobile Association, the South’s largest motor club. Qualified drivers in this state travel some 220,000 miles daily to haul more than 400,000 school children. Congratulations were offered the winners by John G. Frazier, jr., president of the automobile association, and Edward Scheidt, commissioner of motor vehicles. Winners in the county include William E. Phelps, Geraldine M. Davenport, Kenneth L. Spruill, Reginald G. Davenport, Douglas C. Day, Harlin D. Patrick, Billy A. Sawyer, Paul D. Ange, Nor man Williams, Evans White, Bill Comer, Gerald Brabble, Richard Allen, Sterling Davenport, Billy Davenport, Pernell Belcher, Ro bert L. Fuller, Russell Rouson, Valon E. Lucas, Edmond E. John son, Russell R. Nixon, Hubert Jones, Sherwood Satterthwaite, Christopher C. Cherry, Larry Woodley. -* CORRECTION An error appeared in the ad for Tetterton’s Dairy Bar in the last issue of The Beacon. A gallon of ice cream was advertised for 95 cents when it should have been one half gallon. Also, milk shakes are served in two sizes, 20 and 25 cents. The Beacon regrets the error.