Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / Sept. 8, 1955, edition 1 / Page 1
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T’own opics L-afiffi:::!::::::::” BSSSSSiSS!: School officials here said yester day it was not likely the Plymouth High School Band would be able to play for the football game with Weeksville here Friday night. For one thing, the game .was changed from Weeksville to Plymouth only late Tuesday, which did not give the musicians any time for prac tice. The band has not worked to gether since last spring, and the new director, Bernard Ham, has not had much opportunity to get acquainted with the members or the set-up here, since the school term began just last Thursday. County Agent W. H. Pruden, who has been oh anhual leave this week, will be back in harness Monday of next week. Bill has just been loaf ing mostly so far as could be learn ed, but plans to spend the week-end at Nags Head. If anybody’s wondering why superior court is being held here in September this year here’s the answer. The Washington County Bar asked that court not be scheduled in July during a busy season for a predominantly agri cultural county. Then after the re districting, new court schedules were drawn up, giving this county a September criminal term in lieu of the usual July term. Chief of Police P. W. Brown will testify that Beacon want ads really get results. Several weeks ago he inserted a “lost” ad in the paper for a lady who had lost a wrist watch. Lo and behold, »two lost watches were turned over to the police department by finders. One of them was the watch he advertised for, and a day or so later another lady ■*V claimed the other. The Beacon ' got “gypped” on the deal, how ever, because it only collected 50 cents for the one “lost” ad. Work was begun Tuesday of this week on the roof of the municipal building here. Rotten sheathing at the edges of the roof is being re placed, preparatory to installing new guttering. The roof will then be given a new coat of aluminum paint, Police Chief P. W. Brown stated. Mrs. Ada Virginia Cahoon, of Plymouth and Columbia, is the new stenographer in the Washington County Register of Deeds office here, Mrs. John Lilley having re signed aftei*'; . x-year stint. Mrs. Cahoon took over her new work Thursday of last week. Mr. and Mrs. James Hamilton. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hamilton and little son returned home last Sat urday after an extensive vacation trip through northern and mid western states. They were gone about two weeks, visiting relatives at Niagara Falls, N. Y., and also in Ohio and West Virginia. Mr. Hamilton said on his return that they were not bothered too much by rain while they were on their trip, although some sections of the country were flooded during the same period. Hunting Permits To Be Issued by Dwight Concern Hunlers in This County, Beaufort, Hyde and Tyr rell Invited To Hunt Old Q Roper Lands Hunters living in Washington, Tyrrell, Beaufort and Hyde Coun ties will be invited to hunt on the old Roper lands recently bought by the Dwight Corporation, Charles Cleaves, president of the corpora tion, announced today. Arrange ments will be completed during the next few days for issuing permits to residents of the area to try their luck at this popular sport on Sat urday throughout the hunting sea son. Key men have agreed to serve as supervisors in the three main sec retions of Dwight Corporations’ hunt M*ing lands. Leslie Clayton will be in charge of activity in the Ponzer area, which will include the lands east of Hyde Park Canal and south of the first tributary ditch just be low Lake Pungo. Carroll Liverman will look after the Pungo-Pantego section, and also the land north of the first tributary ditch. Willy Phelps will be in charge of the Washington County area between Lake Phelps and Chesson Road (the old Norfolk Southern Rail road bed.) Permits will be issued to resi dents of the area for their personal use only. Those applying must un dertake to hunt only on Saturdays, not to drive over the dirt roads when they are wet, to follow the in structions of the key men, and to protect the area in accordance with Department of Conservation prac tices against fire or damage to life or property, Anyone violating these condemns v"l of course, lose the j ;.w. hunting on Dwight Co ’porat'on lands at all. Application for permits can be made to the key men listed above after next week. The Roanoke Beacon ****** and Washington County News ****** ill A home newspaper dedicated to the service of Washington County and its 13,000 people. VOLUME LXVI—NUMBER 36 Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina, Thursday, September 8, 1955 ESTABLISHED 1889 PLYMOUTH HIGH SCHOOL SCENE OF ACTIVITY AS NEW TERM STARTS Dormant for three months, the Plymouth High School building here was a beehive of activity last Thursday morning with the start of the new school term. There was a record-breaking enroll ment at the end of the third day of the term, with 750 in the elementary school and 238 in the high school for a total of 788. At the end of the third day a year ago the enrollment was 700 in the ele mentary department and 229 in the high school, for a total of 729. The above photo shows the front of the building here befre the beginning of classes Thursday morning.—Staff photo. Superior Court Term Starts Here Monday 4 j Warns Motoristsj ! Must Dim Lights! State Highway Patrolman Carl Gilchrist, of Plymouth, this week called attention of the motoring public to the statutes which re quire that drivers who pull off the highway and onto the should ers of roads turn off bright lights and turn parking lights on; also when waiting to enter an inter section when there is approach ing traffic. The patrolman said that sev eral complaints have been re ceived lately of parked cars with bright lights on nearly causing wrecks, and he emphasized the danger of such practice. County Spotters In Lengthy Alert -♦ Things were reported going well at both county Ground Observer Corps posts this week as they join ed in “Operation Late Summer,” a 56-hour alert which began at 8 a. m. Tuesday and will end at 5 p. m. Thursday, Posts in several southeastern states are taking part, among them 230 posts in 57 North Carolina counties. Two-hour shifts were being main tained at posts at Plymouth and Roper, according to the respective post supervisors, Dr. A. L. White hurst and Jesse Rawls. Dr. Whitehurst termed the par ticipation “good” and said that a : number of aircraft had been re ported by local volunteer observers. Early yesterday it was said that ( observers were needed here for the , 8 to 10 a. m. shift and afternoon shifts Thursday (today) but Dr. , Whitehurst expressed the belief i that they would be lined up before , Thursday morning. Post strength at Roper numbers j more than 80 persons, including 47 . men, 18 schools children and 16 j women. The Plymouth post mem bership numbers upwards of 60 Trial of Sam Rose for Mur der Heads Docket of Spec ial Session, With Judge Malcolm Paul Presiding -•— Chief interest when the spec ial criminal term of Washington County Superior Court opens here Monday of next week will be cen tered on the murder trial of Sam Rose, middle-aged Negro, who is charged with the shooting of Al ford Spruill, Negro about 20. The case is set for trial Mon day, along with 19 other cases on the court calendar and all tenta tively listed for that day. Judge Malcolm C. Paul, of Wash ington, will be on the bench. Spruill died almost instantly from a bullet wound through the heart which he received while in John Hall’s place of business on Fifth Street here at 6 p. m. Satur day, June 11. Rose, operator of the business for Hall, sumn oned police and later told Officers Paul Basnight and J. E. Morton that he shot Spruill in self-defense as the young er man advanced on him with an ax in his hands. Officer Basnignt stated that Rose told him that Spruill entered the store and began to argue, claim ing that Rose hat cursed his sis ter. Rose denied knowing Spruill’s sister and stated at the preliminary hearing, held Tuesday, June 21, before Judge W. tonald Gaylord, that he asked Spruill not to come on him. Five persons took the stand dur ing the hearing, i lcluding Officer Basnight; Willie Hudson, colored, who entered the store after the shooting and saw Spruill lying on the floor; Calvin Spruill, brother of the dead man, and Calvin's wife, Bertha; and eight year-old William Gee, who said he was playing with other children a toss the street from the store ami heard the argu ment. At the preliminary hearing, Gee stated he hca d Rose say, “Get out of here before I kill you!” Attorney P. II. Bell, private prosecutor, represented the state at the hearing in June, while Carl L. Bailey, sr., served as defense See COURT, Page 10 Enroll in out in Schools j Total enrollment in Washington County Schools at the end of the third day after the opening September 1 stood at 3,344, according to figures released by the office of the superintendent. This total represents an increase of 149 students over that for the same period last year. A gain of 52 students was shown by the three white schools while total enrollment at the county’s three colored schools showed increase by 97 students, the figures show. An actual loss of 15 students in the three white high schools was more than offset by an increase in the elementary total from 1304 last year to 1371, The colored schools registered gains in both elementary and high school. Four schools—Plymouth and Creswell White and Plymouth and Washington County Union School, colored, showed increases. Roper, White and Creswell Colored recorded slight decreases. The increase of 84 at Washington County Union School was the largest in the county. Plymouth White ran second with an increase of 59 students. The table below shows the elementary and high school enroll ments at the end of the third day of school Tuesday of this week by schools for last year and this year: White Schools Ele. H.S. Total Ele. H.S. Total Plymouth .. 700 229 . 929 750 238 988 Roper . 245 94 339 253 75 328 Creswell . 359 139 491 368 127 495 Total . 1304 455 1759 1371 440 1811 Colored Schools Plymouth _ 514 514 529 529 Washington Co. Union 475 255 730 542 272 814 Creswell_ 192 192 190 190 Total_ 1181 255 1436 1261 272 1533 GRAND TOTAL _ 2485 710 3195 2632 712 3344 County Committee Approves Original Damage Estimate Henry Bragg Named Chair man of County Hurricane Damage Committee at Fri day Session Here The first estimate of hurricane damage in this county was left un changed by the Washington County Hurricane Damage committee in session here Friday. The meeting was held in the auditorium of the county agriculture building at 3:30 p. m. The estimate, totaling $810,000, and prepared by the county techni cal committee recently, was review ed for the damage committee by County Agent W. H. Pruden. Following a round-table di Mis sion by the group of 11 perso'ids, it was voted to accept the first esti mate without change. Officers were elected by the com mittee as follows: Henry Bragg, county soil techni cian, chairman; W'. H. Pruden, vice chairman; and W. Willis Bowen, county Farmers Home Administra tion supervisor, secretary. The committee voted the follow ing recommendations: That the FHA committee be given authority to pass on whether borrowers should be given credit to apply funds on existing debts; That general outlet work too large for individual farmers to un dertake be carried out to guaran tee improved drainage in Washing ton County; That immediate attention be given to drainage in the Scuppcr nong-Lake Phelps area and other drainage areas of the county. Present were Mr. Bragg, Mr. Bowen, Mr. Pruden, II. E. Beam, Plymouth banker; Tom Hampton, of Crcswell; C. E. lleynen, Pamlico Soil Conservation District super visor for Washington County; Mit chiner Banks, vocational agricul ture teacher at Roper; J. A. Morris, Crcswell farmer and former coun ty Farm Bureau president; T. Rey nold Spruill, of Roper, president of the Washington County Farm Bureau; Frank L. Brinkley, of Plymouth, chairman of the county board of commissioners; and Bob Lewis, Roper farmer. Joe Snell, of Plymouth, was the only committee member not present. Support for Red Cross Fund Here —♦ Since last week’s appeal here for funds for hurricane damage relief the Washington County chapter of the American Red Cross has receiv ed $163.11 in contributions plus an additional $15 in pledges not yet turned in, Dr. A. L. Whitehurst, of Plymouth, county chapter chair man, stated Wednesday morning. The chapter quota, assigned by Red Cross headquarters, is $200. Dr. Whitehurst has received a telegram from Ellsworth Bunker, president of the national Red Cross organization, advising that more than $10,000,000 has been raised throughout the nation, assuring “sufficient funds to meet adequate ly Red Cross requirements in east ern states flood relief operation. You are therefore authorized to in form the people within your chap ter jurisdiction . . . that with funds available contributed and pledged no further contributions are neces sary. “Chapter leadership in this ef fort has been outstanding and we are grateful for your support . . Dr. Whitehurst adds his thanks to all persons or groups who support ed the appeal of the local chapter. Record Rainfall In August Shows 13.42 Inch Total More Than Seven Inches Greater Than Six - Year Average Precipitation for Month, Records Show -♦ ‘•Everybody talks about the wea ther.” And this time there is really something to talk about . . . the record rainfall in this county dur ing August, for one thing. Total precipitation, according to records kept at the weather station at Tidewater Research Station be tween Plymouth and Roper, was 13.42 inches for the 31-day period. This was nearly one-fourth the average annual rainfall for this county during a six-year period 1948-53 inclusive. The yearly aver age for those years was 55.19 inches. The August 1955 total topped the 12.29 inches in August of 1952 and the 10.90 inches in August of 1953. Up until 1952 the high for the month, since records have been kept here, was 7.66 inches. The low was in August of 1950—1.63 inches. Total annual rainfall in the county from 1948 onward shows 62.71 inches in 1948; 61.64 in 1949; 54.06 in 1950; 40 in 1951; 59.74 in 1952; 52.88 in 1953; and 37.68 in 1954. The six-year average precipita tion for the month of August stands at 6.40 inches, making the current August rainfall above aver age by 7.02 inches. No wonder everything’s so wet; And what’s more, it’s still raining. Records for the first six days of September show precipitation on each day as follows: September 1, .07 of an inch; 2—• .57; 3—1.77; 4—.09; 5—.76; and 6—.03; total, 3.29 inches. Rainfall was recorded on 14 out of the 31 days in August as fol lows: August 1—.02 of an inch; 4—.02; 10—1.86; 11—.50; 12—5.04; 13—.19; 14—93; 15—.03; 17—2.60; 18—.11; 19—15; 25—1.64; 26- 23; ?7—.03. Temperatures ha\ fro ' milder, lately, but the humidity h. * cn oppressive. -* Board Meetings Set for Monday -« The regular monthly meetings of two town and county governing bodies, postponed for a week be cause of the Labor Day holiday this Week, will be held next Monday. The county commissioners will meet at the courthouse Monday morning in what promises to be a strictly routine session, according to Board Clerk J, Robert Campbell. No new business has been added to the agenda since last week, Mr. Campbell stated. The Plymouth city fathers will hold their session at the municipal buildings at 8 o’clock next Monday night. Nothing out of the ordinary is expected to come up, according to City Clerk W. A. Roebuck. No meeting of the Washington County Board of Education has been set, it was stated Wednesday pf this week, but a called meeting nay be held later in the month if board matters so warrant. HolidayWeek-End Quietly Observed ■ ♦ The long Labor Day week-end was observed quietly in this county, aw enforcement officers report. Many local persons engaged in >olfing, fishing or other sports, while some surf and strand lovers ook off to the beaches for a final 'ling before season’s end. Many pthers worked about house afld awn or just rested. No highway accidents were re ported in town and county during he period. Several arrests were re ported over the week-end, how :ver, both by county and town of icers. The charges included dis ;harging firearms in the city imits, trespass, public drunken less, etc. -* More than two-thirds of the ieaths caused by farm machinery nvolve tractors. Special Meeting of Board Will Discuss Court Action NEW TEACHERS AT HIGH SCHOOL HERE THIS YEAR m This will introduce the seven new teachers on the faculty of the Plymouth schools this year. Pictured above the#- are, left to right, front row: Mrs. Mary Ladd of Plymouth, third grade; Mrs. Mildred Collins, of Plymouth, sixth grade; Miss Elizabeth Topping of Pantego, sixth grade; back row: Tex Lindsey of Plymouth, seventh grade; Andrew M. Wood of Chapel Hill, ninth grade science, health, assistant football coach; Bobby Crisp of Falkland, seventh grade; and Bernard Ham of Portsmouth, Va., music and band instructor. —Staff photo. State Approves New Health Center Here Structure Will Cost About $33,350; County's Share 0a>/ 23.8 Per Cent, Or About $7,870 Construction of a health center for Washington County has been approved by the North Carolina Medical Care Commission, it was learned this week from Frank L. Brinkley, chairman of the board of county commissioners. The com mission’s approval means that funds will be available for the proj ect as soon as the U. S. Department of Health, Welfare and Education concurs, and concurrence by that group usually comes as a formality. Mr. Brinkley said he had been informed by Dr. John Carroll, di rector of the State commission, that the health center at Plymouth will serve the Washington County Health Department. It is estimated to cost about $33,350, with the fed eral government supplying half, or 316,675; the state supplying 26.4 per cent, or $8,804.40; and Wash ington County putting up 23.6 per •ent, or $7,870.60. Actual cost to the county will not pc determined until bids are re vived and the contracts let, but ;he percentages will be as outlined ibove. The Weber architectural :irm in Raleigh is now preparing letailed plans of the building; and is soon as they are received the ■ounty board will advertise for pids on the project, Mr. Brinkley ;aid. The county already has a lot for ;he new health center. It is located retween the old county home prop ;rty and the residence of Cecil LTaft, fronting about 95 feet on Washington Street and extending pack some 1,200 feet to the run of I’eacock Swamp. The new building will have about 2,000 square feet pf floor space. It will be a one itory structure of brick and block instruction. At the present time the health lepartment is housed in the right wing Pf the old county home build ng. This property was sold to Jack Li. Ilorner about two months ago, put one of the terms of the sale was that the health department was to continue to occupy its pres ;nt quarters rent-free until Janu iry 1, 1956. It is hoped the new lealth center will be about ready for occupancy by that time. i Donkey Game Is [ S!tft*d Tonight; ■■■■■■■■■«■■■■■■ 01111101114111111 The donkey baseball game, sponsored here by the Plymouth Lions Club as a public library benefit, was postponed for the second time last Friday, again due to rain and wet grounds. Mr. A. L. Whitehurst, project chairman, announced this week that the game has been re scheduled for Thursday night, weather permitting. Should rain force a third postponement, the game would be set for Thursday night of next week, Dr. White hurst stated. Game time is 8 o’clock. Grower Musi Pay For Farm Visits -f Instruct ions covering charges for measuring and certifying disposit ion of excess peanuts hogged off 3i' left in the ground undug were darified this week in a letter re ceived at the local ASC office from \ P. Hassell, jr., acting administra tive officer at state ASC headquar ters, Raleigh. Where excess peanuts are hog ged off or left in the ground and two visits to the farm by a crop re porter from the county ASC office ire required—one for measuring and designating the acreage to be hogged off or left in the ground, ind the second to determine that the peanuts on such excess acre ige were actually hogged off or eft in the ground—a charge will ie made for each visit, it was stated. If the farmer is in a position o determine without assistance the irea to be disposed of, the charge, f already collected, can be applied o cover the expense of a visit to he farm by the reporter to de ermine acreage actually hogged iff or left in the land. It was stressed that in cases ivhere the grower has paid a single charge with the understanding that t would cover both visits to the arm, he should be notified that he collection will cover only one lisit. Bloodmobile Returns September 28 -• When the Red Cross bloodmobile nakes its regular quarterly visit :o Plymouth Wednesday, Septem Der 28, it will be seeking the 2, 342nd pint of blood from this :ounty. On the 18 previous visits a total jf 2,232 pints has been donated icre. The quota of 110 pints for the joining visit added to that figure vould bring the total for 19 trips to 2,342 pints. --► If past records mean anything the total will be secured. On four previous third-quarter trips here the bloodmobile has secured an average of exactly 114y2 pints. Lowest figure for a third-quar ter visit was posted at Creswell in July of 1951—61 pints. Last Sep tember 96 pints was the total. In September 1952 151 pints were given here and the following Sep tember 150 pints was the total. ——♦ Only four times in the 18 visits to the county by the bloodmobile since inauguration of the blood bank program here have the totals fallen under 100 pints. Highest figure reached was on the fourth visit—December 13, 1951 —when 189 pints were donated. Second high was on March 12, 1954 —174 pints. So far this year 195 pints have been secured here—113 on March 9 and 82 on June 22. — f Molion To Declare Revalu ation Invalid Will Be Heard by Judge Paul Here Next Wednesday Washington County Commission ers will hold a special meeting Thursday night of this week to con sider ways and means of opposing the court action brought last week seeking an injunction against put ting into effect the revaluation of real property in the county this year. The court action was instituted by Mrs. Thelma S. (W. E.) Waters Monday of last week. Through her attorneys, Bailey & Bailey, she filed a complaint "for herself and all other persons who may make themselves party hereto" against Washington County and the Town of Plymouth alleging irregularities in the revaluing work put into ef fect here this year. She asks for a court order enjoining the defend ants from levying, assessing or at tempting to collect or enforce the collection of any tax on the real property described in the complaint in excess of the amount levied for taxes in 1954. The action is to be heard here before Judge Malcolm C. Paul, sec ond district resident judge, next Wednesday while he is holding a special session of Washington County Superior Court. Chairman Frank L. Brinkley, of the county board of commissioners, said yesterday it was his opinion the county board would oppose the court action. It is probable steps will be taken at the commissioners’ meeting tonight to employ an at torney, since the county does not have a regular lawyer. It is ex pected the town will have its regu lar attorney, W. L. Whitley, to represent it in the matter. Some of the plaintiff’s allega tions of irregularities in the reval uation of real estate in the county center around the employment of experts from out of the county to do the revaluation. The county board employed John W. Johnston, of Richmond, Va., in June, 1953, for the revaluation, and he dele gated the actual work in Washing ton County to an assistant, R. M. Byrd. Byrd came here in the fall of 1953 and finished mapping and ap praising real estate in the county around the first of this year. The complaint charges the reval uation is illegal because it was not performed in a regular revaluation year; also because the revaluation work was not done by a board of three assessors who were freehold ers of the county who had resided here for one year or more. It is expected that the validity of a special act passed by the 1953 legislature will be one of the main points of controversy in the hear ing. This act empowered the coun ty commissioners to employ experts from outside the county to do the See BOARD, Page 10 Alarm Expressed In County Over Damaged Peanuts —»— Excessive Water Causing Stems, Pins To Rot, Said; Damage to Corn, Sweet Potatoes, Soybeans Cited - ■ » Some county peanut growers are reported alramed over crop pros pects following the unusually heavy rains and high water. Total acreage planted to peanuts in the county is 3,367 and the value of the crop has been estimated at more than $600,000. Some growers are reported fearful that the crop could turn out an almost complete failure. The farmers point out that pins and stems are rotting and that the great amount of water has in many instances washed away much of the bed of dirt on which the plants pin down. One farmer in the Roper section said he had pulled up a good many plants in his fields to examine them and found only about seven or eight peanuts to the hill in most cases. If that is a fair sample, then the yield would be very low, it was brought out. The same situation is reported in nearby counties. A Marfin Coun ty peanut grower is reported to have pulled only seven sound pea nuts from three bunches. Corn, already badly blown and damaged by the recent storms, is said to be badly deteriorating along with soybeans, and there have been reports of sweet potatoes souring in the ground because of too much water. Reports of fish pond dams on farms here and there giving way from the pressure of rising waters have also been received.
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
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Sept. 8, 1955, edition 1
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