own opics fc-tUH-SinSEj^" M/Sgt. and Mrs. F. D. Frost of Santa Ana, Calif., who are visiting Mrs. Frost’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Alexander, here this week, plan to leave Monday for Sardinia, Ohio, where they will visit Sergeant Frost’s parents be fore continuing on to Santa Ana. They will take the “middle route” by way of St. Louis, Kansas City and Denver. Sergeant Frost has been stationed at Santa Ana for over two years with a crash rescue crew of the Marine Air Force. He is making a career of the service, having already served for 12 years. & He is due to report at Santa Ana Monday, September 24. Mrs. Frost will be remembered as the former Helen Alexander. She was employ ed for some time in the local ASC office. The county FHA office, located in the basement of the courthouse here, will be closed three days next week. W. Willis Bowen, county FHA supervisor, announced today that the office will be closed Mon day, Tuesday and Wednesday all day while he and Mrs. Ernestine Basnight, office clerk, are at New Bern attending a district FHA meeting on new policies and office procedures. Mr. Bowen and Mrs. Basnight wlil leave early Monday for New Bern and expect to re turn late Wednesday. The office will reopen at 8 o’clock Thursday morning — the usual hour — Mr. Bowen stated. Mrs. Tom West of near Plym outh said late yesterday that she had a telephone conversation that jnorning with her son, Bobby Gene Rfest, who along with his wife and Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Campbell of Plymouth are hospitalized at Suf folk, Va. Mrs. West said her son told her that the four would be coming home Friday of this week. They were injured in a head-on collision with another car at 6:451 a. m. Monday three miles west of Windsor. Young West lost four teeth and suffered chest and knee lacerations. His wife, Jo Anne, suf- • fered head and mouth cuts requir ing nine stitches, while Marvin 1 Campbell and wife, Mildred, sus- ‘ stained, respectively, a fractured i nose and fractured arm. Two sail ors in the other vehicle, which re portedly went out of control and | struck West’s car, were also hurt. J Both cars were total wrecks. Three members of the Washing ton County Board of Education, J. W. Norman and Mrs. K. S. Trow bridge of Plymouth and J. Whltford Swain of Roper, and Couaty School Superintendent B. F. Lowry of Plymouth were among those who planned to attend the third annual regional meeting of the North Car- * olina State School Boards Associa- c tion at Greenville Thursday of this ) week. The meeting is being held in * McGinnis Auditorium, on the cam- * pus of East Carolina College. ' Theme is: Preserving, Strengthen ing and Improving the Public I Schools. 11 Restaurateur Luther Nobles and Insuranceman C. W. “Snooks” Burnham have come in for a lot of kidding, ribald and otherwise, about their close call from light ning while on a fishing trip recent ly. Luther was severely burned and “Snooks” was knocked sillier than usual by the bolt; and, so far as they are concerned, ’taint funny at all. However, they are still hear ing about it. This week “Snooks” got a letter from H. M. Swayne, manager of a Greensboro insurance firm, reading as follows: “It has recently come to my attention that See TOPICS, Page 10 The Roanoke Beacon ****** and Washington County News ****** A home newspaper dedicated iji to the service of Washington l-j | County and iu ,3.®W people. | VOLUME LXVII—NUMBER 37 Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina, Thursday, September 13, 1956 ESTABLISHED 1889 Bloodmobile To Be in County Soon The bloodmobile is coming back to Plymouth soon. It was announced here this week that the next regular quar terly visit to this county is sche duled for Tuesday, September 25. A quota of 110 pints, unchanged from the last appearance, was also announced. It will be the 23rd visit of the Red Cross unit from Tidewater Regional Blood Center, Norfolk, Va., to this county. The last visit was June 20 when 168 pints were donated. This brought the grand total for the county program to date to 2,637 pints. The program began here in December of 1950. Refreshments will be prepared and donated by the Wesleyan Serv ice Guild of Plymouth Methodist Church, it was said. Also, thanks of local blood bank leaders are expressed to Mrs. John S. Lilley, corresponding secretary, for her untiring work in processing blood donor cards and other related clerical work. The set-up September 25 will be at the Veterans Building, the usual place, and the hours for donors will be 10:30 a. m. to 4:30 p. m. School Improvement I Group of 158 Named By Board Education I Panthers'Band | Is Rebuilding The Plymouth High School band is in process of reorganiz ing for the new school year. Di rector Bemie Ham faces a re building job, with 18 members of last year’s improved band miss ing—nine of them by graduation. Due to its fine preformances last year the band is already in receipt of invitations to perform at Chapel Hill Saturday, October 27, at the Homecoming Day foot ball game between Wake Forest’s Demon Deacons and the Tar Heels of UNC, and at the In ternational Boat Regatta parade at Elizabeth City the last of this month. Phone Service To 34 Families Soon, M. E. Turner Says —4 Local Manager of Telephone Company Says Work Al ready Scheduled on $10, 000 Project ■■ ■ 4 Telephone company construction forces are scheduled to begin work on an estimated $10,000 project which will provide telephone serv ice to some 34 applicants along Highway 32 out of Plymouth to wards Washington. This was disclosed today by M. E. Turner, local manager for Caro lina Telephone and Telegraph 1 Company, who stated that service is expected to be available to new subscribers during early November. Manager Turner pointed out that construction forces set the neces sary poles for the new project last week and that the new phase of the project involves placing some six miles of wire and cable facili ties on the new pole line and on existing pole line along Highway 42. This is one of more than 100 such rural projects being under taken this year by the telephone company to provide service to rural applicants in its 41-county operating territory. Enrollment in Schools; Mixed trends are indicated in en rollment figures for Washington County Schools released today by the office of the county superin tendent. ( A table of enrollment figures completed at the end of the third day of the current school year shows an increase of 63 students over the like period last school year in the county system. However, the increase is ac counted for by a larger enrollment in the three colored units which more than made up for a decrease of four students in the three white units. In the colored schools, the in crease related to both elementary and high school departments, while in the white schools a decrease m was shown in the high schools W amounting to 11 students. Total increase in the elementary depart ments at these schools combined amounted to seven students, leav ing the overall white total a deficit of four when compared with totals for the 1955-56 school year at the end of the third day of schoo.l Both Plymouth and Roper showed gains in enrollment in the white schools, but the combined increase was not sufficient to offset a loss at Creswell. Plymouth’s gain in the elemen tary department more than offset a loss in the high school. At Roper, a slight loss in elementary enroll ment was more than made up for by a gain of 10 in the high school. Washington County Union School which has the only colored high school in the county showed a healthy gain in both high school and elementary departments amounting to a combined total of 54 students. Creswell Colored School showed a loss in total enrollment of five pupils, while Plymouth Colored registered a gain of 18. The table below shows the ele mentary and high school enroll ments at the end of the third day of school Friday of last week, with a by-schools comparison of the 1955-56 and 1956-57 year figures: 1790-il t White Schools Elem. H.S. Plymouth . 750 238 Roper . 253 75 Creswell . 368 127 Total.1,371 440 Colored Schools Plymouth .. 529 Washing. Co. Union .. 538 274 Creswell __ 190 Total_1,257 274 Grand Total - 2,628 714 Total Elem. H.S. Total 988 768 228 996 328 250 85 335 495 360 116 476 1,811 1,378 429 1,807 529 547 547 812 560 306 866 190 185 185 1,531 1,292 306 1,598 3,342 2,670 735 3,405 Group To Hold First Meet ing Monday Night, Sep tember 24, at County Courtroom in Plymouth A school improvement commit tee, made up of 158 prominent county citizens, was named Monday of this week by the county educa tion board. Appointment of the committee was for the purpose of harmonious ly working out a basic program for the $500,000 school bond issue soon to be voted on in the county, it was said. First meeting of the new group is slated Monday night, Sep tember 24 in the county courtroom at 7:30 o’clock. It is expected that the report of the school survey made in this county March 8 of this year by a committee composed of J. C. Man ning, superintendent of Martin County Schools, J. L. Pierce and W. L. Lathan of the State Depart ment of Public Instruction, would be the basis for the program to be worked out by the school im provement committee. The report of the school survey committee of March 8 stated that "a substantial amount of new con struction is necessary to replace obsolete buildings, to relieve con gestion and to provide for desired educational programs.” Recommendations made included for Creswell a new lunchroom, new agriculture building, with, space now being used for lunchroom pur poses utilized to enlarge -home eco nomics and science rooms or for regular class room space if needed; For Roper, new physical educa tion building, new agriculture building; For Plymouth Negro School, two additional classrooms and addition al land for enlargement of site; See^COMMITTEE, Page 10 ~~ — ■ » —. Lions Sponsoring Calendar Project ♦ The Plymouth Lions Club last week launched its annual Com munity Birthday Calendar project. Teams of Lions will call upon all the-ifeople of the town within the next two weeks, seeking listings on the calendar and also taking orders for the calendars, which will be delivered toward the end of the year. All copy for advertising, birth day and anniversary listings must be completed by the end of this month, in order to have the calen dars ready for delivery before the first of next year. Proceeds of the calendar project will go into the club’s activity fund. The calendars sell for 50 cents each. Birthday and anniversary listings are made for 25 cents each. H. O. Lovic is chairman of the calendar project. The club mem bership has been divided into teams, with each team assigned to work a specific area of the town during the coming two weeks. Need for School Repairing Cited - » The Washington County Grand Jury, reorganized at the September term of superior court, in its re port to the court called attention to the need for minor repairs at three county schools, while giving a clean bill to county school busses. Creswell White School needs re pair work to roof and windows on the south side which leak badly, the report stated. Listed for Creswell Colored School, a bad leak in the hall and water spigots in girls’ and boys’ restrooms need repair; Roper White School, east and west doors downstairs need replac ing; plaster over upstairs entrance needs repairing. The report said the body had “duly examined all bills of indict ment and presentments that have come to our attention and have made every effort to dispose of same in a just manner.” The report was signed by H. H. Allen of Plymouth, foreman. Wrilers and Artists Hear Address by Robert L. Humber President of North Carolina Art Society Talks To Roa noke-Chowan Group in Meeting Here -• By Mrs. Mary Cotton Davenport “Such groups as The Roanoke Chowan Writers’ and Artists’ As sociation are the essence of North Carolina s Culture,” Robert Lee Humber, President of The North Carolina Art Society, told the forty four writers and artists of the northeastern section of the state at the ninth annual meeting of the group in Plymouth on September 8. In the Winslow studio, surround ed by paintings done by its artist members, the group heard an ad dress on Carolina’s responsibility for the cultural development of its citizens. Mr. Humber was present ed by the president of the associa tion, Gilbert Stephenson of Pendle ton. Mr. Humber compared the lunch eon served in the Winslow home to a dinner he once attended at an ex clusive club in New York whose motto was fine food, excellent serv ice, sparkling conversation, and no after dinner speeches. On that par ticular occasion, Mr. Humber re lated, the rule of no after dinner speech making was broken when one distinguished member arose and said, “no finer food can be found in America than that served here to day.” Mr. Humber expressed the grati SenSuMBERTPage^ -«.-. Approve Teacher Contracts Monday' ——«- | Contracts of 20 teachers in the county school system were approv ed by the board of education at its regular monthly meeting here Monday. They included si xat Plymouth High School, two at Roper High School, seven at Creswell High School, one at Plymouth Colored, three at Washington County Union School, and one at Creswell Colored. The list: Plymouth — Miss Ila Bullock, Mrs. Mildred E. Martin, Theodor Charles Martus, D. L. Finch, jr., Mrs. Vernelle B. Beasley, Mrs. Mary Cotton Davenport; Roper—Mrs. Ruth C. Tarkenton, Mrs. Geneva Jane Hord Buckles; Creswell — A. K. Spencer, jr., Miss Pauline Moore, Donald E. Phelps, Mrs. Grace S. Cox, Mrs. Lillian B. Fisher, Mrs. Doris M Vichols, Mrs. Annie S. Davenport; Plymouth Colored — Miss Doro thy Holman; Washington County Union—Miss dary Louise Smith, Miss Margaret Lee Thomas, Robert C. Williams; Creswell Colored—Mrs. Edith H. battle. I ;s 7, x d d e il s ). 5 f 3 1 i i Council Hikes Fee For Waier-Sewer ConneciionsHere Aclion Taken at Regular Meeting Monday; To Open Bids for New Water Tank Here Next Tuesday Members of the Plymouth City Council considered a number of routine matters at their regular meeting Monday night and then recessed until next Tuesday, when bids for the new water tank are to be received. Mayor A. J. Riddle presided at the session, with the following councilmen present: E. D. Keel and W. C. Hall, first ward; J. B. Latham and Ralph Hunter, second ward; and J. D. Mallory, third ward. Council voted unanimously to raise the fee for water and sewer connections from the present rate of $30 to $50. It was brought out that the cost of a water meter and the fittings necessary to install it is now S48. Rates in other towns about the size of Plymouth were reviewed, and it was learned most of them are charging from $50 to $100 for water and sewer taps, as compared with $30 here. t James H. Ward discussed the ■ town's liability insurance with the ■ councilmen at some length. He sug gested that the town change its . general liability policy to compre t hensive liability and pointed out . several instances in which claims r could arise against which the pres i ent policy does not offer protection. Total covers under the compre - hensive policy would cost about - $750 more than at present, it was found. Leaving off property dam • age laibility would save approxi i mately $400. Following some dis • cussion, it was decided to leave '■ the matter open for the present, ■/the mayor stating that a decision i would be reached on the matter in the next few days. Mayor Riddle said a break in a water line at the high school build ing here ran the school’s bill for one month up to $31.90, and coun ty authorities requested the council to consider remitting part of the amount due. It was brought out that school was not in session wi en the break occurred and it was not discovered until the end of- the meter reading period. Councilmen agreed to settle the bill for half the amount due. Drainage in several sections of the town also came up for consid Ieration. Recent heavy rains caused flooded conditions in some areas, especially Brinkley Woods and Stillacres. Chief of Police P. W. Brown said steps had already been taken to clean out ditches and it is hoped to enlarge some of the drainpipes which are causing the water to back up. The meeting to consider bids on | the new water tank is to be held , at 2 p. m. next Tuesday, September , 18. The engineering firm of Rivers , Sl Rivers, of Greenville, which is to j supervise the construction work, j has advertised for bids and will , open and submit them to the coun- , cil at the session. Legal Retail Whiskey i Sales Are Over $15,000 [ Legal retail sales of whiskey in J this county totaled over $15,000 s last month, according to figures ^ released this week by W. C. Styons, v maanger of Washington County a ABC Store No. 1, Plymouth. f The Plymouth outlet sold $13,- < 995.70 worth in August, while sales j at Store No. 2, Creswell, amounted „ to $1,097.80, Styons said. County Votes for ! Plan by Majority The Vote, hj Preeinets Following is the official vote, by precincts, in the special general election last Saturday on the Special Session School Amend ment (Pearsall Plan), as tabulated at the official canvass by the county board of elections Tuesday: Precinct Plymouth No. 1 Plymouth No. 2 Lees Mill Skinnersville . Scuppernong Wenona Totals. For . 295 529 __ 228 131 411 _ 40 1,634 Against 88 90 54 7 5 4 248 Official tabulation of the vote on the regular session amend ment is shown below. Amendment No. 1 authorizes increased com pensation for members of the General Assembly; Amendment No 2 changes date for convening General Assembly from January to rebruary; and Amendment No. 3 authorizes married woman to ex ercise powers of attorney conferred by her husband. Precinct Plymouth No. 1 Plymouth No. 2 Lees Mill _ Skinnersville Scuppernong . Wenona .. For 273 431 179 69 341 24 No. 1 Against 77 134 68 14 40 6 For 281 457 191 68 358 34 No. 2 Against 65 For 85 49 14 30 1 283 502 205 68 327 33 No. 3 Against 60 69 46 11 17 5 Totals .1,317 339 1,389 244 1 418 208 10 Indicted, Quantity Wine Seized in Raids More Than Score of Federal, State and County Officers Swoop Down on Pea Ridge Places Thursday -«— Several ABC and ATU officers carried out a well-thought-out raid in the Pea Ridge section of this county Thursday of last week and as a result 10 persons were bound over for grand jury action at the October 22 term of Federal Court at Washington. Other results of the big raid in cluded the confiscation of 2,584 gallons of non-tax-paid wine and whiskey, i huge winery and the re portedly thorough intoxication oi a herd of swine at one of the places where wine containers were smash ed. It was reported that 24 officers, operating in eight automobiles and armed with federal search war rants, struck in a series of sudden raids, with the largest haul being made at the place of E. O. “Zeke” Arnold, former school principal and county representative. Three Pitt County ABC agents, Harold . Lilley, Walter Taylor and Levi Russell, along with P. H. Blettner, ATU officer from Eliza beth City, uncovered 1,669 gallons of wine in jars, jugs, barrels and vats at the Arnold place, about a mile from the Albemarle Sound Bridge on NC 32. Wineries were found in two barns behind the main dwelling, it was said. Wine and distilleries were destroyed. It was said that 39} gallons of non-tax-paid whiskey and 495 gal lons of bootleg wine were seized at the residence of Sidney Harring ton, 57-year-old farmer. Robert Davis, clerk in Harrington’s store, was arrested on three counts of selling bootleg on the premises, un dercover agents trapping him, it was stated. In the raiding party it Harrington’s place were State 4BC Officer Bunting, Pitt ABC Officer Ward and ATU Officer F. r. Woolard of Elizabeth City. See RAIDS, Page 10 ...... I Young Student i Dies ai Union Bobby Brooks, 15-year-old stu dent at Washington County Union School, Roper, died of an acute heart attack while on the school grounds after school Thursday of last week, it is re ported. Dr. T. L. Bray, Plymouth phy sician, stated that the boy had been taking callsthenlc exercise, "trolUrg around” the campus prior to the atta*-,. He was the son of Mrs. Catherine Brooks of Plymouth and the late Arthur Brooks. Court Winds Up Business in Day And a Half Here Judge J. Paul Frizzelle of Snow Hill Presides at September Criminal Term Of Court The September criminal term of superior court organized here Mon day morning and by shortly after noon Tuesday was all over. Judge J. Paul Frizzelle of Snow Hill presided and made a most comprehensive charge to the grand jury following its reorganization. H. H. Allen of Plymouth was named foreman of that body. D. E. Spruill was sworn in to replace E. O. Arnold and the following other new members took the oath: War ren Alien, Henry A. Simpson, Grady Biggs, J. B. White, J. W. Furlough, L. S. Bateman, W. H. Ambrose, Fred B. Smith, W. L. See COURT, Page 10 PANTHERS: Flanked by three members of the coaching staff and one of the two maangers, members of the 1956 Plymouth High School "Panthers” football squad are pictured above. That’s Head Coach Joe Foster at left, the boy in plaid shirt next to him is Darrell Kelly, and the youngster knee ling in front is Joe Ezzcll. On the extreme right is Manager Bobby Mobley; back of him are Assistant Coaches Charles Inabinett and Andy Wood. Members of the squad in uniform are, left to right, front row: Eddie Dawley, Bobby Ange, Golden Simpson, Owen Bishop, Frank Skiles, George Waters, Eugene Asby and Leroy Sitterson; second row, kneeling: Ralph Gurganus, Bobby Barber, Bobby Noonev Elton Ange, Eric Harrell, Phillip Styons, Billy Tetterton and David Peele; third row: Marion Allen, Henry Turner, Buddy Harrison! Gilbert Tetterton, Tommy Terry, A1 Cox, Wayne Mobley, Lowell Bowen, Larry Allen and John Jackson; back row: Marvin Rodgers! John Adams, Billy Harden, Tommy Sanderson, Mack Graham, Larry Watson, Morgan Williams, Jack Nobles and Eugene Brown. Wil liam Whitley, one of the managers, was absent When the photo was made.—Staff photo. Pearsall of 7 To 1 -♦ -♦ I Vote Much Larger Than Ex I peeled With Total Almost 1,900; Other Amendments Also Carried With a much larger turnout than generally expected, Washington County voters last Saturday joined others throughout North Carolina in approving the Special Session School Amendment (Pearsall Plan) by a lop-sided majority. The vote on the amendment in this county was 1,634 for and 248 against, a margin of almost 7 to 1. Official figures for the state as a whole are not yet available, but it was indicated Monday that the margin would be about 4 to 1 out of more than 500,000 votes cast. Also carried in the voting last Saturday, both in this county and throughout the state, were the three regular session amendments also by one-sided margins. The vote in this county was as follows: Amendment No. 1, providing in crease in compensation for mem bers of the General Assembly, for 1,317, against 339; Amendment No. 2, for convening General Assembly in February instead of January, for 1,389, against 244; Amendment No. 3, authorizing married woman to exercise powers of attorney con ferred by her husband, for 1,418, against 208. Major surprise in the voting last Saturday was size of the vote. Few observers expected more than 1,500 votes in this county, whereas al most 1,900 actually turned out. The voting was almost correspondingly as heavy throughout the state, set ting a new record for a special election. That the Pearsall plan would be carried was almost a foregone con clusion, and the margin was also fairly well certain in advance. Sup ported by Governor Luther Hodges, members of the state administra tion and most members of the Gen eral Assembly, the plan provides for local school units to vote on suspending its school in cases of “intolerable conditions” and also authorizes education expense grants for children who might otherwise be forced to attend mbk~* schools. There was no organised oppo sition, although a number of news papers, a few organizations and in dividuals came out against the plan, principally because they felt it con stituted a threat to the state-wide "general and uniform” school sys tem presently provided by the con stitution. Governor Hodges and other See ELECTION, Page 10 - ®-— YoungCounlyMan Dies From Wreck Injuries Saturday ♦ James Walker, Negro of the Long Ridge Section, Vic tim of Accident Near Dar dens on US 64 A highway accident near Dar dens at 4 a. m. Saturday claimed the life of James Walker, young colored man of the Long Ridge section of this county. According to the report of the investigating officer, Cpl. M. C. Byrum of the State Highway Patrol, two passengers in the death car sustained injuries. Walker died in Washington County Hospital Saturday after noon at 3 o’clock. He suffered a skull fracture and multiple frac tures of the neck and never re gained consciousness, it was said. It was the third highway fatali ty on highways of Martin County reported this year, a report from Williamston said. Hermon Mason, jr., 20, of Plym outh, sustained head and shoulder injuries and Harold Brooks, Plym outh Rt. 2, suffered head and back injuries. Mason was released from the hospital at noon Monday but Brooks was still a patient there late Wednesday. son, drive of the vehicle, told that son, drive rof the vehicle, told that he fell asleep at the wheel while on the way back to Washington County from Beaufort County. The machine went out of control, ran off the highway on the left should er, swerved back across the high way and traveled some 200 yards along the roadside ditch before striking a culvert at the driveway of the Hosea .James place on US 64. The car overturned and was a complete loss. Walker was thrown clear of the wreck and landed about 12 feet from where the ve hicle stopped, it was said. It was reported that Mason had been warned about speeding Friday. The report said the rear bumper of the car bore the legend, “Flying Saucer.”

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