North Carolina Newspapers

EDITORIAL Of The Week By: A. L. CAVENAUGH jjSA trip to the Piedmont and West era part of our state will cast a gloom over the traveler that puts ' him to thinking when he gets back heme. A big -question Is raised in - his mind. Why is it that there are factories, roads, utility services and large cities so much in evidencr ' there when we do not have any ap preciable evidences of those things here? There are good and sufficient reasons for that condition, but the masses of us fail in our day dream- . Jag to fully evaluate those reasons The State of North Carolina has a. . it in Hvrtiein tt.t. and it has been a financial success. One of the reasons for our condi tion Is because we haven't taken tdvantage of the state's help. Ws have been like the little boy wha was asked if he didn't want some candy. He said, "Yes", in a very -interesting tone of voice. He was then-told, that he would have to bring into the kitchen, two arm fulls of wood for the stove. He im mediately forgot the candy. ' "Our? friends in the Pledmo t end Western part of our state, in stead of carrying in two arm full" of wood, carried four, six, or ten arm fulls, and they took home the tindy while we were consoling ourselves, one with another, by saying that we were being discriina- nated against and that we didn't want it in the first place and mak ing a dozen other excuses that would help us "save face" with our- , stive.'.-. - :.. . This' Piedmont and Western part of our state have advantages that we don't have. We have ad vantages that they don't have. They should have our whole-hearted, congratulations for the great : job' they have done and are doing. They have takes advantage of their 'opportunities and because of their effort! have factories,' roads and utCJUes, .resulting in an economy that gtvesf tbera a double assurance of Incomes if rainy day comes. We depend wholly on agriculture and t mostly on one crop, tobacco. During the past few years, , farm prices have been good and we have had money. Wbut would happen if these prices fell? We would not have that, extra basket from which to take 'out some of those provential eggs. We would have to take a loss i and in some Instances that loss ' 03 i D"!in last Week Patrolman L. Harton reports that as far as automobile wrecks were -concerned Christmas week .. . . - m, 1 . was almost pencci. mere was uuiy one. wreck reported by him with no ' person hurt - though there was some damage done to a mule. Jun ius Bell, Rt. 2. Warsaw, ran into a mule- belonging to Secton Black : mare on httrhwav 117. lust south of Bowden. There was about $100 dam age done to the 39 Chevrolet and the mule was skinned up some what It is reported that the mule had broken out of a pasture and was loose on the highway when the . accident occurred. - ; i This accident brings to mind the fact that in North'Carollna an own er of live stock running loose on the highways is responsible for any . damage they might cause as to traf fic hazards or otherwise and that when, If they are struck by an auto mobile, the driver of the automobile having used reasonable care and "pruJence, the owner of the live stock Is responsible for the damage done the automobile and has no re course in law to collect damages done to hie livestock. r:::u There-are no practical reasons why the Star route from LaGrange to Seven Springs should not be . changed. As long os I ean remember mail to Seven Springs, whose toutes serves -most in Duplin, has emln- jited from LaGrange. This service over the "Mullet Road" has never been satisfactory., . . Cc ' aro is a natural Junction fvr 1 in this section. Trains f ' l urth. South,' East, and West i ia Coldiboro. 1 - a- Star route was set up 'In C r : v. nro, to Seven Springs, to fa r i::!avllle, it would be :;tn. Tiat rout would t V. t r;,-sr route from .:.'. which - the would mean everything.- So it be hooves us, in order to improve our economy, in order to have a second and third basket for our egg?, that we give this matter Intense .thought, do some real sober thinking. This condition cannot change over night. It will take years and years to do the Job. A lorg range program should be adopted by ev ery civic and business organization in this section of the state. The children in the school house should be made conscious of manufactur- I ,n.' ' business and other lines of work. All this tends to make, the Public conscious of new lines 01 endeavor, and instesdTof thinking about farming as the only source of Income they find out about other types of businesses and before many months, with this program in the schools, there would be a definite trend toward making and processing things. Out economy would be taking a step forward and our chances of success over the ong pull would be greatly increas cd. " - The business men and women of this section have a great part to play in this overall picture too. The banks ahd public utilities have a Sreat responsibility in the develop ment of this idea. Definite plans must be made by the ouslnes men; these plans have to dea with the raw materials that we have here on the ground and they must have all the ear marks of being sound The Conservation and Develop ment Department of the State cat be relied upon to extend their fa cilities and help in advising the kind of plant that we would mos: likely to have success with. They have the inside knowledge on those matters that can be most profitable to us. , So it would be In order to orga nize bits a development and enlist our banks into a program that will develop this section trt oit state. Now is the opportune time for such an action. Mr. Scott has made de finite commitments to the masses of the state. For the next four years, our National Government is in the hands of the same party, and with these two factors to our credit, it is the one time of our lives that we corrall all our forces and really make an honest effort to make our dreams cotrielrue and make a nicer place for our children to live Patrolman Resigns Patrolman James A. McColman, of Warsaw, has resigned effective December 31. It is understood that Mr. McColman will enter the busi ness of his father-in-law at Johns, near Laurinburg, where he will make his home. His father-in-law, Mr. F. A. Kendall, is a large mer chant and operates extensive farm lands in the Johns section, . The many friends of Mr. and Mrs. McColman, in Duplin County all wish them every success' in this new undertaking. Since Mr. McCol man has been stationed in Duplin he has had the reputation of being a good officer - fair, Just and con siderate in the performance of his duty. His resignation comes after some eight years of service with the Highway Patrol. The Times wishes to take this opportunity to express its apprecia tion of Mr. MoColman's services as a patrolman and to wish him suc cess for the future. Tobacco Meeting Mr. Boy Bennett, Extension To bacco Specialist, and others concer ned with disease and insect control will be in Duplin County, Wednes day afternoon, January 0, for a meeting with tobacco growers to discuss problems facing them next year. This meeting will be held in the Kensnsville High School Audi torium, beginning at 2:00 p. to. Once each year, Mr. Bennett and hie group of co-workers offer to come to the county to discuss these major tobacco problems. It Is wonderful opportunity for tobacco growers to receive information and keep posted on the latest finding and developments at the Experi ment Station. ;i Will you please spread this infor mation to the people of your com- I.-.. . k. . . wilt u.ma imuDJijf i nupv uuii ;vu wiu vvuw J tnd bring a good group with you. . ' .- , "Very truly yours, ' L. F. rr'-s, ' Ths young blonde above on the right la 19-year-old Juanlta Benton, Pender County farm girl, Whowants to someday sing in the Metropolitan Opera. She waits on tables at Western Caroline Teach ers College where she earned a musical scholarship. When she came horn? tor the holidays he got a ;ob to a Wallace store to earn extra cash to set aside for her musical training. (Photo by Pete Kntght) Wallace Girl Wants To Sing In Metropolitan Opera By: JOIIN SIKES Wallace, Dec. 25. Any good reason the Metropolitan Opera wouldn't latch tfnto a pretty girl singer named Benton? Oh, I know you're supposed to pronounce your name Lee-Lee Pawnh or Golly Coor-chee-ee be fore they'll let you do anything around the Met but sweep up and subsidize ihe budget. -Here's a pretty, blonde trick named Juanlta Bentom She can shag, natural. Moreover, she s so illusionlessly devoted to her singing, she's learn ed in the past couple of months it'll take her years and years of even learning to breathe correctly be fore she can be a coloratura so prano, which she aims to be some rhapsodic day. (In case you've mis placed your musical dictionary and always meant to look up "colors-! tura," it denotes those florid orna ments, like runs and trills, in vocal music? and a lady singing that way has a high soprano voice of bright spring clearness and sky-wide flex ibility.) Lyric Soprano. Right now, Juanlta's a more mod est lyric soprano whose voice is more" adapted to smooth melodic flow rather than those flute-like tweet-tweet yo-do-leyish doo-dads. Besides her name being so charm ingly folksey you can't imagine it being spelled out in lights on the Met's marquee, Juanita is sort of handicapped, operatically speaking, by not having the foresight, if that's : what it takes, to be born amidst glamourous, exotic surround ings. - She's a working farmer's daughter. Her dad and mother are Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Benton. Her dad was born in Duplin, near Rose Hill, but he's been overall-farming which is to say actually working with his hands ... in Pender, near here, since Juanita was born 19 years ago. Seems that before you get the call to trill high in the octaves for the Met you've got to spring from a special soil In France o Italy, like vintage Chianti or Sauterne. State Vintage. Still, Marian Talley, among the girl singers, made it and she came from Kansas, which there is no place more corn-fed. Our own Norman Cordon mingled freely amongst the plain basses turned more elegant bassos in Met lingo and he probably heard his first way-down-low notes from the bull frogs jug-a-rumming in the low- grounds around the Pamlico. So why not Juanita? - -- Juanlta's voice is so rangily trilly and frilly that when I first hanrd her sing on a "home talent" pro gram at the Strawberry Jamboree here last spring the assembled folks a-hankering to bear something like "I Found Poor Nellie's Love-Letters in a Rosewood Casket By the Hearth Jn tne Little cabin Down la vahl-lee" instead of a difficult aria from Alda they bracked out with a flock of Duplin doo-whack- les and Pender phooeys at Juanita flutey notes. They actually booed her. The Judges weren't so prejudiced against what I suppose the folks thought of -as high falutln' singing. Anyway, they awarded her a top prfcs en there Were SO-edd turn- Prior to that, Juanita's voice which tm to just get started up ward at the point 'most sopranos' break won her first place ie a Pender County-wide singing dt li test. On one of the hot days last sum mer Juanita and I happened to be on the same bus. Instead of the steamy heat, we began talking about the tendency of a general crowd to hoot at the kind of sing ing a long-haired fellow, like Tpsv eanani Would call 'magnif icent. The folks seem to' think those high- riown trills are uppity and put-on Juanita was used to such embar rassment. It didn't faze her. The Met, or its counterpart, was her goal and she had no intentions of settling for a steel gee-tar and a band of boys got out in Lone Prair-ee costumes and calling them selves 'The Swce'-Gum Swampo- leers." That day on the bus she Was on her way. she said, to West Carolina Teachers College at Cullowhee to audition before the musical faculty. If the faculty liked her singing she'd get a musical scholarship. Got Scholarship. The faculty liked. And Juanita began her pilgrimage to the Met last fall via Cullowhee. Juamta's just home for the ho!. days. She tells me she's more de tennined than ever to make the Met. Just to give you an idea: At Cul lowhee Juanita needed something more than the scholarship to give her budgetary balance while she was cultivating her voice. So she got herself a job waiting on tables in the college dining room and she's also assistant to Dr. H. B. Smith, director of the Cullowhee Bapt st choir. She helps him with his music inventory and also takes her r3gu lar turn in his cho r. Famine Money. When she came home for Christ mas a few days ago she found a job clerking ina local store, instead of relaxing from her Cullowhee rou tine, which, besides voice, includes piano lessons she hadn't the oppor tunity to take before. "The clerking money," she says, "will help heaps, if I ever get the chance to go to Peabody." "She'll make her own chance," her father told me when I went out to his Pender farm the other side of Watha to chat with the family there's five girls, one of whom hopes to follow in Juanita V note-tracks, and three boys, Juani ta s the oldest and the youngest is three. Mrs. Benton spoke up with a gently chiding tone, the way a mother modestly goes en about her prided child when friendly sog ers are in the set tin' room. "Nothlng'll stop her." she said, That's all she's interested in; that, and running her. mouth." " That last remark set the younger girls, who were squirming around in the shadow of Juanlta's limelight to "giggling. But Mrs. Benton spoke up Quickly, sort of defensively. - "But until the poison-ivy got to popping out on her so fretfully Juanita was always a good one to help on the farm." she said. - Juanlta, alone with the rest of the family, helped her Dad pick beans and cotton and sucker tobac co. ' . ' She. neW tried milking caws'. That mieht have hemmed hr ia m e" f -t." j . when she gave ont with her first soprano squeaks on "Jesus Love Me . . . "r the first vocalizing Mrs. Benton remembers her trying, back when she was maybe three or four, Juanita never thought much about a singing career until she was in Burgaw's Ninth Grade, i-lthougfe Mrs. Benton sensed she had some thing long before. I reckon, though," Mrs.. Benton said, "only a mother'd thought she wai any good back then." juaniia s going to sing for me on a regular radio broadcast over WRRZ from here Sunday afternoon She promised to on condition I'd get Mr. Clifton Knowies, of Wal lace, to accompany her. .3.-'U.(4,1-..fc tt',,. ft .... "You see, I haven't learned enough about piano yet." Juanlta aid. Mrs. imowies win accompany her while she's singing "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms," "Lave's Old Sweet Song" and "The Lord's Prayer.'' But about those boos from the folks "Oh, boos just give me a -itronger feeling," Juanlta said. "I don't mind so much if the, folks just don't happen to . like my kind of singing. I believe in taesn having their choice. I have mine." Even if Juanlta gets up there in the rarefied stratum f high "CP aha vocalizes In high X now- I'm betting you'll never see her name in lights a? "Mae. JuaniU BentonelU." I'll lay yea odds the personable, poised young blonde always will be: Waneeta Benton. Duplin T.B. Quota Not Yet Reached The Duplin County Tuberculosa Association reports that receipts from the drive to obtain $4500 for use in fighting and treating TB patients Z.as not as yet been a suc cess. The report shows that $1373. 13 has actually been turned into the treasury and that, there is some $500 to $700 more 'which has been collected but not turned in.' This would appear to leave a balance of some $2500 short of the goal. Duplin County has always respon ded to every worthy cause whole heartedly whenever esked and this is a worthy cause. It Is more than that - it is a most urgent necessi '. With proper funds to do the work it is believed that in a comparative ly short time TB can practically be done away with. Tuberculosis is a communicable disease and the fight against it must be militant and constant. For this fight it takes money. The money is spent not only to help cure those who have tuberculosis but also to safeguard those who do sot have it Money you give now is Insurance for you and your family against tubercul osis. - - - v r Anyone who has not made do nation to this worthy cause " la urged to get their donations in at once." . T. - ' ' ATTENTION VETERANS . C. B. Pope, agriculture tea cher at Magnolia, announces . that he has V or t vacancies In the Veteran Farmer Train " ta C L - .4.. -s must be filed "tv : " -1. ; Mechanical Inspection Lane Schedule (January February and March) Patrolman L. M. Harton has call ed The Times' attention to the fact that semi-annual inspection periods begin for automobiles on January 1st, 1849. Mr. Harton urges all mo tor vehicle owners to co-operat: with the lanes and get their motor vehicles inspected during the per iods designated for the several models. Below is information which you need and which will be helpful to you. Inspection lanes will be set up at only two places in Duplin County - Kenansville and Wallace -for the first quarter of 1949. (a) All motor vehicles of year model up to and including the year Kenansville Community Christines Pageant Held on The Churches of Kenansville. the Lions Club and the Woman's Club all joined forces to put on a Christmas Pageant and Christmas tree with Santa Claus and every thing on the evening of pecember 22nd. The Pageant was held on the Court House Square about a beau tifully lighted Christmas tree under which were presents for the child ren. It is estimated that some 4'0 children and grown-ups were pres ent. Rev. J. G. Morrison was chair man and Rev. Lauren Sbarpe assist ed him and read the scriptural part of the Pageant which depicted "The King in a Manger". The whole program was very impressive and much enjoyed by those present. The program was held-on the east porch and lawn of the courthouse, On the porch was gathered the choirs of the three Kenansville Churches and their rendition of the lAUIiailJf IIIC VII HIV HI! VIVI Hint Sunday At Four OXIock. Tune In Kenansville goes on the air Sun day, Jan, 2. John Slkes of Wallace will be the toastmaster and master of ceremonies. With the exception of John, it will be all local talent Tune in on your radio at 4 p. m.. WRRZ, 880 on your dial. The pro gram will last for a full thirty minutes. A very interesting program has been arranged. What John will say. no one knows. The rehearsal was held in the studio at Wallace on Thursday night. Ye editor, who is helping sponsor this program, was not present. As far as we know Joe Quinn will be at the piano, Alice Gayior wilt Dear Readers Wnnt vou olease Rive us a littl" feneration? When you move or ehange your address; when you re new your subscription, by mail or tn an authorized aeent. please Rive the date of expiration on your paper or better still, tear otr tne sucker on your paper and turn it in ann also give your old address as well as your new addres?. For mstance- lf It's Beulaville, Route No. don't just say Beulaville. say Beu laville Route No. 2! Just euDDPse rt-hen one correction would come in to you and 2.000 names had to be esrrhed thhrough to find the correct atfdress. 'io-.v much work you would unnecess arlly have to do. If you will tear off the label and send it along vitn the route number from which you are leaving as well as the post office and route to which you nave movea, it will save a great deal of tin.e and help us to serve you much bet ter. It is necessary that we kw p the names listed under the route numbers. That saves a &rs, deal of time in each post office. When we mail The Duplin Times, we expidite them according to the post office and routes in each post office.' When the papers arrive in the post office bundled route one, route two, or route three, etc., it saves a great deal of time in the post office as the post master does not have to go through -and sort each paper and puf it on the car rier's table. He lust throws t.e bundle on the carrier's table and be knows how to handle it - -. We don't want to be fussy, but Jt takes a little system to expedite service' and vve work on the other fellow and to get you your paper on tune. . . ' When you change your address. pUase do not notify your carrier. models 1936 shall be inspected, an or before January 31, 1949. (b) All motor vehicles of the yea; models 1937 and 1938 shall be in spected on or before February K 1949. (c) All motor vehicles of the year models 1939 and 1940 s'lall be in spected on or before March ZL . 1949. The Inspection L.nne will bo a Kenansville: January 11 to 15; Fu ruary 8 to 12 and fioiu March 8 to 12. The Inspection Lane will be in Wallace: January b to 8: I-ebruaiy 1 to 5, and March 1 to 5. CourtHouse Square Christmas songs was beautifully done. As the last beautiful notes of "Joy to the World" faded in 0M evening glow, Santa Claus drove up the street to the tune of "Here Comes Santa Claus". He immedW ately went to the tree and began -. giving out the presents. The child ren's names were called over a loud-speaker and Santa had some thing appropriate to say to each one as he gave them their present. This Santa Claus knew his business and was i great success with the children and was much appreciate! by the grown-ups. The merchants of Kenansville .ficictaH whnlphMi-tpHlv in makmff this Pageant a success. It is hoped . bv this writer that the Community Christmas Tree and Pageant will bo made an annual treat for Ow children and grown-ups alike.. . flnThnA;rnvar7DD7 j sing "Carolina Jubelee", which JS I dedicated to Duplin, Little Sali and Gayle Newton, ages 9 and 12. will play on the piano, and Tyson Bostic will have charge of a string band. The program is planned for aee eral weeks. The following Sunday it will he a Warsaw talent program, with John in charge. It is hoped that the program will circulate all over the county and local talent can be discovered. Everyone loves music. It is a uni versal language. TUNE IN - send in your com ments. -' R- G. Send your notice directly to tiie Duplin Times in Kenansville. County Agent Suggests 1949 Resolutions "Safety for me and mine in 1949" is a New Year's resolution su . past ed today by L. F. Weeks, county agent for the State College Exten sion Service. Such a resolution, he said, is not only thoroughly practi cal hut also of great iraportan'v. I4 can be carried out by the Wi familv to the benefit of all Suggestions: "We will check the farm and farmstead periodically to loeale U hazards and remove them to make safer working conditions; keep shields in place on power inachinerv at ail times and otei?;ve the rules for safe operation: encourage members of our fam ily and neighbors to work, play, and drive safely; consider safety features when we plan to build or remodel; ' handle poisons and explosive - , carefully, keeping them well lamed -and out of reach of children; keep guns unloaded and out of , reach of children; t i - practice rules of safety 52 weelki a year." : - Three rats will eat as much grain as two laying nens. ; " Christmas cakes, iced cookies, and other goodies are surv ivals of the old f 'wi rt f'virj convey-