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The Hoke County New
The Hoke County Journal
VOLUME XLI
UMBER 30
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1951
RAEFORD, N. C.
10c PER COPY
$3.00 PER YEAR
News
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By The Editor
George W. Cox, postmaster here
during " the administrations of
President Harding, Coolidge and
Hoover, and who-1 understand is
the oldest member of the Raeford
Methodist Church, was telling us
this week after seeing the pro
gram for the dedication of the
church that one of the former
ministers listed in it had died
just last week. He said that the
Rev. J. T. Draper, pastor of the
church from 1915 to 1917, had
passed away fn Warrenton.
Bruce Phillips, son of Mr. and
Mrs., W. C. Phillips, is at home
from East Carolina College at
Greenville for the holidays with
his parents. He tells me that he
is sports editor for the Greenville
"Daily Reflector," an afternoon
newspaper of about 15,000 circu
lation. He worked for the paper
while attending school last year,
and when he got back this fall
the sports editor got drafted, and
he stepped in. He works for pa
per in the mornings and attends
school in the afternoons. He is a
sophomore at ECC.
Solving of the most recent
break-in at Hoke Trading com
pany last Saturday leads officers
to the conclusion that two of the
other three there this year were
about like the last. That is, they
were unplanned and carried out
by vagrant travelers. The other
robbery, the one where the safe
was hauled away, had to have
some planning, however.
J. M. Williams, certified public
accountant of Raleigh, who has
been auditing for Hoke County
and the Town of Raeford for a
number of years, has been having
right much trouble with his
health recently. He underwent a
major abdominal operation this
month and at last reports was do
ing fine and hopes to be at home
for Christmas.
Mr. Williams took the part of
this county strongly when the
Army tried to partition it, and
gave great help in preparing the
figures and statistics used in de
feating this effort. He has many
friends here who wish him a
rapid return to good health. His
address is 2721 St. Mary's Street,
Raleigh, in case you want to drop
him a note 'at this season.
Christmas is about here. With
this thought comes a wondering
in my mind if it couldn't be a
little better, from some stand
points, right here in Raeford. If
we did some thinking between
now and next Christmas couldn't
we make it a more meaningful
occasion than it will be o most
of us this year. Maybe I'm taking
the old chamber-of-eommerce-promotion
point of view, but I
believe it could.
What is Christmas? Holly and
tinsel and gaily wrapped pack
ages. The light in a child's eyes
as he sees the glittering tree. San
ta Claus and Rudolph the Red
Nosed Reindeer.
Christmas is every one of these
things. But, most of all and most
important of all, Christmas is
Christ's birthday. The Christ
Child in His lowly manger crib,
in Bethlehem started it all is the
reason for it all.
TO PUT CHRIST BACK INTO
CHRISTMAS is the goal of a
concerted community effort in
many communities and towns a
cross the great land we live in.
Its purpose is to make the Christ
Child and His birthday upper
most in the minds and hearts of
everyone throughout the Christ
mas season. We might try It here.
If we could, and if we succeed
even a little bit, our community
and we as individuals will be
come that much stronger in the
fight against those forces which
aim to put Christ not only out of
Christmas but out of every day
of our lives.
67 Motorists Pay
For Speeding In
Recorder's Court
State Highway Patrolmen had
another active week on the high
ways of the county last week, re
sulting in 67 cases of speeding
being cleared through the county
recorder's court on Tuesday be
fore Judge T. O. Moses. Most of
the cases were bond forfeitures,
with seven defendants pleading
guilty and paying fines or costs.
There were 14 other cases tried.
John D. Gunter, his wife, Mrs.
Mary K. Gunter and Kenneth
Sandy, all white, were charged
with violating the games laws by
hunting at night. Mrs. Gunter
was found not guilty and the men
were both found guilty. Each got
a sentence of 30 days suspended
on payment of $250 each and
costs. Two guns and a flashlight
were confiscated.
Paul H. Starnes, white, was
found guilty of driving drunk and
sentenced to 90 days to be sus
pended on payment of $100 and
costs. He appealed and posted
$300 bond. Alex Lowery, colored,
and Paul A. Bridgewater, white,
pled guilty of driving drunk and
got the same sentence. They pid.
Mark Anderson, colored, pled
guilty of violating the prohibition
laws and paid $10 and costs.
For public drunkenness. Worth
Quick, white, left a $25 bond, and
James C. Evans, colored, paid $10
and costs.
Oscar Lee Stark, colored man
pleading guilty of breaking and
entering and larceny at the Hoke
Trading Co., was held in jail for
Superior Court in default of a
$1000 bond.
Duncan Chambers, colored, set
tled damages and paid $25 and
costs for careless and reckless
driving. Willie James, Jr., had to
pay $10 and costs and $16 dam
ages for careless and reckless
driving.
L. W. Ray, colored, had to make
good a bad check and pay court
costs.
Raymond' Jones, colored man
charged with non-support, had
judgment suspended until Feb
ruary 1, 1955, during which time
he is to turn over two-thirds of
his earnings to the court clerk
for his family.
Speeders appearing or being
represented included Jacob Oli
ver, $40 and costs; Billy Pickle
simer and Herbert Stidham, $10
and costs each; Hazcline Ellers,
Elwood S. Cain, Dominick Mon
terose, Mamie S. Brewer, Edith
Whitaker Graham and Shirley
Rose Strickland, costs each.
Leaving bonds for speeding
were Sylvester Alston, Sidney M.
(Continued on back page)
Stonewall Ruritans
Install Officers; Pick
Mclnnis Outstanding
The Stonewall Ruritan Club
met for supper in the Mildouson
School lunchroom last Wednes
day night. Tom Cameron of Rae
'ord was the speaker, and his re
marks on the need for more rec
reational facilities were most in
teresting. New officers installed were W.
L. Smith president, Whiteford
Jones vice-president, C. E. Jack
son secretary, and John Glisson
three-year director.
Daniel M. Mclnnis was voted
the "Man of the Year" by the
members of the club. Serving as
lieutenant governor of the Cape
Fear District of Ruritan National
last year, he is a charter mem
ber of the Stonewall club and a
past president. Considered a
hard - working, willing, civic
minded man by the club members,
he organized three new Ruritan
clubs during 1954.
o
DR. O BRIANT HOME
Dr. A. L. O'Briant returned
home Tuesday from Moore Coun
ty Hospital, where he had been
a patient for several weeks. He
is much improved.
'.- V 'he ft yu
Vespers Program At
Presbyterian Church
A Christmas vespers program
will be presented at the Raeford
Presbyterian Church on Sunday
afternoon at five o'clock. The
singing will be by the chancel
choir of the church under the di
rection of Mrs. Kerr Stevens.
The program will be in the
form of a candlelighting service,
with selected scripture readings
and congregational singing as
well as the lighting of the candles
and songs by the choir. The pub
lic is invited.
n
Katherine MacDonald of Mere
dith College is spending the holi
days with her parents, Mr. and
Mrs. K. A. MacDonald.
Dave Barrington of Elizabeth
City spent the week end with his
mother, Mrs. Helen S. Barrington.
CAN YOU IDENTIFY THIS HOKE
Above is another in the series
of "mystery farm" pictures be
ing published in The News
Journal. Nobody knows whose
farm it is not even the photo
graphers and the paper is re
lying on the readers for identi
fication. Two six-months sub
scriptions are offered for first
identifications and the rules are
as follows:
NO PREACHING SUNDAY
There will be no preaching
service alv Tabernacle Baptist
Ch'Tcli SurTV.y night, December
26 but the BTlT will meet, after
which the congregation will at
tend the Christmas Pageant at,
Galatia Presbyterian Church.
O
LOSES HOME IN FIRE
Pat McNeill, 70-year-old color
ed man who lived alone on his
own place near Duffie, lost his
home and all his effects recently
by fire. He has no family other
than a foster son, and will wel
come any gifts of clothing or
household furnishings. These may
be left with Mrs. C. H. Giles at
the County welfare office for
him.
Alfred Cole, Jr. will spend
Christmas in Granite Falls with
Miss Nancy Mackie.
1. You may win but once m
the year the series runs.
2. One winner will be the first
person to Come to or Call The
News-Journal Office, 2121. Staff
of the paper cannot accept iden
tification anywhere else.
3. The other winner will be the
present subscriber who now re
ceives the paper on Raeford route
one, two or three, or an address
Baptists Here To
Join In Student
Night Program Sun.
The Raeford Baptist Church
will join with the thousands of
other churches of the Baptist
Convention in holding a "Student
Night" Christmas program on
Sunday. The program here will
begin at 7:30 and will be present
ed by high school seniors and
college students of the church.
The holding of the programs in
churches in this area is being
sponsored and promoted by the
Baptist Student Union of the
Southern Baptist Convention. The
public is invited to attend the
service.
o
Mr. and Mrs. Kermit Crawley
of Lunenburg, Virginia will ar
rive Wednesday to spend the hol
idays with Mr. Crawley's parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Crawley.
COUNTY FARM?
outside Raeford, who first identi
ties the picture at The News
Journal office in person or by
telephone.
Owners or operators of the
farms pictured are not offered
the prize, but we do have a beau
tiful mounted enlargement of the
original photo, free for each of
them and invite them to call at
the office for it each week.
Most Businesses Will
Be Closed Monday
Indications were that most
stores and business houses in
Raeford would be closed next
Monday, December 27, giving
their employees the traditional
extra day of Christmas holiday.
Most of the firms listed in the
advertisement on page 11 of this
issue will be closed, including the
AAA branch office operated in
the Chamber of Commerce office
for the sale of State auto license
tags. The automobile dealers, who
will be closed on Friday, will be
open for business on Monday, as
will a few others who are not
listed in the ad as being closed.
The Bank of Raeford will also be
closed on Monday.
The News-Journal, whose em
ployees have had work almost a
round the colck several times re
cently, will be closed on both
Friday and Monday, and the
county offices, both in the court
house and the county office
building, will be closed Thursday
through Monday.
Robbins Mills will suspend op
erations at midnight Thursday
and will begin again at 8:00 a. m.
Monday. Para Thread Company
was closed at 11:00 p. m. Wednes
day and start operations again at
7:00 a. m. Monday. Hoke Oil and
Fertilizer Co., Hoke Concrete
Works and Hoke Tool Works will
shut down at noon Friday and be
closed until Tuesday morning.
Another McNeill
Home Photo Is
Quickly Named
Last week's mystery picture
was the second McNeill home in
succession to be printed in the
weekly feature. This time it was
the home of Mrs. W. J. McNeill,
two miles south of Raeford on the
Red Springs road, after Mrs. Hec
tor McNeill's home seven miles
south on the Laurinburg road had
appeared the week before.
First to identify the picture
correctly was Irvin Currie, who
dropped in to pick up some print
ing for the REA just as the first
News-Journal came off the press.
He won himself a six-months
subscription, as did J. H. Blythe
of route one, the first rural sub
scriber to name the home cor
rectly. Others giving correct
answers were Mrs. Belton Wright,
Mrs. Clarence Willis, Ed McNeill,
Don Conoly, Mary Peele, Mrs. W.
E. Willis, Ken McLauchlin, Mrs.
Chalmers Davis, Mrs. Archie Mc
Diarmid, Derry Walker, Mrs. Ed
win Newton, Mrs. L. B. Dees and
Mrs. J. D. Clark.
Mrs. McNeill has been living on
the 115-acre farm since she was
married to the late Mr. McNeill
December 2, 1917. She was the
former Addie Baker of this coun
ty.
Mr. McNeill, who passed away
in July, 1952, came into the first
50 acres of his farm when he was
born, as his grandfather, the late
Neil Archie McNeill, gave it to
him for being his first male
grandchild. He had lived on the
place for several years prior to
his marriage in 1917, and the
farm has been in the McNeill
family for four generations. Mrs.
McNeill doesn't know just when
it was acquired by the family,
but knows that her late husband
cleared his land and began to
farm it. The home shown in the
picture was a two-room structure
originally and Mr. McNeill began
to add to it In 1913, and it is now
a comfortable eight-room home.
The tobacco packhouse and barns
and other buildings have been
constructed since Mr. and Mrs.
McNeill were married.
Tobacco, cotton, com, wheat,
oats are raised and cultivated by
tractor mostly, although they
have four mules. They also have
six cows.
Mrs. McNeill is a member of
the Raedeen Home Demonstra
tion Club, and the family are
members of the Raeford Presby
terian Church. She has eight
(Continued on Back Page)
Officers Arrest
Negro Youth For
Bowmore Theft
For the fourth time in the past
year, the Hoke Trading Company
general store at Bowmore, five
miles south on 15-A, was forcibly
entered last Friday night or early
Saturday morning. Oscar Lee
Stark, colored, about 17, is in the
county jail charged with break
ing and entering and larceny. On
none of the other three occasions
were officers able to make an ar
rest. Stark gave his home as
some place in Florida.
W. T. Walters, manager of the
store, discovered the burglary
when he went to open up on Sat
urday morning. In previous burg
lary the plate glass front of the
store had been broken and had
not been replaced, but had been
barred and boarded up. The thief
had pulled off the boards and
gone between the bars. On the in
side the petty cash, amounting
to $3.79, was gone, and the front
of the safe had been battered
with a hammer in an unsuccess
ful attempt to enter it.
Rural Policeman H. M. Meeks
and an agent of the State Bureau
of Investigation, who had assist
ed in investigating the other
break-ins at the same store, got
on the case Saturday morning.
Due to a heavy rain during the
previous night they were able to
follow footprints away from the
building and in the general di
rection of the home of Moses
Covington, east of the store. While
they were doing the tracking,
Covington came up. When he
found what they were about he
volunteered the information that
their man might be at his house,
as he had put up a stranger in
the rain the night before who
said he was going from New York
to Florida.
The officers found Stark there,
and with him or hanging on the
line outside three pair of pants,
shoes, shorts, socks, watches, a
knife, an electric razor, 28 pack
ages of cigarettes, underwear and
other merchandise Walters iden
tified as apparently having come
from the store. Stark at first
knew nothing of the matter, but
later admitted the whole busi
ness, according to Meeks.
There is no apparent connec
tion between this robbery and the
other three, Meeks said, but fin
gerprints taken after the others
are being compared with those of
Stark.
Kiwanians Plan
Program For Year
The 1955 Program of the Rae
ford Kiwanis Club was instituted
by its 1955 President, Buck Blue,
and 1954 President, Israel Mann,
at a steak supper ' in Mann's
Rumpus Room Wednesday night.
The 1955 Board of Directors and
committee chairmen were guests
of Blue and Mann.
After supper, rising President
Blue outlined his program for the
year, stressing boys' and girls'
work, agriculture, under-privileged
children. Boy Scouts, law
and parliamentary procedure,
public affairs, inter-club relations,
and public relations.
He was promised enthusiastic
support for his program. Quite a
number of questions were asked,
and suggestions made for imple
menting the program.
The 1955 officers will be in
stalled by the rising Lieutenant
Governor, J. B. Thomas, on the
evening of Thursday, December
30. These officers are: J. H. Blue,
President; C. L. Thomas, Vice
President; A. H. McPhauL Sec
retary - Treasurer; and Israel
Mann, J. H. Austin, J. W. Flan-
nery, Marion Gatlin, D. G. Mc-
Fadyen, Neil Ross, E. B. Satter
white and Younger Snead, direc
tors. 0
Bobby McNeill of Camp Lee,
Va. and NeiU Adams McNeill of
Greenville, S. C. are spending
the holidays with their parents,
Mr. and Mrs. John K. McNeill.