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Tie Hok« County News- Established 1928
^hurncil
The Hoke County Journal - Established T905
.VOLVME LXI NUMBER S4
$4 PER YEAR
RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROUNa
104 PER COPY
THURSDAY, JANUARY $, IfiT
V.
Patrolman Wins Chase With ’^HotfRodder
Says Youth
Forced Him
%
Off Street
BY JIM TAYLOR
A young Hoke Countyi driver,
described by offlcers ss'a' 'hot-
rodder," Is accused of fbrcing
a state highway, patrolmen off
dw road when the officer pul
led his patrol car alongside
during a midnight chase Mon
day Inside the town limits.
Johnny Scott. 20, of Shannon
Rt. 2, also faces charges of
assault on an officer, resist
ing arrest, failure to stop for
a police light and siren, and
careless and reckless driving
as a result of the Incident.
The patrol car, driven by
Patrolman J. D. Robinson, and
Scott’s vehicle were locked to-
gedier before and after they
"spun out" In a high, speed tug-
of-war on Jackson Street.
Two Killed New Year’s
Robinson said he was driving
down Harris Avenue toward
downtown Raeford after 11 p. m
Monday when he observed a car,
driven by Scott, "scratch off
from Jlffyburger No. and
speed toward Main Street.
Robinson said he immediately
gave chase and was closing on
the car when it turned right
onto South Magiolla Street.>
With siren walling and blue
light flashing, Robinson chased
Oil and Fertillier Company
property, and turned north onto
Jacksbn Street
"1 realized that If he made
It to Central Avenue (Old F ay-
ettevllle Road) he would have
clear sailing, endangering
every car he met or passed,
and I might have to chase him
for miles,"Robinsonlater said.
About 100 yards or so from
the Intersecton of Jackson and
Central, Robinson tried to pull
the car, which then was ntpnn.^alongside on the left of the
Ing with lights off, he said,
through Raeford Lumber Com
pany's lumberyard to South
Main street
There, Robinson said, the
car turned north, with him fol-
lowlrig closely, toCampbell Av
enue. With lights still off. the
auto sped dirough the dirt
streets of a Negro neighbor
hood, wound through the Hoke
froltnan, with the police car
regaining the pavement and the
two vehicles doing a tandem
spin.
The dars came to a stophalf
way In the Jackson-Central In
tersection, Robinson said, and
Scott jumped from his car and
ran. 1
Across\central Avenue, Scott
tried to ju\np a hedge and tum
bled into a front yard, according
to Robinson.
other car, he said, and the other
driver turned to the left, hit
ting the patrol car and forcing
its left '—heels well offtheps'.’e-
ment onto the soft shoulder.
The two vehicles locked at
Impact, the bumper of Robin
son's car hung^ln the left rear
fender of the convertible.
There ensued a short" power
struggle." according to the pa-
"When 1 reached
came up fighting,"
him, he
Robinson
said, "I subdued him and took
him into custody."
The officer displayed a black
eye received, he said, when
Scott ‘'came up swinging."
Other officers, r>4eanwhlle,
had converged at the scene.
They searched the convertible.
See CHASE, Pa|r
Road T oil
For Year
Totafe'44_
A Fort Bragg soldier and
one of four passengers In his
car were WIIct near Rockflsh
shortly before midnight on New
Year's Eve, closing out Hoke
County's traffic death count at
14 for 1966.
Killed when the car failed
to negotiate a curve at apparent
ly high speed were the driver,
Manuel Ratcliff, 23. ^of Fort
Bragg, and Alvis McRae, 21-
year-old Negro of Fayetteville
Rt. 4.
State Highway Patrolman E,
M, Roberts said he was of the
opinion that neither man would
have been killed had they beer
using die seat belts with which
the car was equipped.
"All five of the passengers
were thrown from the car," h«
said, "and McRae's body was
hurled 137 feet from the wreck-
■t >
rm
LOCK HORKS—above State Highway Patrol cruiser
and a 19S4 convertible operated by Johnny Scott, 20,
of Shannon Rt,
gethe> in what Patrii
2 jremalned locked after they came to-
PatrWman J, D. Robinson said was an
Trasc
attempt by Scott to force him off the road when he pulled
alongside the convertible after a "lights off* chase through
town Monday night.
'amlly
4 Mrs. Jon^
Mlllson, Mrs
Wr ViMleld Beach
, and Mrs,
f|.a.umberton one
r nls brother'^ai^,„ ,ts
Mr. and Mrs,
and family.
Mrs. J , . f,
daugh>-»y Friday night, five
,ters of the Montrose-
Key Heights section of the
{nty pitched a canvas tent
a grove of tall pine trees
in Quewhlffle township. Llfe-
'long pals, the five had camped
out at the very same spot many
times before.
After talklifg until late In the
Camping Accident
fear’s Worst News
night, the five sleepy lads piled
Into their sleeping bags Inside
the tent. Twelve feet away, the
remains of a campfire
smoldered.
At about three o'clock In the
morning, the boys were shocked
Into wakefulness. The tent was
on fire. The sides and the roof
were ablaze and the tent was
filled with smoke.
It Is reasonable to assume
that their clothing, too, was
ablaze. Four of them staggered
1
Other ‘Big’ Stories
Of Year Are Listed
Top news story of the year
In Hoke County, although a
tragic tala, was the death of
four of five teen age boys in a
horrible camping fire Novem
ber 19.
In one way or another, the
story remained In the state wide
news for several weeks as two
of the four victims battled for
tneli lives. Locally, It was
kept alive by the generous ef
forts of nel^bors who created
a "Fund For Five Fire Vic
tims.”
Death and tragedy were at the
forefront of other big stories
during the flaal six months of
the year. Following Is a re
capitulation, week by week, of
the major stories In The News-
Journal, beginning with the last
Issue of the year and going
backward to July:
December 29 —Hoke and
Cumberland counties, which
constitute a State Highway Pa-
♦ro> district experienced no
highway deaths during the
Christmas week end. Only four
minor wrecks occurred in Hoke
County, and officers of all de
partments reported a minimum
of law violations during the
holidays.
Christmas was made merry
for 101 young boys at Leonard
Training School when civic or
ganizations, Including Ashe-
mont Community Development
Club, showered Oiem with gifts.
William R. Wlndley, super
intendent of the vorrectlonal In
stitution, said that as late as
Becembtr 23 the 101 lads lad
received nothing from home.
December 22 — Four yourig
Hoke County Negroes were
charged with murder after an
elderly Negro, Neill Archie Mc
Cormick, 75, was beaten to
death and rotted In his home In
the Duffy's Station community.
McCormick's body was die-
covered by his son, Fred Mc-
See Roi ND-T’P, Pane 9
to apparent .safety--choklng and
coughing. The fifth lad, 12-
year-old David Womble, son of
Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Womble,
was trapped in the are and
burned to death.
The four others made their
way torturously to the home of
Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Pickier,
parents of another of the boys,
13-vear-old Harrv DukePlck-
ler. They stumbled into the
house, badly burned, and only
then realized that David Womble
was not with them.
The adult Picklers placed the
four 'boys on a bed, called an
ambulance, and Pickier and a
teen-age son hurried to the
scene of the fire, several hund
red yards from the house. When
they arrived, only the skeleton
of the tent remained, alongwith
the badly charred body of the
Womble boy.
The other four victims were
rushed toN’ooreMemorialHos-
pital in Pinehurst. where doc
tors and nurses began an
around-the-clock medical bat
tle to save their lives.
On Sunday, the Pickier boy
died. It was apparent also that
two others, Clarkson .V.len, 13,
son of Mrs, Nickie VJen, and
John Crissman, 14, son of Mr.
and Mrs, H. G. Crissman, would
not survive.
Both had third degree burns
over ak much as 80 per cetit of
their bodies. Saving their lives
was a medical iuipossibllity.
The fifth lad, Harry Thorn-
berg Jr,, meanwhile, was re
leased from the Pinehurst hos
pital. Today, he is the onlv
See ACCIDENT. Page 8
I Zeke To Get ;
A* •
i Plain Old ^
I i
I License Tag |
New auto license tags went
on sale here Tuesday, and for
the first time In several
years, Zeke Wiggins didn't
get the first set of plates.
Wiggins, you see, got mar
ried shortly before Christ
mas and like most husbands,
can't spend most of the night
on the sidewalk In order to
be first In line whe» the
license bureau opens.
The green-and-whlte re-
flectorlzed plates this year
bear an EZ prefix Instead of
last year's DS. Johnny Young
was the first customer, gett
ing number EZ-3801.
The ll^nse bureau. In the
chamber Sf commerce office.
Is open Ifrom 9 a. m. to
5 p. m./except Wednesday
and Saturpay, when hours are
9 a. m. to noon.
age.
He listed the injured passen
gers as Frank Robinson, 20,
Negro, Fort_Br igg: Edward Mc
Gill, I9y N^ro, Fayetteville
Rt. 3, And Eddie Shaw, 18, Ne
gro, Fayetteville Rt, 3. ,
Robinson and Shaw were sfl-
mit^ to Cape Fear Valley Hoir
pitai In Fayetteville, whereMc^
GHl was treated and released.
•'Edward McGill told me the
five had left aFsyettevillenight
'lub and were en route to
another club near Arabia when
the accident occurred,"Roberts
siad, ‘'McGill said they were
traveling about 90 miles an
hour and that he begged Rat
cliff to slow down, but
he wouldn’t."
Roberts said the car left the
pavement of Rural Road 1406
two miles south of Rockflsh in
the direction of Davis's Bridge.
The car hit the sideditch,
carr'eened back onto the pave
ment, and overturned in the
roadway.
"The car traveled 393 feet
after missing the curve before
it overturned,” Roberts said.
"It then went another 96 feet
and apparently rolled at least
twice,"
The vehicle, a 1956 Bulck
apparently registered in the
i name of someone from Rat-
• cliffs hometown in Texas, was
:| demolished.
i Both victims suffered severe
j head Injuries apparently sus-
• talndd when they were thrown
from the car, Roberts said.
Both died at the scene only
about an hour before the end
of the year and were, there-
^fore, listed as 1966 statistics.
'' The past year's total 5ri4-
(See KILLED, Page 3)
Wreck Victim’s
Funeral Is Set
Funeral services for Alvis
McRea, 21, Fayetteville Rt. 4,
who was killed December 31 in
an lygnmoblle accident, will be
held^unday at 2 p. m. at Mt.
Plsgah Baptist Church.
Burial will be In Silver Grove
Baptist Church Cemetery. The
tody will remain at Buie Funer
al Home until the funeral hour.
«"«; V-
DEATH CAB—A Fort Bragg soldier and a Fayetteville Rt. 4 Negro died New Year's Eve
tbout an hour before the old year ended when this car went out of control and crashed between
five passengers were thrown from the car. The fatalities
Rockfl^li and Davis's Bridge. All five pas
wer^4l^^County's 13th and 14th of the year.
Hoke Marine Saves
Wreck Victim’s Life
W. J. BENNETT
Town Will
Collect
Back Taxes
"The town budget set last
June Is a tough one," Ed Wil
liams, town manager, said this
week, "and in order to stay
within it, we must collect de
linquent taxes,"
In reporting that the January
rneetlng of town councllmen was
postponed until January 9 be
cause of the New Year's Day
holiday, Jan. 2, Williams said
the tax matter will be discussed
at the upcoming meeting.
Current tax collections have
been good, making the going
easy for the first half of the
fiscal year, he said, but added
that unless delinquent taxes are
brought in. It will be hard for
the town 4o meet Its obligations
during the second half.
"For this and other obvious
reasons, we are going to put
on a big drive to collect all
taxes which have been past due
for one or more years.
A qulck-thlnklng Hoke County
Marine, P%t. W. .T, Bennett,
was credited during the holi
days with saving the life of
a woman motorist trapped In a
wrecked automobile.
Bennett, former football and
wrestling star at Hoke High
School, was home on Christ
mas leave from Camp Lejeune
before going to Vietnam when
he encountered the wreck near
Pinehurst.
Mrs. Lena Howard, 54, of
Carthage was pinned Inside a
panel truck following a car-
truck collision. A crown had
gathered at the scene and when
Bennett arrived, he heard
someone ask If the woman was
still breathing.
He observed that she was sit
ting igirlght In the demolished
cab, her head held backward
by her coat collar, which had
caught on something. Her legs
were badly twisted and she ap
peared to have stopped breath
ing. '
Bennett Is credited with
crawllhg through the broken
windshield, cutting loose the
coat collar, and administering
mouth-to-mouth respiration to
the victim.
She responded and In about
five minutes was breathing, but
still unconscious. An ambu
lance arrived. She was loaded
aboard and Bennett left the
scene without having learned*
her name.
Later In the day, she was
Identified as the wife of R.
0. Howard of^Carthage. She
and her 14-year-old son, Ran
dolph, were riding In the panel
truck when It was Involved In
a collision with a sports car
driven by Linda Smith of Troy.
Both Miss Smith and the Ho
ward youth were taken to Moore
Memorial Hospital by passers^
by.
State Highway Patrolman C.
L. Cain and others said Ben
nett's timely assistance pro
bably saved Mrs. Howard's life.
Bennett later said be did not
know how long It was after the
accident that he arrived at the
scene. It apparently was
something like an hour, accord
ing to bystanders, he said.
Bennett entered the Marine
Corps September 12, 1966. He
was taught artificial respiration
during boot camp at Parris Is
land, S. C.
He was graduated from Hoke
High School In 1965 and attend
ed Sandhills Community College
for a year before entering the
Marine Corps, His parents,
Mr, and Mrs. Waylon Bennett,
now live In Aberdeen.
Bennett said he will report
January 17 to a California
station before departing for
Vietnam.
Mentally Retarded
Program Is Pushed
Hoke T ax Listers Are Back
In'Business At Same Stands
It's tax listing time again.
Taxpayers are told that the
consequences may be worse If
they fall to list taxes than If
they fall to pay them. •
In Hoke County, the period
set for listing taxe.s 1-s Jan-
uar\ 3 thnugh February 2.
All person'? owning real or
personal prop rty are required
to appear bei ire the taxllster
for their towpihlp during Jan
uary and mak? a report of all
property foi liurposes of taxa
tion. All I rjperty owned on
January I musfce listed.
All males ler the age of
21 are requli* b\ la.v to give
in their poll. I
Items to be listed Include
real property such as land,
buildings and Improvements and
machinery permanently affixed
to the real estate; household
and kitchen furniture, .farm e-
qulpment and farm supplies.
Household furniture Includes
oltctrlcal appliances and tools
of trade; also to be listed are
farming equipment, livestock,
poultry farm supplies and farm
pioducts producedprlortol966.
Other personal property In-
rludes radios, televisions, air
C'mdltloners, guns, bicycles,
jewelry, diamonds, typewrit
ers, boats and motors, golf e-
q'llpment and office equipment.
Under "motor vehicles" all
automobiles and trucks, also
house trailers, airplanes,
scooters and motorcycles.
Taxpayers may be questioned
as to possible ownership of
other tangible property by the
taxllster, especially 11 they own
a business. Farmers will
asked to report on their farm
census.
A schedule of places, tax
listers and townships follows:
Allendale Township — Miss
Wllla McLauchlln, \lex Mc
Cormick's Store, Jan. 10, Jan.
25.
Antioch -- C. C. Cor.ob,
See TAX TTERS, ra,e8
Hoke County commissioners
were asked this week to apprp-
priate $2,000 in the next fis
cal year to employ a coordi
nator to work with Koke County
Council on Mental Retardation.
The Rev. Cortez Cooper and
Dr. HarryMcLean appeared be
fore die board and gave a lengd'v
assessment of the need for
services and programs for t'-e
county's mentally retardi.d
children.
They revealed that t'e state
is now paying a coordinate; who
divides his time hetwee.’: :-oke
and Sampson counties. ‘?ut his
state e nplpvment was to hive
terminated January L
They estimated that if oe is
employed by Hoke and Sampson
Counties to cortinue id that
capacity, t'^e local share will
S JS.O'TC a year. Sampson
w-u.d ,'a\ at' liasical
amouBt arxl the state would pick
up ne remainder of t'V' ti"’.
r*’e l.'cal .'ou'v as ‘‘eer in
operation ror more ran a year
and al'cao v '•ai 'acK 'orvSi
in aco. ’tv-wido:-,.-vey o', needs
’or mental \ .’otarded rwrsom..
h ' vat crvrwo t* atap-
t!
Hoke County are mentally re
tarded and fall in t*-© IQ range
of 6C to 52, whic'i is an odu-
cable or trainable range.
Cnlv one special class Is con
ducted in t''e county for m«i-
tal.y retarded s rodents and
aoout 15 persons attend the
class.
To make an appreciable por
tion of the 200 cases self-re
liant to the degree t''at they
•an take care of f'eir per
sonal needs . perhaps etiwn
work tor a livin would be ot
tremendous benefit to tfiecouo-
ty, commissioners were toW.
The .Rev. Mr. Cooper and Dr.
Me’., can asxed cotrmlssiaOBrs
to provide 5800 to employ t*
coordinaro
Arvtn West, for
tilt remainder of tf« ftstaiy%ar
(undl June JO) and eo set aiiie
B.JCC .r 'wiK year's 'vidgtL
Con; oissl.Mer? agreed to |n-
o’ude C'e request ir their "xid-
get •onsi>lerationi for dieforth-
v-oming rear; howteer. it was **
•fot believed that. $800 would
available in l^e middle of
re '-xidget year.
In Its first meeting ol iht
ice RETARDAIIMN, Page 8