Newspapers / The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / Aug. 1, 1968, edition 1 / Page 1
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The Hoke County News- Established 1928 The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905 VOLUME LXIV NUMBER 12 RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA II PER YEAR 10 PER COPY THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1968 Earlier This Year A I ii'i !r(ii!flii!ff fflfflii"" iiiinimniTr -ZZZZ''- ::V'g LOCKED UP AND GONE It's a vacant place at Pacific Mills and Raeford Worsted Plant this week and the town ofRaeford seems about as empty. When the mills close for vacation, many employes and their families leave town for a long-awaited vacation. When Mill Takes Vacation Whole Town In Doldrums What many Raeford residents have contended for a long time wai readily apparent here (hit week. When the Burlington Industries plants are closed down, the town is, as one resident put it, "dead as a doornail." Burlington t two plants here - Kaetord Worsted Plant and Pacific Mills Dyeing Plant - were closed this week for annual summer vacation for the some 1600 (estimated) employes. The one-week shutdown takes place each season about -Uliliimepf year. With a great many Burlington people away for tivt week, there was a noticeable lack of activity in the downtown area Monday and Tuesday. "I'd tay business has been no more ' than one-half of normal," one Main Street merchant declared. "You don't have to have but one week of this to realize how dead this town would be without the mill (Burlington.)" All departments of the mammoth textile operation largest worsted plant in the wot Id - was closed down except maintenance. Traditionally, maintenance men take advantage of idle looms and other machinery to "tunc up" the mechanical phase of the manufacturing operation. As usual, Burlington paid a vacation bonus to all wage employes. The bonus was distributed last week. In contrast to this week's decline in business, the bonus check apparently perked up sales last week. Some Raeford merchants and other businessmen took vacations this week to have them coincide with the Burlington vacation. For one thing, the lessened activity made it practical for them to take time off while business was lighter than usual. Upchurch School - TC:' "":' -;V;.;. , l I ' " . f 1 V ; "' ' : i : ; ' t True, the town and county survived before the textile and turkey processing plants were established here, but one wonders if it could make it now, since the local economy is geared to the prosperity of the industrial payroll. Latest government estimates place the per capita income in Hoke County at $1,320 per year, or slightly more than $23 million for the entire county. No exact payroll figures are available to the public in Burlington and Raeford Turkey Farms operations, but a good guess would be they uvc a tjmbine payroll at least half that of the total income for the county. When it is realized that the industrial payroll is spent at least partially for local goods and services thereby supporting or requiring many jobs outside the plants it becomes immediately apparent that the industrial payroll here is the very lifeblood of the economy. It is true, of course, that not all the employes at the two major industrial operations reside in Hoke County. Nonetheless it can be conservatively estimated that Burlington Industries and Raeford Turkey Farms are responsible for roughly half the business activity within the county. As il is. the volume of business conducted in Raeford is, according to another recent survey, expanding faster than the national average. The study, taken from retail sales reports and other data, shows spendable income increased here last year by 10.8 per cent over 1966. The national increase was 5.6 per cent, and the North Carolina average was 7.7 per cent. Local retail business was reported at S9.912.1XJ0. slightly higher than the previous year's S9.337.OO0. Gets A Paint Job V'''-II .-:r . t'j..; Nonetheless. Hoke County was iciincd capable of producing considerably more sales volume. The county's "buying power index." a weighted figure involving income, population and sales, is .0050. which means thai it is believed capable of producing that percentage of the nation's retail business Since less than thai was accounted for last year (.0032 per cent), the report concluded that a sicable amount of the local retail sales potential has not yet been reached here. Mrs. A.R.Morris Dies At Age 87 Funeral services were to be held here Wednesday afternoon for Mrs. Lenora Henderson Morris. 87, who died Tuesday at Moore Memorial Hospital in Pinchurst. Mrs. Morris was the widow of A. R. Morris, a Raeford settler, and mother of four sons and one daughter. Funeral rites were to bfionductcd at 4 p. m. at the Morris residence, 401 N. Main Street. Burial was to be in Raeford Cemetery. Mrs Morris, a native of Montgomery County, was married in 1898 and moved here soon thereafter. For many years, she was active in Raeford Methodist Church, of which she was a member. She served for years as a Sunday School teacher and member of the various women's organizations. She had been inactive in public and church affairs for about 10 years, members of the family said, and was in declining health until about a year ago, .when her illness became more serious. Funeral service were to be conducted by the Rev. P. O. Lee and the Rev. Cortez A. Cooper. Surviving are one daughter, Mrs. William Lamont of Raeford; lour sons. Robert Morris and Jack Morris, both of Raeford, Fay Morris of New Bern, and Price Morris of Laurinburg. Hoke Schools Getting Facelifting For Integrated Opening In Fall It's regular annual clean, fix and paint up lime at school plants in Hoke County, but this year it is moie of a headache than usual. There's a lot of moving to go along with it. The recent reoiganization of the school system means that library books, records and many other items must be shifted from one school to another to follow the childien of the corresponding grade levls Both materials and furnishings will follow the Burlington School children. Assistant Superintendent Finest Sutton said. That school will be closed. Besides the normal renovation, the painting of some classrooms, i est rooms Border Belt Opens With $70 Average Flue-cured tobacco got under way Wednesday morning on the Border Belt markets of North Carolina and South Carolina, including those in this area, and earliest reports indicated prices lor untied offerings ranged from $09 to S76 per hundredweight. The earlier opening of the Border Belt were established to coincide with opening day on the Georgia Florida Bell and was expected to lessen the amount of tobacco hauled from the C a r o I i n a s Georgia-Florida markets. Talmadc Baker, of the local farm agent's office, said so far as his office could determine, no Hoke County farmers placed leaf on sale opening day. The local tobacco crop-at one time threatened by drought -at present shows signs of above-average yields, although reports indicate "spotty" quality. After an all but rainless June, showers in early July and last week set the weed to growing like Jack's proverbial beanstalk. Much tobacco in this area is head-high. Baker siiid Hoke farmers are probably too busy harvesting to get untied offeiings ready for the early market. Only the lower leaves ion to three primings) have been harvested in this area. North Carolina markets on the Border Belt include Chadbourn, Clarkton, Fair Bluff, Fairmont, Fayctteville, Lumbcrton, Tabor City and W hiteville. South Carolina markets arc Conway, Dillon, Darlington, Hemingway, Kingstrec, Lake City, Lamar, Lous, Mullin. ?amplico and Tiinnionwtlle. John Cyrus, tobacco marketing specialist for the N.C. Department of Agriculture, predicted an opening-day average of $70 per hundredweight, with anticipated sales of 4.6 million pounds in North Carolina and S.4 million pounds in South Carolina. Last year's opening day average on the belt was $69.32 in North Carolina and $69.72 in South Carolina. Cyrus said there is "generally a good smoking crop on the Border Belt." Most grades will be thinner than last y:ar because of swift growth. While no blocked sales were expected Wednesday, full floors were expected from the beginning, since marketing quotas have been changed somewhat. Registration Dates Are Set The State Board of Flections has released registration procedures for persons not already registered to vote in the November 5 general election. Scott Poole, chairman of Hoke County Board of Flections, passed them on for the benefit of would-be voters: In all counties not on fulltimc registration (Hoke is one) the books will be open Saturday, October 12, at the voting places and will be available there on Saturday, October 19, and Saturday, October 26. During the week days from October 12 through October 26, citizens may register at the home of their precinct registrar. Citizens are permitted to vote an absentee ballot in the general election provided they make proper application. No application, by civilians, can be received by the county board earlier than September 24 nor later than the Wednesday before the election. and offices, libraries or hallways, there is . a gianl-sized outside job of painting going on al Upchurch High School. Two of the four concrete block buildings are being given a coat of white paint. The job will requiie some 160 gallons of paint, Carson Davis, paint contractor, said. In the I pchuich School plant are four concrete block buildings, four brick buildings and four portable frame buildings. These will house all students in Hoke County in grades six through eight. Puncipal will be L. W . Bledsoe. Included in the work being done at Upchurch is a face-lilting for the office. This is a continuation ol work begun last year to improve the four rooms used for tnww x e - I V-r-"., '-" " ?. ' I - f v,-J AKIIM - Mrs. Wynona Stctler, above, a 1968 graduate of Pembroke State College and a fine arts major, has spent the summer getting examples of her work ready to submit to graduate schools. She plans to begin work on her master's degree in the fall, cither at bast Carolina University (where she is applying for a teaching assistant's job, or at San Miguel in Mexico. Other examples of her work are on Page 8. This Barber's 'PoW Shoivs Nixon Ahead BY JIM TAYLOR Americans elsewhere may be doing handstands in anticipation of the upcoming political conventions, but in Hoke County, they seemingly couldn't care less. This week, I set out to do a "man-on-the-street" report of political significance. The move failed from the beginning, largely because Burlington Industries plants here were closed for vacation and there were very few men on the street. What's the next best thing to a man-on-the-strcet poll? Barbershop conversation, of course. Thus. I canvassed the three downtown barbershops, where political prognostication and other chatter is known to flow. While the four barbers on duty at the three shops (three others were on vacation) were occupied with customers, two customers were too young to talk politics and the other two didn't seem interested. "Yes. there has been a good bit of speculation about who the nominees will be," one barber said, "but we hear more offices and storage for records. Ceilings will be lowered and walls paneled. Some cleaning, waxing and painting is under way at South Hoke (formerly Hawk Eye) and equipment and furnishings are being transferred to take care of additional students. Some painting, cleaning, waxing and general repair is taking place at other schools in the county. This is customary each summer to put the buildings in order for the beginning of a new school year. Some work is also being done on athletic fields at Upchurch and at Hoke High School, where all students in Ihe county from grades 9 through 12 will attend. backing for Wallace than the others." With the Republican convention scheduled to begin Monday in Miami, the barbers agreed that Richard Nixon probably will be the GOP nominee. He can't win in Hoke County, but will get more votes than1 the 275 registered Republicans will cast. They also allowed that Vice President Hubert Humphrey will win the Democratic nomination later this month when his party convenes in Chicago. They gave Nixon a slight edge in t November election against either Humphrey or McCarthy. All four said they believe Wallace will make a strong showing, but cannot be elected. "Many people are going to be surprised how well he will run in Hoke County and elsewhere in North Carolina," one said. And one hair-clipper hasn't ruled out the Kennedy clan from presidential consideration. "There's still Teddy," he said, "and he might win both the nomination and the general election." The North Carolina governor's race will be close, they said, but Scott was given a slight edge. Their predictions didn't seem unreasonable to me, and I figured I had a pretty good start toward a poll. So I headed for the second best source of information. The taxicab drivers. Maybe they were on vacation, loo. Or transporting other vacationers. Anyway, none were parked at the taxiestand. So I hastened back to the office to check the latest Gallup Poll. Sure enough, it said the same thing the barbers had told me. Former Resident's Husband Killed Word has been received here that Cpl. Carl Frederick Hodges Jr.. 20, of the U. S. Marine Corps, was killed in action in Vietnam, July 24. Cpl Hodges was husband of the former Miss Beth Hagler, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Hagler, once residents of Raeford. He was from Washington, D. C.
The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.)
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Aug. 1, 1968, edition 1
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