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The Hoke County News - Established 1928
VOLUME LX1X NUMBER 45 RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
- journal 25
The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905
S8PER YEAR Till RS|? U . MARCH ?>. IC>7M
Around
Town
BY SAM C. MORRIS
The picture that Jesse Gullecjge
brought in the office and 1 wrote
about last week was taken at Fort
Story, Va. in 1938. Most of the men
have been identified, but a few are
still unknown to this writer at this
time. So come by and take a look
and see if you can complete the
identification.
This week Sam Snead of Red
Springs brought two pictures into
the office that were made while
Battery 'F' (the other Raeford
. outfit) was on strike duty in
I Gastonia during the early thirties. 1
haven't had a chance to really go
over these pictures since they were
put on my desk, but know that they
would interest some of the readers
of this column.
So come in and take a look at
these pictures and maybe I can
guess your age if you know most of
these men.
? * *
While on the subject of age, last
week Bob Drumwright, who is
spending his last week in town,
came by the office and said he was
going to file a complaint against the
paper. When I asked him what was
wrong, he said we had his age
wrong in an article in the paper.
So to set the record straight
before he leaves town Bob Drum
wright is only 29 years of age. He
has not reached the age of 30 as was
stated in this paper last week.
We offer our apology to Bob and
hate that we aged him so before he
left town. Maybe some other things
put a few years on the city
manager.
? * *
Mrs. Lewis Upchurch was by the
office last week and asked that I
remind folks that the "Friends of
} the College" concert drive would
end on March 13. If you would like
to be a part of this drive, get in
touch with Mrs. Upchurch. She
can be reached at telephone
number 875-2 163.
? * *
Mrs. A. A. Mclnnis returned
home Saturday from Moore Memo
rial Hospital where she was a
patient for two weeks. Mrs. Mc
lnnis would like to thank everyone
for their visits, flowers, prayers and
cards she has received while a
patient in the hospital and since she
has been home.
? * ?
Marty Vega, reporter for The
Fuyetteville Times, had an in
teresting feature in that paper last
week about Harry Jones and his
purchase ot coffee at Dundarrach.
Harry, who is at this time a
patient at Moore Memorial Hos
pital. had a good thing going in
buying coffee until the clerks found
out the pricing machine had gone
haywire.
If you didn't see the article,
check with Harry when he gets out
k ot the hospital, or go by Dun
darrach Trading Company and the
clerks can tell you about it.
* * *
Mary Archie McNeill, music
director at Hoke High School, was
by the office this week and was
smiling from ear to ear. The
Chorus and Chorale had traveled to
Rockingham last week and came
home again with "Superior"
ratings.
The article about the achieve
ment is elsewhere in the paper, but
we would like to add our
congratulations to her and the
students that make up these two
groups.
? ? *
Don't forget the concert tonight
at MacDonald Gym by the Hoke
High Chorus. Chorale and Band
and the Upchurch Chorus and
Band. This concert is free and
should be enjoyed by folks of all
ages.
Also you can become a Hoke
County Music Booster by signing
up while at the concert.
An event that you can place on
your calendar will come up March
18. It is the Hoke County Special
Olympics that will be held at the
Hoke County High School Stadium
(See AROUND TOWN. Page 15)
LET IT SNOW Lee Ann Hubbard poses with the snowman she built in
her Jrnnt yard on McRae Street in Raeford last Friday. Thursday afternoon
a few venerable Hoke County residents were recalling the I # inches of snow
that fell here 51 years ago. and that night it seemed history might repeat
itself. But morning revealed a slight accumulation, not even enough to close
the schools, liy noon Friday, the snow had all but vanished.
County Board Okays
Two New Positions
County Manager James Martin
was authorized to hire a financial
director and an accounting clerk by
the Hoke County Board of Com
missioners at its meeting Monday
morning.
Both jobs were formerly handled
by the late T.B. Lester. Jr., who
was Hoke's first county manager.
Martin assumed his duties here in
January. The two new positions will
be paid with federal funds.
The accounting clerk will be paid
through the Comprehensive Em
ployment Training Act (CETA)
and the finance director will be
paid from anti-recession funds.
In other business, the board
appointed Oleta Lope/, assistant
clerk. She will have additional
secretarial responsibilities in the
county manager's office.
The board approved a recom
mendation that the Council of
Governments apply for administra
tive support for family planning
and for an older adults nutritional
program in Hoke County.
Sheriff Dave Barrington was
authorized to accept bids for a new
patrol car to replace one destroyed
last week when it crashed into a
utility pole on Prospect Ave. after
skidding on the icy street. The
driver, Deputy James Peterkin
escaped serious injury.
The board accepted a petition
that Koonce Drive in Townsend
Estates be maintained under the
state highway system.
UNUSUAL TEAM The sight of a hull ami a mule pulling a wagon to the
cotton platform in Raeford was so unusual that Robert GatUn thought it
worthy of a picture. It was taken in 1940.
Cracks Mar Ceiling
Of New Fire Station
~ ~ m m w W W
Flurry Of Motions
Opens Lane Trial
The trial of Llovd Stephen Lane
was remanded to Hoke County
Superior Court Tuesday after
attorneys for Lane filed a petition
Monday to remove the case to
federal district court.
Lane. 25. pleaded not guilty to
charges of first - degree murder and
armed robbery following the fatal
shooting of a Cumberland County
special deputy. R.G. Smith, in a
convenience store holdup last
September.
Federal District Court Judge
Hyram Ward denied the petition to
remove the case to the federal
courts Tuesday after District
Attorney Ed Grannis filed the
state's answer to the petition
Monday night. Court recessed
Monday afternoon and Judge
James Baley. Jr.. of Asheville. trial
judge assigned to the case, sent the
jurors home when he ruled that he
had no jurisdiction to rule on the
petition.
Court resumed Tuesday at 2
p.m. and Judge Baley announced
that the case would be tried in
Hoke County Superior court.
When attorney for the defense.
Karen Galloway, requested that
some pre-trial motions be heard in
the judge's chambers. Grannis said
"I object to anyone other than the
jurors being excluded from hearing
the motions." He cited the people's
right to information about the trial
as the reason for his objection.
Judge Baley granted the motion
to hear part of the motions in
chambers, but in open court a
motion to sequester the state's
witnesses due to pre-trial publicity
was denied. A motion requesting
complete recordation of all pro
ceedings was granted, while the
motion to regulate the dress of
police witnesses was denied. Action
on a motion requesting the trans
script for voir dire of jurors at the
time of sentencing was deferred.
Judge Baley also deined a motion
to strike and quash the death
penalty claiming it was uncon
stitutional. According to statistics
presented by Galloway. 10 persons
from Hoke County were executed
between 1910 and 1964 for charges
of first-degree murder or rape.
Seven of the 10 were black, and the
only convicted felon during that
period to receive a commuted
sentence was a white man. On the
basis of that evidence. Galloway
claimed that the application ot the
death penalty in the Hoke County
court would be racist.
She also told the court that the
Supreme Court, when it ruled the
death penalty constitutional, had
not addressed some of the issues
which she felt were pertinent.
"You don't expect me to over -
rule the supreme court?" Judge
Baley responded. Galloway ex
plained that she did not "intend to
try the court's patience" and
requested that the court bear with
her. Attorneys for the defense and
District Attorney F.d Grannis then
received permission to approach
the bench.
Judge Baley also ordered that 50
jurors be selected prior to tomor
row's session. Only 29 remained
today from the original pool of 48.
According to the petition to move
the case to federal district court.
(See LANh. Pa^-e 15)
High School
Bloodmobile
This Friday
The Health Occuption Students
of America (HOSA) and the Hoke
High School Chapter of the Distri
butive Education Clubs of America
(DECA) will host the Piedmont
Carolina Red Cross Bloodmobile
on Friday. March 10. The Mac
Donald Gym will be used because
of it's si/e and central location.
Sally Young, teacher-advisor for
HOSA explained the team effort,
with DECA providing the advertis
ing and the Food Service Class
serving the refreshments for
donors. Mrs. Young pointed to the
need for a large number of donors
from the county to replace the
blood used by Hoke citizens in the
area hospitals.
The Bloodmobile will be at the
High School Friday from 11 a.m.
and 4 p.m. Donors must be at least
17 years old and weigh at least 1 10
pounds.
Problems with the ceiling at the
new fire station, appointment of a
commute to study downtown revi
tali/ation. and selection of an
interim city manager to fill in tor
Robert Drumwright. who has re
signed. were among items before
the Kaeford City Council at its
regular monthly meeting this week.
Fire Station
The board was told by K.J.
Austin, of Austin Associates, archi
tects for the project, that there are
cracks in the ceiling of the new fire
station on K. Prospect Ave. because
the contractor failed to follow the
specifications. It means firemen
will be delayed still further in
moving into the new facility.
Instead of gypsum cement, the
contractor used portland cement.
Austin explained that portland
cement requires control joints in
the ceiling to allow for expansion
and contraction, while gypsum
does not.
" There's only $50 or SUM) differ
ence in the material used by the
contractor, but the ceiling was
designed specifically for gypsum
and doesn't ha\e control joints." he
said.
Austin said he thought it was an
honest mistake by the contractor.
DWC Contractors. Inc. of Fayette
ville. and he told the board that any
material used in the ceiling would
develop some cracks because of
artillery fire at Ft. Bragg and the
activity of military jets in the area.
But he said the material used by
the contractor is more susceptible
to cracking than the material for.
which the ceiling was designed.
By a vote of the council, the
architects were instructed to re
quest the contractor and bonding
company cither to give the city a
five-year warranty on the ceiling, or
to replace it according to the
architect's specifications. The pro
posal further stipulates that ihe
ceiling be inspected annually, with
the contractor liable lor any repairs
that are needed.
Austin said he was unsure
whether the contractor would
accept this proposal. He said
Austin Associates is holding back
SI l.(HX)of the contractor's fee until
ihc matter is squared away.
Construction of the lire station
was approved by the voters in a
Wh bond referendum. Ihe b.KOO
square foot building is located on a
.*-acre lot. Ihe station was initially
expected to cost $200. (KM), bu* the
bids were below this estimate.
Revitalisation
I hc board approved formation
( See ( <)l \l II I'.ily I > i
The Throne Of King Cotton
by Charles Blackburn
Cotton was king in Hoke County
years ago. That's why a bale of
cotton is on the county seal today.
The sovereign crop decreed that the
main street of Raeford be designed
to accommodate it. And so it was.
"When J.W McLauchlin and
Hector Smith, a surveyor, laid out
Main Street, they determined that
it should be the width it took a
two-horse wagon to turn around
without having to back up." ex
plained Robert Gatlin. lifelong
Hoke resident.
Those wagons needed a lot of
room to turn -- Raeford's Main
Street is wider than most. Loaded
with bales of cotton, the wagons
came, one after another, to a
platform located by the railroad
tracks, where the cotton was
weighed.
If cotton was king here, that
platform was certainly its throne,
for at least 75 percent of the cotton
grow n in Hoke County was sold and
shipped there.
Ten thousand bales, ranging
from 400 to 600 pounds, were
ginned in the county at the peak
production. At one time cotton gins
could be found in nearly every part
of the county, among them:
Oakdale. Thomas Brothers, Hoke
Oil - Fertilizer. McGougan's.
Dundarrach Trading Co.. Rock
fish, and the Johnson Co.
"I've seen Main Street, before it
was paved, with two - horse wagons
lined up from one end to the other
waiting to be weighed at the cotton
platform," Gatlin recalled.
He said the platform was built
about 1^1 1 by the same man who
poured the sidewalks for the town.
J.R. Steele of Bennettsville. The
platform originally had a roof over
it. but the roof burned not long
after it was built and was never
replaced .
"The platform was a center of
activity." Gatlin said.
But soon it will fade into local
history. The Bank of Haeford is
planning a new office building on
the site where the cotton platform
stands, and this monument to a
bygone era w ill have to go.
The platform has been idle for a
U?ng time now. Younger Hoke
County residents have passed it
often, never realizing how im
portant it once was to the livelihood
of the area.
It was there that the HoKe
County Cotton Weigher performed
the duties ot his elected office. He
established the official weight ot
each bale, and the buyer paid a
certain price per pound based on
that weight. Martin McKeiihan.
H. Peele. and H A C-reene were
sonte ot those who held that office.
Kach buyer had a space on the
(Se<. I 1)1 l()\ I'.mc I *1
COTTON PLA Th'ORM This is how the old cotton pit itform in Rae/ord
looks today It was once a center of activity lor the town but will soon how to
progress The Hank <>l Raejord is planning u new office building for the
site