...m
I he Only Newspaper Published in and for Gates County
Volume 13, No. 3_Gatesville, N. C., Wednesday, September 20, U)44 (One Week Nearer^^K \2 Pag€s Weefc
Sport of Kings
Draws Hundreds
To Roduco Track
A total of approximately 1,800
arsons * flocked to the newly
■t tablished Gates County Racing
tub track Saturday and Sunday
for races that featured horses
from Virginia and eastern Caro
lina and apparently pleased the
crowd that came from Gates,
Hertford, Perquimans, Chowan
and Pasquotank counties as well
as race-minded Virginia areas.
Situated on the right of the
highway between Roduco and
Gatesville, the track was said
to have been in excellent condi
tion following rains of Thurs
day and Friday.
Horses owned by W. P. Davis
of Saluda, Va., J. H. Towe of
Hertford, and E. N. Miller of
Hertford, won the first day’s
contests, while Sunday winners
were owned by Hollis Lilley and
Garland Felton of the Gates
County Racing Club, Edgar Hunt
of Port Haywood, Va., and B.
B. Brown of Grafton, Va.
Saturday Races
Fastest mile in the 2:25 trot
was made in 2.9% minutes by
“Wonder”, belonging to W. P.
Davis and driven by Edgar Hunt,
the winner. Fastest time in the
2:17 pace, 2.6%, was by the
winner, “Abbe Direct”, owned
by J. H. Towe and driven by
Elbert White of Hertford. Fast
est time in the free-for-all pace
was established by the winner,
“Sylvia Hanover”, owned by E.
N. Miller and- driven by Mr.
See RODUCO TRACK, Page 6
|> .L Langston To
Head Gates Hunt
Club This Year
Gates. — Gates Community
Hunt Club held its sixth annual
meeting at the club house Friday
for the purpose of electing offi
cers for the ensuing year, the
collection of dues and attending
to any other business pertaining
to the club.
Officers elected were H. L.
Langston, Gates, president; H.
F. Parker, Eure, vice president;
G. D. Gatling, Gates, secretary
treasurer.
New executive committee
members are R. E. Miller, Gates;
W. H. Powell, Eure; L. C. Har
rell, Eure; Willard Turner', Eure;
H. N. Felton, Eure; Lycurgus
Tinkham, Eure.
At the conclusion of business
a fish fry was served by a com
mittee composed of Willard
Turner, Timothy Felton and
Woodie Eure.
About fifty men enjoyed the
feast of good fresh water fish,
and other things that go with a
well-rounded fish dinner.
Revival Services
Igals Vffeek and Next
jpFtevivals services are being
Rid this week at Harrell’s Me
^thodist Church and will be held
next week at Zion Methodist
Church.
Services are being held each
night at 8 o’clock at Harrells.
The Reverend T. J. Whitehead
is preaching.
The Rev. J. D. Cranford of
Winfall, will be the visiting
minister at Zion where services
will be held each evening at 8
o’clock beginning Monday night.
The public is cordially invited to
attend, the Rev. J. M. Jollif
said.
' |A •
Technical Sergeant Edward
Cholewinsfc of Carnegie, Pa.,
left above,IWith the other soldier
pictured, designed and built the
above showed bath at a Ninth
Air Force advanced fighter
group base in France.-The nude
little French lad had the honor
of christening it. Mrs. Chole
winski was formerly Miss Edith
Lilley, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
C. L. Lilley of Roduco, with
whom she is living while her
sergeant husband is overseas.
Mrs. Sawyer, 86,
BuriedMonday
At Cool Spring
Eure. — Funeral services for
Mrs. Mary Perry Sawyer, age
86, who died at the home of her
daughter, Mrs. M. C. Hofler,
Norfolk, Va., early Sunday morn
ing after a lingering illness,
were conducted Monday after
noon tat Cool Spring Baptist
church, near Eure. The Rev. J.
E. Lanier was in charge of the
service, assisted by the Rev. T.
Sloane Guy, Sr., of the Eure
Baptist church. Burial was in
the church cemetery.
Mrs. Sawyer was the wife of
the late John G. Sawyer and a
native of Gates. She is survived
by four sons, C. E. Sawyer of
Eure, R. H. Sawyer of Hobgood,
T. P. Sawyer of Newport News,
end E. O. Sawyer of Gates; three
daughters, Mrs. Nonnie S. Myers
of Henderson, Mrs. J. T. Umph
lett of Eure, and Mrs. M. C. Hof
ler of Norfolk. She is also sur
vived by 26 grandchildren and
22 great grandchildren.
The body was removed to the
Rountree and Hofler funeral
home, Gatesville where it re
mained until taken to the church
for the service.
Pallbearers were her grand
sons and honorary pallbearers
were friends of the family.
$51,843 Available
In Soil Program
. For the year 1944 the sum of
$51,843.43 is made available
by the Washington Triple A
office for Gates county farm
operators, according to an an
nouncement from John Artz,
county agent. For each farm
in the county there is set up
an amount which may be earn
ed by the operator in accept
ing certain materials instead
of money. Full particulars are
set out on another page of
today’s Index.
12 More Students
Than last Year;
Teacher Resigns
A last-minute resignation in
the faculty of the Hobbsville
school was all that marred an
opening day in Gates county that
saw white registrations totalling
12 more than on opening day a
year ago.
Miss Jennie Pickett of Tenn
essee, who had been secured
to teach home economics in the
Hobbsville school, resigned last
Friday to marry.
Compared with 949 students on
opening day a year ago, 961
registered Monday in the dif
ferent schools as follows, ac
cording to W. Henry Overman,
county superintendent:
At Gatesville 203 compared
with 201 last year;1* Eure 106
compared with 115 last year;
Gates 131 compared with 128
last year; Sunbury 297 com
pared with 287 last year; and
Hobbsville 224 compared with
218 last year.
Figures for the colored schools
in Gates county were not avail
able at press time.
Three Corapeake
Brothers in The
Armed Services
Corapeake. — Three sons of
Mr. and Mrs. R. P. White of
Corapeake, are serving in the
armed forces of the United
States.
They are Sgt. Marvin White,
who has 13 months service in
the South Pacific to his credit
and wears three small stars with
his campaign ribbons, who is now
with the AAF at Avon Park,
Fla. Pvt. Forrest White is swerv
ing with a U. S. Army Harbor
Craft unit and is stationed at
Gordon Johnston, Fla., while
Gerald White who enlisted in
the Navy August 15 is taking his
boot training at Bainbridge, Md.
Sunbury Ruritans Hear Principal
George, Captain Long and Sgt. Hill
Sunbury.—At the meeting of
the Sunbury Ruritan Club which
was held Tuesday night in the
High School Library, J. W.
George, newly elected principal
of the school, spoke of the aims
and purposes of the N. C. school
system, the courses offered and
the requirements.
Principal George -also asked
the cooperation of the parents
during the year and in closing
said: “I come with a definite
purpose, to serve. I know that
your children are your very
thoughts, therefore I plead that
you cooperate with me in help
ing to give them the advantages
that they deserve. We must work
together in these attempts or all
our efforts will be futile. I am
here to give the people of Sun
bury my very best and expect
the same of them.”
Graham Byrum, president of
the Ruritans, responded and as
sured him of loyalty from the
civic organizations. Invocation
was given by J. E. Corbitt and
Joe Byrum conducted a song
service.
Captain Paul Long, who has
returned to the states, after two
years in Europe and Asia, and
Sergeant James Willard Hill,
recently returned from the
South Pacific, gave short talks
of their experiences, urging all
citizens to back the country" and
work to bring the war to an end.
Killed in Action
Sgt. Luther A. Eure, sdn of
Mr. and Mrs. T. N. Eure of Eure,
who was killed in action in
France on August 16, according
to information received by his
parents from the War Depart
ment.
He was inducted into the
Army in February, 19M.
Besides his parents, Sgt. Eure
is survived - -by -three 'brothers,
Pfc. Clyde L. Eure and Cpk
Woodie N. Eure, both overseas,
and N. T. Eure of Eure; and one
sister, Mrs. Howard Yelton of
Portsmouth.
Executive Group
To Name Nominee
In Carter’s Stead
Members of the county Demo
cratic executive committee will
meet in the -office of the register
of deeds in Gatesville at 2 p. m.
on October 2 for the purpose of
designating someone wh o s e
name will appear on the elec
tion ballot in November as the
Democratic party’s nominee for
constable of Hunter’s Mill town
ship, according -to an announce
ment from Martin Kellogg of
Sunbury, chairman of the com
mittee.
The committee’s action hinges,
of course, on whether the Gates
County Board of Commissioners
accepts the resignation tendered
last week by W. B. Carter of
Sunbury, present constable and
tax collector of Hunter’s Mill
Township, and Democr a t i c
nominee whose name now ap
pears on the ballot. The board
of commissioners will meet
that morning and act on Mr.
Carter’s resignation in regular
session.
Members of the executive
committee are C. C. Savage of
Corapeake, F. H. Rountree of
Sunbury, W. J. Rountree of
Hobbsville, Shirley Baines of
Gatesville, Dr. T. L. Carter of
Gatesville, W. L. Askew of Eure,
and R. E. Miller of Gates. Miss
Ethel Parker is vice chairman,
and S. P. Cross is secretary of
the committee.
REVIVAL SERVICES
Revival services will begin.
Middle Swamp Baptist Chur^l
on Sunday afternoon, Septem
ber 24 and continue th*so0gh
September 29. Rev. Ira Ifarrell
of Fountain, formerly of Sun
bury, will assist the pastor, Rev
T. Sloane Guy.
- • 4 •
By Mrs. Elizabeth H. Crouse
Public Health Nurse
Facts and figures are not mis
leading! In cheeking through
our records in the health de
partment on school children's
physical examinations made in
the past two years, we have been
able to check only 1,037 of these
before press time. So we will
give you something to think
about along the lines of better
nutrition for the growing child
when you realize that of 1,037
children examined, 335 were
under-nourished. These figures
represent a little more than 30
percent.
We also realize that one of the
reasons for defective teeth can
be traced to improper food. Sta
tistics on the same - number of
children showed 235 in urgent
need of dental work, a fraction
oj^er 20 percent.
-Malnutrition can and does af
fect a child’s eyes. Figures on
tnfe number of children with
defective vision of -those same
records checked were not so
iA._____
See ONE-THIRD, Page 8
Hurricane Brings
Cotton, Corn Crop
Damage to County
Gates county -on the outer
fringes of the hurricane that
stabbed at the Atlantic seaboard^
last Thursday suffered cro^
damange from high winds that
were estimated east of Sunbury
at 50 miles per hour at times.
Electric current was disrupted
in Gatesville for a few hours.
Loose branches were blown
from trees, the skies were over
cast, and this side of the Dismal
Swamp, cornfields and cotton
suffered and some young pines
were twisted and splintered, but
in western Gates county damage
to crops and dwellings was neg
ligible according to available re
ports.
Only 37 miles from Gates
ville, around Elizabeth City,
where gusts reached a velocity
of 90 to 100 miles an hour, dam
age was considerable to crops,
trees, orchards, dwellings and.
telephone and telegraph com
munications. The streets were
still listered Sunday with evi
dence of Thursday morning’s
storm.
No V-Day Programs
Yet Set for County
At press time, no arrange
ments had been made known to
the Index concerning observance
of V-Day, the day Germany sur
renders.
In many surrounding coun
ties, it has been announced that
churches will open their doors
at a specified hour when news of
the German surrender comes,
and conduct special services
similiar to the observances held
number of people, antici
pating Germany’s surrender in
the near future, have asked* the
Index if arrangements were be
ing made for Victory Day cele
brations. The program will bo
announced immediately if and
' when it is arranged.