Farmer's Market : ; ; is the place to buy. You don't have to spend your money with a mail order house. Look on the classified ad page of The Index. * GATES COUNTY INDEX The Only Newspaper Published hi and for Gates County The Home Folks . . ; are featured in every issue of The Index. You can't buy another paper that can make this boast about Gates County. Volume 21. No. 46 One of the Nation's "OM5ATBR WEEKLIES" Gatesville, N. C.. Thursday. July 14, 1955 10c per copy Dedicated to Service to Gates County and Its People 12 Pages—Two Sections County Tax Rate Lowered to $1.20 '"'-atesville.—Despite the lack of «de income enjoyed by many ;ies, the Gates County Board Jommissioners were able to viop the county, tax thke by a nickel at their regular meeting last Tuesday. The regular tax rate per $100 valuation has been $1.25 for the past several years, but at the last meeting it was decided that the budget for the coming year could be met with a minimum of $1.20. This, of course, does not include the two special school taxes in the Sunbury- and Gates ville school districts. ' 1 The board pointed out that the rate of $1.25 has been held during a worldwide conflict that saw prices skyrocket to an all-time high and right on up to June 30 of this year. And during these same high prices they have man aged to keep the county com pletely debt free and have paid the county’s share on the con struction of a modern health cen ter that was constructed at a total cost of $35,000. During this time they have had no outside income such as liquor tax that is enjoyed by many counties and have now. dropped the taxpayer’s load to $1.20, At the last audit in October, all county funds showed a small sur plus. In addition, the county has no outstanding indebtedness, as all road and school debts have been paid off. P. L. Hofler was appointed to the welfare board at the July meeting to succeed R. E. Miller. Other members of that body are Lamar Benton and Bill Ward. . A statewide meeting of county commissioners will be held in Asheville August 21-24 and some of the Gates County board mem bers are expected to attend, it was announced. Miss Rawls ’$ Claimed *Jy Death Suffolk.—Miss Frances Esther Rawls, of Suffolk and Gatesville, died Tuesday at 10 a. m. at the home of George C. Hudgins, near Gatesville. She was the daughter of the late John Bembry and Annie Hayes Rawls, of Gates County. Surviving are a brother, R. E. Rawls, of Gatesville, and a num- j ber of nieces and nephews, in- ! eluding Mrs. John Mundy, of Hen- j derson, William Rawls, Of Peters burg; Mrs. Hugh Horton, of; Whalcyville. and J. Lewis Rawls, ; Jr., of Suffolk. The body was taken to the I. O. 1 Hill and Company Funeral Home where services were conducted ; Wednesday at 4 p. m., by the Rev. A. Woodrow Laine, pastor of j Oxford Methodist Church, and ■ the Rev. Mr. Bissel, of Zion ' Methodist Church. Burial was in I .Cedar Hill Cemetery. Weed Quota Up for Vote Gatesville.—J. A. Hobbs, chair man of the Gates County Agri cultural Stablization and Conser vation Committee again reminds all fluc-curcd tobacco growers of the referendum to be held July 23. The choice will be for qudtas for the 195(5, 1957, and 1958 crops, for the 1956 crop only, or against quotas for 1956. If at least two-thirds of the growers voting approve quotas, price sup port at 90 per cent or parity will be available to growers who com ply with their farm acreage al lotment. If more than one-third of the votes are opposed there will be no flue-cured. tobacco marketing quota or price-support program for the 195Q crop. Chairman Hobbs reports that according to farmers’ intentions on March 1 about 995,300 acres of flue-cured will be grown in °55. This is 5 per cen^.less than 1954 acreage. Hobbs said, “at age yields the 1955 intended >age would produce about *,275 million pounds—3 per cent less than in 1954 and practically the same as the 1953 cfop. The carryover of fluc-curpd tobacco on July 1, 1955 is expected to be about 2,004 million pounds, near ly 5 per cent above one year earlier.” Domestic use of flue-cured to bacco, during the current mar keting year July 1954—June 1955 8m QUOTAS. Pag* 2 In Hospital Eure.—Mrs. Troy Greene is a patien at Roanoke-Chowan Hos pital. Mrs. Greene fell Sunday and broke her collar bone. \ Another Truck Accident Last Thursday on 13 Eure.—Two men were injured slightly when a soft drink truck overturned about 1 p. m. on High way 13 about three miles north of Winton at almost the same spot where William T. Jones was killed on June 2 in a truck acci dent. Leon Hassell, 31, of Route 1, Holland, reported to be the driver, was treated at Obici Memorial Hospital and released, apparently having suffered only superficial injuries. William Stephens, 17 year-old Suffolk Negro, who was riding with Hassell, was ad mitted for observation overnight, but his condition was said to be satisfactory. The truck, it was reported, went out of control while headed northward after rounding a curve. The vehicle went out of control and skidded down an em bankment, turning over. Dogs Pose. Big Problem for Town Council Gatesville.—Miss Nellie E. Fel ton, tax collector for Gatesville, was ordered by the town council last Tuesday to notify all delin quent taxpayers that advertising will begin in August if taxes are not paid by that time. The coun cil also set the tax rate for 1955 1956 at 75 cents per $100 valua tion, it was announced. Dirty Gatesville streets also came in for some attention at the council meeting. They agreed to purchase push type waste dis posal units for the business sec tion, but felt that they needed the cooperation of the merchants. The council believes that mer chants should assist in moving debris from in front of their places of business and encourage customers to help keep streets clean. Councilman J. K. Wyatt report-j ed that he had received several complaints about stray dogs in I the town. A tax on all dogs was suggested, with all strays turned over to the SPCA. Action on this was deferred to give dog owners a chance to be heard in the mat ter. The council is urging all dog owners to write them concerning this matter and meet with them at their next meeting on August 1 in the agriculture building. Correction Eure.—$52.10 collection was j taken up from the galloping tea i and turned into the treasure at. the Missionary meeting Friday j night in the home of Mrs. W. L. : Askew instead of Mrs. William Norfleet Alexander as stated in,j the Index last week. Programs—best work and fastest service 1 when you let the folks who publish this i paper do your printing. Give us your j THE ORIGINAL MISS AMERICA—Darlene (Princess) Bryan recently was first place winner of an Atlantic City Boardwalk parade, which she entered as the original Miss America and was dressed as an Indian princess. She is four and haff years old and is the daughter of Lieutenant and Mrs. Joseph T. Bryan. She took part in dance recital at the Star of the Sea auditorium and the boardwalk parade afterward. Her doll was dressed exactly like her and her carriage was an Indian teepee. The man interviewing her is radio announcer for an Atlantic City radio station. Lt. Bryan is stationed at Atlantic City and is originally from Pendleton in Northampton County. Mrs. Bryan is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Felton of Eure. Old Gray Mare Left At Post by Galloping Tea Eure.—The old gray mare ain't what she uster i>e according to the song, but over at Eure, they j have a tea that may some day take her place. It is known local- 1 ly as the galloping tea and for ! the past 30 days it has created : more fun and frolic for the ladies of that area, than the proverbial barrel of monkeys. The Bure Christian Church recently launched an ambitious building program to construct a new $35,000 church building and the ladies of the Missionary So ciety, s'eeking ways and means to raise money for the church, hit on the idea of the galloping tea. Mrs. Joe Umphlette of Gates first presented the idea on fo the society which boasts 35 members and the thing caught fire from ’ then on. The plan was for any ] members of the socitey to decide I on the spur of the moment, day | or night, that a tea was necessary. This member would also decide ; where the tea should b'ard and completely blocked his See MARE, Page 2 Committee Survey Recommends One High S' •>/ for Gates County Shotgun Is Hindrance To Escape i Gatesville. — Billy Boger, 21, who attempted to escape from a ' work gang out of the Gatesville prison camp last Tuesday, July 5, will probably be a woman hater for the rest of his natural life. A woman, Mrs. Thomas C. Nixon,! in Chowan County foiled his es cape with a loaded shot gun. Boger started on his short-lived freedom in the Rocky Hock sec tion and stopped at the home of Mrs. Nixon and asked for a drink of water. She reportedly gave him the water and asked him 'why he was trying to escape from ths prison gang. She didn’t know he was an escaped prisoner, but; was only making a shrewd guess, j He fell into the trap neatly and told her that he got a “bum rap” \ and that he was serving 12 j months for drunken driving. Actually, he was serving two sentences, one for larceny and receiving of five to seven years and another six to eight years on four charges of robbery with firearms. The sentences run con currently. Mrs. Nixon stepped into the house and came out with a shot gun and ordered Boger to stay where he was until someone came along for him. Boger told her to go ahead and shoot him .But Mrs. Nixon advised her prisoner that she wouldn’t shoot him unless he advanced toward her or tried to escape. In a few minutes, William King, highway foreman of the gang from which Boger had es caped, came along and took the man in tow. Boger, .who once got a dishon orable discharge from the Navy and is from Lakewood, N. J., is back in the Gatesville prison camp, and it is being rumored that A. J. Griffin, prison camp superintendent, is trying to hire M^s. Nixon as a guard. John R. Walton Dies in S. C. Hospital at 72 Charleston, S. C.—John R. Wal ton of 3 Lowndes St., former agent for Railway Express Co. here, died June 25 in a local hos Funeral services were held at 9 a. m. Monday, June 28, at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church. Burial, directed by McAlister’s, was in the Mount Hope Cemetery, Florence, S. C. at 1 p. m. Mr. Walton was born in Gates ville March 12, 1883, a son of James Timothy Walton and Mrs. Penelope Roberts Walton. Edu cated in the schools of Gatesville, Mr. Walton was a member of St. Mary's Church. See WALTON, Page 4 1 ' OFT TO CAMP—These 4-H members watch for the birdie just before leaving for camp at Manteo, Monday morning. From left to right:*Brenda Taylor, Paulette Harrell, Norma Jean Hayes, Marion Parker, all of Gatesville Junior Club; Jean Pierce, Sunbury Junior; Pat Brown, Shirley Eure and Tom Smith, Gatesville Juniors. Terry Bunch, Sunbury (not shown) was picked up en route. Miss Lydia Griffin, home demonstration agent, will be with the group all week along with agents and members from Mecklenburg, Currituck and Hyde counties. Mr. and Mrs. Millard Taylor, parents of one of the campers, carried some of the members. I State h ^ o Degree h V By County l > Hobbsville.—Fred N. Ridd. Hobbsville attended the State * convention Raleigh 1 a s ,veek from Wed- 1 lesday through Friday and wrought home he bacon. He re ceived a State, Farmer’s Degree i vhich included j a certificate and medal. He made FFA chapter farmer in 1954 and entered the state com- ! petition this year. In state compe tition, he had to clear better than $600 on all of his projects under j FFA. Then he filled out a form in Raleigh and came home the only Gates County FFA student to get this degree. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. ' Jake Riddick of Hobbsville, and his vocational teacher this year was Charles Reardon. Young Riddick was secretary of his FFA chapter last year. He graduated from Hobbsville High School last spring. He hasn’t made up his mind about attending col lege, he said. Petty Thieves Enter Stores And Escape Gatesville.—A wave of petty robberies that according to sheriff L. F. Overman, bear the distinct ; trade mark of Johnr.ie Myers, | escaped convict, have afflicted Icoal officers during the past few ; days. Last Thursday night, entry was made in L. B. Lawrence's store I at Eason's Crossroads and a small amount of cash was taken. Entry was made in Brown’s grocery in Gatesville. but nothing was miss ing and the glass was broken on Boyce’s store, but entry was not made there. Apparently the same theives broke into the Tarheel service station on highway 13 where they also broken into a pool table and juke box. The operators estimated that about $75 was taken. They also broke into Campbell’s place at Roduco, but nothing was missing. On Friday night, Costen Mor gan of Sunbury passed White Oak service station at about 1 p. m. and saw a car there. He roused Ly curgus Howell the owner and the two men called Sheriff Overman. The thieves were frightened away, but left a new Buick stolen in Camden and belonging to Ray Meggs. Overman called the Cam den County sheriff and reported he had recovered the car before the owner even knew it was stolen. Thieves had atempted to steal the same car from Meggs, two nights earlier but were un successful, he said. Thinking the robbers were on foot. Sheriff Overman called in dogs from the Gatesville prison camp, but a hard rain prevented any trailing. Meanwhile the theives went to Roduco, some two miles away and stole a Chevrolet belonging to Glenn Perry. This car has not been recovered. They also made an attempt to steal a Mercury belonging to Lewis Fel ton as some of the wires were dis covered pulled out, the next day. Felton’s car was checked for finger prints, but none were Youth Group Plan Activities Week Gates. — The members of the Youth Fellowship of Kittrell’s Methodist Church will hold its Youth Activities Week begnnng July 17 and continuing through Friday, July 22. The meetings will begin at 7:45 p. m. and ad journ at 10:30. All meetings will be conducted at the church. A very interesting program has been planned. There will be fellowship singing, discussions, worship services and recreation. Refreshments will also be served. Prayer Cells, a different way of ending a meeting will be used to close the meetings. Young pople from all churches, regardless of the denomination, are invited and urged to attend this Youth Activities Week. . Work Begun I v ^ Dressing tOoms-Gym Gatesville.—Work is now under way on the new dressing rooms for the Gatesville gymnasium and they are expected to be completed by November 1 in time for the regular basketball season. At the regular meeting of the Board of Education last Tuesday, a leave of absence of three months’ duration was approved for Mrs. Nolie Stephenson, long- ; time assistant to Superintendent of Schools W. C. Harrell. Mrs. Stephenson has been in ill health for some time and Miss Sarah Doughtie is now employed in the superintendent’s office. SARAH DOUGHTIE The board also approved the election of Miss Dorothy Ann Edwards as commercial teacher at Sunburv Hgh School. Miss Ed wards is from Pendleton in Northampton County. Due to a cut in supervisor’s pay by the state. Miss Margaret Mullen will supervise the white schools in both Gates and Per quimans counties, it was' an nounced. Mrs. Addie Hall James will supervise Negro schools in both counties. William Brown, who succeeded Howard Eure as school bus garage clerk, has resigned, it was announced. LASSITER REUNION Corapeake.-—On Monday, July 4, Mrs. J. L. Lassiter and daugh ter, Mary Lee Lassiter, accom panied by Mrs. Homer Eure, at tended the annual Lassiter re union in Edenton at the home of Mrs. C. T. Doughtie. Others present were Mrs. W. C. Jackson of Elizabeth City, Dr. and Mrs. I. A. Ward of Hertford. Miss Kathleen Jackson, en route from Greenville. Mr. and Mrs. F. G. Sloop and children. Ruth Anne. Gray. Alphonso and Mary Eliza beth Sloop, of Dublin, and Mr. and Mrs. W. Jarvis Ward of Hert ford. Mrs. Doughtie has been indis posed for several weeks but is much improved. Letterhead.- set them ami .ill kinds n Drintlns from "Ymir Hraw N>«sn»nor" CHARLES A. OUTEN—Grand 1 Master of the Independent | Order of Odd Fellows of North : Carolina will be the featured t speaker at the semi-annual convention of the First District in Elizabeth City next Saturday night. Achoree number 14' of Elizabeth City will be the host lodge. Holly Grove in Gates County and Bay View in Swan Quarter are the other lodges in the district. * Gatesville Is Logical Place Says Report In compliance with a formal request from Superintendent W. C. Harrell and his Board of Edu cation, a committee consisting of R. P. Martin, superintendent of Hertford County Schools, W. L. Lathan, William P. Duff and John L. Cameron of the Division of School Planning of the State De partment of Public Instruction, made a survey of Gates County schools on June 28. Attendance information, maps showing district lines and loca tion of various schools and other data pertinent to the survey were obtained from the office of the superintendent. Accompanied by Superintendent Harrell, the com mittee visited and inspected all of the school plants«in the county. On the basis of these data and this inspection of the various school plants, the committee sub mits the following report: We wish to commend Superin tendent Harrell and his Board of Education for the splendid edu cational leadership they are pro viding for the people of Gates County and particularly for the study being given to plans for future improvement of education al opportunity for the children of the county. The committee is of the opinion that the most urgent need of the Gates County school system at the present time is the improve ment of high school opportunity for children in the Hobbsville, Sunbury and Gatesville districts. The small size of each of these high schools is obviously not pro ductive of good economic or edu cational administration. With the small enrollment at each of these centers, it is impossible to provide the effective type of program that See SURVEY. Page 5 Mrs. Williams Passes Away In Sunbury Sunburv.—Mrs. Augusta Harrell Williams, 77, widow of Paul C. Williams, and daughter of the late James A. and Mrs. Sarah Norfleet Harrell, died at the residence of her sister, Mrs. Hattie Hathaway, in Sunbury Wednesday at 9 p. m. She was a native of Gates Coun ty and had been a resident of London Bridge l'or 10 years. She is survived by two daugh ters, Mrs. Robert E. Lee, of Prin cess Anne, and Mrs. Howard Ives, of London Bridge; three sisters, Mrs. Hathaway, Miss Eliza Har rell, of Sunbury, and Mrs. L. S. Woodhouse, of London Bridge: two brothers, J. A. Harrell, Jr., of Sunbury, and J. C. Harrell of Goldsboro. and three grand children, Miss Keith Lee, of Prin cess Anne, and Misses Nancy and Margaret Ives, both of London Bridge. The body was taken from the Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home to Scott Memorial Methodist Church, of which she was a mem ber, for funeral services. Burial was in the Riverside Memorial Park, Funeral Held Friday for Mrs. Barnes Sunbury.—-Mrs. Mary G. (Ber- ' tie) Barnes, 80, died at Rex Hos pital, Raleigh, at 9:30 a. m. Wed nesday. She was the daughter of the late Lafayette and Fannie Gatling Bynum: a native of Gates County and a lifelong member of St. Peters Episcopal Church, Sunbury. She is survived by two daugh- , ters, Mrs. W. R. Barnes, Sunbury, and Mrs. Maude McCarthy, Ra leigh; four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, also several nieces and nephews. Funeral services were conduct ed Friday afternoon at 2:30 at St. Peters Episcopal Church, Sun- ■ bury. The Rev. Worth Wicker' conducted the services, assisted | by the Rev. H. A. Bizzell. Burial ' was in the family plat of the ' church cemetery. The body arrived at the Roun ! tree & Holier Funeral Home inr j Gatesville at noon Thursday where it remained until the hour1 of the service. Active pallbearers were Seth' Barnes, Henry Barnes, Jimmie Barnes, Howard McCarthy, Mar tin Kellogg and S. E. Nixon.