ELKIN
Gate way To
Roaring Gap
And The Blue
Ridge
ELKIN
The Best
Little Town
In North
Carolina
The Elkin Tribune
NORTH
CAROLINA’S
NO. 1 NEED
GOOD
HEALTH
VOL. No. XXXV No. 7
PUBLISHED WEEKLY ELKIN, N. C., THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 1947
$2.00 PER YEAR
16 PAGES—TWO SECTIONS
SURRY COURT
, DISPOSES OF
* MANY CASES
In Second Week Before Judge
Frank M. Armstrong
GRAND JURY REPORTS
Report That Nine Condemned
School Buses Have Been
Repaired, Replaced
SWEAR DEPUTY CLERK
■ Surry County Superior Court
' convened Monday after having
been recessed since Wednesday of
last week, and Judge Frank M.
Armstrong began proceedings to
clear a crowded docket.
V
% ~
Tuesday Mrs. Martha O. Comer
of Dobson was sworn in as deputy
clerk to clerk of court, Kermit
Lawrence.
The grand jury reported that it
had inspected the State school
garage and found that all nine of
the school buses condemned last
fall have been satisfactorily re
paired or replaced.
The grand jury also reported
that it had visited the county jail
and the county courthouse. The
jail and the State prison camp
were found in excellent condition,
as was the courthouse with the
exception of needed plumbing re
pairs in the basement.
The county home was said to
be in good condition and under
able supervision. It at present
contains 19 inmates. The jury,
however, recommended that the
building be painted inside and
that a refrigerator unit be added.
It was also suggested'that two
large doors be placed at either
end of the Dobson high school
gymnasium, since the present
doors are said to be too small to
permit safe exit in case of fire.
During the court session, Myra
Gentry and Gladys Harris, Elkin
Negroes charged with shoplifting,
plead nolo contendere. The case
was continued.
Other cases were:
Oscar Long warrant, reckless
driving, placed on inactive docket.
H. L. Taylor, Jr., same as above,
marked off docket.
Ellis and Odell Cassell, robbery,
continued.
Claude W. Jones, warrant,
abandonment and non-support,
placed on inactive docket.
Hubert Williams, warrant, re*
sisting arrest, assault, etc., placed
on inactive docket.
Edgar Jones, violating suspend
ed sentence, marked off docket.
(Continued On Page Four)
FORMER ELKIN
MAN IS KILLED
James G. Hanks Dies Instant
ly When Truck Is Struck
By Train Sunday
FUNERAL HELD MONDAY
James Garfield Hanks, 28, a
former employee of Chatham
Manufacturing Company, in this
city, but more recently of Wins
ton-Salem, was killed instantly
early Sunday morning when the
Southern Dairies milk truck which
he was driving was hit by a train
five miles north of Winston
Salem.
Information received stated that
Mr. Hanks was substituting on the
milk route for the regular driver.
He, with his 14-year-old assistant,
son of the regular driver, had just
delivered milk to Rev. J. H. Kapp,
pastor of Oak Grove Church, lo
cated just across the tracks, when
the accident occurred in front of
the church, just off the Walker
town Highway. They were re
turning to the highway in the
trirck when their vehicle was
struck by a northbound Norfolk
and Western passenger train.
Definite circumstances leading
to th<Jause of the accident were
unkn®n, but it was stated that
at thBime of the accident, about
8:55 aEn-, there was a heavy fog
in thawvicinity.
Mr. tHanks, an employee of
Southern Dairies, Inc., for four
years, vlbs a native of Alleghany
County,^, son of James S. and
Cora Bell Burgess Hanks.
Surviving are his widow, the
former lAss Dora Alexander; two
daughters) Joan and Frances
Hanks; arid one son, Johnny, all
of Winston’■Salem; the father and
step-mother1; one brother, Lonnie
Hanks, of Elkin, two sisters, Mrs.
Thomas Sidden and Mrs. Ulysess
Marshall, both of State Road.
Funeral seryices were conducted
at Volger’s Chapel Monday morn
ing and at thl Mountain View
Baptist Churdeh in Alleghany
County Monday'afternoon. Inter
ment was njadel in the church
cemetery. \
NO MAN’S LAND — Fast, reckless drivers and a general disregard for traffic regulations have made
North Bridge Street between the Spring Street and Gwyn Avenue intersections, and Church Street
between the Spring Street intersection and the North Bridge intersection the outstanding traffic haz
ard area of the city. Police records show that the great majority of all accidents occurring in the
city take place within this area. Top photo above was taken, looking south, from the scene of two
traffic fatalities in recent years. It shows Church Street where it enters North Bridge (from the
right) and a portion of the sharp curve leading toward the Gwyn Avenue intersection. Lower photo
shows Spring Street, looking east, crossing Church, at second power pole, and North Bridge, just in
front of curve in background. Traffic lights hang at each of these crossings, but have proven in
effectual because many motorists ignore them. —Tribune Photos.
Criss-Cross Streets, Reckless
Driving Cause Of Death, Injury
A
Small Area Is
Scene Of Many
Bad Accidents
By ROGER MARSHALL
Wednesday night of last week,
when weather conditions were bad
and visibility poor, a car carrying
a young sailor, home on furlough,
and his girl friend attempted to
round a sharp curve on North
Bridge Street. The sailor lost con
trol of the machine. It swerved
to the left and crashed into a
stone wall bordering the sidewalk.!
When an ambulance arrived
both occupants, who had been
thrown through the lefthand door
of the car, were lying on the side
walk unconscious. The pavement
was covered with blood.
Tuesday morning, nearly a week
after the accident, the girl died.
The boy remains in the hospital
in a serious condition.
Investigating police officers,
who charged the driver with reck
less driving, attribute the accident
to the fact that the car was
traveling at an unnecessarily high
rate of speed.
Miss Dorothy Mac Cave, 20, the
girl who sustained fatal injuries,
became the second victim of this
North Bridge Street curve, one of
several danger spots in a criss
cross network of streets in the
area.
The first death occurred in Au
gust, 1941, when Mrs. Dixie Gra
ham. wife of City Clerk Dixie
Graham, received fatal injuries in
a similar accident. Mr. Graham
had just backed out of his drive
way, was on his right side of the
street, when another fast driver
crashed into his machine and.
Wilson Succeeds
Marshall On
Tribune Staff
Thomas W. Wilson, of Laur
inburg, has accepted a position
on the news staff of The Tri
bune, succeeding Roger Mar
shall, who has resigned to ac
cept a similar position with the
Winston-Salem Journal.
Mr. W'ilson is a veteran of
the last war, having served 40
months in the army air corps,
from which he was honorably
discharged with the rank of
second lieutenant. He is a grad
uate of the University of North
Carolina with a bachelor of
arts degree in journalism. He
arrived in Elkin Tuesday to
assume his new duties.
Mr. Marshall, who has been
with The Tribune since March
3, 1946, will go to Winston
Salem in about two weeks to
assume his duties there.
threw his wife out of the car into
the same stone wall. ’
And these arc but two of many
accidents, others less serious,
which have taken place within the
area;
Two cars abreast, racing at
break-neck speed around a blind,
dangerous curve.
A car containing a man, his
wife, and perhaps one or two
small children driving casually
through a red light at one in
tersection, proceeding a block, and
just as casually crashing a second
red light.
A car-load of teen-age youngs
ters swerving madly around halt
ed cars to speed through a red
(Continued On Page Five)
COUNCIL IS TO
MEET JAN. 2C
Agricultural Workers Grouj
To Discuss Farm And
Home Sanitation
CRUSE TO BE SPEAKEF
The Surry County Agricultun
Workers Council will meet Mon
day, January 20, at 3 p. m„ at th<
office of Mrs. Grace P. Brown
home demonstration agent, ii
Dobson. Farm and home sanita
tion and nutrition will be topic;
for discussion.
This meeting, according t<
County Agent Neill M. Smith
chairman of the council, has beer
called as a result of a recent con
ference between Dr. Carl V. Reyn
olds, state health officer, and Dr
I. O. Schaub, director of extensior
service from Raleigh.
Featured speaker will be Johr
R. Cruse, Surry sanitation officer
who will discuss the county health
program.
Ladies of the organization art
to map plans for a county-wid<
nutrition program, Mrs. Brown in
dicated. Surveys in schools an
already underway to determine
what school children are catint
and whether or not their diet i;
adequately balanced.
It is expected that a call will
be made for action on the con
struction of sanitary toilets or
farms, screening and fly control
and general farm and home sani
tation. Mr. Smith stated that
there is a strong likelihood of s
future rat-control campaign.
Tribune Advertising Gets Result*
GIRL IS DEAD
AFTER WRECK
ON BRIDGE ST.
Dorothy Mae Cave, 20, Of
Boonville, Is Victim
COMPANION BADLY HURT
Car Strikes Stone Wall In
Front Of Poindexter Home;
Occupants Thrown Out
RITES ON WEDNESDAY
Miss Dorothy Mae Cave, 20, of
Boonville, died early Tuesday
morning at the Hugh Chatham
Memorial Hospital, this city, as
the result of injuries received in
an automobile accident on North
Bridge Street Wednesday night of
last week.
Miss Cave, according to Police
Officer T. B. Sams, who investi
gated the accident, was riding as
a passenger in a car driven by
Hanford Odell Wilhelm, 19, a
sailor home on furlough. The ac
cident happened at the sharp
curve on North Bridge Street just
above the Church Street intersec
tion, when the car, traveling
North, failed to make the turn
and crashed into a stone wall bor
dering the sidewalk on the left
hand side of the street.
Both occupants were thrown
through the left door of the ve
hicle. Miss Cave's head, it was
conjectured, struck the stone wall
causing a critical skull fracture.
She remained unconscious until
the time of her death.
Wilhelm, who Officer Sams said
has been charged with reckless
driving, also sustained serious in
juries. Until yesterday, hospital
officials said, he had only partly
regained consciousness.
Funeral for Miss Cace was held
at 2 p. m. yesterday at the Boon
ville Baptist Church. Burial fol
lowed in the Boonville cemetery.
She is survived by her parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Brady Cave, Boon
ville; three brothers, Hubert B,.
John L„ and J. D. Cave, all of the
home; six sisters, Mrs. Nettie
Donathan of Elkin, Misses Ver
nell, Barbara Jean, Jessie Lee,
Judy Carol and Rita Sue Cave, all
of the home.
COUNTY-WIDE
MEETING 18TH
Farm Bureau To Review To
bacco Price Situation, And
Name Delegates
TO NAME COMMITTEES
A county-wide Farm Bureau
meeting will be held in the court
house in Dobson on Saturday,
January 18, at 2 p. m., according
to S. H. Atkinson, president of the
Surry County Farm Bureau. The
tobacco price situation will be re
viewed at the meeting, and 12 of
ficial delegates to the North Caro
lina Farm Bureau Federation’s
convention will be elected. The
delegates will attend the Federa
tion convention to be held at the
Robert E. Lee Hotel in Winston
| Salem on February 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Eleven committees will be se
lected as follows: poultry, tobacco,
burley tobacco, cotton, peanuts,
fruits and vegetables, general
crops, dairy and livestock, Edward
O’Neal club, agriculture, business
and industrial relations, and nom
inations.
The meeting is expected to cov
er the question of whether to re
duce next year’s tobacco acreage
and the tobacco quota penalty.
New provisions of the penalty pro
vide that tax on over-planting
shall be increased from 10 cents
per pound to 40 per cent of the
1947 selling price. A resolution
will be presented to ask for meas
urement of the 1947 tobacco acres.
The Stabilization Corporation*pro
gram will also be explained at the
meeting. A large attendance is
expected.
At the Farm Bureau meeting
last week, the proceedings of the
Winston-Salem meeting were dis
cussed.
Lions Club Holds
Regular Meeting
The regular dinner meeting of
Elkin Lion’s Club was held Mon
day evening at Gilvin Roth Y. M.
C. A. Jack Caudill, president, was
in the chair.
A program of interest featured
the session. Films of the horse
show and air show, recent projects
of the club, were presented by
Fred Eidson. Pictures of local
football games were also shown.
About fifty members attended
the meeting.
The sun travels 175 to 185 miles
a second in its orbit.
Star Witness Tells A
Shocking Story As
Assault Case Opens
ON TRIAL FOR LIFE — Marvin C. Bell, left, of Roaring River,
Route 2, and Ralph Vernon Litteral, of Winston-Salem, went on
trial for their lives in Wilkes county superior court at Wilkcsboro
Wednesday morning on a charge of criminal assault upon Peggy
Shore, ’teen age daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Shore, of the
Pleasant Hill section.
Growers May
Have Seed
Cleaned Free
Tobacco growers desiring to
have their seed cleaned before
sowing it in beds may have the
job done free of charge at the
county agent's office in Dob
son, S. N. Hawks, assistant
county agent, announced this
week.
Mr. Hawks said that seed
will be cleaned between the
hours of 8 and 10 each week
day morning, Monday through
Saturday. He explains that the
office is equipped to clean any
amount of seed, from one
ounce up to several pounds,
and that the process will take
but a few minutes.
Advantages of clean seed,
experts say, is that it rids seed
of trash and weak, unhealthy
seed and enables farmers to be
assured of even distribution in
plant beds.
ELKS DROP TWO
TO JONESVILLE
Both Boys’ And Girls’ Team
Lose In Contest To Yad
kin Rivals Friday
TO PLAY WEST YADKIN
Jonesville took both ends of a
twin bill from Elkin high school
there last Friday night, the
Jonesville girls winning a 26-24
victory and the boys capturing
the nightcap with a 30-22 score.
Both teams played well with P.
Vestal, Fisher and Owens out
standing for Jonesville, while
Royall and Holcomb led the at
tack for Elkin.
Dick Vestal and Bob Vestal
were the big threats for Jonesville
in the boys’ game.
These games were said to be
the cleanest and best games ever
played between the two rivals.
Jonesville plays West Yadkin in
a double header Friday night at
the Jonesville gym. The West
Yadkin girls have an undefeated
team and the boys are expected
to give the Jonesville lads a tough
battle.
The girls’ game will begin at
7:30 p. m.
News Photographer
To Speak To Club
Frank Jones, chief staff photo
grapher of the Winston-Salem
Journal and Sentinel, will speak
to the Elkin Camera Club at the
Gilvin Roth YMCA here Tuesday
night at 7:30, according to an an
nouncement by W. L. Bell, presi
dent of the club.
Mr. Jones is expected to show
a series of moving pictures made
during a recent trip to South
America. He will also lecture on
flash photography.
The program was originally
scheduled for Tuesday of this
week, but due to the fact that Mr.
Jones was unable to attend that
night, it was postponed one week.
The 1946 corn crop of the U. S.
is 12 per cent larger than last year
and is of better quality.
POLIO FUNDS
BADLY NEEDED
Appeal Is Made To Double
Contributions Of Drive
During Past Year
USED IN EPIDEMICS
An appeal to the community to
double contributions to the 1947
March of Dimes — annual fund
raising drive of the National
Foundation for Infantile Paralysis
— so the $24,000,000 national goal
will be met, was made today by
Sam Neaves, chairman of the local
campaign committee here.
Mr. Neaves urged everyone to
redouble efforts following receipt
of a letter from Basil O’Connor,
president of the National Founda
tion, stressing the crucial impor
tance of the 1947 March of Dimes.
The need to replenish funds
drained in fighting last summer’s
epidemic which affected more
than 25,000 persons and was the
worst in the Foundation’s history
is more urgent than ever before,
according to Mr. O’Connor.
To assure continuing care of
patients and build up adequate
chapter reserves for future epi
demics, $12,000,000 is needed, Mr.
O’Connor said. The other half of
the $24,000,000 minimum is re
quired on the national level as
follows: Epidemic aid reserve fund,
$5,000,000; Research and educa
tion, $5,000,000; General Working
Fund, $2,000,000.
“During the 1946 epidemic,” Mr.
Neaves said, “the $4,000,000 epi
demic reserve fund of the National
Foundation, previously considered
adequate, was wiped out complete
ly by November in aiding chap
ters. By the end of the year ap
proximately an additional $1,500,
000 earmarked for research had to
be diverted for emergency aid to
fulfill the pledge that “no one
stricken by polio need go without
care for lack of funds.”
Pointing out that this commun
ity as every other in the nation
must be adequately prepared for
any emergency the future may
bring, Mr. Neaves concluded:
“Let us double our contributions
now so we can be prepared. We
cannot gamble with the safety of
our children. By giving generous
ly now we will avoid future seif
reproach that we gave too little
and too late when next summer’s
epidemics strike.”
Melvin Resigns
Position At Y
Neil Melvin, physical director of
the Gilvin Roth Y. M. C. A. since
1944, has recently accepted a
position in a supervisory capacity
in the shipping room of Chatham
Manufacturing Company, under
the supervision of C. H. Leary, T.
C. McKnight, general manager of
the local organization, has an
nounced.
Prior to coming to Elkin, Mr.
Melvin, of Jacsson Springs, was
physical director of the YMCA in
Corbin, Kentucky.
Boys’ Work Secretary, Walter
M. Safrit, will assume additional
duties as program secretary and
director of physical training.
Americans call alfalfa a rela
tively new crop but it was used in
Asia long before the Christian era.
Bell, Litteral
On Trial For
Life In Wilkes
Peggy Shore, 16-year-old daugh
ter of Mr. and Mrs. John Shore
of the Pleasant Hill community,
yesterday morning took the stand
as star witness for the State
against Ralph Vernon Litteral, 34,
of Winston-Salem, and Marvin
Claude Bell, 23, of Roaring River,
Route 2. The two men are being
tried for their lives in Wilkes
County Superior Court, charged
with the rape of Miss Shore last
August.
During her testimony the young
girl showed frequent signs of great
emotional stress. At one point
Judge Hoyle Sink asked Mrs.
Shore to stand beside her daugh
ter in the witness box, and some
time later her testimony was
broken when she broke down com
pletely, necessitating her removal
from the court room until she had
regained composure.
Direct questioning of the wit
ness was conducted by Solicitor
Avalon E. Hall. Miss Shore was
the onjy witness to take the stand
during the morning session, being
placed in the box when court con
vened at 9:30 a. m.
The girl said that she became
16 years old October 20 of last
year, making her age 15 at the
time the crime was allegedly com
mitted. She is a 10th grade stu
dent at the Ronda school.
She testified that on August 23,
1946, she attended a watermelon
feast at the home of Grady Har
ris in Elkin. At the conclusion of
the party, she said, she and two
other young girls, Jo Ann Johnson
and Patsy Ruth Myers, attempted
to catch the 9:30 p. m. bus for
Pleasant Hill, but arriving at the
bus stop too late, missed it. They
attended a movie at the Reeves
Theater while waiting for the next
bus.
At 11:05, she told the jury,
selected from a venire of 150
Caldwell county men, all three
girls got on a bus and started
home. During the ride, she said,
they noticed a car without lights
following the bus. Jo Ann and
(Continued On Page Four)
CIVIC CLUBS
HEAR JONAS
Prominent Attorney Points
Out Need Of Better
Health For Stale
GIVES FACTS, FIGURES
Col. Charles R. Jonas, of Lin
coln ton, an official of the North
Carolina Good Health Committee
discussed the Good Health pro
gram which is to be placed before
the General Assembly at its cur
rent session, at a joint meeting of
the Elkin Kiwanis club. Lions club
and Junior Chamber of Commerce
last Thursday evening at the
YMCA.
Col. Jonas, presented to the
group by Hoke Henderson, went
into the need for better health in
North Carolina in a thorough
manner, pointing out many facts
and figures which has placed this
state practically at the bottom of
the list of all the 48 states in
health matters.
The speaker pointed out, among
other things, that in 1943, over a
period of eight months in this
state, 49 per cent of the white
men and 71 per cent of the color
ed men who were given a pre
induction medical examination
for the armed services, were re
jected because of physical defects.
However, during this same period,
1,860 boys from five North Caro
lina orphanages were examined
and only 16 rejected. He stated
that these boys were subjected to
periodic checks by physicians and
given any medical care needed.
Such medical care would be avail
able to other North Carolina
youth under an adequate medical
program as is now proposed.
The speaker also pointed out
that now, while the General As
sembly is in session, the citizens
of this state should use their in
fluence to see that immediate ac
tion is taken on this outstanding
issue. The Federal government,
through the Hill-Burton Act, has
(Continued On Page Four)