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“A BETTER GOU
NTY THROUGH IMPROVED FARM PRACTICES"
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TRKNTON, N. C. Thursday, June 25, 1953.
Number 7
... J
W ^
22
Eastern
Carolina’s
Most
, This Is a One example of the
of home owned by many of
small Uve-at-home
owtoeis of this i
, who hate
► acreages
•H"";-----!... ..
but yield more to themselves
and the commnnlty than the *v
erase dozen sharecroppers.
Newly painted house, well kept
yard, painted and kept-in-re
pair outbuildings, beautiful fur
nitare In the home, including
modem plumbing all contribute
to the comfort and well-being of
the owper but, . Also contribute
hlearily to theuank accounts
of Kinston merchant.
m spite of tine fact that ova
». nation «s a whole farm
ji& Individuils toe
uni —__ .-S'-lirikJ
that have been for sale in re
cent years have been jftM&d up
by men tfho already had large
lam holdings or by men of
v&ifth in the towns who want
ed a farm for a number of rea
gpns.;'
This reversal of the national
trend In Eastern Carolina has
beenan unwholesome thing
from practically every point of
ttew. It has been bad for the
Hi& firstly mad foremostly,
Ipe^lev'J: tenants and share
crop farthers live long enough
bith a giyep farm to learn its
fip&sr characteristics and just
how It, has to “lto ,farmed” in
<>rder to get the jnost out of it
Without permanently damaging
that shrinking few inches of
well knoefn 'farmer re
Said, “It takes many
for a man to learn how
to farm any particular farm.
He has to.have a wet year, a dry
year, an average year and he
h«S to learn what each plot
wiB do in - those given weather
The tenant, whose usual prac
tice is to move every year, car
ries-with'him Uttle interest, or
attectton for* the land he lives
lipdn. The absentee landlord is
interested only in profit, with
rare exception_
This generalization about ten
ant |#ma*r Is, of course un
fair and untrue about that
small percentage of able and
mco producing an
thought by the.
duller inis been given to this
tremendous problem. If he did
give the problem a. passing
thought his inclination has been
to say, “That it doesn’t concern
me.
But it does concern him, and
greatly. No matter what work,
trade or profession the city
dweller Is engaged in, this trend
away from increased individual
farm ownership has greatly con
cerned him.
The pictures included with
this article are the clearest in
dication of just how much it
has concerned everybody.
One house, immaculate, fresh
ly painted, beautifully furnish
ed, surrounded by a well-kept
yard that includes sturdy out
houses, strong fences.
about-to-fall
The investment in dollars and
cents represented in that house
and. its many counterparts
throughout Eastern Carolina is
in awesome contrast to the-lack
of ■
The firm-living owner has a
modem bathroom/modem kitch
en equipment a freezer locker
for farm produce: Every con
venience, and they came from
the stores and shops of Ye Olde
City Dweller.
Paradoxically, the tenant
house pictured here is lived in
by a family which tends, or
pretends to tend, nearly the
same tobacco acreage that goes
with the farm that has the nice
home.
The home-living farmer has a
late model car, the tenant ■
farmer has an “oil burner” that
stays about leaps and a gasp
ahead of the familiar “shade
tree garage.”
The physical contribution of
Continued on Page 5
Kinstonian Elected to 'Congress’
Ben J. Utley, prominent young
Kinston “politician”^ was elected
to Congress last week by his 306
associates in the “State” Legisla
ture which was held in Ra
leigh as part of the annual
“Boy’s State” program of the
American Legion.
(Utley,' along with .Ted Mer
cer ot Stanly County, was nam
ed to “Congress”, which will
convene later this summer in
Washington under the sponsor
ship of the American Legion.
Utley, a. student at Grainger
High School, was nomlanted and
elected to represent the Joseph
Dixon Rountree Post of the Am
erican Legion of Kinston at the
Boy’s State event last week in
Raleigh and Chapel Hill. ,
The force of his personality,
his ability to “win friends and
influence people” added to a ju
cious amount of “babe kissing”
earned him this seat in ‘'Con
gress.” j/ • i <- *
Utley admits that the life of
a politician isadttfloultone.
Work every nightund all day
every day, but he says he en
joys It and Is “happy to serve
his electorate and if reelected he
promises to do everything in his
power to see that taxes are cut
and services are Increased.”
Utley Is the son of Mr. and
Mrs. Eugene Utley of Kinston.
He will, with Massachusetts
Senator Ed Kennedy, be one of
Washington’s most eligible
bachelors,, but he says that he is
to busy with his politcal career
at the moment to have time for
(the fairer sex. Is this print
fine enough?
This is a “fine” example of a
sharecropper shack, many of
which still exist in this East
ern Carolina land of “Tobacco
Prosperity.” Paradoxically the
family that lives in this excuse
for a house, with little furni
ture, no modern conveniences
and not much protection from
the weather, has a tobacco ac
reage as large as that belonging
to the entire farm of thle home
at left. Shifting almost annu
ally from one abused piec of
land to another, with a family
that is usually undernourished
and anemic from bookworm in
fection, with little incentive or
training to do better, this type
of farmer is not only a burden
to himself bat is as well to the
community as a whole. Lack of
education, lack of a chance to
do better and even perhaps
lack of the will to do better add
up to a man that most usually
winds up at the welfare level
worn out and bitter at the
world, old before his time. He
is important to the business
man becausle of what he does
NOT spend for electrical appli
ances, plumbing, furniture, car,
clothing and food.
Stallings Air Base will hold
formal dedication ceremonies at
5 p. m- Sunday, June 28, .when a
monument in memory of Bruce
and Harry Stallings will be un
veiled.
The two Stallings brothers,
both killed in action while fly
ing in World War H, were lieu
tenats at the time of their
deaths. Bruce was killed in
combat in Germany, March 21,
1945, while piloting a P-51 on a
combat strafing mission. Har
ry a navigator, succumbed to
wounds received while flying a
B-29 April 16, 1945, out of Eni
wetok on a 39th/Bomb Group
mission to Guam.
Five Kinston civic organiza
tions, in cooperation with Stall
Air Aviation Corp., and Base
Commander Charles B. Lingam
felter are sponsoring the dedi
cation. The clubs are Kiwanis,
Rotary, Civitan, Lions and Jay
cees.
Open house on the base will
be held from 4 p. m. until 6 p. m.
The public is cordially urged to
inspect the base prior to the ded
ication and respectfully invited
to attend the dedication.
Program of the ceremony fol
lows: —1
Band selections — Pope Air
Force Band.
Introductory remarks — Mas
ter of Ceremonies.
Invocation — Rabbi Jerome
Tolochko.
Greetings — Truman W. Mill
er.
Greetings —Lt. Col Charles W.
Lingamfelter.
Band selection — Pope Air
Force Band.
Address — Colonel William A.
Carpenter, Staff Judge Advocate,
Air Training Command, Scott
Air Force Base, HI.
Band selection — Pope Air
Force Band.
Biographical reading — The
Rev. Mark W, Lawrence.
The Dedication.
The unveiling — Mrs. H. F.
Stallings.
Dedication prayer — Chaplain
(Major) Albert G. Kamell.
Band selection — Pope Air
Force Band.
Benediction — The Rev. D. Ed
ward Sullivan.
Call to Colors.
The National Anthem —
Tobacco Disease
Clinic July 2nd
For Jones County
Jones County farmers will
have a chance to get expert di
agnosis of their tobacco disease
on Wednesday, July 1 from 9-12
a. m. in the Agriculture Building
in Trenton: ~s
Mr. H.' R. Garris will be pres
ent to assist in holding a tobac
co disease clinic at that time.
All farmers are being urged to
bring in any diseases plants at
that time.