THE JONES COUNTY
VOLUME Five TRENTON. N. C, THUMftAY, JANUARY ii. ittii
Number 5?
Kinston Utility Revenues in First 6
Months Better Than Expected; Some
Customers Say, “And No Wonder”
Last summer when City Mana
ger BUI Heard; presented the
best thinking of his department
heads and himself to the city
council on the overhaul subject
of the 1953-54 budget his affable
Irish feelings were a little miffed
When Mayor Guy Elliott termed
tibia combined thinking “just a
little too liberal in the expected
utility revenues’”.
Heard is not the type that goes
around patting himself oh the
back and saying “I told you so",
but neverthless he Is something
more than a little pleased with
kbe six-month report on these
specific Items.
In spite off Green Acres and
Greenmeade residents hollering
“We wuz robbed” ait the city
because of what they term “ex
horbitant utility rates”* Heard
feels that the climb in utility
revenues rates Increased con.
sumption of power and not from
“any malicious juggling of the
rates aimed at soaking the ru
ral subscribers.
J; Heard and his “crystal ball”
had predicted $1,200,000 income
frami. the power plaint and an
other $155,000 from sale of wa
ter. Elliott and some members
of the city council felt ifcese.fig
brought the city $620,027.92 and
water sales had done even better
_ percentage wise - with $92,
284.49 Income in those first six
Tnus giving a ?aj,ror7 .kj sur
Ppliis above the expected in elec
tricity and $14,784.4? over in the
sale of water. A total of $40,
."■' C 812.31 wit hsix more months to
go, including several of. the lar
gest electric months.
So far the sales of power and
Whisky
Sales
Drop,
Prices
Boom
Bootlegging
Pictured here are' 13 jars of
ftnmphole whisky that are not
too greatly different from other
brew of this same mature, ex.
cept in one respect. Each
nestles cosily in an individually
tailored, flannel sack. These 13
jars of ‘.‘headache medicine” were
found by Lenoir County ABC
officers Clarence Bland, Paul
Young and Charlie Barwiek
Saturday morning in thebome
the mantle, po'nt out that the
flannel sacks were a precaution
against the jars rattling against
each other, since a normal pro
cedure of officers when search
ing a house is to slap against
walls to see if any “swamp dew”
is hidden between the wads.
Miss Jones was bound over ten
der $500 bond to the April term
of federal Court in Washing
ton: by United States Commis
sioner Bill Thomas when she
was giiren a hearing Saturday
For the quarter ending De
cember 31, 1953, there was a
considerable drop in the liquor
store profits of Lenoir County
compared with the same quar
ter in 1952. The drop, to be ex
act, was $9,926.95.
The last quarter of 1952 had
a profit to the county and the
three towns that share in the
profit (Kinston, LaGrange, Pink
Hill) of $101,488.87. The prof
it in the period just complet
ed was $91,551.92.
County officials have no ready
explanation of this shrinking
from drinking of legal brew that
is, but one has expressed the
view that a drop in the number
of construction workers in this
vicinity has had something to
do with this drop. Which is
slanderous to construction work
ers as individuals but which is
probably true, broadly speaking.
Another official admits that
in spite of intense efforts by
County ABC officers'to stop the
flow*of illegal whisky there is
still a tremendous flood of
stumphole whisky in this area.
The high federal tax on whis
ky ($10.50 per gallon) plus the
slice that the state and coun
ty take from the legal cup that
- stfev-wj the price
tfeat there
is great profit now in bootleg |
brew.
An analysis of legal whisky
costs reveals that something like
$13 is added to the cost of each
gallon by the three taxes upon
it. Which means among other
things, that the legal distiller
is potting the backwoods boys
$13 in the gallon when compe
tition for the customer begins.
Price is still the principal de
termining factor in whisky pur
chases. Most who drink want
the most they can get for the
money. The stumphole distiller
and distributor caters to this
greedy nature.
Viewed from the taxpayers’
angle each gallon of bootleg
whisy that is sold robs the- tax
payer of approximately $13.
Pram' the drinkers’ angle
each gallon of stumphole whis
ky consumed is a saving of
about $8, since a gallon of
stumphole brew costs from $10
to $12 while the legfil stuff, even
at the cheapest level costs
around $20.
When a gallon of stumphole is
dispensed “by the shooter,” as so
mu£h of it is locally, an amazing
profit comes to the dispenser,
which explains why so many
people .run tfte.xisk of jail and
public embarrassment to en.
gage in this business.
A three-ounce shooter sells
for 50 to 75 cents, which gives
about 42 drinks from the gal
lon, at a minimum. This brings
the dispenser not less than $21
for an item, he may have pur
chased for $8 to $10. Actually
this is an extremely conserva
tive estimate.
Need Tax Help?
Many will need “help” of
one kind or another between
now and March 15th with
their income tax filing and
paying. At least the In
ternal Revenue Deaprtment
is considerate enough to
offer help with the filing,
if taot with the paying.
Agents of the department
w 11 ass'|t, without charge,
any tax payer who is be
wildered by the forms he
must fill out. From 8:30 a.
m. until 5 p. m. Monday
through Friday in the Post
Officd in -Kinston and New
Bern an agent will be avail
able until March 15th and
On February 11th from 9 a.
in. until 4 p. m. an agent
will be in the court house
In Trenton '
■■■■ / ■" ..St. vwi
Skylight Burglar Adds 3 More
Stores to Local 'Shopping List1
As Kinston businesses began
opening for business last Satur
day morning the plume at po
lice headquarters began to ring
and when it quit ringing three
new names had been added to
the list of visitations by the
“Skylight Burglar” who is cur
rently giving local cops the run
around.
Dixon’s hardware store, The
Sportsman’s Grill and Jay Dee’s
shop were all entered and po
lice believe by the same lone
wolf who has "dropped in” on
a goodly list of other business
establishments in the Kinston
bif&iness area.
With an aluminum ladder ob
tained from a storage yard back
of Dixon’s the thief entered a
third-floor rear window of the
Dixon building and there took a
piece of rope that he anchored
to the wall. Then he «atepped
onto the roof where he went to
the skylight of the Sportsman’s
Grill and with the anchored
himself into the
fislcal
a'2
Water
$15,653.64
15,284.12
16,492.79
August 104,296.74
September 106,246.59
October 107,577.82 15,265.50
November 101442.01 14,196.09
December 109,471.45 15,392.35
Total $626,027.82 $92,204.40
Estimate 600,000.00 77,500.00
Surplus 26,027.82 14,784.49
Total Surplus $40,812.31
Appeals Once More
Evans Pickett Boney of Wal
lace last February was convict
ed of drunken driving in the
Moseley Hall Township Record
er's Court in LaGrange and or
dered to pay a $200 fine but
took appeal of this decision and
on Monday finally came for trial
in the Superior Court of Lenoir,
where no defense was offered
and no rebuttal was attempted
to the testimony of arresting of
ficer Arthur Fields. A jury
found Boney guilty in a matter
of minutes and he was ordered
to pay the minimum $100 fine
and court costs, but Boney gave
(notice of appeal to the Su
preme Court; apparently not
satisfied even with that reduced
sentence.
still ajar.
Either just before or after this
the daring young man went to
the roof of Jay Dee’s place and
.then entering an elevator shaft
'“ " " ' of
by’tft
pL,
f| Nothing was missing from
Dixon’s except the borrowed
rope.
Also Friday night an “ama
teur thief” broke open a side
window of the Hines Brothers
Lumber. Co. commissary and took
about $25 in change before leav
ing by way of the back door.
Police feel that this thief was
not the “Skylight Burglar” who
was busy downtown.
/
Meet The Oeen
Dean o£ Merchants George T. Skinner
George T. Skinner may not be
the “Dean of Kinston Business
men” for he adirr.lts that it is
preitty close between Leonard
Oettinger and himself. Both be
gan working in the stores of their
father while In knee paints.
iSkdiffier reluctantly admits,
a “little older” than the well
known furniture man.
Both represent Kinston busi
ness families that have been a
part of the local scene for a
great many years.
Skinner’s father, the late
John Travis Skinner, began his
first business on the western
side of Queen Street about
where Kinney’s Shoe Store is now
in 1880 and stayed there until
the “Kinston Fire of 1898” wip
ed out every thing on that side
of Queen Street. After that fire
the eld'er Skinner occupied a
store at the same spot where
Marston’s Drug Store is today
and remained there for 17
years, when in 1914 he purch
ased the present Skinner build
ing where Jack and®mest Sldn
wr; ^ the\“Dean,” to
day operate an appliance store.
It was in that spot on the site
of Marston’s that George Skin
ner first began “clerking” for
his father.
Born October 26, 1890, George
was in his early teens but still
short enough that he needed a
“box to stand on to reach the
faucets” in his father’s fountain.
Skinner does not remember
the exact date he began “full
time work with his father” but
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