Newspapers / Jones County Journal (Trenton, … / Sept. 17, 1959, edition 1 / Page 1
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:THE JONES COUNTY T O U RNAL NUMBER 17 TRENTON, N. C, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1959 VOLUME XI Mystery Surrounds Double Jones County Shooting mm Last Thursday night at about 8 o’clock 57 year-old Russell Mills ' left his home between Comfort and Hargett Crossroads to visit his life long friend Rudolph Howard, op • era tor of a filling station at Tay lor Crossroads, which is about a mile east of Mills’ home toward Comfort. Mills’ nephew, Rex, saw him making what was almost a nightly visit to the Howard station. Mills was crippled by arthritis that hgd solidified his spinal col umn to such a degree that he could not turn his head without turning his body. His custom when wea ther permitted was to sit in his car with the door open and chat a while with Howard and others that might happen to gather at the store. At 8:30 Howard drove his car into the yard of Charlie Mack Koonce, a neighbor, blew the car horn repeatedly and when Koonce came out asked Koonce to take him to the hospital in Kinston. To Koonce he said, “I’ve been shot.” Koonce asked, “Have you been robbed?” “No”, was Howard’s reply. “Who shot you?”, Koonce want ed tp know. “I don’t know”, was Howard’s reply as they sped toward Kinston. About eight or ten miles on the way to Kinston, Koonce says Howard finally fainted. “When we got to Kinston he came to”, Koonce says, “But I don’t believe he knew what he was doing. Sorta clawing at the top of the car with both hands. I think my blowing the car horn as I went through Kinston woke him up a little.” At the hospital Howard was found to have four .22 caliber wounds. One in the left side of his face, one in the left shoulder and two under the left arm pit. One of these under the arm had punc ' tured and caused the collapse of I the left lung. Howard went into a coma and never spoke after he ar rived at the Kinston hospital. At 9:30 that night Robert Ellis, a colored man of the neighborhood, waj walking east from Hargett Crossroad toward Comfort when he came upon a car in the ditch on the south side of the highway. It proved to be Mills’ car and Mills was sprawled in a huge-puddle of blood on the floorboard of the right front seat of the car. He was un conscious. Ellis went to the near by home of Joe Turner, who called an ambulance to bring Mills to Kinston. Everyone presumed that Mills’ injury came from the ditching of his car and not until he was X rayed at Lenoir Memorial Hos pital did they discover that he al so had been shot with a .22 caliber bullet that had entered his head just over the right eye and had penetrated all the way through his head, almost coming through the skin on the back side of his head. Mills’ condition was felt to be hopeless but after emergency treatment he was transferred to Duke Hospital where more special ized care was available if it was lound that he did have a chance to pull through. He died at 2:30 a. m. Friday, never having re gained consciousness. Lenoir County Sheriff Depart ment Deputies who had been called to the hospital were asked by Jones County Sheriff Brown Yates to meet him at the Howard filling station. Deputies Henry Sutton and Liston Davenport went and with Yates found the filling station locked, and unmolested insofar as robbery was concerned. At the southeast rear of the station (pictured here) four empty .22 cartridges were found. Toward the front stoop, still on the east side of the station two more empty cartridges were found. Mills’ car was brought to Kin ston where SBI Agents E. P. Pearce and George Canady examined it very carefully for fingerprints and anyother possible clues to the solu tion of what was already becoming a king-sized mystery. The right front fender of the Mills’ car (pictured here) was smeared with blood back to the radio aerial, and it had blown back before drying, indicating that the car had been driven after the blood had gotten on it. One bullet hole was found in the left front door of the car, just un der the ventilator, and another was found in the inside of the right front door. This indicates that the coldblooded killer who mowed down Mills and Howard had fired at least seven shots, from what is presumed to be a rifle. Mills had $102 in his ipocketbook and Howard’s ipocketbook and mon ey box in the store were untouched, ruling out the robbery motive. Detailed examination of Howard at the Kinston hospital revealed that the bullet which struck him in the face had not itself struck the brain but the impact had caused Howard to suffer a severe Concussion which caused him to remain unconscious. Saturday morning he also was transferred to Duke Hospital. He remained in a coma until Tuesday night and Continued on page 10 Jones County Girl is Drowned Tuesday in Farm Irrigation Pond Fifteen year-old Martha Louise Riggs, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ediward N. Riggs of the Lee’s Cha pel community between Pollocks ville and Maysville, was drowned Tuesday morning in an irrigation pond. drowning, which has been ruled Coroner W. F. Hill says the accidental, happened at about 11:30 when the young girl and her 13 year-old sister, Marlene, were playing in the pond. They had an innertulbe which drifted out of their reach and Martha Louise tried to get it, and got into water over her head. Marlene, unable to swim or to reach her sister, ran to the house for help but nearly a half hour passed before help could be found and nearly an hour had passed be fore the girl’s body was removed from the pond; Marriage License During the past week Jones County Register of Deeds Mrs. D. W. Koonce has issued two mar riage license to the following cou ples: Hugh Chester Harper, 25, to j Pauline Keys, 18, both of Lenoir tounty. - Dwight Allen Waters, 23, and Geraldine West, 18, both of Pol- j loeksville route one. ' Kinston’s Second Auto Death In Week Claims Negro Teacher Bernard Terry, 32 year-old Sampson School teacher of 100 Miller Street died enroute to a Kinston hospital early Saturday morning, becoming the second traffic death within a week on the streets of Kinston. Terry, driving a 1959 Pontiac station wagon with just over 6,000 miles on its speedometer, rammed into an oak tree on the 1000-block of Bast Bright Street at an ex tremely high rate of speed. A building formerly used for a laun dry was also extensively damaged when the rear of the car was thrown through a doorway. The Emergency and Rescue squad of the Kinston Fire Depart ment, assisted by ambulance at tendants, needed more than 25 minutes to remove Terry from the tangled wreckage. He was still alive when removed but was pronounced dead on arrival at Lenoir Memorial Hosgpital. The left front wheel of the car and motor were pushed all the way back to the front seat, pinning Terry in the car. The rescue squad used hydraulic jacks to push the wheel and motor far enough back 'to permit Terry’s removal. The picture here show part of the wreckage with Terry still pin ned in the car as workers inside the car tried to free his right leg. ■t Jones Farm Bureau Membership Drive Starting Friday, September 18 Shady Grove Holding Harvest Supper and Sale September 25th Shady Grove Methodist Church is holding its annual Harvest Sup per and Sale Friday, September 25th, and the public is invited and urged to come out for both events. Lunch plates of barbecue will be sold at Hilton Moore’s place just across the river from Kinston from 11 until 1 Friday and from 4 until 7 plates will be on sale at the church and tickets are already on sale for delivery on next Friday. After the supper hour ends at 7 the Harvest Sale will be held in the church consisting of farm and home items donated for auction. All proceeds from the barbecue and auction will go into the church building fund. The Jones County Farm Bureau membership drive will begin Fri day night, at 7:30 with a kickoff meeting of the township captains and solicitors, according to Mr. W. G. Mallard, >' County Membership Chairman. Paul Shackelford, Farm Bureau Field Representative, will be the featured speaker at this meeting. A list of 14 Jones County farm ers was released this week by county Farm Bureau leaders who said the 14 men will serve as “Community Membership Cap tains.” Each “Captain” will be respon sible for a township or community, and assigning areas of coverage for a “small army” of member ship solicitors, according to coun ty membership chairman W. G. Mallard of Pollocksville township. “Community Membership Cap tains” named by Mallard include: Walter Ives and B. C. Gray of Chinquapin; Earl Jones Jr. and Zeke Phillips of White Oak; Nelson Banks and Whitfield Mallard of Pollocksville;Clyde Loftin and Ray mond Harrison of Trenton; Bruce Foy and Haywood Brown of Cy- j press Creek; Lee Fordham and W. ■ J. Jones of Tuckahoe; and Eugene Moore of Beaver Creek. In an explanation of what Farm Burueau is, Mallard pointed out that it’s farmer owned and operat ed and that it has no connection with governments. Primarily it’s designed to help form agricultural poliey in such a way as to help farmers increase their incomes a long lines consistant with the prin ciples of freedom and democracy, j Sewing Contest Being Sponsored by Trenton Club; Enter Now A sewing contest, sponsored by | the Trenton Woman’s Clulb is in! process. An entry blank can be Obtained in some of the downtown stores, or from Mrs. Donald Brock i or Mrs. Fred Pippin. Any one in Jones County 21 years ' old and over may enter. Garments! must be made during 1959, and will be judged in fit and suitability of fabric to design and person and Continued on pago 10 Hill’s New Station Has Formal Opening; Prizes Passed Around As a climax to the July 23 open ing of the Sinclair Service Station in town, W. F. Hill had a grand opening during the past week. Dur ing the week free soft drinks, pea nuts, nabs and popcieles were given to persons going to the sta tion. A large crowd gathered Saturday ! night for the drawing of the big I prizes to be given away. The big j winner was Mark Shackleford of I Trenton who won an automatic washing machine. The second prize of four white sidewall tires went to J. A. Phillips of Kinston, and third prize, a battery, went to Mrs. Annie Heath. Needless to say, all three were happy to be winners. Little Bill Chase, who drew the winners from a box was very popular with the winners. Hill was also very hap py about the whole thing. Three Jones Arrests During the past week Sheriff Srown Yates reports three indict ments in the county: Robert Vann Gerock of Maysville was booked Sunday for drunken ar.d reckless drivitte by Patrolman L. S. Meiggs, David Wilton Weaver of Pollocks- ! ville was also booked for the same charges and Harris A. Adams of Tuckahoe Township was charged with assault upon a female. Land Transfers Real estate transfers recorded during the past week in the office of Jones County Register of Deeds Mrs. D. W. Koonce included the following: Catherine Canady to Macy 0. Loftin two tracts in Pollocksville Township. Annie Jones to Lewis F. Ward one lot in Trenton. Lawyer Dove to Nathaniel Kin sey .93 acre in Trenton Township. Lawyer Dove to F. W. Gooding .93 acre in Trenton Township. Maggie P. Rasiberry to John T. Taylor one tract in Tuckahoe Township.
Jones County Journal (Trenton, N.C.)
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Sept. 17, 1959, edition 1
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