riNfe
C, THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1964
Griffin Bound Over on
Manslaughter Charge I
J<m« County Recorder's Court
Judge Nick Noble last Friday'
found probable cause of guilt
against James Coy Griffin, 56,
route 1 Trenton, who had been
charged with reckless driving and
manslaughter following a March
30th accident that resuled in Jones
County’s first traffic death of 1964.
According to investigating offic
ers Griffin was operating a pickup
'pi truck that went out of control, re
? suiting in the death of 57-year-old
Leonard Hunter of route 2 JVen
ton who was a passenger in the
truck. The accident occurred ap
proximately two-attd-one-half mil
es east of highway 58 on a rural
paved road that runs southwardly
from Doc Kilfingsworth’s store.
Hunter was killed instantly in
. the accident.
Other Recorder’s Court
In dthre Recorder’s Court action
Friday Judge Noble found Carl
Todd of Maysville not guilty of hit
and run, leaving the scene of an
accident, driving drunk, drunk and
disorderly, and malicious damage
to private property. ' ,
James Gaskin Rodman of route
1 Trenton was fined 25 dollars and
Costs for driving without a license.
James Augustus Bruton of route
1 Trenton was assessed court costs
for violating a drivers license re
striction.
Hugh Thomas Morris of Fort
Jackson, South .Qprioljna, paid- thap
' wrong side'Of ..the road. „ v. .
Gladys Murrell of Pollocksville
paid Court costs for failing to see
that intended movement could be
made safely.
Lester Jones of route 2 Snow
Hill was fined 10 dollars and costs
for speeding.
Jesse Gray of Trenton was or
dered, to pay court costs for being
drunk.
Floyd Roberts of Pollocksville
was fined 25 dollars and costs for
driving without a license.
George Albert Small, of route 1
Pollocksville was ordered to pay
court costs for failing to dim his
headlights.
William Edward Johnson, route
l Trenton, was fined 10 dollars and
costs for reckless driving.
Gaston Smith of route 1 Kenans
ville was assessed court costs for
Continued on Page 8
(o^Hliton
Congressman David N. Hender
son today announced that the Sub
committee on Public Buildings and
Grounds of the House Public
Works Committee approved con
struction of a new Federal Build
ing in Trenton.
Approval ' by the full committee
normally follows subcommittee ap
proval as a matter of routine.
The proposed building will house
the Trenton Post Office and also
provide office, space for District
Judge John D. Larkins, Jr.
Henderson said that the author
ization approved by the subcom
mittee provided $46 thousand for
fiscal 1965 for site acquisition and
planning and that the complete
cost of the structure was estimat
ed to be $180 thousand.
The Congressman estimated that
the actual work of construction
would probably get underway dur
ing 1965.
Henderson is a member of the
subcommittee and of the Public
Worlcs Committee.
Man’s Death
Ruled Accident
The death early last Friday of
Jasper A. “Jap” Cannon of Mays
ville has been ruled accidental by
Jones County Coroner George Dav
enport. :: ■ ■„
Cannon, manager of the US 70
ABC Store was cleaning a shotgun
at his home when the gun fell and
he grabbed for it and was struck by
the load of buck shot with which it
was loaded.
There were reportedly several
members of his family in the room
with him when the accident hap
pened.
First Transplanting?
Mac Banks of the Comfort sec
tion of Jones County transplanted
about one acre of tobacco last
Thursday despite the week’s record
breaking cold weather. Bank’s
plants got ready and they had to
fan moved whether he or the wea
ther were ready or not.
STILL DESTROYED
Jones County Sheriff Brown
Yates discovered and destroyed a
Uquor still Saturday afternoon in
the Cypress Creek community.
Thirty barrels of mash that was
working was destroyed by the
sheriff.
Supreme Court Reverses
The United States Supreme
Court Monday reversed the death
penalty decision of Jesse James
Arnold and George Dixon, Lenoir
County negroes convicted of the
September 10, 1951, shotgun slay
ing of 68-year-old George McAr
thur.
The Supreme Court listed as a
reason for making t hje decision,
“systematic exclusion of negroes
from Lenoir County grand juries.”
Arnold and Dixon have been on
death row in Raleigh since Dec
ember 1961.
They were convicted of 'murder
zing McArthur at his fruit stand
near the DuPont plant during a
robbery attempt. McArthur was
shot twice at close range with 12
guage shotguns.
The Supreme Court’s decision of
course means that Arnold and
l3ixon will now get a new trial in
Lenoir County.
Jones Housewife
OK in Alaska
Friends and relatives of Mrs
Billy J. Cook will be happy to
learn that she, her family, and their
home came through the Good Fri
day earthquake in Anchorage,
Alaska, in good shape.
In a letter Mrs. Cooke said, "We
are fine, and lost very little, I only
hope our families get that mes
sage.”
Mrs. Cook’s husband is employed
in Anchorage by the Philo Corp
oration as an electronics engineer
for the U. S. Air Force.
The Cooks mvoed to Anchorage
in 1960 when he retired from the
Marine Corps.
to Be Held in
Area Starting
Political Activity
See# Five File For
Offices in County
Political activity in Jones Coun
ty during the past week saw live
men indicate their willingness to
serve in a public office by paying
their filing fees and announcing
their candidacy.
Horace Haddock vwill seek a seat
on the county board of commis
sioners.
Four men filed for seats on the
county board' of education. They
are J. C. West, Jr., Jeff J. Con
way, J. C. Wooten, and W. E.
Phillips.
Jones Commissioners
Accept Low Bid for
County Revaluation
In regular session Monday the
Jones County Board of Commis
sioners decided to hire Carroll
Phelps Company of Greensboro to
revalue all real estate in the county.
This task is expected to start in
the near future, and is to be com
pleted by 1966.
The firms low bid was $19,800.
In another action, the commis
sioners voted to continue the sur.
plus food program for the aged
and handicapped, at least through
the summer.
Mayville to Install
New Water System
Work got under way Tuesday ol
this week on a new water system
for the town of Maysville. A new
well is being dug, and a complete
new water system will be installed
Site contwet'calls fdt' the work tc
be finished by December 1st this
year.
Cost of the project is not to ex
ceed $214,000. The money wil
come from the sale of bonds
unathorized by citizens ol
the town in January. The vote or
the bond issue was 130 for, 2/
against.
DRUNKS BOOKED
The Jones County sheriffs de
partment over the past weekend
booked Joe Bender of Pollocks
ville and William Strayhorn ol
route 2 Trenton, both on charges
of being drunk.
MICROFILM RECORDS
Representatives of the Archives
of History are in Trenton to in
ventory the county’s records. When
the inventory is completed all per
manent records will be microfilm
ed.
Jones County, and a portion of
Lendir County, will become a bat
tleground for some ten days start
ing Sunday, April 12th, when two
thousand paratroopers from Fort
Bragg will drop froth the skies in
the Oak Grove section of Jones
County. The jump is scheduled to
take place between 6 and 8 a.m.
These 2,000 paratroopers' mis
sion is to eliminate a few hundred
“guerillas” who will be operating
in two counties, mainly around
Trenton.
According to propaganda materi
als being distributed in the schools
and on the streets the guerilla
forces are “to be regarded as fri
ends of the citizens of Jones Coun
ty." These men will not be in full
military uniform, but will be easi
ly recognized. The ‘enemy’ will be
in full paratrooper uniform includ
ing steel helmets.
All participants in the exercise,
dubbed “Quick Kick” are from the
i 82nd Airborne Division at Fort
Bragg.
All farmers and other property
owners in the vicinity of the ex
ercise have been notified that no
heavy equipment and no live am
munition will be used. The Army
has stated that no property will be
damaged, or if it is accidentally,
the government will pay for it.
Maysville Expands
Corporate Limits
The town of Maysville is now
officially bigger in area.
At a meeting of the town board
of aldermen Tuesday night the
board voted to annex an area en
compassing 7.2 acres. The proper
ty annexed runs from the south
side of Sixth Street to the western
limits of the town.
Former Trenton
Mayor, Alderman
W. H. Hammond Dies
Funeral services will be held to
morrow (April 10th) at 3 p. m. in
Trenton Methodist Church for
William Henry Hammond, Jr., 60,
who died Wednesday in a Kinston
Hospital. The body will be placed
in the church one hour before ser
vices.
Hammond was a former mayor
of Trenton, and had served as al
derman for many years. At the
time of his death he was an auto
mobile dealer in Trenton.
Hammond was a native of Tren
ton and moved back there from
Mt. Holly in 1948. He practiced
law in Mt. Holly from 1928-1948,
serving as mayor, recorder’s court
Continued on Page 8
m
ft
Equitable Taxation Officialdoms Most Difficult Problem
It
By Jack Rider
Every group of officials charged
with the responsibility to levy tax
es is always confronted with the
next-to-impossible task of levying
a tax that hits every tax payer’s
pocketbook in the Same fashion.
Perhaps the most difficult tax
to levy equitably is the “ad valo
rem” tax on real estate. In Latin
“ad valorem" means “at value,”bbt
different people on different days
and especially in different, years —
have widely ^differing views of the
“value” of a given parcel of landj
and the buildings upon it
An effort has been made in re- .
But even with the scientific ap
proach the shifting sands of a
county’s economy and other com
mercial factors undo the work of
the evaluator frequently before the
ink has dried on his evaluation.
Lenoir County this year, and
Jones County next year will have
their real and personal property
re-evaluated in this scientific man
ner.
Jones Job Easy
In Jones County the problem is
fairly simple because there is no
large concentration of industry and
the overwhelming majority of the
real estate valuation of the coun
ty is represented by farm landsJ.t
real estae valuation in,
$7,375,044 and of
is represented
of
Lenoir Is Dirferent
But in Lenoir County, where
there is a greater balance between
farm and non-farm property the
picture is far different and the
problem gets much more compli
cated.
The total real estate valuation
for 1961 in Lenoir County was $58,
647,290, but farm land val
ue for that same year in Lenoir
County was only $20,845,955, which
is only slightly more than 35 per
cent of the total.
In Lenoir County .for ’61 town
resdiential lots were valued higher
than all the farm land in the coun
ty at $23,695,974 and residential
lots outside of corporate communi
ties added another $2,500,094 to the
total. j 1- * t ^. v „,
And there comes the rub, be
cause although hobsing costs have
-World War II
gone up at the
same ratio as iarm property.
Residential property in Lenoir
County is valued at about one-third
its present market value. Farm
land is presently valued at about
one-tenth of its market value.
On the basis of current sale
prices of farm land which are very
largely detremined by the size of
tobacco allocation on a farm one
third of the market value of Le
noir County’s farms would be
nearer to thirty million dollars than
the present figure of just over
twenty milliop dollars.
Farm owners argue quite logical
ly that farms are “too high” but
buyers of residential property can
offer the
me Doara oi county commission
ers will face the ticklish task of
narrowing the gap between these
valuations or it will face an an
gry crowd of residential property
owners.
And, quite obviously if it raises
farm values the meeting room will
be filled with hot farm owners.
As one city property owner re
cently told the county commission
ers: “I don't care whether you
raise the value of farm property
or lower the value of residential
proprety, just as long as you feed
all property owners out of the
same spoon."
At present this is not the case.
This should be one of the para
mount considerations when the
voter goes to the polls on May 30th
to select the slate of men who are
most likely to be those who deter
mine what, if anything is to be
done to bridge this gap.
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