N. C.T THURSDAY, APRIL .!, 1965
VOLUME XVI
Law Says Referendum Necessary Before
Commissioners May Levy Drainage Tax
A standing-room-only crowd
last week in the Jones County
Court House voted to ask the
county board of commissioners
to move ahead with a plan to
levy up to a 25 cent tax on the
$100 valuation for improving
the drainage of the entire coun
ty.
The meeting had been called
to brief those interested in the
situation pertaining to improv
ing the Trent River watershed
where floods in recent years
have cost Jones County millions
of dollars in lost crops.
An Army Corps of Engineers
representative told the gather
ing that the work of improving
the channel from Trenton down
stream would be done complete
ly by the army from federal
funds, with no special levy
needed in Jones County.
Agents of the Soil Conserva
tion Service and the State Wat
er Resources Board explained
that there is a plan for improv
ing the drainage from Trenton
upstream under which 75 per
cent of the cost would come
from federal tax funds and 25
per cent from county funds.
it was explained that the
county’s part could be raised in
either of two ways: 1. By set
ting up a huge drainage district,
which was vetoed unanimously
by those present, or 2.'by giv
ing the county commissioners
authority to levy up to 25 cents
on the
the county's part.
It was pointed out that a bill
could be introduced in the gen
eral assembly, giving this author
ity to the commissioners, but a
closer look at existing law re
veals that it will be necessary
to hold a county-wide referen
dum before the tax can be lev
ied.
Article 3, Section 129-39 of
the General Statutes of North
Carolina says, in part: "The
Board of County Commissioners
in any county is authorized to
call a special election to deter
mine whether it he the will of
the qualified voters of the coun
ty that they levy and cause to be
collected annually, at the same
time and in the same manner
as the general county taxes are
levied and collected, a special
rate not to exceed 25 cents on
each $100 valuation.”
Three Themes of
Cancer Crusade
During its 1965 Crusade
against Cancer the American
Cancer Society will stress three
themes. “All are especially vital
in helping save lives from can
cer,” according to Mrs. Grace
E. Pollock, President of the
Jones County Cancer Unit.
These themes are: 1. “Tell
Your Neighbor.” By passing on
to neighbors facts about cancer
that might save t h e i r lives.
Facts everyone should know
about early diagnosis and
prompt treatment as a precau
tion against death.”
2. “To Help Cure More, Give 1
More,” There are about 1,300,- '
000 Americans, now alive, cur- i
ed of cancer. A contributing i
factor has been public profes- <
sional education and research <
efforts. i
3. “Fight Cancer With A
Check and A Checkup.” Many 1
die from cancer today because '
they do not hav£ an annual <
Industry Destroyed
Sunday ABC and ATU officers
destroyed a major industry in
Lower Pink Hill Township, a
few miles west of Ervin Cross
roads. There two Piedmont Sec
tion men were caught working
on Sunday, and operating an
11,000-gallon stumphole whisky
still. The 11,000-gallon majth ca
pacity gave this backwood indus
try a potential weekly capacity
of 2200 gallons of pure panther
juice, which is currently quoted
on the illicit elixir market at
$3 per gallon on the stump, in
the woods.
Jones County Boy
Put on Probation
For Hub Cap Theft
Nineteen year-old Ronald Hall
Hawkins of Trenton route 1 was
given six months in prison Mon
day by Recorder Buck Wooten
for stealing hub caps in Kinston
over the weekend. Sixteen year
old Gwendolyn May Heath al
so of Trenton route 1 was
found not guilty of of the same
offense.
Judge Wooten suspended the
prison term for Hawkins on con
dition he remain on probation
for two years and surrender his
driving license for six months.
Confessed Murderer Already Trying to
Gnaw His Way Legally Out of Prison
A-ast week Superior Court
Judge Rudolph Mintz denied a
petition from Jesse James Arn
old who is serving a so-called
life term in prison for his ad
mitted part in the shotgun slay
ing and robbery of George T.
MacArthur in September of
1961.
Arnold was asking Judge Mintz
to order that all the time he
has been held in custody since
his arrest on the night of the
murder count on his “life term
in prison.”
Undef North,. Carolina’s ridic
ulous law a person is eligible
for parole consideration after
serving 10 years of a “life
term.”
Judge Mintz, although per
sonally denying the petition,
pointed the way for Arnold to
seek relief from the executive
branch of government, mean
ng the paroles commission,
which has authority in such mat
ters.
If the paroles commission
grants Arnold’s request he would
then become eligible for parole
in 1971.
His accomplice in the crime,
George Dixon, has not yet filed
for similar relief.
Two Jones Arrests
The only arrests reported last
week by Jones County Sheriff
Brown Yates were those of
Alonza Mills of Trenton, charg
ed with public drunkenness, and
John A. Jones of Maysville route
1 who was accused of drunken
driving.
Some Slicing!
Monday night James Floyd
Brown of 309 East Gordon St.
was charged with assault with
a deadly weapon with intent to
kill after Kinston police inves
tigated the serious cutting suf
fered by William Jones, whose
wounds on the head, face,
shoulder, chest and lower stom
ach required more than 100
stitches at Parrott Memorial
Hospital. Brown is the fellow
accused of doing the cutting.
checkup which might reveal the
disease when it is early and
most curable. Early treatment
is the difference between one
cut of two saved instead of one
cut of three — the pumber be
ng saved now.
“The effectiveness of these
themes,” Mrs. Pollock said,
‘Depends on the public’s re
sponse.”
Two Divorce Suits
Filed in Jones Court
In the past week two civil
suits seeking “divorce absolute”
have been filed in Jones Coun
ty Superior Court by couples
asking divorce on grounds of
two years separation.
The suits were filed by: Casey
Westbrook Lewis who wants to
legally free fronrEdmond Lew
is and by Alonza Kornegay Jr.
who is trying to untie the knot
between himself and Faye Turn
er King Kornegay.
The Lewis suit alleges mar
riage May 1, 1944 and separa
tion December 27, 1962.
The Kornegay suit alleges
marriage April 16, 1952 and
separation September 4, 1958.
Kornegay says there were two
children and that both live with
their mother.
Court Clerk Right, Superior. Court
Judge Wrong in Wilcox Family Feud
Trenton Cadet to
March April 3rd
In Azalea Festival
Cadet Archie McRay Nichols
of Trenton is a member of the
University of North Carolina’s
Air1 Force ROTC band which will
march in the Azalea Festival
Parade in Wilmington, N. C. on
April 3.
Cadet Nichols, son of Mrs. F.
W. Nichols, is a Sophomore in
the AFROTC program at UNC.
The 35-man AFROTC band
has participated in numerous
parades in the Chapel Hill -
Carrboro area. One of the unit’s
biggest honors was marching in
the Governor’s Inaugral Parade
in Raleigh this year.
New TB Detection
System Developed
A major change has been de
veloped for tuberculosis detec
tion whereby the regular Mobile
X-ray Unit which has visited
Jones County for a number of
years has been discontinued and
a new program inaugurated to
better find tuberculosis cases
through selected groups.
The new system will consist of
X-raying foodhandlers, school
personnel, contacts, known peo
ple with pulmonary scars, 1st
and 9th grade tuberculin tested
reactors and the familes of these i
reactors as well as any other
person who has been referred to !
the Health Department who
may want a chest X-ray for var
ious reasons.
Foodhandlers, teachers, other
school personnel and people who
not receive an appointment
by mail may secure their X-ray
at the Mobile Unit adjacent to
the Jones County Health De
partment according to the fol
lowing schedule:
Saturday, April 3 from 10
A.M. to 4 P.M.
Tuesday, April 6, from 9 A.M.
—11 A.M., 1 P.M. — 5 P.M.
Wednesday, April 7 from 9
A M.—11 A.M., 1 P.M.—5 P.M.
For additional information con
tact Jones County Health De
partment.
a ruling handed down this
week by the North Carolina Su
preme Court reversed^ Novem
ber 1964 ruling of Superior
Court Judge Elbert Peele of Wil
liamston and upheld the Oc
tober 22, 1964 ruling of Jones
County Superior Court Clerk
Walter Henderson.
The matter ittvelved is a civ
il suit brought by numerous
daughters of the late Mr. and
Mrs. Steve Wilcox against two
of their sisters. The suit has
been in and out of Jones County
Superior Court for years and
under this week's ruling in the
state’s highest court the matter
still rests in the local court.
Ten of the Wilcox sisters are
trying to get their share of the
family farm which they allege
is wrongfully held by their oth
er two sisters and their hus
bands.
In a court action early last
year Judge Henry Stevens of
Warsaw allowed a demurrer of
fered by the defendants, which,
in effect, tossed the litigation
out, but Stevens’ ruling was ap
pealed to the supreme court and
it was overruled.
Last October the plaintiffs
sought to obtain from Clerk
Henderson a “judgment by de
fault and inquiry”, claiming that
the defendants had not answer
ered the suit within the time
prescribed by law. Clerk Hen
derson refused to grant the
default judgment.
So now the matter is back on
the “motion docket” of the loc
al court because “motions to
strike” part of the plaintiffs’ al
legations are still standing.
When the case may finally be
tried is a matter nobody around
the courthouse is willing to bat
his house rent on.
I _
ACCIDENTAL WOUND
Officers in the sheriff's de
partment have ruled that the
shooting of Peter Dawson last
Friday morning by Harvey Gaut
ier was accidental. Dawson suf
fered a flesh wound in the side
when a .22 caliber automatic
Pistol Gautier was handling
went off. Both men told the
investigating officers that the
incident was accidental. It hap
pened in a filling station just
north of Kinston on the Green
ville Highway.
What's Underneath That Costs in Road Building in Towns
As these pictures indicate; a
large part of the cost of build
ing highways around and
through towns is the cost below
the ground.
Wherever roads are built
they must have proper drain
age if they are to last any length
of time, and this storm drain
age problem is a major factor
in establishing the cost of roads
whether to mountain tops,
swamp bottoms or through ma
jor cities.
But when roadways approach
cities the price skyrockets be
cause in addition to designing
the storm drainage system for
handling rain water the engi
neers also have to keep in mind
such things as water lines, gas
lines, sanitary sewer lines, tele
phone and electrical conduits
which run underground.
These pictures here, taken last
month on the northern edge of
Kinston illustrate to some ex
tent the size and complexity of
this part of the road-building
problem.
The huge pipe is for taking
off rain water, and the other
picture shows some of the dil
emma when storm pipes, water
pipes and sanitary sewer pipes
all get together on the same
corner.
Does anyone have a question
on the high cost of roads?