STATE HOSPITALS
the fact
Degun an
more money fram those who
have members of their families
institutionalized.
It has not been unusual for
families to receive bills in ex
cess of $10,000, backdated to the
day of entry of their family
member in a statehospital.
A serious effort is now brew
ing to’ amend the state lews per
taining to this particular prob
lem. Under the general provi
sions of existing laws ail fami
lies with the fimwiriai ability to
pay for thecare of family mem
bers are supposed to pay up to
$IA5 per month for each patient,
pital have ranged from nothing
pita! have ranged ran nothing
up to this maximum, with the
past policy being a realistic ap
praisal of each family’s ability
to pay; but now prodding from
the higher echelons of the state
government is causing a much
more strong effort than ever be
fore to extract every possible
penny out of every possible fami
ly.
This gives rise to a pair of
diametrically opposed philoso
phies in tins field:
One which the state is now
pursuing, is that everybody who
is able to pay ought to pay.
And the other is that nature
has 'been unkind enough in visit
ing a family with a mentally re
tarded or mentally ride member
and since every family contri
butes to the overall general taxa
tion such long-term institutional
care should be an expense bom
from general taxation, with no
embarassing harassment of
those families who have such
bad luck.
In the overall picture of state
finances the cost of total has
pitalization is not beyond the
tion,
their _
tienta tbepicture
ly, '•'■■■ '■ " v :'Vf:^
There are three state hos
pitals for. the mentally retarded,
who generally, are (permanent
custodial type patients, and the
total cost of the-staite assum
ing full responsibility for all pa
tients in these three hospitals
would be only $839,200 . . .
*$464,000 collected, at Gaswell
Training School, $200,700 col
lected at the West Carolina Cen
tra1 and $174,500.collected at O’
Berry Centra.
In the present fiscal year the
cost of keeping a patient in
Caswell is $2,462 per year, and
payment for patients whose
families are able to pay amounts
to $258 of that total cost, leav
ing $2204 to be paid from gen
eral taxation.
At West Carolina Center the
annual cost per patient tor this
year is $3582 and $240 of that
is expected to come from fami
lies of patients qble to pay,
leaving $3342 to be paid from
general taxation.
At O’Berry Center this year
the annual cost per patient is
$2335, and families of patients
able to pay are expected to pay
$137, leaving $2198 to be paid
from general taxation.
The total budgets of these three
institutions tor the mentally re
tarded amounts to $10,403,213.
Which is divided $4,432,142 at
Caswell, $2,976,771 at O’Berry
and $2,994,300 at Western Caro
lina. The average daily patient
loads of the three are 1800 pa
tients at Caswell, 1275 at O’Ber
ry and 836 at Western Carolina,
of these three institutions . . .
much less than 10 per cent.
If the state were to assume
Continued on page 10
Jones County Woman Suing New Bern
Doctor After Operation for $200,000
XX JAn 0UIt ilOO MVOU IUHW XJU
Jones County Superior Court bj
Mrs. Goldie Hall Gray againsrt
Dr. John E. Littman of New Bert
in which she seeks $200,00(
damages for injuries shedaimi
she suffered because of itflie pool
practices and neglect she suf
feared at 'his 'hands.
The suit alleges that littman
operated on Mrs. Gray on Marcl
30, 1967 to remove a fibroic
tumor from the uterus and to dc
an abdominal hysterectomy
Following the operation Mrs
Gray says she experienced greal
pain and during a seven-daj
period after the operation hei
condition grew increasinglj
worse. And during this time she
says littman refused to tread
her further and told her she
only had gas pains.
A IIi«u rjr iiuo. vjjl imvm i
bers of her family and nurses
at Craven County Hospital per
suaded her to call in .another
doctor, and this new doctor im
mediately recommendedanother
operation to correct the injuries
done in the first operation.
And Mrs. Gray sajd alter this
second operation she had to re
turn on May 17th for still fur
ther corrective surgery ifijr an
other injury that took place in
the first operation performed by
T .iititiman
Mrs. Gray says she accumu
lated medical bills totaling $2,
,717.85 and $1,334.88 loss of in
come as the direct result of
Littman’s poor treatment and
improper surgery and 'She is
asking $100,000 actual damages
and $100,000 punitive damages.
Traffic Charges Account for Mcist
Cases Cleared in Recorder's Coart
agaqMH. ' wuuiuii doll vi rwi
locksvflle who paid $16 for that
(mistake and Otis Roberts of Pol
locksville was given a choice be
tween 30 days in, jail or making
restitution for a worthless check
and payment of the court costs.
Speeders Who paid off includ
ed Michael Lee McDonald,
l&jiikO.iiiiti;., ■■1iBLo1.e‘;i '!■■■»• wi'o .'u
THE JONES COUNTY
NUMBER 26
KINSTON, N. C., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1968
VOLUME XXI
Ancient Dugout Canoe Found by Contentnea Neck Boys
One result of the prolonged drought this
summer was exposure of many sights that
normally stay under several feet of water
and one such sight discovered by three young
Contentnea Neck explorers was this major
part of an ancient dugout canoe found in a
creek running into Contentnea Creek near
Grifton. The trio who found the relic includ
ed Reno and Ricky Batchelor, sons of Mr. and
Mrs. Fred Batchelor, and Michael Cunning
ham, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Cunningham,
all of Grifton route 2. Shown here with the
canoe remains is Raymond Oaks, next-door
neighbor ta the Batchelors. One end of the
canoe has rotted away but the remaining end
is extremely solid. Those who have looked at
it so far, including this writer, are not expert
enough about such matters to say with any
degree of certainty whether the dugout was
the work of indians or early white settlers
in this area, but it is a far cry from the speedy
fiberglass boats that churn up most local
waterways nowadays.
Another Law Suit Filed Over Brown's
Little White House in Pollocksville
v I \
During the past week one
more law suit has been filed —
Charts E. Britt, Harold Appleby
and John Fleuret of Camp Le
jeune, Clayton Lee McCausley
of Warner Robbins Air Base,
Georgia, Woodrow Bennett Jr.
of New Bern route 4, Robert W.
Thom of Cherry Point, Wallace
Earl Moore of Oriental route 1,
and Albert Opdecam Jr. of
Delhi, Ontario.
A driving , without license
charge against Charles Lee Sum
rell of Kinston was no! pressed,,
William Eubanks of Richmond,
Via. paid $13 for failing to stop
at it stop sign, A1 Smith Banner
man of Teachey paid $13 far not
his car inspected and Cul
Bqewell of Stella
for not haying
hopefully the last about the little
white house of Johnny Frank
and Mary Belle Brown in Pol
locksville.
in this suit brought by the
Browns against Contractors En
terprises, Inc. they seek to re
cover $14,100 damages; includ
ing $4,100 actual damages and
$10,000 punitive damages.
They allege that on April 29,
1964 they entered' into an agree
ment with representatives of
that company to do a $2,500 job
on their home by covering it
with aluminum siding.
And they admit signing a
blank form for that $2,500 con
tract, but they say that the
company’s representatives fra
dulently entered a debt of $10,-.
425 against their small home.
This fradulently filed indeb
l"T « toter IKridted to ,
Cheryl Sasnett Now
President of Wyse
Forks 4-H Club
At the October meeting of
the Wyse Pork 4-H Club officers
for the new year were elected
and Cheryl Sasnett was named
president.
Other officers named to
serve with Miss Sasnett were
Vice President Melinda Jones,
Secretary Sue Moore, Treasurer
Joan Davis, Song Leader Beck
Sasnett, Devotional Leader
Davis Thomas, Reporter Bobby
White and Recreation Leader
Gerald Davis.
discount house, and that dis
count house foreclosed on the
Browns’ Little. White House, and
they lad to buy their own house
back for $6,600, winch they
point out is $4400 more than
the agreed cost of the improve
(Continuad on page 7)