PERSON COUNTY TIMES
A PAPER FOR ALL THE PEOPLE
J. S. MERRITT, EDITOR M. C. CLAYTON, MANAGER
THOMAS J. SHAW, JR., City Editor.
Published Every Thursday and Sunday. Entered As Second
Class Matter At The Postoffice At Roxboro, N. C., Under
The Act Os March 3rd., 1879.
—SUBSCRIPTION RATES—
One Year §1.50
Six Months 75
Advertising Cut Service At Disposal of Advertisers at all
times. Rates furnished upon request.
News from our correspondents should reach this office not
later than Tuesday to insure publication for Thursday edition
and Thursday P. M. for Sunday edition.
SUNDAY, JULY 7, 1940
Locked Doors
In Roxboro and in thousands of other small cities
and towns in America few residence doors are locked.
They stand open all day, or may be opened by lifting a
latch or turning a handle. To the surprise of city folks,
many of these home doors are not even barred at night J
in a land where people are friends and neighbors doors
do not have to be fastened. -
In many other lands, especially in Europe, curtains
are drawn, shades are down and doors are bolted and in
the darkness people live in a fear and distrust not to
be described. Something of the nature of this distrust
born of fear is portrayed in the recent motion picture,
“Four Sons”, shown during the past week at a local
theatre. Perhaps quite unintentionally, the producers
of this film have illustrated the tragedy of locked doors.
In Czechoslovakia Frau Bern, the mother of “Four
Sons”, changes from a happy woman to a broken and
pathetic one as she watches and waits while her stal
wart sons are broken and ruined and brought to death
and worse than death when enemy storm troopers crash
the border and begin that brief invasion which has sin
ce been swallowed up in larger but not more tragic con
quests.
Few who have seen Eugenie Leontovitch’s interpre
tation of the sorrowful Frau Bern can forget the omin
ous significance of the scenes in which this mother
locks the door to her house, opening it only whSn she
must, until at last, when she is left alone there is no
longer any necessity for precaution. Despite the obvious
ness of its propaganda and its excessive playing up of
the theme of maternal love in a house divided, “Four
Sons” inescapably impresses upon those who see
it the more subtle tragedy of what happens to a nation
when it too becomes a house divided and begins to lock
doors against freedom and peace.
All over the world these doors are being closed and
it is up to us to see that our own are kept open, remem
bering that if we do not, the time may come when we,
like the Berns, will not know what we may find when
we answer knocking in the night.
O—O—O—o
A Suggestion For Next Year
According to Wheeler’s “Historical Sketches of
North Carolina”, and reliable local sources of historical
information, Person County was formed in 1791 from
Caswell, which was in turn taken from Granville and Or
ange at an earlier date in that same century. It seems
to us if neighboring Granville can make such a big ev
ent out of the centennial of a court house that certainly
Person County next year should pause to observe its
sesquicentennial as a county unit.
It has been elsewhere suggested that “Hospitality
Week” for 1941 should have incorporated in its a his
torical pageant, and while we are not particularly fond
of home-gijown pageant-dramas, even when they are
written by Paul Green, it appears to us that if the said
“Hospitality Week” must have a pageant to bolster its
original motivation, said pageant may as well be cen
tered around the theme of Person’s sesquicentennial.
Not every county in North Carolina can boast of
one hundred and fifty years of history and there should
be some observation of this worthy birthday next year.
We rather hope that Person’s birthday can be celebrated
in some fashion, regardless of whether or not the party
can be given in conjunction with “Hospitality Week.”
Proper observation of the birthday will, however,
entail a large measure of long range planning, with a)
vastly larger amount of county-wide cooperation than
has yet been given to “Hospitality Week”. The Person
people who have in the past two years built up the idea
of. “Hospitality Week” have worked for it heart and
soul, but it must be said that the number of heart and
soul workers, as is usually the case in enterprises in
volving display of public spirit, has been smaller than it
should be. But with planning, cooeration and well-hand
led publicity, we see no reason why Person’s sesquicen
tennial and “Hospitality W’eek” cannot be combined to
make an outstanding and long remembered occasion.
o—o—o—o
Wherein We Approve
Most important American news item of the past
week was announcement of the confirmation of the ap
pointments of Henry L. Stimson, as Secretary of War,
and of Col. Frank Knox, as Secretary of the Navy, by
the Senate Military and Naval committees. The two
former Republican gentlemen may run into trouble when
confirmation comes up this week in Congress, but it is
not likely that the congressmen will go against the ex
pressed wishes of the committees concerned.
Any other course than that of confirmation of the
Stimson and Knox appointments would at a time like the
present be a reflection of political bad taste, for now,
if ever, the people of the United States and their lead
ers should forget party lines and should work together
PERSON COUNTY TIMES ROXBORO, N. C.
for the common good as much as they can- Democrats
and Republicans, too, can remember that Woodrow Wil
son after his return from France to advocate the adop
tion the League of Nations idea in this country was
severely criticized because he had not been broadminded
enough to appoint a bi-party commission to go with
him when he made his historic trip to Versailles.
There are people who will say that in the selection
of Stimson and Knox President Roosevelt has an ulter
ior political motive. We think not, but if he has had such
a motive there are many people who will be willing to
give him credit for being smarter than he thinks he is.
It may be too much to expect old line politicians in eith
er party to agree with Wendell Willkie, G. O. P. nominee
that party lines are no longer Democratic and Republi
can but are new deal and anti-new deal, with men from
both parties lined up under a new standard. If this is
the truth, as we suspect it is, it seems to us that maybe
the nation will have just that much better chance to put
first things first for once in its history.
Willkie’s Steering Committee ....
Durham Morning Herald
Nominee Willkie’s plan to lean on a 12-man steering
ever, that the 12-man committee Mr. Willkie has an
of 55.000 from any single source is in line with his un
orthcdc:: pre-convention campaign. It rationalizes, es
pecially when wrapped in the personally supplied cello
phane: “In my judgement, this is the people’s move
ment and I want to keep it as such.”
Seasoned observers will not overlook the fact, how
ever, that the 12-man committee Mr. Willkie has an
nounced includes members of the campaign staffs of his
convention rivals and that Mr. Willkie announced his
steering committee idea after some friction developed
over the selection of a chairman of the Republican Nat
ional committee.
It is too early to say whether the 12-man committec
is a device for smoothing over Philadelphia wounds or is
in truth a Willkie invented formula for continuing his un
conventional approach. It is too early, also, to assess the
probable effectiveness of the plan.
Governor Stassen, younger than Mr. Willkie and a
newcomer so far as prominence in national Republican
affairs, is to head Mr. Willkie’s committee. A more or
less natural thing, since he chairmaned the Willkie move
ment on the convention floor after having handled the
keynote assignment by virtue of Old Guard appoint
• ment.
There is the point, heretofore important to Repub
lican bigwigs, though, that even when denied the pri
vilege of dictating the nominee, party wheelhorses re
serve the right to determine campaign strategy and
manage the machinery without too much interference
by upstarts.
It is apparent, however, that Mr. Willkie senses that
his unorthodox approach was his greatest asset in win
ning the nomination and proposes to stick by it in the
campaign. He realizes that he would never have won the
nomination had he embraced the dodging tactics of pro
fessional politicians and tried to play that sort of a
game. He knows that the people rallied around him in
the first place because they believed he offered a fresh
mind and a fresh approach to political problems.
The question yet to be answered is, Can Mr. Will
kie remain his own boss, now that he is the adopted
child of the professional politicians he licked, and live
up to the build-up a volunteer corps of publicists have
given him? He has a better chance, we think, of doing
it than anyone who has tried it in our day. But it is be
cause he is better equipped for the task, not because the
obstacles in his path are not formidable.
o—o—o—o
Only Temporary At That
Greensboro Daily News
In advance of the 1940 tobacco marketing season
and the crop control steps which are contemplated, let
it be remembered that the best that can be hoped for in
the way of crop absorption is only temporary and that
this temporary aid, in and of itself, may prove a big
handicap in any permanent readjustment of the prob
lem at point.
The assistance to which we refer is further provis
ion by the commodity credit corporation for purchase of
that part of the 1940 crop which would, under anything
like normal conditions, go into the export trade. This ac
quisition by the government will stave off price collapse
for the present season; but at the same time it will
pile up a tobacco surplus, right on top of the substan
tial carry-over of this corporation’s purchase last year,
which necessarily hangs over the market and serves, in
the long run, to keep prices down or unsettled.
The experience of Mr. Hoover’s ill-fated farm board
offers a lesson which can hardly be forgotten. Prices
on cotton and wheat were pegged for a while, but they
nevertheless kept steadily sliding. The board and suc
ceeding farm experts were at a loss as to how to get
rid of their holdings without upsetting the market even
more. There was considerable talk about dumping the
accumulated commodities into the sea, although they
were retained and finally eased out into consumption
channels lost to lien-holding Uncle Sam.
The Daily News is not citing this previous exper
ience in any effort merely to paint an overly gloomy pic
ture of the tobacco situation. Rather we are emphasing
I realities in order that they may be the better guarded
against through actual crop curtailment and diversifi
cation which will not only cushion the consequences by
raising of food stuffs but will result, we truly hope, in
production of commodities which a needful world will
be more likely to require or purchase than tobacco. Man
kind at home and abroad does not have to smoke, dip or
chew; but he does have to eat.
CCO MALARIA FRIENDLY SERVICE
1111 II h, 7 <Uv> Md Rim, Standard Oil Co. Products.
W W COLDS Telephone Service No. 4711
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Try • Rub-Mv-Tja..* VmMM LkM STATION
SUNDAY
SCHOOL LESSON
From
The Adult Student
The story of Job’s experience
is one of the most remarkable ev
er written. Recall the severe tesU
that came to the man. The re
cord sets them forth graphically.
Job was not merely prosperous;
he was the leading citizen in that
part of Abaria in which he liv
ed. He had amassed all kinds of
possessions and property. In ad
dition to his wealth he was most
fortunate in having a happy fa
mily.
But Job never let his posses
sions become a substitute for his
piety. Instead, he was rigidly
careful in his worship.
In the midst of his prosperity
and happiness this great Eastern
Emir suddenly face calamity.
Surely the losses Job sustained
were enough to cause a man to
abandon his confidence in God,
especially in a day when men
believed that prosperity was a
sign of divine approval, and that
the lack of it was a sure indica
tion of sin. But as if to emphasize
these many losses, his physical
suffering also became indescrib
ably intense. His wife seemed to
have a sensible idea, therefore, as
she scornfully asked, “Dost thou
still retain thine integrity?” Thus
she exhorts Job, “Curse God and
die.” But he calmly answers,
“What! shall we receive good at
the hand of God, and shall we not
receive evil?” One recalls the
words of Epictetus: “When thou
art deprived of any comfort ...
say not I have lost it, but I have
restored it to the right owner.”
In all this experience “Job sin
ned not, nor charged God foolish
ly.” It is a truly remarkable story!
Remembering the intellectual
background of these people, it as
tounds one when he vividly re.
calls the severity of these tests.
Many Have Suffered Like Job
This story of Job, however, is
only a dramatic portrayal of the
kind of thing which has occurred
innumerable times in the lives of
other people. Again and again
men have had to decide whether
they would abandon their integ
rity, whether they would surren-j
der all belief in the worth of
moral and ethical principles, and
thus refuse religion any place in
their minds and hearts.
Consider this man, unemploy
d, down and out. There was left
for him, however, one joy in life.
It was a little son, ten years of
age. The father was living again
in the life of his boy. Then one
day the boy stepped off the curb.
A car knocked him down. It was
the end. In such an hour it is but
natural that one should ask whe
ther there is a power in the uni
verse who cares for mankind.
Such experiences are altogether J
too frequent, too ordinary in life. ;
But every time they come we do
have to decide whether we are
going to surrender our integrity,
or “charge God foolishly,” tc
quote the language of Job. Doubt
less many of us have felt that
Job’s wife offered him excellert
advice when she proposed that he
simply curse God and die.
There is a pathetic story con
cerning some travelers who go
through life knocking at its doors
and beating on its walls. No one
comes to answer their call. We
often feel .that we, too, are pound
ing on the walls of an earthly pri
son, while there is apparently no
one to unlock the door.
How Integrity Sustains Us
But there have been those, like
Job, who have refused to surren
der their integrity. Somehow they
have been able to keep their poise,
and thus refrain from “judging
God foolishly.” In the midst of
perplexing difficulties they have
kept their serenity and spiritual
calm.
When John G. Paton went to
the New Hebrides, he manifest
ly made one of the greatest sac
rifices any man could possibly
offer for the sake his religion.
Even if one reads the story in de.
tail today, his imagination is still
inadequate in ‘interpreting the
full cost paid so cheerfully by this
religious pioneer. And, yet, with
in an incredibly short while,, on
the lonely island to which he had
gone, he sufferd the loss of his
dearest earthly comrade, who had
dared the bloodthirstiness of the
cannibals, along with him, for
the sake of their religion. Is it ac
curate to say that God had de
serted Paton? If she could have
cried out from the grave, would
John G. Paton’s wife have been
justified in exhorting, “Curse
God and’die”? At any rate, the
great missionary did not curse.
He did not “talk foolishly.” He
did not abandon his integrity.
WE BUILD FOR
Roxboro and Person County
With All Work Guaranteed.
No Job Too Large and
None Too Small.
GEORGEW. KANE
Roxboro, N. C.
DOLLY MADISON
THEATRE
Monday - Tuesday, July 8-9
gBE&
Topping every
thing he’s ever
#/ done...even the
’ laughs of "Slight
Case of Murder!"
EDW.G.
reS ROBINSON
E iwKh
ANN SOTHERN
■ Jgg| 1 HUMPHREY BOGART
A A.’.- Si - >
Scr««N ft ey ky fori Baldwin. bN4 on d*
Uo|<iim Stary ky BicKorrf Csaasß
Special Morning Show
Monday 10:34;
Afternoons Daily 3;15-JdS;
Evenings daily 7:30 - 9:15;
Admission 10-30 c.
Palace Theatre
Monday - Tuesday, July 8-9
ANDREA LEEDS
witfi
LYNN BARI
CHARLEY GRAPEWIN
HENRY WILCOXON
ELIZABETH PATTERSON
A MHt c»i*>n> Fu fktm
No Morning Snows;
Afternoons Daily 305-1:45;
Admission 10-30 c.
Evenings Daily 7:15-9:15;
Admission 15-35 c.
SUNDAY, JULY 7, 1940
ADVERTISE IN THE TIMES
FOR RESULTS.
PALACE THEATRE
ADVANCE PROGRAM
From Monday, July 8 thru
Wednesday, July 14
Motion Pictures Are Your
Best Entertainment
Monday - Tuesday, July 8-9
Warner Baxter - Andrea Leeds
with Lynn Bari - Charley
Grapewin - Henry Wilcoxen,
in
“Earthbound”
A strange one-in.a-minute
story —of a ghost who stayed
behind on earth haunted by
the living! He walks through
steel doors and stone walls! He
travels thousands of miles in a
flash! Your most unusual and
fascinating entertainmnt ex
perience.
Paramount Paragraphic
Hearst Metrotone News -
“News while it is still news”.
No Morning Shows;
Afternoons Daily 3:15-3:45;
Admission 10-30 c;
Evenings Daily 7:30-9:15;
Admission 15-35 c.
Wednesday, July 10
Ralph Bellamy - Blanche Yur
ka - J. Carroll Naish - Jean
Cagney - William Henry, in
“Queen of the Mob”
Based on J. Edgar Hoover’s
book, “Persons in Hiding”
the screen reeveals the exciting
saga of the strangest woman
who ever lived! Mother of
three notorious killer sons
she rules an amazing empire of
crime.
Ed Thorgarsen Sport Thrills:
“Topnotch Tennis”
Columbia Tours: “New Hamp
shire”
Special Morning Show 10:30;
afternoon 3:15-3:45; admission
10-30 c; evening 7:30-9:15; ad.
mission 15-35 c.
ADVERTISE IN TIMES FOR
RESULTS
DOLLY MADISON
ADVANCE PROGRAM
From Monday, July 8 thru
Wednesday, July 10
Motion Pictures Are Your
Best Entertainment
Monday - Tuesday, July 8-9
Edward G. Robinson with Ann
Sothern - Humphrey Bogart -
Donald Crisp, in
“Brother Orchid”
(First Rnn)
Columbus only discovered A
merica! Brother Orchid gave it
class! And what class! He’s
even got a valet for his gat!
No wonder he’s going to slay
the underworld, kill the upper
crust, and mow you down
with laughs!
Walt Disney Cartoon: “Bone
Trouble”
Fox Movietone News - “News
of the Nation”
Special Morning Show
Monday 10:30;
Afternons Daily 3:15-3:45;
Admission 10-30 c;
Evenings daily 7:15-9:15;
Admission 15-30 c.
Wednesday, July 10
Lloyd Nolan - Barton Mac Lane
- Lola Lane - Ray Middleton,
in
“Gangs Os Chicago”
(First Run)
Gangland demands vengeance!
As innocent pawns in a game
of death face the terrors of an
underworld purge! A thrilling
expose of a nation-wide crime
syndicate operated by a ruth
less racket king and his un
scrupulous attorney.
Merrie Melodie: “Mighty Hun
ters”
Melody Masters: “Rubinoff and
his Violin”
* V
No morning show; afternoon
3:15-3:45; Admission 10-3 9c;
evening 7:30-9:15;
15.30 c. .
1