. 1
rf IiMEuiiiis weekly
'A; WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE UlOTINQ OF HERTFORD AND PERQUIMANS COUNTY
' .Volume IV,- Number. 40.
Hertford, Perquimans County, JNoitlv Carolina, frfictay, September 24, 1937.
$1.25 Per Year
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Johnson
School Experim
mcSriHIGHWAYPATO
But Dose For Cot
ton Picking
ONEMONTH
r Opened After Cotton
C Season In Former
Years
F. T. Johnson, Perquimans County
School superintendent, is much in-j
teres ted in both an education and in-.
dustrial experiment which makes a
start today with the concurrence of
the State Board of Education, and
which, if proven successful, will be
an annual occurrence hereafter, j
- Bight now it is an innovation, the
first time ever tried in Perquimans'
County and only tried out heretofore
in somewhat - similar fashion in two
other counties of the State.
Tersely the experiment has to do
with granting a month's recess or ,
vacation, beginning at the close of,
today's sessions, to all the county's'
1,100 Uegro public school scholars
meaning that all the Negro schools
in the commonwealth will close today
for that period of time the reason
being, cotton picking season is on.
Heretofore, the custom in Perqui
mans as in other counties where cot- j
ton is a staple crop, has been to
start the Negro schools more or lessi
at the close of the picking season,'
giving the school children a chance
to first show their prowess in the
cotton fields before engaging in stu
dies. But this year Mr. jonnson felt this
an"tmnecessary delay, and opened
the'Neero schools in this county on
August 80, giving, thereby, thej
'TMJpijsters an opportunity to .get into I
- tb$&rtfPW 1in;ucasona4i,Qr
tackling' the problem of earning a
few dollars and providing great help
to their parents at cotton picking
time.
While Mr. J.ohnson did not so ex
nress himself for publication, it is
understood his plan met with favor
in Raleigh and he was directed to go
ahead, try it out and report later on
the results. One thing sure, the
plan has brought universal commen
dation from the cotton growers of the
county who depend so earnestly on
Negro labor during the picking sea-
ion.
Pulp Timber Being
Cut In iPerquimans
Substantial cuttings of second
growth pine timber for sale as pulp
natter material, has been coin on in
Perquimans County for several weeks j
now, ana will ne engagea in more ex
tensively after the cotton and peanut
picking seasons ? are over. The tim
ker hMieen sol to the huge new
pulp mill at Plymouth, and as far as
could be learned has brought satisfy
ing and encouraging" revenue to the
timber men. ' -For
a time there was talk of Per-
Jnlmans landing the ; pulp mill that
nally found a settlement adjacent to
Plymouth in Washington county.
The" same belief ; was experienced by,
Chowan, Pasquotank and V Bertie
counties, especially so when repre,
ientotlves of the ? big- New Jersey
concern operating the mill visited all
wese counties, on w. pmmmihiwwm ,
possible sites and timber growths. ;
mifc nmr mat Kernuiniana iobc un
mill its land owners, most of whom
Include timber in their acreages, do
not intend to let the opportunity of
making a pretty penny slip by them.
A ride through almost any Ye,of the
county neighborhoods will show indi
cations of much cutting of the second
growth pine w so Easily crushed
up Into desirable pulp for paper
making purposes. v ,
; v. BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT
" I'r, and Mrs. Francis 'Elliott of
Weeksville, N. C," announce the birth
of 5 son, on September a.
'JL
NEURITIS!
' Mri'Mattie Lister : White,, edii
tress of this newspaper, has, been
v capacitated from active service
this -week and her. work has been
taken over by .another member f
the-etaff. Mrs. White was strict
en on Saturday 'with a severe at
tack of neuritis in her hip,; and
upon the advice "of her physician
has kept to her bed. ?
Ehe expects to be on ber
r 's" for the next issue of, the
Initiates
I SHARP DRIVE
Oakey Supports Cam
paign Against De
fective Cars
A mass drive by Elizabeth City
State Highway patrolmen L. B
Lane and C. W. Gibson against Per
quimans motorists operating their
cars improperly braked or illuminat
ed, justified itself in the Recorder's
Court on Tuesday when six such vio
lators faced Judge Walter H. Oakey
and were penalized for their derelic
tions and obliged to get their cars in
satisfactory shape before further
operation.
ine court intimated he was in
thorough sympathy with any move
by the State police which had for its
purpose the better safeguarding of
the highways for traffic, and said
that while he had acted leniently in
the initial cases brought before him
by Lane and Gibson his course should
not be construed as in any sense
hopeful for future violators.
What Lane and Gibson have been
doing here the past ten days has
been in line with similar drives in
other counties traveled by them, and
in consonance with explicit orders
given them by their superior, Corpor
al George I. Dail, of Edenton. Dail
well-known as an enemy of two
forms of motorists, hit and run driv
era ana drivers who operate cars
with insufficient brakes or improper
lights, has been particular with the
men under him- in urging that a
sharp observance be kept for thiB
type .of violators, and he 'catches"
byvLane and Gibson have been part
In five of the cases before Judge
Oakey the defendents were all ad
judged guilty and ordered to pay the
cost of the court, put their cars into
a condition of safety deemed satis
factory to the prosecuting officers,
and to pledge themselves to see that
this condition of motor safety is
fulfilled for a year, anyhow.
The five in question were William
E. Harrell, Zachariah Lewis, George
Gallop, W. T. Moore and Bill White
A sixth motorist defendant was
John Allen White, charged with
drunken driving and resisting arrest.
It seems that White, according to
the evidence, struck and practically
destroyed a bicycle belonging to D.
J. Pritchard, a Hertford store keep
er. Judge Oakey amended the com
plaint from drunken driving to reck
less driving and fined White $20 and
cost, with the additional exaction
that he pay for the full repair of
Mr. Prltchard's bicycle.
A number of other minor prosecu
tions were before Judge Oakey, also,
on Tuesday. Emma Winslow, Neg
ress, forgot herself over the last
week-end, and wound up, unconscious
ly to her, in jail charged with being
drunk and using naughty talk. She
was soaked 30 days providing she
didn't pay the court cost and promise
to. keep off booze and behave for a
year.
Bill Cullipher was - another who
looked upon the wine when it was
carmine, looked too longingly - and
swore about it when the, Hertford
police jacked him apT Judge Oakey
saw no occasion to give Bill any
farther .chance and sent him to the
roads; for eixty days. ;
Herbert Jones was likewise disin
clined to' leave liquor aione over the
last week-enS, and was up for that
and ior " resisting arrest and having
a bottle of fiery fluid with him. He,
too, was shot down the line for 60
days.-;. ,"t
'. Then came Vera Lee Burnette ac
cused of quite casually saying that
Gladys Cooper was one of those, per
sons you cannot so 4 allnde' ; to .out
West without first' Smiling. Judge
Oakey questioned the .right to so
refer to a feminist -and fined Vera
the costs for her careless talk. J.
Donson Davis, for assault on Percy
Harrell, was fined 'tte.''eoata..;VVr
1 Elisha Smith," who apparently mis
took ah electric battery belonging to
Preston Smith for bis own,.- was de
creed guijty, told to .return thebat
tery and pay Smith $4 v for damage
done It, aiSO, llUf cuurjcuoy.;;
GOES TO MISSOURI
v. - e
1 ni 1L; H. Evans, who spent the
a - r..-er in Perquimans!' left Thurt-.
d-?y to Join her husband in Joplin,
Ha. Dr. and Mrs. Erns expect to
Lit re -three in. the sJrte of Waah-
t .J la California this winter.
HERTFORD TO BID
FOR PLANE
MAIL WEEK
50 Towns Will Be In
eluded In Trial Air
Mail Route
OCTOBER 11-16
Morris Believes Suitable
Mace Can He bur
nisned Here
Postmaster J. E. Morris, of Hert
lora, is expecting great air mail do
ings neie auring the week ox October
U-lti, or at least hoping- he has read
ins tip-off instructions correctly. The
tatier came to nim irom Postmaster
iJaul R. Younts, 01 Charlotte, chair
man of the North Carolina Postal
Air Mail Week committee, and men
tioned that during the period desig
nated it is the intention of the air
n.ail department to send a lot of
plane3 here and there about the
oiate 'slopping in every town in the
du;te with a lanoing fieid."
It is the last mat has Mr. Morris
stumped. Hertford has no formally
recognized air lield, but it has count
less level tracts adjacent where an
ai ship could land safely, and Mr.
lounts is going to be told of this in
the hope Hertford will have a chance
to gut in on the show.
Vviiat Mr. Younts had to say other
wise to Mr. Morris was this:
The observance will be on the week
of October 11-16. Beautiful cachets
are being p;pared for every town in
the State that is to be on the one
day air mail route of Eastern Aid
Lines. Harlee Branch. Second As
sistant Postmaster General, has
pledged full cooperation in making
the observance successful. ' '
On October 12, Eastern Air Line)
planes will make stops at all of the!
cities and 'tow'ns7n North Carolina'
with landing fields to pick up air
mail. j
The air mail from all of the east-
ern cities will be taken to Raleigh
and placed on E. A. L. planes there. I
Air mail of towns and cities in west- j
em North Carolina will be brought;
to Charlotte and taken on by one of;
the six planes making daily stops
here. i
Both planes will start from Kitty I
Hawk, where aviation was born when
the Wright brothers first flew a
plane soon after the turn of the
century.
Beautiful cachets are being prepar
ed for each of the 50 or more towns
and cities that will be on the one-day
air mail route. A replica of the
Kitty Hawk Memorial will be on the
cachets. From this point they will
differ with each town and city having
its own individual cachet, bearing the
slogan of the city, some date of im
portant significance, or some other
material of which the city is civic
conscious.
; Postmasters in each of the air
mail stops are planning to contact
representatives of civic ciubs, busi
ness organizations, city and county
officials .and others who can aid in
making the week a success.
Appropriate ceremonies will be ar
ranged at each of the points, and
officials in Charlotte and Raleigh will
give appropriate, greetings to the
special planes- when they arrive from
their pick up' trips.
The officials' in every city and town
in the State having . a Post Office
will be urged, by the postmosters to
give the airmail a Mai and indica
tions are that the cooperation in the
observance " wilt be almost 100 - per
cent throughout the State.
Joe Henry Bagley, Jr.
';: f Heads Student Body
ffolk, Va:, Joe Henry Bagley,
Jr., veteran guard on the Red Raider
football eleven, reserve sruard on last
year's basketball team and partici
pant in - many school v activities, to
day was declared elected president of
the student senate of Suffolk high
school. f Hie office carries with it the
titular honor of president of the stu
dent body.
Bagley's A election was ' by a sub
stantial majority of ' 14$ votes over
Joe Brown, who polled 195 votes to
34 for Bagley in the election held
bV. the high' school students,
f Tho contest, Incidentally, was mo
deled after 'regular-election proce
dure, including nominating conven
tions, campaigns and campaign "mana
gers, political speeches, paper ballots,
poll holders and an electoral board to
certify the election.."' :
Try The Perquimans Weekly Want
am ror iitcK itesniis. ',,',vv.t
STOP MEMBER
TWELVE 4
-H CLUB
s visiir
Boy and Girls Enjoy
Sightseeing Around
Washington
TWO DAYS
However, Group Misses
Getting Glimpse of
President
Twelve boys and girls, members of
Perquimans 4-H clubs, had a rip
snorting time on Monday and Tues
day of this week, when they were
chaperoned on a bus ride to Washing
ton, D. C., and saw everything there
was to see there, save the President
and he wasn't in town. But they did
go through his little home on Penn
sylvania avenue, and every one of the
19 returned Tuesday night confident
the White House was none too good
for a Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The young folks refused the sand
out of their eyes around 2 o'clock
Monday morning and hustled to the
Agricultural building in Hertford
where County Farm Agent L. W.
Anderson and Miss Gladys Havnrick,
home demonstration agent, welcomed
them with a cup of coffee apiece and
long before daylight started off with
them toward the Capitol City.
In Washington the club folks were
toted everywhere, saw the capitol and
all it contain!, visited Congerssman
Lindsay Warren's office to see where
he performs, went through the trea
sury and saw a batch of $10,000 bills
as well as mountains of bright cop
per pennies, took in the Agricultural
building and the massive structure
where the Department of Commerce
and Interior department operate, and
then journeyed through the White
House and the National Museum and
zoo." IV the evening' they took in a
movie show and got back Tuesday
night, after a further visit to minor
governmental establishment, full of,
confidence and love for the country
they call their own. Which is why
they went.
Mr. and Mrs. White
At World Conference
Only two world conferences of
Friends have ever been held, the first
being held in 1920 in London, where
there is the largest yearly meeting,
as all organized groups of Friends
are called, in the world. The London
yearly meeting has 20,000 members.
The second world conference was
held in this month at Haverford and
Swarthmore Colleges, near the City
of Philadelphia.
Among the Perquimans Friends
in attendance at this meeting were
Mr. and Mrs. F. C. White, of Belvi
dere. Mrs. White, who before her marri
age two years ago was Miss Bertha
Smith, pastor of the Piney Woods
Friends Church at Belvidere, has the
distinction of having attended both
of the world conferences.
After attending the recent meeting
Mr. and Mrs. White enjoyed a sojourn
in New England, visiting at Port
land and at Windham, Maine, where
Mrs. White served as pastor for four
years before coming to North Caro
lina. Incidentally, Maine experienced its
first frost on September 8th, while
Mr. and Mrs. White were there.
They attended a regional confe
rence of their church in Providence,
R. I., and visited at Dartmouth, Mass.,
where Mrs. White preached one night
at the church where she had served
six years as pastor.
Both Mr. and Mrs. White particu
larly enjoyed the world conference,
where upwards of a thousand dele
gates from 24 countries were pre
sent. They heard many of the lead
ing Quakers of the world. Among the
outstanding Friends in Philadelphia
were T. Edmund Harvey, a British
M. P., and James G. Douglas, a one
time Irish Free State Senator. Thir
teen of Germany's 250 Friends were
at the confereiicfe, and from Japan a
number .were present.
Time Magazine, in its September
13th issue .gave a comprehensive out
line of the conference and in refe
rence to the. Friends .said, "Influen
tial in world affairs out of all pro
portion, to their numbers, Quakers
compound ; to most sects strong in
faith1 are peculiarly passive."
: The chairman of the conference
was Rufus Matthews Jones, of Haver
ford College. . ; :
. Retunui Borne
, Mrs. R. T. White has returned from
Kavfolk where she visited Mrs, J. N.
White,
NAM'SCAPITAL
Whedbee Anxious
Lore Kept Straight
WELFARE BOARD
TO MEET TODAY
Social Security Awards
So Far Show High
Average
Consideration will be given today j
by the Perquimans County Board of i
Welfare to a further batch of caser,
of the aged and indigent of the
county, eligible, or otherwise, for
benefits under the new social security
program. So far Perquimans hasi
passed favorably eighteen such cases
with two others approved with de
pendent children.
Miss Ruth Davenport, the welfare
superintendent, has been earnestly
careful in her examination into the
cases already considered by the
county board, and is expected to pre
sent a further lengthy report of her
inquiries at today's meeting.
At Miss Davenport's office this
week it was stated that Perquimans
has been in no case niggardly in its
social security awards, the lowest al
lowances being for monthly $5 pay
ments with others running up to $!2
a month. This is a better average
than some adjacent counties, one of
which has gone so low as $2.50 aj
month in its allotments. J
Something like 48 cases, it wasi
said, had been considered, or were!
being considered by Miss Davenport. !
Three Men Hurt j
By Falling Tree
Garland Towe, Carey Quincy and
a colored man, Garland Stewart,
were hurt Tuesday afternoon while
cutting down a very large tree at the
old Towe home, which burned in
June.
The chain broke causing the tree
to i'ail in the opposite direction and
in falling struck Richard Stewart
colored man, injuring his back. Mr.
Towe was cut about the face and
head, Carey escaped with minor in-,
juries.
Mr. Towe and Richard Stewart
were later rushed by ambulance tc
the hospital in Elizabeth City.
"Frog" White Off ers
Grocery Specials
Ordinarily when a frog spots you :
he takes a flying leap. Ordinarily,
except you are a pretty hardy sort,
when you come surprisingly sudden
on a frog in your path you, also
take a leap. But these kind of frogs'
have four legs. In J. C. Blanchard
& Co.'s grocery department there's
one with only two legs, and he has a
million, well nearly a million, friends
who know him pleasantly as "Frog";
White. The only kind of leaping
that's done when he is around is to
ward him, and this week end there
will be . a lot of that. If you scan
the Blanchard add in today's issue
you'll know why, for "Frog" White
says he has an "extra special for:
you." He's not saying what but every-
one knows his "specials are specials
that are specials. Quiz him about it.
What Other County
Has Such Record?
Examination of the records in
the mce of the Perquimans Coun
ty Clerk's office, shows that in the
last three years, since Recorder
Walter H. Oakey, Jr., let it be
known that drunken motorists
could expect no mercy from him
and would in every case, when
adjudged guilty, be sent to the
roads, such violations have shown
a steady decrease.
In setting forth such a ruling in
1934 Judge Oakey expressed the
comment that drunken driving
was the greatest motoring sin, and
that the only way to deal with it
was to punish violators with road
imprisonment. In no case since has
he varied from that initial atti
tude. Motorists have had the ju
dicial fear of God thrown into
them and the figures show they
have been saddened and softened.
In the year ending August 1935
there, were 12 drunken drivers so
punished. Between August 1935
and August 1936 the ruling' show
ed its effect when only 8 drivers
were penalized in the Bame way
for the same offense,. And. in the
year. Just ending in August last a
further drop' to .5 violators was re
corded.. , .'.'..
Is pp Opinion Perquim
ans Court House An
tedates Chowan's
HAS RECORDS
Unique Book Markers
Furnished School
Students
Other commonwealths of North
Carolina had better look to their his
torical laurels before they gloatingly
publicize their superiority over Per
quimans' past either that or be
wary of Hertford's leading antiquary
and defender of Perquimans' faith
meaning Charles Whedbee, one-time
senator, gubernatorial expositor,
leading barrister hereabouts, a gen
tleman of honor with a mental
hatchet out for everything that sa
vors of dishonor or flim-flammancy,
if such a word may be coined to indi
cate disapproval of some history
claims.
In the first place, give a thought
to this Mr. Whedbee has a published
digest of the laws of this State in its
early days to show that North Caro
lina was doing business legislatively
in Perquimans County for CO years
before it ever attempted to wrestle
with such problems anywhere else.
And if that is not sufficient he can
antedate that with another "yellow
jacket" volume, worn, torn, mil
dewed and hardly decipherable,
going back into the late 1600's.
Mr. Whedbee showed the two old
books on Monday, not in a spirit of
supercility, but nevertheless with
much pride. He has the greatest af
fection and admiration for the little
town of Edenton, which he, by the
way, some day expects to see become
a rival of Hertford for charm and
culture, but he is not so sure that
Edenton has a right to the State
history marker designating its an
cient court house as the oldest in
North Carolina.
In fact, Mr. Whedbee has seen an
old deed registered in the court house
here prior to the date of the con
struction of the Chowan County
Court House, and if that isn't some
thing, what is? Nor does Mr.
Whedbee have reference to the first
deed recorded in North Carolina,
that from Kilcocanen, the Indian
brave, to George Durant. That is, of
course, an authentic document and
the most ancient legal paper in the
State's history, but it got into the
deed books a hundred or more years
after signing.
The paper Mr. Whedbee has in
mind, now in the State archives at
Raleigh, was offered for registration
in the Perquimans court house many
years before the Chowan court house
was built. He feels certain, but is
not sure, that the place of registry
was then the samp court house as is
at present in Hertford, of course,
before restoration. Which to the
Whedbee mind, anyhow, disposes of
one claim he believes should not be a
claim.
As far as that goes the old Kilco-canen-Durant
paper is not the State's
hottest historical piece of writing,
for Mr. Whedbee says that if students
of history want to really get busy at
Raleigh they can find a copy of the
marriage license of George Durant
and Ann Marwood way earlier than
the Kilcocanen-Durant deed. It, too,
was once on registration or safe
keeping in the Perquimans court
house, but a greedy state, with noth
ing of value from elsewhere, grew
hungry and placed it where it is for
gotten in Raleigh.
Just before he died Mr. Whedbee
interested the late C. W. Toms in an
idea that may grow elsewhere and
which certainly shows much initiative
on Mr. Whedbee's part. The latter
had been anxious to get a book mark
drawn for use in hjs extensive li
brary. He conceived the idea of
having Durant, in colonial attire,
meeting up with Indian dressed Kil
cocanen, showing him an ancient
parchment deed of treaty and acreage
sale, and showing by his manner that
he approved. Underneath the sketch,
which a Raleigh engraver friend pre
pared for Mr. Whedbee, was a
streamer sign telling of the incident
like this "Kilcocanen handing deed
for lands to George Durant."
The whole idea made an ideal book
mark for Mr. Whedbee's purpose,
but the more he thought of it the
more selfish the idea seemed to him.
He reasoned that the vouth of Per-
I quimans could hotter benefit by tt,
visits to hi town : of nativity Mr,
' (Continued ea Page Four) .
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