By Clyde Parker

April 6, 1962

NINE CANDIDATES FOR CITY COUNCIL

Robert A. Pretlow, Jr. has become the ninth candidate to announce his intention to run for City Council in the June 12 election. The City Charter allows for five at-large seats. The number of candidates is the most in at least 28 years.
“Whereas I may have differed with the Franklin City Council on certain issues, fundamentally I feel Franklin has been blessed with good government on both the Council and administrative levels,” Pretlow said. “Few cities can match Franklin’s enviable record of progress and financial stability.”
Pretlow is a lifetime resident of Franklin. He started working for Pretlow Peanut Co. as a construction laborer and worked his way up to the position of President. He held that position from 1946 until 1952 at which time the Company was sold to Birdsong. He then started his own business – Pretlow and Co. of which he is President. The company distributes agricultural chemicals and equipment in the area.
Also running are incumbents Darden Jones, Carl Steinhardt, Dellie Cotton and Floyd Briggs. Council member John C. Parker has decided not to seek reelection. In addition to Pretlow, other newcomers running are Warren Councill, Dr. John Murray, Roger Drake and Maxie Day.
The Mayor will be selected by the five elected councilmen from among themselves.

RED CROSS CAMPAIGN UNDERWAY

A special Red Cross fund raising campaign is underway in Southampton County and Franklin. “The drive has special interest here,” said Dr. Norval Nuckols, President of the Southampton County Chapter of the American Red Cross. “The Ash Wednesday Storm, which occurred on March 7, affected many local people who also have residences in the coastal areas of North Carolina and Virginia.” The American Red Cross established shelters which housed over 800 displaced persons and fed more than 1,150 people during and after the storm – at a cost of $100,000.
General Co-Chairmen Charles Eitel and R. E. Bond are coordinating the fund raising campaign. Community chairmen are E. J. Harriman for Franklin who will be assisted by Ned Jones in the business district and Bud Brotzman in the residential areas; Mrs. Roland Whitley, Black Creek-Burdette; Edward Brooks, Courtland; Mrs. C. M. Ramsey, Ivor; and Miss Sandra Pond, Sedley.
Boykins and Branchville have contributed to the Red Cross relief effort through their Community Fund, publicity chairman J.J. Forrer pointed out.

UB-CAMP LAUNCHES NEW WASTE DISPOSAL PLAN

Union Bag-Camp Paper Corp. has begun work on a massive lake which will hold nine billion gallons of waste water for purification before it is allowed to flow into the Blackwater River. The new lake will be located not too far from the North Carolina state line, just a few miles south of the present one billion gallon waste water lake.
Waste water will be channeled from the mill into the present lake and then into the new lake by a large pipeline, noted John E. Ray III, Resident Manager of the Franklin Mill. The existing lake holds treated waste water for as long as 50 days before it is released into the river, according to Stuart Crawford, UB-Camp’s water and waste disposal expert. “The new system, when completed in the Spring of next year, will be big enough to allow shut-off of all waste water into the Blackwater River when the river is too low,” he said. “In order to maximize dilution of the treated water with the river water, the treated water will be released only when the river level is at its highest point.” “The treated water will be four to five times purer than it was prior to development of the containment lakes.”
Union Bag Camp’s present waste water disposal system is considered among the best in the paper industry. In 1942, the Company, then known as Chesapeake Camp Corp., began pollution controls – long before the Virginia Water Control Board was created in 1946.
The Union Bag-Camp lakes and surrounding areas are inhabited by much wildlife. Fish, turtles, ducks and geese abound. Deer and many other forms of wildlife are abundant and prolific. The Company has experimented with other means of waste disposal. During the summer months, up to a million gallons of purified waste water a day are sprayed over corn fields on the Company farm. The result has been yields up to 140 bushels per acre.

CLYDE PARKER is a retired human resources manager for Franklin Equipment Co. and an amateur historian.