March 31-April 6, 1952 

Five-year-old Bill Scurry's life was saved because his aunt wanted a goodbye kiss from him. 

The boy, son of Mr. and Mrs. Claude Scurry of Piedmont Street in Reidsville, was outside the house playing with his Boy Scout rope while his aunt, Mrs. Minnie Jayroe of Georgetown, S.C., was visiting with Mrs. Scurry. By standing on a table, the youngster was able to fasten one end of the rope to a tree limb. The other end of the rope already had a noose on it and young Bill then put his head into the noose and stepped off the table. 

He discovered that he could neither release himself nor call for help. Fortunately, shortly thereafter, his aunt came looking for him to kiss him goodbye. He was unconscious when she found him. 

He was rushed to Annie Penn Memorial Hospital where he regained consciousness and was able to tell his mother what happened. The doctor who treated him said young Bill might well have died had he hung from the tree three or four minutes longer but it now appears he will recover completely. 

Gloria Harris, 17, was crowned Miss Leaksville High School in competition with 33 other girls at a pageant at the high school. ... W.T. Combs Jr., young Leaksville lawyer, was nominated by the Rockingham Republican party to run for the state House of Representatives in November. He was chosen at a county GOP convention in the courthouse at Reidsville. ... Warner Williams, 54, lost his right arm when it became entangled in a cotton-working machine known as a "picker" at Cone Mills' Edna plant at Reidsville. An employee of the mill for 20 years, he was trying to clean the machine when the accident happened. 

The Madison town commissioners raised the town's property tax rate by 15 cents to $1.25 per $100 valuation. They also raised the minimum water rate by 25 cents to $1.50 a month. ... Stephen F. Woodson, manager of Radio Station WFRC in Reidsville, has been named sales supervisor of the Reidsville tobacco market for the 1952 season. Woodson will continue his duties as station manager. ... Betty Smith of Stoneville won the Trotter Cup for her rendition of three difficult hymns in a hymn-playing piano contest sponsored by the Martha Taylor Davison Music Club of Leaksville. The award is named after Mrs. Ben Carter Trotter of Leaksville, the club's first president and a founding member. 

The 89th anniversary of Emancipation Day was celebrated in the Tri-Cities with a parade featuring 270 band members from high school bands in Leaksville, Reidsville and Madison and the Winston-Salem Teachers College. A program in the auditorium of Douglass High School, a baseball game and a dance followed later in the day. ... Shirley Jean Thornton and Jimmy Harbinger, Reidsville High School seniors, have been awarded Elks Club scholarships for their outstanding school performance. They each received a $250 savings bond and will compete for a $300 scholarship at the state level. 

Light up: El Producto cigars, 2 for 15 cents. 

Play ball: "Joe Gordon" leather-lined glove, $3.57; big league bat, 87 cents.