i
The NEW BBRN
D1 ID
PUBLISHED WEEKLY
IN THE HEART OP
EASTERN NORTH
CAROLINA
5^ Per Copy
VOLUME I
NEW BMN, N. C., FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 1958
Every time Sam Branch goes up
stairs to the stock room and re
pair department of his new Pol
lock street location, the local deal
er in office suppiies will be right
in the middle of a lot of hallowed
memories.
That’s because the second floor
of his establishment embraces
Stanley Hall, where nlany a wildly
exciting basketball game and any
number of gala shindigs were reel
ed off in days of yore.
In recent years the spot had
lost its glamor, and served chiefly
ns a meeting place for this or that
lodge. No longer was it used for
ball games after the National
Guard Armory became available,
and now with a modern high school
gymnasium handy its limitations
are emphasized all the more.
Yet, Stanley Hall, for all of its
size limitations, achieved -a history
that will be hard to duplicate. It
was there that Les Brown and his
bapd of renown—now international
ly famous—played one of its first
dances.
Brown, a student at Duke, as
were the other boys in his orches
tra, came down to New Bern and
furnished music for the Zulus Co
tillion club’s script dance of that
particular month. Compared with
the thousands of dollars he makes
now, what he got for playing here
was mere chicken feed.
Another famous bandleader,
Johnnie Long, likewise performed
at Stanley Hall in his early days
for the same Zulus Cotillion club,
and was happy to get the chance.
Long hails from Charlotte, if
we remember rightly, and was one
of those rarest of all musicians, a
lefthanded fiddler. Both Les and
Johnnie went over big in their
Stanley Hall appearances, as did
Hod Williams, a seasoned band
leader v/ho sang his theme song—
“Memories of You”—in a stirring
tenor manner that made the gals
drool and their escorts turn green
with envy.
As for the basketball games
staged at Stanley Hall, one that de
serves remembrance is the occasion
when ^Tugboat Annie Laughing-
house, now Mrs. Leland Mason,
scored 37 points against Goldsboro
for an all-time Northeastern Con-
(Continued on back page)
Smith
Announces
Walter J. Smith, who served
five years as alderman from the
Fifth Ward before bowing out
temporarily from the local po
litical scene, is girded for ac
tion again.
Late Thursday he announced
that he was filing as an oppon
ent for Craven County's present
Clerk of the Court, William B.
Planner, in the approaching Pri
mary.
An active member of River
side Adethedlst Church, a Ma
son and erstwhile Scout leader.
Smith is married, and the father
of two children.
In announcing, he said his on
ly aim, if elected Clerk of the
Court, will be to discharge the
duties capably and efficiently,
and to accord any and all per
sons who have reason to visit
the office the courtesy to which
they are entitled.
Political observers, aware of
Smith's reputation as a vigorous
campaigner of undenied popu
larity, are predicting a nip and
tuck race between Planner and
his newly-announced challenger.
Planner's last opponent for
the office was former Recorder
Court Judge Laurence Lancaster
of Vancebor 0. Planner won, with
votes to spare.
ROTARY LENDS ITS HELPING HAND—It
won’t be long now before happy scenes like
this one will be in evidence on the Pamlico
river near Washington. New Bern’s Rotary
Club, spearheaded by Coit L. Carter, does
its bit annually to finance a camp for crip
pled children. They have supported the
project for years, and also are responsible
for the monthly clinics held at Craven Coun
ty Health Center by Dr. Walter Hunt, Ra
leigh orthopedist. The summer camp for
handicapped children was founded by Miss
Lilly Fentress of Pamlico County, and is set
up, supervised and managed by the Crippled
Children’* Division of the State Board of
Health. Miss Fentress is a member of the
State staff.
Ray Of Hope Characterizes
Local Cancer Fund Campaign
Despair is playing no part in
Craven county’s 1958 Cancer Cru
sade, as the .drive for funds to as
sure further research gathers mo
mentum.
How could you expect anything
but faith and hope and courage
around campaign headquarters
from various leaders who are them
selves living proof that cancer can
indeed be conquered, and its vic
tims restored to healthy usefulness
in the community?
In picking Burke Taylor to serve
as chairman for this year's drive,
folks hereabouts made the ideal
choice. Whatever the cause in New
Bern, he has devoted his time, his
energy and his money toward mak
ing it a success.
Few business men anywhere
have gone all out as Burke invari
ably does to make his town a better
place in which to live. Some of his
deeds are fairly Well known, but
there are countless others that have
never been publicized.
In one field alone, the promo
tion of the interests of New Bern
High school’s student body, he has'
been a > wonderful benefactor for
years and years. Teenagers, well
aware of his generosity and under
standing, regard him with an affec
tion that is as flattering as it is
richly deserveil.
Taylor, for any drive. Can be
counted on to the fullest. He is
one man who needs no inspiration,
but inspiring to others if not to
him is the fact that he himself was
a temporary victim of cancer, and
wants to help others as he has
been helped..
Of particular concern to Burke
is the current frequency of cancer
among children. Kids have always
been close to his heart, and the.
sad fact that many of them are
dying needlessly from the disease
is a matter he wants to impress
upon all New Bernians and citizens
of Craven' county.
Mrs. Frank Wade, executiv.’ sec
retary of the Craven county branch
of the American Cancer Society,
has good reason, like Burke, to
push for the success of the 1958
drive and all future drives.
Although fortunate enough not
to have the disease, she found it
necessary to have a throat tumor
removed, and underwent therapy to
guard against the possibility of
cancer.
“P realize,” she says, “that there
are those who would prefer not to
have their identification with the
disease publicized, and I can appre
ciate their point of view. However,
if publicity will save the lives of
others by bringing about early diag-
Can't Look
To Leap If A
Car Is Near
Horace Ellington h-«s two reasons
for taking things slow at the busy
comer of Broad and Middle streets,
when he is walking home from his
concession stand in the lobby of
the New Bern post office.
First reason is the fact that he
is blind, and can’t dodge automo
biles like other folks who take
their lives in their hands and barge
across the cluttered thoroughfare.
Second reason is his vivid recol
lection of the time a lady pedes
trian, just in front of him at this
selfsame spot, got clobbered by a
motorist who was in too big a hur
ry to give any pedestrian the con
sideration deserved.
“I didn’t see it happen,” says
Horace, “but I heard the car when
it hit her, and I heard the thud
when her body hit the street right
at my feet.”
So, if you should happen to get
a glimpse of Ellington, pausing
uncertainly at the intersection on
a, late afternoon, you might help
him across. He’s bound to appre
ciate it, and so would you under
the circumstances.
nosis and treatment, I’m all for it.”
Joyce, in her unselfish attitude
and her compassion for other mor
tals, is reflecting the viewpoint
of national leaders in the Ameri
can Cancer Society. Some of Afner-
ica’s most famous men and women
haven’t hesitated to reveal public
ly the fact that they have been sub
jected to cancer, knowing that as
disciples of research, diagnosis and
treatment they are serving man
kind and speeding the day when
the.disease will be minimized if
not eliminated by the miracles of
science and jnedicine.
Most dramatic of all cancer sto
ries hereabouts is the one that in
volves Bill Pierce, City recreation
director. Completely true but un
published until this account in The
Mirror, it should make all citizens
stop and ponder.
Pierce, through a strange whim
of Fate, was showing a film for a
civic group here that was entitled,
“The 'Traitor Within.” It dealt with
cancer, and in the film there was
a man who had cancer develop
from a mole on his arm.
By almost unbelievable coinci
dence, Bill happened to have a sini-
ilar mole on his own arm. He was
impressed by the film, if no one
(Continued on Page 2)
NUMBER 2
Bonnet Might
Be Tossed in a
County Race
Although it may never material
ize, there’s an outside chance as of
now that a woman will file as a
candidate for Craven county com
missioner before the deadline ex
pires.
Already approached by friends
and urged to run, she hasn’t been
thoroughly sold on the idea yet. A
civic leader with many outstanding
accomplishments to her credit, the
lady on the fence would garner at
least a fair share of the votes if
she saw fit to toss her bonnet into
the ring.
As a matter of fact, a victory for
her might easily bob up when the
tallies are totaled on election night.
Biggest stumbling block in the
party's potential candidacy is the
fact that she is already up to her
ears in. worthy projects, and does
n’t feel that she can find time to
take on additional obligations.
Should. she make the race, it
hardly seems likely that she would
encounter a sizable segment of vot
ers opposed to women holding pub
lic offices. Being feminine was ob
viously no obstacle for Kathleen
Orringer when she made her suc
cessful run for New Bern’s board
of aldermen a while back.
And, for that matter. Craven
county already has (me lady fjym-
ly entrenched Ini' Its
highly populte Hegist^ «i;i)eeds-^_
Jane- HoUan4--*^^’^*^^r'■ '
The fact thit both Katltlem and
Jane have tilled then’ i^pective
offices capably and efficiently
would work to the advantage of
any other woman who might enter
the political arena at this time.
So, though the chances that a
member of the not-so-weakei* sex
will run for and win a county com
missioner’s post are fairly remote
at present, don’t dismiss the pos
sibility. It might just happen, just
like that.
This Caller Just Up
And Blew His Stack
Dr. Charles L. Allen, renowned
minister, author and lecturer, came
up 'v;.th an abundance of humorous
stories while in the city a few
months ago for a series of serv
ices.
One of his better ones recounted
the time he got fetched out of his
bed in the wee small hours of the
morning to answer the telephone
at his Atlanta residence.
“Is this Walnut 6345?” an in
toxicated voice at the other end of
the line inquired. Dr. Allen, court
ly and courteous always, even at
three o’clock in the morning, said
that no it wasn’t.
“Are you sure it isn’t Walnut
6345?” the drunk insisted, and
again Dr. Allen replied in the negar
tive.
Whereupon the inebriated caller
blew his stack. -“Good Lord, man,y
he exploded, “you’ve done answer
ed the wrong number-” -— -
Hard to Say Which is Worst:
Easter Biddy That Lives, Or—!
The average New Bern mother
would have a hard time deciding
in her own mind which is worse,
an Easter biddy that lives or an
Easter biddy that dies.
Most of the gaily colored chicks
insisted on by youngsters of fleet
ing fancy are no longer among the
living. Scads of them expired be
fore Easter Monday rolled around.
Those that were alive, in most
instances, got scant attention from
the kids who craved them so only
a short time before. Mamas, as
usual, were left with the problem
of tending to them, just as they
are forced to take care of rabbits,
parakeets, dogs, cats, or whatever
else n child latches onto for a pet.
At least one lad has his biddy
housed in an abandoned canary
cage, and the chick is doing a lot
more chirping than the canary used
to do, if that proves anything.