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THE NEW BERN MIRROR, NEW BERN, N. C.
Friday, June 13, 1958
THE NEW BERN MIRROR
Published Every Friday at 111 King Street,
New Bern, N. C., by the Sole Owner
J. GASKILL McDANIEL
-Editor and Publisher
One Year.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
$2.50 Six Months-
$1.25
Entered as second-class mail at New Bern April 4, 1958,
under the act of March 3, 1879.
MILLIONS LOST FOREVER
It’s been so long now since New Bern had a tobacco
inarket, that no one bothers to mention it any more.
We’re much too concerned with other matters, it seems,
to weep over the millions of pounds of the golden weed that
are hauled out of Craven County each Fall to markets in
Greenville, Wilson, Kinston, Washington, Williamston, Rocky
Mount, Tarboro and elsewhere.
Does it make sense to you? Last season alone in Craven
County, there were 11,836,449 pounds of tobacco harvested
from 8,018 acres on 1,700 farms. Every single ounce of that
tremendously valuable crop had to be hauled out of our Coun
ty, and sold somewhere else.
Multiply these figures by the great number of years that
New Bern has had no tobacco market, and you would have a
stupendous total. Maybe it’s just as well, in view of our com
placency, if we never go to the trouble of really adding up the
millions upon millions of dollars that we’ve waved goodbye
to.
After all, it’s been said many times that there’s no need
to cry over spilled milk. Perhaps the same philosophy can be
applied to the tobacco that should have been sold on a New
Bern warehouse floor but wasn’t.
How indifferent can a town get? Do we deserve new in
dustries that continue to pass us by, when it’s a matter of
record that we have failed to make the most of our opportuni
ties?
Maybe we’ll get some of those industries eventually, if
only through accident or blind luck. There are already 7,000
manufacturing concerns in North Carolina, employing 480,-
000 persons. Still more are headed for the Old North State,
so through a first-rate miracle we might land just one.
Speaking of industries, tobacco markets create industries
in towns where they thrive, aside from the actual auction sales
of the weed. If you need proof, visit Greenville and see the
' tobacco industries there. You might also take a look at the love
ly homes that were built by tobacconists who reaped a fortune
from tobacco that was grown in Craven and peddled in Pitt.
There are those who might say that a few tobacco ware
houses, or even a single warehouse, would harm the cultural
aspects of our town. Culture is a wonderful thing, and New
Blra ought to hang on to it. All of us should be agreed on
that point.
But Greenville, despite its many warehouses and tobacco
factories, has managed to flourish as a cultural and educational
center. East Carolina College has long since outgrown its smaU-
school classification, and is today quite an institution of higher
learning.
Offhand, we can’t think of any town in our sprawling
Coastal Plain that is a worse town because it has tobacco ware
houses within its boundaries. Much to the contrary, a town with
tobacco warehouses is apt to be a progressive town.
We have more than a faint suspicion that it was progres
siveness that brought the warehouses, and not the warehouses
that brought progressiveness. Which, if you ask us, doesn’t
make us look too smart and wide awake.
Millions of pounds of tobacco are being grown in Graven
County again this year on those 1,700 farms. Take a look at
it in the fields, for it will never end up in New Bern—except
to pause briefly at a stop light or two.
Is it any wonder that folks in Greenville, Kinston and
Wilson laugh at us behind our backs, and call us dumb and
slow and sleepy?
Village Verses
■■■■■■■■■I •■■■■■■■■■
FATHER'S DAY
Free Wheeling
By BILL CROWELL
Dept, of Motor Vehicles. State of North Carolina
We come today to Father’s Day, that one time in the year
When everybody in the house tries smothering him with cheer;
He doesn’t get a scolding, for ashes on the rug.
Instead the Missus only smiles, and gives her man a hug.
For once he hears the programs that most men like to choose.
It’s quite okay if Pop keeps tuned to baseball and to news;
His Sunday papers, scattered ’round, no longer start tongues nagging.
And who is there who dares to doubt, when he begins some bragging.
The kids don’t whine for nickels, on this the day of days.
In fact they’re real considerate, in oh so many ways;
Mom makes no mention of new hats, the old one still can do.
That is, until this Father’s Day has passed in grand review.
If Pop sits in the parlor, in undershirt and socks.
Nobody says that he’s uncouth, or gives his jaws a box.
Oh yes, when it is Father’s Day, a mighty man is he.
Tomorrow he may be a mouse, but now, why no sirree.
Most folks must do with little, although they long for more.
Life’s apple goes to just a few, the others get the core;
In view of that. I’m hoggish in asking what I seek.
But wouldn’t Father’s Day be nice, just seven days a week.
—JGMcD.
WHOSE FAULT ... Not too long
ago an automobile driven by the
16-year-old son of City Councilman
W. B. Myers of Tampa, Fla., went
out of control at high speed. One
high school student was killed and
five others were hurt. The Tampa
Times asked Mr. Myers to write of
his reaction to the tragedy, both as
a father and a city official. Excerpts
from his statement follow:
It was a wholesale tragedy. We
realize that Tommy must face the
fact that the boy lost his life in
the car Tommy was driving.
There is nothing in the world
to compensate for the loss of a
life. If I could I would give my life
for that boy’s. I surely would. I
feel that with all my heart.
Whatever charge they place
against Tommy he is going to have
to take it. He was wrong. I’ll stand
by him as a father, but not as a
public official.
If every parent of a teen-ager
who drives could stand bjr helpless
ly in a hospital and see their chil
dren lying on an operating table,
wondering if they will live or die,
I’m sure they would wish that the
automobile had never been invent
ed.
Yet you realize that you can’t
lock your children in the house"
and tell them they can’t be a part
of society. And you can’t be with
them every minute. So what is the
answer?
- I know that much of the problem
is centered around speed. Ever
since we have had a television set
in our house, all I can remember
seeing on automobile ads is power,
speed, pick up. . .
How can you explain to a child,
or even an adult, that he has to go
under 46 (the limit where this
accident occurred) when he is con
stantly shown examples of cars
which go more than 100? |
My son had been told not to drive
fast, not to exceed the speed limit,
to be careful and look out for the
other fellow.
One of the problems confronting
me now is whether to let him drive
again. Frankly, i don’t know if I’ll
ever let Tommy drive until he’s
18. But it will be a long time be
fore I have to make that decision,
due to the extent of his injuries.
I think that except in extreme
cases a boy probably should not be
permitted to drive until he is 18.
The two-year difference between
16 and 18 will give him much more
maturity and common sense. The
law gives a child 16 years old the
right to drive. But I feel that each
parent should examine his own
child as an individual and determ
ine whether the child is. fit from
the standpoint of maturity and
common sense to operate a lethal
weapon such as the modern car,
^ 9|t
SUDDEN THAWT . . . Some driv
ers, it seems, can find difficulty
for every solution.
4: i|e
TRAFFIC CONTROL ... Out in
Missouri a school bus had stopped
on a heavily-traveled road to disem
bark some children. A 13-year-old
monitor took up his regular posi
tion with a red flag to help get the
ybungsters safely across the high
way. A big car, approaching the
bus rapidly, wasn’t slowing down
at all despite the red flag and the
flashing lights of the bus.
The young man carrying the flag
sensed that the car was not going
to stop. He took things into his own
hands when he picked up a rock
from the side of the road and lam
basted the windshield of the car.
The rock fell in the lap of the er
rant driver but he stopped finally
and emerged unhurt.
I suppose all of us have had the
urge to resort to such dynamic
methods of traffic control but some
how lacked the impulsive courage
of the young flagman.
WOMEN ... I guess to the aver
age Tar Heel male, women drivers
are a necessary evil, a nuisance he
somehow learns to put up with
through years of deciphering hand
signals and unpredictable ma
neuvers on the highway.
As a release for some of the
arilnoyances he feels, the male
directs a multitude of jokes (us
ually fcad) about the womenfolks’
activities behind the wheel. He
enjoys poking fun because the
jokes help him forget how furious
he can get with her as a fellow
motorist.
But hold on, there’s one segment
of the adult mate population that
actually loves her!
They are our car designers. To
the engineers the little woman is
no laughing matter. They like to
meet her every whim, please her.
and they’re out to do right by her
—even the housewife you saw mak
ing a left turn from a right lane
last week.
When the auto industry was
young, and salesmen were beating
the bushes for customers, they
learned quickly that more women
(Continued on back page)
VITA-VAR
PAINTS
at
MITCHELL'S
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315 S, Front
ME 7-3100
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FULLER'S
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Evinrude Outboard
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MFC & Sabre Glass
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Fleet Cap'n IVailers
Boat Supplies
Kimbrells
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1905 Neusa Blvd. ME 7-3785
Where Quality and Experience
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Need
Cash?
$25.00 - $200.00
We supply quick, private
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Security
Lean Corp.
329 S. Front'
Phone ME 7-2182
Check-Up on Your
Medicine Chest!
Throw-out old drugs, never
use another person's
medicine, and let us help
you make a list of "neads"
for emergencies, and to
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And remember, your pre
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Joe Anderson Drug Store
ME 7-4201
Essotane Gas Service
COOKING - HOT WATER - HEATING
BOTTLED OR BULK TANKS
SCOTT REFRIGERATION CO., INC.
221 Middle Street
Phone ME 7-3179