New Bern Public Library
Intriguing, or perhaps discon
certing, is the recent report from
South Dakota that they’re intend
ing to make sculpture speak, out
in the Black Hills.
It seems that Korczak Ziolkow-
ski, who is carving Chief Crazy
Horse in mammoth proportions on
a convenient hillside, would like to
wire the famed nemesis of Gen
eral Custer for sound. He wants
the mighty chieftan rigged to sing
recorded Sioux tribal songs.
And added to this revelation is
a suggestion by Senator Karl
Mundt that sound be given to the
gigantic faces of George Washing
ton, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham
Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt on
Mount Rushmore.
Assuming that these four gentle
men, or their stone images, won’t
perform as a male quartet, it may
be intended that they take turns
making their favorite speeches.
If the idea catches on, statues may
start talking all over this fair land
of ours.
The fad has possibilities in New
Bern. Think how thrilling it would
be if those iron bears on City Hall
and in front of the Central Fire
Station were blessed with ampli
fied voices. Not growls or yelps,
mind you, but the ability to speak
English with an appropriate Tar
Heel accent.
The City Hall bears coiuld re
mind citizens that their water and
light bills are due, urge voters to
show up at the polls on election
bugs, and drivers who' crash stop
lights. One bear could serve as a
spokesman for the Mayor, and
another for lesser officials.
Or, on second thought, they
could offer a constant line of re
buttals to counteract charges made
on a local radio program that gives
complainants the chance to re
main anonymous. Not sure who
is doing the accusing — which is
equivalent to an attack from am
bush, the bears could holler in
all directions.
Around at the Central Fire Sta
tion, the bears wouldn’t have to
become embroiled in politics. They
could simply give talks on fire
protection, the elimination of com
bustible hazards in the home, the
penalty one might expect for send
ing in a false alarm, and the
dangers involved in chasing a truck
that’s headed for a conflagration.
They’ve got a bear on the camp
us at New Bern High school too.
His job, thanks to the marvels of
amplification, could be to remind
students that exams are just
around the corner, and they had
better study or else. He could even
lead some of the cheers at pep
rallies, and announce bulletins
issued by the principal’s office.
How long all this would last
before New Bernians decided they
couldn’t bear it any mpre is a
matter for conjecture. In a world
that’s already noisy to an extreme
degree, there is little necessity
for creating a still greater din.
Maybe there’s more room for
noise out in South Dakota. If Chief
Crazy Horse wants to sing Sioux
tribal songs, it suits us fine. At this
distance we won’t be hearing his
chants, even when the wind is
blowing this way. Instead, all we’ve
got to worry about at the moment
is an over dose of rock ’n roll.
Just as some of today’s sounds
are annoying to us -oldsters, the
memory of yesterday’s sounds
clings to our hearts. There was
something substantial about the
sound of wood being chopped into
stove length in your neighbor’s
backyard, or the boom-boom rever
berations that resulted when a
housewife hung the parlor rug
over a clothes line, and beat it
vigorously with a broom.
You never had to guess when the
(Continued on Page 7)
The NEW BERN
IN
CARC»w ^
5i Per Co|>^
WEEKLY
OF
VOLUME 4
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 1962
NUMBER 45
!
CONFEDRATE CENTENNIAL
NEW BERN-CRAVEN COUNTY
\* cm
ADVERTISING IGNORANCE — Pictured here is one of
several misspelled signs, erected at all of New Bern’s ap
proaches,, to let countless motorists know about last
Wednesday’s Civil War celebration. Out-of-towners snicker
ed at our historic Southern stronghold, sijice those in
charge of the affair obviously hadn’t learned how to spell
CONFEDERATE. No doubt about it, quality education can’t
come too soon.
NTlNNlAi.
county
AND HERE’S ANOTHER—This banner, misspelled like all
the others, was suspended above East-Front street, where
the heavy traffic from Morehead City and Cherry Point
could get a splendid view of it. In fact, you just couldn’t
get into town from any direction without being confronted
by one of these ludicrous things. Maybe it was the sign
painter who goofed at the outset, and maybe not. Certainly
someone else goofed by keeping the signs up for days.