T COUNTY
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10c
SECOND SECTICIf
PACES 1 TO 4
A Merger ol THE BEAUFC3T NEWS (Eriafcluhed 1912) and THE TWIN CITY TIMES (Established 1936)
38th YEAR NO. 44.
EIGHT PAGES
MOREHEAD CITY, AND BEAUFORT, NORTH CAROLINA, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1948
EIGHT PAGES
PUBLISHED TUESDAYS AND FBIDATL;
CARTERE
BlindManDrives Truck, Invents
Manufactures, and Makes Money
CAREFUL!
BLIND MAN
DRIVING!
The first day that James G.
Whitehurst, Beaufort, drove the
Shel-Ton Industries service car on
the road with this awe-inspiring
sign emblazoned on its posterior,
the cars lined up behind him res
pectfully and fearfully just as in
a funeral procession.
Field hands were observed to
straighten themselves up from the
tobacco rows and stare in bewil
derment, pointing out the pheno
menon to their companions.
But any man who has eyesight
enough to observe a picture of a
Venetian blind-making machine in
a magazine and then, with no
other sort of blueprint, to hand
make a machine which performs
18 separate cutting and two sand
ing operations, certainly is not
blind.
Hobby Started It All
A hobby of woodworking begun
in his basement while he was do
ing civilian war work at Camp
Lejeune, coupled with imagination
and ingenuity, has now qualified
Mr. Whitehurst for the "unusual
occupation'" roster. He has pro
duced a machine that rivals the
creations of the famous comic strip'
designer and, incidentally, has
throttled down more speed happy
motorists on the highway than the
state patrol.
Mr. Whitehurst turns out the
Venetian blinds at the Shel-Ton
Industries plant at 310 Marsh St.,
Beaufort.
"1 like jto have three days, but
I can turn "but a set of blinds
in 24 hours," Mr. Whitehurst told
the reporter. All blinds are cus
tom jtiade to fit the customer's
windows and are guaranteed for 12
mouths' satisfactory service.
The blinds are sold on a square
footage basis. When a customer
reports his windows are average
size and wants to know what blinds
will cost the company's standard
answer is, "There's no such thing
as an average sized window. The
windows of every house must be
measured, and our blinds are
made to fit."
The Shel-Ton blinds are made
not only to fit the specific "blind"
Heeds of the individual customer;
they are also custom made to with
stand Carteret's corrosive atmos
phere. The selection of all moving
parts, lacquer, etc., is done with a
weather eye for the whims of the
local salt air. ,
To insure that your blinds will
tilt when you want them to tilt,
come hail or high water, Mr.
Whitehurst imports the slats, rails
and all wooden parts, as well as
the aluminum for aluminum slats,
from Oregon. He orders pulleys
made of lignum vita, the hardest
known wood from the Honduran
tropics, tape from England and
New England, paint from Ohio and
New York state, tilting and cord
lock devices from Los Angeles, and
cord from New England.
Little Things Count
The ex-newspaperman (he was
at one time a reporter for The
Beaufort News) turned plumber
turned woodworker turned inven
tor and manufacturer emphasized
that when it comes to producing
Venetian blinds that do right and
stay right, it's the many little
things in the process which count.
Smooth holes must be routed in
the slats and rails to prevent the
cords from fraying. Here lJie im
portance of accurate design of Mr.
Whitehurst's hole-cutting machines
becomes apparent Stops must be
placed in such way that the
cords will drop from the headrail
in perfect perpindicular lines, else
they will soon wear through.
The two main things which work
or don't work in a Venetian blind
are the Miters' and cord locks, the
"Blind Man" pointed out. The
cord lock is the device which en
ables you to raise or lower your
blinds or to stop them at a desired
level. Mr. Whitehurst's locks con
tain two dogs instead of the usual
one which make for positive lock
ing at any level.
The tilting device is the little
"hickey" which comes Into play
when you seek to open or close
the blinds to filter through the
desired amount of light and air.
Plastic Replaces Metal
To prevent corrosion by Carter
et's salt air, Mr. Whitehurst's fil
ters have plastic movable parts,
instead of metal, which would
quickly cake with rust
Tilting, Instead of so much rais
ing and lowering of blinds, is the
! solution to longer wear, Mr. White
hurst emphasized,' because the
more you raise .and lower the
blinds the quicker the tape wears
OUt. v
: Mr. Whitehurst uses fine Port
Orford cedar for his wooden slats,
grown near Port Orford, Oregon,
and believe it or not, ladies, the
This Is the bad'
of the truck whicl
causes many a mo'
torist an uneasy mo -ment
as he follow:!
it along the high ,
way. Below, Jamer,1
Whitehurst, thrt
"blind man" turnt
out some blinds oi
the machine he in ,
veniea. his succes
in business he at
tributes to a streak
of imagination I
plus a hit of inge.
nuity. He's a nativi
son who has made
good in the home
town. Photo by THE
NEWS-TIMES.
stuff smells just like sachet.
After the cord holes are routed
in the slats by one of the ingenius
machines, they are carried into the
paint room where a lacquer under
coat is put on. Allowing about 20
minutes for drying, the.jjlats are
then -burnished to remove the
wood fuzz raised by the lacquer.
The lacquer seals the pores of the
wood and the pitch inside, and
the burnishing leaves the slats
slick.
The finished coat can then be
applied, and this will be a gloss
lacquer which comes near to ena
mel in shine. The rails which
house the mechanism at the top of
the blinds are handled much the
same way.
But the machines which Mr.
Whitehurst constructs himself are
the key to his unique manufactur
ing processes. The big one which
performs the 18 cutting and two
8andinb operations has two drills,
three route bits, and two sanders,
all operated by the same motor
and three belts. The drills and
bits all spin simultaneously so that
the operator may readily shift
from one step in the process to the
next, and back again if necessary.
But the sanders operate separate
ly. $700 Saved
This equipment would normally
cost $800, its inventor informs you,
but he built it from a picture in a
magazine at a cost of only $100.
(He bad the motor already.) Mr.
Whitehurst is now making a ma
chine which will route an elonga
ted cord hole in the ends of 10
slats in one operation.
After knowing all these details
of the Beaufort-made, custom-built-for-Carteret
county Venetian
blinds, if the customer still is not
satisfied, Mr. Whitehurst has the
products of Yardley Venetian
Blind co. for sale, too. He also has
the agency for Kool-Vent all-aluminum
awnings, too, if you want to
shade your doors and windows as
well as eauip them with blinds.
Draw Picture!
If a customer phones or writes
and doesn't know the exact name
of the gadget which Mr. White
hurst makes, he is likely still to
get what he wants. Shel-Ton In
dustries has manufactured and
sold Venetian blinds to inquirers
who asked for "venetial" blinds,
"magnesium," "ignition," and "vet
eran" blinds. If you can't spell,
then draw a picture and White
hurst will get the point. .
Maybe you'reunder the Impres
sion that Venetian blinds are a
new-fangled device, but Mr. White
hurst assures yoit that Moses pro
bably shaded his windows with
them . in ' ancient Egypt before
leaving for the Promised Land.
The Egyptians appear to have got
ten the idea from palm leaves,
which will shade a man from the
sunlight while still admitting light
and air.
So the Venetian blind started
in Egypt, moved to Arabia and
then on westward to France with
the expansion of civilization and
today are flourishing as never be
fore, being manufactured right in
Beaufort
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BUND MAN
HAKLOWE
Mesdames Clvde S. Tavlor. Ru-
fus W. Ward, Carlton J. Taylor,
Roy Mason and Will Conner mo
tored . to Core Creek Thursday
afternoon to "attend the llome
Demonstration club meeting.
Mrs. Claude Tavlor and daugh
ter, Claudia, of Bachelor, were
here Monday afternoon to see Mrs.
Ashby B. Morton.
Evans C. McLawhorri and moth
er, Mrs. Daniel McLawhorn carried
the McLawhorn's baby to the doc
tor Friday.
Claude Taylor, of Bachelor,
passed through Tuesday enroute
home from Greenville.
Mr. and Mrs. James L. Smith,
Jr. and son, Jimmie, of Bachelor,
passed through Friday evening en
route to Cherry Point.
Mesdames Harry Davis, Emma
Oglesby, A. N. Bell. Will Conner,
Willie Bradshaw, W. Kuch Wil
liams, Roy Mason, Carlton J. Tay
lor, Clyde S. Tavlor. M. Carlvle
Taylor and W. C. Williams attend
ed tne meeting of the Carteret
County Zone Friday at Straits.
Mrs. Harry Davis, Mrs. Joel
Davis and Miss Mary Elizabeth
Davis were in Morehead City Sat
urday. Mrs. George W. Ball and Mrs.
Raymond Ball were in New Bern
Monday.
Mrs. George Huntley, Jr. and
children of Beaufort passed
through Friday enroute to Bache
lor to see Mrs. James L. Smith who
was ill.
Miss Emily Taylor, of Raleigh,
and Scott Gardner, of Macon, were
guests of Philip Taylor and family
during the weekend.
Mrs. Carlton J. Taylor and Mrs.
John W. Ives, Jr. motored to Crab
Point Saturday afternoon.
Mrs. Lottie V. Adams and A. P.
Adams were in Goldsboro Satur
day on business.
Mr. and Mrs. John W. Ives, Jr.
and Carlton J. Taylor motored to
Cherry Point Friday evening for
the opening of the Rose Ford com
pany. Mrs. W. C. Williams and Ashby
B. Morton were in New Bern Mon
day morning.
The following attended church
services here Sunday afternoon:
Rev. B. B. Slaughter, of New Bern,
Leon F. Williams and John Muller
of Riverdale, Mr. and Mrs. Carroll
H. Smith, Mr. and Mrs. T. E. Tay
lor, Mr. and Mrs. J. Artis Taylor,
Edward H. Taylor, Miss Dorothy
Taylor, Mr. Henry Elliott and
Gerald Taylor of Bachelor, Mr. and
Mrs. Mizzell, Mrs. Letha Hender
son and Mrs. Bennie Garner and
Rev. J. M. Jolliff of Newport.
The Woman's Society of Christ
ian Service met Friday evening
with Mrs. Carlton Taylor. The
president, Mrs. W. C. Williams,
presided over the meeting and led
the worship ' service. Mrs. Will
Conner gave Interesting reports on
the program for the month. It
was decjded to meet at the church
Tuesday, Oct 26 for the Week of
Prayer Services. The hostess as
sisted by Mrs. Clyde Taylor served
CHERRY PQIIIT IIEVS
Charles Turner Appointed
O R Training Supervisor
Charles Turner, who has recent
ly been named Supervisor of the
O&R Training Sections has been
chosen from several applicants by
the selection board to fill the post
left vacant by the death of Jack
Smiley, of Morehead City, who was
drowned in June while sailing.
Alter a year in the Navy and
six months with Consolidated-Vul-tce
at Elizabeth City, Mr. Turner
entered the O&R Department on
June 11, 1943. He received the
rating of aircraft motor mechanic
in March of 1944, in which rate
he later received competitive sta
tus. So capably did he perform
his duties that he was made an in
structor in December of 1945, and
served in that capacity until his
promotion to training supervisor.
Mr. Turner was graduated from
high school in Yonkers, New York.
and attended the University of
North Carolina for two years. A
native of Now Bern, he was at one
time connected with the Barbour
Boat Works.
He makes his home on his own
few acres" on Green Springs
Road, where -he and Mrs. Turner
also have a tiny garden plot. They
have two children, a boy and a
girl.
Although he admits that it s
somewhat unusual for a man, Char
les' hobby is cooking, usually sea
food or steaks. As a spectator he
enjoys both baseball and football,
and picks as his current favorite,
quite naturally, the "Tar Heels"
of North Carolina U.
Genial, easy-going Charles has
many friends among O&R person
nel, who wish him continued suc
cess in his new assignment.
WEEKLY VISIT
ABOUT THE BASE
Public Works
Often in the past as we sat pick
ing at our old broken-down type
writer, trying to meet the deadline
and get this stuff to Mrs. Dclisle
for further processing, we wonder
ed if it was all worth the struggle
and if anybody ever read it any
way, etc., etc. Well, now we know
. . . They read it. We know this
because in last week's column we
made a mistake and said Jim Whit
comb .had gone to Asheville to a
Shriners' convention, whereas real
ly Jim Whitcomb had gone to
Asheville to an AMERICAN LE
GION convention. Mr. W. had this
mentioned to him every day for a
week by somebody or other, and
finally got to where he didn't say
anything, he just smiled (weakly),
and we promised to correct the
statement.
This error was due to overwork,
postwar nerves, and the fact that
we weren t watching what we were
doing. ... Mr. Whitcomb is going
on another convention trip this
month, this time to Miami and
this also is an 'AMERICAN LE
GION convention. ... It must be
a great life.
Mr. and Mrs. Tom Cathey and
children have returned from Char
lotte, N. C, after a visit to Mrs.
Cathey's brother-in-law, who is in
a serious condition following an
automobile accident there . . . Mr.
and Mrs. Guy Combs were recent
visitors in Elizabeth City . . . Mrs,
Frank Massey has returned after
an extended visit in Sylva, N. C
Lucy Willis is such a follower of
Vaughn Monroe's 10:30 broadcasts
that she hates to go to bed early
for fear of dozing off and missing
one. Luckily, he is soon scheduled
to come on the air at 7:30, just in
time for dinner-time listening. . . .
S. G. Hobert is taking a two
weeks' vacation . . . And Roxie
Earle and her husband were
among the spectators at the Duke
Navy game last week-end in Dur
ham. Roxie, by the way, has be
come quite a proficient bridge
player. She got high score the
other night at her club, and took
the score pad home to prove to
friend husband that it wasn't the
"booby" prize she had won. . . .
Alfred Mayo and N. G. (Pete)
Meekins received certificates the
other day for completion of a
cookies and iced drink.
Mr. and Mrs. Claude Taylor and
daughters of Bachelor were here
Sunday afternoon to visit Mr. and
Mrs. Ashby B. Morton.
Mr. and Mrs. Alex Williams and
daughter, Alexis, of Vancebora
visited Mrs. W. C. Williams during
the weekend.
Mrs. Charles Merrill, of Cherry
Point spent Sunday with Mr. and
Mrs. Ralph G. Temple.
Mr. and Mrs. William Ingram
and daughter, Betty, of Kenans
ville, visited relatives here during
the weekend. : '
Philip Taylor and Johnnie Olund
attended the show at Newport Fri
day evenitfe.
course taken under the Work Im
provement Program. 'The certifi
cates were handed out in the Pub
lic Works Office by Comdr. Abpla-
nalp, and Lieut. Gault and Harry
Mizzell were also on hand to ex
tend congratulations.
The Public Works Building has
some new occupants. The office
personnel of Newton Welding and
Engineering Company arc using
the ofice formerly used by T. A.
Loving and Company, since their
temporary office quarters over on
the job site (erection of aircraft
containers) wouldn't he very com
fortable when those north winds
start to howl.
Motor Transport
We extend our deepest sym
pathy to Lytic Lee on the death of
his lather!
Wo are glad to sec Jnmes Mc-
Cuen hack on the job and to learn
that his father is a lot better . . .
and Blanche Barbour is back from
Wilson where she has been visit
ing her mother . . . Rita Walbrown
is bark, but says that due to ill
ness in the family, they did not do
much on their vacation. She is
now busy entertaining friends
from PI . . . the vacation bug has
now bitten Henry Zucha and he is
n Illinois, having a swell time . . .
not having such a good time is
Alonza Taylor who -is off on sick
leave. Hurry and get well, Al!
Paul Home is building a fire in
his own home in New Bern these
days and Clarence Wilkins says it
takes hardly any oil to heat his
new house trailer which he has
parked on his building lot, 4 miles
this side of NB!
We were elated when Howard
Lewis informed us his wife did not
have polio and was getting along
e
Afox Vol
in Riding Comfort
You'll find that Chevrolet tjvei more ridinf ,
imoothneu, mora ridinj-iletdirwu, on ny
and all kindi of roada. That'i true became it
hai the original Unitized Knee-Action Ride,
proved and perfected by I4yur$ of txpttlme
in building Knee-Action unit!. Available only
in Chevrolet and higher-priced caril
Mom Valum
in All-round Safety
Chevrolet bringi you the fourfoU aafety
protection of Fiaher Uniiteel Body-Conitruc
tion, aafetv plate tlaae in all windowi, the
Unitized Knee-Action Ride and Poiitiva
Action Hydraulic Brakea: and thii it another
combination of Big-Car featurea found tW
wbert only in higher-priced caral
CHEVROLET
I3S3 ArsnseD. Strut
Tsetse Fly Attacks
Counterattacked with Bomb
LONDON (AP) The Tsetse
fly is being attacked with a bomb.
fine, but so sorry when the mes
sage came in that his father was
ill. They arc taking himto Balti
more for hospitalization.
THE YOUTH CENTER
H&mOGB
IIOHDAY, OCTOBER 18lh
Infants' & Children;' Clothing & Accessories
-
It's first in all these basic
motoring advantages . .
FIRST IN
BIG-CAR QUALITY
at LOWEST PRICES
... just as it's first in
nationwide registrations!
- andomsmms -
..
SOUIID CHEVROLET C0I1PAIIY, IIIC. i
Pheas
The colonial insecticide commit
tee says that the bomb assault on
the fly will be made experiment
ally on an uninhabited island of
Lake'Victoria.
Scientists believe that a chemi
cal bomb dropped by a helicopter
will release an insecticidal smoke
which will be kept close to the
ground by jungle foliage. The
insecticidal smoke may not only
ANNOUNCING
THE OPENING OF
Hexl Door lo the WAFFLE SHOP
On the Beaufort Highway
IR
if all aytnpaudxmd ptuwe
ii
H-5$M'
annihilate the fly which is a ma'
jor problem to the livestock indus
try, but other insects as well. And
some of them are beneficial to
man. A problem is to make the
smoke selective. An uninhabited
region was chosen for the experi
ments to minimize injury if the
plan is not feasible.
The 1872 fire in Boston burned
776 buildings valued at $75,000,000;
. 4
Afo40 VaLm
in Performance with Economy
Thcre'i nothing like Chevrolet'a world!
champion Valve-in-Head engine . . . with ita
record of having delivered mere milu ef tttia
faction, to mm owner, over a hnfr period,
than any other power-plant built today . . ,
and Val Ive-in-Head deaign it eichiaivt t .
Chevrolet and higher-priced caral
Mvim Vol
in Beauty and luxury
You know that there's only m leader in fir i i
coachcrah-Body by Fiahcrl It'i world I
famoui (or true quality, beauty and hizuryt ! I
not only in e J tenor design, but in important ' t
interior appointments such as karjtun and E
upAabtiry, as well. And Body by Fuher, too, b. t
exclusive to Chevrolet and higher-priced cars! , 1
- II
J1
is firsti
, i 5
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It
IhrtusaJ CUy, H. t;
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