We are indebted to one of our
nicest New Bemians, Ethd Wood,
for bringing to light an attractive
little booklet that proclaims to the
world the fact that New Bern is an
attractive winter resort.
Published 70 years ago, it offers
conclusive proof that our fore
fathers were more progressive and
publicity minded, than they have
been given credit for. How success
ful were the results of the booklet
we’ll have to leave to conjecture,
but at least the old timers made
a pitch for tourist dollars.
Thumbing through its neatly ar
ranged pages |We learn that “there
are within the city limits about ten
miles of broad, level and well-
shaded streets, several of which
have been macadamized with shells
and afford fine hard roads for
pleasure-driving.”
And, it is emphasized, “the side
walks are generally good. 'East
Front street, on the banks of the
Neuse, and Pollock street, are
favorite places for promenaders.
The beautiful grounds of the New
Berne Academy furnish a pleasant
resort for tennis and Ball-players.”
Describing the town’s location in
truly poetic prose, the booklet says
it is “beautifully situated at the
junction of the Neuse and Trent
rivers, thirty miles from the At
lantic ocean and a shorter distance
from the landlocked sea known as
Pamlico Sound.”
“Embowered in elms. New
Berne, with an atmosphere always
redolent of flowers, nestles in the
embrace of surrounding waters.
The rivers on the east and south
of the city, together with the large
bay at their junction, afford at all
times a pleasant and safe place for
sailing and rowing.
“From Morehead on the ocean,
where the’ immense summer cara
vansary, the Atlantic Hotel, is lo
cated, it is an hour’s journey over
the Atlantic and North Carolina
Railroad to this point.
In a section of the publication
describing “New Berne as a Sani
tarium,” Dr. Charles Duffy gives
the following inJformation: “The
city is built on a point of land
formed by the confluence of the
Neuse and Trent rivers, and is
skirted for two-thirds of its limits
by these rivers. The land slopes
from centre to circumference, giv
ing the surface drainage, even after
the heaviest rains.
“The soil is a light loam, with
substratum of from five to fifteen
feet of sand, which readily carries
off the surplus water; below the
sand there is a layer of hard lime
stone rock, through which the sur
face water cannot percolate.
“The water below this rock is
clear and cool, and is free from
organic impurities. During the past
few years this water has been ob
tained by boring from fifty to one
hundred feet, and the use of it has
greatly improved the healthfulness
of the city.
“The average minimum winter
temperature for the past thirty
years is about 20 degrees. The
average diurnal mean temperature
for the winter is 46 degrees, which
is about the same as that of South
ern France. The climate is favor
able for patients with throat, nasal,
lung and rheumatic troubles and
entric diseases.”
Everybody we’ve ever talked to
is under the impression that it
used to be colder in New Bern than
it is in our present era. Inevitably
they speak of the way the rivers
“used to freeze over.”
This excerpt from the booklet
explodes this myth. “The entire
winter frequeiuly passes without
snow, and sleets are practically
unknown, the thermometer seldom
registering below the freezing
point.”
“The coldest day of the winter
was December 30th, when the rec
ord at sunrise showed 21 degrees,
The NEW BERN
PUBLISHED WEEKLY
IN THE HEART OF
EASTERN NORTH
CAROLINA
5^ Per Copy
VOLUME 2
NEW BERN, N. C., OCTOBER 23, 1959
NUMBER 30
CAI*TIVATED BY CAPITAL —• New Bern High school’s i up valuable pointers from the nation’s top service instruc-
banl, pictured here on the field of the home stadium; has tors. In their spare time they toured the town.—Photo by
been giving fellow students rave reports about the Wash- John R. Baxter,
ington, D. C., trip. While there, the local musicians picked I
Cowboy Bob Doesn't Need
A Horse Along His TV Trails
For an erstwhile cowboy who
never climbed aboard a horse, and
would probably steer clear of a
steer if he saw one. Bob Ballard
isn’t doing half bad in television.
This, of course, is gratifying to
those who know the 1951 New
Bern High school graduate as a
sincere and conscientious young
man whose greatest asset is de
pendability, and whose greatest
talent is a naturalnesss before the
camera that makes for easy view
ing and listening.
Recently promoted to the post
of sports director for Washington’s
WITN, over Channel 7, he is cur
rently handling the “Late Sports”
program each weekday night and
“The Big Four Scorebbard” on
Saturday nights.
His selection for the sports direc
torship resulted in large measure
from his success as Emcee for
“Sportsman’s Almanac” — aired at
7 p.m. each Friday. On this rather
informal feature, where fishing and
hunting are emphasized and vari
ous personalities are interviewed,
he fitted as nicely as the proverb
ial old shoe.
Bob would be the first to admit
that he has no apparent flair for
spectacular showmanship, but that
he is versatile and capable of han
dling a variety of presentations is
a well established fact.
Among the features he is con
nected with, in addition to his
sports productions, are such divers
ified shows as “Harbor Command”
—“Target”—“Bar 7 Roundup”—
“'Hie Three Stooges” and “Warner
rising during the day to 33 de
grees. This was the only time dur
ing December that the tempera
ture feU below the freezing point,
the cold spell lasting three days.
“During the entire winter there
were twenty-four days that the
thermometer registered less than
32 degrees, one-half the number
being in January.”
Remember these statistics while
shivering this year, and nip in the
bud the oldster who admits its-
kind of nippy but not nearly so
chilly as it used to be.
BOB BALLARD
Brothers Cartoons.”
Fortunately for him, he is equal
ly at home with a guitar plunker
or fiddle scratcher on a hillbilly
get-together and a program de
signed primarily for children. If
the occasion demands it, he can do
a straight news report with dignity
and conviction.
After graduation from New Bern
High, he saw two years of active
Army duty. Twelve months of his
hitch was done in Korea, and he
spent four more months in the Ha
waiian islands.
Discharged from service in
March, 1955, he attended Pathfind
er Radio and TV school in Wash
ington, D. C. from April 1955 to
July of the same year. Returning
home, he latched onto a job with
New Bern’s WOOW, where he was
program director from August 1955
until May 1956.
He left the local radio station to
accept the position of program di
rector and sports director for a
Greenville radio station—^WGTC.
His work there was sufficiently
noteworthy to attract attention of
officials at Washington’s WITN.
In June 1958 he decided to enter
the television field. His first live
show at WITN was “Cowboy Bob’s
Western Theater.” Aimed at the
small fry, it consisted of movies
filmed in the wide open spaces—
plus commentaries by Ballard.
Bob, who hails from Bridgeton,
a right far piece from Texas and
Arizona, didn’t have much of a
cowpoke background. But, dressed
for the part, the rangy Craven
county native fairly reeked of gun-
smoke and tumbling tumble weeds.
His drawl—^anything but phoney—
(Continued on back page)