Newspapers / The New Bern Mirror … / April 8, 1960, edition 1 / Page 1
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The NEW BERN 803 dy.. . fft 'Oorg VOLUMNE 3 NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 1960 NUMBER 2 “Oh I wish I was in the Land of Cotton, old times there are not for gotten.” So go the words of Dixie, a song that ranks with the Star Spangled Banner in the hearts of many dyed-in-the-wool Southerners Well, there was a time indeed around the turn of the century when King Cotton reigned supreme —not only in the Deep South but right here in New Bern. The boll weevil and kindred problems changed that picture, and perhaps for the better. Before it happened, fortunes were made, and in some instances, fortunes lost. We had a Cotton and Grain Ex change that functioned very well S. W. Smallwood was president Dr. Charles Duffy the vice-presi dent, James Redmond the secre tary, and T. A. Green the treasur er. D. T. Carraway served as su perintendent, while R. R. Jones J. A. Latham, Matt Manley, G. A Oliver and C. E. Foy were the di rectors. For years the cotton market here was one of the best in the state There was a good corps of buyers belonging to the Exchange, sev eral of whom bought for and ship ped on through bills of lading di rectly to European markets. The shipments were made via Wilming ton, New Bern and Norfolk Rail road, and Norfolk via the Eastern Carolina Dispatch and the Old Do minion Steamship lines. Most of the cotton sent from New Bern was shipped as fast as it was bought. Only a small amount was kept in storage here, asLa gen eral rule. Incidentally, the freight to Europe was seventy cents per hundred pounds, and insurance was one-eighth of one percent. There were an even dozen cot ton brokerage firms in town dur ing the Gay Nineties. Included were^E. K. Bryan, Jonathan Hav ens, C. D. Mebane, Frank Meyer, and James Redmond at the Cotton Exchange; Pierre La Montagne at the Old Dominion Wharf; Thomas A. Green at 71 Middle street; and D. T. Carraway, Gates and Oliver, J. E. Latham, .M Manley and F. G. Simmons on the lower end of Craven street. Little did anyone dream at the time that the presence of Latham in the group of brokers, and his spectacular success, eventually would lead to the restoration of Tryon Palace. He married Maude Moore, as just about everybody who reads this knows, and the money he left at his death made it possible to bring a rebuilt first State Capital into impressive reali ty. Maude Latham and her charm ing daughter, Mrs. John Kellen- berger, saw to that. Water transportation to and from New Bern has long since dwindled to a tiny fraction of what it used to be, but in the Nineties we had no less than five steam boat lines here. All were located at the foot of Craven street. The five were East Carolina Dispatch, Independent, Vanceboro, Old Do minion, and New Bern, Norfolk and Washington. Our commission merchants at the time—all located along the banks of the Trent—^were/ E. K. Bishop, W. P. Burrus & Co., Hol lister & Cox, Pierre La Montagne, J. E. Latham and W. F. Rountree. Collectively, they did a great deal of business. During a typical year in the Gay Nineties era, between 46,000 and 50,000 bales of cotton were han dled here. In addition, 100 million board feet of lumber were shipped from New Bern to various points in Maryland, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the New England states. In 1890, there was shipped from New Bern, by all lines, 75,349 bar rels of potatoes, 10,607 barrels of vegetables, 40,932 half-crates of (Continued on Back Page) WORTH THE EFFORT—What they learned in a tailoring workshop sponsored by the Craven County Home Demon stration Council saved these enterprising women up to $40 each when they made wool suits they are wearing. Average investment in material was $17.50. Mrs. Earl Alligood, as sistant Beaufort County H. D. agent, was instructor at Maola Opera House. Left to right are Mrs. Merle Bail Uaspe? cliib);"TSIr!sr‘R. A. Watson an^ MW. M. J. Carraway (Beech Grove); Mrs. Dick Hubbard (Spring Garden); Mrs. A. D. Harris (Neuse River); Evann Rowe and her mother, Mrs. William Rowe (Bridgeton). Mrs. Rowe made Evann’s blazer. Mrs. J. W. Satterwaite (Glenburnie Gardens) and Mrs. H. C. Ipock (Asbury) also made suits. Now the group will teach others.—Photo by Billy Benners. New Bern Wives Are Reading MorethanTheirHusbands Do WAITING IN LINE FOR HOUSING —^Photo by Billy Benners. New Bern women, clinging ten aciously to the make-believe that made childhood happier, invaria bly reach for a novel when they want a book to read. Their hus bands, often accused of being un romantic and unimaginative, prove the accusation is well founded by turning to non-fiction for their lit erary selections. That’s what a sample survey staged here during National Libra ry Week reveals. When it comes to quality of material, the fair sex can’t brag too much. Quite a bit of the so-called trash peddled lo cally is sold to the female of the species—in fact, the vast majority of it. However, from the standpoint of quantity the survey indicates conclusively that New Beren wom en read much more than the men folks do. Hence, disregarding the shoddy reading matter altogether, it is not unlikely that the remain ing books that local ladies peruse far outnumber what the males are reading.. Besides, who is to say what is trash and what isn’t? Some of the popular paper-back novels of today are nothing more or less than a carry-over of standard works from another era. A good example is “The Scarlet Letter.” A genera tion ago it was recommended to New Bern High school students for reading in the preparation of term papers, or themes. That was before it came out in paper-back form with a iurid cover that hinted strongly of a heavy spice content. Other Ijterary mas ters have prbbably turned over in their graves, along with Nathaniel Hawthorne, as their prized stories were misrepresented for the sake of heayy sales. When it comes to magazines, the feminine yen for fiction still pre vails here in no uncertain terms. Although there are more women reading magazines than there are men, the percentage is closer to being fifty-fifty than you would imagine offhand. The great niun- ber of males who read sports and news publications regularly ac counts for this strong showing by the men folks. Very few New Bemians, if any, fail to read newspapers regularly^ according to the Mirror survey. As far as general news is concerned, interest appears to be equal among men and women. It’s a toss-up when you try to figure which sex reads a newspa per more thoroughly. Few men de vote much time to digesting socie ty items, but a fair percentage of wives join their husbands in giving sports pages the once over. Men are more apt to read edi torials, although there are plenty of exceptions to the rule. And un til you make a survey of local reading tastes, like The Mirror did, you never realize how many men and women read the daily horo scope column and take it seriously. By the same token, it developed (Cotitinued en Back Pago)
The New Bern Mirror (New Bern, N.C.)
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April 8, 1960, edition 1
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