It was unfortunate but inevitable
when bitterness between the forces
of State Senator Janies O, Simpkins
and Mayor Robert L. Stallings, Jr.,
bobbed up during their hard battle
for the Congressional seat that Hap
Barden is vacating.
Both New Bernians had their
hearts set on winning. With strong
opponents from Goldsboro and
Wallace running, and a favorite
son in Morehead City offering
token resistance, it was a foregone
conclusion that one or both local
contenders would fall by the way-
side.
The Mirror predicted weeks ago,
and later repeated its prediction,
that Simpkins and David Hender
son were going to poll sufficient
votes to eliminate the other three
candidates and enter the second
primary.
Able and personable, the Wal
lace judge made much of the fact
that his end of the Third District
hasn’t contributed one of its own
to the House of Representatives for
a great many years.
Like Goldsboro’s Dr. Rose, who
ran stronger than we expected,
Henderson capitalized on this lo
cality angle. The strategy hurt both
Stallings and Simpkins, but Jinuny
established enough strength by
watering the roots of his earlier
run against Barden to weather the
storm.
Robert Lee had no such advan
tage. Beyond the boundaries- of
New„Bprn and Craven county ,|ie
^was a political unknown at the out
set of the campaign. He tnM to
' minimize this handicapt by saturat
ing the District with thousands of
dollars worth of advertising.
Never, in these parts, has a
candidate spent sb much in an ef
fort to get elected. Thanks to tele
vision, radio, newspapers and bill
boards, he became a familiar
figure. Obviously, he didn’t have
time to become personally ac
quainted with a majority of the
voters in the District, so he did the
next best thing.
Simpkins scraped, together mon
ey enough for several television
appearances too, and we’re con
vinced that he swayed a lot of vot
ers in his appearances before the
camera. Even those who don’t care
for him here on the local scene
were forced to adjmit that- his
speeches—^witho.ut benefit, of a
written script—had a lot more tell-
ihg effect than the speeches less
loquacious opponents read from a
sheet of paper or parroted from a
tele-prompter.
Some of his critics belittled him
when he took his wife and kids to
Raleigh, and busted open a piggy
bank to pay his filing fee. And they
continued to scoff when he saw fit
to put his grandmother on tele
vision as a spry and witty, rooter
for his Cause. , ^
It was corny, of coursp, but ^t
was also good politics. Simpkins
made his ^ appeal to the “little
man.” Since there are a lot more
little men than there are big
wheels, and their voter count just
as much, he was on solid ground.
Other politicians, including the in
comparable Franklin D. Roosevelt,
utilized the saipe'tactics.
Our guess is that the local jew
eler has an excellent chance in
the second primary against Hend
erson. If New Bern fails to send
another Congressman to Washing
ton, to follow in the footsteps of
Graham Barden, Charle§ L. Aber
nathy and Sam Brinson, it Will re
sult from a failure to rally behind
Simpkins in the town he has made
his home for many years.
Undoubtedly, some of the sup
porters of Stallings in the first
primary feel keen disappointment
over his defeat. A few, or perhaps
many, are so chagrined that they
will vote for Henderson—not be
cause of his ability but to get' re-
(Continued on Pago 8)
The NEW BERN
PUBLISHED WEEKLY
IN THE HEART OF
EASTERN NORTH
CAROLINA
Si Per Copy
VOLUMNE 3
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 1960
NUMBER 10
HAPPILY UNAWARE — Three-yeAr-old Teresa FoAes of
New Bern, who will die of leukemia within a matter of
months, delights in froUcs with her puppy. Tinker. Like
Teresa, the pooch got a kick out of posing for a picture on
her tricycle. And, as you can see, he smiled broadly when
she placed him in her doll carriage. Little does either
suspect that their moments together are overshadowed by
tragedy.—^Photos by Billy Benners.
If You've Been Complaining,
We've A Story Just For You
This is a story for you folks who
are feeling sorry for yourselves
on a bright morning in June. And,
of course, lots of New Bernians do
indulge in seif pity of one sort or
another.
To teil the truth, almost ail of
us yield to the urge, if only occa
sionally. In between our first and
second childhoods, we make mar
tyrs. of ourselves, bemoan real or .
fancied misfortunes, and point
with envy to the fellow mortals j
we consider luckier. , ^
It is doubtful that anyone is en
vious of three-year-old Teresa
Forbes today, even though she is,
young and happy, and blissfully \in-
concerned with the results of last
Saturday’s election, and the failure
of that ill-fated Summit Confer
ence in Paris. ■
Springtime, with its blossoming
flowers and birds bursting forth
in song, wiU never come again for
her. Although you w^ld never
know it to look at her bright eyes
and dimpled cheeks, she is a victim
df leukemia. The dread disease was
discovered in March, and from
here on out the days and months
are precious beyond all measure.
If Teresa could read, this story
would never have been written. As
it is, she’ll see her photographs in
The Mirror, along with her ador.ed
puppy, Tinker, and be immensely
pleased. Just about as pleased, in
fact, as she was when she posed
for the pictures before you now.
Little girls—if we remember our
nursery rhymes rightly—are sup
posed to be made of sugar and
spice, and everything nice. Teresa
possesses these ingredients, despite
the fact that her parents, Mr. and i spoiling would be in order too. In i
Mrs. W. H. Forbes, are doing all fact. The Mirror intends to help ]
of the things for Jier that usually the cause along anyhow. Her local I
spoU a child. physician. Dr. Graham A. Barden,
If she were your child, or ours, • Jr., says she can have all of the'
PALS FOR A LIFETIME
ice cream she wants, as often as
she wants it. So we passed the
word to our good friend, Ken Rees-
man, out at Maola.
Informed that she prefers it
above everything else, Ken assiured
us that she’ll never run short of it.
As fcr a big cake, and all the
cookies her heart can ever wish
for, Aggie and Red Derda at Crav
en Bakery will take care of these
items, and deem it a privilege.
There’s a television set in the
Forbes home, and Teresa is quite a
fan. Captain Kangaroo is her fav
orite, but there are other programs
that she is very fond of. We’re go
ing to contact some grand guys
over at Greenville’s WNCT ^ and
Washington’s WITN. They’ll put on
soinething special for her.
Teresa has a radio, but it’s out
of commisson. That wiU be no
problem. Someone who reads these
lines will jump at the chance to
see that she gets a new radio. We
, believe that just as much as we
believe in Santa Claus and the
Good Fairy.
And, when she gets that new
radio, we’re certain beyond all
dougt that Bill Jeffrey out at WR-
NB and Ray Williams out at WHIT
will play some special music for
her—music that a child loves. ’They
won’t do it just once but often.
Like all little girls—and big girls
too—Teresa is clothes conscious.
In case you’re interested, and of
course you are, the usual dresses
for a three-year-old fit her per
fectly. She loves bright colors, in
cluding red.
Naturally, she likes toys, such as
(Continuod on Pago 8)