rV'.
Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe
increase) awoke one night from a
deep dream of peace, and saw
within the . moonlight in his room
making it rich, and like a lily in
bloom, an Angel writing in a book
of gold; exceeding peace had made
Ben Adhem bold, and to the Pres
ence in the room he said, “What
writest thou?” The Vision raised
its head, and with a look made of
all sweet accord answered, “The
names of those who love the Lord.”
“And is mine one?” said Abou
“Nay, not so,” replied the Angel
Abou spoke more low, but cheerily
still; and said, “I pray thee, then
write me as one that loves his fel
low man.”
The Angel wrotet and vanished
The next night it came again with
a great wakening light, and show
ed the names whom love of God
had blessed, and, lo, Ben Adhem’s
name led all the rest.
When James Henry Leigh Hunt
penned the immortal lines above
he must have been thinking of
someone like John R. Ross, who
lives out on North Pasteur street.
Many New Bernians, to be sure,
have never heard of him. Ross isn’t
the sort to get his name in the
newspapers, but those of its who
know him for his kindness and
generosity will heartily agree that
Abou Ben Adhem would recognize
him as a kindred soul.
For the past 22 years this mod.
est, unassuming man has been
handling trucking for the Maxwell
Company here. And, when hurri-
—eanea come along,>be goes into ac
tion to lend assistance to those who
live in low lying areas. The last
such hurricane to strike New Bern
saw him work diligently without
sleep to help others.
Our own case was a goo^ exam
pie. Frankly, we didn’t even know
him personally, but when it be
came necessary for us to evacuate
he came to our residence and help'
ed us move out every stick of fur
niture in the place. Then, when
the storm abated, he hauled our
stuff back, pitched in with the un
loading, and refused to accept pay
fbr what he had don^
What he did for us, he has done
for others—^tima and time again-^
And the nicest thing about his role
of good neighbor is the fact that
he doesn’t make a great show of
it. In short, he is kind without plac
ing the person he helps in a posi
tion where they feel they have ac
cepted charity. He simply acts as
if what he did was the natural
thing to do for a fellow human,
and that’s that.
Not only does he use his truck
for rescue work, when storm
clouds gather, but he opens the
doors of his home to the homeless.
For a lifetime he has gladly shar
ed shelter and food when the oc
casion called for it. And, speaking
of food, the greatest joy he gets
from his gafden is sharing the
fruits of his labor with neighbors
and friends.
Little children praise hirii from
their windows as he passes by with
such remaiks as “Mr. Ross took me
for a ride once in his big red
truck. He gave me an ice cream
cone too.” Another youngster will
say, “He came to see me when I
was in the hospital.”
One young man remarked after
being released from jail on a
drinking charge, “When a man
like Mr. Ross comes to your res
cue, and doesn’t rebuke you or ask
questions, it’s an incentive for any
one to live a better'life.” That’s
typical of Ross, he never puts him
self up as a model.
Although he has no social as
pirations, the Aurora native could,
if he cared to, point to the fact
that he is descended from Betsy
Ross, who made our very first
American flag# Judging by what
we’ve read about Betsy, we can say
with certainty that she would glad-
NEW BERN
CAKULIN^
5^ Per Copy
VOLUMNE 3
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY JUNE 17, 1960
NUMBER 12
STRfeAM TO Dream BY^Venture up the gentle, easy-
flowing Trent on a lazy day in June, and you’ll be reward
ed with scenes like this one. John Baxter, Jr., had his cam
eta along when he set forth on placid waters^ and miirored
here is what he found. What is more enchanting than a river
close at hand, when it’s summertime in Dixie?
He Is in a Uniform
George Is Still Announcing
A New Bern boy who made his
mark as a radio announcer before
entering the Army is still plying
his trade while in uniform.
from Fort Lewis Headquarters toi natured New Bernian also inter-
three Tacoma radio stations—^KMO,
KAYG and KTNT.
In fact, Pfc George Shriver has
established such q reputation in
service that he was chosen as the
narrator for the annual 4th Infan
try Division Day review at Fort
Lewis, Wash., on June 4.
To him went the enviable as
signment of handling the micro
phone when the 18,000 members
of STRAC (Strategic Army Corps)
4th DiviMon paraded their miiitary
might before citizens of the Pacific
Northwest.
In addition, he airs programs to
one station, KITN, in Washington’s
capital city, Olympia. And the good
views Fort Lewis officers and
guests .for the nation-wide “Army
Hour” show.
Shriver entered service last
spring, and received his basic
training at Fort Leonard Wood,
Mo. Then he got his advanced
training at Fort. Dix, N. J. He re
ported to Fort Lewis last Septem
ber.
It was peculiarly fitting that
Shriver, a Tar Heel, got the broad
cast job, since the 4th Infantry Di
vision was organized at Camp
Green, N. C., on December 3, Ign.
He is a member of Co. B., Post
Special Troops, and is assigned to
the 4th Infantry Division and Fort
Lewis Information as Radio Broad
casting Specialist. George ..broad
casts ten week-day news shows
ly claim kin with John if she could
speak from the grave.
After finishing high school, he
joined the Marines and visited
most of the world’s ports during
his hitch in service. On his return,
he married Oleta Prescott, who is
equally generous.
They have four fine sons. Wil
liam H. is a supervisor with Caro-
iina Telephone and Telegraph at
Fayetteville; Allan D. is an insur
ance executive in Tarboro; John
Riley, Jr., is a recent State college
graduate; and James Frederick is
employed by the Singer Sewing
Machine company.
Before entering the Army, he
was chief news and special events
announcer at New Bern’s WRNB
and Washington’s WHED. He grad
uated from New Bern High school
in 1955, and attended East Caro-
iina coliege, Greenville, where he
held a position on the coiiege FM
radio station, WWWS.
He is a son of Mrs. Harry R.
Shriver of 32S6 North Central Ave
nue, in Chicago. Incidentally, in
choosing radio for his career he
followed in the footsteps of his
oider brother, Harry Shriver, Jr,,
who has made something of a
name for himself as an announcer,
too.
Unlike George, who cut his radio
teeth with WRNB here, Harry
started out with New Bern’s WHIT,
later moved to Washington, N. C„
and is now in Baltimore.
Needless to say, George intends
to stay in the field of broadcasting
when he leaves service. He has
picked up a great deal of experi
ence in a relatively shrot time,
and what he has learned as a ser
vice announcer wiil prove invalu
able in years to come.
ON THE JOB
Being in the Army gave him an
opportunity to see distant parts of
the country that he might never
have visited otherwise. George
iikes people, has the happy faculty
of getting along with them, and is
able to project his genuine infor
mality to radio listeners.
Fortunately, his southern drawl
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