f
Walk along Middle street on a
busy and beautiful Saturday after
noon, and you’ll not only see just
about everybody but a lot of things
you weren’t expecting to see.
For example, last Saturday we
were startled when, all of a sudden
we came face to face with a mon
key. He was perched on the shoul
der of a woman who seemed to be
immensely pleased at the attention
she was attracting from fellow pe
destrians.
As for the monkey, he didn’t
seem to be the least bit happy. He
was clutching the woman around
the neck for dear life, and appre
hensively surveying the counten
ance of every passing human who
stared at him.
Judging by the way he looked at
us, the little fellow doesn’t like
newspapermen. He grinned at us,
but it seemed to be mbre of a
snarl for a recognized enemy than
a gesture of corj^iality toward a
newly found friend.
At the moment, his face was only
a few inches from ours, and we
could visualize a devilish leap on
his part that would land him right
smack on top of our head. It was
very much like the disturbing feel
ing you get when passing a truck
that is heavily loaded with logs.
You’re not exactly scared, but you
’re glad when it’s over.
One thing was quite apparent.
The little monkey had no desire
to be down on the sidewalk, milling
around with the hundreds of folks
who were shopping or merely “eye-
'balling” the hours away in the
brilliant sunshine of a golden Indi
an summer day.
Maybe he was afraid of encoun
tering Fidel Castro of Nikita Khru
shchev. Come to think of- it, the
way the little monkey was hugging
the woman was very much like the
gorilla-type embrace that Khru
shchev gave Castro when they first
met in New York. However, we will
say that the monkey on Middle
street had a kinder look in his
eyes.
As for the woman who was toting
him, she left no doubt of her
awareness that she was in the spot
light. She seemed to be smirking
with a sense of deep satisfaction,
as she glanced from left to right
to keep tab on the commotion she
was causing.
There’s nothing like being the
center of attention, although for
our part we would rather go un
noticed than form a publicity ar
rangement with a diminutive fu
gitive from the jungle, with the
hairiest iittle arms you ever did
see.
At that, getting hugged by a
monkey from one end of Middle
street to the other may not be as
bad as swallowing a goldfish, perch
ing on top of a flag pole for weeks,
talking yourself into unconscious
ness on a radio marathon, or
bouncing back and forth in a rock
ing chair to win some sort of
prize while getting looked at by
folks who should be spending their
time doing something more indica
tive of approximate intelligence.
The little monkey didn’t mean
to do it, of course, but he upset
the jisual pattern followed by mas
culine gawkers in the downtown
business section. Ordinarily, most
males would have been busily en
gaged in watching the many attrac
tive girls who prance along the
street, each Saturday. Instead, they
not only ignored the luscious ex
amples of feminine’puchritude, but
also failed to notice or comment
on the fattest woman „we’ve ever
seen erowded into a pair of pedal
pushers—or were they toreadors?
Everybody knows that a woman
can make a monkey out of a
man in the twinkling of an eye.
What this writer didn’t know until
last Saturday was the remarkable
• fact that a man could be more'in-
(Continued on Page 8)
The NEW BERN
Hp, Si Ilrs.A. n. !iiPphy
2000 Arcnd,.;ll St.
Hopchcad City, H. C.
5 Per Copy
VOLUME 3
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1960
NUMBER 27
B.LESSED WITH BEAUTY—Visitors to ouf mother city of
Berne are intrigued by the splendor of this view. Gazing
down from Gurten Hill, they have an unrestricted pano-
rama spread before them. If you’re one of the old timers
here in New Bern, the trolley shown in this Mirror mural
will remind you of the/ street cars we once had
New Bernians Are Impressed
By Nixon-Kennedy Debating
Sampling opinions locally, after
this week’s television and radio de
bate between Vice-President Rich
ard M. Nixon and Senator John F.
Kenndy, The Mirror came up with
a rather startling fact. Every citi
zen interviewed felt that the candi
date of his choice had gotten the
better of it in the verbal sparring.
There wasn’t a single instance
in which supporters of the respec
tive candidates thought that their
man had come off second best.
Prejudice accounted for a good bit
of this reasoning, of course, but
exerting heavy influence was the
obvious fact that each of the Presi
dential candidates managed to
come through with an excellent
performance under nerve-racking
circumstances..
One of New Bern’s best known
Republicans was frankly elated.
“Nixon had a distinct disadvantage
to start with,” he admitted.
“Through the luck of the draw,
Kennedy had the first speech and
he memorized it perfectly. Nixon,
on the other hand, couldn’t do this.
He was forced to ad lib his speech,
since the audience expected him to
refute Kennedy’s contentions.”
Only once during his initial eight
minutes before the camera did
Kennedy stumble over a v/ord, and
that came just ten words from the
conclusion of his opening oratory.
Nixon, faced with improvising his
speech as he went along, faltered
two or three times, and made &
slip when he referred to “last
year” as 1958 rather than 1959.
But he displayed his usual bril
liance.
Our Mirror survey indicated that
Kennedy has a strong appeal for
feminine voters. This is no revela
tion. From co'ast to coast he has i with Kennedy when it comes to be-
caught the fancy of women with ing photogenic,
his boyish charm, and it was ob- Nixon’s dark, deep-set eyes are
vjous to everyone viewing the de- overshadowed by his heavy eye-
bate here that Nixon can’t compare j brows, and photograph poorly.
NEW BERN’S BETH LANSCHE
Monday night he appeared to be
tired, and if he hasn’t lost weight
in recent weeks the cameras didn’t
do him justice. His looks, of course,
are something he has no control
over, any more than Abraham Lin
coln had control over his.
And, in these trying times, win
ning a beauty contest against your
opponent shouldn’t be one of the
requirements for landing in the
White House. However, not to be
disregarded is the remark of one
young matron interviewed in our
survey. “Kennedy is handsome,”
she drooled, “and I’d vote for him
no matter what party he was rep
resenting.”
Everywhere we turned to get an
insight into the reaction of New
Bernians we found unanimity on
one person. Not one person accused
either Nixon or Kennedy of lacking
dignity during the debate. All
hands agreed that they were effec
tive in steering away from person
alities, and citizens were impressed
by the absence of blustering.
Both candidates have indicated
on other occasions that they can
whoop if up in the traditional man
ner that political aspirants are
prone to utilize, but in this in
stance they labored to be gentle
manly and polished. Some of the
barbs were rather sharp, but there
was nothing crude about the way
they were hurled toward their
mark.
Strictly from the standpoint of
entertainment, the much-publicized
debate was far superior to a lot of
the television fodder being served
up nowadays. Apparently Milton
Berle didn’t think so, when he
Oame on immediately afterwards
(Continued on Back Page)
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