«r-'
i
, ' Ordinarily, nothing bordering on
the humorous bobs up when you’re
Covering a serious automobile acci
dent. That goes double when the
driver of one of the vehicles in
volved has been killed in the crash.
.'However, something happened
in the corridor outside the emer
gency room at St. Luke’s hospital
the other night that would strike
the average person as being on the
funny side.
«
. One of the victims, less battered
than' others receiving attention
.ahead of him, was seated in the
hall. He had a scalp laceration,
and appeared to be in mild shock.
He was as talkative as a gossip giv
ing bulletins to her neighbor over
the back fence.
‘ “I’ve had a few drinks,’’ he told
us voluntarily. “All I wanted to
do was go down to the truck stop,
get another drink and play some
tunes on the juke box.” Actually,
he indicated that he wasn’t aware
which road he was riding on when
the vehicle he was in collided with
another and turned over several
. times.
He got quiet after awhile. No
one else was in the corridor at the
moment, so we walked a short dis
tance up the hall. He was staring
straight ahead, like most of us do
when we’re preoccupied with our
thoughts. He didn’t seem to be in
any pain, and was as relaxed as a
bound dog snoozing in the sun, as
be sat there.
it bappebed. He started
sihirin^ te
be had on his mfna 'was “Mr. Cdi-
ter.” It’s getting plenty of spins on
the radio these days, so you’ve led
a rather sheltered life if you have
n’t been exposed to it.
“Please, Mr. Custer, I don’t want
to go,” the accident victim sang. It
sounded sort of mournful, but that’s
the way it’s recorded. In the song,
one of General Custer’s recruits is
trying to beg off from making a
last stand against the Indians, and
allows as how he doesn’t want to
be scalped.
Here, in the hospital corridor,
was a youth who had come close
to being scalped himself, not by
redskins but by something far
more deadly. We’re not at all sure
that he realized what a close call
he had just a short time before,
but his theme song was as appro
priate as it was grimly humorous.
“Please, Mr. Custer, I don’t want
to go.” Drunk or sober, very few
people would disagree with those
sentiments under like circum
stances.
^
If you think things are bad at
the United Nations these days, you
should have been in Service Bar
ber shop the other morning.
A little boy who couldn’t have
been more than three years old
was getting his locks shorn. While
the perspiring barber was cutting
off on, a catch-as-catch-can basis,
the tot was cutting up, and crying
as only a scared and angry child
can weep.
It was a scene often portrayed
before in the town’s tonsorial par
lors, but this time there was an
additional performer in the act.
' hatching proceedings, and whimp
ering anxiously, a small dog that
had accompanied the youngster to
his torture chamber suffered as
much as the distressed moppet.
. When the shearing had been ac
complished, the little boy’s tears
vanished with the same rapidity
that a sudden summer squall gives
way to dazzling sunshine. The kid
was in high spirits when he left
the barber shop, and the pup was
wagging his tail with unrestrained
vigor. As for the barber, he looked
slightly shocked. At that, he could
be thankful for one thing. The dog
didn’t bite him.
Very few children remain calm
when visiting a barber shop for
the first time, and some of them
(Cocitinued on Back Page)
The NEW BERN
Ml [I IS [S®[S
I!r. & Hrs.A. K*
2000 Arcnditll St.
Hopchcad City, IT- C.
CAROLINA
5 Per Copy
VOLUME 3
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1960
NUMBER 27
IffiALiiY SOUND OFF—^New Bern Higli schdiol’s varstty ■
cheerleaders can out yell any other similar group in thA .
Northeastern Conference. And, with gn undefeated football
team to pull for, they haven’t lacked inspiration. Front
row, left to right, are Susie Johnson, mascot; Carol Vereen,
head cheerleader; Gary Natella, masjpot. Second row, Pris
cilla ftoss, Connie White, Janis Shapbu, Glenda Gosnell,
assistant head cheerleader, Donna White, Shirley Wheeler;
third row, Mary Kate Quick, Cheryl Crowe, Cheryl Kwas-
nick, Priscilla Patterson, Mary Stallings, Barbara Beck.
—Photo by John R. Baxter.
Average New Bernian Thinks
Mr. Khrushchev Is Ridiculous
Whatever else Nikita Khru- by being so affectionately chum
SCENE AT FORT MACON
—Photo by Charles Carter.
shchev may have accomplished
with his United Nations antics—
and it doesn’t appear to be much
of anything—he made himself ut
terly ridiculous in the eyes of the
average New Bernian.
Local citizens interviewed this
week for a sample Mirror survey
agreed unanimously that the pudgy
Russian Premier has dwindled his
stature by resorting to freakish be
havior before an international au
dience.
“I’ve never admired him,” one
woman told us, “but I’ve always
pictured him as a strong individ
ual. I still think he is dangerous,
but his fist pounding at the United
Nationas Assembly made him look
like a spoiled brat who was acting
up because he couldn’t have his
way.”
It was this childish fist-pound
ing that brought the most comment
from men and women questioned
here. Apparently, Khrushchev
thought he was being impressive.
Instead he transformed himself in
to a comical symbol of defiant ex
asperation.
New Bern’s newspaper readers
and televiewers—the ones we talk
ed with—were emphatic in , their
belief that the Soviet leader lost
a tremendous amount of prestige
as a result of his actions in the
Assembly. They cited his rude in
terruption of England’s Prime Min
ister when he spoke to the dele
gates as a glaring instance of bad
taste.
And as one local man put it,
“Khrushchev didn’t elevate himself
my with Fidel Castro. Recognized
as a world figure, he had nothing
to gain by fraternizing on the same
level with the Cuban rebel. It is
doubtful that other countries react
ed in the same manner that Khru
shchev expected them to.”
Although Nikita was frustrated
repeatedly. New Bernians intCT-
viewed said they thought his big
defeat this week came when he
failed in his determined effort to
force the resignation of the U.N.
secretary-general, Dag Hammarsk-
jold.
They called attention to the
scholarly manner in which the sec
retary-general rebuffed Khru
shchev and stood his ground, and
mentioned the ovation that Ham-
marskjold received when he an
nounced his decision to remain in
his present office.
As for the Red leader’s threat to
ignore the United Nations in the
future. New Bernians expressed
serious doubt that he will resort
to such a move. They also express
ed doubt that the cold war has got
ten colder in recent days. “Things
are bad enough, but they’re no
worse than they were before Khru
shchev came to New York,” they
agreed.
Speaking of the cold war, citi
zens here seem to have grown thor
oughly accustomed to prolonged in
ternational tension. If they are
fearful to a considerable degree,
their feelings are well masked as
they go about the daily business of
living.
(Continued on Page 8)