mm Many New Bemians are convinced that hurricanes come oftener nowa days than they used to in the long ago. There is little basis for such a belief, although modern communica tions, expert tracking, and wide spread news coverage tend to make it appear that way. History dating back hundreds of years reveals that the big blows were playing havoc along our Atlantic coast when the first white man ar rived, and it seems reasonable to as sume that the American Indian had already endured countless years of periodic high winds. New Bern, founded in 1710, didn’t have to wait very long for its first taste of hurricane weather. A sev'hre tropical disturbance came roaring out of the Caribbean the following year, and another followed in 1713. We can’t be sure what section of the coast got the brunt of the storms, but for all we know this budding town might have been right in the center of it. Both of the aforementioned hur ricanes came in September like Hur ricane Esther, the latest of the lot. As a matter of fact, records show that the first such wind to rake At lantic shores and find its way into the annals of history was also in September. The year, we are told, was 1575. ’There have bem hundreds of Sep tember hurricanes since then, and at least one of theijS'each year since 1806. Some of tiiiSrh, fortunately, . vented their vltden^' ''sea, ,.but enOui^ land to kill thousands of people. Property damage has amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars. The toll in money, here in New Bern, was approximately 15 million dol lars for Hurricane lone. It far ex ceeded the two and a half million dollars damage that resulted from the disastrous fire on .December I, 1922, when 40 residential blocks were reduced to ashes and 2,000 persons were left homeless. Admit tedly, the loss would have been greater had not a majority of the homes been shanties. And of coimse all property — not just shanties — carried a much lower valuation then than it does today. All hurricanes foster tragedy, and we’ve encountered countless things of a pathetic nature during the 30 years we’ve been covering them for United Press and International News Service (now combined as United ITess International) and for various State papers and for radio. There was the time when an elder ly man rushed out of his home, when he heard fire trucks arriving to fight a blaze in the neighborhood, iie came in contact with a live wire that had fallen in the street. His wife ran to his side in a futile effort to rescue him. Both were electrocuted. Needless to say, we’ll never forget wading in waist deep water on lower New street, with other searchers, try ing to locate the body of a child who had drowned when he ventured from his porch. It seemed unbelievable that his little form could vanish on a, city street, and remain lost in the surg ing waters. When the rampaging Neuse returned to its rightful place, as the winds subsided, the grim se cret came to light. He was found under the front steps of his own home. There have been humorous situa tions too, like the time we were evacuating a little old lady whose name we won’t mention. Although the storm was already raging, she wouldn’t come out of her house until she was primly dressed. We were wading in chest-deep water, and anx ious to get her away from there. Just as we managed to put her in the skiff, her hat flew off. She was quite upset about losing that bonnet, and fretted over its departure on the wings of the wind while we pulled (Conttnu«d on Pago 5) The NEW BERN I niiBi !««•»•■» **"BKLY Mrs. H. £. Dillon r OP Box 453 IXH Moroboad HC 5^ Per Copy VOLUME 4 NEW BERN, N. C„ FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1961 NUMBER 25 THEY STRUT FOR BEARS—Pictured here are the six New Bern High school Majorettes who add color to football games played here this season. Last Friday night they had plenty to be gay about, as the Bruins romped to a 19-0 victory over Washington’s Pam-Pack. Left to right are Head Majorette Donna Jo Bell, Nancy Masters, Laurel Cox, Karen Higgins, Jessie Ruth Arthur, and Mary Beth Arm strong'—Photo by John R. Baxter. .’9 ) ■ ) A HARD MAN TO STOP—Donald Davis, who scored two touchdowns for the New Bern High school Bears last Fri day night, didn’t give up easily vmen he carried the ball. This excellent photo by Johnny Williams—^his first publish ed one—proves Donald’s durability, as three members of the Washington Pam-Pack fight desperately to put the brakes on him. Another Bruin stalwart Ronald Wallace, aljj^j^l scored a touch down, and performed well.

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