h
Digging in our files the other day,
we discovered some interesting facts
and figures about the highway
bridge that spans Neuse river from
New Bern to Bridgeton. For some
reason, we never got around to pub
lishing these statistics, so here they
are.
Included among items necessary
for its construction were 2,017,000
pounds of reinforcing steel; 2,651
000 pounds of structural steel; 6,
538 cubic yards of Class A concrete
31,000 feet of 20-inch, pre-cast con
Crete piles; and 20,000 feet of ere
osoted timljer piles.
Its cost to the state of North
Carolina was $1,137,224.20. The over
all span is one and twenty-three
thousandths of a mile, with 148
spans that are 35 feet each, and a
swinging span of 223 feet. The road
way from curb to curb is 28 feet
wide, with a three-foot sidewalk on
each side.
The NEW BERN
iTw ''WEEKLY
It Jt ^
5 Per Cu/
VOLUME 4
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1961
Exploring the aformentioned files
further, we came across a notation
about Roosevelt Eddy. Quite a num
ber of years ago, fire destroyed the
Negro service station attendant’s
home on F Street here. His three
year old child was burned to death,
and another of his children — nine
years old — was critically burned
in the blaze.
Roosevelt himself sustained bums
in a vain attempt to save all of his
brood from flames that rapidly en
veloped the frame dwelling. In their
darkest hour, Eddy and his wife
disoovared that citizens of New Bern
are quick to come to the assistance
Of those in dire need.
At the time of the tragedy, the
future editor of The Mirror was do
ing news coverage for Radio Station
WHIT. We went on the air to broad
cast an appeal for clothes, furniture,
or anything else usual to a home,
with an emphasis on wearing ap
parel.
The response was overwhelming.
Listeners rushed to their telephones
with offers of clothes and furniture
for the man and his wife, and for
their surviving children. Long be
fore nightfall, most of their-clothing
needs had been supplied.
Being a man, we hadn’t taken the
time to find out what size dresses
the woman wore. Belatedly, we
found out that she needed Size 40
attire, and none of the garments
received fitted this category.
Very few women, we were told,
are Size 40, and fewer still admit
that they are large. Even so, we re
turned to the air with a second ap
peal and specified the size we need/
ed. In a matter of minutes. New
Bern housewives who obviously had
hearts as big as their frames volun
teered all the apparel needed.
We might never have recalled the
incident, it the story hadn’t turned
up in our files, which is another
good reason to do a bit of house
cleaning in one’s office once in
.awhile.
P^ally,
elving in
before completing our
delving into the over-stuffed filing
cabinet, we encountered a reminder
that Eleanor Nunn Jones — Sam’s
wife and the daughter of Judge and
Mrs. R. A. Nunn — spent 28 months
in England and France as a Red
Cross worker during the course of
World War H.
She was on her way overseas just
a month after joining a Red Cross
unit, and was attached to the Army’s
160th Station hospital. She knew
what it meant to be caught in the
midst of an air raid, and can tell
you first hand that Germany’s robot
bombs were even worse than you
heard they were.
A subscriber to The Miorror, she
will be quite surprised to read about
herself in this column, after all
these years. It goes to show you that
newspapermen have a phobia against
(Continued on back page)
miii
A LASTING LEGEND—This is the 1922 New Bern High
school football team that defeated'Sanford at Raleigh for
the Eastern title, while our town was suffering a 40-block
fire. It took Asheville five quarters in the, tain to decision
the Bears 12-6 at Chapel Hill for the State crown. Linemen
shown are Bob MeSorley, Carl Morton, Marvin Griffin,
Charlie Henries, Piggie Duval, David Grantham and Red-
mund Dill. Backs are John D. Whitford, Emmett MeSorley,
Alvin Phillips and Nickey Simpson.
MENTORS FOR YOUNGSTERS — Pictured here are the
coaches who guide small-fry gridders in the New Bern
Recreation Department’s Midget Football League. Left to
right are Bill Smith (Lions), Ray Griffin (Bears), Larry
Swindell (Golden Knights), Ernest Hollowell (Bears), Ray
Batts (Golden Knights), Dick Kent and Cliffie Rowe (Rams),
Don Wilkins (Lions), and Jim Shine, Athletic Director.
—Photo by John R. Baxter.
NUMBER 29