New
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The NEW BERN
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VOLUME 5
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1962
NUMBER 24
October is an ideal month for
any New Bernian who wants to
turn amateur astronomer. Moving
from northeast to southwest, the
Milky Way passes almost directly
overhead, and is an awe inspiring
sight.
Millions of stars too faint to be
seen individually from our earth
combine their light to form the
Milky Way. Venus reached its max
imum brightness last Monday. For
several days it has been visible
in the western sky two hours after
sunset, but by the end of the
month it will be lost in the glare
of the sun, which it is now rapidly
approaching.
One thing is certain, America’s
astronauts and space explorers
representihg other countries
needn’t worry about running out of
places to head for. If you have
normal vision, you can see approxi
mately 4,000 stars, and any local
citizen with keen eyesight can see
6,000 — although not all at the
same time.
With a telescope, astronomers
are confronted with so many heav
enly bodies that it is impossible
to count them. Their estimates as
to the number of stars in the
Milky Way alone range from 30
billion to more than 100 billion.
Nikita Khrushchev would no doubt
like to claim them all for Russia,
but it will take him a little time
to land on each of them.
home is still very much the same
as it was when Twain invented
two youngsters — Tom Sawyer
and Huckleberry Finn — and used
them to exemplify the real-life
joys he and other kids shared on
the west bank of the Mississippi.
You’ll recall that Tom Sawyer’s
sweetheart was named Becky
Thatcher, and there really was a
Becky Thatcher. Or to be exact,
there was a girl named Laura Haw
kins, who lived across the street
from Mark. She was a lifetime
friend of the immortal author, and
inspired him to create Becky for
millions of people the world over.
The Clemens house, built by
Mark’s father in 1844, still stands
on Hill street. Jackson’s Island
remains, with its cottonwoods and
willows, to invite small boys who
want to play pirate, and the cave
that intrigued Tom Sawyer and
Becky Thatcher is still a favorite
spot for Hannibal’s children to
roam, with miles of passages.
We doubt that anyone in New
Bern, past or present, who has
read the works of Mark Twain was
inclined to forget Tom Sawyer’s
fence episode. You’ll recall that
he not only got other boys to
whitewash the fence for him, but
made them pay for the privilege
by parting with their most prized
possessions.
The original fence that surround
ed the Clemens home is no longer
standing, but it has been replaced
with one just like it. Incidentally,
the Hannibal Junior Chamber of
Commerce stages a Tom Sawyer
fence-painting day each August,
and boys representing towns from
every section of Missouri compete.
Fifty two years have come and
gone since Mark Twain passed
away, but the town he lived in
from the age of four to the age
of 18 is still enveloped in the
charm he immortalized with his
writings. He was christened Sam
uel Langhorne Clemens, but in
Hannibal like the rest of the world
it is his catchy pen name rather
than his legal name that people
instantly recognize.
Fortunately, Twain’s boyhood
home — complete with most of
its priceless relics — has been pre
served for posterity. 'The house is
(Continued on Pago 6)
TAKEN FOR GRANTED—^A scene such as this attracts little
attention from the natives here in our coast country, but its
simplicity and tranquility holds appeal for the outsider who
envies us our rivers and creeks. Almost anywhere you look,
1
along the streams that abound here, you’ll discover a pic
turesque setting. Arm yourself with a camera, when you
veuture forth on the Neuse and Trent.—Photo by Billy
Benners.
AWAY FROM IT ALL—The cares of a troubled world seem
far removed when you commune with Dame Nature in the
Jjand of Enchanting Waters. If you’re fed up with omnious
headlines and disconcerting broadcasts, and downright
jittery over the trials and tribulations plaguing mankind,
You can rekindle your faith and reinforce your courage in a
boat on a lazy river.—^Photo by Billy Benners.
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