; 1
'bMrc Library
The NEW BERN
(i^[lig^®l^
easier.^ ..J.
CAROLINA
Si Per Copy
VOLUME 5
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1963
NUMBER 41
George Washington’s birthday
brings to mind the sultry sum
mer morning we climbed the
steps to the top of the Wash
ington Monument, and came back
down those selfsame steps. That
was a long time ago.
Right smack In the middle
of the towering structure, on
the way down, we encountered
two drunks arguing. They wanted
to go in opposite directions, and
neither showed the slightest in
clination to give in to the
other.
When last we saw them, they
were shouting profanity and
shaking their fists, while seated
in wobbly condition on one of
the steps. We’ve wondered since
how long it took to settle the
issue.
As a small towner who re
garded the Washington Monu
ment as a shrine to respect,
it surprised us to see names
and comments scrawled on its
interior. Apparently, many
visitors considered the insides
of the shaft no more sacred
than the wall of a public rest
room.
This form of desecration
appeals to a lot of folks you
would expect better of. For
example, so much lipstick has
been smeared on the Statue of
Liverty that in desperation the
Federal Government resorted to
the use of lipstick-resistant
paint to minimize the vandalism.
If you think we’re kidding, ask
Uncle Sam.
The best known story about
the Father of our Country, at
least about his boyhood, is the
legend that has him refusing to
tell a lie, after cutting down a
cherry tree. Every youngster in
school hears it before advancing
very far on the road to education.
There’s another story you
may not have heard, the story
of the knife. When Washington
was eleven years old his father
died. Shortly after, the boy took
up his residence at Mount Ver
non with his half-brother, Law
rence. Through the influence of
a neighbor, William Fairfax, he
obtained a commission as mid
shipman in the English Navy,
but the future President's
mother said she did not want
him to go.
Obediently, he surrendered
his commission and returned to
his studies, back to surveying
and mathematics. Among the
items of his mother’s next order
to England, for annual supplies,
was one for a good penknife,
this she presented to the boy
as a reward for submission to
her will, with the injunction,
“Always obey your superiors,’’
He carried the token with him
through life, as a reminder of
his mother’s command, and to
General Knox explained its
significance. At Valley Forge,
when a vacillating and timid
Congress failed to provide food
and shelter for his ragged and
starving army, in desperation
and despair, yielding temporar
ily to his feelings and sympathy
for his men and in disgust with
Congress, he wrotehis resigna
tion as Commander-in-Chief.
Washington summoned his
staff and notified thent of his
(Continued on Page 8)
END OF AN ERA—Pictured here is one of the DC-3’s
that handled Piedmont Airlines very first passengers
15 years ago. As part of its fifteenth anniversary cele
bration Wednesday, part of which was a final DC-3 land
ing here, the airline has retired its last aircraft of this
type. From now on the Piedmont fleet will consist en
tirely of F-27 prop-jet and Martin 404 Pacemakers.
Three New Bernians, Mike Holton, Robert Thomason
and Baxter Slaughter are veteran Piedmont pilots.
QUITF, AN IMPROVEMENT—This scene now greets air
travelers arriving at New Bern’s Simmons-Knott Air
port. Work is continuing on the terminal, assuring at
tractiveness as well as service for the many who will
make use of its facilities in the days and years to come.
The transformation, long needed, will give visitors a
much better impression of New Bern, from the outset,
than they had in the past.—Photo by Charles Carter.