At this point, I must have
lost my presence of mind be
cause I let go of the line.
The barrel then came down
giving me another heavy blow
in the head which put me in
the hospital.
I respectfully request sick
leave. Signed: John Ciuq>man.
Invariably, when July 4th
rolls around, we recall the boy
hood thrill oi filing sky rockets
(purchased from Leon Cohen)
into the darkness of a summer
sky. They didn't climb far
enough to go in orbit, but the
thrust was sufficient to kindle
visions of outer space in ju
venile minds.
Less exciting were the Ro
man candles procured with
nickels and dimes that had been
saved for months. Sparklers
were for girls and sissies, and
no boy on upper Pollock
street would have dared dis
play pleasure in an object so
lacking in sound and fury.
Frank Shrlner (a village
blacksmith) always bought his
two sons a large supply of
fireworks. Including a paper
balloon that sailed majestlc^y
into the heavens when you light
ed the fuel at its base to in
flate it with gas or hot air.
Most of tiie time, kids were
strictly on their own when they
set ott explosives as part of
their observance of the Fourth,
Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Inevitably, recklessness led to
accidents and some of them
were quite tragic.
Our most serious misluq> oc
curred when a Roman candle,
apparently constructed by
somebody standing on their
head, fired in reverse—right
into the palm of our hand.
One youngster, rigging a home
made bomb, blew a couple of
(Ccmtlnued on Page 5)
The NEW BERN
S4Perc:.-»b
From way out in California
(where incidentally we have a
number of subscribers) comes
a copy of this letter reported
ly written by an employee to
the contracting company for
which he worked.
Gentlemen, When I got to the
building, I found that the storm
had knocked some bricks off
the top so I rigged a pulley
and hoisted up a couple of
barrels of bricks.
After I had finished, there
were a lot of bricks left over,
so I hoisted the barrel back
up again and secured the line
at the bottom. Then I went up
and filled the barrel with the
extra bricks. Then I went down
to the bottom to cast off the
line.
Unfortunately, the barrel
bricks was heavier than i was
and before I knew what was
happening, the barrel started
jerking me off the ground. I
decided to hang on, and half
way up I met the barrel com
ing down and received a severe
blow on the shoulder.
I then continued to the top,
banging my head against the
beam and getting my finaers
jammed in the pulley. When
the barrel hit the ground, it
burst out its bottom, spilling
out the bricks. I was now heav
ier than the barrel and started
down again at hl^ speed.
Halfway down, I met the bar
rel coming up and received
severe injuries to my shins.
When I hit the ground, I landed
on the bricks, getting several
painful cuts from the sharp
ALMO^ ready—^North Carolina’s newest all-metal feet wide, and has a load eapadty of SO automotUea
ferry, the Silver Lake, rides the ripplinf Trent as it and 300 passengers. Its cru^g speed fw the 22-
nears completion at New Bern Shipyards. Scheduled mile run will be an estimated eleven knots when
for operation after mid-July between Cedar Island and fully loaded.—Photo by Billy Benners
Ocracoke, the locally built craft is 161 feet long, 45
I
V'
NO TIME LOST—As soon as the Silver Lake, shown
above, took to the water, work began on its sister
ferry, the Pamlico. It is due for launching in Octobw,
and will be a duplicate of the first vessel. Total con
struction cost for the pair is $1,061,000. There will be
room in the deck house for 200 passengers, and an
additional 100 on top. A concession stand with hot and
cold food is included.—^Photo by Billy Benners