Newspapers / The New Bern Mirror … / Sept. 15, 1967, edition 1 / Page 1
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New Oepf\' r COUNTY The % PUBLISHID WIIKLY IN THI HBART OP '4STIRN NORTH VOLUME 10 NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1967 NUMBER 'Zii Irvin s. Cobb, who hunted at Camp Bryan east of New Bern during his career as a famed writer of short stories, once said something that we*ve never forgotten. “Most people,” observed the hilarious sage of Paducah In one of his serious moments, “save the wrong things, and throw away priceless stuff as rubbish." Specifically, he was referring to hundreds of old letters of historical value, with rare stamps attached, that were dis covered In the Cobb attic years before the house was destroyed. Perhaps in the after glow the creator of Judge Priest was placing too much value on their worth, but he was convinced that he and the rest of the family had unwittingly discarded a small fortune while clinging to other Items that were com pletely worthless. That's the way it was with New Bern's trolley cars. For a time after they were out moded, they weathered the ele ments, but eventually were junked. Today one of the pic turesque cars, restored and displayed here, would be a first rate tourist attraction. In their heydey the trolleys, owned and operated by color ful Callle McCarthy, pretty well covered a city that had very few automobiles. Their junction was at the corner of Pollock and Metcalf streets, where the convenient low wall In front of the Plnnix (now Paul Cox) home was an Ideal waiting place for prospectlva customers. One trolley ran to what was then the far end of Ghent, a second to Riverside, and a third to the Union Station by way of lower Pollock, Middle, South Front, Craven and Queen streets. The fare was a nickel, and you coiild transfer without additional charge from one trol ley to another. New Bern's introduction to this form of electric transpor tation came shortly after the turn of the century. The In vention of the dynamo had solved the problem ofgeneratlngfairly cheap current, and as far back as 1881 the first electric rail way went into operation In Germany. It was destined to replace the cable car in all major American cities except San Francisco, where steep hills still made the cables practical. Before the cable cars, pulled by steam power, arrived on the scene, the first street cars in the United States and abroad were pulled by horses, and were appropriately dubbed horsecars. An enterprising gentlemim by the name of Frank J. Sprague opened the first paying electric street railway in America at Richmond, Va. LlkeNew Bern's ill fated ti olleys, his cars got their electric power from :m overhead copper line by mejuis of a long trolley pole. Tlie current originated in a central powerhouse (ours was at the local water work.s) and passed along the overhead line. The ti'olley pole above the streetcar had a trolley wheel or “shoe" that rolled along the line, conducting the elec tricity to the trolley polo. Prom there the current passed to the (Continued on page 8) P" i s W S* mnmm’Ln mm I I IP i II IM nih.m Cl NATION’S BEST—Shc*ny Robertson, chosen “Miss Cheerleader U.S.A. of 1967” at Cypress Gardens, Flor ida, is the charming added attraction in store for New Bern fans when they attend games at Greenville’s East Carolina University this season. Sherry isn’t the first girl from our section of the State to win fame at Cypress Gardens. New Bern’s Donna White is the pi ima ballerina in the resort’s world renowned water- .ski show, and other Cypress Garden Aqua-Maids who hailed from New Bern include BetW Bland, Beth Lanscho, .Janice Shapou and Sylvia FMner. '■!i
The New Bern Mirror (New Bern, N.C.)
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Sept. 15, 1967, edition 1
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