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The NEW BERN
PUBLI8HID WIIKLY
IN THI MART OR
jnt, «4STBRN NORTH
Phil Kennel, who happened
to hear us telling this story
on Raleigh’s 00,000 watt radio
station, WPTF, the other day,
suggested tliat we pass it along,
just as wp did it on the air.
Here it is, word for word.
Things are really fouled up,
on New Bern’s Tryon Palace
Drive, and a bantam rooster
named Charlie is to blame.
Not content with being cock
of the walk in the backyard
of Mrs. Laura Price, where
a small flock of hens once
held him in great esteem, Char
lie of late has been behaving
more and more like somebody
who oujdii to be named Char
lotte.
F*or weeks he has been try
ing to convert his crow into a
cackle, with moderate success, ^
reserving his unorthodox vocal
outbursts for pronouncements
that another egg had been layed
by one of bis ladies.
This in itself proved some
what annoying to the hens. They
figured it was their prerogative
to issue bulletins confirming
their continued output.
Charlie’s owner, a widow
woman of no little patience,
tried to be tolerant about Chjir-
lie's dilemma, but she too de
cided the situation was reach
ing a crucial stage when the
rooster took over a nest in
the lien house, where his
cackling could have a more
logical locale.
Time and again she adminis
tered coiporal punishment to
Charlie, alternately resorting
to rolled-up newspapers, a fly
swatter, and finsdly in extreme
frustration, a vigorously
wielded broom.
Charlie is no game r«)Oster,
in the usually accepted sense,
but he was game enough to
stick to his convictions, and
to the nest he considered his
by .squatter’s right.
The liist straw came when
he Insisted on transferring to
a second nest, with full in
tent t(» hatch the eggs therein.
The hens ganged up on him,
gave him a sound thra-shing,
and in the upheaval broke all
of tlie half-hatched eggs. Things
have gone to pot for Charlie,
and that too is where he ap-
peiirs headed.
Kennel's complimentary
evaluation of the above story
flattered us, since he some
times takes sadistic delight in
finding abundant fault with
things we write. Having es-
capted from the wilds of his
native Brooklyn many years
ago, he is so saturated with
SouUiorn culture now that he
envl.slons himself as a liter
ary critic.
We will say this for the
portly fugitive from Flatbush.
Once below the Mason-Dixon
Line, he knew he was in hog
heaven, persuaded Arapalioe’s
Nora Hai dlson to give up .single
bliss, and promised himself
he would never stray from this
glorious land of hominy grits
imd collard greens.
Although Phil, or Lefty as
he is better known to baseball
fans who remember Ids Coastal
Plain League pitching and
slugging, would never admit it,
the Stork made a mistake when
he dropped Kennel off in close
promlmity to Ebbets Field.
For all his Yankee cocki
ness, he is a Rebel at heart,
and you couldn’t rout him out
of Dixie wltli a team of mules.
(Continued on page 0)
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MEET THE CHAMPS—Pictured wearing their victory
smiles are the happy Lions, who won five games and
Ued onl to captuVfNew Bern’s 1967 Midget League
crown. First row, left to right, are Jay Salem, Doug
Amerson, Mike Fussell, Walton Baker, James
Lake Marshburn, Steven Bengel, Randy Jarman
Andy Willis, Charles Daly, Jimmy Heatherly, Jim
Ross. Second row. Coaches Jim Ross and John Baxter,
Jr. Clyde Getz, Burke Beck, Billy Harmatuk, Mubert
O’Berry, Monte Rolison, Bobby Williams, Joe Slann,
WadrCamb, Mike Jones, Dan^Hill and Steve Fisher
Honest to goodness lions are hard to come by, and
still harder to keep caged, so th® youngsters had to
settle for a stuffed imitation of the real thing for
their mascot. Needless to say, every^one of the youth
ful grldders will be pulling for New ®ern High School s
undefeated, once-tied Bears FrWay nig^li
iSney to Elizabeth City in quest of the Northeastern
ConfiMence title The Bruins can wrap it up with a
win over the always scrappy Yellow Jackets, and are
determined to do just that. Take a second lo^ at the
kids shown here. They and other promising athletes in
the Midget League, along with slightly older boys
in New Bern’s new Junior High gridiron pro^m,
will eventually grow up to be full fledged NBHb
Bears. Somewhere in this lot there may be another
Richard Stilley, Garland Ballar^ vo
Clem Brinson. Certainly, New Bern High Schools
chances for future glory in the pigskin parade are
being strengthened by the opportunity given local
small fry to learn the game on a competitive basis at
an early age. Kinston discovered the advantage of
cut caiij — ^
having excellent pre-High school programs years ago,
and made the most of it. That’s why trouncings like
last Friday’s 32-6 Bruin victory have been few and
far between. Maybe things will be different from here
on out.—Photo by John R. Baxter.
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