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The NSW BERN
I PUiUlHIDWIlKLY
IN THI HIART OP
*^IRN NORTH
J\rn^h
VOLUME 11
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, JULY 26, 1968
NUMBER 18
Many a tall tale Is told by
those senior citizens who con
gregate on the tree-shaded
benches that line the outside
fence of Christ Episcopal
church. Remarkably, a lot of
stories are true.
For example, on a recent
morning you could have heard
about a drunk's encouter on the
Elks Temple corner with New
Bern's most colorful cop In his
tory, Uncle Gus Ipock.
According to well founded
legend, Ipock was standing as
usual at his favorite spot,
chewing the usual wad of to
bacco, and as usual not being
too successful about keeping the
juice contained within his
crowded oral cavity.
Along came a character not
exactly unknown to Uncle Gus,
obviously loaded to the gills
with a beverage that couldn't
possibly have been lemonade.
To say he was just stagger
ing wouldn't do him justice.
This inebriated Individual was
In a state of uncertain peram
bulation that defies description.
Clutched under his arm,pre
sumably to guard against any
dry spell that might crop up
during the balance of the day,
was a gallon jug. In the jug
was a Uquid distilled to such
clarity thay you knew right off
It was some of North Harlowe's
best white lightning.
Displaying cordiality so long
associated with over Imbibing,
the drunk made no effort to
avoid Uncle Gus. To the con
trary, he tendered his jug to
the elderly, philosophical po
liceman and Invited him to have
a drink.
Uncle Gusibless his memory,
figured that at such a time as
this might not be a bad Idea
to temper justice with a double
helping of mercy. Instead of
exercising his authority, and
making an arrest, he told the
man to "Get home with that
jug of kerosene."
The drunk got the message
in a manner that those who sub
scribe to ceaseless sobriety
would find It haird to fathom,
and to the best of our knowl
edge followed these instruc
tions explicitly, as well as
he could in his t^ heavy con
dition.
Unfortunately, Uncle Gus
wasn't always able to handle
touchy situations this expertly.
Once at the famed guano dock
off East Front street, where
New Bern youngsters of male
gender dellf^ted In swimming
unhampered by attire, he got
the scare of his life.
Periodically, housewives In
the neighborhood would call City
Hall to complain about this
shocking display of nudity, and
likely as not, the riot squad sent
to the scene consist^ soley
of Uncle Gus.
What Uncle Gus didn't know,
but the Innocent juvenile delin
quents did, was that a hole
existed in the dock, below the
water's surface, big enough for
a nimble kid to swim through
and come up out of the water,
concealed beneath the dock.
As the whims of Fate would
have It, everybody was over
board one day, well out of reach
of a passing raft of logs,
when uncle Gus showed up.
Everybody that Is, except Son
ny Foote, who could outswlm
any fish, even If he had both
(Continued on page 8)
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*v.
NOT JUST SPUDS—Ordinarily, when New Bernians
think of Pamlico County in terms of agriculture, po
tatoes immediately enter their thoughts. It’s true that
for many years our neighbors down the road have
raised a goodly share of potatoes, but don’t overlook
the corn grown there. S. M. Jones Farms, Inc., at Bay-
boro, raises and markets hundreds of acres of the tasty
ears annually, and here you see two photos of the big
operation. A hundred migrant workers who find em
ployment tne year round throughout the South recent
ly comnlc**''* - ...
Timi
low us in Dixie Has tapered off, and crops to the
wuviugiiuui me ouum receni-
ly completed picking and packing of the Jones crop.
Timed for ripening when other commercial corn be-
Dixie ha ‘ ' ‘
North aren’t yet matured, the Pamlico corn can usual
ly count on a ready market for a ten-day span. Both
the crop and the market are perishable, so a deiav can
be costly.—Photos by John R. Baxter.