CCfluuty Jlublif Slbrury
The NEW BERN
PUBLISHED WEEKLY
IN THE HEART OP
EASTERN NORTH
CAROLINA
VOLUME 12
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1969
NUMBhn35
Dusting ott the memories:
Once upon a time, Gatsey Mat
thews, 13, who lived in Colo
ny Heights, displayed wisdom
beyond her years. Instead of
paying a nickel to ride the City
V bus home from school, she in
vested the money each day In a
candy bar. She knew sweets
were bad for her already plump
figure, but reasoned that the
long walk would take care of
that.
New Bern's Mike Holton, a
pilot for Piedmont AlrUnes,
used to go to great lengths for
his music lessons. His run
was ft-om Wilmington, N. C.,
to Cincinnati, and he studied
voice at a conservatory in the
Ohio city during his brief stays
there. Mike started out as a
soloist in the Centenary Meth
odist choir here.
Jack Menlus, attendingaNa-
tional Boy Scout Jamboree at
Valley Forge, discovered a
bean bettle In his picket when
he arrived for the encamp
ment. He put the bug in a smaU
plastic case, called the Insect
a Hindu FUp, and traded It to an
eager Texas scout for a hand
made leather neckerchief. Oth
er boys from the Lone Star
State swamped Jack with re
quests for additional Hindu
flips. Wltti more bean beetles
young Menlus could probably
have ended up owning half of
Texas.
Then there was the occa
sion when a group of kids liv
ing on Johnson street discov
ered that a stray hen was lay
ing eggs In a neighborhood
woodshed. A mother discov
ered it too when she found her
smaU daughter and several oth
er moppets breaking the eggs
andmixlng them In mud pies.
Visit the graves of FDR and
his wife,Eleanor,at Hyde Park,
and you'U find that Roosevelt's
beloved dog, Falla, Is burled
with them. Although we aren't
sure. It Is probably the only
Instance that a pet canine has
been entombed by the side of a
departed President.
Which brings to mind some
thing that happened when spe
cial memorial services were
held at New Bern's Christ
Episcopal church, the Satur
day afternoon following Roose
velt's death at Warm Springs.
As the local services neared
their cUmax, a little mongrel
trotted quietly down the center
aisle of the historic edifice, and
remained until those who had
come to pay their last tribute
filed out.
Great dog lover that he was,
FDR would have gotten a
chuckle or grown misty eyed
over an incident such cs this.
Most of all he might have been
especlaUy pleased to note that
the canine was nondescript.
Whatever else may be said for
or against Roosevelt, he wasn't
overly awed by pedigrees.
Because of a physical handi
cap that needs no detaillnghere,
FDR never knew the joy of
romping playfully with Falla.
Master and pet accepted this
fact, and their association be
came even closer, we believe,
than the usual bond between
man and dog.
Falla was with Roosevelt
when he died, and rode in the
coach with his body on the train
trip back to Washington. Grief
is by no means confined to hu
man exprience, and the ca-
I.-
THE WAY IT WAS — If you were living In New Bern
25 years ago or earlier, you’ll recognize our town’s
small, two-story telephone building. A handful of
operators handled all calls, totaling only a tiny frac
tion of the thousands now cleared dally through
Carolina Telephone’s modern direct-dialing equip
ment here. The front portion of the first fioor served
as the business office, and greeting customers there
was as gentle and considerate a lady as ever lived.
Miss Ina Brewer. Her courtesy was the one thing the
company couldn’t improve on in its tremendous ex
pansion program, in North Carolina's first Capital
City. What became of this structure? It was added to,
and swallowed up by the much larger building now
standing at Broad and Hancock. Incidentally, this
free, front-page plug for Carolina Telephone was
our idea, not theirs. The firm’s importance to our
community is far reaching.
.... (Contlnued.oh Pagu 8)
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