NEW BERN-CRAVEN COUNTY
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The N£W BERN
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VOLUME 15
NEW BERN. N. C., FRIDAY, MARCH 24,1972
NUMBER 2
No one was more interested in
last wedc’s front page photo of
the steamer Neuse ^t Mitch
ell Rountree’s wife, Moolie.
Always good for an in
teresting conversation, she
called to tell us how she
traveled from Elizabeth City on
the vessel, three weeks ^r
her birth.
Of course Mollie was too
young at the time to remember
this particular voyage, but she
pleasantly recalls other trips
later.
The skipper, she reminded us,
was Captain Bill Davis, tbs
same Captain Bill vdio became
a landlubber in his twiU^t
years and pUoted me of Cafiie
McCartl^’s troliey cars Imre.
Davis, tall and talkative,
could easify have passed for a
river-boat character out of
Mark Twain’s Mississippi days.
He impressed us in our
boyhood.
A lot of water has gone under
the bridge since the tiun of the
century, and Mollie, when she
telephones, couldn’t say for
sure how many passengers the
Neuse used to haul, along with
its cargo of freight.
She said, however, she
believes there were usu^y 40
people aboard. Although she
didn’t make such a claim,
Mollie could very well be the
youngest person to ride any
distance on this grand old boat.
Elizabeth City, like New
Bern, was a busy inland port in
its day. Natives in both towns,
among other things looked
forward to annual visits by a
touring floating theatre.
This was the selfsame
showboat that inspired' a
playwright, passing through
Elizabeth City, to write
Showboat, one of the longest
running productions to ever
play Broadway.
Chances are you never saw
this highly entertaining musical
on the stage, but surely a
majority of our older readers
remember seeing it when
Hollywood made a movie of it.
Tony Afortin, one of the best
popiiar vocalists to ever come
along, starred in the movie
version of Showboat. Who could
ever forget his incomparable
renditions of Make Believe and
Old Man River?
Mentioning Tony Martin
brings to our mind when, while
he was still regarded as one of
the nation’s great entertainers,
he was stationed at Seymour
Johnson Airfield in Ck>ldsbH'o
during World War Two.
One of the girls who worked at
the Western Union office in
Goldsboro was, he observed,
especially courteous. He
diqtlayed his appreciation by
volunteering to sing at her
wedding.
Neva* in her wildest dreams
c^d she have visualized such a
thing happening. There have
been other brides in Goldsboro
and elsewhere more socially
prominent, but they didn’t have
a Tmy Martin around when
they took their vows.
Yesterday was when the
characters in comic pages of
your favorite newspaper were
Just as violent as they are today.
The violence was less
(Continued on page 8)
- A- i i ■ • X
HERE IT IS—^eral weeks ago, when we ran a
Looking Glass column about Gilbert (Gib) Waters
and the buggymobile he invented, a few skeptics
possibly thought the story somewhat far fetched.
Seeing is beliving, and pictured is the jovial Mr.
Waters and his equally jovial wife setting out on a
spin around New Bern. He had his home, and buggy
shop, at the comer of Broad and Bum, and you’ll no
douk recognize Broad Street Christian Church in
the background. Gib and his better half, like this
very early auto, had quite a few years on them
when this picture was snapped, but the three of
them were still going strong. The local inventor
appeared twice on national radio programs, at the
invitation of Gabriel Heatter and Phil Baker. Note
the buggy vliip, ample evidence that Gib had a
keen sense of humor.—Photo from Albert D.
Brooks Collection.