The NEW BERN
S^'i
PUBLISHED WEEKLY
IN THE HEART OP
'ASTERN NORTH
'''LINA
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VOLUME 15
NEW BERN, N. C. 28560, FRIDAY, MAY 26, 1972
NUMBER 11
Yesterday was when your
parents would have skinnea you
alive if they had caught you
reading the latest issue of
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, or
the Calgary Eye Opener.
Published monthly, these
forbidden paperbacks carried
spicy jokes and naughty car
toons. Today’s youngsters,
accustomed to four letter words
that neither periodical printed,
would find such magazines very
dtdl stuff.
Yesterday was when, exactly
50 years ago, New Bernians and
everyone else in the world got
highly excited about the
discovery of King Tut’s tomb in
Egypt. The story made
heacQines for quite a long time.
A pharaoh who was only 18
when he died 3,000 years ago,
Tutankhamun quite possibly
was murdered. From the
moment he became Pharaoh at
the age of 9 until he breathed his
last, he was manipulated and
plotted against.
Great care was taken by his
enemies to remove all trace of
him above ground, after his
death, but no one can say he
wasn’t put away right. His
resting place was an elaborate
burial chamber, and we do
mean elaborate.
Its furniture included por
table beds, chairs, and a
gaming table where he could
amuse himself as befitted a
mummified' notable, who was
waiting to commence his
journey into the Great Beyond.
In ancient Egypt, permanent
preservation of a body was
siqiremely important, since it
was expected to be us^ further
by its occupant after death.
King Tut still hadn’t made off
with his, when the tomb was
opened.
There his mummy was,
wearing the solid gold mask
that covered head and
shoulders. Surrounding him
was an unbelievable treasure of
tx'acelets, necklaces and rings,
and exquisite vases carved
from alabaster.
No wonder a discovery of this
magnitude, far across the sea,
excited New Bernians in the
Ticter Tape .Twenties. Tem
porarily ttey forgot about A1
Capone’s gangland rule in
Chicago, and Baby Ruth’s new
record for home runs.
No one along the shores of the
Neuse and Trent could foresee,
of course, that New Bern would
make big news itself that same
year. On December 1, a 40-block
fire would leave 2,000 homeless
here.
Yesterday was when, just
four years later, folks in our
town got highly excited again.
An American girl of portly
build, Gertrude Ederle, became
the first woman to swim the
English Channel. The world
acclaimed her.
Her fame lingered suf
ficiently to make her a top at
traction at the New York
World’s Pair in 1939, where she
swam with Johnny Weismuller
in Billy Rose’s Aquacade. We
had occasion to see her per
form.
Gertrude’s channel crossing
is no longer regarded as
noteworthy. Florence Chadwick
(Continued on page 8)'
■ %
EVER THE SAME—Nothing beats a fence to
loosen the tongues of neighborly women. Here two
of the hostesses at Old Salem take time out to
engage in small talk, while there Is a lull in tourist
traffic. Maybe they’re discussing the relative
merits of Skipper Bowles and Pat Taylor, or
matters equally weighty, but our guess is their
subject is clothes, a favorite recipe, grandchildren,
or how long their minister preaches.