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Major Spill Averted
It is welcomed news that only
k about 10 gallons of oil spilled into
Albemarle Sound when a barge
J{ sank Monday night near Harvey
Point in Perquimans County. The
barge was loaded with 378,000
gallons of crude oil headed for
Plymouth when it went under in
about 20 feet of water.
The oil, described as molasses
thick, caused a very light slick
that covered about one mile,
according to a U. S. Coast Guard
spokesman.
However,' the slick was nothin
evidence from the water at noon
Tuesday when reporters visited
the scene via boat.
A major oil spill in the Albemarle
Sound could have resulted from
the sinking of the barge. It would
have been a disaster, especially
after the “green tide” experienced
this summer in the Chowan River.
It wasn’t a very pretty picture in
. Albemarle Sound Tuesday. One
could almost visualize rock fish
r floating to the top.
However, a Weyerhaeuser of
ficial says the firm is confident
that the threat of a major spill has
been averted. And as we said, that
is welcomed news.
Supporter Not Listed
It is unfortunate that the name
of a leading contributor to the
recently held benefit for the
Edenton Aces was omitted from
the news story of the event in last
week’s paper.
Bubba Hopkins, who was a star
performer on the championship
teams of Coach Bill Billings in the
late ’sos, was very generous in his
participation in the benefit which
netted about SI,OOO for a movie
camera and projector.
Bubba, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Thomas Hopkins, Pembroke
Circle, is now a successful real
f estate executive in West Palm
Beach, Fla.
Operation Santa Claus
At Christmas, those in Caswell
J Training Center, Cherry Hospital,
and Alcolholic Rehabilitation
Center would like to be remem
bered too.
Please share the spit spirit of
Christmas by remembering the
patients at these institutions. Take
your gift, new and unwrapped, to
either the Bank of North Carolina
N.A,, People’s Bank, or the
Chowan Academy. The gifts must
be in by December 8. On that date
they will be taken to the
Albemarle Mental Health Center by
the students of Chowan Academy.
Following is a list of suggested
items:
Men: smoking tobacco, pipes,
cigars, chewing tobacco, talc
powder, shaving lotion, caps, neck
’ ties, socks, jackets, slacks.
Women: bath powder, snuff,
lipstick, compacts, necklaces,
rings, hair spray, hair rollers, hair
grease, hair bands, hand lotion,
perfume, cotton and nylon hose,
embroidery thread, dresses,
coats, scuffs, pocketbooks,
stamped embroidery pieces,
bracelets, pins, earrings.
Both men and women:
cigarettes, deodorant, instant
coffee and cream, stationery and
stamps, lock boxes, radios,
handkerchiefs, comb and brush
sets, billfolds, shampoo, pajamas,
underwear, sweaters, scarves,
gloves, watches.
Children: cars, trucks, balls (all
kinds), building sets, stuffed toys,
walkie-talkie sets, dolls (all
kinds), tea sets, doll clothing,
jump ropes, doll cases large ap
,l pliance sets, trains, airplanes,
' farm animal sets, and doll
carriages.
The date for delivery for the
gifts, again, is December 8. The
gifts will be wrapped by volunteer
workers after they are delivered
to the hospital. Many articles aie
needed throughout the year, but it
is requested that all items donated
for Christmas he new. \
Continued on Pago 4
Mr. Phthisics
Haywood McKay Phthisic died
at his home in Albania Acres
Tuesday afternoon following an
extended illness. A retired mer
chant, Mr. Phthisic was 66. He was
in the grocery business for 35
years.
; ' A native of Perquimans County,
Mr. Phthisic was born December
16, 1905, son of the late J. Ruben
and Mary Chappell Phthisic. He
was married to the late Margaret
Chappell Phthisic.
Surviving is a son, H. McKay
I Phthisic, Jr.„of Edenton; and a
flu
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BARGE SALVAGE UNDERWAY-A Weyerhaeuser barge, loaded with
378,000 gallons of oil, sank in Albemarle Sound early Monday morning and
salvage team from Norfolk, Va., was rushed to the scene to prevent a major
spill. The picture above shows the general scene with an auxiliary tug at left,
bargein the foreground, a giant pumper unit in the background, and a portion of
a relief barge at far right. The inset shows the three-foot section of the
which remained out of the water. (Staff Photos, Courtesy West W. Byrum)
Volume XXXVm.—No. 46.
Gay To Face
Federal Count
Edgar David Gay, 44,1017 North
Broad Street, was arrested
Tuesday morning and charged
under the federal extortion
statute.
Ralph J. Rampton, special
agent in charge of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation in
Charlotte, announced the arrest
by FBI agents from Elizabeth
City.
Gay is charged with attempting
to extort money from Peoples
Bank & Trust Company in
Edenton. He appeared later in
the day Tuesday before U. S.
Magistrate Grafton G. Beaman at
Elizabeth City.
It is anticipated that Gay will be
tried in U. S. District Court in
Elizabeth City during its next
term.
The Edenton Police Depart
ment, Chowan County Sheriff’s
Department and the State Bureau
nf~fnvestigation assisted in the
investigation which led to Gay’s
arrest.
Event Sunday
Ballard’s Bridge Baptist Church
will have dedication and
homecoming Sunday. The new
renovation program, completed
last summer, includes completely
bricking, painting the inside and
outside and adding a new front to
the church.
The program will begin at the 11
A.M. worship hour with the pastor
and congregation participating in
the dedication service. After the
morning service, dinner will be
enjoyed by all on the church
grounds.
Former members and their
families and the community are
invited to attend this homecoming
and dedication. A Harvest offering
will be received and a goal of
$6,000 has been set.
Shoreline Studied By USDA; Erosion Is Noted
A team of USDA Soil Con
servation Service specialist are
studying the shore erosion
problem on the rivers and sounds
in Eastern North Carolina.
Tuesday the team visited the
Albemarle Area. Selected sites
were observed in Chowan,
Perquimans, Tyrrell, Washington
and Bertie counties.
The objective of this study is to
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STUDY UNDERWAY-Stanton Harrell, left, technician with
the US DA Soil Conservation Service here, discusses shore erosion
with two team members who are studying the problem in Eastern
North Carolina.
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Edenton, Chowan County, North Carolina, Thursday, November 30, 1972
Helms To Talk Here
Sen.-Elect Jesse Helms
Court To Open
Term Monday
The next term of superior court
will open next Monday at the
Chowan County Courthouse with
38 cases calendered. Judge
Marvin K. Blount of Greenville
will preside.
Mrs. Lena M. Leary, clerk of
court, stated that the session will
probably continue through the
week.
Among the cases to be heard will
be murder charges against John
Dorsey White and Walter Jer
nigan. The men are each charged
with first degree murder stem
ming from shooting incidents
which occurred in the latter part
of the summer.
As well, Leonard Duff, Jr. will
face a charge of rape. The case
was continued from the previous
session of Superior Court.
Other cases will include 21
charges of drunk driving, five
charges of speeding, and other
routine charges.
determine the extent of the
problem and to correlate the ef
fects of such factors as soil types,
prevailing winds, etc. Once this
basic information is obtained SCS
will be in a position to formulate
standards for measures that can
be recommended to land users to
cope with the problem, according
to Robert G. Jessup, SCS state
conservation engineer in Raleigh.
U. S. Sen.-elect Jesse Helms will
be the principal speaker at the
annual meeting of Albemarle Area
Development Association. The
meeting will be held at 6:30 P.M.,
Tuesday at Edenton Jaycee
Community Building on Base
Road.
W. P. (Spec) Jones, AADA vice
president-west, is banquet
chairman and said arrangements
are being made to accommodate
one of the largest crowds ever to
attend the meeting.
Tickets are being sold
throughout the 10-county
Albemarle through the
Agricultural Extension offices.
Pete Thompson, Chowan County
extension chairman, is in charge
of ticket sales.
Jones said the area is fortunate
to have received a favorable
acceptance from the senator-elect
who is busy putting together his
staff as well as make other
arrangements prior to taking
office in January.
Sen.-elect Helms is a Raleigh TV
executive and commentator who
was elected earlier this month to
succeed Sen. B. Everett Jordan.
Sen. Jordan was keynoter at last
year’s banquet which was held in
Elizabeth City.
L. F. Amburn, Jr., of Edenton,
AADA president, said the Chowan
County committee is assisting
Jones with arrangements for the
banquet.
Pledger Wins
A 19-year-old North Carolina
youth, who became such an
electrical whiz in 4-H that he was
hired as an electrician’s ap
prentice, has been awarded a S7OO
scholarship as one of six national
winners in the 4-H electric
program.
Ronald Pledger of Columbia
received his award at the National
Continued on Pago '4
The team is using 1938 aerial
photographs and comparing these
with 1970 photographs to deter
mine the annual rate of erosion in
terms of acres lost and feet of
shoreline. For example on the
Leigh Farm in Perquimans
County 36 acres of land has been
lost in the above period, or a loss of
200 feet of prime water-front land.
Soil types are being studied to
determine if some soils eroded
more easily than others.
The specialist are also studying
the effectiveness of existing shore
erosion control measures such as
bulkheads, jetties, and vegetation.
James H. Canterberry, area
conservationist at Edenton, said
shore erosion is probably the
largest source of soil erosion in
the Albemarle Area. “It is also
destroying some of our most
valuable land. No doubt with in
creased pressures on our water
fronts for homes and recreation
areas, the shore erosion problem
is going to become even more
acute.”
Participating in the study were
Chester Bellard, deputy state
conservationist; John Hunger
ford, state resource con
servationist; Robert Jessup, state
conservation engineer, John Rice,
assistant state engineer; Harry
Gibson, area engineer and local
Soil Conservation Service
technicians.
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Single Copy 10 Cents.
Chemical Firm
Is Shut Down
TUNIS-Officials at the Farmers
Chemical Association’s plant here
Monday again emphasized the
fact that although the plant has
shut down its manufacturing
operations in order to comply with
a recent court order, no lay off of
personnel has been made.
A FCAI spokesman earlier said
that the firm hoped to resume
operations prior to mid-December
provided that the water pollution
control equipment meets state
specifications by that time.
William Knight, chief of the Air
Quality Division of the State Office
of Water and Air Resources, told a
reporter Monday that FCAI of
ficials had submitted a time
schedule for air pollution
abatement on November 11.
Knight said provisions of the
original court order calling for the
plant to remain closed until its
pollution problems have been
worked out may cause them
(FCAI officials) to want to amend
the schedule they submitted on the
11th for earlier compliance.
“We have written FCAI asking
if they wished to have the plan
considered for approval by the
Water and Air Resources office as
submitted or with amendments
calling for earlier compliance,”
Knight said. “We have had no
reply to that letter,” he added.
Harold Maune, works manager
for the Tunis plant, said he had not
seen a letter suggesting the plant
may want to amend the schedule.
“In fact,” Maune said, “all that is
being handled through the
Chattagnooga office.”
Maune said that all personnel
are still working and that those
involved in the manufacturing
phases of the plant’s operation are
now working on plant main
tenance and general clean-up.
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YtfLETIDE DECORATIONS GOING UP-The Electric and
Water Department began the task of putting up the Christmas
decorations, Tuesday, beginning with the strings of colored bulbs
which can now be seen stretching through the downtown section
of Broad Street. Os course, the job was not made any easier by the
strong gusts of wind that whistled off of the water. The
decorations will be lit next Thursday night, the day of the
Christmas parade.
Oil Spill
In Sound
Is Minor
The threat of a major oil spill in
Albemarle Sound, seven miles
east of the sound bridge, ap
parently has been averted.
Salvage crews continued to work
in frigid weather Wednesday
raising the sunken vessel, loaded
with 378,000 gallons of molasses
thick petroleum.
The barge sank early Monday
morning and there was an im
mediate danger of a major spill
when a sheen was discovered in
about a one-mile radius. However,
at noon Tuesday, there was no
visible sign of oil in the brackish
water as salvage crews hurried to
pump water from the flooded
ballast compartments in the aft
section. The bow remained about
three feet above water.
A spokesman for
Weyerhaeuser said the company
is not concerned with trapping
what little oil did escape. It was
believed to be less than 10 gallons
and could have been an ac
cumulation on the outside of the
barge.
A salvage firm from Norfolk
Shipbuilding & Drydock Corp.,
was working on the scene and
divers reported that seams of the
barge were intact and there was
no seepage from eight separate
cargo compartments.
D. C. Nicholson,
Weyerhaeuser’s evironmental
specialist, issued a statement in
which he said the firm’s major
concern is to prevent any damage
as a result of the oil loss.
Weyerhaeuser’s operation in
Plymouth, some 15 miles from the
scene of the accident, uses about
210,000 gallons of fuel daily. The
firm owns four barges such as the
one that sank, with a capacity of
more than 400,000 gallons each.
They are towed by Plymouth
Towing Company.
The barge, which is 195 feet
long, 35 feet wide and 10 feet deep,
partially sank two years ago in a
collision with another.
The U. S. Coast Guard was on
the scene shortly after the ac
cident was reported. A spokesman
said: “We are just very, very
lucky that no appreciable amount
(of oil) spilled out. That would
have been a very large mess.”
He added that the small amount
that did spill had broken up and
mixed with algae.
The type oil being transported
on the barge was so thick that it
must be heated before it can be
loaded and offloaded.
Meeting Set
A reorganizational meeting of
Albemarle Wildlife Club will be
held Friday night at Edenton
Tractor. An oyster roast will be
spread beginning at 6 o'clock. All
past members, as well as
prospective members are en
couraged to attend.