t
THE CHOWAN HERALD
Published In The Most Beautiful Little City On The North Carolina Coast
Volume LLIII - No. 20
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, May 14, 1987
Single Copies 25 Cents
Watergate Revisited
What did the President know
and when did he know it?
I That was the burning question
during the Watergate hearings a
dozen years ago and, ironically
enough, it is still the question to be
answered during the current hear
ings into the Iran-Contra scandal.
»But there is a difference. Nixon
kpew what the President knew
ajid when he knew it, while
Reagan is waiting to find out how
much he knew and when,
v And, oddly enough, our current
President finds himself in this
ufihappy predicament, not so
niuch for what he did, but because
h£ failed to heed the voice of ex
perience from the past.
;Soon after the arms-for
hostages story broke, Richard
Njxon advised Ronald Reagan to
admit his administration had_
lade a mistake, however well in
ltioned, and get on with the
siness of cleaning house and
ling the government.
'That was a course of action
Richard Nixon, no doubt, had told
iself a hundred times he should
}ve taken as soon as Watergate
oke. Instead, he and his staff
cl|ose to stonewall each new
development, hoping to be able to
hang on until the storm passed;
but, instead of saving their own
jobs, they barely escaped with the
sljin on their backs.
iThus, despite the fact that he
h^d been returned to office by a
tlandslide, Richard Nixon escaped
impeachment by becoming the
irst President to resign from of
fice; and he escaped prison by
striking a deal with his successor.
Advice from a friend so well
grounded in experience should
never be taken lightly. But Ronald
Reagan mistook his own populari
ty as a license shielding him from
having to account for the
waywardness of his subordinates.
He seemed to think that if he pooh
poohed the news media and told a
cock-and-bull story about efforts
to re-establish a working relation
ship with Iran, the people would
swallow it all, the press would be
discredited and he would emerge
bigger than ever.
His discovery that that was not
going to be the case must have
Continued On Page 4
By JEANETTE WHITE
Saturday in Hertford was a day
to be tucked into the memory and
recalled in country stores on cold,
ivinter nights * but ‘‘Catfish”
would have “rather been
farming”.
Perquimans County planned
Jimmy (Catfish) Hunter Day to
T
CATERPILLARS EVERYWHERE—The forest tent caterpillar
seemed to be everywhere as an “outbreak” of the insects covered many
area porches, sidewalks and yards this week.
Caterpillars Prove A Nuisance
Chowans and Perquimans
residents have been puzzled, con
cerned and- downright angry
about an infestation of the forest
tent caterpillar in recent days
One man in Perquimans reported
ly even resorted to the use of a
blow torch to eradicate them on
his house.
A fact sheet on the insects, ob
tained froip the Chowan
Agriculture Extension Office,
points out that they are found
throughout the U.S. and Canada.
They are hairy, have a dark mottl
ed stripe down the back with a
a' ■ •'r "A-- ■ .. s,'
I
series of keyhole-shaped white
dots and pale blue lines on the
sides.
Dr. James R. Baker, en
tomologist at N.C. State, was in
terviewed by telephone Tuesday.
“It seems as though your area of
the statdhas more than in years
past,” he observed. Baker said
that Martin County had “more
than usual,” two years ago.
He said that insect infestations
are totally unpredictable.
“Sometimes an outbreak will last
for several years before it sub
Continued On Page 4
Expansion Is Planned
For Edentori Hatchery
it ail goes as planned, more
than $7 million will trickle into the
Edenton economy over the next
two years from expansion of the
National Fish Hatchery on West
Queen Street.
Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare,
said Saturday that $350,000 will
come from the General Fund to
the dipt, of Natural Resources
and Community Development for
the 1987-88 fiscal year and a like
amount the following year. The
monies will be used as matching
funds for federal money needed
for the expansion upon passage of
the bill.
The senator sponsored the bill
and worked with Cong. Walter B.
Jones, D-Farmville chairman of
the Committee on Merchant
Marine and Fisheries, to get the
bill into legislation. The commit
tee added its share of funds in the
fiscal 1988 budget and contacted
the Div. of Marine Fisheries for its
share to be ready.
Sen. Basnight said although
plans are well underway, “I still
have to sell it”.
Total site expansion and
rehabilitation costs are 17,183,400,
with additional one-time equip
ment costs set at $150,000 for a fish
stocking unit capable of hauling
large numbers of striped bass and
fish tagging equipment.. Addi
tional operating and maintenance
costs of $95,000 for the expanded
facility include fish food, electrici
ty and three additional full-time
employees.
The expansion would provide
approximately 250,000. six-to-eight
inch additional striped bass rais
ed by the hatchery annually.
Last year the hatchery produc
ed 1,250,000 “fingerlings.” and
*240,000 six- to eight-inch bass.
If the planned expansion
materializes, the first $350,000 will
be spent on initial earthwork and
engineering.
Even though the town will get
benefit from expansion of the hat
chery, the $7 million addition will
not help the tax base since the
federally-owned hatchery is ex
empt from taxes.
By JACK GROVE
With the recent completion of
the new county water treatment
plant at Valhalla, 2,995 customers
with a usage of 15 million gallons
per month were serviced last
month. In comparison, the water
A SOUTHERN YANKEE—Jimmy (Catfish) Hunter (left), shown with his family, was honored Satur
day in Hertford with a celebration, including a parade, program and free barbecue for everyone.
'Catfish' Is Honored By Friends, Fans
honor its native son and his induc
tion into baseballs’ Hall of Fame
July 26 in Cooperstown, N.Y.
But Hunter, described by his
peers as a humble man, seemed
overwhelmed by the outpouring of
attention.
The celebration began with a
parade, which took participants to
a program on the ballfield where
Hunter began his career.
Personal friends, . career
associates and former
schoolmates told stories from
Hunter’s past, everyone was
treated to a free barbecue (which
Hunter helped code beginning at
3:30 a.m.) and the day ended after
a ballgame with Hunter pitching
for the Old-Timers’ team against
the Perquimans' Pirates.
When the day was planned,
Hunter agreed to the parade with
Businesses
Receive Nod
New businesses will be opening
,in Edenton as a result of town
council action Tuesday night.
Council approved rezoning re
quests to change two plats from
residential-agricultural to
highway-commercial after they
were unanimously approved by
the Planning Board.
James W. Smith, president of I
Cavalier Confections, Inc. re
quested that the property leased
by his company and formerly
known as E.J.’s be reconed. The !
company plans to manufacture
peanut brittle for national
distribution.
The other parcel is adjacent to
the Colonial Motel and the request
was made by Jimmie M. Parrish.
He stated that the purpose of the
rezoning was to open a retail hard
Contlaued On Page 4
the condition that the school band
and his hunting buddies be includ
ed. The parade was planned with
the first section to offer a salute
from baseball, the center was a
salute from hunting, fishing and
farming and the end of the parade
was a salute from the county.
During the program, associates
said Hunter skipped the minor
leagues when he finished high
school and American Legion
baseball and went on to 15 years
with Kansas City, Oakland and
the New York Yankees.
When he retired, he had won 224
games and lost 166, had one
perfect game against the Min
nesota Twins and played in three
world series.
Continued On Page 4
AUTOMATED SYSTEM—Graham Farless, director of the Chowan water department, explains auto
mated controls for the new Valhalla treatment plant to Edenton utilities director W.A. (Hawk) Crummey
and Rev. William Ansell. A ribbon cutting ceremony at the plant was held Monday morning.
Valhalla Plant Ribbon-Cutting Is Held
department began operation in
January, 1976 with 1,573
customers and a per month usage
of 5.5 million gallons.
At ribbon cutting ceremonies at
Valhalla Monday, officials traced
the history of the county system.
Commission Board Chairman
Alton Elmore praised the
cooperation received from Per
quimans and Gates Counties and
the Town of Edenton who “sold us
water for the last two years.”
Gates provided two million
gallons per month, and Per
quimans and Edenton each con
tributed one million per month.
Simultaneously, the Valhalla
plant was operating continuously
and producing 200 gallons per
minute attempting to keep up with
demand.
Elmore said that the system ac
tually began when R.M^ (Pete)
Thompson, then county extension
agent, and local farmers indicated
a need for a county system. Bonds
were issued after a referendum
and the system was planned to ac
commodate 2,000 customers by
the year 2000.
Saying Commissioner A1
Phillips was a “key part of this
back in 1974,” Elmore introduced
Phillips. In his remarks, Phillips
said, “I think it (water system) is
of paramount importance to the
county for the quality of life.” He
praised the “professionalism” of
water system employees who run
the highly automated plant which
can now produce 800 gallons per
minute.
County Manager Cliff Copeland
said that the new plant cost $1.2
million, financed with $750,000 in
Community Development Grant
funds with the remainder coming
from state water and sewer grant
money and accumulated reserves
from the county water system.
He cited the “irony” of the in
creased capacity of the system
during the wettest spring in years
compared with the drought last
spring during diminished system
capacity.
Trawlers Are Evicted
The controversial trawlers
fishing in Albemarle Sound are
gone.
The trawlers moved into the
sound for the first time this year
after a poor harvest from home
ports around Pamlico Sound in
duced fishermen to hunt for more
abundant harvest.
The presence of trawlers up to
90-feet long sparked an organized
protest from Albemarle fisher
men, who said the big boats were
depleting crab and finfish and
destroying native fishing grounds.
Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare,
said Saturday that the trawlers
were ordered out of Albemarle
Sound, effective Sunday.
“They should never have got up
there in the first place, I don’t
know how it happened,” the
senator said.
Basnight said protests from
area fishermen caused him to call
“everyone who had any input and
ask them to get the trawlers out
immediately”.
Harrel Johnson, northern
district manager of the N.C. Div.
of Marine Fisheries, said in a
telephone interview Wednesday
that a petition was prepared and
delivered to the Marine Fisheries
Commission, which in turn polled
its executive committee and sus
pended a portion of the regula
tions governing the trawlers.
The committee will now take
another look at those regulations
and make a decision on whether
the trawlers will be allowed back
into Albemarle Sound.
“I think it (suspension) was
needed. There was a lot of conflict
out there and emotions were
building on that issue,” Johnson
Continued On Page 4
. i &&&&& - - v *>
Facing THE JUDGE—Emily Irby, m prison stripes, watches as Edenton Police Officer Chuck Alex
inder relates to “Judge” Pete Dail the charges against Chuck Smith in last week’s annual Cancer Socie
y Jail-A-Thon.