North Carolina Newspapers

I^e Pilot Co\eis Ljnsvvick County THE STATE PORT PILOT NO- SIXTEEN NO. 37 6-PAGES TODAY A Good Newspaper In A Good Community 1 Most of The New? All The Time Southport, N. C., Wednesday, December 15, 1948 published every Wednesday si.so per yea? AA Appraiser jjere To Place Value On Fort ?ent official Re "?Offer Of $120,000 fr properties At Ft. Cas r?li But Indicates That D Will Not Go_ ?i USE OF ALL ^ facilities URGED tfble Uses Range From Development To Between In dustry And Park Gibson. Pinehurst man, ^appraiser for the Atlanta L of the WAA. spent most S week in Southport and at Caswell. Mr. Gibson was ..j a thorough appraisal of pSe physical properties and dv of ways in which they 1 I* used to the general ad sf- . __.j .... an interivew it was evid-1 ^ a considerable measure | -portance will attached to historical value Fort Caswell. K ;i no intention of turning! ? pjety over to interests who [ *t'&e disposed to attempt sal- j 'Some things should be v are," Mr. Gibson; v-( appears to have been one wilt approach for acquistionl to property. Twelve Winston-1 t- doctors are understood to sanding ready to pay ten eand dollars each, a total of v t\>r the property. This .order that they can get some ^ buildings for their personal per homes. sarentlv the WAA does not :v? of the above price, but| tis said distinctly that using tlace for only a dozen sum-1 homes would be far from ing an adequate measure of it to this section. Gibson asked the interview an industry employing from 400 persons would be sat ??.t locally. It appears that WAA has also had a contact nature. He pointed out ,i steain heating through le property and new boilers, docks for ocean and water snipping and new storage with a capacity of more two hundred thousands gal of gas and oil, the place was adapted for an1 industry. Tan asked about shipping he ^lied and said, "You know that are thousands of industrial of various sorts located there are no railroads, are facilities for ocean, in stal waterway and truck supping from Fort Caswell." fcraig back to the historical Krtance of Fort Caswell, Mr. expressed the belief that the 101 acres of high land Kid be used industrially and for park purposes. This i give a great measure of Bffvation to the points of his ttsl interest. probable park area should, thought, embrace the nine batteries of concrete or and the grounds used as P.-.n quarters during the first Hid War. More than three ?sand soldiers were stationed ii training at Fort Caswell at time during the first war. t of these were quartered in torary barracks in the pro i park area. Continued On Page Six I TitfNtwi Flathtt REGULATION Anting or trapping is per ^ within 500 yards of a ? area according to Game ?ector H. T. Bowmer,' who ^ed a riling from the State fk Commission this week. ^S|( tkachkr r1 C. Stevenson arrived Mon j* assume his duties at pub _sc'"?oI music teacher at South !'gh school. He comes here y ^commended, and will Piano, band instruments and *? He also will direct the (sub. He has been teaching ur.v high school. TM \S pageant *Pagcam "The Christmas Pil ^ ?'ill be presented on ^.v Den. 23, at the South fesbjtenan church by mem ^ the Youth Fellowship and > school. The exercises will 8 o'clock and 35 young will participate in the pro - The pageant is being di tp Mrs. J. M. Wolfe, Mrs. ^ P?XC0 and Mrs. J. M. Wag ? After the pageant Santa '?!! o? ju charge of tl?e tree. Auditors CHANGE?Left above is YV. P. Jorgensen, who was recommended yesterday by the board of county commissi oners for appointment bv State Treasurer Charles M. John son as successor to the late Robert C. St. George, nght. Jorgensen Is Auditor Red wine Tax Collector Recommendation For Ap-! pointment Forwarded To ; Raleigh With Unanimous J Recommendation Of The ' Board REDWINE TO GO IN TAX OFFICE Jorgensen Has Had Exper ience In Office Of County Auditor; Red wines' First Public Office Members of the board of county commissioners met in special ses sion here Tuesday and unanim | ously recommended that W. P. ! Jorgensen be appointed by State j Treasurer Charles M. Johnson to i succeed tni" la\e Robert C. St. J George as Brunswick county audi tor. ' . This action left the office of Brunswick county tax collector vacant, and was followed by a unanimous vote for the appoint ment of Edward H. Redwine, young Shallotte business man, to that post. I A telephone conversation with State Treasurer Johnson while the board was in session reveal ed that their recommendation will be acted upon immediately | and there is a feeling that his [ notice of appointment may reach j Jorgensen today. The new county auditor served as assistant to the late Mr. St. George as his first employment with the county. Later he moved to the tax office as assistant to Chas. E. Gause, and subsequently was named to hold that office. He has a record of being one of the most efficient and most pop ular officials ever to serve the county in any capacity. This will be Redwine's first public office. Twice he sought the Democratic nomination for mem- J ber of the House of Representa tives, and on each occasion was defeated by Odell Williamson by a narrow margin. He has shown that not only was he capable of putting up a good political battle, but that he was a good sport and a good loser. He is a veteran, and since his return from service overseas has been engaged in business at Shallotte. He is presi dent of the Brunswick County Young Democrat Club. Funeral Sunday For E. E. Wescott Funeral Services Conducted At The Southport Baptist Church With Burial At Bethel Cemetery \ Funeral services were held here Sunday afternoon at 3:30 o'clock for Edward Earl Wescott, 35 year old native of Southport, whose death occured Friday morn ing. The services were in charge of the Rev. H. M. Baker, pastor of the church. Burial was in the Bethel cemetery, three miles from Southport. Mr. Wescott had been a mer chant seaman for several years and more recently had been en gaged in the box manufacture business with his father. He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mis. S. E. Wescott and two brothers, Rivers and Vernon Wescott, two sisters, Mrs. Minnie Lee Spencer and Mrs. Mary Helen Chapel, all of Southport. Active pallbearers were Willie j Johnson, James Arnold, Jack. 1 Continued on page four Bill Grady Has Large Rockfish Bill Grady of Holden Beach is laying claim to having caught the biggest rockfish of the win ter. He pulled in one that weighed 27%-pounds while he and Mrs. Grady were fishing from the dock at Varnum's Point on Lockwoods Folly river Friday. Usually the woman member of a co-ed fishing trip makes the biggest catch. In this case, however, Mrs. Grady only got two rock that weighed 6 and 8 pounds each. Bill and Mrs. Grady pre two o' the key citizens at Holden Beach, Bill as a store keeper and general information bureau and Mrs. Grady as a cafe oper ator at the Holden Beach ferry. Supply Farmer Has Big Yield Marshall Roach Produces 132-Bushels Of Corn On One Acre Of Ground In Demonstration This Year On his demonstration plot this year Marshall Roach of Supply made the remarkable production of 132 bushels of corn per acre. The land has just been measured and the corn weighed by county agent J. E. Dodson. Mr. Roach used hybrid corn, which stands both a narrow width of row and thick spacing. Next in order of production on a demonstration acre was DeLett Bennett of Freeland. His field yielding 117.8 bushels per acre. J. (Continued on Page Six) Convict Father On School Count Raymond Potter Was Char ged With Failure To Send Children To School; Is Found Guilty And Fined Of particular interest among the cases tried Wednesday be fore Judge W. J. McLamb in Re corder's court was that in which Raymond Potter faced charges of failure to send his children to school. He was convicted and fined $25.00 and costs. Twenty dollars of the fine was remitted upon condition that he start send ing his children to school accord ing to compulsory school attend I ance laws. Floyd Norris, breaking and en tering, nol prossed. Leo. B. Adams, reckless opera tion, continued. Miriam Bertram Muncey, no operators license, fined $50.00 and costs. William Earl Benton, improper equipment, motion for jury trial. Alden S. Edwards, reckless operation, $25.00 fine and costs. | Arthur Blanchette, speeding, ! capias. Edward El Shopton, speeding. ? capias. Aubrey Green Hickman, speed ing, costs. Rice Gwynn, Jr., assault with deadly weapon, continued. John Thomas McCoy, possession continued. Jesse Morrisetf possession, fin ed $10.00 and costs. Arthur Fullwood Returns Home) Arthur Fullwood, young Wil mington and Southport man has been able to return to his home in Wilmington after a stay several months in the ho?P tal here and at the Manne Hospital in Norfolk. He was badly burned here late in the summer when gasoline 'n the bilge water of his boat ex ploded while he was endeavoring to start his engine. Treated at the Dosher Memorial Hospital for some weeks, he was removed to the Norfolk hospital where there was better faciliUesfor skin grafting. It is understood his most serious burns were about the arms. Robert St. George Dies Following Sudden Attack ? County Auditor Died Satur day Night Following Sud den Illness While Attend ing Lions Club Meeting Thursday Robert C. St. George, promin ent citizen and Brunswick county official, died Saturday ?fht ? Dosher Memorial Hospital. The deceased, who was 56 years of age, suffered an attack which rendered him unconscious while attending a zone meeting fo Lions Clubs on Thursday even ing at Shallotte. He never re gained consciousness. Mr St. George became county auditor in the early thirties, and had served continuously in that office until his death He was active in the civic, fraternal and religious affairs of this commiin ity and had been honored by num erous organizations. He was a thirty-second degree Mason; was an active membero the Ft. Johnson Council Junior Order; was past commander of Brunswick County Post No. American Legion and a former district commander for the Ame ican Legion; was a member0 ? lite Southport Lions Club, was ? faithful member of the Trim y Methodist church, a member of its board of stewards and treas urer of the Sunday school. Mr. St. George was the.son of the late Capt. Thomas and Ada St. George and was borni and reared in Southport. During World War I he served as an j ofttcer in the United States NaVy, and prior to his services as county auditor had held employment in Wilmington. ? He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Mary Ruark St. George, by two sisters, Mrs. Guy Garrett, Netherlands West Indies, and Miss Marion St. George, Southport, and by three brothers, James, Continued on page four District Agent Visits County C. M. Brickhouse Was Visit or Here Monday With County Agent J. ?? Dod son District Farm Agent C. M. Brickhouse spent Monday at various points in Brunswick county in company with County Agent J. E. Dodson. While at Southport Mr. Brick house was interviewed and an?ng Continued On Page Six Will Open Bids Tomorrow For Survey Craft [Chairman W. S. Wells Says That Bids Will Be Qpen ed Here Tomorrow For Craft To Do Work Off Shore NUMEROUS BIDS ARE EXPECTED Chairman And Louis Har dee Made Trip To Florida Last Week To Investi gate Boats Bids to furnish a boat for the u*e in the North Carolina shrimp ing survey will be opened here tomorrow, ' Thursday, December lith, according to W. S. Wells, chairman of the shrimp survey commission. Mr. Wells and Lewis J. Hardee, a member of the board, went to Florida last week and saw a num ber of Florida boats, all of which were entirely suitable, provided the owners fixed the right price in exchange for their use. Ten Florida boat owners submitted sealed bids before Mr. Wells and Mr. Hardee returned to Southport. Additional bids from various points have since come in. Mr. Wells says that specificat ions have been sent to 350-boat owners, most of whom are known to have suitable craft. A consid erable number of bids are expect ed to be on hand for the opening tomorrow. Work of making the survey will begin on January 1st, if a suita ble price is obtained for a boat at tomorrows opening of bids, ac cording to Mr. Wells. Growing Plants Profitable Hobby At Least Two Brunswick County Commercial Grow ers Got First Start On , Amateur Basis With Orton, EaStbrook and J. A. Elmore at Bolivia all having big and well- established nurseries for the growing of flower plants, there seem to be others becoming interested in the same thing, both (Continued on page si*) W.B.& S. Owner Business Visitor New York Man Here Mon day Discussing Plans For Future Operation Of Lo cal Bus Lines Maurice Goodman, of New York City, owner of several bus and freight lines throughout the United States, including the W. B. & S. between Southport and Wilmington, spent Monday here looking after his local company, together with Hubert Livington, the general manager. Mr. Livington says that the plans locally are to get a couple or more additional buses in the spring. These will be used for serving various points, including Long Beach and Holden Beach and a line to Wilmington via the river road when that route is completed. The possibility of putting on better bus service be tween Southport and Whitevttle is also in the making. Our ' ROVING Reporter W. a KEZIAH When you speak of toadfish to us you do both us and the toad fish wrong. We know it now, hav ing had it from no less outhentic sources than Lewis, J. Hardee and Floyd Dishaver that there is no such thing as a toadfish. The real name of the critter is snap-1 finger. Hardee and Dishaver, both ( of whom are ex-Floridians, tell | us that the snapfinger is even j more delectable than canned rat- j tlesnake. They had a basket full of the snapfingers the other night and were demonstrating how to dress or undress them. The dres sing system is pretty much like the performance prelimary to getting a pair of bull frogs legs ready for the frying pan. You cut the skin across the back of the snapfinger and pull two ways at once. That part which comes out in your left hand is a very attractive looking hunk of meat and you throw what you get in your right hand back into the river. Several weeks ago work began on the task of stringing additio nal telephone cables in South port. Previous to this work the local dial system of the Bell Tele phine and Telegraph company was taking care of 265 phones in Southport. This week one of the workmen now here stated that 202 pairs of cable have re cently been put in the office and that they will have a lot of equi pment that will enable them to! take care of a lot more phones in the near future. It is likely that a big factor in the phone extension work here lies in plans for service to nearby beaches Continued on page 3 Woodrow Hart Confesses That He Fatally Injured Edward Wescott In Fight Encouraging Response To Museum Project Offers Of Donations Of Interesting Items Come In From All Sections And Cover Many Items One man has two barrels of - Confederate money that he will give to the Southport museum. A Wilmington newspaper report ed that the 1922 model-T fire truck will be placed in the new Southport museum. . . .Three Southport kids want to know where the museum is?and how are they going to get a fire truck in there. . . .A long distance tele phone call from a subscriber to this newspaper reveals an offer of a 200-year-old set of carpenter tools. . . .A local man turns over the full set of keys to old Ft. Johnson. These are but a few of the developments that have greeted last week's announcement of the modest beginning of a public museum for Southport, and lead ers of the Woman's Club are de lighted with the response. As was stated last week, ex hibits are being solicited, and will be received on either a gift or i a loan basis. The beginning has ? been made in a single display lease in the Southport Public Lib rary room in the Ft. Johnson buliding, and already there has been a promise received of an other and larger show case. Public spirited Southport citi zens see in the museum possibili ties for the establishment of a major tourist attraction, and the project leaders are moving ahead with the plan as fast as develop ments will justify. Order Placed For New City Firetruck Santa To Come Here By Boat Mrs. Helen Bragaw, who is in charge of the Community Christmas tree, reports that the lastest word from the head quarters at the North Pole is that Santa Claus will arrive here by plane Friday afternoon of next week. He will land at Caswell Beach and men from the Oak Island Coast Guard station have been engaged to pick him and his bundles up and bring them to Southport. They will arrive at the Community Building at foiir o'clock. After landing at the Government dock. After the Christmas events for the white children at the community buliding, Santa will ride over to the colored school in Southport's old red fire truck. A community sing will be staged there. County Agent To Be Called Monday Successor To County Agent J. E. Dodson Will Be Named By Commissioner; Prospect Will Be Here For Interview The choice of a county agent to succeed J. E. Dodson will pro | bably be made by the board, of county commissioners on Monday, I December 20, At that time Dis trict Agent C. M. Brickhouse will bring an experienced agent down for a conference with the board. The name of the prospective agent has not been revealed so far, as a deal with him has not yet been consumated. However, Mr. Brickhouse states that he has had two years as an assistant agent in Wayne County and ten years of active service as a full county agent. His qualifications are said to be (Continued of page four) New Business For Shallotte Fertilizer Distributor Will Be Ready To Go To Work At Shallotte In New Buil ding After First Of Year The Columbus Trading Com pany of Whiteville is rushing its new 48x75-foot warehouse at Shallotte, with the plans for com pleting the building by January 1st, weather permitting. I Bruce Moody, Grissettown con- j tractor and builder, is in charge of the work. The comply will handle fer tilizer. Jim Davis, Jr., of Chad bourn will be manager of the business. He has already moved to Shallotte and will reside there permanently. Ma Davis said Sat urday that they would carry a large stock of fertilizers for all crops and would deliver direct from the warehouse to farms througout the county. Aldermen Faced With Pro blem Of Raising Major Part Of Purchase Price Of Badly Needed Vehicle DONATIONS ARE MADE TO FUND After Down Payment Is Made Balance Still Will Require Additional Donations The Southport city offiicqia at a meeting last Thursday night voted to order at once a new nine thousand dollar fire truck for Southport Volunteer Fire De partment. A small amount of funds raised in various ways over a period of years, is already in the hands of the organization. The city will go as far as it can towards the remainder, but must depend upon substantial donations. The action in placing the order was inspired by the fact that citizens and business interests of Southport dug down into their pockets and made contributions totaling more than a thousand dollars, all within a few hours time. More contributions to the volunteer fire department have since come in and still more is needed. Knowing the need of modern fire fighting apparatus and the shortage of funds, Coy C. Mc Qulston, prominent hosiery manu facturer of Burlington, sent in his contribution of fifty dollars. This was sent without any solict ation or approach having been! iflade in any way to Mr. McQuis-1 ton. He owns a summer home at Caswell Beach and he realized that if his property was ever in danger the volunteer fire depart-. ment would respond just as quick' ly as they would when a home or business building in Southport was threatened. Ormond Leggett, in charge of the raising of funds for the truck, has written Mr. McQuiston, thank ing him for his voluntary contrib ution. Other individuals wishing to have a share in the purchase of this much needed equipment should send their contributions to Mr. Leggett. Delivery on the mac hine has been promised for the late spring. The present fire truck was pur chased in 1922. Since that time it has saved its cost many times over. State Planning To Grow Plants Location Of Bi-Color Lespe deza Plant Project In This County Appears To Be In Prospect Bill McConnaughey of the North Carolina Wildlife Commision and W. B. Kcziah of Southport are getting around over Brunswick county today, looking for 15 acres of good land that can be leased for a long period and used to grow bicolor lespedeza plants. The plants will be distributed among farmers and land owners all over North - Carolina, but late frosts in Brunswick makes it pos Contiaued on page four Southport Man F?U?J . Early Friday Morm?f Near Truck Which HaJ Run Off River Road ACCSIGE?ED confessEio?i ing Leading Up To Fight In Early Morn ing A four-day old murder myst^T was broken wide open heie Man day morning when Wood row Hut zrs." s^*>S Southport man, h?< ssr?tf an evening of ^ mg and Of-.. ousing. .. His brother <3^ gone to tt?. jail to talk o -t the case wttto Woodrow, who had been arre"~ Friday after it had been estab lished that he was the last person seen with the slain man. The defendant declared that he ?U the man who killed Wescott, and . told his btother that he J**"1?* to tell the whole story. This he did in the presence of Deputy Sheriff G. >. Hobinson and a local newsps ?r man. The body ' Wescott was dis covered ear) 'riday In the woods beside the '-iver Road and only a few steps away from where the pulpwood truck he apparent^ had been driving had run off tl* road. First reports were that h# had been fatally injured in a wreck, but investigation disclos ed that his death had resulted from a stab in the chest and the loss of blood from this cut. Investigation by Brunswick county officers and Highway Pat rolman revealed that Hart and Wescott had spent the evening together, and that the last time Wescott had been alive was when he left the home of Dick Crocker with Hart about 3 o'clock Friday morning. Al though there ? appeared to be strong clrcumstanial evidence con necting Hart with the case, there were still some vital links ot evidence missing. His confession as related Mon day credits a row over a girl ana their resulting fight with ?the in jury which proved fatal. Hart claimed that Wescott was making an unprovoked attack upon him at the time, that he opened his knife in self-defense, but that &? did not stab nor attempt to cut his victim. , Coroner John G. Caison 'tatM 'yesterday that no Inquest will ?? held in the case. The full text of his confession lis as follows: v | "I was drinking all Thursday i afternoon up at Hart's place. come down to Arnold s Hotel aWO ran up with Donnie Watts, and I he wanted to buy some beer. So we bought a case of beer, Donnie Watts and me, and I rented a 1 room in the hotel. I paid for It | myself. We took the beer up ! there, and Donnie stayed Wltn ; me. Then I come downstairs and ! Ed Wescott was in the pool room. This was about 9 o'clock or 1 o'clock when I got up with Ed. Ed and me was joking, like w? always did. He drawed a pool stick on me like we was always playing, and I laughed and patt ed him on the shoulder. "He wanted to know did X want (Continued on page 4) Methodists To Present Cantata Choir Will Sing Annual Christmas Cantata On Sunday Afternoon At 4:30 O'Clock; Youth Program Wednesday The choir of Trinity Methodist church will present their annual Christmas cantata Sunday after* noon at 4:30 o'clock. This year the music will be "Song Of "Hie Holy Night" and will be under the direction of Mrs. Dallas Pigott. The Christmas cantata is aa event to which music lovers of this community eagerly look foe ward each year, and this year the program was scheduled : it a time which would in no way conflict with other services. : On Wednesday evening of neat week members of the Youth Fel lowship will present their pa geant-cantata, and following this the members of the Woman* Society of Christmas Service WlA hold their Christmas party.