The State Port Pilot
Southport, N. G.
Published Every Wednesday
JAMES M. HARPER. JR. Editor
Entered as second-class matter April 20, 1928, at
the Post Office at Southport, N. C., under the
Act of March 3, 1879.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
ONE YEAR . $1.50
SIX MONTHS . T.00
THREE MONTHS .75
Wednesday, January 4th, 1950
Flying Saucers
If some friend or neighbor tells you
that he has seen a stronge object flying
through space don’t be too hasty to class
him as crazy. Too many people have
made too many reports lately for all of
them to be without foundation in fact.
On twro occasions during the past week
we have received reports from reliable
individuals, persons wrho are not given
to hysteria. We have asked questions,
not in an effort to discredit what they
reported but trying to piece together all
available information to see if there ivas
any clue to what really is going on.
We are not ready to accept the theory
that flying saucers are attempts being
made by inhabitants of other planets to
either wage warfare nor to make peace
ful contact with the earth. And w'e do
not believe that all of these reported ob
jects are meteorites or other natural
heavenly phenomena.
Our own guess is that we are getting
occasional glimpses of advanced experi
ments being carried on by our govern
ment with jet-propelled guided missies;
and that were it not for security meas
ures we would be informed of what new
step is being attempted in the matter of
travel by air.
Francis London Lewis
Fifteen years ago when we first be
came associated with this newspaper one
prominent citizen made it plain that he
wanted no part of the State Port Pilot
nor anyone who was connected with this
publication. That was former Sheriff
London Lewis, and he was mad because
of what he had decided was unfair poli
tical advertising.
It always has been a source of satisfac
tion to us that within a few years Sheriff
Lewis forgot all of his grievances and
became not only our warm personal
friend, but a regular reader and booster
for the Pilot as well.
Although it was general knowledge
that his health has steadily declined in
recent months, news of his death on Sun
day in a Wilmington hospital came as a
shock. In his passing Brunswick county
has lost a man who in his own way con
tributed much to its life and habits.
It may well be that with the passing of
Sheriff Lewis there will be a complete
change in the political methods employ
ed by rival Democrats and Republicans.
For years he served his beloved Republi
can party as its chairman, and whether
his own name was on the ticket or wheth
er he was out fighting the election battle
for his friends and fellow party mem
bers, he fought to the last ditch. As long
as he lived and was active there was no
such thing as waging political warfare
on broad principles nor shadowy gener
alities. To him politics was a personal
thing, and for a campaign to be waged
effectively meant that house to house
visitation was in order; and the fight was
not over until he had made a complete
coverage of the county.
Maybe it is time for a change to take
place in Brunswick county political ac
tivities, which long have been in a class
to themselves. But if in the years to come
; these matters are settled in a little more
orthodox manner, oldtimers will remem
ber the good old days and the hand-to
hand fighting led so effectively by Lon
don Lewis.
How Harmful Are Fags?
The tidal-wave in cigarette smoking in
the United States, in a single generation,
stands as one of the most remarkable
mass changes of human habit in all his
tory, declares Roger William Riis in The
Reader’s Digest for January. With 400
billion cigarettes consumed last year,
and 800,000 non-smokers joining the
smoking ranks annually, we do not begin
to realize the possible end result of this
new habit which has laid hold upon an
entire people, Riis states.
The Digest article, one of the series of
“Reports to Consumers,” appraises the
effects, harmful and otherwise, of this
“nationwide cloud of cigarette smoke”
upon American health, as shown by med
ical findings to date.
Two chemicals in cigarette smoke—
benzo-pyrene and nicotine—are under
grave suspicion, though medical science
“has so far not proved a case” against
them. Nicotine, in pure form, is so violent
a poison that the amount contained in
two cigarettes would kill a smoker quick
ly if injected into the bloodstream. But
in smoking, most of the nicotine escapes
into the air; only a slight percentage is
absorbed by the mouth and lungs.
Though benzo-pyrene is an irritant
rather than a poison, it is a greater
threat to heavy smokers than is nicotine,
according to many physicians. Throat ir
ritation, the most common charge
against smoking, is blamed by doctors on
incompletely burned tar products, of
which benzo-pyrene is the chief ingre
dient.
Medical opinion differs on smoke-in
duced damage to the lungs. Cancer of
the lungs has shown a marked increase
in recent years, and some authorities at
tribute this higher incidence to a parallel
increase in cigarette smoking. Others do
not. The American Cancer Society for
mally states that no answer can yet be
accepted as scientifically valid.
It is generally agreed, however, that
cancer of the mouth, tongue and Ups, is
“unduly prevalent among smokers.” Re
searchers in Michigan, Illinois and Penn
sylvania have come independently to the
conclusion that the majority of victims
of cancer of the tongue are excessive
user of tobacco.
Cigarettes retard hunger, the author
states, by suppressing stomach-wall con
tractions which produce the hunger sen
sation. Hence smoking interferes with
appetite and thereby with good nutrition.
A gain in weight is commonly experien
ced by persons who have forsworn the
smoking habit.
Heartburn and gastritis may be caused
by excessive smoking. The article gives
no evidence that stomach ulcers are so
caused, but states that excess acidity of
the stomach, produced by smoking,
“provides the kind of climate ulcers
like.” Ulcer patients who smake have
more relapses than those who do not.
On the effect of tobacco on pregnancy,
doctors have concluded that “smoking
does not do pregnant women any more
harm, or any different harm, than it does
anyone else.” Mothers’ milk has been
found to analyze 1.4 parts nicotine in
ten million, among moderate smokers;
4.7 parts among heavy smokers. But no
effect on babies has been detected.
The article reports evidence that
smoking impairs athletic prowess and
. itards the growth and chest develop
ment of college-age meii. Coaches are
almost unanimous that muscular power
is lowered and that.fatigue begins earlier
in smokers.
Heart disease is more prevalent among
smokers than non-smokers, and smoking
may intensify existing heart disease,
Riis states. Smoking speeds the pulse by
as much as 28 beats per minute, and rais
es blood pressure “markedly and quick
ly.” As yet, however, no proof exists that
smoking causes heart disease or high
blood pressure.
Studying the life spans and smoking
habits of more than 6,000 white Ameri
can males, a physician at Johns Hopkins
concluded that 66 per cent of non-smok
ers at the age of 30 will reach 60, but
that only 61 percent of light smokers
and a mere 46 percent of heavy smokers
will double their age at 30. Other doc
tors disagree, holding that heavy smok
ers are temperamentally the kind of peo
ple who do many things to excess and
thus are more likely to die early.
RALEIGH ROUNDUP
By Eula Nixon Greenwood
i
NOTES . . . Approximately 13.000 autos
owned by the State and various cities will have
“lightnin’ bug” license plates during the com
ing year . . . They reflect lights shining on
them . . . This is being done on an experi
mental basis, and all tags may be of the re
flector type if the test works out ... You can
readily see the big help which reflector plates
might be to law enforcement officers . . .
Incidentally, the patrol has orders to step
down on cars on the highway without new
tags . . . time was when you could run over
to Uncle Jim's or Aunt Susie’s with last year’s
plates ... or none at all. Advice: beter not
take a chance on it this time . . .
Edwin Gill returned to Raleigh and Laurin
burg for the Christmas holidays .
Roving Reporter
(Continued from cage one)
these fish awaiting the taking, as
long as cold weather holds out
and the fish remain on the bot
tom.
This matter of building new
homes and repairing old ones now
going on all over Brunswick coun
i ty is not in the catalogue of bad
ideas. It is the most timely work
that could be done. Here in
Southport by way of illustration
around a half-dozen new homes
are being built at the present
time. This work is coming in at j
i what might otherwise be a bit of
a dull period for the builders.
Southport, like all other sections
of the county has a great many
more carpenters and contractors
than there was just a few years
ago. Even with the increased
number of workers, it may be
hard to get anything done in the
way of regular building, just a
few weeks from now. Before
January is over, most of the local
carpenters will have to be turn
ing their attention to construction
at some of our beaches. The pre
sent local building program is a
very timely one.
Applying his remarks chiefly to
the coastal area of the county,
where the soil is mostly too light
for the regular heavy crops, Bill
Hyatt, horticulturist at Orton
Plantation, said this week:” I be
lieve The State Port Pilot is on
the right track in encouraging
special crops such as plants, blue
berries, livestock, etc.”
Mayor Honey W. Cheers, Jr., of
Shallotte, tells us that the new
prison camp construction at Shal
lotte is proceeding well. This
construction is of brick to house
the 70 or more prisoners usually
confined there. Heretofore the
men have been kept In small
wooden buildings scattred about
the camp.
According to E. J. Prevatte,
local lawyer, the woods seem to
be plentiful with quail than they
have been in years. Offsetting
this, there seems to be only a
very few bird dogs worthy of
the name in town. The dogs that
are good are being treasured and
the only way to hunt with them
is to be a good friend of the own
ers and thereby get an invitation
to go along. The birds should be
well pleased with the local situa
tion.
With the project only a four
mile one from the Shallotte Vil
lage Point road to Gause Landing,
Mrs. R. L. Pigott of Gause Land
ing and a lot of other people
in that section are wondering
why it was necessary to build
only two miles of the stretch
now, leaving the other two miles
for some time in the future. For
such short stretches of road it
does seem that it would have
been more advantageous for the
builders who have to move their
equipment in and out if the whole
road had been let at once. How
ever, Mrs. Pigott agrees that half
a road is better than none at
all.
The Fergus children who moved
to California three years ago
have grown so much that local
residents who received pictures
during the holidays, can hardly
recognize them. Likewise, develop
ment of the block on which Dr.
and Mrs. Fergus and the children
lived in Southport has progressed
so much that they would hardly
recognize their old home in its
present setting.
Early in the year as it is, Long
Beach property owners from up
the state are coming in to see
how things are and make plans
for the current year. Mr. and
Mrs. R. M. Taylor of Greensboro
were at their summer home there
this week. Charles Trott and
other year-round residents of the
beach say that the number of
winter visitors is surprisingly
large.
sjc Over 5 million Maytags sold—
far more than any other washer.
Come in and place your order now
$124.95 to $179.95
Kings Electrical
Sales Co.
Shallotte, N. C.
Major Don N. Carpenter, of the
U. S. Marines and Outdoor Editor
of the Washington Daily News,
is rather much concerned at what
he terms the disappearance of
channel bass from the one-time
favored grounds in the eastern
part of the state. The Major is
an especially good friend of ours,
he having been here many times
on fshing trips. This is to advise
him that if the folks on the
eastern coast want to kill out
their channel bass fishing we can
do nothing but advise him to
come to Southport for his sport,
especially during the king mack
erel season.
Tex Collector Edward Redwine
reminds us that beginning Jan
uary 17, we are expected to go
with him on his tax colecting
trips. Five days will be required
for all of the appointments. In
stead of going out on alternate
days it is planned to keep going
daily until the job is finished.
A few more consistent builders
like Otto Hart would rebound
greatly to the general benefit of
Southport folks. Mr. Hart is not
exactly a carpenter but during
the past two years he has been
putting in the money and full
days work with carpenters in the
task of building homes. Just now
completing a nice 3-room garage
apartment on the railroad pro
perty, he is ready to start on
a 6-room duplex just in the rear
of McNeils Esso Station. When
that home is completed he will
switch back to the old railroad
property and build a nice home
on the water front corner.
Turning carpenters in the last
three years or so, Dearmond and
Roy Swain, like other builders
in the Southport area, are now
having their hands full of all
sorts of construction. At present
they are building what will be
the pretty home of Mr. and Mrs.
J. J. Ramsauer on Moore street
near the Dr. Burdette residence.
More interested in what he was
catching with the big converted
mine sweeper, Brunswick, it was
overlooked that Captain John Pot
ter had also constructed a very
attractive brick home in South
port during the past fall. A check
up now would reveal that South
port probably built more homes
during 1949 than in any previous
four years. And 1949 was just a
starter for what will be done in
1950. k
His boys not having lost a
game this season, Coach Johnson
of the Brunswick County Train
ing School is anticipating they
will have a fairly easy victory
here Thursday night when the
Mt. Olive school at Whiteville
comes a-visiting. The girls team,
with no wins yet this year, is not
so enthusistic over their coming
encounter with the Columbus
county girls. The girls game will
get underway at 7:30 o’clock.
Every year for a dozen years
an annual spring ritual has been
to describe the Orton flower pro
spects as the best ever. So far
no slip up has been made in such
predictions, except for the fact
that late cold spells have un
expectedly damaged things once
or twice. The point is that every
year has seen this big Brunswick
county plantation, gardens and
nursery being steadily improved.
While plant growing is not re
garded as an industry by some
people, we look upon Orton as
being one of the biggest industries
in Brunswick.
Editorially this paper pointed
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A Good Place To Do Your Trading
GRISSETTOWN MARKET
B. A. Russ, Proprietor
On U. S. No. 17 — Shallotte, N. C.
ROYSTER
Field Tested Fertilizers
Plant Bed Stock And General Crop Fer
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Let us talk over your fertilizer needs
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COLUMBUS TRADING CO.
Shallotte, N. G.
About the time we were thinking we were
getting to be fairly well known around town,
we had to identify ourself to Willie McKenzie
Sunday night. “Do you live here in Southport,”
he asked ? “For almost fifteen years,” wet re
plied. “I’ve heard of you,” he conceded, “but
this is the first time I ever saw you” . . . The
E-L-M Gift Shop and the Art Newton Studios
will continue to get along nicely if they keep
up their practice of maintaining attractive win
dow display. Incidentally, those kid pictures in
the studio show windows are among the cutest
we ever saw.
In reviewing events of the past year we would
say that Bill Styron’s successful battle with a
121-lb tarpon was easily the most significant
development of the season in connection with
sport and recreation in this area . . . As teams
settle down to play out the Brunswick county
basketball league schedule there is evidence
that Southport boys and Leland girls will have
plenty of trouble defending the titles they won
last year.
We know of one Southport bird hunter who
shot ten times, killed one quail then went to
town the next day and bought himself a new
gun . . . Before the war we always thought
that Madeline Carroll was one of the most
beautiful women in the world. We will have our
first post-war look at our fomer favorite Thurs
day night when she plays in "Don’t Trust Your
Husband”.
Several Brunswick county soprt fans saw a
part of the first annual Dixie Classic, three-day
cage extravaganza, in the colliseum in Raleigh
during the past week-end and all of them be
lieve this will soon be recognized as an out
standing sports attraction. This year’s games
drew over fifty thousand spectators in three
days . . . Rice Gwynn is among the quail hunters
who is having bird dog trouble this year.
The Lion’s New Years dance was a success,
which leads to the prediction that there will be
more of the same kind of entertainment during
the next few months . . . Canine notes: Dark
brown should be the predominating color this
year, with long hair, mostly curley. This as a
result of all eleven of the Paul Mason retri
ever pups being scattered about the community
as Christmas gifts . . . And that’s all there is
for this week.
to five things last week, all indi
cating fine economic development
in the Southport area this year.
As we see it, a sixth and most
important item was left out. This
was the assured expansion of the
plant growing industry in this
section. Continued expansioi of
plants for Long Island. N. Y.,
early truck crops is assured. The
same is to be said with respect
to the growing of tomato plants
for tomato farmers in half a
dozen eastern states. Bell pepper
plant growing and actual grow
ing of such crops is just start
ing up. The blueberry farm is
expanding to ultimately have 200
acres. Orton is now at the stage
where it produces hundreds of
thousands of flower plants annual
ly, and sees no prospects of ever
cutting down in production.
A few days ago Dan Shannon,
store keeper at Orton,, was tell
ing us that when Southport got
the rush of Orton visitors as a
result of the building of the new
road, thousands of tourists would
come here. He thinks there will
be a lot of jamming and traffic
snarls in Southport. Maybe so.
Our own guess is that the Orton
and Southport visitors will be
coming to see Orton and South
port, not just whizzing through
by the shortest route between
two points. They will be of the
more or less unhurried class. Or
ton is not in the business of pro
viding accommodations. Southport
is in the position of needing to
provide accommodations for many
of the Orton visitors, in addition
to its own. Southport now needs
a hotel more than it ever did.
Having had a day or two of
advance notice and a request from
the Bell Telephone Company to
be at home, Mr. and Mrs. G. E.
Hubbard of Southport were not
surprised when he answered tne
phone on New Years Eve and
found that their son and his
family wished to talk to them.
The son, Sgt. George Egan Hub
bard, Jr., is stationed in Germany.
Mrs. Hubbard and their three
children are there with him. By
pre-arrangement all five got to
say a few words to grandpa and
grandma back home.
Miss Marion Frink, writing us
from some place In Germany,
care of the Army Recreational
Division, says that the only fish
ing she has had this year (mean
ing last year) was through the
columns of The State Port Pilot.
According to pictures which Miss
Frink sent, she is at a very pretty
place. But personally we would
never be able to tell anyone about
it if we lived there. The name
of the place is Weihnachtspost
beizeiten aufgeben.
Our guess is that, this month
will reveal something really sur
prising regarding the planned de
velopment at Long Beach. Some
big things are on foot but at the
present stage of affairs the only
thing we can say is that a huge
sum will shortly be made avail
able for development. This money
may come from any of three
specific sources, all of which are
interested.
VENEZUELIANS STOP
(Continued From r'age One)
was stopped at Morehead by the
Coast Guard and payment was
made there to the U. S. Marshall
who boarded the craft. The re
pair shop had requested this, re
fusing to take the matter up
with the agents.
To a visiting newsman on the
boat Mate Parlser remarked that
there was a bigger story in Cap
tain Cortes than anything about
the boat.
The Captain, member of one of
Spain’s oldest and wealthiest;
families before Franco’s regime,
is a graduate of the Spanish
Naval Academy. When Hitler and
Mussolini fostered Spain’s civil
war before the ouebreak of World
War II, Captain Cortes became
one of the best known combat
pilots in the Loyalist Air Forces.
Fighting against the Franco
Forces, he was shot down by the
enemy. Parachuting from his
flaming plane, he was machine
gunned as he came down, re
ceiving numerous wounds, the
scars of which he still carries,
some about the face.
He survived his wounds but
was held prisoner for two years.
Escaping, he went to England and
enlisted in the Royal Canadian
air force, fighting with them
through the war. He has a beauti
ful gold wrist watch, engraved
and presented to him by the Ca
nndian air fores in recognition
of his flying jet planes in the
closing days of the' war.
His mother, the only survivor
of his family, still lives in Spain.
Uncertain of his own status there
because of his war record with the
losing faction, and his escape
from the war prison camp, Cap
tain Cortes does not know if he
will ever return to his home land.
He stated that Franco is now
well liked by the people, but
that Spain is economically and
otherwise ruined.
A wealthy Venezuelian doctor
interested him in buying the P. T.
boat, converting it and taking it
to Venezuela for the passenger
carrying business. They plan to
get two other similar craft and
carry on with daily round trips
from both points, keeping one of
the boats in reserve for use when
either of the other two may be
undergoing repairs or painting.
IT HAPPENS AT MIDNIGHT!
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SOUTHPORT, N. C.
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