Most Of The News
All The Time
Vol. No. SIXTEEN
THE STATE PORT PILOT
___A Good Newspaper In A Good Community
No- 51 6-Pages Today SOUTHPORT, N. C. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 1953 PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY
The Pilot Covers
Brunswick County
__
$1.50 PER YEAR
Tests Precede
Construction Of
R. R. Bridges
Port Construction Company
Ready To Start Actua
Construction Work Aftei
Making Thorough Tes!
Of Foundation
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
VERY ELABORATE
Approach Railroad For Sun.
ny Point Installation Will
Cross Three Brunswick
County Streams
By W. B. Keziah
To the Port Construction Com
pany, a Brunswick County firm
with office and yards on the
Brunswick County side of the
Cape Fear opposite the Custonr
House, goes the distinction 01
having executed the first actua
construction work on the Sun
ny Point railroad.
With several weeks of wort
already behind them at the task
of clearing roads, the sites anc
driving test pilings, the Port
Construction Company started oul
in earnest yesterday building J
railroad bridges. They have pill
drivers aand other equipment anc
started yesterday with 10 met
at each of the three bridge sites
Town Creek, A lien_ Creek anc
Moore Creek.
H. J. Walker, superintendent o1
the company, stated that the
number of men employed woulc
be rapidly increased as the worl
progresses. At present most o:
the work is confined to the driv
ing of pilings and clearing the
sites.
All material used in the tres
tles will be of Douglas Fir from
the west coast. This began ar
riving at the 3 sites early Iasi
week. Cresoeted pilings are stil
on hand. The pilings are beinf
trucked in from Sanford. Some of
them have to be as much as 52
feet in length, according to Gene
Tomlinson, construction engineei
for the Army Engineers.
me .town ureen Dnage win di
] 1 feet above the water; Alter
Creek 25 and Moore Creel:, ab
ove Orton Pand, will be 15 feet
Two way radios have been in
stalled at each bridge site, foi
the purpose of maintaining con
stant contact with the Port Con
struction Company's main office
near Wilmington.
The final test piling for the
three bridge projects was loaded
Saturday morning with 50 tone
of concrete slabs to determine the
weight capacity. Individually
each piling must test far a load
of 20 tons. United, their indi
vidual strength is much greater.
They are being tested for 50
tons, each. Under such loads on
ly one has sunk to as much as
a quarter of an inch.
Only a small crew was present
Saturday morning for the loading
of the final test piling. This
crew was composed of 3 colored
laborers; Jack Walls, Bolivia man
who operates the pile driver .and
hoist; Superintendent Walker,
Foreman J. E. Nooney, Engineer
Tomlinson and newsman. All ex
cept the newsman worked.
The driving and loading of a
test piling is not without inter
est, but some parts of the op
eration is highly technical. They
have a formula that takes into
account the weight of hammer
blows. This is arrived at from the
. weight of the hammer and the
length of each drop to the piling
head. From that they figure up
the bearing power of the pile
from the penetration that was
made by giving number of the
(Continued on Page 2)
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Mruf Ntwt
Flasket
ON DEAN’S LIST
Miss Latitia Hickman, daugh
ter of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Hick
man of Southport, is on the
dean's list for the past term at
Gardner-Webb College, where she
is a student.
BENEFIT MINSTREL
A minstrel show will be pre
sented on Thursday night of next
week at Shallotte high school un
der the joint sponsorship of the
Acme-Delco and Shallotte Lions
Club. Proceeds will go to de
fray expenses of the Shallotte
high school band to Chicago.
TOP FISHING BOAT
So far as reports indicate, Cap
tain Fred Fulwood with his boat,
Davis Bros., has made the top
bluefish catch of the week. The
Davis Bros, brought in 42 large
specimens. The fish are out there,
but bad weather has held up
everything. Should good weather
mark the coming week-end, the
boat catches should run to the
hundreds.
Cathedral Christmas
mmm m
WINNER—The above photograph is made from a painting, “Cathedral Christ
mas’’, by Neal Thomas, Brunswick County artist. Competing with 3,669 other paint
ings from 35 countries, this picture won recognition and a prize in the international
Art Show ol the Hallmark Art Ownd in Kansas City, Mo. Mr. Thomas is now spend
ing the summer at Clarendon, beautiful home of his parents, Mr. aiid Mrs. Corneliite
Thomas. . ^
Brunswick Boy
Is Recognized
For Painting
Neal Thomas, Jr., Is One Of
Winners In International
Competition; Other Paint
ings Receive Recognition
Neal Thomas, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Cornelius Thomas of Clar
endon Plantation, was recently
the principal of a distinctive
honor when his painting, “Ca
thedral Christmas,” was one of
100 selected from 3,669 water
colors that were submitted from
35 countries in an international
competition.
Mr. Thomas was the only North
Carolina artist to win recog
nition and a prize. The Hallmark
Art Ownd, sponsors of the show,
is an international art project,
established in 1949 by the Hall
mark firms of Kansas City, Mo.,
to encourage fine ait and bring
recognition to contemporary ar
tists.
The painting will be exhibited
at the Baltimore Museum of Art;
California Palace of the Legion
of Honor, San Francisco, Calif.;
Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh;
the Cincinnati Art Museum; Dal
las Museum of Fine Arts; the In
stitute of Contemporary Art, Bos
ton; William Rockhill Nelson
Galery of Art, Kansas City;
Portland Art Museum; Oregon
and Walker Art Center Minneap
olis.
At present Mr. Thomas has
a water color hanging in the
Gibbs Art Gallery in Charleston,
S. C., which was one of 18 water
colors selected to represent South
(Continued on Page 2)
County Entries
In Stock Show
Brunswick 4-H Boys Will
Participate In Fat Stock
Show To Be Held In Wil
mington This Week
Brunswick County 4-H boys
will be taking part in the second
annual Fatstock Show in Wil
mington, Legion Stadium Thurs
day and Friday, reports A. S.
Knowles, county agent.
Grant Johnson of Bolivia will
exhibit a Herford steer. Landis
Simmons and Edgar Reynolds of
Winnabow will make one entry
each of fat market hogs. Jimmy
Albright of Bolivia will enter fat
hogs in two classes. E. T. Al
(Continued on Page Two)
Historians Make
Brunswick Tour
I
I Will Issue Cards
Here Saturday
Residents of this area will
be able to obtain Coast Guard
Port Security cards Saturday
at three locations in Southport.
Coast Guard personnel from
the office of the Captain of the
Port in Wilmington will be
here for that purpose.
They will meet the following
schedule; Brunswick Naviga
tion Co., at 8:30 o’clock; South
port Fisheries at 11 o’clock;
Wells Fish House at 1 o’clock.
These cards should be obtain
ed by all who work on boats or
about the waterfront. Apli
cants should bring some evi
dence of citizenship.
Beach Residents
May Incorporate
Bill Passed By House Of
Representatives Would
Give Residents Of Long
Beach Chance To Vote
On Issue
The bill introduced by Repre
sentative Odell Williamson, au
thorizing the town of Long Beach
to hold an election on the matter
of whether it should be incorpo
ated, has been ratified.
The next step will be up to
the residents of the town to call
an election on the matter. No
information is available thus far
as to when they will take such
action. If they call an election
and the matter is approved, it
is said by the residents advo
cating the measure that they
will be able to have better gov
ernment and at the same time
look after the matter of water
and of garbage disposal, etc.
Inquiry among the citizens in
dicates that apparently most of
the year round residents of the
town are in favor of incorpora
tion. On the other hand, other
property owners who have im
proved their property and some
otilers who have not done any
improving are said to be against
incorporation. From a logical
standpoint it would seem that
the property owners who are
able to spend only a short time
| (Continued on Page Two)
About Sixty Persons Repre
senting At Least A Dozen
Counties Spent Sunday
Visiting Historic Points
Of Interest
DR. PHILLIPS RUSSELL
PRESENT FOR TOUR
History Professor At Uni
versity Of North Carolina
And Lawrence Lee,
Young Researcher,
Led Discussion
Three of North Carolina’s most
beautiful plantations and some
of the outstanding points of his
toric interest in the State were
visited Sunday by a group of
about 60 persons on an organized
tour of Brunswick County under
the auspices of the North Caro
lina Society of Local and County
Historians.
The group met at the Bruns
wick River lay-up basin and pro
ceeded to Clarendon Plantation
(Continued on Page Two)
Flower Show Is
Being Planned
For Gymnasium
Annual Event Will Place
Emphasis This Year On
Specimen Flowers In Ef
fort To Encourage Great
er Growing Interest
GIRL SCOUTS WILL
SPONSOR JUNIOR SHOW
List Of Classifications Given
For Benefit Of Those Who
Wish To Make Entries
In This Event
The nower snow to be Held on
Friday in the Southport gymna
sium will feature specimen flow
ers, according to Mrs. Phil
King and Mrs. W. L. Styron, co
chairmen of the show. A special
effort is being madg to encour
age exhibitors to bring flowers'
Which they have raised to enter
in the horticulture divisipn Where
the awards will be made accord
ing to the perfection of the spe
cimen plants and flowers.
The show will be open to the
public from 3 to 6 in the after
noon. Entries may be made from
9 until noon, when the doors
will be closed. Judging will take
place between noon and the op
ening a 3 o’clock.
Tlie junior will be held at the
same time and will be under the
sponsorship of the Girl Scouts.
The Southport Woman’s Club and
the Southport Garden Club are
co-sponsoring the senior event.
Classifications for the show are
as follows:
Class 3—Perfection Of Bloom
a. Large.
b. Small.
Class 2—Artistic Arrangement
a. Minature (not over 3 inches).
b. Living room—large.
c. Living room—Small.
d. Porch.
e. Wildflowers.
! f. Seashore.
g. Fruits and vegetables.
h. Mantel.
i. Seasonal.
l. In copper.
m. Dried materials.
n. Church decorations.
o. Coffee tables.
p. Dining tables.
q. Commercial.
Class 3—Shadow Boxes, large.
Class 4—Shadow boxer, minia
ture.
Class 5—Potted plans.
Class 6—Party tables.
Class 7—Commercial exhibits.
Routine Session
Of Court Monday
Most Of Cases On Docket
Grew - Out Of Violations
Of Traffic Regulations
With Light Fines Follow
ing Conviction
Most of the cases disposed of '
here in Recorder’s Court Monday •
grew out of traffic violations, '
with the following sentences be- '
ing handed down:
James Peter Jackson, allowing :
minor to operate. Fined $15 and
costs.
George Edward Rae, reckless
operation, fined $59 and costs.
William H. Strickland, no op
ator’s license,, fined 25 and
costs.
David L. Simmons, improper
registration, reckless operation,
fined $25 and costs.
(Continued on Page 2)
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W. B. KK31IAM
Our
ROVING
In the Brunswick County tour
of the Local and County Histo
rians Sunday our neighbor, Louis I
T. Moore of Wilmington, was the 1
man of the hour with his store
of authentic knowledge of Brun
swick County. To Mr. Moore
this county has been a sort of
second home all of his life. He
was right there with all needed
information for inquiring minds.
As for us, while we are suppos
ed to know something about the
past of Brunswick we have been
engaged with so much wres
tling with its present and fu
ture that we fell down on be
ing helpful, right at the start.
One of the historians asked us
who was the wife of Cornelius
Harnett before their marriage.
We would not even know who
Lott’s wife was before she mar
ried Lott, and the Lord changed
her into a pillar of salt.
It is wondered if there are any
old timers who can tell us some
thing about an old bridge across
Moore’s Creek, something over
two miles below where Route
j03 crosses the stream. Appar
ently this bridge was about 30
feet long and it was only about
two feet above the ground. The
stream was not subject to flood
ing, and there was no need of
having it higher. Much of the
timber was of heart pine and is
still there and comparatively sol
id, with only about half rotted
away. The structure may be
60 or 70 years old and it was
barely wide enough to permit
tile passage of a cart or wagon.
A jungle of heavy timber now
stands all around and over the
(Continued on Page 4)
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No. 5 Dredge Back
Cutting Out Rock
Hanby No. 5 Is Specialist In This Operation But Even So
This Equipment Suffers Frequent Break-Downs
Digging in the mud for the
past 15 days and sending its
stream into the 1100-acre dike,
the truculent No. 5 of the Han
by Corporation of Forida, put on
her rock cutter yesterday and
moved back to her favorite rock
pile. Her stream of mostly rock
is now going into the 60 or 70
acre dike that was all but filled
before she switched over to pump
ing mud.
The return of the No. 5 to
her first love was made possible
by heavy duty bull dozers climb
ing into the dike and pushing up
disposal matter to build the dike
■vails higher.
There is a reason for moving
on and off the small dike. The
rock area at No. 2 dock is pro
viding hundreds of thousands of
cubic yards of road building ma
terial that contractors will grind
Lip and use for roads inside the
installation. It is desired to have
as much as possible of the ma
terial piled in one location to
avoid moving the rock crushing
machinery after it is once set
up.
One of the employees of the
No. 5 sarcastically observed that
it was worth $3 per cubic yard
to dig out that rock with the
ship’s rock cutter. There may
have been some truth in what he
said, especially when- it is con
sidered that eleven welders are
kept constantly at work while
they are on the rocks.
The G. A. McWilliams Compa
ny of New Orleans, who leased
the No. 5 for its rock cutting
ability, is said to have already
spent several hundred thousand
dollars in replacements and mak
ing repairs. Every time some
thing about the rock cutter
breaks a new or repaired part
is always ready and in short or
der the pumps are going again.
City Election Is
Scheduled Tuesday
Col. R. C. Brown
Receives Notice
Of His Transfer
"Hief Of Wilmington Dis
trict Army Engineers Has
Completed Three Year
Tour Of Duty And Will
Be Transferred
Alerted several weeks ago of
outine transfer from his three
'ear tour of duty as chief engin
eer of the Wilmington District
trmy Engineers, Col. R. C.
Irown was this week notified of
iis pending transfer to the Far
last Army' Air Force.
Col. Raymond I. Hill, a 1929
;raduate of West Point and a
eteran of World War II, has
>een assigned to succeed Col.
Irown and will arrive some time
a the summer to take over his
iew duties.
Col. Brown came to the dis
rict on June 15, 1950. It was
ust a few months later, in Oc
ober of the same year, that he
/as notified by the office of the
lecretary of Defense, that the
Lrmy Engineers were to find the
est location on the Atlantic or
Vest Coast for an ammunition
utloading depot.
Search by Col. Brown and oth
r Army Engineering Districts
n both the Atlantic and West
'oast revealed that the Cape
'ear River, just above South
ort, was the best place in the
Fnited States.
Following two years of careful
lanning and designing, through
ie office of Col. Brown and the
•ivision Engineers office of the
outh Atlantic Division in Atlan
i, construction of the installa
on is now well on its way.
The change in administration
f the district office will in no
’ise effect the future of Sunny
Pint.
However, it may be said here
lat the residents of the district
•ho have come to know Colonel
irown and his family, and who
ave seen his unswerving loyalty
y his government and its orders,
re genuinely sorry to see him
saving for another tour of du
/.
During his tour as district en
ineer, Colonel Brown and his
imily have lived in Wilmington,
hey have become much attach
1 to Wilmington and the gen
:al area. It is possible that Mrs.
(Continued on Page 2}
Mayor J. A. Gilbert Being
Opposed For Re-Election
By Former Mayor Hubert
A. Livingston
ONLY ONE RACE
FOR ALDERMAN
Harold Aldredge Running
As Third Candidate In
Ward No. 1; Only Two
Candidates In Other
Wards
-Citizens of-Southpwt go to the
polls next Tuesday to elect a
mayor and six members of the
board of aldermen to serve dur
ing the next two years, but this
is creating very little excite
ment thus far.
Mayor J. A. Gilbert is a can
didate for re-election and is be
ing opposed by Herbert A. Liv
ingston, himself a former mayor
and at present a member of the
board of aldermen.
In the first ward there are
three candidates for alderman, to
create the only contest existing
for this post. G. W. McGlam
ery and W. P. Jorgensen are the
present representatives on the
board and Harold Aldredge, who
made an unsuccessful race for
this office two years ago, once
more is a candidate
In the second ward Davis C.
Herring and William McDowell,
incumbents, are unopposed; and
in Ward No. 3 only Fren Spencer,
a member of the present board,
and G. E. Hubbard, are candi
dates.
Mrs. Wriley Willis is registrar
for Ward No. 1, and the voting
place is the Presbyterian Youth
Center. Miss Annie M. Newton
is registrar for Ward No. 2, and
the voting place is the old South
port laundry. Mrs. Worth Ward
is registrar for Ward No. 3, and
the voting place is the court
house.
Education Board
To Visit Schools
County Officials Will Visit
Schools In Two Days Of
Travel About Brunswick,
Starting Tomorrow
With the aim of acquiring an
on-the-spot knowledge of prob
lems and possibilities, the Board
of County Commissioners and the
Board of Education will begin a
series of tours of the schools to
morrow (Thursday).
At each place visited they will
be joined by the local school
committee and president of the
PTA.
The schedule for tomorrow is
to meet at the Waccamaw High
School at 10 a. m. From there
they will be at the Longwood
school at 12, and on to Union
school at 1 p. m. They are due
to arrive at the Shallotte High
School at 2 p. m.; at Cedar
Grove at 4 and Royal Oat at
4:30.
With the exception of Wacca
maw and Shallotte all of the
above are Negro schools. Other
schools in the county will be
visited on May 7, according to
Supt. of Schools J. T. Denning.
The general purpose of the tour
is to give all parties who are
concerned with the administra
tion of the schools a good idea
of what is going on.
Sunny Point Job
Never In Doubt
Says Official
Work Record Indicates That
Project Has Been Pro
ceeding At Normal Pace
During Past Few Weeks
RAILROAD WILL
SPEED PROCESS
Bids Will Be Advertised On
Other Phases Of Con
struction Within Next
Few Weeks
By W. B. KEZIAH
A spokesman for the Army
engineers stated this week that
there has never at any time been
a “freeze” of any phase of the
Sunny Point construction opera
tions. Plans have been continu
ing steadily for letting various
contracts, dredging has been go
ing steadily forward on an ar
ound-the-clock basis, and the con
tractor for the railroad construc
tion has been getting everything
in readiness for mammoth oper
ations.
In fact, railroad construction
has been going forward for weeks
in the way of getting in mate
rial and driving test pilings for
bridges. Badly handicapped dur
ing the winter and spring by con
tinuous rains, the contractor has
been unable to leave the Svannah
River and Aiken projects until
now. He is due to arrive the
end of this week.
With the dredging only start
ed, and with the beginning of
actual railroad construction oper
tions delayed until now, it would
have been a little out of order
to call the bids for construction
of the three wharves, trestles
and hardstand, superstructure,
building, storage facilities, utili
ties and site the railroad.
This past week the Secretary
of Defense, according to Col. R.
C. Brown, head of the Wilmirtg
ton District Army Engineers, re
leased for contracting the above
items..
With everything now released
for contract, it is understood
that Col. Brown will be. issuing
invitations' "Tor "Bids 6T"'several
big projects in the immediate fu
ture. Some of these projects can
be started just as soon as bids
are received and approved. Oth
ers may have to wait a short
time until the access railroad
comes through and is able to
bring in materials.
It can be stated that several
hundred workers will be taken
on in May and that the number
will be doubled within a short
time. The whole thing is sched*
(Continued on Page 2)
Commencement
Being Scheduled
Band - Glee Club Concert
Next Wednesday Night Is
First Feature; Baccalau
rate Sermon On Sunday.
May 10
One of the first commencement
activities for Southport high
school will be the combined glee
club and band concert next Wed
nesday eveniing at 8 o’clock in
the high school auditorium. This
program will be presented under
the direction of Paul Pittinger,
director of music in the local
high school.
Principal H. T. Sanders an
nounces that the baccalaureate
sermon this year will be at 5
o’clock in the afternoon on Sun
day, May 10. Tlie Rev. Charles
(Continued on Page Two)
Tide Table
Following Is the tide table
tor Southport during the next
week. These hours are approxi
mately correct and were furn
ished The State Port Pilot
through the courtesy of the
Cape Fear Pilot’s Association.
High Tide Low Tide
Thursday, April 30 y
8:25 a. m. 2:46 a. m.
8:58 p. m. 2:38 p. m.
Friday, May 1
9:30 a. m. 3:27 a. m.
9:38 p. m. 3:17 p. m.
Saturday, .May 2
9:45 a. m. 4:09 a. m.
10: 21 p. m. 3:58 p. m.
Sunday, May 3
10:32 a. m. 4:55 a. m.
11:11 p. m. 4:46 p. ra.
Monday, May 4
11:28 a. rn. 5:44 a. m.
0:00 p. ni. 5:41 p. ja.
Tuesday, May 5
0:00 a. m. 6:39 a. ip.
12:30 p. m. 6 45 p. m.
Wednesday, May 6
1:06 a. m. 7:38 a. m.
1:30 p. m. 7:55 p. m.