The State Port Pilot
Published. Every Wednesday
Southport, N. C.
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 . 1.00
THREE MONTHS .75
I
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1954
Reasonable Request
North Carolina has filed a brief set
ting forth its reasons for urging the U.
S. Supreme Court to enforce its segre
gation decree through a gradual pro
cess; and after reading a digest of this
188-page report, we are in complete
agreement with the thought that there
is nothing about the order that cannot
be worked out by our educational lead
ers if they are given time to make
necessary adjustments, and to make
them on the basis of non-compulsion.
As a matter of fact, North Carolina
in particular and the South in general
were well on their wray toward working
out problems of segregation. Each year
has found adjustments being made ill
new sectors of human relations; and
where these changes have been permit
ted to come about as a result of local
initiative they have been lasting and no
bitterness has followed in their wake.
We are thinking particularly now of
the registration of Negro voters. Ten
years ago this was a rare thing in North
Carolina; today there is no problem for
a qualified member of that race to be
come eligible to cast his ballot. More
over, there are Negro election officials
in several counties of the State.
A few years ago it was unheard of
for an athletic team representing a
North Carolina university or college to
play another school who had a Negro
athlete on its squad. Within the past
five years Negro boys have come into
North Carolina as members of both
visiting basketball and football squads,
and our sporting public has accepted
them upon the basis of their ability and
their conduct.
Segregation has been eliminated from
all branches of the armed services, and
there has been a minimum amount of
griping on this score. The most impor
tant result will be that when our boys
complete their required period of mili
tary training they come out with the
knowledge that race presents no serious
problem where a man assumes his full
share of responsibility along with his
privileges.
The brief filed by North Carolina
lists numerous problems which will be
aggravated by a sudden, sweeping or
der for compliance with the Supreme
Court decree. It asks for time to work
out these situations, and the recent his
tory of our people indicates that they
will be resolved without undue hardship
if we are permitted to progress in a
peaceful and orderly manner.
Unusual Program
I
Members of the disaster staff of the
American Red Cross who have been at
work in Brunswick county for the past
six weeks were guests Thursday night
of the Shallotte Lions Club. Not only
was this a gracious recognition of the
outstanding job that has been done by
these workers, but this meeting resulted
in one of the most unusual programs
ever presented before a Lions Club any
where.
After the dinner had been served,
the meeting was turned over to Mrs.
Hannah Jackson, who is disaster direc
tor for Brunswick county. She had ar
ranged for three of her case workers to
present a case that they had worked up
in this county, and while using no nam
es, these specialists gave the Lions an
insight into the nature of their work
and an appreciation of the thoroughness
of their operation.
The Shallotte meeting accomplished
two worthwhile results. The first of
these was to let the Red Cross workers
know that their efforts have been ap
preciated. The second is to give a
broader understanding of the work that
the Red Cross has done in Brunswick
county since the hurricane on October
15th.
This program was wisely conceived
and skillfully executed.
A Bad Advertisement
The Brunswick Rural Electric Mem
bership Corporation has a beautiful of
fice building at Shallotce, a structure
that does credit to the good work of
this organization. But like most things,
it could be better.
We have traveled by the REA build
ing several times at night during the
past few months, and we are amazed at
the number of times that the lights
spelling- out the name of the firm are
out of order. The home of our REA is
just as beautiful at night as it is in the
daylight—if the building is properly
lighted.
Strikes us that the results would more
than justify the effort.
LET'S OBSERVE THANKSGIVING
Thursday, November 25, is Thanks
giving Day, in this year of our Lord,
1951. It is a day that should be univer
sally. observed because of a deep feeling
of gratitude to Almighty God for the
manifold blessings bestowed upon us as
individuals and as a nation.
The observance of the day could well
be maintained too from a historic stand
point. First observed by the early Pil
grims in 1621 and proclaimed by our
country’s first president, George Wash
ington in 1789, there is ample preced
ent today a day to be set aside for all
people to take note of their blessings
from the Almighty and to offer Him
thanks and praise for His goodness
throughout the past year.
In noting the approaching Thanksgiv
ing Day and urging its observance Pres
ident Eisenhower, in speaking about the
Pilgrim settlers of early America, said
in part, “the odds they faced were too
great for them to rely entirely on them
selves alone. They needed God’s help
and sought it and frankly acknowled
ged that it was that Power beyond
themselves which provided the strength
that saw them through.”
Like our forefathers we too are faced
with difficult times and confronted with
many uncertainties-we need the
sure, abiding strength and watchcare of
God today as much, if not more, than
the Pilgrim Fathers of long ago.
Let us then, come Thanksgiving Day,
join our fellowmen all over the United
States in grateful prayers of praise and
thanks to a benelovent Heavenly Father
for His countless blessings to us
throughout the past year and ask for
His guidance and love in the days
ahead.
CONSUMPTION IS THE KEY
Consumption is the key to continued
high employment and good times in this
or any other country, many leading
economists agree. We mean the sound
kind of consumption that stems, not
from government spending or any other
inflationary activity, but: from progres
sive, free production with high employ
ment at good wages.
Our country’s productive machine
would come to a sudden halt if the
goods we produce didn’t move in large
volume into the hands of consumers.
When consumption and production
walk hand in hand then happy days
L
are truly here.
It amazes us to think of the truly
magnificent job in moving merchandise
that our retail merchants are doing,
chain and independents, big stores and
little ones, yes, even the little Cross
Roads store. These merchants, large
and small, to a great extent will deter
mine how our economy and living stan
dards of our people will fare. We have
the finest retail establishments on earth
—and an amazing system of mass dis
tribution, which is the full time partner
of mass production.
IN NORTH CAROLINA
I
ID THE- HIGHEST fD/NT EAST OF THE
MISSISSIPPI. A NORTH CAROLINA
STATE PARK. IS AT THE CRE5T%
Landofikgfflff
There are 223 mountains
5,000 ft. or higher in North
Carolina*"Variety Vaeattfn
tand* A book by that name
tells more about them.
j It is H^on request
* to the Ctef>f Conservation
<t Oevelobment, ftoleyli,HC
KlM&S JlrtOMNTAIN, RISING
out op rue piedmont
PLATEAU WEAR. & ASTOJIA AND
CHARLOTTE-, MARKS TH C
SITE OP A FAMOUS BATTLE
OF THE REVOUrriONARV
WAR. AND A NATIONAL.
NVIUTAR.V PARK, t
■ 5U
ROVING REPORTER
Continued From Page One
from H. C. Bennett.
Supply, Shallotte, Grissettown,
Longwood, Ash, the New Britian
Bridge community, Freeland and
Exum are all bustling with new
buildings, mostly for business pur
poses. So are spots all along the
roads and we will probably find
this applies to the whole county.
Brunswick now is largely an ag
ricultural county, there is very
little in the way of industry. The
business in the county is largely
dependent on agriculture and the
question is naturally arising: If
everybody moves to the high
ways and goes into business who
is going to create those agricul
tural products that will support
the said business?
Last week we began to be puz
zled and we are still puzzled at
the number of people who are
using silver half-dollars when it
comes to subscribing or renewing
for The State Port Pilot. Thew :
seems to be a flood of fifty cent"
pieces throughout the county.:
Checks and bills come through
the mails as usual, but when it
comes to man to man transactions
it is now seemingly the custom
for the pay-off to be in half dol
lars. Here on the streets of South- i
port one day last week we were |
handed a total of nine half-dol
lars in less than an hour's time,
and the silver pieces seem just as
numerous all over the county.
Fields of small grain are not
showing up as numerously as us
ual at this time of the year. As a
matter of fact, they are conspici- j
ous by their absence from the
landscape. The cause may have
been unfavorable weather directly:
after the farmers finished har
vesting and marketing their to
bacco and other crops. At any
rate, small grain is just not sho
wing 'up in fields as it should at
this time of the year. This week
we have noted only one tractor;
with a grain drill following ano-?
ther tractor that was plowing. In
contrast to the absence of green
grain fields the county seems full
of tractors, all busy at plowing,
either in preparation for next ye
ar’s crops or the drilling in of
fall grain at this late date.
Shallotte Village Point appears j
to be in fine shape .although sev- i
eral waterfront houses, fish houses
and a few boats were damaged
or lost in the storm. Tilings there
appeared yesterday to be coming
back alright. A few weeks longer
and there will be little or no
remaining traces of the storm.
Harry Chadwick and half a dozen
other residents who were spoken
to yesterday were all confident
that everything is coming back in
good order. A few houses were
also damaged on the road from
Shallotte to the Point, but every
thing appealed to be in good order
and folks were all going about
their business as usual.
Not long after World War I
we went for our first plane ride.
The place was Whiteville in Co
lumbus County and Warren Pen
nington of the Wilmington Fly
ing Service was the pilot. This
was not only our first ride in the
air, it is said to have been the
first time anyone in Columbus Co
unty was taken up as a passen
ger. Mr. Pennington flew down
there and landed in the pasture
of Dr. W. Ross Davis. Either we
beat others to the scene or our
fellow townsmen were a little shy
of volunteering for passenger du
ty at so much per head. Our re
collection is that we flew low
over the Pinelog community and
scared a farmer’s cow to death
and nearly did the same to us. We
landed by coming down across
corn rows in a field two miles
southwest of Fair Bluff and we
went home to Whiteville by train.
Mr. Pennington was here Sun
day and we again went riding
with him — In his station wagon.
It is the usual thing for us to
leave our typewriter for a while
on Sunday afternoon and go for
at least a short ride with Tommy
Thompson, a foreman for one of
the T. F. Schoies ballasting crews.
This past Sunday the ride was
pulled off as usual, but something
anusual happened. We went out
to see where the highway from
Sunny Point is entering 303-87.
From there we went a mile fur
ther to see Clear Pond. Leaving
the highway we were bowling
licely along and suddenly and un
expectedly a large heart pine
itump arose up and disputed the
eassage of the car. Neither of
us had seen the stump. In fact,
>ur first knowledge of things be
ng out of older was when the
ear came to a sudden and violent
;top. With our usual bullheaded
less, we went on and butted out
.he windshield with our head.
Dutside of the windshield, neither I
he car nor our head was damag
Mrs. Bryant Potter was show
ing us a bit of old craftsmanship
this week. We believe they called
It a buffet in its day — which
may have been a couple or more
hundred years ago. It gives off
that appearance of having been
made in England and had been in
the possession of the family of
Captain Fred Burris through
many generations. Of highly var
nished heart pine, it is put to
gether with wooden pegs, instead
of nails. When Mr. and Mrs. Pot
ter acquired the old Burris home
they also acquired the piece of
old furniture.
George Elmer Dance, Jr., son
of Mrs. G. W. Dance of Supply,
has completed his 3-year hitch in
the Navy and is now at home
with his mother. He was one of
the stars of the Shallotte high
school basketball, baseball and j
football teams before leaving for j
service. Albert Parker, son of Mr-,
and Mrs. J. M. Parker of the
same community, and likewise a1
former star in the Shallotte ath-1
letic activities, has still nearly a
ytar to go in the Coast Guard. J
Ajlbert was at his home over the,
iek end, accompanied by one of j
shipmates, Gresham Aboy.'
ie three young men came aro-1
id Sunday afternoon for a tour j
o! the Sunny Point terminals, j
T ey have all been around on the
w ter a great deal, but they were j
n< ie the less surprised at the size
of things being constructed here.
>'hile there has not yet been
an assurance that Southport’s
ightly trash dump on Route
is being done away with, it
gratifying to see a bulldozer
ork the past week. The ma
covered up the several ya
of accumulation of trash that
employees could not burn,
there with Mayor J. A. Gil
this week he stated that
hope to find some other lo
in for the dump. Meanwhile,
are going to keep down the
un jhtly appearance of the pres
en ilace as much as possible.
ur
13
Wf
at ,v
ch e
rd
cit
Oi
be
th
ca
thi
ke
th
rec
thi
r some months we have been
ing £ob Hunter confused wi
•usty Rhodes and vice-versa
an it took Ken Stewart to cor
us as to which was which
week It was a parking lot
that started things. The
ma ed spaces at the Diamond
pai ng lot at Sunny Point start
fith “Mr. Stewart,” "Mr.
!S,” “Mr. Hunter.” Well, Mr.
Htifcr got his car parked in
DOM’s stall one day and since
theMwe have been introducing
~ to visitors as Mr. Hunter,
it, we were all but moving
inter to Southport when we
lout that it was Dusty Rho
Not Exactly Metes
Capt. A1 Martin already is getting ready for a
big year during the 1955 sports fishing season and
has purchased the Jim-Jet, Mathews cruiser form
erly based at Myrtle Beach. She is quite similar
to the Miss Margaret II, which he fished this past
summer . . . Capt. Howard Victor left this mor
ning for Islamorado, Fla., where he will be based
this winter. Other Southport boats will be leaving
in another 10-days.
We had a chance this week to get a close-up
view of what a dragline can accomplish, and the
results of one of these big machines is amazing.
We joined the ranks of those who have had to dig
a water hole in their pasture, and Donald Sneeden
sent in a machine to do the job. He mustbe lucky
in getting good operators, for we recall that the
bulldozer driver he had here for the playground
project was a swell fellow. He had nothing on
Parker Felton when, it comes to handling the in
tricate controls of a dragline. Incidentally, one of
the neatest jobs we ever saw done by one of these
operators is the irrigation pond that he just com
pleted at the Sheppard Plant Farm near South
port . . . Another partnes in one of our farming
ventures this week was Harry Sellers of Supply,
who officiated at a cow-killing. He got his training
under some of the oldtime, butchers around here.
Two facts stick in our mind about Long Beach:
On the pretty Sunday afternoons since the storm
there has been more traffic over there than we
ever saw before; and we have yet to hear the first
property owner say that he is afraid of the future
so far as rebuilding the beach is concerned . . .
Mack’s Cafe already is in operation and is going
full blast. Look for work of renovation and repair
at Quack’s Sea Shack to start soon . . . We saw
our first porgie roe of the season last week, and
once more it was our friend, William Wamett, who
let us in on the deal.
We haven't been squirrel hunting, but every time
we meet some boys walking back from an ex
pedition up the river we see several bushy tails
hanging out of their pockets. Must be a good sea
son for these animals . . . We saw the junior play
Friday night and think that the boys and girls
gave a good performance. However, we were im
pressed that participation was by no means limit
ed to members of the cast. Ticket sales, ushering,
music and stage managing all were handled by
class members.
"Go, Man, Go”, is the Thursday-Friday feature
at the Amuzu, and those who like the antics of
the fabulous Harlem Globetrotters will want to see
their latest movie. A number of their fans plan to
see them in person Saturday night in Raleigh . . .
Junior Sellers, a native of Southport,- is an em
ployee of The News Reporter in Whiteville and we
kid him a lot about his activities as a “ham
operator”. But during the recent storm he and his
portable short wave radio unit provided the only
means of outside communications for Whiteville. It
would have been handy to have had him here dur
ing that period for the same type of service.
des we had induced to come here
about the first of the year.
We hope that in the plans said
to be shaping for Long Beach
somebody has an idea for an au-j
ditorium in which conventions can j
! meet, also for a fishing pier. Su
i ch things would go together nice-1
lly towards development. We still.
believe that in the matter of a
fishing pier Long Beach and the
other beaches in Brunswick pro
vide the safest points on the Nor
j th Carolina coast for such a
J structure. The early October hur
! ricane would piobably have gotten
j such a structure, but the fact is
J by no means sure. Only a south
| wind can do much damage and
i the strong south winds rarely co-!
' me more than once or twice in
the memory span of man.
“Everything looks good, not for
this month, but within two or
three.” The above was the short
but very gratifying answer we
received during an interview with
a prominent industrial man this
week. There was no elucidation; j
both knew wh^t the other was
talking about. Having asked the
question and received the answer, I
we are very much pleased at the
prospects that the vanishing year
of 1954 is holding out for fulfill
ment in 1955.
Two letters this week from
j members of the press each pre-1
sented a bit of a poser for us.
Somebody wrote Bill Sharpe of,
The State, asking him what there j
was for North Carolina to be pro-)
ud of. In turn Bill passed the!
question on to us to write and ex
plain what North Carolina, and
our own community, has to be
proud of. Up until receiving the
inquiry we had assumed that ev
erybody in North Carolina knew
that the folks of the State had
everything to be proud of. How
the dickens are we going to expl- j
i ain it to the folks who haven’t j
I got sense enough to know ? Then
j in the same mail came another j
j letter from Henry Belk of the |
| Goldsboro News Argus. Henry I
■ wants 1000 words and pictures on
the progress of Sunny Point and
another 700 words and pictures on ;
■ Brunswick rebuilding after the !
I storm. We believe that in writing!
Henry’s stuff we can find one of j
. the answers to the question Bill I
asked. We are proud of North;
. Carolina because of the way her j
I people do things.
The two badly damaged wood- \
j en store buildings on the river
side of Bay Street have been at
| tracting a considerable number of
children and there seems to be a
possibility that some of them
may get injured. This, if it hap
pens, will leave some one open
for a suit of damages. It is said
that the former tenants who had
the buildings under lease disclaim1
any responsibility. If that is the j
case the Wilmington owners of j
the property will be liable, so
long as they leave the wreckage
where it is. The town should get;
out from under any possibility of!
bein£ jointly liable by insisting I
that the buildings be torn down!
and removed immediately. They'
are unsightly nuisances where ]
they are.
Each day the mails bring to
this paper an astonishing revela
tion of how widely Brunswick co
unty is known. Folks from every
where wrote to ask aobut the re
cent storm and how Southport
and various communities came
through. Almost invariably the I
writers send their subscriptions
to The State Port Pilot, along
with their letters. Typical of these
messages is one from Richard H. I
Stevens of Tuckahoe, N. Y. Part
of his letter is being appended:
"My parents, Dr. and Mrs. Harry
Stevens, and myself and family, j
Mrs. Stevens, John and Edith An-1
ne, consider ourselves a part of ■
your community. Three years ago!
we found ourselves at Long Be
ach and we have been coming
back ever since. We feel favored
by knowing and being friendly
with many people in Southport
and Long Beach. They have been
so kind to us ... I was best ac
quainted with Phil King at Long
Beach and queried him after the
storm. He wrote briefly to allay
our worries but indicated terrible
damage had been done. He also
sent a copy of the October 20 is
sue of The State Port Pilot. We
have read every word of it and
have devoured the pictures. That
copy has become so battered and
torn from being circulated thro
ugh the family and friends who
know Brunswick county . . . We
are all looking forward to coming
back for more wonderful summers
among you people.”.
CONFERENCE FOR
Continued From Page One
“and anyone interested is cordial
ly invited to meet with us.”
N. C. State College agricultural
specialists and home economics
will be on hand to present the
most up-to-date information avail
able on the factors expected to
affect prices and outlook for the
year ahead. A discussion of the
general economic outlook for 1955
will be followed by more specific
information relating to Brunswick
County farm product prices and
anticipated prices for family liv
ing items. The Social Security Act
and Income Taxes will also be
discussed.
One of the features of the Out
look Conference will be an oppor
tunity for those in attendance to
make their best guess of price
trends expected for each farm
commodity next year.
The material available at the
meeting will be helpful in allow
ing more intelligent planning of
individual farm or business activi
ties for the coming year. Price
expectations are important to far
mers in deciding what to produce,
and how much to produce. Busi
nessmen supplying farmers and
their families are also vitally in
terested in this information.
WEEKLY SESSION
Continued From Page One
ing, fined $10 and costs.
Arthur Henry Beatly, speeding,
fined $15 and costs.
James Henderson Johnson, im
proper equipment, nol prossed.
Lonnie Hollis, speeding, fined
$15 and costs.
Harlie Beck, drunk and disor
derly, 90 days on roads, suspend
ed on payment of costs and good
behavior for two years.
Daniel Alexander Southard
speeding, fined $10 and costs.
Robert Stevenson Bowditch,
speeding, fined $10 and costs.
Morris Johnson Tatum, speed
ing, not guilty.
Harold Eward1 Martin, speeding,
fined $10 and costs.
NEW RESIDENTS
Continued From Page One
only difficulty will be over the
lack of housing for them.
Because of the fact that most
of the local area workers are on
their way to their jobs by day
light and do not return until a
bout dark, most local residents
are totally unaware of the increase
in population. Business houses re
alize it, however, through the
steady purchase of commodities
for cash. The .nearby construction
work has helped business here.
The town yvas poorly prepared
to take care of construction wor
kers at the start of things and
is still poorly fitted for such a
task. When the regular perman
ent workers come in next year So
uthport will be still less prepared
to take care of themx unless
there is a big rush of constructi
on of business places and homes
before they arrive.
BROWNIE SERVICE
There will be a Brownie Inves
titure service on December 3 at
the home of Mrs. E. H. Arring
ton at 3:30 o’clock in the after
noon.
jut yooxL JhuwMA. icr
More Than One Savings Plan
Come in and talk it over - - - you can save either
small sums here, or invest in units of $100—but
either way, you earn more, here !
ACCOUNTS INSURED UP TO $10,000.00
BY AN AGENCY OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
CURRENT DIVIDEND RATE 3%
Southport
BUILDING & LOAN ASS'N.
W. P. JORGENSEN, Sec.-Trees. Southport N. C.