EDITORIALS:
UNCOMFORTABLY PROPER
We are constantly embarrassed b;*
errors which we permit to appear in
print, but sometimes we are made to
feel almost as uncomfortable because
of our occasional efforts to be unnat
urally proper.
Like the other day when fa: the first
time in our journalist history we made
use of the word “sanitoria” to indicate
a collection of institutions where pa
tients suffering from tuberculosis are
treated. It finally found its way into
print, but not before we had been
checked by a friendly typesetter who
hates to see us do wrong, and not be
fore the proof reader and made a cor
rection which the operator by that time
knew better than to make.
Then there’s the word couple, and it
is singular. But to save our life we can
not feel free and easy about writing
“The couple is making its home in this
city.” Deeply ingrained in our thinking
is the fact that it takes two to make
a couple, and two are plural. So up to
this time we have never had the nerve
to be proper in this respect.
Once a newspaper friend of ours,
showing the benefit of better training
than we possessed, pointed out to us
that it is improper to say “deputy sher
iffs” when it is desired to indicate more
than one deputy, but that the proper
form is “deputies sheriff.” The trouble
is that this is so plu-perfect proper that
we never have been able to get it
through the operator-proof reader belt
line.
In the final analysis, we editors per
haps have the poetic license to feed our
readers the literary fare on which they
have been raised, barring of course,
bad English and incorrect spelling.
There is a normal resistance against be
ing stilted, even in the name of being
right.
And that reminds us of the story we
heard recently of the fellow who went
to a bar and ordered a martinus. “Mis
ter, you must mean a martini,” said the
helpful barkeeper. “Indeed I do not,”
replied our proper if somewhat inebri
ated customer. “I want one martinus,
not several martini.”
IT CAN HAPPEN AGAIN
The following appeared in the “Com
monwealth Shareholder.” It is no fairy
tale with a happy ending. It can hap
pen again.
“On July 4, 1776, the representatives’
of the 13 American colonies, meeting in
Philadelphia, severed their ties with
the British crown in a noble and elo
quent document known as The Declara
tion of Independence. With the adop
tion of the Declaration, the Congress
turned to othei* pressing tasks. Among
the most vexing was the problem of
financing the struggle for freedom.
“Thirteen months earlier, just one
week after the Battle of Bunker Hill,
the Continental Congress had issued its
first currency—$2 million of bills of
credit. Later in 1775, and in the next
four years, there were a number of
other issues. Historians tell us the de
preciation of this paper currency was
slight and gradual through 1776. Once
the amount of printing press dollars
exceeded $20 million, however, depre
ciation accelerated sharply. By January,
1779, one silver dollar exchanged for
eight paper dollars; by the end of the
year, a silver dollar was worth 40 pa
per dollars.
“In the following year, Congress call
ed in the flood of paper money, and is
sued a new currency on the basis of one
new dollar for 40 odd dollars. About
half the old bills were turned in for re
demption. Those still outstanding plum
meted, and the expression for some
thing valueless became ‘not worth a
Continental’ . . . Although inflation has
been a fact of life through much of this
nation’s history, no subsequent exper
ience has compared with our first, and
bitterest, taste of inflation in the War
for Independence.”
SPEAK UP OR BE TAXED MORE
What chance has the public for pro
tection from constant tax increases ?
Apparently it has almost none. A pro
posed increase of li^c a gallon in the
Federal gas tax was voted down by
Congress. Within days a new proposal
came up to increase the tax y%c a gal
lon for one or two years, and transfer
some receipts now received from pres
ent gas taxes from the general fund
into the special highway trust fund,
where they should have gone in the
first place. Another proposal would
raise the gas tax li/gc for a two-year
period only.
Any way you look at it, the determ
ination is to make the public pay ad
ditional gas taxes for a rash program
of highway building instead of doing
the construction work as money be
comes available.
If anyone is gullible enough to be
lieve that a one or two year “special”
gas tax would be dropped at the end
of such periods, he should have his
head examined. All one has to do is to
check over the “emergency” taxes that
were passed for various purposes years
ago to realize that no special tax for
one or two years would be dropped at
the end of that period.
The tax spenders will always be ex
ceeding their income no matter how
large the taxes are. The people will
never get relief until they tell Congress
in no uncertain terms, that tax reduc
tions, not tax increases, are in order.
At the end of two years roads will
again be costing twice as much as esti
mated, “special” taxes will have to be
retained and it is safe to say increases
will be asked.
COURT CRITICISM
. In several recent decisions the United
States Supreme Court has indicated it
wishes to earn a better reputation with
the American people. Criticism of the
highest court in the country had be
come so widespread that the court’s
role in U. S. government was threaten
ed.
The highest court recently decided
several questions which appeared to be
victories for states, as their authority is
measured against the authority of the
federal government. However, these de
cisions did not actually go very far in
that direction, but merely postponed or
The State Port Pilot
Published L'verv Wednesday
Southport, N. C.
JAMES M. HARPER, JR.Editor *
ttst*red aa ■econd-clasa matter April 30, 1928
»t the Poet Office at Southport, N. C„
the Act of March 3. 1879.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Brunswick and Adjoining Counties
and Service Men . $2.00 per year
Six Months .. $1.50
Elsewhere in United States — $3.00
Per Year;—6 Months . $2.00
circumvented an application of federal
authority.
Three-fourths of the chief justices of
the states, the American Bar Associa
tion, many members of Congress, and
many distinguished jurists and lawyers,
have all criticised the court in the last
12 or 18 months. The pattern of be
ed this criticism is possibly not arrested.
It would be unrealistic to think that the
ground-swell of public criticism has
changed the lifelong opinions and con
ceptions of members of the court.
The main lesson to be learned is that
experienced Constitutional lawyers and
judges should be appointed to the high
est court in the country, and not poli
ticians who are given political plums,
persons who have no judicial experi
ence whatsoever.
Headline: “People Just Don’t Under
stand Us, Stripper Says.” Well, seeing
is believing.
Usually it is the little things that
bother us most. For example you can
sit on a mountain but not on a tack.
The difference between an impracti
cal dreamer and a man of vision is
usually about two generations.
The worst place in the world to live
is beyond your income.
As Others See Us
By BILL SHARPE
Editor State Magazine
Until somebody comes along
and tells us differently, we are
going to claim that a North Car
olina real estate salesman has set
a new record.
Down in Brunswick County, the
staff headed by Homer James In
gle of Winston-Salem has sold
more than 5,000 residential lots in
two years—over $2,000,000 worth
of real estate. They were bought
by 2,700 clients, since some pur
chasers have bought two or more
lots—some up to ten or more.
In the selling, a new North
Carolina “city” is being establish
ed. Within ten years, what recent
ly was a wooded beach may be
the largest town in Brunswick
County.
This is Tranquil Harbour, a de
velopment owned by E. F. Middle
ton of Charleston, and is the
climax of 20 years of planning.
If you go down today, you will
find wide streets running from
ocean to the Elizabeth River or
waterway. Bulldozers are dreging
out canals to provide waterside
homesites where boat fans may
dock their boats in their front
yards. Sometimes the salesmen
are selling ahead of the survey
ors, and new streets are being
opened every month.
Four times Homer Ingle has
moved his sales office down the
road to be close to available (un
sold) lots, and any minute now he
may have to move another mile
down the praved highway. One
hundred and fifty scattered homes
have been built or are now under
construction, and more are start
ed every week. They are modest
dwellings, for this definitely is a
low-cost devlopment. But it is
what millions of Americans are
looking for—retirement homesites
in a benign climate, and near the
water, away from congestion.
The genesis of Tranquil Har
bour is almost as fascinating as
its most recent prosperity. It
started in 19"3 when £. F. Mid
dleton was acquiring woodlands
for a pulp concern. He bought
tracts in Brunswick going right
to the ocean, but tjjie property
south of the waterway was of
scant value or interest to his em
ployers.
They were willing to let their
timber buyer take over several
miles of land which lay between
the ocean and the waterway.
Much of the ocean front prop
erty Middleton sold to others who,
with Middleton, developed it as
Long Beach and Yaupon Village,
No one seemed much interested
in the remainder, which lay be
tween the beach highway and the
waterway. Many people felt that
this property relatively far from
the surf, would never be develop
ed until all the property closei
to the ocean had been sold off.
and that seemed decades away.
In July 1957, Homer Ingle came
to Southport and saw Middle
ton, then ready to sell off some oi
his “inside” property.
Homer, who had some exper
ience in such matters, immediate
ly became enthusiastic about
Tranquil Harbour, then nothing
but a jungle of pines, oaks anc
underbrush, “I’ll sell $100,00(
worth by Christmas,” he said, i
prediction which made Mr. Mid
dleton smile wearily.
He sold $200,000 worth bj
Christmas. “I even surprised my
self,” recalls Homer.
He did it with one of the oldest
devices in the business—direct
mail offering bargain lots t<
prospects. Hundreds of thousand!
of letters went out of Southport
advising prospects that a $39J
lot was available to them. Hun
dreds came down to see, and fell
under the spell of Homer’s en
thusiasm.
.ground Southport, old-timers
watched with disbelief, predicted
the flash in the pan was burned
out. But that was only the be
ginning. Instead of sales falling
off after that first six months,
they increased. More mail went
out, more people came, and more
bought.
While many came to see the
bargain $395 lots, a majority of
them bought better lots at high
er prices, and some bought sev
eral lots. The minimum lot now
is $495, and rates move from
there up to $2,000 for water
front property.
About the time when most real
estate booms have run their
course, Homer found the momen
tum was beginning to feed off it
self. People like to shop the busy
stores, and that's the way it has
been at Tranquil Harbour. The
five salesmen are busy taking
care of week-end customers.
j And the first buyers are com
ing back, bringing their kin and
friends with them. These captive
customers are prospects, too, and
they are swelling the ranks of
Tranquil Harbour boosters. “We
have 2,700 salesmen,” brags
Homer. "They come down to
build, or look over their property
and bring new customers right
along with them.” I
The "Harbour” lies behind Yau- 1
pon and Long beaches, running
all the way across the mucky
swamp coursed by Elizabeth River
to the waterway. The Elizabeth
River now is drained by low
tide, but there are plans to dredge
it back to usefulness. Meantime,
heavy machinery is piling up
muck and soil firm up a “water
front” section, in the process cut
ting canals navigable to small
boats.,
And meantime, too, the develop
ment has moved westward (the
beach here runs, east-west) to
handsome Liavis Creek, a natural
tidal canal sending a long finger
of water up between waterway
and ocean. It is wonderful for
swimming, skiing, boating, fishing
and waterfowl hunting. Few peo
ple have ever seen it before, but
it is the prize section of Tran
quil Harbour and is selling fast.
In spite of this fabulous suc
cess, Homer is a long way from
being finished. He has about 4,000
acres left to sell, and he is dig
ging in to complete the job.
Around Southport “they” say the
selling commission is about 30
per cent gross. Of course Homer
has heavy expenses, including a
force of five salesmen and other
helpers, but even so, it is cal
culated that he is netting 10
per cent as his part of the gross.
We remarked to Gib Barbee
over at Yaupon that most of this
property is being sold for small
sums down and $10 per month.
“Yeah,” said Gib, “but when
you have 5,000 accounts sending
you $10 a month, what you got?”
You got all right, and that’s
the way things are going with
Tranquil Harbour.
Homer Ingle is a member of a
wellknown Piedmont family, five
boys of which all bear apostolic
names—James (that’s Homer)
Luke, Paul John and Mark. Hom
er James was practicing law with
brother John when the war took
him away from Winston-Salem.
He returned from service to find
his law practice scattered, and in
. 1947 went into real estate sales
i in Houston, Texas, later moving
into the same field in Florida.
But it almost might be said
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i
The other day we saw Mr. Carl Ward, and he
had his right arm in a cast . “I got it broke
cranking my tractor,” he explained. That remind
ed us of the earlier days of the automobile, when
motors were started by cranking. In fact, the
crank was a piece dt the built-on equipment, and
one of the early deluxe gadgets was a little
leather sling or holster that held the crank handle
and kept it from swinging and making a noise
. . . Lasting memory of the Poole-Thompson wed
ding: Chief of Police Poxie Howard nanding Jean
her bouquet just before she started up the steps
to the church. (He had accepted custody of this
precious cargo while the bride disembarked from
the family automobile prior to the ceremony.)
It has been a long time since we enjoyed an
issue of The State Magazine more than we have
the last one. Could be that one important reason
is that there were so many items included about
people and places in Brunswick county; but
actually it was a most interesting edition of this
publication . . . Incidentally, we wish everybody
in town could have heard Editor Bill Sharpe when
he talked to the Southport Lions Club Thursday
night. There was material there for several good
editorials ... We saw a jeep on the city dock
Sunday afternoon, and we hope we never see an
other auto or bike out there. Not only is it dan
gerous to the driver or rider, it endangers the
life and limb of folks walking or standing on the
dock.
We didn’t get up to Wilmington Sunday after
noon to see the Thunderbirds, but we saw them
as they swooped over this area on their way back
to Myrtle Beach Air Force Base. They came in
from the river and headed inland between Magno
lia Dairy and Southport . . . Southport was in
vaded Tuesday night by a cloud of flying, green
bugs that resembled tiny grasshopers. They
swarmed about the street lights on the water
front and even got into some houses. This morn
ing they were gone . . . They had a gully-washer
out at Supply last night, but no rain fell in most
of the county.
Local residents who were watching for the
marathon water skiiers to pass through here Mon
day afternoon started too late. They had reached
their destination well before dark . . . Robert
Ruark has another novel which will be released
this fall. He was on the morning television show,
"Today”, Monday and talked about “Poor No
More,” title of the new book. Henry Holt will be
the publisher. ,
"The Hangman,’’ starring Robert Taylor and
Fes Parker, is the week-end show at the Amuzu
. . . "Separate Tables,” the motion picture in
which David Nivin earned his Oscar, is the Thurs
day-Friday show at Holiday Drive-In.
Weather Bureau
On New Schedule
Twenty-Four Hour Service
Now Being Conducted By
U. S. Weather Bureau At
Wilmington Station
Weather Bureau services at the
New Hanover Airport Station in
Wilmington began on a 24 hour
a-day schedule on August 23, F.
W. Reichelderfer, Chief of the
U. S. Weather Bureau said this
week.
Restoration of round-the-clock
weather service for the Wilming
ton area was made possible by an
authorized staff increase included
in the Weather Bureau’s appro
priation passed by Congress for
fiscal year I960.
The Wilmington staff, under
the direction of recently appointed
Meteorologist in Charge Sam F.
D. Duke, has been increased to
nine meteorologists including four
radar specialists.
Wilmington soon will receive
one of 31 high-powered weather
that Homer Ingle was merely
marking time until he saw Tran
luil Harbour. And it is certain
.hat Tranquil Harbour was mark- ]
ng time until it saw Homer Ingle.
search radars that are being
strategically located at Weather
Bureau stations along the Atlan
tic and Gulf coasts fot hurricane
tracking and in the Midwgst. The
WSR-57 type radar will provide
the detailed data needed for tor
nado warning purposes. This spe
cially designed weather radar for
more accurate forecasts and
storm warnings will have an ef
fective range radius of as much
as 250 miles.
Prior to 1953 the weather sta
tion at Wilmington was open 24
hours a day, but since has been
operated by the Weather Bureau
on a 16 hour a day basis, usually
from 6 a. m. to 10 p. m. '
Chief Reichelderfer said that
growing demands for weather
services in the Wilmington area,
particularly by marine, agricul
tural, and aviation interests have
placed much greater weather re
sponsibilities on Weather Bureau
personnel and facilities at Wil
mington.
In addition, Wilmington’s criti
cal coastal location has neces
sitated many extra hours of over
time in order to warn the public
when a hurricane or other severe
storm has threatened the area.
The installation at Wilmington
of the specially designed WSR-57
radar will permit Weather Bu
reau radar meteorologists to pin
>oint and track tropical storms,
tornadoes, flood producing rains.
thunderstorms and other types of
\ severe weather and storms 24
hours a day and thereby help to
improve the weather services be
ing provided along the Atlantic
Coast from Virginia to Florida
as well as to all of North and
South Carolina.
TODD'S
Your
Credit
Is
Good
O
w
N
T
O
W
N
FURNITURE
Wilmington,
"O'*
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«<E”
CO.
N. C.
el S Front St. Ph. RO 3-5998
Savings Are Safer
\ AND GROW FASTER HERE! -
Every person, wise in the ways of finances, is saving
for a particular reason and saving regularly. And, they
are saving where their money is Safe while it earns !
Join the many smart people who are saving in our Sav
ings & Loan Association. Open your account.
Southport Sayings & Loan Asso.
W. P. JORGENSEN, Sec’y.-Treas. SOUTHPORT, N. C.
9-4, MONDAY-FRIDAY
9-12, SATURDAY
SAVE BEFORE YOU SPEND !—
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