The Pilot Covers
Brunswick County
THE STATE PORT PILOT
1
1
A Good Newspaper In A Good Community
Most of the News
All The Time
VOLUME 42 . NO. 22
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10-Pages Today
SOUTHPORT, N. C. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1970
5c A COPY
PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY
•■- ■ ». iaca»- ; ^ 3H3,
Work Progresses At Nuclear Power Plant
The huge wheel shown here in the foreground has
been lifted into place by a giant crane as good
progress continues at the CP&L Nuclear Power Plant
near Southport. The main structure of this $300
million installation loom up in the background.
(Photo by Spencer)
Civil Rights Report Orders
Bus Route, Faculty Change
The Brunswick County Board
of Education met in regular
session on Monday.
Made formal resolution
authorizing Superintendent of
Schools Ralph C. King to make
application for Federal Real
Property located at the Military
Ocean Terminal at Sunny Point
which has been declared surplus.
SUPS
Francis Smith, auditor, ap
peared before the board and
reviewed and discussed the audit
reports compiled for various
Board of Education accounts.
Jack Croft, architect,
discussed with the Board the
status of the building program.
The proposed gym floor covering
and type and pattern of brick to
be used were discussed.
The local School Committee
from the Lincoln Elementary
School appeared before the
Board and discussed the
following school needs: Covered
walkways, overcrowded
classrooms, loading shelter,
overcrowded busses, teachers
{Oootinued On Pip Seven)
Santa Claus Comes To Town
The Christmas Parade was held Thursday evening in Southport and the center
of interest was Santa Claus, who appeared in person. After he had dismounted
from the firetruck on which he rode into iown, Santa engaged in a tew
confidential conversations with some of his young admirers. (Photo by Spencer)
Brunswick In
Stamp Program
According to information
received from the U.S. Depart
ment of Agriculture Food and
Nutrition Service Field Office in
Wilmington, participation in the
Food Stamp Program during the
month of November in the six
participating counties of
Southeastern North Carolina
totaled 30,485 persons in 8,002
households.
The total dollar amount of food
stamps issued was $718,148.00, of
which $207,552.25 was paid by
recipients, the remaining
$510,595.75 representing the
bonus food coupons, which are
paid for by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture.
{Continued On Page Seven)
Fraud, Forgery Charged
In Contested House Race
By ED HARPER
Fraud and forgery charges in
South Lees Precinct are under
investigation by the FBI and the
winner of the House of
Representatives race could
depend on the outcome.
Thomas Harrelson, locked in a
tie with Arthur Williamson for
the Columbus-Brunswick county
House seat, has petitioned the
State Board of Elections for
another hearing, based on new
evidence uncovered last week
when the Republican judge in
South Lees Precinct examined
the poll book and alleged that
names had been added to the list
of voters and that his name had
been forged at the bottom of the
page.
Harrelson is asking the state
board to:
—recall the certification it issued
on December 6 that declared
Williamson and Harrelson
to be equal in votes,
—call upon the State Bureau of
Investigation to conduct a full
investigation into the alleged
fraud and forgery,
—allow a rehearing on the
matters of fraud and voting
irregularities,
—adjust the vote total for
Arthur Williamson to reflect the
results that could appear from a
rehearing by the state board, and
— institute criminal
proceedings against any and all
persons found to be in violation of
any of the state’s election laws.
CHARGESFRAUD
The petition, which was mailed
to the State Board of Elections on
Friday, charges that when the
results of the Brunswick County
canvass showed a two-vote
margin i'l^avor of Harrelson, the
names of seven persons who did
not vote in the November 3
election were added to a list of
persons who did vote and this new
list was substituted for the
legitimate record of voters with
the name of the Republican
judge forged at the bottom of the
page.
The Columbus County canvass
showed an increase of seven
votes for Williamson in South
Lees precinct, giving the
Chadbourn politician an apparent
Library Friends
Buy Bookmobile
The Brunswick County Book
mobile, which was purchased on
faith and put to work several
months ago, has been paid for
through the efforts of Friends of
the Library, Mrs. A.P. Henry,
president of that organization,
announced this week.
“I want to express my special
:hanks to Robert Howard, who
served as campaign chairman
for this drive,” Mrs. Henry said,
fie provided the leadership and
:he drive which made it a suc
:ess.”
Howard, on the otherhand,
ikes to share the credit. “The
Southport Jaycees pitched in and
•aised $1,203.40,” he said, “and
member of the Southport Lions
-lub were not far behind with
$900.27. We also received out
standing support from our
financial institutions as Wac
camaw Bank & Trust Co. donated
$599.21 and Security Savings &
Loan $200.”
A report by community areas
shows that a total of $2,263.42 was
raised in Southport; $669.04 at
Shallotte; $82.04 at Bolivia;
$314.18 at Leland; and other
communities adding to total of
$1,021.32.
Both Mrs. Henry and Howard
were reluctant to praise in
dividuals. “Almost everyone did
what we asked them to do,” said
Mrs. Henry. “The result not only
paid off our indebtedness for the
bookmobile, it strengthened
(Continued On Page 8ev«n)
e And Tide
The shrimping fleet that had numbered 125 up to the first of
December 1935 had dwindled to a mere 25 working boats by the tenth
of the month. Most of them had headed south, with good catches being
reported from St. Augustine, Fla. A special service was being planned,
to welcome the Rev. E.M. Hall as the new pastor of Trinity Methodist
Church in Southport.
It had been a good week for the hunters, with the least one good story
showing up. That one dealt with a deer hound, turned retriever. He
according to the story—had swam out into as pond and seized a
wounded buck by the tail and towed him ashore. (Seems like hunters
these days and times just don’t have the imagination folks used to
have!)
The time was December 11,1940, and hunting still was going strong
in Brunswick—only this time it was foxes in the limelight. Five had
been captured during a single morning’s hunt over at Fort Caswell.
There also was a front page story about a single shotgun blast that the
late Clyde Newton said he made into a bunch of ducks over at Long
Beach. The story had it that Clyde came up with 4 mallards, 2 black
ducks, 2 teal and 2 blue petes. (Makes a fellow wonder what the bag
limit was back in those days.)
Oh yes, and there on the same front page was the story of Rossie
Flowers of Winnabow, who shot and killed two deer with one shot on
the previous Saturday.
KJonttmud On rm«• **ur>
two-vote victory over the 29-year
old Harrelson, a Southport
businessman involved in his first
political battle.
A recount of the South Lees
votes, under the supervision of
the State Board of Elections,
revealed that Williamson rec
eived 19 votes in the precinct
instead of the 20 votes with which
he was credited by the Columbus
County Board of Elections in
their canvass. Later, the state
board allowed a “spoiled” ballot
to be counted tor Harrelson when
it decided the ballot was properly
(Oonttnued On Pfeff* Eight)
State Asks Federal Help
To Buy Bald Head Island
Federal aid is being sought by
North Carolina to acquire Bald
Head and establish an education
research facility on the con
troversial island near Southport.
Roy Sowers, director of the
state’s Department of Con
servation and Development,
announced plans to initiate a
fund-raising drive with federal
assistance. He spoke Friday to
the C&D policy (ward at Wilson.
Sowers said that North
Carolina Gov. Bob Scott would
recommend a financial program
for acquiring the island, which
has been the center of a
development-conservation
argument that has attracted
statewide attention.
The 12,000 acre island, located
across the Cape Fear River from
Southport, has been purchased by
Carolina Cape Fear Corporation
for a reported $5.5 million. About
3,000 acres of the island is
highland and the remainder is
salt marshes.
William Henderson, president
of ^Carolina Cape Fear Cor
poration, has claimed that the
marshes are of little value as
breeding grounds for marine life,
but it is on this basis that
ecologists are fighting
development of the semi-tropical
island.
The Governor and other state
officials have announced they
would not grant dredging permits
to Henderson that would be
necessary to construct a ferry
slip, and probably to build an
airport on the island.
Henderson has said that he will
take the matter to court, and that
his laywers told him the state
doesn’t have the legal right to
deny the dredging permits.
The developer has outlined a
tun
a
GROVER GORE
Gore Elected
Bar President
Grover A. Gore, was elected
president of the Thirteenth
District Bar Association on
Friday at its annual meeting in
Whiteville.
Gore is the son of Mr. and Mrs.
Grover R. Gore of Shallotte.
He is married to the former
Marianne Florence Noel Boyd of
Charlotte, North Carolina. They
have three children, Allison,
Rosemary, and Grover A. Gore
II.
development plan for the island
and has indicated that initial
construction of the multi-million
dollar resort could begin this
spring.
At the meeting of the C&D
board in Wiison, Sowers
presented a 63-page study of the
possible uses of Bald Head
Island—other than private
development. The study was
made by the Research Triangle
Institute at the request of Gov.
Scott, who reportedly is
“weighing the possibilities raised
in the report and will have a
recommendation soon.”
Scott also spoke at the Wilson
meeting but revealed no
recommendations of the island’s
use at that time.
Money is the major problem in
the matter of state acquisition of
the island, according to Sowers,
who has asked North Carolina’s
Congressional representatives to
assist his department in finding
funds and programs that could be
used to develop a “low density,
educational research facility” on
Bald Head Island.
Henderson has announced
publicly thathe does not intend to
sell the pror. rty to anyone—state
or else. Gov. Scott has insinuated
that Henderson bought the
property so he could sell it to the
state for a profit, but the
developer denied this allegation,
also.
Sowers stated that “We are
hoping to settle the question of a
protected and preserved Bald
Head Island during the first six
months of 1971,” when the North
(OontfenMd On Pag* flv*}
Queen Dianne Flips The Switch
The Christmas lights came on in Southport Thursday night when Miss Fourth •
of July, Dianne Reese, pulled the switch which lighted the weather tower on the
garrison. Earlier she had performed a similar ceremony to turn on the lights in
the business district. Looking on are City Manager C.P. Pickerrell and Mayor
E.B. Tomlinson, Jr. (Photo by Spencer)