The Pilot Covers
Brunswick County
THE STATE PORT PILOT
m
VOLUME 42 NO. 24
8-Pages Today
A Good Newspaper In A Good Community
SOUTHPORT, N. C. WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 30, 1970
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Most of the News
All The Time
5c A COPY
PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY
Henry Pike Held
For Grand Jury
A Brunswick County Coroner’s
Jury in session Tuesday night in
Southport ordered Henry Pike,
Shallotte white man, to be held
under $2,500 bond for grand jury
investigation of the fatal 3hooting
last Monday night of Gilbert
Simmons. The victim was a white
resident of Ash.
Coroner Lowell Bennett set the
bond at $2,500.
According to the coroner,
Simmons died instantly from two
bullet wounds from a .38-calibre
pistol. One slug struck him in the
chest, the otter in the lower
abdomen, and death was in
stantaneous.
The shooting occurred in the
Henry Pike home, and the latter
claimed that he shot Simmons
in self defense.
At the inquest in Southport
Monday night the defendant was
represented by S. Bunn Frink and
Henry Foy. The Simmons family
have engaged the services of
M.H. Anderson as private
prosecutor.
During the hearing testimony
was heard from Skylie Hewett
and James Robinson, members
of the Shallotte Rescue Squad;
Hoyle Varnym, assistant Chief of
Police; Frankie Babson, Ash
resident; and Michael Powell, of
Powell’s Funeral Service.
The defense offered no
testimony.
Members of the coroner’s jury
were Shep Smith, Aaron Inman,
Coleman Moore, Fred Watts,
George Sloan nd William Tripp.
Light Contest
Winners Named
The Annual Christmas Lighting
Contest sponsored by the South
port Garden Club developed stiff
competition in every category
this year as judges came up with
the following list of winners:
Prettiest living tree: Mr. and
Mrs. Lee Caster, Leonard St.,
First, and Mr. and Mrs. W.A.
Russ, N.Howe St., second.
Prettiest Door: Mr. and Mrs.
Fred Willing, Lord St., first; and
Mr. and Mrs Ray Walton, Bay
St., second.
Prettiestover all: Mr. and Mrs.
Ed Oliver, River Dr., first; and
Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Bowman,
River Dr., second.
Most original: Mr. and Mrs.
Ormond Leggett, Rhatt St.
First Ferry Moved
To Old Location
License Plates
Dates Given
The application cards necessry
for obtaining 1971 license plates
were placed in the mail on
December 21 and 22. Department
of Motor Vehicles officials expect
this huge mailing, estimated at
more than 3,500,000 cards, to be
delivered by January 1.
The 1971 green and white plates
will go on sale throughout the
State on January 4. The 1970
plates expire December 31 and
their use beyond that date is
permissible only if they are duly
registered by the Department to
the vehicle on which display is
made.
Owners who have their vehicles
properly reigstered by the
Department have until February
16 to obtain new plates.
Surrounding area residents
may obtain plates in Shallotte,
next door to Russ Ford. Office
hours will be from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m., Monday thru Friday, and 9
a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. The
local license agent, Mrs. Ray
Hewett, points out that “to renew
a plate you must have a renewal
card,” and she cautions against
the misplacing of it when it is
received. She also asks ap
Continued On Page Six
It’s off with the old and on with
the new at the Southport-Fort
Fisher Ferry this week.
On December 23 the first
ferryboat placed in service on
this run was taken back to Cedar
Island where it will be operating
between that slip and Ocracoke.
She is the old Sea Level but
henceforth will be known as the
Louch Faircloth, having been
renamed recently in honor of the
Chairman of the State Highway
Commission.
Here to take her place is a
vessel from the old Bogue Sound
run. She is the Sandy Graham,
named in honor of a former
Chairman of the State Highway
Commission. She began her trips
across the Cape Fear River on
Wednesday of last week.
The original ferry arrived here
in December, 1965, and began
service between Southport and
Fort Fisher on February 8, 1966.
Formal dedication of this new
service was held on March 8,
1966,. When she tied up at the end
of the day on December 22 she
had completed 6, 640 round trips
across the Cape Fear River, a
distance of 53,120 miles.
It is expected that a sister ship
to the Sandy Graham will be
added to the local operation
before the peak season next
summer.
e And Tide
Register of Deeds R.I. Mintz was president of the Brunswick County
Young Democrats Club back in 1935, and preparations were being
made for the Jackson Dinner early in the new year. This news was in
The Pilot for January 1, 1936. The menhaden boats were still at work,
and a casualty during the preceding week was the loss of a purse seine
when one of the boats of the Captain capsized.
Inmates at the Brunswick County Home were enjoying a new radio
that had been installed during the Christmas season for their
pleasure; Mr and Mrs. Fred Willing had purchased the J.D. Sutton
home and had moved in; and December had earned a reputation for
being a bad winter month. Judge R. Hunt Parker was to preside over
the January term of Superior Court
Five years later, and once more The Pilot came out on New Year’s
Day—1941. In contrast to the December of five years before, the month
just past had set something of a record for warm weather, with the
mercury going above 60-degrees on 18 days during the 31-day period.
Orton Plantation had made Life Magazine with a spread on an old
fashioned Christmas party.
Judge R. Hunt Parker was coming here again to preside over the
forthcoming January term of Superior Court; a picture of the late
AuntMary Ann Galloway had appeared on the front page of The State
magazine; and the Register of Deeds office had reported a rush for
marriage licenses.
The time was December 26,1945, the end of the year that saw the end
(OooHnued On Pag* Pour)
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Nerve Gas Coffins Loaded At Sunny Point
0I ■ ■ - Vt. ’ i;
Bald Head. Lighthouse—Center Of Controversy
The Top News
Nature, Politics
Concern for man’s en
vironment played a maJot role in
Brunswick County news during
the past year.
Top stories of 1970 were the
nerve gas shipment from Sunny
Point and the continuing
argument of whether to conserve
or develop Bald Head Island.
Ecologists involved themselves
with both matters and public
attention was focused here—
especially by the deadly nerve
gas.
Chemical warfare materials
have been shipped from the
Sunny Point terminal before, but
previously the operation was
hidden from public scrutiny. This
time, national news media
followed trainloads of the deadly
gas from depots in Kentucky and
Alabama en route to Sunny Point,
where the concrete coffins were
loaded aboard a Liberty ship for
eventual disposal at sea.
The cylinders that contained
the gas were encased in steel and
concrete blocks but there was
danger that these “coffins”
would leak. According to Army
officials, if they had their way the
gas would have been detoxified,
but the concrete enclosures made
this process impractical. Thus,
the sea-dump.
Sunny Point was chosen
because longshoremen at the
terminal were trained to handle
dangerous cargos. The
stevedores, who all worked on
Southport crews, appeared calm
throughout the whole operation,
telling national news reporters
that more dangerous cargos are
loaded at the terminal every day.
More than one million tons of
ammunition pass through Sunny
Point each year.
After a short delay caused by
threatening weather near the
dump site off the Florida coast,
the La Baron Russell Briggs, an
old hulk of a Liberty ship, was
towed from the Southport harbor
to be scuttled at sea.
The second most important
story in Brunswick County during
1970 was the controversy about
Bald Head Island, a 12,000 acre
sub-tropical piece of property at
the mouth of the Cape Fear
River. It is a sure bet to be one of
the best stories next year, too.
The question hasn’t been an
swered whether the island will be
changed into a plush but prac
tical resort by the would-be
developer, or whether Gov. Bob
Scott will be successful in his bid
to acquire the property for the
state.
The Bald Head affair started
last year when the developer of
Hilton Head Island, S.C., an
The top stories during die past
year in Brunswick County—the
nerve gas and the Bald Head
arguments—rate high in North
Carolina news. The Raleigh News
and Observer has listed the top
ten news stories of the year and
these two are rated as the third
and fourth most important
stories in die state during 1970.
nounced plans to buy the island
near Southport. He backed down
when Gov. Scott and other state
officials indicated that dredging
permits would not be issued, and
therefore ferry slips and
probably an airport could not be
constructed.
This past summer a North
Carolina developer bought die
property from owner Frank
Sherrill for a reported $5.5
million and seems ready to
challenge Gov. Scott and others
to secure the dredging permits
and proceed from there towards
development. He has indicated
that preliminary construction
could begin this spring, about the
same time Gov. Scott will be
seeking support and money from
Continued On Page Six
Moore Food Stamps
Used In Brunswick
More than one-quarter million
North Carolina people received
aid through U.S. Department ot
Agriculture food programs in
October, according to Russell H.
James, Southeast regional
director of USDA’s Food and
Nutrition Service.
James reported that 271,560
people in the state were assisted
by the food programs during the
month—an increase of 64,874, or
31 per cent, over the same period
last year, when 206,686 were
given aid.
In Brunswick County, 1,720
persons received food stamps in
October, compared to 903 a year
earlier.
The overall state increase, he
noted, was in the food stamp
program, now in operation in 50
of North Carolina’s 100 counties.
During the month, 151,<05 low
income people received over $2.5
million in bonus food stamp
coupons which can be exchanged
for food at the local grocery
stores. In October 1969, 71,320
participants in this program
were given $491,769 in bonus food
coupons.
In the other 50 North Carolina
counties, the needy people were
assisted through the commodity
distribution program which
provides 20 USDA donated foods
to supplement diets. There were
120,155 persons on this program
15,211 less than the 135,366 who
participated in October 1969. The
drop was attributed to the fact
that several counties changed
over to the stamp program
during the year, FNS officials
noted.
The North Carolina Depart
ment of Agriculture administers
the family food distribution
program while the State
Department of Social Services is
responsible for the food stamp
program, both in cooperation
with the U.S. Food and Nutrition
Service.
CADET VEREEN
Promotion For
Southport Boy
Cadet Johnie William Vereen
has been designated the
executive officer of “A” Com
pany and of the Drill Team at
Carolina Military Academy and
has been promoted to the rank of
First Lieutenant, according to an
announcement from school
President Harold D. Stanley.
Cadet Vereen, a member of the
junior class at the preparatory
school, is the son of Mr. and Mrs.
J.W. Vereen, Jr. of Yaupon
Beach and is active in many
other phases of campus life. He is
an honor-roll student and ser
vices as general manager of the
campus radio station WCMA. At
the annual Christmas ball held
last Saturday evening, Cadet
Vereen played the organ with the
“Six Power Treatie”, the student
band which provided music for
dancing.
This is Vereen’s second year at
Carolina Military Academy.