THE STATE PORT PILOT
A Good Newspaper In A Good Community
VOLUME42 NO. 27 10-PAGES TODAY JANUARY 19, 1971 SOUTHPORT, N. C. Sc A COPY PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY
Honor Jaycees
This Week On
National Level
This is National Jaycee
Week and in Southport the
citizens are taking stock of
what the activities of this
organization have meant to
progress of this community
since the local chapter was
chartered in January, 1961.
This would make this the
tenth anniversary of the
Southport Jaycees.
In observance of this oc
casion, Mayor E.B.
Tomlinson, Jr., has issued the
following proclamation:
"WHEREAS, the City of
Southport, State of North
Carolina, United States of
America, is and forever shall
be embellished with the cloak
of community consciousness,
and
“WHEREAS, Creating
Environment for Change
Through People is the theme
of The United States Jaycees,
and
“WHEREAS, there is now
declared a state of
honorarium upon civic pride
and community involvement;
“BE IT HEREBY
PROCLAIMED, that the
month of January, 1971, is and
it is hereby declared to be
“COMMUNITY INVOLVE- *
MENT MONTH
throughout the limits of the
City of Southport, State of
North Carolina, and
“BE IT FURTHER
PROCLAIMED, that every
Jaycee re-examine the worth
of his organization and pledge
himself to do all within his
power to assure his com
munity grows and prospers
through Community In
> volvement.
“WITNESS my hand and
Seal as Mayor, this day of
January nineteen hundred and
seventy-one.”
t, The Jaycee Creed spells out
the purposes and beliefs of this
organization. It reads:
“That faith in God gives
meaning and purpose of
human life; that the
(Ooutbraed On Page Mm)
State Easter Seal Child
Jackie Powell of Shallotte, who has been named State Easter Seal Child for
1971, is shown with her parents and officials of the Easter Seal Campaign. At
the left is Attorney General Robert Morgan, chairman; Kelly Todd, Jackie,
Mrs. Todd, and Mrs. A.P. Henry, a co-chairman of the Easter Seal Campaign.
County Jails Approved
For Shallotte, Southport
The county Board of
Commissioners have decided
to cut the size of the proposed
Southport jail and to begin
construction of two identical
structures—one here and the
Time And Tide
A picture of the Brunswi
Memorial) appeared on the fron
22,1936. It carried with it the st(
year, and this reflected the grea
was responsible in the matter of
citizens. The Hungarian ship Cs
since Sunday, had freed herse
night.
There was a front page stor;
tree—no doubt inspired by an
urging a program of beautifica
ternational import appeared in
Kipling, famed English poet, v
An influenza epidemic causec
be closed temporarily during j
reported in our edition of Janua
page story had to do with a nev
with work in progress to conv
(Continued Or
:k County Hospital (Dosher
t page of The Pilot for January
ry of the report of the previous
t good for which this institution
the health of Brunswick County
ikos, aground in the Cape Fear
If by her own power Tuesday
r on how to set out a dogwood
editorial of the previous week
tion for Southport; news of in
The Pilot that week: Rudyard
fas dead.
i the Waccamsw High School tc
nid-January of 1941. This was
ry 22 of that year. Another fronl
theatre building for Southport
ert the former Northrop storf
Pi|t Hour)
other at Shallotte.
When the matter of the new
jails came before the board at
its meeting on Monday, J.T.
Clemmons moved that the jail
embodying the recom
mendations of the architect be
started immediately at South
port to take full advantage of
the $44,500 state grant for
construction. He proposed
that construction of the second
jail at Shallotte be postponed
until 1972, bringing the im
mediate cost within bounds of
the Brunswick County budget.
There was no second to the
motion.
Commissioner Vardell
Hughes offered a motion that
the jails be equal in size,
following the plans for the
Shallotte jail, and that con
struction be started as soon as
possible. This motion was
approved.
The decision means that two
12-inmate jails will be con
structed in Brunswick County.
This will trim about $60,000
from the initial estimates of
jail costs.
The first plans, drawn up by
the former Board of Com
missioners, called for a 23
inmate facility at Southport,
the Brunswick county seat.
District Courts are located
in both Southport and
Shallotte.
According to the com
missioners’ office, the two
facilities will cost $140,000.
The 24-inmate total capacity
in line with recommendations
by the North Carolina
Department of Social Ser
vices, based on the depart
ment’s suggestion that one
inmate capacity be provided
for each 1,000 population.
The 1970 census lists
Brunswick population around
22,000 persons.
The commissioners said
that jail planning will take into
consideration the possibility of
expansion.
During their discussion,
board members pointed out
that the geographical size of
the county imposes undo
hardships on law enforcement
(Continued On Pic* Nine)
Jaycees Go To Church
Members of the Southport Jaycees and mem- body Sunday. This was a part of their observance
bers of their families attended morning worship of National Jaycee Week. (Photo by Spencer)
services at Trinity United Methodist Church in a ,
Harrelson Awarded Seat;
‘People Are Real Winners’
By ED HARPER
“It’s file best thing that’s
happened to Columbus County
since Southeastern Com
munity College and Hardee’s’’
is the way one woman ex
plained it.
What happened is that
Tommy Harrelson is in
Raleigh and Arthur
Williamson is athome. But the
real winners, the woman said,
are the people of Columbus
County, both Democrats and
Republicans.
“Before, people said they
didn’t vote because their vote
wouldn’t count. It looks like
they were right.”
Shallotte Girl
Poster Child
The 1971 State Easter’Seal
Child is Jackie Powell of
Brunswick County.
She, along with her parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Kelly Todd of
Shallotte, were guests of honor
Monday night at a dinner
meeting of the Southeastern
Chapter of the Easter Seal
Society for Crippled Children
and Adults held at the home of
Mrs. A.P. Henry at Win
nabow.
Also present for the meeting
was H.E. McNair, who
presented the color film “A
Touch of Happiness”, a
documentary report of one
week at Camp Easter, a camp
for the handicapped in the
Sandhills of North Carolina.
The meeting was presided
over by Dr. W. Alex Willis of
Jacksonville, president of this
12-county organization. In
cluded in the group with
Brunswick are the following
counties: Bladen, Carteret,
Columbus, Carven, Duplin,
Jones, New Hanover, Onslow,
Pamlico, Pender and Samp
son.
During the business meeting
a report was made of services
rendered during the past
quarter by this organization.
Plans also were discussed for
the upcoming Easter Seals
sales. Attorney General
Robert W. Morgan is State
Chairman this year and one of
his two co-chairmen is Mrs.
Henry.
Committee In
First Meeting
A meeting of the 1971 South
port Fourth of July Festival
Committee was held recently
at the Jaycee Building and
several important items of
business were discussed and
decisions made.
The dates for the 1971
Festival are July 3-5, with the
parade being held on the
morning of Monday, July 5.
Most of the regular annual
events, shows and displays
will be open to the public
beginning on Saturday
morning and continuing
through Monday.
This year each sub
committee is headed by a
chairman and two co
chairmen and each coming
year one of the co-chairmen
will rotate to the chair
manship of his respective
committee, with a new co
chairman being brought into
the committee each year.
The festival officers and
sub-committee chairmen for
1971 are as follows: Chairman,
Wm. G. Faulk, Jr.; vice
chairman, Robert Howard;
treasurer, Lester V. Lowe;
general secretary, Kathryn
Carson; finance committee,
A1 Trunnell; program, Jackie
Stevenson; invitations &
hospitality, Connie Young;
reservations and booths,
Becky Howard; special
events, Robert Thorsen;
parade, Jerry Sherrod; floats,
I^elia Pigott; transportation,
Helen Skipper; traffic control,
Chief Walton Willis, Police
Dept, and Fire Dept.; color
slide program, Dorothy
Davis; childrens’ field events,
(Ooutinuad On Png* Nina)
The whole election con
troversy that started
November 3 came to a head
Thursday. Everyone In the
District Courtroom
including Arthur William
son—had a good idea what the
decision would be. The
veteran legislator announced
that even if he were declared
the winner he would not serve,
and if he were seated by his
fellow legislators he would
resign. Williamson said he
was “shocked” that such
fraud and forgery could occur
in Columbus County.
The State Board of Elec
tions, after hearing three days
of testimony, decided to
subtract four votes from the
total credited to Williamson
and one vote from Harrelson’s
final count. The board
previously had declared the
House race tied at 5,452 votes
(Photo By Elgle Clemmons)
Thomas Harrelson.. .successful In his first
political contest
County Lines No
Bounds For Him
The victory of Tommy Harrelson over Arthur
Williamson for a seat in the House of Represen
tatives has been booked as the political counterpart
of the David vs. Goliath fracas back in Bible days.
At best, it is figured to be an upset win for a rank
amateur over a seasoned politician.
There’s more to this story.
When Tommy Harrelson was running for a seat
in the General Assembly last fall he served at the
same time as chairman of the Republican
Executive Committee for Brunswick County and as
such was captain and quarterback of the G.O.P.
candidates. He came up with a good game plan, for
all five of his candidates for the Board of Com
missioners were elected in a Republican sweep
unprecedented in recent years in Brunswick
County politics. The re-election of Sheriff Harold
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Leland Wrecks
Take Two Lives
Highway wrecks near
Leland Saturday killed two
persons, and driving under the
influence charges were filed
against the operator of an
automobile involved in one of
the fatalities.
The two deaths were the
first recorded on Brunswick
County roads this year.
Ernest Lee McNeil, 44, of
Wilmington was charged with
drunk driving after his car
wrecked, killing Mrs. Dollie
Parrish of Wilmington. Mc
Neil was hospitalized.
Only one car was involved in
the wreck.
Trooper B.C. Jones, who
investigated the wreck for the
North Carolina Highway
Patrol, stated that he believed
a seat belt would have saved
Mrs. Parrish’s life.
The McNeil car wrecked on
rural paved road 1430 five
miles north of Leland at 7:3C
Saturday night, little more
than an hour after the county’s
firvt highway death of the
year.
Trooper Jone reported that
Jewel Hewitt Barber, 50, of
Leland was killed about 6:20
p.m. when she walked into the
path of a vehicle operated by
James M. Long of Rt. 2
Chadbourn. No charges will be
filed against Long, Trooper
Jones said.
The mishap that killed
Jewel Barber occurred in the
Woodburn section of the
county.
The driver under the in
fluence charge against Mc
Neill will be tried February 17
in District Court at Southport.
Manslaughter charges also
are possible in the case.
Last year there were 17
deaths on county roads. The
State Highway Patrol
reported only 14 deaths, ex
cluding three persons killed
when the vehicle in which they
were riding burned after
traveling off the road. The
Patrol attributed these deaths
to burning.
apiece.
During the public hearing in
Whiteville, numerous election
law violations were disclosed,
plus the apparent fraud and
forgery associated with the
November 3 general election.
The controversy centered on
South Lees Precinct where
Mrs. Alma Ward was the
registrar, Mrs. Leah Ross the
Democratic judge and
Tommie G. Sarvis the
Republican judge. It was
Sarvis who alleged that his
name had been forged to the
poll book which included the
names of seven persons who
did not vote.
Testimony by an SBI
handwriting expert showed
that the name of Mrs. Ross
also had been forged, and that
the signature of Mrs. Alma
Ward was genuine.
The State Board of Elections
spent most of its time Thur
sday morning in recess while
Mrs. Ward and her attorney
decided whether or not she
would testify, and while the
board decided whether or not
she would be granted the
immunity from prosecution
she asked for.
Attorney D. Frank
McGougan of Tabor City, who
represented the South Lees
registrar at the public
hearing, moved for a con
tinuance of the hearing based
on (1) a statement from the
doctor concerning Mrs.
Ward’s health, (2) his having
been busy elsewhere and not
hearing any of the testimony
offered Tuesday and Wed
nesday, and (3) Mrs. Ward’s
ninth-grade education limiting
her ability to answer questions
at the hearing.
After a closed session
during wmcn me state Board
of Elections discussed the
motion, Chairman Bryan
Scott reminded McGougan
that the state and federal
investigations into the alleged
fraud and forgery have been
public knowledge for weeks,
and that investigators have
informed Mrs. Ward of her
rights, including the privilege
of having an attorney.
Scott told the attorney that
Mrs. Ward had appeared
before during the public
hearing and had testified. On
Wednesday, when called to
testify a second time, she
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Public Meeting
For ShalTotte
A series of public meetings
will be held in Brunswick
County by the Brunswick
County Planning Board to get
the views of citizens con
cerning the Sketch
Development Plan recently
submitted for its approval.
Among the more important
topics up for discussion will be
a Countywide Zoning Plan.
The first meeting will be
held at Shallotte High School
on Thursday, January 28; the
second will be held at Leland
High School on Thursday,
February 4; and the third will
be held at Brunswick County
Southport High School on
February 11. All meetings will
be held at 7:30 o'clock.
Cooperating with the local
board was the N.C. Depart
ment of Local Affairs whose
representative, David L.
Pugh, conducted the study.
That state department, in
conjunction with the U.S.
Department of Housing and
Urban Development, financed
90-percent of the cost of this
study.
This was a service carried
out under the auspicies of the
Resources Development
Commission for Brunswick
County whose members
assumed the role of the
membership of the Brunswick
County Planning Board in
order to provide legal
leadership for this project.
Another matter which
received high priority in the
report to the Brunswick
County Planning Board was a
survey of existing housing in
(Continued On Pag* Mta*)