News and E\ents of Interest To Norlina Readers
Phone 456-3329 To Include Items On This Page
Mrs. W. L Noneman
of Edenton and Mrs.
Fred Hicks of Charlotte
are visiting their
mother, Mrs. Martha
Draffin, for several
weeks. Mrs. Draffin
recently returned home
from Maria Parham
Hospital where she was
a patient.
Visitors of Mrs Myr
tle Fleming recently
were Mrs. Ruth Get
tings of Chester, Va.,
Mrs. Ada Flippin of
Colonial Heights, Va.,
Mrs. Eva Woodfin of
Fairfax, Va., and Mrs.
Elna Baugh of Rich
mond, Va.
Mr. and Mrs. J. L.
Gettings of Chester, Va.
were visitors of her
mother, Mrs. Fleming
on Saturday.
Frank Weaver of
Greensboro spent
Friday and Saturday
with his parents, Mr.
and Mrs. Ira Weaver.
Mrs. Thelma Aycock
and Mrs. Ruby King of
Norlina, Joe Stallings,
Jr. of Goldsand and Mr.
and Mrs. Rowlett Shaw
of Macon attended the
funeral of their aunt,
Mrs. Grace Butler, in
Portsmouth, Va. on
Saturday.
Miss Oza Gooch
returned home Thurs
day after visiting Mr.
Dropping Auto Over Sea Cliff
Seems Practical In Gibraltar
By JOY ASCHENBACH
National Geographic
News Service
GIBRALTAR - More
than 10,000 motor
vehicles are jammed
onto the Rock of Gibral
tar. For at least 15
years, they've had no
place to go but up and
Birth
Mr. and Mrs. James
Blaylock of Lillington
announce the birth of a
daughter, Crystal Gray,
born Jan. 8. The infant
weighed seven pounds
four ounces. They have
another daughter,
Lauren Ann.
Mrs. Blaylock is the
former Cindy King of
Norlina. Maternal
grandparents are
Mr. and Mrs. Roy King
of Norlina and paternal
grandparents are Mr.
and Mrs. Lavon Johnson
of Lillington.
and Mrs. Mark Logan in
Wintergreen, Va. Mrs.
Logan and Virginia
brought her home.
down and around its 26
miles of road.
All that should change
on Feb. 5, when the
large gates at Gibral
tar's only border, closed
since mid-1969, are
thrown open once again.
Driving back and forth
across the narrow, san
dy isthmus to the
Spanish mainland may
seem like one of the
smaller consequences of
this political decision,
but it should be signifi
cant in bringing tourists
to the British colony,
especially from Spain's
popular Costa del Sol,
and in reviving its
economy.
One of the limestone
peninsula's little incon
veniences that may be
improved by the open
frontier is the disposal
of automobiles that can
not be repaired.
Lars stop t" or nanes
After all, there is not
enough room on "Gib,"
as Gibraltar is called
here, for a junkyard or
"cementerio de coches"
like those across the
border in Spain.
Gibraltar is only about
three miles long and
three quarters of a mile
wide—a fortress of rock
cliffs rising straight out
of the sea. Even the air
port runway is intersect
ed by a road, on which
cars have to stop and
wait during takeoffs and
landings.
What do they do with
the cars that break
down? They take them
to the top of a cliff and
drop them into the
Mediterranean Sea.
What else?
It may seem a bit
primitive, but "it's the
only way to get rid of
them," explains Charles
Rosado of the Gibraltar
government.
Each year, officials
send about 300 cars over
the edge. They drop 200
feet to the sea, down the
Public Works Depart
ment's car chute. A
stone wall with a wide
gate marks the spot.
The stripped cars fall
onto an underwater
ledge at a depth of about
40 to 50 feet, later to be
washed to the bottom by
storms, Rosado says.
They make a big
splash, but no environ
mental impact, he in
sists. Their final resting
place is 3,000 to 4,000
feet down.
If there is a ready
market in Spain for old
cars, the system will be
abandoned. Otherwise it
will have to continue. At
times in the past, some
commercial contractors
have boated the cars
away from scrap, but
such bentures didn't
prove profitable.
Since Spain com
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
TOWN OF NORLINA
The citizens of the Town of Norlina are hereby informed that
the Town intends to apply to the North Carolina Department
of Natural Resources and Community Development for a Small
Cities Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). In an ef
fort to involve the citizens of Norlina in the planning of the
Town's Community Development Program, a public hearing will
be held atTown Hall, on February 4, 1985 at 7:00 p.m. The
purpose of the hearing will be to explain the Small Cities CDGB
Program and to allow the citizens of Norlina to express their
views concerning community development needs and priorities.
Mae Gums
Town Clerk
pletely closed off Gibral
tar's only landward link
in 1969 as part of its
campaign to regain the
strategic peninsula that
Britain took in 1704,
Gibraltar has led an
island-like existence.
Travelers from around
the world have been for
ced to reach the Rock by
roundabout air and sea
routes, generally via
Morocco or Britain,
never directly from
Spain.
The new Spanish
Socialist government
opened the gates a crack
in late 1982, but not
enough to help Gibral
tar's economy. Access
was restricted to
pedestrian traffic by
residents of Spain or
Gibraltar. And the
Spaniards who set foot
on the Rock cannot
bring back Gibraltarian
goods.
Cut off from the
European continent for
more than 15 years,
Gibraltar, despite its
imposing position at the
western entrance of the
Mediterranean, lost
most of the tourists who
made up one of its two
major industries.
Without them, hotels
and restaurants have
gone into a decline.
Gibraltar's other big
asset, the Royal Naval
Dockyard, has been shut
down because of budget
cuts in Britain. The
Gibraltar government
plans to convert it into a
ship repair operation
that it hopes will restore
lost jobs by the end of
1985.
More than 30,000
people live on the Rock.
They suffer from short
ages of water, and use
any methods to get it:
catching raindrops on 75
acres of corrugated iron
sheets anchored to the
Rock's rainier side and
channeling them into
huge reservoirs, making
sea water potable at
distillation plants,and
even importing water
from Britain and Hol
land on tankers.
Border Opening Set
British and Spanish
leaders meet every few
months to continue talks
about Gibraltar's
future. As part of their
November 1984
agreement, Spain said it
would open the border
by Feb. 15, 1985, and
Britain for the first time
said it was willing to
discuss the question of
"sovereignty" over the
peninsula.
The permanent
solution may defy the
legend that the Rock
will remain British as
long as the famed Bar
bary apes roam its
heights. Actually
tailless monkeys, the
animals number about
40 today. Some take
candy from strangers
and are mischievous
around motorists,
breaking off windshield
wipers, radio antennas,
and side-view mirrors.
But they hardly do
enough damage to be
blamed for the deep
sixing of hundreds of
cars in the
Mediterranean, and
they are' likely to be
around for some time.
Dry herbs upside
down in a dry, well-vent
ed area in a paper bag
that has holes punched
all around the sides. The
bag will catch any fall
ing leaves and keeps
dust off.
Newly elected officers of the Warren County
Shrine Gub were installed on Wednesday night of
last week at a banquet held at The Rafters Steak
house. Shown above, left to right are Joe Egerton,
president; W. A. Pulley, vice president; E. 0.
Holler, treasurer; and William L. Harrell, Sr.,
secretary. Officers were installed for a one-year
term. (Staff Photo)