CARTERET COUNTY NEWS-TIMES J?
NEWS-TIMES OFFICE
504 Arendell St.
Morehead City
Phone 6-4175 m m ? ? m ^ W m m mm m FULL PAGE COMICS
41st YEAR, NO. 11. TWO SECTIONS TEN PAGES MOREHEAD CITY AND BEAUFORT, NORT?! CAROLINA TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5. 1952 PUBLISHED TUESDAY AND FRIDAYS
2,600-Ton 'Midgetf Founders at Portsmouth Sunday
Beaufort Recovers from Devastating Blaze
Clouds of black smoke rolled seaward and skyward from three blazing stores in Beaufort Thursday
morning. The blaze started when an explosion occur red in the rear of the Eastern Rulane agency on
Front street.
Repeated monstrous puffs from the three burning buildings, Rulane, Dounum's 5 and 10, and Dow
num's department stort, blanketed I'ront street intermittently with yellow smoke that obstructed visibil
ity and made breathing practically impossible.
Battling firemen pour water from ihe roof of Eastman's Furni
ture store on top of flames in the Rulane and Doununi buil.lings.
Beaufort firefighters train a hose upward from the sidewalk as
boat subsided about noon, allowing them to get closer to the source
of the blaze. This shows the front of Eastern Rillane. Today the
store is boarded up to prevent the curious from wandering among
ruins and being trapped by charred timbers or walls in danger of
collapsing. l'hotos by Schumacher
From Beaufort's ladder truck, firemen clambered hour after hour
to the rooftops, carrying with them hose through which tons of water
flowed. ^
Steam, smoke, and fumes from downtown Beaufort could be seen
miles at sea and from all parts of the county.
Farmers Will Go on Tour J
Through Florida Truck Areas
Farmers of this area and the en
tire state are being offered the op
portunity to tour Florida to ob
serve methods of producing, pro
'cess ing. and marketing vegetables.
The tour will also include visits to
the cattle producing areas of the
state.
/ Sponsored by the state depart
ment of agriculture in conjunction
* with the state college extension
service and the Atlantic Coast Line
' railroad, the trip will covcr six
days. Feb. 17 through Feb. 23.
Farmers, agricultural workers or
other persons interested in agricul
ture are eligible to take the trip.
They will board a train al Hocky
Mount Feb. 17 and go by Pullman
to Jacksonville, take a day-coach to
Orlando where they ?ill detrain
and board a chartered bus.
The bus will travel to a beef rat
tic ranch south of Kissimmce, visit
an orange concentration plant it ;
Lake Alfred, go through Florida's .
famous citrus area, visit vegetable
fields and packing plants in the
muck section of I.ake Okecchobec.
observe a modern lettuce packing
plant, pre-packaging plants, and
other packing houses from llomc
stead north to Tampa where they j
will again board a train for the rc
turn trip.
Reservations for the trip, which
will cost each person an estimated J
See FARMERS, Page 5
Photographer Shoots
News Photos Thursday
luilune, Downum s to Reopen
Chamber to File J
Protest with CAB
Dan Walker, manager of the
Beaufort chamber of commerce, to
day corrected a statement which
appeared in Friday's NEWS
TIMES regarding the airport lo
cated in Beaufort.
According to information Riven
THE NEWS-TIMES, a compromise
was reached uith Piedmont airlines
last summer during a Civil Aero
nautics board hearing to the effect
that Beaufort would be satisfied
with the designation "Morehead
City-Beaufort" airport providing
flights between New Bern and Wil
mington were routed via the Car
teret airport.
Walker stated that the Morehead
City-Beaufort designation has been
approved by Ferdinand Moran.
CAB examiner, but the Beaufort
chamber of commerce is going to
file a protest.
In a formal statement Friday.
Walker said. We see no reason
why the Civil Aeronautics hoard or
Piedmont airlines cannot comply
with the designation. Beaufort
Morehead City airport, which has
been given the landing field by the
county commissioners and which
designates also the committee in
control of the airport, the Beau
fort Morehead City Airport author
ity. Thereport. a protest will be
filed immediately."
? Terry Schumacher, Morchcad
City photographer noted for his
studio work, proved Thursday that
he can also shoot superlative news
I pictures. All pictures of Beaufort
j Thursday fire appearing in this
i paper were taken by Schumacher.
The Schumachers. Jerry and Pen
i ny. his wife, arrived in Morchcad
I City late in July, returning lor a
| permanent "visit" six years after
they first saw Morchad City from
their yacht. "The Last Penny."
August found them opening a
studio on the waterfront near the
Morchcad City hospital. A pic
turesque, folksy place, it is some
what of a contrast from their .stu
dio in the Versaillaise hotel. Miami
Beach, where they worked during
the past five years.
Some of the more famous ? from
a long list of hcadliners ? whom
Jerry has photographed, are Arthur
Godfrey, I lona Massey, Hugh Her
bert, Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball,
Gene Autry, and Martha Raye.
See PHOTOGRAPHER, Page 5
Tide Table
Tides at Beaufort Bar
HIGH LOW
Tuesday, Feb. 5
4:02 a.m. 10:41 a.m.
4.20 p. in. 10:33 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 6
4:5H a.m. 1 1:37 a.m.
5:17 p.m. 11:27 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 7
5:50 a.m.
6:08 p.m. 12:24 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 8
6:35 a.m. 12:17 a.m.
6:54 p.m. 1:06 p.m.
House Burns </
At Broad Creek
The two-story frame home of Mr.
and Mrs. Ed Jones, Broad Creek,
burned to the ground at 1 :30 Thurs
day afternoon. The flames, burst
in? from the attic, were discovered
by Van Salter. .Jones, who is a
preacher, and his wife, were at a
funeral at Swansboro when the
tragedy occurred.
People in the neighborhood tried
to save furniture and other items
| in the house Iwt the fire had id
, vanced too far by the time the
i word had spread. No fire depart
ments were called.
I The cause of the bla/.e has not
been determined. The house was
! valued at $8.000 and was insured
for $2,500.
I Mr. and Mrs. Jones are living
I now with their son, Roger Jones of
I Broad Creek.
Specialist to Conduct
Meeting This Afternoon
j A special interest meeting on
J" Making Lamp Shades" has been
.scheduled for 1 30 this afternoon in
the home agent's office, announced
MUs Martha Harnett, home agent,
yesterday. The demonstration will
i>e given by Mrs. Katherine Higgle,
extension specialist in housing and
! house furnishings. AM club mem
bers and any interested outsiders
I are urged to attend.
1 The Home Demonstration club
I meetings for the week follow:
Wednesday. Core Creek llarlowe.
1 .30 p.m. with Mrs. J. II. Davis.
Mrs. Emma Oglesby hostess; Wed
nesday. Russells* Creek. 7:30 p.m.,
Mri. Leslie Springle; Friday, Pelle
Uer, 2 p.m., Mrs. Allen Vinson.
? Businessmen whose places of
business were razed by fire Thurs
day announced plans today for con
tinuing business at other locations.
Eastern Hulane will move to
Craven street in the H. C. Jones
store room which was recently oc
cupied by Bells Drug store while
the Front street Bell's was being
remodeled.
E. W. Downum. president and
general manager of E. W. Downum
and co. 5 and 10 and department
stores, said that his stores will re
open in the near future in a loca
tion to be announced.
It has been reported that the
three buildings destroyed Thurs
day will be rebuilt. Insurance par
tially covered losses.
(leorge Stovall, manager of Tide
l Water Power co.. light and water
utility, said 200.000 gallons of
water were pumped on the fire
from the Beaufort system.
He had unstinting praise for Fire
Chief. Charles Harrell and Fireman
Julius Duncan who directed that
three of the pumpers use salt
water. "They deserve a lot of
crcdit." declared Stovall. "If all
of the water used on the fire had
to come from our system, we may
not have been able to hold up un
der it. As it was. we were back to
normal in a short time after the
fire was over."
Town officials stated they were
deeply grateful for services of ill
out-of-town fire departments which
sent trucks and men. Dan Walker,
town clerk, also expressed appre
ciation to H. H. Daniels, command
ing officer of the Fort Macon
Coast Guard station, who offered
services of firefighting equipment
aboard Coast Guard boats if it were
needed.
Receipts Total $707
Parking meter receipts in Beau
fort for the month of January
amounted to $707. Dan Walker,
town clerk reported today.
Crew of 26 Saved as Flash ?
Storm Hits Coast Sunday
Minus all but the clothes they wore, 26 shipwrecked
seamen arrived by bus in Norfolk early this morning from
Washington, N. while their 2,<><Mi ton, 235-foot Pana
manian freighter S.S. Midget lay, a broken hulk spewing
wheat from its holds, on Portsmouth Islan I beach.
Hound from Norfolk to Brazil with its cargo of grain,
Federal Group
Fails to Fulfill
Scheduled Visit
Committee Studies State
Ports Facilities at
Wilmington Meeting
Members of the federal Inter
agency Committee on Port t tili/.a
t ion, scheduled to visit Move head
City port the latter part of last
month were unable to fulfill their
schedule, due to limited time. They
met Thursday at Wilmington and
there were presented with facts,
maps and other information rela
tive to the possibility of using the
Morehcad City and Wilmington
ports for overseas shipments of
defense materials, Marshall plan
and Point Four cargoes.
The committee, representing
phases of federal government in
business, industry, and transporta
tion. failed also to make a iched
tiled trip to the Charleston, S. C..
port. Thi' committee controls ??!
location of shipments and utiliza
tion of all United States ports for
federal cargoes.
Members of the committee are
Major General Frank A. Heilcman.
representing (he Department of
Defense; II. C. Adams and Howard
J. Marsdcn, represent i n;?, .he De
oartment of Commerce ind the
Maritime administration; W. .1.
Howard, representing the Depart- j
ment ol Interior; Andrew F. Lane, j
representing the Defense Transput
MtiOJ' .Hlniiniitration; and A. L.
Christiansen, representing the In
terstate Commerce commission.
Colonel (Jillette states that '.it
present many North Carolina prod
ucts, including textiles, tobacco and j
furniture, arc being shipped over- '
seas under t lit- defense and Mar- !
shall Plan programs through the
port of New York.
"We believe these shipments may i
be made more efficiently through j
our own port| at Morehcad City
and Wilmington," Colonel (Jillette I
said, "and we hope that the Inter
agency committee's study of our j
ports may result in a large scale
use of our ports for this and other
purposes."
Folks Assist <
Culpepper Family
Neighbors and other residents of
Carteret county have contributed
clothing, cooking utensils and other
household items to the Otis Cul
pepper family of Mill Creek whose
home burned Wednesday after
noon at 1:30.
Mrs. Culpepper state'd that the j
flames started from the wood burn
ing cook stove in the kitchen. Her
husband was sick in bed at the
lime and all the children, except
the youngest, Robert, were in
school.
The house burned completely to
the ground. Only the brick pillars
on which it stood remain. Mrs. Cul
pepper said the house will be re
built on another site right nearby
the old home. At present the fami
ly is living in a small frame build
ing several hundred feet away.
Persons who had been living
there are now living at Newport.
That building stands on land owned
by the Culpeppcrs.
In the family, ir\ addition to Mr.
and Mrs. Culpepper, are Billy, 18,
Ben 16, Sadie 14, Jesse 12, Joe 10,
Charles 9, and Robert 6. Several
other sons and daughters are mar
ried.
Morehead City Hotarians '
Hear Talk by Marine Officer
An interesting talk on the lives
of the Koreans was given Thurs
day night at the Morehead City
Rotary club meeting by Capt.
Daniel Somcrville. USMC, More
head City. The captain served as
a pilot in Korea for 12 months.
The North Koreans are destitute,
he reported, their chief occupation
is fishing. In the southern part of
Korea the people are poverty
stricken also and their only way
| of making a living is by farming.
Without the knowledge of crop ro
tation and without the proper farm
ing equipment tbey have a ftard
time growing enough to keep them
selves alive.
?skippered l?y Captain l.udoleh von
Tanden and manned by a Greek
crew, Hu? Midget was due at More
head City port at noon Sunday, to
take on hunker fuel when it was
struck by a double blow.
Line ('lofts. Cyclone Hits
lis fuel line clogged just as a
madcap tropical storm of cyclonic
force struck it off Hatteras.
At 1 p.m. Sunday Captain von
Tandem radioed Norfolk Coast
Guard and stated that while he had
sufficient fuel to reach Morehead
City, not enough could be coaxed
through the lines to get up suffi
cient head of steam.
Coast (iuard cutters Agassiz and
Conifer, lispatched to her rescue,
were unable to pyit tows aboard,
tide and wind having combined to
drive the Midget into shallows off
Portsmouth.
Ship Abandoned
At 2:55 a.m. yesterday Captain
von Tandem ordered abandon ?hip
and the entire complement took to
a lifeboat which eventually broke
up in the surf. From that point
the men waded ashore.
At 6:30 a.m. they were trans
ferred to Ocracoke on an 83-foot
Coast Guard vessel, and later to
Washington where they left by bus
for Norfolk.
The off season blow developed
off the western tip of Cuba Sat
urday. plummeted across south
eastern Florida, caught. Miami
with its awnings down, stampeded
gold coast tourists to the nearest
train ticket windows, screamed
northward 250 miles oast of the
(ieorgia coast, gave Hatteras a
nasty lick and. at last reports to
day. buried itself in the North
Atlantic.
Split Switdi
Wrecks Rail Cars
An overturned rail caused a split
switch on the A&F.C line near
Morehead City port Friday after
noon. Two tank cars jack knifed,
one struck a freight car ind the
other jutted out over highway 70.
Cars several feet down the line
were lilted from the track by the
| crazy angle of the tank cars and
traffic on the highway had to be
diverted around the protruding
tank car. The tank car. leaning
at an angle of 15 decrees, lay ihat
\*av until workmen lifted it off its
wheel base to remove the traffic
hazard.
On Sunday the railroad wreck
crew and heavy crane arrived and
cleared the tracks, making move
ment of rail traffic possible after
a two-day standstill. The wreck
occurred at 3:15 p.m. Friday.
Cars themselves were not seri
ously damaged. The greatest ex
pense was in moving the wreckage,
railroad officials reported.
Recreation Board
Looks for Director
The Morehead City recreation
board is seeking a director for a
yeararound recreation program
and plans for this summer are
awaiting the obtaining of a direc
tor.
Members of the recreation com
mittee in charge of finding pros
pects for the job are W. C. Carl
ton, Mrs. O. H. Johnson, and Mrs.
A. B. Roberts.
Other towns with municipal
recreation programs have also been
contacted in regard to their bud
gets. The commission is interested
in learning how other municipali
ties handle finances in order to bet
ter draw up Morehead City's recrea
tion budget.
Meeting with the recreation com
mission recently were Grady Rich,
contractor. John Herbin, roofer,
and A. B. Roberts, in charge of the
program for repairing the former
USO. Delay in getting the roof on
is holding up inside work. Herbin
said had weather hampered his
workers.
Rich, head of the repair com
mittee, is assisted by Bruce Good
win, Thomas Wade, and Dr. John
Morris, recreation board members.
Miss Georgia Hughes, new wel
fare superintendent, has taken her
place on the board. She replaces
Mrs. James Allgood who was sub
stituting as a commission member
until a new welfare official arrived.