r
EDITORIALS
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1953
A Child is Born . . .
Today is Christmas. We believe there
is no more fitting comment on the sig
nificance of this day than to let the
story of the birth of the Christ child
speak for itself. The story, as told in
Luke and taken from the Revised
Standard Version of the Bible, is re
printed below.
But let us digress for a moment ?
choosing the Christmas story from the
Revised Version recalls the fact that
cries of protest were raised by certain
religious groups when the new version
of the Old and New Testaments was
published early this year. The protes
tors objected to changes that were
made to make the meaning of the Bible
clear to today's readers.
The new version eliminates words
such as whosoever, insomuch, peradven
ture and others which are never used
in normal English conversation or writ
ing. The most difficult task encounter
ed by the learned students who under
took the revision was to make intelligi
ble the words in the King James version
which are still in use today but have a
different meaning.
Kor example, the King James version
uses "prevent" to mean "precede,"
"communicate" for "share," "conversa
tion" for "conduct." There are more
than 300 such English words in the
1611 (King James) version which con
vey a meaning different from the mean
ing of the words as we use them today.
Is it any wonder, then, that most of
us are familiar with comparatively few
portions of the Bible? Scores of chap
ters go unread, untaught, uninterpreted
by even our ministers because their
meaning is shrouded and sealed in a
language that was best understood
more than 300 years ago.
The Scriptures afe devotedly read by
many of us, not because we understand
what they say but because they are a
part of a Book we have been taught to
revere, l'eople brag about how many
times they have read the Bible from be
ginning to end. Could they, with truth,
add "And 1 understood every word of
it"?
As stated in the preface to the Re
vised Standard Version, it is unfair to
the King James translators and to the
truth they expressed, to retain words
in the Bible that convey meanings that
were not intended.
Regardless what words arc used ?
German, Spanish or modern English ?
a vibrant promise of hope shines forth
in this story of the birth of a child :
In those days a decree went out from
Caesar Augustus that all the world
should be enrolled. This was the first
enrollment, when Quirinius was gov
ernor of Syria. And all went to be en
rolled, each to his own city.
And Joseph also went up from Gali
lee, from the city of Nazareth, to
Judea, to the city of David, which is
called Bethlehem, because he was of
the house and lineage of David, to-be
enrolled with" Mary, his betrothed, who
was with child.
And while they were there, the time
came for her to be delivered. And she
gave birth to her first-born son and
wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and
laid him in a manger, because there was
no place for them in the inn.
And in that region there were shep
herds out in the field, keeping watch
over their flock by night. And an angel
of the Lord" appeared to them, and the
glory of the Lord shone around them,
"and they were filled with fear.
And the angel said to them, "Be not
afraid ; for behold, I bring you good
news of a great joy which will come to
all the people; for to you is born this
day in the city of David a Saviour, who
is Christ the Lord. * ?
"And this will be a sign for y?u; you
will find a babe wrapped in swaddling
cloths and lying in a manger." And
suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host praising
God and saying, "Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace among men
with whom he is pleased!"
When the angels went away from
them into heaven, the shepherds said
one to another, "Let us go over to
Bethlehem and see this thing that has
happened, which the Lord has made
known to us." And they went with
haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and
the babe lying in a manger.
And when they saw it they made
known the saying which had been told
them concerning this child ; and all who
heard it wondered at what the shep
herds had told them. But Mary kept
all these things, pondering them in her
heart.
And the shepherds returned, glorify
ing and praising God for all they had
heard and seen, as it had been told
them.
Thus came true the prophecies of the
Old Testament as set forth in Micah
and Isaiah :
But thou, Bethlehem, which art little
to be among the thousands of Judah,
out of thee shall come forth unto me
that is to be ruler in Israel, whose go
ings forth are from of old, from ever
lasting.
And she shall stand, and shall feed
his flock in the strength of the Lord, in
the majesty of the name of the Lord his
God: that they shall abide, and shall
be great unto the ends of the earth.
And this man shall be our peace.
For unto us a child is born, and unto
us a son is given ; and the government
shall be upon his shoulders; and his
name shall be called Wonderful, Coun
sellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government,
and of his peace, there shall be no end,
upon the throne of David, and upon his
kingdom to establish it, and to uphold
it, with justice and righteousness from
hence forth, even forever.
A World at Peace?
For a number of Christmases, almost
too many to remember, the Christian
World's most fervent prayer has been,
"Let there be peace." Ever since the
late 1930's when Japan sent her forces
into China, the surface gaiety of the
Christmas season has been undershot
with rumbling of guns.
With the truce in Korea we were
hoping this year that the Christmas
stars would look down on an earth at
peace. But from Seoul come reports
that there is a mysterious "tightening
up" on the northern side of the bound
ary that separates the UN and the Reds.
Blasting that ominously sounds like
noise accompanying the building qf un
derground fortifications comes* drifting
southward to Marine outposts.
The period of truce will be over next
month. It seems as though we will not
be amiss this Christmas in continuing to
pray for wars to end ? but even more
basic than that, perhaps we should pray
that the non-Christian Communists may
come to know our Prince of Peace.
Carteret County Newt-Times
WINNER OF NATIONAL EDITORIAL ASSOCIATION AND NORTH CAROLINA
PRESS ASSOCIATION AWARDS
A Mer(*r of The Beaufort New* (Eat 1912) and The Twin City Timet (Eat 1938)
Publiahed Tuesdays and Fridaya by the Carteret Publiahlng Company, Inc.
504 Aroudeli St, liorehead City. N. C.
LOCKWOOD PHILLIPS ? PUBLISHER
ELEANORS DEAR PHILUP8 ? ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
RUTH L. PEELING ? EDITOR
GORDON A. SKEAN JR. ? PRODUCTION MANAGER
Mail Ratea: In Carteret County and adjoining countiea, 96.00 one year, 93.80 aix montha,
11.23 one month; elaewhcre 97.00 one year, H OP ail montha, 91-80 one Booth.
Member of Aaaodated Preaa ? Greater Weekttea ? N. C Preaa Aaaociation
National Editorial Aaaociation ? Audit Bureau of Circulation
'The Aaaocieted Preaa ia entitled ezcluaively to uae far republication ai local Hti
printed In thia nowapaper. aa well aa ill AP aewi dlapatchea.
aa beoad dm Matter at Manhead City, N. C, Under Act d March 8, 1879.
IF WE COULD ONLY LEAVE THE WRAPPINGS ON 1
Ruth Peeling
Horace Hamlin Starts
Look Out' in 1907
The "Look Out" was established
in Beaufort in 1907. Horace H.
Hamlin was editor and publisher.
The paper, consisting of eight
pages, came out on Friday. Circu
lation was claimed to be 1,000.
The population of Beaufort at
that time was 2,500 and the county
population 11,811. (It's almost
double that today). Beaufort was
described as being on the New
port River, four miles east of More
head City. It was served by the
Norfolk and Southern Railroad,
had telephones, express service and
banks.
In 1908 the paper "The Enter
prise" was established in Morehead
City with "Webb and Gaskill" as
publishers. First names of the
publishers were not given. More
head City's population at that time
was 1,379. It was described as
being oa Bogue Sound, 37 miles
southeast of New Bern. It too
was served by the Norfolk and
Southern Railroad, had telephones,
express service and a bank.
"The News" was founded in
Beaufort in 1912 with Frederick
J. Ostermeyer and J. A. Wright as
editor and publisher. The "Look
Out" was still being published too.
"The News" came out on Thursday
and "The Look Out" on Friday.
Mr. Hamlin, publisher of the
"Look Out" evidently branched out,
for in the same year, 1912, the
"Coaster" of Morehead City was
being published with Horace H.
Hamlin at the helm as both edi
tor and publisher. He was claim
ing 1900 as the establishment date
of the "Coaster," yet first mention
of the paper in the directories gives
the date as 1901.
The town of Beaufort of 1912
which supported two weekly news
papers was described as being "on
Beaufort harbor at the end of
the new inland waterway,, four
miles east of Morehead City. Port
of entry . . . manufactures fish oil,
canned goods, naval stores and
lumber. Cotton and truck growing.
Shore whale fishery." Its popu
lation was 2,483.
In 1912 Morehead City's popula
tion was 2,039. Morehead City was
described as follows: "Manufac
tures lumber, naval stores, fish 'oil;
fish scrap, boats. Lumbering, fish
ing. Truck, cotton, watermelons
grown. Fish shipping point."
By 1915 Hamlin's paper in Beau
fort, the "Look Out" had dropped
out of the picture. The "News"
continue^ to be published by Os
termeyer and Wright while the
"Coaster" continued in Morehead
City with Robert T. Wade as editor
and publisher.
Part I
This is Our Farm Problem
By EZRA TAFT BENSON
Secretary of Agriculture
(First of a Two-Part Series)
This nation has a serious farm
problem.
It does ijot affect agriculture
alone. It is everybody's problem.
Today your government has ap
proximately $5 billions of your
money invested in farm commod
ities.
You own outright more than $2.3
billions worth of wheat, corn, cot
ton and other surplus farm prod
ucts. You have outstanding loans
on agricultural commodities total
ing about the same amount This
figure is growing daily.
You are paying more than $14
millions each month just to store
these surpluses. This bill is grow
ing, too, as additional inventories
are accumulated by your govern
ment.
The losses which your govern
ment sustained in disposing of just
a small portion of your holdings
during the first three months of
this fiscal year amounted to $47
millions.
But, you ask, don't we have a
farm program designed to insure
agricultural prosperity and pre
vent the very situation we find our
selves in today?
The answer is that we are op
erating under the same farm pro
gram we had last year and for
several previous years. Actually
we have strengthened it in several
important respects; to permit farm
ers to take broader advantage of
its provisions. Exisiting legislation
binds us to a continuation of price
supports at 90 per cent of parity on
basic commodities through the
1B54 crop year.
Nevertheless, farm prices have
declined steadily from the record
peaks established under the im
petus of the Korean war in Feb
ruary, 1981. During the 12 months
immediately before I became Sec
retary of Agriculture, the farm
price parity ratio slid from 113 to
95 per cent. Since February of
this year, prices have been more
stable than in 1962, averaging about
91 per cent of parity.
This story of declining farm in
___
surpluses is the best evidence that
our present program is not func
tioning effectively.
For more than a decade, our
farmers have been producing under
pressure. To meet the war-time
needs of ourselves and our allies,
they turned out record amounts of
food and fiber between 1941 and
1946. With the end of the second
World War, they were asked to
provide the commodities required
in the rehabilitation of Europe and
other sections of the earth. Then
came the Korean War, with new
and heavy demands for farm goods
of all kinds.
Suddenly this situation was rad
ically altered. World food pro
duction had been climbing since
1940. By 1952 this was exerting
strong pressure in the market plac
es. Our wheat exports dropped
by one-third in a single year, cot
ton by even more. Not only had
importing nations increased their
own production, but they found
that they could supply their re
duced needs at lower prices from
exporting countries which bad no
farm price support programs.
Just as many American consum
ers have turned from butter to less
expensive spreads, so have other
nations sought cheaper wheat, cot
ton and other ^products.
We have learned through some
times bitter experience that when
the farmer is in trouble, there is
likely to be trouble ahead for ev
erybody. This year, net farm in
come is expected to be nearly $1
- billion less than it was in 1952.
And in 1952 it was more than II
billion below the preceding year.
While farm income has been drop
ping, our total national income ha*
actually increased.
This disparity cannot continue
in an economy such as ours. When
the farmer can't buy the products
ol industry, there are certain to be
serious dislocations.
How we got into this situation is
not as important, at the moment,
as what we propose to do about it.
1 have outlined here some of the
major problems facing agriculture,
la in article in Tuesday's NEWS
TIMES I will discuss some of the
poMibie solutions.
Today's Birthday
GLADYS SWARTHOUT, born
I>e<\ 25, 1904, in Deepwater, Mo.
At 7 she sang a solo in a Kansas
Lity cnurcn ana
was so good that
she was sent to
Chicago for
voice study.
Singing
with the Chi
cago Civic Op
era she was
signed for the
Metropoli
tan Opera in
New York. Atier that she sang
most of the mezzo-soprano roles,
more than 52, at the Met. She has
sung leading roles in many Holly
wood musieals.
KM 1-wr
Raleigh Roundup
HOLIDAY . . . State employ
ees are being blessed with long
w eekends here in the dark days
ol December because of the dates
upon which Christmas and New
Year's Day are falling.
They got off work at the end of
the day's business on Dec. 23 and
come back to their labors on Mon
day, Dec. 28. That's four days
away from the office? time for
most of them to get home for the
holidays. Raleigh is merely the
second home for thousands of peo
ple living here. Their first homes
are scattered from one end of
North Carolina to the other. State
employees count home as the place
of their legal residence: the place
there they vote.
Many a State employee in the
higher echelons of governmental
officialdom maintains his legal res
idence far afield from his city of
employment. A large percentage
keep home ties and acquaintances
sharply intact for the time when
they might return there ? voluntar
ily or otherwise - to take up where
they left off many months or many
years previously to go on the state
payroll in Raleigh.
A number of State departments
and divisions have already had
Christmas parties. In visiting var
ious buildings on and around Cap
itol Square, we have counted five
Christmas trees as big as that one
down on the edge of the pasture.
While they have added a festive
note to the atmosphere, they have
not slowed ddwn the duties for
year-end brings on additionah
chores.
For New Year's, State employ
ees get off on Thursday, Dec. 31,
and come back to work on Monday,
Jan. 4. A lot of them who have
not taken their full quota of vaca
tion days or "annual leave" are
catching up on them in the last
month of the calendar year.
Until Kerr Scott became Gover
nor, State employees got 15 days
off each year. If they didn't take
the full 15, they lost them. Fre
quently a State employee would
suddenly discover around Thanks
giving that he had seven days left
of his annual leave. You could
count him out for about the last
two weeks of the year, including
Christmas.
Governor Scott had it fixed that
you cou'd accumulate as much an
nual leave as you wanted to. With
Fishermen Find Snook
In Warm Florida Seas
This intriguing name is applied
to a number of fishes closely kin
to Centropomus unideeimalis, a
fish related to our fresh-water bas
ses an?l perch. Snook are found
in the warmer seas that border
Jane Eads
Washington
Washington ? Christmas Day in
countries like Australia and New
Zealand, where it is now midsum
mer, often begins with a swim in
the surf, with dinner served picnic
style and ice cream, rather than
plum pudding, the dessert.
The Australian ambassador to
the United States and Lady Spend
er will be at their beach house
on the coast north of Sydney to
welcome the holiday with an early
morning dip. Their sons, Peter, 21,
and John, 18,' students at Yale, will
observe the day American-style
since they will be unable to make
the long journey home.
In the country "down under" the
temperature often climbs to 100
degrees in December, and Aus
tralians are doing away with big
hot dinners with turkey and pud
ding. Many families arrange
camping trips and celebrate Christ
mas in tents on the beach.
Because of the heat, /there are
few lighted decorations in the
homes. Imitation Christmas trees
are used because this is the sea-,
son of brush fires, and trees are
dry and brittle. Most of the cele
brating is done at garden parties
on Christmas eve, but gifts are
exchanged the next morning at the
breakfast table.
The Spenders expect to spend
a cot/pie of months in Australia.
Christmas parties also get into
the swim in Chile, for it is sum
mertime in South America too.
However, the late midnight dinner,
"cena de pascua," served after
mass, and other activities are much
like those observed here.
Viejito Pascuero, the "little
old man of Christmas," knocks at
the door with gifts and sometimes
sits down to eat too. Gifts are
given also on Jan. 6, the "Day of
the Kings."
Senora Este Rodriguez de Jara,
wife of the Chilean ambassador,
who was brought up in the United
States, celebrates the holiday
with her husband and relatives
after her native Spanish tradition,
with duck with orange sauce, veg
etables, fresh fruits, nuts and a
pudding called *turron," cham
pagne and cognac with strong cof
fee. Sometime the family has oc
topus, the way the ambassador's
wife's grandmother used to fix it.
"We don't open our gifts until
the 25th," she told me. "We like
to have surprises. My husband ts
like a kid. I have to hide his
presents until it's time to open
tlM?"
Florida and the coast of the pulf
of Mexico. In the Texas region
they mafy be found in large schools
and were formerly abundant in the
Everglades area. They run up
many coastal streams and some
times are at their best for sports
men in brackish waters.
A representative of the group
is found in the Pacific from Mexi
co to Peru. As is usually the case
the common name is applied ft) a
SNOOK
?1*51 National Wildlife PadaratiM
number of fishes recognized as be
ing different species by fish stu
dents. The so-called "Snook" of
of the coast of Africa is not a
close relative.
While snook weighing to over 70
pounds have been taken, the aver
age size is between 5 and 10
pounds. They are excellent fight
ers when hooked, leaping into the
air frequently to free themselves
and making strong runs.
The lower jaw of a snook has a
superficial resemblance to that of
a pike or pickerel while the rest
of the fish bears some resemblance
to a perch. The lateral line is
black and the dorsal fins are well
separated from each other. The tail
is moderately forked. Superficially
the Snook look* like a green and
white or silver fish, the upper parts
being green or sometimes brown
while the underparts are silvery or
white. The dorsal fins are gray to
dusky and the paired fins, yellow
ish.
The baits used in taking snook
are usually small aquatic animals
such as shrimp* crabs, molluscs
and fishes. The best fishing may
be expected around pilings or
wharfs, the very places that are
considered as inviting by the av
erage fisherman.
The bottoms over which Snook
feed may be either sandy or muddy
and the feeding areas may shift
with the changing tidei so that
a spot good at one time nay be
bad at another. At another time
the reverse may be true. I well
remember catdhing my first snook
off the West Coast of Florida and
wondering at the time what It
was. So unique is the shape of
the fish that I am sure the identifi
cation made for me by my boatman
was correct.
1 regret to state that to my know
ledge I have never tasted snook
but for that matter there are few
fishes ouside the trout that make
any Important appeal when they
are served on my table. I much
prefer to be identified with catch
iof them in their native element
than with eating Umol The QmJi (
a five-day week in effect, this
meant that an employee could gain
three weeks employment when he
retired through not taking vacation
for one year. If our math it right,
this would run to 36 weeks -or
about nine month's full pay? if
an employee went 12 years without
taking his annual leave.
Governor William B. Umstead's
administration has not gone back
to the old rule, but it has changed
the Scott one. Now an employee
can accumulate 30 days annual
leave, no more.
All in all, Christmas around
Raleigh ? at the Mansion where
the entire Meredith College student v
body gathered to sing one night
last week ? at the Capital and up
and down the halls of the various
State buildings, is like it is in your
hometown and everywhere else
the gayest, merriest, finest time of
the year.
YEAR'S END . . Now as we
come down to the short, dark,
thought-filled days of year's end,
we find ourselves looking back ov
er our shoulders at 1953. How has
it been? And 1954 may well de
pend upon what we did with 1953.
"Everything in this world has its
price, and the price buys that, not
something else. Every harvest de
mands its own preparation, and
that preparation will not produce
another sort of harvest.
"Jhus you cannot have at once
the soldier's renown and the quiet
of the recluse's life. The soldier
pays his price for his glory he w
sows and reaps. His price is risk
of life and limb, night spent on
hard ground, a weather-beaten
constitution. .If you will not pay
that price, you cannot have what
he has? military reputation.
"You cannot enjoy the states
men's influence together with free
dom from notoriety. If you sensi
tively shrink from that, you must
give up influence; or else pay his
price, tne price of a thorny pillow,
unrest, the chances of being today's '
idol, tomorrow the people excra
tion. You cannot have the store of
information possessed by the stu
dent, and enjoy robust health: pay
his price, and you have his reward.
To expect these opposite things . . .
would be to mock God, to reap
what has not been sowed.
"Now the mistakes men make,
and the extravagant expectation in
which they indulge, are these:
They sow for earth, and cxpect to ,
win spiritual blessings; or they sow
to the Spirit, and then wonder that
they have not a harvest of the
good things of earth ... ,
"Tlle unreasonableness of this
appears the motient we have un
derstood the conditions contained
in this principle, 'Whatsoever a
man soweth, THAT shall he also
reap.' "
The above quotation is from a
sermon by one F. W. Robertson in
1849. ,
MAN-OF THE YEAR . . Bill
Sharpe is trying to find North Car- ?
olina's Man of the Year for 1953.
Among those listed as possible
nominees, we like Louis V. Sutton,
president of Carolina Power and
Light Co. for his "Finer Carolina"
program of developing communi
ties in his company's far-flung ter
ritory. With the help of Jack Riley,
sharpest publicist in these parts,
Advertising Manager Red Pope,
and a fine team all-around, Caro
lina Power & Light is rebuilding
scores of fine little cities in North
and South Carolina. Sutton is our
man? with Ag. Comm. L. Y. (Stag)
Ballentine running a close sec
ond and Lt. Gov. Hodges next
understand is excellent, being (laky
and white when well cooked.
Snook are frequently called Ro
balo. The Robalo Blanco, or White
Snook, is considered to be super
ior as a fighter to the Robalo Ne
gro, or Black Snook. The former
is considered to have a solter
mouth and because of this to
require more skill in making a
landing. They may be taken by
plug castingi by baited hook, on
artificial flies and by spinning.
In the Florida area they are com
monly taken in mangrove-bordered
waters and once hooked they rec
ognize in the mangrove an excellent
place for tangling a line and get
ting free from the hook. Because
of the sharp edges exposed on the
cheeks and gill-covers, a wire
leader is almost essential in the
tackle. Snook breed in May through
July in large schools and are taken
by commercial fishermen at these
times. ? E. Laurence Palmer.
Vic Vot jay*
flPMOobt PUmiM&TO APPLY]
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UNDER Tils mooea a bill,
0E SUCE MOU ANSWER ALL
THE QUESTIONS ONTWEVA
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