CARTERET COUNTY NEWS-TIMES
Carter** County' i Ntwipapfr
EDITORIALS TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 1954
Same Old Story
They say a leopard never changes its
spots.
Thirty-two years ago Beaufort Town
Commissioners repealed three ordi
nances they had passed, one regarding
muzzled dogs, one regarding chickens,
and another regarding stop signs.
Last week at the Beaufort Town
Board meeting a no parking ordinance
on Broad Street was thrown out.
Earlier this year an ordinance pro
hibiting merchandise display on Front
Street was repealed.
At the July meeting the board au
thorized proceeding with the zoning of
the Front and Ann Street sections. As
yet none of the necessary steps have
been taken to effect such zoning.
We have observed Beaufort Town
Board meetings for many, many
months.
Two things strike us as typical of the
board's deliberations:
1. No one seems to remember from
one meeting to the next what was
done at the last meeting. If three
definite moves are made, perhaps
one of them will be carried out.
2. No controversial matter is given
logical thinking. There's a lot of
argument and emotional to-do,
but little administrative ability
displayed. For example, a delega
tion appears before the board.
Most of the time the commission
ers get as excited as the delega
tion. They pass an ordinance to
keep the howlers quiet and then
a month or two later, usually to
please another faction, they re
peal the ordinance. It never en
ters their heads, evidently, to
thank the delegation for appear
ing, and then make their decision
in a "pressure-less" atmosphere.
Most conclusions arrived at in the
heat of argument never stand up
under passage of time.
The board is trying to do its best, try
ing to keep everybody happy, that's its
biggest fault. All the commissioners
SAV they don't care if they're re-elect
ed, and if that is the case we fail to
understand why they don't do what
they sincerely believe is best for the
town and stop trying to please various
handfuls of noisy individuals.
We realize that commissioners an
button-holed, talked at, argued at am!
bothered to death day to day by some ?
body who wants this and somebody who
wants that. Citizens who want ordi
nances passed in their favor, threaten
the commissioners, who are business
men, to "take their business elsewhere"
if they don't get what they want. So
in criticising the commissioners' method
of operation, we admit, too, that their
job is not an easy one.
The present town board has been in
office a sufficient number of months
to start showing some administrative
ability gained by experience.
There's no reason in the world for
them to follow the footsteps of their
predecessors, yea, even those of 32
years ago, who like a woman, could
i)ever make up their mind.
First Year is Success
Anyone connected with the ortho
pedic clinic conducted monthly at
Morehead City should be proud of the
first year's record.
The clinic was started in July 1963
under sponsorship of the Crippled Chil
dren's Committee of the Morehead City
Rotary Club, the County Health De
partment and the State Health Depart
ment.
Until this clinic for the treatment of
bone defects opened here, the nearest
clinic of its type was at New Bern. The
number of patients treated from July
1, 1953 to July 1, 1964 totaled 645, or
more than 45 a month.
Children and adults, white and Ne
gro, suffering from polio, cerebral pal
sy, bone injuries or other crippling ail
ments have received, under the skillful
supervision of Dr. Lenox Baker of Duke
University Hospital, the best advice
and treatment the state can offer.
Without the help of women' of More
head City, who serve as clerks at the
ctinic, the much-needed aid to the
crippled of this area could not have
been supplied.
The Morehead City Hospital, nurses
of the County Health Department, per
sonnel of the State Health Department,
the Rotary Club, milk companies which
have supplied milk free of charge for
patients, and businessmen who have
contributed toward equipping the clinic
room h*ve gone the extra mile in help
ing their fellow man and deserve the
thanks of us all . . . "inasmuch as ye
have done it unto one of the least of
these my brethren, ye have done it unto
??
me. i
The Pie of Augustus
(From the New Yor
Eating his first early apple pie, made
from windfall August apples, a coun
tryman forks up a few schoolboy mem
ories of Rome with the tart flavor and
the flaky crust The Romans, he re
members, liked apples. Plutarch, that
hearty praiser, said good words for
them ; and Cato talked about seven va
rieties ? which is even more than Emer
son had on his acre in Concord. The
Emperor Augustus, a countryman pon
ders, probably ate apple pie ? for his
wife, Livia, was a fine housekeeper and
doubtless had a clever slave as chief
cook. It pleases a man to trace his Au
gust apple pie back to the kitchen of
Augustus.
The apple, like the Romans, went
places widely. The legions took the ap
ple to Britain, and there were four cen
turies of Roman rule when orchards
must have grown great, perhaps on soil
which is now K<;nt From Britain the
apple pie voyaged to America. Even
the Indians, careless and savage farm
ers, liked apples well enough to plant
helter-skelter trees of the white man
in central New York. How good an ap
ple pie an Iroquom squaw might have
baked, a countryman wouldn't know
But sweetened with maple sugar it was
probably pretty nice. It is mighty dif
ficult to spoil an apple pie? except in a
few untutored city restaurants where
k Herald Tribune)
the apples appear as hard chunks be
tween tough, brown blankets.
About the time when the apple pie
was flourishing on New England farms
and starting westward, it was going
stronger yet in old England. Jane Aus
ten could write in a letter: "Good ap
ple pies are a considerable part of our
domestic happiness." Miss Austen, a
famous early expert on home life in
Hampshire, knew that marital joy
might be founded on apple pies that a
male would eat more happily than he
would gooseberry tart or too much
custard pudding.
In upstate New York it is well that
new apple pies begin to come along in
August. By October a man can be in
fine fettle for the bending bough and
the baking day oven. Apple pie is al
ways the most popular dessert that can
be pat on a menu or set before men.
Apple pie stays as masculine as a Ro
man legionary or an Elks' convention.
To any latter-day followers of Jane
Austen, that devoted exponent of what
Emerson called "marriageableness," a
countryman would like to pass along
the truth that a girl who cah bring to
the table a juicy, crisp-crusted home
made apple pie is doing a lot more for
the world's domestic happiness than
one who brings only a permanent wave
and a wobbly mold of pink gelatine.
Carteret County N?ws-TimM
WINNER OF NATIONAL EDITORIAL ASSOCIATION AND NORTH CAROLINA
PRESS ASSOCIATION AWARDS
A Harm at Tha Imfcrt N?w? (Eat till) aad Tfca Twta City Ttmm (Eat ISM)
I Friday* by tba Cartarat PabUahiai
I City, N. C
DEAR nOUiH ? ASSOCIATE
RUTH L PEELING - EDITOR
MaURata: In Cartarat County aad ad)ot*in? counts, *100 on? /Mr, ?3?0 $lx
| - * I (7.00 ona yaar, M no .
a* Aaaadatad Praa ? Orii>n WaakUaa - N. C. Praa
Aattt Sanaa tt
to oaa far miiiliHartfrj jirf laeal
CHy. N. c, Uadar Ad al Hank I, ism
Ruth P? ling
Mr. Johnny Jones' Brand
Of Melon is the Best!
When it comes to watermelons,
Mr. Johnny Jones of Cedar Point
can grow 'em. Paid him a visit
last Sunday afternoon and along
with a lot of interesting conversa
tion he insisted on presenting me
with two of the slappin'est biggest
juciest melons I've ever lit into.
Says Mr. Johnny, "Now those
aren't Bogue Sound melons, they're
Cedar Point melons!"
I see by the papers that Greens
boro will have mobile telephone
service for trucks and automobiles
by December. One of my secret
ambitions for years has been to
have a telephone in my car. I'd
have fewer frazzled nerves if I
knew, while I was waiting for the
draw to close, that I could just
pick up the phone and make a lot
of the calls I have on my list.
Greensboro will be the second
city in the state to get the phones.
Charlotte was first.
Y??terdoy
The Greensboro system will cov
er about 25 miles and will be made
up ot a number of radio channels.
Calls to and from vehicles will be
transmitted by radio to the regular
telephone network.
Sounds like a lush deal.
The Republicans are letting no
grass grow under their feet. They
have their eyes. 1 hear, on federal
posts in Carteret County. And the
most ? coveted federal posts are
the postmasterships.
The Coast Guard property at
Lennoxville, if re acquired by Beau
fort, is earmarked for a specific
purpose. The announcement should
be forthcoming as soon as Presi
dent Eisenhower signs the bill mak
ing the property available to the
town for $1.
Wonder if Beaufort provided for
expenditure of that dollar in the
budget?
Whalin'-Thar She Blows
By HENRY A. TOLSON
Right after the Civil War, about
the year 1888. when this humble
writer was presented with his name
on that strip of beach between
Beaufort (Old Topsail) Inlet and
Bogue Inlet, about where the de
velopment known as Emerald Isle
By-the-Sea is now, there was a fish
ing village then known as Rice
Path, where men and women ob
tained their living entirely from
the sound and sea.
There were no ice plants in those
day>. You jes' cooked 'em, salted
'em, ur they spiled.
Whaling, in the spring of the
year, was the money crop. Bekaze,
folka didn't know what celluloid,
petroleum and plastics were in
those days. So, whale bone, in the
mouth and throat of certain whales,
the kind that could not have swal
lowed Jonah, was worth plenty
to make milady's combs and cor
set stays. Yes, I said corset. Look
it up in your dictionary.
Anybov* our dear friends, who
are now buried in the cemetery at
Gales Creek, had to make a livin'
somehow. They jes' could not swap
salt mullets for sweet titers, tur
nips, and corn meal on the main
side of Bogue Sound where other
fishermen were blessed with fertile
farming land. So, going down to
the sea in ships waa what fed and
clothed If dm. Pop, and the young
'una ? yesterday.
Now, let'a get on with our story.
Twas the spring of the year, let us
say 1890. Our old friends had a
lookout posted from drfwn to dusk
on the beach hills to keep his eagle
eye peeled to the wea'ward in case
Mr. and Mrs. Whale came along
with their calf, going north for the
summer.
Effn this lookout seed her blow,
he would let out a heller to the
crew, who would come runnin from
their clamming, or other urgent
duties, to man the boats and to go
out and fight, kill and fetch ashore
the valuable whale.
Many weary days had passed, and
It was getting lata in the season;
yet, no whale or groceries. New
Aunt Sally Ann Lewie had a dream
one night which she related to the
lookout, crew and dependents.
"Young'uns, I drempt I seed her
a-comta' our of the sou 'west. She
had her calf wid her, and that
whale wur spoutin' higher den a
blue bird on a Baptist church
''sure enough. Just like the dream
the lookout seed her early that
morning a-comin' out of the ssu'
west Great wee the alarm. Wo
men gathered on the ' beach to
watch tke tight wherein no rods
and reels were allowed and sport
did not enter into the picture.
It was kill her and fetch her
ashore, or go hungry until the
(all run of feesh came along. Sure
they killed the whale. Brought her
ashore, and even before the crew
had stuck a carving knife or other
instrument into the blubber and
bone, they sot sail fur Beaufort, in
their sail boats, for Capt. Tom
Thomas's store and credit.
Flour, lafd, pork, cheese, snuff,
plug tobacco ? no filtered cig
arettes ? and other necessities
were purchased. Then after a hear
ty meal was had by all, the real
work began on processing the
beached whale before ahe got to
smelling too bad.
And, folks, that was yesterday,
believe it or not
(Copyright 1954 by
Henry A. Tolson)
Stamp News
By 8YD KRONI8H
A NEW U. 8. 4 -cent airmail
stamp, intended primarily for uae
pn post carda, will be iaaued on
SepL 3. ISM.
The stamps will be released at
Philadelphia in conjunction with
the annual convention and exhi
bition of the American Air Mail
Society to be held in the National
Philatelic Museum there.
While the U. S. Poet Office De
partment previoualy issued a 4
cent air mail postal card with im
printed stamp, this ia the first
adhesive air mail poatage stamp
specifically .for use on post carda.
Today's Birthday
LESLIE RICHARD GROVES,
bora Auf. 17. ltM in Albany. N. Y.
son of a minister. The major fener
al directed ex
p ? r I m ? n ?
tation and pro
duction of first
atomic bomb.
Emphaaiied im
portance of ae
curity about pro
ject. Received
D 1 a t I n ?
(uiabed Service
Modal. Attend
*d Weit Point Wu in Corp. of
EMtoceri in World War I. Rc
?earchad anti-aircraft sMzehllghU
and allied aquipmant
Jam Eadi
Washington
The bearded, sad-eyed little man
in red-trimmed khaki dress uni
form was almost overwhelmed by
the throng of some 2,000 who
came to greet him and afterward
to feast from a lavishly-laden 67
foot buffet table.
The Conquering Lion of Judah,
His Imperial Highness, the Emper
or of Ethiopia, who says he is a
descendent of King Solomon and
the Queen of Sheba, got as tired
as any other visiting honor guest
after standing an hour in the re
ceiving line at the mammoth shin
dig given for him at a hotel by the
Ethiopian Ambassador and Mrs.
Deressa. He was finally escorted to
an open box where he rested his
royal bones and watched the scene
before him.
At one time the receiving line
extended out into the street. One
guest told me she had stood in
line 20 minutes ? and "when we
got to the end, there was nobody
there!"
"You don't need to ask who's
here," someone remarked, "just
say everybody."
"That's the longest buffet table
I've seen since Paul McNutt came
back from the Philippines," anoth
er observed.
It was a real United Nations
feast - lobster newburg, chow mein,
seafood creole, smoked turkeys and
hams, beef Stroganoff, pate, veal
and truffles, saffron rice with
chicken livers, peas, potatoes au
gratin, salads, sandwiches, sausages
and sweats.
There were highballs, cocktails,
and champagne, and light wines
flowed continuously from lighted
fountains. The table was set with
gold service, and an immense cake
bore in icing the legend "Welcome
to Washington" in Amharic, na
tive tongue of the emperor.
"It's really very modest," a ho
tel official put in. "We've had
them where the buffet cost $25 a
plate."
The previous evening, the frail
monarch and his entourage had
dined at the White House. Later
that same evening they were to be
guests at a formal dinner given
by the Secretary of State and Mrs.
Duties.
The Ambassador and Mrs. De
ressa, who had just done over their
new home "fit for an emperor"
and had unrolled a real rejd car
pet down the stairs, polished off
Selassie's Washington visit with a
dinner attended by President and
Mrs. Eisenhower. Their table was
set with imperial crested silver,
sent from the palace at Addis Ab
aba.
A Little Boy's
Essay on Anatomy
"Your held is kind of round ind
hard, and your brains are in It and
your bair on it. Your face la the
front of your head where you eat
and make faces. Your neck is what
keeps your head out of your col
, lar. It's hard to keep clean. Your
shoulders arc sort of shelfs where
you hook your suspenders on them.
"Your stummlck is something
that If you do not eat often enough
It harts, and spinach don't help
none. Your spine la a long bone In
your back that keeps you from fold
ing up. Your back la always be
hind you no matter how quick you
turn around. Your arms you got
to have to pitch with and ao you
can reach the butter. Your fingers
stick out of your bands ao you can
throw a curve and add up rithma
tick Your legs la what if you have
not got two of. you cannot get to
first boat. Your foot are what you
run on, your toaa are what always
get atubbed. And thot'a all Ikon
la oi you, except what's inafate, and
1 never saw it"
In the Good Old Days
THIRTY TWO YEARS AGO
The Beaufort News, now THE
NEWS-TIMES, had purchaaed a
new preaa and would now be a 13
pa ge paper inatead o I a four-page
paper as formerly.
Beaufort town commisaionera
voted to pax part of the aalary for
a county health officer.
The Cape Lookout Development
Company had signed contracta for
a railroad and hotel to be built at
the Cape.
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO
M. S. Snowden. D. F. Merrill, Wil
liam Savage and Louia Dudley were
the largest producers of sweet po
tatoes in the Beaufort area.
Sound Chevrolet Co. was adver
tising a six-cylinder Chevrolet for
$595.
Oscar Duncan. Jack Neal, Carl
llatsell and Roy Laaaiter caught 15
drum while fishing at Shackleford
Beach.
TEN YEARS AGO
Clyde R. Hoey, former governor
of North Carolina, was to apeak at
the church service* when Aaa
Street Methodist Church in Bean
fort celebrated its 180th birthday.
Miss Selma Nelson of Marshall
berg was appointed Junior boa
less of the Norfolk U. S. O.
Airplane stamps 1 and 2 in ra
tion book III were good mdefinite
1? lor buying shoes.
FIVE YEARS AGO
The Rev. Priestley Conyers III
was installed as pastor of the Webb
Memorial Presbyterian Church
in Morehead City.
Beaufort police were questioning
suspects in hopes of finding the
burglar who had been ransacking
homes for the past four weeks.
The speed limit on Evans Street,
Morehead City, was reduced from
33 to 25 miles per hour.
Rambling Through Carteret
By F. C. SALISBURY
What was once a narrow cause
way between the two bridges con
necting Morehead City with Beau
fort has been enlarged by dredg
ing. A large area now known as
Radio Island was formed. Here is
located a radio station, also numer
ous storage tanks of an oil com
pany. Until given the name Radio
Island this sandy area, Inlet Is
land, was called "no man's land." It
is not included within the limits of
either Beaufort or Morehead City.
A short roadway east of the
island leads to a smaller island
known as Pivers Island. Here is
located the U. S. Fish and Wildlife
Laboratory where scientists car
ry on a study of fish and shell life.
Also Duke University conducts a
summer sossion in a Marine Lab
oratory on the island. Up until
a few years ago, thousands of
diamondback terrapin were raised
at the F4WL station for stock
ing the waters of the sounds. Af
ter leaving Pivers Island, high
way 70 continues across Gallant's
Channel into Beaufort.
As you ride into Beaufort ? as
comfortable a southern village as
there is in the state ? you will be
interested to know that the town
holds the distinction of being the
second oldest incorporated town in
the state In August 1722 the State
Council had established Carteret
precinct and the town of Beaufort
was incorporated as a seaport,
entitled to collect customs.
A vista of old homes along the
tree-lined street greets you as you
enter the town. Note a small house
on your right, built upon a high
brick wall. A style popular a cen
tury ago. The lower floor en
closed by the brick wall, was in
early days, the air conditioning
system of present day luxury.
Park your car and stroll along
some of the shaded streets, noting
the various styles of architecture.
Early sea captains sailing out of
Beaufort harbor to New England or
the West Indies brought back with
them suggestions for the building
of their homes.
There are examples of houses
bordering on the salt box type of
Cape Cod, others carry out in de
sign of the West Indies type, two
stories with wide porches over
hanging. Those early sea cap
tains built no elaborate homes with
"widow walks" oo the roof from
which the wives could scan the
harbor for their return.
Anyone can direct you to the
Hammock house, a fine example of
early West India architecture. Call
at the Chamber of Commerce of
fice in the town hall opposite the
Courthouse for information and
folders.
Summertime about the court
house. with the old oaks and flow
er gardens, presents the finest ap
pearance of any courthouse square
in the state.
Along the waterfront is a com
manding view of the inlet off to
the south where the breakers can
be seen forcing their way into the
harbor on a calm day. the pound
ing of the surf and the eerie cry of
the sea gulls can be heard. Beau
fort's waterfront is the tie-up of
the largest menhaden fishing fleet
along the coast.
Should you like to browse among
the resting places of those whose
names are legion in the history of
the county, the old town cemetery
surrounding the Methodist church,
recently restored by a civic organi
tion, invites your attention. Here
you will find the grave of Otway
Burns, bold commander of the
privateer "Snap Dragon."
Born in Onslow County, his mem
ory is honored with a monument
in the village square at Burnsville,
while his dust is anchored in the
soil of Carteret. A large marble
block surmounted by a cannon
from the "Snap Dragon" marks the
spot.
Said to have been buried in an
erect position, dressed in his uni
form and side arms, a Revolution
ary officer rests. A mound of
crumbling brick 6 feet square is
his only monument. A stone of
unusual specia and design, cut and
shipped from Denmark many yean
ago stands over the grave of Cap
tain Christian Wulff of the Danish
Navy who died at sea of yellow fe
ver in May 18S6, his body being
brought into Beaufort for burial.
Beaufort was the scene of a Span
ish invasion in 1747. After occu
pying the town for several days the
invaders were driven out by the
militia. During the Revolutionary
War large quantities of salt were
made by the solar process from sea
water.
If your time is unlimited you will
discover many out-of-the-way place*
of interest in your browsing about.
But if you must hurry on, do not
fail to visit the "down east" sec
tion of the county. Truck gard
ening and fishing engage the at
tention of most of the people in the
many quaint villages along Core
Sound. They are a friendly people
who will enjoy your intereat in
their lives and occupations.
Friday: Down East.
Did You Know?
By F. C. SALISBURY
That: The tint burial in Bay
View Cemetery. Morehead City,
was the body of Jasper PhilUpa on
Sept. 29, 1873. Hit grave ia said
to be the only one in the old part
of the cemetery that runs true eaat
and west, having been marked out
by compass.
That: The Clubfoot canal connect
ing Neuae River with Harlowe
Creek and Newport River waa start
ed in 1797. It waa undoubtedly the
first canal project ia .the United
States, if not in the Western hemis
phere. It was dug by slave labor
(like the Erie Canal) uaing shovel
and wheelbarrow. It waa not com
pleted until July 1827.
That: With the idea in mind for
the development of the Cape Look
out section aa a summer resort, and
to give Harkers Island and Core
Banks access to the outer world by
road, a company was incorporated
by Beaufort parties in 1933 known
as the Cape Lookout Highway, In
corporated, to build certain stan
dard toll bridges, causeways and
roadways from Lennoxville to Cape
Lookout.
The officials of the company
were all leading business and pro
fessional men of Beaufort. Or. C.
S Maxwell, president; Dr. H. II.
HendrU. vice president and U. E.
Swann, secretary. Application waa
made to the Reconstruction Fin
ance Corp. for the loan of 1610,000
for the building of the bridges,
roads and cauaeways. Tolls were
to be charged over thla route to
reimburse the government
About thla time the port termin
al project at Morahead City waa
started, receiving the approval lor
the necessary loan white the Cap*
Lookout road failed to be builL
That: The Tuttle'a Grove Church
property out on Highway 101 was
built by the Society of Friends or
Quakers. It was known as the
Core Sound meeting house. The
meeting was founded in 1733, and
became a monthly meeting in 1738.
The meeting house was built large
ly by contributions from Rhode Is
land Quakers who sent 80 pounda
to be used for the purpose in 1737.
The ground upon which the meet
ing house stands was given by Hen
ry Stanton, the great grandfather
of Edward M. Stanton, who was
Secretary of War in Lincoln's cab
inet. The site consisted of two
acres and the deed states it waa In
"Cartright precinct."
In 1841, tile Core Sound meeting
became so small that the quarterly
meeting decided to cloee the
church and to tranafer ita remain
ing members to Contentnea month
ly meeting. There waa alao a meet
ing house in Craven County near
the Clubfoot Creek on Nenae River.
This building is not in existence.
That: We almost went daffy com
piling this material. It waa gather
ed from a collection of notes and
articles accumulated over a period
of years. If we have erred in any
of the statementa we are willing to
be corrected.
Thought for tho Day
Measure your fellowmaa by hi*
excellence, not by hia shortest*
ings.
If looking at tfca higber-upe
makes you discontented, look dawn
occasionally at these less fertuMtn
than yourself. -Frank U Cox.
A