North Carolina Newspapers

NEWS-TIMES OFFICE 804 Atm4*U St. Merwkeed City ?-41 75 CARTERET COUNTY NEWS-TIMES ?* 44th YEAR, NO. 60. THREE SECTIONS TWENTY PAGES MOREHEAD CITY AND BEAUTOBT, NORTH CAROLINA FRIDAY, JULY 29, 1956 PUBLISHED TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS Jury Says 'Accident Unavoidable' Board Adopts Amendment On Scrap Fish Regulation As a result of complaints, which Chairman Cecil Morris of the com mercial fisheries committee said the state had been receiving, an amendment to the state fisheries regulation regarding scrap fish was adopted this week by the Board of Conservation and De velopment. The complaints called state of ficials' attention to the number of undersized fish taken in shrimp trawls Chairman Morris said that persons who believe the taking of these scrap fish are depleting sup ply, asked that the proper author ities take action to stop the prac tice. These comments were made by Chairman Morris at the Saturday meeting of the commercial fisher ies committee at Camp Glenn. As of midnight last Thursday a regu lation went into effect making selling of such scrap fish to dehy drating companies unlawful The regulation also made it unlawful for shrimpers or dealers to possess such small fish. The new regulation, adopted by the board since that time,' now says that such scrap fish may be sold to plants by dealers providing fish are taken incidental to shrimp trawling and providing that the scrap fish do not exceed by 25 percent the amount of shrimp or edible-sized food fish taken. For example, if a shrimp trawl takes 100 pounds of shrimp, small fish, crabs and other sea animals, any trash weighing over 25 pounds may not be sold to a dehydrating plant. The regulation, an amendment to Rule 2-154 under Menhaden on page 36 of the fisheries regulation See RULING, Page 7 729 Children _ Get Polio Shots By noon yesterday 728 children had received their second polio shot Mrs. Leota Hammer, county health nurse, said that she is pleased with the response. A total of 1,179 first and second graders were eligible for the treatment. Yesterday was the last day of a two-week schedule set up for ad ministration of the second inocu lation. A few of the children who want ed the shot were not given it be cause they had colds or were run ning temperatures. Some even had mumps. Mrs. Hammer said if those chil dren come to th? health office in Beaufort on a Tuesday afternoon during the next two weeks or to the Morehead City Hospital annex on a Thursday afternoon during the next two weeks, they will be given the shot Fire Damages Motel Office One hundred dollars damage was caused by a fire at the Frontier Village Motel, Atlantic Beach, at 2 a.m. Wedneaday. Fire broke out in the roof of the office. Shelby Freeman, owner and man ager, said the blaze probably start ed from wiring. Flames were dis covered by Pollcc Chief Murphy Jenkins and Officer Griffin of the beach police force aa they were going off duty. The officers roua?4 Mr. and Mrs. Freeman and helped tbena get the fire under control. Firemen fin ished the job. "If the officers hadn't discov ered the flames, this whole place probably would have burned," Mr. Freeman aaid. Harkeri l?land Girl Hit by Lightning Monday Joan Gaakill. 17-year-old daugh ter of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Gas kill, Harkers Island, was dia charged from the Morehead Citj Hospital Wednesday where sh< had been treated tor burns cause* by a lightning flaih. Miss Gaakill waa in her hom< near an electric switch box about 7 p.m. Monday when lightning evi dently struck a short-wave radi< antenna fastened to a tree outsldi the house. The lightning entered the house and caused Miss Gaa kill's injury. She waa admitted to the More head City Hospital Monday aighi at 7:45. Two Different Views Given on Scrap Fish There are several opinions on whether small food fish killed in trawls cause the supply of food fish to dwindle. Two sides of the controversy are presented below. Many scientists doubt that* shrimping and long hauling opera tions cause a depletion in the food fish supply. Some scientists say that the sea is like a garden and has to be "weeded out." In other words, tak ing out some of the small fish al lows those remaining to grow larger. Others point out that the life in the sea is constantly being replen ished with nutrients pouring in from the rivers of the land and the amount of f-ish in the sea cannot be seriously affected by what some term "over-fishing." Wayne Heydecker, secretary treasurer of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission corh ments on the matter as follows: "It has . . . been popular to blame pollution, or the draggers, or the seiners, as the causes of deple tion, but we are gradually learning that nature does not maintain a constant supply. On the contrary, fish populations fluctuate widely, even in the absence of fishing pressure, and sometimes small changes in the temperature or sa linity of waters result in a practi cal disappearance of fish which for merly frequented such waters. In some recorded cases temperature changes have resulted in the death of thousands and even millions of fish v . . like the tile fish, which art ' extremely senlitive to such HmpiiMlMM dilfiwi? w ?? "In 1991, for example, there was quite an outcry about the alleged damage to migratory finfish result ing from shrimp trawling in Pam lico Sound. The Chesapeake Bay section consisting of Virginia and Maryland with North Carolina rep resentatives participating, appoint ed a committee consisting of the administrators of the three states to study this problem. "To assist them there was ap pointed a committee of scientists from the fishery laboratories of the three states and South Caro lina and of the U. S. Fish and Wild life Service. This committee of scientists after a field trip and study of past records reported on Nov. 1, 1951, that there was n* evi dence that shrimp trawling in Pam lico Sound was affecting the croaker fisheries of Maryland and Virginia. "Although shrimp trawling catches often contain large quanti ties of small fish, some of which are young food fish, there is no evi dence that this destruction is af fecting the commercial supply. The See ONE VIEW, Page 6 J. V. Waters, Morehead City, who was working the shrimper Mary B in Pamlico Sound in 1948, claims that the destruction of small food fish is tremendous. He says that the only way to stop the de struction is to prohibit shrimping in North Carolina inland waters "like they do in South Carolina." Especially does he say that shrimp ing should be prohibited in Pamli co Sound. Mr. Waters, who no longer shrimps, said that on one day in 1948 the Mary B made eight drags, each drag an hour long. With each drag they got two bushels of trash fish and the average ran about four times more trash than shrimp. He says that in sight of his trawler that day in Pamlico Sound were 180 other boats. If each got 16 bushels of trash fish that day, that was a total of 2,880 bushels. Figuring this at 40 pounds a bushel. Mr. Waters continues, the total trash fish taken that day would be 115,200 pounds. Multi | ply that by 30 days and the total number of pounds of small fish destroyed in one month would be 3.456,000 pounds. "I can vouch for and prove all this," Mr. Waters declared. He em phasized that his figures were con servative. His boat was pulling a 50-foot trawl and many others 50 110-foot trawls. He said if the trash fish had been allowed to grow, the rfeo*' p MBit HP available -to fishermen would Hfcve been con siderably more in a year or two. "Pamlico Sound is the backbone of the coast," Mr. Waters declared. He claims that it is the source of most of North Carolina's edible fish. Mr. Waters remarked that the sound has only a wind tide, not being affected by the flow of the ocean tides. He said all the other shrimpers were throwing overboard dead un dersized fish and subsequent drags would bring up the fish that had previously been thrown over by other boats. "Because the tide doesn't carry the fish out, they just stay on the bottom and shrimp can't thrive where the bottom's polluted." Mr. Waters declared. He said that after the trawl was hauled in and the tail bag dumped, th? boat had to head into the wind while the net take was culled be eausc the stencb of the fish being thrown overboard was so terrific. "It used to be that anybody could go out here anywhere and catch a mess of fish any time they wanted to," said Mr. Waters, "but See OTHER VIEW, Page 2 Life Publishes Photo by Jerry A picture taken by Jerry Schu macher, Morehead City photogra pher, appears as the picture of the week in the current issue of Life magazine. The picture shows Sid Willis, Beaufort, being bathed with a load of ammonium sulphate as a crane overhead his trurk over shot its mark at the wiorehead City port. Mr. Willis was sitting in his truck awaiting the crane's dump ing of a load of ammonium sul phate from a cargo ship into his truck. Mr. Schumacher happened to pass by at just the right moment and snapped the photograph. State Patrolmen Call Attention To New Laws State highway patrolmen of this county who have recently returned from a refresher course at Chapel Hill, call motorists' attention to new motor vehicles laws passed by the recent legislature. County patrolmen taking the course were R. H. Brown, J. W. Sykes, W. E. Pickard and W. J. Smith Jr. Now four, instead of two classes of drivers, must have chauffeurs' licenses. They are the following: those (jmplapecj fol1 tbc principle our pose of operating a motor venicle (whether bus or truck); those who drive motor vehicles while trans porting persons or property for compensation (such as taxi driv ers, haulers); those who drive property-carrying motor vehicles licensed for more than 15,000 pounds (except tfce owner of a private carrier vehicle); and those who drive passenger-carrying mo tor vehicles of more than nine passenger capacity, except the driv er of a church or school bus whu holds a valid operator's license Highway patrolmen also, point out that new law requires a car to dim its lights when approaching a car from the rear. At present lightf must be dimmed when ap proaching a vehicle. The new reg ulation says that when coming within 500 feet of a vehicle from behind, lights must be dimmed also. There are also new regulations on lighting equipment for trucks, trailers and similar hauling vehi cles. Further information on the laws may be had by calling at the State Highway Patrol office in the municipal building, Morehead City. Welcoming Miss North Carolina . PHoto by J?rry Hchomai her 1 Mill North Carolina, Faje Arnold, recehrea the key to Mortbead City froai Mayor George Ml] Sondiy afternoon at the Beaafort-Marehead City Airport. With hint an, left to right. Mayor C. T. Lawta of Beaafort. Barbara Ptner (Mlaa Beaufort), Mary Ellen Chaateea (Mlaa Down Eaat), aad Carolyn Oatlvk [ (Mlaa Morehead City). Standing la the backgriaaif are Cajrt. E. D. UrraoaU of Piedmont Alrllaaa, who piloted the fUae, and the flight Mtaadaf, B. E. Fuquay. ^ Luke Mason Gets Two-Year Term Moroheod City Driver Pays $125 Fine, Costs In County Court Luke Mason, Beaufort, was sen tenced to two years on the roads when a suspended sentence of June 14 from Beaufort Recorder's Court was invoked Tuesday morning by Judge L. R. Morris in Carteret County Recorder's Court. Mason was found to have brok en the terms of his suspended sen tence. He was picked up for pub lic drunkenness July 20 by Assist ant Police Chief Carlton Garner and Officer Steve Beachem of the Beaufort Police Department. Mason stated that he didn't know he was on a suspended sen tence, but said he was told by Of ficer Gamer and he had read about It in THE NEWS-TIMES He asked that he be allowed 24 hours to get out of town, but Judge Morris told Mason that he had invoked the sentence on himself by going out and drinking "two cans of beer" on the night in question. Edward Harold Culpher, More head City, pleaded guilty to driv ing drunk and carelcss and reck less driving. He was fined $125 and costs in lieu of three months on the roads. According to testimony offered by Henry Smith of Crab Point, the defendant was raising cain with his automobile Sunday morn ing at 12:30 a.m. when he "knocked down a post and a mailbox" in Crab Point. Mr. Smith stated that a Bill Kelly tailed the defendant's ve hicle and that the defendant was travelling better than 75 miles per hour. Culpher said that all his trouble stemmed from his marital diffi culties, and that his wife lived in the vicinity of where he was driv ing in a drunken condition. He said that he took to drinking when his wife left him. Pays $50, Coats ShWWBod R. Hawlcy was fined $50 and costs for careless and reck less driving. Pines of $10 and costs were le vied against Jose Antonio Hernan dez, speeding 70 miles per hour; Guy Lewis, public drunkenness and resisting arrest, 'and Roger Carroll Woodard, careless and reckless driving and speeding. See COURT, Page, 7 Town's Two Guard Outfits Merge First Lt. Merrit E. Bridgman, commanding officer of Battery C, 690th Field Artillery North Carolina National Guard, an nounced today that all personnel of the Beaufort National Guard unit have been transferred to Morehead City. The merging of the two organ izations brings the total strength of the Morehead City battery to five officers and 52 enlisted men. Anyone interested in becoming a member of the National Guard can get additional information by contacting Sgt. Ben Jones at the Camp Glenn Armory or call ing 6-5045. County Residents Hurt in Wreck In Virginia Mrs Francis P. Whitley, More head City, was critically injured and her 15-year-old son Ben was badly hurt in an automobile acci dent early Monday afternoon near Parksley, Va. Mrs. Whitley has a brain con cussion, four broken ribs and an injured back. Ben has a very se vere cut in his leg and a slight concussion. Also injured in the wreck were Mrs. Harry Burns, Morehead City, driver of the car; Miss Amanda Simpson, Beaufort; and Mrs. Whit ley's 13-ycar-old daughter, Jo Ann. Mrs. Burns and Miss Simpson had slight cuts and bruises and Jo Ann has a broken little finger on her left hand. The accident occurred when the car left the road, went over an embankment and turned over sev eral times. The occupants were thrown out. The automobile, a 1952 Chevrolet owned by Mr. Burns, was demoliahed. Mrs. Whitley and Ben were brought by ambulance from North ampton Memorial Hospital, N?s sawdox, Va., to Morehead City Hos pital Wednesday morning. Time of the accident was be tween 2 and 2:30 Monday. The party was returning from New York where they attended a church convention. Miss Simpson was in Northamp ton hospital for observation until Tuesday night. In th? Spotlight Prominent Newport Businessman Sponsors Charity Turkey Shoot By UAL SHAPIRO Now an established custom at Newport is the Christmas turkey shoot sponsored by Curtis T. Can non. Mr. Cannon, one of the county's better "mule tradin"' businessman, started the turkey shoot five years , ago when he was presented wKh a 45-pound bird. (He had loaned the owner of the fowl $29). The money he received from those engaging in the shoot was sent to needy families in the county. The first year *45 whs sent out. Last year a total of $333 was realiied and Cannon as Mr. Cannon worded it, "I was able to out 33 checks last year at Christmas time, and I know that the people who received the checks were truly grateful. I have received many wonderful let ters. They should have been sent to those who engaged in the shoot and made the money possible." Those who contest in the annual event, which takes place in New port the Saturday before Christmas Day, come from all parts of Eart ern Carolina. Many women take part. Paper targets are set up and the fellow coming nearest the bull's eye wins a turkey. He pays, of course, for the privilege of taking a crack at the target and proving his ability as a marksman. Lhret at Hemeplaee Mr. Cannon, a native of Carteret County, still lives on the same property on which he was born at a fork on the Nine-Foot Road near Newport. He recently built a new home there. Recalling his childhood and school days, he remembers that teachers of that day received the grand aum of *30 a month. The number of school days depended on how prompt the cltiiena were in paying their taxes. Mr. Cannon worked on his tether's term U1 ha was 1(. Ha Photo by Aycock Brown Curt Cannoa . . . merchant and country aqulre usually attended school two or three months a year, depending upon the tax collection. Hia first job netted him S cents a day when he went out into the tobacco fields. The workers at his father's farm in that day received SO to 60 cents a day if they were men and 33 to 40 cents a day if they were women. His father's farm had 290 acres, 70 to 80 of which were cleared. The land cost his dad a total o( *250 and was bought following the war between the states. Today the estate, left by Thomas T. Cannon to hia children (he died when Curt was 17) haa increased many times in value. Mr. Cannon'a farm today la 200 acres, with 89 cleared. He raises tobacco, corn, peanuts and a few sweet potatoes After Cuii's father died, he stay ed on the farm until he was 18 and then went to work with the Blade Lumber Co., becoming the manager of the firm In three years. While engaged in this work for the lumber company he still helped out at the farm. Following that wort, be went with the Canfleld Lumber Co. in Onslow County lor 18 month*, and then decided it was time to work for himself, rather than the other fellow. Returned to Farm He returned to the farm, and de cided 18 yearn ago to go into the mule and fertilizer business He built the business into a good one See SPOTLIGHT, Page ? Tide Table Tidei il the BCMfort Bar HIGH LOW Friday. July ? 4:01 a.m. 10:18 a.m. 4:34 p m. 1108 p.m Saturday, July 30 5:02 a m. 11:07 a m. 5:28 p.m. 1154 p.m. Monday, July 11 5:58 a m . 11:55 a m. 6:19 p.m. ???, - Monday, Aug. 1 6:44 a m. 12 *0 a m. 6:57 p.m. 12:41 P "?? Tueaday, Aug. t 7:26 a.m. 1:24 a m. 7:35 p.m. 126 pjB. Verdict Given^at Inquest On Death of Marine A coroner's jury Monday night ruled unavoidable th? accident in which Pfc. Clarence Ayres, USMC, was killed Sunday night. The inquest was conducted by Coroner Les lie Springle in the Morehead City Municipal Building. As the result of the jury's action, Coroner Springle said he could not hold the driver of the car, Mrs. Bonner Guth Commission Elects President Frank Cheek Succeeds W. B. Chalk as Head Of Recreation Group Frank Cheek was elected presi dent of the Morehead City Recrea tion Commission at a meeting Mon day night at the Recreation Build ing He succeeds W. B. Chalk. The selection of a vice-president was tabled until the next meeting. Two members took their places on the commission. They are Ethan Davis and Mrs. J. W. Thompson. John Richard Thompson, direc tor of the Negro Recreation pro gram, reported an average daily attendance of 65 boys and girls. The school grounds are used for outdoor activities and the lodge hall for indoor games. Fred Lewis, director at the rec reation program, gave his activi ties attendance report which showed a total of 28,555 for indoor activities this summer and an es timated 5,250 persons attending outdoor activities. Mr. Lewis reported that the sum mer program had a better attend ance than in the past, with more activities provided for the young sters. Among these activities were ping pong, shuffleboard, dancing, badminton, horse shoes, carpet golf, singing, tennis, basketball, baseball, Softball, volleyball, cards, checkers, Chinese checkers, scrab ble and croquet. The recreation program will con tinue until Aug. 20. Hellion Carries Officials R. C. Kirchofer's yacht. Hellion IV, carried members of the Board of Conservation and Development on a trip through Carteret waters Tuesday morning. They conducted business aboard. Mr. Kirchofer is president of the Morehead City Shipbuilding Corp. me, wioreneao my, ior any iuriner action. Private Ayres was killed instant ly when struck near the Atlantic Beach bridge by the car Mrs. Guth rie was driving. A buddy with him was seriously injured. On the witness stand at the in quest, John Ballou said he was be hind Mrs. Guthrie when the acci dent occurred and he stopped. She got out and waited in his car until the police car arrived. According to Ballou's testimony, Mrs. Guthrie passed him as he was going by Jimmy's Place on the beach, then she turned north on the center street which divides the two triangular lots on the beach, but he continued around by the Idle Hour Amusement Center. He said she may have been about a half mile ahead of him when the Marines were struck. Another wit ness, Vernon Goodwin, presented testimony similar to Ballou's. Patrolmen Testify On the witness stand State High way Patrolman J. W. Sykes, who investigated the accident, described the position Ayres' body was in when found. The auto was about 6 feet ahead of it and the body was lying half on the highway, the head and shoulders on the shoulder of the road. He estimated that the car rolled 153 feet after the impact. Glass was scattered on the road and the wind shield wiper and the radio antenna on the Guthrie's 1955 Ford were broken off. Patrolman Sykes, who went to the police station with Mrs. Guth rie, said he could smell alcohol on her breath. He said she told him she had had two or three drinks on the way from Raleigh to More hetd City, a trip she had made earlier that night. S^ate Highway Patrolman Pick ar a was caltat tittlM stand And he described damage to the Guthrie car in detail. He said the damage was to the right front of the car. The right head light was smashed, the hood on the right side was dented and the right windshield cracked. Constable Takes Stand Constable George Smith, Atlan tic Beach, was called to the stand. He said he arrived just before Highway Patrolman Sykes did and was directing traffic. He said he saw Mrs. Guthrie get out of her car and into the police car and claimed he couldn't smell alcohol on her breath. On the stand Mrs. Guthrie told how she had come back from Ra leigh that night with her husband and sister. On the road between Wilson and Greenville they stopped for something to cat and she said she also had something to drink. When Luther Hamilton Jr., at torney for Mrs. Guthrie, asked if they were big drinks or little drinks, she replied, "Three good sized jiggers." She said that after she got to Morehead City and put her husband and sister out she went to the beach to cool off. She claimed that she was not going over 35 miles an hoar when she hit the Marines. She said she remembered seeing them ahead of her car on the right, then she felt a bump and didn't know what she had hit. A car com ing south on' the beach bridge had its lights on high beam and she said she had blinked her lights at It. The Marine injured was Pfc. William A. Metzger who was taken to Camp Lejeunq Hospital. He had a compound fracture of the right leg. County Court Set for Thursday Beginning Thursday. Aug 4, Carteret County Recorder's Court will be in session Thursday instead of Tuesday. The session will be gin at 10 a m. A. H. James, clerk of court, said Ihe change has been made so that state highway patrolmen can ap pear as witnesses Since patrolmen work all weekend. Mondays and Tuesdayi are their holidays. Some are on duty each of those daya and some are not Those who are not are deprived of their day off if they have to appear in court. Since they don't always appear, a backlog of continued casea Is being built up. Mr. James said. It was decided that Thursday would be a better day for all court officers and highway patrolmen, thus the chance waa announced by Judge Lambert Morris la court Tuesday.