NEWS-TIMES OFFICE
504 AraadeU St.
Mor?K?a<i City
6-41 75
CARTERET COUNTY NEWS-TIMES '?
44th YEAR, NO. 65. EIGHT PAGES MOREHEAD CITY AND BEAUFORT, NORTH CAROLINA TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1955 PUBLISHED TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS
Connie Deals Farmers Low Blow
Storm Clogs
Beaufort Sewers
Mayor Clifford Lewis Asks
People to Keep Trash
Out of Gutters
Beaufort's storm and sanitary
sewers are clogged and flooded as
the result of Connie.
Dan Walker, town clerk, said
the damage is of such a nature
that it's impossible to estimate in
dollars and cents, at this time, the
extent of it.
Mayor Clifford Lewis said that
due to the excellent work done
over the weekend by the street de
partment. garbage collection would
be back on schedule yesterday.
Garbage will be taken up on
east and west streets today and
Friday and on north and south
streets Monday and Thursday.
The mayor also made a special
plea that people comply with the
town ordinance requiring trash,
debris and garbage to be placed
in containers.
"Leaves and trash should not be
raked into the gutters because it
will stop up catch basins and flood
the streets," he said. Trash should
be placed in containers at the curb
on the day for collection.
He pointed out that each indi
vidual's cooperation is important
in helping the street department
mop up after the hurricane. Storms
and sanitary sewer lines, he added,
will be opened as quickly as pos
sible.
Front Street, Beaufort suffered
little damage. Water hardly rose
at all. The major damage was to
TV aerials and trees. Shingles
were also blown off roofs.
Red Cross Sets
Up Aid Office
The Red Cross has established
disaster headquarters in Beaufort
on the second floor of the court
house annex across from the draft
office.
Red Cross workers there will re
ceive applications for relief from
persons suffering loss as a result
of Connie.
Frank Hollowell, Red Cross di
rector from Goldsboro, said that
relief is given on the bask of need,
not loss.
If a person's financial resources
are insufficient to meet needs for
carrying on normal living, he or
she should apply to the Red Cross
office.
If upon investigation the case is
found worthy, funds will be pro
vided. They will be an outright
gift from the Red Cross and not a
loan, Mr. Hollowell said.
Alleged Attacker
Held by County
William Roger Hardy, Merrimon,
is being held in the county jail
without bond on a charge of as
sault and attempted rape of ?
minor tcmale. He will be given a
preliminary hearing in County Re
corder's Court Thursday morning.
According to Sheriff Hugh Sal
ter, the alleged attack, on a 5-year
old girl, took place late Saturday
afternoon at Merrimon. Hardy was
picked up by authorities at 6:30
p.m. The sheriff said the child is
all right. -
The attack allegedly took place
in a garage. The wife o( the garage
owner heard the child scream and
she sent her husband to investi
gate.
Sheriff Salter said that Hardy
apparently is mentally deficient.
Dr. Lenox Baker
Supervises Clinic
In spite of the storm and high
water. Dr. Lenox Bailer, Duke Uni
versity orthopedist, came to the
county Saturday to hold the ortho
pedic clinic. Representativea of
other state agencies, usually pre
sent, could not make it.
Thirty-two patients. 14 of them
new ones, attended.
Nurses aaaisting at the clinic
were Mr*. Beatrice Lewis and Mrs.
G T Splvey of . the County Health
Department
Volunteer assistants were Mn.
Walter Morris, Miss Chrlstobel Gll
llkln and Miae Nicoline Christian
sen, all Of Morehead City.
Traffic Heavy
Atlantic Beach was crowded
Sunday with sightseers Chief of
Police Herbert Griffin, Morehead
City, said his man were busy di
recting beach-bound UiBlc.
Local Hams Weren't Lying
(Editorial) ?
Amateur radio operators in this area during the storm
have come in for some unjust criticism. People say, and
it has been reported in upstate newspapers, that reports
of the storm were greatly exaggerated.
From commercial stations perhaps that is true, but
messages sent out by the amateur operators were facts
? because we were present when quite a few of them
were being sent.
In a period of excitement, people are ready and will
ing to believe the worst. A description of rain swirling
down in waves, wires breaking and tree limbs tumbling
down, is imagined by people who never saw such a
storm, as something out of the movies.
? You can report that 100 feet of ocean fishing pier
has been washed away and the listeners, depending on
who they are, willpicture something 1,000 feet long or
500 feet long, but very few will be able to picture an
actual hundred feet. It isn't because many of them don't
know how long a hundred feet is, it's just that in times
of excitement eVerybod.v is anxious to believe the worst.
People won't admit it, b?it they love tragedy ? especial
ly if they're not involved in it.
One of the commercial radio operators, we are told,
said waves were breaking over the seawall at Atlantic
Beach. Did the reporter say how high the seawall was?
Were they really waves breaking over the wall or was it
just spray from the waves crashing on the beach ? Some
one who never saw that seawall might have pictured it
as 10 or 12 feet above the beach surface, much higher
than it is.
Then reporters from news services, who'd never seen
a big storm before, came in here. They were pop-eyed.
Local folks who have been through hard storms real
ized that things could have gotten a lot worse and they
were fearful of that. But the reporters from Washing
ington, New York and other points were scared to death
at what they, saw at the moment.
And now after it's all over, it's easy to go around
pooh-poohing everything that was reported and saying
that the storm reports were grossly exaggerated. We ad
mit that commercial radio stations, in competition with
each other, may make things sound a bit worse than they
really are, but in the middle of a blow like Connie
NOBODY knows whether the worst is over or the worst
is yet to conje.
And as for the amateur radio operators who Hve "here
and were on the job, they were not Bending out a lot of
cock and bull. If people heard reports, garbled when re
layed by commercial stations or if they pictured things
worse than they actually were, that is not the fault of
the hams.
It could be that in future storms, we'll be mighty glad
some local ham operator is on the job.
Abandonment of Teen-Ager
Prevented by Authorities
Hams Closed Up
Friday Midnight
Amateur radio operators at the
ISO-watt station in Morehead City
closed shop at midnight Friday.
The station had been in operation
around the clock since Wednes
day.
More than 370 messages were
handled. The station was manned
by Adam Mayer and Ted Davis, as
sisted by novice ham operators of
the area who stood by to deliver
messages on foot il the telephones
went dead.
The operators consumed four
pounds of coffee during their vigil.
The station, located at Carteret
Electronics on Arendell Street
across from the Jefferson Hotel,
transmitted messages for Carolina
Power and Light, the Red Croaa,
civil defense and had to go on
emergency power for only about
an hour Thursday night.
To assist this area, Civil Air Pa
trol units from Gastonia. Shelby
and Taylorsville, came in with
emergency radio communications
equipment Friday morning. They
had evidently heard one of the
false reports that this area was
Just about washed off the map.
Coast andjG?od?tic Ships
Run Up to South Rivsr
The three Coast and Geodetic
Survey ships in this area took ref
uge at South River during Connie.
Commander John C. Mathison
said the vessels left Morehead City
Tuesday for a safer anchorage and
came back Saturday morning. They
had to anchor in Newport River
near the bridge until the bridge,
which had coil trouble, could b?
opened Saturday morning.
The survey's shoran stations at
Lola and Harkers Island were
taken down before the storm and
were scheduled for replacement
yesterday If Hurricane Diane
doesn't interfere, work la next
slated for the vessels off Cape
Lookout.
? Juvenile court authorities over
the weekend prevented a family
from leaving this county and aban
doning a 15-year-old girl who was
told to live with an aged grand
father.
Juvenile Court Judge A. H.
James said the mother and father
were stopped in thtir car as they
were setting out for Orlando, Fla.
The 15-year-old was the father's
stepchild and she was known to
have been in juvenile court in
Florida.
"It was a case of the parents try
ing to get rid of the girl here and
putting responsibility for her on
the county rather than assuming
the responsibility themselves," Mr.
James said.
The juvenile court judge also
uid that the 12-year-old boy picked
up for ransacking the J. D. Holt
home was released in custody of
his parents until an estimate of the
damage he caused can be obtained
from Mr. Holt.
Fleming's Pier Gone Again
c nolo by Jerry Schumacher
Connie took the part of Fleming's fishing pier which ran north and south. The east-west portion of
the pier is still standing. The pier, just east of the Atlantic Reach bridge, was totally destroyed by Hazel
last fall.
Beach Mayor Estimates
Damage at $200,000
Auto Hits Parked
Car in Morehead
A car smashed into a parked car
at 31(H) Arendcll St., Morehead
City Saturday at 6:40 p.m. and
Warren Davis Mann, Morehead
City, has been charged with care
less and reckless driving. He is
docketed for appearance in More
hed City Recorder's Court Mon
day.
Morehead City Police Officer
Homer Lewis investigated the ac
cident in which M. Leslie Davis
Jr., Beaufort, occupant of the
parked car, suffered bruises on
his head and back. Mann suffered
a bump on his nose. Davis was
taken to Morehead City Hospital
by the Dill ambulance and Mann
was taken to jail.
Mann, headed east on Arendell
Street in his lj>53 Nash, struck the
parked car, driven by Carl Chad
wick, Beaufort. Davis was thrown
from the car. Mann was also
thrown out of his vehicle by the
impact.
According to Patrolman Lewis,
he believed that Mann spotted the
police car on Arendell Street and
when he applied his brakes to
slow down, he struck the Chad
wick car.
Conifer in Storm Port
The USCGS Conifer was tied up
at the port terminal from Monday
night until Saturday noon when it
returned to its moorings at Fort
Macon. The ship was removed from
the dock at Fort Macon because
of the hurricane. There is not
sufficient space there for both the
Conifer and Agassiz in a big blow.
Connie Causes $60,000
Road Damage in County
Connie has cost the State High
way and Public Works Commiaaion
$60,000 in thia county alone. That's
the estimate of road damage made
over the weekend by R. Markham.
diviaion engineer, and C. Y. Grif
fin. district engineer.
With J. L. Humphrey, county
road superintendent, the engineers
inspected road damage here Sat
urday.
Mr. Humphrey aaid that most
of the trouble waa cauaed by heavy
rain and not high tide. The freah
water cauaed low areaa to flood,
waabed out approachea and carried
away fill by the tons
Highway 70 between Morehead
City and Newport waa blocked
just eaat of Newport when the
river overflowed ita banks and
covered the low portion of the
highway. The toad waa impaaaable
from Friday until 9:30 Sunday
morning
People going upstate had to go
by Highway 24 or Highway 1?1.
All bridges la the county are
intact, but there arc partial wash
outs on many approaches. One
way traffic was ordered at thr
Harkers Island Bridge until ap
proaches there can be repaired
At North River a bit of the hard
surface went and tome of the fill
washed out. The Beaufort Bridge,
seriously damaged in Haul, is
holding up and the Atlantic Beach
and Morehead City drawbridges
are intact, according to highway
officials.
Roads closed because of deep
water were the Deep Creek, Ro
berts Road. Stella Road, Wiggins
Neck, Mundine, Mill Creek and
Nine-Foot Roada. Reopened Sun
day were the Big Deep Creek, Ro
berta. Mundine and Nine-Koot
Roada
The highway department was
hindered in making quick repairs
because the road to the prison
camp, where the state geta all its
highway labor, was impaaaable
most of Saturday.
8m ROAM, Page (
? Mayor Alfred Cooper of Atlantic4
I Beach estimated damage to the
beach from Hurricane Connie at
$50,000 to $60,000 in private pro
perty and $100,000 to $150,000
damage in public property.
Public damage includes beach
erosion, street washouts, debris re
moval, the fixing of water pipes
and drainage.
Mr Coopei said, "We're mighty
thankful that the damage wasn't
as severe as Hurricane Hazel, or
as severe as it looked like it might
be All of the cottages at the beach
remained, intact, and work on
cleaning up the debris and drain
ing the low streets at the beach
started on Saturday."
Six extra state highway patrol
men from different parti of east
ern North Carolina were on duty
at the beach and in Morehead
City from Friday afternoon until
Sunday night. On Saturday morn
ing the only persons allowed at
the beach were property owners.
The blockade at the bridge was
to safeguard property owners from
looting. The mayor stated that he
was doing his best to protect the
cottages and their owners.
The beach was thrown open to
the public at 12 nooif Saturday and
all cars were stopped when they
left the beach. State Highway Pa
trolmen looked for loot and then
allowed the drivers to proceed. If
anythjng suspicious was seen in
the car, the driver's name was
taken and the information left
with Mayor Cooper.
Tractors and bulldozers were in
use on Saturday and again on Sun
day to get the beach streets open
for cottage owners who flocked
back Sunday.
The mayor thanked all of the
people who helped during the cri
sis and stated that the disaster re
lief program was extremely well
organized. He expressed special
thanks to the State Highway Pa
trol, the Salvation Army, Civil De
fense volunteers, the Atlantic
Beach Police and the Red Cross.
Sand Carried
All of the establishments along
the boardwalk with the exception
of the Pavilion, which is above the
others, had sand damage.
The Surfside Novelty and Sou
venir Shop, Clark Brothers Board
walk Bar, Davis Beach Head, Gig
gles and Buddy's Spot, had the
walks in front of their places
shoveled free of the sand Satur
day. Mechanical loaders were used
to remove the sand from the board
See BEACH, Page 2
Tide Table
Tide* at the Beaufort Bar
HIGH
LOW
Tuesday, Aug. 16
6:52 a.m.
7:13 p.m.
12:45 a.m.
12:57 p.m.
Wedneaday, Aug. 17
7:41 a.m.
8:01 p.m.
1:36 a.m.
1:50 p.m.
Thnraday, Aug. It
8 29 a.m.
8 48 p.m.
2:23 a.m.
2:39 p.m.
Friday, Aug. It
9:17 a.m.
9:34 p.m.
3:07 a.m.
3:25 p.m.
Water Covers State
Beach Parking Lot
Fort Macon State Park bath
ing area was closed Saturday and
Sunday because the parking lot
was under water. As of yester
day morning the lot had drained
considerably, but water was still
two feet ilfcep.
The only damage sustained at
the park was some shingles
blown off the picnic shelter and
off the homes of the superinten
dent and the ranger.
A tree was uprooted in the
fort itself, but it was reset.
Connie Brings
12 Inches Rain
Hurricane Connie unleashed a i
total of 12.43 inches of tain from
5 o'clock Wednesday afternoon
through 5 o'clock Friday afternoon. ,
according to E. Stam<*v Davis,
weather observer.
The high temperature for the <
week was registered Monday, 90.5
degrees, and a low of 70 degrees
was registered on both Thursday 1
and Saturday.
The temperatures for the week
as well as wind directions are as
follows:
Max. Min. Winds
Monday 90.5 78 E
Tuesday 87 78 ENE
Wednesday 88 78 NNE
Thursday 83 70 ESE
Friday 79 71 SW
Saturday 88 70 SSW
Sunday 89 78 ENE
county iarmers were tne naraest nil oy uonnie, ine^wp
day-storm. Crop damage runs into the hundreds of thou
sands of dollars. Rain flooded soybean and tobacco fields
and wind beat down tall stands of corn. "~~"
? It was just impossible for the 12-inch record rainfall to
be carried off through natural channels. Some farmers
naa nnisnea curing meir tooacco.
but much was still in the field.
Tobacco leaves that weren't
blown off were beaten down and
bruised. In the Crab Point area
about a third of the crop was still
on the stalk.
Profit Gone
Robert Laughton, Crab Point
farmer, said "Connie got my
profit."
Other farmers reported that the
rain was the most they had seen
in years. Fields all along Highway
101 stood in water.
R. M. Williams, county farm
agent, said farmers have been in
quiring about getting this section
declared a farm disaster area. Mr.
Williams said it may be possible,
but with Diane coming along it is
doubtful if the federal government
would rush anything through im
mediately. He said such emergen
cy relief may not be forthcoming,
if at all, until fall.
The Harlowe-Bachelor area, on
the east side of Adams Creek, suf
fered 100 per cent crop damage.
Ninety per cent destruction was
claimed in the Newport area.
Some farmers rushed to get their
tobacco in before the storm, but
roofs on two full tobacco barns
were reported blown off and the
tobacco damaged anyway.
This county was exposed to the
storm all day Thursday and Friday.
By mid-morning Thursday, winds
started to pick up and rain whipped
and lashed. This continued through
out Thursday and all Thursday
night, the wind blowing in 50-mile
-an-hour gusts from the east.
According to Chief Boatswain
Kenneth Baum, commanding offi
cer of Fort Macon Coast Guard Sta
tion, the worst of the storm passed
here at 8:40 a.m. Friday with winds
blowing 70 to 75 miles an hour. At
7:10 the barometer read 28.40.
Wind Shifts
At about 11:30 the wind started
to shift to the southeast and sbutK
and not until early afternoon did
it present the longed-for evidence
that the storm was about over,
when it went to the northwest.
At 8:15 Friday morning no long
distance phone calls could be made
out of the county. Local phones,
for the most part stayed in opera
tion during the storm, but Beau
fort phones especially were fouled
up over the weekend.
uovernor Visits
Gov. Luther H. Hodges made a
lour of coastal counties Friday. He
paid a call to the Morehead City
Municipal Building at 11:45 and
fhen went to Beaufort. He was
rlriven here in his automobile from
Wilmington and returned upstate
via New Bern.
Coastal areas north of here had
extremely high tides and suffered
considerable damage.
At Carteret Electrons, a large
plate glass window blew out and
at the nearby boat shed part of a
wall was blown over. Piers in
Bogue Sound fared badly ? in ad
lition to commercial fishing piers
the pier at the Bogue Sound Club
was washed away and the pier at
Camp Morehead seriously damaged.
And yesterday, the season's
fourth storm, Diana, was reported
headed this way. At noon Diane
was 550 miles east of St. Augus
tine, Fla.. travelling west north
west at 15 miles an hour. Winds
were reported as high as 115 miles
an hour with gale winds extending
out from the center over an area
of 350 miles.
Effects of the stwm were expect
ed to be felt here this morning.
Radio Failure
Hampers Power
Line Repairs
Loss of the power company's
own radio communications slowed
repair of power lines considerably,
George Stovall, manager of Caro
lina Power and Light Co., report
ed Saturday.
He paid tribute to Ted Davis
and Adam Mayer, amateur radio
operators who were the power
company's only communication be
tween here and sources of addi
tional crews and repair equipment
upstate. As soon as CP&L's radio
technician came in and the trouble
was fixed, repair moved along a
lot faster.
Beaufort was without power
from early Thursday morning un
til noon Friday, and even after
that, certain circuits were out,
Beaufort's trouble started when a
feeder pole back of Neal Campen's
farm on Highway 101 broke in
half. The pole carried the 33,000
volt line.
Mr. Stovall said that Beaufort
was not picked up on the 33,000
volt line from Morehead City be
cause they didn't know at the
time how bad the storm would be
and if too heavy a load put out
Morehead City, utility companies
and the hospital would be com
pletely cut off.
A roof which flew off a shed at
the Morehead City Shipbuilding
company knocked down a trans
former at 4th and Fisher Streets
and a couple poles went down on
Highway 24 near Alton Bland's
farm.
Most of the trouble was caused
by tailing trees and branch?#. A
pole broken off at Marshallberg
(stopped power flow down east and
another pole went down at Money
Island, east of Atlantic Beach.
Power was cut off at Atlantic
Beach Thursday nifht because
Mayor A. B Cooper said the beach
area was being evacuated and no
body would be around to spread
an alarm if fire broke out.
The power company had five
tree crews in operation, two radio
equipped service trucks and a line
truck.
Before the storm became serious,
CP&L asked if White Ice Cream
and Milk Co. and Maola could
bring in dry ice for use in homo
freezers. The dairies complied.
At Havelock the power was off
in Slocum Village 12 hours and
power flow was interrupted sev
eral times in Hancock Village.
Both power and phone lines were
down.
Water was over the highway al
the intersection of Highways 101
and 70 al Havelock right after the
storm. Streets were flooded be
cause the sewers couldn't carry
the water away fast enough.
Because CP&L radio was out,
REA radio facilities were used by
both power companies at Havelock.
In charge of CP&L repairs there
was Guy Lawrence.
Water 2 feet deep was reported
in the CP&L office, New Bern.
Mr. Stovall commended his crewi
for the fine job they did and ex
pressed appreciation to power cus
tomers for their patience and con
sideration while repairs were be
ing made.
500 Seek Refuge in Sturdy
Buildings During Big Blow
An estimated 500 persona took '
refuge in the Atlantic School, 1
Beaufort courthouac and the More- 1
head City Municipal Building dur
ing the height of Connie. Schools
and churches in varioua commu- (
nitics throughout the county also
sheltered folks from the storm.
J. D. Potter, who was delegated ,
by Ute Red Cross to look after
refugees at the courthouse, esti
mated the number there at 75.
Cots were provided from Cherry
Point and food was supplied
through the Red Crow.
In charge of refugees at the At
lantic School were J. W Johnson,
principal, and Kelly Robinson, jan
itor. Refugees took their own food
with them and slept at the school.
Students from Duke Marine Lab
oratory and several families were
sheltered at Beaufort Scheel. B.
E. Tarkington. principal, and Mrs.
Tarkington were in charae.
At Cedar Islsnd the T at the
Cedar Island Fishing Pitt was
laken off by wind and high water
and one boat sank, but otherwise
damage at Cedar Island was neg
ligible.
By Saturday morning the island
was still without electricity how
ever.
Folks at the east end of the
island went to homes at the west
end to escape high water.
Among the evacuees who made
their home at the Municipal Build
ing from Wednesday afternoon un
til late Friday were six families
from Salter Path. Many Salter
Pather* went to Cherry Point to
escape high water and wind.
Others at the building included
persons from many other parts of
the country who have cottages at
the beach, Including a man and
his family from Waynesboro, Pa.
ftcMla Grounded
A (roup of U Se? Scouts from
Plymouth, en route to Wilming
ton, as well at their skipper Dr.
Alban Papineau, and Mate Jewel
Hardiaao made their headquarter*
at the building Thursday after
noon.
The Sea Scouts stayed aboard
their craft, the SCS Albemarle,
from Monday through Thursday
and then decided to get on dry
land.
One of the folks from Salter
Path. Cicero (Dick) Willis. 47,
stated that his stay at the build
ing marked his third visit to Mora
head in eight years.
Power went off twice during the
afternoon Thursday, and an aux
iliary motor was used to keep the
police radio in operation on both
occasions.
Stores in Beaufort and More
head City closed at about noon
Thursday and the majority didn't
reopen until Saturday morning,
waiting for the brunt of the hurri
cane to pass.
Thursday afternoon the fire
alarm at the More head City station
sounded half a dozen times, with
See SHELTERS. Pag? I