PRIZE. WINNING
NEWSPAPER
of ft*
TAR HEEL COAST
CARTERET COUNTY NEWS-TIMES
46th YEAR, NO. 89. THREE SECTIONS EIGHTEEN PAGES MOREHEAD CITY AND BEAUFORT, NORTH CAROLINA TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1957 PUBLISHED TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS
Olan Bell Will Serve Life for Rape
-4- a a mm a
Judge Gives Wood row Wilson
Four-Year Prison Sentence
Woodrow Wilson, Beaufort
ed guilty yesterday to unlaw
sault 011 a female. Judge Wi
week's term of criminal court,
on the roads.
The judge requested the cl
Army to Cut Lax
Reserve Units
Recent reductions in the active
Army's strength make it impera
tive that the mobilization readiness
of the Army Reserve be improved,
according to M/Sgt. Daniel H.
West, unit advisor for the Army's
local Reserve units.
Ineffective units arc to be elim
inated, he said.
Sergeant West added that the ]
need for reductions was caused by
numerous factors, including a 300,
000-man limitation upon paid drill
spaces and the need to absorb into
units the trained personnel being
returned from active Army duty.
To be eliminated arc those units
which aro not at full strength.
Sergeant West pointed out that
the availability of training centers,
such as armories, will be factors
in the determination of which units
will be inactivated.
Court Opens;
Jury is Named
The one wcck criminal term of
superior court opened at 14 a.m.
yesterday in the courthouse, Beau
fort.
After the grand jury was im
paneled. Judge Walter Bone gave
them Iheir instructions, briefly, ex
plaining that he was suffering
from throat trouble. lie said that
since the jury had an experienced
foreman, Kenneth C. Wagner, he
would know what to do.
The judge asked the jury to in
spect the county jail, hear indict
ments and determine whether
there is reasonable probability
that the defendant committed the
crime described in the indictment.
Members of the grand jury, in
addition to Mr. Wagner, arc C. T.
Whitehead. Ernest Guthrie, Robert
lludnall, George D. Willis, S. A.
Perkins, Elwood Willis, John A.
West, Paul Branch, Thomas Res
pess.
Dallas Arthur, Manley Willis,
Amasa Murdoch, Clyde G. Willis,
Julian Murphy, B. F. Willis, Cla
rence D. Adams and Thomas Eurc.
C. L. Davis was sworn in as
grand jury officer.
Cars Collide
East of Beaufort
A car driven by William Clifton
Rose, Markets Island, ran into the
rear of a ear driven by Carl Sad
ler, Beaufort, Sunday afternoon.
The accident occurred at 4:15
p.m. on Highway 70 eight miles
cast of Beaufort.
Sadler told Highway Patrolman
W. J. Smith Jr. that he had slowed
to avoid hitting an oncuming car.
Sadler was headed west. Mrs. Sad
ler was shaken up when the Rose
car struck them from the rear,
otherwise there were no injuries.
Sadler was driving a 1949 Nash
and Rose a 1952 Ford. Damage to
each car was estimated at $200.
Boy Scouts Win
Football Tickets
Five county Boy Scoot troops
reached their goals in the Boy
Scout roundup this fall. Each troop
that added five or more new mem
bers got tickets to a college fool
ball game.
Troops 334, Morchcad City, and
201. Beaufort, attended the East
Carolina - Appalachian game at
Greenville Saturday night. Troops
130, Morchcad City, 228, Marshall
berg. and 407, Stacy, will attend
the UNC-Virginia game at Chapel
Hill Nov. 30.
Scoutmasters of the winning
troops are Gerald Davis, 334,
Ethan Davis Jr., 130, Graydon
Glover, 201, R. A. Sellers, 228, and
J. T. Lewis, 407.
, through his attorney plead-'
ful entry of a home and as
ilter Bone, presiding at this
sentenced him to four years
erk of court to attach to the
prison committal papers a medical
report on the defendant's mental
state.
Wilson was charged with at-:
tempted rape. The victim of the I
assault, 12-year-old Gloria Jean
Matthews, was the first witness on |
the stand. Under questioning by
Robert Rouse Jr., solicitor, she
said that one day last April she,
and a girlfriend were playing hop- j
scotch in front of her house on
Broad Street, Beaufort.
She said that the defendant, Wil
son, came up to her and her girl
friend and asked them their names |
and where they lived. Soon, she
continued, her girlfriend's mother |
came and took her home, and she,
Gloria Jean, went into her house.
Man Follows
She said that Wilson followed herj
and asked her where her mother j
was. She replied that her mother
wasn't there, then went to the
phone in the bedroom to call her
sister for help.
She said she had dialed the num
ber, when Wilson took the receiver
and put it back on the hook. Then
he stuck a knife at her chest and
told her to get on the bed. She
testified that he pulled her dress
above her knees.
Gloria Jean said she heard her
mother coming and when she told
the man her mother was coming,
he let go of her and she ran out
of the house.
While she was telling her mother
what had happened, she said Wil
son came out of the house, got on
his bicycle and rode away.
Claud Wheatly, attorney appoint
ed to represent the defendant,
cross-examined the girl. She said
that the incident happened about j
5 p.m. and that she had never seen
Wilson before that day. She stated (
that she was in the seventh grade
and that the girlfriend playing
hopscotch with her was her same j
age.
Mother Testifies
The child's mother, Hattic Bell
Stewart (formerly Hattic Bell Mat- '
thews), testified that she had gone
to get some fish while the girls i
Sec WILSON, Page 2
Mel West Gets Key to City
From Mayor George W. Dill
Moichcad City Mayor George W
city to Mel West Saturday afterno
municipal building and cwngratulal
Bermuda in an outboard motorboa
Mel West was escorted into
Morehead City Saturday afternoon
in a manner befitting one of the
town's most famous sons. Two po
lice cars, with sirens going full
blast, escorted the new Lincoln he
was riding in, to the municipal
building.
A crowd of about a hundred had
gathered to welcome him home.
Mayor George Dill headed the
greeting delegation and gave Mel
a key to the city.
T. T. (Tom) Potter, president
of the Fabulous Fishermen, thank
ed Mel for taking the FabFish flag
to Bermuda. Joe DuBois of the
chamber of commerce thanked
him for all the publicity he had
given the area.
Master of ceremonies Walt Niemi
then introduced Mel's publicity
agent, Charles Markey. Mr. Mar
key briefly discussed Mel's trip
and said his future plans would be
disclosed later.
Mel said that he was thankful
for the number of people who
. Dill, left, presented a key to the
on. Mr. West was greeted at the
led for his good try to make it to
t.
prayed for him and said that he
felt that "God was my mate." He
added that if he had known so
many people were rooting for him
he would have tried even harder
to make the trip a success.
As soon as the official welcome
was completed he was handed a
memorandum from the Morehead
City Police Department. It said:
Dear Mel,
Please add these items to your
bill:
5 boxes of aspirins @ .25 $ 1.2S
200 cups of coffee (g> .10 20.00
200 hours of no sleep @ 1.50
per hour 300.00
25 new gray hairs (priceless)
Extra electricity for tv,
radio, lights 5.00
Recharge car battery for
radio 1.50
Extra food 15.00
Worry tax 56.25
$400.00
It was signed by Sgt. Bill Condic,
a long time friend.
Governor Hodges to Replace
Ports Authority Members
All members of the present State
Ports Authority arc to be dis
missed. New appointees arc ex
pected to be named this week.
Gov. Luther Hodges stated Fri
day at Raleigh that he had reluc
tantly come to the conclusion that
a new ports authority should be
appointed.
These developments followed
close on the heels of an SPA meet
ing at Charlotte last week, a meet
ing described by ports authority
public relations personnel as a
"routine meeting."
Via the grapevine, however, it
was learned that the SPA usually
has a closed meeting prior to the
publicly-announced open meetings.
Whether the impending fireworks
were discussed then has not been
ascertained.
It is entirely probable, however,
that none of the SPA members,
including the ports director. Col.
Richard S. Marr, knew the ax
was about to fall.
It was further conjectured that
Colonel Marr may have hoped to
slave off the inevitable by present
ing a glowing report on port suc
cesses and increase in port bus
iness during his tenure.
Colonel Marr submitted his res
ignation to the governor Friday.
The resignation becomes effective
Dec. 31.
Tide Table
Tides at (he Beaufort Bar
moil low
Tuesday, Nov. 5
6:10 a.m. 12:27 a.m.
6:36 p.m. 1:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 6
7:16 a.m. 1.07 a.m.
7:34 p m. 1:42 p.m.
Thursday, Nav. 7
7:48 a.m. 1:43 a.m.
8:08 p.m. 2:22 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 8
8:21 a.m. 2:21 a.m.
8:43 p.m. 3:00 p.m.
Terms of the present SPA mem
bers expired June 30. They are, in
addition to Chairman Edwin Pate,
Raymond A. Bryan, viec-chairman,
a Goldsboro contractor; W. Avery
Thompson, Lake Waccamaw lum
berman, secretary-treasurer; Har
old E. Coffey, Lenoir furniture
manufacturer; Harvey W. Moore,
Concord industrialist; J. Harry
White, Winston-Salem tobacconist;
Henry A. Lincbcrgcr, Belmont
manufacturer.
Not only had the governor be
come dissatisfied with administra
tive policies of the SPA, but sev
eral members of the authority it
self have privately objected to
ports policies. Because they were
in the minority, however, they
found it practically impossible to
effect changes.
Among objections to ports pol
icy, in addition to SPA's unwilling
ness to locate the ports office at
a neutral point, was the frequent
meeting of one or two SPA mem
bers and the director where deci
sions were made without consult
ing the entire authority.
Colonel Marr became executive
director of the state ports Jan. 1,
1954, succeeding Col. G. W. Gil
lette.
Former SPA Chairman
Makes Comment Yesterday
Kdwin Palo, former chairman
of Ihr Stale Ports Authority, told
THE NEWS-TIMES yesterday, "I
think both state ports arc showing
continued and substantial growth
and both arc on the way to bigger
tonnage." In relation to the More
head City port, he said. "Southern
Railway will be helpful to the port
and that entire area."
Speaking by phone from his bed
where he was fighting flu, Mr.
Pate said that he and all the mem
bers of the authority now have in
their hands letters from the gov
ernor slating that they would not
be reappointed.
The term of appointment is four
years. Mr. Pate and the other
ousted authority members have
been serving since June 1993. Un
less new appointments are made
at the expiration of that term, the
former members continue to serve.
Mr. Pate took issue with certain
newspapers which reported that
the State Ports Authority did not
request funds for capital improve
ment at Morchcad City during the
current bicnniuin Mr. Pate point
ed out that the SPA requested II,
050,000 but the budget commission
cut out the request. Kight hundred
thousand dollars was eventually
appropriated for Murchcad City.
Asked if he knew who the gover
nor was going to appoint to the
ports authority, Mr. Pate said,
"No, I don't, but I'm sure he will
find capable men."
Dietitian Assumes Work
At Morehead Hospital
Miss Stella Propst, Gaatonla,
joined the Morehead City Hospital
staff as dietitian yesterday. Miss
Propst replaces Miss Hattic Smith
son. who for many years has been
in charge of the hospital kitchen.
Miss Propst for the past five
years was assistant dietitian at
Memorial Hospital, Gastonia. Her
acceptance of the position here
was announced by Mils Vivian
May, director of nurses.
Miss Propst at present is living
in the nurses' home.
County Officials to Confer
About Schools Next Month
School Absences
Start Downward
Swing Yesterday
School absences yesterday went
slightly downward. In school were |
505 more pupils than attended Fri
day. Many students have been out |
of school due to the flu.
Although Camp Glenn and More
head City Schools were closed Fri
day, the county health department
estimated the number who would
have been absent there. The total
absentees Friday, had those
schools been open, would have
been 2,103, according to the health
office.
Absentees yesterday totaled 1,
598. Lenwood Ix'e, principal of |
Morehead City School, said absen
tees were down 130 yesterday at
his school, as compared with
Thursday.
The Morehead City and Camp
Glenn Schools were closed in the
hope that spread of flu would be
curbed. Mr. I^ee commented yes-1
tcrday that he- felt quite encour I
aged and commended parents for !
cooperating in keeping their chil
dren away from crowded places |
during the three - day Friday
through Sunday holiday.
Beaufort School closed at noon I
Friday and the homecoming game
scheduled for Friday night was j
called off.
Number of pupils absent at |
schools yesterday follows: Atlan
tic 147, Smyrna 113, Barkers Is
land 80, Beaufort 353, Queen |
Street 315, Morehead City 193, W.
S. King 133, Camp Glenn 154, and)
Newport 110.
Elton Smith?
Gets Three Years
Elton Smith, Morehead City,
pleaded guilty yesterday to assault
ing officers with a gun. Smith was
given a three-year sentence by
Judge Walter Bone, who invoked
two years' suspended sentence for
Smith's violating probation and
another year for assaulting the
officers.
Smith threatened Sheriff Hugh
Salter and Deputy Sheriff Bruce
Edwards several months ago in
the Crab Point area when the offi
cers were summoned to get Smith
who had been bothering his former
wife.
Cases continued yesterday were
those of John James Jr. and Eonis
Thomas Bass, both charged with
drunken driving and H. Earle Mob
ley, embezzlement.
James now lives in Charlotte. I
Statements from two doctors were |
presented attesting to James' in
ability to be in court due to physi
cal incapacity.
In the case of Dclbcrt Bay Jones, I
charged with breaking, entering |
and larceny, bond was forfeited.
Vandals Cause Damage
At Gloucester Friday
Thirty-five dollars damage was
caused Friday night to automobiles
parked on the R. J. Chadwick
property at Gloucester.
The Chadwicks report that Fri
day night's destruction was con
tinuation of acts of vandalism that
have been going on for several
weeks.
Not only have automobiles been
damaged, but a large window in
the Chadwick home was recently
broken. The Chadwicks have of
fered a $25 reward for information
leading to the arrest of the per
sons responsible.
Gleca Adilr
. wedlky chuck
county commissioners, SI iheir
mon hly meeting yesterday at the
courthouse, Beaufort, agreed to
meet with a committee from the
ounty board of education to dis
cuss ways of obtaining about ?> 1 3
million to build schools
The meeting was set for the af.
ternoon of Dec. 2.
??IHC,COra?i'sion- discussed the
need for school funds, arriving at
he conclusion that ?0 matter how
the money is borrowed, the Local
Commission will have
to give its approval. To pay back
the money borrowed (if it js, thc
tax rate will have to be raised
sati r' co?nty auditor,
said three things should be deter
siioH t the bonds be is
have' , Wh?; jnUCh wUI 'axes
the ? ^ raiSed' a?d three, do I
ml want to borrow the
money and pay more taxes?
?ch? iL J.os,y"' superintendent of
a shnri' ded the meeting for
' . 'lmc Commissioner Skin
cfii.? ? su^KCsted that the edu
cation officials draw up a spec fie
Plan for obtaining the needed mon
cy and present this plan to the
commissioners in December.
The hoard approved a request bv
private individuals anions ?i,?
Kripar . anions them
and J r nP 0"', ,)avid Mansfield
I, .k 5' for building a dock
wctSA-r.xs
. 1 pnt'tion was presented bv resi
dents of the Mill Creek area J
questing that the 1,100-fooI 'Nicdt
Culpepper" road be put on the
How system. Chairman Moses
hC "?"? investigate
ri11"?anlissioners Chalk, Odell Mcr
rd and llarrell Taylor voiced the
opinion that thc county board is
th^'s'r.* ?hn roa" p"",ions
cause the state has already set
&VlTnC?7 UnUCr Which d -"
and will not paVc roads and the
about ?, Can do nothing
?fudge J. F Duncan appeared
before the board relative to obtain
slandanseh"Tm?nt ?V" "ark<Ts
Island School property to allow ac
ciss to Owen B. Fulford and R
enuniv ? d Alvah "amilton,
county attorney, was asked to in
dation a"d makt' " rcc?mmcn
Thc board authorized that exceu
ri ?k '9? and Pr'or taxes be
issued by the clerk of court and
turned over to the sheriff. Tax Co I
lector Eugene Moore reported that
about fes* yCar are funning
about 1 h per cent behind collec
tions last year.
House Bums
An early morning fire gutted
! al roon,s ln the rear of Mrs.
Anna tvcrcttcs rooming house
Turner St., Beaufort, Friday.'
alarm was turned in at 12 45
am and firemen stayed until
slnrv f 8 m sThC ,r?nt 01 thc 'w?
story frame house was not dam
bell Pleads Guilty
Yesterday Afternoon
In a courtroom surrounded with armed officers, Olan
(Shorty) Bell, 44, of Morehead City, pleaded guilty to
rape yesterday afternoon in the courthouse, Beaufort.
The officers were present to keep order in the well-filled
courtroom. Bell was charged with raping a 6-year-old girl
he lured into his house June 16.
The prisoner, wearing a pink dress shirt, no tie, and
?? - i ? . i " - ? lirnwn Iriiucnrc u/.-ic ncnnrloH hr?
Marines Return
From Exercise
In Middle East
Marines have been returning by
Navy transport and by plane from
Turkey where NATO forces parti
cipated Sept. 25-28 in Operation
Deepwater.
The aircraft carrier. USS Cham
plain, lay off the Carteret and
Onslow coasts last week while air
craft flew into their land bases.
The first helicopters to arrive at
Lejcune from the carrier were
from MAC.-26. They came in at 11
a m Tuesday.
Marines participating in the
show of strength operations in the
Saros Gulf have been gone almost
eight weeks.
Marines returning from the Med
iterranean came into Morehead
City over the weekend aboard the
USS Vermillion and the USS Thu
ban is scheduled to dock today.
Operation Deepwater was a war
game involving a hypothetical
enemy.
Lejeunc helicopter units joined
with air units of the 2nd Marine
Air Wing, Cherry Point, which was
a composite element of the Fourth
Provisional Marine Ground Task
Force.
Helicopters, flying from simu
lated carriers at the town of Geli
bolu in western Turkey, landed a
battalion task force on the first
day of action.
These elements managed to pene
trate into the deep part of the ob
jective.
When it came time for the Ma
rines to be relieved, the same heli
copters again came into operation,
flying in fresh Turkish troops.
fore the judge at 3:32 p.m. by
Deputy Sheriffs Bruce Kdwards,
Marshall Ayscue. Chief Guy Sprin
gle, Lt. Joe Smith and Patrolman
Buck Newsome.
Stationed around the courtroom
were the county's four highway pa
trolmen, Capt. Carl Bunch and Pa
trolman Junior O'Neal.
A. H. James, clerk of court, read
the indictment to Bell and the
mother of the 6-year-old girl wept.
The child was not in court.
After reading the indictment, Mr.
James asked, "What do you
plead?" Bell's lawyer, Charles Ste
vens, appointed by the court,
nudged Bell, and Bell said, "Guil
ty."
Robert Rouse Jr.. solicitor, ex
plained to the judge that the girl's
parents preferred that she not tes
tify in the case, lie explained that
the attorneys involved were agree
able to accepting a guilty plea.
At 3:43 p.m.. Bell was requested
to stand and the judge sentenced
him to life imprisonment. Officers
immediately surrounded Bell and
escorted him from the courtroom
as the mother of the child he
raped stood up and let out a flow
of words in an emotional outburst.
Bell, the father of five children,
lived at 105 S. 15th St. Since his
arrest last June he has been in a
jail outside this county because
threats of lynching him had been
made.
Officers who found Bell after the
rape said he was out cold in the
basement of his house. His clothes
were bloody and he was very
irunk.
The child, who lived around the
corner from the Bells, has report
edly recovered from the attack.
lerchants to Meet
The Morehead City merchants'
jmmittee will meet at noon today
L the Hotel Fort Macon dining
)om to discuss holiday plans.
Mel West Tells of His
Epic Voyage to Bermuda
By BUB StlWULK
Mel West left Morehcad City yes
terday enroute to New York to
pick up his famous 15-foot motor
boat, Impossible. Mel and his
uncle, B. L. Merrill, drove to New
York by car, towing a trailer for
the boat.
In an interview Sunday night
Mel said that he had actually never
considered bringing the boat back
any other way. "A Bermuda news
man quoted me when I was joking
with him about running the boat
irom incw YorK 10 woreneaa ^iiy
25 miles offshore," he says.
Mcl added, "so far as 1 can sec
now, my plans to cross the Atlan
tic will never materialize. 1 had
planned to go up the Atlantic coast
and leave from Maine, going to
England by way of Iceland and
the Great Banks."
He has been swamped with of
fers from magazines, tv stations,
sporting goods dealers and ma
rinas. Three magazines have al
See MEL WEST, Page 2
Bishop's Mantle, Community Theatre
Play, Will be Given Twice Saturday
The Bishop's Mantle, a heart
warming humorous play about an
Episcopal parish, will be given at
I p m. Saturday in the recreation
wilding, Morchcad City. It is the
irst Carteret Community Theatre
play of the current season.
For the first time the theatre Is
presenting a special matinee for
students at 2 in the afternoon. Stu
dents will be admitted for 25 cents,
half the priec of admission to be
charged if they attend the night
performance.
Admission for adults is St. Adults
may attend the afternoon per
formance if they wish. Admission
charge for adults is the same for
both performances.
Fcrsons planning to attend are
idviscd to get their tickets as
soon as possible. They are on sale
?t Potter's dress shop and the
Duchess beauty shop, Beaufort; D.
B Webb's, Dec Gee's and Helen's
beauty shop, Morchcad City.
Kenneth Fischlcr, theatre presi
dent, points out that the number
pf scats provided in the auditor
ium will be governed largely by
the advance ticket sale. Unless the
theatre knows approximately how
many will attend, the number of
?cats placed in the auditorium
may be too few and some theatre
goers may have to stand.
Leads in The Bishop's Mantle
?re played by the Rev. C. Edward
Sharp, rector of St. Paul's Epis
copal Church, Beaufort; Mrs. C.
Edward Sharp, H. L. Joslyn, coun
ty superintendent of schools, and
Thrlma Memakls
... plays Maudie Dunn
Miss L. F. Ciddcna, a veteran^
community theatre actress.
The Rev. Mr. Sharp portrays
Hilary Laurens, a rector who has
just accepted the pastorate of St.
Matthews, a fashionable church in
a large city. When he arrives, he
brings with him a large portrait
of his late grandfather who was
an Episcopal bishop.
Although the young rector tries
his best to be as kind and coura
geous as the bishop, he sometimes
feels as though his efforts are al
ways doomed.
See FLAY, Fags I
Thomas Cordova
... young mining engineer
Eagle Band Accepts Offei
To Play at Football Game
The Morchcad City High Schoo
band has officially accepted an in
vitation to play during halftiim
ceremonies at the Wake fared
University of South Carolina foot
ball game at Winston-Salem Nov
30.
The band plans to leave Friday
Nov. 29. and come back Saturdaj
night. The trip will be financed bj
money collected Saturday durini
the band's tag day fund drive.