CARTERET COUNTY NEWS-TIMES
4 SHOPPING
DAYS
TO CHRISTMAS
w
46th YEAR, NO. 102. TWO SECTIONS SIXTEEN PAGES MOREHEAD CITY AND BEAUFORT. NORTH CAROLINA FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1957 PUBLISHED TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS
Delfido Cordova Recalls 22
Fruitful Years as Teacher
fnuio oy buu a?/**iour
Delfido Cordova made all of the furniture in his dining room. Here he stands by a buffet he made
several years ago. In the foreground is a large hand-made table. Mr. Cordova built and upholstered the
chairs.
By BOB SEYMOUR
During the 22 years he was in
dustrial arts teacher at Morchcad
City High School, Dclfido Cordova
estimates that he was overseer on
about 4,400 projects. "My classes
turned out about 200 projects a
year," he says, "everything from
ahocshine boxes to lawn furniture
and lamps."
Mr. Cordova, now in his first
year of retirement, established the
industrial arts department at More
head City High School in 1935. He
came from Asheville Normal
School, where he taught Spanish.
Latin and American history in ad
dition to woodworking.
Mr. Cordova's interest in manual
arts began first as a hobby. He
had graduated from Tusculum
College, Greenville, Tenn., and was
teaching at Asheville Normal when
he began to take woodworking
courses during summer sessions.
By the time he had been at the
college for eight years, he had
taken every course in manual arts
in the curriculum. In 1927 he ac
cepted the position as professor
of industrial arts at Asheville Nor
mal.
He completed work on his mas
or s degree at the University of
North Carolina in 1934 and the fol
lowing year he came to Morchead
City.
During all the years he has been
in Morehead City Mr. Cordova has
Lrird to teach all his students the
iignity of laboring with one's
liands and the beauty of a job well
lone.
When he retired he received a
estimonial letter from the school
ward thanking him for holding
liis students to a high standard of
excellence. Even though a large
percentage of his students did not
continue as woodworkers and
craftsmen, the training they re
ceived in his classes proved val
lablc in other jobs.
In speaking of the more than
1,000 projects scattered around the
city, Mr. Cordova says, "Alfred
Cooper (the mayor of Atlantic
Beach) told me a couple of years
igoihat he Was still using a table
me of my students built in 1935.
"1 can drive around town in the
mmmer and see scores of people
fitting in lawn furniture that came
nit of the shop at the school. I
jften wonder just how many items
vc made are still in use."
The furniture iu the Cordova
house at 2507 Arendell St. is a tes
timonial to the workmanship put
into it. Some of the ehairs made
as early as 1920 look like new and
have eomfort hand-built into them
Mr. Cordova can count in the
house 45 pieces of furniture that
he built. The pieces range from
massive four poster beds to intri
cately designed lamps and tables.
In 1952 Mr. Cordova and his
class got part of the first load of
mahogany to arrive at state port. I
Most of the wood was used for
coffee tables and other small
items.
lie still has one of the tables in
his living room. It is designed to
show off the beautiful wood as
well as to serve a functional pur
pose.
Lives With Wife, Son
Mr. Cordova lives with his wife !
and youngest son. Tommy, who
teaches at Camp Glenn School and,
coaches the Morehead City junior
varsity basketball team. lie has
two married sons, Carlos, who
works at Cherry Point, and Paul,
an employee of Beaufort Fisheries.
Mr. Cordova is an elder at the
See MR. CORDOVA, Page 8
SPA Approves Proposal for Freight
Car Mover at Morehead City Port
Walter Fricdcrichs, acting man
ager of the Morchcad City state
port, said yesterday that a piece
of equipment used to shift rail
road cars, is to be brought to
Morehead City for a demonstra
tion with a view to purchasing.
The State Ports Authority, meet
ing at Raleigh Tuesday, heard re
ports from Mr. Fricdcrichs and
Edward E. Lee Jr., acting execu
tive ports director, to the effect
that additional equipment and
more persons arc needed to handle
the increased business at More
head City.
If the car-shifting equipment will
do the job it is supposed to do. Mr.
Fricdcrichs says the SPA will be
given a report, then decide whe
ther purchase should be made. The
cost of the car shifter is estimated
at $17,000.
Locomotive Used
Mr. Fricderichs said last week
that a locomotive had to be ob
tained from New Bern to move
empty cars out of the way so full
cars could be moved into the port
for unloading into the ships.
The SPA authoriied use of two
more persons at Morchcad City
to aid in port operations.
Handy and Co., a New York]
management firm, has been re
tained at a cost of $3,000 to screen
applicants for the North Carolina
ports director job. At least 10 ap
plications have been received.
The firm will select the top
three and from them the SPA will
make a choice.
A director is expected to be
chosen in the near future.
Docks Turned Down
The authority decided that it
would not purchase the Champion
Compress and Sprunt docks at
Wilmington. An unofficial report
stated that the cost would have
been in the neighborhood of $500,
000.
State engineers estimated cost
of renovating the docks at $192,000
plus $30,000 a year maintenance.
Buckley Paid
The healthy sum of $16,66S.27
was authorized paid to Jamea C.
Buckley, Inc., transportation con
sultants, New York City. The Buck
ley firm made a survey of state
ports for $13,000 and Mr. Buckley
later appeared before a legislative
committee which cost $1,1M,27.
Letters were received from
Goldsboro and Jacksonville, invit
ing the SPA to establish its offices
in those cities. Offices are being
made available now, however, for
the SPA in the educational build
ing, Raleigh.
Representatives from the Mark
ley Grain Elevator Co., Philadel
phia. appeared before the ports
officials. The firm is reported to
be interested in establishing grain
handling facilities at Morchcad
City or Wilmington.
Frank Turner, head of the prop
erty control and construction divi
sion, State Department of Admin
istration, said plans arc being
made for extension of the doc* at
Wilmington. A transit shed, to be
built on that dock, may not be
ready for another two years.
Mr. Turner said plans are being
completed now for the new ware
house at Morehcad City. This is
expected to be ready for use Dec.
1, 1958. Other improvements there,
roads, railroad tracks and a water
tank arc to be ready by that date
also.
Menhaden Boats
Go to Sea Again
Menhaden fleet operations took
an upswing this week with the
change in the weather.
Monday was a very good day,
but the rest of the week didn't
come up to Monday's catches.
A heavily loaded boat got stuck
in the channel to the Fish Meal
Co., Beaufort. Monday night, just
south of the bridge. This caused a
terrific pUc-up of other boats try
ing to got to the factory.
Kisb being caught now are small.
In the words of one operator, "The
big ones have moved offshore or
south."
The skies over the coast ai;e
dotted with fish-spotting planes.
Fourteen hundred gallons of gas
were pumped into the planes Mon
day. Thirty-seven have been re
.portcd in tbe air at one time. The
menhaden schools stand a slim
chance of evading a pilot's eyet
The menhaden season unofficially
cornea to a close next week.
Four representatives from More
head City met with the State Forts
Authority Tuesday afternoon in the
edueational building at Raleigh.
Mayor George Dill, Rep. D. G.
Bell, Dr. B. F. Royal and Dr. John
Morris met with the SPA at the
authority's invitation.
Port matters were discussed, in
eluding the recent discharge of J.
D. Holt as manager of the More
head City port.
The Morehead City group was
told that the SPA will let filling of
the Morehead City position up to
the new executive director. If he
chooses to re-employ Mr. Holt, such
will meet with the approval of the
authority
Authority officials received with
interest a suggestion from the
Morehead City delegation that sev
eral men from Wilmington act as
a ports advisory group as does the
Morehead City delegation.
Mayor Dill said that this group
could be vested with, the authority
to give the SPA information and
advice on Wilmington matters. The
mayor said yesterday that this
would tend to eliminate a lot of
baseless gossip which reaches SPA
cars relative to the attitude of
Morehead City and Wilmington to
ward port operation.
The Morehead City representa
tives seem pleased with the man
ner in which the SPA is handling
policy matters and again assured
the authority of Morehead City's
full cooperation in making both
state ports a profitable operation.
Morehead Citians
Confer with SPA
Heater Causes Fire
At Wickizer Trailer
Moy Wickitcr'i trailer, parked
at 1700 Bay St., Morchcad City,
caught on (ire at S p.m. Wcdnes
day. The (ire waa caused by an
overfteated oil burner in the trailer.
Morehead City Bremen had the
(ire out in less than a hal(-hour,
but considerable damage -waa done
to the interior id the trailer.
State Reports
On Secondary
Road Needs
Cirtrrci has 14.6(1 mile-. of un
paved rural second iry roads w .ich
carry a Ir. ffic volume of 50
more vehicles a day.
These facts were determined in
a study by the Department of Sec
ondary Road.-. State ilighw t> Cm
mission, and were released this
week.
Secondary Roads Officer Harjld
Makepeace said that a priority list j
for paving rural secondary r?ids j
[has been completed by the state's
14 division engineer: a'tu v% :it oc j
submitted shortly to the County
Boards of Commissioners i.i each
of the state's 100 counties.
This priority list based on need
wdl b?- used in preparation of
count} by county secondary road
plans by July 1, I958.
The state has estimated the cost
of paving Carteret's 14.6 miles at
$217,175.36, or $14,875.02 a mile. If
such paving were carried out, it
would represent 1671 per cent of
the state total, which is 9,33o 18.
To pave that many miles would
cost $t29,976.636 48
This study is the first of a three
phase program. The second phase
is a study of sub-standard bridges.
The third phase of the secon
dary roads study will show what
would be required to bring all
rural unpaved roads up to a ?'min
imum level of service". The com
mission has approved a "minimum
level of service" to be at least an
18 foot wide travelled way, ade
quate drainage, and an all-wea
ther, year-round surface.
The "minimum level of service"
for bridges has been approved for
at least an 18 foot wide roadw ay
and a load limit of eight tons.
$20,000 Fire Hits Howard
Garage, Newport, Tuesday
Moses Howard, left, checks prices of his salvaged parts with Donald Chadwick of Auto Supply Co.,
Morehead City. Checking equipment in the background is Swindell (iarner. Others who came in to help
Mr. Howard Tuesday night were Chief of Police Dan Bell, Wiley Stallings. Larry Howard and David Mann.
Mebane Man Receives $1,500, Two
Medals for Rescuing Girl at Beach
James Robert Thompson, 25,
route 1 Mcbanc, received two
awards for heroism Tuesday at
Burlington. Mr. Thompson was the
man who rescued 15-year-old Shir
ley Holder, Durham, from the surf
just west of the Triple Ess pier on
Bogtic Banks Sunday, May 19, 1957.
The awards were made at the
Western Electric plant where Mr.
Thompson is employed. The 3,500
empjoyees witnessed the presenta
tion at a half-hour ceremony. Miss
Holder was also present.
Mr. Thompson received the Car
negie Medal and $500 from the Car
negie Foundation and the Theodore
N. Vail Silver Medal and $1,000
from American Telephone and
Telegraph Co., parent firm of West
ern Electric.
Arthur B. Goctzc of New York
City, president, of Western Electric, j
presented the Vail Medal, named in i
honor of a former president of
AT&T. Mebanc Mayor M. G. Wal
ker presented Thompson the Car
negie Medal.
Special guests included State
Adj. Gen. Capus Waynick, who rep
resented Governor Hodges; U. S.
Sen. Kerr Scott; Rep Carl Durham;
State Labor Commissioner Frank
Crane; State Rep. George A. Long
of Alamance County and city and
county officials.
The account of the rescue, as it
appeared in THE NEWS-TIMES,
follows:
Barry West, manager of the
Triple Ess. fishing pier, yesterday <
gave the following account of the
near drowning:
Shirley and two other girls from
Durham were about 500 yards west
of the pier at the time of the inci
dent (12:25 p.m. Sunday). One girl
was ou the beach and the other
two were playing in the surf.
When Shirley saw she couldn't
get back to shore she called to her
friend for help. The other girl told
her to try to stay up and she would
get help. She ran into the pier
office and 1 called the Coast Guard
at once.
Thompson, who was fishing on
the pier, saw what was happening
and ran down to help. The Coast
Guard was unable to get a small
boat launched in the heavy surf.
He swam out to get the girl and
lost her just as he got to the break
(where the bottom falls away to
deep water), lie went after her
and got her and started back
again.
There must have been three or
four hundred persons watching by
that time. Several of them form
ed a human chain to the break and
when he got that far they brought
them in. Coast Guardsmen re
vived the girl with artificial res
piration.
Thompson was completely ex
hausted when he finally got to
shore. It was the greatest display
of courage 1 ever saw, Mr. West
said.
Paper Announces
Holiday Schedule
THE NEWS-TIMES Christmas
issue will appear Tuesday, Dec.
24. The newspaper office will he
open until noon on that day. It
will not reopen until 8 a.m. Fri
day.
The Friday. Dec. 27 paper, will
go to press at noon Friday, so
subscribers will be late receiving
that issue. It will be on the news
stands Friday afternoon.
News for the Dec. 27 paper
must be in the office by 10 a.m.
The deadline for classified ads
will be 10 a.m.
Governor Sets
Legal Holidays
Gov. Luther Hodges has pro
claimed Christmas Day and Thurs
day as legal holidays. The banks,
and members of the Morehcad City
and Beaufort Chambers of Com
j merce will follow that schedule.
! They will also observe New Year's
Day as a holiday.
Offices in the courthouse. Beau
fort, and the Morehead City and
Beaufort town halls will be closed
Tuesday, Christmas Day, Thurs
day and New Year's Day.
The postoffices will be closed on
Christmas and New Year's Days
only.
The longest vacation will go to
school teachers and pupils. County
schools will close at noon today
and will remain closed until Jan. 2.
Deaf Mutes Wish Morehead
Folks Merry Christmas'
Mrs. Theodore Poggi, the deaf
mute whose hip was crushed in
an aceident in Morchead City the
summer of 1936, sends wishes for
a Merry Christmas and a Happy
New Year to everyone in More
head City.
Mrs. Poggi. who was hospitalized
for months at Morehead City Hos
pital, is now living with her hus
band in Tampa, Fla.
In a letter to Mrs. C. T. Kcllum,
303 N. Fifth St., Morchead City,
Mrs. Poggi says she remembers
the kindness of people toward her
and her husband fallowing the ac
cident.
She says she has improved
"about, three-quarters of the way"
Tide Table
Tlde? at the Beaufort Bar
HIGH LOW
Friday, Dec. 26
7:23 a.m. 1:06 a.m.
7:50 p.m. 1:49 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 21
6:10 a.m. 1 :S6 a.m.
t:37 p.m. 2:36 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 22
8:54 a.m. 2:42 a.m.
9:25 p.m. 3:20 p.m.
Monday, Dee. 23
9:40 a.m. 3:26 a.m.
10:14 p.m. 4:01 p.m.
Tueaday, Dec. 14
10:25 a.m. 4:07 a.m.
11:08 p.m. 4:41 p.m.
and it may be a year before re
covery is complete.
A pickup truck fell on Mrs. j
Poggi's hip while she was helping ;
her husband fix a wheel. The pick !
up was used to pull their trailer,
which was parked near the now
burned caboose east of the More
head City Yacht Basin.
Regarding her husband, Mrs. I
Poggi writes, "The state has
helped my husband to run a cabi
net making shop, lie is learning
to make dressers, coffee tables,
night stands, etc. It is really hard
to start. We get little earnings out
of them because of the cost of ma
terials, but the state will help him
get wholesale prices on materials." j
Mrs. Poggi asked Mrs. Kellum
to tell the hospital and their doc
tor here, Dr. S. W. Thompson,
that they will pay their bills as
soon as they can.
Down East Lions Will
Sponsor Danes Tonight
The Down Esst Lions will spon
sor a dance at S tonight In the At
lantic School gym.
The Carolina Partners will pro
vide the music and a 15-pound ham
will bey given as a door prize.
Proceeds from the dance will go
toward the Lions blind fund ahd
to Um general treasury. Admission
is a dollar a person.
Captain of Edith M II
Nets Man-Eater Shark
Capture of thli shark la one of the few pieces of evidence that man
eaters occur in North Carolina waters. Scientists at the CMC Insti
tute of Fisheries Research arc now studying the carcass for additional
data. (Photo by Dr. Earl Deubler).
Scientists at the University of
North Carolina Institute of Fisher
ies Research, Morchead City, iden
tified a 6-foot male shark captured
by Capt. Stanley Salter of the
Edith M II as a man-eater shark
(Carcharodon carcharias). Captain
Salter was trawling in approxi
mately 18 fathoms about 15 miles
cast of Knuckle Buoy at the time
of capture.
Although the species has been
recorded as occurring in North
Carolina waters since 1915, the
capture of this shark is one of the
few authenticated records for this
region.
According to Dr. William E.
Fahy, of the institute, this speci
men is relatively small. A speci
men 36' 2 feet long has been re
corded from Australia. Normally,
those captured are under 20 feet
in length.
This species, reputed to be one
of the most voracious of all fish
like vertebrates, is the only shark
which has been known to engage
in unprovoked attacks on small
boats, and has long been known
to be an attacker of man.
Man-eater sharks no larger than
the one captured by Captain Sal
ter have been known to attack
swimmers with fatal results.
Rudolph Wade, Morehead City,
died this summer after he was
attacked while swimming offshore.
Although the marine animal which
attacked him was not positively
identified, it is believed to have
been a shark.
Farm Bureau Schedules
Annual Dinner Meeting
The Carteret County Farm Bu
reau will eonduct its annual din
ner meeting at the Morehead City
High School lunchroom at 6:30 to
night. A barbecue dinner will be
served.'
County president Milton Truck
ner says that Alonza Edwards of
liookcrton will be the guest speak
er. Mr. Edwards is the executive
vice-president of the State Farm
Bureau.
Insurance Covers
About Half of Loss
Fire swept through the up
per floor of Howard's Ser
vice Garage, Newport, early
| Tuesday morning. Prelimi
nary estimates place total
damage at ahout $20,00'J.
Owner Moses Howard fig
ures that damage to the
building will run about
$12,000.
Part* and equipment worth
about $8,000 were ruined. About
one-half of the loss is covered by
insurance, Mr. Howard says.
The fire was reported at 1 15
a m and firemen battled the blaze
for more than two hours. Two
trucks from Newport, two from
Morehead City and one from Cher
ry Point pumped thousands of gal
lons of water on the flames About
50 firemen, including every mem
ber of the Newport Fire Depart
ment, were on hand.
Cause Cnknown
The cause of the fire has not
been determined. Judging from the
seriousness of damage, the fire
broke out in the hall at the rear
of the second floor. Mr. Howard
lets several clubs use the hall for
meetings. The Newport Masonic
Order had used the hall Monday
night.
Mr. Howard says that the Ma
sons had not had the stove on,
since it was a warm night. "This
is a frame building and just about
everything in it would burn," he
pointed out.
He plans to rebuild the garage
as a single-story masonry and
steel building. Two Newport con
tractors have been invited to of
fer bids.
cars undamaged
Mr. Howard is using a shed be
hind the garage to carry on busi
ness until his new building is com
pleted. There were seven cars in
the garage when the fire was dis
covered. All were pushed out with
out being damaged. He hopes to
have them repaired on schedule.
Mr. Howard was able to save
nearly all of his tools, since they
were downstairs. The second floor
was used primarily for storage of
a general line of auto parts and for
the meeting hall.
Most of the damage downstairs
was caused by burning timbers
that fell from the top floor. A 1951
Ford pickup truck owned by Pol
lard's filling station next door
caught a load of burning wood,
just before the truck was pushed
outside.
Firemen cleared all the burning
material off the bed of the truck
before it was scorched.
Water Important
Slight damage was done to the
roof of the filling station. Mr.
Howard says that the only thing
that saved ail the buildings along
the block from burning was the
ready water supply.
'The firemen never could have
stopped the fire if they had been
forced to carry water several
blocks. The city water hydrants
near the garage were a most im
portant factor in fighting the fire.
'The firemen themselves did an
outstanding job. The good turnout
of firemen from Cherry Point and
Morehcad City showed an excellent
spirit of community cooperation,"
he said.
Attorney Takes
Issue with Board
Wiley Taylor Jr., Beaufort attor
ney who was employed to eodify
the Atlantic Beach town ordi
nances. told T11E NEWS-TIMES
Wednesday that accusations by the
Atlantic Beach town board ? t(iat
he was slow in felting the ordi
nances codified ? were without
foundation.
Mr. Taylor said that he did not
want the job in the first place and
recommended that the board Ret
the League of Municipalities to do
it. '
In January the board authorized
him to do the work at a cost of
$300. Mr. Taylor said he did not
get the beach code book until June.
In two months, he said, he had fin
ished the work.
He said he attended a beach
board meeting in September with
the newly-codified ordinances and
the board approved and adopted
them. He said the only thing the
board lacks now are copies of the
ordinances which he was having
made at his own expense.
Mr. Taylor added that he has not
been able to attend recent board
sessions because they arc held on
Sunday.
The County Health Department
reports that another TB case waa
discovered in the county Monday.
This brings the total for the year
to 10.