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THE NEWS-TIMES
CARTERET COUNTY NEWS-TIMES
48th YEAR NO. 83. TWO~SCTiON? SIXTEEN PAGES MOREHEAD CITY AND BEAUFORT, NORTH CAROLINA FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16. 1959 PUBLISHED TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS
Newport Will Get New Postoffice
Fish Trawler Runs Down Skiff in Inlet;
Fisherman Drowns ; Accusations Fly
Body of Ellis Smith
Still Missing Yesterday
By LARRY McCOMB
"That trawler was coming through the channel at
full-speed with absolutely no regard for the several
small boats in the area. It completely ignored our
shouts and warnings of the skiff anchored directly in
its path."
This was how an eye-witness, Tom Mock of Winston
Salem, described the tragic boating accident that claimed
.the life of Ellis Smith, 47, of King, N. C., Tuesday at 11 :30
a.m.
The skiff in which Smith, Fred White and Quainter
(Fat) Smith, also of King, were fiahing was rammed
Davis Raises
$155 at Barbecue
? 200 Attend Saturday
Night Event
? Proceeds Will Go
To Fire Department
Davis Community Club raised
$155 at its barbecue supper at the
community center Saturday night.
There were cake walks and pic
and cake auctions.
Two hams wi're gi.cn as door
prizes. They were won by Dewey
Willis and Louie Gray Piner.
Approximately 200 people were
.present. The $155 will go toward
maintaining a fire department for
the community, which is the
latest project the club has spon
sored.
The community club was organ
ized three years ago with Elbert
Pittman, president, Mrs. Grady
Davis, secretary and Grover Davis,
treasurer. These officers served
for two years. The present officers
are Clinton Piner, president, and
Joe Williams, secretary-treasurer.
The club was incorporated during
the past year.
The old school building, which
is owned by the community, has
a new roof, new windows, a paint
job and the grounds have been
cleared to improve its appearance
as a community center. It is being
used for parties, suppers and any
community affair. The building has
also been designated as a Civil
Defense shelter.
The club has also sponsored the
mosquito control project at Davis
during the past three years. Several
other projects have been sponsored,
such as a community dump and
a refuge harbor for boats. A small
truck has been obtained through
Divil Defense for the use as a fire
.ruck. The club hopes to equip it
ji the near future.
Plans are now under way to
iponsor a womanlcss wedding. The
late will be announced later.
The dab meets the first Friday
light in each month at 7 p. m. in
he community center. Any resi
lent of Davis is eligible to attend
he meetings. Visitors are always
velcome.
broadside by the fishing trawler
Phillip at the bulkhead buoy in
Beaufort Inlet. White and Fat
Smith were later rescued from the
water but Ellis Smith (no kin to
Fat Smith) went down before res
cuers could reach him.
Dragging operations, carried out
by the Fort Macon Coast Guard,
had failed to locate the body as of
Wednesday night and the search
was called off.
Norman Guthrie, Morehead City,
of the Phillip, told Coast Guards
men that the tiller line on his
trawler had parted and he w a > un
able to steer the boat or avoid hit
ting the skiff. The Phillip was
headed into port fully loaded.
Lt. John E. Riddell, commanding
officer of Fort Macon Coast Guard
station, said that there is a regu
lation prohibiting skiffs from an
choring in t^iniuwl He termed
the accidcpt "avoidable?'
Mock, who was in another skiff
nearby fishing, reported that he
saw the trawler travelling at a
high rate of speed when it firit ap
proached the inlet.
"White and the others saw it too
but I guess they ignored it, figur
ing that the trawler captain could
see theoi.
"I remarked to a companion in
my boat that unless it slowed down,
the trawler would throw us all
clear out of the water," continued
Mock. "When it got closer and it
became apparent that the trawler
was not going to slow down, we
all began shouting and waving at it
and pointing to White's skiff, which
by now was in its direct path.
"We could see in the cabin of the
trawler and it appeared as if the
crew were paying no more atten
tion to where they were going than
anything. Then just as the trawler
was upon the skiff one of the crew
members came racing out on the
bow and hollered for the men in
skiff to jump overboard.
"Juit as the three of them jump
ed the skiff was rammed by the
trawler and knocked about IS feet
straight up in the air.
"After it had hit the skiff, the
trawler slowed down, reversed its
engines and backed up to where
the men were in the water. It was
four or five minutes before they
threw life preservers into the
water. They just stood on the boat
shouting to the men to swim over
to the boat which was about 30
yards from them," said Mock.
(Observers say that if the tiller
See ACCIDENT, Page I
jChamp Wilkins Gets Jail |
Verm in Court Monday
A Morehead City man, Champ
ftlkins, will serve six months in
ail as the result of action Monday
1 Morehead City recorder's court.
Wilkins was convicted on charges
f fraudulently using a false name
? applying for a driver's license,
aving no operator's license and
riving with a revoked license.
Wilkins, according to testimony
led the name Robert Paul Wilkins
i applying for a driver's license
id he failed to tell the examiner
the time of his application that
s license was then suspended as
e result of a drunk driving con
ction. In county court the next
ly Wilkins was sentenced to a
? 'ar for non-support.
In other court action, Daniel
j ugh McLeilan of Morehead City
' is fined $100 and court costs after
j e court found him guilty of care
' is and reckless driving. McLeilan
' ii also charged with drunk driv
l and having no operator's
ense but was not prosecuted on
bm count*.
Ernest Mattox: Jr. of Morehead
City and Edgar Willis of Otway
were both charged with public
drunkenness. Willis forfeited bond
when he failed to appear. The case
against Mattox was not prosecuted.
Gary Walters of Atlantic Beach
was fined (10 and court costs for
fighting in a public place and
Audrey D. Jarman was given 30
days in JaU by judge Herbert 0.
Phillips far carrying a concealed
weapon aid having no operator's
license. Jarmaa'a Jail aentcnce was
suspended oa payment of $25 and
court coata.
The caae against Early B. Lock
tear of Newport, charged with
failing to comply with a former
court order, waa dismissed and
Charles Lcsesne ct Morehead City
was acquitted on a charge of dis
turbing the peace.
The coart rated malicious prose
cution when charges of stealing
111.88 from Almitta Johnson were
8aa COURT, Page S
News-Times Photo by McCotnb
Tom Mock, left, Winston-Salem and B. J. White, More head City, are shown examining the hole in the
side of one of White's skiffs. The hole was made Tuesday morning when the skiff was rammed by a
fishing trawler. Ellis Smith of King, N. C.. drowned as a result of the accident and two other fishermen,
Fred White, brother of B. J. White, and Quainter (Fat ) Smith, also of King, were rescued. Mock, fishing
in the area at the time, witnessed the accident.
Beaufort Board Investigates
Annexation by Ordinance
Schools to Close
For NCEA Meet
County schools will be closcd
Tuesday while teachers and prin
cipals attend the 37th annual con
vention of the North Carolina Edu
cation Association, eastern district,
in New Bern.
More than 2,000 educators are
expected to come from the eleven
counties in the district. The coun
ties are Beaufort, Carteret, Craven,
Duplin, Greene, Jones, Lenoir,
Onslow, Pamlico, Wayne and
Wilson.
Among those participating in the
program will be Mrs. Leland Day
of Morehead City school, audio
visual; Cliff Adams of Swansboro
school, mathematics; and Dr. F. J.
Vernberg of Duke Marine Labora
tory in Beaufort, science.
Dr. Vernberg's subject will be
Opportunities for Marine Research
by High School Students.
The Negro teachers will attend
their North Carolina Tcachers
Association meeting Friday, Oct.
30. Negro schools will close on that
day.
Coast Guard Helps Look
For Buoy Tender, Barge
Coast Guard personnel at Fort
Macon are aiding in the search
for two vessels that have been
missing from Coinjock since last
Tuesday.
The two boats, one a converted
SO-fOot buoy tender and the other
* surplus LST landing barge, have
not been heard from sincc leaving
Coinjock Tuesday with approxi
mately three people aboard each
craft. |
Coast Guard reports said that
the two boats are supposed to be
travelling the inland waterway.
Tides at Ike Beaufort Bar
Tide Table
HIGH
LOW
Friday, Oct. li
7:56 a.m.
?:13 p.m.
1:44 a.m.
2:12 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 17
S:34 a.m.
t:31 p.m.
2:23 a.m.
2:52 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. It
8:11 a.m.
1:30 p.m.
3:00 a.m.
3:30 p.m.
Moadiy, Oct. It
?:47 a.m.
10:08 p.m.
3:34 a.m.
4:07 p.m.
? Leigh Wilson met with the Beau- i
fort town board, in special session !
Tuesday night at the town hall to
consider annexing by ordinance
areas outside Beaufort. Mr. Wilson
is with the North Carolina League j
of Municipalities.
The commissioners took no ac
tion, but will meet again Oct. 26
to consider the proposal -further.
Meanwhile, they will again study
the legislative act governing their
actions to be sure all require
ments of the act have been ful
filled.
Mr. Wilson answered questions
of the board members. He told
them that in the event the Hancock
Park area is annexed and the
town takes over the usfe of its
private sewer system, the owners
must be compensated for it.
However, he pointed out, the
town does not have to connect to
6-Year-Old Hit
At Intersection
Carteret added another to its to
tal of children struck by cars when
6-year-old Johnny Springle Jr., 21S
Fulford St., Beaufort, Was struck
by a car driven by Cecil Gillikin of
Beaufort at 8 o'clock Wednesday
morning.
The accident, which occurred at
the intersection of Live Oak and
Pine St., was the fourth such acci
dent within the last 60 days. The
boy was not seriously hurt.
Police chief Guy Springle report
ed that Gillikin was driving south
on Live Oak Street and another
car was meeting him, headed
north. As the northbound car ap
proached Gillikin, police said that
young Springle ran into the street
right behind it and into the left
front of Gillikin's car.
Gilikin could not see the boy un
til he ran into the car, as the child
was hidden by the northbound ve
hicle. When he did see the boy,
he did not have time to avoid hit
ting him, the chief said.
The child was taken by a Brooks
and Mason ambulance to the More
head City Hospital where an ex
amination revealed that he re
ceived minor bumps and bruises.
He was able to return to school
yesterday mqrning.
No charges were filed against
Gillikin.
Garrett Fisher, route 1, Morehead
City, has been informed by the
North Carolina Department of
Motor Vehicles that his driving
privileges have been reinstated,
effective Sept. 8.
the private system. It can build its
own system" in the same area.
He also told the commissioners
that 60 per cent of the lots or
tracts in the area proposed for
annexation by ordinance must be
developed. That is, they must be
used for residential, commercial,
industrial of governmental pur
poses and must have on them a
building suitable for those purposes.
He pointed out that the town
should consider timing, look at the
issue from an overall point of
view, know all the facts and con
sider the effects.
lie said that if a town provides
city services, such as fire pro
tection, to an area outside the
town limits and will continue to
do so, then that area is hard to
annex. He reminded the board that
some form of the city's services,
whether temporary or permanent,
must be extended on the date of
annexation.
Those attending the meeting were
Mayor W. H. Potter, town attorney
Claud Wheatly Jr., clerk Ronald
Earl Mason, commissioners Dr.
David Farrior, Bert Brooks, Billy
Davis, William Roy Hamilton, town
engineer Gray Hassell, and J. P.
Harris, James H. Davis, and Gil
bert Potter, members of Beaufort's
zoning commission.
?
Sergeant Dies
After Car Turns
Over Wednesday
? Death Puts Fatality
Score at Seven
? Bobby Hampton Was
Former MP at Beach
Carteret's seventh highway fatal- ,
ity of the year occurred five min- J
utes before midnight Tuesday when
Sgt. Bobby Gene Hampton, USMC,
was fatally injured on highway 24
near Gales Creek.
State highway patrolman W. E. |
Pickard said that Hampton, 25. was j
headed toward Morehead City in a
1955 Mercury. The car failed to
make a curve, went off on the right
shoulder, back on to the road, then
off into a field. It turned over
several times.
Hampton was alone. Patrolman
Pickard said his body was found a !
hundred feet from the car. It took
approximately 30 minutes to locate
it. Hampton was still alive, but
died three hours later in the hos
pital at Camp Lejeune.
He was taken there in the Bell
M u n d e n ambulance, Morehead
City. Death was attributed to in
ternal injuries. The car, owned by
Hampton, was demolished.
The sergeant was with the mili
tary police unit on duty this sum
mer at Atlantic Beach. He was
transferred back to Cherry Point
Oct. 1.
His body has been shipped to his
home in California. He was not
married.
Third Polio Case
Reported Here
Carteret's third polio case, this
year Was reported Tuesday by the
county health department. Doris
Ann Boyd, 5, Crab Point, who was
stricken Sept. 25. has now recover
ed but has partial paralysis in one
leg.
Health department officials state
that she is being treated at the
monthly orthopedic clinic in More
head City. She is the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. William E. Boyd.
The child had one polio shot in
1956 and two shots in August and
September this year. Health offi
cials say that the shots might have
protected the child from serious
paralysis, but they were not spaced
properly to offer the fullest amount
of protection.
Other polio victims have been
Jerri Williams, 3, a Negro child of
Morehead City, and Jerry Branton,
4Mj, route 1 Beaufort. Both suf
fered some paralysis.
JC's Experience Sell-Out
On Facial Tissue Sale
The Morehead City Jaycees sold
! all facial tissues Monday night
I before they had covered the plan
ned territory, so the sale will be
continued as soon as more tissues
arrive.
Jaycee Russell Outlaw said the
club sold 16 cases of the tissues
in about a third of the area they
planned to cover.
The wholesaler had to reorder,
Dr. Outlaw added, and as soon as
the shipment comes the Jaycees
will call on those families not con
tacted.
Request for Bids Posted
Tuesday Morning
Newport is getting a new postoffice.
A request for bids was posted Tuesday in the present
postoffice, postmaster R. K. Montague announced. The
new postoffice will have almost four times the floor space
of the present one and will be located on the main street
between the new Texaco service station and the Small En
gine business. It will be almost op-?
posite the Hoy T. Garner feed
store.
Bidders will not bid on the build
ing alone, but on the property on
which the federal government al
ready holds an option. The post
office department will then lease
from the builder.
An architect s sketch shows a
modern, distinctively beautiful
building with glass front and alumi
num, highlighted by enameled por
celain design. The building is ex
pected to draw a lot of attention,
since a new postoffice of this type
is located nowhere in eastern Caro
lina at present.
Bids will be accepted by the post
office department until Nov. 12,
1959. After bids are opened, prob
ably at Charlotte, Mr. Montague
said, the successful bidder will
have four months to put up the
building and pave the driveway
and parking lot. No date has been
announced for the bid opening.
The property on which the post
office will be built is owned by L.
W. Howard and Ernest Robinson.
Mr. Howard owns the front por
tion on the highway and Mr. Robin
son the remainder.
The present postoffice, located a
short distance from the railroad,
was occupied Jan. 1, 1947, postmas
ter Montague reported. The build
ing is leased from Henry Williams,
Newport.
The building is totally inade
quate, Mr. Montague said. Patrons
have to wait in line, they do not
get the type service they deserve,
and the parking area around the
building is limited.
Inadequate space in the work
area of the postoffice reduces effi
ciency of the postoffice staff, Mr.
Montague continued. run*
in the rear of the building when it
rains, rural mail carriers have to
drive up to the shed-like shelter in
the rear and wade through mud
when the weather is bad, mail
hand-trucks cannot be brought in
the building but have to stay out
side and the postal workers lug the
mail bags into the building by
hahd.
At Christmas time, postmaster
Montague said, it is practically
impossible for anyone to move
without climbing over packages
and stacks of mail.
The new building will have a flat
roof. Sides and rear of the build
ing will be of concrete block and
brick. Specifications indicate 3,599
square feet of floor space, 450
square feet of loading platform and
11,226 square feet of driveway,
parking and maneuvering area.
The building will be air condition
ed.
There will be 500 boxes available
for postoffice patrons, with space
for installation of more. The build
ing is so arranged that the main
lobby can be locked when the post
office closes in the afternoon but
the lobby where the boxes arc lo
cated will remain open.
Postmaster Montague said the
new building will culminate several
years of hope and planning. "We're
pleased beyond words," he remark
ed. "Some of our patrons are not
enthusiastic about the new location.
But they will get better service in
a new building and I'm sure the
entire town and surrounding area
? will benefit."
In 12 Jfin Newport has oat-grown this tiny "one- room" posloffirr. A new, modern building will be
erected oa Chatham Street (highway It), almost opposite the Roy T. Gamer iced Hon. Postmaster K. K.
Montagu* aasoonced plana (or the new building Wednesday.
i m ? ? ? i.^'r '
$5,000 Cash
Needed to Start
New Corporation
? Group Hears By-Laws
Read Tuesday Night
? Lists Now Circulate
For Stock Subscribers
Unless $5,000 in cash is obtained,
a county development corporation
cannot be chartered. H. S. Gibbs Jr.
told the 36 persons who attended
a pro-organizational meeting of
the development corporation Tues
day night. The group met at the
Morehead City municipal building.
The $5,000 in cash plus $45,000
in pledged funds must be raised
within six months from Oct. 13,
1959.
According to the proposal, a per
son who invests in the corporation
would deposit 10 per cent of his
total pledge in cash, for which he
would be isaued stock. The remain
der of the investment would be in
interest-bearing bonds.
The least amount a person could
invest would be $250. For example,
he would pay $25 (par value of
one share of stock), and receive
bonds for the remaining $225.
George McNeill, serviag as legal
advisor, said that if a person signs
the subscription lists distributed
Tl|f?lay night, the agreement in
Mming If however, tkc IS, 000 is
not raised in six month* all money
paid in full will be returned.
Mr. Gibbs read proposed by-laws
naming the corporation Carteret
County Development Corporation,
with principal offices at Morehead
City, authorized capital stock
$100,000.
Seven directors, would be elected
by the stockholders, the directors
then electing officers. Walter Mor
ris, with the industrial develop
ment committee of the Morehead
City chamber of commerce, said
that the garment company, which
See NEW FIRM, Page (
George Huntley
Heads Board
George W. Huntley Sr., Beaufort,
was elected chairman of the new
Carteret County Planning Commis
sion at its meeting Monday night
at the courthouse, Beaufort.
Other officers are Dr. L. J.
Duprce, Cedar Point, vice-chair
man. and W. C. Carlton, Morchcad
City, secretary-treasurer.
Attending the meeting, in ad
dition to the officers, were the fol
lowing commission members: Cecil
Morris, Atlantic; Milton S. Roush,
Gales Creek; Dr. W. L. Woodard,
Beaufort; and M. G. Coylc, Atlan
tic Beach.
Also' present were Odcll Mer
rill, clerk to the board of county
commissioners; A. D. Fulford,
county sanitarain. and E. W. Har
ris, a guest of Dr. Dupree.
Representatives were not present
from either femerald Isle or New
port. Each of these towns is eligible
for an appointee on the commis
sion.
The commission discussed its
duties and requested the secretary
to obtain copies of the bill which
created the commission. Plans are
being made to have Leigh Wilson
of the League of Municipalities
meet with the group.
TV next meeting will be at
7:X p. m. Monday, Nov. 9, at the
Carteret-Craven Electric member
ship Corp., Morehcad City.
42 Band Members Make
Trip to Chapel Hill
Thirty-three band members and
nine majorettes of the Morehcad
City school band made the trip
to Chapel Hill Saturday for band
day. Fifty-two bands from acroaa
the state participated.
Songs played by the bands were
Nocturne, Little Brown Jug, Celeste
Aida, Faith of Our Fathers, Hark
the Sound, and the University of
South Carolina Alma Mater.
Chape rones were Clyde Burr,
Mrs. L. O. Crowe, Mrs. Warren
Beck, Leeil Smith and Lea wood
Lee.