ALL WHO READ READ THE NEWS-TIMES I! 10/ 49th YEAR, NO. 77. TWO SECTIONS FOURTEEN PAGES MOREHEAD CITY AND BEAUFORT, NORTH CAROLINA FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1960 PUBLISHED TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS / Town Zones Postoffice Dock • No One Attend* Tuesday Hearing • Board Discusses Annexation Problem Perhaps a fight of a year’s stand ing came to a close Tuesday night when Beaufort town commission ers and owners of the dock in front of the poatoffice concluded a com promise agreement as the board zoned the dock for "restricted com mercial” use. In return, the parties who filed suit against the I. N. Moore fam ily, dock owners, agreed to with draw their action. “Restricted commercial” use i aieans that menhaden boats may not use the dock, but it is open for use by pleasure craft, in accord > ance with the regulations that ap ply to the waterfront block west of the dock. Tile court action against the Moores, filed by the B. C. Browps, alleged that use of the dock by menhaden boats was a nuisance and that the boats cause washing away of the Browns’ waterfront property. The zoning action by the board followed a public hearing at the town hall at which no one appear ed. I. N. Moore and his son, Les lie, came to the meeting briefly after the hearing, and were in formed of the board’s action. Routine reports were given by commissioners. Mayor W. H. Pot ter, who presided, said that he had • requested the SBA to send appli cation forms for loans to business men badly damaged by Donna. He also informed the board that Mr. and Mrs. D. F. Merrill have made a site available for a coun ty hospital on highway 101. The site consists of 20 acres, pf which seven are cleared. The board discussed annexation proposals and the possibility of lay ing sewer lines to the areas now outside town. Mayor Potter said he would like to see a hearing, now pending before the court, scheduled as soon as possible. C. R. Whcatly, town attorney, said that a survey of the proposed sew er area, by Gray Hassell, engineer, should be made. The board directed that chief of police Guy Springle follow up park ing tickets issued for overtime parking at meters. Mr. Wheatly said that the number of parking meter violations reported and the ^imount received in parking meter fines show that the town is not en forcing the parking meter ordi nance. The board approved payment of $25 to the Ann Street Cemetery association, dues for 1960. A letter complaining about weeds on a vacant lot was received from Mrs. Ulys LCe. Commissioner Otis Mades said that quite a few lots have been cleaned. , Request for a street light in the 400 block of Pollock Street was tabled until the next fiscal year. A suit to clear title to Willis Tem ple sawmill land was brought to the attention of the board. The town was named in the suit since street ends join the property in question. The matter was refer red to Mr. Wheatly. The fouled-up town number and street marker system was discuss ed but no action taken. Present, in addition to those mentioned, were commissioners W. R. Hamil ton, David Farrior, Math Chap lain and Bert Brooks. Final Figure on Farm Loss In County Set at $671,600 Agriculture officials, in their fi nal report on farm loss from ricanc Donna, set the total $671,600. The losses were broken doe follows: Corn — Five per cent harvested before the storm. Estimated yield was 50 bushels per aerft This was reduced by half by Donna, making a loss estimated at $100,000 from wind and rain damage. One hun dred acres planted in corn were covered by salt water. Cotton — Twenty pcent whs harvested before the storm. Esti mated yield was bales per acre, reduced by 70 per cent be cause of Donna. The dollar loss was estimated at $8,240. Twenty five acres of cotton were covered with salt water. Soybeans—None had been har vested before the storm. The yield per acre was estimated at 30 bush els. The storm caused a 25 per cent reduction in yield or a dollar loss of $60,000. Acreage flooded Swansboro Weathers Donna, Storm That Dwarfed Hazel By TUCKER R. LITTLETON Sunday night Hurricane Donna roared across the White Oak river, leaving a trail of debris and disaster. When the time came to cal culate the damage, Swans boro mayor M. N. Lisk esti mated that Donna’s toll reached at least $500,000 within the city limits of Swansboro alone. He esti mated that damages totaled $10,000 to the town itself in public property loss. Mayor Lisk said the clean-up job will take two weeks. The city hall reported that winds had been clock ed in excess of 100 mph and that reliable estimates had established gusts up to 125 mph. The mayor also mentioned Civil Defense per sonnel and weather officials as substantiating the local belief that the hurricane in the Swansboro area was accompanied by torna does. Hurricane Donna, said the may or, brought tides 9 to 11 feet above normal. He said that there was evidence that residents in the Ce dar Point area experienced some thing like tidal wave activity, where the tide appears to have been the highest for this general area. When Sunday dawned on Sept. 11 past, few people were expecting the night to witness such devasta tion. Not-since the Great Hurri cane of 1752 had the town of Swans boro seen anything equal to Donna. Most residents agree that not even Hazel in 1954 equalled this month’s hurricane. Perhaps, if more de tails were known--ubr cent by Donna. Dollar loss as estimated at $3,960. Pastures—Condition normal be fore the storm; damage, 70 per cent, or a dollar loss of $200,000. Nine hundred acres were flooded with salt water and much acreage was damped by/salt spray. Hay cfljp—Fi% per cent was harvestetrbefore l>onna; estimat ed yield per acre was 1V4 tons. The storm caused a 40 per cent reduction in yield or a dollar loss of $30,000. Flooded by salt water were ISO acres and more acres were damaged by salt spray, i Sweet Potatoes—Ten per cent of the crop was harvested before the storm. Estimated yield was 150 bushels per acn^ reduced 25 per cent by Donna, or a loss of $12,000. Approximately 50 acres of sweet potato land were flooded by salt water. This, believe it or not, is orally a street, Water street in Swansboro in front of the Tucker Littleton house, looking east. (Photo by S. F. Milsted). Chamber to Circulate Bridge Petition Throughout State More Pictures Included Today Although extra copies of last Friday’s paper, containing pic tures of the storm, were printed, many calls for the paper were met with, “I’m sorry, we’re sold out.” ° For those who were unable to get a copy and for others who want additional storm pictures, photographs, heretofore unpub lished, appear in today’s paper. Tide Table Tides at the Beaufort Bar HIGH ° LOW Friday, Sept. 23 9:30 a.m. 3.32 a.m. 8:49 p.m. 3:58 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24 10:14 a.m. 4:05 a.m. 10:38 p.m. 4:38 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25 11:06 a.m. 4:42 a.m. 11:36 p.m. 5:24 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26 12:05 a.m. 5:26 a m.’ .. 6:26 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27 12:37 a.m. 6:28 a.m. 1:07 p.m. 7:47 p.m. Tobacco — All harvested before the storm; yield was 1,500 pounds per acre. Tobacco damaged in pack houses meant a loss of $45,000. The total loss, all crops, was $460,200. Livestock losses—50 pigs drown ed, valued at $1,000 ; 200 hens valu ed at $400. Damage to farm buildings, $100, 000; , farm machinery, $25,000; homes and furniture, $50,000; loss in family food supply, $20,000; for estry loss, $15,000. Plane Wanted The Rev. Paul Dingess, pastor of the Church of God, Morehead City, announces that a church is being started -in Beaufort a block east of highway 70 on the LennoxviUe road. The congregation would like to have a piano, either on a loan basis, or by donation. Persons in terested in offering a piano should contact Ur. Dingess, phone PA Han. ► While certain Morehead City chamber of commerce officials thought that a county referendum on Morehead City bridge location would be desirable, the cMlmbcr board of directors Monday night decided that a petition circulated state-wide would be a preferable move. The petition, to be sent to Gov. Luther Hodges and the State High way commission, after signatures have been obtained, asks that the present bridge plans be discarded and the state “proceed with realis tic plans for a bridge which will be an all-weather bridge, will in sure future growth of Hie port, al low for expansion of rail facilities to the port, eliminate the 314-mile traffic bottleneck in Morehead City and justify the large expenditure of state and federal funds.” The directors authorized J. A. DuBois, manager of the chamber, to accept invitations from various chambers of commerce that have asked that the Morehead City chamber meet with their directors to present facts about the bridge. Mr. DuBois reported on the re cent US 70 association convention which he attended in New Mexico. Convention members, he said, arc enthusiastic about the 1961 conven tion being held Sept. 17-19 in More head City-Atlantic Beach. Mem bers come from the eight states through which highway 70 passes from coast to coast. He told of the association’s ef forts to promote travel on the highway and close cooperation of the association with the federal bureau of public roads. The board authorized Mr. DuBois to work for a strong Highway 70 association in North Carolina. Rufus Butner, president,1 men tioned the pressing need for a code requiring construction of sjibstan Storm Seriously Erodes Ocean Side of Shackleford •Persons who have visited Shackleford banks since Donna re port that Shackleford, on the ocean side, has been seriously eroded. David Yeomans, Harkers Island, says Shackleford has been more seriously damaged than in any pre vious storm. In some places the dunes have been washed away so that a normal high tide will flow through the banks and into the sound. High dunes that formerly were on the water’s edge have been cut back, leaving a wide swath of flat beach. Some of the animals on Shackle ford were washed to Harkers Is land and survived the onslaught of the storm. Others were drown* tial buildings in the county. The board went on record to request the county'planning commission to set up a building code similar to the one in effect in Miami, Fla., and that a building inspector be employed by the county to enforce the regulations. It was recommended that the committee on boating safety meet in the near future to form a plan for 1961. Members are D. G. Bell, chairman; Luther Hamilton Jr., Roger Van Burcn, S. A. Chalk Jr., and Adam Mayer. Bob Simpson, fishing publicist, reported on Fabulous Fishermen, and on hurricane damage. Shelby Freeman suggested that new industries might be establish ed by purchasing government sur plus punts, which he said are available, complete, at 10 per cent of their original cost. Board members arranged to take a trip to Shackleford banks next Wednesday to get a first-hand view of damage to the banks. Permission was granted the Morehead City Football Boosters club to repair and use the cham ber sign at the west entrance to town. Present at the meeting, in addi tion to those mentioned, were George McNeill, Garland Scruggs, Dr. Russell Outlaw, S. A. Chalk Jr., Ed Swann and W. B. Chalk. Outboards Stolen The county sheriff’s department reports that two outboard motors were stolen Monday night. One was a 60 hp Scott-Atwater, stolen at Cedar Point, and the other an 18 hp stolen from the Beaufort Morchead causeway. Owner of the 60 hp is Captain Bolves; owner of the other is Leland Day. cd. Their carcasses were buried or carried to sea by Harkcrs Is land and Straits residents. No census has been taken of ani mals remaining on Shackleford but it is generally agreed that the pop ulation is considerably less today than it was before Donna. Mr. Yeomans said the tremen dous volumes of water that flowed across Shackleford simply washed the animals off. He added that those remaining will find little to eat because much of the vegeta tion was inundated by salt water. At Cape Lookout the roof blew off the two-story house at the light. Only the T remained of the Coast Guard dock aqd the Telford Rose and feennie Brooks camps were blows away. Coroner's Jury Clears Drivers In Fatal Wreck A coroner’s jury Monday night took only eight minutes to exon erate both Charles Wesley Speight of Belgrade and Roy Franklin Mills of Sanford, drivers of two cars involved in an accident Sept. 4 that claimed the life of Mrs. Mills. Mrs. Mills, a passenger in her husband's car, was killed instant ly when their car crashed into the rear of the Speight auto on high way 24 about 14 miles west of Morehead City. The accident oc curred at 2:30 Sunday afternoon, Sept. 4. Both Mills and Speight, called before the coroner’s jury as wit nesses, gave substantially the same account of the accident. Speight told the jury that he was going west on highway 24 in a 1953 Chevrolet. He had slowed and then stopped his car on the high way in order to make a left turn onto a side road. He said that he had to stop because another car was coming out of the side road and the road was wide enough for only one car to pass at a time. Seconds after he had stopped he said that his car was struck by the Mills’ ear. He testified that he had put on his left turn signal ap proximately 100-150 feet before he reached the side road. Mills told the jury that he, his wife, and three of their five chil dren had been visiting relatives in Beaufort and were returning to their home in Sanford. He said that they had considered buying a lot in Carteret county on which to build a home and were watching for real estate notices posted along the highway. He said that he saw the Speight auto ahead of him but he assumed the car was moving ahead at a normal rate of speed.® He told the jury that he took his eyes off the rpad, for a minute and then heard his wife cry, “Look out,” and realized that he was upon the stop ped car. He said that he applied his brakes but couldn't avoid hitting Speight's car. He said that he had not seen a turn signal or brake light on the car ahead of him. State highway patrolman W. J. Smith, who investigated the acci dent, said that there was no in dication that either driver had been drinking prior to the accident. Other witnesses called before the jury included Speight’s wife Louise, who was in the car with her hus band, and Miss Laura Watson, who was in the car coming out of the side road with Howard Newman. The jury of six retired at 8:20 and returned at 8:28 with their verdict of unavoidable accident. The jurors were Jasper Bell, Herbert Griffin, Lester Hall, George Guthrie, Marvin Powers and Mitchel Harris. Griffin, More head City police chief, acted as spokesman for the six in returning the verdict. Norwegian Visitor Mrs. Hansine Varnaas, steward ess from the Norwegian ship Bel grano, smiles from her bed at the Morehead City hospital. She entered tho hospital last Fri day when Dr. B. F. Royal decided she was too ill to continue on the voyage as the Bclgrano left More head City after delivering lumber. Because Mrs. Varnaas cannot speak English, Mrs. O. G. Sterlen and Bill Olsen, Morehead City, have been serving as interpreters. Mrs. Sterlen has played the zither and sung Norwegian ballads on Balance Needed Must Come from County Moses Howard, chairman of the county board of com missioners, announced Wednesday that the Medical Care Commission, Raleigh, has allocated funds totaling $1,040, 000 for building “approximately a 100-bed hospital and laundry” to be owned by Carteret county, and to replace “the obsolete Morehead City hospital.” The approval is contingent upon the voters of Carteret approving a bond issue to meet the< county’s share of the cost of con struction. According to William F. Hender son, executive secretary of the Medical Care Commission, who wrote Mr. Howard this week, the federal share is $935,000 ( 55 per cent of the cost), the state will con tribute $105,000 and the county's share would be $660,000, making a total of $1,700,000. To obtain the county funds, voters must approve borrowing them when they go to the polls Nov. 8. The legal machinery is set up to borrow $1 million, but Mr. Howard said it may not be neces sary to borrow the full amount. He added, however, that there may be more county expense than the $660,000. Since the hospital, if built, will probably be in a rural area, the county will be responsi ble for getting water to it. Mr. Howard visited the hospital at Tarboro recently which was built with federal - state - county funds. He added that the old hos pital there was sold for $80,000, which helped meet some of the ex pense of new construction. At present there are two hos pitals in the county, a privately owned hospital at Sea Level and the municipally-supported hospital at Morehead City. Morehead City officials say that they are not empowered to dispose of municipally - owned property, thus there is little prospect of revenue from the present hospital, which would be closed when the new one is built. Hospital trustees state that the Medical Care commission is now letting the Morehead hospital op erate under special dispensation and that the commission will eventually order it closed, whether the county approves a new hospital or not. County commissioners say that the tax rate will be increased 15 cents to pay off the hospital bonds. This will bring the total rate to $1.80. The county in 1959 rejected a bond vote on schools, but James Potter, county auditor, said that the education board docs not in tend to seek another bond vote on schools. County funds arc being set aside yearly to start construc tion of a new Morehead City high school. • If the county is to benefit from the funds approved this week for a new hospital, the law requires that the local funds (Carteret county’s share) be available by Nov. 30. Ap proval by the voters of the bond issue will be sufficient to meet that Sec HOSPITAL, Page 2 her visits to Mrs. Varnaas. “In Norway, wc call the zither a harteleik,” Mrs. Stcrlen said. Mine was sent to me from Norway by my brother.” She and Mrs. Varnaas are natives of the same city in Norway, Drammen, and thus were able to chat about the same places. Mrs. Vaniaas, who was suffering from high blood pressure, expects to be discharged from the hospital next week. She will probably fly home or go by boat, Mrs. Sterlen said, whichever the Norwegian consul in New York recommends. Pastor Reports On '(0 Migrant Work Program The Rev. Ralph Fleming Jr., chairman of the migrant ministry committee the past summer, gave his report at the county ministers' meeting Monday at the civic cen ter, Morehcad City. Mr. Fleming reported that the program was bigger and better than ever before and that over 800 migrant workers had been minis tered to. He said that the Rev. John Alex ander of Atlanta, Ga., Negro min ister®’who worked with the mi grants, did a wonderful piece of work. Mr. Alexander's services were paid for by the National Council of Churches of Christ of North Carolina in cooperation with the county association. New officers were introduced. They arc Mr. Fleming, president; the Rev. Charles Kirby of More head City, vice-president; the Rev. John F. Cox of Morchead City, sec retary; and the Rev. Sam Wichard of Harkers Island, treasurer. Three new members were wel comed. They were the Rev. J. Hillary Bryant of Sea Level, the Rev. Lalleon Narron of Morchead City and the Rev. Robert D. Wood of Morehcad City. Five committees were named. They are program committee, Mr. Kirby, chairman, Mr. Wood and ihc Rev. E. Guthrie Brown; mem bership, the Rev. Seldon Bullard, chairman, the Rev. John Cline and Mr. Wichard; projects, the Rev. B. L. Davidson, chairman, the Rev. Corbin Cooper, and the Rev. Ed ward Sharp; radio, Mr. Cline, chairman, the Rev. M. O. Sears, and Mr. Bryant; migrant, the Rev. Alec Thompson, chairman, the Rev. Jack Mansfield, and the Rev. Paul Dingess. Mr. Brown reported that partici pation in the radio program had been very good. Several commit tee chairmen made yearly reports. Mr. Mansfield conducted the de votions. The program, Minister Funeral Director Relationships, was given by Mr. Kirby. Thir teen ministers attended. GOP Operates Beaufort Office Republican headquarters in the former "Baxter-Stampcr” jewelry store, Front Street, Beaufort, are open. The Republican county commit tee announces that the office is open daily from 9 a m. to 5 p.m. Available there is information on voting, how to obtain absentee bal lots, campaign literature, posters and bumper stickers. To be placed in the headquarters next week is a tv set so that the Nixon-Kennedy debates may be watched by anyone who wishes. Mrs. C. R. Wheatly Jr., Beau fort, is in charge of women volun teers who arc on duty at the head quarters. Elmer Dewey Willis, publicity chairman, reports that several car loads of people from this county attended the Republican rally in Rocky Mount Monday night where Robert Gavin, Republican candi date for governor, spoke. Seven ty-five hundred persons attended. Plans are under way to have Mr. Gavin visit Carteret early next month. Fifteen attended the campaign meeting Saturday night at the Beaufort headquarters. Meetings are scheduled for 7:30 each Thurs day night from now until the elec tion. Anyone interested is invited. Osborne Davis, of the county Re publican committee, said the com mittee is encouraged by the tre mendous response it has received. “People are calling up and volun teering their services and this is the first time, to my knowledge, that has ever happened,” Mr. Dav is commented. Florence Peters Out The tropical storm Florence that was brewing off Cuba Monday went in over Florida and dissipated be fore reaching the status of a full fledged storm.