Opinion Page
THE BRUNSWKK&BEACON
Edward M. Sweatt and Carolyn H. Sweatt Publishers
Edward M. Sweatt Editor
Susan Usher News Editor
Terry Pope and Dort Gurganus Staff Writers
Doug Rutter Sports Editor
Earwood Office Manager
Carolyn H. Sweatt Advertising Director
Timberlev Adams and Cecelia Core ..Advertising Representatives
Dorothy Brennan and Brenda Clemrnons Moore ..Graphic Artists
WilUam Manning Pressman
Lonnle Sprinkle Assistant Pressman
Tracy Smith Photo Technician
Phoebe Clemrnons and Frances Sweatt Circulation
PAGE 4 A, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1992
Post Office Plans Can
Stunt Town's Growth
It comes as no surprise that Shallotte aldermen are opposed
to plans that will move most operations from the Shallotte Post
Office to the branch at Sunset Beach.
The only surprise is that it took so long for the municipal
government to go public with its opposition. We expected an im
mediate outpouring of opposition back in December when plans
for the move were first published in the Beacon.
We also expected some of the major mailers in town to be
conrprnpH about postal operations being reduced in Shallotte,
which, frankly, has never been famous for its postal service.
The Beacon is very concerned about the situation. The last
thing we need is any situation that makes it even more likely that
our newspapers might be delayed from time to time.
Although we have been assured by Postmaster Frank
Bringoli that we can continue to do business as usual at the office
in Shallotte, wc arc naturally coiilcihcu tnai service may sutrer
with only a couple of people left at what is supposed to be the
main post office in Shallotte. Although service has been better in
the past couple of years, there are still times when it is quite late
in the day when the mail is put in post office boxes.
'Hie Beacon depends on the postal service to provide over
.MX) mail sacks, in which newspapers are required to be sorted,
and at least six containers to sort sacks headed in differing direc
tions. Hopefully, we will be able to continue getting a supply of
sacks and buggies at the local post office, but chances are we will
end up having to drive to the branch at Sunset Beach.
We have been assured that we will be able to continue mail
ing newspapers in Shallotte although all the routes will be han
dled out of the Sunset Beach branch when the move is made.
Although there have been assurances that this extra step will not
delay delivery, we are still anxious about that possibility.
Delivery delays have occurred at a fully-staffed main post of
fice in Shallotte. so it seems that delays are more likely to happen
more often at an office with a skeleton crew.
Every Wednesday we put over one and one-half tons of
newspapers on the back porch of the post office bound for ad
dresses in Brunswick County and all over the country. We have
enough problems with slow delivery already without adding on
the schedule another stop and another chance 10 make a mistake.
Like most people, we were glad when postal officials decided
to build a branch in the Sunset Beach area, to take some of the
pressure off an over-burdened situation in Shallotte until a more
adequate facility could be built and to give better service to that
fast-growing end of the county.
There was never any discussion back then of gutting the
Shallotte post office. Discussion of building a new post office in
Shallotte, too, has apparently been put on the back burner.
The move by the postal service comes at an odd time, too, on
the heels of recent growth of the business community in
Shallotte. The postal service must know something that Wal
Mart doesn't, since that most successful retail chain picked the
middle of Shallotte to build a new Wal-Mart. Another top-notch
iciaiier, Advance Auto fans, opcnco in onailottc in uecernocr.
They, too, picked the center of the trading area in which to locate.
Perhaps the difference is that Wal-Mart and Advance Auto
Pans must earn their own way. They have to be where they can
serve the most people for the lowest operating costs.
The post office, however, with its unique situation, doesn't
have to be as concerned about making ends meet. The price of
stamps can always be raised.
Granted, this newspaper, one of the largest mailers in
Shallotte, has a personal stake in what happens to the post office.
However, if the Shallotte Post Office does not grow with the
town, sooner or later it could stunt the growth of this town.
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Are We Safer In A Small Town?
I was disappointed to hear that
someone I know was the victim of
vandalism and theft after moving to
Atlanta from this area only two
weeks ago.
The unfortunate person had
parked his car outside the place
where he had just found a job the
week before, which happened to be
in the downtown area on 13th Street.
He found his back window
bashed in, and several items stolen.
Among them were some tapes, some
bank statements and a paychcck for
S25 from his previous job.
That check was just about all the
money he had in the world, and now
he's going to find it difficult lo stay
in the big city.
This got mc thinking: Boy, am 1
glad I got away from Atlanta!
And then I thought: Do 1 really
mean that ?
Big cities arc full of things to do,
all the conveniences of nKxlern liv
ing and an increased variety of al
most everything.
But if you consider the probabili
ty of crime in relation to the number
of people in a city, it docs seem that
sooner or later city dwellers will all
be ripped off, right?
It docs make sense that in Atlanta,
a city of well over two million peo
ple, that some of those people arc
going to be either very poor, addict
ed to drugs, or angry at people who
have things that they want.
Sometimes a person is a combina
tion of all three and these people of
ten want to steal what other people
have.
I couldn't get back to sleep after
hearing the news of the person who
moved to Atlanta and was robbed. It
brought to mind my own experi
ences with crime.
Too often on the 1 1 o'clock news
in Atlanta I would see full-color
murder, vandalism, gang fights,
hostage-taking and convenience
store hold-ups.
I became fed up with living in
fear and vowed never to live in
Atlanta again. Luckily, neither my
family nor I had ever fallen victim
to any sort of crime like those on
television while in that city.
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Cosgrove
Gurganus
After living nine years in Athens,
Ga., a small college town of about
20,000 people without the students,
I finally experienced two episodes
of crime in three weeks' time.
1 had lived in many apartments,
houses with roommates and dormi
tories, but my last three years in
Athens 1 lived alone in a small cot
tage.
It was in a picturesque, suburban
neighborhood behind a main busi
ness road and was very tall since it
had a porch underneath. I'd never
felt unsafe there since I had so many
houses around me and I'd never seen
creepy people wandering around.
To make a long story short, it was
summer, 1 left my back window
open, and whiL 1 was gone someone
shimmied up the side of the house,
lore off the screen and climbed in.
The thief took my stereo system
and my tiny microwave oven, leav
ing my cottage in shambles. I'm
grateful that the television wouldn't
fit through the window and also that
I've never really owned anything of
value.
Three weeks later 1 got married in
my beloved town of Athens. My
husband and 1 spent our wedding
night in a hotel in the downtown dis
trict and were to depart for a honey
moon in Charleston, S.C., the next
day.
We made the mistake of leaving
several of our wedding gifts in my
husband's car, which was also deco
rated "Just Married" and covered
with streamers and balloons.
Kind of seems obvious, doesn't
it? But not in such a small town,
right?
In the morning, we found that the
side window had been broken and
three of the gifts were gone. The
thief had opened one of the gifts and
left it behind? a set of towels.
Also missing was all the silver
change from the coin holder next to
the gear shift (the pennies re
mained), but left in iLs placc was
plenty of broken glass.
What a nice farewell after nine
years!
So far, I've lived in Brunswick
County for six months without any
problems, but from what I hear,
crime is not unheard of here.
Many people leave their hcach
houses unattended during the winter,
and find that vandals have broken in
and either stolen belongings or just
had a party.
Part of me says that if you move
to a large city, you're asking for
something bad to happen to you.
The other purl of mc ssvs thu&t to
avoid crime in any area people need
to take sensible precautions.
Still another part of mc says that
sometimes there's nothing anyone
can do. If thieves want to pet into
your house or car, they will do it
even in broad daylight with doors
loeked.
It's taken me a while to get used
to the fact that many people around
here don't lock doors at home or on
their cars. I feel like a paranoid city
dwelling rat when 1 do lock things
up, but it's just pari of my instinct, I
guess.
In the end, 1 truly believe that I
have decreased my risk of being a
victim of crime by moving to
Brunswick County. Sure, there are
plenty of people living under the
poverty level here, but this commu
nity seems too closcknit to have
widespread thievery among neigh
bors.
I wish I had a sure-fire solution to
abolish crime, but until then I'll be
content to live where the air is clcan,
people know each other by name,
and I don't have to be afraid to stop
in at a convenience stone at night.
Big cities may have more restau
rants and entertainment opportuni
ties hill l'(t cl ? 1 1 r:ilh<>r viyil lh-in live
there.
When Things Go
Bump, Clang
In The Night
There's a ghost in the house.
I've heard him, or her, open the
kitchen cabinet, take out a can of
soup and set it on the counter. It also
keeps turning on my stereo at night
while I'm in bed asleep.
From the sound of it, I'm guess
ing that it was a can of soup and not
a can of pork and beans or sliced
pineapple. When the light is on,
nothing is there. No can, no intruder,
nothing. So it had to be a ghost.
The stereo kept turning itself on
and off one night while I sat in bed
and looked at it, ama/.ed. The light
ed dial kept flickering and the music
kept fading in and out, so I pulled
the plug. A shortage? Perhaps a
ghost
Thai's how we Southerners ex
plain the things that go bump, ciang
in the night. The wind whips up a
tree limb and throws it against the
porch. A ghost is trying to get in
side. A coat falls from a hanger in
the closet, and a spirit is responsible.
When I tell people that I live in
Maco, I can tell if a person is new to
the area or is a native Brunswick
Countian. The natives immediately
respond with, "Have you ever seen
the Maco Light?"
Terry
Pope
Maco is home lo a legendary
ghosi story. Joe Baldwin, a train
conductor, fell from a wrcckcd train
more than 100 years ago and was
decapitated on the tracks. Ever
since, he roams the area with a
lantern searching for his lost head,
in hones of finding it amid the
swamp so he can finally rest in
pcace.
The light has reportedly chased
people from the tracks and has ma
neuvered in ways that no humanly
guided object could react.
Only, the tracks were removed in
the mid-1970s and the place has
since been intruded with small
pines. The legend is slipping away.
I've always been a sucker for a
good ghost story. My parents used
one local ghost story to get me in
f -
side the house before dark when I
was a young boy. They ran that
ghost story into the ground, but it
didn't matter. I believed it anyway,
and it kept me on my toes.
My mother's inheritance included
part of a large field known as the
Childs Field. My grandfather helped
pass this story down, having sworn
that if caught there after dark Old
Man Childs would come up beside
you and lake your breath away.
There is also an invisible dog in the
field that brushes the leg of your
pants, indicating that ghosts were
about.
The Childs family was buried
long ago in a plot in the middle of
tne ncid. ineir oiu nouse nau
bumed from the face of the earth,
leaving no trace behind
Having been caught in the field
just before dusk one evening, Blain,
my grandfather, is said to have
looked up while watering the plants
and spotted an old man with a long
gray beard walking down the row
toward him. Old Man Childs was
approaching, so Blain ran lo the
house. Out of breath, he explained
that he would never set foot in the
field again unless the sun was up
high in the sky.
You can believe thai story put me
in the house after dark. In the sum
mer, wc never wanted the clays to
end or for night to fall. Wc wanted
to play and postpone our baths for
ever. All wc needed was to hear,
"Old Man Childs is gonna get you,"
and wc were inside before you could
blink an eye.
But it's different now. I'm a
grown man left trying to figure out
just what or who is making those
creaking noises on the parquet floor,
closing the cabinet doors and Hip
ping my stereo on at night.
As long as it's just a ghost I'll be
all right.
Write Us
I he Beacon welcomes letters
to the editor. All letters must be
signed and include the writer's
address. Under no circumstances
will unsigned letters be printed.
Letters should be legible. The
Bcacon reserves the right to edit
libelous comments. Address let
ters to The Brunswick Bcacon,
P. O. Box 2558, Shallotlc. N. C.
28459.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Charge All Same Fee
To ihc editor:
Having been a lifetime resident of
Brunswick County and having paid
county taxes for 25 years, I assumed
1 was a bona fide Brunswick County
resident ? wrong.
Approximately 200 Shallotte
Point residents were informed at a
recent meeting that we live in a
S.A.D. (special assessment district)
and will not receive county water at
the same cost as most other county
residents.
Some property owners paid as lit
tle as S50 to tap on to the county
water system even though they live
on a dead-end road approximately
four miles west of Hwy. 17.
The minimum cost to Shallotte
Point Residents has been estimated
(by the Utilities Commission) to be
approximately S850. To those living
in areas not directly adjacent tot he
transition lines (otherwise known as
"white areas"), there will be no op
tion to have water or not to have wa
ter.
We were informed that, if the wa
ter lines cross our property, wc will
pay the resulting assessment fee or a
lien will be placed against our prop
erty.
No one tried to justify the com
missioners' decision to designate
certain areas as SADs, except to say
that the monies generated by the
bond referendum were used up by
installation of the initial phase of the
water system. Did anyone mention
phases when trying to get the refer
endum passed?
I did not vote for the water bond
referendum when it was proposed
several years ago. However, that did
not exempt me from paying the re
sulting increase in taxes it generated.
Would it not be fairer to all citizens
to charge the same fee to all even if
some residents have to be re
assessed, rather than create SAD
area where property owners arc
charged an excessive fee to take up
the slack created by poor planning
or mismanagement of county funds'?
One thing we have learned, yes,
you can fight city hall ? you just
can't win.
Elizabeth Benton
Shallottc Point
Two-Year Term Is Best
To the editor:
I have been reading about the
elected politicians in Brunswick
County complaining about the en
acted two-year terms for county
commissioners. 1 believe in the two
year term.
Regardless of the politician's po
litical affiliation, it is a means to let
the incumbent know that we will re
member how he voted last year.
Hopefully the politician rnnninw for
public office is running for the pub
lic good and self satisfaction of be
ing active toward a more progres
sive community.
Four years is a long time for an
elccted official to be in officc and
not do a good job. He gets out of
contact with the rank and Hie voters.
If a politician is sincere and really
wants to do community servicc (this
is really the number one reason why
they should be running) the two
year term is just part of the service.
The clcctcd position of county
commissioner is not a lifetime au
thorization of authority by the vot
ers-only a temporary job; the first
term to sec how capably a person
performs and a continuing evalua
tion every two years. (Just like a
yearly evaluation from ones em
ployer or supervisor in the regular
work force.)
A newly-elected commissioner
ObviOUSly ??*?!' r.CCd iuViv iu familial -
ize himself with county operations,
but department heads should be
readily available for explaining in
ternal operations.
Remember, if the commissioners
do their job right, the voters will
know and re-elect them without the
expenditure of vast sums of money
by the commissioners to pcrfoim a
community service function.
Robert S. Black
Shallot te
( More Letters On Following Page)