VOLUME XVI NO. 36
WANCHESE MAN
DIES WEDNESDAY
IN TRUCK MISHAP
“Billv R.” Tillett Killed Near
Kittv Hawk; Gilbert Til
lett In Hospital.
Leslie Roscoe Tillett, 48, known
to his friends as “Billy,” died in
stantly Wednesday night when
his 1950 Ford truck driven by
Jack Gilbert Tillett, a cousin, age
19, ran off the road near Kitty
Hawk Coast Guard Station, and
turned over. He was a highly pop
ular citizen, and had been in the
fishing business all his life, and
at the time of his death was en
gaged in the oyster business and
had returned from a trip selling
oysters.
He the son of the late Wil
bur Mott and Colinda Alice Gallop
Tillett, and the husband of Mrs.
Leona Basnight Tillett, and the
father of two children: Gilbert
Roscoe Tillett and Lois Tillett of
Wanchese. Four brothers also
survive him. Peter, Reggie, Dal
las and Sigsbee of Wanchese.
Prompt aid was rendered by an
ambulance from Twiford’s Funer
al Home in Manteo, and Gilbert
Tillett was taken to the Elizabeth
City hospital for treatment. He
was found to have injuries about
the head and back.
The truck after running off the
road, turned over and damaged a
house belonging to Miss Claudia
Sanderlin of Kitty Hawk.
REGISTRANTS’ APPEALS
SHOULD FOLLOW THREE
RULES, BOARDS SAY
Selective Service registrants
should observe a few simple rules
in presenting their cases to the
Draft Board. Robert Ballance,
Dare County selective service
board chairman, and W. G. Credle,
Chairman of the Hyde County
Board and Dr. W. T. Ralph, Chair
man of the Beaufort County
Board, state that registrants and
interested persons could help the
Draft Board and themselves if
they will observe the following
three suggestions:
(1) Present in writing a state
ment of all facts which they be
lieve will entitle the registrant to
deferment. This should be pre
sented at the time the question
naire is returned. Any subsequent
change in status that might war
rant reclassification should be re
ported in writing. (2) File within
ten days after the Notice of Class
ification is mailed, a request for
personal appearance before the
Board, if desired. Such a request
will be granted if filed within ten
days, but only one appearance will
be granted after each classifica
tion. (3) Should appeal be desir
ed, give to the local board notice
of appeal in writing within ten
days after the date of mailing of
the Notice of Classification. This
applies to the notice mailed after
either the original classification or
the notice issued after personal
appearance before the board.
The chairmen point out that ob
servance of these simple rules
would give everyone assurance
that the local board was fully in
formed of the facts which might
have a bearing upon the regis
trant’s classification. They add
that persons who wish to discuss
a case with the Board should re
quest an appearance at the proper
time and not attempt to discuss
it with individual Board Members
outside of the Local Board Office.
.It is pointed out that such prac
tice would save time and that the
interested parties could then be
sure that all, of the Board Mem
bers had complete knowledge of
the facts which they wished to
present. Members of the Board
are doing their best to determine
the proper classification of each
registrant and they earnestly
request the cooperation of the
public.
SERVICES FRIDAY FOR
. COLUMBIA MERCHANT
Wayland A. Yerby, 64, died at
the Columbia Hospital at 7:10
o’clock Wednesday after an illness
of 14 months.
Mr. Yerby was formerly of Kil
marneck, Va., but had lived in Co
lumbia for the past 25 years. He
had been a merchant since coming
here and in recent years was own
er and manager of Yerby Qual
ity Shop and was a member of the
Methodist Church.
Surviving are his wife, Mrs.
Belle Walker Yerby, one daugh
ter, Mrs. George M. Kelley, Jr., of
Norfolk; one grandchild; his par
ents, Mr. and Mrs. Y. Y. Yerby
of Columbia; one sister, Mrs. R.
C. Wilson of Columbia, S. C. and
one brother, T. K. Yerby of Co
lumbia.
Funeral services will be con
ducted Friday afternoon at 2 o’-
clock at the Columbia Methodist
Church. Burial will be in Oakwood
Cemetery.
THE COASTLAND TIMES
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WALTER RALEIGH COASTLAND OF NORTH CAROLINA
WARREN LEE TERRY
TO PLAY “OLD TOM”
I ff V
WARREN LEE TERRY, veteran
of many years on stage and in
opera has been re-engaged to play
the role of “Old Tom” Harris in
the cast of Paul Green’s symphon
ic drama “The Lost Colony” dur
ing the 1951 season. He was cast
in this corni-tragic role for the
’ first time during the 1950 season
and won much favorable comment
from patrons of the show, news
, papermen covering the drama and
critics.
MELVIN DANIELS
KITTY HAWK CLUB
SPEAKER MONDAY
I '
i Melvin Daniels, Register of
i Deeds for Dare County, will out
, line the duties and functions of
i his office in a talk before the Kit
, ty Hawk Civic Club at the Kitty
' Ha’"k School Monday night.
The program, first in a regular
- monthly series designed to ac
| quaint the members of the club
> with the way in which the county
1 government is set up and operat-
• ed, will begin at 7:30 sharp.
Linwood Tillett, chairman of
the committee in charge of the
series of programs, announced
( that Mr. Daniels had agreed to
devote fifteen minutes to a con
cise, factual report on what he
’ and his staff are supposed to do or
not to do, and then answer ques
tions from the floor for the bal
i ance of the half-hour program
period.
The meeting will be open to all,
and ladies and non-members are
’ especially invited to attend this
' first “County Government” pro
' gram. Rules adopted at the last
meeting of the club provide that
the session shall begin promptly
at 7:30 and adjourn at 9:30, with
! at 7:30 and adjourn at 7:30, with
' an additional half-hour being de
voted to the serving of refresh
-1 ments and a social period.
Other business scheduled to
' come before the meeting will be a
presentation of final plans for the
proposed Kitty Hawk Youth Cen
ter, and a discussion of the plan
i adopted by the County Board of
i Education for- improvements to
' the school.
LAST WEEK’S WEATHER
Figures provided by U. S. Govt.
' Meteorologist A. W. Drinkwater
High Low Rain
j February 22 55 45
February 23 53 39
February 24 56 38
, Febraury 25 63 35
' February 26 70 35
February 27 74 50
■ February 28 59 43
I
DRAMA DIRECTOR
' “~ “T -—— 3
’ SAMUEL SELDEN, veteran di
. rector of The Lost Colony, will
I arrive in Manteo soon to conduct
■ the tryouts by Roanoke Islanders
for parts in the forthcoming sea-
• son’s production of Paul Green’s
■ symphonic drama. Mr. Selden will
: hold the tryouts in the Manteo
I high school auditorium on the ev
ening of March 16.
ISLANDERS TRY
FOR PLAY ROLES
HERE MARCH 16
Tryouts for roles in Paul
Green’s symphonic drama The
Lost Colony, will be held in Man
teo . High School auditorium on
Friday evening, March 16, it has ,
been announced by General Mana-'
ager William M. Hardy. In charge
of island casting will be Samuel
Selden, director of the show since
its premier in Waterside Theatre
here in 1937. The coming season
will be the drama’s 11th to be pre
sented on Roanoke Island.
A local committee will assist
Director Selden with the casting
on March 16. Islanders from all
walks of life try out for parts
each season.
Oldest Cast Member
Oldest member of the cast,
Capt. John Wescott, will again
try out for casting as a colonist
in the show. He has played such
a role for the past several years.
When there is no Lost Colony
underway on the island Captain
Wescott is a commercial fisher
man. Formerly he was a coasts
guardsman and at one time was
in charge of Cape Hatteras Coast
Guard Station.
Robert Midgett, supervisor of
the ABC Stores in Dare, will
again try out for the part of a
16th Century soldier in the cast.
His assistant in the local store
will try out for a similar role.
Role most coveted by the teen
age girls of the island is that of
milk-maid dancers. Teen-age boys
have hopes of becoming colonist
boys or soldiers or Indians.
housewives on the is
land will try out for parts as col
onist women. At least one island
er, Margalene Midgett Thomas,
will probably be a member of the
Lost Colony Choir again this year.
She is the first native born island
er to have such a singing role
with the drama’s famous choir.
Most of the Lost Colony roles
to be filled by islanders are non
speaking parts, although some do
have a chance to demonstrate
their Elizabethan brogue during a
performance.
Half of the cast, and sometimes
more than that, are natives of the
island. Other islanders are mem
bers of the Lost Colony company.
For instance, a local banker is
house manager; the clerk of su
perior court is treasurer; a land
scape architect is assistant to the
manager and takes tickets at the
gate and the box office manager is
a local bookkeeper for a utility
firm. The Lost Colony provides
many jobs and most of the jobs
are given to natives of the island
on which first attempts were made
to colonize the New World, the
story that is told in the interna
tionally famous symphonic dra
ma.
PLAYGROUND BENEFIT
RAISED S6O TUESDAY
About S6O was raised for the
new community playground north
of the Community Building on
Tuesday night at the risk of life
and limb to some of Manteo’s
most valuable and most delicate
citizens.
The Lions Club played the Man
teo Rotary in the first game of
the double bill. The game some
times got a little out of control of
the high school boys who refereed
it. By one spectator’s count there
were 26 players on the floor dur
ing one of the melees. Often balls
were being tossed at the hoop at
opposite ends of the court. If the
game had an outstanding player,
it was probably A. W. Drinkwater,
whose doughty defensive work un
der one basket with a broom pre
vented some Lion threats from
materializing. The Lions outscor
ed the Rotary, some claimed—no
one offered substantial proof of it.
In the afterpiece the Manteo
high school team played rings a
round the slower-footed Lions.
There was a final score, not too
embarrassing for the service club
men, but what it was, exactly, no
one seemed able to say at game’s
end.
FIRE DEPARTMENT BUSY
TUESDAY AFTERNOON
Fire Chief Ivey Evans and his
men had a lively time Tuesday af
ternoon. First the department was
summoned to put out a grass fire
near the Charley Whidbee home in
Manteo; so quickly thereafter
that many people thought it was
a continuation of the same alarm,
the siren shrieked again and the
truck dashed off to fight a marsh
fire near Mill Landing at Wan
chese. As the truck .returned to
Manteo it was in time to play tag
with the other fire department
truck and dash off to put out a
woods fire near the airport. None
of the fires caused much damage;
but the fire department got a lot
of exercise, and the community
got a lot of protection. AU three
alarms were turned in within an
hour in mid-afternoon.
MANTEO, N. C., FRIDAY, MARCH, 2, 1951
HANS HAARDT OF HESSE,
OF ENGELHARD IN HYDE
Wife
HANS HAARDT of Hesse, Ger.
many, who is attending Engel
hard High School and who recent
ly talked to the community’s Rot
ary Club. He lives with Mr. and
Mrs. Columbus Cutrell, and has
become one of the most popular
students. He is 19 years old, and
says he would love to live in the
United States always. Son of a
German farmer, he came to
America in June, one of two Ger
man students who is receiving ed
ucation in North Carolina.
YOUPON TEA MAY BE
IMPORTANT PRODUCT
General Foods Corp. Investigating
Possibilities of Marketing a
Youpon Beverage
By BEN DIXON MacNEILL
Buxton on Cape Hatteras—Mar.
I.—Modern Cherokee Indians,
thespians now instead of warriors,
whose ancestors used to trek 500
miles from their Great Smoky
Mountain homes to quaff youpon
tea on Hatteras Island and so
purge themselves of winter’s de
bility, may presently be able to
get the same results at their near
est grocery store or soda foun
tain. Youpon is about ready to go
commercial.
After months of test and ex
periment, the, laboratories of Gen
eral Foods Corporation, which is
to eating about what General Mo
tors is to riding, have worked out
a formula, according to reports
in general circulation around here,
and the company is now casting I
about for a dependable source of
supply before putting the new
beverage on the market. There is
plenty of youpon hereabouts.
Medicinal Properties
Tests have disclosed that native '
youpon tea has only slightly less
caffein than the best tea import
ed from the Orient and about the
same as the best coffee imported
from Brazil and other tropical
sources. Moreover, it has certain
medicinal qualities that offset any
undesirable factor presented by
caffein. In short, the modern lab
oratory technician has discovered
that the Cherokees knew what
they were getting for their 500-
mile walk.
Whether the new beverage will
be distributed in packages like tea
or coffee, or in bottles like pepsi
cola—or maybe both—has not
been determined, according to re
ports current here. Either way,
the corporation appears to believe
that it has found something that
the public will buy and drink and
which can be produced at substan
tially lower cost than the dollar
a pound now charged for coffee in
most stores.
Main question now for the in
vestigators is whether there is
enough raw material to justify
exploitation, and representatives
of the organization have been as
sured, and have seen for them
selves, that Hatteras Island could
take care of a lot of such new bus
iness. The youpon here is of a vig- i
or and flavor not found elsewhere,i
though the shrub is found all a- 1
long the Atlantic seaboard as far
north as the Virginia State line.
Formerly Exported
Time was when youpon tea
ranked along with fish as the ex
port from this Island, but during
the last half century the art of
drying the leaves has been very
nearly lost. Bales of the tea used
to go out of here on every ship
that went to the markets in Eliz
abeth City and Norfolk, and ev
erybody drank it regularly. Now
only the oldest of the old-timers
i know how to cure the leaves and
brew the tea.
Thousands of youpon plants
were set out in the Cape Hatteras
area by the C.C.C. Company that
instituted the erosion control pro
ject here, and there are other
thousands of buslies available in
Buxton Woods. It is a relatively
fast grower in good situations and
hardy. The natives used to cut it
like hay and cure it, calculating
two years between cuttings. Mrs.
Maude Miller White, postmistress
and community leaddr, says that
the industry would be warmly
welcomed in revivaL
MARCH OF DIMES
TOTAL PASSES
SBOO IN DARE
Mrs. Balfour Baum, county
March of Dimes chairman, an
nounced this week that $829.76
had been turned into the county
treasury in the 1951 anti-polio
fund-raising drive. Returns from
one or two clubs in Manteo are
as yet incomplete, but most of the
local drives have been completed,
Mrs. Baum said. When permission
was granted to extend the drive in
Dare, state officials asked Mrs.
Baum to make every effort to
raise at least SI,OOO. The chair
man still hopes that amount can
be raised and asks anyone who
has not yet given to the fund to
send his contribution to the coun
ty chairman. Last year’s total
was just over S6OO.
The colored March of Dimes
drive in Manteo, under the direc
tion of Mrs. Agathia Gray, was
more successful than it has ever
been before, according to the
county chairman. A total of $39.
28 was collected, of which $5.10
was contributed by the Disciple
Church, $2.75 by «the Baptist
Church, $13.50 by the Roanoke
school, and the rest was collected
by individual contributors. Mrs.
Gray was helped immensely in her
work by Mrs. Emily Mann, who
has been a partial invalid for four
years; she gave of her time gen
erously and, Mrs. Gray said, was
a great factor in making the cam
paign successful.
N. C. MANN SENTENCED
ON BAD CHECK COUNT
N. C. Mann of Manns Harbor
and Norfolk was on Tuesday
found guilty of issuing a check
for $2280 to E. W. Fields, Manteo ■
fish dealer, without sufficient
funds in the Norfolk bank in
which the check was drawn to
cover that amount. Judge W. F.
Baum sentenced Mann to serve six
months on the roads, suspended
upon condition that the amount of
the check be paid to Mr. Fields
by Mr. Mann at the rate of SSOO
per month until the total sum had
been repaid; he also assessed
Mann with the costs of court.
Wallace H. McCown, attorney
for Mann, requested appeal to the
superior court, which Judge Baum
granted with the proviso that
Mann supply bond in the amount
of $2,500.
The case was an unusual onc
for the reason that the defense
did not put any witnesses on the
stand, nor did it attempt to con
trovert evidence offered by two
prosecution witnesses. Attorney
McCown asked for dismissal of
the case on the grounds that the
state had entirely failed to prove
its case against Mr. Mann, and
upon the further grounds that
there was reasonable doubt whe
ther or not the defendant had
committed any breach of the law,
if indeed any law had been bro
ken by him, at a place within the
See MANN, Page Four
CITRUS TREES AT BUXTON
SURVIVE COLD WEATHER
Buxton on Cape Hatteras, Mar.
2.—Citrus fruit trees in this area |
fared no worse during the uncom- |
monly rough winter than they did
in Florida and in most instances,
not as bad, according to a house
to-house check of Bath native
seedling and nursery-grafted
trees, numbering now about 350
trees.
Native seedlings stood the 22-
degree temperature somewhat
better than their somewhat pam
pered grafted cousins brought
here from Florida late last spring
and set out, one to each house in
the village. About ten per cent
of the imported stock succumbed
to unusually low temperatures
while not more than two per cent
of the native seedlings showed
any ill effects from the weather
ing they took.
Unfavorable wind rather than
low temperatures hit both hard
est though in a number of instan
ces the sap in the trees froze,
splitting the bark and killing the
tree. Older trees, some among
them as old as fifteen years and
as much as 15 feet high, took the
weather in stride and are now, af
ter a few balmy days, stirring
their buds toward bloom.
Lemons 100% ( Lost
Only plants that suffered 100%
loss were lemons that a half doz-
I en of the more enterprising villag
ers had started. None of them
came through the freeze. But the
oranges, grapefruit and kumquats
generally survived with no worse
damage than browned leaves. Re
ports from Florida indicate that
in that region, even though more
elaborate gains were taken to pro
tect them, the loss was greater.
Everybody in the community
has one or more trees but a num
ber of householders have, by pur
chase and by seed-planting, ex
panded their prospects to as many
as twenty to thirty trees.
FIVE DARE MEN REPORT FOR
INDUCTION NEXT WEDNESDAY;
FOUR GET PHYSICALS FRIDAY
Two Men from Frisco, Three from Manteo
Enter Service Next Week. One 18-Year-Old
Registers During Month.
HATTERAS BUILDER
IS 82 YEARS OLD
IIS?
ELLSWORTH E. BURRUS of
Hatteras was pleasantly surpris
ed by a group of friends who gave
him a birthday party Friday
night, February 23. He was 82
years old.
Games were played and refresh
ments served consisting of a
beautiful birthday cake, jello,
cream pie and coffee.
Those present were Mr. and i
Mrs. David Ballance, Mr. and Mrs.
Frank Gaskill, Mr. F. B. McCar- ■
thy, Mr. and Mrs. Lee Peele and
Mr. and Mrs. Murray Styron.
Mr. Burrus was born at Hatter
as and has lived here nearly all
of his life. He has played an im
portant part in the growth of this
community. Among his many ac
complishments are included the
first hotel, first pavillion, first au
tomobile, first bicytfle and others.
He has one son Corlette W. Bur
rus of Norfolk.
He brought to Hatteras the first
bicycle and later the first auto
mobile. _
STATE TO LET ROAD
TO OREGON INLET
Highway Commission Abandons
Hatteras Island People For
Time Being
Rodanthe, N. C. —Hatteras Is
land’s new strip of paved road,
though not officially completed,
has done a good job this winter of
easing the task of traveling down
the Outer Banks.
The 17-mile stretch, which
leads from the southern boundary
of the Pea Island National Wild
life Refuge, joins the 17-mile road
between Avon and Hatteras which
was built in 1947. It is a wonder
ful help to the people, but the go
ing is still bad between Oregon
Inlet and Rodanthe.
Work on the new road was be
gun last fall, and by the time
cold weather arrived, the con
tractor had it in shape for use,
although it was not yet up to
State Highway Commission stan
dards, and needs a top surface.
This spring the contractor will
return—probably in mid-March—
and resume the job of chopping
up, turning, and packing the
black top to insure proper drying.
While the work is going on, travel
will be rough, but the road will be
passable.
The Highway Commission has
tentatively set March for the op
ening of bids for work on a paved
road from Whalebone south to
Oregon Inlet, which would put an-
See STATE, Page Four
JOHN MOORE’S HEALTH
MAY CAUSE RETIREMENT
Johnny Moore of Colington, last
surviving witness of the Wright
Brothers first flight in an airplane
at Kill Devil Hill on December
17, 1903, has been ailing through
out the winter and he may never
guide another fishing party, ac
cording to his wife, Miss Chloe,
who has been nursing her ailing
husband. Since the fresh water
bass season closed last year,
Moore has been confined to his
bed much of the'time. He spent
several weeks in an Elizabeth
City hospital. Because of the pub
licity he received as the last living
witness of the first flight, Moore’s
services as a guide were always
in demand by visiting anglers
coming to cast in the fresh ponds
of these islands. The anglers like
Johnny Moore, not only because
he is loquacious, and an interest
ing character, but also because he
is a good fishing guide.
Single Copy 7«
Dare county will provide five
men for induction into the service
on next Wednesday, March 7, and
on this Friday, March 2, will send
four others to Raleigh for pre-in
duction physical examinations, ac
cording to word from the office of
Robert Ballance, Dare Selective
Service Board Chairman.
Inductees
The men who will leave Manteo
by bus for the induction station
next Wednesday to begin their
service careers are: Bertie B. Bar
nette, 22, Frisco; Murray L. Far
row, 23, Frisco; Major Scarbor
ough Spencer, 20, Manteo (C);
Percy Leon Daniels, 20, Manteo
(C); and William B. Blackmond,
20, Manteo (C).
Dare countians who will catch
the six a.m. bus to Raleigh on
Friday morning for pre-induction
physicals are: Earl Cunningham
Whidbee, 19, Salvo; Leroy Bow
ser, 25, Manteo (C); and Theo
dore R. Meekins, 21, Manteo (C).
On other man, Alfrod Smith Pugh,
21, formerly of Salvo, will report
at Raleigh from Reedsville the
same day.
New Registrant
The Board recorded the regis
tration of one 18-year-old during
February. Cecil Lee King of Duck,
student at Kitty Hawk high school
and son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas
James King, registered for the
first time.
DRIVE CHAIRMAN
URGES SUPPORT
OF RED CROSS
Wallace McCown, Campaign
Director, Names Local
Directors for 1951
Drive
The 1951 Red Cross campaign
opened a drive for 85 million dol
lars March 1. These funds are ur
gently needed to carry out the
program of the Red Cross: assist
ing in disaster, obtaining blood
for use in Korea, cooperating with
Civil in preparation for
emergencies on the home front;
helping our men and women in
uniform keep in touch with fami
lies and friends.
Each community in our county
has volunteer workers helping in
this campaign, in an effort to
raise the quota for our county, ap
proximately $600.00. Meet these
workers with a smile and give ac
cording to your ability for this
cause which has served us in the
past and is ready to serve us in
case of emergency.
Community Chairmen
The community chairman Coun
ty Director McCown asked to help
in this work are: Mrs. Maurice
Meekins, Hatteras; Mrs. Edna
Gray, Buxton; Mrs. Mabel Meek
ins, Avon; Mrs. Charles Gregory,
Rodanthe; Mrs. Emily Smith,
East Lake; Mrs. Myrtle Tillett,
Wanchese; Mrs. Cary Baum, Nags
Head; Mrs. Louis Meekins, Col
ington; Mrs. Jesse Baum, Kitty
Hawk; Mrs. Cary Whitson, Duck;
Mrs. Hattie Mann, Mashoes; Mrs.
Guy Mann, Manns Harbor; Mrs.
Calvin Payne, Stumpy Point; Mrs.
Lonnie Gray, Colored, people of
Manteo; Mrs. Louise Meekins,
Mrs. Frank Ausband, residential
Manteo.
These chairmen or their fellow
workers will contact you for your
membership. Give them your
wholehearted support. If you are
not contacted personally, send
your membership direct to the
1951 Fund Chairman, Wallace H.
McCown, Manteo.
You, your county, your state,
and your country will benefit by
your joining in this 1951 drive to
support the services of the Red
Cross.
FOOLISH STUNT
A person or persons unknown to
the authorities burned two cross
es west of the intersection of
Highway 345 and the Airport
■Road early last Sunday night. Be
cause of the alertness of people in
the neighborhood, the stunt failed
to set the woods afire. The reason
for the cross*burning, if anything
reasonable could have prompted
it, is as unknown as the identity
of the pyrotechnic experimenters.
The Manteo Fire Department’s
truck was called to the scene, but
the grass fire along the road had
been put out by persons in the
i neighborhood when the truck ar-