VOLUME XVI —. NO. 46 HATTERAS ISLAND PEOPLE MAY DETERMINE SITE FOR NEW SCHOOL BY REFERENDUM New Board Agrees to Let Banks People De termine Where School Should Be, If State Authorities Permit Appointment of Super intendent Deferred. The people of Hatteras Island will be allowed to vote on their choice of location for the new con solidated school to be built from the $283,000 funds due Dare Coun ty, if the new County Board of Education can secure permission from state school authorities to hold such an election. The funds due the county have been idle for two years in Raleigh while the value of the dollar has rapidly shrunk. The children of Dare • county have lost at least $50,000 of the money pledged for their welfare through the rise of ma teria] costs in the intervening time. New board members agreed at their first meeting Tuesday to abide by the will of the Low er Banks people as to the loca tion of their, new school, when their will has been clearly mani fested by means of an election. If no objection to the plan is raised in Raleigh, the Board of Education will ask the County Commissioners to call a special election to settle the issue, once for all. Walter Perry, who was elected Chairman of the Board of Educa tion at Tuesday’s meeting, said that the board is concerned about the long delay in building the school and desires early action on the project. Mr. Perry wrote im mediately to the State Board of Education for a ruling on the feas ability of the electric plan. “This unfortunate circumstance was not of our making,” Mr. Per ry said Tuesday. “We will not attempt to pass judgment of the sentiments of the majority of the people concerned. The school be longs, or should belong, to them; ■ and we believe they should have an opportunity to express them selves. We desire that an election be held, in order that everyone who is qualified to vote n?ay ex- See SCHOOL, Page Eight COUNTY FINANCES IN BEST SHAPE IN MANY YEARS Commissioners Find All Bills Paid, Bond Money Ahead, and Cash in Bank The condition of Dare County’s finances appear to be in the best shape in many years, according to a report made for the Board of Commissioners and presented Tuesday by County Accountant, C. S. Meekins. In this report, which shows what can be accomplished by more businesslike management and the ability to say no, it is'shown that the County has paid all bond mon ey due, has paid all its bills to date, and carries a bank balance of about SIO,OOO. Nearly all departments of the County are running well within their budget, the largest over spending being in the funds for welfare and particularly direct re lief and hospitalization. Bills now in show that some $2,500 more than was set up have been spent, with more bills to come in soon. It’s quite a different picture since the Board of Commissioners underwent a change 29 months ago. At that time, the county was running in the red more than $40,- 000. All this has been paid off, the report shows. Furthermore, sub stantial increases in salaries have been made, more money allotted by far for welfare, health, and other purposes, and equipment and improvements added to the courthouse. The Commissioners face new See COUNTY, Page Eight WANCHESE RURITANS SPONSOR PROGRAM OF “OLD STYLE SONGS’’ A program of “Old Style Songs” will be presented by a group of Manns Harbor and Wan chese singers, under the sponsor ship of the Wanchese Ruritan Club, at the Wanchese school house at 7:45 p.m.,' May 15. The Wanchese P.T.A. is cooperating in the presentation, the proceeds from which will be used to supply new curtains and other necessary articles of equipment for the school lunchroom at Wanchese. The entertainers will be happy to sing favorite numbers request ed by members of the audfence. THE COASTLAND TIMES PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WALTER RALEIGH COASTLAND OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAIRMAN DARE CO. BOARD OF EDUCATION ■ Hr 9 I ■ * / - It SS&W .1 Ml WALTER D. PEkRY of Kill Dev il Hills Tuesday was named Chairman of the Dare County Board of Education at their first meeting. Members of the Board are Mr. Perry, Mrs. Mabel Evans Jones, Roy Gray of Hatteras, El lis Gray of Avon, and Harvey E. Best of Stumpy Point. Ellis Gray and Mrs. Jones succeed them sel.-es, the others being new mem bers. DEATH CLAIMS THREE TUESDAY IN DARE COUNTY D. Loth Midgett of Manns Harbor,Mrs. Tillett of Wanchese, Montague Infant Dies Death claimed three people in Dare County Tuesday, ranging in age from new born to 84. D. Loth Midgett, one of the best loved men of Manns Harbor, died at 9 p.m. He was a life-long resident of the community, member of the Meth odist Church and the Junior Or der. He is survived by two chil dren, Mrs. Carl D. Mann and Tom Hunter' Midgett of Manns Har bor; three step-children, Clarence Holmes of Manns Harbor, Mrs. Henry Beasley of Colington and Mrs. Will Gard of Great Bridge, Va. Mrs. Marjorie Etheridge Til lett, 50, widow of Rossor Tillett, died at her home in Wanchese. She was the daughter of Mrs. Martha Gallop Etheridge and the late Albert Etheridge. Two chil dren survive her, Jack Gilbert Til lett of Wanchese, and Mrs. Val entine Pacquette of Newport News. Also the following broth ers and sisters: Fitz Etheridge of Port Isabel, Texas; T. R., Jess W. and Henry Burr of Wanchese; Mrs. John Cudworth of Wanchese, Mrs. Hal W. Culpepper of Nags Head and Mrs. Jackson Midgett of Man teo. Funeral services will be con ducted Friday at 2 p.m. at the Wanchese Methodist Church, with the pastor, Rev. C. W. Guthrie, assisted by Rev. D. B. Lawrence, officiating. Frank M., infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Otto M. Montague, liv ed only three hours, and died at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. Burial Wed nesday in the Garrison cemetery. LIONS REELECT RALPH DAVIS AS CLUB PRESIDENT The dining room of the Hotel Ft. Raleigh was turned into a temporary polling place Monday evening as the Manteo Lions Club elected officers for the club year beginning July 1. Ralph Davis, who as elected first vice-president filled out the unexpired term of the club’s first president, was named to fill the post of Lion President for the coming year. Two other officers, Fred West cott, secretary and Edward Green, treasurer, were re-elected to serve for another term. New Officers New officers chosen by the club’s members on Monday were. Henry Parker, first vice-presi dent; Jack Wilson, second vice president; Roy Westcott, third vice-president; Clyde Biggs, Tail See LIONS. Page Eight FRIENDS OF OREGON INLET TAKE APPEAL TO WASHINGTON ■■■K'i .I’-, IF I IWB KB Hr H iwHbi 11 i si II r - -■ <1 IL n ""’" Appearing before the Subcommittee on Civil Functions of the House Appropriations Committee, a delegation from North Carolina presented their arguments last week for deepening of Oregon Inlet, on the North Carolina Coast, to a depth of 14 feet. The purpose is to provide a harbor of refuge for com mercial fishermen, who have no safe port from storm between Norfolk and Morehead City, N. C., and to improve commercial fishing facilities in the area. Congressman John H. Kerr of the Second North Caro lina District presided over the Committee Hearing and Congressman • Herbert C. Bonner of the First North Carolina District presented the subject to the committee and introduced various others who made statements. Among those present, reading from left to right,.Front Row were the following: Wayne M. Waller, National Fisheries Institute, Victor Meekins, Editor Coastland Times, Manteo, N. C., Herbert C. Bonner, Representative of First District of North Carolina, Ben Dixon Mac Neill, Writer and Historian, Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, E. H. Holton, Vandemere, North Carolina. Second Row, left to right: Henry C. Oglesby, Secretary to Rep. Bonner, Eric Rodgers, Editor, Publisher and member of N. C. Board of Conservation and Development, Mr. Alvah Ward, Chairman for Dare County Committee for Ore gon Inlet, and National Defense, Manteo, N. C. Third Row, left to right: Garland Fulcher, Oriental, North Carolina, Charles E. Jackson, National Fisheries Institute, and William H. Potter, Beaufort, North Carolina. (Seth Muse Photo, Courtesy News i Observer) Spring School Festival Attracted Throng Os 1,000 Participants and Spectators Varied Program of Exhibits, Field Events and Pag eant Last Friday Made Second Annual Festival A Great Success. A crowd estimated at nearly cne thousand children and adults thronged the grounds and build ings of the Manteo school last Friday for the Second Annual Spring Festival. Many visitors brought their lunches with them, but more than 300 out-of-town people were served in the Man teo School Lunchroom between the morning and afternoon pro grams. SELECTIVE SERVICE BOARD LISTS RECENT ENLISTEES Two recent new registrants with the Dare Selective Service Board are Orville Lee Tillett, son of Mr. and Mrs. T. N. Tillett of Manns Harbor, and Monnie How ard O’Neal, son of Mr. and Mrs. Willie O’Neal of Wanchese. Both young men reached their 18th birthdays last month. Both are employed as fishermen at the present time. Enlistees Information from the office of Chairman Robert Ballance on Monday shows the following en listees reported to the Board dur ing recent weeks: Orville Lee Til lett of Manns Harbor enlisted in the Coast Guard at Norfolk on May 1; on April 28, Samuel El wood Midgett, Jr., of Manteo en listed in the Marine Corps Re serve at Norfolk; Carlton Al dridge Shannon of Manteo enter ed the Coast Guard at Norfolk on March 15; Johnnie Lynch Wil liams of Buxton, Coast Guard, Norfolk, Feb. 2; Luther Grandy Hooper, Avon, Coast Guard, Nor folk, January 23. All the enlistees above named have passed their 18th birthdays but have not yet become 19, and so were carried on the lists of the Dare Board in a deferred status, Chairman Ballance said. MANTEO, N. C., FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1951 School Exhibits Exhibits prepared by pupils in each of the county’s schools wen on display in the gymnasium. They were inspected by hundreds of persons between nine o’clock Friday morning and nine in the evening, when the exhibition clos ed. The exhibits were examined critically by a board of three judges: Mrs. Hilda Brumsey, Currituck County supervisor; Miss Betty Swindell, Hyde County supervisor; and Mr. Billy Tark ington of Manteo. Winning exhibits were classi fied for rating by the judges in two categories, Best General Exhibit and Exhibits Showing Best | Use of Resources. The Stumpy Point school was awarded first place for the Best See FESTIVAL, Page Eight DeFEBIO HEARING HERE TUESDAY Defendant, Held in Perquimans Jail, Resolves Not to Eat. Mrs. DeFebio Still Pickets Dare Courthouse Frqnk J. DeFebio, whose trial is set for recorders court in Man teo on Tuesday, May 15, has been held in Perquimans County Jail, Hertford, since his release from Albemarle General Hospital in Elizabeth City on Thursday of last week. He was released from the hospital as recovered from self-inflicted wounds sustained in his jail cell in Manteo the night of April 21-22. The transfer of jails was made in order to make it possible for the prisoner to have closer supervision. According to a letter received by the editor of this paper, dated May 5, DeFebio had determined See DeFEBIO, Page Eight LIVERMAN ELECTED COLUMBIA’S MAYOR fl * > ’ si jHKrJJ • * PAUL L. LIVERMAN, above, was elected mayor of Columbia in Tuesday’s balloting, by a major ity of 219 to 84 for W. M. Laugh inghouse. For aidermen, those elected were R. L. Mitchell, Floyd B. Spencer, W. A. Williams, Her bert L. Brickhouse and Albin Hamilton. Mr. Liverman, promi nent newspaper man, was this week elected president of the Jay Cees, and has served as Vice- President of the South Albermarle Association, and many other plac es of honor and trust. A most pro gressive administration for Co lumbia may be expected of nis Board. THIS READS LIKE REAL FISHING AT HATTERAS Talk about good fishing, but two Colerain men last week found it at Hatteras. W. S. Hughes, and H. B. Pierce, fishing with Albert W. Austin landed 137 blues, weighing a total of more than 200 pounds. In commercial fishing lan guage the' fish amounted to “two boxes,” and were worth a nice price on the market. COLINGTON ROADTOBE PAVED THIS SPRING COMM. SHELTON TELLS DARE COMMISSIONERS Hard Surfacing 2.25 Miles to Colington Will Be Done by Oregon Inlet Road Contractors at Cost of $30,000. .———————————————- PRESIDENT DARE CO. CHAMBER COMMERCE jfl ‘ ’Ok W ALVAH H. WARD, Manteo bus inessman, Chairman of the Ore gon Inlet Committee, and com munity booster in general, last week was unanimously elected president of the Dare County Chamber of Commerce at an en thusiastic meeting which quickly subscribed S9OO and set up plans for raising more funds for the summer’s work. DARE SUPERIOR COURT TERM TO OPEN MAY 28 Fi'«» Continued and S'x Nsw Cases On Criminal Dock et. Civil Docket In complete Dare Clerk of Superior Court C. S. Meekins released this week the criminal docket for the spring term of superior court, which will open in Manteo Monday, May 28. The civil docket is not yet complete. Five- cases are continued from the October, 1950, term of court. All are. cases in which the State charges the defendant with drun ken driving. In the case of the State vs Norman Grear Miller; the defendant is charged, also, with operating a motor vehicle without a license to drive. One case, that of the State vs. Velma T. Lehew, was continued because the jury was unable ot reach a verdict. Defendants in the other continued cases are Wyke Nuby Dillon, Jr., David E. Worsley and Elizabeth H. Crampton. New Cases Among the six new criminal 1 cases scheduled for trial are two ' cases in which Negroes are charg ed with assault with a deadly weapon. Probable cause was found in Dare Recorder’s Court in the cases of the State vs. Henry Junior Bowser, and the State vs. Lee Payden. Bondsmen for Litchfield Peele (Archie Burrus and Frank White See COURT, Page Eight QUICK MEETING OF DARE C OF C RAISES $915 Goal of $2,000 Set for Work Until September; Ward Be comes President; Brown’s Work Praisted At an enthusiastic revival meet ing of the Dare County Chamber of Commerce in Manteo Thurs day night, 24 people quickly sub scribed $915 for immediate pay ment into the treasury to keep the work going, and launched plans for doubling the sum short ly, to finance activities until the annual meeting in September. President J. L. Murphy, who had been carrying on since the last annual meeting turned the gavel over to Victor Meekins to receive nominations for president, i and Alvah H. Ward of Manteo was nominated by Frank Stick. The nominations were closed and Mr. Ward was unanimously elect- President Alvah H. Ward has called a meeting of the Dare Chamber’s Board of Directors at 7:30 p.m. in the Community Building, Wednesday, May I*. H. Travis Sykes of Kitty Hawk, I and Archie Burrus of Manteo were See MEETING. Page Eight , ’ Jifc. Single Copy 7# First District Highway Com missioner Henry Shelton told the Dare County Board of Commis sioners on Tuesday that the 2.25 miles of road leading to Coling ton Island would be hard-surfaced this spring. The work will be done 7 as an extension of the paving al ready under way between Oregon Inlet and the Whalebone station and will cost $30,000. State con tracts for road work permit 25% ( extensions of work contracted for without the necessity for new let tings. The more than eight miles of paving contracted for the Inlet road is sufficient to allow* the Col ington work under the same con tract, the commissioner said. $30,- 000 has already been spent on ap proaches and bridges for the road. Bond Fund Status Mr. Shelton said that the total bond funds available for Dare County on May 7 was $661,000.23. Os this amount $545,000 has al ready been used or pledged for specific projects, leaving a balance of $116,006.23 which may yet be allocated for Dare County high way projects. Bond-fund money has been al located for the following road im provements in Dare County, Mr. ♦ Shelton told the Board: bridges and approaches, Colington road, $30,000; hard-surfacing Coliqgton . road, $30,000; Avon to Rodanthe, ’ hard-surfacing, $225,000; East! Lake road, $200,000; Oregon In let to Highway 158, $60,000. 1 OLD BUCK VISITS ROANOKE WITH SCHOOL EXHIBIT Legendary OI d hristmas Figure Attends Dare Coun ty School Festival VH Old Buck, legendary dragon of j the Outer Banks for three hun- 1 dred years who gets himself kill- ! ed off once a year in the course - *! of the celebration of old Christ mas, left his native Hatteras Is land Friday for the first time to ’ the vast astonishment of a thous and school children gathered in Manteo for Dare County’s second annual school fair and his migra tion signalized the extension of , Roanoke Island’s flair for home | made pageantry to include the ; whole county. Schools of Hatteras Island, be ginning with Rodanthe, the home of Old Christmas, brought the furbished and polished Old Buck See BUCK, Page Eight SPRING TERM JURY DRAWN Jurors for the spring term of Superior Court which begins in Manteo on Monday, May 28, were drawn by the County Commis sioners in session at the court house Tuesday. The 40 jurors and their post office addresses are listed below. HATTERAS: W. "Preston Stowe Cecil E. Ballance, Roscoe Burrus, Jr., Mrs. Elizabeth Gaskins. Manteo: Joseph M. Bratten, Edith M. Quidley, Marvin L. Mann, W. Rayborn Sanderlin, George M. Powell. NAGS HEAD: Leslie J. Henley. WANCHESE: James W. Davis, Miss Rowenia Midgett, Holmes O. Bridges, B. F. Garrison, Leroy S. Midgett. WAVES: Mrs. Esther Gray. . COLINGTON: Weightman Beas ley, Mrs. Ernest Hayweod, Henry See JURY, Page Eight NO DISSENTING VOTES CAST IN TOWN ELECTION Twenty-two Manteo voters turned up at the polls Tuesday and relected all incumbent city of ficers for another two-year term. It was a single-minded group of voters: Martin Kellogg was elected mayor. George T. West cott, Sam Midgett and Moncie Daniels, Jr., were returned to the town board—all received 22 votes There was not a single write-in vote during the election. It may be safely said, in view of the unanimous vote at the polls, that the town administration pos sesses the complete confidence of all Manteo citizens—or, at least, i of all citizens energetic enough to use their right to vote. L'.r’.A "S