PAGE TWO
DeFEBIO HEARING
IN JUVENILE COURT
MORNING OF MAY 18
Mr. and Mrs. Frank J. DeFebio
and eight witnesses appeared be
fore Juvenile Court Judge C. S.
Meekins in the county clerk’s of
fice last Friday at 10 a.m. for a
hearing upon a complaint charg
ing Frank DeFebio with caring im
properly for three minor children
and failure to enroll them in the
public schools. Mr. DeFebio was
brought here from Albemarle Gen
eral Hospital for the hearing.
At the outset, Judge Meekins
made it clear to all that disposi
tion of the complaint would not be
made on Friday. He said he would
hear testimony from the DeFebio
children and give a decision as to
whether they would be left in the
care of their parents or be placed
in an institution for children, af
ter the recorder’s court trial of the
father in Manteo on Tuesday of
this week. “I will not make a de
cision until the recorder’s court
acts on your matter,” Mr. Meekins
explained.
Mr. DeFebio, before the first
witness was called, asked whether
it was possible for some sort of
agreement to be reached before
the hearing got under way. “As
close as I was to death,” he said,
“I saw how unnecessary it was to
have a grudge against anyone. I’ll
feel that way no matter how it
comes out.”
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TIMES PRINTING CO., INC.
P. O. Box 55 Manteo, N. C.
The "Petition
Martin Kellogg, county solicitor,
first read the petition, signed by
Mrs. T. S. Meekins, Jr., county
welfare officer. The petition assert
ed that Mr. DeFebio was shiftless:
had no apparent occupation; that
he provided an inadequate home
“unfit for human habitation;” that
•he forced the children to gather
fuel and comb the beach for food;
that Mrs. DeFebio was much ab
sent from the home; that she had
abandoned the children in the
courtroom here after her husband's
first court appearance last De
cember; that the living conditions
for the children were “improper
and deplorable.”
Mrs. DeFebio was granted per
mission to read the summons she
had received to appear for the
hearing. It was an ordinary “show
cause” summons.
Testimony
Dr. W. W. Johnston, district
I health officer testified first. In re
sponse to Mr. Kellogg’s questions,
the doctor said that he had exam
ined the children twice and that
“They appeared to be normal chil
dren.” On April 11 and April 18,
when he saw them, “Their hair
was long and unkempt - their
clothes were in fair condition. They
i appeared to be children not cared
for properly.”
Mrs. DeFebio asked, “Dr. John
! ston, have you ever heard of our
children being ill?” and asked fur
ther whether he had heard of the
children’s having any emotional
problems while living with their
mother and father. Dr. Johnston
replied, ‘‘No,” in both eases.
Mrs. Meekins, welfare officer,
testified that she had first seen the
DeFebios on March 7, when, ac
companied by Sheriff Frank Ca
hoon, she interview them at their
home where she had gone to inves
tigate the report from school au
i thorities that the children were not
being sent to school. Mrs. Meek-
■ ins was at that time a welfare
■ dept, case worker. Mrs. DeFebio
itold her, Mrs. Meekins said, that
| they had no intention of putting
the children in school. In Mrs.
Meekins’ opinion the children were
improperly dressed for the cool
day; she did not see a fire in the
building and found the room in
which she was received cold. She
said that Mrs. DeFebio told her
that she’d come to wait for the
trial, and that the family’s funds
and food were exhausted. The
children’s “hair was unkempt, skin
unclean,” the welfare officer told
the judge. “Mrs. DeFebio conduct
ed the interview,” Mrs. Meekins
said. “Mr. DeFebio more than once
asked her to hear me out.”
In answer to Mrs. DeFebio’s
questions, Mrs. Meekins said that
it was true that Mr. Davis, then
welfare officer, had sent a letter to
the DeFebios saying that action
on their case would be taken with
in five days. (Mrs. DeFebio assert
ed that she had' come to their
home from her job in Washington
within the five-day period, and that
it was more than a month after
the receipt of the letter before the
case worker and sheriff arrived for
the interview.) Mrs. Meekins said
that she saw no obvious physical
disabilities in the children and
that “They are well mannered and
friendly children.”
Sheriff Frank Cahoon was asked
by Mr. Kellogg about the situation
at the DeFebio home on the day
he accompanied Mrs. Meekins to
the abandoned Coast Guard Station
in the Duck-Kitty Hawk area. The
furnishings were sparse, he said;
there was a table and bench and
one or two chairs in the room in
which the interview was conduct
ed. The children sat close together
on the bench; one boy was not
wearing shoes. “They did not look
clean,” he said. He remembered
hearing Mrs. DeFebio say that
they weren’t going to send the
boys to school. In reply to a ques
tion of Mrs .DeFebio’s, Mr. Cahoon
said he remembered seeing the
blackboard which the children used
for their lessons.
Carl Salinger, caretaker of the
station buildings, now owned by
three non-residents of Dara Coun
ty, was asked about how often
Mrs. DeFebio lived with the fam
ily. “Mrs. Debio would come dowi.,
probably, every month. She’d stay
sometimes 2 or 3 days, a week,
10 days.” He said Mr. DeFebio did
not do any work so far as ne knew,
although he did tend a garden
which he estimated to be about
“50x40 ft. out on the flat.” In
reply to a question, he said, “It
looked to me like it was a pretty
tough go for clothing and so forth”
for the children. The wife brought
groceries when she visited the
family, he said, and he thought
that they also bought food at Kit
ty Hawk. The family had “quite
a few visitors” mostly from the
District of Columbia and Mary
land, Salinger said.
Mrs. DeFebio asked whether Sa
linger had not seen Mr. and Mrs.
David Stick visit the family, and
whether he had not seen her bring
in driftwood and work hard about
the place. He answered affirmativ
ely. In reply to a question about
the children’s lessons, Salinger
said, “Well, sometimes, at break
fast I’d hear them spell some
thing.” Salinger said that he had
never known any of the family to
be sick a single day.
DeFebio’s Garden
Mr. DeFebio said mildly that his
garden had been somewhat under
estimated. There were six garden
plots, he said, some of which Mr.
Salinger, perhaps, did not know
about. Their measurements 'were
50x6 ft., 130x32 ft., 22x36 ft., 117 x
12 ft., 96x12 ft. and 30x30 ft. De-
Febio stated that it was his plan
to supply as much of the family’s
food from his garden as possible,
and that he intended to dispose of
the surplus on the local market
if possible.
Mrs. Julia Gray, of Washington,
D. C., and Roanoke Island, told the
court that she has first known
Mrs. DeFebio as a customer of her
shop in Washington. She first
heard about the difficulties of the
family with the Dare school au
thorities when Mrs. DeFebio drove
her to her home in her taxi in
Washington. She said she had ask
ed Mrs. DeFebio, “How did you
have the heart to leave your chil
dren” in the courtroom after the
December trial. Mrs. DeFebio told
her that she would understand if
she knew all the facts about the
case.
Clyde Beacham of Kitty Hawk
testified that he had once given the
two 8-year-old boys a ride on a hot
cay last sumn er when they were
(hogging heavy bags along the
road on the way to their home
“They were in pretty sad shaj.e
when I picked them up,” he stat
ed.
J. H. Spruill of Duck said he
has known the family ever since
thev arrived in the county early in
1900. He did no; remember ever
seeing the boys outdoors in bad
weaiher without shoes. He raid he
BTO THE
GRADS OF
| 1951
JKI
jWy-jw ?i I ; ‘ •’
‘ | > ft-t 1
mis. 'fe'*
hard work L.-K
ahead with 'jj.
courage and 4
A faith.
Archie Burrus
SELF-SERVICE STORE
Manteo, N. C.—Phone 77-j
THE COASTLAND TIMES MANTEO, N. C.
Dept, oj Pnutc
FLYING “EGG-BEATER” UNLOADS WICKED HOWITZER— The
“Flying Banana” (Helicopter HRP-1) practices for its role in the
Armed Forces modern, highly air-transportable fighting force. Othei
smaller helicopters have proven their worth in the Korean fighting
where Marines and Gl’s alike refer to these flying machines affection
ately as egg-beaters. Here the "Flying Banana ’is shown taking off
after it has delivered a crew of Quantico, Va.. Marines to tneij
stripped-down, pack howitzer.
LIBRARY NOTES
A few days ago, we had callers,
our new Library Supervisor for
Eastern North Carolina made us
her first visit, bringing, with her
the head Librarian from Elizabeth
City, Mrs. Alexander. Miss Mullen
is a very charming person. Liv
ing with books does something to
people, something nice. All the
North Carolina Library people
with whom we have come in con
tact are just the kind of people
one is glad to know. We enjoyed
Miss Mullen and Mrs. Alexander
very much and we are sorry they
come so seldom.
We just had another gift, a 2
volume set of the writings of Si
mon Bolivar, the Great Liberator
of South America. The books were
sent by the publisher in the names
of the three authors: Vicente Le
saw the boys carrying the heavy
on the day referred to by Mr.
Beacham.
Thomas J. King of Duck said he
had seen members of the family
only rarely, but had once met the
father and the boys on a cold day
v. hen it seeme 1 to him that they
V'tren’t warmly cressed. When he
remarked that it was cold weather
for the boys to be out, |lr. DeFebio
replied, “No, I want to make men
of them,” King said. “The ch.i
dren were mighty healthy look
ing,” Mr. King concluded.
Mrs. DeFebio asked permis-ion
to read a long statement she had
prepared, because, she said, “I ex
pected to be too nervous to speak”
extemporaneously. When she had
concluded her outline of the case
since its beginning, Judge Meek
ins complimented her on the qual
ity of the summation.
Court was then adjourned until
after the Tuesday trial.
■'
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PHONE 87 MANTEO. N. G
cuna of Venezuela, the compiler,
Harold A. Bierck, Jr. of the Uni
versity of North Carolina, the ed
itor, and Lewis Bertrand, the
translator. In these days of stress
the books are timely. They serve
to remind us that the past as well
as the present was uncertain and
troubled. We are glad to have
them.
A number of new Juvenile books
arrived yesterday. Os course they
are not ready yet but a good many
from the previous consignment are
already being circulated.
For the small fry: “The Box
with the Red Wheels,” Petersham;
“Chuggy and the Blue Caboose,”
Freeman; “Daisy,” Hogner;
“Lance and His First Horse,” Holt;
“Miss Flora McFlimsey’s Christ
mas Eve,” Mariana; “Picnic
Woods.” Robertson; “The Runa
way Toys,” Hogan; “Surprise for
Sally,” Hitte; “Mr. T. Anthony
Hou,’ Ets; and “Texas Pete,”
Barr.
For the middle group: “Apple
free Cottage,” Voight; “Bob Cat,”
one of Anderson’s ever popular
horse stories; “The Crumb That
, Walked,” Norman; “The Expanda
ble Pig.” Babcock; “The Fabulous
; Flight,” Lawson; “The Flowered
jDonkey,” Mackey: “Kildee House,”
I Montgomery; “The Lonesome
jßear,” Rushmore; “The Mouse
twit e,” Godden; “The New Boy.”
jUrmstnn; “Picken’s Exciting Sum
mer,” Davis; “The Poetic Parrot,”
j Mackey; “Ride ’em Peggy,” Bi
jaik: “Taffy’s Foal.” Bialk; “Willy
Vong. American,” Oakes: and
“The Wonderful Houseboat Train,”
Gannett. Among these are seve al
horse and dog stories, to say noth
ing of bears, pigs and other ani
mals.
The fiction for the hieh s?ho>l
follows: “Caribou Traveler,” Mc-
Cracken; “Copper Country Adven-
CENTRAL HIGH PLAYS
HERE THIS AFTERNOON
Central High School of Elizabeth
City will meet Manteo’s undefeat
ed ball club on the local school’s
diamond on Friday afternoon. This
is the second meeting of the two
clubs, Manteo having defeated
Central on its home field earlier
in the season.
On Tuesday Coach Fry’s nine
squeezed out a win over Griggs on
the Manteo field by a 6-5 margin.
Cliff Topping, Manteo left fielder,
led off the Sth inning with a two
base hit and came across with the
winning run. Willard Sutton pitch
ed al! the way for the winners.
C j
tvre,” Brill; “Crocodile Crew,” I
Watkins; “The Mountain Pony and !
the Rodeo Mystery,” Larom;
“Mys tery at Boulder Point,’) Jew
ett; “The Phantom Roan,” Holt;
“Red Fox of the Kinapo Indians,”
Rush; “Rider of the Mountain,”
Lindsay; “Sword in the Sheath,”;
Norton; “The Voyage of the Luna
1,” Craigie; “The White Mare of!
the Black Tents,” Hoffman.
There are seven or eight non
fiction books but we will leave
them for next week’s column.
Jfc Jmk
May we add a footnote to
r >our diploma? The
F veiy best of good
luck to each
i of you.
*
I tv y ' ' • i .«• 'A K .
MIDGETT & MIDGETT
Manteo, N. C.
Elmer V. Midgett Phone 52
FRIDAY, MAY 25,1951
P I O N EE H
MANTEO, N. C.
Week of May 26
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Filmed In Technicolor
THURSDAY : FRIDAY
DONALD O’CONNER
“THE MILKMAN”
—with—
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