Newspapers / The Coastland Times (Manteo, … / Oct. 26, 1951, edition 1 / Page 1
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VOLUME XVII NO. 18 OCRACOKE LIGHT * MIGHTY OLD BUT MADE LIKE NEW Improvements to 128-Yr. Old • Structure Double Original Cost of $12,000 By ALICE K. RONDTHALER Historic Ocracoke Island light house, oldest on the North Carolina Coast, and one of the oldest still in use on the Atlantic Coast, is 1 undergoing its second major oper ation in two years. In November % 1950 a new steel spiral stairway replaced the old wooden circular stairs. Now, it is a matter of face lifting. For six weeks or more the lighthouse has been encircled with steel scaffolding and the noise of a. sandblasting has drowned out the pounding of the Atlantic surf. Ce ment dust has filled the air, an noying the nearby housewives. The sand blasting has left the tower a rought raw-red by penetrating to the original brick structure. Vis itors approaching the Island on the 1 mailboat from Atlantic have miss ed the 80-foot white tower as their “ first object glimpsed from Core Sound. The red brick tower is scarcely discernible until the boat comes abreast of the Island. To the historically sentimental person there was excitement in the fact that for a brief period he could touch and admire the original mas- I onry put there a hundred and twen ty-eight years ago. Within the past week progress has been made on recoating the exterior; a gruesome gray cement replaces the raw-red effect to a thickness of one and three-fourths inches. A mixture of Shotcrete, sand and cement, is being applied over wire reinforcing and this will ultimately be covered with ever lasting white, eliminating the need for future painting. The work is being done by the Hunt Water proofing Company of Norfolk; ap p proximate cost is $6,000. The orig inal cost of the tower in 1893 was approximately $12,000; improve ments and installation of modern lighting equipment since then makes its present evaluation ap proximately $25,000. The need of a lighthouse for Ocracoke Inlet dates back to the early days of the Republic when sites at Ocracoke and Cape Hat teras were both under considera tion. By 1795 interested citizens had deeded to the State or Federal Government several tracts of land along the Carolina coast, among them an acre on Ocracoke Island, ten acres on Cape Fear, all of Bea con Island (in Pamlico Sound, op posite Ocracoke Inlet), four acres at Cape Hatteras, and a parcel of land on Shell Castle Island (near Beacon Island, opposite Ports mouth). At Ocracoke in September 1790 an acre of land was deeded by Wil liam Williams, John Williams, Jos eph Williams, William Howard, Jr., and Henry Gerrish (Garrish); at Shell Castle Island in November 1797 a lot was deeded by J. G. Blount' and John Wallace. It was upon this last-named plot, on Shell Castle Island, that the first light structure was built in 1798 by H. Dearborn, Esq., who also had the contract at that time for the build ing of the Cape Hatteras struc ture. Congress had appropriated $44,000 for the two structures. In process of time, according to a report by S. Pleasonton, Fifth Auditor of the Treasury, the Shell Castle Island structure was render ed altogether useless, due to the fact that the channel leading to , Ocracoke Inlet moved away from the lighthouse a distance of one mile. A new appropriation of $20,- 000 was then made by Congress and the present Ocracoke Island tower was built in 1823. Had the original Hatteras light house, built in 1798, stood the rav " ages of Atlantic storms, it would today be the oldest of the six North Carolina lights, but it proved inad equate arid was replaced in 1871 by the present tower, which has the distinction of being the high est brick lighthouse (193 feet) in the world. The present Ocracoke Island tower was erected in 1823 not on the land ceded in 1790, but upon two acres purchased by the Feder al Government in December 1822 from Jacob Gaskill. Contractor was Noah Porter of Massachusetts. In 1860 Franklin lamps replaced the old valve lamp, but were romoved early in the struggle of the War between the States, not to shine again until late in 1863. Since then the light has shown continuously except for minor lapses of short duration, and now with the use of electricity and modern automatic _ machinery the danger of blackouts is practically nil. If the local elec tric plant fails, an auxiliary motor at the lighthouse immediately takes over; and if the bulb burns out, in less than a second another automatically shines. During the last World War when much Ger- See OCRACOKE, Page Eight THE COASTLAND TIMES PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTEREST OF THE WALTER RALEIGH COASTLAND OF NORTH CAROLINA LAUGHLIN SOLE OWNER OF OLD FISH DEALERS lip H&i.' * Jtßh M§i|K. IlßSip ■ggH THOS. LAUGHLIN of Philadel phia is the sole owner of the well known firm of C. E. Warner Co., a 75-year-old firm of fish dealers of Dock Street Market. Mr. Laugh lin has been with the firm nearly 40 years. One of the partners in this firm was a woman, Mrs. A. Gordan Leidy, who managed the office for thirty years, prior to her retirement two years ago. The Warner Company is well and fav orably known among the fishermen of North Carolina, and Mr. Laugh lin usually makes a trip to the fishing country each year, and ex pects to come this way in Decem ber. BARB WIRE FENCE DEMAND LEFT OUT OF ROAD PROJECT Pea Island Right of Way Granted by Congress; No Further Reason for Construction Delay The State Highway Commission can offer rio further excuses for delaying the construction of the road through the Pea Island Game Refuge, the 12 miles needed to complete the road to Hatteras. The Senate passed a bill Friday, which has ben previously passed in the House, without amendment, and which permits construction of the road without cost to the State for the right of way. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Ser vice which operates the Pea Island refuge had requested the State to build a heavy barbed wire fence on both sides of the road to pro tect the bird refuge from trespass ers. The highway officials had dis sented vigorously, claiming it would cost $25,000 of the highway funds to meet the requirements of the Government. There is ample funds on hand due Dare County to build this road. A request for the action that has just been taken was made more than a year ago, to the State Highway Commission by Victor Meekins, M. L. Burrus, and J. W. Scarborough of the Dare Board of Commissioners. The State High -1 way Commision, however, took no further action to bring the matter to a conclusion until recently. Senator Willis Smith and Con gressman Herbert Bonner are both pleased that the bill has pass ed, and look forward to joining the people of Dare County in celebration of the completion of this greatly needed road. ONE MORE BIG NIGHT AT SURFSIDE BINGO Lots of Meat Will Be Given Away Tomorrow Night The last night of the season at Surfside Bingo will feature meat every game, beginning at 7:30 p. m. That will be Saturday night, Oct. ‘27. Special prices will be offered for the night, and lots of fun is in store for bingoers, says A1 Mater, 1 prop. Twenty games will be for Smithfield bacons, 20 games for 1 Smithfield hams, 20 games for shoulders, 20 games for turkeys, and twenty games for groceries. The stand will not be open Friday night. WANCHESE MAN’S LEG IS BROKEN ON HIGHWAY Luther Midgett of Wanchese suffered a broken leg Sunday night when struck by a car driven by Quentin Bell. Midgett, whose truck was parked at an angle jutting into the road, had stopped John Wilson who had parked on the road across from Midgett’s truck, and was engaged in conver sation with him. He is reported to have stepped back into the ap proaching car driven by Bell when it passed between the two vehicles. Midgett was taken to Elizabeth City .hospital for treatment. TWO KILLED ON BEACH IN CAR MISHAP MONDAY Buxton and Avon Natives Victims as Car Runs Into Truck at Nags Head Andre Fourshe Midgett, 51, na tive of Avon, and Albert Ruland Casey, 39, of Buxton are dead as the result of the automobile in which they were riding running into the rear end of a truck owned by Norman Gregory of Poplar Branch on the road near Nags Head Coast Guard Station Monday afternoon. Midgett died instantly, and Casey died seven hours later in the Eliza beth City Hospital. Believed by police to be the dri ver of the death car, Casey died Tuesday at 12:25 a. m. from multi ple skull and facial injuries. He lived at 2119 Carolina Avenue, Esta brook. His campanion, Andre Fourshe Midgette, 51, also of Norfolk, was killed instantly when the 1939 automobile the two men were rid ing in reported rammed the rear of a coal truck driven by O. W. Gallop, of Poplar Branch, N. C. Gallop said, he was driving 35 miles an hour when his truck was rammed, declared State Highway Patrolman R. C. Holt, stationed at Manteo. Holt added that the force 'of the impact was so great the motor block of the automobile was broken, the dashboard and steering wheel rammed into the front seat, and the windshield and top were entirely stripped off. Gallop was shaken up but not injured. Midgette, a tug master employed by McAllister Brothers in Norfolk, died of head and internal injuries. He lived on his own boat, the J.F. Robinson, which was tied'at slip 22 in the Southern Yacht Marina, Norfolk. Born in Avon, N. C., the son of the late Christopher David Midgette and Mrs. Mary L. Mid gette, he lived in Norfolk since 1917. Surviving are two brothers,. Louis H. Midgette, of Ocean City, Md.,*and William E. Midgette, of Norfolk, and two sisters, Mrs. O. Wendell Harvey and Mrs. Betty Craun, both of Norfolk. Funeral services were conducted at the Twi ford Funeral Home .Elizabeth City, Wednesday. Burial was in Holly wood Cemetery. Casey was a son of Mrs. Cora Lee Casey and the late James Oliver Casey, of Buxton. He was born at Lowlands, N. C., and had lived in Norfolk 20 years. Besides his mother, he is survived by his wife, Mrs. Clara Owens Casey; two brothers, Maury T. Casey and Lionel Casey, both of Norfolk, and six sisters, Mrs. Rose Goodwin, of South Norfolk, Mrs. Hilda Spruill, of Bridgeton, N. C.. Mr 5 Charles Braxton of Ayden, N. C., Mrs. Ed mund Midgette and Mrs. Raymond Gray, both of Buxton, N. C. and Mrs. Thurston Gaskill, of Ocra coke, N. C. A veteran of World War 11, he was a member of the Buxton Meth odist church. The body was removed to the Graham Funeral Home, South Nor folk, where funeral' services were held Thursday at 3 p. m. Burial was in Riverside Memorial Park, Berkley. WANCHESE CLUB TO GIVE PLAY NOVEMBER 2ND Ruritan Club Planning Home Talent Show to Raise Funds for Community Work The Wanchese Ruritan Club set the date Friday night of their reg ular meeting, for the home talent show the club has been planning. Friday night, November 2, is the date the show is to be presented in the Wanchese school building. Gage Williams is Chairman of the committee working on the show. About 25 people attended the meeting last week, at which time the annual election of officers was postponed until the November meeting, due to the unavoidable ab sence of two members of the nomi nating committee. New officers will take office in January. One new member, Louis Cud -1 worth, was present. One visitor at tend. Melvin Daniels, president, led the discussions concerning commu nity activity and the value of the club in promoting the general wel fare and progress of the communi ty. A chicken dinner was served by the ladies. CLOSED " ?—■ Dare County Selective Service Office will be closed -Monday, October 29 through Friday, No vember 2. MANTEO, N. C„ FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26,1951 Capture Two Convicts In Home at Skyco The t>vo convicts who escap ed Monday at Wanchese, were observed Wednesday morning, crossing a field at Baumtown, Roanoke Island, and notice was given Sheriff Frank Cahoon. He immediately phoned to Curri tuck Prison Camp, and Supt. Evans came with dogs, and the men were trailed to the home of an aged widow, Mrs. Mary Midgett of Skyco, who, at the time was staying with relatives. They found the two prisoners in the house making coffee on Mrs. Midgett’s stove. They had opened up some of her canned goods and were making a meal. The prisoners are Ira Barwick and Glenn Bumgardner. They offered no resistance and being scantily clad were apparently glad to be re-captured. A search conducted Monday af ternoon for two escaped prisoners, by officers who took off from the Manteo Airport in a Coast Guard Flying Boat, was unsuccessful. The prisoners, who escaped while working on the road near Mill Landing, took a row boat belong ing to Dameron Payne. They left their prison clothes behind, and were clad only in undergarments. The clothes were found by the offi cers. One of the escaped prisoners was Glenn Bumgardener, 20, from New ton, serving a six-to-ten year sen tence for second degree burglary. Bumgardener escaped in June of this year, just eight days after being sent to the camp, but was re captured on the same day. The other convict was Ira Barwick, Jr., 25, of Sarasota, Florida, serving a 23-year sentence for housebreak ing, robbery and receiving. He has been at the Currituck camp since October 1. B. U. Evans, prison camp super intedent, Harold B. Cartwright, guard, and J. C. Lloyd from the camp in charge of two bloodhounds and others had been on the search all day without results. Late Mon day afternoon Mi*. met the plane at the Manteo Airport, and I returned after an hour’s futile j search of the nearby waters. A plane which came from the Elizabeth City Coast Guard Air Station piloted by Lt. Hardy Wil lis and with Radioman G. F. Ford, several highway patrolmen assist ed in the search Monday. SHRINERS OFFER 32-PC. CHINA SET SATURDAY NIGHT Big Tacky Party to Be Pulled Off October 27 at 8:30 at Nags Head The Dare County Shrine Club is to give a 32-piece dinner set at its tacky party and dance Sat urday night at the Recreation Center of Nags Head. The chief prize will go to the most original costume as judged by applause from the audience. Cost will be $2 per couple. Pres ident Bob Smith says nobody will be obliged to dress expensively. “We hope everyone will wear a mask. I have one dozen that I can let a few have. We hope everyone will make their costumes out of old clothes. Here are some ideas for costumes: witches, clowns, cow boys and cowgirls, policemen, bar ber, ballerinas, cigarette girl, grandma, grandpa, bootlegger, mountaineer, bum, rich man, poor man, beggarman, thief, doctor, lawyer, Indian Chief, etc. I feel sure you can find a character you would like to imitate.” A special meeting will be held at the airport Friday night to plan for the dance. Proceeds are to be used in building a new home for club, on the beach across the road from Leo Midgett’s hotel. HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL AT HATTERAS HIGH SCHOOL The P. T. A. of the Cape Hat teras high school is planning a Halloween Carnival for Wednes day night, October 31, at 7:00 in the school auditorium. The P.T.A. members, the principal and teach ers have planned Tots of enter tainment for all groups. There will be a “fish pond,” an old fashion country store, a cake walk, for tune telling and dart games. The carnival will begin with “a kitchen band concert,” under the direction of Mrs. Dave West. Mrs. Edna Barnett and Mr. Byrd. There will be plenty of good food on sale, such as hot dog;, popcorn, lemon ade, candy, pies and cakes. A door prize will be given away and also a prize for the most original cos tume. A large attendance from each of the seven villages is ex pected. FEW CASES TRIED IN DARE COURT THIS TERM Only a few cases were disposed of in Dare Court this week. After more than a day of haggling, the jury found A. E. Sadler of Nags Head not guilty of possessing gambling devices. Curtis Mann, Manns Harbor fish dealer, was giv en until next term to make good a $2,200 check given W. M. Fields for fish. Two days were consumed in the trial of a case in which Lloyd Meekins was trying to make several insurance companies come across with money he alleged to be due on a building that burned in July 1947. Victoria Austin Robinson of Hatteras got an annulment from her husband Stacey Robinson, whom she testified, after a two weeks trial, had not been able to prove himself a man. In the case in which Lloyd Meek ins was suing the Etna and Home Insurance Companies for recovery of $3,000 for a building and con tents burned in July 1947, the de fendants suddenly agreed after spending two days on the trial, to pay Meekins the full amount of the policies, with interest. Meek ins droped the suits brought against the companies alleging ma licious prosecution, when they had Dallas Cutrell, Fairfield for Hyde; son, of which he was found not guilty. GRAND JURY RAPS POOR CONDITIONS SCHOOL BUILDINGS Has Praise for Condition of Jail; Some Schools Great ly Improved Reecntly The Dare County grand jury this week reported mighty poor condi tion of the Manteo School build ing, and took a dig at crowded conditions in the Buxton School, where it, a consolidated school, is attempting in a building com pletely inadequate for the number of pupils. While other nearby school! have plenty of vacant space. Some of the schools were report ed as having been greatly improv ed recently, and work is continu ing on repairs to still other build ings.) The Kitty Hawk School was listed as one of the schools recent ly improved. The Manteo School seemed to be in worse condition, the result of many years of ne glect. The conditions in which the buildings have gotten is the re sult of many years of neglect, which the present new administra tion has been trying to correct in Numerous instances. School buses were noted as being in splendid mechanical condition. This condition is largely due to the operation by the county of a garage devoted exclusively to keep ing the buses in repair. The report praised the improved physical condition of the jail which has had considerable work done to it during the summer. Ad ditional equipment was recom mended for some of the county of fices. TRAFFIC MISHAPS HIGH IN STATE DURING AUGUST No Deaths Reported in Dare, Hyre, Tyrrell or Washing ton; State Increase in Fatalities A record high in traffic accidents was established during August, 1951 with 3,404 accidents report ed. This figure of 3,400 accidents is the highest that has ever been recorded since the establishment of the Accident Statistics Unit of the Department of Motor Vehicles. An increase of 946 or 38 per cent was reported in traffic accidents, as compared with the same month last year. This brings the totaled number of accidents to 22,616 for the first eight months, while last year during the same period 17,- 148 accidents were reported. The death toll for this month re mained the Same as July with 93 persons killed. There were 16 fa talities reported in urban areas, and 77 in rural areas. This brings to 650 the number of persons kill ed this year, while during the same period last year 580 fatalities were reported. Fatalities increased 19 per cent over the same month last year. But none were reported from Dare, Hyde, Tyrrell or Washing ton Counties. Personal injuries reached an all time high of 1,4t>9 Os this number, 366 were severely injured and 1,093 were only slight ly injured. An increase of 35 per cent was noted in personal injuries. This brings to 9,461 the number See TRAFFIC. Page Eight SOUTHERN ALBEMARLE ELECTS WALLACETATEMOFCOLUMBIA ! 16TH ANNUAL PRES’T THURS. Original President and Organizer of Associ ation Elected by Acclamation as Group Makes Plans at Engelhard for Enlarged Program. Bill Umstead of Durham Speaker at Morning Session. PRESIDENT llfllb )m i « jjßP***** iUH £ Jews C. WALLACE TATEM PLAN A LARGER ASSOCIATION for KDH MEMORIAL Unique Celebration Contem plated December 17; Anni versary of First Flights By AYCOCK BROWN Present at the meeting in Eliz abeth City this week when plans for the international Kill Devil Hills Memorial Society, and the first flight celebration on December 17 this year were discussed, were Melvin R. Daniels, and A. W. Drinkwater who have had roles in every celebration honoring the Wrights here, and Aycock Brown, manager of the Dare County Tour ist Bureau. Miles Clark presided at the business meeting and was later host to the group at a lunch eon in Virginia Dare Hotel dining room. Major Alexander Procofieff de Seversky, noted aviation designer and author, has been invited to be the main speaker at the annual celebration of the Wright Broth ers’ first flight on the 48th anni versary of the historic event De cember 17, it was announced this week by Ralph V. Whitener, organ izational director of the Air Force Association. The Air Force As sociation and the Kill Devil Hills Memorial Association headed by Miles Clark of Elizabeth City will co-sponsor the celebration this year which will feature a display of all branches of the nation’s air power, the appearance of high ranking officers of the Air Force, Navy, Marine and Coast Guard services and Elizabeth City’s na tionally famous High School Band which has added color and provided music for the celebrations each De cember 17, for many years. During the meeting in Elizabeth City this week, called by Miles Clark, president of Kill Devil Hills Memorial Association, Whitener of the Air Force Association was present to offer plans for the cel ebration this year and to assist in the forming of an international Kill Devil Hills Memorial Society to participate jn the further de velopment of the historic aviation shrine here on the Dare Coast of North Carolina. Immediate nation-wide partici pation is anticipated through the governors of the 48 states who will be asked to appoint council men to serve with the society. The new organization, a develop nffent of the original Kill Devil Hills Association founded by the late W. O. Saunders and carried on through the years by such per- j sons as Melvin R. Daniels, A. W. Drinkwater, D. V. Meekins, W. G. Gaither, Miles Clark and others would be governed by 12 directors to be chosen mostly from North Carolina. The officers would come from the membership. Monies derived from the sale of memberships would be used to erect a museum at the site of the first flight and for creating an air strip at Kill Devil Hills at the site of the Wright Memorial. Plans for the 48th annual cele bration this year to be co-sponsor ed by the Air Force Association include a banquet made up of foods flown to the United States and thence to Dare County from all parts, of the world. Single Copy 70 C. Wallace Tatem of Columbia, one of the original organizers of the Southern Albemarle Associa tion, and its first president, was again elected President by accla mation Thursday, altho he was ill and could not attend the meeting, the first one he had ever missed. Vice-Presidents for the four counties elected Thursday were Guy Cutrell of Fairfield for Hyde; Paul Liverman of Columbia for Tyrrell; Dewey Hayman of Nags Head for Dare; and Wade Hardi son of Roper for Washington. Mrs. Borden McCleese of Columbia was elected recording Secretary, and M. A. Matthews, re-elected Treas urer. A special vote of thanks was given retiring president P. D. Mid gett, also to the citizens of Hyde County, its home agent, and others who had a part in providing a most excellent dinner. Recognition was taken of the splendid address made in the fore noon by Hon. Bill Um stead of Durham, who pointed out the immense possibilities of the Southern Albemarle Region. Among visitors recognized were Fred Latham of Belhaven, D. W. Lupton of Pantego, and Ashley Futrell, editor of the Washington Daily News. The Association passed resolu tions as follows: 1. Favoring the shortening of U. S. 64 between Roper and the Y in Washington County. 2. Urging the widening and straightening of U. S. 264 between Swan Quarter and Washintgon. 3. Urging the Army Engineers to provide a breakwater for the protection of Hatteras Harbor. 4. Directing the president to ap point a committee of two from each county to follow' through on efforts in behalf of bridges over Alligator River and Croa ta n Sound. 5. Adopting Columbia as the meeting place next year, in Octo ber. 6. Planning for a program of better advertising the four coun ties. Discussions at the meeting show ed a trend toward further effort in the following directions. Promotion of newer agricultural methods; improvement of trans portation and communications, par-' ticularly telephone service; home and farm beautification, etc. Group singing at the meeting was led by Robert Midgett of Man teo. Largest delegations present were from Dare and Tyrrell Coun ties. The address of welcome was by E. R. Clarke of Engelhard; re sponses by Zeke Arnold of Wash ington, W. J. White of Tyrrell, and Melvin Daniels of Manteo. The speaker was presented by W. W. Watson of Hyde, and P. D. Mid gett, retiring president, presided at all meetings. GALA HALLOWE’EN PARTY PLANNED A gala Hallowe’en affair will be staged at the Manteo. school Wed nesday evening, October 31. The opening hour will be seven o’clock instead of 7:30 as announced in last week’s paper. The party will begin with a stage show and community sing in the school auditorium, and costume awards will be made at that time. Prizes are being offered for the best costume in the pre-school age group; the elementary school i group; the high school group and the adult group. The men will put on a ladies’ fashion show, which promises to be one of the highlights of the even .ing. Other entertainment will be in the gymnasium and will include games, rides for the little ones, * and ether forms qf amusement. Candy, hot dogs, drinks, and other food items will be on sale. “SHOW BOAT” COMING TO PIONEER NEXT WEEK Among the tops in movie enter tainment during “Movietime, U.S. A.” will be the popular hit “Show Boat” which, will come to The Pio neer Theatre next Tuesday and Wednesday. Among stars in the MGM production will be Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel and Joe E. Brown. It is a technicolor film.
The Coastland Times (Manteo, N.C.)
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Oct. 26, 1951, edition 1
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