VOLUME XVII NO. 22
CAPE HATTERAS IS
FAVORED BY MORE
FROST FREE DAYS
Buxton’s Balmy Weather
Great for Growing Cit
rus Fruits and
Gardens
Buxton.—Official weather rec
ords reflect that Cape Hatteras has
more frost free days than any
other sector of North Carolina.
That is why in the temperate cli
mate of Buxton on this Outer
Banks Island, citrus fruit, such as
oranges, grapefruit, lemons, cum
quots and tangerines are ripening
at this season of the year.
The official weather records
show that there is a minimum of
295 “growing days” at Hatteras.
These records are from the wea
ther station in Hatteras village,
seven miles west of the famous
cape, and here it is actually, even
warmer, most of the time.
Tourists and vacationists leaving
Manteo on a chilly morning are
surprised upon arrival at Buxton
to find weather that is actually
from 10 degrees to sometime more,
warmer heije than the Dare
Coast’s county seat 65 miles north
ward.
Richard Daily, veteran weather
observer at Hatteras states that
the community there, where the
station is located, is situated some
25 miles from the nearest point
on the mainland coast of North
Carolina and about the same dis
tance from the Gulf Stream.
“This favors Hatteras with war
mer winters and cooler summers
than the mainland coastal sections
of North Carolina,” he said.
“Only one year in three brings a
minimum temperateure lower than
25 degrees, and the average num
ber of days with a minimum tem
perature of 32 degrees or lower
are fewer in number, than any
where else in the state,” he said,
adding “that is why we boast if
at least 42 weeks of growing sea
son for vegetables and fruits.”
“Actually; few vegetables, other
than those planted in a home own
er’s private garden are grown on
Hatteras Island. And the citrus
fruit is not grown commercially,
although it is estimated there are
some 200 or more orange, lemon
grapefruit and tangerine trees on
the island, with scores of them
bearing fruit this year,” said Dai
ly.
“Being surrounded by water on
practically all sides and the near
ness of the Gulf Stream, is cred
ited with giving this section of
North Carolina a temperate winter
climate, even when it is snowing
or freezing in other sectors of the
state.
Alretady this fall, hundreds of
tourists have been amazed to find
such a temperate climate in North
Carolina as Cape Hatteras offers.
“We knew it all the time, but it
took the new highway for so many
outsiders to learn this fact,” said
Dailey.
WANCHESE RURITANS
ELECT NEW OFFICERS
Edward Green President; Club
Seeks More Hard Surfaced
Roads in Community
The Wanchese Ruritan Club, aft
er enjoying a turkey dinner at their
regular monthly meeting Friday
night, heard remarks from two
visitors, and elected officers for
the ensuing year. Dr. Russell C.
Brown, and Philip R .Smith, medi
cal technician associated with him,
were the guests.
Edward Green of Manteo suc
ceeds V. G. Williams as President;
Valton Williams succeeds Ralph
Meekins as Vice President; Dar
rell Daniels succeeds H. O. Bridges
as Secretary, and S. B. Tillett suc
ceeds J. W. Davis as Treasurer.
The new officers will take of
fice the third Friday in December
at which time District Governor
Rajeigh Carver is to preside.
The Club passed resolutions
seeking the final paving of all
roads of the Wanchese community
not yet hard-surfaced, but partic
ularly hope for three, all of which
have been endorsed by the Board
of County Commissioners.
Road on the east side toward the
J. T. Daniels homeplace; road on
the south-end via W. E. Daniels
homeplace; road on the west side,
via the B. H. Davis homeplace to
Wanchese wharf road. The two
last petitioned are the roads via
R.- H. Midgett and R. H. Gray
homes on the west side, and road
into Baunrtown.
The club approved a campaign
to seek the immediate dredging of
the channel to Oregon Inlet in the
vicinity of Herring Shoal, which
has filled into a depth of about
2’/i feet it is said. Party fishing
boats, at low . water, now have to
make an hour’s extra run via Old
House channel, in order to get in
and out of the Inlet.
See RURITANS, Page Five
THE COASTLAND TIMES
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTEREST OF THE WALTER RALEIGH COASTLAND OF NORTH CAROLINA
RARE PHOTOS OF WRIGHT EXPERIMENTS AT KILL DEVIL HILL
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Orvine Wright spent several
weeks in October, 1911, at Kill
Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk. He
had come here to do some experi
menting with an automatic con
trol device and to make soaring
flights with a glider.
While it was not his last visit
to the area, it was the last time
that Orville Wright came here to
conduct experiments. He made re
turn trips to Kill Devil Hills at
the time the monuments were
erected to commemorate his, and
his brother Wilbur’s conquest of
the air in a heavier-than-air pow-
ORANGES RIPEN AT WARM CAPE HATTERAS
'b* Su
AGNES F.ULCHER of Buxton-on-Cape Hatteras stands beneath one
of several orange trees now bearing fruit in the warm climate of the
North Carolina Outer Banks. Not only oranges but grapefruit, lemons,
tangerines and cumquot are also ripening during late November and
early December. Veteran Weather Observer Richard Daily of Hatter
as explains why Cape Hatteras area enjoys such mild weather, in ac
companying, story. (Photo by Aycock Brown)
er-driven airplane. (Wilbur had
died in 1912 of typhoid fever.)
In camp with Orville during Oc
tober 1911 were Alex Ogilvie of
England, (who had flown t>
Wright-built plane) his brother
Lorin Wright and Lorin’s 10-year-
I'old son “Buster.” Also in the vi
cinity of the camp were a number
of newspaper photographers and
correspondents. Among them was
Van Ness Harwood, who covered
the 1911 experiments here for his
newspaper the old New York
World He also doubled as a pho
tographer for his newspaper and
MANTEO, N. C., FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1952
the two pictures printed here were
shots that he made.
The top photo by Harwood was
made aboard the old freight and
passenger boat Hattie Crees which
was operating at the time be
tween Elizabeth City and Dare
coast towns. A. W. Drinkwater of
Manteo, who says that he helped
relay the first message about the
first flights on December 17, 1903,
and later in 1908 and 1911 filed
the stories of newsmen covering
Wright ■ Brothers flight experi
ments here identifies the persons
in top picture from 1 to r as fol
lows: Mitchell of the New York
Herald, Mitchell of the Associat
ed Press, Orville Wright (in cen
ter) Arnold Kruckman of the
Hearst papers and Varges, his
photographer.
In the lower picture, members
of the Wright party are dragging
the experimental glider to the top
of Kill Devil Hill for a take-off.
According to Fred Kelly, official
baigrapher of the Wrights, Orvflle
did not conduct the experiments
he had planned in connection with
the automatic glider device due to
the presence of newsmen who
made an appearance at their
each day* Before his soaring ex
periments were over, however he
set, on October ,24, 1911, a new
re lord, soaring for . nine minutes
and 45 seconds. This remained
the world’s record for soaring in a
glider until 1921, when it was ex
ceeded in Germany.
It will be at the scene of the
Wright’s experiments here that
Kill Devil Hills Memorial Soc'cly
will ,on December 17, next month,
celebrate 49th anniversary of first
flight.
JAMES W. DAVIS AGAIN
LEGION POST COMMDR.
Special Dinner Planned for De
cember 11th, with State Of
ficers Invited
James W. Davis of Wanchese
has been elected commander of the
Fort Raleigh Post No. 26, the
American Legion of Manteo, suc
ceeding himself for a second term.
Other officers elected are Ralph-
Swain, First Vice-Commander;
Royden Tillett, Second Vice-Com
mander; Edward Green, Adjutant;
W. A. Davis, Finance Officer; Dal
las Tillett, Sergeant at Arms; Rev.
H. R. Ashmore, Chaplain.
The Post has 64 paid up mem
bers.
On December 11th, which is the
regular, meeting night, the post
is making plans for a banquet, and
See LEGION, Page Five
FISHING PIER
PLANNED NEAR
RODANTHE SOON
Nags Head Man Would Build
Structure Near Village,
600 Feet Long
Plans for an ocean fishing pier
at Rodanthe village are being made
hv R. D. Owens of Nags Head, ac
cording to the District Engineer,
of Wilmington. If any objections,
they are asked for at the Engineer
office until December 23, 1952.
It , would be approximately 6.8
miles South of Njew Inlet and 12
feet wide and 600 feet long ex
tending into the Ocean approxi
mately 470 feet beyond the mean
high water line.
Plans showing, the proposed
work may be seen at Wilmington
office andl at the Post Office at
Rodanthe.
Objections to the proposed work
if any, will be received at this of
fice until 23 December , 1952.
BRIDGE ASSOCIATION
TO EAT AT BELHAVEN
Meeting Planned for Friday of
Next Week; E .T. Bost To
Be Speaker
COLUMBIA.—AnnuaI meeting
of the Alligator-Croatan Bridge
Association will be held at River
Forest Manor, Belhaven, on Fri
day, December 5, at 11 a.m. it was
announced today by Floyd E. Co
hoon, president, who said princi
pal speaker would be representa
tive E. T. Bost, Jr., of Concord,
next speaker of the house of the
N. C. General Assembly.
The association is composed of
citizens of Beaufort, Dare, Hyde,
Martin, Tyrrell and Washington
Counties who are interested in
completion of U. S. Highways 64
and 264 by construction of bridges
across Alligator River and Croa
tan Sound. An open invitation is
extended to residents of the six
counties as well as to any person
who lives on either U. S. 64 or 264
in North Carolina. Reservations
for the dutch luncheon should he
made to River Forest Manor, Bel
haven, not later than December
2nd.
Present officers are: Floyd E.
Cohoon, Columbia, president; Har
ry Swain of Tyrrell, Russell Swin
dell of Hyde, Lawrence Swain of
Dare, R. F. Lowry of Washington,
H. L. Swain of Martin and Mrs.
Stott Topping of Beaufort, vice
presidents; Mrs. W. S. Carawan,
Columbia, secretary; Julian H.
Swain, Columbia, treasurer; and
W. H. Booker, Plymouth, director
of publicity.
Each of the six counties has
two directors, as follows: Harry
Sawin and Charles Cohoon, Tyr
rell; Leon Ballance and P. D. Mid
gett, Hyde; Clyde W. Biggs and
Tom O. Sutton, Dare; P. Bruce
See BRIDGE, Page Five
MANTEO SOLDIER BACK
FROM NEWFOUNDLAND
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Airman 2nd Class Robert B.
Twiford, son of Mr. and Mrs. Hen
ry H. Twiford ,of Manteo, has been
transferred to the 1912th Airways
and Air Communications Squad
ron (AACS), Olmsted Air Force
Base, Middletown, Pa., and is back
in the U. S. after duty in New
foundland.
Prior to entering the Air Force,
he graduated at Manteo High
School in Manteo. He is a gradu
ate of the Air Force Radio Main
tenance School at Scott Air Force
Base, 111. This picture is from an
early photo made when he first
entered the Army.
■ Airman Twiford has been as
signed to duty as a Senior Radio
Maintenance Mechanic with the
1912th AACS Squadron. This
Squadron is a unit of the major
communications system of the U.
S. Air Force. Its mission is to
guide military aircraft to all parts
of the world by radio means
through the operation of commu
nications facilities and navigation
-lal aids along thousands of miles
of airways.
ANNUAL COST OF COUNTY
GOVERNMENT JUMPS 63%
IN DARE IN FOUR YEARS
Current Year’s Budget Shows $76,000 In
crease in Expenditures For Regular Oper
ation of County; Departments Spending
$207,000 This Year as Compared with $131,-
138.50 in 1948-49.
AVON OFFICER HAS
NORFOLK ASSIGNMENT
HP? Wr--< •
—V. 3. Coast Guard Official Photo
LT. MANSON E. MEEKINS,
USCG, recently assumed duties as
Senior Investigation Officer, of the
Norfolk Office of Coast Guard
Merchant Marine Inspection. Lt.
Meekins succeeds Commander Don
ald G. Elliot, USCG, who left on
September 15, 1952, for assign
ment to the Merchant Marin? De
tail in Yokahama, Japan. Lt. R. T.
Young, USCG, who has filled .the
billet in the interim, will continue
serving as an investigating offi
cer. Lt. Meekins formerly was
with the Merchant Marine Inspec
tion Office, in New York City.
Under the general direction of
Commander W .J. Conley, Officer
in-Charge of Merchant Marine In
spection, Norfolk, Lt. Meekins will
have the prime responsibility for
initial inspection of accidents in
volving merchant vessels and re
ported mal-practices seamen
aboard resident vessels in the
states of North Carolina and Vir
ginia.
Lt. Manson E. Meekins, USCG,
was born Febyuary 18, 1916, in
Avon. A 1934 graduate of Eliza
beth City High School, he began
his Career at Strathmere, New
Jersey, in April 1935, as a Surf
man. He is a son of Lt.-Com. and
Mrs. George Harrison Meekins,
USCG Retired, of Avon.
Progressing -through the enlist
ed rates to the position of com
missioned officer, he has distin
guished himself as an able marks
man and won many awards in
Coast Guard and National compe
tition. Acclaimed as an expert pis
tolman as well as rifleman, he was
awarded several ribbons for
marksmanship prior to World War
11, including the gold Coast Guard
medal of “Distinguished Marks
man”.
His first six Coast Guard years
were ■ spent at various Lifeboat
Stations along the East Coast, dur
ing which time he was temporarily
assigned with several Rifle De
tachments. While on duty at the
Baltimore Recruiting Office, in
early 1941, he also served as an
instructor with the Treasury Re
volver Training Detachment,
Washington, D. C. Later that year
he was sent aboard the U. S. Mar
itime Service ship AMERICAN
SEAMEN.
Then a Chief Gunner’s Mate, in
June 1943 he was transferred to
See MEEKINS, Page Five
MEETING TO PLAN TO GET
LOST COLONY ON ITS FEET
Roanoke Island Historical Asso
ciation directors meet in Raleigh
at the Sir Walter Hotel Wedness
day, December 3, it was stated by
Martin Kellogg, chairman.
The association which sponsors
The Lost Colony will have on its
agenda, the mapping of plans for
next season’s presentation of the
symphonic drama, longest-lived
outdoor production in America.
One of the matters to be brought
up at the meeting is the employ
ment of a new manager for the
drama to succeed William Mardy
who has resigned, effective De
cember 1, this year. Hardy will
be manager of Unto These Hills,
the new symphonic drama entering
its second season at Boone, in 1953.
Next year will mark the 18th
season for the Lost Colony, first
of the symphonic drama types of
outdoor productions created in 1937
by Pulitzer Prize Winner Paul >
Green of Chapel Hill.
Single Copy 70
It takes a lot of vigilance and
saying “no” to hold a budget in
line. The cost of government in
Dare County had done a lot of
leaping in the last four years, and
the current budget for the fiscal
year 1952-53, shows a jump of 63
per cent more being spent for
County Government than was set
up for the year 1948-49. In round
figures, the jump is about $76,-
000.
The budget, which is just being
made up, was not finally complet
ed until a few weeks ago ,and still
there are some snags that are be
ing ironed out. But this year’s bud
get now shows a total of some
thing more than $207,000 and at ,
the present trend is showing signs
of crowding the quarter million
dollar mark for operation of the
county. The budget four years ago,
totalled some over $131,000.
Detailed figures on the cost of
the various departments of the
county this year, and where the
county expects to get the money
will be shown elsewhere in these
columns. A comparison of the two
budgets referred to follows:
Department 1948-48 1952-53
County Commiss-
ssioners 1,200.00 3,375.00
Co. Account-
ant 1,797.50 2,460.00
Clerk Super-
ior Court 2,300.00 3,560.00
Co. Farm Agt. IJOO.OO 1,315.00
Co. Home Agt. 1,100.00 1,346.00
Coroner 200.00 190.00
Treasurer 300.00 300.00
Co. Fire
Warden 1,400.00 2,040.00
Co. Jail 400.00 2,700.00
Co. Sheriff in-
cluding Del.
tax collector 8,295.00 11,858.00
Library 2,400.00 4,765.00
Courthouse
& Grounds 5,160.00 1,585.00
Register Deeds 4,356.00 5,886.00
Elections 1,550.00 1,800.00
Outside Poor 5,900.00 6,700.00
WELFARE:
Old Age Asst. 2,987.00 3,800.00
Aid Dep. Child. 1,259.00 4,480.00
Aid to Blind 3,000.00 5,982.00
Welfare Ad-
ministration 15,862.00 17,611.00
Health Dept. 3,210.00 6,837.50
Superior Cts. 1,935.00 3,425.00
Rec. Courts 2,780.00 2,450.00
Tax Super-
visor 4,270.00 9,410.00
i Genl Co.
• Government 10,943.00 18,995.00
• Interest and
I Bonded debt 22,620.00 22,170.00
Co. Schools 32,060.00 37,000.00
i Totals 131,138.50 207,071.00
In 1948-49,' the tax levy was
■ $105,000, based on a rate of $1.50.
• This year the total tax levy, with
; the rate down to sl, but 10 cents
1 higher than last year, totals $130,-
i 500. The difference in the amount
of tax levy and the amount to be
, spent, as in all years is anticipated
• from other sources as follows:
■ State and Federal Relief grants,
f refunds for Beer and Intangible
taxes, from the State Treasury,
i income from land sales and collec
i tions of delinquent taxes, and from
ABC store profits.
The total property valuation in
Dare County for the current year
is $13,050,000. The majority of the
property is located in the area of
Dare County bounded on the North
by Caffeys Inlet and on the South
by Oregon Inlet and east of Roa
noke Sound.
Breakdown of Coat of
Operating Departments
With possibility of a few slight
errors in the hurry of typing, the
anticipated cost of operating the
various departments, with salaries
paid, follows. With only three or
four exceptions a considerable in
crease is shown in each of these
departments ,and some of them
very large increases. With some
departments, the/e is a constant
tendency to increase expenditures,
and a few of them instead of try
ing to save money, when they find
themselves with a surplus, they
make haste to spend it instead of
saving to help the coming year's
budget
The anticipated income is $130,-
500, assuming all the texes are col-
See BUDGET, Page Seven