VOLUME XVIII NO. 51
A JUDGE RULES
BUXTON SHOULD
BE SCHOOL SITE
Judge Burney in Superior
Court Holds State Board
Was in Its Rights in
Denying Avon the
School
In the school battle of Buxton
versus Avon, Judge John J. Bur
ney cast his vote for Buxton
last Thursday.
The State Board of Education
was exactly right, he ruled in
Wake Supior Court, when it re
fused to approve the use of State
money for a school on what it
considered an unsafe location at
Avon. The judge ordered dismis
sal of a suit brought against the
State Board by Dare County’s
Board of Education.
The Dare County Board first
settled on Buxton as it debated
a site for a $200,000 consolidated
school for Hatteras Island. The
State Board promptly approved
use of State building money for
the Buxton school.
Many Avon citizens joined
hands in financing a strenuous
fight to have this school built in
their village. They made many
trips to Manteo and Raleigh, ap
pearing before County and State
Boards They hired able legal
talent tc assist them.
Then the Dare officials chang
ed their mrnds and swung to
Avon. But the State Board balk
ed. Its engineers said that the
exposed, seaside location at Avon
was unsafe as a school site. The
State Board thus had a moral
and legal right, its members felt,
to withhold use of taxpayers’
mont'y for a building on what
they called an unsuitable site.
Assistant Attorney General
Claude Love spread that argu
ment before Judge Burney last
week. The State Board, he said,
did not challenge the right of the
local board to pick a school site.
Nevertheless, the board has the
right tc withhold funds when
a school site is deemed unsafe.
The Outer Banks school was
intended to replace three pre
sent schools and including the
Buxton school. All Hatteras Is
land pupils from grades one
through 12 will attend it. These
are the pupils of the seven vill
ages of Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo,
‘Avon, Buxton, Frisco and Hat
teras on Hatteras Island.
DARE REPRESENTED AT
FARM AND HOME WEEK
Miss Mary Kirby. Home Agent,
and Mrs. Cecil Midgett of
Waves, Delegates from
County’s Clubs
Miss Mary Kirby, Dare County
home demonstration agent, and
Mrs. Cecil Midgett of Waves,
attended the state Farm and
Home week in Raleigh last week.
While there they attended classes
Tuesday on Clothing, Crafts, and
House Furnishings. On Tuesday
night they were present for the
group singing led by Arnold E.
Hoffman; and heard a talk by
D. S. Weaver, director of agri
cultural extension service.
Family Life discussions filled
Wednesday morning. The speak
er for Wednesday evening was
J. Earl Coke, assistant secretary
of agriculture, Washington, D. C.
The address at the women’s
meeting on Thursday morning
was made by Mrs. Ivy Baker
Priest, treasurer of the United
States. The State Council meet
ing was held on Thursday after
noon, and both of the Dare del
egates were present for it.
The highlight in the entertain
ment was the show put on by
the Echo Inn Colggers from near
Fontana Village. Another inter
esting feature was the Home
Demonstration Club chorus,
made up of 57 clubs throughout
the state,
lost colony scenes are
SHOT FOR TIME MAGAZINE
An area story of the Cape Hat
teras and Dare coast region is
scheduled for an early edition of
the magazine TIME. Among the
pictures shot in full color by Vic
Jorgenson while he was on the
coast recently to cover the story
for the internationally circulated
magazine, were new 1953 scenes of
Paul Green’s symphonic drama,
The Lost Colony, which is schedul
ed to open here in Waterside The
atre on Saturday, June 27, for its
13th season. The scenes he shot of
the famed drama included Sir Wal
ter Raleigh, Queen Elizabeth, milk
maid dancers, Eleanor Dare and
Old Tom Harris will his spouse,
the Indian squaw Agona.
THE COASTLAND TIMES
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTEREST OF THE WALTER RALEIGH COASTLANO OF NORTH CAROLINA
TO SERVE HYDE, DARE
CHURCHES THIS SUMMER
The Reverend Charles E.
Owens, a senior at Duke Divinity
School, will spend the summer
doing work in Hyde and Dare
counties with the Methodist
churches of the Mattamuskeet
and Stumpy Point curcuits. He
will be working under Duke
Endowment.
Mr. Owens will be doing the
preaching in the churches of the
Mattamuskeet charge until July
18, while the pastor, Rev. Will
iam O. Connor, is away in sum
mer school at Emory University,
j Atlanta, Ga.
I From the Mattamuskeet cir
cuit he will serve on the Stumpy
I Point work until Aug. 15, with
the Rev. A. L. G. Stephenson,
pastor of the charge.
The Rev. Owens is a graduate
of Texas A. & M. College. He
. came to North Carolina State
College on a fellowship for six
months, and.spent several weeks
in 1950 in Hyde County on an
agriculture survey for State Col
lege, before deciding to go into
the ministry. When looking
around for a good theological
school to complete his prepara
tion for the ministry he chose
Duke. His experience in this
state has been varied because of
his summer work under the
Duke Endowment in the extreme
western part of our state in 1951
and 1952. This year makes his
second summer in Eastern North
Carolina. He has preached in
and around Durham during the
years of study at Duke.
Upon his graduation at the
Divinity School, Mr. Owens plans
to enter the Chaplain’s Corps in
June 1954. Thereafter his plans
are to serve the Methodist
Church in the mission field.
Before coming to North Caro
lina, Mr. Owens lived in Brooks
ton, Texas, where he attended
public school.
BROWN NAMED TO NEW
FLIGHT COMMISSION
Aycock Brown, manager and
news director of Dare County
Tourist Bureau has been named
on the State Flight Commission,
■of which Carl Goerch, widely
[ known Raleigh magazine pub
| lisher will be chairman. Gover
I nor Umstead has officially in
| formed Brown of the appoint
ment. The commision which was
authorized during the last Gen
eral Assembly will have as its
objective the promotion of North
Carolina’s share of the Golden
Anniversary of Aviation this
year which will conclude on Dec
ember 17th the 50th anniversary
of the first flight, at Kill Devil
Hills.
Chairman Goerch stated that
the Commission would not
work with the national organi
zations having to do with' the
i Golden Anniversary, but also |
j the Kill DeviJ Hills Memorial
! Association of which Miles Clark, I
1 Elizabeth City is president. I
Brown and Clark will attend a I
meeting of the commission in the 1
Governor’s office on Monday.
Other members are: Col. Max
Washburn, Shelby, Tom Davis,
.Winston-Salem, Hugh, Morton
Wilmington, Henry Vann, Clin
ton, Congressman H. C. Banner, 1
| Washington; Frank Thompson,
, Raleigh, and Dr. Christopher C.
Crittenden, Raleigh.
LIONS ELECT OFFICERS
The Manteo Lions Club has
elected the following officers for
the coming year: president, Jack
Wilson; first vice-president, Roy
Wescott; second vice-president,
Earl Green; thirtl vice-president,
Fred Wescott; secretary, Ralph
Umphlett; treasurer, M. K. Fear
ing, Jr.; tailtwister, Gordon Rid
dick; lion tamer, Willett Tillett.
HAYMAN CLAN OF
NORTH CAROLINA
TO MEET JULY 17th
Wanchese To Be Scene of
Annual Reunion on
July 17th
The fourth reunion of the Hay
man Clan of North Carolina will
be held in the community of Wan
chese, on Roanoke Island, July 17th
for 1953. Rev. L. D. Hayman,
President of the Clan, announces
tliis date after conferring with the
Board of Directors, who in turn
have ascertained the general con
census of opinion of the more than
200 members of the Clan. This date
was suggested at the annual meet
ing in 1952, and the president has
confirmed this decision for 1953.
General notices will go out shortly
to as many members of the Clan,
Whose addresses are available or
by telephone and other means of
communication; from the office of
the Secretary, Miss Oma Pearl
Midgett of Manns Harbor.
Mrs, Ethel Hayman Tillett of
Wanchese. wilLbe acting chairman
of local arrangements, which in
general will be as follows: Through
the kindness of the pastor, Rev.
Charlie Guthrie, and the official
boai'd of Wanchese Methodist
Church, the gathering will take
place at this church. Devotioi.ais
and other indoor activity will take
place within the historic old
church, where forty-six years ago,
Louis D. Hayman—the Clan’s
President—preached his first ser
mon as a Methodist preacher.
Three years later, he entered upon
studies which made him a member
of the North Carolina Methodist
Conference, where he has been ac
tive since that date. The .dinner
hour at about 12:30 will take place
as provided and arranged by the
local committee of which Mrs. Eth
el Tillett is chairman.
This is the first time the Clan
has met on a week-end basis, and
while the main features of the oc
casion will be on Friday, July 17th,
the final part of the program will
end with a sermon by the Presi
dent, Rev. L. D. Hayman, in Wan
chese Church on Sunday at either
the morning or evening hour—
which will be announced. Saturday
will be given over to visiting and
sightseeing by members of the Clan
returning to the old home sur
roundings as they may desire. Indi
cations now point to one of the
largest—if not the largest—gath
ering in the Clan’s history.
DRINKWATER FILMED
BY UNITED AIRCRAFT
Alpheus W. Drinkwater and his
copies of press messages filed by
newsmen covering the 1908 ex
periments of Wilbur and Orville
Wright were filmed on Tuesday by
William Fox of United Aircraft
Corporation, Bridgeport, Conn.
Also filmed were the copies of
pictures Drinkwater has had in his
possession for many years show
ing Orville Wright and Lord Olgi
vie assembling a glider at Kill
Devil Hills in 1911 were filmed for
aviation posterity. The photo
graphs, now very rare, were shot
by the late Van Ness Harwood.
The movie Fox is making will
touch all phases of the Wright
Brothers activities in the Kitty
Hawk-Kill Devil Hill, or the phases
available today. He will return to !
the Dare coast in a few days to
make a sound track for the film
he is making. This sound track
will include an interview with
Drinkwater, possibly an interview ]
with Elijah Baum of Kitty Hawk
who happened to be on the dock
in 1900 when Wilbur Wright first
arrived there, and then showed
him how to reach Postmaster
Tate’s house where the Wrights
were to board, and an interview
with Harry Moore of Norfolk who
wrote the first story of the first
flight.
SMALLEST SAILFISH CAME
WITH LARGE DOLPHIN
Nags Head. The smallest
sailfish ever landed with rod and
reel was brought aboard the
Chee Chee off Oregon Inlet on
Sunday. As matter of fact the
tiny sailfish was smaller than
the hook which caught the dol
phin which disgorged the tiny
fish as it hit the deck of the
cruiser.
The sailfish measured exactly
two inches from tip to tip. The
same dolphin which threw the
sailfish up also disgorged a sar
gassum fish, and each were in
perfect condition and undigest
ed in anyway.
The sailfish speciman was for
warded to the American Museum
of Natural History in New York
with the idea of proving to ic
thyologists that these billfishes,
numerous off North Carolina
during the summer, spawn off
Dare.
MANTEO, N. C„ FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 1953
HOW’D YOU LIKE TO CALL HER TEACHER?
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MISS SHIRLEY LEARY, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. K. Leary of
Nags Head, this summer is teaching classes in baton twirling, strutting
and dance steps for band majorettes. Miss Leary herself, a majorette'
for the Elizabeth City high school band, has won a number of honors
in recognition of her skill in baton twirling and last summer attended
a school taught by some of the best known instructors in that art.
DARE COUNTY TEACHER
ALLOTMENT FOR 53-54
On June 5 the State Board of
Education allotted the following
teachers for Dare County Schools
for thel9s3-1954 school term:
Manteo: 7 elementary teachers;
6 high school teachers.
Manns Harbor: 3 elementary
teachers.
Kitty Hawk: 4 elementary
teachers; 2 high school teachers.
Wanchese: 3 elementary teach
ers.
Stumpy Point: 1 elementary
teacher.
Avon: 2 elementary teachers.
Buxton: 3 elementary teach
ers; 3 high school teachers.
Hatteras: 3 elementary teach
ers. •
Roanoke Colored: 2 elemen
tary teachers; 1 ' high school
teacher.
On May 22 the State Board
had failed to allot any high
school teachers for Kitty Hawk
or any elementary teachers for
! Stumpy Point. The original allot
ment also gave Buxton , only
three high school teachers in
stead of the four teachers allott
ed in previous years. The Dare
County Board of Education im
mediately requested reconsider
ation of this allotment. As a re
sult the State Board did re-in
state the Kitty Hawk Higli
School and the Stumpy Point
School, but would not give the
extra high school teacher to
Buxton.
ISLANDERS ORGANIZE
HOUSING BUREAU
Roanoke Islanders meeting in
Mahteo last week, organized
their own housing bureau and
in the future all overnight visi
tors to The Lost Colony wishing
i accommodations will make ar
rangements for them through the
new Bureau which will be oper
ated for the benefit of almost
100 home owners of Roanoke
Island, their patrons, who come
to see the Lost Colony.
Robert Williams of Manteo
will manage the Bureau’s desk
in the Community Building.
General Manager R. E. Jordan
meeting with home owners,
■ stated that the new Roanoke Is
land Housing Bureau will have
l offices in Dare County Commun
' ity Building at Manteo, but will
be operated as a separate unit,
i Mrs. A. E. Brown is chairman,
Doreen Quidley vice-chairman
and Mrs. C. S. Meekins Secretary
and treasurer.
| The Lost Colony organization
had operated the bureau each
year The Lost Colony had been
| presented, since 1937.
Persons coming to see The Lost
Colony during the summer of
1953 will write the Roanoke Is
land Housing Bureau or contact
the office of the new organiza
tion upon arrival at Manteo in
stead of applying to The Lost
Colony, Mr. Jordon stated. “We
believe this new plan will work
advantageously not only to the
almost 100 home owners who
have guest rooms, but also to
the multitudes of people coming
to see the 1953 presentation of
The Lost Colony,” said Jordan.
UNLAWFUL TO BUILD
HOUSE WORTH OVER
S3OO WITHOUT PERMIT
Effective July 1, it will be un
lawful to build, alter or repair a
house in Dare County without
obtaining a building permit. This
! permit may be obtained by mak
ing application and paying a fee
of $1 at the office of the Register
of Deeds, who is clerk to the
Board of County Commissioners.
This law was passed at the
1953 legislature in orded to en
able the Tax office to keep up
with the rapid changes in prop
erty values in Dare County,
i When properly applied, it should
be the means of stopping a lot
of tax dodging and enable a more
equitable distribution of the tax
burden. Such law is usually in
effect throughout the state. Its
usefulness depends of course on
the method in which it is en
forced. The town of Manteo has
had such a law on its books for
many years, plus a zoning or
dinance, but nobody pays any
attention to them.
HATTERAS BLUES
RUNNING AGAIN
Down at Cape Hatteras Wed
nesday surf casters landed big
bluefish, the largest a 5Vz -pound
er. At the same time large Span
ish mackerel, some going to four
pounds, were reeled in. Small boats
trolling beyond the breakers at the
Point also picked up big blues and
Gulf Stream fishing craft out of
Oregon Inlet and Hatteras caught
"larger than usual” blues not on
ly on Wednesday but for the past
several days.
There is some speculation by old
timers who recall the big blues of
the big runs back in the mid-1930’s
that the increase in size of the
fisl> of this species now being tak
en. that this may be the year for
the fabulous “Hatteras Blues” to
return. They were the largest ever
taken along the American coast.
SPANISH MACKEREL IN
WATERS OF COASTLAND
Nags Head. Spanish mack
erel were plentiful in Hatteras
Inlet during the past week end
and a few were taken in Oregon
Inlet here on the Dare coast.
This fish compares with bluefish
from a sporting standpoint and
are taken with the same type of
lures. At Ocracoke and Hatteras
bone lures are usually considered
■ the best for Spanish makerel and
blues. In the old days loon bones
from seafowl killed for their
bones were used along the Outer
Banks. Today the “bones” are
mostly of plastic.
At Oregon Inlet they were
catching them with feather jigs
and small spoons on the week
end. Adrian Ayers, principal of
Manteo High School caught a
2-pounder which gave him a
blood producing bite on the fing
er as he removed it from the
hook. Ayers was fishing with
Captain and Mrs. Balfour Baum
aboard the Butch.
DAYTON NEWSM’N
DEPLORES LOOKS
OF KDH ENTRANCE
By AYCOCK BROWN
Kill Devil Hills. Dick Cull,
Washington correspondent for the
Dayton, Ohio NEWS spent the
week end in this area doing stories
about the Wright Memorial on
Kill Devil Hill and the midway
point in the Golden Anniversary
of Aviation year. And, judging
from the comments he made while
here readers of the newspaper in
the hometown of Wilber and Or
ville Wright will learn about the
unkempt condition of the land on
the way into the reservation
where the inventors made their
successful flights on December 17
1903.
In the opinion of Cull, it is a
shame that the right-of-way of
U. S. 158 at the Memorial Entrance
drive is littered with trash that
ranges from empty beer cans and
whisky bottles to waste paper and
many kinds of rubbish. Cull feels
that the real estate development
which has been created between
the memorial area and the main
highway, is detrimental to avia
tion’s greatest shrine.
Actually the real estate develop
ment is about a half mile from the
monument although it adjoins the
341-acre Kill Devil Hill National
Memorial land which embraces an
area about six times the size of
the famous hill.
At the monument Cull found the
great granite pylon in need of
paint in spots and initials and
names of persons were found on
the walls of the monument’s in
terior, and also on the base of the
triangular lens of a light which is
not used at present.
Photographs of the highway
right-of-ways where the road turns
from U. S. Highway 158 to the
monument and also shots of the
real estate development in the
region were photographed. At the
monument some of the initialed
walls were photographed.
Before he left the area Cull filed
a special story to Dayton NEWS
on the death last week of Capt.
W. J. Tate, close friend of the
Wright brothers and at whose
homes the inventors lived during
See ENTRANCE, Page Four
5,000 BABY BASS
PLACED IN FRESH
PONDS AT HATTERAS
Five thousand fingerling large
mouth bass were released in the
fresh ponds of Cape Hatteras
Thursday morning by State Wild
life and Resource Commission
game protectors. The fish ranging
from an inch and half to three
inches in size were put in the
Lighthouse Pond, the Big Pond
west of Cape, and in one of the
smaller canals. The 5,000 baby
bass made a pickup truck load.
They were in five gallon cans and
came from the State Fish Hatchery
at Fayetteville. Edward B. Brad
ley brought the fish to Dare wat
ers, making a night trip from
Fayetteville to assure that the
fishes would remain alive. Only a
half dozen or so had died enroute.
Assisting in the planting of the
bass were District Game Protector
Leon Thomas, and Protectors W. S.
White of Manns Harbor, Jack Bal
lance, Kill Devil Hills and Tom
Hines, federal game agent who
lives at Kill Devil Hill. Photo
graphs of the work which is ex
pected to help bring fresh water
fishing into popularity at Cape
Hatteras were made by Tourist
Bureau Manager Aycock Brown
for national publicity purposes.
MRS. CAROLINE G. MILLER
IS BURIED IN AVON WED.
Funeral Services for Mrs.
Caroline Gray Miller, 75, who
died Monday at the Albemarle
Hospiital, were conducted Wed
nesday at 11 a. m. at the Pearl
Street International Church by
the Rev. Tommy Wilson, pastor
of the Assembly of God Church
at Avon.
Burial was in the family plot
at Avon with graveside services
at 4:30 p. m.
Mrs. Miller was a lifelong resi
dent of Avon, the daughter of
Banister and Rosa Meekins Gray
and the wife of W. B. Miller.
She was a member of the Pearl
Street International Church, of
Elizabeth City.
Surviving besides her husband
are two daughters, Mrs. Cedric
Midgett, of Waves, and Mrs.
Retta Morgan, of Avon; five
sons, the Rev. L. Sigsbee Miller,
of Elizabeth City; T. Columbus
Miller, of Norfolk; William T.
Miller, of Avon; Dallas B. Miller
and Fred A. Miller, of Isle City,
N. J.; a sister, Mrs. Mary Midgett!
of Morehead City; 21 grand
children and 16 great-grand
children.
Single Copy 7£
TITANIUM DEPOSIT
ON OUTER BANKS
NOT W’RTH MINING
Dupont and National Officials
Don’t Intend to Dig Up
Sands in Search of
llmenite
Officials of the E. I. duPont d©
Memours and Company in Wil
mington, Delaware and the Na
tional Lead Company of 111
Broadway, New York City have
spiked rumors that the Outer
Banks of North Carolina where
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
is now in the process of being
created, contains a great wealth
of titanium minerals. Thomas
H. Miller, acting director of the
U. S. Bureau of Mines of the De
partment of the Interior also
gave a negative report on the
possibilities of heavy metal de
posits in the area from a com
mercial standpoint.
The reports were made to Con
iad L. Wirth, director of the Na
tional Park Service in Wash
ington following published re
ports earlier this year that a po
tential wealth of titanium and
kindred heavy metals would not
be available in the future if the
land was owned by the govern
ment. The information furnished
Wirth was passed on to Clark
Stratton, lands acquisition officer
here for the Cape Hatteras Na
tional Seashore with office head
quarters in Manteo.
‘ The areas along the Outer
Banks in Pamlico Sound and
Roanoke Sound were prospected
with thoroughness in 1945, and
the entire Hatteras section, from
Hatteras Inlet to Oregon Inlet,
was visited again in 1951 by
Company geologists, said J. L.
Gillson, head geologist of the
Wilmington firm.
“At no place in this section
from Ocracoke Inlet to Nags
Head was any deposit found that
du Pont would consider commer
cial. In a few places there was a
concentration of so-called heavy
minerals, but the titanium oxide
content of these heavy minerals
was found to be very low in com
parison with deposits further
j south that have been considered
i to be commercial,” he added.
"Therefore, it is our considered
judgement, after studying these
areas, that no commercial pro
duction of titanium minerals will
ever be profitable in that area,”
said Gillson.
Clyde M. Wiles, manager of
the mining depai-tment of the
National Lead Company, stated:
"We have discussed the Cape
Hatteras National Seashore Re
creational Project with Mr. Strat
ton, the project manager and
during the interview, the ques
tion arose regarding the mineral
value of the area bounded by
Ocracoke Inlet to the South and
Bodie Island to the North.”
The lands within these bound
aries have no economic value to
us at this time and furthermore,
it is not our intention to acquire
these lands,” said Wiles.
“Heavy minerals have been re
ported at Cape Hatteras and in
the general vicinity for many
years, but we have never been
able to locate any deposit that
might warrant commercial ex
ploitation,” said Thomas H. Mill
er acting director of the Bureau
of Mines in Washington.”
It appears that these reports
from groups which have exploit
ed the area, that titanium metals
are not available in the Cape
Hatteras Seashore area.” said
Stratton.
RICHARD RIGBY, NATIVE OF
ENGLAND DIES IN E. CITY
Richard Rigby, 69, died Thurs
day of last week in Elizabeth
City where he had made his
home for several years. He for
merly lived in New York State
where he retired from the Civil
service and came to Elizabeth
City to live near his daughter
Mis. Cyrus Gray who now lives
at Buxton. Mr. Rigby is survived
also by his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth
Thompson Rigby. Mr. Rigby who
for some years owned a summer
home in Salvo, had lived in this
country 48 years but was a na
tive of Southport, Lancashire
England, the son of Richard and
Mary Jane Snap e Rigby. He was
a member of the Independent
oY.X I Foresters . and of City
Road Methodist Church in Eliza
beth City.
Funeral services were conduct
ed Saturday afternoon at 3
o’clock at the Twiford Funeral
Home by Rev. D. J. Re id> the
pastor, and Rev. W. B. Gregory
of Buxton. Burial was in New
Hollywood Cemetery, Elizabeth