North Carolina Newspapers

PAGE FOUR THE COASTLAND TIMES Published Continuously at Manteo, N. C., Since July 4, 1935 The Weekly Journal of the Walter Raleigh Coastland of North Carolina, Foremost Region of Recreation and Sport, Healthful Living and Historical Interest On The Atlantic Seaboard. Knterea As Second Class Matter At The Postoffice At Manteo, N. C. Subscription Rates: 1 Year $2.50; 6 Months $1.50; 3 Months SI.OO PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY BY TIMES PRINTING Co\ INC., AT 505 LODGE STREET, MANTEO, NORTH CAROLINA " VICTOR MEEKINS, Editor CATHERINE D. MEEKINS Secretary-Treasurer Vol. XIX Manteo, N. C., Friday, July 31. 1953 No. 5 THIS LAGGING PROGRAM NEEDS GOVERNOR’S HELP (Scotland Neck Commonwealth) It was five years ago, after months of investigation, that a program for improving the inlets along the coastal area of North Carolina was presented to the public by Co lonel George Gillette, executive director of the North Caro lina Ports Authority. As a member of the Board of Con servation and Development and as an outstanding army engineer who had directed the activities of the federal gov ernment in North Carolina waters for a number of years, Colonel Gillette was well equipped to discuss the matter intelligently and to make the type of investigation which would center attention upon this great need of the State. Five years ago it was, and there have been a few de velopments since, but for the most part the program stands just where it stood when Colonel Gillette presented his brief to the people of the State through the Department of Conservation and Development. The need for develop ment still exists and the need for wider state interest so as to bring about action in this matter is still there. As we have said some progress has been made in the way of obtaining assistance from the Federal Government for the widening and deepening of some of the inlets, but the overall plan presented by Colonel Gillette has not yet been tackled in its entirety by the Federal government. As for the State itself, while a great deal of interest has been evinced by some members of the General Assembly and while Governor Umstead is known to be interested in the matter, no appropriation has been made to aid in this work, and now it will be two years before such an appropriation can be made. Before he was sworn in as Governor and while he was sitting with the Advisory Budget Commission, on the proposed budget for this coming fiscal year, Governor Umstead asked a great many questions of a delegation which appeared to argue for improvement of the water facilities of Eastern North Carolina. We confidently expect Governor Umstead to take some very definite action along this line in the not distant future. He has the authority, along with the Council of State, to authorize expenditure of money for a complete survey of the situation, and this may be the next important step in the matter. North Carolina has the longest coastline and the great est fishing area of all the states of the Alantic Seaboard wih the exception of Florida. It is said that deepening of some of the inlets would permit the shad to find its way from the ocean into spawning grounds. There has been a great diminution in the number of spawning shad coming into the inland waters of North Carolina in recent years, and this is said to be due to the fact that the shad requires eight to twelve feet of water if it is going to enter the sounds and some of the inlet channels are only three to six feet deep. The action of the ocean has caused many of the inlets to fill partially in recent years. It is also argued that if the channel depths were in creased all types of fish would have more ready access to the inland waters and this would improve the fishirig and shrimping. It is also true that ocean trawlers which need from seven to nine feet of water to come across the bar cannot operate, for instance, at Oregon Inlet. Yet if they could come in at Oregon Inlet to Manteo, they would save approximatly twenty-four hours between the time of their catch and the time when they get it into the Chesapeake Bay area. This twenty-four hours is important from the standpoint of keeping the fish fresh and of getting them to the markets properly iced. Also they will have a port of refuge at Manteo in case of a serious storm. These factors, if taken advantage of by deepening the channel of Oregon Inlet, would be the means of building up the fishing, icing and packing industries at Manteo. Colonel Gillette also called attention to the fact that a proper balance of salt water is needed in the inland wat ters for better propagation of the oyster, and the depth of the inlets definitely affects the salinity of the inland wat ers. He also said improvement of the other inlets along the North Carolina coast would aid in reducing pollution and thus promote survival of fish, oyster, shrimp and oth er types of marine life, and would also be an aid to naviga tion in many places. It is sincerely to be hoped that North Carolina will em bark upon this program in cooperation with the Federal Government. It is nothing new for states of the Union to do something about developing their Own waterside facilities. As a matter of fact, the greatest growth which has come to some states has been because they utilized State funds to develop port terminals, improve harbors, clean out pollu tion, and otherwise work for full utilization of the re sources and possibilities of the oceans, seas, and Great Lakes. North Carolina can and should do likewise. 60 SECOND SERMONS By FRED DODGE TEXT: “I can usually judge a fellow by what he langhs at - Wilson Mizner Little Arthur marched proudly home from his first day at school. His mother met him at the front steps and asked, “Well, son, what did you learn at school today?” “Nothing, mother,” said her son, then seeing the dis appointment on his mother’s face he added, “But I learned a lot at recess.’ I The schools we attend are examined with care. The classes, the teachers, the subjects are considered seriously. Formal knowledge comes slowly after untold hours of hon est study. Between the hours of study and classroom per iods are many more hours of “recess”. Sometimes these “recess” periods are planned. Often they appear suddenly, begging to be used. How we use life’s “recess period ”, the companions with whom we spend them, may be far more important than formal schooling. Not only do we learn much at “recess’, but how we use our “recess” - “what we laugh at” - is a more accurate guage of our worth than all the books we study. To feel oppressed by obligation is only to prove that we are incapable of a proper sentiment of gratitude. William Gilmore Simms ■I . . ( OTHER EDITORS *- -j GOLDEN TREASURES LOST PURSUING TELEVISION FOOLS By CARLTON MORRIS Editor, Gates County Index • Roast ear corn is in full tassel and tomatoes are ripening on the vine and the world is a sea of green. The woodland is speckled with sunlight and shadow as the summer sun beats down upon the earth with relentless heat. Stopping by in the shade, the neighbors talk only on the weather as world affairs are pushed into the background by the query: “Do you reckon it is going to rain?” Cotton leaves droop on their stalks and are seldom moved by the ripple of a breeze and the earth gives off the heat of the sun. The first fruits are begin ning to ripen for it s high sum ning to ripen for it’s high sum- To me at least, books are a great source of learning and pleasure. Since earliest child hood, I have derived most of my spare time pleasure from read ing the written word. Sometimes I agree with what I read and very often I do not agree. When I was a small boy, old timey people believed it was wrong to waste time reading and in my neighborhood they cited the case of an old woman of that day who neglected her home and garden, to say nothing of her children and field work, just to read what they called trash. Traveling by horseback the wo man was known to take along a novel in which she was interest ed and read it on her journey. Her horse, said the neighbors, would stop by the wayside to nibble grass while the old woman read on and on. Entering school at the tender age of five (there was no age limit) I learned the alphabet on my very first day and took great pride in astonishing my parents that night with my knowledge. From that day on a great new world opened up for me. I have probably published the following incident, but it illus trates my story of a youngster’s thirst for knowledge so well that I believe it will bear repetition. At our little one teacher school there was a glass book case which was known proudly as the “library.” From its sacred por tals, the girls of our school could take books at will. Boys were not interested in books, and thus were not allowed to carry any away from the school. In my own case, I would slip one or another of the books and prop up my big geography book on the top of my desk, while I rapidly read from the forbidden fruit. I lived with King Arthur and his knights and my desk became a roundtable. In the afternoons, I fashioned a shining sword and spear (from wood) and tilted my imaginary windmills. A shiver would chase up and down my spine as I read of the lady of the lake and I knew the gods by first name while the sword of Damocles hung over my head as I read on and on. It was a midsummer afternoon and school had been out for many weeks when I passed the little school and thought of the many books that were lying un read in the “library.” Never hav ing stolen in my life, it was with a feeling of deepest guilt that I slipped behind the school build ing and crawled through one of the windows. I stood in the middle of the vacant room which was accumu lating a coat of dust and listened to my heart pounding and it seemed to keep time with the scraping of a locust in a great oak hard by the school house door. I tip-toed across the bare floor between the desks and guil tily reached into the bookcase and withdrew “Fifty Famous Stories.” I tip-toed to the window and crawled through. I stuck the book in my shirt and mount ed my bike and fled with the book and my guilty conscience. That summer I learned about the defeated king who watched a spider and tried again and won and I learned many other things as well. I returned the book when school opened in the fall and se cretly returned it to its resting place. Often in later days, I would look at it and think of it as an old and trusted friend. The world would be a wonder ful place in which to live if one could always be young and know the joy of reading again about “The Little Shepherd of King dom Come,” “The calling of Dan Matthews,” and “Girl of the Limberlost.” But alas and alack, the world can never stand still for now we have visual education and we have no need nor time to read as we spend our spare time gazing at the antics of tele vision fools. Nothing is cheap that is super fluous, for what one does not need, is dear at a penny. Plutarch THE COASTLAND TIMES. MANTEO. N. C. WRIGHT MEMORIAL MARKS AVIATION’S BIRTHPLACE ——- V--" -4 ■■ T — ■,, to ■ ■ tri Ft / J&j i «. v ' .. . e .. > . * J ’ i W • * ■■- ..w~ T Aj| ■pt j* ... Ml IP" Ml 1 ' t Kill Devil Hills, N. C. Kill Devil Hill National Memorial, site of the first successful flight of a powered heavier-than-air flying machine, has a special interest for travelers during 1953, the Golden Anniversary Year of Aviation. The Memorial is located in Dare County, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and within sight of the location of the first English colony attempted in America the mysterious “Lost Colony” of Roanoke Island. It was on December 17, 1903, that Wilbur and Orville Wright made the flight that was to im mortalize them as inventors of the airplane and bring interna tional fame to the community of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and the 90-foot high sand dune known as Kill Devil Hill. Atop Kill Devil Hill is the Wright Memorial Monument, er ected by the Federal Govern ment after Congress authorized the establishment of Kill Devil Hill National Memorial in 1927. A granite boulder near the base of the hill marks the spot where the Wright’s “flyer” actually left the ground on its first trip into the air. This marker, erect ed by the National Aeronautic Association, was unveiled in 1928 on the 25th anniversary of flight. The surrounding park contains 315 acres, and a paved road con nects it with Highway 158 which skirts the Atlantic surf less than a-mile away. The monument was completed in 1932. It is a 60-foot pylon of gray granite from the quarries at Mount Airy, North Carolina, and rises from a star-shaped base resting on a sunken foundation 35 feet deep. On the walls are wings in bas-relief, and the in scription: “In commemoration of the con quest of the air by the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright con ceived by Genious, achieved by Dauntless Resolution and Un conquerable Faith.” Polished steel doors open into the rotunda of the monument, where a metal map of the world depicts events associated with man’s effort to fly, and the first 25 years of aviation history. A central niche in the pink granite walls contains a model of the or iginal Wright plane, the "Kitty Hawk,” and on either side there are niches containing busts of the Wright brothers. Curving stairs lead to an ob servation platform at the top of the pylon, where a powerful beacon throws a beam visible for many miles. From the top of the monument is an extensive-view of the com munities of Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills, the resort area along the Atlantic beach, and other large sand dunes and the resort of Nags Head nearby. The Memorial is open from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily, with National Park Service guides on duty to greet visitors and an swer questions. Visitors from many countries have signed the guest book in the rotunda. , Like Jockey Ridge and the other big dunes to the south, Kill Devil Hill was originally a shifting mass of bare sand which was constantly subject to wind erosion and would not have sup ported a structure like the monu ment. Before the monument could be built, the hill had to be “anchored” by seeding and sod ding it with tough, wiry grasses adapted to sandy soil, This pro ject was so successful that the entire Memorial area is now cov ered with grass, and shrubs have been planted at several points. A paved road with six parking areas circles the hill and ex tends to the nearby flight mark er. From the road, a spiral as phalt walkway leads to the memorial shaft at the top of the hill. Each December 17, memorial ceremonies honoring the achieve ment of the Wright Brothers are held at the monument under the sponsorship of the Kill Devil Hills Memorial Society, which was organized at Elizabeth City, North Carolina, in 1927. Notables from the civil and military avia tion world take part, and the event is climaxed with a gigan tic display of modern air power in the skies above the monu ment. Wilbur and Orville Wright be gan their first flight experiments with model aircraft which they constructed at their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, and tested in a home-made wind tunnel. They are said to have tested some 200 types of wing surfaces before they were finally convinced that a properly designed machine, propelled by an engine, could be made to take off and remain in the air by the pressure of air currents against wings or planes. By 1900 their experiments had progressed to the point where they were seeking a location with strong, steady air currents. The United States Weather Bur eau directed them to Kitty Hawk, where for most of the year the winds blow strongly and steadily from the north. Kitty Hawk, a small fishing village on Kitty Hawk Bay, be tween the ocean and Albemarle Sound, was accessible at that time only by boat from the main land of North Carolina. (A bridge and modern highway now con nect the area with the main land.) The Wright brothers ar rived there via schooner from Elizabeth City on September 12, 1900. They boarded for a short time at the home of Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Tate before establishing their own camp near the village to begin experiments with an aircraft flown as a kite. The following year they moved their camp to a flat sandy field near Kill Devil Hill. For two years they tested and studied gliders launched from the slopes of the hill. In 1903 they designed a larger and much improved bi plane to which they added a small gasoline engine with two pusher-type propellers. At first they attempted to launch this craft from a 60-foot monorail laid 150 feet up the 9 degree slope. On December 14 the mach ine was slightly damaged when it climbed a few feet from the rail, stalled and settled to the ground near the foot of the hill. On December 17, the brothers had the machine ready for an other attempt, for which they had laid the take-off track on the flat plain near their camp. Five people had assembled to watch the trial, and lend a hand if needed. They were J. T. Daniels, W. S. Dough, and A. D. Ethe ridge, from the Kill Devil Hill Life Saving Station; W. C. Brinckley of Manteo, and Johnny Moore, a boy from Nags Head. The last survivor of this group of witnesses to the first flight was Johnny Moore, who died in 1951. Four flights were completed on December 17, and on the fourth and last Wilbur remained aloft 59 seconds and covered a dis tance of 852 feet. There were no reporters pre sent to cover the event, and when news of the flight reached the press, most newspapers re fused to print it. Harry P. Moore of Norfolk, Va., is known as the “reporter who scooped the world” with the story of the first flight. As a cub reporter on the Norfolk Virginian Pilot he learn ed of the flight from a source he has never revealed, and wrote the story. His own paper carried it as a front page article under the headline “Flying Machine Soars Three Miles in Teeth of High Wind Over Sandhills and Waves at Kitty Hawk on Caro lina Coast.” At the top of the newspaper’s front page was the line “The Flight That Couldn’t Be Made But Was!” Moore was an honored guest at the Wright Memorial celebration on December 17, 1952, opening- Aviation’s Golden Anniversary Year. He still writes a column of waterfront incidents for the Vir ginian-Pilot. The Wright Brothers’ own ver sion of the famous event was later published in a dispatch from Dayton, Ohio, dated Jan uary 6, 1904. It follows: AN AERIAL WONDER How the "Flyer" Breasted the Gales at Kitty Hawk Dayton, Ohio, Jan. 6 The Wright Brothers, inventors of the flying machine which has attracted such widespread at tention, have prepared the fol lowing which they say is the first correct statement of the two successful trials made by them: “On the morning of Decem ber 17, between 10:30 and noon, four flights were made, tfro by Orville Wright and two by Wilbur Wright. The starts were all made from a point on the level and about 200 feet west of our camp, which is situated a quarter of a mile north of Killdevil sand hill, in Dare County, North Carolina. The wind at the time of the flights had a velocity of 27 miles an hour at 10 o’clock and 24 miles an hour at noon as recorded by the anemome ter of the Kitty Hawk weather . bueau station. This anemome ter is 30 feet from the ground. Our own measurements made with a hand anemometer at a height of four feet from the ground showed a velocity of about 22 miles when the first flight was made and 22 1/2 when the last flight was made. The flight was made directly against the wind. Each time the machine started from the level ground by its own power with no assistance from gray- FRIDAY, JULY 31, 1953 SARAH’ C ALLIED SARAH F. HALLIBURTON L COME DOWN A few days after your scribe passed birthday No. 56, she was walking into the Shannon& Beacham store in Kitty Hawk. Three little girls, about five, spied her and one of them piped up, “Just look at that granny!” Her utter candor tickled your ancient reporter’s funny bone so much that she was chortling out loud as she entered the store, which probably made the cus tomers think the old lady was off her rocker. Here, she’d just been congratulating herself on looking forward to another twenty in teresting, absorbing years. SPECIAL WISH Talking about birthday greet ings (were we doing that?), one intelligent woman never sends “happy birthday” greetings ot wishes a friend “many more of them.” She writes a little per sonal note to wish her friend “another year crowded with in teresting experiences.” WHAT A DAY! Somewhat in line with that, your scribe makes a practice of celebrating her birthday by do ing something unusual, prefer ably something never tackled be fore. This year, though, company was coming and she spent the entire day putting her house in apple pie order. Some folks familiar with this reporter’s brSnd of housekeeping will say, of course, that housecleaning really was something out of the ordinary. They could be right, too, but it’s a tedious brand of adventure. Your reporter took her first airplane ride, a good many years ago, on her birthday. Now that was an experience to remember! But housecleaning,— bah! FAST WORK Those Kitty Hawk Methodist women mean what they say and no funny business about it. For instance, one Tuesday night they decided the parsonage needed a new refrigerator. By Thursday afternoon the apppiance, the last thing in electric refrigeration, was installed and the minister’s wife was trying hard to resist the temptation to open it just to admire its gleaming interior. She wouldn’t however, admit to be ing surprised, because, she said, “these Kitty Hawk people are the salt of the earth.” TAXABLE? If Uncle Sam ever finds out what a thrill the children of vacationing families get out of the blimps gliding over the roof tops, he’d find away to tax us for letting the navy use the air over our heads. Let’s hope none of the Washington people who vacation here talk out of turn of the free show the blimps pro vide for children who seldom or never saw one before they came to the beach. TIMELY DIAGNOSIS When a young man came from lowa to visit his parents, his mother had a job waiting for, him, painting the kitchen. Seems that last fall she and her husband gave the kitchen one coat and she suggested that they wait till this year to give it a second coat of paint. Meantime, the husband had occasion to con sult a doctor and came home with the verdict that under no condition must he dabble in paint. Now the wife is trying to find out what her husband paid the doctor for such a prescrip tion. STRANGE When a toddler was knocked down in the surf and carried out from shore, recently, a Ral eigh man who chanced to see the accident plunged in and resi cued her. By a strange coinci dence, this man lost two of his own children by drowning, some years ago. ity or other sources whatever. After a run of about forty feet along a monorail track which held the machine eight inches from the ground, it rose from the track and under the direc tion of the operator climbed upward on an inclined course until a height of eight or ten feet from the ground was reached after which the course was kept as nearly horizontal as the wind gusts and the limited skill of the operator would permit. “Into the teeth of a Decem ber gale the ‘Flyer’ made its way forward with a speed of ten miles an hour over the ground and of thirty to thirty five miles an hour through the air. It had previously been de cided that for reasons of per sonal safety these first trials should be made as close to the ground as possible. The height chosen was scarcely sufficient See MEMORIAL, Page Eight