VOLUME XX NO. 44
WANCHESE NATIVE
NEW TUG SKIPPER;
BEGAN CAREER AT 13
P. L. Cudworfh, 30, R» noted
With Norfolk Firm; G ,d
--son of Capt. Lou
By EUGENE PRICE
Capt. Perrin L. Cudworth, who
only recently turned 30 years old,
is one of the youngest tugboat
skippers on the Atlantic Coast.
But that won’t come as. a surprise
to the folks who knew him back
in Wanchese, on Roanoke Island.
They remember Cudworth as a
determined (some of them will say
he was outright cocky) youngster
of 13 who left home with the an
nouncement /hat he was ready for
a man-sized job on a tugboat.
Tuesday this week the Curtis
Bay Towing Company of Virginia
announced that Cudworth had
been made captain of the pride of
the company’s 14-tug fleet—the
new Cavalier. This boat is 105
feet long and has - 1,800 horse
power. She was built in Louisiana
at a cost of $200,000. Cudworth,
in spite of his comparative youth
fulness, has been skippering tugs
for the company for four years.
Listed Among Finest
He is regarded as one of the
finest tug captains in Hampton
Roads. Among the first to tell
you that will be his father, Capt.
G. D. Cudworth, who has been
skippering tugs for 35 years and
who also commands a Curtis Bay
tug.
Perrin is one of two sons who
have followed the elder Cudworth
in the tugboat business. The
other, G. D., Jr., was master of
the Curtis Bay tug Hawk until
a recent illness.
The Cudworths have been men
of the sea as long as the people
around Wanchese can remember.
The late Llewellyn Cudworth,
grandfather of the two young
Cudtis Bay skippers, was himself,
master of a sailing vessel, as well
as freighter captain between
Wanchese and Elizabeth City for
y years.
at it. Perrin Cudworth has been
VP' »r of- the tugs petrel and
.it during the past four years.
-There'S just something about
tugs ' like,” he commented.
“There iways something differ
ent to do. Few jobs are exactly
alike.”
Cudworth came on a tug as a
deckhand, and has worked his
way to the top. Not all his service,
however, has been on harbor craft.
During World War 11, he served
on a merchant marine ship.
His ship was bombed at Anzio.
Cudworth was 17 then, and an
able-bodied seaman. The bomb
twisted the bow of the ship, and
it was days before she could get
out of the area.
Cudworth returned to Norfolk
and to the tugs when the war was
over, and except for a brief per
iod with a tug company in New
York, has been here ever since.
Among the young captain’s
three children is a two-year-old
boy.
Is he also going to be a tugboat
man?
The folks around Wanchese will
tell you that he probably will.
After all—he’s a Cudworth.
MRS. SADIE TILLETT PERRY
OF KILL DEVIL HILLS DIES
Mrs. Sadie Tillett Perry, 49, a
native of Dare County, a resident
of Norfolk for 28 years and a
resident of Kill Devil Hills, for
the last three years, died Satur
day at 9:45 a. m. at the home of
her son-in-law and daughter, Mr.
and Mrs. Alton C. Smith, 2200
Arlington Avenue, Norfolk, after
an illness of nine months.
She was a member of the Meth
odist Church. Her parents were
the late Isaac Eurby Tillett and
Mrs. Maggie Saunders Tillett.
Surviving are her husband,
Caldwell A. Perry; one daughter,
Mrs. Smith, o < 'orfolk; four sis
ters, Mrs. Es B. Beacham, of
Arlington, Mrs. Lizzie Harris, of
Kitty Hawk, Mrs. Virginia Aus
tin, of Corolla, and Mrs. Aurelia
Tarantola, of Blueridge Summit,
Pa.; three brothers, Herman Til
lett, of Kitty Hawk; Boone Til
lett, of Indiana, and John Tillett,
of New York, and four grand
children.
Funeral services were conduct
ed at the Derry-Twiford Funeral
Home Monday by the Rev. J. W.
Reynolds, pastor of the Campo
stella Methodist Church. Bv *
•«i in the family cemetery i ’
Devil Hills.
f B eral selected hymns were
.'d during the services by Mrs.
_xyn Whitehurst at the console
of the organ.
The casket was covered with a
pall of salmon and peach, gladioli,
pink carnations and fem.
Pallbearers were, Vernon Lew
ark, Stanley Lewark, Radford Til
lett, Chester Rogers, James Bed-
I sole and Calvin Wicker.
THE COASTLAND TIMES
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTEREST OF THE WALTER RALEIGH COASTLAND OF NORTH CAROLINA
SARA ALFORD OF MANTEO IS CROWNED DARE'S BEAUTY QUEEN
■KB o ■ .1 * Ia I
■ w «
MISS SARA ALFORD of Manteo, who was winner in last Saturday night’s beauty contest, is shown re
ceiving the trophy from Earl Green of the Manteo Lions Club, sponsoring organization. Runners-up in the
contest were Mitzi Oden of Hatteras and Ruth Cudworth of Wanchese. Left to right: Miss Oden, Miss Al
ford, Mr. Green, Miss Cudworth .Miss Alford is the daughter of Mrs. Cora Mae Basnight and the grand
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. M. L. Daniels, Sr., of Manteo. She will be crowned Queen of the Pirates at the
Jamboree dance Saturday night at Nags Head.
MIRLO BEACH LODGE
OPEN AT RODANTHE
Currituck Man Operating Newly Built
Inn Catering to Fishermen and
Family Groups Seeking Quiet
Surroundings
Mirlo Beach Lodge, a newly
built small inn at Rodanthe open
ed for business this week under
the management of Ervin Bal
lance of Poplar Branch, a man
who has been for many years in
the business of catering to sports
fishermen, hunters and tourists in
the family club houses in Curri
tuck County.
Mirlo Beach Lodge is about 12
miles South of Oregon Inlet, and
is the first available inn on Hat
teras Island. From its rooms, may
be sen both the Atlantic Ocean
and Pamlico Sound. Surfcasting
and bathing is at the front door
and fishing in the comparatively
calm waters of the sound is avail
able.
Mr. Ballance says he expects to
provide good food, supplies, for
fishermen, as well as boats and
guide service in the area. He will
also cater to family groups who
wish quiet and rest at reasonable
rates on the seashore.
Mirlo Beac' Tamed in recogni
tion of a far. rescue by Coast
Guards in the area when a British
ship was torpedoed by Germans
in 1918, is a new beach develop
ment which will be converted into
seashore home sites. It occupies
100 acres of a wide, ,level and
clean oceanside area a half mile
north of the village of Rodanthe.
TELEPHONE SERVICE FOR
OCRACOKE A POSSIBILITY
Representatives of the Carolina
Telephone and Telegraph Com
pany visited Ocracoke Island this
week to investigate the possibili
ties of locating radio facilities on
the Island for the establishment
of commercial telephonl service at
Ocracoke.
Spokesmen for the company
said that the only feasible way to
provide commercial telephone fa
cilities to the Island was by radio
facilities from the mainland and
an extension of those radio facili
ties by land lines to an office of
the company. It was brought out
that the establishment of radio
facilities would- require the ap
proval of the Federal Communi
cations Commission.
The i tigatton being made by
company epresentatives will de
termine the number of radio
links that will be necessary to
provide adequate telephone service
to Ocracoke.
Reports have it that the com
pany has bought land at Er
hard as the probable site fc *
radio tower to handle this service.
BLACKBEARD BEACH PARTY
FRIDAY RAIN OR SHINE
The Blackbeard party and dance,
scheduled for Friday evening at
the Wilbur Wright Hotel, Kill
Devil Hills, will be held rain or
shine, according to announcement
by the management. The party
Will be held on the beach if the
weather is good, inside the hotel
if the weather is bad. The party
will feature a shirmp feast and
entertainment; also prizes for the
best costumes. Ski Pisecki’s band
will furnish music for the dance.
A nominal admission will be
charged.
MANTEO BOY ATTENDING
SCHOOL AT OAK RIDGE
i
MONTAGUE PENNYSTONE,
son of Mr. and Mrs. M. L. Penny
stone of Manteo, is a student at
Oak Ridge Military Institute,, and
was recently home for a visit
with his parents. Young Penny
stone, who is is a high school
Junior, is playing on the college
baseball team, and is having many
trips with the team on its spring
schedule. He is a grandson of the
late Capt. and Mrs. E. H. Peele
of Manteo, his mother being
Augusta Peele before her mar
riage to Mr. Pennystone.
DARE WOMEN JOIN IN
OBSERVING HD WEEK
Special Window Exhibit in Manteo Will
Display Rofinished Pictures For
Home Walls
North Carolina’s 69,526 home
demonstration women are joining
with more than a million club wo
men in the nation, Alaska, Puerto
Rico, and Hawaii in this tenth an
nual National Home Demonstra
tion Week, May 1-7, 1955.
If home demonstration families
live better today, it does not nec
essarily mean that they have made
more money because increased in
come does not always mean bet
ter living. It is that the mother in
the home set her mind as well as
her hands to work and through
her influence the members of her
family share in the work as well
as the pleasures. It is because
she found a pattern for better
home living, feeding and clothing
the family, and managing the
home. All of this means better
community life.
Women of Dare will be review
ing their accomplishments and dis
cussing needs for another year’s
orogram. Club members are urged
to attend and anyone interested in
attending one of the regular
monthly meetings is welcome.
The schedule for May 1-7 is as
follows:
May 2, Manteo-Wanchese 2:30 p.
m., Mrs. Hubert Guthrie, hostess;
May 4, . Manns Harbor, 2:00 p. m.,
Mrs. Trell Craddock, hostess; May
5, Stumpy Point, 2:00 p. m., Mrs.
Lou Hooper, hostess; May 6, Kitty
Hawk, 2 :00 p. m., Mrs. Earl Kel
ler, hostess.
See WOMEN, Page Eight
MANTEO, N. C., FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 1955
MRS. WHITE HEADS
POSTMASTERS OF
FIRST DISTRICT
Belhaven Man Named Secretary
at Columbia, and Mrs. Brick
house, Vice President
Columbia.—Mrs. Maude Miller
White of Buxton, was named
president of First District Post
masters Saturday at a splendid
meeting held in Columbia. Russell
Johnston of Belhaven is the Sec
retary, and Mrs. Effie Brickhouse
of Columbia, who was host to the
erroup, is Vice-president. It was
the annual meeting of the District
Association.
J. Tracy Moore, postmaster at
Greensboro, v-president of Na
tional Association of Postmasters
of U. S. and Editor of the “Tar
Heel Postmaster’s Gazette” was
the main speaker. He discussed
pending legislation of postmasters
nay raise and endorsed it to be
in a more simplified form with an
eye to the future. The First Dis
trict went on record of endorsing
him unanimously for their can
didate for the next National
President.
Present at the meeting other
dignitaries who were recognized
were G. E. Martin of the Postal
transportation services of Greens
boro; Kenneth Brown from the
District Office; Tom Ashby of
Mount Airy, president of N. C.
Association of Postmasters; Post
al Inspectors J. T. Johnson and
P. B. Osgood, and Stanton Inscoe,
Postmaster at Raleigh; Bill Or
mand, National Chairman of
Rural Education Committee, the
outgoing president of First Dis
trict, Roland Garrett of Elizabeth
City. It was opened by the sing
ing of “America”. Invocation was
offered by the Rev. Donald Wag
ner, pastor of Columbia Baptist
Church; welcome given by Paul L.
Liverman, Mayor of the town of
Columbia; greetings brought by
Mrs. Effie A. Brickhouse, and re-
See POSTMASTERS, Page Five
WOMAN SEEKS MAYORALTY
OF KILL DEVIL HILLS
Darc'i Young Municipality Will Alto
Veto Tuesday on Issue of Re
pealing Town Charter
While a group of citizens agi
tate for repeal of the town char
ter whereby Kill Devil Hills will
be abolished as a municipality
after less than two years as a
corporate body, in the election of
Tuesday, May 3, a woman seeks
the office of Mayor. She seeks to
oust Major J. L. Murphy, whcf was
appointed to his post upon crea
tion of the corporation. She is
Mrs. Emily Long Mustian, wife of
Dr. Wallace F. Mustian, the
dentist.
The issues will be (1) Mustian
against Murphy; and (2) “for or
against repeal of the town char
ter.”
Three have announced for aid
ermen; Herbert R. Morrison and
Robert A. Young, incumbent mem
bers of the Board and Elton C.
Twiford in place of Frank Dean
who did not run for re-election.
Miss Jimmie Gray is a candidate
for Town Treasurer without op
position also.
The issue of repeal,of the town
charter is a pretty hot one at Kill
Devil Hills.
MANTEO MASONS TO
HOLD FISH FRY TO
RAISE FUNDS MAY 7
A big fish fry between the
hours of 6 and 8 p. m. will be
held by members of Manteo
Masonic Lodge No. 682 to aid in
the fund raising campaign for a
Lodge hall in Manteo. At present,
and since its organization in 1947
the Lodge has met in the Manteo
town hall. The fish fry will be held
at the Dare County Shrine Club
at the beach. Cost of tickets for
the fry will be $1 per person, ac
cording to (secretary Charlie E.
O’Neal.
Belton Burrus is now Master of
the Lodge which was chartered in
April 1948 having been organized
several months earlier by a group
of 20 who withdrew from Wan
chese Ix>dge. Manteo Lodge now
has 104 members.
SHIPPERS SEEK
DEEPENING OF
COASTAL CANAL
Present 10-Foot Depth Cuts Load
Capacities of Barges, Tugs
Deepening of the 750-mile In
tracoastal Waterway from Nor
folk to Jacksonville, Fla., is being
proposed by inland water shippers
and oil, paper and pulpwood in
terests along the South Atlantic
Coast, Chauncey G. Williams, Jr.,
vice resident of C. G. Willis, Inc.,
said in Norfolk.
Willis and L. G. Hogshire,
president of Norfolk-Baltimore
and Carolina Lines, attended a
meeting in Savannah, Ga., at
which an organized effort to pro
mote the project was born.
Willis said the South Atlantic
States Inland Waterway Improve
ment Association was organized
with the primary aim of getting
the waterway deepened from 10
to 12 feet from here to Jackson
ville.
They will propose the project
—which they expect to cost
around $1,420,000 —to the Chief
of the Army Engineers and ap
pear before congressional appro
priations committees in support
of funds for the undertaking.
Engineers Interested
. Willis said that in preliminary
conferences the engineers ex
pressed interest in the project.
Until about five years ago the
waterway had a depth of 12 feet.
As it gradually filled in, however,
the maintenance depth was raised
to 10 feet.
Willis said that inland water
carriers who went into operation
at the end of World War II did
so with equipment designed for
the 12-foot depth. As a result of
the 10-foot depth which exists
now, the barges and tugs are
forced to operate at below their
maximum load capacity.
Some Florida concerns reported
that the depth in their areas at
times forces them to operate at
30 per cent below their load
capacity in order to be assured
of uninterrupted navigation.
Willis said the present depth
has resulted in frequent delays in
shipping. Hepointed out that while
the depth theoretically is kept at
10 feet, at times vessels hit
places where there is only nine
feet of water.
Continuing Delays
The areas subsequently will be
dredged but it may take as long'
as 60 days, resulting in continu
ing dela/s to the carriers.
Because of the shallow sections,
Willis said, a new barge recently
put in service by his company
operates at 300 tons under the
maximum capacity.
Greatly interested in the proj
ect are operators of commercial
barges, and paper and pulpwood
interests located along the coast.
Companiies supplying fuel oil to
pulpwood mills and power plants
along the route also are among
strong proponents.
Willis said that another strong
See SHIPPERS, Page Five
SCHOOL COMMITTEES
ANNOUNCED FOR DARE CO.
Members of Dare County Dis
trict School Committees recently
appointed by the Dare County
Board of Education are as follows:
Manteo; Mrs. McCoy Tillett;,
Mrs. Leigh Hassell, John F. Long,
Wanchese: Arnold Daniels, Mal
colm Daniels, Mrs. Charles Daniels
Stumpy Point: Carville Wise,
Donald Midgett, McCoy Hooper.
Manns Harbor: Forrest Sawyer,
Roy Basnight, Frank T. Hemil
right. Kitty Hawk: Mrs. Susie
Briggs, Oscar Sanderlin, Dolphus
Hines, Jack Twiford, Robert
Young. Cape Hatteras: Woodrow
Wilson Edwards,, Percy Williams,
Raymond Basnett, Shelly Frontis,
Anderson Midgett.
Roanoke: Maloyd Scarborough,
Seward Simmons, Marshall Collins.
FRIDAY, THE DAY TO USHER
IN PIRATE’S JAMBOREE WITH
COLOR, LIGHT, LIFE ON COAST
Begins at Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and After
Full Day of Sport, Shifts to Nags Head-Kitty
Hawk-Manteo Area, Alive With Boy Scouts,
Beach Buggies and Beauty Contests; Religion
and Repentance Available Sunday.
GOVERNOR HODGES TO BE
DARE VISITOR SATURDAY,
n
■ -?~W.
GOVERNOR LUTHER HODGES
will leave Raleigh Saturday, ar
riving about noon at Nags Head
where he will come to give his
blessing to the Coastal festival.
He will stop at the Carolinian
where a dinner will be given in
his honor Saturday evening.
HELD IN $3,000 BAIL FOR
MURDER CHARGE TO MAY 30
Other News at Courthouse, Involve
Traffic Cases Indicating Tighter
Enforcement of Law in
Dare County
Under an order signed by Judge
Chester Morris. John Davis Scar
borough went free from ja'il Sat
urday on an appearance bond in
the amount of $3,000 signed by
R. B. Lennon, and by Mrs. Isabel
Warren, his employer. Scar
borough had been held in jail for
four weeks, charged with the mur
der of Ephraim Daniels, Jr. and
is scheduled for trial at the term
of Dare Superior Court which con
venes May 30th. Scarborough ad
mitted shooting Daniels, his long
time friend with a rifle in the
public road, following a Monday
of drinking and carousing. Daniels
died instantly.
In Dare Recorder’s court this
week Judge Baum heard three
cases, all submissions: Thos. Can
nady $5 and costs for operating
a car without proper registration
plates; Jas. Cox paid $25 and
costs for operating a car after
his driver’s license had expired;
Wesley Jule Hardison paid $5 and
costs for driving on the left hand
side of the road in the face of on
coming traffic.
Apprehension of drivers for
some offenses heretofore overlook
ed indicate that the new patrol
man, Arthur Fields will step up
law enforcement. Already his re
cent crack-down on drivers with
Virginia tags who overlooked get
ting N. C. tags has had good re
sults, and many owners of such
cars have been scurrying for new
tags.
SEASON’S FIRST BLUEFISH
ARE LANDED AT HATTERAS
Hatteras.—First bluefish re
ported taken with rod and reel
during 1955 were caught near
Hatteras Inlet on Wednesday last
week, according to Capt. Ernal
Foster. A total of 33 of these fish
which attract so many anglers to
Dare Coastal waters were caught
by Mr. and Mrs. Ervin Kroenke,
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Beck, Mrs.
Al Hancock and Tommy Hancock
of Fredonia, N. Y. They were fish
ing with Captains William Foster
and Oliver O’Neal from the cruiser
Albatross 111. The party also
landed three false albacore.
On the previous day, Ray Beck,
Al Hancock and Ervin Kroenke,
member of the Fredonia party,
fishing from the same cruiser in
the Gulf Stream near Diamond
Lightship off Hatteras had landed
10 albacore and one dolphin. The
dolphin, a 10-pounder was the
first reported from the Gulf
Stream this year. Previously how
ever, on Easter week end, several
false albacore had been taken
from the Gulf Stream.
Single Copy 70
Hatteras Island, April 28.—The
world’s first and only banker
pony-mounted troop of Boy Scouts
arrived at Cape Hatteras this
afternoon from nearby Ocracoke
Island and before nightfall under
the leadership of Major Marvin
Howard USA (ret) they had set
up camp and corral near Cape
Hatteras Lighthouse. Ben Dixon
Mac Neill, widely known journalist
who makes his home here on the
Cape of Hatteras was scheduled
to be official host to the group for
George Fuller, general chairman
of the Hatteras phase of the first
annual Dare Coast Pirates Jam
boree which is scheduled to be
underway here shortly after sun
rise Friday morning.
“Our part in the three day pro
gram, which has surprisingly at
tracted visitors from many east
ern and midwestern states begins
at 6 o’clock Friday morning,” said
Mr. Fuller. “This will be the surf
fishing contest, perhaps one of the
world’s shortest fishing tourneys.
Anglers participating will fish the
surf from 6 until 12 noon at which
time they will go to the vicinity
of Cape * Hatteras Lighthouse
where catches entered for compe
tition will be officially weighed.”
If the fish are biting in the
surf Friday as they have been bit
ing recently, plenty of catches
should be made in the tourney
area which is divided into three
sections along the beach from
Oregon to Hatteras Inlet. “Com
plete instructions about entering
the tourney have been posted and
there are several registration
stations in the various communi
ties,” said Raymond Basnett,
chairman of the tournament com
mittee. Prizes for the best catches
will be awarded at the Lighthouse
area at 12:45 o’clock and Hal Ly
man, pubfisher of Salt Water
Sportsman Magazine in Boston
will be here to present the prizes.
Beginning at 11 o’clock, through
the cooperation of nearly every
man, woman and child on Hatteras
Island, the “world’s biggest fish
fry” will be featured on National
Seashore lands near the light
house. Through the cooperation of
the National Park Service and the
Coast Guard, the island civic or
ganizations, and friends of the is
landers, more than 3,000 persons
will enjoy the fish fry, and it will
all be free. In addition to fish
there will be more than 100
pounds of potato chips, a gift of
See JAMBOREE, Page Five
ERNST HEADS GROUP
TO FIGHT WOODS FIRES
North Carolina’s wood using in
dustries Friday launched a study
to tighten, the State’s forest fire
detection and prevention pro
grams.
M. C. Gibson of Elizabethtown,
chairman of the North Carolina
Forest Industries Committee,
named a subcommittee to study
the problem and recommend a
course of action.
Officials of State agencies, in
cluding State Forester Fred H.
Claridge, met with the industry
group in an all-day session. The
largest forest fire in the State’s
history, which recently burned
over 300,000 acres in Tyrrell,
Hyde and Beaufort counties and
caused damages running into mil
lions, spurred the action to im
prove fire prevention activities.
Gibson named William Ernst of
Manteo, representing the West
Virginia Pulp & Paper Co., to
head the study group. Other memf
bers are: Jim Latty, Boltonk
Riegel Woodlands Corp.; Carl
Blades, Charlotte, Duke Power
Co.; Harold Blanchard, Whiteville,
Sledge Lumber Co.; and John Fur
ney, New Bern, Bate Lumber Co.
Ernst said the subcommittee
will meet within two weeks to
consider suggestions made Friday.
These included. Closer coordina
tion of all agencies within the
Conservation and Development
Departmen in fire detection and
reporting; authority for game
wardens to investigate forest
fires as part of their regular
duties; creation of an emergency
fund of about SIOO,OOO for use by
the Forestry Division during per
iods of high fire danger; and the
advisability of assessing all wood
lands an addition per acre tax to
pay for better fire prevention pro
grams.