VOLUME xxn NO. 4
FEW REGISTER TO
VOTE ON SCHOOL
ISSUE AUGUST 11
Saturday will Be Last Day; Only
268 Registered Now on
Roanoke Island
'The apparent lack of interest on
the part of the voters in the fact
that Saturday of this week is the
last day in which anyone may reg
ister is a poor showing for the
school election set for August 11th.
Those who have not registered
for this election by the evening of
Saturday, July 28th, cannot ex
press themselves at the polls. Nei
ther should they assume the right
to complain about the outcome.
Voters at Nags Head, Manteo,
Wanchese, Mishoes, Manns Har
bor, East Lake and Stumpy Point
are to decide the outcome of this
election.
Up to Thursday only 205 people
of some 700 entitled to do so, had
registered at the Manteo box. Only
63 at the Wanchese box, half of
which names were obtained Thurs
day by a house to house canvass
by the registrar. Total registered
in these precincts 268.
Compare the difference in the
primary when voters turned out
to nominate a man for the Board
of Education. On that May 26 day,
461 people voted at the Manteo
box and 137 at the Wanchese box
in the race for the Board of Edu
cation.
Now here is a question surely
more important—improved school
facilities for the children of these
seven precincts, for whom it is
proposed to issue $250,000 in bonds
to erect an adequate high school.
Saturday, this week is the last
day to see the local registrar and
get the name on the books so one
may vote.
LINDSAY WARREN'S PARTY
ENTERTAINED AT OCRACOKE
MANSIONS BY SAM JONES
Sam Jones of Berkley Manor and
Ranchero on Ocracoke Island enter
tained Mr. and Mrs. Lindsay C.
Warren and a group of their
friends on Wednesday at a lunch
eon. The Warrens are now spend
ing a vacation at The Croatan at
Kill Devil Hills, where the distin
guished North Carolinians have
vacationed each year for many
seasons.
The group enjoying the fine and
unusual hospitality of Swan Quar
ter-born Sam Jones included: Dr.
and Mrs. James Parkins, and Mr.
and Mrs. Harry Moody of Chester,
Va., Mr. and Mrs. James Prentice,
Washington, D. C., Mr. and Mrs.
James Gettys, Knoxville, Tenn.,
Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Jones and
Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Wheat, Wash
ington, D. C., Mr. and Mrs. S. Y.
Austin, Waynesboro, Va., Mr. and
Mrs. Fred Benders, Richmond,
Mrs. Ruth Bond, Tarboro, G. A.
Fogarty, Washington, D. C., Mr.
and Mrs. Tom Briggs of The
Croatan and Judge W. H. S. Burg
wyn, Woodland, N. C.
Aycock, Brantley and Billy
Brown, as a photographic team,
accompanied the party to make
still and moving pictures of the
visit by the former U. S. Comptrol
ler General, Mrs. Warren and their
guests. Unusual and splendid enter
tainment by local talent on Ocra
coke was a feature of the visit.
SEAPLANE MISHAP EARLY
LAST SUNDAY MORNING
Good fortune smiled on two pi
lots last Sunday morning, as they
suffered a mishap as they at
tempted to take off from the Man
teo Airport just before eight
o’clock. What could have been a
tragedy resulted in a good wet
ting for pilot N. Simms and his
passenger, Mr. Mariner, both of
Annapolis, Md., and at least a
50% loss of the planed which was
a small Luscomb seaplane. As the
men attempted to take off into a
brisk wind and in fairly rough
water, one of the fittings let go,
and the plane sank in about seven
, to eight feet of water.
First assistance came from Miss
Estelle Meekins, who had heard
the commotion from her home on
Croatan Sound shore, and who
rowed out in a skiff. She met the
men wading ashore and took them
aboard. A few minutes later, W. M.
Henderson, manager of the Manteo
, Airport, arrived on the scene in a
tug and took the men back to the
? airport. In a very short while the
plane was lifted from the water by
members of the T. A. Loving Co.
construction crew, who went to the
scene with a barge and derrick to
lend assistance.
Mr. Simms and Mr. Mariner, co
owners of the seaplane, had spent
Saturday night at the Manteo Air
port while enroute from Annapolis
to Wilmington, N. C.
THE COASTLAND TIMES
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTEREST OF THE WALTER RALEIGH COASTLAND OF NORTH CAROLINA
COMPLETES TRAINING
A 22JWT5 ►¥“’** ' * r ' JL
Seaman apprentice Larry W.
Parker, USCG, 19, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Ronald E. Parker, Nags Head
completed the 12-week course of
Coast Guard recruit training at
Cape May, N. J., on July 10th, and
was assigned to the operating
force there.
ELIZABETH CITY RECTOR
TO PREACH JULY 29th
FORT RALEIGH SERVICE
The Rev. George Frank Hill, rec
tor ,of Christ Episcopal Church,
Elizabeth City since 1919, will be
guest minister at Fort Raleigh on
Roanoke Island Sunday when an
other in the series of Sunday wor
ship periods at Lost Colony’s Wa
terside Theater, will be presented.
The Rev. Mr. Hill, a Protestant
Episcopal minister, is widely known
in northeastern North Carolina and
he has preached to large groups
in the past at Waterside Theatre.
A native of Chocowinity, he at
tended Trinity School, the Univer
sity of North Carolina and the
Theological Seminary of Virginia
at Alexandria.
In addition to the Rev. Mr. Hill’s
sermon, a feature of the services
will be the Lost Colony Choir un
der the direction of Dr. Elwood
Keister, with James Good at the
console of the organ. All people,
regardless of their religious faiths
are invited to attend these* Sunday
services at Fort Raleigh.
ROANOKE ISLANDERS
RE-LIVE LOST COLONY
IN READER'S DIGEST
How the saga of Roanoke Is
land’s “Lost Colony” is told annu
ally in a magnificent pageant play
ed by fishermen-actors is describ
ed in an August Reader’s Digest
article by Allen and Martha Rank
in, condensed from Theatre Arts.
The colony, the first English set
tlement in the New World, vanish
ed without trace more than 360
years ago. The modern players all
but bring it to life again.
In 1587, a group of 121 men,
women and children landed on
Roanoke, expecting to find “para
dise.” They found instead hunger
and privation on a strip of wind
scoured sand, under constant
threat of attack by the Indians.
But Virginia Dare was born there,
the first child born of English par
ents in the American wilderness.
John White, the governor, went
back to England for much-needed
supplies. When he returned three
years later, there wasn’t a sign of
Virginia Dare or any other colon-'
ist. Their fate has since been
shrouded in mystery.
But in 1931, the islanders decid
ed to pay perpetual tribute to the
colonists’ heroism by means of an
annual pageant at the scene of the
“spiritual birthplace of this coun
try.” By incredible fortitude and in-
See READERS’ DIGEST, Page Six
GEORGE L. HOPKINS DIES
IN VETERANS HOSPITAL
George L. Hopkins, 63, commer
cial fisherman of Route 2, Belha
ven, died in the Veterans Hospital,
Fayetteville, Wednesday morning
at 4 o’clock. Mr. Hopkins was boro
in Beaufort County, son of the late
David E. and Rhode Foster Hop
kins, was a member of the Wades
Point Holiness Church and a vet
eran of World War ,1, serving in
the U. S. Army. He was married to
the former Carrie Wilkins of Beau
fort County Oct. 10, 1933. Surviv
ors are his wife; three children,
George E., Triffie and Elver Hop
kins, all of the home; two broth
ers, Fred and David Hopkins, both
of Route 2, Belhaven; one sister,
Mrs. Rhoda Fulford of Route 2,
Belhaven. Funeral services were
(held at the Rider Hill Cemetery
Friday afternoon at 3 o’clock,
conducted by the Rev. J; E. Dan
ford, pastor of his church.
MOSQUITO CONTROL SCREWBALLS LOOSE
AND WHY IT AIN’T ON BEACH PROVE
WORKING IN DARE TO BE DANGEROUS
Seems That Too Many Cooks
Spoil the Broth, Especially
When Broth is Thin
There has been a lot of talk
about lack of mosquito control in
Dare County. As we have long
since gathered, there isn’t enough
money, nor the right equipment
available, and now we learn the
winds and weather have not been
suitable for the use of the present
inadequate equipment which costs
SSO per hour to operate. There has
been disappointment because we
read where Federal funds have
been approved in certain amounts;
but the money has not been made
available. It’s like telling your wife
she can have a new car, and not'
providing the money.
At our request, Mr. Robert K.
Gunn, the District Sanitarian and
Biologist who covers Dare County,
has outlined in detail, the problems
and the handicaps which surround
the mosquito control effort in
Dare County. Here is Mr. Gunn’s
article:
To The Editor:
“The time has now come, to sub
mit an explanation to the residents
of Dare County regarding activi
ties connected with the local tem
porary Mosquito Control Program.
“There has been a great deal of
recent publicity regarding funds
for a Mosquito Control program.
A greater part of this publicity
refers to a Federal grant of $lO,-
000, which was to be Dare County’s
share of funds awarded North
Carolina for emergency mosquito
control operations. Although Dare
County appropriately applied for
these funds in June, as yet, the
Federal Civil Defense Authority
has not released any of this money,
which is so desperately needed in
order to invest in different types
of equipment more adapted to our
physical and climptical character
istics of this area.
“Last fall the Federal Civil De
fense Authority made available
$13,000.00 for emergency mosquito
control adulticiding work, and the
county was able to acquire two
jeeps and two dynafog machines.
Also under a supplement applica
tion we were permitted to order
an additional and much needed
piece of equipment called a Buf
falo Turbine Misting and Dusting
machine. After this piece of equip
ment was brought to us, the gov
ernment disapproved this supple
mental application—and hence the
machine is still stored here, but
there is no money to purchase it
and place it in operation. However,
there are hopes that if the Civil
Defense Authority ever makes
available the much flaunted and
advertised SIO,OO0 —we will be able
to acquire this badly needed equip
ment.
“In January of this year I at
tempted to organize a temporary
•nosquito control district—through
the cooperation of several interest
ed groups—each of which owned
specific types of equipment. At
that time there was little available
county funds—however, there were
adequate materials left from the
previous fall operations and my
drivers agreed io go ahead and
work until funds were available
to pay them. However, this would
have involved a practically gratis
use of equipment owned by the
other groups; and unfortunately
no satisfactory decision could be
reached to solve that particular
obstacle. And actually this was a
most critical period, because it was
in anticipation of the very prob
lems and mosquito hordes with
which we are now faced.
“As most of us know, the first
line of attack against the salt
marsh mosquito, is adequate and
sensible drainage of known breed
ing grounds. This would then be
supplemented by proper larviciding
rod adurticiding operations. How
ever, until adequate funds are
available, we have no choice but
to follow a somewhat futile course
of attacks through adulticiding or
fogging with the equipment and
personnel on hand.
“This brings us to our greatest
problem and biggest sov.-ce of
public misunderstanding and criti
cism. Personally, I am a firm be
liever in criticism as a healthy
sign of public interest. However,
criticism based on emotions, misin
formation or general malice cap
be as bad and unnecessarily dam
aging as it can be good. Hence, thia
attempt to simplify an extremely
complex subject for the publie in
formation.
“The Djmafog thermogenerators,
which the county used with some
marked advantage last year, ap
pears to be acquiring nothing but
negligible results this year. There
are very definite and clear cut rea
sons for this apparent inadequacy.
"The Dynafog machine was de
signed to be used under weather
See CONTROL, Page Six
MANTEO, N. C., FRIDAY, JULY 27, 1956
A woman was shot through her
cheek Saturday night on the beach
at Kill Devil Hills by a pistol in
the hands of her boy friend, both
of whom ought to have more sense
at their age, and both of whom
ought to be hitched up a notch or
two. Mrs. Ida Ballosi, 41, of 2122
Virginia Avenue, Norfolk, was out
with George Stephenson, 43, of
454 Munden Avefiue, Norfolk.
Although a person with good
sense wouldn't be “demonstrating”
a pistol on a public highway at
night, and would know it is unlaw
ful, Stephenson claimed that is
what he was doing, and proved
himself a mighty poor teacher, or
a liar one. Chances are it was the
result of a couple of drunks, and
are trying to offer an excuse for
a bit of folly. He claimed he had
bought the pistol at Carolina
Beach where they had previously
been.
The gun went off, the bullet en
tering the left cheek and coming
out behind the left ear. She was
taken to Elizabeth City hospital
for treatment.
CHANNEL BASS RETURN
FROM SOUND WATERS
Hatteras.—Channel bass which
normally show up in great num
bers at Hatteras and Oregon In
lets and along the surf during
mid-Spring, to remain a few weeks
before migrating into the sounds
headed oceanward again this year
several weeks earlier than usual.
Anglers fishing the surf here at
Hatteras Inlet, or casting from
boats in the inlet, have landed
dozens of the big copper-colored
warriors during the past week.
Raymond Basnett of Buxton and
Courtney Starmount of Virginia
Beach landed several, and other
anglers have had similar luck
here. All of the channel bass taken
weighed more than 40 pounds each
and some scaled at 50 pounds, ac
cording to Willie Newsome, local
Sportsman’s Headquarters opera
tor.
While most of the anglers fish
ing from boats in the Oregon In
let sector have concentrated on
bluefishing this summer, several
large channel bass have been land
ed during the past week. Peak for
channel bass surf casting for
channel bass in Cape Hatteras
area usually comes during Autumn
months.
DATES CHANGED FOR TAKING
DRIVER LICENSE EXAMS
Thursdays and Fridays will in
future be the dates for taking driv
ers’ license examinations in Man
teo, Mrs. Sybil D. Etheridge stat
ed this week. The old days of
Monday and Tuesday have been
discontinued, since Tuesday inter
feres with Recorder’s Court day.
The change is effective August 1.
’ NEGRO CELEBRITY FRIDAY NIGHT AT LOST COLONY
BILL LANDLORD and tiis electric guitar wm be the featured musical
attraction of the annual Lost Colony’s Negro Citizens night at Water
side Theatre on Friday (tonight), July 27, General Manager R. E.
Jordan says, while Melvin R. Daniels, of Wanchese, Register of Deeds
for Dare County for 30 years, will be thp featured speaker of the
evei-.ing.
Landford was formerly a member of the Golden Gate Quartette,
known from coast to coast. He has also appeared with the Perry Como
Show. A native of Portsmouth, Va., his appearances at the Negro
Citizens Night celebrtion is expected to attract persons interested in
the type of singing and guitar playing for which he is famous, not
only for his radio appearances but also as an i RCA-Victor Recording
artist
Melvin Daniels is widely known in northeastern North Carolina
for his speeches. He is a fluent talker and his appearance as principal
speaker of the evening will bring something new to the annual Negro
Citizens Night Celebrations.
Musical program for the celebration will begin at 7:45; the speech
by Dhniels at 8:00 o’clock and the regular Lost Colony performance
at 8:15 o’clock.
Overnight accommodations for Negro citizens attending the spe
cial program are in charge of Mrs. Lila Simmons, housing chairman,
Manteo, it was stated.
RESIGNS PASTORATE IN
MANTEO.FOR CHOWAN CO.
r 3 I
Sfe ~ its
REV. HENRY V. NAPIER, pastor
of the Manteo Baptist Church, has
resigned to accept a call from the
Center Hill Baptist Church at Ty
ner, Chowan County, which he will
begin serving after the 4th Sunday
in August, his last engagement at
the Manteo Church, to be the third
Sunday in August. Mr. Napier
an Anson County man, has been
in Manteo for seven and a half
years. He came after the church
had launched a big expansion pro
gram, and continued with great
success through the building of a
new church the congregation now
enjoys. But Mr. Napier says the
people are responsible for this im
provement. Mr. Napier’s final ser
mon in the Manteo church will be
on the third Sunday in August,
and during the following week he
will conduct a revival in Burgess
Baptist Church in Hertford.
OFFSHORE BLUEFISHING IS
REMINISCENT OF MID-30'S
Wanchese.—Old guides of this
Roanoke Island community are say
ing that never (since the middle
1930’5) has the bluefish taken by
anglers been equaled in quantity,
if not in size.
Two local guides, Capt. Willie
Etheridge and Capt. , Jesse Eth
eridge, have reported taking a to
tal of more than 10,000 bluefish
with rod and reel this season. That
is, the anglers fishing from their
boats made the takes. It has not
been unusual for fishing parties
to catch several hundred blues in
one day of trolling at Oregon In
let.
Most sensational bluefish catch
es of 1956, however, have been the
giant “Hatteras blues” landed by
parties usually fishing for dolphin
near the edge of the Gulf Stream
offshore. Dozens of big blues
weighing from eight to 12 pounds
have been taken, but the big fish
See FISHING, Page Twelve
DEATHS OF TWO VISITORS IN
DARE COUNTY WATERS SUNDAY
EMPHASIZE NEED FOR CAUTION
Geo. Spelman Downem of Washington, D. C.
Drowns at Buxton, and Sam Creekmore of
Portsmouth, Va. Killed in Motorboat Collision
Near Nags Head; Better Policing and Service
to Visitors Needed in Vacation Areas.
RECORDER'S COURT
IN DARE COUNTY
HAS BIG DOCKET
A large number of cases in Dare
Recorder’s Court continues to be
the rule, the result of activity of
the Highway Patrol, and each week
brings in several hundred dollars
in fines to benefit the school fund.
Fines this week as well as last
week exceeded S7OO.
On Tuesday, this week, the fol
lowing were fined SIOO and costs
for driving while drunk. Ray Ellis
Berry of Manteo, six months road
sentence suspended; Thos. J.
; Hewitt of Norfolk; Dennis A.
Perry.
I For speeding, fines of sls each
. and the costs were levied against
the following: Lester A. Claud, M.
. D., N. Y. City; Jack Burrus, Man
teo; Leston L. Lawrence, Beaufort;
Kenneth J. Rogerhausen, Elmer
' Lee Overton, Edenton; Cecil W.
Simpson, Back Bay, Va.
For speeding, S2O and costs
against these: John F. Powell,
Eure; Wesley C. Gayle, Franklin,
Va.; Hansel V. Davenport, Ahos
kie; Mack N. Nixon, Rich
mond Robert H. Wilson, Ft.
Lauderdale," Fla. Ralph Lee Hyde,
; Buxton; Stephen W. Outterbridge,
Conway, N. C. ($25);
For drunkeness in a public place
or on the highway $lO each and
costs: Charles T. Hamlin, Jr.,
' Surry, Va., Joseph E. Murricks,
Kitty Hawk; Marion Gallop; Helen
[ Louise Tyler of Norfolk;
For speeding, $lO and costs
s against the following: Phillip H.
Bruns, Jasper, Minn.; Robert Bald
, win Preston, Portsmouth, Va.;
Henry V. Hyatt, Elizabeth City;
Wm. D. Spruill of Virginia; Larry
L. Whitford, Norfolk; Carlisle N.
Davis, Manteo; Norman H. O’Neal;
Earl W. Bradshaw of Alexandria,
Va.; J. H. Whitmur, Baltimore;
Edgar M. Spruill, Edenton ($12);
Marvin G. Newbold.
See COURT, Page Six
ARMY RECRUITER TO VISIT
MANTEO WED. WEEKLY
M/Sgt. Sherman D. Owen, Army
recruiter for the Albemarle area
has announced that commencing on
August Ist he will be at the Man
teo postoffice to talk to any young
men or women who are interested
in learning what the Army has to
offer in the line of future careers.
Sgt. Owen is to be at the Postoffice
on Wednesday each week from 10
a.m. to 12 noon. Any young men or
women who would like to talk over
the service may do so at that time.
Up until now the nearest Army
Recruiting station has been either
Elizabeth City or Norfolk.
Sgt. Owen announced that the
Army has the best to offer to the
young high school graduates in
that they can choose their techni
cal school or branch of the Army
before enlistment. Sgt. Owen says
that he will be more than happy
to discuss this school program with
any high school grad who is in
terested in the chance to learn a
trade that will benefit him or her
after leaving the service. Those in
terested in a career offering train
ing, travel, education and adven
ture may see Sgt. Owen on his
trip to Manteo.
DELEGATES APPEAR MON.
ON WNCT-TV GREENVILLE
Taking part in a half-hour
broadcast discussing the forthcom
ing Democratic campaign and Chi
cago convention Monday over
WNCT-TV, Greenville, were Dr.
W. T. Ralph, Belhaven, and D. V
Meekins of Manteo, along with
some dozen other delegates from
Eastern North Carolina. W. E.
Debnam, well-known news com
mentator, formerly of Raleigh, and
now of this station, was the moder
ator.
Prior to the panel discussion
over TV the group witnessed, as
guests of the studio, a closed chan
nel showing of highlights of con
vention activity and methods by
which the proceedings in August
will be televised to 100,000 people
in the U. S. Afterward, the party
were guests of the station at a
barbecue chicken dinner.
Mrs. Ralph accompanied her
husband on the drive to Greenville
and while there visited at the home
of Mr. and Mrs. R. E. Tunnell.
Single Copy 7£
Deaths of two visitors in a single
day in Dare County waters indi
cate the need of some organized
agency to give better instruction
and protection for those who come
to enjoy the charms of the eoast
land. There is now no supervision
of recreational waters, nor regula
tion to keep them from being over
crowded. Take for instance the
fresh water lake at Nags Head.
There is nothing to keep people
from crowding it to the limit.
Nothing to curb recklessness and
carelessness in this small area,
where the lives of bathers and fish
ermen might be endangered.
Sam Russell Creekmore, 39, of
Portsmouth, Va., drowned Sunday
afternoon when the motorboat in
which he was alone was struck on
the quarter by a motorboat operat
ed -by J. H. Hall Jr. of Elizabeth
City, who was towing Jim Aydlett,
a water skier of Elizabeth City.
Creekmore is reported to have at
tempted to avoid a collision, went
into a skid and lost control and
when his boat was struck across
the stern, he drowned in 20. feet
of water. His body was recovered
about 6 p.m. by Kill Devil Hills
Coast Guards. The Creekmores own
a summer cottage on the beach,
and were staying there at the time.
He was employed as an engineer
at the Norfolk Naval shipyard.
In Pamlico Sound, near the vil
lage of Buxton, George Spelman
Downem of Washington, D. C. was
out in a boat with his daughters,
and while diving overboard, appar
ently was injured or had cramps.
He failed to arise from the water,
and a search by Coast Guardsmen
discovered the body at 8 p.m. Mon
day. He was 43 years old, and in
business at 1737 H. St. N. W.,
Washington, D. C. He was the son
of George Spelman and Casselda
Taudel Downem of Roswell, N. M.,
but had lived in Washington for
the past ten months. He is sur
vived by a wife, Agnes Evans
Downem, and two daughters and
a son; two sisters and a brother.
He was a veteran of World War
11. After preparation at the Twi
ford Funeral Home in Manteo, his
body was sent to Arlington Na
tional Cemetery for burial.
Mr. Downem had been stopping
at the new Tower Circle Motel at
Buxton. Somewhere about noon, he
was out in the boat in shallow
water with his daughters, 10 and
12. He had called for the children
to bring the boat to him, but in
their inexperience could not get to
him. He is thought to have suf
fered cramps, an injury or a
stroke. The children finally got the
boat ashore, and at 3 pm. Coast
Guardsmen received notice of the
mishap. A search until dark, was
made for the body and resumed at
daylight next morning. He died in
shallow water.
One great mystery to people ex
perienced in the water and in its
ways, is why many more people
have not been drowned in Dare
County, since there is no super
vision of the waters, particularly
those distant from, and out of view
of the few Coast Guard stations
left in the county. Any persons
with the desire and the price now
own a boat and they bring them
down to ocean waters, going to sea
and_ into danger in crafts complete
ly unseaworthy, and operated by
people who know nothing of winds
and tides. Luck has been with them
a long time, but it may be failing.
Now that Uncle Sam’s economy
has stripped the area of the larger
part of Coast Guard facilities and
personnel, it looks as if civilian
initiative must take steps toward
regulation and protection on the
waters for the benefit of all.
MANTEO, WASHINGTON MEN
ON HIGHWAY COMMITTEE
A highway following the ocean
has been proposed from Lewes,
Del. to Nags Head, and on a com
mittee to study the proposal, Gov
ernor Hodges has named Guy H.
Lennon of Manteo, Wayland Ser
mons of Washington and John
Clark of Greenville. The Delaware
legislature suggested a study of
this proposed road. The North
Carolina men representing the
state in this group have long been
interested in building such a road,