VOLUME XXII NO. 52
BIDS OF $951,C00
RECEIVED FOR NEW
U. S. 158 PROJECT
Kill Devil Hills Board Reaches
Agreement on Payment of
Town's Right-of-Way
Costs
Low bids for the relocation of
Highway U. S. 158 down the Dare
beaches of Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil
Hills, and Nags Head were includ
ed among those for 30 projects
that were opened Tuesday by the
State Highway Commission in
Raleigh. The project calls for 15.3
miles of grading and paving from
a point 1.4 miles east of Currituck
Sound Bridge to Whalebone.
F. C. Cline Paving Co. of Ra
leigh was low bidder for the road
way with a figue of $888,777.77.
For moving the buildings, Crouch
Bros, of Mooresville was low with
$62,650.
Right-of-Way Approved
The Kill Devil Hills town board
last week approved the town’s en
tering into an agreement with the
highway commission for the pay
ment of the town’s portion of the
cost of the right-of-way for
the project. Right-of-way costs
through Kill Devil Hills have been
estimated at $190,000, making the
town’s share (29 per cent) $38,000.
The commission has agreed that
the town will get credit for $20,-
000 in right-of-way already do
nated and for any additional right
of-way to be secured free, either
by the state or the town. The
commissioners authorized Mayor
Robert A. Young to enter into an
agreement providing that the
town pay whatever is left on an
installment plan, not more than
$2,000 a year. The town expects
to make its payments from Powell
Bill funds.
Also included in the agreement
drafted by the town board was a
provision that the commission put
in as many laterals connecting the
new and old roads as any other
five-mile area would get, with a
minimum of six.
S. NORFOLK YOUTHS
ARE BOUND OYER ON
ROBBERY CHARGES
Eight teen-age South Norfolk
boys have been apprehended by
Sheriff Frank Cahoon and charged
in several recent cases involving
breakins on the Dare Beaches. Six
of the boys waived preliminary
hearings in Dare Recorder’s Court
before Judge W. F. Baum Tues
day afternoon and were bound
over to the October term of Su
perior Court, with bond for each
set at $4,000; the other two boys
are under sixteen years of age
and their cases will be handled in
juvenile court, which is under
jurisdiction of Clerk of Court, C.
S. Meekins. The boys who have
been charged are Ralph Lewis Jr.,
Robert Lee Garrett, Paul Burk
Dunlo Jr., Ronald Ainsley, Goldie
Bryant Jr., Frank McLendon;
Donald Massey, and Ray Brick
house. The last two listed are age
15.
Lewis, Garrett, Massey, Dunlo,
and Ainsley were all charged in
three different warrants involving
thefts that occurrd the night of
June 7th. The first warrant'
charges them with breaking and
entering the home of Hazel V.
Warmack Tayloe “other than by
burglarious breaking, with intent
to commit a felony,” the theft of
property in the house. The second
warrant charges them with steal
ing a 25-hp. Evinrude outboard
board valued at S2OO, the property
of George T. Stronach. The same
five boys are charged in the third
warrant with stealing a Mercury
outboard motor v.ilued at $657, the
property of Robert H. Cotton.
Another warrant charges Bryant,
Lewis, Garrett, and Dunlo with
entering the home of George W.
Long and wife and stealing two
outboard motors, an Evinrude val
ued *t $350 and a Mercury valued
at S3OO. Brickhouse, McLendon,
and Massey, in another warrant,
are charged with breaking and
entering George W. Long’s home
and stealing one small radio val
ued at S3O.
In all other cases which came
before Judge Baum Tuesday, the
defendants pleaded guilty as list
ed:
Robert Gerald Bennett, Eliza
beth pity, speeding 55 m.p.h. in a
35 m.p.h. zone and driving to the
left of the center line. $25 fine
and costs.
Orville Tillett, Wanchese, care
less and reckless driving, $25 fine
and costs.
Elwood .Lee Cutrell, Manteo,
driving to left of center line, $5
fine and costs.
ourn idette Rosemary W yatt,
Newport News, failing to stop at
stop sign, $5 fine and costs
Raymond Earl Gibson, States
ville, failing to stop at stpp sign,
$5 fine and costs.
Aubrey May Whorley, William
ston. failing to stop at stop sign,
See ROBBERY, Page Four
■
THE COASTLAND TIMES
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTEREST OF THE WALTER RALEIGH COASTLAND OF NORTH CAROLINA
SCENES FROM THE LOST COLONY, WHICH OPENS NEW SEASON SATURDAY
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THIS MONTAGE, made during a previous season b y the Island Studio, Manteo, shows some of the dra
matic scenes from The Lost Colony, which opens its 17th season on Roanoke Island Saturday evening.
In these photos: top left, Old Tom Harris argues with an unfriendly Indian in one of the tragi-comic
scenes; top center, Dame Coleman, the colonist midwife, tells of the coming birth of a child who will be
the first of English parentage born in the New World; top right, Governor John White pleads with Queen
Elizabeth back in England for ships to take relief to the Roanoke Island colonists, who, when help finally
did arrive, had disappeared forever to become the unsolved history-mystery of centuries now known as
“the lost colony;” lower left, one of the blockhouses at the entrance to the federal government’s 'Fort
Raleigh National Historic Site is shown; and lower right, in one of the drama’s tense moments, Eleanor
Dare protects her newborn baby, Virginia Dare, fro m the Indians who soon attack the colonists’ little
fort and village. (Lost Colony photos)
HIGHWAY, PRISON
COMMISSIONS ARE
NAMED BY GOV’NOR
New Appointments Made As A
Result of Reorganizations
Voted by General
Assembly
Governor Luther Hodges last
Friday announced the appointment
of a new seven-member State
Highway Commission, a State
Highway Department public con
tact man for secondary roads, and
a new State Prison Commission.
All these appointments were made
as a result of reorganizations
brought about by legislation enact
ed by the 1957 General Assembly.
Colonel William T. Joyner, prom
inent Raleigh attorney, was ap
pointed by the governor for a four
year term on the highway commis
sion and will serve as the chairman.
Others who were also named for
four-year terms were: Ralph How
land of Elkin, a veteran newspa
perman now serving as director of
public relations at Chatham Man
ufacturing Co. in Elkin; E. L.
White of Wilmington, former may
or and a retired businessman; and
Fletcher Gregory of Weldon, vice
president of the Bank of Halifax
at Weldon. Named to two-year
terms were: Robert Bunnelle of
Asheville, publisher of the Ashe
ville Citizen-Times; Lqe White of
Concord, farmer, businessman, and
chairman of the Cabarrus County
Commissioners; and Cutlar Moore
of Lumberton, business leader and
farmer.
The seven members of the new
commission were named on a state
wide basis, and each commissioner
will represent the entire state and
not any particular division. The
commission itself will be a policy
board under which will be an exec
utive officer, Direcotr of Highways
W. F. Babcock. In the past, there
have been 14 highway commission
ers, with each representing a par
ticular division; Governor Hodges
announced that in the interest of
fairness he would not reappoint
any of the present commissioners.
Harold T. Makepeace, former
mayor of Sanford, was named to
the new position as public contact
man for secondary roads for the
highway department. Working un
der Director of Highways W. F.
Babcock, Mr. Makepeace will have
the responsibility of coordinating
the paving of secondary roads ac
cording to new and uniform stand
ards to be set up and of contacting
county officials and others with ref
erence to the program.
The new State Prison Commis
«ion, created by recent legislation
in the 1957 General Assembly, will
be composed of seven members.
The governor appointed for four
year terms: Linn D. Garibaldi, of
Matthews, ,a telephone company ex
ecutive, who will serve as chair
man of the commission; Mrs. J.
Melville Broughton of Raleigh; Dr.
M. B. Davis of High Point, a Negro
physician; and W. JV. Shope' of
See BOARDS. Page ¥<ve
"Lost Colony" Has Seen Its Ups and Downs
From Humble Beginnings Twenty Years Ago.
Many Persons Labored Long Hours to Get Pageant Started;
Setbacks of Fire, Hurricanes, Wars Have Been Overcome
By EARL DEAN
It has been twenty years since
that memorable July night in 1937
when “The Lost Colony” held its
first audience spellbound in the
great Waterside Theatre at Old
Fort Raleigh. And many and start
ling have been some of the changes
which have taken place oi\ historic
Roanoke Island since this nation
ally-known outdoor drama became
a North Carolina institution.
Few people who sat out under
the stars that night and saw it for
the first time ever dreamed that
Paul Green’s stirring drama tell
ing the tragic story of the struggle
of Sir Walter Raleigh’s first En
glish settlers to establish a colony
in the New World would be going
strong two decades later and that
nearly a million people from all
over the United States and many
foreign countries would make a pil
grimage to Roanoke Island just to
see it
For as originally planned “The
Lost Colony” was to have been the
highlight of the 356th anniversary
celebration of the discovery and
setlement of Roanoke Island to be
repeated only on certain commem
orative occasions. It wasn’t long,
however, before the people of Dare
County realized that they had a hit
that could be continued indefinitely.
It has been said that most great
things usually spring from humble
beginnings and “The Lost Colony,”
as we know it today, is no excep
tion. There are still people around
who can recall the shaky start it
had back in the days of the Great
Depression. It was an expensive
undertaking in those days and but
for the help of various government
agencies and the great self-sacri
fice of some local citizens there
might never have been any “Lost
Colony.”
Celebrations had been held at the
birthplace of Virginia Dare near
Old Fort Raleigh since 1880 when
a few Roanoke Islanders and a
handful of people from the main
land began to talk an annual festi
val commemorating the importance
of the first colony in American
history. Four years later the Roa
noke Colony Memorial Association
was organized and in 1896 the first
yirginia Dare monument was erect
ed and dedicated largely through
the efforts of a group of history
minded Edenton friends led by the
late Dr. Robert Brent Drane, the
venerable rector of old St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church there.
Along about 1921 Mrs. Mabel
Evans Jones, then superintendent
of Dare County schools, wrote and
helped produce a plavlet which was
filmed at Fort Raleigh by the State
Department of Education and
shown for many years in public
schools throughout the State. Six
vears later D. Victor Meekins, of
Manteo, then an enterprising young
newspaperman, was one of the first
to see that the future of any “Lost
MANTEO, N. C., FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 1957
Colony” celebration at Old Fort
Raleigh depended on crowds of in
terested people. He sparked the
1926 Dare County Homecoming
which attracted some 5,000 persons
to the pine thicket on the north end
of Roanoke Island in spite of the
fact that in those days there were
few good roads and no bridges in
this section at all.
In the fall of 1931 the late W. O.
Saunders, of Elizabeth City, who
as editor and publisher of the old
weekly “Independent” had long
talked and wrote of the great fu
ture ahead of Dare County, 'hit
upon the idea of a community-wide
annual celebration featuring a pag
eant telling the story of the Lost
Colony where it happened, at Old
Fort Raleigh. He came to Manteo
bringing with him Paul Green, the
University of North Carolina pro
fessor and playwright, and Dr.
Frederick H. Koch, founder of the
Carolina Playmakers at Chapel
Hill. With a group of local people
which' included the late D. Brad
ford Fearing, Martin Kellogg, Jr.,
I. P. Davis, Melvin R. Daniels,
Chauncey S. Meekins and D. Victor
Meekins he climbed the sand hills
near Fort Raleigh where a site for
a great natural outdoor theatre
was selected.
The year 1934 was first selected
for the 350th anniversary celebra
tion but as the nation was then in
the throes of a great business de
pression that was getting worse
instead of beter all thought of a
celebration of any magnitude for
that year had to be abandoned.
Meanwhile the Manteo group,
led by D. Bradford Fearing, and
encouraged by Represehtative
Lindsay C. Warren, of Washing
ton, N. C., then a young and influ
ential Congressman in the Nation’s
capital, worked quietly towards a
gigantic celebration set for the
year 1937.
Various governmental agencies,
set up to relieve unemployment and
combat the Great Depression of the
1930’s were called on for aid. Many
local people worked long hours with
little thought of remuneration to
help make the 350th anniversary
celebration a success, for in those
days “The Lost Colony” was a lo
cal enterprise operating almost on
a shoestring basis from Fearing's
office in the courthouse.
The first 43 days of pageantry
unprecednnted hereabouts began on
the morning of July 4, 1937, with
religious services at Old Fort Ra
leigh conducted by the late Bishop
Thomas C. Darst, of Wilmington.
That night, as the lights were dim
med in the big theatre on the
shore of Roanoke Sound, nymy an
anxious eye was scanning the skies
for it threatened to rain. Then, as
the first moving scenes of “The
Lost Colony” came into view the
storm clouds dispersed, as though
by magic, the moon came out, and
See LOST COLONY, Page Four
GOVERNORS COME
TO DARE CO. AS
GUESTS OF HODGES
Heads .of At Least Ten Other
States Take Advantage of
Chance for Two-Day
Visit Here
Governor Luther H. Hodges ar
rived at the Manteo Airport by
plane Thursday morning with the
first four of a group of governors
of other states who, along with
their families and other state of
icials, will be his guests for two
days in Dare. The governors came
to Dare from Williamsburg, Va.,
after adjournment of the National
Governors’ Conference there. Six
other governors. Republicans, had
definitely accepted Governor Hod
ges’ invitation but first flew to
Washington, D. C., for a confer
ence with President Eisenhower
before flying to Manteo later in
,ne day.
Those who arrived Thursday
morning were Colorado’s Van Pat
McNichols, lowa’s Herschel C.
Loveless, Minnesota’s Orville
Freeman, and Kansas’s George
Docking. Flying to Washington
first were Stratton of Illinois,
Aronson of Montana, Davis of
North Dakota, O’Neill of lowa,
Foss of South Dakota, and Clyde
of Utah. South Carolina Governor
George Bell Timmerman Jr. also
hoped to arrange to join the group
later.
After being greeted at the air
port Thursday morning, the party
See GOVERNORS, Page Four
VEPCO WILL TAKE
OVER IN MANTEO
ON NEXT MONDAY
New Street-Lighting Equipment
To Be Turned On at Cere
mony Monday Night
Activity by Vepco crews in Man
teo for the last two weeks will
have a visible effect on the town
Monday night at 8 p.m., When R. H.
Goodmon, vice-president of Vepco’s
Carolina division, will turn the new
street lights over to Mayor Mar
tin Kellogg. Mr. Kellogg will then
throw the switch and light up the
town. The general public is cor
dially invited to attend this cele
bration, to be held just across the
street in front of the courthouse.
Modern up-to-date street-light
ing equipment was used in this
installation of street lights, which
consist of twelve 6000-lumen lights
and thirty-six 2500-lumen lights.
The work that has been done by
Vepco is the beginning of an exten
sive rebuilding job to be undertak
en by company crews on Roanoke
Island in connection with the pur
chase of the Roanoke Utilities, Inc.
The sale will be officially consum
mated next Monday, July 1, when
Vepco takes over the operation.
A temporary office will be open
ed in Manteo Monday by Vepco
and will be located in the Meekins
building in front of the courthouse;
a permanent location is planned
later. George A. Whitfield, former
ly located at Kitty Hawk with Vep
co, will be the company’s distribu
tion supervisor in Manteo and in
charge of the Manteo office.
REA AT BUXTON GETS A
$50,000 LOAN APPROVED
Congressman Herbert C. Bonner
Thursday wired the Times that the
REA in Washington has approved
a loan of $50,060 to the Cape Hat
teras Electric Membership' Cor
poration at Buxton. The telegram
said that the money will be used
by the cooperative to lend to its
members to help finance the in
stallation of large electrical appli
ances. About 400 members will
benefit, he said.
KING MACKEREL IN SURF
AT CAPE HATTERAS
Buxton J. C. Clemmons, who
caught a 46-pound channel bass
to win first prize in the annual
Dare Coast Pirates Jamboree
earlier this year, made another lo
cal record on. Monday when he
landed a 16-pound king mackerel
in the surf at Cape Hatteras here.
The “king” was not the first, but
it was the largest caught in the
i surf this year.
i Clemmons, a Coast Guard com
munications official, was using a
Hopkins Lure and fishing from
the surf at the Point of the Cape
when his 16-pounder struck.
Previously on Sunday, Raymond
Basnett and Ephriam Midgett pf
1 Buxton had landed 56 king tnsck
• erel trolling from an outboard
powered fishing craft in the Cape
! Hatttras Point area. This was a
record for the number of mackerel
landed by anglers fishing from
the surf. Maybe it was a state or
coast record because usually
these fish are taken by anglers
i trolling behind charter cruisers in
the inlets or nearby deep sea of
the Carolina coastal area.
THE LOST COLONY TO OPEN
ITS SEVENTEENTH SEASON AT
MANTEO SATURDAY EVENING
Opening Night Guests To Include Conrad L.
Wirth, National Park Service Director; Audi
ence Will See Large Number of New Actors in
Cast and Numerous Changes in Staging Made
by New Director, Burnet Hobgood.
TO SPEAK AT OPENING
OF THE LOST COLONY
r
■ VY fa
■a_ 41 A-
JR. ■■ ■
CONRAD L. WIRTH, director of
the National Park Service, is to
be on hand for the opening of the
Lost Colony’s 1957 season Satur
day evening and during brief open
ing ceremonies is expected to
make a talk of definite import
ance. He has promised that he will
make an announcement regarding
plans for the dedication of the
great Cape Hatteras National
Seashore Recreational Area, the
nation’s only seashore park. He
also plans to discuss several
points of the National Park Serv
ice’s “Mission 66” for development
of the park’s facilities.
Mr. Wirth has been successful
in interesting a number of wealthy
people in contributing toward the
preservation and protection of
many of the country’s natural
beauties. These have included pri
vate donation of $168,066 for the
Cape Hatteras Seashore and $160,-
000 for Kill Devil Hills. Over 24
million acres are in the National
Park System which is under his
supervision.
A native of Massachusetts, Mr.
Wirth is the son of Swiss-born
Theo Wirst, who was himself dis
tinguished'as a park man and con
servationist.
HOUSE AT NAGS HEAD ’
DESTROYED BY FIRE
Fire last Sunday completely
destroyed an old two-story dwell
ing known as the John P. Wise
house located in the woods on the
sound shore at Nags Head. Un
occupied for some time, the house
was owned by Mrs. John P. Wise,
who still makes her home at Nags
Head. It was uninsured.
The exact cause of the fire is
not known, but it is widely
thought to be a result of vandal
ism. Sheriff Frank Cahoon began
an investigation immediately after
the fire, but he reported Thursday
morning that he had found no def
inite evidence on which to act. He
did agree that there was a pos
sibility of arson, saying that a
group of young boys might have
been responsible for setting the
fire, either by accident or on pur
pose.
STUMPY POINT NATIVE
DIES IN ORIENTAL
Graveside rites for Mrs. Hor
tense Wise Barnett, 92. of Oriental
were conducted in the Oriental
Cemetery Saturday afternoon by
the Rev. James Dissel.
Mrs. Barnett, widow of Henry
W. Barnett, died at her home in
Oriental early Friday morning.
She was bom at Stumpy Point in
Dare County, daughter of the late
Capt Thomas and Nancy Midgett
Wise.
Surviving are two sons. Pelage
and Burnice Barnett of Oriental.
MANTEO WOMAN ELECTED
TO DUKE ALUMNI POST
Mrs. Dennis E. Evans, Manteo,
has been elected •Representative to
the Duke University Alumni Asso
ciation’s Alumnae Council from
the Class of 1922. The election
took place at a recent class re
union on the Duke campus.
Mrs. Evans, the former Mary
Langston of Goldsboro, is super
intendent of Dare County Schools
and has lived near Manteo for a
number of years.
SECTION ONE
Single Copy 70
The Lost Colony, the Paul Green
symphonic drama telling the story
of the first English colony in Amer
ica, will open its seventeenth sea
son Saturday evening at 8:15 p.m.
at the Roanoke Island Waterside
Theatre near Manteo. Conrad L.
Wirth of Washington, D. C., di
rector of the National Park Serv
ice, will be a special guest for Sat
urday night’s performance and is
expected to make an important talk
during brief opening-night cere
monies.. Robert Lee Humber of
Greenville, chairman of the Roa
noke Island Historical Association,
will also be a guest and will intro
duce Mr. Wirth.
Richard E. Jordan, geenral man
ager of The Lost Colony, has an
nounced that there has been a good
advance sale of tickets for the com
ing season, which will feature “the
new look at The Lost Colony.” Sev
eral of the scenes have been re
vised by Author Green this year,
and the show has a new director,
Burnet Hobgood, and. a majority of
new leading characters. The stagy
has been rebuilt relocating the his
torian’s booth; a sloping ramp now
connects the main stage with the
stage at the audience’s left, which
will serve strictly as Indian coun
try. The narration formerly given
by the historian will this year be
given, at times from the stage it
self, by Governor John White, one
of the characters in me play. Ac
cording- to Mr. Jordan, there will
also be several new dances, but the
basic music for the show has not
been changed. The choreography
will be by John Lehman and the
musical direction by Dr. Elwood
Keister.
Among the important new mem
bers of the cast this year are Di
anne Rousseau as Eleanor Dare,
William Walsh as John Borden,
Edward Reeves as Sir Walter Ra
leigh, and Earle Rankin as Gov
ernor John White. Mary Wood
Long returns as the Queen of En
gland. Cora Mae Basnight of Man
teo is the new Indian squaw Agona,
with Ray Smith as “Old Tom”
Harris, the beggar. Manager Jor
dan estimated that 75 to 80 per
cent of the Roanoke Island resi
dents in the cast have returned
from last year.
Performances of the drama,
which has been seen by more than
800,000 persons, will continue each
night except Mondays through Sep
tember 1.
The Lost Colony arranged to
give a special full-dress preview
of the show Thursday evening for
a distinguished group of governors
from many states, who are visiting
Dare as guests of Governor and
Mrs. Luther H. Hodges of North
Carolina. Approximately 200 per
sons were expected to attend; in
addition to the governors and their
families and accompanying offi
cials, special invited guests for the
preview showing included members
of lhe press, who were extended a
blanket invitation.
COBIA ARE PLENTIFUL
Nags Head.—From Kitty Hawk
to Ocracoke along the Outer
Banks have been coming reports
of the best cobia fishing in years.
E. E. Edgar, national winner of
the outdoor writing contests re
ferred to cobia this week as the
gamiest of all fishes in the inlets
of the Outer Banks and the east
ern shore of Virginia.
Cobia are plentiful in waters
along the N. C. Coast. They are
being caught daily by anglers
aboard charter boats from Oregon
Inlet and Hatteras and at Ocra
coke, “a sort of home base for
Cobia,” the fish are striking the
lures of anglers inside Pamlico
Sound near Ocracoke Inlet.
Ranny Jennette, sportsfishing
reporter of Cape Hatteras area
stated that all htose taken at the
Cane during the past week, in
cluding the surf-record of 15
pounds by Clemmons, were taken
on Hopkins Lures.
1 x'- 1 .»
BOY INJURED IN FALL
FROM TRUCK AT HATTERAS
Michael Williams, 4-year-old son
of Charlie Williams Jr. of Hat
teras, reportedly suffered a frac
tured skull when he fell from a
truck driven by Floyd Miller last
Sunday evening. The boy was
taken by Coast Guard helicopter
to a Norfollk hospital.