Newspapers / The Coastland Times (Manteo, … / July 26, 1957, edition 1 / Page 1
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VOLUME XXIII NO. 4 FRISCO MAN BOUND OVER ON CHARGE OF MANSLAUGHTER Tuesday Session of Dare Record er's Court Again Sees Large Number of Speeding Cases Probable cause was found againat Benjamin Franklin Rol linson of Frisco, charged with manslaughter, during Tuesday’s session of Dare County Recorder’s Court by Judge W. F. Baum, and the case seas bound oyer ta Su perior Court with b<&d set at $1,50*. ftollinson was driving a pick-up truck which cytlided May 2 three miles north qc Cape Hat teras with a car driven by A. Joel Jackson of Norfolk, resulting in the death of Mr*. Jackson. Paul Bert Dunla Jr. of South North, on a charge of speeding 80 m.pJi., was given a 90-day sen tence by Judge Baum, suspended on payment of |SO fine and eosts and an condition he not appear in the court again on a criminal of fense within two years. Dunlo was also found guilty of engaging in a fight m a public place, for which he was ordered to pay costs of court Convicted of careless and reck less driving, S. J. RicciTelli of Cape Hatteras was fined $25 and costs. Aldridge Warlin Curies of Kitty Hawk was found guilty of being drunk on a state highway and fined $25 and costs. James Arba Garver of Belvedere was found guilty of engaging in a fight in a public place and order ed to pay costs of court. After hearing the case against Lena Wescott Pearsall of Manteo, charged with failing to grant the right-of-way, the court dismissed the case. Capiases were ordered issued for a number of defendants who did not appear for trial; these in cluded Helen Johnson Tyler of Nags Head, charged with public drunkenness and resisting arrest; Lee Max Hewett of Supply, charged with improper lights; Jesse James Spencer of Engel hard, charged with speeding 50 m.p.h. in a 35 m.p.h. zone, no brakes, and driving on the wrong side of the road, and in a second warrant with improper brakes; John J. Fassinger of Norfolk, charged with speeding 45 m.p.h. in a 35 m.p.h. zone; and Michael Daniels Jones of Manteo, failing to give turn signal. Defendants in ' all remaining cases listed submitted and paid fines as indicated: For driving while under the in fluence, Kendrick Gray of Buxton, and Walter Browning Salter of Fentress, Va., were each fined SIOO and costs. William Jefferson Teague of Guilford College paid fines of SSO and costs for careless and reck less driving and speeding 60 m.p.h. in a 35 m.p.h. zone. Other violations of 35 m.p.h. speed, zones: speeding 73 m.p.h., Frederick Clarence Allen of Ports mouth, Va., S3B fine and costs; speeding 69 m.p.h., Joe Clark Ca-> been of Columbus, Ohio, $34 fine and costs; speeding 65 m.p.h., Frederick Conghtie Spivey of Sun bury, and Zane Albert Cutchin of Norfolk, S3O fine and costs each; speeding 60 m.p.h., Alfred Dale Bowen 111 of Suffolk, Willis Ray Lane of Camden, and Frank J. See COURT, Page Seven HORATIO GATES MIDGETT OF WAVES DIES TUESDAY Horatio Gates Midgett, 66, of Waves was found dead at his home Tuesday afternoon after having suffered an apparent heart attack. Funeral services were held Thurs day at 2 p.m. at the Fair Haven Methodist Church at Waves, con ducted by the pastor,* the Rev. B. E. Bingham; burial followed in the family cemetery. Mr. Midgett was bom at Rodan the, son of the late Maggie Midgett and George Midgett, and had al ways made his home at Rodanthe- Waves. His wife, the former Mod gie Midgett, died last February. He had retired from the U. S. Coast Guard in May 1951, and was employed by the Globe Fish Com pany of Elizabeth City. He was a member of the Fair Haven • Meth odist Church and the Wanchese Masonic Lodge. Surviving are: two sisters, Mrs. Carethea Midgett and Mrs. Lucre tia Midgett, both of Rodanthe. IS AWARDED SCHOLARSHIP Miss Edna Bruce Dowdy, daugh ter of Mr. and Mrs. T. G. Dowdy of Manteo, has been awarded a scholarship valued at SIOO for the coming year at WCUNC, Greens boro, where she will be a member of the senior class. This summer Mise Dowdy is studying at UNC, Chapel Hill. She was on the dean’s , list at WCUNC both semesters during her junior yeur. THE COASTLAND TIMES PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTEREST OF THE WALTER RALEIGH COASTLAND OF NORTH CAROLINA BIDS FOR MANTEO SCHOOL THURSDAY TOTAL $388,485 Avaailble Funds for Project Are $46,319.57 Short of Total of Bids Bids on the construction of the proposed new Manteo High School opened Thursday afternoon by the county board of education totaled $388,485.86. This figure is the to tal of all bids and dpes not include Tromnauu alternates which might reduce the total slightly, but does' allow for t be architect’s fee. The funds available at present for the buildings are $46,319.57 short of the total of the bids. The possibility of transfer of funds allotted several years ago by the state for the Kitty Hawk schools to the Manteo project was brought up for a lengthy discus sion before the board and a num ber of citizens present for the bid opening. MRS. MAUDE W. HOOPER OF STUMPY POINT DIES Funeral services for Mrs. Maude Wise Hooper, 67, of Stumpy Point were held from the Stumpy Point Methodist Church Thursday after noon, July 18, conducted by the Rev. A. L. G. Stephenson, the Rev. G. M. Kelly, and the Rev. W. M. Maness; burial followed in the church cemetery. Mrs. Hooper died Wednesday morning after a critical illness of 214 weeks. Mrs. Hooper was a life-long resident of Stumpy Point, the daughter of the late P*rank and Mary Wise. She was a member of the Stumpy Point Methodist Church and the W.S.C.S. Surviving are: her husband, Melton Hooper of Stumpy Point; two daughters, Mrs. W. W. Mon ette of Stumpy Point and Mrs. 1 Sam Boomer Jr. of Norfolk; four sons, Floyd Hooper, Milton Hoop er, and Troy Hooper of Stumpy Point, and Tom Hooper of Nor folk; and two brothers, U. G. 1 Wise of Stumpy Point and W. F. 1 Wise of Lexington. The death of Mrs. Hooper was a 1 shock to a wide circle of friends who have revered her for her good 1 life of service to the community. She had been a faithful wife and ; mother, for nearly 48 years, a good neighbor, and a helpful friend, giving liberally of time and effort to her community and her church. She and Mr. Hooper lived an ideal family life, and few people have been more highly regarded in ’ Stumpy Point. SMALL BOY HURT BY AUTOMOBILE AT BUXTON Thomas Ritter, Jr., four-year old son of a couple stationed at the Buxton Naval Facility, was in ' jured Tuesday about noon when struck by an automobile. The little boy was taken by Coast Guard heliepoter to Eliza- ; •beth City and from there to a , Portsmouth, Va., hospital by am bulance. THIS WAS THE BIG HOTEL WHICH BURNED DOWN IN AUGUST 1902 AT NAGS H§AD i. . ( v r • ." •• ~4 t ’ W■■. '• : .• * j r■ • ' * i - • | THIS old Nags Hoad Hotel, built in 1871 at the water's edge on the Sound Side, wouldn’t make much of a showing alongside some of the fancy hotels, motels and* tourist courts on the beach today. But in its day it was one of the largest, most fashionable resort hotels on the coast. When it burned down in Aug. 19 02 it was owned and operated by John Z. Lowe • .•: 1 ’V ■■'•- -I- - -W. T," ,I:if.’J*.*.■ , i ... i~. *,-£•« '* TO BE GUEST MINISTER AT LOST COLOW SUNDAY ••••wx-xsa J j F i I whhs Jr 'rjHpr 'j* -?» 1 r I THE REV. J. MURPHY SMITH, pastor of New Bern's beautiful and historic First Presbyterian Church, will be guest minister at the fifth in a series of Lost Col ony worship services on Sunday morning, July 28, at 11 o’clock; The open-air services, presented each Sunday in Waterside Theatre at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, will feature music by the Elwood-Keister-directed Lost Col ony Chorus, with George Perry, director of organ and piano music at East Carolina College, at the console of the drama’s Hammond organ. “The theme of my message will be the Meaning of Kingdom First, based on Luke 12th chapter, verses 16 through 21,” the Rev. Mr. Smith stated. • A native of Parkton, N. C., and a graduate of the high school there, the Lost Colony guest min ister received his A. B| degree from Davidson College and his B. D. and Th. M. degree from Union Theological Seminary of Richmond, Va. A veteran of World War 11, the Rev. Mr. Smith served as a chap lain with duty in both the South Pacific and European theatres, and he is still an active member of the Chaplains Corps reserve with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Before going to the Presbyter ian Church in New Bern six years ago, he had held pastorates in Richmond, Va., and at Faison, N. C. He is married to the former Margaret Williford of Lumber Bridge, N. C., and they have three children, Annette, John Jr., and James. The Smiths will arrive on Sat urday in time to see a perform ance of The Lost Colony, Amer ica’s longest-lived outdoor drama, which is now in its 17th season at Waterside Theatre, with showings each night except Mondays through September 1. SPOTS AND CROAKERS IN SURF AT FRISCO Charles Tharp, 10-year-old boy from Princess Anne had a lucky catch Friday when he caught 16 fish including spots, croakers and hogfish, in 15 minutes while surf casting on Frisco beach near Tandy’s place. Charles is visiting Mr. and Mrs. D. H. Ransom. 111 < - MANTEO, N. C. t FRIDAY, JULY 26, 1957 ENGELHARD GROUP GOES TO COURT TO SAVE HIGK SCHOOL Two Suits Are Filed Saturday against State And County School Authorities Two suits seeking to compel the continuance of the East Hyde High School at Engelhard were filed on behalf of a group of En gelhard citizens Saturday in the office of the Clerk of Superior Court of Hyde County in Swan Quarter. The suits, one against the Btate board of education and the other against the county board of education and the county superintendent, are scheduled to hegrd before Judge M. C. Paul, resident judge of the second judi cial district, in Washington on Friday, August 2, at 2 p.m. In the suit against the state board,#he plaintiffs are seeking to have the court compel the state board to allot three high school teachers to the East Hyde school for the coming school year. The state board on June 6th allotted three high school teachers to East Hyde, but then cancelled the allot ment three weeks later in view of the consolidation of the high school at Engelhard with the high school at Swan Quarter voted by the county board of education. The Engelhard group is contending that the failure of the state board to allot the teachers was unlaw ful and that the state board is compelled by law to allot the teachers to Engelhard. The second suit is against Tom mie Gaylord, superintendent of Hyde County schools, and Giatz Spencer and Crawford Cahoon, two of the three members of the county board of education. In this suit, it is alleged that the whole course of action of the county board and the superintendent in attempting to assign the pupils of East Hyde High School to West Hyde High School is illegal. The plaintiffs say that the pupil as signment law cannot be used to consolidate schools as the county board is attempting to do. The plaintiffs are asking that the judge isiue a writ of manda mus compelling the state board to allot the teachers and thq county board and superintendent of schools to undertake the neces sary proceedures to enable the East Hyde High School to open on September 3 along with other schools in the county. The plaintiffs listed in the suits are: P. D. Midgett Jr., R. L. Gibbs, E. D. Armstrong, Wilbur C. Gibbs, A. G. Jolly, Mrs. Bessie W. Jen nette, Willie K. Gibbs, W. S.'Dud ley Jr., Clyde B. Daniels, Alton E. Baum, Mrs. Hattie S. White, Henry E. Cahoon, Murel E. Mar shall, Mrs. Merdie Williams, John Thaxton Selby, Edward Mooney, T. A. Jennette, C. E. Swindell, Jack L. Pugh, Mrs. Myra L. Cdth rell, Mrs. Hoyd W. Whidbee, W. J. Twiford, Carl Harris, R. S. Spencer, Mrs. Hazel Pledger, T. J. Etheridge, Clyde Daniels, S. A. Dudley, and Mrs. Rebecca Spotan ski. Besides parents of high school pupils, the plaintiffs include the three members of the Engel hard school committee. OLD NAGS HEAD —> A Sentimental History Os The Old Sound Side Hotel Era By EARL DEAN “To much cannot be said In favor of Old Nags Head; Tar Heels can with rapture boast This watering place upon our coast. Thus went a little ditty written back in the days of bowls and pitchers and kerosene lamp light at old Nags Head by John B. Brock ett, of Elizabeth City, when he had charge of the old hotel there which stood at the water’s edge on the Sound Side in the summer of 1892. In those days there was no such place in North Carolina as the Dare County of today, and the beach now so thickly built up all the way from Kitty Hawk to Ore gon Inlet was so remote from the nearest towns and cities on the mainland that it was referred to in old deed books prior to 1871, as ... a place called Nags Head, lying in and being situated on the southeast sand banks of Currituck County.” Choice building lots could be had almost for the asking; you could buy a vast tract of land with a sweep from sound to sea for as little as 12 *4 cents an acre. Only a few families from Eliza beth City, Hertford and Edenton spent the summers there in an isolation almost as complete as if they were vacationing on the planet Mars. There was only seem ingly limitless stretches of barren sand and wind-tossed waters and but few signs of human habitation visible. It was along about 1830 that Dr. Samuel Mathews, a prosperous Elizabeth City physician,' had a rambling structure some 120 feet long and two and a half stories high built at the foot of one of the big sand dunes near the shore of Roanoke Sound. It was located on a 75-acre tract and had ten out buildings scattered around it, in cluding an ice house. This was Nags Head’s first hotel. The chief drawback to visiting Nags Head in those days was the extrome difficulty of reaching it. Slow-moving sailing packets were the only mode of conveyance and the ocean front could be reached only after a' tiring two-mile hike through deep sand. Families who came to Nags Head to spend the summers usual ly arrived early in June and stay ed until the first signs of Septem ber storms began to appear. Most of them more or less “camped out” in rude and makeshift shacks. No one cared much about how their cottages looked and often they were built largely with scrap lumber and driftwood. Life at Nags Head in those days was simple, wholesome and mono tonous. People took their time and enjoyed long walks through the sand and over the hills between the sound shore and the ocean. Long summer days were punc tuated by hikes back through the thickly-wooded sand dunes to the Fresh Pond or for miles along the lonely and wave-swept beach. In time the unique way of rest and relaxation at Nags Head be came known throughout North Carolina and Tidewater Virginia. An item appearing in the old “North Carolina Standard,” a weekly newspaper published at Raleigh, dated August, 30, 1854 read as follows: “Nags Head.—We learn from a gentleman who has just returned from there that the visitors at this delightful watering place number more than 500, and that the ocean bathing is very fine. Much of the intelligence, beauty and wealth of the Old North State are assembled there.” To 1 accommodate this influx of visitors who sometimes had to travel several days to get there the second and larger hotel was built after fire had destroyed the first, early in the 1860’s. In 1871 one James Clark Perry and his wife Augusta, who were natives of Perquimans County, bought most of the tract on which the old hotel stood from the William H. Happer estate. A large hotel three stories high with porches all the way around each side was built by Tom Commander, an early Elizabeth City lumberman, who had the lumber boated down Pas quotank River and Albemarle Sound from Commander’s Mill which was, for a good many years, a leading lumber business. This second Nags Head hotel stood at the water’s edge on the sound side and had a long pier running out from it into deep wa ter in Roanoke Sound. Although it proved more popular than profit able, a long annex containing some 40 bedrooms was added to it a few seasons later. According to old deeds and rec ords in the Register of Deeds of fice at Manteo which were brought here from Currituck County soon after Dare County was formed from part of it in 1871, this old hotel changed hands almost every season shortly after it was built by Perry and Commander until it was finally destroyed by a specta cular Sunday afternoon fire early in August, 1902. C. Wilson Hollowell, Sr., ol “Bayside,” near Elizabeth City, had an interest in it for a good many years. So did a number of other Elizabeth City, Hertford and Edenton men whose families have been coming to Nags Head for generations, the Robinsons, Floras, Lambs, Creecys Pools, Bradfords, Sawyers, Whitehursts, Fearings, Grices, Prudens, Outlaws and Whites. One A. E. Jacobs, a Jewish hotelman from Norfolk, Va., who purchased it from Mr. Hollowell for $7,500 in 1886 was said to have been instrumental in interesting a number of wealthy Norfolk and Baltimore Jews in establishing an exclusive Hebrew summer resort there. In any event several large tracts of land in the vicinity of this old hotel were purchased by Jews while Jacobs was there. Jacobs, who was a likeable man, evidently had considerable diffi culty making it pay, however pop ular this old Nags Head hotel was, for he sold it in 1891 to the See OLD TIMES, Page Seven Single Copy 7< PLANS FOR FERRY DOCK AT HATTERAS CALLED A DANGER Serious Traffic Hazard, and Com munity Detriment Is View of Many Citizens. Serious hardship to the commu nity, and a grave wrong to a num ber of citizens is about to be done at Hatteras by the State Highway forces, according to several citi zens, in reference to the proposed dock for the Hatteras Inlet ferry to be established connecting with Ocracoke Island. In keeping with the stupidity so often displayed by highway engi neers, who too often seek the shortest way out of a problem, re gardless of the hardship it works on nearby citizens, the commission now proposes to set up the ferry landing in the heart of the com munity, where any long line of waiting cars will block the high way in the principal part of the business area. Moreover, the high speed at which tourists approach a ferry landing is expected to be dangerous in this narrow, congest ed, and curved roadway. One of the most cruel features of the plan is to condemn and destroy two or three residential properties, one of which is the comfortable home of a widow, and another a new home recently built. The property is to be condemned and taken by the state for a pur pose which is considered by the state only for temporary use. It has been thought all along that the state would use the short er ferry route leading from a creek near the site of the Hat teras Inlet Coast Guard station, formerly the Gooseville Gun Club. An approach road to this landing would serve a two-fold purpose, in that it would provide an outlet for some 17 families not now served by a modem road. But this worthy project is ignored for the moment. People, looking ahead to the future, and the danger to the community now about to be creat ed by the highwaymen, cannot understand the persistency with which it is proposed to disregard the rights of the people, unless they are swayed by pcditieat pres sure in behalf of a handful of merchants who think they will pick up a little trade out of the cars parked while awaiting depart ure of the ferry to Ocracoke. Ex perience at other places has proved to the contrary, that busi ness from such parked cars is neg ligible. Some of the affected citizens have been forced to take time and expense to go to Raleigh to appeal to the authorities. This again shows up the hardship that is be ing worked on the people since Governor Hodges has been suc cessful in removing highway af fairs from the people and center ing them in Raleigh. Little com fort is expected from officials more than 200 miles away from a community,—officials who have no acquaintance with the people nor knowledge of their needs and problems and too often only cold-blooded disinterestedness. BLUES AND MACKEREL ARE PLENTIFUL AT HATTERAS Two Channel Bau Landed in Serf at Hatteras Inlat Tuesday There are plenty of bluefish and Spanish mackerel in Hatteras wa ters this week, and on Tuesday two summer drum or medium-size channel bass were caught in the surf. R. W. Kohrs of Winston-Salem made the catch. His channel bass (or summer drum, as the natives sometimes call them) were landed from the surf at Hatteras Inlet, according to Willie Newsome at the . Sportsman’s Headquarters, where the two fish were weighed. “They weighed 15 and 20 pounds respectively,” said Newspme. This brought the total number of channel bass landed in Hatteras waters since last Saturday to a total of three fish. An unidentified angler caught a 17-pounder Satur day night from the surf. One of the beat bats for anglers at this time, whether they fish the surf with light tackle or go trolling in Hatteras Inlet are bluefish Spanish mackerel,' “The blues -titrfShhging from one pound to two pounds and the Spanish mackerel from 3/4 pounds to three pounds, with an occasion al 5-pounder being taken,” he Newsome sail j|mt anglers had been catching plenty of dolphin offshore during the past week, but Largest talma Jfelt season was a 53-pounder, fated early this month by a Detroit angler, a Mr. Reynolds. Tbm was also the larg est dolphin ragerted so far this y e» r North Carolina
The Coastland Times (Manteo, N.C.)
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July 26, 1957, edition 1
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