Newspapers / The Coastland Times (Manteo, … / Aug. 16, 1957, edition 1 / Page 1
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VOLUME XXIII NO. 7 "SEVENTEEN" TO BE PRESENTED MONDAY NIGHT, AUGUST 19 Musical Version of Booth Tarking ton's Novel Being Rehearsed By School of Fine Arts; Professional Perform ance Expected Two Manteo natives, Gus Ether idge and Linda Jordan, hold lead ing parts in the Roanoke School of Fine Arts production “Seven teen” by Booth Tarkington which is to be presented Monday, August 19, at the Waterside Theater. “Seventeen” is a musical comedy about a seventeen year old boy, Willie Baxter (Steve Outterbridge from Conway, N. C.), who is moon struck from the moment he meets Lola Pratt (Ellen Walter, Raleigh, N. C.), the pretty, baby-talking schoolmate of May Parcher (Ger aldine Mcllroy, Winston-Salem, N. C.), who is Willie’s next-door neighbor. Willie falls for her ut terly and completely, even to the extent of impressing her by wear ing his father’s dress suit each evening when he goes to call.' None of the other boys of the town possess a dress suit so Willie has the advantage until Mr. Bax ter wants to wear his dress suit. Then the fun begins., Jane( Linda Jordan of Manteo), Willie’s eight-year-old sister com plicates matters considerably, and Genesis (Bobby Royal, Goldsboro, N. C.) the Baxter’s man-of-all work, tries to assist Willie when ever he can, which isn’t often. Willie, with his adolescent dreams and his inability to express them, furnishes a great deal of humor and, with it, a great deal of pathos, for in Willie’s youthful search for romance both young and old will sense the deep understand ing of the teenager which the au thor brings to the story. The cast is completed with Gus Etheridge as Johnnie Watson, Bob Denison as Bert, Bill Walsh as Charlie, John Earle as Dave, Ir ving Ennis as Joe Bullitt, Bill Watson as Lester, Milton Mann as Phil, Buddy Boyce as Al, Wayne Leazer as Jim, John Moore as Ed, Irma Helen Hopkins as Mrs. Bax ter, Jo Ann Sparks as Emmie, Jane Fuller as Ida. Page Williams as Lu. Pat Baum as Madge, Jo Anne Ballance as Sue, Megan Stuart as See SEVENTEEN, Page Six CAPE HATTERAS CO-OP ANNUAL MEETING CALLED Stockholders of Electrical System Expect ed to Hear Reports and Name Directors An annual meeting of the Cape Hatteras Electric Membership Corp, which operates the electric power system on Hatteras Island has been called for Sept. 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the Cape Hatteras High School building, according to notice mailed out by Secretary George H. Meekins of Avon. Heretofore the Co-op has not had an annual meeting in three years, due to failure of stockholders to manifest sufficient interest to ob tain a quorum. The co-op is a large business, with several hundred subscribers, served by a large plant at Buxton for which upwards of a million dollars has been furnished the peo ple without cost to them, by the Federal Government. It has rendered exceptional serv ice, and the plant force is doing a good job, but there is* some com plaint'that rates charged are too high, and that high rates retard development of the area. On September 2, the members are expected to hear business mat ters discussed and to elect nine directors. A nominating committee of the Board of Directors has already nominated nine persons to serve as directors, although others may be nominated from the floor. These following names now submitted are: Fred O’Neal, Rodanthe; Ce cil Midgett, Waves; Nacie Austin, and Ronald Stowe, Hatteras; G. H. Meekins, Sumner Scarborough, M. L. Scarborough, Avon; John Wasi li, Frisco;* James Rollinson, Bux ton. The name of President, J. S. Turner, is not named on the list. STATE PLANS BEACONS AT ALLIGATOR FERRY SLIPS I The highway commission plans the erection of beacons for the guidance of the ferry boats cross ing Alligator River. A beacon will be located on each side of the river, one at Sandy Point and one at East Lake. Plans for the beacons may be seen at the Columbia postoffice, according to announcement made by the Engineers Corp: The growing ferry traffic, which is now too heavy for present boats to carry at times, is demanding night trips across the river. The beacons will facilitate such trips. THE COASTLAND TIMES PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTEREST OF THE WALTER RALEIGH COASTLAND OF NORTH CAROLINA LOCAL ACTORS IN MUSICAL COMEDY "SEVENTEEN" 4 * tB HF \ ■ / W ; „■ ’ I A I; 1 fL’ Pictured here are two Roanoke Islanders who will appear in the largest cast of the musical comedy “Seventeen” that is scheduled to be presented by Roanoke Island School of Fine Arts at Waterside Theatre on Monday night, August 19. They are Gus Etheridge and Linda Jor dan and both are also members of The Lost Colony cast this year. The tickets for the special Monday night production are now on sale. (Ay :ock Brown Photo) \UGUST 18th HOLDS MUCH IMPORTANCE FOR DARE COUNTY A Memorable Date Marking Birth of First English Child in New World By WADE LUCAS Manteo.—ft sb happens that August 18 is the anniversary of a date marking two highly historic events in the history of Roanoke Island. It was on Aug. 18, 1587, that Virginia Dare, the first English child to be bom in what is now the United States of America, and it was on Aug. 18, 1937, that President Franklin Delano Roose velt came here to help commemo rate the 350th anniversary of the birth of the ill-fated daughter of Ananias and Eleanor Dare. This story is no rehash of the frequently told and unproven ac counts of what happened to Vir ginia Dare, her parents, and other members of the group Sir Walter Raleigh sent out from England to found a new colony in what Eng lish Queen Elizabeth and others thought was a “New World” filled with gold and silver and other riches. It is no story about the long rived symphonic drama penned by Pulitzer prize winner Paul Green and called “The Lost Colony”; It is no story about “The Lost Colony”; which had its premiere performance back in July, 19371, and which is now in its T7th sea son at the Waterside Theatre on the very site the ill-fated colonists tried to establish a colony under the flag of England, a country threatened at the time by the fearsome armada of greedy King Philip of Spain. But it is a hitherto untold story of what fun-loving Franklin De lano Roosevelt, then President of the United States, did and said when he visited this historic is land and gave to “The Lost Colony” a “shot in the arm” that has enabled Paul Green’s master piece to become the world’s long est lived symphonic drama of its kind! The story then as it is now was that “The Lost Colony”’ was origi nally intended to be a onC-season offering to be highlighted by the celebration of the 350th anniver sary of the birth of the* first Eng lish speaking child ever to be bom in North America. The then Governor and later Senator Clyde Roark Hoey, the then Congressman Lindsay C. Warren of the First North Caro lina District, which incliides Dare County and Roanoke Island, the then North Carolina Senators Josiah W. Bailey and Robert Rice Reynolds, the Roanoke Colony Memorial Association of Manteo, and others thought it would be nice to invite President Roosevelt to the anniversary of little Vir ginia’s birth. Lindsay Warren had long been active in trying to make Roanoke Island a mecca for history-loving tourists. And so it was that when he and others placed the invita- See BIG DAY, PAge Bi* YEPCO TO REFUND ROANOKE ISLAND CUSTOMERS $7,000 More Than 800 Meter Deposits Paid Through Years Soon to Be Repaid Roanoke Island electric custo mers are due to get something like $7,000 more or less in the near future from the Virginia Electric & Power Co., which repre sents the $8 deposit per meter paid through the years to the Roa noke Utilities Company, according to J. S. Hamilton, District Mana ger of the Williamston District. The meter refunds will be made to those costumers whose accounts are on a current basis, he said. This means that people who owe the company, may expect their de posits to be applied 'on due ac counts. ' The Virginia Electric & Power Company bought out all the ac counts of the Manteo company, which includes not only the meter deposits, but all bills due for elec tricity. In a few days, the com pany expects to send a letter to all its customers explaining the situation. . The Company doesn’t have a policy of requiring a meter depos it. But in many cases it will re quire a deposit of all new custo mers who do not have an estab lished credit rating. This in parti cular for new commercial custo mers, or other new customers. The deposit required usually approxi mates two and a half months of service. The company makes each applicant for service an /individual See VEPCO, Page Six MANTEO WATERFRONT AREA BEING IMPROVED AS COMMUNITY PROJECT gjfwL 1 WORKMEN ARE SHOWN as piles were being driven recently under the supervision of John Ferebee (at right))for a new bulkhead at the town’s waterfront lot which the Manteo Waterfront Improvement Committee is developing into a yacht basin and waterfront park. A new boat launching ramp at the site is almost ready for use, and the committee expects shortly to begin construction of docks, material for which is'already on hand. (Island Studio photo) MANTEO, N. C. ( FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 1957 MANTEO'S YACHT BASIN PROJECT IS PROGRESSING Large Launching Ramp Is Almost Ready For Use; Area for Docks Deepened to Five Feet Work on the development of Manteo’s yacht basin by the Man teo Waterfront Improvement Com mittee is continuing, and a large new boat launching ramp is ex pected to be ready for use within about two weeks, as soon as a concrete footing can be poured. The committee has extensive plans for the development of the water front lot belonging to the town and it is expected that the work will go forward at an accelerated rate in September, after Labor Day has passed and volunteer workers have more time to devote to the project. Work on the community project began last fall with the deepening of Dough’s Creek adjacent to the lot, which was the site of the old Roanoke Hotel. The spoil from the dredging was used to build up the lot. The area was dredged out to a depth of about 5 to 514 feet, which gives sufficient water to ac commodate yachts up to about 50 feet in length. The new launching ramp, which is 25 feet wide, can be used for launching all sizes of outboard motor boats. Main Street has been extended alongside Davis Store all the way up to the ramp and as phalted by the town, so that there will be no danger of cars or trucks getting stuck while launching boats. Work is also in progress to con struct additional bulkheading to prevent the washing away of the shore, and piles have been driven for this and for a portion of the docks while are to be built. Two docks are planned, with each ex tending out 60 feet from shore and with a 50-foot extension running parallel to the shore from the end of these. It is expected that when all these docks are completed, twelve to fifteen yachts in the neighborhood of 40 feet in length will be able to tie up there at one time. Electricity and fresh water will be readily available to visiting boats, while fuel and oil can be ob tained at neafty commercial docks. An increase in the number of boats visiting Manteo is expected to result from the completion of the project to deepen the channel to a minimum depth of 12 feet all the way into Manteo from Oregon Inlet. The entire project has been approved by the federal govern ment, but Congress has not yet made the appropriation for the third and final phase of the proj ect which would deepen the Man teo end of the channel through Shallowbag Bay into Dough’s Creek. The committee’s plans also call for the provision of a clubhouse ad jacent to the docks, with conven ient parking spaces. Earlier, it was proposed to move the old Chad wick homestead, known for many years as the Tranquil House, across the street from its present location and convert it into a club house, but it now appears that it may be more feasible to construct an entirely-new building. The front end of the lot is pro posed to be landscaped and devel-i oped as a park and playground, j with provisions included in the plans for construction of a swim- 1 See PROJECT, Page Six 1 TO BE PREACHER AT LOST COLONY SUNDAY 1 jf Eh THE REV. STUART F. GAST of St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church, Washington, D. C., will be guest minister in the eighth of a series of Sunday wor ship periods on Sunday morning, August 18, at The Lost Colony’s Waterside Theatre near Manteo. Choral music by The Lost Col ony Choir under direction of Dr. Elwood Keistef, the drama’s music director, with George Perry at the organ will be a feature of the services. The Rev. Mr. Gast, is no stranger to Lost Colony Sunday services, as he has been one of the guest ministers each summer for the past several seasons. He is a native of Lancaster, Pa., a graduate of Franklin Marshall College, General Theological Semi nary, New York City. He did See SERVICES, Page Six 18 MARINES INJURED AS TRUCK UPSETS EN ROUTE TO FIRE Accident Happens About Six O'Cloclc Thursday Morning; 18 Treated at Belhaven A truck loaded with 21 Marines upset three miles east of Belhaven Thursday morning, and 18 were in jured, some seriously. The injured were treated by Drs. Wright and Suther at the Pungo District Hos pital at Belhaven, according to Charles L. Gwynn, hospital admin istrator. The men were en route to Dare County, part of a detachment of 150 sent to aid in the forest fire fighting near Manns Harbor. The driver was Robert Lee Blackwell, 26, of Salisbury, N. C. The brakes are said to have given trouble; the truck went in a ditch; a large water tank being towed jackknifed into the truck, causing much of the damage. All 18 men were sent back to Camp Le Jeune Thursday after noon, four of them by ambulance. None of the injuries are consider ed dangerous. A second Marine was reported injured at Englehard when another of the trucks upset Thursday morning, some 50 miles east of the first mishap. It appears that Ma rines were taking their orders lit erally, to go to the fire. They were on their way somewhere. In addition to having hospital facilities at Belhaven, they had with them a medical unit, includ ing three ambulances, ready to give service. OUR CITIZENS ARE HEAVIEST LOSERS AS FOREST FIRES DEVASTATE 80,000 ACRES Two Weeks Toll in Hyde and Dare Woodlands Means Greatest Losses in Many Years in Tim ber, Game and Potential Tourist Income; May Prove Serious Discouragement to Investors. 150 MARINES GET IN ACTION AGAINST DARE FOREST FIRE National Guard Unit Also Sent From Elizabeth City to Aid Forces An order to send 150 marines from Cherry Point base to join the battle against the big Dare County forest fire Thursday brings the number of workers to sevei-al hundred, who are now engaged in the struggle against a conflagra tion that has raged all this month. A Marine Corps detail under the direction of Staff Sergeant Allison Woolsey of Cherry Point has been on the job with much equipment since early in the week. Twenty men of the supervisory personnel of the N. C. Forestry Service were due to fly in Thurs day afternoon in a B-47 transport from Asheville, landing at the Manteo Airport. Hurt while repairing a tractor Wednesday night at Manns Har bor was Ashley Pittman, one of the mechanics with the forestry service. He was treated by Dr. Trimble Johnson of Manteo, and flown from the Manteo airport next morning, to Rocky Mount for hospital treatment, in a plane piloted by Brantley Brown. Earlier in the week, a National Guard detail was ordered to the scene from Elizabeth City. Hun dreds of men from various units in the state, include Coast Guards men, state forestry workers, and employees of the West Virginia’ Pulp & Paper Company have been almost constantly on the job. Only one citizen living in the trgatened communities has vol unteered to help in the battle. The lone exception at Manns Har bor being Willie Crain, a fisher man, who came out and told the fire fighters he was available to assist them in any way they wish ed, according to District Fire Warden, Frank Hemilwright. Sev eral highway patrolmen have been on duty constantly to protect traffic, as well as the workers who might be endangered by traffic, and at various times, the road has been blocked to traffic. The highways through the area have been endangered by the fires which burn under the road beds, and undermine them as the peaty soil beneath bums up. Much of the effort of the fire fighters has been concentrated on trying to save the roads. Best news of all was a lively shower beginning at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, and lasting in a drizzle all day. On Thursday, as well as the day before, brisk southwest winds have sent the flames back toward See MARINES, Page Six TWO DAY BATTLE OF FIRE THREATENING WANCHESE The two-day battle with a fire which threatened several areas of Wanchese, including the Methodist church, appears to have been brought to a standstill. Both the Manteo and Kill Devil Hills Fire Departments went to the scene, and stayed on the job. Many men had to sacrifice their time to serve in this cause. They lost pay from their work. They got no help from Roanoke Island citizens, nor did anyone think to bring them water or food while they stuck by the job. While a threat was abroad, in the land, the good folk sat on I their porches and rocked. | In connection with this fire, it is reported it was caused by a fire set by a Wanchese citizen to , burn off a pasture. Fire Warden Frank Hemilwright says he ex pects to do some prosecuting, as he has not issued a permit for burning this month, and anyone setting a fire was clearly bi-eak ing the law. f SPOTS PLENTIFUL FROM KITTY HAWK TO HATTERAS This is the season for spots, if the angler is fishing the surf anywhere between Southern Shores at Kitty Hawk and the point of Hatteras Beach. Everywhere along the surf anglers are reporting big catches of spots. One party at Southern Shores landed more than 200 in just a few hours. Other anglers at Nags Head, Oregon Inlet and all along the 50 mile surf and beach of Hatteras have been making sim ilar reports of good catches. Single Copy 70 Close scrutiny of losses sustained , during two weeks of raging fires on the mainland of Dare and Hyde counties brings us up against the striking knowledge that the loss which may eventually run into mil lions will be primarily the loss of the citizens of Dare and Hyde counties. What is not readily apparent is 1 that in dollars and cents, the own -1 ers of the property, West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company, may never ! suffer in any degree to compare 1 with the people who are here, who 1 will remain here, and who must make their living here. ; Some of the heaviest losses are ' immediate ones, for the Pamlico . Power & Light Co. of Engelhard ' whose lines deliver electricity to three Dare County villages, were ’ damaged and subjected to costly r replacement. Service to citizens was interrupted while repairs were t made, and financial losses resulted , from interrupted refrigeration and other inconveniences. But the heavier losses will be more evident in months and years ‘ ahead. There will be loss of income r to guides and others local business -7 men in the months of this winter j because there will be fewer game . animals to attract sportsmen whose ; spending is worth while in a dull , season. There will be losses next year, when property values are reduced on the tax books, and smaller sums in taxes will be paid to the county treasury. There was loss during the past two weeks when tourist travel • along the roads in the area was in terrupted and those who depend on tourist dollars lost income. Millions in Timber Gone It is a mighty conservative es timate to say that what might have in a few years developed into far more than a million dollars worth of merchantable timber, went up in smo\e. Maybe a company of the magnitude of West Virginia can write enough of it off in tax losses to minimize this blow to almost nothing. But our citizens can’t write it off their losses. The mis fortune will continue a cumulative loss which year after year will take away from their resources and their opportunities for deriving in come in their homeland. This fire has been our most wide ly publicized one, through press, radio and television daily. With its day by day progress, the public is familiar. The public however, has not been told fully the causes that made this our worst fire. It is not generally understood why this one was so intense and lasted so long. The greatest contributing factor has been this* summer’s long dry spell, the weeks and months-with out rain, whereby the water table has been lowered some three feet. Months of this dry weather has al lowed the peaty soil to become as dry as tinder. The soil in most of this area consists of layers of logs, limbs and roots, and most of these roots being dead from other causes, the whole area beneath the soil to a depth of two or three feet is highly flammable. Once getting on fire, it bums for weeks and sometimes months, with a slow blaze far under the soil. Fires thought to have been extinguished, sometimes break out unexpectedly See FIRE, Plage Six J. H. MIDGETT. RODANTHE NATIVE, DIES IN VIRGINIA Norfolk Jethro Hathway Midgett, 72, died at his home, 1055 Reid Ave, Princess Anne County, Va., at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday. A native of Rodanthe, he had lived in Norfolk area one year. He was one of many who bear a simi lar name. H< was a member of Powells Point Baptist Church, N. C. He was a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Midgett. He is survived by his wife, Annie Lowton Midgett of Princess Anne County; two daughters, Mrs. Gertrude M. Smith and Mrs. Nancy M. Williams, both of Nor folk; two sons, Ira Peterson Mid gett of Baltimore, Md., and Jeth ro H. Midgett Jr. of Norfolk; twd brothers, Marshall and Marion Midgett, both of Miami, Fla.; 12 grandchildren and several nieces and nenhews at 2 pan. Thursday by the Rev. H. Edgar Harden, pastor. Burial
The Coastland Times (Manteo, N.C.)
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Aug. 16, 1957, edition 1
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