VOLUME XXIII NO. 43
NEW APPRAISALS EXPECTED TO
LIFT ADDITIONAL SIOO,OOO OUT
OF RESORT PROPERTY OWNERS
Heavy Burden To Be Shifted to Owners of Beach
Cottages, Motels, and New Homes on Coast,
As New Jersey Firm Winds Up Appraisals;
Big Decline Expected in Value of Resort Prop
erty. Total Shake-Down of Taxes Expected to
Be Over Quarter Million Dollars.
An approximate computation of
figures growing out of the 1958
tax listing in Dare County reveals
a property valuation doubling that
of 1957, oh a total of close to 37
million dollars. The anticipated
tax levy this year will be over
SIOO,OOO greater than last year.
The tax levy is expected to yield
well over a quarter of a million
dollars. Some of the county funds
are running in the red; a lot of
extra money is needed for schools,
and several county officials are
already licking their chops for con
siderable increases in salary and
other expenses.
The bulk of this more than SIOO,-
000 to be lifted out of the people
will be taken from the pockets of
those who have built new homes,
who own hotels and motels, sea
shore cottages and unimproved re
sort acreage.
In Atlantic Township, the valua
tion has been jumped from six mil
lions to more than sls million.
In Nags Head township, which
includes Roanoke Island, the valu
ations have been jumped from
$5,977,249 to $14,112,570.
Figures for other townships
were published last week. Even in
the smallest township in the Coun
ty, Kinnekeet, the $510,000 in real
estate was raised to over a mil
lion dollars. Least hurt will be in
Chairman Claude Duvall’s terri
tory, where bulk of value is own
ed by one big timber company, on
whose payroll he has been contin
uously since he gave them a big
cut in taxes five years ago.
The Commissioners met last
Friday and approved the work of
the New Jersey firm. And then
they followed with a resolution to
cut their figures 70 per cent.
When the property has been cut
70 per cent in value, and the 70 to
75 cent tax rate is applied, as it
is reported this week the Board
intends to do, we will find in the
case of Atlantic Township alone,
that property owners in that area
will have to cough up an addi
tional $45,000 for 1958 taxes.
A comparative amount will have
to be paid by the taxpayers of
Nags Head township, which has
the second longest beach area.
Here are the district real estate
valuations just tabulated in Nags
Head township:
N. Jersey 1957
Values Vai.
Manteo white $3,686,020 £,941,163
Manteo colored 251,910 144,753
Wanchese 844,180 691,333
Nags Head 9,330,460 2,200,000
Total 15,112,570 5,977,249
The total valuation last year was
$5,977,249 which included all per
sonal property. It is now more
than two and a half times greater.
Now to analyze this proposed
tax rate of 70 cents. This is the
basic rate, and to it will be added
in all of Atlantic Township, Nags
Head township, Croatan. and East
Lake townhsips a tax to retire
some half a million dollars in
school bonds recently issued.
A tax should have been levied
on these 'bonds this year, but it
was held off, which amounts to
postponing a larger pain to a date
less suitable for payment,
In the meantime, the appraisers
are continuing with the job this
week, just selecting a few opera
tions of businesses, which have
been brought to their special at
tention. Values are being placed
on these properties now when the
year is half gone, and when none
of them can know what the tax
payer had on January 1, and this
is what taxpayers are submitting
to.
It’s really giving concern to a
lot of people, now with $37 mil
lion in property on the books to
play with, just how rank this board
‘might go next year, once the elec
tions are out of the way.
HYDE SUIT RESTRAINS
CONSTRUCTION OF SCHOOL
A restraining order by Judge
Clifton Moore in Columbia Wed
nesday afternoon, has stopped the
appropriation of any state funds
for the further construction of a
consolidated school at Lake Com
fort until the county has obtained
the land in fee simple.
The suit was bruoght against
the State Board of Education by
Eari Topping of Sladesville. Con
struction of the school has been
underway for several days.
Date for hearing of the case will
be announced shortly.
THE COASTLAND TIMES
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTEREST OF THE WALTER RALEIGH COASTLAND OF NORTH CAROLINA
THE MAN WHO REVIVED
NATIONAL SEASHORE ACT
' SO
CONGRESSMAN HERBERT C.
BONNER has been an important
figure in the development of the
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Some two or three times he re
vived the bill in Congress which
gave it new life during the dull
days which followed World War
11. He was constantly on job to
give aid to the cause, and travelled
with Park Service officials when
hearings were held in the face of
strongly organized opposition
from real estate interests. As usu
al, this week he was on hand, and
as usual was accompanied by im
portant colleagues in Congress.
Accompanying Cong re s sman
Bonner to Dare County Wednesday
afternoon were three other out
standing Congressmen. The party
stopped at* the Carolinian Hotel
and included Congressman Mike
Kerwin of Ohio, Chairman of the
Sub-committee on Interior Dept,
appropriations, and other members
of this committee: the ranking Re
publican member, Ben Jensen of
Iowa; Rep. Ed. P. Boland of Mass.;
and Rep. Thos. P. O’Neill of Mass.
The party flew back to Wash
ington, Thursday aftemon.
IT WAS A LONG, LONG TRAIL
A-WINDING TO A TRAGIC END
: IN CANAL NEAR FAIRFIELD
I ———
> Investigators Picking Up Threads Leading To
ward Death of Virginia Man Reported To
Carry Quarter Million Life Insurance; Was
Fugitive From Federal Warrants For Compli
city In Operation of 300,000 Gallon Whiskey
Still in Baltimore.
i —.-
By VICTOR MEEKINS
A grim tale of life and death,
of alleged evasion of law, of big
time operations in contracting,
lumbering farming, and liquor
making is unfolding this week for
the qntertainment of the people of
Hyde County, as investigation is
resumed in the death of Charles
Hurst Martin, 47, late of Sydnors
ville, Va.
Did Mr. Martin deliberately
drive his car off the road and to
the bottom of the Canal on Sun
day morning, April sth, and from
where his car with the body inside
was recovered on Saturday mom*
ing, April 12th?
Or did Mr. Martin have enemies
who wanted to get him out of the
the way on that fateful Sunday
morning, because of his knowledge
of whiskey operations in Balti
more, which embraced the opera
tion of a 300,000 gallon whiskey
still?
Or did Mr. Martin, after a short
life of big time operating, and
plunging in business ventures,
reluctantly conclude he had reach
ed the end of Ms rope, and figure
the only way out was to end it all,
and allow his estate to collect the
quarter million dollars in life in
surance he is reported to have car
ried?
Investigators Come In
Whatever the answers, two keen
looking insurance investigators
have picked up this week where
local officers had left off, and
are seeking to unravel .the case,
and to find them. Mr. Martin was
heavily insured in at least three
WARREN CONDEMNS
TOLL BRIDGES AS
JAMBOREE BEGINS
As Park Is Dedicated, Its Parent
Declares Against Second
Class Travellers
There should be no second class
travellers anywhere in North Caro
lina; there should not be a class
in the west who are privileged to
ride free, while people in the east
are shacked with tolls.
This was a thunderbolt delivered
at the close of his speech by Hon.
Lindsay Warren Thursday after
noon at the second event in the
dedication of the Cape Hatteras
National Seashore.
Speaking at Coquina Beach,
Bodie Island, Mr. Warren blasted
those who now propose that our
own state place tolls on a bridge
at the western entrance to this
great seashore region, (referring
to Alligator River). Notice was
served that all should fight against
any such move to discriminate
against the people of the Coast
land and those who wish to come
to the Seashore Park.
Mr. Warren said in his speech,
that it was a happy day in his
life, and one he had looked for
ward to with great pleasure. He
recalled that when Franklin D.
Roosevelt visited Roanoke Island
irt" 1937, the President announced
that he had just signed the bill
to make the park possible.
Governor Luther H. Hodges of
North Carolina, Paul Mellon of the
Avalon Foundation from which
funds, matched by North Carolina,
resulted in land acquisition for the
National Seashore and former U.
S. Comptroller General Lindsay C.
Warren of Washington, N. C., who
as First District Congressman of
N. C., introduced the bill creating
this first oceanside recreational
area of the Interior Department
all delivered greetings. Conrad
Wirth, director of the National
Park Service presided while
music for the occasion was pro
vided by Elizabeth City High
School’s pirate band.
In addition to speaking at this
spot, south of Nags Head, there
were two unique events. Mixing
of waters from Old Faithful Gey
ser at Yellowstone, the first Na
tional Park, with the waters of
Cape Hatteras, the first National
Seashore will be a special cere
mony, in which Governor Hod’j’ > s,
Mr. Ernst and Rear Admiral H.
C. the U. S. Coast Guard
and the recreational area’s Super
intendent Robert F. Gibbs
participated. And then, from the
special dedication stage Governor
Hodges officially crowned the
See JAMBOREE, Page Eight
companies. If his death was an
accident or murder, then perhaps
some of these policies would pay
off double. If it was suicide, then
there is a question of paying at
all, particularly if the policies
hadn’t been long in force. This
week’s investigators are from
Norfolk and New York.
Let’s look at the story of
Charles Hurst Martin, 47, who
owned a big dairy and cattle farm
up in Franklin County, Va. He
was a contractor and builder of
houses, a developer of real estate,
a speculator in timber, and en
gaged in other enterprises.
He was married to a charming
little wife, and he had a son, and
a grandchild. He was one of nine
living children, had been brought
up to work,’ and knew his way
around. He gambled heavily in
business deals.
Two years ago, he was down at
Fairfield in the timber business.
He handled several big tracts of
timber. He lived at Lindsay Sad
ler’s nice new motel, and the Sad
ler’s speak highly of him. He was
always agreeable, paid his bills
promptly, and was no trouble at
all. His wife was a teacher, and
when school turned out in Vir
ginia, she came down and stayed
with him, and they seemed to be
a most agreeable couple.
Left Own Car Behind
Along about the fourth of April
he drove his 1954 Cadillac auto
mobile into the Cadillac place in
Martinsville, Va., and said he wish
ed to leave the car for repair of 1
a door glass. He said he had ai
See TRAIL, Page Foor
MANTEO, N. C„ FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 1958
POWERFUL ALLY TO KEEP
OUR BRIDGES TOLL FREE
HON. LINDSAY C. WARREN is
a powerful advocate to see that
the people of Eastern North Caro
lina shall not be discriminated
against and shackled with tolls.-
Some of our own people now pro
pose that we be put' under toll
bridges. Mr. Warren has just been
nominated without opposition to
the N. C. Senate. His long experi
ence and ability should go a long
way to achieve the completion of
the bridges that are needed.
HOW MUCH KICKING
AROUND WILL DARE
PEOPLE STAND FOR?
(Editorial Comment)
The present tax situation in
Dare County should cause many
people to wonder just how much
kicking around the citizens of
Dare County will continue to take
from their Board of Commission
ers and some other officials.
In the face of an all time high
cost of living the Commissioners
are taking the county’s badly
needed money and paying some
total strangers $22,000 to come into
the county, and jump the valua
tion of property to more than 35
million dollars, whereby many
people’s taxes will be more than
doubled. >
The commissioners deliberately
j staged this revaluation so its re
] suits could not be known to the
. people prior to the time to file
for office in the primary. Now
’ that the date has passed, a few
I taxpayers are being notified to ap
. pear on the 28th of April to offer
3 objections. This is an insult to
; their intelligence, for no reasonable
r notice is given and many people
» will not be able to appear.
The commissioners have already
• had a meeting, and accepted the
valuations that these outsiders
have put on the property, and
judging by some of the figures we
have seen, we think they could only
have been done by people insuf
ficiently informed locally to pass
I on these values. We have heard
numerous people discuss these
agents, and they have without ex
ception expressed the same opin-
■ ion.
> Since the board bought this job
in the first place, and have accept-
’ ed the work at such great cost to
. the people, it is not likely they
, will change any of it and give
relief.
The Board is in a tight spot,
i They have run the county in the
i hole by spending heavily for proj
’ ects not authorized by law, and by
i overspending appropriations. They
t allow $86,000 in taxes to go un
i collected on the books.
> They want to get elected again,
i and they will undertake something
desperate, perhaps not levying
’ enough money to pay out this year,
> but making the burden doubly
i heavy next year. They are attempt-
> ing to soak property owners who
' can’t vote, while reducing the ob
, ligations of those they hope will
• vote for them.
With valuations as they have
; now been doubled, many people
I will be unable to pay their taxes.
■ Some of them will lose their prop
; erty. People with money will hesi
' tate to invest Some who might
i build rental homes to provide for
See SITUATION, Page Four
CHESLEY MIDGETT BUYS
INTEREST IN GROCERY
Chesley Midgett Jr. of Wanchese
1 has bought an interest in the
1 Archie Burrus grocery in Manteo
’ where he has been employed for
I more than two years. The business
will henceforth be known as Bur
rus’ Self Service Food Cehter. The
business has been operated by
Archie Burrus, sole owner for the
past IS years, and was founded
in 1943 by his father, the late
Roscoe Burrus and the late Bob
.O’Neal of Manteo.
It is the largest grocery in Man
‘ teo. Mr. Burrus will continue ac
n tive in as isting Mr. Midgett in
the operation of the business. k
NAVY DWELLINGS
AT BUXTON TO
COST $463,000
Dwellings for 27 Families to Be
Erected Adjacent to Navy
Installation
Twenty seven families of Navy
personnel attached to the big in
stallation constructed at Cape Hat
teras during the past three years,
are to have splendid quarters.
These units, each a separate house,
with concrete floors, car-port, heat
ing plant and some with a bath
and a half are to be located north
of the establishment.
Low bidder at $463,000 was
Hugh G. Strickland, Inc. of Win
ston-Salem, when bids were open
ed at 2 pun. in Norfolk Friday.
The buildings will be of frame
construction, with concrete floors,
asbestos siding. The location is on
the north side of the Navy build
pigs, and the west of the road
leading thereto. The site will have
to be filled with a large quantity
of sand. .
AGC, the construction industry’s
trade association in the Carolinas,
listed the following general con
tractors bidding on the project:
Hugh G. Strickland, Inc. (AGC),
Winston-Salem; J. T. Hardison
and Sons, Inc. (AGC), Washing
ton; Dußose Construction Co.
(AGC), Kinston; Kellogg-Cuthrell,
Inc. (AGC), Manteo; and D. R.
Allen and sons, Inc. (AGC), Fay
etteville.
22 CANDIDATES FILE
FOR PUBLIC OFFICE
IN DARE COUNTY
Few People Willing to Serve
County in Time of Need;
Six Empty Places
Six offices will go by default in
the May 31 Democratic primary
for lack of canddiates. Unexpect
edly, and without any notice hav
ing been given, the registration
period closed at Noon Saturday,
when most people expected it to
be open until six p.m. This may
have kept some out of the field.
No candidate filed from Kenne
keet Township for the Board of
Education. There are no contests
on this Board from the Mainland
District—from Atlantic Township,
nor Hatteras township. In Nags
Head Township, R. O. Ballance is
opposed by Willis R. Pearce, and
Jack Tillett.
County Judge W. F. Baum,
Sheriff Frank Cahoon, Clerk of
the Court C. S. Meekins, are with
out opposition. Melvin R. Daniels
of Wanchese is opposed for Reg
ister of Deeds by Robert Lee Mid
gett of Manteo. Mr. Daniels was
successful in getting three other
likely opponents to give up the
idea of running. By tearful ap
peals that he only wanted a little
more time, that he didn’t know
what he would do if he got kicked
out, and that he hoped to build up
his prospects for pension, three
“good-hearted” boys all yielded to
his plea, namely, John H. Long,
George A. Daniels, and H. O.
Bridges. And so the man who
thinkg himself so high and mighty,
See POLITICS, Page Four
UNCLE SAM FROM SYCAMORE WRITES:
DEAR MISTER EDITOR:
I' see by the papers where
Congressman Carroll Kearns of
Pennsylvania has introduced a
bill to put the Star Spangled
Bonner in the key of A flat so
folks won’t stumble over them
high notes near the end.
I’m in favor of anything that’ll
help the Star Spangled Banner
git back in good standing in
this country. We got kids in
school today that can sing all
five verses of Elvis Presley’s
“Hound Dog" that ain’t never
heard of the Star Spangled Ban
ner.
As usual, they referred the
Kearns bill to a congressional
committee. -That means it’s cost
the taxpayers about SIO,OOO,
whether we git it settled in A
flat or F sharp. The committee
will ask a handful of guvern
ment clerks to make a report on
the matter. The report will run
to about 200 pages and cost
about SIO,OOO, which is about
par fer the congressional report
course.
Abe Lincoln asked his secre
tary onct to d’ind out something
about a saddle horse advertised
fer sale in the papers. Six weeks
later he got a 150-page report on
the horse. After reading the
first two paragraphs, Abe throw
ed the report in the wastebasket
and called fer his secretary. He
told him that fer all he know
ed, the horse could be dead by
now, and furthermore he just
wanted to know the good and
bad points about the horse, not a
report on how many hairs in the
STORY OF THIS WEEK’S PARK
SERVICE DEDICATION AND THE
HISTORY OF THE PROJECT
Cape Hatteras National Seashore Project Has
Had A Varied and Interesting History Since
Its Inception; Made Possible By State and Fed
eral Money, And Gifts From Old Dominion and
Avalon Foundations.
CHOICE FOR MAY QUEEN
AT CHOWAN COLLEGE
I
i " iBSs
MISS SARAH BURRUS of Hat
teras, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
M. L. Burrus, a first year student
at Chowan College has been chosen
May Queen this year. Among other
honors, Miss Burrus was chosen to
represent Chowan College recently
at the N. C. Tournament of Col
lege Students held at Campbell
College.
ROCKFISH RUNNING HEAVY
IN CROATAN SOUND
The Spring run of striped bass
in Croatan and Roanoke Sounds
for anglers began on the weekend.
Marty Bowles of Montogomery,
W. Va. fishing with a bucktail lure
at the little bridge between Nags
Head and Roanoke Island caught
two on Friday, and in the same
waters, landed three large-mouth
bass that had gone south from
their normal waters of the north.
On Saturday, Wallace Shannon,
a perennial striper fisherman of
Manteo, began trolling with a red
head bucktail in the vicinity of
Croatan Sound and the new Wil
liam B. Umstead bridge. After
getting strikes and several fish
with his rrod and reel he changed
over to a set of handlines each
loaded with the same lure. In ex
actly two hours, according to hiis
report, he had landed 120 fish, or
one striper per minute. This would
have been an impossible feat with
rod, reel and lure for one man, but
with several handlines it is not out
of the ordinary to catch an aver
age of a fish a minute for 120 min
utes.
The rockfish taken during the
weekend ranged from one to four
pounds each.
horse’s tail.
We got thousands of Federal
employees spending millions ever
year counting the hairs in the
horse’s tail. A thing like this
Star Spangled Banner report
could easily git out of hand.
And I see where they’re still
agitating. that business about
higher pay fer teachers. I con
sider myself a living example of
the product of low paid teachers.
I’m in favor of raising a teach
er’s pay high enough that they
won’t be no more ignorant folks
like me in the next generation.
But I think it’s about time
them politicians git back on the
farmer platform again. When I
was a young man no canddiate
could git in office unless he run
on a platform of relief fer the
farmer. It never helped the
framer none, but it made him
feel important I been feeling
mighty neglected here of late
since the politicians is all run
ning after th's school vote. The
next candidate that gits my vote
has got to have a plank in his
platform calling fer bigger and
better relief fer the farmer.
One other item in the papers
caught my fancy this week.
Some automobile manufacturer
from Detroit says the automobile
has been a “great moral force”
in this country. I can’t figger
that one out Maybe it stopped
horse stealing, but aside from
that can’t see nothing it’s done
fer morals.
; Yours truly.
Uncle Sam
Single Copy 7#
The Cape Hatteras National Sea
shore Recreational Area which tern
braces some 70 miles of surf,
sandy beaches and restless dunes
along the picturesque Outer Banks
of North Carolina, was dedicated
as a unit of the National Park
System on Thursday, April 24.
Waters from Old Faithful Gey
ser in Yellowstone, the Nation’s
first national park, was blended
with waters from the Atlantic
Ocean as Assistant Secretary of,
the Interior Roger C. Ernst for
mally dedicated the first national
seashore.
The dedication was held at 2:30
p.m. at Coquina Beach on Bodie
Island, a few miles north of Ore
gon Inlet. Among distinguished
guests participating in the cere
mony were Governor Luther H.
Hodges, of North Carolina, Paul
Mellon, representing the Old Do
minion and the Avalon Founda
tions, former Comptroller General
of the United States, Lindsay C.
Warren and Rear Admiral H. C.
Moore, U. S. Coast Guard Com
mander, Fifth Coast Guard Dis
trict.
The occasion also marked the
opening of the Fourth Annual
Dare Coast Pirates’ Jamboree and
Governor Hodges crowned this
year’s pirate King and Queen fol
lowing the dedication of the sea
shore. Rulers of the four-day jam
boree will be Miss Mary Burrus,
of Hatteras, and Linwood Tillett,
of Kitty Hawk.
On the mofning of the dedication
a special ceremony was held at
the Park Service Visitor Center
adjacent to the historic Cape Hat
teras Lighthouse to commemorate
the donation of 2,700 acres of land
to the national seashore by the
family of the late Henry Phipps.
A bronze plaque memorializing the
gift was unveiled by Raymond
R. Guest on behalf of his family.
National Park Service Director
Conral L. Wirth presided at both
the morning and afternoon cere
monies.
The National Seashore extends
from Whalebone Junction at the
southern boundary of Nags Head,
southward through Ocracoke Is
land. The three islands comprising
the seashore, Bodie, Hatteras, and
Ocracoke, are connected by free
State operated ferries. Two bridges
connect Bodie Island with the
mainland. ■
Dedication of the National Sea
shore culminates a movement
launched almost a quarter of a
century gao when a survey by the
National Park Service called pub
lic attention to the fact that less
than one percent of the Nation’s
total coast line was in public own
ership and remaining undeveloped
areas of the seashore were fast
vanishing. At that time the Park
Service was directing emergency
works projects to control erosion
of the Outer Banks and recom
mended that the Cape Hatteras
National Seashore be established.
In August, 1937, Congress en
acted legislation which had been
introduced by Mr. Warren, then a
Representative from North Caro
lina, authorizing the establishment
of the National Seashore.
The legislation provided that
appropriated Federal funds could
not be used to acquire lands for
the seashore. The State of North
Carolina established a Commission
to acquire lands through donation
and purchase.
In 1952 the Avalon and Old Do
minion Foundations, Philanthropic
organizations established by the
See DEDICATION, Page Four
SEASON’S SEVENTH TUNA
CAUGHT SUNDAY, HATTERAS
Trolling from Capt. Clam
Stowe’s cruiser Ursula in the Gulf
off Hateras on Sunday the seventh
bluefin tuna of the season was
landed by Washington, D. C, Ang
ler Jack Aaronson. His fish
weighed approximately 65 pounds
and was the smallest of the seven
taken off Hatteras.
Landing large bluefin tuna off
Hatteras has atracted wide atten
tion, not only among anglers who
enjoy fishing for them and other
big game species of fish, but also
icthyologists at the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institute in Massa
chusetts, the U. S. Fisheries Sta
tion in Beaufort and the Fisheries
Marine Labratory of The Univer
sity of Miami. Credit for landing
the big fish first goes to Cat Ed-
f a f. St w ro « Y ho had raißed them X>
bait off Hateras m iftßi 1