Newspapers / The Coastland Times (Manteo, … / July 4, 1958, edition 1 / Page 1
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VOLUME XXIV NO. I CITIZENS WITNESS COSTLY LOSS FROM FOREST FIRES IN REDUCED TAX VALUES Striking Example Shown This Year in Loss of Quarter Million Dollars From Tax Books on Dare Mainland Alone, Which Results in Some $3,000 a Year in Income To Be Made Up by Countv's Citizens. I * The vast majority of forest fires are caused by carelessness. Many I people give little consideration to • the consequences of such fires. This week now, the citizens of Dare County find themselves the losers by some $2,500 to $3,000 a year in tax revenue, the result of the vast fire of last year which swept over a large part of the woodlands of Dare County where I lies almost all the county’s land I area. i When the County Commissioners wound up reducing valuations of , taxable property they had wiped 1 off nearly a quarter million dol lars from timberland area in Dare County. Most of this land is own ed by the West Va. Pulp and Paper Co., and in giving them re : leases, the Board reduced by one third too the valuation of some smaller land owners, one, the Kent 'Timber Company of Durant Island got a reduction of $5,047 on prop-. ■ erty which was valued before at) $16,835. This property however has not been touched by fire. The West Virginia company’s valuation was $861,000 last year. 1 It has been cut to $624,125, and this valuation stands for four years. It means that during the next four years, the county will lose about SIO,OOO it might have gotten. This property, which at one time had as much as $17,000 a year taxes on it will now pay less than $7,000. The terrific fire which j swept over a large part of these lands, particularly in the Stumpy Point area, has thrown a terrific cost on citizens who must pay the difference. The school fund, the ‘ welfare fund, the other funds of the county would otherwise suffer. ■ Carelessness is usually the cause of such fires and sometimes they are set through mischief or malice. For many years we have pointed out to the people that the welfare i of the county calls for utmost | caution and jealous protection of i I one of our greatest assets, our I '•’timberlands. Nothing yields great er profit. The sale of timber, the employment of local labor, the stimulation of home business in terests, the development of game birds and animals, all depend on taking care of this timber and help . it grow by protecting it from fire, See FIRES, Page Four KILL DEVIL HILLS TOWN BOARD OFFERS OBJECTIONS TO WATER BOND ELECTION The proposal to vote something more than a million dollars in bonds on the Dare Beaches, Nags {lead to Kitty Hawk—may have hit something of a snag. Many people question the wisdom of holding a bond election at this time, as most anything is predict ,ed a failure in view of the climate of public opinion that has arisen over the unsettled condition of the ridiculous appraisal of taxable property in Dare County. The high and unreasonable valuations, some as much as 400 per cent, gave rise to so much resentment that ' citizens are in no mood to vote •j tor anything extra. The Kill Devil Hills Town Board i Tuesday night voted a resolution ! to protest the proposed election, to the Local Government Advisory Commission in Raleigh. They pointed out that the expenses so I far in connection with establish ing a waterworks sanitary district is said to have cost already some §46,000. That it looks like a pro fitable business for those who are promoting it, is the opinion voiced. There has always been consider able opposition to establishing the Sanitary district at Kill Devil, Hills, badly as a water supply is needed on the beaches. Several years ago, this vicinity voted heavily against the issuing of bonds to establish the district when it might have been done for half the money it cost now. It was represented at Kill Devil Hills that the town should own such a water system, and make money out of it by selling water to the neighboring areas. The fallacy of this argument was proven after the election failed, for no town makes profits on water, and none !*• are supposed to do so. The Kill Devil Hills Board wants some more details about the elec tion now proposed. The thing ia somewhat obscure in many minds. There has been no public relations work about it, and people are grossly uninformed. THE COASTLAND TIMES PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTEREST OF THE WALTER RALEIGH COASTLAND OF NORTH CAROLINA TYRRELL MASONIC LEADER NAMED DISTRICT DEPUTY iijß LLOYD B. DAVENPORT of Co lumbia has been installed as Dis trict Deputy Grand Master of the Third Masonic District, which comprises the lodges at Columbia, Lake Landing, Manteo, Wanchese and Buxton. Two lodges in Hyde County, at Swan Quarter and Fairfield are now attached to the adjoining district. Mr. Davenport, operator of a garage in Columbia is a native of Plymouth, but has been established many years in business and has become a commu nity leader. He has served on the Columbia town board, on the local school committee, and as Master of Providence Lodge, 678, A. F. & A.M. In his present Masonic post, he succeeds R. O. Ballance of Manteo. GOVERNOR GRANTS $150,000 FOR MORE OCRACOKE FERRIES Everything is shaping up well I for Ocracoke Island so far as en couragement of tourist traffic goes. Last week Governor Hodges made an appropriation of $150,000 from the emergency fund to con vert two additional Navy landing craft for the ferry run across Hat teras Inlet. One such large craft is now on the job, and another smaller boat which carries only four cars is used in emergencies, and it ap pears that break downs can hap pen most anytime now. Governor Hodges has been im mensely interested in getting Ocracoke connected by highway with the outside world. About a million dollars has been provided for this purpose, and ultimately it is believed, the all-seashore-high way proposed with a ferry to Cedar Island will materialize with in very few years. UNCLE SAM FROM SYCAMORE WRITES: DEAR MISTER EDITOR: Wimmen’s styles, like football schedules, is announced about a year in advance, and I’ve been reading that skirts will git long er this fall. I ain’t paid much at tention to it because it ain’t of ficial until you see it in Sears and Roebuck’s catalogue. And anyhow, I been too-busy keeping up with the situation in the mid dle East to give it much heed. But last night I was turning the pages of the catalogue to see what kind of labor saving de vices has been invented in case I wanted to do a little farming, and I got over in the wimmen’s section by mistake. Right there in the catalogue it said skirts was gitting longer. That made it official. Now here’s what makes me mad about the situation. I ain’t particular in terested in what wimmen wear or don’t wear, but it’s the fluc tuations that git me riled up. Knee-length, garter-length, calf length, ankle-length, or dragging the ground, it don’t make no dif ference to me. It’s the switching ever year that worries me. And they never go from low to high, you notice, because wimmen like my old lady would just git the scissors and whack off a foot or two, but they fix it so*s a woman has got to buy a new outfit. They ought to be a law about it Just imagine how it would’ be if a man’s pants went up. or down a few feet ever time some guy TWO YOUTHS BOUND OVER FOR ROBBERY; TRIAL NEXT WEEK Recorder Hears Many Cases in Dare Court This Week; One In Jail For Assault Two young brothers of Elizabeth City are under $2,000 bond for appearance next Tuesday in Dare Recorder’s Court for hearing, charged with armed robbery. Leonard E. Gibbs, 20, and Robert E. Gibbs Jr., 16, are charged with holding up Mrs. Julius Butler in her store at Kill Devil Hills about 10:10 p.m. Saturday night while Mr. Butlei- was away. Their father, R. E. Gibbs, signed their appearance bond. The robbers entered the store with faces covered with white handkerchiefs. A colored man | working on the beach was there. | They pointed a sawed-off shotgun at Mrs. Butler, and robbed the store of between SSO and SIOO in cash. Corporal R. A. Tripp of the State Highway Patrol and Deputy Sheriff D. F. Twyne followed the pair, and caught them at Coinjock. Chief of Police George Frank of Kill Devil Hills later found part of the gun in the sand nearby the scene of the robbery. Mr. Frank had remembered the boys from earlier in the day. Two other boys are suspected of being implicated in this case. In Dare Recorder’s Court this week Chester Rogers of Colington was held under $2,000 bond for the stabbing of Robert James at the Flamingo Case, Nags Head,! following a drunken row. Three others involved in the case went free/ the court taking a nol pros in the cases of Ernest Rogers, See COURT, Page Ten INSISTENT SAMARITANS AID DISTRESSED WOMAN, PURSE DEFLATED OF SSO It’s got so now one never knows when to accept help when disabled on the highways of Dare County. What may be represented as a good Samaritan may turn out to be a highway robber. Two reputed East Carolina col lege students, and Morehead City youths at that, approached the dis abled car of Mrs. B. J. Liverman. operator of the Carolina cabins j Tuesday evening after dark. Mrs. Liverman had a flat tire. The I young men insisted on helping her. I Despite her protests that her spare ’was flat, and that she had already sent down the road for a new tire, they were persistent that they should change her tire. They jack ed it up, and one got in the driv er’s seat, ostensibly to hold the brake so the car wouldn’t roll off the jack. Both youths had been drinking. One stood outside, and waved traf fic past. Mrs. Liverman discovered after it was over that SSO was missing from her purse on the seat. Sheriff Frank Cahoon was called to the scene and discovered the young men. He later discover ed the money in a cigarette pack, which had been thrown out nearby. He got an admission of the theft from one of the young men. Further report on what will be done with the “Good Samaritans” is not available. with a wax mustache in Paris got a new idea. And there ought to be a law agin the catalogue coming out and saying wimmen’s dresses will be a foot longer this fall than last. This is a new form of taxation, what you might call “hidden” tax', hiding a gal’s legs and hidirig the tax all at the same time. Congress has already took notice of fluctuations in other things, fer instant the price of cotton can’t fluctuate more’n a certain amount per bale from one day to another. I’d like to see a law saying the length of a woman’s skirt couldn’t fluc uate more’n one inch in any one year. It’d save a heap of money. But with them Wall Street boys having a heavy interest in the garment industry, I ain’t got no real hopes fer such a law. I reckon it would be better fer me not to worry about such things, See UNCLE SAM, Page Four remember the races TODAY IN MANTEO Fourth of July visitors with time on their hands are reminded of the Dare Power Boat Association’s plans for the afternoon. They have scheduled an interesting series of outboard races beginning at 1:30 p.m. in Manteo harbor. There will be 30 to 35 boats racing in five outboard divisions. There is no charge, and everyone is invited. MANTEO, N. C., FRIDAY, JULY 4, 1958 DARE COUNTY'S CITIZENS TO GIVE HIM TESTIMONIAL P” wK J A group of Dare County people this week made plans to tender a big manifestation of appreciation on July 31 to Hon. R. Bruce Etheridge, representative of Dare I County on the occasion of his 80th birthday. A. W. Drinkwater, whose 83rd birthday comes the same date, was chosen as honorary chairman of this committee which is now being formed throughout the county. Tentative plans call for a cele bration at 11 a.m., July 31 at Fort Raleigh, Where there is seat ing capacity for a large crowd. It is planned at that time to present to Mr. and Mrs. Etheridge an ap propriate gift in recognition of the long service of this family to the community and county, and free will contributions to this fund are being received. A picnic dinner for all interested citizens will follow on Fort Raleigh grounds. It is planned to have a special seat for all visitors 80 years and older, and who will be presented to the crowd. Fort Raleigh gates will be admission free to all visit ors to this event by courtesy of the National Park Service. A meeting to plan for the occa sion was held a number of See FETE, Page Four OCRACOKE MAKES READY FOR 4+ h; ISLAND CROWDED Ferry Would Pick a Busy Time to Get Out of Order; Many Campers Arrive Ocracoke, July 2.—Plans for the July 4th celebration have material ized, with a program as follows: j Friday, 9 a.m. or thereabouts pony penning in the new corral north of the National Park Camping Area; 11 a.m. Flag Raising Cere mony at the schoolhouse; 11:30 to 1 p.m. ham plate dinner, at the schoolhouse, sponsored by the ladies of the Methodist church; 2:30 p.m. Parade; 8:30 p.m. square dance in the school recreation hall. On Saturday at 2 p.m. there will be a Community Sing on the Docks, and that night a movie at 7 p.m. and a square dance at 8:30 p.m. Much of the Friday’s pro gram will have taken place by the time this paper reaches its Ocracoke readers, but a more de tailed write-up of events will be printed in next week’s issue. The Island is already crowded with tourists. Cottages are filled, hotels, and tourist homes, and re quests for space continue to come in to the local Civic Club. Accord ing to reports cars have been lined up at both the Oregon Inlet and Hatteras Inlet ferries already. On Monday of this week the 17 car ferry at Hatteras Inlet de veloped some internal, or should we say infernal, engine trouble, so it may be that the little 4-car I ferry will have to come to the j rescue for the July 4th visitors. I Without any special publicity the! campsite at the Ocracoke head-< quarters of the Cape Hatteras Na-j tional Seashore Park is being dis-1 covered as less crowded than I campsites further north and tents and trailers are dotting the area. | MANTEO MAN IS CHAIRMAN OF UTILITIES COMMISSION Harry T. Westcott, a native of Manteo and for many years a top Department of Agriculture man in Raleigh last week was named for the Chairmanship of North Carolina Utilities Commis sion, to take the place of Stanley Winborne, who will resign on Au gust 1. Westcott was appointed to mem bership on the Commission in 1950 by the late Senator W. Kerr Scott when he was Governor. Gov. Hod ges put him on last year for an other seven year term. He is a graduate of N. C. State College. His parents were the late George T. and Odessa Westcott of Manteo, •and he frequently returns home to visit his brother and sister?. PUBLIC CALLING FOR NIGHT FERRY; RIVER AND INLET Growing Tourist Demand and Needs of Citizens Energizes Effort for Improvement Clamor continues to grow among the traveling public for night ferry Service over Oregon Inlet, and Alli gator River, now that the tourist j tide is swelling to unusual propor tions. On Saturday, some 400 cars are reported as crossing the south bound ferries at Oregon Inlet, and three boats were in operation, making trips about every 20 min utes. Many of these cars whose own ers desired to return northward' could not be accommodated requir- j irg an overnight stay which had] not been anticipated. Similar con-! ditions exist on Alligator River,! and demand for night service is comparatively vigorous on this route too. No explanation is found why the the State Highway officials stub bornly refuse to grant this service in the face of increasing requests over a period of three years or more. There is no argument in claims of those who oppose it that it is not practical from a naviga tion standpoint. The trip can be as easily made as in the day time according to numerous boatmen well acquainted with the situation. Night trips were kept up in sum mer months for several years on the Croatan Sound ferry which was discontinued when the bridge was completed. See FERRIES, Page Four THE REAL LIKENESS OF GARY PARKER, GRADUATE Ilf A recent photo sent us for Gary D. Parker, of Kitty Hawk, seems to have portrayed the likeness of some other fellow. Here is the correct one. He recently graduated from his 13 weeks training course in the Coast Guard receiving cen ter in Cape May, N. J. as a fire man apprentice. Parker entered the Coast Guard hist March. He will report to the U. S. Coast Guard District 5, Norfolk, Va., for further assignment to duty. He attended Manteo High School, and he is the son of Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Parker, motel operators. READING CAN BE FUN, SAYS MRS. GIBBS, LIBRARIAN Hl ! “Reading Can Be Fun” is well demonstrated by the expressions on the faces of this group who were present for the Summer reading program at the Dare County Public Library in Manteo Friday despite the thunder showers and Northeaster,” says the librarian, Mrs. Eve lyn Gibbs. This program has an enrollment of 37 and is conducted each Friday from 1:30-2:30 p.m. consisting of story-telling, book reviews, keeping records of “Books I Have Read”, recreation and refreshments. The two groups include ages 5-8 years led by Mrs. Majorie Gray, an employee in the library for the summer and ages 9-12 years led by. Miss Jeanetta Overcash and Miss Patty Gibbs, who volunteers her services. Twenty-six of these enrolled are keeping a record which will be available for their teachers at school. This program will continue through July and August. In the picture are: 5-8 years, Susan Meekins, Ellsworth Midgett, Joe White, Chris Midgett, Frankie Williams, Dennis McGinnis, Ray Gray, Rauna Gray, Carl Walker, Lois Carol Midgett. 9-12 years, Stormy Gale Brown, Freddy Roush, Kathy Roush, Shirley White, Mary Charles White, Norma Nash, Darrell Midgett, Nevin Wescott COUNTY BOARD WIPES OFF NEARLY NINE MILLIONS OF COSTLY PROPERTY APPRAISAL Aroused Taxpayers Cause Commissioners to Dis credit New Jersey Job Which Had Added $ 15,554,387, Principally to Resort Property; Valuations Now Only $6,603,870 Above 1957 Appraisal is Gained. HEADS COMMITTEE WITH FORWARD LOOK FOR SAA Si? Wfc' * ' w? A forward step by the Southern Albemarle Association was recently taken at an executive committee meeting in the appointment of P. D. Midgett Jr., Engelhard busi nessman as chairman of an indus trial development committee for the area embraced by the associa tion. In its 23 years of activity the Association has been concerned chiefly with the problem of get ting the Southern Albemarle coun ties united by good roads. Os its first objectives set up for highway improvement, all have been real ized except bridging Alligator River. Now with the region united by good roads, it is considered important to seek enterprises suit ed to the area which may utilize many natural advantages available now through improvement in transportation to which the long drawn out efforts of the associa tion have so greatly contributed. BANG-UP FIREWORKS DISPLAY SCHEDULED FOR NAGS HEAD, FOURTH A spectacular display of fire- I works is scheduled for the Fourth lof July at Nags Head, in two lo j cations simultaneously. The man agement of the Beacon Motor Lodge and the Carolinian Hotel are planning their firings for 9 p.m., from the beach, over the ocean. Some of the displays will be vis ible for a great distance, but for best view the promoters welcome visitors and residents to come to the beach near the firing sites. There is no admission charge. Single Copy 79 The Dare County Commissioners, wound up their work of reviewing the New Jersey firm’s tax ap praisal job last week, and put their stamp of disapproval on it by wip ing out nearly nine millions of the $15,554,387 the imported experts had put on the total property in the county. In so doing, the Board has ap parently indicated as well as if they had said so in so many words, that the job was less than half correct. They gained only $6,603,- 870 after all the money they spent and the work and trouble they caused. The $8,940,517 the Board wiped off the total figures does not by any means indicate that any sem blance of equalization has been reached. The job is now ostensibly a worse mess than before, for re lief was not granted generally but in isolated cases. In some instances, friends of the Board were looked after, and in others, opponents of the Board were punished. Now and then even, additional increases have been made since the first objections of property owners. Generally it is noted, that every attempt was made to favor the communities in which members of the Board lived, and where the largest number of voters would be affected. The unreasonably high penalties placed on resort property owners was not brought down to a satis factory figure. Taxpayers Fight Action was demanded of the I Board to correct the injustice that i was done by this $22,000 tax ap | praisal job, as soon as the taxpay ‘ ers got wind of what was going I on. Non-resident property owners I were particularly distressed, since i they cannot vote, and their voice is not so effective as an aroused electorate. But numerous resident property owners and those living elsewhere, joined in forming a Dare County Taxpayers Association, and began effective protests against main taining the unreasonable assess ments of which they had been in formed. Counsel has been employed and work is continuing in behalf of further corrections in this cause. Members continue to enroll in the Association, and contributions of money are being made. The Mountain Has Labored— Some 1966 years ago Quintus Horatius Flaccus in ancient Rome wrote some lines about the moun tain having labored and brought forth a mouse. History has been repeated in Dare County this year and the Dare County Commission ers did it. They have labored and brought forth a mouse. It may prove to be a mighty mouse, as indeed it has already been respon sible for turning out a record num- I ber of disapproving voters who dis carded the Board at the polls by | two to one and better. The mouse in this case is the $6,603,870 that the Board of Com missioners decided to keep out of the great avalanche of property on paper turned into the Board by the experts ’ sent into Dare County by a New Jersey firm, which the Board hired, promising to pay .them $22,000. See BOARD, Page Four OLD CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL I TO BE DISCUSSED JULY sth. by Rodanthe club The Old Christmas festival at Rodanthe, a subject of much im portance to Hatteras Island is ex pected to be the main topic of dis cussion at the usual monthly meet ing of the Civic Club for the com munities of Rodanthe, Waves, and Salvo on Saturday evening of this week July sth, when a covered dish supper will be provided by the ladies of the community. The celebration each year on January 6, has outgrown the com munity’s facilities to take care of the fast growing numbers of visit ors from many quarters which have come as a result of national publicity that has been given it. The small building needs en largement, and other essentials must be added, and efforts will be begun soon to raise a fund to pro vide this improvement, which is rather costly for the small group of the .people who are called on each year to maintain this enjoy able event, and which appeals to so many lovers of history. . / IS
The Coastland Times (Manteo, N.C.)
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July 4, 1958, edition 1
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