Newspapers / The Coastland Times (Manteo, … / Dec. 5, 1958, edition 1 / Page 4
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PAGE FOUR THE COASTLAND TIMES Published Continuously at Manteo, N. C., Since July 4,193 S THE WEEKLY JOURNAL OF THE WALTER RALEIGH COASTLAND OF NORTH CAROLINA. FOREMOST REGION OF RECREATION AND SHORT. HEALTH- FUL LIVING AND HISTORICAL INTEREST ON THE ATLANTIC SEaBOARD Entered as Second Class Matter at the Postoffice in Manteo, N. C. Subscription Rates: Yearly $3.00; Six Months, $1.75; 3 Months, SI.OO PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY BY TIMES PRINTING CO., INC. AT 505 LODGE STREET, MANTEO. NORTH CAROIJNA VICTOR MEEKINS EDITOR CATHERINE D. MEEKINS Secretary-Treasurer FRANCIS W. MEEKINS - Advertising Manager VOL. XXIV MANTEO. N. C.. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5. 1958 NO. 23 DARE’S GOLDEN AGE OF CHISELRY. The golden age of chiselry which has ptegued the tax payers of Dare County a long time should tome to an end. Lt will not come to a.id end nowever, if the people sit down and merely hope for it. The fight necessary to assure free dom in the future must be kept up and those who have been responsible must be kept out of participation in any manner that might enable them to worm their way again into con trol of affairs. The battle is never over. A few reminders to keep the people on the track are in order. The people of the county have just been despoiled of the sum of $22,000 paid out to some newcomers who found Dare’s commissioners an easy mark and left a pretended tax appraisal job which will cost many thousands more before it is corrected and be the source ot trouble in years to come to officials and citizens alike. A former Board of commis sioners broke their necks to pay for this outrage while hos pital bills piled up against the county, and many other honest debts remained unpaid. A new Board of Commissioners is helpless to change the situation without the law being changed. Citizens who failed to make appeals in July are also out of luck. This year the county spent $1,385 to build a boat canal for N. F. Jennett, an 85 year old patriarch of Buxton. Mr. Jennett reports the job was not half finished, and against his report that the job was not finished, the old Board as one of its last acts, rushed to pay for the job in full, in the face of the knowledge the job had not been completed. It has been a continued series of chiseling in Dare Coun ty over a period of several years. Mosquito control equip ment not used for a year, with materials and money on hand. Equipment was loaned out, converted to private use, dam aged and the chemical spray given away. It has been a continued series of paying out public mon ey to make jobs for people without qualifications, and con sequently useless to the county. Some of these people will not pay their bils, although their income is sufficient to take care of their needs. Statements for travel, havq been allowed in needless sums in round figures, not even itemized. It is a constant race to see that all money budgeted be used up. The admin istration of the public welfare office has been ridiculously extravagant. Some offices are overloaded with help whose proof of incompetence is manifest in the amount of work they fail to turn out. Further evidene of lack of manage ment is seen in the failure by now, at the end of a year, of the officials to turn out the tax notices for a large area of the county when they should have been mailed in September. A continuation of examples of this kind would take too much space. The time has come now to end it. It will never be ended by allowing the same people who have brought the Situation about, to continue to control it. It will never be ended by depending on the same people who have stood si lently by during all this time of waste and chiselry’, to jump in now and reverse their methods or their thinking. It is utter folly to hope to make progress this way. New men and new ideas are needed, and the only way to learn if they can help is to try. We cannot expect help from the old crowd. New men and new methods will help to end this Golden Age of Chiselry which has long robbed the people of Dare County, caused taxes to be raised year after year; schools to run on a starvation basis; loafers, idlers and criminals to sprawl out without working and grow fat on the toil of others. There is no point in going to sleep; now is the time to go to work. The biggest job when any battle has been won was not the battle; it is the work of rehabilitation, rebuilding and replacing that which has been destroyed. The big job now has just begun and it will take the united help of every body to keep the battle won and to successfully rebuild what has been torn down and to quickly replace what has been thrown away. COUNTY (Continued trom Page One) meeting for consideration. Next week the Board expects to hear from the County Health Department and the State Health Department on the subject of mos quito control. Dr. W. W. Johnston, District Health Officer and Sid ney H. Usry of the State Board of Health, and other citizens will at tend to offer their opinions, at the January meeting and the board will endeavor if advice is favored and funds available to ready to make war on the first mosquitos next year. i No Appointments Made M. L. Daniels, Chairman of the ABC Board came to the meeting to hand over a check for $2,500 from store profits, it being SSOO larger than usual, and discussed with the Board several phases of the store operation. Mr. Daniels had previously requested the re appointment of himself and the other two Board members. All their terms expire this month. Attorney Martin Kellogg Jr. brought up the matter of appoint ing the county attorney, but it was the Board’s decision to post pone these appointments to per mit time for further study. The appointments may be deferred for a month due to the considerable public sentiment in behalf of mak ing several changes, and hurried action in these matters is what the Board does not want to hap pen. State representatives for the I Civil Defense office in Raleigh and for Disaster Relief agency appeared before the Board. A Civil Defense director is required in Dare County. There is also oppor tunity to obtain Federal funds for repairing storm damage to sand barriers along the seashore, and these subjects are being studied by the Board members. Appointments Deferred ' The consideration of appointive offices which is the responsibility of the Board was deferred to later in the month because the mem-1 bers of the Board said they thought the subject merited care ful consideration. There has been a considerable public demand that several of those holding appointive office be replaced with new men 1 and newer methods. Among the of ficials who are appointed by the commissioners are three members of the Alcoholic Control Board, the County Attorney, the County Accountant, the tax Nsters for 1959. and some others. Tax listers will be appointed next Monday, and due to a change in the set up of tax listing which is now contemplated, it is expect ed there will be changes in per sonnel as compared with those of i last year. There may be some changes in listing places, and a reduction in number of places used for this purpose. CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP BUS LINE OPERATIONS Recent transfer of stock of the Virginia Dare Transportation Co. of Manteo brought about an unus ual plan whereby employees who had been with the bus line for many years purchased the operat ing rights. The firm, ma.naged for maily years by the late Guy H. Lennon and R. B. (Tull) Lennon of Manteo, “hanged hands October 1, with the following officers elected: Sam E. Midgett, president and general manager; Mary Q. Midgett, vice I president and bookkeeper. Mabel H. Basnight, secretary-treasurer. ( Other stockholders are Rowan H. Quidley, J. O. (Mose) Basmght Leonard (Bud) Quidley and Earl Quidley, all serving as drivers. Several trips dailv are operated between Manteo, Elizabeth City and Norfolk. The buses also carry mail between these points. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE ’ FOR NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING When the Teacher Calls It “Social Studies” By ARTHUR BESTOR, Ph. D, Professor of History, University of Illinois Reprinted from the St. Joe., Ind. NEWS By Industrial News Review * ‘History’ is a clear-cut term, describing a well understood subject of instruction. By con trast, the phrase ‘social studies’ possesses no definite or certain meaning . . . Wise citizenship without a sense of history is no more possible than wise naviga tion without a compass.” When you were in school, you probably studied history The chances are that your child is en rolled, instead, in a course called “social 'studies.” What is the dif ference? And does the new gener ation stand to gain or lose by the substitution ? In many schools, no real change has occurred. History is still being taught, and nothing but the label is different. In other schools, how ever, a great deal has happened, and the changes constitute a seri ous weakening of the school pro grain. Moreover, the switching of labels has in itself done consider able hartn, for parents now find it difficult to discover what is really being taught in this area, so vitally important for good citi zenship. “History” is a clear-cut term, describing a well understood sub ject of instruction. By contrast, the phrase “social studies” pos sesses no definite or certain mean ing. It can be given a reputable definition: “The entire group of subjects dealing primarily with men and women in organized so cieties.” So defined, it embraces history, geography, economics, political science, anthropology, so ciology, jurisprudence and social psychology. This is a formidable array of specialized disciplines, each with its particular techniques of investi gation, its theoretical formula tions, and its voluminous litera- , ture. In the learned world, acer-1 tain number of scholars are work-) ing on the interconnections of I these different fields; few; would claim anything like compe-; tence in more than two or three. ) Teacher-training programs in the United States allow barely enough time to enable a teacher to become familiar, at the level of a college undergraduate, with one of these fields. To ask a teacher to cover them all is to invite superficial and irresponsible teaching. In constructing a course or a program in the social studies furthermore, little scholarly gui dance is available, and no estab lished standards exist. Everyone has his own idea about what so cial studies ought to include; I hence, teachers and administrators i are free to add or subtract topics as they please. No one can say what a student should know or be able to do at the end of even twelve years of elementary and high school work in the social studies. In each of the seperate fields—history, geog raphy, and political science, for example—a consensus exists with■ respect to bodies of knowledgel that are fundamental. When all are thrown into a hodgepodge,’’ however, the possibilty of fixing : minimum standards of understand-; ing and competence vanishes. The i fad of social studies in American schools does not constitute a new ) organization of the curriculum; it constituutes a new and dangerous DIS-organization. Worst of all, topics that have no conceivable relationship to the social sciences (as scholars un derstand the term) are being pushed into the social studies cur riculum, simply because the word; “social can somehow be applied to them This is particularly true where a so-called “problem ap proach” is used. Take, for exam ple, the following collection of: topics, offered in one California ) high school. I quote the principal’s' own description: “Our present plans call for three problem courses during a student’s high-school career: (1) Freshman problems with the ten units of work covering the State requirements of Morals and Man ners, Civic Responsibility, Alcohol and Narcotics; (2) Sophomore problems with five pr six units of work covering Driver Education First Aid, Accident Prevention and World History; and (3) Se nior problems with units of work covering Civics, . Psychology and Sociology and other problems fac ing the eighteen-year-old. ' The argument that the social studies should REPLACE history, geography, and political science (I am not speaking here of in stances where a mere change of label is involved) boils down to the argument that the new ap proach will better prepare ciiti zens to deal with the problems— political, social, and economic—qf their own day. This argument must be met on its own ground for no one would dream of deny ing that a well-educated young man or woman should be equipped BY HIS EDUCATION to deal in telligently with such questions. In deed, each of the established and traditional disciplines came into existence with the avowed purpose of enabling citizens to handle more effectively the problems arising within its sphere. Economics, for example, exists THE COASTT.AND TIMES, MANTEO, N. C. and is respected because men have found that its systematic methods of analysis are appropriate and useful in wrestling with economic problems. Political science has proved its value in handling prob lems connected with the structure and administration of government And for two thousand years, his tory has been the recognized school of good citizenship. One commentator on the ancient his torian Thucydides put the matter thus: “The statesman, the patriot, the friend to liberty and reason will be better enabled to plan and to regulate his OWN measures, when he can see the tendency and' consequence of such as were fol lowed on parallel occasions.” Advocates of the social-studies approach promise to accomplish all these things, and to accomplish them better. They propose to do so by breaking down the supposed “barriers” between the different fields and by cqncentrating the student’s attention on contempor ary, rather than historical prob lems. They decry as old-fashioned the systematic study of each field —the chronological study of his tory, for example, or the study of government by analyzing political structures and theories in the way the political scientist analyzes them. Instead, the advocates of so cial studies expect students to pick up the principles of the various disciplines casually, as they en counter them in “problem-solving” situations. That well-educated, thoughtful citizens can be produced in this haphazard, hit-or-miss fashion is surely one of the most preposter ous theories current in American education. When the social-studies approach is pushed to its logical extreme, graduates tend to have a smattering of knowledge about everything in general, but a clear and usable knowledge of nothing in particular. They have been on numerous field trips, to factories,) housing projects, and government, offices, and they have aired their) opinions in discussions of current; public problems. All these would have been fine as extracurricular activities. In the classroom, how ever, these young people have rare ly worked in a continuous and or-J derly way to acquire mastery of; any of the genuine tools ofi thought. They have looked at prob-1 lems with economic aspects, but; they have never learned to ana-) lyze the economic factors involved and to treat them systematically. They know a few provisions of the. Constitution, but they never think about the Constitution as the prod-' uct of a distinctive and consistent; theory of government, nor can they! point out clearly the logical differ-1 ences between its principles and: those of alternate systems. Far) from having been trained to STU DY contemporary problems, they have been misled into believing; they can go right ahead to SOLVE) contemporary problems through a) round of group discussions, without; benefit of precise knowledge, logi-; cal analysis, or historical under standing. The idea of pushing history aside to concentrate on contempo rary problems may* be plausible until one begins to think about it, I Then one realizes that there is no such thing, strictly speaking, as a) contemporary problem. Social and. political problems do not, in fact,) burst on us in any such sudden manner. They arise and alter and. develop over long periods. To un-l derstand how they came into ex-J istence is usually the most impor-; tant step in grappling with them? Take, for example, the crisis qver racial integration in Little) Rock, Arkansas, last fall—a con-) temporary problem that appears to have been studied in many high schools. How can it be understood except in historical terms? How can anyone discuss this matter in-) telligently, let alone plan a futqre course of action, without knowing the history of slavery, of the Civil War and Reconstruction, and of the Fourteenth Amendment of 1868, on which the Constitutional; issue in Little Rock hinges? Or, to take another example,, what un derstanding can one have of cur-! rent problems in France without; knowing of the French Revolution; and the bitter divisions it pro- 1 duced, and some comprehension of the situations that enabled two Napoleons to rise to power on the ruins of earlier French republics? It will he argued, of course, that a student learns more by solving a contemporary problem than by studying one that time has already solved. This argument is largely nonsense. A student does not SOLVE a contemporary problem. At best, he merely clarifies his own opinions (or borrows his teacher’s) concerning the way the problem might be or ought to be solved. His conclusions cannot be tested, because the returns may not be in until after he is dead. The reasoning behind his cannot be tested, either. His logic may look good enough on paper, but only the future can tell Wheth er or not he has correctly esti mated the factors at work and i whether or not he has left out of LOSSES DISAPPROVAL FOR DONKEY GAMES IN TYRRELL VOICED To the Editor: Have oft-times heard the old adage “We sometimes strain at a gnat and swallow a camel”— which is certainly what has been going on in regards to the Colum bia High School Gymnasium. During basketball games last year, it was almost a crime for a spectator or a child to venture from the regular paths set for walking, as the new gymnasium floor was to be kept in a beauti ful condition. Those who tread on the gleaming floor with shoes other than the tennis variety were frowned on, and immediately given the gate if they persisted. This is a very fine thing to try to make children proud of their be longings, and to teach them the thought of cost and that it must be cared for and it is common knowl edge that this idea has persisted these past three months of school. With all this caution, not al llowing freedom in the gynasium for the child, someone has broken down that built up prestige, by al lowing a Donkey-Basketball game to be playdd in the gymnasium. Yes! the donkeys had on rubber shoes, but the tell-tale marks of the donkeys are there neverthe less—as a reminder to each child who enters the gymnasium that someone thinks more of donkeys than they do of children. So we strained at the Child (Gnat) but we surely swallowed that donkey (Camel). To the out sider, it just doesn’t make sense. Blanche W. Cohoon FORESTRY MAN NAMED TO HEAD PROJECT IN N. C. Acme, N. C.—Dr. C. E. Hart ford, of Riegel Paper Corpora tion, Acme, has been named North Carolina state chairman of the Pilot Forest project—a southwide forest development program being sponsored by the Southern Pulp wood Conservation Association, I says Lucian Whittles of Brunswick, Ga., president of the 'Association. Dr. Hartford will work with the state’s pulp and paper industry leaders in selecting the counties to receive Pilot Forests and in carrying out the program, the an nouncement said. The SPCA, through its member pulp and papermills, expects to dedicate approximately 100 Pilot Forests throughout the South when the industry observes its second annual Pulp and Paper Day next April 14, Mr. Whittle continued. The program will provide per manent examples of good forestry practices, at the same time en couraging small landowners to ) grow more trees, he explained. | Ail organizational meeting to plan the program in North Caro lina will be held at an early date. OES CHRISTMAS PARTY The members of Roanoke Island Chapter No. 79, Order of the Eastern Star will have their Christmas party in the form of a covered dish sunner, Thursday night, Dec. 11 at 6:30. Each lady is asked to bring her husband, whether a member or not, and also a gift for Sister Rosalene Midgttt, who is ronfined to a nursing home. The regular meeting will follow the supper. his calculations certain historical forces that may in the end prove decisive. It is the problem of the HISTORICAL kind and the his torian is as much a problem-solver as anyone else) that furnishes tru ly rigorous training in the hand ling of social and political prob lems. There is, after all, an an swer sheet. The student can enter into the problem as contempora ries entered into it. But he knows more than contemporaries could have known. He knows the conse quences of tne lines of action pro posed and pursued. He knows what finally happened. i Wise citizennship without a sense of history is no more possi ble than wise navigation without a ) compass. The central question for education is whether this under ; standing of history is to be impart ed to students by systematic teach . ing of history, or whether we may count on their picking up a sense of history as a result of casual en ) counters with snippets of histori cil data, presented merely as a background to one or another con i temporary problem. No other na tion is gambling the future of its institutions on the absurd expecta tion that the latter program (if anything so haphazai’d can be called a program) will work. Else ; where, tlje systematic study of j history AS HISTORY is a basic part of every elementary and sec ondary-school curriculum. In the United States, we are gravely im periling our fundamental traditions of freedom—which require histori cal understanding for their proper appreciation and defense—by per ;mitting educational theorists and I administrators to curtail, to dis- I guise, and to disorganize the study of history in our schools. AIR FORCES REJUIRES MEN FOR TRAINING IN AVIATION The U. S. Air Force has an im mediate requirement for young men to enter Aviation Cadet Pilot and Navigator training. Those who qualify can expect a class assignment within four weeks after processing is com pleted. Sgt. Cogdill, local Air Force Re cruiter, states that any male citi zen between the ages of 19 to 26% is eligible to apply. He must also be single and a high school grad uate. Most of the processing is accom plished in Raleigh; however, after successful completion of this phase, applicants are sent at gov ernment expense to the Air Force Academy and Aircrew Examining Center at Langley AFB, Va., for further testing. Applicants are then returned home to await an Aviation Cadet class assignment for either pilot or navigator training. This program leads to an Air Force commission after approxi mately 12 months training. Sec ond lieutenants on flying status earn in excess of $5,000 per year. Young mep interested in this program should contact Sgt. Cog dill at Post Office Building, Eliza beth City, N. C. on Tuesday and Friday, Telephone 4629. GUM NECK PERSONALS Mrs. Dollie Sawyer has been admitted to Columbia hospital. Mr. and Mrs. John Eason and son, Mr. and Mrs. Troy Weatherly and family and Mrs. Lena Weath erly of Hickory visited Mr. and Mrs. Johnnie Weatherly. Mr. and Mrs. Edward Clark and son visited here. Mr. and Mrs. Graham Cooper and family of Williamston visited here the week end. Mrs. I. W. Swindell, Nina, and Tina Jo, Mr. and Mrs. George Roughton spent Friday and Sat urday in Halifax visiting Mrs. Marie Watson. Mrs. M. T. Combs is home after several days in Columbia hospital. Mrs. Jimmie ' Humphries and daughter Judy of Portsmouth spent Thanksgiving holidays with Mr. and Mrs. L. A. Smithson. Mrs. Ethel Stone of Elizabeth City and Mr. and Mrs. Rudy Dav enport and family of Portsmouth visited relatives here. Mrs. Leona Norman is visiting in Portsmouth, Va. Henry Cohoon of Ft. Bragg was home for the week end. Bobby Smith of Norfolk visited relatives the week end. Mr. and Mrs. J. W. White and son of Plymouth .visited here. Ruben Berry and J. G. Williams of Norfolk were here Monday. Irvin Everton of Columbia. S. C. was here on the week end. Mr. and Mrs. Joe Liverman and family spent the week end in Nor folk. Mr. and Mrs. George Dickson of Chapel Hill visited here the week end. Woodville Liverman and Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Lyles of Newport News, visited relatives here the week end. Mrs. M. V. Cohoon is visiting in Washington. Miss Sue Snell left Friday for Salt Lake. City, where she will put on a demonstration for 4-H Club. She and Bib Swain won the trip for their demonstration. Fred Metcalf and son Colin of Burlington was here for the week end. Flay Kemp of Roper visited his father, Charlie Kemp. Mr. and Mrs. Sam Jones and family of Norfolk visited here. Mrs. Willie Armstrong was ad mitted to Columbia Hospital. Mr. and Mrs. Albert Owens of Portsmouth visited Mr. and Mrs. Basil T. Cohoon. M. T. Combs is home with his family for a few days. Mr. and Mrs. Rosco Sawyer of HEADQUARTERS FOR CAROLINIANS , WHEN IN NORFOLK FAIRFAX HOTEL FIREPROOF RATES $3.50 UP TELEVISION RADIO AIR-CONDITIONED G&W 'JiT SEVEN j®' STAR/SIF $950 • £PlNTl|jg|iM|Jf $395 fifth nHw SEVEN STAR BLENDED WHISKEY, 90 PROOF, 37#% STRAIGHT WHISKEY 6 YEARS OR MORE OLD, 62%% GRAIN NEUTRAL SPIRITS. GOODERHAM t WORTS LTD., PEORIA, ILL t C ( . ■ FRIDAY. DECEMBER 5, 1958 Demonstration and Highlights by FRAN A. CULLIS Home Agent , This is the busiest season of the year. How do you feel about it? One woman said, “I’ll be glad when it’s over! I get tired just thinking about all the things I have to do.” Another explained, “The -children are all grown now, so Dad and 1 decided to send them money in stead of worrying with presents this year.” Then she added, rather wistfully, “I guess it won’t seem ( like Christmas without all the rush and excitement.” Why do you get so rushed and tired during Christmas ? Are you trying to make all of the plans and prepartions by yourself? (Planning and working together would make every member of the i family have a happier Christmas.) Are you trying to do too many things? If the anticipation of Christmas worries you, aren’t you missing the real point of this happy sea son? Stop right now and ask your self, “What do I want for Christ mas?” 1 1. I want this Christmas to be different. I will not get so rushed doing . outside tilings that I haven’t time for my home and my children. 1 know that my disposition, whether good or bad, sets the tone for the. entire household. I will shop early and try to stay serene and happy as I get ready for Christmas. 2. I want to have the real Christmas spirit. “My list gets longer every year! Last Christmas Aunt Minnie sent me a gift—-now I have to add her name to my list. That makes 51 presents to be bought, wrapped, and delivered.” When I begin a thinking this way. I ask myself if Christmas is the time for “paying back”—and I try to get my values straightened out. The real value of any’ gift is the spirit in which it is given, and this cannot be measured in dollars and cents. 3. I want time. I am going to enjoy this Christ mas for weeks ahead—and long afterward. I want “kitchen time” ' so I can let the childrert “help” me with cookies and candies. I want time for the family to plan and make decorations for the house and for the tree. I want time to help little hands fashion gifts, time to include the older members of the household in the activities and preparations, time to visit friends and neighbors, time to write let ters to old friends, time to enjoy’ reading the Christmas stories and singing the beautiful carols. 4. I want to renew my faith in the Christ. Whose 'birthday we celebrate, ’ realizing that I must hold fast to this fqith if I want to bring a liv ing religion into my home. 5. I went to do more than cele- brate a May—l want to keep Christmas through the year ahead. ‘ Beginnng now—and all through the year—l shall try to forget what I have done for others and. remember what others have done! for me. I shall try to be more con siderate and understanding of others, looking beyond the deed into the heart. Fairfield visited here Sunday. Mrs. Julian Sawyer of Fairfield is here /a few days visiting Mr. and Mrs. E. E. Sawyer.
The Coastland Times (Manteo, N.C.)
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Dec. 5, 1958, edition 1
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