North Carolina Newspapers

VOLUME XXIV NO. 31 WHO’S BEEN HOODOOED BY WHOM IN THIS TOLL-BRIDGE SURVEY COSTING $50,000 Most Any Mus'rat Trapper in the Coastland Could Have Come Up With The Same An swers the New York Experts Gave the High way Commission; It All Adds Up to This: A Bridge Can Be Built If Officials Want to Build It. Any muskrat trapper in these counties knows that the volume of traffic now travelling where there ain’t any bridges wouldn’t pay the tolls on a seven million dollar toll bridge. You don’t have to send to New York for “experts”, to come down here and look wise „ and talk big and tell us that. But the State officials can’t think of any thing else to do when clamor arises for a bridge except to have a “survey.” They had another one recently only to be told that Alligator River can’t be bridged at 50 cents a car for| the traffic that now exists. Well, there isn’t a bridge in the' state that would have been built had the officials built it on the strength of what a “survey” by some New York experts would have revealed. The only bridges that have been built got there be cause there were Governors who wanted them built, regardless. • Governor J. C. B. Ehringhaus wanted a toll-free bridge built over Albemarle 1 Sound, and he built it, all of it from highway funds. The ferry it put out of business handled only about 20 cars a day at $1.50 each on its several trips across Albemarle Sound between Mackeys and Edenton. If Governor Ehringhaus had had an expert New York survey, and which any muskrat ’ trapper would have as easily done, and could have predicted an in come of S3O per day based on the ferry traffic, the highway commis sion would have thrown up its hands. It probably did balk on building the Albemarle Sound Bridge. We haven’t had a major highway enterprise established in this area that the highway com missioners and engineers didn’t oppose, but like the Albemarle Sound Bridge, some of them got built because the Governor said do it. We are now told three years after the Croatan Sound Bridge has been completed at a cost of $3,000,000, it will cost $7,350,000 ' to build a similar bridge over Alligator River. Granted that the difference of a draw-span would make SIOO,OOO more, it is an in sult to the intelligence to assume that the cost would still be double that of the Croatan Sound bridge. The experts say that the Alli gator River Bridge would carry only 90,000 cars a year at 60 cents each, and it would take ten times as much to pay for the bridge, , at 60 cents per car. Well, anyway, they got nearly 90,000 cars -a year across Oregon inlet and it would take a bridge only about a third as long to span these waters. Wonder what the experts would come up with, did they survey this inlet? > The report read last week, for which the state paid $50,000 car ried also some figures about a second bridge desired at Wilming ton over the Cape Fear River. There they have a bridge but See SURVEY, Page Four VETITIONS CIRCULATED TO SAVE WANCHESE SCHOOL Petitions are to be circulated soon at Wanchese asking the Coun ty Board of Education rescind its recent resolution to consolidate the community’s grammar school, ac cording to V. G. Williams who said Friday a citizens meeting had * been held on January 16th. At this time, Mr. Williams said strong op position was voiced by Melvin R. Daniels, Macon Meekins, Malcolm Daniels and Ronald Tillett, mem bers of a committee to circulate a petition through the community to forward to the county board and to officials in Raleigh. N. C. BLUE MARLIN ASS’N TO MEET IN WASHINGTON A meeting of the N. C. Blue Maitin Association will be held in Washington, N. C., on Tuesday, February 3, according to Warren Gallop, a member of the commit- 1 tee. Persons interested in the sports fishing industry of the Dare Coast • are extended an invitation to at tend the meeting for the discus- 1 aions which are designed to pro- < mote and develop ail types of salt water fishing in North Carolina. In addition to Gallop, H. A. 1 .Crees, Jr., of Oregon Inlet Fishing i Grater, Capt Edgar Styron and m others are expected to attend. il 1■ 1 . THE COASTLAND TIMES PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTEREST OF THE WALTER RALEIGH COASTLAND OF NORTH CAROUNA NEARS FIRST BIRTHDAY wmmm DAVID GOULD MANDELL on Feb. 17, will be one year old. His grandmother is Mrs. N. E. Gould of Nags Head, and his parents Dr. •’nd Mrs. M. I. Mandell, of State Teachers College, Bowling Green, Ohio. Mrs. Mandell is the former Natalie Gould of Manteo. The Man dells spend their vacations at Nags Head. TEEN AGERS AND MUSIC PROBLEMS OF MANTEO PTA The Manteo P. T. A. at its meet ing Wednesday night had two im portant problems before it, neither of which got final disposition but are carried over for further con sideration. The P. T. A. considers itself re sponsible for finding a center for the teen-age children of the com munity to be amused, and has had difficulty in finding a place that suits the youth. Some places pro vided appear a little too tame. Sev eral have been chosen and tried out. The committee on this prob lem has been continued to have further meetings with the young folks in hope of working out a pro gram that will be satisfactory to them. This committee consists of Rev. R. W. Turner, Mrs. Mary D. Meekins and W. H. Bunch. The question of establishing a program of public school music came up and Mrs. Leigh Hassell reported that the school committee had planned to request that this be adopted in the next county school budget, if approval can be first obtained from the state school authorities. In the absence of President Bill Ernst, vice-president John H. Long presided. GREAT ILLUMINATION PROMISED IN SKIES OVER STUMPY POINT People in Stumpy Point, Engel hard, and points north and east may be astounded on the nights of February 3 and 4 when the 9th Air Force conducts a spectacular bombing demonstration. Air planes will drop photo-flash bombs on both nights', an air force public relations officer announces. These photo-flash bombs will | disentegrate at heights of 10,000 feet and some at 3,500 *feet, and will be completely harmless, if rather brilliant. The air force says there is no danger. The demon strations will take place between sunset of February 3, and sun rise of Feb. 4. Again, between sun set February 4 and sunrise Feb. sth, the show will be repeated. SOUTH AFRICAN ANGLER SHARES IN TUNA CATCH Twenty nine school tuna (baby bluefins weighing up to 10 pounds each) were landed in the Gulf Stream off Hatteras last Saturday by two anglers fishing from Capt. Edgar Styron’s cruiser Twins 11. It was the second catch of school tuna made by anglers off Hatteras during January. Jim Starke of Capetown, South Africa, a student at the Universi ty of Pittsburgh was one of the < anglers sharing in the catch. He : was fishing with Donald Lee Vic- Ikerson, a resident of Pittsburgh. COASTAL GROUP SEEKS AID FOR SPORTSFISHING INDUSTRY THIS GROUP from the Dare Coast appeared wit.i a large number of North Carolinians before the State Board of Conservation and Development in Durham on Monday to request state aid in developing : the salt water sportsfishing and estimated to be a ten million dollar annual business between Virginia and South Carolina. The Dare delegation is Capt. Clam Stowe and Capt. Edgar Styron of Hatteras, H. A. Crees, Jr., Manteo, Donald Oden and Robert Hudgins, Hatteras. Others attending were Wheeler Ballance, vice-chairman of the Tourist Bureau from Hatteras and Arnold Daniels, Wanchese. The group asked for a state-sponsored study and other help for the N. C. Blue Marlin Association from the State Advertising Division in promoting an all-N. C. coast fishing contest. Dr. Fred Barkalow, head of the department of zoology, Duke University, has been designated to study proposals for de veloping the sportsfishing industry and at the same time make a study of same to be ready for presen tation to the C and D Board at their April meeting. (Aycoek Brown photo.) OCRACOKE GETTING j HIGHWAY REPAIRS TO COST $50,000 Project Beqins This Week to Over come Troubles Caused by Hurricane Helene J Ocracoke, January 26. Road j repair equipment arrived here to day on a special ferry from Manns , Harbor and according to Super visor R. C. Speight work on the repairing of the hurricane dam aged Ocracoke road will begin to , morrow, Tuesday. A. G. Grizzard will superintend the work. Sixteen men were brought in to operate the machines, together with sever al trailer living wagons and a din ing wagon with cook. These are set up on National Park property for the duration of the job which is expected to require two months or more. Equipment thus far deliv ered consists of two large capacity scrappers, two heavy bulldozers, two heavy duty motor graders, and several jeeps and tracks. The force will be used in an attempt to raise the elevation at the crest Tine on the flats to prevent normal high tides from flowing across there. If successful in blocking normal high water, the equipment will be used to build up the grade line of the road where, it was scoured out by the hurricane last fall, and after the grade line has been adjusted, to rebuild the pavement on the flats immediate ly north of the Village, and move a sufficient number of landing mats from Manns Harbor to re place those destroyed at the north end of the island. The total cost of the job is estimated at $50,- ! 000. DARE COUNTY FRIENDS OF LOST COLONY TO MEET To assure the 19th season open ing of Paul Green’s drama The Lost Colony in Waterside Theatre i on June 27 this year as planned, a meeting has been scheduled to be i held in The Community Building at Manteo on Sunday afternoon, Feb ruary 1 at 2 o’clock. “This will be an organization meeting of the Dare County Friends of The Lost Colony steer ing committee and while charter members have been specially urged to be present, all persons interest ed in keeping the show in produc tion here are urged to be present,” said David Stick, temporary chair man of the organization. He was elected at a meeting held in The Shrine Club two weeks ago when it was pointed out that $15,000 must be raised locally to start the show this year. At the Shrine Club meeting about one-fifth of the amount need jed was raised in cash or subscrip tions among the citizens of Dare and out of county residents pres ent. It was suggested at the meeting two weeks ago that 100 persons subscribing $l5O each would give the assurance that The Lost Colony would open this year. “We know that many small op erators and individuals who cannot conveniently give $l6O for this cause want to help.” said Stick, “and therefore we will be open for suggestions relative to accepting smaller amounts. Stick stated that at the meeting all suggestions for perpetuating The Lost Colony which he described as a “Dare County institution” would be welcome. DRAFT BOARD CLOSED I The Dare County Draft Board office in Manteo will be closed next week, according to announce ment by Mrs. B. J. Baum, clerk to the board. MANTEO, N. C.. FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 1959 * ■ 1 » UNCLE DOCK FROM DUCK WRITES: Lack of Manners A Sign Somebody Neglected to Rear Child Right Dear Mr. Editor: The other day I went down one of these narrow roads, and I cafne | to a tree that had fallen across the , road, so it was necessary to stop i my car. The tree looked a little too big- for me to move by myself, nor did I have an axe, and while I wa3 meditating about what to do, some young squirts drove up behind me, and stopped. Without investigating to see what the trouble might be, they soon began blowing their horn, and when nothing' happened, they shouted to me some rude remarks about getting “out of the way old man,” and when I told them there was a tree across the road, they asked me why I didn’t get it out of the way. Not one of them of fered to get out and help move the tree, and finally they backed out of the way, and went back the way they came. Now Mr. Editor. I can’t help but think somebody did those boys a serious injustice when they were growing up, and it’s something that is going to cost them a lbt of money and happiness as they go through life. For if those boys had had parents who were fully con scious of their duty and who had the proper love for their children they would have taught them the elements of courtesy and considera tion. But they will go through life, not knowing what common decency demands, and when they find them selves up against folks who won’t tolerate' their way of behavior, they will feel sore toward the world, and they will try to get even in, any way they can. To my mind the finest thing a poor boy can start life with is good manners, and it will surely carry him a long way. I know one fellow in this part of the country that got picked up by a millionaire duck hunter who was down here, and he was so impressed by the good man ners of this boy, that he took Jrim off. gave him a good job and a college education. This fellow was one of the smartest men ever turnd out from this region, but by golly the world mightn’t have found it out had his folks not brought him up rightly. Now Mr. Editor it seems to me that nobody needed more to have a big stock of good manners in or der to get along through the world, than we people who live here on the coast. We have got to depend on our visitors for a living, and our visitors won’t be any better custo mers than the kind of courtesy we give them from day to day. Cour tesy begets courtesy in return, and it is the royal road to winning the friendship and confidence of a stranger. But I can’t help thinking about those three young 'squirts, and what a great wrong has been done them. They are bound to go through life about like three others I heard about. These three young fellows went into a restaurant, and there were no tables save one where a little old lady stiff and prim was sitting. One of the young fellows said to the others, just fol low me, and we will run her out. So down they sat at the table, and one says to the other: “You know my mother and fath er had only been married six months when I was bom.” The second said: “My mother and father had been married less time than that when I came along.” And the third one said: “My mother and father never married at all." This last was concluded to be the scorcher that would send the old lady baltiiig out the door, but she looked over her glasses, and said to the fellow in front of j her: 3 “Would one of you bastards 5 please pass the salt?” j Mr. Editor, you know this is a ) little on the raw side, but you need f a rawhide strap for such young 5 squirts who have no manners and > no respect for man, beast or wom , an. Yours for more manners, : UNCLE DOCK FROM DUCK r ■ ! TWO ABC STORES SOUGHT ; FOR ATLANTIC TOWNSHIP I , Requests have been filed with , the Dare County ARC Board for ■ the establishment of two ABC . stores in Atlantic Township, one in . particular by the town of Kill Devil ; Hills. The Town Board of Kill • Devil Hills requests definitely a second store, and in particular, if . another store cannot be estab lished than to move the present [ beach store within the town’s cor . porate limits, the object being to I derive a share of the profits for the ' benefit of the town Government. I One of the sites recommended has been the C. A. York store in Kill I Devil Hills. ! Another effort for a store is at , the turn of the road where the Lothrop property has been men tioned as a site for the store at the turn of U. S. 158, Kitty Hawk ’ beach, and where residents of this area have petitioned for establish ' ment of a store. Leigh Hassell, Chairman of the ’ ABC Board said this week that the ! board would consider these peti -1 tions at its meeting next week, but had no opinion as to what action 1 might be taken. The present ABC I Board having been in office less ’ than 60 days is now attempting to become familiar with the situation, ; and has had no opportunity to ; make the survey necessary to de -1 termine if any changes at this time would be to the advantage of the system. : SHERIFFS AID SOUGHT TO GET 12-FOOT v SNAKE Rumors of a 12-foot snake aloose on Wanchese has brought , appeals to Sheriff Frank Cahoon | to investigate and rid the vicinity of this dread varmint. The snake is supposed to be the cause of the [ death of Malcolm Daniels’ pony I which was found dead in the woods , two weeks ago, cause unknown at the time. Since then a nephew, Wil lie Etheridge 111 has reported see ing the snake six times as big a3 I his arm while on a squirrel hunt. The 12-year-old boy considers the snake 12 feet long. Mrs. Hope Du vall is another who is reported as having seen the snake, which is . black with a white patch under its 1 mouth. Our venture is that it is an 1 alligator strayed over from the Dare mainland and that is all it is, ' and in this instance, nothing un usual about it, for alligators abide in the East Lake region, and are sometimes caught or killed. CASES HEARD TUESDAY BY DARE RECORDER The following cases were dis posed of in Dare Recorders Court Tuesday: Milton Dowdy, Kitty Hawk, careless and reckless driv ing $25 and costs. Paul Midgett Manteo, improper equipment, $5 and costs. Eddie Lee Jennings, Hertford, speeding, $lO and costs. Cecil Little, Powhatan, Va., bad I checks in the amount of $207.38 to » the Carolinian Hotel, costs of court, I and making good the checks. John , P. Spence, Mamie, improper lights, , $5 and costs. HARBOR ENGINEERS TO MEET WITH DARE COMMISSIONERS AND HIGHWAY OFFICIALS Conferences Tuesday Have Been Arranged to Clarify Status of Secondary Roads and to De vise Plans for Relieving Channel Situation at Oregon Inlet; Delays to Ferry Traffic Seen as Detriment to Whole Area. DISCUSSIONS HELD TO 1959 JAMBOREE ON DARE COAST 1 Meeting Held at Nags Head; South Banks Visitors Ham pered by Ferries » i The same shoals that have , hampered Oregon Inlet ferry traf . sic for the past several weeks pre . vented Hatteras Island members of the Dare Coast Pirate Jamboree . steering committee from attending a planning meet at Nags Head Sunday. A group from Roanoke Island and the Dare Beaches assejnhled at Beacon Motor Lodge however, and after seeing Wally McCown’s movie of last year’s Jamboree, got down] f to the business of making plans, for the event scheduled to launch! g the vacation season during the! week end of April 24-26 this year. I t Discussed and definitely planned, 1 were four dances and the usual >• caravans or junkets by costumed; } pirates to several towns and cities | . on advertising campaigns. Discussed, but not decided was the Jamboree religious service. - Present to bike part in this dis cussion was Rev. R. W. Turner of; St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and Rev. S. S. Snead of Kitty Hawk > Methodist Church. Mr. Snead said in view of the , fact the churches of Dare were vis r ited by so many vacationists he ; felt that any event which tied in i with the promotion of tourist busi- I ness should have the support of I the Churches. Mr. Turner suggest- II ed that the ■steering committee f may wish to consider as an altema . tive to the Jamboree religious t services, a local musical pageant at . Waterside Theatre the infamous , pirates being characterized with a , religious phase injected in the play. During the Sunday meeting Ro -5 land Sawyer, Sr., was named | transportation chairman. Wallace H. McCown, chairman ; ill charge of caravans. Linwood i j Tillett, Pirate King, heads the 1 . committee on beard growing com , petition and also the bearded men’s! ; dinner. His court will assist in this! i activity and also help him make! . plans for the bearded men’s dinner, i Pirate Queen Mary Burras of; . Hatteras assisted by her court andj . former Jamboree Queens will th : = . year as a pre-Jamboree event plan : a dinner for the women buccaneers, i To attend the dinner each piratess ; would be required to wear her cos i tume. i Dances are planned for North , Banks and South Banks, i The Jolly Roger Ball set for April 11 will be the Pre-Jamboree , event for selecting a new pirate ’ king and queen. At this event King Lin wood and Queen Mary will pre side as their successors are se lected. The Coronation Ball at which the new king and queen will : be crowned has been set for April 18 and the Grand Pirates Ball, one 1 of the dynamic highspots of each : Jamboree will be held on April 25. 1 Bearded Georgie Buck Mann and Ras Wescott will have roles in pre ! senting these social activities, while ■ Mrs. Tom Briggs, George Crocker ' and John Donoho will collaborate 1 on decorations. MRS. ISABELLE GRAY. AVON NATIVE DIES IN VIRGINIA s _____ Mrs. Isabelle Scarborough Gray, ! 47, died in a Portsmouth hospital ■ Monday at 7:30 p.m. She was a na -1 tive of Avon, Dare County and re -1 cently had been residing at 9 Gar -1 rett Street, Portsmouth. 1 She was a daughter of the E. F. 1 and the late Mrs. Rebecca Wil . liams Scarborough, and the wife of ■ Robert W. Gray. Her father is a * prominent Avon merchant. * In addition to her husband and father, surviving are two daugh tres, Mrs. Rebecca Gray and Miss Lois Gray; and one son, Robert M. ■ Gray, all of Portsouth; one sister. Mrs. Hattie Gray, and two broth ■ ers, Summner Scarborough and Ed ■ ward Scarborough, all of Avon, ’ N. C.; two half-brothers, Kermit ■ Scarborough and Erskine Scar t borough, both of Norfolk, and three > grandchildren. , The body was taken to the Twi ■ ford Funeral Home, and then to the 1 residence at Avon Wednesday for » funeral services Thursday at 2 , p.m. by the Rev. Homer Peterson, t Jr., pestor of the Portsmouth As , sembly of God Church. Burial was in the family plot in Avon. Single Copy /« A meeting of several district and state Highway Officials has been arranged with the Dare County Board of Commissioners, for 11:30, Tuesday morning February 3, and on the same date. Col. R. B. Row land, Jr., District Engineer and other officials of the U. S. Engi neer Corns will come to Manteo to review the Oregon Inlet situation. : With them will be Col. Harry . Brown of the Governor’s staff. From the highway department ; will be Commissioner Fletcher ■| Gregory, Jr. of Weldon, Harold ; Makepeace, head of the Secondary 1 1 Roads Denartment, W. M. Spruill, I Division Engineer and George K. I, Mack, District Engineer. Victor Meekins, Chairman of the county I Board said today the Board had ■; been looking forward to meeting i j with the officials from both +he I I harbors and highways denartments, iland he was glad that the situation ■ihas worked out so all three boards J might get together in Manteo on l,the same date. J In a letter from J. M. Broughton, ■ Jr., Chairman of the State High iiway Commission, he says the rep | resentatives of the Commission will be prepared to brief the new coun ty board on all phases of the Sec ondary Roads program, and other I matters of interest to the officials of Dare County, and that he is pleased that Col. Brown, and Col. Rowland will be in Manteo. The Highway Department is naturally concerned over the Oregon Inlet sitaution where the shoals which have developed during the w’nter are proving disastrous to the econ omy of Dare County. Boats ashore, ■schedules delayed and business handicapped, is a great discourage ment to automobile traffic to and from Hatteras Island. Representing the Board of Com missioners, Woodrow Edwards, George Fuller and David Stick have been working on arrange ments for Tuesday’s meeting for several weeks. Prior commitments, weather, and unforeseen contin gencies have delayed the meeting once or twice. i Among the secondary road items , for which aid will be requested are projects at Hatteras. Kitty Hawk, land on Roanoke Island, some of j which are important to the onera- Ition of the schools of the county. The Oregon Inlet situation is con sidered the most serious problem at this time, and an effort will be made to relieve the emergency sit uation now existing. WINNERS OF POSTER CONTEST ANNOUNCED Noveky Music Program Saturday Night Expected to Draw Large Crowd. In "onnection with the Dr. C. N. Wrir’’t Novelty Musical Progrant, whir' ! s to be presented on the eve nin<r -f January 31, the Roanoke Islat’ l Music Club offered a pos ter contest to the seventh and eighth grades of the Manteo Ele mentary School. The posters en tered were quite '•olorful, and in teresting. They al’ contained about the same word content, namely: that Dr. Wright, his sister, Miss Caroline Wright: daughter, Miss Paula Wright; T*-o Rotary Quar tette, with Dick and Paul Crocker at the drams, were of fering an evening of light, pleas ant music, with emphasis on the “BOOM B ' SS,” which will be heard for the fr-.t time. There were thirteen entries, and free tickets to the cor will be pre sented to the following, for having entered the conter*: Mary Charles White, Susan Baswght. Fred Kelly, Robert Midgett, Jr., Martha Ann Midgett, Herbert Bliven, Brenda Gallop, Betty Dee Ward. Martha Bonner, Jan Oneto, Alma Elizabeth Etheridge, Gary Lewark, Pptsy Meekins, and Richard Jackson. The posters were on display in Firing’s Restaurant from Friday afternoon, until Monday after noon, a ballot box was provided, and the public was invited to vdte for their choice. The prize of SI.OO for tiie winner of the popular vote, was awarded to Robert Midgett, Jr. The judges, Mrs. James Bardin, Mrs. Reid Cabe, and W. W. Tark ington turned in a decision as fol ! lows: first prize, Mary Charles ■ White; second prize, Susan Bas -1 night; and third prize, Fred Kelly. ■ t The first prize was $3.00, second, • $2.00 and third SI.OO. Special i 1 mention went to Martha Ann Mid* gett, for originality.