North Carolina Newspapers

SEND RENEWAL OF SUBSCRIPTION BEFORE EXPIRATION DATE ON ADDRESS VOL XXV NO. 24 WELFARE BOARD RESENTS ATTITUDE SHOWN BY STICK Chairman of Commissioners Also P* Has His Run Ins With At lantic Township Man Weather was unsettled in the meeting of the Dare County Board of Commissioners Tuesday, begin ning with a joint session with the • <Jounty Welfare Board which had been arranged at the insistence of Commissioner David Stick. After a long period of questions and ad vice directed to the welfare of ficials by Commissioner Stick, George Albert Daniels, Welfare Board member from Wanchese got _ up and said he was giving his time as ajmblic service, and if all he was going to hear was “this kind of stuff,” he was going home. He said he’d heard enough and he was disgusted. “I’ve been here before, and all I can hear is you wrangling with the Chairman,” Mr. Daniels said, “and it looks to me you try to be , the chairman, make trouble, and try to run everything in the coun ty yourself in your own way.” W. S. White, Board member from Manns Harbor offered his resig nation so someone could be put on to suit Mr. Stick, and Meekins suggested maybe the Commission ers could appoint Stick. One mem ber of the Welfare Board said they would then all resign. Mr. Daniels said he had no ill wMI against Mr. Stick, but was just disgusted, and didn’t want his time wasted. Stick then dictated a long motion outlining policies for hand ling welfare work on which a vote of the two boards was to be asked as a means of establishing policy for future guidance. Commissioner Woodrow Edwards moved the mo tion be tabled, contending that the motion needed study. Stick said .he would agree to holding the motion over until January then and ask for a vote on it This meeting closed • ’ at noon. In the afternoon meeting, Stick renewed his usual warfare on Chairman Meekins. His larger ef fort was to get control of manage ment of the Manteo airport, which Meekins had offered to look after without cost several months ago to get some needed repairs made. As usual, Commissioner Hooper agreed with Stick and Stick held out a new appeal to Commissioner George Fuller of Buxton by promis ing to agree to a revision of the budget next month so Commis sioner Fuller could build a jail at Buxton, which he has long advo cated. Meekins said Stick had been fili- ■ - bustering for months about the airport and everything else which he wishes to wreck, and that Stick had announced his intention months ago to destroy Meekins. Meekins said Stick had,lied on him by claim ing at the time he was Chairman of the Board of Commissioners in "* 1949-50 he paid himself a salary to look after the airport property. “Stick knows he’s a liar,” Meek ins said, “because it was more than a year after I came off the Board, that the successor board, on the recommendation of Civil Aeronau tics Engineers employed me at a salary of S2OO a month to manage rebuilding and repairing the air port property. Meekins worked at -i./ this for more than two years, got a government grant of $19,000 to rebuild runways, and in all total funds of $50,000 to rehabilitate the nirport- None of it has cost the taxpayers anything,” he said. The . property is again in bad state of repair. ■ Meekins said the decision by of ficials to employ him was because he had been active in the beginning in getting the airport established with Government funds, back dur ing the depression, and the Gov ernment men knew he was famil iar with the CAA regulations governing the work, and that he never applied for the job and was relieved at his own request five years ago. Meekins said Stick had become embittered with him ever since he was unsuccessful a year ago in rounding enough support on the Board to make himself chairman when the Board went into office, t Finding himself unsucessful, Stick nominated Meekins himself. “The usual gesture he makes in order to get it into the record and take credit,” Meekins says ,and adds maybe Stick owed him the honor, since he was responsible in the greater part for the election of the whole new Board. > Meekins said Stick tried to take over at every meeting, wants every thing his way, considers himself the only member of the Board who knows anything, and swells up and acts lake an adolescent whenever ' he is thwarted. Meekins once told him, “if you can’t grow up, at least try to get dry behind the ears.” See BOARD, Page Twelve THE COASTLAND TIMES WITH WHICH IS COMBINED THE PILOT AND HERALD OF BELHAVEN AND SWAN QUARTER PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTEREST OP THE WALTER RALEIGH COASTLAND OF NORTH CAROLINA TEDDY DEFEBIO STUDENT OF MONTH THIRD TIME • PwVr IE ' W “ * Other News of Honors Accorded Man teo Students; Full Roster t Is Listed Students of the month in the I Manteo High School are voted on ■ by the student body and then by the faculty. The grade nominates i three students of ability for . achievement; those three names ; are submitted to the faculty, who, ; in turn, vote for the student of their choice. For the third month of school, ■ Teddy DeFebio has the honor. Teddy was born in Washington, [ D. C. He has attended elementary i schools in Kitty Hawk, Wanchese, ; and in Arlington (St. Michael’s); his high school work has been ■ done in Mount Vernon High and ’ Manteo High. At present Teddy > is a sophomore. He is a member [ of the Science Club and is a re ,! porter for the 4-H Club in Man . teo High and for the County . Council. , All students who make A’s on > all subjects and on citizenship are j placed on the honor list in Man . teo High School. The second grad | ing period has just ended, and the following students, by grades, are . See DEFEBIO, Page Twelve i - STATE REPRESENTATIVE HEARD BY DARE NCEA i r Manteo Elementary Teachers Hosts to > Visitors From All Parts of Coun ; ty at Saturday Meeting I i The Dare County unit of the r NCEA held a meeting in the Man- - teo Elementary School Saturday, > December 4, with the Manteo Ele- - mentary teachers as hosts. Prior t to the meeting at 10 o’clock re- - freshments were served in the school lunchroom. Following this a - patriotic program was presented by > Mrs. C. S. Meekins’ second grade, i Mrs. Hilda B. Brown of the Cape c Hatteras school presided. The , speaker, Mrs. Phoebe Emmons, who 5 is a field representative of the . NCEA for the state, was presented i by Mrs. D. E. Evans, county super -1 intendent Mrs. Emmons’ topic was > “Ethics of the Teaching Profes sion.” i MANTEO SENIORS TO GIVE , A PLAY FRIDAY NIGHT > ■ The Senior Class of Manteo i High School will present the » Senior play, “A Man Called - Peter”, Friday, December 11th, at t 8: 00 pm. in the high school audi t torium. > Peter Marshall has gathered 1 into his home the young people of 5 the community. He makes their > joys and sorrows his own. His wife > knows how ready he is to overtax f his stength in behalf of others, but he good-humoredly evades her es . forts to shield him. He sometimes > gives offense to the more conser f votive elements in his church. To [ Peter Marshall life is service. As . the burden of his undertakings be . come heavy, you can see the in . domitable spirit of Peter Marshall , triumphing over every threat . The admission for this perform i ance is 504 for students and 754 , for adults. The public is cordially invited to attend. } > GIBSON REAPPOINTED FOR 1 THREE-YEAR ABC TERM k 1 William Gibson of Hatteras this ’ this week was appointed by the : Dare County commissioners for a ! three year term on the County ABC • Board, succeeding himself. He has • completed a one-year term. L. D. > Hassell, Chairman is entering his > second year of a three year term, • and Curtis Gray of Kitty Hawk is ' entering the second year of a two year term. Tabulation of Noveen i ber sales showed an increase m business reported in the sum of $2,- ’ 007.95 above the total for Novem » ber 1958. Payment of more than I $1,900 was made to the county gen ’ oral fund this week. Gross sales I for Novemeber were in excess of . SIB,OOO, despite the general com ' plaint of a decrease in other lines of local business. DREDGING SOON OF HATTERAS CHANNEL AND ENGELHARD D. D. Atkinson Awarded $ 117,000 Contract for Three Projects in Eastern N. C. WILMINGTON.—D. D. Atkin son, President of Atkinson Dredg ing Company of Norfolk, advises that “I hope to get started on the dredging at Hatteras in December but the nearness of Christmas may delay us until January.” The Atkinson firm was low bid der at $117,720 for maintenance dredging at Hatteras, Engelhard and Edenton at a bid opening here on December 3. The bids were open ed by Col. R. P. Davidson, District Engineer, Corps of Engineers. Atkinson said he plans to as sign the Dredge HAMPTON ROADS to the job and to start at Hatteras, then shift to Engelhard and do the Edenton job last. The HAMPTON ROADS has just fin ished dredging in Wilmington Har bor and is tied up here now. It is understood that Mr. Atkin son will consult with the crew first so that he can get their views about the coming holiday period. “I know they want to be at home Christmas,” he said, “so I don’t know right now if we will get started before or after Christmas.” The task involves about 300,000 cubic yards and, weather permit ting, should be finished within three to four months, Other bidders for the work were. J. A. LaPorte, Inc., Arlington, Va., $120,680, and Cottrell Contracting Company of Norfolk, $138,480. HATTERAS AIRSTRIP BELIEVED ASSURED FOR THE VILLAGE Plans Call for Building Project By April On First Airstrip Site Lyons Set Up Tentative agreement has been worked out for tire construction of a landing strip southwest of the village at Hatteras. Conrad L. Wirth, following a conference this month in Williamsburg with Wood , row Edwards, George Fuller and Victor Meekins of the County Board of Commisssioners, gave tentative agreement for the use of , the necessary Park Service land ’ for this airport to be built by pub lic funds, it was stated this week ’ to the Dare Board. t . The airport will be sufficiently . long to accommodate executive , type airplanes, and it is hoped it i can be built by April. Actual sur r vey on the grand will begin about the middle of January, according > to a letter from Federal Aviation > officials, Victor Meekins said yes , terday. , It will be built without cost to I Dare County. The airstrip will be . of great value to a region which j has no regular bus nor ambulance . service. Gas and service facilities will be leased to a fixed base op erator whereby the annual rentals are expected to maintain the prop . erty. The location is where Bert Lyons established his landing area when ’ he developed hunting club property r at Hatteras more than 30 years * ago, and when the late famed pilot ' | Dave Driskill first came to the ' coast as pilot for Lyons. * FAIRFIELD MAN DIES OF ‘ INJURIES IN ACCIDENT James R. Watson died Friday at noon in the Pungo District hos pital in Belhaven as result of in ’ juries in' as automobile mishap early Firday morning North of ’ Fairfield. He was 35 years old. Funeral services were held Sun ’ day morning at 11 o’clock from the home in Fairfield with tile Rev. i Frank Wibiral, his pastor, assisted by Joe Lang, Baptist minister, of ficating. Burial was in Fairfield j cemetery. Mr. Watson was the son of Mrs. Meta Watson and the late Ed Wat son of Fairfield. He was a mem ber of the Fairfield Christian church and a veteran of World War : IL Surviving besides his mother, i Mrs. Myrtis Blake Watson are one i son, Samuel Edward Watson; four L brothers, Harold and Clifton Wat ! son of Fairfield, Pat Watson of i Norfolk and Henry Watson of , Portsmouth; three sisters, Mrs. i James Mooney and Mrs. Rufus , Cutrell of Fairfield; and Mrs. i Claude Hatchell of Norfolk. I» , - CAPT. UNWOOD CUTHRELL CIVIL DEFENSE DIRECTOR Capt. G. Linwood Cuthrell, Man teo building contractor was this week unanimously tendered the post of Civil Defense Director of Dare County by the Board of Com missioners. He is named as suc cessor to Bob Gibbe, who resigned recently after serving a year. MANTEO, N. C., FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1959 :olimgton man finshes COAST GUARD TRAINING ■r > & B JOHN B. BEASLEY, SA, U.S.C.G., son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry H. Beasley, of Colington, adrress Route 2, Kitty Hawk, N. C., has completed thirteen weeks of basic training at the U. S. Coast Guard Receiving Cen ter, Cape May, New Jersey. He entered the Coast Guard last Aug ust. He will now report to Petty Officers School at the U. S. Coast Guard Training Station, Groton, Conn., as a seaman apprentice. HODGES MOVES TO AID INLET CHANNEL FOR FERRY BOATS Effort Underway to Relieve Cost ly Situation Due to Shoaling at Oregon Inlet “Misery and a mighty loss of business is ahead for Dare Coun ty’s citizens and customers, due to the shallow Oregon Inlet chan nel,” was the word that went out this week to Governor Hodges. Dr. W. W. Harvey, Jr., Dare Wa terways Committee Chairman, and Victor Meekins, chairman of the County Board have made a strong appeal in behalf of some emer gency dredging on the north side of the inlet to permit the ferry boa|' to get •across. I In this narrow channel which is not deep enough in the first place, trawlers are getting ashore for hours at the time. Whenever this happens, all ferry traffic is suspended, many schedules are lost, and great inconvenience ren dered the travelling public. On one day last week, 30 people were forced to remain overnight in Manteo. Sometimes the ferry is able to pull the trawlers off the shoals, and this must be done be fore the ferry can continue. Usu ally it requires a long wait for a rise in tide, and this can run the situation past daylight hours, which means no more schedules until next day. As the result of a telephone conversation with Raleigh yester day Governor Hodges promised Harvey and Meekins to begin ef fort at once in hope of some dredging. Now is considered the most op portune time possible with two large dredges nearby on the Manteo-Oregon Inlet channel con tract, and which might easily be diverted for a few days to clear out this project. It is apparent that unreasonable economic loss will occur on Hatteras and Ocra coke Islands unless the situation is corrected. 1960 PIRATE JAMBOREE PLANS AT NAGS HEAD Plans for presenting the sixth annual Dare Coast Pirates Jam boree during the last week end in April 1960 as a springboard for the Outer Banks vacation season will be discussed at a meeting of citizens from all parts of the county Sunday afternoon, Decem ber 13 at 4 p.m. in the Nautilus Room of Beacon Motor Lodge, Nags Head. George Crocker, president of Nags Head Chamber of Com merce will be host at the meeting. The meeting will follow a Nags Head Chamber of Commerce snonsored pre-Christmas Turkey Shoot at Beacon Lodge scheduled to begin at 2 o’clock. YOUNG DEMOCRAT MEETING CALLED FRIDAY NIGHT A meeting of the Young Demo crats of Dare County has been called for Friday night at 7:30, Dec. 11. Dr. W. W. Harvey, Jr., the president said yesterday. Items of interest to be discussed .are plans for attending the Jeffer son-Jackson Day Dinner in' Ra leigh; a program for functions luring 1960; a nominating com mittee for new officers; making contacts with young people away in college; a report of the recent state YDC convention and history of the YDC movement GYROCOPTER AND JETS ARE READY FOR DECEMBER 17 cull Program Prepared for 56th Anniversary of First Hights Thursday Igor Bensen’s gyrocopter the “Spirit of Kitty Hawk,” will be demonstrated here at Kill Devil Hills during the 56th anniversary celebration of the Wright Broth ers’ first flights on December 17, next week, it was announced to day by David Stick, chairman, Wright Memorial Society’s muse um committee. The gyrocopter which will be making its first public demon stration in North Carolina was in vented by Bensen. The demon stration will mark the conclusion of ceremonies atop Kill Devil Hills of which Stick will preside. Prior to flight of the “Spirit of Kitty Hawk” in the program starting at Kill Devil Hill and the Wright Memorial monument at 10:30 o’clock, jet aircraft of the U.S. Air Force along with engine powered transports and bombers will make two formation passes over the monument, the first at 10:37 o’clock and the second at 10:55 o’clock. In the meantime on the ground at the monument the program will begin with an invo cation by the Rev. R. W. Turner of St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Nags Head and the National An them by the Elizabeth City high school band. Mayor R. H. Cook, of Kill Devil Hills will welcome the group and Stick will present distinguished guests including Elbert Cox, re gional director, National Park' Service, Mayor Levin Culpepper, of Elizabeth City, President Gra dy Miller, Jr., of the N. C. Aero Club and Herb Kalish, of the Air Force Association. President Grady Millere of Con cord has stated that the Carolina Aero Club, some 35 strong will fly to the exercises at Kill Devil Hills on December 17th. Representatives of 17 major airlines are expected to attend this celebration honoring the Wright Brothers, Julian Oneto, of the Carolinian said. Wreaths from the City of Day ton, Ohio, one from this State, one from the Aero Club and one from Dare County will be placed to honor the memory of the Wrights. The Bensen gyrocopter demonstration is scheduled for 11.15 o’clock. Rear Admiral Peter V. Colmar, commandant sth Coast Guard Dis trict, Norfolk, will deliver the principal address at the Memorial Luncheon scheduled for 12:30 o’clock at The Carolinian Hotel. Wade Marr, president, Kill Devil Hills Memorial Society will be toastmaster. Melvin R. Daniels of Wanchese will give the welcome. Congressman Herbert C. Bonner of Washington, N. C. and Elbert Cox, of the National Park Serv ice will speak. FACING COSTLY JOB OF REPAIRING ON DARE COURTHOUSE Dare County is facing what may turn out to be a costly re pair job on the Dare County courthouse roof as a result of neg lect, all because $24 worth of shingles were not replaced after the hurricane of three years ago. Rain running into the building has rotted rafters, plates, roof ers and joist ends, and the tear ing away and replacement is ex pected to run into some thou sands. When the hurricane blew the shingles off the roof, the Sheriff was instructed to get repairs un derway. The matter was referred to a local building supply firm. Not even an adjustment of insur ance was made, and the matter had been forgotten until recently. The Board chairman applied for the insurance check, and it has been paid. Preliminary esti mates have been made which indi cate enormous loss to the taxpay ers. At the time the damage was done, the Commissioners were busy building a SIOO,OOO jail which the people had voted against by three to one. With plenty of workmen around, with staging at hand, the front end of the courthouse was forgotten and left to rot, while the rear end was being doctored up for a prisoner’s hotel. LIONS CLUB TO HOLD DANCE NEXT WEEK Manteo Lions are this week sell ing tickets for their annual Christ mas party and dance to be held next Saturday, the 19th. Several prises are to be awarded and good enter tainment is promised for all. Danc ing will begin at 9 psn. BIG TURNOUT FOR HEARING ON NEW BANK EXPECTED IN MANTEO MONDAY DEC. 14 Some 150 Citizens To Petition for Additional Bank in Dare County; Opposition Expected From Manteo Bank Before Banking Commis sioner; Hearing Begins at 9:30 In Dare County Courthouse. The only meeting of its kind ever scheduled for Dare County promises to be a long remembered one on Monday, December 14th, When a group of some 150 citizens will appeal to the State Banking Commission for authority to etab lish a new bank in Dare County to be called the Peoples Bank of Dare. Ben R. Roberts, Commissioner of Banks will hold the hearing 9:30 ’ a.m. being the opening time, and indications now are that a large , crowd representing many parts of the county will come to Manteo to ' signify their interest. Strong op ’ position from the Bank of Manteo is expected at this meeting. Its , attorneys, Willis Smith Jr., and Jim Dorsett of Raleigh have been . spending some time in the locali ty, going over the county to de ’ velop support for the campaign of , the Bank of Manteo to hold the field without competition. [ In opposing the establishment of [ a new bank, the Bank of Manteo I through its cashier has issued a • statement in which the following, claims are offered: The bank has , operated 52 years and no depositor • has lost any money in it; that Wil > lis R. Pearce who has been Cashier : or 22 years will continue as an “officer” of the Bank.” it is stated • the bank paid its stockholders no i dividends until 1946; that the, I Cashier and assistant Cashier are. I the only salaried officers of the bank; that directors receive no • salary. ' "The Bank states further that the ; owners of the Bank are Dare • County minded; that stock in it is available to- responsible Dare County citizens; the bank is eager ’ and able to grow with Dare County. ■ It says the real issue is to preserve for Dare County one sound bank ’ rather than to create two unsuc cessful ones. And in this last state ment it doesn’t manifest the usual optimism for the future growth ’ of Dare County that is expressed ’ in so many quarters elsewhere. The group who would organize i the new bank is represented by J. Melville Broughton Jr., of Raleigh [ and W. H. McCown of Manteo. , Leaders in this group are M. L. ’ Daniels Jr., Archie Burrus, Julian Oneto, Frank White, R. Bruce . Etheridge who sold stock and help ; ed organize the bank of Manteo . over 50 years ago, and who was its cashier for over a quarter of a century. Other subscribers are Julian Oneto, Andy Griffith, , Ward Daniels, J. E. Baum, E. P. ' White, Dan Oden, Donald Dough, | and many others. . The organizers of the new bank I contend the county has grown by leaps and bounds until there is t definite need for more banking fa- • cilities at home. They have con ’ tended that sl4 have been bor- • town, by Dare County people in the ’ town, for each dollar borrowed at • home by Dare County people in the . past two years, not mentioning ; much more that come from other sources. This they consider ample proof that another bank is needed, for they ehow from the statement of the Bank of Manteo itself that all its loans now total less than i three quarters of a million dollars ’ while having close to two and a half millions on deposit 1 The new bank group contends ' that a bank controlled largely from Raleigh, and owned in one family cannot be as responsive to the ■ needs of the people as a bank com -1 posed of home people and whose ■ directors will live in the several ' communities of Dare County. To offset the claims of the new bank group, officials of the bank ' of Manteo have recently started a j campaign to indicate their willing , ness to sell some of the stock of the bank to local people and to ' name some local directors. They, ! have also recently announced their . willinghees to enter the small loan field a deficiency heretofore con- ‘ ceming which, the new group has 1 made capital on their promise to give attention to small loans. Recently the Bank of Manteo has made application for permis sion to open a tellers window in k Buxton for the purpose of receiv ing deposits and making change; - whereby a long hoped-for eonveni- ■ ence will be provided an area which t has greatly needed banking facili s.tiee. This move, the new group -; contends, was not made until they - had first promised to establish a branch on Hatteres Island. MAIL SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO BOX 428 MANTEO, N. C. NOT TO INDIVIDUALS Single Copy 7# 2-SCHOOL GROUP IN HYDE REJOICES AT NEW DECISION Board Member Tom Howard Sides With Elected Candi dates To End Controvery A member of the Board of Edu cation in Hyde County who one of four put on the Board in the recent legislature, and not elected by the people, has turned the tide and brought joy to the hearts of the advocates of two high schools on the mainland, by cast ing his vote with the three mem bers who were overwhelmingly nominated in the primary last year. Member Tom Howard, who was one of four added to the Board by the county representative, Satur day night sided with the three elected members of this Board, and cast his vote against a resolution calling for re-letting of a contract to build a central high school near Lake Comfort. In a spirited election in the prim ary of 1958 some 2,000 votes were cast whereby Walter Lee Gibbs a member of the Board of Educa tion, who had cast his lot with the two-school proponents, won over his opponent by a vote of 1,- 042 to 726. The other two members of the Board were defeated and in their places, Earl Topping of I Scranton and W. I. Cochran of Swan Quarter who also favored the two school plan, were elected. Toward the close of the legis lative session, Representative Dick O’Neal, added the three defeated candidates; and also Mr. Howard, a , prominent farmer who had not run whereby a board of seven was cre ated, and this Board by majority was presumed to be loyal to what has become known as the Gaylord faction. Meanwhile, work on the central high school for which contract had been let to Dawson of New Bern had been suspended by court order as a result of litigation brought by the faction which followed Mr, Gibbs. See SCHOOLS, Page Six SANTA CLAUS DUE I N BELHAVEN 2:30 SATURDAY THE I6TH Santa Claus will officially ar rive in Belhaven on Wednesday afternoon, December 16„ at 2:30. Riding in his sleigh, he will be escorted by the Belhaven Commu nity Band as he makes his way from the public library down Main Street, past the John A. Wil i kinson School, along King Street, and back to the business section. o f both the white and colored schools will be allowed ive heir classrooms and , gather on the campuses to greet the old gentleman. That night Santa’s sleigh will be on display at the Community Center when the Matcha Pungo Garden Club holds Open House, with members of the Junior Garden Club as hostesses. At 7:00 p.m., the annual Christ mas program sponsored by the Belhaven Community Chamber of Commerce will be presented at th“ old school building. “The Light of Christmas,” a series of living pictures depicting the Na tivity etory, will be staged and directed by Mrs. W.‘E. Bateman, Jr. Characters will be portrayed by citizens of Belhaven and the surrounding communities, and ac companying music will be pre sented by the John A. Wilkinson High School Glee Club under the direction of Mrs. William Cayton. The commentary was prepared by Mrs. J. W. Lloyd, Jr. At the con clusion of the program the ICV ; stmaß street lights will be of ficially turned on. Credit for the 'treet decorations goes to the Light and Water Board, for their financial help, and to the town employees and students of the high school Agriculture Depart ment for assembling the decora tions. Audio equipment for the ■ program will be furnished and di \ rented by Bernard Morris. The annual program has at ' tracted much favorable attention 1 ie past "Hiia year’s program - offers something for all ages and * people from the area are urged ’ ioin with the citizens es Belha ven in observing the Christman season.