The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1929-04-05

lSc
And if a refuge Or sanctuary fer
the Canadian wild goose is nct pro-
vided within a few years, this
noblest of all American birds will
become extinct. Far TO the North
of us in Ontario, Canada. JACK
Miner has created q winter Sanct-
uary for the Canadian wild goose.
But there is no sanctuary for the
noble goose in the South. North
Carolina, the winter home CT the.
wild goose is q veritablc slaughter
house.
Lake Mattamuskcet is the mcSC
sheltered and most desirablc VIM
tering place for the goose and many
species of ducks in Eastern North
Carolina. 1t is six miles wide and
l6 miles long And for sixteen
years millions have been reck,"Ssiy
spent By Northern capitalists ID
drain it dry and convert it into un-
wanted farm lands.
The Hecksher millions are the lat
est to be thrown into Lake Malta
muskect. And the wild geese settled
upon Lake Mattamuskeet in great
throngs all winter and honked their
disapproval of any further waste Of
money in what appears to be a fool
ish dream of taking their refuge
away from them. GunnerS walked
afield and without resort to blinds
and without the aid Of decoy5 ShcJ
thousands Of wild geese on Lake
Mattamuskeet this past winter. a
native killed wild goose with
club.
And with all the millions OF un-
titled highlands in North Carolina,
nonresident millions are reCklessly
tossed into a project TO make farm
lands of the bottom Of Lake Malta
muskeet. 1t S 4 crime 22&.G5,
Nature and Mr.. August Hecksho"
is the man to stop it and. incidcn-
tally, create for himself perpetual
memorial for which billions yet m-
born will praise his name.
The Inhumanity Of Man
Sixteen years ago Lake Malta
muskeet was one OF the most pic
turesque and most interesting bodies
of inland water en- the South 1T
lantic Seaboard; a great placid sheet
of fresh water in the very he"rt oi
Hyde County, sheltered from the
harsh winds CT the coast. In its
shallow waters the wild celery, pond
weed and other grasses providing
winter food for wild fowl grew in
Jungle like profusion. There Taj
no salt water, no industrial pollution
to arrest the growth Of the alGa.ic
grasses.
Lake Mattamuskect was Owned
BY the State of North Carolina and
)any revenues to be derived from II
were applicable to education. B.c@
in 1911 some one in the STATE De-
partment of Education, jealous ID
see Lake MattamuSkcet capitalized,
conceived the idea Of conycrtin| II
into a drainage district, pumping
the water out of it and selling the
reclaimed lands.
Came then upon the scene an
enterprising Middle-Wcscerncr bf
the name of D. N. Grave. M.
Graves had made corn il I'linp..,
pecans in Texas, cotton in McA!"2.
He was used to expansive trac.& o.
flat lands. He had vision Q. z4.HJ1
acres of black lands underlying the
shallow waters of MattamuSEocJ and
had a picture in his mind Of what
could be done with those acres once
the water was wrung out OF them
D. N. Graves is reputcd - ha"@
spent several hundred thousand dol
lars of his own money Oh the proJ...
only to find that its rccl9na.Ly-
called for millions, not hundred o.
thousands merely. He Scld hi A-
terest to a group OF Ohio bo.--.s
who are reputed to have spent up
wards of two millions on the prg"-
erty. They called it New Holland.
The bottom of the lake Is at SID
level. A dixie was thrown a-r.i'
the great lake. Fifty miles OF calal.
we're cut lengthwisc and cross .a2
the property. A great pumping ST.
ton to pump q million gallon. o.
water a minute was built aL a cost
of s250,OOO. A take-of canal 'ar
built from the pumping plant 10
Pamlico Sound, eight mile dist. nj.
The great pumping plant MS con-
pleted in 1916. But l. aIOhJ T.fH
fast enough, various az u!gL q!
experiments It'll The iaku Do-ym
lands failed. There Hes auo--e-