The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1929-01-04
Would Annex Wright Memo
rial To Virginia Beach BY
Road If They Could
Especial CcrrcSpondcn2C)


2 highway that was trod by man
and beast and queer, creeping
things for untold centuries before
Walter Raleish'S caravclS noscd
their way past Kill Devil HIS
into Roanoke Sounds coming
into its own again, after having
been forgotten these many years.
Ii is q highway that is closed
twice a day. every day. But when
it is open, it is smooth and hard
inviting the motorists TO stop on
the gas as the spcCdometer climbs
steadily. surely, TO 90 or GO, or be-
yond. 1t is the beach that parallels
the Atlantic and leads the way,
northward or SHUthWard. as the care
may be. to the scene of the WrlSnCS
first airplanc flight.
Virginians. speeding over the
smooth. vclvcty sands southwark
" TO Kill Devil Hills, where the
Government is about to erect a
MAGNIFICENT memorial to the
Wrights' achievement, have been
struck with the ready practicabillty
of building a concrete highway from
Virginia Beach to Kitty Hawk. Nor
folk. already a focal point for tour
lists bent on excursions TO James
town. williamsburg and other
shrineS. is eager to cash IN on
Americas interest in aviation. ana
in the romantic, picturesque klUty
Hawk region-an interest that Is 10
be intensified a hundredfo!d, OF a
thousandfold. when the half million
dollar monument to aviation has
been erected.
Virginia. and specifically Norfolk
wants North Carolina TO come IN
on the construction of such a road,
with the possibility of substantial
Federal aid. since II wound have
value III life saving, and in Nat!on-
al defence.
North Carolina, however, isn't in
terested. North Cardinals road
builders-Frank Page, Frank Kug-
ler. and the rcSt--are sold on the
idea Of building a read to Kill Devil
Hills from the landWard side. In
fact. such a road is in prospect for
the early future Besides providing
a way for tourists to reach the avla-
ton shrine. it would spell conSuma-
ton of the great highway conStru2-
ton program on which North Caro-
lima embarked a decade ago. 1t
would translate into concrete the
catch phrase, "ManteO to Murphy
linking the States uttermost coun-
" capitals. as contemplated under
the county scat to county seat
program.
Already. this proposed road is on
the State map, which means that
it is ready for construction when
funds are available. And when 1t
is built. together with the Currituck
Sound bridge at Point Farbor, 1t
will be a link in a highway across
North Carolina that. if stretched
taut from Currituck Courthouse IN
q northWesterly direction, would
touch Canada. In that way. one
can visualize the astonishing dis
tancc from the northeast to the
southwest corner of The State.
Norfolks prctcntiouS new resort
hotel. the Cavalier, at Virginia
Beach. already is ca%hing in on Kill
Devil Hills. Last summer, the Cava-
licr put on tourist bus service to
the twin dunes. operating when
business justified The service
proved a hit from the start and, 1t
is understood. is to D. resumed in
the spring.
Old Lady Noon, more consistent
than most of her sex, opens and
closes the beach highway twice a
day. The time to drive over 1t is
inst after the tides. which arc inter-
related with the moons phases; and
that complicatCS matters a bit lor
the general run Of tourists, whose
acquaintance with Lady Moon has
to do with poetry and sentiment,
rather than with practical things
With a concrete highway, it
would bc altogether different. IN
stead of the situation being control
led from a planet some hundreds OF
thousands of miles away, 1t would
be in the hands of Man, and Man
could drive to Kill Devil Whenever
he wished.
Virginia. however, can look for
little encouragement from her sister
State in this program. North Caro-
lima isn't anxious to see Kill DcVli
Hills become a Virginia shrine.
HEADS KIWANIS CLUB