The Wilmington morning star., 1940-12-18

MORNING
place where he can drop in and
buy some neckties or other things
to send home. You merchants
spend a lot dressing your windows
to attract people into your stores.
These soldiers can drop in there
and they can buy but if you drop
them off outside of town, they
won't have any money to spend
when the get downtown.
Build it wherever you want but
if it doesn't take with the soldier
it won't work. You could have it
diamond studded and it wouldn't
do any good. If you and I were
members of a downtown club, we
wouldn't want to walk ten blocks
to get to it. ).
Nov, about how to run it. You
must have it 100 percent under
control. If you want a man in
charge, that's all right, but also
have a lady. That raises the tone
more than anything I know of. Re-
member you want to have some
place where the soldiers mother
can come to visit him. She'll stay
a week or SO and that is where
she'll meet her boy. If you want
to sell candy bars and Coca Colas
there, that is all right. 1t may
help bear the cost of the place.
us this good business or not?
If you have it (Holly Ridge) for
five years and there are 20, 0OO
men there a year, that will be
], 1000, 900 men from all over the
United States. They can all read
and write. And if they all go back
and talk to ten people and say,
Don't go to Wilmington that is
1000, 900 persons who will never
come to Wilmington.
Potential Tourists
"These soldiers are 100, 900 pc.
tential tourists. Some may induce
their parents to come here to live.
You have no idea, of how far this
thing may. reach.
Wilmington. will stand or fall,
be good or bad in accordance with
whatever. steps are taken from to-
day. !. 81 noticed. a few days ago
you have a fine committee here
to do the things we are talking
about today. . A poor plan is
better than no plan but no plan
is worth a damn unless someone
does something about it. The thing
for this committee) to do is to
deal in principles and not get lost
in a maze of discussion.
What kind of a town r you
going to have? What kind of a
town do you want? All of these
things are worth considering. You
will live here the rest of your
lives and I expect to live here
myself.
Il have seer it happen before.
I have seen it in Fayetteville. They
have a traffic problem III e e..
There are so many accidents they
have a special state highway patrol
squad and still can't stop them.
They are trying to build a four
lane highway from Fayetteville to
Fort Bragg and they haven't any
money. They are going to ask
congress for the money. 1t takes
hours to 60 anywhere. It some
times takes an hour to go ten
miles. You can't do q thing. Down
town there is a parking problem.
There are no parking lots. They
are still talking about a truck lane
but they can't put it here or they
can't put it there because traffic
wouldn't go by a certain house
with a tourist sign in front of it.
But tourists won't come through
there now.
Same Problems
"You people will have the same
problems. I think the quicker you
are able to meet them the better
off you'll be. I don't know what
the future will be here. You are
better off than Fayetteville, be-
cause you have a larger town with
plenty of streets both ways and
the camp is 80 miles away. but
when the soldiers get downtown
you have a traffic problem.
"The regulation of beer parlors.
:. I don't know about that. It is a
police matter. If you r not care
full it will spring up outside the
city and the county will have a
problem. Maybe the county needs
to look into this thing. The county
includes Wrightsville Beach a n d
Carolina Beach, Country Club
Pines and other attractive places.
Maybe some morning you will
wake up and find a gambling
house next door. It'll look innocent
on the outside. But you can keep
track of the strangers and the per-
sons of known criminal habits.
IF you had four or five million
dollars dumped in your lap in the
next 80 days, as Col. Montgomery
here will do for you, isn't that
enough to entice people here to
~. mort If it2 Rv hook or