The Wilmington morning star., 1947-05-24
SPEAKERS
Continued From Page One)

Later they were the guests Of
the Wilmington Chamber of Com
MERGE at a buffet supper at the
Cape Fear club. Joining the port
group on its trip at this time was
II S. Gibbs, prominent Morehead
CITY realtor and insurance man
and also state representative from
Carteret county.
The party will leave from
Wrigatsville Sound early this morn
ing for Morehead City for a SINH
lar inspection of its port. From
there, it will go to Hatteras and
and will end its extern
sive cruise Tuesday morning at
Manteo.
Myers, who is president of Tex
tiles, Inc, operator of IA plants in
Castor county, declared "North
Carolina a Eve prosper as it
should unless it gets the proper
port facilities" When it does, he
added, 1t will enjoy commerce
comparable to that now handled by
OtIlCA SOQLI <1IlduLlC pOIISs
He pointed out that the Pied
mont, one of the worlds richest
industrial regions, is more interest
ed in North Carolina port develop
ment and use of it's waterway re-
sources than ever before. The
reason, he added, is the tremen-
dous freight rate savings offered
through use of water transporta-
ton. Its textile industry, he stat
ed, uses four to five times the
amount of cotton produced in the
state and much of it is shipped
through Savannah and Charleston.
This commerce, he asserted, could
be moved through Tar Heel ports
and the finish products could be
exported to domestic and foreign
markets If the ports had better
facilities and stronger communica-
tons to the interior.
Points To Norfolk
Growth of North Cardinals
ports, Myers stated, would en-
courage greater development of
the state. He pointed to Norfolk
and its relation to Virginia's pros
perity as an example.
North Carolina must get it out
of its mind that ports will benefit
only those places where they are
located" White said.
He added that there is great
need for the interior to be better
informed, not in a general way but
lin exact facts, of the excellent rate
advantages to be realized through
greater utilization of it's ports.
White cited the need of storage
facilities at Wilmington and More
head City to accommodate import
and export commodities to place
them in a comparable position
with Charleston and Norfolk. Regu-
lar steamship service is another
necessity, ne added.
At a meeting of the Fayetteville
Chamber of Commerce Thursday
night, R. B. Page, Wilmington pub
Usher and chairman of the au-
thority, outlined efforts to obtain
the northern part of the Iow-idle
shipyard from the U. S. Maritime
commission for conversion into
deep-water terminals.
Truman Interested
He told of President Truman's
interest in the proposed project,
recalling that the President had
informed a North Carolina delega'
ton that the state is the only
coastal one not having an outstand-
ing port. Among the other speak
ers were Col. George w. Gillette,
South Atlantic division engineer,
who, with Col. Beverly c. Snow,
Wilmington district engineer, is
making an inspection of the states
waterways. Col. Gillette informed
the large assembly of progress be-
ing made by other Southeastern
ports in recent years.
w. o. Huske, Fayetteville hard
ware wholesaler and also a mem
Der of the authority, spoke briefly
of the past work of the authority
and its plans for the future. Pre-
viously he had reported that rem
ovation of Fayetteville's 500, ooo
river terminals is now under way
and is expected to be completed
in 60 to 80 days. Gasoline is no"
the principal commodity moving
through this port and, through
operation of a regular barge serv'
ice, it is handling five-million gal
Ions annually.
Fayetteville Succeeds
During the 115-mile trip down
the Cape Fear river to Fayetteville,
Huske explained the past success
full efforts to obtain a year-around
eight-foot channel. This was real
lied late in 1885 when the third
lock and dam was completed by
tho Corps of Engineers of the War
department.
prominent Wilmingtonians at
tending the buffet supper last
night included State Senator Alton
A. Lennon, William B. Campbell,
CITY attorney; Harry Gardner
a.ulber of the New Hanover coun-
" board of commissioners; tred
Poisson, member of the New Han
over county ABC board; Warren
S. johnson, president of the Peo-
pies Savings Bank and Irus'
company; E. L. White, president
of the Chamber of Commerce;
Warren Bell, president of the Tlde
Water Power company; William
e. Broadfoot, of the Broadfoot
Iron Works; Laurens Wright, OF
Charlotte, division manager OF the
Standard Oil Company OF N. j.;
DR., Ben F. Royal, Morehead City,
and Roy Rowe, prominent Bur
gaw businessman, were also pres
ent.
Accompanying the authority from
FAYETTEVILLE to Wilmington, and
also attending the supper were
Mayor Charles G.. Rose, Jr., j.
Scott McFadyen, former mayor;