The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1951-05-25

he accompanied Mrs. Maekins to
the abandoned Coast Guard Station
in the Duck-Kitty Hawk area. The
furnishings were sparse, he said;
there was a table and bench and
one or two chairs in the room in
which the interview was conduct
ed. The children sat close together
on the bench; one boy was not
wearing shoes. "They did not look
clean," he said. He remembered
hearing Mrs. DeFebio say that
they weren't going to send the
boys to school. In reply to ques-
ton of Mrs .DeFebio's, Mr.. Cahoon
said he remembered seeing the
blackboard which the children used
for their lessons.
Carl Salinger, caretaker OF the
station buildings, now owned by
three non-residents of Dare Coun-
ty, was asked about how often
Mrs. DeFebio lived with the fam
lily. MRS. Debio would come dowL,
probably, every month. Shed stay
sometimes. 2 or days, week,
10 days" He said Mr.. DeFebio did
not do any work so far as he knew.
although he did tend a garden
which he estimated to De. about
"5Ox40 #. out on the fiat" In
reply to question, he said, alt
looked to me like it was a pretty
tough go for clothing and so forth"
for the children. The wife brought
groceries when she visited the
family, he said, and he thought
that they also bought food at Kit
ty Hawk. The family had quite
a few visitors" mostly from the
District of Columbia and Mary
land, Salinger said.
Mrs. DeFebio asked whether Sa-
linger had not seen Mr.. and Mrs.
David Stick visit the family, and
whether he had not seen her bring
in driftwood and work hard about
the place. He answered affirmative
ely. In reply to a question about
the children's lessons, Salinger
said, well, sometimes, at break
fast I'd hear them spell some
thing" Salinger said that he had
never known any of the family to
be sick single day.
DeFebio's Garden
Mr.. DeFebio said mildly that his
garden had been somewhat under
estimated. There were six garden
plots, he said, some of which Mr..
Salinger, perhaps, did not know
about. Their measurements were
50x6 it., 130x32 it., 22x36 it., 117x
IL it., 96x12 #. and 3Ox3O #. De-
Febio stated that it was his plan
to supply as much of the fanily's
food from his garden as possible,
and that he intended to dispose of
the surplus on the local market
if possible.
Mrs. Julia Gray, of Washington,
d. c., and Roanoke Island, told the
court that she has first known
Mrs. DeFebio as a customer of her
shop in Washington. She frst
heard about the difficulties of the
family with the Dare school au-
thoIitles when Mrs. DeFebio drove
her to her home in her taxi in
Washington. She said she had ask
ed Mrs. DeFebio, How did you
nave the heart to leave your chill |
dren" in the courtroom after the
December trial. Mrs. DeFebio told |
her that she would understand if |
she knew all the facts about the
case.
Clyde Beacham of Kitty Hawk
testified that he had once given the
two 8-year-old boys ride on a hot
cay last sunni err when they were
dragging heavy bags along the
road on the way to their home
"They were in pretty sad share
when l picked them up" he STAT
ed.
u. H. Spruiil of Duck said he
has known the family ever since
they arrived in the county early IN
1850. He did no. remember ever
seeing the boys outdoors in had
weather without shoes. He -aid he