The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1954-06-25

q 0aF So -
sort are unobtainable in land
locked regions and for that mat
ter, no other coastal strip ever
inherited such collection OF
wrecks as you are seeing now
or the coastal sands near Cape
Hatteras.
For swimming, sun bathing,
and surf fishing. one can find
here almost complete solitude
beach TO yourself with no soul
around for miles up and down
the coast and only ship skele-
tons for companions with moth
ing else audible but the SOFT
, sound emanating from the SUI
with its crests breaking and
fading away on the slcr1rg
beach. Occasionally. you may ex-
perience some intrusion by scEs-
one with front wheel-drLTe
vehicle passing by; or some ven
turesome individual. with more
spirit of adventure than Common
sense, willing to risk his car and
substitute a sandy beach for hard
surfaced road.
In the passing, it can Re men
toned that it Is possible to reach
Hatteras from Oregon Inlet va
beach proving one engages the
services Of guide. Othe-wlse-
YOUR car may become an add
ton 10 the wreck strewn beach
and contribute rusty color 70 the
existing scenery.
About ten miles before reach
/ ing the Cape, your attention VII
be focused on the s.gn, Wei
come TO Avon" quaint and
leisurely village with no nore
than 500 inhabitants. Here, the
life seems to move with the rise
! and fall Of the tides rather than
( by the movements Of the clock
4 unique human atmosphere
prevails here where people, Is
yet, are not affected by the en-
croaching trends from the main
land. One IS truly amazed by TIE
reaction Of its citizens and their
friendly overtures. Practically
with no exceptions. every one
you see will have smile; the
men VIII raise their hats or doH
their caps: womenfolk with their
offspring will wave at you with
true smiles On their faces. In
stantly, one can detect that their
smiles are genuine, generated by
natural friendliness and unsf-
fected by the srtificiality where
/ by custom or tradition, snirk Is
projected In lieu Of Z smile.
Avon can be good place to
stay overnight where the new
Hatteras Hotel provides comfort
able accommodations at reason
able rates. From here, the out
line Of the 1873 foot tower cover
ed by black and white spiral
stripes is visible This is the
famous Cape Hatteras Light
| house whose penetrating beam
carries rays Of relief and pro-
vides sedation to ship captains
whose vessels are rounding the
dreaded Diamond Shoals where
so many iron hulks lie rusting
beneath the waters that naviga-
tors of passing vessels find the
needles of their compasses de-
waited by as much as eight de-
grees.
You are now viewing the land
of history and salty legends
where the first battle of Civil
War had its initiation and ended
in victory for the Federal armies
at Roanoke Island. In 1862, the
USS Monitor was lost here. Fol-
lowing World War /, in 1923,
Brigadier General Billy Mitchell
demonstrated to the world that
surface craft were vulnerable to
aerial bombings From tempo
rary field erected on the beach
by Hatteras village, he launched
his Martin bornbers toward the
Diamond Shoals where the 1,l00
pound bombs were dropped over
the target and two more ships.
the USS Virginia and USS New
Jersey were consigned to the
depths of the graveyard of the
Atlantic. Muffled by the incom-
ing surf and hidden beneath the
surface of moving waves are
! buried the historical events of a
by gone era. In the shadow Of
this lighthouse reported to be the
tallest in the nation and with
your eyesight directed toward
the shoals, your thoughts may
tend to reconstruct some Of the
happenings whose actualities
have been recorded on the pages
of books found under the head
ing of history. II so, you are like
ly to experience difficulty in
linking the past with the present
where the perpetual motion Of
the Atlantic follows no chro-