The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter. [volume] (Manteo, N.C.) 1959-1973, 1960-03-25
HISTORY
CONTINUED from Page One)

deed was George F. Montgomery
He received hundred thousand
dollars for his services.
The land in question sold was
known as the Blount Survey owned
and operated by the Dare Lum-
Der Company at the time of sale.
The Pittsburg Life Insurance Com
pany with promoter George F.
Montgomery was being directed
through and by the law firm known
as the Birdseye firm of New
York City. Now after the deal
was consumated the Pittsburg
Life Insurance Company tried
to float a batch of bond S
amounting to four million dollars.
Then an investigation was started
and later developed that a fraud
had been perpetuated and the re-
suits, George F. Montgomery and
the two Birdseye lawyers were ar
rested, convicted and three were
sent to the penitentiary and the
Pittsburg Life Insurance Co. in
bankruptcy.
The Metropolitan Life Insurance
Company took over the Pittsburg
Life Insurance Co. policies and con-
tinued them in Metropolitan. This
deal and transfer was one of the
largest ever transacted in Dare
County and never cost the Metro
olitan one dollar, as it took over
this great territory free in order
to protect the deficient Pittsburg
Life Insurance Company's
policy holders and today this same
property is in my estimation worth
two million dollars or more, be-
cause of the new growth of tim
Der, which from my observation is
valuable for paper pulp manufact-
uring.
was walking through this lum-
Der camp village the other day and
thinking of the experience and hap
penings of 20 years or more ago.
1t gives me a thrill to write of
those times. We had on our payroll'
at times, 600 men and we logged
the mill with four million feet of
timber each month. Our payroll
was twenty five thousand dollars
per month. We paid each year five
thousand dollars in taxes to the
county and the company contri-
buted in many other ways. All of
the people that were residents of
the county, who would work, were
offered labor at home.
Among the officials in those days
were B. Gilpen Smith, C. F. Hotch-
kiss, C. P. Brown, w. ]. Kramer,
C. P. Wales and Roscoe Crary. All
OF whom had part in directing
and operating the Dare Lumber
Company of 20 years ago. (Now
so years..
But fishing in those days was
good and our folks in Dare County
didn't care to work so much,
especially in the logging and mill
ing industry. So We had to get
labor from other places. For in
stance we hired one hundred Rus
slams at one time from New York
and at other times from the Pacif-
ic coast. In fact we hired men where
we could. We always preferred
local labor because they wouldn't
leave so quick. Sometimes as many
as SO men would quit in day. We
needed if possible, six hundred men
on our payrolls in order to supply
logs enough to the mill at Elizabeth
City. Our orders were to pay off
on demand and a person having
made fifty or sixty dollars, and
wanting to get paid to go away
for few days to celebrate,-then
our idea was the sooner he was
broke the quicker he'd be back to
work.
We were a happy set of people
in those days at Buffalo City. We
had no panic, no depression, no poor
houses, no jails. We had one Of
ficer, "Mayor" a small court room
and our school and church includ-
ing Lodge by the name "First
Man Right, with membership OF
about rs of our local best citi-
zens, and from this order we die
tated punishment to persons who
broke certain rules or regulations
We had a floating population, the
Russians, the Turks, Scandinavians
Bohemians, West Indian Negroes
with the skum of the earth from
local counties and other states, ant
in those days there were some bad
actors.
Just to show you how we hand.
,ssse M 3 d.