This picture from the fomily collection of Chorlcs Foord, of Wilmington, wos token ot the old Atlontic
Vie- Hotel, on Wrights.illc Sound; but it is uneertoin whether these were the some "merry marks¬
men" referred to herein.
To Chase a Million
Purple Marlins
They were about ns obnoxious as the
Itlackbirils of Seollauil Keck, hut <li<l
keep tlio mosquitoes down Ilia! sum¬
mer.
»i; LEWIS I4IIL1P HALL
During the summer in North Caro¬
lina the twittering and the graceful
llight of the purple martins, as they
wheel and dive near their nests in the
dried gourds, suspended from tall poles
on the farms, is a familiar sight in
this Stale.
These birds usually arrive here, from
their winter home in Brazil, about the
middle of March. By the first of August
the nesting season is over and the
martins begin to gather in huge flocks
lor their migration llight South.
I’rof. I . Gilbert Pearson, some years
ago. stated that in Greensboro. N. C. a
flock estimated to contain about 200,-
000 birds were observed at a favorite
roosting place. Tie seemed to think this
concentration set a record for the State.
But perhaps Prof. Pearson never heard
of an event that occurred on Wrights-
villc Sound in August 1905.
At that time Captain John llanby
was the owner and proprietor of the
Atlantic View Hotel, located near the
power house and train station on
the Sound, which site is now occupied
by the Waterway Motor Lodge, at the
junction of Highways 74 and 76.
About the latter part of July 1905
the martins began congregating in the
beautiful grove of live oaks that sur¬
rounded the hotel. Captain Hanby be¬
gan to feed the birds and also stopped
the small boys from "chunking" rocks
at them, and in other ways encour¬
aged the martins to contc there as a
place of refuge.
I lie birds accepted his kindness will¬
ingly and to such an extent that Cap¬
tain Hanby vowed he never again
would urge the "feathered tribe” to
make his grounds their home. Each
evening thousands and thousands of
martins made their way to the Sound
and spent the night in the grove of the
Atlantic View, and each night the num¬
bers increased by several thousand.
The flock by now had increased to
such an extent that they were not only
a nuisance, but they threatened to con¬
taminate the water in the cisterns of
the hotel.
The Merry Marksmen
In an effort to drive the martins
away pans of burning sulphur were put
in the trees to smoke them out. This
failed. Strings of firecrackers were ex¬
ploded. This didn’t faze them. Finally,
as a last resort. Captain Hanby called
on his friends for assistance; and they
responded, each with a shot gun.
Each evening the merry marksmen
went out to make a few light spots in
the black cloud circling over the Atlan¬
tic View grounds. In a few days 10,000
to 25.000 birds had been killed and
hauled away in carts, but still the birds
came.
On Aug. 8, 1905 a special meeting
of the Sanitary Board was called to in¬
vestigate the health conditions sur¬
rounding the hotel.
A reputable lawyer, Mr. Marsdcn
Bellamy, stated that the martin flock
had increased to about one million
birds, which Dr. McMillian thought
would create a condition dangerous to
public health.
In the meantime the gunners con¬
tinued to fire away at the hovering
flock and were: Dr. Barnes. Dr. Dur¬
ham. Messrs. John H. Hanby, Charles
Foard, Will Moore. Charles Rogers.
J. F. Mason, Ed Craft, Walter Stoklcy,
Tom Piner and Will Grant.
They had forgotten, however, that
one Prof. T. Gilbert Pearson of the
State Normal College, in Greensboro,
had persuaded the Legislature of the
State to pass a stringent law relating to
the protection of birds. The law had
never been enforced in New Hanover
County; nevertheless, the State Game
Warden, E. Horton Freeman, swore
out warrants for the above marksmen,
which were served by Sheriff Dick
Stoklcy.
All in a spirit of fun. the case was
tried on Saturday afternoon Aug. 10.
1905 in the pavilion in front of the
Atlantic View Hotel, before Justice
George Harriss. All parties pleaded
guilty and were fined $5 and the cost,
the fine being remitted upon payment
of the cost and judgment was sus¬
pended.
As a result of the findings of the
sanitary board, Captain Hanby was
given the power to clear the premises of
martins in any way possible.
Mosquito Eaters
Although the records failed to slate
(Continued on page 31)
12
THE STATE. JULY 1. 1971