Sharkskin Industries
in Carolina
By TUCKER R. LITTLETON
»
...
ally, guests hereafter will be able to
park their cars in the hotel garage
free of charge.
$50,000 NICKEL
Л
nicklc worth $50,000 (it says
here) is owned by George Walton, a
Charlotte coin collector. It is a 1913
Liberty Head nickle and only five of
them were made.
NOT YET
The ferry connecting Emerald
Isle to the mainland Cape Carter-
ett development (mainland) will
not operate this year. It is almost
certain to be in service by summer
1962.
RAISE BRIDGES?
Joe DuBois, Morchcad City cham¬
ber of commerce manager, is crusad¬
ing to have moderately high-level
bridges over small streams so pleasure
boats can use the water. He wants a
minimum clearance of 12 feet.
MODERN
One of the interesting features of
the ultra-modern. $2 million Charles A.
Cannon. Jr.. Memorial Hospital at
Banner Elk is a communications sys¬
tem. It permits doctors to dictate on
any floor and have their reports re¬
corded in a central office.
BETTER, NOT WORSE
From 1930 to 1960, traffic deaths
in North Carolina increased from 777
to 1,220. But that isn't the true pic¬
ture. In the same period, deaths
per 100,000.000 vehicle miles decreased
from 21.84 to 6.5.
A North Carolinian still has
about the same chance of being
killed in a traffic accident now as
he had 30 years ago, according to
population. However, it must be
remembered that traffic has in¬
creased more than five times since
then.
In the 30 years, traffic fatalities
have totalled 29,930.
In ordering back copies of
THE STATE, please send 30c
per copy. No charge accounts
opened for single copy sales.
22
A number of attempts have been
made in this country to make use of
shark skins, but the only such attempt
of any significance in North Carolina
occurred in Carteret County. There, as
in most other instances, the shark in¬
dustry was of short duration.
It was in Morchcad City that the
Ocean Leather Company opened its
North Carolina factor)’. Other offices
of the company had been opened in
such cities as Newark. N. J.; Fort
Myers, Fla.; Sanible Island, Fla.; and
a few other locations. Actual opera¬
tions got underway in Morehead City
in October of 1918. and other sections
of the county eventually became con¬
nected with the shark fishery.
The Ocean Leather Company, a
New York concern, soon opened a
plant on Boguc Sound at Broad Creek.
The main factory, however, in Carteret
County was located at Camp Glenn
at the edge of Morehead City. Hides
taken at Morchcad City and Broad
Creek were processed and sent to
Newark, New Jersey, to be made into
belts, wallets, brief cases, razor strops,
and such like. The average shark
caught in Carteret County produced
from ten to forty square feet of
leather; but there were also rays, por¬
poises, and saw fish taken for the same
purpose as sharks. The plant on Broad
Creek seems to have specialized in
rays and porpoises.
Numerous items could be manufac¬
tured from the shark when thoroughly
processed. From the shark’s liver and
head was produced an oil; from the
linings of the shark's stomach were
manufactured the gas bags used in
dirigibles. The shark’s cartilaginous
bones and entrails were used in the
manufacture of fertilizer, and his fins
were processed to yield a type of jelly.
Yet the most profitable part of the
shark was his skin. The leather pro¬
duced from shark skin found many
uses: in shoe uppers, soles, boots, har¬
nesses, automobile and furniture cov¬
erings, bags, and all kinds of fancy
leathers.
Efforts were made following those of
the Ocean Leather Company to do
something about using the skins of the
sharks that abounded in Tar Heel
waters, but the attempts were spas¬
modic and unsuccessful. As late as the
1940’s there was still a market for the
shark skins, and North Carolina's only
commercial shark fisherman was — as
might have been expected — a native of
Carteret County. Cecil Nelson was at
that time the only man catching sharks
for profit in North Carolina, and he
may have been the last to engage in that
industry hereabouts. During the time he
fished for sharks, Nelson proved that
Tar Heel waters abounded with them.
He caught and sold at least nineteen
species of sharks taken from North
Carolina coastal waters, including the
Tiger (or Leopard) shark, the Great
White shark, Short-nosed shark, the
Mackerel shark. Milbcrts shark (Blue
shark). Sand shark. Porbeagle, Dusky
shark. Thresher shark. Hammer-head
shark, Angel shark. Dog shark. Bon¬
net-head shark. Nurse shark. Spiny
Dog shark. Basking shark, saw fish,
and Cow shark. While it lasted, the
shark industry had one reason for
being a profitable business — there
was no shortage on sharks!
THE STATE, AUGUST 19. 1961
