State

VOL XVIII. NO. 39 V/SA FEBRUARY 24. 1951 Publication date. Saturday Subscription. $5 00 per year Entered lecond-cUM matter J M A WEEKLY SURVEY OF NORTH CAROLINA Carl Goerch. Publisher. Lawyers Bldg.. Raleigh. N. C. 1. 1933 at tbe P—to/TW at Maleic* "«ЛЬ Carotin a. under the Act о» March 3 I ST* The canal connecting Swan Quarter with Pamlico Sound. Cousitleruhle shipping is (lone over this short stretch of vvulenvuv. In the Land of Hyde l.4H-;il<‘il *wav down in llio paslvrn par I of Ilit* stale. Hyde Counly is an area of many interest in» places and llie home of somo very fine people. By CiKBTBl IlK S. ( \BB\U w HYDE County, in the extreme eastern pari of North Carolina, is one of the most attractive and hospitable but least publicized sections of this state. It is the land of the Gibbs, the Manns, the Crcdles and several other families who have lived there for gen¬ erations and who consider it the most favored and the most desirable part of the entire country. It is the land of many canals, of fish and oysters, of wild game and of fertile farming soil. Previously separated from most of the state by water, it is now coming into its own as the result of good roads and bridges. Crossing the Ptmgo River at Leech- villc. you enter Hyde from the east. In front of you stretches an area of swamp-land, interspersed with numer¬ ous creeks. There are no hills. You continue on your way to Scranton, across the Inland Waterway bridge, and the swamps give way to well-kept and prosperous farms on either side of the highway. Sea Gulls Follow Plough You observe farmers in the fields, busily engaged in ploughing. And. as you watch them, you notice sea gulls following the ploughs and noisily- squawking as they fight for worms and dead vegetation, I hcse sea birds arc learning to spend the winter and early spring months inland, becoming regu¬ lar landlubbers and vegetarians before returning to their coastal haunts Continuing your way through Hyde County, you come to Swan Quarter, the county seat, a picturesque and serene village, with the courthouse located in the center of the town. A canal, a mile long, connects Swan Quarter with Pamlico Sound. Lake Mattamuskcct. beyond Swan Quarter, is one of the most interesting places not only in Hyde County but in North Carolina. I he wide expanse of water stretches over IS miles long and b miles wide, three feel below sea level. I housands and thousands of dol¬ lars were spent in drainage projects there, and for a short time success seemed imminent, but the water is now more expansive than before the drain¬ age failures. A Wildfowl Sanctuary The lake is now a Federal wildfowl sanctuary, and this year there were 10.000 more ducks ami geese there than ever before. 1 he government food was not enough for their rapa¬ cious appetites, and they like the sea gulls — learned to "follow the ploughs" and eat the seed and fertilizer from nearby farmlands. It has been esti¬ mated that each farm was thus dam¬ aged to the extent of about SI00 this year. A hotel has been made of the old pumping plant, once the largest drainage pumping plant in the world At Lake Landing is an attractive community house, opened about 17 years ago by civic cooperation aided by gifts from a public-spirited friend who asked that his name not be pub¬ lished. The structure is more than a century old. built originally by 12 men for a school. For many years it had been vacant and unused, until reno¬ vated by cooperative efforts of the Civic Club. Masons. Pastern Star. F.pis- з THE STATE. ГсвяилЯУ 24. 19SI