State

Footloose in Carolina KU.Mt- Им» »«»J up el leeelerl — l f he»o Ьг Hemtr Mellowed Old Beaufort By wili-ari» Lii: BEAUFORT. N. C l don't know what there i * about old. well- seasoned towns which makes them so easy to feel at home in Old towns like old shoes, arc restful things, es¬ pecially if the towns arc off the beaten paths and aren’t too filled with rush and bustle. Morchcad City. Beaufort’s twin from which I had come by bridge and cause¬ way across the Newport River, bears the look of a new-made place, which a goodly part of it must be. Morchcad boomed in the war days, because the new railhead is there. But Beaufort -over-the-bndge seems to have gone its accustomed way: it is mellowed, and shows its age. And as I strolled its streets I kept thinking how New England-looking were so many of its houses — until I'd come upon some with galleries along their fronts, which weren't New English at all: and until I noticed that the live oak trees still were green in the mild winter chill. * * • “Shirt-sleeve weather," a local man called it, hut I was quite content in my topcoat. * * ♦ Beaufort — which calls itself Bo- fert. whereas Beaufort in South Caro¬ lina is b-you-fert. rhyming with Viewfert — Beaufort’s name was Fishtown until it took on that of a Noble Duke in the early 1700’s; and though it b now a resort-town and a trading center, it is still a fivhing place. Late in the afternoon, when an orange sun bathed the sea and shore in its waning warmth. I stood on one of the docks which altogether cover only a block or two of the waterside. The little city lies on an inner harbor of broad Beaufort Inlet, which cuts through the sheltering Outer Bank of long sandy islands. Off in the inlet — upon which, from Boguc Bank, restored Fort Macon, looks out from ils antique walls — out there I saw a strange sight; a hinting, it seemed, of all the little fishing boats of the menhaden fleet, dozens of them, each with a crow’s-nest lookout perched at its mast-top. and all gather¬ ing and moving in solemn procession. • • • Thev came streaming in through the channel of the inlet . . . vessel after vessel, interminably; swinging in the ТМГ STATE. ОСССмасв 3. I9SS passage around the islet of Town Marsh and coming on towards the cify. Some must have turned off to More- head; others swung away when they were close to me. passing from sight on my right. I could hear them Wow¬ ing for the drawbridge, through which they'd pass into bay-like Newport River, where some of the fish plants are. Many came to where I stood, or near to me. and tied up there to take on oil. Solidly built, and sca-scarred. they were, with no style about them “They come in like oyster-boats up a Gulf Coast bayou.’’ 1 said to a man standing near. "Yes." said he. "And always like this . . . streaming inr •'Not if the fishing has been good,” '•iid he. "Then each would come in as it got its catch. It’s rough outside. Too rough for good fishing.’’ • • • This menhaden -fishing business is a great industry of the twin cities; the herring-like fish being made into meal for cattle feed, and fertilizer, and their oil going into many things, lipsticks included. “It’s the best oil for lipsticks." The industry brings from five to nine million dollars to Beaufort and More- head every year, depending on how well the short lalc-fall and early winter season goes. Some arc local boats; mostly they arc from everywhere, following the menhaden northward from the Gulf. "The Neptune," of Biloxi. Miss., was at one wharf; tied up near her was the "Nantucket," of Boston registry, with an "S" on her stack. "One of Harvey Smith’s boats." live man said. "He has dozens of boats." another man told me later, "and he has processing plants here on the river, and from Maine to Texas." Four or five other companies have fish plants here. too. "The names on the boats don’t mean much.” the man on the wharf said when I mentioned the Boston registry. "Her crew’s probably from the Smith " I've never heard much of menhaden fisheries in New England for pogics, as I think they’re called up North} . • • • If Smith has a plant in Maine, then I suppose there must be pogic fisheries there. Yet I have read that though dose to 100 years ago there was a big catch of them from Boolhbay clear to the coast of Canada, they suddenly dis¬ appeared north of Cape Cod for many years, and then showed up so irregu¬ larly that all interest was lost in them as a business venture. • • • Yet the very name menhaden is of New England Indian origin, the die¬ ts Of lh«