The chief development in the fire relief activities yesterday came in a meeting of the rehabilitaty committee headed by Mr. T.G. Hyman last night when it was decided to erect a proposed tent city using the army tents from Fort Bragg to house the homeless. This committee is composed of Mr. Hyman and Messrs. W.W. Griffin, Clyde Eby, C.L. Ives and C.C. Kirkpatrick.
Starting today when a force of colored men set to work clearing off a section of the burned are, Lieut. Kurtz will direct the erection of about 500 army tents. These will have wooden floors and will be walled up with boards a distance of three feet from the ground, army style. Each tent will be equipped with a stove and furniture to be supplied by the Red Cross.
In discussing the furnishing of the tents Carter Taylor of the Red Cross told the committee last night that his organization was prepared to stand the expense of this. Tents for the colored people ill have $30 worth of furniture and whites $50 worth, he said. Army kitchens will prepare the food for the tent occupants, the cost of same being paid with relief funds, and the usual military supervision will obtain in that tent colony. This provision is made for a period of 60 days, as some permanent housing move is expected to have been gotten under way in that length of time.
The housing committee discussed also the matter of permanent home building, sanitation, the re-mapping of the area embraced, such as widening streets and alleys, condemnation of unsafe property, and the matter of providing somewhere in the area parks and playgrounds. Developments along all of these lines are expected to follow the location of the tent colony.
About 50 citizens attended the meeting of the committee which was held in the New Bern Shoe Store.
The work of clearing off the fire-stricken area was well under way yesterday among private property owners, and in one instance a negro had hauled in a bit of lumber getting ready to start the erection of a home amid the ashes of his late residence.
Many of the large property owners are all ready to start the reconstruction of their houses, it was learned during the day. A representative of the Aladdin House Company, builders of ready-cut homes, spent the day here and offered the use of his company’s services in the way of house plans to those who want to re-build. Another important development yesterday was the reporting of Miss Minnie Harmon, executive secretary of the Red Cross at Durham to take charge of a traveler’s aid bureau at the union station in an effort to keep check on the departure of negroes during the reconstruction period. Miss Harman started her work last night, but only in a manner of observation.
Beginning today she will be at her desk in the colored waiting room at the station and will require every negro who purchases a ticket to fill out a questionnaire stating why he is leaving New Bern, where he is going, give his reason for leaving and answer other questions.
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From the front page of The New Bernian, Dec. 8, 1922
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