The Coastland Times

"Goes Long Way," also had something to say about the Waves Mystery. His newspaper had picked up the story from a Dare County Tourist Bureau release and his theory in a published open letter follows:

"Dear Aycock: It is just possible that I have news for you."

"A week or so ago, in one of the mimeographed sheets you send around, you mentioned a strange happening on the Outer Banks. In one of the villages, the paint on the houses turned from white to grey overnight."

"Things like that happen occasionally in industrial areas, but your village is on a sand bank at least 25 miles out at sea, and there probably isn't a factory within 100 miles of it."

"Someone said the trouble might have been caused by masses of eel grass which had drifted into shore behind the village and smelled sort of sulphurous. But you pointed out that the neighboring villages had the same eel grass condition and nothing happened to the paint there."

Fumes Got Mixed with Fog

"Don't add the mystery to your fund of Outer Banks legends just yet. I may have found an explanation here in Pittsburgh."

"We had one of those paint-damaging things the other morning in and around a suburb called Dravosburg. We knew just about what caused it. A heavy fog had blanketed our whole area during the night. Somehow, in the Dravosburg neighborhood, some corrosive fumes got mixed with the fog."

"Our County Smoke Bureau sent experts into the affected area. They failed to find the source of the damaging fumes, however."

"Yesterday I was talking with Thomas C. Wurts about this. He's director of the Smoke Bureau. He explained why his men had been unable to trace the fumes to their source, and said they wouldn't have been able to do much about it if they had."

"When our State Legislature gave our County Commissioners the power to control the smoke throughout Allegheny County, they didn't grant the right to control anything else. So if Mr. Wurts' men had found anyone producing poisonous fumes or injurious dusts, they could have done little but ask him to kindly cease and desist."

"We've got to ask our Legislature to correct the situation. . . but I don't suppose that's of interest to you. What might interest you is the reason the men couldn't find the source of the trouble. . It might have come from a dozen different sources, said Mr. W. It might have come from as much as 50 miles away."

"It doubtless was hydrogen sulphide from industries or even from coal burning homes. A tiny fraction of the stuff can do damage if mixed with fog and weather conditions let it hang around long enough. .. Under those conditions, Aycock, it seems possible that the paint damage on the Outer Banks could have been caused by a ship far at sea. . . You might tell the villagers whose houses turned grey that their paint isn't ruined, unless they dislike grey. The grey is the lead that precipitated out of the paint by the hydrogen sulphide. Much of it will eventually turn chalky and be washed off by rain."

"Your people may never be bothered again, but Mr. Wurts has advised our folks living in industrial areas to paint with a zinc titanium base. We've always had some paint damage around here. but it attracts more attention now that our atmosphere is generally free of smoke and smog."