AD Sorts Of Bad
llxxighls
Went Through McDougakl’s Mind
specuu to me root
.. WinjUm-Salem - As he
called on stores March 28,
Atlanta salesman James
McDougald noticed the
“bad-looking clouds” that
gathered and moved swift
ly overhead. But he didn’t
give them a second
thought.
, Hours later at home, Mc
Dougald received a call
from an aunt in Maxton,
N.C. As she tried to de
scribe the destruction of his
childhood home by a series
of tornadoes, his thoughts
turned to his grandmother
and eight relatives living in
the home
All sorts of bad
thoughts went through my
mind,” recalled McDou
gald, an area sales repre
sentative with R.J. Rey
nolds Tobacco Co. -“I re
member bad thunder
storms there when I was
growing up, but it always
seemed that South Carolina
got it worse than we did.”
• But this time, Maxton
and nearby Red Springs,
N.C, weren’t spared the
death and destruction from
the tornadoes that struck
along a 280-mile strip
through North and South
Carolina.
Images of destruction
and the faces of his loved
ones flashed repeatedly
through his head as Mc
Dougald drove for what
seemed like an eternity
between Atlanta and Max
ton. \
WINSTON-SALEM - Carte Purdis (wear
ing hat) sits with her family at a public
housing apartment in Maxton after
killer tornadoes destroyed their homes in
Maxton, N.C. Mrs. Purdue is the grand
mother of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
sales representative James McDougald
of Atlanta, Ga.
“I began to see traces of
the devastation as I
neared Laurinburg and all
the way to Maxton,” said
McDougald. “When I saw
Maxton, it looked like a
testing site for A-bombs.
Everything was leveled;
things-washing machines,
water heaters, refrigera
tors, cars - were strewn ail
over the place.”
As he pulled down the
street where his home once
sat, he was struck by the
“selectiveness” of the tor
nado. “Some homes were
spared, some suffered
minor damage and some
were totally destroyed -
gone,” be said.
After a teary reunion
with his family, McDou
gald heard first-hand the
tales of destruction. His
grandmother, Mrs. Carie
Purdie, told him as soon as
she heard the deafening
roar, she knew exactly
what was about to happen.
“The storm cloud came
- and I looked out the
window. I looked up and it
was black and there was
wind and rain, and I told
everybody to get in the
hallway,” Mrs. Purdie re
called.
"I’ll never forget it as
long as I live. I’m 77 years
old and I’ll never forget it.
It looked like fire in the
sky. 0 hope I never see
another one as long as I
live.”
No sooner did Mrs.
Purdie, her daughter
(Mary J. McDougald),
four grandchildren and
and three great grand
children got to the hall than
a fierce tornado ripped off
the roof.
During the few minutes
the nine people in the hall
way, all of their furniture
and possessions were
sucked up by the storm.
When the tornado passed,
all that remained were the
front and side walls of the
brick house and the two
interior walls that formed
the hallway that saved the
family.
“I worked my way
through the house and
couldn’t believe it,” said
McDougald. "It was like a
giant vacuum cleaner had
sucked up everything.”
Amazingly, no one was
hurt.
“God took care,” Mrs.
Purdie said. “He sure did.”
Mary Jane McDougald,
James’ aunt, said that
luckily the home was in
sured Reconstruction of
the home should take about
three months.
Like somewhere among
the ruins were the trophies
and other reminders of
McDougald’s years as a
premier running back at
Wake Forest University.
“I hope they’ll turn up
some time,” said McDou
gald. “I kept them at the
house for my grandmother.
I have all those me
mories in my mind. But for
my grandmother, they
were something special. I
think that many of the
victims are more con
cerned about losing those
special things, like photo
graphs and other me
mories, than personal pos
sessions that can be re
placed."
The outpouring of sup
port, relief and aid from
all over the country im
pressed McDougald. But it
was the overwhelming re
sponse from other North
Carolinians that will stick
in his mind.
McDougald’s employer,
R. J. Reynolds, donated
money and food and to
bacco products valued at
nearly $500,000 to residents
of the stricken areas. The
company contributed $100,
000 cash to each of the
tornado-ravaged states to
be used for emergency
relief. In addition Rey
nolds Tobacco delivered
100,000 cans of Del Monte
canned vegetables and
fruit and 24,000 cartons of
cigarettes.
Knox: Cooperation Needed To Realize Day Care Potentials
4 Chapel HID - Democra
tic gubernatorial candidate
Eddie Knox called on busi
ness and industry to be
come partners with the
state in meeting. North
Carolina’8 day care needs.
“Through tax credits and
other incentives, business
es can benefit from of
fering day care to its em
ployees either on-site or in
Conjunction with existing
facilities,”’ Knox said.
“Smaller businesses can
form consortiums to pro
vide^ this ^benefit for their
Knox said if properly
developed, the cooperative
efforts can create an en
vironment where everyone
involved can improve their
situation. Business can
take advantage of the in
centives for offering day
care; employees will have
the advantage of the ser
vices provided by their
employer; and the state
Will have met some of its
massive day care needs.
“I realize that we hsve to
be aware of the needs of the
private for-profit and the
nonprofit day care centers
in this state,” Knox added.
'* Yet, I stiB heUeve if we all
work together for one com
mon goal - bettering the
lives of our children - we
can succeed.”
Because nearly 60 per
cent of the mothers with
preschool children work
-outside the home, more
than 200,000 children under
six need day care. Also
more than a quarto* mill
ion children between the
ages of five and 11 come
borne each day to an emp
ty house. The state should
look for opportunities to
provide or improve tutor
ing to these children
through community
schools programs or other
innovative approaches.
“There are approximate
ly 500,000 children in this
state who need some type
of day care and there are
only 130,000 spaces in li
censed centers cm- regis
tered homes,’’ Knox said.
Knox said that the only
alternatives to providing
more adequate and afford
able day care were involv
ing the private sector in
meeting the needs or rely
ing totally on the govern
ment.
“It is obvious to me that
a cooperative effort be
tween the private sector
and the government would
be the mo6t cost-effective
way to solve our day care
problem.
“I intend to move child
ren to the forefront of all
our efforts,” Knox said.
Jim Martin Calk On Reagan To Restrict Unfair Imports
Washington - In a letter
to President Reagan, Con
gressman Jim Martin and
a bipartisan group of House
colleagues have called
upon the President to im
mediately impose trade re
strictions on unfair tobac
co imports. A similar
letter was sent to Agri
culture Secretary John
Block.
After releasing the latter,
Martin called tqxm the Pre
sident to “declare an eco
nomic emergency in the
tobacco industry and re
cognize that domestic to
bacco sales have been hurt
by unfair foreign compe
tition We’ve seen evidence
of hidden subsidies for to
reign 'tobacco producers,
and -it's a simple matter
of equity that we protect
our own American farm
ers from such practices ” ,
In the letter sent by
Martin, Congressman
Charles Rose, and other
colleague*, the Represen
tative said, “We think
these factors necessitate a
change in the position of
the Administration with
respect to the imposition of
import quotas, and we ask
you to consider the pe
tition by the Tobacco
State Farm Bureaus, aa
well aa our request, In
making your decision.”
Martin noted that Presi
dent Reagan baa the legal
authority, under section 22
of the Agriculture Adjust
ment Act of 1933, to re
strict tobacco imports up to
50 percent.
Martin engineered the
four-cent per pack reduc
tion in the cigarette tax
through the Ways and
Means Committee. Martin
said, “Tobacco farmers
have carried too heavy a
load for too long. We’ve
helped ease the tax burden
the Government heaped on
them, and now it’s time to
ease the burden they carry
from unfair foreign com
petition.’’
Martin also pointed out
that the Department of
Agriculture supported im
port quotas as early as
1961, but the International
Trade Commission did not
recommend to the Presi
dent that quotas be im
posed.
Martin said, “People
seem to think that the to
bacco farmer is some kind
of invulnerable superman;
no matter how much
weight he carries in taxes
or unfair foreign compe
tition, they think he’s still
able to fly high in profits.
Well, that's obviously not
so. In 1963, for the first time
in the history of the United
States, tobacco imports
exceeded tobacco exports.
It is up to the President to
help eliminate this unfair
foreign competition and to
give the tobacco farmers of
North Carolina a chance at
competition in a fair mar
ketplace - and that’s all
they’ve ever asked.”
r- --
Needed Items In
SXU&XVIfl
mm
Classified
Section
can mjmwvb