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VOLUNE
THE
PILOT
NUMBER
25
Is a Paper Devoted to the Upbuilding of the Sandhill Territory of North Carolina
Address all communications to
the pilot printing company. VASS, N. C.
FRIDAY, NAY 9,1924
SUBSCRIPTION $2.00
SPENCE WELCOMES
LAWYERSTOnOORE
Tells Them Pinehurst is the
Center of Opportunity and
Progress
U. L. Spence, of Carthage, in the
address of welcome extended the law
yers at their meeting in Pinehurst
last week, said:
“Pinehurst has awaited your reluc
tant feet these few years; discourag
ed, but always confident and hopeful,
we knew you would sometime come,
for all the other conventions have been
here, not once but twice and more.
Your distinguished committee repeat
edly coyed with us in but faint encour
agement, but we were yet constant as
an ardent lover with our invitations
and now, full of joy of seeing you
here, we bid you beseeching welcome
of all things to a meeting we trust
will be alike delightful to every one of
you.
“Judging from observation, as well
as a cursory investigation, the chief
function of a speaker in my role to
night is, after extending a welcome to
the meeting body, to boast of the won
derful advantages and fame of the
place that happens to be honored with
the assemblage. By this rule, it
would be an easy task to a more gift
ed speaker, even without imagination,
to enchant you with a plain statement
of facts about Pinehurst and Moore
county.
A careful investigation of history
convinces me that the spot we now oc
cupy existed as a place long before
Columbus discovered America.
“Nestled among the beautiful hills
and in plain view from the magnifi
cent hotel in which we are assembled
is the ancient city, famous to history
and art, now the capitol of Moore
county, of Carthage; less than an
hour’s ride to the West we find the
city of Troy, known to the world be
fore Columbus was born, by Homer’s
song. An even shorter journey into
the neighboring county of Montgom
ery brings us to the heathen city of
Pekin, and eight miles beyond Mount
Gilead gets into the historic land
scape. And hard by lies Aberdeen, of
dear old doughty Scotland; and among
the hills of a deep clear watered
stream, along a wooded way as fas
cinating as the ‘road to Mandalay’
Samarcand asserts itself as once the
oldest town in Asia.
“But whether or not this is an ac
curate statement of local history, it
is a fact that all these places, for the
most part, take origin during the
early beginning of American history
and these names to a significent de
gree indicate the ambitious and intel
ligent character of the early settlers
here.
“Until a short time ago, as we
reckon time, this particular sandhill
section of the state was regarded as
one of the least attractive in North
Carolina and it has frequently been
referred to as poor and barren. This
section seems to have been so regard
ed notoriously as early as the Revo
lutionary period. Irving in his history
of George Washington records the fact
that when Baron DeKalb had been
sent from the North to join General
Caswell at Camden to assist in repell
ing the invasion of Lord Cornwallis
from Charleston, his troops haul ted at
Buffalo ford on Deep River, now in
Moore county, for the reason, as de
scribed by the historian, that *a wide
and sterile region lay between him
and them, difficult to be traversed, un
less magazines were established in ad
vance, or he were supplied with pro
visions to take with him. Thus cir
cumstanced, he wrote to Congress and
the State Legislature, representing
his situation and entreating relief.’
He contemplated deviating his course
to the right, seeking what was de
scribed as the ‘fertile counties of
Mecklenburg and Rowan’ when Gen
eral Gates arrived and to the ‘great
astonishment of the baron’ directed
the army to move at once along the
direct road to Camden. The writer
records that ‘the route proved all that
had been represented. It led through
(Continued on page 8)
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Let’s Spend a Few Moments Thinking of Mother
Mother works too hard. Why ? Because her work is a labor of love and she^l pour
out her strength, with her love, just as long as her will can deliver her tired body.
Wouldn't it be fine if devotion such as this, the very finest in the world, could be
rewarded, here and now, with some of the modern, labor-saving devices that some moth
ers are already enjoying? .
Maybe we do love mother as much as we say we do—but when we allow her to toil,
day after day, her hands work-hardened, her once youthful form growing stooped, her
beauty of face giving way to lines of care—well—
Actions do speak louder than words, and our neglect may speak so loudly as to
drown out, utterly, all our protestations of love.
Wouldn’t it be fine if that splendid spirit that makes us glad to observe Mothers’
Day would just lead us to give her the modern equipment that would lighten her load
and restore her health and youth ?
Maybe the mother in your home is working too hard. If you are inspired, do some
thing for her.
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TOBACCO FARMERS
VOTE THIS WEEK
Co-ops of the Carolinas Pleased
With Returns on Final
Statements
Ballots mailed to 95,000 members of
the Tobacco Growers Co-operative As
sociation in 130 counties of North
Carolina, South Carolina and Virgin
ia will be counted in scores of court
houses throughout the tobacco area
this Saturday, May 10. The associat
ed tobacco growers on that day will
name the men who choose their di
rectors for the third season of co-op-
erative marketing, and the chairmen
of the county associations of tobac
co growers will certify the names of
the electoral delegates to the Raleigh
headquarters of the marketing asso
ciation when they complete the count
of ballots next Saturday afternoon.
More than 343,000,000 pounds of
tobacco have been received by the
marketing association during the first
two years of operation and the large
majority of this weed has been sold
at prices which association officials de
clare are far higher than would have
been possible without the farmers’
own organization for orderly selling.
Pinal statements recently received
by thousands of associated farmers in
South Carolina and border counties of
North Carolina show that the associ
ation received $66.93 for its best
wrappers; $59.16 for its best leaf;
$60.27 on its high grade cutters and
$18.00 to $19.00 per hundred for its
best priming and lugs delivered from
the South Carolina belt in 1922. Ac
cording to the association’s final state
ments received by more than 10,000
farmers of the South Carolina belt,
the selling price for this tobacco has
averaged higher than the valuation
placed upon it by the bankers who
made loans for payments to the co
operative g^rowers on their first
year’s deliveries. Members from
HON. U. L. SPENCE,
of Carthage, one of the foremost at
torneys of the state, who welcomed
the State Bar Association to Pine
hurst.
STRONG GROUP BUYS D. H.
McNEILL LANDS
WM RAILROADS
ANDRATEMAKERS
A Day with the Ogres Who Con
stantly Conspire to Separate
us from Our Money
VASS-LAKEVIEW
SCHOOL CLOSES
Big Crowds Attend — Twenty
Graduates Receive Diplomas
—Medals Awarded
A significant transaction about clos
ed up as The Pilot is printed con
veys the D. H. McNeill lands near
Vass to a group of strong financial
men, Alex Grossett and George T.
Dunlap, the well known book publish
ers; 0. H. Stutts and J. R. McQueen.
Their plans are not fully matured,
but enough is known to be able to say
that the land will not be allowed to
lie idle, as the intention is to un
dertake a scheme of development that
will make that section of this com
munity take on an active life. Neith
er will the property be held for price
advancement. , Putting it into action
is the basis of the plan, which will
be forthcoming before very long.
South Carolina are yiery generally
pleased with the result of their first
year’s marketing as received by them
in checks from headquarters and tab
ulated on the final statements which
(Continued on page 8)
Bion H. Butler
In case any body missed me last
Wednesday I hasten to say that I had
gone to Raleigh that day with W. H.
McNeill and C. M. Reeves to appear
before the Corporation Commission
and the freight agents of the rail
roads operating in North Carolina to
put up a plea regarding some freight
rates. The hour appointed was 10:00
o’clock, which you may think is early
for McNeill and me, but we were
there long enough in advance to walk
around the building a little and look
out of the windows and remark about
the big town and the difficulty of get
ting up street there without having
somebody bump you out into the front
yards.
The commission lined us up in front
of half a dozen railroad men, and they
seemed to be a right well posted lot
of men at that, and I didn’t see any
thing about them while we stayed
there that indicated that they would
eat little boys like us. The commis
sion appeared to be a right friendly
group of people, also, not only to
ward the railroad men but to us as
well. When we came to put up our
little song of sorrow we found that
the commission was familiar with ev
ery thing we had to say, and possibly
knew it better than we did, and the
railroad men did not get excited over
any new thing we offered, and pres
ently we were all inching up around
the table in front of the three mem
bers of the commission, with Mr.
Wamble, the clerk, untangling some
little differences, and IVe seen more
fuss over at the Kiwanis club when
John Bloxham wanted Henry Page to
sing, for instance, or when Ashley
(Continued on page 8)
The Vass-Lakeview high school
commencement opened Friday eve-
ning, at which time Miss • Bernice
Shields presented her piano and vocal
pupils in a recital. A great crowd
assembled at the warehouse, and for
once in the history of the town, there
was room for all who came, that is
standing room. The s§ats were fill
ed long before time for the program
to begin. The large stage had been
attractively decorated for the occa
sion with pine, cedar and flowers. The
program consisted of piano solos and
duets, vocal selections by classes, a
quartet, duet and musical recitation.
Each youthful performer did well. The
piano solo, “Dream Castles,” by Eloise
Brooks, the vocal duet, “Oh, No,
John,” by Loula Eastwood and Guy
Simpson, “Hard Times in Boy-Land,”
by Russell Thompson, A. G. Edwards
and Tom Brewer, and the musical
reading, “Picking Daisy Petals,” by
Willie Pearl Alexander were especial
ly good.
More seats were provided on Satur
day, but that night they were filled
and still the people came, anxious to
see the little tots of the primary
grades in their cantata, “The Brownie
Band.” It would be difficult to ar
range a program more pleasing than
the one of Saturday night. The
brownies furnished much amusement;
the little flower girls, the Gipsy band
of little men and women bedecked in
many colors, the dazzling butterflies,
gracefully flitting here and there, the
little girl lost in the woods, the fairy
princess and the fairy queen, beauti
fully adorned, Billy Big-Eye and
Tommy Long-Wing, two owls, the
small boys, the dainty little Wee
Wees, the tiniest girls of all, dressed
in pretty pink paper dresses, all of
these in a bower of trees and flowers
made a most beautiful picture, and
the audience was delighted with the
stage setting and the splendid acting.
The baby of the school, little Coker
Blue, was a most adorable brownie and
won the hearts of everyone as he
went here and there among the larg
er children, peeping inquisitively up
into their faces. Altogether, it was a
splendid program.
Sunday morning at the Methodist
church, the baccalaureate sermon was
preached by the Rev. E. McWhorter.
The scripture lesson was read by Ar
thur Thompson, class president, after
which the senior class rendered a
beautiful anthem. Professor Mat
thews then introduced the speaker,
who preached a powerful and inspir
ing sermon.
On Monday evening, the grammar
grades gave their program, the first
number being “Chicky, My Crainy
Crow,” which brought forth much
laughter. Next was the “Witches
Drill,” and then the operetta, ‘^Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Eliza
beth Simpson took the part of the
Princess Snow White, and a beautiful
princess she was. Rachel Beasley
played the part of Queen remarkably
well, and Ruby Pulliam, the handsome
prince, ^ang and spoke with such
sweetness and distinctness that she
received much praise. The tiny wood
land girls in white, and the forest
children in their crepe dresses of many
colors were graceful and beautiful,
and will long be remembered by those
who saw them and heard them sing.
Carl, the huntsman, and the dwarfs
showed that they had received care
ful training. Last on the program
was the valedictory, by Alma Mclnnis,
a bright child who knows her part
and does it well.
Tuesday night, a record crowd was
present for the graduating exercises
of the class of twenty young men and
women, the largest class that has ever
gone out from the Vass-Lakeview
high school. It is a class of which the
community is justly proud, and one
that is destined to mean much to the
(Continued on page 5)