Newspapers / The Pilot (Southern Pines, … / Dec. 5, 1924, edition 1 / Page 1
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VOLUME THE PILOT NUMBER / : 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, DECEMBER 5‘ 1924 SUBSCRIPnON $2.00 ERTY DISCUSSES PEACH SITUATION Says Solution is In Telling the World of our Goods November 29, 1924. Kditor of The Pilot, Vass, N. C. :^ir:—There was called to my at tention in a recent issue of The Pilot an open letter by Mr. Roger Derby on the peach situation in the Sandhills. Vvith due regard for Mr. Derby, a leiitleman for whom I have always : nteitained the highest respect, I feel that I must again take issue with the tone of his communication. rwo years ago, at the time of an extraordinary crop, Mr. Derby con stituted himself a prophet of evil, and since that time he has become so enamored of the role of Jeremiah that he has continued it to the present day. The situation is the more peculiar in that Mr. Derby has himself a very large stake in the Sandhills, which he apparently thinks he is improving by prophesying the downfall of the peach industry. In support of his conten tion he marshalls rows of figures and draws saw-backed charts of the type which we were told, in conjunction with thrift stamps, walnut shells and tinfoil would win the war. Well, the by is a gentleman for whom I have the highest respect. What he says, he says from motives of conviction. Butrin my opinion, which is perhaps not worth much, but which is service able to me at times he is off on the wrong foot. Bankers, for instance, have a way of hunting cover when the skies look threatening. Is Mr. Der by going to rehearse his Pentacost of Calamity to his banker when he goes to him for help in financing his crop? Or does he think he is making it any easier for the rest of us to finance ours? No one enjoys putting money into a proposition which looks as hopeless as Mr, Derby thinks the Sandhills does. Fortunately we have men in the Sandhills who see things differently. Two years ago Mr. Ralph Page re marked that we must keep in mind the well known saying as to faith, hope and charity. That quotation is just as true today as it was nineteen hundred years ago. And if it were not presumtuous I should like to add another Grace to the trio. Enthusi asm! We grow the best peach in the world. Then let’s let the world know about it. Let’s get out and hustle until it does know. Mr. Derby has been at pains to ex plain in his recent letter that his an cestors did not catch whales. But he himself has thrown his harpoon in a whale which far outrivals those his forebearers did not catch; the prosper ity of the SandhiLs. I am far from expert on the art of whaling, but I war is won, and now that the smoke has blown away it appears that what | believe that when the harpooner fast- won it was what wins any battle: ened on one that was in a fair way pep, endurance, adaptability, and the firm determination never to admit the possibility of defeat; in other words the spirit of one hundred percent Americanism. Oh, yes, we had ob structionists too, but they seem to be rather at a discount now except per haps in Wisconsin. Two years ago we had an abnorm ally large crop. Up to this time we had given all our energies to produc ing the best peach in the world with out much attention to distribution. The result was inevitable; we found ourselves at a disadvantage in mark eting. There were two ways to meet the situation. Either we could go af ter it with all the pep there was in us, or we could sit back and shout calamity. The second method was perhaps easier, but so far no one has ever built any cathedrals that way. During the following year no one had a chance to tell whether we had perfected a marketing system or not. We had a killing frost, (the first in thirty years, by the way.'k and had nothing to market. Whether or not Mr. Derby blames this on his «traw man, over-production, I cannot say, but it would go fifty-fifty with some of the reasoning this controversy has brought out. Then came the past season. Du^ to weather conditions the Sandhills’ fruit, although still the best of its kind, frankly did not come up to speci fications. Even so some orchards made money. In other words we have faced three abnormal years in suc cession. Can Mr. Derby explain v/hji( w(<uld ^ave happened in 1922 if v/e had not been caught unawares without a sys tem of distribution Can *'e tell us vhat would have happened in 1923 if ve had had a normal crop? And can he draw a chart which will demon trate how we would have f *.3’ed in his past season if we had had !l'e duality of fruit which we have pro- •luced heretofore and which t^.e trade has a right to expect of us? And having done these things can he show what over-production has to do '^'itn it anyway? In a recent article in The Pilot Mr. Butler cited the example of the meat packers who have managed to handle what was at one time considered an oversupply of meat. No one who pays fifty to sixty-five cents a pound for steak today will say that beef is over produced. Mr. Derby takes issue on the aptness of analogy by saying that meat can be held in cold storage and does not have to be put on the market at once. Well, so far I have yet to see the cold storage warehouse that would refuse to handle peaches. As I have remarked beiore* Mr. Der- to swamp him he cut the line. I hope for Mr. Derby’s sake that he has a sharp hatchet handy. He will find it a more useful tool than his hammer. Yours for more and better peaches, Q. W. ERTY. 21 days til Christmas. NINENT CUBAN JOINS HID-riNES Col Tarafa Becomes a Member of The Country Club at Knollwood A recent new member in the Mid- Pines Country Club at Knollwood is Col. J. M. Tarafa, of Cuba and New York. Col Tarafa is said by a New York man well known in the Sandhills, to be the most commanding figure in the railroad business circles of Cuba, a man whose popularity is of the widest character, and a man who has the curious reputation of dodging po litical preference rather than seeking, for Col. Tarafa has been urged re peatedly to be a candidate for the presidency of Cuba, but he persistent ly refuses. He is a member of some of tho most prominent clubs in New York, v/here his associations are broad and of the highest type, and his financial con nections include London and Paris, where he rates high in both business and social circles. While Mid-Pines has many promi nent names on its list of membership, the coming of a distinguished foreign er like Col. Tarafa naturally creates a ripple of interest among the neigh bors, for the fact that Mid Pines is beginning to be international as well as local in its membership is a mat ter for comment. FRANCIS DEATON The court house lawn job, about finished. Is from the designs of Francis Deaton, raised over near the Farm Life School, and an en gineer as well known in this sec tion that he is rated as about the best to be found in his line... He is an encylopedia when it comes to the boundaries apd corners of Moore county lands, and one of the most accurate surveyors that ever set a transit on a line In this part of the state. He is of s’jch a painstaking disposition that when he has done a piece of work no one has to follow him to see if it is right, and his surveys in court are looked on as positive evidence as to land lines and lo cation. Mr. Deaton has done a large proportion of the intricate work in this section as well as in other places, and is always in such de mand that he cannot fill the calls that are made for him. He is engaged In so much work at I*ine- hurst that an office is maintained there for him, and a great deal of the more complicated work in his line in the whole neighb<)rhi»od Is his. For most of the difficult or imporfant Jobs Francis Deaton is called if he can give up the time. If not then some one else is con sidered. A man once buying a piece of ground remarked that If he had Jira Johnson, Aberdeen, to inves tigate the title, and Frances Dea ton to make a survey and plot of the tract he would demand no further credentials. And another man once remarked about Deaton that ‘'he has one fault. So many others are after him that when you want him so many are ahead you have to wait until you can get him.” sociation of Alabama. These gentle men spent the day with Mr. Bing and studied carefully all phases of the Agricultural Credit Corporation. They are planning a mass meeting of all interested people and have asked Mr. Bing to come to their state and assist them in the organization of a similar corporation. OVER AT NOORTS COUNTY CAPITAL MRS. CATHERINE BETHUNE Aberdeen—Our tow was saddened by the death of Mrs. Catherine Be- thune which occurred Dec. 29th, 19- 24, in the 77th year of her age, hav ing been born January 8th, 1848. Her parents, Malcolm and Flora Blue were widely known and loved for their hospitality. A child of the cove nant. She early gave her heart to her Saviour and joined Bethesda Presby terian church of which she was a con sistent member until her death. In early womanhood she married Dr. Colon Bethune, who preceeded her to the grave 30 years. She was the mother of six children: William A., who was accidentally killed about 15 years ago; Ella (Mrs. Dr. Juat), Ed ward E., Cleveland C., Katie Lee (Mrs. Schear), and Miss Bessie. She had three brothers all dead: Dr. Blue, M. J. Blue, N. A. Blue. Three sisters, Mrs. C. E. Pleasants, who is the only living member of this good family. Funeral services were conducted from the Presbyterian church Sunday at 2 o’clock by her pastor. Rev. V. R. Gaston, L. A. Bethune, Clinton; R. L. Bethune, Raeford; J. E. and F. C. Blue, Aberdeen; M. B. and Francis Pleasants, nephews of the deceased, active pall bearers, while ten friends of the family were honorary pall bearers. There beside her loved ones we laid all that is mortal of this good woman, covered the grave with flowers and left her to sleep until her Saviour bids her awake and put on fairer robes than the blossoms over her grave. New Government Took Monday and Begun Business Hold SOUTHERN PINES BUILDING ACTIVE Outlook Good for the Winter, and Lot Sales are Numerous COTTON CO-OP NEWS KEITH GARAGE IN NEW QUARTERS Will Keith, owner of Keith’s Ga rage, moved into his new building the first of the week, and is now ready to give you good service. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Evans, of Fay etteville, and Mrs. Maggie Pierce, of Sanford, were callers at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Oldham last Sun day evening. Three farmers in Beaufort County recently sold a carload of hogs co operatively receiving 10 1-2 cente per pound for the top hogs. This is some of the results of better feed ing. The receipts of cotton for last week was approximately two thousand bales larger than for the same week last season, according to a statement is sued from the Raleigh headquarter.5 of the North Carolina Cotton Growers’ Co-operative Association. One of the recently added members, Mrs. Hector McLean, delivered 95 bales Saturday. Mrs. McLean lives in Robeson coun ty. North Carolina farmers have begun to realize in large measures the value of the Agricultural Credit Corporation •in assisting them in financing crop production. The plan of the Corporation has at tracted attention all over the country. Within the past few days letters have come to A. E. Bing, Secretary-Treas- urer of the Corporation from interest ed parties in Louisana, Arizona and Mississippi. The writers of these let ters say that there is not a question in their minds but what this is the most important feature in the success of co-operative marketing. Last week Alabama sent a delega tion to Raleigh to consult with Mr. Bing. This delegation consisted of Edward A. O’Neal, president of the Farm Federation of Alabama; L. M. Duncan, director of Extension Service of the Department of Agriculture in Alabama and H. S. Houghton, treas urer of the Farm Bureau Cotton As- Southern Pines is doing a lot of new building all the time, and calculating on a great deal more. Here and there all over the village are new houses under construc!t!on, while the activity on the new water system and the street work gi es the p’ace the air of a new developi.ie t. Especially on the east side of the railroad from one end I of the town to the other building is in 1 ess, and on Frank Buchan’s new suburb on the Aberdeen road, which he calls Pinedence, new buildings are already up, and more are projected. He has sold there in the last few days two lots to Mr. Beaty of the A. and P. store, who will get ready to build at once, and three lots to Mrs. Dodge, who expects to build shortly. This development will give the village a shove pretty well out toward the Sugg farm, and the indications are that that hillside will not be long with out a plenty of new houses. Mr. Buchan has also put some more ginger in the section on tb-3 edge of Southern Pines out the May street highway toward Manley. One sale there embraces eleven lots sold to Harry Lewis on the Highway and Deleware avenue. A number of new houses are building in that quarter, and more are scheduled for the im mediate future. That block o* lots to Harry Lewis, with the recent ac quisition of the Cedar-Pines property, is one of the best evidences that the section that connects Southern Pines and Manley is about due for a period of action. Harry Lewis is not a dead one, and when he starts to move some thing is noticed. Mr. Arnold has also bought a location in that quarter and will soon get started on a new house. All along th« lines are heard in quiries for building ^ites, and; the r^al estate men say the signs are for more activity in the village than for two or three years. (BION H. BUTLER) Stacy and I put some Keith’s thir- teen-miles-an-hour gas in the flivver Monday and hit out the pike for the county seat to see the reins of gov ernment pass into new hands. It was a bit frosty, and the win<l blew thru our whiskers fitten, but we got there in time to see Dan McLauchlin ele vated to the position of chairman of the new board of county commission ers, and Mose McDonald and John Wilcox sitting beside him as demure and interested as though they had not dropped Hugh McPherson and Dr. Shaw outside the breastworks. The new board elected Spence for county attorney to succeed Burns,' who has been a mighty capable and energetic worker for the county. But Spence is another chap of that intelligent and energetic type, and will be re ceived by the people w:th much fa vor. I have known and watched the work of the retiring board right well, and they have done a highly creditable job during their tenure of office. In fact I have no doubt they have given more return for the salary they received than any other bunch of men in the county unless it may be the road com missioners and the school commiss ioners, who hustle about as vigorous ly, and get even less than the county commissioners. I am going to offer the departing board a vote of thanks from the county, and if anybody does not want to be counted in on the vote he can talk to me privately about it. Fifty years ago we used to hear an old song in the lumber woods about “Mr. Riley who keeps the hotel," And the song assured us that “If that’s Mr. Riley they speak of so highly. Why that Mr. Riley he keeps it d—n well.” i And so I figured about the old board; of commissioners. But it is reason able to expect that the new board wilt be a capable factor in the county work, even though county burdens and responsibility continue to increase^ each year, and if the new board has :.o CO rt house to build it will have its own problems to face and they will not be trival ones. One thing that con fronts them under the new laws and I the new applications of old laws is to I be a more rigid system of county op- ^ eration. With the county auditor keeping tab on each separate depart ment and each separate fund the in creasing volume of county business is requiring a more definite book-keep ing and a more frequent balance sheet. This is essential for the work of the county offices and for the satisfaction of the people that they may have a better knowledge of what the coun ty is doing. Mr. Bell is to be con tinued in office, and he is earning his salary, and some besides, and it would be a mistake to think of letting him go. Sheriff Frye succeeds himself. All he had to do was to go out of his of fice turn around, shake hands with himself coming back as he met him self going out, and say a few words to the commissioners and he was back in the familiar place again. Frye has made a popular sheriff, and his vo"^e tells how he suited the voters. W. J. Harrington follows E. C. Matheson in the recorder’s office, and gives promise of doing good work. He is a man who holds the confidence of the people, and he is a good scout. He does not need much introduction. Matheson has been sawing the wood there at the court house for a long time, and he is so well posted regard ing land titles and county affairs that it is a pity to let him get away fromi a responsible plaee. But it seems that ^bout every so often the citizen has to chop off heads, no matter how much sense may be in them, and so it goes. (Continued on page 8)
The Pilot (Southern Pines, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 5, 1924, edition 1
1
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