VOLUME
THE
PILOT
NUMBER
6
Is a Paper Devoted to the Upbuilding of the Sandhill Territory of North Carolina
Address all communications to
XK. ^ILOT PRINTING COMPANY. VASS. N. C.
CHRISTMAS DAY
This is Christmas Day,
possibly the greatest period
of the year, for in Christian
countries it is a day dedi
cated to the broadest form
of human fellowship. The
IMlot would like on this day
to be able to wave a magic
hand that might shower
blessings on every living
creature to the uttermost
ends of the earth, but the
powers of a one-horse coun
try newspaper do not in
clude the wealth nor the
magic to reach far beyond
its own walls. Therefore
^ood will, which after all is
not without its value, is
about the most this modest
journal can pass along to
its friends, and I like to be
lieve, whether it may be so
or not, that everybody is a
friend to pretty nearly ev
erybody else. I don’t be
lieve much in enemies. Our
enemies are largely the re
sult of our own creation and
our own imagination. Es
pecially on Christmas Day.
The Pilot wants to be the
friend of men in its modest
way, not expecting to revo
lutionize anything, nor to
lead the big world very far
into any better lines, but
merely as far as can be
done to help where the field
is not too big to exert our
limited influence. Good will
to men, helping where we
can in our unassuming way,
doing something, and doing
it every week if possible,
that is our notion of good
will to men, and that is the
wish that is today extended
as widely as our facilities
permit. And that is the
sum of the law and the
prophets and ambitions
that The Pilot cares for or
is moved by.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26,1924
HE WANTED IT READ
Weekly papers often carries short
notices calling attention to the value
of advertising in the home town paper,
but a recent experience of an editor
J > reported by a paper in South Da
kota again shows that newspaper ad-
' ertising is more effective than secur
ed through the use of billboards. This
experience as given by the Division of
Publications of the State College Ex-
*nsion Service is as follows:
An editor and a merchant were dis-
■iissing the virtue of billboard adver-
tising. The merchant contended that
iiiore people read the billboard than
the newspaper. After a lengthy con
versation in which neither man would
Sive in, the men parted.
The next week the merchant came
tearing down the street to the news
paper office wanting to know why the
obituary of his wife’s mother was not
in the paper, especially after he had
f^een that a copy was taken to the
i^ewspaper office.
“Well,” said the editor, “I know you
'Vanted the obituary ready by the peo-
-’ie, so I took it out and nailed it up
your billboard.”
EXPERINENT FARM
FOR SANDHILLS
State Proposes Station for Pur
pose of Studying Local
Conditions
The State Agricultural Department
is asking for a state appropriation
for an experiment station in the Sand
hills to study insect depredation, fer
tility, tobaccc, fruit, and other things
pertaining to this section.
The proposed program of the work
outlined was given as follows:
“Horticulture should hold an im
portant part in the station activities,
and should deal with both fruit and
truck crop investigations. A train
ed horticulturist should be located at
the station and conduct the work of
this class under the supervision of
the Division of Horticulture.
“Entomology: There are now two
entomologjists stationed temporarily
at Aberdeen conducting investiga
tion on boll weevil control, peach in
sects and other crop pests. These
men or other entomologists should be
located at the Sandhills branch sta
tion and given an opportunity to con
duct their experiments where they
would have better control over their
field experiments and equipment. It
is planned to make the station head
quarters for our boll weevil labora
tory for the southeastern portion of
the state.
“Plant diseases: There are several
plant diseases present in the Sandhills
which are doing great damage to the
crops; the two causing the most con
cern at present are dewberry anthrac-
nose and a bacteria disease on peach
es. Facilities at the station should
be provided whereby the Division of
Plant Pathology may conduct disease
control investigations.
“Tobacco is one of the chief money
crops in the Sandhills and the soil
and climate is well suited to the grow
ing of this crop. The o%ce of to
bacco investigation, Washington, has
already approached us with the view
of co-operative tobacco investigations
in our proposed Sandhills station.
“Soil fertility and field crop rota
tion of corn, tobacco, cotton, hay crops
and others is a very important phase
of the agricultural program for the
Sandhills and provisions should be
made at the station for the conduct of
this work. Very little is known at
present of the fertilization of the
crops and value of rotation in the
Sandhills.
“The determination of better field
crop varieties and the selection and
improvement of seed is an important
problem for any agricultural section,
and should be a part of our program
at the Sandhills station.”
Plans for the expansion of the work
in handling the boll weevil and other
insect pests cover a wide range of ac
tivities by the state and in co-opera-
tion with the federal government as
well. While there are now stations
in other parts of the state for carry
ing on of experiments with these
pests, the directors maintain that
there is need for such a station for
this work in the Sandhills section.
These plans were outlined as fol
lows:
“(1) It is proposed to enlarge the
boll weevil work at our two tempor
ary laboratories and to add workers
and equipment for further studies, ex
periments and demonstrations per
taining to the boll-weevil problem or
any other important insect problems
in North Carolina.
“The severe losses in all to the
south and in this state render it need
ful to find, develop and disseminate
widely the most reliable methods of
control. The fact that in certain sec
tions the losses have been relatively
light warrants a study of all factors
on the problem and that while advis
ing proper repressive measures, ad
vice may be given to avoid wasteful
effort.
“(2) One of these laboratories is
now located at the upper coastal
plains station in Edgecombe county,
near Rocky Mount. This laboratory
represents the eastern and northern
(Continued on page 8>
FROM VENERABLE MASON
(From Orphan’s Friend)
Among the Thanksgiving dona
tions was a donation from Rev.
W. W. H. Lawhon, of Carthage,
probably the oldest Mason in
North Carolina—the Masonic pa
triarch... He writes:—
“Mr. R. L. Brown,
“Oxford, N. C.
“My Dear Sir:
“Find enclosed a check for five
dollars, my Thanksgiving offering
for 1924.
“I am a member of Carthage
Lodge, No. 181, and guess I am
the oldest Mason in North Caro
lina, as I have been a member 62
years.
“Yours in the cause,
Rev. W. H. H. LAWHON.”
SIXTEEN AND HALF
NHIION NORE-UGH
Board Has Not “Definitely De
termined”— Sales Tax
Cigarettes, Etc.
on
PETER PAN COMING TO
THE CAROLINA THEATRES
The long heralded, anxiously look
ed for production of J. M. Barrie’s
classic fairy story, made famous on
the stage by Maude Adams, is
scheduled to delight everybody in the
Sandhills on January 2nd, and 3rd,
at Pinehurst and Southern Pines, re
spectively.
J. M. Barrie has been for a quarter
of a century one of the best loved and
most widely read literary men in the
world, and his greatest work, by far,
is “Peter Pan,” produced by Para
mount with Betty Bronson, personally
selected by Mr. Barrie, in the title
role. Ernest Torrence playing Cap
tain Hook, Mary Brian in the role of
Wendy, Cyril Chadwick as Mr. Dar
ling and an ideal cast of players in
support.
The story is one of a boy who
wouldn’t grow up—a story of hap
piness, of youthful romance, of imag
ination and love. It is primarily a
fairy story such as a child might con
ceive and it is all mixed up with the
best of an every day middle class
home.
“Peter Pan” is filled with drama. It
is a drama of the kind which has the
quality of eeriness, a touch of the su
per-natural.
It takes one out of a wordly frame
of mind, makes him a child again and
entertains as nothing has ever en
tertained before.
A special children’s matinee will be
given at Pinehurst on Saturday, Jan
uary 3rd, at 3 p. m.
Subscribe to THE PILOT
NO ISSUE NEXT WEEK
In accordance with the custom
observed during the Christmas
holidays there will be no issue of
The Pilot next week. The men
in the printing office will have a
few days of leisure to lay aside
the activities and cares of work
to enjoy Christmas and cultivate
closer acquaintance with Santa
Claus.
We sincerely hope that the
great dispenser of gifts will visit
each of our friends and bring to
them the things desired. We wish
that the holidays will be fiull of
pleasure and good fortune, wind
ing up a year of accomplishment
and preparing a new year of in
creased happiness, good fortune
and well-being.
(R. E. Powell)
Raleigh, December 23.—Any little
boy or any little girl who happens to
find in her stocking Christmas morn
ing about the half the toys he or she
asked Santa Claus for—and doesn’t
cry out loud about it—has understand
ing enough to know how a lot of in
stitutional and department heads in
North Carolina are going to feel when
the legislative appropriations com
mittees finish pruning the letters they
have written to the North Carolina
Budget Commission.
For, in short, with some of old San
ta’s last Christmas bills unpaid, the
government’s Kris Kringle is being
asked to put out $9,000,000 for main
tenance and appropriation when his
financial agents say the best they can
do is to get him another two million
next year and maybe two million more
the next year.
“And that doesn’t take any account
of the deficit, if there is one,” Grand
Old Man Rufe Doughton, whose depu
ties bring in the shekels, said before
turning toward the snow capped Blue
Ridge to spend his Christmas Day.
“We haven’t a thing to do with that—
that’s the business of the auditor and
the treasurer.”
Members of the State Board of As
sessment, including Governor Dough
ton, were astounded when they read
that the institutions and departments
were asking for $8,000,000 addition
al for maintenance and administration
during the next bi-ennium and $7,500,-
000 for permanent improvements to
be made during the same period.
With the assistance, at times, of At
torney Manning and Chairman W. T.
Lee, of the Corporation Commission—
I who, with Governor Doughton com-
j pose the board—and of Assistant At-
j torney General Frank Nash, the Rev-
1 enue Commissioner has concluded the
tentative draft of the next tax raising
bill to be enacted by the legislature.
The best it can be stretched for, ac-
j cording to the commissioner’s own
1 figures, is $2,000,000 annually.
I The board has not “definitely deter-
! mined” to recommend extra draft on
in heritance and franchise taxables but
jt^e income tax rate, Governor Dough
ton says, will have to be raised. How
ever, the amount of the raise—the
matter of graduating it an so on—
is still to be determined.
W'hat Mr. Average Man is going to
get as a belated Christmas gift from
I’le legislature, according to all indi
cations now, is a sales tax on his cig
arettes, his soft drinks and his movie
tickets. Milady is going to be levied
upon for her cosmetics, her movie
tickets and other luxuries. It will
take an increase in the income tax
rate and the sales tax to round out
the two millions.
One $250,000 the state will be asked
by the board to recall is the quarter
of a million now going out of the
state treasury to the highway sinking
fund. Furthermore, there will be
quite an argument over the potential
$250,000 expected from the tax to be
levied against the bus lines when
these demon carriers are finally
brought under the throttle of a com
mission—and the Corporation Com
mission it seems it will be.
As has been predicted—to resort to
a favorite contemporary’s phrase —
Dr. E. C. Brooks topped the list of
petitioners who asked increases of the
legislature. Since its re-organization,
it has been quite apparent that the
state’s technical school would strive
to get in a class, financially speaking,
at least, with the University of North
Carolina. And the J. B. Duke bene
faction of some $46,000,000 didn’t
move Dr. Brooks to crawl backwards
any. -
One of the increases asked which
seems to have general approval is for
the State Sanatorium, last year the
storm center of the legislature and la
ter of the Hoke county superior court.
SUBSCRIPTION $2.00
REV. MARTIN McQUEEN
Few days ago at a meetii^ in
Carthage D. A. McDonald talk
ed of half a century ago in re
ligious affairs, and dwelt with
emphasis on the work and in
fluence of Rev. Martin McQueen,
for a quarter of a century pas
tor of Union Church, between
Vass and Carthage. Unfortun
ately Mr. McDonald made no
copy of his remarks, as he spoke
informally. But The Pilot pre
sents in this issue a picture of
Mr. McQueen, who was one of
the most influential and popular
men in the pulpit in the history
of this county. He was a na
tive of Robeson county, and a
graduate of Davidson and of Co
lumbia^ Theological Seminary.
He came to Union Clmrch in
1846, at the age of 41 years, a
man of positive character and
broad education. Twenty-four
years he served the church, dy
ing in harness in March, 1888.
His worl^ included Union and
Carthage churches, and in ad
dition he sent out from Union
large delegations to found Cam
eron church. White Hill and Cul-
dee. It is estimated that he ad
ded to his churches through his
efforts in the pulpit and his
church life at least 1,200 per
sons... He received 400 members
into Union church during his
pastorate and 500 into Carthage.
For a quarter of a century Mar
tin McQueen was the head of re
ligious thoi'ght and action in the
country roundabout Union
c^u^ch r.nd the section where he
lived. His old home farm be
tween Cameron and Carthage is
one of the conspicuous places in
the neighborhood, for it was an
outstanding home in his day,
both as a home of culture and
refinement and as a farm de
velopment in a location to com
mand admiration.
Mr. McQueen left a family
whose individuals are men and
women of energy and helpful
ness. John R. McQueen at Lake-
view is too well known to speak
of. Angus McQueen is a clergy
man prominent in the Presby
terian church. Flora, a daugh
ter, is a missionary in Korea,
and Margaret is a welfare work
er in Moore county. Union
church, and the several other
congregations which are its off
shoots are expanding powers in
the social and religious life of
the territory, a broadening
memorial of the pastor whose
career was so closely bound up
in them.
Since the administration of Dr. Mc-
Brayer, in name, has changed, en
largement of this institution appears
to be heartily favored. Furthermore,
the legislature at the special session
last August directed Sanatorium to
received indigent patients, a require
ment which had not previously been
made. According to Dr. Tom Long,
of Roanoke Rapids, who is taking *i
keen personal interest in the institu
tion, there are now 385 applicants for
admission who have been accepted but
there are no beds for them. Again,
(Continued on page 8)