VOL.
-NO. 31
eighteen pages
Controversy Rises
In Richmond 0\^er
Liquor Purchases
ABC Board Here Says
Seized Liquor Bought
A controversy that developed
^, in Richmond County this week
regarding the sale of confiscated
tax-paid whiskey has brought
about a change in the Moore
County ABC Board’s policy of
buying such whiskey from neigh
boring dry counties.
The controversy may also cause
a change of policy on a state
wide level.
L. J. Hinson, manager of the
Pinehurst and Southern Pines
'w ABC stores, said he had re
ceived a call from District Solici
tor M. G. Boyette of Carth*age re
questing him to lay aside what
ever whiskey might be left from
a June 8 consignment from Rich
mond County. Another call, from
Carl Webster, ABC Board auditor
' at Raleigh, was also received,
Hinson said, in which Webster
requested that the board here
make no further purchases of con
fiscated whiskey from dry coun
ties.
“I had already decided not to
buy any more before receiving
the calls,” he said this morning.
The controversy in Richmond
apparently came to a head when
it was learned that a purchase of
874 half-pints by the Moore ABC
Board had been made June 8.
Hinson said a check for $722.71,
4 payment for the whiskey, was
made Out to Richmond County
and mailed June 14 to Palmer
Nicholson of Mt. Gilead, a mem
ber of the Richmond County
Board of Commissioners.
“Such purchases have been en
tirely routine all along” Hinson
said. “However, we have UsuaUy
bought the liquor as a favor,
since the money goes to the
A school funds of the various coun-
ties where the purchases are
made. Actually, I would much
prefer not to do it. It is much
simpler to get what we need for
our stocks in this county direct
from the manufacturer. It is, also.
Something of a nuisance to take
over these confiscated stocks
which are frequently half-pints.”
He said that the pint is the
smallest unit of sale in the state
^ and that half-pints have to be
disposed of two at a time, when
customers ask for a' pint.
Confiscated stocks, he said,
have been purchased from time
to time from Richmond, Lee, Ran
dolph and Davidson Counties.
Under the law they can be
bodght only from sheriffs de
partments.
Hinson said the June , 8 pur
chase from Richmond has been
'.''the only one from that county
this year. He said the number of
purchases from neighboring
counties had been exceedingly
small through the past years.
Whiskey confiscated in Moore
County is not sold to the stores.
Judge J. Vance Rowe some years
ngo developed the policy of or
dering all such contraband des
troyed by the sheriff. The policy
0held jvhen the largest tax-paid
'whiskey haul of recent years,
valued at $1,541 at current retail
price, was seized from Lewis Or-
dille of Sanford, who was later
convicted of transporting and
drew a heavy fine.
SOUTHERN^PmES, NORTH CAROLINA. THURSDAY. JUNE 21, 1956
EIGHTEEN PAGES
PRICE TEN CENTS
PRELIMINARY ORGANIZATION of a Jun
ior Chamber of Commerce in Southern Pines
was given a big push by state and county offi
cials at a meeting held here last week. Pictured,
left to right, front row, are Tom Caddell of Car
thage, outgoing fourth district vice-president;
Jim Baird of Southern Pines, temporary presi
dent of the new Southern Pines group; and Tuck
Gudger of Charlotte, fourth district vice-presi
dent. Back row on left are Russ Batchelor, presi
dent of the Aberdeen Club, sponsor for the one
here, and John Goode of Winston-Salem, a na
tional director. (pjiot photo)
Jaycees Meet With State Officials
To Map Final Organizational Plans
Jim Baird Is Elected
Temporary President
Area Soaked On
^Monday With 2.87
Inches Recorded
Two extremely heavy down
pours of rain Monday produced
a total of 2.87 inches at the offi
cial weather station maintained
by the U. S. Weather Bureau at
radio station WEEB.
The reading was considered
Jjhigh for this time of year but ob
servers said it did not establish
a record.
No damage, other than that
eaused by water seepage and
small flooding conditions in sev
eral places, were reported.
Following the rains, which oc
curred just after noon Monday
and about 7:30 that night, a cool
weather front moved in, produc-
I ing a comfortable 60 degree tein-
Irperature on Tuesday.
Formation of a Junior Cham
ber of Commerce in Southern
Pines was greeted with enthusi
astic response last Thursday
night ,as prospective members
met with state Jaycee officials at
the high school and mapped final
organizational plans.
Jim Baird, local insurance
agent who has been instrumental
in getting the Jaycee Club here
organized, was elected temporary
president.
State officials on hand for the
meeting were Tuck Gudger of
Charlotte, district vice-president,
and John Goode of Winston-
Salem, a national director. Tom
Caddell of Carthage, out-going
vice-president of the'fourth N. C.
District, and Russ Batchelor
president of the Aberdeen Club’
were also present and active in
the discussions. Each took part
in explaining the various func
tions of the club on local, state,
national and international levels!
Batchelor, who presided at the
meeting, announced that the
Aberdeen Club would sponsor
one here.
The primary puriiose of any
Jaycee Club is to make the town
a better place in which to live,
the speakers said. Gudger, in out
lining the history of the Jaycee
movement, said there are now
more than 200,000 members in
more than 50 countries through
out the world. There are some
2,500 local clubs in the United
States, he pointed out, with 108
in North Carolina alone.
Southern / Pines would become
the thirteenth club in the fourth
district, he said, and would be
the “baby” club in the state.
A number of projects, including
the sponsorship of a “Miss South
ern Pines” to represent the town
in the annual state-wide beauty
contest staged by the entire
North Carolina Jaycee member
ship, were discussed. Goode said
that both state and national offi
cers were extremely cooperative
in making assistance available to
the local clubs when new projects
are started. “We have informa
tion on just about anything you
want to do and will be anxious
to see a new club formed here.
He poipted out that Southern
Pines was one of the few towns
in North Carolina its size that
did not have a Jaycee organiza
tion.
Mayor Voit Gilmore, who
brought greetings from the town,
said the possibilities for Jaycee
sponsorship of projects in the
community were unlimited. “Off
hand,” he said, “I can think of a
dozen things right now that
would be of terrific benefit to
Southern Pines if only there were
something or somebody to take
the responsibility of seeing them
through.”
Gudger, vice-president of the
district that Southern Pines
would become a part of, invited
the membership and any others
who are interested to attend the
district meeting scheduled at the
Country Club here in the near
(Continued on page 8)
National Guard
Gets Medium Tank
An M-47 medium tank, equip
ped with 90 MM gun mounts, ar
rived in Southern Pines today
aboard a special railroad flatcar
for use in National Guard train
ing exercises.
Capt. William J. Wilson, com
manding officer of the National
Guard company here, said the
tank, which was sent from Nixon
Arsenal in New Jersey, will
probably be driven from the
freight station to the Guard’s
headquarters on Morganton Road
Sunday morning to avoid the
heavy traffic.
The tank is the second one to
be made available to the local
company, which now has approx
imately 70 men in its comple
ment.
GOC ENGINEER
HaU, Jr., has accepted the
position as chief construction en
gineer of the Ground 'Observer
Corps post being built on the
Boyd Estate. He should be noti
fied of all contributions of mate
rials.
j Twenty Entered
In Annual County
Net Tournament
Finals Scheduled For
All Classes Saturday
The , annual Moore County
Championships, sponsored by the
Sandhill Tennis association, got
under way Wednesday on the
municipal- courts in the town
park. Kenneth Tew is chairman.
The tournament opened with
12 entries in men’s singles, eight
in women’s singles, with most of
these players and several others
also entered in doubles events.
Finals are expected to be held
Saturday night, or Sunday if
there are delays occasioned by
weather or other causes. Trophies
will be awarded winners and
runners-up in all events at that
time.
Women’s singles opened the
tournament Wednesday after
noon, with just one match com-
pleted. In this Gail Hobson of
Pinehurst defeated Mrs. Marga
ret Hobbs, 6-3, 6-4. Two other
women’s singles matches were in
terrupted by rain, and these—
Helen Peer vs. Pete Dana, and
Mrs. Danny Devins vs. Shirley
Dana—were to be completed to
day.
First-round matches in men’s
singles, held Wednesday night,
were as follows: Tom Cunning
ham beat Kenny Little, 6-2, 6-3;
Harry Lee Brown, Jr., beat Hugh
Bowman, 6-0, 7-9, 6-2; and Frank
de Costa beat Lemuel Tew, 6-4-
1-6, 6-3.
Among matches scheduled for
tonight are: Kenneth Tew vs.
Frank de Costa; Ray Schilling vs.
Tom Cunningham-; Harry Lee
Drown, Jr., vs. Julian Pleasants,
and George Little vs. Dr. Charles
Phillips.
Play will continue each after
noon and night until the finals
this weekend, with women’s
matches mostly scheduled in the
afternoons.
Ray Schilling is defending his
title of Moore County champion,
won in 1955. In women’s singles,
the field is wide open as the
champion, Lillian Bullock, is not
defending this year.
Accorded an enthusiastic wel
come on his return to the local
courts was Dr. Harry Lee Brown,
Jr., a founding member and first
president of the Sandhill Tennis
association, long active in organ
izing and operating its tourna
ments and a former Moore Coun
ty winner. Re was also the first
winner of the Sandhill Invita
tional, the association’s major
tournament held in August.
Town Council To Meet
Tonight With Planning
Board For Zoning Talk
Highway Officials Signs
Discuss Plans For
Byp ass Plantings
Dewberries: Making A Comeback?
on the way
Robbing Donates $500
To Moore TB Seal Sale
Announcement was made this
week that Robbins had given
!>500 to the Moore County Tu-
(berculosis Aissociation, bringing
the total for the annual seal sale
drive to more than $6,500.
E. H. Mills of Pinebluff, coun
ty chairman, said that Robbins
was not in the final report, re
leased several weeks ago. He ex
pressed deep appreciation for the
$500 donation.
W. R. Kennedy is the chair
man in Robbins.
Are dewberries
back?
Once considered vital in Moore
County’s agricultural economy,
the berry is showing signs of once
again becoming all-important in
cash income for a number of
county farmers.
A 100 per cent increase in total
shipments this year over last year
—from 1,000 ^to 2,000 crates—has
caused many farmers to recall the
days in the mid 1930’s and 40’s
when dewberries were practically
the “king” of the crops in this
area. In that period it was not
unusual for Cameron, called the
“dewberry capital of the world,”
to ship between 60,000 and 90,000
crates of dewberries to market, all
over the country.
Most farmers who are growing
dewberries today are mindful of
the . fact that production of the
berry is not easy; a disease known'
as “brown rot”, killed off most of
the vines, or harmed them so
much that short crops became
common. In 1951 the famous auc
tions held at Cameron were halt
ed because not enough dewberries
were available tb make it worth
while to stage the sales.
In 1952 a Winston-Salem can
nery, T. W. Garner Foods, agreed
to take all the dewberries grown
in the county and has held the
contract since that time.
But now Fleet Allen, newly ap
pointed county agent, feels that a
newly developed strain of dewber
ries might easily be just the crop
to help bolster farmers’ sagging
cash income, caused to a great ex
tent by the expected decrease in
tobacco allotments, which some
authorities feel sure is coming.
(Continued on Page 8)
DEWBERRIES, once a mainstay of Moore County’s agricultu^^
al economy, may bqf on the way back. J. T. McLeod, who has
planted six acres of the new Carolina variety on his farm north of
Carthage, is shown here gathering a cluster of the juicy berries.
He reported this week that his yield from two acres planted sev
eral years ago was about 150 crates per acre, short of the amount
required to make the crop really profitable, but enough to merit
considerable attention in future planning. (Pilot photo)
I
‘We expect the landscape peo
ple down here in two or three
days . . . We’ll be able to let the
contract for laying the base-
course, the final step before pav
ing the road, the last week in
July.”
These two statements, made
Tuesday by Forrest Lockey, dis-
trict highway commissioner, at his
office in the State Highway De
partment building nesu: Aberdeen,
set the stage for what is hoped to
be the final moves in the comple
tion of the new by-pass of High
way 1. around Southern Pines.
Expected here this week, Mr.
Lockey said, were Frank Brant,
head landscape engineer for the
state road system, and some of his
advisers, who plan to study the
bypass thoroughly and come up
with recommendations for plant
ing the areas within the state’s
right-of-way.
Included in these are the center
strip separating the two north-
and-south lanes, the two strips
that separate these from the serv
ice roads on either side, and the
right-of-way area beydnd the
service roads which forms the out
side frame of the two sides of the
state-owned bypass: five separate
strips in all.
Queried as to what this might
be expected to involve, Mr. Lock
ey cited the planting done on the
road stretching from Pinebluff to
the Richmond County line as a
possible plan to follow.
“The situation is different here,
of course,” the highway commis
sioner said, “but I would imagine
that the strips, which are narrow
er, would be grassed, as well as
the high banks along certain parts
to guard against erosion, while,
on the outside strips, planting of
native shrubs, such as dogwoods
and pines, might be a good idea.”
Some such landscaping would re
sult, Mr. Lockey said he thought,
in an attractive roadside effect
which would be especiaUy desir
able in a resort area. It would
also maintain the general charac-1
ter of the whole highway, making ^
use of native growth which would
transplant easily and be more apt
to thrive in these surroundings.
Trees Donated Locally
Describing the planting done to
the south, Mr. Lockey said that
the plan had been worked out in
consultation with Ernest Morell of
Clarendon Gardens, who had
strongly advised using the native
growth. Six hundred and fifty
dogwoods were donated to the
project by Henry Blue Of Aber
deen, while W. A. Rosey had giv-
611 p6rinission to th© Highway De
partment to take hollies and pines
from his property between Aber
deen and Pinebluff. Seven hun
dred pines and 60 hollies were
transplanted, Mr. Lockey said to
which were added 25 Carolina
cherries and 75 watermelon-red
crepe myrtles, the purchase of the
Highway Department. It is plan
ned to transplant some more dog
woods, already chosen and tagged
for their large blossoms, next fall,
and probably 1,000 more young
pines.
Unwilling as yet to comment on
definite landscaping plans for the
Southern Pines bypass, Mr. Lock
ey nevertheless stressed his desire
that “this must be the prettiest
section of road we can possibly
make it” and pledged his every ef
fort to bring this about. He said
that he and the state landscape
experts planned to advise with lo-
(Cbntinued on page 8)
Also Scheduled
For Discussion
Zoning problems on the new
US Highway 1 bypass will be dis
cussed at a special meeting of
Town Council and membem of
the Town Planning Board to-
mght at the library.
The meeting will begin at 8 p.
The special session grew out of
a. request made at a meeting of
the Council last Tuesday when
W. P. Davis, large landowner
^ong the bypass, complained
that zoning action was long over
due. His request for some action
was met by Council with the de
cision to meet with the planning
board and review the situation as
it now stands.
Davis has requested that cer
tain portions of the bypass be
zoned for business.
Thp planning board, of which
Don Case is chairman, said last
week that no decisions had been
made at present and that a pol
icy of waiting for further con
struction developments on the
bypass had been unofficially
adopted by the board.
He said that it, was the board’s
feeling that any zoning on the
bypass now would be dangerous
and that a few more weeks of
waiting would afford the board a
far better opportunity to recom
mend the type zoning that
“would be best for Southern
Pines now and in the future.”
Davis said last week that he
would try to be present for the
meeting, but might be detained
on business elsewhere.
Awnings and Signs
Also scheduled to be discussed
is a consideration of several re
quests by business interests to
install signs and awnings over
sidewalks. At present the town
has ordinances that require all
awnings and signs to be at least
eight feet from the sidewalk.
Several businessmen have sug
gested a revision in the ordi-
I nances that would make it per
missible to lower the awnings as
a help in keeping the sun out of
windows.
'Three requests have been made
to Town Manager Tom Cunning
ham recently for relief in the
matter, it was noted at the last
Council meeting. Cunningham
said all the petitioners had urged
quick action on their requests,
but they had to be held up be
cause of the ordinance.
Old Barn At Rear
Of Ballard Home
Destroyed by Fire
CORRECTION
In a story which appeared
in The Pilot last week ref
erence was made to a trial in
Moore County Recorder's
Court in which Jol^i Henry
Stubbs and his wife, Annie,
were found guilty of viola
ting the prohobition laws.
The names should have been
John Henry Marks and wife,
Annie.
The Pilot sincerely leggtels
the error and is happy to coc-
rect it.
One of the biggest fires in re
cent months in Southern Pinfs
completely destroyed a bam at
the rear of James M. Ballard’s
home at 130 E. Illinois Ave. Sun
day about 7 p. m.
The barn housed a furniture re
pair shop owned by Durwood Mc
Leod. No estimate of the damage
has been made.
Chief Harold Fowler of the
Southern Pines Fire Depsirtment
said the blaze was so intense
when the fire trucks arrived it
was almost impossible to get
close to the bam. Origin of the
fire is still undetermined, he said.
The building, which the Bal-
lards used mostly for storage of
furniture and tools, was operated
as a dairy barn about 40 years
ago. Mr. and Mrs. Ballard discov
ered the blaze a few minutes
^ter they had returned from Lil-
lington. They did not see it, how
ever, until it was well beyond
control.
Firemen soaked down a nearby
building to keep the flames from
spreading.
Ballard said the building was
'not insured.