'age TWO
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1956 j
ILOT
Southern Pines
North Carolina
“In taking over The Pilot no changes are contemplated. We will try to keep this a good
paper. We will try to make a little money for aU concerned. Wherever there seems to be
an occasion to use our influence for the public good we will try to do it. And we will
treat everybody alike.”—James Boyd, May 23, 1941.
Somebody Would Invent It
If New Year’s Day did not exist, somebody
•would be bound to invent it.
It seems to be a human necessity to get a
new start once in a while. And once a year
seems to lie a good time.
The cynics am'ong us view the occasion dis
passionately., The rebels would prefer their
New Year to begin, say, in September. The
dreamers see nothing but good ahead, and
the misanthropes nothing but evil. To some,
it is just another day.
For everyone, life goes on, just as it did the
day before, but few of us are not touched in
some degree by the everlasting appeal of a
new beginning, the sense of a milestone pass
ed and the attraction, the mystery of what
lies ahead.
There are those who like to dope it out, to
make predictions. Often they are right. Often
they Me ■wrong. Most of us prefer to take
stock, set otn: sights on a foreseeable goal and
buckle down to whatever the task at hand
may be.
The eternal urge to better oneself, to better
the human status, makes itself felt. While
more resolutions are broken than are kept,
the sum total is to the good. The human being
does not run well without an occasional shot
of inspiration, like oil in the gears of a ma
chine.
The sadness of past failures, the gladness
of new hopes—^mix them! and you have the
essence of New Year’s as closely as it can be
expressed.
, New Year’s is a holiday and a headache. It’s
brave and it’s pitiful. But it’s a good day, all
in all.
Happy New Year!
Our Confidence Is Unshaken
We feel that Rep. C. B. Deane of Rocking
ham, Eighth District Congressman whose
term' of office is nearing its close, acted in
character when he withdrew his candidacy
for Clerk of the House of Representatives as
soon as he learned that Ralph Roberts, the
present clerk, was in a Louisville, Ky., hospi
tal after a serious operation.
A Drew Pearson column, -written five days
after the North Carolina Congressman noti
fied Mr. Roberts of his decision not to seek
the clerk’s post, accused Mr. Deane of “trying
to take Roberts’ job away from' him while he’s
recuperating in the hospital.”
Mr. Deane’s denial appeared to us to be
forthright, documented * and sincere—three
qualities that he has demonstrated during
his decade of service in the Congress.
The incident reveals the dangers of high
pressure, shoot-from-the-hip journalism. The
Pearson column must have reached many per
sons who never saw the Deane explanation
and denial. The incident brings closer to home
than some of the Pearson controversies what
this kind of journalism can do to a public
figure.
Mr. Deane was widely urged to become a
candidate for the House post and we have no
doubt but that he would, if appointed, have
served with distinction.
As for what actually happened, the credit
goes to Deane, the discredit to the columnist.
Our confidence in the Eighth District Con
gressman is not shaken. All else aside, Mr.
Deane’s personal character is too firmly es
tablished and proved in public and private
life, to allow of any other interpretation.
Good For You, Chapel Hill!
“Oil Company Revises Plan for Station to
Save Tree”—^so reads the headline on the
leading news story in the Chapel Hill Week
ly last week. The story begins:
“The Sun Oil Company is revising the lay
out for its new service station so as to save
the fine old willow oak that was marked for
destruction.”
Good for you. Chapel Hill!
About the only difference in the Chapel
HiU incident dnd the one that attracted in
terest in Southern Pines earlier this year, in
connection with construction of a supermarket,
is that an oak tree was involved in Chapel
HUl, while dogwoods and a magnolia were at
stake in Southern Pines.
The people ^n Chapel Hill who rose to the
challenge of the service station’s plans saw
eye to eye with the people in Southern Pines
who worked to save the trees here. They all
believe that there is no sense in wrecking
the natural beauties of a town—beauties that
take decades to produce, in the case of trees—
in the name of commercial progress.
There is not a building in this world, to our
mind, except possibly a city skyscraper, that
does not look better with trees around it or
near it. And we believe that trees around and
near a building make that place 'more attrac
tive to customers.
We congratulate Chapel Hill on saving its
oak and we again urge public and private in
terests in Southern Pines to save all the trees
they can.
Still Too Much Fireworks
It is nearly a decade since the North Carolina
General Assembly, impressed by a long list of
terrible injuries that hpd been suffered by
Tar Heel children and adults as a result of
fireworks in the previous year, wrote into law
a ban on fireworks in this state.
The law is about as comprehensive as a law
can be. It prohibits the manufacture, use, pos
session, sale, transportation and just about
anything else that is possible in connection
with fireworks. It’s a good law and was gen
erally approved by the people of the state.
The fireworks law cut injuries from this
cause to a minimum. Many people are walk
ing around today with eyes and fingers they
would not have if the law had not been en
acted nearly 10 years ago. The law has been
frequently invoked over the state and has
proved its value. Yet there is still entirely
too.much fireworks in North Carolina.
One has only to see roadside stands selling
fireworks, just over the state line on many
highways, to know that the stands are placed
at these remote and often rural spots for only
one reason—trade from North Carolina.
From, around the state come reports that
fireworks are becoming a problem again. Po
lice in Southern Pines report occasional com
plaints about fireworks. A “bomb” explosion
at the school early last year caused -wide
spread comment locally.
Whatever the source of fireworks supply in
North Carolina, officers should be on the alert
to cut it off. It is our hunch that there would
be little trouble from- fireworks over the state
if irresponsible adults and teenagers old
enough to drive across the state line could be
controlled.
A Lesson In The Spirit Of Christmas
While there is much lamenting over
changes in the way Christmas is observed,
nobody seems to do much about it.
The lamentations about over-commercial
izing Christmas, about over-emphasis on the
Santa Claus angle of the observance seem to
grow each year—but those aspects of the sea
son that arouse these sentiments also seem to
increase.
Children, it seems, are encouraged—almost
goaded, in many cases—into an attitude that
is nothing less than greed. “What do you want
for Cliristmas?” is the question asked them.
And adults are disappointed if the little one
does not recite a list of all his yearnings for
personal possessions.
Under this approach, the sky is the limit in
a child’s acquisitive fancies. Adults expect
him to reel off a list of his desires. A child
who hesitates, perhaps with some instinctive
feeling that his personal longings are not nec
essarily public information, is considered a
little backward—not nearly so cute as one
who apparently knows what he wants and is
confident of getting it, too.
Does anybody ever ask a child what he is
going to give for Christmas—what he plans to
do to make another person happy. Seldom.
And why? ^
Last week, several dozen Southern Pines
Cub Scouts took part in a program' that
brought these little boys, as well as all who
saw or read about what they were doing,
much closer to what seems to life to be the
real spirit of Christmas.
An old European family custom of “making
a layette for the Christ Child”—one to be ac
tually given to a needy mother or expectant
mother—was introduced here and beautifully
and carefully explained by a “den mother.”
Under this custom, all members of a family
actually make, with loving care, the items in
the layette. These items are gathered together
with some ceremony, including reminders of
the meaning of the Christmas season. Then
the whole thing is given to the needy person,
with care that the recipient does not know
from whom the gift came: “A gift is only
half a gift if the receiver knows who gives
it.”
This is a long, long way from a “Christmas
parade” held some time shortly ..after Thanks
giving—and from a score of other ways in
which we “celebrate” the holiday season.
The local Cub Scouts under the guidance
of the den mother who introduced them to the
old European custom, have given us a heart
warming example of a totally different spirit
in the observance Of Christmas.
“Could Some Of You Other Fellows Help Push?”
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The Public Speaking
What About Those ‘Whelps’
In Letter To Editor?
To the Editor: |
Let us hope that Jimmy Mann
will prove to be inaccurrate as
a prophet; in a letter to the edi
tor in a recent Pilot, he said that
“young McDonald faces more in
life than a red whelp or two, on
his chest.” 'The implication of
this seems to be that what Mc
Donald will face will be much
worse than one or two red
whelps on his chest.
Since Mr. Mann didn’t specify
whether the whelps were wolves,
bears, lions, or tigers, we are left
in the dark as to just which kind
of whelps he had in mind; how
ever, a bit of judicious thought
should convince anyone that the
prospect of hairing one or two of
any of these on his chest should
be quite enough for a teen-age
boy, without asking him to face
more.
RUSSELL E. POWELL
Southern Pines
(Editor’s Note: Webster’s
International Dictionary,
which is The Pilot’s author
ity on spelling and usage,
gives “whelp” as a U. S. dia
lect nouq meaning “a welt or
wale.” We therefore allowed
Mr. Mann’s use of the word
to stand as written—^wonder
ing, however, how many
readers would assume he
was in error.
This use of “whelp” is rare,
at least in this area, but ap-
> parently came naturally to
Mr. Mann. Though the word
is listed as “dialect” by Web
ster, it is not listed as “obso
lete.”)
Working Conditions For ,
Town Employees Better
To the Editor:
As an employee of the Town of
Southern Pines for the past five
years, I have had the privilege of
experiencing the change of town
government from an employee’s
viewpoint as well as a citizen’s
■viewpoint.
Of course, the improvements
that Mr. Cimningham and the
town council have made under
the city manager government are
too numerous to mention, but I
would like to point out the ef
fects they have had on the muni
cipal employees.
During the past three and one
half years the municipal em
ployees have realized improved
i
THEY'RE SAYING;
Problems Of Discipline
(From The Greensboro Record)
The Record professes sympathy
for Irie Leonard, Southern Pines
high school principal, who has
appealed his conviction of assault
on a pupil, a 16-year-old boy.
Leonard was fined $1 and taxed
the costs after a recorder’s court
trial. The judge was quoted as
saying he had no choice since \“it
had been proved. . . beyond rea
sonable doubt that the defendant
was angry when he struck the
blow.” Expressing rfegret that the,
matter got into court, the judge
said he felt it could and should
have been handled in the school.
PARENT'S MOST STIRRING MOMENT
A Child’s First Day In School
By HARRY GOLDEN
In The Carolina Israelite
I believe the most stirring mo
ment in the experience of a pa
rent comes on the day you leave
the child in school for the first
time. This can be so sharp an ex
perience that where there are
two or three children this ritual
has to be alternated between the
parents. I remember leaving one
of mine there all starched up
with a look of bewilderment on
his face such as I never want to
witness again. I held his little
hand and got him registered. As
we walked through the yard and
corridors of the school he never
took his eyes off me, and never
said a word.
Hid Behind Pillar
Then came the moment to put
him in a line and—Cleave him. I
tried to be nonchalant as I walk
ed away but I quickly hid behind
a pillar and watched him. But he
could see around the pillar; he
had never taken his eyes off me.
He just looked and looked and I
could see that he fUled up, but
since I am bigger, I filled up
more. What an ordeal! Yet I
knew that the final decision
could not be delayed for long.
But there was no law that forced'
me to keep watching him. I turn-;
ed my back and started out slow
ly and then I practically ran out
the door.
You have to make a break, but'
it is an experience you never for
get. You do not talk about it
much, because the kid grows up
very fast and it is embarrassing
for him to hear about it, but it is
one of those experiences that
sticks with you forever.
Time Brings Change
Soon, however, too soon—^you
get a letter from this same child
and he is a paratrooper and some
stranger is. pushing him out of an
airplane down to the earth be
low, and the first thing you
think of is a filled-up bewildered
kid, all starched up, trying to
twist his neck to see behind a
pillar.
Maybe the system has been
changed in recent years. Every
thing has become so fancy. I
imagine they come after the kids
in a station wagon these days,
driven by a child psychologist. Is
this so?
working conditions, all of which
were never experienced before
the new government was install
ed here. To mention a few, the
labor now receives a week’s paid
vacation, Christmas bonuss and,
pay raises to at least equal those
of other municipalities.
With these improved working
conditions prevailing among the
employees, they will not only do
their jobs more efficiently but
will do them with' the best inter
est of the town.
I believe I can speak for all the
municipal employees in saying
that with our nqw city manager,
we are anxious to continue our
efforts to do our smaU part to
help make Southern Pines a
better town in which to live.,
JOEL STUTTS
Supervisor of Water
Southern Pines
He was reportedly of the opinion
that the principal had not acted
with malice.
Maybe the principal used more
force than was reasonable, but
the evidence as reported in the
press indicated highly unbecomi-
ing behavior and attitude on the
part of the prosecuting witness
and several other boys.' The
group had been summoned by
the principal on complaint of the
school librarian that they had
been disrespectful, and the alleg
ed assault was said to have been
precipitated by remarks address
ed to the principal.
One of the boys admitted at
the trial that he had told the
principal it was none of his busi
ness what he said to the librari
an. A man repairing a clock in
the principal’s office at tjie time
of the incident testified that he
overheard the conmiotion in an
adjoining room where' Leonard
and the pupils were. This witness
told the court he thought the pu
pils “were impudent.”
Principals and teachers are ex
pected to conduct themselves in
a manner to command the res
pect of their pupils, and the pu
pils are in turn expected to be
respectful. We are sympathetic
with school personnel who are
constantly confronted with dis
cipline problems. Principal Leon
ard testified that most of the
boys involved in the Southern
I^ines incident had been disci-,
pline problems in the past. We
can well imagine the provocation
which caused him to deal as he
did with the situation confront
ing him. Maybe it wouldn’t have
happened if sterner action had
been taken earlier.
We don’t like for youngsters to
think they can be rude, disre
spectful or ill-behaved and get
away with it. Teachers and prin
cipals should have the support
and co-operation of parents and
the community in all proper ef
forts to discipline their pupils.
Crains of Sand
For E'very Occasion
Mayors of towns get almost as
much odd mail as do newspa
pers, it seems. And the funny
part is that the mayor’s odd mail
is usually turned over to the
newspaper.
That was what happened for
instance when a gentleman in
Turkey wrote to Mayor Voit Gil
more of Southern Pines some
time ago, asking how he could
place an advertisement for an
American bride.
The letter was relayed to The
Pilot. We didn’t run an ad be
cause we doubted very much if
any of our readers wanted to
take on a husband in Turkey,
sight unseen.
We started to write an item
about the letter for GRAINS, but
suddenly realized that the Turk
ish gentleman’s name contained
an unspeakable obscenity—in
the sound, not the actual spell
ing. So the whole thing was a
dead loss.
Well, anyway, the latest item
to be relayed to 'The Pilot from
Mayor Gilmore is a solicitation
of the mayor on behalf of a vol- '
ume titled: “The Mayor’s Book
of Speeches for All Occasions.”
The letter came from East Lon
don, South Africa. On the envel
ope’s return address, the words
“East London” appear in very
large type and “South Africa”
in very small type. Again we
are puzzled as to why anybody
in South Africa would undertake
to write speeches he thinks
would be used by a mayor in
North Carolina—^but the East
London character seems confi
dent and has such a snappy sales
talk that we don’t see how Mayor
Gilmore resisted. Listen to this
(question marks are not used, it
seems, in East London, South
Africa):
“Dear Mr. Mayor:
“Have you prepared that wel
come yet for Friday, and your
talk at the Welfare Annual Gen
eral on Monday. And what about
the Farmers Gathering on ’Thurs
day, and the Engineers on Tues
day, the Flower Show next week,
and the Drama Festival the week
after. There is also the Opening
of the new church and the new
college (Ed. Note: 'That couldn’t
be the Consolidated Presbyterian
College, could it?), and the Pho
tographic Society and the Tech
nical crowd the week after.
“In the meantime you’ll have
to think of something to say at
the opening of the Spring Festi
val and the Hobbies Exhibition,
and there are those four confer
ences next month of which you
must welcome the delegates. Oh,
and don’t forget those three ba
zaars, the exhibition and the
Flower Show. The Governor and
the Ambassador will be here
next month, too, but you can
deal with them later. There are
quite a number of appointments
for the Mayoress too, at which
she will be expected to say
something. (Ed Note: Aren’t you
glad you don’t live in East Lon
don, South Africa, Mrs. Gil
more?). . .
“Yes, Mr. Mayor, I have been
through it aU, and often felt the
need of a book of some sort to
give me an idea here and there
of what to say on these numer
ous occasions. . . Cheques, dollar
or pound notes accepted. . .”
The price is listed as ‘"3.50 dol
lars.”
Frankly, we don’t see why our
mayor passed up such an oppor
tunity as this. We almost sent for
it ourself, just to find out what
it is the mayor should say to “the
Technical crowd”—a fascinating
descriptive term, if we ever
heard one.
After all, we might have to
write an editorial some day on
“the Technical crowd” and we
must confess we haven’t the
slightest notion of what to say.
The PILOT
Published Every Thursday by
THE PILOT, Incorporated t
Southern Pines. North Carolina
1941—JAMES BOYD—1944
Katharine Boyd Editor
C. Benedict Associate Editor
■Vance Derby News Editor
Dan S. Ray Gen. Mgr.
C. G. Council Advertising
Mary Scott Newton Business
Bessie Cameron Smith Society
Composing Room
Lochamy McLean, Dixie B. Ray," ,
Michael Valen, Jasper Swearingen
Thomas Mattocks.
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Entered at the Postoffice at South
ern Pines, N. C., as second class
mail matter
Member National Editorial Assn ^
and N. C. Press Assn. ^