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Page TWO
THE PILOT—Southern Pines, North Carolina
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1961
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 all concerned. Wherever there seems to be
an occasion to use our influence for the public good we will try to do it. And we wi
treat everybody alike.”—James Boyd, May 23, 1941.
Traffic Deaths: A National Disgrace
, .1 1* >_
Three young men have been killed
within three weeks in traffic accidents
on the streets of Southern Pines and, as
this is written Tuesday, a fourth youth
lies critically injured in a hospital, i^ictim
of an accident in which his two compan
ions died.
All three of the young men whose lives
were snuffed out in one-car accidents
attributed by police to excessive speed
were under 21 years of age. Across the
state and nation, thousands of young
people are dying yearly in similar cir
cumstances. It is a national tragedy and
a national disgrace, yet there seems to
be nothing that law enforcement officers,
parents, schools or anybody or anything
can do about it.
Can a nation ingenious enough to send
a man into space and bring him back
safely admit that it is powerless to pre
vent the deaths of these many young
people, as well as the others of all ages
who lose their lives in highway accidents?
North Carolina’s new Traffic Safety
Council is a step in the right direction
and seems to have behind it more deter
mination than has ever hitherto been
put into such an effort. Yet, somehow, the
conquest of this monstrous traffic peril
must become an important, personal,
moral issue to millions of Americans.
The sort of driving that kills people must
be viewed as a positive evil—something
to which no one in his right mind would
stoop under any circumstances.
If mechanical and legal controls are
called for—reduced horsepower in cars,
accelerator governors, lower speed limits,
granting of driver’s licenses only at age
21 or more—let them be put into effect.
If they will save lives, why not?
If the American people will not become
aroused at seeing their youth slaughtered,
what will arouse them? Isn’t it time to
quit talking traffic safety and launch a
program that will dwarf the puny, in
effective methods we have used so far?
WildUfe Can’t Build Bomb Shelters
This week’s news that the Air Force
has ordered a delay in plans to use 30,000
acres in the Lake Mattamuskeet area of
coastal North Carolina for a practice
bombing range pleases all friends of
wildlife. It is hoped that after hearings
to be held in January, the plan will be
abandoned.
The area involved is one of the major
havens for wildlife on the Atlantic coast,
particularly for waterfowl that break
their migratory flights there. It is so
large that it can afford good hunting and
still be classed as an area for the pro
pagation and protection of wildlife.
The wealthy Mississippi man who has
a majority interest in the land (a tract
of 74,000 acres in all) said that the bombs
the Air Force intends to drop are “a
little cast-iron thing with a shotgun shell
in the nose of it.” This may be true, but
there is no guarantee that future bomb
ings would be confined to such a device.
Even the “little thing” described would
no doubt be disruptive to wildlife. And,
presumably, the area would be closed to
hunters, if used by the Air Force.
Wildlife cannot, as pictured in Bill
Sanders’s cartoon on this page, build
bomb shelters. Whatever protection wild
creatures get is the responsibility of hu
man beings.
Must State Mark Time for Two Years?
In view of the overwhelming defeat of
the 10 proposed state bond issues in the
November 7 election. Governor Sanford
could probably have made no other de
cision than the one announced Monday
night: not to call a special session of the
General Assembly and not to ask that
revised, scaled-down bond prosposals be
put before the people.
The Governor’s misgivings as to any
possible success of a special session seem
to have been prompted primarily by a
careful survey of legislative opinion, a
survey that reportedly revealed a great
apathy on the part of many legislators,
as well as a danger that some legislators
would take the opportunity in a special
session to sound off in opposition to the
food sales tax, thus further linking this
new tax to whatever bond .issues might
again be put to a vote, if not endangering
the food tax itself.
The link between the defeated bond
issues and the tax was a' misleading,
specious conclusion and made no more
sense than would a man who, having
bought himself an overcoat, resented the
expense so much that he refused to buy
himself a needed pair of shoes. We can
be thankful that North Carolina has its
food tax “overcoat” to make possible im
provements in education at the elemen
tary and high school level, but the “shoes”
—the funds needed to expand opportuni
ties and facilities in higher education are
lacking and will apparently be lacking
until the 1963 General Assembly takes
action toward another bond proposal.
The prospect of this delay is appalling
and it is obvious that the minor paring
and patching efforts that the Governor
said would be attempted will do little to
counteract the tremendous setback given
to higher education by the failure of the
bond issues. The same is true, of course,
in all the other bond projects.
Could it be that the,people of North
Carolina will rouse sufficiently from their
lack of concern about these pressing
state needs to make bond issues to meet
them, at least in part, possible before
another two years has gone by? Might it
not be possible to call a special session
later next year, with some prospect of
success, where one called now would not
respond?
We most earnestly hope that some
answer will be found. It is tragic to see
a great state mark time for two years,
unable to meet its demonstrated needs
in facilities for higher education, the re
tarded, the delinquent, its ports and the
conservation of natural resources, and in
other fields.
Setting the Pace
A new spirit of ambition, determination
and cooperation is evident in many rural
communities, sparked in this area by the
annual contests of the Sandhill Area
Development Association and encouraged,
as these qualities always have been, by
the Agricultural Extension Service.
At this week’s meeting of the SADA
here, awards were made to seven of the
22 rural communities in Moore, Lee, Rich
mond and Montgomery Counties that
took part in the contest for community
improvement during the past year.
Spokesmen for the winning communities
testified impressively how common in
terest and common work of their efforts
had drawn the community together and
enriched its life.
Dr. D. S. Weaver, who has spent many
years in agricultural work, paid tribute
also to the new spirit apparently arising
from the community development .work,
seeing in it at least a partial answer to
the heavy out-migratiop of people from
North Carolina which has gone on stead
ily for the past three decades. If young
people become interested in their home
communities and if adults in these com
munities improve them and help bring
in new business and industry, the young
folks are much more likely not to leave.
Towns, it seems to us, can learn a thing
or two from these efforts of our rural
neighbors. They are “going places” in the
best possible way: working together for
the common good.
Above all, these needs must not be
come “out of sight, out of mind.” Persons
who see and understand the needs must
keep awareness of them alive, for two
years if need be. The Governor’s address
Monday night must have made many
opponents of the bond issues squirm, as
he ^inted out, without rancor, the injury
their opposition had done the state. It is
quite likely that they, and many others,
in the next two years, will see the light.
Bravo, Jaycees!
Stand up. Southern Pines Jaycees, for
a round of community applause!
Better make it two rounds—or three:
one for sponsoring the highly successful
recent Golf Carousel which brought
about 200 persons here to play golf, from
as far away as Canada; another for as
suring that, the business section will have
Christmas lights; and a third round for
general energy, good will and community
interest.
When the Jaycees make money on a
project, the town benefits. They are
gradually supplying the park playground
with additional equipment. They lend a
hand, with money or work, in numerous
civic projects.
It is gratifying to any community to
know that its young men are concerned
about its welfare and progress. In South
ern Pines, where civic leadership was
exercised predominantly by older persons
for a number of years, this is particularly
gratifying.
We hear many expressions of confi
dence in the future of this community.
What the Javcees are doing for Southern
Pines is helping prove that this con
fidence is not misplaced.
^^HYP£ COUNTY
GAME
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REFUGE
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VARIOUS TYPES OF FEEDERS DESCRIBED
Running Bird Cafeteria Is Fun
BY CHARLES E. MOHR
Director, Greenwich Audubon Nature Center
Written from the viewpoint
of a home in the north, the
accompanying article by an
Audubon Society expert may
nevertheless have a fe'w
hints for Sandhills folk. Cer
tainly the presence of the
enormous flocks of birds now
sweeping across our skies is
a warning to get ready with
feeders ahead of time, so the
birds will know where to
come when the berries begin
to give out. /
Birds are on the move again.
Flights of northern species are
replacing many of the insect eat
ers which have flown southward.
Even the resident birds are leav
ing their summer haunts. Freed
now from the heavy responsibili
ties of nesting, birds travel farth
er afield. Woodpeckers, nut
hatches, chickadees and tufted
titmice, from orchard and wood
land, and cardinals and song
sparrows from the thickets or
shrubbery, come into the garden
several times a day.
Emboldened perhaps by an
ever-threatening food scarcity,
they come confidently to the door
step, feed from the window sill,
or even alight on the gardener’s
fingertips for the choice morsels
they crave. Of course, they will
not come repeatedly unless they
find it worth while. But if they
do discover food of a kind they
like, there is a good chanc.e that
they will be back for more—
bringing their friends along.
This will not be the case, how
ever, if the garden is devoid of
what bird watchers call “shelter.”
In his delightful new book,
“Songbirds in Your Garden,”
John K. Torres, managing editor
of Audubon Magazine, explains
that shelter to a bird does not
mean a roof over its head. Shelter
means a bush or tree into which
the bird can fly to safety.
Temporary Shelter
New home owners who haven’t
yet made a suitable planting of
trees and ,shrubs may be able to
substitute evergreen boughs,
abandoned Christmas trees or
other evergreens that have been
culled in thinning overcrowded
plantings. With a bit of ingenuity
a woodland setting can be pro
vided for the tempting repast
that is to be spread before the
feathered clan.
Or if new plantings are to be
considered, there are many
shrubs and trees to be recom
mended for attracting birds and
giving them shelter. Many of them
have fruits in winter, which
makes them even more desirable
as far as the feathered clan is
concerned. For example, dogwood
and viburnum have, abundant
berries, as do quite a few of the
climbing and shrub roses and
snowberry bush. Some specific
evergreens of merit for shelter,
as well as landscape value, are
red cedar and white pine.
Many a novice at the art of at
tracting birds hopefully invests
in an elaborate metal-topped
feeder or an intricate wooden af
fair, only to find that the food is
completely ignored because it
may be out of sight. As Mr. Tor
res points out, your first feeder
should be an open one, such as a
feeding shelf at a window or a
tray on a post. The first food
should be conspicuous—chunks of
white bread. Birds will spot the
bread from a block away and in
vestigate. Then other types of
feeders will prove their value,
and a better choice of foodstuffs
can be put out.
Quick Energy *
To supply the high daily-ener
gy requirements of insect-eating
birds like chickadees, nuthatches,
myrtle warblers and woodpeck
ers, beef suet, bacon drippings,
and peanut butter should be pro
vided. This can be served most
conveniently in a “suet stick.”
Any piece of wood about three
inches thick and eighteen inches
long will do, although sections
with rough natural bark furnish
the best footholds. Six or eight
one-inch holes (an inch deep) are
drilled in the stick and filled with
suet, melted bacon drippings or
peanut butter mixed with bird
seed. The stick is hung from an
overhanging branch or other
support. '
Grosbeaks, sparrows, juncoes,
redpolls and finches are almost
exclusively seed-eaters. For them
a tray or trough perpetually full
of seeds is the strongest attrac
tion. An old card table makes an
excellent feeder. A two-inch
moulding around the side keeps
the seeds from being scattered.
But so much refuse is left, partic
ularly the empty shells of sun
flower seeds, that frequent clean
ing is necessary. This service will
be performed automatically by
the wind if the tray has a double
flooring of screen (mosquito net
ting above, chicken wire below
for support) instead of wood. The
wind blows the lighter seed husks
out of the tray.
At least one large “hopper”
Crains pf Sand
Portent
Were there ev.?r so many birds
here before as the huge flocks
that have been wheeling through
the skies this past week? And all
the time the sheup wind was
blowing.
How does the old song go?
Blackbirds flying south:
Cold weather coming, baby.
Cold weather coming.
Trying To Help
William David Ormsby-Gore,
the new: British ambassador to
the U. S., is widely regarded as
an exceptional person, intelligent,
quick, persevering in what he
considers is the best course. Said
one who knows him well: “You
feel he always wants to help.”
Was this a characteristic of this
young man since early days? It
seems so. There’s a story going
round of the time when young
David Ormsby-Gore was a first-
year student at Eton at a critical
time. One of the boys had tried
to commit suicide.
Gathering the boys together,
the headmaster made a serious
plea: “Can any of you throw any
light on why this boy should have
tried to kill himself?”
A hand shot up from the back
ranks. Attached to it was a very
small, black-haired ‘‘new boy.”
“Yes, my boy?” said the head
master.
“I wondered, sir,” said young
David, “might it have been the
food?”
type feeder should be used, if the’
feeder must go several days be
tween refillings. A gallon cider
jug filled with seeds, inverted
and wired in place half an inch
above a feeding table, should feed
twenty-five birds for a week.
Tested and approved seed mix
tures contain approximately
equal parts of hemp seeds, small
and large seeded millets, white
millet, buckwheat and fine-crack
ed corn. Up to a third of the
mixture set out should be sun
flower seeds. Or these larger
seeds can be supplied in separate,
smaller containers which will be
frequented by the chickadees and
nuthatches.
Foxing the Squirrels
FREE MINDS CAN
PURSUE THE TRUTH
It would be an interesting race
of human beings if the minds of
men and women demanded food
with the same insistence that the
stomach does. Suppose your
brain, if neglected and forgotten
for a day, would set up the same
insistent clamor for sustenance
that your appetite does.
Truth is supposed to be the
goal of education and philosophy,
and religion, as well. The truth
will “set you free.” How many of
us realize that the best pursuit of
truth comes only when a mind is
free of passion, prejudices and
popular superstitions? How many
of us make any systematic effort
to remove such cobwebs from our
brain?
—Bertie Ledger-Dispatch
Most hopper-type feeders incor
porate some type of squirrel baf
fle in their design. No one could
starve the amusing and amazing
ly ingenious gray squirrels, but
most folks object to these bushy-
tailed rodents growing fat on ex
pensive sunflower seeds bought
for the chickadees and others.
Thus the top of many feeders is
a flat cone, or else the bottom re
sembles an inverted bucket or
drum. If located far enough from
trees or other launching sites,
such feeders will retain the cost
lier seeds for their intended pur
pose. The squirrels will be just
as healthy on a thrift menu of
cracked corn, with an occasional
acorn thrown in for desert.
Second only to food and shelter
is water for drinking and bath
ing. An aluminum refrigerator
ice tray fitted into the top of a
box containing two fifteen-watt
light bulbs, will serve as an ice-
free bird bath and will be your
best drawing card.
What about blue jays? “We
love them,” says Mr. Terres in
his book. Never in twenty years
of bird watching has he seen jays
attack or intimidate smaller birds.
'Rather, they play an important
role in the bird community—they
are the watchdogs. Every bird
recognizes and heeds the jay’s
raucous alarm note, sounded the
instant a cat, hawk, or other'pos
sible marauder is sighted.
Start—and Don't Stop
It’s always fun to watch the re
sponse to a newly placed feeding
device. Often it is discovered
within minutes. Generally the
different species approach and
feed in a definite order, a priority
list well worth compiling.
There is still time to start feed
ing. Most of the winter birds
haven’t yet established a pattern
of daily travel; in fact, additional
northern species may be arriving
until late December. Once feed
ing is undertaken, it should not
be interrupted or abandoned.
Birds operate on a narrow margin
of energy reserve which may be
insufficient to permit extensive
foraging, especially where feed
ing has built up large wintering
populations. It’s better not to
feed at all than to stop just when
the birds are depending on it.
Impressive
A young man named Futterman
died recently and in his obitu
ary in the New York Times there
was a paragraph that we found
especially interesting.
This man, only 33 when he
died, started low on the ladder,
but went upward miraculously
fast, especially in the past two
years when, with a comparati^-
ly small capital to start with, he
formed a real estate corporation
that in those two years became a
$100 million enterpris.3 stretch
ing across the nation.
How ^id he do it? What guided
his extraordinarily skillful busi
ness-sense? You get an inkling of
it in this paragraph in which he
stated his credo in the realty
field:
“Never buy arithmetic, always
buy basics,” he said in a recent
interview. “Basics in a real-estate
investnient include a view of
each city as a socio-economic or
ganism, with its industries, mu
nicipal policies, citizens’ views of
their civic duties, and the means
of getting in and out of town all
taken into account.”
In other words, this young man
would always initiate a possible
real estate venture by studying
carefully the past, present and
probable future of a community,
before he even started figuring
on profits: “basics instead of
arithmetic.”
It’s not surprising that he be
came known as an expert on
town planning, with a first book
to his credit: “The Future of Our
Cities.”
Felt So Bad
“He went around looking as
baffled and hurt as a collie who
has been whacked by Albert Pay-
son Terhune.” ,
The Rockingchaix
“The rockingchair was among
the most valuable of our inven
tions. It provided relaxation,
comfort and intellectual stimula
tion, but if something began to
boil over on the stove or if the
doorbell rang, you could get out
of it on its next go-forward with
the ease of stepping off a low
platform.
“But sitting in a modern contour
chair is like falling into a coal
bin. And you can’t get out with
out assistance.”
—Harry Golden
The PILOT
Published Every Thursday by
THE PILOT. Incorporaied
Southern Pines. North Carolina
1941—JAMES BOITD—1944
Katharine Boyd Editor
C. Benedict Associate Editor
Dan S. Ray Gen. Mgr.
C. G. Council Advertising
Mary Scott Newton Business
Mary Evelyn de Nissoff Society
Composing Room
Dixie B. Ray, Michael Valen,
Thomas Mattocks and James E.
Pate.
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