MOORK COUNTY’S
leading news
weekly
THE
A Paper Devoted to the Upbuilding
VOL. 11? NO. 5,
ucSrrssHOT
BY OWN GUN ON
CHRISTMAS DAY
Voung Vass Resident Dies as Re
sult of Accident While
Hunting
LEAVES WIFE AND BABY
rLAKEViEW
MANUCV
SOUTHCPM
PtMCS
PILOT
FIRST IN
NEWS AND
ADVERTISING
of the Sandhill Territory of North Carolina
Aberdeen, North Carolina
Friday, January 2, 1931.
FIVE CENTS
The Christmas happiness in Vass
was marred by a fatal hunting acci
dent which occumd Thursday after
noon and cost the life of Lacy Stutts,
twenty-one years old, of Vass, who
for some time had been working- with
d Seaboard carpenter foroe in Colum
bia, South Carolina, but who had
corne home to spend the holidays with
his family .
Mr. Stutts with a party of friends
was out hunting rabbits on Christ
mas afternoon. He is said to have
been poking th-e breech of* his gun
around among some bushes when the
gui' accidentally discharged, the en
tire load taking effect just about his
h^art. A car was nearby and the
wounded man was carried to the
Moore County Hospital, where he suc
cumbed at five o’clock the following
morning. He was conscious for sev
eral hours afte-r the accident.
The funeral service was conducted
at the home of the young man’s fath-
er-ir-law, Mr. Jessup, near Vass ftt
thre^ o’clock Saturday afternoon by
the Rev. Charles A. Lawrence, and
the body was laid to rest in Johnson’s
Grove cemetery. There were many
relatives and friends present for the
last rites.
Mr. Stutts was a son of Mir. and
Mrs. George Stutts of Vass and was
wJl liked by his associates. He was
united in marriage about a year ago
to Miss Emma Jessup, who with a
little two-months-old son, Billy Ray,
survives him. In addition to these, the
followincr sisters and brother sur
vive: Mrs. Lee Jones, Mrs. Ben Lane,
Mrs. Horton Womble, Misses Nellie,
Vera and Emma Stutts and John
Stutts, all of Vass.
Fire Destroys Home
of D. D- Cameron
Food and Clothes for Hundreds of Sandhills’ Needy
FOR THE NEEDY
mks
KIWANIS
SPONSORED
Photograph taken the day before Christmas when more than a dozen trucks were loaded by
the Kiwanis Christmas Daddies for the distribution of baskets of food and boxes of clothing for
needy families of the Sandhills. In the forefront are, left t rigiht, P. Frank Buchan, chairman,
Thad S. Page, Willard Dunlop, Mayor D. G. Stutts of Southern Pines, Senator-elect Murdoch M.
Johnson, the Rev. J. Fred Stimson and Gloma A. Charles, who had ciharge of the fleet of trucks.
SOUTHERN PINESjOeath Claims J. HcN. Johnson,
NAMES COMMITTEE Leading Citizen of Moore County
ON UNEMPLOYMENT “■ i
in Old Bethesda !
All Local Organizations Repre
sented on Board For Relief ! McNeill Johnson was laid to
Measures I Friday afternoon in the cem-
! etery so dear to his heart, Old Beth-
ELECT OFFICERS MONDAY I®®**®- commun-
i ity with which he had grown up died
M. G. Nichols, chairman of the : ^ o’clock on Christmas morning,
committee of, the Southern Pines j a life of nearly #e\enty-onc
Chamber of Commerce, recently nam~ : years of love and devotion to his fam
ed by President L. B. McBrayer to t his church, his county, state and
effect an organization to be known us * nation. His was a life of service, an-
the “General Committee for unem-h^inted, self-sacrificing, fulsome.
ployment Relief” announced yester-
Mr. Johnson was born in Moore
day that the organization had been County, the son of Scotch parents.
completed by the appointment of the
following representative citizens by
His early years were spent in the lit
tle town of Keyser, now Addor, then
Residence on South Street, Aber
deen Burns Before Large
New Year’s Day Crowd
The residence of Mr. and Mrs. D.
D. Cameron at the corner of South
street and the Laurinburg road, Aber
deen, was completely destroyed by
fire which broke out early New Year’s
afternoon and for a time proved a
serious threat to the adjacent woods.
The alarm attracted scores of resi-
<lents to the scene, and early comers
aided in removing the furniture from
the home so that the loss was confin
ed to the building itself. Even the
piano was successfully carried out be
fore the flames reached the living
room.
The house, a frame structure, was
purchased by the Camerons some timo
ago from Dr. A. H. McLeod. The
Aberdeen department made a quick
I'un to the scene, but the stream of
water had little effect upon the burn
ing timbers. The truck of the South
ern Pines Fire Department broke
down near Charlie’s Place on the way
to aid the local department in extin-
guijjhing the flames. The blaze spread
to the heavy growth of grass in the
low ground, but spectators succeeded
in keeping it away from adjacent
dwellings by back firing.
the various organizations in the city., ^ center of activity in this section of
George Case, representing the City j state. He conducted a general
Government; L. V. O’Callaghan, for j store in the village, and between the
the Catholic Church; J. F. Cole, for | visits of customers to his counter ha
the Christian Scientist Church; S. j studied pharmacy, reading books on
B. Richardson, for the Baptist | the subject and taking a course by
Church; J. C. Barron, for the Episco- i This self education led to his
pal Church; Charles P. Heyward, for removal to Aberdeen to open a drug
the Church of Wide Fellowship; store, which he operated here for a
Lloyd T. Clark, Masons; A. L. Adams, number of years.
Odd Fellows; Miss Ethel Burnham, But from boyhood the great am-
KIWAIS CARRIES
CHRISTMAS CHEER
TO 223 FAMILIB
Club Members Acclaim Report
' of Their Committee to
Aid the Needy
NEARLY $1,800 DONATED
K.
HI
I"”
'ARBY BADLY
VHEN TRAIN
HI'i|| UTOMOBIIE
Official € *4 cLumont Grocery Co.
In Serious Condition at
County Hospital
AT ABERDEEN CROSSING
JAMES McNEILL JOHNSON
A Tribute
Mr. Butler Writer of Loss of a
Close Friend in J. McN.^
Johnson
Eastern Star; Mrs. A. McN. Blair,
Civic Club; Mrs. Hunter Eckert, This
tle Club, John Powell, Country Club;
Charles Macauley, Men’s Club.
Struthers Burt, Library Association;
E. V. Perkinson, Contractors; Frank
Pottle, Hotels, and M. G. Nichols for
the Chamber of Commerce.
A meeting of the committee has
been called for next Monday evening
at 8:30 sharp for the selection of
chairman, Vice chairman anr secre
tary, the a.ppointment of various sub
committees, and to consider the best
methods to accomplish the greatest
good.
About a month ago the Chamber
of Commerce appointed a committee
to investigate the actual and prospec-
bition in the heart of “Jim” Johnson
had been to some day practice before
the bar of his state, and during and
after hours at the drug store,
just as he had learned the pharma
ceutical profession during his mer
chant days, he porad over legal vol
umes, again took a mail course, and
acquired sufficient knowledge of the
law to pass his state bar examina
tions in 1898, and become a full-fledg
ed lawyer. He lived to head one of the
leading law firms of this part of
North Carolina and died the dean of
his profession in the county.
J. McN. Johnson served Aberdeen
in many capacities. He was mayor
of the town at one time, served for
several years as its postmaster, was
ever the friend and counsellor of
tive unemployment situation m tt ^ ,
J those m power. He took an active part
Southern Pines, and the report ot ^ • j
AMERICAN LEGION BALL
PROVES GREAT SUCCESS^
Ihe American Legion Ball was a
Kieat success on Tuesday night and
Shields Gan-eron, chairnian of the
committee in charge, reports that the
Sandhill Post fund for disabled vet-
^lans will be greatly increased by the
Pi'oceeds. He could not give a definite
figure yesterday owing to the fact
that several who had tickets to sell
^ad not reported on them, but said
sufficient money was taken in at the
door of the Country Club that evening
^0 more than meet expenses. ^The
clubhouse was crowded for the annual
affair, and Jack Wardlaw’s U. N. C.
♦orchestra was kept hard at it until
around four o’clock in the morning.
The Sandhill Post takes care of a
dumber of disabled veterans at the
Government hospital at Oteen,
the committee induced the Chamber
of Commerce to strongly recommend
the organizing of a committee rep
resenting all the-churches and other
i business, civic and social organiza-
I '
tions to take charge of the work of
relief ^vhich appeared to be urgent
and continuous for several months.
M. G. Nichols was delegated to
form the General Committee and to
represent the Chamber of Commerci:*
OR the committee.
in the affairs of the Masonic order
for many long years, was past mas
ter of the local lodge and at the time
of his death Thursday was the oldsst
member of the lodge, both in age and
affiliation. Some years ago he was
made an honorary life member.
Ruling Elder of Church
The Pres'byterian Church was ever
dear to the heart of this good man.
When at Keyser he was an elder of
the church. For forty years he serv-
. ed as deacon of the Presbyterian
CHIEF BROWN OF S. P. FIRE Church here, and not long ago was
DEPARTMENT PASSES AWAY ruling elder. The history and
■ traditions of Old Bethesda meant
Walter J. Brown, 50 years old, chiex : him, and to his love and ac-
of the Southern Pines Fire Depart- , ^ivity is due much of the preservation
ment from 1926 to 1930, died in Ash- edifice on the hill overlooking
ford, N. C., yesterday afternoon, a village he called home. The old
victim of Bright’s disease. TWe fun- : cemetery in the midst of which the
eral will be held today. Mr. Brown , church stands, was his personal pride,
came to Southern Pines eight years j ■—
ago, and was one of the best known | (Please turn to Page 6)
citizens of the community. He leaves | "
a widow, and three sons and three ^ E. Roland Barriman, Goshen, New
daughters. Two sons, C. J. and G. | York, president of the American Trot-
C. Brown, are in business in Southern | ting club, ha« been elected president
pines. L- i of the Pinehurst Matinee club.
By Bion H. Butler
Some years ago a bright young
man, Clyde Davis, in leaving the
Sandhills to go to the World’s Work
in New York, wrote a brief farewell
to this section, in the course of which
he said he had looked forward to a
day, when after a life spent in the
Sandhills, he would be one of a trio
side by side in Bethesda cemetery,
himself, Jim Johnson and Bion But
ler the others. It would have seemed
curious to me, older than the other
two, if I had known that I w®uld lay
a tribute at the feet of either of them,
but Clyde Davis went first, and now
that other good old friend, Jim John
son, follows him.
James McNeill Johnson has been to
me one of the inside circle that a
man gathers about him in his asso
ciations. He had a ibookish habit,
but with it that natural faculty of in
quiring into things that led him to
become well informed, while good
judgment enabled him to weight the
information he. gathered, and to bend
his efforts in a direction that afford
ed him a right-well balanced home
made education. One of his traits was
thoroughness, which made him as a
lawyer one of the most exacting men
in chasing down a title abstract that
you will find in a life time. He knew
the old gmnts, and the old deeds, and
the old surveys and to fortify his
knowledge he knew the old people
who owned the lands. To many pieces
of property he could write a chain of
title from the memory of his acquaint
ance with the two or three genera
tions, who had constituted the fami
lies. With that acquaintance he was
fortified in local history, and a source
to whi^ the inquiring newspaper man
often turned for information con-
cermng people and things of the old-
The Christmas Daddies wound up
their work the day before Christmas,
and Christmas Daddies they truly
were. No less than 84 white families
and 139 colored families were pro
vided for by this committee organiz
ed by the Kiwanis Club of Aberdeen.
A statement issued by P. Frank
Buchan, chairman, ibest tells the story
of the huge task performed by his
committee:
“The committee of the Kiwanis
Club wishes to express to the hund
reds of individuals and various or
ganizations in Southern Pines, Pine-
hurst and Aberdeen its thanks for
the wonderful cooperation and assist
ance given the committee by contri
butions of clothing and cash, making
it possible to distribute to 223 fami
lies in Moore county Christmas cheer
in the way of clothing, groceries,
fruit, candy and toys.
“Seventy-five baskets of food and
76 boxes of clothing were sent to
84 white families, and 129 baskets of
food and 113 boxes of clothing to 139
colored families. There were some
families who needed only clothes,
others only groceries. In the white fam
ilies served, there were 272 children;
in the colored families, 303 children,
a total of 575 children.
“Below we give you the amount of
groceries and clothing sent out by
the committee:
“2,370 lbs. flour, 988 lbs. meal,
1975 lbs. potatoes, 198 lbs. butter, 395
lbs. lard, 988 lbs. sugar, 198 lbs. col-
fee, 1,383 lbs. cabbage, 988 lbs. riee,
988 lbs. meat, 228 lbs. candy, 40 lbs.
raisins, 1,935 oranges and 2,820 ap
ples.
Much Clothing Distributed
“The clothing distributed was as
follows; 654 pairs of shoes, 550 un
ion suits, 700 pairs of hose, 225 sweat
ers, 170 girls’ dresses, 100 ladies’
dresses, 50 ladies coats, 50 girls’
coats 50 men’s suits, 35 men’s over-
coats, 25 men’s sweaters and lumber
jackets, 75 pairs of boys’ overalls, 36
pairs of boys’ trousers, 60 boys’
shirts, 12 girls’ coats (new), 12 boys’
coats (new), 12 boys’ lumber jacks
(new), 60 men’s shirts, 50 complete
baiby outfits, at least 1,000 toys.
“The total amount collected in cash
by the committee was close to $1,-
800. Sixty-five dollars worth of groc
eries were donated. The big order for
groceries was placed with Bakers
Food Shop in Southern Pines whose
bid was lower thanother stores com
peting. This store also contributed
$30.00.
“The committee received cash dona
tions ranging from one dollar to $200.
The total number contributing cash,
food or clothing ran well into the
hundreds. Among the organizations
contributing were the Civic Club of
Southern Pines, Christian Science So
ciety of Southern Pines, the Ladies
Aid of the Church of Wide Fellow
ship, Carolina Theatre, American Le
gion, Miss Mar^J^aret Silver’s Sun
day School Class, the Men’s Bible
Class of Southern Pines, the Good
Fellows Club of Aberdeen, the Wo-
I man’s Sunday School Class of the
I Ba.ptist Church, Southern Pines.
“All clothing was purchased at
! liberal discounts, the local merchants
j being generous in their' aid to the
committee. Shoes were bought in job
lots at from 50 to 75 cents per pair.
Underclothing was bought wholesale
by the case.
“The committee wishes to especially
thank the Civic Club of Southern
Pines, not only for its cash contribu
tion but for the valuable aid given In
packing the clothing. We_ would also
like to thank the ladies of ^Aberdeen
for the service they rendered in pack
ing, and we would fail to do our duty
if we did not mention S. B. Richard
son, Thad Page and Mrs. J. C. Kelly
and her son, who worked tirelessly
for days helping us get the packages
ready for distribution. And last but
not least, we wish to thank the news
papers, the Sandhill Citizen, The Pi-
K. P. Darby, one of the owners of
the Piedmont Grocery Company of
Aberdeen and Troy, is in a serious
condition at the Moore County Hos
pital as the result of a collision with
Seaboard Air Line Train No. 4 at
the main crossing in Aberdeen at
about 9 o’clock yesterday, Thursday,
morning.
Mr. Darby, who recently moved to
Aberdeen from Southern Pines and
with his wife has been occupying one
of the J. R. Page cottages on Page
Hill, started across the track in hi-j
car on his way to the local warehouse
of the grocery company. It is believed
that a truck alongside his car prevent
ed his seeing how near at hand was
the approaching northbound train, and
the locomotive crashed into the very
center of the big sedan, shoving it
along the tracks some twenty-five
yards. The car did not turn over, but
was badly bent and the windows shat
tered, causing severe cuts. Just what
caused the internal injuries which it
is feared may prove fatal is not known
unless the compact threw Mr. Darby,
who is a large man, against the steer
ing wheel with tremendous force.
The train was quickly brought to a
stop and Mr. Darby lifted unconscioi's
from the car. Dr. McLeod rushed to
the scene and took him to the hos
pital at Pinehurst where it was said
at a late hour yesterday that he was
in a very serious condition.
A report from the hospital about
midnight was to the effect that Mr.
Darby had partially regained con
sciousness and that his condition was
more favorable.
Mr. Darby resided at Troy for some
time before coming to Southern Pines
and Aberdeen. His wife formerly con
ducted the May Darby Shop in South
ern Pines, and both Mr. and Mrs.
I Darby are well known and -popular
young people of the community.
A. R. Chiswell Hurt
In Auto Collision
A. R. Chiswell of Southern Pines,
an employe of the Atlantic & Pacif
ic Tea Company store in Pinehurst, is
in a serious condition in Moore County
Hospital, the result of a collision be
tween his car and that driven by
Charles Stanbach Lewis of Wades-
ville on the double road between
Pinehurst and Southern Pines late
last night. Mr. Chiswell suffered a
factured skull and was still uncon
scious at time of goinp: to press.
Mr. Chiswell was returning to hi.A
home in Southern Pines from Pine-
hu^st in his Buick car when he was
struck by a Chrysler diiven by Lewis.
Also in the Lewis car were R. E;
Green of Wadesvillg and Tom Cog->
gins of Pinehurst. Chiswell’s car was
completely wrecked and its owner
taken from under the wreckage and
rushed to the hospital by C. H. But-
terick of Southern Pines.
Lewis and Green were arrested by
Officer Gargas of the Southern Pines
police force and held over night in
jail. Lewis was charged before Jus
tice Windham this morning with op
erating a car while under the influ
ence of liquor, and held without boni
for appearance before Judge Humber
at Carthage. Green was held as a wit
ness under $1,000 bond.
RUNAWAY GIRLS FROM
NEW YORK HELD HERE
(Please turn to Page 8)
(Plme turn to Page 8)
Three runaway girls from New
York, all about 16 years old, are be
ing held by the police of Southern
Pines awaiting advice from the New
i York authorities as to what to do with
them. Assistant Chief Gargas ar
rested the trio in the Seaboard sta
tion last night following a wire from
John J. Sullivan, acting chief inspec
tor of the New York police.
The grirls, Sylvia Weinstein, Bar
nett Chamotwitz and Rose Nolkowitz
left their homes in New York to hitch
hike their way to Florida to spend the
winter.
A