WIN THE WAR
IN '44
VOLUME 24, NO. 5
THE
Sand liox
Being Filled Weekly
BY WALLACE IRWIN
To my way of thinking Mr. Tom:
Preston of 1795 Dorchester Road,
Brooklyn, N. Y„ is the real Sandhill
Sandy Claus. His gift came on the
dot, Christmas morning when I was
saying to myself, listlessly, "Irwin,
you are a fool for holidays. And if
you don't write your column this
week the 1-2 Pint Club will say it's
just another hangover."
No such thing. On Christmas eve j
I went to bed comparatively early. !
True, I was singing "Adeste Fideles"
in my worst hog Latin, but that
means nothing. Except that I had
rallied round a tree so bright and
happy and generously laden that it i
made us war-parents almost forget- j
but never ouite forget that we |
were waiting for the merriest
Christmas of all, when our boysj
come home.
Where was I? . . . Oh. yes. I
awoke sluggishly, as is my custom,
on the morning of December 25th.
The railroad strike was still hanging l
fire, and the thought came floating!
in: "The Brotherhood of Trainmen i
seem to be putting national brother-,
hood on the blink". I lay there, cook- j
ing up a bad, black rhyme like this:
Railroad man, you stop the machin
ery,
Go to the beanery,
Gaze at the scenery,
While Hitler heils, "Their war's in
the deanery!
God bless the engineers!"
But such a thought is morbid, quite
out of step with the holiday spirit,
I reflected. Yo-hum. What should
I put in the Sand Box? Maybe 1
should just write "Happy New
Year!" and go back to sleep.
Then the mail came, manna from
heaven, answer to prayer. For it
contained Mr. Tom Preston's con
tribution, as follows:
Consider a moment Wallace I,
Standing there with his head held
high,
A man of stature, a man of means,
And a man with cash in his rumpled
jeans.
(Thanks to the Pilot's generous
hand
He draws a cool two smackers
and—!).
The kids in town are plenty awed,
The women sigh as he strolls up
Broad,
For a chap who coins such lavish
salary
Rates a smile from the ladies' gal
ery.
(Wally grins as he cops his fee
And gallops off to the A. B. C.
Sandhills men take pains to hide
The bitter envy felt inside,
And a troublesome group by the
Seaboard station
Loudly hints that it means inflation.
("My secret?" he whispers, sniff
ing the pine,
"John L. Lewis' a pal of mine!")
Mr. Preston tops this off with a
message which is all too modest for
one with so sharp a pen, even
though he aims it at me. He says,
"Please excuse the downright slop
piness of this communique. It's a
rough and hurried effort". It doesn't
sound any more sloppy, rough and
hut tied than what I am delivering
weekly (at fixed salary) to Mrs.
Bessie Cameron Smith, the present
editor of my literary being. The only
difference between Mr. Preston and
ine, professionally speaking, is that
he isn't on the Pilot's payroll.
Happy New Year, as I was about
to say. Thank you, Mr. Preston, es
pecially for your closing wish,
"Keep up the good work on your
Sand Box." I feel better about 1944.
EPIPHANY SERVICE
The traditional Epiphany Ser
vice of Lights will be held in
Emmanuel Episcopal Church
Sunday, January 2. at 6:30 p.
m. The public is cordially invit
ed to participate. This Service
of Lights is of especial interest
to children.
ANN RICHARDSON
Capt. Eveleth Richardson of Camp
Jackson, S. C., and Mrs. Richardson
announce the birth of a daughter,
Ann, at - Moore County Hospital
Thursday! Dec. 30. Mrs. Richardson
was formerly Miss Etta McH. Cam
eron of Manly.
T H Jp^^plPlLOT
Capt. limes-Taylor Trains Soldiers in
Rockies for Service in Arctic Regions
Trainees Are Taught To *
Meet Problems Resulting
From Arctic Air Travel
Capt. Alan Innes-Taylor, a former
Southern Pines (resident, is com
manding what has been termed "one
of the most interesting soldier
training projects in the entire
world," a "training in arctic living"
branch of courses conducted by the
army air forces training command
at Echo Lake Camp. This project
has been developed within the last
five months in the region about
Mount Evans, near Denver, Col.
The work has been carried on in
the greatest secrecy, with every ap
proach to the area closed to the pub
lic and guarded day and night. Men
sent there for training did not leave
the area for a single night.
Two weeks ago reporters and pho
tographers were allowed to visit the
area for the first time and interest
ing pictures and stories have been
released. We are reprinting a part
of the detailed story which appeared
in the Denver Post, feeling that it
will be of unusual interest to Capt.
Innes-Taylor's many local friends:
"At the start of the war, army
heads realized the shortest routes
from the United States to war
zones, both east and west, lie across
the arctic. An incalculable amount
iof air-borne traffic is now passing
over the arctic wastes —in tempera- |
lures of 60 degrees or more below
zero This arctic air-travel presents
staggering problems—weather fore
casting, supply bases, mechanical
servicing, unusual physical training,
rescue technic, medical attention
;>nd the like.
"Out of this need came the arctic
training school at Echo lake—a
\ branch ot Buckley field's arctitf
training division.
Trainees Live In Portable Houses
"Young soldiers of exceptional phy
sical hardihood and an expressed
liking for cold weather outdoor ser
vice are picked for this arctic train
ing. They go to the base-camp at
, Echo lake in groups—each of which
| receives five or six weeks red-blood
ied training, which begins every
j morning at 5:45 o'clock, in pitch
I darkness, and often does not end
j until well into the night,
j "The trainees live mostly in James
i portable houses—structures resem
l bling half a huge hogshead, with
iiounding roofs that shed snow,
j These houses are made of synthetic
i material—a dark brown layer on
the outside, and a gray layer on the
I inside. Between these two layers is
I a mat of spun-glass, two and one
j half inches thick, which gives per
fect insulation. Four men occupy a
house.
I "In charge of the training of these
j young soldiers is a group of experts
;on arctic living whose personal ex-
I periences are even more fascinat
| ing than the work they do. The
icamp is in charge of Capt. C. A. K
Innes-Taylor, a Canadian veteran of
World war 1, who has been with ex
peditions to the arctic, as well as
with Admiral Byrd's expeditions to
the antarctic.
"Working with Captain Innes-Tay
lor is Bel more Brown, 63, veteran of
Alaskan trails and north Canadian
winter living, who was in the first
party to conquer Mount McKinley
in Alaska, North America's highest
peak.
Taught To Handle Emergencies
"Also giving their experience to
the project—altho they are not pres
ent personally all the time—are such
noted explorers as Dr. Viljalmur
Stefansson, Sir Hubert Wilkins and
Col. Ashley McKinley.
"At Echo lake the officers live in
the same kind of quarters as the
enlisted men. They all eat in the
same mess-hall. There is never an
inkling of 'brasshat' formality. All
share the rugged, hard work.
"The thing these trainees are be
ing taught is how to take care of
themselves— and of wounded com
rades—in case their airplanes are
wrecked or grounded on inacces
sible glaciers or bad mountain ter
rain in the heart of the arctic, how
to 'live off the country', how to give
first aid, «nd how to get wounded
men hack to civilization.
"Part of this training applies to
the servicing of alr-
I pUives in «*o3«dingly low tempera
tures, of aisptone. reconnaissance in
the search for missing men, the sig
naling systems such lost men would
Southern Pines, North Carolina Friday, December 31, 1943
HEADS SPECIAL WORK
**r>
9
; "iSfe:
%L
mPiP*-: Jm Sl
JHBBL
j/L
CAPT. ALAN INNES-TAYLOR
use in communicating with air-1
searchers, and the delivery of food |
and medical supplies*to injured men. I
"Army doctors are trained to par-1
achute from airplanes to glaciers or
heavily-wooded mountainsides. I
There are folding sleds, called "pul- i
kas," which can be parachuted, i
• j
along with the doctor, from a plane.
Even big dog sleds can be folded for
parachute delivery.
"Every group that goes over arc
tic terrain is equipped with signal
ing-banners of fluroescent cloth, in
vivid colors. The fluorescence makes
these banners visible from an air
plane even 20,000 feet above the
ground. The designs in which the
banners are spread on the ground
form code letters.
"At. Echo Lake, Capt. Innes-Tay
lor gets a group of trainees together
in his office each night. He says:
'"Boys, here is your problem: The
oretically, an airplane has been
wrecked on a glacier at latitude
'such' and longitude 'so'. Airplanes
have tried to parachute food and
medical supplies to the survivors, but
the 'chutes drifted away. Some of
the men are badly injured. Go bring
them in.'
Experts Teach Use Of Skiis
"The trainees already have been
taught 'ground navigation'—by
compass. They have learned the use
of skiis—from expert instructors.
They have been taught the use of
snowshoes—by an old Alaskan sour
doughs'. And they know how to
handle Eskimo dog teams. There are
many dog teams at the Mount Evans
project.
"The spot they have to vsach to
find the 'lost airplane crew' usually
requires a round-about journey of
100 miles or more—up and down the
slopes of Mount Evans (or maybe
to the mountain's summit); thru
heavy timber; up and down sheer
cliffs—all exceedingly difficult ter
rain. The round trip may take a
week.
"But the 'rescue party' loads its
dog sleds with medicines, food, sleep
ing bags, trail tents and dog food
(mostly frozen horsemeat), and sets
out —regardless of weather. Profes
sional instructors go along to check
their 'navigation' and their work.
"The 'rescue party' sleeps out on
the trail at night—building hurried
Yukon 'leantos,' if in a timber coun
try, or regular Eskimo snow igloos,
if above timberline; or just rolling up
in sleeping bags in trail tents at
times.
"They are taught how to fish thru
the ice of lakes or streams, how to
(Continued on Page 3)
! GYMKHANA SUNDAY
The gymkhana scheduled for last
Sunday at the Southern Pines Coun
try Club horse show grounds was
postponed until Sunday, January 2,
on account of the rain. The program
will be carried out as previously an
nounced, with six classes of events,
the weather permitting. The Eques
trian Committee hopes to have a mil
itary band from Camp Mackall.
INJURED IN FALL
Ed Starnes, well known business'
man of Southern Pines, slipped on
the ice Christmas morning and fell,
breaking bones in both his hands.
Both injured members are in
casts.
Dr. T. A. Cheatham
Praises Service of
Sandhill Kiwanians
Club Speaker Talks on
Kiwanis and lis Motto;
Poole Is New Member
"Kiwanis and Its Motto: 'To
Build'" was the subject o f Dr. Cheat
ham of Pinehurst when he addressed
the Sandhills Kiwanis Club at its
meeting Wednesday at the Pine
hurst Country Club.
Dr. Cheatham stated that the Club
had not only g'.asped many of the
public problems in this county dur
ing its twenty-one years of service,
but had seen them through to a final
finish. He described a good citizen
as one who does his own part and
in addition helps his fellowman. He
predicted that Kiwanis has much to
look forward to in the future and
warned that we must prepare our
selves to meet with many of the fun
damental problems that will arise
after the war.
"It is not so much what we do,
but how we do it," the speaker de
clared, stressing the importance of
our "accepting our problems with
the spirit of serving our community
and making it a better place in
which to live."
Dr. Cheatham was presented by
Charles W. Picquet.
O. Leon Seymour of Aberdeen
welcomed Representative J. Hawley
Poole into Club membership.
Local USO Is Scene
of Holiday Activity
Many Soldiers and Wives
Enjoy Christmas Parties;
New Year Plans Announced
Christn.as at the Southern Pines
U. S. O. Club was a happy occasion,
with more people in attendance than
had ever visited the Club on any
previous day. Thanks to the Amer
ican Red Cross, which presented the
U. S. O. with a check for the pur
pose, there were Christmas presents
for all soldiers.
Mrs. J. A. McPherson of Cameron
donated a lovely tree and Southern
Pines residents gave quantities of
delicious home-baked goods, so
man" soldiers were able to enjoy a
really home-like Christmas. The U.
S. O. is also very grateful to those
who invited soldiers into their homes
for Christmas dinner.
A bingo party was held Christmas
Eve, with prizes of long distance
telephone calls home for soldiers and
presents for lucky army wives.
New Year's Festivities
Another bingo party is planned
tor New Year's Eve, with prizes the
same as above, and on Saturday
night, Jan. 1, a dance will be held,
to which all servicemen and their
wives are cordially invited. There
will be a good orchestra and refresh
ments will be served.
Tennis Shoes
Since tennis is practically a year
round pastime here, there is need
for more tennis shoes for the use of
servicemen. The Club has racquets,
balls and some tennis shoes, but
gifts of additional new or used shoes
would be very much appreciated.
Donations will be called for if donors
will telephone 8932.
MOORE COUNTY RED
CROSS OFFICE MOVES
The Moore County Red' Cross of
fice which has for the past thirteen
months been located in the Barnum
Building, Southern Pines, is moving
to the Welch Building on South
West Broad Street, Southern Pines,
in the office formerly occupied by
the Postal Telegraph Company, from
which address it will start function
ing January Ist, 1944.
Leon Seymour of Aberdeen has
consented to serve as Chairman of
the War Fund Drive for 1944 and
his headquarters will be at the above
address.
Mrs. William J. Kennedy of Sou
thern Pines will assume the office
of director of Chapter activities
Mrs. Kennedy's duties will consist
of coordinating all the activities in
the Chapter.
HEROES—HEROA,
With all honor and respec.
to those who are fighting on far
away lands, in the air and under
the water, there are hearts just
as brave as theirs in the homes
of our land. Perhaps that ex
plains the valor of some of our
heroes. . . like Lt. Hugh Mc-
Pherson. who is reported miss
ing in action over Burma after
having engaged in air missions
which had won for him four
decorations.
The day before Christmas
Hugh's mother. Mrs. J. A. Mc-
Pherson of Cameron, accompan
ied by her daughter, Doris, ap
peared at the U. S. O. Club in
Southern Pines with a choice
Christmas tree, tall and perfect
ly shaped. Mrs. McPherson stat
ed simply that her boy had been
missing in action since Decem
ber 1 and she wanted to give
the Christmas tree to the Club,
thinking some other boys would
enjoy it.
Brave lad; egually brave
mother. Both merit decorations.
And enjoy the tree the sol
diers certainly did, from the
time they began trimming it un
til the last gift was removed.
Mrs. McPherson will be glad to
know that it made Christmas
much more home-like for hun
dreds of mothers' sons.
Christmas Baskets
Cheer Many Families
Relief Committee Express
es Thanks to All Who Help
ed Make the Work Possible
Many homes in the Sandhills were,
made happier at the Christmas sea
son by the generosity of local indiv
dualo :nd who con
tributed through the Committee for
Christmas iiciicf of the Southern
Pines Council of Social Agencies.
This Committee reports that 38
baskets of food were given out,
some with clothing and toys, and a
large donation of toys sent to the
Sanatorium.
Through THE PILOT the Commit
tee wishes to thank all who helped
to make this possible and to acknow
ledge the following cash contribu
tions: Miss Louise B. Baynes, $3;
Miss Laura Jenks, $1; Miss Kather
ine Wiley, $5; Mrs. Charlie Picquet,
$5; Red Cross Canteen Corps, $42;
Miss Mary Blymeyer, sls; Miss Mary
Bishop, $6; Mrs. Ernest Ives, $10;
Mrs. Edith W. Way, $10; Miss Har
riet Barnum, $5; Preston T. Kelsey,
$5; Woman's Auxiliary of Emman
uel Episcopal Church, $10; Mrs. Mil
ler Gaffney, $10; Mrs. J. H. Andrews,
$10; The Vandeveers, $2; Mrs. C. L.
Hayes, $10; Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Lew
is, $3; Miss Vera Chase, $5; Mrs. D.
H. Turner, $2; Southern Pines
School, $10; Mrs. J. H. Tilghman, $2;
Miss Edith Titus, $1; Mrs. W. E.
Cox, $2. TOTAL, $154.
In addition several boxes of cloth
ing were left with no names. Mrs.
Harold Fowler and Mrs. Reynolds
gave clothing; The Southern Pines
School and The Ark gave food, cloth
ing and toys; the Town gave the use
of a truck; the School gave the use
of its station wagon; the grocers co
operated (Morris Johnson of Dorn's
packing all the food baskets); Mrs.
E. V. Hughes, the Girl Scouts and
the Young People's Service League
of Emmanuel Episcopal Church
gave invaluable service in tying and
packing; Prof. Brown and one of
his teachers, Miss Mary Hasty of
West Southern Pines Schools, helped
distribute toys and clothing. To each
of these the Committee is grateful.
SLIGHTLY CONFUSED
A telephoned alarm of fire at 11:15
o'clock last Thursday night from
the "Jones house on New Hamp
shire West Southern Pines"
diverted one truck to that section of
Southern Pines. The following truck
bound west on the same call was
fortunately stopped in front of the
Jones cottage, number 27, New
Hampshire Avenue, near Page
Street, where a fire in the living
room was quelled by the firemen
with but slight damage to the furn
ishings of the room or to the effects
of the army family occupying the
house.
%J)V/ I
TEN CENTS
blackouts Will Be
Held in Sandhills
Area Jan. 5-6,6-7
Maneuvers Similar to
Receni Ones Will Be
Staged by Air Forces
Blackouts called at the request of
the Army will be held in several
counties in and adjacent to the Sand
hills area on the nights of Jan. 5-6
and Jan. 6-7, it has been announced
by R. L. McMillan, State director
of t\e Office of Civilian Defense, and
R. Walker Martin, OCD's director
of civilian protection.
The blackouts were requested by
the Army as an aid in training tact
ical troops stationed at Camp Mack
all in night maneuver conditions
closely approximating the condi
tions they will encounter in combat.
"Since a large/part of troop man
euvers in combat are under cover of
darkness, it is absolutely essential
that our specialized troops be train
ed for combat in completely blacked
out areas," the Army request said.
I Such maneuvers were held in the
j Sandhills on two nights early in
I December. At that time, the cooper
j ation of OCD and other citizens
drew high praise from Col. William
S. Pritchaid of Fort Bragg, internal
security officer for North Carolina.
Fliers who returned recently from
Europe said the blackout was "per
fect".
Blackouts on the designated nights
next week will cover Moore and
j Montgomery counties and the sub
j districts aircraft warning centers of
! Southern Pines, Rockingham, Lau-
I rinburg and Hamlet. On each of the
j two nights the blackout will last
| from 9 p. m. to 2 a. m.
' Points of impact and greatest con
, gestion during the maneuver will be
in the general vicinity of Camp
Mackall and Aberdeen.
Many paratroopers and glider
borne troops will participate in the
maneuver, and the Army has re
quested that all non-essential ped
estrian and motor travel be avoided
within the maneuver area during
the designated nights.
The State Highway Patrol will
close ai highways leading into the
maneuver area from 7 p. m. to 2 a.
m. on the blackout nights The patrol
will maintain road blocks, and .traf
fic within the area will be control
led by military police.
The entire area will be open to all
travel during daylight throughout
the entire period of the maneuvers.
Entire responsibility for the black
out has been placed on the OCD and
local volunteers, Director McMillan
said, and he urged local protection
units to cooperate fully with the
Army.
MEN IN THE SERVICIT
FATHER. SON IN ARMY
Major George C. Burns and a n,
Pvt. Bob Burns, of Southern, Pines
are one of the few father-son com
binations from Moore County ir. the
Army, Major Burns, who is stati sned
at Greensboro, has been in the ser
vice nearly two years. Pvt. Burns
was inducted at Fort Bragg Novem
ber 29th, and is now at Keesler
Field, Miss. Mrs. 3urns, the wife
and mother, and a daughter, Su
zanne, reside at the Colonial Inn.
HERE FOR CHRISTMAS
Pvt. Garland Pierce of Fort Bragg
spent Christmas with his wife and
children in Southern Pines.
LT. SMITH AT HOME
Lt John Alex Smith, who recent
ly completed his training at officer
candidate school and received his
commission, arrived in Vass Wed
nesday for a visit with his parents,
j Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Smith, on Route
2.
GREETINGS FROM FISHER
Christmas greetings have been re
ceived by friends in town from CoL
Bill Fisher of Southern Pines, who
is attached to Gen. Chenault's out
fit at Kunming. Col Fisher is com
mander of the "Liberators of China"
a B-24 heavy bomber group, and he
ha* led many missions against the
Japanese.
PROMOTED
I Capt. Ahn«t Jerfcs ot Southern
(Continued •» Page S)