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VOL. 28. NO.
^ Plan Approved For
3 New Signals,
Closing 2 Streets
Town Board Meets
Seaboard Officials
In Safely Study
The placing of automatic warn
ing signals at the Connecticut,
Pennsylvania and Massachusetts
avenue jrailroad i intersections,
with the closing of the less trav
eled intersections at Maine and
New York avenues, was the plan
reached by town commissioners
and Seaboard Airline officials in
conference at the city office last
Thursday afternoon.
R. M. Stone, Seaboard Airline
superintendent, said he would
pllfjce this recommendation be
fore the railway authorities, and
their answer should be made
known within a short time.
With signals already placed at
Vermont and New Hampshire
avenues, this would leave the
four main cross streets of the
business section open and mark
ed. There would be a closed in
tersection at each end of the dis
trict, five blocks apart, then an
other signal at Massachusetts
avenue, toward the south.
Other crossings north and
south within the city limits have
little traffic and are wide open,
so that it was considered neither
signals nor the closing of any
of them is needed.
The town board members, who
had little hope of getting auto
matic signals at all the crossings
within the city limits, expressed
th^selves as well pleased -with
the plan as the best of several
discussed, with both the public
safety and the free flow of traf
fic in mind.
A request that the board take
action for better signal markings
at downtown intersections was
presented the commissioners by
the Chamber of Commerce some
.two weeks ago. The board then
arranged the conference with
Stone.
Also attending from Raleigh
were Charles Brown, trainmaster,
and Mr. Cooper, also of the Sea
board.
A meeting preparatory to the
conference was held by the town
commissioners the preceding Mon
day, with John S. Ruggles, Cham
ber of Commerce chairman, and
L. T. McDonald, vice chairman,
present to assist in the discussion.
16 PAGES THIS WEEK
Southern Pines. N. C- Friday. March 14. 1947.
16 PAGES THIS WEEK
TEN CENTS
Local Girls Win Runner-up Trophy
(Photo by Emerson Humphrey)
HAPPY? IT LOOKS AS IF EVERYONE LIKED THAT AWARD.
Ruth Guin, captain of the Southern Pines girls’ team, receiving the
runner-up trophy at the hands of Principal A. C. Dawson. Among
the applauding audience may be seen Donald Scheipers, Billy War
ner, Eugene Maples and others of the school group.
Principals Weaver and Dawson Rate
1947 County Tournament Among Best
Four County Men
In Federal Court
Four Moore county defendants
faced Judge J. Hayes in federal
court at Rockingham last' week
AU were convicted on liquor law
charges, and all were placed on
temporary probation on condit
ions of good behavior as outlined
by the court.
They were Hubert Michael,
Angus McNeill and Dewey Aired,
white men of the Robbins sec
tion, and James Hockaday, Negro
of .4berdeen.
The case of Bunny Davis, of the
Robins section, which was simi
lar to the others, was continued
until the fall term of court.
The civil term of federal court
will begin Monday, with just one
Moore county case known to be
on the calendar, the case of the
government vs. Meiselman on
charges of OPA rent law violat
ion. The defendant, formerly of
Southern Pines, now lives in
Charlotte. The case is one which
has been pending for some time.
by Philip Weaver and
Amos C. Dawson
The annual Moore County Bas
ketball tournament recently con
ducted may be regarded by all
concerned as a successful pro
ject.
The tournament iCach year is
sponsored by the Moore County
Educo club which is composed of
the men superintendents, princi
pals, and teachers of the county.
The net proceeds go to support
the work of the club during the
year.
At its last regular meeting, the
Educo club voted to purchase an
audiometer to be presented to the
Moore County Health depart
ment, provided the health author
ities could train a nurse in the
use of the audiometer and then
use it in each school in the coun
ty each year. The Educo club
would assist the health depart
ment in following up any reme
dial work found necessary
through the testing program.
As for the tournament, there
were several outstanding fea
tures The quality of basketball
seemed improved over war years.
The sportsmanship displayed by
both players and spectators was
outstanding; the officiating was
excellent; and the tournament
was staged in an efficient man
ner by Messrs. Poe, Appanaitis,
and Hill. The only disappointing
feature was the fact that so many
fathers and mothers of the partic
ipants were unable to see the
pme because of the limited seat
ing capacity. The tournament has
become so popular with students,
parents, and other citizens that
there is no gymnasium in the
county large enough to take care
of it adequately.
No Upsets
The tournament was unusual
in that there were no upsets and
(Continued on Page 5)
ANTI-DUMP
COURT OF HONOR
Court of honor for Moore
County Boy Scouts , will be held
Monday at 7:30 p.m, at the Car
thage school, and aU parents and
adult friends of the troop mem
bers are given a cordial invitat
ion to be present.
Roy M. Liles, council executive
from Raleigh, will be a special
guest.
To have the garbage of-
Moore County, not to men
tion the sloppy habits of
some few of its inhabitants,
raised to a legislative-level is
something!
As it is customary for our
representatives to be forced
to spend their time on such
purely, or unpurely. local
matters. . . trashy, as they
seem. . . Representative Blue
merits acclaim for introduc
ing a bill to clean up Moore
County.
All those who do NOT like
to see the beauty of the coun
try-side marred by such lit
ter, all those who are NOT
prone to diunp their garbage
on someone else's land, will
set up a resounding cheer.
Even if it takes a congres
sional investigation, let's get
the thing cleaned up! Anti-
Dumpers, to arms'
Pinehurst Man
Is Found Dead
In His Garage
Robert L. Thayer, 32, was
found dead in his car in the gar
age of his home at Pinehurst Fri
day morning. The body was dis
covered between 8 and 9 a. m. by
the family butler, who said the
motor of the car was running at
the time.
3uke Glee Club
Tickets On Sale
Tickets for the Duke Glee Club
concert, to be presented at the
school auditorium next Friday
nihgt, are being sold by Civic
Club members and schoolchil
dren, and afe also on sale at the
Sandhills Drug store. Highland
Pines inn, the Pine Needles and
Mid Pines hotels and at the Car
olina Drug store in Pinehurst.
Tickets may be reserved by
phoning Mrs. Tucker G. Hum
phries, chairman of ticket sales
for the Civic club, which is^spon-
soring the performance here.
Mysterious circumstances sur
rounding the death brought in
vestigation by the sheriff’s de
partment, which was still under
way as The Pilot went to press.
Completion of an inquest begun
early in the week was delayed
pending a report of Duke Hospi
tal laboratories on evidence sub
mitted to them.
Thayer, a navy veteran, was
the adopted son of Mrs. Gladys
Brooks Thayer, and lived wit’i
her in a home they had recently
'purchased, that formerly
owned by Col. John T. Ellis. They
came to Pinehurst several weeks
ago" from Boston, where the fam
ily is a prominent one.
Private funeral services were
held for Thayer Mbnday at 5 p.
m. in the chapel of the Sandhills
Funeral home, at Southern Pines.
Dr. T. A. Cheatham, rector of the
Village Chapel at Pinehurst, of
ficiated, and burial followed in
Mount Hope cemetery.
Lighted Windows
Show Results Of
Chamber Drive
Merchants, Police
Help Brighten
Shopping District
Broad street may not be the
great white way—and who wants
it to be?—but the pleasant illum
ination of shop windows at night
which has been increasingly ev
ident has added much to the at
tractiveness of the town and caus
ed admiring comment.
Except for one business house
where remodeling is going on
(the Stevens building) and the
bank, every window is now light
ed on the East Broad street block
between Pennsylvania and New
Hampshire avenues, and many
houses on the other business
blocks are* also showing lighted
windows at night.
Directors of the Citizens’ Bank
and Trqgt company at their week
ly meeting Wednesday decided
they would floodlight the front
of the bank also, in line with the
new movement. This will take
some engineering, as the lights
must be arranged so as not to in
terfere with the private lives of
apartment dwellers above the
bank, but N. L. Hodgkiifs, presi
dent said he was sure this could
be done.
Police Assist
The action is being taken at
the request of the Chamber of
Commerce, which has for some
time had under way a quiet cam
paign to get every store and of
fice owner to arrange- foif evening
lighting. In this they have thp
cooperation of the police depart
ment, as Chief Newton has
agreed to have policemen switch
the lights on at dusk, and off at
11 p. m. where outside switches
are provided.
Taking the now-100 per cent-
lighted Eaet Broad street block
as a starter, John S. Ruggles and
L. D. McDonald, chairman and
vice chairman of the Chamber of
Commerce, visited all business
places where evening illumina
tion was not used, and secured
their ready cooperation.
The results were discussed with
gratification by Chamber of
Commerce directors, meeting
Tuesday evening of this week,
and it was agreed to proceed
with the other blocks. McDohald
was assigned to the block on
We^t Broad, between Pennsyl
vania and New Hampshire'; Her
bert Cameron to the block be
tween New Hampshire and Con
necticut avenues and W. D.
Campbelll, welcomed Tuesday to
his first meeting since his elec
tion to a directorship, will take
the East Broad street block be
tween New Hampshire and Con
’lecticut.
Within a short time it is ex
pected that the entire shopping
section will show, instead of an
aspect of darkness, a bright and
attractive face to passengers on
trains, and to motorists, and will
'provide an inviting field for win
dow shoppers and evening stroll
ers.
This is a continuation of a cam-
(Continued on Page 8)
Vass-Lakeview School Is Swept By
Midnight Blaze Of Unknown Origin;
Plant And Equipment Left In Ruins
Blue Will Not Present Referendum
Legislation; Currie Non-Committal
Sharply questioning both Sen
ator W. H. Currie and Represen
tative H. Clifton Blue at a mass
meeting at the county courtroom
Sunday afternoon, proponents of
a liquor referendum for Moore
county failed again to secure a
commitment from Currie, but
gained from Blue the avowal that
he would under no circumstances
introduce or sponsor legislation
preventing such a referendum,
in the current session of the Gen
eral Assembly.
However, Blue declared, if such
legislation should be introduced,
he reserved the right to take such
action in the house as he deemed
proper.
Before sponsoring any legisla
tion, said Blue, he presents his
intentions to the voters through
the county press, and this would
be no exception.
Currie repeated in substance
his statement made at a smaller
meeting, before an invited dele
gation, two weeks before, when
he said that before taking a stand
he would first have to assure
himself of the sentiments both
for and against among commun
ity and county leaders. He added
Sunday that he had not had op
portunity to do this to his satis
faction.
Both men stated that they
Would give the matter their
serious and prayerful considera
tion.
Petitions
The meeting was conducted by
John B. McLeod, farmer of near
Carthage, chairman of the forces
seeking a right to hold a liquor
referendum. Scheduled for 2 p.
m., the Sunday program was de
layed by the turning in of large
numbers of petitions that have
been circulating through various
sections of the county, and by the
counting of the names.
With the total armounced as
around 1,700, the petitions were
then turned over to Currie and
Blue for their inspection before
being handed back to McLeod for
further use.
For more than two hours mem
bers of the crowd, which practi
cally filled the county courtroom,
q(uej3tianed the llegislators, and
spoke in behalf of their right to
a referendum. With this stated
as the primary objective of the
organization, McLeod kept to a
minimum comments dealing with
the rights and wrongs of the
(Continued on Page 8>
MORE POWER!
April 41h, it is rumored, is
the date set for adjournment
of our General Assembly:
three short weeks away.
Some good has been accom
plished since it convened,
many vital issues still remain
unsettled. Among these many
are the Medical Care Pro-
Srarq, teachers' salaries, li
quor referendum, highway
safety, labor legislation, in
volving both the anti-closed
shop bill and the wage-hour
act. Clearly it will be impos
sible to take care of all of
these, any one of whom is
complicated and controversial
enough to tie our legislators
in knots for the full period.
How to pick and choose,
how to decide wisely and
well these are the questions
before our representatives
Mdre power to them, and,
always, the gratitude of their
constituents for the service
they are trying to render!
Airlines Opens,
Skycruise Club
“Skycruise Club!” This is the
exotic title of the new restaurant
which is to open at the Knoll-
wood Field of Resort Airlines on
Saturday night.
The old building in which it is
located has been completely re
built and re-decorated under the
expert hand of A. B. Yeomans.
In charge of the restaurant is
John Garrett, of Myrtle Beach.
There are , two dining rooms—
the regular public room and a
smaller room which will be avail
able for private parties.
With the dining room open from
8:30 a. m. through the evening
and good food promised at
reasonable prices, it is expected
that this will prove to be one of
the qjost popular eating places in
the Sandhills.
■ The Kiwanis Club acted as the
guinea pig in trying it out by
staging this week’s lunch there.
The grapevine has it that a most
enjoyable time was had by all,
the members expressing them
selves as' delighted with the
place and the service. ^
Makeshift Classrooms
Be Set Up Monday
For 550 Students
$200,000 Estimated
As Replacement Cost
The Vass - Lakeview school,
one of. the county’s largest and
most modern, was almost com
pletely destroyed Tuesday night
by fire of unknown origin, des
pite the efforts of the Vass and
Southern Pines fire departments
and volunteer help from the com-
iTi Unity.
Discovered by a neighbor who
saw the leaping flames about
11:15 p. m., the fire rapidly gain
ed such headway that firemen
could only play their hose on a
part the flames did not reach,
thus saving a small portion at the
rear, housing an agricultural
classroom.
Except for empty walls stand
ing bleak and blackened in the
sun, this portion was all that was
left the next morning when the
firemen departed after an all-
night vigil.
Left untouched by the flames
were the almost-completed agri
cultural building and small cafe
teria building on the school
grounds, which were in the dir
ection away from the wind..
These, with the teacherage in
Vass, will form the nucleus of new
classroom space for the resump
tion of classes Monday morning,
it was decided by school officials
meeting at 11:30 a.m. Wednes
day.
Their first decision was to have
the empty walls torn down, to
eliminate the danger of their
falling and causing injury.
School Board Meets
The Vass-Lakeview school
board, meeting Wednesday morn
ing at the home of C. L. Tyson,
chairman, with H. Lee Thomas!
county superintendent of schools,
and Dan Farrell, county school
board chairman, decided also to
investigate the possibilities of
holding classes in rooms at the
Methodist church and at the
Hotel Charmella, whose propriet
ors, Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Young,
offered the dining room and other
rooms if needed.
It is hoped to locate the high
School classes all in one place,
said Tyson. Superintetadent
Thomas and J. H. Bunn, principal
of tVie stricken school, were to go
to Raleigh Wednesday to try to
(Continued on Page 8)
Lad Paroled On
F'orest Fire Charge
Local Red Cross Goal Is Achieved;
County Returns Look Slow But Sure
Thnrlow Evans Has
New Store Near Vass
Mr. ■ and Mrs. Thurlow Evans
have opened a modern feed, seed
and grocery store near their
home on the Union road, one
mile west of Vass, and report
business promising during their
first week of operation.
This is Evans’ debut into mer
chandising. A-successful farmer,
he is being assisted in the new
venture by his wife, the former
Elizabeth Thompson.
The business is housed in a
newly completed brick building.
Standard lines of feeds, seeds
and staples are carried, with the
addition of fryers and other sea
sonal items planned.
Samuel Frank Jones, 15, Negro
lad arrested on a charge of set
ting the forist fire near Knoll-
wood airport last month, was pa
roled to his parents on conditions
of good behavior following a ju
venile court hearing last week.
He is to go regularly to school
and report to the welfare depart
ment every two weeks. In ad
dition, his father was taxed with
$18, costs incurred by the fire
control service in fighting the
fire.
He had no previous record of
bad behavior, and his family also
was shown to be of good char
acter, said John A. Willcox, juve
nile court judge. His admission
of smoking a cigarette at the
scene, seeing a fire start and fail
ing in his attempt to put it out
indicated carelessness rather thar
the incendiarism which was fear
ed at first.
Two witnesses were heard who
saw the boy running from the
scene. The fire that followed,
covering an estimated 1,200
acres, was the county’s most dis
astrous this year.
With March 15 an unofficial
deadline—the general campaign
will end ' March 31—Southern
broke the tape in the local Red
Cross drive with two days to
spare, as Chairman William D.
Campbell reported the quota of
$4,200 passed Thursday, March
13.
Earlier this week returns had
reached $4,001, with $2,768 re
ported by Mrs. E. C. Stevens’ ad
vance gifts committee and $998
by Mrs. W. D. Campbell’s busi
ness district committee. The rest
represented partial returns from
other campaign groups.
Mrs. Stevens had a quota of
$2,000 and Mrs. Campbell of $900,
both successfully passed with
more coming in.
In fact, all reports grew speed
ily out of date as workers kept
working, contributions kept com
ing in and the total intake
mounted almost hourly. However,
with the incentive of war and
immediate postwar fervor now in
the past, the campaign has not
been an easy one and Chairman
Campbell said the workers are
due a great deal of credit. They
have met with many delays, and
also the job of convincing a num
ber of people thal Red Cross
work goes right on, in peace as
in war.
A number of advance gift
donors have yet to be heard
from, and Mrs. Stevens, hoping
to clear her records by March 15,
asks that all contacted by her
committee make their gifts.now.
The workers will stay on their
jobs till their assignments are
fully achieved, with every citi
zen given opportunity to partici
pate, Campbell said.
Over the weekend $5,907 had
been turned in at Red Cross head
quarters here toward the county
goal of $13,609. Chairman Moses
C. McDonald of West End ex
pressed confidence that the
whole quota would be met long
before March 31, with some com
munities doubling the figures as
signed.
Eleiven chairmen out of 18 had
made reports by the weekend.
From Pinehurst came the report
that $1,000 had been collected;
Aberdeen, $500; Cameron, $5;
Carthage, $200; Eagle Springs,
$30; Hallison, $35; Jackson
Springs, $6; Samarcand, $100;
Vass-Lakeview, $60.