THE PILOT
PUBLISHED EACH FRIDAY BY
THE PILOT. INCORPORATED
SOUTHERN PINES, NORTH CAROLINA
KATHARINE BOYD - - - EDITOR
VALERIE NICHOLSON AssT. EDITOR
. DAN s. RAY ■ - General Manager
CHARLES MACAULEY - - CITY EDITOR
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THE AIRPORT PICTURE
“Too little and too late” has
been the curse that has doomed
many a good project. It will be a
pity if it should prove the Jonah
in the airport picture.
It is a complicated picture and
supporters of quick and effectilve
action in the current problem in
volving Piedmont Airlines should
not minimize the difficulties. The
lease of the field by the county
to Resort Airlines, Inc., did .not
specify that the field should be
maintained for the use of any but
the local line and private planes.
Therefore the extra expense that
will be incurred by having Pied
mont’s big DCS planes come in
and leave four times a day, is a
new factor to be dealt with. Re
sort will not pay it and Piedmont
cannot; at all other stops on Pied
mont’s flights charges are paid
by the municipally-owned fields.
A further complication is pre
sented by the local line’s inabili
ty,, thus far, to Ije certified for
scheduled flights.
There appears to be little doubt
of local wishes: increased air ser
vice is Considered an enormous
advantage to this section from
every angle. The industrial cen
ters of Aberdeen and Robbins
want the air passenger and mail
service as much as do the resorts
of Pinehurst and Southern Pines.
That being the case, something
will have to be worked out and
the point is now that it shall be
done quickly enough and amply
enough to prove effective.
The general feeling appears to
be that there might be a division
of the costs between the county
and the various townships, with
the two resorts, perhaps, paying a
larger share than the other towns.
Another suggestion was that
made at the recent commission
ers meeting by L, C. Burwell
that there be a change in the
whole set-up. The county. Bur-
well suggested, might operate as
well as own the field, leasing it
under certain conditions to both
Resort and Piedmont-
The more the problem is stud
ied, the more conviction grows
that the entire matter needs reor
ganization. With air travel grow
ing, with .the Sandhills also ex
panding in every direction, the
future of aviation here and, speci
fically, the uses to which our air
field should be capable of being
put, appear to be boundless.
This is too large a matter, too
complicated a one for our com
missioners to be expected to carry
single-handed. It is too much for
the casual enthusiast to be cap
able of deciding.
If the present concern over the
Piedmont Airlines’ application
has done nothing more than re
vivify our airport committee, it
will have been worthwhile. But it
Is to be earnestly hoped that
much more will be accomplished
than that. The sum needed is not
large: from $3,000 to $3,600 a
year. That amount, shared
around, should not put an ex
cessive burden on any one sec-
tkin. It is this paper’s opinion
that we ought to go ahead and
try it ou^ on that basis for the
coming year.
close attention of the general pub
lic.
Our town sadly needs an audi
torium, apart from any school
need. There is no place here for
concerts or plays; no place, any
longer, for town meetings. There
is no place where other large
groups can meet such as Pine
hurst possesses in the Carolina
ballroom. This is a serious lack.
It appears to us that, wh^n
plans are being made for the
school auditorium, consideration
should be given to the possibility
of its use in some of the above
ways. There is no reason that
we can see against it, and a great
many reasons for it.
We would like to see a commit
tee appointed by the mayor to
meet with the school board and
study the present plans with this
end in view: to construct a school
auditorium large enough and
with facilities adequate to meet
the varied needs which the town’s
life as well as the school’s might
demand.
It may be that the present
school plans are adequate. It may
be that there are some objections
to the above suggestion, or that,
if a combined building were to be
constructed, it would raise the
costs too much. It may be that
the county set-up precludes such
a project, but that appears doubt
ful, as most school auditoriums
are definitely part of the town life
and in frequent use for more than
::chool purposes.
If there are valid objections, let
us hear them. If there aren’t,
then let us see if we can’t build
the best school-town auditorium
that ever was imagined by starry-
eyed school-marm or proud citi
zen. For no one can deny that the
town needs an auditorium and
theatre about as badly as the
school does.
AUDITORIUM
It is indeed good news to hear
that our school people have sub
mitted sketches of plans for the
proposed construction of a cafe
teria, gymnasium and auditorium
to the county commissioners, with
their plea for sufficient funds to
make these greatly needed addi
tions to the school plant.
While nobody knows what the
result will be, there is good rea
son to hope for favorable action
by the board. Never neglectful of
the needs of the schools of the
county, they are fully aware of the
special condition that exists here,
due in part to the condemning of
the gym-auditorium last year
and it is a fair guess that they
will do all in their power to lend
a hand.
As for the three needs present
ed, there is no division of opinion
in Southern Pines as to their
merit. Each one is a necessary ad
junct of any good school; we have
long felt- their lack.
In fact, though the gymnasium
and cafeteria are strictly school
affairs, it looks as if the auditor
ium were in a different category,
which might well bring it to the.
G-H- DAY
Did he or didn’t he?
This is the question which is
harassing the minds of folks in
the Sandhills this week.
On Sunday walkers scoured the
woods in search of likely holes.
It was whispered that sabotage
was being planned; sentinels to be
posted ready to block the exits at
the first sign of emergence.
That night watchers were out
observing the starry sky. Up until
then the prayers for fair weather
had been approaching the point
of hysteria, now, suddenly, all
was different.
'■‘You don’t think the sun will
shine tomorrow, by any chance?”
“Well, the weather man says.. .
but of course he doesn’t really
know. Look how wrong he was
last Thursday.”
Similar remarks were whisper
ed back and forth. But still folks
searched for encouraging whis
pers in the clear night sky. Npt a
cloud dimmed the stars. The
groups dispersed and went to bed,
to dream-of horrible dark shapes
emerging from darker holes, of
the sinister Shadow starkly sil
houetted against the gleaming
ground. The dark shape bolted
with a roar of horror, and with a
similar roar the sleeper awoke to
lie in a cold sweat, thinking of
those forty days. Impossible, hor
rible to contemplate.
And then, fulfilling the worst
prophecies, Monday brought the
complacent sun, beaming down
through ice-coated trees. It glit
tered on the frosty branches of
the dogwoods till they seemed to
burst into bloom. Against the ev
ergreens, their boughs appeared
laden with shining blossoms. In
the tops of the pines, each spray
was a sparkling halo.
Out in the fairy woods every
thing was ominously still. Here
and'there little tracks printed the
white expanse; the round firm
prints of the squirrels with just a
brush of tail showing on the
turns, fussy, sharp bird scratch
ings, the inane loopings of a rab
bit or two. But not, not . . • praise
be to Pan . . . the square pedes
trian trail the searchers dreaded
to r-ee.
They looked diligently. Every
mark was examined. Could this
be it, could that? Slowly they
shook their anxious heads. Not a
sign of G.H. so far.
And that seems to be the way
the matter stands, to date, leav
ing folks hereabouts in a state of
horrid uncertainty.
Did he or didn’t he come out
on Feb. 2? That is the question.
Because if he did . .,. well, youall
know what happens then.
this in the great mid-south re
sort. 'What’s the matter with this
place. . . what’s the matter with
you :'’olks. • .”
“Hold on now,” a voice echoed
up from below.
The' bird squinted his head
around and peered down his long
nose. “And just who might you
be A polar bear, I suppose. Well,
that’s at least appropriate, if sin
gularly useless, as far as I’m con
cerned.” He turned back to his
attack on the trunk.
The small chunk of white wool
at the foot of the tree wrinkled
her black nose in a gesture of
supreme contempt.
“Polar bear!” she said. “Huh!
I always knew a bird’s eye view
was a pretty silly business. I’m
a Sealyham, ‘dog’, to you. This
happens to be my woods and my
tree that you are hammering.”
“Oh, is that so,” said the wood
pecker. “Well, then why don’t
you do something about it. Get
you an icepick and come up here
for instance.”
“What for?” said the Sealy.
“If that isn’t like a dog,” said
the pecker happily. “Why, to dig
the bugs out of the bark, of
course.”
“What for?” said the Sealy.
The bird gave a mad flutter of
exasperation. “Never mind,” he
croaked, “Never mind. If you
don’t know without being told,
just forget it.”
The dog continued to gaze up
at him. “You eat them, I suppose,
or something horrible like that.
Why don’t you eat seeds, like
other birds do?”
The bird’s beardy eye turned
red with indignation. “And
just how would I get seeds
on a day like, this?” his voice rose
into a squeak of fury.
“You might fly round the house
to where my folks have put them
out or haven’t you that much wit
left after all your hammering?”
“W-H-A-T?” said the wood
pecker. “Rdund' the house, did
you say? Lawd-Lawd-Lawd. ..!”
and , off he fluttered.
The sound of a terrific squawk
ing and fluttering told the Sealy
that he had arrived to claim his
place amidst the /other squawkers
around the seed tray.
The Sealy walked carefully to
the corner of the house and stood
gazing in aloof ‘dignity. There
they were: juncos, two cardinals,
a finch, a blue jay, chipping spar
rows, of course, two nut hatches
a Carolina wren tweaking her
lojng tail, , a brown thnasher. . . a
yelp from the quince bush drew
attention: a robin, by gum. Early
for robins to be coming around.
The Sealy sighed: What a place
this is for birds, she thought, and
turned away from the disgusting
sight. . . just like a bunch of silly
fluttering hens!
She dropped her black nose to
the ground and followed the
prints of a squirrel through the
powdery snow.
Mahatma Gandhi
“It is dangerous to be too good,” said Bernard Shaw when he heard
the news of Gandhi’s assassination. ChurchiU, King George 'VI, not
ables from every land expressed deep grief. The above sketch indi
cates the slain leader’s quizzical hiimor, a factor in his close com
radeship with his people.
The Public Speaking
BIRD'S EYE VIEW
“Phut!” said the downy, hang
ing to the frosty trunk of the big
pine. He drove his sharp beak
again at the ice-coated bark.
“Phut!”
There was a good deal of plain
tive melancholy in his repeated
exclamation, but even more was
there irritation.
“What the blinking blazes has
come,over this blamed,place, any
way!” he croaked, “Here am I,
hanging onto this slippery perch,
hammering away for dear life. • .
and I mean ‘dear life’, while the
snow crackles around me and
icicles slide down myneck. . . all
GANDHI
The assassination of Mahatma
Gandhi shocked the world in a
peculiarly cruel sense.
We are accustomed through the
long history of martyred heroes
to see the good man fall; we know
that others take up the cross and
carry it on, the symbol of man’s
hope. But here before our eyes
was a living demonstration of the
power of the spirit. In this time
of crisis, when man’s terrible re
liance upon brute force imperils
the very existence of his world,
to see this good man go down has
been a shattering experience.
The ‘ dramatic timing of this
deed added to its impact. All over
the great land of India, as word
of Gandhi’s recent fast had
spread, men had stopped fighting;
business had ceased, stock mar
kets had closed, the very life of
the nation had turned toward the
little man in the white robe who
had staked his life on his belief
in mankind.
The world had watched and
had taken new hope. Thoughts
turned back to the story of this
believer in non-violence, back to
his law study in England, to his
awakening in Africa to the needs
of his people and the injustices
of the rule of power. They fol
lowed him on through his ex
traordinary career with its
twelve years in prison, its eleven
major fasts, each undertaken for
a compelling motive, each achiev
ing its..goal; then the salt boiling.
The Editor
Southern Pines Pilot
Does Southern Pines know the
joys of a community freezing
plant? I live where one was in
stalled during the war, as a safety
box, more valuable than the one
in the bank, to sustain our life.
Each locker holds 200 pounds,
and rents for $15 a year. Come
snow, come sleet, come thunder-
stor ms, the electricity to the
plant holds, and does not go off,
like privately owned ones, and
endanger all your garden prowess
or poultry products. In privately
owned boxes, I have had friends
loss several years’ accumulation
The plant was started by pub
lic-minded citizens, and is now
run by a commercial firm. One
can buy meat wholesale from
them, and pay a processing fee
and .have them- deepfreeze it,
butcher and dress it and put it in
your locker. Last year I saved 30
cents a pound on all beef pur
chases. This method is the best
insurance I know of against reck
less living.
Do, Southern Pines, consider
this well-tried and successful
method of eating
A “dam Yankee,”
EDITH BAILEY DENT
'Pinehurst
Editor,
The Pilot,
Southern Pines.
Dear Editor,
Upon reading last week’s issue
of your publication, I came
across a letter you had printed,
written by D. H. Turner, at
tempting to arouse the public’s
interest on a matter on which he
is just 100 per cent misinformed.
I have charge of the engineer
ing and preliminary surveys on
water main construction in the
towns of Sanford, Norlina and
Ahoskie, all in North Carolina,
which involves use of a lot of ma
terials such as fire hydrants, pipe,
steel, concrete and numerous
other fittings.
Orders for these materials have
been placed as far back as July
of last year, all the way from Bir
mingham, Ala., to Chicago, Ill.,
w^th legally recorded |delivery
dates ranging up to 450 days on
some items.
Maybe Mr. Turner can talk it
up for me and get some action
for me. I guess I’m just like the
town board, I am not doing any
thing. I only spent about $40 on
long distance phone calls last
week, trying to push things a
little and get some more material
rolling somewhere, somehow.
'While in Richmond, 'Va.. one
day last month, I bumped into a
Johns Manville salesman from
Ramseur. He and I were talking
pipe construction, and when he
learned that my home was in
Southern Pines, he mentioned the
fact that he had just then, recent
ly, been down and sold the town
some pipe. But that doesn’t mean
it was delivered, it was only con
firmation of the sale. Delivery
and installation of this type of
material is the No. 1 headache
of 5,000 towns and cities just at
present.
Yours truly,
STANLEY C. TOBIN
(For both Mr. Turner’s and Mr.
Tobin’s information: yes, the
town board did have its troubles,
getting the pipe and hydrants.
Ordered last June, they arrived
six months later and are now be
ing held until weather permits
their laying. Winter, the board
decided, is a bad time for tearing
up the streets—Ed)
ianism or socialism or imperial
ism, beyond all these quetions or
any others that face the world to
day lies the greatest question of
all; the question of might versus
right.
It is more insistent now than
ever before, and this assassina
tion of Gandhi places it squarely
before us. Yet, as his death poses
the question, we know that, just
as clearly, his life answered it.
For the spirit which animated
this Indian, enabling him to ac
complish veritable miracles dur
ing his life on earth, cannot be
extinguished by an assassin’s
blow.
Whether his martyr’s death
will bring the peace he sought
for India, or whether the Wheel
in which he believed will turn
full circle before the fruition of
_ his dreams takes place, who
the cotton spinning, symbolic of j knows. Perhaps it does not mat-
India’s self-reliance and need of ter.. But what does matter is that
independence. The story culmin
ates in the unbelievable relin
quishment by mighty Britain of
her Indian kingdom.
Tragedy followed: civil war be
tween Hindus and Moslems. But,
expecting it as Gandhi must have,
saddened as we know he was, his
indomitable spirit rose again and,
by his latest fast, by the sheer
force of his spirit, once more he
caused the strife to cease.
Then came the assassin’s bul
let, and there can have been few
who heard the news so spiritually
strong as to remain unshaken. A
terrible doubt struck the world:
was this the answer? Could force,
then, win?
Beyond all the talk of commun
ism, of democracy, of totalitar-
we shall banish the doubt from
our hearts.
Firm in the knowledge that
Gandhi’s life was a victory for
the forces of righteousness so can
we feel sure that the funeral pyre
by the river will be an enduring,
brightly shining torch to light
those forces on their way to cer
tain triumph.
FREEDOM TO PRINT
In the summer of 1722 the edi
tor of The New Boston Courant,
published in Boston, was in jail.
He had, it seems, printed a story
which wasn’t true. His name was
James Franklin. His younger
brother, Benjamin, who was also
his apprentice, continued to get
out The Courant, and while
James was still behind bars Ben
jamin wrote a defense of a basic
right. “'Without freedom of
thought,” he said, “there can be
no such thing as wisdom; and no
such thing as public liberty with
out freedom of speech; which is
the right of every man as far as
by it he does not hurt or control
the right of another.” Benjamin,
16 years old at the time, went on
into quite a distinguished career.
His two hundred and forty-second
birthday, which falls next Satur
day, will be celebrated as part of
“International Printing Week,”
which opens today.
For those of \is whose occupa
tions connect us .with it, printing
has an endless fascination. The
very smells of ink and paper, the
look of type in galleys and forms,
have fond and enduring associa
tions. But printing is important
only because people like to read,
and reading is important in a
democracy for the reasons young
Franklin gave. Printing remains,
in spite of the radio and the mo
tion picture, the primary means
of getting at the facts one needs
to make up one’s mind. Its tech
niques have changed and will
change, but its freedom is essen
tial now a's it was in 1722.
This freedom permits the pub
lication of many things that had
better not be printed. But dem
ocracy demands that with few
exceptions the decision as to what
is good and what is bad be made
by the reader himself and not by
censors. As Franklin himself
said, in later life, “When truth
and error have fair play, the for
mer is always an overmatch for
the latter.”
(N. Y. Times Jan 11.)
VALENTINES
Now if he would stod her a Valentine, and She
would send HIM a Valentine, there is no tolling
just what might happen—surely something
GOOD.
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you have ever seen
AT
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Get a few and add to some one’s
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Southern Pines, N. C.
the “Comforts of Home”
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Southern Pines 5812
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