Newspapers / The Pilot (Southern Pines, … / March 26, 1948, edition 1 / Page 1
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e 'd EASTER GREETINGS EASTER GREETINGS Arguments Heard As Spivey Case Nears Jury Stage Jurors Selected From Scotland County Venire Defendant On Stand The Spivey case lermlnair ed late Thursday afternoon with a verdict of murder in the second degree. The pris oner was sentenced to a term of 15 to 20 years. Notice of appeal to the supreme court was filed, the appeal bond set at $100 .and the appearance' bond at $15,000. Earlier story follows: The case against R. F. Spivey, of Robbins, charged with first degree murder in the death of his wife, went to the jury Thursday afternoon after arguments were opened in a special session Wed nesday night. The trial, which began Tuesday at 3:30 p. m. in the courtroom at Carthage, in a special term of criminal court, reached heights of drama almost at once with the testimony of Police Chief John J. Lanier, of Robbins, who was called out of church to be the first to view the body of Mrs. Spivey, who lay battered and dead on her bedroom floor. The gory scene was described in de tail. Mrs. Dorothy Cheek, sister of Mrs. Spivey, was also heard as a witness on the opening day. Witnesses heard Wednesday, be fore the state rested its case in late afternoon, included Mrs. Alma Upchurch, Frank Upchurch, Don Murray, brother of the de ceased ^ woman, Funeral Director Wayland Kennedy, Dr. W. N. Mc Duffie and Officer Garner Man- ess, of Robbins. Defendant On Stand Spivey, taking the stand in his own defense, described copious drinking which preceded the death, and declared he remem bered no details of the brawl or beating which ensued. He was followed on the stand by his daughter (by a first wife—the deceased was his second) and numerous character witnesses from Robbins and Lexington, where he was formerly a police man. Attorneys for the defense are H. F. Seawell, Jr., and W. D. Sab- iston, both of Carthage. Solicitor M. G. Boyette is being assisted in the prosecution by Attorneys Thomas D. Cooper of Burlington and D. B. Teague of Sanford. Jury Judge Wilson Warlick is on the bench. Jurors, selected from a special venire chosen from the body of Scotland county, are W. R. Baxley, Wallie Nelson, Ed Creech, J. D. Bullard, Sr., Edgar Currie, Leo Wilkes, Clyde Evans, J. T. Lipscomb, J. B. Lee, Hal McMillan (alternate), Laurinburg; Edward Duncan, Laurel Hill, and Edgar Quick, Gibson. Frank Bad- get of Carthage is jury guard. Three and a half years of devoted labor went into the crocheting of “The Last Supper” by Mrs. Angelo Montesanti, of East Penn sylvania avenue. So far as is known, there is only one other like it in the United States. Reading of the other one, Mrs. Montesanti wrote to Its maker in New York City and received from,her a tiny diagram from which she fashioned the superb piece of handiwork shown above, its dimensions 10 feet by three and a half. Mrs. Montesanti, seated at left, plans to use a linen sheet brought from Italy years ago as part of her trousseau to make a tablecloth with the crocheted piece as center,- to use for devotional occasions such as weddings, christenings and First Holy Communion cele- brations. As such it will be a treasured heirloom in her family. (Photo by Humphrey) Flower Colors Sing Of Spring The flowers that bloom in the spring-are filling the air of the Sandhills with their fragrance. Actually putting up some compe tition with the pines. Out under the big pines them selves. arbutus is blooming under the dry leaves of the scrub-oaks; little boys are holding up tightly- bound tiny bunches of it to folks as they drive by the street cor ners. Violets, too, are beginning to glow in the shady spots, with that deep burning richness that is theirs alone. In the yards, the forsythia, spi- rea, flowering fruit trees and flowering oriental cherries are a mass of frothy blossoms. Wild plum bursts out over night in the hollows, while the narcissus and yellow daffodils are “dancing in ;he breeze.” Some of the prettiest shrubs are to-be found in West Southern Pines. Colored people have a magic touch with growing things. Th^y can take a poor piege of ground and some dry roots and before you know it the place is a fairyland of bloom. Around some of the older places in West South ern Pines, the shrubs are high and gnarled under the shade trees, and grass is thick with the little old-fashioned yellow narcissus and, now, the wide green leaves of lilies are beginning to show, a promise of what beauty is ' to come; A drive around tpwn shows many dogwoods starting to open their thin pale-green petals, pet als that will turn suddenly to gleaming white. They are the glory of our woods. The quince bushes, with their salmon red glow along the hedgerows, the bridal-wreath and first breath of spring stretched silvery tentacles. The pussy willows are turning to (Continued on Page 5) Church Services And Song Salute Joyous Eastertide EASTER MONDAY Easier Monday will be ob served as a general holiday here. - wilh practically all businesses, the Citizens Bank and Trust compainy and city offices closed for the day. At Carthage it was learned that county offices will be closed, and recorders court will be held Tuesday instead of Monday. Federal offices, alas, do not recognize this holiday, one of pleasant tradition rather than of any historic significance. Post office workers and other employees of Uncle Sam will be on the job as usual. Southern Pines schools will have a holiday Monday, though the usual closing on Good Friday -will be skipped this year in the interest of making up time lost in last winter's bad weather. Most county schools will observe no holiday—it will all go to ;nake up time. Four Home Games Are On Schedule For This Week The Spivey Murder Case, Second Day; Horror Fades Before A Girl’s Voice by Katharine Boyd “I don’t know. I don’t think so. I don’t know.” The words came again and again. They ran through the testi mony like a monotonous deadly refrain: “I don’t know. I don’t know.. Sir, I don’t know.” The court room of the Carthage court house Wednesday after noon was crowded with people; they crammed into the narrow rows of seats; they stood along the walls and blottqd out the light from the windows, until Judge Warlick said they blotted out the air, too, and made them move. Reluctantly the spectators gave up the positions of vantage from which they had gotten a good view of the prisoner. That’s what most of them had come for: to see the prisoner and to hear him talk, and then to wonder and wonder: What hap pened? Did he do it? Did he “bru tally strike his wife on the back of the head, slaying her with a blow from a blunt instrument?” Is that what happened on the night of November 2nd, 1947 in the Spivey home in Robbins? The crowd stared at the figure now sitting in the witness chair. He was called “the defendant” by the court, but they spoke of him as “the murderer.” They saw a man dressed in a neat grey suit, with a gay tie and well-shined shoes. His shirt seem ed unusually white and gleaming under his heavy jaw. His face was broad, the nose forming a sharp straight triangle under the straight brows. The forehead was wide at the eyes, but narrowed quickly, the hair above it fair with a slight crisp curl. Below his mouth, his chin jutted out, strongly cleft. It was a fighting face, with a Scandinavian flat ness to it, a fighter’s flatness. But there was a droop to the mouth, a hint of weakness, childish ness, perhaps. It ihight be quick to take offense, fond of a griev ance. Yet the smile was ?asy and Warm. Though not tall, the man was (See Page B. this section) Dawson Announces Complete Schedule For Spring Season The Southern Pines High School baseball team will really swing into the season this week, provi ding also plenty of entertainment for the home folks, with four games on the local field as fol lows: Friday, vs. Hamlet; Easter Monday, vs. Elise High, Robbins; Tuesday, vs. Laurinburg; Wed nesday, vs. West End. All games will be at 3 p. m. and will continue so until toward the end of the season, when lengthening days wiU cause an adjustment to 3:30. Season tickets being sold by a number of citizens at a consid erable saving provide admission to all home games, totaling 10. The first, with Pinehurst, w'as played Wednesday of this week. A close game, it ended in defeat for Southern Pines, 15-12. The rest of the schedule as an nounced this week by A. C. Daw son, coach, is as follows: In Aprils—Tuesday 6, Deepl ' River, there; Wednesday 7, West End, there; Friday 9, Aberdeen, here; Tuesday 13, Deep River, here; Wednesday 14, Aberdeen,! there; Friday 16, Greenwood, j here; Monday 19, Cameron, there; Tuesday 20, Jonesboro, there; Tuesday 27, Pinehurst, there; Wednesday 28, Laurinburg, there; Friday 30, Greenwood, there. In May—Tuesday 4, Jonesboro, here; Wednesday 5, Cameron, here, Friday 7, Robbins, there. Another game with Hamlet is to be arranged, with later- an nouncement of the date of play. Good Friday And Holy Saturday Observances Noted The joyous Eastertide will be ushered in at local churches with paeans of praise and glory, as be fore altars banked with the love liest of spring flowers Christian congregations reaffirm their faith in the Resurrection. At Emmanuel Episcopal church Holy Communio^ will ; be v'ele- brated at 8, 9:30 and 11 o’clock Sunday morning. At the 11 o’clock service the Rev. F. Craighill Brown, rector, will deliver a ser mon on the Easter theme, and the choir, directed ^ by Mrs. Manly Wellman, will present special mu sic with Mrs. Arthur Eakins at the organ. At St. Anthony’s Catholic church, Easter Sunday masses, with Holy Communion, will be at 7, 8 and 10:30 a. m., with sacred music appropriate to the season. The choir of Brownson Memo rial Presbyterian church has been practicing for several weeks in preparation for the Easter service, to be held at 11 a. m. The mes sage of the minister, the Rev. T. E. Davis, will have the theme “Wanted: Enthusiasm.” The East er offering will be for the church building fund. At the Church of Wide Fellow ship, Mrs. L. D. McDonald, or ganist, will be in charge of the choir’s Easter program. The ser mon, by the Rev. T. G. Humph ries, pastor, will have as theme “This Thing Is For Me.” The ser vice will be preceded by a special program of the season at the Sun day School hour of 9:45, by the ‘‘Straw Vote” Will Indicate Opinions On City Expansion Return cards for a “straw vote” on the proposed extension of the Southern Pines city limits will be sent to residents of the Southern Pines mailing area, through regu lar post office channels, by the Chamber of Commerce early next week. Recipients will be asked to fill them out and mailt hem back Tn-i-i-iwiritfl Tn within the ensuing week, to give OIIOW an accurate picture of proportion ate public sentiment “for’ Second Annual Sandhills Horse Show On Town Showgrounds April 2,3,4 Railroad Station To Be Remodeled It is reliably reported that the Southern Pines station is at long last to be remodelled. Several months ago, and at in tervals during the past year, en gineers and architects of the Sea-' board Railroad staff have- been measuring and figuring on the present building, and, now, ac cording to D. E. Bailey, operator, at the station,- something really definite appears to be under way. Bailey’s report was confirmed by a call to J. R. Thorne, asistant general manager of the Seaboard, at the main office in Norfolk, who promised that complete de tails would be forthcoming by next week. As we go to press, therefore, the Pilot can report this week only that Bailey -stated he has talked to an official who has seen the blueprints of the proposed sta tion. While details are lacking it can be said that there wiU be an entire remodelling job done, to bring the local, building in line with other up-to-date stations of the road. A central heating plant will be installed, the ceiling of the waiting room lowered and various inner improvements ef fected, as well as changes in the present elevation, it is said. No date has yet been announced for the start of the work. Many Classes In Three-Day Event $3,500 In Prizes Helen Ferguson and “against” this important issue. Maps of the town are also to be placed at strategic points, one of them in the post office, show ing the proposed extension as planned some years ago and not carried out. While the lines, if they are to be drawn again by the present town board, may vary somewhat from them, those to be presented will show the approx imate area which it is believed by the Chamber will be involved. Areas Involved Areas centering the discussion are the Pinedene section south of to,wn and portions of the Coun try Club area. The inclusion of a part of Weymouth Heights has also been discussed, it is under stood. The move has been under con sideration by the town board for some time, and when last brought up was tabled pending some con crete expression , of the public will. Emphasizing at their regular meeting Tuesday night that they are neither sponsoring nor push ing the proposal. Chamber of Commerce directors went on with -, — , V— I their plans for the “straw vote” beginners’ and primary depart-1 as their contribution toward giv- ments, to be attended by all Sun- j ing the public an opportunity for day School members and others of expression. - I (Continued on Page 5) ' cContinuea on Page 5) ' Bad luck seems to be stalking the Cardy Stables, this year, but bad luck among its riders, not its horses- At the Camden Horse Show Wednesday, Miss Helen Ferguson, riding the open jump er Flying Colors, came a bad cropper as this usually clockwork jumper failed to rise at the tim ber fence and levelled all before Flying Colors, who is one of the most sure-fire of all the Cardy jumpers, changed his lead at the last moment. And it was really the last moment, for he was un able to readjust to the big fence before him. His rider, who has an unusually tight seat, stayed with him to the ground and was knock ed out by the severity of the fall. Carried to the Camden Hospital, it was found that she had fractur ed her skull, besides suffering sever lacerations of the face. She will be at Camden for a few days, when it is hoped to bring her up here for her convalescence. As to the horses that day; the Cardy string played second fid dle, for once, as Mrs. Audrey Ken nedy took blue after blue. The Seyen Stars have had an addition in Faugh A Ballagh, champion of the Chamber of Commerce Show here when owned by Gappy Smith, who rode him to win (Continued on Page 5) Climax of the spring season will be the annual Sandhills Horse show, to be held on the town showgrounds next weekend, with classes showing Friday be ginning at 1:30 p. m.; Saturday at 9 a. m. (mostly children’s class es); Saturday at 1:30 p. m. and Sunday at 2 p. m. Prizes totaling $3,500 are being offered by the sponsoring Sand hills Horse Show and Racing as sociation, whose directors , are Vernon G. Cardy, W. J. Brewster, Harold Collins sqd Dwight 'Win- kelman, Ralph K. Trix is presi dent, Dwight Winkelman treas urer, Mrs. John C. Goodwin sec retary and Nick Crotty show man ager. Judges Judges will be Alfred Allen, of Pleasantville, N. Y., who hunts with the Rumbout and Millbrook Hounds; Mrs. Frederick Van Len- nep of Newtown Square, Pa., and Forest Ward, of Charlottesville, Va. Clarence (Honey) Craven, Mad ison Square Garden ringmaster, will serve in this capacity for the Sandhills show, as he did so successfuUy in the Chamber of Commerce Horse show held March 6-7. J. T. Overton will be assistant ringmaster, Theodore E. Buell will be announcer, and Dr. J. I. Neal and Dr. C. C. McLean of Southern Pines will serve as (Continued on Page 5) Legion Sponsors Fiddlers’ Frolic Monday Evening Timber Races Add Drama To Hunter Trials Easter Monday night will see another old-fashioned gathering in Southern Pines as the fiddlers and square dance bands of the section meet at the Civic Club for a high old time. There will be contests between famous fiddlers, guitarists and banjo pickers as well as between the rival bands, where the com petition is growing fast and fur ious. Last week the Caddell-Rosser- Brown band of Carthage carried off the first honors -that had been won the previous week by the Sandhill fiddlers. The Stewart- Baker band from Inverness won second in the same contest. In the county-wide contest Easter Monday these bands will meet for the final honors and probably compete against other bands from the upper end and from near the Hoke line. The dance sets from the va rious communities are to come with their bands, it is stated, and compete for the dance set prize to familiar music from their own band. Duncan McCrimmon is to call for the Lakeview-Vass Commun ity; one of the McNeill boys from Bethesda; Ray McDonald for Aberdeen; and Fred Rosser of the Caddell-Rosser-Brown band have each promised to bring call ers and dancers that they think will take home the prize. This entertainment is sponsor ed by the Sandhills Post of the American Legion. APRIL GAME Cynthia Cannon up, took the lead and held it to win the timber race at last Simday’s hunter trials. Coming over the jump is Joan Walsh on Hopscotch, followed by her sister Sheila on Me Can Do. The ladies’ and gentlemen’s timber races were an exciting climax to the day. Story on Page 13. (Photo by Humphrey) April 1 is the day but it's no Aptril foolin'—-the long an ticipated game between base ball teams of Wake Forest and the University of Penn sylvania will lake place next Thursday afternoon, begins ning at 2:30, on the town athletic field. Tickets are being sold by high school students and may be placed on sale downtown next week. However, it is ex pected that most admissions will be sold at the gate on the day of the game—and that means a lot of them, as the event is attracting inters est all over the section. Proceeds will benefit the athletic field fund.
The Pilot (Southern Pines, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 26, 1948, edition 1
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