WELCOME V F W WELCOME V F W 32—NO. 29 16 PAGES THIS WEEK SOUTHERN PINES. NORTH CAROLINA, FRIDAY. JUNE 8. 1951 16 PAGES THIS WEEK PRICE—10 CENTS ibers of Southern Pines High school graduating class: first row, from left, Barbara Ann Carter, Julie Catherine Hussey, Deirdre undas, Dorothy Ann Swisher, Margaret Louise Mason, Carol Sue Humphrey, Betty Jo Bowden. nd row—William Henry Cook, Robert Louis Stuart, Carl Eugene Lee, Jr., Stonewall Martin Ramsey, Charles Richard Newton, rhomas. Coy Martin Bowers, William Dwight Welborn, Marshall Francis Palmer, Jr. Third row—Sidney George Whiting, Jr., Dan- Lck Blake, Frank Harrington, Jerry Van Camp, Richard Shaw Ray, Albert Gray Crissman, Jr., Reginald Kenneth Newbon, William (Photo by Emerson Humphrey) Horner, Gene Bryant Poe. oric Paratroop Will Head rday Parade >mpany WUl :li. With Band, FW Event Jrand Parade of the 21st State VFW encampment held here at 10 a. m. y, headed by C Company 504th Airborne Infantry famous band, with jet and several squadrons of anes from Pope AFB fly- *head. [hpany, one of the most isfaed units of the 82nd e at Fort Bragg, will 200 strong, leading vet- rom 200 North Carolina ho will be here for the y convention, arade will form at the ele- school marching along rk avenue to Ashe street, ; to Connecticut avenue nee to West Broad. Pro south on Broad, it will New York avenue and at the town park, rs of C Company made during World War 2. The >f the war across Europe irred with its historic itarting at Sicily and Sal- took part in amphibious t Anziio, then in Septem- ; parachuted into Holland t was instantly ■ engaged arate combat. The day i jump into Holland Pvt. Towle was killed in hero- i which made C Company r one in its regiment to name of a Medal of Hon- er in its World War 2 rec- of the officers .and men ped make this proud rec- still in the company, with ersonnel made up largely who formerly served in •anches—Air Force, Navy rines. BLES TOURNEY statewide marbles tour- it. sponsored by the will be held at 3:30 p.m. lay on the municipal courts, according to imith, of the John Boyd hairman. Some two doz- boolboy champions are sponsored by their local for the state title, local tournament an- ed last week failed to ce a winner, but Mr. said, "We'll have one me." winner will get a free trip, with adult com- 1. to Albuquerque, NJd., !2, to compete in the na- VFW tournament. Weaver Addresses Graduating Class; School Auditorium Dedicated To Him DROUGHT BROKEN? Showers Monday night and Tuesday dropped as the qual ity of mercy on the parched earth and thirsty crops. Even more was needed, however, after seven rainless weeks which included the hot test early-June week end on record. Temperatures Satur day and Sunday touched 100. How much the showers helped remained to be seen. Earlier this week E. H. Gar rison, Jr., county farm agent, said, "The crops are standing up remarkably well but they can't do so much longer. To bacco is holding its own. Cot ton is all right—^this is 'cotton weather.' Grain and corn are suffering severely. Gardens and pastures are about burned up." Sandhill Firemen Will Have Gala Meet Wednesday Dr. Herr Presents Bronze Plaque From School Board Co-Op Will Make First Shipment To Georgia Monday The Southern Pines volunteer fire department expects to be rep resented at the annual meeting of the Sandhill Firemen’s associa tion, an all-day affair to be held Wednesday at Pinebluff, with boxing and wrestling at Aberdeen that night. Resident Fireman Frank H. Kaylor said they have hopes of getting up a contest team to enter the traditional speed events, in which Southern Pines usually comes out a winner. Last year the local department took one first and one second place in the hotly contested water and chemical races. 'This year’s meeting is a special one, marking a silver anniversary. The association was formed 25 years ago, at Pinebluff. Southern Pines, Pinebluff, Aberdeen, Pine- hurst, Carthage and Hamlet de partments formed the total mem bership. Today the member de partments number 41 all over cen tral and eastern North Carolina. Honoring the occasion, the Pine bluff hosts have planned a pro gram filled with business, pleas ure, instruction and competition. Following registration between 9 and 10 a.m., the business session will start at 10 and is expected to continue into the afternoon. Pine bluff Mayor E. H. Mills will give a welcome. Later, the firemen will hear an address by Waldo C. Cheek of Raleigh, State Insurance Commissioner. Election of offi cers wiU be held. (Continued on Page 8) Philip J. Weaver, former super intendent of Southern Pines schools, honored the high school by a return visit Tuesday night as commencement speaker, and was in turn honored by hearing that the auditorium was to be dedicat ed to him. The dedication took place at once, in an informal speech of tri bute by School Board Chairman Dr. G. G. Herr, and the affixing of a handsorrie bronze plaque in the lobby by the time the program closed. Implicit in the dedication was the christening of the beauti ful building, completed in May 1950, as “Weaver auditorium.” The annoimcement brought a wave of enthusiastic applause as Mr. Weaver hesitated, too emo tionally overcome lor a moment or two to speak. Then he said, “Mrs. Weaver and I thought no town could ever do more than has already been done for us here. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts—^thank you.” The auditorium and its compan ion building, the gymnasium, were completed as the fruition of much patient work on the part of Mr. Weaver and his associates over a period of years. They stand today as two of the finest, most modern buildings in any small school plant in the country. The commencement exercises were lifted far above routine, not only by the surprise dedication but by the nature of his speech to the graduates—an intimate talk by a friend of long standing. The class of 1951 entered school as first graders in 1939, the year he became superintendent. Though few of the original class remain, the reunion spirit was strong throughout the exercises and brought tears of emotion to many an eye. Some of the seniors, as they marched out to the solemn reces sional, were frankly sobbing. Invocation was asked by the Rev. C. V. Coveil and benediction was by Father Peter M. Denges. Dr. Herr presented the speaker and afterward N. L. Hodgkins, of the school board, awarded the di plomas to each graduate in turn, along with a red rose from a bowl given by Southern Pines Florist. Mr. Hodgkins noted that this class had a special distinction, m being the last under Mr. Weaver’., superintendency (he left April 1, to become assistant superintend ent in Greensboro) and the first under that of A. C. Dawson, Jr. In token of this fact the two men stood side by side, each to give his (Continued on Page 8) The first shipment of gum from the newly chartered Carolina Naval Stores Cooperative, Inc., of Moore county will be made Mon day afternoon, when 50 60-gallon drums will be loaded onto a truck at the temporary collection sta tion on Weymouth Estate, head ed for Helena, Ga. Pending the construction of its own turpentine distillery at Aberdeen, possibly next year, the Cooperative has contracted to sell its gum. to the Peninsula-Lurton company at Helena, one of the world’s largest turpentine proces sors, said James Boyd, president, of Southern Pines. Tests of the Moore County gum run by Peninsula-Lurton brought the verdict that “it is the finest quality we have seen in 20 years.” It will be handled separately at their plant, to observe whether its superiority holds up all through the processing, in which case the Moore County pron which they were passengers, Elworth Odell Blakeley, 24, of Sanford Rt. 8, had lesser injuries and was said to have been released from the hospital after two or three days’ observation. Five Negroes, occupants of a ’4l Ford struck by Blakeley’s ’49 Packard, escaped with a bad shaking up. Ernest Harrington was the driver. According to the investigating State Highway patrolman, both cars were entering Cameron on Highway 27, the Fort Bragg road. As Harrington made a right turn off the highway, Blakeley’s car, just behind it, went out of control as brakes were applied. The back end of the Packard swung around, describing two complete circles in the road, hitting first the Ford, then a maple tree across the road, finally stopping in a wheat field. The Packard was almost com pletely demolished. Only minor damage was done to the Ford. No indictment has been made, the patrolman said, pending comple tion of his investigation- Town Flies Flags In Welcome To Friendly Invasion An amphibious wave of veter ans of all armed service branches started moving in on Southern Pines Thursday morning. The community gave every sign of peaceful, even pleased, surrender, and had hung out flags on all downtown streets in welcome to its conquerors. A full-fledged invasion was in the offing as members of 200 VFW posts converged here from all over the state in their 21st An nual Encampment. The conven tion will last through four busy days and nights, until Sunday noon. The State Auxilstry is also con vening at this time. Thursday was “Cootie day” and by 11 a. m. 65 members of the VFW fun organization, wearing their distinctive little red caps, had registered at the John Boyd Post borne, with ifive “Cootie- ettes.” The first contingent went immediately to the Fort Bragg Station hospital to put on infonnal entertainment for the patients. About twice that number were expected by 2 p. m., hour of the (Continued on page 8) Two Local Girls In VFW Beauty Pageant Today Two Southern Pines girls, one from Troy, one from Wilmington emd two from Hendersonville were among the contestsmts announced Thursday for the state VFW beau ty pageant and contest, to be held at Weaver auditorium at 3 p.m. today (Friday). Names are being withheld until the contest, said John Mare, .chairman. The winner will receive a three- day whirl of glamor and good times in New York City August 22-25, when she will compete with other state winners in the national VFW contest. Her sponsoring post will win an award of $100. In addition to the trip, the John Boyd post of Southern Pines will set the beauty queen up to the party outfit of her dreams—a Ceil Chapman original ‘.‘five-o’clock frock” and hat by Mr. John, for merly of John-Frederic. On her arrival in New York she will se lect her desired colors and fabrics, with counsel from Virginia Pope, fashion editor of the New York Times. Arrangements for this were made by Chairman Mare on a trip to New York City last week. The young ladies, all single, age limits 18 to 30, will parade in eve ning gowns and also, for the judges, in bathing suits. Cedric Foster, famous MBS network commentator, will be a judge. A main requirement for con testants is that they be related to a member of the VFW or auxil iary. WATER SHORTAGE Aberdeen is suffering from a wafer shortage. Notices to consumers from the Aberdeen town board this week requested that volun tary rationing be initiated, with suspension of car wash ing, watering lawns, etc. The notices reported that, "due to the large increase in con sumption industrially as well as domestically, there is not enough water to take care of immediate needs." Another Moore town, Car thage, has suffered such a shortage periodically for sev eral years. A new system is now being built designed to eliminate this trouble. Citizens here have no such worries. Read in The Pilot next week the story of South ern Pines' water plant, recent ly doubled in size at a cost of $255,000, and equipped to pump as much as 2,000,000 gallons a day through an ever expanding network of water mains.