Easter Seals
Aid
Crippled Children
Easter Seals
Aid
Crippled Childrra
VOL. 33—NO. 19
TWENTY PAGES
SOUTHERN PINES.-NORTH CAROLINA. FRIDAY. MARCH 28, 1952
TWENTY PAGES
PRICE—10 CENTS
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Events Calendared For Carden Lovers
As Springtime Arrives In Sandhills
Students Rcioice In New Bus, Community’s Gift
Peach Trees Will
Reach Peak of
Bloom This Weekend
Springtime — nowhere lovelier
than in the Sandhills—made her
presence known this week by
many ap indubitable sign.
Budding leaf, song of bird, blos
soming azaleas and a tender new
warmth in the air have all sig
naled her arrival.
Dogwood trees this week show
ed a faint silver frosting, herald
of the lavish snowy bloom for
which this springtime resort is
world - famous.
Farly this week peach orchard"
of the section burst out in a spate
of rosy color. Word from the peach
growers is that they will reach
their peak of loveliness probably
by this Sunday. Best places to
view them are in the West End
section of Moore county, and
south of Candor in Montgomery
county.
Two rare treats for flower lov
ers are calendared for week after
next. The first is the Southern
Pinps Garden Tour Wednesdav
April 9, an event which annually
draws hundreds of visitors to en
joy the beauties of local gardened
homes. Five lovely homes wlil be
opened to guests on that day, un
der auspices of the Southern Pines
Garden club. Also on the tour are
the restored Shaw House, which
will be the tour headquarters, and
the North Carolina wing of the
Southern Pines library, both hold
ing a special appeal for lovers of
antiques.
The second event will be the
opening of the Homewood Gar
dens, formerly the Beckwith Gar
dens, in Knollwood, an annual
benefit of the Moore County Hos
pital auxiliary. These famous
azalea gardens planted in a fairy
land sequence of colors, one of
the oldest and finest .such gardens
in the state, will be opened to the
public on two afternoons, Easter
Sunday and Monday, from 2 to
5:3a
LOVE THAT MAN!
Why fret over the cost of a
new Easter outfit for your
wife, when a little poetry ju
diciously composed will solve
the whole problem?
So reasons Warren Thomas,
Cameron railroader, and hus
band of the former Isabel Mc-
Keithen, teacher in the South
ern Pines schools two years
a^o.
Isabel mentioned a televis
ion program, 'The Big Pay
off," to her husband a short
time back, suggesting how
easy it would be for him to
write them a letter (it must
be written by the husband)
telling why his wife should
have the items advertised. The
idea appealed to him.
Tuesday of this week Mrs.
'Thomas heard her name call
ed as the winner of a $300
outlay to be delivered in time
for Easter.
The letter had not only been
written, but it had been made
into poetry. ,
Madrigal Singers,
Guest Artists Will
Be Heard Tonight
Change Seen In
Elections Board;
Brown Withdraws
The State Board of Elections
last week confirmed the choices
of the Democratic and Republi-
. can executive committees for
members of the county board of
elections.
Democratic members approved
were S. C. Riddle and W. Lament
Brown; the Republican member,
L. G. Thomas. ,
Since his name was submitted,
however, Mr. Brown, a Southern
Pines attorney, has become a can
didate for the office of county
solicitor, and said he must regret
fully withdraw his name.
Hubert McCaskill was the al
ternate choice of the Moore Coun
ty Democratic committee, and it
is expected he will replace Mr.
Brown when the board of elec
tions is qualified by the clerk of
superior court at Carthage.
Mr. Riddle, of Carthage, is a re
turnee to the board, which he
has served as chairman for a num
ber of years. Mr. McCaskill is
from Pinehurst, where he is em
ployed by Pinehurst, Inc. He has
been active in politics for several
years, having served as chairman
of the Moore County YDC and for
two terms as Eighth District chair
man.
An unusual treat is in store for
music lovers at Weaver auditori-
im tonight (Friday) when the
Atadrigal Singers will present
their first formal concert, at 8:30
o’clock.
Three music facultv members
from Flora Macdonald college,
will add their talents to the va
ried program, given under spon
sorship of the Sandhills Music as
societion.'These guest artists will
be Miss Nyra Turbeville, harpsi
chordist; Miss Rachel Prothero
celli't and James Cobb, tenor.
Friday’s program will include,
besides the madrigals in which
this group speciali:ies, selections
from a Handel cantata, sung only
once before in this --country, a
group of sacred selections ^m
the choral music of Bach and
Mueller, spirituals and American
folktunes. Bach is also represent
ed in Miss Turbeville’s selections,
played on, as they were written
for, the harpsichord. Miss Pro
thero will play two movements
from Brahms and Handel cello
sonatas.
The Madrigal Singers are
group of Sandhills people—pro
fessional men and women, busi
nessmen, housewives, and others
who first met to sing informal
ly for their own pleasure, a year
and a half ago. They have since
been rehearsing every Friday eve
ning. Under the direction of Mrs.
R. L. Prince of Pinehurst, a grad
uate of the Westminster Choir
school, they have worked with a
serious determination for perfec
tion, and have reached an amaz
ing n“ak of musical skill.
Soloists from the Madrigal
Singers will be Dr. Bruce Warlick,
Mr. Thomas Howerton and Miss
Merva Benjamin.
The bass section includes Dr. R.
Bruce Warlick, Dr. W. F. Hollis
ter, the Rev. Adam Weir Craig.
Alex McLeod. L. L. Hallman and
Norman Caudle. Tenors are Dr.
William Peck, 'Thomas Howerton
and William Benson; altos, Mrs
L. B. Creath, Dr. Lynn Johnsen
Mrs. Marshall Morris, Mks.
Thomas Howerton, Mrs. Adam
Craig, Mrs. Bryan Poe and Mrs. L.
Owen; second sopranos, Mrs. Nor-
(Continued on Page 8)
Townshend, Worsham Win Top Awards
At Rotary Club’s Basketball Banquet
Jokes, songs, good “eats” and a
series of awards marked the an
nual banouet for the basketball
squads held Wednesday evening
by the Southern Pines Rotary
club 'The event, held at the South
ern Pines Country club, wound up
in a rollicking square dance in
which students, teachers, parents
and Rotarians all took merry part
'The banquet is held each year
as a salute to the Southern Pines
High School basketball players on
the conclusion of their busy sea
son. It was also the Rotary Ladies
Night.
Major awards for both teams
were the trophies for most valu
able player, presented by the John
Boyd post, VFW, as memorials to
two deceased members, George
C. Bums and Rufus Morrison; the
choice of honorary captain, mad.e
by' vote of the squads, and most
improved player, by vote of the
coaches.
Announced as 1952 winners of
the VFW trophies were Betty
•Tane Worsham and Jim Town-
-’"cnd; hoporarv captains, Pet.°
Dana for the girls and David
Woodruff for the boys; most im
proved, Sieger Herr for the girls
David Bealey for the bovs.
Stars were awarded to Barber?
Guin, Betty Jane Worsham, Pete
Dana, LaNelle Kirk, Peaches
(Continued on page 8)
H orse Show Finals
Will Be Held Sunday
Nine Classes
“Thanks, everybody!” is the word from students of Southern Pines elementary and high schools as
they show their delight in their new activities bus, a gift to the school from the community. The blue
and-white bus, a modem safety-equipped vehicle seating 33, arrived in February and is already seeing
plenty of use.
The students might add, “Don’t forget—the job is only half done!” Community contributions paid
half of the $4,300 purchase price as a down payment and the rest must be collected during the coming
months.
A start has been made on a similar campaign in West Southern Pines, where a new activities bus is
reported to be a dire need of the school.
Acquisition of the two buses has been chosen as a project of the Southern Pines “Finer Carolina”
c°»^est. See story below. (Photo by Emerson Humphrey)
McKeithen Retires,
Brown Will File
For Solicitor Post
First signs of activity in connec
tion with county offices to be
voted on this year came this week
with the announcement from W.
A. Leland McKeithen, of Pine
hurst, that he would not'be a can
didate for reelection as recorder’s
court solicitor, and that of W. La
ment Brown of Southern Pines
that he will file for the office.
Judge J. Vance Rowe, queried
by The Pilot, said he plans to file
again.
Mr. McKeithen, a native of
Moore, was first elected solicitor
of the Moore court in 1938, and
has been reelected every two
years since that time. In 1944 he
won the office in absentia, as he
was then on duty with th^ armed
forces in World War 2, with an
appointee, W. D. Sabiston, acting
in his stead, at court.
In making his announcement
this week Mr. McKeithen said he
had no plans to ran for any other
office, and intends to devote his
time to his law practice in Pine
hurst and his current duties as
president of the N. C. Bar asso
ciation.
“I wish to express thanks to the
voters of Moore county who have
given me such fine support in
elections over a 12-year period. It
has been a privilege to serve the
county, and the friends I have
made in this capacity mean more
than I can say,” he declared.
“It has been a great privilege to
serve with Judge J. Vance Rowe,
and with all the very able law en
forcement officers in the county—
the sheriffs department, city po
lice departments, ABC officers,
highway patrolmen and others.
Their cooperative spirit has made
my work a pleasure.”
W. Lamont Brown, in offering
himself for the solicitor’s post, be
comes a candidate for elective of
fice for the first time.
A native of Raeford, and, like
Mr. McKeithen, a graduate of Da
vidson college, he lived and work
ed in Washingtpn for a number of
years, choosing the law as his ca
reer in 1941, five years after leav
ing college. Studying law at
Georgetown university at night
and in special sessions while con
tinuing his government work, he
won his law degree in 1945.
He returned to the Sandhills
the following year and, after be
ing admitted to the North Caro
lina and Moore County bars in
1947, practiced at Aberdeen for a
year and a halt. In January 1949
he opened his office in Southern
Pines, moving to this community
from Pinebluff soon after.
He was a member of the town
board while living at Pinebluff. In
1949-50 he was president of the
Moore County Young Democratic
club. He is a director of the
Moore County hospital. He has
been active in Boy Scout work for
several years and since November
1950 has been chairman of the
Moore district. Boy Scouts of
America.
Community Center Leads Five Projects
Listed In Bid For “Carolina’s Finest”
RESCUE TRUCK
The Civil Defense Rescue
Truck, the latest thing in
emergency apparatus, will
visit Southern Pines Wednes
day afternoon on a statewide
four under auspices’ of the N.
C. Council of Civil'Defense at
Raleigh.
Word from E. Z. Jones,
state director of civil defense,
is that the truck will be here
at 3 p. m.. coming from Fay
etteville. where it will be dis
played earlier in the day.
CoL Don L. Madigan, South
ern Pines mvil defense direc
tor. said the truck will be lo
cated on East Broad street
near the town hall during Its
visit here. Everyone is invited
to inspect it. Ilie truck may
be purchased by individual
* cities if desired, on a match
ing-funds basis.
Admiral Dundas
Passes In Hospital
At Roanoke, Va.
Vice Admiral John George Law
rence Dundas, CB, CBE, of the
British Royal Navy, retired, died
Wednesday morning at the Veter
ans hospital at Roanoke, Va.^
where he had been a patient for
three weeks.
His death followed an illness of
several years dating from services
’o his country during World War
2. He was retired in 1948. Fol
lowing a visit in 1946, he and his
family returned here in 1948 to
live, and last year purchased a
home on Valley road.
He was married to the former
Miss Ruth Coleman, whose par
ents, Mr. and Mrs. Arch Coleman,
formerly of Minneapolis, Minn.,
now live at Skyline, near South
ern Pines.
Surviving besides his wife are
four daughters, Mrs. Penn Wat
son, Jr., of Goldsboro; Rosemary
and Deirdre, students at Duke
university, and Sandra, of the
home; one son, John, of the home;
and two sisters. Lady DeMorley
and Miss Iva Dimdas, of England.
Admiral Dundas served as chief
of staff to Admiral Harwood’s
Eastern Mediterranean Command
in 1942-43, with headquarters at
Alexandria, and then went to Al
giers as chief of staff to Admiral
John Cunningham, commander of
the entire Mediterranean fleet. In
1944-45 he was an assistant Chief
of Naval Staff. During one pe
riod of the war he was captain of
the cruiser Nigeria on the peril
ous mirmansk convoy. His ill
health, which caused his death at
the age of 58, was directly trace
able to the crucial period of the
Dunkirk evacuation, when, serv
ing with the emergency command
at Dover, he went practically
without sleep or meals for 10 his-
(Continued on Page 8)
“Five projects picked and
ready to go!’*—that is the word
from the executive commtitee of
the steering committee intrusted
with the task of choosing South
ern Pines’ entry In the “Carolina’s
Finest” contest sponsored by the
Carolina Power and Light Com
pany.
Meeting at the Mid .Pines Club
under the chairmanship of John
Ruggles, following the Kiwanis
lunch on Wednesday, the commit
tee, consisting of the chairman
and Jerry Healy, Herbert Camer
on, Mayor C. N. Page, John Buch-
holz and Schools Suuperintendent
A. C. Dawson, staged a nose-to-
the-grindstone session. With the
April 1st deadline in view, the
chairman outlined briefly the five
projects that had headed the lists
of those who had responded to
the questionnaire: 32 responses
out of the several hundred that
had been mailed to citizens of the
town. Each project was assigned
a» chairman, in conformation with
the organizational scheme sug
gested by the utilities company
The chairman, it was agreed,
would then select his working
committee whose duty it will be
to draw up a plan for the project
under their jurisdiction and carry
on until its completion. It was
stipulated that these working
ommittees would be made up of
the overall committee represent-
ng the different civic and service
organizations in town.
Following is the list of projects
hosen, witji the name of the
ch^iirman aopqinted for each one:
(1) Community Center,
John Buchholz, chairman.
(2) Beautification and
Planting, Mrs. W. D. Camp
bell, chairman.
(3) Recreational Area of
Swan Lake, Jerry Healy,
chairman.
(4) Bringing small indus
tries here, including the
Bishop Company, N. L. Hodg
kins, chairman.
(5) Schools Activities bus,
including a bus for West
Southern Pines, C. N. Page,
chairman.
Are Rained Out;
Time Changed
The finals’ program of the Mid-
South Horse show, drowned out
by a spring drizzle Sunday, has
re-scheduled for this coming
Sunday. Place will be the same—
Starland Farms, the Tate place,
between Southern Pines and Pine
hurst. Time has been moved from
2 to 2.45 p. m. so as not to conflict
with the trotting races.
hme classes remain to be judg'
ed, including some of the best of
the two-day event, which are to
climax the show. With parking
spaces all sold out and many gen
eral-admission tickets also sold
a large crowd was expected—and
still is. All tickets sold will be
good next Sunday, according to
the sponsors.
Sixteen classes were judged
Saturday, when fine weather pre
vailed morning and afternoon. Re
suits will be found on Page 7.
With their fingers crossed for
good weather, sponsors and ex
hibitors are anticipating the com
pletion S, '>day of what started off
as the finesv '■orse show yet tc
be held in the •- .dhills. Put on
by the recently chartered Mid-
South Horse Show association, if
is sponsored by the Sandhills Ki
wanis club.
Gift Of Gold,
Jim^s Cherry
In Carolina Cup
Gift of Gold will race again at
Camden Saturday for the Caro-
ina Cup, which he won in a sur
prise debut last year—^but he may
lave strong competition from a
tonybrook stablemate, Jim’s
IJherry, a newcomer from Ire-
and.
The Walshes of Stonybrook
'ook the wraps off Gift of Gold
’or the April 1951 event After
that he went on to become the na
tion’s top timber racer fw the
j^ear, with four wins out of five
starts.'
^ Again this year, in Jim’s
Cherry, the Walshes are unwrap
ping a surprise package. Mickey
Walsh brought him last summer
Tom Ireland, where he had rolled
up an impressive series of wins.
For the past eight months he has
bad the benefits of Walsh train
ing at Stonybrook, and is now ad
judged ready for the American
acing scene.
Gift of Gold, now owned by
Mrs. S. T. Patterson of iPttsburgh
;now wintering here) will have
as rider the same jockey who rode
aim to victory last April—F.
(Continued on page 60
Sandhills Tennis
Association Plans
Summer Tourneys
Junior Division
Will Be Organized
At Meeting Thursday
.Thu,»*.'.S5«h-S.t
TROTTING RACES
The first trotting matinee of
the year is scheduled for Sun
day afternoon at the Pine
hurst race track, with many
of the young trotters and pac
ers in training there this sea
son to be seen in action. Some
of the leading stables of the
country are wintering at the
track, with 175 horses using
the new mile track and the
old half-mile course daily.
To prevent interference
with the Mid-South Horse
show, postponed to this Sun
day from last when it was
rained out, the matinee has
been scheduled for 1:15 p.m.
Horse show officials have
moved their starting time
back to 2:45, thus giving
horse lovers an opportunity
to take in both events.
tentative scheduling of a series of
tournaments starting in May
were announced by Angelo Mon-
tesanti, Jr., president of the Sand
hills Tennis association, this
week.
A meeting will be held in the
elementary school library Thurs
day at 7 p. m. for all young peo
ple, up through 18 years old, in
terested in joining a junior tennis
group.
Plans fer the senior group in
clude a widening of activities for
the younger people during the
coming season, starting with the
formation of their own group, and
the planning of several touraa-
ments Just for them.
In announcing the tournament
dates, Hary Lee Brown, Jr., call
ed attention to the change in the
Sandhills Open and Junior Sand
hills Open from open to invita
tional events.
The tentative schedule follows:
Moore County High and Elemen
tary School tournament. May 5-
’0; Moore County Closed Cham-
■^ionships, June 4-8; Junior Sand
hills Invitational, July 28 - Aug
ust 2; Junior-Senior Doubles, Au
gust 4-8; Sandhills Invitational,
August 20-24.
The series has been established
through four successful years,
during which they have greatly
widened in interest. 'The Sand
hills Invitational (formerly Open)
is rated as a lop sports event of
the Carolinas.
The plans got under way at a
meeting of the association held
'ast Monday evening at the home
if Mr. and Mrs. Frank de Costa.
Dawson On Panel
At State NCEA
Convention Today
Supt. A. C. Dawson of the
Southern Pines schools will take
'art in a discussion panel before
the Division of Higher Education
this morning (Friday) at the state
’'’’CEA convention, being held at
urday.
Mr. Dawson will appear on the
panel in his capacity as state
chairman of the United Forces for
Education, a position which he
has held for the past four years.
The discussion, on the theme “The
Place of Colleges and Universities
in Public Education in North Car
olina,” will have Dr. B. G. Childs,
of Duke university, as chairman;
Dr. W. H. Plemmons, of the Uni
versity of North Carolina, as mod-
“rator. and the following as panel
members: Mr. Dawson; Dr. Dw-
nis Cooke, president of High Point
college; Dr. A. M. Proctor, of
Duke university, and B. L. Smith,
superintendent pf Greensboro
schools.
Mr. Dawson is a former vice-
president, president and legisla
tive chairman of the state NCEA.
He has for the past five years
been a leader in the organization
in active furtherance of its Ob-
iectives of imnrovemetns in
schools, and in teaching conditions
and inducements.
He will this time also be attend
ing as a delegate of the local
NCEA unit, with Don Moore of
the elementary faculty. Mr. Moore
and High School Principal Irie
Leonard were elected as dele
gates but, on account of the death
of Mr. Leonard’s mother 'Wednes
day, Mr. Dawson is replacing him
as alternate on the local delega
tion.
Headquarters of the convention
is at the George 'Vanderbilt hotel.
'The Southern Pines delegates are
staying at the Asheville-Biltmore
and the panel discussion will ^
held at the Battery Park.
Fires Race Over 3,000 Moore Acres;
Hundreds Battle Wind-Driven Flames
A half-dozen fierce forest fires
aced through the woods of south-
'rn Moore county last Thursday
’amaeing a total area estimate
by Covmty Ranger E. W. Davis of
‘he N. C. Forest Service at ap
proximately 3,000 acres in a 10-
mile radius.
The fires started independently,
md at one time five were raging
’^retching available firefighting
'ersonnel to the limit and neces
sitating a radio call for volunteer
help. “Strong winds which kept
,-b"’-'gi-ng direction made the fires
particularly hard to fight,” Rang
er Davis said. “It was practically
impossible to find the head of the
fire—or if we did, it headed off
in another direction by the time
we got to work.” ’The first fire
broke out at about noon. Others
cropped up during the next four
hours. It was past 11 at night be
fore the last was brought under
control, and firefighters stayed on
the job till past 3 a. m. They were
out again by 8 a. m. the next day
npt’-olling the woods for fresh
outbreaks and extinguished two
in the Niagara section.
A dozen or more homes were
threatened by the fir^s but all
(Continued on Page 8)