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PRICE—TEN CENTS
ON THE ROYAL FLOAT in the Fourth of
July parade at Carthage, the new beauty queen
waves to her subjects. She is blonde, blue-eyed
Marie Kennedy, 16, of Pinehurst. Seated at her
left is Gladys Matthews, runner-up in the beauty
contest which was a highlight of the day; at her
right, Barbara Myrick, one of the semi-finalists.
Both are froni Aberdeen. See story on Page 8.
Sandhill Peach
Crop Short But
Fruit Sells Well
Although cut heavily in num
ber by the disastrous freeze of
April 19, Sandhills peaches of
good size and quality are moving
to market at favorable prices.
Gocd peaches this week were
bringing around $2 per bushel to
growers when sold in the buyer’s
container. Beset with rising costs
of production, peach growers this
year are having to pay 40 cents
apiece for baskets, one Sandhills
orchard owner said.
The late-ripening Elberta peach
predominates in the Sandhills or
chards of the West End-Eagle
Springs-Candor area. Early ripen
ing varieties, including the new
Southland and an early-ripening
Elberta, have been selling well,
although not many growers have
them. Golden Jubilees and Hileys
are two early varieties that have
been bringing good prices.
Georgia Belles are ripening and
Elbertas are expected to begin
moving next week, with the peak
of Elberta shipments reached dur
ing the last week of July.
Freeze Effects Vary
Growers estimate that the crop
as a whole in the Sandhills is 60
to 75 per cent of normal. The
April freeze varied widely in its
effects on sirea orchards, a fact
that is strikingly illustrated in re
ports this week from two well-
known West End producers, T.
Clyde Auman and J. Hawley
Poole.
Mr. Auman, who has mostly El
bertas, said that he has about a
normal crop of good quality fruit.
Mr. Poole estimates the crop of
(Continued on Page 8)
Posthumous Awards For Gallantry
Made To Lt. Dan I. McKeithen, Jr.
Officer Born In
Aberdeen Honored
For Korean Actions
A young man who lived in Ab
erdeen when a small child and
who was killed in action in Korea
was honored Wednesday in Wash
ington, D. C., by the posthumous
presentation of the Silver Star
and an oak leaf cluster to the Sil
ver Star for gallantry in battle—
the equivalent of two awards of
this third highest combat decora
tion.
Honored was First Lieutenant
Dan I. McKeithen, Jr., killed in
Korea March 15. Numerous rela
tives of the young man live in the
Sandhills area.
General E. K. Wright, com-
BUSTERING
Five of the fiizt seven days
in July saw the government
weather observation ther
mometer soar past 95, accord
ing to the reports of Mrs. Tom
Kelley, official observer here.
Top torrid day was July 3.
Friday of last week, when 98
was the high reading. All of
the first seven days of the
month topped 90, with the
mercury descending to a high
of 89 on Wednesday of this
week, July 8.
Although .68 inch of rain
fell in the middle of the first
week of the month—a con
siderable amount of rain— it
dropped the temperature only
five degrees, from 97 on July
4 to 92 on July 5.
Record for the first eight
days of July: 96. 97, 98, 97.
92, 93. 96, 89.
Paintings, Lithographs By Mrs. Kent
In First Summer Art Exhibit Here
Southern Pines, noted for its
spring series of art exhibits, will
have its first summer one start
ing Monday, and continuing for a
njionth, at the library gallery.
Tempera paintings and litho
graphs by Whitney Thqenen Kent
will be shown, acccrding to an
announcement by Jane Carter,
exhibit chairman for the coming
ser son.
The drawings and lithographs,
done in imaginative and indivi
dual style, are illustrations for a
children’s book about Afghanis
tan,. done from sketches made
by Mrs. Kent while with her hus
band, Col. E. F. Kent, on a tour
of duty there. Heroine of the
story is the little daughter of a
nomad family, who receives a
pair of red shoes with turned-up
green toes. They lead her into
many adventures in ithe Afghan
land.
Mrs. Kent recently took over
the inrtry.ctbrship of the art group
of the Fort Bragg Officers Wives
club, previously taught by Emily
Forfest and Jane Carter of South
ern Pines. Her husband is Judge
Advocate of the XVIII Airborne
Corps and they live on the post.
She is an accomplished artist
with a wealth of first-rate train
ing and experience. She studied
art at the Corcoran School while
a student in Washington, D. C.,
then at George Washington uni
versity and Pratt Institute. She
taught art in Wisconsin and at,
George Washington U., and had
her own school at Evanston, Ill.
She worked as commercial artist
on the Washington Times Herald.
She has* exhibited **at the
Georgetown Galleries, George
town, D. C., and in several mid-
western cities. One of her paint
ings was selected, along with 58
other outstanding artists, in the
third annual exhibit of Women
Painters of America at Wichita,
Kansas. She was married to Colo
nel Kent in 1946 and shortly
thereafter journeyed with him to
far-off Afghanistan, to remain for
two years. There she received
much fresh inspiration for her
brush and crayon, vividly shown
in the forthcoming display.
manding general of the Military
District of Columbia, made the
presentation to the young man’s
father, Dan I. McKeithen of Be-
thesda, Md., near Washington.
Also attending the ceremony,
which was held in General
Wright’s office, were the hero’s
mother, Mrs. McKeithen, and his
sister, Jean McKeithen.
Lieutenant McKeithen, who was
graduated from Davidson College,
in the class of 1951, spent most of
his boyhood in the Tar Heel state,
at Aberdeen and Winston-Salem.
In 1937 his parents moved to
Washington where Mr. McKeithen
is a member of the staff of the
Home Loan Bank Board. Mig^
McKeithen is a graduate of the
University of North Carolina.
An Army spokesman said that
young McKeithen was awarded
the Silver Star for his leadership
of a patrol assigned to assault en
emy positions near Kachil-Li and
capture a prisoner for intelligence
purposes. The mission was carried
out under hostile small arms and
mortar fire.
Upon returning to friendly
lines, however. Lieutenant Mc
Keithen discovered that one of his
men was missing, so he took four
volunteers and returned in search
of him.
Again encountering enemy
forces, McKeithen’s party engaged
them in an intense fire fight imtil
forced to withdraw when their
ammunition grew short. Mean
while, their encounter had suc
ceeded in diverting the attention
of the hostile forces long enough
for the missing man to return to
his comrades. The encounter took
place Nov. 27, 1952, two months
after McKeithen had arrived in
Korea.
The North Carolina hero earn
(Continued on Page 8)
Explorer Scouts
Crossing Nation
To Big Jamboree
Six Moore county Explorer
Scouts have been traveling across
the continent during the past
week with a large group of other
Scouts from Occqneechee Council,
en route to the National Explorer
Scout camp at Philimont, N. M.,
and the National Scout Jamboree
at Santa Ana, Calif.
Making the trip from this coun
ty are: Jimmie McDonald and
John Chappell of Southern Pines;
Bobby Barrett, Charles Garrison
and Charles Swaringen of Pine
hurst; and Garland Key of Rob
bins.
The boys left Raleigh on a
chartered bus July 1, planning a
number of stopovers at points of
interest. After visiting the New
Mexico camp they will attend the
National Jamboree July 17-26.
Bill McLaurin, Moore district
chairman of Scouting and activi
ties, and a Robbins Scoutmaster,
is making the trip with the Moore
county boys.
Tax Rate Set At
$1.35 In Budget
Of Moore County
Total Valuation
Of Property Runs
To $40,000,000
A tentative Moore County bud
get approved by the board of
commissioners Monday sets the
tax rate at ,$1.35 per $100 of prop
erty valuation—the same rate as
last year.
The budget will lie open for
public inspection for 20 days. For
mal adoption is expected at the
regular meeting of the board
Monday, August 3.
Special school taxes will raise
the rate in Southern Pines to
$1.83. The 48 extra cents on the
Southern Pines rate include 34
cents for the regular school sup
plement which has been in effect
for some time and 14 cents for
debt service on bonds issued for
the school gymnasium and audi
torium.
The new budget, covering the
fiscal year July 1, 1953, through
June 30, 1954, is based on an
estimated property valuation of
$40,000,000. This is a $3,000,000 in
crease over last year’s estimated
valuation.
Actual property valuations
usually run above the estimates.
The tax levy is expected to
bring in $538,797, as compared to
an estimate of $498,855 last year.
Of the total tax levy of $538,-
797 in the new budget, $53,881 is
estimated as uncollectible, inclu
ding commissions on collections
and taxpayers’ discounts, making
the actual amount expected from
taxes $484,916.
However, revenue from sources
other than the tax levy—princi
pally ABC store profits and fines
and forfeitures from recorders
court—is estimated at $587,451.
This is $83,617 less than last
year’s estimate of $671,068 for
revenue from these sources.
(Continued on page 4)
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T. E. CUNNINGHAM
-Photo Hardee
Bike Riders Will
Get Tape, Advice
In Elks Program
In the interest of safety for
bicycle riders, the Southern Pines
Elks Lodge next week will launch
a project designed to acquaint
youngsters of the community with
traffic regulations and other in
formation that may help them
stay out of accidents.
All boys and girls who ride
bikes are invited to come to the
Foxhole behind Parkway Cleaners
on Pennsylvania avenue, between
2 and 4 p. m. Wednesday of next
week, July 15.
If enough interest is shown
in the program, the Elks plan to
continue the safety sessions for
the next couple of Wednesday
afternoons, in order that aU bike
riders may have an opportunity
to take part.
,To Get Fender Tape
A strip of red reflective tape
will be given each bike rider go
ing to the Foxhole, to be placed
on the rear fender as a safety pre
caution for night riding, it was
explained today by Broadus
Smith, chairman of the commit
tee for social and community wel
fare of the Elks Lodge. In addi
tion, each boy or girl will be
asked to sign a pledge to obey
traffic regulations and observe
safety rules.
The committee chairman em
phasized that the Elks are not
giving the reflective tape as a
substitute for legally required bi
cycle lights, but only as an ad
ditional safety measure. The same
sort of tape is now applied to the
rear bumpers of many automo
biles.
The town recreation program
and its director, Irie Leonard, are
cooperating with the bike safety
project. Smith said.
Other members of the Elks com
mittee in charge are L. T. Hall
and Joe Montesanti, Jr. Former
Mayor Chan Page was influential
in adoption of the program by the
lodge.
While plans for police partici
pation in the safety project had
not been worked out this week.
Smith said he hoped that an of
ficer could be present to help ex
plain traffic regulations to the
youngsters.
L; T. Clark last Friday, of the job
of Southern Pines’ first city man
ager. He wiU assume his new
duties Monday, August 3.
Mr. Cunningham has resigned
his present position, giving a
month’s notice, as principal offi
cer of budget and finance in the
office of the city manager at
Richmond, Va. He spent Saturday
Cuimiiigham Accepts City Manager
Position, Will Take Over Augnst 3
T. E, Cunningham made defin-1 here studying the town set-up
ite acceptance, by wire to Mayor {with the assistance of Howard F.
T • *P former town clerk and
treasurer, and inspecting some of
the municipal facilities. Since he
was also hunting a home, there
was not time to see everything
but he expressed himself as de
lighted with what he saw, and
with the new position.
He was chosen from a list of
110 applicantsj which were
screened down to a field of 25 or
30, then narrowed down to four.
The salary of $6,000 per year
which will be paid the new city
manager represents no increase
over what Mr. Cunningham is
making now. However, he said he
wants to get back to his native
state of North Carolina, and so
does his wife, the former Marion
Goodrich of Sanford. They have
two children. Tommy Junior, aged
three, and Tamara Jean, six
months old.
Mr. Burns, who has served as
acting manager since adoption of
the council-manager form in May,
with Mrs. Burns left Southern
Pines Wednesday for their new
home at Lake Wales, Fla. He has
accepted the position of city man
ager at Lake Wales effective July
15.
Contracts Let By
School Board In
1953.’54 Program
Meeting Tuesday night at Car
thage, the county board of educa
tion began its task of providing
school plants and facilities with
the $305,000 in capital outlay
funds allotted to the county school
system in the 1953-1954 tentative
budget that was approved by the
county commissioners Monday.
In the budget there is a total of
$505,000 in capital outlay funds, of
which $305,000 goes to the county
system, $117,500 to Southern Pines
city schools and $82,500 to Pine
hurst city schools.
Appropriation of school building
funds is made by the county com
missioners. Only that portion al
lotted to the county school system
is administered by the county
school board.
Cameron Auditorium
First action in continuing the
school building program of the
county system with the new funds
was to let a general contract to
the Holt Construction company of
Graham to build an auditorium at
Cameron school at a cost of $74,-
823.91. This amount will not com
plete the building, but an addi
tional $9,276 is expected to come
out of the following year’s budget.
Contracts for $112,788.90 were
let for the construction of a phy
sical education building at Rob
bins. The general contract went to
T. E. Saunders of Troy. A total of
some $46,958 was omitted from
the Robbins building until another
(Continued on page 8)
Rotary Club To
Install Officet*s
New officers of the Southern
Pines Rotary club will be install
ed at the club’s regular luncheon
meeting today (Friday) at the Vil
lage Inn.
Rev. Charles V. Covell will take
over the office of president from
Russell Lorenson who, according
to Rotary custom, becomes the
new vice-president. Johnnie A.
Hall is the new secretary and
treasurer.
The new officers were elected
in February. They will serve for
i the coming year.
Poultry Expert,
F. D. Allen, Is
Assistant Agent
F. D. Allen of Asheboro ,was
appointed an assistant Moore
County farm agent by the county
commissioners during their reg
ular session at Carthage Monday.
Mr. Allen, whose principal
work will be with poultry, will
begin his duties in the county
August 1. He is now serving as
assistant agent in/Randolph coun
ty.'
The new appointee appeared
before the commissioners, accom
panied by ,E; H. Garrison, county
agent,” W. G. Caldwell, assistant
agent who will continue his work,
giving the county two assistant
agents, and C. M. Brickhouse,
district farm agent.
Need for another assistant
agent, especially in the poultry
field, was pointed out. After in
terviewing Mr. Allen, the com
missioners soon made their deci
sion to authorize his appointment
which is provided for in the 1953-
1954 budget tentatively approved
Monday.
Mr; Allen has been assistant
agent in Randolph county for the
past nine years. He was looking
for a hcuse in Carthage this week
and plans to move there with his
wife and two small daughters.
Appointment of Mr. Allen rec
ognizes the prominent part play
ed by Moore county in the poul-
Itry industry of the state.
Town’s Tribute
Precedes Burns
To Florida Post
Good Sendoff
Given Longtime
Town Employee
Howard F. Burns, town clerk
and treasurer of Southern Pines
for 27 and a half years, left Wed
nesday morning with Mrs. Burns
for their new home at Lake
Wales, Fla., where he will become
city manager July 15.
He was preceded there by a let
ter to the mayor and town coun
cil of Lake Wales, informing
them of this community’s high re
gard for him and appreciation of
his long service.
Tuesday evening at 6 o’clock,
he was visited- by a special com
mittee appointed by Mayor L. T.
Clark, to thank him for his good
work here and bid him godspeed.
The committee, composed of
Former Mayor C. N. Page and
Councilman Voit Gilmore and W.
E. Blue, presented him with a
purse made up by private sub
scription among his well-wishers,
also a copy of a letter which was
on its way to Lake Wales.
The letter follows;
Honorable Mayor
Honorable Members of City
Council
Lake Wales, Florida
Gentlemen:
By special resolution of the
Town Council of Southern Pines,
the undersigned special commit
tee was created to extend to Mr.
Howard F. Burns the best good
wishes of our town as he begins
his career in Lake Wales and at
the same time to convey to your
honorable council the sentiments
of our fellow townspeople regard
ing Mr. Burns.
Over his many years of faithful
service here, Mr. Burns has form
ed many firm and lasting friend
ships. He has given his utmost
to our community and the stamp
of his work is on our town insti
tutions for all time to come.
We salute him for his many
contributions to the welfare and .
happiness of Southern Pines and
we bid him Godspeed in his work
in Lake Wales.
Our local newspaper, the
“Pilot,” has mirrored the sen
timents of our townspeople in
connection with Mr. Burns’ de
parture for Lake Wales. We
would like to quote a portion of
its editorial dated July 3:
The employment of Howard
F. Burns, former town clerk
and acting city manager, as
city manager of Lake Wales,
Florida, is a vindication, if he
needed any, of his own capa
bilities and worth.
Southern Pines has used
these capabilities to good ad
vantage for 27 years, and, as
Mr. Burns learned city man
agement through his opera
tions here, the town grew and
progressed—thanks, in large
measure, to his diligent ef
forts on many fronts.
Kept here by his love of
Southern Pines despite num
erous other good jobs offered
(Continued on Page 8)
Wild Ponies From
N. C. Outer Banks
Now In Sandhills
Four Sandhills residents—How
ard Butler and son, Dan, Dr. C. C.
McLean and J. T. Overton took
part July 4 in one of the famous
“pony pennings” on North Caro
lina’s “outer banks,” bringing four
of the little animals home with
them as curiosities and—if the
beasts allow themselves to become
civilized—as pet riding ponies.
Three of the animals are now
at the Overton farm near Bethes-
da road. The fourth was taken by
a business associate of Mr. Butler
in Sanford. All four were trans
ported to the Sandhills by pickup
truck after purchase from their
owners following the round-up
on one of the outer banks islands
near Drum’s Inlet.
The Sandhills visitors took part
in the penning which took all day.
They stayed at Barker’s Island
and went to the ponies’ island by
boat.