SALUTE
USAFAGOS
NOVEMBER 11
■LOT
SALUTE
USAFAGOS
NOVEMBER 11
VOL. 34—NO. 51
TWENTY PAGES
SOUTHERN PINES. NORTH CAROLINA, FRIDAY. NOVEMBER 6. 1953
TWENTY PAGES
''y
Music Association
I Announces Plans
i For Winter Series
Don Cossacks Will
Appear Nexl Month;
Se^ On Sale
:i
I
MOORE COUNTY SCHOOLKIDS were hon
ored and entertained by the USAF Air-Ground
Operations school in cooperation with the Sand
hills Klwanis club on National Kids day.
In the morning winners in a model airplane
contest took over the top administrative jobs at
the school. At noon Brig. Gen. W. M. Gross, re
suming his position as commandant, presented
“decorations” and certificates to the six boys
and one girl shown above. They are, from left,
listed with the positions they filled: Henry Tur
ner, Southern Pihes, commandant; Jimmy
W3mn, Pinehurst, deputy commandant; Billy
Bertrand, Pinehurst, school secretary; Chuck
Ward, Southern Pines, deputy for education
(Air); David Prim, Southern Pines, deputy Tor
education (Army); Mary Elizabeth Chappell,
Southern Pines, squadron commander; Mike
Pearse, Pinehurst, adjutant; Kenny Holliday,
Southern Pines, mess officer.
In the afternoon, hundreds of kids were
brought in from all over the county and trans
ported to Fort Bragg for a demonstration of new
planes and paratroop jumping.
Jimmy Wynn, second boy above, is the
grandson bf General Marshall.
Townsfolk Will Fete USAFAGOS
Menfand Families Armistice Day
jTickets On Sale
For Supper, Dance
“In Appreciation”
make it SPARKLE!
"Make It Spiarkle!"—Thai's
General Gross' way of telling
his men at USAFAGOS.
"Let's do a good job!’'
The community haa its
chance now to "make it
sparkle" at the Armistice
Day sapper and dance
for the USwBJFAGOS staff.
In an adjoining story The
Pilct has listed many of the
worthwhile things this school
^ has done for our community.
The list is fax from complete.
But it gives you an idea.
On Page 8 you will find a
story written by General
Gross, and published in a mil
itary journal, which tells the
story of USAFAGOS itself—
its h'ctory, its methods, its
objectives—in his own words.
It is an impressive account.
It's a community event
Wednesday — let’s "Make It
Sparkle!"
Christmas Seal
Chairmen Listed;
Sale Opens Soon
June Blue, county Christmas
Seal Sale chairman for 1953 for
the Moore County Tuberculosis
association, this week annoiuiced
the community chairmen who will
work with him toward achieve
ment of the $7,105 quota. Seals
will be placed in the mail Mon
day, November 16.
The county quota this year, also
most of the community quotas,
1^ are slightly smaller than last year.
This is because last year extra ef
fort was needed to finance the
purchase of X-ray equipment for
the county Health Center at Car
thage. The equipment was pur
chased and installed, and by the
end of 1953 will have been used
for more than 1,000 free X-rays.
This year, said hCairman Blue,
the budget includes $500 to be
contributed toward the mass X-
ray to take place in all schools of
the county during February.
Other items in the budget are
normal expenses of the program,
principally aid in various forms
for needy people stricken by the
disease of tuberculosis. In its
years of existence the program
has improved the condition and
actually saved the lives of several
hundred persons.
Roderick Innis of Pinehurst has
been appointed campaign treasur
er. The list of community chair
men includes many who have
served this cause year after year.
The Negro Division is headed
by H. L. Bryaynt of Aberdeen,
with a quota of $1,000.
In the county communities.
Southern Pines has been assigned
the largest quota, $1,600, with
Joe Garzik as chairman.
Also: Pinebluff, M!rs. Timothy
Cleary, $200; Aberdeen, J . D.
Arey, Jr., $1,000; Pinehurst, Dick
(Continued on Page 8)
Armistice Day in Southern
Pines will be observed in a unique
mEpner—by a celebration honor
ing the officers and men of the
USAF Air-Ground Operations
school, and thgir families.
Sponsored by the VFW, Amer
ican Legion and other local organ
izations in cooperation, the ob
servance will take the form of an
outdoor supper and dance Wed
nesday evening at which the US-
AlFAGOS personnel will be guests
of the townspeople.
Tickets are being sold which
have two parts. Costing $2, each
one admits the buyer and his
guest to the supper. As they are
purchased the two halves will be
separated, and the part for the
guest sent to the Air-Ground
School.
The VFW Auxiliary is in charge
of the ticket sale.
Louis Scheipers, commander of
the John Boyd post, VFW, said
there will probably be about 250
guests. This wiU include all the
officers and men from the Air-
Ground school and their families,
also about 30 young soldiers from
Fort Bragg who assisted in repairs
on the town lake, with the help
of Brig. Gen. W. M. Gross, school
commEUidant, in answer to an
SOS from the citizen committee
in charge.
'The supper will start at 5:30
p. m. on the municipal tennis
courts, and will be followed by a
street dance for which an orches
tra has been secured.
40 And 8 Engine
In behalf of the ticket sale,
Charles Swoope of the Forty and
Eight announced that that organ
ization’s famous little locomotive
will be at the park, on the New
York avenue side, right after
lunch time Wednesday afternoon,
and will give rides to all ticket
buyers, also their children.
Sponsors of the celebration
said it was to give the citizens
opportunity to express apprecia
tion to the Air-Ground school,
which in two and a half years has
come to mean a great deal to the
community.
“Everyone knows it is import
ant to our nation’s defense—
though maybe not many realize
just how important,” they said.
“It is also extremely important
to our town, an^ we want to say
thanks for the privilege of having
it here.”
128 In Squadron
The school was established in
Southern Pines in June 1951. It
has a staff of 128 at present—83
with |iomfis in town. Others live
in banacks at the school building,
Fif'hland Pines Inn, with a few
at Fort Bragg.
'The personnel comprise the
4425th School Squadron of 40 of
ficers and 88 enlisted men. Twen
ty-three of the officers are mem
bers of the Air Force, which oper
ates the interservice school. There
'M
Col. C. H. Williams, left, award
ing diploma to USAFAGOS’ 10,-
000th graduate, Col. Charles Me
Derm.ctt of Mitchell AFB.
are 15 Army officers on the staff,
one Marine officer and one ex
change instructor from the Royal
Air Force of England.
Most of the officers are staff in
structors, training other officers
sent in each week from all over
the country in various phases of
modern air-ground coordination
in warfare.
Officers and men are also en
gaged in activities of administra
tion, motor transportation, supply,
training aids, finance, billeting, se
curity and the mess.
The families form, a lively part
of local life. Almost as soon as the
school opened, the wives organ
ized a club and offered their ser
vices to the Red Cross. They were
put to work at once in the Motor
Service.
The young single men also are
becoming more and more a part
of the town. Twelve of them have
married local girls, and two more
are being married today (Friday).
The school does its part in al
most every community endeavor,
and citizens have learned to say
in response to many a need, “Let’s
ask the folks at USAFAGOS to
help.”
More Than Their Share
They do far more than their
share in every local compaign,
with 100 per cent contribution
practically every time, and are
the largest group to give blood
when the Bloodmobile comes.
They have responded instamtly
several times when the need for
blood transfusion purposes was
made known to thertii, and have in
this way very likely saved several
lives. One sUch response for a
prominent local man, was made
just last week.
They have fought forest fires
and now have their own fire
truck and department, which have
been offered to supplement com
munity facilities cf the need
should arise.
They supply speakers for
groups and special occasions,
judges for contests, masters of
ceremonies for such events as the
recent Halloween carnival.
Honorary Citizen
The list of their community
services already is practically
endless, and grO'wing every day.
In partial recognition of these.
General Gross was made South
ern Pines’ first honorary citizen
by Mayor C. N. Page in 1952, re-
(Continued on Page 8)
The Sandhills Music Association
concert series, popular musical
event of thb past four years, will
be launched again this winter, it
was announced at a meeting of
the sponsoring organization Tues
day night.
Gathering in the Southern
Pines Library, the group, whose
members included representatives
of Aberdeen, Pinehurst, and Mc
Cain, as well as Southern Pines,
voted to start the sale of tickets
immediately in conjunction with
a drive for new members.
Dr. William J. Hollister, presi
dent, outlined the series of events
which opens with the Bon Cossak
Choir on December 12.
Next on the list are Nelson
and Neal, duo-pianists, on Febru
ary 12, The Vienna String Orches
tra on March 11, and the North
Carolina Symphony Orchestra
on April 23, with a date in Janu
ary still remaining open.
Mrs. Paul T. Barnum will, as
usual, conduct the sale of tickets
from her office at the Barnum
Agency on Broad Street.
The membership drive is in the
hands of Mr. and Mrs. Bert Premo
and Mr. and Mrs. Voit Gilmore,
with publicity carried by a com
mittee of Mrs. Hollister and Mrs.
Hake Ppllock, with Mrs. J. G. L.
Dundas as chairman. Letters were
sent out this week to all county
towns urging support of the or
ganization in its attempt to bring
good music to Moore County.
Following a discussion of the
program for’the yea?', which is to
include three free concerts, the
annual free children’s concert of
the state orchestra, the Young
Musicians concert, and an evening
of song by the Madrigal Singers,
local amateur choral society, the
president appointed the following
■"helpers” for the season: enter
tainment of guest artists: Mr. and
Mrs. Lawrence Johnson of Aber
deen; in charge of properties:
Messres Bill Benson, A. C. Daw
son, Miss Laura Kelsey, and Mr.
Thomas Howerton, chairman.
Mrs. N. L. Hodgkins, Jr., presi
dent of the county Music Educa
tors’ Club, was asked to assist her
mother-in-law in making arrange
ments for the Young Musicians
concert held late in the spring, at
which pupils of all county teach
ers are the performers. Mrs.
James Boyd and Dr. William Peck
serve on the committee with
Ul juS
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NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER Gen. George C. Marshall,
former Chief of Staff, Secretary of State and Secretary of De
fense, with Mrs. Marshall at their Pinehurst home. The picture
was made Saturday, the day after the announcement of the 1953
award was made by the Nobel Institute of Oslo, Norway.
Fighting a flu virus, the Geheral quit his sickbed for a short
time to receive reporters and photographers. Story on Page 9.
(Photo by John G. Hemmer)
“Ah, Wilderness!” Will Be Offering
Of Barter Theatre Here Saturday Night
Famous O'Neill
Comedy Vi^ll Be
Seen At Auditorium
The Eugene O’Neill comedy,
“Ah, Wilderness!” will be pre
sented here Saturday evening by
the also-famous Barter Theatre
of Abingdon, Va., one of the na
tion’s major prdfessional drama
N, L. Hodgkins
Elected President
Sandhills Kiwanis
The Sandhills Kiwanis club
held the annual election of offi
cers and directors at the luncheon
meeting, held at the Pine Needles
clubhouse this week. Elected -to
serve for the following year were:
president, N. L. Hodgkins; vice-
president, John F. Taylor of Ab-
them. The junior Mrs. Hodgkins secretary-treasurer, John
also will work with Mrs. Ralph
Chandler, Jr., on pre-concert ar
rangements for the children’s
symphony concert, including
sending educational material to
the schools.
Besides Dr. Hollister, as presi
dent, officers of the Music Associ
ation include Dr. Bruce War lick,
treasurer, and Mrs. William
Wc-od, secretary.
SPHS Plays Today
At Red Springs
For District Title
A caravan of Southern Pines
cars will be wending its way to
Red Springs this afternoon, carry
ing a cheering, rooting citizenry
to see the Blue Knights of South
ern Pines High school play the
district championship game.
six-man
The Mlcore County
football champs will meet the
Clarkton team, champs of Bladen
county, in the district playoff.
Kickoff time is 3 o’clock.
The school band and majorettes
•will be on hand to put on their
half-time show.
If the Blue Knights win today,
they will be contenders for the
Eastern Conference champion
ship, and—if they win that—^the
State championship.
Southern Pines has held the
State championship once in the
past—^unofficially, however, as it
was before organization of official
conference play. The local school
authorities 'were instrumental in
having the official program set up
on a statewide basis the following
year, and once since then the
team has made its way to the
' Eastern Conference championship.
Ponzer.
The following were elected di
rectors: Paul Dana and I. C.
Sledge of Pinehurst, Dr. E. M.
Medlin of Aberdeen, and Gen. R.
B. Hill, J. Graves Vann, Jr., W. P.
Saunders and W. Ward HiU of
Southern Pines.
Following the election, the
gathering heaurd an address deliv
ered by Coble Funderburk of
Monroe, announced Eight Dis
trict Democratic candidate for the
U. S. House of Representatives.
Mr. Funderburk, who is a grad
uate of Wake Forest Law school,
class of 1931, and is now practic
ing law in Monroe, has served
three times in the state assembly,
once in the House and twice as
state senator.
Basing his remarks on the be
lief that America is too compla
cent, the speaker drew the auial-
ogy of the eagle who stirs his own
nest, driving out the young to fly ^
for themselves. Quoting from the j
Bible, from Edison, (“show me a
groups.
SDorisored by the Southern
Pines Lions club, the performance
will be given at Weaver auditori
um—curtain time 8 o’clock.
An experienced professional
cast cf 12 will be seen in the play,
the only comedy -written by
O’Neill, acknowledged as the na
tion’s greatest playwright. The
play has many moments of laugh
ter, others of deep heart-interest,
as it presents the yearnings of an
adolescent boy for a richer life.
Living in a world of imagination,
the 17-year-cld’s brushes with
reality are funny and also pathe
tic, and the course by which he
reaches a level of maturity is pre
sented with understanding and
skill.
The Barter Theatre, of which
Robert Porterfield is director, has
been a training ground for many
actors and actresses who have
reached the heights in the film
and stage worlds. While once its flt'aec
members were apprentices of dra- ** ^ *^9
matic art, now it numbers many
highly skilled veterans.
“Ah, Wilderness!” is the first
play to be imported here in many
years. Tickets may be obtained
from members of the Lions club.
All seats are reserved.
8th District
Headquarters
Moving Here
Lockey Confirms
Plans For Building,
Also For US 1
A building to house headquar
ters of the Eighth Highway Divi
sion will be built on property
which the State will acquire on
US Highway 1 near Aberdeen,
just north of the Dairy Queen.
Authcrization to purchase the
2.03 acre site was given District
Commissioner Forrest Lockey of
Aberdeen by the State Highway
Commission l^t week. The land
is part of the Forest Hills subdi
vision owned by J. Talbot John
son and Mrs. Leon Seymour.
Decision to move the headquar
ters to this area from Asheboro,
in Randolph county, was made
following the re-districting which
now gives the State 14 highway
districts instead of 12. With the
change Moore coimty became the
center of his district, Mr, Lockey
pointed out, with the other seven
touching it in a border. These are
Chatham, Lee, Hoke, Richmond,
Scotland, Montgomery and Ran
dolph.
Also, he said, it was important
to place it, if possible on a main
line railroad, for speedy delivery
of mail, and other reasons.
The project will give the dis
trict a permanent headquarters,
instead of second-floor rented
quarters it now occupies. It will
also .give Commissioner Lockey
an office close to his home and
business, enabling him to put
more time on the district job.
No plans have been annnounced
for relocatio-n of the shops, now
also at Asheboro, and Mr. Lackey
said he could not tell how many
staff members would be moved to
this section.
Payment of $4,500 was author
ized fer the land. The money for
the building was appropriated a
year ago, for a permanent head
quarters for the old Sixth District,
as it was then.
At the same time the announce
ment was made, it was revealed
that plans for many improve
ments of US Highway 1 were be
ing made through coeperation of
Mr. Lockey and the Fifth District
Commissioner, Donnie Sorrell of
Durham. The highway lies in
these two districts from state line
to state line. Major features re
ported “in the works” are bypass
es around Henderson and Raleigh,
straightening of bad curves in the
Sanford area and improvements
for some distance south of Aber
deen.
Negro Farmer
Is Moore’s 12th
Highway Fatality
A 54-year-old Negro farmer,
Paul Ledbetter, of West End Rt. 1,
was almost instantly kUled in an
automobile accident at Eastwood
Saturday afternoon. This was the
12th fatality on Moore County
highways since the start of the
;ar.
According to Patrolman John-
rontekted man^^d you“show‘me!“® Lowrimore, who is investiga-
Children Start
a failure,”) and from the U. S.
Supreme Court, (“free speech
serves its high purpose best whgn
it stirs a people to discontent,”)
he laimched a scattered attack on
the weakness of present-day re
ligion, on education (“50 per cent
of the world is illiterate,”) on pil
ing up the national debt, on high
taxes, on the program of foreign
aid, and on centralization of pow
er in the federal government.
Mr. Funderburk caUed atten
tion to the moimting score in ju
venile delinquency and to the fact
that the nation spends twice as
much on alcoholic beverages as it
does on schools and nine times as
much as it does on churches.
The speaker did not offer any
alternative program or sugges
tions for doing away with the
wrongs he decried.
ting the accident, Ledbetter was
driving north on the Pinehurst-
Carthage road when his car veer
ed to the left,'crossed the center
line and hit the side of a south
bound truck. ’The body of the
truck was of wooden construction
and a board flew off and pierced
the -windshield of Ledbetter’s car,
striking him in the throat and
penetrating to the jugular vein.
The truck, driven by Lather
Williams of Fort Pierce, St. Lucie,
Fla., was the first of two in a line
heading homeward after taking
produce to New York. The second
truck, with an employee of Wil
liams at the wheel, skidded some
distance as the driver braked
down desperately to avoid the
crash just^ahead. He missed plow
ing into Ledbetter’s car by just
(Continued on Page 8)
Chief Urges Care
A warning for extra care in
view of current dry conditions,
with especial precautions in re
gard to children at play, was
issued Thursday by Fire Chief
Harold B. Fowler.
His message followed a busy
week in which the volunteer fire
department was caUed cut on a
number of grass fires, of which at
least three were started by chil
dren.
This is dangerous at any time,
warned the Chief. However, grass
and trees are tinderbox diy fol
lowing a long drought, and, he
said, “we are lucky to have had
no serious disaster so far.”
The firemen went to a grass
fire during the past week on the
grounds of the William P. Saun
ders home, just behind the Buch-
holz home, where a pile of wood
was burned; another along a path
between Illinois and Indiana ave
nues, east of Broad street; two
fires in West Southern Pines
which got out of control as trash
or junk -was being burned; and
a grass fire in the 200 block of
East New Jersey avenue.
One or two of the alarms stack
ed up on each other. Once the
firemen had just returned and
were filling the tank when anoth
er alarm came in.
“Fortunately,” said Chief Fow
ler, “we have been able to get to
all these fires fast enough to pre
vent any real damage. We might
net be so lucky next time.”
Firesl Fires
The warning follo-wed that of Dis
trict Forester James A. Pippin of
Rockingham, who was in town
(Continued on Page 8)