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VOL. 35—NO. 34
Council To
A8kl()%Of
ABC Profit
Measure To Assure
Division To Go To
General Assembly
The town council voted Tuc's-
day night to accept an offer (f
the Moore County board of com
missioners and Alcoholic Bever
age Control board to give tin-
town of Southern Pines 10 per
cent yof the profits of the local
ABC store, provided a local bill
authorizing such a distribution is
adopted by the 1955 General As
sembly.
Under the agreement, the dis
tribution would be retroactive to
the beginning of the 1954-’55 fis
cal year on July 1. On the basis
of recent years’ sales, the 10 per
cent division would bring the
town about $10,000.
The town had asked lor 25 per
cent of the profit from the
Southern Pines store, a division
that was considered reasonable
in view of the proportion of
profits taken by municipalities
elsewhere under the ABC sys
tem.
Mayor L. T. Clark reported
that the offer of the board of
commissioners to agree to the 10
per cent division was made to
him recently by County Commis
sioners G. M. Cameron and J. M
Pleasants. Tbe county ^/officials
said that this was the only offer
they had been authorized to
make. The mayor said they re
ported that a larger allotment of
the ABC profits to Southern
Pines would mean that the coun
ty would have to increase its tax
rate. The greater part of ABC
profits from both the Southern
Pines and Pinehurst stores now
go for school construction.
A visitor at the meeting, Capt.
A. R. McDaniel, said that he
thought the town should hold out
for what it had asked for, 25
per cent of the profits, and get
all' that was asked for or nothing.
The councilmen, however, seem
ed to feel that the 10 per cent was
the best that could be hoped for
at present and that this was con
siderably more than the small
allotment the town has been re
ceiving from the ABC funds for,
law enforcement.
Plans were made by the coun
cil to confer with Aberdeen offi
cials about a proposal for zoning
outside ‘town limits—another
matter that would require action
by the 1955 General Assembly.
Some discussions of the matter
have already taken place with a
view to possible zoning to con
trol development along No. 1
highway, between Southern
(Continued on Page 8)
SOUTHERN PINES. NORTH CAROLINA. FRIDAY. JULY 16, 1954
General Jenkins Takes Over
As Commandant Of School
PRICE—TEN CENTS
f M. Gross, right, receives
frona Mayor Lloyd T. Clark a framed and sealed resolution by
the town council honoring the general for his cooperative serv-
ices to the town while he was commandant of the USAF Air-
Gt-ound School here. Presentation was made during an outdoor
program at the Southern Pines Country Club last Friday night.
(Dhoto by Emerson Humphrey)
General, Riding
In Engine, Given
Lively Send-Off
Brig. Gen. W. M. Gross, USAF,
ending a three-year tour as com
mandant of USAFAGOS, left for
his new assignment Tuesday
night riding high, Wide and hand
some in the cab of a diesel loco
motive.
Serviee Clubs of
Town Entertain
Gen. & Mrs. Gross
Miss Etbel Jones
Will Be Honored
Miss Ethel S. Jones, assistant
cashier of the Ctiizens Bank &
Trust Co., is retiring after more
than 40 years of continuous serv
ice to the institution, according vo
an announcement made this week
by N. L. Hodgkins, president.
Miss Jones, whose retirement
took effect July 15, will continue
to keep her home in Southern
Pines. She and her sister. Miss
Ella Jones, live at 130 N. Ashe St.
Mr. Hodgkins in his announce
ment praised Miss Jones for her
faithfulness and loyalty over a
long period of years. “To many of
our customers Miss Jones is the
bank, and she will be greatly
missed,” Mr. Hodgkins added.
The directors 'and staff of the
bank are planning a picnic supper
at Paint Hill Farm on Tuesday,
July 20, honoring Miss Jones.
Through special arrangements
made by local citizens who are
friends of the Seaboard Air Line,
“General Bill” was surprised to
find himself ushered onto the en
gine of The Pahnland, to “drive
the train” to Raleigh.
In a Pullman, where he was
to join her later, rode his wife
Ruth. From New York he will
fly to Germany Sunday, to his
new post as deputy commander
of the 12th Air Force. Mrs. Gross
will go to California, where their
two sons, Billy and Tommy, are
visiting her family, and they will
join General Gross at Ramstein,
Germany, within two or three
weeks.
At the station, to give their
former commandant and his lady
a real VIP send-off, was the en
tire staff of the USAF Air-
Ground Operations school, also a
large number of townspeople.
They waved small flags bearing
the letter “S,” replicas of the
“Sparkle flag” hoisted at the
Brig. Gen. -William M. Gross
who admitted that he has a “bad
case of Sandhills fever,” was hon
ored by civic clubs and other or
ganizations with an outdoor sup
per last Friday night at the Coun
try Club—along with Mrs. Gross
and other Air-Ground School of
ficers and their wives—before his
departure for Germany Tuesday.
He had commanded the USAF
Air-Ground Operations School in
the Highland Pines Inn for the
past three years.
While storm clouds rolled up in
the west and north, bringing
early darkness and a threat of
rain that held off until only min
utes after the crowd had broken
up, a bright half-moon could be
seen in and out of clouds in the
southeast behind the table where
General and Mrs,. Gross were
seated, flanked by Mayor and Mrs.
Lloyd T. Clark, the Rev. and Mrs.
C. V. Covell, and Mr. and Mrs.
David Gamble. Lights around
the picnic shelter were turned
on during the program. |
Mr. Gamble, president of the
Lions Club, presided diming the
brief program that followed
supper of fried chicken, baked
beans, slaw, corn on the cob,
hush puppies and iced tea. More’
Brig. Gen. Daniel W. Jenkins'^"
I became commandant of the's
I USAF Air-Ground Operations i
i School at the Highland Pines Inn '
; Monday, succeeding Brig. Gen.
! William M. Gross.
I General Jenkins comes t)
j Southern Pines from Ramstein,
^ Germany, where he was deputy
' commander and chief of staff foV
I the Twelfth Air Force. General
j Gross is succeeding him in this!
I position and is nc-w en route to
[ Germany after leaving- here
Tuesday night.
General Jenkins and his wife
who is the former Effie Murphy i
of Columbia, S. C., and their,
daughter, Patty Lynn, six and aj
half years old, arrived in South-
ern Pines last week. They are
now living, at the Southland Ho- '
tel until they find permanent
quarters.
General Jenkins was born in
Floydada, Texas, on August 5,
1907, and spent his early years
in the Lone Star State. He at
tended West Texas Teachers Col
lege and Texas Technological
College before entering flying
school at March and KeUy Fields
from which he graduated in 1929
as a second lieutenant and pilot.
During World War II, General
Jenkins’ assignments ranged from
service with the Air Training
Command, to a series of combat
assignments with the Eighth Air
Force, at that time stationed in
England. He was wounded in
combat over Belgium in a B-17
and was later a priso-ner-of-war
in Germany between August,
Bids Asked On Moore
Bridge, Highway Work
No. 1 Below
GENERAL JENKINS
Legion of Merit, the Air Medal,
and the Purple Heart.
A graduate of the Command
and General Staff School in
Leavenworth, Kansas, General
Jenkins’ post-war service inclu
ded assignment with the staff of
the National War College in
Washington, D. C., which was fol
lowed by duty in Germany as As
sistant Chief of Staff for Opera
tions with Twelfth Air Force
Headquarters in 1951.
General Jenkins was appointed
brigadier general in September,
1952, and soon after was desig
nated Deputy
Aberdeen To
Be Dual Lane
Two projects of wide interest
in this area qre among 53 on
Which the State Highway Com
mission asked for bids this week.
They are a new bridge over
the railrc'ad at Vass, and convert
ing No. 1 highway into a dual
lane road between Aberdeen and
Drowning Creek.
Contracts on the projects will
be let July 27 and Highway Com
missioners, including Forrest
Lockey of Aberdeen, Eighth Di
vision commissioner, will meet
at Raleigh July 29 to review the
low bids.
The No. 1 highway job calls
for 6.17 miles of grading, pav
ing and structunes from a point
just north of the Drowning Creek
bridge to Aberdeen. Under the
1 A - “—'I —Commander and
1943, and April- 1945. The 46-year Chief of Staff for the 'Twelfth Air
old general has been awarded the Force.
Corunty Budget Estimate Shows Big
Part Of Revenue Going To Schools
Tax Rate Remains
$1.35; Non-Tax
Revenue Is Lower
A summary of the Moore Coun
ty 1954-55 budget estimate, pub
lished elsewhere in today’s Pilot,
shows that a tax rate of $1.35 and
an estimated property valuation
school when some special than 200 persons filled to
achievement is to be recognized.
“Make it sparkle!” has been his
typical command.
A huge sign borne by four staff
members bore the words “Good
Luck!”
General Gross held a brief
review of the staff before the
train pulled in, and made a short
farewell speech. As The Palm
land departed with its new en
gineer, the crowd sang “Auld
Lang Syne.”
In the gathering was the new
commandant. Brig. Gen. Daniel
W. Jenkins, with his wife and
daughter. They mrived last
weekend from Germany, where
General Jenkins held the post
General Gross will assume.
SERMON TOPIC
The Rev. William H. Hill, in
terim pastor at the Church of
Wide Fellowship, will preach
Sunday morning at the 11 o’clock
service on the subject, “Until I
Went Into the Sanctuary.”
Grosses Express Appreciation
In a letter to Mayor Lloyd T.
Clark, Brig. Gen.* and Mrs. Wil-
liani M. Gross express their appre
ciation for the farewell dinner and
p^rogram given in their honor last
Friday.
The text of the letter follows;
“Before I depart from Southern
Pines, I want to thank you and
the Service and Civic Clubs of
Southern Pines for the very great
honor you bestowed upon me last
Friday.
Ruth and I have been station
ed in many places, but we have
never, and do not expect in the
future, to have the opportunity of
living in such a splendid commun
ity as this.
“We look foiVard to the day
when we can return to enjoy the
hospitality and friendship of you
and all the fine citizens of South
ern Pines. Please forward our
sincere thanks and best wishes to
Reverend CoveU, Mr. Gamble and
the participating Clubs.”
flowing the picnic tables of the
Southern Pines Country Club
that were ranged on the lawn
near the cocking and serving
shed. The occasion was informal
with military personnel dressed
in civilian clothes. General Gross
came in a boldly patterned color
ful short-sleeved sport shirt and
(Continued on page 8)
100 RECORDED
One hundred degrees was
the top reading Wednes
day on the official Weather
Bureau thermometer here, it
was reported by Mrs. T. A.
Kelley,, observer. Many per
sons said they felt the heat
more Wednesday than on
Sunday, June 27, when the
mercury hit 104.
Wednesday's heat was
more -noticeable, perhjaps,
because it followed by a few
days some of the pleasantest
and coolest weather of the
summer.
Thursday morning was
cloudy, breezy and much
cooler, afifording a welcome
relief after Wednesday's
heat. The combination of the
heat and the half-holiday
made Southern Pines down
town streets practically de
serted Wednesday afternoon/.
of $40,000,000—both the same as
last year—are expected to produce
$485,364 for the county from
taxes.
The theoretical amount that
could be produced by the tax levy
is $539,294, but uncollectible taxes,
commissions on collections and
taxpayers’ discounts are expected
to reduce this to the $485,364 fig
ure.
Taxes, however, are expected to
produce only a little more than
half the revenue that will keep
the governmental services of
Moore County operating through
the coming year.
Revenue “to be available other
than the tax levy” is estimated at
$483,278, bringing the amount
available for total budget require
ments to $968,642—about $40,000
less than total requirements for
last year.
Additional Revenue
Sources of the additional reve
nue other than taxes are chiefly
ABC store profits and lines and
Town Lake Now
Clear; Odor Not
From Any Sewer
Water at the town lake off Mid
land Road has cleared up and
swimming conditions there are
much improved, it was reported
this week by W. A. Leonard, adult
supervisor at the lake who is there
daily from 1 to 6 p.m., except
Monday.
Heavy rains at the end of June,
when surface run-off water was
deposited in the lake, caused the
water to become cloudy and cre
ated an odor from the water that
has now disappeared, Mr. Leonard
said.
The matter of the odor was
brought up at the town council
meeting Tuesday night by Harry
Menzel, a vistior at the meeting,
who reported that a rumor was
being circulated that the odor was
same contract the existing surface
of ,U. S. 1, which parallels the
new work, will also be paved.
Commissioner Lockey said this
week that it was found practical
to use the old No. 1 and buUd a
new road parallel to it, creating
a dual lane highway that will be
55 feet from center to center of
the two lanes between Aberdeen
and Pinebluff «nd 100 feet, center
to center, below Pinebluff to
Drowning Credk.
The new construction will go
no farther than Drowning Creek
at present, as a new bridge over
the creek is not included in the
present contract.
Going through Pinebluff, the
two lanes will merge to form a
single roadway 72 feet wide.
The lane to be constructed will
run all the way on the west side
of the present highway. This will
require moving several houses to
give adequate right-of-way for
the highway, Mr. Lockey said.
Also included in the projects
on which bids are asked is hard-
surfacing the “old” Southern
Pmes-Pinehurst road, which
leaves Southern Pines at the
baseball park and enters Pine
hurst at the stables.
A bridge over Bear Creek on
NC 705 near the north city limits
of Robbins is the fourth Moore
County project on which bids
were asked this week.
17-Year-Old Held
For 3 Break-Ins
On No. 1 Highway
He
from a broken sewer line,
pointed out—cind this was con
firmed by Town Manager Tom E.
Cunningham—that there is no
sewer line near the lake that could
break. The odor that had been
noticed there was from vegetation
in the water after very heavy
rains, it was decided.
A test was made of the water
about June 1 and again while the
water was not clear and there was
an odor from it, around the end
of June. According to County
Sanitarian E. T. Dunn, these tests
both showed the lake safe for
swimming, it was reported at the
town office.
Jimmy Menzel, lifeguard at the
lake, is on duty from 1 to 6 p.m.,
daily. There are three picnic ta-
forfeitures in Moore County re- ' bles available and soft drinks
2,000 I>OUNDS TOBACCO PER ACRE?
corders court. ABC profits are
declining over the state and the
revenue in Moore County to be
derived from other, than the tax
levy is estimated for the coming
year at over $100,000 less than it
(Continued on Page 5)
Irrigation Opens New World Of Farming
be purchased there.
can
Irrigation is proving its worth
in Sandhills farming and may lead
to vast improvements in produc
tion of tobacco, peaches and pos
sibly other crops, E. H. Garrison,
Moore County farm agent, said
this week. '
Citing the experience of a half
dozen Moore farmers who have
irrigation systems now operating
on their land, Mr. Garrison said
the possibilities of irrigation ap
pear unlimited.
The process, which pumps wa
ter from farm storage ponds
through light aluminum piping
that can be taken up and re-in
stalled at a desired location quick
ly, may lead to production of 2,000
pounds of tobacco per acre, the
farm agent said. ’
According to J. A. Kelly of the
Soil Conservation Service offi6e
he and SCS County Supervisor
Bill Austin are busy helping a
number of Moore farmers plan the
construction of farm ponds that
will be used for irrigation pur
poses.
“We seem to be in a dry weath
er cycle,” Mr. Kelly said. “Farm
ers are realizing that they can af
ford irrigation if it will produce
for them larger peaches and keep
their tobacco from drying up, giv
ing them increased yields and bet
ter prices.”
Irrigation requires a source of
water not too far from the fields
to be treated, and, at present, it
requires a considerable outlay of
money for pumps, pipe, sprinkler
heads and other equipment.
Typical of the systems is one
on the Herman Matthews place at
Clay Road Farms,’ costing about
$6,000, with which Mr. Matthews
is irrigating about 20 acres of to
bacco. The system treats about
two and a quarter acres at one
time, Mr. Garrison said. In three
hours it will put one inch of wa
ter on an acre of land. The
pump’s motor burns about three
gallons of gasoline per hour.
On the John Blue farm
Carthage a system costing about of water
dM Ciori. ®
on seven
success
$1,&0(>. is'being used
acres of tobacco.
Both operators report
with their efforts.
Contrast in size ,of irrigation
systems is shown by the big sys
tem used by Howard Harrison of
Eagle Springs on a peach orchard.
It uses a 125 horsepower motor,
while the system at the Blue farm
uses a 25 horsepower motor. Farm
Agent Garrison says studies are
being made in use of autofhobile
and tractor motors for irrigation
pumping and thinks that develop-
along this line may soon
bring the procedures within the
financial reach of many more
farmers.
Other farmers in Moore County
using irrigation include A. A.
Goolsby near Union Church who
has been irrigating for two years
or more; J. D. Parker at Eagle
Springs; and Clyde Auman of
West End.
Irrigation is being used even
more extensively in Lee County,
it is reported. One Lee County
man has come to Moore County to
irrigate a farm here on a rental
\
A 17-year-old youth, Robert
Charles Wells of Perkinsville, N.
Y., is in Carthage jail in default
icf $1,500 bond for breaking into
three business places along US
Highway 1 early Sunday morning.
Officers H. F. Chandler and
Drake Rogers spotted him in Fer
guson’s Sandwich Shop at the
northern city limits while on rou
tine patrol, and caught him as he
came out of the back door. He
had gained entrance by breaking
a window.
Monday, it was found that the
Dairy Mart near Lakeview and
Danny s Grill near Cameron had
also been broken into. Wells, then
in jail, admitted this was his
work. Fingerprints taken by the
SBI at each place corroborated
his story.
Visiting the places with Chiei
C. E. Newton, Wells demonstrated
just how he had broken in. He
had secured a total of a little
over $4 in change from his night’s
work.
The car he was using, which
bore a Pennsylvania licesse, ’he
said at first belonged to his broth
er but he later admitted he had
stolen it while making his way
fromi New York toward Florida.
At a hearing in Carthage, bond
of $500 was set on each of three
counts for his appearance in su
perior court. He could not make
bond and remains in jail at Carth
age. The car will be turned over
to Pennsylvania authorities. Chief
Newton said.
Dr.
on an acre of land for $25. The
rental system may help to extend
use of irrigation also. Garrison
thinks.
The farm agent sees irrigation
as one of the most interesting and
promising developments in the i
county’s farming.
DR. PHILLIPS
WITH HOSPITAL -
Charles A. S. Phillips, native
of Chatham County and a
1938 gradu»te of Southern
Pines High School, has joined
the staff of Moore County
Hospital, specializing in urol
ogy. He is a Phi Beta Kappa
graduate of the University of
North Carolina and received
his medical degree from
Northwestern University, Chi-
cago. He and his family are
living in the former Frank
Buchan home at the comer of
Ashe St., and Massachusetts
Ave.
Fire Destroys
Aberdeen Plant
Early Sunday
Fire of undetermined origin
destroyed the “Linen White”
washing solution manufacturing
plant near Aberdeen on the Rose-
land road early Sunday morning.
Robert N. Page, Jr., who oper
ated the plant as Robert N. Page
Co., Inc., estimated the loss at
about $25,000. The building was
partially covered by insurance,
it was reported, although the
contents were not insured.
The Page company had resunk
ed operation of the plant only a
few weeks ago, after having re
gained ownership of the concern
from a group to which the plant
had been sold a few years ago. It
had been operated by the pur
chasing group as Linen White
Inc.
The original portion of the
building was built by M. L. Pon
der in 1938. After acquiring the
business, Mr. Page made two addi
tions to the structure in 1944,
making it a building of about 9(j
by 100 feet in size.