PARTY LEADERS—As Moore County Demo-
crats gathered with distinguished guests at the,
Carolina Hotel in Pinehurst Saturday night for
a 1954 victory rally, the speakers’ table in the
background revealed, left to right: U. S. Senator
Kerr Scott; W. Lamont Brown of Southern
Pines, chairman of the Moore Democratic Exec
utive committee; Adlai E. Stevenson, former
Democrats of County Host To Croup
Of Distinguished Party Members
governor of Illinois and 1952 Democratic presi
dential candidate; N. C. Gov. Luther H. Hodges;
Voit Gilmore of Southern Pines, president of the
Moore County Young Democrats; and U. S. Rep.
C. B. Deane of Rockingham. In the foreground,
are, left to right; Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Ernest L.
Ives who is Stevenson’s sister; Mrs. Hodges- and
Mrs. Gilmore. (Photo by Hemmer)
Gov. Hodges Greets
Adlai Stevenson At
Pinehurst Dinner
The Moore County Democrat
ic Victory Rally last Saturday
night, planned for some time as
a simple event for post-election
fun, was lifted into the realm of
historic occasions by last-jmin-
ute developments.
It became the scene of the
first official meeting and greet
ing of the nation’s first Demo
crat, Adlai Stevenson, and the
State’s chief executive, Luther
H. Hodges, who was sworn in as
less than two weeks
Stevenson Says
Goodbye To ‘All
My N.C. Friends’
Adlai Stevenson left Tuesday
morning, following a nine-day
Sandhills vacation, with a general
goodbye for “all'my North Caro
lina friends, and my thanks for
letting me have the kind of rest
and vacation I wanted and need
ed.”
The period spent ’ visiting at
Paint Hill Farm, his sister’s home,
with hunting and seeing friends
as his main occupations, was, he
said, “a truly delightful one.” He
says he intends to return next
year, probably in the spring.
The Democratic party leader
went with his brother-in-law and
sister, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Ives,
Tuesday morning to Raleigh,
where h'e took a plane at the Ral-
eigh-Durham airport to return to
Chicago. He is setting up his law
office there, with plans to enter
the practice of law, "as I have
been unemployed long enough
and have to get back tb making
a living.”
On his last day he spent the
morning at Paint HiU Farm work
ing on his papers. Mr. and Mrs.
Fielding Frye of Greensboro were
luncheon guests. In the afternoon
he went duck hunting in Cumber
land County with June Johnson,
John McCain and a Mr. Upchurch
and his son. Again their quarry
proved elusive—he has bagged
just one wild duck, in a week of
hunting—but, he said, he had a
wonderful time anyway. “I saw a
(Continued on Page 8)
COURT OF HONOR
A court of honor for all
Boy Scout units of Moore
County will be held at the
High School auditorium in
Robbins Monday at 7:30 p. m.,
it was announced this week
by Lawrence Johnson of
A^rdeen, advancement
chairman for the Moore Dis
trict. Award of merit badges
and advancements in rank
will be made. Parents are
attend with Scouts.
There will be two Eagle
Scout awards.
Governor
ago.
First, Stevenson, vacationing
with his sister, Mrs. Ernest Ives
and her husband at their farm
home near Southern Pines ac
cepted the invitation to attend
on the premise that it would be
a “simple, informal affair” and
that no extra fuss would be
made over him.
Governor Hodges also accepted,
on condition that there be no ad
vance publicity nor fanfare, in
view of the fact that heavy bur
dens of State and the period of
mourning for Governor Umstead
were causing him to turn down
all other invitations for a month
cr more.
Guest List Lengthens
“No crowds—^no speeches” was
part of the condition both made.
Yet, as the guest list lengthened,
this became harder and harder for
local party leaders to achieve.
The rally was set for the Crys
tal Room at the Carolina Hotel,
Pinehurst, Saturday night. Top
capacity was said to be 80 people,
yet a few more chairs were jam
med in as the tickets—placed on
sale Thursday morning at $7.50
apiece — were oversold within
five hours.
It turned out to be a brilliant
affair long to be remembered in
Moore County annals, yet keep
ing well to the warm and friend
ly spirit of the simple county-
level function originally planned
Sponsored jointly by the Moore
County Democratic committee
and YDC, it had two leaders
sharing introductory honors, W
Lamont Browni, c|cunty Demo-
(Continued on page 13)
THANKSGIVING
Thanksgiving highlighis:
• General holiday here and
throughoul Ihe counfy.
Thursday.
Church services — Union
services at Church of Wide
Fellowship 8 p. m. Wednes
day, and al Pinehurst Com
munity Church Thursday, 10
a. m. Communion service at
Emmanuel Episcopal Church
here, 10 a. m. Thursday.
Schools — Out Wednesday
noon, with students due back
Monday morning.
Post office-—one window
open, 10 to 11 a. m. Thursday.
No city delivery. Mail dis
tributed to boxes as usual.
Town —I offices closed, no
garbage collection Thursday.
The Pilot—out Wednesday,
closed Thursday.
Hospital Reaches
25-Year Mark; To
Have Open House
Moore County Hospital, where
there have been more than 60,000
patients since it was opened in
1929, marks its 25th anniversary
Thursday.
Progress and growth of the hos
pital are described in a four-page
illustrated “silver anniversary edi
tion” of the Moore County Hospi
tal News that is being mailed out
to many of the county’s residents,
along with a letter from J. M.
Taylor of Aberdeen, hospital pres
ident, pointing out growth of the
institution, soliciting continued
financial aid and inviting the pub
lic to the Silver Anniversary Open
House at the hospital Sunday from
1 to 5 p.m.
The Hospital Auxiliary is in
charge of this event which will
feature a display of unusual and
valuable silver. Members of the
Auxiliary—of which Mrs. Law
rence Johnson of Aberdeen is
president—will conduct tours to
various parts of the building. Re-
freshments will be served.
Included in the silver to be dis-
(Continued on Page 8)
New Christmas
Lights Program
Being Planned
more beautiful Christmas
program^ calling for par
ticipation of all downtown mer
chants, is being sponsored this
season by the Southern Pines
Chamber of Commerce, with Mrs.
Jean Edson as chairman.
The first stage is already under
way, with the stringing of Christ
mas lights along three central
blocks of the business district,
These will be turned on early
next week, ushering in the holi
day season.
The second stage, in which
merchants will cooperate wiU call
for the placing of small Christ
mas trees along the curbs of the
business blocks, to be decorated
with colored lights. These are to
be placed in the four flagpole
holders along each block, and
lighted. Extension cords may be
use4 to attach the lights to the
decorative strings above.
The third stage will be the in
stallation of a beautiful and un
usual lighted display on the town
park. This is now being readied
by John Tullett, talented director
of training aids at the USAF Air
Ground Operations school, and is
expected to be one of the most
(Continued on Page 5)
County Home Is
Closed As ‘Poor
House’ Facility
7 Persons Formerly
There Now Living
In Boarding Homes
The Moore County < Home be
tween Southern^ Pines and Car
thage has been closed as a “poor
house” type of institution for the
aged and infirm and the seven
former occupants are now estab
lished in several boarding homes
over the county.
Gordon M. Cameron of Pine
hurst, chairman of the board of
county commissioners, said this
week that the board hopes the
new arrangement can be perma
nent. It has been well received
at the start, he said, and the com
missioners feel that it will be
more acceptable than the old sys
tem to the general public, as weU
as to the persons involved.
The action followed months of
debate and study touched off by
this newspaper’s investigation of
the home that revealed a number
of bad conditions and point
ed out that operation of the home
at a cost of $12,000 or more an
nually was economically unsound
and afforded poor value for the
funds spent.
At the August term of Superior
Court the grand jury, in its report
to Judge Francis O. Clarkson,
termed the cost of operating the
county home excessive, in view of
the number of inmates, and rec
ommended that a member of the
board of commissioners appear
before the grand jury at its next
regular session—which would be
in January—to dis.uss the prob
lem.
The State Welfare Department
has for some years been recom
mending that counties abandon
the poor house system of care for
the aged and incompetent and use
privately operated boarding
homes. The proposal had been
made in Moore County before this
year, but had previously brought
no action by the commissioners.
In recent months, the commis
sioners investigated possibility of
renovating the county home so
that it could be leased to an indi
vidual for operation as a boarding
home, but rejected the plan as
costing more to make the im
provements than could be provid
ed in this fiscal year’s budget, al
though the county home budget
of $15,000 contained about $3 000
extra for this purpose. Bringing
the structure up to meet State
standards for nursing homes
would cost $7,000 or $8,000 it was
estimated.
Then followed the plan to put
the inmates in several small
boarding homes over the county
Occupants, Moved ,
Last week the five white occu
pants of the home were moved.
(Continued on page 8)
Blue Knights Win Eastern Title;
Playing For State Championship
Defeat Bath ^ Injuries Are
28-18 In
Rough Game
Two lightning strikes through
the air, plus a running attack lit
tle short of brilliant enabled
Southern Pines to defeat a rugged
Bath High team here Friday night
28 to 18 to win the Eastern six-
man football title.
Outweighed 15 pounds to the
man in the line and spotting a
weight advantage of 10 pounds to
the Bath team in the backfield,
the Blue Knights looked to be in
for a rough evening at the hands
of the visitors.
Although the locals won by a
two-tcuchdown margin, the game
was in doubt until the last two
minutes and the victory cost the
Blue Knights their triple threat
star tailback, Johnny Watkins,
and Garland Pierce, outstanding
lineman, due to injuries. Wlatkins
was injured early in the first
quarter and although he came
back to throw two touchdown
passes, later reports indicated he
had received a knee injury.
Pierce received a bad knee in
jury late in the first period and
was used only sparingly the re
mainder of the game.
Coach Bunk Leonard said late
Tuesday that Watkins and Pierce
“would see limited action, if any”
in the State championship gaime
with Old Town at Winston-Salem
(Continued on Page 5)
PASTOR—Newly assigned
to the Southern Pines Meth
odist Church is the Rev. Rob
ert L. Bame, a native of Row
an County who has been in
the ministry 11 years. With
his wife, thd former Helen
Butner of Kinston, and son,
Bobby, he is living at the
church parsonage, 435 North
Ashe St.
Horse Shows To
Open Sunday With
Pinehurst Event
BasketbaR Gets
Started; Lions To
Push Ticket Sale
Gymkhanas and schooling horse
shows, which are becoming in
creasingly popular in the Sand
hiUs, will open for the 1954-55
season with the Annual Gymk
hana and Pet Show at the Caro
lina Hotel riding ring Sunday at
1:30 p.m.
■Pets of all descriptions may be
entered, while the gymkhana will
follow regulations drawn up last
Friday at an informal meeting of
several members of the Mid-South
Horse Show Association at the
Brewster Stables near Southern
Pines.
Coming events on the show
schedule are a show in the ring
of Mrs. Mary Doyle of Southern
Pines December 12 and the Mid
Winter Horse Show at the Caro
lina Hotel ring December 26.
At the Friday meeting, tentative
rules for children’s classes were
drawn up and a point system was
(Continued on Page 8)
With the girls working out for
the past week and the bo^s due
to start practice Monday, South
ern Pines High School is swinging
into its basketball season.
Coach W. A. Leonard said that
the teams will face Farm Life
School, at Carthage, 'Thursday
December 2 in the season open
ers.
First home games will be with
Robbins December 10.
Ten home games are on the
season schedule which, will be
published in an early edition of
The Pilot.
Lions Selling Tickets
The Lions Club will take over
sale of adult season tickets, start
ing Saturday. Tickets for the 10
home games will be sold for $3—
a saving of $2 over the admission
price for the 10 games on an in
dividual basis of 50 cents per
game.
Student season tickets will be
sold at the school for $1—a
saving of $1.50 over the $2.50 it
would cost students to see the 10
games at 25 cents each.
The Pilot will again this year
carry weekly round-ups of all
Moore County basketball con^
tests.
Gen. Jenkins To
Speak To Lions
Handicap In
Wed. Contest
(Editor’s note: Although
this newspaper is dated Fri-
day, it is published Wednes
day afternoon this week be
cause of the Thanksgiving
holiday, making it impossible
to carry a report of Wednes
day night’s state six-man
football game at Winston-
Salem).
Coaches Irie and W. A. Leonard
took their Eastern six-man cham
pions to Winston-Salem Wednes
day to play Old Town High
School for the state title under
lights in Bowman Gray Stadium.
The Blue Knights go into the
contest, said Head Coach Irie
Leonard Tuesday, “in the worst
physical condition we’ve been in
for a game in several years—but
we’ll show,” he added with de
termination in which the South
ern Pines squad members .shnrod,
“and we’ll play a ball game, too.”
A large contingent of local
folks were planning to be on hand
at Winston-Salem to root for the
Blue Knights in the top six-man
contest of the year. One group of
30 or more fans chartered a bus
for the trip.
The Panthers of Old Town won
their berth in the Stadium with
a 26-18 victory over Scotts High
School last Friday—while the
Blue Knights were slugging out
a 28-18 win over Bath on Mem
orial Field here.
Old Town is a rural and sub
urban school near Winston-Salem,
with a student body of some 300,
about twice the number of stu
dents here. Old Town defeated
Southern Pines for the state six-
man championship last year, 44-
30.
An interesting sidelight on the
game is that Old Town High
School is due to be consolidated
with another school at the end
of this school year. Its team is
playing its last contest of this or
any other year on Wednesday.
As noted in another story in
today’s Pilot Johnny Watkins and
Garland Pierce are the worst in
jured local first stringers. Billy
Cox, with a Charley horse, is “on
the doubtful list,” coaches say,
for participation in Wednesday’s
game.
License Plates
To Go On .Sale
Bob Is Safe As Hunling Begins
Brig. Gen. Daniel W. Jenkins,
commandant of the USAF Air-
Grouhd Operations School, will
address the Lions Club Friday
when it has its regular bi-weekly
dinner meeting in the Country
Club at 7 p. m.
Making his first appearance be
fore a Southern Pines civic club
assumed command at
USAFAGOS last summer. Gen
eral Jenkins wiU speak on the
Air Force’s role in national se
curity. J
“Bob,” pet quail at the R.
C. (Cliff) J ohnson home.
Highway 1, north, prepares to
nibble a Thanksgiving feast
of grass seeds, while perched
on his owner’s shoulder, se
cure in the knowledge he is
one bob-white that isn’t go
ing to be shot at when the
quail season opens Thanks
giving Day (November 25),
One of several tame quail
Mr. Johnson has raised. Bob
is a privileged character who
has the of the house and
follows his Owner around re
sponding intelligently and af-
amusement
fording much
with his antics.
Also opening Thanksgiving
Day are hunting seasons on
rabbit (through January 31),
squirrel (^through January 15)’
wild turkey and pheasant
(both to run through January
31). Hunting hours are from
sunrise to sunset each day
except Sunday.
Copies of full hunting and
fishing regulations are avail
able from hunting and fish
ing license agents throughout
the county.
North Carolina auto license
plates for 1955 will go on sale
Wednesday morning, December
1, at the office of tjie Southern
Pines Chamber of Commerce in
the Southland Hotel, 155 W. New
Hampshire Ave.
Southern Pines town tags, re
quired by law for every resident
motorist, will also be sold there,
through an arrangement made
with the Chamber by the Town.
Extra help has been secured by
the Chamber to serve during the
next two months, so that every
one may be served promptly. Miss
Susan Chatfield will assist Miss
Alice Baxter, Chamber secretary,
in the sale.
Hours WiU be 9 a. m. to 4 p. m.
daily except Wednesday and Sat
urday, when a half-day closing
IS observed. The office will close
from 4 to 5 p. m. for the making
up of the daily report, under
state regulations.
J. Earle Parker, Chamber
chairman of the auto license
sales bureau, suggests that 1955
car tags be purchased early, for
better, service. “Get yours early
and you won’t have to wait in
line,” he said.
Two plates are being used in
North Carolina this year, instead
of one, for the first time since the
days of the wartime steel short
age. They must be on every car,
track, trailer and motorcycle by
February 1.
3 Killed Friday
Night In Crash
Of Helicopt er
An Army helicopter crashed in
the Black Rock community, about
five miles southwest of Carthage,
last Friday night, killing the three
occupants, including one of the
Army’s first paratroopers.
Ft. Bragg authorities identified
the dead as Col. James A. Bas
sett, 39, a member of the Army’s
first airborne organization; W. O.
(j- g.) James Thomas Hampton,
28, pilot, and W. O. (j.g.) Lewis
Heinriches, 27, co-pilot.
The officers were retimiing to
Ft. Bragg after Col. Bassett had
represented Maj. Gen. Joseph P.
Cleland, Ft. Bragg commanding
general, at the dedication of a
$110,000 National Guard Armory
in Lexington.
Heard Explosion
Alvin Williams, a farmer, said
he heard the helicopter pass over
(Continued on Page 8)
CAUTION URGED
CpL M. S. Parvin. Highr
way Patrol chiof in Moore
County, said that all patrol
men in the county would be
on duty over the Thanksgiv
ing holiday, using mechanical
speed checking equipment
and patrolling highways in
an all-out effort to prevent
motor vehicle accidents. The
patrol corporal urged motor
ists to watch out for children
who will be out of school for
the week-end and to use ex
tra caution on the highways.
Servicemen hurrying home or
back to their posts in automo
biles are'an added highway
hazard, he pointed out.