North Carolina Newspapers

k SLOW DOWN AND UVE! HELP STOP HIGHWAY DEATHS SLOW DOWN AND LIVE! HELP STOP HIGHWAY DEATHS Town CouncilEndorses Natural Gas Proposal But Doesn’t Conunit Town To Any Action . ■/ ««■ The possibility of Southern Pines’ deriving revenue from a natural gas installation, while bringing this new low-cost fuel to town, was spread before the town councilmen Tuesday night. While admitting the prospect was pleasing, the three council- men present went along with Mayor Gilmore in limiting their plans at the present to a possible endorsement of a natural gas line to the State Utilities Commission. “Bringing natural gas to the area will certainly mean progress, and we can . join other towns in endorsing it, while not obligating ourselvee,” said Mayor Gilmore, who said he wmuld send a letter CLARK RESIGNS to the State Utilities Commission, and if possible get up a delega tion, for its hearing on the mat ter to be held October 20 in Ra leigh at 10 a. m. The hearing will be in the library of the State Util ities Commission building. Map Displayed Russell Matherne, representing Pcrter, Barry and Associates, con sulting engineers, of Baton Rouge, La., presented before the council a map showing the route of the proposed pipe line which would open up the central North Caro lina area for natural gas from the Texas oil fields. Thb Piedmont area has had natural gas for two years, and planned extensions will take it to other areas of the State. Matherne explained the plan by which many municipalities are boosting their revenue through self-operation of their natural gas lines, or through franchising pri vate concerns to operate them. The plan starts with a bond is sue to cover all costs, returning revenue while it liquidates itself over a 20-year period. For a town the size of Southern Pines the bond issue would be, he estimated, about $800,000 or $900,000, a fig ure which caused his hearers t blink. This would provide che complete installation, with pres sure-regulating equipment, lines all over town and to e^ch home desiring it (at an average length to be determined—possibly 75 feet), also all engineering costs in volved. , Operation is simple, he said, and operation costs low, particu larly where the municipality al ready owns its own water works as some of the procedures can be combined. Revenue Producer For the installation, he said, the town would gain a new revenue- producing utility, and the home owners would have a modern fuel, one of the cheapest and most efficient in the world, for cooking, space heaters, hot water heaters and certain other appliances. He cited Lexington as a town (Continued on Page 5) Amerotron Offices Concentrated At Aberdeen; Power Costs ‘Excessive’ Huffines Also ^ Richardson Appointed To Council Seat ^am B. Richardson, local real estate man and a mayor of Southern Pines more than 25 years ago, was sworn in Wednes day morning as a new member , of the town council to fill the un- expired term of L. T. Clark, mayor during the term 1953-55. Mr. Clark submitted his resig nation from the council last Fri day, effective at once.. While no reason was given in his letter of resignation addressed to Town Clerk Louis Scheipers, his ap pointment as a justice of the peace was also revealed last week, and he has told friends he plans # to assume duties as a magistrate after a short vacation. In announcing the resignation of Mr. Clark from the Council, Mayor Gilmore spoke of the re tiring councilman’s service and requested Mrs. Clark, who was present, to convey to him the good wishes of the entire board on hi? new appointment. “We wish him good luck,’’ he said. “Please tell him.” 9 In Mr. Clark’s letter, read to the council by the clerk, 'the resigning councilman expressed his tha’nks Anmial and appreciation to the council, itieeting town manager and other officials, also the people of Southern Pines for the cooperation and assistance given him as council member and mayor. Mr. Clark has stated that he was under doctor’s orders to “take oH easy,” and has put his funeral business up for sale. He plans to put more time, he said, on his 'real estate and insurance activi ties, which have hitherto been sidelines. While he has not been active in town government in recent years, Mr. Richardson in former years served seven years as mayor and about eight years as a member of ^the town board of commissioners. He at one tikne also served a year as chairman of the school board. His record of public service, therefore, is one of the longest of any resident of the town and he helped guide the town through its period of expansion and devel opment from World War 1 to the (Continued on page 5) YDC AWARDS—Congressman C, B. Deane, right, congratu lates Volt Gilmore, president of the Moore County YDC last year, on the club’s winning the award for best dub program in the state during 1954-55. Left, W. Lament Brown, chairman of the Moore County Democratic executive committee, admires one of the two tro- floating, the other permanent—awarded at the state YDC convention at Durham October 1. The Moore County YDC program during Gilmore’s admin istration was highlighted by a dinner meeting held at Pinehurst in the fall, with Adlai Stevenson and Gov. Luther S Hodges as honor guestS’ and a rally at Carthage in the spring at which John D. Larkins, State Democratic chairman, was speaker Both were attended by many notables of hte YDC and senior party. (Photo by V. Nicholson). Tennis Group Sets Rummage Sale, A rummage sale for benefit of the Sandhills Tennis Association will be conducted at the Straka Build ing on N. E. Broad St. from 9 a. m. to 6 p. m. Saturday and the Association will hold its annual meeting and election of officers Tuesday. Norris L. Hodgkins, Jr., presi dent of the association, asks that anyone wanting to give items for the rummage sale get in touch with Mrs. Danny Devins, Mrs. Kim MacKie or Mrs. N. L. Hodg kins, Jr. The dutch dinner meeting of association members is to be held at Dante’s Restaurant at 7 p. m. Whit Cobb of Durham, president of the N. C. Tennis Association and tennis coach at Duke Uni versity, wiU be a guest. Election of officers for the com ing year will be on the informal program. Town Not Able To Finance Rotary Party For Children The town council, expressing much regret, Tuesday night in regular session had to turn down the Southern Pines Rotary club’s request that financing for the an nual , community Hallowe’en party come out of ■town recrea tion funds. They said it couldn’t be afforded from this year’s bud get. J. B. Perkinson, Rotary presi dent, made an eloquent appeal for town aid for the party, which he said was now serving 1,000 to 1,500 children, and had far out grown the treasury of the spon soring Rotarians. He said the Rotary members would continue supervision, con tribute to certain phases of the entertainment and use their props” already on hand. He pointed out that the carnival- style event is not only valuable recreation for children and young people, but a practical aid to mer chants and home owners in sub stituting wholesome activity for traditional mischief. Perkinson estimated the need at $225 for the East Southern Pines celebration, and “about half that” for West Southern Pines where a smaller party, to ward which the Rotary club has been donating funds, is held. Consulted by Mayor Voit Gil- (Continued on Page 8) Maxwell, Who Shot Sheriff, Held In Bond of $10,000 Seventy-two-year old Gentry Maxwell of near Carthage, who fired a shotgun blast that pepper ed the face and neck of Sheriff C. J. McDonald and blew the hat off Deputy Sheriff A. W. Lam bert last Saturday morning, was in jail in default of $10,000 bond this week. Bond of $5,000 on each of two counts against Maxwell was set in a hearing before Magistrate Charles McLeod of Carthage on Monday. He is charged with se cret assault and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting, injuries. Maxwell, the sheriff recalled, is one of the first men he had to ar rest when he took office more than 25 years ago. And the arrests have been continuing at intervals during the past quarter century for such offenses as beating his wife, drunken driving and others. In the Saturday shooting, the sheriff’s injuries were superficial and he was soon back on duty af ter treatment at a physician’s of fice. None of the peUets struck his eyes. He had turned his head by chance when the shot was fir ed from the Maxwell house, one half mile out of Carthage, as he. Deputy Lambert and ABC Officer Hits ‘Phone Service Here 'The Aberdeen plant has been chosen for the location of all ad ministrative work of the manu facturing and accounting depart ments of Amerotron Corporation, giant textile firm with four mills in this area. This was the big news emerging from the conference of all heads of departments and officials of the company meeting at the Mid Pines Club over the past week end. About 90 executives attend ed the convention. Announcement of the decision to concentrate these important parts of the whole here, was made by R. L. Huffines, president, at a press conference held before buffet lunch at the hotel Friday. Mr. Huffines said that the Sandhills location had been chos en largely for geographical rea- Mostly on the young side, these sons. Aberdeen, a convenient com- came from the many textile munications center, is about at the heart of the textile company’s field of operations, which stretch es from Maine to Georgia. Products On Display For the benefit of admiring gazers, there was on display in the hotel lounge an exhibit con taining all varieties of Amerotron products, both synthetics and fine woolens, while in the main .plants located here and in other states. A large group of execu tives from the main c-ffice in New York had arrived by the morning train and were spending a week end of conferences and inspections of the plants in the area, as well as enjoying some Sandhills golf and fine weather. Gathered in the sunny lounge, a press group heard the pres- reception room was a cheerful I ident describe the state of things crowd of men, all executives of in his company as of the present, the company’s different branches. I (Continued on Page 12) CP&L PRESIDENT SPEAKS HERE Sutton Says Huffines Power Cost Figures inconceivable^ Speaking before a group of^" ^ businessmen, assembled in con-,Ptron, textile company with four vention at the Mid Pines Club to- plants in this area. Mr. Huffines day, Louis V. Sutton, president | had voiced criticism of the local of Carolina Power and Light utilities rate. Blue Knights Beat Curry, Face Tough Aberdeen Friday The Homecoming Game last Frida/ dight for the Southern Pines High Blue Knights was a huge success as they smashed the visitors from Gtreensboro, _ the Curry High Phantoms, 52-22. Coach Irie Leonard’s Blue Knights have thus far on the Rea son bowled over five opponents with wide-margin wins in each game and so far have not met any serious threat to the six-man foot ball championship title which they are defending. Their most serious challenge to a repeat championship this sea son will ceme up Friday at 8 p. m, when the charges of Coach Hugh Bowman of Aberdeen High arrive on the scene at Memorial Field. The winner of this game has every reason to move on to the state title. It was the same situa tion last season at this time when Southern Pines pulled, one out of the fire in the last four seconds of the game to defeat Aberdeen. An other thriller is on tap for this week. ' Aberdeen Undefeated Aberdeen comes into the game undefeated, having beaten five opponents as impressively as the Blue Knights have won their vic- (Continued on page 8) Company, took sharp issue with a statement made last week by R. L. Huffines, president of Amer- RETURN TO PINEHURST Gen. and Mrs. George C. Mar shall, after spending the summer at their Leesburg, Va., home with C. A McCallum approached the the exception of a month spent at Richards To Build More Houses For Sale, Group Told E. N. Richards, head of the Richards Building Co., of Raleigh, told members of the town’s hous ing committee Saturday that he plans to build eight or 10 houses soon in the Knollwood Apart ments area. The builder’s plans were re vealed at a luncheon meting of the committee with Mr. Richards at the Mid Pines Club. Mr. Rich ards is 'developer, builder and owner of the Knollwood Apart- nients and has built and sold eight single family dwellings in the same area. Norris L. Hodgkins, Jr., chair man of the housing committee, said Mr. Richards described the planned homes as three-bedroom houses, with one and a half or two baths, selling in the $10,000 to $16,000 price range. Mr. Hodgkins was recently chosen chairman of the commit tee whose other members are Mayor Gilmore, James Boyd, J. E. Causey and George H. Leon ard, Jr. The local housing committee was chosen after a town-sponsor ed meeting of realtors, builders and other interested persons to discuss a current shortage of (Continued on Page 8) dwelling to arrest Maxwell (Continued on page 8) on Eaglesmere, Pa., returned this I week to their home in Pinehurst. LOCAL DEPARTMENT OBSERVES FIRE PREVENTION WEEK Parade, Open House At Fire Station Slated Saturday TODAY'S PILOT ^ PICTURES LOST Several photos slated to ap pear in today's Pilot were lost somewhere between here and Rockingham wherp they were sent by mail Tuesday to bo made into plastic en gravings to use in the paper today. Included in the package, which neyer reached the en graver's, Tile Pilot discover ed after the cuts did not show up in this morning's mniL were photos of Southern Pines firo trucks, to go with the Firs Prevention Week feature o;i this page; a picture of the Homecoming Queen and judges taken at last Fri day sdghi's football game, a photo of three football play- ' ers and others.. Tract On Highway 1 Sold For New Phillips Station Prospects for the building of another large service station on US Highway 1 South, midway between Southern Pines and Aberdeen, were seen with an nouncement by L. T. Clark this week of the sale of a tract to a Phillips Petroleum Co. represen tative. Hobby Bums of Sanford, dis tributor for Phillips 66 prcducts, has purchased the “Klabbatz cor ner” with 214 feet frontage for $6,500. It is c xpected that Phillips’ best type of station will be built there. The tract is some 200 yards north, and oh the same side Of the highway, as the old sandpit tract bought last May by the Esso Must to display the fire depart- otandard Oil Co. for a service I ment but to remind people here station and other uses. that fire takes a huge and largely This is Fire Prevention Week across the nation and Southern Pines volunteer firemen are pre paring to hold open house Satur day in recognition of the observ ance. . Features of the local program include a parade of equipment through the business section, led by the Southern Pines school band at 11 a. m., arid free rides for children on fire trucks in the afternoon at the firehouse, from 1 to 2 p. m., for white children and in West Southern Pines, from 2 to 3 p. m., for Negro youngsters. Firemen Eire takirig a truck to schools on both sides of toyvn, to stage surprise fire drills, this week. And all day, on Saturday, citi zens are invited to visit the fire station on New Hampshire Ave. to inspect trucks and other equip ment, ask questions and familiar ize themselves with some of the problems faced by the local vol unteers. Huge Toll Cited Purpose of all this, says Fire Chief Harold B. Fowler, is not avoidable toll of lives and proper ty over the nation each year. Firemen will be prepared to tell visitors what they can do to make years, their homes and places of busi ness safer, if they ask for this in formation. has been provided by town offi cials that have cooperated well with the department for many In 1954, Chief Fowler says, lo cal firemen answered 54 alarms and fires they fought took one life and resulted in an estimated $41,000 of property damage. , That was an ^ heaVy loss, the chief notes, ex plaining that the fatality and some $35,000 worth of dEimage were the result of one blaze—the Southern Pines Motor Co. and Cameron Oil Co. fire. But the rec ord shows, he says, the threat that fire poses to the community. More of an average year was 1953 when the volunteers re- .sponded 'o 57 alarms, property loss was an estimated $16,000 and there was no loss of bfe attribu table to fire. But eve" that loss, the chief believes, could have been larg ' - avoided if owners of the property hod been alert to fire preveirtion measures. Proud i f Equipcmienl South ?m Pines firemen are proud ' f their equipment which Arden Fobes Is Chosen Queen At Homecoming Game , Arden Fobes, the candidate of the freshman class at Southern Pines High School, was chosen .Homecoming Queen at last week’s homecoming game festivities during the half of the Blue Knights’ contest with Curry High School of Greensboro. Her escort was James Prim. Miss Fobes was chosen by three judges—Councilman Harry H. Pethick of Southern Pines, Mayor Archie Barnes of Carthage and , Said Mr. Sutton: “When Mr. Huffines states, as reported in the state daily papers, that electric power costs in his four North Carolina plants are higher than j those in any other location, I feel certain he is in error.” Mr. Sutton quoted the publish ed Huffines statement: that pow er costs in his four Amerotron plants in this area were higher than those “in other operating areas,” and that his company was, in effect, paying a premium of $750,000 for the privilege of buy ing from Carolina Power and Light, and the president of the utility said: Stalemenl Is Inconceivable “Seeing that the entire power bill of the four plants for the past 12 months, (including part of the time prior to the merger) amount ed to $695,914., it is inconceivable that the statement made by Mr. Huffines should be correct.” (Ed. Note: After publication of the $750,000 figure in daily papers, following a press con ference with Mr. Huffines last Friday, the $750,000 fig ure was withdrawn by the Amerotron president in a statement made through a spokesman to The Pilot and the estimate of excessive cost was set not in terms of dol lars but at “16 per cent.”) Mr. Sutton explained that the cost of power in a textile opera tion amounts, to from one to two percent of overall costs. He said that the fact that no miU in the area served by his company tried to produce its own power seemed (Continued on Page 8) Chief items of this equipment are: , No. 1 truck—a 1953 model cus tom-built American La France, - anu that carries 300 gallons of water [Mayor E. H. Mills of Pinebluff. and pumps 750 gallons per min-.'They rated the four contestants, ute. [one for each high school class, 50 No. 2 track—a 1955 model Ford;Por cent on beauty, 25 per cent American La on figure and 25 per cent on ff wio France equipped, that carries 500 poise. gallons of water and pumps 5001 Candidates of other high school gallons per minute. classes for Homecoming Queen, No. 3 truck—a 1946, three-quar- with their escorts, were: senior- ter ton Chevrolet pickup, used as a service truck. No. 4 truck—“Old Betsy,” a 1926 model American La France that is held in reserve for use if needed and can pump 750 gallons per minute. The trucks carry 3,000 feet of two and a half-inch hose, 800 feet of one and a half-inch hose and 500-feet of booster hose: 200 feet of ladders; and fire extinguishers of several types. Other Equipment Other department equipment includes: an auxiliary electric light plant, exhaust fan, an Emer- (Continued on Page 5) i Jacque Davenport with Paul Kin nison; junior—Ginger Woodell with Julian Pleasants; sophomore —Karan Kinnison with John Sey mour. Mayor Voit Gilmore crowned the queen who then drew the winning number on a television ■set given away by the sponsoring Rotary Club. Winner was Dr. W. H. Johnson, local dentist who held ticket No. 958. Others appearing on the pro gram were A. C. Dawson, schools superintendent, ; nd J. B. Perkin- sin, president of ihe Rotary Club. See story about the game else where in today’s Pilot. ‘Highland Call’ Seen At Campbell 'Presentation of Paul Green’s symphonic drama, “The Highland Call,” will continue through Sat urday, with performances at 8 p. m. in the Campbell College am phitheatre, Buies Creek, in ob- servance of Harnett County’s cen tennial. An exhibition of historical items at the Lillington communi ty center is also part of the cen tennial celebration. PTA MEETING NEXT THURSDAY "Free From Physical Haz ards" will be Ihe program topic for the Southern Pines Parent-Teacher Association's second meeting of the year in Weaver Auditorium at 8 p. m. Thursday night cf next week. Garland McPherson, chair man of the Moore County Red Cross chapter, and Dr. J. C. Grier, Jr., of Pinehuirst, will have charge of the pro gram. Mrs. W. T. Huntley, PTA membership chairnum, an nounced this week that the Association will coivduct its membership campaign next week, sending home applica tions by each school child on Monday, with the request that they be relumed at once, so that the membership num bers will be known by the meeting.