I
Help Fight TB
, -
f M^^HMSTM^^GOBEniro^SS J
Buy Christmas Seals
Help Fight TB
-
> IMS^HBraMAS^GOffinita^SS!
Buy Christmas Seals
VOL. 37—NO. 5
TWENTY-SIX PAGES
SOUTHERN PINES, N. C.. THURSDAY. DECEMBER 22. 1955
TWENTY-SIX PAGES
PRICE TEN CENTS
January 31 Set As Date For Election
On Issuance Of $450,000 Town Bonds
Alice Baxter Is
Leaving Post At
C. of C. Office
Miss Alice S. Baxter, manager
of the Chamber of Commerce of
fice since May, 1953, tendered
her resignation to the board Of
directors at their regular meet
ing held Tuesday night at the
Southland Hotel.
The resignation is effective
January 1. The directors’ concern
nt the loss of their highly effi
cient executive, the Chamber’s
■only paid employee, was intensi
fied by the fact that on January
3, the date on which the o®ice
The license bureau of the
Carolina Motor Club at the
Chamber of Commerce office
in the Southland Hotel will be
closed from January-1 at least
through February IS, because
of lack of trained personnel to
operate it, it was learned here
today. This means that per
sons in this area will be un
able to purchase their 1956
Stale vehicle license plates in
Southern Pines.
It is expected that the li
cense bureau will reopen, for
routine business, after the
"rush period" of general li
cense plate sales ends Febru
ary 15.
will reopen after the New Year
holiday, the 1956 auto license sale
begins—the most rushing season
of the year. For the license sale
not only is a specially trained
person required to be in charge,
but extra help is needed.
Miss Baxter said she was sorry
to leave at such a time, but had
turned down two job offers in
consideration of the license sale
and when the third came along,
felt she could not pass it up. An
experienced commercial artist,
(Continued on page 8)
Citizens To Vole
Separately On Four
Different Projects
Meeting at town hall Monday '
in special session, the town coun
cil set the date for a $450,000 mu-!
nicipal bond election as 'Tuesday,*
January 31. ' j
In the election, citizens will be
able to vote separately on four
propositions: $150,000 for water
improvements, $150,000 for sewer
improvements; $100,000 for a mu
nicipal building to house town
hall, jail, fire department and.
other offices; and $50,000 for a*
West Southern Pines swimming'
pool and nearby structures. j
Persons who were registered toj
vote in the town council election j
last May need not register again
to vote January 31. Persbns who
are not registered may register
between 13 and January 20 at the
fire station. j
Requirements for voting are
residence of one year in North
Carolina and 30 days in Southern
Pines, prior to the election, as
well as residence within the city
limits.
Mrs. Grace Kaylor was ap
pointed registrar by actkn of the
council Monday.. Mrs. Gertrude
Stevenson and Robert Strpuse
were named judges of election.
- Starting next week. The Pilot
will run a series of four explana
tory stories—one cn each of the
propositions to come before the
voters January 31.
Holiday Monday Will
Top Lively Yule Week
Mail Breaking
Record; Church
Services Listed
y\
CHRK
from
AT POST OFFICE
Open 8 a. m. to 6 p. m., Satur
day.
Closed Monday, except for
window open 10-11 a. m. No city
delivery Monday. Mail distribu
ted to boxes Monday, but not
The approach of Christmas is
the biggest news story of the
Sunday. Mail dispatched as usual week in Southern Pines and this
both Sunday and Monday. | area—if what people are thinking
Parcel post will be delivered about and busy about makes
all day on Sunday (Christmas news.
Day).
CHRISTMAS WITHIN
"Christmas Within!"
This is the sign decorating
the small bulletin board in
front of the Library, this
week, and until New Year's
Day.
Those who ifollow its invi
ting message, who enter the
door and go on into the Gal
lery inside, will experience
perhaps, a slightly different
Christmas.
Here is not the home
Christmas or the church
Christmas, but this is a
Christmas that dates back,
through many homes and
many churches. In the re
productions of old paintings
of the Nativity hung on the
walls, in the little statues of
the Madonna and Child, in
the singing angels, and even
in the decorative tree, styled
with a touch of Byzantine
stiffness, here is a hint of
how through the ages, men's
hearts were drawn to ex
press, through art, through
music, through the creation
of beauty, the Beauty that
was bom in Bethlehem.*
when, in that little Town,
long ago: ■-
"All the bells on earth did
ring
On Christmas Day in the
morning,"
Construction At
Hospital Slated
For Early In ’56
Construction of additions and
improvements to Moore County
Hospital — for which bids were
opened and low bids accepted by
the board of directors last week
—is expected to begin “early in
1956,” Thomas R. Howerton, ad
ministrator, said this week.
Contracts totalling $366,700 will
be awarded as soon a|, official ap
proval is obtained from the U. S.
Public Health Service and the
North Carolina Medical Care
Commission, the administrator
stated.
Added to the construction con
tracts will be: $26,000 for costs
of movable equipment such as
beds, patient room furniture, sur
gical instruments, linens and
lobby furniture; $22,002 for archi
tect’s fee; and a contingency fee
of $10,298.
These three items, plus the con
struction contracts, add up to
$425,000 which is the amount of
the “project” in which the Public
Health Service and Medical Care
Commission will participate fin
ancially.
Addition of $9,627.98 for items
included in the construction work
in which the Medical Care Com
mission will not participate
brings total construction cost to
$434,627.98.
The amount of local funds re
quired to complete the project on
the basis of bids accepted is
$160,927.98.
Mr. Howerton said that 11 bids
were received for the general
contract and three bids for the
laundry machinery contract.
The administrator listed the
succesful low bidders and the
amounts of their bids as follows:
(Continued on page 8)
GREETINGS FROM AIR-GROUND SCHOOL
^ With the approach of Christmas, many people will be at home
with their families and ffiends. Mariy others, however, have
duties that will keep them far away. This applies particularly to
many members of our defense forces. Numerous military instal
lations are located in remote areas, even within our own country,
and those on duty there will experience considerable loneliness
during the holiday season.
For the members of our Air Force and Army assigned to the
USAF Air-Ground Operations School, this Christmas will be far
more pleasant than the ones we have spent in Korea, Alaska, Oki
nawa, Africa or other foreign bases. This is due in large measure
to the friendliness with which you of the Sandhills have accepted
us and made us full members of your fine community. To each
of you the USAF Air-Ground Operations School extends best
wishes for a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
D. W. JENKINS,
Brigadier General, USAF
Commandant
‘No Negligence’
By Drivers In
Traffic Fatality
“No culpable negligence” on
the part of either driver was
found by a coroner’s jury at Car
thage Friday night, sitting in in
quest on a collision of November
27 at Robbins Crossroads in which
a critically ill woman was thrown
from an ambulance to her death.
An autopsy ordered by Coroner
Ralph G. Steed of Robbins had
determined earlier that Mrs. Pau
line Howell Griggs came to her
(Continued on page 8)
C. B. DEANE SAYS
HE IS CANDIDATE
A, rumor circulating in Moore
County this week that C. B.
Deane, Eighth District Congress
man, would not seek reelection
next year, but would step aside
in favor of his administrative as
sistant, John Lang of Carthage,
was labeled false by the Con
gressman when a Raleigh news
paper called him at his home in
Rockingham Wednesday.
'■‘I’m very much a candidate,”
he was quoted as saying, although
he has issued no formal statement
as yet. He said he had not known
that such a rumor was in circula
tion.
PRESENTATION Sheriff C. J. McDonald, right, receives, the
Sandhills Kiwanis Club Builder’s Cup from Superior Court Judge
W. A. Leland McKeithen of Pinehurst. (Photo by V. Nicholson)
Sheriff McDonald Wins Builder’s Cup
For Selfless Civic Service To County
Sheriff C. J. McDonald was name was called, the gathering of
of the I some 175 persons broke into an
Sandhills Kiwanis club at the ovation of applause.
Never Defeated
He has been sheriff of Moore
county since 1928, and has never
ben defeated in an election. He is
the State’s senior sheriff in point
of service, and has served as pres
ident of the N. C. Sheriffs associ
ation.
Judge McKeithen said he was
known as a “fearless officer, who
always gets his man.” Sheriff
McDonald was wounded in Octo
ber when shot in the face apd
neck as he was making an ar
rest.
Cited also as qualifying him for
receiving the county’s foremost
(Continued on page 8)
club’s annual banquet and ladies’
night, held Friday evening at the
Mid Pines.
Superior Court Judge W. A.
Leland McKeithen, making the
award in behalf of the club, paid
tribute to the “efficient, fair and
impartial manner in which he
conducts his high office, placing
duty and service above all other
considerations, so that he has won
respect not only in his county but
throughout the whole region and
State.”
The identity of the recipient of
the Builders Cup was kept a se
cret until the moment of presen
tation. When Sheriff McDonald’s
Request Made For
Change In By-Pass
Zoning Proposal
A public hearing on a proposed
amendment to the town zoning
ordinance, held at the town coun
cil meeting last week, was ad
journed to the January meeting
(Tuesday, January 10), in order
to give the ocuncil and the plan
ning board an opportunity to
study protests and requests made
at the hearing.
The proposed amendment sets
up two new business districts and
redefines the types of uses permit
ted in all three of the business
districts.
Of special interest is the pro
posed new “Business HI” district
which consists cf the area 500 feet
both east and west of the high
way right of way of the “U. S.
1 Thru-way” (by-pass), bounded
on the north by the south proper
ty line of West Vermont Avenue
(and West Vermont Ave. extend
ed) and bounded on the south by
the corporate limits of the town.
Business uses permitted in Dis
trict III under the proposed
amendment are only service sta
tions confined to the retail sale
of motor fuels and automobile ac
cessories; and motels and motor
courts.
At last week’s council meeting,
it was explained that the plan
ning board, in setting the sug-
gsted limits of the Business III
zone in the Southern portion of
the by-pass, had followed the
recommendation of the Universi
ty of North Carolina graduate
student planners who visited here
early this year and whose find
ings and recommendations are
presented in Southern Pines —
(Continued on Page 8)
Special Appeal
Made For Cheer
Program Funds
A special appeal for cash dona
tions to the (Christmas cheer pro
gram for needy families was made
today by John Boyd Post, Veter
ans pf Foreign Wars.
Fred Hall, Jr., chairman of the
project, said that 15 more families
have been added to the list of de
serving needy persons. All fam
ilies on the list have been investi
gated by the Moore County Wel
fare Department.
As the problem of additional
baskets was presented to the
VFW, members of the post were
already packing dozens of Christ
mas cheer packages in the Straka
building on N. E. Broad St. The
baskets may be viewed there by
the public today and tomorrow.
In addition to food items, toys
are going to families with chil
dren. Many of the toys were re
paired and painted after they
were given to the post. The list
of special gifts to be distributed
to needy families with children,
includes four bicycles, 14 tricycles
and seven wagons or carts, Mr.
Hall reported.
Food items in the baskets were
put in grocery store barrels by
shoppers or bought with cash do
nated to the cheer fund by indi
viduals or organizations.
The unexpected necessity to
prepare 15 more baskets means
that the post will have to obtain
additional funds, the chairman
said. .
Mid Pines Price
Shown $420,000
Exact sale price of the Mid
Pines Club and the 240-acre tract
op which it is located was $420,-
000, it is shown by Federal stamps
affixed to the deed which has
been filed in Carthage. The sale
had previously been reported as
over $400,000.
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Cosgrove,
who have operated the club for
some time, are the purchasers
from the Homeland Investment
Co. of Durham.
Stamps costing $462 were affix
ed to the deed before it was filed.
At the rate of $1.10 in stamps per
thousand dollars of price, the
transaction would amount to
$420,000.
It was the largest Moore Coun
ty real estate transaction within
the memory of officials at the
courthouse in Carthage. The en
tire tract is within the Southern
Pines town limits.
It’s a lively and prosperous
Christmas season, generally
speaking. Merchants report good
Christmas trade. At tbe post of
fice, 25,000 pieces of mail were
dispatched Monday, breaking all
existing records for one day’s
operations, said Postmaster Gar
land Pierce, and the volume of
cards, letters and parcels for the
holidays, both incoming and out
going, is “unprecedented.”
Southern Pines’ business sec
tion is sparkling with lights—
strings of lights up and down
Bread Street and, below them, lit
tle lighted Christmas trees placed
by merchants along the sidewalk.
More of the little trees are in
evidence this year than last.
On the park is a lighted sacred
display showing the wisemen of
the Bible on camels, with Bethle
hem, birthplace of the Savior, in
the distance, the great star above
it. 'The display was prepared by
John fullett of the Training Aids
section at the USAF Air-Ground
Operations School and rented by
the Chamber of Commerce which
has charge of the Christmas light
ing program, for the second suc
cessive year.
The 50-feet-tall magnolia at
the corner of Pennsylvania Ave.
and S. ^W. Broad St., lighted by
the Southern Pines Garden Club,
attracts comment.
Holiday Planned
Stores, businesses and offices
will close generally on Monday
in this area with some establish
ments taking a longer holiday.
The Southern Pines Library
will close at 12:30 p. m. Saturday
and reopen Tuesday* morning at
9.
The town office will be closed
Monday and/there will be no gar
bage collection that -lay. Attempt
will be made to collect from all
residences and businesses on
Tuesday.
Banks in this area will close
Monday.
The Southern* Pines post office
general delivery and stamp win
dow will be open one hour, lO-'ll
a. m. Monday.
The Pilot will be closed Friday
through Monday.
In Carthage, the Moore Coun
ty courthouse will be closed from
noon Saturday to Wtednesday
(Conlinuea on Pat-.e
Bank Will Open For
Deposits Sat. Night
The Citizens Bank and Trust
Company will be open between
7:30 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday to re
ceive deposits by merchants, C. H.
Bowman, cashier, said this(week.
The bank wiU be closed all day
Monday, December 26.
IMPRESSIONS FROM INSPECTION COMMITTEE'S VISIT
Many Pledges, Hard Work Can Get College
By KATHARINE BOYD
(Photo of visiting trustees
page 11)
Since the visit of the Presbyte
rian College committee to the
Sandhills, I have been asked,
many times: “'What did you
think? 'What was the impression
you got of their reaction to
Southern Pines as a site for the
college? Do you really think we
have a chance?”
One person’s impression is not
always another’s, but, in this case,
I find, after checking with the
other local people who saw the
committee that day, that all of us
are agreed.
The answer to the questions be
ing asked is, starting with the
last one first: “Yes, we have a
chance. We have a pretty good
chance, too. The visiting commit
tee was, definitely, greatly im
pressed, both by the site and by
the presentation of the Sandhills
invitation.” I
And one of them put his
thought this way: “If you folks]
will go ahead and put your backs
into the campaign; get pledges!
from everybody, I think you’ve
got it,” he said. As Andy Griffith!
says, “He did.”
So, back to the first question:
what impression did I get. The
first thing that struck me was'
when we all sat down at the
horseshoe table at the Hollywood
Hotel. At each visitor’s place was:
the brochure, the roll of four
maps, and several other informa
tion items.
The brochure was glanced over,
while a local man explained the
salient points it featured. There
were exclamations as to its fac
tual simplicity—as requested pre
viously by the group—then as to
how well the whole thing had
been carried through. The com
mittee felt that it was to the
point, that it gave all the infor
mation desired, yet did it in a
clear and non-ballyhoo fashion,
obviously very pleasing to them.
Maps Of Site Shown
Then the four maps were un
rolled. The speaker explained
each one. The largest showed a
detailed topographical map of the
site; the next showed the site
again, as surveyed and laid out
for the real estate development
that had been always, until now,
planned for this property.
The committee was struck—and
said so, at length—^with the value
of the property, realizing
through this real estate develop
ment study, as perhaps not be
fore, that this is an unusually
desirable piece of land.
The next map showed the
property in its relation to the
town and close surroundings, and
the fourth map showed it in its
location in Moore County, with
(Continued on Page 8)