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VOL. 37—NO. 18
Local Man T^es Own Life In Jail
After Being Booked On Murder Charg
!f
Edward York, Marjorie
McCrimmon Principals
In Tragedy Last Week
Edward York, 65, sexton of
Emmanuel Episcopal Church in
Southern Pines, hanged 'himself
in the Moore County jail so.me
time early Friday morning after
being booked for-the murder of
Marjorie McCrimmon, cook in a
Southern Pines home.
A trusty at the jail found York
-about 7:30 a. m. Friday. Accord
ing to officials in the sheriff’s of-
. fice, York had apparent^ looped
March 26
Proclaimed As
Clean~Up Week
Next week, March 26-31, will be
clean-up week in Southern Pines
sponsored by two garden clubs’
with the cooperation of the town
sanitary department and state
highway officials. The program
IS emphasized in view of the an
nual Homes and Garden Tour to
be held April 12, bringing hun
dreds of visitors to town.
Proclaimed today bjy Mayor
Voit Gilmore (see proclamation
elsewhere in this newspaper), the
week enlists the assistartce of all
citizens in beautification-of the
town by cleaning and iniproving
yards, gardens and parki^ays, re
moving unsightly and Ojbjection-
able debris, cleaning vaj'cant lots
and painting and repairing and
otherwise improving the appear
ance of private property.;
Cooperating clubs are the South
ern Pines Garden Club of which
Mrs. R. E. Rhodes is president,
and the Civic Garden Club of
which Mrs. Frank Hale is presi
dent.
City Manager Tom E. Cunning
ham reminded residents that town
trucks will haul away yard Tak
ings and tree trimmings on re
quest to Telephone 2-2462 at town
(Continued on Page 8)
his belt' over a plumbing pipe in
his ceU and slid or jumped off a
sink. His death was attributed to
strangulation.
He had been booked for mur
der by Deputy Sheriff A. F. Dees
and had been placed in jail about
2 a. m.
Different Versions
The events leading up to the
fatal shooting some time Thurs
day night, which apparently hap
pened at Oakland Park, a Negro
recreation area near Lakeview,
will probably never be known.’
York gave several versions to
police officers.
According to Officer. Leslie
Horne of the Southern Pines Po
lice department, York said he took
Marjorie to St. Joseph of the Pines
Hospital a little after 11 p. m
Thmsday night. He and Robert
T. Yonts, also a memiber of the
Southern Pines Police Depart
ment, questioned York a few
minutes and were at first told by
the elderly Negro that he had
found her body. Five minutes
later, he confessed the shooting,
adding that he felt if he hadn’t
shot her, she would have shot
him. He said the shooting prob-
ably occurred between 10 and
10:30 p. m. Thursday night fol
lowing an argument over a loan
Made Loans
York told officers he had made
a series of loans to the woman
who was in her 30’s, and that she
owed him in excess of $100.
The loans, he said, had been
made to help the woman add an
extension to her house. She had
signed lOU’s for some of them,
(Continued on page 8)
visitor from Virginia, Mrs'"Grpl?Teem*
frophJ .hr;-'',''’”*/ ?«P
w..h .„w. in »
Beacon to the surprise victory.
Dancing Beacon
Stages Upset In
Hunt Race Meet
(Photo by Humphrey)
that
near
f *
Mercury Drops
To 26 Wednesday;
Peach Crop Safe
Freezing weather for five
straight days has failed to. cause
any appreciable damage to the
Sandhills peach crop, peach
growers have reported.
Peach growers said that be
cause of the heavy blooming the
crop could stand a hard freeze
now better than it could later
when the blooms drop off and the
tiny peaches begin to take shape.
Temperatures recorded in
Southern Pines this week have
been just past the freezing point
for five days. Last night, Wed
nesday, it reached 35 in Southern
Pines, but was lower in the rural
areas, though probably not much
lower.
Low readings for the Southern
Pines station, located at radio
station WEEB, from last Satur
day through Wednesday night
are: Saturday, 32; Sunday, 30-
Monday, 31; Tuesday, 30; Wed-
(Continued on Page 8)
Mrs. Avery, County
Librarian, Resigns
Effective April 30
Mrs. Dorothy H. Avery, who
has been librarian of the Moore
County Library for the past 12
years, has resigned effective
April 30, it was announced today
by W. Stuart Evans, chairman of
the library board.
IV^s. Avery will accept a new
position as librarian of the Can
ton Public Library about the
middle of May.
Reasons given by Mrs. Avery
for her resignation from the coun-
,'ty post and acceptance of a posi-
tion as town librarian include sev
eral factors.
Though a town library position
is in a lower ranking category
than that of county library serv
ice, Mm. Avery stated that there
were, in this case, many advanta
geous factors, not least of which
is :he substantial raise in salary.
Though relieved of the heavy
bookmobile service, and with
many fewer books to handle, Mrs.
Avery will receive considerably
more than the present $2,700 paid
by Moore County,
From her desk in the crowded
office of the local building, Mrs.
Avery spoke warmly of her work
in Moor© County and also of the
new opportunities that awaited
her.
“The Canton Library building is
brand new,” she said, “and one of
the most modem and efficiently
designed. The building was built
(Continued on page 21)
Like the mocking bird
sang Icpudly between races, near
the finish line of the Stoneybrook
I track Saturday, a crowd of sev
eral thousand hunt racing fans
, forgot a March wind’s unseasonal
chill as they watched this annual
Southern Pines event run off in
the relaxed steeplechasing tradi
tion under a brilliant sun.
There were thrills aplenty in
the eight-race, four-hour pro
gram. The featured Sandhills Cup
event—a tough two and one-
quarter miles over timber—pro
vided one of the best races and
iggest thrills when Dancing
Beacon, owned by Mrs. G. P
Greenhalgh, Jr., of Boyce Va
overtook and passed the favored
Erin s Cottage and the strongly
bidding Repose to win by three
lengths.
Jockey Carlyle Cameron was
trying for a sixth consecutive win
with Erin’s Cottage and had her
as much as 10 lengths ahead at
fence, but ended up
with third and last place. Mel
Ferral rode the winner which
was trained by W. B. Cocks. Pat
Smitowick piloted Repose, re
cently sold by Mrs. M. G. Walsh
01 Southern Pines to Mrs. Russell
M. Arundel of Warrenton, Va
(Continued on page 21)
BIG DAY—Tommy Walsh,
17, rode three winners at the
Stoneybrook course Saturday
—and it was his first partici
pation in a formal hunt race
meeting. (Photo Humphrey)
Court of Honor
Scheduled Monday
Band Booslers To Make
Spring Concert Plans
Plans for the annual Spring
concert of the Southern Pines
School band will be made when
the Band Booster Club meets
Monday in the science room at
the high school at 8 p. m. All per-
Isons interested in the band are
invited to attend. The club is
composed of adults who are pa
rents of band members or friends
of the band.
Work Starting At
Site of Colonial’s
New Supermarket
Plans For Building
Call For Latest In
Modern Construction
Work has begun at the site of
a large new Colonial Supermarket
R j corner of East
AveSie and Connecticut
A. C Edens, vice-president of
Colonial Stores, said this week
tnat the new store will be of an
entirely new design developed by
Colonial in association with one of
the nation’s leading store design
ers, and will be “ultra-modern”
throughout. Opening of the new
store IS expected “some time in
the late summer,” Mr. Edens said.
The new store will contain ap
proximately 12,000 square feet of
space, with many new innovations
and parking space for about 125
cars, it was stated.
Mr. Edens, in commenting on
the new store, said that it is the
culmination of months of inten
sive planning and research
“We believe that this new store
will serve a real need, and we are
incorporating in it e-yery new ad
vancement in modern supermar
ket development. We are keeping
pace with the growth of Southern
Pmes, and we sincerely believe
that this new store will be a dis
tinct credit to Colonial and to the
town.”
Other facts revealed about the
proposed building are:
The store will be completely
air-conditioned, with the latest ad
vance-design fixtures' in roomy
well-lighted interiors. The meat
department will be completely
self-service, as well as other de
partments. Speedy belt-convey
or check-outs will be used.
Foods will be scientifically ar-
(Continued on Page 8)
Heart Fund Drive
To End April 1
Mrs. E. Nolley Jackson of
Southern Pines, chairman of the''
1956 Moore County Heart Fund
drive, said today that the current
campaign would close April 1.
She urged people who have not
contributed to do so at their ear
liest convenience. She said checks
should be sent to Mrs. Garland
McPherson in Southern Pines.
To date $1,947 has been raised.
PRICE TEI
$100,000 Armory
Be Built This Yea]
For National Gua;
Clearf^
Local Sd
Is Annouiu
EASTER CANTATA
An Easter cantata, "The
Seven Last Words of Christ,"
fay Theodore Dubois, will be
held at the Church of Wide
Fellowship Sunday a:: 4 p, m.
The cantata will celebrate
Palm Sunday, which is tlie
Sunday beifore Easter.
Soloists for the cantata are
Mrs. Harry Chatfield, Jr., so
prano, Paul Wiggin, tenor,
Joe Cameron, tenor, and
Roge.’ Gibbs, baritone.
The cantata will be direct
ed by Roger Gibbs. Mrs. L.
D. McDonald is organist.
1
DEANE OPPOSED FOR CONGRESS /
Primary Filing Deadline Three Weeks
Away, But No County Candidates Yet
With just three weeks left be
fore the filing deadline April 14,
no candidates for county offices
have paid filing fees, according to
^m C. Riddle, chairman of the
board of elections.
There has been some talk that
the present Board of Commis
sioners will seek re-election, but
board members would not com
mit themselves when asked about
% the rumors Monday. Most observ
er believe the five members of
me board—Chairman Gordon M
C^eron, James M. Pleasants!
Monroe,
and L. R. Reynolds—will seek re-
election.
other candidates to be nomin
ated include those for board of
education, judge of Recorder’s
court, solicitor of Recorder’s
Court, surveyor, coroner, and
» representative to the General As
sembly.
Candidates are expected for all
the offices except that of survey
or. In the last election no one fil
ed for the job.
Expected to File
Most guesses were that both
Judge J. "Vance Rowe and Sdl-
icitof W. Lament Brown of Re
corder’s Court would seek re-
election. H. Clifton Blue of Aber
deen is also expected to seek re
election to the post he has held
for five consecutive sessions.
Present merhbers of the board
of education are J. A. Culbertson,
Robbins, chairman, T. Roy Phil
lips, Carthage, George H. Purvis,
Route 1, Robbins, W. H. Mat
thews, Route 3, Carthage, and
Jere N. McKeithen, Aberdeen
Ralph G. Steed of Robbins is
county coroner.
Stale Senators
Democratic candidates for the
(Continued on Page 8)
Moore District Boy Scouts will
hold a court of honor Monday at
the courthouse in Carthage, start
ing at 7:30 p. m. Various awards
and advancements are scheduled.
Several Moore County lawyers
have been invited to present the
awards. Among those expected
are M. G. Boyette, J. Vance
Rowe Jr., E. O. Brogden, Jr.,
Fay Neville and Lament Brown.
Explorer Post 936 of Carthage
will conduct the opening and
closing ceremonies.
NINE-TON STEAM HAMMER USED
Famed Chorale To
Sing Friday At
Auditorium Here
A varied program, including
works by Palestrina, Mozart,
Brahms and Gershwin, will be
sung Friday night by the Roger
Wagner Chorale it Weaver Audi
torium,, in a concert sponsored by
the Sandhills Music Association.
Starting at 8:30 p. m., the fam
ed choral group—consisting of 24
voices, evenly divided between
men and women, and their Paris-
iKorn director—will combine its
talents with the duo-pianists Mel
vin Stecher and Norman Horo
witz. ■ ^
The chorale is on its first na
tion-wide tour, although it is in
its tenth year. It originated as a
city-sponsored group known as
the Los Angeles Concert Chorale
and has made many professional
appearances. It was invited to
. the Coronation Fes
tivities program in London and
sang in the Royal Festival Hall
there, making also several other
appearances in Europe.
The son of an organist-com
poser, Mr. Wagner studied organ
and served in .the French Army
in World 'War 2. Since 1945, he
has been a naturalized American
citizen.
Folk songs, excerpts from
Porgy and Bess” by Gershwin,
excerpts from Mozart’s Idomeneo,
(Continued on page 20)
Bridge Supports Get Mighty Pounding
i benefit of “sidewalk
■
PILE DRIVER—A nine-ton
steel hammer, mounted on a
75-foot boom, crashes , down
on one of the cement' piles
used for supports on the Mid
land Road overhead bridge
The hammer drives the pile
down anywhere from three
inches to a fraction of an inch
with each blow. At right in
the picture, partly
by steam,
which had
(Pilot photo)
obscured
is anothGr pile
not been driven
For the benefit of “sidewalk
superintendents” who haven’t
I found the time, or a parking
place, to watch the new bridge
under construction on Midland
Road, or, as it actually will be
over Midland Road, The Pilot
recently sought a progress report
and any other information that
might be pertinent.
The bridge will carry the dual
lane No. 1 highway thru-way or
by-pass” over Midland Road
which, incidentally, is one of the
4. oldest dual lane highways in the
state, having been constructed
more than 20 years ago.
Herewith, the rqport, which
followed a hundred or so ques
tions during a two-hour chat
with T. R. Craft, a 57-year-
old tobacco chewer who is the
state’s inspector on the job.
Craft, is yours.
Really Two Bridges
“To begin with, this is not, as
bridges go, a particularly diffi
cult one. 'When it is finished, it
will stretch 156 feet, have four
guess, about
$52 0()0. ActuaUy, the state is
buildiing two bridges here, each
a 28-foot roadway that will allow
for two lines of traffic. There
will be a fairly wide space be-
tween the two.
“The bridges will be
structed that any one
either of the roads would hold
60 tons at once. That means, if
your’e interested, that a solid
line of cars in both lanes on both
bridges at once wouldn*t cause
a sag of so much as a thousandth
of an inch. TTie state builds very
good bridges.
Recalls Biggest Job
‘T’ve been in thq bridge build
ing business 34 years. Back in
1937 I was a foreman on the
so con-
place oni
GOING D(DWN—^rirmen^^^^^^^^^^^^^*
« pile „to ae gr„„„d „„ the Midtod HoTovStod
g project. The piles in the foreground are located in thp
area between the double roads and had already been driven to
the desired depth when the picture was made. When the driving
two-thirds underground 1 clos?
on the boom a few minutes while the driving got startfd.
(Pilot photo)
overseas highway job that stret
ched from the mainland to Key
West, which was the biggest one
I’ve ever worked on. Hardest one.
According to informd,
ceived this week from tm
of the Adjutant General, c-c*
tion of the Southern Pin3 v
tional Guard Armory should*!
started early this summer. _
Captain William J. Wilson, local
Guard commander, was told by^
Maj. (general John H. Manning in
Raleigh early this week that pre
liminary steps for getting the
armory project underway were
now in process, with the starting
date for construction estimated asi
early July. '
Cost of the armory, to run i
around $100,000, will be borne'
jointly by county, state and Fed
eral funds.
The Federal government bears
5 per cerit of the cost of armory
construction. The remaining 25
per cent is split into 15 per cen^
from the state and 10 per cent
from the county.
The county commissioners have
tentatively approved an appropri-
of about $10,000 in the 1956-
57'budget for armory construc
tion.
Appearing before the town
council last week. National Guard
officers asked for a town appro
priation of $2,500 to help buy
equipment for the building and a
$300 annual appropriation for
rnamtenance purposes. The coun
cil authorized City Manager Tom
E. Cunningham to place these
items tentatively in his budget lor
the fiscal year starting July 1.
Details of financing cannot be
worked out until contracts are let
and the exact share to be paid by
the county is known.
First step in setting up the pro
ject will be a visit by an engineer
from the Adjutant General’s De
partment, who will lay out a plot
plan to be forwarded to the Na
tional Guard Bureau in Washing
ton for approval. As soon as the
approved plans are returned by
the Bureau, State authorities will
proceed to advertise for bjds. Gen
eral Manning estimated .he time
necessary to complete the prehmi-
n^ steps through the letting of
bids—which would take about
I three and a half months—setting
the date for starting construction
I (Continued on page 8)
Newton Elected
President of Moore
Officers’ Group
Chief of Police Charles E. New
ton of Southern Pines was elected
president of the Moore County
Law Enforcement Officers Asso
ciation at a meeting held in Car
thage Monday night.
Chief Newton, who has been
with the Southern Pines police
force since 1931, succeeds C. J.
McDonald, sheriff of the county.
The meeting marked the end of
the first year of the association.
Cpl. M. S. Parvin of the State
Highway Patrol was elected vice-
president. Re-elected were Coro
ner Ralph G. Steed of Robbins
secretary, and Bob Yates, chief of
the Aberdeen police force, treas
urer.
SBI Agent J. A. Lowdermilk
was elected to fill a vacancy on
the board of directors caused by
the resignation of Cpl. Parvin.
Other directors, all of whom were
re-elected’ are ABC Officer John
Sharpe of West End, and E. R.
Kerns, Carthage police chief. As
outgoing president. Sheriff Mc
Donald becomes an ex-officio
member of the board.
Sheriff McDonald, who has been
Moore County since
1926, thanked all the members fqr
their cooperation during the past
year, and noted that all law agen
cies in the county were a close’v
knit group.
Chief Newton, who was made
head of the Southern Pines police
force ,in 1940, is weU known in
law enforcement work throughout
the state. The association gave
him a unanimous vote for the new
office.
too. meeting was held at the
“I ..me with th, state a little S:fstewr“d“otte®“" S
luiiuea on page ii) was served.