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VOL. 37—NO. 43
Pearsall Plan Is
Approved By 4-1
Margin Saturday
Unexpecied Big
Vote Says OK
To School Plan
Moore County, along with the
rest of North Carolina, gave ap
proval to the Pearsall Plan Sat
urday by a margin of about four
to one.
The amendment carried every
precinct in the county, ranging
from 40 to 1 in Highfalls precinct
to less than two to one in South
ern Pines.
The unofficial Southern Pines
■vote was 475 for, and 287 against.
For the county the vote was
4,664 for, and 875 against.
Statewide, almost 600,000
voters turned out for the election
and gave the amendment a vote
of some 440,000 for and less than
100,000 against.
Governor Hodges, commenting
on the, vote after the major re
turns were in Saturday night
said: "In this vote our people
showed their deep convictions on
the issues involved.”
He hailed the unexpected big
turnout as 'a strong indication
that North Carolinians would ob
ject down to the last wire to
their children attending a school
in which the races may be mix
ed.
Three other questions , were
submitted to the voters Satur
day. A constitutional amendment
increasing the pay of State sena
tors and representatives won by
a margin of about three to one;
a month later convening time for
the General Assembly, from Jan
uary to February, also rode to
victory; and an amendment
which would provide measures
to confer powers of attorney on
married women also won approv-
aL
The school amendment, whicli
featured what Governor Hodges
termed two “safety valve” pieces
of legislation, were written into
the State Constitution as this
state’s answer to what it will do
in the face of a Supreme Court
decision against practicing seg
regation in the public school sys
tem.
The measures, tuition grants
and local option voting to close
the schools in “intolerable” situ
ations, are plainly standby legis
lation. It is generally believed by
most people, and even admitted
by many of the Pearsall Plan’s
backers, that the plan was a
method of buying time so the
state could work out its own
methods of dealing with the
problems that were brought on
by the Supreme Court decision.
Whether they will be tested
and whether the courts will up
hold them, was a major question
both before the election and im
mediately afterwards. So far,
with but two exceptions, there
have been no attempts made any
where in the state for Negro chil
dren to gain admission to white
schools.
By giving its approval to the
Pearsall legislation Saturday,
North Carolina activated imple
menting legislation already ap
proved at a special session of the
General Assembly in July.
The implementing legislation
provides: ,
(1) That local option elections
may be called in local school
units in that locality in the face of
“intolerable” situations. By ma-
(Continued on page 8)
TWENTY PAGES
SOUTHERN PINES. N. C., THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 13. 1956
TWENTY PAGES
PRICE TEN CENTS
INVITATIONS to the third annual Southern
Pines Golf Carousel, being sponsored this year
by the Junior Chamber of Commerce, started
going out yesterday. Pictured here stuffing the
envelopes, which will be sent to some 4,000 golf
ers up and down the Eastern seaboard, are Char-
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE APPOINTED
lie Clapp and Bob Dunn, co-chairmen of the in
vitations and reservations committee, being as
sisted by Mrs. Donna Frederick, center, and
Marie Kennedy, right. The Carousel will be
held November 8, 9, 10 and 11 over the courses
at Mid Pines, Pine Needles and Southern Pines
Country Club. (Pilot photo)
Need For New Industry In Area Cited As Group Of
Local Businessmen Meet Here With State Officials
Terry Sanford To
Speak At Demo
Rally Sept. 24
A Moore County Democratic
fund raising rally will be held
in the Carthage Hotel in Carth
age Monday, September 24, at 7
p. m,, according to an announce
ment made today by T. Roy
Phillips of Carthage, dinner
chairman.
Phillips announced that for
mer state Senator Terry Sanford
of Fayetteville would be the
principal speaker for the occa
sion.
Tidcets will be $5 each with all
the proceeds above the actual
cost of the meal going into the
Moore County Democratic Cam
paign fund.
The immediate shutdown of one
Southern Pines industry and the
possible closing of the other next
spring has given rise to a need for
some “hard thinking” by the com
munity to regain the lost income,
a group of local businessmen were’
told here Wednesday.
Meeting in, the offices of the
Carolina Power and Light Com
pany here at the request of Mayor
Voit Gilmore, the businessmen,
representing most segments of
community life, were given a
briefing by a team from the De
partment of Conservation and De
velopment on the best ways to se
cure an industry, providing, of
course, the community wants one.
A1 Grant, formerly of Southern
Pines and now head of the Indus
trial Section of the Department,
said that Southern Pines and the
surrounding area have tremen
dous possibilities for locating in
dustry, citing its cosmopolitan at
mosphere and nearness to educa
tional facilities as two of the main
advantages.
“Industry as we know it today
Mercury Drops To
44 Monday As Cold
Wave Chills Area
A cold blast of air came out of
the north Sunday night to give
the Sandhills its coldest early
September weather in many
years.
The official temperature Mon
day as recorded at radio station
WEEB, which maintains a
weather observation station, was
a low of 44, which many old time
residents said was the coldest
they had experienced in their
lifetime for early September.
'Though no official records are
available for Southern Pines
prior to the turn of the century,
weather officials in Charlotte
said the previous low recorded
there on a September 10 was in
1880 when the thermometer
dropped to 51. It is likely that
the same record would exist in
this area.
During the cold snap, which
started 'Saturday, the lows re
corded here were 62 for Satur
day, 50 Sunday, and 44 Monday.
High for the three days was
76 Saturday, with 73 recorded
Sunday, and 74 on Monday.
does not have to be all smoke-'
stacks and smells,” he said. “The
state has been working for some
time on developing a campaign to
sell North Carolina primarily as a
state that welcomes the ‘science’
type industry.”
Grant, who was accompanied to
the meeting by Les Branson, who
covers the Piedmont area for
C&D, said that science type indus
try has proven the most desirable
in long term development, and
said the state has been conducting
a vigorous advertising campaign
to lure such industry.
Most industries looking for new
sites, he pointed out, are stressing
the importance of good living con
ditions for employees and their
children, recreational and educa
tional facilities, and nearness to
potential markets.
The closing down of J. Bishop
and Company, a move that had
been expect^ here for several
months, was announced as defi
nite as of this Friday. The com
pany, which maintains home of
fices in Pennsylvania, manufac
tures needles and other items pri
marily for the medical trade. It
was noted that E. E. Comfort,
president of the firm, had an
nounced last spring that the plant
would probably be closed at the
end of August because of its re
mote location from the home of
fice. '
There never has been any
breakdown on the total yearly
payroll of the company, but esti
mates indicated that upwards of a
million dollars each year in pur
chasing power would be lost to
Southern Pines and other area
merchants.
And one other source of income
in Southern Pines, the Air-Ground-
Operations School, is here defi
nitely only until May 1. At that
time, the Air Force announced
this past spring, the school wbuld
probably be moved to an Air
Force installation in Mississippi.
There were a number of sugges
tions made by the businessmen at
the meeting as to the best method
of assembling data about South
ern Pines and the immediate area
that would best serve the needs of
obtaining new industry.
It was pointed out several times
during the meeting that industry
would come to the area only if the
area wants it. There was no hard
and fast feeling expressed by the
group against locating industry in
(Continued on page 8)
Plans Completed
For Filming TV
Show In County
Background shots for the trial
scene in a forthcoming “Big
Story” NBC television show will
be made Saturday in the court
house at Carthage, with local peo
ple making up the courtroom
crowd.
About 50 or 60 people are need
ed, and as many more as can come
can be accommodated and will be
welcomed, according to advance
information from the “Big Story”
producers.
The “crowd scenes” will be
filmed from 12 until 2 p.m. Date
of the filming had been announc
ed earlier as Friday. However,
the camera crew was delayed by
technical difficulties in Dothan,
Alabama, where they were work
ing^ on another “Big Story” the
first part of the week, so the local
date had to be changed.
Later Saturday afternoon, ac
tion scenes will be shot downtown
in Southern Pines. Several local
persons will play bit parts in the
scenes, which will be held near
the intersection of Broad street
and Pennsylvania avenue. One
scene, scheduled for 3 p.m., will
be in front of the municipal build
ing, another at 4:30 p.m., near the
entrance to the Graves Building.
'The filmed scenes will be in
serted in the live dramatic action
in the “Big Story” studio in Radio
City, New York, for the program
to be presented Friday, Septem
ber 28, at 8:30 p.m. It will be
seen here on Channel 11 (Durham)
and Channel 12 (Winston-Salem).
The courtroom scene will be one
of the most authentic ever shown
on the “Big Story” program. Not
only will it be in the same court
room where the original trial was
held, but with most of the same
courtroom personnel.
Judge J. Vance Rowe of Moore
recorders court said he felt it in
keeping with the dignity of the
court to have the real court* offi
cials in their accustomed places,
rather than persons unused to
court procedures. ■ Consequently
Judge Rowe, Solicitor W. Lamont
Brown, Sheriff C. J. McDonald,
Clerk C. C. Kennedy, various law-
(Continued on Page 8)
Design Of New M|inicipal Building
Earns Disapproval Of Lar^e Group
Widening Plans
For Penn. Ave.
Are Protelsted
The proposed widening of Penn
sylvania Avenue, betwee'n Ben
nett St. and the new thruway, was
protested to the to'wn council
Tuesday night in a petition signed
by 15 residents, most of whom are
owners of property on this section
of the street.
The widening was protested “to
the extent that it will mean the
loss of many large and beautiful
trees.” '
Also noted was a letter from
the Southern Pines Chamber of
Commerce asking that as many
trees as possible be preserved.
Mayor Voit Gilmore, presiding
at the regular monthly meeting of
the council, said he had received
calls from two or three interested
persons who said they were wor
ried about the plans for the street.
Plans call for widening the
street, with parkways and side
walks, to the same width as the
street now has between Broad St.
and Bennett St. ,
Despite the fact that, as Mayor
Gilmore pointed out, a paving
contractor already has the con
tract to do the job, the mayor sug
gested that a public meeting be
held soon for “information and in
terpretation” of what is going to
be done on Pennsylvania Ave. and
why.
There seems to be little assur
ance that the plans can be chang
ed, but the mayor said he would
communicate with State highway
officials and see if he can find out
what the schedule of the contrac
tor is for this street.
As part of the series of agree
ments between the town and the
State Highway Commission,
reached when planning for the
by-pass was going on more than a
year ago, the State agreed to
grade this section of Pennsylvania
Ave., install curb and gutter and
pave the street.
At the time this agreement was
reached, it was considered a con
siderable concession to the town
by the State and one that would
save the town a good deal of mon
ey. Pennsylvania Avenue will be
the main entrance to the business
section from the thruway. ,
No spokesman for the Pennsyl
vania Ave. petitioners were pres
ent at the meeting. The petition
was read by Mayor Gilmore.
All of the councilmen were
present for the Tuesday night ses
sion which was held in the Libra
ry: in addition to the mayor. May
or Pro-Tern H. H. Pethick, W. E.
Blue, T. T. Morse and Sam Rich
ardson.
A hearing on the architectural
style of the proposed new munici
pal center to be built on the park
block opened the meeting. (See
another story in today’s Pilot for
details of the hearing.)
Negro Requests
A delegation of seven persons
representing the West Southern
Pines Civic Club, with the Rev.
G. E. McNeill as spokesman, pre
sented a written petition asking
additional police protection in
West Southern Pines, for law en
forcement, protection of children
going to and from school, to help
control juvenile delinquency and
to discourage dangerous driving
■n the area. The petition also ask
’d that the council consider the
appointment of a Negro member
‘o the Southern Pines school
board.
“Nobody can represent a minor-
Ty viewpoint better than a mem
ber of the minority group,” the
spokesman pointed out.
Mayor Gilmore recalled that the
council had heard from West
Southern Pines Councilman Morse
a request that Negro policemen be
appointed to serve in that area.
Because the policy of the town, as
'n most towns, is to have police
men work in pairs, the request, if
granted, would mean the naming
of two policemen for that area.
This, it was explained, would be
impossible until the 1957-58 bud
get comes up for consideration
early next year.
Meantime, however, the council
directed the city manager to con
fer with Police Chief C. E. New
ton and ask the chief to take up
with the principals of all schools
in town the advisability and pos
sibility of forming schoolboy or
(Continued on Page 8)
NO NEGROES APPLY
AT WHITE SCHOOLS
H. Lee Thomas, superin-
■ lendent of the Moore County-
school system, said this
morning that no Negro chil
dren had applied for admis
sion to any white schools in
the county during the recent
ly completed enrollment pe
riod.
A similar report was made
by A. C. Dawson, superinten
dent of the Southern Pines
system.
Thomas, reached at his of
fice, said oHicial enrollment
figures for the county had
not been compiled as yet,
but spot checks of the vari
ous principals showed that
enrollment was about the
same as last year, though
there was a possibility that
a very small gain might be
noted when the final figures
are in.
All schools in Southern
Pines, with the exception of
the West Southern Puies
elementary school, had an
increase in enrollment.
Blue Knights To
Meet Robbins Here
Tomorrow Night
still worked up after a rousing
54-6 victory over Carthage last
Friday night in the season foot
ball opener, the Blue' Knights
will go after their second victory
Friday night when they meet
Robbins on the local field.
Game time is 8 p. m.
Robbins, coached by Rex Gor
don, was defeated by Aberdeen
last Friday, 28-6, but gave notice
of making a strong bid for the
county championship, long domi
nated by the Blue Knights.
Aberdeen scored three of the
four touchdowns on Robbins’
fumbles. ^
Bobby Freeman, one of the
leading tailbacks in the South-
.^ast, was the mainstay of Coach
Gordon’s team and is expected to
get a full share of the workload
Friday night.
The two teams did not meet
last year, but according to Coach
Irie Leonard, the Blue Knights
will not have an easy time like
they did last Friday.
Starting lineups for the Blue
Knights will be substantially the
same as in the Carthage game—
Tony Parker at center; James
Bowers at guard, Roger Verhoeff
at right end; Bobby Parker at
quarterback; Charles Watkins at
wingback; and Lynn van Ben-
schoten, star of last week’s game,
at tailback.
Billy Hamel will be assigned
the punting chores.
Leonard said he expects the
game to be close, particularly in
view of the fact that Robbins
outweighs the Blue Knights and
also because their running game
is a great deal like Southern
Pines’.
The band, rained out of last
Friday night’s performance, will
be on hand again for the game.
Director Lynn Ledden said.
Tickets may be secured at the
box office or from members of
the Boosters Club.
Faction Says
Modern Style
Not In Harmony
Expressions of disapproval far
overbalanced expressions of ap
proval at Tuesday night’s public
hearing on the architectural style
of the proposed town hall.
The town council, before whom
the hearing was held in the Libra
ry, took no action pro or con in
connection with the “contempo
rary” design submitted for the
building by the Thomas T. Hayes
architectural firm of Southern
Pines.
In a brief discussion of the
problem, after the architect and
most of those who attended the
hearing had left, council members
agreed to seek an informal meet
ing with Architect Hayes and
some of the most emphatic oppon
ents, to explore the possibility of
revising the design to be more in
harrnony with the many local
public and business buildings in
the colonial or Williamsburg style.
Summing up the points of
agreement and disagreement ex
pressed at the hearing. Mayor Voit
Gilmore pointed out that there
were more of the former than the
latter. The feature about the
building that caused most opposi
tion, the mayor noted, was the flat
roof of the contemporary design.
The floor plan, featuring an open
inner court and an efficient ar
rangement of offices and other
rooms, was praised by a number
of those who did not like the ex
terior elevation. Perhaps, the
mayor said, some modification of
the facade could be arrived at that
would be more acceptable to those
who felt the contemporary design
is out of harmony with other
buildings here.
Says Minds Open
Mayor Gilmore opened the hear
ing With the assurance that the
minds of the council were open
and that discussion was welcome.
He closed the session with a re
mark with which the council ap
parently agreed: that no final de
cision on the design should be
made “in the heat of a hearing.”
Also, he said, the integrity of the
architect is not in question.
Mr. Hayes explained the design
and the architectural reasons for
its various features, replying to
the statements of disapproval of
fered by almost all of those per
sons who spoke at the hearing. In
the course of these explanations,
he went extensively into the the
ory of contemporary architecture.
There were two or three expres
sions of unreserved approval of
the design, against more than a
dozen who disapproved.
Another viewpoint was intro
duced by C. T. Patch, Jr., a for
mer member of the council, who
said near the end of the hearing
that many persons who liked the
design probably had not come to
the hearing.
“The ones who are most oppos
ed are the ones who are here,” he
said. “They announce themselves
in the majority or as speaking for
a majority of the people of South
ern Pines, but maybe they are in a \
(Continued on page 8)
Directors Of US 1
Assn. To Meet Here
Lester Rose, secretary and gen
eral manager of the US High
way 1 Association, will meet
with a number of directors from
this area tomorrow (Friday) to
lay plans for the fall promotion
program.
Mayor Voit Gilmore, who is
the North Carolina vice-presi
dent of the organization, invited
the group to meet here and will
serve as hogt at a luncheon at
Jack’s Grill.
Directors from Southern Pines,
Pinebluff, Aberdeen and Pine-
hurst are expected to attend.
Bethesda Church
Plans Homecoming
The annual Homecoming at Old
Bethesda Church, located one
mile from Aberdeen, will be held
Sunday, September 30, according
to an announcement made today
by E. T. McKeithen, homecoming
committee chairman.
Mr. McKeithen announced this
week that the Rev. Dr. J. Mc
Dowell Richards, president of
Columbia, Theological Seminary,
Decatur, Georgia, will preach
the morning sermon which will
start at 11:15. The service will be
followed by a picnic dinner on
the grounds at the noon hour.
In the afternoon at 2 o’clock.
Dr. Frontis Johnson, of the De
partment of History, Davidson
College, will deliver an address
on some phase of the history of
the Presbyterian Church.
Both Dr. Richards and Dr.
Johnston are eminent scholars
and are expected to bring worth
while messages.
The public is cordially invited
to attend the services on this oc
casion.