Page TWO
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18. 1956
ILOT
Southern Pines
North Carolina
“In taking over The Pilot no changes are contemplated. We wiU try to keep this a good
paper. We will try to make a little money for all concerned. Wherever there seems to be
an occasion to use our influence for the public good we will try to do it. And we will
treat everybody alike.”—James Boyd, May 23, 1941.
Off To A Fine Start
Moore County leaders rolled up their
sleeves and went to work, this week, to tackle
the problem of bringing new industry to this
area.
At a meeting held here under the auspices
of the committee appointed by the mayor to
start the good work, there were present the
mayors of most of the county towns, as well
as the assistant to the head of the State Con
servation and Development department.
That this meeting should take place is a
sign of the unity of the county on this topic;
also of a fine spirit of progress.
This newspaper is thoroughly in favor of
developing the economy of Moore County. We
(favor a diversified approach, with the aim of
achieving a fully rounded economy for our
county-community. There should, we believe,
be a three-pronged attack on the problem: (1)
develop the county’s na^tural resources through
diversified agriculture and forestry; (2) to
bring into the county an outside income-
producing force such as a stable, high-quality
industry; (3) to step up efforts to further de
velop the tourist industry of the southern end
of the county.
To these three prongs we would add one
more: schools and colleges. Just because the
Presbyterian College passed us by is no
reason to give up the idea of bringing an in
stitution of learning here. The spade work has
already been done, while the advantages this
idea offers are as clear, as bright as ever. It is
to be earnestly hoped that this “industry” will
not be overlooked by the Moore County De
velopment Committee.
One of the prongs of this approach has
started to grow. The progressive farm people
in the western part of Moore County are
staging a spectacular advance in diversified
farming, while only this week a start was
made on a large poultry plant in Robbins.
This is a good beginning, and the spirit evinc
ed at Monday’s meeting to secure industry is
another.
There remains to be made a start on step
ping up the tourist appeal of this section. This
“industry” is the cornerstone upon which this
town was built. It ranks third in economic
value to the state. It has done much for Moore
County and there is every reason to believe
that it can do much again. Proeress in these
four fields would mean a well-rounded econ
omy, with the county’s eggs distributed m
several baskets. That, surely, should be the
goal.
Stevenson’s ‘Gospel of Discontent’
In his Yale University speech, Adlai Stev
enson summed up the spirit of his campaign
for the Presidency when he said:
“The central issue of 1956 is that compla
cency contains the seeds of decay, not of
growth. . . In the few periods when its siren
song has been heard most loudly in the land,
it has been a prelude to a harsher melody in
which the saddest note is one of mourning for
what might have been. . . The gospel of dis
content is the prophet of progress.”
In speech after speech, Stevenson has in
voked that “gospel of discontent.” And it ap
pears to be making sense to the American
people, including a large proportion of those
independent voters whose favor is so val
uable, perhaps crucial, in this campaign.
In President Eisenhower’s talk about
“peace of mind,” we hear echoes of Herbert
Hoover’s “conditions are fundamentally
sound”—those words that rang so hoPowly as
the economy of the nation was collapsing
some 25 years ago.
The Republicans presumably are contented
with: the farmers’ loss of income; the squeeze
of small business (profits off 50 per cent,
credit drying up, failures at a peak); bluff
and bluster in foreign policy—remember the
talk of “massive retaliation”?; Russian gains
in the middle east; the refusal to face up to
the school crisis; the all-time high cost of liv
ing; the scandalous record of misconduct in
GOP offiialdom, both federal and state, the
abuse of the taxing power in relieving the
rich and forgetting the small-income taxn
payers; giveaways or attempted giveaways of
power sites and other natural resources; the
attempt to hold the minimum wage increase
to 90 cents; and complacency about the hy
drogen bomb testing hazard for all mankind.
All of these are issues about which Adlai
Stevenson has expressed his discontent,
speaking thereby for a vast segment of the
American people.
Tribute To Courage
“He that loses wealth, loses much, but he
that loses courage loses all.” (Cervantes)
John Leland, who died last week, had spent
more than twenty years of his life, fighting
a losing battle against painful and crippling
arthritis. Much of that time, he was virtually
immobile, stretched flat upon his bed, with
eyesight failing; for the last six months he was
under oxygen. It might be said that this
young man had lost all, but it was not so. For
he had not lost his courage.
The courage that sustained him through the
years, the courageous will to live and play his
part in life, contribute his share, this he never
lost. It kept him going through the years of
suffering, going towards the inexorable fu
ture which he faced with steady eyes.
, During those years he studied the books
which he used as source material for his
stories and his novel dealing with the early
history of this nation. For a good many years
his reading had had to be done with the aid of
special glasses; as his sight failed, his wife
read aloud to him and he dictated the notes
and stories that he could no longer write.
Though certainly the author would not
have allowed it, it is a pity that this back
ground to the writing of John Leland’s book
could not have been told on the jacket of the
novel which has just been published: “Othneil
Jones.” For one of the amazing things in read
ing it, is to feel the vitality, the fervor and
the joy—there is no other word for it—^which
went into the writing. It is about a young
man’s adventures, full of action, of keen par
ticipation in life, of hope, held with a high
heart, for the future. It is a going-forward
story, told with a fast pace and a rushing
eagerness of words. For such a book to be
written by a man who lay flat and stiff and
immovable, who could hardly see and, at the
last, could hardly breathe: this is a rare feat
of the human spirit.
But this was a spirit that could look the
challenge of his fate in the eye and not be
afraid.
This nation lost a fine writer in the death
of John Leland, but his one good book is
there to stand beside the Other good books
of America’s literature, while the brightness
of his courage and determination will be a
challenging inspiration to those who follow.
Woodrow Wilson: A New Perspective
One of the phenomena of American politi
cal life is our faculty to rise to the supreme
heights of selfless dedication in times of stress
only to plunge into the vaUey of forgetfulness
once the danger has passed.
The post-World War 1 era presented an
example of this paradoxical behavior of the
American people and there is no better ex
ample in our history than Woodrow Wilson as
the prototype of the leader of vision whose
counsel was heeded and then seemingly for
gotten.
In 1919-1920 a curtain of silence and for
getfulness shrouded our wartime pledges to
support international cooperation against fu
ture aggressors. This country tried desperate
ly to forget the past. The fighting had ended
and the “boys” brought home; the Treaty and
the League were annihilated in the political
arena; a “peacetime” administration replaced
the “war” administration; and the return to
“normalcy” was confidently awaited.
But of course it was not to be.
The old problems that gave rise to World
War 1 began to reappear and assume an ever
more threatening form. The country became
uneasy an^ took tentative steps back towards
“Man! Talk About Being Confused-
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EISENHOWER IGNORES HEALTH HAZARD
Bomb Tests Pose Threat To World;
Stevenson Asks U. S. Lead Control
its original wartime resolutions, only to re
treat once more. World War 2 became an
ever-growing cloud darkening the horizon
that exploded in flames at Pearl Harbor and
the myth of “independent isolation” was des
troyed forever.
This Centennial Year of Woodrow Wilson
has resulted in a new perspective on the life
of our 28th President and his era.
For example, for the first time since Wil
son’s death, there was high praise this year
for Wilsorrfrom leaders of the political party
which opposed him while in office. Members
of the Congress on both sidse of the aisle join
ed in establishing a Wilson Centennial Cele
bration Commission and in naming a new
bridge in the nation’s capital for Wilson. Pres
ident Eisenhower issued a proclamation call
ing upon the Amercian people to join in the
Centennial commemoration.
In short, the Centennial activities are suc
ceeding in presenting to a new and unpreju
diced generation, which has come of age since
Wilson’s time, a better balanced picture not
only of Wilson but also of America—^her suc
cesses and her failures, her weaknesses and
her strength. All of us can profit from this.
(From The New Republic)
“Fragments of bomb debris
from the Pacific tests are now
turning up in the bones of people
all over the world,” writes Dr.
Ralph Lapp, atomic physicist, in
the October issue of the “Bulle
tin of Atomic Scientists.” He as
serts that the world is 40 times
nearer . disastrous atmospheric
poisoning than the Atomic Ener
gy Commission admits in its
latest report to the Congress.
Dr. Lapp is not here referring
to the genetic effects of radiation
on unborn generations, but to the
effects of Strontium-90, which
can cause bone cancer in persons
now living.
Strontium-90, or Sr-90 in phys-
cist’s shorthand, is one of the
most plentiful elements in the
fireball of a fission bomb burst.
Because of its initial gaseous
state, it is carried into the strato
sphere as high as 100,000 feet.
It then circles the globe 5-10
years, falling out at the rate of
10-20 per cent a year. It is flush
ed to earth by rain and snow, de
posited on pastures, eaten by
dairy cows, passed to people
through milk, and comes to rest
in human bones.
Threshold of Safety
Using British data, it is now
possible. Dr. Lapp writes, to es
tablish the Maximum Permis
sible Concentration of Sr-90 for
the human race and to figure
how many bomb bursts will take
us beyond the threshold of safe
ty. Bombs totalling 260 megatons
(a megaton equals a million tons
of TNT) would precipitate this
critical stage. So far the Ameri
cans and Russians have exploded
40 megatons, or 15 per cent of the
limit. And thje testing rate is ris
ing, with British tests commenc
ing next spring. Air force officers
now regard 20 megatons as a
“normal bomb” and have discus
sed testing a 50 megaton explo
sive. Only 13 of the “normal”
bombs or five of the largest
bombs would push the world to
the brink.
The above maximum risk is
calculated for peacetime, having
in mind that children are far
more susceptible than adults to
bone cancer. But in wartime,
when the calculated risks must
be higher. Dr. Lapp estimates the
government would set a maxi-
jxium safety level 50-times higher
than in peace, thus accepting the
certainty that millions of non-
combatants would contract bone
cancer.
AEG Will Decide
These facts cannot be un
known to the AEG. But the AEG
philosophy is so keyed to contin
ued testing that Dr. Gordon Dun
ning, health physicist in the AEG
headquarters, stated in a recent
report to Congress:
Since continuation of our
nuclear testing program is
mandatory to the defense of
the country, the problem
then becomes one of defining
these risks and evaluating
them in the light of what is
best for the peoples Of the
free world.
In plain English this means
that the AEG will decide what is
-best for the human race.
Dr. Gioacchini Failla, a top
radiation advisor to the AEG,
was even more frank when he
told “Life” magazine: “The ques
tion of how many H-bombs can
be safely exploded is irrelevant.
To remain free, we must develop
powerful nuclear bombs. We
must continue the testing pro
gram.” We are not told how long
we can do so without liberating
more radioactive material than
the human race can endure.
Yet in the face of all this.
President Eisenhower declares
that continued testing of large-
scale nuclear weapons is not a
proper subject for debate. He has
rebuked Adlai Stevenson for
even raising the question, and in
his statement in reply complete
ly ignores the health hazard in
volved in testing. Discussion of
the matter, "Eisenhower says,
“can lead only to confusion at
home,” revealing his ignorance of
the part such temporary “confu
sion” "customarily plays in the
working of the democratic pro
cess.
The only hope for an early end
to this strontium recklessness
lies in the sort of bold US leader
ship Adlai Stevenson has pro
posed: cessation of tests as a first
step to putting the malevolent
genie back in its bottle.
EDITORIAL COMMENT
Two Good Towns
You can’t keep a good town down. _ i.
The spirit with which the towns of Aberdeen and Robbins have
accepted the severe blow inherent in the closing of the mills in
both towns is a tribute to two fine communiti^.
Almost before the news was known, Robbins was opening a
large poultry plant, set up to employ, we would imagine, more
than the number of those the mill let go; efforts have already
been started to find a buyer for the mill’s machinery and start
another.
In Aberdeen, leaders who knew of the approaching closing,
long before it became common knowledge, have been working
hard to try to find another source of income for the town and a
purchaser for the building as soon as it is vacated.
In neither town is there repining. Both show a willingness to
call it “water over the dam” and look ahead instead of backward.
"Wtih such a spirit there can be little doubt that what these two
communities seek, they will surely find: the progressive, reliable
type of occupation for their people, the steady employment and
the deeper, fuller advantages to be gained by it, which must be
the goal of every good community.
The Public Speaking
Grains of Sand
They Call It "Progress"
From Vermont, by way of Tish
Irwin who spent the summer
there, comes a comment on mod
ern times and ways. We have
heard pretty much the same kind
of mournful soliloquy now and
then in these parts too.
In Vermont it ran something
like this:
Mrs. Irwin, to lady bringing
back the laundry: “You look sort
of tired today, Mrs. Bunce.”
Mrs. Bunce: “Well’m, I guess
maybe I am. Life seems to be
such a rush these days.”
Mrs. Irwin: “Is it a rush up
here, too, in this beautiful peace
ful valley?”
“Just like everywhere, I guess.
These new machines, they’re ev
erywhere.” '
“Machines?” queried Tish.
Mrs. Bunce nodded. “What they
CEill ‘labor saving’,” she explained
with care. “They call it ‘progress’.”
“But the new machines are sup
posed to make life easier,” said
Tish.
“Supposed to,” said her visitor,
darkly, “supposed to ... ”
“They save you steps . . . and
work,” said Tish.
Mrs. Bunce looked at her. “They
don’t”, she said.
“They don’t?”
“No, they don’t,” said Mrs.
Bunce. “You just work harder.
First you work hard to make
money to buy the machines. Then
you work so hard, learning how
to use them. And then you work
hard to keep up the payments.
You never stop. Run around; hur
ry; keep a-goin’. And all the
time they’re goin’, too; rushin’ an’
roarin’ an’ splashin’.”
Mrs. Bunce heaved a deep sigh
and then gave a sudden start:
“There’s one of ’em goin’ back
home right this very minute. An’
supposed to turn off.” Her eyes
had a hunted look: “Supposed
to ... ” she said, and turned and
fled out the door.
Local Wiinchell?
From the Pinehurst Outlook:
We don't want to mention any
names, but Mr. H. is pretty up
set about the Pinehurst house he
rented to another Mr. H. No. 1
claims No. 2 converted the sun
porch into a bar, took out some
paneling, made other interior
changes, and cut down two large
camelia bush^, all without per
mission and without exercising
his option to buy. Could lead to
the courtroom, we hear.
Who's Afraid?
Makes you think of that little
ditty, doesn’t it? You know: the
one that the Big Bad Wolf sang
to the piggy hiding inside his
house:
“I’ll huff and I’ll puff And I’ll
Blow—^your—house—down!”
Glamor Ads ...
We weren’t making our Christ
mas list. Not yet. Just browsing
through one of the Big Flats.
Will now pass on a few items for
our readers’ benefit.
Who would like to buy a mar-
bleized goatskin carafe set?
Now ain’t that sumpin? And
the two glasses that go with it—
(Yes, it’s a jug to hold branch
water so when you git up offen
yore pallet, night-time, you kin
get you a sip or two)—the two
glasses that “rest on the mirror
ed tray” are “specially selected.”
Well, we should hope so!
Here's Something Else!
A swish New York firm conies
out with an object, the precise
purpose of which mystifies us.
Advertised as the latest addi
tion to “the game of politics,” the
item is described as a block of
Incite, with the silver statuette
of a donkey. . . or an elephant,
if you insist. . . imbedded in it.
Its purpose? For holding down
your piles of the Congressional
Record, Adlai-n-Ike speeches?
We wouldn’t know.
Wait a minute: Lucite is un
breakable, isn’t it? And a silver
statuette would be reasonably
hefty. How about a little game of
mayhem, come election eve?
But why wait till then?
Mr. Dooley’s Comments
Have Timely Meanings
To The Editor:
Someone has just issued a new
collection of Mr. Dooley’s won
derful wisdom. In the New Re
public of October 1, 1956, it was
reviewed and this week’s issue
carries a couple of lettprs com
menting on Mr. Esty’s review. I
set them down herewith with the
best wishes of a New York Dem
ocrat:
Mr. Esty’s piece, “Mr. Dooley,
Now and Forever,” omits Mr.
Dooley’s remarkably prescient
remarks on the Vice President:
“Ivery mornin’ it is his busi
ness to call at the White House
an’ inquire after the Prisidint’s
health. When told that the Prisi-
dint was niver betther he gives
three cheers, and departs with a
heavy heart. . . Some Vice Prisi-
dints have been so anxious f’r
th’ Prisidint’s safety that theyVe
had to be warned off the White
House grounds.
“It is princip’lly, Hinnissy, be
cause of th’ Vice Prisidint that
most of our Prisidints have en
joyed such rugged health. Th’
Vice Prisidint guards th’ Prisi
dint, an’ th’ Prisidint, after sizin’
up the Vice Prisidint, con-cludes
that it wud be better f’r th’ coun
try if he shud live yet awhile.”
And this:
Mr. Esty missed Mr. Hennes-
sy’s closing question in “Mr.
Dooley on Golf.” In this election
year of 1956 it should take some
kind of prize for unabashed con
temporaneity:
“Is th’ Prisidint a good goluf
player, d’ye know at all?” asked
Mr. Hennessy after a moment of
judicial silence.
“As a goluf player he cud give
Lincoln a shtroke a hole,” said
Mr. Dooley. V
With all respect,
GLINTON W. ARESON
Southern Pines
The PILOT
Published Every Thursday by
THE PILOT. Incorporated
Southern Pines, North Carolina
1941—JAMES BOYD—1944
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