Newspapers / The Pilot (Southern Pines, … / Nov. 15, 1956, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page TWO THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 15. 1956 ILOT “You Anticipate Any Drop When You Take Off ; The Magic Button?” Southern Pines North Carolina “In taking over The Pilot no changes are contemplated. We will try to keep thjs 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 aUke.”—James Boyd, May 23, 1941. » New Precinct Matter Should Be Pushed Election Day last week was proof beyond all further proving that something needs to be done about the matter of splitting the pop ulous Southern Pines precinct. Voters went through the polling place at the fii'e station at a pace of two per minute for 12 hours on election day. The crowding was such that 'some persons had to stand in line for up to an hour to vote. For the sake of the public and for the sake of election officials, a condition like this should not be allowed to persist. A correction of the trouble is a relatively simple matter. The creation of another pre cinct only takes approval by the county board of elections. Pressure should be put on this group to take action before another election rolls around. For some time a committee appointed by the town council has been studying this mat ter, including also in its study the matter of school district and township lines—all of which together forms a somewhat complica ted picture in relation to Southern Pines. For mstance, residents in the southern part of Southern Pines (part of Weymouth Heights, the Country Club area and other nearby sections), as well as those living in Pinedene, vote in Aberdeen precinct. Th6y are residents of Sandhills township, whereas all the rest of Southern Pines is in McNeill township. One plan considered by the study commit tee, as we understand it, is to take the South ern Pines school district boundary lines as the boundary for two new precincts. The school district would be split down the mid dle, east and west, perhaps on Pennsylvania Aye., to create Southern Pines precincts 1 and 2, or however they might be.named. However, it is said, this plan is strongly opposed by at least some political leaders in Aberdeen precinct on the grounds that their precinct would be robbed of a goodly number of voters, because the school district line, be tween Southern Pines and Aberdeen, would then become the south boundary of one of the Stouthern Pines precincts. In view of the fact that Aberdeen is grow ing, too, and will no doubt grow more when the former Amerotron mill gets back into operation, we cannot see the logic of this ob- \. jection. Aberdeen is already the second larg est precihct in the county in number of voters, and 1,242 persons voted in the Presi dential election there last week, as compared to 1,668 in Southern Pines. It appears to us that Aberdeen precinct is heading into the same problem of too many voters as Southern Pines now faces and should be agreeable to easing the pressure by dropping to a newly created Southern Pines precinct a number from the north end of the present Aberdeen precinct. It is very important that the public under stand that the proposal is not to change town ship lines—^which is a much more difficult process and would require action by the Gen eral Assembly—^but only to change voting precinct lines, so that both the newly created Southern Pines precincts would be bounded by the school district line of which a full des cription now exists. Such a unit could be split down the middle by an easily definable straight line that would run from Mineral Springs township to the Hoke County line and would probably follow one of the east-west streets in South ern Pines at the point where it would run through town. A school district is an area of much more cohesiveness, community interest and natural grouping than a township, as may be seen from the fact that about all the contact many citizens in and around the southern part of Southern Pines have with Aberdeen is when they have to go there to vote or list their property for taxes. Such persons, under the new plan, would still have to go there for tax listing, but would be able to take part in political activity and vote in a precinct where they get their mail, have their em ployment, send their children to school and otherwise generally live. We urge the study committee to bring a formal recommendation before the town council soOn and we urge the residents of Southern Pines to get behind whatever sen sible proposal may be worked out and to push the matter to a favorable conclusion before the county board of elections. Tf there is obviously widespread support for such a proposal, we don’t see how the board can turn it down. ^•O.p. Hearings Point To Educational Problem Various interpretations have been placed on information brought out during the Con gressional investigation of desegregation in the Washington, D. C., public schools. The District of Columbia’s school superin tendent is quoted as stating that the average Negro pupil there is about two years behind the average white pupil in educational achievement. Some persons take this fact to fnean that Negroes have a naturally lower mentality than whites—and therefore there should be no attempt to have them go to school together. Then come others with information that leads us to believe this conclusion is not justi fied. A New York psychology professor says that the inferior general environment and the inferior schools that affect most Negro children cause them* to score lower on intelligence tests at this time. It has been pointed out that World War 1 Army tests showed Northern Negroes scoring higher than Southern whites. The professor concludes that segregated schools have cheat ed Negro children of a decent education. Actually, there is no reputable scientific evidence that the Negro has an innate lower mentality than the white man. On the other hand there is no denying that, at' this stage of the development and education of both races in the United States, there is a gap be tween the education achievements of the ave rage students of both races. The problem is intra-racial as well as inter- Visitors Enjoy Special Events Success of the Golf Carousel which was completed Sunday is a tribute to the Jaycees who took over the management of the unique three-course tournament this year, promoted it vigorously and brought to Southern Pines a large group of visitors who obviously had a good time and left with a favorable impres sion of the community. Another group meeting in Southern Pines during the past week was the membership of the Supervisors and Directors of Instruction of the North Carolina Education Association who are reported much pleased with their conference. Coming from all over the state, members of this group returned to their home communities as valuable ambassadors of good will for Southern Pines. We who live in Southern Pines sometimes do not realize how well impressed visitors are with attractions Of the community and the Sandhills. One of the participants in the Car ousel, speaking apparently out of a golden glow of pleasure and amazement after play ing the three local golf courses and taking part in the accompanying social events, ask ed: "Why don’t you do this more often?’’ There is nothing more heart-warming than to hear remarks of this sort from those who have been introduced to the Sandhills and suddenly realize they have been missing something. Southern Pines has enjoyed playing host to the golfers and the school people this past week. We hope .they all return, with or with out the impetus of a special event to draw them here. PROGRESS “Progress is not automatic; the world grows better because people wish that it should and take the right steps to make it better. If things are ever to move forward, some man must be willing to take the first steps and as sume the risks.” —Jane Addams. itEASONS FOR CHOOSING PLANT SITES TOLD How Does Industry Judge A Town? racial. Ail schools—whether Negro or white or mixed—have the continuing problem of bright and dull students and their effect on each other as they go through the educational system m their various age groups. It is remarkable how many observers in the South feel that the educational achievement problem can be settled simply by continuing rigid segregation. The concern appears to be far more with that than with how the achievement of the more backward group can be improved. Washington and other cities with integra ted school systems are attempting to meet the problem with smaller classes, special help for poor students and a method of letting su perior and average students advance at the pace suitable to them, without being retarded by the more backward pupils. Such methods are also being used to ad vantage elsewhere in all-white or all-Negro schools, emphasizing that the matter is not simply a racial problem. So, however schools may be organized ra cially, we do not feel that the nation is faced with an insurmountable problem—though it is a problem that challenges both educators and school patrons to think clearly. And the first step in thinking clearly, in our opinion, is to think simply in tdtms of children, of whatever color, and how the edu cational achievement of each can best be im proved. From this point of view, race hasn’t much to do with the matter. Current interest in Sandhills area industrial promotion has turned the thoughts of many res idents of this area to how their communities measure up to qual ities that business wants- in places to locate plants. Recently the Pilot reviewed some of these qualities in an ar ticle that also pointed out that the enthusiasm, cooperation and friendliness of each individual can pay dividends of good will, sometimes in unexpected ways, in a town or area seeking new business. The manager of a General Electric Company plant in North Carolina was quoted in the re cent article. He had listed vari ous qualities that are considered of prime importance in selection of an industrial site, leading off with adequate education, recrea tion and medical facilities. New Publication The North Carolina Industrial Ne-yis Letter—a new publication of the Division of Commerce and Industry of the State Department of Conservation and Develop ment—^recently published anoth er and even more extensive list of factors that influence industry in its choice of a community. The News Letter’s list was the result of a University of Okla homa survey that included some 500 manufacturers who had loca ted plants in the Southwest. The factors in the list, are given in the order of their importance as indicated by the persons ques tioned. It is interesting to note that subsidies or other incentives by State or local groups are at the . bottom of the list, just as they were rated of low importance by the North Carolina industrialist. Factors Listed ’The list follows; Availability of product mar kets. Wages and salaries. . Abundance of general labor supply. Availability and cost of raw materials. Labor’s will to put out a full day’s work. Workers’ happiness and well being. Cost of transportation of pro ducts to principal markets. Cost of transportation of raw materials. Abundance of skilled super visory and professional labor. Cost of living. Time required for delivery of products to principal markets. Cooperativeness-' of other busi ness people. Availability of building sites. Climatic conditions. Hospital, sanitation, education, and welfare facilities. Time needed for delivery of raw materials. Availability and cost of utili ties. Plant rental or construction costs. I General living conditions for key personnel. Insurance rates. Availability of business, infor mation. Labor unions. Time required for delivery of machinery, equipment and sup plies. Cost of transportation of ma chinery, equipment and supplies. Competence and stability of State and local government. Availability of prime contrac tors. Editorial policy, news cover age, circulation, of newspapers. Availability of subcontractors. Subsidies or other incentives by State or local groups. The Lady, The Hat, The Man (From The Smithfield Herald) No mere man can ever figiure out why his lady buys the hat she does—and insists upon wear ing it. For a man, a hat is simply something to protect his hair from- the rain or cover the bald ing spot on top of his head. The nearest he is ever willing to ap proach glamor or color in his hat is perhaps a bright feather in the band—and usually he is too self- conscious to wear even that. But his wife comes out in the oddest apparitions that he would not even consider a hat. One day it’s the merest nothing—a rose bud imbedded in a fluff of gauze or a thin band of green leaves stretching from ear to ear. The next day she may load her head with a whole basket of fruit, in cluding grapes hanging down to tickle the ear or a banana stand ing straight up like a fence post. Some hats are as flat as phono graph records, others have feath ers standing up like antennae. Some hats look like a whole gar- dert full of flowers, while others look like a bandana wrapped around the head for a day of house cleaning. The Real Puzzle But the underlying philosophy of the woman’s hat is what really HIGHWAYS AND THE FUTURE... “I can visualize a North Caro lina with its highways wider and safer, with boulevards by-pass ing congested towns and cities but with easy access to theiji. These boulevards will be beauti- ifed with plantings of native shrubs and frees; they will be clean and our citizens will be proud to keep them clean. And the wayside junk and trash yards will be moved oi hidden by pa triotic owners on a -"oluntary ba sis or by law through aroused citizenry.” '<■ —Gov. Luther H. Hodges puzzles a man. If his little wom an wants to celebrate some great event like paying off the house mortgage or reaching her silver wedding anniversary, she goes off and buys a hat. He would go fishing or buy a new automobile for the same reason. Then if there’s a disaster in the family— if the washing machine breaks down or Junior breaks his arm, she has to go out and buy a new hat for consolation. He would get drunk or turn on the TV. If a husband really wants to understand his wife’s hat phil osophy, he should go to Lilly Dache for advice. Miss Dache has probably designed more freak ish hats than any other woman in the United States. And she writes a column for women about glamour. She understands the way a woman feels about a new hat. Emotional Reasons ."A woman’s hat is close to her heart,” says Miss Dache, “though she wears it on her head. She buys a new hat for many reasons, all influenced by her emotions. When she is in love she buys a new hat to make herself more beautiful, and when she falls out of love she buys a new hat as a consolation. Or when her spirits are low and she is bored, she may buy a new hat as she would Or der a cocktail—for a pickup.” Although she writes for wom en, Miss Dache also understands men. She advises all her lady readers to take along their hus bands or their boy friend when they select a hat. “If they do,” she says, “I know the hat will not be returned. And when a man selects a hat for his wife, he is not going to make wise cracks about it when he gets home.” So, ladies, if you’ve simply got to buy that new hat to give re lease to your pent-up emotions, how about taking your man along t6 approve it? Crains of Sand Key Diddle Diddle (Second installment Of Miss M. L. serial) Miss Muffett II, whose last T name is Leonard, (of the G. H. Leonard Jr. FFNIC, you know) is being serenaded these days. By a cat. (Doubtless a descendant of the one in the rhyme: the one that played around with the fiddle.) This cat is the newest feline to take up residence in the Leonard basement. That is, we should hastily say, the newest as of last Saturday. May be a dozen or so more in there by now. A musical cat, is this newest cat, a piemist, in fact. Every morning he treads a delicate measure up and down the k6ys of the piano that occupys part of his domain. He doesn’t pound bits of Prokofief and so on. No. This is a Mozart-Haydn cat. Soft tinkles, trills, minuets, these are % the ditties he produces. And who listens most intently? The Leonard Scottie, Miss Muf- fet II. At the first early morning grace-note, she is there, nose—or ear—pressed to the glass pane in « the door through which she yearns her dark, Scottish soul to pieces after those hateful cats. She seems charmed by the music that wafts up the basement w stairs. The moans and yelps of anguish she emits in return have a softer, more melting note. Keep on playing, Kitty; you may win her yet. Gently Does It A group of old pals were whil ing away the time with a game of poker. The betting was keen. Suddenly stepped in Fate in the ^ form of a successful draw to an inside royal flush. The elderly player picked up his cards, took one look and fell dead! Consternation. How should the news be broken to the widow? Jake volunteered. “You gotto go easy, now, Jake,” cautioned his friends. “You gotto break it gently, you know: tact and all that.” Jake drew himself up; “Tact,” ^ he said “is my middle name. Don’t be worried. I’ll do it just right,” and off he went. Reaching the house where the bereaved lady lived he gave a halloo: “Anybody home?” A window was opened above and a face looked down. “Ye-e- es? What is it?” '“Are you the Widow Himmel- stein?” calls up Jake. ^ “The name is Himmelstein,” says the lady, “But I’m not a widow.” • The-old poker player looked up, “What’ll you bet?” says he. Wrote Their Own Sentence In Asheville last month, nine kids were caught firing off fire crackers. The Law came down on them mighty hard—they thought. Here’s the sentence: “W)rite out the legislative act prohibiting the crime, in your own handwriting twenty-five (25) times.” 'The act includes such words as: prohibition, pyrotechnics, dy namite and so on. And there were FIVE HUN DRED (500) words. Chief Newton here in Southern Pines is filing away this law (word by word) to have ready for the next kid who fools around with firecrackers. “Many such violations of the law hereabouts. Chief?” "Plenty. Too many,” says he. One reason the sentence was stiff may have been because Judge Sam Cathey, who pro nounced it, had been himself blinded by a dynamite explosion a few years ago. Fascinating Fact Under normal conditions, the average person in the North American, climate takes about 17 breaths a minute. The PILOT Published Every Thursday by THE PILOT, Incorporated Southern Pines, North Carolina 1941—JAMES BOYD—1944 Katharine Boyd Editor C. Benedict Associate Editor Vance Derby News Editor Dan S. Ray Gen. Mgr. C. G. Council Advertising Mary Scott Newton Business ||) Bessie Cameron Smith Society Composing Room Lochamy McLean, Dixie B. Ray, Michael Valen, Jasper Swearingen Thomas Mattocks. Subscription Rales: One Year $4. 6 mos. $2: 3 mos. $1 Entered at the Postoffice at South ern Pines, N. C., as second class mail matter ^ Member National Editorial Assn, and N. C. Press Assn.
The Pilot (Southern Pines, N.C.)
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Nov. 15, 1956, edition 1
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