3
VOL. 33—NO. 10
SIXTEEN PAGES
SOUTHERN PINES, N. C., THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 1957
SIXTEEN PAGES
PRICE TEN CENTS
SUCCEEDS MARK KING
Hubbard Elected New President
Of Chamber Of Commerce Tuesday
MR. HUBBARD
Construction Of
Armory To Start
The local share of the cost of
construction for a new National
Guard armory on Morganton
Road has been forwarded to Gen.
John H. Manniug, adjutant gen
eral of the National Guard in
North Carolina, as the final step
before initial construction of the
building begins, it was announc
ed this morning by Capt. William
Wilson, local Guard commander.
Wilson said that construction
will probably be started in about
three weeks by P. E. Ingle Com
pany of Burlington, general con
tractors. Cost of the new armory
is about $125,000.
The local share, which has
been made available through ap-
propria,fions by the county com
missioners and the Southern
Pines Town Council, amounts
to about 10 per cent of the total
cost.
Wilson said he anticipated the
building would be completed in
“about six to eight months.”
I Earl Hubbard, assistant cashier
j of the Citizens Bank and active in
I various phases of community life,
[ has been elected new president of
the Chamber of Commerce suc-
I ceeding Mark King, Jr.
I Hubbard’s election came at the
! Board of Directors’ first meeting
j of the year Tuesday night.
I At the same time' the directors
^ named James Hartshorne first
vice-president, Mrs. Graham Cul-
‘ breth, second vice-president, L. D.
] McDonald, treasurer, and Alwin
I Folley, corresponding secretary.
Mrs. S. D. Fobes is to continue in
her job as executive secretary.
J. T. Overton, outgoing first
vice-president, presided at the
meeting in the absence of King,
who was out of town on business.
Hubbard was also out of town on
business but was informed of his
election Wednesday.
He said that he was happy to
accept and “hoped to offer the
leadership for a constructive and
dynamic program.”
First order of business, he said,
is consideration of a program that
would take up the slack in the
town’s economy felt by the clos
ing of several major industries in
the area recently. “We have an
excellent board of directors who
have indicated their desire to put
forth great efforts to weld the
town’s various interests into a
common good,” he said, “and I am
eagerly looking forward to the
first meeting to begin arranging
a workable and realistic pro
gram.”
Hubbard is presently serving as
treasurer of the Moore County
chapter of the American Red
Cross, a director of the Rotary
Club, neighborhood commissioner
for the Boy Scouts, and steward
in the First Methodist Church.
George Pottle, who has been
serving on a committee to publish
a folder describing the town to
(Continued on Page 8)
Court Of Honor
Set Monday Night
Scouts of Moore District wiU
hold a Court of Honor Monday
night at Brownson Memorial
Presbyterian Church, it was an
nounced this morning by Frank
McNeill, advancements chairman.
The court will begin at 7:30.
McNeill said the ceremony will
be the biggest one of the scout
year, with awards going to the
outstanding cub packs, scout
troops and explorer posts. The
annual Storey Cup award, pre
sented to the outstanding scout in
the county, will be given at the
court, he pointed out, as well as
two other awards: the District
Chairman’s Cup and the District
Commissioner’s Cup, both to be
awarded for the second time.
All parents and friends are in
vited to attend.
CONCERT TONIGHT
Frederick Sahlmano. out
standing pianist with the
music faculty, of Elon Col
lege. will appear in the open
ing concert of the Sandhills
Music Asociation's current
season tonight at 8:30 p. m.
This is Sahlmann's second
appearance in the Sandhills.
He appeared here two years
ago and was instantly ac
claimed as one of the best
artists the association had
presented.
He will present selections
by Bach, Brahms, Mozart,
Ravel, Liszt, and Rachman
inoff.
He has been soloist several
limes with the North Caro-
. lina Symphony Orchestra and
is scheduled to appear with
the orchestra again this sea
son.
Tickets are available at the
door for the concert and sea
son tickets for the remainder
of the association's schedule
are available at Barnum
Realty Company.
Hyde^ Others Acquire News
Gen. Jenkins Says
School To Move
Soon As Possible
Expresses His
Gratitude For
Community Help
Brig. Gen. Daniel W. Jenkins,
in announcing this week that the
Air Ground School would defi
nitely move to Keesler Air Force
Base in Mississippi, said the asso
ciation with Southern Pines over
the past six years had been one
that the Air Force was “proud of
and eternally grateful for.”
He said that definite confirma
tion had been received from the
Tactical Air Command, of which
the Air Ground School is a part,
to move as expeditiously as pos
sible. He said no timetable f^r
completion of the move had been
set up, but guessed that the mid
dle of February would probably
be a good guess.
In the meantime, he said, he
couldn’t be too lavish in his praise
for the people who responded to
the crisis the school had gone
through.
He listed a number which had
offered assistance in the past few
days, including Mayor Pro-Tern
Harry Pethick of Southern Pines,
Garland Pierce aj; the Post Office,
Brig. Gen. Pearson Menoher of
the disaster committee of the Red
Cross, the John Boyd Post of the
VFW, Captain William Wilson of
the National Guard, Forrest Hock
ey of the A&R Railroad, the Elks
Lodge, Holliday’s Restaurant,
Dante’s Restaurant, C. A. Mc
Laughlin of the Belvedere Hotel,
the American Legion, the South
land Hotel, R. M- Cushman of
Amerotron Corporation, and
“many, many individuals too
numerous to mention who gra
ciously offered space in their
homes for the airmen and officers
who were burned out.”
He said he was particularly im
pressed with the police and fire
department’s efforts and with the
way that spectators handled
themselves.
“One of the most terrific jobs
we had was to meet Almost 100
incoming students and process
their papers for return trips to
their home bases,” he said. “We
set up a temporary office in the
Southland Hotel for that purpose
and got the last of the students
processed Tuesday. It was a big
operation for us to set up on such
a short notice and I would like to
thank the Southland management
for their assistance.”
General Jenkins said that the
(Continued on Page 8)
Aerial Photo of Highland Pines After Disastrous Fire
'
’ ; A-' '5’
>
AERIAL PHOTO of the burned out Highland Pines Inn was
made Sunday morning while the ruins were still smouldering by
Pinehurst photographer John G. Hemmer. The largest building
behind the ruins is the dormitory where permanent personnel of
the Air Ground School werg quartered. Other buildings saved
were the dispensary, the boiler room (partially obscured by
HOPES TO RETAIN SCHOOL DOOMED
The Moore County News, ^
weekly newspaper published in
Carthage, has been purchased by
a group headed by Nelson C.'
Hyde, veteran Sandhill publish-'
er and editor, it was announced
this morning by John Beasley,
who has published the paper for
the past 31 years.
The new group will assume
publication February 1.
Hyde, present editor of The
Pinehurst Outlook, was joined in
the purchase by a group that in
eludes W. D. Sabiston, Jr., Carth
age attorney, Robert S. Ewing,
of Southern Pines, former of
ficial with the Amerotron Cor
poration, and George H. Leonard,>
Jr., of Resort Realty Company in
Southern Pines. It is reported
that a number of others have
joiner) (he group in acquiring
ownership.
Under the new set-up it was
announced that Hyde would de
termine the editorial and news
policy of the paper. The others,
Beasley said,, are interested “only
in developing the area served by
the paper."
Hyde first came to Moore
County in 1927. He purchased
The Pilot, then published by the
late Stacy Brewer in Vass, in
Septenr.ber of 1928. The paper
was later moved to Aberdeen and
then to Southern Pines where
Hyde sold it in 1941 to the late
James Boyd.
He took a position first on a
S’r.-acu=r. naper and then on the
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin,
covering the White House during
the war years. In 1951 he return
ed to the Sandhills and assumed
the editorship of The Outlook.
He said he would continue his
association with The Outlook
and that no major changes were
contemplated.
Politically, Hyde describes
himself as a Democrat, though
The Outlook supported President
Eisenhower in the last two elec
tions. Ewing is chairman of the
Moore County Republican organ
ization and was co-chairman of
the Citizens For Eisenhower
campaign in the county in the
past election.
Peach Growers To
Hold Annual Meet
At Pinehurst Mon.
A. Paul Kitchin, Congressman
from this district, will be princi
pal speaker at the annual meet
ing of the North Carolina Mutual
Peach Growers Society Monday
at the Carolina Hotel in Pine
hurst.
W. C. Capel of Candor, presi
dent of the society, said that
Kitchin will discuss legislation
that is beneficial to peach grow
ers, particularly the new cropHn-
surance that has been made
available through government
efforts.
Registration for the all-day
meeting, which is held annually
at Pinehurst, wiU begin at 9:30
in the lobby of the Carolina.
Capel will preside over the open
ing session, which will be follow
ed by a series of conferences and
discussion periods by experts in
peach research. Four such
periods have been set up: ‘‘Vari
eties and Planting Trends,” con
ducted by G. W. Schneider;
“Nematode Notes,” by H. H. Fos
ter; “Processing,” by Ivan Jones,
a state conservationist; and a dis
cussion of the advertising pro
gram for 1956-57, which will be
explained by Page McAulay,
Montgomery County peach farm
er.
Following lunch C. S. Black,
who is in charge of the Sandhill
Research Station near Candor,
will make a progress report.
Congressman Kitchin’s address
will be delivered following the
annual banquet at 6:30. '
Highland Pines Inn Destroyed By
Fire; Damages Placed At $300,000
Air Force salvage teams were
still searching the ruins of the
disastrous Highland Pines Inn
fire this morning in attempts to
salvage as much material as they
could.
’The fire, which broke out
about 3:30 Sunday morning and
completely demolished the main
structure of the famous inn, has
been termed the worst in the
town’s history. It’s not likely that
the hotel will be rebuilt and,
though there has been no defin
ite announcement from the man
agement, the possibility of estab
lishing another similar facility
on the site is dim.
Charles Stitzer, owner of the
hotel, was in Southern Pines
Tuesday conferring with insur
ance aeijusters and with members
of the Air Ground School staff.
He declined to give any definite
damage estimate (the figure has
ranged upwards to $300,000) and
said he “did not have time to
think of the future.”
Brig. Gen. Daniel W. Jenkins,
school commandant, said this
morning that orders to move the
school to Keesler Air Force Base
had been confirmed and that the
move would be done as soon as
was possible. He estimated
that it would take probably two
to three weeks to complete the
task.
General Jenkins is operating
from temporary offices set up in
h-"' riispensary, one of several
buildings that were saved when
the fire swept through the hotel
structure. He has declined with
thanks “dozens of offers” from
various individuals and groups
to make available space for the
temporary operation.
A rain Tuesday put out all but
one small spot of the still smoul
dering embers. Harold B. Fow-
I ler, chief of the Southern Pines
I Volunteer Fire Department, said
it was his belief that the fire
I originated in the attic “probably
I from defective wiring.” He added
'that when he reached the scene
“things looked pretty bad. We put
a great deal of our effort into
keeping the blaze from spread
ing.”
A wind that blew lightly dur
ing the fire was, according to
Fowler, “providential in that it
kept the flames from jumping
into the trees behind the build-
teg. Had the trees caught, it
would be difficult to tell just
what a catastrophe we might
have had.”
smoke) and a smaller building that was used as a carpenter shop.
Fire officials say that if flames had gotten into the trees at upper
left and the wind had been blowing in that direction, many
homes might have been lost. As it was, a light wind was blowing
in a direction from the upper right of the picture and carrifed the
flames to an open area.
1 ^
Hotel Had Been At Center
Of Townes Life 45 Years
The Highland Pines Inn is no
more. It is gone and, according
to one oldtimer, who saw it built
and saw it burn, so is a way of
life.
During its 45-year existence,
the Inn was closely enmeshed
with the life of Southern Pines.
It started as a community effort
and, at the time it burned, the
community was involved in a
He had crews continually soak- mighty effort to keep it alive and
ing down the trees and adjoining functioning as an integral part of
buildings. Only four buildings on the econorhic life of Southern
the grounds were saved: the bar- , .Pines.
racks building, which, before the Back in 1912 a group of citizens
Air Force took over, had been had decided that a first class hotel
used by the hotel to house some ' was needed in the area to replace
of the service personnel, the dis- the burned out Piney Woods Inn.
pensary, which was also formerly Instrumental in organizing the
used as quarters for hotel per- company to raise funds for the
sonnel, the boiler room, and the new project were Dr. W. C. Mud-
carpenter shop. g“tt D. G. Stutz, Dr. E W. Bush,
James Hartshorne resident Cephus T. Patch, Dr. W. P. Swett,
James Hartshorne, resident ^ ^ ^ family
managerfor the Stitzer company,, including the Sea-
was one of the first on the scene, j railroad. They sold stock
He said he at first thought the ' company and commis-
(Continued on Page 8) 4
sioned Aymar Embury II of New
York City to design a suitable
building. It must, they told him,
be something specied—it had to
be good enough to continue to at
tract the growing winter trade of
tourists from the North that was
the life of the town.
James Boyd, grandfather of the
late James Boyd, owner of
The Pilot, donated the land and
the timber for the building as his
part of the community enterprise.
The new company secured An
drew I. Creamer and Millard H.
Turner, who had built up a good
hotel reputation in the north, as
managers of the hotel and it was
opened with a full house in De
cember, 1912.
Mr. Creamer operated it until
1930, when he was succeeded in
the active operation by Mr. Tur
ner.
Under the Creamer-Turner
management, the hotel enjoyed
great success, year after year. It
(Continued on page 8)
GUTTED ROOF of the Highland Pines Inn is
shown about 30 minutes after the fire was dis
covered. This picture, made by Valerie Nichol
son, was taken from the parking area just in
front of the hotel at the height of the blaze.