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Page TWO
THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 1957
ILOT
Southern Pines
North Carolina
“In tgii-Tng over The Pilot no changes are contemplated. We will try to keep this a good
paper. We will try to make a little money for all concerned. Wherever there seems to
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.
Aberdeen Plant Sale: New Lease On Life
Announcement of sale of the Amerotron
pleint at Aberdeen to A. & M. Karagheusian,
Inc., one of the nation’s outstanding carpet
manufacturers, has given the Sandhills and
this entire area a new lease on life.
There were few faces that were not bright
er after publication of this great news. In
Aberdeen, where effects of the Amerotron
shutdown last year were most deeply and
widely felt, the atmosphere is jubilant. There
is not a town in Moore County—including
Southern Pines—that will not be benefited
by the big plant’s reopening.
The past few months, during which the
Amerotron payroll ceased and its building
stood idle, have shown this area how impor
tant industry is becoming in its economy. It
was a painful lesson—but it has been weU
1
learned. The Sandhills is now geared to in
dustry. There is no doubt about it.
That, we say, is good. A normal pattern of
development is good, in whatever field of hu
man endeavor. And the normal pattern—^the
workable, creative and economically sound
pattern—of American life at this time has a
base of productive industry.
The Pilot welcomes the Karagheusian com
pany and recognizes with gratitude the ef
forts of those persons who were influential in
bringing the firm to Aberdeen: Highway
Commissioner Forrest Lockey, W. P. Saun
ders, director of the State Department of Con
servation and Development, and others.
We have every confidence that the firm to
locate here will find its association with this
area pleasant and profitable in a multitude of
ways.
Members Should Back Chamber of Commerce
Directors of the Southern Pines Chamber of
Commerce are imderstandably disheartened
by the response accorded a meeting held last
week to discuss the organization’s plans for
the coming year.
As reported to The Pilot, 17 persons were
at the meeting, including nine members of
the board of directors. Not only had the gath
ering been well publicized in the usual chan
nels, but the directors had made more than
150 telephone calls on the day of the meet
ing, personally notifying all members. In ad
dition, all interested citizens, members or not,
were invited in public announcements to at
tend# Suggestions of members and citizens,
bearing on the Chamber’s carefully prepared
program to promote the economic prosperity
Town Election: Opportunity For Service
As this is written early this week, no can
didate for the town council had filed—and
the April 8 deadline for filing is fast ap
proaching. i
We hope that this does not mean there will
be a slackening of interest in the town elec
tion this year. We recall with pride the elec
tion tv/o years ago when there were 15 candi
dates for the five council posts, including two
women. That is a show of civic interest of
which any community this size could be
proud—and we , have heard observers from
other towns, where elections are generally
apathetic or routine, speak admiringly and
even enviously of what happened here two
years ago.
Since the council-manager form of govern
ment was adopted here four years ago, the
town has been served by councils chosen in
elections that aroused much interest—coun
cils that have been energetic and representa
tive of various interests. These officials have
revamped the policies and procedirres of lo
cal government at a pace that sometimes may
have outstripped public understanding and
acceptance, but that have vindicated them
selves in provable efficiencies, tax reduction
and general good government. It has, for the
interested citizen who followed this progress,
been rn exciting four years in municipal
operations. But, let it be emphasized, much
remains to be done, both in consolidating the
innovations of the past four years and con
tinuing the progressive efforts that have
characterized the. past two administrations.
Though it is likely too early in the filing
period to tell how much interest there will be
in this year’s town election, we remind cit
izens at this time that community service
through electitie office is one of the top re
sponsibilities of citizenship. We urge all citi
zens who feel that they could contribute a
measui-e of their talents and energy to the
community not to hold back from making
that fact known by filing for election to a
seat on the town council.
‘Doctor’s Day’ Honors Nation’s Physicians
In commenting on the burgeoning devel
opment of science, we once expressed a wish
that this modern world in which we live
might have penicillin but not the atomic
bomb. And we went on to make more com
parisons of ways in which science has made
life contrastingly both more secure and more
precarious.
But there is one field of scientific endeavor
for which there is almost universal approval.
This is the field of medicine whose develop
ments in the past century .have removed
from mankind a burden of pain and tribula
tion such as we can now hardly imagine.
Even those of us who, perhaps too senti
mentally, now and then feel that people
would be happier without high-powered au
tomobiles, television and other appurtanences
Of modem life, do not hesitate to call a doctor
when in physical distress and t(|) accept the
miraculous potions and treatments that are
making lives much longer and pleasanter
than lives used to be.
All of us, then, will not find it difficult to
join millions of other Americans in honoring
the nation’s physicians on Saturday, Msirch
30, which is known as “Doctor’s Day.”
The physicians of Moore County will, on
Saturday, be wearing red carnations present
ed to them by the Jadies of the Moore County
Medical Auxiliary—a gesture that has been
customary for some years now, in recogni
tion of this special day. (
Moore County, with its large number of
physicians and its exceptional hospital facili
ties should have no hesitancy in recognizing
on Saturday the blessing of having good med
ical care constantly available.
While this, like other blessings, tends to be
taken for granted, Doctor’s Day is a good time
to let our physicians know that we are grate
ful for their efforts in our behalf and for the
efforts of medical men everywhere in helping
to alleviate mankind’s ancient burden of sick
ness and pain.
Offering New Possibilities Of Hope
The accidental juxtaposition of two stories
on the front page of a recent Pilot could be
interpreted as significant.
One of the stories reported organization of
the Moore County Mental Health Association.
The other related the occurrence and the
background of a tragic event* the attempted
suicide of an unemployed man with a large
family—a man who reportedly 'sought work
vigorously, but was too proud to accept pri
vate or public financial assistance, and whose
frustration ended in an attempt to take his
own life.
What is the connection between the two
stories? Primarily, it seems to us, it is imagin
ative and prophetic: if the association fulfills
its aims, it will be influential in helping es
tablish clinic facilities, on some basis that
would remain to be worked out, that could
offer to distressed persons the help that they
desperately need in understanding themselves
and meeting the predicaments in which their
unhappy fates have cast them.
The influence of such an organization as
‘‘Gee, It’s A Nice Picture—:—Hope It Works”
of Southern Pines, would be welcome, it was
announced.
We find the Chamber of Commerce pro
gram interesting and challenging—especially
proposed efforts to get people to live here
wl^o do not necessarily have to make this
town their home, people who travel in their
business or have offices or businesses else
where but still could live here. In fact, such
a group already makes up a significant seg
ment of the residential population of South
ern Pines—a group from which local busi
nesses benefit daily.
There can be no successful Chamber of
Commerce, here or anywhere else, unless^
members contribute not only their annual
dues payments but also their energy, time,
thoughts and suggestions.
Hi.
HEW,
north
Q
IS?
h
Nation’s Biggest Health Problem
There is moimting interest in
the fast-growing movement
which, from state headquarters
in the Education Building at Ra
leigh, is spreading through a
number of North Carolina towns
and counties to help meet com
munity needs in the field of
mental health. Among local
groups already flourishing are
those of Alamance, Burke, Cum-
be^and, Forsyth, Guilford, Hay
wood, Pitt, Rowan and Wake
coimties, also in Charlotte. Edu
cation and research ane the pri
mary and initial objectives, with
practical help such as the setting
up of community clinics among
the eventual ambitions.
Moore Joins List
Moore County has joined the
list of those with mental health
associations, with formation of a
county-wide group—^headed by
Dr. Malcolm Kemp of Southern
Pines and Pinebluff—^here re
cently. 'The new association has
been carefully organized and is
sponsored by various county of
ficials, civic organizations, physi
cians, lawyers, ministers and oth
er interested persons.
Figures Show Need
The need for such an organi
zation, strong at all levels—^na
tional. State and local—^is shown
by figures which prove mental
illness to be the biggest health
problem in the country today.
Ot the total hospital popula
tion, 54 per cent are in mental
hospitals. One out of every 10
persons will at some time be
hospitalized for mental illness.
One out of four families will at
some time have a member in a
mental hospital. In the past 10
years, while the population of
the country as a whole has been
increasing by 20 per cent, the
number of patients in mental
hospitals has increased by almost
44 per cent.
New Understanding
Yet mental illness is , still a
subject with which the average
layman is on unfamiliar terms,
lacking comprehension as to
its causes and effects. Days when
“crazy people” were penalized
and brutalized like common
criminals have gone. There is
new imderstanding and a desire
for more. Recognizing mental
and emotional ills as sickness
like any other, with a good re
covery rate if properly imder-
stood and treated, is part of the
battle now being waged under
capable leadership, with organi
zation and public education as its
major weapons.
Why Should We Penalize The Innocent Child?
Like counterfeit coin, bills to
deny public sissistance to North
Carolina’s illegitimate children
seem to keep turning up in Ra
leigh. 'They have been sighted on
the legislative landscape during
ten consecutive sessions, provi
ding many a statesman with the
opportunity to deplore sin and
extol virtue to his heart’s con
tent.
Reason has always prevailed,
however, and the measures have
been mercifully put to sleep.
Rep. Speight of Bertie County
is not a man to be sidetracked by
reason in this matter. He has
again burdened the General As
sembly with a bill cutting off
welfare aid to illegitimate chil
dren when the mother “persists”
in having babies out of wedlock.
The present system, he says, is
“raising a stink all over North
Carolina” and amounts to “stat-
supported house prostitution.”
The bad-penny aspects of his
punitive measure are all too ob
vious. In dealing with the subject
of morality. Rep Speight has
managed to produce a biU which i
in itself has no moral legitimacy.
Such a statute would, in effect,
punish an innocent child, for the
transgressions of the mother.
Need is the sole basis of queili-
fication for eligibility to receive
public assistance funds. 'The legi
timacy of a child has nothing to
do with it. That is precisely the
way it should be.
Furthermore, if this principle is
junked. North Carolina would
risk losing all federal funds for
aid to dependent children. In the
past. Uncle Sam’s share in this
program has amounted to about
80 per cent.
Under Control
If Rep. Speight would rum
mage around in his own mem
ory he might recall a subcommit
tee, report adopted by the House
Welfare Committee in May 1955
noting that “there is no relation
ship” between the aid to depen
dent children program and the
number of illegitimate births in
North Carolina. The group also
said it “found that few children
are bom out of wedlock after a
mother once begins to receive aid
to dependent children.” Dr. Ellen
Winston, head of the State De
partment of Public Welfare, as
sured the House Judiciary Com
mittee this week that North
Carolina’s illegitimacy record is
nowhere near as dark as many
other areas of the U. S. and that
“we have the situation under
control.”
Rather than cut needy illegiti
mate children off with no sup
port, the General Assembly
would serve tiie cause of human
ity better by allowing the ap
pointment of guardians for their
care in extreme cases. A needy
child is a needy child. It is made
no less needy by virtue of its il
legitimate birth.
—^The Charlotte News
Working On Roads Was Citizen’s Duty Half Century Ago
the Mental Health Association extends out
ward from it in planned and unplanned ways.
A community—and in this case we are think
ing of ail of Moore County—in which a num
ber of influential and interested persons are
thinking of social problems of all kinds in
terms of mental health will be a commimity
that becomes better balanced and more heal
thy mentally in seen and unseen ways. The
influence, we are certain!, is felt over the
years, whether or not there is such a specific
development as a clinic.
When the goal of a clinic is achieved, the
people of such an area are, seemingly without
having beeii conscious of the change, pi‘e-
pared to accept the clinic and, imost import
ant, to use it. The problem is not as simple as
that, yet we are sure that such forces are at
work. The ripples move outward from the
source to remote reaches of the social struc
ture.
People who need mental help must gradual-
.ly come to learn that they are not at a dead
end, that there are possibilities of hope.
(By W. E. H. in Sanford Herald)
'The maze of good roads exis
tent in North Carolina is in
marked contrast to the few
which existed no farther back
than 1915, when Lotke Craig,
then chairman of the state’s first
road commission, called out all
able-bodied men in the state to
work for two days on roads in
their localtiiea with spades and
shovels.
There are still folks around
who remember the days when it
was state law that every able-
bodied man give several days
work a year on the rOads, under
direction of precinct road super
visors. This practice was discon
tinued about 1913, and except for
Locke Craig’s 1915 call, road
building and medntenance have
been a county and state tax re
sponsibility since that time.
In Early Times
As far back as 1720, when
there were no roads except In
dian trading trails and paths, cit
izens annually gave several days
of labor to build and maintain
roads. ’This early road building
was by very primitive methods.
Little more could be done by the
small number of people available
than to cut back the trees and
brush to widen a trail, remove
obstructions to carriages and
horsemen, and permit the sun to
aid in keeping some of it reason
ably dry. As more and more peo
ple moved into the state, finding
the land adjacent to rivers and
creeks (which were \he first
“roads”) taken up, they had to
move farther into the forests.
They responded cheerfully and
built roads of a sort, also some
bridges, and even laid causeways
o.ver the marshes.
A slow evolutionary process of
public roads was growing prior to
and for 50 years after the Revol
ution, and the board of justices of
the peace in each precinct was
responsible for the appointment
of supervisors and for enforce
ment of the law requiring aU
able bodied men to work on the
roads.
Plank Roads
Prior to the Civil War, plank
roads were built in many parts of
the state, some with tax money,
most through stock sqles. In 1879,
the modem movement for good
roads started in Mecklenburg
county with a county road tax of
7c to 20c on each $100 valuation,
plus a labor assessment of four
days each year by all able-bodied
males between 18 and 45. Other
counties followed suit. The pat
tern of substantial tax money for
roads was formed; rural free mail
delivery, started in 1896, intensi
fied the better roads improye-
ment and the advent of automo
biles speeded it up.
There have been no labor as
sessments for 44 years, blit up to
then working on the roads was as
much a citizen’s duty as paying
taxes and serving on juries.
Crains of Sand |
GRAINS presents herewith a
challenge for detectives in the
field of local history: an article
or editorial about Manly—^that
esteemed, if snmll, conununity
that adjoins Southern Pines on
the north. We’d like to know
when it was written and any
thing else of interest about the
period which it describes.
The item comes from a yellow
ed newspaper clipping brought to
The Pilot by P. P. Pelton, of 670
N. W. Broad St., who has fre
quently expressed interest in his
torical matters. There ought to
be some clues in his article that
will enable oldtimers to tell us
about when it was written.
When, for instance, was Dr.
Turner a member of the Legisla
ture from Moore County? 'That is
surely on record somewhere, but
we don’t know where.
The article is headed “Manly”
and reads:
“Manly is a small place but
‘with expectations,’ sixty-nine
mUes from Raleigh. It is about
five years old and is an incorpor
ated town. It is in the center of
the finest pine section in this or
any other State. It is the largest
shipping point on the Raleigh
and Augusta Air Line Railroad,
the shipments of naval- stores be
ing 40,000 barrels, and of lumber
5,000,000 feet, annually. There
are also several hundred bales of
cotton shipped.
“This place is one and a half
miles from the summit of Shaw’s
Ridge, which is the highest point
on the railroad between Raleigh
and Hamlet. The soil on the
ridge discovers a strange phen
omenon of nature, being red
sand, and exceedingly produc
tive, some of the lands having
been cultivated ior years with
out manuring, with no perceptive
exhausting of soil.
“Whilst the soil on the ridge is
rich, red sand, that adjoining it
is very improductive white sand.
’The line of demarkation between
the red and white sand is distinct
and well defined.
“Manly has the reputation of
being exceedingly healthy. Dr.
Saddleson, an eminent New York
physician, has recently visited
this place with a view of estab
lishing a sanitarium for con
sumptives and sufferers from
lung diseases. He regards the cli
mate as morq salubrious than
that of Aiken, South Carolina.
The atmosphere is dry and the
soil sandy, which taken together,
excludes aU malarial and impure
air. Dr. Turner, member Of the
Legislature from Moore County,
says that, with an active medical
practice in this section for forty
years, he has never heard of a
single case of consumption.
“Shaw’s ridge is the dividing
Utip between the waters of the
Cape Fear and Pee Dee Rivers.
Thagard’s mill stone quarry,
owned by W. C. Thagard, Esq., is
six miles from this place. The
stone is said to be superior to
any other in the South, if not in
the United States, for grist mills.
“The recent big fire which
swept over eighteen thousand
acres of choice pine lands, did
not entirely destroy the pines,
for they can be sawed into lum
ber.
“There is a point on McDade’s
Creek, one mile from Manly,
which has sufficient water power
to run five thousand spindles in
a cotton factory easily.”
As written in this item, “Thag
ard” is misspelled, we feel sure.
So far as we know, the name has
always had two “g’s”—and so ap
pears on all local maps we have.
The creek called by the writer
“McDade’s” is spelled '“McDeeds”
on recent highway maps of Moore
County. Was it always “Mc-
Deeds,” we wonder? Is the creek
name also misspelled or was it
once really “McDade’s?” This is
the stream along which the new
No. 1 highway by-pass runs, di
viding East and West Southern
Pines.
The PILOT
Published Every Thursday by
THE PILOT, Incorporated
Southern Pines, North Carolina
1941—JAMES BOYD—1944
Member National Editor
and N. C. Press
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