Page TWO
ILOT
Southern Pines
North Carolina
“In taking over The Pilot no changes are contemplated. We will try to keep this a good
paper. We wiU try to make a little money lor ail concerned. Wherever ttere 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. ——====;===
Budget Controversy Helps Inform Public
The controversy between the county board
oi education and the county commissionea:^,
in regard to the capital outlay appropriation
for the county school system in the 1957-58
budget has been compromised with appropri
ation of more money for this purpose by the
commissioners, as noted in detail in a news
story in today’s paper.
Three years ago, there was a similar dis
agreement between the two boards—the
school board maintaining that the appropria
tion was woefully short of even minimum
needs. At that time the matter went to the
clerk of court for arbitration, with the out
come that the board of education received
some additional funds.
As whs the case three years ago, the public
benefits enormously by reason of these air
ings of school financing. Once the two boards
are deadlocked, each has to place its argu
ments on record. Newspaper coverage of
these discussions open wide the doors on
school needs over the county and also serve
to illuminate the general problem of county
budgeting.
Since both the commissioners and the board
of education are elected bodies, what they do
is of public interest and it is incumbent on
both boards to make an accounting of their
actions to the public.
If. in advance of budget-making time,, the
board of education would present an outline
of school needs to the people, through the
press; and if the commissioners would ex
plain the problems they are faced with in dis
tributing the available funds each year, it
would give the public a much better under
standing of these matters.
Editor Wins Bout With Government
An 81-year-old weekly newspaper editor—
Chet Lampson of the Jefferson, Ohio, Gazette
—13 the central figure in a story to warm the
hearts of all country editors and of all good
citizens, for that matter.
In 23 days that worthy man was able, by
writing editorials and letters to government
officials, to get the Treasury department to
revise the wording of an income tax notice.
The story began when Mr. Lampson, who
has edited his paper for the past 61 years,
received a notice that he owed the Govern
ment $9 on his income tax. It was not so much
the $9—although he claimed, too, that he did
not owe that—which troubled the good editor.
It was the language in which’ the notice was
phrased.
According to the Government communica
tion, if the alleged delinquint does not send
funds which are received within 10 days of
the notice, he is threatened, in this first no
tice, as follows; “Your account will be placed
in the hands of an internal revenue collection
officer without further notice. Under the law,
he may levy on your wages, salary or other
income, or seize or sell your property or
rights to property, to collect this account.”
On these harsh words, the old editor com
mented:
• “It is beneath the dignity of the United
States Government to permit any of its
agents to humiliate or frighten taxpayers, de
linquent or not, in the agency’s initial notice
of an alleged delinquency.
“The first notice should be as courteous as
those used in general business.
“The said Statement of Income Tax Due
Three School Boards Act In Good Faith
Just after the “Pearsall Plan”—which this
newspaper had opposed—was written into
law by approval of the voters of North Caro
lina in a referendum nearly a year ago. The
Pilot commented:
“ . . . The racial segregation problem in the
public schools still presents itself, as it did
before Saturday’s referendum on the en
abling constitutional amendment, in the form
of a question mark.”
We listed several of the questions involved
and then noted:
“To the extent that the Pearsall Plan leads
white people to believe they have assured
eternal or even long-abiding segregation in
the schools, they are being deluded. The Su
preme Court decision stands. The aspiratibns
of Negroes for public recognition of their
' equal rights under law in public matters are
not diminishing. . .”
That was nearly a year ago. One of our
prime objections to the Plan was that it was
being advanced as the way to “Save Our
Schools.” This was a phrase that meant dif
ferent things to different people, but to most
Tarheel voters it meant that the schools
would be "‘saved” from racial integration.
The Plan provided, in fact, a means for this
salvation by enabling citizens in a school dis
trict or portion of a district to vote that a
school be closed if integration in that school
took place.
The broader interpretation of “Save
Our Schools”—and the interpretation that the
propounders of the Plan might prefer to have
made—was that the Plan was flexible enough
to allow integration, as well as to block it. It
was therefore thought to be constitutional
under the United States Supreme Court deci
sions. A test of this question has not yet come
before the courts.
This is the background of the recent deci
sions by local schools boards at Charlotte,
Greensboro and Winston-Salem to admit a
few Negro students to white schools for the
coming year. The decisions in these three
cities were made under authority of the
State’s Pupil Assignment Act, not under the
Pearsall Plan. It remains to be seen if the
provisions of the Plan will be invoked later.
To those persons who viewed the Pupil
Assignment Act and the Pearsall Plan as a
solid bulwark against any racial mixing in
the schools, the recent developments at Char
lotte, Greensboro and Winston-Salem come
‘‘If You Can Keep Your Head When All About You
Are Lofeing Theirs ”
THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1957
W'l
/<
<*5
?7
//V
'//
/i
■4'"
iMl.
SW.?
gives absolutely no explanation of why, how
nor what. . .
“The wording of this Statement of Income
Tax Due shows it was written by someone too
ignoiant to comprehend business courtesy or
the rights of citizens to due process of law
under the Bill of Rights.”
Several scorching paragraphs are omitted
for reasons of brevity here, and then the edi
tor concludes:
“No agency of Government should be al
lowed to insult any citizen or deny him his
constitutional rights or inflict cruel or un
usual ounishments on a mere assumption that
the taxpayer is a willful violator of the in
come tax law.”
These comments were published in Mr.
Lampoon’s paper and were sent to members
of Congress. His paper also published an
open letter to the President of the United
States. He wrote to the Vice-President. An ,
Ohio senator took Mr. Lampson’s editorial
and a letter directly to the Secretary of the
Treasury.
The result of all this: the offensive card
will be banned as fast as possible and the
new Statement of Income Tax Due will con
tain no offensive language.
•Mr. Lampson’s comment on what happened
•was that his 81 years ‘"would not have been
lived in vain if the language on that card
were changed.”
The editor’s experience • is an example not
only of the effectiveness of a small town
newspaper, but of what can be done by ordi
nary citizens in dealing with the Govern
ment if they have personal convictions back
ed by common sense.
•'t
y.
A U
V ^
WHY NOT SEE YOUR OWN STATE?
Vacation Guide To North Carolina
as a shock. As we noted a year ago, those
who held this view of the legislation were
being deluded.
It is a tribute to the honesty of the three
school boards in those cities that they granted
applications 6t Negroes seeking to enter the
white schools—also, be it noted, refusing
some of the applications, for other than racial
reasons.
Those three school boards, as will many
other school boards of the state in the future,
faced a question that they could not, in good
conscience, have answered any other way.
While the Pupil Assignment Act Offers a
number of reasons why a board may reject &
pupil’s application to enter a certain school,
for reasons other than race, there are bound
to ceme applications from Negroes that sim
ply cannot be turned down in all honesty for
any of these other reasons. That moment of
decision is the moral crisis for school boards
and is the measure of a, board’s integrity. It
will be interesting to see how similar crises
are met by other boards over the state.
It is obvious that the stand of the Char
lotte, Greensboro and Winston-Salem school
officials is running ahead of full public com
prehension and acceptance—^but it has, after
all, been more than three years since the Su
preme Court’s first momentous decision on
the school segregation question. "What hap
pened in the three cities can hardly be des
cribed as an overnight or hasty decision.
There haS been plenty of time for adjustment
of public thinking—but a great many people
have out off coming to grips with the reality
of the situation: that there is bound to be
some break-through in racial segregation in
the schools.
In that same editorial of The Pilot last
September, from which we have quoted
above, we wrote these words which seem to
us as applicable today as they were then:
“It now behooves all of us—school officials
and patrons and all citizens—of both races, to
question and examine critically our notions
about each other, to strive to find points of
agreement rather than points of conflict, to
renew our devotion to public education, to
resolve to keep our schools open even at the
cost of some compromise with rigid convic
tions, to eschew violence of any kind and to
strive for the wisdom, tolerance and under
standing without which human beings can
never live in mutual respect.”
Many residents of North Car
olina are aware of the resort and
scenic attractions of their state.
And perhaps residents of the
Sandhills are more than normal
ly aware of these attractions
since we here are in one of the
State’s most notable vacation
areas—an important part of “Va
riety Vacationland.”
Yet even those of us most fa
miliar with the state as a whole
welcome information about the
varied interests North Carolina
has for the vacationing family,
'for shopping tours or fot week
end trips. This central section of
the state is a wonderfully con
venient taking-off place for sum
mer excursions either to the sea-
coast or the mountains.
Seven Areas
In The State magazine. Bill
Sharpe, who knows North Car
olina as well as or better than
any other Tarheel, lists North
Carolina attractions in seven dif
ferent areas—a list that can
serve as a thumbnail vacation
guide to residents of' the state
who want to see more of North
Carolina. It’s a good list to look
over if you’re planning a vaca-
tin this summer:
Northwest: Play golf at Lin-
ville. Go horseback riding at
Blowing Rock—and be sure to
drop your handkerchief over the
rock, ^ee the outdoor drama
“Horn in the West” at Boone. At
tend a “ragpicking” sale at
Crossnore. Cross the swinging
bridge at Grandfather Mountain.
Visit the Minerals Museum at
Gillespie Gap.
Mid-Mountains: Try the Annual
Craftsman’s Fair and Stuart Nye’s
Silver Shop at Asheville. Go pic
nicking on Mt. Mitchell, highest
peak in the East. Have dinner at
the Nu-Wray Inn in Burnsville.
Go trout fishing in the Pisgah
Forest streams. Drink and bathe
at Hot Springs.
Cool Sleep
The • Sapphire Country: See
Chimney Rock and Bat Cave and
go swimming in Lake Lure. Try
square dancing at Hendersonville.
Study the wild plant preserve at
Pearson Falls. Go to a concert of
the Transylvania Music Camp at
Brevard. Get a cool night’s sleep
at Highlands. Go boating on Glen-
ville Lake. Dig for rubies in, the
old mines at Cowee Valley.
The Far West: Go camping in
the Smoky Park. Try a cruise on
Lake Junaluska. Meet the Indians
and the outdoor play at Cherokee.
Drive along the Blue Ridge Park
way to see the laurel and rhodo
dendron, Hike along the Appala
chian Trail. Visit the Fontana
powerhouse and lake.
Northeast: Visit the Wright
Brothers Memorial at Kitty Hawk
and climb Jockey’s Ridge sand
dune. Try surf fishing at Oregon
Inlet. See Paul Green’s “The
Lost Colony” at Manteo. Go deep-
sea fishing from the Outer Banks
and climb the Hatteras Light
house.
Peaces and Quie t
Central Coast: Wander around
old Fort Macon while the children
wade on the nearby beach. Eat
a good seafood meal at the Sani
tary Fish Market at Morehead
City. See the restored Tryon’s
Palace at New Bern. Get a little
peace and quiet at Harker’s Is
land. Take off a week to rest on
Ocracoke Island, follow the wild
ponies among the live oaks and
yaupon bushes.
Southeast; Go down the inland
waterway to Topsail Island. Sun
bathe at Wrightsville Beach or
gig for flounders. Look at Wil
mington’s port. See what South-
port is like. Visit Ft. Fisher and
Ft. Caswell. Loll on a'ny beach
along the way.
Grains of Sand
Whal's A Boy?
Off and bn for years, in weekly
newspapers, ^e’ve run across
something like the following item
—a definition of a boy that is a
wonderful mixture of truth, fan
tasy, common sense and affec
tion. It pops up now and then,
with minor variations, and we
don’t think we’d be true to the
tradition of a weekly paper if we
didn’t print it once in a while for
a new generation to chuckle over.
It certainly has no time value, and
will, we trust, be as good a cen
tury from now as it is today. This
latest version of the definition
showed up in the Rotary maga
zine, the publication for members
of that world-wide civic organi
zation which has a club in South
ern Pines.
Here is the definition: ^
“After a male baby has grown
out of long clothes and triangles
and has acquired pants, freckles
and so much dirt that relatives
do not dare to kiss it between
meals, it becomes a boy.
“ A boy can swim like a fish,
run like a deer, climb like a
squirrel, balk like a mule, bellow
like a bull, eat like a pig, or act ^
like a jackass, according to cli-
mate conditions.
“He is a piece of skin stretched
over jn appetite; a noise covered
with smudges.
‘‘He is called a tornado because
he comes at the most unexpected
times, hits the most unexpected
places, and leaves everything a
wreck behind him. .
“He is a growing animal of
superlative promise, to be fed
and watered and kept warm.,
“He is a joy forever, a periodic
nuisance, the problem of our
times, and the hope of a nation.
Every boy is evidence that God
is not discouraged with man.
“"Were it not for boys, the
newspapers would go unread and ^
a thousand picture shows would
go bankrupt.
“Boys are .useful in running
errands. A boy can easily do the
•family errands with the aid of
five or six adults. The zest -with
which a boy does an errand is
equalled only by the speed of a
turtle on a July day.
“A boy is a natural spectator. ^
He Watches parades, fires, fights,
’oall games, automobiles, boats
and airplanes with equal fervor
—but not the clock.
“Boys faithfully imitate their
dads, in spite of all efforts to
teach them good manners.
“A boy, if not washed too of
ten, and if kept in a cool, quiet
place after each accident, will A
survive broken bones, hornets, ^
swimming holes, fights and nine
helpings of pie.”
From Connecticut To Chapel Hill In 1829
Elisha Mitchell was killed by a
fall over a precipice in 1857
when he was exploring the
North Carolina mountain that is
named for him. The observance
of the 100th anniversary of his
death recalls a letter his bride
wrote about their journey to
Chapel Hill in December, 1829.
He had gone there to join the
University faculty and had gone
back to Connecticut to marry.
The Chapel Hill 'Weekly tells
about the letter and quotes from
it, as follows;
After a short and easy stage
ride to New York City they went
to Slizabethto’wn, New Jersey,
by boat and thence to Trenton
and on to Philadelphia by stage.
A boat took them do'wn the
Delaware river to New Castle.
They went by stage to French-
town and then by boat down the
Chesapeake Bay on a beautiful
moonlight night. In Baltimbre
they visited the Roman Catholic
cathedral while breakfast was
being prepared and after break
fast boarded a boat for Norfolk.
“We arrived at Norfolk at one
o’clock oil Friday. The stage -was
waiting and we went eleven
miles to the Dismal Swamp,
where we entered a canal boat
20 feet long. This was at sunset
of a rainy Christmas Eve and we
were drawn along through the
canal at four miles an hour. We
had three pistols and we were
prepared for banditti.
‘"We were till 10 o’clock get
ting through the swdmp. Instead
of finding -a stage ready to take
us on to Elizabeth City we found
the driver had become tired of
waiting and had gone off ■with
out mail or passengers. We got
a one-horse gig and a cart for the
baggage and walked from the
end of the canal to a tavern a
few miles distant.
“The stage that had left us re
turned to take us , to Elizabeth
City in time for breakfast. We
went on to Edenton and had our
Christmas dinner there, at 3
o’clock. The steamboat to Ply
mouth had left, so it was neces
sary to cross Albermarle Sound
in an open boat with four oars.
The water being pretty rough
and the boat leaking badly, one
of the gentlemen bailed con
stantly while Mr. Mitchell steer
ed.
“The uncomfortable journey
across the sound took 'seven
hours. We touched Plymouth
about sunset Sunday and imme
diately unpacked our trunks to
dry Our clothes. On Monday
:norning we went to Williamston
by stage, then to Tarboro, and
then to Raleigh. We arrived
there too late for the Chapel Hill
stage, so we hired an extra stage.
I heard Mr. Mitchell tell the
driver to drive us well for he
(Mr. Mitchell) was armed. Mr.
Mitchell whispered to me that
the driver was suspected of be
ing a murderer.
“With this comfortable assur
ance we plunged into the woods,
leaving all civilization apparent
ly behind us. We took the whole
day for the 28 miles and arrived
in Chapel Hill December 29.”
The Public Speaking
All Not Lost
To the Editor:
Re birds, bugs and poison
spray; should we overlook the
cats that eat the birds that eat the
bugs that breathe the poison va
pors? All is not lost!
E. W. BUSH, D.O.
Southern Pines.
Town Should Be Proud
' Of Fogging Program
To the Editor:
In regard to the fogging situa
tion, I am all for it. It is a great
relief to be able to take a walk
around our streets without being
pestered by the gnats and mos
quitoes.
It is too bad that some people
have allergies which this fogging
irritates. Couldn’t they make a
request that their homes be by
passed? In that way, the rest of
us would not be deprived of the
benefits. •
As for the birds, I haven’t seen
any dead birds lying around as a
result of the fogging. In the hot
weather the birds always take to
the deep woods. And as for the
noise and fumes, both are of short
duration.
I have discussed this matter
with many people and have yet
to find one who objects to it.
Many of the large cities all over
the U. S. have adopted this meth
od of exterminating pests. It
seems to me that Southern Pines
should be proud to be so up to
date.
* A Taxpayer,
MRS. H. W. ALLEN.
260 E. New York Ave.
Southern Pines.
Not Up To Date
Best thing seen concerning the
latest Baptist hullabaloo—the
one over the fact that Wake For
est students can now dance on
the campus—comes from some
fellow writing an indignant let- ,
ter to the Biblical Recorder, ^ ^
notes Roy Parker, Jr., in the
Hertford Coimty Herald. Mr.
Parker says further:
He deplores this dancing, say
ing that “bosom-to-b'osom con
tact” was the big danger and just
as sure as garden peas at a Ro
tary banquet there will be ‘‘bos-
om-to-bosom contact” if dancing
is allowed to continue at ^in;^
ston-Salem.
Apparently, he isn’t up on the
latest rage in ballroom hoofing,
a thing known as rock-and-roll
in which there is not only no
“bosom - to - bosom contact”
(doesn’t that phrase have a nice
ring to it), but seldom any con
tact at all, even with the floor.
ThePILOT ^
Published Erery 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 w
Bessie Cameron Smith Society
Composing Room
Lochamy McLean, Dixie B. Ray,
Michael Valen, Jasper Swearingen
Thomas Mattocks.
Subscription Rates:
One Tear $4. 6 mos. $2: 3 mos. $1
Entered at the Postoffice at South
ern Pinfes, N. C., as second class ,
mail matter w
Member National Editorial Assn,
and N. C. Press Assn.
(