Newspapers / The Pilot (Southern Pines, … / Dec. 12, 1957, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page TWO THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1957 ILOT “Sit Y’Self Right Down-—^Have A Seat, Guv’nor” Southern Pines North Carolina “Id taking 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 aU 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. Opportunity Knocks At The Door As this is written, pledges are being made by residents of this area to assure the con struction of a building for Mozur Laces, Inc., an industry that proposes to locate in South ern Pines. By the time most readers of The Pilot see these words on Friday, the deadline for pledging the large stun needed for local participation in this project will have been reached. What we write here, therefore, can have little influence on the outcome. We have every confidence that the mini mum total of pledges and more wiU be made and that the people of the Sandhills will not pass tip thiis chance to obtain a sorely need ed industrial operation. While we and everyone might have wished that more time had been given the communi ty to study and make up its mind about this proposition, that was not the case, as was made clear at Monday’s public meeting: this company is racing with time to get a plant built to receive - new machinery which has been ordered. The company must know where it is going to locate and it must know now. We hope that as these words are read, the company and the town will know that the plant wiil go here. The people who are investing their funds in the Sandhills Development Corporation, which will build and lease a building to the Mozur firm, are taking a lot on faith,-but ac tually they are taking no more on faith than they take every day. fhose of us who attended the public meet ing Monday heard from people we know and trust and deal with frankly and openly in our everyday affairs the story of the company that proposes to locate here. We heard the company and the people who operate it spok en of it; very favorable terms. And these words were spoken by our fellow townsmen who in this matter acted as the eyes and ears and judgment of us all im evaluating this op portunity that is placed before us. The immediate response to the financial ap peal, in which some $30,000 was pledged in a few minutes by those in the auditorium, showed that the people of Southern Pines and the Sandhills are trusting their judgment. If the bankers and businessmen who know the Sandhills best recommend investment in the building project and themselves plan to invest in it, it seems to us that this is a good recommendation for general participation. We don’t know what more we could ask. The fact that this project was instituted, revealed and carried along in a hurry may be the thing that gives it life. If it is good, it is just as good in a burry as it would be slowly. From the evidence given us, we feel that it is good and will be good for Southern Pines and» Moore County. Why Not Admit Some Movies Are Bad ? The Charlotte firm that owns the Sunrige Theatre and controls its programs must do more than insist that it is showing the best quality moving pictures it can obtain, before This community will be satisfied. A letter of protest about horror, sex and crime movies—sent to Charlotte by the Southern Pines Parent-Teacher Association— brought from the local management an at tempt to change the PTA’s opinion by hand- ■ ing out tree passes to everybody at the PTA meeting Monday night. Ail this followed by just a few days the showing here of “I Was. A Teenage Were wolf.” We note, however, that the passes were given nut after, not before, this attraction graced the local screen. It would be much more to the point, it seems to us, if the Charlotte firm and the local management would simply admit that local criticism of poor movies is valid. If they would pass this criticism on to the source of those poor shows—and if this same action took place in hundreds and thousands of com- munitie.s over the nation, so that the makers of these sorry shows would know how mil lions of people feel about therri—there would be a good chance of improving movie fare at the source, which is the only answer in the long run. As long as distributors send these sorry movies around and theatre managers show them and people attend them, bad movies will be made. Skill, artistrv, taste and other ingredients of good movies can be forgotten as long as movie makers throw in plenty of sex, crime and horror. It’s cheaper and easier to do it that way—and if people will pay to watch it, why bother with anything else? The best advice is that of the Rev. Martin Caldwell, the local clergyman who has spok en O'it and protested about these movies with common sense and courage: he told the boys of the Episcopal choir that the best comment on “I Was A Teenage Werewolf” was to ig nore it. The same advice would apply to all other movies of this sort. And It is up to parents to watch the pro grams and exercise the judgment required, to the best of their ability. GUEST EDITORIAL, FROM THE WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL: The End Of Tliis nation has moved a long way since Oc tober 4, the day the Russians sent their first sputnik hurling into space. No longer do we hear the kind of talk that came from too many responsible quarters in this country just after the launching. •All of us know that Sputnik I was more than “a nice technical trick,” as Defense Sec retary Wilson called it; and that it certainly war not ''a silly bauble.” the term applied by Clarence Randall, the President’s foreign econi.miic advisor. We know, too, that Mr. Eisenhower was underestimating its impor tance when he said last month that “so far as the satellite is concerned, that does not raise my apprehensions one iota.” Kussi.a’s success in launching a satellite has jolted this nation out of its complacency more than any event since the early days of Woild War II. While it has deepened the di vision between East and West and given new impetus to the arms race, it has also had some altogether desirable consequences: 1. The American people have been forced to take a new look at their scale of values. And we have found, as we always do when the threat of external danger mounts, that our national security takes on a new importance. At the same time, such things as tax cuts and balanced budgets become less than ends in them.selves. 2. A long-overdue bipartisan note has been introduced into our foreign policy. Adlai Stevenson’s acceptance of a job as adminis tration consultant does not mean- the Demo crats have abdicated their position as the op position party, but it does give the Republi cans the benefit of the best Democrat think ing on foreign affairs—before the policy is shaped. 3. The U. S. and its natural allies have been driven closer together. Just how far we and they are prepai’ed to go in our joint effort will become more clear when the NATO Council meets. 4. The educated man, and particularly the scientist, has taken on a new importance. No longer can we turn up our collective nose at the intellectual and look solely to the man Of action for leadership. 5. Oiu: whole educational process is under going a sweeping, though not yet systematic, ft fj i MS 'eep DAILY NEWS THEY TOLD HIM TO GO TO SLEEP News Can Appear In Many Faces Complacency revaluation. For, coincidentally with the ap pearance of the sputniks, we have learned that Russia is far ahead of us in emphasizing technical and scientific education. We know now that we must provide more training in those areas. Tlie danger, though, is that we shall fail to realize that the need is for really educated persons and not mere technicians. These are some of the things for which we can thank sputnik. It has taken weeks for its mesage to penetrate the consciousness of the Amei-ican people. But now we know, along with Scientist Vannevar Bush, that ‘•'the sputnik was one of the finest things Rus sia ever did for us.” Like him, we can be “glad they fired this thing off.” A Bird In The Hand The Pilot shares the disappointment of a good number of Southern Pines residents that the $2,500 appropriated for beautification of the nev.i^ parkway has been withdrawn by the council and returned to the General Fund. The. reason for this action is sensible on the face of it: The State is taking on the whole parkway beautification job. The work to be done is all on State property and the town is not obligated to spend the $2,500 now. ■ There is this much to say for holding on to the furds: a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush—and if it becomes apparent that town money will be needed to supplement the state’s landscaping (what about that speci.a’. project for the Pennsylvania Avenue interchange?) it appears unlikely that another $2,500 or even part of that sum can be found in the future when it looks as if there will be some sizeable debts, including additional funds for the municipal center, hanging over the town. This is not to assume that the state will not do a creditable job on landscaping. State co operation in this respect has been excellent. Plans have been discussed and approved by the Parks and Parkways Commission and there is every reason to think that the land scaping will be well done. We just have a feeling that the $2,500 will be missed some day. And if the town hung on to it now, it would be there. (From Publishers' Auxiliary) When those two young men, Orville and Wilbur Wright went down to North Carolina to fool around with their concept of something called a flying ma chine, instead of staying at home to take care of their bicycle busi ness, their home town paper noted that: “Orville and Wilbur Wright, local business men, are in North Carolina but will be home for the holidays.” It ignored the elements of what may have been one of the big news stories of our times. There weis another case, a Tex an editor received a news bulle tin from his wire service ma chine one afternoon in 1914. It w,as printed on those pink “flim sies” wire services use and the wind, coming into the office, blew it away. He didn’t mind. He had read the first few words and he decided that he could go to press without it. After all, who in Texas cared that war had broken out in Europe? This all happened before news papers were as alert as they are today, you say. It couldn’t hap pen again, you say. Well, in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, there lives Ukrainian-bom George Chaplenko. He lives with his wife and children in New Jersey after a life that saw him have to flee the Ukraine upon its capture by Soviet troops in 1944. He emigrated to the USA in 1949 and is employed as a chemist in New Jersey. His favorite hobby, is short wave radio. He was tuned to Moscow on the 20 meter band on November 2. The Soviet commentator inter rupted a program and stated “stand by for a special news bul letin.” Mr. Chaplenko switched on his tape recorder and took down the news broadcast in Rus sian which began: “We have just launched the second Earth satel lite.” 'Die bulletin continued with information about its canine pas senger. Mr. Chaplenko called the New York newspapers immediately. They considered him a hoaxer, and told him to turn off his radio and go to sleep. He insisted upon leaving his name and telephone number. Within an hour, his phone was ringing without interruption. The following day, the nation’s newspapers were using his re corded news bulletin from Mos cow as the basis for their head lines. Having established him Self as a reliable source of news infor mation, Mr. Chaplenko has al- re.ndy received an assignment from the New York Times to check out stories by tuning short-wave bands. On November 5, he spent the eiitirq night mon itoring Moscow for an expected announcement of a rocket launching to the moon. The rock et was never released, but Mr. Chaplenko was able to record the complete speech of Nikita S. Krushchev on the anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Later that day, Mr. Chaplenko reports. the wire services had still not re ceived the complete text of the speech via London. The morale? You never know; news has many faces and it talks in many different ways. It some times comes into your office as casually as the breeze. Warfare — Now And In Middle Ages (From "The Story cif Our Civili zation" by Phillip Lee Smith) “Feudal battles, while they could be gruesome enough, were not ordinarily very devastating. The medieval chroniclers who re late the slaying of thousands in a single encounter are known to be capable of exaggeration. Even if their figures were accepted, the casualty rate would seem ex tremely low by modern stand ards. “So, members of twentieth century society are ill-advised to reproach the Middle Ages with being warlike. Before the con flicts which we unleash; even in periods of ‘peace,’ the petty jousting of that era pales into insignificance. It would take a hundred years of medieval war fare to equal the devastation which we can encompass in a few weeks—^perhaps days. '‘There is a curious reversal of practice between then and now. Feudal society originated in force and embraced warfare as a legitimate means of settling dis putes. But the technique and rules of combat were carefully stipulated and its intensity cir cumscribed. “Our modern Western societies are founded upon free consent and their objectives are peaceful. War we declare to be abnormal and reprehensible. Solemnly we ‘outlaw’ war, and then proceed to devote the bulk of our re sources to making it more des tructive. Contemporary holo causts engage whole populations, they demand the services of the entire citizen body. “The medieval belief was that each class should hold to its own specific function. There were the peasants to toil, the nobles to fight (and govern), and the clergy to pray (and govern). In that age the right to fight carried with it the power to govern. Now the right to govern carries with it the power to make other peo ple fight.” ^To Make Sad Hearts Bright..^ Fred G. Brindley of 305 S. Ashe St., herewith breaks into verse again on a subject that has in the past inspired poetry from him at the Christmas holiday season: the Thrift Shop oper ated by St. Ann’s and St. Mary’s Guilds of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, on Pennsylvania Avenue across from the A&P store. The author’s wife is manager of the Thrift Shop and many ladies of the church help in its operation. Through its sale at low cost of used clothing and many other items, all of which are donated, the shop aids persons who buy there, and then the proceeds are given to church projects. Mr. Brindley is a native of England who has lived in Southern Pines for several years, following a long business career in New York. Seated one day at the Thrift Shop, I was weary and ill at ease. And my fingers wandered idly Over the locker keys. I know not what I was doing Or what I was thinking then. But I knew darn well old Santa Would soon be strolling again. It made me feel we should help him As we had in former years. And ’twas then I glanced around me With plenty of ground for fears. Rain had been falling all morning And the few goods we had looked damp. It appeared that what was needed Was a touch of Aladdin’s lamp. When, wham!, the shop door opened. In bounced three parts of the Guild! Before I could say, “My good ness!,” The racks and the shelves were filled. Then I heard the sleigh bells ring ing; I could see the six reindeer. Old Santa himself, so happy. And grinning from ear to ear. It may be he’s smiling broadly. On noticing such a sight As women gladly working To make some sad hearts bright. It may be this little message Of hope will ring a bell— Then here’s to a Merrv Christmas As we happily sing NoeL Grains of Sand Full Moon and Drunks ngha aS I patch, which last Friday celebra ted its 40th anniversary under the editorship of Ike London, remains in a class by itself, one of the livliest weekly papers we’ve ever seen—^packed with dozens of big and little news items, along'with comments and jokes originating from or appealing to its inimi table editor wfio was 72 years old Wednesday of this week. We note that in connection with the full moon last weekend, Mr, London again pojnted out that there would probably be more drunks and law-violators in jail over the weekend than usual. “It seems,” he wrote suc cinctly, “the full moon affects the inclination to get drunk.” A typical London headline (front page) is over this story: “V/ill There Be More Drunks This Week?” We’ll bet that very few persons who picked up the paper failed to read that story. Save The Bluebirds Our favorite Tarheel nature writer, Roj^ Parker. Jr., of Ahos- kie, notes in the Bertie Ledger- Advance that the State Federa tion of Women’s Clubs and other organizations are concerned about the many bluebirds that die in the flues of tobacco bam oil burners. Many of these . burners, he points out, have tee-shaped flues which appeal to bluebirds as nesting places, but when they go into the flues, they are trapped, falling through the downpipe into the heating tunnels inside the barn. It’s reported that thousands of bluebirds are dying in this way in the tobacco country and it’s recommended that farmers screen these flues to keep the birds from getting into them when tlie bams are not in use during the nesting season. The Women’s Clubs are work ing on the problem too from an other angle: they’re promoting the sale of bluebird houses as part of a state-wide “Save The Bluebird” campaign. Sounds to GRAINS like a good project for Miss Flora McDonald and her Home Demonstration clubs throughout the county. That would be taking the prob lem right to the ladies who could get the job done: those who live on farms. Just how big a problem tobac co barns as bluebird traps are around here, we don’t know, but we have heard Of a few such in stances and there may be many more. Anybody have an informa tion on this subject? 'fhe bluebird, with his wonder fully sweet call, “Bermuda,” and his friendly habit of building close to the habitation of man, when he has the opportunity, is one of the most likable of the songbirds. We hope the campaign to eliminate bam death traps is successful. Getting The Spirit If anybody has a hard time getting in the Christmas Spirit, as that wonderful holiday feeling of good will is called, he ought to go to the VFW post home when the Christmas cheer bas kets are being made up. Each basket contains food items worth about $7.50. It’s a real gift, not just the traditional token mixed fruit and nuts Christmas bag. Most touching, perhaps, are the baskets going to families with children. You can see wide eyes light up as this unexpected gift, with toys |ind other items just for the children on top, arrives at a home where there is little other evidence of Christmas. Any old toys on hand? Leave them now on the porch of the VFW Post Home, across from the post office. They’ll make some child happy at Christmas. The PILOT • Published Every l^ursday by THE PILOT. Incorporated Southern Pines. North Carolina 1941—JAMES BO'VD—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 Rates: One Tear $4. 6 mos. $2: 3 moa. $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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Dec. 12, 1957, edition 1
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