Newspapers / The Pilot (Southern Pines, … / May 7, 1959, edition 1 / Page 2
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-X. Page TWO THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1959 ILOT BUT LET'S SAVE SOME OF IT! ‘God Bless America!* We Sing Southern Pines North Carolina “In 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 all concerned. Wherever there seems to be an occasibn 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. Time For Careful Thinking The town has been in a turmoil over the past week because of a situation involving the East Southern Pines high school principaL - Rumor is rampant; a petition is being passed around signed by a great majority of students; many parents are concerned. The actual events are these; Mr. Irie Leonard received a private, personal letter from Schools Superintendent A. C. Dawson letting him know that his name would not appear on the list, to be submitted to the school board, of teachers chosen for re-engagement next fall. Clearly, the letter was designed to give the recipient an opportunity to resign, if he wish ed, and to seek another post; at least to pre pare him for the coming official announce ment. The principal apparently did not keep the contents of the letter to himself and the word quickly spread. This newspaper earnestly hopes that by the time this editorial appears in print (it is being written Tuesday morning) second thoughts may have occurred to cool roused feelings. Nothing but harm could result from hasty public action. The harm, however, could be severe, especially for the party involved. And especiedly for the school. / To those who are voicing indignation over the school decision, calling it ill-advised, an obvious fact should be pointed out: no school official will give up an important member of his staff, and, in this case, a highly successful and popular athletic coach, without very good reason. The difficulty of replacing him, if nothing else, would make him pause. Added to that is the realization that many, ignorant of what lies behind the decision, are bound to condemn it, bringing down on the superinten dent and board a storm of criticism. As has certainly been the case now. No public offic ials—few people, official or otherwise—are going to court such criticism if they can pos sibly avoid it. trouble brought him into a Moore County court. We would hazard another guess that the deciding factors at that time, in the minds of the school board, were (1) the conviction that a group of students must not be allowed the satisfaction of bringing about the dismissal of a teacher and (2) an earnest wish to spare the man himself and give him every chance. It seems clear that these two factors are present in today’s situation and that there has been restraint and an attempt to do the right thing. The main aim must be to do what is right for the school. In this connection it will be well if the public recognizes its own limita tions. Remembering that to be a fine high school principal—and this school should be content witit no less—calls for more than popularity or brilliant coaching or even talent as a teacher. Under the law, a school board is not re quired to release the reasons behind the ncn- reappointment of a teacher. We are of the opinion that the Southern Pines board would disregard this rule if asked to do so—as may be the case, ere this editorial is read. However, we believe that from every consideration, such public interference is unnecessary and to be avoided. Clearly, it took courage to take the action that removed from the school staff this ener getic and popular young man who has made a friendly place for himself in the community. Just as, we might point out, it took courage for the same officials to take up for him two years ago when what one may guess to be the same characteristic that is behind the present Saving Mothers’ Lives More mothers than in any previous year re ceived the benefit of the free bed at Moore Memorial Hospital, during the past year, be cause of the generosity of the public in last year’s Tag Day of the Moore County Maternal Welfare Committee. Again, on Saturday of this week, the little green and white tags will be sold in all com munities of the county for the benefit of the committee’s work—helping women who need help prepare for, have and care for their* babies. This is a program which, over more than 20 years, has literally saved the lives of hun dreds of mothers and babies. The Pilot tips its hat again to the devoted group of people who have made the Committee a wonderfully effective social service organization. And we solicit.the generous support of readers for the Tag Day on Saturday. Two Unwise Pieces Of Legislation A couple of pieces of legislation that are typical of the snap-judgment, emotionally- pressured attitude that sometimes seems to afflict the General Assembly at Raleigh are: the bill to legally punish unwed mothers of inore than one child; and 'the bill that would give National Guard members the same power of arrest that regular law enforcement of ficers have, when sent into any county by the Governor. Both bills passed the Senate last week, the unwed mothers proposal going to the House early this week—when these words are being written. The National Guard bill went to the House and was reported favorably out of com mittee, without full consideration. Whether or not it would be remanded to committee, for the hearings that would appear to be in order for such a controversial measure, was not known as this is written. The gentlemen of the General Assembly seem determined to do something about il legitimacy, come what may. While the situa tion ^ not so simple as the old saw about the politician who is safely against sin and for motherhood (presumably legitimate mother hood although that point has not arisen in the • traditional recitation of these allegiances), it does appear that the legislators are letting their commendable aversion to sin run away with their better judgment. On the very day that the Senate struck its blow for sexual morality, the North Carolina Conference for Social Service report, “The Problem of Births out of Wedlock” was issued, concluding that punitive action against unwed mothers would not help the problem and that illegitimacy is primarily a social and not a legal matter. The Conference for Social Service commit tee that compiled the report spent 18 months gathering statistics and exploring the prob lem. The gist of the report, from start to fin ish, if we can judge by an extensive summary of it in the press, is that the problem of il legitimacy can only be approached fruitfully through education^—the home, the church, the schools—and through an improvement of the economic conditions that breed the ignorance and poverty in which illegitimacy thrives. We hope that the report’s message—avail able to House members now as it was not to the Senate before Senators voted—will in spire the House to reject the punitive proposal entirely. The Henderson strike, of course, precipitat ed the Natiomd Guard proposal—and it is un derstandable that legislators might want to free for their regular work many members of the State Highway Patrol who have been as signed to strike duty in Henderson, while highway fatalities have climbed far over last year’s record, in the first months of this year. Yet legislation that would throw its shadow into every peaceful corner of the state 'for years to come should not be enacted under pressure of a specific emergency. The bill would in eifect create a second state police force, but a force that is trained primarily in military, not police, duties. Whatever police training that might be given the Guard, if the bill is enacted, would be at the expense of their proper military training. While we could expect the average guards man not to use his power of arrest inadvised ly, there would almost certainly be incidents that would create controversy and 'protest within communities and that would lower the status of the Guard in the public mind. It is one of the blessings of American life that members of the military establishment cannot detain or arrest citizens. '' We are pinning our hopes on the House not to be emotionally pressured into enacting these two unwise pieces of legislation. By Weldon F. Heald In "The Living Wilderness" “I love thy rocks and rills, thy woods and templed hills.” So runs one of our most popular national songs. I have seen Americans stand and sing “My Country ’Tis of Thee” with, tears of emotion in their eyes and selfless exultation in their bearing. , But I just don’t believe it. The more I see of our blasted rocks, dammed rills, cut and burned woods, and bulldozed hills the more convinced I am that the average American has no consideration for them what soever. Or if he does, he seems apathetically unmoved by the destruction around him. We love wealth, prosperity, and growth. We take pride in a high standard of living. We thrill to automatic gadgets, deep freezes, and jet planes. We boast of a mechanical, electrical, atom ic civilization wrapped up in a package labeled, “Liberty, Dem ocracy, and the Pursuit of Happi ness—Handle with Care.” There may be a super-streamlined Frankenstein inside. But God bless America. We love it. Under Our Feet However, there is. another America. It is under our feet. It is around us. It is the land we live on—the forests, bills, valleys, mountains, and deserts we took from the Indians. Do we love this America, too? Well, maybe. But it looks to me as if we were so dissatisfied with its general appearance and ar rangement that we are trying to change everything about it in the shortest possible time. For, all over the country pow erful interests, representing themselves as the majority, are closing in, bent on despoiling and obliterating every last vestige of original America. Although na tional parks preserve less than one per cent of our land in pri meval condition, giant dams are proposed for four of them, and lumbermen demand the finest forests in a fifth. National forests provide less than one per cent of the nation’s cattle feed require ments, yet embattled stockmen are asking for the forests as their private preserve. Miners and sheepmen want the national monuments. State parks are suc cumbing to commercial interests. Marshes are drained, lakes emp tied, and predators exterminated so that wildlife suffers from un balance. Each year thousands of acres of timber are indiscrimin ately hacked and burned, the range is depleted, soil exhausted, erosion accelerated, streams pol luted, air contaminated. Truly, this is a love that pass- eth understanding! Years ago Americans who val- Man For The Job We welcome the election of George Ross of Jackson Springs as president of the Moore County Historical Association. Mr. Ross—a former director of the State Department of Conservation and Develop ment, as well as a former North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture—is devoted to the interests of his native county of Moore. He is familiar with and at home with all as pects of the county’s modem life—industrial, agricultural, and recreational. He has person ally lived through the past half century of the county’s history and'his interests go back be yond that to earlier times. Mr. Ross’s attention to the history of mining in Moore has led to a meeting with State offi cials at which tentative plans were made for a geological survey of the county, so that an up-to-date check on Moore’s mineral re sources can be obtained. Thus, a look back ward at the history of mining has led to a look forward and a project that may be of future economic benefit to the county. We await with interest announcement of plans which Mr. Ross is said to be formulating for the Historical Ass" nation’s activity in the coming year. *" The Public Speaking Serpent's Feet Lost After Transgression To the Editor: Reference to Biblical question, your recent edition— “The serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness.” (2 Cor. 11:3). An ancient Jewish legend represents all the animals as having had the gift of speech, and using one lan guage, until the day when Adam was expelled from Eden. The serpent, being the prime mover in the transgression, is judged first. It would appear that the writer conceived of the ser pent as originally walking on its feet. Its crawling in the dust, and taking dust into its mouth with its food and the figurative expression “to lick the dust,” are marks of its degradation. DON MURRAY Aberdeen Political 'Life' Worth More Than Human Lives? To the Editor: Writing of the Automobile Me chanical Inspection Bill, the As sociated Press on April 29, 1959, quoted veteran Representative C. Wayland Spruill of Bertie County as follows: “The 1947 law probably saved a few lives, but it killed about 100 politicians.” This, Sir, really lays it on the line. The political “life” of a pol itician is superior in value to the physical life of a human being! I submit to you that Represnta- tive Spruill and all other mem bers of the North Carolina Glen- eral Assembly who concur with his published statement should be impeached. I also submit that Mr. Spruill be given, at the tax payers’ expense, a permanent one-way ticket out of Raleigh. GARLAND McPHERSON Southern Pines ued this original America became alarmed at the rapidity with which it was disappearing. ’They started a movement for the pres ervation of natural resources, both economic and scenic, which has ever since been known as CONSERVA’nON. From it have grown the national parks, nation al forests, national monuments, the state parks and all other at tempts to preserve some of our nation’s heritage for the use and enjoyment of Americans who love, value and appreciate the land they live on. Today, there , ■) are thousands enlisted in the bat tle to preserve the resources and character of our country. But they are still woefully in the minority. The front-line minutemen of the revolution fought at Lexing ton and Concord for the America they loved. 'Those historic patri ots won against great odds. It can be done again. But don’t wait for orders. Start firing NOW! Join the present-day Minutemen by thinking, talking, reading, and spreading the importance of CONSERVATION. God bless America—and let’s save some of it. “If He Ain’l Running, He’s Sure Doing Some Fancy Riding” Birds Herald Springes Arrival By RENA B. LASSITER In The Smithfield Herald Spring comes in various ways to individuals. The poet says “In the spring, a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” To someone else it may come in the form of a flowering tree bursting out in bloom. To another it comes in the first pushing up of the gold and purple crocuses. To a fisherman, spring is sitting on a river bank with a fishing pole in hand. To the farmer it may be the smell of newly tumed- up earth. To Wilmington, it is likely the Azalea Festival. To Secretary of State Thad Eure it is a new straw hat. To me this year it is the birds. First Bluebird It was in January that I saw the first bluebird—two in fact— that lingered briefly in our yard. Though bluebirds are said to be the harbingers of spring, their visit during the cold of January was all too brief to give me the feel of spring. But since the lat ter part of March, the birds have really been heralding spring to me. Cardinals, male and female, show up regularly at the feeding station, Robins searching for worms and insects dot the lawn. A pair of mourning doves, the first I ever saw, had breakfast at the feeding station about two weeks ago. I have heard their haunting, mournful Ah-Wopo- Wooo-Wooo ever since we have lived in the wooded southwest ern part of town. But I never could see the birds. But there was no mistaking the pair I recently saw from my kitchen window. Discovered Nest Then there are my brown thrashers. I call them mine, for they have built a nest in the big shrub at the comer of my room. I had noticed these busy brown birds with their long tails, striped breasts and barred wings for several days. Then one day I saw one of them with a bluejay’s feather in his big beak fly to the bush at the corner of the house. A little later I discovered the nest. I miss the little juncos that were so numerous all winter. They have flown to a colder clime. But in their place we have sparrows. Not until this spring have I seen sparrows around our place. And when I began to watch them closely I knew they were not the common everyday English sparrows. I consulted my bird book and found out that ' there are forty kinds of sparrows in the United States. The most of those in our yard have definitely striped crowns that set them apart. I have identified two of these striped crowned sparrows as the white-throated sparrow and the lark sparrow. The latter has a small black spot on the breast that has been termed a stick pin. And this week I saw what must be what the book calls Harris’s sparrows. They have a black head and bib. Holes In Pine I have roamed the place for more nests besides that of the brown thrashers. I have found one on the branch of a naked tree, but I can’t decide whether it is a new nest or one of last year’s. I am sure the robins and towhees are building in a brushy area close by. And there is a dead pine full of round holes that the woodpeckers have chis eled out. I have heard the a-rat- tat of their mighty beaks often. And once I saw a red-head ex ploring the back of a live pine for beetles. Yes, it is spring when the birds begin to mate, and when their songs fill the air. “Do you ne’er think what wondrous beings these? Do you ne’er think who made them, and who taught the dialect they speak, where melo dies alone are the interpreters of thought?” KEEP HIM HERE! Down at Cape Canaveral, where the missies are launched, live a whole group of scientists, psychologists and doctors who spend their time trying to find the right man whom they will launch toward the moon when the time comes. ’They have filed thousands of index cards describ ing top physical specimens and administered Rorshach tests to hundreds of volunteers. Machines , constantly process these findings. The list of available candidates is now down to fifty, and even tually this concerted hunt will narrow down to one man, phys ically sound, psychologically right, and smart. Truly, he will be a mens Sana in corpore sano. But there is something absurd about the ^Urpose of this team. Having found the perfect man, it seems the last place they should send him is to the moon. Rather they ought to keep him here, to help propagate the race. - They ought to shoot off the least qual ified man, because we need the best man like we never needed him before. —HARRY GOLDEN in ’Tha CktoUm IsnaUle Crains of Sand Paging Thai Oldtimez Echoes from the. days when Charles Macauley was a valued member of The Pilot staff still come, and how we cherish such nebulous reminders of our col league who died several years ago! For instance, cleaning up our desk, we came across that postcard (already noted in this column some months ago) ad dressed to Mr. Mac here at 'The Pilot: “Dear Sir: Would you kindly furnish me with a list of all ship wrecks off the New Jersey coast, noting the date, location, and car go of same.” WE can’t answer that card, but we know he could. Just the way he could tell you the date, location and any-other- facts of all the happenings around here. Fires especially. Mr. Mac ate up fires—and breathed them out again in great black smoke from his old pipe and burning sparks of biting comment. There’s never been such a reporting of fires since his day. Nor such a general ruckus go ing on around the person of any one else in this newspaper estab lishment. How we miss him! School News, 1878 Mrs. Dan R. McNeill of South ern Pines writes that she found the following old newspaper clip ping while visiting in New Hampshire last summer: “School District No. 4 has voted to raise $800 to build a school house in that dis trict. The doctor went for them in his school report March 18, 1887.” ’That’s all there was to the clip ping. Mrs. McNeill comments: “I’m wondering if the doctor ‘went for them’ because^they had not appropriated anything up un til that time, or because he did not think the $800 was sufficient. What do you think?” The answer, we suspect, will remain wreathed in the mists of District No. 4’s history, but the clipping—which Mrs. McNeill thinks came from the Kearsage Independent of Warner, N. H., shows that money and controver sy, which are two of the basic factors in school operations to day, were just as important 30- odd years ago. Prediction Ike London of the Rockingham Post-Dispatch predicts that Adlai Stevenson will be the Democratic Presidential candidate in 1960. Ike notes that “anti-south Lib erals” are now in the saddle, but in the convention deadlock which he foresees, “the Southern votes v/ill go to Adlai Stevenson—and he will be elected come Novem ber, 1960. . .” Women Cheer up, ladies! Mid all the lambasting to which American women are being subjtected by authorities on this and that comes the voice of Phillips Rus sell of Chapel Hill famed biog rapher, teacher and philosopher r “Women continue to gain free dom. Women are our best prod uct. A first-class American wom an is a world-beater. She is good- looking, dresses well, keeps her house well. She works in offices and is a good housewife. Hope for a better life for all lies with the American woman, our fore most latter-day pioneer. . . In my classes I used to dispense this piece of advice on the last day of the term: You hear much about winning success. Let me tell you how to do it. Pick out a smart gjrl and marry her. Never mind how she looks, you won’t notice it after the first thirty days.” The PILOT Published Every Thursday by THE PILOT, Incorporated Southern Pines, North Carolu% 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 Dixie B. Ray, Michael Valen, Jas per Swearingen, Thomas Mattocks and James C. Morris. Subscription Rates: One Year $4. 6 mos. $2. 3 moa. $1 EIntered 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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May 7, 1959, edition 1
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