vdL. 39—NO. 32
EIGHTEEN PAGES
Escape Serious
® Injuries In Car
Accident Tuesday
Crash Inio Trees
Leavto Car In
Demolished State
Two young men narrowly es
caped serious injury here Tuesday
night when the car they were
riding in went out of control on
S. May Street and crashed into
several trees and a telephone
pole.
Police sergeant Earl Seawell,
who investigated the accident,
listed the two as Gilbert Harbert,
who lives on W. New H2impshire
Avenue, and Thomas Mattocks,
who lives at the Gertrude Apart
ments.
Harbert, the driver of the 1955
Ford convertible, was charged
with careless and reckless driv
ing.
Seawell said his investigation
showed that the car, traveling
north on May Street, had just
left the overhead bridge at the
edge of town and was apparently
going at a high rate of speed
when it left the road, sideswiped
a tree, went on and hit two more,
uprooting them, and finally came
to rest against a telephone pole.
Harbert told Sgt. Seawell that
he was forced off the road by an
oncoming car and had no altern
ative but to swerve to avoid a
collision. The other car, he said,
kept on going.
It was just beginning to
sprinkle at the time and the road
was getting a little wet.
Both men were taken to St.
Joseph’s Hospital and given dis
pensary treatment and released.
Both Seawell and C. D. May,
who operates a garage and auto
body repair shop nearby, said
the wrecked car was as bad as
they had ever seen for no one
to have been more seriously in
jured.
The car was considered a total
wreck. Both doors were bashed in
as were the fenders and the en
gine.
Harbert has only recently been
released from the Army. Mat
tocks is employed in the compos
ing room at The Pilot.
Assisting Seawell in the in
vestigation was Officer Harold
Stamper.
SOUTHERN PINES, N. C., THURSDAY, JULY 2, 1959
EIGHTEEN PAGES
PRICE: 10 CENTS
SAME RATE SINCE 1951
County Tax Rate Remains At $1.35;
County Valuation Up Half Million
4)
Moore County’s budget for the'f
next fiscal year is a record $1,- ‘
206,023, according to a summary
of the budget estimated publish
ed today. . I
The tax rate of $1.35, in effect
since 1951, remains the same.
The new fiscal year started
yesterday.
Except for an increase of $46,-
935 in general funds to operate ;
the county, and a decrease in i
capital outlay for the school,
there is little change from the,
estimate of a year ago. The school j
outlay this year was $275,000,
down $87,000 from last year.
Included in the new budget, I
details of which are not available !
and will not be until it is adopt- ;
ed by the County Commissioners :
in the next few days, is an item of
$32,000 for air conditioning the
courthouse. The County Com
missioners have asked bids on
the project.
Property valuation in the coun
ty was upped from $46,500,000
to an even $47,000,000, despite
the returh of a part of Little
River Township to Hoke County.
The Commissioners also set up
a $15,000 fund to pay for a re
valuation of the county which
will be required by 1963, It is
estimated that more than $50,-
000 will be required for the job.
Included in the budget under
.capital outlay for schools was
$90,000 for the Southern Pines
system, not nearly enough to
construct “Phase C” at the high
school but enough, one commis
sioner said, to get a good start
on it.
There was also an appropriation
of» $45,000 for the Pinehurst ad
ministrative unit. The funds are
earmarked for work at Academy
Heights School.
'St
Leonard Resigns
School Job For
Insurance Career
W. A. Leonard, mathematics
teacher at Southern Pines High
School since 1949, has resigned
his position to join an insurance
firm in Greensboro, he told The
Pilot today.
His wife, who has been man
ager of the cafeteria at the school
for several years, has also re
signed.
Leonard said that he was re
signing because the insurance po
sition represented a “better op
portunity for my family in the
future and I could not afford to
turn it down.”
He will take up his new posi
tion in the actuarial department
of the Jefferson Standard Life
Insurance Company, one of the
largest firms of its kind in the
South, the first week in August.
Leonard came here in 1949 from
Catawba College. It was his first
position and, in addition to teach
ing, he was assigned duties as as
sistant coach in several sports. He
has been head basketball coach
for the past seyen years and has
also assisted with the football and
baseball teams.
He attended several sessions
of summer school at the Univer
sity of North Carolina and was
awarded his Master’s Degree' in
mathematics and education in
1953. In 1957 he attended the
University for six ‘weeks on a
grant from the National Science
Foundation.
A charter member of the Meth
odist Church here, he has served
the church as treasurer, chairman
of its Official Board, and, for the
past two years, as lay leader.
He is a past president of the
Moore County Educo Club, an
organization composed of most
men teachers in the ciunty, and is
currently the president of the
(Continued on page 8)
Honor 1,000th
j Scout On Active
Duty In County
John Dillon, member of Boy,.
Scout Troop 877, Southern Pines,
was honored at a ceremony in
the Church of Wide Fellowship
last Thursday night as the 1,000th
boy in the active program in the
county.
His selection, according to Dis
trict Commissioner J. E. Sandlin,
was made strictly by registration
of the boys at Council headquar
ters in Raleigh.
Young Dillon received a com
plete uniform from the Moose
Ledge, a knapsack from Collins
Department Stores, and a sleep
ing bag from adult leaders. Mem-j
bers of his troop, sponsored by
the Methodist chimch, were pre
sented tickets to the Sunrise
Theatre.
Sandlin reported that in the
past 18 months not a single utiit
has been dropped, total member
ship has irtcreased from 570 to
1,012. He said also that the num
ber of units had doubled, from
29 to 58, and that more than 60
per cent of the adult leaders have
undergone advanced training.
The number of adults participa
ting has risen from 224 to 485.
Methodist Shifts
Send Bame To
Wilmington Pulpit
The Rev. R. L. Bame, pastor of
the Southern Pines Methodist
Church for almost five years, left
for Wilmington and another pas
torate today.
He is being succeeded by the
Rev. R. C. Mooney, Jr., who
comes here from Williamston.
Mr. Bame’s appointment, along
with that of several other minis
ters in the county, came at the
annual North Carolina Methodist
Conference in Wilmington, which
closed last Thursday with the
reading of the new appointments
by Bishop Paul N. Garber of the
Richmond area, who presided
over the four-day session.
When Mr. Bame came here in
November, 1954, he was the firgt
full time pastor of the newly or
ganized church. There were 58
members.
Today the congregation occu
pies a $140,000 church and Sun
day School building on Midland
Road and the membership has
grown to 270.
A native of Carolina Beach, Mr.
Bame has held pastorates in West
Halifax, WhiteviUe, LaGrange
and Southern Pines. His new
church in Wilmington is the
Fifth Avenue Methodist Church,
which has 831 members, inclu
ding a full time educational di
rector Efnd music director.
While in Southern Pines he
was a member of the Junior
Chamber of Commerce and the
Lions Club. He has been active
in the affairs of the^ Mental
Health Association and was the
executive director of the Moore
County Committee on Alcohol
Education. The position, it is un
derstood, has not been filled yet.
Mr. Bame and his wife and two
children left today for Wilming
ton where he will immediately
assume his new duties.
Other changes in the county in
the Methodist Church, as also
(Continued on page 8)
New Highway For
Upper Part Of
County Announced
Would Tie Carthage
To Highway 64 By
Way Of Goldston
The State Highway Commis-
son last week approved a second
ary road from the Carthage area
toward Goldston and Chatham
County.
Though designated a “second
ary road,” the project will prob-
J' ably fall into the classification
1 of a secondary and a primary
j'road. It links the northeast cor-
‘ner with Carthage and Highway
64.
The road has been sought by
people from Carthage and the
rest of the upper end of the coun
ty for several years. A number of
requests, both formal and infor
mal, have been placed before the
county commissioners, and that
agency had in turn made the
same request of the State High
way Commission.
Surveying has been completed
for several sections, though how
much could not be learned today,
and some other preliminary work
has been completed.
State Highway Director W. F.
Babcock said actual construction
of the road would not get under
way until 1960 or 1961.
"ITie action taken Thursday
gave the go-ahead to location and
design engineers to begin prelim
inary work leading to the even
tual construction. A more detail
ed cost analysis is expected to be
given the Commission in the next
60 days.
Heat Grips Area; Rain Tuesday
Pushes Crop Loss Estimate Down
But Hail, High
Winds Cause
Heavy Damages
SANDHILLS ICEBERG
Three Scouts Off
Monday For World
Jamboree In East
Three Boy Scouts of Moore
County—two of them from
Southern Pines—leave Monday
night on the first leg of a trip that
will take them to the 10th World
Jamboree in the Philippines and
eventually to Japan and other
points in the Orient.
The three Eire David Drexel
and John McMillan of Southern
Pines and Woodrow Eldridge of
Carthage.
They will leave here by train
for Atlanta and will join Scouts
from three other states—South
Carolina, Georgia and Florida—
to form the nucleus of Troop 1 of
the United States. There will be
six troops from this country at
tending the Jamboree, each hav
ing 33 boys and three adults.
Drexel has been named Scout
master of Troop 1, of which Eld-
ridge is a member. McMillan has
joined Troop 2.
yFrom Atlanta the trio will fly
to San Francisco and will take
three days of training at nearby
H^lmilton Air Force Base in prep-
aratioh for their encampment in
the Philippines.
From California they fly to
Hawaii for a day of sightseeing
(Continued on page 8)
Best hot weather story of
the week, as reported by
Robert Farrell, proprietor of
an ice and fuel company here:
A local swiznining pool
owner came in, he said and
purchased a one hundred
pound block of ice.
"Need it for miy swimniing
pool," he mumbled as he
drove ofif.
Farrell said he had sold ice
for many purposes, some of
them a bit strange. But nev
er, never for a swimming
pool.
Jugtown Hearing
Date Still Not
Set, Lawyers Say
A date for a hearing to deter
mine whether a restraining order
prohibiting the operation of Jug-
town Pottery has still not been
set, according to attorneys in the
case.
The hearing had been scheduled
'for Jun^' 20 before Judge Don
ald Phillips in Rockingham but
was postponed because lawyers
and judges were holding their
annual convention that day in
Blowing Rock.
At issue in the hearing is the
matter of a restraining order is
sued by Judge Reid Thompson
several weeks ago prohibiting the
Jacques and Juliana Busbee’s
Jugtown, Inc., from operating the
pottery. The order had been re
quest^ by Jugtown, Inc., a
group of North Carolinians who
have foimed in an attempt to
operate the pottery as it has been
since its founding more than 40
years ago.
The other party, of which the
principal figures are John Mare
of Southern Pines and Mrs. Bus-
bee, maintain their desire is the
same. The corporation has a deed
from Mrs. Busbee, granted ear
lier this year, giving it the right
to operate the pottery.
The other group also has a deed,
it alleges, which was given by
Mrs. Busbee several months be
fore the one signed eeirlier this
year, in which the same right
was granted.
Mrs. Busbee now has pending
in the Clerk of Superior Court’s
office a petition seeking to have
a Mrs. Louise Jordan discharged
as her court-appointed next
(Continued on Page 8)
HOTl HOT! HOT!
PHILIPPINES BOUND for the 10th Interna
tional Scout Jamboree are these three Scouts
from Moore County. Left to right they are
John McMillan of Southern Pines, David Drex
el, also of Southern Pines, and Woodrow Eld-
riidge of Carthage. They will visit Hawaii, the
Philippines, and points in Asia before return
ing the first of August. *
Apex Man Joins
Police Force;
Wright Resigns
Charles Allen Wilson of Apex
has joined the Southern Pines
police force replacing Jerry
Wright, who resigned July 1 to
enter private business, accord
ing to Chief C. E. Newton.
Wilson,‘who is 26, is the fourth
new man to join the fored in the
past six months.
A native of Apex, he attended
high school there and served in
the Army for two years.
Wright, who joined the force
in July, 1954, was the oldest man,
outside Chief Newton, in point of
seniority. He has purchased a
filling station on old US High
way 1 just South of town.
Replacing him as Sergeant will
be Luther Beck.
Chief Newton, plagued with
the duty of training new men
almost monthly only to see them
leave in a few months to either
go into private business or join
another force, said yesterday that
there probably would be another
change coming up in about two
weeks when another of his men
will leave to ester private busi
ness. He said a replacement had
already been contacted and had
indicated he would accept em
ployment here.
Police officers were recently
granted a pay increase, along
with other town employees, but
Chief Newton said he was of the
impression that the pay was still
not enough to insure a high de
gree of permanency on the force.
The other sergeant on the force
is Earl Seawell.
Almost an inch of rain fell here
Tuesday night breaking a heat
wave that had sent temperatures
soaring above the 100 mark for
four straight days.
The rain and subsequent drop
ping of temperatures caused
farmers the most relief, since it
had been forecast they would
lose close to a million dollars
worth of tobacco and other crops
if the dry spell wasn’t broken.
Accompanying the rain, which
hit about dark Tuesday night and
continued, on and off, until the
early morning hours, was hail
and high winds in some parts of
the county.
Heavy individual losses were
reported by some farmers, par
ticularly in the lower end of the
county. Hail and wind damage
was reported heaviest in the
Lakeview and Thagard’s Pond
communities.
Fleet Allen, county farm agent,
said prior to the storm that some
farmers were in the worst condi
tion they had been in for many
years. He said a million dollar
loss could be experienced with
out relief from the drought. Fol
lowing Tuesday’s rain, Allen
downgraded his estimate 50 per
cent.
On Monday he said:
“The tobacco is the hardest hit
of any crop in the county. We
could lose around one million
dollars worth if it doesn’t rain
in the next few days. Our farm
ers are irrigating as fast as they
can but with the high tempera
ture the yield decreases every
day.
“Corn has also been hit very
hard by this long hot dry spell.
The early corn has suffered the
worst damage, but the late com
will still make a good yield if
we get rain.
“Peaches that are ripening now
are not getting the size they
would if we could have some rain.
The later peaches, such as the
Elbertas, have not suffered as
great as the early varieties. The
orchards that bave been irrigated
still look good. The late peaches
should be good quality if rain
comes.
“Pastures have suffered badly,
too. We had the best pastures
early this summer we had ever
had. Many of these beautiful
pastures have dried up until they
would burn over now if set fire.”
In Southern Pines power was
off in several places and CP&L
crews worked until 3:30 a. m.
Wednesday getting them back in
(Continued on page 8)
Official temperatures for
the past'll days as recorded
by the U. S. Weather Station,
at WEEB, were as follows:
High
Low
June 21
. 89
65
June 22
92
69
June 23
95
68
June 24
92
65
June 25
90
71
June 26
97
69
June 27
101
69
June 28
100
66
June 29
101
69
June 30
103
75
July 1
96
67
JULY 4 CLOSING
Banks, the post office, town of-
fiices, county offices and many
business establishments will be
closed for the July 4 holiday Sat
urday.
Lee Takes Over As
Superintendent Of
County’s Schools
Robert E. Lee, former principal
of the Aberdeen school system,
was sworn in Tuesday night as
new superintendent of the county
system replacing H. Lee Thomas,
who resigned effective June 30.
The oath of office was admin
istered by C. C. Kennedy, Clerk
of Court.
Preceding the ceremony the
Rev. B. E. Dotson, Carthage
Presbyterian minister, spoke
briefly and urged the new super
intendent to administer his new
leadership with courage. The
Rev. C. A. Kirby, Jr., Baptist
minister in Carthage, also spoke.
- Lee said at the meeting that he
had two projects he wished to gpt
started on immediately: a new
testing program and curriculum
study, and more thorough study
of super high schools for the
county. He was in favor of both,
he said.
Lee announced that O. Edison
Powers, principal of the Highfalls
school, has been employed as
guidance director for the county
system and will begin studies at
Chapel Hill immediately to equip
him for the new duties. He will
work primarily in the testing and
curriculum study field.
The Federal government will
pay one-half his salary with the
money coming from the National
Defense Education Act.
Regarding the super high
schools, recommended to the
county by a study group about a
month ago, Lee said: “We want
to start working, with the people
in the communities but we don’t
want to move any faster than
they want to, or is necessary to
insure a sound program.”
Lee said he .would retain the
same office personnel as Mr.
Thomas had. They are Mrs.
Gladys T. Warren of Cameron,
Mrs. Grier Gilmore of Carthage,
and Miss Ruth McIntosh of Lake-
view.
' He has moved his family to
Carthage and is occupying the
Kelly Baker home opposite the
grammar school.
Son Of Baptist Minister Drowns In
Pond; Pinehurst VFD Efforts Fail
Kenneth Max Gilmore, 16,
drowned accidentally Monday
afternoon in a farm pond on the
West End road about a mile from
Pinehurst.
*1110 youngster, who would
have been a senior at Pinehurst
High School next year, was the
son of the Rev. Max A. and Mar
garet Gilmore of Murdocksville
Road.
Curtis McKenzie, chief of the
Pinehurst Volunteer Fire Depart
ment, which was on the scene in
a matter of seven or eight min
utes after the tragedy was re
ported, said he was told the
youngster had developed cramps
in about six feet of water. He was
swimming with his younger
brother and sister. Mrs. Walter
Morgan, who was nearby, made
an attempt to reach him but w^
unable to.
Mrs. Morgan’s husband is the
owner of the pond.
Pinehurst VFD members Ralph
Hosner, Peter Tufts, Ellis Fields,
Billy McKenzie, Bevans Cameron
and Leonard Yearby were in the
water almost as soon as the truck
arrived. Several other people, in
cluding an intern from McCain
Hospital, were attempting to find
the boy when the VFD arrived.
It was Tufts who went down
and pulled young Gilmore to the
surface.
Mr. McKenzie said his men
tried artificial respiration and
the use of a rescusitator for about
an hour and a half but were un
able to revive him.
The Southern Pines Volunteer
Fire Department also was at the
scene.
The Rev. and Mrs. Gilmore
were in the mountains when no
tified of the tragedy. Mr. Gil
more is pastor of the Beulah Hill
Baptist Church.
Funeral services for yoimg Gil
more were held yesterday (Wed
nesday) at the Flat Springs Bap
tist Church near Sanford with
the Rev. W. C. Ferrell officiating,
assisted by the Rev. Lawrence
Childs, the Rev. John Beukema
(Continued on page 8)'