Costs of the U. S. Travel Service have been criticized. Pro and con, page 6. '^RoWrti^ yiQ«nde» ql«op<^ Common p)l , «feA5ndt«5; Drop Some idea of what town and county residents face ip the way of tax rates was indicated this week by officials. In a special meeting at Carth age Tuesday, the county com missioners set a tentative tax rate of $1.05 per $100 of real and personal property valuation— reduced from the former $1.70 rate, in view of a 1963 property valuation of $85 million as com pared to last year’s $52 million. The rise in valuation followed a professional reappraisal of all real property in the county and a re-listing of all personal pro perty. In Tuesday night’s Southern Pines town council meeting. Mayor W. Morris Johnson asked Town Manager F. F. Rainey what he thought the local rate will be for the coming year. Rainey, who is now working on the budget— to be discused in detail with the council in a special meeting at 7:30 p.m. Friday—said he could say the rate “will not be over $1.30’’ (per $100 of property valu ation). 'This is compared with a former $1.75 rate. Supt. Luther A. Adams told The Pilot this week that the Board of Education of the South ern Pines District has recommend ed to the county commissioners that the special supplement^ school tax in this district—which has been 50 cents per $100 of valuation—^be reduced to 35 cents. This would, said Adams, bring in about $70,000, on the basis of a school district property valuation of about $21 million—some $4,000 to $5,000 more than the 50 cents tax brought in on the basis of the former valuations. Growing school needs justify the added revenue, the superin tendent said. The commissioners are pledged to accept the local school board’s rate recommenda tion. Thfe Pilot learned unofficially that a 25 cents rate (down from 30 cents) is being considered for the special supplementary school tax in the Pinehurst District and a 22 cents rate (also down from 30 cents) in the Aberdeen District. Also unofficial at this time are school capital outlay allocations by the commissioners: $344,688 for the county system ($507,580 had been asked); $87,117 for the Southern Pines system ($302,000 had been asked); and $39,165 for the Pinehurst system ($69,000 had been asked). Good Neighbor Council Set Up To Ease Race Tension In Community A 10-member Southern Pines Good Neighbor Council has been named, to improve racial com munication and consider racial grievances. Its members are list ed below. This is the nucleus of the ^oup to which, it is expected, additions Members Named Members of the Southern Pines Good Neighbor Coun cil are: NEGRO MEMBERS The Rev. J. W. Peek Mrs. Sally Lawhome Mrs. Iris Moore CicMo Carpenter, Jr. Edward Stubbs ' WHITE MEMBERS Dr. Julian Lake Mrs. Voit Gilmore Harry W. Chatfield Robert M. Cushman James D. Hobbs Negro members were nam ed by the Rev. J. W. Peek, president of the West South ern Pines Civic Club. While members were named by Mayor W. Morris Johnson. The civic club president and the mayor met at 9 a. m. Wednesday, after (formation of the council had been au thorized by the town council Tuesday night. Dr. Lake was named chair man of the group and the Rev. Mr. Peek, vice chairman. First meeting of the group is scheduled for Monday night. ;?• Formal Opening For Holiday Inn, Restaurant Set The formal grand opening of The Holiday Inn and Byron Nel son’s Restaurant, located on No. 1 highway, south, will take place Saturday from 2 to 6 p. m. Both the Holiday Inn, of which C. Thomas is innkeeper, and the restaurant, with Dave Castro as manager, have been in operation since their completion earlier this year, but the formal opening bias been deferred. Town officials have been es pecially invited to attend and TV personalities and out-of-town dig nitaries will be on hand. Accommodations in the 65-unit Holiday Inn will be on view, as well as the large restaurant and dining rooms. i t TO COMPETE FOR 'MISS NORTH CAROLINA' Molly Dotson Wins *Miss Carthage* Title Miss Molly Dotson of Carthage (second from right) wais crowned “Miss Carthage,’’ Saturday night, by Miss Bettye Louise McCaskill of Pinehurst, last year’s winner of the title. Watching were Miss Judy Brinkley of Carthage (left), first runner-up, and Miss Frances Jayne Sharpe of Olivia in Harnett County, second runner-up. The crowning concluded the an nual “Miss Carthage” Pageant, sponsored by the Carthage Jay- cees, and sends Miss Dotson to Greensboro next month to take part in the “Miss North Carolina” Pageant—the second Sandhills girl to become eligible. Miss Em ma Holliday Collins of Southern Pines will enter the pageant as “Miss Sanford,” a title she won a few weeks ago. Miss Sara Louise Bambauer of Carthage was named “Miss Con geniality,” chosen by the other girls taking part. Miss Dotson, a 1962 graduate of Agnes Scott College, is a graduate student in modem dance at Wo mans College, Greensboro. All contestants were judged on a talent presentation (Miss Dotson danced and sang), and appearanc es in evening dress and bathing suit. The other contestants were: Miss Mary Grace Owen of Sea- grove, Miss Marjorie Carlanne Foushee of Sanford and Miss Betty Sue Gamer of Robbins. Miss McCaskill and Melvin Williams of Aberdeen entertained with songs. Lee Kinard, Greens boro TV announcer, was master of ceremonies. O. D. Wallace, Jaycee president, welcomed the audience. Charles Snipes was contest chairman. The winner and runners-up all received trophies, as pictured, and Miss Dotson received a $200 c^h award. (V. Nicholson photo) Council Adopts Town Pay Plan; Fills Vacancies At its meeting Tuesday night, the town council tentatively ap proved a new municipal em ployee pay plan for incorporation into the 1963-64 budget now be ing prepared by town manager F. F. Rainey. The new plan, the manager said, would cost about $3,000 more per year in wages and sal aries. It sets up a system of more frequent incentive pay increases for qualified employees and lists minimum and maximum salaries or wages to be paid for each town job. Hourly wage rates are in creased. Rainey said a balanced budget can be worked out if the plan is adopted. The council added the man ager’s salary to the plan, setting a minimum of $6,000 and maxi- (Continued on Page 8) will be made. The council was authorized at a meeting of the town council Tuesday night, attended by some 75 persons, most of them Negro residents of West Southern Pines. The action followed a request for such a council, made by the Rev. J. W. Peek, president of the West Southern Pines Civic Club and spokesman for the Negro del egation at the meeting. He asked that the council be named “to peacefully meet the demands of the time and work toward the ending of discrimina tion, on the basis of race, in our community.” All the council members were present: Mayor W. Morris John son, and Councilman Felton Capel (Negro member from West Southern Pines), Norris L. Hodg kins, Jr., C. A. McLaughlin and Fred B. Pollard. The vote on the Good Neighbor Council was unanimous. Councilman Capel proposed also a resolution that it be the official position of the council that all citizens in Southern Pines be ac cepted on the basis of merit, with out regard to race or creed, in all matters pertaining to the town. Mayor Johnson pointed out, in the discussion, that the town has no ordinances that discriminate against Negroes and that Negroes have been appointed to most of the town’s official boards and committees. Councilman Hodgkins sugges ted that the motion be amended to show that non-discrimination be the “continuing” position of the town, indicating that the res olution erAbodied no change in policy. 'The suggestion was ac cepted by Mr. Capel and the res olution was imanimously adopted. Mayor Johnson asked the Rev. Mr. Peek how many members he thought the Good Neighbor Coun cil should have and the civic club president said it could be any reasonable number, but he thought they should be equally divided between the two races. In a short discussion of the point, it was brought out that the number should not be so large as to ba unwieldy. At the conclusion of the (jood Neighbor Council discussion, Mayor Johnson said, “We all, white and Negro, have friends among the other race, and we want to work together.” The Civic Club spokesman re plied: “We don’t want disturb ances, marches and strikes. Peo ple who think should get together and work peacefully to prevent such occurrences.” Before the council voted on authorizing a Good Neighbor Council, Mr. Capel said, “We should move immediately. We are behind other towns in this respect. We can attribute our past success in racial relations in Southern Pines to the fact that (Continued on Page 8) TO BEGIN NATIONALLY JULY 1 New Postal ‘ZIP Code’ Explained ZIP Code, the Post Office De partment’s revolutionary new system of improved mail dispatch and delivery, goes into effect na tionally on July 1. Southern Pines’s five-digit “ZIP Code” is 28387, Acting Post master Jim Causey announced to day. “Everyone in Southern Pines will use this ZIP Code on all cor respondence to speed mail deliv eries and reduce the chance of mis-sent mail,” he said. Postmaster Causey stressed the importance of all citizens of Southern Pines learning this city’s ZIP Code and using it in their return address on all correspon dence. In answering mail, he said, ZIP Codes taken from return ad dresses on incoming mail should be used. “The ZIP Code is literally the last word in mail addressing,” Mr. Causey said. “It should FOLLOW the city and state in addresses.” He cited this example of the proper use of ZIP Code: J. W. Causey Acting Postmaster U. S. Post Office Southern Pines, N. C. 28387 If you get your mail at the Ni agara Rural Station, Your ZIP Code number is 28388. ZIP Codes for other post offices in this area include: Aberdeen 28315; Pinehurst, 28374; and Lakeview 28350. “The new Zip Code plan,” the postmaster said, '‘for the first time will permit the Post Office De partment to short-cut repeated address reading. The address on mail must often be read as many as eight or ten times by postal employees, to get it to the prop er destination,” he said. “Each handling slows the process of mail dispatch and adds to the opportunity for human error. With ZIP Code, a clerk needs only to glance at the code to know immediately to what na tional area, state and post office the letter is destined, and to speed it on its way, cutting up to 24 hours off the time between de posit and delivery.” Mr. Causey said that when ZIP Code is in full swing, the United States will have “the most mod ern system of mail distribution and delivery in existence.”