Newspapers / The Pilot (Southern Pines, … / March 15, 1967, edition 1 / Page 2
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K. PAGE TWO Southern Pines ILOT Chamber Getting Off To Good Start It is gratifying that the new South ern Pines Area Chamber of Com merce is moving ahead with its or ganization procedures, before a gen eral membership drive to begin in the middle of April. Two weeks ago, officers were elec ted. Last week, the directors author ized the necessary legal steps in get ting a charter and committees were appointed to work on a budget (with expectation that a report will be made at another meeting Thurs day of this week), to seek an execu tive director, to plan and later spear head the membership drive and to take care of other organization mat ters. Are The People Ahead Of Legislators? Last week, while expatiating in support of liquor-by-the-drink as the preferred answer to North Carolina’s resort-hospitality and alcohol-control problems, The Pilot opined that the people of North Carolina are more ready for liquor by the drink than many legislators think they are. Strong backing for this opinion came this week from the state-wide group, Citizens United for Responsi ble Enforcement (CURE), which had a Florida professional public opinion research firm make a survey of what Tar Heels in all sections of the state think should be done about the liquor laws. Briefly summarized, the survey showed a majority of North Carolin ians favoring sales by the drink. Of those persons questioned, 63 per cent favored local option on bythe-drink- sales, when they were given a choice between this and “totally wet, totally dry or legalized brown bagging.” Less than 40 per cent felt that “brown-bagging” (which we are told the General Assembly currently fa vors) should be legalized. The full report has gone to the le gislators in Raleigh and we hope they are impressed. Admitting the fallibi lity of such limited samplings of opinion (only 1,207 persons were in terviewed, although they were care fully chosen), this survey at least shows which way the wind is blow ing. We continue to maintain that the people are ahead of the legislators on this matter—a not unreasonable con clusion, since common sense demands a more workable and dignified so lution than brown-bagging. ^ An Investment In Education If matters go as expected and the county gets a $96,000 library building in Carthage, for its investment of $50,000 over the course of two years (plus $13,000 left from previously al lotted library funds), the county com missioners will have made a very fine investment. ' - The Pilot congratdlates the com missioners on their commitment now for the $50,000, over the next two fis cal years, so that the machinery de signed to bring in the federal funds for the balance can be put in opera tion before a July 1 deadline. Improvement and expansion of public library service is, as we noted several weeks ago in backing up the county library’s requests, an invest ment in 9ducation. This point was eloquently made, at a recent meeting of the Friends of the Moore County Library in Carth age, by an official of the Sandhills Regional Library of which the coun ty library is a unit. He pointed out that in a world of rapid change, “formal schooling no longer assures an education” and that “men must constantly re-educate themselves . . . just to keep current.” We also liked his point that libra ries can bring to young people “a world of thoughts, ideals and dreams” not obtainable through the “instant information” that modern communications methods constantly throw at them. That’s important. Moving Against Animal Abandonment A General Assembly bill that ap parently would apply to only four of the State’s 100 counties has been moving through the legislative mill —and we wish it could be made ap plicable to Moore County, if not adopted with state-wide jurisdiction. The proposal would make it illegal to abandon domesticated animals on roads, in public places and on private property. This makes good sense, not only from the humane point of view—an outlook which is very much in evi dence in Moore County, with its Hu mane Society formed during the past year—but also as a step toward elim inating the public nuisance and traf fic hazard that wandering, dazed, half- starved animals become. There is also the well recognized threat that such animals pose for wildlife, if they survive abandonment and hunt for a living in the woods and fields. It’s doubtful, of course, that many persons would actually be caught in the act of abandoning an animal, with enough evidence obtainable to war rant an arrest. Yet having such a law on the books would act as a deterrent and help to create a climate of public opinion that might discourage people from this barbarous practice. If there’s any chance Moore Coun ty can still be brought under the ju risdiction of this bill, such action would, we believe, be widely ap proved. Look, To Make Th’ Draft Fair You’re Gonna Have To Scrap Th’ Army ...” Grains of Sand 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 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. All this is good progress—evidence that the business, industrial and re sort interests of the entire area will soon have the most effective promo tion and community betterment agency that has ever operated in the Sandhills. However, no matter how enthusi astic and active the directors are, they must have strong and wide support— by memberships and by people wil ling to work. When the membership drive starts and when the Chamber decides what its main projects will be, we trust that kind of support will be there. ■wi* •03.^2) • How To De-secrel The Secret From Britain the news comes that famous old Scot land Yard is moving itself into a new building and a new neighborhood. Reading the long news item in a recent paper, the Brit ish guest was bored: “The Yard is’ always getting itself into the limelight. Now our C.I.D. is another fish. It stays secret, really secret, headquar ters hidden away, nobody knows where, with branches scattered about Nobody knows or cares!” “Not like our CIA?” was the suggestion. “That huge grey building. It’s a laugh to see it. sitting there. Why do you let the whole world know where your Intelligence people are. It’s very different in England!” Yes. It certainly is. For the entertainment of a few Brit ishers in our midst and others who may have missed the item in the News and Observer during the recent CIA todo, GRAINS gives a few excerpts from an AP dispatch with the Kelly Smith byline. He called his piece; SPIES FLOURISH LIKE CRABGRASS and this part of his story tells about trying to find your way into the Hush- Hush Sanctorum, in the woods by the Potomac: NEW DEVELOPMENTS DELAY PEACE PROSPECTS Russia, China and Vietnam's War By JOSEPH C. HARSCH In The Christian Science Monitor Traffic Accidents: A Mental Problem? Some startling statistics have come in from the North Carolina Motor Vehicles Department about 1966 traf fic accidents. The year’s final count showed 97,301 accidents in which 1,712 per sons were killed and 52,119 injured. Averaged out, that’s an accident ev ery five minutes throughout the year, with one person injured every 10 minutes and one killed every five hours. The figures bear out this news paper’s concern with the one-car ac cident—which has long seemed to us to be the most futile and depressing, surely the most avoidable, of all kinds of crashes: amounting to a form of irresponsible and unintentional su icide. No less than 64 per cent of the driv ers and passengers who died in the State’s traffic accidents last year were killed in one-car mishaps. And 35 per cent of all accidents reported involved only one vehicle. "^at doesn’t speak very well for the ability of Tar Heel drivers to take care of theraselves. The victims (at least the drivers) had nobody but themselves ito blame. The pity is that drivers who think as little of the lives of themselves and their passengers as do the one- car wreckers are the hardest group to reach with any rational safe-driv ing appeal—bearing out the theory that their fatal folly may well often be a form of self-destruction. Increasingly, traffic safety appears to be more an emotional than a me chanical problem. Somebody who can zip successfully through^ a road test or a written driver’s license ex amination may actually be mentally unfit to be on the roads. Aggressive, irresponsible drivers of course, often run afoul of the traf fic laws, short of fatal or non-fatal accidents, so that the state’s point system or a specific serious violation may at least impress upon them that there’s something wrong with the way they behave. Strange as it may seem, therefore, the pubilc’s increasing understanding of mental health and its increasing willingness to seek professional help when a person or a member of his family gets “off the beam,” may turn out to be a powerful, long-range answer to the deadly, one-car traffic peril. The next best chance for finding a way out of the Viet nam war is now believed to lie somewhere in midsummer. It depends very much on the shape and attitude of the new government in Saigon which is supposed to come into exis tence and take up the reins of authority during the spring and summer. Any chance of earlier settle ment seems to have been blown out of the water by the latest round of “escalation.” Moscow is involved. Large Soviet-built rocket launchers have been put into the fight ing around Da Nang in answer to the American decision to mine waterways and shell border areas of North Viet nam. The use of large Soviet-built rockets in the ground fighting in South Vietnam is a new event in the war. Heretofore, Soviet weapons have been used mainly in North Viet nam itself in defense against American air attack. Biggest Soviet investment in the war so far has been the surface-to- air (SAM) missiles which de fend Hanoi and Haiphong and other strategic targets in North Vietnam. Russia has also supplied planes for the North Vietnam air force. But not until now has Mos cow supplied important weap ons for use in South Vietnam. Most weapons used there by the Communists have been small arms of either local Vietnam or of Chinese origin. In other words, until now China has supported the Com munist offensive in South Vietnam, but Moscow has largely limited its support to the defense of North Vietnam. Russian intrusion into the weaponry of the ground war in the south is presumed to be a reminder to Washington that “escalation” is two edged. Further “escalation” by the opponent is possible. Hanoi has announced that shipments from Russia and Eastern Eu rope through China are coming through on schedule. And Sov iet officials say Chinese inter ference with deliveries of Rus sian weapons has ceased. Earli er, Moscow charged that the Chinese had held back weapons intended for Vietnam. They say these now have been sent on to Vietnam. Resumption of the regular flow of supplies to North Vietnam through China re flects another change in the context of the war. Peking is again able to take an active interest in it. Hanoi has lost the extra “room for maneu ver” it enjoyed during the height of the great January purge in China. The hardening of the Hanoi position coincides in time with the settling down in China. There is again an im portant China factor in the peace equation. It makes more difficult any direct talks be tween Hanoi and Washington. In fact it now seems doubt ful that peace will ever come through Washington - Hanoi arrangements. This makes the new re gime in Saigon all the more important as a future channel to peace. If that regime be comes willing, and able, to deal directly with the Viet Cong there will be a detour around Peking’s veto in Hanoi. Peking has a strangle hold on Hanoi, but little if any in fluence on the Viet Cong down in the delta region below Sai gon. If the Viet Cong wish to talk with Saigon they will presumably be able to do so. There are other advantages in the Saigon rather than Hanoi road. Hanoi would be gravely em barrassed in trying to make peace for the Viet Cong. Peace, if and when it comes, must provide for a non-Com- munist South Vietnam, “’he Viet Cong can agree to this themselves. But if Hanoi agreed to it on their behalf then Hanoi would be open to the charge of having sold out the Viet Cong. Also, Hanoi could agree with Washington to end the war being waged between North Vietnam and the United States. But an end to that war does not automatically end the war in the delta. On the other hand, if the war in the delta can be ended by agreement between the new Saigon regime and the Viet Cong, then the reason disappears from under the war in the north. HUSH-HUSH The CIA address is top se cret. Telephone numbers are unlisted. Cars are unmarked. Ask officially the whereabouts of the CIA and the answer is silence. Ask in Langley. They will tell you it’s the big building behind the “Bureau of Public Roads” sign. Tourists reading a map from the local gas sta tion can find the CIA plainly marked. Important people with business at the CIA are less fortunate. They often get lost and have to stop at the local filling stations. “We’re glad to tell them how to get there,” says one gas sta tion operator, Theodore J. Buster. “Frankly though there are Iqts more people looking for Bobby Kennedy’s house. We use the CIA as a land mark. They go to the CIA, turn north and then left again at the first road. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, D-N. Y., lives in ad jacent McLean, Va. The CIA IS hidden away just off a major four-lane boule vard known as the George Washington Memorial, Park- Way. Drive to the guard house and a man in a silver and blue uniform says, “Sorry, without a pass you can’t go in.” “What is this place?” you ask. The guard hesitates, a blank confused expression one finds often when you ask the CIA about the CIA. “This is a gov ernment reserve, for the time being,” he said. So you drive around to the back entrance the one that says “Bureau of Public Roads” — and go in unnoticed. The sprawling parking lot is full of cars, mostly sportcars. Walks are wide and benches are spaced out comfortable like a park. . . . There are no signs, noth ing to tell you where you are. You stop again to ask your way of a guard. Again that confused start as if you’d walked up nude and spoken Greek. In town there’s no confu sion. They call it “the Agen cy.” “We call it ‘Over There,”’ said a gift shop clerk. “When anyone works ‘Over There,’ it means they work for the CIA. Everyone knows them.” The Public Speaking Meanwhile, stability is re turning to China. Chou En- lai is giving the orders. The Army is in control. The Red Guards have been sent back to school. The idea of com munes has been dropped. The communes once set up in Shanghai and, ^Peking have Jbeen liquidated. Ajrmy and Red Guards have been order ed to‘-protect, not liquidate, the structure of the Commu nist Party. This return to order is be ing done in the name of Mao Tse-tung, but the instrument is Chou En-lai. Western ex perts are not sure where the center of power really is. Chou may have power, or merely be the middleman. (Reprinted by perimission) Rhodesia Government Is Not 'Apartheid' To the Editor: The government of Rhodesia is not “apartheid,” as stated in 'an editor’s note with a re printed article on the editorial page of the March 8 Pilot. This word and phrases like “white supremacist” and “one- man, one-vote” have unfortun ate connotations that do hot fairly apply to Rhodesia. The Rhodesia government under the wise and capable leadership of Ian Smith de clared independence from Eng land because that was the only way they could save all that had been built up through years of hard work and sacri fice. (When the Europeans first settled in Rhodesia, there was Neo-Ragamuffins At Large In Chapel Hill (From Chapel Hill Weekly) Every college or university worthy of the name has its Neo-Ragamuffin contingent these days. The members are most visible, as a rule, at pub lic events, standing around loose-jointed and slack-jawed, the males bearded, coeds with Gone Are The Days... From The Pilot's Files FORTY YEARS AGO u Flapper, trim and dapper, naughty, , naughty, chic man-trapper. All together now boys, Has She then to scratch, and turn <T*,. T j.p washed lank hair falling over the face, toes peeping through tennis shoes, dirty denims hanging precariously from the last pos sible pelvic purchase, sweat shirts' testifying redolently to sweat. The activists among them shoulder placards, deck them selves with signs, and demon strate—viewing the rest of the world with suspicious and mis trustful eyes. They mumble to one another, pausing now Got ‘It?’ Well I guess. Clara, Clara, Yes, Yes, Yes.” (The movie was “It” at the Carolina 'Theatre, presenting Clara Bow.) nothing but barren plains and only a few blacks.) The sanctions against Rho desia are not hurting her, but they are hurting the United States and England who need certain Rhodesian exports. Is the United Nations going to war with Rhodesia and South Africa? The debacle that has occurred in many other Afri can: countries given their “freedom” precipitately would surely have happened in Rho desia under “one-man, one- vote.” Since eventual African rule is inherent in the Rhodesian constitution accepted by the people in 1961, why the big hurry? Why are the United States, England, and the Unit ed Nations bent upon destroy ing the peaceful, friendly, civi lized government of Rhodesia? The forces of international socialism are relentless., Will they succeed in causing a tragedy not unlike that of Katanga when United Nations mercenaries machine - gunned unarmed ambulance drivers and civilians and bombed clearly-marked hospitals? (The very same people who are weeping crocodile tears about our bombing of North Vietnam were either sileht or approving of the bombing of helpless Katanga.) Unless you are giving the United States back to the Indians, don’t be a party to the current smear against Rhodesia. PAT VAN CAMP Southern Pines Pilot editorial: ‘ Like those who have gone before; this session (of the General Assembly) has undertaken a lot of piffling little things that it could not dodge because our State government is such that all the little boys’ play that should be disposed of by the townships and the counties is brought to Raleigh to be considered by two hundred men whose time and attention should be devoted to affairs that concern the whole State. Thus it so happens that toward the end of the session when matters of importance are finally reached the sixty day allotment of time is up and the members go home.” * ♦ * TWENTY YEARS AGO The Army came to the aid of Vass School with boiler parts to repair the school’s heating system and permit the school to reouen. The school was closed two days because of the break-down. “Close Pursuit,” the 25th novel written by Mrs. Katherine NewHn Burt, wife of Novelist Struthers Burt of Southern Pines, has been published by Scribner’s. But Mrs. BUrt ap parently is more excited over the pending publication in the spring of a book of poems written by the Burts’ son Nathaniel. TEN YEARS AGO At the Sunrise Theatre: ‘'The Girl Can’t Help It,” starring Jayne Mansfield and featuring Henry Jones, Fats Domino, Little Richard. The Treniers, The Platters and Eddie Fontaine.' Items In supermarkets’ ads; Chuck blade roast 29 cents per pound. Sirloin or boneless round steaks 79 cents per pound. Two-pound loaf of cheese 75 cents. Butter 70 cents per pound. ^ « The grand opening of the John L. Frye Co. department store at West End was held. ^ ♦ State Highway Department officials say paving of the US 1 bypass in Southern Pines probobly will start in mid- March. square. You might think, reasonably, that you had stumbled upon a clutch of Method Actors in full-dress rehearsal for a play called “The Saddest Summer of Clack Kerr.” While Chapel Hill is no Berkeley in the Neo-Ragamuf fin department, nor even for that matter a Morningside Heights, we have our tatterde malion culture too. Its high priests and acolytes seize upon public moments to surface and wave their little flags and generally impress the body politic with their presence, As promised, the Chapel Hill contingent was out last week with the announced in tention of standing eyeball-to- eyeball with Vice President Humphrey over Vietnam. As it turned out, it was a hope less mismatch. The Neo-Raga muffins stared more in won der than with indignation and they were totally over-run by the washed square. Their presence, if anything, served only to emphasize the whole some, enthusiastic youth that characterizes the Chapel Hill campus. To turn the Vietnam pro testers’ fiasco into disaster. Vice President Humphrey an nounced publicly that the stu dents here were the best-man nered of any he had encount ered throug'hout the land. The Neo-Ragamuffins will never live that down. THE PILOT Published Every Wednesday by THE PILOT, Incorporated Southern Pines, North Caroline 1941—JAMES BOYD—1944 Katharine Boyd Editor C. Benedict Associate Ed'itoi W. E. Lindau News Editor Patsy M. Tucker Woman’s Page Mary Evelyn de Nissoff Pinehurst Page Bessie C. Smith Advertising Lynn Thompson Advertising Mary Scott Newton Business Frances M. Irby Business Composing Room Dixie B. Ray, Michael Valen Tliomas Mattocks, Robert Cof fin, Alexander Noel, Charles Brown, Charles Weatherspoon, James E. Pate, Sr. Subscription Rates Moore County One Year $4.00 Outside Mocze County One Year $5.00 Second-class Postage paid at Southern Pines, N. C. Member National Newspaper Assn, and K. C. Press Assn.
The Pilot (Southern Pines, N.C.)
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March 15, 1967, edition 1
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