adn U 11 pi Weather Rain totalling 3.24 inches fell here this week, mostly Thursday and Friday, for the largest downpour “in a long time,” Sammy Hill of the Forest Service says. Chance of more thundershowers by tomorrow. [landor / . norcond '-Oi ^aal«5| GIcndon lOqc ^ Comcron pjl l.ok«vigw*Vass liwbc » Pin3blu(R LOT Vol. 57, Number 46 50 Pages Southern Pines, North Carolina Wednesday, September 14, 1977 ■ * HIT BY TRAIN — The VW Rabbit was totaled Wednesday night when hit by the train. Sgt. Marshall Lewis of the Southern Pines Police Department looks on as Rescue worker Bobby Overton reaches into the car. —(Photo by Glenn M. Sides). Two Autos Hit By Trains At Unlighted Crossings Two cars were hit by trains this week in Southern Pines at crossings where there are no flashing signal lights. The young woman hit Wed nesday night and the couple hit Monday night were only slightly injured but both cars were damaged severely. An investigation revealed that the town has made previous attempts to make the railroad crossings safer and that only recently has some action been Bond Issue Means Extra Money Here Moore County will receive $324,000 extra for secondary roads in the next two years from the $300 million road bonds if they are approved by North Carolina voters in the referendum on Nov. 8. "nie allocation for secondary roads is based on unpaved road miles, of which Moore has 222.02 miles. _ Henry Jordan, Division Eight engineer for the State Highway Division, said that Moore has 638.68 paved miles. The $300 million road bond issue would be divided up as follows: $175 million for primary roads, $75 million for secondary (Continued on Page 10-A) Store Manager Injured In Armed Robbery Here An armed robbery Tuesday morning took place shortly after 10 o’clock at the Tops, Bottoms and Souls store in Center Park Shopping Center. A young man pulled a gun on the manager, hit him on the head and took an unknpwn amount of money, according to the Aber deen police, who are in vestigating the case. Store Manager Nathanal Malloy had just come to open the store, had turned on the lights and turned off the burglar alarm when a young man came into the store, the Aberdeen police reported. The man walked to the back of the store and Mr. Malloy asked if he could help him. When the man asked what the back room was, Malloy said it was for storage and the man pulled a gun on him and told him to lie down on the floor in the room. Then he hit Malloy on the head. Aberdeen police said Malloy (Continued on Page 10-A) 50 Pages Index Books, 2-B; Church Calendar, 3-B; Classified Ads, 10-15-C; Editorials, 1-B; Entertainment, 4-5-C; Obituaries, 9-A; Pinehurst News, 1-3-C; Sandhills Scene, 2-4-A; Sports, 6-7-A; Spotlight, 4-A. Price 15 Cents 14 Candidates For Council Force Primary Here Oct. 11 taken. Most of the crossings have flashing lights, but two. New York and Illinois, have only a railroad sign to warn motorists, according to town developer Marvin Collins. “I think lights should be put in at the crossings,” was his first reaction when told about the first car being hit. After studying the problem, he said, “It’s Ibeen talked about for some time, but there was a question of who was responsible for paying for the improvements, the state or the town. We are looking into ways to fund it now. We will check with the state and there’s a possibility of federal assistance.” Interim town manager Mildred McDonald said the situation is very bad and should be changed. “The New York crossing is bad because people stopping at the Post Office are zooming out of there all the time. The Illinois crossing is even worse because there is a curve there and you can’t see the train until the last minute. “It’s so expensive, though. The town is trying to see how to pay for lights at the crossings.” Collins said a parking and (Continued on Page lO-A) Aberdeen Rezoning Discussed A Public Hearing for property on the northwest area of High way 15-501 and Johnson Street to be changed from Residential to Neighborhood Shopping was authorized by the Aberdeen Town Board Monday night. The Town Attorney was to be called and a hearing “as early as possible” was to be provided in the action. A request from Mr. Bill Seymour had been heard Sept. 6 by the Planning Board for the change for Highway Commercial District, so he could build a shopping center on the property. The Board decided the Neigh borhood Shopping change would be better. Mr. Robert Page and his daughter, Ms. Johnsie Page, presented their findings on the Robert Farrell property on US 1 South and adjoining property. No action was taken. The Board also answered questions about zoning from Mr. (Continued on Page 10-A) Fourteen candidates, including all five incumbents, have filed for the Southern Pines Town Council. A primary will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 11, and the 10 highest vote getters will go on the ballot for the election on Nov. 8. Among the last to file for reelection were Mayor E.J. Austin and former Mayor E. Earl Hubbard. Other incumbents are Emanuel S. Douglass, mayor pro-tem, Michael L. Smithson, and Hope M. Brogden, who was appointed earlier this year to fill the unexpired term of Sara W. Hodgkins, who was appointed Secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources. Other candidates are former Council member Charles A. McLaughlin, Frank J. (Jim) Davies, Louise Eckersley, Fred M. Morgan, Jerry D. Daeke, Marquita K. Daniels, John (Jack) Dibb, Jack F. Carter Jr., and Charles A. Rose. The deadline for registering for the primary was on Monday of this week, but persons may register for the November election up to Oct. 10. Southern Pines is the only Moore County municipality wiOi provisions for a primary. Other towns, except for Vass, will hold elections on Nov. 8. Vass will (Continued on Page 10-A) Governor Talks Here On Friday Governor Jim Hunt will visit Southern Pines on Friday. He will speak at 10 a.m. at a statewide meeting of United Way at the Sheraton Motor Inn, where a meeting of officials of the organization will get under way at noon on Thusday. Governor Hunt will talk about the volunteer movement with which he and his administration is involved, and will proclaim the United Way month, during which various communities in the state will launch united fund raising campaigns which will seek to raise $25 million in contributions for primarily volunteer agencies. Roy Parker, Jr., editor of the Fayetteville Times and President of the United Way, will preside at Friday’s meeting. Ashley Gayle of (Charlotte will preside Thursday afternoon at a meeting of planning board representatives who will discuss volunteer agency work, legislative and other matters. A reception and dinner will be held (Continued on Page 10-A) it « 1^' FALL FORAY — There was the feeling of Fall in the air this week and this squirrel was making an early morning foray for food when Photographer Glenn M. Sides caught him on the move. A Runaway Train Engine Caught After Chase Here Thoroughfare Plan Is Again Delayed The Town Council chamber was crowded again Tuesday night for further discussion of the controversial Thoroughfare Plan - again reaching no conclusion - and the audience also heard with interest of some important matters set for public hearing at the next regular meeting, in October. However, the next meeting will not be on the second Tuesday, the regular night, but on that Thursday, October 13, as Tuesday will be the primary election day for the council. Mrs. Mildred McDonald, interim town manager, said the Moore County Board of Elections had request^ they change their meeting night, as for them to meet there routinely would cause some administratiVb, and maybe even legal problems. The council chamber is the polling place for the South Southern Pines Precinct, and talking of votes is expected to go on until fairly late on the primary night. The council members-^U of them candidates-seemed glad to make the change, but did not include in their motion a similar change for Tuesday, November 18, the final election date. The council had postponed a decision on the Southern Pines part of the Southern (Continued on Page 10-A) Town Notes Authorized; Sewer Work To Proceed The Southern Pines Town Council in a brief special meeting Monday authorized the mayor and administration to sign for the sale of $1,100,000 worth of sanitary sewer bond anticipation notes, and in the same motion, unanimously passed, authorized the admini stration to proceed with the sewer improvements for which the proceeds of the sale will be used. The $1.1 million in town notes were sold on Tuesday at a rate of 3.3568 percent interest. The Local Government Commission sold the notes to Wachovia Bank and Trust Co., of Winston- Salem. Bonds authorized by the voters in a referendum in May 1976 will be sold in the spring to pay off Uie notes. Mayor E.J. Austin, presiding, explained that the Town had (Continued on Page 10-A) House Numbers Free house number signs are available at the Southern Pines Fire Department, the Junior Women’s Club has announced. The signs are being given by the Town to residents so that any place can be found immediately in an emergency. Cooperating in the project of the Junior Women are the Fire Department, the Rescue Squad, . the Police Department, the Town of Southern Pines and the Post Office. The community service project is co-chaired by Mary Aim HaU and Linda Fowler. It was the engine that could - until it hit the hill between Aberdeen and Southern Pines. There another engine caught it. The engine had slipped, unmanned, from the Hamlet Terminal and balled the jack for 30 miles, while helpless railway officials stood by anxiously. No feared disaster happened. The runaway train engine was caught Monday at 9:25 p.m. by a second engine, when Engineer Dab Craddock coupled the eight-unit runaway to his engine just north of Aberdeen, after the 30-mile chase. HUSOM Campaign Under Way The Humane Society of Moore County, handling more animals than ever before at its shelter and facing increased costs, has launched its annual membership drive with a record goal. Miss Mary Kate Bonds, membership chairman, said the 1977 goal from Moore County residents is $15,000. “This is our biggest limdertaking but we need this level of support from our memberships in order to continue handling the number of animals we have been at the’ shelter and to meet the higher costs brought on by inflation,” Miss Bonds said in annoimcing the campaign. The drive is keyed to the theme that the more memberships and gifts, trusts and bequests, memorials, adoptions and spay-neuter programs there are the fewer animals that will be abandoned, abused, neglected and piit to sleep in the county. HUSOM raised about $12,000 through the membership campaign last year, reaching its (Continued on Page 10-A) The diesel engine runaway took off from the Hamlet Seaboard terminal about 8:45 and puzzled officials called the train to ask where it was headed and why. Nobody answered. Startled railway officials realized about four minutes after takeoff that the engine was alone, and Terminal Superintendent E. L. Cook of Hs^et said a dispatcher in Raleigh immediately halted all trains on the track to the sidelines. Fortunately, the eight-unit assembly was on low throttle and was going only about 25 miles per hour when it escaped the (Continued on Page 10-A) Vass Election Oct. 11 For Mayor And Board Two candidates for mayor and nine for town commissioner have filed in Vass for the election to be held on Tuesday, Oct. 11. The candidates for mayor are John T. Richardson, the incumbent, and the Rev. Jesse Mansfield, a Baptist minister and teacher at Sandhills Community College. Three incumbent commissioners are seeking reelection. They are Joseph Frye, A.G. Edwards, Jr., and Roy Jackson. Other commissioner candidates are Dr. Russell Tate, Arnold Futrell, James Key, Wendell Enzor, Jesse Coore Jr., and N. C. Parker. Two incumbents, JoAnn Hipp and Buster Jessup, did not seek reelection. The filing deadline was Friday. Vass conducts its own election while all other municipalities in Moore County have their elections conducted by the Moore County Board of Elections. Other towns also hold their elections in November, but Vass chose Oct. 11 as its election date. Prison Unit At McCain Gets New Construction Construction on 144 single inmate cells at McCain Prison between Southern Pines and Raeford will begin by November 23, Lieutenant-in-Charge J.L. Sams has announced. The cells are being built with $3.3 million in federal grants to relieve crowded conditions at the prison, he said. Chief Engineer R. J. Korstian of the Department of Corrections is in charge of the building, and contract letting dates will be announced later. The renovations will include water, heat and electrical work and may have food service areas, some office space, and classroom areas in addition to the single cells. At present, the prison has only ten single-inmate cells. The new unit is expected to relieve overcrowding and to isolate problem prisoners. Odom I^ison near Jackson will also be expanded through federal funds of over $3 million. THE PILOT LIGHT Dates For School Events Are Announced ROBBERY SCENE — Detective Rickey Whittaker of the Sheriff’s Department and Sgt. Eddie Rose of the Aberdeen police department move in at the scene of a Tuesday morning armed robbery at the Tops, Bottoms and Souls store in Center Park. In the public interest the following dates have been announced to aid parents and the public in general by the Moore County Schools: The first school month will end on October 3. A school month consist of 20 week days. The District NCAE meeting, scheduled at Scotland Hiiii School in Laurinburg, is set for October 21, and on t^t day all Moore County Schools will be closed in order that local members of the professional organization may attend. The secund school month will end on November 1. Wednesday, November 23 marks the last school day before Fall holidays, (Thanksgiving) with students returning on Monday, November 28. Friday, December 16 is the last day before the Winter holidays (Christmas), with students returning on January 2. Friday, January 27 has been designate as a “Teacher Work Day,” and students will not report to school. Friday, March 24 is the last day before the Spring holidays (Easter), with students returning on April 3. Board of Education Meeting dates for the Moore County Board of Education are set in advance with the next one scheduled for September 26 at 8 p.m. in the Board Room at the Schools Administration Building. Other meetings are scheduled for the second and fourth Mondays of each month. Generally the meetings on the second Monday are held in a school at 12 noon. Advisory Councils The Advisory Councils of the 18 schools meet and select their own meeting dates. The councils meet jointly three times a year with meetings set for October 3, 1977, January 16 and May 1,1978. Officers of the county-wide council are Talmadge Baker, President; Charles Shamberger, Vice-President and Mrs. Barbara Blake, Secretary-Treasurer. There are 172 members serving the 18 schools. They offer suggestions (Continued on Page 10-A) GOVERNOR — A committed advocate and supporter of the Volunteer movement. Governor Jim Hunt will spend the coming weeks promoting the idea across North Carolina. He has been doing that since the Legislature adjourned, and he’s convinced that it is the way North Carolina can advance, with people helping others in volunteer work. The Governor himself is a volunteer. He supported and took part in the WRAL televised Volunteerathon on Sunday and on Monday he started doing his own volunteer work by serving as a reading aide at the Emma Conn School in Raleigh. He will keep on doing it on a regular basis at the school. Governor Hunt estimates that volunteers are contributing $2 billion a year in services now and he would like to see it doubled to $4 billion. “That’s equal to our state budget,” he says. FRIENDS DINNER — The Friends Dinner for Eighth District Democrats to be held at the Governor’s Mansion in Raleigh on Saturday, Oct. 1, from 4 to 8 p.m., has more than 125 from Moore County signed up to attend. The dinner on the Mansion grounds fills a promise Governor (Continued on Page 10-A)