LOT
48 Pages
Southern Pines, North Carolina Wednesday, October 26, 1977
48 Pages
Money Woes
Hospital;
Rates Raised
BY MARJORIE RAGAN
Facing low occupancy of beds • I
plus expensive interest on the $11 i^OllTtCll
million funding of the big new
wing, Moore Memorial Hospital LIn o JWn
is finding new ways to meet its fr cLLxir
Proposal
9 »
costs, Crenshaw Thompson,
administrator, said yesterday.
With only 217 beds used in
August and 216 on an average in
September, when many more
could be used, the hospital
authorities figured that costs
must be cut by $166,000 to come
out even.
Appealing to department
heads to try to cut the workload,
the hospital found the
department heads could make
the figure $169,000 by freezing
salaries; offering some 35 hour
days; giving extra holidays and
closing all wards when the new
hospital opens the middle of
November.
Interest on the new wing
amounts to $18.50 per room, he
said.
When the new wing opens,
wards will be eliminated
entirely. Page, Chapin, the
present OB and Boyd will be
closed.
Four labor rooms in the new
wing will be used with 20 beds for
the newborn and 20 beds for
pediatric intensive care. There
will also be a new recovery room.
The administrator said that
care of the sick would never be
jeopardized, and pointed to the
new specialists recently added to
the hospital.
When the new wing opens
soon, the hospital will have 258
rooms. Private rooms will cost
$102 per day; in Jackson and
Tufts, $95. &mi-private rooms
will cost $90; in pediatrics, $85,
and in Meyers Hall, $85. Mental
Health rooms will cost $115 and
Intensive Care in Waldrip Unit
(Continued on Page 16-A)
The Southern Pines Town
Council will hold a special
meeting at 8 a.m. Thursday to
consider a proposal for an
agreement with the Town of
Carthage on the use of Nicks
Creek as a water source.
Les Hall, project engineer, is
expected to present figures on
quantities and costs, with
analytical data which will help
the council approve a practical
offer to be made to their sister
town.
The council and the Carthage
town board talked things over
unofficially last Thursday night,
exchanging information in an yT * r'r% rrf
informal meeting at Carthage, tri Wn
and Mayor W.M. Carter, Jr., and
his commissioners expressed
their desire to cooperate.
Nicks Creek is used as a
supplementary water source for
the county seat, and is believed
to have plenty erf water to spare.
If an agreement is reached.
Southern Pines will purchase
raw water from Carthage to be
piped from Nicks Creek, west of
NC 22, to the Southern Pines
reservoir about one mile away,
to raise the level of the reservoir
and maintain it at or above the
safety level.
Southern Pines, which has
suffered a serious water
shortage since early summer,
has an application now being
processed for a federal grant
which, if approved-and if the
state’s Clean Water Bond
referendum passes-would cover
(Continued on Page 16-A)
• J f* 'V‘:
HALLOWEEN TIME — There will be plenty of night. This huge pile of pumpkins is on the
pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns, as well as Glenn Horne farm near Hillcrest—(Photo by
pumpkin pies, for Halloween next Monday Glenn M. Sides).
Fund Drive Child Is Killed
Waiting For Bus
Of Goal
The third United Fund report
luncheon was held Monday, and
at the end of all reporting $M,500
was totaled to put the campaign
at 58 percent of the goal.
With less than a week to go
campaign volunteers will try to
wrap up their solicitation and
reach for the $115,(HX) goal.
Mitt Younts reports that the
Commercial division will try to
complete its solicitation, this
week, and hopes to have all the
pledges in by Monday.
Tom Ardis, chairman of
Special Gifts, has reached the 75
percent mark and reported that
contributions were still coming
in to the campaign office. Anyone
not yet contacted is urged to call
(Continued on Page 16-A)
A six-year-old girl waiting for a
school bus at the Riverview
Acres mobile home park, seven
and a half miles east of Vass, was
instantly killed at 7:45 a.m.
Monday when she knelt at the
side of the road, and was struck
by a pickup truck making a right
turn.
Stacey Lynn Smith had been
waiting with other children from
Riverview Acres for the bus,
which was late picking them up
for the journey to Vass-Lakeview
School.
State Trooper C. A. Todd said
she was seen to kneel or bend
over on the traveled portion of
the road, putting her hands up to
her face, so she could not have
seen the truck coming.
She was below the line of
visibility of the driver of the
truck, Jerry William Denton, 36,
also a resident of Riverview
Acres, who told investigating
officers he did not see the child or
feel that he had hit anything.
Denton said he had stopped at
(Continued on Page 8-A)
Young Davis Found Shot;
Condition Is Said Critical
^ Family Shared With Bing
‘The Best Week He Ever Had’
BY VALERIE NICHOLSON
The weekend of October 14,
when Bing Crosby died, was a
sad one for the Frank Swaim
household near Pinebluff.
Swaim, who is Pinebluff’s
police chief, and his son Jay, 20-
year-old jiuiior at the University
of North Carolina at Wilmington,
who was home from college for
the weekend, spent their time
going over warm memories they
had of Bing, and souvenirs of his
visit nearly nine years ago.
The souvenirs include a
scrapbook full of pictures,
several personal letters,
Christmas cards which have
arrived every year showing the
Crosby family in a scene from
their Christmas show, and a
couple of gifts-a gold metal key
chain and a medallion to wear on
a neck chain for his wife, both
engraved with the word
“Thanks” and the scrawled
BING IN SANDHILLS - Ready for a bird hunt
in the Sandhills are Bing Crosby (left), Gaylord
Perry, a major league baseball pitcher, at right
and Frank Swaim of Pinebluff (seated), holding
two of his best bird dogs.—(Photo by Geoffrey
A. Hall).
signature “Bing.”
It all brough back that first
week in December of 1968, which
Bing often described as “the best
week he ever had” and which
Frank Swaim says came pretty
close to being that in his life, too.
It was a week in which Bing
came to Pinehurst to make a
hunting film for the ABC
program, “The American
Sportsman,” with bird hunting
the chosen sport, and the 2,000-
acre Pindiurst, Inc., hunting
preserve the locale. Frank
Swaim, a retired State Highway
Patrolman and longtime hunting
guide with his own dogs and
kennels, was at that time a
guide on the preserve and was
assigned to the two famous
guests, Bing and baseball star
Gaylord Perry for the full week.
It wasn’t the first time Frank
had served as guide for
celebrities. He has a scrapbook
full of them, people he has hunted
with year after year, and thinks
the world of. But this time it was
different.
“Bing was such a nice; friendly
fellow,” he says. “He was the
kinde^, most considerate person
I’ve ever known. He was fun to be
with. And he was also a fine
hunter, who knew his way around
in the woods.”
The first day they went out
with the filming crew. Frank
(Continued on Page 16-A)
Open House
Open House will be held at
Samarkand Manor on Sunday,
Oct. 30, from 2 to 5 o’clock in the
afternoon.
There will be no formal
program or speakers, but
visitors will tour the campus and
facilities of the Division of Youth
Services training school, of
which Hosea Brower is director.
Refreshments will be served
in Leonard Hall, and the public
is invited to attend.
Alvin Davis, an 18-year-old
graduate of Pinecrest High
School last June, was found shot
and critically wounded in St.
Petersburg, Fla., on Monday.
He underwent surgery at a St.
Petersburg hospital on Tuesday
and last night a hospital
spokesman described his
condition as only “fair.”
A relative said a bullet was
lodged in his brain and could not
be removed, but that doctors
were encouraged to believe he
would recover. His condition,
they said, was “critical and
guarded.” He was reported as
semi-conscious Tuesday night.
There were no details on the
shooting, and a relative said it
would be at least a week before
anything could be known.
His mother, Mrs. Marjorie
Davis, had gone to St.
Petersburg to be with him
shortly after getting word of the
wounding about 4 p.m. on
Monday.
Young Davis, who formerly
worked at The Pilot and was an
editor of the Pinecrest
newspaper, The Courier, was
working on a newspaper in St.
(Continued on Page 16-A)
Case Focuses Attention
On Selection Of Juries
BY ELLEN WELLES
A ruling by Judge Maurice
Braswell in Johnston County on
Grand Jury composition has
turned the light on the make-up
of juries in other counties.
The attorneys representing
two black men charged with
murder had argued that the
Johnston County Jury Com
mission systematicaUy denied
blacks of proportionate
representation on juries in the
county. Judge Braswell did not
rule on the racial makeup of the
Grand Jury but ruled that the
jury was not legally constituted.
Selection of the juries,
however, is made without
knowledge of race, said Moore
County Qerk of Superior Court
Charles McLeod.
According to Chapter Nine of
the General Statues of North
Carolina, each person on the jury
(Continued on Page 16-A)
Bond Fund
F or Moore
$895,129
Facility
Changes
Approved
The Moore County
commissioners in special
meeting Thursday made several
changes in plans for the new
Courts Facility building now
under construction on the
Courthouse Square; accepted
bids on about $44,000 worth of
heavy equipment for the
nearly-completed regional
wastewater treatment system;
and gave their unqualified
enforcement to the $300 million
State highway Bond issue, which
win be voted on by the people
November 8.
The main change in the Courts
Facility Building, authorize^ in
conference with architects E. J.
Austin and Karl D. Stuart, was
(Continued on Page 6-A)
Property
Appraisal
Under Way
Revaluation program project
supervisor, Edward T. Bailes
has announced that the
residential data collection phase
of the revaluation program in
Moore is on schedule.
Aberdeen, Pinebluff,
Whispering Pines, Vass, and
Southern Pines data collection
has been substantially com
pleted, and the Pinehurst area is
scheduled to start within a few
days.
A residential data collector
will call on each individual
property to ^k the owners
permission to inspect the interior
and measure the exterior of all
buildings and to ask some
questions about the property
such as, the age of the buildings,
number of rooms, number of
(Continued on Page 16-A)
Candidate
Pays Taxes
After Item
C.A. McLaughlin, the only
candidate for Town Council
reported last week by The Pilot
to be owing back taxes to the
Town, paid his business property
taxes for 1974, 1975 and 1976 last
Wednesday, soon after the paper
came out.
The amount, covering the
overdue taxes, plus penalties,
was $705.41.
In addition, McLaughlin
checked the next day with the
Moore County tax office to know
what he owed there, and on
learning the amount, delivered a
check Friday for the total.
It came to $l,129.17-the sum
not only for the three years listed
, above but for one farther back,
1967. The penalty on this one,
overlooked for the past decade,
ran the total up considerably
higher than it would otherwise
have been.
Personal property taxes on
furnishings and equipment used
in his business, the Style Mart
Store, were all that were owed.
(Continued on Page 16-A)
Moore County will receive a
total of $895,129 from the $230
million clean water bond issue if
it is approved by voters on Nov.
8.
A breakdown of county
allocation of funds announced
this week by the N. C.
Department of Natural
Resources and Community
Development Moore would
receive:
--$288,132 for wastewater
collection systems.
-$606,997 for water supply
systems.
The Department also reported
that two municipalities in Moore
County-Carthage and Robbins-
are under a moratorium on
growth because their sewage
treatment facilities are now
over-loaded.
The allocations announced for
each county is automatic with
voter approval of the bond issue.
In addition, $113.5 million will be
available on a statewide basis for
wastewater treatment and water
supply systems.
The purpose of the $230 million
in clean water bonds is to provide
matching funds to eligible units
of local government (city,
county, water and sewer districts
or sanitary districts) for
improving, expanding or
construction of new facilities for
wastewater treatment and water
(Continued on Page 16-A)
Put Weymouth To Use
Is Urged By Mrs. Ives
Old houses are being put to
practical use across the nation
and Mrs. Ernest L. Ives believes
the Sandhills area has a chance
to do just that with Weymouth,
the home of novelist James
Boyd.
“They are doing this all over
America so we wiU have a visual
history of what we were,” said
Mrs. Ives, a Vice President of
Friends of Weymouth, Inc. which
is ready to launch a drive to
acquire the property.
Mrs. Ives, who lives at Paint
Hill Farm, knew both the late
James and Katharine Boyd and
was a visitor in their Southern
Pines home including times with
her brother, the late Adlai E.
Stevenson, twice the Democratic
Party’s Presidential Candidate,
United Nations Ambassador and
Illinois Governor.
Stevenson’s son, who bears his
name and now is a Democratic
Senator from Illinois, is schedu
led to be on hand November 4
with a host of other State and nat-
(Continued on Page 16-A)
Arts Coimcil Program
Announced For Season
The Sandhills Arts Council
(SAC) recently moved its offices
from the. Campbell House to
Town and Country Shopping
Center and has planned
programs in films, musical
events, art and in the schools for
this season.
“The Sting” will be shown at
the Town and Country Cinema
Thursday, Oct. 27 at 3:20, 7:00
and 9:15 p.m. Admission is by
Arts Council membership or
single ticket at $2.50 for adults.
Other films scheduled are “A
Man and a Woman” on
November 10, “The Slipper and
the Rose” on December 8,
“Robin and Marian” on January
19, 1978 and “Small Change” on
February 16.
The Council is discussing plans
for decorating and setting up
policies for The Gallery, its art
gallery in Town and Country
Shopping Center above Storey’s.
The Council’s new staff member,
Janet Burgess, a Third Century
Artist last year, is working at
(Continued on Page 16-A)
THE
PILOT LIGHT
SUCCESSION—A recent
statewide poll shows sentiment
almost evenly divided over the
Constitutional amendment to
allow a Governor to succeed
himself for one term.
The succession amendment
was given a slight edge in the
poll, but most observers across
the state are predicting a close
vote which could go ei&er way.
The statewide conunittee to
Reelect or Reject is now running
advertisements on television and
radio and in newspapers urging
support for the amendment.
While there is no organized
opposition to the amendmoit the
supporters are aware that there
is a large body of “anti” voters
around.
HODGKINS—Secretary Sara
W. Hodgkins of the Department
of Cultural Resources will be on
the Carolina News Conference
television program Thursday at 7
p.m.
News Director Richard Hatch
of WUNC-TV said the interview
is being taped in advance, but
will deal with all aspects of the
department.
The program can be seen here
over Channel 4.
ABSENTEES—The deadline
for applications for absentee
ballots in the Nov. 8 municipal
elections is Wednesday, Nov. 2,
Mrs. Doris Fuquay, executive
director of the Moore Ck)unty
Board of Elections, said this
week.
The election in Southern Pines
(Continued on Page 16-A)
. m
s
FOREST FIRE — Members of the Pinebluff fire department fight a fire
which threatened several homes in the Sherwood Park section Sunday
afternoon. The woods fire burned for about 45 minutes before being
brought under control.—(Photo by Glenn M. Sides).