Spring Forward
by one hour at 2 a.m. Sunday when
Daylight Saving Time begins. You can
“fall back” one hour next October.
lugti
Uiqh vail’
Glen don
^areond ^
^^MleOpqi Cameron prjl
Ufa^fcnd Lokeviev'VaSi
f.iierbe r,
I LOT
Tour de Moore
will be held here Saturday with over 200
bicycle riders in 101-mile race. See
story Page 1-D.
Vol. 59, Number 26
68 Pages
Southern Pines, North Carolina 28387
Wednesday, April 25, 1979
68 Pages
PRICE 15 CENTS
#ji.)
Pd
Weymouth Is Bought
By F riends F rom SCC
Dry Weather Is Causing
Series Of Forest Fires
WEYMOUTH ACQUIRED-Dr. Raymond
Stone (third from left), president of Sandhills
Community College, holds a check for $700,000,
which was presented to the college Foundation
on Tuesday as the purchase price of the Friends
of Weymouth, Inc., for the Boyd estate. Looking
on are, from left, Alex Webb, secretary-
treasurer, and Admiral I.J. Galantin, president
of the Friends. Sandhills attorney W. Lament
Brown is at right —(Photo by Glenn M. Sides).
‘Longest Minute’ Is Call For Help;
Communication Needs Outlined
BY FLORENCE GILKESON
One rescue worker calls it “the
longest minute you wiU ever
wait.”
He’s talking about that minute
spent calling for help, whether
it’s fire, accident, heart attack or
burglar.
Central conununications is a
subject frequently heard in
Moore County circles. A
controversy which arose last
fall"in the wake of the
elections-may have served to
obscure the reasoning of local
emergency service groups who
Airline Here Is Asked
To Pre-Screen Riders
Resort Aviation, which
operates out of Southern Pines,
was one of the two commuter
airlines censured by the Federal
Aviation Administration con
cerning its screening processes
at Raleigh Durham Airport.
The other is Wheeler Airlines,
which reportedly is considering
going out of business.
Jim Meals executive vice-
president of Resort Aviation and
general manager of the local
airport, said Resort will
probably be forced into installing
screening devices or lose its
conunuter service to Raleigh.
He said a walk-through
screening system begins at about
$2,000 and another screening
device, a “wand” runs about $300
to $350.
A larger cost would be for a
police officer, which by legal
requirements must be present at
locations where screening takes
place. This officer must be
uniformed, carry a sidearm, and
have authority.
Resort and Wheeler have until
the last day of April to come up
with a solution to their screening,
or “security” problem. Meals
said “As of May 1 the F.A.A.
insists anyone using the main
(Continued on Page 16-A)
favor a conununications center.
Fire Marshall Joe Adams
describes the frustration of the
preset sitqatjon in an incident
he witness^ a few years ago
when he observed a volunteer
fall from the rear of a rescue
vehicle enroute to an accident.
The rescue driver was unaware
of the fall.
Adams, whose vehicle is not
equipped with a stretcher, felt
almost helpless. While he could
go to the injured man himself, he
could not offer the skilled
assistance which the ambulance
crew could provide with its
equipment. The problem?
Adams’ car radio could not make
contact with the very ambulance
from which the rescue worker
fell although the two vehicles
were only a matter of feet apart
at the moment of the fall.
That story had a happy ending.
The injuries were serious, but the
man lived and was able to return
to rescue work.
But the ending is not always
happy. This story merely
illustrates the problem.
(Continued on Page 16-A)
Guilty Plea Is Entered
In Slaying Case At Vass
THE
PILOT LIGHT
MORGAN - Senator Robert
Morgan is convinced that good
nutrition is the key to better
health for Americans and
especially better nutrition for the
very young.
He and many other top officials
will be present at the “Nutrition
for Ki^ Fair” at the State
Fairgrounds in Raleigh on
Saturday, May 5, from 1 to 5 p.m.
Bruce Jenner of Olympic fame
as well as basketball stos from
N.C. State, Carolina and Duke
will be present. Morgan goes on
to say:
“All of this entertainment will
be tied to physical well-being
that stems from good nutrition
and it will be educational as well
as fun.
“We hope to draw attention to
the national problem of
achieving better nutrition. North
Carolina, with its agricultural
leadership, has a vital interest in
this, even beyond the general
welfare of its children. Not many
people know it, but our state is
the second leading per capita
producer of fruits and vegetables
in the nation, trailing only
California.’’
REPUBLICANS - Jack Lee
of Fayetteville says he has
received endorsement from
several top Republicans for
(Continued on Page 15-A)
A guilty plea to the charge of
voluntary manslaughter has
been accepted by the State in the
case of Alton Junior Turney,
charged in the Feb. 4 shotgun
slaying of Donald Wayne Holder.
Judge Thomas W. Seay Jr. of
Spencer heard the case Monday
in Moore County Superior
Oiminal Court but continued
sentencing until Thursday at 4:30
p.m. The defendant remains in
custody untU that time.
Turney, 30, lists his address as
Vass, Rt. 2.
The case is one of four murder
cases docketed for trial this
week. Because of the heavy
docket, the judge ordered the
summoning of 25 additional
jurors to supplement the 62-juror
roster previously called;
One murder case, that of
Shelley Martin, has been con
tinued on a motion by the defense
because of her attorney’s illness.
In the Phyllis Morrison case a
motion was allowed to hold this
matter open until today. As of
Tuesday, no action had been
taken in the fourth, in which
Gregory Eugene Black is the
defendwt.
Not guilty was the verdict
returned by a jury Monday af
ternoon in the case of Willis J.
Blackman of Aberdeen, who
pleaded not guilty to charges of
breaking, entering and larceny.
Blackman was accused of
(Continued on Page 16-A)
A two-year goal of the Friends
of Weymouth was reached here
yesterday.
Weymouth, the home of
Novelist James Boyd and
Katharine Boyd, was acquired
by the Friends of Weymouth,
Inc., for the price of $700,000,
which was paid to the Sandhills
Community College Foundation.
The transfer of the property
took place in the law office of W.
Harry Fullenwider, with at
torneys for the various agencies
involved, President Raymond
Stone of Sandhills (Allege and
Admiral I.J. Galantin, president
of the Friends of Weymouth,
present.
There were no formal
ceremonies, but President Stone
brought along and presented to
Fullenwider a small bag full of
dirt from the Boyd estate. It was
a symbolic gesture representing
an ancient way in English history
of transferring property.
The acquisition of Weymouth
came a little more than two
years after the Friends of
Weymouth was chartered for the
purpose of preserving the noted
estate, which includes the largest
stand of ’lirgin longleaf pine left
in the country and a 32-room
mansion.
Weymouth will be developed as
a statewide center for the arts
and humanities.
Several programs already
have been held at^ Weymouth
Center and many 'omers are
planned. The first writer-in-
residence at Weymouth-the
noted novelist Guy Owen-will
arrive here on May 13. Other
writers of North Carolina are
scheduled for brief residencies
this summer.
Of the property transfer on
Tuesday, Friends President
Galantin said:
“This mUestone in our cam
paign marks the successful
conclusion to this phase of our
project. “We can now move
forward with confidence to the
creation and operation of a
cultural center which will benefit
our region and State.”
The $700,000 purchase price
was turned over to the Sandhills
College Foundation, Inc., which
received the property under
(Continued on Page 15-A)
The
Sandhills
Observatory
PUBLIC VIEWING
The last of the scheduled
winter and spring viewing nights
at Sandhills Observatory will be
on Wednesday, May 2, Thursday,
May 3, and Friday, May 4.
Those wishing to make
reservations should call Allen
Clarke at 295-3660 before or
during the above dates. Please
do not call before 6 p.m. Only 15
guests can be accommodated on
each night.
This is probably the last time
Jupiter can be seen before it
becomes too low in the western
sky for good viewing. Saturn is
almost directly overhead. The
first quarter moon on the above
nights has a wealth of craters
well lighted by the sun’s slanting
rays. The winter stars are
getting lower and lower in the
west and the spring and summer
constellations are beginning to
claim the sky.
The Observatory is located on
N.C. Rt. 5 between Aberdeen and
Pinehurst; 3.25 miles from the
intersection of U.S. 1 and N.C.
Rt. 5 in Aberdeen and 2.65 miles
from the R.R. underpass in
Pinehurst. Visitors should check
their mileage from either of
these points and approach the
turn off to the observatory slowly
or else they will overshoot the
entrance.
Poultry Leads In $62 Million Farm Income
Thousands of green-growing
acres stretch across Moore
(^ounty, and their harvest
brought income estimated at
almost $63 million in 1978.
The money-making acreage is
agricultural land, not golf
courses, and the estimated
income Rgure is the work of a
survey by the cooperating
agriculture agencies of Moore
County.
Agricultural Extension
Chairman Talmadge Baker
cautions that the $62,864,450 total
is an estimate for the year, but at
least two aspects of the report
are accurate, the tobacco income
and the government payments
for conservation and other
programs.
Tobacco and peaches come to
mind when Moore County
agriculture is discussed, but it is
actually the unglamorous
poultry and egg industry which is
the major money-maker here.
Estimated income for poultry
and egg sales last year amounted
to $38,498,640, compared to
$9,752,174 for tobacco and
$291,840 for peaches.
In 1978 Moore (bounty farmers
harvested flue-cured tobacco
from 3707 acres with a yield
averaging 1978 pounds an acre.
Production totalled 7,332,462
pounds, all of which was sold, at
an average price of $1.33 a
pound.
Baker said that the figures on
tobacco harvest and income have
been confirmed and are
accurate.
Altogether, field crops brought
income totalling an estimated
$13,784,405, including tobacco.
C!om was harvested for grain
on 12,000 acres with an average
yield of 65 bushels an acre and a
total production of 780,000
bushels. Of this, 585,000 were sold
at an average price of $2.35 a
bushel. Total sales amounted to
an estimated $1,374,750.
With sales climbing to
$1,186,800, soybeans were
harvested on 8000 acres with an
average yield of 23 bushels an
acre. All 184,000 bushels were
sold, the price averaging $6.45 a
bushel.
Other crops brought in these
estimated amounts: hays,
$384,000 rye, $324,000; wheat,
$288,000; grain sorghum,
$237,600; oats, $172,800; barley,
$44,800; peanuts, $1,481.
Fruits and nuts represented an
estimated $322,900 income, most
of which came from the
38,000-bushel production from
the 19,000 peach trees of bearing
age. Moore County orchardists
sold their peaches at an average
price of $7.68 a bushel.
In addition, grapes brought in'
an estimated $22,000, pecans
$7000, and apples $2060.
Vegetables, principally sweet
potatoes, sold for $895,327,
according to the survey
estimate. Sweet potatoes sold for
the fresh market brought
$476,000 with another $38,812
coming for sweets sold for
processing. Moore County
growers sold an estimated
$87,500 in leafy greens, $62,000 in
(Continued on Page 16-A)
Moore County’s forest
firefighters are responding to
“one fire a day” and keeping
their fingers crossed that it will
rain and conditions will improve.
Forest Ranger Robert
Edwards says fires have erupted
on woodlands almost daily since
April 18, occurring all over the
county. The fires have been
scattered through Robbins, Vass,
Cameron, Southern Pines, and
Pinehurst.
In spite of the number of fires,
the damage has been relatively
light, estimated at between 15
and 20 acres of woodlands.
Fires in other counties have
been far more severe, Edwards
pointed out. Several hundred
acres burned in coastal Carteret
New Trial
Ildefonso Vazques Santos,
serving a prison sentence of from
25 to 30 years, has been granted a
new trial, and the case has been
placed on the docket for the May
7 term of Moore County Superior
Santos was convicted on two
counts of kidnapping, two counts
of breaking and entering, one
count each of larceny and
receiving, all occurring in 1974.
He was 20 at the time.
Settlement
Is Reached
In Suit
A settlement was reached
Tuesday in the suit between Golf
Vistas, Inc., The Lawn and
Tennis (3ub, Inc., and Mortgage
Investors of Washington, a real
estate investment lending
agency based in the nation’s
capitol.
The investment company
received land in the development
as part of the settlement.
Over $800,000 was involved in
the suit brought against The
Lawn and Tennis Club of North
Carolina and Golf Vistas, Inc. by
Mortgage Investors of
Washington approximately a
year ago.
The Washington firm at
tempted foreclosure on a deed of
trust in November 1977, claiming
the Lawn and Tennis Club and
Golf Vistas were in default on
payment of a note.
Under the terms of the set
tlement approved yesterday in
the law offices of James
(Continued on Page 15-A)
(bounty earlier this week, and
about 375 acres burned in
Harnett County last week.
Edwards sent equipment from
Moore County to help control the
Harnett fire, and the Cameron
Fire Department assisted state
and county firefighters there.
Most of the Moore County fires
have been blamed on
carelessness. Edwards reported
that a fire on a golf course at
Pinehurst was started by a
careless smoker, and others
have largely been the result of
(Continued on Page 15-A)
Hunters Here Like
Watauga Fox Bill
Under a bUl introduced into the
North Carolina General
Assembly, the fox is identified as
a game animal and may not be
trapped or sold, as a whole or in
part.
Known as the Watauga Ck)unty
bill, (SB 121), the proposed
legislation is almost exactly
what Moore County foxhunters
have been seeking.
“It’s the best news I’ve heard
in a long time,” said Mrs. W.O.
Moss, master of the hounds for
the Moore County Hounds.
She was jpined by another
enthusiastic foxhunter, William
C. Boren, in supporting the
legislation, which is also backed
by the State Wildlife Conunission
and th? State Foxhunters
Association. Although the Moore
County Hounds are not involved
in the association, the Hounds
and Sedgefield Hunt members
are soUdly behind the measure,
Boren said.
At the request of County
Commissioner Arthur Purvis,
the Moore County Board of
Commissioners recently voted to
ask State Sen. Russell Walker to
include Moore among the
counties covered by the
legislation. Sixty to 70 other
(Continued on Page 15-A)
Storage Space Is Short
For Oil Used By Schools
People across the country are
eying the rising costs of fuel both
for transportation and
heating-cooling purposes. A
heavy user of both utilities is the
Moore County school system.
Moore County schools are
heated by a variety of methods,
but the most common means is
oil. Gene Riddle, an assistant
su^rintendent with the schools,
said the oil is allocated centrally r
and that each school sends a
weekly report on its usage.
The schools are able to store oil
to a point, but can’t horde enough
to protect against a possible
shortage, Riddle said. He said
the only time the school system
has been a little short was during
the 1973 oil embargo.
“There’s no way we can store
enough at one time to last for a
whole year,” Riddle said. He
said the schools have varying
capacity amounts, but some can
store up to 10,000 gallons. A
measuring stick is in each tank of
the oil used each week.
Riddle was also questioned
about the rising cost of gasoline
is regard to the heavy gasoline
used by the county’s school
buses. He said the State Board of
Education finances all
transportation for the state’s
public schools and makes up the
extra money needed when fuel
prices rise.
One report said that costs were
already rising astronomically for
fueling the state’s school buses.
“Moore County is given an
allotment of so many dollars per
year,” Riddle said, and thought
that even if the costs go up it
would still be possible to operate
on an efficient basis.
Road Hearing
Moore County’s secondary
road program for the new year
will be announced tonight
(Wednesday) in a public hearing
scheduled in the courthouse at
Carthage. The hearing will begin
at- 7 o’clock.
District Ck)nunissioner Martha
C. HoUars of the State Board of
Transportation will be joined by
Depaitoent of Transportation
staff members in explaining the
program.
Hi
, -KT']
TOTAL LOSS—The mobile home of the Coy Whitt family was destroyed
by fire Thursday afternoon. Both the Vass and the Southern Pines Fire
Departments answered the call to Skyline. Firemen reported that the
fire originated in the kitchen but the exact cause has not been
determined. The Whitts were not at home, according to Vass Fire Chief
D. Hugh McLean. The trailer and its contents were described as a total
loss.—(Photo by Glenn M. Sides).