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The Hoke County News - Established 1928
VOLUME LXV111 NUMBER 44 RAEFORD. HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
- journal
The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905
S8 PER YEAR THURSDAY, MARCH 3. 1977
Around
Town
BY SAM C. MORRIS
Just when you think that the cold
weather is leaving, along comes
another cold front. The past week
end was perfect for everyone and
especially for the ones that use gas
and fuel oil. I believe this is the first
rest most heating equipment has
had since December. Hiis is also
good for the pocketbook. I believe
the oil companies were glad to see
the warm weekend so that they
could get a little rest.
But Monday the weather turned
to winter again, but long range
forecasts stem to predict warmer
weather toward the end of the
week.
?
? ? ?
Last week I mentioned about
Robert Gatlin telling a joke that
didn't go over too well. It seems
that the item in this column scored
very heavy or for further details
read Marty Vega's column on Page
* * *
How do you know when old age
has finally arrived, or when do you
say that your stage of life has
reached the peak and you will soon
be on the down slope of life?
Some folks look forward to old
age or early retirment so they can
do the things they have always
wanted to do. No job or boss
dictating what to do now or at a
later time.
Now the government has set the
time at 62 or 65, according to when
you can draw Social Security. Most
businesses have also set 65 as the
retirement date.
o The Bible says three score years
and ten is the life span. (Does this
mean death or retirement?).
Some folks will tell you that old
age is just something that you get in
? your mind. That you are no older
than you think or feel you are.
Now these are all good rule of
thumb ways to tell about your age.
but the best way to know that you
are ripening, maturing or becom
? ing a senior citizen, is to be around
younger people. Now you will say.
what is Morris writing about now?
This week in the office some of
the staff were working on a
headline for the article appearing
in this week's paper about the new
ingredient that Farm Chemical is
about to put on the market. It all
came about concerning the words.
"Bessie" or "Bossie."
Sitting at my desk 1 didn't get
into the conversation to begin with,
but then 1 realized that my age
must have something to do with
what they were talking about.
Marty Vega, a Yankee from
Detroit. Mich., was asking what
the name of a cow should be.
Would it be Bessie or Bossy? Some
of the others in the office stated
that they didn't know what she was
- talking about. This, of course,
pointed out to me that I was not too
far away from retirement age.
Maybe you are asking why?
" , Ail my life the name of a cow w as
known as "Bossie." until a certain
milk company came along and
t changed it. So now. maybe this new
ingredient is going to give the old
cow. before she goes to pasture, a
new name.
So if you want to find out about
your age. work in an office with a
staff that are all in their twenties
and then you will find out just how
old you are.
Yes. Gatlin. chickens or cows
will cause either of us to seem old
and get a C-minus also.
Slaying
Suspects
Post Bail
Two of the three men charged
with the robbery - slaying of store
owner Robert L. Brooks last Dec.
23 have been released on bail.
A.D. Smith Jr.. 24. was released
. last Thursday under S40.300 bond.
Kenneth Dockery. also 24, was
released Monday under $25,000
bond.
The third suspect. James O.
Havis Jr.. 29. was still in jail as of
? Tuesday.
No trial date has been set for the
men. Last month, all three were
ordered bound over to the grand
jury for possible indictment in
April for the slaying at the Rockfish
Grocery.
Listen, Flabbies!
Summer is just a few short months away and it will be
time to get out that bathing suit. Are you going to be left
out of the fun because of ugly, flabby fat?
Don't lie around surrounded by all that flab, do
something now!
You can get into shape and have fun at the same time by
joining the Parks and Recreation Department Slimnastics
class.
Classes begin March 3 and continue through April 25 at
the Raeford Elementary School gymnasium. Time is 7-9
p.m.
Slimnastics is co-sponsored by Sandhills Community
College. Registration fee is only $5 per person.
Remember, summer is coming!
Man's Body Identified
The body of a man discovered
Saturday in the Antioch com
munity has been tentatively
identified as a 44 year - old
Lumberton man missing since Feb.
14.
Hoke County Sheriff D.M.
Barrington said the man has been
unofficially identified through per
sonal effects found near the scene
as Hay Franklin Hodges of 510 E.
14th St.. Lumberton. a Lumberton
city employee.
The sheriff said an unofficial
identification will be made pending
fingerprinting and a comparison
with dental records.
Barrington said the cause of
death as determined by the state
medical examiner was apparently
due to a blow on the head from a
blunt instrument. An autopsy was
performed Monday.
The badly decomposed body was
discovered about noon Saturday
about 200 yards east of the
residence of the Antioch Pres
byterian Church pastor. A wallet
and wrist watch were found about
15 feet away and were identified by
Hodges' wife as his property, the
sheriff said.
Barrington said Mrs. Hodges
told him her husband left Lurn
berton Feb. 14 enroute to Mt. Airy
The sheriff said no motive has been
established and theorized that the
man's body was placed in the
woods after he was killed
elsewhere.
Hodges, a native of Mt. Airy,
had lived in Lumberton for the past
three years. Funeral arrangements
are incomplete.
World Day Of Prayer
To Be Celebrated Friday
World Day of Prayer will be
celebrated by Church Women
United in Raeford Friday. March A
with two services at the First
Baptist Church.
The special services, scheduled
at 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., are
being sponsored by the women of
the United Methodist. Raeford
Presbyterian and First Baptist
churches. The Methodist church
women are in charge of the
program.
World Day of Prayer is an
annual international observance
conducted under the direction of an
international committee which
designates Church Women United
as the official sponsor in the United
States.
This year's worship service,
prepared by the women in the
German Democratic Republic, re
flects the hope that women will
strive together to find ways,
familiar and new, for love in
action'.
World Day of Prayer is the most
widely observed ecumenical cele
bration sponsored by Church
Women United.
All faiths are invited to join
Ruling Clears City
In School Suit
A negligence suit tiled against
the City of Raeford by a
motorcyclist who crashed into a
school crossing gate which
blocked Bethel Rd. in October
of 1975 was dismissed from Civil
Superior Court Tuesday by
Judge D.B. Herring. Jr.
According to the judgment,
the case was dismissed without
going to the jury on the grounds
that the plaintiff. Steven H.
Wilburn. "has failed, as a
matter of law. to show
negligence on the part of the
City of Raeford. defendant."
Wilburn and his guardian.
Norma H. Wilburn. had main
tained originally that the Board
of Education and the city were
negligent by not securing back
the gates after school hours.
Represented by attorney Wil
liam L. Senter. they argued that
the chain link gates were
difficult to see at night.
Wilburn hit the gate while
traveling north on Bethel Rd.
Oct. 13. 1975. at approximately
10:30. According to a witness
who saw Wilburn shortly after
the accident. Wilburn was
scratched up and apparently
da/cd following the collision,
but was able to walk home
unaided. Wilburn indicated
that he was knocked unconcious
for a time. Approximately $200
damage was sustained by the
1973 Kawasaki cycle.
The Board of Education was
dropped from the suit after an
earlier determination that the
Board does not carry liability
insurance to cover accidents like
this one. By law, it is immune
from civil actions if it does not
carry such insurance.
The judgment concluded that
the plaintiff would take nothing
from the defendant. Wilburn
had asked for no punitive
damages, but sought only re
muneration for medical ex
penses and damages to the
cycle. A total of $5,300 was
asked.
The gates, which were au
thorized for construction by the
city council June 3. 1974, have
long been a subject of contro
versy. Area residents have
voiced complaints about the
road being blocked off to
through traffic during school
hours, arguing that high school
students should be old enough
to cross Bethel Rd. in safety.
A committee from the State
Department of Public Instruc
tion reccommended in 1974 that
the road be closed either
permanently or during school
hours for maximum student
safety.
The school board obtained
permission from the city to close
the road between the hours of 8
a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday
through Friday.
Two other schools, both
elementary units, have gates
erected during school hours to
close off traffic. Fifth St. behind
Raeford Elementary School is
closed, along with Stewart St.
next to McLauchlin Elementary
School.
Following the Wilburn ac
cident last year, school officials
ordered reflective tape and bolt
- type locks for the fences.
School Leaders Back
School Supt. G. Raz Autry, J.D.
McAllister, assistant superinten
dent. and three members of the
board of education returned Tues
day night from the annual conven
tion of the National Association of
Kathy Sets Record
At AAU Contest
Kathy McMillan scored a double victory last week by setting a
record at the National AAU Track and Field Championships in New
York and then returning to North Carolina to accept the 1976
Teague Award at the winners' banquet in Raleigh.
This is the second straight year the Olympic medalist has received
the Teague Award as the Outstanding Female Athlete in North
Carolina.
McMillan, a Tennessee State University coed, set a meet record at
the Track and Field Championships in Madison Square Garden by
winning the women's long jump with a 21 feet 4% inch effort. The
leap exceeded the previous record of 21-2 set by California's Martha
Watson in 1975. The world indoor record is held by Tatyana
Schelkanova of Russia at 21-5'/i.
The nineteen year-old McMillan, who has discarded her glasses
for contact lenses, said her immediate goal is to break the world
outdoor mark of 22- ll'/? held by Siegrun Siegl of East Germany.
She is aiming to go over 23 feet this year.
"She has that kind of potential." said Ed Temple, her coach at
Tennessee State. "She's a hard worker, a tremendous competitor.
She's a natural. The only thing a coach can do is guide her along and
try to keep her healthy. Her best should be ahead of her."
The AAU competition was her last indoor meet of the year. She is
skipping the United States-Soviet Union-Canada meet in Toronto
March 4-5 because her schedule is too busy.
She returned to school this week for exams.
School Administrators in Las Veg
as, Nev.
Accompanying the administrat
ors on the six-day trip were board
members Bobby Gibson, Bill
Howell and Mina Townsend. The
other two board members, Riley
Jordan and Ruth McNair, did not
make the trip.
This is the first year that Autry
and school board members attend
ed the convention. School board
members were permitted to attend
by invitation.
Autry described the convention
as "one of the best meetings I've
ever been to". Speakers addressing
the educators included columnist
Jack Anderson, Rev. Oral Roberts.
Rev. Jessie Jackson. Ernest L.
Boyer, the nominee for U.S. Com
missioner of Education, and the
presidents of the National Parent
Teacher Association and the Na
tional School Board Association.
Sessions dealt with school at
tendance and parental responsibili
ty. drug abuse, the decline in SAT
college entrance exam scores, laws
relating to school administration
and television violence and its effect
on schoolchildren.
Plane fare for the five totaled
SI, 625. Each was allowed S35 per
diem expenses, the maximum al
lowed by state law, and the
delegates paid any costs above the
S35 out of their own pockets, Autry
said. The four wives and Mrs.
Townsend's husband went along,
(See SCHOOL LEADERS, Page 13)
Look Out, Bossie,
And Moo-ve Over!
By Suzanne Aplin
What sells for SI. 29 a gallon,
comes in a plastic gallon bottle, is a
white liquid, loved by babies and
drunk by children and adults?
Answer -? a bottle of milk? No, the
price alone prohibits it from being
"milk".
However, Alfred K. Leach is
preparing to market just such a
substance this month, which he
says is entirely equivalent in look,
taste and nutrition to milk. This
imitation milk will be made from a
blend of vegetable oils and will be
low fat and pasteurized and homo
NON-DAIRY ?? Alfred K. Leach displays a jug of imitation milk and an
artist concept of its packaging. Farm Foods. Inc., hopes to dear all FDA
and North Carolina Department of Agriculture regulations and have the
new product on shelves in a 22-county test area by the end of this month.
The "milk " is made from a blend of vegetable oils and will have a shelf life
of 21 days. \Photo by S.H. Aplin]
genized just like the real thing.
Using, say. soybeans for milk is
not really a new idea. Orientals
have used it for centuries and
Americans have used it as a
formula substitute for allergic
babies for many years. What is
new, according to Leach, is the
scientific breakthrough of taste
control and production.
Test marketing has indicated
that very few people can tell the
difference in the two. Other than
being economical, its advantages
include a 21 -day shelf life as
opposed to 12 days for milk, the
imitation product can be heated to
a much higher heat without curd
ling. and it can be frozen without
separating.
Farm Food. Inc.. will tentatively
begin offering the imitation milk
product around the end of March,
first of April. Farm Food. Inc. is
owned by Farm Chemical, Inc..
and about 35 local investors. Leach
noted that production of their new
product cannot begin until a
number of legal and organizational
problems have been worked out.
And. he stressed, "no production
will begin until we have been
cleared by FDA and the North
Carolina Department of Agricul
ture. We are in the process of being
cleared and certain portions have
already passed." No name has been
chosen for the product pending
investigation of use of trade names.
The imitation milk will first be
offered in a 22 county test area
from Asheville to Charlotte. If
successful, sales will move mid
state and then to the coast. The
Farm Foods goal is to market the
product in five states by Jan. ? Feb.
of 1978.
Leach said that he does not
believe that any such product is
currently being offered anywhere in
the U.S. Many people have formu
las for a similar product, but Leach
believes the Farm Food formula to
be superior as a result of taste tests.
Leach noted that with special
flavorings this low cost, highly
nutritional drink may even find a
world wide market. "Who knows,"
interjected Gordon Ragsdale. one
of the company investors, "if
people wanted it camel-flavored,
we could probably do that." Leach
indicated that chocolate, banana,
or coconut might be more popular.
"Since the product freezes uni
formly. you could just put it in the
freezer until it was milk shake
consistency and pour," Leach said.
"We will, of course, distribute
this through dairies, as they already
have the necessary equipment to
produce it. We will deliver the
dried processed base product and
the dairies will add water, homoge
nize, pasteurize, package and de
liver. Eventually we hope to fran
chise through three or four dairies
in the state, although we are only
working with one now, Arcadia
Dairy in Asheville."
Leach indicated that they plan to
put out 50,000 gallons during the
month of March, but can gear up
to 50,000 gallons per day should
the demand require it. "We will
probably take three to five percent
of the market during the first
year," he predicted.
"1 think this product will replace
milk during the next 20 years as the
cow becomes obsolete," Leach
added. He cited increased land
costs for pasture and increased feed
costs as responsible for the proba
ble decline of the dairy industry.
The cost of the product is very
inviting. The production of this
imitation milk is much cheaper
than the production of the real
thing. As an example Leach said,
"Take 100 pounds of soybeans to
feed a cow, and, say, you get 100
gallons of milk in return. From the
same amount of raw material we
can produce three to four times
that amount. And since we use a
blend of vegetable oils, the ratio in
the blend can be varied without
changing the taste should we have a
crop failure of one of the ingredi
ents."
The Farm Chemical ultimate
(See BOSSI E.Page 13)