. 15
The Hoke County News - Established 1928
VOLUME LXXm NUMBER 14 RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY. NORTH CAROLIN A
- journal
The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905
$B PER YEAR THURSDAY, JULY 30, 1981
Around
t Town
BY SAM C. MORRIS
Maybe it is because of living
most of the time now in an
air-conditioned office or home, but
the heat, when I get outside, seems
to get to me more than it used to a
few years ago. I played golf over the
weekend, and even though I was
Rising a golf cart, 1 was whipped
after about IS holes.
A few years ago I walked 18 holes
in the middle of the summer and
got alpng real well. Now don't go
and say "old age," because I am
not that old.
The weather forecast is for the
same type of weather for the
upcoming weekend.
? ? ?
J. Elvin Jackson, district admin
istrator for Congressman Bill Hef
ner, was by the office last week. He
was touching base with some of the
Hoke County people because we
will be in Hefner's district after the
next election.
Elvin was chairman of the Moore
County Democratic Executive
Committee several years ago when I
held the same job in Hoke County.
W He stated that they were glad to
get Hoke County in the Eighth
District and would enjoy working
with the people. Elvin said that the
Congressman would be down to see
us before the primary next year.
? * ?
A short note from the press
secretary of Bill Hefner is as
follows:
? Mr. Morris:
1 am a friend of the sons of the
Rev. Wheeler who lived in Raeford
when their father was at the
Methodist Church. Charlie is my
age and he remembers you very well
and very fondly.
Hope I have a chance to meet you
soon.
Jim Lervis
Press Secretary
a Many of the people of the county
Temember the Rev. Kermit
Wheeler when he was pastor of the
Raeford Methodist Church.
Charles was the oldest boy and 1
remember him as a good high
school football player. He finished
high school here and later attended
Duke University.
Nice to hear from people you
haven't seen in many years.
? *
Another man that lived in Rae
ford before the beginning of World
War II wrote me the following
letter. He will be remembered by
many here.
Dear Sam:
Please tell your bookkeeper that
1 am a very senior citizen so that
she will bill me correctly next year.
1 am enclosing my check for S6.50
same as last year. If I owe more, let
Vie know. I enjoy the paper, but so
many strange names!
I see that Raeford is having hot
weather. Don't feel bad. We have
had it most of June and July and
the humidity is terrific. You can cut
it with a Saturday Blade (remember
that newspaper).
My bride and I are looking
forward to the Battery "F" re
union. We have obtained copies of
fhe titles to many old songs, so tell
The "guys and dolls" to get tuned
up. I also have some pictures of last
year's reunion I will bring along.
Some are good and some so so, but
I couldn't catch everyone in a good
pose.
Please give my regards and best
wishes to my old friends.
Sincerely,
Jamie
The writer is Jamie Stone who
?ow lives in Columbia, S.C.
The following letter is self-ex
planatory.
Dear Sam,
Thank you for speaking of Jim
Taylor in your News-Journal
column. I have wanted to hear
something from him for a long
time. Didn't know if he was still in
fVashington. I'm glad to know he is
still enjoying the busy life there.
One thing I know about Jim is that
he is 1 2 years older than when I last
saw him - but then aren't we all!
Give my regards to my fHends.
especially those I left at The
News-Journal . Hopefully everyone
has been enjoying good health.
Thankfully, I have.
Yours sincerely.
_ Lucy Gray Peebles
W P S. Would love to see all the
Raeford people I know.
First 2 Days ' Average Up $43 Over '80
'81 Tobacco Bringing Higher Prices
Leslie's In Downtown Raeford
Fire Damages Garage But Life Saved
Leslie Irion. Jr.. with truck at which fire started. [Staff photo.
Duke Thanks Hoke
People For Welcome
The following was written by
Leader Dog Duke to express his
gratitude to his neighbors and
other friends for making him feel
welcome in Hoke County. He
moved here with his "family"
from Michigan three years ago.
? ? ?
Dear Hoke County folks:
Having been a member of the
Archie McDiarmid family for
three years now, maybe I need to
say something.
I am still trying to get used to
southern heat and after several
visits to the doctor I've finally
found something to help ease my
rash and itch from walking in grass
and weeds.
As for all those guns and bombs
going off over at Fort Bragg, they
drive me crazy. How am I to know
they won't harm me? I can't find a
place to hide to get away from the
noise, and I'm driving my master
crazy following him all over the
house to see that he doesn't get hit
by on of them.
Also, when the good Lord sends
all the thundering and lightning,
I'm about ready to climb into
anybody's bed, or under it if I were
not so big. Course, 1 guess it's
something you have to take along
with everything else in life. And,
that's another thing: here I am try
ing to be like everyone else, and
when I look around and see only
two legs on people and I have four
legs, sleep on the floor, eat from a
pan on the floor, go outside to walk
instead of a convenient little room
where folks go, how come I'm
expected to act like a people? I
surely don't look like a people.
. That pooch in the yard gets pret
ty nice treatment but doesn't get to
stay in the house and ride in the car
like I do. We only get to speak in
passing. At least I don't get scold
ed for digging in the shrubbery.
It's not that I don't love my peo
ple; my people don't always want
to do as I feel they should do but
they give me a good warm, dry,
and cool home: and even if I do
only get one meal a day, I don't
have to work too hard for thai.
And those of you who know me
can tell I haven't exactly wasted
away.
Gee! My folks also must think
my hair is messy or else why would
I have to go through all that
brushing and combinR twice a day.
You'd think I'd be bald bodied. I
love it though. It feels so good, I
just plop down and take a nap
afterward unless we are going
somewhere.
I like to ride but, without aircon
ditioning on in the car, the heat
really gets to me, especially on
some of these hot humid days.
'Skeeters get to me and me not be
ing an outside fellow it bothers me
worse than an average dog. It sure
is hard trying not to scratch when 1
itch.
And 1 can't understand why my
folks won't let me shake when the>
get through eating in a restaurant.
Goodness, they enjoy all that good
smelling food and then won't let
me enjoy a good shake when the>
are through. Gee! Just 'cause
humans don't shake after a meal I
can't either. But, I can shake and
run and sash around when I get
outside when I'm let loose for a
few minutes in the yard at home.
Sure have met a lot of nice
friends and some little people who
would stand and rub me bald
headed if my folks would let them.
There also a few people (very few)
I don't like. 1 don't know why,
they seem friendly enough, but
they just get on my nerves 1 guess.
My folks won't let me bite anyone
though; and if 1 make enough fuss
I don't have to stay in the same
room with them. Don't much like
being shut away but I just lie dow n
and sometimes doze off to sleep
until they leave. I wouldn't want to
makes my folks too upset by being
ugly to their guests.
In these three years I have main
tained my canine instincts. My co
workers and family would be proud
to know I hate cats and would
chase them if allowed to.
We go to church almost every
Sunday unless it rains. I enjoy a
nap in the cool and don't listen
much to the singing and the
preacher, but when the service is
over 1 can't wait to get outside;
that old Presbyterian cat may be
on the porch and I'm hoping some
day to really get a chance to chase
her. I think she started coming just
'cause I did. If she could get inside
she wouldn't know what a
(See DUKE THANKS, page 15)
A fire believed started by a
truck's fuel leak and ignition short
circuit damaged the interior of
Leslie's Garage building and the
garage's tools and other equip
ment, destroyed two vehicles and
damaged three others early Thurs
day.
Leslie Irion, Jr., the owner of the
business, said Friday morning,
however, it could have been worse:
if it weren't for a Raeford Fireman,
he said, he would have lost his life.
"I wish I knew who the fireman
was," he said.
Irion said he had been in the
office, which has one door opening
to the exterior of the building and
the other to the interior of the
garage, which occupies most of the
building. Despite the heat, which
reached 200 degrees, and smoke in
the office, he had been working to
save records and other papers and
had moved a steel filing cabinet out
of the building.
He said the firemen were in the
office at the time, he said, and then
he thought about the vehicles in the
garage. A fireman warned him not
to go into the garage, but he started
to open the door to leave the office
to go into the garage to open the
large verticle doors at the front of
the building so the vehicles could
be removed and the firemen could
get in.
When he reached the door,
however, the unidentified fireman
grabbed him in a "bear hug"
and wrestled him away.
Irion said a fireman told him
later that if he had gone into the
garage he would have died as soon
as he had taken his first breath.
The nearest fire was in the 1%9
Ford pickup truck where the blaze
had started, and it was about 30
feet from the office, Irion said, so
he thought he'd be safe, since the
vertical doors opening on the front
of the building were next to the
office .
His informant told him, how
ever, that as soon as he had inhaled
the first time, his lungs would have
blown up, because, though the fire
itself was not close to the office, it
had built the temperature in the
building to 900 to 1,000 degrees.
Experienced firemen say most
deaths in fires are caused bv
breathing superheated air.
Inon quoted Raeford Fire Chief
Robert (Buster) Jackson as blaming
the cause of the fire on igniting of
gasoline leaking from the pickup
truck. Irion believes the gasoline
was ignited by a short circuit
occurring in the truck'\ ignition
system.
Irion estimated the damages to
the building and its contents at
School Registration
Registration for all new students
and all others who have not
registered for Hoke County's 1981
82 school year is being held this
week through Friday, from 8 a.m.
to 4 p.m. daily.
All schools are open for the
registration.
For Secondary Roads
Hoke Getting $61,489
The State Board of Transporta
tion Friday approved funds for
secondary road construction im
provements for the counties for
1981-82. including S61.489 for
Hoke County.
The statewide total is S30.7
million.
The amount for each county was
based on a formula which included
miles of unpaved secondary roads
in relation to the total mileage of
unpaved roads throughout the
state.
On January 1. Hoke had a total
of 37.83 miles of unpaved sec
ondary roads.. The statewide total
on that date was 18,907 in the
secondary road system. The state
has a total of 59,568 miles of
secondary roads, paved an un
paved.
Members of the state board will
hold public meetings with county
commissioners to review and ap
prove secondary road projects
which would be financed by the
secondary roads funds.
The money allocated at Friday's
meeting will be used to pay for new
paving, widening existing paved
roads, improving unpaved roads to
make them usable in all kinds of
weather, relocating small bridges,
and strengthening paved roads to
relieve present wdght restrictions.
about 550,000. The building,
which lies between East Central
Avenue and South Stewart Street,
is owned by Fleta Maxwell.
Most of the damage was caused
by the fire's heat rather than by
direct contact with the flames,
Irion said. Most of the tools in a
tool chest were rendered unusable
by the heat, he added.
Irion said insurance covered part
of the damage to his equipment
and the building.
The damages in terms of money,
he said, included an 511,000 engine
analyzer but he has a separate
insurance policy on that machine.
Irion said Ray Duffy, employed by
the supplier, replaced his damaged
analyzer with a good one within 10
hours after the fire.
The damage to the building was
done principally to the interior side
of the roof. The office appeared
undamaged though, Irion said, a
Fireman told him the heat from the
garage raised the temperature of
the interior door, made of plywood,
to about 250 degrees, too hot even
to touch.
Hoke County Ambulance Service
Emergency Medical Technicians
gave Irion oxygen for treatment for
smoke inhalation and offered to
run errands, Irion's wife said.
Irion expressed gratitude to the
Ambulance Service, the Raeford
firemen and the garage's loyal
customers for their support in the
emergency.
He said the garage would con
tinue serving customers, though on
a "very limited basis." "I can't
afford to close," he added and said
he would be operating in the yard if
that had been necessary.
The fire broke out about 1 a.m.
Thursday, he said, and the firemen
had it out about 10 minutes after
'hey arrived shortly after the alarm
sounded.
Besides the 1969 pickup truck, a
1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass was de
stroyed, a 1976 Chevrolet pickup
truck was damaged, and a 1968 El
Camino and a 1971 Cadillac were
damaged slightly by smoke, Irion
said.
He said the five vehicles belonged
to customers.
Irion said he moved to the garage
in April 1979 after operating a
Raeford service station for the
previous five years.
On Friday morning, except for
the odor of smoke, the office and its
adjoining storage area appeared as
though nothing had happened.
"My wife worked all day Thursday
cleaning it up." Irion explained.
Hoke County tobacco farmers on
the whole are doing much better on
this summer's markets than they
did last year.
The U.S. State Department of
Agriculture reports the average
price North Carolina producers
received Thursday and Friday was
S160.93 per hundred pounds,
about $43 per hundred higher than
the corresponding market days of
last year.
Hoke County Agricultural Ex
tension Service agent Bill Northern
Tuesday afternoon said this was the
average on the S.C.-N.C. markets,
which opened July 20. Many Hoke
producers sell on the Aberdeen
market of the middle belt, though
some put their tobacco up for saie
at the Fairmont market of the
Border Belt, first involving North
Carolina markets to open following
the Georgia-Florida Belt each year.
He said Hoke tobacco averaged
about $160 and "looked good."
Quoting the agriculture depart
ment reports, he said lugs the first
two days averaged $177 per 100
pounds, $19 to $28 per hundred
higher than last year's average for
the grade, and primings averaged
$147 per hundred, $37 to $45 per
hundred higher than last year's
figures for the first two days on the
market.
Northern said most tobacco from
Hoke was priming the lug grade,
and 20 to 30 per cent of the 1981
crop produced in the county has
been sold so far.
The gross volume of tobacco
from all counties selling on the
Border Belt markets totaled
10,315,554 pounds. Compared
with last year's, quality was re
ported greatly improved. Volume
was reported heavy.
Of this, 59 per cent was priming
grade, 33 per cent lug, three per
cent cutter, and five per cent
nondescript, the lowest grade.
The federal Tobacco Stabiliza
tion Corp. received only 1.2 per
cent of the tobacco offered at the
markets the first two days, com -
pared with 17.4 per cent the first
two days last year. The Stabili
zation receives tobacco under thr
price support system.
Northern said Hoke's tobacco
yield is higher this year than the
county's average, which is about
2.000 pounds per acre.
Last year's income from tobacco
totaled about $5.2 million, but
production costs were 12 to 15 per
cent above the 1979 figures.
This year's income from the
markets appear heading for a
substantial increase over the 1980
gross, in view of the county's
tobacco quality.
The real income the producer
receives will depend largely on what
his 1981 production costs were and
the over-all quality and volume of
his crop.
The 1980 gross was about
S700,000 above the 1979 figure, but
about $592,000 under the 1978
total.
Kathy McMillan
Wins In Meet
Kathy McMillan Ray. the Rae
ford native who won a silver medal
in the 1976 Olympics, won her
event -- the long jump -- Monday in
the National Sports Festival at
Syracuse. N.Y.
Mrs. Ray covered 21 3/4 feet, an
inch and a quarter better than her
closest rival, Jodi Anderson of
Northridge, Calif., who holds the
American women's long-jump
record.
Mrs. Ray and Miss Anderson
were members of the West team.
Mrs. Ray's address was listed as
Clarksville, Tenn.
Mrs. Ray, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Alexander McMillan of
Raeford, graduated from Tennes
see State University at Nashville in
the spring of 1980 and was married
the following December 27 to
Terrel Len Ray of Los Angeles,
Calif.
She competed earlier this month
in Leningrad. Russia, as a member
of the U.S. track and field team in
a meet with the Soviet Union team.
Mrs. Ray won her second-place
Olympic medal in Montreal July
22, 1976. with a jump of 21 feet
10'/? inches, but her best was 22
feet 3 inches in the 1976 Olympic
trials June 19.
She also won a place on the 1980
Olympic team, but the team didn't
compete because of the U.S.
boycott of the games, which were
held in Moscow. The bovcott was
held to protest the Russian invation
of Afghanistan.
Another North Carolina woman
-- Mary Shea of Raleigh, a North
Carolina State University junior,
finished third in the 3, 000-meter
run, covering the distance in
9:22.11. The winner was Kim
Gallagher, a rising high school
senior from Ft. Washington, Pa.
Miss Gallagher's time was 9:19.67.
The runnerup was Debbie Eide of
the Oregon Track Gub, in 9:20.08.
Miss Shea has run the distance in
9:06.32.