Excerpt from "Sandspurs", Chapter 2; by Sharon Kellam

Salemburg Snippets

            When the Talkin’ Tales are from individuals who were students at Pineland/EMI/Southwood College, dates are placed to the right of their name to indicate the years they attended there. When the persons telling the tales are local residents, exact dates are not always given.

Billy Ward: [1942-1961]

            Regarding the brig that was built on the ground floor in one of the towers at EMI, Billy said yes, he did know of twice that the brig was put into use during his time. Both were situations for holding the individual until persons who where responsible could come and collect them.   

Bill Downs [1938-1951]

            An astonishing day was the day that Coach Powell walked over and opened the door to the classroom then ceremoniously walked over to the desk of an insulting boy, and unceremoniously THREW him and his desk out into the hall!

Raymond F. Register [1942-1947]

            In summer school of 1946, I got into a confrontation with a college assistant and ran away, walking through cornfields, to Roseboro (a town 4 miles south). I lost my shoes in a cornfield along the way; you had to have ration stamps to buy shoes in World War II.

            From Roseboro, I thumbed home to Spring Lake, about 25-30 miles. When I got home, my mother, a widow, beat my butt and returned me to EMI Junior Barracks, where I got my butt beat again and was put in the brig with bread and water for a few days. During the school year 1946-1947, the eighth grade boys were too much for Junior Barracks and we were moved to Senior Barracks. That was the first year the eighth graders went to the Senior Barracks.

            I can tell you why there came to be no firing pins in the rifles at EMI. My brother Robert, who was killed in a United States Air Force plane crash in 1958, somehow got some bullets that fit those old rifles we used then. He managed to fire the rifle in his dorm room, into a brick wall and after that, no more firing pins!

            I have had a very successful career, retiring as Vice President of Clark Construction Company, one of the largest in the United States. I have always thought that my five years at EMI’s Junior and Senior Barracks helped me throughout my life, in being able to follow orders, as well as knowing how to give orders.

Norfleet Lane Sugg [Class of 1942]

            I remember all cadets being marched to Roseboro (4 miles away) and back because of misbehavior during a basketball game.

Barbara Faircloth Holland [Salemburg resident]

            A girl from Salemburg High School, 1954, remembers when they held tent revivals and big crusades into the night. She lived near the location where they erected the tent and would listen to the singing and shouting. When the revival was over, and before the tent was disassembled, she and her girlfriend, Billie Hart Warren, would go to the tent, the dirt floor being covered with sawdust, and dig through it all to find coins that were dropped by the happy and excited folks who had attended the revival. This was money that had not made it into the revivals collection plate but that did make it into their pockets. 

Phillip Sessoms [1944-1947]  

            I don’t think anyone can tell you more about the tour path or the jail than I can. I was in the jail more than once. It was on the first floor under the steps at the south end of the Senior Barracks. There was a small barred window in the door through which you could receive bread and water. Though I wasn’t allowed to receive them, I also got notes from girls who felt sorry for me. The one I remember most was the beautiful Emma Jean “Flop” Wilson. (She had a sister we called “Flip.”) We went in at reveille and remained there until after evening chow. In retrospect, I think I must have been a problem those first two years. Phil went on to become a lawyer.

 

Grace Holland Burton [Salemburg resident, c. 1950’s]

            My family’s residence was beside the church, being positioned just under the large bell tower. I remember being home from college and suddenly awakened in the middle of the night, nearly bounced out of bed, by the loud sound of the church’s amplifying system playing through the bell tower, “When the Saints Go Marching In!” We all rose and my father was able to quickly get to the church and turn off the record. It had by then, awakened most of the village. We never found out who pulled the prank.

Betty Andrews Holland [1945-1946]

            Mrs. Jones got stuck in her own bathtub and a strong, young, campus Chaplain was called to get her out! The older girls wore uniforms when Betty attended and she remembers being outfitted by Miss Anderson, dean of women. She said Miss Anderson measured a loose fit. However, Betty was able to improve that looseness by trading with another girl!

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