North Carolina Newspapers

A I i Population City Limits 7.206 Trading Area 15.000 (1945 Ration Board Ftjutd) VOL. 64 NO. 5 Established 1889 Mountain's RELIABLE Newspaper 16 Pages Toda y t Kings Mountain, N. C., Thursday, February 4, 1954 Sixty-Third Year PRICE FIVE CENTS Local News Bulletins METER RECEIPTS .. Net receipts from the city's parking meters for the week ending Wednesday at noon were $136.75, Tommy Owens, of the city clerk's office, repor ted. SUFFERS ATTACK John Davis, of Walker street, suffered a heart attack Tues day around 1:30 p. m. His con dition was reported to be criti cal Wednesday afternoon. BUILDING PERMITS Two building permits, total ing $9,500, were issued this week to Kelly Dixon for resi dential construction, according to J. W. Webster, city building .Inspector. TO RALEIGH K. E. ((Red) Morrison, of Cooper's, Inc., left Monday to attend a three-day General Electric training school at Ra leigh. MUMPS VICTIM Luco Jenkins, well-known Finger laundry deliveryman, Is confined to toed With a case of mumps. He became ill last Thursday. JOINS PLONK'S Don Bumgardner, son of Mr. and Mrs. H. 3. Bumgardner, has joined Plonk Brothers & Company as a salesman in the men's department. It was an nounced thlrf week. , SPEAKER SUNDAY C. W* Kirt>y, district Metho ? ? auperlntanjaot ? fr?r tho Gastonia district, .will be guest speaker for the Sunday night worship service at Grace Me thodist church at 7 o'clock, JL quarterly conference will fol low the service, Rev. C L. Gra0t, the pastor, said. ARP church contributed $1, 250.37 Sunday to the church <bullding fund, according to announcement fey the treasur er of the fund, J. E. Anthony, Jr. The goal was $1,250. SALES LAGGING , Only 705 Kings Mountain motorists had purchased 1954 .city auto license stickers through Wednesday, two days past the deadline, according to report of Joe Hendrlck, city clerk. The "tags" are priced at , one dollar and citizens are re minded that city ordinance re quires vehicle owners to pur chase and display city auto li censes. KIWAN1S PROGRAM Miss Margaret Stem, city schools Blbla teacher, will speak to members of the Kings Mountain Kiwanls club Thurs day evening at 6:45 at Maso nic Dining Hall. Miss Stem, a graduate of Winthrop Col lege, holds a Master's Degree in Religion from Duke Univer sity. CLUB CLOSED Kings Mountain Country Club will be closed Sunday, Feb. 7-15, according to an nouncement by Mr. and Mrs. B. B. Speidel, country club mana gers, this week. They will leave Sunday to attend a manager's convention in session in At lanta and will also spend a vacation In Palm Beach, Fla. Dinners will not be served at the club for the next two Sun days, they said, but the pro shop and golf course will be ,'<open. TO WASHINGTON Mayor Glee A. Bridges and . City Attorney J. R. Davis are scheduled to fee in Wartiing ton, D. C, February 8, for hear ing before the Federal Power commission on the city's allot ment of natural gas, already tentatively granted. Mr. Davis Mid Wednesday, however, that a delay is being sought for the Kings Mountain and Shelby hearing to allow the engineer ing firm, Barnard 4 Burk, more time to prepare their case. KINGS MOUNTAIN NATIONAL GUARD GETS A WARD ? Kings Mountain Headquarters and Head quarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 120th Iinfantxy Regiment, 30th Division, North Carolina National Guard, was presented a certificate signifying its winning of the Silver Award for excellent perfor mance on the 1953 summer encampment in cere monies at the Monday night drill session- Capt. Ray G. Burrell. batallion operations and planning officer, at; left, is handing the certificate to Capt. Humes Houston, commanding officer Of the local company. Between the two captains is Lt. Harry E. ocegall. battalion and company commu nications officer. The local unit was one of two in the battalion to win the award, and one of only six winners in the regiment. The company is currently launching a recruiting campaign. (Pho to by Carlisle Studio). . National Guard Gets High Award For 1953 Work Headquarters and Headquar ters Company, 3rd Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment of the North Carolina National Guard ? known colloquially as the Kings Mountain National Guard Company ? has received the Sil ver Award for its field training activities during 1953. A certificate emblematic of the awnrH nrgfipnted to the com pany at Monday night's drill ses sion, by Capt. Ray G. Burrell, battalion operations and plan ning officer. The Kings Mountain unit was onb of two in the batta lion to receive the Silver Award. Capt. Houston said he was high ly gratified at learning of the award. "We AM welt'* Capt Houston 8 aid. "Company E, at Morgan ton, was the only other company In our battalion to attain the award and that company has an armory j and other needed facilities." Capt Houston called attention to the observance this month as National Guard recruitment month, noting that the company has openings for 50 men and pro mising them pleasure, training, and profit. * The Kings Mountain company also drew praise, as a result of its annual Third Army inspection on December 3. The inspecting officer noted: "The unit is well-organized. Ad ministration, supply and main tenance of equipment were ex cellent. The appearance of vehi-, cles was outstanding Mo rale Is high as evidenced by the appearance of the men and the high attendance ttecord. The gen eral appearance of the motor pool, the display of equipment, and the pn'.lce of the grounds were superior. This unit has the potential of becoming an out standing unit " LEGION MEETING Regular February meeting of Otis D. Green Post 155, the A m erica n Legion will be held at the Legion Hall on East Gold street Friday at 8 p. m. All Legionnaires are urged to at tend, C. E. Warlick, commander, said. Chief Hugh Logan Scout Chairman * ' . " ? - * < New Chaiiman Is Succeeding I- W Wolwftftr Chief of Police Hugh A. Lo gan, Jr., has been appointed, chairman of the Kings Mountain Boy Scout district. Thte appointment of Chief Lo gan as Scout chairman was made by the?x?outlV0 committee -aLthe Kings Mountain district. *?' , A meeting was scheduled Wed nesday night to formulate plans for annual Boy Scout week observancte here next week, Feb. 7^ through 13. Windows of different establish ments in town will be decorated during Scout Week, Chairman Lo gan said, with handicraft work taken from each of the city's troops. On Sunday night, five uptown churches will hold the annual Boy Scout union service at Res urrection Lutheran <jhurch. Chief Logan is also asking pastors of other churches in the district to hold a similar program Sunday night On Saturday, February 13, Scouts will take over the city for the day, with Scouts from each troop acting in the capacity of city officials. The new Scout chairman is a one-time Eagle Scout and also helped to organize Scouts and to built a Scout camp In Cabarrus County while doing polide work there. Chief Logan has requested the co-operation of all adult leaders in making the year a Successful Boy Scout year. % * * In accepting the chairmanship, Chief Logan succeeds J. W. Web ster, who served as chairman for the past yj ar. v ?? '7 ? 7 &>> - =? ?*?>.; ?? - * "?' V* ' ?? *"*? . V ?' - 7 Merchants ITnlil Ipnnl Banquet; Bridqe?leports Past Year Active A crowd of 150 Kings Moun tain merchant',, retail personnel and other guests attended the an nual banquet ol the Kings Moun tain Morrhantrs association Mon day evtenbig. - a The program featured pantomi mic entertainment by a group ol youngsters from East Han>er school, Lenoir, and also included the annual report of the retiring president, J. C. Bridges, and In stallation of officers for 1954-6$. In a brief ifeport which elicited considerable applause from his audience, President Bridges re counted activities of the associa tion ddrti? tbajMst twelve mon ?*|?&or?ed a net membership gain of two (to 54) during the ?, and added that the treasury been bettered over the same date last year by 1240. Incoming president John H. IawIs 'predicted that the assocla tlbn would enjoy a good year In the forthcoming 12 moptfc-i^A file entertainment program was presented by Dan Huffs tel ler, and featured Linda HendrMk, M'iry .in Midi, Rebecca Yeung blood, Nancy Mathls. Sarah Bar low and Richards Dobbins who Imitated artist* of the stage and radio. It was their 87th perform ance. B. S. Peeler, Jr., led the group in singing "America", and R?V. W. L Pressly, president of the Kings Mountain Ministerial as faodatioo, gave the invocation. Qm A.' Bridges superintended a prize drawing for the ladies, and W. G. Grantham installed new officers. New officers are John Lewis, president, and Paul Walker, vice president. New directors included Boss Alexander, Sam Collins, Martin Harmon, and Hubert Mc Ginnls. Holdover directors are Tates Harbison, B. 8. Peeler, Jr.. Fred Plonk, John Plonk and J. C. BrtdgWs Retiring dir^torr in. elude Dan Hi i f fSM 1 Hi ; Haywood Lynch, O. W. Myers, Hilton Ruth, and Hal Ward. t A delicious dinner menu, in eluding chicken, dressing, rice and gravy, cranberry sauce, string beans, candled yams, ce lery and oMvea, hot rolls, coffee, and pineapple upside down cake, was served by Mr*. I Ben Go forth. . BSA HEAD? Chief of Folic* Hugh A. Logon. Jr. has boon appointed chairman of the Kings Mountain Boy Scout district for the coming year. He succeeds J. W. Webster. McGinnis Opens Floor Service Bill McGinnis is announcing this week the opening of McGin nis Floor Service, following his purchase of supplies and inven* tory items of Novelite Venetian Blind Company. Oliver Falls, owner of Nove lite, said he would work with Mr. McGinnis for several weeks, be fore entering another type of work. McGlnnlr Floor Service is lo cated at lit West Mountain, tem porarily sharing quarters with McGinnis Shoe Service. The firm will specialize, Mr. McGinnis said, In floor coverings of all kinds, including rubber tile, asphalt tile, inlaid linoleum, vinyl tile, plastic wall coverings, in ad* dition to manufacturing made-to measure Venetian blinds. Mr. McGinnis Is a son of Mr. and Mrs. W. Henkle McGinnis. Oris Booked For Shoplifting . Two Gastonla Negro girls, Louise Pringle and Barbara Ann Blggers, both 18, wore booked at city police headquarters Wednes day morning on charges of shop lifting. Officer Martin Ware said that the suspect* were picked up and searched and that a dress, iden tified by O. W. Myers as one from his department store, was found on one of the girls. Mr. Ware alao said that the two suspects first went to Saunders Dry Cleanters where they asked for a paper clothes bag. After leaving the dry cleaning estab lishment, they were presumed to have gone to Myers' Department store where they took the dress, using the paper clothes bag to take the stolen goods from the store. ^ / oufof plonk's Department stortf ' The police department is now trying to locate the driver of a car also believed to be connected with the theft*. V ?' "VL Parks Board May Purchase BuiMil Tract Fred Plonk,- chairman of thb city's parks and recreation com mission, met with Burlington Mills, Inc., officials here Tuesday to discuss the possibility of pur chasing a 24-tract of land for a city recreation center, Announcement of the meeting was made at the regular meeting of the Junior Chamber of Com merce at Masonic Dining Hall Tuesday at 7 p. m. Members of the parks and rec reation commission were guests of the club. Jaycee Jack White, secretary of the commission, spoke for the group. Chairman Plonk, Mr. White, Hunter R. Nelsler and W. K. Mauney, Jr., members of the commission were present. John T. Lathem, also a mefnbdr of the five-man body, was absent. . Mr. White told the group that the commission is endeavoring to secure sites for two centers, white and Negro, adequate for future needs of the city and that "it looks like we're going to have to build swimming pools first". Thb pools are to be located on the sites of the future proposed cen ters, he added. Two sites for the white center and one for the Negro cfenter are "seriously under consideration" he said. The two sites are the Burlington Mills tract, located west of ' Cleveland avenue, and the old city waterworks site. "Thte Burlington tract is large enough, is centrally located and is easily assessible," he said. He declined to reveal location of the Negro site under consideration. Burlington at one time offerbd to give the tract to the city but the recreation commission at that time did not accept the offer be cause of certain restrictions, in (L'lUUHiy a nm-ision ilauoe, in thto proposed agreement. Mr. White also said that the board has discussed building and site layout plans with Charles Graves, Atlanta, Ga., architect. "We are spending public money and we wanted to gtet an expert in the field to assist with plan ning," Mr. White added. Bill George, West Elementary school principal, was also a i guest of the club. j President Paul Walker presld |ed over the mteetlng. Hodge To Speak To Woman's Club Property conveyance* to the City of Kings Mountain, record led at the office of the Cleyeland County Register of Deed* on Jan uary 28, Included five "street rlwdf, V /, ... . X : Mr. and Mr*. J. C. Bridges, Mr. and Mr*. Glee Bridges, and Mr. and Mr*. Glee A. Bridge* con veyed to the <*ty tteft feet on the ?outh tide of Landing street for and Mr*. W. G. MtDanlel and Mr. >nd Mrs. G. L, McD?nlei ron veyed tr? 0ft <11 y 1(1 fo-t Strip* on Junlp?9|||i Faulton Hodge, of Shelby, case worker for the Cleveland County \yielfare Department who went abroad last summer under spon sorship of the International You th Exchange program, will speak to members of the Kings Moun tain Woman's club at their meet ing Friday night at the Woman's clubhouse. Mr. Hodge was a visitor in 16 different homes in England dur ing a five-months tour last sum mer and also visited other homes in Scotland, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and France. The International Youth Exchange is sponsored by a group of business men and wo men, who belive that understand ing is the basis for world peace, a spokesman for the group said In making ihte announcement. Mr. Hodge is a graduate of Mars Hill Junior College, receiv ed hi*- bachelor of science degree In Sociology from Furman Uni versity and hi* master of arts de gree in sculpture from the Uni versity of Louisville. He complet ed an advanced study in Chris tian ethics at Southern Baptist Seminary, Louisville, Ky. Program for the meeting was arranged by the International Re lation* Department of the Wo man's dub. Supper ivlll be served at 7 o' clock, and Woman's club officers for the year will be elected and a constitution adopted during the business session. ? l , , City Recorded "Street" Deeds Mayor Flays Herald Editor For City Affairs Comment An Editorial J < When It's The Public Business. The Newspaper Must Speak Out . . . In the column at the extreme right of this page, Mayor Glee A. Bridges makes some interesting state ments and' charges concerning the operation of this newspaper and its duties. He also makes some statements, which are partial ly incorrect, intentionally or hot. Among them: 1) Mayor Bridges writes he did not state that the city expected to do all the work involved in the expen diture of the $600,000 voted by the citizens on January 16. His inference, in a telephone conversation with the Herald editor, as reported in a news story of January 21, was that the great portion of the work would be done locally, without the benefit of certified engineer ing advice. ' _ . - 2) Mayor Bridges says the city had no part in the $2,200 paid to Engineer W. K. Dickson for certain sur veys. True, Mr. Dickson was retained originally by the Fulton Administration in 1949 and paid $2,000. But the Bridges Administration said it was paying Mr. Dickson $200 to bring that 1949 survey up-to-date and, indeed, based its appeal for $450,000 of the bond money on the Dickson report. * ? 3) Anent the comment about reading the minutes of boaixl of commissioner meetings, it is Herald policy to report the meetings from first hand information gleaned from reportorial presence at the board ses sions. When meetings are held without out knowledge, as was the special meeting of January 21, the minutes are our source. But there has been no complaint on our report from those minutes. Mayor Bridges' letter is welcome, for he is the chief administrative officer of the city. However, answer to the one important question still is desired by the Her ald, and a sizeable portion of the community's citizens will concur. , Is the city going to employ professional engineer ing aid in its program, be his name Dickson, Olson, Graves, or Smith? \ . V . Mo nmrrpapni- n-r> rthy nf thp namp Can bury itS conscience regarding the public business. ''The Mayor's attitude is not untypical. Holders of political office are well known for laughing and smiling when the news is good and praise forthcoming, and for tearing their hair when the news is bad and criticism resultant. There was no intention to agitate trouble or dis sension, nor to infer that the board members are weak lh knowledge ? except in engineering. The time to speak on spending of the $600,000 is now, not when the money is all gone and the mule out of the barnyard. The business of the City of Kings Mountain is the public's business, and, if Mayor Bridges was not aware of that fact, he should never have sought the office. County Bond Issue Election Planned Bond Money Would Benefit Schools, Hospital The county board of commis sioners anticipates calling a $2, 743,000 county bond issue elec tion in the near future, with the funds to bte used for school con struction, hospital plant expan sion, and for construction of a county health center building. The commissioners passed a resolution Monday : iiistfructing County Attorney C. C. Horn to make arrangements for the legal technicalities with Mitchell and Pershing, New York' attorneys specializing In bond work. The commissioners indicated they would call the election as quick ly a* possible. The citizens will be invited to vote "yea" or "no" on three ste parate Issues: . ~ 1) $2,500,000 for capital Im provement* for the Shelby, Kings Mountain and Cleveland County school units. 2) $216,720 for the county share In building an $143,350 addition to Shelby hospital and a $73,370 addition to Kings Mountain hos pital. | 3) $26,596 for the county's share in the cost of building a health ctenter. Still hanging fire was the re quest of residents of the western portions of the county for a hos pital plant. Already disapproved by the Medical Care Commission, ' the county commissioners are go ing to pitss the case further with the state-body, according to their action on Monday, Calling of the hospital bond issue election was cleared last weekend, when the Medical Care commission tentatively approved a 14-bted addition to Kings Moun tain hospital, plus necessary ex pansion of service facilities, and a 50-bed addition to Shelby hos pital. plus addition of service fa Ccmtinved Oft Pag* Wight 1953 Tax Take . Up To $103,175 A last-minute rush of tax payers, beating the arrival of penalty day, paid S15,?00.19 in to city coffers prior to the end of business on Monday. Tax Supervisor C- E. Carpen ter reported the heavy week* end payment* put the total paid on the 1953 levy over the 5100,000-marlc, with the new paid-in amount listed at $103, 175.87. This represents 81 percent of the 3128,086.18 levy, and leav es delinquent $22,910.31. Penalty of one percent appli ed February 2. An additional one percent will be added to unpaid 1953 tax bills In March. Engineer Seeks Watei Fox City W. K. Dickson, Charlotte en gineer who compiled recom mendations on which the city administration advanced ma jor portions of its successful January 16 bond election, con ferred with Mayor Glee A. Bridges and Public Works Su perintendent E. C. Nicholson at . City Hall Wednesday mprnlng. Mr. Dickson told the Herald he was beginning work on a survey of the area of city lake In an effort to seek additional sources of water for possible i use by the city Mr. Dickson declined to esti mate the time required for the work, saying It depended on many factor*. Mr. DlcksOn further stated that Bums * Spangler, low bidder* on the West King street curb-and-gutter and gutter and sidewalk project (from Watterson street to Kings Mountain hospital) are scheduled to begin work on Monday. t ? Mayor Bridges Tags Editorial As "Premature" editorial suggesting ihat com SCr ' ?n?lnecr,'lR advice would assure more capable .spending of he recently voted $000, (XX) pub lic improvements bond money addressed an open letter to thS editor this week telling thc Her not the business of the newspa- ' Mayor Bridges presented thf l?^?vrr,litn iel,cr to Herald Ed. Uor Martin Harmon ?i peiso,, tow?ay morninR- The text fol p,!!!' ,s very unfortunate that the Editor of The Herald is not sat infl . running his paper and let the Mayor and Citv S?ni ' Wh? WOre eleeted by the people run the city affairs." if you wish to run the city, then of. fer yourselj as a candidate for Mayor or clty Counc|1 and ^ wani ?" ? "I have not, or any member or the council to my knowledge made any statement to the effect hat we expected to do all the work on the program in mention. We are going to contract on o pen bids the major portion of the work, such as addition to fil hiIJSJ*? , enlarsem'ent to the disposal plant, swimming pools, -n^?irl.Cf.tnin,part3of the work, we navtr talked uf and aig plan- - USe tho city equipment and men, who we feel are as competent as any for the woric we Plan to do locally. Thereby we will save city money and fbe using local ]abor as much possible. My again, observing the long lines forming at the Employment Office in Kin?s - Mountain, I Ibelieve that the "??.S0SC8 our people will appro ciate the efforts of the Mavor ?h?t<$UnC'il t0 spend as mu?h of TvlTV" mo,Bey as possible, ? In Kings Mountain. I belleve the combined knowledge and exper ience of the six men on the gov erning board who were duly e lected by the citizens of Kings Mountain would know the value t? ii. c,?.1,ar about as well as the Editor of the Herald." to' 'n'orm you Mr. Editor, that the $2,200.00 you elaborated on, was Money allo admi ?;ic,nd,.SpCnt by a Prevl"us and th's admin, istration, had no part in this spending whatsoever. "1 will also request that in the ruture, you read our minutes at east two times so you will get it printed correct In your paper' "We will welcome any P co? s ructlve criticism from any ci zen, but we do not appreciate any premature editorial remarks as was printed in the last week's Herald. "Our meetings are always o pen to the public, and we keep complete set of books for in spection of any actions taken by the board, we account for every spent' 0t thG taxpayers' money "The power of The Press can be a great weapon for good in the community when aimed in the right direction, but it can al so do great harm when it is us ed to agitate and stir up trouble and dissension. So regardless o t you and your paper, we Intend to continue to administer the ?f fairs of Kings Mountain to the best of our ability." Band Fond Drive Short Of Goal Only around $750 of a $1,500 quota has been raised for the Kings Mountain school band, Wil son Griffin, chairman of the Ju nior Chamber of Commerce com-* mittee conducting the drive, an nounced Tuesday night. Mr. Griffin made an appeal to persons wishing to make a con tribution to contact him this week, final week of the drive. "The Kings Mountain school band has always been a great credit to the city and I feel cer tain that many citizens and firms who have not yet contributed this year still want to do So. The band needs money now to pay equip ment reconditioning bills and for other purposes," Mr. Griffin said. Checks may be made payable < to Kings Mountain School Band and addressed to Mr. Griffin at the Kings Mountain postofficte.