^ •
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KINGS
J2i=:i
Established IMS
The Kings Moimtain Herald
^ 'Monh Carolina i
^ms$ AS3ociAr~
A wsck'v r.ev,’snaD»‘»' devoted to the promotion of the general welfare and published
for trie enlightenmc.t, entertainment and benefit of the citizens of Kings Mountain
and its vicinity, published every Thursday by the Herald Publishing House.
Entered as second class matter at the post office at Kings Mountain, N. C., 28086
I under Act of Congress of March 3, 1873.
EDITORIAL department
Martin Harmon Editor-Publisher
Gary Stewart Sports Editor
Miss Elizabeth. Stewart ..y Circulation Manager and Society Editor
MECHANICAL l^EPARTMENT
Bobby Bolin Dave Weathers Allen Myer.s
Paul Jaexson Steve Ramsey
— 1 ■■■—-■ -■ ■■■■■■■ ——
SUBSCRIPTIONS RATES PAYAflliB IN ADVANCE — BY MAIL AN\-WHERE
ONE YEAR .. $3:50 SDf MONTHS .. $2.00 THREE MONTHS .. $1.25
PLUS NORTH CAROLINA SALES TAX
TODAY^S BIBLE VERSE
For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
I Thessalonians L”.
Matter Of Honor
When Kings Mountain citizens vote
on Tuesday concerning the expansion
and renovation of the sewage disposal
system, they will be voting on. ^
1) A community need, still growing,
extant for nearly two decades;
2) Public sanitation (what house
wife or businessman doesn’t know their
monetary outgo for detergents and oth
er cleaning supplies?);
3) Neighborliness — in form of not
contaminating life - giving water to citi
zens downstream now contaminated by
Kings Mountain sewage; ,
4) Self-interest — as population in
creases the available water supply be
comes more precious and serious short
ages are envisioned in the future, as
was witnessed the past summer in the
metropolitan area of New York city and
elsewhere;
5) Honor — Kings Mountain some
years ago contracted a timetable for the
seWage project with the state Stream
Sanitation committee, failed to meet
terms of this contract last April 1 and
is now a year behind, meantime having
begged and been granted a year’s dis
pensation.' .
Pre-election registration activity,
or the lack thereof, adds credence to the
contention there is little glamourous
about a piece of sewer pipe. Voters wax
most excited about personalities, which
except to the people directly involved
such as candidates, their spouses, fami
lies and ardent supporters, are compara
tively unimportant — except to bring
fruition to projects such as this one for
which citiZehs initially band together in
to municipalities.
The matters of need, cleanliness,
neighborliness aind self-interest are ap
parent to any and all.
The Herald is particularly interest
ed, too, in the matter of honor. Individ
uals, majority of whom tak^ ^ especial
precaution and pride in. honoring their
personal committments also expect
their city, in Which inanimate corpora
tion each is An indiyidual stockholder,^
to honor its obligations'ioo.
The deadline miss of last spring
was embarrassing to the city adminis
tration, the city engineering consultant,
and to individual citizens.
It is hoped there will be no further
embarrassment.
Tuesday’s, election result should be
favorable and strong. In happy contrast
to the Situation of the far-sighted, much-
maligned fprefatnefs^f the late twen
ties d€|cacie. the borrowing authority
and' ej^nditure for the sewage project
will impose no taxing hardship on citi-
zeh-tak^;^fs.
Why Cammimism?
Ignorance breeds poverty.
While President Johnson’s anti-poV-
erty program has been maligned’'Very
much by the dollar-and-cehts people, jt'
requires very little perception to see
the “why” of Cuba, Latin and South
America., ahti - Czar Russia, today’s
enierging African nations, etc., etc., etc,
WhSi a person is starving, he’ll buy
any pronqise that suggests food for an
emp^ stomach. ’
Sud^nly .thrust upon the Kings
Mountain schoql district is $124,256 for
anti-poverty teaching, based more or
less on a nflflnimal annual income-per-
frmily formula.
■ Decision of the hoard of education
is to use these funds, for special instnic-
tion in reading—a very wise decision. If
one can’t'read, he cannot learn mathe
matics, n^ much else.
Some may object tothe federal lar
gess out oral! citlzens”hip-p6ckets,’and
the per capita cost of buc^sses from
this largest mhy prove heavy. , v
But even ywiigsters made
productive will be of imnieasurably im-
^portance in.nmucing a continuing cycle
' poverty Which, it is high time, should
liot b* contiiwal.
'The Charlotte C^bperver takes um-
le at th^ fact basketball rules per-
It a 21-20 aacouhter in this modern,
rh-boy, high-sCore a^e, and the Ob-
let i^uli^hahge the redes. BUt after
b<tth Di^te, the wlhnefc and Gafb-
loser; t>lCayed uifder the saine
rules, wltli.the same officiatpra.
■ wj^rs shopld
, 8pait»($Q:ibe spo^. experts-^
theiAiaraM idecUaeB its own
in in the same sentenea- < ^ i
Thursday,' March 10; 1966
MARTIN'S
MEDICINE
Ingriii^Hts: Mrs of new*
u'Ksdom, Awmor, and comments
Directions: Take weekly, ij
possible, but avoid
Faith of a Great Man
w
Df. Laura Plonk
Nearly 42 years ago, shortly after
her father’s death, Laura Plonk, Kings
Mountain native, opened with her sis-
ter and co-founder, Lillian Plonk, the
Sotithern Workshop, in Asheville. j
The schoql was dedicated to the
memory of her father, William Lafay
ette Plonk, for more than 30 years a
member of the Cleveland County board
of education. (It was the proud boast
of this board in the year 1911 that no
log school houses remained in Cleve
land County).
While it is a fact of educational his
tory that educational formulae tend to
run in cycles, Dr. Laura Plonk was
among the first in North Carolina who
envisioned the education of the “whole
child”. Her credo was training of the
mind, voice, body, and spirit, her theory
being that the body is a whole and that
one element cannot operate independ
ently of the other, a theory she never
failed to expound, promote and promul
gate.
Some samples of her varied suc
cesses:
1) Slimming of the hefty, adding
needed weight to. the thin;
2) Successful coping with a parent
who believed (literally) that raw meat
was a proper diet for her daughter-stu
dent; ,
3) Teaching to speak an unfortu
nate youngster, born Without palate,
who had a man-made pajsde fabricated
by a God-handed Duke suf^on.
4) Interim cbncentratecT attention to
the so-called normal, talented, but lazy-
tongued, lazy-minded and lazy-spirited
who pass through her portals.
Laura Plonk, onetime Kings Moun
tain teacher, returned' here in 1930 to
write and direct the sesqui-centennial
pageant commemorating the Battle of
Kings Mountain. The Sbuthern Work
shop, its staff and full facilities “on lo
cation’’ to Kings Mountain.
Dr. Plonk remained a Kings Moun
tain loyalist, as numerous Kings Moun
tain friendaandTormer students will at=—
test.
Dr. Laura Plonk, a woman of un
usual mind, voice, and spirit, if for years
weak of body, was a Bible student and
theologian, educator of especial ability,
and platfonmist. She was some years a-
head of her time.
Shehas come home to Kings Moun
tain at rest.
Fiat Government Wrong
The ends do not justify the means
is a principle of principle.
Lawyers are notably practitioners
(as is their stated duty in the matter of
clients’ protaganism and defense) of -
endings justifying means.
' The practical habit does not make
them right. |
^ ^hUs the veiry liberal, aging Justice
Hugo Black, philosophically sympathe
tic, decline to agree with eight other
lawyer confreres of the United States
Supreme Court in reminding that gov
ernment by dictatorial hired-hand bu
reaucrat directive, is not within the
framework of democratic government
and should not be.
Concurrently with Monday’s Su
preme Court decision on the validity of
the 1965 civil rights act (which is why
Cleveland County haS enjoyed a govern
ment-paid census) and which makes it
perihissible for one county to operate
under one set of rules, another county
under another, Commissioner Harold
Howe of the Office of Education, De
partment of Health, Education and Wel
fare, jssued a directive inferring denial
of frderal fundq unless his directive or
“guidelines” arq followed. These guide
lines are beamed at the south, undoubt
edly apply (though it won’t be noted)
elsewhere.
Last summer’s run-around with ex-
Commissioner of Education Keppqi on
approval for federal school fuhds a
sample of government by directive or
fiat. :
Mr. Justice Black is no't sympathe
tic with the South’s' position on civil
flights, but hC'heliCveS the fellow justices
should not tdke q pre-conceived notion
and find evlderoe. to support it.
Justice’ Black believes a'.legal
c^ntehtioh should be sustained, or
denied, on basis of the facts, in courts
of law< t I
By MARTIN HARMON
.A fevv yeai^s ago, as he attain-
kI the age of 40, Hal Boyle, the
As.-^ociated Press feature writer’,
noted that his chief disbeneflt
was ah intuitive change in read
ing habit. No longer, he wrote,
did ttre sports page and comic
section get his first attention.
I Now he turned first to the obitu-
I ary edlumn.
m-u
‘ Thus our friends depart our
! midst, as, last week, did one of
I my favorite friends and kin, Dr.
I Lairea Plonk.
m-m
i I was benefitted by her instruc-
j tion at three summer terms of
tier Asheville school, but earlier
and later by many visits at her
home, here, and elsewhere^
m-m
Outstanding is the memory of
the teen-age jaunt of Mary Foust
Plonk Weaver, George Plonk,
Aunt Laura, and me, with Leon
ard Goodwin as chauffeur, to the
Chicago World’s Fair in early
autumn ’33. Not only did we visit
Chicago and the Fair, but there
were many side trips. George and
I still recall the antiseptically
clean stables of the Col. E. R.
Bradley Farm, near Lexington,
Ky., and our looksce at Burgoo
King, winner of the Kentucky
Derby.
m-m
In Chicago there was the the
ater (young nrusidan Mary Foust
spent that evening at the opera),
a tour of MEirshal Field’s great
department store, including the
top floor Field candy kitchen,
and baseball at Wrigley Field
(Guy Bush pitched his 20th vic
tory that day for the Cubs, and
Paul Derringer, later to help
pitch the Reds to two pennants,
dropped his 21st for the Reds.)
m-m
Aunt Laura and my mother,
good Lutherans, never had any
doubt as to where we (R^ould do
micile in Chicago, as the Hotel
DuLac had placed advertising in
the national Lutheran publica
tion all summer. If advertised in
the Lutheran, Hotel DuLac had to
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Viewpoints of Other Editors
BYPASSING THE COURTS 1
I
When the Justice Department!
finds it necessary to assert that
the Selective Service Act cannot
be used to stifle any “Constitu
tionally protected expression of
views,” such as student protests
against U. S. policy on Vietna.m,
the public can hardly feci over
whelming confidence in the way
the draft law is being adminis
tered.
The Government’s position is
stated by Assistant Attorney
General Vinson ^in a letter to
Senator Hart. The Michigan
Democrat had questioned the re-
be top rate. I have stayed since classification to 1-A of some Uni-
- ■ versify of Michigan students
in sorry hotels, but none have
compared to DuLac, with its
turn-of-century plumbing, lobby
sitters who had all the appear
ance attributed to Chicago gang
land, and an unpleasant odor.
TTie desk clerk even wanted pay
in advance. Aunt Laura read
clear his title. We stayed one
night before fading an apart
ment on 83rd street.
who had staged a sit-in at the
Ann Arbor, Mich., draft board
offices to protest Vietnjun poli
cy.
Tht students were found guilty
of trespass, under a local ordi
nance, and were fined. Selective
Service Director Hershey then
declared that an existing execu
tive order permits the Selective
the polling booths in steadily in
creasing numbers under the aegis
of Federal law, could prove dis
astrous to a party, which pro-,
claimed, In te words of one of the
comimitteemen who-opposed the
change, that the ‘white race is
Service System to reclassify any th^? .v^rld by the
!hodv “found to he delinauent” mandate of Almighty God.
ON-FOOT SAFETY
Almost from the time a young
ster begins to toddle, anxious
parents comiTienie the “don’t run
in the street” training, and even
as the baby grows into a child,
the words of warning—and some
times the hand of discipline—re
main as reminders.
But a little later along, he be
gins to hear that the pedestrian
always has the right of way,
that he is, in a sense, king of the
road. The conception is popular
today—and one can argue that,
;to a point, this is as it should
i be. . . .
With this responsibility, how-
I ever, lies the equal moral obli
gation of the pedestrian to be
impact of Negro votere, enteringA'alert and of good judgment. Safe
ty experts stress this responsibil
ity, of course, throiugh education,
promotion, arid other kin.ds of
campaigns But too infrequently
do the efforts include enforce
ment. . . .
PORTENTS
Since 1904, the emblem of the
Democratic Party in Ala'cama
has been a crowing rooster with
the line, “For the Right” under
neath it and, over it, “White Su
premacy.” Henceforth, the over-
line will read simply “Demo
crats.” The world does move.
It would be pleasant to believe
that abolishing “White Suprema
cy” from the Democratic stand
ard had come about as the result
of a sober consideration of how
erroneous the slogan was in light
of the facts of the world and thj(
ideals of America. Actually, hov^
ever, the Alabama State Demo
cratic Committee took its action
because it recognized that the
m-m
Another high spot was Sjurtclay body “found to be delinquent'
dinner (after morning services, under the act. He ruled that the
naturally) at the main 12th floor student demonstrators were de-
dining room of what was then linquent because they interferred
the Stevens hotel That was tall' with the local draft board opera-
' tions, such interference being a
Walking west on 50th Street,
I came across an interesting ex
hibition called the Museqm. of
Famous People. I have always
admired great men and women,
so I paused and went inside. In
the front window was a life-size
statue of King John of England
just about to affix his se.al to
the Magna Carta of 1215. Even
in wa.x, John has a disgusted
look on his face But when one
realizes thiU he was givirtg up
many prized personal rights to
the people—many of which rights
we cherish today—the reluctance
of this early monarch appears
much less important than the
results.
In an artificial but colorful set
ting of woods and grass (repre
senting Hoboken, New Jersey m
1804), Alexander Hamilton is
shown lying on the ground in the
amts of his second. The caption
states, “he breathes his last,
after his duel with Aaron Burr, j
who is depicted standing over j;
him triumphantly. This tableau T'
is incorrect because Hamilton |
was first taken to a hospital and j
lived for more than two days It
after the duel. Even so, the scene j
dramatically shows the last sad
act in the life of one who was in j
many ways a great man. !
Another terminal episode is *
portrayed in the impressive set- i
ting of the Last Supper, based t
on the famous painting of Leo-, t
nardo da Vinci. This shows Christ ji
gh the renowned ‘Upper Room
dinirig with his disciples and pre- j,.
paring for his Gethsemane And L
then death on the cross. This
solemn scene is mspiring in the *
present day of trials and tribula- r;
tions when m,en are still trying I''
to settle the . problems of the j
world by mearis of violence and
death. \ jj
I-
—3— •
On a less serious note is a wax
representation of Peter Minuit
buying Manhattan Island for $24
worth of beads and trinkets. In
this depiction, the Indian chiefs
are shown as simple, child like
individuals who are stupid
enough to be cheated out of a
great property. But there are
people today who think that Pete
may have gotten the worst of
the bargain, especially when
something like a blackout, a
transit strike or drought comes
along. These Indians were at
least smart enough to get out be
fore such calamities struck.
cotton for us youngsters.
The volume of traffic victims
high percentage of tho.-n pe
destrians—continues to be the
But whatever the motives of i national tragedy. . . .Timid reme-
the committee, the deed has been [dies can do little to erase it.
done, and Alabama moves, belat-1
ediy, into the twentieth century.
violation of the draft law.
The Justice Department, on
the other hand, -states that :no
sue h executive urder exists.
“Where opinion is expressed, if
there is no transgression of law,
then no sanctions can be impos
ed,” the Department’s letter con- i ^
tinned. “If there is a transgres- |'
Sion, then the sanctions which I
attach to it”—in this case, pun
ishment for trespass—“are all
that should be applied.”
Although Draft Director Her
shey says he agrees that the
draft law should not be used to
punish people for their opinions,
he has not yet retreated from
his position that the students
broke he draft law with their
sit-in and thus were punishable.
And Michigan Selrictiye Service
officials have made in clear that
they won’t nv)ve without fresh
orders from headquarters.
Whatever the exact legal rules
in this case, eqxxity certainly de-
m-m
Our return was a bit out-of-the
way, via Washington, D. C., a
major excursion in its own right.
m-m
Except in the matter of driving
an auta.Tiobile, Aunt Laura might
well have been the inspiration for
naming HMS Intrepid. She could
manage a horse, but her princi
pal falling driving the gas-
driven model was in passing.
When she came abreast the other
car, she slowed to that car’s pace.
Otherwise, valor was her forte,
be it hailing a ride in Boston for
herself and her companion in the
horse-drawn milk-wagon, inform
ing a WCA hotel clerk she would
talk with me in the off-limits
privacy of her eighth floor room
(she did), imposing on segments
of her fami-reared family the
dietary regimen of Denver’s late
Dr. John Tilden, or, minus prior
appointment, talking about edu- imands that anyone accused of
cation and politics with ex-Presi-1 breaking a law get a fair trial,
dent Harry Truman in his library 1 If administrators acquire the
office at Independence, Mo. 1 right to bypass the courts and
• assess arbitrary punishment, then
“•**» ] the safety not only of draft-age
Aunt Laura was an ardent]youth but of all of us will be
Democrat and took keen lay in-1
Indeed, the practical arguments
advanced for eliminating the rac
ist words from the ballot are
themselves evidence of the imr
TJortance of the ballot; testimony
to the leverage which the vote
gives the Negro in redressing
long-standing grievances.
New York Herald Tribune
—3—
At a realistic piano and look
ing pleasantly pensive is a figure
of George Gershwin, the late
composer. To many of a genera
tion ago, he represents the spirit
of New York, with such songs as
(But, in Norfolk tho approprl. .‘;n‘"“ouV ‘2,veX
ate ordinances goveminj; pedes
trians were put on the books in
the first place to be enforced.
And if a citizen on foot foolishly
Ihinks he is indeed Jhe king of
the road, the courtroom rnay be
just te place to dethrone him—
and perhaps save his life as well.
Norfolk (Va.J Ledger-Star
O PROMISE ME
Miss Elizabeth 'Bowen, who
serv'ed as his secretary, has re
jected former Republican Nation
al Chairman Dean Burch’s advice
to get married rather than enter
politics.
Miss Bowen has decided to run
for Congress in West Virginia’s
5th District. “Dean thinks I’m in-, j
sane,” she said. t
But we wonder if it’s such an 1
either-or proposition w'hen a girl
chooses politics over marriage.
After all, she is making a pro
posal to the voters. During the
campaiign she will walk down
not one but many aisles to pledge
vows of faithfuless and devotion
to the electorate. She will throw
bouquets to the people to the re
frain of “O Promise Me.”
Once the union is completed,
there will be a honeymoon per
iod for our political couple. The
Come to Stay.” But like so many
young talented people here and
elsewhere, he burned his candle
bright at both ends, so his gleam
ing star of success flamed across
the sky and set in a musical sea.
Bernard Baruch sits serenely ;
on a make-believe park bench,
carrying on a legend that existed
more in fancy than fact I knew
him and it seemed that,his time
was spent mainly high above 5th
Avenue at 66th Street, where he
iuu ym i,uxxt.va. cuufx.c. ^ millions which he
length of the honeymoon depends ^
upon the compatibility of those 1 astronauts float
joined at the polls. There will be
lovers’ spats and possible recon-
other scenes,
and work in a simulated space
station of the future. 'That our
ciliations. The bride will become i . , ha« vpi he oer-
with irtpa« | aerial system has yet to be
fected, however, we are poiignant-
reminded of in the recent
terest in affairs of politics and
government.
m«ia
Bible was a required course at
the Plonk School of Creative
Arts and Spiritual Training class
was too, whether the student was
Protestant, Cahollc, Jew. I recall
no Moslem sudents, but these re
quired courses would have appli
ed to them. Another weekly all
must-be-present gathering was
(Character class, where one stu
dent or .teacher. Including Aunt
Laura, was the target end all
attending analyzed the target,
both on assets and li;abilitie.s.
Some painful sessions occurred
via the liability route, but the re
sults were amazing in correcting
poor personality habits and elim^
inating personal piques.
m-m
Kings Mountain’s Harold
Plonk, Aunt Laura’s cousin, en
rolled for a winter temv follow
ing his World War II naval du-
ty "Just why,” she asked him,
“do you want to come to this
school?" Harold’s reply, "I want
to get the ready tongue.”
m<m
He got It, and much more, as
did we all.'
The Wall Street Journal
FACT VS. FOLKLORE
One definition "of “legend” in
a new dictionary: “A popular
myth of recent origin.”
By this definition the United
States has many legends. One of
the most prevalent concerns
“shiny new Cadillacs.” Formerly
poor lamlUes, suddenly . becom
ing prosperous ^ (especially Ne
groes) are supposed to be driv
ing around in these status sym
bols
It'is salutary to have legends
checked. We think a recent pro
fessional survey of the Negro
market, made for a radio chain,
did a useful job in exploding one
of them. The surveymakers went
Into both Negro and white homes
and listed, with brand, names,
commodities found on pantry
Sheflves. 'in hasements, aniTttt the
curbside.
They found evidence that Ne
gro families tended to buy adver-
ttsed brands; But they discover
ed nary a new Cadillac In the
Negro cenremunity.
We wonder how many other
AmerlcMi legends would fade in
the light'of surveys. '
The Christian Science Monitor
impregnated with ideas
It’s a toss- of the coin as to
whether there will eventually be
a divorce or a happy ever-Mter.
But there’s no question that it is
a marriage that is here proposed.
The Charlotte Observer
I
.eath of two of these daring
young men. But it does appear
appropriate to end this verbal
tour of a museum which is quite
interesting and worthwhile,
10
Items of
Afounfoin
TEARS AGO
THIS WEEK
netos
area
events taken from
files of the Kings
Herald.
cibout King
people am
the Ids
Mountain
Bruce Thorburn, former per
sonnel manager of Burlington
Industries Phinix Plant, as3Ui.n-
ed the duties Monday of person
nel manager of Lithium Corpor
ation of America’s Bessemer City
plant.
Joe O’Shields, recently with
Excelsior Finishing Plant, Pen
dleton, S. C., joined Neisler Di
vision of Massachusetts Mohair
^‘'Kish Co. Monday.
SOCIAL AND PERSONAL
New officers of the Women of
the Church of Matthew’s Lu
theran church were elected Mon-,
day night.
The Kings Mountain Garden
club wllfdisplay daffodils and
camellias at First Union Nation
al Bank Tuesday.
KEEP YOUR RADIO DIAL SET AT
1220
WK
Kings Mountain, N. C.
News & Weather every hour on the
hour. Weather every hour on the '
half hour.
’"'A
Fine entertainment in between