Newspapers / The Kings Mountain Herald … / May 22, 1979, edition 1 / Page 2
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Pace »-MlBaOB.HBlLUJ>-Tima»y, BUy M, IW* A village census Looking at Kings Mountain in 1880 by VIBOINIA ORBBNB DBPKIXBT On Jun* 1,1880, 8.C. HomMl^ Jtbrtad to tako Um conaui for tho vUlago of Klnfo Mountain. Ho vlsltod about 86 homoo bofora complaUng Uia conaua on Juno 8, 1880. Ho found that tho oldoot parson Uvlng In Klnca Mountain woo a Mack woman, Tompy Homdon, who was 101 yoaro old. Sho Uvod In tho home of Daniel and Mary Blalock. M.r. Jonoo was tho only ftunUt In town but there wore throe phyolelans and one dentist to take care of tho health of tho people In and around Kings Mountain. Dr. Thomas Walker was tho dentist and Ben jamin Dixon, James Wray and William Tracy were the physicians. Another professional man was the engineer, Elijah Brown. One wonders If ‘‘engineer’' meant on the railroad or perhm>a he was something like a "clvU engineer”. He probably was not a train engineer because John Borders and Joseph Curry wen listed as ‘‘works on RR.” In connection with the ralliroad Kings Mountain had a hotel run by Stephen and Mary Homosley. Mary Homesley was one of only a few women who wen Uated as having an occupatloi other than “keeping house". The hotel may have been the Mountain View at the comer of Mountain and Battleground Streets; however I am not sun of that fact. Two porten, John Homesley and Alf Abel, both blacks, wen employed at the hotel. The hotel cook, Amanda Carpenter, was also black as was the nuns tor the children, Elisa Miller. The depot agent was KeUey Dixon, who may have dlncted the only teamster In town. Nelson Roberts. Capt. BeU’s Military School was located when Central School Is now on Bast Ridge St. William BeU was listed as a teacher on tho census, along with two other men and one woman. Charles Mason, a teacher. Uved In Jane HaU’s home. She was listed with the occiq^tlon "keeps boarden”. Seven boys who wen students also lived In her home. William Bell had seven boarding students In the home. John Oamtt was also listed as a teacher and hla daughter was one of two female students. Amos Morris gave hla profession as "artist". Does any of hla work survive? It could have been just wishful thinking on his part. The census taker was honest enough to list one penon’s occupation as "loafer”. Stone wen nther plentiful. Bight men listed their occupation as "dry goods mer chant" and eight other men wen "clerics In ston”. The dry goods merchants wen Rufus Roberta, Jacob Mauney, Andonon Car penter, Michael Carpenter, Isaac Oamtt, John Oamtt, Andrew Mauney, and Frank Long. Phillip Baker and Fnno Dllllng wen hardwan merchants. William Hayes was the only shoemaker In town and Mary Hlslop, who Uved with her mother, Lavlnla Pnsley, was the only mllUner. Three men, WUUam McLean, John White and Calvin Plonk, sold groceries. Joseph Nutall sold jeweliy and Lawson Long was the stove dealer. Lawson Summle was the town taUor and had Uvlng In his home as a boarder Hester WUson, the town's only female merchant. Redding Sugg was a general merchant. Six carpentera • David Beam, Jamas Tonever, Polycomp Rudaslll, Levi McAlister, Burt RudaslU and BU Beam- and one tinner, Oeorga Strode, took care of thoao needs tor the town. The city marshal, Frank McOlnnls, kept the town In order. Henderson Long, a son of the stove merchant, Lstwecn Long, was a peddler, Llsale Qulim, who kept boarders, was the only other woman In town Usted with an occupation. Local transportatton was provided for by James ComwaU, who was a cairlage and buggy maker, and by David Nance, George ComwaU and William ComwaU, who were wagon makers. Ben Huff was the town blacksmith and David Barnet served the town as a millwright. Daniel Blalock, WUUam Falls, Richard Garret, Jacob Quinn, Alfred FaUs (adio was retired), Joseph Roark and Jerome White, along with 16 farm hands, wore the farmers of the community. Three black miners Uvod In the village. I They were James Shuford, Chaster Roberta, and WUUam Jarrott had Jans White and Lou BUlott Uvlng In his homo and they both worked as "servant nurses”. Altogether, Ihors were 18 black households and about 87 blacks Uvlng In Kings Mountain In 1880. ^ Besides tho occupations I have named. How does nation become rich? eDiTORii^L9& opinions Prime example of government reliance By TOM ROBB Our shortege-of-gasoUno la a prime example of what happens when people rely cn clvU government rather than the com petitive marks^place to enhanoo their welfare. The economic problem, viewed from today's perapeetlvo. Is that demand for gaa and cU products has outstr^ped the Umttod supply that la available. But tho question to asky Is why? Why did the shoitago problem appear at aUT An educator In our community recently ovldenood hla failure to grasp the underlying ooonomlc problem when ho told some students, "You Just watti As soon as the oU oompantes ‘jaok* prices hlghter, the scarcity wUl be over." This synloal InoUnaUon to blanM private produoers for shortages is apparently a com men tendaney. But It faUa wide of tho mark. R misses the economic torcos behind tho problem. Tho ConUnsntal OU Company, for In stance, reports la Its May-Juno employes' magaslno that tndustiy-wlde weU ooats have risen from IB0J88 per woU la 1880 to over 178,000 In 1978. Those higher costs must bo recovered In tho prtcee consumare pay If oU TTils was the quesUon that Adam Smith set out to answer In hla famous classic The Wealth of Nations, which was pubUahed In 1778. It Is biteraating to nota-especlaUy during this present age of growing economic controU by centraUaad govommont - that Adam Smith’s book dealt largely with the problems caused In his day by a govom- ment-rogulatad economy. Smith Uved during the MercantUe Ago when government planners generally regarded the Imposition of Intricate economic controle as a proper function of dvU government. Readers who remember their study of history wlU recaU that the MercantUe Age was an era when national governments attempted to become richer In gold and sUver by regulating Internal trade and productlwi with an eye to holding Im ports down the Ideal level of sero. But Adam Smith came up with some ob- servatlona which shocked the planners: On one hand he pointed out that the real wealth of a nation consisted, not In acnimulated gold and sUver, but In the wealth of goods and services produced each year. On the other hand. Smith pointed out that a natton's real wealth would tend to Increase at a taster rate If clUsena were free to engage In economic acttvlty without the suffocating controls Impoaed by the heavy hand of bureaucratic governments planners. An Invisible hand, he said, seemed to guide men naturally In the maximising of their own personal welfare through the process of free trade. If left alone, cltlsans would do what comes naturaUy, would become rich and x>ntlnue to would thereby enrich tho nation In which they Uved. realise that These United States of America toUowed »consumer Adam Smith's advice to a greater extent than any other nation of people. And, sure I gasoline- enough, we became the richest people on Biortage-problem Is that clvU government earth. The process of growing richer has IMS operated to restrict supply on one hand continued to this day - In spite of a new type while Ithas stlnaulated denund on the other: of aoth Century MercanUUsm which has been No. l: The FPC (Federal Power mushrooming In our country during the last -head price tour decades. (The growth of a centrally oontroUed economy In America Is reac tionary. That la. It Is a throwback to tho economic poUclea of the 1700‘s). Is America's wealth continuing to grow? On the furface our growth looks en couraging: In the 14-yoar period from 1988 to 1871 the total amount of goods and services produced per person per year rooa from a value of 93,889 to 88,(»7-almoet a lOO per cent Increase. This amounts to a whopping big 8.8 per cent growth per year com pounded. But If we look a Uttle deeper, we find some serious cause tor alarm: Because, If we "deflate" the 1971 figure of 98,087 for the InflaUonaxy rise In prices which has occurred, we find that the real growth In per capita product has risen only to 98,873. Thus, our real product grew, during 14 years, only by 81,008 Instead of 93,488-a growth rate of only 3.6 per cent (versus 8.8 per cent). In riiort, morethanhalf of our growth Is “paper growth.” It la Illusory. If Adam Snttth were alive today he would say, "You modem folks aren’t growing nearly as fast as you think you are. Most of.> your increase In wealth la llhisoiy because It Is being siphoned off by rising prices." And then. If Mr. Smith were familiar with our modem banking and tax systems, he would add, "Your rising prices are caused by the vast amounts of now money your national government creates each year. And the/ graduated Income tax which you became saddled with In 1918 Is now siphoning off much of your real Increase In annual wealth. The reason It Is doing so Is that the rate at which you pay Income tax Is dependent upon your Inflated and Illusory Income mther than upon your real Income, which la quite a - bit smaller. In short, your national govern ment la siphoning off moot of the gravy and leaving you with the dry boneel” And. since Adam Smith was never one to pose a problem without trying to give solution, what remedy would be prescribe? .j Listen to him: “Frugality In clvU govern-' ment. Let government bureaucrats spend only what monies tho people are willing to pay In taxes!" Let^s pay the debt Anybody here remember Vietnam? Of course, you say. Da Nang. Saigon. The Mekong Delta. My Lai. And aU thoee other strange names that kept coming up In the 9 For mllUona of Americans-perha] of us—the war In Vietnam was neve closer than thoee headlines and the news cUps on television. It was a war halfway around one that was never declared; e CO Just seemed to grow behind oi ^ one awful day, there It was, No one went to that wr flying and bands playing, went anonymously came M moat r much rUghtly - f of gas and ott. For many years leaders In the Ml and gas industry complained that the resulting price controls were havbig an adverse effect by discouraging tho dUcovery and development of now oU fields. Low profits dlsoouraged Investors from chan neling needed money Into the Industry. The 1 stymied the Hat we need control over The return of the ^^painter^^ way. The longer It lasted the more unpopular It became, and Ite unpopularity seemed tc| nib off on the very ones who were most In timately caught up In It. Perhaps the moat damoraUsIng part was what didn’t happen. Nobody said "thanks." I're proud of you. Even lipopular, we’re proud MUlng to serve your j » up tor the h. The wfek of May plally " "Vietnam Oongreas and^ ruig It for what It It, to express a to the nearly tan in who served during. Vietnam Bra. at’s pay the debt. MinfolRilMLD I PUBLISHED EACH TUESDAY AND THURSDAY GARLAND ATKINS TOM McIntyre ELIZABETH STEWART GARY STEWART Sports Editor DARRELL AUSTIN Advertlelag Director MEMBEROF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS ASSOCIATION Ibe Mirror-Herald Is published by General PubSshlng Company, P. O. Drawer 783 Kings Mountain, N. C. 38086. Bnsiness and editorial offices are located at 481 N. Piedmont Ave. Phone 789-7498. Second Class postage paid at Kings Mountain, N. C. Single copy IS cents. Subscription rates: 88.80 yearly I ln-state. 84.38 stac months, 89.80 yearly I out-of-state. 98 six months; Student rate for nine months 98.84. usjpg mi-So J loUlntothla country. A specific case Is the refinery that Occidental Oil Company had wanted to build In Maine a few yeere ago. It was to use foreign oU that waa exempt from the regular Import quotas and ooeta. TTila would have put competing firms at a disadvantage, so pUltlcal preeeures led to scrapping the planned facility. That refinery which died during the planning stage would surely come In handy today, wouldn’t It? Example No. 8: Widespread public con cern about air poUutlon has affected the demand side of gaaOllno; The expensive exhaust-control devices that new cars are now orqulred to have by Federal law have produced a generation of gas-gulping monsters. A few years ago It was common for autoa to got 14 to 16 mllea per gaUon. Today, many care only nt 8 to 10 mUas per gallon. As older care are junked, the overaU mtlo of gas-gulpam will continue to Increase. The present method of loading autos down with antl-pollutlon devices has actually served to Increase the total output of exhaust tomes. R seems that tho "solution" may now be woree than the problem the controUers set out to cure. This Is juBt a thumbnaU sketch of how the actions of civil government, mostly at the Mtlonal level, have served to create a widespread problem that has been felt by every family in America. There U a lesaon to bo learned. Critical shortagoo seldom occur In the tree market because the automatic price mechanism quickly adjuste supply and demand. When crucial ahortages do appear and oontlnuo to persist, the culprit won’t be found In the private sector of the economy, but In tho pubUc sector. Actions In tho pubUc sector will tend to have an adverse effect on both price and supply. Publlc-pleaalng solutions, when found, wUl be found through tho voluntary actions of those competing In tho private sector to serve the pubUc. By ROGERS WHITENBR Special to Mirror-Herald In recent years much has been written and said about the return of the "painter” or cougar to the mountains of Appalachia. The thought Is enough to send ohUls down the spines of foUu who Uve In laolated sec tions. But It Isn’t the throat of painters that bothers VaUe CnicU resident WUl Byrd. It’s the reaUty of bobcats. WUl, who resides several mUos up the Dutch Creek Road, has been plagued tor a number of years by various roprosentettves of this member of tho oat family who have eyes tor his considerable ooUeotlon of bar nyard fowl. “Not my fowl, really," says WlU. "They belong to the mlssee-she likes to keep them around for company.” The "company,” as Valle Cruds residents know, comes In considerable number and variety: aU shapes and slaes of turkeys; an assortment of chickens, largely Domlneckers and Rhode Island Rods; a doson or so ducks, both the wild and domesUc; occasionally geese and guineas, to say nothing of hawks and owls who drop In without invlta^. The bobcate^^re also uninvited But they dropped by several nights In a row last winter with devastating results. During a period of three nights, according to WlU, some thirty-four chickens came squawking from their tree perches Into tho jaws of a superslsed male, his sUghtly smaUor spouse, and three growing kittens. The modus operandl of the marauders was...not difficult to fathom. Even those but sUghUy acquainted with the hunting habits of bobcats know that they are quite capable of climbing trees or leaping Into lower branches. In this Instance It was the male who cUmbed the roosting tree and drove the fi-lghtened flock to the ground and to thoU- Those who survived were subjected to the same taotlos tho next night and the next until only a handful were left. As WlU teUs It, one survivor, a giant Rhode Island Red rooster, was so shaken by the first night’s experience that he refused to go back to the roosting tree again. "’That old rooster was so soared," says WUl, "that ha wouldn’t go near that tree. Instead he started roosting on the axle of an old ploeo of farm equipment. Ho got by tho other raids, but one cold night his feet froso to tho axle and ho lost both of them. From then on ha waddled around on his two stumps untU an owl reduced him to a bunch of foathsn one night! ” A gontte soul, WlU Is genoraUy at peace with the animal world. Ho Is not one to begrudge a passing hawk or own an oc casional meal from hlsbamyard bounty. But thirty-four ohlokona lost In three nights! Before tho week was out ho had sot hla traps tor tho bobcat Invaders, catching tho tamUy one by one and having them mounted M gift! tor trloiulo. The male, however, oocuplos a special place In the Uvlng room of tho Byrd family traUor. Bitting on tho contar teblo, he i^poars to bo ready to spring at the unsuspecting visitor, a maniacal snarl on his taco. ’"Riat’s tho way ho went out," says WUl. "The trap had just caught him by his claws and he had pulled It up with him Into the lower branches of the roosting tree. Ho waa ready to pounce on me when I shot him with my pistol.” Made to look gaunt and hungry In the mounttng process, the bobcat probably weighed In at close to fifty pounds In his chicken-hunting days. No Umo to worry about painters with a bobcat that slsa In the nolihborhoood. Readers are Invited to send folk mnterlait to Folk-Ways and Folk-Speech, Box 898, Appalachian State University, Boone, N.C. I FIND BfYBBLF LOST to tiM #nd of A booki I got lost In travel, learning and hooked: the mind roams to tho end of the world Then I come back to knit and pearl. I meet other people and loam of their ways What makes them tick and spend their days, How they dross and the lanith of the hair 1 forgot I am here and think 1 am there. I find good friends In ovoiy raoo A smile Is a smile on any faoo, § Love Is tho same the Whole world over tho lucky ones find tho tour loaf clover. I taste of their food and how long they Uve What Is their treasure and what do they give, AU I must do Is taka one look Toflndmysolf loatinthopagosof abook. $ VIVIAN S. BILTULIFFB What’S your opinion? , Wo want to hear your opinion on OUngs of Interest to you. A4dress aU oortoipondonM tor this page to Reader Dtaloguo, MlnW' Hsrald, P. 0. Drawer 789, Kings Mountain. N. C., 38088. Bo sure and Sign proper nanw and Include your address. Unsigned lottars wlllnotbepubUshsd. w
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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May 22, 1979, edition 1
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