VOLUME 23 BLACK MOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA 28711 THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 1969 10 PAGES TODAY 4?23 4 NO. 20 10 Cents Per Copy Newly Elected Mason Officers Mxnnnat r ■ lAV'flHHMMm Recently elected officers of the 1969 Black Mountain Lodge No. 663 AF & AM, (left to right): Frank R. Abernathy—install ing officer; James N. E. Helgreen—typer; W. R. Copeland— chaplain; Aaron Belt—steward; H. B. Robinson—treasurer; Roy Lee Russell—senior warden; ;George D. Tatham master; Edw. Buchanan—junior warden; E. A. Reed—senior deacon; Paul N. Wright—junior deacon; Clyde Watkins, marshall; Donald Bur gin—past master. Not in picture: James W. Owen—secretary: Fred Cornett—stewart. Peekin’ Through The\ KEYHOLE | • • • . With lib \ By E lizaheth Dinwiddie Keith I Irs. W. H. Linasey has n receiving treatment at norial Mission Hospital for past 10 days for injuries received in a fall at her le. She is getting along ely, and expects to return le this week. Ir. and Mrs. Charles E. ck) Brown and sons, Jeff Eddie have moved to Vi a, Ga., to make their le. Mr. Brown is plant lager for Georgia-Pacific nber Company, in Vi a. Mrs. Brown’s mother, i. Bessie E. Atkins went m with them for an indef e stay. lr. and Mrs. Hoy G. Burk ;er, who are temporarily ding at their home i n trlotte, spent the weekend their home at Christmount embly. ’isiting the F. Louis Grant lily and Mrs. Grant’s iher, Mrs. Alma Jo San s last weekend were: Mr. Mrs. Roger Kidd and dren, Julia and Jeffrey of ington, Ky., Mr. and Mrs. laid R. Parrish and family, )in, Scott and Letitia of olet, S. C., Mr. and Mrs. laid Ray and sons, Ronnie I Bruce of McColl, S. C. ter is Mrs. Sanders’ son Mrs. Parrish and Mrs. 1 uaugiikciB, r. and Mrs. Charles K. Ies and small daughter, have moved from gecrest Road to their re % purchased home on rd Street. Mr. Jones is ed of the Black Mountain ivs. Jrs. Laurence E. Brown Monday to visit her sis wh° is very ill in Sara i. Fla. Sgt. Robert Knupp has re ned to Columbus Air Force ,e’ Miss., after visiting his er> Alfred Knupp and „ relatives and friends “ugh the holidays. «iss Joyce C. Taylor, a ^ graduate of Charles D. * High School, is now ? student teaching at ' , Henderson High School. ndersonville. inc ^ylor ,is taking part tae winter quarter, 1Uai'y 3 through March 4, e student teaching pro Appalachian State ichfSlty’ Boone- She is the Dh 6T °,f Mr and MrS P" Taylor, Star Route, -£k Mountain. L. Dillard of Sylva, , /he weekend with Miss Lindsey, while viisting s‘ster, Mrs. W. H. Lind rint ?»-ls •a Patient at Me rial Mission Hospital. Johhra> Sergeant, Acie cialn8“I? has completed the r,„ ALr Force recruiter at Lackland Air Force e v,exa?' T/Sgt. Johnson’s e, Mardyn, is the daugh of Mr. and Mrs. R. J. Jrr7 of Bla organizations and is a mem > ber of Swannanoa Methodist Ch urch. Enka Sales Highest In 40 Year History A sharp turnaround in its business in 1968 lifted Ameri can Enka Corporation’s sales and earnings to the highest levels in the Company s 40 year history, Claude Ramsey president, announced today Net Income for the vear in creased bv 83 percent to a record $19,639,000, or $3.61 per share, comparad with $10, 736,000, or $2.01 per share, in 1967. The 1968 net income is af’ar deducting the Federal surtax which was equivalent to an additional 35 cents per share. The Company's record earn ings were achieved on a 28 percent rise in sales to a new high of $238,620,000, up from $186,000,000 the year before. The sales increase of $52,620, 000 represented a new high in year-to-year gains. Progressive improvement in the Company's business was shown throughout the year, with the final 16 weeks contributing sales of $80,622,000 compared with $64,302,000 in the prior year Net income for this period rose to $7,450,000, or $1.39 a share, from $4,088,000, or 76 cents per share in the final period of 1967. As a result of improved de mand for nylon filament yarns and the future outlook for poly ester yarns and fiber, Mr. Ramsey said that the Company has undertaken expansions which will increase its poten tial sales carnet* y by more than $40 million. When completed late In 1969, the expanded fa cilities will raise Enka’s manu facturing capacity to about 400 million pounds of nylon, rayon, and polyester yarns and fibers. Mr. Ramsey reported that the Company operated near ca pacity througho.it the year tor most of Us principal textile products--nylon and rayon fil ament yarns and rayon staple fiber Shipments of polyester textile yarns showed improve ment and the Company’s nev polyester staple fiber gaines increased acceptance. A1 - though there is currently an excess of polyester staple cap acity, the Company believes that a tremendous growth po tential exists for this fiber Demand for textile rayon fil ament yarn was strong through out the year AUhougn indus trial rayon yarn prices and earnings were unsatisfactory shipments ware appriximatel; 20 percent greater than the yea] before, principally as a resul of increased demand for tirei ’or new cars. Gains in the Company’s yarn and fibers business more tha offset depressed conditions i the wire and cable divtsio which operated at an unsatls factory level throughout th year However, this divtsic reported increased sales of Ir dustrial control cable and if dicated that a recently-deve oped line of products for cab television provides promtsii growth potential. Adverse eft cts of the protracted copper strike in 1967-58 are gradually subsiding, and a return to more normal conditions should be come apparent in the wire and cable industry In 1969. Stockholders of the Company at their annual meeting on March 12, will vote on a pre viously reported proposal to split the common shares on a three-for-two basis. This will increase the number of issued shares from 5,421,792 to 8,132,688 An increased quarterly dividend rate re cently authorized will be equi valent to 25 cents on the split shares. Stockholders will also vote on proposals to Increase the authorized common stock to 20,000,000 shares and cre ate a new issue of 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock which may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Taylors Head Reception Rep. and Mrs. Roy A. Taylor of Black Mountain, will head the receiving line here Sun. day at a reception in the historic Congressional Club, of which Mrs. Taylor is presi dent. The reception will honor new members of Congress, includ ing 38 newly elected members of the House of Representatives and their wives, and 15 newly elected senators and their wives. The Congressional Club is composed o f wives of mem bers of Congress and women members of Congress, wives of members of the Supreme Court and the Cabinet. Honor ary members are the First Lady, the wife of the Vice President and the Speaker of the House, or their official hostesses. Mrs. Taylor, wife of the 11th District representative, will step down next Friday as the 32 nd president of the club, which is the only club to be chartered by an Act of Con gress. New officers will be elected for two-year terms on > Wednesday, and Installed on Friday. i 1 A native of Leicester, N. C. I Mrs. Taylor was the first mem II ber o f the Club from North Carolina to serve as its presl * dent, although a former resi n dent of Asheville, the late Mrs. " Peter Goelet Gerry of Rhode Island, served as its president in 1927-28 when her husband e was a member of the Senate. lg Mrs. Gerry was the widow of *' George W. Vanderbilt.