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VOL,. 33 NO. 13.
KINGS MOUNTAIN, N. C.
THURSDAY. MARCH 29, 1935.
$1.50 A YEAR IN ADVANCE
State And National News
Condensed In Brief Form
—State News
FIVE PERCENT
BEER IS LEGAL
RALEIGH, Mar. 27.-—1The legisla
ture today ratified into law a bill
legalizing beer and malt beverages
containing five per cent alcoholic
content in North Carolina. The meas
ure merely raises present limitation
from 3.2 per cent.
YEGGS BLOW SAFE
FAYETTEVILLE, Mar. 28
Yeggs used nitroglycerine to blow
the doors off the safe of the' Gulf
Refining Company plant here last
night and secured about $500 in
cash and a quantity of old jewelry
and valuable papers.
WOULD LOWER AUTO
TAG LICENSE TO F8
RALEIGH, Mar. 28.—The senate
this afternoon passed on first read
ing a compromise bill providing that
automobile icense fees in the state
be cut from 55 cents to 45 cents per
hundredweight with the minimum
fe to be $8 instead of $12.50.
Senator Johnson of Duplin, who
ten days ago sponsored and won a I
fight for a rate of 40cents with a
minimum of $7, offered the com
promise today.
RALEIGH, Mar, 28.—The house '
this afternoon reconsidered the vote
by which it yesterday cut the retail
sales tax rate in the revenue bill
from three to two per cent.
RALEIGH, Mar. 28—A senate Ju
diciary committee this afternoon fa
vorably reported the Summersill bill
proposing to give superior court j
judges the right to sentence persons !
convicted of capital felonies to life j
imprisonment if the juries convict- |
ing them recommend mercy.
—National News
LIE DETECTOR WILL SHOW
INNOCENCE OF BRUNO,
ANNA CLAIMS
CHICAGO, Mar. 28. If the author
ities would ask Bruno Richard
Hauptmann, convicted slayer of the
Lindbergh baby, just a few rjues
tions under the Keeler Polygraph or
lie detector and then act in accord
ance with its findings he would be
freed instantly, his wife, Mrs. Anna
Hauptman, declared today.
"If they (the authorities) asked
Richard these few questions", cried
Mrs. Hauptman passionately, "the
lie detector would show by his re
L'ies that, as Its slid in the trial,
he was innocent of the kidnaping or
slaying, or any part of it."
BUFFALO, N. Y, Mar. 28.—Plans
for contesting the will of Klva Stat
ist- Davidson of Pinehurst. N. C„
daughter of the late hotel magnate,
were discussed anew today after ar
rival of Mrs. Katherine M. Statier of
Tucson, Ariz., widow of the hotel
man’s adopted son, Hilton,
WASHINGTON, Mar. 28— A pro
gram for "paying as you fight” in
the event the United States becom
es involved in another was was hd
vocated today before the senate mu
nitions committee by Bernard M.
Baruch, chairman of the world war
industries board.
BERLIN, Mar. 28.—A tigh author
ity stated today that Reichfuerer
Hitler demanded absolute military
equality of a gun-for-gun basis — ex
cepting the navy—with other Euro
pean powers.
REGULAR LEGION
MEETING
The regular monthly meeting of
Otis D. Green Post, American Le
gion wilt be held at 8 p. m. Tuesday
night, April 2nd, at City Hall. The
increased attendance at meetings
has been gratifying and all mem
bers are urged to attend these meet
ings.
Come fellows. Help your Post put
Legion Junior baseball over in ,n big
way for Cleveland county. Charlie
Warlick is "rarin’ 'to go". Let’s not
hold him back.
\V. W. Souther, Comdr.
P. G. Ratterree, Adjutant.
NEW ELECTRIC STORE
IS OPENED HERE
Mr. I. B. Goforth and Mr. L. A.
Hoke have opened an electrical
store on Mountain street, directly
back of the First National Bank.
They will carry at all times a com
plete stock of Westinghouse Electri
cal Goods, including refrigerators,
stoves, radios, etc. Mr. Goforth and
Mr. Hoke are both home town folks
and are very desirous of serving the
people of 'this community.
CLASS PLAY TO
BE GIVEN
The Senior Class has chosen for
their class play, “The Thirteenth
Day,” a three act mystery play. They
.are working hard each day under
the supervision of Miss Sarah Ham
bright in order to present the pft'ot
gram on April 12.
CLARENCE SMITH
MAKES HONOR ROLL
Boone, N. C..March 29.—The Hon
or Roll for the Appalachian State
Teachers College for the Winter
quarter has just been posted by
Prof. J. T. C. Wright, Head of the
Mathematics Department. To be
classed in this group is a distinctive
honor at Appalachia. Among other
things it requires creditable conduct
and average grades from 90 to 100.
141 students out of an enrollment of
101G are classed as honor students.
They come from 46 counties n nd
from 6 states, among who is Claren
ce Smith of Kings Mountain.
*
<INGS MT. HIGH SCHOOL
iTANDS OUT
(By Juanita Putnam)
We have always considered our
chool the best in the county, bu'„!
now we have proved that we have
surpassed all of the .others in many
'vays. Kings Mountain High school
has won out recently in nearly every
contest that she has entered.
Hank Wilson of the Senior class
won the Hord Declamation medal
here and bid for first place with the
Shelby contestants competing a
gainst the other school of the coun
ty at Shelby. This is the first time
that a boy from Kings Mountain has
won both medals in the past ten
years.
Pauline Goforth won the Pearl
Fulton medal here, and the School
Master’s medal at Shelby. This
means that her reading won over all
of the other school in the county.
Our bi»se ball team won the first
game of the season last Friday, de
feating Bessemer City 5 to 3.
The annual state-wide triangular
debating contest was held Friday,
March 22. The query lor discussion
was “Resolved. That the United
States should adopt the policy of ex
tending federal aid to general public
education.” Ruby Hughes and Mar
tin Luther Harmon defending the
negative, represented our school at
Rutherfordton, debating against Bes
semer City. Juanita Putnam and
Sara Ijjae Falls, upholding the r.i
firmative, debated against Ruther
fordton at Bessemer City. In these
two contests, the Rutherfordton neg
ative and the Kings Mountain nega
tive won the judge’s decision.
The third contest was held at our
Central High School. Rutherfordton’s
affirmative won over Bessemer City,
therefore Rutherfordton will go to
Chapel Hill. The judges were Mr.
A. G. Sargeant, Mr. J. R. Da;">
and Mrs. Frank Summers.
We are proud ot our attendance
record in the high school for last
week. The average was 98 percenr.
There were only three tardies all
week and none so far this week. Mr
Fulkerson's class, 10-A, had the av
erage of 99.61 percent for last mon
th. They had no tardies all month.
We have a new teacher in high
school, Miss Dorothy Murph from St
Matthew's S. C. She is a four year
graduate of Winthrop college.
NEW SCOUT TROOP
! RECEIVES CHARTER
The regular meeting of the Boy
Scout Court of Honor for March at
the High School Thursday rolled up
a new record for advancement. An
enthusiastic group of boys and tnen
were present.
In the absence of Scout Executive
Schiele his office assistant, Mr. Yo
der was in charge.
Tne new uoop being organized at
the Baptist church under the leader
ship of Mr. Ulee Bridges and Ur. O.
P. Lewis was presented with their
charter and six boys were accepted
into the Tenderfoot Hank as a be
ginning.
The record of advancement at the
March Court was as follows:
Troop 10 (colored) ten present; to
2nd class: Artemus Byers, Wendell
Carroll.
Merit Badge Firemanship: James
Thompson. Koseoe Brown, Victor
Carroll, Charles Davidson.
First Aid to Animals: Eulas Rose
mond, Paul Jackson.
Tenderfoot Rank: James 0, Ware,
i ~i; Harry Wilson 5; Dennis Deese, 4;
Mosroe Bell, 6; Howard Edens, 6;
Burgan Falls, 6; Roy Mauney,6; Eu
gene Wright 6; Troy Wright,6; Ed
gar Cooper, 2.
Second Class: William Pumphrey,
2;
First Class: J. T. Phaegin; James
Nichols, 1; J. D. Jones, 4; Robert
Morrison, 2; Tommy Harper, 3.
Merit Badges, Animal Industry:
(Cont'd on page Two)
NICK MOSS SERI
OLSLY ILG IN
WASHINGTON, N. C
Nick Moss. uTSinbei ol prominent
Kings Mountain family, n.is bci n
critically iii in Tay.oe Ho^pi.al, in
Washington, N. for the past week
following head lujiun received
while-on a trip to Washington, I).
me pmnoos week cllu.
Mr. Moss, who is English teacher
in the High School at Windsor, N.
went with a party of friends ;o
Washington, D. C. Early Saturday
evening, around 7: :H» o’clock he step
ped from a restaurant on a well
lighted street and two or three
hours ’ater came to himself in a
taxi without knowing what had hap
pened, but the fact that he had been
leads his friends to believe that he
had been struck on the back of the
head with a black jack, since his in
jury was of that nature. !
He returned to Windsor, the next
day without knowing his injuries
were of a serious nature.
Meningitis developed several days
later and since that time he has
been in a precarious condition.
His parents, Captain and Mrs. if.
N. Moss, and other relatives, Mr.
and Mrs. E. A. Smith, i’aul Neisler,
George Moss, Miss Mildred Moss,
all of this place, and Mrs. Ralph
Northern t of Ac worth, Ga., have
been in Washington, N. C., since
hearing of Mr. Moss’ illness. Some
of the members of the family re
turned to Kings Mountain Wednes
day anil report that some hope is
held for his recovery. Physicians ex
press themselves as being somp
what encouraged over his condition.
There is Gold in
“Them Thar Hills”
(By Mrs. A. H. Patterson)
More than a century ago, accord
ing to tradition, Mrs. Ben Briggs, an
humble farmer's wife, living in the
thickly wooded section, near what
is now the town of Kings Mountain
while dipping water from a nearby
spring noticed a sediment in the
water unlike anything she had ever ,
seen.
Hastily filling her snuff box with
the fragments of yellow ore, she
went to the field where her husband
was plowing to show him what she
had found.
Excitement, unequalled by that of
George Carmack, who tapped the
riches of the Klondike river in 1896,
reigned in the Briggs household,
when after examination by geologi
cal experts of that day, the shining |
ore was said to be the richest ever
found in the country.1
Visions of untold wealth came to
them, but by a strange irony of fate
Mr. Briggs though owning hundreds
of acres of land comprising the
Kings Mountain and Crowders Moult
tain areas and adjacent territory
' now occupied 'by the town of Kings
Mountain, was unable to finance a j
mining project even by the crude
methods of his day, but friends, hear
ing of the discovery of gold, came .
to his aid.
Shafts were sunk and real mining I
operations begun in 1834. Families
moved into the sparsely settled sec
tion and the stillness of the valley
was broken bv the sound of pick and
shovel.
A store built of logs, known as tne
Briggs Mining Company Store, was
operated at the rear of the present
G. T. King property and here the em
ployees of the mine came weekly,
usually on Saturday afternoon, to
buy their groceries and supplies.
The Briggs family later engaged
in other mining activities among
them being the Briggs iron foundry
operated where the Crowders Moun
tain Cotton Mill was erected in la
ter years.
Mining operations at the Kings
Mountain Gold Mine were carried on
intermittently from 1834 until 1895
and as late as 1910 and 1913 consid
erable prospecting was carried on, a
round the old workings and prepara
tions made to re-open the mine.
According to the Geologic Atlas of
United States, compiled by Arthur
Keith, placers have been worked
over an area of a few acres along
the stream below the mine proper.
1 Twelve or more shafts have been
sunk, some of which connect with
drifts, cross-cuts and stopes. Some
open cut-work and slucing was also
I done. The “sluice”, was a long slight
ly inclined trough, through which
water flowed rapidly and was of
varying dimensions. By a slow and
laborious process, most of the earth
ly element was eliminated leaving
what was considered in that day ac
cording to authentic record, the fin
est gold “this side of California.’’
Two of the shafts are from 300 to
350 feet deep, and others range from
50 to more than 200 feet, deep.
Approximately $750,000 to $1,000.
000 worth of gold ,has been mined at
the Kings Mountain mine, this possl
bly not including that mined by indi
viduals, who during the time the
mine stood idle, were allowed to
wash for gold. There were often dur
ing this period of idleness in mining
operations as many as 40 or 50 busi
ly engaged in washing for gold, work
ing by what they termed the-tribute
system, paying one tenth of gold
panned.
According to available information
and records, most of the gold. if
not all was marketed at the mint in
Charlotte. Mr. Jeff Huffstetler, resi
dent of Kings Mountain, an expen
enced miner and prospector, tells of
carrying $700 worth of gold at a
time to Charlotte, the prevailing
price being from 98c to $1.00 per
penny weight.
Mr. Huft'stetler tells interestingly
of the experiences of the miners ot
his day and delights in engaging in
reminiscences. He sr.ys the mine was
operated day and night, the average
wage 1>eing around $1.00 per day.
This was a fair wage for that dsay
when the cost of living wtfs compar
atively low. The employees were al
ways paid in gold money of 20, 10
and 4 dollar coins.
Many of the miners spent the
week ends around the barrooms,
drinking and carousing. These plac
es were scenes of frequent fights
and bloodshed and, in a few instan
ces, fatalities. The coffers of the
barrooms were filled with the hard
earned gold, while some of tne fam
ilies suffered for the bare necessi
ties of life. One of these barrooms
most frequented was located on the
roadside on the farm now owned by
S A. Matiney.
During the latter half of greatest
mining activity the operations were
tnder the supervision of J. C. Hor
*on. Colonel Taicott, Kershaw, Cool
idge, B. K. Jimison and other capi
talists from Pennsylvania and New
York. ‘
A large building known as the
hotel was erected near the mine and
this for the most part housed ,-the
overseers, bosses, etc., many of
(Cont'd on page Two)
MR. DERRICK TO
JlEAY E KINGS
-*iOi MAIN
li was with deep regret that the
council oi St. Matthew's Lutheran
Church accepted flic resignation of'
Rev. K. Denmk, as pastor oi the
i hutch, pttistj/lled at a called meet
ing Sunday evening a Her evening
worship.
i'astor perrick explained to the
council that he ltad accepted a call
as pastor ol' St. Andrew's Lutheran
Church, Charleston, S. C. That while
he regielled very much to sever his
connection with the Kings .Moun
tain pastorate he felt it was God s
will and Itis duty to accept tin- call
to St Andrews.
Rev. Derrick has been pastor of
St. Matthew's for the past five vears
and lie, Mrs. Derrick and little Clar
■ ence itave endeared themselves to
the members of the Church and it is
with sincere regret that we see them
j leave. T[ie Church lias iiad a splen
1 did growth under his leadership.
| St. Andrew’s, Charleston, has a
| membership of around 70o and they
have been without a pastor for
I some time. ..
- «_ » v
There will be a congregational
meeting of the membership of St
I Matthew’s Sunday to act on Rev.
I Derrick’s resignation.
ANNUAL HOME AND FOREIGN
MISSIONARY PROGRAM
A program an Home and Foreign
Missions will be rendered Sunday
March 31, at 11 o’clock. This pro
gram is sponsored by the Young
People's Department, and is as fol -
lows:
Hymn—Send the Light — Congre
gation.
Introduction — Rufus L McGill.
Chinese Girl — Sara Mae Falls.
American Nurse—Louise Putnam, j
Japanese Woman — Verna Hicks.
Hymn—'Tis So Sweet To Trust In
Jesus -Congregation.
Cuban Boy—Paul White.
Indian Boy—John Elam.
Mexican Man—John Hicks.
Poem - If They Were Our Own— |
Mrs. William Carroll.
Questions and Answers — William
Logan and Willie England.
Remarks—A. G. Sargeant.
Hymn -— Bringing In The Sheaves
— Choir.
'Regular morning offering.
Special missionary offering and
dedication.
Cradle Roll—Eunice Hurd.
Beginners—Linda Houser.
Primary—Ruth Putnam.
Junior — Juanita Putnam.
Intermediate—Lillian Hicks.
Young People—Martha Sue Stowe
Adult—Mary McCaslin.
Hymn — Stand Up For Jesus —
Congregation.
Benediction—Harold Crawford.
KINGS MOUNTAIN
BI(i LITTLE TOWN
A traveling salesman in the Orif
1 in Drug store made the remark that
: Kin;;; Mountain was llie biggest lit
tle town that his territory covered.
He asked the question, “How many
people live here, about 10.000?" Mr.
drift in replied that we did not have
‘juite that many hut we had a good
little town just the same. Mr. Grif
fin says that if you want to get the
best view of all the town at one
time, the best place is coming into
town from the old Patterson Grove
road; you can see the entire town
from Patterson Killing Station to the
Margrave Mill. Mr. Griffin says the
town is every bit of 2 1-2 miles wide.
LARGE QUANTITY FOOD ITEMS
GIVEN THRU IMPERIAL
THEATRE
A large quantity of food items
such as fruits, vegetables, produce,
and a variety of canned goods was
raised by a free show put on at the
Imperial Theatre Saturday morning.
This free show was staged through
the courtesy of Mr. David Cash, man
ager of the Imperial Theatre, in con
nection with Dollar Days. The show
was promoted by the Kings Moun
tain Herald. These items have been
turned over to Mrs. Mae Hamrick
and distributed to the needy famili rt
of tltis community.
DOLLAR DAYS BIG
SUCCESS HERE
The Dollar Days which were held
here last Friday, Saturday, and Man
day were a big success according to
the merchants who participated in
this event. Lots or people came to
Kings Mountain and bought many
needed items during this sale. One
merchant reported he had the best
day Saturday that he had had tuts
year.
HICKS RESIGNS
FROM POLICE FORCE
Mr. H. C. Hicks who has been a
member of the local police force for
the past six years resigned this
week, o accept a position else
where. The vacancy caused by the
resignation of Mr. Hicks has not
been filled at this time. :
SMOKE STACK
BLOWN DOWN
Considerable excitement was caus
ed by the smoke stack being blown
down during the storm Monday aft
ernoon. The stack Aas blown from
the building tit which Lawyer J. It.
Davis' office is located. This is the
only damage that has come to out
attention.
Scout Convention Held
Here Tuesday Afternoon
O. H. Benson, National Director ot'
llural Scouting in America and orig
inator of the 4-H Clubs, called on
the more than 200 Scout leaders in
convention here Tuesday evening at
the High School Cafeteria, to give
the Boys opportunity of Scouting.
He declared that Scouting would
help the youth to carry on and finish
the work that generations loday
have left undone, to discover the
new fields of endeavor, the new
trails and not the old trails of the
pioneering forefathers. He said that
the youth today was better educated
and healthier and that they are
heirs to a great wealth given them
by a progressive society. Unless the
youth is given control and character
all of this brain, brawn and wealth
will be used for destruction.
Mr. Benson stated that today thir
teen million was spent to handle
crime aud that the Boy Scout Mover
ment was the greatest an,ti-crim©
movement in the world. He declared
from a study of crime that those
who committed crime had no privi
lege of knowing the best men in
their community. Scouting is a man
boy movement and it gives the boy
opportunity to contact with the best
men in the community. It helps them
to find their life interest and work
The Piedmont Scouter’s Conven
tion was declared a success. Those
in attendance came from the eleven
counties makink up the Council.
The larger part of the group were
business and professional men inter
ested in Scouting from Gaston and
Cleveland counties. The leaders of
Kings Mountain took advantage of
the convention being here — approx
imately fifty men from this common
ity attended the meeting..
The Convention began at five i rK
the afternoon. The President of the
Piedmont Council, Hon. B. Capps of
! Gastonia was in charge. After a
! short session together groups were
assembled interested in the various
! parts of the work, Commissioners,
J Scoutmasters, Troop Committees, Ki
| nance, Court of Honor, Troop Or
ganization, Civic Service, Rural
Scouting, Reading, Church Relations,
Inter racial, Camping and School Re
lations.
At the dinner meeting at 6:30 re
: ports were neard from these group
sessions. Scout executive Schiele
spoke of the Scouting Festival lo be
at the University of North Carolin a
at Chapel Hill beginning April 2r>.
| Every leader of Scouting and everv
Boy Scout in uniform is invited to
attend. The boys will camp but the
meals will be furnished at the Uni
versity dining hall. A great pro
giant is being worked out.