The Kings Mountain Heiald
Established 1889
A weekly newspaper devoted to the promotion oi the general welfare and published
lor the enlightenment, entertainment and benefit of the citizens of Kings M-nintain
and lt? vicinity, published every Friday by the Herald Publishing House.
Entered as second .Maw matter at the postofflce at Kings Mountain, N. C., under Act'
of Congress of March 3, 1873.
Editorial Department
Martin Harmon Editor -Publisher
Charles T. Carpenter, Jr .' Sports, Circulation, News
Mr*. P. D. Herndon Society
Mechanical Department . '
Eugene Matthews Horace Walker Ivan Weaver
Paul Jackson Charles Oderns
TELEPHONES: Society. 167; Other. 283
? SUBSCRIPTION RATES, PAYABLE IN ADVANCE
ONE YEAR ? $2 00 SIX MONTHS? $1.10 THREE MONTHS? 60
* TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE
A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spir
it. Proverbs 15:4.
Full Consideration
Needless to say, the Herald hopes that.
Highway Commissioner Joseph Gra
ham's promise to give "fullest consider
ation" to requests to hard-surface the
Lake Montonia Road will result in pav
ing of this much-traveled strip of road.
This strip is short but it is painful to
travel at about any season of the year.
In summer, the dust boils up thick and
heavy, and in the winter, the road is tru
ly "mud row."
Traffic On this road is heavier in the
summer months, but it also carries a
large amount of traffic in the winter, in
cluding 10 trips weekly for the school
bus which operates on that road.
The above is a prelude to commenting
on the interesting discussion between
local citizzens, Commissioner Graham
Th^-GonMmstHonep^vuw. Av-mV
the impact of rising prices on highway
construction in the state, for road-build
ing thus far has been benefited by bids
which, generally, have'been lower, than
highway department estimates. This
meant more miles of road for the same
cash outlay. With a reversal in the trend,
it is easy to see why the highway offi
cials arc bothered. Obviously, they want
to build as many miles of improved
roads as possible.
The Commissioner also remarked that
preliminary work is underway, leading
to a survey for widening of the eight
mile stretch of U. S. 74 to Gastonia. Ac
cording to Mr. Graham, the anticipated
additional two-lane strip, Which will
make a four-lane boulevard, will paral
lel the present two-lane road, and will
run either north or south of the present
roadbed, depending on which location is
most feasible from. the twin viewspoints
of engineering ease and financial sav
ings.
?Roadswise, the Kings Mountain area
has been behind., and the Herald trusts
that the projects discussed with Mr. Gra
ham will be placed on the working
? agenda.
Getting Poorer
If one would believe the taxable val
uation figures, Kings Mountain is get
ting poorer as the years pass.
Taxable valuation for 1950 totaled
only $5,501,078, a drop of $83,827 from
1949, and an even greater drop from the
previous year.
It's a reminder that the present meth
od of assessing properties isn't very ac
curate, or equitable, for certainly Kings
Mountain citizens showed property in
creases during the two years just past,
even though the books don't show it.
The comparison of figures is quite
interesting, and Shows that there has
been a "creeping" gain in realty values,
again hardly indicative of the actual a
mount of construction that has been
going on.
Another interesting figure is that for
motor vehicle listings, about the only
category, incidentally, which is listed
accurately and equitably year after
year. Motor vehicles are listed by the
"blue book," which means that whole
sale market values at the time of listing
are used. It is. of course, interesting to
note, that Kings Mountain citizens own
ed motor vehicles worth ?593,102 in
January of 1950. That is a sizeable a
mount of rolling stock.
Obvious conclusion to the valuation
business is that the county is long over
due on the business of revaluing its pro
perties. But that statement had been
made so frequently, from so many quar
ters, and without result, that it appears
the same trend will continue.
Actually, it makes not a great amount
of difference that the city appears to be
getting poorer, though it poses some
headaches for city officials with budget
problems. The most unfortunate aspect
of the situation is that some property
owners are being penalized in compari
son to their neighbors.
Fighting For Life
Much attention has been given in the,
press of the nation during the past week
on the question: What are we fighting
for in Korea?
Impetus for the attention seems to
have come from the statement of a sol
dier in Korea, who paused in the thick of
the fighting to wonder questioningly
why he was fighting "to save this hell
hole."
The conclusion is .that this nation is
fighting for its life, and most of the
press thinks the leaders of this nation
should have so informed the men al
ready fighting, and those who will be
called.
The New York Times expresses it this
way:
"The basic facts that every American
so hi i ' 1 d a * * e>i ?y^V
simple. The soldier in the Korean hills
and the folks back home who pay high
er taxes and accept controls are, to be
gin with, fighting for survival. Korea is
only a single battle in a long war whose
sphere of action is the greater part of the
world. This is an acute phase of a strug
gle in which our liberty and our whole
way of life are at stake. ? One filthy, .
bleary-eyed boy firing a bazooka at a
Russian-built North Korean tank is de
fending the freedom of his country and
everything that Americans hold dear as
surely as if he were defending the shores
of California or Virginia against Com
munistic hordes. His enemy is only inci
dentally the fanatical, misguided Korean
who comes at him to kill. It is commu
nism. totalitarianism, slavery, the police
state, that is the true enemy.
"He must, then, know what' commun
ism means and how it works in practice.
He must be made to realize that there
is no ground for compromise between
Soviet communism and Western democ
racy; they can both live at peace in the
world only if the Communists stay on
their side of the iron curtains. But com
munism is an aggressive, expanding
force carrying, a pseudo-religious mes
sage. It believes that the so-called bour
geois-capitalist-imperialist world seeks
the destruction by war of communism
but that in the inevitable final conflict
the Communists must win. It uses meth
ods that have no regard for normal prin- I
ciples or scruples; the end justifies the I
means, and it is a wicked end. It is pow- |
erful in its appeal, especially to the back- j
ward Asian masses, but it is also power- j
ful in its military strength.
"This is the enmy that the young in
fantryman is fighting in his Korean I
"hellhole," and it is tragic that no one |
has made him realize the truth."
The Herald is sorry to learn that T. |
W. Grayson has resigned as a member !
of the Cleveland County selective ser
vice board. Mr. Grayson was making a
good member of the board. Finding per
sons to serve on the selective service
board is another difficult job. The men
do not receive any pay, and their service
is not limited to the frequent meetings
of the board, for they are constantly call
ed on for information by individuals
who want to know what's coming in the
way of "greetings from the president." j
? ? |
By the time this appears in print, it is I
quite possible that President Truman ,
wilt have signed the bill expanding con
siderably social security benefits and
broadening the coverage of the act.
Much of it appear? good, but it's hard to !
see how the government is going to get I
along on the business of obtaining reg- J
ular reports from housewives on domes- j
tic help. Granted, the domestic employ-' :
ees need coverage, perhaps more than
any other group, but administration of '
this phase of the social security program j
promises to be filled with headaches.
Our congratulations to the Beth-Ware
Progressive Club, which is now busily j
engaged in making preparations for the
annual Beth- Ware Community Fair. The 1
event has proved a popuiar one in the
past, and fair officials are predicting a ?
bigger and better one for this ydar.
10
YEARS AGO Item* of news taken from the 1940 files of the
THIS WEEK Kings Mountain Herald.
Kings Mountain Lions wore evening Lion Mike Milarh told of Burns told of the return trio to'
given a fir.s-t hand report of the the trip to the Cuban Capitol; The Best Town in The State I
trip four members made to the Tom Helton reported on the
International Convention in Ha- . "day-life" while on the island, Mr. and Mrs. W. K. Crook were !
vana, Cuba. George Mauney grave a detailed quests of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mauj
Following the suppeT in the account of the night life during n<>y at Lake Waccamaw during
Woman's Club building Tuesday their stay in Cuba, and Jimmy the Pas' weekend.
martin's
medicine
By Martin Harmon
v Containing bits ol uwi, wis
dom. humor, and comment To
be taken weekly. Avoid
over-dosage.)
Gas
One of the principal develop
ments of the machine age Is
tbe use ol gai. In one form or
another, and there are some
several kinds,
?9' .
Most popular and customary
thought which pops in the
mind when one mentions gas
is gasoline, the fuel which pro
pels automobiles down the
highway at speeds over and
above the call of safety. Use ol
this fuel to propel motors has j
Increased by leaps and bounds J
over the yeajs since the first
horseless carriages came into
being, and now it is used for
the airplane. tractors, and
heavy equipment of all kinds.
It once was said that an army
traveled on its stomach, mean
ing that unless there was suf
ficient food, an army was no
good. While the statement still
stands, the importance of gas
oline to an army is almost as
important as food. Mobility is
the key. and many a fighting
unit during World War II found
it necessary to stop and wait |
until gasoline supplies caught
up with it.
kg.
Importance of gasoline to this
community will be noted in the
announcement of taxable valu
ations for '1950, when Kings
Mountain citizens listed near
ly S6 00,000 worth of motor ve
hicles. They wouldn't be worth
a dime if gasoline wasn't
available.
.g.
But there are many kinds of
gas man has put to use. There
is the relatively inactive neon
gas which lights the fancy
signs on stores and business
houses, there is manufactured
gas mefl for oookiHU1 arm v
Tn5j,~d&d?ol colffrie^natural gas,
which Is much in the news
these days, what with the nat
ural gas pipe line heading ra
pidly toward New York, and
with several different compan
ies fighting to determine which
one shall serve what territory.
-g.
It would be amiss not to men
tion another kind of gas that
has been In use since time im
memorial. This is the kind of
gas which is known rrs "wind."
"hot air." and any o< several
other apt titles. "Gas" speci
alists are to be found at any
and all times, as the pages of
history duly record.
.g.
But the natural gas business
was the original impetus for
this piece, due to the medicinal
department's recent tuning In
for a couple of hours on the
broadcast of an Atlanta gas en
gineer. His name was Hall and
he was most enthusiastic about
the gas business. I happened
into City Hall when Engineer
Hall was "broadcasting" to
Manley Fuller, the new city ad
ministrator. Actually, the engi
neer was explaining to Mr.
Fuller the advantages which
would come to Kings Mountain
should the city take on the Job
of natural gas distribution. In
turn, the engineen was trying
to sell his firm for a survey
ing Job.
-g. ^
The discussion was most in
teresting to me, for I know ab
so lutely nothing about natu
ral gas, except that I've heard
o! it blowing up and therefore
always mentally noted that I'd
continue to do my cooking with
electricity. However, a gas en
thuiast will quickly tell you
that your fears are silly and
that use of gas is not only
cheap, and clean, but also safe.
I believe the engineer) said that
natural gas is non- poisonous,
thus will not asyphylxlarte those
careless folk who leare a unit
valve open in a closed room.
.g.
Mr. Hall said he'd been check
ing on use of gas in cities fit
ting the service for many years
and that the first major use of
the fuel was for heating. Gas
is supposed to be much clean
er than other fuels. Later on
folks start using gas for al
most everything, for cooking,
for heating water and for run
ning refrigerators.
#?
Within the near future. Mr.
Hall expects to talk with the
city board concerning possible
use of gas in Kings Mountain,
with the idea that the city
would do the distributing (ok
Just as It doe* electric powe*
I asked him to estimate in
round figures what the cost of
a . . gas distribution system
would be and he thought
about $375^)00 for a city the
sire of Xings Mountain.
?9
Many local folk, we under
stand. are already gas enthus
iasts. for several have spoken
about the hope that King*
Mountain will be served off the
pipe line now being run. It has
an interesting angle fron^ the
city's standpoint for it is pos
sible that distribution of gas
here would slow the rate of in*
crease In use of power. Some
think the city should distribute
all the utilities.
Gas is interesting, but I'm
not sure I'm ready as yet to
swap off electricity for It. Of
course this department
couldn't operate at all without
the "hot aUT type.
< KOSSK OKI) + * * Hy A. C. Cordon
ACROSS
1 ? Plant ir>ffh.?nif?
9 - To lop off sutler fluous
branches or shoots
1 Or? A constellation
1 2-iTo makf tight
1 54
1 5?Couitienniiff i
1 7 ? Educated Agricul
tural Barons < abbrev )
> 8 ? Climbii>g plants
2 ? ?? -'M radow
2 . ? An author ired doctor's
>Mii(ant i dbbicv )
7,2 Ffinalc d<rr
2 3 ? Gnml.iniJ
2 3 Two things of a bind
(abhtev >
26? Vessr-1 for hrntmg
? liquids
! 28- - A kind of h Arrow
30 Old Ivy | abbrtv )
J I ? United Ins (abbrev )
32 ? Nourishes
I A? Flowers of Holland
3**? Preposition
40 ? Young A?t*r Enter
prises (abbrev.)
41 ? To soak fla*
4 2 ? A plural lufftx
43 ? To augment
4 5 ? To scatter Mtdt again
In the Garden
4 7? Personal pronoun
48 ? A cultivated
lihaieout plant
50 ? Moisture on the
plants
51? Fu rniihet with
strength
?52- - To. elevate
5-1 -Eachk without
-exception
56- Common yellow
flower
DOWN
1 ?To dig about in the
g.irden
2- Abbreviation for a
month
3 - Reentered Nurst
( abbrev/)
4 ? Wielda^the spade
5 ? Type of literature
(pl >
6 ? Comparative suffix
7 ? Edge
8 ? Important agent of
plant growth
9 ? A young tree, shrub,
or herb
1 1 ? Scottish turnip*
1 2 ? A kind of plant that
lives from year to
1 4 ? Roman numeral
16 ? This flower was named
for a mythological
youth who fell in
love with his own
reflection
18? -Mythological maiden
19? Compais direction
2 2? The flower .that
' never tells'*
24'? Mature being
27? Correlative of neither
29? Roman numeral
3J~ Below
34 ? Listening device
'35 ? Germinated flowers
36 ? Gardening implement
3? ? Union of Educated
Wallflowers (abbrev )
38 ? Genus of plants of the
crowfoot family
4 4? Lifeless
46 ? Compass direction
4 7 ? Spun wool v
49 ? Knowledge 6f Internal
.Agriculture (abbrev.)
51 ? Form of the Latin
"mine"
53 ? Chemical symbol for
st annum
S5-? Roman numeral
Seo The Want M Section For Tills Week*! Completed Puzzle
OPPORTUNITY ON THE
FARM
(Forest City Courrier)
Senator Clinton P. Anderson, of
New Mexico, a former Secretary
of Agriculture tells college grad
uates that they will have no
shortage of opportunity on the
nation's farms where there ex
ists a great field for practical
endeavor."
This Ls an interesting state
ment because many persons have
been under the impression that
agricultural activity fails to pre
sent opportunities sufficient to
atract the younger generation.
While there are exceptions in
Rutherford county and all over
the nation, the general impres
sion is that the farmer has a hard
life, beset by the perils of weath
er and with not much promise of
a competency in connection with
financial rewards.
It is encouraging .to hear the
opinion of Mr. Anderson. It tends
to confirm the belief that agri
culture, like other economic en
terprises, offers improving re
wards for intelligent, hard-work
ing and industrious (individuals.
NOT TRUE AMERICANISM
(Bladen Journal)
It is not difficult to conceive of
what manner of patriotism pos
sesses people In this country who
will strike and threaten to strike
when such action is (bound to re
tard the war efforts of the United
States when we have men fight
ing and dying on the battle
fronts. Surely It Is a brand of pa
triotism that would not stand up
under an acid test. .
Recently there was a strike of
needed workers in Alaska, a
strategic poiitt, while war raged
In Korea. Then there was another
strike of workers at the atomic
plant operated by our govern
ment, and at a time when full
production should be maintained.
Qther strikes are threatened by
meat plant workers, railroad
workers and other transportation
fields. Few things are more im
portant in time of war than a
smooth operation of the transpor
tation systems of the nation.
j We have always thought there
was a better plan for settling la
bor-capital disputes than calling
a strike that would affect the e
conomy and well-being of all the
people of the nation, even in
time of peace, and surely a bet
ter plan should be found in time
of war. We cannot help tout won
der what would happen in Rus
sia if any group attempted to
strike and delay the military ef
forts in that country. But this is
a democracy, which gives free
doms that no other form of gov
ernment gives its subjects ? free
doms that many Americans seem
not to fully appreciate.
Surely there should be no
strikes that are calculated to
thwart our efforts to suppress
Communism and its threatened
spread over the earth. There 1 a
no true Americanism shown by
any group that would hinder the
United Nations, including the
United States, during the present
crises. At least, that's our. belief.
One person Is toeing killed ev
ery 10 hours in North Carolina in
a highway accident, one person
is being injured every 47 minu
tes and a highway accident is
oocurring every 25 minutes, ac
cording to the North Carolina De
partment of Motor Vttvicles.
One-fourth of the highway ac
cidents In North Carolina involve
farmers and their families. The
North Carolina Department of
Motor Vehicles says that a high
way accident can wipe out a far
mer's profit tor the entire year.
- ? .
/t 's NOT chicken feed f
Don't think of small sums
of money as chicken feed.
Regular^depoerts in a sav
J ings account soon count
up and will help to
make your future
more secure.
V * .
COME IN AND START YOU* ACCOUNT
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
X .
Member F D I C '
mm
Dr. lames S. Bailey
OPTOMETRIST
Examination, Diagnosis, Glasses Fitted
Office open each Friday 10 A. M. to 5 P. M.
214 Mountain St. Next Door To Imperial Theatre
? Quality Cleaning?
? That's The Brand You Get At ?
WEAVER S CLEANING
; Phone 568-1
Cool Oil In The Mountains At
Asheville Recreation Pazk
# Ride # Roller Skate # Swim
'
# Free Picnic Grounds
Plan now to bring your family and friends to spend a
fun-packed day.
Open 7 days a v. eek thru Labor Day
On U. S. 81 4 miles East of Asheville
THAT trip will be more fun, every
mil?-r-if you're sure your Buick
is at its noble best! Better call your
nearest Buick dealer this week about
these services:
Safety-check stop lights, signal
lights, brakes, front wheel bearings
? Inspect tires, complete ignition
system, battery, generator ? Clean
fuel filter, air cleaner, spark plugs ?
Line up headlight aim, front wheel
alignment ? Step up performance
by checking compression, adjusting
carburetor, setting ignition timing
? Increase tire Nfe by cross^switch
ing all tires, inoluding spare
? Improve rid* by Buick's own
LUBRICARB, a special "lubricatioa
plus" maintenance.