Citizens Most Not Violate Law. ?wear Falsely By ALBERT COATBS ( Editors Notes -This is the fi/th of a series of articles by Mr. Ctxites, director of the Institute ? of Oovemment. on traffic, laws, traffic law enforcement, and traf fic law observance.) It is useless to expect safety to come to the streets and highways of North Carolina as long as we the people (1) cavalierly violate the laws thfey have elected repre sentatives to make, appointed per sonnel to administer, and hired officials, to enforce; (2) turn with wrath upon the officers who dare to caution or arrest them for vio lations of the laws that citizens are required to observe and offi cers have sworn to enforce; (3) go into court and swear oh the Bible they were going twenty to twenty-five miles an hour when the Impact from a head-on colli sion was terrific enough to knock the engine halfway under the body of the colliding car, or that they had taken only a little liquor "for the stoftiach's sak?" when they were too drunk to strike a match to light a cigarette, or rec ognize their driver's license card, or stoop and pick up a bunch of keys; (4) and then put pressure on solicitors to nolle prosse cases or change the warrants to make out a lesser charge, plead with judges to suspend a sentence, or maybe fine them but never send them to jail or take away their driver's license, and turn the heat on hearing officers to restore as a favor a license revoked for cause. It is useless to expect safety to come to the streets and highways of North Caroling as long as jur ors picked at random from the people turn loose violators of the traffic laws in the face of facts so clear and convincing that a judge in open court calls off all other traffic violation cases be fore- that Jury for tin- rest of the term; as long as we the people feel as the witness on the stand the other day, convicted of reck less driving on the day before, denying he had ever been convict ed of a crime, because "everybody knows that reckless driving ain't no crime;" as long as we the peo ple feel that assault and battery by automobile Is not quite as ser ious as assault and battery with fjst or knucks, that aggravated assault and battery with an auto mobile' as the deadly weapon is not quite as serious as assault with the deadly weapon of knife or gun, that manslaughter or murder committed in a burst of reckless speed is not quite as ser ious as manslaughter or murder committed In a burst of reckness passion, and that loss of property by collision with an automobile is not quite as serious as loss of pro perty by robbery with firearms. To Illustrate my meaning: A judge of the Superior Court tells the following- story of traffic vio lation cuses in a recent term of cdurt In North Carolina: "In a recent term of criminal court the usual number of motor vehicle cases .appeared on the docket: drunken driving, reckless driving, manslaughter, speeding, and .so on. The evidence convinced me that the defendants were all guil ty as charged, but the jury ac^ quitted every one. One defendant was charged with operating a car under the Influence of liquor. He had no lawyer: he put on no evi dence; he never cross-examined a witness; he didn't make a speech to the Jury. He simply came to court, pled not guilty, and sat there. Two. officers testified that the defendant's car passed them at 75 to 80 miles per hour, that he left his side of a three lane high way, ran over Into the extreme left lane and Into the side of a truck, going in the opposite direc tion on its side of the road; that he turned over twice and when they got him out of the wreckage he was limber drunk, reekless with alcohol, and unhurt! The Jury stayed out ten minutes and returned with a verdict of not guilty. This happens over and over again." No better law wa? needed in those cases. Np better testifying officer was needed in these cases. No better solicitor was needed in these pases. No better judge was needed In these cases. Twelve good men and true, drawn by lot from the rank and file of we the people took the law into their own hands and in successive verdicts nullified all of the work of the lawmakers, Investigating officers, and prc?soeuting attorneys, and left the judge in the position of a bright and beautiful angel beat ing in the void his luminous wings in yaln. It Is useless to expect ORDER NOW FOR v - . NEXT SUNDAY! MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL! Red Dutch Iris Corsage Li iY)i itidl/iti's in blooli i on Her Day.' Cvm h'h \int'nt In r rmiiuncc vritli'a gift of. liiiilfi, fragrant fU>ucrs, ... See Us For All Kinds ? POT PLANTS ? CORSAGES ? CUT FLOWERS Kings Mountain Florist Phone 257-J? W Mountain Sf.. Prof.: iotors Mr*. M;iry H. Spoarrium Mrs, Cruthrir Harhriek Clt'or^f A. Hamriok safety to come to the streets and highways a* long a* "crowds can Wink, and no offense be known since In the other's guilt each finds his own." EXPERIENCE KEEPS A DEAR SCHOOL "Experience keeps a dear school, yet fools will learn in no other," Benjamin . Franklin said a hundred and fifty years and more ago. Experience came too late last year for a thousand men and women who were killed in the act of acquiring It, and too late for hundreds of others who were .crippled for life. It came too late to avoid the pain and suffering of fifteen thousand men and women injured in its acquisition. It came too late to avoid the time they lost from productive work and the money spent in hospital care and doctors* bills. It came too late to save a hundred thousand men and women from the time and money swallowed up in giv ing bond, attending trials, costs of jourt, and lawyers' fees. Experience may be the best teacher, but is it the only teacher? Is there no other way to learn? Does the visible experience of a thousand friends and neighbors killed, fifteen thousand Injured, and two hundred thousand called in court teach us no lesson that can interrupt the treadmill path? Must we of necessity repeat in 1952 the 1951 performance? In this new year's beginning no one of our million six hundred thous and licensed drivers know he will not be amdng those killed, or in jured to the crippling point, be fore the stroke of midnight in December opens new books for 1953i and therefore every one of us might note the pointed words ot John Donne's warning: "Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." ? KT.h?. Pr?Phets ot old found out that thus sayeth the Lord" was not enough to effectuate the Lord s Commandants. And we are finding out that "therefore, be It enacted" Is not enough to guaran lee obedience tc the laws of the General Assembly; that "thus sayeth the Lav mot enough to enforce the rules of the road; and that lip service to the traffic laws is not enough as long as men will drive seventy-five miles an hour to get to a safety meeting on time, Join in resolutions damning speed law violators, and violate the speed law going as well as com ing in the effort to get back home before dark. We are finding out that efforts to bring safety to the streets and highways of North Caro Una cannot stop with mass meetings blowing off a surplus steam in pious resolutions full of sound and fury signifying noth , -?r vvl,h committee nicotines hoiiMi kingdom are m the hands of every driver at the, wheel. Here is the court of last resort, open all W judgement handed TEACHING TRAFFIC LAW OBSERVANCE The necessity of teaching traf fic problems, -traffic laws, and -traffic law observance to every driver at Hie wheel was born with j the automobile at the turn of the] century, brought forward with | the rules of the road in the years f that followed, born again with the i drivers' license law in 1917, and comes to a focal point in every application. tor a driver's license. In the race between education ? and ^catastrophe on the streets j and highways of North Carolina. I the Institute of Government is carrying its traffic schooling pro ( gram beyond police and sheriff j and patrol - with their warnings. ' tickets, and arrest's: beyond Soli- J citors and judges of the lower courts with their prosecutions and their judgments; beyond extfmin ers and hearing officers with the give and take of licenses: to the i million six hundred thousand driv- ? ers with a license granted by the state and the rank and file be- ; yond them. j DRIVERS GUIDEBOOK The Institute of Government is starting on this schooling venture with a brief and pointed gukle book of facts and factors every driver at the wheel should know by heart in the belief that the time has come to throw down the gauntlet, not to throw in the1 towel or the sponge; in the effort to get under the driver's skin and into his mind and conscience with the notion that responsibility goes with freedom to the point it finds expression in his reflex action at the Wheel. c. - ? . . WILD WEST RODEO TO HIT TOWN? Monday and Tuesday even ings at 8 o'clock. Kings Mountain I ay cms will sponsor the Cherokee Ranch Rodeo at Plonk Showgrounds on Grorer Road. Tickets are now on sale by Jaycees, who retain 50 percent of advance sale tick ets for the club's recreation fund. Among the acts In the Rodeo are the eref-present clowns and circus acts, lower left; wild bull riding, steer wrestling and bronc riding, lower right;, some of the nations prettiest and all round champion cowgirls, upper right; and Vema Jo Waite. "the Blonde Bombshell" of Goree, Texas, upper right, one of the girl bronc riders. Funeral Conducted For Wilson Child Funeral rites for Edward Eu gene Wilson, two-year-old son of Mr. and Mras. Robert A. Wilson, route 2, Kings Mountain, were held Tuesday afternoon at 3 o'clock at Antioch Baptist church, interment. following in the church cemfetery. The child, a "blue baby", died Monday night at 11 o'clock. Surviving, in addition to the pa rents. are two brothers, Henry and James Wilson, and five sis ters, Betty Sue Wilson, Hazel Wil son, Bobbie Wilson, Bessie Wil son and Virginia Wilson. Curled dock In small grain can be controlled with 2, 4-D. Kings Mountain high school's baseball team is slated to wind up he 1952 home season with a two-game stand at City Stadium, facing Tri-Hlgh here on Friday afternoon and playing hosts to Llncolnton on Tuesday afternoon. BASEBALL SCHEDULE | May 2? Tri-High Home I May 6 ? lincolnton Home May 8 ? Uncolnton Away May .9 ? Cllffside Away (all games at 3:30 p. m-) Both games are set for 3:30 p. m. Rain caught up with the Moun taineers at Lincolnton last Fri Mountaineers Hit Tri-High At Pazk Friday, Last Home Game Tuesday . * -dA> - ? : 1? - : ? ? ' ? ' day afternoon forcing the first postponement of the season. The game has been rescheduled for next Tuesday at Lincoln ton, with the final set for Cllffside on May 9. Coach Art Weiner's crew had an open date . Tuesday and the weather break last Friday has served to rest the Mountaineer mound corps. Righthanders Ken Dalton and Charles Painter are both set to go Friday, with Jim Crawford and Dean Smith also available for duty. Loss of Righthander Harold Pearson to the team two weeks ago has seriously weakened the hill staff and the trio of contests next week is going to put a big strain on the pitching guys. The Mountaineers have improv ed steadily all season but still lack that run-making punch, leav ing. too many runners stranded on the sacks when the third out comes up. The next two games will mark the end of several player's high school careers. ; - When ice floats in water, the portion of the ices below water level Is the same volume that would be occupied by the water resulting from the melting of all the ice. Personal Income in December was at an annual rate of $257 billion, slightly above November total of $256 1/2 billion. Weekend Special 6-pejyALNUT BEDROOM SUITE Bed Vanity Innerspring Mattress Springs O Chest ? Vanity Stool Only $139.50 $5 Will Reserve Your Purchase of This Extra Special Value Rainwater Furniture Company EASY TERMS ? NO CARRYING CHARGES Phone 726 McGinnis Department Store 100% NYLON DRESSES 2-piece Bembeigs $7.95 SUMMER DRESSES ? Bembergs ? Cottons ? Crepes $4.95 - Cotton Slips.... Panties SUMMER DRESSES French Crepes ? Chambrays ? Other Cottons $5.95 BEAUTIFUL SHEER Half-Slips Beautiful Rayon with Nylon trim, only 48c, 59c, 69c, 79c Nylon Hose 97c to $1.49 Blouses $1 to $1.98 Shop Now For Mother's Day, May 11 MERCHANTS WHO ARE PROUD TO DISPLAY THE EMBLEM ? _ ^ of the Kings Mountain Merchants Association MEMBER 1952 Kings Mountain Merchants Association which signifies honesty, integrity, and quality merchandise at reason able prices. Look lor this emblem on your merchant s window. -guy 55^ . Mountain Merchants Association MEMBER 1952 This space paid lor by these Association Members: Bridges Hardware. Cooper'fc. Inc.. Plonk Brothers. Ward's Seed & Feed.