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 <T<T' lu SUch Nvho ,hink
too little and who talk too much f
\Ve are told in the Book of Kings
that. . a great and strong wind
lent the mountains, and brake In
Pieces the rocks before Jehovah.
Jn i I.was not in thc xvin<?;
and after the earthquake a fire,
but Jehovah was not in the fire
and after the fire a still smali
v oice. I he Kingdom of Safety
? ke the Kingdom of God. is not
in he committee, nor in the mass
kinJinm y?11' And ,ho krys to ,h<>
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.