The Kings Mountain Herald Established 1889 A weekly newspaper devoted to the promotion of the general welfare and published for the enlightenment, entertainment and benefit of the cltiEens of Kings Mountain ' and Us vicinity, published every Thursday by the Herald Publishing House. Entered as second class matter at the postoffi^e at King* Mountain, N. C., under Act Congress of March 3, 1813. EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Martin Harmon EdItor-PubHsher Charles T. Carpenter, Jr. Sports, Circulation, Mews Miss Elizabeth Stewart Society Mrs. Thomas Meacham Bookkeeping, News , MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT Eugene Matthews Horace Walker David Weathers Ivan Weaver* Charles Miller ' Paul Jackson (?Member of Armed Forces) TELEPHONE NUMBERS ? 167 or 283 SUBSCRIPTION RATES PAYABLE IN AiW^ NCE - ONE YEAR? $2.50 SIX "MONTHS ? <1.40 THREE MONTHS? 75c BY MAIL ANYWHERE TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE And not only so, but tve glory in tribulations alto: knowing that tribulations worketh patience. Romans 6:3. ' . . " . ? ? ? ? ? ? . ? i . - .. Business Outlook With half of 1954 now ready for the history books, there is a rash of review ing of the first six months' activity in in dustry and commerce coupled with the inevitable guesses projected into the fu ture. Roger Babson, the economist who es tablished his reputation for able econo mic phrophecy by predicting the 1929 crash, published a detailed look-see ahead, and, generally, thinks the pace of business for the remainder Of .1954 will not be bad. Important to Kings Mountain, he notes that sOi't goods have continued to move in high unit volume, though frequently at sacrifice prices for both manufacturer and merchant. In ventories moving out make room for new goods. Further indications that there should be improvement in textiles in forthcoming months are slight firm ing of prices in recent weeks for some classes of goods. Money is "easy", in contrast to the initial hard money policy of the Eisen hower administration on its inaugura tion. Interest rates have been cut heavi ly by the banks of large cities in order to keep money in the hands of interest payers, and insurance companies, with their large cash holdings, have become real "peddlers'' of cash. Construction is heavy throughout the nation, and has been the backbone of the economy during the first six months of " the year. It is evident in Kings Moun tain, as a tour of the area will quickly show. It includes residential construc tion, commercial and industrial build ing, and public works by city, school, and state agencies. Construction mean? payrolls and payrolls mean customers for cars, window curtains, apparel, good food and all the many aids to a high standard of living. If the textile industry emerges from its recession which started early this year, Kings Mountain will be -a prosper ous community during the last half of 1954. Is Southern Bell practicing the old governmental trick of asking for much more than it expects in order to assure receipt of what- it really wants? As the Utilities Commission considers the Bell appeal on the 1953 rate increase, South ern Bell has filed request to raise its rates even more. Few telephone sub scribers will know how, nor care, to ana lyze the technical matter Of rate of re turn on Southern Bell's invested capital, but they are sure they don't want to see their phone bills hiked. In Kings Moun tain, where many people are chomping at the bit for dial service, the company can well expect more pressure for the more modern installation. Dividends paid yesterday by Kings Mountain's two building and loan asso ciations on savings shares for the half year totaled more than $3G,000, which adds up to a nice twice-yearly payroll in its own right. Some of the money will be - ploughed back into savings of one kind or another, while some of it will enter the local stream of commerce. The sav ings totals of Kings Mountain citizens continue to grow, reminding once again that regular, systematic saving is the only way most folk can accumulate sur plus iunds. And that's the way a majori ty of the shareholders of the two build ing and loan institutions have amassed their funds. Congratulations are in order to C. D. Blanton, Kings Mountain druggist, re cently elected second vice-president of the North Carolina Pharmaceutical as sociation for 1955 56, an elevation from his present position of third vice-presi dent. Thursday, July 1st, is deadline day for getting the full two percent discount on 1954 city tax bills. The City Budget At first glance the city's 1954-55 bud get appeared alarming to some citizens, who looked with more than a little un happiness at the total and the eleven percent increase over the estimate for the year just ending. It followed the. news of a 40- cent increase in the tax rate, approximating 30 percent oyer last year. It would be good if the city would pub lish, when the budget is finally adopted, its breakdown sheets on department dis bursements, for a clearer picture would be available to the taxpayers on where the money is going, and it would also diminish some of the cries of anguish. The Herald cocked the eye at the large increase in police department appropri ation over the estimate for last year. But a ch*?ck 'A the breakdown indicates that the $48,000 appropriated, against a request for more than $53,000, is not "fatty" after all. Major portion, of course, will go for officer pay at a maxi mum of $250 per month. With 14 officers on the force a year's payroll would be about $42,000. The force could be cut, but the officers now are on duty eight hours daily, six days per week. In addi tion, they are subject to call for special duty ? in event Of emergency, funeral, or other need ? on their off-day. Some officers are not yet at the top pay scale, but regular increments are provided for longevity each six months. Actually, the police budget increases only slightly ov er the actual expenditures of the depart ment during the year just closed, indi cating the 1953-54 estimate was unreal istic. ? . There should be no complaint over the $5,000 increase in estimates of expendi tures for water and sewer operations, basic services of the city which are greatly needed in many areas. Some bond money is available for these need ed line extensions, but plant construc tion will claim the major share of the available .borrowings.. And were it not for the available bond money, the puny planned expenditures for capital equip ment would be subject to criticism. On its estimates of income, the city may be slightly pessimistic on some items. Powell Street aid should return perhaps $1,(XX) to $2,000 more than the $2T^XX) anticipated, and the $75 expecta tion from parking space rentals will be more than double that figure. However, these are quite minor additions, in rela tion to the total of $472,431. One spot which looks shy is the anti cipated revenue from street assessments at $2,500. Of course, property owners as sessed for streets tvhp don't mind the in terest payments can take ip to three years to pay the assessments, but sure ly, with some considerable street-paving mapped and other assessments on the books, the receipts from this category will be increased over the estimate. At any rate, a budget is primarily a work sheet and is subject to forced change, either by uncontrollable situa tions such as less collections than anti cipated, acts of G ,0 HOME TOWN VIEW OF SENATOR ERVIN In Senator Sam Ervln do we | have a "conservative" or a "liber al" or a "middle-of-the-roader" in Washington? Most North Carolina editors have put the "conservative" label on the new Senator, though some have hastened to say that Mr. Er vln is not so conservative as Mr. So-and-So or Mr. Such-and-Such, well-known conservatives of the Old Guard. A few editors have made Senator Ervin a Mr. In J3etween ? to the lteft of Politician "A" but to the right of Politician "B". What do the folks who know Sam Ervln best think o fhim? Listen to this from the Morgah ton News-Herald, the new Sena tor's home town paper: "In a county which favored Umstead's opponent in the guber natorial race and which rejected his earlier senatorial appointee In the May primary, there's not a man to be found but* who will agree that the Governor demon strated unsqrpassed wisdom in the selection of Sam Ervin and feels that by that act alone the present Administration achieved its highest measure of- success, "The unanimity of rejoicing ov er his appointment 1 6 the Senate didn't come from an impersonal or forced respect fdr ability. It has a much warmer, friendlier basis in the nature of thle man himself. Sam Ervin loves people, and they know it. His neighbor liness and ready wit mix well with a heavyi sprinkling of pa tience to endear him to Morgan tonians as an unaffected friend who has nevter gotten too big to listen to their most trifling trou bles. ... ' I "In this atmosphere of small town neighborliness, there has been no need to try to classify Judge Sam Ervin's political views, and the current label of " conservative-liberal"