A weekly newspaper devoted to the promotion of the general welfare and published
for the enlightenment, entertainment and benefit or the citizens of Kings Mountain
and Its vicinity, published every Thursday by the Herald Publishing House.
Entered as second class matter at the pos toff ice at Kings Mountain, N C., under Act *
of Congress of March 3,1873
---T-!
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
Martin Harmon......Editor-Publisher
Robert L. Hoffman .Sports Editor and Reporter
Miss Elizabeth Stewart.Circulation Manager and Society Editor
Mrs. Thomas Meacham.Advertising Salesman and Bookkeeper
MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT
Eugene Matthews Horace Walker Jack Heavener Bill Myers
Charles Miller Paul Jackson
TELEPHONE NUMBERS—167 or 283
SUBSCRIPTION RATES PAYABLE IN ADVANCE
ONE YEAR—52.50 SIX MONTHS—51.40 THREE MONTHS—75c
BY MAIL ANYWHERE
TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE
Bo then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the in
crease. 1 Corinthians 3:7.
Election Bid
As was expected, Governor Luther
Hodges has announced he will seek no
mination and election entitling him to
remain four more years in the Gover
nor’s mansion. Some newspapers head
lined the announcement “seks re-elec
tion,” which is not technically correct,
the Governor having assumed the office
following the death of W. B. Umstead.
Only a few weeks ago, it appeared
some candidate of major caliber would
also put his name on the ticket and that
North Carolina citizens would again wit
ness—and participate in—a stirring De
cratic primary.
But the major possibles have removed
themselves from further consideration.
With not too many weeks remaining be
fore the final day for officially filing no
tice of candidacy, it now appears Gover
nor Hodges will not have major opposi
tion.
It must be asumed the back-off is a
compliment to the Governor, who has
worked hard, tackled some nasty prob
lems since he became the state’s top ad
ministrative official, and emerged from
several battles with few scars. History
records that his nearest approach to a
real fight has been with Highway Com
mission Chairman Sandy Graham. Yet,
seemingly, the differences were settled
without the necessity for meat-ax treat
ment.
Unquestionably, the Governor’s most
major headache, and a continuing one
which is not likely to be settled during
the four years Mr. Hodges wants to con
tinue to be Governor, is the segregation
issue. Hewing a course a little right of
center, Governor Hodges has come to be
regarded as the spokesman for the mo
derate Southerner, though not the mode
rate. But North Carolina has been beset
by much less violent and intemperate
discussion than many of the other neigh
bors of the South. There has been no
Till incident, and all responsible citi
zens pray there will be none, nor cause
for any.
The Governor is a graduate from the
ranks of business. Perhaps this is the
reason he handles his work with more
dispatch and straightforwardness than
some of his predecessors in the Gover
nor’s office. Yet his background in gov
ernment, both in Washington and
abroad, must have contributed to the
softened approach he takes—even when
being quite frank and executive.
Mr. Hodges’ two-year record indicates
North Carolinians will accord him the
opportunity to extend it to six.
Mr. Gardner's Entry
The entry of Ralph Gardner, son of
the former Governer, in the district Con
gressional Democratic primary, cut a
new race of it, as indeed does the entry
of any new candidate. Mr. Gardner’s,
however, is a little “extra.”
It would be amiss to establish him as
the favorite, for Basil Whitener, as this
is written, is the lone candidate from
Gaston, the district’s largest county,
and Mr. Gardner is the second candidate,
with Hugh Wells, from Cleveland, sec
ond most populace county in the dis
trict.
However, Mr. Gardner is both experi- ■
enced in matters political, and has many
friends, some of them inherited from his
late father and his able, popular mother.
It is safe to say he will be a strong
candidate, whether the race remains a
three-candidate affair, or whether other
names dot the May 26 Democratic pri
mary ballot.
Congratulations are in order to Carl
Mayes, well-known Kings Mountain citi
zen, on his election as a director of Su
perior Stone Company, which he has
served in various important capacities
since the founding of the firm in 1939.
Boy Scout Week
This is Boy Scout week, annual obser
vance of the founding of the Boy Scout
movement in England. Proof of the pud
ding is in the eating, and the great
growth of Boy Scouting and its expan
sion to many nations of the globe is proof
of its attraction for boys of all faiths,
creeds and colors.
Concurrently, an organization is not
better than its leadership and this
speaks well of the founder, Lord Baden
Powell, his successors and compatriots
through the years.
In Kings Mountain, the Boy Scout
movement has lagged in recent years.
The difficulty again is lack of leadership
—not quality of leadership, but quantity
of leadership. It takes a good sized
amount of manpower to staff the num
ber of troops a community the size of
Kings Mountain should have. If Kings
Mountain’s Boy Scout record shows 1938
a peak year, then the movement hfere
has ben going backward.
Today, serious effort is being made to
reverse the trend. Volunteers are need
ed to staff new troops. There is the cus
tomary annual appeal for funds for the
district.For once, the need for manpow
er is even greater than the need for
funds. It is assumed, of course, that
Kings Mountain will provide the $2,000
neded, as it should.
New Industry
While some cities would hardly be in
clined to get excited about the opening
of a new industry employing 30-to-35
people, Kings Mountain can well afford
to be pleased about it.
Indeed, many small industries have a
healthy effect on the community. In
turn, Kings Mountain would have diffi
culty handling—with school facilities,
utilities and other basic needs—a new
industry employing 5,000 people, as
Western Electric, recent newcomer to
Winston-Salem. The Kings Mountain la
bor force today does not greatly exceed
5,000.
The Herald refers of course to the
new firm, Kings Mountain Knitting Com
pany, Inc., which will manufacture un
derwear and polo shirt products. Best
wishes to this new firm for a long, grow
ing and profitable operation here, and
congratulations, too, to the particular
members of the city industrial diversifi
cation committee who encouraged the
new firm to locate here.
The executive secretary of the South
Carolina Library commission has put
out a “don’t buy these” tag on a long list
of children’s books. A Florence newspa
per labeled it “censorship,” but the lib
rary official said it was merely a sugges
tion that other and better books are
available for children. Another genera
tion or two of adults will perhaps agree
in retrospect that the Bobbsey Twins,
Horatio Alger, Frank Merriwell, Tarzan
and like serial-type novels are indeed re
petitious, but there will be twinges of
nostalgia, for instance, among those old
Frank Merriwell fans as they remember
his stirring ninth inning home run to
win the big baseball game.
Hearty congratulations to Jack Ruth,
former Kings Mountain citizen who was
named one of Charlotte’s top salesmen
of 1955 by the Charlotte sales executive
club.
Time is running out for the purchase
of city and state auto licenses. Deadline
day is February 15, next Wednesday
midnight.
A cordial welcome to the community
to William (Bill) Ford, who assumed his
duties as general manager of Neisler di
vision of Massachusetts Mohair Plush
Company on Monday.
1 YEARS AGO
1 V/ THIS WEEK
Items of news about Kings Mountain area people and events
taken from the 1946 files of the Kings Mountain Herald.
Kings Mountain Boy Scouts
will join with others throughout
the world during the coming
week in the annual observance
of Boy Scout Week, February 8
14.
C. T. Bennett, well-known
Kings Mountain contractor, an
nounced this week formation of
Bennett Brick and Tile Company
which he hopes to have in ope
ration here within two months.
Miss Grace and Selma Allen, of
Kings Mountain, are announcing
this week the opening on Monday
of Allen’s Flower Shop on East
King st.
Social and Personal
Mrs. H. R. Parton and sister,
Mrs. V. R. Davis, who is visiting
here this month, went to Ben
nettsville, S. C., to spend a lew
days with Mrs- Parton’s daugh
ter, Mrs. Tommy Trott and Mr.
Trott.
Mr. and Mrs. Odell Pressly and
Miss Mary Hicks spent Sunday in
Spencer with Mr. and Mrs John
Gi Hicks.
MARTIN'S
MEDICINE
By Martin Harmon
ingredients: bite of newt,
wisdom, humor, and comment.
Directions: Take weekly, if
possible, but avoid
overdosage.
There are two particular
kinds of letters I don’t like to
find in the postoffice box. One
is a bright, white envelope bear
ing the neat return address of
First National Bank. Having
been on the receivihg end of
this kind a few times, I remem
ber them well. More often than
not, the bright, white First Na
tional envelope has a pink slip
inside with a rubberized check
attached The usual check mark
on the pink slip is “insufficient
funds,” or “no account by this
name.”
xn-xn
The other unpleasant-to-re
ceive envelopes are any and all
bearing the return address of
Mr. Sanders, the government
man down at Greensboro who
collects North Carolina’s Uncle
Sam money. Until last weekend,
the previous communiques had
been limited to the usual state
ments for income tax payments
and one or two callings of at
tention to errors in figuring,
such as a ten-cent error in the
social security return, a mis
copied employee social security
number, or, as received a cou
ple of months ago, an unsubtle
hint that I better go back to the
fifth grade and learn how to
multiply. I had mis-multiplied
the 1955 income tax bill, Uncle
Sam’s representative said, and
would I please forward (within
10 days) the additional amount
plus interest at six percent from
last April 15? Actually, the
bank and the collector’s office
are a little bit kin, at least as
to accuracy. I re-multiplied and
for the second time failed "to
carry the one” and came up
with the same answer. Momen
tarily, I was about to send off
a warmish note telling them my
fifth grade fultiplying was bet
ter than their IBM brand when
a little fairy says, “Check
again ” You can guess the re
sult. Instead of a warmish note,
I wrote a cdol check, including
interest.
m-m
I can’t recall catching any
bank in an error, but I did
catch Uncle Sam one time. It
was on an employee social se
curity number. Would I please,
a state agency wrote rather
testily, list the employee’s
CORRECT socia| security num
ber? I re-checxed, then check
ed the employee’s actual card.
For once it was their error, and
I did enjoy punching the hot
note out of the typewriter. A
few days later, I had the sem
blance of an apology- Uncle
Sam had duplicated a social se
curity number. The number
owned by the Herald employee
belonged not to him at all, but
to a lady in Raleigh. He got a
new one.
m-m
But the most recent commu
nique from Greensboro was
real shocking because I’d netfer
heard of it before and it’s a bit
more indication of (at least)
how Uncle expects its citizens
to do his work for him and (at
worse) a bit of Gestapo tactics.
Regulation such-and-such, Col
lector Sanders’ office informed,
required that printers report
to Greensboro on regular basis
any tickets printed for any func
tion for whicn admission it to
be charged. I publish this as a
reminder to any and all ticke t
sellers that Uncle Sam wants
his federal excise admissions
tax. Naturally, he gets ’em
from any regular entertainment
business But it’s the one-night
stand operators he has trouble
ferreting out.
m-m
I personally dislike the idea
of more reports to Uncle Sam,
but the Internal Revenooers say
I gotta make ’em. Law or regu
lation? Who cares? It costs
money to argue with Uncle Sam
and it’s cheaper to make the
reports. But it’s a sorry busi
ness. And it seems to make no
difference whether the reins
are in the hands of the Demo
crats or the GOP.
m-m
.Loose ends: wunter ir’atter
son suggested to me, and to any
and all, that they inquire of
J. E- Aderholdt about the fun
ny feeling in his side. Recent
ly, it seems, Mr. Aderholdt had
that funny feeling, felt his side,
and plucked out a surgical nee
dle—same needle lost 40 yea *s
ago in the process of an ap
pendectomy. This in itself is
shocking enough, but Mr. Pat
terson says the best part of the
story is the size of the needle , •
. . Another loose end on the
medicinal agenda is a clean-up
on the Hagood House history
story, which is still very much
in limbo, in spite of the Her
ald’s efforts and a contribution
from W. D. Weaver . • . . Sage
Fulton begs to differ on both
versions of the history of this
old house that burned to the
ground a few weeks back . . . •
The house, says Mr. Sage, was
originally built by R. H. (Dick)
Garrett, for his daughter, Mrs
Hall .... It was subsequently
sold several times, and among
the occupants were the late
Boyce Falls, Meek Crawford,
and, of course the stylist Louis
Hagood, the onetime Kings
Hold Your Breath—
*
*
, A8*Y
I PROCrflAt*
Viewpoints of Other Editors
A WARNING ABOUT CORN
LIQUOR
Revenuers on December 10th
broke up two blockade outfits in
Richmond County- Nothing unus
ual in that, except that one of
these stills was being operated
more by amateurs to make a
little “spending money for Christ
mas.” Now they’ll tell it to Judge
Hayes in Federal court here next
March . . . Back in 1935 the late
Irvin S. Cobb wrote a recipe book
with “authoriative directions for
making 78 famous drinks” . • .
Reflecting on illicit com liquor,
better known as “White Light
nin,” Cobb wrote as follows 20
years ago.
"Corn liquor may easily be
identified by these signs: It
smells like gangrene staffing in a
mildewed silo; it tastes like the
Wrath to Come; and when you
absorb a deep swig of it you have
the sensations of having swallow
ed a lighted kerosene lamp.
“A sudden violent jolt of it has
been known to stop the victim’s
watch, snap his suspenders, and
crack his glass eye—all in the
same motion.
“Personally, I would recom
mend it only to persons who are
headed for the last hiccup and
want to get it over with as soon
as possible.
“And if you must drink it, al
ways do so while sitting flat on
the floor. Then you won’t have
so far to fall!” — Ike London in
Rockingham. Post-Dispatch
DOCTORS OF DIVINATION
A number of doctors who have
never seen President Eisenhower,
and know no more about his exact
physical condition than you or we,
have expressed an opinion, based
possibly on a reading of tea leav
es, that he is physically able to
serve a second term in the White
House. The magazine U. S. News
& World Report asked 444 heart
specialists this question: “Based
on what you have read about the
nature of the President’s illness
and assuming a normal convale
scence in the next few months, do
you think Mr. Eisenhower can be
regarded as physically able to
serve a second term?” The Ame
rican Medical Association con
demned the poll, observing most
moderately that "consultation
without examination is absurd.”
Among those polled, 169 had suf
ficent respect for the medical pro
fession if not for th ePresident,
to decline an answer. Neverthe
less, 141 said yes and 93 said no.
The most significant conclusion
to be drawn from this piece of re
search, as we see it, is that heart
specialists tend to be Republicans
by a preponderance of about
3 to 2, — Washington Post.
BY WAY OF EXPLANA
TION
Mother—How did it happen?
Boy—I was climbing up on the
pantry shelf and it broke and I
hit my knee on the bottom shelf.
Mother—What on earth were
you doing up there?
Son—I was trying to get the
glue so I could fix the big vase
in the living room.
Mother—Goodness! Did you
break that?
Son—No. The golf ball did
when it bounced off the mantel
mirror and bounced into the vase
knocking it over.
Mother—Oh heavens. Don’t tell
me you were playing golf in the
living room
Son—No, mother, I wasn’t. I
was outside in the yard and the
ball went through the living-room
window.—N. C. Education.
Mountain banker . . • Mr. Ful
ton isn’t sure of the chronologi
cal order of ownership . . . Un
less someone can set us straight
it appears a courthouse deed
check will be required . • . .
ra-m
The Hagood hassle is a case
in point for the statement of D.
Hiden Ramsey, the retired Ashe
ville editor, who remarked
to me recently, “if everyone
saw it the same way, there
wouldn’t be any need for study
of history. “I suppose he meant
that historians must sift out the
events’ reports of contempora
ries to determine the fact and
the fiction and to separate the
dross of color from the gold of
truth.
WHY WE LIKE TO LIVE IN
SOUTH
It happened at Goldsboro’s
lonely Union Passenger Station.
One of the men on duty at the
ticket office and dispatcher’s of
fice couldn’t believe his eyes
There was actually ^omeone sea
ted in the waiting room. It was
many hours before any train time.
It was a young woman and she
was crying.
Her shoulders heaved as she
bent forward to bury her face in
her hands and sought to stifle
the sobs which shook her.
The man on duty could get on
ly a general impression of the
girl- She was in great distress.
She was well dressed. Whether
she was blonde or brunette, pret
ty or ugly was quite submerged
under the wreck of her tears.
The man on duty turned to- a
friend in the office.
“She is in great trouble. We
are going out for coffee. Let’s see
if we can cheer her up a bit ”
The two approached the weep
ing figure.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” said one
of the men. “We are going out for
coffee and we thought that a cup
might cheer you up a bit.”
The girl shook her head in ne
gation, and the sobs shook her
the more heavily.
The two men crossed West Wal
nut street to the coffee counter.
They found empty stools toward
the rear of the counter
Before they had finished their
coffee, the girl entered and sat
down beside them. She now was
under better control.
She thanked them for their of
fer of help.
Over the coffee the girl told
how she had come from New
York. She was a stranger in
Goldsboro and had no acquain
tance here. She could not get a
train back to New York until the
next day- Plans she had made to
meet a friend in Goldsboro had
miscarried.
The man in charge went to the
telephone and called his wife. He
told the story of the weeping girl.
“You bring hr right on home,”
said the wife. “She will be our
guest until train time tomorrow.^
For 12 hours the girl from the
big city was the family guest of
the Goldsboro household- With
the warmth of these new-found
friends she regained her confi
dence. And her story came out.
She had come to Goldsboro ex>
pecting to marry a Marine with
whom she had long been acquain
ted. When her train arrived, he
met her. But only to report that
he had decided not to marry her.
—Goldsboro News Argus■
IKE'S INTENTIONS
The newspaper reporters who
cover the activities of the Presi
dent are convinced that Mr. Eisen
hower will not be a candidate for
re-election. They base their opin
ion on what the President has
said at the news conferences re
cently, one of his statements be
ing, in effect, that it “would be
idle to pretend that I can regain
the excellent health I enjoyed
prior to my heart attack.” He ad
ded that his future life would
have to carefully regulated to a
void excessive fatigue.
A President of the United
States, in order to perform satis
factorily the tasks which fall to
him, must' necessarily place his
personal health second- Getting
the job done comes first.
Republicans who still hold to
the idea that Ike will run again
are “whistling in the dark,” and
truly, in the dark, they are.
Senator Knowland has indicat
ed he is a candidate for Presi
dent, but he is the leader of the
Taft forces whose doctrine of
turning the country back to 18
98 has been firmly rejected time
and again.
Latest “dark horse” to be men
tioned in connection with the Re
publican nomination is Governor
Christian Herter, of Massachu
setts. Newspaper and magazine
articles indicate he is above the
average in ability.
So long as Republican strategy
calls for holding out hope that
Ike will run, just so much shorter
becomes the time in which Gov
ernor Herter or any other “dark
horse” can be promoted into a
candidate of national stature.
Incidentally, Governor Herter’s
first name win not prove a handi
cap by any means—Stanly News
& Press.
THAT "SMART LOOK"
This family's got itl They look smart
because they ARE smart... and one
" of the smartest things they do is to
send all their clothes to us for our
thorough, but-oh-so-gentle dry clea
ning ... which always brings back
that like-new snap and sparkle!
WEAVERS CLEANERS
Phone 910 • 310 H. Piedmont Ave.
I
CHIIIWINI gives von !
PATSY SAYS* coop coal makes warmfruhds
Ah
THESE POT-LUCK
SUPPERS ARE A LOT
OF FUN, ESPECIALLY
HERE AT BARMORE's.
IT'S ALWAYS SO NICE
AND WARM. THEY USE
SOME FANCY COAL.
| GUESS.
f NOT FANCY, HELEN, A
JUST PURE. THEY
USE PATSY STOKER
coal, and a larger
SHE PATSY COAL FOR
THE FIREPLACE,JUST
LIKE WE DO. IT BURNS
SO LONG,GIVES LOTS,
OF HEAT AND !T*S
\SO EASY TO TEND
look for (hit lag >
la yovr atokor cool
KINGS MOUNTAIN
COTTON OIL COMPANY
124 PHONES 1244
1220 kc 1,000 watts
HEAR THE BEST IN RADIO
WKMT
"your good neighbor station"
Kings Mountain, N. C.
Serving over a hall-million people in the
Piedmont Carolinas
NEW PORCH ^
NEW ROOP 1
RE-ROOP
NEW StOINO
DORMERS
PLOORJNG
PANELING
'ATTIC,
GARAOI DOORS
INSULATION
ANOTHER BATHROOM
BATHROOM REPAIRS
MODERNIZE ROOMS
PLASTERING
PAINTING
ELMER
LUMBER COMPANY
Phones 54 and 25
MAKE THEM NOW
Make them now ..the longer
you wait the r/Tore costly
Make them, now . . stop de
preciation of your property.
/Make them now . . using our
convenient ABC Budget Pay
ment Plan No red tape. In
stalments arranged to suit
your income.
— Subscribe To The Herald —