North Carolina Newspapers

Population Greater Kings Mountain 10.320 City Limits 7.206 The figure tot Greater Tings Mountain Is derived from the 1955 Kings Mountain city 'tirectory census. The City limits figure is from the United States census of 1950. Kings Mountain's Reliable Newspaper VOL 66 NO. 25 Established 1889 Kings Mountain, N. C., Thursday June 21, 1956 Sixty-Seventh Year 1P Pages | 0 Today PRICE FIVE CENTS Gardner-Whitener Contest To Be Settled Saturday 4 Local News Bulletins LIONS TO MET The regular meeting of the Kings Mountain Lions Club will be held Tuesday evening at 7 o’clock at Kings Mountain Woman’s Cluib. CONFIRMED MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.—Fred A. Dixon has Ibeen confirmed purchasing agent and traffic representative for the Besse mer City, N. C, plant of Lithi um Corporation of America, it was announced toy John W. Douglas, director of purchases and traffic. BUILDING PERMITS Building Inspector J. W. Web ster issued a building permit Friday to Fred J. Wright, Sr., to erect a house on W. Moun tain street, at an estimated cost of $10,000. A permit was also issued Friday to J. H. Ar thur to erect a house on Edge mont drive, at an estimated cost of $14,000. MOOSE MEETING Kings Mountain Moose Lod ge 1748 will hold their regular weekly meeting Thursday night at 8:15*at the lodge on Bessemer City road, according to Curtis Gaffney, secretary.. METER RECEIPTS City packing meter receipts for the week ending noon, Wednesday totaled $188.50, City Clerk Gene Mitchem re ported. He said street meters brought in $152.32, while off street meters accounted for $36.18. IN SUMMER SCHOOL Carl Moss, son of Mr. and Mrs. M. B. Moss, of Kings Mountain, is enrolled for the summer semester at Bowling Green College of Commerce, Bowling Green, Ky. He is study ing a course in higher accoun ting. He served in the army be fore entering the Bowling Green school. AT CONVENTION A. H. Patterson, B. D. Rat terree. Jack White, Bill Young and George Thomasson were among Kings Mountain citi zens representing Home Build ing & Loan association at the annual convention of the Nor th Carolina Savings & Loan League held in Blowing Rock last weekend. AT MEETING Ralph Harrill, manager of Cleveland county ASC office, and D. B. Blalock, chairman of the county ASC committee, are in Asheville this week attend ing an area meeting covering the new farm program. AT GIRLS STATE Miss Mary Ann Beam, dau ghter of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Beam, and Miss Jane Osiborne, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.. F. Osborne, are attending Girls State at Greensboro this week as delegates from Otis D. Green Post 155, American Le gion Auxiliary. UNION SERVICE Sunday night’s union service for five city church congrega tions will he held at Boyce Memorial ARP church with Rev. James McLarty, pastor of Central Methodist church, to deliver the 8 p. m. sermon. Special music will ibe present ed iby the adult choir under the direction of Mrs. N,. F. Mc Gill. Rites Conducted Foi Mis. Black Funeral services for Mrs. Es thter Biersticker Black, about 32, wife of Barney Black, former Kings Mountain citizen, were held Tuesday in Green Bay, Wis consin. Mrs. Black died unexpectedly early Sunday morning. Her death reportedly resulted from a hemorrhage following an opera* tion. Surviving, in addition to her husband, is a sorn Larry Dean, age 6. Mr. Black is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence L. Black , both of whom left here Sunday to attend the funeral rites. Central School May Become Solely Junior-Senior High Grades 1-6 Would Attend East. West. North The city board of school trus tees discussed without action Monday night possibilities of con verting the Central plant into a Junior-Senior high school for the 1956-57 term. This would mean that all children above the sixth grade and through the twtelfth would at tend the Central plant. All child ren in grade six and below would go to East, West or North schools. School Trustee Fred W. Plonk made the suggestion but Supt. B. N. Barnes and Trustee J. W. Webster doubted the advisability of making this change for the coming year. Mr. Barnes explain, ed that the only way the change could be effected would be con tinued employment at East and West schools of the make-shift classrooms in the auditoriums of the two schools. At the same time, Central would have some vacant rooms. All trustees present indicated they favored the Junior-Senior high school idea, but Mr. Webs ter remarked he preferred to a wait construction of a South ele mentary school, which would pri vide additional needed class rooms and also cut the distance younger students would be re quired to travel to school. Chairman Arnold W. Kincaid also supported the Plonk pro posal. He said the high school is in great need of offering its stu* dents vocational education cours es. Supt Barnes said he agreed, but hie added that vocational teachers are scarce and that he doubted a qualified teacher could be obtained on anything like short notice. He said industry has taken most of the available industrial arts teachers. Decision on whether to make Central a Junior-Senior high school for the coming term was deferred until a subsequent meet ing. * Gardner Rally Thursday Night A motorcade to the Gardner for-Congress rally, to ibe held at Cleveland County Courthouse in Shelby Thursday night will form in front of City Hall at 7 ip. m., George Thomasson, Kings Moun tain area Gardner manager said this week. The rally of Cleveland County Democrats supporting Gardner will begin in Shelby at 8 o’clock, Mr,. Thomasson said. He urged as many Kings Mountain citizens as possible to attend. “Kings Mountain did well iby 'Ralph Gardner by .giving him a nice margin of votes in the first primary, and we want to do even better on Saturday,” Mr. Thomasson said. PROMOTED — Rev. J. B. McLar ty, Kings Mountain minister and naval reserve chaplain, was pro moted to the rank of commander during his recent tour of duty at Whiting Field'. Pensacola, Fla. Mr. McLarty returned here Sun day. % Navy Promotes I. B. McLarty NAAS WHITING FIELD, Milton, Fla.,—Commander James B. Mc Larty, a naval reserve chaplain and pastor ol the Central Metho dist church of Kings Mountain, is at Whiting Field for a two weeks duration in order to fulfill his yearly obligation of active duty to nis branch of the Reserve. Whiting Field is the second stop for all of the Navy’s student avia tors in their road of training that leads to the eventual designation of "One of the greatest pilots in the world”—a Naval Aviator. It is while at this base that they actually learn to fly the aircraft, along with elementary acrobatics and formation flying, all leading to the day when they may proud, ly wear the Navy’s wings of gold. A member of the Charlotte, N. C-, branch of the Naval Reserve, the Chaplain has been associated with the Naval Service since 1944. From 1944 through 1946 Cdr McLarty was attached to the Eastern Sea Frontier, and was then processed to his present unit of the Reserve. He just recently received word of his promotion to the rank of commander, which he had been looking forward to, it became effective April first. Chaplain McLarty is a graduate of Duke University in Durham, N. C., where he received AB and BB degrees to formulate the first base in his colorful career. He is now., a member of the Kings Mountain branch of Kiwanis In ternational, and secretary of the Brevard College Board of Trus tees. The congenial Chaplain’s fami ly include Margaret Glenn, his wife; Margaret Elizabeth, a daughter who has just recently graduated from Greensboro Col lege with a degree in Music; and two sons, James Fulton and Charles Furmon. County's Tentative Tax Rate Set At $1.28 Pei $100 -Up 14 Cents The Cleveland County board of commissioners has tentatively set the county-wide tax rate for 1956 at $1.28 per $100 valuation and has adopted tentatively a fiscal year budget of $2,200,000. Both the tax rate and budget are subject to amendment prior to final passage. The 'budget pro vides for expenditure of more than $1 million in ibond isslie funds. County Auditor Max Hamrick told the Herald the tax rate, which, if finally adopted, will mean an increase of 14 cents per $100 valuation, will provide ex tra funds for a variety of county functions, including increased debt service costs resulting from the 1954 county-wide ibond issu es for schools, hospitals and a county health* center, for other debt service costs from prior bond issues, and certain general fund costs which are expected to go up. These will include opera tions, public welfare, and other agency costs. The tax rate for citizens of the Kings Mountain school district, it is indicated, will be $1.48 per $100 valuation, including the 20- j cents school district tax. School operations again will \ claim the greater portion of county funds. School operations are responsible for 66 cents of the tentative tax rate, with all other appropriations accounting for the remaining 62 cent£ Tentative appropriations made toy the commissioners are: . General fund, $224,500. Poor fund, $40,000. County debt service, $50,598. Old age assistance, $50,500. Aid to dependent children, $30,920. Aid to the permanently dis abled, $12,650. Aid to the tolind, $5,500. County Hospitals, $61,300. Health Department. $40,300. County farm and home agent, i $22,296. County Accountant’s office, $7,- i 500. Welfare administration, $38, 687. Rabies control, $7,000. Schools, $270,934 for current j outlay, $1,109,000 for capital out- j lay, $257,180 for debt service. Tiustees Elect Two Teachers For Coming Term The city board of school trus tees accepted resignations of three teachers Monday night and elected two new faculty members in a meeting devoted largely to routine business. Elected to the faculty for the | 1956-57 term were Mrs. W. L. Ramseur, elementary teacher, and Mrs, Wilson Griffin, high school English teacher. Previously, the board had for mally accepted the resignations of Douglas Swink high schodl teacher, Mrs. Regina B. Wof ford, East school first grade tea cher, and Gordon Beaver, special teacher in piano. Mr. Barnes al-! so reported that Miss Lillian j Griffith, of Newell, who had been elected to a teaching position, had declined to accept it. In other actions the board t voted. 1) To renew its school child and athletic insurance policies with Pilot Lifp Insurance Com pany. * 2) To authorize continuance of its agreement with Cleveland County Schools on the employ ment of a teaching supervisor. 3) To join the county schools in asking the county board of commissioners to levy 1956 taxes on the basis of 26 cents per $100 valuation for current expenses and 10 cents per $100 valuation for capital outlay. (The city dis trict shares in the county tax funds on a per capita pupil ba sis.) Heard a report that $80,000 in 1954 school bond funds from the 1954 bond issue for school con Continued on Page Eight Unemployment On Heavy Side Unemployment in Kings Moun tain is still “a little on the heavy side,” Franklin Ware, manager of the local employment office, announced Wednesday. “We are having 425-450 contin ued claims filed each week,” Mr. Ware said, ‘ and this is a little heavier than usual.” Textile plant lay-offs and cur tailment is largely responsible for this increase, he added, with other industries maintaining a steady employment pace. Since most plants will be giv ing vacation periods during the next two months, Mr. Ware want ed to explain to all employees a rule governing this vacation time off. He said that a state rule al lows an employer to designate two weeks each year as vacation periods. During this time, em ployees are not eligible to file for unemployment compensation. Mr. Ware also said that re ports to him from various tex tile men indicated that they ex pected the slack business period to end shortly, and that the em ployment situation should im prove a great deal, when and if this change occurs. Cline Property Re-Sale Saturday New public bids will be invited for six properties of the A. E. Cline Estate Saturday, June 27, at 10 a. m. on the premises of the particular sites, J. R. Davis, exe cutor of the estate, announced . Primary bids on the property have all been raised the neces sary five percent to call for new bids, and each of the six proper ties will be put back on thte block Saturday. Mr. Davis said J- E. Mauney raised the bid on a dwelling house on Parker street, Warren Rey nolds raised the bids of three other dwelling houses, and that J. C. B/*own of Statesville, a ne phew of the late A. E. Cline, raised the bids of the two busi ness properties on N. Piedmont avenue. Bids totaled $13,100 in the first auction May 26. Two of the pro perties for sale are now occu pied by Weaver’s Cleaners and Dilling Heating Company. ,-i-0 Meeting Set To Organize Unit For Handicapped Efforts will be made to organ ize a Kings Mountain chapter of the Gaston County Center for the Handicapped at a meeting at City Hall Tuesday night at 8 o’clock. Announcement was made by Bruce Thorbum, a director of the Gaston county center, which has plans to build and equip a cen ter and to provide training for handicapped children of four counties, including Cleveland. “All persons who have handi capped children are particularly invited to attend, as well as all interested citizens,” Mr. Thor burn said. Currently being launched is a fund campaign for $17,000 with which to equip the center, Mr. Thorburn noted. He added, “The start is the main thing, for some evidence of progress will enable the obtaining of federal aid for this purpose.” In the $17,000 fund campaign Kings Mountain will be asked to subscribe only $500. The Gaston County Center For Handicapped Children was or ganized as a school at Trinity Methodist church in Gastonia, September, 1953, by parents of crippled or mentally retarded children for whom no other group training was available. It was incorporated in 1954 as a non-profit organization with a Board of Directors, to provide transportation, training, educa tion, and other necessary reha bilitation services for the hand icapped of Gaston County and neighboring communities. It has (been supported entirely by personal, civic club, industrial and religious organization gifts. A proposed first building to be erected on grounds provided by Gaston County on the Dallas - Cherryville highway at a cost of $15,000 will be used during the current year to house the project. With a plant of its own the Cen ter becomes eli Jble to apply for federal vocational rehabilitation funds to further develop its building and staff training pro grams. Piedmont Work To Start Monday Work will begin Monday on improvements to North Piedmont avenue, from Linwood Avenue to Fairview street. Mayor Glee A. Bridges reported receipt Wednesday of approval of contract with Spangler & Sons, of Kings Mountain and Shelby, by the State Highway and Public Works commission, which will reimburse the city for most of the cost of the work. Spanglers low ibid of $27,461,. 50 had been tentatively accepted by the board of city commission ers. subject to the state agency's approval. Contract calls for installation of cuibing-and-gutter and side walk, as well as widening of N. Piedmont, from Linwood to Fair view. Contract also calls for in stalling sidewalk on one block of Lackey street. Half the cost of the sidewalks will be assessed to the property, owners fronting the respective streets. Whisnant Rites Held Monday Charles Craig Whisnant, 67, of route 2 Kbigs Mountain, died at his home Saturday afternoon fol. lowing an illness of several weeks. Mr. Whisnant, a native *of Cle veland County, was a prominent farmer of this area. Survivors include his wife, the former Miss Brownie HambrighL three sons, R. G., G. W., and C. A. Whisnant, all of Kings Moun tain; a daughter. Mrs. Gene Pat terson of Kings Mountain; a bro ther, B. W. Whisnant of Kings Mountain; a sister, Mrs. L. G. Blalock of Kings Mountain; and four grandchildren. Funeral services were held Monday at 3 p. m. at the Whis nant home with the Rev. R. E. Rollins and the Rev. J. M. Bar ber officiating. Burial was in Mountain Rest Cemetery. Pallbearers were Fred Weaver, Herman Blalock, Harold Hern don, Holland Dixon of Shelby, Lewis Hair of Greenville, S. C.; and Jimmy Houser of Charlotte. Neices of Mr. Whisnant served as flower girls. Democrats To Cast Ballots In Second Primary Voting IN SECOND PRIMARY TEST SATURDAY—It's sudden death at the voting places of the 11th district on Saturday for Basil L. Whitener. left, and Ralph Webb Gardner, right, in their second primary con test for the Democratic nomination for 11th district Congressman. Gardner edged Whitener1 in the first primary May 26 by 394 votes out of nearly 43,000 cast. Polls will be open throughout the seven county district from 6:30 a. m. to 6:30 p. m. Tate And Moore Are Bound Over Trial July 9 For Pair Accused Of Plonk Theft Horace G. Tate and Dewey H. Moore will stand trial in Shelby on July 9 for the robbery of a safe in the C. S. Plonk home on March 11, Sheriff Haywood Al len said Wednesday. Sheriff Allen reported that a preliminary hearing was held in Shelby June 13, and the two were bound over to Superior Court to stand trial on charges of rob bery. i Moore had previously admitted his part in the robbery. How ever, Tate had admitted noth ing, although Moore named him as his companion on the job. A safe in the Plonk home was battered open while Mr. and Mrs. Plonk were attending morning worship services, and some $12, 700 in cash and two diamond rings were taken. Both Moore and Tate were in volved in a $76,000 safe-robbery at Smithfield earlier this year, and have received prison senten ces on this charge. Tate received 10-20 years for his part in that crime, while Moore got 8-16 years. The State Bureau of Investiga tion picked up the two men on a liquor violation charge and found $3,500 in cash and the two diamond rings in their motel room. Mrs. John Butler Plonk, owner of the rings, identified the stolen items, and the men were charged formally with the Plonk j robbery. Sheriff Allen first believed that a third party, probably a resident of this section was involved. How ever, Moore said he and Tate pul led the robbery alone, and that ( Tate had cased the Plonk home for as long as a year prior to the robbery. Both men were returned to Cen. tral Prison, Raleigh to await trial. GRADUATED — William B. Mc Daniel has completed a nine month course of study at Gup ton-Jones-Dallas Institute and College of Embalming. BUI McDaniel Finishes Study William B. (Bill) McDaniel has been graduated from the Gup ton-Jones-Dallas Institute and College of Embalming, after completion of its nine months course. Mr. McDaniel, who served a two-year apprenticeship at Har. ris Funeral Home before • enrol ling in the Dallas, Texas, school last fall, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. D. McDaniel. He is a Korean war veteran, having ser ved i'n the army medical corps in Texas and Fort Bragg, N. C. He is a graduate of Grover high school. His wife is the former Helen Morris. Mr. McDaniel is rejoining the staff of Harris Funeral Home, it was announced by J. Ollie Har ris, partner and general manager. Tentative Valuation Of Property In Kings Mountain Is $9,607,000 Kings Mountain property val. uations for tax purposes will to tal in excess of $9,607,851, Ac ting Tax Supervisor J. W. Webs ter said Wednesday. Figures on taxable valuations are virtually complete; with only a few figures to be received from the North Carolina Board of As sessment. Mr. Webster said he talked with the Assessment office on Wed nesday by telephone and was in formed that the Valuation for Southern Bell Telephone & Tele graph Company would increase over figures for 1955. Tentative totals include South ern Bel! at last year’s figures and already show an increase in val uations of approximately $100, 000. Final totals on valuations of individuals were $5,394,238, Mr. Webster said, while commercial and corporation totals were lis ted at $4,213,613 (The latter fi gure will be cofrected by the ad dition of the up-to-date Southern Bell figures. Ticket Short, Light Voting Is Predicted Kings Mountain Democrats and those of the 11th Congressional district will return to the polling places Saturday to determine whether Ralph Webb Gardner, of Shelby, or Basil L. Whitener, of Gastonia, will be the party nomi nee to replace Congressman Woodrow W. Jones, who is retir ing. This is the principal primary contest in the state, and though there will be a few others for township avid county offices, these are few and far between. In Cleveland County, Shelby voters will choose a township constable and Waco voters will also nominate a constable, Gas tonia (Gaston Township) has a constable runoff and there are run-offs in Polk county for the North Carolina House of Repre sentatives and in McDowell coun ty for register of deeds, Waco area Democrats will choose between Joe R. Barrett and Lemuel Beattie for constable and Shelby township voters will choose between Job L. Moore and D. E. McCraw, Sr., for the con stable's nomination. The interim period of cam paign has been lack-lustre in comparison to the possibilities and has led political observers to predict that the Congressional nominee (as well as the otherr) will be chosen via a small vote. The district vote for Congress man approached 44,000 in the May 26 primary voting, with Gardner getting a 394 vote edge. Whitener was a close second and Hugh Wells’ 4000-plus votes gave Whitener the right to call a second primary, which he did. Neither candidate “let up” after the first race and there have been moments since May 26 when it appeared a considerable amount of steam would be generated by the candidates and their suppor ters. But, certainly in Kings Mountain, there has been little shouting in the past week. Jack White, district manager for Whitener. said a rally of Whitener supporters was most enthusiastic at Rutherford Coun ty courthouse Tuesday night. Meantime, the Gardner forces have scheduled a home-county rally at Shelby for Thursday night, at the Cleveland County courthouse. Both the candidates take the television route on election eve, with Whitener billed at 10 o’ clock and Gardner following at 10:15, both via WBTV Channel 3. Saturday’s voting rules will be the same as those prevailing on May 26. One exception will allow registration of citizens who have qualified for “citizen” status since May 26. These would include those who have completed the re quired residence requirement (four months in the township, one year in North Carolina), and those who have reached their 21st birthday. Both Gardner and Whitener have expressed confidence they will win Saturday’s run-off. A total of 1757 persons cast ballots in Number 4 Township on May 26 at the four precinct pol ling places at Bethware, Grover, East Kings Mountain and West Kings Mountain. The township vote for Congress was: Gardner * 852, Whitener 722, and Hugh Wells 172. Second Primary Facts Are Listed Following are the facts of Saturday’s upcoming second primary voting: Polls open G:30 a. m. Polls close 6:30 p. m. Number of ballots for Kings Mountain area voters: for Number 4 Township one, the 11th district ballot; for Waco township voters two, the 11th district ballot and the Number '5 Township ballot. Number 4 Township voting places: East Kings Mountain at City Hall courtroom; West Kings Mountain at Victory Chevrolet Company; Bethware at Bethware school; Grover at Grover fire station. Predicted vote totals: dis trict, 25,000; Cleveland coun ty, 7,000; Number 4 Township, 1200.