jgj& 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 citizens of Kings Mountain
and its vicinity, published every Thursday by the Herald Publishing House.
Entered as second class matter at the postoffice at Kings Mountain, N. C, under Act
of Congress of March 3, 1873.
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
Martin Harmon . Editor-Publisher
'Robert L. Hoffman.Sports Editor and Reporter
Miss Elizabeth Stewart.Circulation Manager and Society Editor
Mrs. La Faye Meacham.Advertising Salesman and Bookkeeper
MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT
Eugene (Matthews
Horace Walker
Charles Miller
Jack Heavener
Paul Jackscn
Bill Myers
TELEPHONE NUMBERS — 167 or 283_
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TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE
The eyes of the Lotd preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor. Pro
verbs 22:12.
Adlai, Ave, Or Who?
Today’s the day in Chicago, accord
ing to the advertised timetable of events
at the Democratic National convention.
Only one day has been docketed for
nominating the presidential candidate
and it is likely the roll-calling will go
well into the evening. It is even possible
that one day would not be enough.
The pre-convention favorite was Ad
lai Stevenson, the 1952 standard-bearer,
and the only chief rival seems to be Ave
rill Harriman, the latter strengthened
by Ex-President Harry Truman, who has
many friends among Democrats every
where and at Chicago in particular.
Whether this boost is enough for Harri
man—or even enough to cause a dead
lock among the front-running pair-^-will
only be learned with the roll calls.
Mr. Truman’s endorsement of Harri
man did one thing for Stevenson. It re
solidifies his southern support, which
had wavered when Stevenson made his
statement that the Democratic platform
should carry an endorsement of the
Supreme Court school de-segregation
decision. If the Stevenson statement
were examined more closely, there
should have been less excitement. Mr.
Stevenson has never indicated he want
ed to do battle with the Supreme Court.
The direction of the Stevenson modera
tion was in implementing the decision.
Some assume Mr. Truman’s support
of Harriman largely personal. He cross
ed with Stevenson during the ’52 cam
paign, later watched Stevenson replace
Truman party leaders with others. In
addition, Harriman had always been a
good friend. It will be noted Mrs. Roose
velt is for Stevenson. Here again is a
personal matter. Mrs. Roosevelt must
certainly remember that the Harriman
De-Sapio group did some loafing, if not
actual knife-in-the-back throwing, at
FDR, Jr., when he ran for attorney-gen
eral of New York state two years ago
and was the only Democrat on the ticket
defeated.
But there may be more to the Truman
position than meets the eye. With his
cousin backing dark-horse Senator Sym
ington, it is conceivable the deadlock
could operate to boost the Symington
stock. Is this what Harry Truman really
wants?
There is still another angle. Give-’em
hell Harry Truman believes a good con
vention fight can do moi’e to help his
party in November than anything else.
In producing the fight, is he figuring it
will supply the required ginger to put
the Democrats back in the White
House?
Thursday will be an interesting day
in Chicago and it is presumed hun
dreds of Kings Mountain folk will be
glued to their radios and television sets
for a visit to the Mid-West.
The results of the National Labor Re
lations board election at Foote Mineral
Company re-states succinctly the posi
tion of the employees first adopted in
a former NLRB election on October 6,
1954. The vast majority of Foote em
ployees. enjoying a liberal wage scale
and equally liberal employee benefits
feel they need no agent to bargain with
the company on employees’ behalf. The
vote was a high compliment to the man
agement and to the policies it pursues.
More evidence of the good manage
ment of Kings Mountain hospital was
shown in the cost analysis conducted by
the Duke Endowment. This statistical
report showed Kings Mountain hospital
in 1955 was ninth among 11 in per pa
tient cost and eleventh among the 11 in
employees per patient. Commendations
are in order.
Congratulations and best wishes to
Mrs. J. N. McClure, Dr. W. P. Gerberding,
Dean Payne, Eugene Timms and W. L.
Plonk, recently appointed members of
the city recreation commission.
There’s still time to cut city and
county tax bills to the lowest possible
figure. Fully allowable discounts of two
percent are obtainable in August on 195G
city and county taxes.
The School Vote
On September 8, Kings Mountain area
citizens and their neighbors throughout
the state will go to the polls in a special
election to accept or reject the near
unanimous decision of the state legis
lators on a plan designed to prevent de
segregation in the public schools, or to
reject this plan.
Unless the two amendments the voters
are considering are adopted, the other
concurrent legislation will be null and
void.
Many have heavy reservations about
the Pearsall Plan. They are leery about
passing permissive legislation to allow
some or all of North Carolina to go out
of the public school business. They also
look askance at the tuition grant ar
rangements, which most feel would be
inadequate to provide private school
tuition.
Others feel that the legislation will
be ruled federally unconstitutional
at its first court test.
State Senator Robert Morgan, of
Shelby, who heartily endorses the
Pearsall Plan, outlined its provisions for
the Kings Mountain Kiwanis Club last
Thursday night. He thinks the plan will
work, will be proved quite legal, and
will prevent the mixing of the races
in the public schools.
The ideas o£ the West and East, in
North Carolina, vary widely. Many citi
zens of the Western part of the state
feel that there was no excuse for the
special legislative session, nor the state
wide vote, and would have preferred to
let sleeping matters lie. Many Eastern
ers, on the other hand, feel the Pearsall
plan doesn’t go far enough. Many want
to secede again, if that’s what it takes to
cirvumvent the Supreme Court decision.
With virtually all of the state’s pro
fessional political leaders backing the
amendments, plus the feelings of the
East, it is easy to predict the passage of
the Pearsall plan. However, it is also
apparent that there will be a heavy
incidence of votes against. North Caro
lina owes much of its prosperity to its
public school investment, a fact acknow
ledged by virtually all. Voting permis
sion to abrogate the system is a serious
decision.
Cash Improvements
There is much logic to the city’s cash
on-the-barrelhead policy for public im
provements.
Mayor Glee Bridges’ contentions, en
dorsed by the board of commissioners,
is that the old three-years-to-pay plan is
hard on the city treasury, ties up funds
that could be used to pave other streets,
and is generally hard to administer.
He also contends that the city’s six per
cent interest charge, during the three
years allowed for payment is no bargain
—that a loan can be arranged privately
by any property owner at no higher
cost.
There is one “if” to this cash policy.
What will be the effect on public im
provements? Will the cash policy slow
to a trickle the laying of sidewalks and
dust-free, mud-free streets.
The Herald was interested in the
statement of City Attorney Davis that
the city has power to improve and sub
sequently to assess, even without prop
erty-owner petitions. Whether or not
future court decisions would sustain the
recent attorney-general opinion, it is
a sure bet that the city is hardly likely
to do any paving in this manner. It is
frequently a long wait before the im
provements get done, even with peti
tions.
Another factor is the fact of the city’s
receiving annually some $29,000 rebate
from the state for street improvements.
This fact adds moral obligation to the
city to keep getting citizens out of the
mud and dust as fast as money, at least
to the extent of thhis amount, permits.
The Herald hopes the cash policy
works, thinks it has a chance. However,
it can’t be considered to be working if
the improvements slow to a snail-paced
walk.
YEARS AGO Items of news about Kings Mountain area peopie and events
THIS WEEK taken from the 1946 files of the Kings Mountain Herald.
Tommy Baker, son of Dr. and
Mrs. L. P. Baker, captured the |
eranrl r>ri?e at the Southeastern '
Oak View Baptist church Sunday i
night. Rev. R. Love Dixon will!
mn^urt tha wpAk nf «|prvirA« [
Bridge club.
Miss Betty Grantham is spend
liter CamUnQ •)
MARTIN'S
MEDICINE
By Martin Harmon
Ingredients: bits of news,
wisdom, humor; and comment.
Directions: Tyke weekly, if
possible, but avoid
overdosage.
Many strange happenings oc
cur on thle golf courses of our
land, and many are the tales
spun about them. Like people
playing the stock market, most
golfers arte inclined to remem
ber successes, forget tragedies,
m-m
But Jay Pattrson, the city
commissioner, told this one on
himself. It’s true, and it isn’t
really funny. But 'now that It’s
over it really is kinda funny.
Jay was playing with Dr. W.
P. Gerberdihg, the St. Matt
hew’s Lutheran minister, and
it was a nice, jocular, friendly
game.
m-xa
Suddenly, Jay started resemb
ling something like a whirling
dervish. He shook his leg like
a ballet dancer, ripped open his
belt like a man with acute in
digestion, and kicked out of his
trousers somewhat quicker
than the average Gypsy Rose
Lee, of strip-tease fame,
m-m
What caused this unusual
mid- afternoon golf course per
formance? A lizard (perhaps
escaping the Meat) had taken
refuge up Jay’s pants leg.
m-m
Actually, Jay never saw the
lizard, assumed it had escaped.
Hte redressed, finished his
round, went home and hung
the pants in the closet. Monday
morning he used the same
trousers for the daily stint. At
Monday lunch, both he and his
wife noticed a strange odor
emanating around the dinner
table. It was altogethler foul
and unpleasant. No reason for
it could be found, but the odor
persisted. Jay returned to
work, came home in the even
ing. Again the odor was para
mount at the dinner table and
much fouler than before. In
advertently, Jay ran his hand
in his pocket, removed a long
dead eight-inch lizard. Jay, in
his strip-tease dance, had evi
dently mortally wounded the
invader.
m-m ‘
Summer does bring on its
lonney tunes ....
m-m
Barber Baxter Wright had a
pretty good one the other day
(also true). Once upon a time,
the barber emporia, currently
the domain of* menfolk almost
exclusively (where are those
beautiful blonde manicurists?),
had a pretty big lady trade.
This was in the days when
many women forsook the long
tresses they could sit upon,
whacked ’em off, and adopted
the now well-accepted bobbed
hair style. Later on, the women
took over their own. Just plain
bobbed hair was not exclusive
enough, spawning the beauty
salon, the permanent wave, the
hair-set, and, to the detriment
of the male barber, the lady
hair-cutter. The few women
who frequent the old-fashioned
barber shop of yesteryear are
usually there to suffer through
a youngster’s hair-trim, not
their own.
m-ni,
Thus Baxter was intrigued
last week when a couplle of dolls
opened the front door and one
inquired, “Will you cut my
hair?”
mm
Always pleased to render ser
vice, Baxter replied, "Sure.” The
maid contiqped, “I want a flat
top," and her frilend chimed in,
“I want one, too.”
m-m
Baxter handled one, G. L.
Wright the other. How did they
look? Ever prideful in his ton
sorial performance. Baxter
says, “pretty good,” though
he admits he and G. L. didn’t
wind up with identical artistry,
which could hardly be expected
on such a new job of work.
These girls I want to see, as the
flat - top chaps I’ve observed
look like .... Well. . .
m-m
Dotted notes: W. K. Mauney,
back from two months abroad,
looks chipper and rested. He
liked the Scandanavian nations
best of those he visited, says the
folk seem more like us, though
he adds, “That didn’t help any
with the language.” Mr, Mau
ney and his party went one way
on the Queen. Mary, the other
on the Quben Elizabeth. He had
no seasickness, but bought in
surance with one dramamime
pill daily while at sea .... A
number of Kings Mountain folk,
many of ’em collbge students,
have picked up high- paying
summer jobs at Rock Hill
Printing & Finishing Company
—officially on strike, but ope
rating, the management says,
at about-three-fourths capacity.
The situation is unusual, of
course, but $70 per week ain’t
hay. The first newspaper job
offered me in 1940 attached a
$15 per week stipend. Fact is,
it was the only job offered. I
didn’t take it, figuring I couldn’t
Will It Stick?
Viewpoints of Other Editors
* WHERE'S THE
WHISTLER?
A contributor to one of the
state dailies has asked the ques
tion, how come folks have 'quit
whistling?
We hadn’t thought of it before,
but as a matter of fact, we don’t
recall having heard an adult
whistle a note along the street
in years.
Used to be that most of the
folks whistled their way to and
from work. We had an expert in
the person of Lawyer Dick Fletc
her, who could get more out of
“Twinkle Little Star” than any
man we ever heard whistle Attor
ney E. S. Coffey, though not so
gifted, invaribly whistled as he
strode through town to and from
his office.
But like we said, the chteerful
sound has died away. Could it be
that preoccupation with the com
plicated age of the machine, has
in fact, made us unhappy? Or is
it, that money in the pocket, autos
in the garage and plenty of food
on the table haven’t added up to
| human contentment? We don’t
know. > I
But we do recall the cheerful
times when our folks could whis
tle, and the songs of others who
were more gifted as vocalists.
There’s something about whist
ling or singing that makes one
feel bigger and stronger and bet
ter. Like the lad who always
whistled when he passed the
graveyard at night. It drives a
way the spooks. And a sketch of
song likewise lightens the bur.
den of a long day.
It’s pretty hard for a fellow to
be miserable when his lips are
puckered in a shrill melody, or
to nurture unkind thoughts a
bout his neighbor when he’s
singing himself a tune.—Watauga
Democrat.
PLANNING FOR OLD
AGE NECESSARY
It has become rather common
to hear that the United States
population is aging, and that we
had betted do something about
it. When a thing is said so often
there is danger that it will be
come tiresome, even that it may
be ignored.
But this is a change that must
not be ignored. The change in
the nature of our population will
require corresponding changes in
our social fabric, and it is not
too early to be thinking about
the matter,.
Renewed attention was recent
ly called to the subject in the
bulletin that is published month
ly by Health Information Foun
dation. Since 1900, the bulletin
says, the number of Americans
65 years and older has increased
from three million to more than
14 million. This has been brought
about by a lower birth rate, low
er martality rates, restrictive im
migration and other factors.
It is estimated that by 1975
there will be some 21 million
Americans aged 65 or older. Such
a prospect demands carteful
thought and eventual planning
to fit older citizens happily into
scheme of things. We already
have made progress. Programs of
recreation and training are un
der way here and there; the con
cept of old-age security has tak
en hold; the idea of compulsory
retirement at 65 has begun to be
questioned.
These are only the starting
points, however. If society con
tinues along those linos, there
is a good chance that a happy,
productive and reasonably sec
ure old age can become the rule
rather than, the widespread dis
content and even suffering. —
Northhampton County News.
PEACE BETTER
A survey recently conducted by
the New York Stock Exchange—
which covers the period from 1934
to the present, shows that in in
vestment circles peacte is regard
ed as a more tavorable condition
than war. — The survey reflects
a conclusion that most sensible
mesa must have reached in recent
VICE-PRESIDENTIAL
' NOMINATION
In the United States the vice,
presidency has usually (been
rather lightly regarded.
Under the operation of our
constitution, it was entirely rea
sonable that such should toe the
case.
While the vice-president is
next in line for the highest of
fice in the land, the times when
he has succeeded to that high
office have been relatively few.
His other functions include pre
siding over the Senate and rep
resenting the President on vari
ous occasions.
This election year the vice-pre
sidency has assumed a role of
unusual importance.
Two illnesses within the past
12 months suffered toy President
Eisenhower have made people
fearful that he might not live
through a second term, although
published medica.l testimony has
toeen aimed at discrediting such
ideas.
With this fear in mind, people
are watching carefully to see
who will be named as President
Eisenhower’s running mate.
For a time it was taken for
granted that Vice-President Nix
on would again toe on the Repub
lican ticket, for he has toeen
one of the hardest working men
ever to occupy the second spot
in our national administration.
The move toy Harold Stassen to
swing the party to an Ike-Herter
combination has (brought renew
ed interest in the coming conven
tion in San Francisco and, while
it may not toe successful, it will
at least give the delegates some
thing to talk about.
The Democrats, too, have a
number of possibilities for the
second place on the ticket, and
while their nominee for Presi
dent has not been selected, the
trend now is to Adlai Stevenson.
This promotes speculation as
to the man for the vice-presi
dential spot, and among the
names being mentioned are
Senator Estes Kefauver, “Hap
Humphrey of Minnesota, and
others.
Some claim that not in more
than 150 years, not since the
day when the president and vice
president were voted upon sepa
rately, has there been as much
genuine interest in the nomina
tion for the number two spot.
As a rule, conventions have se
lected their vice-presidential no
minees near the close, after most
of the major business had been
cleared away, and with purely
political or geographical reasons
uppermost.
This year may be entirely dif
ferent. With the vice-presidency
assuming more importance than
ever before, it is fitting that
more public interest be focused
upon it. — Stanly News & Pre’ss.
WHOSE OX?
II several hundred had staged
a race riot on a ship in North
Carolina, can’t you just see the
Look and Life photographers and
the superior Yankee reporters
swarming ovter us? But when it
happens up North (Buffalo), it
doesn’t seem so interesting.
The N. Y. Times, always waving
a finger at the South, condensed
it into three paragraphs on its
last page. This is the same paper
so concerned about race relations
that it sent a crew of ten into the
South to “study” our race prob
lems. Too bad it didn’t save one
of them to study Buffalo.
The self-righteous HeraId-Tri
bune didn’t even mention the riot
the first day; finally had a squid
about it on page 4.
Oh, yes. This is the state of
that liberal Egg-head, Averill
Harriman, who wanted to use
force to promote race harmony
in the South. Maybe Governor
Hodges could lend him a few of
our militia to maintain order in
his own backyard.—State Maga
I sine.
NO BARGAINS
“The old saying that you can’t;
| get something for nothing is still
Lamm* -w*im***-**.- ~.9 —: -«»•-»*■ *
HARRIS FUNERAL HOME
—Ambulance Service—
Kings Mountain, N. C.
Phone 118
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