Population
Greater Kings Mountain 10,320
City Limits 7.206
The figure for Greater Kings Mountain is derived from
the 1955 Kings Mountain otty directory census. The City
Limits figure is from the United States census of 1950.
VOL 68 No. 29
Sixty-Eighth Year
PRICE FIVE GENTS
Established 1889
Kings Mountain, N. C. Thursday, July 18, 1957
Lynch Is likely
House Candidate
MAY SEEK SEAT-Haywood E.
Lynch said this week he may
seek to succeed iB. T. Falls, Jr..
recently resigned, as Cleveland
County representative to the
state House of Representatives.
Local News
Bulletins
GLASS SUPPER
Class 2 of (First Wesleyan
Methodist church will honor
Class 3 of the church at a sup
per gathering Saturday at 5:30
p. m. The event was first
scheduled to 'be held at the
Scout Camp tout will toe held
at Lake Crawford, a member
of the class reported.
TO MEXICO
Dr. and Mrs. W. L. Pressly,
James (Allen Pressly, Mrs. E.
W. Neal, and Miss Elizatoeth
(Anthony were among the
group which left Sunday on a
torn of Mexico.
ARP SERVICE
Dr. Tunis tRemien, of Due
West, S. C., will speak at Sun
day morning worship services
at Boyce Memorial lAiRP chur
ch in the absence of the pastor,
Dr. W. L. Pressly.
UNION SERVICE
Sunday night’s union ser
vice for five city church con
gregations will 'be held at
(First Presbyterian church With
Dr. W. P,. Geitoerding, (pastor
of St. Matthew’s (Lutheran
church, to deliver the 8 o’clock
sermon.
TO SING
The Trevecca INazarene Col
lege quartet will sing at the
First Church of the Nazarene
here on July 24. The public is
cordially invited.'
LIONS MEETING
Members of the Kings Mount
ain Lions club will meet Tues
day night at 7 o’clock at the
Woman’s Club. The meeting
has been scheduled as an or
ganization session, with no
formal program scheduled.
TO ENTER ARMY
Louis Arnold (Johnny) Kiser,
Jr., will report at 'Fort Jackson,
S. C., Sunday for induction in
to the army. Mr. Kiser, the son
of Mr. and Mrs. L. Arnold Ki
ser, has ibeen living in (Raleigh
where he has Ibeen working for
a Master’s degree at North
Carolina State college.
ONE PERMIT
Building Inspector J. W. Web
ster issued a building permit
Tuesday to Burleu King to e
rect a house an Katherine
street, at an estimated cost of
$6,000.
MOOSE MEETING
Members of Kings Mountain
Lodge 1748 will hold their re
gular (weekly meeting at 8:15
Thursday night at the lodge
on Bessemer City road, accord
ing to an announcement.
CAR FIRE
City Firemen answered a call
Wednesday around 6 o’clock or
First street to extinguish a tolazt
which had ignited the wiring ir
a 1952 Ford owned by Amos
Terry. City Fireman C. D. Wart
reported only slight damages.
Kiser May Seek
Post; Hugh Wells
Is Interested
Haywood E. Lynch, Kings
Mountain merchant and realtor,
indicated this week he will be a
candidate for the Democratic
nomination lor the House of Re.
presentatives in next spring’s
primary.
Also indicating candidacy was
Hugh Wells, the Shelby attorney,
who sought unsuccessfully the
United States House of Represen.
tatives nomination last year.
Another Kings Mountain “pos
sible” is L. Arnold Kiser. How
ever, Mr. Kiser, though acknowl.
edging he had been encouraged
to offer for the nomination, said
he wasn’t yet ready to make a
statement.
Mr. Lynch, former publisher of
the Kings Mountain Herald, said,
“My feeling today is that, if fil
ing time had arrived, I would file.
It has long been my ambition to
serve in the House of Representa
tives.”
Mr. Lynch sought the nomina.
tion once before, in 1942. Though
defeated by B. T. Falls, Jr.„ re
cently appointed district solicitor,
Mr. Lynch made a creditable
showing at the polls and won a
Handsome majority in Kings
Mountain.
The legislative position is now
vacant, Solicitor Falls having re
signed to accept his new position.
There is little liklihood of the
post’s being filled by appoint,
ment, County Democratic Chair
man C. C. Horn has said, barring
a special session of the General
Assembly prior to next May’s
primary.
Mr. Lynch has been a citizen
of Kings Mountain since 1934
when he leased the Herald. He
purchased it a year later. Since
selling the Herald in 1945, Mr.
Lynch Has been a builder and
realtor, as well as a merchant.
He is owner of Haywood E. Lyn.
eh Company, an auto supply firm.
Attorney Wells, who had been
mentioned previously in specula,
tion for the post, told the Herald
Monday he was almost definitely
sure he would be a candidate.
Numerous Kings Mountain cit
izens have expressed interest in
seeing a Kings Mountain area
citizen go to Raleigh. Attorney
J. R. Davis was Kings Mountain’s
last state representative, serving
in the 1923 session. State Senator
H. Tom Fulton, Sr., was the last
Kings Mountain member of eith
er branch of the General Assem.
bly. He served in the 1927 session.
Advertising Man
Is Said Imposter
A man posing as an advertis
ing salesman in connection with
a Jaycee project has reportedly
been roaming the town of Kings
Mountain.
Delbert Dixon, President of
the Jr. Chamber of Commerce,
asks that all Kings Mountain
merchants be wary of such a
person answering this descrip
tion. A call to project chairman
Gene Mitcham will reassure
any such claims if they are of
ficial.
Manei Renews
Insurance Fee
Split Request
B. F. Maner, the insurance a
gent, renewed his plea for a
commission-split on city-purch
ased insurance at the commis
sion session last Thursday night.
Mr. IManer, who had several
times made hi.s plea to Bridges
Administration II without suc
cess, pointed out that two agen
cies, whom he named as the Ar
thur Hay Agency and C. E. War
lick Insurance Agency-, enjoyed
from 93-97 percent of the city’s
'business.
'He said he was a ctizen, too,
and felt that not only he but
other agents should 'be “cut in”
The Maner plan would have one
agent write all the city’s insure
ance coverage, get a fee for the
ipaper work, with the remainder
olf the premiums to 'be split a
mong the other licensed agents
in business in the community.
Mr,. Maner said that the city
school system had for years dic
tated a premium split between
the two agencies, and he said
the City of Charlotte is an ex
ample of the premium-split ar
rangement.
Mayor Glee A. Bridges named
a three-man committee, includ
ing Ben OH. Bridges, Ross Alex
ander and Luther T. Bennett to
study the Maner plea and to
make a recommendation. •
In other action, the board ac
cepted low bids for the purchase
of two trucks and two trucker
type bodies for city garbage col
lection.
The board voted purchase of \
two trucks at $4,699.14 from Vi-1
ctory Chevrolet Company, and;
two packer-type bodies from
Markham Municipal Equipment
Company, Greensboro, for $6,
940. Plonk Motor Company s
truck bid was $4,840, while
Truck Equipment Corp., Rich
mond, Va., bid $7,190 on the two
bodies.
In other actions the board:
(1) Called a public hearing on
a request by .Warren Reynolds,
| agent for rezoning of the George
1 W. Allen property, corner of E.
King and Dilling, from residen
tial to neighborhood trading
area.
(2) 'Deferred action on the re
quest of !W. A. Morris Estate for
(Continued On Page Eight)
Mis. Mabiy's
Rites Conducted
Funeral rites for Mrs. Bertie
i Delahay Mabry, 68, were held
Tuesday afternoon at 3 o’clock
■ from Central Methodist church,
' interment following in Mountain
Rest cemetery.
Mrs. Mabry, wife of John H.
Mabry, died Sunday at 5:45 p.m.
at her home at 300 N. Gaston
street. Death was attributed to
a heart attack.
Surviving, in addition to her
husband, are a step-son Hoyle
Mabry, two step-daughters, Mrs.
H. B. Bumgardner and Mrs. John
White, all of Kings Mountain,
and a brother, Lucius Delahay,
of Gaffney, S. C. Six grandchil.
dren also survive.
Final rites were conducted by
Rev. James B. McLarty, pas^pr
of the church.
Pallbearers were Paul Walker,
George Blalock, C. J. Gault, Jr„
Wilbur Smith, Ben Beam and P.
K. Falls.
Traffic Crash Is Fatal To Bess
Bess Fatality
Halts Non-Death
Safety Record
An outstanding traffic safety
record was .'broken Wednesday
morning when Dorus (Bess, Can
sler street Negro Was instantly
killed in a tractor-trailer collis
ion.
It has 'been 2043 days since a
person had died as the result of
a traffic fatality with-in the city
limits.
The last previous traffic death
recorded was that of William
Briggs, aged Kings Mountain
Negro. Briggs died December 12,
19S1 of injuries sustained when
struck toy a car at the intersec
tion pf W. King street and Bail
road avenue.
On November 24, 1947, Oliver
Martin, olf Bostic was fatally in
jured at the intersection of King
street and Piedmont' avenue. It
was also a car-truck accident.
In a (period of almost ten years
only three traffic deaths have
been recorded here prior to Wed
nesday. (All the threee traffic
deaths occurred on King street,
W. King Street
Job Deferred
The new abbreviated State
j Highway & Pufblic Works com
i mission has deferred the plan
| ned widening and1 improving of
West King street.
The former 15-man commiss
j ion has allocated funds (for wid
ening West King from the hos
pital to the west city limits and
has also approved plans for in
stalling cuiib-and-gutter along
this street. <
Mayor Glee iA. Bridges said he
had (been notified by E. 'L. Kem
per, division engineer, that the
neW six-man commission had
instructed its engineers- there
will toe no further in-city im
provements until further notice.
Mayor Bridges said Mr. Kem
per told him the allocation had
not been withdrawn, tout Mr.
Kemper had no idea when, and
if, the work order would be re
newed.
Currently underway is con
struction of an additional two
lane strip to U. S. 74 between
Kings Mountain and Shelby. The
in-city project was a companion
piece to the improving df U. S.
74.
Retailer Picnic
Next Wednesday
Kings Mountain Merchants and
their employees will gather at
Lake Montonia next ^Wednesday
afternoon at 6:30 to? the annual
Kings Mountain Merchants asso.
ciation employer-employee picnic.
Mrs. Elaine Queen, association
secretary, said Wednesday advan.
ce ticket sales are good.
Dinner will be served by Mrs.
I. Ben Goforth.
Following the picnic, all the re.
tailers will be guests of Joy The.
atre for the filpi “Three Brave
Men".
The arrangements committee
includes Yates Harbison, Menzell
Phifer and Ed Tutor.
Edens Shoots Colorado Mountain Lion
Howard Edens, son of IMrs. C.
C. Edens of Kings Mountain, re
cently hunted mountain lion in
the fugged Colorado Mountain
country.
Mr. Edens major shooting ap
aratus was a motion picture
camera, though .standard wea
pons were also used.
Mr. Edens served as a camera
man on this hunt in an effort to
capture on film some of the ex
citement and grandeur of the
hunt itself, and also to record
the actual capture and tieing up
of a live mountain lion. The
hunt was filmed in south cen
tral Colorado out of Canon City,
with the Sangre de Cristo
mountains lending themselves
to the ibeauty of this rugged,
scenic Wonderland.
The full color, .sound, 16mm.
film is being directed/and ipro-:
duced by Bill Moomey, art and
advertising direcror of the A- I
doltph Coors Company of Golden. I
Colorado. Mr. 'Edens Is also an
employee off Coors, serving as as- i
sistant art and advertising dir-1
ector for the past two-and-one
half years. The film is slated
1 for a showing on the “Bold Jour
1 ney” television show in the near
» future.
\ Mr. Edens wrote the Herald,
s “In making the movie it requir
s ed .several hunts and lots of
fContinued On Page Eight)
HUNTS MOUNTAIN LIONS-WITH CAMERA-Howard Edens, lormei
Kings Mountcdn citizen, recently has been on a mountain lion
hunting expidition in rugged Colorado country. Mr. Edens war
i cameraman for a company filming a nature movie for sale to tele
! vision network. Mr. Edens didn't say whether the mountain lion
he’s thrown over his bone's neck was bagged with his camera 01
with a more customary firearm. At any rate, he said he got somr
! good footage.
WEDNESDAY MORNING WRECK SCENE - Pic.
tured is the* results of the Wednesday morning
crash of a tractor trailer truck and a passenger
car driven by Dorus Bess. Negro employee ot
Foote Mineral Company. Bess was killed instant,
ly. It was Kings Mountain's first traffic fatality
since December 12, 1951. (Photo courtesy Paul
Lemmons, Shelby Daily Star.)
Bethware, Compact Schools
ToOpenForSummer Session
September 3rd
City Schools .
Opening Date
Robert M. Kennedy, Jr., of Mon
roe, a former dean of men at
Erskine college, Due West, S. C.,
has been elected principal of East
school for the coming school
term.
Mr. Kennedy succeeds Carroll
I. Hambright as principal of the
elementary unit.
Action on filling of teacher va.
cancies and setting of September
3 as the opening date of school
featured the regular meeting of
the city board of education Tues
day afternoon.
The board also elected Mr. and
Mrs. Billy G. Bates, of Lincoln
ton, as teachers in the high school
department, elected Miss Sara
Lou Biggers, of Kings Creek, S.
IC, as an elementary teacher, em
ployed Mrs. Josephine Marto, of
Gastonia, piano teacher, and e.
lected Miss Willie Louise Rainey,
of Charlotte, as teacher of home
economics at Davidson high
school.
Mrs. Marto, who will teach
piano on a fee basis, had been
employed at a previous meeting
of the school trustees and upping
of piano tuition from $10 to $12
monthly had been approved at
a previous session.
Mr. Bates will serve as assist
ant coach and will teach eighth
grade at Central. His wife, Mrs.
Betty Wise Bates, will serve as!
an English instructor. Mr. Rates
is a graduate of Gardner . Webb
and Wofford college. His wife at. j
tended Gardner-Webb and was
graduated from Lenoir Rhyne
college at Hickory.
The new principal, Mr. Ken-1
nedy, has taught in the schools
of Greenwood. S. C., Due West,
S. C., and served as a teacher
| and dean of men at Erskine Col-'
i lege before accepting his previous
position as principal of Monroe’s
East Elementary school. He Is
married, the father of two chil-1
dren, and he and his family are
members of the ARP church.
Mr Kennedy received the bache.
lor of arts degree from Erskine
college, his master of arts degree
from Peabody college, Nashville,
Tenn., and completed additional
work at the University of North
Carolina and at ASTC, Boone.
The English teacher, Miss Big
gers, is a graduate of Winthrop
college and has had teaching ex.
perience in the schools of York,
Clover, and Fort Mill, S. C.
Supt. B. N. Barnes reported
(Continued on Page Eight)
Marksman Costs
Floyd Area Light
An eager-beaver air rifle ex
pert, is costing residents of
Floyd street a street light,.
'Request iwas made at last
Thursday’s city board session
for a street light at the corner
of Watterson street at Belve
dere Circle.
'Electrical Suipt. Hunter Al
len noted that he couldn't
keep a light in the one at the
corner of IFloyd and Oriental
due to air rifle damage, and
the board agreed to moving
the light to Watterson at Bel
vedere.
The board also agreed to in
stallation of two street lights
on Benfield street, at an esti
mated cost of $175.
Duke Ramsey's
Condition Poor
■Delbert (Duke) Ramsey, 29, re
mains in a critical condition in
Kings (Mountain hospital as the
result of injuries he .sustained
in an automobile wreck Sunday
morning.
The Kings Mountain man was
the driver of a car which ov
erturned Sunday morning about
1:45 a. m. at an overhead bridge
on Railroad avenue. The car
plunged 45 feet down an em
bankment 'before stopping be
side the railroad tracks.
Ramsey was pulled from the
path of a southbound train
shortly after the wreck occurred
by bystanders, iMrs. (Nell Hovis
Hall, passenger in the wrecked
car, said. 'Ramsey was thrown
out of the car onto the railroad
tracks.
(Continued on Page Eight)
Faculties Listed
For Two Schools
In County System
The back-to-School bell Mon.
day morning will herald the open,
ing of Bethware and Compact
schools for their split-term sum.
mer session.
Thurman Lee Warliek, Beth,
ware principal, and L. L. Adams,
Compact principal, are making
ready for the event. Elementary
teachers for both schools are lin.
ed up, but plans for the Bethware
high school department find one
teacher lacking. *
The regular summer schedule,
from 8:00 until 1:00, will not be
pursued in the former seven
grade, three-teacher Patterson
Grove school. This year’s plans
have Patterson Grove and Beth,
ware consolidated into one unit.
Teachers in the high school
department of Bethware will be
William Powell, Mrs. Ellen Peeler
Powell, Myers Hambright, who
will teach agriculture, Mrs. Eve.
lyn Jackson, and Mrs. N. F. Mc
Gill, Jr.
No subject designations were
made by County Superintendent
of Schools Horace Grigg because
of one remaining vacancy in the
high school department.
Mrs. Franklin Ware will be
teaching seventh grade in the
Bethware elementary department
while Mrs. Mattie Lowry will
have the eighth. Mrs. Kate Willis
will teach sixth'; Mrs. Jessie Green
fifth; Mrs. Jessie Hord, fourth;
Mrs. Hugh Ormand, third; Mrs.
Letha Morris, first; Miss Kath.
leen Ray, second Mrs. Katherine
Moss, First: Mrs. Marie Souther,
second; and Mrs. J. A. Lee, third.
Mrs. Ethel Crook will have a
(Continued on Page Eight)
Negro Youth Is Drowned In Sight
Of His MotliSk' &t Mica Plant Pond
A Kings Mountain Negro iboy,
Luther Clinton Burris, 15, drown
ed Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 in
the Patterson Plant pond of
Kings Mountain Mica Company.;
The boy’s mother, Mrs. James'
Burris, was fishing on the banks i
of the (pond about 75 feet from ;
the youth. 'Her two other sons,
Lonnie and James Burris, had
just left the water. Young Burris
waded out in deep water, called
for hetp, but efforts by his moth
er to rescue him iwere futile.
None of the boys could swim.
'A Washington high school
student, Burris Is survived, in
addition to his parents and two
brothers, by eight sisters, Mrs.
Isabelle Watson, Mrs. Pearlie
Ruth Wilson, Jessie Mae 'Burris,
Josie Lee iBurris, Ida Burris, all
of Kings Mountain, Mrs. Ella
Key, of Lawndale, Mrs. Nellie
'Rose Crockett, of Gastonia, and
Mrs. Gladys Webber, of Waco.
Coroner Ollie Harris termed
the drowning accidental.
Funeral services for the youth
will be conducted 'Friday after
noon at 3:30 at iLangrum Branch
Baptist Church, near York, S. C.
Gill and Brown Funeral Home
are in charge of arrangements.
Negro Killed
In Accident
Wednesday .
Kings Mountain's long safety
record without a tralffic fatality
was .broken Wednesday morning
when 'Dorus Bess, 45-year-old
Negro, was killed in the colli
sion of a 'Roadway Express truck
and the Bess car.
It had been 2,044 days since a
person died within the city li
mits as a result of a traffic ac
cident. ,
Three other men were injured
in the wreck which occurred a
bout 7:30 a. m. at the intersec
tion of West King and Watter
son streets. The 'Negro man died
instantly.
W. C. Tally, of Winston S.a
lem, a truck driver and passen
ger in the truck operated iby 'Le
on Harmon lAlford, otf (High
Point, is a patient in Kings
Mountain hospital where he is
being treated for multiple brui
ses and abrasions. [Receiving
treatment for minor injuries but
not admitted to the hospital
were Philltp Bess, 25, son of the
accident victim, and the truck
driver, Alford.
The trailer, loaded in Char
lotte with ll'/a tons of miscel
laneous goods, was enroute to
Chicago. iHeaded west on West
King street, the truck reportedly
struck the 1950 Dodge on the
car’s left side near the rear door
before spinning the car around,
sending the car 51 feet on the
sidewalk. The truck overturned.
Alford has posted Ibond of $1,.
000. and hearing has been set for
Monday’s session of city record
er’s court.
The accident victim, employ
ee of :Foote Mineral Company
since 1951, is survived iby his
wife and five other children,
'Mrs. Virginia Bess Perry, of
Greensboro, and Charles, (Louise,
Junior, and Doris [Bess, all of
Kings Mountain. The (family re
sides at 213 Cansler street.
Pastor's Croup
Elects McLarty
Rev. James B. McLarty, pastor
of Central Methodist church, was
elected president of the Metho
dist Ministers association of the
Gastonia district at a meeting at
Gastonia’s First Methodist chur
ch Thursday.
Mr. McLarty succeeds Dr. Wil.
son O. Weldon, of Gastonia, as
president of the group.
Other officers are Rev. J. R.
Bogle, of Belmont,vice-president,
and Rev. F. W. Bangle, of Lowell,
secretary-treasurer.
Dr. James G. Huggin, Jr., dis.
trict superintendent, presided and
presented the financial report.
Other reports included the report
on missions by Rev. G. W. Bum.
gardner, Rev. C. E. Murray who
discussed evangelism, Rev Harold
Austin who spoke of Christian
vocations, and Rev. George H.
Needham who spoke on world
peace.
Next meeting of the associa.
tion will be September 23 in
Crouse.
Legion Fund Aided,
No Precedent Set
The American Legion base
ball entry has about as dis
mal a season financially as it
did win-iwise (won 2, lost 20),
and Legion Athletic Officer W.
L. Plonk asked the city (board
of commissioners for respite
from the final home game
power tab, which approxima
ted $20.
All the Legion’s previous HO
ST utility accounts had Ibeen
paid, which had not always
been the situation in past dis
mal seasons.
At last Thursday’s city
board session, IComm. Ben H.
Bridges reported the Legion
plea, and IComm. 'Ross Alex
ander moved relief. Comm.
Luther Bennett seconded, with
the remark that, with the Le
j gion .aselball fund in bad
! shape, it needed help.
IComm. Bridges said he ob
I jected to setting a precedent.
"After all,” he commented,
“there might Ibe losing teams
in the future, the high school
maybe. IWhat’ll • we say to
them? I tell you Iboy.s, if you’
re willing, let’s pay the Legion
bill our of our pockets. Here's
five dollars.”
Mayor Glee Bridges and the
other commissioners quickly
anted in varying amounts
and Warren Reynolds, in the
audience, contributed five.
When the total was counted,
it apeared the Legion might
have made a dollar prekit on
its last-game light tbilL.