«. The Kings Mountain Heiald
' 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 toy the Herald Publishing House.
Entered as second class matter at the postoffice at Kings Mountain, N. C, under Act
of Congress of March 3,187a
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
Martin Hannon . Editor-Bub Haber
David Baity .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 Wade Hartsoe, Jr. Bill Myers
Charles Miller Paul Jackson Bob Myers
TELEPHONE NUMBERS — 167 or 283
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TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE
But the tongue can no man tame; it is unruly evil, full of deadly poison. James 3:8.
Recession Needed?
Much comment has been occasioned
by the comments of Sylvia Porter, the
writer on financial affairs, who was con
firming comments of the informed Jour
nal of Commerce that siome government
officials think the nation needs a “mild”
recession.
What kind of talk is this?
Is this Republican normalcy? Is this
fulfilling the promises of election sea
son for an ever-expanding economy?
Comments in the press have varied,
some seeming to hit the nail on the head,
others missing.
Little folk began to feel a little
queasy back in 1953 when the Federal
Reserve board began making money
more dear.
Now, four-plus years later, business
men both large and small are finding
an ever-pressing upward cost squeeze,
yet with customers minus enough
wherewithal to manage the higher price
tags.
Home building is off, the reasons are
1) lack of down payments and 2) lack
of available funds from some lenders.
A $3300 Buick auto of 1953 is nearer
$4300 in current models. That’s a lot of
jump.
One businessman here commented,
“We’ve had a mild recession here, and
we don’t need any further one.”
Another one figures this way: no
money is being added to the supply, yet
population is increasing. It means a sta
tic amount of dollars against more folk,
which makes dollars much, much hard
er to obtain.
The Hoover theory, and a fatal one to
his administration, was to let dollars
trickle down to the working man. Sure
ly, all would think, the modern GOP
leadership wouldn’t fall into that trap
again.
But the policies of four years indicate
that is the situation.
Wild inflation nobody wants, for in its
extreme goods would be the only article
of real value. But neither is it healthy
for the nation to retrench to the philos
phy of the Hoover administration.
No News Here
Many older folk must have received a
tickle out of Sunday’s headline in the
Charlotte Observer i-eading “Results of
Latest Survey Show Teen-Agers Con
demn Grownups”.
If they thought back a few yeai's, they
probably also had a tinge of regi'et, foi*,
when they were teen-agers, the same
situation obtained. Dad was a “squai'e”
and Mother a “killjoy”, and both were
just too, too naive to appreciate any
teen-age problem.
Of course, there was no news in the
headline or story either for it has al
ways been that way, always will.
It’s the teen-agers who are pegs in
round holes, and loaded with naivete,
but no amount of education can beat the
school of expei*ience in huiTying the
day when Johnny begins to believe that
Father not only can x’ead, but, to bor
row from a popular television show,
Father, or Mothei'. really knows best.
The average teen-ager doesn’t know
it, but parents practice a lot of patience,
too.
But how do pai'ents manage to stom
ach “l-ock-and-roll”?
The hassle over the licensing of for
eign-born hospitals who staff the state’s
mental hospitals has ended in a com
promise, which has been praised on all
sides. From this and other samples of
poor public relations judgment on the
part of medical groups in the past, it
would sieem the part of wisdom for all
medical schools to offer courses in this
important subject. And these courses
shouldn’t be taught by doctors. The doc
tors can beat the proponents of social
ized medicine, but they can’t do it by
imperiosiity, either personal or via their
medical associations.
Relief Needed
As predicted in last week’s Herald re
port, many commercial firm managers
let out cries of pain Thursday when the
month’s power bill reached their hands
from the postman.
The 'billing period for the month had
been marked by extra hot weather, and
those firms) using refrigeration and/or
air-conditioning saw their kilowatt to
tals reach high points for the current
year. The extension of the cost per kilo
watt hour did not make good reading for
any of the many firms affected.
Kings Mountain hospital reported its
billing up $210 over the same month last
year. Others were up in varying degree
from a few dollars to many dollars.
Adams Super Market, which got a bill
for $114, reported a larger store in Gas
tonia was billed for only $89 during the
same month.
The Herald is among the city power
customers paying a higher tab, though
the Herald’s consumption does not com
pare with that of the grocery stores and
many others.
Examination of the facts tend to prove
that the city made too great an increase
in its base schedule' of power rates last
February. The city power system made
a net operating profit during the fiscal
year ended June 30 of approximately
$100,000, a very tidy sum on sales ap
proximating $250,000. In other words
one dollar of each $2.50 received on
power siales was net operating profit. It
makes the city’s excuse of “selling pow
er below cost” look weak indeed.
The Herald is sure it speaks not only
for itself, but for the other commercial
firms, too, when it assures the city ad
ministration that there is no desire on
the part of these firms to see the city sell
power below cost. But a rate raise of 63
percent in the base schedule—from ,88c
per KWH to 1.4 per KWH—is too great,
both from the standpoint of power cost
to the city and the fact that the higher
rates in the preceding scales return the
city a gross profit of $25 on sales of 2500
KWH for each customer using that a
mount.
Retail business is not bad in Kings
Mountain, but it could be better. Almost
all firms in all categories are finding a
rough upward spiral in their costs.
The city should grant some relief in
the commercial power rate schedule.
Textile Outlook
August has been pointed up among
textile men for some months as the
month the market would improve, with
increasing orders and a firming of pri
ces.
Last week’s spot survey by the Herald
brought reports from Kings Mountain a
rea textile folk of varying hue. Some had
already found business more brisk,
others detected a firmer price tone, pre
lude to more sales, and majority said
they anticipated brighter days ahead?
Kings Mountain has long been wed to
textiles for its bread-and-butter. While
mining, at last check employing about 12
percent of the working population, has
been a great boon to Kings Mountain’s
financial well-being, it is still a fact that
mapority of Kings Mountain folk count
on paychecks for operating spinning
frames or looms, or other textile pro
duction machinery.
The history of textiles has long been
one of feast-or-famine, though the
slumps have been less pronounced since
the end of World War II.
All join the textile plant managers in
hoping that a period of more brisk ac
tivity lies closely ahead.
YEARS AGO Items of news about Kings Mountain area people and events
THIS WEEK taken from the 1947 files of the Kings Mountain Herald.
Kings Mountain city schools
will open for the 1947-48 schoo
year on Tuesday, September 2, i1
was announced yesterday by B
N. Barnes, superintendent ol
schools.
Ned A. McGill, secretary of the
Merchants association, will at-1
tend the second annual training
institute of credit bureau mana
gers and merchants association
secretaries to be held at UNC,
Chapel Hill on August 17-23.
Social and Personal
Mrs. S. S. Weir, Jr., and daugh
ers, Marlene and Derioe, spent
ast week in Atlanta, Ga., with
Natives.
Miss Marion Arthur spent the
weekend with friends at UNC,
Chapel Hill.
MARTIN'S
MEDICINE
By Martin Harmon
Ingredientsa bits of news,
'wisdom, humor, and comment.
Directionss Take weekly, if
■possible, but avoid
overdosage.
At Lake Montonia last Thurs
day night, the Kiwanis Clubs
at Shellby and Kings (Mount
aln got together (for an out
door meeting, which momen
tarily turned a bit wet. But the
dampness didn’t seem to ibe
melting anybody and not one
whittling did it bother the deli
cious barbecue. I caught (Rev.
P. !D. Patrick making a second
trip past the serving counter.
Then, a few minutes later, he
caught me doing the same.
m-m
I forget the name of the young
man serving the barbecue, but
I do recall he said he is go
ing to Ibe married in West
Palm Beach, 'Fla., next month,
and that he was chatting with
'Harvey (Hamrick, one time
(Mountaineer. The serving man
remarked, “I’m ready for this
(party to get over now, for I’m
getting hungry.”
m-m
‘Why, eat, young fellow,” I
remarked, “everybody’s been
served.”
m-m
"I mean real food,” was the
reply. “I can’t stand (barbecue.”
• m-m
The aforementioned IMt. Pat
rick teases me considerably
and I do him, but I must credit
him with a touche on the last
go-round between us. Quoth
(Mr. Patrick, anent the recent
trip of iAIRP Pastor W. (L. Press
ly and other (A1RP brethren to
(Mexico and their near-miss of
the earthquake there: "I knew
you ARP’S were a strong, if
small, denomination, ibut I
surely didn’t know a touring
busful off you folk; could start
an earthquake.”
m-m
•Lake Montonia’s picnic area
was a nice spot Ifor the Ki
wanis joint session, and, from
looks of the satisfied counte
nances, most folk didn’t have
the trouble of the serving lad.
m-m
Harold Coggins presided for
the Kings Mountain cluib,
(welcomed the visiting firemen,
and Mayor Glee Bridges and
County Cimmissioner Mai
Spangler made short talks.
Clyde Nolan, who arranged the
meeting, did the speaker pre
senting. All these used a mic
rophone, set up 'for the occas
sion. But when Dr. W. (P. Ger
berding was asked to say the
invocation, he spoke it with
out the benefit of "mike”. The
ILutheran minister was in good
voice, and his prayer resound
ed strongly against the picnic
shelter rooftop.
m-m
It was a nice party and our
family of two was fortunate to
(be guests.
m-m
The Herald never likes to lose
a subscriber, but one subscrib
er we lost last week made us
particularly sad. A postal
card came from Brooklyn, IN.
Y., from Charles Jeffries with
the notation that he wouldn’t
renew his subscription. He had
subscribed for his wife, who
had once lived in Kings Moun
tain. She had died last sipring.
He did not give his wife s
maiden name,
’ in-ill
Grady Howard, the hospital
man, drove up the other day
sporting a new “iba'by” Nash,
one American answer, I sup
pose, to the Volkswagen made
in Germany. It was a neat
looking car, turned out not to
ibe Grady’s. It is owned toy a
nurse at the hospital Who had
bought it only the day ibefore,
invited friends to run errands
in it in order to get the first
1,000 mile ibreak-in stretch over
quickly. Thirty-five miles to
the gallon makes good reading
to drivers of bigger cars which
find the fuel pump always
thirsty.
m-m
Joe Hedden, the former high
school hand man, is enjoying
his new work as personnel di
rector of fiost Bakery, says he
learns something everyday.
But he got his hand back in
band business briefly recently
for the Majorette school at
Sheliby. Joe helped out iwith
the organization of the school,
m-m
Reports are at least a half
hundred football fans from
Kings Mountain made the
trek to Greensiboro last iFriday
night for the East-West All
Star game, primarily to see
John McGinnis perform. Coach
Shu Carlton used John on de
fense almost exclusively, and
he got to show his feet on only
two running plays.
m-m
(My father grew up near Wa
co on the banks of 'Muddy IFork
Creek. He and I were discuss
ing the recent heavyweight
championship ifight and fact
that (Floyd Patterson is origi
nally from Waco, county of
Cleveland, N. C. Dad recall
ed a Negro man named Patter
son who cut wood and cradled
wheat for Dad’s father in the
1880's. Patterson was a “man",
Dad remembers, would stack
five cords of wood in a day
when par for the course iwas
three. Patterson outshone all
others in the wheat cutting,
too. We wondered if this Fat
tterson were a forebear of the
heavyweight champion.
Fall-Out'
HIGH COST
t OF
* LIVING. *■
Viewpoints of Other Editors
BALANCING ACT
On the surface the Govern
ment’s surplus for the fiscal year
just ended looks pleasant. In
reality, it is an extremely shaky
surplus; this is ibudget balancing
more .by accident than Iby design.
The surplus of more than $1.6
billion is almost $100 million
lotwer than estimated, which in
itself is hardly encouraging. The
surplus could easily have Ibeen
wiped out altogether if just a
few things had turned out some
what different.
For instance, last fiscal year’s
ibudget expected /housing pro
grams t ocost $719 million. But
largely because the Federal Na
tional (Mortgage (Association sold
debentures to the ipuiblic instead
of making heavy withdrawals
from the Treasury, these pro
grams to cost $719 million. But
into the Government's coffers.
In addition, the Export Import
Bank paid $100 million into the
Treasury instead of taking out
$400 million. This was due to the
happenstance that the British
government didn’t draw any off
its Ex-Im loan during the period.
Finally, Federal revenues Were
almost $300 million higher than
the most recent estimate.
Thus, if just these three situ
ations had developed the way
the administration in fact origi
nally thought they would, the
surplus would have ibeen micro
scopic; on this kind of basis, the
Government could quite easily
have wound up in the red. That
is no way to run a budget.
■For one thing, it is a dubious
matter for the Government to
have to be bailed out by con
stantly rising income from ex
isting tax rates. This rising in
come, while partly a reflection of
inflation, is to a considerable de
gree the result of the people’s
provide the basis for tax cuts,
instead of higher Government
spending, which is the case now.
The Government, despite the
Fannie Mae and Export-Import
"Windfalls,” spent nearly $450
million more last fiscal voar
than it had estimated.
Whatever else it may Ibe, this
is just plain 'bad fiscal practice.
It is like a man who plans his
•spending on the assumption, tout
without any certainty, that he
will get a raise before the year
is out. (Few argue'that this is a
sensible fellow. The Government
of the United States, far more
than any individual, should (bud
get its expenses so as to ensure
a large and safe surplus.
If there were a war or a de
pression, rickety budgeting could
perhaps Ibe excused. In a condi
tion of peace and unrivalled
prosperity there is 90 , excuse
whatsoever for the Government
to keep on piling up its outlays
year after year. Now if ever is
the time when 'Government
spending can be cut sharply.
And this is the only Way the
Government can get off this
frayed budget tightrope without
falling oflf, and balance its books
in a way that won’t look like a
trick.
(Wall Street Journal)
BY THE
TELEPHONE
(Don’t be too hard on any teen
igers in your home who may tie
uip the family telephone with too
long and too frequent conversa
tions with their friends. Socioli
gist at Ohio State University say
they are merely "developing
their personalities.” Youngsters
who shun this form of communi
cation, they add, are antisocial
and suffer from a lack of con
fidence.
The world will never ibe able
to pay its full debt to Alexander
Graham iBell. Think haw stunted
and antisocial were the folks on
this earth 'before the inventor of
the telephone came along. Mo
hammed never talked on a tele
phone. Neither did Demosthenes,
Helen of Troy nor George Wash
ington. Waterloo might have had
an entirely different ending if
Napoleon had enjoyed the bene
fit of walkie-talkies.
(The Dallas Morning News)
HIGHBROW DEFINED
(Highbrow: A person who en
joys a thing until it becomes po
pular — Oak Leaf.
CUTS IN MILITARY
MANPOWER
The President has directed the
armed services to reduce their
manpower a total of 100,000 by
the end of the year.
This is good news budgetwise,
Obviously,. Secretary Wilson esti
mates an annual saving of $200,
000,000. tDefensewise, the impli
cations of this economy call for
more careful analysis.
In this context everything
needs to Ibe seen against the
backdrop of one enormous fact:
The nuclear capabilities of both
the Western and Iron Curtain
powers and the defenses of each
against the other have reached
a point of development that
practically rules out A-or H
ibornb war.
This state of reciprocal deter
rence, while of overshadowing
importance in itself, means that
national fears or ambitions and
internation disputes, should they
turn to force, will do so Via mod
em adaptations of conventional
warfare.
Such warfare will employ few
er men. But how many fewer?
It is manifest that automatic
weapons, guided missiles, and
warheads multiply the firepower
per unit Of manpower. Mass ar
mies are things of the past. But
men will still be needed. The
National Security Training Com
mission in its final report ask
ed question: “What good would
men be in any future war?” And
answered it: “A far more perti
nent question is: “What good
would all our superweapons be
without trained men to operate
them?”
This leads to the observation
that adoption of the basic fea
tures of the Cordiner report
would keep more trained men in
service, fewer men in training
and thus justify further reduct,
ion in mere numbers. Also, that
one of the essential to readiness
for modern conventional warfare
is greatly increased mobility to
“git thar fustest with the most
est men”—which means that
speed can enable fewer to do
more. Here is an essential that
the Air !Force, at the moment, is
resisting in its traditional 'be
lief that bomb-dropping is de
cisive enough by itself.
Taking accouAt of these con
siderations, cuts in manpower
are possible—but progressively
only as these Considerations are
fulfilled.
(Christian Science Monitor)
A BROADMINDED
PERSON
Now and then you find some
ibody who’s ibroadminded enough
to like both extremes of modern
music—a bop-corn fan.
(Wall Street Journal)
AIN'T IT SO?
By BILLY ARTHUR
A television comedian is a man
who says things about other peo
ple that they are too polite to say
about him.
We hear that Chatham County
will erect a monument to a chic
ken. It’ll probably be put in the
middle of the highway.
No man has a good enough
memory to be a successful liar.
We had no contempt for paper
money because it did not contain
the motto “In God We Trust.” It's
only familiarity that breeds con
tempt.
••***•
Family records can be kept
without the knowledge of book
keeping, except in the case of
twins. That’s where double entry
comes in.
The farmers who need imme.
diate relief are those who drive
50 and €0 miles to sell their to
bacco and can’t find a place to
park.
There’s an old saying, “Modes
ty is to woman what salt is to
meat.” But have you been to the
beach this summer?
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PLASTERING
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ELMER
LUMBER COMPANY
Phones 54 and 25
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE MUSIC?
Popular? Country? Gospel?
Rock & Roll? Calypso?
You'll hear it all on
WKMT
Kings Mountain, N. C.
1220 in your dial
K HEALTH’S
ANONYMOUS
SHOCK TROOPS
Behind that little box
of capsules prescribed by ^
your doctor is a great army
of white-coated scientists who are engaged
in pharmaceutical and medical research.
These are the “shock troops” in medicine’s
fight to preserve your health. There is
never an armistice in their laboratory battle
against disease. Their cause is your health.
The fruits of scientific research are
readily available in this pharmacy at all times.
rKING5 MOUNTAIN!
r«rG3s»« DRUG COMPANY
PHONE 41 &6I THE CITY S MODERN STORE
Better
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it fits the current value of your property?
Get together with us for an expert re-eval
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