North Carolina Newspapers

Population Greater ICings Mountain 10,320 City Limits 7,206 The figure for Greeter Kings Mountain Is derived from the 1955 Kings Mountain city directory census. The City Limits figure Is from the United States census of 1950. WL 68 No. 49 Established 1889 Kings Mountain, N. CM Thursday, December 5, 1957 Sixty-Eighth Year PRICE TEN CENTS Local News Bulletins ■_ * ’ * _____ LODGE MEETING Officers of Fairview Lodge 339 AF&AM will be elected Monday night at the regular meeting at 7:30 p. m. at Masonic Hall, ac cording to announcement by Denver King, lodge secretary. -..... •—— TO CHARLOTTE Mrs. W. B. Logan is attending a federal and state income tax school in Charlotte. The course will be held through Friday. NO FIRES City Fireman C. D. Ware re ported Wednesday morning that the department had had no calls during the past week. NEW TEACHERS Miss Cheryl Ellen Cogdill and A. P. (Buddy) Weathers, Jr., both of Shelby, are doing their practice teaching in the high school here, Miss Cogdill in commercial subjects and Mr. Weathers in the physical edu cation department. They are seniors at Appalachian State Teacher’s college, Boone. LEGION MEETING Regular monthly meeting of Otis D. Green Post 155, the A merican Legion, will be held at the Legion Hall Friday night at 8 p. m., according to announce ment by Millard Prince, adju tant. PANCE Otis D. Green Post 155, the A merican Legion, will sponsor a dance for couples Saturday eve ning at 8:30 p. m., according to announcements being mailed to members. KtWANIS CLUB Tony Hampton, young Kings Mountain winner of the Caro lines Soap Box Derby In Char lotte, will describe his trip to the National Soap Box Derby in Akron, Ohio at the Thursday night meeting of the Kings Mountain Kiwanis club. The convenes at 6:45 p. m. at the Woman’s club. SUPPER Women of the Church of Dixon Presbyterian church will sponsor a chicken supper Sat urday afternoon. Serving will begin at the church at 5:30 p.m. VFW MEETING Kings Mountain Post 9811, vet erans of Foreign Wars, will hold a dinner meeting Thurs day evening at 7:30 p. m. at La Royal Restaurant on Shelby road. It will be the regular meeting of the organization. AT MEETING E. L. Brown, principal at Cen tral school, is attending a prin cipals’ meeting in Richmond, Virginia and is expected to re turn Friday. SPEAKER Rev. George Webb, who recent ly completed post-graduate in Edinburgh, Scotland, will de liver the message at Sunday morning services at First Pres byterian church, according to announcement by the pastor. Rev. P. D. Patrick. ATTEND MEETING Mayor Glee A. Bridges and Commissioner 'Ross Alexander were in Raleigh Monday where they attended the Governor’s conference on promotion of safety and sanitation on public roads of the state. YULE KOUDAYS City schools will close for Christmas-season holidays on December 18 and will resume Regular schedules on January 2, according to announcement from the city superintendent’s office. ij W. King Work Near Completion Mayor Glee A. Bridges said Wednesday contractors on the West King street widening hope to complete the work this week end, but that it will be another ten days before the strip is re opened to traffic. The Mayor said that good wea. ther should mean the completion of the improvements works, in cluding curb and gutter wide ning and a strip of sidewalk in front of the hospital, t?y the end of the week. However, he noted, the con crete must “set up” before the street can be opened to traffic. Highway 74 traffic is currently being detoured on Tracy and W, Mountain streets. Lions Will Honor Gridmen Monday Blocking Awaid Will Be Made; Giese To Speak Warren G*ese of the University of South Carolina, wlio will be the principal speaker at the Lions Club annual high school football banquet on December 9, is one of the nation’s most promising young grid coaches. Although he has been in the head coaching ranks only two years, his Gamecocks have be come recognized as one of the powers of the Atlantic Coast Con ference. His first team at South Carolina posted a 7-3 record in cluding a victory over Duke, the first ACC loss in history for the Blue Devils. Injuries hampered this year’s team, but the Game cocks managed to pull a big surprise in defeating Texas, one of the top clubs in Southwest. Giese is certain to recall some of the highlights of his two sea sons at the helm of the Game cocks when he speaks to the Kings Mountain High School gridders and other guests at the Lions annual affair next Monday night at the Woman’s Club. Ollie Harris, program chairman for the banquet, who invited Giese to address the group, said that he had asked the Gamecocks coach to bring along pictures of one of his games this autumn, preferably the 26-29 loss to N. C. State. In addition to being a top drawer coach, Giese is a noted af ter-dinner speaker and lecturer. In 1952 the young coach was cho sen to go to the Far East with the Armed Forces Football clinic. The young mentor also holds a masters degree from the Univer sity of Maryland, a degree he re ceived while serving as an assist ant coach to Jim Tatum. Giese also is the author of a textbook, "Coaching Football and the Split-T". The book now is be ing used for instruction in more than a hundred colleges and uni versities. He is a native of Milwaukee, Wis., and ‘started his athletic ca reer at’ Wisconsin State College. Under the Navy V-12 program, Giese played at Central Michigan. Later in the Navy, he played for Continued On Page Two ELECTED — Dr. W. L. Ramseur, Kings Mountain physician, has been elected vice-president of the Cleveland County Medical Society for the coming year. Medics Elect Dr. Ramseur Dr. W. L. Ramseur, Kings Mountain physician, has been e. lected vice-president of the Cle. veland County Medical society for 1958. Other officers elected are Dr. Haywood Thompson, Shelby gen eral practitioner, was elected president, and Dr. Avery McMur ry, Shelby, surgeon, re-named secretary - treasurer. Dr. Thompson will succeed as president ih January Dr. Paul E. Hendricks, Kings Mountain gen. eral practitioner. MRS. GOFORTH ILL Mrs. R. D. Goforth, saleslady for Myers’ Department Store, is confined to her home while re cuperating from a heart ail ment. Mrs. Goforth became ill last week, suffered a relapse Monday, but was reported rest ing well on Wednesday. Her physician has specified she have no visitors. Board Names Nicholson; Roper Re-Hired The ci'y board of commission, ers Tuesday night nan cd Corbet H. Nicholson acting superinten dent of the city gas system, e lected Charles H. Boheier as gas system assistant, and also re named William H. Roper to >the city police force. Mr. Roper was discharged last summer in a general economy wave in which the police depart, ment was cut by three men. Mr. Roper fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Acting Chief Martin Ware. He is to re turn to duty on December 15. Prior to naming Mr. Nicholson to the gas position, the board ac cepted the resignation of Vincent L. Beachum, city gas system sup erintendent since the system was opened in July 1954. Mr. Beachum made a statement We4nesday in which he thanked the citizens of Kings Mountain for their courtesies and gas patrons for their cooperation in launching the gas operations. “I regret very much to leave Kings Mountain,” Mr. Beachum commented, “for the people have been mighty good to me and my family.” Mr. Beachum resigned to ac. cept the position of gas system superintendent of Camden, S. C„ for Carolina Pipeline Company, a public utility with franchise to serve Camden. The new gas system superin tendent has been a city employee since September 1954. He has been an employee of both the gas system and the city public works department, having been assign, ed both to the water installation crew and as a filter plant ope rator. He has been with the gas system exclusively for the past several weeks. He and his family reside at 615 Meadowbrook Road and attended Eastside Baptist church. Mr. Boheler, who will assume his duties with the city on Decern ber 15, is an employee of Davis Sheet Metal & Furnace Company. In another action, the board granted a taxi franchise to Ra leigh C. Brown, Negro, partner in Gill and Brown Funeral Home. WEST P-TA West school P-TA will hold its regular meeting Wednesday, December 11, at 3:30 p. m., ac cording to announcement by Mrs.' George Hampton, pub licity chairman. The meeting was advanced one week earlier because of holiday schedules. Top Beauty Elaine Herndon Proves Quick-Change Artist By MARTIN HARMON “So nice to meet you, sorry we don’t have time to chat...” That was Miss North Carolina’s greeting to this reporter as she rushed into a bedroom and pre pared to meet a 4:30 p. m. dead line to appear in the Kings Moun tain Christmas parade Wednes day afternoon But Miss North Carolina is also a quick-change artist. In spit* of a late plane and a rushed-up schedule, she was gowned in evening attire, sipping Russian tea and munching a chicken sa lad sandwich in the living room of Mrs. Howard Jackson, her hos tess, well before the float came along to transport her along the parade route. In private life, Miss North Caro lina, a five-foot-fiveand-one-half brunette beauty, is Elaine Hern don, 18-year-old student at Dyke University. She’s already com pleted her sophomore year, but due to the Miss North Carolina buisness is taking only two cour ses this year. Business it is, for Miss Herndon filled six parade engagements last week. Next summer, she will re-enroll as a regular student, pursue her work toward becoming a school teach er in elementary education. “Love life?”, she laughted. “We don’t talk to you reporters about that. Miss North Carolina has none. Only Elaine Herndon does.” The question apparently was answered, “yes”. Miss North Carolina stays busy in other directions. As the state’s entry in the Miss America con test last year, Miss Herndon did a take-off on “cheesecake” as her entry in the talent division. Today, she is entertaining solo at sundry ladies night events and other club functions She sings, gives monologues, and does mo dern interpretative dancing. Meantime, she keeps abreast of her two courses, tries to maintain as well as possible her activities in Alpha Delta Pi (nicknamed Apple Dumpling Pie sorority a*. Duke. Why no cheesecake pictures for the press? Miss Herndon explain ed that the North Carolina Jay cees seek to keep their 'beauty pa geants on a “very high plane." Therefore, there are no bathing suit pictures out-of-season. For the Kings Mountain pa rade, Miss Herndon wore a solid dark green evening gown, with silver accessories, including a clip at thie waist, a tiara and mat. ching earrings. The gown was a low-cut model, and the cleavage was somewhat akin to Princess Margaret’s recently . famed three inches. How does Miss North Carolina Keep warm on cold outdoor per formances? That’s where the long dress is handy. A borrowed blank, et from the Jackson linen closet protected her from the cold. An other blanket was used to protect Joyce Dixon, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Dixon, the beauty queen’s young lady in waiting in the royal float. Any figure . retaining informa tion for the lady-folk? "Just remember to push away from the table in time,’’ Miss Herndon laugh ted. Does Miss North Carolina be lieve in Santa Claus? Apparently she does. She hopes Santa Claus will bring her a fur jacket for Christmas. The royal float arrived and it was time to invade the elements. Miss North Carolina’s plane was met by Delbert Dixon, presi. dent of the Kings Mountain Jay cees„ Mrs. Dixon, Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. W. K. Mauney, Jr. Departure hour was to be about 7:30 from Charlotte Airport. But Raleigh-Durham Airport was hav ing a foul weather ceiling and there- was some question what time Miss North Carolina would get to tuck her head in bed at the home of her parents in Dur ham. First Baptist Dissident Group May Contest New Site Decision A group of members of First Baptist church—dissenting from the voting of last month where by the church voted to accept a site for a new church plant to be constructed within five years —may seek to organize Sunday afternoon. If the organization is formed, it will adopt the name First Bap tist church and will claim to rep resent the church, W. T. Weir, a deacon, said Wednesday. Mr. Weir said prayer service was held at the church last Sun day and tha‘ 102 members affix ed their signatures to a state ment of intent to organize. Chief effort, besides becoming spokesman for the church is to retain the property and identity of First Baptret church in its present location? He acknowledged it is possible the dissident group will organize Sunday and elect what they claim are constituted officers of First Baptist church. The Sunday afternoon meeting will be held at the church at 3 p. m. Mr. Weir declined to comment on possible legal action, if any, which the group may employ in its effort to keep First Baptist church operating in its present site. In the voting conducted Octo ber 23, the membership voted 235 to 163 tt> accep1 a site bounded by King street and Sims street, with the agreement to build a new plant on the site within the next five years. Since that time, church members have cleared the site and have posted a large sign reading “Future New Home of First Baptist Church”. The voting climaxed a contin uing question, covering some two years, in Which feelings on the question of building a new plant or re-building the present plant, [waxed intense. Crowd Of 3,000 Sees Annual Kings Mountain Yule Parade THEN AND NOW—These two pictures bridge the gap of 27 years separation of two sisters who were reunited here a few weeks ago. The picture on the left above shows the two shortly before their sep aration in 1930. Dorothy Louise Sargent, aged one year, is seated, and her sister, Loneda Sargent, 21/2 years, stands. The picture on the right shows the same two sisters two weeks after their reunion. Mrs. Dorothy Putnam of Kings Mountain is on the left, and Mrs. Loneda Church of Lexington on the right. Sisters Reunited After 27 Years 11-Year-Search Snccessfully Concluded Here A Kings Mountain woman and her sister, separated 27 years ago as small children, were reunited here on Sunday night, November 17. The local woman is Mrs. Doro thy Louise Curry Putnam who was located at her home on Kings Mountain, Route No. 1, by her older sister, Mrs. Loneda Church of Lexington, who instituted the search for the long-lost sister 11 years ago. Mrs. Putnam, on the other hand, did not know that she had a sister, and the reunion came as a great surprise to her. The Kings Mountain woman had heard that she had a brother, and had made unsuccessful efforts to find him She learned after the reunion with her older sister that they did not have a brother. Mrs. Putnam was at home with her husband, Lloyd F. Putnam, and their three children, Phyllis Ann, Larry, and Douglas Ray, when the surprise reunion took place. Mr. and Mrs. Church of Lexing ton and Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Hill of Charlotte, the latter being the mother of the two sisters, drove up to the Putnam home a bout 9:30 p. m. on the night of Sunday, November 17. The reunion of the two sisters, thus, ends a chVpter in their lives which, dates back 27 years, to 1930, When Loneda was two and a half years of age, and Dorothy Louise was one year old. The two sisters were separated when their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Sargent of Lexington parted. Loneda lived with her fathei and in foster homes in Lexington, Rockingham, and Hamlet until her marriage a fevy years ago to Ira Church of Lexington. They have a daughter, Myra. Mr. Chur ch is a manager of a loan service in Lexington.. Dorothy Louise was left by her mother with a pastor in Shelby, and he contacted the proper au thorP.les which led to the young girl’s adoption by a Kings Moun. tain couple, G. L. Curry and the late Mrs. Curry. She grew up in Kings Moun tain and attended the dty schools. She later married Lloyd F. Put nam who with his bro*her, ope. rates Putnam Brothers Garage. They Wave three children. The older sister related to the Kings Mountain woman at their reunion tha* she recalled hear ing her father speak of a young sister, "Dorothy Lou”. About 11 years ago, H. H. Reeves of Lex ington, Loneda’s foster father, be. f Continued On Page Eight) Scouts Raise $78 At Poppy Sale Girl Scouts of Central Metho dist church sold 980 poppies In the poppy sale sponsored Sat urday by Kings Mountain Post 9811, Veterans of Foreign Wars. Proceeds from the sale will be used locally to aid underprivi leged children of Kings Moun tain. Approximately $78 will go toward a fund for the under privileged, Miss Joyce Simpson, Central Methodist church work er, said. Retailers Ready For Ruying Rush “We have so much stuff, I don’t know where to put it.” "Christmas gift items, you bet, and plenty of them.” “Yep, we’ve been working hard to get our Christmas goods un packed and displayed by the pa rade.” These comments are typical of the remarks of Kings Mountain retail store personnel and mana gers during the past week. Odds are that the 1957 Christ mas merchandise offering in Kings Mountain is ^t an all-time peak. The breadth of inventory in cludes all lines of retail selling, including toys, cowboy and cow. girl apparel and shooting irons, apparel, jewelry, appliances, nov elties and many other gift spe cials. One appliance dealer is adver tising free gift wrapping of ap pliances, indicative of the effort of Kings Mountain merchants to strive to please in handling Christmas business. “We hope all Kings Mountain citizens will av^il themselves of the opportunity to shop conven iently and easily in Kings Moun tair firms, Charles E, Dixon, j president of Kings Mountain j Merchants association, said this j week. “Wednesday marked the opening of the Christmas shop-1 ping season and Kings Mountain i merchant are ready to serve you. j Selection is broad and prices are j competitive or better.” Employment Of! Slightly In November Employment in Kings Moun tain was off slightly during No vember, though there was a slight increase in weeks of unemploy ment compensation claimed and a jump in the number of persons actively seeking work. Franklin L. Ware, Jr., manager of the Kings Mountain branch of the North Carolina Employment service reported that 14i9 claimed unemployment benefits during November and noted there would have been more had not some persons exhausted their benefits. Under the law, a person may re ceive unemployment compensa tion payments for only 26 weeks of a benefit year. At the end of November, 514 persons were registered as job seekers at the Kings Mountain office. Mr. Ware said unemployment claims had been more brisk due to curtailment of third shift ope rations at Carlon division of Carl ton Mills, Inc. Otherwise, Mr. Ware reported, the employment situation wasn’t greatly changed during Novem ber. He said his office handled no ‘‘spot points" which occur when a plant lays-off as many as 20 workers for a definite period. During November the agency received 44 job openings and fill ed 33 of them. A total of 113 per sons registered for work during the month. Textile production continued at about the same pace. Alexander Maino, general manager of Neis ler division of Massachusetts Mo hair Plush Company reported the Neisler situation "quiet, normal” He said pile fabrics production is up and that more persons are getting a full five-day work sche dule than ptfeviously. He added that his firm is seeking more orders for “fiat goods”. Meantime, Kings Mountain Manufacturing Company contin ued its five-day, three-shift ope ration. Supt. J. H. Patterson said recent yarn sales indicate the mill should continue to operate on this schedule indefinitely. CARPENTERS MOVE Mr. and Mrs. C. T. Carpenter, Jr., and their family have oc cupied the residence on Cres cent Hill Road which they pur chased recently from Mr. and Mrs. James A. Houser, now of Graham. Annual Bny-A-Can, Leave-A-Can Charity Drive Is Being Launched Kings Mountain Jaycees are conducting a charitable cam paign designed to make Christ mas brighter for the needy. The Junior Chamber of Com merce is. again sponsoring this year its “Buy A Can—Leave A Can” appeal for food. Citizens are asked to deposit food in baskets located at all grocery stores, or, if they prefer to give cash in coin boxes iQcated in many business firms in the city. Robert H. Goforth is chairman of the committee on Christmas ac tivities and other members of that committee include John Warlick, Ken Jenkins, Luco Falls, Clinton Jolly,- Bob Rhea, Manley Hayes, Jackie Barrett, and Ray mond (Whistle) Goforth. Streets Lined As Cold Winds Bring Shivers The weatherman provided cold but clear skies Wednesday much to the delight of youngsters and adul*s who jammed the city streets for the big Christmas opening parade. Parade onlookers, a record Parade onlookers, a crowd estimated at 3,000 persons, were on hand to get a pre view of Santa Claus for 1957, to see the reigning Miss North Caro lina, and o‘her parade attractions. Many parade spectators com mented on the excellence of the parade, which included gaily, decorated floats, high school beauty queens, other pretty girls, and numerous high school bands. Particular comment was heard among viewers on the beauty of the floats, including numerous lo cal entries. Riding on the float furnished by Neisler Mills divis ion of Massachusetts Mohair Plush Company were Brownie Brown, Sara Nell Moss, Mikie White, and Connie Dixon. On the Mauney Mills float were Ann Falls, Phyllis Dean, Georganna Moss, Polly Page, Mary Owens, and Diane Cansler. Joyce Dixon rode on the Miss North Carolina Float with pretty Elaine Hern don, of Durham, state beauty queen. Representative Basil L. White, ner, of Gastonia, led the 42-unit parade followed by officials of the city, National Guard uni's, and various Scout Troops. Bands from Kings Mountain, Gastonia, Dallas, Shelby, Besse mer City, and Cherryville as well as Davidson high school’s band and rhythm group performed well and played Christmas music a* long the line of march. High school beauty queens who appeared in the parade included Jane Byars, Kings Mountain; Pat Hamrick, Bethware: Brenda Jackson, Grover; Elizabeth Hayn es, Shelby; Gail Baxter, Cherry ville; Barbara Tate, Bessemer City; Lois Adams, Gastonia; Vir. ginia Eaker, Waco; Leslie Smith, Dallas; and Emmabell Lovingood, Tryon. Throngs of youngsters follow ed the big Santa Claus float as Old Nick tossed out candy to the crowds along the line of march. Christmas lights were turned on for the first time, and this year decorated trees placed in the business district of town to high light the event. Store windows were also gaily decorated in the holiday motif, and as customary, a Christmas scene was placed on the lawn of Jacob S. Mauney Me morial Library. The merchants Christmas pa. rade officially launches 'the Christmas shopping season in Kings Mountain. No Further Word On Plant Prospect Mayor Glee A. Bridges said Wednesday he had received no further communication from con solidated Textiles, Inc., concern ing a new occupant for the va cant Loom-Tex Corporation build ing. Consolidated had asked the Mayor for a statement concern ing city water and sewage dis posal facilities. Mayor Bridges wrote that the city could furnish over one million gallons of water daily and W. K. Dickson, city engineer of Char lotte, wrote Consolidated for specifications concerning waste material to be handled. Consolidated had stated the prospective tenant or purchaser would employ a dying and finish ing operation. Jaycees Seek Names Of Needy Families Know a needy family in Kings Mountain area you'd like to see have a merrier Christmas? The Kings Mountain Junior Chamber of Commerce is seek ing the names and addresses of needy families — over and above those furnished through regular welfare and Red Cross sources. The Jaycces annually distri bute food and toys to brighten the Christmas season for needy families. Citizens are asked to mail names and addresses of needy families to PO Box 162, Kings Mountain. The letters need not be signed.