Population
Greater Kings Mountain 10,320
City Limits 7,206
The figure for Creator Kings Mountain Is derived from
tfip 1955 Kings Mountain city directory census. The city
Limits figure is irom the United States census of 1950.
VOL. 69 No. 39
Established 1889
Kings Mountain, N. C., Thursday, September 25, 1958
Sixty-Ninth Year
PRICE TEN CENTS
Local News
Bulletins
NO FIRES
City fireman C. D. Ware re
ported the department has had
no calls since September 16.
P-TA MEETING
Park Grace school Parent
Teacher association will hold
its initial meeting of the
school term Monday night at
7 p. m. in the school auditor
ium.
WORKSHOP
The Woman’s club is con
tinuing the bazaar workshops
each Wednesday afternoon
from 2 until 5 o’clock for mem
bers to gather for preparing ar
ticles for the bazaar, a feature
of the October floral fair.
TO MEETING
Mrs. Wanza Davis, president
of North Carolina Education
Association Secretaries, will
represent her group at the
meeting of Northwestern Dis
trict Education association at
Boone Friday. She attended a
meeting of the Western Dis
trict NCEA at Asheville last
week.
LIONS DIRECTORS
Directors of the Kings Moun
tain Lions club will meet
Thursday night at 7:30 at Ra
dio Station WKMT, it was an
nounced by Rev. R. D. Fritz,
president.
METER RECEIPTS
Parking meter receipts for
the week ending Wednesday at
noon totaled $129.37, including
$18.50 from off-street meters
and $110.87 from on-street me
ters, City Clerk Joe McDaniel
reported.
BUILDING PERMITS
J. W. Webster issued two
building permits this week,
one to Hunter Ware to build a
one story brick and frame
house on N. Ramseur street at
a cost of $5,000 and another to
Woodrow Strickland to build
a one-story frame house on
McGinnis street for $2,000.
Builder of the Strickland house
is Jim Walters Corp.
Two Services
At First Baptist
Tvvo morning church services
will be held at First Baptist
Church Sunday.
W. T. Weir, spokesman for the
church minority group, said a
service will be held at 9 a. m„
with Dean Bridges, Kings Moun
tain sophomore at Gardner-Webb
College, conducting the service.
Regular church services at 11 a.
m. are conducted by Dr. E. V.
Hudson, of Cramerton, First Bap
tist supply pastor.
Mr. Weir said the 9 o’clock
service is being held in hope that
members who have not been at
tending church services will at
tend. ‘Everybody is invited,” Mr.
Weir added.
The two services underline the
continuing difference among
church members on the question
of building a new church on a
new site, a difference that Was
resulted in court litigation. Cur
rently, the majority and minority
groups await a ruling from the
North Carolina Supreme Court on
an appeal by the majority from a
Superior Court injunction re
straining church officers from
disposing of real property or
building fund assets of the church.
The Supreme, Court ruling is
expected within the next week or
fortnight.
Tax Discount
Period Ending
Persons who wish to pare 1958
tax bills by pre-payment discounts
must pay their accounts by the
close of business Tuesday.
Prevailing during September is
a one percent discount for pre-'
payment of the bills due at par
October 1.
J. W. Webster, city tax collec
tor, said Wednesday a total of!
$74,988.46 has been paid on 1958
tax accounts, against a levy of
$152,603.
In addition, collections since
July 1 on taxes for 1957 and prior j
years total $8,491.36, Mr. Web-;
ster added.
The one percent September dis
count period applies to both city
and county tax bills.
RECEPTION HONORS PASTOR — Rev. and Mrs. J. J. Thornburg are
pictured at the reception given in their honor Sunday night by
members of Patterson Grove Baptist church. Mr. Thornburg, pastor
of the church the past seven years, will become pastor of High
Point's Albertson Road Baptist church October 1. The church gave
the couple a silver service. Women of the Missionary Society of the
church planned the reception. (Photo by Pennington Studio)
City Street Work
Now In Full Swing
Improvements
During Year
To Cost $125,000
Work on a city street improve
ment program is at full swing,
city officials said this week.
The projects are keeping em
ployees of the city public works
departments, Neal Hawkins
Company, Gastonia paving firm,
and Spangler & Sons at fast
tempo.
A city employee W. L. Arrow
ood expressed it this way Wed
nesday, “We’re patching and a
patching.”
Actually, the projects—expect
ed to cost some $125,000 during
the current fiscal year — require
teamwork from three construc
tion groups.
The city crews patch streets for
re-surfacing, raise manholes on
these streets and those schedul
ed for paving, and handle the
pre-surfacing grading and ston
ing work on unpaved streets. In
addition, they have such other
duties as moving hydrants and
water meters where street-wid
ening and curb-and-gutter work
require, as occurred in Crescent
Hill.
Spangler & Sons hold the con
tracts for the curb-and-gutter
work contracted by the city,
while the Hawkins Company is
doing the hard-topping work on
both pock-marked and unpaved
streets.
The current city budget calls
for expenditures of $51,500 for
street maintenance expenditures
during the year, plus $59,000 in
capital outlay for original per
manent improvements to streets.
In addition, the board of city
commissioners has appropriated
other funds for street improve
ments out of the 1958 fiscal year
surplus. City Clerk Joe McDaniel
said he hadn’t totaled the addi
tional appropriations but guess
ed they would total up to $15,000.
Bus Chartered Again
To Graham Crusade
A second bus to the Billy Gra
ham Crusade in Charlotte has
been chartered for Thursday,
Rev. W. C. Sides and !Dr. W. L.
Pressly have announced.
The bus will leave from First
Presbyterian chfurch next Thurs
day afternoon at 5:30 p. m. Per
sons who wish to attend should
notify Mrs. Gene Carpenter at
First Baptist church office (phon
es 260 and 713). Round trip fare
is $1.30 and the bus can accommo
date 33.
A bus will leave this afternoon
(Thursday) at 5:30 from the
Presbyterian church with citizens
from the community who are at
tending the crusade now in its
first week.
Johnson Attested
After Accident
Parks C. Johnson, Forest City
man employed at odd jobs, was
charged with no operators license
and running a stop sign as the;
result of an accident Thursday at I
11:30 a. m. on Ridge street at the!
intersection with Carpenter;
street.
Johnson was driving a 1952
Pontiac belonging to Jay Motor
Company of 211 E. King street;
and the other vehicle involved
was a 1958 Ford panel truck, thej
property of Cline-Land (Dairy in1
Waco.
The truck was being driven by
John Sherman Brown of Cherry-1
ville.
According to police reports]
Brown was driving west on Ridge j
street when Johnson came out of i
Carpenter street, running the]
stop sign. Brown struck the oth
er car on the left rear door and
fender, doing approximately $300
damage to it. The front fender,
bumper, and headlight on the
dairy truck was damaged about
$75.
-Ellis King investigated for city
police department.
Kings Mountain Lions To Conduct
Annual White Cane Sale For Blind
The Kings Mountain Lions club
will conduct its annual White
Cane sale lor benefit of the blind
this weekend, it was announced
by C. P. Barry, chairman of the
annual Lions club project.
Mr. Barry said a street_ sale
will be conducted Saturday of the
small white canes, emblematic
of the project.
Citizens will be asked to make
whatever donation they see fit
in return for the white cane lapel
button.
Part of the proceeds will re
main with the Kings Mountain
club to conduct its aid-to-the
blind program here, and part will
go to the North Carolina Associ
ation for the Blind to conduct its
program, which includes aid to;
the blind, aid to persons of poor
vision, and an educational pro-'
gram designed to prevent sight'
defects and blindness.
Medical authorities say, Mr.
Barry noted, that 50 percent of
blindness is preventable.
The North Carolina Association I
for the Blind was organized byj
Lions clubs of the state, and aid'
to the blind is one of the princi-;
pal continuing programs of the
local club, the state organization;
and Lions International.
“Give as liberally as you can to
this worthy project,” Mr. Barry
urged.
-
On Priority Study List -
Paul Lancaster
Named Secretary
Of Mica Company
Paul A. Lancaster, manager of
Kings Mountain Mica Company,
Inc., was named secretary and;
director of the company at a re !
cent stockholders and directors j
meeting held at the offiice here!
in Kings Mountain. Mr. Lancas!
ter succeeds the late Hamilton;
Douglas of Atlanta, Ga.
In early 1950, Mr. Lancaster
joined the company as construc
ion superintendent, becoming
plant superintendent in 1952, and
manager in 1956.
Mr. Lancaster is a native of
Jonesville, S. C., and prior to join
ing Kings Mountain Mica Com
pany, Inc., was for many years
project superintendent for Hen
dricks and Kennedy Construction
Company, of Charlotte, a com
pany engaged in highway, rail
road, and other heavy construc
tion. This firm was also engaged
in gxtensive mining for sheet
mica during World War II, oper
ating one of the largest sheet mi
ca mines in the state near Cherry
ville.
Mr. Lancaster is a member of
Bethlehem Baptist church, tea
cher of a Men’s Sunday School
class, vice-president of the Bro
therhood, and for the past year
has been chairman of the 'board
of deacons. He is a Mason, a mem
ber of the York Rite bodies, and
a Shriner.
For the past three years, Mr.
Lancaster has been a member of
the advisory committee of the
North Carolina State College
Minerals Research Laboratory;
in Asheville, and is a member of;
the American Institute of Mining:
Engineers.
Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster reside
on Grover Road.
Oother Officers and Directors
named at the meeting were. Jam
es B. 'Preston, Stamford, Conn.,
president and director; Herschel
E. Cole, Atlanta, Ga., vice-presi
dent and director; Roy H. Gunter,
Spruce Pine, treasurer and direc
tor; Mrs. F. B. Hendricks, Shel
by, direeor; and Charles S. Gun
ter, Spruce Pine, director.
Mauney to Head
Scout Drive
W. K. Mauney, Jr., Mauney
Hosiery Mill official, has accept
ed the post of community chair
man in the fund-raising cam
paign to be launched Oct. 13-17
by the Pioneer Girl Scout Coun
cil throughout Gaston, Lincoln
and part of Cleveland Counties,
it was announced today by Joe
Lineberger, council fund drive
chairman.
Mr. Mauney will be assisted in
the campaign by a committee
which will include the chairman
of the initial gifts, business and
professional, and general solici
tation divisions. Also serving on
the committee will be the chair
men of publicity, audit and ar
rangements.
The Girl Scout Council will,
seek $26,845 to finance the or-1
ganization of urgently needed
additional Scout troops, to pro
vide training for volunteer lead
ers, to maintain Camp Rotary
and Camp Kiwanis and day
camps held at these camps, to
provide professional staff assist
ance to volunteers and the faci
lities of a Council office for local
troops.
Pulpit Group
To Make Report
A congregational meeting will
be held at First Presbyterian
church following morning ser
vices Sunday when the church’s
pulpit committee will report on
its work toward recommending
the calling of a pastor.
Announcement was made by
Dr. P. G. Padgett, chairman of
the committee. Other members
are Charles Neisler, Mrs. W. T.
Weir, Mrs. W. L. Ramseur and
Hunter Neisler.
The pastorate has been vacant
since the resignation of Rev. P.
D. Patrick September 1.
Morning services on Sunday
will be conducted by Rev. Don
Barnhouse, of Montreat, an as
sociate of Dr. Billy Graham.
Sunday evening at 7:30, a pro
gram on church extension will
be conducted by women of the
church.
35th Cleveland County Fair
Will Get Underway Tuesday
AT FAIR — Cowboy Gene Autry,
the movie star, will be a feature
attraction at the 35th annual
Cleveland County Fair opening
next Tuesday at the fairgrounds
near Shelby. Autry will make
four appearances on Tuesday
and Wednesday.
Gregory To Enter
Baptist Hospital
Rev. John Gregory, Kings
Mountain minister, will enter
Baptist Hospital at Winston Sal
em Thursday for heart catheteri
zation preparatory to surgery.
Mr. Gregory’s condition, diag
nosed as a “hole in the heart,”
has required so much medical at- j
tention that his finances have
been almost depleted. Citizens of
the community came to his aid:
and a fund campaign was start
ed sometime ago.
The surgery date was changed:
because a blood pump on the
heart machine had broken and a
new part had to he ordered. Mr.'
Gregory said he was informed by
hospital officials. Dr. Glenn Saw-|
yer, head heart specialist at the
Winston Salem institution, has
asked Mr. Gregory to be at the!
hospital by 1 p. m. Thursday to1
begin preparation and studies for
the operation.
Additional donations to the
Gregory Fund:
Junior Heath, $2.
Mr. and Mrs. M. L. Harmon,
Sr., $5.
Many Features
On Five-Day
Fair Program
Cleveland County’s 35th an
nual fair, billed as the biggest
county fair in the nation, will
open Tuesday for a five-day bill
ing which promises many fea
tured attractions.
School children from through
out Western North Carolina and
their teachers have been invited
to attend the fair and will re
ceive free admission tickets for
both Tuesday and Friday.
One big fair feature will be
the appearance for four perfor
mances of Gene Autry, the cow
boy, along with his horse Cham
pion, Tagg Oakley, and other
stars. The Autry shows will be a
highlight of the Tuesday and
Wednesday fair prop-am. as the
troupe appears in two shows
daily in front of the grandstand,
at 3:30 o. m. and 8 p. m.
Thursday and Friday after
noons, and again Saturday night,
the Swenson Thrillcade will
bring to the fair both male and
feminine daredevils, circus per
formers and movie stuntmen in
a thrill show proclaimed second
to none. A chilling performance
of the Thrillcade is the “Ride of
Death”, a sensational multiple
loop-the-loop event.
Also, Dot recording star John
ny Maddox will appear at the
Cleveland County Fair with the
Thrillcade event. The world-fam
ous “Crazy Otto” will play an
amplifier-equipped nickelodeon
tuned piano atop a revolving
stage mounted on a hydraulic
lift atop an express truck.
Thursday and Friday nights
will feature the GAC Hamid re
vue with the Manhattan Rock
ettes; Miss Lona and her pals;
Matt Tuck in his risley act and
the Bruxellos, acrobats.
Saturday afternoon brings In
dianapolis type race cars under
the direction of Sam Nunis
Speedways and featuring Bill
Holland, winner of the Indian
apolis 500. Holland has come out
of retirement to race at some of
his favorite fairs.
The James A. Strates shows
will be the attraction on the
(Continued on Page Eight)
Potential 01 Lithium As Source
Of Energy Outlined By Chemist
Plentiful lithium may be the
future source of the world’s
growing requirments for energy,
W. A. Lendeke, chemist for Lith
ium Corporation of America, told
members of the Kings Mountain
Lions club Tuesday night.
Noting the problems of obtain
ing sufficient energy is the prin
cipal forseeable world problem,
Mr. Lindeke said lithium is in
plentiful supply throughout the
world and has already indicated,
if methods are found to employ
it, that it is a potential source of
energy now supplied by coal, oil,
gas and other fuels of which
there is a conceivable limit to
supply.
He pointed out that a lithium
salt, lithium perchlorate, is be
ing used in the fourth stage of
rocket propulsion.
Mr. Lindeke pointed out that
use of lithium to develope ener
gy is a fusion reaction, as con
trasted to the use of uranium,
which is a fission reaction. A fu
sion reaction implies use of ener
gy in the form of heat, to pro
duce energy.
Benefit of developing lithium
as a source of energy lies in Its
plentifulness, whereas the sup
ply of uranium is quite limited
in comparison, he noted.
Mr. Lindeke reviewed the his
tory of the growth of lithium, be
gun in World War II when the
army sought a product which
would be light and unbulky, yet
could be used to raise aerials on
life rafts to aid sea-air rescue
missions of airmen down at sea.
The answer was lithium hydride,
which would react with water to
fill an aerial-raising balloon.
Since, lithium derivatives have
supplied numerous industrial
needs including, he said, greases
for the armed services and in
dustry, ceramics, and as alloys.
Copper wire, with' lithium gives
greater conductivity, he said. He
noted that some lithium hyride
is used by USS Nautilus and
other atomic-powered submar
ines to remove carbon dioxide
from the air and make the sub
marine habitable for indefinite
periods.
He described the Lithium Cor
poration chemical process of ob
taining lithium salts as quite
simple in principle. First the li
thium-bearing ore is “cooked” to
high degrees, then it is ground
and treated with sulphuric acid
to produce lithium sulphate and
further chemical treatment pro
duces the needed and market
able lithium hydride and lith
ium sulphate and further chem
ical treatment produces the need
ed and marketable lithium hy
dride and lithium hydroxide.
Lithium products sell from 50
cents per pound to $15 per
pound, the top price being the
cost of pure lithium, a base me
tal that reacts with air and must
be either in oil or air-tight cop
per tubes.
Mr. Lindeke displayed samples
of the base metal and the many
salts, along with spodumene ore
samples from local and Quebec
mines.
He noted that the “cooking” |
process used by Lithium Corpor
ation requires more natural gas
than the total used by all custo
mers in the City of Charlotte.
Mr. Lindeke spoke on a pro
gram arranged by Dr. George
Plonk.
I
SPEAKER — Jet Pilot William H.
Straughn. captain in the North
Carolina Air National Guard, !
will address members of the
Kings Mountain Kiwanis club
Thursday night.
Kiwanis To Hear
NCNG Jet Pilot
Captain William H. Straughn,
physiological training and fly
ing safety officer of 145th Fight
er Group, North Carolina Air Na
tional Guard, will address mem
bers of the Kings Mountain Ki
wanis club at their meeting
Thursday night at the Woman’s
Club.
Capt. Straughn will speak on
a program arranged by J. E.
Herndon, Jr., on the subject, “The
Physiological Aspects of Jet Fly
ing". He will be accompanied by
Lt. Bundy, who will demonstrate
gear and equipment.
A fighter pilot, Capt. Straughn
was reared in Denver, Colo. He
attended Meso college and ob
tained a degree as a chirapractor I
at Los Angeles, Calif., city col-:
lege. He was a flight officer with1
the Royal Canadian Air Firce un-1
til 1944, when he transferred to
the United States Air Force. He
first came to North Carolina as
a primary instructor at th^ air
force civilian contract school at
Kinston. He took special train
ing at the air force aviation phy j
siologist school at Gunter Air
Force base, Ala.
A member of the air national
guard since 1956, he now lives in
Charlotte.
J. M. McGinnis
In Koopman lob
J. M. McGinis has succeeded
John Koopman as chief of the
production control department of
Massachusetts Mohair Plush
Company, General Manager A1
Maino said this week.
The change was effective Mon
day.
Mr. Koopman resigned to ac-,
cept a position with a Textron, i
Inc., plant at Red Springs.
Woman's Club Group
Plans Story Hour
Story hour at Jacob S. Mauney
Memorial-Library will be resum
ed October 3rd, with members of j
the Community Affairs Depart
ment of the Woman’s club con
ducting the program.
Miss Margaret Goforth, a |
member of the department and
a teacher at North School, will
conduct the story hour each Fri
day afternoon from 4 to 5 p. m.
during the month of October.
Children in grades one through
seven are invited to participate.
Various members of the sponsor
ing department will tell the stor- j
ies throughout the year.
Highway Director
Says Preliminary
Studies Planned
By MARTIN HARMON
While the problem of Highway
U. S. 74 through Kings Mountain
has been placed on the priority
list for study, it is possible any
actual construction, either of a
new route or widening of King
street, may be three-or four years
distant, W. F. Babcock, director
of the state highway commis
sion, told the Herald Wednesday.
Mr. Babcock said the study of
best means to eliminate or alle
viate the U. S. 74 bottleneck
through Kings Mountain ties in
with the general study planned
by U. S. 74 all along its route,
through Forest City and Spindale
to Asheville.
"I was through Kings Moun
tain on a Sunday,” the highway
commission director laughed”
and U. S. 74 appeared to bte
something of a bottleneck.”
Mr. Babcock said the study
would include aerial mapping as
a first step, to be followed by
drawing of preliminary plans.
Subsequently, hearings would be
conducted to get citizen reaction
to the preliminary ideas of the
highway commission planning
department.
“We do regard U. S. 74 as a
principal highway,” He added.
Discussion on prospects for U.
S. 74 change or widening through
Kings Mountain has been height
ened as work on the added dual
lane to the Shelby-Kings Moun
tain section continues.
E. L. Kemper, division engineer,
previously has recommended to
the commission that King street
be widened, to make King street a
six-lane boulevard with median
strip, comparable to Franklin
avenue in Gastonia. Mr. Kemper
has told tHe Herald he regards
the widening as the cheapest
means of navigating Kings Moun
tain, and a method that will give
the community one major boule
vard. In addition, he adds, the
King street route appears to be
the shortest feasible route. He al
so noted that highway depart
ment experience shows that so
called through traffic will follow
the shortest route, even where
roads are poor.
Some years ago, a survey was
made by the highway commis
sion which would create a new U.
3. 74 through Bridges Airport,
ivith an underpass of the South
ern Railway mainline and thence
cast to connect with present U. S.
29 and 74.
Mr. Kemper said construction
cost indicated was very heavy and
[hat a series of curves in the
planned roadway made it appear
impractical.
Any improvements through the
city limits will result in some cost
to the city. Under present state
law, a municipality must assume
20 percent of right-of-way cost of
any road constructed through it.
Conversations of citizens indi
cates three wings of thought con
cerning U. S. 74: 1) commer
cial interests on King street de
sire widening; 2) some King
street residential owners desire
Its relocation in or outside the
city; 3) some property owners, in
cluding Mayor Glee Bridges, pre
fer the Airport route.
Mr. Kemper has said that an
out-of-city by-pass, either to the
north or to the south, would
make the distance around the city
much greater than the distance
through the city. In addition, an
out-of-city by-pass would likely
require right-of-way through1 min
ing deposits, on which it would be
difficult to establish damage
costs.
Pupils To Enjoy
Brief Work Week
Next week will be a short one
for city and Park Grace school
pupils, the schedule being limited
iue to holidays.
On Tuesday, schools will be
suspended for the annual meet
ng of the Western District of
:he North Carolina Education as
sociation, to be Held at Hickory.
On Friday, October 3, school
»vill be suspended at noon, in the
innual half-holiday to allow
children to attend the Cleveland
bounty Fair.
Both Tuesday and Friday have
x'en designated Cleveland Coun
y school days by fair officials,
tnd the school tickets to be dis
ributed by school officials this
/ear will provide for free admis
sion on both Tuesday and Friday.