North Carolina Newspapers

{ ' Population Greater Kings Mountain 10,320 1 City Limits 7,206 Ik* figure for Greater dags Mountalu I* do, .red from Ha* IMS Dag* Motmtato city directory census. The city Limits figure I* from too United State* ensue of 1950. VOL 71 No. 2 Pages Today Established 1889 Kings Mountain, N. C., Thursday, January 14, I960 Seventy-First Year PRICE TEN CENTS Area School Merger Petition Now Being Circulated Local News Bulletins SUPPER DANCE Cleveland County Life Sav ing Crew and American Legion Posit 155 are sponsoring a sup per-dance February 13th, with fried chicken plates to be ser ved from 5 to 8 p. m. Tickets are on sale at $1.50 each. The supper-dance, to be held at the Legion Hall, will benefit the Life Sa ring Crew. HOSPITALIZED W. D. (7iJ.ll) Bennett under went surg *ry for a kidney ail ment Moi day in Charlotte Me morial hospital. Mr. Benneitt, who is recuperating satisfac torily, is a patient in Room 506. P-TA MEETING Central school Parent-Teach er Association will hold its reg ular meeting Wednesday af ternoon in the school auditor ium. Dr. D. F. Hord will speak on “Dental Care” and show slides to highlight the pro gram. KIWANIS CLUB Ralph G. Higgins, chemist at Fiber Industries near Earl and a newcomer to Kings Moun tain, will givie highlights of a recent trip to England for Kangs Mountain Kiwanaans at their Thursday meeting. The club convenes at 6:45 at the Woman’s club. MASONS An emergent communication of Fairview Lodge 339 AF&AM for work in the first degree will be held Monday night at 7:30 at Masonic Hall, Secretary T. D. Tindall has announced. ELECTED Miss Barbara Gamble, Kings ^fountain student at King’s Business college and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Gam ble of Kings Mountain, has been elected sports editor of the college newspaper, “The Broadcaster.” HOT DOG SALE Wesitover Baptist church will conduct a sale of hot dogs, ca kes and pies on Saturday. The sale will begin at noon and continue to 8 p. m. Proceeds will be used for the church building fund, it was announ ced. TAX REPORT AID The Internal Revenue Office in Shelby will be open to as sist taxpayers in the prepara tion of their federal income tax returns from 8:30 a. m. to 5:00 p. m. each Friday begin ning January 22, until April 15. The IRO telephone number is HUxley 7-6641. METER RECEIPTS Parking meter receipts for the two weeks ending at noon Wednesday totaled $196.53, in cluding $173.88 from on-street meters and $22.65 from Chero kee lot meters, City Clerk Joe McDaniel reported. Honor Society Inducts Seven The Kings Mountain high school chapter of the National Honor Society inducted seven new members Friday at the mid year induction program held at the high school. Inducted were these seniors: April Brown, Phil Mauney, Steve Powell, Gale Klrcus, Joyce Child ers, Barbara Lynn, and Bill Sim pson. Harry Jaynes, Central princi pal, presented membership cards to new members and Connie Pad gett, secretary to the society, read the names of candidates. Nancy McClure, Connie Padgett, Jimfriy Plonk, and Jfanmy Blan ton sang, ‘Tt Would Be True" as a feature of the program and Jim my Plonk and Dianna Neal poin ted out the requirements for membership and the significance of the emblem. Vice President INancy McClure presented the candidates. President Jeny Wri ght presided. Dr. Jfarvey Bumgardner made the principal address on the theme, "Character,” to members of the high school student body. Rose Malcolm closed the pro gram after the new members had enscrfced their names to the per manent scroll, lighted, candles, end pledged membership in the chapter. PRESIDENT — Carl F. Mcnmey was elected president of Lake Montonia Club, Inc., at the an nual stockholder's meeting Tues. day night. He succeeds F. A. Young, of Gastonia. Call Mauney Club President Carl F. Mauney, of Kings Mountain, was 'elected president of Lake Montonia Club, Inc., at the annual stockholder’s meet ing held at City Hall Tuesday night.. Mr. Mauney succeeds F. A. Young, of Gastonia. Other officers elected were Walter Carroll, Gastonia, vice president; Jim Wilson, Jr., Gas tonia, secretary-treasurer; and George H. Houser, Kings Moun tain, assistant secretary-treasur e‘. The new president was retiring vice-president and Mr. Houser succeeds Mr. Wilson, retiring as sistant secretary-treasurer. Law rence Patrick is retiring secre tary-teasurer. Two new directors were elect ed for three-year terms. George H. Mauney succeeds J. Pat Tig', nor, and Charles Pearson suc ceeds Walter Carroll. Holdover directors are: terms expiring in 1961, Bob Crockett ami Dr. O. P. Lewis; terms expiring in 1962, L. Arnold Kiser and R. Lee Spen cer. Report of officers showed the club enjoyed a prosperous year Out of gross income of $5,329, the club spent $1,835 for capital improvements and purchased $1,000 in Kings Mountain Sav ings & Loan, association shares, bringing the total of this equity to $2,000. Capital expenditures were mads for swimming area im provements and purchase of a water cooler. The membership report at year-end showed 132 regular members, 27 child members, and 20 associate members. Making committee reports were J. Pat Tignor, fishing, Geor ge H. Mauney, roads, and Bob Crockett, recreation. Mr. Mauney said the roads were in passable condition, but suggested some maintenance would be required during the coming year. Six lot and stock transfers were recorded during 1959. The Stockholders voted to re tain present regular dues sche dule of $24 per year. COURT OF HONOR Kings Mountain Court of Honor for district Boy Scouts will be held Thursday night at 7:45 p. m. at Central Metho dist church; it was announced (this week. March Of Dimes Drive Underway OUie Harris Chairman; Goal Of Drive $3000 Kings Mountain’s quota for the annual March of Dimes cam paign is $3000, and J. Ollie Har ris, chairman of the drive here, was busy this week completing his organization. The nation-wide fund cam paign to raise money to treat victims of infantile paralysis and to pay for research to find better imeans of (treatment, is to be con ducted throughout the month of January, it. was announced by Lindsay Carroll of Shelby, Cleve land Oouny chairman in the I9 60 effort. Mr. Carroll noted that Kings Mountain and Number 4 Town ship were most generous in rc spo «e to the appeal for funds for the fight against polio last year. Large portion of the money gi ven remains in Cleveland County to treat Cleveland County vic tims of the dread disease which preys particularly on children. The campaign in Kings Moun tain will follow closely the drive of last year. "It is easy to ask for funds for the campaign”, the drive chair man pointed out. “For there is not a citizen who is not familiar with what polio means, both here and in other (sections of the state and nation. The National Foundation for Infantile Paraly sis has made it possible for all victims to obtain special treat ment which many could not af ford, and I am sure* that the peo ple of this area will again sup port this campaign to the limit of their abilities.'' Mis. Weil's Rites Conducted Funeral rites for Mrs. Sallie Wells Weir, 89, were held Sun day at 2:30 p. m. from Kings Mountain Baptist church, of which she was a member. Mrs. Weir succumbed at her home on Grover road Saturday morning at 6:30 a. m. following a several years illness. She was a Cleveland County native, dau ghter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Dan Wells and the widow of S. S. Weir, Sr., a former Kings Mountain postmaster who died in 1955. Survivors include four sons, A. Frank Weir of Gastonia, L. Cur tis Weir of long Beach, Calif., W. T. Weir and Sam Weir, Jr., bath of Kings Mountain; two daughters, Miss Veatress Weir of Charlotte and Mrs. T. A. Ham bright of Grover; and three sis ters, Mrs. Florence Hughes, Mrs. Etta Logan, both of Kings Moun tain, and Mrs. Ross McCarter of Clover, S. C. Also surviving are 18 grandchildren, 45 great grandchildren, and three great greait grandchildren. The final rites were conduct ed by Rev. M. D. DuBose and in terment was in Mountain Rest cemetery. Cut-Off Day For Utility Service No Fun For Anybody; Here's Why... By MARTIN HARMON Utility cut-off Jcy for delin quent payment is an unpleasant one with the city elecrieal de partment. There are many reasons, a mong them the fact the electri cal men know that tueyil be going back, likely the following day, to reverse the work and cut in service. Another is the fact that the electrical men are hu man, too, and don't like to in convenience anyone. But policy is policy, and city hall officials guess that this month’s cut-off list of near 100 customers would jump to 300 quickly if a lax policy on pay ments is followed. History shows this to be true. Other reasons are individual, as can be indicated by these samples Supt. Hunter Allen was reporting Wednesday: 1) At one cut-off spot, there were several dogs, one a mam moth one with six-inch jaws, who looked as if he could eat a man. The lady at home wasn’t happy. Looking at ithe dogs askance, Supt. Allen returned to the truck, told an assistant to prepare for pole mounting. Meantime, he extricated a long-handled, heavy wrench from the truck and pre pared to do battle. But the lady thought a lot of her dogs, called to them, and put the pony-sized one in the doghouse. Power ser vice was suspended. 2) Supt Allen confessed to soft heartedness when a pretty 18 year-oid lass complained that he was interrupting her favorite television program and, besides, her folk were en route city hall, right then, to pay the hill. "All right,” Mr. Allen told her, “I’ll wait. But if the bill isn’t paid, I’ll be back.” The return cut-off trip was required. 3) Still another lady declared she had no cash and could not possibly pay until Friday. Mr. Allen said, *I'm sorry”, and started to proceed with his work. Told to wait a minute, he did and the lady forked over the cash. HEADS DRIVE — J. ullie Harris has been named chairman of Kings Mountain's 1960 appeal for funds for the March of Dimes. Lions Heard AFS Student Switzerland Is prosperous to day due to hard work of its peo ple, high productivity, and a longtime state policy of neutra lity, Pierre Dasen, Swiss interna tional exchange student here, said in an address to members of the Kings Mountain Lions club Tuesday night. He said Switzerland’s policy of neutrality evolved from experi-1 ence and, though Switzerland maintains a large standing reser ve force, cancels the citizenship di’ any citizen (oljh# than mem bers of the historical Swiss guard at the Vatican) who bears arms for any other nation. Should a Swiss citizen break the law and return to Switzerland, he is jailed. The Swiss student, member of the Kings Mountain high school senior class, guessed thac Hit ler’s willingness to respect Swiss neutrality during World War II was based on his belief that, if invaded, Switzerland would des try its pass's through the Alps mountains and would therefore, be of no practical benefit to the German war effort. He also no ted that, with universal military training for imen from 20 to 40, Switzerland can mobilize an ar my of 350,000 men in one day, and 600,000 in three days, made possible because the reservists maintain uniforms, arms and even vehicles at their homes. He noted that the Swiss can think or say what they please, but the state policy of neutrality is solid. Since Switzerland imports one third of the food lit requires, ithe World War II years were diffi cult “But we had nothing des troyed during (the war ana were able to return quickly to pros perity,” he added. Dasen described Switzerland as one-third the sdze of North Carolina with about the same population of five million, ma jority of whom live in the Mid lands or less mountainous areas. He said there are 208 ski lifts in the Alps but noted that the frequent sounding of the big Alp horn usually has a tourist dollar behind the blow. “We are considered 160 be a prosperous and educated na tion”, he added, “though some say we’re probably ten years behind America. We have many less television sets per capita, but we have no T-V commer cials.” Other facts he listed about Switzerland: ■ 1) Persons applying for jobs as bus drivers, tourist guides, sales people and others serving ithe public must know two or three languages including Eng lish, of they wont be consider ed. 2) Four languages are common in Switzerland, with 72 percent speaking a hybrid of Swiss-Ger man (for which there are no ru les for writing), 21 percent Fren ch, one percent a mixture of Swiss-German and Italian, call ed Bomanche, and six percent I tallan. 3) Switzerland is 56 percent Protestant or Reformed, 42 per cent Roman Catholic, and 1.5 per i cent miscellaneous. 4) The legislative branches ofj (Continued on Page Eight) Bank Promotes Hnrnant; Herndon Is New Director First National Bank enjoyed one of its best years in 1959 and looks forward to the future with confidence and expectancy, Pres ident B. S. Neill told stockhold ers at the annual meeting Tues day. R. S. Lennon, executive vice president and cashier, comment ed on statistical reports in the bank’s annual statement and st ated that the bank’s investment maturity schedule as well as its 'assets-loan ratio puts the bank in excellent position to handle loan demand, in contrast to some institutions reporting a very slight loan situation. The stockholders, about 75 per cent of them present either in person or by proxy, reelected seven of the eight directors, in cluding Dr. L. P. Baker, G. A. Bridges, R. S. Lennon, W. K Mauney, B. S. Neill, P. M. Neis ler, Sr., and Frank A. Summers. J. E. Herndon, Jr., was elected a director succeeding M. A. Ware. Convening after the stockhold er’s meeting, the directors pro moted L. E. (Josh) Hinnant to vice-president f:nom assistant cas hier. It was stated that Mr. Hin nant would the assigned addi tional duties principally in pub lic relations. Other officers were re-elected, including Mr. Neill, president; Mr. Lennon, executive vice-pres ident and cashier; and Mrs. He len R. Blaniton, William G. Jo nas and Mrs. Louise C. Lybrand, assistant cashiers. Report on 1959 operations showed the bank had operating earnings of $148,487, paid taxes of $10,527 out of total operating expenses of $116,675, and showed a net profit of $28,241, or $2.82 per share of stock outstanding. At year-end, loans totaled $1, 327,160, investments of $2,088,550. and deposits of $4,006,340. Total assets were $4,444,045, up about $300,000 from 1958. Meantime, capital, surplus and undivided profits increased over $18,000 to I $407,704. In addition, there is a I contingency reserve of $30,000 and a reserve for bad debts of $28,468. The bank paid dividends of $1 per share, totaling $10,000. Mr. Lennon noted that of the bank s investment in securities, nearly 38 percent, or $798,936^ mature within a year, providing the bank plenty of near-term (Continued On Page Eight) Grigg To Speak To Rotary Club J. Horace Grigg, superintendent of Cleveland County s.Jiools, will address Kings Mountain Rotari ans at their Thursday meeting at the Country club. Mr. Grigg, who will speak on a program arranged by Tom Trott, will use ‘'Names” as bis subject. The club convenes for the noon meal at 12:15. Mr. Grigg is a life member of j the National Education Associa j tion and a past president of the South Piedmont Teachers Associ ation. He was a member of the State High School Textbook Committee for seven years and a member of the Governor’s Com mittee on Education in 1938. He is a Kiwanian and a past presi dent of the Kiwanis club of Shel by. GROUNDBREAKING HELD — Groundbreaking at the site for the new parish house of Trinity Episcopal church was held Saturday and pictured above are officids who participated in the rites. Left to right are Rev. Floyd Finch, rector of Holy Comforter Lutheran church of Charlotte, the first Priest-in-charge at the local church Hev. Claude Collins, rector of St. Andrew's church in Bessemer City, the Right Rev. M. George Henry, Bishop of the Diocese of Western North Carolina, and Rev. Thomas Droppers, rector of Trinity church. UF Officials To Plan Clean-Up Officials of Kings Mountain U nited Fund and campaign solici tors who haven't completed their assignments are requested to meet at City Hall Thursday night at 8 o’clock, Sam Stallings, president, asked Wednesday. He labeled Thursday night’s session as a “clean-up” meeting. “We want ito finish the cam paign—and successfully,” Mr. Stallings said. Thus far, United Fund has re potted cash and pledges totaling $13,000, some $5,000 short of the $18,000 goal. “Contributions continue to tri ckle in,” Mr. Stallings comment ed, “and I believe that we vir tually can attain our goal with a clean-up effort. We certainly want to meet the quota. The U nited Fund directors were very careful in its efforts to adopt a realisitic budget, both in terms of total amount and in terms of bare necessities of participating organizations." Nine organizations are partici pating in the campaign. Inclu ded are Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Kings Mountain city schools band, Davidson school band, Kings Mountain Recreation Com mission, Red Cross, special edu cation fund, Jacob S. Mauney Memorial library, and Cleveland County Life-Saving and Rescue squad. Mis. Cartel Station Manager Mrs. Naomi Carter, of Bel mont, assumed management of the (Bus Terminal and Western Union office here Wednesday. She replaces Mrs.. Louise Ghantt, of Shelby, who resigned. Announcement of the change was made by Douglas Ammons, representative of Queen City Coach Company, which owns the terminal, who s^jd, "Mrs. Ghantt' did a very acceptable job and wv? hate to lose her.” ■Mrs. Carter said she expected to move to Kings Mountain. She said she is a veteran cafe operator. Leap Year History; Scots Gave Lassies Hunting License In 1288 It’s Leap Year again . . . and open season on bachelors. Legend has it (that women’s right to pop tthe question during Leap Year came about even be fore Oolumbus sailed to America. And, there are other origins. According to World Book En cyclopedia, the Leap Year privi lege could probably be attribu ted to the Scots, who decreed In 1288 '"ladies of both highe and lowe estait shall have the privi lege of proposing during leap years.” They said further that if a young man refused, he was fined a pound or more — unless ne could show another had a .prior claim on his affections. And, they' went further to or der the young lady, if she were . "out to catch a man”, to give fair warning of her intent. The edge of her scarlet, flannel petti coat had to be plainly visible or the man was absolved to pay. ing the forfeit. | France was supposed to have passed a similar law and the English were alleged to have backed up their custom by de priving a man of benefit of cler gy if he scoffed at a leap year proposal. Webster defined it as “a year having 366 days which appears every fourth year, in which any fixed date after February “leaps” over a day of the week and falls on the next week but one to that on which it fell Ithe year before.” The dictionary goes on to point out that the Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in A. O. 1582 and adopted in Great Britian and English colon ies in 1752, provided that only Centesimal years (1600, 1700, etc), only those exactly divisible by 400 as 2000, and others di visible by 4, as 1940, should be Leap Years. Rat-Trap (1) Free At Postoflice On a day when the Postmas ter General is wanting to charge a nickel for first class mall, the Kings (Mountain post office waxed generous. One free rat-trap is 'being of fered absolutely free, on word of Clerk Ken Pruitt, to the first person who even indicates he wants it. A 'blue-gray cat has been a postoffice loiterer for the past two weeks, says Ken, and he can find nothing in the manual of operation to cover either maintenance or, for that mat ter, disposal of felines. Mr. Pruitt said th’e cat is ex tra friendly, feels it deserves a home. Adds he, “Come and get it.” Grady Stewart's Rites Conducted Final rites for Robert Grady Stewart, 67, of 310 Maple street, were held Sunday at 3 p. m. from First Nazarene church, interment following in Mountain Rest cem etery. Mr. Stewart died Friday of a heart attack while he was at work at (Bonnie Mills where he had been employed the past 18 years. He was a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Mike Stewart and a member of the First Nazarene church. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Alice Mae Gilbert Stewart; two sons, Coford Lee Stewart of Kings Mountain and James Da vid Stewart of Gastonia; and one daughter, Mrs. Faye Dover of Kings Mountain. Also surviving are four brothers, Ed Stewart of Kings Mountain, Forrest Stewart, of Charleston, S. C., and Tom and Crawford Stewart, both of Gas tonia; and one sister, Mrs. Ernest Dixon of Kings Mountain, and 12 grandchildren. Rev. R. J. Essary officiated at the final rites. Hambright Bites Held Wednesday Funeral rites for Carroll I. Hambright, 40, former principal of East Elementary school, were held in Greenv ille, S. C., Wed nesday afternoon. Mr. Hambright succumbed to ai heart condition at a Greenville1 hospital (Monday nig.’.t at 11:30. He 'had been hospitalized since December 1. A Grover native, he was the son of Mrs. Daisy Hamlbright, who survives, and the late Cleve land O. Hambright. Also surviv ing are a sister, Mrs. Laura Grace Butler, Glen Ellyn, 111., and a brother, Jack Hambright, of Greenville, S. C. Mr. Hambright was principal of Carolina high school, in Green ville. In the past year, he was a sumfmer assistant at Kings Moun tain Military park. He was a graduate of Clemson college in 1944, and subsequently coached football at two Charlotte high schools, at Greer, S. C., and was an assistant coach at David son college. He was vice-president of Clemson’s athletics-sup. orting Iptay cluto. The funeral was at Triune Methodist church in Greenville and burial was in Woodlawn (Me morial Park. Bond Election For New Plant lerng Asked A petition calling for the estab lishment of hounds of a consoli dated Kings (Mountain area school district and a bond election for the building of a high school plant to serve the new district is be ing distributed among residents of 'the Bethware, Grover, Park Grace, and Compact districts. The petitions were released Sat urday after being presented to Hill Lowery, cHairman of the movement, last Thursday. J. Horace Grigg, county school superintendent, noted that the new district would embrace vir tually all of No. 4 Township and a small portion of No. .5 Town ship which now lies within the Bethware school district. A small drip of No 4 Township, now in the 1'T" ’’ school district, is ex cluded. According to the lart comment by the late Assistant Attorney General Claude Love, two elec tions will be necessary to effect the consolidation proposal. The first is to furnish monies for the construction of a pro posed new high school via bond is suance. The second vote will decide ac tual consolidation with a “yes” or a "no" vote by citizens outside the present Kings Mountain dis trict, and their willingness to ac cept Kings Mountain’s supple mental school tax. If the bond vote is “no,” the second vote would not be neces sary and the consolidation pro posal would be dropped, accord ing to the agreement by school officials of the several school units involved. School officials at first pro posed a consolidation plan with a contingent clause stating the merger would not 'be valid if a subsequent bond election were not approved. According to Love, if the con solidation vote were yes, but the bond vote no, the consolidation would be valid none-thb-less —mi nus money to build a new high school. According to the plan suggest ed by Love, the bond election will be held first to determine if citi zens of the school district set by the county board of education will vote the added tax for construc tion. If yes, the money for the new school is assured, and con solidation plans can continue. The petition being distributed by county school committeemen will be filed under a 1935 North Carolina statute which empowers a county board of education to establish boundary lines for a special school bond taxing dis trict. Before the county board would be empowered to act, the peti tion must bear the names of ten percent of the proposed district’s qualified voters. Present plans call for a $1,100, 000 bond issue proposal for a new consolidated high school plant. The text of the petition be ing distributed follows: “We, the undersigned, being more than ten percent of the qualified voters residing in the territory hereinafter described respectfully petition and Show: “1. That the present school buildings, sites, and equipment of the various schools located in this area are inadequate to serve the pupils of these schools. There is great need for a new high school, as well as, additions, remodeling of existing plants. 2. That the needs of these schools mentioned in paragraph (1) can be more economical by provided and financed if the schools of this area are included in one public school bond taxing unit. “3. That the financing of an ad equate school building program may necessitate the issuance and sale in the future of school bonds in the amount of $1,109,000. (Continued on Page Eight> City Tax Sales Now Total 478 City auto owners had pur* chased 478 city licenses for 1960 through Wednesday afternoon. City Clerk Joe McDaniel re ported. Theiffl ffl ffl ffl The total compares to more than 1700 purchased during 1969. Mayor dee A. Bridges point ed out to motorists that they must not only purchase the li censes tout also display them, with failure to do either mak ing them subject to a $5 fine. The tag sells for $1. Deadline for use of the old 1959 tag is February 15.