Population
Greater Kings Mountain 10,320
City Limits 8,008
ThU figure (or Greater Kings Mountain Is derleed (ran
the 1855 Kings Mountain dig directory census. The dty
Halts figure Is Irons the United States census of 1860.
Kings Mountain, N. C., Thursday, May 18, 1961
Seventy-Second Year
Pages
Today
VOL 72 No. 19
Established 1889
PRICE TEN CENTS
City Run-Off Election Will Be Conducted Tuesday
Local News
Bulletins
CHURCH PROGRAM
Dr. W. P. Geoberding will
complete his series of WKMT
Radio broadcasts Thursday
and Friday morning at 9 a. m.
The general theme for this
week is “The Holy Spirit”. Fas
itors from (the various churches
conduct morning devotions on
the radio program.
ELECTED EDITOR
J. W. Goins of Kings Moun
tainhas been elected editor-in
chief of The Clarion, student
newspaper at Brevard College
for the 1961-62 school term.
Goins is a rising sophomore at
Brevard and the son of Mr. and
Mrs. Boyce Goins of Kings
Mountain.
OPTIMIST MEET
Rings Mountain Optimists
Club will hold its rgular week
ly meeting Thursday at 7:30
p. m. at Grace Methodist
.Church fellowship hall. The
event will be Boys Night and
each member is expected to
brang a boy to the meeting. ^
TO NEVADA
Richard H. (Dick) McGinnis,
of McGinnis Furniture Com
pany, flew to Las Vegas, Neva
da, Tuesday, for an Admiral
Corporation sales meeting. He
is to return Sunday.
PERMITS ISSUED
City Building Inspector M. H.
Biser issued two (permits this
week, the first to J. Ollie Har
ris Saturday to alter his fun
eral home at 108 S. Piedmont
Avenue. Mr. Harris is adding
a room at the cost of $1,000.
The second permit was issued
to J. Wilson Crawford to build
a one-story dwelling on Sharon
Drive. Estimated cost of the six
room structure (is $15,000.
Two New Cats
For Policemen
Ciity policemen should be ri
ding in higher style in the near
future.
The board of commissioners,
in a called session last Friday,
voted ito buy not one, but two,
new autos for ithe police de
partment. One will be a Chev
rolet, (the other a Ford.
Buying two cars was not
the initial intention, back in
March when the commission
decided to advertise for bids.
The matter was to be hand
led at the April meeting.
Question developed over the
bid specifications, when the
bids were opened, involving
the type of generator each
bidder, Plonk Motor Company
and Victory Chevrolet Com
pany, would furnish. Victory
was apparent low bidder, or
wcis it?
With an eleatton season al
ready underway, the commiss
ion took the safe course and
iKed its prerogative to reject
any and all bids.
The bids were re-advertised
for May 11, two days after the
election, which, however,
wasn’t yet settled. This time
Plonk Motor Company was
clearly low on a “with trade
tod of $1835. by the major sum
of five dollars.
Charles Dixon, of Victory
Chevrolet, argued that Plonk
Motor hadn't met specifications
by not supplying both “with
trade” and "straight sale” bids,
as Victory Chevrolet did.
The commission took it un
der advisement, and reconven
ed the next day with the deci
sion to buy two police patrol
cars, one from each. Plonk Mo
tor’s “with trade’’ bid was ac
cepted and Victory Chevrolet’s
‘ straight sale” bad of $1959 was
accepted.
J. T. McGinnis, Jr., of Ted
der Motors, Shelby, had bid
$2070 straight sale and was
clearly not low.
The smiling policemen think
there’s some benefit from poli
ties.
Stroupe Would
Still Replace
Chief Of Police
Mayoral Challenger Kelly Dix
on said on the WKMT political
forum Monday afternoon he has
the support: of W. K. Mauney,
former mayor and commission
er, and long-time power in city
politics.
Mir. Dixon said, "Mr. Mauney
tells me ‘you have my support
100 percent’
Mayor Glee A. Bridges, seeking
a fifth term, acknowledged he
does not have the support of Mr.
Mauney, blamed the switch-over
on "some trouble at the bank o
ver which I had no control” and
said Mr. Mauney had told him he
wouldn’t itry to control the votes
of his employees.
Mr. Dixon also said he had
had “tentative talks” with rep
resentatives of Massachusetts
Mohair Plush Company, who
charge the city is gouging this
company on water charges. Mir.
Dixon added, ‘‘I’ve made no com
mittments”.
To another question, R. Cole
man Stroupe, incumbent com
missioner, said he still feels
Chief of Police Miartin Ware
should be replaced. Coroni,
Stbroupe seconded an unsuccessful
motion to discharge the police
chief several months ago. He
commented, “I feel a man should
run his job and there are some
other things I don’t approve of.”
J. E. (Zip) Rhea, Mr. S troupe's
opponent for the Ward 5 seat,
had previously stated he favored
charter amendments, if required,
to enable a department head to
manage his department.
The four candidates were inter
viewed on the new forum series
of WKMT “Political Round-Up”
by Martin Harmon, Herald edi
tor, and Ollie Harris, county cor
oner, with Station Manager Jonas
Bridges serving as moderator.
Other comments by the candi
dates included:
Mr. Stroupe said he favored u
•tUity rate cuts, if possible, but
pointed to a needed $90,000 ex
penditure for rebuilding the city
power system.
Mr. Rhea said he felt it possi
ble outside city rates might stand
some adjustment.
Mr. Rhea said he favors city
lighting improvements and Mr.
Stroupe said he thinks the money
will be available.
Mr. Dixon said he was pleased
with the support of Garland
Still, defeated in the first race,
and hoped to get the bulk of Mr.
Still’s support. He acknowledged
that water and power rate cuts
have political appeal but did not
commit himself to endorsing
cuts, leaving it on an "if we can”
basis.
Mayor Bridges repeated his
contention that water sales are a
money-losing operation. He
pointed out that large sums of
money have been spent by the
taxpayers in building the city
resevoirs and filter plant.
(Continued on Page Eight)
NEWLY ELECTED COMMISSIONERS _ Ray W. Cline, left, is the
new city commissioner for Ward 1. and T. J. (Tommy) Ellison,
right is the new city commissioner for Ward 3. Both led the May 9
election and were declared elected when their opponents failed to
call for run-offs by the Sunday midnight deadline. They took their
oaths of office Tueesday morning.
Anthony Member
Of 50-Year Club
Medical Society
Honois Veteran
Practitioner
3>r. James Edward Anthony re
cently marked his fiftieth year as
a medical doctor, and become-*
member of the North Carolina
State Medical Society’s 50-year
clufo.
His membership certificate and
pin were presented (by Or. Amos
Johnson, of Garland, and by Dr.
John S. Rhodes, secretary of the
medical society at the recent con
vention in Asheville.
All the participants in the cer
emonies had some connection
with Kings Mountain, where, with
a brief exception, Dr. Anthony
has spent all his professional ca
reer. Dr. Garland is related to
L. Arnold Kiser, while Dr. Rho
des is a half-brother of Mrs. Fred
W. Plonk and otherwise related
to numerous Kings Mountain ci
tizens. The 50-year-pm was put in
Dr. Anthony’s lapel by his young
est brother, Dr. W. A. Anthony,
of Gastonia.
Dr. Anthony won a medical li
cense from the State of Tennes
see at the end of his third year
at the University rtf Tennessee
medical department. On comple
tion of his. studies the following
year he came here to practice
and recalls, “I felt mighty green.”
His first intra-venous injection
was made by lamplight on a
lady patient of corpulent size.
He characterizes (his 50 years
as a doctor as "plenty of fun,
full of ups and downs, and a lot
I’ve learned by myself, the hard
way.”
Medical facilities today are
considerably changed from what
they were in 1911. Surgical pa
tients had to go to Rut’herfordton
or Charlotte and transport was
by train.
One train almost did him in.
He was a passenger in a car dri:k
ven by the late Dr. J. S. Hjood
one day in 1913. The car reached
the crossing at Craftspun Yarns
(Continued On Page Eight)
Falls Honored By Lutheran Church
As One 01 Two Top Scoutmasters
A Kings Mountain Scoutmaster,
Otis C. Falls, Jr., of Troop 2 of
St. Matthew's Lutheran church,
has been cited as one of two out
standing Lutheran Scoutmasters
in the Nation.
He has been honored, along
with Roy B. Full wood of Troop
8 of St. Andrews Lutheran chur
ch at Hickory, the selection an
nounced by the National Luther
an Committee on Scouting.
These men with their families
will attend Fhilmont Scout Ran
ch at Cimarron, New Mexico, this
summer. Their tuition at a Luth
eran Scoutmasters Training Cour
se was made possible by a grant
of the Lutheran Brotherhood In
surance Society of Minneapolis,
Minnesota.
Mr. Falls living at 607 Jack
son street, is married and has
three children. He and his father
operate City Service Station. He
teaches an adult Sunday School
class, is a member of the St
Matthew's Evangelical Commit
tee, a member of the Junior
Chamber of Commerce, secretary
of the Board of Directors, 1960
chairman of the Jaycee Teenage
Rodeo committee, chairman of
the Youth and Recreation commit
tee of the American Legion. He
was a Boy Scout for three years
and has served as Scoutmaster of
■his Troop for three years.
Mr. Falls still finds time to as
sist with the Red Cross Bloodmo
bile, take part in the Junior
Chamber of Commerce paper
drive, and his Troop assisted in
the Boy Scout Get-Out The-Vote
Campaign.
Scout Executive, Eugene J.
Jones of the Piedmont Council
stated that the two men were a
mong the others considered. He
said "Their outstanding records
in all walks of community life as
well as their Scouting Activity
resulted in their final selection
by the National Committee . . . .
the Council is proud of their be
ing honored and in the Council in
having two such outstanding Lu
theran leaders.
HONORED _ Dr. J. E. Anthony,
Kings Mountain physician, re
cently became a member of the
state Medical Society's 50-year
club.
New Schedule
On USC Claims
New and partial claims foi
u n e m ploytment compensation
will be processed all day Thurs
days in (the future, John Fleming,
county employment office man
ager, said this week.
Formerly, new and partial
claims were processed only on
Thursday afternoons.
Mu'. Fleming said temporary
staff additions have made the
improvement in .the service pos
sible. ,
Employment service represen
tatives are at City Hall all day
Thursdays, from 8 a. m. to 4:30
p. m.
MONDAY BROADCAST
Final in the series of pre-e
'lection forums will be broad
cast over WKMT Monday af
ternoon at 6 o’clock. Boyce
Gault and Eugene Goforth,
opponents for Ward 2 Commis
sioner and Ben H. Bridges and
Norman King, opponents for
Ward 4 Commissioner, will be
interviewed by Ollie Harris and
Martin Harmon, with Jonas
Bridges moderating.
Commissioners
Cline, Ellison
Sworn Tuesday
Two newly elected city com
missioners Ray W. Cline, Ward 1,
and T. J. (Tommy) Ellison, Ward
3, took itheir oaths of office
Tuesday morning.
Though both Mr. Cline and Mr.
Ellison failed to obtain majori
ties in ithe May 9 voting the sec
ond-runners, Incumbent Ross Al
exander in Ward 1, and Corbet
Nicholson, in Ward 3, failed to
call for run-offs by the Sunday
midnight deadline.
(Mr. Cline said he and Mr. Al
exander had agreed, when the
Ward 1 contest became a three
man affair, that, should they run
one-two, the second runner
wouldn’t ask a run-off.
Mr. Alexander, a commissioner
since 1957, commented after the
May 9 voting, “I’ve about decided
four years is long enough."
Mir. Cline led Mr. Alexander
929 to 720, a lead of 209, but
short of a majority by 119.
Mir. Nicholson’s failure to call
a run-off was more surprising,
since he trailed Mr. Ellison by a
mere 54 votes in a four-man race
which saw the defeat of two
term commissioner Luther T.
Bennett. Mr. Ellison’s vote total
was 661, Mir. Nicholson’s 607. Mr.
Ellison was 411 votes shy of a
majority.
Mir. Nicholson declined com
ment on his decision. He is a for
mer gas department superinten
dent who resigned last fall. Un
confirmed rumors say Mr. Nic
holson will return to the city as
chief of the gas department.
Shortly ^fter they were, sworn
tfnto office Tuesday, Commission
ers Cline and Ellison were asked
If, since they were in office,
they would take pant in the run
off election by supporting parti
cular candidates.
Mr. Cline replied, “I want to
be in position to work harmon’
ously with any officials who
might be elected next week and
I couldn’t do that if candidates I
didn’t support won." Mr. Ellison
nodded agreement.
Mr. Cline is making his first
venture as a city commissioner.
Mr. Ellison has previously rep
resented Ward 3, from 1947-51
and from 1953-57.
Graduation
Plans Listed
Commencement exercises for
199 seniors in the five high
schools of the Kings Mountain
area will begin May 28th.
Baccalaureate programs for
graduating seniors at Kings
Mountain, Bethware, Grover,
Compact and Davidson high
schools will be hold at each of
the high schools, Sunday, May
28th. With the exception of Com
pact and Davidson, all school
programs will be at 8 p m. The
Sunday programs at Compact
and Davidson will begin at 3 p.
m.
At Grover school, where 29 se
niors will receive diplomas in fi
nals, Tuesday, May 30th, the prin
cipal addresses will be made by
.four student speakers. A pro
! gram by the students will also
\ highlight 'Bethware’s commence
ment for 27 seniors on Wednes
day, May 31st. Compact high
school will present diplomas to
18 seniors on Tuesday night, May
30th. Class Night at Compact
will be Thursday, May 25th. Da
vidson school finals, where 10
seniors will receive diplomas,
will be held June 2nd and Class
Night will ibe on M!ay 31st.
Kings Mountain high school
will present diplomas to a class
of 115 on June 2nd.
SCHOOL TRUSTEES ARE SWORN IN_H. O. (Toby) William*.
left and Holmes Harry, right are administered their oaths of office
as members of the Kings Mountain district board of education by
Judge Jack White. The ceremonies were held last Thursday morning
at City KalL (Carlisle photo)
Citizens Will Choose Mayor
And Three Commissioners
FOR MAYOR
■■■■■ Aaagwww-?* »:•: f X'gJ ft fJQIW.M-frfiggKgiflMteBI
GLEE BRIDGES
KELLY DIXON
FOR WARD 2 COMMISSIONER
BOYCE GAULT
EUGENE GOFORTH
FOR WARD 4 COMMISSIONER
BEN BRIDGES
NORMAN KING
FOR WARD 5 COMMISSIONER
J. E. RHEA
COLEMAN STROUPE
School Officials Doubt Countywide
Consolidation Is Close At Hand
Superintendent B. N. Barnes
:ind school board chairman Fred
W. Plonk were among school of
ficials in the county who met
with a subcommittee of the Citi
sens Committee for Better
Schools Monday night to ponder
a county-wide school consolida
tion.
Kings Mountain officials said
they did not favor a county-wide
consolidation now. Shelby offi
cials expressed a ‘'maybe yes,
maybe no” attitude, and the
county schools favor immediate
consolidation county-wide.
Most agreed* that consolida
tion, if effected, is some years a
way.
Lloyd Boat, chairman of the
a d m inistration subcommittee
presided over the discussion.
Representatives 6f the Shelby
and Cleveland County school sy
stems also attended.
Ideas reportedly expressed at
the meeting included:
1 P A long-range study into
possible county-wide consolida
tion of the three systems might
be worthwhile, but immediate
action is probably inadvisable.
2) Most important considera
tion in any plan is that alii
schools remain at the highest1
possible level of achievement and
program, and that no individual
school or school system be allow
ed to suffer in any consolidation
(Continued On Page Eightt
Run-off Calls
Made By Four
Challengers
Kings Mountain cnttizems will
return ito (the ballot boxes on
Tuesday to elect a mayor and
three city oammissioneirs.
Four of the six challengers for
city hall elective positions call
ed for run-off elections.
The contests ame:
For Mayor, Glee A. Bridges, in
cumbent, who held a 287 vote
lead over Kelly Dixon on May 9,
in a five-man race. Mayor Brid
ges had 814 votes, to Mr. Dixon’s
527, but ithe Mayor lacked a ma
jority by 300 votes.
For Ward 2 Commissioner _
Boyce H. Gault, two-term incum
bent, who led Eugene M. Gofor
th 909 to 706, a lead of 203 but
short of a majority by 159 votes.
One other candidate was elimin
ated on May 9.
For Ward 4 Commissioner_
Ben H. Bridges, incumbent, who
polled 1056 votes to lead four op
ponents and all others in the
May 9 voting, who is challenged
by Norman King, newcomer to
city politics who placed second
with 621 votes. (Bridges failed to
obtain a majority by 29 votes.
For Ward 5 Commissioner _
J. E. (Zip) Rhea, another new
comer to city politics, led the
May 9 voting with 981 votes, top
ping R. Coleman Stroupe, incum
bent, and Hazel Lee Gill. Com
missioner Stroupe trailed Rhea
by 254. Mr.. Rhea lacked a ma
jority by 102 votes.
Trailing in the first election is
no new experience to Comm.
Stroupe, who twice came from
behind to win election.
Mr. King and Mr. Stroupe for
malized their run-off calls on
Thursday, Mr. Dixon and Mr. Go
forth on Saturday.
Garland E. Still, former mayor,
is the lone defeated candidate to
continue the battle publicly. He
continued his attacks on Mayor
Bridges in a circular printed
Tuesday and endorsed Mr. Dix
on, but praised the work of In
cumbents Ben Bridges, Gault and
Stroupe.
D. L. Saunders, another defeat
ed candidate foir mayor, said he
isn’t publicly endorsing either of
the mayoral candidates.
Ross Alexander and Corbet Ni
cholson, both with sufficient vo
tes foq run-off calls, did not make
them.
Tuesday’s election will be con
ducted under the same terms aa
was the May 9 election.
Voting hours will be from 6:30 .
a. m. to 6:30 p. m., with the
same election officials at the five
ward polling places. The regis
tration list will be the same.
Facts Are Listed
On Run-Off Election
Following are facts on Tues
day’s city run-off election:
Polls open 6:30 a. m.
Polls close 6:30 p. m.
Offices to be filled by all
voters: mayor and three ward
commissioners.
Number of ballots: one.
Voting places: Ward 1, City
Hall fire station; Ward 2, City
Hall courtroom; Ward 3. Frank
Ballard's Store; Waird 4, Kings
Mountain Manufacturing Com
pany clubroom; Ward 5, West
school.
Basis of decision: majority of
votes east.
T*he board of ctity commiss
ioners serves as the elections
board and will convene Wed
nesday morning ait 10 o’clock
to canvass the returns. Candi
dates elected will be siworn in
to office on Thursday, May 25.
raving Contract
Letting May 23
Contract for paving York Road,
from King street south to the city
limits will be lot by the State
Highway commission on May 23,
Mayor Glee A. Bridges said he
was informed this week.
Announcement came to the
Mayor from E. L. Kemper, divv
aion highway engineer at Shelby.