The Kings Mountain Herald
Established 1889
A weekly newspaper devoted to the promotion of the general welfare and published
for the enlightmenit, entertainment and benefit of the citizens of Kings Mountain
and its vicinity, published every Thursday by the Herald Publishing House.
Entered as second class matter at the poetoffice at Kings Mountain, N. C., under Act
of Congress of March 3, 1873.
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
Martin Harmon . Editor-Publlsher
David Baity ..Advertising Salesman and Bookkeeper
Ne^e IWck1 SteWart.Circulation Manager and Society Editor
... Sports Editor
MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT
Eugene Matthews Jerry Hope
Paul Jackson Monte Hunter
Wade H. Hartsoe, Jr.
Allen Myers
TELEPHONE NUMBER __ 739-5441
SUBSCRIPTION RATES PAYABLE IN ADVANCE __ BY MAIL ANYWHFRF
ONE YBAB _ *3.50 SIX MONTHS _ $2.00 mS.tl2s
PLUS NORTH CAROLINA SALES TAX 5125
TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE
cJ. pl'!rZTu °bound WUh m he ,hat ’mke,h hw“e ,o ** *» «*
Policy Re-Stated
Since May 1954, the continuing major
news story in the South has been de-seg
regation of the schools, as ordered by
the United States Supreme Court.
The Herald policy, since that date, has
been two-fold: 1) an acknowledgement
of the fact that the question of school
de-segregation is one of “when”, not “if”;
and 2) effort of the Herald, within the
requirement of publishing the news for
thu benefit of all citizens-readers, to sup
port any movement, appeal or legisla
tion which promised non-violence. The
Herald abhors head-cracking and nose
smashing ot all kinds, knowing full well
that even winning warriors lose.
It was with Item 2 in mind that the
Herald declined to print the names of
the two Negro youths who have applied
for transfer from Compact to Central
high school. All citizens don’t feel about
de-segregation as does the Herald, nor
the majority, the Herald believes, of
Kings Mountain citizens.
Some citizens, angered by the Su
preme Court force play and the contin
ued efforts of Yankee extremists, fight
back, venting their spleen on their Ne
gro neighbors while unable to tangle
with those with whom they’re really an
gry
It will be noted that New York, Penn
sylvania, and Michigan are among the
more recent with violent reactions to
school (and housing) de-segregation ef
forts. In 1942, the late Governor Brough
ton, of North Carolina, after a National
Governor’s conference, said Governor
Dewey, of New York, had told him he
yearned for race relations of the brand
North Carolina was exhibiting.
The Negroes don’t like arm-twisting
and force play either, reminding that a
person who asks for another’s shirt is
likely to get it. If he demands, he’ll go
shirtless.
In Gastonia, where several lunch
rooms were de-segregated, there are few
if arty Negro patrons. In Kings Moun
tain, three families, after applications
for release of their children to Lincoln
school in Gaston county were approved,
withdrew the applications and their chil
dren are attending Compact.
The Herald was leery of the Pearsall
Plan, but was moved near election day
to support it solidly by the violence at
Clinton, Tenn.
The Herald disapproves of sit-in de
monstrations as potential producers of
violence and, with ex-President Harry
Truman, regards these demonstrations
as infringements on the Constitution
guaranteed rights of the individual with
respect to private property and feels
them illegal.
Reaction gleaned by this newspaper to
the report that two Negro students seek
adm avion to Central has been pleasing,
in that no evidence of intemperance has
been L'.und,
Mbintum Wage Impact
A survey of Kings Mountain Industrial
firms shows that the increase in mini
mum wage to $1.15 per hour will have
little impact here. One general manager
estimated increased cost to his firm
would be little more than $25 per week,
and this report was rather typical of
firms surveyed.
From the statement of several firms a
few seasons ago. at the time Cannon
Mills kicke 1 off a round of wage increas
es in the textile industry, the industry
segment here welcomes the federal mini
mum wage increase.
Ote phrased it best, “We pay well
over the $1 minimum now, and our com
petitors in Mississippi and Alabama
think we’re crazy.” He added he might
be, but felt he was benefitted, with a
higher wage scale, by increased produc
tion.
While the disparity of textile wages
with some other areas and industries is
quite great, there are some-cost-saving
benefits in living in the South. Housing
is cheaper, as are fuel costs, due to cli
mate, and the small community usually
provides savings of time and money for
workers, many of whom live in close
proximity to their jobs, rather than
miles distant.
Gas Profit Overtones
Kings Mountain’s entry into the na
tural gas distribution system has suc
ceeded far beyond the expectations of
even the optimistic gas engineers who
initially recommended the city under
take natural gas distribution.
The recent year’s net operating rev
u<f1s7°f!^3>^2’ against gross receipts
of $174,371, indicates that cash will be
available in the reasonably near future
for full-repayment of the bonded indebt
edness of the system, which was $380,
000 at June 30.
Since early call of the bonds outstand
ing involves payment of a call penalty,
it is conceivable future city administra
tions will merely elect to pay the bonds
when due, depending on dividend pay
ment of rates of depositories. It can be
noted, however, that, after the $10,000
repayment during the current fiscal
year, the remaining bonds carry a max
imum of 3.75 per cent interest. Some
are only 3.5 percent, all less than the
four percent being paid by depositories.
Recognizing the fact monies must be
kept sufficient in the renewal and exten
sion fund, along with the sinking fund
for bon-repayment until the total meets
the total of bonds outstanding, the fu
ture prospect is intriguing.
The day is within foreseeable distance
when gas system profits will be avail
able for paring the ad valorem tax rate
and other tax schedules, either via tax
paring itself, or by supplying funds for
expenditures which would otherwise
cause tax increases, due to capital out
lay borrowing requirements.
These implications may take many
forms, for certainly the city isn’t caught
up on needs, major among them at the
moment the re-building of the over-load
ed electrical redistribution system, re
vamping of water service in some areas,
.and need for two adequate sewage puri
fication plants similar to the one the
city boasts and which is now serving the
eastern area of the city.
Compulsory Liability
IIow much of a boon is compulsory
auto liability insurance?
Several months ago the Herald report
ed in these columns the report of an in
surance executive in the liability and
casualty field, who said his company
was expending in North Carolina $1.17
for each $1 of premiums on auto liabili
ty policies. Something’s got to give in
North Carolina, he added.
The “give” came recently in the form
of approval of the Commissioner of In
surance of an 18 percent rate hike, ac
companied as it is by the groans of
motorists generally and by those under
25 particularly.
This is the result of compulsory liabi
lity insurance, with safe drivers penaliz
ed for the pains and ills of the unsafe,
who formerly, after poor histories in ac
cidents and traffic violations, were rout
ed into risk pools and higher rates,
which of course they’d earned and there
fore deserved.
A person must take some risks as he ;
goes down the highway and the avenues !
of life, and while it may be possible to j
insure against all risks, it’s conceivable j
the premium cost would break the in- I
sured. In effect, safe drivers are paying 1
the costs — in advance_of wrecks in i
which they, thankfully, were not invol- i
ved.
The Herald hopes that the inactivity
during the extra schedule of the county
Employment Service itinerant service,
now suspended, is indicative of increas
ing employment and believes it is.
Gas heating customers can save
money — and cold feet_by ordering j
gas cut-ons within the remaining days '
of September It’ll be physically impossi
ble for the gas system crews to attend 1
io all cut-on orders at the season’s first j
chilly spell.
City revenues are another indication
of city growth The fact that last year’s
revenues were at a record proves more
buildings, more people, and more busi
ness activity, since tax rates and utility
rates were unchanged from the previous
year.
MARTIN'S
MEDICINE
Ingredient*: bit* of new*,
Modem, humor, and comment.
Direction*: Take weekly, if
possible, but avoid
overdoeage.
The Big Top’s coming to
Kings Mountain September 23,
under auspices of the Kings
•Mountain Lions club.
m-in
Vice-President Odus Smith
routed the Hoxie Circus ad
vance guard representative to
We3ley Bush, project study
chairman, and, arfter a busy
session, the club entered into
contract for the appearance of
the three-ring circus for two
performances on the aforesaid
date (Saturday).
m-m
There’s a lot of detail in
booking a circus, the matter
of show grounds, passible con
flicts with other promotions
such1 as fairs and football, li
cense matters and water ser
vice facilities for animals.
m-m
Then there’s the question of
doing business with a guy,
who, however movie star cal
iber in appearance, just might
be representing a moth-eaten
circus which wouldn’t draw
and embarrass the club treas
ury.
m-m
This gentleman, however,
Was quite flush with names, ad
dresses, and phone numbers of
officers and committee chair
men of clubs which have spon
sored appearances in the cur
rent season.
m-m
T * »
Closest point to Kings Moun
tain proved to be Cape Char
les, Va., a community well
known to Insuranceman Bush,
ex of Norfolk, where the Lions
club of Cape Charles had been
the sponsoring organization.
The long distance operator
couldn’t raise the club presi
dent (a guy namied joe Valen
tini), but was successful on
reaching another member, Earl
Scott, who does the same line
of digging work Ollie Harris
performs.
m-xn
Mr. Scott gave the circus
management a good name,
said its contracts were honor
ed to the last mile and a little
further.
m-m
We signed. I admit the rep
resentative’s color photo of the
beautiful blonde ('bareback ri
ding expert) sitting on a white
Arabian mount didn’t hurt his
cause. (This is psychological
salesmanship or hidden persua
sion for Fathers to bring their
youngsters to see all the ani
mals and clowns.)
m-m
The representative himself
has an interesting background.
His name is Don Mathers, A.
B. in journalism 1940, Univer
sity of Illinois. He would have
been a classmate of mine had
he accepted a scholarship to
the University of North Caroli
na. That would have been jour
nalism work only, however, as
I wouldn’t have joined him
for boxing team duty. He
claimed a Chicago Golden Glo
ves title in the thirties.
m-m
His professional background
included public relations work
in Beverly Hills, Calif., where
he found a very efficient secre-°
taify - sufficiently efficient
that she married him.
m-m
Mathers said tools for the
advance publicity would be furn
ished, but urged that reporters
use their own ingenuity in writ
ing copy, both fore and aft the
event. At year end, he said, the
Miami Herald staff judges the
hook and the circus presents a
prize for the best jobs done.
m-m
There’s no question about
color around a circus or carni
val. One of the best stories I
ever did was the night a lion
(jungle-type) ran amok of his
moorings at the Stanly County
Fair at Albemarle. This story,
of course, had a happf/ ending,
as the lion was on a stroll ra
ther than a hunt. But that
ain’t what the paying custo
mers thought, nor the show
personnel. The carnival "geek”,
for instance, didn’t retain
character one additional sec
ond* vaulting his four-foot en
closure at one leap for the
wide open spaces.
m-m
Hoxie doesn’t claim to be a
Ringling Brothers, Barnum &
Bailey, but it does claim to be
a good show, reasonably priced
for the customers, both fi-om
the standpoint of admission
and concessions, and minus the
wheel games and other “con
cessions” that major in prov
ing Mr. Barnum was really
right and that one sucker is
born per minute.
m-m
The circus will set up at the
Deal Street pool ballground
area. In return for its sponsor
ing committments, the Lions
club will share to major de
gree in the advance ticket sale
and to minor degree in the
gate sale.
By Rolfe
Shopping Around
“It’s just what I need to keep me from getting too
much sun!”
Viewpoints of Other Editors
TALK
But what are they going to
talk about?
This isn't a facetious question.
For plainly there are going to
be talks between the West and
the Soviets over Berlin; Secre
tary of State Rusk says they
may take place before the open
ing of the U. N. General Assem
bly in September, but in any e
venit sometime during the fall.
And equally plainly, if men are
going to negotiate on any issue
they have to know what there is
to negotiate.
The West German foreign min
ister, Mr. Brentano, says that the
talks are urgently needed to
“make Clear” the positions of
both sides, East and West. At
best, this is an incomplete state
ment of the task. The Russian
position is certainly clear enou
gh; West Berlin is a bone in Mr.
Khrushchev’s throat, and he
wants to pluck it out. The Wes
tern position is that we will not
surrender in that place to ano
ther aggression by the Commun
ist empire — or, at least, that
is the West's position if the
words of its statesmen mean
anything.
The British equally skirt the
issue, or so it seems to us, when
they say the purpose of the talks
is to avoid a war over Berlin. The
avoidance of war is indeed a
prime task of statesmen, but
if the avoidance of war were
their only task then it would be
simple. War can always be a
voided by yielding to an aggres
sor; if Hitler had been yielded
to at every point there would
have been no World War II.
There will certainly be no war
over Berlin if Mr. Khrushchev1
“negotiates” the whole of it.
So we come back then, to the
deadly serious question: What is
it that, in these talks, we intend
to negotiate?
Mr. Khrushchev says he is go
ing to sign a treaty with the
East Germans and that this will
give their puppet government
jurisdiction over all the access
routes to West Berlin. Perhaps,
as some people have argued, the
East German government would
then be willing to sign an agree
ment with the West reaffirming
our routes of entry. Are we pre
pared to accept this ’‘quid” when
the “quo” would be the accept
ance of the East Germon govern
ment as a separate, sovereign
entity _ and therefore the rec
ognition of a permanently di
vided Germany?
There has been much talk a
bout making West Berlin a “free
city.” This was proposed by Mr.
Khrushchev and seconded, thou
gh in different words, by some
members of our Congress. Is this
an acceptable proposal to men
who remember Danzig? And if it
is to be talked about, does it
mean that the West withdraws
its troops from West Berlin while
the Communists keep their tanks
in East Berlin just across the
Brandenburg Gate?
In this phrase “free city” there
is a yawning trap of words un
less we know precisely what
the Communists are talking a
bout. Its allure is in the promise
that it will preserve all those
rights of the West Berliners for
access to West Germany. Its
snare is that making it a de- j
nationalized city would cut if off'
from West Germany and leave it:
prey in fast, to the Communism
which surround it.
All these “points of negotia
tion” have one thing in common.
They would make the city of
West Berlin, which is nof free1
in the true sense of the word,
less free than it was before.!
Therefore the Communists standi
to gain from any negotiated
changes in the forms and tech-|
nicalitias. And the Communists;
know it_whether we do or not.
For negotiation to have and
real meaning it would have to
embrace atiso changes in the en
circling Communism in East Ber- j
lin and East Germany. But this
is what, so far, the West is not.
VIEWERS AND
LISTENERS CAN WRITE,
TOO
Trade publications serving the
broadcasting industry have been
forcefully reminding the man
agers of television and radio
stations of the approaching
deadline for comments on an
important proposal.
However, viewers and listen
ers, who will be quite as seri
ously affected, are the most part
completely unaware of this
deadline and its significance.
On Sept. 7 the Federal Com
munications Commission ends
its invitation to comment on its
proposed new program reporting
forms. On .the surface, this would
seem to affect only TV and ra
dio station managers. But FCC
chairman Newton N. Minow, re
garding his government agency
as a servant of the people, has
tried to let (the public know that
anyone at all can express an
opinion on how much_or how
little — the FCC is entitled to
know about station operation.
The FCC would like to know,
for example, how many minutes
are devoted to commercials dur
ing a typical week; how much
effort is made to seek out local
talent, instead of relying solely
on network programs; how sta
tions go about inquiring what
sort of programs their listeners
and viewers desire. The number
of topics is quite large and is
intended to enable the FCC to
act more intelligently on appli
cations for license renewal ev
ery three years.
Many broadcasters are oppos-:
cd to the new program report- j
ing forms, and are said to be
deluging the FCC with strongly
worded objections. Complaints
are mainly twofold: that the '
new forms will require a burden
some amount of paper work, and
that the additional information
sought will put the FCC in a po
sition to act as a kind of censor
by revoking licenses of stations
adjudged to be badly serving
the public interest.
If the proposed forms will help
the commission do its job with
more facts at hand, it is hard to
see how they constitute a men
ace. At any rate, citizens who
have an interest in how TV and
radio are to be regulated should
be aware of this opportunity to
be heard. — The Christian Scien
ce Monitor.
agreed to insist upon. And it is,
of course, precisely what the So
viets refuse to negotiate.
The truth is that we have a
Berlin crisis today only because
the Communists want to swallow
the prey. Until that change, ev
ery time the statesmen of the
West sit down to talk with the
men from the Kremlin the quest
ion will abide: What are they
going to talk about?_The Wail
Street Journal.
*| A TEARS AGO
X V/ THIS WEEK
Items of news about Kingi
Mountain area people ana
events taken from the 1951
files of the Kings Mountain
Herald.
Dr. John C. McGill of William
ston, S. C., has announced that he
will come to Kings Mountain a
bout mid-October to open offices
for the general practice of med
icine.
The congregation of St. Mat
thew’s Lutheran church voted u
nanimously Sunday to construct
a new church building.
Social and Personc.1
The September meeing of the
DAR was held Wednesday after
noon at the home of Mrs. W. T.
Weir
Miss Ethel Plonk left Monday
for Winston Salem to resume her ■
work as teacher in the city
schools. t ..
Bessemer (Stv Ice & Coal Co.
Summer Prices On
Atlantic Heating Oil
Fill up now and pay Oct. 10th
with approved credit.
ATMNTfC
HEATING OILS
Also special prices on cleaning and
repairing furnaces through September..
CALL MA 9-2021
THE TIME TO INSURE
AGAINST FIRE LOSS
IS BEFORE IT HAPPENSI
THE ARTHUR HAY AGENCY
“AL LKINDH OF INSURANCE"
Dial 739-3659
KEEP YOUR RADIO DIAL SET AT
1220
WK MT
Kings Mountain, N. C.
News & Weather every hour on the
hour. Weather every hour on the
half hour.
Fine entertainment in between
Telephone
Talk.
b*
FLOYD FARRIS
Your Telephone Manager
■Kwy
SEPTEMBER SONG—School bells are ringing apitn wri
they remind me d die nnnsual way tfudents at die Q*f*]
Ridge, N. J. High School me telephones. Members of the
Senior Class interview laden in government, business,
labor and finance by phono ss part of a course in Amerir
can Economic History! The telephone interviews are con
ducted in die dess by an extension from die seboofr
switchboard with an empBfler to allow students to
the conversation!
v * * •
Now that school has started again let us ur^e
every driver of motor vehicles to be exteS
careful where school children are crossing streets
Let s all be conscious of the five C’s in driving
zfszssrand commo" —
ing
SPEAKING OF
EXTENSIONS—
isn’t ncm % good
time to go ahead
and install that
Princess Phone in
the bedroom?
Besides saving
time and steps, a
bedroom exten
sion gives you a
wonderful sense of security on nights when
Just give us a caU, and well 3
color of your choice-right away. «ncess—in the
• • •
SO MUCH FOR SO LITTLE. What Is It tw ,
you 24 hours a day, every day of the y£r^
you a penny extra? Your telephonel Tdk ab^T? .
You can make as many local calls as barga“J
phone for all it's worthLat no^ra
new a problem, either. Your telephonTcmZ?^J!
around-the-clock, around-the-vear to v™***7 “ *****
FRY HERALD WANT ADS FOR RESULT!