A weekly newspaper devoted to the promotion of the general welfare and published
for the enllghtmemt, 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 postoffice at Kings Mountain, N. C., under Act
of Congress of March 3, 1873.
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
Martin Harmon ... Editor-Publisher
David Baity...Advertising Salesman and Bookkeeper
Miss Elizabeth Stewart.. Circulation Manager and Society Editor
Neale Patrick . Sports Editor
Sandra Plonk ... Assistant Society Editor
MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT
Eugene Matthews Jerry Hope Wade H. Hartsoe, Jr.
Paul Jackson Monte Hunter Allen Myers
TELEPHONE NUMBER __ 739-5441
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ONE YEAR — $3.50 SIX MONTHS — $2.00 THREE MONTHS_$125
PLUS NORTH CAROLINA SALES TAX
TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE
The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace. Psalm 29:11.
Four Yea. One Nay
Kings Mountain district board of edu
cation voted Monday night 4 to 1 again
st the transfer of two Negro students,
sister and brother, from Compact-David
sim high school to Central high school,
i.i effect a continuance of the policy of
de-segregation.
Dr. Phillip Padgett cast the dissenting
vote, after abstaining during action on
the initial petition for transfer.
The major news event - - if not for the
world, certainly the South, since May 17,
1954 - - has been the matter of de-segre
gation.
Even the Supreme Court of the United
States, was reasonable sufficiently to
rule “in a reasonable time”. Actually,
the edict was somewhat loose, but
should have been, as there is consider
able difference between the thinking, for
instance, of North Carolinians and Ala
bamians.
Dr. Padgett, who voted “nay”, is quite
sincere.
He feels that the pupil assignment law
of North Carolina, better known as the
Pearsall Plan, was designed to subvert
the decision of the Supreme Court,
which, many, many years ago, by Jus
tice John Marshall, was established as
the interpreter of the law of the land.
Court edites since have been supreme
I,aw - - and human feelings - - must
and do evolve.
The Herald agrees with Dr. Padgett in
principle, if not in momentary judgment.
The question of school de-segregation,
in the South and in Kings Mountain, is
question of “when”, not “if”
Kings Mountain, undoubtedly, is more
ready for de-segregation than South
Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, or Miss
issippi and the greater geography of
Georgia, not. to mention certain counties
of North Carolina such as Northampton,
72 percent negroid, Warren and Pender
counties, 55 percent negroid, and many
others.
The Herald differs with Dr. Padgett
only in a matter of timing, which he well
understands. Item 1: Build a consolida
ted high school plant.
The Herald suspects that initial inte
gration will be token. But the Herald al
so knows that our friends, the Negroes
of Kings Mountain, know that the lead
ership of Kings Mountain, including
those of the Negro race, are willing to be
reasonably patient on a matter that
tries the emotions of the impatient
young and the well-indoctrinated elder
ly.
The Trade Fair
Nothing exactly like it has been held
in North Carolina.
There have been shows, fairs, mer
chandise marts and other events, but the
North Caroilna Trade fair, which opens
Thursday for a ten-day run in Charlotte,
will bring together virtually all the wide
array of products North Carolina grows
and makes.
Some of the items to be exhibited:
Ham and biscuits, cigarettes and
cigars, textile products from cotton,
wool and synthetic yarn to finished
goods, cordage and twine, apparel and
draperies, veneers, plywoods and furni
ture, chemicals for varied uses, leather
goods, aluminum, pipe and steel, boats
and trailers, cameras and spectacles.
Did anyone know North Carolina pro
duces all that?
The basic idea, of course, is to pro
mote the sale of goods produced in
North Carolina.
The idea is broad in concept and de
sign. In promoting the fair, and, there
fore, North Carolina, the Governor has
spared no effort, even making one jaunt,
in the fair’s interest, to Mexico.
It is quite human to ignore what’s
close aboard for far distant pastures.
But in Charlotte, beginning Thursday,
is a worthwhile event that Kings Moun
tain area citizens can ill afford to miss!
Our Regrets
Kings Mountain has lost through
death within the past few days a worthy
citizen and two former citizens whe re
mained her life-long friends
Mrs. Errol Hay Lowry, widow of the
late Dr. S. A. Lowry, was a lady of
grace and character, who lived here for
most of her life.
J. Ross Roberts was another of the
rock-hewn Kings Mountain citizens who
believed in hard work and quality per
formance. His death came as a shock
to the community, many of whom were
also surprised to realize he had almost
attained the age of 87 years. His back
ground as textile producer and grocer
gave him a knowledge of people which
he used for to practice much personal
friendship.
Leslie McGinnis, a Kings Mountain
native, had not x’esided in Kings Moun
tain for many decades, but his regard
for this community, his pride in his ac
complishments and growth never waned.
Mr. McGinnis was a regular returnee.
His help to the Kings Mountain Herald,
which he served as a self-styled printer’s
devil, continued through the present
ownership. Had it not been for Mr. Mc
Ginnis, the Herald would not know its
own history.
Our regrets at the loss of these friends
and our sympathies to their families.
"L" vs. l*W
There’s some gremlin quality about
typographical errors that folk in the
printing trade can’t see until they’re
home, reasonably relaxed, and reading
the latest edition, when it’s too late to
correct.
That’s what happened, in 48-point type,
at the Herald last week as readers must
have been quick to note in the headline
“Later Line Needs Placed at $36,300’’.
Of course, the headline should have
read, as ihe news report detailed,
“Water Line Needs Placed at.... ”
Unfortunately for city coffers, the
headline was completely in error, as the
“later” line needs are much, much more
than $36,300, the figure merely being
engineering estimates on cleaning up a
portion of the water service problems.
And that ain’t all.
Add the big need for a couple of mo
dern sewage disposal plants, the rebuild
ing of the electrical system, and desira
ble expansion of recreation facilities.
Who dares to estimate?
MARTIN'S
MEDICINE
By Martin Hannon
Ingredients: bits of notes,
wisdom, humor, and comment.
Directions: Take weekly, if
possible, but avoid
overdosage.
Major among newspaper re
porting sins is not the typogra
phical error, as embarrassing
as these can sometimes 'be, but
the reperntorial sin of assump
tion.
zn-m
Top reporters make them,
too, though not wiith the fre
quency of their juniors.
m-m
Thus by remembering to
check, I saved a lulu in the ed
itorial "Four Yea, One Nay",
In the editorial columns to the
left.
m-m
I had written that John Jay,
first Chief Justice of the Unit
ed States Supreme Court, has
established the court as the in
erpretor of federal law in light
of the Constitution. <
m-m
Compton’s Encyclopedia, which
came to me from Santa Claus
when 1 Was in the firth grade,
enlightened to this painful ex
tent: John Jay resigned as
Chief Justice to become Gover
nor of New York, adding the
statement that the Supreme
Court had never amounted to
anything and never would.
m-m
By contrast, Chief Justice
John Marshall, the nation’s
fourth, of Fauquier County,
Va., in the famous decision in
iMartoury vs. Madison, is re
sponsible for what many Sou
thern citizens today wish hadn’t
happened in May 1954, the de
cision of the Court which mar
ked the beginning of the end of
school segregation in the South
due to race.
m-m
Again by contrast and accor
ding to Compton’s, Justice Mar
shall, at his retirement, said he
would rather have served as
Chief Justice than to have been
President of the United States.
m-m
Many Southerners are inclin
ed to label th<e May 1954 c’^y f/>- |
ion the Warren decision, the
former Governor of California
having been named Chief Jus
tice. only in the year before by
President Eisenhower. How
ever, if I recall correctly, the
vote was 9-0. I have sometimes
thought Justice Warren guilty
of fuzzy law, but in this instan
ce, if fuzzy, he had plenty of
company.
m-m
Justice Jay was a conserva
tive and, in his day, would have
! been labeled a Republican.
When learning how the navy
did it during World War H
at Columbia University, the
chow wormed at John Jay hall.
Justice Marshall was a con
servative, too, says Compton’s
who won the ire of Thomas
Jefferson, father of the De
mocratic party. But Compton’s
says that by the twentieth cen
tury, Justice Marshall had be
come recognized as the great
est jurist in American history
and one of the greatest in the
world.
m-m
Not being a legal eagle, I’d
have to ask the verdict of the
professionals, J. R. Davis,
Jack White, George Thomasson
and Palmer Huffstetler.
m-m
Of the six members of the
I state probation commission
with whom I served at 'the in
j stance of then-Governor Hodg
es in 1958-59, three have been
elevated. First was Judge Clif
ton Moore, of Burgaw, promo
ted to the North Carolina Su
preme Court bench. Next wfafc
W. Jack Hooks, of Kenly, ap
pointed to a Superior Court
judgeship, and the presiding
jurist at the recent Cutter trial.
m-m
Most recent is federal Judge
L. Richardson Preyer, of
Greensboro, last of President
Kennedy’s appointments to fill
the three added judgeships vo
ted by Congress.
m-m
It was Judge Preyer who sur
prised me during a pause in a :
probation commission session
by remarking that a murder
case is easiest to try of any,
from the judicial standpoint. I
wonder if Judge Hooks would
now agree.
m-m
Judge Prayer's Supreme Court
assignment frequently took
him to Wilkes County. Then
Mr. Hooks, who had served
nearly 20 years as a solicitor,
teased him one day with the
question, “How many whiskey
cases have you tried in Wilk
es?" Judge Preyer laughed,
“Not one.” Indication w*as that
in Wilkes whiskey is wihite and
federal court material. Now
perhaps Judge Preyer will try
THIS CURIOUS WORLD By William Ferguson
I Wh
WHERE INFLATION HELPS/
(r&ii&M® (Ftl§[tf(E§ INFLATE THEM
SELVES WITH AIR WHEN ATTACKED, AND
CAN BE EATEN ONLY WITH DIFFICULTY
AS THEY BOB ABOUTON THE SURFACE
LIKE A TOY BALLOON.
HOW WOULDYOU BE TRAVELING
IF YOU WENT ON ~
*SV*»i4A/A6F ‘MAA&r
STATE OP OREGON
WENT TO ONE OF HER (OLDEST
FAMILIES FOR A STATE FLOWER,
THE OREGON GRAPE.
FOSSIL LEAVES OF THE PLANT
SHOW THAT IT HAS INHABITED
THE REGION FOR MORE THAN
30,000,000 yie#Azy.
T.M. Reg. U.S. Pal. Off.
ANSWER: You would be walking.
Viewpoints of Other Editors
FAIR PLAY
ON VOTING
(Many Americans 'believe only
the courts can correct malodor
ous malapportionment in state
legislatures and Congress. They
agree that one citizen’s vote
should not weigh many times as
much as another’s. But they point
out that the beneficiaries of this
inequity have the power to con
tinue it — unless the courts will
act to impel reform. A mOve to
obtain such action is slated as the
first business of the Supreme
i Court’s netw session.
This case comes on appeal from
[Tennessee. A three-man lower
! court held that it had no authori
I ty to order reapportionment by
the Legislature. The federal Oon
stitution and those of 45 states
require reapportionment at least
every 10 years. But in 1958 it was
found that 23 states had failed to
fulfill the requirements for peri
ods up to 50 years. In this sense
many lawmakers are lawbreak
ers.
[Even without much active ger
rymandering, shifts in population
have created dractically unequal
representation. Almost any A
merican schoolboy has heard of
the "rotten boroughs’’ which Bri
tain dealt with more than 100
years ago, but few know much
about the “hollow districts” which
today repeat the evil in their own
legislatures. And only slowly are
Americans becoming aware of
the compound unfairness of rep
resentation Which results when
such legislatures reshape Con
gress.
Ordinarily, the citizens looks
first to the courts for upholding
constitutional provisions. But
the judges are wary of entering
this “political thicket.” Yet courts
now wtidely acting to safeguard
Negro voting rights may logical
ly Show regard for other citizens
denied fair representation. Only
last year the Supreme Court up
set a racial gerrymander in Ala
abama.
!Buf the courts should not be
the only recourse. We have confi
dence in the people’s basic sense
of fair play. When the worst a
buses of taxation without fair
representation are fully exposed
public indignation should sweep
them away. — The Christian Sci
ence Monitor.
WELL. THAT'S HOW
MERMAN SAYS IT
'A certain amount of engineered
obsolescence appears to be creep
ing into 'the dictionary trade.
The Merriam - Webster Una
i bridged people have just an
nounced what sounds like a capi
! tal brand-new version of their
famous volume. They say that
during the 27 years since the last
version was launched “more new
words and meanings entered the
English language than in any
similar period of history.”
And (here’s where the engi
neered obsolescence comes in)
they have included up-to-date
quotes from 14,000 “contempor
ary notables” to show how all
these new words and meanings
are properly used and meant. A
mong the notables cited are not
only Presidents Kennedy and
Eisenhower, Prime Minister
Churchill, and Somerset Maugh
am, but also “Charles Goren, E
thel Merman, Ted Williams, Di
nah Shore, and (Mickey Spillane.”
Actually we approve of the
precision of modern usage that
lean be gotten across by this me
i thod. And far 'be it from us to
suggest that Charles Goren and
Dinah Shore Will be forgotten by
i the next generation of bridge
l players ami TV watchers. But we
do think it’s safe to say that the
i 'Merriam • Webster staff has as
j sured itself of a great many nec
essary new (and salable) revis
ions for the future. Already there
i are people who want to know not
just Ted Williams and Ethel
Merman said it but how Roger
Maris and Julie Andrews would.
I The Christian Science Monitor.
NEEDED:
MORE UGLY AMERICANS
Let's set the record straight a
bout the phrase "Ugly American.”
It come from a book of the
same mme by William J. Leder-:
er. wherein it wias used to de-;
scribe a homely man who workedi
overtime to paint a pleasant i
PROGRESS IN STORM
FIGHTING
On September 8, 1900, a hurri
cane and tidal wave caught the
eastern gulf coast of Texas un
prepared, and there were some
5,000 fatalities in Galveston a
lone.
By 1915, when another major
storm hit the area, the people of
Galveston had rebuilt on higher
ground and added a seawall. But
communications 'and warning
systems were rudimentary; 275
persons were killed on the island.
This week, hurricane Carla,
blowing up to 175 miles per hour
(the 1900 storm winds reached
only 135 mph), wfhlmed through
this same area Almost all of the
17 or more fatalities were indi
rect rather than direct results of
the hurricane.
Hundreds of human lives were
saved by an extremely efficient
early warning system, extensive
communications, an efficient use
of evacuation routes to inland
shelters, and the application of
unpanicked intelligence by all
concerned. Nearly half a million
persons left the "golden cres
cent” of the Gulf in a relatively
orderly migration to a broader
crescent inland stretching from
Mexico to northern Louisiana —
an arc where they found safety,
ready hospitality, shelter and
food provided by private 'and of
ficial agencies.
The Tiros HI weather satillite
passed its first major test at
backing up the work of radar
and hurricane spotter planes.
Federal and state disaster relief
—‘perfected in many floods, drou
ghts, and storms — moved in to
give communications in the af
fected areas the ‘broad kind of
regional insurance needed to
supplement private payments to
individual policyholders.
But most important, Texans’
response to Carla showed that
resourceful people can be count
ed on to make sensible use of ad->
vances in civil defense evacua
tion technique. Theirs was a mi
gration of intelligent people, not
of frightened lemmlings. — The
Christian Science Monitor.
image of the United States in the
Far East.
There was nothing ugly about
his 'actions, his motivation or his
general philosophy. 1
The message of Lederer’s book
(worth reading, if you haven’t al
ready) is that we need more Ug
ly Americans abroad, because
they do more to promote inter
national friendship and coopera
tion than do the staffs of most
embassies.
Unfortunately, the connotation
has been twisted 180 degrees. The
Ugly American, in the eyes of
mlost people, is the fellow who
leaves a bad taste in the mouths
of foreigners who come into con
tact with him.
So if anybody calls you an Ug
ly American, ask first if he’s read
the book — then kiss him or ka
yo him, depending upon the ans
wer you receive.
(P. S. That “Nation of Sheep”
Lederer also wrote about doesn’t
have a thing to do with Australia
either). — The Charlotte Obser
ver.
i---1
TEARS AGO
THIS WEEK
10
Items of news about Kingt
Mountain area people ana
events taken from the 1951
files of the Kings Mountain
Herald.
The Mayor’s first regularly
scheduled “ladies gripe session’’
was held Tuesday night at CSty
Hall.
The City Parks and Recreation
commission Tuesday retained the
services of Charles M. Graves,
parks and recreation engineer of
Atlanta, Ga.
Work began this week on the
annual Girl Scout financial cam
paign.
Social and Personal
Kings Mountain is represented
by a photograph of Mrs. George
H. M|auney’s Christmas fireplace
arrangement in the 1952 edition!
of the North Carolina Gardener,
Engagement Calendar, which the
Garden dubs of North Carolina
has just issued > | ,
A SHOWCASE OF NORTH CAROLINA
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CHEERWINE
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KEEP YOUR RADIO DIAL SET AT
1220
WKMT
Kings Mountain, N.C.
News & Weather every hour on the
hour. Weather every hour on the
half hour.
Fine entertainment in between
—THE HERALD — $3.50 PER YEAR —
I
This editorial is a plea and admonition
for reasonableness on all sides, in a situ
ation when there should not be sides.
All of us are American citizens first,
members of a particular race second.
Attorney T. H. Wyche, an attorney for
the National Association for the Advan
cement. of Colored People acknowledged,
following the formal hearing concerning
the admission of the Davis youths, that
the facts of this case were somewhat
different from those of which he had
been apprized.
The Herald would suggest to Attorney
Wyche and the supporting arm from
Shelby, H. C. Dockery, the mortician,
and Rev. Beverly Robinson, that the Da
vis case might have been strengthened
had the supporting arm been Kings
Mountain.
Through the years the Herald has e
volved a position.
It is this:
All human beings must evolve, must
learn that life is a two-way street. What
is given, must be taken, and vice versa
Congratulations to the Herald’s Le
gionnaire friends T. A. Pollock, W. F.
Stone, Sr., N. F. McGill, Sr., and Charles
A. Goforth, Sr., who have qualified for
long-term, round-number pins as mem
bers of American Legion.
The President of the United States is
among the busiest, if not the busiest,
mart in the world. His long trip to see
Speaker Rayburn, of Texas, was a mark
of respect from which all, sometimes dis
respectful of the elders, can take a wor
thy and needed lesson.