Population
Greater Kings Mountain 10,320
City Limits 8,008
Thl* figure for Greater King* Mountain b derived from
the 1SSS Xing* Mountain city directory ceiuu*. The city
Unfits figure Is from the United State* census ol i960.
VOL. 73 No. 31
Established 1889
Kings Mountain, N. C., Thursday, August 2, 1962
Seventy-Third Year
Pages
Today
PRICE TEN CENTS
FIIRST BAPTIST CORNERSTONE SEALED —
Laying of the cornerstone of First Baptist
church climaxed Homecoming Day Sunday.
Pictured above sealing the cornerstone, from
left above. Rev. Gordon Weekley, a former pas
tor; James E. Amos, G. L. McDaniel, Jr., W. B.
Logon, Lee Dixon, Dr. E. V. Hudson, a former
pastor, and Rev. B. L. Raines, pastor. The
young man standing beside Mr. Weekley was
not identified. Both Dr. Hudson and Rev. Mr.
Weekley participated in the day's activities.
(Photo by Clarie Gilstad)
Local News
Bulletins
GOFORTH REUNION
The annual reunion of the
family of Preston (Bud) Goforth
■will be held Sunday at Shelter
Two of Kings Mountain Nation
al Military Park. Dinner will be!
served picnic - style at 1 o’clock.!
Friends and relatives are invited
to attend.
DIXON SPEAKER
Rev. W. D. Baker of Gastonia
will fill the pulpit at church ser
vices Sunday, and also the fol
lowing Sunday, at 9:30 a.m. at
Diron Presbyterian church in ithe
absence of Rev. J. S. Mann, pas
tor, on vacation.
LEGION MEETING
Legionnaires of American Le
gion Post 155 wil hold regular
meting Friday night at 8 p.m. at
the Legion Hall.
IMPROVING
Mrs. A. H. Cornwell, injured in
a freak accident several weeks
ago, continues to improve, al
though her injured leg will re
quire a cast for eight more
weeks. Mrs. Cornwell suffered a
broken leg and painful injuries
when the lawnmower she was
operating struck a sharp rock
and she fell in her backyard.
JAYCEES MEET
A film, “Modern Medicine,”
as Kings Mountain Jaycees
meet in regular session Tues
day at 7:00 p.m. at ithe Woman’s
will be featured as the program
Club.
OPTIMISTS MEET
Members of the Optimist Club
of Kings Mountain will meet in
regular weekly session Thursday
at 7:00 p.m. at the Cottonwood
Restaurant on Highway 29.
NO PERMITS
City officials issued no build
ing permits during the past
week. Date of the last permit is
sued was June 29.
FIRE
City firemen were called to the
Jim Short residence on Ellison
Drive Friday at 4:00 p.m. to
douse a blaze in some cotton
waste stored in the garage.
Slight damage was reported.
HOSPITALIZED
James T. Cole, 908 Grace Street
resident involved in an automo
bile accident July 10 on Phenix
Street, is at Charlotte Presbyteri
an hospital suffering from a
head injury sustained in the,
crash. Cole was inadvertently;
listed as not injured in last
week’s Herald. A family mem
ber reported this week he had
not regained consciousness on
July 26.
METER RECEIPTS
Parking meter receipts for the
week ended Wednesday totaled:
$195.80, including $131.30 from!
on - street meters, $17.50 from:
. off - street meters and $47 from;
I over parking fees, City Clerk
Joe McDaniel, Jr., reported.
DOING WELL
L. A. Hoke, operator of Hoke:
Electric Company, is still im
proving at home after suffering a
heart attack last month.
Cornerstone Laid
By First Baptists
lettei Addressed
To Generation
100 Years Hence
By ELIZABETH STEWART
. -A iafttar to a future generation
was sealed in the cornerstone of
First Baptist church Sunday.
Written to Christians of 2062,
the letter opens with the state
ment that the reader may be
shocked, 100 years hence, to dis
cover how antiquated 1962 me
thods and procedures seem toy
comparison.
The writer anticipates that the
next generation will be able to
estimate how great were the
failures of the past and the suc
cesses in the realm of social pro
blems and result of the political
threat of communism. The letter
assumes a startling revelation
for people today if could they
be present in 2062.
Among other items sealed ini
the cornerstone were a copy of
the Holy Bible, minutes from the
Baptist State Convention and
the Kings Mountain Baptist As
9ociational meetings, religious
publications, a church member’s
handbook, a new member’s pac
ket of literature, radio schedules
of devotions and Church services,
publicity from the Kings Moun
tain Herald and Shelby Star,
and listing of Kings Mountain
and Bessemer City area minis
ters.
Dr. E. V. Hudson, former in
terim pastor, made the principal]
address in which he called on
Christians to emphasize those
things which are right, not
wrong, about the church. In e
laborating on the theme, "My
Church,” he pointed to the chur
ch’s membership, message, mis
sion and Master as to those
"right” things.
Rev. B. L. Raines, pastor, read
greetings from former pastors
and other friends of the Church
not present for the occasion.]
Messages were read from two ]'
young ministers, Rev. Demauth
Blanton, and ftev. Bob Patter
son, both former 'members.
Morning worship services were
attended by a congregation of
316 and the afternoon service
was attended by 220. Special mu
sic for the afternoon program
was rendered by the Men's Choir
under direction of Allan Jolly
and featured a duet by Rev. and
Mrs. L. C. Pinnix. Mr. Pinnix is
a former pastor.
The new First Baptist church
building, the first unit in a long !
range building program, was
completed in June 1960, with thej
first service on July 3. 1960.
Sunday was the church’s first
homecoming service.
SPEAKER SUNDAY
Dr. Leroy E Blackwelder. for'
a number of yearn superintend
ent of the Lowman Home, Lu
theran Home for the Aged at|
White Rock, will fill the pulpit i
at Sunday services at Resurrec
tion Lutheran church in the ab-j
sence of the pastor, Rev. George]
Moore, on vacation.
Visitors To Park
Top All Records
Visitors from 42 states lor
a total of 46,300 traveled to
Kings Mountain National Mili
tary Park in July, setting a re
cord attendance figure.
The July attendance figure
representt-an Increase at. 3^
004 over July 1961 and more
than the total attendance for
Park visitors the entire year
of 1950 (44,773.)
Park visitors in July came
from five foreign countries,
Panama, Holland, England,
Germany and Equador. Two
Canadian provinces were repre
sented, with visitors from On
tario and Quebec.
Schools Add
Four To Faculty
Four Kings Mountain school
district faculty vacancies were
filled this week, Superintendent
B. N. Barnes reported.
Employed were:
Charles Estep, of Shelby, who
will teach eighth grade at Beth
ware school. Mr. Estep has
taught in the Cleveland county
system at Piedmont and Burns
schools since 1957 and has been
teaching since 1950, when he
was graduated from East Ten
nessee State college at Johnson
City. He earned the Master of
Arts degree at East Tennessee in
1958.
Mrs. Sarah Westbrook Wilk
ins, of Blacksburg, S. C., who
will teach in the primary depart
ment at Grover. Mrs. Wilkins, a
graduate of Winthrop college,
Rock Hill, S. C., was a Grover
faculty member in 1942, has
taught since 1952 at Blacksburg.
James N. Griffin, of Greens-^
boro, who will teach business
education and social studies at
Compact high school. Mr. Grif
fin, 1962 graduate of A & T Col
lege, Greensboro, has had teach
ing experience at Summerfield
and at A & T College.
Re-employed was:
Richard Cuiyer, eighth grade
teacher for the past two years.
Action concerning Mr. Cuiyer
was deferred last spring, pend
ing clarification of his selective
service status. He is from Oak
boro in Stanly county and was
recently married to the former
Anita Vaughan, a member of the
West school faculty.
Supt. Barnes said he hoped to!
fill three to four more vacancies
this weekend.
He declined to say how many
vacancies remain, noting that
the high school is gaining teach
ers under the state teacher allot
ment plan, while the elementary
departments have had allot
ments lowered.
“The number of vacancies de
pend,” he said, “on how many:
teachers the board of education
determines it requires to em
ploy additional to the state al
lotments."
Old Phenix May Go To Craftspun
Gas Expansion
Contracts Let
Two Contracts
For Additions
Total 537,660
The boa i d of commissioners
voted Wednesday afternoon to
award two contracts, totaling
$37,660 97 for expansion of the
city natural gas system.
Contract for labor and all ma
terials excepting steel pipe was
voted to C. N. Flagg & Company,
of Chariotte, at $25,066.50.
Contract for pipe required was
awarded to L. B. Foster Compa
ny, Atlanta, Ga., at $12,594.97 net.
(The Foster Company had hid
$13,355.50 less two percent for
payment within ten days.)
Awarding of two contracts ap
parently will save the gas sys
tem about $815 under the Flagg
Company’s low bid among five
for a "turnkey” job at $38,476.50.
Three separate bids had been
invited: 1) for a complete or
"turnkey” job, 2) an alternate
to omit the estimated two miles
of pipe required, and 3) a third
alternate bid for furnishing pipe
alone.
The Foster Company submitted
a bid only for the pipe required.
Each of the other four 'bidders
gave bids on all items.
Other bidders and their bids
for the complete job were:
Gas Lines Company, Charlotte
$41,495; Engineering Construc
tion Company, Tulsa, Okla., $44,
871; and Harris & Wright Com
pany, Chariotte, $49,049.
- The specifications call for com
pletion of the contract within
60 days of its execution.
The system additions include
running of a new six-inch line
from York Road to Cansler
street, thence from Cansler to
Kings (Mountain Mica Company,
Inc. Also running of a new line
from Gold at Sims to Mountain
street and the Phifer Road inter
section with Mountain. Also in
cluded are four regulator sta
tions.
Mayor Kelly Dixon said the
city would request the Flagg
Company to use the city as its
subcontractor for re-surfacing of
streets, adding that he under
stood the contractor is agreeable
to the suggestion.
The motion to let contract was
adopted by 4-0 vote, with Com
missioner Eugene Goforth ab
(Continued On Page Eight)
SUCCUMBS — R. Lee (Bob)
Lewis, businessman and dairy
man, died Tuesday night, follow
ing wreck injuries received Fri
day. Funeral rites will be held
Thursday.
Rites Thursday
For R. L Lewis
Robert Lee (Bob) Lewis, 79,
a vice-president of Kings Moun
tain Savings & Loan Association,
died Tuesday night in a Gastonia
hospital of injuries sustained in
an automobile accident Friday. ,
'Funeral rites will be held
Thursday at 4 p. m. from Bes
semer City’s Grace Lutheran
Church of which he was a mem
ber. The body was taken , from
Sisk Funeral Home Wednesday
bveniiig to the home, Lewis Lake,
near Bessemer City. Rev. Edwin
Riggs, assisted by Rev. A. A.
Bailey, will officiate at the final
rites and interment will be in
Lutheran Chapel cemetery.
Mr. Lewis was president and !
co-owner of Sunrise Dairy of '
Gastonia. He was also a vice- •
president of First State Bank :
and Trust Company of Bessemer '
Oity and served for many years ‘
on the Bessemer City Town 1
Council. Mr. Lewis was elected 1
a director of Kings Mountain Sa- :
vings & Loan Association since
1954. 1
He was injured Friday when
the car he was riding in was
forced off the road and into a
utility pole three miles west of
Bessemer City. Driver of the
(Continued On Page Eight)
MISS BETHWARE FAIR—Frankie Hamrick, daughter of Mr. and |
Mn. Frank Hamrick and a rising high school senior, will reign as ;
Queen of Beth ware Fair for 1962. The 15th annual community fair >
opens Sept 12th for five days on the grounds of Bethware school, f
Miss Hamrick was chosen by a committee from Bethware Pro- 1
gressive club which sponsors the event. Kick-off to the fair program
will be a barbecue August 22nd at which fair patrons will be guests. 1
Barbecue tickets and the fair catalogue will go out to advertisers !
within the next lew weeks. Miss Hamrick's father is president of! I
the sponsoring dub this year. <
Lowe Declines
To Confirm
Or Deny Rumor
By MARTIN HARMON
Unconfirmed rumor among
textile industry circles here is
that Craftspun Yarns, Inc., a
wholly-owned subsidiary of B-V
D Corporation is in process of
purchasing the Parkdale Mills,
Inc., property formerly known
as boom-Tex Corporation.
Robert Lowe, general manager
of Craftspun, Inc. declined to
confirm or deny the rumor.
The Parkdale property Is vir
tually adjacent to the Craftspun
I property, being separated by the
Southern Railway right-of-way.
Purchased by Parkdale on
January 30, 1961, the buildings,
subsequently improved, have
been used for warehousing cot
ton of the Gastonia manufactur
er of knitting yarns.
Parkdale purchased the prop
erty (at time of purchase the
Whittington Corporation) for
$700,000. The property includes
about 6.5 acres and buildings
with some 86,000 square feet of
floor space, including the build
ing occupied by Frank Ballard’s
Parkdale Store and the Phenix
Barber shop quarters.
Idle since the early nineteen
fifties, the plant once employed
well over 200 persons. Owned
briefly after World War II by
Burlington Industries, the plant
was sold by Burlington to Du
Cour.t Mills Company, which
went bankrupt. It was - subse
quently purchased by interests
of the late Lester Martin, then
owner of many textile opera
tions. These owners sold the
more than 70 houses asquired
and removed all operating ma
chinery from the plant in 1955.
B-V-D Corporation acquired
Craftspun, Intv through a Penn
sylvania federal court order aft
er Craftspun’s former owner,
Scranton Corporation, went into
bankruptcy, one of the many
firms “raided” by Alexander
Guterma, now in federal prison.
The Craftspun plant was re
modeled and renovated, both
building and machinery, for
yarn production and the firm
recently put into production a
32,000 square foot knitting plant,
at last reports employing 55 per
sons and oprating on a three -
shift, five - day - per - week
schedule.
The Craftspun knitting firm
manufacturers men’s underwear.
Rites Thursday
For Mrs. Cobb, 87
Funeral rites for Mrs. Mary
Bums Cobb, 87, will be held
Thursday at 2 p. m. from Boyce
Memorial Associate Reformed
Presbyterian church, of which
she was a memlber.
Mrs. Cobb, widow of Smithj
Austin Cobb, died Tuesday at 51
p. m. in the local hospital -fol
lowing a several month’s ill 1
ness. i
The funeral rites will be con
ducted by Dr. W. L. Pressly. The
body will liein-state at the chur
ch 30 minutes before the rites
and interment will be in the
ARP cemetry at Hickory Grove,
S. C.
Mrs. Cobb was the daughter of
the late 'Mr. and Mrs. Leslie B.
Burns.
Surviving are two daughters
Mrs. Boyce Patterson and Miss
Reola Oobb of Kings Mountain;
three grandchildren and five
great - grandehi Idren.
'Harris Funeral Home is in
charge of funeral arrangements
SOUTHWELL ACQUIRES MOTOR FIRM—Robert O. Southwell, left
Plonk Motor Company sales manager, has purchased the Plonk
firm from Fred W. Plonk, dean of Kings Mountain's franchisee*!
auto dealers. Mr. Plonk opened the Ford agency here in 1936.
Southwell Buys
Ford Dealership
Pre-School Band
Session Aug. 13th
The Kings Mountain school
band will begin pre-school foot
ball and marching training
August 13th at 6:30 p.m. in ithe
Band Room, Director Joe C.
Hedden has announced.
Mr. Hedden said that all
students who are eligible for
membership in the high school
band are requested to gatheT
at the Band Room for uniforms
and equipment which will be
issued at this pre-school ses
sion. New members will re
ceive instructions in band reg
ulations and the fundamentals
of drill, he added.
“All students are urged to be
present and on time,’’ Mr. Hed
den continued.
Antioch Sets
Homecoming
Antioch Baptist church of Gro
ver will hold annual Homecom
ing Day services on Sunday, Au
gust 5th, the pastor, Rev. Archie
Huhges, has announced.
Mr. Hughes will deliver the
morning message, and after a
picnic lunch at noon, the church
choir and the Blacksburg, S. C.
Male Chorus will render special
music.
Revival services will get under
way on Monday night at Anti
och. Rev. Mr. Hughes will be the
evangelist for the week of ser
vices which will be held at 7:30
p.m. nightly.
Mr. Hughes invited all mem
bers, former members and visi
tors to join in the Homecoming
Day services on Sunday and to
worship with them at the revival
servies.
Board Authorizes
Line Installation
The city board of commission
ers Wednesday authorized in
stallation of 275 feet of 14-inch
water line from the filter plant
on Deal street to an eight-inch,
line, also on Deal.
The line addition will solve a1
pressure problem at Sadie Cotton
Mills, Mayor Kelly Dixon said
The project was approved
unanimously.
Whitener Recommends Henson,
Tate For Two Postal Carrier Posts
Representative Basil L. White
ner, this district’s United States
Congressman, has recommended
the appointment of Bobby E.
Henson and Fred A. Tate to fill
the two rural carrier vacancies
at Kings Mountain postoffice.
The Congressman informed
Clint Newton, Cleveland County
Democratic chairman, in a letter
dated July 30.
Mr. Whitener thus accepted the
recommendation of the East
Kings Mountain, West Kings!
Mountain and Bethware Demo
cratic precinct committees who
had nominated Henson and Tate
last week.
Henson had finished first, Tate
third in the civil service exami
nation for the positions. Both are
service veterans. Henson having
served first in the National
Guard unit here and subse
quently for seven years in the
Marine corps. Tate is an air
force veteran.
Henson is currently employed
at McCoy’s Service Station and
Tate is an employee of Lithium
Corporation of America.
Mr. Whitener, in his letter to
Mr. Newton, did not indicate
when the postoffice department
would act on his rer-'-nmenda
tions. However, in notifying the
Congressman of the results of
tne examination, tne posioifice
department asked that his re
commendations be received not
later than 30 days from July 5.
The vacancies were created bv:
retirement of Lloyd Phifer and
W. B. Logan. Bryan Hord is the
other rural carrier.
The routes are being handled;
by Substitute Carriers Edwin j
(Continued On Page Eight/ I
Transaction
Was Effective
On Wednesday
Kings Mountain’s oldest fran
chised automobile dealership
changed names Wednesday.
Plonk (Motor Company, Kings
Mountain Ford dealer since 1936,
owned by Fred W. Plonk, be
came Southwell Motor Company,
owned by Robert O. Southwell,
sales manager of the Plonk firm
since November 1960.
Arrangements for the trans
action were completed Friday,
with Mr. Southwell acquiring the
parts inventory and shop equip
ment, and Mr. Plonk retaining
the used car inventory, accounts
and note receivable, building and
real estate, which fronts on both
Battleground avenue and King
street.
Mr. Plonk remarked, “I'll be
in the used car 'business awhile.'*
Mr. Southwell said there would
be a lone personnel change, with
Paul H. Dover, of the sales for
ce, promoted to sales manager.
Mr. Plonk assumed the then
vacant dealer franchise in 1936
and operated in the building now
Mountain Lane Bowling Center
until he built the present motor
company building in 1939-40. A
Kings Mountain native, eon of
Mr. and Mrs. C. S. Plonk, S/.,
he had previously ibeen an em
ployee of Liberty Mutual Insur
ance Company and Brown &
Williamson Tobacco Company,
before returning to Kings Moun
tain. He is a graduate of Ntorth
Carolina State college and chair
man of the Kings Mountain
Board of Education. He is a
member of Resurrection Luther
an churCh. Mrs. Plonk is the fo; -
mer Ferguson Rhodes.
Mr. Southwell, a 1954 gtadu
ate of Davidson college, is a na
tiive of Rome, Ga., where he at
tended Darlington School for
Boys. He spent two years with
the army, including service in
Germany. He is a member of
First Presbyterian church, the
Kings Mountain Country Club,
and a director of the Kings
Mountain Merchants association
and Rings Mountain Chamber
of Commerce. Mrs. Southwell is
the former Dorothy Saunders.
They and their two children live
at 300 Edgemont Drive..
Tentative School
Opening August 27
School days are around the
comer again.
Indicated date for school open
ing in the Kings (Mountain dis
trict is August 27, with the first
day — from the pupil standi«.int
orientation day. an abbreviated
schedule, on Wednesday, August
29, and first full day of class
work on Thursday, August 30.
The actual date hasn’t 'been set,
but Superintendent B. N. Barn
es said Wednesday this is the
opening schedule he anticipates
the board of education will adopt.
The county system will open
on this schedule.
Supt. Barnes said the board
of education is likely to meet
Within a few days and the open
ing schedule will be set officially
at that time.
IMPROVING
Miss Carlyle Ware is improv
ing satisfactorily at her summer
home in Bon darken after suf
fering a slight stroke some
weeks ago.