Population
Greater Kings Mountain 10,320
City Limits 8,008
'3r*tr,*r Mountain u dartred boa
Um 19m Unas Mountain city directory census. The dty
limits figure Is bom the United States census at 1960.
VOL. 74 No. 48
Established 1889
Kings Mountain, N. C., Thursday, November 28, 1963
Seventy-Fourth Year
PRICE TEN CENTS
President Pledges To Continue Policies Of JFK
President
Felled Friday
By Assassin
President John Fitzgerald Ken
nedy, 46, died in a Dallas, Texas,
hospital at approximately 2 p.m.
EST last Friday, a half-hour af
ter he had been wounded by rifle
fire by an assassin.
The President, wounded in the
head, never regained conscious
ness.
^ Also wounded was Governor
John Connally, of Texas, a for
mer secretary of the navy in the
Kennedy administration. The
Governor is recovering after sur
gery.
Funeral rites for President
Kennedy were conducted at St.
Matthew’s Cathedral, in Wash
ington, Monday at noon, and in
terment was in Arlington Na
tional Park cemetery.
Mr. Kennedy was the youngest
man ever elected to the office and
the first Roman Catholic elected
to the officci
He was eldest surviving son of
Joseph P. Kennedy, Boston mul
ti-millionaire and ambassador to
Great Britain during the Frank
lin D. Roosevelt Administration.
He served as a PT boat skipper
during World War II, being dec
orated for bravery after his boat
was cut in two by a Japanese
destroyer. He worked briefly foi
a Boston newspaper after World
War II before being elected to
the United States House of Rep
resentatives in 1947. He was
elected to the United States Se
nate in 1952, and became presi
dent January 20, 1961.
ft His funeral, the most mam
^moth in recorded history, was
held on the third birthday of his
son, John Fitzgerald Kennedy,
Jr., and two days prior to the
sixth birthday of his daughter
Caroline Kennedy.
His wife, Mrs. Jacqueline Bou
vier Kennedy, wa* at his side
when the assassin’s fatal bullet
struck.
The President was on a frank
ly “political” tour of Texas in ef
fort to marry warring Texas De
mocratic forces and had been
widely acclaimed in the 24 hours
prior to his death.
He was winner of the Pulitzer
prize for his historical work
“Profiles in Courage”, in which
he wrote a series of vignettes on
little-heralded statesmen of the
past he suggested had shown es
pecial courage.
He was born May 29, 1917.
The funeral was attended by
many heads of state and repre
sentatives of somfe 100 nations.
Historians said it was the most
mammoth funeral, from that
standpoint in recorded history,
and the most mammoth since the
funeral of King Edward VII of
Great Britain in 1910.
The Kennedy bier was trans
ported to the Capitol rotunda, to
ft he cathedral and to Arlington
cemetery, on the horse-drawn
caisson on which President Lin
colns’ bifer was transported near
ly a century before.
A military band played at the
burial rites, •‘‘Hail, to the Chief”,
the navy hymn, and the Star
Spangled Bannter.
Harris Attended
Kennedy Rites
J. Ollie Harris, Kings Mountain
mortician and county coroner,
flew to Washington Sunday to
attend the funeral of President
John F. Kennedy.
Mr. Harris, accompanied by
Charlies Rogers, of Sanford, said
the two joined the line of citizens
seeking to pay their respects in
the Capitol rotunda, and wfere in
side some five hours, twenty min
utes later. They also attended the
burial stervice at Arlington Na
tional cemetery.
Among the particular impres
sions Mr. Harris brought back,
he says, were Mrs. Jacqueline
Kennedy’s composure, the com
plete reverence of the large
(crowds, the dignity of the raam
jnoth funeral service, its timing,
the burial service, and the con
sumate respect the vast throngs
showed for their late President.
SENIOR CITIZENS PARTY
Kings Mountain Woman’s club
has scheduled a Christmas party
for members of the Senior Citi
zens club to be held Friday, Dec.
6th, at the Woman’s club. Third
graders who are pupils of *Mrs.
J. B. Simpson, West school, will
present the program.
ASSASSINATED — John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 46, President of the
United Slates, died Friday a half hour after he had been wounded
in the head by an assassin’s bullet. He is the fourth of the nation's
chief executives to die at the hand of a killer, the most recent
being President William McKinley in 1901. Abraham Lincoln was
the first, in 1865, and John Garfield the other, in 1881. President
Harry S. Truman escaped an assassin's bullets as did then-Presi
dent-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Kings Mountain
Mourns Kennedy
Citizens React
With Numbness
And Revulsion
r Kings Mountain reacted as did
the rest of the nation and world
last Friday when the news was
flashed that President John F.
Kennedy had died at the hands
of an assassin.
Some, informed by others, ini
tially thought a joke in particu
lar- bad taste was being offered.
These and others were, shocked
and numbed by the tragedy.
Virtually all shared the revul
sion of North Carolina’s Senator
Sam Ervin, who said, "It makes
me sick."
Big majority of Kings Moun
tain citizens did as those through
out the rest of the nation. They
spent every a\ailable minute of
a long weekend watching televis
ion or with their ears glued to
radios. All broadcasting systems,
from the time of the shoottng
through Monday night after Mr.
Continued On Page Six
Stores Open Late
For Yule Shoppers
Kings Mountain retailers arc
operating on full six-day sche
dule through Christmas.
The retailers suspended half
day holiday schedule on Wednes
day last week, will continue to ibe
open all day Wednesdays during
the pre-Christmas shopping sea
son.
Kings Mountain stores are also
open Friday nights until 9 p.m.
until Christmas to accommodate
holiday-season shoppers.
Emblematic of the season, the
city's Christmas lights will be
lighted for the first time Thurs
day evening.
Majority of grocers were open
Wednesday afternoon to assure
proper ingredients for Thanks
giving menus.
RADIO BROADCAST
Sunday morning services dur
ing the month of December will
be broadcast via Radio Station
WKMT from St. Matthew’s Lu
theran church.
Hosiery, Carolina Throwing Firms,
Employees Swell UF To $10,000
Large contributions by two in
dustrial firms and their em
ployees raised Kings Mountain’s
Unffetl Fund total of contribu
tions ahd pledges to $10,000 this
wetek, Chairman Robert O, South
well reported:
Mauney Hosiery Company and
its employees are contributing
$2,020.60.
Carolina Throwing Company
and its employees are contribut
ing $1,447.
“A few more contributions of
this kind and clean-up in other
divisions will put the goal in
view,” Chairman Southwell com
mented. as he praised these firms
and their employees for being
“especially liberal and public->
To date only Burlington Endus
spirited".
tries Phenix plant among the in
dustrial group has reported its
United Fund result.
Mr. Southwell also said that
the business division is little more'
than 50 percent reported.
“I feel, with n little more work,
we can make,” he added.
The United Fund goal is $19,
415.
Beneficiary agencies include
Kings Mountain high school and
Compact-Davldson school bands,;
Jacob S. Mauney Memorial Li
brary, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts,
Cleveland County Life - Saving
and Rescue Squad, and Kings
Mountain Chapter, American Red
Cross.
Mr. Southwell urged business
and industrial firms to complete
their solicitation work and to re
port as quickly as possible.
No Agreement
On Rotation
Ere lannary 15
By MARTIN HARMON
There will be no recommenda-1
tion on a 31st Senate district ro
tation agreement prior to Janu- '
ary 15.
Following a meeting of Cleve
land, Catawba and Lincoln coun
ty officials in Shelby Tuesday
night. Rep. Jack Palmer, one of
t h e Cleveland representatives,
said the Lincoln delegation prof
fered no agreement and said they
wouldn’t prior to January 15
day following the state-wide elec
tion on a constitutional amend
ment which would pare House
membership to 100 from 120 and
would increase Senate member
ship to TO from 50.
i he group agreed to convene
it Limolnton on January 15, Rep.
Palmer said.
U n - represented Alexander
county sent i message that the
Catawba delegation could speak
for Alexander.
Rep. Palmer reported that the
Cleveland delegation, which in
cluded Democratic Chairman J.
Cl.tit Newton, and Senator Rob
ert Morgan, told the group they
would be prepared to reccom
mend to Cleveland Democrats a
2 to 1 rotation with Lincoln, or
were quite willing to forget ro
tation and let the candidates run
“at large” throughout the four
county district.
Catawba’s delegatiin reported
agreement, as previously, with
Alexander on a 3 to 1 basis.
When rotation agreements are
effected, as was extant in the for
nW 2'?i'h cLstrieft; tine ;&em«x*rat ie
candidate appears only on his
home county ballot in the pri
mary.
In an “at large” situation, in
the new 31st district, candidates
would be on the ballot in four
counties, with the two front-run
ners (provided they had majori
ties! declared nominees.
Lincoln Democratis leaders fa
vor the constitutional amend
ment, as do Alexander Demo
crats. Cleveland and Catawba
Democratic leaders don’t. Lincoln
Democrats, however, contended
the result of the January 14
election would determine wheth
er the group was seeking a one
term rotation agreement or one
that would exist through thie 1971
session of the General Assembly.
The agreement, when and ii
reached, will be subject to ratifi
cation by the respective execu
tive committees.
Pnmp Station
Low Bid $31458
A. P. White & Associates, of
Charlotte, is apparent low bidder
for construction of two city sew
erage pump stations.
The White firm posted a bid of
$34,458.
Included are the pump stations
—to r'eplace two Imhoff tanks fin
the Superior Stone Company area
interfering with Superior’s oper
ations—plus pipe, valves other
items, and installation.
Mayor Glee A. Bridges said
contract would probably be let
within a few days, pending check
of the bids by W. K. Dickson &
Company, the city’s engineering
firm.
Under committment of the city
to construct modern sewerage
disposal facilities to servie the
western portion of the city be
ginning 1957, the two pump sta
tions would have been required
to replace Kings Creek tanks 1
and 2.
Superior, asking immediate rte
moval, agreed to pay half the
cost ot the upcoming replace
ments.
The apparent low bid was
slightly below the $36,(XX) esti
mate of the Dickson firm.
Other bidders were:
Spartan Construction Com
pany, Spartanburg, S. C., $35,297.
Hickory Sa-nd Company, $35,
895.
Gilbert Engineering Company,
Statesville, $36,486.
C. W. Gallant, Inc., Charlotte,
$37,196.
Boyd & Goforth, Charlotte,;
$37,729.
ROTARYANN DINNER
Kings Mountain Rotarians hon
ored their wives at the annual
Rotaryann dinner Friday night
The program took the place of
the regular meeting which would
have fallen on Thanksgiving
Day. Jack White headed the1
committee on arrangements. ;
.
PRESIDE** x ur1 uil UwITED STATES — Lyndon
Baines Johnson became the 36th President of the
United States on Friday, November 22. A Texan,
he is the first Southerner to hold the office since
Andrew Johnson, a native North Carolinian, was
succeeded by Ulysses S. Grant in 1869. Andrew
iuuu.uu ~~_>jii toe assassination of Presi
dent Lincoln. President Johnson is 55. He address
ed Congress Wednesday and pledged a continu
ance of the policies, both foreign and domestic, of
his predecessor. (Photo courtesy Gastonia Ga
zette).
Thanksgiving
Day Services
Are Scheduled
Six Kings Mountain churches
haye scheduled Thanksgiving
Day services.
At three chuches a tradition
! al areakfast will be served by
; men ol' the church to the mem
bers of the congregation.
| Baptist Brotherhood of Kings
1 Mountain Baptist church will
i serve breakfast from 7 until 8:30
j a.m. Thursday in the church fel
! lowship hall. Rev. Marion Du
Bose, pastor, will lead the con
gregation in a service of worship
at 9 a.m. in the sanctuary.
Central Ctfethodist church Men’s
club will serve Thanksgiving
breakfast beginning at 7:30 a.m.
in the educational building of the
church. Rev. Howard Jordan,
pastor, will conduct a worship
service at 8:30 a.m.
Boyce Memorial ARP church
men, under direction of W. G.
Grantham, will serve breakfast
at 8 a.m. The Chancel Choir, un
der the direction of Mrs. N. F.
McGill, will sing an anthem at
the worship service following. Dr.
VV. L. Pressly, pastor, will lead
the service.
St. Matthew’s Lutheran church
will hold a 10 a.m. worship ser
vice in the church sanctuary. Dr.
W. P. Gedberding, pastor, will
lead Thanksgiving meditations
and the choir will render special
music.
Christ t h e King Catholic
church will hold a Service ol
Mass Thanksgiving Day at 9 a.
m., Father Beatty has announced.
Trinity Episcopal church will
hold a service of Holy Commun
ion at 10 a.m. Thursday. Rev.
Thomas Droppers, Pritest - In -
Charge, will administer the sac
rament.
At virtually all Kings Moun
tain area churches special ser
vices also featured the mid-week
prayer services Wed.. Young
people o f First Presbyterian
church werb in charge of a
Thanksgiving service last eve
ning.
ADVENT COMMUNION
i
Advent Communion will be
held Sunday at the 11 o’clock!
worship service. This is the be
ginning of the church year and is]
an important event of the church]
year, Dr. W. P. Gerberding said
as he made the announcement.
i r . . "
GRADUATES — Freida McGin
nis, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Hubert McGinnis of Kings Moun
tain, has completed a general
business and secretarial course
at King’s college in Charlotte.
School Engineer,
Architects Confer
Architects for the projected
Kings Mountain high school re
ceived preliminary engineering
plans for the plant Tuesday, Su
perintendent of Schools B. N.
Barnes said ho was informed.
A repres'entative of Marcus L.
Durlach Associates, of Columbia,
S. C., conferred with Architects
Thomas H. Cothran and Fred
van Wageningen concerning heat
ing, cooling and plumbing in
stallations.
Mr. Barn’es said he was told,(
“There are some problems’’,
and that school officials will be
invited to confer with the archi
tects and engineer on the plans!
in the near future.
Ulon College
Gave President
Degree In '62
Lyndon Baines Johnson, 55, of
Texas, became the nation's 36th
president last Friday at approxi
mately 2 p.m. ESI last Friday,
approximate hour oi the death
zt President John Fitzgerald
Kennedy, victim of an assassin’s
rifle fire.
President Johnson took the
rath of office at 3:3!) p.m. EST
aboard the presidential plane,
tolding a Roman Catholic Bible
and sworn by Judge Sarah T.
Hughe , of 1 exas.
He is the first President to take
the oath of office from a woman,
and the first President from a
Southern state since Andrew
Johnson, ol Tennessee, succeed
ed to the office in April 1863 at
the assassination of Abraham
Lincoln. Johnson was a native
of North Carolina.
President Johnson is a former
majority leader of the U. S. Sen
ate, member of the House of Rep
resentative, and secretary for
onetime T e x a s Congressman
Richard Kleberg. As Vice-Presi
dent, he has served as Mr. Ken
nedy’s personal emissary to a
dozen foreign countires, was
chairman of the National Space
council, chairman of the Presi
dent’s Commission on Equal Em
ployment Opportunity, and chair
man of the Advisory Council of
the Peace Corps.
He served In the navy during
World War II and won a decora
tion for gallantry in action In
the South Pacific.
He won a degree at Southwest
Texas State Teachers college and
Continued On Pmje Six
Methodist Choii To Sing Cantata
"Bethlehem" On Sunday Afternoon
The Central Methodist church
choir will present “Bethlehem”, a
Christmas cantata by E. Cuth
bert Ntfnnt Sunday afternoon at
5 p.m. at the church.
A musical program which
launches the Christmas season
in Kings Mountain, it is under di
rection of Mrs. J. N. McClure,
church organist.
The three-part program en
folds with the shepherds' gifts,
continues with the king’s gifts
and concludes with our gift be
fore the inn at Bethlehem.
Soloists will include Mrs. Bar
bara Alien, Mrs. Delbert Dixon,
B. S. Peeler, Jr., Jacob Dixon
and Delbert Dixon. Mrs. Dixon!
sings Mary’s Song to the Holy !
Babe in Part Three of the can- |
tata.
Music for “Bethlehem” is by J.
H. Maunder With the text by E.
Cuthbert Nunn. Rev. Howard
Jordan will read the scripture
and offer prayer after the pre
lude Handel’s “Pastorale Sym
phony.” The* congregation will
sing "As With Gladness Men of
Old” after Part II, “The King's
Gifts.”
'Members of the choir are:
Soprano: Mrs. Delbert Dixon,
Mrs. Bill Allen, Miss Mary Alice
Continued On Put/e Six
Congress Urged
Tc Implement
JFK Programs
President Lyndon B. Johnson
urged continuance of the policies
of tile late President John F.
Kennedy in an address Wednes
day afternoon before a joint ses
sion of Congress.
Alluding to the Kennedy inau
gural address, in which the late
President said, "Let us begin”.
President Johnson gave re-sound
ing affirmation to tin- Kennedy
policies, including all immediate
.a v cut, extension of civil rights
by law, and in the foreign field
"our pursuit ol peace”.
lie said, "Those Who test our
(oui’agc will find it strong and
those who seek our friendship
will find it honorable."
lie pledged that the United
States would meet its committ
ments "from South Viet-Nam to
West Berlin”.
lie opened his address by say
ing, "All 1 have l would have
given gladly not to be standing
here today."
lie urged Congress h early
action on pending le ;isIation by
iggesling, “Our most immediate
tasks are here on this hill.”
He declared for fair treatment
and moderation in this state
ment:
"The time has come for Amer
icans of all races and creeds and
political beliefs to understand
and respect one another. Let us
put an end to the teaching and
preaching of hate anti evil and
violence. Let us turn away from
the fanatics of the far left and
the far right, from the* apostles
of bitterness and bigotry, from
those defiant ol law, and those
who pour venom into our na
tion’s bloodstream."
Weie Assassin,
Ruby Collusive?
Jack Rubenstein, alias Jack
Ruby, a Dallas, Texas, night
club operator, will be tried for
the murder of Lee Harvey Os
wald, 24, accused assassin of
President John F. Kennedy.
Rubenstein fatally wounded
Oswald early Sunday afternoon
as he was being moved from Dal
las city jail to the county jail.
Oswald continually had de
nied he shot the President. He
was also charged with murder
ing J. D. Tippltt, a Dallas police
office.
The nation currently Is await
ing full reports on the investi
gation of the several murders by
the Federal Bureau of Investi
gation, which have been order
ed by President Johnson.
Oswald was a professed “Marx
ist Communist” and had been
identified with a “Fair Play for
Castro” <-ommittce. He had
sought to renounce his American
citizenship, lived in Russia, then
said he had changed his mind
and was repatriated. He married
a Russian and they have two lit
tl< girls.
Major question of Kings Moun
tain citizens and those through
ou' the nation is:
Were Oswald and Rubenstein
in collusion in the murder of the
President and did they represent
a conspiracy, or were both ex
tremists who committed their
crimes individaully?
Elzie Bridges'
Rites Conducted
Funeral rites for Elzie M.
Bridges, 56, were held Friday at
3:30 p.m. from Chestnut Ridge
Baptist church, interment follow
ing in Mountain Rest cemetery.
Mr. Bridges died suddenly of a
heart attack Thursday at 12:45
a.m. at his home. He was owner
of Bridges Phillips 66 Service
Station at the corner of King
stretet and York Road. He was a
mernlwr of Chestnut Ridge Bap
tist church.
Rev. Dale Thornburg officiat
ed at the final rites.
Surviving Mr. Bridges art? his
wife, Mrs. Ruth Bobbitt Bridges;
a son. Bobby Bridges of Kings
Mountain; three daughters, Mrs.
Jack Rayfield and Mrs. Donald
Connor of Kings Mountain and
Miss Carol Bridges of the home;
two brothers, Elbert Bridges of
Kings Mountain and Archie
Bridges of Gastonia; a sister,
Mrs. Famul Cunningham of
Kings Mountain; and 10 grand
children.
Pallbearers were Elmer Ross,
Harold Phillips, Will Huntsinger,
Jimmy White, Jackie White, and
Randy Alexander.