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Population
Greater Kings Mountain 10,320
City Limits 8,008
This (igurt lor Crootrr Kings Mountain it dtrlvtd Irom
th« 195S Kings Mountain city ditee;ory census. Tit* city
Umlts llguro is from tho Uaitsd Stotes esnsus ol 1860.
em
Kings Mountain's Reliable Newspaper
VOL 76 No. 20
LstabiisSeci 1889
Kings Mountain, N. C., Thursday, May 20, 1965
Soventy-Sixth Year
PRICE TEN
Two Board Seats At Stake In Tuesday Run-Ol
First Citizens Bank Seeks Branch Here
Holding Says
Applications
Filed Monday
By MARTIN HARMON
LeWiS H, Iljlding, president of
W'irst Citizen’s Bank & Trjst
Company - - Noi'th Carolina’s
fourth largest confirmed Wed
nesday that Firjt Citizens filed
applications Monday with the
State Bankinijr commission and
the F'^ederal Deposit Insuranet*
Corporation for permission to
ojK-n a branch in Kings M')un-
tain.
Under normal procedures, Mr.
Holding said, the banking com
mission will consider the appli
cation at its regular July meet
ing. If decision is favorable, ac
tion by the FDLC should be tak
en within 30 So 60 days.
First Citizens Bank and Trust
C o m n a n y, headquarterctl in
Smithfield, has 97 branches in
A[\ North Carolina towns and
citic.s, including two in Gastqnia
and nine in Chai lotto.
He s-aid the incidence of Kings
Mountain accounts at the Gas
tonia branches dietatcil the appli
ration of Fi’'st Citizens to estab
lish a branch here.
Mr. Holding continual. “A
Kings Mountain branch would be
a completely separate unit, with
jt.> own officers, and a full-serv
ice bank.” He added. “We pro
vide no less than 78 banking
services in all.”
As of April 26, First Citizen*^
Bank & Trust Company listed as
sets of S417 millions. Largest of
• the 97 tranches are at Raleigh
(uid Charlotte.
Kings Mountain has been seiz
ed by a single banking house
since April 1929, when Commer
rial Bank & Ti-ust Company
headquartered in Gastonia, clos
rd its doors here and in several
surrounding communities i n
which it had branches.
At the turn of the century,
there were three hanks.
First National Bank, founded
in 1900, mergefl with First Union
National Bank of North Caro
lina in 1960.
Foster Rites
To Be Friday
Funeral riles for Charles Meek
Foster, 73, will be held Friday at
4 p.m. from Resurrect/in Luther
an church <;! which he was a
mrmbi'r.
Mr. Foster died Wednesday
morning at his homo at 27 Elm
street follou’in.g o week’s illness.
Son of the late Mr. and Mrs.
John Foster, lie was a retired
Mauney Mills employee. His wife,
tlie former Martha Jane Weaver,
died Dceo nber 4, 1950.
The ho(ly will remain at Har
ris Funeral Home until taken to
the church where it will lie in
state 30 minutes before the serv
ice. Rev. George Moore will offi
« iaie, and interment will be in
lountain Rest cemetery.
Surviving are four daughters.
Mrs. Lawrence Sty-el's, Mrs. Ray
mond Crawford, Miss Essie Ma
rie Foster and Miss Mary Anne
Foster, all of Kings Mountain,
and two brothers, John Foster of
Dalla.s and Glenn Foster of Gas
tonia. Also surviving are seven
grandchildren and nine great-
grandchildi-en.
Southein Poles
To Come Down
Southern Railway Company in
formed tlie city this week it will
remove in the near future its
telegraph utility poles all along
its right-of-way between Wash-1
aigton and Atlanta.
The Southern has forsaken its
long-familiar telegraphic com
munication system for modern
microwave radio.
Mayor John Henry Mo.ss said
he was pleased at the Informa
tion, commenting, “The elimina
tion of the Southern’s poles will
improve the city’s business sec
tion parking situation if in minor
degree and it will also enhance
the beauty of the rail company’s
right - of - way through Kings
Mountain, as elsewhere.”
Mayor Mo.ss added he is giv
ing consideration to otherwise
^^nhancing business area parking
*nd expects to report to the city
commission in the near future.
*
yji
ADMINISTRATION SWORN — Members of the new Moss Administration and newly-elected
school trustees took the oaths of office Thursday, and Magistrate J. Lee Roberts, left above* is
shown administering the oaths to Word III Commissioner T. J. (Tommy) Ellison* Mayor John
Henry Moss* Ward IV Commissioner Norman King, Ward I Commissioner Ray Cline, and School
Trustees Mrs. Lena W. McGill ond Holmes Harry. The swearing-in ceremony was held at 10 a.m.
at City Ha^l courtroom. (Photo by Bill Jackson),
189 Negro Students Prefer
Former All-White Schools
1
CHAIRMAN — George H. Mau
ney is the new chairman of
Kings Mountain district board
of education.
Mauney Heads
School Board
Geonge H. Mauney was elected
Monday chairman of the Kings
Mountain district board of edu
cation, succeeding James E.
Herndon, Jr., H. O. (Toby) Wil
liams was re-elected vice-chair
man.
In other actions the board:
1) Re-elected Miss Alice Aver-
itt teaching supervisor.
2) Voted to renew its school
cliild accident policy, at $1.75 per
pupil, with Pilot Life Insurance
Company.
3) Authorized conducting a
summer school on the same ba
sis as last year.
4) Instructed the superinten-
Continued On Page 6
By MARTIN HARMON
Members of the board of edu
cation examined, without action,
requests of 189 Negro pupils of
; the Kings Mountain school dis-
I trict to attend previously all-
i white schools in the term start
ing next September.
Superinendent B. N. Barnes
termed in initial report incom
plete, as some principals had not i
completed their reports by the
i time the board met Monday, that
day having been the final day
for legally filing school assign
ment requests.
Tabulations have not been
made as of Wednesday on the
second choice of school assign-
. ments.
Supt. Barnes added he had
been receiving word of some in
stances in which pupils both
j white and colored ^ had indicat-
; ed they had changed their minds
about which schools they wished
to attend.
Supt. Barnes said he anticipat
ed the board of eclucation would
convene next week to begin work
on the chore of assignment of
the more than 4900 pupils in the
Kings Mountain system.
The initial examination of
school assignment first choices
indicated that 71 colored chil
dren wish to attend Kings Moun
tain high school.
Fifty-one (50 from David.son,
one from Compact) prefer to at
tend West school, 18 from from
Compact would prefer Grover,
ten from Davidson would prefer
North, two from Davidson want
to go to East, and 37 (24 from
Davidson, 13 from Compact)
want to attend Central - now
envisioned by the board of edu-
Continued On Page d
T. I. Ellissn
Mayoi Pro Tern;
Moss Pay Same
Shortly after inauguration cer
emonies last Thursday, the board ,
of city commissioners held a i
brief session in which they elect- j
ed T. J. (Tommy) Ellison, Ward :
3 commissioner, mayor pro lem- ;
pore.
Comm. Ellison succeeds Comm. !
Ray Cline, re-elected Ward 1
commissioner.
In choosing Ellison for the i
honor, the commission f dla\\’e<J
tradition. It customarily honors
the newly-elected member receiv
mg the highest vote.
In other routine actions, the
board voted retention for 30 days
of all city employees, and voted
to pay Mayor John Henrv' Moss
gross pay of $6,900 per year, in
cluding $600 per year travel al-
losv’ance - - same pay Mayor Glee
A. Bridges and Mayor Kelly Dix
on had received.
The commission also voted to
change its regular monthly meet
ing schedule to second Tuesdays
at 6:30 p.m., rather than on sec
ond Thursdays at 6 p.m.
At the regular monthly meet
ing Thursday evening. Mayor
Moss welcomed numerous citi
zens in the audience and prom
ised the administration would
maintain an open door at all
meetings at all times.
'The Mayor and City Attorney
J. R. Davis were instructed to
see what provisions present city
ordinances might have in rela
tion to location of trailers after
G. L. McDaniel, Jr., had stated.
"I want that trailer moved from
my backdoor.” Comm. Ray Cline
had suggested it might be good'
policy for the city to prohibit
use of trailers for peiTnanent
residences except by special per
mission of the zoning board, add
ing “which is this board”.
Mayor Moss said Wednesday
a check had revealed tlie city
has no ordinance specifically
pursuant to ix?sidential trailers
and that only the present zoning
ordinances apply.
W. G. (Bill) McDaniel asked
for some "dust down” on dusty
West Gold street extension, was
told the dust preventive was on
order and would be applied on
arriv^al.
Comm. Eugene Goforth said
members of Eastside Baptist
church had asked that an adja
cent lot to the church property
be cleaneil of grass and honey
suckle. Mayor Moss said yester
day the owner, W. K. Mauney. Jr.
had said he would clear the lot.
For Word 2 Commissioner
EUGENE GOFORTH W. S. BIDDIX
'.
/:
I
For Word 5 Commissioner
O. O. WALKER J. E, (ZIP) RHEA
Auxiliary Elects
Mrs. Blanton
Dial Dial* Dial* All Toll-Free
To Gastonia* Since 12:01 May 19
Kings Mountain citizens began i
making toll-free calls to Gastonia ^
and Dallas at 12:01 Wednesday
morning, merely by dialing the
desired numbers and without the
necessity of calling the long dis
tance operator or using direct
distance dialing.
Subscribers in both cities are
now able to call any telephone
in the other city without paying
a long distance charge. There
will be a small monthly increase
in rental rates for residential and
business telephones in the Kings
Mountain area — $1.50 for bu.si-
ness phones, 60 cents for resi
dences.
A 400-pair cable has been plac
ed from the Diane Theatre in
Gastonia and is buried under
ground to the city limits of Kings
Mountain. Approximately 23.000
feet of cable is buried under
ground. and approximately 6,000
feet is aerial cable. This total of
over 29,000 feet of cable repre-
Cof^inuad On Page d
WINS SCHOLARSHIP — Mar
garet Jackson* senior at Mary
Boldwin college* has been
awarded a groduote counselor-
ship at UNC* Chapel Hill, for
the coming yeor.
Miss Jackson
Wins Scholarship
Miss Margaret Ann Jackson,
Kings Mountain senior at Mary
Baldwin College, has been award
ed a $1300 Graduate Counselor-
ship to continue her studies at
the University of North Caro
lina. Chapel Hill, next year.
Tlie daughter of Mrs. T. W.
Jackson, and the late Mr. Jack-
son, Miss Jackson is a regular
Honors List student, an Honor
Scholar, and a member of the
Man' Baldwin College Judiciary
Boaixi. She majorixl in English.
Miss Jackson will be a resi
dent counselor of an undergrad
uate dormitory at Chapel Hill.
Presbyterians
Welcome Hope
A. Chalmers Hope, Jr., now
completing his first year at
! U n i o n Theological Seminaiy.
! Richmond, Va., will join the staff
of First Presbyterian church for
I the summer on May 31.
On Sunday afternoon at 6
! o’clock. Mr. Hope will be hanor-
jed at a reception at the church.
I Mr. Hope is the son of Dr.
I Chalmers Hope, a Charlotte
physician.
Toll-Free Cost
Survey Planned
Southern Bell Telephone &
Telegraph Company will conduct
a suiwcy to detennine feasibility
of countywide toll-free service,
officials have informed Floyd
Farris, Shelby branch manager.
Several farm groups and rural
citizens have endorsed coujity-
wide toll-free service.
Basis of the survey, Mr. Farris
said, will be cost of installation
and its relation to potential rent
al rates.
Last April Southern Bell con
ducted a traffic sui*vey to deter
mine need for the service and
the results were not favorable.
Mr. Farris added.
Acknowledging the renewed re
quest from the county fam bu
reau, Bethware Progressive club
and others, Mr. Farris said it is
possible both sentiment and tele
phone traffic may have changed
sufficiently to justify the service,
depending on the cost analysis.
“Thai’s why we survey,” Mr.
Farris said.
TO SYNOD
Dr. Paul K. Ausley, minister,
and Paul Mauney, elder, of
First Presbyterian church, and
Rev. J. O. Mann, minister of
Dixon Presbyterian church, will
go to Richmond Tuesday for
the annual meeting of the
North Carolina Synod, to be
held at Union Theological
I seminary*
PRESIDENT — Mrs. Charles
Blanton will serve os president
of the Woman's Auxiliary to
the North Cotolina Pharmaeeu.
tical Association for the com
ing year.
FIRST AID CLASS
Kings Mountain Rescue
Squad is sponsoring both .stan
dard advanced first aid
classes l)eginning March 31st
on Monda.v. Tuesday, Thurs
day and Friday nights at 7 p.
m. at the Resc'ue Squad build
ing. The interested public, both
men and women, are invited
to attend. Delbert Dixon will
conduct the classes.
Kings Mountain
Woman President
01 State Group
Mr.s. Charles D. Blanton, Jr.
was elected president of the
Woman’s AuxJliai'j- to the North
Carolina Pharmaceutical Associ
ation at the 38th annual conven
tion in Durham Sunday through
Tuesday.
Her husband, partner in Kings
Mountain Drug company, was
elected first vice-president of jhe
parent association, the North
Carolina Pharmaceutical Associ
ation, meeting in conjunction
with the auxiIiai->' and the Trav
eling Men's Association,
j -Both Mr. and Mrs. Blanton at
[tended the convention at Jack
! Tar Hotel.
I Mrs. Blanton is the outgoing
1 first vice-president of the Wom-
I an’s Auxiliary. Mr. Blanton has
i been serving as second vice-prc's-
j ident of the parent group. His
I late father, Charles D. Blanton,
Sr., was president of the North
Carolina Pharmaceutical Associ
ation in 1957.
The Blantons are both active
in civic, church, and community
affairs. They are mc^mhcTS of
F'irst Presbyterian church. Par
ents of three children, two
daughters and a son, they reside
al 403 Phifer road. =
Members of the Woman's Aux- j
iliary joined the men’s group for
On Page t ’
Moss Schedules Meeting May 27
With Stream Sanitation Officials
] By MARTIN HARMON
I Officials of the State Stream
{Sanitation committee will come
, to Kings Mountain May 27 to
confer with the maj^or and board
of eommissionc'rs on plans for
building a sewage treatment .sys
tem to ser\o the western portion
of the city.
Meantime, Mayor John Henry
Moss said, officials had assurc'd
him Kings Mountain would be
in jx)sition to apply for the maxi-
,mum allowable federal grant of
:30 perc'ont for the project, pro
vided detailed plans, sufficient
(cash or borrowing authority for
the project, and the application
are ready for filing by next April
!^-
' Coming to Kings Mountain for
:the c»nference will be Wilbur E.
[Long, chid of tiio munidpcil
waste section, William Mull, reg
ional engineer of Asheville, and
W. K. Dickson, the city's consult
ing civil engineer.
Mayor Moss said Long had
confirmed his recommendation to
ex-Mayor Glee A. Bridges and
other city officials that the city
utilize Potts Creek for its treat
ment plant, leaving Beeson’s
Crt'ok for use by Ma.ssachusetls
Mohair Plush Company's Mar-
grace plant. Rate of flow in Bee
son’s Creek is insufficient to han
dle both loads and provide for
growth, Mayor Moss said he was
told.
Mayor Moss said he anticipat
ed the discus.sion of the sewage
project, which the city is com
mitted to have under construc
tion by January 1, would be both
Continued On 'Page S
Biddix* Walker
Are Challenging
ioforth* Rhea
Kings Mountain citizens return
to the polls next Tuesday to com
plete selection of the board of
dty commissioners.
The contests are between Gene
Goforth, for the past four years
Ward 2 commissioner, and W.
•lieimore Biddix, the challenger,
.he two finishing in a dead heat
at 863 votes each in the May 11
^/oting, while Thomas B. Bu-
janks trailed at 107.
The other race finds J. E. (Zip)
Rhea, also a four-year commis
sioner from Ward 5, challenged
by O. O. Walker, his uncle by
marriaige. Mr. Rhea led the May
11 balloting by 172 votes, 923 to
751, but failed to attain a ma-
ijrity by 52 votes as Benjamin
Grown polled 2^ votes.
Already seated are a first-time
mayor. John Henry Moss, and
three veteran commissioners,
Ray Cline, elected to his third
erm, Norman King, elected to
lis second, and T. J. (Tommy)
:ilison. elected to his seventh.
The run-off campaign has been
narked by continued personal-
ty-type politicking by the Ward
: contestants, Goforih and Bid-
Ux.
In Ward 5, Incumbent Rhea is
naking a particular point that
le will give full cooperation to
he newly-elected mayor, while
Challenger Walker calls atten-
ion to the fact of long experi-
jnee in sewage system and water
line construction — noting the
city has upcoming a major sew
age disposal project.
Rules for Tuesday's run-off
election voting are identical to
those of the May H election.
Polls will open at five ward
polling places at 7 a.m. and will
close at 6 p.m.
The same election officials will
conduct the election.
The city commission will con
vene Wednesday to canvas the
returns and certify the vote.
Elected candidates will be
sworn at 10 a.m., Thursday, May
27.
The five ward polling places
are:
Ward 1, City Hall; Ward 2, A-
merican Legion building; Ward
3, East school; Ward 4, the for
mer Kings Mountain Manufac
turing Company clubroom; Ward
5, National Guard Armory,
Stadinm Fund
Shy By $5U1
The John Gamble Stadium
fund is shy by $52.61 the $80,000
quota eaimarked for a new foot
ball stadium.
Fund TYeasuror Charles F.
Harr>', III reported two addi
tional pledges totaling $450 this
week. Gastonia Coca Cola Bottl
ing Company has pledged $300
and Carolina Coin Caterers Cor
poration of Charlotte has made
a pledge of $1.50, Mr. Harry said.
Treasurer Harry also acknow
ledged gifts from the Kings
Mountain high school Parent-
Teacher-Student-Association and
Mr. and Mrs. James B. Simpson.
Actual cash - in • hand totaled
$41,270.27 this week and cash
pledges totaled $38,677.12 for a
total of $79,947.39, Mr. Harry
said.
The stadium will be constinct-
ed south of the new high school
plant on Phifer road. The stadi
um will have a seating capacity
of 4.000 and will also be equipped
for trfck and will have an ample
pressbox.
Aim of the fund-raising com
mittee was to have the stadium
ready for use when the football
season opens in September. Ho^v-
ever, base bids for the proposed
Gamble Stadium wero rejected
last week and architects advised
that other avenues be employed
to complete the stadium project
within budgeted amounts. The
board of education and stadium
committee agreed to reject the
initial low bids, rather than ac
cept a partial bid at the painful
ly high prices and call for new
bids.
KMHS Mixed Chorus
To Give Concert
Annual spring concert of the
Kings Mountain high school Mix
ed Chorus will be given at 8 p.m.
Thursday night in the high
school auditorium.
TTiere will be no admission
charge.
Mrs. J. N. McClure and Mrs.
Juanita IM. Logan are directors
oX Ui« cXKjral gioup*