Population
Greater Kings Mountain 21,914
City Limits 8,256
The Greater Kings Mountain figure is derived from the
special United States Bureau of the Census report o
January 196$, and includes the 14,990 population o
lumber 4 Township, and the remaining 6.124 iron
Number 5 Township, in Cleveland County and Crowder*
Mountain Township in Gaston County.
Pages
Today
VOL. 78 No. 25
Established 1889
Kings Mountain, N. C., Thursday, June 22, 1967
Seventy-Eignth Year
PRICE TEN CENTS
BARNES HONORED FOR LONG SERVICE — Schools Superintendent B. N. Barnes, right above, re
ceives an engraved plaque and a gold watch from the Western North Carolina High School Acti
vities Association which he served as president for 20 years and was instrumental in Kings Moun
tain high school's becoming a charter member when he was principal of the high school in 1927.
The WNCHSAA, founded in 1929 with IS member schools, now numbers 39 participating schools
with 10 new applications received during the past two months. Supt. Barnes resigned in May as
association president and retires this month after 40-plus years as a school administrator. Bill
Bates, head football coach at Kings Mountain high school, presents the plaque and watch to Mr.
Barnes in behalf of the organization. Supt. Barnes, second president of the association, succeeded
Dr. R. W. Carver of Hickory. (Photo by Paul Lemmons)
Board To Meet Bi-Monthly;
Clean-Up Drive Is Extended
files Friday
For Bell Yonth.
Drowning Victim
Nitural Lee Bell, 16-year-old
Negro boy, drowned Monday aft
ernoon In the Kings Mountain
Mica Lake and a companion, who
went to his aid, was pulled to
safety by a third youth who was
Unable to rescue Bell.
The three 16-year-old youths,
Bell, Lewis Crocker and Eugene
Turner, had gone swimming
about 5 p.m. in the lake, used for
filtering mica, three miles south
of Kings Mountain on Grover
road.
Bell, a rising senior at Kings
Mountain high school, stepped in
to deep water and Crocker went
to his aid. Crocker experienced
difficulty in the deep water and
was-pulled to safety by Turner,
Who was unable to save Bell, ac
cording to investigation made by
Cleveland County Coroner J. Ol
lie Karris.
Coroner Harris ruled the death
accidental and said no inquest
will be held.
The body of Bell was recovered
at 8:45 p.m. Monday by members
of the Cleveland County Life Sav
ing Crew. \
Bell was the son of Mr. and
•rs. J. C. Bell of route two.
Gill & Brown Funeral Home is
in charge of funeral arrange
ments which are incomplete.
Besides the parents, young Bell
Is survived by three brothers, A.
C. Bell, Tommy Bell and Carl
Bell, all of the home, and three
sisters, Louise, Doris and Shir
ley iBell, all of the home.
Temple Baptists
Call Shlxley
Rev. Frank Shirley, pastor of
Broad Mouth Baptist church of
Honea Path, S. C, has accepted
the call to become pastor of Tem
ple Baptist church and will as
sume his new duties July 16th.
Rev. C. C. Crow of Shelby is
serving as interim pastor.
Rev. Mr. Shirley will succeed
Rev., R. L. McGahia.
The new minister is 36, mar
ried and the father of four chil
dren.
Members of the church pulpit
committee are Mr. and Mrs. El
bert Fleming, Mrs. Jack Bridges,
W. W. Morehead, Lloyd McFalls
and Paul Ivey.
low Firm Opens
Local Office
The Kings Mountain office of
Garland, Alala, Bradley & Gray,
Gastonia law firm, opened Mon
day.
Partner Robert L. Bradley is
In charge of the Kings Mountain
office and Mrs. Mildred M. Whet
Mina la secretary.
After hearing a progress re
port from Mayor John Henry
Moss on the community-wide
clean-up campaign, the city" com
mission voted at its June 15
meeting to extend the campaign
an additional 30 days to July 15.
The Mayor told the board,
“The results to date are appar
ent. The city has removed debris
where the problems were too
large for individuals to handle,
but the campaign has attracted
excellent individual cooperation.”
He said a new approach to
publicizing the drive was added
this year by utilizing school chil
dren, church groups, and Scout
units.
A clean up problem had been
previously posed by W. K. Crook,
who also spoke in behalf of Mrs.
Bertie Ware and Mrs. S. T.
Cooke, declared coal dust from
the City Ice & Coal Company
yard on City street inundates the
neighborhood. He added, “I want
that coal yard moved now!”
On action by the commission,
Mayor Moss named Comms. Nor
man King, O. O. Walker and the
city attorney a committee to in
vestigate the problem and to de
termine what relief might legally
be given.
In other actions:
1) Comms. Walker, King, W.
S. Biddix, City Clerk Joe Mc
Daniel, Jr., and the Mayor were
named to a committee to study
group insurance proposals for
city employees.
2) Set .two regular meetings
monthly for second and fourth
Tuesdays.
3) Approved annexation to the
city of the Oscar Patterson prop
erty on Second street.
4) Accepted bid of Hardin
Dixon Tractor Company, Shelby,
(Continued on Page Six)
$22,500 Loan
For Planning
For KM PHA
Robert C. Weaver, secretary of
Housing and Urban Development,
announced in Washington Satur
day approval of a $22,500 plan
ning loan for Kings Mountain
Public Housing Authority, Inc.
Chairman John L. McGill said
formal notification had not been
received Wednesday morning.
“However,” he added, "appro
val of the planning grant means
that the authority can move
ahead with all deliberate speed
in fonwarding to fruition the 150
unit housing project which had
been previously approved.”
Chairman McGill said the au
thority would confer in the near
future with its architectural firm,
Tomberlin & Associates, Atlanta,
Ga., concerning employment of
an executive director and on
likely sites for building the hous
ing units—low rent dwellings for
low income families.
Of the 150 units approved, 30
will be designed for elderly citi
zens.
At its recent regular meeting,
the city commission approved a
cooperation agreement with the
housing authority in which the
city pledges to provide the hous
ing authority city services on
same basis it provides other citi
zens and the housing authority
pledges to pay the city ten per
cent of gross rents in lieu of tax
es.
Next regular meeting of the
authority is July 10.
Early Tuesday Mom Thunderstorm
Reminiscent Of 195Ts Whirlwind
By ELIZABETH STEWART
A front page story In the Kings
Mountain Herald 10 years ago
today was headlined: “Monday’s
Storm Wreaks Havoc”, a report
of a gale - proportion whirlwind
which whipped through the Cres
cent Hill - West Mountain street
sector of the city resulting in con
siderable damage to properties
but no injuries to individuals.
A lightning and rain storm
Monday night Tuesday morn
ing caused scattered power and
telephone difficulty for area resi
dents.
McGinnis Department Store
Annex, former Reba's Fashions,
on Battleground avenue, was
flooded by water about 3 a.m.
Tuesday morning.
Some residents of the Bethle
hem community section near
Kings Mountain were without
power until 8 a.m. Tuesday. Pow
er trouble was experienced by
Margrace Mill area residents and
on the north side at the city
where some 50 to 75 houses were
I without electrical passer over two
hours. Kings Mountain electric
crews were called at 2 a.m. to
start work on restoring power and
most of the work had been com
pleted by 8 a.m.
An early morning fire destroy
ed a building containing stored
furniture at 810' North Piedmont
avenue. Firemen were called at
4:15 a.m. Kings Mountain fire
man C. D. Ware said the build
ing — owned by Ken Roberts —
and the building’s contents were
a total loss. He speculated the
fire may have started from light
ning during the thunderstorm
which began about 1 a.m.
A road sign on Highway 74
near Royal Motel was ripped by
lightning.
The U. S. Weather Observa
tion Station at Radio Station
WAD A, Shelby, reported the
storm dumped 1.7 inches of rain
on the county.
Dan Finger, Kings Mountain
electrician, said Tuesday wag a
very busy day in the repair de
partment
Donald Jones Named Superintendent
McDaniel Predicts
$125,000 Surplus
Tax Valuations
Are Increased
By 31,099,000
By MARTIN HARMON
City Clerk Joe McDaniel, Jr.,
predicted Wednesday the city
would have a surplus at June 30,
end of the current fiscal year of
not less than $125,000.
Meantime, though calendar
year 1966 was something less1
than a boom building year, the
city’s taxable valuations increas
ed by $1,099,000 to $24,215,461. '
At May 31, the city’s cash bal-!
ances, in banks and savings and
loan associations, totaled $314,
341.
The 1967 taxable valuations
breakdown showed city residen
tial lots valued at $10,798,650, up
approximately $350,000; city com
mercial Jots at $3,237,510, up ap
proximately $238,000; personal
property at $9,194,115, up approx
imately $-410,000. Corporate ex
cess values (for public utilities
supplied by a state agency) have
not been received and are esti
mated at $985,186, same figure
as in 1966.
The city’s cash balances May
31 included $41,644 in the ceme
tery fund, $8,457 in the recrea
tion fund, $49,641 in the general
fund, $12,922 debt service fund,
$65,445 capital outlay fund, 88,
151 natural gas revenue fund,
$5,577 natural gas renewal and
extension fund, and $42,500 in
water, power, and natural gas
customer deposits.
Buffalo Water
Plans Complete
Final plans for the Buffalo
Creek lake development — to
provide /Kings . Mountain and
Eastern Cleveland County an
adequate water supply—-are com
plete.
W. K. Dickson, of Charlotte,
the city’s engineer, brought the
completed plans to Mayor John
Henry Moss Wednesday after
noon.
The plans envision a lake with
130-mile waterfront which will re
quire from 1600 to 2000 acres.
Engineer Dickson says the lake
will provide for treatment from
20 to 32.5 million gallons daily.
According to the plans the
first line installation will be from
the treatment plant along SR
2033 to US 74, thence along US
74 to the west city limits. The
line will be 24 inches in diameter.
Mayor John Henry Moss said
two steps remain before forward
ing the final plans to the Atlanta
regional office, Department of
Hoiusing and Urban Development.
These are 1) approval by the
county planning board and 2)
approval by the State Highway
commission.
The Mayor said he expected to
confer in the near future with
town officials of Grover and
Waco and citizens of the Bethle
hem, Oak Grove and other com
munities of Eastern Cleveland
concerning their water needs and
desires to utilize the Buffalo
Creek source.
The Mayor will outline the
Buffalo Creek project in an ad
dress before the Shelby Kiwanis
club Thursday.
The city is eligible for a fed
eral grant for the water devel
opment project of up to 50 per
cent of the estimated $2,800,000
cost.
Five-Day Week
At City Office
A change in schedule at the
citv office will become effective
July 1.
The city office will be open
five days each week, Monday
through Friday, from 8:30 to 5
p.m.
Under present schedule the
office opens at 8 a.m. and clos
es at 4:30 p.m. Mondays Tues
days, Thursdays and Fridays.
Noon closing has been the prac
tice on Wednesdays and Satur
days. I
Coincidentally, the first Sat
urday closing will, be on the
effective date—July h
NORMAN GREEN WINSTON
RALPH P. STEWART
HOUSTON HUFFMAN
Three Students
Receive Degrees
Three Kings Mountain men are
among recent graduates of col
leges and universities.
Houston I. Huffman, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Theodore Huffman, Sr.,
of route two, was graduated with
B. A. in mathematics from Wof
ford college at Spartanburg, S.
C. , and will enter Textile Tech
nology Institute in Charlottes
ville, Va., this September for two
year graduate course. At Wofford
he was president and secretary
of the Baptist Student Union, was
a state representative, a member
of Alpha Phi Omega fraternity
and planetarium assistant. This
summer he is employed at Mag
nolia Finishing Plant in Blacks
burg, S. C.
Ralph P. Stewart, son of Mr.
and Mrs. H. L. Stewart of Second
street, received his B.S. degree in
elementary education from Val
paraiso University, Valparaiso,
Indiana. He will teach this fall
in Hobart, Indiana. Mrs. Stewart
is the former Annie Hendricks of
Valparaiso and they are parents
of three children.
Norman Green Winston, hus
band of the former Ruth Mc
Curdy of Kings Mountain, re
ceived his Juris Doctorate from
Cumberland Law School of Stan
ford University at Birmingham,
Ala. and has joined the law firm
of Baker, McDaniel and Hall in
Birmingham. He is son-in-law of
Mr. and Mrs. F. R. McCurdy of
Kings Mountain.
President of his legal frater
nity and editor of the Legal Re
search and Writing Association,
he was voted Phi Alpha Delta’s
(Continued on Pago Six)
Hearing Tuesday
In State Cases
For Horvath
Preliminary hearing for Ernest
Horvath, Kings Mountain textile:
executive charged on two counts
of issuing worthless cheeks and
one count of failure to pay with
holding taxes, will be held Tues
day in Cleveland County Re
corder's Court at Shelby.
Mr. Horvath is president of
Masmo, Inc., formerly Neisler
Mills Division of Massachusetts
Mohair Plush Company.
He was charged last Wednes
day in warrants signed by Philip
Hege, of Shelby, a tax collector
for the revenue department, and
Troy K. Green of the N. C. De
partment of Revenue. He posted
bonds totaling $38,000.
Horvath is charged with issu
ing two worthless checks to the
N. C. Department of Revenue in
the amount of $6,769.45 each. In
a third warrant he is charged
with failure to pay withholding
taxes in the amount of $6,937.98.
According to the warrant signed
by Troy K. Greene of the Depart
ment of Revenue, this was the
amount withheld from employ
ees’ salaries during the month
of April.
According to records in the
clerk of recorder's court office,
Mr. Horvath on June 15th paid
three worthless checks drawn to
the N. C. Department of Revenue
totaling $15,098.28. The checks
were written April 24, 1967 for
the amounts of $5,000, $5,000 and
$5,098.28.
Horvath’s address is listed on
the warrants as 120 E. End Ave
nue, New York City.
Kee Hannon's
Rites Conducted
Funeral rites for Phillip Key
! Harmon, 78, were held Sunday at
3 p.m. from El Bethel Methodist
church of which he was a mem
ber.
Mr. Harmon, well-known farm
er in the El Bethel community,
died of a heart attack Thursday
at 8 p.m. at Eagler Roller Mill
in Shelby where he was deliver
ing wheat.
He was a native of Cleveland
County, son of the late Alexander
and Rachel Fulton Harmon. He
and his wife, the former Sally
Anthony, celebrated their golden
wedding anniversary in 1962.
Surviving are his wife; two
sons, M. D. Harmon of Green
ville, S. C. and Earl Harmon of
Kings Mountain; a daughter,
Mrs. Wayne Ware of Miami,
Fla.; two sisters, Mrs. Edith Go
forth of Kings Mountain and
Mrs. Wray Patterson of Dawson,
Ga.; and three brothers, Avery
and Marvin Harmon, both of
Kings Mountain, and T. E. Har
mon of Gastonia. Also surviving
are five grandchildren and two
■great-great grandchildren.
Rev. Roy Lockfidge, assisted
by the Rev. Frank Blalock, offi
ciated at the final rites, and in
terment was in the T1 Bethel
cemetery.
Education Board
Names Ashevillian
SUPERINTENDENT — Donald
D. Jones of Asheville has been
elected superintendent of Kings
Mountain district schools.
City Is Asking
Charter Change
Th e city commission has asked
Representative W. K. Mauney,
Jr., to obtain General Assembly
action on a charter amendment
which would make city election
; hourly schedules conform with
state-county schedules.
Specifically, the city board res
olution asks:
1) Election d»y voting hours
from 6:30 a m. to 6:30 p.m. (now
7 a.m. to 6 p.m.i.
2) Registration hours from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. (now 7 a.m. to 7
p.m.).
3) Challenge Day hours 9 a.m.
to 3 p.m. (now 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.).
Comm. Ray Cline moved the
request, pointing out that the
variances cause confusion among
the voters. “Every city election,”
Comm. Cline said, “citizens come
to vote after 6 p.m. and find
themselves too late to vote.” He
added that the 12-hour day for
registering is not needed, with
an estimated 90 percent of Kings
Mountain's eligible voters regis
tered. Comm. W. S. Biddix sec
onded the motion and the vote
was unanimous.
Collins Reviews
City Applications
Davis H. Collins, North Caro-'
lina representative of the At
lanta regional office, Department
of Housing and Urban Develop
ment, reviewed Wednesday the
city's pending applications for
grants for community improve
ment projects.
These applications include the
water project, urban beautifica
tion, neighborhood facility, urban
development, and central business
district redevelopment.
Central School Renovation Bid
Accepted; Wyatt Resigns at West
The city board of education
Tuesday awarded contract to the
low bidder, at $134,900, for reno
vation of Central Junior high
school.
Renovation of the Central plant
will include improvements in
floors, stairways, hallways, bath
rooms, classrooms.
The original school building
was constructed in 1925 with an
addition in 1937. The current
renovation project is the major
improvement work on the build
ing since its construction.
The firm of T. C. Strickland,
Jr. of Shelby was the low bid
der, among three bidding for the
renovation work. Other bidders
were A. A .Ramsey & Son of
Shelby, $142,500, and Godfrey
Construction Company of Char
lotte. $189,231.
Bids were opened at 3 p.m. in
the office of Schools Supt. B. N.
Barnes.
In other actions, the board of
education in regular monthly
session, following the bid-open
ing.
1) elected Donald D. Jones,
33, of Asheville, superintendent
of Kings Mountain districtj
schools for a four-year period.
2) accepted the resignation of
David Wyatt, principal of West
school. Mr. Wyatt has assumed
the principalship of a 19-teacher
elementary school in Lincolnton.
3) elected Donald L. Parker,
principal of the Title 1 summer
program, acting principal of
Kings Mountain high school to
serve until the newly-elected
principal reports for work.
4) elected Charles Vernon
Knight of Eallston as an agri
culture teacher succeeding Paul
Hambright, who has resigned to
accept personnel work with Min
ette Mills of Grover.
4) elected Brenda L. Whitford
of Charleston, S. C. as an high
school English teacher.
5) elected Miss Lena Ann Os
borne of Shelby to an elementary
teaching position.
6) voted to begin the digging
of a new well at Park Grace!
School.
7) re-elected Joe Lee Wood-!
ward, school attendance counse
lor. Mr. Woodward's name was
inadvertently omitted from list
ing of school personnel who had,
been, issued contracts for the up-,
coming school year.
8) authorized Supt. B. N.
Barnes to purchase new type
writers on a trade-in arrange
ment.
Board Gives
Superintendent
Four-Year Pact
Donald D. Jones, 33, of Ashe
ville, will succeed B. N. Barnes
as superintendent of Kings Moun
tain district schools.
Mr. Jones was employed by
I lie Kings Mountain board of ed
ucation Tuesday and was elected
to a four year term.
Supt. Barnes is retiring after
more than 40 years as a school
administrator.
For seven years principal of
Lee Edwards high school, a 1,750
student school, of Asheville, Mr.
Jones was for four years a teach
er and assistant principal at Lee
Edwards. Previously, he taught
mathematics at Vero Beach high
school in Vero Beach, Fla. for a
year.
A native of Asheville, Jones
was educated at Oakley high
school, Asheville-Biltmore college,
and Carson-Newman college. He
holds a B.S. degree from Carson
Newman and a Master of Educa
tion degree from Western Caro
lina college at Cullowhee. He has
also completed work on the ad
vanced superintendent's certifi
cate.
Mrs. Jones is the former Gladys
I Jones and they are parents of
] three children: Donna, a?e 11:
Jeffrey, age nine; and David
I Jones, age three.
I In Asheville Mr. and Mrs.
Jones are active In Calvary Bap
tist church where Mr. Jones is
a deacon, has directed a program
of teacher training, served as
associate Training Union Direc
tor and as Sunday School teacher
and department superintendent.
He is president-elect of the Ashe
ville Kiwanis club, a member of
the Lee Edwards Dads club, a
member of the Keep Asheville
Beautiful committee and on the
advisory board of the Children’s
Home Society of Greensboro.
The new superintendent is ac
tive in a number of professional
organizations, holds membership
in the National Education Asso
ciation, is a past president of
the Western District of the N. C.
Education Association and is a
member of the state board of
directors. He Is N. C. School
College Relations coordinator for
the national Secondary School
Principals Association and is
past president of Schoolmasters
of Western North Carolina. He
is a member of Phi Delta Kappa,
professional fraternity for men
in education.
Chief Pledges
Crackdown Here
Chief of Police Paul Sanders
warned this week city police
men have been alerted to crack
down on violators of the state’s
prohibition laws relating to il
legal transport, purchase, sale
and possession of intoxicating
beverages.
Concurrently, he asked coop
eration of all citizens in aiding
Kings Mountain policemen to
enforce the laws.
"I solicit the cooperation of
each and every citizen,” Chief
Sanders said. “With the help
of all the community we can
effectively diminish illegal
traffic in liquor and other al
coholic beverages."
Fire Destroys Car,
Building Tuesday
Fire destroyed a storage build
ing behind the home of Kenneth
Roberts on 810 N. Piedmont Ave.
Tuesday morning at approxi
mately 3:45.
According to Mr. Roberts, the
cause of the fire was lightning.
The building, valued at about
$1,300 and the contents, valued
at approximately $1,000, were
totaled destroyed.
Fire also destroyed a junk car
which was being worked on be
hind Hayes Recapping Co. on E.
King St. Tuesday afternoon at
about 4:0dL