7, If69
F
Population
'Greater Kings Mountain 21,914
../Limits (1966 Census) 8,256
City Limits (Estimate 1968) 9300
GrMrttr Eteg* Mouatols flgurg la Eartrad fraai tSt
■pecifld Uoitad Stataa •uracni of tiM Caaaua raport •
fonuarr 18d8. crad locludaa lha I4.H0 p^vlottaai •
Mumbor 4 Tounuhlp, cmd tba raaolBlaf I«lt4 fvoi
Numbar & TowutUp. la Claaaload Couatr CBd Ciowdof*
Touraoklp to Qoatoa CoMaiT»
Kings Mountain's Reliable Newspaper
VOL 81 No. 33
Established 1889
Kings Mountain, N. C., Thursday, August 14, 1969
Seventy-Ninth Year
PRICE TFN CENTS
HUD Invites CBD Reappfication Up To $1,400,000
Fluoridation Fight Shooting
Starts Earlier ThanExpected
Speed By-Pass.
Citizens Tell
Highway Official
FROM JAMBOREE BiU Baird,
top. and his brother, Bo^d Boird,
hove returned -Ifam Notienal
Bor Scout Jomboree in Idofao.
They ore members of Troop 93
and sons of Mr. ond Mrs. Chorles
Baird.
Baird Brothers
From Jamboree
Taycees Visit
commission.
Bolton Too
By MARTIN HARMON
The prospective renewed com-
I munity fight over fluoridation ofi
I -he city's water supply became
nore than a prospect Tuesdayj
light. (
I Gerald Thomasson, chaiiTnan of
;he Jaycee committee spearhead*
ng the campaign for fluorida*
ion, presented the city commls*
sionefs and mayor with an infor
mational packet supporting fluor
idation as a means to vastly im
prove dental health. He told the
?ommission he anJ his committee
Were not asking immediate imple
mentation of fluoridation.
“We mci'ely want you to be
fully informed before we make
1 formal request a few weeks!
hence,'* Mr. Thomasson said. |
I Clavtnn Bolton, resident of 2061
i N. piedmont avenue and em-1
ployee of Fibre Industries, asked.
recognition and proceeded tO pre
sent a detailed statement oppos-|
ing nuorkialion as dangerous toj
health. |
He prefaced his remarks by]
saying his opposition was not j
personal and averred that he and i
Mr. Thomasson were rmitut) sup-.
p GiSfrije wnll.ee fttrf
presidem.
, Mr. Bolton labeled fluorine "a
I deadly poison, a rat killer".
I He also declared that medical;
, and dental groups which have'
lendor.sed fluoridation have not
guaranteed it has no harmful ef-1
; feels. ^ ]
"I don’t want my children to,
have it," he continued. ;
He asked that the city commis- >
sion submit the question to citi-j
zens by referendum before af-j
firmative action to fluoridate. j
i The city has twice cond-ucted ;
j information referendums on the'
i question.
I In 19^7. Kings Mountain citi
zens solidlv supported fluorida
tion by 1146 to 593, but the
did not
How to speed up Kings Moun
tain’s long-proposed U. S. 74 by
pass wasn’t listed on the a'genda
for Monday night’s public hear
ing on the city's proposed prelim
inary thoroughfare plan.
However, this was the topic up
permost in the minds of the 73 or
more citizens who attended. ’ ^
Marion Poole of the ^tuteHigh. rpw||f||i;|f|#|||
way Commission’s Advanced Plan-
ning Department could only
answer: "Talk to your highway
commissioner" and he gave a
loud answer ?o folks on the back
row of City Hall courtroom could
understand.
"It’s up to your highway com
missioner to establish the status
^ Additional
Baxter Praises Performance
Of City In HUD-Run Project
Regional Chief
Hand-Deliveis
Kings Mountain’s workable pro
gram for community impiove-
ment was ofridally re-certifud
by Edward H. Baxter, regional
administrator for the U. S. IX*-
partineht of Housing and Urban
Devledpment, visiting here Fri-
\
lllisaiuiici IV
of .projects", said Mr. Poole, oon-. oay.
ducting the hearing on request of, “Many times I've sent letters;
the'city board of commissioners, j you, I thought I’d drop by and!
Roj* Dedmon, Shelbian, was ap-: personally", he'
pointed recently by Governor Mav-or John Henry Moss. t
Scott as highway Commissioner; j
for Clcx'eland County. i The two-year certification lor
Kings Mountain’s thoroughfare! community improvements extend
plan (object of the meeting) was! through August l, 1971.
prepared in 1966 by the Commun..
ity Planning Division of the N. C.’
Department of Local Affairs and
the Ad\’anced Planning Depart
ment of the State Highway Com
mission.
It calls for radial thorough
fares and ci'OBstoWn ones”, ex-
Kings Mountain has had a
healthy share of federal dollars
the last two years and the HUD
official was optimistic there’s
more to come.
He promised that more money
i
— -- ones”, ex- v^ould be coming from Washing-
plained Mr. Poole. ■"We expect xings Mountain to con-
King Street to be the principal programs of urban ro-
crosstown tharoughfare”, public housing and down-
Poole. ‘It will be the ncwU.S. 74, development,
by-pass. Gold sirept will supple-.
ment King as a crosstown ?treet| "I heartily approve of Kings
>• ‘\i'
si'
Brisiges Administration
StarSc-outs Bill and Boyd Baird fjt to implement.
inor'inoruugnt«*i«?». j ... ^uBlic
"We also expect fo buHd loop! It may cost a little more to sc^-i
thoroughfares around the city’s: ter them but it’s better to dis^,
perimeter to Serve the outer (perse them than to crowd all,
fringes. As the areas build up wc'fliQse people together in one sec-j
will build additional loops one- tion”, he added. .The apartments!
half to one mile further out. We twill be located in nine different
hope to build two new under ' locations over the city,
passes at railroad crossings. Thej He was also highly complimen-
one at North Battleground ave- ’ury of the Neighborhood Facili-
nue will be expensive and diffi-!tiefi building now under construc-
cult. The underpass at Hawthorne tion. I
on the south side will be less dif-l "I’ve been in Washington meet-
ifteult. ing with Secretary George Rom
1 Mr. Poole pointed out that no ney and other officials", said Mr.
I priorities have been set for con- Baxter. "They tell me that money
^ Istruction because the plan has is tight right now. But we’ll have
Kl11n0f Pf flUIOVAC not gone to preliminary design. t more money as soon as Congress
AMIIMW • IWlltWBVa He explained early in the hear .passes the latest appropriation,
ing that before any street is re-; he added.
built it will be studied in detail* said Mr. Baxter. “For a city
Continued On Page Six ’your size Kings Mountain is one
WIN PROMOTIONS — Ralph A.
Smith, tap, and William T.
Gibbs mcently won promotions
at Kinder Monulacturing Com-
pony. Smith is the new assist
ant plant superintendent and
Gibbs is traffic manoger.
Smith, Gibbs
CITY GETS CERTIFICATE — Edward H. Baxter, regional admin- !
istrator for the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Develop
ment, at left, presents a certificate to Mayor John H. Moss which
states UBat the city's workable program lor community improve
ment is recertified to the period ending August 1. 1971. Mr. Bax
ter praised the city ys "one of the most active ones in my region"
rtnrf promised there would be more federal dollars to come to con
tinue progress in the areas of urban renewal, public housing and
downtown development. (Photo by Jim Belt).
United Fund Goal
TIic regional director of the ur
ban renewal program of the De
partment of Housing and Urban
Development has invited the
Kings Mountain Redevelopment
commission to make a new appli
cation estimated to cost up to $1.4
million in federal money.
.Io«* Laney. executive director,
reporting to tlio city commi.ssion
Tuesday on a Friday conference
in Ailania, said the invitation in
no wise meant tliat the ro-appli-
cation would be approved but he
aided, ‘‘Without the invitation,
iliore could have bo<*n no re ap-
’ plication. "
The invitation by John Ed
monds, the HUD regional chief,
, means that there i.s a possibility
! that the imbalance between Kings
; Mountain’s S"i92.0(Xt federal grant
i for the central business district
■ project and current co.st estimate
: of $1.2 million will be surmount-
, e<i.
Mr. Laney said Mr. Edmond.s
I and his aides acknowledged two
; principal reasons for the imbal-
lance: !• price increases in real
properly of $2O').(KJ0 since the ap
plication was filed tliree years a-
go. and 2' increase in interest
rates to the federal government
in the past thre<* years of from
two to six percent and amounting
j to $13S.(t(K».
i "We had three .alternate pro-
‘ posals, paring the original pro-
1 jecl," but the Atlanta officials
j thought each would severely im
pair the total project," Mr. Laney
continued.
I One expansion of the project
was suggested by the Hl^D offi
cials, estimated to cost $200,009,
;• and this w-as obtaining of SO-foot
' (Continued on Page 6)
For 1970 $32,100
Mrs. Sellers'
Rites Conducted
have returned from the National
Boy Scout Jamboree in Idaho. j
They are the sons of Mr. and I
Mrs. Charles Baird of the Ell
Bethel community. They were a-1
mong 1S5 Boy .Scouts from North
Carolina and among 40,000 at the
Jamboaee July 14-21.
Clint Linn, Oneral Manager of
le nr to impiemeiu. ; ^
Various groups put pressure on Kinder Manufacturing Co.
Continued on Page Six ' nrnrr,nfinn r
Blood Bank
Retnnis Monday
master, the Baird brothers also
attendcKl Camp Schiele in Tryon
this summer and passed the Or
der of the Arrow, becoming mem-
bc-*; of the Esuau Huppeday
Lodge,
Bui Baird, who became a Scout
over two >ears ago, is a rising
sophomore at Kings Mountain
. Inc.,
j announces the promotion of two
I employees on their staff.
Ralph A. Smith, who started;
vvith Fred V. Gentsch in Georgia'.
! in April of 1968, has been named
1 Assistant Plant Superintendent.!
' He is a graduate of Georgia Mill-'
Active in Boy Scout Troop 93, ^.'Oeorgia^^^^^u^^^ collegej
of which Smmett Moss is Scout-, return to Kings Mountain Monaa> transferred!
' ^ one-day visit. fmm to Kings Mountain. They attend
Donors ^ L^Tl ^i^ce Methodist church and re-
11 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at Central nallas-Cherrwille
Methodist church. Larry Hamrick, uneiryviiie
blood program chairman, an- y.
nounced. _ ’ William T. Gibbs has boon nam- j
Goal of the collection is 125 Traffic Manager. Mr. Gibbs!
’ ■ints of blood, said Hamrick. ■ been employed since opera-!
Mr. Hamrick urged donors to ^|ons of this plant began last'
Narcotics theft
Suspects I^ed
sonhomoro at Kings Mountain .vir. i-iomncK ... uons 01 inis piani oegau ia»..
hif’rh s-hool Boyd Baird, a rising j visit the bloortbank. "There is an Januar^^ He has been in charge]
oi^^hth nrrader became a Scout a acute shortage of blood , said shipping and 'Transporta-,
iirfi4‘ fiver a vear ago. -Mr. Hamrick. tion Departments until he assum-
littic over a >edi ^ ^ Manage
ment.
Temperature Up At City Meeting;
Fites Demand Drain Water Relief
By MARTIN HARMON
The night was cool but the tem-
pciaturc waxed warm momentari
ly at City Hall Monday night.
* Mr. and Mrs. Paul Fite, 906
Monroe avenue, appeared to ask
why their curb-and-gutter petition,,
approved, they said, over two
years ago, had not been honored
and why nothing had been done
in the past five weeks when the
city promised relief of the Fite
water diainage problem.
Mrs. Fite qucstione<l the May
or’s veracity an'd threatened liti
gation against the city if water^
flooded her basement. |
Mayor John Henry Moss re-,
plied that the Fite problem had
not been forgotten at all and that
Superintendent of Public Works
Grady Yelon had twice talked,
with Skidmore Construction Com
pany about including the pipinig
work in contracted curb-and-gut-
ter work Skidmore was scheduled
to begin several weeks ago. 1
Supt. Yelton said Skidmore
Construction said it was bogged
on a jol) in NovVton and was pro
bably three weeks away from the
!
Kings Mountain work. "We have
the pipe,” Mayor Moss said. “The
problem is installing it.”
Mrs. Fite then complained of
sewage odors from the pump sta
tion near the Fite residence.
Comm. Norman King c*ommented,
"I want to know about that, too.”
W. B. dBillt Simpson, a Jack-
son street neighbor of the Fites,
said he was present in support of
their plea and accused Comm. T.
J. Ellison to telling him previous
ly the Fites could sue Simpson for
letting water damage Fite pro-j
perts. j
Comm. Ellison replied, "I didn’t]
tell you that, Bill.”
After -several exchanges, Mr.
Simpson said. "You might have
been kidding."
Denying the Simpson allegation
a.Tain, Comm. Ellison said, “I did
tease you about that big lake you
have. But you can’t sue on what
God made run dmvnhill."
Mr. Simpson had asked initial
ly if street improvements peti
tions weren’t required to be "tak
en in order.”
Gibbs attended school in Fletch-j
er, N. C. and received his GED:
degree in military service. He al
so attended Cleveland Tech to
study welding, blueprint reading,
and mechanics.
He lives in Shelby with his wife
and two children. They are mem
bers of Polkville Bantist church.
No Whammy. Folk,
; This Is Radar
Kings Mountain motorists
will do well to become light-
foot Freddies.
The city police department
has just received. shipment oil
two new radar machines which
it will use, beginning Friday or
Saturday, to detect heavy-footed |
drivers. !
i
There are no cables, ala the ;
‘‘whammy", to this machine,
therefore, no warning to pro- |
duce screechirr brakes and l
cries of innocence. I
“The machine logs the speed ]
of a ear up to 2000 feet," says i
Chief of Police Tom McDovItt. :
"If it catches you, you’re caught
—and guilty.”
Of the most active ones anywhere
in my region. If we find a little
extra money I don’t mind put
ting it in your city.” ho said.
“Thank you, Sir, we can make
use of all the money we get”, and
feel Kings Mountain deserves, the
City police arrested William mayor said in acknowledging the
David Fields, 35. 416 Cherry i certificate.
street, Belmont, Wednesday and. Baxter declared that he’s e'en-
charged him with breaking ffdont that more funds will bo a-
and entering and stealing a quan- ■ vailabie in towns and cities as
lity of narcotics from Kings] gg the Vietnam War is over.
Mountain Druj Company on the jri Kings Mountain HUD has
night of July 27-28. ] provided a grant of SS92.0on for
Sgt. William Roper said Gas- downto^^*:! development, $4.50.000
tonia ix)lice have arrested and for water and sewer improve-
lodged similar charges against] ments. $2,11.5,000 for low-rent
Larry Leon iiOvvis, 30, 411 W., housing, and $303,000 for a com-
Fifth St., Gastonia. j munity center. In addition, HUTD
A third man. who Sgt. Roper. announced recently it was reser\-
said is known to police, is being mg a grant of $10,000 for urban
sought. "The three run together,” beautification.
Sgt. Roper added. ' ! Kim^s Mountain hasappU-
He said Fields and perhaps the cation pending for $1,^4,000 for
others are suspected of the nar-; urban renewal,
cotics robbery of Griffin Drug “i am confident that your ap-
Store on the night of July 7 and! plication will be approved”, Bax-
m /^Tl
Kyle Smith
[s Chairman
Oi Campaign
of a Bessemer City drug firm on
the recent Sunday night.
The same pattern was follow-
ter said.
The project—
the Cansler Street urban renewal
-known as,R-96—is
ed in each of the three narcotics project. The area includes 147
thefts. In each instance, the; acres with 293 residences, 80 per-.
thieves stoic only narcotics, ig
nored cash in open cash regis
tors.
oer-? of them sub-standard.
The regional administrator
SELECTED — Robert (Reb)
Wiesener will represent the
Cleveland. County Red Cross
Chapter at on Aquatic Sdiool in
Hendersonville August 21-31.
Reb Wiesener
Is Selected
Robert (Reb» Wiescn(*r. IS
iri o. , » *-
Chief of Police Tom MoDevitt, before paying his official
The regional administrator, o yp.gr.oId son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl
Atlanta, Ga., stopped in Durham been selected to
- “ • •’ visit
Funeral rites far Mrs. Fairy
Francos Sellers, 72. wife of Will
iam A. (iBudd\ » Sellers of the
Dixon comnTi’nity. were held
Wcrlnesflay afternoon at 4 p.m.
from Dixon Presbyterian church
of which she was a member.
I Her pastor. Rev. Robert Wil
lson, assisted by a former pastor,
' Rex. James S. Mann of Candor,
' N. C., and Rev. R. C. Franks of
ficiated at the final rites. Inter-
' ment was in 'Bethlehem Baptist
] church cemetery.
Grandsons of Mrs. Sellers serv
ed as pallbearers and grand
daughters served as flower bear-
Kings Mountain’s United Fund ,, ^ ^ ..
..rill M Mrs. Sellers led Monday morn-
a. 5::., in ,he KiH.s Moun-
Tlu. goal is Sn-m moro tlian hospital after .linos^ o sev-
lasi vo.ar’s goal anri 21:2 porconl yar.s. 1 hough in declining
more than the amount raised last had been ^hoiving
vear. said the United Fund Boar.l Lfnl, I'rwiv
. she was a daughter of the late
ir=a--U^;^ - F^'
=i,]d «
port this community’s essential Elizabeth SeUers, both of th
health, welfare and recivational home. Mrs. Delbert Jackson of
services that are included in this Kings Mountain and Mrs. \ates
A. Smith, Jr. of Grover; one sis-
'■“•"our'^admissions and budget ter, Mrs 'Bertha Masmn of Ware
committees chaired by Joe Smith. Shoals; 10 grandchildren and 13
CoiiliHiicd On Pane Six _ great-grandchildren.
McMacldn Discoven I. C. McGill
Home Entered; SuHeis Hemonhage
x..nieL ui iwm n*" . , represent the county at the Amei -
Sgt. Roper and Gastonia officersi here to city officials. His eight Cross Afpiatic .School in
searched the Jenkins home Wed-j state region covers Alabama ' j.j(.ndersonvillo .Aujust 21-31.
nesday. found quantities of assort-} Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Mis -p^e King.'^ Mountain high school
ed narcotics and hypodermict sissippi. Tennessee and the two ...
* f'arftlinajs.
i needles.
Carolinas.
Free Razing Deadline Satniday;
Dixon Says 74 Straduies Razed
Deadline on requests tor tree
razing of derelict dwelling! and
uotbuildings and hauling owoy
of hulks of autos and appliances
by the city te Saturday.
Meantime. Kelly Dixon, city
code endorsement officer told
the city commission Tuesday
night that of 290 residential in
spections. 25 percent hove been
found sub-stondord.
Of the 290. o totol of 159 own
ers have agreed to comply with
building cede regulations.
He reported thot 74 structures
hove been razed since the resi
dential clean-up effort began
last month.
Mr. Dixon said he had receiv
ed ’'good cooperation" from citi
zens.
He olso told the board it is
intended that every residence
within the city will bo inspect
ed.
W Lindsay Mc.Mackin is in darken, was in Atlanta Tuesday
critical condition at Kings Moun- to attend the funeral of the fath-
tain Hospital after suffering a er of Mrs. Kenneth McGdl.
iorebrai hemorrhage Tuesday Tuesday night they aliended the
Atlanta . Philadelphia baseball
Mr. .Ml Mackin beeamo violently game, returned to Bon darken
ill wiien lie and his wife return- when rain halted play in the
ed to the home of Dr. and Mrs. fourth inning.
John C McGill, on vaeation. The Dr. McGill received the mess-tgo
. MvMaekins had iHM’n sleeping at of the illness of his friend Mr.
the McGill home during their-ah- McMackin at Bon darken,
senee. The McMackins found that. Dr. McGill sail a Wednesday
since their early morning depart- afternoon cursory check indicated
ture and their rt'turn about S p. twenty silver doll.i*-s and only
m., that the house had l)een en- small items missing from their
Kn'ed. An upstairs window sash new residence in an isolated .see-
had been kicked out and anotlier tion of Creseimt Hill,
min.o,^ H-v,. . ^ broken. Kitchen At the hospital Tiu-sday n:ght.
Mount-mnoor j,,. p,,, nvn.hicks gaso omvr-
butclwi- knife w.i..; on the tal)le, goncy tieatmont to Mr.
... . ... . ^ anj ,h,. thief or thieves had heat- i-t and was joineti shortly by Dr.
held twice annually all osc.i the ,,, ..^t^.n 3 (.a„ of tomato so.;p Charles Adams, a nwlK-tl parl-
eountrv. Thus '^e first >cai all hut one slice of ncr of Dr. MKhll.
that the wunty Red Cioss chap. , „i„eap„ie Mr. McMackin remained un.
ter has .siwnsored a student ami family, c.mscious late Wednes.Uy after.
rnd"d 'X y-r wli^ had he;n vacattontng a. Bon noon. ' • •
A r^--
settlor student. whf> h-Hs complet
ed Senior life saving courses, will
study swimming pool manage-
mt'nt, water safety, first aid and
swimming and will he taught to
si'i’ve as a Red Cross Instructor in
tlieso subjects. I*re-rcquisiie
faking the training is that the
student hold a Senior life saving
certificate.
Wiesener has serve! as a life
guard for the pa«;l thre^‘ sum
mers at the city swimming pool
He is employed at
Pharmacy.
Red Cross A<|uatic schools are
I