THE IV^AY Wm/ET
klMGS MOUMTWri
VOL. 88 NO. 88
TUKSDAY. MAT IT. ItTT
MIRROR-HeRMD
15-
KJVTs Eaton Plant
Dedicated On Monday
Eaton’! Tranimlsalon DlvUlon
dedicated Its newest facility In the
United States on Qrover Road
Monday at 10:80 a. m.
The fourth faculty of Its kind for
Transmission Division, the Kings
Mountain Plant Incorporates the
newest achievements in tran>
^amission manufacturing technology
and represents one of the most
modem production facilities In the
U. 8.
"We are convinced that Kings
Mountain wlU become a showplace
of what business and the community
can do together — through the free
enterprise system — to reach
mutual goals,” president Paul
MlUer commented during his
dedication address. He pointed out
that Kings Mountain was chosen for
the new plant site not only due to Its
proximity to one of the largest
trucking centers In the United
States, Charlotte, North Carolina,
but more Importantly due to the
• spirit of the community.
With the dedication of Its Kings
Mountain Transmission plant,
Eaton has put Into production the
company’s eighth manufacturing
faculty In the State of North Caro
lina. A ninth plant Is currently under
construction and Is scheduled for
completion In 1978.
Outside Kings Mountain, Eiaton’s
plants In North Carolina are located
In Roxboro (air controls products);
Monroe (Yale locks, door closers
and door operators); Sanford
(automotive products); GreenvUle
and HendersonvUle (Industrial
trucks); and Laurlnburg (molded
products). ’Ihe plant under con
struction Is In Lenoir, which, too,
will serve the manufacture of in
dustrial trucks. In other words, aU
four product groups of Eaton are
represented with manufacturing
plants In North Oirollna.
"I think that it Is fair to say that
Eaton and North Carolina have
found some conunon groxmd for
productivity and progress," said
Peer Counseling
To Begin At KMJH
V,-
’Tomorrow at 2 p. m. the first
meeting to establish a peer coun
seling program at Kings Mountsdn
Junior High will be held.
Bernice Brown and Forrest TOms
will host the organizational meeting,
which will train 14 students as
counselors for twice weekly
* nieetin(,& •'*hb Is scheduled ■
to run fo'^ [dx weeks and there will be
three .fferent groups meeting for
oiM hour eacli session.
What Is peer counseling?
A program which trains selected
students to act as a helping person
wtth other students. Teenagers
sometimes are more likely to accept
from peers how they come across as
persons, feasible alternatives In
resolving problems, and possible
ecnsequences of betaavlar.
Peer counseling takes advantage
of the positive Influence young
people can have on each other, and
provides them with additional
counseling resources and outlets
fOrfrustratlons.
Such a program Ims been termed
hlt'hly successful in the Waka
County school system. Some
iCatlstlcs diow that 78 percent of the
students Involved became more
aware of their own feelings and the
feelings of others. About 86 percent
of the students Involved felt they
gained satisfaction from the
program and 86 percent of the
teachers In the Wake County system
felt their students benefited from the
plrogram and Improved com-
muMcattoa wlUi peers and taaehsra.
Chairman de Wlndt while discussing
Eaton’s capital commitment In the
State during the dedication lun
cheon. Eaton now employs over
S,8(X> people In Its various plants la
North Carolina — a figure that la
expected to grow once Lenoir will
come on stream and Kings Mountsdn
will have reached Its full
manufacturing capacity.
(Please ^ni To Page 7)
Animal
Hospital
Now Open
Dr. Jerry Eskridge has opened the
Kings Mountain Animal Hospital on
Hwy. 74 west this week in temporary
quarters.
The Doctor of Veterinary
Medicine U planning permanent
quarters on the same site, which Is
located near Mountain View Or
chard.
A native of Cleveland County, Dr.
Eskridge holds BS degrees from
UNC-Chapel Hill and N. C. State and
.a DVM from the University of
Georgia.
Dr. Eskridge, his wife, Lynn, and
children, Beth, 9, Rame, 6, and Will,
nine months, are making their home
at 1012 Sherwood Lane, Kings
Mountain.
The Kings Mountain Animal
Hospital Is open from 8 a. m. until
6:80 p. m. dally and from 8 a. m.
until noon Saturdays.
KM Firms
Get Awards
She Kings Mountain area In
dustries received certificates of
safety adilevdment Isuit Friday
from N. C. Commissioner of Labor
John C. Brooks.
The awards were presented
during a dinner-meeting at Shelby
High School, sponsored by the
Greater Shelby Chamber of Com
merce.
Certlflcatea for safety for their
first year were Spectrum Textured
Fibers, Inc. of Kings Mountain and
Mlnette Mills, Inc. of Grover.
For the third consecutive year
Gay Hosiery Mill, Inc. and IGngs
Mountain Hospital received safety
certlflcatea.
Martin Marietta Aggregates -
Kings Mountain Quariy received
honors for five consecutive years of
safety and the Kings Mountain plant
of U. S. Gypsum Co. was certified tor
the lOth consecutive year.
STILL GOING S’TRONG • Maggie Fulton was 86 years young last
Ibursday and she Is stffll going stoong doing domestic work for balf a
dozen Kings Mountain famUles. Maggie poses here with a birthday cake
baked by Mrs. George Thomassoti.
31*'
BOND BEFERENDCM JUNE 7 - Kings Moontaln
citizens wUl Join their aeveland County neighbors at
the polls June 7 to determine whether a $8 million bond
Issue will be approved for Cleveland County Technical
Institute tor construction of new elaaaieom facilities.
The Learning Resources Center, one of the numerous
buUdinge In need of repair. Is pictured above.
Tech Bond Vote In June
Kings Mountsdn area citizens will
Join their Cleveland CJounty neigh
bors at the polls on June 7th to
decide a $6 million bond referendum
for Cleveland Ctounty Technical
Institute.
Local voters will vote at West
(Armory) precinct and East
((Community <3enter) precinct. Polls
open at 6:80 a.m. and close at 7:80
pjn.
if the funds are approved, the
money will be used only for con
struction of new classrooms, library
facilities, shops, offices, and labs.
I^tatlve plans call for construction
of 02,000 square feet of space.
According to a Tech spokesman,
(Cleveland Tech need suldltlonsd
buildings to replace unsafe buildings
being used at this time, atlzenswho
plan to attend the big Arts and
Crafts Fair or Tech campus May 28-
29 will have an opportunity to see the
Inadequate facilities during a tour to
be conducted by students.
Twenty percent, or approximately
200 students, from the Kings
Mountain - Grover area now attend
Cleveland Tech.
Approval of the bond Issue, said a
spokesman, will also maintain
accreditation from The Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools
and will expand course offerings in
the future to Include such programs
as diesel vehicle maintenance, civil
engineering technology, poultry and
livestock technology, agricultural
business technology, environmental
science technology, arts and crafts
production and marketing, light
construction. Instrument mechanic,
manufacturing research and
development technology, food
service management and motor
cycle repair.
Ninety classes are now being held
on the Campus each week.
Cost to the taxpayer will be ap
proximately six and one half per
$100 valuation of property. For
example. If your property Is valued
at $10,000, your cost would be $6.60
per year.
aeveland Tech operates an adult
extension class at the former
(Jompact School plant off Grover Rd.
KM Quarries Are
Under Investigation
TTiree quarries In Kings Mountain
are under government Investigation,
requested by an environmental
group, for mining of rocks that could
create asbestos hazards when used
In road construction.
TTie Environmental Defense Fund
has asked for the Investigation In
North Carolina and five other states.
The EDF said that rock from some
quarries used In road construction Is
pulverized under continuous traffic
and the rock releases particles of
asbestos Into the atmosphere.
Asbestos Is a known cause of cancer.
The local quarries are Foote
Mineral Co., Martin Marietta
Aggregate's Kings Mountain Quarry
and Kings Mountain Mica, Inc.
Dean Van Dyke, superintendent of
Foote's mine and crushing plant.
said he would need more In
formation on the situation before
making comment. He said the In
vestigation came as a sur[H-lae to
him.
James Hamrick, superintendent
of the Martin Marietta operation
here, said his company does no
mining, but does purchase stone
from Foote Mineral. He said he
doesn't know of any asbestos In the
stone his company buys. ’The KM
Quarry suid plant number six
crushes the stone for primary use In
road construction.
Paul Lancaster, general manager
of Kings Mountain Mica, Inc., said,
"To the best of our knowledge the
ore within our mine does not contain
asbestos."
She’s 85-Years Young
Ma^^ie’s Still Goin^ Strong
by TOM MeINT YRE
Editor, Mirror-Herald
Maggie Fulton Is about four-
eleven and weighs maybe 100 pounds
soaking wet, but at 8e-years young
she la stlU going strong.
Last 'IlMiroday Maggie celebrated
her 86th birthday with a cake baked
tor her by one of her employers -
Mrs. (3eorge ’Ihomasson. Maggie
took a few minutes out to talk about
herself, her family and her life In
Kings Mountain.
"I was bom In York County, 8.C.,’’
she said. "My daddy was a farmer
until we moved to Kings Mountain. I
was six years old then, oldest of five
children.’’
When Maggie first set eyes on
Kings Mountain the mode of tran
sportation was horseback and
buggy. She said she stUl clearly
remembers the town well across
from where the old First National
Bank was located. ’That building Is
now a Mormon church.
‘"The depot was down In front of
where Plonk’s store Is now,” she
said. "And the streets were lined
with great oak trees. It was a pretty
little town back then.”
She said people from the country
used to come In to town In their
wagons and buggies and they would
find them a shady spot beneath one
of the trees and eat their lunches of
cheese and crackers. “They would
wash It down with cool water from
the townweU,” she said. "Once they
drunk water from that well they
didn’t want to leave town. A lot of
them didn't leave. I know I
wouldn’t.”
When Batch McGill brought his
family to Kings Mountain the streets
were dirt and there were no
sidewalks. TTie Mountain View
Hotel was the tocal point of the
community and this was about as tor
as the railroad went.
McGlU first went to work at the old
Bonnie Mill, then became a butcher
In a meat shop. Batch McOUl died
when he was 88 years old. ’This
caused a hardship on the family.
Maggie said she had to help her
mother, Liza McGlU, make a Uvlng
to support the family and tMs caused
her to miss out on a formal
education.
"I worked at the old Mountain
View Hotel for about three years,”
Maggie said, ‘"rhat’s when the
Norris Slaters owned It. I remember
Mr. John Jackson going out and
ringing the dinner beU when the
train pulled In. Folks would get off
the train and have their dinner at the
hotel."
Jackson, who was over 100-years
of age. died about a year ago when
his W. King St home caught fire.
When Maggie was asked If she was
now married, she answered. "No
Jesus. I was married three times.
All three are dead. I don't need no
more."
Maggie has three children living.
One son, Horace, died when he was
68. She has a son, John Fulton, who
lives In Now York Qty. Two
daughters, Mrs. Mary Turner and
Mrs. John White, both live In Kings
Metsitaln. Maggie now lives with
the Turners.
"I’ve seen this old town change a
lot since I first came here," Maggie
said. "Now they got the town tore
up, but I still wouldn’t leave, and
.that’s the God’s almighty truth."
Maggie works two Jobs each day -
for the Thomassons and Mrs.
Elizabeth Arthur. She has worked
tar the Arthurs for 86 years. Maggie
also works tor tour or five other
families In town and If thare ware
more hours In the day aha could
easily add more to this numbar. Sha
Is In demand.
Tb what does she attribute her
longevity?
"Keep moving," she chuckled. "I
don’t want to walk all bent over. I
want to stay as long as I can and die
when I can’t help It."