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VOL. 97 NUMBER 32
footing and fell.
hospital in a week.
the mountain, plus the weather.
”»
WLR
By GARY STEWART
Managing Editor
Chris Miller is lucky to be alive....and his parents
are thanking God and area rescuers that he is.
The 14-year-old Rock Hill, S.C. youth fell over
150 feet off a cliff near the top of Kings Mountain
Monday and lay injured for about three hours in a
heavy downpour of rain, thunder and lightning as
area rescue volunteers tried to save him.
Miller was climbing Kings Mountain with a
youth group from Park Baptist Church in Rock Hill
during the early afternoon hours when he lost his
He suffered chest abrasions, head injuries, a rup-
tured spleen, a broken right wrist, fractured chin .
and torn intestines. He underwent surgery Monday
night at Kings Mountain Hospital and, even though
in pain, is now in good condition.
He remains in the special care unit, but doctors
say he will probably be moved to a private room
within the next few days and could be out of the
The place on the western slope of the mountain
where Miller fell is not reachable by vehicle and
rescuers had to walk about two miles to reach him.
Rescue efforts were hampered by the steep slope of
| “He’s lucky to be alive,” says Roy Hammett of
the Kings Mountain Rescue Squad, who was the
first rescuer to reach the lad. “The slope was almost
up and nothing but rock. It was bad and
us. He fell in a place that was forsaken
THURSDAY, JULY 19, 1984
Lucky To Be Alive!
14-Year-Old Chris Miller Survives Fall From Kings Mountain
CHRIS MILLER
squad.
mount
Rescuers drove a crash truck about halfway up
Road and flagged down a Southern Bell repairman,
who went to a nearby house and called the rescue
Lif
conditions were really
KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA
scious, though, and we kept him talking to keep him
from going to sleep. He’s a small kid (about five feet
tall and 85 pounds) but he’s strong for his age and I
think that’s the only thing that kept him alive.
“He’s a real quiet kid,” Hammett went on, “and
he didn’t get scared. He’s a good kid.” {i
Rescuers checked Miller’s pulse and other vital
areas and radioed Kings Mountain Hospital for per-
mission to start IV’s. Richard Byers and Jonie Blan-
ton, members of the Kings Mountain Rescue
Squad, are certified to start IV’s, and Byers handled
the duties.
Other rescuers applied shock pants and continued
to pull a secondary survey (checking other parts of
the body to find out the extent of injuries).
“We found out he was in shock and knew it was
going to take a couple of hours to take him down
the mountain, because it was very dangerous,”
Hammett said.
Rescuers tried to locate a helicopter to make an
air rescue, but the closest one to be found that was
equipped for the job was in Chapel Hill. “Even if
there had been one nearby, the weather was too
rough for them to fly in,” Hammett said.
So, the rescuers tied Miller in a Stokes Basket,
tied ropes to it and started the slow, slippery walk
down the mountain. Over 20 rescuers took time
about carrying the youngster. Only one rescuer lost
his footing, and he was not injured.
“We were all lucky, really,” Hammett said. “The
ba vas slick as glass. I
before the rescue squad transported him to Kings
Mountain Hospital. He was in fine condition under
the circumstances and was rushed to the hospital at
6:30 p.m., almost four hours after he fell.
Eleven volunteers from Kings Mountain Rescue
Squad, 10 from Grover, three from Bessemer City
and a number of firemen from Kings Mountain Fire
Department participated in the rescue effort.
Tommy and Daisy Miller, Chris’s parents, are
grateful to all of them.
“The doctors have commented to us that the
rescuers played a very vital part in saving his life,”
Mr. Miller said Tuesday afternoon outside his son’s
room at Kings Mountain Hospital. “Sometimes,
rescue squads go unnoticed, but they do a lot of
good work. They’re not only doing a job, but they
really care.” :
Y oung Chris didn’t remember anything about the
ordeal when his parents and other family members
first arrived from Rock Hill, but by Tuesday after-
noon he remembered falling and remembered the
rescuers bringing him down the mountain.
Kings Mountain is not unfamiliar territory for
Chris, who is an experienced hiker and mountain
climber and has climbed Kings Mountain on at least
three other occasions.
“I can truthfully say that Kings Mountain has
really rallied around us,” said Mrs. Miller. “The peo-
ple at First Baptist Church have been especially
nice, as well as members of the rescue squad, doc-
tors and nurses, hospital staff and others. Several §
‘members of the Kings Mountain Rescue Squad
have been up to see Chris several times since the ac-
ould ii t
‘hour and a half to
n ni 0
a
Photo by Gary Stewart
DISCUSS CONCERNS - Kim Hutchens, right, an aide to Congressman James T. Broyhill of the -
10th District, discusses some concerns with Carol Brazzell, left, and her daughter, Daune,
during Hutchens’ visit to the district Thursday. Hutchens met the public at the Governmental
Services Facilities Center in Kings Mountain.
School Budget Ok’d
The Kings Mountain Board of
Education Monday afternoon
approved a 1984-85 current ex-
pense budget of $2,726,679 and
a capital outlay budget of
$250,953.
In addition, Superintendent
Bill Davis told the board that a
fund balance of $425,000 from
the current year’s budget will put
the school system in much better
shape than he earlier thought.
Several new programs will be
included in next school year
because of the fund balance and
the fact that the state will pay
“the entire salary of the
maintenance director and supply
extra funds for upgrading equip-
ment, provide more staff
development funds, raise high
school textbook allocations from
$9 to $15 and provide money for
the purchase of computers.
One new program approved
Monday was the employment of
a fulltime counselor for the
elementary schools. Davis said
he hopes the school system can
“double or triple” the program
next year.
Davis reported that Kings
Mountain schools will receive
funds for four more teachers as a
‘result of the reduction of class
sizes from 33 to 26 in the middle
grades.
in other matters Monday, the
board:
* Approved hiring Martin/-
Bardsley Architects of Shelby to
develop plans for the proposed
half million dollar expansion of
the junior high school. Davis
said he will appear before the
Cleveland County Board of
Commissioners to request that
Kings Mountain be allowed to
use its portion of the half-cent
sales tax increase toward the cost
of the junior high project. The
system also has some reserve
capital outlay funds which can
be used.
* Accepted the resignations of
Nancy Isenhour, Barbara Bren-
nan, Mary Kakassy, Beth Al-
mand, Bill Johnson and Lori
McDaniel, and approved the
employment of Lisa Lawing,
academically talented program
at Bethware, Grover and West;
Carol Lynch, East; Nancy Cagle,
Sharon Jackson, Paula Goforth
and Gary Blake, Central; Y vette
Roberts, Kings Mountain Junior
High; and Gary Brigman, Ed-
ward Erwin, Jeannine Fisher,
Chuck David Gordon, Kevin
Elizabeth Jenkins and Wayne
Thompson, Kings - Mountain
Senior High.
* Approved three transfers of
students.
The Kings Mountain Board of
Commissioners Monday night
authorized Mayor John Henry
Moss to proceed with plans to
develop a Kings Mountain Utili-
ty District which would provide
water service for about 75 per-
cent of the rural homes in
eastern Cleveland county.
Joel Johnson of the WK.
Dickson Company, the city’s
consulting engineers, discussed
preliminary plans which call for
running water to small com-
munities southwest, north, and
west of the city limits. Johnson
said another possible area to in-
clude water service would be
east of the city in the Canterbury
Road-Crowders Mountain area,
but those communities were not
included in the study.
Total cost of the project at to-
day’s prices would be
$7,095,000, Johnson said.
Mayor Moss said the tap-on
fee for district water users would
be $250 and the suggested mon-
thly bills will begin at $25 for
zero to 3,000 gallons. “But the
KM City Council
Okays Utility Project
committee is reviewing the
engineer’s report and we feel like
we can reduce the monthly bill
and make the plan more appeal
ing to the public,” Moss said.
“It’s very expensive to run this
much line and pick up the
amount of users we estimate
picking up,” Johnson said.
Mayor Moss pointed out that
this preliminary study is “only a
beginning” and developing such
a system would take several
years. The program would be
phased in, he said.
“Obviously, there is much
work to be done by the Utility
District Committee, the WK.
Dickson firm and the Board of
Commissioners before a project
of this magnitude becomes reali-
ty,” Moss said. “We want to
develop the program to the point
that it is vital economically and
service-wise for the Kings Moun-
tain area.”
The board passed a resolution
adopting the Utility District pro-
gram and authorizing Moss to
acquire user agreements, develop
the program by phases, establish
funding for the program, and to
execute any documents in con-
nection with the program.
In another matter Monday,
the board approved a resolution
adopting a policy of annexation
for the city in accordance with
legislative standards.
Moss pointed out that the ci-
ty’s policy of annexation since
1920 has been by “volunteer
petition only.”
Moss said the North Carolina
Department of Natural and
Economic Resources completed
a study of possible annexation
for Kings Mountain in 1976 and
added that he will ask the depart-
ment to update that study.
Moss has appointed an annex-
ation committee which includes
Humes Houston, chairman, Cor-
bet Nicholson, Jim Dickey, Nor-
man King, and Moss as ex-
officio member. Assistant City
Attorney Clayward C. Corry Jr.
will handle the legal affairs of the
committee and Gene White will
serve as a staff person. Many
citizens will also be asked to
serve on the committee.
The resolution stated that
“municipal boundaries should be
extended in accordance with
legislative standards applicable
throughout the state...@nd that)
municipal boundaries will be ex-
tended in accordance with
legislative standards that are ap-
plicable.”
In other matters Monday, the
board:
*Adopted a resolution
authorizing Mayor Moss to sub-
mit applications for permits to
operate a small hydro-electric
generating unit at Moss Lake,
and to execute all documents
necessary to obtain an operating
permit.
* Adopted a resolution of en-
dorsement of a 1,000-plus acre
complex for research and high-
technology industries, selected
commercial establishments and
residential areas. Mayor Moss
and commissioners Jim Dickey
and Norman King all stated that
they “look forward to the day
Kings Mountain has these type
industries.”
*Accepted a request from
Leroy Matthews, 1008 Shelby
Highway, to rezone his property
from R-10 to R20 for the pur-
pose of placing a mobile home
on the back portion of the pro-
perty. The request was for-
warded to the Planning and Zon-
ing Board for its review and
recommendation.
* Approved a contract with
Heath and Associates, the city’s
gas consultants, for services in
the construction of 3,200-feet of
gas line to Thermacote-Welco
Company. The cost of Heath’s
services will be $4,000.