This Is North Carolina Textile Week
Kings Mountain Herald! *
7
VOL. 101 NUMBER 43
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1988
ING WOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA
Bush Leads InKM
PRESIDENTIAL POLL
KM Plant
A survey conducted by the Kings Mountain ing the final days of the campaign. However, a lot
Herald last week showed that Republican can- of local voters in the Kings Mountain area have BUSH 44%
didate George Bush had a wide lead over his not decided. DUKAKIS 32% oO X an
Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis. “There is always a large block of voters who re-
With some four weeks remaining until the main on the fence,” Stewart pointed out. “And, I UNDECIDED 20%
November 8 election, the poll indicated that Bush expect you will see both candidates trying to pull NO COMMENT 4% Philips and Du Pont Optical today annoucned an
had a substantial lead locally. In the survey of 200
residents, 44 percent favored Bush 32 percent
Dukakis, 20 percent were undecided, and four per-
cent had no comment.
“We were surprised that there was so much of a
margin,” said Herald editor Gary Stewart.
“Because our readership area is so heavily
Democratic, we thought that it would be fairly
close. But it didn’t turn out that way.”
The Herald’s survey was conducted by
those votes into their camps.”
Local Republican leader Bob F. Maner, was
surprised by the survey results.
“I am surprised it is so heavy for Bush. But I
believe that Bush’s campaign is more consistent
with the conservative thinking in our area.”
Local Democrat Joyce Cashion of Kings Moun-
tain said she is still not that much of a believer in
poles.
GEORGE
BUSH
expansion of its optical disk manufacturing plant
at Kings Mountain to produce erasable disks.
The expansion will require a limited amount of
new construction. Equipment installation will
begin immediately, with manufacturing due to
start early in 1990.
Production from the expansion will meet in-
creasing demand from the information storage in-
dustry for erasable optical disks. The market for
these disks is expected to reach several hundred
telephone and used standardized telephone survey ‘‘Anything can happen in 30 days, and I have JORDAN 40% | million dollars in the 1990s.
methods. Two hundred residents were asked, “If seen things turn around in two weeks, especially in MARTIN 36% The 160,000-square-foot Kings Mountain facility
the presidential election was today, who would state elections,” Cashion said. “I, as a Democrat, UNDECIDED 20% | opened two years ago and has been manufacturing
you vote for? There is a margin of error of eight am not giving up on my candidate.” 4 CD-Audio and CD-ROM disks for the consumer
percent, plus or minus. Cashion said she believes voter apathy may } NO COMMENT 4% entertainment and professional data distribution
Voters who have already made up their minds
on the candidate probably will not be swayed dur-
Jordan Leads Martin
In Governor’s Poll
In a poll of 200 residents last week by the Kings
Mountain Herald, Democratic challenger Bob
Jordan holds a narrow margin over Governor Jim
Martin.
Local residents favored Lt. Governor Jordan by
four percentage points. The poll showed that 40
percent plan to vote for Jordon, 36 percent Martin,
20 percent were indecided and 4 percent had no
comment.
Local political observers said that Martin will
probably carry Cleveland County, and should be
highly favored in the east Kings Mountain box.
Both Martin and Jordan have been running a
hard-hitting campaign, featuring television com-
mercials that depict Martin as ‘‘monkeying-
around” with the state budget, and Jordan as a
‘“‘good-ole boy’’ holding closed meetings.
Water Meters Being
Replaced In City
Upwards of 500 water meters will have been
replaced on Kings Mountain distribution lines by
the end of Friday and work will begin October 31
on completion of the project, Director Walt Ollis
said Wednesday.
Ollis, department head of water and waste-
water services for the ‘city, reported that the
replacement project was going along very
have an impact on the election. ‘Anything can
happen.”
BOB JORDAN
THIS IS TEXTILE WEEK — This week is Textile Week in Kings Mountain. Mayor Kyle Smith, seated,
markets.
More than 350 people are employed at the plant,
which is one of a PDO international network of
high technology production facilities manufactur-
ing a wide variety of optical disks. The expansion
will create a need for about 30 new jobs, with addi-
tional people hired as the market for erasable op-
tical media continues to expand.
“The Kings Mountain plant provides PDO with
a first class location at which to operate state-of-
the-art production of erasable optical disks,” said
Ian Edwards, managing director of PDO’s profes-
sional media business. “It will help further
strengthen our commitment to work ever closer
with leading optical disk drive companies to con-
tinue producing high quality products tailored to
their specific requirements.’’
The facility will be strategically linked to PDO’s
erasable optical disk development facilities in
Wilmington and Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
These facilities are evaluating and developing a
range of optical media from which those
technologies that best fit immediate and future
market needs will be commercialized. In addition,
the Kings Mountain facility will benefit from the
optical disk systems know-how of Philips and the
materials development work and process
technology research of Du Pont:
The facility’s first products will comprise a
variety of erasable disks, one of which is being us-
ed in a disk drive system announced in May by
Maxtor Corporation. This 5Y4-inch disk can store
more information than any other comparable
erasable disk on the market and is the first to ex-
ceed the storage capacity of Winchester magnetic
disks. It can store up to one gigabyte of informa-
tion, with seek times of 30 milliseconds and
average transfer rates of 10 megabits per second.
smoothly.
f Meeting of department heads, the contractor
and others working on the project will be held
Thursday morning. Tommy King, water plant
joins local industry in signing an official proclamation encouraging Kings Mountain citizens to take tours
of industry and see the heritage that is Kings Mountain’s and observe first hand where our livelihood
comes from. ‘Textiles play a very important part in the welfare of our citizens and I compliment every
one connected with Textile Week this year,” said Smith. Pictured with Smith are Glen Raven Mills Per-
A gigabyte is equivalent to one billion bytes of in-
formation, or about 400,000 typed pages, 4,000 flop-
py disks, or 20,000 images. Business, government
and the military will use this technology for
treatment operator, is the Kings Mountain inspec-
tor on the job.
Romey, Pawleys Island landscape and grading
contractor, the firm hired by the city to do the
replacements, began work in the York Road area
October 10. The firm is a top-flight, nation-wide
replacement operator, Ollis said.
With virtually the entire eastern half of the city
already covered, Romey will probably start, after
a weeks layoff, in the Walker Street area. Crews
work seven days per week for two weeks and have
the following week free.
Ollis noted that no temporary water cutoff
notice is given to city customers but that the time
water is off at a given meter is very short. No out-
Turn To Page 9-A
Kinmont Plant Sold,
To Be Renovated
Sale of Kinmont Industries will result in major
one-million-dollar-renovations and retention of
it’s 350 local employees according to published
reports.
Abbey Holdings Inc., a Boston management and
investment company, made the announcement
last week and said the firm plans to pump new life
and capital into the plant, located at 200 Kinder
Raod in Kings Mountain Industrial Park off
Bessemer City Road. ;
The new Kings Mountain firm intends to
streamline the Kinmont operations with refinanc-
ing and new management, with the goal of turning
around the company in 18 months.
Kinmont has suffered big losses in production
and profits, a company spokesman said, on annual
sales of Spprosimaiely $20 million. It produced
comforters, bedspreads, curtains, drapes, pillow
shams and other beddding accessories.
Turn To Page 10-A
THE END OF THE LONESOME PINE? No one
seems to know exactly how old the white pine at
the library is, but it is commonly regarded as one
of the largest and most beautiful white pines in the
area. While many associate it with Christmas
decorations, many others feel that the tree is
beautiful and valuable in its own right and are op-
posed to plans to cut it.
Former KM Mayor Tom Fulton Is Dead
Funeral services for H. Tom
Fulton, 82, of 102 S. Gaston St.,
former mayor of Kings Moun-
tain, 1947-49, were conducted
Monday at 2 p.m. at Harris
Funeral Home Chapel.
Rev. Bob Collins and Rev. J.C.
Goare officiated at the rites and
interment was in Mountain Rest
Cemetery.
Mr. Fulton, in declining health,
died Saturday in Kings Mountain
Convalescent Center. A Kings
Mountain native, he was son of
“the late H.T. Fulton Sr. and
Sarah Salina Baker Fulton and
owned and operated Fulton Mor-
tuary in Kings Mountain until
1947. He was also a former co-
owner of D.F. Hord Furniture
H. TOM FULTON
Company. He was past president
of the N.C. Funeral Directors
Association and past executive
secretary of the Tennessee Walk-
ing Horse Breeders Association.
He was a member of Kings
Mountain High School’s first
football team in 1922.
Surviving are his wife, Nell
Hord Fulton, and his nephew,
Norman F. McGill Jr. of Kings
Mountain.
Active pallbearers were David
Hord, W.S. Fulton III, Chip
McGill, Oren Fulton, Glenn
Grigg Jr., Marvin Moss, Dr. Tom
Baker and Ed Bunch.
Harris Funeral Home was in
charge of arrangements.
sonnel Director Marlene Reynolds and Clevemont Personnel Director Russell Green.
Timber
By ROBERT L. WILLIAMS
“1 like the tree,” Rose Turner, director of
Mauney Memorial Library in Kings Mountain. ‘I
don’t want to see it cut. There are those who say
that the tree hides the library building, but I feel
very strongly about trees and about nature, and I
am opposed to losing a tree that has brought so
much joy to so many for so long.”
Rose Turner was talking about the stately white
pine that stands on the corner of the library lot.
For more than a year, she says, there has been a
move to cut the tree, but in recent weeks the
movement has gained impetus, and last week the
library board voted to have the tree cut.
“One argument advanced is that while the
decorated tree is very beautiful at Christmas, the
city can find something else to decorate that
would be almost as pretty,” Turner said. “My
position is that it’s not just a beautiful tree at
Christmas: that tree is beautiful all year long, and
it brings a great deal of pleasure to me and to hun-
dreds like me who think a tree is a very special
thing.”
The tree at the library is more than special to
Rose Turner and to many other city residents who
feel that the tree is a symbol of the library and of
the city.
David Crawford, 21, agrees that the tree is im-
portant. “It is a symbol of the entire city,” he
Turn To Page 8-A
Library Board Wants City To Cut Christmas Tree
says, “and I'll be very disappointed if the tree is
cut.” i |
Another opponent of cutting the tree is Bill Van-
cil. “I moved here from Illinois,” he said, “and .
we don’t have many trees like this up there. It’s
one of the prettiest I have ever seen. It’s also a
landmark, and it’s a shame to destroy a land-
mark.”
Carroll Sanders is equally adamant about losing
the tree. “They ought to leave that tree alone,” he
insists. “It’s the only one decorated at Christmas
by the city, and there’s something special about it.
To be brief, I just like that tree. A lot!”
Another Kings Mountain resident who spoke out
against cutting the tree is Tim Huffman, who said:
“That tree has been here too long to cut. Folks
here know where the library is, and they don’t
need to cut that tree for people to find the library.”
“It’s total nonsense to cut that tree,” said Jeff
Wilson.
One resident who asked not to be named said
that the tree has been at the corner as long as he
can remember, and he thinks that it would be a
simple matter to move the name of the library if
the tree is in the way. ‘It’s my understanding that
a new entry to the library will be completed soon.
Why not put the name over the new entry and
leave the tree where it is?”’
Turn To Page 9-A
INSIDE AT A GLANCE
Classifieds ........... 12-B
Community News. ...15-B
Editorials............. 4-A
FooR.:.....0. dail, 6-B
Obituaries ............ 2-A
Religion .............. 9-B
Sports ............00n 13-A
Textile Edition........ 1-C
Weddings ...........: 20-A
Page 5B
Football Contest!
52
PAGES TODAY
(PLUS 2 INSERTS)