Total Press Run
4,000 Copies
^Tftcnnon^
lOe
Kings Mountain, N.C. Wednesday, February 16, 1972
10 Pages Today
City Approves New Communication Equipment
Ward 3 Residents Ask
For Street Pavings Signs
GETS EAGLE AWARD - Danny Bridges, son ol Mr. and Mrs.
Carl A. Bridges, was awarded scoutlng’s highest honor Sunday
at Faith Baptist Church in Kings Mountain. Father looks on
admiringly as his mother pins the award on Danny’s uniform.
At right is Jim Yarbro, Scoutmaster of Troop 92.
A year ago, Danny’s brother, Kenny, received his Eagle award.
Danny is 16 and a member of the 10th grade at Kings Mountain
High School. (Photo by I.G, Alexander.)
A small group of citizens from Henry
Street and Ellenwood in the east section
of the city attended the City Board of
Commissioners meeting Monday night,
making several requests.
Danny Davis, spokesman for the group,
told the board, “In September of 1971,
we talked with you about street paving,
curb gutters, and at that time we were
told that Nell Hawkins of Gastonia had
been contracted for the work. He has
no record of a contract being let. He
said he had submitted a bid for the work
but no one had confirmed it. ’’
"I wonder if we could get something
settled on the street being paved out
there?’’ Davis asked.
He added that a petition was gotten up
on Ellenwood and Henry two years ago
requesting paving.
“We’ve been waiting too long, people
bought houses, were promised the street
would be paved. Since we're paying city
tax, we’re entitled to it.’’
City Clerk Joe McDaniel explained that
bids had been let for the paving and had
been awarded to Nell HawMns.
Mayor Moss told the group that curb
and gutter, and paving on Henry and Ellen
wood had top priority, and said he is
hopeful that the work can start in May.
Chief of Police McDevitt, who was at
the meeting, said be would take care of
“Slow Children Playing’’ and “Stop”
signs requested for the neighborhood,
hoping to get them up within a few days.
In other action Monday, the Board ol
Commissioners heard Chief of Police Tho
mas McDevitt outline a plan Instituted by
the Region C. Criminal Justice planning
Agency to upgrade the department’s com
munications system, and agreed to pur
chase a communications network for $11,-
299.00.
The new equipment should be here within
a couple of weeks and will totally revamp
the city’s communications system.
The new equipment will include a base
station for the Police department, a No 2
base station, a No. 3 mutual aid station, 10
mobile units, one for a motorcycle, 4 walkle
talkies, and In-coder-decoder console in the
radio room.
Describing the department’s present rad
io system as “antique”, the chief said of
the new equipment, “we’ll have a comm
unications system superior to our neighbors
to the east and south,”
The total cost of the project lists at
$41,695.15, with the state paying $28,946.00.
The local share ol the equipment, which
Includes a recorder to keep track of all
communications, comes to $12,749.15, with
$1,450 In-kind funds, costing the city a total
of $11,299.00
Also approved was a request by the Kings
Mountain Chamber of Commerce for tem
porary office Space at the Neighborhood
Facilities Building, by J.C. Bridges, Pre
sident of the Chamber.
KM Savings & Loan Officers Elected
Smith Says Local Housing
Looks Good For 1972
ve
a
he
oy
a
The housing picture for 1S72 looks good
. for the Kings Mountain community, p^-
k Icularly if area families continue saving
' their money at nearly the same rate as
in 1971, Joseph R. Smith, Executive Vice
President, Kings Mountain Savings and
Loari Association, said last Tuesday.
Mr. Smith predicted continued favorable
savings flows and an ample supply of mor
tgage money for the year ahead in the in
stitution’s annual report.
Smith said that 1971 was the greatest
year in the history of the savings and
loan business and that the widespread
growth of the business was reflected in
the savings and loan business locally.
“Late in 1971, the savings and loan bus
iness passed the $200 billion mark in
assets.” he said. “It took 132 years for
the business to reach the $100 billion, a
remarkable achievement for any system
of financial institutions.”
Smith said that on the basis of present
prospects, mortgage rates would remain
at approximately their present levels dur
ing the early months of 1972, and that in
terest paid on savings accounts would
also remain the same.
He repreted that as of December 31,
1972, savings deposits at Kings Mountain
Savings and Loan Association amounted
to $6,596,641.08, up 20.3 per cent from a
year ago. Mortgage loans on the books
amounted to $6,410,954.79.
Assets of the association rose to a re
cord figure of $7,604,224,38.
At KingsMountainSavingsandLoanAss-
oclation there are now 2922 savings ac
count holders who received a total of
$314,068.44, interest on their deposits
during the year. $26,634.00 were added
to reserves in 1971, bringing total re
serves to $602,150.00.
“Since mid-August,” Smith said, “the
Administration’s anti-inflation efforts
have been productive. If progress along
this line can be continued, we should have
another excellent year in 1972.”
The following officers were re-elected
at the annual shareholders meeting on
Feb. 8th:
J.R. Davis, Pres. Emeritus, Dr. John C.
McGill, President; C.G, White, Vice-
President; Joseph R. Smith, Executive
Vice-President; Ruby H. Baker, Secre
tary-Treasurer; and the following were
elected to the Board of Directors: Dr.
R.N, Baker, Ruby H. Baker, Glee E.
Bridges, J.R, Davis, Boyce H. Gault,
Clyde Kerns, George E. Lewis, Dr. John
C. McGUl, Joseph R. Smith, C.G. White.
Newly elected members of the Board
of Directors are Mr. W.S. Fulton, Jr.,
owner of Fulton’s Department Store and
Mr. C.A, Allison, principal of East Ele
mentary School in Kings Mountain.
Brenda Neal Lovelace, Kathy Butler and
Gall Smith are tellers for theAssoclation.
Judge Mull Files For Second Term
JUDGE MULL
Judge Joe F. Mull has filed to seek a
second term as judge in the 27th Judicial
District.
/ The district includes Cleveland, Lin-
' coin and Gaston Counties.
Since his election to the bench in 1968,
Mull has served as judge over criminal
cases, civil non-jury cases, juvenile cases
and civil jury trial cases.
In his filing statement. Judge Mull said,
“I feel that I am qualified to serve In ali
branches of the District Courts, there
fore, I am again offering my name as a
candidate tor judge of the district court
and solicit support of the voters of Gas
ton, Cleveland and Lincoln Counties.
"If I am elected to serve as judge of
the district courts another term, I will
do my best to see that justice is carried
out in the courts.”
A native ol Cleveland County, Mull is the
son of Mr. and Mrs. Carr Mull of Shelby.
He attended Shelby city schools. He also
attended Bowling Green Business Univer
sity where he received a B.S. Degree.
He later attended Wake Forest University
where he received a degree of JurisDoc-
tor.
Judge Mull has served as Cleveland
County Recorders Court for six years
prior to being elected judge in the 27th
Judicial District. He has practiced law
in Shelby and is licensed to practice be
fore the Supreme Court of N.C. and the
several courts of this state. He is also
licensed to practice in the Federal Dis
trict Courts and the Supreme Court of
the United States.
Judge Mull has served as president of
the Cleveland County Bar Association.
He also served for six years as chairman
of the Cleveland County Board of Elect
ions.
Judge Mull is a Deacon at First Baptist
Church in Shelby and a member of that
city’s Warren F. Hoyle Post 82 American
Legion. He has been a member of the
Legion lor 21 consecutive years.
Married to the former Geneva Searcy,
Mull is the father of one daughter. Ginger
Van Dyck. The Mulls reside in Cleve
land County.
Discusses No. 1 Priority
Skipper’s Campaign Visit Here
Friday Draws Big Crowd
League Of Women Voters Holds
n % Organizational Meeting Here
g
ce
gs
What if your daughter should turn to you
and ask, “Mother, what have you done
during your lifetime to help make our
world better?” What would you say?
A group of Interested Kings Mountain
women asked themselves this question re
cently and decided to explore what it could
do about it that would really count. The
answer was: only through channels of gov
ernment can we achieve a better world.
On Wednesday morningapproxlmately 25
women met at the home ol Mrs. Milton
Fryer to hear their invited guests: Mrs.
Richmond Roberts of Winston Salem, and
Mrs. F.L. Slater-Hammel of Tryon, both
N.C. State Board Members of the League
of Women Voters.
Mrs. Roberts and Mrs. Slater-Hammel
explained that In essense the League of
Women Voters la a non-partisan organ
ization whose purpose is to encourage
the informed and active [articlpation of
all citizens in government and politics.
It is open to all women citizens 18 years
or older.
The League has more than 160,000 mem
bers in all 50 states and operates on three
levels, just as our own government does:
local, sUte and national.
They further explained thattheLeague’s
work is twofold:
1. VOTERS SERVICE, which Includes
the distribution of nonpartisan information
on candidates and Issues; campaigns to
encourage registration and voting; cand
idates meetings; and field trips to city
halls and state legislatures.
2. LEAGUE PROGRAM: which Includes
governmental issues selected by the mem
bers for study, decision and action at all
three levels.
At the conclusion of the meeting It was
decided by the group that it should broad
en the membership to include Shelby and
all of Cleveland County in order to ac
complish more realistic goals, and a
meeting is being planned In Shelby where
it is hoped active interest can be gener
ated. Mrs. Roberts and Mrs. Slater-
Hammel have agreed to come back to this
meeting to discuss the possibilities of
establishing a county-wide chapter. If
this is the case, each town will have one
or more groups called “units” which meet
frequently to do specified projects of
special Interest to them.
The League operates more effectively If
there is a cross-section ol cultural, age
and economic backgrounds.
It you are Interested in taking this giant
step forward, please call Mrs. MUton
Fryer at 739-4828 so that you may be not
ified when the next meeting will be held.
Drop-Off For
Overdue Books
First Union National Bank will beset up
as a drop-off point for the public to re
turn overdue or “borrowed” books during
the week of March 1-7. A box will be
in the foyer of the bank as the drop-off
point for the books.
The individual will not be asked any
questions, and he will not have to pay a
fine. The library is chiefly concerned
with getting the books returned that are
long overdue.
According to Mrs. Charles Dilling, Lib
rarian, the Kings Mountain Library has
had a lot of books checked out, but not
returned.
By Rodney Dodson
Editor, The Mirror
Speaking to a crowd of about 100 Kings
Mountain area men at the Royal Villa Inn
Friday night. Democratic Gubernatorial
candidate Hargrove “Skipper” Bowles
outlined what would be his number-one
priority if elected Governor.
Bowles was introduced to the guests by
Josh Hlnnant, area campaign co-or-
dlnator, who called Bowles “a statesman,
not a politician.”
Appearing relaxed and confident, the
youthful looking candidate expressed opt
imism about winning the election, and
said he was very surprised by the turnout
at the dinner, considering the ball game
going on In Charlotte Friday night.
Bowles said his main reason for running
for Governor is a desire to raise the per-
capita income of North Carolina, for
which he outlined a plan he says will
work.
“Take any 100 boys and girls In the
state - 80 percent either drop out of high
school, or just finish, not going on to
higher education. The high school cur-
ciculum is geared to the 20 percent going
to college. The boy or girl wanting vo
cational education doesn’t have the oppor
tunity.”
Emphasizing that he Is not against higher
education, Bowles added, “I propose we
do a real job on career education. Give
us just a few years and we’ll be able to
attract Industry to this state - then our
per-capita income will go up.”
“The people of North Carolina are
choked with new taxes, and I’m convinced
we don’t have to have any.”
Bowles is campaigning with this voca
tional occupation education program as his
No. 1 priority. "I think it’s the only
hope,” he explained, “It’ll give people a
chance, and help eliminate welfare,”
He then asked for questions from the aud
ience. Someone asked him about auto
Insurance, to which he replied, “It’s In
a mess. The companies aren’t making
money, the agents are not happy, and the
customers aren’t happy.” He saidallm-
Ited no-fault program Is part of the ans
wer to the problem, and would help In
the following ways: By clearing court
dockets, faster settlements, cutting cost
by as much as 30 percent (with $2,000
plan), and eliminating discrepancy in age
of premium charge.
The insurance situation, said Bowles,
“needs attention, a band-aid won’t do it
It’ll take major surgery!”
Bowles was asked what he would do if
elected about appointing blacks to state
office, and about blacks being hired as
highway patrolmen.
He answered that the black man would
be treated fairly inhisadministration,but
said he would promise no numbers.
He did say he would put a black man in
the personnel department. “We need to
let blacks know they can get jobs in state
government,” he explained.
Replying to another question, Bowles
stated his opposition to the state’s intan
gibles tax, but admitted that he doesn’t
believe there’s a chance of repealing it.
Bowles concluded his night of political
activity in Kings Mountain, and was in
Shelby Saturday morning to officially open
his Cleveland County campaign headquar
ters.
aqii;-
Greeting gubernatorial candidate “Skipper” Bowles Friday
night are (left to right) Charlie Moss, Josh Hlnnant, area cam
paign co-ordinators; Bowles, Pat Spangler, campaign co-chair
man; and Jim Lybrand of Kings Mountain, (Mirror Photo by
Lem Lynch)