Total Press Run
4000 Copies
Greater Kings Mountain's Progressive Newspaper
10<t
Vol. 1 No. 36
Kings Mountain, N. C. Wednesday, May 3, 1972
10 Pages Today
Jenkins Was Policeman Only Four Months
Former KM Officer Shot To Death
21-year-old Michael Jenkins left the
Kings Mountain Police Force on April 10
to nil a vacancy on his hometown of Bes
semer City Police Force.
MICHAEL P. JENKINS
After only three weeks on the job, Jen
kins was shot to death Tuesday morning.
Seven hours later his accused killer was
dead following a shoot-out with police, and
another man was taken Into custody.
Jenkins was murdered shortly after 2
a.m. Tuesday morning when he stopped a
car on Alabama Avenue In Bessemer City
on a routine traffic check. Jenkins was
shot several times--first with a .22, then
with his own .38 service revolver. The
officer was found dead still clutching the
registration card.
A resident of the area reportedly heard
the shooting and called the Bessemer City
Police. Jenkins was found a short time
later lying In the middle of the paved high
way. Jenkins was reportedly still breth-
Ing when fouDd,but died about 2:45 a.m.
In Gaston Memorial Hospital.
The owner of the car, Gilbert Hunter of
Bessemer City, was later arrested at his
home, and police acting on Information
from Hunter, began a search for 24-year-
old Nathaniel Paul Hall. About 7 a.m.. Hall
was spotted near his mother’s home on the
MaHenderson Road but he eluded officers.
Rural Detective Tommy Reynolds, Kings
Mountain’s Chief Thomas McDevltt and
State Trooper J, L. Evans, looking for In
formation as to the killer’s whereabouts.
knocked on the door of an old frame house,
and were greeted with gunfire. About 25
policemen charged toward the bouse.
Officers tried to talk Hall from the buil
ding with no success.
After about 30 minutes of the shooting
exchange, officers fired tear gas Into the
building. The house was suddenly on fire,
either started by Hall or the tear gas.
When officers entered the bouse, after the
fire had spread to the rear. Hall was found
lying on the floor. He was pronounced dead
on arrival at Gaston Memorial Hospital.
Two guns, a .22 and .38 pistol, Jenkins’
service revolver, were reportedly found
In the bouse.
According to Bessemer Chief of Police
Robert Colvin, Hunter Is being held with
out bond InGastonCountyJall, and charges
are pending.
Jenkins was enrolled in Gaston College
where he was majoring in police science.
While on the Bessemer City force he con
tinued his education while his wile attended
Gardner-Webb College. He Is survived by
his wife. Sherry Neal; parents, Mr. and
Mrs. D. Patrick Jenkins of Bessemer Ci
ty; and grandparents, Mrs. John Gladden
and Gus Garrison of Gastonia.
He joined the Kings Mountein Police
Force on January 11th of this year.
Funeral services will be held Wednes
day, May 3, atShadyGrove baptist Church
with Rev. Frank Taylor, Rev. Ray Eng
land and Rev. Marvin Willis officiating.
Burial will follow In the church cemetery.
Democrats Gearing Up For County Convention
Mirror To Post Election
Returns As They Come In
The Kings Mountain Mirror will be head
quarters tor quick and factual electiai re
turns from the May 6th Primary Elections.
The Mirror will begin posting unofficial
returns on a board outside the Mirror’s
office on S. Railroad Avenue beside Plonk
Bros. Department Store as soon as they
I start coming in.
Cleveland County Democrats will hold
their bi-annual precinct meetings and
county convention in May, organizing for
an active campaign In the tall.
Precinct meetings are slated for 8 p.m.
Tuesday, May 9, at each of the county’s
28 polling places. That’s a change from
prior years, when meetings were held on
Saturday afternoons, according to imeum-
bent Democratic Chairman Cameron S.
Ware.
The county Democratic convention will
be held at 2 p.m, Saturday, May 27, In the
Cleveland County courthouse. Ware said,
with State Sen. MarshallRauchofGastonla
as keynote speaker.
All active registered Democrats are
eligible to attend and vote at the precinct
meetings May 9. A quorum of 10 must be
present before business can be con
ducted. If 10 are not present, the precinct
meeting must be re-scheduled for the fol
lowing Tuesday, May 16, at 8 n.m.
The incumbent precinct chairman is ex
pected to preside at the precinct meetings,
according to the party plan of organization.
First order of business In the precinct will
be the election of precinct officers for the
biennium. The officers are a precinct
With local candidates in the race for
County Commissioner this year, and the
added excitement of a Presiden^l Pre
ference Primary being local voters. It
will be important to get the results quick
ly. So come on down, bring your friends,
and get the election results as they come
in.
Bulldozer
Fire
Over 300 Attend Camporee Reported
Over 300 Scouts andScoutersinthe Bat
tleground District attended theSpring Ca
mporee this past weekend held at the Kings
Mountain National Park in Kings Mountain.
After setting up camp Friday night, Sat
urday morning was set aside for making
camp gadgets that included everything
from cooking tables and benches to easy
chairs made out of the natural material of
the area. Saturday afternoon activities in
cluded hiking the battleground, visiting the
monuments and estimating the height of
each, locating wildlife and other conser
vation projects.
Inspection of the patrol campsites was
under the direction of Mr. Don Crawford
of Kings Mountain. Patrol ribbons were
presented to each patrol as follows: Troop
104; Bat Patrol-Red, Owl Patrol-Blue,
Eagle Patrol-yellow, Hawk Patrol-Red;
Troop 402; Hawk Patrol-yellow; Troop
92; Bat Patrol-Blue, Rattlesnake Patrol-
blue; Troop 105; Eagle Patrol-red; Troop
111, Bobwhite Patrol-red; Troop 112, Ea
gle Patrol-red, Wolf Patrol-red, Panther
Patrol-red; Troop 113, Flaming Arrow
Patrol-yellow, Panther Patrol-yellow,
Hawk Patrol-yellow; Troop 400, Wolf Pa
trol-yellow; Troop 99, Bear Patrol-
yellow, Eagle Patrol-yellow; Troop 291,
Rattlesnake Patrol-red; Troop 408, Tiger
Patrol-yellow; Troop 415, Bear Patrol-
yellow, Pioneer Patrol-yellow, Bobwhite
Patrol-yellow, Eagle Patrol-yellow;
Troop 115, Crow Patrol-red, Wolf Patrol-
red; Troop 91, Bear Patrol-red; Troop
90, Panther Patrol-yellow, Troop 117,
Flaming Arrow Patrol-yellow; Troop 93,
Rebel Patrol-red, Rat Patrol-red; Troop
101, Racoon Patrol-red, Panther Patrol-
yellow, Hawk Patrol-yellow; Troop 294,
Snake Patrol-red, Bat Patrol-red; Troop
290, Rattlesnake Patrol-red, Beaver Pa
trol-blue, Flaming Patrol-red; Troop 100,
Rattlesnake Patrol-red.
Saturday night campfire program includ
ed a program put on by the Kings Mountain
Park Ranger, Mr. Gene Cox, who demon
strated the weapons used during the battle
of Kings Mountain. Troop 117, Boiling
Springs Baptist Church, was presented
their National Camping Award. Troop
104, Central United Methodist Churchand
Troop 415, American Legion of Kings
Mountain was presented the recruit of the
month plaques. Troop 99, Waco Ruritan
club, won the height judging contest.
Sunday morning church services were
conducted by Rev. Edwin Chriscoe, East
Gold Street Wesleyan Church.
The Oak Grove Volunteer Fire Depart
ment had one fire In the past week. Thur
sday afternoon, April 27th, the department
was called to a fire on Borders Road In
the Light Oak Community.
A bulldozer belonging to Champion Land
scaping was clearing an old house when
it caught fire, damage to the machine was
minor.
Saturday, May 7th, at 7:30 P.M., a gos
pel singing will be held attheFireDepar-
tment. Admission is free and the public
is Invited to attend.
The Oak Grove Volunteer Fire Depart
ment would like to thank all the people In
its fire district for their support during
the annual fund raising drive during the
month of April. Your donations and sup
port are appreciated very much.
20 Troops Involved
Scouts To Clean-Up
Town Saturday
On Saturday, May 6th, 20 Scout Troops
will participate In a city-wide cleanup
campaign. All Brownie, Junior, Cadette
and Senior Scout Troops, along with every
Boy Scout Troop, will be present. All
school grounds, ci^ parks, the downtown
business district, York Road, and East
be
Gold Street by the cemetery will
cleaned of litter.
The triangles In front of the Armory and
at the monument area will be cleaned and
the grass cut.
”We are looking forward to the cleanup
of our town,” say the Scouts.
chairman; first vice chalrnuin, who must
be of the sex opposite to the chairman; sec
ond vice chairman, who must be a member
of a minority group if 20 per cent or more
of the registereu uemuentts in the pre
cinct are members of the minority group
and the precinct chairman and first vice
chairman are not members of that minor
ity group; third vice chairman, who must
be 30 years of age or under If none of the
other three officers are 30 years or under;
a secretary-treasurer; and five other re
gistered Democrats to serve as members
of the precinct committee.
At the precinct meetings, precinct dele
gates to the county Democratic convention
also must be elected. Each precinct is
entitled to one county convention vote for
every 50 votes that it cast for Gov. Bob
Scott in the November, 1968, general el
ection. Delegates must be elected by name
and certified to the county chairman Inad-
vance of the county convention.
Precincts, their polling places where the
meetings will be held, and the county con
vention votes towhlchtheyareentltledare
as follows:
Bethware, Bethware School, 6; Boiling
Springs, Bolling Springs School, 9; Casar,
Casar Fire Station, 4; Delight, Voting
Kindergarten
Kids
Visit Farm
...See Pg. 7
KM Choral
Students
In Festival
The choral section of the North Caro
lina Music Education Association is con
ducting Its annual All-Star Choral festi
val on the campus of the University
of North Carolina at Greensboro Thurs
day and Friday of this week, and 30 mem
bers of the Kings Mountain High Senior
Chorus will be making the trip under the
direction of Mrs. Merle McClure.
The 500 voice chorus Is conducted by
Dr, Don Moses of Indiana University.
These students will represent the best of
the choral students from over 50 high
schools from across North Carolina.
The festival will consist of five 2 hour
rehearsals and climax in a public concert
on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. at Aycock
Auditorium at UNC-G.
On Tuesday, May 16th, the Choral De
partment will present a concert In the High
School Gym, including the Senior Choir,
Junior Choir, Girls Choir, Mixed Chorus.
Each groupwill present four numbers. The
entire group of 200 voices will conclude by
singing four numbers. Admission is 50-
75 cents.
Building, 2; Double Shoals, Double Shoals
Mljl Office, 2; Double Springs, FallsSer-
vlce Station, 5; Dover, Dover School, 4;
Earl, Barber Shop Beside Warehouse, 7;
Fallston, Woman’s Club, 9; Grover, Res
cue Station, 5; Holly Springs, Bridges
Store, 2; East Kings Mountain, City Hall,
16; West Kings Mountain, Armory, 21;
Lawndale, City Hall, 13; Lattlmore, Club
House, 7; Mooresboro, Mooresboro
School, 3; Polkvllle, Fire Station, 10;
Queens, L. E. Hamrick Residence, 4;
Mulls, Lutz Apple House, 7; Patterson
Springs, NO. 3 Fire Station, 6; Sharon, Fire
Station, 3; Shelby No. 1, JeffersonSchool,
29; Shelby No.2,MarionSchool,25;Shelby
No. 3, Graham School, 12; Shelby No. 4,
Washington School, 16; SouthShelby, Love
School, 17; Youngs, Season and Toney
Store, 5; Waco, Fire Station, 8.
The county convention, after hearing
Rauch’s keynote speech, will elect its own
officers and delegates. Ware, who has
served two full terms, will not te a can
didate for re-election as county party
chairman. Other officers to be named at
the county level include a fird vice chair
man, who must be of the sex opposite to
the chairman; a second vice chairman, who
must be of a minority race if the minority
constitutes at least 20 per cent of the re
gistered Democratic voters in the county
and If neither the chairman nor first vice
chairman is a member of the minority
race; a third vice chairman, who must be
30 years old or under If neither of the first
three officers are 30 and under; a secre
tary; and a treasurer.
The county convention also must elect
four members to serve on the State De
mocratic executive committee. It also
must name 43 delegates to the lOth con
gressional district convention, which will
be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 10, in Hi
ckory, and 43 delegates to the state De
mocratic convention, which Is slated for
11 a.m. Tuesday, January 20, in Ra
leigh’s Dorton arena.
The county convention also is to name
two members to the congressional dis
trict executive committee, two members
to a state senatorial district executive
committee, two members to a house of re
presentatives district executive com
mittee, and two members toa judicial dis
trict executive committee.
High School Incident
Left “Bad Feeling”
The Kings Mountain City Board of Edu
cation hopes to have shelters in operation
by Fall for students on county roads who
have to stand in the rain to wait for the
bus. The matter was brought up at last
week’s Adult Advisory Committee meet
ing, and School-Community Relations Di
rector Bill Bates said with the permission
of property owners, the shelters will prob
ably be paid for bya commercial Urm, and
be erected by the next school year.
Bates reported to the group that Mr.
Reese Johnson of the HEW Atlanta office
visited here Wednesday, and among other
things, expressed pleasure that the trouble
at the high schoollast Winter didn’t spread
Into the community, stating that It was the
first such incident that he had heard of
which had not done so.
One member ot the Advisory Committee
expressed her disappointment that “all
the black boys who did something were sent
home, and another boy was allowed to stay
In school.” Referring to the permanent
suspensions she said, “It’s a had feeling
In die community,”
Squad To Continue
House Numbering
The Rescue Squad was forced todlscon-
tlnue its house numbering project due to
weather and the shortage ot certain num
bers.
Beginning on Monday, May 8th, however,
squad members will continue the worth
while project, and will install your house
numbers for a minimum donation of$l.
The squad expresses regret that they had
to discontinue the project last fall, and
would appreciate the public’s support.
Bates replied that be had met with the
board several times about the matter, and
promised to bring a report to the May
meeting.
Mr. Richard Hamrick, vocational teacher
at North Elementary presented a program
of slides showing the hands-on workshop
method of training students. The Title
6-B Federal Project accomodates 45 stu
dents at the school.
For the next meeting. Bates, who was act
ing chairman in the absence ot William
Orr, told the members to think about ideas,
things that need to be done in the Kings
Mountain Schools. The next meeting will
be held with the student advisory commit
tee.
Still Time To
Be June Bride!
Would you like to be the Mirror’s June
Bride?
The young lady selected as the Kings
Mountain Mirror’s first “ June Bride” will
be featured In a special section of the
newspaper In June,
She will be the object ot a special per
sonal feature and photographic layout, and
will be photographed, along with the
groom-to-be, on a shopping tour of Kings
Mountain businesses, looking for all the
good things necessary to begin housekeep
ing.
To be eligible for the distinction of being
"The June Bride”, any girl in the Kings
Mountain area getting married in June
need only come by the Mirror and register.
This will not be a drawing, however; tlie
"June Bride” will be selected bythestaff
of the Kings Mountain Mirror, Remember,
to be considered, you must register be
tween now and May 20th.
Mirror
Asks!
North Carolina’s first Presidential Pre
ference Primary is Saturday. On the bal
lot are George Wallace, Shirley Chisholm,
Terry Sanford and Senator Henry Jackson.
We asked some Kings Mountain people
who they favor to win the Primary, and as
seems to be the trend statewide, it looks
like a close race between Wallace and San
ford.
This, of course, only covers the Demo
cratic Primary, as the Republican Presi
dential Primary ballot has Richard Nixon
and Paul McClosky opposing. As In other
states, Nixon will probably have no trouble
at all getting a landslide vote of confidence
InN. C.
No pro or con answers are solicited In
“Mirror Asks”, people are asked strict
ly at random and are unedited. Our apolo
gy to Mr. William Hager this week. He
was asked our question, and we tailed to
make his picture.
RICK FALLS: “I think Sanfordwlllwln.” JIMMY WHITE: “I’d say Sanford, he’s the
man for the job.”
JUNIOR CAUSBY:
lace will win it.”
“I think George Wal-
JOHN BEAM: "From what Ihearbytalk-
ing to people, I think George Wallace Is
going to win.”
KAY FRANCES SHIPP: “I really favor
Terry Sanford, I feel that he’s the man.”