• 2S. 1981
Tuesday
IIftir; iE
20'
VOLUME 94, NUMBER 49
TUESDAY. JUNE 30. 1981
KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA
Outdoor Drama Opens Thursday At KM Park
‘ Staging an outdoor drama is a
complicated matter, particularly
when the plot is historical and
autheticity in costuming and
props is essential in creating the
correct atmosphere.
Dr. Charles Hannum, head of
Limeston College’s theatre
department and director for
“Then Conquer We Must” (the
outdoor drama opening July 2 at
Kings Mountain National Park),
knows firsthand one of the
potential problems with the pro
duction. He directed the play last
year during its first season at the
Bi-centenial celebration of the
Battle of Kings Mountain.
“Last year, for the sake of
authenticity, we used the
historical rifles for our battle
scenes,” he recalls. “Bpt, there
are many hitches with that
weapon which are detrimental to
the show and we have opted to
use the more reliable cap and
ball rifle this year.”
As an example, in last year’s
production the leading lady
(Virginia Salter played again this
year by Suzanne Amos-Crabus)
was to be shot in the final scene
during a flurry of gun fire. On
one occasion three muskets sup
posedly fired at her. Only one
went off. “For safety’s sake, we
decided to block out an alter
native scene where the soldiers
would irtually club her to death
in the event none of the muskets
fired!” he says. “It was not a
satisfactory ending and we never
had to use it, but we felt we
needed to be prepared.”
Bob Boggan, weapons expert
for the play, explains that the
mitior drawbiuik fo the FlintTodk
musket is its unreliability in an
outdoor setting. ‘The one thing
V
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OUTDOOR DRAMA OPENS
THURSDAY-"Then Conquer We Must", the
historical outdoor drama, opens this Thurs-
dcry. July 2nd, in the Amphitheatre of KM Na
tional Military Pork. From left, lohn Brock of
Shelby, Joe Ann Walker McDaniel of Kings
Mountain, Susanne Amos-Grabus of Kings
Mountain, and Judge Sam Mendenhall of
Rock Hill.S.C. ore seen in o scene from the
drama.
that we can not control in an
outdoor production is the
weather. The climate has a direct
bearing on the use of black
powder. It is highly absorbant
and does attract moisture. With
a certain degree of moisture,
black powder just does not ig
nite.
Flintlock muskets have a flash
pan directly under the flint
which holds the gunpowder. It is
sparked by the flint when it hits
the plate and this triggers the
blast. With the cap and ball rifle,
the cap is treated and is not
susceptible to moisture as is the
powder in the flash pan. The ef
fect is the same. There is a small
noise when the cap itself ex
plodes and a larger explosion
when the gunpowder inside the
barrel ignites.
The reliability of the ball and
cap rifle outweighs the historical
authenticity of the flintlock
musket as far as Hannum and
Boggan are concerned. ‘Often
times, the firing of a weapon is a
cue for an actor on stage,” Han
num says. “If the rifle doesn’t
fire, the cue is lost and this puts
an added strain on the actors
who must ad lib almost in-
definately until the situation can
correct itself.”
Sometimes the powder in the
flash pan is dropped during stag
ed hand to hand combat. The ac
tor goes to fire the gun and it
does not respond because the
powder has fallen out of the pan.
Even with the reliability fac
tor, the cap and ball rifle is
technically tricky to operate. At
any given time, there are no
more than seven rifles on stage,
yet the production calls for 25
rifles. Boggan says that because
you don’t do any reloading on
stage, there have to be enough
weapons available for reloading
backstage while the battle is
waged. “Actors must bring a
spent weapon off stage and pick
up a fresh weapon simultaneous
ly. From the time the actor
hands the rifle to us until it is
recycled back to the stage takes
about one minute.
Once the weapon is backstage,
the crew must be sure that it ac
tually did fire during the battle.
This is done by putting a ramrod
down the barrel. If the rod hits
the end of the barrel and makes a
“pinging” sound then the load
was spent. Premeasured black
powder is poured down the bar
rel and clamped. The barrel is
stuffed with a little wadding and
a fresh cap is put on the nipple of
the rifle. The gun is then ready
for use.
The ultimate danger in using
the rifles is an accidental firing.
There is no projectile in the bar
rel, but even the wadding can
hurt someone at a short distance
and burns are likely from the ig
nition of the gunpowder. “We
really have to discipline the ac
tors in the handling of the guns,”
Boggan explains. ‘They must
keep a safe distance from them
and must treat them with respect
because they are dangerous
weapons.”
The blast from the ball and
cap rifle is comparable to a
modern shotgun. There is a
definite kick for the person firing
the weapon, most of which are
SO calibre. The guns use from
90-120 grains of black powder
with a minimum of wadding,
which is a considerable load even
without the ball.
Dr. Hannum hopes that the
use of the cap and ball rifle in
stead of the flintlock muskets
will not be a disappointment to
outdoor theatre buffs and
historical purists who look for
authenticity in similar produc
tions. ‘The decision of weapon
use was strictly a pragmatic
one,” he says. Even though some
of the exact authenticity may be
sacrificed, we will still have the
exciting effect created by the
weatxrns of the period, and we
can count on the cap and ball
guns to do the job.”
Produced by Limestone Col
lege, ‘Then Conquer We Must”
is the Tom McIntyre adaptation
of Robert Osborne’s play
recreating the events leading up
to the Battle of Kings Mountain.
It is scheduled to run every
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
evening from July 2 through
August 8 at 8:30 p.m. in the am
phitheatre of the Kings Moun
tain National Park. Tickets are
available at the box office at
$4.50 for orchestra seats and
$3.50 for bleacher seats.
Pastor Assumes Duties
Rev. Kenneth R. Looney, who
grew up in the Grover-Kings
Mountain area and was a
member of Kings Mountain
Church of God, assumed
pastorate duties of Kings Moun
tain Church of God on Parker
Street last week.
Mr. Looney returns to Kings
Mountain from Winston Salem
where he had served for nine
years as pastor of Winston Salem
Church of God. He had
previously served pastorates in
Chocowinity, Jamestown,
Franklinton, Raleigh, Reidsville
and Hayesville.
A 1950 graduate of Grover
High School, he graduated from
Lee College in Cleveland,Ten-
nessee. He is the son of Mr. and
Mrs. George C. Looney, now of
Kannapolis. Mr. Looney is a
former Grover policeman and
Cleveland County deputy
sheriff.
REV. KENNETH LOONEY
Mrs. Looney is the former
Phyllis Constance Bumgardner
of Baltimore,Md. They are
parents of four sons, David, a ris-
• i • James Stoll's Rites
Held Here Sunday
Funeral services for James
Meldeau Stoll, Jr., 54, of 1015
Sherwood Lane, were conducted
Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. from
Kings Moutnain Baptist Church
• of which he was a member and
deacon.
Rev. James Wilder and Rev.
Miller Freeman officiated at the
rites, and interment was in
Mountain Rest Cemetery.
Mr. Stoll died Wednesday at 5
p.m. in the Kings Mountain
Hospital after several month’s il
lness.
He was a native of Lancaster,
S.C., son of the late James M.
^ . and Genelle Wilson Stoll. He
was a former teacher at Kings
Mountain Senior High School
and former Gaston County pur
chasing agent. At his death he
was a teacher at Chase High
School in Rutherford County.
Surviving are his wife,
Mrs.Daphne(Billie) Lamb Stoll;
four sons, Jimmy and Doug
^|v Stoll, both of the home, and Ken
Stoll and Roger Stoll, both of
Ocala, Fla., one daughter.
ing senior at Kings Mountain
Senior High School, Thomas
Michael, a music director for a
Greenville,S.C. church, Ken
neth, Jr., a music director for a
Sylacauga, Ala. church, and
Phillip Looney, who is employed
by N. C. Respiratory Corpora
tion in Winston Sdem. Mrs.
Looney has served as a
substitute school teacher.
Rev. Mr. Looney has served
on several boards for the North
Carolina Church of God, has
served on the youth committee
for four years, Lee College
Alumni for eight years and on
the State Council, the church’s
highest governing body, for four
years.
He succeeds Rev. Jerry Smith,
who has assumed new duties as
Orphanage Director of the
Church of God’s Children Home
in Kannapolis.
Services at Kings Mountain
Church of God are held on Sun
day and Wednesday. Sunday
School at 10 a.m. on Sundays is
following by morning worship at
II and evening worship at 7.
Mid-week prayer service is at 7
p.m. on Wednesdays.
JloME^AVlMIS
WHEW!—So you think it's
boon hot? On a doy last
wesk Homs Sayings ft Loon
wsathsr baromstsr
rsgistsrsd a whopping 106
degrsss on W. King St.
Photo by Lib Stswart
Mrs. Wright Is Elected
JAMES M. STOLL, JR.
Melissa Stoll, of the home; one
brother, Carl Stoll of Newberry,
S.C.; two sisters, Mrs. William
H. Hunter of Greensboro and
Mrs. Harry Hallman of Fort
Mill, S.C., and three grand
children.
Masters Funeral Home was in
charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Martha Herndon Wright,
Director of the Child Nutrition
Program for the Kings Moun
tain District Schools since 1972,
has been elected state president
of the N. C. School Food Service
Association for the coming year.
Mrs. Wright, wife of Charles
Wright, was installed at the re
cent state convention in
Charlotte.
Mrs. Wright holds a B. S. in
Home Economics from East
Carolina University and com
pleted graduate work in Foods
and Nutrition and Business
Management at UNC-G,
1973-74, and in the Continuing
Education Program and UNC-C
management skills for women in
1979. She was a classroom
MARTHA H. WRIGHT
teacher in Wayne County
Schools in 1970-72.
Mrs. Wright is the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Jack Herndon of
Grover. The Wrights are parents
of two children. Chuck, a first
grader at Grover School, and
Jason, age three.
Mrs. Wright is active in
Grover’s First Baptist Church, is
a member of the Vocational Ad
visory Council for the Kings
Mountain District Schools and a
member of the Health Advisory
Committee for Cleveland Coun
ty Head Start.
She has served a number of of
fices in the Food Service
Association. She was district
director for District 11 in
1976-78, served as nominations
chairman in 1978-79, and served
on the teaching staff for courses
at UNC-G and Western
Carolina University as a part of
Project “Opertion Improvement:
Child Nutrition Programs”
1974. She taught numerous food
service training courses at
Cleveland County Technical In
stitute and Gaston College. She
is a member of the American
Food Service Association, the
North Carolina Food Service
Association, the Cleveland
County Food Service Assocition
and the North Carolina Associa
tion of School Administrators.