Editorial
from an area paper
Things must
have been rough back there in the '40s, to warrant a cry for Cliffside
to have its own jail. Sam Davis submitted this item with the observation,
“By this, you would think Cliffside was full of drunks on Saturday
night.” They never built the jail; somehow we survived without
it.
For the convenience of law enforcement officers and for the better performance of duty,
Rutherford County or the textile plants of High Shoals township, should
build a small jail or incarceration point somewhere in the neighborhood
of Caroleen or Cliffside. Every arrest made by deputies and other
officers in that area necessitates a trip to the county jail at Rutherfordton.
It is not an
infrequent sight to see Deputies Henry Davis and Harvey Moore making
as many as six or eight trips from Cliffside and Caroleen each Saturday
night to the Rutherford county jail. Aside from wear and tear on the
car and consumption of gas, a round trip necessitates forty-five minutes
to an hour, during which time the area is left without protection.
A small lock-up,
accommodating five or six prisoners, would save its cost of construction
in gas, wear and tear on autos within a few years, and in addition
it would make for better and more efficient law enforcement in High
Shoals township, with the officers present at all times.