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VENIN VT
By Quimby Melton
What do the people in those
countries we visited in Europe
think of the United States? That
is what idea did this newsman
get after talking with many?
In England: People who rem
ember World Wars One and Two
have a genuine affection for
America. Os course there are
some who are critical and some
who even now use the term
“Uncle Sherlock”; but most of
those with whom we talked still
look on Uncle Sam as a friend.
The younger generation, the
“war babies” now in their teens
or early 20s have an entirely dif
ferent “image”. Thanks (?) to
old American movies and TV,
they think roving bands of out
laws and cattle rustlers control
everything between New York
and Los Angeles; and that in the
big cities the gangsters control
officials and no one can remain
in business without paying “pro
tection.”
There was one question, some
of the before World War Two
people asked, even though they
expressed the opinion that Un
cle Sam is the hope of the world.
It was this: How long will your
government continue financing
the rest of the world? Doesn’t
America run the risk of going
broke?
— * —
In Holland and in Belgium:
There is a decidedly friendly at
mosphere. It was in these two
countries that we managed to
visit more smaller towns than
in England and so we met more
“typical” natives.
Time and again when we ask
ed “What do you think of Am
erica?” we were answered
“America Hokey”; their “ho
key” was the way they pronoun
ced our “OK”.
It was in Belgium that we had
an experience that will always
stick in our mind. We were hav
ing dinner in the hotel Plaza,
one of the nicest hotels in which
we stayed on the trip, when we
heard someone paging someone.
May, who was with us transla
ted what sounded to this news
man as “Monsieur Mel-toni” as
someone paging us. And so it
was. There was a telephone call
for this Griffinite.
The young page took us to the
phone, and we talked sometime
with an exectuvie of an Ameri
can firm with many factories in
Europe. Recently he was sent to
Belgium to direct an exapnsion
program there. (He had been no
tified of our visit by a mutual
friend.)
Completing the conversation
noticed the boy was standing
nearby to escort us back to the
dining room. Reached into our
pocket, and not finding any Bel
gium francs — there are 50 of
them to the American dollar
—handed him a Kennedy Half
Dollar. His face lit up when he
noticed what it was and then
said in broken English — most
of the hotel help speaks some
English — “Oh thank you, I’ll
add this to my other American
money. I’m keeping all Ameri
can money against the day when
it may be all the money left that
is of value.”
I questioned him about this,
asked him if he put the Ameri
can money he got into a savings
bank or not, letting it earn in
terest for him. His reply was a
negative shake of the head. And
he added, “No, I don’t want it
to get out of my hand. There’s
nothing like American money.
The ‘little people’ of my coun
try don’t know much about in
ternational financing; but we do
know a United States dollar is
the finest money in the world.”
That experiece with this yo
ung Belgian was to this Ameri
can an answer to the rather
pessimistic viewpoint of some
of the English when it came to
our financial policies.
— * —
There also seems to be a ra
ther friendly feeling among the
Germans in the cities along the
Rhine River, but we could not
forget that twice within our life
time, Germany has been our
enemy.
in Paris? We have already
reported that there seemed to
be a rather “sullen” attitude on
the part of many against Amer
ica and Americans.
Now the question that has ar
isen in our mind is this:
What do Americans think of
America?
There are many strange indi
viduals and organizations that
are expressing and showing pes
simism and even open hostility
to Uncle Sam.
Blast Kills ‘Fuzzy’ Hoard;
Griffin High ROTC Named Honor Unit
Ex-Griffinite
Leaving Home
For Courthouse
By EDWARD MCHALE
JEFFERSON, Ga. (UPI) —A
bomb wired to the car of Pied
mont Circuit Solicitor (District
Attorney) Floyd Hoard explod
ed with a tree-shattering roar
today when he turned on the
ignition key, killing him in
stantly.
“He hit the switch key and
the car blew up and that’s all
we know,” said Sheriff L. G.
Perry. Hoard, 40, solicitor of
the three - county circuit for
three years, was preparing to
drive to the courthouse to open
the August grand jury.
Among the indictments he
was seeking were some against
men arrested in what author
ities said was the breakup of a
car-theft ring operating largely
in the Atlanta area, south of
here.
Gov. Lester Maddox immedi
ately offered the maximum
state reward, SI,OOO, for infor
mation leading to the apprehen
sion and conviction of the kill
er.
“This is a dastardly gang
type killing,” the governor told
reporters. “This represents
what may happen when local
government is not given the
right to enforce laws fully.”
Georgia Bureau of Investiga
tion agents rushed to Hoard’s
green frame colonial home, a
bout three miles from Jeffer
son.
Investigators from the state
crime laboratory said from six
to eight 12-inch sticks of dyna
mite had been rigged between
the engine and firewall of
Hoard’s car, with one wire run
ning to the distributor coil and
another grounded on the motor.
The bulk of the concussion,
they said, went through the
firewall.
The Hoard family had two
cars. Hoard always used the
sedan, which was bombed. His
wife used a station wagon,
which was apparently un
touched.
The car, a 1967 model, was
parked about 25 feet in front
of the farm home on a dirt
driveway. The explosion blew
the front of the car to pieces.
It blew two windows out of his
house and limbs off trees. Parts
of the car were scattered 70
feet away. Hoard’s body was
hurled into the rear of the car.
State agents roped off the
area to begin their investiga
tion. Newsmen could not im
mediately learn when Hoard
had last driven the car.
Hoard’s wife and two of their
four children — Dick, 15, and
Peggy, 16 — were in the house
when the bomb exploded. Two
smaller children, Vivian, 6, and
Claudine, 9, were away visiting
relatives.
Hoard owned two dogs which
neighbors said normally barked
at anyone entering the drive
way connecting the house with
the highway 75 yards away. He
also kept a yard light burning
all night.
A neighbor who lives two
miles from Hoard said a car
pulled into his driveway and
backed out again sometime be
fore dawn.
His law partner, Henry
Smith, said he did not know of
any death threats made against
Hoard.
The Piedmont circuit consists
of Banks, Barrow and Jackson
counties, long believed the cen
ter of well-organized moonshine
and car-stealing rings.
Jackson County, where Hoard
was killed, adjoins Gwinnett
County, scene of the murder of
three policemen by a gang of
car thieves in 1964. Two men
were sentenced to die for the
killings.
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This picture of Floyd Hoard and his family is about two years old. His parents who
live in Griffin furnished it to the Griffin Daily News. Shown besides Mr. and Mrs.
Hoard are their children, Peggy Jean, 16, Richard, Vivian, 6, and Claudine, 9.
Floyd Hoard Was Known As
Hard Hitting Prosecutor
ATLANTA (UPI) — Solicitor
Floyd Hoard, 40, killed gang
land style at Jefferson in the
blast of a dynamite bomb
rigged to his car ignition, was
described today as a “hard
hitting prosecutor” making
good progress in ridding Jack
son County of its worst crim
inal elements.
“He was a good, honest man
and a hard-hitting solicitor,”
said Lt. A. L. Posey, head of
the State Automobile Theft
Squad.
“His loss will be felt by all
of us in law enforcement.”
Posey had worked closely
with Hoard for several years in
Hoard Was Football Star Here;
Helped Save Man From Death
Many Griffinites remember
Floyd “Fuzzy” Hoard as a foot
ball hero when he played during
his high school days at Spalding
High. He was a hard charging
tackle during the 1941-42-43 years
at Spalding where he finished
in three years.
Griffinites also remember him
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(Griffin Daily News Staff Photo)
What’s It?
See picture on page 10.
GRIFFIN
Griffin, Ga., 30223, Monday, August 7,1967
combatting the flourishing stol
en-car racket in northeast Geor
gia. Jackson County was the
center of the operations of sev
eral car theft rings.
Posey expressed the belief
that Hoard’s murder may have
been connected with the solici
tor’s latest drive against illegal
beer and whisky operations in
the county, rather than with
car theft activities.
He said that Hoard’s vigorous
prosecution of car thieves re
sulted in the filing of 79 cases
during one period a year ago
in the Piedmont Circuit.
He added that the arrest of
criminal suspects and the filing
as the attorney who led a fight
to have a man freed from death
row for a crime he did not com
mit.
James Fulton Foster had been
convicted of murder and sen
tenced to die in the electric
chair. Hoard and another at
torney, James Horace Wood, led
*
NEWS
of charges against them by
Hoard swamped the only judge
in the circuit with a heavy
case-load. Hoard went to then-
Gov. Carl Sanders, who appro
priated additional money from
a contingent fund for the ap
pointment of a second judge to
help try the auto theft sus
pects.
Posey said Hoard had made
excellent progress in ridding
Jackson County of its car theft
operations and had begun to
concentrate on the illegal manu
facture and sale of beer and
whisky. He said several of his
own agents were scheduled to
testify this week in eight illegal
whisky cases brought by Hoard.
the legal fight and investigation
which led to Foster’s release
from death row.
Charles (Rocky) Rothschild
confessed on a Fourth of July
holiday. He admitted killing
Charles Drake, 60-year-old Jeff
erson merchant.
Floyd Hoard doggedly dug in
to the case, convinced that Fos
ter had been convicted of the
man’s murder by mistake. His
determination paid off and the
man was freed from death row.
The man who was to become
solicitor general of the Piedmont
Circuit read law with his father
in-law in Jefferson and as a re
sult of his study, passed the
Georgia bar exam and was ad
mitted to the bar.
During his career in Jeffer
son, Hoard served as editor of
the Jackson Herald, the weekly
newspaper published at Jeffer
son.
Hoard attended Mercer Uni
versity at Macon and played
football at Georgia Military Col
lege at Milledgeville
SHOT SELF
CHICAGO (UPD—Leon Hein
bree, 42, an Emmett, Idaho,
fruit farmer told police Sunday
he was wounded in the leg when
he opened his suitcase at
Chicago’s Union Station, trig
gering a small pistol he carried
in the bag.
Vol. 95 No. 184
Brother Joe Hoard
Telephoned Griffin
Joe Hoard broke the news of
his brother’s death to relatives
in Griffin early this morning
shortly after the explosion.
Joe Hoard was making his
home with his brother and fam
ily at Jefferson.
He telephoned James Helms,
his brother-in-law in Griffin, and
told him of the death. He asked
that Mr. Helms handle notifica
tion of relatives in Griffin.
Mr. Helms said Joe Hoard was
Search On For
Missing Boy
In Spalding
Tlie Spalding County Sheriff’s
Department and Spalding Coun
ty volunteers organized this mor
ning to begin a second day of
searching in a large wooded
area for a 14-year-old boy who
has been missing since Sunday
morning.
Sheriff’s deputies said the boy,
Jeffrey Scott, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Bill Scott of Jenkinsburg
road in East Spalding County,
went into some woods behind
the Scott home Sunday morning
about 11:30. He has not been
senn since.
Spalding County Sheriff Dway
ne Gilbert organized a search
party Sunday. They looked for
the boy during the afternoon and
into the night.
The search was called off Sun
day night and resumed early to
day.
Sheriff Gilbert issued a call
for volunteers to help in the se
arch Sunday afternoon. This
morning the search was joined
by the Forestry Unit airplane
and members of the local unit.
Also joining the search was
members of the Dundee No. 1
Volunteer Fire Department. Boy
Scouts and others also were se
arching for, Scott.
The search was joined this af
ternoon by the Civil Air Patrol
and Griffin National Guardsmen.
Sheriff’s Deputies said it was
not known if Scott took a gun in
the woods with him or not.
He was wearing short pants
and a T-shirt with white rings
around the collar and sleeves
when he entered the woods.
No word has been received at
the Sheriff’s office from the se
arch party this afternoon.
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Atty. Floyd Hoard (top right) and Attorney James Wood (right) with James
Fuller Foster (center) and his family. Hoard and Wood were the attorneys who led
in the fight to have Foster freed from jail after he had been convicted of murder*
Another man confessed to the murder.
brief in his telephone call this
morning.
“Fuzzy” Hoard, and his fam
ily made their home in a rural
house a couple of miles from
Jefferson.
The Solicitor General’s rela
tives who live in Griffin include:
His parents, Mr. and Mrs. R.
C. Hoard, of 55 Pine street, Ex
periment. They are retired and
Mr. Hoard was associated with
Dundee Mills.
Brothers: Troy Hoard, Tom
Hoard, Edward Hoard, all who
are employed at Dundee Mills;
Lewis Hoard, who is a radio-tv
repair man, and Robert Hoard,
a painting contractor.
Two sisters, Mrs. Franklin
Goodman and Mrs. James
Heuns.
“Fuzzy ’ Hoard was an uncle
of Lew's Law, a member of the
Griffin Police Department. Mr.
Helms, also a city employe for
merly with the Light and Water
Department, now works in the
city hall.
Mr. Helms said today that
Griffin relatives probably would
get together this afternoon and
go to Jefferson.
Bloodmobile
Will Visit
Here Tuesday
An urgent plea for blood do
nors to go to the bloodmobile
here Tuesday went out today.
Because blood donations have
been falling short in recent mon
ths, several hospitals have been
having to call on donors direct
ly to meet blood needs.
A spokesman for the blood
program here said the Griffin-
Spalding Hospital has had to call
on local donors to come to the
hospital because supplies from
the blood banks have fallen off.
The spokesman explained that
hospitals are not equipped to
handle a large number of do
nors. When bloodmobile goals
are not met, hospitals have to
turn to local donors directly and
fill the need on emergency ba
sis, the spookesman said.
Te bloodmobile will be in Grif
fin Tuesday from 11 a.m. till 5
p.m. at the Cheatham auditor
ium of the First Baptist Church.
School Praised
For Rating In
First Year
Griffin High School’s ROTC
has been given an honor rating
during its first year.
The top rating came as the re
sult of a federal inspection here
last April. A special corps of in
spectors from the Third Army
Headquarters at Ft. McPherson
came to make the inspection.
General orders listing all
honor ROTC units are being
prepared and will be published
soon. However, a spokesman for
Third Army Headquarters in
Atlanta verified for the Griffin
Daily News that Griffin High is
an honor unit.
There are 61 high school ROTC
units in the Third Army area
wlliich inchsies seven suouth
eastern states. Os the 61, 45
have been given the honor rat
, ing.
Maj. Tom O’Connell guided the
Griffin High ROTC unit through
its first year, <1966-67*. He since
has resigned and Maj. Augustus
H. Pelt, a native of Griffin, has
been named to head the Griffin
Unit, succeeding Maj. O’Connell.
The unit inspection on which
the rating was based was made
April 12. Guides in evaluating
the unit were general effective
ness. training program, cadet
corps morale, and institutional
and community support.
In announcing the honor ra
ting, Third Army officials told
the Griffin Daily News that
much credit is due the entire sc
hool system for its work to make
the unit a success.
They praised the entire Grif
fin-Spalding Community for the
way it had backed the ROTC
unit in its first year at Griffin.
The Third Army praised the
cadet corps the Army personnel
who supervised the program for
their enthusiasm and willingness
to work long hours to reach the
honor rating.
Weather:
FORECAST FOR GRIFFIN
AREA Partly cloudy with mild
nights and warm afternoon th
rough Tuesday. Chance of iso
lated thundershowers.
LOCAL WEATHER Maximum
today 87, minimum today 67,
maximum Sunday 86, minimum
Sunday 64, Sunrise Tuesday 6:48
a.m., sunset Tuesday 8:33 p.m.