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VENIN vJF
By Quimby Melton
Once again the righting in Viet
nam comes close to home. Ma
rine Corp. T. M. McClure has
been killed in action. He and
his widow formerly Miss Jo
Ann Cato, both once lived here.
His widow and parents now
live in Thomaston. All Griffin
extends sympathy to them in
their loss.
— + —
They are starting to move the
monuments from uptown Griffin
to the Veterans Memorial Park
which will be located west of
the city on Memorial Drive ad
jacent to the Confederate Ceme
tery. When completed the Me
morial Park will be a fitting
place for monuments to the men
and women who have fought in
our wars.
It will be quite a job to move
the large Confederate Monument,
which originally stood in the
middle of the intersection of Hill
and Solomon, but which a few
years ago was moved some 50
feet into the parkway that runs
down the center of South Hill
street. It will be difficult to move
this monument because it is tre
mendous and weighs many tons.
At the time the Confederate
Monument is moved a small con
crete box, buried at its base will
be moved. This was first put
at the base of the monument,
when it stood at its original lo
cation, during Griffin’s 100th bir
thday celebration in 1940.
It is not to be opened until
Griffin celebrates her 200th bir
thday, in 2040.
— * —
When the mayor of Griffin in
2040 opens the concrete vault
what will he find?
And why is it believed he will
find anything? For the box and
its contents will have been bur
ied 100 years and will have been
moved twice.
The concrete vault was made
of water resistant concrete, then
both inside and outside were
coated with heavy pitch. Inside
the concrete box was placed a
lining made of copper, with all
seams welded so as to make it
water and air tight.
After the many articles were
placed in the copper box the lid
was sealed by welding the se
ams; the copper box was plac
ed in the slightly larger concrete
box, the lid placed on it and this
in turn was tightly sealed.
So there you are. If it hoped
the precautions taken in 1940 will
preserve until 2040 the souvenirs
of the Griffin’s 100th birthday
Now what does the box con
tain?
First there are many Griffin
made articles, such as towels;
ladies hose and men and chil
drens sox; there is a small jar
of Pimiento peppers — at first
it was planned to put a jar of
Sunshine Peach Pickles, but it
was feared the juice might fer
ment, blow its top and ruin ev
erything else. (Incidentally, one
Griffin booster wanted to put a
bottle of Spalding County moon
shine in the box, but this idea
was vetoed for it was also be
lieved it would muddle up the
other contents.)
There are letters there from
W. B. Harris, 1940 mayor, to
whosoever may be mayor in
2040; also one from W. A. Jes
ter, 1940 chairman of the coun
ty commission, to his successor
a hundred years later, Similar
letters are there from C. D.
Randall, chairman, 1940 centen
nial; the Presidents of the Cham
ber of Commerce, Junior Cham
ber of Commerce, three civic
clubs then here, Exchange, Ro
tary and Kiwanis and various
Women’s Clubs.
There’s a letter from Good
Evening addressed to the 2040
editor of the Griffin Daily News.
The envelope has every deno
mination of stamp sold in Grif
fin at the time on it. The letter
also has the notation “I hope
the 2040 editor will be a descen
dant of mine.”
There’s another letter In t h e
big concrete vault:
One from Franklin D. Roose
velt. The letter is unusual be
cause when Good Evening first
wrote the White House asking
such a letter congratulating
Griffin, he was told the Presi
dent ‘‘could not congratulate
with a letter, every city that
holds a celebration.”
But we kept after Steve Ear
ly, press Secretary to FDR, and
our personal friend. Finally we
got the letter. It was a m o s t
friendly letter. A reproduction
of that letter was carried on the
front page of the News’ Centen
nial Special edition. Copies of
the Griffin Dally News for that
week were included among the
mementoes preserved till 2040.
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IKN BACKS BOMBING NEAR RED CHlNA—Leaving Walter Reed Hospital
in Washington after 10 days’ treatment of a gastroenteritis attack, former Pre
sident Dwight D. Eisenhower tells newsmen he flatly upholds the bombing of
Communist targets in North Vietnam near the Red Chinese border.
Mt. Zion Camp Meet
Will Open Sunday
The 133rd session of Mt. Zion
Methodist Camp Meeting will
open Sunday with one of the na
tion’s top teachers of prayer as
evangelist.
Dr. Thomas A. Carruth of Wil
more, Ky., director of Prayer
and Spiritual Life at Asbury Col
lege in Wilmore, will be the
speaker.
Te Rev. Don Harp of Carroll
ton will be te song leader and
youth worker. Working with the
Rev. Harp will be Mrs. Carl
Thomas, pianist and youth work
er.
Dr. Carruth, an accredited tea
cher of prayer has preached
throughout the United States and
in many foreign countries. He is
a member of the Mississippi Me
thodist Conference.
Services will be held Monday
through Saturday at 11 a.m.
and 8 p.m. Sunday services will
be held at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and
8 p.m The meeting will contin
ue through Sunday, Aug. 27.
Bible Time, under the direc
tion of the Rev. Harp and Mrs.
Thomas, will be held each mor
ning at 9:45 for children. Recrea
tion for the children has been
planned for the afternoons from
2 to 5 p.m.
Woman Bought Pistol Which
Inmate Used In Suicide
ATLANTA (UPD — A pistol
that a criminally-insane patient
at Milledgeville State Hospital
used to take his own life was
purchased by the wife of an
other inmate, state hospital
authorities revealed Friday.
The woman, identifed as Mrs.
Virginia Presley of LaGrange,
has been picked up by autho
rities and will be questioned by
hospital authorities. She was
charged with carrying a con
cealed weapon.
The weapon, a .22 caliber
German make pistol, was used
by Vachel Whatley, 26, of Ce
dartown to take his life in a
locked maximum security room
Agri-Industry
Awards Planned
ATLANTA (UPD — To spot
light agri-industry, a multi-bil
lion dollar contributor each year
to Georgia’s economy, a series
of regional awards in this field
will be held again this year.
Dr. J. W. Fanning vice presi
dent of the University of Geor
gia and chairman of the agri
industry committee of the Geor
gia State Chamber of Com
merce, said nominations for the
awards are now being sought
from civic clubs throughout the
state.
“This industry is still in its
infancy,” Fanning said, and the
awards initiated last year are
one way to stimulate it.
Agri-industry -of - the - year
awards in 1966 went to J. D.
Jewell Co., Gainesville; Stuck
ey’s Inc., Eastman; the Lang
dale Co., Valdosta; Tom Hustor
Peanut Co., Columbus and Bea
ver Packing Co., Newnan.
DAILY NEWS
Daily Since 1872
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Dr. Thomas A. Carruth
The hotel and dining room will
be operated by the WSCS of the
Pomona Methodist Church. Re
servations for the hotel or for
meals may be made by calling
the hotel at 228-8930. Reserva
tions should be made in advan
ce.
Many of those people planning
at the hospital Thursday night.
Whatley, a schizophrenic who
stabbed his great aunt to death
in 1959, had been showing signs
of improvement “to an extent,”
according to Dr. Charles E.
Bush, director of hospital ser
vices. Whatley was indicted in
1960 but was never tried.
Hospital security chief Wil
liam N. McCann said Whatley’s
pistol was purchased at a Mil
ledgeville store for $16.95 on
Aug. 11 by Mrs. Presley, who
visited her husband, Cecil, at
the hospital then and the follow-
US Planes Pound
Bed Supply Bontes
By EUGENE V. RISHER
SAIGON (UPD — American
warplanes battered Communist
supply routes in North Vietnam
with a near-record 186 missions
Friday, U.S. officials said
today. The Air Force flew 105 of
the missions, a record.
The Navy and Air Force
supersonic jets concentrated on
the southern panhandle of North
Vietnam, a main supply route
to the South
Huge U.S. 852 bombers today
followed up the fighter-bomber
sweeps by blasting the A Shau
valley in the most northern part
of South Vietnam, the key
supply zone where the Commu
nists are reported building for
another new offensive against
U.S. Marines entrenched near
the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
U.S. planes flew a record 197
missions over the Communist
nation Aug. 3. It was not
Griffin, Ga., 30223, Sat. and Sun., August 19-20,1967
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Rev. Don Harp
to spend the week at the camp
ground in “tents” or at the ho
tel began moving in today. Oth
ers are expected to move in Sun
day and Monday.
The Rev. Eugene Walton, pas
tor of the Mt. Zion-’~ jmona Me
thodist Charge, will be the host
pastor.
ing day, McCann said.
Presley was a patient in the
same building with Whatley. He
had been transferred to Mil
ledgeville from the Reidsville
State Penitentiary where he was
serving a sentence for automo
bile larceny and burglary.
McCann said Presley has re
fused to talk about the case.
Whatley was admitted to the
hospital March 14, 1960 follow
ing his indictment. He con
fessed killing his aunt, Cleo
Harkneyi in her sleep and then
setting the bed on fire.
revealed whether any American
planes were lost Friday.
American officials in Saigon
disclosed that 647 American
warplanes have been lost over
North Vietnam, three more than
previously reported. No explan
ation was given for the
downings of the additional
three, nor was it revealed when
they were lost.
Today’s 852 raids pelted tons
of bombs into the thickly
jungled A Shau Valley within a
mile and a half of the Laotian
border.
In ground action, American
and Allied forces today reported
killing 150 Communists in
scattered fighting from South
Vietnam’s northern provinces to
the boggy Mekong Delta.
A swift air-ground crossfire
mowed down 26 Viet Cong near
Saigon during a sweep to flush
election-disrupting terrorists.
5-STAR WEEKEND EDITION
GRIFFIN
Three-Lane Work
Will Start Soon
‘High Spot,’
1-75 Reports
Also Received
Work on adding another lane
of traffic on U. S. 19 near Hil
landale subdivision will begin
within three weeks, the State
Highway Department has told
Mayor Carl Pruett.
The additional lane will be con
structed to relieve congestion in
the area.
City officials asked the State
Highway Department to do
something about the dangerous
strip of highway after it no
ted a sharp increase in the num
ber of accidents on the road.
COMPLETION
Completion of the additional
lane is expected soon. The
highway which leads to Zebu
lon and on south is a two-lane
route in the area now.
Besides the subdivision, the
Griffin-Spalding Airport, the two
National Guard buildings, the
Kiwanis Fair grounds, a high
way maintenance building and
a couple of other establishments
are in the area.
HIGH SPOT
In other discussions with the
Highway Department, Mayor
Pruett said that consideration
will be given to lowering the
high spot on the south leg of the
exp ressway just north of Mcln
tosh road.
This intersection with the ex
pressway has been the scene of
many automobile accidents. The
city installed yellow caution
lights on approaches to the in
tersection in an effort to warn
motorists of the danger.
Mayor Pruett believes that
lowering the high spot would re
duce the hazard.
1-75 ROUTE
The Griffin mayor also was
told that 1-75 would be comple
ted by Nov. to a point near Mc-
Donough. He learned that State
Route 81 would be used to get
the traffic from that point back
on to the U. S. 41 four lane. Rou
te 81 joins the four-lane route to
Atlanta a couple of miles north
of Hampton.
Mayor Pruett said the open
ing of the four-lane to Barnes
ville from U.S. 19 south of Grif
fin probably would be delayed
several months.
HEAVY TRAFFIC
The city has pointed out to the
State Highway Department that
a heavy traffic problem would
be created at Hill and Taylor st
reets, should the traffic be rou
ted south on U. S. 19 when the
Barnesville route is ready.
City officials said under pre
sent conditions, some 13,000 cars
daily would be expected to clog
the busy Griffin intersection.
For that reason, the city would
like for the Griffin by-pass to be
ready before the change in rou
tes is made.
BY-PASS
The Griffin by-pass will route
traffic around Griffin on a four
lane road leaving the express
way near Ellis road and run
ning behind Spalding Junior
High, looping around near the
Spalding County prison and
Elks Club until it joins the new
four-lane to Barnesville.
The new Barnesville route is
nearing completion to an inter
section with U.S. 19 south of Gr
iffin.
Further Study
EXETER, England (UPD—
Whoever ticketed policewoman
Ena Bennett for illegal parking
started a legal controversy he
didn’t count on.
Miss Bennett pleaded in
nocent, pointing out that a
uniformed police officer may
authorize parking in a no
parking zone. She authorized
herself to do so for 70 minutes,
she said, because she needed a
parking space in connection
with a larceny investigation.
The prosecutor was ‘‘reluc
tant to prosecute” because the
policewoman was working for
his office when she parked.
The judge adjourned the case
for 14 days to permit study of
the legal issues involved.
Vol. 95 No. 195
State Pledges To Get
Fuzzy Hoard’s
By MARGIE RASMUSSEN
JEFFERSON, Ga. (UPD —
Gov. Lester Maddox stood be
fore a mangled automobile hulk
—the only visual reminder of
the dynamite assassination of
Piedmont Solicitor Floyd G.
(Fuzzy) Hoard—and shook his
head. ‘‘We can’t ever let this
go unsolved.”
“We’re going to get him,”
(the murderer) promised Geor
gia Bureau of Investigation Maj.
Barney Ragsdale. “There’s no
doubt.”
The governor moved around
the bombed out car in a grassy
lot behind the red - brick jail
house of Jackson County where
he journeyed Friday afternoon
Little To Go On
In Family Massacre
By WILLIAM FOX
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (UPD—
Authorites today had “very
little to go on” in solving the
Friday night of horror in which
a 30-year-old church deacon was
tied up and wounded and his
wife and four children burned to
death.
David Hoskins, 30, was
reported in good condition
today, recovering from bullet
wounds in the upper chest and
abdomen he said were inflicted
by the five or six intruders who
burst into his home and killed
his family.
Stearns County officials were
still trying to piece together the
events of terror which shook the
peaceful Hoskins’ farm 17 miles
southwest of here.
Griffin Girl
To Serve With
ARC In Vietnam
Aleene M. Nichol, 670 South
Hill street, Griffin will go to
South Korea in September to
join the staff of the American
Red Cross as a member of the
recreation team assigned to club
mobile-recreation programs.
She will first report to ARC
national headquarters in Wash
ington, D.C., on Sept. 11 for a
two-week orientation and train
ing course before leaving for
Korea. In Korea the clubmobile
girls, who travel in teams, co
ver regular circuits to provide
informal recreation activites for
U.S. servicemen who are able
to visit established recreation
centers only infrequently. At
each outfit the girls lead men in
group games, stunts, skits and
songfests.
Miss Nichol was graduated
from Emory University in 1967
with a B.A. degree in math. She
is the daughter of Mrs. Aleene
M. Nichol of Griffin.
Country Parson
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“It’s surprising how many
folks regard as good be
havior that which I believe
to be bad.”
to meet w’ith local leaders and
lawmen probing Hoard’s Aug. 7
murder.
Pointing to the twisted wreck
in which Hoard lost his life
when the ignition triggered a
dynamite blast, Maddox said,
“When you see things like this,
you wonder why anybody would
want to do away with the elec
tric chair.”
The governor and a large
party of state officials drove
from the jail to a home where
he talked with Hoard’s widow,
accompanied by her four child
ren. Maddox told her in a brief
conversation that the death of
her husband has “got the com
munity alarmed. He’s got his
i Sheriff Peter Lahr said there
was very little to go on. A .22-
caliber rifle and ,410-gauge
shotgun were found in the
burned ruins of the home, but
Hoskins said he owned the guns.
Lahr said he had no suspects.
Autopsy Doubted
Dr. J.P. McDowall, said he
had not scheduled an autopsy
and doubted whether much
could be discovered through an
examinatin of the bodies.
“There is not very much there
to examine.”
■ • County officials and agents
from the State Crime Bureau
sifted through the ruins Friday
and in the surrounding farmyard
for clues. They also questioned
neighbors and friends of the
family. • •
One of the questions officials
sought to answer was how the
wife and children were kept in
the house while it was burning.
All five bodies were found in
the living room area of the
ruins.
Hoskins told authorities he
and his wife, Loretta, 29, were
watching television shortly be
fore midnight when he heard
what sounded like a door
slamming.
He said he got up to
investigate, walked out onto the
porch and was overpowered by
four or five men who blindfold
ed him with a hand towel and
“bullied” him around.
Relaet dStory
Lahr said Hoskins then
related how the men tied him to
the cross bar of a clothes line,
shot him and set fire to his
house. He said he never lost
consciousness.
A group of about a half dozen
teen-agers from the area said
they were riding when they saw
the flames of the house. They
went to the farm and found
Hoskins.
One of the teen-agers stayed
at the farm while the others
hauled Hoskins to Mueller’s
store.
Hoskins was not told until
later that his wife and children
—Julie Ann, 6, Darla, 4, Linda,
1, and David Eli, six weeks—
were dead.
Garage Roof
Damaged By
Lightning Bolt
Lightning struck a garage
roof in Melrose subdivision Fri
day night during an electrical
storm here.
The Griffin Fire Department
put out the fire at about 9 o’clo.
ck.
It was located at the home of
Kelley Lewis, 215 Melrose ave
nue.
Weather observer Horace
Westbrooks recorded 1.65 inches
of rain within one and a half
hours during the storm.
Killer
state alarmed; he’s got them all
working now.
“It’s a shame they didn’t ear
lier.”
The people of Jefferson turned
out in large numbers to see the
governor, and many waited for
much of the hot' afternoon in
the meeting room of the old
white courthouse, where Mad
dox had been expected to speak.
But the governor instead held
private conferences in a down
town motel room for about an
hour before making the trip to
the auto graveyard at the jail
house and the visit to Mrs.
Imogene Hoard.
People jammed the sidewalk
near the motel, and a crowd of
children, state troopers and
newsmen surrounding the door
to the room Maddox was in. Af
ter he talked with law enforce
ment officers and others, Mad
dox had an audience with Sher
iff L. G. (Snuffy) Perry, es
corted there by the governor’s
executive secretary, Tommy Ir
vin.
Perry’s future was the sub
ject of discussion, since he was
earlier ousted from the investi
gation of Hoard’s death by GBI
officials and Maddox had looked
into ways to have him removed
from office.
According to G. Wesley Chan
nell the new solicitor, the ssher
iff was not confronted with GBI
charges he delayed in locking
up two bootlegging operations
and failed to destroy a cache of
illegal liquor.
But Channell said the sheriff
denied he was guilty of wrong
doing and pointed to his rec
ord of arrests of car thieves.
“It was an inconclusive mo
ment in an inconclusive day,”
Channell said later.
No decision was made on
whether to try to fire Perry, he
said, and Maddox said he did
not ask Perry to resign. The
meeting primarily “resolved to
handle all of this on a local
basis with full cooperation of
the state,” Channell said.
“We’re over here for one
cause,” Maddox told newsmen,
"to help the people here find
the killers and to prevent this
from happening in other areas
of Georgia.
“We had no other motive for
coming, but if we find that oth
er things are being done in vio
lation of the law, we don’t mind
whose toes we step on.”
Maddox said, “It's good to be
back in Maddox country,”
where voters were solidy be
hind him in his election bid last
year. But the crowds were
mostly silent and some people
grumbled that they wished
“he’d stay in Atlanta where he
belongs.”
At the jailhouse, Maddox
viewed a cotton truck and a
large van filled with some 1,500
cases of bootleg beer the sher
iff had been ordered to submit
to revenue agents. State Reve
nue Commissioner Peyton
Hawes told Maddox “we’re go
ing to break it all up.”
“Tomorrow’s all right,” said
Maddox, who does not drink.
“Just so long as it gets done.”
Ragsdale had no comment on
the future course of the investi
gation, but said as far as he is
concerned, Perry’s ouster Is fi
nal.
In neighboring states, mean
while, officers brought a man
from Florida to Greenville, S.C.,
for questioning into a similar
bombing incident. Charged with
conspiracy to murder was Whit
ner (Whit) Landreth, formerly
of Anderson, S. C.
“I understand they want that
man for questioning in connec
tion with the recent bombing of
that car in Jefferson, Ga.,”
commented the Florida sheriff
who apprehended Landreth In
Daytona Beach.