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VENIN vF
By Quimby Melton
Christmas time is a time when
one has to keep a date book if
one is not to forget an important
event, an important meeting, or
an important party.
Here are two dates next week
that everyone should remember.
Frist — Tomorrow, Sunday,
Dec. 10, the Jaycees will be out
to collect some $2,500 in dona
tions from Griffin people, with
which to finance their annual
Empty Stocking Fund.
Second: Tuseday, Dec. 12 the
Red Cross Bloodmobile will pay
a visit to Griffin being at the
Cheatham building of the First
Baptist Church. Those who can
do so and who will give a pint
of blood will be giving a great
Christmas present to someone
who needs a life saving transfus
ion.
What is the true Christmas
spirit?
Has America forgotten what
Christmas really means?
Have we let Santa Claus cr
owd Jesus Christ out of the pic
ture?
Is Christmas getting too com
mercial?
Is Christmas chiefly a time
for gay parties?
Those are some questions one
may ask.
In our opinion the true Christ
mas spirit is one of rejoicing
because Christmas day is the
birthday of the Babe of Bethle
hem — the Son of God — who
was sent to earth to save man
from his sins.
It is a spirit that expresses
love and concern over the hap
piness of others.
It is the spirit of childlike fai
th, that trusts in God, the Fath
er.
It is a spirit of tenderness for
the young; a spirit that looks
forward to the time when boys
and girls become adults and face
the troubled world — the spirit
that determines to do its part
today to make the world, of the
future, more secure for them.
It’s a spirit of humbleness; re
joicing that God ''so loved the
world” and “made man in his
own image;” and is forgiving
and willing to save.
We don't believe that America
has forgotten what Christmas
really means. Tn the rush of the
Christmas season many may not
take time to meditate on this.
But deep down in the hearts of
everyone they know that Christ
mas is the birthday of the Sav
ior.
Is Christmas a time for gay
parties?
Surely Christmas is a time for
rejoicing. Remember the “Her
ald Angles” sang the night of
the Blessed Birth.
The Master came on earth that
man might be happy — not de
pressed. All His teachings were
of happiness — not for the fro
thy kind of happiness, that in
he gay 20’s was known as “whoo
pey” but a genuine happiness
and Joy.
Christmas parties are Just fine
—but at such parties the fact
should be fully realized that it
is a “birthday party” for the
Child born in a manger in Be
thlehem.
Has Santa Claus crowded the
Baby Jesus out of the Christmas
picture?
Certainly not — especially In
the homes where mothers and
fathers have taken the time to
explain to their boys and girls
what Christmas really means.
They know it is the birthday of
Jesus. They know that Santa
Claus is the “jolly old saint”
who visits good little boys and
girls. Their parents should ex
plain to them that if it had not
been for the birth of Baby Jesus,
there could be no Christmas —
no Santa Claus.
— ♦ —
Sour old folks, who have for
gotten when they were young,
may think the Christmas of to
day has become a commer
cial affair. They forget that even
in this “modern” age there are
millions on millions of people
who still consider Christmas to
be what it is and should be.
EQUALITY POSTPONED
LONDON (UPI) — Britain’s
eight million working women
will have to wait until the
nation’s economy improves be
fore they can expect legislation
to require they be paid as much
as men, the labor ministry
announced Thussday.
Weather:
FORECAST FOR GRIFFIN
AREA — Mostly cloudy and
mild with scattered showers to
night and Sunday.
LOCAL WEATHER — Maxi
mum today 65, minimum today
55, maximum Friday 65, mini
mum Friday 55. Sunrise Sunday
7:30 a.m., sunset Sunday 5:34
p.m.
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(Griffin Daily News Staff Photo)
Jaycee Frank Gold collects a donation for the Empty Stocking Fund from Mrs.
Leonard Erwin.
Empty Stocking Drive
Will Be Held Sunday
The Griffin Jaycees will have
their annual fund raising drive
Sunday for the Empty Stocking
Fund. The goal is $2,500.
The Jaycees and Boy Scouts,
who will aid in the drive, will
begin a door-to-door canvas of
the city at 7 a.m.
Funds raised during the drive
will be used to purchase food,
clothing and toys for needy fa
milies at Christmas.
They will seek donations of $1
at each home, but will accept
any contributions, including re-
City, Farm Bureau
Ask Regents To
Rescind Resolution
The city of Griffin government
and the Spalding County Farm
Bureau today voiced concern ab
out the future of the Experiment
Station in Griffin.
The city government called on
the Board of Regents to let the
control of federal and state re
search funds remain under the
Griffin station.
P. W. Hamil, president of the
Spalding Farm Bureau, asked
the State Farm Bureau to use its
influence in an effort to keep the
funds under control of the Grif
fin station.
Mr. Hamil disclosed that Don
ald M. Haistings, head of Haist
ings Seed Company, written a
letter to Dr. C. C. Murray of the
College of Agriculture. Mr. Hais
tings said he was concerned ab
out the possibility of centraliz
ing agriculture research in Ath
ens.
The Spalding County delega
tion to the General A>embly
carried the matter before the
Board of Regents at its meeting
last month. Rep. Quimby Melton,
Jr., Rep. Clayton Brown and
Sen. Robert Smalley, all told
the Regents there was concern
in Griffin and Spalding County
that the station might be mov
ed.
They said the transfer funds
control from the Griffin station
had brought on the concern.
Griffin City Commissioners,
Carl Pruett, Kimsey Stewart, O.
M. Snider, Jr., as well as com
missioner-elect Joe Dutton and
City Manager J. S. Langford,
sent a telegram to the Regents
asking them to rescind the reso-
A 5-STAR WEEKEND EDITION
GRIFFIN
DAILY # NEWS
Daily Since 1872
I -fl 6) SHOPPING
II DAYS LEFT
I CHRISTMAS SEALS fight TB anil
| Other RESPIRATORY DISEASES
pairable toys. A miniature Ch
ristmas stocking will be present
ed to contributors in apprecia
tion for their donations.
The toys will be repaired in
the Home Economics and shop
departments at Griffin High Sc
hool. Many toys collected in
the toy drive have been repair
ed and the students are working
on others.
Application for aid through the
Empty Stocking Fund were tak
en Monday, Tuesday and Wed
nesday this week by members
of the Griffin Utility Club. The
lution.
If the move cannot be rescind
ed, they asked that it be delay
ed until a study of its effect cou
ld be made. The change is sche
duled to be made Jan. 1, 1968.
Mr. Hamil called on the State
Farm Bureau to ask the Regents
to consider a change in the re
solution.
The Regents may discuss the
situation at its meeting next
week.
Regent Jim Owen of Griffin
at the board’s meeting last
month made a motion that the
resolution be rescinded. The
motion did not receive a second
and died.
Regent Roy Harris of Augusta
offered a motion that any ac
tion on the resolution be delay
ed. The motion carried.
Country Parson
JV wk. ll -’
“God’s word doesn’t
change — the way it comes
to us does.”
Griffin, Ga., 30223, Sat. and Sun., Dec. 9-10,1967
Solons Will Study
Revamp Suggestions
Utility Club will screen the ap
plications and make recommen
dations to the Jaycees.
The Utility Club has handled
the applications for several ye
ars.
Several hundred Griffin famil
ies will be aided through the pro
gram. Food baskets will be pre
sented for Christmas dinner to
needy families. Toys will be fur
nished so Santa Claus may vis
it in the needy homes.
Jaycees will deliver the food
baskets and toys in time for
Christmas.
Trooper Shot
In Speed Case
EASTMAN, Ga. (UPl)—State
Trooper R. L. Jones, 26, was
recovering in a hospital today
as fellow officers pressed a
search for a Negro assailant
who gunned him down after
being stopped for speeding.
The assailant either fled on
foot into a nearby wooded area
or hitchhiked a ride — authori
ties had indications of both.
Troopers using bloodhounds
combed the woods and found
nothing and the patrol sent out
an alert to other areas.
A motorist told police he saw
a young, slim Negro man in a
blue coat and Army hat catch
ing a ride in the area where
the stolen car was found aban
doned. The motorist said the
car had Florida license tags.
Arrested In Monroe County
He Took Car From
Lot Near Jail Here
A South Carolina Negro man
is being held in city jail on char
ges of larceny of an automobile
from a used car lot Friday af
ternoon.
Fredrick Smith Davis, 21, alias
James Samuel Davis, of Jones
ville, S.C., was arrested in Mon
roe County Friday night about
6 p.m. after he failed to pay for
gasoline at a Forsyth service
station.
Davis was arrested in Griffin
Friday morning and charged
with running a red light and dr
iving without a license. He was
lodged in city jail.
A local bondsman posted bond
for him. He was released from
city jail about 1:30 p.m. and al
legedly stole the car from Jes-
Federal Court
Recommends
Some Changes
By DON PHILLIPS
ATLANTA (UPI) — House
Speaker George L. Smith has
called for immediate committee
meetings to consider a federal
court decision, rejecting Geor
gia’s latest legislative reappor
tionment plan.
A three - judge federal panel
Friday rejected the plan, but
said it would approve a new
formula if certain changes were
made, mainly in the reappor
tionment of House districts.
Several changes were also rec
ommended for the Senate.
The three Judges termed the
overall plan, drafted by the 1967
General Assembly, as good “in
substantial degree.”
Smith said that while “we
have received a temporary set
back, every citizen of our great
state can be assured their law
makers will attack the problem
with vigor at the regular ses
sion of the General Assembly
convening Jan. 8.”
The speaker asked Rep. John
nie Caldwell of Thomaston,
chairman of the House Reappor
tionment Committee, to meet
with other committee members
as soon as possible to consider
a new plan.
X The state’s latest plan was
Jratfen along county lines for
both House and Senate, trim
ming House membership from
205 to 195 and increasing the
Senate from 54 to 56 members.
In its ruling, the court or
dered the Senate to shift Bryan,
Effingham, Jones and Rockdale
counties to new districts.
But thebiggest changes
would come in the House. In
effect, the court strengthened
the Atlanta areas political pow
er in the lower chamber at the
expense of Columbus, Savannah
and some rural areas.
The major change ordered in
House alignment would take
four representatives from exist
ing districts in either north or
south Georgia and give three to
DeKalb County and one to
Douglas County.
Cotton Crop
Smallest In
State Since 1895
WASHINGTON (UPI) —Geor
gia will have the smallest cot
ton crop since 1895 this year,
according to federal officials.
The Agriculture Department
estimated the state’s cotton
crop for 1967 at 230,000 bales,
Friday, down 86,000 bales from
last year.
The estimate puts Georgia
fourth behind the South’s other
leading cotton-producing states,
Mississippi, Arkansas and Lous
iana.
Officials blamed an early No
vember freeze and a special
two-year -old government sur
plus - reduction program for
causing the small crop.
ter and Hooper Used Car Lot, a
block from city jail.
A state wide alert was posted
for Davis.
He drove into a service station
at Forsyth and had the car fill
ed with gasoline. He drove
away without paying. A Monroe
County Deputy Sheriff arrested
him on 1-75.
He was returned to Griffin
where he was charged with lar
ceny of an automobile.
A check with the Union Co
unty Sheriff’s Department in
South Carolina revealed that the
car Davis was driving when ar
rested Friday morning also was
stolen. He is wanted in South
Carolina for auto theft and bur
glary.
Vol. 95 No. 290
Spalding - Fayette
District Asked
The federal court 'recom
mended that Spalding and
Fayette Counties be combined
into a House district with two
representatives. At present Sp
alding is a district with two
representatives.
Fayette at present is in a
House district with Clayton.
The court did not recommend
any changes in the 28th sen
atorial district. This Includes
Spalding, Pike, Lamar, Butts
and Monroe.
In the senate, the court said
assuming the constitutional
amendment providing an extra
Bid Reeieved On
Henry-Clayton 1-75
If all goes as scheduled, Inter
state 75 between Atlanta and the
Florida line will be completed
and in use in October of 1969.
That is the word today from
the State Highway Department.
The department announced
that bids were opened Friday
on the last gap in the Atlanta to
Macon link of Interstate 75.
The link — 6.3 miles in Henry
and Clayton counties—is sche
duled for completion on Oct. 1,
1969.
When that stretch of Interstate
Highway is completed, Atlanta
will be connected with Florida
by 1-75, which is just a few mil
es east of Griffin.
The Interstate highway is al
ready open from Florida to Ma
con. Work is progressing near
schedule on the links from Ma
con to a point just east of Grif
fin.
When the link in Henry and
Clayton counties is completed in
October of 1969 a motorist can
travel from Atlanta to Florida
on 1-75.
The State Highway Depart
ment opened bids on 24 state
and federal-aid projects on Fri
day. The low bids totaled $16,-
418,554.80.
The largest single project in
the letting was the 1-75 link in
Henry and Clayton counties. The
apparent low bid on it was $4,-
243,496.10. It was submitted by
Shepherd Construction Co., Inc.
of Atlanta.
Also included in the Friday
letting was a federal-aid secon
dary project in Butts County.
It calls for 3.633 miles of grad
ing and paving and one bridge
on the Patillo, Georgia 16 road,
beginning at Patillo and extend
ing northerly to Georgia 16.
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(Griffin Daily News Staff Photo)
New Officers
Griffin Area Chamber of Commerce officers for 1968 will be (1-r) C. A. “Lon”
Knowles, president of First National Bank; Earle Millican, Jr., president of Milli
can Oil Co.; and Gene Cook, president of Southern States Printing Co. Ca r J
Richardson, Dundee Mill Executive, is president this year.
senator for DeKalb and one
for Fulton passes, that these
counties are within the tole
rance. But the court said
Rockdale, now linked with
Clayton and Henry, must be
joined to Walton, Newton,
Morgan, Jasper and Putnam
and Jones moved from that
group (district 45) and com
bined with Bibb’s two districts.
Clayton and Henry wonld re
tain a senator and still be
the most under-represented
district by 1966 population esti
mates.
The apparent low bid on that
project was $206,075.99 submit
ted by Hill Construction Co. of
Thomaston.
Maddox Says
‘Splinter’ Plan
Is Ridiculous
ATLANTA (UPI) — Gov.
Lester Maddox and the state’s
Democratic party chairman
have dismissed as “ridiculous”
threats from a party splinter
group to unseat the Maddox-ap
pointed delegation at the 1968
Democratic National Conven
tion.
Chairman James Gray called
the challenge “a little bit ri
diculous,” while Maddox stated
confidently, "I don’t anticipate
being thrown out.”
The threat came Thursday
from a group called the Geor
gia Democratic Forum, which
urged national democratic lead
ers to bar the state’s delegation
because of Maddox’ refusal to
declare support for the party’s
national ticket.
“I have had seating fights be
fore,” Maddox declared. “I
think I can get in in 1968, hope
fully.”
The furor arose after Maddox
declared earlier this wek that
anyone who would avow uncon
ditional support of the national
ticket would be “either stupid,
fools, cowards, or traitors.”
Gray, in a radio interview,
said the governor’s statement
was not intended to be as harsh
as it sounded.
Bank At
Douglas
Folds
DOUGLAS, Ga. (UPI) — For
scores of residents in this small
south Georgia city, Dec. 8,
1967 will be remembered as
“Black Friday.”
It was at 9:15 a.m. Friday
that the Commercial Bank of
Douglas folded.
Depositors lined up in front
of the bank, pressing their
faces up against the barred
front door. Some cried. For
many, their life savings were
lost. One woman said her
daughter would not be able to
return to college.
Several depositors reportedly
lost as much as SIO,OOO.
The run on the bank started
Thursday, following a statement
earlier in the week that the
private, uninsured ’bank was
one of 10 institutions in Geor
gia failing to be certified for in
sured by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corp.
The bank survived the initial
run. On Friday, however, only
minutes after opening, a flurry
of withdrawals was blamed for
cleaning out much of the bank’s
capital. At 9:15 a.m. the doors
were closed and barred and of
ficials declared voluntary bank
ruptcy.
Some who were inside when
the doors closed were lucky.
They got their deposits. But a
crowd of about 200 to 300 out
side, remained locked out of
the bank that had operated in
their community for 22 years.
A policeman stood guard at
the entrance, but no trouble
was reported.
Bank officials could not be
reached for comment.
Shooting Said
Accidental
A Spalding County Negro man
was accidentally shot in the ab
domen with a shotgun at the
home of his father-in-law Friday
night.
Eugene Newton, 31, of Route
Two, Griffin, was in fair condi
tion today at the Griffin-Spald
ing County Hospital.
Deputies Jack Taylor and
Clyde Pierce said the shooting
was accidental.
Newton was at the home of Er
nest Beck of Walker’s Mill road.