Newspaper Page Text
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VENIN vF
By Quimby Melton
Good Evening had the pleasure
Os attending the banquet Satur
day night that wound up the
State convention of Georgia Fe
deration of Business and Profes
sional Women’s Clubs. The con
vention was held at nearby Cal
laway Gardens and the Griffin
club was host to the some 500
registered delegates. It was a
most enjoyable affair.
As host club Griffin BPW
made all arrangements, many
members worked like beavers
long before the opening, so that
nothing would be left undone to
make the convention a success,
then, changing into party cloth
es made attractive and charm
ing hostesses. We heard nothing
but praise for the Griffin club,
and we kept our ears wide open
to see what we might learn.
We’re mighty proud of o ur
Griffin Club and the way they
handled this convention. And we
are delighted that they saw fit
to invite this man to attend the
banquet Saturday night.
From first to last the banquet
was a success. From the very
first when Gayle Clark opened
the program as master of cere
monies and introduced the spec
tacular Parade of board mem
bers, officers, state and national,
each of whom stepped through a
flower bedecked portal onto a
small stage, were in the spotlight
for a moment, then moved off
the stage and to their seats,
the opening ceremonies had all
the features of a Miss America
pageant.
— * —
Good Evening was pleased
that he could attend the BPW
banquet party Saturday night.
Not only did he enjoy it, but ar
riving at Callaway Gardens ear
ly in the afternoon had time to
drive through the more than
2.500 acre gardens. Much of this
vast estate is still wooded and
full of native wild flowers and
shrubs; though the road one tra
vels is paved, this is the only
touch of modern days evident;
the paved roads follow the old
narrow wagon trails that once
ran through the forest. There are
walking and bridge trails, there
is an old-fashioned covered brid
ge across one stream, there is
a small chapel, nestled in t h e
woods on the banks of one of the
many lakes.
All in all the trip is one that
will bring a sense of relaxation
to one, of quietness and seren
ity. Even though there is t h e
roar of airplanes overhead (yes,
there is a small landing field on
the edge of the forest) and
speeding automobiles passing
on super highways just outside
the Gardens, everything is ser
ene along those winding trails
and if a trip through the Gardens
has the same effect on others as
it did on this old timer, such a
trip is a mighty good tonic
for one who is tense and fearful
due to the tensions and baffling
quzzles of today.
We ‘‘prescribe’’ a trip to Cal
laway Gardens and a drive
through the forest as a tonic.
Not only does Callaway Gar
dens provide a beautiful picture
of life in Georgia back in “the
good old days”, but it also has
a lot of modern day attractions
for visitors. There is no finer
vacation spot in the state than
Callaway Gardens.
And speaking of vacation
spots:,
Today’s issue of the Griffin
Daily News carries a special sup
plement, “Vacation ’69” spon
sored by the Georgia Depart
ment of Industry and Trade.
This newspaper is one of many,
both dailies and weeklies, in
Georgia that are carrying this
special Vacation supplement. We
suggest that our subscribers st
udy this supplement and in mak
ing plans for their summer
vacation resolve to spend '» right
here in Georgia.
One does not have to leave Ge
orgia to find a fine place to sp
end one’s vacation. Whether
one wants the mountains, the
seaside, beautiful inland vaca
tion spots like Callaway Garden,
they will find them right here in
Georgia.
Weather:
FORECAST FOR GRIFFIN
AREA — Fair to partly cloudy
with little temperature change
tonight and Wednesday.
LOCAL WEATHER — Esti
mated high today 84, low today
61, high yesterday 84, low yes
terday 65. Sunrise tomorrow
6:34. suset tomorrow. 8:40.
Krist Given
Life Sentence
By CHARLES S. TAYLOR
DECATUR, Ga. (UPD—The
only juror who wanted to free
Gary Steven Krist in the
kidnaping and burial of a
Miami heiress apparently saved
him from a death sentence.
The jury, after three hours
and 24 minutes deliberation,
convicted Krist Monday night,
but recommended mercy. The
bearded, relaxed Krist, 24, was
sentenced to life imprisonment,
making him eligible for parole
in seven years.
“The determining factor” in
the jury’s decision, Foreman H.
I. Rainwater said, was that no
harm had come to the victim,
Barbara Jane Mackie, 25-year
old daughter of millionaire
Florida land developer Robert
Mackie, a personal friend of
President Nixon. The Emory
University coed was buried 82
hours in a coffin-like box in
December while her abductors
extracted $500,000 in ransom
from Mackie.
Hard Feeling
“There was some hard
feeling for the death penalty,”
Rainwater said. The jury was
first split 10 for conviction, one
for acquittal and one absten
tion.
“The one gentleman (acquit
tal) had a misunderstanding,”
the foreman said. “After we
straightened him out, he was
quite willing to go along with
us.”
That convicted Krist. Then on
the vote for mercy, six jurors
said yes, five wanted death and
one abstained. The former
“acquittal” juror presumably
voted for mercy and meant the
difference in a life or death
verdict.
No Emotion
Krist showed no emotion at
the decision. In fact, as the
verdict was being read, he was
feeling his pulse to gauge his
own reaction. He figured he
was excited.
Miss Mackie who was kid
naped by "a big man” and “a
small figure” last Dec, 17 and
testified Saturday about her 82
hours in the ventilated eight
foot box, was not in the
courtroom when the jury
returned. Neither was Ruth
Eismann-Schier, Krist’s alleged
accomplice, who will be tried
June 16. Krist’s wife and two
children are in California.
410 g 7 ltkskzyx Krist UHBaS-27
Ist add 026 xx California.
“My pulse was fairly high for
me at 110,” Krist told news
men.
Asked if he was relieved by
the verdict, he replied:
“Well, my pulse is no longer
110.”
Expected to Die
Krist, who had said during
the trial that he expected to be
Apollo 10 Astronauts
Unlocked Moon Door
By EDWARD K. DELONG
UPI Space Writer
SPACE CENTER, Houston
(UPD—Apollo 10’s triumphant
astronauts have unlocked the
door to the moon. Apollo H’s
spacemen will walk through
that door in July.
Thomas P. Stafford, Eugene
A. Cernan and John W. Young
flew home today bearing the
knowledge on which space
officials will affirm decision on
the date for a manned lunar
landing.
Even as Stafford, Ceman and
Young blazed through the sky
Monday to a Pacific Ocean
splashdown East of American
Samoa, the three men selected
to fly Apollo 11 to a lunar
landing in the Sea of Tranquili
ty practiced in spacecraft
trainers at Cape Kennedy.
Outstanding Mission
“The Apollo 10 mission has
been outstanding,” said Nell A.
Armstrong, commander o f
Apollo 11 and tabbed as the
first American to set foot on
the moon. “We are looking
forward to hearing about it
firsthand from Tom, John and
Gene.”
Stafford, Ceman and Young,
who took the Apqllo command
and lunar landing modules to
the moon in a dress rehearsal
of the planned July landing,
returned to earth at 12:52 p.m.
EDT Monday.
The astronauts were picked
up by the carrier USS
Princeton, welcomed, examined
daily
Daily Since 1872
sentenced to death, said he
“still don’t think life in prison
is better than death.” Krist had
told Miss Mackie when he bur
ied her that he had spent time
in prison and “prison is like
being buried alive.”
Chatting with newsmen while
the jury deliberated, Krist said
he had read in the World Al
manac that no kidnaper who
had released his victim un
harmed had ever received the
death penalty. After the ver
dict, he said he thought such
decisions would keep kidnap
victims alive in the future be
cause kidnapers could expect
leniency.
Krist’s two court-appointed at
torneys, Mobley Childs and
James Venable, put no witness
es on the stand, preserving the
right to give the closing argu
ment.
Venable told the jury of ex
ecutives, engineers and sales
men to return an innocent ver
dict or “sit in there until the
roaches bring you out the key
hole.” He sharply criticized FBI
witnesses, several of whom he
called “niggers” and one whose
“appearance is kosher.”
He accused the FBI of want
ing to “put on a show” because
the victim’s father is “a per
sonal friend of the President of
the United States.”
Venable said later he would
appeal the decision.
Strong Evidence
Dist. Atty. Richard Bell, who
called it the "worst kidnaping
since the Lindbergh kidnaping,”
put up 75 witnesses and 207 ex
hibits during the five days of
testimony.
“Gentlemen, we’ve proved
this case not merely beyond a
reasonable doubt, but almost to
a mathematical certainty,” he
told the jury.
Afterward, he said he was
“naturally disappointed” in the
verdict.
“We felt the circumstances of
the crime demanded the death
penalty,” he said, adding
it was “unfortunate” the jurors
couldn’t place themselves in
Miss Mackie’s position in the
box.
INSIDE |
Local News. Page 2.
D-Day 25 Years Ago. Page 3.
Editorials. Page 4.
James Earl Ray. Page 5.
Vietnam Policy. Page 5.
Patrolmen. Page 5.
Society. P a ge 6.
Sports. Page 7.
Want Ads. Page 8.
Comics. Page 9.
Hijacker. Page 10.
American Party. Page 10.
LA Mayor’s Race. Page 10.
by doctors and fed, and flown
late Monday to Pago Pago in
American Samoa where they
boarded a jet for a direct flight
to Houston. They were to arrive
home about noon EDT today.
The astronauts were greeted
at Pago Pago by Gov. and Mrs.
Owen 6. Aspinall and about
5,000 Samoans. Mrs. Aspinall
and two island beauty queens
presented the spacemen with
colorful leis while a group of
dancing girls and a fire dancer
provided entertainment.
Stafford, glancing off at the
lush green mountains of Samoa
and thinking back to the rocky
craters of the lunar surface,
said, “I wonder why we want to
go to the moon.”
A pale moon was visible in
the clear afternoon sky when
the astronauts climbed aboard
a jet for the last leg of the trip
home.
Their wives and children
awaited them in Houston. So did
experts who planned to pick
their brains for 11 straight
days, gathering technical infor
mation for later use.
“We have a busy work
schedule ahead of us preparing
for a July launch, but Apollo 10
has done the pathfinding and
shows the job can be done,”
Armstrong said.
Space agency officials said
they found nothing in Apollo 10
to prevent flying the landing
mission on schedule, but
reserved the right to delay it if
necessary. Tentative liftoff for
GRIFFIN
Griffin, Ga., 30223, Tuesday, May 27, 1969
Sheriff Gilbert Suggests
Mail ‘Smut’ Offers
To U. S. Supreme Court
Pellets Damage
Pike Windows
Steel ball pellets were shot at
auto windows, a service station
window, and the window of a
home in Zebulon last night. The
windows were broken or damag
ed, according to Sheriff J. Astor
Riggins.
The sheriff said today he did
not know who was responsible.
He talked with John Bascom,
a SCLC field worker who has
been working with school boy
cotters and demonstrators in
Pike County. Sheriff Riggins told
Bascom he didn’t know who was
responsible for the pellets’ being
shot at the autos and windows.
But he cautioned Bascom that
he didn’t know what would hap
pen if it continued.
No marches were held in Ze
bulon yesterday or last night.
Negroes met again at the Mt.
Hope Baptist Church which has
been serving as headquarters for
the protests.
B”) FOR BUSINESS
NOLTON HAVEN, England
(UPI) —Two brothers sailed
their 14-foot dinghy into a
Royal Navy bomb practice area
to stop exercises they said hurt
resort business in the area.
“We have been informed that
a small craft fouled the
bombing range and held up the
exercise,” the Navy said.
Earl Pitts Slain;
Suspect Being Held
The crack of a rifle and a sc
ream brought two employes out
of a flower shop on South Sixth
street yesterday afternoon. They
rushed to a flower garden where
they found their employer lying
on the ground. He had been
shot through the chest.
George Earl Pitts of 593 South
Apollo 11 is July 16, tentative
lunar landing July 20.
Historic Day
“This is an historic day,”
said Dr. Thomas O. Paine,
director of the National Aero
nautics and Space Administra
tion (NASA). “Eight years ago
yesterday (May 25) the United
States made the deci'ion to
land men on the moon and
return them safely by the end
of the decade.
“Today, this moment, with
the Apollo 10 crew safely
onboard th? USS Princeton, we
know we can go to the m00n...
“Two weeks from today when
we have carefully reviewed the
flight data and debreifed the
crew of Apollo 10, we will know
whether we will be ready to set
forth on July 16,” he said.
Apllo 10’s astronauts roared
into space from Cape Kennedy
at 12:49 p.m. EDT May 18 and
then executed with precision
the maneuvers needed to place
it on the way to the moon.
Before they splashed into the
Pacific Ocean just 2.5 miles
from their intended impact
point, the astronauts had:
—Flown closer to the moon
than man has ever flown
before. That came when Ceman
and Stafford Thursday took the
moon lander called “Snoopy”
down to within 9.24 miles of the
moon on one pass and within 12
miles on another;
—Mapped and photographed
Continued on page two
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ALL EYES are on this three-pound ostrich egg, which
has been placed in a large incubator at the Denver
(Coio.) Federal Center. Bruce Whitlock, 13, seems
fascinated by the egg, which is expected to hatch in
July.
Sixth street, owner and opera
tor of Griffin Flower Shop, had
been wounded. He was dead on
arrival at the Griffin-Spalding
Hospital.
Police today held James Smith
Kimbell, 32, of 595 South Sixth
street, on a murder charge.
Police gave this account of
what happened:
Mrs. Eugenia Bartlett, a sal
eswoman at the flower shop, and
Mike Oliver, a Griffin High DE
student who works there in the
afternoons, ran to the flower
garden after they heard what
sounded like a shot and scream.
Oliver saw a man come from
between two houses and lay a
rifle at the base of a tree.
He identified the man as Kim
bell.
Kimbell had started to walk
off the porch of his home when
policemen, Sgt. Lawrence Mil
ler and Patrolman W. L. Huck
aby, arrested him. They had
been called to the flower shop.
Oliver and Mrs. Bartlett were
working in the flower shop.
Officers have been unable to
establish if the scream came
from Mr. Pitts or someone else.
Mr. Pitts apparently was ab
out to restart a lawn mower to
complete a chore he had begun
Country Parson
b- 27 i
1®
“We put off important jobs
so we can do urgent things —
which is why so many things
are urgent.”
Copyright 1969, by Frank A. Clark
Vol. 96 No. 124
earlier.
The self-propelled rotary mo
wer had a full tank of gas and
was in the choke position. Oli
ver had purchased gasoline for
it earlier.
Mr. Pitts had quit cutting
grass to watch the splashdown
of the Apollo 10 spacecraft on
television and eat lunch in his
home. He returned to the flow
er garden to finish cutting the
grass.
The rifle found at the base of
the tree was a Marlin 44.40 cali
ber lever-action with an octa
gon barrel. This type weapon
often is used by deer hunters in
the Griffin area. It is consider
ed high-powered.
Kimbell lives in a house own
ed by Mr. and Mrs. Pitts. It is
near the flower shop. Kimbell
lived with his mother there for
six years.
He had completed three and a
half years of college at the Uni
versity of Georgia and Georgia
State in Atlanta. He majored in
zoology and sociology.
Kimbell had been employed
as a butcher but had not work
ed for two and a half years. He
was a native of Henry County.
Attorneys John Goddard and
Tom Lewis have been appoint
ed to counsel him. He was trans
ferred from the city jail to the
county jail this morning.
Police have not found the bul
let which they believe killed Mr.
Pitts. It entered Mr. Pitts’ upper
He’s Not Ours
Wire service reports on the march at Zebulon stated that
the only violence that occurred was when a white spectator
slugged a white newsman, Cal Beverly of Griffin.
Several inquiries have come to the Griffin Daily News
asking if Beverly is a reporter for the paper.
He is not and never has been.
He previously worked for a Griffin radio station, and was a
correspondent for United Press International on a part time
basis.
Films, Pictures
Offered For Sale
Spalding County Sheriff Dway
ne Gilbert today suggested that
citizens of this community who
receive offers to purchase por
nographic films and pictures
“bundle it up and mail it to the
U. S. Supreme Court in Wash
ington.”
The sheriff, obviously boiling
with anger over such mail that
has hit this community, said he
thought the U. S. justices should
know what is being mailed
throughout the country.
Sheriff Gilbert showed news
men one of the mail offers re
ceived here. He called a news
conference at the jail this morn
ing to discuss the matter.
A company in California of
fered to sell movies and pictur
es of nude people engaged in sex
acts. Prices ranged from $25 to
SIOO.
The offers were mailed to
many business houses in Griffin
and Spalding County, Sheriff
Gilbert said.
He said he also knew that
some of the same such mail
was received at some homes in
the community.
“That’s what concerns me
most of all right now,” the sher
iff said.
“If such a piece of mail came
to my house and my children
opened it, and if I knew the
person who sent it, I know right
left chest and came out of his
right back.
A commitment hearing was
expected to be scheduled today
or tomorrow.
Mr. Pitts was born and rear
ed in Pike County, son of t h e
late Columbus Lewis Pitts and
the late Mary Lou Martin Pitts.
For 45 years he had lived in
Spalding County and for 25 ye
ars he and his wife had operat
ed the Griffin Flower Shop. He
was a member of the Florist Te
legraph Delivery Association
and the Georgia Florist Associa
tion.
Mr. Pitts was a member of the
First Baptist Church.
He is survived by his w i fe,
Mrs. Carolyn Edwards Pitts;
three daughters, Mrs. Frank
Gresham of Macon, Mrs. Alvin
Bowles of Annandale, Va., and
Mrs. J. Frank Harper of Grif
fin; three sisters, Mrs. J. Her
bert Speir, Sr., Mrs. J. Steve
Shackelford, both of Griffin,
and Mrs. Oscar Gardner of Gai
nesville, Fla.; three brothers, J.
E. Pitts of Griffin, Harvey Pitts
and Robert Pitts, both of Barn
esville; five grandchildren and
two great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be con
ducted tomorrow afternoon at 3
o’clock from Haisten’s chapel
with the Rev. Bruce Morgan of
ficating. Burial will be in Oak
Hill cemetery. Mr. Pitts’ body
will remain at Haisten Funeral
Home.
now what I’d do to him,” the
sheriff said.
The Spalding Sheriff believes
that some recent Supreme Court
rulings in obscenity cases is lar
gely responsible for the flood
of such mail here and in other
places.
“The Supreme Court justices
ought to see what is being mail
ed,” he said.
He believes they can help put
a stop to it.
The sheriff also lashed out at
some movies rated for adults
and shown at public theaters.
He said that some of the so call
ed general audience movies
were not. fit to be seen by yo
ung people.
“Some of them are loaded with
profanity,” the sheriff said.
Parents who have not gone to
a movie recently should go, the
sheriff said, so they will know
what is being offered on the sc
reens today.
The sheriff believes many of
them would be shocked to find
what their children can see in
a movie.
Some news stands in this com
munity have magazines for sale
which are not fit for children to
see, the sheriff added.
Parents should be alert as to
what is happening and what
their children are being exposed
to, the sheriff said.
He said he wishes the remail
ing of such offers to the Supre
me Court would snowball into a
movement so big that “they
would have to hire extra post
men to deliver it.”
He believes if enough people
would mail such material to the
court, that pornography distri
bution could be curbed.
The most recent nude film
and picture offers received in
the mails here have a notice
printed on the face of the en
velop. It advises that the con
tents is an offer of sale of adult
material.
The notice states that anyone
wishing not to receive such an
offer should initial the envelope
and send it back to the comp
any.
Nixon Presents
New Post Office
Plan To Congress
WASHINGTON (UPI) —Pres
ident Nixon asked Congress
today to scrap the Post Office
Department as it now exists
and to create in its place a
government-owned but indepen
dent corporation to handle the
nation’s mail.
Nixon told reporters that he
considers the plan “one of the
most significant” that he will
make, during his presidency.
Such a move would do away
with the most widespread and
long established source of
poll deal patronage.
Nixon, participating in a
briefing for reporters on a
special message sent to the
House and Senate, said this was
one of the aims of the
changeover because he said
politics had been made as
Important in the present
operation as delivering the
mail.
“While the work of the post
office is that of a business
enterprise, its organization is
that of a political department,”
the President said. “Tradition
ally it has been run as a
cabinet agency of the United
States government —one in
which politics has been as
important as efficient mail
delivery.”
Nixon’s proposal calls for the
U.S. Postal Service, as the new
corporation would be called, to
be administered by a nine
member board of directors
selected without regard to
political affiliation. Additional
ly, another panel would be
established to pass on rate
schedules for postal aarvlca.