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About Griffin daily news. (Griffin, Ga.) 1924-current | View Entire Issue (June 2, 1977)
Baccalaureate Rev. Fountain warns about material values The Rev. Thurman Fountain told graduating Griffin High seniors they had come to the time to answer the question “What do I expect of myself in a baccalaureate sermon Wednesday Ship ablaze KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - The cruise ship Rasa Sayang with 989 persons reported aboard caught fire in the Malacca Strait early today. The ship’s agents said two crew members were killed and three were missing. The agents said all 653 passengers — including 27 Americans — and 281 of the 336 crew members were transferred safely in a heavy rain to the Japanese oil tanker Sankyo Prestige and landed at Port Dickson, on the west coast of Malaysia. Capt. O.C. Bjomstand, the Rasa Sayang’s Norwegian skipper, and the 49 other members of his crew remained aboard the 18,500-ton ship to put out the fire, the agents said. They reported the ship was heading for Singapore, about 200 miles to the southeast, under its own power. The passengers were being taken to Sing apore by bus and car. “It has been reported that two crew members lost their lives fighting the blaze and three others are reported missing,” the agents said. The Country Parson by Frank ('lark Wffff “Our ancestors used to worry about the unknown as much as we do about the known.” HI » k lil> ■ • r Er a; r*fefc 1 JBJy ■ / & f JI .<<Bek Man killed DAILAONEWS Daily Since 1872 night at Memorial Stadium. He said as students they had been conditioned to know what was expected of them at school and at home. The pastor of the First Assembly of God Church cautioned the graduates against setting their aims on secular things. He recalled the New Testament story about the man who decided to build bigger bams and enjoy the material things of life. The man was admonished, the minister recalled, that his soul would be required of him that very night. The Rev. Fountain predicted some of the graduates would seek public office, some power, some popularity, some wealth and so on. But he cautioned throughout his sermon not to put too much value on material things. Bams filled with fodder won’t satisfy the needs of the soul, he declared. The Rev. Fountain recalled a popular tune called “Class of 57” and whipped out a small tape recorder to play it for the audience. After several clicks, he realized the recorder wouldn’t work. “I’m not going to tell you who fixed it for me this afternoon,” he smiled. But he said the song told of some of the goals of graduates in the class of *57 and said they were similar to those of any graduating class. He said they were like the ones in his graduating class of 1947. The minister said he realized class predictions were written largely for fun but he often had reviewed what was written about members of his class. He concluded his sermon by saying one member of the class was doing what he set out to do. “By the grace of God I am,” he said. The Rev. E. J. O’Neal, of Spring Hill Baptist Church had the opening prayer and the Rev. Elvyn McDonald of Hanleiter United Methodist read the Scripture. The Rev. Edward Sissons of Crestview Baptist Church had the closing prayer. Griffin High principal Tascar Williams and Supt. D. B. Christie of the school system were among the platform guests. Honor graduates sat in the center of the stadium field. The body of a man killed in a plane crash this morning is removed from the wreckage. The craft crashed near the 1-285 and Covington Highway intersection. The identity of the victim was not announced until relatives could be notified. However, authorities identified a woman survivor as Helen Michalobic, 45 of Atlanta. (AP) GRIFFIN Griffin, Ga., 30223, Thursday Afternoon, June 2,1977 . . A ■ - - W- W* « J Additional judge means / there’ll be more sessions Civil and -criminal cases will be speeded up in the Griffin Judicial Circuit come July 1. That’s when District Atty. Ben Miller takes over the second judgeship. Judge Andrew Whalen, Jr., said he is working out a new schedule which will double the number of court sessions held in the circuit, composed of Spalding, Pike, Upson and Fayette Counties. Whalen said he plans to divide the load evenly so he and Miller will try about the same number of both civil and criminal cases. Both judges will alternate between all 4 counties, he said. Superior court presently convenes 3 times yearly or a total of 6 weeks in Spalding County. In the new schedule, there will be 12 weeks of court in both Spalding and Upson Counties and an increase of from 4 to 8 weeks in both Rev. Fountain addresses Griffin High graduates. Pike and Fayette Counties. There will be 40 weeks of actual trials. Hearing days also will be doubled. Presently circuit wide hearings are held in Spalding County on the first Fridays of each month. In the new schedule, each of the 4 counties will have 2 Fridays a month for hearings, with the judges alternating between them. Times of court will not be changed. They are set by law, Whalen explained. Presently in Spalding County grand juries and civil sessions begin the first Mondays in February and October and the third Monday in June. Criminal sessions start the following week or the second Mondays in February and October and the fourth Monday in June. The court sessions will be extended for 4 weeks with civil cases being tried the first 2 weeks, continued by 2 more weeks of criminal trials. Food stamp sales crowd Post Office parking lot A West Solomon entrance may not be the answer to the parking problem at the new Griffin Post Office, according to Francis Sutton. He is in charge of the Atlanta area and other post offices in this section of the state. Sutton was speaker at the Griffin Kiwanis Club’s meeting Wednesday. He said it was a local problem that arose after selling food stamps became a Postal Service activity here. Sutton said parking space is designed under a formula geared to the number of lock boxes in a building and said the formula had been fairly accurate. He pointed out that stamp purchases could be handled normally in less than a minute but that food stamp transactions take 5 to 7 minutes. These were some of the things that figure in parking lot congestion at the new building, Sutton said. People ••• and things Man in barber’s chair checking out haircut in mirror, “... I sure am gray.’’ Heavy set woman driving pickup truck, taking sip of diet cola from dashboard, as she stops for downtown traffic light. Griffin High graduate following baccalaureate objecting to mother’s suggestion: “I’m not taking it (graduation robe) off now. I want to get all the wear out of it I can.” Vol. 105 No. 130 Civil court may be in session in 2 counties at the same time, but because there will be only one district attorney, criminal sessions will be scheduled separately, Whalen said. The district attorney will have an* assistant. Both are expected to be appointed before July 1 by Gov. George Busbee. Mr. Miller who has lost very few cases as district attorney said he will not prosecute any more cases. His assistant, Paschal English, will take over when Spalding’s criminal session begins June 27. “I don’t think it’s fair to the defendant to have the judge prosecuting,” Miller explained. Miller’s office will remain in Thomaston, his hometown. “I’m really going to miss being district attorney. The people in the circuit have been so nice and cooperative,” Miller said. Someone asked about why local mail went to Atlanta and back. He said that if people use the local and out of town mail drops at the post offices and in street boxes the local mail is handled locally and not sent to Atlanta. It’s a matter of having enough boxes and their proper use, Sutton said. Another club member wanted to know what could be done about junk mail. Sutton said there was no such thing as junk mail — there was first, second, third and fourth class mail. He said that junk mail income was 17 percent of the Postal Service revenue. Sutton said it costs S4OO-million to deliver the mail on Saturdays and asked if it were really worth it. He said he usually gets a few pieces of mail at his home on Saturdays usually it is nothing of consequence. He said the American people had to decide and let their congressmen know if home deliveries on Saturday were worth it. He said handling government and other check mailings now was one of the easiest things and is a real income item for the Postal Service. But he said the expanded use of automatic funds transfer was under review. He said the people would have to let the Postal Service know if it should be in the business or not. He also wondered if special deliveries had become obsolete. He said the Postal Service would provide what the American people want and are willing to pay for. Postmaster James Chappell of Griffin introduced the speaker. Weather FORECAST FOR GRIFFIN AREA — Fair and mild tonight with low near 60. Mostly sunny and warm Friday with high in the mid 80s. LOCAL WEATHER - Low this morning at Spalding Forestry Unit 61, high Wednesday 90. Coach Smith dies; rites to be Friday Mr. DeWitt talmadge Smith, 61, of 905 McLaurin avenue died at the Griffin-Spalding Hospital at 7 o’clock Wednesday after a long illness. Mr. Smith was a native of Woodstock, Ga., son of the late DeWitt Talmadge Smith, Sr., and the late Grace Mehan Smith. He graduated from Canton High School, attended Gordon Military College at Barnesville, was graduated from Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, and received his master’s degree from the University of Georgia. Mr. Smith came to Griffin before World War II and was a teacher and coach at Spalding High School. He served in the U. S. Army during World War 11, entered the service in 1941. He was graduated from the Field Artillery Officer Candidate School at Ft. Sill, Okla., and was commissioned a second lieutenant. During the war he served in Europe and in the Philippines and was discharged as a lieutenant colonel in the Field Artillery. After World War 11, Coach Smith taught and coached at Canton High several years and returned to Griffin to coach at Griffin High in 1952. He produced 11 state championship teams in basketball and baseball here and at Canton. He was named Coach of the Year in baseball by the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association in 1960 and 1962. He was Coach of the Year in basketball at Canton High in 1950 and 1951. In 1950 he was named basketball coach for the State All-Star game. In 1961, Mr. Smith was presented an award by the Griffin Rotary Club in appreciation for his service to the youth of the community. Mr. Smith was for several years principal of Crescent road school and he retired due to illness was serving as superintendent of food services for the Griffin-Spalding School System. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church and was a member of the Griffin Lodge 1107 of Elks. Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Phronia Twiggs Smith, a son, Walter DeWitt Smith of Valdosta; a daughter, Mrs. John Lee King of Roswell, a brother, Raymond D. Smith of Canton; three grandchildren, Elizabeth Marie King, John Christopher King and Brian Lee King of Roswell, father-in-law, the Rev. W. M. Twiggs of Griffin. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Friday at the First United Methodist Church. The Rev. Lamar Cherry will officiate. Burial will be in Oak Hill cemetery. Haisten Funeral Home is in charge of plans. In lieu of flowers, all who wish may make donations to the Cancer Fund of the First United Methodist Church.
