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Capt. Grubbs visiting mother in Griffin He wants to get back to work Capt. Victor Grubbs wants to get back to work. He’s a 747 pilot. He hasn’t worked since his plane and another 747 collided at an airport in the Canary Islands some 6 months or so ago. The mild mannered Georgian is in IMMfeJMfin nirl V t 7 11 ■■■■l VI w < JH CapL and Mrs. Grubbs with pet dogs Muffin and Puddin. Social Security tax hike talk is making rounds WASHINGTON (AP) - A congressional panel wants to raise Social Security taxes next year for the best paid American workers and their employers to help keep the system sol vent. Under a plan approved Tuesday by the House Ways and Means Committee, withholding taxes would rise $238 in 1978 for those earning at least 819,900. Lower-paid workers would feel the bite of higher taxes beginning in 1981. The committee plan, approved 20-17 over the opposition of Republicans and Southern Democrats, calls for keeping the present system of taxing workers and their employers equally. The measure now goes to the full House for a vote. Clarke County Sheriff changes tune on leaves ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Clarke County Sheriff Larry Williams said Tuesday he is responsible for five incidents in which inmates, including three con victed murderers, left the county jail without escort. Grand jury presentments said the panel had uncovered “numerous unescorted leaves without con sideration for the reason (for the in mate’s) being jailed.” The jury said convicted murderer Julian Donegan made “many unescorted trips” from the jail, as did Ruby Mitchell and Grady Davis, both serving life sentences for murder. “I’ll take the fault for that,” Williams said in an interview. I had a policy which in retrospect was a bad policy. I wish I could take it back but I can’t. It was a bad policy that there wasn’t real tight supervision and there needed to be. “The fact that the results of the policy weren’t ideal speaks for the fact that it was a bad policy. I*ll take the blame be cause I am the policy maker,” he said. He said a new policy is now in effect that allows leaves, under guard, only for fire or medical emergency. The jury said the matter was brought DAILY Daily Since 1872 Griffin this week visiting his mother, Mrs. A. H. Huckaby on East Poplar street. His wife, the former Smantha Maebrooks is from Griffin and is having a good time renewing acquaintance here. Capt. Grubbs misses flying and wants Griffin, Ga., 30223, Wednesday Afternoon, October 5, 1977 in Congress The proposal runs counter to a plan under consideration in the Senate Finance Committee to have employers for the first time pick up a dispropor tionate share of the Social Security tab. The House committee voted for the new tax scales as part of a broader plan to keep the system, running at a deficit since 1975, from going broke by 1983. Under current law, everyone earning at least $17,700 will pay higher withholding taxes beginning next year. This year, the 5.85 per cent tax is withheld from only the first $16,500 earned, for a maximum tax of $965.25. Under next year’s higher wage base, that will go to $1070.85. The committee, however, wants to to the attention of Williams last sum mer. The situation came to light in August when a convicted robber, John Ran som, was shot and wounded at his home. Williams at first said Ransom had escaped from the jail, but the in mate insisted he had been granted weekend leaves. The grand jury reported that Ransom had been given regular leaves to do some work on his home. It said this had been reported to Williams, but no action was taken. The grand jury said the unescorted leaves evidently grew from an “un written policy” that trusty prisoners could leave the jail when accompanied by deputies. It reported that Williams had said off duty deputies could escort prisoners on leave for a fee set by the prisoners and deputies. “Therefore it was assumed that no direct approval was needed,” the presentments said. The panel recommended that in mates be allowed to leave the jail only when accompanied by an on-duty deputy in a police car. GRIFFIN to get back to it as soon as he can. He said he had checked himself out in a simulator and that they are as tough or tougher than the real thing. Capt. Crubbs satisfied himself that he can fly. The medical people are checking him on almost a month to month basis. He raise the top end of the base to $19,900, with a tax of $1,203.95. By 1981 the base would rise to $27,900. With the proposed rate increases, a person earning that amount would have $1,799.55 withheld. And by 1986, under the committee proposal, a combination of base and rate increases would mean people earning $37,500 would pay $2,587.50, triple their present tax. Because the committee proposal would wait until 1981 to increase rate hikes already planned, the impact on an estimated 86 per cent of American workers would be smaller and further off. For example, someone earning $15,000 pays $877.50 this year and will have $907.50 withheld next year under the current law. But rate hikes the committee favors would raise the tax in 1981 to $967.50. The committee endorsed raising the maximum retirees can earn before having their benefits cut. Those who earn more than the current ceiling of $3,000 lose $1 in benefits for every $2 they report. The panel would raise that to $4,000 in 1978 and $4,500 in 1979. The panel rejected a Republican proposal to raise the ceiling to $4,500 in 1978 and $6,000 in 1979. They find the darndest things in toll bridge booths SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - Thousands of motorists toss their coins into the moneycatchers on the Islands Ex pressway toll booths each day — but they also throw slugs, tokens, dog tags and other unidentifiable flying objects. In a small room that once was a pigeon roost, Florence Edenfield sorts the junk from the cash for the Chatham County administrator’s office. The room is unheated in the winter and their are no breezes to ease the summer heat. NEWS hopes it won’t be too long before he can be at the controls of a 747 once again flying for Pan Am all over the world. Capt. Grubbs doesn’t talk about the circumstances of the collision with the 747. The accident still is in litigation. The Spanish government which had jurisdiction, since the accident was on Spanish soil, may release a report on its findings in a month or so. Capt. Grubbs would like to be back in New York when the report comes. “Working in New York is nice because that’s where they can pay you more than you are worth,” he joked. Capt. Grubbs can recall most of the details of his escape from his flaming plane. His first thought was to get through the windows of the cockpit but that’s impossible. The glass is so thick, he said. The crew’s exit door was all gone, Capt. Grubbs remembers. He looked down through an opening into the lounge below. The pilot’s cabin on a 747 is above a large lounge. Capt. Grubbs recalls seeing a woman standing beneath him in the lounge. “I had to get her away so I could get down,” he thought. Somehow he managed to get below. He remembers flames were everywhere. At one time he thought about jumping from the plane to the ground but realized he was too far up. He made it out another way and remembers finding himself on the ground. People ••• and things Motorists traveling east on West Taylor street squinting, lowering sun visors and using their hands to shield their eyes from early morning sun. Cheerleaders shouting their best for dear old GHS in practice drill on campus with only an empty building as an audience. Motorcycle police officer helping motorist change tire on Memorial drive. “When I handle that money, my hands get black — it’s so dirty,” Mrs. Edenfield said. A battery of noisy machines helps her divide the take. Quarters, nickles, dimes, pennies, tokens and “wierdos,” as County Administrator Joe Lam bright calls them, rattle down into the metal tubes with their own kind. There are plenty of foreign coins, mutilated pennies and slugs. But then there are the political buttons, washers, dog tags, New York Careful, governor SPRINGFIELD, 111. (AP) - Gov. James R. Thompson will probably be more careful the next time he gets a chance to preserve something for post erity. The letter he placed in a hos pital cornerstone Tuesday had a few errors in it, including the misspelling of the names of boxers Muhammad Ali and Eamie Shavers and an in correct description of tele vision’s “Gong Show.” Jim Skilbeck, the press aide who drafted the letter, tried to get it back. “They had already mortared it over,” he said. The letter described the Gong Show as a program where “people do outrageously silly things and the contestant judged to have done the most ridiculous thing is the winner.” It’s the contestant who’s judged to have given the best performance, not the most ri diculous, who wins the show. Vol. 105 No. 236 A girl came up and said he had to get out of there because of the heat. Capt. Grubbs told her he couldn’t stand. He was on his knees. The girl helped and soon he was walking away. He was able to help some of the other people later. His right arm was badly burned but he didn’t feel the pain. No flames ever hit it but the heat did the damage. Capt. Grubbs said his back was burned, too. Capt. Grubbs spent 7 weeks in a New York hospital after the wreck. Normally he weighs about 180 pounds but has gained a lot of weight because of his inactivity. He wants to get his weight back down. “I refuse to buy a big uniform,” he chuckled. The aviation fever struck Capt. Grubbs early. He was born in Claxton, Ga., and grew up in Cordele. He attended ErskineCollege.thenwasintheAirForce during World War 11. He flew B-17s in North Africa and other European battle areas. Capt. Grubbs remembers the late Jimmy Culpepper, an old barnstorm pilot who used to let his wife, Louise, walk on the plane’s wings during stunts. Culpepper’s influ?nce figured in Capt. Grubbs’ fascination for flying. When he was in the hospital, Louise Culpepper who lives in Milledgeville now wrote a note to Capt. Grubbs saying she was glad he had survived the Harvest of Values will begin Thursday Some 70 firms will participate in the annual Fall Harvest of Values this week in Griffin and Spalding County. It will begin Thursday and run through Saturday. The sales promotion is expected to attract thousands of people from the community and surrounding areas. Merchants have been stocking their shelves and display counters for several weeks in preparation for the sale. The annual event started a few years ago in Griffin and has grown each year. It signals that the fall shopping season is in full swing and comes at a time when people are getting ready for cool weather. Those participating in the promotion this year include: Custom Picture Frames-Olds Fur niture, Inc., Jim Pridgen Hardware, Inc., Cobb’s Lawn & Garden Center, Cartledge Furniture, Southern States Printing Co., Dairy Queen No. 1, Beaty Auto Parts, Inc., Abigail’s, Smith- Roberts, Morrow-Powell. Rhodes Furniture Co., Goode-Nichols Furniture Co., Toyota of Griffin, Jean Machine, Dena’s Casuals, Friedman’s Jewelers, Cain’s, Suburban LPGas Co., Sutton’s, Bishop’s Clothing. Griffin Hardware Co., Kmart, Hensley’s Office Equipment, Akin’s Feed & Seed Store, Norris Custom Carpets, Vaughn Furniture, O’Kelly’s Furniture Co., Maxwell’s Home Fur nishings, Carpets of Griffin, Whitmire Jewelers, Jones-Harrison Furniture Co. The Diana Shop, The Bonnie Shop, Transit Authority tokens and souvenir coins. Mrs. Edenfield said she likes to keep some of the oddball coins because she’s interested in them. Coins from Vietnam, Norway, Puerto Rico, England, the Netherlands and Mexico are included in the offerings of people taking the shortcut to the beaches, she said. But the non-negotiable objects ac count for only about $1 a week, from a Weather FORECAST FOR GRIFFIN AREA - Mostly fair and not as cool tonight with lows near 50. Partly, cloudy and mild Thursday with highs in the mid 70s. LOCAL WEATHER - Low this morning at the Spalding Forestry Unit 40, high Tuesday 72. Something of a celebrity crash. Mrs. Grubbs said stacks and stacks of mail came after the crash. She has acknowledged all but about a 112 letters and hopes to finish that soon. Capt. Grubbs brushed and played with Muffin and Puddin’, his pet dogs he brought home from Scotland, as he talked this morning about flying. Everybody wants to see the pilot who survived the crash, Mrs. Grubbs ob served. She said her husband had become something of a celebrity. Mrs. Huckaby, his mother, related earlier how her son and his wife were flying to Hawaii recently on a vacation. The pilot of the plane learned Capt. Grubbs was aboard. He came on the plane’s PA system and announced they had a celebrity aboard. He said the pilot of the 747 in the Canary Island crash was flying with them to Hawaii. The pilot said he would not point out who Capt. Grubbs was to prevent any embarrassment over the celebrity status. The passengers broke into applause to acknowledge that Capt. Grubbs was aboard. He hopes to get in a little golfing while in Griffin during these few days visiting his mother. But more than anything, he wants to get back to controls of a 747 again. Retirement at age 60 looms just a couple of years away. Capt. Grubbs doesn’t want to spend much of that on the ground. Cronic Chevrolet, Inc., The Plant Emporium, Collin’s Men’s & Boy’s Wear, Kinney Shoes, Griffin Sales & Service, Inc., Artistic Flowers & Gifts, Purser Furniture Co. Esquire Barber Shop, Byron’s California Concept, Randall & Blakely, Inc., Accent Glass & Mirror, Inc., Buy- Rite, Bearden’s Electronic Shopping Center, Family House Restaurant, Crouch’s, Mobile Telephone & Pager, Inc., Tonkin Casuals, White’s Auto Store, Carden’s, Murphy’s Restaurant, Emmett’s Eatery. Griffin Auto Parts, Godard’s Clothing Co., Griffin Office Supply, Easter wood’s Shoes, Wynne’s Jewelers, Cole’s Drugs, Cherokee Lawn & Garden Centers. First Federal Savings & Loan Assn., Griffin Federal Savings & Loan Assn., The Bank of Griffin, Commercial Bank & Trust Co., First National Bank of Griffin, Griffin Daily News, WGRI, WHIE, WKEU. The Country Parson by Frank Clark iiii “Credit is a system by which folks enjoy the fruits of their intentions.” haul that can hit SI,OOO a day. On rainy days she has to dry the coins with an old hair dryer before putting them in the sorting machines. But despite the tedious work and the noise of the machines, which she ad mits “gets old,” Mrs. Edenfield said she is not tired of the job, which takes less than one hour a day. “I really don’t mind,” she said. “I don’t mind any job where I can earn a living.”