Newspaper Page Text
GHS Council pushes bonds for future of conununity
Members of the Griffin High Student
Council in session Tuesday felt com
pelled to say why they favor the school
bond issue in light of some opposition
that came to light this week.
The students listed these reasons for
backing the proposals:
I.— There is an acute shortage of
science and language labs as well as a
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Recalls his life at sea.
»
Capt. Bowland: in his 51 years at sea,
he’s carried a cargo of 300 monkeys,
had a Chinese crew, been in a hurricane,
was nearly torpedoed, and he didn’t like Vietnam.
One of first through Canal
Close your eyes and imagine you are
in New Bedford, Mass., aboard a
merchant ship and will be leaving in a
few hours for a journey that will take
you hundreds of thousands of miles and
to some of the most important ports in
the world.
If you can imagine standing on the
deck of the Schooner USS Ranger and
that your first stop will be Europe, you
are at the beginning of the career on the
sea of Capt. Fredrick Howland who now
lives in Griffin.
Capt. Howland was a boy of 14 when
he began that first journey in 1911
aboard the Ranger as a cadet at the
Massachusetts Maritime School. It was
the beginning of a career that would
take him to most of the major ports in
the world and across hundreds of
thousands of miles of sea.
During his years as a seaman, Capt.
Howland served aboard many different
ships and sailed under many different
flags.
Cadet Service
His first tenure of service on the seas
was as a cadet aboard the USS Ranger.
A schooner used for training merchant
marines and owned by the United
States, the ship was powered either by
the wind or its horizontal engine. The
engine in the ship was one of only a few
of the horizontal variety and is now on
display in the San Francisco Maritime
Museum at Oakland, Calif.
Capt. Howland celebrated his 15th
birthday aboard the Ranger while it
was off the coast of Southhampton,
England. That was in 1911.
After two years aboard the Ranger,
he began his career in the Merchant
Marines.
need for new shop, ROTC and physical
education facilities and additional
vocational offerings.
2. — Expansion of the present
facilities is impossible, since the area
does not have enough land.
3. — A comprehensive high school
includes both academic and vocational
offerings which has been proven to be of
DAI LY #NE WS
Daily Since 1872
The New York and the Texas, coal
burning ships, were new at that time,
and were considered the pride of the
United States fleet.
In 1917, he was inducted into the Navy
as a senior grade lieutenant and was
the chief officer of a tanker.
After the war, he served aboard a
mine trawler for England in the North
Sea for six months.
Fish and Mines
“If we wanted fish to eat, all we had
to do was wait until someone hit one of
the mines,” he quipped.
He once again entered the merchant
service after serving on the trawler, but
was to have another war experience
that he will long remember.
During World War 11, he was serving
aboard one of two liberty ships that left
Charleston, S. C., loaded with bombs.
The ships joined a convoy and were
traveling about 2,500 feet apart off the
shore of Cuba when one was hit by a
Police call it family affair
Man was taken to doctor
The reported kidnapping of an elderly
retired Spalding County farmer
Tuesday turned out to be a family
matter instead.
Griffin police detectives said that Hill
Touchstone, about 83, was taken from
his home on West Poplar Street to a
Macon physician for mental com
petence testing in order that a guardian
might be appointed.
He was brought back to Griffin,
GRIFFIN
Griffin, Ga., 30223, Wednesday Afternoon, November 2,1977
benefit to students enrolled.
4. — Alternate plans to build two high
schools would cost about twice as much
to operate as only one high school.
5. — Some students dropping out in
the ninth and tenth grades probably
would remain if vocational offerings
were better.
6. — Renovations of buildings on the
Meters might be used
to number county homes
Ed Evans of Mclntosh Trail thinks
metering system equipment can be
used to assign permanent addresses in
rural areas of Spalding County.
He is looking into the matter in
connection with a proposal from Post
Master James Chappell to get per
manent house numbers in the county.
Chappell asked the county com
missioners about the idea some three
years ago. They were open to the
suggestion and called on Mclntosh
Trail for any assistance they could
give.
Evans said he did not know if any
federal funds were available to help.
People
••• and things
Man coming out of grocery store with
arm full of sacks, grasping at one as it
begins to slip, then sighs relief when he
caught it. It had a dozen eggs inside.
Early morning driver, obviously not
superstitious, slowing to let black cat
run across street in front of him.
Man who’s car had been in garage
several days setting the vehicle’s clock
back an hour to standard time.
torpedo.
“The blast was so great that our ship
rolled on its side and many of the men
abandoned ship. They thought we had
been hit,” he said.
Capt. Howland’s ship had not been hit
and continued on its journey.
Time To Quit
He was captain of the Globe
Explorer, a boat carrier with a cargo
capacity of 22,000 tons, when he retired
in 1962.
“I decided that when the men in the
boats who took us ashore had to tell me
where to put my feet when I descended
the Ridder on the side of the ship, it was
time for me to call it quits,” he said.
Capt. and Mrs. Howland wanted to
retire to Florida and he moved there,
but did not like it and returned to
Griffin five years ago to be near his
daughter, Mrs. Frank Schofield, and
(Continued on page 3.)
unharmed, to the office of his great
niece’s attorney, Clifford Seay,
Tuesday afternoon. From there he was
carried home by police officers.
No charges have been filed against
anybody, police said.
Touchstone, a large land owner,
reportedly was kidnapped from his
home at 1343 West Poplar St. about 9:45
Tuesday morning by three men and a
woman who allegedly picked him up
present campus are becoming costly
and of little value.
The Council statement continued:
“We realize the increase in taxes and
we know money doesn’t grow on trees.
We are simply saying we want quality
education and adequate facilities for
our children. We are not thinking of
He said Southern Bell had used
metering equipment in its work and
thinks the same equipment could be
used in making a permanent num
bering system throughout the county.
The frequent house and box number
changes in the county prompted
Chappell to ask for the permanent
change.
Evans said he believes the meters
with a printout of numbers could be
used and scale the job down to about
three months or so.
A meter company representative is to
come here to demonstrate its equip
ment. That's the next step, Evans said.
I
Baby horn
on the way
to hospital
Little Charles William
Pressley couldn’t wait to get to
the Griffin-Spalding Hospital
Tuesday night. He arrived in
the back seat of a car about
eight miles from the facility.
Both he and his mother, Mrs.
Charles Pressley of 1340 South
Mulberry St., Jackson, were
reported “doing fine” at the
hospital this morning.
Mrs. Pressley explained the
baby is her first and was not due
until late December. About 8:15
she went to Sylvan Grove
Hospital in Butts County and
was told to go home and take a
Tylonol. She said she was not
examined.
As soon as she got home,
things got worse, so her
husband called the Griffin
hospital that they were coming
there.
They didn’t quite make it.
Mr. Pressley’s sister and her
boy friend were in the front seat
and Mr. and Mrs. Pressley were
in the back. She said they were
all so scared they just “kept
going.”
The baby weighed in at 7
pounds, 10 ounces.
“We tend to think old people
are good people — probably
because we think they don’t
have much time or energy left
for sinning.”
and carried him away in a car against
his will.
Willie Thomas Kelley, who was with
Touchstone, told police that two of the
men held him while the others put Mr.
Touchstone in one of the cars. They also
allegedly took a pistol and about S9O in
cash, Kelley said.
The weapon and money belonged to
Touchstone and were with him when he
returned, police said.
Vol. 105 No. 259
ourselves when we say vote ‘yes’ but of
the future leaders of our community.
The future government of this city and
county will be in the hands of our
children. . .”
Council members said they would be
watching closely Nov. 8, vote day, to
see if their efforts have been rewarded.
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Autumn day
Associated Press Photographer Peter Bregg caught this unusual view of the
Washington Monument on a dreary autumn day in the nation’s capital city.
New rec complex
grand opening set
Grand opening for the Griffin-
Spalding County Recreation Depart
ment’s new recreation complex at
Fairmont Park will be Sunday from 3
until 5 p.m.
Open house will give citizens of the
Griffin-Spalding Community an op
portunity to see the new facility and the
programs to be offered.
Henry Carr has been employed to
serve as park director for the Fairmont
Center.
The four people who took Touchstone
away were identified as Jan Burk of
Watkinsville, Athens or Macon, his
great niece; her father, John Burk of
Charlotte, N. C., son-in-law of the late
Mrs. Ella Williams, Touchstone’s
sister; Clyde Long of Atlanta or
Marietta; and Barney Shipman of
Macon.
No charges have been filed in con
nection with the incident, police said.
They have been handing out pham
plets, bumper stickers, writing letters,
calling and making personal contacts
seeking support for the bond issue.
A campaign against the bond issue
which started Monday prompted the
Griffin High Council to make its
thoughts known through the statement.
Weather
FORECAST FOR GRIFFIN AREA -
Considerable cloudiness with rain
likely tonight and Thursday. Low
tonight in upper 50s; high Thursday in
upper 60s.
LOCAL WEATHER - Low this
morning at Spalding Forestry Unit 55,
high Tuesday 72.
Carr, a native of Detroit, played
professional football with the New York
Giants from 1964 through 1969. He was a
high school All-American in football
and track.
Carr attended Arizona State
University on a football scholarship and
served for 3 years as a goodwill am
bassador for the United States in
Europe behind the Iron Curtain.
For three years, Carr has been a
resident of Georgia with his wife,
Glenda, and their son, Peyton, 9, and
daughter, Piper, 8.
Working as center supervisor will be
Mrs. Connie Smith who has been em
ployed by the Recreation Department
for 13 years. She will be coordinating
special activities for youth and adults.
Mrs. Smith is coordinator of the
Fairmont Teen Club.
Ralph Driver will be recreation
supervisor. He has been employed by
the Recreation Department since 1974.
The Fairmont Recreation Center is
the first to be constructed as a joint
effort by the city and county.