Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

' 1 " Business Is Good !! * Let Us Sell You ■ • That Ford Car > ■ FORT VALLEY MOTOR | 1 • k++ , 4 ^+.|.+++*+****++*++*+-M“M<***+********+**+*+++*+*++? LOOKS WON /.ONE FEAN AS MOST IMPRACTICRLE (FROM THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION) Editor Constitution: Good roads are an economic necessity, but the desire for an improvement, however much needed, should not he accom¬ panied by such furor and clamor and ill-directed enthusiasm as to cause the public to lose sight of the utter impracticability of the highway dis trict fad, or to lose sight of the fact that all such proposals are but sub terfuges for avoiding that wise pro¬ vision of our constitution limiting county debts, and would commit the people to a policy of rushing head long into debt, a policy no wiser for the state than for the individual. The coastal highway district is held up as a model. Let us consider its practicability. One of the powers of the district commissioners is to issue bonds in the sum of $900,000, but this power, as is every power given the commis Sioners, is a conditional power, the act providing that the commissioners may not exercise any powers until the statd highway commission has certified thRt the proposed paved road of 136 miles can be constructed for three and one-half million dol¬ lars, and that three-fourths of the cost will be paid out of federal and state funds. Does any one in Georgia believe that any state highway commission will ever certify that $2,625,000 of state and federal .funds will be used on 136 miles out of the 5,450 <d miles of federal aid highways in Georgia? The state’s entire allotment of federal funds for this year is only $1,983,022.99. If the state authorities , . . should so far forget all the rest of Georgia the federal road authorities would never countenance such dis crimination in favor of a very small part of the mileage they have ap¬ proved for federal aid. Notwithstanding the plain provis ions of the coastal highway act prohibiting the district commis sioners from exercising any of the powers therein conferred until the is¬ suance of the impossible certificate outlined, the commissioners have is¬ sued the bonds, the whole $900,000 of them, and they are now being offer¬ ed to investors throughout the coun¬ try. Another impracticable feature is that the district commissioners, while asking advice of the state highway commission, are to expend the money, control the district road, condemn land, build the road, etc., yet the fed¬ eral highway act of 1921 specifically provides that no aid will be extend¬ ed except for roads built and main¬ tained by the state highway depart¬ ment, and yet again, this federal aid is a condition precedent to the issu¬ ance of any bonds by the district commissioners, anothers impossibility. But for the tragedy of this im¬ mense debt heaped upon six coun¬ ties of Georgia, the matter could be viewed with less concern, as being merely one of those fanciful things that are dreamed of but never ac¬ complished. Those states without constitutional limitation on the debts municipalities and counties may incur are today suf¬ fering from heavy taxation to meet ill-advised debts, often incurred through support of a popular fad of the hour. Under Georgia’s constitution, no county, except the six counties com¬ posing the coastal highway district, may incur debts in excess of 7 per tent 6f the taxable property in the THE LEADER-TRIBUNE, FORT VALLEY, GA, THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1925. county. By means of the coastal high way plan, this limit is doubled in those six counties. If the building of paved roads is worth saddling postcriy with huge debts, let us meet the issue openly and squarely and amend the tution increasing the debt limit or removing it entirely, but don’t let’s nibble away those safeguards of our constitution that evidence the con servatism of our state. According to the bureau of public roads, in 1921, the latest year for which the federal survey has been completed, there was spent on rural roads in Georgia the sum of $15,- 816,594, while for the same year there was expended on rural roads in Flor ida $9,588,133. Instead of trying to outdo others in the amounts spent, it might be wiser to emulate others in getting a dollar’s worth of road for every dol lar expended, W. H. HARRIS. i Fort Valley, Ga., June 5, 1925. | j Health Renew Your by Purification physunan ... will ... tell , yon that ,, I Perfect Purification of the Sys lem is Nature’s foundation of Perfect Health. } t Why not rid yourself of chronic ailments that are undermining your vitality ? Purify your entire system by tak ing a thorough course of Calotabs, — once or t w ice a week for several weeks _ and see how Nature re wards you with health. Calotabs are the greatest of all system purifiers. Get a family package, containing full direc¬ tions, price 35 cts.; trial package, io c ts. At any drug store. (Adv.) ■ M -4 IP v m file IllSi mt A, mmm Pr.ii || Cl L gk f 3L'-4-'i ft kgii mi 1 . h.-'m ASFALTSLATE The Shingle That Never Curls ft •T'HE * reason why so many people are demanding the Carey Asfaltslate Shingle for their homes is because it gives them so much more for their money. It is the logical result of half a century of good roof making. Carey Asfaltslate Shingles come in three attractive colors, Blue black, Red and Green. Ask us for samples and further details. FORT VALLEY LUMBER COMPANY Fort Valley, i .1 Georgia Cement l n ,{ uiitr y /., lluildinf! Barometer About 135 Plants in Operation, Capi tal $450,000,000 with Output Valued at $270,000,000 E. T. Murray, president of the Ki wanis club and cashier of the Bank of Fort Valley, refers the following interesting article from the Wall Street Journal to The Leader-Tri bune: Shipments of Portland cement give an accurate index to the progress of construction. The business world as a whole has become so accustomed to regard steel as the outstanding barometer, that movement of as an accurate register of building ac tivity in general has, until recently, , been overlooked. iii Observations have shown that when building is heavy cement shipments are large, and when it is light they are small. Probably the a vo rage time elapsing between the shipment of the cement from the mil! and its actual use on the job does not exceed j two weeks. The belief that the majority of the country’s cement output finds its way into concrete pavements and side¬ walks is erroneous. Estimates pub lisbed by the U. S. Geological Sur vey indicate only 24 per cent of the production of cement last year 149, ! 000,000 barrels—is used in paving ; and highways, and about 7 per cent i in sidewalks and private driveways, while another 25 per cent is used in public and commercial buildings, and { near j y 21 per cent goes for miseel laneous farm purposes. The remain ing portion is employed, in small in dividual percentages, for dwellings; concrete pipe for sewer, irrigation, etc., by railways in bridges and dams, and for miscellaneous purposes. In I all, concrete of which portland ce ment is the vital ingredient, has hun dreds of recognized uses. ' Annual Output $270,000,000 This great diversity of uses and thp ghort period in trans it and stor age J make the industry an unusually a t , uraU , indicator of construction wo) . k Jt has about 135 p i ants ; n op erfttion in the United states , with a capitalization of approximately $450, 000,000; which has nearly 50,000 per¬ sons on its payroll and an annual out¬ put valued at $270,000,000, is at least as truly basic in construction as iron or steel. The manufacture of cement is prof¬ itable only in the vicinity of good markets, because the weight of the product prohibits long hauls. Hence a cement production may of the United States shows a grouping of plants in those sections of the coun¬ try where heavy population or vantageous shipping facilities insure a ready usage of the output. Pennsyl vania alone contains 22 cement plants, New York 9, Ohio 7 and Michigan 15. The Mississippi Valley states are well represented in ce | ment mills, except where lack of ma ferial prohibits, and there are like wise a good number on the Pacific coast, particularly in California, which has ten. The “desert area’’ of production is in the Mountain states, where over much of the region small markets due to scanty popula tion do not warrant the heavy in vestment required in establishing a plant. Colorado, Utah and Montana STATEMENT OF CONDITION OF CITIZENS HANK OF FORT VALLEY Located at Fort Valley, Ga., showini? con¬ dition at close of business June 30th, 1925. RESOURCES Time Loans and Discounts $801,812.67 Demand United States Loans Securities ? l[ooo.co Hi !n' State of Georgia Bonds Other Stocks and Bonds s. 2 '»o oo Banking House 4i.ooo.oo Furtnture and Fixtures 11 Other Real Estate Owned : C3H.D5 Cash in Vault and Amounts De¬ posited with Approved Reserve Agents 337 , 313.45 Advances on Cotton 11 ) 0.47 Checks for Clearing House lO.r.nj.DS Other Checks and Cash Items .1,135.56 TOTAL *1,236,362.14 I.1ABIL1TIES Capital Stock Paid in $ 100,*700.00 j Surplus 50,196.72 Undivided Profits 30.356.41 Due t0 n» n ks 2SS.59 Deposits Subject to ch >ck 572,550.64 Ti ">" of Depo * it 86.866.07 I Savings Deposits S7.0ij.t f Trust Funds on Deposit 500.00 j cashur’s Checks 5.965.S9 Certified Checks 4.224.20 Bills Payable 275,000.00 Notes and Bills Rediscounted 26,361.P9 TOTAL $ 1 , 2 * 1 , 862 .-M .STATE OF GEORGIA, Peach county Before me came IL H. Fincher, Cashier of Citizens Bank of Fort Valley, who being du ly sworn says that the above foregoing statement is a true condition of said Bank, as shown by the books of file in said Bar-':. B. H. FINCHER. pworn to and subscribed before me, l b'.i 8th day of July, 1925. C. T. MATHEWS, Notary Public, State at Lartre, Fort Valley. Ga. My commi don expires Dec. 15, 1926. SKAT. supply most of this territory with cement. Demand and Capacity Although recent years have been ’ extraordinarily active in the building field, government figures demon¬ j strate that the cement mills now in the United States have a practical manu facturing capacity considerably beyond the requirements of the coun try for some time to come. This was j clearly brought out by the Geologi¬ recent quarterly report of the U. S. cal Survey, which showed unusually large storage stocks of cement on hand at the end of March, 1925; and indicated that the total demand for the year would not reach within 20 per cent of the practical operating ■ capacity of the industry, which is es timated at 180,000,000 barrels for 1925. While the number of employes re¬ quired in the manufacture of cement, which is carried on largely by me chanical methods, is not great com¬ pared with those in industries which still use man power extensively, the capital required to set up even a '■—■ — CENTRAL OF GEORGIA DISCUSSES REQUIRE¬ | MENTS FOR BETTER TRANSPORTATION j In fulfilling its obligation to render satisfactory service a railroad finds it necessary to con¬ but tinually enlarge and improve its facilities and equipment. Railroad equipment not only wears out becomes obsolete. Better facilities and improved rolling stock require huge expenditures annually. Some of these result in the reduction of operating costs and are justified by increased efficiency and J economy. Other expenditures result in improvement of the service and are justified by greater com¬ fort, convenience and safety to the traveling public. i pub¬ ; In either event, if the expanding needs of business are to be met and if the demands of the lic are to be fulfilled, the railroads must be permitted to earn such returns as will attract investors. New capital must continually be secured, and eapi tal cannot be coerced—capital can only be attracted to railroad stocks and bonds by assurances as to the safety of the investment and of reasonable divi¬ dends. Illustrating these truths by the experience of the Central of Georgia it would be possible for this railroad to continue the use of its present passenger train cars for a number of years to come, but the public, even on branch lines, desires and expec ts steel coaches, electric lighted, vestibuled and steam heated instead of wooden coaches, lighted by oil or gas, and heated by stoves. It is, therefore, the policy of the Central of Georgia to add annually, as rapidly as its financial conditions justifies, the most modern passenger equipment. The public expects and demands continual im provement to passenger stations. Where depots are of wooden construction or of small size there is in sistence that they be replaced by structures of modern design and that train sheds afford protec tion from the weather. While there is no pressure upon railway ma nagement for undue speed, the public has come to expect, as a matter of course, fast trains that will operate on time for the handling of both passen¬ gers and freight. This takes for granted numerous factors that entail large outlays such as good road¬ bed. heavy steel rail, large locomotives, steel and c oncrete bridges and trestles, built to sustain in¬ creased weights and speeds of engines and cars, saf ety devices such as block signals, and finally a personnel that shall be characterized both by effi ciency and courtesy. The tools, machinery and fa¬ cilities essential to satisfactory service cost money and the human element, if of the high type ex¬ pected, must be well paid. The Central of Georgia does not consider the traveling public unreasonable in anticipating a high standard of service. We take both pride and pleas are in measuring up to the anticipation of our pa¬ trons and we hope to continue to do so even in the face of a steadily decreasing passenger traffic due to improved highways and automobile competition. It has been our experience that the public, w ith higher standards of living, desires adequate and dependable transportation rather than cheaper transportation. If the railways are to continue to supply transportation of the type that the public expects and demands, they in turn must receive such rates and must be accorded such treatment by the various regulatory agencies interpreting public policy as to secure the flow of new capital upon which their future depends. Constructive criticism and suggestions are invited. L. A. DOWNS, Savannah, Georgia, July 7, 1925. President, Central of Georgia Railway Company. modest cement plant is heavy. Esti mates show that $3 must be invested a barrel of yearly output, which of course implies heavy depreciation charges. Capital turnover is at the rat * of about once in two years. And while the ingredients costly, of the cement materi- are j not exceptionally j a ] s re q U j re{ j j n manufacturing and shipping require a considerable ex-) pense. As the industry is dependent upon many other lines of business j for successful operation, a tie-up in any one of several industries may af- j feet it adversely. | Large User of Fuel For instance, last year cement manufacturers consumed 11,000,000 tons of coal, chiefly for firing their huge rotary kilns, which are operat¬ ed continuously for months at a time. Besides this coal, 5,000,000 barrels of f ue j 0 ;i were burned, and also 5,000, 000,000 cubic feet of gas, in plants using these fuels instead of coal. fyhere OceandcvezesBlov? * REDUCED ROUND TRIP TARES , I (J m / \V ft JA •k ^ m 5 <7* m .'N ir .Cl )P5 CEMRAUJGEORGIARAH.WAY Way” flight than 65,000,000 for cement were os or to replace whic i a s ri cloth over 3i,000 mi cs o 30 inches wide was n< u. ec. a sacks to the number o-, . were used, along wit ^ - of grease, and 1 1 ,0 , of quarry explosives. For > ing sacks 56,000 miles of wire were and 775,000 tons of gypsum ground up with the cement to regulate the rate of harden ing of the cement. It is doubtful whether any Ameri¬ can industry is so highly competitive as this one. The specifications for portland cement have been fixed by the government and engineering so¬ cieties, and accepted by all manu facturers. London.— The largest carnation, ever produced is on exhibition here, It is five inches in diameter._