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BUTLER, TAYLOR COUNTY, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1924.
VOLUME XLVIII.
NUMBER 14;
CONFESSES TO MURDER OF PARENTS
ID BURNING TO DEATH TWO $)SM
Grand Theatre
Reynolds, Ga.
PROGRAM FOR THE WEEK
FRIDAY, FEB. 29
"BLUEBEARD’S 8TH. WIFE”
With Gloria Swanson and cast
An unusual fine drama of love,
passion and superb gowns, her
latest Paramount Picture. A
story of ' intense entertainment
There were his 7 former wives,
waiting at the church, eager fora
glimpse of his latest catch. And
hen the bride, innocent of her
sband’s matrimonial history,
nd out who they were? An«r
r they were married and lived
ppily ever after. Or at any
rate there was many a startling
scene of conflict before they lived
happily. Added attraction:—
Metro Comedy, “THE PEST.”
ADMISSION 15c & 35c
SATURDAY, MARCH 1.
“BLUEBEARD’S 8TH. WIFE”
Miss Swanson’s greatest tri-
ph. Just full of good enter-
nent with gorgeous gowns
ahead of Paris. Don’t miss
this great picture in our
i City. Don’t wait until It is
played in larger Cities and hen
pay higher prices. Added attrac
tion:—
“Ruth of the Range” Chapter 5.
Ask those that have seen this,
will tell you ‘tis good.
they
MR. AND MRS. J. M. M’DOWELL,
FORMERLY OF DECATUR, GA.,
ARE SLAIN WHILE ASLEEP
IN FLORIDA HOME.
Following is the confession of
Frank McDowell, 19-year-old youth
at St. Petersburg, Fla.:
A full and complete confession of
the murder of his father and mother
Mr. and Mrs. J. M. McDowell here
and of his two sisters in Decatur,
Ga., a year ago, was made at St-
Petersburg by Frank McDowell ac
cording to Chief of Police Coslick
and Detective John Trotter.
St. Petersburg, Fla., Feb. 20-—
Frank McDowell, 18, was taken in
custody by the police early today
and is being held for investigation
following the finding of the bodies
of his father and mother, Mr. and
Mrs. J. M. McDowell, said to have
been murdered in their beds, both
having been shot in the left temple.
The youth called the police and
said he had been struck on the
head and rendered unconscious and
' when he regained his senses he dis
covered that his parents were dead.
The police found a pistol with
two exploded cartridge shells, which
the youth admitted belonged to him
According to the police he told con
flicting stories and said his two
sisters had been burned to death in
their home in Georgia a year ago
after the mattresses on their bed
had been saturated with kerosene.
Music by Theatre Orchestra.
ADMISSION 15c & 35c
PMENT
PROJECT TO BE MADE
NEAR BRUNSWICK, GA.
Atlanta, Feb.—Concluding a se
ries of negotiations that have been
under way for more than a year,
deals have been closed at Brunswick
whereby approximately 9,000 acres
of Altamaha Delta lane and an ad-
' ditional 1,000 acres of adjoining pine
lands have come under the control
of New York financial interests, in
augurating what is undoubtedly and
by far the greatest and most com
prehensive reclamation and develop-
. ment project of its kind ever un
dertaken in Georgia or the South
east, if not in the entire South.
. For months W. R. Tucker, agri
cultural-development agent of the
A. B. and A. Railway has been as
sisting-in fondling contracts -with
the owpers of the land in question
arid, in .acquiring detailed informa
tion to guide the prospective own
ers..-. '
The negotiations were conducted
on behalf of the New York inter
ests by O. C. Lamp, who represents
himself and two associates,. Ralph
Wharff, capitalist, and Wm. Dobson
a capitalist and widely known" civil
engineer. The lands involved, the
property of a dozen or more differ
ent owners,' including several is
lands lying within the far-famed
delta of the Altamaha River, then-
aggregate area being about equally
divided between McIntosh and
Glynn counties. The project involves
an investment ultimately in ex
cess of $1,000,000.
The land, it is claimed,
work is completed, will pi
least $5,000,000 worth of
ble produce annually. The
are to be cleared of their pine, put
under cultivation and devoted to the
growing of satsuma oranges, ac-
- cording to the present plans of the
purchasers.
Preliminary work, it was stated,
has Mready been completed on But-
‘ ’ part of the property
and-before another month
water will have been
- the 1,300 acres of this,
ping in the sun and
the plow.
\
InMJon.
some people who
to know when
.eternity begin"
AWAY Wlffl POLITICS
ROYAL DANIEL SAYS.
POLITICAL EVILS ENUMERATED
BEFORE EDITORS’ MEETING
AT CAIRO, GA.
the
eta-
uplands
M’DOWELL WILL
FACE MURDER TRIAI.
Tampa, Fla., Feb. 28.—That Frank
McDowell will face trial in the reg
ular process of law instead of going
before an insanity commission, was
the statement today of Pincellas
county authorities. The youthful
murderer,held at the.jail at Clear
water, upon being apprised of this
fact, declared his hope that there
would be no lengthy delay b efore
trial. 1 -
“Could they do something t o
speed matters ’’ he asked. “It is im
material to me what they do with
me. Of course, I prefer going to the
electric chair to being placed in an
institution or prison for life. Life
under institution conditions is ab
horrent to me, I’d rather die than
be shut up.”.
McDowell, when apprised of the
fact that Dr. H. M. Smith, noted
alienist and former superintendent
of Florida hospital for the insane,
who examined him Friday afternoon
had declared belief in his insanity,
appeared pleased. Dr. Smith was
retained by the Tampa Morning
Tribune f r the examination, and in
a statement coprighted by The Trib
une declared he had found several
indications of insanity in the hoy.
“I want to be fairly examined,”
McDowell declared. “I believe I am
of disordered mind. What they do
with me is a secondary matter, as
far as I am concerned. The scien
tific aspects of my case interest me
greatly, however. My brain is not
right and I know it. I want some
competent authority on mental dis
eases to determine just whac is
wrong. Then if they care to execute
me for my crime, I will be perfect
ly willing.
“Unless there is a hope for a cure
of my trouble, I resist icing placed
in an institution. I’d rather go to
the electric chair or the gallows. If
they are able to cure my trouble,the
scientific world' will probably benefit
Then they can do what they choose
with me. I am interested from that
standpoint only. My own fate is im
material to me. Life means nothing
for I have failed miserably.”
NOTICE OF ELECTION- OF
SCHOOL TRUSTEES •
Be it resolved that an election be
held- in- Butler School District at the
place and in the same-manner that
other 1 'elections are held, March 1st,,
1924, for the purpose of electing a
school trustee to succeed Mr. Eddie
TheusJ . whose term expires Feb. 26,
1924.
Also an election to be held in Five
Points'-> School District March 1st,
1924 to elect a school trustee to suc
ceed Mr. Will Parker who has tend
ered his resignation as trustee of
Five Points School District.
By order of the Taylor County
Board of Education!
This Feb. .5. 1924.
W. T. RUSTIN, Supt.
“The world today is sick unto
death, its life stream is polluted with
toxins of hate and suspicions and
greed and poisonous germs of de
vilish virility and viciousness are in
fecting its very pore, threating. our
established institutions, menacing
the very fabric of our civilization,
pitilessly despoiling our virtues and
insidiously undermining the funda
mentals of democratic government.”
This was the- startling statement
of Royal Daniel, editor of the Quit-
man Free PreSs, before the Friday
evening banquet session of the Geor
gia Press Association. Mr Daniel
was for many years connected with
Atlanta newspapers, but has been
conducting the Brooks county pa
per for several years.
Mr. Daniel discussed the growing
burden of taxes and the cost of ad
ministration. fie proposed as reme
dies for some of the existing ills: -
A business manager for Georgia.
The creation of a commission oi
law revision.
The curtailment of the General
Assembly to one organized body,
To limit its membership to one
member from each county in Geor
gia .
Biennial sessions.
“I am quite sincere. I hope no one
will charge me with being impul
sive. I wish to deny in advance of
any criticism that I am giving
pression to destructive ideas. Quite
to the contrary I believe it a con
structive program,” said Mr. Daniel-
Burden of Taxation,
“I am of the opinion that you
agree with me that the restlessness
and resentment in the "public mind
today is the result of the system as
applied to the conduct of our gov
ernment—-municipal, county, state
and nation—rather than any spirit
ual evolution or tendency toward
contamination of our morals, or de
generation in our Christian civiliza
tion.
“May I say it plainly and bluntly.
We are outlawed by a multiplicity
of laws; we are burdened by taxa
tion to the breaking point; we are
bing ground pitilessly but- certainly
between the millstones if the per
sonal ambition of politicians and the
evil of an antiquated and iniquitious
system that makes these abuses pos
sible.
“Consider the little cigarette. You
buy it. Ten per cent of what you
pay for it goes to the State of Geor
gia in a direct tax; the man who
sells it pays a license tax for selling
it and then he pays a property tax
on his store and then he pays a tax
on his income; and the man who
manufactures it pays a license -tax
for making it, and a property tax
and an income tax and a corporation
tax and a personal tax;and the rail
road that hauls it p ays taxes
every conceivable nature and
you are!
Pay All in Taxes.
'I pay a city tax, a county tax, a
poll tax, a specific tax,, a state tax,
a corporation tax, a street tax and
income tax whether I earn money or
not; tobacco tax, a gasoline tax, an
automobile license tax, an amuse
ment tax when I enter a v motion
picture house; I pay a tax on my
club dues, a telephone tax, a tele
graph tax, a tax on luxuries whe
ther I have or not—I pay taxes at
every turn. I try t o render unto
Caesar what is Caesar’s but I will
tell you after that is done there is
mighty little left to, render unto
God!
“My exceeding regret is that a
vast-amount of these spoils taken
from the public is wasted, either
wantonly or ignorantly.
“Tied to the coat tail of the aver
age member of the -.Georgia Legis
lature is the pledge made to his
constituents back ;, home, to vote
against every revenue measure and
to vote for every-! aupropriation.and
a fool-can see what this "will-lead to
“ThatH! piay be understood by all
I will speak in the terms of a uni
versal language: ;
“T 0 hell with politics, such as they
are-”
of
there
ENTRANCE FEES MUST
BE PAID BY MARCH 8.
CANDIDATES HAVE JUST A
LITTLE MORE THAN ONE
WEEK TO PAY - ENTRANCE
FEE FOR COUNTY PRIMARY,
Entrance of candidates for Tay
lor county primary closes Saturday
night, March 8, 1924.
The fees must be paid to C. E.
Benns, secretary of the executive
committee by the date above m
tioned.
The assessment for each office
to be pro-rated among the candi
dates for offices as follows: '
Clerk of Court $20.00
Ordinary p__ 20.00
Sheriff d~ 30.00
Tax Collector -L 20.00
Tax Receiver —j,—
Treasurer ^—
School' Supt. £
County Comisn’rs. 1 "
Coroner
Surveyor
The amount for each office will
be pro-rated among thecandidates
seeking the particular office. In
other words, the office is assessed
and riot the candidates. For Instance,
the office of Tax Receiver is assess
ed $12.50. If there are three candi
dates for this office each will pay
his part of the amount assessed
against the office, which would be
$4.17 each.
The date for the county primary
has been set for March 19th, the
same date for holding the presiden
tial primary throughout the State.
12.50
12.50
16.00
15-00
3.00
3.00
FIVE MURDER CASES
- .( IN UPSON LAST WEEK
From last week’s Thomaston Times:
Upson Superior Court has been in
session this week" and has disposed
of a heavy criminal docket. Five
murder cases' have been disposed of
four by trial and one by postpone
ment. '
Paul Prater, charged with the
murder of George Holloway, was
convicted and given life sentence.
The killing took place on’the farm
of Mr. R. G. Black a few miles
East of Thomaston a few weeks
ago.
Harrison Brown, charged with
the murder of Oscar Mann, was con
victed and sentenced to hang on
March 21. Brown shot and killed
Mann at the saw .mill of Mr. T. J.
Middlebrooks near- The Rock last
week.
Dennis Seay, charged with the
murder of his wife, Savannah
Seay, was convicted and given a
life sentence. Seay shot and killed
his wife a few miles south of Thom
aston some months ago.
Prince Ferguson, charged with
the murder of Fess Knight, some
time ago, got a postponement of
his case because of the absence of
material witnesses.
A mistrial resulted in the case of
Jesse Williams chaged with the
murder of Bessie Hobbs near Crest-
last December.
All of the murderers and their
victims are negroes.
SAYS HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ~
PAffi FOR 101 DAYS INSTEAD Sllpt. Billiard t6
Speakin Butler.
OF 34 DAYS AS OFFERED BY
MB. COOPER.
To the Voters of Taylor County: The principal address to be de-
I am a candidate for the office of livered at the next session of the
Tax Receiver of Taylor county an! Teacher’s Institute for . Taylor
Mr. C. C. Cooper is also a candidate county, to be held at Butler op
for the safe office. I have been try- Saturday, March 8th will be that of
ing to conduct my campaign for Dr. H. M. Ballard, State Superin-
this responsible office in a quiet dig- tendent of Schools,
nified manner, free from mud-sling- The session will be held at the
ing and back-biting, but I cannot in Butler High School auditorium on
justice to myself and to my friends the date given above beginning at
ignore an article that nas now twice 10 o’clock.
appeared in The Butler Herald un- It is very gratifying to know that
tier the heading: “Misstatements Dr. Ballard has been secured for-
Corrected by Mr. C. C. Cooper.” this occasion. It is anticipated a
I do not intend to conduct my large number of our people will
campaign through the newspaper, avail themselves of this opportunity
My opponent has seen fit to open to hear him, as he is one of the
State’s most prominent men, and in
school circles is regarded as an of-
fical of the highest rank. He is a
speaker of marked ability. Those
who fail to hear him will miss a
rare treat.
A cordial invitation is , extended
all to attend the institute more es
pecially the hour that Dr. Ballard
Speaks.
It is urged that every teacher in
the county, and members of the var
ious school boards be present.
hostilities against me through this
medium, and I am compelled to use
the same medium in reply.
The veiled insenudtions appearing
in the article by Mr. Cooper demand
a reply from me. My friends
throughout the county would be
justified in deserting me and my
cause should I ignore these charges.
As briefly as possible I will state
the facts in reference to matters as
touched by Mr. Cooper in the afore
said article. When I am through,
and -you have made a personal and
careful investigation, not from
what I say in this article, nor on
what Mr. Coopqr says, but from
what appears in the public records
of Taylor county, Ga., I leave it for
you to say whether the article ^
aforesaid appearing weekly in The! the
Butler Herald, should not he cor
rected to read: “Misstatements?, ^
MADE by Mr. C. C. Cooper.” I ‘ , .......
The day Mr. Cooper received hi Sj has a Iar *? e stock ln the g° oda
commission, he asked me if we,line and specialty departments^
could agree on my part of the pay where ladies can find those many
for the time I served as Receiver^ I little accessories of dress in the
ANSLEY, AMERICUS
Your attention, readers, is direc
ted to the page advertisement of
the Chas. L. Ansley store,' Ameri-
cus,
STOP! LOOK AND LISTEN!
To avert an embarrassing situa
tion between the managers of /tele
phone lines from Butler, to 'Rey
nolds and yourself you had better
accept this advice and limit your
conversation over this particular
line to three minutes. It makes no
difference whether your conversation
be of a business or social' nature,
the operator has been instructed by
the owner of the local telephone
system to take down the connection
or collect toll after you have had
the use of the line for three min
utes.
This line is taxed to its full ca
pacity to accommodate the public
and without the restriction of time
in bolding the line for each con
versation it is impossible to give
the' service desired by the owner.
Failure 0 n the part of the public
to comply with this request of the
the telephone company will ulti
mately mean that the free use of
the line between Butler and Rey
nolds will be discontinued and that
at no distant date.
told him I was not in a position to
discuss the matter with -him. This
was on May 20th., the Digests bad
not been made, all the returns were
in the hands of the Assessors, no
living man could say what the con
solidation would total, consequently
I did not know what the commission
would be.
During the fall of 1922 I filed
with the Commissioners, my claim
for PART of the pay due the Re
ceiver, for that year, that is from
Feb. 8th to May 20th which was
NOT paid. The Commissioners in
formed me that they had paid Mr.
Cooper the whole commission for
that year, stating that they sup
posed Mr. Cooper had settled with
me. This supposition is all that I
have ever gotten from anyone for
my services.
Neither Mr. Foy, Mr. Cooper nor
anyone has ever tendered me one
penny. Mr. Foy (at this .meeting
Mr. Cooper mentioned) intimated
that I should be paid for my work
until March 14th; from that date to
May 20th he would contend that Mr
Cooper was entitled to that. (For
work that I did.)
Mr. Cooper states that Mr. Foy’s
contention is that the Tax Re
ceiver’s pay is an annual salary.
Whether it is or not, Mr. Cooper ob
tained pay for work done by Mr.
Griffith’s deputy, by me and himself
on a commission based on the tax
returns for that year.
I did file suit later, but the rec
ords will not show that I asked for
more than the office paid that year.
It is also a matter gf record that
you were paid by the State, $375.51
it is also recorded that the county
paid, you $771.60 making a total of
$1,147.11. You knew then that you
were getting money through a claim
filed by you for services you did not
perform. Look up the records and
see if you can fin*} where I asked
for more than the above ataouqt as
Mr. Cooper would have you believe.
As you stated Mr. Foy represented
yon, let’s take up what he said I
was entitled to. $1,147.11 divided by
wfil give you what one day’s
pay would- be; that is $3.14. He
said I was due pay from Feb 8th to
March 14th, 34 days, this multiplied
latest designs.. Their stock in these
lines is very complete and here is
carried a line of the very latest in
piece goods.
As advertised they are closing out
one of *the largest and best lines of
men’s and boys’ furnishings to be
found in the State. These lines are
going at half price.' It will pay you
to invest now for later wear.
Their special offer will not last
long so we would suggest that you
make them a visit at once.
MR. J. I. FULLER TO RUN
FOR CO. COMMISSIONER
Mr. J. I. Fuller, well known citi
zen of Panhandle district, is a can
didate for County Commissioner.
Mr. Fuller is- a splendid farmer
and business man, who has always
stood for progress for the county
and conservatism in-the administra
tion of the business affairs of the
county.
He feels that.his section of the
county should have a representative
on the Board of Commissioners,
hence his candidacy for that posi
tion. ' *
by $3.14 would ; give $106.76. This is
what he said I should he paid. From
Feb. 8th to May 20th is 101 days;
this divided into $106.76 will give
$1.05 per day. Who would make
rounds over the county as I did for
this amount ? I have not as yet
-eed t 0 any such settlement. If I
was not Receiver from March 14 to
May 20, why, Mr, Cooper, did you
take .the returns received by me and
hire the Digests made for/the year
1922 and present them to the proper
authorities^ and ask' them to pay
you all? . ,
According to your contentions,
(also my • ebntentions) Mr. Griffith’s
estate, or:.:his deputy, should be
paid for the first 38 days of the
year 1922; -How much have you paid
them? It may be‘right for you to.
keep my'^Tnoney and attempt to
“Correct Misstatements” through the
paper butt why keep silent on this
matter ?-—Advertisement.
E. J. MIMS.