Newspaper Page Text
The Butler Herald
"KEEPING EVERLASTINGLY AT IT IS THE SECRET OF SUCCESS"
VOLUME 85
BUTLER, TAYLOR COUNTY, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 1961.
NUMBER 25.
Joan Wisham Wins
Taylor Co. Spelling
Contest Tuesday
I Army Joins Probe
jOf Blast in Jones
County Rock Quarry
Garland Byrd’s Drive For Governor
Began Unofficially Sunday at Reynolds
With Large Group of Political Leaders
Two Persons Killed
Monday in Car-Bus
Wreck Near Roberta
Taylor County Road
Improvements To Be
In 1st Hwy. Project
Dept, of Archives
Second Place in Co,n, S.-'F%££5Z
Won By Lynda Whaw, * ^
Reynolds High School. i ions anfl fires whic h wrecked the
IWeston-Broks Co. rock quarry at
nearby Ruby.
Miss Joan Wisham, daughter of' sheri « Hawkins of Jones county
Mr. and Mrs. Solon Wisham off aid a ’ 3rd Army demolition squad
Rupert captured the countywide fr , om McPherson in Atlanta
spelling championship in the an.! P “ t0 Search !, he J rU £ S ^° ng
nual spelling contest March 21st. ! f Wlth GBI agentS and shenffs de P u '
Joan is an 8th grade student in j ie .f‘ ,
Butler High school I w e haven’t any definite leads
The runner-up in the county- if yet l” the S , heriff sa «V‘ We do
wide contest was Miss Lynda I kn . ow ff th ‘; ^piosions and fires were
Whatley, daughter of Dr and Mrs ' Set ° ff dellberatel y> P™bably by
E. C. Whatley, Reynolds pera ° nS ' We kn0W tha
a 7th grade student in the Rey-| reaS ° n ° r the am ° Unt ° f damage/
nolds High school. I The largest of five explosions oc-
Other grade winners for the curred shortly after daylight Sun-
county were: (day when an estimated 8,000
Fourth Grade: [pounds of dynamite stored in
1st Place: Elizabeth Riley Butler i bunker went off with a roar heard
School. ’ ! for mi les.
2nd Place: Lucy Jan Mangham, I No casualties were reported.But
Reynolds School. [the blast damaged a dozen homes
Fifth Grade: jin a four mile radius of the rock
1st Place: Jimmy Whatley, Rey- 'quarry which covers acres of land
nolds School. “ " - .
2nd Place: Vickie Mclnvale, Rey
nolds School.
Sixth Grade:
1st Place: Carolyn Albritton,
Butler School.
2nd Place: Martha Clark, Butler
School.
Seventh Grade:
off Ga. Highway 49 at Ruby. The
tiny community is seven miles out
of Gray in Middle Ga. between
Macon and Milledgeville.
Explosion of the stored dyna
mite leveled an area 250 yards in
diameter and dug a hole 60 feet
deep. A truck parked near the
bunker practically disappeared.The
1st Place: Lynda Whatley, Rey- | largest piece found was a tire.
nolds School.
The explosions and fires destroy-
2nd Place: Peggy Childree, Rey- ed an office building, formerly a
nolds School.
Eighth Grade:
I seven room dwelling, a large stor-
I age building and a smaller ware-
lst Place: Joan Wisham, Butler house, and damaged trucks and
School.
Sara Ann Fountain, Reynolds
School.
The County Champion, Joan
Wisham will represent this county
in the District Contest at Georgia
Southwestern College April 11th.
5 Georgians
Killed in Weekend
Traffic Accidents
other equipment.
The rock quarry plant shut down
for the week end as usual Satur
day p. m. The area is partially
fenced in but no night watchman
is employed officials said.
GBI agents J. E. Carnes and A.
L. Hutchins said their investigation
showed the persons resonsible en
tered late at night or early Sunday
and used two plant trucks to make
their prepartions.
The agents gave this account:
The men used an acetylene torch
Four persons lost their lives in ° n tbe truck to cut the lock from a
Ga. traffic during the week end bu " k f er containing dynamite caps
and a Georgian died in a collision
in Florida.
C. E. Mullis, 30, of Eastman was
killed Sunday when th ecar in
and fuses and apparently used the
same method to get dynamite
from the main magazine. The
mgazine was completely destroyed
which he was riding went out of and thera ™ as f no t evi '
control and overturned, the State j T , a 0 , e m , e od of
Patrol <53if! The me(n then dr0Ve t0 the sh °P
Officers said the crash occurred | a / ldcut a lack a swkcb
early Sunday on Highway 23 about b °* whl ,£ b controlled the gasoline
a mile from Cochran but was not pumps ' The y lald hoses ff om a gas
di™o™r a V anTourduetoa ^“! n8 ’“ rM , d
. . Ion the gas and set it afire. The of-
An 11 vear old Rome girl, Barbara fic f bu r ildi ^ burned to the ground.
Edwards died Saturday night when If. tba *’ dynamite blasts were
. : . .. J , set off in the storage building and
aho ran into Inn naln of 3n nnoom. __
she ran into the path of an oncom
ing vehicle^n a Floyd county road
the natrol said.
Willie J. Adams, 17, of Augusta
died Saturday in the headon collis
ion of two vehicles, south of Au
gusta, officers said.
C. L. Pritchell, 26, of Roswell,
died Friday after his motor-cycle
collided with a car in the Atlanta
city limits, police said.
jimmy Allen Cross of Swains-
boro was one of three persons
killed Saturday night when two
cars collided head-on on a wind
swept causeway at Cocoa Beach,
Fla.
Woman Found
Guilty in Death
Of Donald Scales
Elberton, Ga. — A superior court
jury has found Mrs.James Leverett
guilty of voluntary manslaughter
in the death of Donald E. Scales
on Jan. 20.
Judge Usher of the Ogeechee Cir
cuit, presiding because of the ill
ness of Judge Carey Skelton, sen
tenced Mrs. Leverett to an 18 to 20
year prison term.
Dykes Loses Case,
Must Pay $39,469
Atlanta, Ga. — A South Georgia
sub-contractor, who charged con- j
tractor Jimmy Dykes of Cochran !
failed to pay him for grading work
on state highway projects, was
awarded $39 469 Friday by a Ful
ton county Civil Court jury.
Dykes, who is a state senator,
said the sub contractor, T. R. Odom
did not complete the grading as
signments and left several jobs
incomplete. He said his over-all
debt to Oodom was about $1,700.
smaller warehouse and under some
equipment. Finally the men went
back to the main dynamite maga
zine several hundred yards from
the buildings and set it off.
That was the blast heard for
miles. J. M. Etheridge, who lives in
James, four miles away, said the
bricks of his chimney above the
roof level were blow away. James
Bolton also of James, reported
damage to several other homes in
the area.
Two persons who lived a mile
away reported damage to their
homes. A. B. Carson said the doors
to his house were blown in. D. R.
Stevens said several windows
in his house were shattered.
The 100 year old Pitts Methodist
church chapel, half a mile from
the quarry also was damaged.
Caldwell Weston, a co-owner of
the company said he was at a loss
to explain the reason for the de
struction. He declined to estimate
damage pending further investiga
tion.
Luther Burris, a vice president,
drove over from the company’s
home office at Columbia, S. C., to
assist in the probe.
The quarry produced crushed
i stone and gravel with much of the
gravel being used for concrete.
In addition to quarries at Ruby
and Columbia, the company also
operates quarries at Camack and
Sparta.
Public Notice
Hunting and Fishing licenses,
driver’s license and car tags expire
March 31st.
The State Patrolman will be in
Butler at the Court House to renew
drivers license only one more time,
Wednesday, March 29.
Mrs. Bussey Childs,
Ordinary Taylor County
Byrd Plans Number of Such
Meetings With Friends With
in Near Future.
Atlanta, Ga. — The campaign of
Lt. Governor Garland T. Byrd gov
ernor has been kicked off although
there will be no official announce
ment of his candidacy for another
year.
About 35 or 40 men, whose
names ar synonomous with power
politics met with Byrd at his home
in Reynolds Sunday and the 1962
governor’s race was the subject of
their discussion.
Usually reliable sources said
Chairman Jim Gillis of the High
way Board opened the secret ses
sion with a declaration that he is
supporting Byrd. The lieutenant
governor is expected to oppose
former Gov. Marvin Griffin.
One participant called the meet-,
ing moderately successful and
predicted most of those who at
tended would be in the Byrd
camp if the campaign narrows
down to one between the lieutenant
governor and Griffin.
“Where else can we go?” he
asked.
The guests included House offi
cials with whom Byrd feuded at
the recent legislative session over
an appropriations bill. They were
Speaker George Smith, floor lead
er Frank Twitty and Chairman
Jack Ray of the House Appropria
tions Committee.
The trio led an uprising against
Byrd and Gov. Vandiver over state
spending and budget control in
the legislature but lost. Byrd is
counting on the support of all the
gubernatorial derby, a reliable
source said.
Also on hand was former Speak
er Roy Harris of Augusta who was
sharply critical of current desegre
gation trends and developments in
the state. He made no political
commitment at the meeting.
The conferees included highway
board members Willis Harden and
Clark Duncan, Revenue Commis
sioner Dixon Oxford; Director Ful
ton Lovell of the Game and Fish
Dept.; and Walter Dyal of McRae,
slated to become president next
week of the Ga. County Commis
sioners Assn.
“As I saw it,” said one who was
there, “the purpose of the meet
ing was to listen to divergent
views and see if some of these
could be brought together.”
Asked Monday about the parley,
Byrd said it was the first of a se
ries in the next few months.
"I am trying to get my organi
zation set up and some. of the
problems connected with it ironed
out,” he said. “I am drafting a
program that I want to submit to
my friends.”
Roberta Court
Opened, But No
Cases Came Up
Roberta, Ga. — Folks in Craw
ford county must be getting along
pretty well with their neighbors
these days.
The Crawford county superior
court opened Monday with the
first week to be devoted to civil
cases with Judge A. M. Anderson
presiding, Clerk Tom Smith said.
But there were no civil cases on
the docket. No divorces, no alimony
suits no damage suits, no nothing.
The grand jury, with John Seag-
ler as foreman, began considering
cases for next week’s criminal ses
sion of the court.
Gospel Quartet
Coming to Mt. Olive
Church April 1st
i The Favorite Melody Quartet
I will appear at Mt. Olive Church
| (Potterville) Saturday night, April
11st, 8 o’clock.
| The public is extended a special
invitation to come out and enjoy
this splendid service in Gospel
songs.
Three members of this quartet
are objects of pity, being con
fined by affliction to wheel chairs.
The only charge will be a free
will offering on their behalf.
Sponsors of the event express
the sincere belief that all- who at
tend will enjoy hearing these
talented people.
GARLAND T. BYRD
Open Schools
Are Backed By
Youths of State
Atlanta, Ga. — Young Georgians
attending the annual Youth As
sembly went on record Saturday
as favoring open schools and fed
eral aid to education.
During the closing session of the
mock legislature at the state cap-
itolthey adopted a resolution com
mending Gov. Vandiver and the
Ga. General Assembly for the open
schools legislation approved dur
ing the 1961 meeting of the legisla
ture.
The young people also adopted
a resolution commending the Ga.
House for favoring congressional
approval of federal aid to educa
tion provided no restrictions are
placed on the use of funds.
In another action, Youth Assem
bly Governor Johnny Bargeron of
Wrens signed into law a bill abol
ishing capital punishment. The pro
posa] passed both houses after
more than six hours of debate.
Chip Bell, a junior at Telfair Hi
School in McRae, was elected youth
governor for the 1962 assembly.
George Boswell, associate editor
of the Atlanta Constitution, pre
sented awards to the authors of
the best bills in the assembly.
Winners were Cherrijee Alpha Tri-
Hi-Y n Canton; Senior Alpha Tri-
Hi-Y in Griffin; Thomasville Y
Clubs; McRae Y Clubs; and Syl
van Hills Coed Hi-Y.
Kidd to Seek
Second Place
In 1962 Vote
DUBLIN, Ga.—Rep. Culver Kidd
of Baldwin County Tuesday an
nounced he is a candidate for the
1962 lieutenant governors race.
He joined Rep. John E. Sheffield
Jr., of Brooks County, who tossed his
•hat into the race earlier.
Others considered unofficial can
didates to replace Lt. Gov. Garland
Byrd include Peter Zach Geer, exe
cutive secretary to Gov. Vandiver,
and Senate President Pro Tern Carl
Sanders of Augusta.
Kidd made his announcement at
a luncheon and said events of the
recent legislature had caused Geor
gians to start “asking why they
can’t get a financial statement
showing where the money is.”
Villa Rica Ordered
To Pay $65,000
The city of Villa Rica has been
ordered to pay off more than $65,-
000 in two gas explosion damage
suits, but the mayor said Monday
the city doesn’t have “any surplus
funds.”
An attorney for one of the win
ning claimants said he’ll go to
court, if necessary and ask that
Villa Rica be forced to institute a
special tax levy to pay off the
judgment.
Officials of the U.S. District Court
said final judgments have been
ordered in favor of Mrs.Eva Broom
two Villa Rica women with rela
tives killed in the Dec. 5, 1957, gas
explosion which took a total of 12
lives at Villa Rica.
| Roberta, Ga. — A 54 year old
man and his wife were killed in
stantly near here Monday when
their car apparently had a blowout
and swerved into the path of anon-
coming Trailways bus.
Killed were Georgie Nixon and
Mary Nixon, about 50, of Rt. 1, Ro
berta.
Six persons on the bus were in
jured, none seriously, according to
State Trooper Martin of the Thom-
aston Patrol Headquarters.
Martin listed the injured as
Dorothy Williams, 18, Hollings.Ala;
Josie Dalton, 74, Lumpkin; W. E.
McClain, 41, Ft. Bragg, N. C.; J. T.
Green, 40, Augusta; Mrs. Flossie
Johnson, 45, Milledgeville; and Ed
[Gardner, 18, of Cochran Field.
I The driver of the bus was John
Barnes of Columbus, Martin said.
'The bus was en route to Macon
from Columbus.
j Crawford Sheriff O’Neal who also
j investigated the accident said Nix-
;on and his wife were driving to
I Reynolds when they apparently
had a blow out five miles from Ro
berta on Ga. Highway 128.
The car swerved off the slick
pavement, then cut back and skid
ded across in front of the bus.
Sheriff said Nixon and his wife
were killed instantly and their car
was demolished in the collision.
The bus was damaged around the
front.
State Hospital
Is First Step
To Good Health
J Atlanta, Ga. — For many of the
i state's mentally ill, admission to
'Milledgeville State Hospital is the
I beginning of the line to health.
Six of 10 of the patients admit
ted to the hospital’s intensive
treatment division are returned to
their homes within 90 days. •
Many of the 2,200 patients dis
charged from the hospital during
12 months ending July 1, I960 were
treated in the division, Said Dr.
MacKinnon, superintendent.
The figure also includes patients
who were treated for alcoholism
and drug addiction on other
wards. The period’s number of dis
charged patients is 400 greater
than the number discharged in the
preceding 12 months.
I Of the total number discharged,
33 per cent return for further
j treatment.
I April 13th is Date
jFor Fort Valley
J Placement Show
j The Annual Flower Show of the
Federated Garden Clubs of Fort
Valley will be held on April 13,
1961. It will be a placement show
I with ’Springtime’ as the theme. Co-
I chairmen for the show are Mrs.
Richard Parks and Mrs. Charles
Bartlett.
The lovely homes of Mr. and Mrs.
Corbin Davis on Westview Drive
and Mr. and Mrs. Ed Murray on
Church St. will furnish the setting
for the show. Interesting contrasts
in themeselves, the Davis home is
one of the outstanding new homes
in Fort Valley, being a perfect
blend of traditional and contempo
rary design. And the Murray home
which has recently been remodeled,
is a very old house and still con
tains many of its orginal hand
blown window panes. In keeping
with its style, it’s decorated with
antiques.
Besides the arrangement classes
there will also be a horticultural
exhibit. Refreshments will be served
in the Murray home.
The public is cordially invited
between the hours of 2:00 - 6:00
and 7:30 - 9:00. Tickets may be pur
chased on the day of the show at
the Davis home. Admission is 50c.
Mrs. Suggs Named
Civil Defense Director
For City of Butler
j Mrs. Jack Suggs was recently ap
pointed Civil Defense Director for
jthe City of Butler. Her appoint-
: ment was made by Gov. Vandiver.
Sheriff Charlie J. Wright is
'Civil Defense Director for Taylor
County with Mrs. Suggs as Deputy
Director for the County.
Mrs. Suggs advises the Herald
that a Civil Defense meeting for
this city will be called sometime
during the month of April.
! Local Improvements Will In-
I elude Resurfacing of Hwy. 90
Between Rupert and Ideal.
| Taylor County is included in the
[highway improvement projects un
der the first increment of bonds of
the Vandiver administration high
way reconstruction program.
Clarke W. Duncan, Highway
Board Member from the Central
Highway District says that 126 pro
jects located in 130 counties arc in
cluded in the first $30 million dol
lar increment covering a total of
'2,269 miles.
j Work under this increment in
[Taylor County will consist of 5.55
'miles of resurfacing on State Route
90, beginning at U. S. 19 and ex
tending southeast to the Macon
County line.
Mr. Duncan explained that bonds
have not yet been validated and
sold, but that it is hoped that this
I will be completed in time to begin
Getting contracts by May. He added
jthat the projects in the first incre-
|ment probably would be split into
'three separate contract lettings, in
| May, June and July.
I A total of 1,019.3 miles of Pri-
jmary, and 1250 miles of Secondary
highways will be widened, recon
structed, or resurfaced under the
first bond increment, Mr. Duncan
said. He emphasized lhat this is
only the first bond increment of the
$100 million dollar program, and
that other projects would be forth
coming in subsequent bond incre
ments.
Macon County
Farmer Fatally
Burned Last Week
Ideal, Ga. — A Macon county
farmer, Raymon H. Kelley, 48, was
burned to death last week when a
can of gasoline he was carrying in
his truck became ignited, investi
gators theorized. There were no
witnesses to thie accident.
Kelley’s body was fonud about 2
p. m. March 11th. A group of men
working in a nearby field reported
they saw the smoke in the direc
tion of the Kelley farm earlier but
thought the farmer was burning
trash and did not investigate. Of
ficials assumed that Kelley’s death
occurred about that time.
The ambulance driver who an
swered the call reported the truck
in which the body was found was
completely cool, tho the interior
had been burned out.
A lifelong resident of the Ideal
area, Kelley was a member of the
Whitewater Baptist Church, where
he taught the Young Men’s Sunday
School class and was a deacon and
member of the brotherhood. He was
also active in the Ga. Farm Bu
reau activity.
Survivors include his wife, the
former Miss Edith Mitchell; one
daughter, Patricia Ann, a student
at ABC, Tifton; two brothers J. C.
Kelley, Ideal; and W. B. Kelley of
Savannah; four sisters, Mrs. J. H.
iWood and Mrs. C. L. Wood both of
Ideal; Mrs. John Bray of Ogle
thorpe and Mrs. Claude Felker of
Dooling; and a number of nieces
and nephews.
Joseph T. Peters
Died at Montezuma
Monday P. M.
Mr. Joseph T. Peters, retired far
mer, eighty-three years of age, died
at the Riverside Hospital in Monte
zuma, 5:15 P. M., March 20, after
an illness of four weeks.
Mr. Peters was born in Macon
[County, June 16, 1878, the son of
I John L. and Martha Jane Coxwell
Peters. He had made his residence
in Taylor County for the past tewn-
ty-five years.
Funeral services was held at God
dard Funeral Home Chapel, Wed
nesday at 10:30 A. M. with the Rev.
T. H. Brown, pastor of the Lebanon
Baptist Church, officiating. Inter
ment was in the Oglethorpe Ceme
tery, Oglethorpe, Ga.
Survivors include three sisters:
Mrs. Vera Bridges, Oglethorpe; Mrs.
A. J. Green, Thomaston and Mrs.
Sarah Peters, Rupert; two brothers,
Walter A. Peters, Thomaston and
Enoch L. Peters, Rupert. Also, a
large number of nieces and nep
hews.
Goddard Funeral Home was in
charge of arrangements.