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EARLY COUNTY NEWS, THURSDAY, JAN. 15, 1970
EARLY COUNTY NEWS
Official Organ of Blakely and Early County
BLAKELY, GEORGIA 31723
W. H. FLEMING PUBLISHER-EDITOR
W. W. (BILLY) FLEMING BUSINESS MANAGER
Published Every Thursday By the Early County News.
Entered at the Post Office in Blakely, Ga., as Second Class
matter under Act of March 3, 1879.
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The General Assembiy began
its 1970 session on Monday, but
with little hope of accomplishing
much in an election year. There
will be a lot of sound and fury,
however, and maybe the public
will enjoy the excitement.
One of the first measures to
be considered is the proposed
new State Constitution, but
practically nobody gives it any
chance of passing the legislature,
much less being okayed by the
voters next November.
One of the ironies of this doc
ument is that Governor Maddox
was strongly in favor of it when
the constitutional commission
prepared their draft, but now
that the House Judiciary Com
mittee has drasticaily revised
that draft, the Governor is bit
terly opposed.
On Jan. 6, Maddox held a
meeting at the Mansion with
department heads, commission
chairmen and a few others, in
cluding Hill Helan, Executive
Secretary of the County Com
missioners Assn., and Elmer
George, Executve Director of
¢ the Georgia Municipal Assn. At
" this meeting, the Governor set
forth his objections in a 20-page
document, in which he stated:
“The proposed Constitution by
the House Judiciary Committee
violates the basic principles of
our constitutional form of Gov
ernment”’.
: The document makes so
many drastic changes in state
~ government that it is hard to
sec how it could even pass the
House of Representatives, much
- less the Senate. Particularly so
- since its provisions cannot help
but incur the opposition of the
Public Service Commission,
State Highway Dept., Commis
sioner of Labor, veterans, many
members of the legal profession,
the big utilities, some school
. people, justices of the peace,
and, undoubtedly, some mem
bers of the General Assembly.
* * * * »* *
Apropos the school mess in
Atlanta, the Lovett private
school already has on file the
applications of 336 teachers for
positions.
+ * * »* *
Former State Senator Ben
Johnson, who is Dean of the
Law School at Emory Univer
sity, has lowered admission re
quirements for Negroes (only),
in the hope of attracting more
to the school. Dean Johnson has
long been known as one of
Georgia's ultra-liberals.
* > * * * -
A friend who talked by phone
MANRY-JORDAN
FUNERAL HOME
Established 1937
313 S. Main St. Phone 723-4200
BLAKELY, GEORGIA
We Serve
Any Insurance Policy
Agent For
United Family Life Inswrance Co.
the other day to Malone Sharpe,
Gov. Maddox’s Chief of Staff
who withdrew as a potential
candidate for Lieut.-Governor
because of cancer, reports that
the popular Lyons attorney is
progressing wonderfully well in
his treatment, and has gained
back 10 of the pounds he lost.
Says he feels fine and his doc
tors are encouraged. All Geor
gians are delighted.
* * * * * *
Morgan Thomas, the distin
guished Clerk of the State Court
of Appeals, observed 35 years
service to this Court last week,
and was honored by the Judges
with a certificate of apprecia
tion.
* * - * * *
Some leading members of the
legal profession are open in
their hopes that Griffin Bell,
Judge of the sth Circuit Federal
Court of Appeals, will not
achieve his ambition to be ap
pointed to the U. S. Supreme
Court. They say that he still
talks in private the old segrega
tion line in which he was so ac
tive during the Herman Tal
madge days as governor, but
that on the bench he seems to
take a sheer delight in serving
the cause of integration.
* * * * * *
Congressman Fletcher Thomp
son, of Atlanta, has secured a
picture from the New York
Times of Julian Bond with his
new bushy Afro haircut, and
will use it this year if Bond runs
for Thompson's seat. With it,
Bond looks like Eldridge Cleav
er, the Black Panther criminal
who skipped the country.
* * »* * * *
Labor leader and rebel Dem
ocrat Al Kehrer became angry
because he wasn't allowed a big
part in the inauguration of Sam
Massell as Mayor of Atlanta,
and tried to turn the local un
ions against Massell. But, they
refused and raked Kehrer over
the coals.
* - * * * *
Hal Suit is a good newscaster
and a nice fellow, but he is sho’
ignorant about politics. We
hope he'll change his mind
about running for governor be
fore he spends every dime he
can rake and scrape in a hope
less endeavor.
* * * * * *
Mike Padgett makes the third
person to announce definitely
that he will run for Comptroller-
General. The August State Sen
ator is a personable politician
and conld be a strong factor in
the comtest.
HOW ABOUT THE
SENSELESS 60'S?
The decade of the 60's is
gone, and I say gppd riddange.
Phrase-m a k
ers are hard
put to ade
quately de
scribe this
ten year per
iod in Ameri
' can history. 1
think the per
iod should be
referred to as the “senseless
gixties”.
The way things are going,
1 do not see too much promise
that the seventies will be bet
ter, but there is always room
for hope.
Resolution time came a
round as usual, and Willie
Highgrass pulled up a chair
around the stove, and when
asked what his forecast for the
new year would be, he replied
with alacrity and to the point:
“Stay away from liquor and
politics. Either one will do you
in.l'
Individuals can stay away
{from booze, but what can we
do about politics?
I do not believe I have ever
seen the folks of our nation as
confused, and as uncertain of
the future as they are today,
and the root of all our evil
can be laid at the door of the
kind of politics we are suf
fering at all levels of govern
ment.
For ten years we huave en
gaged in an unceclared war in
Vietnam, and nearly 50,000
Americans have laid down
their lives in a war Congress
did not declare, and thousands
more have received serious
wounds.
WHO HAS RIGHT
TO MAKE WAR?
In my humble opinion, the
whole sorry mess began in
Vietnam when the U. S.
Senate approved the Tonkin
Gulf Resolution. This resolu
tion committed us militarily in
Southeast Asia, and was acted
upon by Democrats and Re
publicans alike during the ad
ministration of the late Presi
dent Dwight Eisenhower.
The approval of the resolu
tion gave our government the
right to send soldiers to war
without a declaration of the
Congress. It wus a highlevel
political move, and it has prov
en disastrous.
Along comes President John
Kennedy, and he began to send
American instructors and tech
nicians to Vietnam. American
aid continued to build up in
Vietnam, and when the assas
sin’s bullet cut down President
Kennedy in Dallas, his suc
cessor in office, President Lyn
don B. Johnson sent more
than a half million Ameri
can combat troops to Vietnam.
The whole mess became one
big political pot pie, and neith
er Republicans nor Democrats
can, with honesty, point the
finger of gyilt at each other.
Both are guilty of building
this country’s foreign policy
on a false foundation. Neither
major political party had the
courage, or wanted the respon
sibility of going before the
Congrees and asking the re
presentatives of the people to
declare war. It is this weak
kneed political buck-passing
that has brought us to the
brink of disaster.
The Democrats under Ken
nedy and Johnson are more re
sponsible for the debacle than
President Nixon, the present
resident of the White House,
who doesn’t know which way
to go with the problem.
The liberal element is in
full cry, and this pack of
Senators Edward Kennedy,
George McGovern, Birch Bayh
et al are attacking every plan
offered by President Nixon to
bring the war to a close. These
people are the same ones who
contributed the most to ruin
ing the country at home.
I am not an ardent admirer
of President Nixon, and while
I believe he will bend over
the farthest to the biggest
political wind, I do believe he
is trging to get out of Viet
nam, and doesn’'t know how to
do it.
A group of liberal Demo
crats were attacking the poli
cies of President Nixon, and
they accused President Nixon
of doing absolutely nothing.
The Nixon supporters wound
up the argument when they
stated as follows: “The Re
publican administration under
the leadership of President
Nixon has been able to put
four men on the moon, and re
turn them safely to earth dur
ing the past year, and you
25 YEARS AGO
(From the issue of Jan. 18, 1945.)
MR. AND MRS, G, W, Whatley,
of this city, received notice from
the War Department Monday that
their son, Private George Wil=-
liam Whatley, Jr., was killed in
action December 30 while serving
with the U, S, ground forces in
Luxembourg.
ko
AN ALLEGED auto thief was
caught and the 1941 convertible
Buick coupe which he was drive
ing was recovered here Satur=
day afternoon by Police Officers
Ollin Goocher and O, B. Hud
speth. The man was Second
Lieutenant Stanley, of Napier
Field, who is alleged to have
stolen the car in Dothan from
another Army Officer Friday
night.
ok k
MRS. BERTHA WHITCHARD,
70, beloved Blakely lady and wife
of Mr. T. O. Whitchard, died at
her home on Cuthbert Street last
Sunday evening at 6:45 o’clock.
She had been ill for ten days.
ook ok o
PRIVATE Jack Temples, son
of Mr. and Mrs. Branch Temples,
of this county, has been home for
the past two weeks on a furlough
following 29 months of overseas
service.
koo
AN EIGHTH Air Force Bomber
Station, England -~ The promo=
tion of William J. Grist from
the rank of First Lieutenant to
Captain has recently been an
nounced by his commanding of
ficer, Colonel George Y. Jump
er, Natoma, Calif. Capt. Grist
is a squadron adjustantand supply
officer at this Eighth Air Force
B-17 Flying Fortress Base.
ok ok ok
SHERIFF SID HOWELL has
been named chairman of the in
fantile paralysis fund drive for
this week by William K, Jenkins,
State Chairman, who is the head
of the Lucas-Jenkins theatres
in Georgia.
ok kook
OF INTEREST to friends is
the marriage of Miss Myrtle
Wise to Mr. Vester White, which
occured the past Saturday night.
50 YEARS AGO
(From the issue of Jan. 15, 1920.)
MRS, MARGARET J. LANE,
of Sowhatchee, died at the home
of her daughter, Mrs. Willie
Wiley, at Damascus, Sunday
evening about 6 o’clock and was
buried Monday afternoon at Zion.
ok ok ok
MRS, Sarah Jane McLendon
died at the home of her son,
Mr. John R. McLendon, in Don
alsonville, last Friday night. She
was the mother of Mr. J. J.
McLendon, of Blakely.
ook ok
CAPT. W, W, DEWS arrived
in Blakely from Macon last night
to spend some time with his
daughter, Mrs. W, W, Fleming.
ok ok ok
THE NEWS learned just a few
minutes before going to press of
the death of Judge T. J. Lanier
at Damascus today.
ok ok
DOCTORS P. H. Fitzgerald,
W, H. Alexander, C. R Barks
dale, and J. G, Standifer attend
ed a meeting of the Tri-County
Medical Society in Arlington
Wednesday.
ook
MESSRS, J. E. Chancy and
John L. Underwood paid Camilla
a visit Monday.
koK ok
MR, AND MRS, W, B, Barks=
dale are up from Jasper, Fla.,
on a visit to the family of Mr.
W. A, Barksdale.
ok ok
MR, AND MRS, C. W. Hay,
of Lucile, announce the arrival
of little Miss Juanita Hay on
the 13th inst.
liberal Democrats couldn’t get
one poor little wayward girl
across a river safely.”
Social reformers and do
gooders have destroyed a re
spect for law in our nation,
and our nation's leaders dur
ing the past two decades have
dodged Congress as the sole
agencey to declare war.
It is axiomatic that Senator
Mike Mansfield, the majority
leader in the Senate, and
others, now want to take the
authority to commit Americans
to combat away from the Pre
sident and the State Depart
ment, and return this power to
the Congress.
Only the Congress should
have the power to send Ameri
can troops ihto combat on
foreign soil, and the sooner we
return to this sound principle,
the sooner we will begin to
function as a united people
once again.
This Week
by
e 9 .
Tige’ Pickle
2 -
This column today begins its
33rd year as a feature of the
Early County News, After 32
more years have elapsed, I think
I'll call it quits,
(il 1]
As an old football fan, I yleld
to no man in my love for the
game, but even 1 got my fill
during the holidays. I watched
the college teams, the all-stars,
the North versus the South, the
East versus the West, the Seniors
versus the Seniors from North
and South, East and West. 1
saw the pros, the playoffs, the
run-offs, Bowl and Super Bowl
games, the first runs, the re=-
runs, the isolated runs. Anold
theatre adage says ‘leave 'um
laughing and wanting a little
more.’’ Television football ad=
heres not to this. They feed
you, gorge you, and then throw
some in your face. Automobile,
auto tire and gasoline and ciga=-
rette makers seem easy prey
for the advertising hucksters and
they are plucking the feathers
off the golden goose. Soon there
may not be a goose and then
we'll have to go back to buying
a ticket to see the game and be
content to read about it in next
day's paper.
ok k
The General Assembly cone
vened in session on Monday of
this week, and the grand old
State of Georgia is about to be
saved again. This is a terrible
thought, but suppose the Legis=~
lature met twice a year instead
of one, do you think we could
stand that much saving?
ok ik
Basketball fans are increasing
75 YEARS AGO
(From the issue of Jan. 17, 1895.)
THE freezing of the orange
crop in Florida has turned hun
dreds of laborers out of work.
ook ok ok
A NEW BABY girl arrived at
the home of Mr. and Mrs. D, D.
Strong last Sunday.
koo ok
VASSAR ALEXANDER is now
clerk for Judge Thomas Hender-
SOne
ok
MR. R. W. BROWN has traded
his house and lot with Mr. T.R.
McDonald for the Henderson old
place on Howard Landing road.
sk ok ok
JUDGE S. T. NANCE was over
from Arlington Monday.
ok ok ok
MISS IDA LANE, of Sowhat=
chee, visited Mrs. Hattie Deal
last week.
ok
THE FACULTY of the Blakely
Institute include Prof. W, H.
Kilpatrick, Miss Eva Turk, Miss
Lizzie Norwood, Miss Fannie
Alice Jones, Miss Irma Lewis,
Miss Minna Collins, and Mrs.
J. T. Freeman, teacher of music.
CONDENSED STATEMENT OF CONDITION
AT THE CLOSE OF BUSINESS, DECEMBER 31, 1969
ASSETS LIABILITIES
Loans & Discounts $3,840,926.69 Capital Stock $200,000.00
Overdrafts 11,426.43 Surplus 300,000.0 C
Bonds 1,448,683.33 Undivided Profits 193,134.38
Capital Stock, Bank Bldg. 75,000.00 Reserves 100,000.00
Other Real Estate 650.00 Deposits 6,431,077.09
Furniture & Fixtures 12,261.38 Unearned Intrest 164,248.76
Cash & Due From Banks 2,107,986.23 Other Reserves 108,474,83
Other Assets 1.00
$7,496,925.06 $7,496,935.06
Member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Maximum Insurance of $20,000.00 for Each Depositor
WE INVITE YOUR ACCOUNT
’//‘,, \ MEMBER FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION ¥
fa(A $15.0000 'km*
\ ]
®=)) First STATE BaNK o
\”' 7/ OF BLAKELY *
ST /
YOU ALWAYS COME FIRST AT THE FIRST STATE
by the scores, the Early County
Bobcats and the Bobkittens are
making believers each time they
play. As this is written prior to
the Tuesday night game, the girls
had won 13 and the boys 12,
against no losses. This is most
unusual to have two teams from
the same schonl go this far in
the season without tasting de
feat. And their opponents are
no pushovers, either. Such strong
teams as Edison and Donalson=
ville and Dothan have been the
victims. Go get 'em 'Cats and
Kittens, and lets get up to Macon
and bring home the bacon.
Lll
Speaking of football and how
some husbands are glued to the
television during the autumn
months, I read where one wo=-
man quit her husband, wenthome
to mother back in November
and her spouse didn’t know she
was gone until after the Super
Bowl Sunday afternoon.
*hkk
Back in the ye old oaken bucket
days, the value of a ladies dress
was determined by the number of
yards of cloth therein. If such
were the case atpresent, a father
could clothe a house full of girl
younguns on Chinese coolie
wages.
Li 1 1]
One thing about today’s dress=
es, it has eliminated chivalry.
Now when a lady drops her hand=
kerchief or a coin, no man rushes
out to pick it up. They want
to see the lady do it herself.
kkkk
Bank deposits are considered
a pretty good barometer to judge
the economic health of a com=
munity. If this be true, Blakely
and Early County are in an ex=~
cellent salubrious condition. De=
posits are at an all-time high.
The Bank of Early boasts $5,
789,987.27 and The First State
Bank $,431,077.09, a total of
over 12 million dollars. (A sad
thought: who owns all that
money 7)
L1 1]
An old timer is one who can
remember a few things that hap
pened a long time ago, and a whole
lots of things thatnever happened
at allo
kkk
Speaking of old timers, are
there any present who can re
member a longer cold spell than
was experienced last week.
Weather observer Lowrey S
Stone states that Blakely ex=
perienced 82 hours of contin=
uous subefreezing weather, with
the temperature dropping t 0.12
degrees one day for the coldest
of the year.
HISTORY OF RINGS
Since the beginning of his
tory, rings have been going
around in the best of circles!
The earliest existing rings
are those found in the tombs of
ancient Egypt. Finest examples
are pure gold, simple in de
sign, very heavy and massive
and have usually the name and
title of the owner deeply sunk
in hieroglyphic characters.
Later, throughout the Roman
republic, none but iron rings
were worn by most citizens,
and even these were forbidden
to slaves. Ambassadors were
the first who were privileged to
wear gold rings, and then only
while performing some public
duty .
Most early Christian rings
date from the fourth century
onward. Generally bronze or
gold, they are often engraved
with words and occasionally
with the owner’s bust or with
religious symbols.
Bone meal is used as a fer=-
tilizer.
TEWS LEWELYN
My Lai Incident
Raises Question
The My Lai incident has put
the Viet Nam war into a dif
ferent perspective for many
people.
Some have felt a collective
guilt, as if they and all Ameri
cans were personally responsi
ble for the killing of innocent
civilians.
Others have felt that the
“massacre” pointed up the es
sential character of all war —
killing, wounding, mutilating,
destroying.
A New York reader of this
column wrote recently, ‘“How
do you as a Christian justify
the dichotomy of teaching a
child, ‘Thou shalt not kill’ for
18 years and then at the age
of 18, through an act of the pre
vailing government, insist ‘Thou
shalt kill’?”’
This is a problem which has
bothered many people for many
years.
Is All Killing Murder?
The root of the matter seems
to be a misunderstanding of the
meaning of the commandment,
““Thou shalt not kill,” which was
quoted by Jesus as ‘“Thou shalt
do no murder.”
In fact, the commandment as
recorded in the book of Exodus
is translated in the Revised Ver
sion, “Thou shalt do no
murder.”’
That this is the meaning is
clear from the fact that the
Mosaic law, of which the Ten
Commandments are a part,
specified that, “He that smiteth
a man so that he die shall be
surely put to death.” Again, in
another place, “The murderer
shall surely be put to death.”
Clearly, murder is forbidden.
Just as clearly, execution is
commanded.
So there are differences in
killing, based on the circum
stances.
OUR SERVICEMEN
Local Sergeants
members of AF
outstanding unit
Panama City, Fla. =~ Staff
Sergeants Eugene PoseyandJim=-
mie R, Murkerson are. members
of a unit that has earned the U.S,
Alr Force Outstanding Unit A
ward.
Sergeant Posey, a fuels super=
visor, and Sergeant Murkerson,
a fuels specialists in the 4756th
Supply Squadron at Tyndall AFB,
Fla., will wear the distinctive
service ribbon to mark their
affiliation with the unit.
Their unit was cited for meri=-
torious service from July 1968
to June 1969. The 4756th is
part of the Aerospace Defense
Command which protects the U. S,
against hostile aircraft and mis=
sles.
Sgt. Posey was graduated from
high school after entering the
service, completing require=-
ments for his diploma during his
off~duty hours. His wife,
Dorothy, is the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Dave lLove of Rt
1, Jakin, Ga. He is the son of
Mrs. Nancy Posey of 725 Pine
Hill St., Blakely.
Sgt. Murkerson, a 1965 gra=
duate of Blakely High School,
has completed a tour of duty in
That the killing of an enemy
soldier in battle is quite dif
ferent from murder is clear to
all who are not blinded by their
prejudices.
David, when he killed Goliath,
was not considered to have dis
obeyed God’s law. Rather, he
was praised for a daring, cou
rageous, heroic act.
The accusation in the My Lai
incident is that the American
soldiers who were involved
killed civilians, knowing them
to be civilians and presumably
innocent of any wrong-doing.
This — if it was done — was
murder.
If some of our soldiers are
guilty of knowingly killing in
nocent people, they should be
tried, convicted, and punished
according to the law.
Withdraw Protection?
But for us to take the atti
tude that, since murder is
wrong, we will not protect oth
ers from being murdered is
totally incomprehensible to me.
In fact, the apparent callous
disregard of bloodshed on the
part of those who are clamoring
for us to abandon our allies in
Viet Nam “immediately” is
astounding.
It is a matter of record that at
Hue the Communists murdered
at least 2,300 civilians — and,
if all of the bodies could be
found, the number might ex
ceed 3,000.
We know that this kind of
killing is Communist policy. It
was done in Cuba when Castro
took over. It was done in China
when Mao Tse-Tung seized
power there. Red purges in Rus
sia are well known.
How then can those who say
that they are against killing
want us to withdraw our forces
and let the Viet Cong and North
Vietnamese Reds kill without
restraint?
@
Ist. Lt. Hinson
°
receives Bronze
Star in Vietnam
PLEIKU, VIETNAM -=-Army
First Lieutenant Robert L. Hin
son, Jr., whose parents, Mr.-and
Mrs. LeGrand Hinson, live at
2038 Lynda Lane, Columbus, Ga.,
receives the Bronze Star Medal
during ceremonies near Pleiku,
Vietnam.
Lt. Hinson received the award
for outstanding meritorious ser
vice in connection with military
operations against a hostile force
in Vietnam.
The lieutenant, a member of
Advisory Team 21, is liaison
officer for the II Corps. He ar
rived in Vietnam in January 1969.
The lieutenant, whose wife,
Julie, lives in Bluffton, Ga., re
ceived his commission through
the Reserve Officers’ Training
Corps program at the Univer=-
sity of Georgia at Athens, where
he received his B,A. degree in
1967. The award was presented
December 14.
S ————————————————————————————
Southeast Asia. His wife, Sarah,
is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Ben Rabon of Pine Hill Drive,
Blakely. He is the son of Mr.
and Mrs. Leon M, Murkerson of
Rt. 4, Blakely.
Southeast Asia. His wife, Sarah,
is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Ben Rabon of Pine Hill Drive,
Blakely. He is the son of Mr.
and Mrs. Leon M, Murkerson of
Rt. 4, Blakely.