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EARLY COUNTY NEWS, THURSDAY MAR. 19, 1970
EARLY COUNTY NEWS
Official Organ of Blakely and Early County
BLAKELY, GEORGIA 31723
W. H. FLEMING PUBLISHER-EDITOF
W. W. (BILLY) FLEMING BUSINESS MANAGER
PaMtahed Every Thursday By the Early Coaaty News.
Entered at the Post Office in Blakely, Ga., as Second Class
matter under Act of March 3,1873.
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One Year-43.09 Six Montli—»2.o«
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One time insertion.
-MEMBER—
GEORGIA PRESS ASSOCIATION
NATIONAL PRESS ASSOCIATION
MARVIN
GRIFFIN
At STONE MOUNTAIN
GEORGIA
Speech of Former Governor S. Marvin Griffin at
the Unveiling of the Bronze Plaque at Stone
Mountain State Park, March 8,1970 at 2:00 p.m.
MR. CHAIRMAN, YOUR EXCELLENCY, THE
GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA, MEMBERS OF
THE STONE MOUNTAIN MEMORIAL
ASSOCIATION, PAST AND PRESENT, YOUR
FAMILIES, OTHER DISTINGUISHED
GEORGIANS AND VISITORS, LADIES AND
GENTLEMEN, AND MY FELLOW
GEORGIANS:
This is indeed a happy day for me and for the
members of my family, and I know it is also a
memorable and a happy day for millions of
Georgians.
I want to thank our distinguished Governor,
the Honorable Lester Maddox, for both the
kindness and the genorosity of his introduction of
me on this great occasion.
This is the day Georgians have looked forward
to for more than a half century. It is a fulfillment
of a dream of at least three generations of
Georgians who worked painstakingly, and at
times with discouraging frustration, to properly
develop this great monolith into a Confederate
Memorial, and a State Park for all to enjoy.
On May 20, 1916, exercises dedicating Stone
Mountain as a memorial to the Southern Con
federacy were held at the base of the mountain
near the perpendicular wall of the eastern side.
An address was delivered by the late Judge
Emory Speer, and a speech was made by Gutzon
Borglum, the sculptor.
This was the beginning of an effort, partly
carried out, to carve on the side of the mountain
gigantic figures of General Robert E. Lee and
General Stonewall Jackson. I find that on this
occasion the late Forrest Adair was master of
ceremonies and presented to the audience of
approximately 5,000 General A. J. West, a
Confederate veteran, who introduced Judge
Speer.
Following these exercises in 1916 many others
became interested in the construction of the
monument, and an association was formed for
that purpose. This association raised large sums
of money which was largely spent in carving by
Mr. Borglum.
Dissension arose because the association
dismissed Mr. Borglum on the ground that he
had failed to carry out his contract and Mr.
Borglum destroyed his models, which the
association claimed to have paid for.
Another sculptor, Augustus Lukeman, was
employed to complete the design, but there was
some criticism of his work and criticism of the
association on the ground that it had wasted
money. For that reason the work stopped.
Later the Legislature created a monument
commission composed of the Governor, the
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Mayor of Atlanta and three others to be ap
pointed by the Governor. About that time the
depression came on, and no work was done on
the monument or the park for nearly three
decades. It was a long period of heartbreak and
disappointment. An entire new generation of
Georgians was born, and grew to maturity
looking upon the unfinished carving on the face
of this mountain as a living example of the
failure of a great people to build a suitable
monument to the courage, to the devotion to
duty, and the sacrifice and deprivation of the
heroes of the Confederacy. It was the English
philosopher, William Hazlitt, who wrote so
poignantly: “They only deserve a monument
who do not need one; that is, who have raised
themselves a monument in the minds and
memories of men”. That quotation was of little
comfort to the rank and file of Georgians, and
countless hosts of people throughout the
Southland, who believed that the great work at
Stone Mountain should and must be completed.
For nearly thirty years I had occasion to pass
this mountain, and I never came down the high
way that I did not have to turn my head away
from the unfinished skeleton of the work here at
the mountain. Like countless other Georgians, I
felt shame at our shortcomings, and remem
bering a quotation from Joseph Joubert that
“Monuments are the grappling-irons that bind
one generation to another”, I was determined to
do something about the completion of the work at
Stone Mountain if I ever had an opportunity to do
so, and that opportunity came when I took the
oath as Governor in January of 1955.
I was determined that my generation, the new
one in the making, and all generations to follow
in our great state would have a grappling-iron, a
symbol, if you please, that would bind Georgians
down through the ages to the glorious history of
our Confederate forbears, and our children and
our children’s children would have this symbol in
the building of a great Confederate Memorial on
the face of this granite mountain. It has been
done. So mote it be.
There were times, even then, when the proper
development of this great God-given resource
remained in doubt.
I called upon the General Assembly to
authorize me to condemn the property in the
public interest, and acquire the property for the
state in fee simple. The General Assembly did
this, but there were some who were still con
vinced the Stone Mountain property should not
be bought by the state. Finally, in January of
1958 I called upon the General Assembly not to
just “authorize” me to procure Stone Mountain
for the state, but to “direct me” to acquire Stone
Mountain, even if I had to exercise the right of
eminent domain.
The General Assembly moved immediately to
comply with my request, and I notified the At
torney General to begin condemnation
proceedings.
At this time, the state had an “offer to buy” the
Stone Mountain property for $1,100,000, and after
being properly appraised by competent
authorities, the state bought the mountain
proper from a private group. At this time,
DeKalb County gave a 400 acre tract of land to
the State of Georgia, and this generosity on the
part of DeKalb County should not go unnoticed or
unrewarded.
The General Assembly of 1958 created the
Stone Mountain Memorial Association, and you
are well aware of the progress that has been
made here at the mountain during the past 12
years.
The Stone Mountain Memorial Association has
done an excellent and an outstanding job, and
should receive the highest commendations from
the people of our state. The members of the
Association have rendered a full measure of
devotion to this great project.
I feel that I would be negligent in the
responsibility placed in me if I were to conclude
my remarks here this afternoon without
thanking those who worked with such deter
mination in years past to make the development
of Stone Mountain a reality. I shall always be
grateful for the unselfish devotion of the
Honorable Scott Candler and the help that he and
others in DeKalb County gave to the purchase of
Stone Mountain, and the proper development of
its resources.
To them, and to all those who had a part in
making this project possible, I say “thank you”
for a job well done.
We were 54 years properly developing our
great God-given resources on a mountain of
stone that has been here in Georgia for millions
of years. What we have done here will remain for
a thousand years to the credit of those who had
enough vision and faith to get the job done.
Thank you.
1077^^ 7 x x
HOW OLD IS THE EARTH?
No om> knows. The most widely accepted scientific guess,
based on a study of radioactive materials, is that the earth
is about 5 billion years old!
25 Years Ago
(From the issue or Mar. 22, 1945.)
EIGHTEEN Early county men
were sent the past Friday to Fort
McPherson for Induction into the
army. Clerk of die Draft Board
C. M. Dunning has announced.
They are: Bob R. Houston, who
failed to pass the physical exa
mination and has returned to
Blakely, William A. Hall, Jr.,
Henry G Wiley, Andrew J. White,
John Chester Houston, Vester
White, Joseph G Spence, Span
Duke, Joseph B. Revells, Oscar
B. G Jordan, Paul F. Eldridge,
Floyd G Hearn, Davis S. Pyle,
Thomas J. Spurling, Felix E.
Batson, Irving R. Rehberg, Jack
G Garrett, Clifford Smith, Billy
O. Batchelor.
MACON, GA. — Coach Bill
Geer saw his Damascus sextet
cop the first girls state C bas
ketball title here tonight with
a 43 to 31 win over Broxton,
while his brother, Walter suf
fered the first defeat in three
years when Hartwell eased his
Colquitt stage stars out of the
B division title to the tune of
25 to 34.
••••
DEATH claimed a prominent
and highly-esteemed citizen of
Blakely and native Early countian
Tuesday morning when Homer Ed
Minter died suddenly at his home
on River street from a heart
attack at 9;45 o'clock.
PRIVATE John Moseley has
been wounded in action while ser
ving with the famed 4th Marines
on Iwo Jima Island, his parents,
Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Moseley,
have learned. His wounds were
described as "slight”.
JOHN A PIPKIN, U. Su Navy,
recently wrote his mother, Mrs.
F, W. Pipkin, that he had met qp
with her brother, William J.
Bethea, of the Army, who has
been overseas for a year. Neither
of them had seen anyone from
home since going overseas.
A DELIGHTFUL program of
Irish songs, appropriate because
of the nearness of St. Patrick’s
Day, featured last week’s meet
ing of the Blakely Rotary Club,
held Friday at noon.
The singer was Mrs. Wand
Bennett, the former Miss Betty
Walker, of Fort Gaines.
*•••
MR. WILL ROBINSON, native
and former resident of Blakely,
died at the home of a daughter
in Escambia, Mich., on February
20, his sister, Mrs. R. W. Da
vis, of this city, was recently
notified.
MR. AND MRS. Arthur Creel
announce the birth of a son, Da
vid Clarke, at Holland’s Hospi
tal, on March 14.
****
■SGT. HARRY B. ("Sunshine”)
Grier, of the U. S. Marine Corps,
San Diego, Calif., spent several
days in Blakely -the past week
visiting friends and relatives.
*•**
STAFF Sergeant Bill Sanders
is currently in Blakely visiting
his mother, Mrs. Oscar Sanders,
following eight months of ser
vice overseas. Sgt. Sanders
served as a waist-gunner on a
B-17 bomber based in Italy and
completed 50 missions.
50 Years Ago
(From the issue of Mar. 18, 1920.)
FRIENDS regret to know that
Mr. Herbert Fort is on the sick
list this week.
**•*
MR. AND MR£ J. □. Smith
announce the birth of a son on
Wednesday, March 17.
MESSRS. L. G Hobbs, E. A.
Evans and O. B. Hudspeth at
tended a hog sale in Albany
TYiesday.
•••*
PROF. Z. L FITZPATRICK,
of Madison who some thirty years
ago taught school In Blakely,
was in the city Monday night en
route home from a visit to Flo
rida.
***•
MR. H. F. WILLIS, of Barnes
ville, is in the city on a visit to
his son, Mr. T. L. Willis, and
looking after business interests
here.
MR. J. J. SMITH was down
from Albany last week to spend
a day or two with relatives.
*•••
MRS. BERNARD HERRING,
who has been in a Dothan Hos
pital for some time, returned
home last night. Friends are
glad to know that her condition
is Improved.
This Week
by
'Tige’ Pickle
Don’t look nows But I do
believe that 1 see faint signs
that haircuts are coming back
in style.
•••*
The horse and buggy had its
draw-backs, but Old Dobbin never
got a parking ticket for staying
too long at the same hitching post.
Job had patience, I know, and he
kept the faith, but then he never
had arthritis, either.
75 Years Ago
(From the issue of Mar. 21, 1895.)
COL. ARTHUR G POWELL
is in Atlanta this week.
MR. J. T. JAY, of Hilton,
was in Blakely Monday.
MR. R. H. BOSTWICK, of Ar
lington, was a visitor here this
week.
CAPT. E. HlLTONwasupfrom
the Station last Saturday.
••••
THE PUBLIC ROADS are in a
distressingly bad condition,
which makes a buggy trip any
thing but pleasant.
••••
MR. GW. JAMES has com
menced the erection of his re
sidence on College street.
••••
MR. P. Q DuBOSE went over
to Fort Gaines this week to be
examined for admission to the
bar.
MESSRS. L. E. Black and W. L.
Elder are both having their dwel
lings freshly painted.
THE FERRY at Columbia has
been Impassable for 10 days.
The cable wire is broken and it
may be 10 days more before
it is fixed.
»»**
THE Chattahoochee river has
been so high that the boats have
not been able to travel for a week
past. It is falling now and steam
ers will soon resume their tri
weekly trips.
... SERVE SO MANY PURPOSES!
ftw things can serve so many purposes on a fam! We're speaking of —
— bank savings that are safe yet readily available, and grow with interest,
• earned. Sore hero regularly and you'll save more . . . hove
spare when you want ar need it most!
YOUR DEPENDABLE HOME TOWN BANK
MEMBER FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATiON
FDIC First State Bank
—■-.■■wii.hZ of Blakely
"You’re Always First at First State"
Letter to the
Editor
Dear Hoyle:
We are greatly enjoying the
"old timer” pictures you have
been running recently. In the
February 26 issue, which came
:oday, 1 was amazed to see the
6th grade with me a the lower
right, next to John Underwood.
I had never seen that picture,
though our folks generally bought
all the pictures with us kids
in them.
John Underwood and I were a
little out of our league that year
because Miss Fleda Barksdale,
our 3rd and 4th grade teacher,
decided we should skip sth grade.
We could handle the school work
all right, but we (at least I) were
much below the other kids phy
siologically and socially. The
other boys had already discover
ed that girls were something dif
ferent from soft boys; they were
interested in keeping company
and in carrying,on conversations
that made llttfe sense to me.
Our local daily for several
years has been running old pic
tures captioned either "If you
St. Patrick, whose day we ob
served on Tuesday, is reputed
to have driven the snakes out of
Ireland. What a job he would have
in the United States today. Two
legged snakes, I mean.
*♦»»
This country is going to al
ways have its troubles as long as
one-half of the people complain
about over-weight, and the other
half complain about being under
fed.
♦♦♦*
The Supreme Court has over
looked one main problem of the
schools. It hasn’t found a place
for the students to park their
cars.
The following article which
first appeared in the Ohio Legion
News, and which was given to me
by Mrs. Huey Johnson, is pur
ported to be some of the "Com
munists Rules For Revolution”,
and was obtained by the Allied
Forces in Duseldorf, Germany,
in 1919, fifty one years ago.
Read it and compare the Red
rules with what is happening
in our nation today. It is frigh
tening.
A. Corrupt the young; get
them away from religion. Get
them interested in sex. Make
them superficial; destroy their
ruggedness.
B. Get control of all means of
publicity, thereby:
1. Get peoples minds off their
government by focusing attention
on athletics, sexy books and plays
and other trivialities.
2. Divide the people in hos
tile groups by constantly harp
ing on controversial matters of
no importance.
3. Destroy the people’s faith
in their natural leaders by hold-
F* # *
THE SMALLEST OF
ALU DOGS IS THE
CHIHUAHUA FROM
MEXICO- HE OFTEN
WEIGHS AS LITTLE
AS TWO POUNDS .
Two Texas oilmen walked into a Cad
illac agency and one picked out a
sedan that caught his eye. As he
started to reach for his wallet, his
friend said, "Let me get this. After all,
you bought the lunch."
remember tills, you’re an old
timer” or "Do you remember?"
Also every Saturday there is a
picture feature called "Pioneer
Profile.” I was the subject in
an issue last summer.* These
features are very popular here.
Though I had had no contact
with him in o4er 50 years, I
tried to reach John Underwood
by phone this afternoon. The
phone people came up with three
John Underwoods in Atlanta. The
first was unmarried, I couldn’t
reach the next number, then de
cided it would be cheaper to
write.
Can you send me four more
copies of the February 26 is
sue? I want to send brother
Perry one (he was in last week's
picture) and also Kendrick Wo
mack and a couple of others.
I will enclose sl. Whatever’s
left over put it in the collection
plate Sunday.
Sincerely,
Roy Newton
Professor Emeritus
208 Rust Avenue
Big Rapids, Michigan 49307
ing the latter up to contempt,
ridicule and obloquy.
4. Always preach true de
mocracy, but seize power as
fast and as ruthless as possible.
5. By encouraging govern
ment extravagances destroy its
credit, produce fear of inflation
with rising prices and general
discontent.
6. Form necessary strikes
in vital industries, encourage
civil disorder and foster a len
ient and soft attitude on the part
of government towards such dis
orders.
7. By specious argument cause
the breakdown of the moral vir
tues, honesty, sobriety and up
rightedness in general.
8. Cause the registration of
all firearms on some pretext
with a view to confiscating them
and leaving the population help
less.