Newspaper Page Text
EARLY COUNTY NEWS, THURSDAY, SEPT. 30, 1971
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 Ceuaty Nevs.
Entered at the Post Office in Blakely, Ga., As Second Class
matter under Act of March 3, 1879.
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—MEMBER—
GEORGIA PRESS ASSOCIATION
NATIONAL PRESS ASSOCIATION
Politics ola Parade
Py M MUiams
The General Assembly met •
last Friday to discuss re-ap
portionment and other mat
ters, which are sure to create a
lot of sound and fury. How
ever, there is no need for us
to have anything to say about
what may come from the ses
sion. since this column won’t
be printed for five or six days
from the date of writing, and,
anyway, nobody can predict
with much accuracy what will
finally emerge from House and
Senate.
One point we'd like to make
though. Governor Carter
surely is smart enough not
to veto the final reapportion
ment bill, for he’d just have
to turn around and call the
Assemb'y back into session,
and this would put the onus
on him for another million or
so of the taxpayers’ money
spent. In addition, if the legis
lature then wouldn’t pass what
the Governor wanted, the fed
eral court deadline could'*Tttn
ou,t .and some/ federal ’ ju<^_
or the other might decide the
reapportionment himself.
»• • »
Ralph Abernathy and Hosea
Williams, top dogs in the
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference, are visiting Russia
and Red China, respectively.
Since the SCLC is in bad fin
ancial shape — according to
what Abernathy stated pub
licly and other evidence we
know of personally — we won
der who'd paying the thousands
of dollars these trips are cost
ing. A lot of people think that
the money is coming from
Communist sources, either in
this country or from abroad.
•• • •
Mrs. Linda Jenness, the
young radical who has run for
various offices in Georgia —
including Mayor of Atlanta,
when she received about 20
votes — attended a Socialist
Workers Party convention in
Cleveland recently, at which
she received the party’s nomi
nation for Vice-President. Her
running mate is a Chicago
Negro.
*• • •
Secretary of State Ben Fort
son made a spech to a civic
chib in South Fulton a few
days ago. in which he blasted
Gov. Carter’s reorganization
program. Mr. Fortson — the
dean of state officials — said
that the reorganization plan is
juuuuum juQuixjuHjuuuuuuLJuiji juljcjuuui juuuls.juulsj
MANRY-JORDAN
FUNERAL HOME
Established 1937
Lucile Rd. Phoao 723-4200
BLAKELY, GEORGIA
We Serve
Any Insurance Policy
Agoaf For
Uiitod Easily Lifo iasaraaco Co.
an “umbrella set up so that the
governor will be able to run
the state just by the people
who he has appointed."
Fortson blamed what he
sees as the failings in the reor
ganization plan on the advice of
“the experts" and on “these
75 businessmen (a reorganiza
tion study committee) who do
not know anything about gov
ernment.”
•* * *
Speaking of reorganization,
our readers will remember that
we predicted several weeks ago
that the Veterans Service Dept,
would be withdrawn from (he
reorganization plan and left as
an independent agency Well,
last week the Governor’s reor
ganization “experts” recom
mended just exactly that. Obvi
ously, Carter will go along; he
has to, or suffer a devastating
defeat in the Assembly from
the various veterans organiza
tions and their legislative
friends.
We heir that various pro
fessors in the University Sys
tem have been told by the
Governor to visit state depart
ments and ask department
heads if they need any he’p in
“improving” their departments.
Personally, we’d hate to be in
some professor’s shoes when
he said this to a long time, ex
perienced state official.
*• • •
Governor Carter has been do
ing some fancy politicking late
ly, insofar as next year’s United
States Senate race is concerned.
Simply, he has been trying to
cut down all of Senator Gam
brell's potential opponents with
either reorganization or reap
portionment.
Item: Has threatened to
abolish the office of State
Treasurer, now he'd by Bill
Burson, his longtime supporter
to whom he offered a big job
in his administration before the
general election last Fall "if I
win and you lose”.
Item: Is trying to take the
Inspection Division out of the
Dept, of Labor, which leaves
Sam Caldwell with nothing but
Unemployment Compensation,
which is pretty muchly under
federal control.
Item: Has taken out after
Bill Stuckey on reapportion
ment.
Item: Has cut at Ernest Van-
aaaa a a a
Marvin
GRIFFIN
ARE THERE ANY OXEN
IN THIS COUNTRY?
I was talking with two dedicat
ed ladies the other morning, and
both are intensely interested in
preserving and handing down the
history of our
city,- county
and section to
future genera
tions of local
citizens.
Both of these
ladies, Mrs:
Gilbert Gragg,
Sr. and Miss
Bessie Mayes, believe there is lit
tle pride of ancestry where there
is little knowledge of history. I a
gree with them wholeheartedly,
and I also agree that there is no
way to properly evaluate the pre
sent when the yardstick of the
past is not available for compari
son. People have little pride when
they are ignorant of the accom
plishments of their forebears.
In the course of the conversa
tion we got around to talking
about the Decatur County Sesqui-
Centennial, and how important it
is for us to get an organization
busy as soon as possible to tjprk
and plan for this great event
which will be celebrated in the
fall of 1973, which, by the way, is
only two years away.
I think we need a colorful
pageant, and I also think we need
a great parade. Now, I am not
talking about a bull and pumpkin
parade or a cow and hen
prominade with maybe a band or
two. I refer specifically to a
parade where the exhibits in the
parade are authentic and depict
the events in Decatur County
prior to 1823 and some of our
achievements subsequent to that
date. The units should be in
chronological order as to time.
The first unit of the parade
should be composed of the people
who lived in Southwest Georgia
at the time Columbus discovered
America. These Indians should
be led by Chief Billy Osceola,
titular head of the Seminole
Indians at the Florida Seminole
Reservation in the Everglades.
Chief Kenhaga of the Mic
cosukees should be represented
along with others who led raids in
this area. Since both Creeks and
Seminoles lived here, they should
be represented in the initial unit
in the parade.
The Spaniards were the first
white people to come to this
section of our nation, and they
held sway in South Georgia and
Florida for nearly 300 years.
Pioneer settlers were the next
to move into this land of virgin
long leaf yellow pine, and they
came, for the most part, in carts
drawn by oxen, and that is where
the subject of oxen came in.
I remarked that I did not know
anyone who had a span or a yoke
of oxen in this area, and that two
years was too short a period to
“grow an ox.”
If a caravan of early settlers is
to be authentic in a parade, it
must be powered by oxen.
When I was a boy living on
West Street I remember the late
Preacher Paul Caldwell had a
number of spans of fine oxen, and
he used them to haul logs to his
sawmill located at Fowlstown. I
can still see those patient ^ig
beasts pulling high wheel carts
with an enormous pine tree
“snaked” up under the wheels.
This was in the days before folks
got so busy they couldn’t take
time to discuss neighborhood e
vents. It would take the two spans
of oxen several hours to reach the
Fowlstown mill, but then “what
do oxen really care about time?”
DR. MASHBURN HAS
SEVERAL SPANS
Up in the hills of North Georgia
at Cumming in Forsyth County,
an old friend of mine, Dr. Marcus
Mashburn, developed several
spans of oxen as a hobby, and for
many years every summer he
diver on several matters, in
sp : te of Vandiver’s support in
1970 and his promise to Dick
Russell to name Vandiver to
the Senate-
Item: Has a continuing feud
going with Lester Maddox,
even though he knows that
Lester isn't going to run for
the Senate. The idea, of course,
is to try to stop Maddox from
helping somebody else against
Gambrell.
PREDICTION: None of
these moves are going to suc
ceed, and Gambrell wiU lose his
Senate seat to one of these
five, or somebody else.
FILtS 4^
25 YEARS AGO
DEATH CL AIMED JAMES Cal
vin McCuller, age 74, well known
Early County citizen, Wednesday
night, September 25th.
CITIZENS OF BLAKELY are
called upon today by Mayor Ed
Chancy to take an active part
in the nation’s observance of Fire
Prevention Week starting Oc
tober 6.
J. D. ROGERS, Jr., owner
of the Rogers 5 and 10 stores,
has sold his entire business in
terests to the Dixieland 5 and
10 stores, tpe change of owner
ship becoming effective Tuesday,
October 1, Mr. Rogers announced
Monday.
TRAILING AT THE half, those
fighting Bobcats of Blakely-Union
High, led by Shieriing and Wil
liams, and behind beautiful block
ing, came back the past Friday
afternoon to beat a strong Chat
tahoochee (Fla.) 20-12 to hang
up their first victory of the sea
son. The Cats have won one and
lost one. Sheirling, Williams
and Middleton did the scoring.
W. R. PULLEN, special agent
of the department of commerce,
bureau of the census, reports
that 2, 436 bales of cotton had
been ginned in Early County from
the 1946 crops prior toSeptember
16, compared to 3,231 bales to
the same date in 1945.
CPL. MARION F. Sammons,
who was the first Early County
soldier to reach Tokyo, when
that city was the chief destina
tion of every allied soldier, has
returned home following his dis
charge from the U. S. Army.
He is visiting his parents in
Damascus.
THE BOARD OF County Com
missioners met Tuesday and
transacted only routine business
Clerk Bert Tarver announced.
Present were: R. C. Howell,
Chairman, J. L. Bethea, and
Emmett McLendon.
OF INTEREST TO friends here
is the news that Spencer B.
King, Jr., son of Rev. and Mrs.
Spencer B. King, of Americus
and formerly of Blakely, has
been made head of the history
department at Mercer Univer
sity.
MR. AND MRS. James Gee
Dunn, Sr., of Opp, Ala., announce
the engagement of their daughter,
Betty, to Andrew J. Singletary,
of Blakely, Ga., the wedding to
be an event of November sth.
50 YEARS AGO
(from the issue of Sept. 29,1921)
MR. W. A. HALL spent Wed
nesday in Dothan.
DAN DAVIS LEFT Saturday for
Macon, where he goes to enter
Mercer University for the coming
term.
MR. AND MRS. A. D. Smith,of
the Rock Hill community, an
nounce the birth of a son, Thur-
and his pretty Missus, “Miss
Kate”, dressed up in pioneer
finery and led the pilgrimage to
the top of Georgia’s highest
mountain peak, Brasstown Bald.
The good doctor, who served
several terms in the State Senate,
is a patient man himself and is
held in very high esteem by all
who are privileged to know him. I
do not know that he would lend or
rent his oxen to us for such a
laudable undertaking, but if there
are none in this area of the
country, we should begin to make
provision now to procure a few
spans for the parade. We have
some cattle trucks in our county
big enough to bring oxen, cart
and all. Perhaps we could in
terest Dr. Mashburn and Miss
Kate to come down and enjoy the
festivities with us and drive in the
parade.
WHO TAGGED
THE TURTLE?
Johnny Reynolds of the
Citizens Bank & Trust Company
went fishing on Labor Day, and
while he did not shock Isaac
Walton with his catches of edible
pan fish, he caught a big soft shell
or “hog nose” turtle that weighed
between 15 and 20 pounds.
He snagged the turtle near
Reynoldsville, and when he
landed it, he found the turtle had
been tagged. The tag had the
numeral "7” followed by the
capital letter “R”. (7R)
johnny asked the Game and
Fish Department about it, but
they knew nothing about tags for
turtles. He has not found anyone
who knows anything about a
program for tagging turtles. Like
Johnny, I am curious to know
why the tag was put on this turtle
Who tagged this Chelonia?
ism
You can always count on the
Army engineers!
A Minto Indian village 40 miles
northwest of Fairbanks, Alaska,
suffered severe flood damage
after heavy spring thaws last
year. Thanks to the efforts of
the 559th Engineers of the 171st
Infantry Brigade and a battery
of public agencies, a brand new
town will take its place this
year. The old town was re
located and built anew.
Working with the Alaska State
Housing Authority, the Bureau
of Indian Affairs and the U. S.
Public Health Service, the sold
iers have engineered an access
road. They are now assembling
prefabricated sidings for new
homes.
Another example of how the
Army comes to the rescue when
people are in trouble.
H-E-L-P
Ever since the HELP office
was opened in Ft. Carson, Col
orado, soldiers have been call
ing for HELP on the telephone
an average of 10 times a day.
The other end of the exten
sion-4357 (which spells HELP)
line has been responding with
consumer advice on thorny mat
ters like apartment leases,auto
mobile repairs, defective mer
chandise and door-to-door sales
men. If the complaint cannot
be handled by HELP, it is re
ferred to appropriate civilian
agencies.
So far, the office has even
managed to provide assistance
on family problems and other
persona) concerns. And so far,
most of the people who have
sought HELP have gane away
satisfied.
CREDIT CARDS
The credit card and the Army
will get to know each other this
summer.
The credit card system test
is expected to get under way in
August in the Sixth Army area
on the West Coast. If the test
is successful, credit cards will
be accepted in all Army officer
clubs in the United States. Even
tually, the system could be used
in all officer and non-commis
sioned officer clubs throughout
the world.
Those who say they drive
better after a few drinks
aren’t passengers in the cars
they drive.
♦ » ♦
They do a lot of tackling
in college football, but the
alumni do most of the kick
ing.
$ $ $
An old-timer is a personi
who can tell you what a
breakfast nook was.
* $ *
* * $
Some girls can make up
everything but their minds.
* « «
sday, Sept. 29th.
FRIENDS REGRET TO know
that “Billy”, son of Mr. and Mrs.
W. A. Hall, has been seriously
ill at a Dothan hospital for se
veral days following an appendix
operation.
MISSES NANCY AND Rhonda
Moody are spending some time in
North Georgia with relatives and
friends.
THOMAS H. UNDERWOOD left
Sunday for Milwaukee, Wisconsin
where he goes to enter a school
of electrical engineering for the
1921-22 term.
MISS ANGELINE IVEY,daugh
ter of Mr. and Mrs. G. L. Ivey,
of the Colomokee community,
was married the past Sunday to
Mr. J. T. Thombly at Dawson.
75 YEARS AGO
(from the issue of Oct. 1, 1896)
MR. AND MRS. T. F. Sanders
of Bluffton, were in Blakely last
Tuesday.
MISS FANNIE HEARD, of Mil
ford, was the guest of Mrs. Lizzie
Thompson last week.
MR. R. A. MERRITT, of Jakin
was a visitor here Tuesday.
DR. W. W. CALHOUN, of Ar
lington was a visitor to Blakely
last Friday.
MR. AND MRS. L. U. Hammack
are moving from Albany to Blake
ly.
JUDGE J. H. COOKE, Jr., of
Albany, presided in County Court
last Friday instead of Judge Q. B.
Powell.
REV. A. C.WlLLONSpreached
his farewell sermon to the Bap
tist congregation last Sunday.
TOM WATSON FAILED to ap
pear at a Populist rally in Ar
lington last Saturday. Quite a
large crowd was disappointed.
This Week
by
Tige’ Pickle
(Note: From “Rocket Land”,
Cocoa Beach, Fla., Woody Hous
ton, Jr., (Grace and Woodrow’s
older son) sends me a colored
version of the old story “Doct
oring A Sick Mule”. Woody
clipped it from the Surside Slant
Islander, which got it from the
Hoxe County, N. C., News Journ
al, which claimed it was written
by the late Edmond Harding of
Washington, D. C. Anyway, here
it is and get set for a rib
cracking laugh.)
Mrs. George Wood, now de
ceased, of Chowan County, had
a mule who was named Horace.
One evening she called up Dr.
Satterfield in Edenton and said
to him, “Doctor, Horace is sick,
and I wish you would come and
take a look at him.”
Dr. Satterfield said, “Oh, Fan
nie Lamb, it’s after six o’clock
and I’m eating supper. Give
him a dose of mineral oil, and
if he isn’t all right in the morn
ing, phone me, and I’ll come
take a look at him.”
“How’ll I give it to him?”
she inquired.
“Through a funnel.”
“But he might bite me,” she
protested.
“Oh, Fannie Lamb--You’re a
farm woman and you ought to
know about these things. Give
it to him through the other end.”
So Fannie Lamb went out to
the barn, and there stood Horace,
with his head held down, moaning
and groaning.
She looked around for a funnel
but the nearest things she could
see to one was her Uncle Bill’s
fox hunting horn hanging on the
wall. A beautiful goldplated in
strument with gold tassels hang
ing from it.
She took the horn and affixed
it properly. Horace paid no at
tention.
Then she reached up on the
shelf where medicines for the
farm animals were kept. But
instead of picking up the mineral
oil, she picked up a bottle of
turpentine, and she poured a
liberal dose into the horn.
Horace raised his head with
a sudden jerk. He let out a
yell that could have been heard
a mile away. He reared up
on his hind legs, brought his
The Blakely Lions Club
Is Now Soliciting
Birthday Calendars Sales.
Buy A Calendar and
List the Dates For You
And Your Family’s Birthdays.
Proceeds Go To
Lions Club Charities.
(A Public Service Advertisement)
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You Are Always First At First State”
front legs down, knocked out
the side of the barn, jumped
a five-foot fence, and started
down the road at a mad gallop.
Now Horace was in pain, so
every few jumps he made, the
horn would blow.
All the dogs in the neighbor
hood knew that when the horn
was blowing, it meant that Uncle
Bill was going fox hunting, so
out on the highway they went,
close behind Horace.
It was a marvelous sight.
First, Horace--running at top
speed, the hunting horn in a most
unusual position, the mellow
notes issuing therefrom, the tas
sels waving, and the dogs bark
ing joyously.
They passed by the home of
Old Man Harvey Hogan, who was
sitting on his front porch. He
hadn’t drawn a sober breath in
15 years, and he gazed in fas
cinated amazement at the sight
that unfolded itself before his
eyes. He couldn’t believe what
he was seeing. Incidentally, he
is now head man in Alcoholics
Anonymous in the Albemarle sec -
tion of the state.
By this time it was good and
dark. Horace and the dogs were
approaching the Inland Waterway.
The bridge tender heard the horn
blowing and figured that a boat
was approaching, so he hurriedly
went out and uncranked the
bridge. Horace went overboard
and was drowned. The dogs
also went into the water, but
they swam out without much
difficulty.
Now it so happened that the
bridge tender was running for
sheriff of Chowan County, but
he only managed to poll seven
votes.
The people figured that a man
who didn’t know the difference
between a mule with a horn
up his rear and a boat coming
down the Inland Waterway, was
n’t fit to hold any public office
in Chowan County.
Legislative
Information
ATLANTA (PRN) - The
Georgia House of
Representatives, during its
special session, will again offer
a toll-free “information line,”
to answer questions about its
membership and activities.
Citizens anywhere in
Georgia can call with
questions about the House
between the hours of 9 a.m.
and 5 p.m. each day that the
House is in session.
The free calling number for
citizens outside the Atlanta
metropolitan area is
1-800-282-5800. For residents
of the Atlanta dialing area, the
number is 656-5082.
The information line was
first established during the
1971 General Assembly
session. An average of 130
calls per day were received
during the eight week session.
Moderation?
What’s That?
ATLANTA (PRN) - These
are frantic days. There seems
to be little time or space for
anyone with a middle-of-the
-road attitude. You either have
to be strongly for or strongly
against something .. .any
thing.
Our State of Georgia seal
carried the motto “Wisdom,
Justice, Moderation.” Our
forefathers left us with three
great words to ponder. It
would do us well to ponder
these words more frequently.
If we employ wisdom and
justice, we are certain to
employ moderation.
What is moderation? Does
that mean amply remaining
on dead center? Must we ride
the fence? Or is there a
deeper, more valuable meaning
to that word? Sometimes we
become overfamiliar with
words to the point of tossing
them around freely, but never
really study them to
understand what they actually
mean. I could throw several
such words at you today.
Included would be such words
as ecology, environment,
preservation, conserva
tion .. .and moderation.
Good conservation is
moderation. Strict
preservation is not.
Preservation, if you will,
means to leave completely
untouched and unchanged,
strictly hands off.
Conservation means wise use.
And please note both words in
this definition, with emphasis
on both, WISE and USE. It is
not wise to over-use, to be
sure, nor is it wise to
under-use. Preservation is
under-use. In so doing, we
may waste a resource.
Os course, in the case of
seriously endangered species,
it becomes a matter of
preservation solely. But in an
instance where there are good
supplies of a resource, it
probably is in the best
interests of all concerned to
use, but to use wisely and
carefully.
We hear much these days, in
talk of environment, and
ecology, of protecting our
natural resources. This we
must do, to be sure, but we
can over-protect. This is not
moderation. It is not
conservation. And it certainly
is not wisdom.
The “protectionist” label is
being tagged on many persons
concerned about our
environment, and in many
cases, I’m afraid, properly so.
Some who choose to call
themselves “conservationists,”
would more correctly be
called “protectionists”. The
people I’m speaking of now
are those who are far-rightists,
more or less, those who want a
complete hands-off policy on
resources that should be used.