The Banner-herald. (Athens, Ga.) 1923-1933, December 23, 1923, Image 4

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    PAGE FOUR
’’WILL TELL
(By Associated Press)
PARIS.—French mil!tt"y circles
are somewhat anxious as to what
General'Peishlng will i?ny to hi«
book telling the story of tls ex
periences in France during the
war. The general’s purpose in com-
..»Jng to France on his present tr’n
is understood to have been to get
completo information on certain
details necessary for the accuracy
of his work, which will portray the
activities of the American Expedi
tionary Forces in Europe. The
higher political world of Pads '.*•
wondering whether tOie American
, commander will go Vito the dis
cussion he had with Premier flem-
enceau, Marshal Foch, Oonpral re
tain and others for some months
during the middle part of his ca
reer in France ju»t as the Ameri
can army was preparing to go I-
action, before July, 1918.
General Pershing has taken an
apartment In the fatfldopable Passy
THB BANNERHEnALP, ATHENS. GEORGIA,
BL'jg
SUNDAY, DECEMRER j
Friendship Between President Coolidge and.\
Shoemaker Lucey Promises to Become
an American Legend.
pass’on practical knowledge, and waa the same unquestioning adher-
enee t0 (go g ea t an( j nio-,t thorough-
going rules o( conduct’that have
made, so It la laid, Calvin Cool-
ldge’s reputation In Uaesachusetta.
P ”"“^ER80NS who auhscrlha to
I the doctrine that "even -a
sbb| cat mar look at a king" a
little while ago ascribed
importance to an old ahoe-
maker of Northampton, Mass.,
cause President Coolidge took the
trouble to anther a letter the old
man aent him after Mr. Coolldie
entered the White House,
i Others, and perhaps wiser ones,
on the principle that a man "It
' known hr the companr he keeps,'
■ are Inclined to count’the friendship
' that was revealed as much to the
! favor ot the President aa to that
i ot tho shoemaker,
j Endorses Coolidge
| A visit to the basement ahoemak-
l In* shop of James Lucer on Oothls
Street, Just off Main, In Northamp-
' ton and a talk with the upstanding,
* grer-halred, bine-eyed craftsman
' 11,,!. eitiovs *11! mak# clear to anyone the raa-
quarter of Parle whore he enjoys , Mendahln for
. more peace and quiet than at the
hotel In the Place de Concorde in
the busy center of the. city,\ and Is
there putting the finishing touche*
to the book. This arrangement ii
quite temporary but the general
han not yet fixed nny date for his
return to the United States.
The discussions referred to grew
■, out of the insistence of the French
general staff that the American
units ehoulu be distributed and in
corporated into tho French and
British aimles and should not be
organized into an army ai such
w>th an Independent general staft
and upon equality with the oi'^er
allied armies operating ““ * '
western bronV
the
Queen Mary Has
Hard Time With
Xmas Shopping
IA/X DON—Christmas holds
the same worries for Queen
Mary that It does for any moth
er, and she har> been spending
the last few weeks In hurried
trips to the London stores
making purchases of gifts
which* It Is whispered. Include
several expensive pieces of
jewelry destined for members
of the royal family. Her only
grandchild, the son of Princess
Mary, will probably be the re
cipient of an elaborate aet of
tralna and blocks which the
queen is raid to have bought at
a West End store*
The shopping >xpeditions
have not been limited to. Her
Majesty for King George and
^ . other members of the royal
lihtt 1 family have been touring the
west and mercantile establish-
| " • 1 * ments lately muhlng up their
• ' "* extensive gift lifts. However
the personal gifts of the king
and queen form only the small*
or part of their Christmas phllo
* nnthropy for there aro hun
dreds of employss’nt their bev-
eral residences, and court of* ,
flclals as well whom tradition
says most be remembered at
Tuletide.
The ancient ceremony of be
stowing gifts on household em-
• ployes is carried out In the pnl-
1 * • ‘ ace as In the home of nny Eng
lish squire. The servants are
admitted to the drawing room
in a bddy and line up along the
wall. When the king or the
— squire, whichever the benefac
tor may be enters the saloon
throe Is n chorus qf “Merry
. Christmas, sir” nfter which the
p’l master walks down the lino and
r ‘* nrr**nta rennh n r-lff
•on Mr. Lacey', Arm friendship far
; Calvin Coolid*. 1. on. ot th. flneit
i .ndoriemenfa that Haw England
! President eonld ban.,
! Such a trip will leave the visitor
' Arm In the conviction that hero je
a friendship founded on tno mutual
Integrity, honesty, thorous'uu^s
[snil pride ot work ot both shoe-
■ maker and President Tho conclu-
j alon will ho that It Mr. Coolidge !s
■ as good a president as Mr. Lucey
•Is a ahoemaker; It he has the en
thusiasm for his job, ths careful
ness In choosing the best materials
i to work with and tbs patience In
■ shaping them to their most effec-
'live and reliable uses that James
Lucey has, he will ba a very good'
.President Indeed.
Reportorlal Assault*
’ At ths time the writer talked
■with Mr. Lucey the shoemaker had
.been the objective ot reporters
ifrom half a dosen cities for halt
■a dosen days. Some ot them had
'come flaunting ton dollar bills In
Ihls face lo persuade him to talk
I about his friend. These he had
.waved aside with contempt. Others
, I bad come tactfully and epoken aa
lone gentleman to another. To these
(the shoemaker made laconic rarela-
:tlons about hts connection with
I President Coolidge or had occa
sionally flooded over with seem-
‘lngly Irrelevant anecdotei bear
ing on the various characters In
^Northampton. They bad been only
apparently Irrelevant, however, for
In the telling of each one the Hardy
.Independence and the keen judg-
'tnent of character possessed by the
[Old shoemaker were mad* evident
, Ths Legand
> The occasion for reportorlal as
saults may ha told again hare, for
quite likely It wtll b. Included In
■the traditions and histories 'of tM
Ipersoual characteristics ot thh ntSf
to. American people hive called
to he their presidents^ Coolldge’s
‘ “ r tho
M 1
r
each with a Rift
usually a bank. note.
In the . palace the
and
only
eontabloirlth Lucey the shoemak
er; Lincoln's swapping of stories
around the cracker barrel; Roose
velt’s thousand and one character
istic contacts with tho ordinary
folk who kapt him in touch with
the beating heart of America—
there Is nothing Incongruous in the
relating ot these and other human
aspects of American presidents.
The occasion then was this;
James Lucey had written * latter
of prid* and congratulation to Mr.
Coolidge when tha latter suc
ceeded to the , presidency. Mr.
CopUdge immediately-addressed an
answer toV "Jim Lucey, who would
sather he called a good shoemaker
than the president's cobbler, friend
and philosopher." The letter read:
’-N6t of lea do I lea you or writ*
to ypb, (mt If >t w.ro not for yon
nljlnot he here, and I want to
t*|l you how much I lava yon. Do
not work too hard. Try to enjoy
yourself In your well deserved
leisure ot sge. Yours sincerely,
Calvin CooHdge.”
President-Maker
Ths meaning of Mr. Coolldge’s
saying that If It were not tor Jim
Lucey he would not hare boen
president was soon explained/ As
polttlcst Influence among the
Irish Republican voters early la
the PresIdsnt'B political carwr
Lncsy had bfdnfcht In enough extra
votes to insure Coolldge’s election
to the legislature. ~ —" *
"What' Was behind the friendship
and the "love" took more careful
•tody to reveal.
It cam* out eventually as Mr.
Lucey stood stolidly before bis last
on day In August working any
at repairs on a woman's "turned"
shoo. He refused to Interrupt his
work merely to talk. It glinted
the lucid blue eyes ot tbs sir
ty-slx years old man as hs occa
sionally turned from the Job to em
phasize a remark. Even the small-
tensed, steel-rimmed spectacles, tho
rigorously lanndared bins shirt, tha
bristling grey-and-brown nous-
taohe and the Armly aet Jtw which
occasionally opened to afford exit
tor a good steel nail that was ham-
mored vigorously In to the pises of
hemlock tanned leather, that Mr.
B waa molding Into a heel that
"outwear three pair* ot theso
new-fangled sort," seemed to give
fugitive glimpses of the spirit that
sustained the friendship between
president and shoemaker. They
told of value given for vain* re
ceived. "Vain*" and "quality" were
word* Mr. Lncsy proved fond ot
using In speaking of either work or
personalities.
Personal Histories •
It davaloped that th* common
sympathies that draw th* Presided
and tha ahoemaker together were
revealed not only In their common
attUnd* toward their different Jobs
bnt even In thalr personal histories.
Cal' Coolidge comas from a lint of
they found a 1 common ground in
their proud Insistence on ethics.
Success Comes
Success came to Coolidge *jld ho
climbed from one office to another,
but though his visits to Lucey's
shop became of necessity less fre
quent they continued to be aa loy
ally made. Tho last .hue was In
April of this year, and Mr. Lucey
has a fondly cherished
memento ot tt In tho copy
ot a letter Mr. Coolidge
put tho time necessary Into
Ing shoemaking as a hand!-
Tho handicraftsman, concluded
Lucoy, la dying out The
have done-for him.
No “Cobbler”
Jim Lucey scorns the name ot
cobbler because to him it means
someone who putters at a job.
"There were years when I did no
repairing at all,” he said. M X made
‘Not that
machines are not all right
there's a man with brains to
them to ateer them right," hi,
ceded honestly. "Even an ails
bile would be no good If yos t.
to steer it through a awamp,"
This brought him to the mu
of materials. '
“Pm a leather man,” he „
sniffing contemptuously at vert
other shoe materials that had
offered him for nse. "Toe ca .'.
a good Job ot shoemaklag with
er stuff. It won’t autch right,
can’t cut it right And none o!
will wear Ilka real good lotthet.
'“I Want Leather"
“Remember tha war?" he aih
"Did they send anything bat | w
er over for the soldiers? ot con
they didn't. They wanted leathi
I want leather.”
His mind returned to ths.
tlon between ahoemaklng and ih
repairing. "Sometimes I think," |
said, "repairing takes no
skill than making sh«
Of course yon can do
had Joh
either.
Lncsy
quality
both, and
charges
•for his work.'
, He looked at
nail hs h*d
drawn from his month. He dlif
smile, though on* could see he
pleased. In this reapect he shorn
throughout the talk the same
passivity that Is generally ascrll#
to President CooHdge.
thrifty New England pioneers who
came over In the eighteenth cen
tury and ho la like unto them. Jim
Lncoy was himself a pioneer who
came oyer In the nineteenth cen
tury. In 1SS0 to hs exact. Both had
sought with Indefatigable energy
and uncompromising integrity to
make their respective niches in the
world.
Lacey said his family was origi
nally French.
Tha Irish of It -
"The De Looeys cam* tooths
County Kerry among the klllarnoy
Lakes six hundred years ago. Pretty
soon they dropped the De and now
they are more Irish than tha Irish
8H0P WHERE FRIENDSHIP STARTED
Jim was apprenticed as a shoe
maker about tho tlm* ot the Franco-
Prusslan war, there In County Ker-
He became a good craftaman.
In 1880 h* came to America, Arst
working In Boston and Cambridge,
then down In Connoctlcnt, but set
tling.- upon Northampton before
1885, chledy heesuse It was a col
lege town. Smith College la at.
Northampton, and Amherst is a
short distance away.
To, Amherst, early In the 80‘a
came Cal’ Coolidge. Before long
he cam* to Jim Lnoey to get' his
shoes repaired. The two often sat
long In philosophical conversation
on the chanees of life. Aftqy Cal'
left Amherst and begnn law’prac
tice In Northampton he continued
to go to Jim Lacey's shop—the
same shop In which the latter 00%
piles his trade. When politics called
the young Coolidge, Lucoy proved
*1
an Invaluable counsellor. IIo'could
proved the correspondence. It was
slgnldcant ot the effects ot the vis
its of akeptlcal metropolitan re
porters that Mr. Lacey thought
without It* being requested of fir
ing proof for his word. Imagine,
if yon please, anyone's doubting
Jim Lucay'a word In Northampton!
Bnt when one becomes a national
AgurC one most be prepared against
the charge ot lying.
I'From Arst to Mat—hla good shoe-
mjker’s last—tho sturdy depend-
ab«ty ot Jim Lucey stood out It
shoes. I do repairing now because
persons are not willing to pay for
the time and work that go Into a.
head-made shoe. I made two pairs
for a man last winter onq he
thought twenty dollars a pair was
high for them. A man can't make
a living now making shoes by hand
unless he chargee thirty dollars a
pair. Ha can’t make more than
Ave or alx pairs a week and do a
right Job, while the factories maka
hundreds ot thousands a day."
Auld Lang 8yr.e
The old shoemaker paused In re
gret over th* days that were be
ginning to go thirty-two years ago
when h* moved hla shop to It* pres
ent location. "I bad to rata* the
house and move it hack six yard* to
get my shop built under It," he ex
plained. "I didn't have much mon-.
ey, bnt they trusted me for what I
didn't have. I paid off every penny,
and I own the house now."
No on* now, he said. Is willing to
Foreign Trade
"People send their shoes to i
to be Axed even after they leav
Northampton," he said present,''
"From Philadelphia and Pittsburg
and other placer.- A good deal <
my work goes outside the town si
they send me some awfully nice Ii
ter*. I wish Pd kept them."
A good ds«l of Coolldge’s wot
has gone “outside the town* t
nod for tho same reason. It 1
honest and thorough. That Is (
reason James Lucey-will'give js
and which other Northampton rts
dents Wltj gtve you.
And Just os James Lacey d«
not expect others to go hick 1
their support of His work, beciu
ho knows It Is "quality" work. ■
he baa not a doubt that Coolldgs
will succeed himself as President
Tha Next President
"Yon don’t head him off," he ssld
confidently. "He's alright, and
body’s going to bare that Job unlfl
my friend la through with It*
Having said that Mr. Lncsy tool
a piece of leather off his bench tm
Intimated that h* waa too buy
talk any more. ■•
Old Time Spirit
Of Christmas in
France A
gain
abanjca la that someone elso
K& maker (he distribution while
fcwr
'» Th fir Majwtfe* look on. In the
- (case of King George this cfrS*
tnony la the cause of a large tts-
, flcit in the royal purse.
The monarch also sends an*
nually thousands 9! handsome-^
. Thriftmas cards on which Is
• engraved a picture deplcltliig
aome Incident in the history of
• his rofsl ancestors- These cards
lerally sent to the royal
ties at d peerage of other coun
tries to foreign statesmen and
diplom kta to^tnembenf of the
Knells: 1 peerage and to person
al frle ids.
Royal gift giving Is mostly.a
one-sided affair, for although
a mouse may look at a king
he mUst n6t send him a gift of
■ - greater value than a Christmas
.card because the king and
queen have always made It a
le that they will not receive
any presents from personages
of Inferior rank onless they are
members of the family or close
personal friends.
PICTURE GAME” OPERATOR8
FACE GAMBLING CHARGE
SAVANNAH* Ga.—Agents
"picture games- approached
of this city recent
(By As;oolated Press)
PARIS—Christmas in the real
old time spirit has come back to
France. After a long eclipse by
New Tears as the annual occasion
for the exchange of gifts, \he
children’s Influence for a Christmas
gtft-glvliig time has gained the
upper hand and Santa Claus has
come Into his own again.
Pearl necklaces and diamonds
frill be given as usual on New
Year’s though on a aomewhat re
duced scale, but the greatest busi
ness In 'years is being done In
jumping jacks, dolls, toy railroad
trains and airplanes for the young
sters* wooden shoes on Christmas
mornln*;.
The fathers of large femlliea who
the season as Ih New York.
Department store managers saf
that rtrade this season promises
to surpasa'all records In the toy
section, though falling short of pre
vious years frf the sale of girts for
grown ups.
ignorant of his animosity (and his
of his
1 exist-
contempt for me)—or of ty
cnce.
To the best of my recollection
this assault in the General As
sembly, by a representative, upon
a native born Georgia woman (soon
to become a nonagenarian) is with
out precedent. I may be mistak
en in my opinion, hut I am im
pressed ho could be held reat>on-
siblo for the attack in * plain
court of justice. Hts right to hail
mo into that legislative^ meeting
for condemnation was uncalled for,
unprovoked and Medicative of
coarse manners to say the least of
ita' character or Its assumacy—by
legislative authority.
ent. I
methods of aspiring cam
1924. The member from Ben Hill
fairly erupted ‘because of my
temerity. He had to explode—as
ty. He i
a legislator—to relieve his aystem
of his dislike for me,
Now. Mr. Editor, I can only tell
my side of this episode—through
Georgia newspapers. If the Btn
Hill man enjoys the right to halo
women into the General Assembly
and condeipif them before the leg
islature, a good many masculines
will greet that fact with cheer. If
Georgia women have the right to
Jon, to
hold office, to vote, to petiti
pay taxes and claim all as their
negal privileges, they will enjoy
had no opportunity to bep™-. having them confirmed by public dependent. Ju.t at the hour
, I would not have asked to( ODlni “ Mr Grinc . i „ n , in . realization, death laid It. cold hand
r,ito „ 'S in h LTlhm oplnIon. Mr. Grincr, I an, in-
Wo him if I ! formed, is a member of Governot
Athenians May
Be Heirs to A
$250,000 Estate
ANDERSON, 8. C.—Fate dealt
unkindly with O. W. Brown, well
kpown hotel-keeper of Athens, Ga..
and at the same time has dumped
the contents of the horn of plenty
Into the lap of J. A. Brown of Ivs,
8. C., n^ir this city.
These two Browns .brothera have
been waiting for years fo«* the di
vision of n Virginia estate, whose
proceeds would make them both
upon the brother at Athens. The
other brother leaves Anderson Un
Cdlpej
torn
i*ys to
other brother
1 day or two for Cdlpepper Court-
boure, Va., summoned there 'by
these 1 vord from attorneys to participate
things to express hi* dislike, his , la the dlvlalon of a 8250,000 estate,
invitation, while Governor Walker
endeavored to explain his call for
LETTERS FROM
THE PEOPLE
waaTntolzrabK)' P ]
flouted with tha charge of go ini
before the Ways and Means Com
mittee of the House, to ask that
- u*r be not hasty in plunging the
-j 'stats Into turmoil, uncertainty and
ask the privilege of defending my
a'gdd self from charges that I feel
snre the "presi gang" will under
stand and sympathise with the co-
woriter and aged member—neatly
The Banner-Herald:
On December 3, 1923-while the
, I Legislature was discussing tax
...I— during the special sea-
ly. for permlMlon to Install the de- lfon _ thB „« m ber from Ben Hill
vices In several local bu.lneu^l—...
_ capacity—I had
experience after the civil war, and
. , „ ''county rose In his place, to assail I proffered wily experience in
I but were re hired. However me> c |,|ming aa be said, his “right my limited capecity, in regard to
ihe tames were Installed anwayj,, comment on the political aa- taxes and the danger of piling on
contrary to ordere and the bust- poet, Mrs. Rebecca L. Felton, two Income taxes, federal and state
ness house, operating them are now t for he Had Bo respect for a woman, —with ad valorem tax, tale, tax,
facing gambling charges The after she entered politic*.” classification tax, and other prop-
5,. games are operated by putting n There were twe women, sitting oaitiona needless te mention her*,
coin In a slot and pulling *i cord. V, members from Fulton and Bibb A* a cltlxeB of Georgia, a tax-
picture coming out of the box counties, at that time. As l am payer, a voter, and_with liberty to
r a'number whlrh If lucky only a private citizen and they bad accept political office, if I could
prize. Chief Hendry .entered polities sucessfully, and get it, I think I had the privilege
machines -straight ’were bona fide legislators them- to tell the committee that the pco-
devices In violation of -.elves, he was either afraid to ns- pie, the voters, the taxpayers, had
and State lira-. In giving his -ail them by name, or he decided Idcman&ttj certain legislative :ic-
refusal to allow them to operate fn to make me a target for insult jtion In regard to ,tl
j, in dealing on tax revis
ion—in a hurry. (He raved J
An invitation had been extended
by the governor himself for any-
body and everybody to express
1 decided to accent the invitation.
their likes
etc.
I did net offer any so-called erudi
tion on teaching
Moat respectfully,
MRS. REBECCA L. FELTON,
Carteraville, Ga.
December 17, 1923.
GOVERNMENT ACCEPTS
SENATOR HARRIS' PLAN
WASHINGTON—Senator Harris,
of Georgia/ was Informed by
department of agriculture Frlday
thnt, a this suggestion, opening,
and closings of the cotton market*
at New Tork.'New Orleans and
Liverpool would lie broadenet n
11.15 a. m. and 4 p. m. from Arling
ton. In addition to the regular daily
and weekly summer!** rent qut at
5:Se p. m. The reports In turn
will be hroodci-t by the depart-
ment's stations at Atlanta, Char
lotte, N. C-; Auburn. A!« ; AsaUs
Port Worth andt Dallas, Trx„s
and Memphis.
The arrangement has been made,
Fenntor Harris explained, so that
the cotton producer*, especially in
th»* t m.tll towns may h;
left J>y a Rrandfathsr, Strawder
Gaines, sines whose doath twenty
years ago the estate, consisting of
realty and bonds, has been In slow
proceaa of settlement,
O. \V. Brown had been for ten
year* or morcthe proprietor of the
Athens hotel, and was widely known
for his hospitality. He died Sun
day, and the funeral wa» held
Tuesday.
*T rat at the funeral with mixed
emotions,” said J. A. Brown, of lea,
Just returned from Athens. "My
brother and I have waited long for
. this estate settlement and It grieved
j me to know that he was denied the
realisation of his (lopes. There are
only four legatees left. The dlVt
slon of the estate will occur next
week, and I will be ther?.”
J. A. Brown, well alon? in years
said It was, of course a nice Christ
mas present and his pleasurs was
only marred by the deata of
brother.
Attorneys f4r L. C. Brown, eldest
•on of the late Mr. G. W. Brown
here nre working on the matter ’of
the above estate, it waa loaned
yesterday.
White Man Held
On Liquor Charge
John Murrey, white, was arrest-
cil Saturday with t gallons and 2
Pints of whisker, according to C.
fteagravea, and polleetn
Weatherford, Moore
YOU can FIND them in the
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