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Yol I. No. 19
This Issue of The Progress Will Go Into the Homes of More Than 2,000 Coffee County Taxpayers
MASS MEETING HELD SATURDAY
ELECTED COUNTY COMMITTEE
A mass meeting was held at the
Court House last Saturday morning,
and after appointing Col. W. R.
Frier temporary chairman, and Col.
Levi O’Steen temporary secretary,
the following County Executive Com
mittee was elected :
Douglas J. M. Ashley, Levi O’Steen,
W. R. Frier, J. F. McDonald.
Tanner Dan Hall, John Roberts,
J. A. Davis.
Piekren J. C. Ellis, B. T. Burket,
Warren Lott.
Wooten J. C. Roddenberry, G. W.
Corbitt, E. L. Bledsoe.
Phillips Mill Dr. Ivy W. Moorman,
T. J. Holland, T. H. Brown.
Willacoochee- Elisha Corbitt, Geo.
McCranie, J. M. Roberts.
Pearson J. 0. White, F. E. McNeal
R. Vickers.
Mora- M. L. Aldridge, T. J.
Douglas, J. O’Steen.
McDonald A. F. Wilson, W. W.
Stewart, J. H. King.
The time of holding the next pri
mary was discussed at length and
the concensus of opinion seemed to
be that an early primary was desired,
and the following resolution was
passed :
“Resolved, That it is the sense of
the mass meeting assembled, that
the primary for county officers be
held not later than May 1 and the
citizens of Coffee County do hereby
in mass meeting assembled ask the
incoming executive committee to
call same not later than May 1,1914.”
A resolution was then offered and
NEW STEAM LAUNDRY
READY FOR BUSINESS
The new steam laundry, located on
South Gaskin avenue near the A. B.
& A. railroad, is ready for business.
This is a decided addition to the
enterprises of Douglas and with the
management of Mr. McLendon there
is every reason to believe that the
laundry will be a success and fill a
long felt want.
The laundry, while not as large as
those in cities like Atlanta, is as well
equipped as any in the State com- i
paring with such establishments
anywhere. Mr. A. M. McLendon,
who has all his life been in the laun-,
dry business and knows nothing else,
will manage the business and for the
past three weeks has been constantly
at work installing new machinery
which is the latest modern type.
Mr. McLendon stated to a Progress
reporter that their plant would be
strictly sanitary in every respect and !
that they were in position to do work j
of every class. He said that he con
fidently expected that as soon as the
people of Douglas found out what a
splendid laundry was being operated
here it would be necessary to enlarge !
the plant.
Suffice it to say that The Progress
heartily welcomes the Douglas Steam
Laundry and feels certain that it will
be a permanent institution in the
city, for Douglas is noted far and
wide for her hearty support of any
thing that tends to make the city a
better place to live in.
L. S. Peterson Recom
mended for Postmaster
The many friends of L. S. Peterson
both in Dougias and the County at large
are delighted with Congressman Yv alk
er’s action in recommending him to
President Wilson for the position of
Postmaster at Douglas. The recom
mendation is a popular one and meets
with the general approval of the patrons |
of the office. Mr. Peterson is in e\er\
way qualified to fill the office with credit
and to the entire satisfaction of both
the Government and the people. Con
gressman Walker is sticking to nis post
and the of his district feel that
he is making good in his new role.
HAVE RETURNED TO DOUGLAS
After spending a year at Arcadia,
Fla., Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Smith have
returned to Douglas to make their fut
ure home. They formerly lived here and
their many friends in the city are glad to
welcome them back again. Mr. Smith
holds a position with the Georgia anu
f' lorida shops.
(M B ftt (gottttjfl Praams.
offering Judge Quincey as a candidate
for Congress from this district. The i
resolution was as follows:
“Resolved, That whereas there is
to be elected this year a Congress
man from the 11th District,
And, whereas, we have in our |
county a distinguished citizen and a |
man in every way qualified to fill !
this high and important office, and a
man that well deserves any confi
dence placed in him by the citizens
of this State, we, therefere, in mass
meeting assembled suggest and offer
the name of J. W. Quincey, of Doug
las, Ga., to fill this important posi
tion, and earnestly ask him to make
the race in the approaching primary,
hereby promising and pledging him
our ardent support for this office,
provided he decides to offer for
same.”
A motion to endorse Judge Dart
for the office of Judge of the Superior
Court of the Waycross Circuit was
passed and the following endorsement
given him:
“Whereas, at the coming election
it will be necessary to select a Judge
of the Superior Court for the Way
cross Circuit, and, whereas, we re
cognize and appreciate the many
qualifications of our esteemed fel
low citizen, Judge F. Willis Hart,
be it
“Resolved, That we here and
now, as an evidence of our apprecia
tion of Judge Dart, unanimously en
dorse him, and pledge him our sup
port for this very important office.”
THREE HOUSES BURN
SUNDAY MORNING
With a brand new March wind
blowing a gale, fire broke out in one
of John McLain’s houses, just south
of the A. B. & A. railroad, Sunday
morning between 10 and 11 o’clock
and for a time it looked as if the
whole of that end of Douglas would
go up in flames. However, valiant
men working hard and the fire de
partment’s arrival with hose kept
the fire from spreading beyond the
two houses adjoining the one which
first caught.
Three houses, two belonging to
John McLain and one to Ed Dar
bee, colored, were destroyed. Most
of the contents were saved. The
buildings will be a total loss as there
was no insurance on them, it is said.
The fire’s origin is not known as
the tenants of the house which first
caught were not in the building when
the fire broke out, but it is supposed
that some embers in one of the fire
places started up and the strong wind
blew them on the floor.
Miss Stanfield Was
Elected Supervisor
The regular monthly meeting of
the county school board was held at
Superintendent of Education -J.
Gordon Floyd’s office last Monday
morning. All the members of the
board were present except Mr. Tom
Morris.
Routine business occupied the at
tention of the hoard for some time.
Mr. E. Corbitt was inducted into
office, he having been recommended
for the place on the board by the
last grand jury and later appointed
by the governor.
Miss Bertie Standfield was elected
as Nelson Supervisor for this county.
Miss Stanfield is now principal of the
Shepherd school and will take up the
work assigned to her through the
Nelson movement as soon as her
term ends. Miss Standfield will also
have charge of the Girls’ Canning
clubs throughout the county and
hopes to work up a great deal of in
terest in this industry.
Has Located Here.
Dr. J. D. DeLamar, of Hamilton,
has removed to this city where he
will reside in the future. He is ac
corded a hearty welcome.
Douglas, Georgia, Friday, March, 6th 1914
OFFICERS WERE SHOT
AT'WHILE TRYING
TO MAKE ARRESTS
Tuesday night Deputy Sheriff Jeff
Kirkland, of this city, and Bailiff W.
M. Summerlin, of Willacoochee,
went to the negro section of Douglas
in search of a negro whom they
! thought was in hiding there and be
| lieved to have been guilty of com
-1 mitting murder at Willacoochee.
The officers thought that they had
located the negro in one of the houses
and entered. They were met inside
by a negro and they began to quest
ion him concerning the one they were
in search of. •
The negro addressed claimed ig
norance of' the whereabouts of the
one the officers wanted and while
they were conversing with him, of
ficer Kirkland recognized him as one
he had a warrant for and started to
lay his hand on him, saying: “I know
you. and have a warrant for you.”
As he did so the negro drew forth a
gun and began to shoot, running in
to an adjoining room. The offiicers
followed as far as the door, which
was slammed in their faces, and at
the same time a bullet hit the butt
of the revolver which Mr. Summerlin
held in his hand, breaking off a large
piece of it. The huilet barely missed
Mr. Summerlin and only the deflec
tion of the bullet off the revolver
butt saved him. *
Before the officers could get into
the room, the negro had made his
escape and is still at large.
- •
Judge Quincey Had
to Correct Lawyers
Judge J. W. Quincey presided at
court atCharltui Wednesday an:] among
other cases tried wus one for the State
vs. T. A. Christie in which a game of
draw poker was alleged. During the
trial of the case the lawyers for both
the State and the defence got badly
mixed up in using terms relative to the
game, Judge Quin -ey had frequently to
come to their rescue. It is said that
Judge Quincey expressed it as his pri
vate opinion that the attorneys showed
a lack of knowledge of the game.
Christie was convicted, however, and
fined $75.
JUDGE F. W. DART MAKES
FORMAL ANNOUNCEMENT
V. . ", ■ ■ £■: . _ ■/"•.V " i •. ■ ’ .
IJII
Judge F, W. Dart makes his formal announcement as a candidate for
Judge of the Superior Co.uft,WaycrossCircuit,in this issue of The Progress.
Judge Dart clearly sets forth his purposes if elected to this important
office as well as giving a brief resume of his life and the part hr has played
in public matters.
Judge Dart is warmly supported by many loyal friends in this city and
county and will no doubt make a stroner race, as he is well and favorably
known through' >utjthe whole district.
Judge Du t will speak to the voters of the county at the court house
Monday n.iai h.g rrd asks that as many of the people come to hear him in
reference to his campaign as can.
MOULTRIE PACKING
HOUSE BE READY
SEPTEMBER FIRST
It is a matter of great interest to
the farmers in this county that a
packing house which will handle all
kinds of live stock is to be ready for
operation at Moultrie by the first of
the coming September. This pack
ing house is to he operated by the
men living in Moultrie and will af
ford a market for stock raised in the
whole of South Georgia.
Mr. John YV. Greer, well known to
the people of this county, was in the
city recently and explained the propo
sition quite fully to the farmers. He
urged the farmers to take the news
of the opening of the packing house
into serious consideration, pointing
out to them the advantages they
would have in raising and disposing
of stock and thereby being able to
partly avoid the distress that would
attend the advance of the boll weevil
into this county.
Mr. Greer said in part as follows:
That Moultrie was building a hun
dred thousand dollar packing house
for the purpose of buying hogs, cows,
sheep and goacs, killing and curing
the meat of same and selling it to
the public as do the great packing
houses of the west, such as Armour,
Swift, Morris, Cudahy and others.
The packing house will be com
pleted and operation started on Sep
tember 1 of this year, after which it
will buy every meat animal presented*
pay the Chicago price and pay it in
cash as do the cotton merchants for
cotton.
The packing house will have a nor
mal capacity of 30,000 hogsannually,
but this can be easily increased to
twice that number and it is more
than likely that it will require all the
hogs raised in South Georgia for the
next two or three years to keep it
running, as the packing house wi 1
run every working day in the year
and buy stock every working day.
Of course if the packing house is a
Robbers Thought to Have
Caused Fire at H est Green
Last Saturday morning, about 3!
o’clock, the country roundabout
West Green, formerly Garrant, was
aroused by a tremendous explosion,
the noise be ; ng plainly heard in Doug
las and at Broxton the people thought
that a small earthquake had taken
place. Later in the day it was
discovered that the depot at West
Green had burned'and at the same
time three box cars one ’of them j
loaded with fertilizer.
Some 300 pounds of dynamite was
in the station warehouse, having
been consigned to various parties to
blow stumps, and it was the explos
ion of this powder that caused the
shock which was distinctly felt for a
radius of 10 miles.
It is thought that robbers, either
purposely or by accident, caused the
fire. However this is not a certainty
as the station, a building about 35x75
feet, including the warehouse, was
totally burned together with the cot
ton platform adjoining, and no trace
of marauders could be found.
It is not known whether anything
was stolen from the depot, if robbers
were there, because of the fact noth
ing remains of tickets, etc., to check
up. The agent at that place states
that he had taken the money in hand,
only a few dollars, home with him
Friday night and that if robbers vis
ited the place they did not get any
thing of value out of the ticket of
fice. They might have secured some
freight, but this is not definite.
success, others will be established in
other points over South Georgia.
But the main thing for the people of
South Georgia to do now is to make
this one a success, for if this one
should fail, another would not be
built for many years to come.
The packing house will benefit
Coffee County just as much as it will
Colquit County, for the reason that
the farmers in this county will be
able to sell their stock to it by bring
ing them to the railroad centres.
Buyers will have certain days of the
week to visit Douglas, Willacoochee,
Pearson and other points in the
county and the farmers will he ap
prised of these sale days and have
their stock at those places.
The Moultrie Packing House will
pay Chicago prices that is the Chi
cago quotations will govern the
Moultrie price as they do for all
meat animals in the United States.
Last year, the Chicago prices for
hogs averaged about eight and a half
cents a pound on foot. That is, a
two hundred pound hog would bring
about sl7 at the Moultrie packing
house. That hog costs the average
South Georgia farmer $6.00, thereby
giving him a profit of sll on every
two hundred pound hog produced,
Mr. Greer said the most popu
lar breeds for South Georgia country
are the Duroc, Poland China and
Berkshire,
He avowed that the history of the
packing house is that it has paid the
farmers out of debt in five years
wherever it has been established.
That all one crop countries and
wherever stock has been added, the
farmers soon pay out of debt and be-
THE GRAY LUMBER COMPANY
SUIT HEARD THIS WEEK.
The suit of the Douglas Grocery
Co., et al, vs. Gray Lumber Co., in
volving some $300,000, was heard be
fore Hon. James F. McCracken, as
special master for the District Court
of the United States, at Waycross
this week. Messrs. O’Steen & Wal
lace and Messrs. McDonald & Will
ingham appeared for the petitioning
creditors; Judge W. C. Lankford
represented the Gray Lumber Co.;
and Col. Lawson Kelley was attorney
for the Citizens bank.
The hearing of the* suit occupied
all of Monday and Tuesday and
Judge McCracken will take all the
evidence into consideration and
$1 Per Annum
Mrs. Matt Kirkland
Dies From Cancer
While not altogether unexpected,
the people of Coffee County were sad
dened to learn of the death of Mrs.
Linnie Kirkland, wife of Dr. Matt
Kirkland, at their home about five
miles from Douglas, Tuesday.
Mrs. Kirkland had been a great
sufferer for more than a year with a
cancer and although everything had
been done for her that medical
science knew to do, the disease con
quered.
Mrs. Kirkland before her marriage
was Miss Linnie Gillis, and as a young
woman was considered one of the
belles of the county. She developed
into a most lovely womanhood and
was possesed by a most estimable
character and disposition. She will
be mourned by hundreds throughout
the county, and her death is a severe
blow to her husband and immediate
family.
The funeral was conducted from
the home Wednesday afternoon and
interment was made in the family
cemetery at Mt. Zion. The great
number of people attending the rites
attested the high respect in which
the deceased was held.
Besides her husband, Mrs. Kirk
land is survived by three children,
Mr. Elton Kirkland, of Louisana,
Mr. Leroy Kirkland and Miss Stella
Kirkland. She was a sister of Sher
iff Gillis and there are many other
relatives in this and adjoining coun
ties. ■
Overturned Box Car
Ties up A. B. & A.
An eastbound freight was pulling
into Douglas yards Monday morning
when one of the cars in the train
turned over for no apparent reason
while the train was about 100 yards
west of the station.
The car was loaded with fertilizer,
[ and as it lay directly across the main
line, the westbound passenger train
I due to leave here at 10:40, was de
layed until the overturned car could
be righted, which was after noon.
Aside from spilling some of the
contents of the car, the accident did
no damage.
Young Farmer Dies
Near StoKesville.
Mr. John Mashburn, whose home
was near Stokeaville, this county,
died there Sunday night from drop
sy.
The deceased was a young man of
thirty three years, and had the res
pect of his neighbors who deplore
his death at so early an age.
He is survived by his wife, and
four children, his parents an many
realtives throughout the county.
come the lending instead of the bor
rowing classes. He said eighty four
percent of the farmers are in debt,
but if the farmer would begin to
raise stock for this packing house
they would soon be the richest peo
ple on the American continent,
make his report to the United States
Court April 1.
This case has attracted consider
able attention and is the outcome of
a petition by certain creditors of the
Gray Lumber Co., for the concern
to be adjudged bankrupt. The com
pany has filed a plea that they have
committed the acts alleged and
admit willingness of being adjudged
bankrupt, but certain creditors
other than those asking for the ad
judgement are opposing the petition.
The case is liable not to be settled
for some time to come as a large
amount of money is represented in
the suit.