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dotiuftj Vol I. No. 28 RANDOLPH SUMMERLIN LAID AWAY WITH MILITARY HONORS Largs Assemblage Does Homage To Georgia’s Hero Who Died at Vera Cruz (From Willac-ooehee Record) i iin people gathered in Willacco i ■ e Thursday to shove their love and ii . ction for the departed and his fam ; . All business of the town was sus l ded for the day and hundreds of .nets with their families came to iu participate in the \ .o cheered the Fitzgerald Militia as t y arrived in their automobiles head ( . by L. A. Farnell, with the National i 01 s floating in the breezes. A fall ( mpany, commanded by Capt. Wm. 1,, ile and Lieut. W. T. Nipper headed by Fitzgei eld Cornet band in Khaki t. forms, made an imposing picture i i the little village as they lined up ( a the main street of Wiilacoochee. t a arrival the Fitzgerald delegation ot ( r sixty were invited to the home of tie father of Randolph Summerlin, v. ..ere the body lay in State, and was s ved with a sumptuous dinner, Mrs. FI. C. Whildon, of Live Oak, Fla., ar aunt of the deceased acting as hostess, v. o saw to it that the boys wme prop i iy cared for. Tli.t* Services At 2 p. m. eight of the young men o f (the town, school mates and friends, acting as pall bearer.-:, placed cas ket on the large veranda of the home, <■ ven d with wreaths ar.d surrounded by banks of llowers. The children of the Wiilacoochee school, lead by The faculty, carrying flowers for the dead, arrived in a body to lay their tribute to his loyalty upon bier. Rev. N. H. Olmstead. of the Methodist church opened the solemn service with a touching prayer, followed by the “■star Spangle Banner” sang by the children of the town. A touching sermon by the minister brought tears of sorrow and appreciation to the cheeks of many of the audience. At the conclusion of the sermon the Fitz gerald band played “America” and its sentiments of loyalty never reached more receptive ears. A letter written just a short while before orders to em bark were received by the marines foi their fatal mission and which is cher i led by the entire community, who knew Randolph, was read to the as s mbly and voted to be given to the papers for publication. The letter, written to a neighbor and cousin ap pears elsewhere. Col. E. It. Smith and Rev G. Tom West of the Baptist church delivered eulogies upon the dead, couched in touching terms and full of encourage ment for the young men of the audi ence. Patriotism, love of country, and fealty to the Star and Stripes, w as the inspiring theme of an impres sive speech made by Hon. W. C. Lankford, Judge of the City Court oi Douglas. Capt. Wriv Haile detailed a special military escort, who with the pall bearers placed the casket in the hoarse on the march to the cemetery, following the hearse was the wagon, decorated in the National colors bear ing the floral offerings to the dead. Among them was a beautiful wreath sent by President Woodrow’ Wilson attesting the nation's appreciation that called for the sacrifice of the young life. The Georgia Society of New York, the Daughters of the Confed eracy of Dawson, the City of Willa ooochee and the Improvement Club of Wiilacoochee, each sent beatiful floral designs to honor the occasion. At the Grave The funeral cortege formed in front of the home extended neai ly a mile. Headed by the Fitzgerald band, play ing the funeral march. Company C. National Guards marched in advance of the hearse, followed by fifty auto mobiles and other vehicles and hun dreds of men and women made up the sad procession tc his last resting place. On arrival at the grave Rev. N. H. Olmstead read ihe burial service when the casket was lowered and a salute of three gur.s fired by Com i any C. The band played the “Star Spangled Banner" the Company's bu gler, Homer Waters, sounded “Taps,” tiic- last rites had been done and Ran dolph Summerlin’s name finally in scribed into the history of Georgia. Messrs. A. H. Thurmond. Frank Hager, C. A. Kcitzendorf. Wiley Wil liams, R. V. Handley. M. Mobley, L. A. Farnell, W. C. Wilkerson, H. C. Feavey, Frank Stone. J. A. Winn, fur nished the cars that carried the Fitz gerald delegation to Wiilacoochee and added another link to the chain that binds the people of this territory to the city of Fitzgerald. Those attending ’he obsear.encet from Douglas were: Mr. ard Mrs. A M. Haddock, Col. ard Mrs. L \ ) St/ cn, Messrs. Melvin 'fa: :mr ?lose: GrilSr, F. W. lfart, W. A. Wood, J. R Overman, Ah x Wicker, Will Tunas A. C. Lankford, R. A. Moore, C. A. Ward, Ctis Wocdruf, J. L. Cochran Rev. M. A. Morgan. Randolph Summerlin’s Last Letter to His Home Norfolk, Va„ Mar. 30, 1214 My Dear Mrs. Wilcox: f our nice letter received, ar.d it war appreciated very much. 1 am glad to kneuv that you are in terested in me, and w ish me so much good luck. Now you are just like a mother to me. You have always giv en me good talks, but I didn't pay much attention to them, but now 1 will take a good talk from anyone, and it will be highly appreciated. My dear mother has given me many and many good talks. Now she has gone to a better land, and I hope to live right and meet her there. I can remember the good talks she has given me and I expect to do as she has asked me too. When 1 was at home Christmas t tried to show my dear mother that I had changed my ways and was trying to live a good life, and she was glad to see it. Now’ I hope I can get off this sum mer to come and see all my loved ones that I have left behind me, and spend a few happy days with you and the doctor, but Wiilacoochee will never seem like home to me without my dear mother. I used to write her so many nice long letters, and I sure did get some long sweet ones from her, and they are sure missed very much. When all of the folks would wait so long to an swer my letters she would sit down and answer it as soon as she got it, and I always got tw r o or three every week. When the rest would forget me she w’ould never. Now I am glad to know that you are going to take the place of my dear mother, and give me good talks. They wi'l be appreciated at any time. Mrs. Wilcox, I want you to see that Jeff goes to Sunday school and church for mother always wanted him to go. hope to live to see him do well. I send my best regards to the doctor and tell him I am living right and hope to meet my true mother some day. We have a good preacher on the ship and he thinks the world of me. I go every Sunday and sing. His name is Thompson. He sure is a nice man. Well, I will try and close for this time, hoping to hear from you soon, and all the news. Give all of my folks my best regards and tell them I am well and in good health, and hoping they are the same. Your true boy, R. D. SUMMERLIN. KEXTUUKY GIRL MARRIED TO GEORGIAN IN ATLANTA Miss Bessie Johnson of Clinton, Bride of Henri It. Harper, of Wray, Ga^ Miss Bessie Johnson, of Clinton. -vy„ and Henry B. Harper, of Wray, Ga., were quietly married Saturday af ternoon at 5 o’clock at the Piedmont Hotel. The ceremony was performed by Dr. A. M. Hughlett, pastor of St. Marks church, and was witnessed by- Jesse E. Mercer and other fri nds. Mrs. Harper has been a teacher in the schools of Irwin county for the past year or two and has many friends in that community. Mr. Harper is one of the prominent men of the coun ty ar.d is of a well known family. They will be at the Piedmont for several days and will then return to ■ heir home in Wray.—Atlanta Journal. OPERETTA—GT P JUNIOR An operetta will be given at the town auditorium on next Friday eve ning by the students of the Aeri.ul tural school under the direction of Miss Brice. This is the first program of the commencement exercises and is given for the benefit of the library. The admission is 15 and 25 cents, or a book. A book will admit tw-o. This is a good entertainment. Go out and enjoy the evening. Douglas, Georgia, Wednesday, May 20th. 1914 Interesting Letter From V era Cruz by Christy Stalnacker Vera Cruz, Mex., Apr. 8, 1914. Dear Mattie:. 1 received your letter last night. Wo are getting along fine now', every thing is quiet at present. We turned n erytliing over to the army, they have charge of Vera Cruz and its sur rounding's. They are waiting for or ders from Washington. They have built fortification ail around the city to keep the spicks out. No, 1 don't know- whether the United States will take the whole of Mexico or not. That depends on Huerta. If he decides to give up his office and i government there will be no more to it, but lie says he will die in the chair rather than give up. You see the rea son we took Vera Cruz was on account of Huerta's government insulting the American flag, and another reason was to stop ammunition from coming in here in case we did have trouble with them. You know- about a month ago one of our paymasters was arrested at, Tampico. The custom is, when one nation arrests or lias trouble with an officer or enlisted naan of another na tion, in a case like that at Tampico, they are supposed to apologize by fir ing a twenty-one gun salute. This they refused to do. Another case, the U. S. S. Chester went to Tampico ar.d on her arrival she fired a twenty-one gun salute in honor of the Mexican goverment and they didn’t return it so that “got Sam’s goat” (mad Q U. S. mad) now he is going to kick Huerta out unless he gets out without being kicked. The L T nited States is waiting or. Huerta to decide whether to resign or Douglas and Coffee County By C. R. THURMOND. Since entering the field of work about four years ago, viz: (real estate) in which I am still engaged, I have made a close observation and study of development work that is neces sary for the growth and developement sary for the proper dovelopement and growth of a section, a town and sur rounding territory for instance. In this section of Georgia the chief industry of former years has been the turpentine and lumber trade, which is practically a thing of the past, but since the timber is exhausted we find the soil that we have is useful and profitable for farming and stock rais ing when proper preparation is provid ed. This industry affords an unlimit ed and permanent resource of indus try to which we may look forward with interest To develope our farming lands in Coffee County and to make a more flourishing city of Douglas, it is nec cessary to attract and locate in our midst more people, who may come from different sections of the country having different ideas and methods of doing things, naturally will lend bet ter plans to each other out of which will grow still better and more profit able ideas of producing and of life. In order to locate among us home seekers who desire to become citizens of some locality other than their ori ginal homes, we have got to present to them good reasons why they should come this way. The homeseeker is first interest in- a general way abour the advantages and inducements that any particular section may offei then prices is an important item of consideration, also condition of lands cost of improvements, and revenue of profits that might reasonably be ex pected in return and reward for his efforts and labors. We have natural advantages here which make it possible to develope a W’onderful country, the future of w’hich awaits our arrival. One of the most important features that we may take up is the investigation and stud; of the best methods for permanent public road construction, at reason able cost, w’hich I wish to treat more fully in an other issue, mcr< ly as sug gestions or subjects for thought the conclusion of which I will leave to those of wiser minds. Our schools and other accomplishments, the farn demonstration work, and so on arc very encouraging. The prospective purchaser is w illing to purchase a farm even though unde veloped if located on a public road and offered to him at -a reasonable price when the advantages and pros pects of developments pry . ■ : them selves to him in a striking and con vincing manner so that he may :• alize that desirable conditions will prevail in the w-ay of schools, churches and society in general, then wi*h the rural b? thrown out. If war is declared it will not take long to put his govern ment out, as we are well fixed for the job. And another thing we are wait ing on is for the American people t< get out of Mexico. The biggest par of them are out now. There ar -;. f-.-v in Mexico City yet. Some of then say they will stay where limy ar-: They have more confidence i:i thee, spicks than I have, f wuuidn t trus a dead one. I will send you some pictures of tl: wrecks soon, it was a sight. Wc charged right ow r cl ut spicks f< twenty-four hours. After we captur ed the city we had a job burning the dead, just piled them up in the street and burned them. The papers stated that two hundred were killed, but if they had multiplied that number by four it would have been nearer right) They hated to tell the truth about it for that would look too much like slaughter to the public. If war is declared Mexico will be massacred. Of course, they will get some of us too, but they are an ig norant set of people. They have mi sense about fighting. They fight like they did one hundred years ago and think we do the same. Yes, w-e lest about seventeen mem two from this ship and the rest from other ships. We sent them home on the Montana—sent them to Philadel phia. Well, that is about all that I can think of now, so will close for this time. Will w-rite every coup!" of da; s. Write soon. CHRISTY. mail, and telephone service that we already enjoy, the life in the country or rural sections may be as pleasant, and convenient as one might imagine in the city .or town. There is no question but that the more thorough development of our rural sections is the salvation, strength and foundation of our land. We, as a real estate firm and indi viduals, viz:, (Eagwe'l & Thurmond), expect to be of all the service that we can in a general way and in every w’ay to permanently and conservatively build up and develope Douglas and Coffee county, but we need and must have the co-operation of th citizen ship which we are confident you are willing to extend. An essential necessity is :i good conservative, w’ell and tliouroughly organized Chamber of Commerce, got ten together on right principles, am' builded on a solid foundation, which will stand the storms of time, and keep pace with the rest of the world, who are ever vigilant in letting the world know what they have. We do not want a so-called organization of a ballon nature, but we need a good or ganization of co-operative workers for the general up-build and develop ment of our town and county. Unless we line up and get in the rank and file of progress, catch and keep step with the music, we will be left stand ing alone like a dead tree in a large field as a monument of lifelessness. What sayeth men, one and all. Let us not fail to heed the call We must advance, march, roll the ball Or else retreat, decline and fall. . I wish to request the business men and any other who may wish to write me a personal letter on this subject so that I may have before me, and study the views of others. (To be continued.) JUDGE F. W. DART ILL Judge F. W. Dart is confined to his home on account of illness, and for this reason it will be impossible for him to keep some oi the engagement that he has made to speak in Iris race for Judge. His physicians state that he will in ill probability, be able to be out again in a few days. BAPTIST CHURCH There will bo the regular services next Sunday. Preaching at 11 a. m. and 7 p. m. by the pastor. Meeting of the B. Y. P. U. Monday at 7 p. in. Prayer meeting Wednesday evening at 7 p. ru. The public cordially invited to at tend these services. H. H. SHELL, Pastor. A. L. DOWLING RELEASED ON HABEAS CORPUS Left Last Sunday Night to investigate Certain Alleged Charges PROGRESS REPORTER TALKS TO MR. FLOYD < Recently a reporter from the Pro gress had-a heart to hea • tela -with Mr. Cordon Floyd, the school commis sioner of Coffee County. He is con sumed with enthusiasm for his work and is thoroughly awake ter the needs of his school and the rural section. The county has got to be redistrict ed at an early date because it does not conform to the rules laid down by law. This is a mammoth work, bin Mr. Floyd hopes the new school build ings that will have to be built will be better structures than some of the present ones.. When he first found out that Mr. Nelson, a millionare of Louisville, Ky. was giving large amounts to the rural schools, he at once set about to secure a Nelson worker, whose duty it is to carry on a great line of work among the rural people. Miss Katie Stan field of Tat.nell County, who taught one of Coffee’s schools the past term has charge of the work at present and has entered upon it enthustically. At present she is busy with the canning clubs but she hopes to broaden her work as the way opened up. Mr. Floyd says a new day has dawn ed for old Coffee. In the past five years wonderful strides have been made. With the advent of the small farmer, the county is filling up with new people; “New wine is being poured into old bottles" and the coun try is bursting with progress and prosperity. This too, is the day for the country preacher. His opportunities in the country now are manifold, for unless Christ is carried in witii enlighten ment., a civilized paganism is as dark as darkest Africa. DEMONSTRATION AT SCHOOL FARM MAY 30 On May 30th out at the Agricultural school farm the farmers of Coffee county will be given an opportunity to see for themselves one of the most interesting demonstrations. There will be one and two horse cultivators in the field cultivating corn and cotton, other plows cultivating and subsoiling land. Canning outfits may also be seen *n actual operation canning fruits and vegetables. Dynamite blasting of stumps, break ing subsoiling, and blasting holes to set fruit trees, stump pullers at work pulling stumps and "Mr. Eunice, dem onstration agent, inoculating hogs to prevent cholera. This demonstration has been plan ned by the agents of the U. S. Depart ment of Agriculture in co-operation with the State College of Agriculture, to give the farmers an opportunity to see what can be done with better facil ities for farming. The implement companies, hard ware companies, and others are co operating in this educational work. It is hoped that a large number of the farmers and others will attend. The demonstration will begin at 10 o'clock in the morning and last all day. A special invitation is extended tc the Boys Corn Club and the Girls Can ning Club to attend this demonstra tion. UO.M.MEM E>l ENT EXERCISES OF \GRICULTURVL SCHOOL Friday evening. May 22, 8 p. m., at Town Auditorium—Operetta, “Gyp Junior.” Sunday, May 24—Annual sermon- at Baptist church, by Bishop Reese. Monday, May .25 —Annual meeting of Board of Trustees. Monday evening. May 25, 8 p. m.— Literary program, contest for medals. Tuesday evening, May 26 —Graduat- ing exercises. Literary address by Prof. Jere M. Pound, President State Normal School, Athens, Ga. You are cordially invited. C. W. DAVIS, Principal. Mrs. J. A. Kersey, of Americus, is the guest of Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Kersey this week. $1 Per Annum Mr. A. L. Dowling, the popular own er of the Grand Theater litre, left for South Carolina last Sunday for the purpose of investigating certain al leged charg ; against him there. On last Friday the Sheriffs office here re ceived a letter purported to have been written by a sheriff some where in South Carolina, requesting that Mr. Dowling be arrested and held to await the arrival of an officer from that State. The letter contained no charg es, neither was there any warrant or indictment to give any information as to what the charges were, however. Mr. Dowling was placed under arrest and kept in custody until late Satur day afternoon, no officer having ar rived and no criminal papers hav'ng been sent. Mr. Dowling, through his attorney, T. A. Wallace, applied for a writ of habeas corpus and which was granted by Judge Quincey. A hear ing was had on same and an orde» granted by Judge Quincey releasing Mr. Dowling from further custody, holding that the facts presented were insufficient to authorize or justify fi r ttier detention and especially a:- the authorities of South Carolina had fail ed to forward any process against Mr. Dowling and leaving it doubtful as to whether such in fact existed. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dowling have been in Douglas for more than twelve months, where they each have a host of friends, he running the Grand ter, while Mrs. Dowling owns and rins the Dowling Millinery Store. The many friends of Mr. Dowling believe that there is some misunderstanding about the matter and that he will have same cleared away in a few days and will return to Douglas, where he has at all times conducted himself as a perfect gentleman. BIG INCREASE IN PONY VOTES From now until the close of the Pony Contest the Progress will allow votes as follow’s: For each $1 paid on subscription, 2,000 votes; for each $1 paid on old account, 3,000; and for each $1 of new business that is paid for in advance, 5,000 votes will be given. This remarkable offer only lasts un til next Saturday night, as the contest closes Monday, so the workers had best call at this office and find out who owes for the paper and other ac counts and we will be glad to help them any way that we can. It is a fine chance for the workers to make some extra votes. BAPTISTS IN FAVOR OF PROHIBITION The Convention Adopts the Report of Tc mpcra ncc ( oin in ittcc Nashville, Tenn., May 19. —Tim Sou thern Baptist Convention went on rec ord as favoring national prohibition and authorized the employment of an agent to do educational work in the interest of the movement. Action on the question was taken by the adop tion of the report of the temperance committee submitted by Dr. A. J. Bar ton, of Waco, Tex. Denominational control over its Sunday school lesson courses also was decided upon by the convention which adopted the report of the Sun day school lessons committee. MEANS BRING *2OO \N U RE TO THE LUCKY FARMERS Neillsville Wis., May 19.—The can ning factory here has demonstrated that there is no better crop for the farmers than beans for canning pur poses. Several farmers have produc -d as much as 8200 an acre. It is the opinion of those who have investigat ed the matter that beans will be a com petitor with peas in the caneries of upper Wisconsin in the future. BIG RE VI, ESTATE DEAL Tuesday moil ing a big real estate deal took place by which Daniel Gas kin Sr. and J. C. Brew’er purchased from J. M. Dent a Half interest in the three story building on the corner of Ward St. and Madison Ave., known as the Sw eat-Dent building. The con sideration was not given out but it is known to be up in the thousands.