Newspaper Page Text
Volume Xl No- 10
County Officials 1 ake
Office January First ’25
A few changes will be noted in the
personnel of the county officers after
January Ist. Ordinary W. P. Warrl.
who has served in this capacity for
many years ago takes thje oath of
office, while Sheriff W. M. Tanner
and Clerk Session Faies were nomi
nated in the spring primaries to suc
ceed themselves and will begin a
new term on that date.
Mr. G. L. Sims succeeds Mr. Willis
Newborn as tax collector and .Tas.
M. Lott assumes the duties of tax
receiver, succeeding Mr. John R.
Vickers.
Mr. Melvin Tanner, present clerk
of the County Commissioners as
sumes the duties of County School
Superintendent. These duties will
not be entirely new to Mr. Tanner,
he having served in this capacity be
fore several years ago.
Succeeding Mr. Moses Griffin as
of the Douglas Dis
trict, Mr, Lewis Vickers has already
qualified. The commissioners who
will compose .this body in handling
the affairs of the county for four
years, is in addition to Mr. Vickers,
Mr. P. L. Moore of Broxton, succeed
ing himself as commissioner for the
Ambrcse-Broxton district, and Mr.
A. J. Meeks, succeeding Mr. J. C.
Ellis of the Nicholls-West Green
district. Both these gentlemen have
had experience as county commis
sioners.
With reference to the retirement of
Mr. Griffin and Mr. Ellis from the
Board of Commissioners, it is timely
I COFFEE COUNTY; CONSERVATIVE, PROGRESSIVE AND FIELD OF OPPORTUNITY
■———————i——-——————————————-
A Review of Conditions as they Exist
in this county as Expressed by HAR
LEEBRANCH IN THE ATLANTA
JOURNAL.
COFFEE COUNTY OFFERS SPLEN
DID OPPORTUNITIES FOR IN
TELLIGENT FARMERS NEW
INDUSTRIES ARE SOUGHT.
DOUGLAS, GA., Dec. 18.—Surround
ed by an agricultural section which
[ is already making farmers rich and
holds potential wealth and prosperity
for thousands of others, Douglas, the
county seat of Coffee county, boasts
a citizenry that realizes these oppor
tunities and has set to take full ad
vantage of them.
Thousands upon thousands of acres
of fertile land are lying idle because
there are not at present enough farm
ers to till the soil. These vast tracts
of land are awaiting the attention of
additional intelligent and industrious
farmers to give up their wealth.
The tendency here is to decrease
the number of large landowners and
to increase the number of small land
owners. There is also a movement
to encourage the tenant farmers to
acquire land and thus own and work
their own farm.
From Virginia and the Carolinas
there is coming a steady stream of
L'otton and tobacco farmers, and even
'from the agricultural regions of the
west men are bringing their families
to this section and buying farms.
At the present time there seems to
be no limit to the land supply, but
some day things will be different, for
this county is being rapidly settled
and the days of cheap farm lands are:
sure to be numbered.
Adaptable Soil.
The soil of this section is adapted
to numerous money crops, such as
cotton, tobacco, corn, pecans, sweet
potatoes, watermelons, cucumbers,
etc. There is also unlimited acreage
for fine pasturage, which makes it
easy to raise cattle, hogs and poultry.
The land is here and it does not
present any problem such as faced
the hardy pioneers who settled the
west, for most of it has been cleared
by the sawmill men and turpentine
jr.e* l.
w Many other counties in this sec
t ion are in somewhat the same situ
ation as Douglas, but in this article
the progress and development of
Douglas and Coffee county are to be
considered.
©etmJjj JUro qrcss.
i to state that conditions as they exist'
represents great improvement over
i that which existed when the board
about to dissolve assumed their du
ties. ' !
The countv was burdened with a I
I
considerable floating debt at the time
I and vouchers were not promptly
! paid. The roads of the county were
j not in nearly such good condition as
i they have been in recent years.
The financial condition of Coffee
county is almost ideal. For the past
j several years bills have been paid
j promptly when due, all juries, etc.,
i and other expenses of holding the
j courts being met promptly!. There
| is no bonded indebtedness, and only
l small amount of current expense due
i which could easily be met by pay
| ment of taxes. A financial state
ment of the county would show a
neat surplus of all taxes due the
county were in hand. The tax rate
has been lower than in any adjoin
ing county all the while this condi
tion has existed in Coffee - county.
; The county maintains one of the best
J kept road building organizations in
the state. It is said that Coffee is
one of' the ten per cent of counties
in Georgia which meets all obliga
tions when du *.
A number cf new roads have been
j opened up and all the roads have been
• kept in good shape during the past
] few years, and recently the county
commissioners purchased a farm
where there will be erected a per
manent stockad" for the convicts, and
Douglas.
The city of Douglas is an up-to
date and attractive municipality,
with an unusually fine and with
a united people when it comes to any
matter effecting the interests of this
city and county.
Douglas has a population of 4,000.
Itf has a wide-awake Kiwanis club,
which serves in the place of a chain
her of commerce, end it has a pro
gressive and effective woman’s club
.which co-operates in all matters of
civic betterment. The Kiwanis club
has the following officers: President,
John R. Slater; vice president, W. T
Cottingham; secretary W. H, Bailey.
[Officers of the woman’s club are:
President Mrs. Fred Brewer; vice
president, Mrs. T. A. Dixon; secre
tary, Mrs. T. H. Clark; treasurer,
Mrs. Ben Gray; parliamentarian, Mrs.
Melvin Tanner.
Live Woman’s Club.
The woman’s club owns it club
-1 house, which is situated in the city
, park, and is a most attractive bnild
i ing. It maintains a restroom, spon
! sors the park playground for chil
dren; is pieparing to secure a public
library, and has already gathered
150 volumes for it; maintains various
committees to lead and to co-operate
in all public matters. Among these
committees are those on civic affairs,
restroom, public health, education, li
brary, playgrounds, music, etc. The
club, through its music committee, is
reeking to contribute to the culture
of the community. It is affiliated
vith both national and state federa
tions of women’s clubs.
There is a very live parent-teach
er association, which is engaged in
numerous activities for the schools.
This association has already secured
500 volumes for a school library, and
is interested in propel- school and
playground equipment.
The city has two miles of concrete
street paving, and when contract nowj
being executed is completed there wilT!
be six miles of concrete sidewalks.
A white way in the business district]
and many beautiful homes in the resi
dental sections make Douglas exceed
ingly attractive.
Artesian Water.
Artesian wells supply the city wa
terworks, and the city owns its elec
tric plant. It has a motorized fire
department, and is situated on the
OFFICIAL ORGAN COFFEE COUNTY, CITY OF DOUGLAS. AND THE CITY OF NICHOLLS
*• ». ' k * #
DOUGLAS, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 1925.
FIFTY-FIFTY GROCERY
NEW BUSINESS FIRM
Following a new business
ventuers in the city during the past
few weeks, a new grocery store under
the management of Mr. J, D. Perkins
opened this week in the New Douglas
Hotel block on Ashley street side.
The name cf the new store, which is
attractively arranged is named the
Fifty-Fifty Grocery.
Mr. Perkins is an experienced gro
cery-man and an announcement of his
plans include the carrying of a
first-class line of staple and fancy
groceries at popular prices.
ORDINARY WARD DISTRIBUTES
PENSION MONEY
A check for $25.00 each Tyas m f led
to confederate pensioners just prior
to Christmas by Ordinary W. P. Ward.
About SI,OOO was distributed among
the old soldiers and their widows as
a Christmas greeting.
where paupers will be taken care of,
and which will be farmed and the
proceeds to go to the upkeep of both.
This condition is credited to the busi
ness ability of the gentlemen who
have had charge of the county’s af
fairs.
This healthy financial condition
speaks well indeed for these gen
tlemen, and fop the county as a whole.
The incoming officials are all popu
lar -and men of good business ability
and there is no reason why greater
progress should not be made in every
department than ever before.
Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic
and Georgia and* Florida railroads
and the Dixie Highway.
Cheap rents, tax exemption for a
reasonable period, local financial aid
plenty of labor and plenty of power
are offered to prospective industries.
Among the industries being sought
are a cotton mill, a spinning mill,
chair factory, furniture factory, can
neries, etc. There is said to be a
vast amount of hardwood available,
such as ash and oak. At present
negotiations are under way for the
location in Douglas of a big paper
pulp mill which will mpnufactuiia
wrapping paper and paper boxes
from the old pine stumps that are
everywhere in abundance.
Industries.
Among the industries already in
operation are the Georgia and Flori
da railroad shops, the plant of the
United States Turpentine company,
which makes pine oils and spirits o>
turpentine from stumps. This com
pany has an investment of $125,000
and a capacity of 600 gallons a day.
It is preparing to double its capacity.
Other industries are a 30,000-feet
capacity saw mill, hardwood staves
mill, a planing mill, veneer works,
crate factory, oil and fertilizer mills,
feed mills, potato curing plant, tlyee
tobacco warehouses, a tobacco stem
mery and redrying plant, cotton gin,
cotton warehouses, a cold storage
plant, cigar factory, mattress fac
tory, machine shops and foundry, etc.
The city boasts two hotels, a nine
hole golf course and country club,
a modern sanitarium, six white chur
ches, two newspapers, two banks with
deposits of about $750,000. Both city
and county are in fine shape finan-i
dally. |
Educational Advantages.
Few cities of the size of Douglas
possess such educational facilities j
and advantages. In addition to a j
grammar school and a high school ■
with 18 teachers for the 700 white j
pupils there are a colored grammar ■
school, a colored junior high school,!
which is built of white brick and
vfiich teaches the pupils djomestic
science and agriculture as added
courses. There is now a agitation
for a new high school building for
the white children and one will un
doubtedly be provided.
One of the best known and largest
private normal and business colleges
in the southern part of the state
is that of the Georgia Normal Col
lege and Business institute, which
has 100 boarding students and two
large dormitories.
Eleventh District School.
Topping the educational facilities!
STEM COMPANY
DECLARES DIVIDEND
1 —— ’* sipS
At t|Ci annual stockholders meet-,
ing of ft he Georgia Tobacco Stem
mevy aid 1 Drying Company December
26th a*7 per cent dividend was do*'
dared .after the election- of a
board <u. directors by the body Mr.
W. T. Gskthigham was elected presi
dent, Mr. O. F, • Deen vice president
and Mit W. A. Wilcox seerdtary
treasure4
A cdrtfjnittee was appointea to re
lease tKi* plant, the present contract
with thje JAhina-American Tobacco &
TrauihtSjC ompapy lease expiring next
August j|. It is, understood that an
:; ffer. tojg}UT?cfi£s'e.,.the entire plant has
been njjpie bjv the China-Am-erfcan
Fompan?-, but at an unsatisfactory
figure. No trouble is anticipated in
renewing the lease foy., five years
more, efr deposing of ; the plant by
sale. q
I his #mt for the stemming and
redrying of tobacco/has been in use
for the pa's}; five years, the past sea
son being by far the most successful
one yet., ; f.
—j . _ .
REV. WYATT AND FAMILY
LEAVES FOR MACON
Rev. ». L. 'Wyatt and family left
t»he citj£ Wednesday afternoon fob
their hotne in Macon. Mr. Wyatt
ended hit pastorate of the First Bap
tist chuicfi last Sunday. His resig
nation was handed the church board
about two igonths ago. He enters
evangelistic and has engage
ments which.will require his services
of.this c.Sjnmupity and section as.well
as jhoviaing one of the snowplaces
of south Georgia is the Eleventi
,District A. & M. school.
With building and grounds and
equipment that would do credit to
many a college, this school is doing
a wonderful work for boys and girls
who come from every county in the
Eleventh Congressional district, from
many other sections of Georgi. .rnd
from Tennessee, South Carolina *nd
Florida. There are 193 students, al
though the capacity of the school is
fixed at 120.
The school has three imposing two
story white brick buildings, facing
upon a semi-circle drive, which is
lighted at night by a white way, am
which is bordered by beaqtiful trees
and shrubbery. These buildings are
valued at more than SIOO,OOO.
There are 314 acres in the farm
with 100 acres under cultivation.
The campus in .front of the buildings j
consists of seven acres, and in the
rear of the buildings the athletic
fields and recreation grounds are on
five acres. The three buildings
house the academic departments, the
girls’ dormitory and the boy’s dormi
tory. There is an auditorium with a
seating capacity of 300.
In addition to the regular literary,
argicultural and shop courses, there
are courses in home economics and
in music, both piano and voice.
On four and three-fourth acres
this year the school grew a crop of
tobacco that brought $‘2,227,48, which
netted SI,BOO.
Professor Thrash.
Prof. J. M. Thrash, the principal,
who by the way is a brother of Dr.
E. C. Thrash, well- known Atlanta
physician, is a graduate of Georgia
Tech, and is one of the best known
end most sought after educators in
the state. He has been principal for
six years, prior to which he was on
the faculty of the A. & M. school at
Tifton for several years. It would
hardly be an exaggeration to say that
Mr. Thrash is the most popular and
perhaps the most influential men in
these parts. *■ ~
The athletic record of this school
is a remarkable one, and few, if any,
of the preparatory colleges have
produced as many stellar athletes.
Among those who claim the Eleventh
District A. and 'I. as thvir alma mat
ter are “Bum” lay, 1921 All-Am
erican center and (aptain of the Uni-j
versity of Georgia football team;!
“Puss” Whelchel, 1922 All-Southern;
tackle and captain of the University
of Georgia football t-iam; Captain
Jim Taylor, now at the University
of Georgia, who has been mentioned
i
| New City Administration
To Organize Mondav Night
r -The organization of the 1925-6 dty.
administration will be formally or-j
'ganizcf! Monday night January 6th. j
Mr. John R. Slater will take the oath
of office as Mayor and it is assured
that Mr. A. Brooks, recently elected
councilman from the first'Ayvaru to
succeed himself will be n# '» pro
tern. /Clinton iL. Lott, the r, >e in
the recent el ction will take j oath
as councilman j
are the only new .members o new
council, the holdi'f over.
Th* election of a city ewers’ thief of
police, a nd,'- other police offFjrs, fit*
chief and other sufrjtcfinatesi
will probably take place atte/ the or-1
ganization Mfcnday night, ft is notj
likely that the present official family j
will be materially changed.
In connection with the retirement I
of Mayor R. A. Moore who has served j
as mayor two years and retires from
Mr. R. B. Critcher, of Wendell N.
C. arrived in the city Tuesday
and is with his brother Mr. V. W.
Critcher. Mrs. Critcher will follow
arriving here within the next few
deys and they will make their home
in or near Douglas. Mr. Critcher
will grow a tobacco crop in this.sec
tion this season.
j for about four months already.
A very devoute man, with dynamic
energy, a forceful pulpit orator, Rev.
Wyatt and his family have won many
enduring friends during his residence j
in Douglas, and whose best wishes j
'follow him. |
i by Walter Camp as a,n AU-AroqrieaW
tackle; Roosevelt Day. Milton Day and
“Shad” Frier, of the University of
Georgia football team; Francis Stubbs
former captain of the Auburn
football team, and M. V. Furlow, now
an end on the Tech eleven. “Bill’
White, Georgia’s baseball coach, was
coaching at this school when the uni
versity called him.
In Coffee county there is a pop-!
ulation of 18,600. The cotton yield
has been as high as 17,000 blase, but
the boll weevil cut it down as low as
1,600 bales. This year the crop will
be 4,700. Within the past ten years
tobacco has become the second most
important crop and judging from the
growth of the industry in the last
year or two it is destined to be the
principal crop.
Coffee County Tobacco.
Coffee was the pioneer Georgia
county in tobacco culture. In 1914
. it raised its first crop and built its
i first ba>. This crop was shipped t
North Carolina and brought about
SSOO.
In 1923 there were 35,000 acre - ; ii
cotton and only 1,600 bales were pro
duced. In 1924 there was less thii’
15,000 acres in cotton and the yield
was 4,700.
In 1923 the tobacco crop was
grown on 1,700 acres and amounted
to 1,500,000 pounds. This year 3,-
500 acres were planted and the yield
was 5,500,000 pounds. It is the boast
of Coffee county planters that their
tobacco was of such a grade that it
brought the highest price per pound j
of any tobacco grown in south Geor-!
f?ia.
Since the small tobacco warehouse'
was built here in 1917 it has been
doubled in capacity and two others j
of large proportions have been erect
ed. Now plans are about complete
for the erection this year of 2 mam
mouth warehouses that will double the
capacity of the other three.
Potato Curing Plant.
With a hot air sweet potato cur-|
ing plant here 50 carloads of 40,000 i
bushels have been shipped this year,!
some going as far west as Utah.!
Forty-two cars of shelled corn have I
been shipped, as have 15 cars ofj
gHound feed, 500 tons of peanuts, j
and large quantities of watermelons,
cucumbers, tomatoes, and pecans.
One hundred and fifty acres have
this year been planted in pineapple
pears and 150 acres in pecan trees.
Fifty carloads of hogs have been
shipped this year and 25 carloads of
cattle. The county is being rapidly
stocked with pure bred and gran
cattle, also pure bred hogs and poul
try.
$1.50 Per Annum in Advance
official connection with thd city, a
brief review of the achievements of
his administration is opportune.
Serving with Mr. Moore as council
men, were A. Brooks, John R. Slater,
Jas. B. Jardine, R. H. Sapp, S. M,
McCranie and Sidney Stubbs, fhe
main' hcliievbmwuts have, been the ad
justment of the city’s fin a peep, the
paving of sidewalks, about five miles
total now in progress of construction,
the erection of pne of the most beau
tiful white ways in any town in Geor
gia and the completion of a rpodern
negro school building.
; It ps pointed out that the present
! tax digest, if used to retire floating
I indebtedness, would retire the entire
| amount. This is a marked improve
| ment over preceding years, and while .
J taxes' have not been raised, and a
j shrinkage of about have million in tax
values, the manipulation of the city’s
business has not been altogether a
pleasurable one. It is also 3hown that
values are again on the increase and
the revenue to the city will be in
creased without the necessity of in
i'r«a |i-N: taxes,' ami at the present
not be long until a cut
nhajF.e nYade in the present rate.
Another feature that the adminis
tration points with pride to is the re
duction in police court cases made.
At times there is no necessity for the
we*k|y Monday morning courts. Very
few cases have been tried in the past
i several months and even during the
; present holiday season there has been
i a noted absence of disorderly conduct
lcases brought before the court.
i and his wife, who is the home et|>-
j nomics agent, have done a fine work,
i As a result of Mr. Bussey’s efforts,
'great stimulus has been lent to di
i versified agriculture and t(^ dairying,
j horticulture, truck crops and to the
| proper breeding and feeding of cattle,
I hogs and poultry.
I Mrs. Bussey’s efforts have result
led in a big improvement in hom<
life on the farm. She has gotten the
children to raise fine chickens for
the market, so that they are shipped
by the carload. She has held sue
cessful cooking schools, taught the
people how to furnish their homes,
how to beautify their grounds, how
to make dresses and hats, etc.
Schools and Roads.
There are 32 schools in Coffee coun
f ty, of which number seven are con
! solidated schools, to which the chil
! dren are brought by busses. There
j are two junior high schools and four
teen two-teacher schools. This leaves
eleven cf the old-fashioned one room
community schools. However, the
definite plan is to quickly consolidate
these. These schools run six months
a year, three months in the fall and
three in the spring.
Coffee has 600 miles of public
roads, of which 300 miles are graded
roads and 200 miles sand-clay sur
faced. These run out in every di
rection to the county sites and towns
on every side. The county has the
most modern of road equipment ma-
THOUSANDS OF FERTILE 4
chinery and is rapidly surfacing its
principal roads.
It is claimed that there are more
churches in Coffee county than there
are schools, which is cited to show
that the people are not neglecting
t;heir spiritual development.
Community Leaders.
Among those who met in confer
ence with the Journal correspondent
.were: R. A. Moore, mayor and law
> 4r; Fred Ricketson, editoS Coffee
County Progress; W. R. Frier, editor
Douglas Enterprise; W. S. Cannon,
agent of the A. B. & A. railroad;
'L. Grantham, state senator, lawyer
and chairman of the city board of
education; J. Ml Thrash, principal of
the Eleventh District A. and M,
school; L. A. Pope, real estate dealer
and farmer; Melvin Tanner, county
school superintendent-elect; A. S.
Bussey, county agricultural agent;
Mrs. T. A. Dixon, vice president of
t ehDouglas Woman’s club: J. R.
Slater, mayor-elect, lawyer and bank
er; L. E. Heath, lawyer; J. B. .Jar
dine, automobile dealer and city coun
cilman.: and A Brooks, city council
man.