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OFFICIAL ORGAN OF BARROW COUNTY AND CITY OF W INDER
Published Every Thursday Afternoon by R. O. Ross & Sons, and Entered at
the Postoffice at Winder. Ga., as Second-class Mail Matter.
Subscription Price M.OO Per Year. Advertising Rates Furnished on Request.
Form May 1 1915 obituary notices, resolutions and tributes of respect, and notices of entertainments
to which admission fees areoharsred. will be published at one half cent per word, cash in advance
ROBERTO, RUSS Edit^TT
VOL. XXII. Thursday, April 29, 1915. No. 3.
THE INTEREST RATE IN GEORGIA
SHOULD BE REDUCED BY
NEXT LEGISLATURE.
A recent decision of the Supreme
Court of Georgia was featured by
the three Atlanta dally papers and
given much prominence lrecause of
its far-reaching effects throughout
the State. The decision referred to
was one in which, the court held
that eight per cent interest taken in
advance was usurious and would
void a deed given to secure a loan
tainted in this manner. The com
ments of the papers that legislation
would probably l>e introduced to over
come the decision must have been in
spired by sources favorable to the
lender. We, too, agree that legis
lation about our interest laws is
needed, but it is needed on the other
side. The interest rate in Georgia is
too high and ought to be reduced
very greatly. Money in some of the
rich northern and eastern states can
lie had ns low as four per cent, and
if the landers there can afford to
take four per cent, why should th<*
farmers of Georgia have to pay not
only the legal rate of eight per
cent, but in many cases as high as
fifteen per cent per annum. It
irJght he argued that money in this
section is not so plentiful as it is in
the east and that the demand here
makes it worth more to the bor
rower. That is true, but a compar
ison of the rates in some of the
states in this section which de
pend upon agriculture, as we do,
might be profitable. The rate limit
in North Carolina, Tennessee, West
Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Ma
ryland is six per cent, and in Louisi
ana the rate is five per cent with
the limit at eight per cent by con
tract, and in Mississippi the rate is
six per cent, with a contract limit of
eight per cent. The News does not
advocate so radical a change as to
affect business conditions, but a com
parison of the rates of other agricul
tural states with our rate shows
that our rate is too high. The rate
in Georgia is seven per cent, with
a contract limit of eight per cent.
The legislature in acting on this line
should relieve the borrower of a rate
that is excessive and fix it at such
a place as will give the lender a fair
return and not amount to excessive
profit. We agree, therefore, with the
Atlanta dailies that the legislature
should adjust the rate of interest but
it should he adjusted by reducing it
lii keeping witli conditions here and
the supply of money for the legiti
mate demands of trade and com
merce.
THE GRAND OLD FALL GUY.
An unknown man was found dead
in the outskirts of a small Kansas
town recently. A revolver and SIOO
in cash were found on his person. The
coroner lu Id an inquest and it took
s7f) to defray the expenses and bury
the body. The police judge fined
the corpse for carrying coneeal
e weapons and confiscated the gun.
The local editor, who published the
obituary, got nothing.—Altoona, Kan.,
Tribune.
Fair Warning.
The tax receivr informs us that
many people have not made their
tax returns as required by law
Even in the city of Winder there are
nearly one hundred who have not giv
e?. in. The books close Friday night.
The receiver will be in Bethlhem
Saturday. Returning to Winder in
the afternoon ,he will keep the books
open at the court house until 10
o’clock Saturday night. Monday the
books will go to the assessors. If
your name is not on the tax re
ceiver’s books, the assessors will re
port you for double taxation.
We are informed that there has
been a considerable increase in the
amount returned for state and coun
ts tax*-s in the territory now com
prising Barrow county over previous
returns for the same property.
THERE IS A REASON.
The ninth congressional dis
trict high school meet, just dosed
in Toccoa, was the most success
ful in results and the most large
ly attended in the history of the
organization.
Toccoa won both the cups, the
literary and the athletic.
Summary in Points —Literary,
Toccoa, 26; Commerce, 21; Jef
ferson, 4; Hoschton, 6; Gaines
ville, 3; Maysviile, I; Winder,
1.
The above brief dispatch to the
daily press should make interesting
reading in this thriving, progressive
little city.
Proud of our location, proud of
cur surrounding territory, proud of
our magnificent churches, we must
bow our heads and be content to
tie with Maysviile, the little vil
lage on the line of Banks and Jack
son counties for the honor of shar
ing the position of “Foot,” when
judged upon our literary attainments
as exemplified by representatives
chosen from our student body.
What is the reason for this show
ing by our schools?
In all things else Winder is on
the map.
For wealth, we are equal to any
city in the Ninth Congressional dis
trict, save one.
We handle more cotton than any
city in the district.
Our merchants are clever, liberal,
successful business men—the kind of
men who know how and dare to do
things in a progressive way, and
thousands of satisfied customers tes
tify to the fairness of their dealings.
Five prosperous banks with vaults
plentifully supplied with currency to
supply our needs when we have to
borrow.
We can and are building houses,
and have expert men to turn the
trick.
We can pull off fairs —the best in
all the Ninth district. But —
When we lock horns with other
schools of the district in a literary
contest, the best we can do is to
"stand foot.”
With five hundred scholars to
pick from, surely as good material
can be found here as elsewhere, and
Winder should not be satisfied to
"stand foot.”
Natural ability and training is the
secret of success in contests of this
kind. Give the Winder child the
same kind of training his competitor
has, and when this annual meet oc
curs again, it will be a case of
"Creek meeting Greek.”'
Think about it and strive to go
head another year If "foot" is the
best you can do while in school,
"foot" will be your position when
you leave the school room to bump
up against the world in things liter
ary.
We congratulate Hoschton on her
showing and wish Statham had en
tered. Maybe there would have
been "Balm In Gilead.”
SLY OLD RASCAL IS TIME.
What a sly old rascal is Time. He
comes snooping and sneaking behind
us, blows his wintry breath upon
our locks, and frost is born therein,
lie catches us in careless mood and
dares us to feats of endeavor fitted
only for the young and suple, and
when we take his dare he wraps his
icy fingers round our knees or an
kles, and rheumatism marks us for
its own.
Rut when a man marches past the
meridian of life with stout heart, un
afraid of the gathering darkness, un
regretful of the life behind, willing
to take whatever gifts the gods pro
vide, secure in the knowledge of a
life reasonably well spent, the old
rascal Time has to take it out in
frosting locks and crippling joints—
for such a man is young at heart,
and will be young until the Great
Comforter shall bid him to his well
earned rest.
HE MISSED A FORTUNE.
In spite of their night-and-day ac
tivity in raiding and destroying the
hundreds of illicit stills that are man
ufacturing moonshine in the moun
tains, the revenue officers of Geor
gia, haw found time to report the
discovery of an invention, which, had
it been patented by its discoverer,
might have brought him an immense
fortune. The art of distillation is
an ancient one, yet little progress
has been made in the process since
the first “worm,” or twisted tube
was used to condense the vapois that
arise from the boiling liquid. I rank
Whatley, a Georgian, conducted a
still on his place in the Blue Ridge
mountains. Since prohibition went
into effect, the demand for moon
sir ne has leaped to enormous propor
tions. Whatley saw that if he could
increase the output of his still he
would make more money. So he
s:* to work and constructed a still
which, according to the officers, “in
stead of the usual worm or coil,
contained device with a double sur
face for condensing the vaporized al
coholic fumes. The device is en
closed in an air space in which the
vapors float and are condensed rap
idly as the water passes through the
body of the cylinder. It is the most
efficient condensation system we
have ever seen and it is a pity What
ley did not try to market his device
instead of making moonshine.”
More Good Than Bad Women.
I don’t know that I ever heard of
a tin-horn politician or a dirty dive
keeper that favored “votes for wom
en." Possibly the tin-horn gets in
line sometimes, but it’s only when
he sees the pie-counter being re
moved and thinks it will help him.
I believe that there are more wom
en like my mother than like those
fearful “bad women” who we are
told would counter-balance the vote
of the better class of women. I be
lieve that for every "bad” woman
there are one thousand —no, ten
thousand —good ones, I believe that
if a ballot were placed in the hands
of these ten thousand to one, they
would cast it as their conscience dic
tated, and for what they thought for
the betterment of mankind.
Deep in her heart, every woman
has a desire to have a voice in the
affairs of the world, and knows she
is entitled to it. When she is allowed
this voice, she will raise it in no
uncertain sound. Salt river will be
so thick with shattered political
barks that they will have to use
sand-bars for annexes.—Selected.
THE LETTER “E.”
Someone has advanced the opinion
that the letter "e” is the most un
fortunate character in the English
alphabet, because it is always out of
cash, forever in debt, never out of
danger, and in hell all the time.
But we call his attention to the
fact that “e” is never in war and al
ways in peace. It Is the beginning
of existence, the commencement of
ease and the end of trouble. With
out it there would be no meat, no
life and no heaven. It is the cen
ter of honesty, makes love perfect
and w ithout it there would be no ed
itors, devils, nor news. —Charlotte Ga
zette.
Probing State Sanitarium.
Jeff Mills, a Gwinnett county man,
has made charges against the manage
n.ent of the State Sanitarium and an
investigation has been ordered.
Mills is unknown to us, but he
writes like a sane man, and if the
charges he makes are substantiated,
there should be a day of reckoning
for the brutes he intimates are in
charge at the state’s lock-up for
the insane.
Thoughtful Editor.
It was a thoughtful and generous
editor who in attending the burial
of a citizen who was fourteen years
in arrears for subscription, placed a
linen duster, a thermometer, palm
leaf fan, and a receipt for making
ice in the coffin just before the lid
was screwed down. —Fort \ alley
Leader.
Odd Fellows Picnic.
Many Winder folks were present
at the Odd Fellows anniversary at
Carter Hill Monday.
COMMENCEMENT SERMON
BY A NOTED DIVINE.
The Commencement sermon of the
public schools of our pity w ill be
preached this year by Rev. John D.
Mell, D. D., of Athens, Ga., May 23.
Dr. Mell is president of the Geor
gia Baptist convention, the son of
Rev. P. H. Mell, D. D., long time
president of Southern Baptist con
vention and Chancellor of the Univer
sity of Georgia.
He is possibly the greatest author
ity on Parliamentary Law in the
United States and lias for years
been Professor in this department in
the University of Georgia.
Dr. Mell preaches the Commence
ment sermon for the State Univer
sity this year also. The Winder
schools are fortunate in securing his
consent to preach the annual sermon
to the schools.
On the evening of the same day he
will fill the pulpit of the First Bap
tist church of which he was at one
time pastor.
A MAN AND HIS HORSE.
(Great Falls Farmer.)
She was only a litlte cayuse mare.
A present on his fourteenth birth
day, some ten years before. She
had been the companion of his boy
hood. She carried him to high
school It was with the mare and
the new red buggy, and right proud
was he of both, that he ventured to
call on his first girl. And in later
years the little mare went with him
to college and still later she was shi'i
ped to Montana to help in the mak
ing of that new home in the West.
Gentle, affectionate, always to be
trusted, she had been the boy’s best
friend during those all-important
years when childish illusions are laid
away with tops and blocks and the
other play-things of life’s early days;
she was still his comrade when the
youth emerged into the man.
And now under the fitful, wintry
sunlight, with the chill wind con
gealing the tears that slowly follow
ed one another down his cheeks, he
was slowly rounding up the frozen
earth that marked her last resting
place.
To the boys on the ranch she was
only a cayuse mare, growing old and
worthless; to him she was more than
most people—comrade, companion of
a hundred happy escapades of child
hood, the last link which bound him
to those boyhood days when life
seemed so simple, the friend who
had never betrayed him.
To the ranch men her death was
merely an incident. To him it was
a tragedy. And who is there that
shall call him less of a man because
the tears welled up at the loss of
this friend of the days when life was
young. How often has this scene
been repeated since the days when
man and horse first came together.
Down from the days before history
was first carved on Egyptian stone,
from the days when legends and tra
ditions were handed from father to
son, from bard to harper, come tales
of the love of a man and his horse.
From the days when the Arab
steeds first spurned the desert, car
rying their masters from harm, from
the doughty days of chivalry, inter
mingled with the stories of the cav
alier, the colonist, the pioneer and
plainsman, are those wondrously
touching stories of man and beast.
Man wrought civilization, but not
by himself alone. Ever at his side,
working steadily, suffering with him
and willing to give life itself in his
service, was man’s best friend—the
horse.
No one could calculate what the
world would have been without him.
He alone made possible the con
quest of the prairie. He brought the
first men, hauled their food and sup
plies, rounded up their cattle and
turned their sod. Even in this day
of marvelous mechanical devices for
performing farm work he is still as
indispensable as in the early days of
the pioneer.
Civilization makes life more pro
saic. We get used to thrills of all
sorts; inventions which a century
ago would have startled the world
are today passed by with little more
than passing comment. Our lives,
sometimes even our thoughts are ar
tificial.
It is a far cry for some of us,
from the heart of the dusty city to
Are Theythe "
Oldest Resident;
For several weeks brief Writ
of Barrow’s oldest citizens
been appearing here, and as ann
ed we will send the paper for remar
der of life to the oldest
forflve years to next, and on e y„ s j
to the next, free. The offer < , |
May 15th. Only those who send
their sketches will be considered
awarding "he prizes.—Editor.
On March 7, 1833, there was born a
girl; her parents called her Mar ?a
ret Jane. Her parents bore the an;*
of Clark and lived in Ben Smith's di s
trict, Gwinnett county. The birth
Place of Margaret .1. Clark was near
Midway church. Her chances f or
an education were limited. At the
age of 26 she wed William Kircus
who died in the war. There was on
ly one girl to bless this union. Mar
garet J. was a widow- for 15 years
Then she wed John J. Wages, a son
of Joel Wages. To bless this union
of John J. and Margaret Wages there
was born Dr. John Wages, of Win
der; Maggie Wages, who wed John
M. Williams, of Winder. This good
woman joined the Methodist church
at Harmony Grove in 1850. Her life
has been spent in the service of her
Master She was received into the
church by Varnum Mahaffee.
The grandfather on the maternal
side was Jabes Clark and who wed
Nancy McDonald. He was a Revolu
tionary soldier and did seven years
for freedom from England. The pa
rental grandfather was Mathew
Brown who wed Peggy McGowan.
This good woman is 82 years young,
cheerful as a school girl and is en
joying the best of health. She en
joys talking and can interest any
one who cares to know of old times
in Ben Smith’s district.
In the county of Walton, about 4
miles north of Monroe, on the Hog
Mountain and Monroe road, in the
year 1836, December 25, was born
Joshua Sweat. He had but little
chance for an education. At the age
of 21 he married Malissa J. Rutledge.
She died about 1888. Mr. Sweat
lived klone but a short while and
wed Polly Gates.
In June, 1861, he enlisted in Com
pany F. 16th Ga., Capt Mcßae. He
was at the fights of Seven Pines and
the Horse Shoe in Virginia. He did
service in Maryland and Pennsylvani;
and at Gettysburg. He was captur
ed at Fort Royal, Va., and placed
In a prison, in Elmira, N. Y. He was
kept in prison nine months and three
days—to the surrender. He came
home run down almost naked, went
to the war with nothing and came
I
home with less.
The father was Gilbert Sweat and
the mother was Sarah Free, both of
Walton county. Mr. Sweat spent the
first 13 years of his life just across
the Appalachee river from Kilgores
mill, then moved to Gwinnett, and
the remainder of a varied life h as
been spent in and around W inder.
Joshua Sweat was a great ninirod
and often has he shouldered his gun
called his dog and strolled upon the
banks of Cedar Creek and on hi
return would, sometimes, he load'd
with a dozen squirrels. He is a great
musician; he loves his fiddle next
his wife. The music he brings forth
is charming in its effect. May !ie
live long to furnish melodies for bi>
friends. C. M. Thompson.
the vastness of a wind-swept pl a > n '
from the clushio/ied seat of a l imoU
sine to the swaying creak of a sa '
die, yet it comes to us all at tinu
At times it comes to the city
man who has never bestrode a h |,r
just as strongly as it comes to
and me, who were raised on b°
back; it is that instinctive love, ■
through the years of many >'
turies; the love of a man for
horse. The passing years take the '
toll from all of us, they dev 1
many of the illusions that are with u
. . ufo- vet
when first we start out in n ie > •
the love and trust of man and
go hand in hand until the end.
Remember the Big Shark and
Fruits are to be here May ■> a j
Go early and avoid the rush, as t
are always crowded afternoon-
Advt
evenings.