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BUTTS COUNTY PROGRESS.
VOLUME 27
RAILROADS MUST IN
STALL TELEPHONES
ORDERS RAILROAD COMMISSION
Jackson will Now Get A
Long-Felt Necessity—lt
Is Expected Service Will
Begin Soon—People Are
Delighted Over Order.
The following from the Atlanta
Journal of the 3 will be read with
keen interest in Jackson:
That the state railroad commis
sion has power and authority to
require railroads to put in local
telephone systems whenever those
facilities seem to be reasonably
demanded for the convenience of
their patrons, is the opinion of
Judge J. K. Hines, special at
torney to the commission, filed in
writing with the commission’s
secretary Monday.
This abstract question grows
out of a petition from Roberta,
where the citizens asked that the
commission order the railway to
install a telephone in its depot.
. Jackson has been fighting for
a telephone in the depot here for
a long time and this order of the
railroad commission will be hailed
with delight. The people here
have been put to a great deal of
trouble and inconvenience on ac
count of no telephone in the
local depot. It has been impos
sible to find out anything about
trains and schedules without go
ing to the depot. No town in the
state has needed a telephone in
the depot more than Jackson.
Manager J. G. Ward of the
Southern Bell was in the city on
Tuesday and stated that he had
not yet received instructions to
install a telephone in the depot
but that he would put in the tel
ephone as soon as he received a
contract. So it seems that Jack
son will have a telephone in the
.depot within the next few days.
Later the contract was received
and Manager Ward installed a
telephone in the depot. This set
tles a question that has long per
plexed the people of this city.
KIMBELL ASSOCIATION TO
MEET WITH PARON CHURCH
The general meeting of the
Kimbell Association will be held
with Paron Baptist church May
28, 29 and 30, at which time the
following interesting program
will be carried out:
FRIDAY
10:00 a. m. Devotional exercises,
led by M. D. Garr,
11:00 a. m. Introductory sermon,
Rev. W. W. Arnold, McDonough,
FRIDAY AFTERNOON
Address ‘ ‘The Secondary Schools
in Relation to Our Churches,”
Rev. Z. M. Leveritte,
SATURDAY
10:00 Devotional, I. H. Maddox,
11:00 Doctrinal sermon, Rev. G.
W. Wood,
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
Missions and the Kimbell Asso
ciation, Dr. Robert VanDeventer,
SUNDAY
10:00 “Sunday Schools,” F. S.
Etheridge,
11:00 Sermon.
CAP. W. F. SMITH WRITES OF THE
TROLLEY LINE-GRIFFIN TO JACKSON
Northern Capitalists Will Inspect Project in Near Future
Indianapolis Capitalists are Expected to Arrive in
Butts County Soon as the Right of Way is
Secured Captain Smith Gets Encourage
ment in his Project.
Editor Progress: To my friends
in the North, vyho are working
the financial plans, I have writ
ten giving a brief history of the
time, energy and money I had
spent in bringing together the
things necessary to make the In
terurban line a success.
I received a reply today from
which I give an extract:
Mr. William F. Smith,
Flovilla, Georgia
Dear Sir:—
We have your esteemed fa
vor of April 26th., and wish to
shake hands with you as a man
of common sense, and a man
proceeding along the right lines
to the successful building of an
interurban railway. Like you,
we are not schemers, and do not
care to deal with that class of
people. We do our work honest
ly, for a fair price and ask noth
ing of any man, except what is
right.
We believe you are working
along the right lines in going slow
with your proposition and the
statements in your letter have in
terested us much. We know
something of the conditions in the
South and believe that if your
proposition is handled rightly, you
can carry to a successful comple
tion, as well as a profitable one.
The writer sent me 49 reasons
why promoters fail. Some of
them are so forcible I present them.
How often the public kills a
project and defeats the promoter.
For instance a well respected pro
fessional man announces his in
tention of becoming a public ben
efactor, and incidently intends
to earn a compensation, by pro
moting an enterprise that would
greatly help the community. Yes
terday he was a business man
highly respected, today he is the
same man but—branded a promo
ter. In the eyes of the public he
has taken on a strange garb, in
brief has become a promoter.
Everything he seeks, though hon
estly, the cry is heard—“wonder
how much he gets out of it. ” The
fear that he may make a few dol
dars breeds envy, and the price
of everything advances two-fold.
Instead ot helping the promoter
to help them, they defeat both
him and his project, andnotleast—
themselves.
It is for shame that I again re
fer to the opposition of the far
mer. Not as an entirety for there
are many enterprising men among
their numbers, but not enough of
them. They want a traction road
until some promoter appears in
JACKSON, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, MAY 7, 1909.
their neighborhood then the price
of land advances followed by the
refusal to donate the right of wav.
The farmer wants to sell his right
of way at a handsome price, then
when the road is built, he hopes
to make from ten to twenty dol
lars an acre profit on his land.
But often they defeat the promo
ter, loose the road and the expec
ted profit.
If the farmer would give the
right of way there would be more
roads built and the farmer would
make eight to ten dollars an acre
profit besides the conveniences of
the road. But no, most of them
want it all and as a result take
all and defeat both themselves
and the promoter.
The farmer who finds himself
short of material in the shingling
of his barn or the completion of a
fence, by the use of the telephone,
may purchase the required ma
terial and without the necessity
of laying off his hands while he
drives miles to a town, the car
passing by pauses- long enough
for the motorman to throw to the
side of the road the needed coil
of wire or bundle of shingles.
The-farmer’s wife finds the need
of a spool of thread, and perhaps
is from four to ten miles from a
trading point. If they are pro
gressive they have a telephone,
the merchant is requested to send
the thread and the motorman
throws it off into the yard.
After the week’s hard ploving
the horses may remain in the barn
while father and mother, son and
daughter may take the car to a
distant town to visit the brother
of the aged mother; may attend
church, and then return home
not at all tired, but re- ted and re
freshed aftera day’s outing, while
the team is better ready for the
furrow on the morrow.
So we might continue to enu
merate the manifold benefits that
come to those who help themselves
by encouraging the coming of the
promoter and the building of elec
tric roads.
Lottie Powers Breaks Arm
Lottie, the interesting little
girl of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. T. Pow
ers, happened to a painful acci
dent Monday when she fell while
playing and broke her arm. The (
limb was broken in almost the
same place it was a few weeks
ago. The injury is painful though
not serious and her numerous
friends will gladly welcome Lot
tie back to the school room and
her accustomed circles.
MANUFACTURERS’ RECORD
GIVES JACKSON BIG BOOST
The following article from the
pen of Mr. W. A-. Field, who was
in Jackson a few days ago, pub
lished in the Manufacturers’ Rec
ord is reproduced. It shows the
opinion the people away from here
have of Jackson:
Located in the red-hill section
of Georgia about midway between
Atlanta and Macon, on the South
ern Railway, is the progressive
city of Jackson. Plans are being
formulated by a recently organi
zed Chamber of Commerce to
scatter broadcast facts about its
advantages and possibilities, with
the intention of attracting man
ufacturing plants of various kind.
Steps have been taken by this
organization to raise $250,000 in
this vicinity toward the erection
of a million-dollar cotton mill.
The balance of the money is to be
raised in the North and East.
The operation of this mill by elec
tricity will consume 10 or 15 per
cent, of the total capacity of the
20,000 electric horse-power plant
now in the course of construction
on the Ocmulgee river, eightmiles
from Jackson, and 16,000 bales of
cotton grown in this section will
be used in the manufacture of the
finished products. When this big
power development enterprise is
completed cheap power will be
available for manufacturing plant
of all kinds, and this one advan-
tage will be the means of attract
ing manufacturers and other in
vestors who realize the economic
importance of the undertaking
and its bearing on the growth of
the surrounding country. It is
estimated that $3,000,000 is inves
ted in water power plants in the
vicinity of the town.
The present population of Jack
son is about 2,600, and its taxa
ble property amounts t 051,809,000
There are several successful
enterprises already established
here, including a cottonseed-oil
mill, a half million dollar cotton
factory, lumber manufacturing
plants, two large wholesale buggy
factories and two bottling works.
The banking capital is $200,000
which is used judiciouly in furth
erance of the town’s interests.
At the present time there are
three excellent factory sites on a
railroad, which could be utilized
by the establishment of manufac
ting plants of many kinds.
Four miles distant from town
is the famous Indian Springs, to
which point several lines are now
being surveyed.
Besides the many advantages
already mentioned, Jackson has
anew and complete water and
light system, healthful atmos
phere, good newspapers and
churches of three denominations.
Try the Progress job work.
SUNDAY SGHOOLS ELECT
OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR
MEETING WAS HELD AT STARK
Hon. J. M. McMichael Was
Elected President—Lib
erty Gets The Next Ses
sion Of Association.
The Butts County Sunday School
Association met in annual session
at Stark church last Friday
when officers were elected for the
ensuing year and other matters
transacted. It was decided to
hold the next convention with
Liberty church Friday before the
first Sunday in May in 1910. Mr.
Leroy H. Weaver was elected
secretary of the meeting. It was
decided to have the celebration
some time after the summer.
The following officers were elec
ted:
President—J, Matt McMichael,
Vice President—F. S. Etheridge,
Secretary—J. H. Mills.
The following schools were rep
resented by superintendents and
delegates as follows:
Stark, superintendent. J. Matt
McMichael: secretary, G. W. Har
per, delegates, Prof. Arnold,
Miss Maud Harper, Ben Kitch
ings, Miss Tassie Kitchings,
Macedonia, superintendent, A.
M. Pace, secretary. W. A. White,
delegate, Mrs. G. Cook.
Jackson, superintendent, F. S.
Etheridge.
Jenkinsburg, superintendent,
J. H. Mills, delegates, B. F. Dod
son, Grover Harris, T. Thurston,
Miss Nina May Phillips, Harry
Mannering.
Cedar Rock, delegates, Misses
Eula McMichael, Maggie Godsey,
T. A. Williams, J. O. Gaston and
Miss Lizzie Fincher.
Dinner was served the crowd
and a very enjoyable session was
held.
COUNTY BOARD HAS
MEETING MONDAY
The commissioners of roads and
revenues held their monthly
meeting here onMonday at which
time a number of matters were
disposed of. There was a full
meeting of the board.
Contracts were let for anew
bridge and some old contracts
for bridges were accepted.
The road force is now working
in the Towalga district, work on
the Pittman Ferry road having
been completed.
The matter of small pox at the
dam was taken up for consider
ation. Dr. S. D. Brown, the
camp physician at the Central
Georgia Power Company’s plant,
met with the commissioners. He
has the small pox patients in
charge. It is given out there are
a dozen cases of that disease at
the dam. The county is to pay
for a guard and the expenses of
the patients while they are being
treated. The contractors are to
bear all the other expenses inclu
ding the cost of medicine.
A Civic Improvement Club in
Jackson could do some good work
right now.
NUMBER 19