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Jackson Progress-Argus
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY
J. D. Jones Publisher
Doyle Jones Jr. EditOl
Vincent Jones Associate Editor
Entered as second-class matter at
the Post Office at Jackson, Ga.
TELEPHONE 4281
OFFICIAL ORGAN BUTTS COUN
TY AND CITY OF JACKSON
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THE PROGRESS-ARGUS’
PLATFORM
1. Modern school facilities to
serve entire county.
2. More street and sidewalk
paving.
3. Improvement of county’s post
roads.
4. A modern hospital.
6. Tax exemption for new in
dustries.
6. Countywide Chamber of Com
merce.
7. Concerted effort to attract
tourists.
8. Better recreational facilities.
Extensive; hail damage has been,
done in the state, a reading of the
exchanges shows. Those fortunate
enough to have hail insurance are in
luck.-
The GOP appears to have bitten
off more than it can digest when it
promised a cut in taxes and to bal
ance the budget. These things are
hard to reconcile.
Congress is sweating it out in
Washington. They ought to allow
members to come home during the
watermelon season.
There seems to be a disposition
to cooperate in the National Safety
campaign. General observance with
traffic rules will save lives.
All farm benefits should be re
stored to the appropriation bill and
Senator Russell is working hard to
have this done. The farm program
has resulted in great good to the
nation and farmers should not be
made to suffer by a cut in funds
just at this time.
Ralph McGill of the Atlanta Con
stitution is doing constructive work
by getting out in the state and
seeing what farmers are doing and
writing on a series of articles on
the progress made. Under the ten
ant purchase and soil conservation
program farmers are making pro
gress and Georgia is well on the
road to becoming a more prosper
ous state.
A vear ago election returns had
just been received. A year from now
the state campaign will be getting
hot.
A federal judge in South Caro
lina has ruled that Negroes can
vote in that state. Georgia’s primary
bill, patterned after the South
Carolina law, was vetoed.
Counties that have gone in large
ly for dairy farming are enjoying
more prosperity than those that de
pend on cotton as the main cash
crop. Bank deposits prove this to be
true.
This has been a year of insect
pests and farmers and gardeners
are having to fiprht harder than
usual to hold the enemy in check.
Several counties in the state, Hen
ry and Walton included, are to hold
school bond elections. Butts county
voted school bonds early in the year.
When outraged farmers of the na
tion meet GOP candidates at the
polls next year the fur will fly.
The clean up campaign is always
in order. Jackson has made a start
in that direction but much remains
to be done.
IT’S THIS WAY
By DOYLE JONES, Jr.
As has been an annual custom I
recently read again one of my fa
vorite stories, The Battle of the
Little Big Horn, that drarpatic en
counter in which th<j command of
General George Armstrong Custer
was wiped out to a man by a band
of 2,000 Sioux under their mag
nificent warrior chieftan, Sitting
Bull, on a blood drenched Sabbath
on the scorched plains of Montana,
June 25, 1876.
General Custer was one of the
least understood and most contro
versial figures in American mili
tary history. A stern disciplinarian,
he failed in his hour of greatest
need because he couldn’t discipline
himself. Bold to the point of fool
hardiness, Custer belieged his justly
famed 7th Cavalry could defeat any
Indian coalition, regardless of num
ber. Splitting his command and
sending troops out under Benteen
and Reno, his reduced force was
trapped and annihilated by the vic
tory starved Sioux.
Students of military tactics have
questioned Custer’s wisdom in di
viding his command when hostilities
with such a large number of Indians
appeared imminent. His scouts, the
best and most reliable on the plains,
had continually reported this as the
“largest body of Indians ever seen.”
Yet few would question Custer’s
courage. The youngest officer of
general rank in the United States
Army during the Civil War his bra
very was exemplified on numerous
occasions but never more vividly
than at Winchester when his re
peated cavalry charges restrained
Jeb Stuart from sweeping the
Union’s flank, a maneuver which if
it had been successful, might have
shortened the war and led to a
Confederate victory. In fact, he and
General Phil Sheridan were the only
Union generals on horse who could
stay within challenging distance of
the South’s famed triumvirate, Stu
art, Wade Hampton and Fitzhugh
Lee.
To the Indians he was an arch
foe, yet respected, for none appre
ciated bravery or recognized it more
quickly than the Red Man. It is
significant that this soldier, so
striking in appearance with long
golden hair falling to his shoulders,
and labeled “YelloW Hair,, by the
Indians, in death was unharmed
and unmarked by those whose
savagery would have included
scalping and mutilation.
Custer was a paradox, an impe
tuous, gallant and daring leader,
with6ut fear. An officer with an
esprit de corps never equalled on
the plains and seldom rivaled since.
His weakness lay within himself.
He, who ruled with an iron hand,
hated authority where it concerned
himself.
Yet in the manner of his dying he
achieved a fame and reverence that
had he lived would scarcely been
his. He was the George S. Patton
of the l'.Rh century; the Stonewall
Jackson of the plains whose mobile
and hard hitting 7th Cavalry had
never been outfought, outmaneuv
ered or outguessed until that fatal
hour when his destiny hung in the
balance and all the skill and science
gained at Winchester, Yellow Tav
ern, Malvern Hill and W ashita was
to no avail.
Custer’s creed was to ‘‘ride toward
the sound of the guns.” Reputed to
have been asked by one of his staff
where they were riding, he replied.
'*To glory or to the grave.” Little
did he know that torrid Sabbath
morning 71 years ago when he so
recklessly led that final charge that
he would be riding to both and also
to immortality.
Georgians who bought govern
ment bonds have a tidy income from
the interest on these securities. The
state needs more bond buyers—and
bond holders.
With missiles reported seen hurt
ling through the air it is entirely
likely that predictions of the end of
world will follow immediately.
THE JACKSON PROGRESS-ARGUS, JACKSON, GEORGIA
THE LAST STRAW
By VINCENT JONES
With a characteristic calmness and
not too unobtrusively—which would
be quite impossible considering his
size—Ralph McGill, venerable edi
tor of the militant Atlanta Consti
tution, stalked into the country news
paper office, occupied the swivel
chair reserved for celebrities and the
copy boy, and proceeded to tell us
what a fine county we have.
He expressed a real desire to get
out and meet the “fallow who gets
it out of the ground”, the real dirt
farmer who he recognizes and ap
preciates as “the finest people on
the earth”. When he uses terms such
as those in speaking of Butts county
farmers, then he is talking a lang
uage that we can understand and
appreciate and expressing some tru
isms that a Butts county editor will
vouch for should they need any veri
fication.
Later issues of the Constitution
bore out editor McGill’s observa
tions. Not only did he seek out and
find the real dirt farmers of the
county but he also found some 15-
foot corn that should average some
60 bushels to the acre, according to
his splendid article in Monday’s
paper. We do not doubt but that
there is such corn in the county, but
the fact that there is leaves us slight
ly abashed for certainly we have
been negligent in publicizing such
fruitful yields from lands once al
most sub-marginal.
If editor McGill covers all 150
counties, and we understand that he
is, and writes of their people and
their resources as intelligently, as
accurately and as favorably as he
did those of Butts county, then we
know he will be assured of at least
159 jobs as chamber of commerce
president in every Georgia county,
that is, should he ever lose his won
derful talent for what we would be
so bold as to call analytical writing.
Ralph McGill, the man, the thinker,
and the writer cannot help but im
press you. You find yourself marvel
ling at the intellectual honesty of
the man, his searching probe for
the pertinent fact and his casual and
almost involuntary sifting of the ir
relevant to find that which is real
and true and lasting and on which
good stories—and he writes nothing
else—are built.
The Atlanta Constitution has al
ways been popular in rural areas. At
least part of its popularity in county
sections can be attributed to its
state-wide news coverage and its edi
torial policy of fairness an(f justice
to all.
It is good that its editor, whom
most people either love or hate de
pending upon their political and eco
nomic theories, can leave his desk
in the noisy city and drive over the
state and see the people who have
read and made the Constitution
through its long and useful history.
There may be sweat on his hands
but there is genuine friendship and
admiration and amazement in the
heart of the dirt farmer as he shakes
hands with Ralhp McGill, whose name
he has heard bantered around con
siderably in the past few years by
either friends or foes of the great
ed’tor.
It goes without saying that Mr.
McGill will bump into men not awed
by the depth of his voice, the sound
of his name, or the strength of his
handclasp, for the bitterness of last
summer’s political campaign has not
yet died away in certain quarters
but surely, as a whole, the state-wide
tour will build friends for the editor
and his splendid publication as well.
One cannot help but wish that
some political strings could be at
tached to the trip and that editor
McGill was just a working politician
making his rounds to check on his
constitutents.
Georgia needs men in its political
life of the caliber of Ralph McGill,
of his brilliant intellectuality, his un
swerving loyalty, his unquestioned
honesty and his deep religious con
victions. The Atlanta Constitution
also needs such a man. And it now
has the advantage of possession
f SPECULATIONS
AND
OBSERVATIONS
By MADAME ROAMER
In roaming around
We learned that Mrs. J. M. Leach,
with a group of friends from Knox
ville, got caught in a flash flood
when they were on their way from
Knoxville to Greenville, both in Ten
nessee, to attend the Kenny-Thorn
ton wedding, the groom, Hughlen
Thornton Jr., being Mrs. Leach’s
grandson. The group, thirty-five cars
in all were in the real valley
roads of the Great Smokies when
a torrential rain descended and for
several miles Mrs. Leach reports
they forded water up to the car
hubs, and to cap it all they had to
wait several hours for the water to
recede from a bridge abutment so
they could know whether or not the
bridge was there to cross. Fearing
the flood might get worse the people
in the lowland homes were clearing
out by this time. Mrs. Leach had
grown hysterical. A state patrolman
came on the scene and pulled along
side the stalled cars and talked to
the passengers. “I’m dying, I’m just
dying, I’m petrified,” said Mrs. Leach
“Where are you from,, he asked.
“I’m from Georgia” said Mrs. Leach
and ‘‘l wish I were there now.
There’s not as much water in the
whole state of Georgia as there is
right here.” The patrolman laughed
and went on to the next car to see
if he could have better luck quieting
some of the other passengers. How
ever the guests got to the wedding
in time and all ended well . . . Have
you seen any flying saucers? We
haven’t. All we’ve seen were in the
dishpan and they wouldn’t move
except by hand motion . . . Polly
Smith Evans is musical director at
the Senior Nakanawa Camp at Mary
land, Tenn. The camp is nestled so
far in the foothills of the Blue Ridge
that the camp officials met her at
the nearest railroad station in a two
horse wagon. It’s a swell bunch of
girls and a swell place, Polly writes
. . . We saw little Tommy Webb
and little Elizabeth Holland going
along Third Street tightly hugging
each other around the waist. They
evidently believed in “freedom of the
press” . . . Everything in Jackson
stopped on the Fourth even the city
clock. It took three days for it to
get over the holiday. Just like a lot
of folks . . . Billy Mays Jr. Captain,
that is, is studying meteorology at
Chanute Field,lll. Billy hopes to
locate somewhere “down south’”
when he finishes his course “up
Nawth” . . . We glimpsed Elsie
Curry Wills of Birmingham here a
few days ago. She and husband Ed
gar have just returned from a fly
ing trip to New York.
The Safety Campaign, now in pro
gress, if well supported will mean
fewer highway accidents and deaths.
The campaign seems to be bearing
fruit locally as the county emerged
from the July 4 holiday weekend
without a single serious accident.
Veterans are reminded they have
until August 1 to reinstate their in
surance. This is an important mat
:r for many people. The American
Legion and Veterans of Foreign
Wars will aid veterans with their
claims.
The country is not suffering from
a scarcity of money, judging by
bank statements now being publish
ed. The American public has a big
nest egg of savings.
Camp meeting time will soon be
here and the summer will be a time
of rest and relaxation. However,
farm work is later than usual this
year and the rest period will be
short.
which it undoubtedly proposes to
maintain.
2 TESTS
Of A Sound Loan
In Our Bank Are
IS ITS PURPOSE CONSTRUCTIVE?
Will it help you accomplish the worthwhile
thing you want to do?
Get into business for yourself —
Buy new machinery and equipment for plant
expansion or farm use —
Meet unusual personal expense promptly—
Repair, remodel or improve your home or busi
ness property.
Our interest in your problem is
sincere. Our service is prompt
and fully confidential.
JACKSON NATIONAL BANK
JACKSON, GEORGIA
Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
We take pleasure in announcing the opening of
the R. L. HOLLOWAY CAFE at Indian Springs,
on Route 42, just across from the Foy Hotel.
We invite you to come by and try our delicious
home cooked food. We specialize in chicken, steak
and fish dinners.
Miss Georgia milk products Spinning Wheels
and Pasteurized Milk.
R. L. Holloway Cafe
INDIAN SPRINGS, GA.
(0 ' 1 rROZEM
It’s Wise To Be Thrifty. Now that the vegetable
and fruit season is in full swing put your lockers to
use and fill them with the products of your gardens
and orchards.
We have Quality Meat in our Market.
Delicious Ice Cream and Malted Milk from our
Ice Cream Freezer.
PHONE 5371
Butts County Freezer Locker Cos. Inc.
JACKSON, GEORGIA
THURSDAY, JULY 17, 1947