Newspaper Page Text
Mntksm Trogress-^rgus
J. D. Jones Publisher
a9OB 1955)
Doyle Jones Jr. Editor and Publisher
(1955-1975)
MRS. MARTHA G. JONES PUBLISHER
VINCENT JONES EDITOR
OFFICIAL ORGAN BUTTS COUNTY AND CITY OF JACKSON
Published every Thursday at 129 South Mulberry Street, Jackson,
Georgia 30233 by The Progress-Argus Printing Cos., Inc. Second Class
Postage paid at Jackson, Georgia 30233.
Address notice of undeliverable copies and other correspondence
to The Jackson Progress-Argus, P.O. Box 249, Jackson, Georgia 30233.
One Year, in Georgia $6.24
Six Months, in Georgia $3.91
Editori ah
Let's Make This the Best
Local plans are being complet
ed for the celebration of our
nation’s 201st birthday and for the
week-long festival that has become
known as Butts County Week, from
July 3rd to July 9th.
There are reasons to believe
that the fourth might be the best in
this instance, that this year’s
events will eclipse anything
witnessed by our people in the
previous three jubilees that
commemorated a joint national
and local festivity.
Under the direction once more
of that reconstructed extrovert,
Dick O’Hara, who not only knows
how to enjoy life but how to share
its joys with others, the same group
of young business and civic leaders
are putting together a program
that will entertain and enthrall age
groups from nine months to ninety
years.
As usual, most of the fun will go
to those who participate in the
various contests, who enter
wholeheartedly into the spirit of the
occasion, who drink deeply from
the cup of friendship so freely
New Hope for Our Schools
Authoritative reports indicate
that, following a period of critical
analysis by both home folks and
state personnel to determine the
precise needs of the Butts County
School System, there may be a
referendum this fall to see just
what our people want to do about
the shortcomings of our schools.
Following on the heels of a
local self analysis and buttressed
by the findings of a state
committee, there is reason to
believe that the recommendations
will include only those items vitally
needed to build a superior public
school system in Butts County.
No county is likely to progress
far beyond the bounds of its ability
to provide manpower for its
industries and dedicated public
servants to keep its civic, religious,
fraternal and political organiza
tions functional and healthy. In
Who Needs This Protection?
At every turn it seems there
are those anxious to protect us
against some potential evil, against
some maligned force that threat
ens to engulf us with its tenacles
and strangle us with its excesses.
To protect the consumers of
this nation against the bugaboo of
big business, President Carter
campaigned on the idea of creating
an Agency for Consumer Protec
tion.
Clear heads in Congress have
said no to the plan and it seems
headed for the trash heap for this
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
AsibciMlQW IH4-
rrHPrHsgT NN A SUSTAINING
gi MEMBER-1977
Advance Subscription Rates, Tax Included:
TELEPHONE 775-3107
One Year, Out-of-State $7.28
Six Months, Out-of-State $4.16
offered during the week.
But there is much for the
spectator as well. Community and
club booths to offer all kinds of
goodies and refreshments, arts and
crafts, flowers, barbecue, ice
cream, fireworks, street and
enclosed dances, the Marine Corps
Band from Albany, a gigantic
parade with floats and bands,
sidewalk sales by the merchants,
just about everything one could
desire to keep you in Jackson that
week and anxious to get right into
the thick of things.
It will be a great week for
greeting old friends, making new
ones, and of thanksgiving for the
opportunity of living in such a fine
community with such splendid
neighbors and friends.
The Marines call it esprit de
corps. During Butts County Week
we call it Community Spirit, a
visible manifestation of the
friendliness, cooperation and help
fulness that Butts Countians show
to each other every day.
This year let’s make the
Fourth the best.
Butts, as in many rural counties, a
great deal of the responsibility for
keeping these entities active is
going to fall on the graduates of the
public school system. Not only
because there are more students
there, but also due to the larger
percentage of the private school
graduates who go on to college and
out of the community mafhstream
during their adult life..
A bond issue, if it comes, will
not be easy to pass. But it can be
passed and it will be passed if we
know anything of the tenor and the
will of our people to build a public
school system here second to none.
There is anew hope, anew day
dawning for our schools. It was late
in coming, but not too late to
salvage the lives of countless
children who might otherwise have
had their careers wrecked on the
shoals of a mediocre education.
term. It would have created
another level of bureaucracy,
employing a staff of 400 to start
with a budget of 15 million dollars.
Poor consumer. He needs an
advocate to stand between him and
business like he needs a 50-cents-a
--gallon-tax on his gasoline.
The consumer needs protection
all right. But from the bureaucrats
and the wild-eyed spenders in
Congress. Not from the private
enterprise system that represents
the best hope of keeping this
democracy free and workable.
THE JACKSON PROGRESS-ARGUS, JACKSON, GEORGIA THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 1977
The Last
Straw
BY
VINCENT JONES
Those who have objected
strenuously to the 13 cent
stamp for first class letters
will soon see a change. They
will be paying 15 or 16 cents
by this time next year.
No less an authority than
Postmaster General Benja
min F. Bailar has promised
it. And when the U. S. Postal
Service starts throwing out
feelers about a rate increase,
it’s time to hold on to your
pocketbook.
As unpopular as the rate
increase will be, it will play
second fiddle to the proposi
tion that Saturday RFD
deliveries be abolished. And
that also is part of the
package Mr. Bailar is
proposing and threatening to
have the USPS adopt, with or
without the consent of
Congress.
Selling the American pub
lic on the necessity of raising
postal rates to take care of
wage hikes and mechaniza
tion costs—and if better
service were offered as a
public benefit—might be
politically feasible, although
the economics of the situa
tion might appear shaky.
But penalizing the rural
route box holder by offering
him only five days service
just won’t cut the mustard.
The postmaster is going to be
deluged by millions of
complaints from RFD pa
trons and by a like number of
their city cousins who believe
in the principle of fair play
for all.
Under a curious act of
Congress, which forfeited its
responsibility in the matter,
the postal service as it now
exists was created as an
autonomous corporation, go
vernment owned but private
ly operated. It is, therefore,
neither fish nor fowl, and its
gender is just as questionable
as some of the cost-saving
ideas it engenders.
/
• •
But the one thing the S.
Postal Service is, without
any question, is a monopoly:
It operates as a monopoly
under authority delegated by
the Congress under its
established hierarchy of
leadership.
Asa monopoly, it ha£ an
obligation to provide full
service to the public. Not
part-time service, not ser
vice to suit its own whims or
balance its own budget, but
full service.
Communications between
town and country, which
have never been as good as
desired, would be harmed by
discontinuing RFD deliveries
on Saturday.
Friday issues of daily
newspapers would not be
delivered until Monday when
their news content would be
stale and practically worth
less. Semi-weeklies, which
ordinarily publish on Tues
day and Friday, would be
faced with the same delayed
deliveries.
In both cases, advertisers
would shy away from Friday
issues, particularly on week
end specials, knowing that
part of their audience would
not be reached until Monday
Mr. Bailar might very well
find himself hailed into court
should he decide to go
through with curtailment of
Saturday RFD deliveries. If
he is not infringing on the
freedom of the press by such
an action, then he is flirting
dangerously close to it and
the courts may very likely
have an opportunity to decide
the issue.
The other issue in the case
will be decided by the court
of last resort—the people.
Despite the effort to place
USPS in a never-never land,
with its authority and
responsibility questioned and
questionable, Mr. Bailar is
likely to find out just who
owns the U. S. Postal
Service.
USPS belongs to the
people. And they want
service from it. And that
includes Saturday mail deli
veries. For everybody.
Stroll D\vn j
Memory Lane
NEWS OF 10 YEARS AGO
Three people guessed the
correct weight of the hog
given away Saturday by Polk
Tire Company. They were
Cindy Mangham, Mrs. Asa
O’Neal and Mrs. John B.
Kelly, of Monticello. Mrs.
Kelly bought the other’s
interest.
The First Baptist Church
will present Mrs. Fran
Holston in sacred concert
Sunday evening at 8 o’clock.
Dr. and Mrs. Holston and
family will leave soon for
Bogalusa, La.
Miss Delia Watkins was the
charming hostess to the
Jackson Garden Club Tues
day evening for a dinner at
the Elder Hotel.
The Jackson High class of
1915 held its annual reunion
Sunday at Indian Springs and
15 of the class were present.
Miss Nancy Goff, student
at the Southern College of
Pharmacy, is spending a
quarter as an intern with her
parents, Dr. and Mrs. Roy
Goff at City Pharmacy
Ann Adams and Judy
Weaver have been placed on
the semester Honors List at
Wesleyan, and Cadet James
Mack Cawthon has made the
Honors List at North Georgia
College.
Deaths during the week:
William Hicks Key, 77.
>EWS OF 20 YEARS AGO
. f
A total of 163 Butts
Countians took the Salk polio
vaccine at the Butts County
Health Center last week.
The Jackson Senior Hi-Y
Club has been named the top
club in the state by the
Georgia Y.M.C.A. Bill Gar
land is president of the local
chapter and R. D. Lawrence,
advisor.
Dr. Charles H. Johnson, of
Atlanta, has begun the
practice of dentistry in
Jackson.
W. A. Holston, City gas
engineer, has designed a
permanent numbering sys
tem for Jackson’s residences
and business houses.
Cinderella was the theme
of the sixth birthday party
given little Miss Kay Pinck
ney by her parents, Dr. and
Mrs. R. H. Pinckney.
Southern Railway System
was advertising round trips
from Jackson to Brunswick
on “The Cracker” for $7.35.
NEWS OF 30 YEARS AGO
F.F.A. officers have been
chosen and include Herman
Cawthon, president; Arthur
Freeman, vice president;
James Byars, secretary;
Ennis O’Neal, treasurer;
Edwin William, reporter and
J.M.L. Comer, advisor.
A meeting to set up
canning days for the coYn
munity canning plants in
Jackson and Towaliga will
held Wednesday in the
courthouse.
A stalk of volunteer cotton,
growing through a crack in
the concrete at Farmers
Union Warehouse, had a
bloom on June 14th.
There has been no run on
sugar since rationing ended,
Jackson merchants reported
in a recent survey.
Pliny H. Weaver, New
York life agent in Jackson,
has been given the National
Quality Award by the
National Association of Life
Underwriters.
0. L. Parker will be in
charge of the summer school
program at Jacksofi "High.
Deaths during the week:
James Leonard Lofton, 36;
Harper Williamson, 48; Ro
berta Lane Edwards, 83.
NEWS OF 40 YEARS AGO
The Jenkinsburg commun
ity will hold its annual Fourth
of July celebration again this
year, with Judge John D.
Humphries, of Atlanta, as the
principal speaker.
James Edward Connell,
Jr., of Indian Springs, was a
recent graduate of Georgia
Military Academy.
Fourth District Congress
man E. M. Owen will
dedicate Jackson’s new post
office-federal building at
exercises on Saturday, July
3rd.
City council at its meeting
Monday night will act on the
matter of reducing electric
rates, both for commercial
and residential consumers.
Lightning on Thursday
afternoon destroyed a barn
and three mules at the home
of G. P. Saunders.
Among the most enjoyable
affairs of the early summer
season was the prom party
Friday night at which Miss
Josephine Sasnett enter
tained in honor of her guest,
Miss Rachael Crittenden of
Sheelman.
Deaths during the week:
Jeanette Wiley, 21.
NEWS OF 50 YEARS AGO
Dan Hoard has painted for
Mr. A. S. Mills, of the State
Highway Department, an
attractive sign to be placed
over the bridge at Indian
Springs.
The flock of hens owned by
Mr. D. F. Maddox, of
Jackson, stands first in the
entire state for the past two
months, based on the
percentage of production,
figures announced by the
State College of Agriculture
show.
The Sam Thurston farm of
100 acres, located on the
Jackson-Jenkinsburg high
way, has been purchased by
Settle and Robison.
The old theory of cockle
burrs foretelling a bad winter
by their date of maturity will
be tested this year. A
fully-matured burr was
shown in Jackson on June
21st, the earliest anyone can
recall. It remains to be seen
what kind of winter this omen
will bring.
Friends of Park Newton Jr.
will regret to know that he
sustained a broken arm
Wednesday morning when he
fell from a tree at his home
on West Third Street.
Settle and Robison were
advertising new 1927 Chevro
lets at $525 for the touring
roadster and $595 for the
coach.
I A successful change,
1 with hindsight,
called progress. _
Editor's Quote Book
Be considerate— you
nay need help yourself
someday.
William Feather
) have a
nice weekend...
...rekindle a friendship
flmfri
~ 0? Mrs. €My Brown
Long years ago when I was
in my teens, we did the
sanest dances! Perhaps you
remember some of them: the
Fish, the Stroll, the Jerk, the
Mash, the Twist, the Watusi,
etc. People today don’t know
how to do sane dances. In
case you’re not “with it”, the
big new dance is the
“Bump”.
Now, I realize that the
“Bump” doesn’t sound like
it’s that difficult to accomp
lish, but let me state just for
the record, if you’re in doubt,
don’t! (Especially if you’re
with a fat partner!) If you
have not had the pleasure of
seeing your kids do the
“Bump”, then treat yourself
and go to a dance right away
so you can watch somebody
else’s kids do it. You’ll be
shocked and amazed at the
timing and rhythm required
for this dance.
Personally, I thought I had
accomplished something
back in high school when I
learned to do the Twist. Yet,
the highlight of my dancing
career was the day on which
I successfully learned the
“Monster Mash”. You know
the one—about the grave
yard and all? I wish my kids
could go back to those days
just once, just long enough to
do the things we thought
were fun: going to the
Drive-In, learning how to
look like Marilyn, tearing the
loops off our boyfriend’s
shirts and using the hula-
tjjpHi ‘Whatsoever
jSS Things'
By Donald E. Wildmon
HIS TEACHINGS ARE
TRUE TO LIFE
It was a borrowed car. Mine was in the shop. I had looked
at the gas gauge earlier, and it registered half full. But there
I was, sitting nearly directly under a stop light at one of the
busiest intersections in town. I had checked the motor out
pretty good, and decided that the trouble was either a bad
fuel pump or just plain out of gas.
I raised the hood of the car as a signal to those behind me
that I was having trouble. It certainly wasn’t an ideal
location to have car trouble, but the car was too heavy for me
to push out of the line of traffic by myself. I left it unattended
long enough to make a phone call to the garage and inform
them of my troubles. They said they would send a wrecker
immediately.
After I returned to the car, I decided to give it a try to see
if it was out of gas. There was a gas station just directly
across the street so I walked over and asked the attendant if
he had a gas can I could borrow to get some gas in the car. He
told me he didn’t, that someone had borrowed his and had not
returned it. I then asked him if he had anything that I could
carry some gas in, that my car was stranded in the middle of
the street and I figured it just might be out of gas. Well, I got
the cold shoulder treatment all the way. He said he didn’t
have a thing to carry gas in, and said it in such a way that I
got the message. I saw a water can and several empty oil
cans around, but I decided that if he didn’t want to help I
wouldn’t try to force him.
I walked back to the car and stood outside to wait for the
wrecker. I guess I waited something like fifteen to twenty
minutes. Several hundred cars passed me at that
intersection. There were all makes and models. Some
expensive cars passed, and some that were more in my class
drove by. Nearly all the drivers gave me a look. They were
mixed looks. Some didn’t like it because I was blocking
traffic. Others looked as if they saw a man who was having
car trouble—but it didn’t interest them. I watched them all
pass me by. And in my mind was a thought: “Isn’t anybody
going to offer to help?” I must admit I got a totally negative
reply to my self-question. Nobody was interested in the least
way in helping me. Being a Mississippian, I thought at least
someone would stop to help. I was in the Hospitality State,
and I was a native of it.
By and by I noticed a very old model car, which appeared
as if it might stop running any moment, begin to pull along
side as if it was going to stop. I noticed that the man who was
driving the car was a Negro gentleman. He had his wife and
family, about five children, with him. He got out, and I saw
he was dressed in clothes full of holes and patches. He came
up and spoke: “Anything I can do to help?” he asked. I
explained the situation to him, and thanked him for his offer.
As he drove away I thought of the parable of the Good
Samaritan.
The truths that the Galilean Carpenter taught are
enforced by the experiences of everyday life.
BUMPER STICKERS
GOOD BOSS can”
STEP ON YOUR TOES
WITHOUT RUINING
YOUR SHINE. -=?i
Wmmm 11
hoop. Boy, that’s what I call
livin’! Those were the days
when everybody DIDN’T
have a car; allowances were
STILL three dollars a week;
and the clothes you had were
the clothes Mama made. I
don’t know if my kids could
have survived.
Why, we even used to have
peanut boilings. I told my
husband that and he didn’t
believe me—frankly, he’s
decided that we folks from
South Georgia were a little
off anvway. Yes, Virginia,
there is such a thing as a
peanut boiling. What you do
is this: You find a big black
iron pot, you place it outside
and build a fire under it; then
you stuff it full of peanuts,
water, and salt, and stand
around hungrily until they’re
ready. Talk about good
eating!
I hate to admit this, but I
actually assisted in stealing a
watermelon once; I called a
boy once—that was unheard
of; and once, I even, used
mascara at school and
believe me, we were not
allowed to do that. And the
thought of wearing slacks or
jeans to school, if you were
female, oh my. You would
have promptly been sent
home to repent.
All in all though, those
were MY good old days. I
guess my kids’ good old days
will be made up of cars, The
Bump, Jeans and Hard Rock
Music. To each his own!
Editor's Quote Book
There is nothing so
advantageous to a man
as a forgiving disposi
tion.
Tenace