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J. D. Jones Publisher
Li 908 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
Editorials
What a Great Place
For years this newspaper, the
Chamber of Commerce, local civic
groups and countless citizens have
extolled the virtues of living in
Butts County.
But today we all have new
evidence that we do indeed live in
the garden spot of the world and in
the midst of the finest people to be
found anywhere.
Sometimes it takes a crisis to
bring out the finer attributes of a
community. A natural disaster can
weld community spirit into an
indivisible force but so can a
poignant personal tragedy that
strikes at the collective heart of a
community and brings forth
dramatic evidence of just how
much we care for our fellow man.
Little Michael Lee Speer, aged
four, was born without a left
kidney. Not an insurmountable
handicap as many people lead
normal, useful lives with a single
kidney.
But when the remaining kidney
showed definite indications of
malfunction, then the lad was in
serious trouble.
Medical specialists determined
that his only hope for a normal life
span was a kidney transplant.
Surgeons in this area have not
attempted transplants on a child so
young, and it was found that only in
the Variety Club Heart Hospital, of
Minneapolis, Minnesota, could
such a transplant be performed.
His father, Michael Speer, of
Jackson, gladly volunteered to
share a kidney with his son.
But in addition to the medical
dangers involved in such a
procedure, the costs of the tests,
two operations and recovery were
Lanced by His Own
Pity poor President Jimmy
Carter. For 18 months he
campaigned hard against the
immorality in Washington, declar
ing the city morally bankrupt and
pledging an administration that
would be simon pure in both word
and deed.
And now he finds himself
lanced on his own Lance. Bert
Lance, Calhoun native and former
Atlanta bank president, director of
the Office of Budget and
Management, and the president’s
bosom pal, is on his way back to
Georgia, barring some miraculous
explanation of some prior banking
practices that seem to border
somewhere between questionable
and shady.
Even if the ex-banker can
satisfactorily explain overdrawn
Has the Horse Escaped?
Locking the barn door after the
nag has escaped was obviously
futile even to backwoods Ameri
cans. But surely modern-day
Washington bureaucrats would not
be guilty of such stupidity. Or
would they?
Tongsun Park is a South
A Prize-Winning
Newspaper
|©| 1977
Better Newspaper
Contests
Advance Subscription Rates, Tax Included:
TELEPHONE 775-3107
Wne Year - Out-of-State $7.28
six Months. Out-of-State $4.16
prohibitive, beyond the financial
capability of all save the very
wealthiest families.
It was at this point that the
generosity, concern and love of
Butts Countians for a little boy in
serious trouble came into evidence
and gave each of us anew pride in
being a part of such a wonderful
community.
Don Earnhart, of Radio Station
WJGA, first brought the family’s
plight to the attention of our people.
Newspaper stories chronicled it in
even more detail. The C&S
National Bank set up a trust fund to
help the family survive the great
financial trauma it was under
going.
To date, over $8,500 has been
paid into this fund, according to
Stanley Maddox who is serving as
treasurer, with much more pledged
and many more yet to give.
It represents perhaps the
greatest outpouring of this Coun
ty’s concern for a distressed family
in its entire 152-year history. It
should give each of us new pride in
our heritage and anew zeal to
prove ourselves worthy of living
and walking among a people who
care so much for one of their little
children.
The need for funds is not over,
having just begun. Medical bills
will be astronomical. If you would
like to show your pride by placing
your signature on a check, or by
making a cash donation, then send
it to the Michael Lee Speer Trust
Fund, in care of the C&S Bank of
Jackson, Jackson, Georgia 30233.
Contributions are tax deductible
from federal and state income
taxes.
accounts, the use of the same
collateral for duplicate loans or the
shifting of bank funds to secure
large personal loans, he still finds
himself hoisted on the petard
dictated by Carter’s campaign for
the presidency.
President Carter was to bring
into the nation’s service new
leaders of high ideals and
scrupulous moral backgrounds,
men and women fit to serve in the
cabinet and high government
positions with a born-again leader.
This failure of Lance to live up
to the people’s expectations of
moral righteousness as a Carter
appointee will eventually prove his
undoing, possibly even more so
than any questionable banking
practices he might have engaged in
during his career as a banker.
Korean, a rice dealer, a wheeler
dealer and an alleged briber of U.
S. Congressmen. He has been
charged by Atty Gen. Griffin Bell
with 36 counts of conspiracy and
corruption.
But he is in South Korea now.
And this country has no extradition
THE JACKSON PROGRESS-ARGUS, JACKSON, GEORGIA THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER IS, 1977
The Last
Straw
BY
VINCENT IONES
Slowly and quietly, like a
giant sea turtle lumbering
across a vacant beach to her
nest, fall has crept upon the
horizon. And although the
calendar says its official
arrival is still a week away,
in subtle but convincing ways
the season’s heralds have
foretold its coming.
The leaves of the black
gums along the draw behind
the house, once shining green
with a wax-like texture, have
begun to fade and many, like
Hawthorne’s shady lady,
have blushed a scarlet red at
the promise of autumn.
From the middle garden,
the gaunt tomato stakes still
hold the seared stalks of
once-fruitful plants and their
brown leaves speak eloquent
ly of the death of another
harvest season.
In the lower garden, where
a few tomatoes and butter
peas struggle valiantly
against the seasonal tides,
the spot reserved for beauty,
where zinnias, marigolds and
salvia made gardening beau
tiful, is answering the
summons to death and their
lingering beauty is fast
fading.
Their growth pattern ac
celerated by recent rains, the
pecan trees are laden with
nuts, their size having
increased two-fold in the last
six weeks. Fully matured
now, they await only the
changing of the seasonal
guard to shed their hulls and
spill upon the ground in
profusion.
The limbs of the huge oaks
at the back of the lot are
weighted down with acorns
and the jaybirds and star
lings peck at them constant
ly, losing far more to the
forest floor than they
successfully recover for
themselves.
Goldenrod, which we once
associated with the opening
ot school, seems late In
blooming this year and the
dry weather may reduce the
profusion in which it grew
last autumn.
The raucous caw of the
crow 1 , silent for the most part
during mid-summer, dis
turbs the early morning
peace of the cooler days as
some instinct suggests that
he leave his roost for the
lighter air of the new season
fast approaching.
Soon, the air conditioners
will come out of the windows
and the storm doors and
windows will go up and, after
five months of trying to stay
cool, the next five months
will be devoted to trying to
stay warm.
Invariably, the weather
prognosticators will sound
off with their fearful fore
casts. They remind me of an
old black friend, who
annually predicts a terrible
winter and, therefore, is
right about one year out of
ten.
The old signs will be
flashed and more than likely
fail, just as all signs of rain
fail during a drought. There
is a heavy crop of acorns this
year, but there usually is; the
tail of the squirrels are heavy
and bushy but they are every
year; the caterpillars wan
der aimlessly about seeking
something, but maybe they
are looking for food rather
than the way South.
There was fog in August,
which could mean snow in
January, but maybe it meant
nothing other than there
were some fogs in August.
After the terrible winter of
agreement with South Korea.
Which means simply that Tongsun
may stay in South Korea and eat
his rice in peace.
Until about a year ago,
Tongsun was in Washington,
wining, dining and plying his trade,
whatever that was. The last year
he has been in London in residence.
A week ago he moved his residence
to Seoul, South Korea.
The United States has an
extradition agreement with Great
Britain. Why was this high-flying
steed let out of that country when
he could easily have been
summoned from there to testify in
iliiiiSf
| A Stroll Down |
| Memory Lane |
NEWS OF 10 YEARS AGO
In an effort to eradicate the
threat of rabies in Butts
County, the local Jaycee
chapter is setting up clinics
to vaccinate all dogs in the
County on September 14th
through 16th.
Master Dondi Wells cele
brated his fifth birthday on
Saturday, September 2nd,
with a gala party in the
annex at Midway Methodist
Church, in Griffin.
Lightning struck three
times in the yard of H. J.
Lawhon, of Route 4, Jackson,
about six o’clock Saturday
morning and followed a wire
into the house where only
slight damage was done.
The Van Deventer Founda
tion’s newest endeavor is a
Camera Club, with Wendell
McCoy, Jr. as instructor.
Henry L. Asbury, program
chairman, presented a color
film on the Falcons to
members of the Jackson
Kiwanis Club on Tuesday
night.
Mrs. Jane B. Powell,
director of the Butts County
FACS Department, has nom
inated Mrs. Dorothy West
bury as the September
"Celebrity of the Month” in
the Bellringer, monthly pub
lication of the Westbury
Home, Inc.
Deaths during the week:
Clarence Marcus Coggins,
62.
NEWS OF 20 YEARS AGO
Supt. D. V. Spencer reports
attendance at record levels
in both the white and Negro
schools in the County, with
1.061 white and 1,080 black
students enrolled for the fall
term.
J. C. Holcomb has been
elected president of the
Jackson Kiwanis Club for
1958. Other officers and
directors are: Levi Ball and
Dick Pope, vice presidents;
Mike Allen, secretary-trea
surer; directors Levi Ball,
Tom Collins, H. W. Croy,
Julian Fletcher, Grady Jack
son, Vincent Jones, Lou
Moelchert, J. W. O’Neal,
Lamar Watkins and Andy
Holston.
Mr. and Mrs. L. C. Webb
entertained on Sunday, Sep
tember Bth, at a birthday
dinner in honor of her father,
Mr. W. H. Merritt, whose
our discontent and discom
fort of last year, however,
perhaps it is not too early to
begin thinking about tiddying
up the place and snugging it
down for a winter that may
be anything from terrible to
benign, or somewhere in
between.
But there were these two
huge caterpillars, at least
four inches long, on the back
screen door last week. Were
they looking for food,
attracted by the aromas
from the kitchen, or were
they trying to get their
bearings and set their
compasses for the long, slow,
three-months cross country
walk to Florida?
the Washington hearings?
President Carter is going to
ask the president of South Korea to
return Tongsun Park to this
country for prosecution. If Tongsun
wields as much influence among
the rice paddies as he did among
some of the Congressional misfits,
the president’s request is likely to
go unheeded.
Meanwhile, the search goes on
to find who the bad Congressmen
were, or are. The public is
watching with interest, ready to
roll—or tar and feather—anybody
who thinks he can roll with the
punches in this matter.
85th birthday it was.
Larry Washington has
been elected president of the
Jackson FFA Chapter for the
ensuing school year. Other
officers include Harold Mc-
Michael, vice president;
Johnny Heath, secretary;
Howard Lee Jones, trea
surer; Herbert Cochran,
reporter, and Gerald Stewart
sentinel.
The Rev. Don Welch, Mrs.
R. F. Oliver and Mrs. Ralph
Goodwin have filled vacanies
in the Jackson High and
elementary school faculties
just prior to opening for the
fall quarter.
Mrs. Jennie Coody, one of
the oldest of Butts County’s
citizens, celebrated her 99th
birthday on September 4th at
a party given by her son and
daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Paul
Coody.
NEWS OF 30 YEARS AGO
The 1947 tax levy for the
City of Jackson has been set
at 13 mills.
McKibben and Wilmer
White had the County’s first
bale of cotton for 1947 ginned
on September sth and sold it
to B. J. Smith for 40 cents a
pound.
County agent B. B.
Campbell is asking farmers
to save prize exhibits of corn,
cotton, lespedeza hay, peas
and other products for the
Butts County Fair on October
7-11th.
Mr. J. S. Gregory, Butts
County’s oldest resident who
will be 98 on September 19th,
and is one of only six living
Confederate veterans in
Georgia, was the subject of
an article in Sunday’s
Atlanta Constitution.
Rev. J. B. Stodghill has
just concluded his 21st
revival at the Worthville
Baptist Church where he has
been pastor for the last 25
years and where he was
recently extended an inde
finite call. During his
ministry, the Church, which
was organized in 1887, has
grown from 36 to 180
members.
Mr. and Mrs. P. H. Weaver
will have open house Sunday
afternoon from 4:30 until 6
o’clock in their new home on
West Third Street.
NEWS OF 40 YEARS AGO
The Jackson Milling Com
pany, V. W. Cole, manager,
has just completed the
installation of anew and
modern corn mill in the
Saunders building on Second
Street.
. Tax levies have been set
for both the City and County
for 1937, the City rate will be
16 mills and the County’s 15
mills.
The Pomona Products
Company, which operates a
pimiento canning plant in
Jackson, has' bought the
vacant lot fronting on Benton
and Lyons Streets from Mrs.
R. W. Mays and the City of
Jackson.
The Georgia Chapter,
Future Farmers of America,
3L . j-u
fotofri
I crept into your room last
night, as I have done before,
and I watched you sleeping,
little son. What were you
dreaming about, you with a
smile playing on your lips
and fat dimples dancing in
your baby cheeks all rosy.
Perhaps you were sleep -
thinking about the business
of the. day just past, a day in
which I know you had to have
covered at least a hundred
miles.
Your very energy astounds
me. How your three-year-old
feet manage to carry you so
far, so fast is beyond me. And
your mischievousness - how
can you, little one, cause
such chaos? Imagine my
shock at finding you balan
cing yourself on the top of
Daddy’s ladder, and reco
vering from that shock, just
in time to run after you as
you waddle-ran towards the
has begun construction of a
camp on Jackson Lake in
Newton County and about 20
young men between the ages
of 18 to 24 from Butts County
will be employed in the
construction phase.
Street and sidewalk paving
in Jackson, financed by the
WPA, has been suspended in
order that those employed
may help with the farm
harvest.
The Women’s Market in
Jackson, located on the
Atlanta highway, is now in
operation and ready to serve
the women of the County.
Deaths during the week:
John Battle Settle, 74.
NEWS OF 50 YEARS AGO
Jackson has one of the
most active markets for
cotton in the Southeast, with
E. L. Smith, J. B. Settle, J. B.
Childs and T. O. McDonald
actively buying the product.
Bobolinks, or reedbirds
and ricebirds as they are
known in the South, may be
killed in 1927 only under the
penalty of a SSOO fine.
Butts Countians will pay
1927 taxes on a 19 mill levy,
while City of Jackson
Herman Talmadge
Anew treaty between the U.S. and Panama over rights
to the Panama Canal will very likely come before the Senate
for ratification in the upcoming weeks. The new treaty
would give, and I stress give, the rights of operation of the
Canal to Panama over the next 25 years.
I oppose relinquishing U.S. control of the Canal.
Under the existing treaty, the U.S. is in full legal control of
the Canal, and, in my opinion, rightfully so. We built the
Canal, we paid for it, and we have operated it fairly
throughout its 75-year history. In excess of 7 billion
American dollars have been spent in securing the rights and
defense of the Canal Zone.
* * *
The Panama Canal is essential to our nation in terms
ol defense and economy. It is an important military asset,
required for the speedy transport of military forces between
the Atlantic and Pacific.
Economically, the Canal is essential to international
commerce, and the United States has a very large stake in
its continued, efficient operation. Of the 141 million tons of
cargo that traveled the Canal in 1975, a full 45 per cent
ongmated from the U.S. and 23 per cent was destined for
the U.S. rh e Canal is simply too important to our nation to
n ?. nf" I®' 1 ®' . atever we might gain in improving relations
with Panama is not, in my judgment, worth the risk.
It is difficult to envision how efficient operation of the
ana cou and be guaranteed by a small country with a history
of political strife such as Panama. The U.S., a major world
nnrprt'n' f SUbjeCt t 0 the whim Sand
“7 ®° f 3 dlctatorsh 'P or the Canal could even fall
ommunist control. The Communist countries of
?"I™ o menca : notab >y Cuba, have been vocal
is not nnr^ 0 °ki anama s a ' ms < and in my judgment, it
' "“V, hp as °" able assume that they would like to
Americas *" ° Comrnunist influence through the
* * *
tolls reason and P anam a chooses to raise
hands we could only blame’ourselves! in '° Comm '" ,is,
Continued American control is the onlv wav to sifelv
f.rp™ma ,Lf den !dT ra,bn 0f ,he Can, .Zhe hands
ot Panama, there would be no such guarantee.
with Panama. 3 I? abroad in neotia,in ®
paving the way for similar demands W P ’ 1
Pinimifanai , wiwnas. We rightfully own the
Panama (. anal, let s stand up for our rights
creek.
If I could but wish you one
wish today, it would be that
you never lose the current
love of life you possess. If
when your feet are thirty, not
three, you can still be so
assured and happy, then son,
you will be a fulfilled man.
Your total innocence is
beautiful, and your faith
unfailing. Of course, I won’t
always be there to save you
from falling or running
astray. There will be days
when you’ll skin your knees
on the ladder of life and run
headfirst into an overflow of
problems. Yet if you can
laugh as you did today and
start immediately to seek out
new adventures, enthusias
tically, then I believe, no I
KNOW, you’ll conquer every
obstacle.
Sleep well, little soldier.
residents will have their
property assessed 18 mills.
The Towaliga Consolidated
School will open its fall term
on Sept. 16th. Prof. W. G.
Jones is principal and the
faculty includes Mrs. Van
Freeman, Miss Nellie Gos
sett, Miss Ethel Carter, Miss
Georgialu Gibson and Miss
Gladys Weaver.
Miss O’Delle Moore, of
Jenkinsburg, will be in
charge of the department of
mathematics at Shorter
College this fall.
A rook party will be the
feature of the first fall
meeting of the Woman’s Club
at the club rooms, Friday
afternoon at three o’clock.
have a
nice weekend...
avoid an argument