Newspaper Page Text
gijspi
be Litton (5a3ette
Published Weekly
Entered at the Postoffice at Tifton, Georgia,
as mail matter of the second class.
fno. L. Herring.... Editor and Manager
THE TIFTON GAZETTE, TIFTON, GA n FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1916.
Official Organ City of Tifton
and Tift County, Georgia.
SATURDAY NIGHT.
When Stegall Stopped Growing.
Stegall was a runt.
Although scarcely past middle age, his face
■was wrinkled and old. His stature was but
big boy size, and his whiskers were sandy and
scraggly. But there was a twinkle in his wat
ery blue eyes that proved youth still lingered
inside.
One night, as we shared the featherbed in
the lean-to shedroom of the big log house, tir
ed but not sleepy after a day of replanting corn
following a spring freshet and an invasion of
field larks, he told me why he had never attain'
ed manhood’s growth.
Stegall had a habit of taking a chew of to
bacco on retiring, which was not so bad, as he
always turned his head sidewise to spit against
the log wall. But as he talked, he lay flat of his
back and tobacco amber would trickle down his
throat. He would clear, "ahem!” to relieve this
and the amber went up, descending on friend or
foe alike in a little shower of spray. One soon
learned to jerk the cover over his head when
the warning sounds came, but nevertheless, it
kept a fellow busy even if he was doing nothing
but listening
“Old man Johnson, who lived two miles across
the creek from us, had six gals, and every one
of ’em was as purty as red shoes with blue
strings. It was a great gathering place for boys
on Saturday eveningB and Sundays, and I spent
the best part of my week-ends there.
"I was unusually large for my age, ’though
only thirteen, looked sixteen. That didn’t
make any difference with Ma, however. She
had kept roe in frocks as long as she could, be,
cause I was the youngest and there were no
gals, and after I got into shirts I thought she
never would let me have pants. You know,
boys in them days wore long shirts, without
pants ’till about the age they want to put on
long pants nowadays, and knew nothing about
underwear, except in the winter. It was cheap
er and saved washing and sewing—and be
sides, pants cloth was mighty scarce, for we
^jmade it at home and wool was so high Pa
wouldn’t leave out much for the wheel and
loom,
"Well, I was still wearing long shirts when
the gals got to looking good to me. Sometimes
strangers might laugh a little, but the folks
around in the settlement were all used to it. and
, - the majority of the boys were in the same fix
I wuz.
i?. "I’ll never forgit 'tell my dying day the last
p; ’ Saturday ev’nin’ I wore a long shirt. It was
f -the ev’nin’ I stopped growing. It was summer
time, and we knocked off for the week at 12,
, .1 hurried through with my jobs, put feed in the
j! troughs for the stock, cut kitchen wood of sap
'• and poor heart and carried in for Sunday
shucked corn for the hogs and left it wher; Pa
could get it Then I drawed a tub of water
^ with the well sweep and piggin bucket, strip
ped under the wash shelter and scrubbed with
homemade lye soap, put on a fresh ironed, clean
white long shirt, and was off fur old man
Johnson’s.
“Five boys had beat me there, and they and
the gals were all out on the piazza, it
■ was long and wide, with a long shelf holding
1 two cedar water-buckets and two tin washpans
f just to the left of the front steps. There were
^ circular holes cut in the shelf for the pans to
set in to keep ’em from wearin’ out, and on
» the two piazza posts hung clean, sweet-amellin’
p Water-gourds. On the ground in front, watered
( by the dumpings from the pans, grew two big
t‘ cape jessamine bushes.
to the house, made the old man drive up a cow
that wuz givin milk, and raised him by hand.
Old Missus Johnson finally put him out of the
house but he had the run of the balance of the
place, and was as mean as gar-broth. He staid
in the yard all the time, and would hook or butt
everything over that wasn’t too big fur him.
Besides that, he would chaw all the cloth he
could pick up, especially if it was a little salty.
You know how some cows are, that way. MissuS
Johnson and the gals had to hang their washing
out uv his reach, and even then he got lots of
things they didn’t want ’im to have. They
called ’im ‘Buck.’
Well, ’bout the time it looked like the gals
would go into highstericks and the boys would
throw spasms, I cracked a joke I thought was
my best, just to finish ’em. Then, oh Lordy! i
felt somethin’ cold touch the small of my naked
back! I tried to turn and look, but something
held me fast. I craned my neck and looked
over my shoulder, across the water-shelf. There
was that infernal Buck, standing with his fore
feet on the edge of the piazza floor, and he
had chewed my shirt nearly up to my shoul
ders! (I guess the flutterin’ white attracted
him, and it may have been a little salty with
sweat.) The boys and gals had been
watchin’ him, and that was what wuz nearly
killin’ ’em. It wuz his nose I had felt.
“I give a jump, and yell and pulled, but
Buck had swallowed a couple of feet of the
cloth and I was fast. It was homespun and wove
and a horse couldn’t tear it. But my jumping
scared Buck, his feet slipped off the plank ends,
and his coming down jerked me underneath the
water-shelf to the ground.
"I lit on my feet, pullin’ and squallin’. Buck
bellowed and pulled, and I thought one time
would carry me off, for he was sure strong.
Finally, I got a good toe-holt, set myself and
pulled for all I was wuth. Something give
somewhere, and I was free! Down the walk I
went for the front gate. Buck right after me,
and bellowing with every jump!
"Of course, I ought to have backed away, as
they say courtiers get out of the presence of
royalty, but I didn’t have time to think. My
first impulse wuz to git away, and I went. The
only thing to do, once my back was toward
the gals, was to git away as fast as I could
There wuz a long walk down to the front gate
but I cleared ten feet at a stride. I didn’t stop
to open the gate, but took it with a long jump
and hit the ground on the other side runnin’
Buck stopped at the gate, but I didn’t slow up
I knew as long as my back wuz in sight, the
gals could see. They had squealed and hid
their faces, but I couldn’t trust ’em, and the
boys were hollerin’ with what breath they had
So down the lane I went, my toes throwin’ up
showers of sand behind me, and the wet end of
what was left of the back of my shirt catching
up and touching my shoulder-blades about ev<
ery ten jumps. It was a few hundred miles to
the end of the lane, but I turned the fence cor
ner at last and no longer felt the eyes of those
gals hitting my naked back like pinpints. They
talk about the unprotected rear of an army
I know just exactly how it is. And no Ynnk
ever run at Manassas like I did that day.
kept on running ’till I got home and hid in the
shuck-pen until dark.
“I never went back to Johnson’s, and I would
walk two miles to keep from meetin one of
the gals.
“I never growed any more after that day. 1
MERCER’S GOOD EXAMPLE.
Another splendid example has been set by
Mr. J. R. Mercer, of Dawson. For many years
he has been practicing crop diversification and
five years ago tried intensive wheat growing,
So successful was his experiment that the acre
age has been increased in that section of Ter
rell from year to year until now wheat is one
of the standard crops.
Having shown that he was not obliged to
grow cotton, Mr. Mercer now expects to prove
that he can grow cotton. Hearing that the
guinea fowl was a voracious eater of the boll
weevil, he began last spring buying all the
grown guineas he could get and setting guinea
eggs. As a result, the Dawson News tell us
that he now has about 700 guineas, and
pects to increase the number to 1,000 by the
time the weevils make their appearance in the
cotton next spring. These guineas will be dis
tributed among Mr. Mercer’s tenants, and are
expected to do their part toward picking the
weevils from their cotton.
Nearly all birds and fowl are enemies to the
boll weevil, because nearly all of them feed on
insects and bugs. The Gazette has urged
farmers to prevent the slaughter of birds on
their lands and to procure the largest drove of
turkeys and chickens possible. A man in Texas
informs the editor that a drove of turkeys kept
a twelve-acre field of cotton clear of weevils
for him one year.
We do not pay enough attention to raising
domestic fowls in this section. Chickens are
always scarce, eggs often hard to get and both
bring fancy prices. During the early winter,
turkeys bring from $2 to $4 each, according to
size, on the Tifton market, and while the rais
ing of them requires care, it is attended with
very little expense.
Why not keep the hunters off your lands this
winter, and increase your flocks of fowls as fast
as opportunity offers? Turkeys are no experi
ment, nnd they will hunt the weevils. Guineas
are as yet an unknown quantity, for they are
prone to wander, but they are industrious feed
ers, and once they are shown where the weevils
are will doubtless need no further attention
The writer has often wondered why more peo
ple in South Georgia do not raise guineas sipc
eggs have been so high. The guinea is a ma
chine that will produce eggs like a Connecticut
invention was said to once shell out wooden
nutmegs. A sport of childhood was finding a
guinea nest, and sometimes one would contain
as many as 100 eggs.
We will watch the outcome of Mr. Mercer’s
experiment with interest. We are sure his
guineas will yield handsome returns in eggs,
and expect them to make themselves a factor
in the solution of the boll weevil problem. Mr.
Mercer has done the farmers of South Geor
gia a favor in making the experiment.
A SUGAR REFINERY.
Attracted by the steps being taken at Tifton
to provide the farmers of this section with
cash market for other crops than cotton, Mr,
E. R. Garrett writes from Sumner to suggest
that a plant be put in here for the manufacture
of sugar from beets.
The sugar beet will grow here and affords
very satisfactory yield. Mr. Garrett says he
planted these beets this year and they grew to
weigh from five to twelve pounds each. The
editor remembers a crop of these beets grown
by Major P. Pelham some twenty years ago on
his Deerland place, in Worth county, which
“The boys and gals wuz settin’ on two pine B«ve some wonderful specimens,
benches along the log wall. Of course, bein’ While the sugar beet has never been culti
the last comer, I went to the water-bucket for vated here for market, if a refinery was provid
a drink, although I didn’t want any, and then
turned with my back against the water-shelf to
talk awhile before pickin’ out the gal I liked
best—already had her picked—and settin’
down by her.
"I was a right smart cut-up in them days,
and the other young folks had laughed at me
'till it turned my head. So instid of settin’ down
I begun to crack jokes at the boys and palaver
the gals, and when they got to gigglin’—which
was an easy job, 1 was soon sayin’ all the fool
things and cuttin* up all the monkey shines 1
lould think of.
"Never in my life had I made sich a hit a3
I did that evenin’. Everything I said was fun-
■ ny, and I just loomed. You know what a fool
& boy can be when a gal giggles? Well, 1 was
fell of that and then some.
, "Purty soon I noticed that the boys were
jhmghing as much as the gals, and it looked
yflce these would go into fits. Two uv ’em cram-
|Wd,Jtheir apurns in their mouths and choked.
The boys laughed .and rocked, and hollered. I
kfelt nerMc, like a clown we saw in the circus
in Albany.
"Old man Johnson had a bull yearling that
;was the pet of the place. His mother died of
the hollow-horn the second winter before when
be was a tiny calf, and the gals had toted him
ON WHEAT GROWING.
At a time when every farmer in this section
is looking for a profitable crop to take the
place of cotton, of especial interest is the bul
letin, issued this week by the Second Congres-j
sional District Agricultural School, “Wheat in.
Southwest Georgia.” This bulletin was pre
pared by S. L. Lewis, principal of the school,
and gives all necessary information in regard
to wheat growing in this section. Part of this
is based on experiments made on the school
farm.
Wheat has been grown very successfully
there, and an average yield of over fifteen
bushels per acre obtained. The average yield
in the United States is 13 4-5 bushe.ls to the
That above the average has been ob
tained her.e disproves the fallacy that this is
not a wheat country. It is not a wheat coun
try because it has always been a cotton coun
try.
The Gazette does not advise the Southwest
Georgia farmer to grow wheat for market. At
present prices this would be profitable, but we
have no assurance these prices will hold long.
But every man who runs a farm should grow
enough to supply its needs for bread and feed-
stuffs. This would make it unnecessary to
grow cotton to buy bread.
Being a cotton country, the average farmer
knows very little about growing wheat. When
he undertakes the business, he will 1 probably
make costly mistakes unless he consults some
one who knows. The bulletin gives just the
information the man new to the business needs,
and those contemplanitg putting in a few acres
of wheat this fall should write the school for
a copy. It will be furnished free.
Commenting on the fact that the order of
Pour le Merite, the highest German military
decoration, has been conferred upon Lieut,
Arnauld della Perriere, commander of subma
rine U-35, for having sunk 126 enemy ships, the
New York World notes that so far the German
government has failed to disclose the name of
the commander of the submarine that sunk the
Lusitania. Only a small official circle in Ber
lin knows the identity of the man who perpe
trated the greatest crime of this war of ruth,
lessness. and those who know maintain a sig
nificant silence. Which leads to the comment
Whatever attitude the German government
takes in its diplomatic notes toward the sinking
of the Lusitania, whatever German statesmen
say or whatever German newspapers print, the
real German opinion is to be found in this un
broken silence of one year five months and
twelve days.
NOT ALL PIE.
IF YOU
APPRECIATE
SERVICE
t joy pat-
Drug
You will
ronizing
Store, for re gar diets of
how small your pur
chase may be, we rush
your order to you at
once. This is another
reason why this' is the
“Most Popular Corner
in Tifton.”
Have you
your bulbs yet?'
line of Hyacinthi
cissus, Freesia am
nese Lilies.
Don’t forget us when
you want anyth!
Standard Pr<
medicines.
Phone 185
Brooks Pharmacy
- v M?
"Th* Nott Popular
Corntr in Tifton”
U
BEN HILL COT FIRST PRIZE
ed they could doubtless be raised at a profit
The soil is much the same as that on which
handsome yields are obtained in the West.
But before trying the sugar beet, we should
utilize to advantage our sugar-cane crop, the
larger part of which is wasted by injudicious
handling, especially in years when the yield is
large.
Something over a year ago two Tifton busi
ness men, realizing the opportunities offered,
took steps toward establishing a syrup refinery
here. Other matters interfered and the plans
were not carried to maturity, but the Gazette
understands that the project has not been
abandoned, and such a refinery may be put in
before another fall. If it is, another ensh
market will be offered for a crop which the
wiregrass farmer knows all about raising.
After a syrup refinery, it may be that the
susrar beet industry can be developed until
sugar refinery will be warranted. Just now,
however, Tifton has her hands full. With the
maturity of our packing house and kindred
project*, we will be ready to take the refinery
under advisement.
With cotton selling around twenty cents,
banks bulging with money and prices in all lines
aviating, there is a tendency to paint the con
dition of the cotton growers in hues a little more
roseate than the facts warrant.
Lest we forget, it is well enough to take a
look at the other side of things:
While cotton is bringing a record price, it
must be remembered that the bulk of the crop
was sold by the growers below fifteen cents,
and that very little is on hand for twenty.
While fifteen cents was a phenomenal price,
yet everything the grower bought with his fif
teen cent cotton money except his newspaper
was paid for at figures so high that he actually
received, in equivalent values, less than ten
cents a pound, compared with four years ago.
Although this is still October, the cotton crop
has been out of the average grower’s hands for
weeks and with his fall purchases to make, his
taxes to pay and winter’s clothing and shoes to
provide for himself and family, he has no cot
ton to sell.
Many still have debts left over from the two
lean years, and there is no prospect of a cotton
crop ahead to pay any of them next year.
This has been a great fall for debt-paying,
and many have paid. For that reason, bankers,
fertilizer and supply men have more money on
hand than for many years previous.
But before we get the idea fixed into our
heads that the cotton grower is rolling in
wealth, it is well to remember that the cotton
crop this year was a very short one, and that
the high price of everything cut the purchase
power of the dollar in half
But the cotton crop would pay debts, dollar
Considering the great things expected of
them, the Rumanians are making a mighty
poor showing as fighters. They marched across
their border and occupied the enemy’s country
bravely enough, but at the first real pinch of
battle they turned and fled. The troops were
green and when the seasoned veterans of two
years of war hit them, their line broke and
their organization crumbled like a pie crust.
Rumania waited a long time to get'into the war,
but it seems that she got in a year too soon for
her own good.
The Republicans, if they are responsible for
the immigration of negroes to the doubtful
states for election purposes, will doubtless be
very much surprised if the Department of Jus
tice arraigns them in the Federal courts. In
that event, if the Department wants to convict,
it will only be necessary to put Col. Roosevelt
on the stand and let him prove what he said
about the Republicans four years ago.
Hamilton Second in Award*
Georgia-Florida Fair.
Valdosta, Oct. 28.—In the awar
of prizes for the best county •gridd
tural displays at the Georgia-Florida j
fair, Bon Hill received first prize, 1
Hamilton county, Florida second,
Lowndes third, Berrien fourth,
Grady fifth and Pierce sixth. All
of the exhibits were’ of unusual ex
cellence, and there wss keen rivalry
for the premiums. The variety of
products was probably greater than
at any previous fair.
The fair closed tonight after
successful five days run; the total at
tendance figures are not available'
yet, but it is understood that
tween forty-five and fifty thouiai
people saw the exhibits
five dsys.
Mi A6ED WOR
rells How yinol Made]
In her _
Wlckersham,
1 was in a run,
and had lost fla
me to try 1
bottles my
gaining Ini
Health and I
of
do my
The
In Mra Wl
cause It coni
needed to bull
SOLD B1
Events on the eastern front seem to bear out
reports that the Russians are again short of
munitions.
HOW PIGS PAY.
From the Atlanta Constitution.
In an interview in the Tifton Gazette, P.
Hatcher, a progressive farmer of Thomas coun
ty, says that there has been a great revival of
interest in live stock in his section, and there i3
a brighter outlook for the hog and cattle in
dustry there, as elsewhere in Georgia
He tells of selling hogs for something over
§25, when they “cost him so little to raise he
did not realize that they cost anything!”
That statement, of itself, ought to start
pig raising campaign in every county in Geor
gia!
As to farmers who gave more attention to
cotton growing than to stock raising, Mr.
Hatcher says:
“Where farmers planted a small acreage
and planted early, they made fair cotton crops
this year, but where they planted a large acre
age and the crop was late maturing, they made
tor dinar with i'ni'r.nrrora.'i.Sy “I*”'"""It ..i?! “5?* “*
two years ago; in that respect at least, the cot-
western part of the county are a failure.”
The Thomasville Times-Enterprise.
corn-
ton grower is far ahead. Otherwise he is not in menting on Mr. Hatcher’s experience in profit-
uch good shape unless he put by a few dollars
for the hard times ahead.
Now that the Georgia boys are on the bor
der the country can feel. safe. If Mr. Villa does
not belutve himself, he will get in trouble.
Three excellent and seasonable bulletins are
issued by the Georgia College of Agriculture.
They should be in the hands of every farmer,
and will be sent free on application, by postal
card or otherwise, to the college at Athens.
They are: “Seed Corn Selection,” “Oat Pro
duction in Georgia,” “Home Canning of Fruit
and Vegetables," and “Beautifying the Rural
Home.”
Two years ago, when you saw a man coming
into town with a bale of cotton, you felt a littl
sorry for him. It is the other way, now. The
man riding in on a bale of cotton looks like a
cross between Vanderbilt and Rockefeller.
able stock raising, says:
“The gentleman in question raised pigs, and
he got splendid returns. He has learned that
cotton was unreliable as a sole money crop this
year, and he has faith in the belief that it will
be still more unprofitable next year.
We arc relieved to see that there is such a
marked interest in raising of other than cotton
crops, and of preparing to fight the boll weevil
with the means and methods that have in other
sections proven efficacious. We can raise cot
ton. Nobody denies that—but we cannot raise
cotton alone and live comfortably.’ -
That is what has caused the revival of inter
est in stock raising in Southwest Georgia—the
knowledge that “we can’t raise cotton alone
and live comfortably.”
And on the stock raising plan depends the
fulfillment of the prediction that numerous
packing plants wilj be established, by home
capital, to meet the demands of the stock rais
ing sections.
Agreements
among the fai
in which the
kill the birds
low any one el
ing *he years
Every mi
ridding this
or in keeping
down to the
these agreerni