Newspaper Page Text
BUYING AT HOME
n Oasette
Entered at the PoatoflSce nt^TU
an mail matter of the aecona clash,
|ao. L. Herring Editor and Manager
Ofbcial Organ City of Tiftoo
aod Tift County, Georgia.
SATURDAY NIGHT
Told In the Jury Room.
••Are you afraid of ghosts?” the foreman
^"No, but I've seen times when I was a little
pestered," said the lumberman.
The jury was hopelessly hung. It was a pet
ty case, to'decide a land line with about $15
involved, yet it had been threshed out through
a n entire day in the court room, at a cost to the
count* of perhaps half a thousand dollars, and
to the lawyers much expenditure of perspira
tion and near-oratory. Finally, alter a grpve
charge by his honor, the jury had retired and
after many hours of argument had given it up
and sat down to wait. The opinions of eleven
hard-headed and contrary creatures had gone
against the convictions of one broad oM liber
al-minded gentleman, and this man had. after
■ustaining his contentions in eleven different
arguments, withdrawn into the shell of reserve
and calmly sat down to await the time when
the others came around to his way of thinking,
or a mistrial could be declared. The other
eleven had smoked, joked, yarned and were
now on the second round.
' “Bill Stephens would go farther to win a bet
or crack a joke than any man 1 ever saw,” con
tinued the lumberman, lighting another che
root by the stub of the last and throwing the
atub out of the window.
"About a mile from the town where Bill lived,
down beside a swamp in about the most dismal
looking place you ever saw, was an old grave.
Tradition did not say whose grave it was. and
somehow or another the talk got out.that there
was gold buried there. More than once plans
were made to dig down into the grave and see
what was there, but no one ventured.
“One night. Bill and three friends were hav
ing a social game of draw poker when the sub
ject of the grave came up during a lull in the
play. Tom Price said he was a good notion to
go down there some night and dig up that
money.
“*Bet you $100 you don’t dare do it; said
Bill. Tom couldn’t Back out. with all that
crowd listening, so he took it up. but a little
half-hearted. . The money was put up. and the
conditions madfe. Tom was to go to the grave
at midnight of the next night and dig into it
until he found what was there. He stipulated
that the other three should accompany him,
and this was agreed to.
“As soon as the meeting broke up. Bill got
busy. He routed out a friend w"ho ran a hard
ware store and told him he wanted all the
guano trumpets he had—wanted to put a
bunch of negroes to strowing the stuff early
In the morning. He got them, nearly a hun
dred. You know they are long, tin things with
a funnel-shaped mouthpiece. Bill carried them
out before day. and dug a trench from the
middle of the grave to a clump of bushes over
one,hundred feet away. Then he ' laid the
trumpets along thus, end stuck into end. cov
ered them with dirt and scattered .pinestraw
over this. Then he hunted up Jake Purvis ••nd
told him that he "would give him ten dollars to
do'a job for him that night.-^ake agreed, and
Bill told, him to hide in that clump of bushes,
and what to say when he gave him the signal
by striking a match. Jake agreed.
“That night just after 11 o’clock Bill,
Tom and the other two left town for the grave,
Tom carrying a shovel. He had fortified him-
aelf with a few stiff drink's, and had a bottle
in his pocket which he would 3top and sample
sow and then, passing it aronnn. Bill helped
him out by telling a!! the scarey tales he could
think of.
“Nearing the grave, they sat down by the side
of the road, waiting far midnight, and BUI
told some more tales. At last the time .came,
ar ‘ Tom nervously picked up the shovel. He
e-i ! afterwards that he would gladly have
given up the $100 then, but he didn’t j^ant*Bill
to crow over him.
“He was a little shaky ; about the knees
when he walked up to the grave, kicked off
the dead grass and pinestraw. set the shovel,
put his foot on it.and shoved it in.-full depth.
Bill struck a match.
“ ‘Aw. go on away from here, and let me
sleep.’ came a deep, muffled voice, apparently
from the depths of the grave.
“Bill beat ToA*to the road, but Tom and the
were passing the middle part of it, we hi
low moan. Dan started to-run; I stofjMd to
listen. Soon it came again—a hollow groan,
if I ever heard one. ‘Fore God, wha’s dat?’
said Dan, sorter jerkily. The moan came again,
a little louder.
“ Tm going to see what It is,’ I said. Dan
went with me, because; he was afraid to stay
by himself. The cemetery gate was open, and
we had no trouble in following the sounds by
waiting for them once or twice. Way down on
the other side of the cemetery was an open
grave, from which a body had been removed
for shipment the day before, as both of us
knew. They had neglected to fill up the grave,
and down in it was a calf, only a few months
old. which had doubtless been wandering about
the cemetery, and fallen in. 1 got down into
the grave and handed the calf up to Dan. who
took it and turned it loose.
•We drove the calf on out of the cemetery,
shut the gate and started on home. We walljjri
along slow at first, laughing about what a scare
that would have been to %ome folks. All at
once Dan' stopped talking and began walking
faster. So did I. The more I thought, the fast
er I walked, until I struck a dog-trot. Dan was
right with me. I began to run—just couldn’t
help it to save my soul, and Dan ran with me.
It was n foot-race for home, and when I got
there I jumped in and slammed the door shut
behind me. the scaredcst I ever was i n my life.
Dan was-almost white.
'Can't explain it. but it’s a fact and I never
thought about getting scared until after the
calf was out and safe and we were well on the
wa.v home. You all may be able to explain if;
50 per cent above cost!' Does he
know that this same house h^s declared
dividends approximating $3,000,000 in the
past five years and increased Its capital 200
per cent? That some of its members own win-
homes in Florida and in California and have
built palatial residences in Chicago? And all
WHEN TtfE-NATfONAL GUARD WILL GO
; On. M.n Fraaldy T.U. Why «•
In every county and "town the country over s#«d. Mon.y a«j.
relatives of the boys who have enlisted in the ChnU, G«-. July 23, 1917.
National Guard are anxious to know when they X&
will go to France. The executive order incor- ^
porating the National Guard in the regular ar- ^ tUn off by ^yin* that thfai
built palatial residences in unicago: Ana an - {mores- You sun o.« oy ^
Who buy from them because they thmk they For ^ reason8i very apparent, the »« “ ^ you wo U ,d c,H «*>*-
are buying cheaper. It is not a question or G ^ ^ n(jt t0 Europe for se verh! months »t-nation. Sending your order* to a
:a come, possibly not before the New \ear. Mj | order bouse and get your m*r-
The very fact that the encampments for the chan( ji»e for from twenty-Ave to
National Guard are all located in the South,, one hundred P« ehawrtlwn
because here the winters are mild. ^Uiebest you can ge merchant?
evidence that the soldiers are expected to rc- ( «» ««* “ k „ pin(f our money .t
main in. those camps through a part of the win- horoe> wh at is the difference in ma «
ter at least. _ ; sending, the money off or paying thej
jn’t."
'Mr. Foreman. I move a ..mistrial in this
e” somebody 1 said, and the jury unhung
itself.
SOME MAIL ORDER ARGUMENT
How Do They Do It. but the cold act remains
that They Do It. No retail house in Tifton or
Tift county has made any such proportionate
profits; many of them failed to show a profit.
And what the Chicago house did those in New
York. Kansas City. St. Louis, and other dis
tributing centers are doing.
The question of the retailer buying direct
from the manufacturer is one of distribution.
Many of them buy the bulk of their goods in
this way. But in somefWtes a certain amount
of intermediary distribution is necessary. This
has been proved time and again. The most
notable illustration was the co-operative stores
started bv the Farmers' Alliance about twenty-
five years ago which were intended to-meet
the manufacturer and the consumer in direct
touch and eliminate all the middle man s P r ° f '
To the best of our recollection, practically
every one of them failed. We. would like to
say more under this head later; this article is
now too long. .
We would also like to say something to Mr.
Morris along the line ol Community Co-Op
eration; that the home merchant helps to pay
taxes, helps to support schools and churches
and county institutions. Also, if every one pro
duced and nobody consumed there would be no
home market and a restricted outside market
with consequent lower prices. Further, that
the money which has been 'going from the
South to mail order houses for the past forty
years has helped to keep the South poor and to
enrich the North and East; has made them
money centers and kept us in the borrowing
class. We will have something to sav along
this line later, but sufficient to the day irto
meet the principal argument of all. that mail
order goods are cheaper because the mail or.
der house is content with smaller profits.
The Montgomery. (Ala..) Advertiser
instructively discusses the situation
thus!
money to
the local dealer and left
If there is a business man in Tift county, be
he retailer, wholesaler, banker or professi >nnl
man who does not believe that the Buf-at-
Home campaign to be put o n by the Gazette is
timely and vitally necessary, we invite him to
read the letter of Mr. F. C. Moms, if Chula,
published in another column.
Mr. Morris fairly represents the great mass
It has been generally believed that the Na
tional Guard will be rushed to France at an ear-
Iv dav. A little reflection upon the difficulties
confronting the War Department shows that
it would be foolish, ifixfnt impossible, to hurry
the units of the Gtfard to the trenches of
France. The transportation difficulties would
forbid this, if nothing else.
How many men General Pershing has an
France is a matter of conjecture—the estimate
runs ail the way from 15.000 to 40,000 and the
real number is much nearer 15.000 than 40.000.
The transfer of this force from America, to
gether with huge stores of supplies for them
taxed the transportation resources of America.
It is said in Washington, that if America has
60.000 men in France by November it will have
broken a record: The regular army now num
bers 225.000 men. If we allow for all ‘.li., nffi- _
cers and men that could possibly be r.eeded fm u t
the training of the new army, th f itnf.re fall
and part of the winter will be taken up in the
transportation of the regular arm' to •France.
Carrving the men over themselvos. M: ut
a part’of the big undertaking of putting tie
full regluar army into the trenchi-*. Every
mouthful of food, every atom of clothing and
even.- bit of ammunition must also be trSn"-
ported. A new railroad will have to be built
from the French seaport used as a base by the '
him send it off for the a
THE PRESS CONVENTION
Editor Allen of the Moultrie Observer at
tended the press convention in Thomasville.
and in his interesting notes on the gathering,
says:,
That the press convention does not appeal
Mr. Moms ta.ny represents u.e to^ome of the busiest and best newspaper men
of people .who are mistakenly seeding the ‘ r : 0 ^ thi , sec tj, ir i is evidenced by the absence o.
money to Northern and Easteitfi mail order McIntosh of Albany. Herring of Tifton. Brant-
money to Northern anil tasteijn man uiuu ! McIntosh
houses, for things that can be bdughtjrom the ley of Valdosta and Daniel^ of Quitman,
home merchant. He is sincere and "proves his
sincerity by putting his argument in black and
white. Anil he is a fair, average citizen, with
a degree of local pride and a disposition to do
vh'at is right. This he proves by the statement:
If 1 could tfet goods anywhere near the same
price 1 had much rather go to town for my
goods’than to have to order the Same by mail."
Hundreds of others think as Mr. Morris al-
though they are perhaps not so candid. It is)
This is a question that is |
to b e hard to explain t
'' ” n ,|y Way that the home «
chanr can hope to stop the «
der business is to get i
compete with their prices !
should think would be com~
to do. for they hsve t!
__ of freight r
and express charges ifj
practice buying from W
turer* direct instead at y
jobber and wholesale
make their profits out
If I could get goodW
near the same price. 1^
rather go to town for my f
to have to order the » me mai1 '
long as present conditions ex- j
ut I shall hnve to patronise mail ^
order houses, at least for some Henw£,
on vh:c^jj|p save the most. \/\
F.’C. Morris.
IN JUVENILE COURT.
trom tne rrenen seapun uwu « « «.• *"*• ] ni : _ h «... ,...f,>re Ordit
Americans to the point in behind the trenches • up f
where they are stationed. Moreover, the Am-. -y ' ,.
: ;il n.o 1,., »hL tn K/irnn active onera- : - ,,r e
ericans will md be able to begin active opera-1“
tions untildfhehrtillery and aviation ?orps
ready for service.
We harp-a long, dong ways yet to go anil i
s folly t,, talk of sending over the National ( " K f) ' .
".nnr.l in the nnrlv fall.
living the guardian-
hip ..f the little baby Lofty Renew,
Ordinary Gravaa
a hearing
Court Monday
u-n-e Mr
1 !t . ardlon l' r
thia
..... ..ib who
? th.- child, seek ita .
The.- »re represenU
nith and B. C. Willi-
Dl VHiuuawt j
was expected that they would at least attend
this southwest Georgia editors meet but they
were unmovedvI) us . v we suppose.
The editor ofth^ Gazette did not miss the
Thomasville meeting because of lack of desire
to foregather with his brethren of the press or
because he was not in thorough accord with htr
fellow newspaper men in their desire for a
summer holiday.
f He does not subscribe entirely to the sugges-
up'to the business man Who wants this trade ition that funmaking be eliminated from these
that is going 9way Trom home to show these meetings and' the entire time devoted to bus-
people that thcvican get their goods here as igess. Perhaps the other extreme has ruled
cheap, as they can get them anywhere, trans- and there has been too littlb business transact
portation equalized. ;ed. but the newspaper men work harder tba-
The delusion that mail order goods are ? a grocery clerk year in and year out. and the*
heaper has n :. le lean purses for the home annual meetings-are practically their only holi-
merchant for ny decades, and has enabled day. They need recreation and should have
the mail ordc iuses in the metropolitan cen-. it is only to be rbgretted that all cannot join
ters to erect nty-story buildings. The av- taking a week off.
erage mail ord- . stuff compares with goods The Gazette was not represented at Thomas-
sold over the • ntera at retnil about as a dol-
atch comp _ es with an Elgin or Waltham.
They are made on the same principle, of greet
quantities, uniformity and cheap material. It
is right for a man to buy a dollar watch if he
•ants a dollar, watch, but it is not right to sell
him a watch for a dollar by creating the im
pression that it is as good as one which must
be sold for $25. Yet the average mail order
buyer does not realize the difference. The
pictures look Just ns good and Be buys on ab
solute faith. His money is in the other man’s
pocket long before the goods reach him. ana
when they come he is not critical. He is anx
ious that they should please, because he thinks
that necessary to vindicate him for sending off
after them. Perhaps they are bought on a
guarantee, but never, except under the most
unusual circumstances, does the buyer go to
Guard in the early fall.
imiitinn of the child'* health
that Mayor Ilargntt com-
t.. the Tift County Hos-
til Saturday <»f nrxt week
the question of it* final di»-
up before th*
,, court. It i* very frail ana a piti-
Gen.ianv has dropped Zeppelin construction ,, tt|i ./ thin|f '
and. turned every effort to the building of aero-j. In thc mean tj m e, an Advisory
nlanes to match the American effort. These^p oar j w jg be named for the Juven-
Sehatr
The aeroplanes are thc eyes of the a<my. and ^ 7
e American forces in France are waiting on| mit
...e aviation corps.' Yet the army aviation bill Liu
has been held up indefinitely i n the Senate when th.
while Senators vent their individual spleen, j ?
•°if In -
Board v
are holding up American construction .il* Court which will net in the c
— 0 f a jury. It was co„-
that ymine Wha-
ville from, necessity, rtftt from choice. Like
many other men on small dailies its editor :s lilt
ing the position of manageT, editor in chief. *"C-
change editor, city editor, local reporter, bus
iness manager, and assistant devil, with no sub
stitute. ’ In that situation a day off is almost
an impossibility. Besides, we have been on
diet for several months, and a man who -ai t
eat good rations has no business at a- Thomas-
villc gathering. • ■ ,
We expect that what is true of the Gazette
is in par-t true qf the Times. Thr Hrr»hL the
Free Press, and other paDers. But the loss was
that of the men who could not go, not of the
Association. We feel that we ‘missed - some-
tWng*ge--*L and oaf -bexTwishes were with the
boys at Thomasville, as always.
thf troublrttrltaveme' guarantee made good.
The same man who will twist and turn a
piece of goods and hold it to the light to ex
amine the texture or test his groceries by taste
and smell and watch the scales with a critic’f
eye. will send his hard-earned cash to a mail
order house on faith and take what they give
him.
It is hard-to convert a man who thinks other
wise toThe fact that', taking as a whole and on
an average, goods are sold as cheap across the
-counters-of 4Be retirH "stoTes in the average
small town as they are sold by mail order
houses. We mean the same grnde of good:
and folpeash. It is not fair to compare stand-
other two soon p'fc&ed him. the pebbles and nrd goods with shoddy, nor low-grade materials
sand falling in a shower behind them as thev with first grade, nor credit prices with cash in
went up the road for town, like race-horses on advance. But take goods for goods, quality for
the home stretch. > •■quality, with enstbf transportation added, we
“Bill collected the $100 and spent it all dn a invite a comparison with prices on articles sold
swell supper, at which he had Jake Purvi.^tell T- Tifton and ether towns in Tift county, with
about how it was done. Tom blackballedtBose sold by any mail order house,
at the next meeting of the R. O. R. lodge." ' For the average local merchant does not
The carpenter pulled a square of plug to- make the high profits that the mail order houses
bacco out of his pocket, bit off a chew, passed make. This may be surprising, but it is true.
It around with a circling motion, and said: Does Mr. Morris know that the largest mail
“Me and a negro helper, Dan, had been order house i n Chicago paid last year, after all
about two miles out of town, on a job. We left expenses of clerk hire, wrapping and shipping,
there some time after s«M«r. und were near > dividend to its stockholders of 28 per- cent?
midnight getting in. Jbtfbftd n a right along-' Add to this express and parcel post charges and,
c we‘the goods must hpe been sold at an average
,nd giving Germany a start. They would not
be fighting with as mujh effect for the enemies I
•f their country if they were carrying .a gun in ■
the front ranks of Hindcnbtirg’s army. In times
of turbulence- the trash comes to the top. It - s
time for the people to skim the- pot.
The weekly editors drew a letter of thanks
from the President for their Thomasville resolu
tions. The G-orgin newspapers as a whole,
-’r.ily an' 1 weekly, are slanding loyally with the
President.
Mr. Murphy Candler has furnished uTa'kev-
note: “Get right, or get o,ut.” he admonishes
Georgia’s public men. 'And the people say
amen.
A CARD OF THANKS
We wi»h tf> thank our many
friend* and neighbor* for iheir lor*
and kindnw* during the brief 01-
n««s and d. nth of our darling little
daughter. June 5 2. May God’s rich-
- . ver rain upon them
and the ■■plrit of the ‘ Loved One
minister to them through the future
iday* of this life, that at God's call
they will join her in Christ Jesua.
Our
darlinc
•HE’S HAPPIER HERE
- T-fr-tt this• cuatrtry is mat all onb' as yeVTs
denied by Jh«? failure of the War Department
experts to ihcluil? sweet potatoes on the army
bili of fare. They didn't intend to leave off
one of the best and most staple articles of food,
buf the experts are ^11 from the North and did
not know that the food properties of the sweet
potato are thirty per cent greater than those
of the Irish potato, which was, up near the head
of the list. The Southern Congressmen are
endeavoring to have the oversight remedied,
but there is a bunch of re^ tape to unwind first.
In the interest of.the Southern boys in camp,
hope they will succeed.
I
Some idea of the task before the American
Red Cross can be gained from the fact that the
French, for the spring offensive,, jut pared .iar
900,000 wounded. Iir some cases, at the front
wounds were- tied up with newspapers for the
lack of something better. If you don’t want
your fried or relative' to endure hardship and
run unnecessary risks of like, give now to the
Red Cross, and keep on giving.
With half the session gone, the Georgia As
sembly has nothing to show but proof that the
Gazette was unqualifiedly right when it advised
the members on the day they convened to ad
journ and go home in the interests of
and economy.
rum the Atlanta Georgian:
The erudite and entertaining Mr.
rice remarked with a considerable degree of,
isdom that he never worriyd hajf so much
the fare of th'e negro' in the hands of
1 to the uppftr
land;
And dear l.ahy whivn God cho»*
A—darting pet so hard tA lose;
' Our a2^* dimmed Kv, Might, »
j Oh. our hearts arc aching to-
| right!
Doolev Somebody'* baby, why should it b« t
* God in HI* tendornc-s passed by
In tbs lnHr rt? Tbv
his. oppressers as in the hands of his deliv- * '*j-jlliL °
.Limbo Is learning up in Illinois that his old j- ,n
home .wnjr down upon the SuwanM Rlva' t»U,. h „, t , a ,
a pretty good old home-after all—and that, eonc-
he is rather certain .of. frVjM ■■■ L ; “*L
■ I re*t
gooil treatmsnt there, aiiywnv. With all its
faults, real and imaginary. Dixie land still is
the land of cotton and. watermelons and a snug
placg ji/pvbPiio fnr.anch as he. - -
Down here he isn’t permitted to vote and
he is required to come in the back door with his
hat in his hand; but once he gets in that way.
there is a welcome for him. all right. He is
permitted to work, and earn a living—some
times its a pretty hard one. admittedly, but he
has discovered for a sure thing that it can be
worse—much worse. And that’s something.
The sojourn of a number of Southern negroes
in East St. Louis has been a - sad affajr. They
went there with their hearts full of hope—they
fought they would have a "better chance"
than down heTe. They were mistaken—terri
bly and pathetically so. They were promptly
mobbed for showing evidence qf a happy and
willing disposition to gather in -a modest supply
of the m"ilk and honey supposedly lying around
loose in that promised laqd.
The negro’s lot is melancholy enough at best.
He hasn’t much of a chaqce _anywhexfe sjuL
'mavbe Silver will have' But, at least, here in
the South he DOESJiave some sort of opportun
ity—and close analysis will show, I think, that
that opportunity is GROWING. He is some
times mistreated and violently assailed in his
personal and individual'aspects in the South—1
his kind are even lynched now and then, when
they ought not be—and thjtt is shameful. But
he isn’t mobbed EN MASSE—he isn’t denied
the right as a race to live and work and enjoy
some degree of happiness here, merely because
he is black and his labor comparatively cheap.
Illinois is no place for him—and although
he couldn’t be convinced of it before he saw
for HIBISELF, a wliole lot of hi^people know
it NOW.
ThiLvoice u,»..lav*«| i» -*Wb—
Tljr pl»cp wade vacant in otir m
' filled;
W;_ hwgd.yjipf,
(till.
Josh* loved thee more:
lo now lie hath sweetly called thee
To yonder shining shore.
Mr. and Mr.. A. B. Blalock.
WHEtl TOQUIT ADVERTISING
A correspondent ask* that we re-,
produce this one. credited to "Ex-
AVhen the grasshoppers cease to hop
And the cow quit* bawling;
ti e fishes no longer flop,
And the hab y stop* squalling'
When Vhe dunner no longer dun*.
And the hoot-owl quit* hooting;
When the river* e vcr cease to run
And the Mirglar stops his looting;
When the vine no longer twines
And the skylark stops his.larking,
When the £Un, no longer shine* . >. .
The young man quits hi** sparking
When the heavens begin to drop,
And the old'maids stop advising;
; f.en—it is time to shut up shop,
-And quit your advertising.!’
M AYR’S
wonderful remedy for
STOMACH TROUBLES
One dose convinces.
For sale at Brook’s Pharmacy and
other reliable druggists.