Newspaper Page Text
^Litton <3a3ette
Published Weekly __
1 at the Postoffice at Tifton, Georgia,
Btif'Second Claaa Matter. Act of March 3, 1879
fno. L. Herring Editor and Manager
Official Organ City of Tifton
and Tift County, Georgia-
SATURDAY NIGHT.
Th. Tattnall Jounuf deprecate, the tact It remained for President Wilson to pot the
that it, county and Warn maniteated such little term, on which the Allied Nation, wall make
Old Christmas Day.
Tomorrow January 6th is "Old Christmas
And tonight, "Old Christmas Eve.” the cows
fin the pen. the horses in the lot, the beasts in
the forest aljaU arise, and turning their heads
toward the East kneel in reverence And the
birds of the air shall fold their heads- under
their wings, while the water in vessels, in
streams, in lakes and seas, shall turn to wine.
And over the earth the angels of heaven shall
“"hover, while on the air. faint and sweet as the
perfume of vanished violets, shall sound in
harmony the music of the herald cherubims.
So ran the superstition of the people of
Wiregrass Georgia more than half a century-
gone. For some reason unexplained, the great
majority of those people observed January 6th
as Christmas Day. Books of reference give no
authority therefor, the nearest we have being
the observance of Epiphany, or Twelfth Day.
which concluded the Christmas festivities both
in Old England and in the countries dominated
by the Eastern Church.
Men who were boys fifty .years ago can re
call hearing grandfather or grandmother say
that they remembered when the news came
that Christmas Day had been changed from
January 6th to December 25th, but the re
cords show nothing official bearing this out.
Probability is that the Huguenots, who were
among the pioneers of the South Atlantic coast,
• or the descendants of those who came to this
country from the England of King James,
found it ihconvenient to observe nil of . the
twelve days of feasting and finally custom fell
upon the last, or Epiphany. Certain it is. that
a great many of the South Georgia pioneers
thought until the day of their death that Janu-
ny 6th was the true Christmas Day, and many
of them still observed it as such forty years
ago.
Besides the superstitions mentioned, easil;
understood as hovering around the birth hour
of the Savior the whole season was considered
full of portent. The twelve day
December 25th and Jattpary 6th were knoxxtff
as “The Old Twelve Days.” and eaeh^aC-lhi
was read as a forecast of one ofi^te months of
the year to come Was Deq^Gth cold, fair
warm, —- u '|| month of January;
Dee- 27th represented February, etc. (It
may be, remarked, parenthetically, that- if the
2nd day of January thia year truly forecast
•the August to come, that will be a month in
. which fires and overcoats will be plentiful )
“The Old Twelve Days” were regarded as
•• tt# time for planting the seeds of the early
spring vegetables; for sowing spring oats, for
repairing fencing, starting the pWSvs to break
land for another crop, and other preparatory
' work.
To the Wiregrass hoy of forty years ago,
I the night of Old Christmas Eve was awe-in-
f apiring. Many times he would inquire ns to
^ how and when the animals would kneel; ex
press a desire to stay awake to watch for the
lT -wonderful thing, and to taste the xx’ater when
it turned to wine. But there were dark hints
\ of dread things that might happen to sacrile
gious watchers, and. assurance that the moment
when the water was wine would be so fleeting
: .that were it .in the mouth at the time it could
barely be tasted before it was water again.
Certainly, no boy Watched, and none was ever
heard to boast that he had tasted, the wine ..
th<*auspicious moment.
Recollections of the real Christmas with '
Santa Claus were so vivid, that sometimes a box
wouldinsist on hanging up ins ««rka •«** -Okk
Christmas F.ve. being stimulated to hope by the
fact that sons of distant neighbors hung up
their home-knit socks on that night and Santa
found thetp- Parental assurance that Santa
could not be fooled into visiting the same house
twice for one holiday did not prevent the socks
going up once or twice in a sort of forlorn hope,
as it were, which only resulted in disappoint
ment next morning.
Recollections of Old Christmas have dis-
: .'appeared with the people with whom its ob
servance was a part of tradition and custom
There were many other superstitions common
to the season which have been forgotten with
the passing years. Butot is rather singular
that there appears to be^nt> good reason for
fixing the date of the parent of all Christian
BIDDING THE BOY.
THAT EVEN HE WHO RUNS MAY READ.
THE FOE WE ARE FIGHTING.
interest in their Selectmen departing for train-
camp and the Moultrie Observer finds that
Moultrie and Col<|«itt county have been culp-
rble in the same respect. It says in part;
We have allowed one hundred or more
young men of the county t<$ leave us without any
public farewells, and in this neglect we have
robbed the boys and robbed ourselves. It
means a lot when these young’men, the flower
of the county, go out from among us to take
their part in the great world conflict, and we
have made much ado over events of much less
mportance- The boys Bhould be sent away
full of rim. and with every assurance that we
who remain at home have the highest apprecia
tion of them and that we are watahing their
every move and following them with our
thoughts and with the earnest expectation
that they will make a record of which their
•unty and their country will feel proud
The Observer well makes the point that
both have lost by such, let us not say indif
ference, hut rather neglect to make use of an
opportunity to bripg the young men x
going away and those at home for wh<
are going to battle in closer touch.
speak advisedly, for the way in which
Tift county sped her young Selectmen on their
way made every one who participated feel
united by closer ties. No Selectmen have
left Tifton for camp without a crowd gather
ing at the station to bid them God-speed
first only two went, but although the hour
early, the crowd of friends was there. With
.enrh subsequent contingent, the crowd was
even larger. Even the negroes were sent away
i a good word from white and colored,
cannot imagine all that we would have lost
had we failed to do our part, as near as we
could, by these young men who will in another
■ear be this county’s heroes.
With the departure of the first large con
tingent'there was a good deal of speech-mak-
nd of course some tears. For the latter
reason, it was thought best to omit the speech-
later. and this wps done, but w’e madi
take. There were-the tears just 'he
while the inspiration to service was somewhat
larking. The boys appreciate the spirit w
hich the town went as far as it could xv
them, and often speak gratefully of it. When
the next go. we intend to have some inspiring
talks to send them off with.
Mmittrie and Colquitt county should remedy
their mistake at the first opportunity, in justice
to themselves and their young soldiers. Tell
the young men that you are with them, heart
and soul, and that you are grateful for the part
they are taking in great world events. Per
haps that will remove the dread for service
which has been manifest in some circles
peace so plain that even he who makes the most
hurried perusal cannot mistake them. With
characteristic directness, ilr. Wilson strips the
terms of all superfluous verbiage and goes to the
kernel of the situation with each paragraph.
Not even the most dense or unwilling of com
prehension can longer pretend ignorance of the
ends the Allied nations are fighting to gain
of what terms they will insist upon after a
peace conference is called.
The Austrian Minister, while ostensibly
speaking to the Bolshcriki envoyBrest-Lit-
ovsk. voiced the terms on which the Central
Powers would enter upon peace negotiations
and he spoke for each of Austria-Hungary’s
allies and to each of the nations of the Entente
and those making common cause with them.
But the terms named by Count Czemin were
cleverly arranged to deceive. They began with
agnanimous phrases and concluded with a de
finite promise of nothing except those things
already conceded- While talking of no annex
ations ami ho indemnities, purposely to catch
In an article in the Saturday Evening Post
Samuel G. Blythe brings the war home to Amer
icans by substituting the names of towns in thjs
country tor some of those in France and Belgium
that fell iut^ German hands and using snppo-
sitive names of Americans -instead of French
and Belgian men. women and children who
were victims to Prussian ruthlessness. Only. |
those occurrences establshed by incontrovertibh
evidence were used, but the picture drawn was
one to remove for all time from the mind of the
reader any academic phase the war may have
held and to awake the lethargic to a realization
of the frightful crisis which confronts civiliza
tion. In conclusion. Mr. Blythe says
“Nothing is impossible in these days—noth
ing! We hope, fervently, that Germany wjll
never get troops to the United St$te£ but it is
entirely within the range of posjifeility that Ger
many may do so. It is conceivable. It is a
military feasability. but never if the people of
the United States will awake to their position
and to the needs of their country in this war;
never if the people of the United States will dis
miss the fatuous idea that some of them hold—
many, indeed—that this war may 1 e carried on
side line, as an extra, in its relation to the
„ , n 1“* a siue line, as an extra, in us relation to tne
he ear of the Socialists in a P usual business of the country; never if the peo-
.. -r D.. .mini Pn . , . . ... ..... ... .r .
THE FARM TRACTOR.
The day of the tractor on the farm is coming
with the close of the war. said a man who has
made a study of farm machinery' for many
years..to the editor-
At first the farm tractor was large and cum
bersome and required an expert to handle it.
being available only for the large farms
it has been perfected until aiiy man who can
run an automobile can operate one. and they
be used economically even, on a one-horse
farm. With the close of the war, horses and
mules ure going to be very scarce. Also, there
will probably many one-armed or one-legged
who must make a living and the farm of
fers the best opportunity. A tractor can be op
rated by the driver from his seat and will do
he work of four horses. There will also for
-rinny years be an increased demand "for ‘food-'
.tuffs and all farm products, and to meet this
.emand will be a part of the tractor's mission
“You ean judge the profits and prosperity of
* farm by the depth of the furrow.’’ said thii
;^ntleman. "Everything has progressed in this
•ountry except the methods of fanning—the
rmmttntion-of'ati-prosperity. - ThB‘country ‘is
;emanding more from its soil than ever before,
ind production must be increased to meet this
demand. The farm tractor makes the deeper
furrow, and after awhile old-time ideas will
way to modern ones and it will come into
general use. Then we will see not only the
problem of increased production solved, but
era of prosperity for the tillers of the soil that
will make the farmers the true lords of crea
tion."
It is a broad viewpoint, but the gentleman
is right*
ios. the matter of restoration of Belgium. Pol
and and Servia was carefully avoided and the
fate of the Balkan States was left to the chican
ery of diplomacy.
But the war-sick people of Russia and many
other ebuntries of suffering Europe are so anx
ious for peace—for rescue from impending star
vation—that they are prone to take surface
promises without examining too critically into
whut la/behind, and without a comprehensive
answoi the rejection of the Central Powers’
terms -.vGuld have put upon the Entente nations
the blame for the war’s continuance But the
speech el the British Premier on Saturday and
the address of Mr. Wilson Tuesday strips bare
the - shallow pretense of Germany and her
friends and lays before the people of the world
terms of peace so Jiberal. so comprehensive, so
pi in to even the dullard. that with Germany
and her allies only two alternatives are left—
-.o continue the'war with the tacit acknowledg -
ment that nothing but conquest will satisfy
them, or to'Snake peace on teems that will be
just to even the weakest nations engaged, and
will put an end for all time to the domination of
a despoti-m oxer a people who should of right
he free
Peace on the terms 'Hf. Wilson propo
would set the oppressed pebple of the wo
free. It would wipe out private alliances of
nations for offense or defense, open the seas to
the commerce of the world unrestricted and
bring’ reduction of national armament strictly
to the needs for maintenance of law and order
at home. It would free Russia and leave her
people to work out their own problems; it
would free Belgium and restore France to her
status before 1870; it’would restore Jtaly to
national lines and give the people of Aus
tria-Hungary the right to govern themselves; it
could free Rumania. Servia and Montenegro
,nd give the Balkan States their independence
and territorial integrity. Even the rights of
the Turk are not neglect'ed. and his territorial
boundaries are guaranteed, but the poxver to
oppress, massacre and misrule other peoples is
to be for all time taken from hhn.
Contrast the simple, direct, explicit language
of the President with the ambiguous, verbose
camouflage of the Austrian spokesman for Ger
many. and you have the contrast of the ijjncere
man who speaks to convey his meaning with
the diplomat who uses language but to deceive.
On the surface, there is much in common with
the terms of the Entente as pronounced by Mr.
Wilson and those of The Central Powers as en
unciated by Count Czemin. If Gerpfany and
her allies really mean what they said at Brest-
Litovsk; if they were really sincere, the road to
pcacc.is open. If. on the contrary;, their so-call-
..({ terms were to placate Russian and Austro.
(Termnn Socialists, then peace is a long way off
Blit no longer ean people of understanding in
Russia,.in Germany, in Austria Hungary..or npy
other nation now at war. be in doubt as to
where the blame will lie for the further co'n-
t'nuance of a conflict \hat has already claimed
millions of victims and bids fair to claim mil
lions more before the people of the world are
free.
of on. i
little d '
th. Middle Wei
I ha v*. traveled ov«*m *«xi
of your country aloo. and waaatrw
with the agricultural d*vetojwn*oi.
the modern f.rnw, end th* good
1*. Altogether, yon have one of-
fmest sections I have teen and
with the greatest promlee for th*
“I am delighted that Mr. Hardy
fees chosen thia aa headquarter*. In
cidentally, to show that he made no
mistake from a commercial stand
point will say that Mr. Hardy ha*
turned In more buaineea for na line*
he came to Tifton than any other-
manager on our list within
Time ‘rngth of time."
Mr. Surns was the guest of Mr.,;
Hardy from .Saturday until r ”
day, leaving Tuesday afternoon f
poll t South. He is a gentleman
pljas-r address, and made quit* I
numb-, of frienida while here. Kb.®
enthusiast^,: Ttften booster I
! "'•ny 'iifore good thing* •'
city besides those queted a'
TIFTON SOLDIER UNDER FIR1
have had several brush
with the enemy since reaching th«^
trenches here, which I •
would have not t
pie of the United States will make this war their
principal occupation th- -sole concern of their
thought, the acme of their endeavor; never if
the whole people of the United States will enter
wholly into the war. force themselves to under
stand what it means and participate-to the esr-
tent of their resources, regardless of the pers-Tijl
al inconvenience, sacrifice or labor; never if -the
people of the United States will come, now. to
the inevitable conclusion *that nothing matters*
to us save the winning of this vf&r; chat it fix a
question of national preservation, of national
life- t
"So there may be an appreciation of what
may happen in this country, in one way. to our
oeople. in our own cities and villages and on our
nvn farms, if Germany should land troops here
• few of the authenticated German horrors in
c rance and Belgium have been localized. The
ist has not been exhausted. There are hund-
-eds more, many so vile and terrible that they [ boen for Mmyr's Wonderful
nay not be set down In public print- There | dy Jt ^ entirely cured m. of
s no reason to think that any section of the Uni- sad awful pi in
ted States would be freer from these atrocities l, toImrh ' Army f 0O d now di|
han was any section of Belgium, of invaded' - • —*»-•>
France, or Serbia, or Poland, or Italy, or any
-ther place where the Germans forced an en
trance. The German war beast does not chaiige,
nor do the masters of the beast; especially
not ijhe masters. What happened in Belgium,
in France, in Poland, in Serbia, and elsewhere—
all these horrors.- many unspeakable and un
printable save in official record—surely would
happen in the United States. ,
"This is the foe we are fighting. As an. in
centive for our fighting, the making of the world
safe for democracy is emrely a corllary. The
sooner the people of the-United States awake
to the fact that xvc are fighting to make the Uni-,
ted States safe for ourselves, and begin to de-
ote their united endeavor to that end. the soon
er will the necessary victory be won- This war
cannot be carried on casually. The United
States must, in fact, be united, down to the last
nan the last dollar the last indix*idual sacrifice.
!!lso we shall fail. And if we fail we may ex-
>.-et. among manv other servitudes and punish
ments. the treatment for ottr women and our
h ; ! Iren and ourselves received at the horrible
.and* of the Germans by the women and child-
en and non-combatant men in Belgium, in Fran-
•<•. in Poland, and every country where the-
Gcrmans have been successful or will be ”
as goo,I aa mothtr’s used to.” It is ,
a simple, harmless preparation .that
removes the catarrhal mucus . from
the intestinal tract and allays th*
inflamme'ion which causes practV
rally >11 ttomaeh, liver and i
tinal aitthenta, including append!,
citia. One dose wjll- convtnce
money refunded,
Brooks Pharmacy C
The Second District Agricultural School at
Tifton was one of the nine schools in the state
qualifying for participation in the Smith-
Hughes fund of $20,000. availahle this year.
Of the eleven district schools, two failed to
come up to the government’s requirements.
The Second District School received a check
Friday for one-fourth of its portion, which
will be expended in the additions to the facul
ty and equipment required by the National
Department of Agriculture- .
WISE WORDS FROM A FARMER.
i farmer
Much water has gone over the dam since
those days in 1883. when the editor of the
Gazette was the sixteen-year-old printer-press
man-foreman of the Worth Star, at Ty Ty, of
which J. W. Hanlon was editor, and E- J. Wil
liams, Jr., was the office devil- Now the once
little devil” is a Lieutenant-Colonel and
opinion
United States is hurry- mem i, e r of the War Council of Uncle Sam’B
jn to be supplied with forces, and the "Old Man” of the
my be lacking, e^nfirms Gftzet t e f ee ls that his gray mustache and
those AW ho have studied t
holidays as Dec. 26th. Practically oil authori- tuation clo«5: that
ties ajrcc that this could not have been the drawn upolUpJisve an American aimy^
acason o, Ch™f. birth. Wa„,e It I. the he**
IK,-;rTn J "-h»
by niltht on the plain..” The earlier SBWI^Mcou«\" ' he ” ”-” rd,n, ““ n
The earlier
tian churches were not uniform in the
observed, the time ranging through April jnd
May. The present date fixed is thought to
h.-tve been due to its being approximately pe
winter solstice.
After all, what does a datc-from a man-made
calendar matter? It is the spirit of the ob-
*er”ance that counts. V
It Is gratifying to read that so many of Tift
r registrants are in Class I. That they
I. first-class goes without saying.
was agreed upon. A man
at the front wheAythe Teutonic drive comes
max' be worth threelaler in the year.
Pay your war tax with a smile when asked
for the few pennies additional bn entering a
place of amusement, busring a railroad ticket,
damping a letter or executing a document.
You have it to pay any way and had just as
•ell be cheerful about It but it is well to re-
membef some of the great things those few
pennies are helping to do.
thinning hairs have been earned. Still, it is
£Jobn” and “2eke” when the two meet and
they are going to stop long enough
ire"notfes and talk over good old days -
whichlwere nci better than those of today, ex
cept that we Were young then.
Thi clerks who hax’e been mailing out the
questionnaires are looking forward to tomor
row with great anticipations. They xvflll finish
♦he mailing then and complete as tough a job
as they ever went up against. Of course all
of the work has not been done y^t, but the f ma
jor portion of it is over with and the clerks are
’.hankful. The work in Tift has been hand-
'ed in a systematic.' businesslike manner and
♦here have been no complaints of the board and
its helpers failing to faithfully perform the
work allotted them-
From ih<* Atlanta Journal. y
The Liberty County-Herald quotes
of its acquaintance as saying:
•Usomc* contend that when Germany saidr
‘Stay off the seas,’ we should ha\‘e got off. But
if xvc ha-i. our n.fon could not'have bejr «..ld
for five cents if pound; it would have been a
drug on the market. The fact that this nation
held to the right of the free use of the seas is
the reason we are today getting a big price for
our products. The farmer who is not support
ing the Government to the extent of his ability
is far from wise, and is ungrateful. Back the
President first, last and all the time, for he Is
^Whether this point of view should be termed
shrewd patriotic shrewdness, it* common sense
will be recognized by every farmer who has
any regard for his own. not to speak jf i e
country's interests ’Ve should be in a »:?•»* •"*
and disgraceful plight, to be sure, if our loyal
ty depended on the price of cotton and corn or
or anything less iding U*an duty and honor.
Southern farmers once stuck to their convic
tions under the tragic, oncoming shadow of
Appomattox itself and forfeited all their pros
perity for an ideal. They will stand ready,
if need be. for an equal sacrifice in the Na
tion’s present cause- They would be un
worthy of their sires nnd unlike exerx-thing iif
Southern history- and Southern character if
their patriotism in this heroic hour lay no
deeper than their purse.
It is none the less gratifying to farmers.
howex*er^to realize that in this war the paths
of theirdutv and their self-interest lead in the
•ame direction. For Germany to come out of
this conflict xdetorious xvould be the direst
calamity that could befall our farmers, for it
xx ould mean not onlv a crushing tax piled on
by the Kai«er, but also the loss or at least the
serious abridgement of those rights of com
merce on which the value of farnr I”"®"]!
vitallv depend More than ‘hat and mo/m an
it would mean the loss of the liberty-^d all
else that makes life worth living. | j
The Woman’s Tonic
" 1 took lour bottles,"