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THE AMERICUS WEEKLY TIMES-RECORPER. FRIDAY. JULY 17, 1908.
THF TIMES-RECORDER
DAILY AND WEEKLY
The Art) eric us Recorder, Established
The Americas Times, Established IS.'»
Consolidated April, 1891.
A WONDERFULLY BLESSED COUNTY IS Ot'BS
quiet
the
Entered at the postoffice at Ameri
cas as second-class mail matter.
THOMAS GAMBLE, JR.,
Editor and Manager,
C. W. CORNFORTH, ....
Associate Editor and Assistant
Manager.
£. tV. FURLOW, City Editor.
W. L. DUPREE,
Assistant Business Dept.
Editorial Room Telephone 99.
The Tlmes-Becorder Is the
Official Organ of the iCty of Americus.
Official Organ of Sumter County.
Official Organ of Webster County.
Official Organ of Railroad Commis
sion of Georgia for the 3rd Con
gressional district.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Daily, one year $5.00
Daily, one month 50
Weekly, one year $1.00.
Weekly, six months . .50
Address all letters and make remit
tance payable to
THE TIMES-RECORDER,
Americus,
Americus, Ga* July litli, 190S.
Which of the Bills will the people
O. K?
Well, anyhow, Bryan got Rid-der
Herman as a running mate. Or did
he?
Have you ever thought what a wonderfully blessed county you are
living in, how bountifully God has poured out his blessings on this imme
diate section, how great the variety of the products of its soil, how tempered
its climate iu a!! seasons, liow delightful to the eye its scenes of
pastoral beauty?
We are all too prone to overlook the comforts, the advantages,
opportunities that lie at our very door. We keep our eyes on distant
scenes and imagine that there is the real Eldorado, that earthly paradlqe
is far oft from the spot where fortune has located us. Yet the people of
the greater part of the United State! if they knew of Sumter county, of
all that it offers to the dweller within its borders, would look upon its
ueople as the most favored of mortals.
YVe have none of the extremes of heat and of cold that afflict the resi
dents of other sections. We have warm weather in the summer, but who
has ever known the people and the animals of this county to lie down and
die from prostration, to lie sweltering for days beneath an almost tropical
intensity of heat, to flee to the mountains to escape physical torture and
possible death’’ Who has ever known them to feel the keen edge of the
blizzard and to suffer the extremes of torture from an arctic coldness? All
of this is spared them. An occasional warm day in summer, an occasional
lossesslon before the public had become aware of their existence. Occasion-
they have been heavily capitalized, money has flowed like water in
their making, hut the return has been but a tiny trickling stream to the
preat river of outgo. ^
Yet the work of establishing newspapers goes on and experience is
obtained at the cost of money and time and disappointment, and frequent-
of health as well. Not one morning paper has been successfully estab-
slied in the United States in the past twenty years, many have gone under,
nd today there are fewer than there were ten years ago. The New Orleans
tern, discussing this remarkable fact, s^ta :
During this time, the number of morning papers that have failed, so
as our knowledge goes, has steadily increased. In Chicago, the Chronicle
has shut up snop, leaving four morning papers in the metropolis of the
Mississippi valley. In New York the Herald and the World are making
money with the other morning papers on the ragged edge, and not a new
one established in a generation.
In Philadelphia the Times has suspended. In Baltimore the Herald, after
costing over a million dollars, turned Itself into an afternoon paper—-the
only one In the field besides the News—and went to the wall In a tew
months. Baltimore now has two morning papers and One afternoon paper.
It Is a city of more than 600,000 people whose papers supply two million
substantial reading people. Only recently both Its morning papers- have
been making money. „„„
Among cities the size of New Orleans we know of but one, San * ran
cisco, that has mainta’ned three morning papers. And those papers nave
general circulation throughout the entire Pacific coast. „s»»rtt«tne
Atlanta supplies all Georgia with news—it is a far greater advertising
center than New Orleans—yet Atlanta has but one morning Paper,
cold day in winter, are ail that they meet With to enable them to compre-| Constitution, ^iemphis tor ^-paper d s ^
bend, in a minor degree, what the unfortunates have to encounter in other
[portions of the country. An outdoor life can be lived, is lived, during twelve
months of the year and enjoyed in the living.
And when we consider how the cornucopia of blessings has-been emptied
on the county in the way of food products we' are amazed at the very
wealth of our gifts. In the fruit line what county in all America can Bur-
pass Sumter. A long list that suggests everything that is delicious conveys
=n inadequate idea of nature’s market basket here. Peaches, pears,
pples, plums, pomegranates, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, huck
Commercial Appeal i» tut; »u$o *•“* — p$ n .
tempts. St. Louis has but two English morning newspapers, likewise Cln
cinnati. Milwaukee has but one.
This must be borne in mind, the number of newspapers in the United
States in great cities is diminishing and will continue to diminish In answer
an inexorable economic law. The time has passed when “ew papers can
be profitably started, morning or afternoon. The commercial side of t
newspaper business is not fully understood \ 0 “®"fXS hei? fives to
hundred and wc do suggest that those men who have given their lues to
who have made in a modified way a success of newspapers, should be
given credit for some knowledge and ability in their chosen fields.
“Dancing. Is hugging set to music”
says a Denver pastor. That must be
what makes it so nice.
The,Georgian refers to Atlanta
“Saloonless saloons.” But/ judging
from reports, it is not beerless
whiskyless.
We would suggest to John D. Rock
efeller if he wants valuable data
preparing hl3 autobiography that he
.apply to Miss Ida Tarbell.
Porch-climbers will not be regard
ed with such suspicion for the next
few months, provided they limit their
climbing to the [torches of one Taft
.and one Bryan.
08 leberries, watermelons, canteloupes—each and every one of the finest qual
ity and raised to .perfection witl} a minimum of trouble and expense—where
can we find a county that offers' better than this. And the vegetables, how
<ong a list presents itself as evidence of the wonderful resources of our
soil, resources, that In the food line are hardly yet touched. Tomatoes
potatoes, corn, iurnips, earpots, beans of every variety, squashes, cucumbers,
okra, eggplants, asparagus, beets, radishes, cabbage, .collards-celery if
... only tried it—everything that tempts and satisfies the appetite, respond
ing most bountifully to the efforts of the husbandman. And on top of all
these that meet man’s needs and gratify his taste for good living, those
great money crops, cotton, corn and hay. Is it not wonderful that within
the compass of thirty or forty miles, within a radius of twenty miles from
Americus, all of these and more products can be raised satisfactorily and
profitably? . .
Beyond all this, and it does look as though we should never stop giving
thanks for such manifold gifts as these, we have a country that is wonder
tullv adapted, experts tell' us, for stock raising. A well watered land, with
slightly rolling sections with soil suitable for food supplies for animal life,
borses, cattle, hogs, poultry, can be raised for the markets of the state, if
desire to embark in that line of activity
When we sit down and calmly contemplate it all, how can the idea enter
any one’s mind of ever leaving aland that, while not flowing with milk
and honey, ojfers so much that is so attractive, so much that is so profitable,
so much that gees to make existence a delight, a continual dream of.coming
joys that are sure of realization. Here life is at its best. And even Sum
ter is but in the infancy of its development-
The campaign “figurer” has
busy season now before him.
sibifities are such that a
tlie i Georgia’s convict system is to he
Thu j thoroughly investigated. Both the
ver5 house and senate have passed bills
ide latitude will be given for mak- j with that end in v j e w by overwhelm
ing nil kinds of possible combina- majorities.
tions. I if ail the rottenness alleged against
The present generation perhaps j thp offlc | als a dn camp bosses is
never witnessed a greater mix-up true it sme n s to high heaven. Not
than prevails during this campaign. | on)y does the prison Commission
need to be drawn over the coals for
Under the new restrictions of the
pure food law it Is announced that
whisky, so labeled, is now absolute
ly pure. The reform unfortunately
tomes too late for Georgia.
WHAT GEORGIA MAY SOME DAY DO.
The anxious public Is yet awaiting
that beautiful home picture of Mrs.
Taft putting a patch on William’s
pants. It Is needed to complete the
preliminaries of the campaign.
The Review of Reviews figures out
that our only great presidents have
been George Washington, Thomas
Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Gro
wer Cleveland. Theodorq Roosevelt
will discontinue his subscription to
the Review of Reviews.
Bibb county got It In the neck on
the report of the committee on pris
ons, read in the senate on Friday,
The report stated that all felony con
victs were properly clothed and hu
inanely treated at all camps except
the five in Bibb county. This Is cer
tainly not a very enviable reputation
for the county named.
Robbing the dead has been consid
ered the limit, but in Chicago a hum
dred men permitted a woman who fell
Into the river to drown, while some
one stole the woman's purse, which
she had droppe'd as she fell Into the
river. Big cities produce brutes, but
the tragic incident referred to shows
(Chicago does even worse.
Watson has pt-omtsed the electoral
■ Mt, 1 of Georgia to the Democratic
iteket If the Populists carry the
state. Brushing aside the absolute
certainty that he won't have to make
good, the incident directs attention
anew to the fact that the political
parties have ceaBed to be a free-for-
all, but have become the personal
property of one man. Who owuts the
Republican party ? Who owns the
Democratic party? Who owns
Populist party? The answers are
so easy that no prizes are offered.
While Georgia is talking of revising its penitentiary system, New York,
which has never had the chain gang but has always kept its prisoners be
hind stone walls and iron bars, is preparing to erect a new prison that
to he a model to the world. It is to -cost $2,000,000. At least that is the
original estimate, but as it is a political job It is more than probable that
before the state gets through its expenditure will be twice as great. The
land five hundred acres, cost $75,000 and includes a beautiful lata, three
quarters of a mile long, from which water and ice for the institution will
be obtained. When the new prison is completed the famous old Sing Sing
will be dismantled and become a reminiscence only.
Some day Georgia will probably follow the example of the northern
states and erect great prisons In which to confine its convicts. This will
be called progress and reform, although no one sincerely believes that men
penned up in such a fashlou are better off than working on the roads or on
farms or in lumber campB. As we are tending toward that it will be of in
terest to know something of New York's model penitentiary, which will he
completed before our next five year convict lease has expired. The World
tells of it as follows: ,
The prison plant will include thirty acres of ground, Inclosed by a con
vote wall more than a mile long, thirty feet high and four feet wide
me top. On thn top armed guards will constantly patrol.
The principal feature of the prison is naturally, the cell house, a building
L200 feet long, the largest of Us kind in the world, having 1,408 cells, four
tiers high, designed for one convict to each cell. This is nearly double
the cell capacity of Sing Sing, which Is 800, and the cell house can be en
larged to accommodate 2,400 prisoners. ' Each cell will be 6 feet by 10 feet,
08 against 3-by'7 feet, the size of the cells at Sing Sing. The dimensions
will give the required standard of 500 cubic feet of air space to each Pris
oner. A system of ventilation will change the air in each cell six times
every hour, and as the long sides of the building will face east and west,
the sun will enter, through enormous windows, ail the cells on one side In
the morning and those, on the other side In the afternoon. One of the «reat
lhlcrtions to Sins Sing has been its damp, unsanitary condition. Floors
of Enameled brick an t modern appliances of heating and lighting will make
the new prison as healthful as any In the world, the commission believes.
The mesa hall, with a seating capacity of 1,428. will be In a large sepa-
educational Kt office
prison, occupying a
separate building. There are thirty cells for con-
Except for this small provision
men rod n few for women. Except lor mis sman yiuvioiuu
c“neTwo^n a »^ne f w prison wiil.be entirely for men, Urn women
. Roberts' Bros., who operate the
Americus peach cannery, certain
ly deserve the hearty good will
the peach growers of Sumter county
.for providing a market at home for
• large part of the crop. Had the only
market beqn in shipping away, the
Jesses of some of the peach growers
would have been heavy. Not only
.did the cannery make a profitable
.market for peaches, but it tended that
much to relieve, the foreign markets
to the benefit of every shipper
peaches. .. t
»^MuT-tAuburn. Each condemned prisoner will have a small
Bi vteS may exercise, observed always by a guard on an elevated
hurgtcai, kitrhen and nurses apartments. There is also
irol'ated^ospUaloffourvrartU^forr patient* ^who^ave^conta^mis ^
railroad will tacUitate
the shipping ol articles manufactured at the prison.
THE BURIAL GROUND OF HOPES
More fortunes have been . made, in fancy, and more fortunes lost
reality, in tbi making of newspapers than In any other field of venture.
Every city In the land has been a cemetery for newspaper hopes, the burial
ground of well laid plans that so often "gang aft^aglae.” They have flour
ished like the flower in the morning and been cut down like the weed at
night They have not even, like the wicked, flourished for a time like the
° f bay tree. Oftentimes starting with Inadequate capital the sheriff has taken
JUST A MARKER.
A gain of more than 22 per cent in
poslofflce receipts for’the fiscal year
ending June 30, as compared with the
previous twelve months, is a faithful
reflection of the growth of Americus
both in population and business.
Everybody knew that the city was
making great Btrides in all directions,
and the confirmation given by tire
government figures was to be expected.
But it is Interesting as offering a tan
gible measure.
For the coming twelve months the
outlook is. for' an even greater ex
pansion in industries. By the time
another Government year draws to a
close Amortcus will be equipped with
a number of new and handsome pub
lic buildings, while a street railway
will be added to its transportation
facilities.
If Uncle Sam should visit this city
about a year from now to inspect his
new $75,000 home, he would hardly
recognize Americus as being the same
city for which the appropriation wa3
first made. The old gentleman will
perhaps wonder what was tne matter
with his representatives that they did
not give the full amount asked, see
ing that Americus is the largest,
wealthiest and prettiest city in South
Georgia.
figuring on outcome 'investigating convict system
Had the Republicans nominated
Roosevelt, there would have been
small chance for Bryan, by reason of
the fact that “my policies" and the
Democratic platform bear a striking
likeness to each other. Bryan would
have had an opponent running nearly
thp same platform, and there
ould have remained the question of
personality. On this issue, Roose-
elt would have had the better of
the argument, by reason of the fact
that lie had been tested and had
shown that he was able to handle the
Presidential office with skill. While
Bryan might have exhibited fully
as able powers, when tested, the
odds would have been with Roose-
elt.
But with Taft the nominee, it is
(iuite a different story. While he
might bp called a protege of Roose-
elt, yet he has different environ
ments and is bound by different
cords. Personally Mr. Taft is
most genial ’gentlemen, but whether
or not he has the moral strength to
resist the pressure which will be
brought to bear by interests foreign
to the welfare of the people is
unknown quantity. Certainly be
tween Taft and Bryan, the common
people will have a better chance of
a square deal, with the latter.
In reply to the argument that
Roosevelt will do all in his power
for the election of Taft, It could be
said with truth that the American
people would resent any attempt to
run over them. The good offices of
Roosevelt will in themselves furnish
a line of attack for the Democratic
spellbinders which they will not fail
to use..
Whatever may be said of the De
mocrats. no one will question the
statement that there are two kinds
of Republicans—the Roosevek brand
and the others. The latter are num
erous and have submitted with poor
grace to the fbrmer element. While
they may have hopes # of Taft being
an easier mark, yet the very attempt
of Roosevelt to perpetuate his ad
ministration will make these men op
posed to his man,—Taft.
Quite a number of the Western
states—notably Minnesota, Iowa,
Kansas, Nebraska, and North Dakota,
are Rooseveltian rather than Repub
lican . Bryan should be strong in
this belt* of states, and with the aid
of Gov. Johnson, of Minnesota, might
bq able to round up this group.
Whatever may be said of Bryan,
he is a man who has the courage of
his convictions. And his convictions
are such as appeal to the states nam
ed.
Undoubtedly a number of consid
erations not yet in evidence will de
velop, but at, the opening of the cam
paign the prospects for the success of
the Democratic ticket seem good.
apparent incompetence, but those who
have been actually guilty of numer
ous overt acts should be made to feel
the penalty of the law r in no uncer
tain manner. ,
In working convicts more vigor
ous measures must be employed than
possible in working free labor. Some
allowance must he made for this dif
ference. In any convict system there
are cruelties practiced which cannot
be too severely condemned, though
in the widely separated felony camps,
many of them far in the interior,
such abuses are sure to lie more nunv-
erous than In a central establish
ment which* Is more or less in the
public eye through the means of alert
newspaper reporters, if in no other
Support for the Agricultural Schools.
The Columbus Ledger takes a shot
at Borne middle Georgia newspaper,
unknown to the Jury, which-is not
giving Bryan the proper support. The
Ledger says:
It is very encouraging (?) to see
what are supposed to be some of
the leading democratic newspapers
of Georgia, If not outspokenly op
posing Mr. Bryan since his nomina
tion, at least referring to his candi
dacy In such a way as to belittle “
all tharcan. And one paper la par
ticular, published in a central Geor
gia city, and whose editor was one
of the delegates to the convention, if
quite busy now talking about his
probable defeat
The present Prison Commission is
the original one. Whatever abuses
have sprung up can be justly charged
to them. If they are ignorant of
conditions, that is the fault of the
Commission, and should not be a plea
in palliation in any way. Its tfcelr
business to know. That’s what the
state has been paying them to do.
Under any system abuses will
creep' in, but it seems that Georgia's
share has been slightly exceeded. Be
cause men are sent up on felony
charges does npt place them in the
catagory of beasts of burdens, ah
sotately without protection. The
spirit of greed of course tends
work the' men to the limit, and bru
tal overseers perhaps only follow oiit
the tacit instructions of the lessees
when they'drive the prisoners to the
highest speed.
The time seems opportune for the
airing of the alleged abuses. Geor
gia’s fair name has been trailed in
the dirt in magazines and elsewhere
too long. If the charges are true, it
Is time to call a halt and sharply
punish those who have been guilty of
the offenses against humanity charg
ed.
Just what Is the best method of
handling the convicts has not yet
been brought out clearly. There, can
be no possible excuse for rendering
the state’s prisoners a charge in
stead of A source of profit. Other
states make a profit out of their con
victs, and Georgia should not consid
er any proposition which looks to
their becoming an expense. It should
be entirely practicable to reform ab
uses and provide against their recur
rence. Swift punishment meted out
to offending deputies and camp boss
es would he a long step. If prisoners
were sure of protection, it would be
easy to get information as to the
cruelty and abuses.
Undoubtedly the handling of the
convict question will be the crowning
feature of the present session- of the
legislature. Upon the manner In
which they deal with the question in
volved will they merit the endorse
ment or rebuke of their constitu
ents.* its no time to try to shield any
body' I,et the whole truth be known,
then let proper remedies be applied.
(Savannah Morning News.)
It is practically admitted that un
less the tax on fertilizer tags is in
creased from 10 to 25 cents, the
doors of the newly established agri
cultural schools will have to be clos
ed. The closing of these schools
would be a blow to the chief interest
of the state, the agricultural interest.
The money for their support can not
be taken from the common school
fund because that wouldn't be just to
the children of the state. Besides,
that fund is now much smaller than
it ought to be.
YVho is it that is objecting to an
increase in the fertilizer tag tax? The
farmers don’t appear to be objecting.
It is being pointed out that the farm
ers of Greene county, in their recent
regular monthly meeting, approved
the bill providing for it, and it is re
membered that in its last state
convention the Farmers’ Union ap
proved it. In that convention the
subject was inquired into thoroughly,
find the conclusion was reached that
the increase wouldn’t impose any ap
preciable burden on the farmers of
this state for the reason that in all
the other states in this part of the
Sooth the tax on the fertilizer tag is
25 to 35 cents, and the price of fertil
izers in these states is the same for
the same grade of goods. As a flat
ter of fact, the Georgia farmers) and
fertilizer manufacturers are now
helping to pay the higher rate for
tags in these other states, since, in
fixing the price of fertilizers, the
cost of tags is included. If the rate
is raised Georgia will only get her
share of the tag money that is in
cluded in the price of fertilizers.
The members of the Legislature are
beginning to see their way in thi3
matter. They have been hesitating
to. raise the price of tags because they
were under the impression that it
would increase the: burden of tne
farmers. Now that! it is being shown
that the farmers, through their or
ganizations, have approved thejti
the
Many have been driven insane . by
the heat in New York the past few
days. Sorry for them, but whll^ we
sit around eating Elbertas and/dis
cussing crops we cannot help but feel
how much finer it Is to live In Old
KauifiaiiuiiBi “> * m ,i .
crease in the tag tax the probabilities
are that the bill increasing the ax
will be passed and a support for tne
agricultural schools provided.
Growing Old.
(Chicago Record-Herald.)
A little more tired at close of day,
A little less anxious to have our way,
A little leBB ready to scold and blame,
A little more care for a brothers
name; v ,
And so we are nearing the journeys
end, ,
Where time and eternity meet ana
blend.
A little less care for bonds and gold.
A little more zest in the days of old,
A broader view and a saner mind,
And a little more love for all man
kind:
And so we are faring adown
ThaMeads to the gates of a better
day.
A little more love for the friends of
youth, . h .
A little less zeal for established trutn,
A 'ittle more charity In our veins,
A little less thirst for the daily news.
And so we are folding our ten
away, , .
And passing in silence at close
day.
A little more leisure to sit and dream.
A little more real the things unse. .
A little nearer to those ahead.
With visions of those long-loved an
And so°we' are going where all must
To the 8 °place the living may never
know.
A little more laughter, a few more
And we'shall have told our increas-
The book ^ls closed, and the prajers
And we are’a part of the countess
Thrice happf, if then some soul
"I live because he has passed r,1>
-waj*.” ; _______
Our great fleet of warships has
started on the return trip to th •
lanflc coast. If the retuni trlP^
made with success'equaM^
accident
Georgia than the great- metropolis, ward voyage the globe wil
And soon" they will be freezing to circumnavigated Without . mJ
death up there by way of turther con-i a marvelous jfecord a.
trn«t » never Je equalled.