Newspaper Page Text
CAIRO, GEORGIA
The Best City of Its
Size In the Entire
United States
^ YEAR. IN ADVANCE.
iqLUME XLVI.
AX REFERENDUM WILL BE
ifCIDED NEXT TUESDAY
iov. Talmadge
linns Stand
6 940 Are Qualified
To Participate In
Grady County
As has been our custom in
the past, The Messenger will
give out the returns as fast
they are received on the
as There
night of the election.
fore, we urge that the elec
lion managers from each pre
cinct send to The Messenger
office the results as soon as
the vote is counted. Or bet¬
ter still, Please call 203 col¬
lect as soon as the totals are
available.
Everything is in order for the
tiding of the special election in
B
raay radv county * next Tuesday,
. ,
pril 5th for the tax re eren um,
i which 6,940 voters are eligible
i cast their ballots. Of this num
, r there are 3,895 white male
oters and 2,14 < women qualifi
a, in addition to 898 negro voters.
is usual, two-thirds of the total
umber of qualified voters in the
Dunty reside in the Cairo Dis
•ict. there being 4,207 register
d
While interest in the election
i far from being at fever heat,
specially in Grady county as
jell as throughout the state, a
kge vote is anticipated, just
low many, we would hate to pre
act. All of the polls will open at
even a. m. in each of the ten dis
hets and will close at six p. m.
(here will be two voting places
the courthouse in Cairo, one
P floor foi the whites,
hd one upstairs tor the colored,
baking a total of eleven voting
laces in the county.
All of the voting places will
e in charge of Justices of the
eace, Mrs. E. F. Willis, Ordi
[ary, states. She has requested hold
pose she has appointed to
be election to please call by her
pice pick-up by not later than Saturday
p the ballots and all
lection papers. She states furth
F that the election will be held
pder |n ballot” the “new secret Austrial
law, which is same
pat pat has different been in than the system
force in Grady
face 1919, we havng operated
pder law, a local act Australian bal
p P°P which when was he passed by Jeff
r e > was a member
r fhe Legislature from this coun
The Question at issue and to be
°led upon is rather confusing
; a large majority of the voters
1 Ae state, which will have a
sdency to hold down a large
0 About the only thing the
Ver age voter knows about the
lsue is ^at there is $45,985,000
1 lew taxes at stake for the
ex
ansion of state services for ed
Ca ‘' on health, roads and welfare
,
E If the issue by
passes a
of the voters voting
^ the Legislature will be cal
a into session to kind
lax pass some
1 raising measure to tune of
e •’ 546,000,000, . doubt
,, t no a
£ T next e C? Tuesday "* on the
w tax question, then there will
J!° en %, session until of January the General As
Drdin 1950 kV* ac
'almacbp § to a statpmp.ru stateme nt by Gov.
ge -
R regardless of how
n the issue one feels
My J it sovereign •
and nH Ue §e for , each and
ven? V<T *°
» °TE g0 ,0 P° lls
■ l next Tuesdav
The Messenger A uriii U 130
m Pt to fik-P at + "
fast ac 1 mey are 1 the state returns
wed, which compiled and re
„ T will nrohablv Y he
Gov. thirty minutes
Talmas age m a statement
'Med onday shuns
his stand
■° n tinued °n page 1 2nd Section)
Jflt* I > b'4
/
SIXTEEN PAGES
Marianna Group
Brings Program To
Kiwanians Here
Four Marignna (Fla.) Kiwanians
Tuesday brought the new
wanis “bread board” to Cairo Ki
wanians in an inter-club, inter¬
division, inter-district meeting.
It was the regular weekly lunch¬
eon meeting of the local club.
“Bread board” is a new Kiwanis
plan to enable Kiwanians in var¬
ious places to become better ac¬
quainted. Physically, it is a real
bread board with neat etching
thereon to provide for proper re¬
cords of its travel from one club
to another. The bread .board
brought here originated in Pana
ma City, Fla., with Kiwanian J. i
Ed Stokes. Kiwanians from the
Panama City club took it to the
Dothan. Ala. Club with a meet
in S program. Dothan Kiwanians
took it to Marianna. Marianna
R j wan j ans brought it here and
c a j ro Kiwanians have four weeks
in which to carry it to some club
in another state, with a meeting
,p r0 ,g ram> Edwin Carlisle, inter
club chairman of the local club,
^ cdar g ed w jt,h the responsibility
0 £ p ro ,p er iy disposing of it.
Otis Padgett, Marianna, was
program chairman and introduced
his fellow club members Dewey
Rowe and Joe Baker, after which
the latter introduced the speaker,
Arthur Dozier, superintendent of
the Florida Industrial School for
g 0 y S at Marianna. The speaker
interestingly of what has come
£ 0 ^ ^own in Florida as “the
Marianna plan”, a major objec
£| ve Q £ jr or j da Kiwanis to provide
Kiwanis sponsorship for boys
leaving the Marianna state school
£ 0 assure continued rehabilitation
an(d ad j us tment to happy living
- n ^gjj. communities. He said 55
Kiwanis clubs and two Rotary
clubs in Florida are active in
S p 0ns0 ring boys from the school
returning to their communities
and that of 91 boys sponsored in
the program to date only three
had been returned to the school.
He explained that beforehand 16
percent of the boys returned,
which means that Kiwanis spon¬
sorship is giving the boys five
times greater opportunity for be¬
coming happy, useful, law-abid¬
ing residents. He commended the
Marianna plan to Georgia Kiwan
is.
Superintendent Dozier conclud¬
ed wit han interesting verbal pic¬
ture of the journey of a boy
thriugh the Marianna school.
Norwood Clark, club president,
presided. Guests included Lamar
Little, of Roanoke, Va., formerly
of Cairo; and Ralph Roddenbery
and P. M. Baggett, the latter a
Kiwanian who requested a leave
of absence while serving in the
Legislature.
D BflpflSt . r» KGVIVfll • | I O
Open Here Sunday,*
Irtvifori ^Vited
Revival services will begin at j
the First Baptist Church here I
Sunday, April 3, and will run j
through April 10, with services j
"> SatU ' day ' A fT h ' !
,Dr. Soloman F. Dowis, of the the
Home Mission Board, Atlanta,
^Hl be the
Dr Dowis has j iad long pa i t jp
' de
experience, and is in great „ present
mand for revivals. His
duties as Superintendent of Co- j
operative Missions of the Home |
Mission Board takes him all over | :
the southern Baptist territory
which further asquaints him with
,he work and nl : ccls of t J ,e da X
Jack Jones, Minister . of „ Music
at the Tabernacle Baptist Church,
Atlanta, will direct the music for
this series of services.
The public is cordially invited
to attend all services of this evan
gelistic drive. of
The various organizations
the church are carrying on and an
intensive visitation campaign,
a number of cottage prayer ser¬
vices have been held in various
sections if the city.
The Official Organ of Grady
"The man who wandereth out of the way of advertising shall remain in the congregation of the dead."
CAIRO. GRADY COUNTY. GA.. FRIDAY. APRIL 1. 1949.
Livestock Here
A Z
•
**
Cattle Top $24.
Livestock prices were stronger
at Tuesday’s auction sale here,
Cairo Livestock Auction Co.,
management reported, with total
sales about $12,000.
No. 1 hogs sold for 19c a pound,!
10 points higher than the week!
but feeder pigs were in
somewhat greater demand and
sold up to 23.20c a pound. No.
2 hogs were 18.40c a pound and
No. 3 hogs were 17.45c a pound.
Cattle prices were slightly high¬
er on various grades with a top
price of $24.20 per cwt.
Better weather sent volume of
offerings back to near the “nor¬
mal” level.
Legion To Elect
ew Officers
Four Candidates
Seek Top Post;
Run-off Likely
The regular monthly meeting of
Grady County Post No. 122 of the
American Legion will be held
next Tuesday night, April 5th.,
at the Legion Home. An election
will be held to elect new officers
for the coming year.
Four legionnaires Ur each o’
f ice were nominate a at the March
meeting and the ballots are ready
with all those nominated on them
along with a space for
candidates. Horner Allen, Troy
Barrett, Agnew Smith and Robert
P. (Bob) Wight have been nom
inated; ’ Walter Graham, ’ Dave
Singletary . and Bob Thompson,
offering for adjutant.
Other officers to be elected are
first and second vice-commander,
finance officer, service officer,
sergeant-at-arms, historian chap
lain and three for executive com
mitteemen. For an officer to be
elected he must receive a
ity of the votes cast and this will
probably necessitate a run-off.
All officers elected next Tues
day night will be installed at the
June meeting which will be the
last meet before the state conven
tion which 'is to be held in July.
A good supper is promised to
all those who attend. The meet
ing is scheduled to get under way
at p. m. with Commander
Max Reynolds presiding.
Fred Roddenbery Is
Elected President,
Rotary Club Wed.
Fred Roddenbery was elfected
President of the Cairo Rotary
Club at their weekly luncheon
meeting in the Citizens Cafe
Wednesday. Bobby Van Land¬
ingham was re-elected Sec.
Treasurer, and R. A. Bell, retir¬
ing president became vice- presi¬
dent and one of the directors.
New directors recently elected
include H. E. McKinnon, H. T.
LeGette, Fred Roddenbery, W. B.
Winters, Julius Gilmore, and
Robert E. Johnson.
The Rotarians heard an inter¬
pTankfe Harrison^^'lmogene
Strickland, and Azalee Wight of
.the High School Band, under the
J.i«
the program. H. E. McKinnon
Dres j ded
Visitors included: Clyde Coop
er, Rev. Shannon Holloway, J. J.
Morrison> and j. D . Rogers, all
from Pelham; l. B. Harvard and
A] Rabinson from Thomasville;
w B perkins o{ Tallahassee; and
W ‘ jyj M ’ Tyson iyb0n of Cairo.
SS mvFRNOR GRIFFIN
SPEAKS HERE SATURDAY- SATUKUAY.
Lt.-Governor Marvin Griffin
will speak at the courthouse in
Cairo Saturday afternoon at
3:30.
The subject of his talk will be
the Minimum Foundation Pro¬
gram for education, and the vari
cus phases of the April 5 refer¬
endum. The public is invited.
2 Auto Wrecks
At Same Point
Both Occur Early
Sunday Night; Two
Seriously Injured
Two serious automobile acci
dents occurred last Sunday night
within approximately an hour
and a half at the Bailey or ponton
bridge over Gin creek, three miles
North of Cairo on State Route 93.
The first accident happened
about 7:45 o’clock when a 1939
Chevrolet sedan driven by Willie
Lee Harris, of Woodville, Fla.,
S°i n S North crashed into the rail¬
ing on the right hand side of the
bridge, the driver partially losing
control of the auto after hitting
the rise on the south end
proach. The front end of the
Chevrolet including the front
right wheel was badly demolished
ed, the car coming to a sudden
stop just after crossing the bridge.
Harris was accompained by J. T.
Glover, said to have been a resi¬
dent of Tallahassee, Fla., and was
enroute to Pelham at the time of
the accident. An ambulance was
called, and Glover was carried
to the Cairo Hospital, where he
was treated for scalp wounds by
Dr. J. W. Rogers,
Both Willis and Glover were
placed in the Grady county jail
by Sheriff Strickland. Willis
plead guilty before Judge G. L.
Worthy in City Court of Cairo
Monday morning to driving under
the influence of an intoxicant,
and was given a sentence of three
months or pay a fine of $75.00.
Glover entered a plea of guilty
to public drunkness and was sen
tenced to serve 60 davs * or pay a
fine of $35.00.
The next accident at the same
point occurred about 9:15 o’clock
Two Camilla ladies were seri
ously injured when their car, a
1946 Mercury coupe, ran into the
right railing of the bridge, almost
completely demolishing the auto
mobile, the motor being thrown
practically clear of the chassis.
it is said that the coupe was so
badly damaged, that it is almost
beyond repair, and the large
crowd who were attracted to the
scene marveled at how the oc
cupants came out alive.
The injured were listed as Mrs.
Cristella B. Groover, who suffered
a broken leg, internal injuries,
an d a borken jawbone; and Mrs.
Re „a Rhodes, who sustained a
compound injury of the ankle,
face lacerations, and a broken
nose. Both ladies were rushed to
the , Archbold , , , ,, Hospital „ m Thomas- _
ville by the Firsyth-Bearden am
bulances. Reports from the Hos
pital are to the effect that both
are resting well, and indications
point to their recovery.
Mr. E. H. Groover, former Resi
dpnt dent Fneineer Engineer for ror the me "^way Highway
Department, but now employed
by a Moultrie Construction Com
any, and husband of Mrs. Groov
er, ’ who was injured, was in
another few . , hundred , , yards ,
car a
behind when the accident hap
pened, roa’r-h and was one of the first
+n ".TV thp wpnp All thp nart
understood, had been
down in Florida and were re
turning to their home in Camilla,
The report of the Highway Pa
trolmen who investigated the ac
cident, states that Mrs. Groover,
who was driving, was blinded by
the headlights of an oncoming
car driven by Mr. James Lewis
Hartsfield, of'' Meigs, causing her
to run into the railing of the
Kviritro whibh is of one-wav eon
struction, . ti thp the impact irrmact causing causing both oom
occupants to be thrown against
the \ windshield and steering
,
W
Both Mr. and Mrs. Groover have
a number of friends here, and
they have the sympathy of the
community in the unfortunate ac
C1 j € ,
'
Mr. and Mrs. Robert R. Voyles
and son of Atlanta, spent last
week-end here with relatives and
friends.
C. of C. Leaders
Study Needs
Directors Slow To
End Meet Because
Of Interest
Directors of the local Chamber
ot Commerce at their March
meeting Tuesday night at City
Hall, with President W. E. Young
presiding, developed so much in¬
terest in their discussions of
community and county needs that
they voluntarily remained over
time with some finally adjourn¬
ing to a cafe for further informal
discussions over coffee, Eigh
teen of the 24 directors were pres¬
ent.
After full discussion, the dir¬
ectors voted unanimously not to
sponsor a float in the Thomasville
Rose Show parade April 29th,
the Thomasville Garden Club and
Chamber of Commerce having ex¬
tended an urgent invitation for
such participation. It was' report¬
ed, however, that the Cairo
School Band might arrange to
accept a similar invitation to
march in the parade. authorized
The directors an ur¬
gent appeal to the State Highway
Department for it to provide for
state highway bridges in the
county badly damaged in “the
big flood” a year ago today.
Numerous major traffic mishaps
—two only last Sunday night a
few minutes apart—have occurr
are located on State Rt. 93 a
few miles north of Cairo and
state 111 a few miles south
rT^asized That so^many'wrecks,
mostly involving visiting
ers, give the county “a black eye
and that damage claims or suits
j Sy amou^tomoS* than the
rebuilding cost. expressed
' The directors also an
I ty earnest Commissioners desire to assist in the arranging Coun
j or the Whigham grading and
paving job on State Rt. 179 to
be readjusted for resumption of
J Lane^John*^^Faulk, Landingham’
Jr ar d R R Van
together with Rep. P. M. Baggett,
chairman of the Chambers
Ih^CommSsihnTrs^H^weve^ 1
was * i earne d subsequently that ef
the Commissioners hope to
feet a satisfactory agreement
ortiy ^nd ^pletedh
^ children’s garments sewing
factory prospect was presented
and touched off a general dis
cusswn^
velopment committee will short
ly give exhaustive study. The
sewing factory proposal calls for
“?Ss‘SeS
ed j n becoming investors are in¬
vited to contact the Chamber of
Commerce immediately. It was
indicated that more than half a
jj ozen “live” prospects are now
claiming attention,
The directors voted $25 toward
a deficit incurred by sponsors of
gj 10W beld recently.
Mgr. Powell was authorized to
substitute for S. of C. Executives
at the Univ. of N. C, Chapel Hill,
June igth _ 26th He will attend as
a g radua t e student, having re
ce i V ed his diploma after three
previous sessions. The Institute
assembles more than 300 Cham
her Executives from nine states,
After discussin g what was
termed an urgent need for more
trade promotion activities — and
more courtesy and alertness and
TTIsoeoTTenereuTiS Powell
directors instructed Mgr.
to obtain immediately all infor-:
mation on a proposed Sales
Si^eoTkT ^alro^nd f
in Whig- I
ham tentative
In a discussion of
plans for an extensive beauti-,
®X’ pTTT mgenT
an plea to the City
to immediately elimate what was
termed Cairo’s worst “eye wall
tbe unfinish ed building at
Td corner of North Broad St.
a 1st Ave., N. E. Individuals
offered to do whatever is nec
essary to improve this wall.
^“wi^fso^SSSl^SSvide Adequate for white
rest rooms
people convenient to the business
area immediately “to meet an in- j
creasmgly critical ne ?d. Negro
ylars r °ago S Some ^eTchant* who
favored parking meters strongly original- against |
ly spoke out
them and said the need for them |
had passed-Jaut no action was j
taken on this matter. i
SIXTEEN PAGES
$19,530 DAMAGE SUIT FILED
IN CITY COURT OF CAIRO
Sale Of Beer Will
Continue Through
Saturday Night
Although the legal sale of beer
in Grady County and the city of
Cairo is scheduled to stop on
April 1, today, it is understood
that this time limit will 'be ex¬
tended up through Saturday
night, in order to dispose of
quantities on hand which the city
and county have already received
tax on.
On Monday morning a check
will be made on all places hand¬
ling beer, Supplies on hand will
be inventories, and the City will
refund the tax on all beer not
sold.
Council To Move
Against Whiskey
Determined Effort
To Dry Up City Is
Now in Making
The City Council in regular
Monday night discussed
and dealt with routine business,
among which was the subject of
the illegal sale of intoxicants in
1 ,be cky a ^ er the sale of beer
ceases April 1st.
1 here was no official action
: taken on this subject of “bootleg”
whiskey; but tbe Council a g feed
j amon S themselves to take the fol
lowing course in an effort to
stamp out this widespread prac
tice: a quiet warning will be made
to taxi drivers and taxi
ies, and any other businesses
spected, to cease the handling
intoxicants. After they have been
given fair warning, then those
caught dealing in whiskey will
haVe their business license re
voked, and such license will not
be re-issued while the present
officials are in office.
Although no official pronounce
ment was made, the council was
in full agreement on taking a
firm stand, and backing up this
sta nd with action later in a de
termined effort to eliminate the
sale of whiskey within the city
ol Cairo. They agreed to play no
favorites, excepting no person,
white or black, but alike deal
with each one.
No action was taken on the li¬
brary’s request for additional
space.
It had been expected that those
who oppose Sunday movies would
present a petition to the Council,
with the required 25 percent of
the registered voters’ signatures,
asking for an election on the sub
ject, but none was presented.
Mayor Walter Williams called
attention to the fact that April
1st. is the date on which business
and occupational licenses are due,
as well as tax returns on all city
property. He urges all taxpayers
to take note of this date, and coo
!*"** ‘^n S >y.
^ automobiles within the city
are supposed to be registered by
May 15th. The fee is 50 cents.
Registeration blanks are now on
hand at the City Hal1 ’
Ralph Carlisle, city clerk, point
e d out that this registeration is
of v alue to automobile owners,
-
being a means of protection and
identification in the event a car
3 stolen.
A determined effort will be
made A to have all „ . the .. city
cars in
registered. Cases will be made
against motorists who have not
registered after May 15th.
—— —
Dr. and Mrs. T. J. Butt will
have as their guests Wednesday
^ an( j -|^ rs p jj Zachara, of
Tallahassee, Fla.; Mr. Zaehara is
director 6f music at F. S. U. Mrs.
p ad Haralson, of Blairsville, ac
com r p an i ed them and remained for
a visit of several days.
GRADY COUNTY
Greatest Diversified
Farming Section
In America
SINGLE COPIES. 5 CFNTi
NUMBER 12.
Atlanta Parlies
Are Plaintiffs
Accident Occurred
In June, 1948 On
State Route 93
Two suits of much local inter
est were filed Monday morning
in the office of the Clerk of the
City Court of Cairo. They were
companion suits of Mr. and Mrs.
E. D. Cole of Atlanta, with Grady
County and its Commissioners
formally named as defendants.
Bell and Baker, Attorneys, for
the plaintiffs, state that under
the law it is necessary that these
suits be instituted against Grady
County and its Commissioners,
and that the legal procedure then
is for the County to vouch the
I State Highway Dapertment into
j court to defend the suits, and
J after so vouched in the County
I is in reality eliminted from the
case, so that they are thereafter
defended by the Highway Depart¬
ment, with the sdle Tesponsibil
ity resting on them to pay any
judgement that may be obtained,
Therefore from a practical stand
point, it seems that these suits
should be classed as being against
the State Highway Department,
The two suits in the aggregate
claim, damages in the amount of
$19,530 for pain and suffering,
permanent disability, loss of ser
vices, lost time and doctors bills,
drugs, medicines, hospital bills
and surgical equipment. There is
an allegation that her injury is
permanent, though some im
provement has been made,
The petitions stated that the
Highway Department was neg
ligent in five particulars, some
of them similar, namely, (1), in
failing to repair said bridge be
tween the time it was washed
away on April 1, 1948, and the
date of the accident, so as to .
have said bridge and its ap
preaches in a safe, passable con¬
dition for ordinary travel; (2) In
allowing the defective and dan¬
gerous condition resulting from
the installation of the Bailey
bridge over the old bridge to re
main without repair or correction
from on or about April 10, 1948,
until the date of the accident on
June 11, 1948; (3) in placing and
maintaining the Bailey bridge on
top of the portion of the old
bridge remaining in such manner
as to elevate it high above the
paved roadway and approaches
of the bridge, thereby creating
and maintaining a dangerous con
dition; (4) in failing to keep the
bridge and its approaches in a
safe, passable condition for or
dinary travel; and (5) In failing
to post adequate warnings as to
the dangerous condition of the
bridge and its approaches,
The two suits are identical as
to the accident ... in question, the
only substantail difference being
in the amout and kind of damages
claimed. It is alleged that the
accident occurred at about 7:30
A. M., on June 11, 1948, on State
Road No. 93 known as the Cairo
Pelham Highway, about 3 miles
north of Cairo at the site of a
bridge which was partially wash
ed away and put out of commiss
icn by the flood waters of April
1, 1948; that with Mr. Cole at the
steering wheel of the automo
bile,heandMrs.Coleaccompani
ed by their friends Mr. and Mrs.
Benson Johnson of Atlanta were
on their way to St. Mark, Flor
ida,. for a few days fishing. The
petitions stated that none of the
parties -were familiar with the
road, and that there were no signs
posted warning them of the dan
g e r at the bridge; that no other
automobile was in sight at the
time; that on account of the
(Continued on page 8, 2nd section)