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Til O WAnir x 7 I 4- , i r \<v /* «iTs Sjr 1 -m. r iiv A iOiil J s f VOL. XLIX CONSOLIDATIONS OF SCHOOLS AND THE COUNT! UNIT SYSTEM IN EEORCIA (Continued From Last Week.) This would enable the inaugura tion of a more varied and flexible curriculum which would make it possible for the school to keep the children busy and relate the school work more closely to the lives that the majority of the children will live. It is a known fact that the Georgia schools, together with the other southern schools, are the only ones in existence which do not teach the children some thing that will help them in an in dustrial way. Hence, while the children, say of the New England States, are using their hands, dur ing what would otherwise be idle time, in constructive hand work, a Georgia child sits in idleness or throws spit-balls and whittles on the desk. Later, it is found that every time any New England State re cords 150 patents, Georgia records 5. Further results of such nega tive methods of teaching are re flected in the dilapidated and neglected condition of thousands of homes and surroundings and in the wasted condition of so many of the farms. It is further noted that what few outside ind» ' s are in Georgia, that the co..uoll ing stock and influence come from without the bounds of the state. Further, that the choicest re sources of the State have fallen, for the most part, into the hands of outside people. These condi tions will never change until we build and equip schools that will teach something beyond the covers of a few limited textbooks. This will require strong leader ship to emanate trom a centralized County authority. The strongest force, of course, being the connty schools Superintendent, who must give his entire time to his work, and be supplied with suf ficient force of assistants to pro ■ mote 'E&Rstc'BC&vs- - policy. •> • -This will be difficult to accomplish. In those communities which need consolidation most, the people are the least inclined to if, for they have had the least instruction and there is nothing so stubborn as ignorance, which is the mother of brejudice. Again, it Is difficult to remove schools in moct communi ties because the majority of them are located on the same lot with the community church and grave yard. It was here that the pa rents, grandparents, and great grandparents attended church and school and here most of them are buried Hence, you find that a certain amount of commnnity pride mixed with a bit of cussedness coupled with a great deal of senti ment for the past and the dead keep the attention of the parents on the past memories of the adults rather than the future welfare of the children—and many leaders rather than tread on the TOES of the parents, lose sight of the HEADS of the children. But with all of this, it can be done, as has been demonstrated in many sections of the State where leaders have been fearless enough to “beard the lion in the den” and do it. And in this con nection, it might be said that per- A Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Interests of McDonough and Henry County. MISS ANNIE C. THOMPSON AT ST JOSEPH HOSPITAL Miss Annie G. Thompson is in St. Joseph Hospital where she was operated upon for appendicitis Wednesday. She was upon operating table from 9 to 11 o’clock, the operation being of a more serious nature than the physicians expected. She stood the operation well and it is hoped lhat she will soon be able to be back home again. Blind Bob Seeks His Eyesight Blind Bob will go to Atlanta one day next week to have his eye sight restored by the Divine Healer. We trust that it will be our happy privilege to announce to you next week that the blink has been made to see. haps no other State has conso i dated more schools than Georgia during the past ten (10) years. The question of consolidation and subervision can best be solved by having all of the schools of a county operate under one system known as the County Unit Ssystem Under this system the wealthy communities help support in a material way, the weaker ones just as the wealthy counties help support the weak counties. Do not thfse wealthy communities which have independent systems, live bv the support of the sur rounding ones just as the large cities are supported by the sur rounding towns and smaller com munities? The County Unit plan in the main would give the country schools more financial support and would cause the abolishment of huudreds of iudependent sys tems that are now sources of much conceit and needless legal annoyances. Aside from this, they are left to themselves in most instances without supervision •witfe~4hes®'- ■ two —oh-aagee—the consolidation of sm 41 schools and the inauguration of the County Unit system, the solution of the present school problem wouid be almost within reach. Better train ed teachers could be secured for the lower grades; the school term would be lengthened; the children would be kept in school more re gularly, and more expert super vision could be given to all of the schools and there would be no overlapping of Superintendent in those counties where there is supervision in the independent system. Let us hope from the encouragement that we have had from the hunbreds of consolida tions that have been made, and from a few counties that already have the County Unit system that the day will not be far when the entire state will enjoy the same privileg, Let us make the schools function to meet the demands of the living and not to suit the whims of those whose attention is on the dead, and in this way, we will educate a generation that will develop our resources and out our state on a higher plane of in tellectual growth and in so doing we will banish in a measure poverty, crime, sickness and illiteracy with their allied sources. McDonough, Georgia, Friday, August 10, 1923. OBSERVER The annual reunion of the Rodgers family will be held at Bethany church next Thursday August, 16th. The annual session of the Henry Countv Singing Convention will be held at Locust Grove next Thursday August 16th. The annual session of the Flint River Association composed of 47 churches will be held with the church at Hampton this year. Rev. J. A. Partridge of McDon ough is assisting Rev. D. P. John son in revival services at Phila delphia church this week. The fruit crop in this section is almost a failure this year, and only where fruit trees were sprayed is there any fruit of any kind. The many friends of Mr. John J. Smith regret to know of his serious illness for the past ten days, but glad to know that he is improving. The state legislature has only a few more day to remain in ses sion. The people of the state were fully expecting lhat the taxcquali zation law would be repealed at this session, but it has not been and the prospect is now that it will not be repealed. Governor Walker and former Governor Hardwick both went in office pledged to repeal the law, but it’s still a law yet. The people are getting tired of being fooled on promises and to make it plain, they are getting mighty tired. In our communication in the last weeks issue of the Weekly we made a little mention of the passing away of the old time June bug, but since writing that article we have been thoroughly con vinced that we are mistaken about the matter and there are still plenty of the o) .ime June bugs here yet. Some one wno seen the article kindly sent us by mail this week a small box containing twelve live June bugs which we turned loose on the streets of McDonough, So if you happen to be in town, and hear any thing making a buzzing noise, it is an old time June bug. It was our good pleasure to at tend the annual reunion of the Skinner Family last Friday, which was held at the home of Mr. Rome Stewait 3 miles north east of Jackson. The father of this family is 83 years of age, and has a family of ten fine boys and five gills all of whom are still living. Mr. H. B. Rosser of this county acted as chairman of ihe exercis es at 11 o’clock and Uncle “Pomp” Rosser was asked by the family to in ike the welcome ad dress for the occasion, and with short talks by others, together with good singing, and violin music it was indeed a pleasant oc casion. This reunion has been held annually for the past four teen years. A big barbacue was served at this noon hour, which was the best one that Observer was ever at. SON SHOWS OAO HOW TO RAISE PORKERS Ermon Haag of Larned, Kansas, member of the Pawnee County Pig Club fed a barrow as his 1922 project, and by good care and proper feeding for one hundred and twenty days, he put 310 pounds on it, or an average of 2.6 pounds per day. His father had a herd of about the same breeding. The boy’s barrow was a pure bred Poland China, and the father’s were high grades of the same breed. The latter were made to rustle for their feed, and a typical barrow of his group gained seventy-five pounds, or .62 pounds per day during the same period “I consider that the lad’s pig beat the father’s because it was givern betlcrcare when small, also because the bov kept it free from lice and worms, while the father’s were infected with both,” says Carl L. Howard, Pawnee County Agent and Pig Club Lead er. “The boy’s hog was given all the grain it could eat and all the skim milk it could drink, while the father’s pig was limited on grain and had no milk. The lad’s account at the end of his project stood as follows: Pig, 100 lbs. @ .07 $ 7.00 1 bu. bariey («) .65 .65 8% bu. corn @ .70 595 2 lbs. tankage @ 03% .07 % bu. wheat @ .80 .40 920 lbs milk @ .59 460 Oil for pig .05 Total cost of pig $18.72 The lad sold the pig on a poor market getting only $5.75 per cwt. The rig weighed .410 pounds which at $5.75 amounted to $23.57, leaving a profit of $4.85. “Old dogs are learning new tricks,” from pig club boys and girls these days, and many farmers are witnessing the fulfillment of the prediction that “A little child shall lead them.” ANNUAL MEETINS The annual meeting at Berea Christian Church, Hampton, Ga., will begin Sunday August 12, services being conducted by Rey. Ben F. Foster, of Macon, Ga. Mr. Hugh Hutton, of Savannah, who arrived in McDonough with Mrs. Hutton last week, left Wed nesday for Texas. It was indeed with much regret that we learned of the death of Mrs. W. A. Gardner which occur ed at home in E. A’lanta last Sun day evening. The family resided in Brushy Knob district in this county for a long number of years ago when they moved to East Point to reside. She is survived by her husband and several sons and daughters and a large num ber of relatives and friends. She was the mother of Mr. E. W. Gardner and Mr. Charlie Gardner of this county and we join their many friends in extending to the bereaved family our sympathy. Her remains were laid to rest at Bethel church Tuesday morning after appropriate funeral services. Carmichael & Farris funeral direc tor in charge. 51.50 A YEAR MRS. CARDNER BURIED IN BETHEL CHURCHYARD Mrs. Martha P. Gardner, of 160 Metropolitan avenue, died Mon day at the residence. Mrs. Gard ner, who was 76 years of age, was a resident of East Atlanta and a prominent church worker of the Bethel Methodist church. She is the wife of W. A. Gardner and the family had lived in East Atlanta for the past twelve years. Besides her husband, Mrs. Gard ner is survived by three daugh ters, Mrs. Charles E. Sims, of Stockbridge, Ga.; Mrs. E. L. Miner, of Alma, Ga.; and Mrs. E. A. Rivers, of East Point; three sons, E. N. Gardner, of Ellenwood; C. W. Gardner, of Stockbridge, and H. J. Gardner, and one sister, Mrs. W. H. Clark, of Rex, Ga. Funeral services were held Tuesday morning at 11 o’clock at Bethel church, the Rev. E. D. Thomson officiating. Burial was in the churchyard, with Carmich ael & Farris, of East Point, in charge of the arrangements. UNCLE JOHN SMiTH VERY ILL On Saturday, July 28, Unde John Smith went to visit his neDhew, Mr. John Chifin and while on his visit was stricken very ill and has been suffering; severely but was able ot be mov ed to his son’s home here in Mc- Donough Wednesday d. m. and is slowly improving, we are glad to note. JINKS REUNION • The Jinks Reunion that was held near Ola Aug. 4th., was a success in everv wav and was highly enjoyed by all. This re union was held at the residence of Mr. Jim Jinks and was a very enjoyable dav. The speakers for this occasion were: Mr. H. B. and I. P. Rosser. Mr. H. B. Rosser gave the wel come addross followed bv I. P. Rosser in response. Both speak ers were highly complimented. Dinner was then in order. And on the long tab'e under the large oaks were spread all kinds of something good to eat. After all had partaken to their hearts con ten’, the crowd assembled under the oaks and for about an hour, listened to splendid music on the fiddle, bv uncle Beecher and M. A. Jinks. then the crowd got their old fa-sa-la song books and such good music vou never beard for about an hour under those large oaks. Then we had the parting song and uncle Beecher was asked to close by prayer which was de livered in a very Christian way. The crowd then dispersed and returned to their homes hoping to meet again. I WELCOME GUEST Little Dorothy Martile Carter arrived in the home other parents Mr. and Mrs. Russie Carter Aug. 7th 1923 to brinor brightness and happiness to this home that a true mother and father alone can enjoy with graditude inexpressi b'e.