Newspaper Page Text
A Prize-Winning
Newspaper
MIOW 1953
Better Newspaper
Contests
VOLUME 90
General Election November 2 Has Great Importance
Private School Plan To
Be Decided In Election
,Newton County voters will join Georgia voters on
November 2 in a general election which is likely to be one
of the most important in Georgia in several decades. Aside
from the election of 53 public offices (in Georgia the Demo
crat party nominees are virtually assured of election),
aeveral amendments to the Geor
gia Constitution are subject to
approval or disapproval of the
voters. The most controversial
and most meaningful of the a
mendments is the one concern
ing education, Amendment Num
ber 4 on the ballot.
Proponents of the amendment
contend that it is a final resort
to assure the continuation of seg
regation in the public schools
of the state. The amendment
provides that the General As
sembly may dispense with its
obligation to provide adequate
education for its citizens through
aid to private schools. Thus, the
proponents of th eamendment
hold, if necessary, the public
school system of the state will
through legislative action be
come private systems to which
the state would give aid for the
benefit of educating the chil
dren of the state.
Opponents of the amendment
hold that the voters of the state
have several years in which to
decide the issue, since the con
sensus is that the issue of non
segregatio nin Georgia will be in
the courts for several years. The
Georgia Education Association,
made up of the white teachers
of the state, contend that the
amendment may threaten free
public education in the state and
more time is needed to decide
the issues. The GEA is outspoken
in its support of continued segre
gation in the public schools of
the state.
Stands both for and against
Amendment No. 4 will'be carried
in the NEWS next Week.
A list of the Democratic nom
inees for the election will be
carried in next week’s NEWS.
Guard Commander
Gets Promotion
Oliver A Morgan, company
commander of Heavy Mortar
Company, Newton County unit
of the Georgia National Guard,
was recently promoted to Cap
tain. Capt. Morgan began his
National Guard service with
Heavy Mortar company in Sep
tember, 1949.
ANNOUNCING
the new and improved
Dearborn Disc Plow
let vs show you how this ovtfit will turn
sod, boild terraces, view cviover Imd
•wwy twl * ■rW^W WwrwwF ▼ wirs MnlW
Here's a rugged plow that turns sticky, waxy sod; old pas
tures; bard scouring soils, with ease. It slices through dry,
hard-to-penetrate ground—stays sharp in abrasive soils that
would wear out moldboards and shares in a hurry. Because of
its ability to roll over rocks and chop through roots, it’s great
for cutting fire lanes—plowing cleared land.
The new Dearborn Disc Plow' is ideal for stubbie mulch farm
ing or for controlling erosion since it leaves some trash mixed
with surface soil. Also a convenient outfit for terracing and
contouring.
See it . . . try ft. Convenient terms available.
McGUIRE TRACTOR CO.
Phone 2139 Usher St. Covington, Go.
Speedway Name
To Be Changed
To Newton Dr.
An advertised Covington ord
inance in this issue of The NEWS
proposes the following:
A street commencing at North
Emory Street and running west
ward to the City limits same
being known as new Highway
No. 12 and U. S. Highway 278 is
hereby named and designated as
Highway 278 West.
A street commencing at North
Emory Street and running East
war to thi City limits same be
ing New Highway 12 and U. S.
278 is designated an dnamed as
Highway 278 East.
A street commencing at Eber
hardt Street approximately 350
feet off North West Street and
continuing Northward to the City
limits is hereby named Berry
Street.
A street commencing at Eber
hardt Street approximately 670
feet West of North West Street
and continuing Northward to the
City limits is hereby named
Banks Street.
A street beginning at West
Herring Street extending North
ward approximately 400 feet to
a point where Eberhardt Street
joins and dead ends with said
street, and continuing North
ward to the City limits is hereby
named Hudson Street.
A street heretofore called
“Speedway” situated North of
and running parallel with Floyd
Street, which begins with North
Anderson Street and running
Eastward to the City limits is
changed from Speedway to New
ton Drive.
A street heretofore known as
“Skelton Street” extending North
ward from Echols Street to North
Street is changed from Skelton
Street to Hillcrest Drive.
ehr (tatiigtim Niw
Covington's ONLY HOME - OW NED and HOME - OPERATED Newspaper
Starrsville Has Top Community Booth at County Fair
■k/'W JN . s . v > th-
™
•JK.-
St
® ■■■HF IMwR 1
>|B|^BBBBBO
' I Wwi M
* JR * ' > * JBBk - <
w* <. A- |' * t
- 5 i * 1
COMMUNITY BOOTH prize winner, constructed by the Starrsville Community Club at last week's
Newton County Fair, is shown above.
Heard Mixon Home Demonstration Booth Best at Fair
r lOJMiXON '
X
- .HL HEX.
< Ju
J * HF w
* w
xy! v - .-Ac . .
k. - , * V . -
X’Y - ' - '■ ' <' ■ -
" A- s . ' ’ "
HOME DEMONSTRATION first place winner at the Newton County Fair last week was made by
the Heard Mixon Club.
Vote Margin Narrows Between
Top Contestants for Prizes
When the second period reports were in Saturday. they showed
that the contest leaders turned in enough votes to hold their
position* by narrow margins.
The contest is going into the “home stretch". This is the
most important week of them all. The prizes have been put
within reach of every contestant who will work for S2O clubs
of subscriptions, five or six year $9.00 subscriptions or extensions
of subscriptions already given to contestants in former periods of
the contest. What contestants win now is squarely up to them.
Victory or defeat is just a little over one week away. Making
an effort to win now will be worth all the regrets in the world
after the winners are announced.
EXTRA EFFORT NOW LEADS TO VICTORY
Newton District Contestants, alphabetically
MRS. JAMES ADAMS, Porterdale, tied for the 10th high Wed.
vote, had the 6th high Sat. and held 7th in total vote.
MRS. ERNEST ATKINSON. Rt. 2, Covington, reported two sub
scriptions last week, and is 21st high in total vote.
MRS. A. C. DAVIS, Oxford, had the Bth high Wed. vote, the 4th
high Sat. and held sth in total vote.
MRS. GRADY HOSCH, Covington, reported the 2nd high vote
both Wed. and Sat., but held the vote lead by a narrow
margin.
MRS. HENRY L. GRAVES, Rt. 4, Covington, had the 6fh high
Wed. vote, the sth high Sat. and held 6th high in total vote.
MRS. PRESTON JOHNSON, Rt. 1, Covington, had the sth high
Wed. vote, the 9th high Sat. and gained from 9th to Bth in
total vote.
MRS. B. A. KITCHENS, Covington, reported only 1 subscription
last week and dropped from 10th to 11th in total vote.
MRS. JOHN H. LATHAM. Rt. 1, Covington, had 1 subscription
Wed., and the 14th high Sat. vote, held 13th in total vote.
MRS. HORACE LUNSFORD, Porterdale, failed to report Wed.,
had the 10th high Sat. vote, and gained from 17th to 16th
in total vote.
A. H. MALONEY, Rt. 5. Covington, tied for the 10th high Wed.
vote, also the 15th high Sat. and dropped from 11th to 12th
in total vote.
MRS. L. D. PRITCHETT, Covington, tied for the 12th high Wed.
vote, also the 15th high Sat. and gained from 16th to 15th in
total vote.
(Continued on page 12)
GOVINGTON, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1954
Frank Dyer Last
Rises To Be Held
Today Here
Funeral services for Ist Lt.
Franklin A. Dyer, only son of
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Dyer of Cov
ington, who was killed in an
aircraft crash, October 7, in
French Morocco, will be held
this afternoon. Thursday, at 3:00
o’clock, at the Covington Presby
terian Church. The Rev. Messers
M. B. Dendy, Allen Gardner
and Chaplain A. L. Wvoljeski
of Dobbins Air Force Base, Mari
etta, will be in charge of the
services. Interment will be in
Covington Cemetery.
Surviving Lt. Dyer are his
wife, the former Miss Blanche
Hutchison of t’rattville, Ala.,
one son, Scotty; and his parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Dyer.
An Honorary Fly-By of jet
Fighter planes from Dobbins
Air Force Base will pay homage
to Lt. Dyer during his interment
at the Covington Cemetery.
Serving as pallbearers are:
James Wiley, Owen Stanton,
Roy Malcolm, Gray Hinton and
Beverly Patton, cousins of the
deceased; and Bill Holstien. J.
C. Harwell and Son are in charge
of arrangements. The NEWS
joins hosts of friends in extend
ing sympathy to the rereaved
family.
John L Stephenson, Pioneer
Citizen, Is 90 Years Today
When a man celebrates his
90th birthday, many things could
happen. But for John L. Steph
enso nit will be just another
day, if he has his wishes.
Today marks the 90th anniver
sary of the birth “Uncle John”
one of Newton County’s outstand
citizens and one of the very few
remaining leaders of the county
who helped to develop the area
into one of the most prosperous
in the state.
A pioneer merchant and busi
nessman of Covington, Mr. Steph
enson is given much of the credit
for the rapid expansion of com
merce in Newton County which
occurred at the turn of the cen
tury.
Not given to maudlin con
cern with the “good old days,”
the keen and alert nonagenarian
recalls the conditions in Cov
ington when he entered the mer
chantile business with his uncle
Sam Thampson, later with the
late T. G. Callaway Sr., his
brother-in-law.
“The city park out there had
a fence around it. This was to
keep the pigs from fouling up
the four wells in the park at
that time. Why, those pigs knew
to come up to the park to pick
up corn which sifted through
the wagon bodies, and when the
pickings got thin on the ground,
those educated porkers knew to
punch the bottoms of the wagons
to cause more corn to come sift
ing down.”
The son of Leonidas Franklin
Stephenson and the former Miss
Jeannette Thompson, Mr. Steph
enso nrecalls that there were
from four to seven saloons
around the Square before the
fire of 1893 when the courthouse
and many other buildings were
destroyed, particularly those on
the north side of the Square.
“The owners of the saloons
must ahve done pretty well!
they all dressed nicely. But in
those days, nobody made very
much. A top wage for a good
clerk in the stores was $37.50
per month. Room and board was
about $12.00 a month. Two ho
tels did alright, though, charg
ing drummers $2.00 a day for
board and keep.
“Sale day was always on first
Tuesday. That was the day
when the town really filled up.
Legal auctions in front of the
courthouse were held on this
day. Still are. But the business
houses attracted crowds on this
day with their bargain sales, too.
This was before the day of the
big Saturday crowds.
“I remember a teetotaler from
Lithonia, who always waited
until afternoon to begin trading
horses. By that time, the sal
oons had a lot of the men in
the mood to trade. Mr. Jenkins,
the father of Atlanta’s Chief of
Police Herbert Jenkins, usually
’went home with a much better
horse and several dollars more
in his pocket . . . Horse trading
was really an art in those days.”
Mr. Stephenson was born in
Rocky Plains in 1864. In 1901 he
was made a director of the Bank
of Covington when it was org
anized. He was elected presi
dent of the Board of Directors of
the Bank of Covington and Trust
Company in 1939. He has held
this office since.
He married Miss Leekie Calla
way of Lithonia in 1896. Their
two sons, Walter Callaway and
E. Lee, live in Covington. His
two grandchildren are daughters
of Mr. and Mrs. E. Lee Steph
enson; they are Margaret Gail,
now teaching at Gargaret Fain
School in Atlanta, and Sara, a
freshman at Newton County
High.
Martha Benton Is
Chosen to Naiads
Martha Benton, the daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Benton
of. Mansfield, has been chosen
for Naiads at Wesleyan College,
Macon.
Naiads is the campus swim
ming club. Members participate
in a water review twice each
year. •
Martha is a freshman at Wes
leyan this year. She is a 1954
graduate of Newton County High
School.
(Editor's Note: The highest
tribute we have heard given
“Uncle John” was a remark by
his daughter-in-law, the former
Miss Margaret Budd: “It has
been one of life’s most rewarding
experiences to have lived in his
home for the past 23 years.” The
NEWS joins his multitude of
friends in wishing Mr. Steph
enson “Happy Birthday” on this
his 90th).
THE HUB
V'wo. ‘B^bbbh^
R DRIVEiwi
fl
- /SB
BBflßflMtflßßßflßl
YOUR FAMILY THEATRE
JUNCTION HIGHWAY 11-12 '
Thursday and Friday
OCTOBER 21 - 22
John Hodiak in
'AMBUSH AT TOMAHAWK GAP'
Also, Paramount News
Saturday
OCTOBER 23
MacDonald Carey - Ellen Dru in
"THE GREAT MISSOURI RAID"
Sunday A Monday
OCTOBER 24-25
Mickey Rooney - Eddie Bracken in
"SLIGHT CASE OF
LARCENCY"
luesday d Wednesday
OCTOBER 26-27
Edmund O'Brien in
"THE HITCH HIKER"
THIS PAPER IS COVINGTON'S
INDEX TO CIVIC PRIDE
AND PROSPERITY
Newton-Rockdale
Med. Auxiliary
Business Meeting
The second business meeting of
the Newton-Rockdale Medical
Auxiliary was held at the home
of Mrs. Jordan Callaway Tuesday
morning. Those present were Mrs.
R. M. Paty, Mrs. S. L. Waites,
Mrs. J. R. Sams, Mrs. Clarence
Palmer, Mrs. Goodwin Tuck, and
Mrs. J. B. Mitchell Jr. Mrs. F.
C. Nesbit was unable to attend.
Three members from the Conyen
group were unable to be present
at the meeting.
NUMBER 43