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THE COVINGTON NEWS — THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1975
Modern Little
t\Vilham P. Drake, President and Chairman
the Board of the Pennwalt Corporation in
ijiiladelphia, a firm which specializes in the
production of chemicals and health produc
i4 has "modernized" the fable of The Little
Be<! Hen.
><Once upon a time, there was a little red
Hen who scratched around the barnyard and
Uncovered some grains of wheat She called
her neighbors and said, 'lf we plant this
Wheat, we shall have bread to eat Who will
help me plant it?"'
’"Not I,' replied the cow, the duck, the pig
arid the goose in succession.
'"Then I will,' said the little red hen. and she
did. The wheat grew tall and ripened into
golden grain. Who will help me reap my
wheats asked the little red hen..."
In Drake's modernized version of the story,
the little red hen asks the same question of
her barnyard friends in baking the bread. But
the refusals she gets include: "Out of my
classification"; "I'd lose my unemployment
benefits"; "I'd lose my welfare benefits"; 'Tm
a dropout and never learned how"; "If I'm to
be only the helper, that's discrimination."
Jdowever, when the little red hen had
linked the loaves, then — continuing Drake's
^csion: —"They all wanted some and, in
^jewton County
Corner
iy Mary Sassiaas MaHarW
DID YOU KNOW .. . That Louis Stovall
I‘erry, of Stockton. Cal., author, was a
native of Covington?
: I’he son of James R. (Jim) and Susan
Alberta McCalla Perry, Perry was bom at
die Monticello St. home of his parents, at
die later homesite of the James Belchers,
which in recent years has been converted
sito apartments.
Jim Perry was the official cotton buyer
(or the Tom Swann organization in the
|B9o*s, and also owned two prosperous
{arms in Newton Co. After his death in
J 896, his widow with Ixiuis and Lucy
to-turned to the large Sheffield Plantation
bf her parents, the James Ramsey
McCallas, in Rockdale Co. Louis attended
Emory College in 1907-’08; but his
family's financial situation necessitated his
taking a business course and seeking
Employment in Atlanta, where they lived
Until 1913, when his sister Lucy married
Dr. Emmett Taylor, and he married Miss
Allie Quillian.
:At age 19 Perry became traveling freight
agent with the Reading R. R.. with which
tie was stationed at their Philadlephia
headquarters after WWI. In 1928 he was
Appointed an official of the Hershey
Chocolate Corp., in the newly created
Refinery Dept.; was soon transferred to
(heir New York office as traffic manager,
and then made general manager of their
Jir branch offices at the (Hirts.
die served in WWII in the Bth naval
bist. at New Orleans; and moved to
California in 1940. where he has since
Aiade his home. In recent years he has
devoted his time to writing television
plays. novels and books, many of which
atje (Couington News
: NATtONAI
'Mfms.p, TWCituwo Obw-i*' ISS3
PvMtfced twice weakly eicept weakly
4wief wook el New Tscrs Dey.
Mabel Sessions Dennis — publisher Em 1975
Iso S Mollord asst, publisher — editor •**’"
Mary Sessions Mallard — associate editor
i Arthur W Bowman n«ws editor
• Robert C Greer tportt editor
■ Leslie Nelson ■ society writer
: Lucile Skinner society writer
pno year in Georgia $9.27
pne year out of state sl2 88
Second Class Postage Paid
^^fovington Georgia
Red Hen
fact, demanded a share. But the little red hen
said, 'No, I can eat the loaves myself.'
"'Excess profits!' cried the cow.
"'Capitalist leech!' screamed the duck.
"I demand equal rights!' yelled the goose.
And they painted unfair' picket signs and
marched round and round the little red hen,
shouting obscenities.
"When the government agent came, he
said to the little red hen, 'You must not be
greedy.'
"But I earned the bread," said the little red
hen.
"Exactly," said the agent That is the won
derful free enterprise system. Anyone in the
barnyard can earn as much as he wants. But
under our modern government regulations,
productive workers must divide their
product with the idle.'"
At the end of the "modernized" fable, all of
the neighbors of the little red hen "wonder
ed why she never again baked any more
bread."
There is, of course, an obvious moral to
the story: when hardworking producers in
our society find too much of their income
being siphoned off by the government to be
given to non-producers, they will simply
stop producing resulting in equal poverty
for all.
are based upon Newton County, which he
still loves.
'Hie manuscript for his book, “Romances
Along the Hightower Trail,” describes
antebellum days of the exciting lives of his
two grandfathers • Dr. Alfred Perry and
Maj. Jas. Ramsey McCalla - best of
friends, who pooled their cotton, which
they hauled in big wagons down the
"Hightower Trail” to the headwaters of
the tide on the Savannah River, where
they sold their cotton to British importers,
and came home loaded with silks and
satins, staples and luxuries for their
beloved wives and children. Both of
Perry’s parents and two older brothers,
who died in infancy, are buried in
Covington's Southview Cemetery, directly
in front of the Church St. entrance.
Perry writes interestingly of the only
other local Perry family - no kin • here at
the time of his birth - Tom Perry, a very
wealthy plantation owner, and brother
Walter Perry, who married his aunt, Clara
Perry. The Walter Perrys had 2
daughters. Camille m. Tom M. Bryan, Ft.
Lauderdale. Fla., (who was a Sigma
Alpha Epsilon Fraternity brother of Louis
S. Perry), where she still lives; and Joyce
Perry m. John Ellis, a cotton factor in
Atlanta. She died in 1971, a widow with
no children. A stunningly beautiful
woman, she is the leading female
character in Mr. Perry’s yet unpublished
book. "Mud Pies," scenes of which are
laid in Covington among families of the
1890's.
We are grateful to Perry for his
reminiscences; and look forward with
much pleasure to reading his books based
upon Iwa! incidents of his native county.
Advertising
Leo Mallord manager
Jeanne Smith - display
Covington Naas, Inc.
4112 Hwy. 271 H.W.
Covington, Georgia 30209
404-714-3401
Leo S. Mallard
Winter and the holiday season are also a
prime time for fires in the home, and
although most of us take little notice of
hazards around the house, it is a good
thing to bring "fire safety" to our at
tention during this season especially.
Nothing can wipe the "merry" out of
Christmas like a fire in the home. z
Just thinking of the destruction that fire
can cause made me contact the Covington
Fire Department to get some statistics on
fires in Covington during the past 12
months. Normally I hate statistics, but we
have to admit that these stats tell an
alarming story. T hey are also a tribute to
Covington’s well trained and efficient fire
department.
During the past year the Covington Fire
Department has gone to 28 industrial
fires, most of them minor. They have
answered 84 calls in the merchantile and
residential category; 46 automobile fires;
and 63 calls to help put out grass and
rubbish fires.
Fire loss for the year has been estimated
at $142,955, or $11.91 cost per capita.
The total value of property endangered by
fire in calls answered was a whopping
$63,892,613. Covington’s fire fighters
BUDGET HEADACHE NUMBER 973
Thinking Out Loud
Wishing the Best
Dear Editor:
Let me take this opportunity to wish
each one of you there at The Covington
News office a very Merry Christmas.
At the same time I wish to express my
personal appreciation for the gracious way
that you recognize and promote the work
of our churches and religious activities in
the area. What a blessing it would be if
more newspapers would help promote the
Lord's work in the way that you do. 1
honestly believe that more people would
be reached for Christ and that some of the
attitudes toward Christianity and the
Christian religions would be changed for
the better.
It is my personal belief that you and
your paper shall always prosper when the
real Lord of the Printing press is always
kept in prominent focus. I think that the
scripture exhortation to "seek first the
Kingdom of God and its righteousnes."
applies in every area of life. When we give
Him the recognition and prominence due
Him and His work he will never fail to
give us in return the blessing of the
Kingdom.
May the Lord bless each one of you as
you continue to do the good job that you
have done during 1975.
Sincerely.
J. S. Brown. Pastor
Porterdale Baptist Church
Super Great'
Dear Editor:
Our thanks for the perfectly beautiful
story on the recent tour of the Atlanta
Decorative Arts Club to several homes in
Covington.
You might be interested to learn that as
Beware Os Fire
deserve the thanks of the people of this
city for a job well done.
It was interesting to note the causes of
alarm fires in the city; combustible
materials left unattended on stoves, 6;
auto carburator defective, 24; careless
smoking, 13; children playing with
matches, 4; shorted wires in auto elec
trical systems, 11; vandalism and
malicious acts, 5; electrical, 13;
carelessness in welding, 3; defective
appliances and fireplaces. 29; fluorescent
light ballast. 5; TV sets. 4; chimney, 1;
suspected arson, 7; undetermined causes,
40. They also responded to five calls to
get cats out of trees!
A fact sheet from the Insurance
Information Institute shows that on the
average 7,400 fires occured daily in these
United States in 1974. Every 39 seconds,
fire broke out in a home, and fire losses
topped the $3 billion mark. Home fires
account for about 73 per cent of the
nation's building fires and about 36 per
cent of the dollar fire losses.
Faulty wiring and electrical equipment is
the leading cause of building fires, and in
1974 there were approximately 170,700
a result of the tour, the Atlanta
Decorative Arts Club made generous
contributions to the Newton County
Historical Society and to the Georgia
Chapter. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Our thanks for the super great publicity!
Most sincerely,
Ann C. Brewer
Area Director
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
March for ERA
Dear Editor:
We're inviting your participation in a
march on the Georgia State Capitol
supporting ratification of the Equal Rights
Amendment. The march is scheduled for
Jan. 10. the Saturday before the Georgia
General Assembly convenes. Local and
nationally prominent speakers have been
invited, including all the presidential
candidates.
We're marching to the Capitol to express
popular support for ratification for the
Equal Rights Amendment, as away of
exerting the continuing pressure of public
opinion which has made ERA an issue
that cannot be ignored, stalled in com
mittee manuevers. or defeated without
risk. We in Georgians for the ERA believe
that visible, broadly-based support for
ERA is essential for ratification, as mass
action provided impetus to the Suffrage
movement, and the work for abortion
rights. Lobbying is an important part of
ERA efforts, but lobbying alone won't do
it. W e need a united movement, made up
of all kinds of women and men, to build
the momentum required to convince the
southern tier of state legislatures that have
so far rejected ERA. Georgia's a good
place to begin concentrating, since we
(Please Turn to Page 5A>
such fires. Death by fire declined slightly
in 1974 to 11,600 ... 100 less than
1973. Injuries by fire increased from
117,000 to 123,000. Also, 6,500 or 62
per cent of those who died in fires, died in
residential fires. About 70 per cent of all
building fires and 30 per cent of all fires
in the U. S. occur in residential oc
cupancies.
The highest death rate by fire is among
persons 65 years of age and older. The
death rate among children under 5 years
of age is second highest. So much for
statistics. . .but, they do tell a terrible
story.
Statistics don’t mean much until you
become one of them. That is the only
reason that they have been listed in this
column. None of us want to become a
statistic during this holiday season, and if
any of this info causes you to take some
action that might avoid a fire in your
home or business, then this column will
have more than served its purpose.
As the Christmas season approaches take
a look around your house and make sure
that your wiring, lights and appliances are
in safe condition. You might avoid a lot of
cost and heartache by doing so now. Old
folks and children look to us to help keep
home safe for them. . .and you might save
your own life in the process! Happy, safe
holidays!
Bowman /WS
Target
Is Christmas
Backfiring?
By ART BOWMAN
Christmas is the time for giving, the time
for sharing, the time for togetherness, the
time for love. Christmas is also the time
for depression, the time for stealing, the
time for loneliness.
Every year about this time editor’s begin
formulating thoughts that will be used for
their annual Christmas message to their
readers. In a few weeks those well
planned articles will be published. If you
were to read more than a handful you
would soon see the redundancy, the
sameness of each.
Each editor will tell us that Christmas is
the greatest time of the year when we are
more concerned with giving than
receiving. We will be told that this is the
time of year everyone shares what they
have. People, we will be told, will be
together and their happiness will be easily
read on their faces. Christmas, the
analogy goes, is the time for love.
There is another side of Christmas that
never makes the columns. It is the side of
the holiday season, editor’s feel, that
should be hidden because it might damper
the spirit of others.
For many people Christmas is the
greatest time of year but for others it
becomes the worst time. The com
mercialism of Christmas has become so
rampant that we are drilled with the need
for giving — not giving at Christmas time
is like sinning. And while you are at it,
goes the commercial message, why not
give these fine, expensive gifts. . .nothing
else will do.
There are many people who are in
capable of giving what the commercial
message insists is correct. They become
depressed. The feeling is that, “If I can’t
give this to so-and-so then I am a failure."
These people also worry about spending
as much on one person as was spent on
them. Depression builds, the outlet is
suicide. There are more suicides in
December than any other month.
There is another outlet that may bring
those gifts that must be given, that is
stealing. The month of December brings a
rise in the number of armed robberies and
in the amount of shoplifting. For some
reason the mind figures that a stolen gift
is better than no gift at all. The reason
must be that it has been reinforced with
the idea that the amount of gifts
corresponds to the amount of love.
Why do people feel this way? This is not
the way people have always felt at
Christmas, is it?
Perhaps we are all feeding on the
commercialism of the season. We are
bombarded by the advertising media with
thousands of goodies for Christmas in
living color. We are told that true love is
represented by giving a certain gift. It
grows within us and we begin feeling that
we must reallv show our love through
gifts.
Giving is certainly a sign of love but not
with this attitude. Perhaps the real reason
is because we have lost sight of the real
reason behind Christmas. This is the time
we honor the birth of Jesus Christ. If we
are to give gifts we are to give them in the
name of Christ’s love, not the thought of
impressing someone. The best gift of all.
however, is simply the gift of hive. With
love there is no need for impressing others
because those who know you love them
need no other gift. After all. the greatest
gift of all is love — give it freeiy.
"For God so loved the world He gate His
only begotten son."
|k W
