Newspaper Page Text
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Chustmas
By E. L. RAINEY
MUST BE NO EMPTY STOCKINGS CHRISTMAS MORNING
O,
SIX COMMONWEALTHS, R‘sz‘r
IZING SHORTCOMING, IN *©
LIFE OR DEATH BATTLE.
A COUNCIL OF INVESTIGATORS
Inéustries Seek Way to Win Back
Business Being Carried From Them
Into the South and the Mississippi
Valley. Prosperity Moving Away.
A dramatic battle to retain their
olaces in the industrial sun is being
.\\.‘;.ul by six New England states
which have been supreme for a cen
fury or more in many fields. Aware
that the south and west have been
crowding New England out of the
American industrial picture the six
cates have joined hands in a struggle
for their economic and business inter
vsts. They have assumed the theory
hat the best defense is an offensive
DALY i
States Create Council.
The New England Council, com
prising 72 men, recently organized at
a meeting in Worcester, Mass., is
«ccking the remedy. Twelve men from
cach of the six states, including busi
ness men, farmers, bankers, transpor
tation officials and manufacturers, the
council is a cross-section of New
England life.
The council generally is not inter
ested in local industrial problems. It
tackles the major difficulties. The
growing prominence of the south as
a textile center and of the Mississippi
valley as a shoe manufacturing center
are the symptoms of a condition that
affects the welfare of all New Eng
jand. Tt is this condition the council
wishes to remedy. !
The council now is making a survey
of the industrial status—and possibil
ities—of the six states. When the sur
vey is completed there will be avail
able a complete picture of New Eng
land and the transportation, agricul
tural, commercial and industrial rem
edics necessary to stimulate and re
new the economic life of the section.
Land of Industrial Centers.
New England is in the hands of an
executive committee which is drawing
up broad solutions of the outstanding
problems of the six states. New Eng
land is determined to prove to the
world that she is not “slipping.”
Ever since the early days of the
American republic New England has
been a land of industrial centers.
Towns were built up for protection
from the early Indians, so industries
quickly developed when that danger
no longer existed.
The New England shoe manufact
uring business goes back to 1630,
when the first shoe factory was es
tablished at Plymouth. -Early New
England had its cattle—and therefore
its hides for shoe making—right at
its back doors. So New England
quickly became the shoe center of the
country.
Prosperity Moves.
Today, though, the largest shoe fac
torics in the country are located at
Binghamton, N. Y., and St. Louis,
Mo., far away from New England.
Labor troubles and the removal of
the cattle industry to the middle west
helped to bring about the change.
New England in the meantime has
been content to continue with its fac
tories virtually just as they are. That
fact has added to the industrial de
cline, in this particular line, of the
section,
Labor troubles figured, too, to a de
gree in the moving of the textile cen
ter from New England to the south.
Cheaper labor available in the south,
however, was the most important in
fliecnce. The south, too, has fewer re
strictive labor laws. Many New Eng
land textile firms realized these con
ditions and moved to the south. Those
that remained at home, it is pointed
out, were slow to adopt modern ma
chinery and improvements, and that
helped the south along.
Still Plays Big Part.
New England, however, still plays
a major part in the textile industry,
having more than half the spindles in
the country and in the shoe industry.
New England manufactures as much
textiles as the other states combined.
New England, too, boasts that it
still has some of the finest farms in
the country and that other smaller in
dustries it boasts still are without
equal. New Emnfgland fisheries, 100,
do a business that_is without a peer
anywhere else in the nation.
Studies Water Power.
One of the outstanding possibilities
of a solution for this indusirial prob
lem of New England is water power.
The council now is studying this as
pect of the situation.
Most of New England’s water pow
er is in Maine. A $100,000,000 power
project, for harnessing the tides of the
Bay of Funday, now is being planned.
Such a plant alone could supply all
New England with power. ko
Development of water power, 1t 1S
predicted, will mean better living con
dittons for the workment, greater
production and lower taxation. With
cheap power, it is declared, New Eng
’a_“fl will be able to recapture some
01 its lost trade.
e PR
FISH FEED FROM HANDS.
: Tf‘,ruugh patience and generous
Iteding of bread, a Florida naturalist
and his wife have trained the fish in
d lake near their home until the crea-
Wres will eat from their hands.
THE DAWSON NEWS
Skin of Author Used
~ln Cover of His Book
‘One of the Most Unique Volumes in
| " World Is for Sale.
~ What is described as the “most
unique book in the whole world” is
{5O sale in an obscure little antiquity
& j"s store on a narrow street not
\;bt Augustine’s church in
Paris’ Q@ i, ,
The cxi . fame or originality
does not It&. he contents of the
volume nor is wy style lauded as es
pecially remarkable, What is declared
exceptional is the binding of richly
ornamental leather,
In the center of the front cover
there is delicately traced a butterfly
with its wings extended ready for
flight, each wing measuring about an
inch spread. The butterfly is of a dif
ferent material from the leather which
surrounds it. ~ According to a type
written explanatory sheet, it is made
of a piece of the author’s own skin.
The author, however, unfortunately,
preferred to remain anonymous,
NO LAW AGAINST IT, BUT AT
LANTA MINISTERS CON
DEMN DISPLAYS.
ATLANTA, Ga—Flasks are being
offered for sale in Atlanta.
There is no law against it, local
court authorities stated.
Exhibited in windows of jewelry
stores are the neat little flat, hip-pock
et flasks which you have seen pulled
at dancing and dinner parties where,
the elite gather. You have seen them
pulled in the movies.
The ones on sale in Atlanta are
slightly curved so they will exactly fit
the rear pocket. :
Of course they could be used for
butter milk, or sweet milk, or even
to carry water in the rear pocket. But
the observer of the clandestine drink
does not associate any of these bever
ages with this flask.
Local court authorities said that in
Indiana there is a law whereby the
man who sells these flasks can be
prosecuted as an accessory to the vio
lation of the prohibition law. But
Georgia has not gone that far, they
said. It will be recalled that the At
lanta Evangelical Ministers’ Associa
tion, composed of the ministers of all
denominations, passed resolutions de
ploring the exhibition of whisky flasks
in Atlanta shop windows, stating that
such display had a bad effect upon
public morals and had a tendency to
deride the prohibition law.
TOM CAMPBELL, OF MONTA
NA, REALLY A MANUFACT
URER OF GRAIN.
Tom Campbell, of Hardin, Mont.,
known as the greatest wheat farmer
in the world, disclaims the title and
declares he is a ‘“manufacturer of
wheat on an industrialized basis.”
Not that this man who has grown
as much as 500,000 bushels of wheat
and rye in one season objects to being
called a farmer. For he and his family
have grown wheat for more than 40
years.
. Farming Real Business.
He loves the soil; he loves farming.
Only he doesn’t believe the word
farming quite expresses just what he
is trying to do. For Campbell, as head
of the Campbell Farming Corporation,
is attempting to reduce wheat grow
ing to the same sort of, operation as
the United States Steel Corporation
has steel, or Henry Ford has motor
cars.
The biggest wheat grower in the
world says he is making a go of it,
too, and that in only one year in the
last seven has he failed to show a
profit on his operations.
Campbell recently made a trip to
Washington to take up with the pat
ent office certain new improvements
on wheat-harvesting machines which
he has worked out in his giant opera
tions in Montana.
Cuts Cost in Half.
Patents have been applied for on
several new wrinkles, and Campbell,
says the U. S. Department of Agricul
ture, shortly will announce some new
processes that greatly reduce the cost
of harvesting wheat.
“We have cut ‘the cost by the new
methods we are following of convert
ing wheat from standing grain to
wheat in the truck ready for market,
from $4.50 an acre to considerably less
than half that sum,” says Campbell.
“The system works on large opera
tions. I believe it can be used in small
farming, too. We want to test our ex
periments more before putting them
before the farmers of the country.
“I believe it will help revolutionize
wheat harvesting in some sections of
the United States.”
IER R
Huge Consumption of
‘ Gas by United States
The United States consumed _in
1924 69.3 per cent of all the gasoline
ased by the United States, Canada,
United Kingdom, Germany, France
and Russia. We had 112,000,000 pop
ulation and 17,880,000 automobiles
compared to 286,650,000 population
and 3,047,400 automobiles in all the
other countries named.
PRSICRRER
TO AMEND FEDERAL PEONAGE
ACT AND PERMITS ARREST
FOR BREAKING CONTRACT.
Purpose of Bill of Carolina Congress
man Is to Make Negroes Who Ob
tain Advances and Run Away Sub
ject to Criminal Prosecution.
WASHINGTON, D. C.—Congress
man Hare, of South Carolina, has in
troduced a bill of far reaching import
ance to the general agricultural and
labor interests of the south.
From time to time there is much
trouble with negro labor on the farms,
and this bill proposes to stabilize the
situation. It would amend what is
known as the peonage act which now
provides that it shall be unlawful for
‘any one to arrest or cause to be ar
rested, return or cause to be returned
any person to a condition of peonage.
The amendment provides that where
a person enters into a contract with
lanother to be performed within one
year with intent to cheat or defraud
'and receives a consideration wholly
}or in part and then refuses to perform
the contract it shall not be unlawful
to arrest or cause such person to be
returfed and tried in a court of com
petent jurisdiction. X
When asked what the purpose of
the bill was Mr. Hare stated “under
existing conditions we seem to have
no law which affords adequate protec
tion to farmers under our farm labor
contract system, and practically all
the efforts to effect a contract that
would protect all parties have been in
conflict with the United States peon
age act.
“Under the present law, for example
a farmer enters into a contract with
a negro, for most of our farm labor
contracts are with negroes, and makes
advances to the extent of one or two
’hundred dollars or more and by the
|timc he begins work in the spring the
|negro leaves and if the farmer at-
Itcmpte to bring him back and have
him execute his contract it would be
held to be a violation of the peonage
law; whereas, the negro would be al
llowc(l to go free, there being no law
iwherchy he could be tried for a crim
{inal offense even though he knew at
| the time he made the contract and
|received the money that he was not
igoing to execute the same.
| “The purpose oi my bill is to make
‘it a criminal offense for him to enter
into a contract with intent to cheat
lor defraud, receive the consideration
!in whole or in part and then breach
the contract.
“This bill is intended to catch the
man who wants to get something for
nothing, but in actual opinion it will
be a benefit and to the advantage of
honest labor, because if the farmer
knows when he makes the contract
that it is one binding on both parties
]hc will not have to take chances and
| can therefore give the laborer better
or greater consideration in the con
tract.”
MILLION DOLLAR WHISKEY CARGO
LEAVES GERMANY FOR SALE IN U. S.
CUPID IS-LOAFING -
TO MAKE BAD MATTERS THE
WORSE THERE IS GREATER
NUMBER OF DIVORCES.
Cupid’s business took a decided
slump in Georgia for 1924, while
there was an increase in the number
of divorces granted, as compared with
1923, according to figures made pub
lic by the United States Department
of Commerce. .
Marriages.
There were 32,491 marriages con
tracted within the state during 1924,
compared with 37.949 the preceding
year. The number of divorces for 1924
was 1,902 and the number of divorces
in 1923 was 1,828. ;
Fulton county led the state both
in the decrease in marriages and the
increase in divorces. There were 3,-
646 marriages in 1924 and 4,343 in
1923. Five hundred and seventy di
vorces were granted in 1924, as com
pared with 519 in 1923.
Bibb county reported 1,050 mar
riages in 1924 and 1,347 in 1923.
Chatham county reported 1,325 mar
riages in 1924 and 1,472 in 1923.
Divorces.
Bibb county reported 73 divorces in
1924 and 77 in 1923.
Chatham county reported 113 di
vorces in 1924 and 126 in 1923.
Other marriage figures were:
Muscogee, 1,040 in 1924 and 1,260
in 1923: Richmond, 749 in 1924 and
1,043 in 1923; Laurens, 459 in 1924 and
556 in 1923.
Other divorce figures were:
Muscogee, 82 in 1924 and 75 in 1923;
Richmond, 221 in 1924 and 246 in 1923.
Walnuts shipped from Rumania to
this country six months of 1925 were
valued at $42,000 more than all those
sent in 1924
DAWSON, GA., TUESDAY EVENING, DEC. 22, 1925
Carload of Gifts Burn
In an Accident to Sanla
Four Dogs and Other Presents. Lost
In Express Car Fire.
BATAVIA, N. Y.—Santa Claus had
an accident today. An American Rail
way Express car full of Christmas
gifts to be distributed in eastern lo
calities was burned at Alexander, near
here. Four dogs were burned to death.
Anlerican Express qompany officials
said the loss might! run anywhere
from $lO,OOO to $50,Q00. - ;
The car was part! of a Delaware-
Lackawana and Western train bound
from Buffalo to New York city.
/ t
i e
BRITISH SCIENTISTS EXTEND
INOCULATION WORK; CAN
NOT TELL RESULTS YET.
Second Inoculation With Virus Plus
Chemical Agent Has No Effect.
Those Engaged in Research Have
High Hopes for Success.
LONDON, Eng.—Several labora
tory workers under Dr. W. E. Gye
and J. E. Barnard in their cancer re
searches have undergone inoculation
with cancer germs.
These germs, with which immuniza
tion is being effected, are not dead or
ganisms, as some suppose, but living
organisms from their chemical agents
by the two scientists.
The results of these inoculations up
to the present have been so far suc
cessful. In no case, either in the lower
animal or the human, has cancer de
veloped, notwithstanding the fact that
subsequent inoculation was made in
several cases with the cancer germ,
plus its chemical agent.
High Hopes Entertained.
While those engaged in the _rescarch
entertain high hopes, they feel that
caution is necessary. Mr. Barnard said
today that the recent work was prom
ising, but that it was premature to
suggest that a successful method of
immunizing humans to cancer had
been evolved. The results must be
checked again and again under vary
ing conditions before it would be pos
sible to assume that real progress has
been made on the cancer problem.
The outstanding difficulty has been
to isolate the chemical agent with
which the micro-organism of cancer
operates. Its nature has not yet been
definitely determined and Dr. Gye’s
investigations are proceeding with the
object of deciding this factor.
New papers are soon to be publish
ed detailing the latest investigation of
Mr. Barnard which led to his discov
ery of the ultramicroscopic organism
of cancer by means of invisible rays.
It is understood that chickens, and
even mammals, have been inoculated
with the cancer germ by Dr. Gye and
developed the disease within a very
short time,
Big Bootleg Syndicate, Headed by
Czech Engineer, Has Paid 500
Per Cent Profit on Previous
Trips. Philadelphia Is Center.
BERLIN.—A 6,000-ton freighter
loaded to capacity with $1,000,000
worth of whisky for American con
sumption left Bremen for Bermuda
yesterday. It is part of the rum fleet
operated by a German syndicate.
When the ship left Bremen it carried
with it the hopes of a Czech mining
engineer, a German exporter, a lead
ing Berlin druggist, a Berlin hotelier,
2 well known actress and scores of
minor investors. Their hopes are justi
fiable, for previous trips brought 500
per cent profit.
U. S. Called Land of Gold.
Central European bootleggers are
now convinced the United States is
literally a land of gold. It is not even
necessary to go personally to pick up
gold off the streets, the dream of the
old immigrants. Bootleg messengers
are more efficient.
The titular head of this syndicate
is general director -of an export house
in Bremen, with its own warehouse in
the free port. The New York agent—
-2 German-American who makes his
home in Hoboken—meets the boat at
Bermuda. The Czech engineer goes
ahead to arrange for the reloading of
the cargo on .fishing smacks. |
Quaker City Is Center. ‘
Philadelphia is the syndicate’s cen
ter in America and all liquor is event
ually concentrated there for distribu
tion through the east. The Czech
seems to be the brains of this particu
lar syndicate, only one of many that
have plunged into bootlegging in the
last few months. He was once a
smuggler of drugs. Beginning with
an investment of $25,000 he is now
reported to be a millionaire. He makes
no secret of the source of his wealth
and since his success travels about
Europe in a limousine, saying the
trains are too common. |
PARTY MODERN YOUTHS
\
iGEORGIA U. S. JUDGE DISCUSS
‘ ES DANGEROUS TENDEN
| CIES OF PRESENT DAY.
:
‘ A
| ““ ”
SHORT SKIRTS “MERE LURES
Drinking by Boys and Girls, Night
~ Automobile Rides and Modern Pict
ures Are Destroying Old Time Mo
rality, He Declares.
ATLANTA, Ga—Liquor drinking
‘by boys and girls, night automobile
“petting parties” and the short skirt
came in for a scathing denunciation
at the hands of United States Federal
Judge Samuel H. Sibley, when he ad
dressed a meeting of the Atlanta Ro
tary club. In his address the jurist
chailenged the citizens that the time
has arrived when stock should be ta
ken of what he called the dangerous
effects. of certain ideas of conduct.
Lo ; g
i Trial Marriage.
Appealing directly to his listeners
Judge Sibley said:
“I ask you if it is not time to con
sider whether marriage is to be a trial
affair or regarded as a permanent ar
rangement; whether a modest girl
would not make a better wife than an
immodest one and whether or not
there is greater danger in the so-called
freedom prevailing now between the
youths of different sexes.
“But worst of all,” the judge de
clared, “is the promiscuous use of lig
uor by immature boys and girls. This
probably has done more to destroy
old-time morality than any other one
factor.”
To this Judge Sibley added that
maodern youth in its attempt to con
form to certain ideas of life, made al
luring through the médiums of the
motion picture and modern pictures,
has literally ‘“gone wild.”
“Mere lures and the tendency to
carry fashion to extremes” was the
lacing given the shoft skirt by the
speaker. L
“The idea of shortening the skirts
from the old styles and aboilishing
the tight collars was a good one to
begin with, but the extreme to which
it has been taken shows how an idea
that was originally good may be car
ried to foolish extremes in an effort
’to conform to style,” was another re
mark from the jurist. i
Need of Reform.
Judge Sibley declared that all hu
man contact is based primarily on
the idea of conformity to the prevail
ing mode, and that when this contact
mode is not the proper one it results
in deformity, which, in time, necessi
tates reform, which should be started
early. The child, he said, should be
}insti]]cd with the idea to perform, for
it is only through the performance of
proper conduct that habits are taught.
Judge Sibley said he was a “staunch
believer in transformation, which may
completely change a person’s life, al
though that person’s training in the
other ingredients of the formula has
been inadequate. I believe in reforma
-111’(;11 through transformation.”
|
’CONGRESSMAN HITS
~ RURAL MAIL SERVICE
| il i
SAYS CARRIERS NOW WORK
ONLY FEW HOURS A DAY,
AND WOULD CUT FORCE.
Complete reorganization of the ru
ral mail service of the United States
may be one of the problems for which
the next congress may have to find a
solution. Representative Hoch, of
Kansas, is expected to introduce a bill
providing for such a move during the
early sessions of the house of repre
sentatives. He would seek to reduce
the number of rural mail carriers and
to increase the length of the routes
they cover.
Automobile Makes Change.
In the old days of the horse and
buggy the rural mail carrier had to
work all day to cover his route, which
averdges 30 miles in length. Today,
though, with the use of the automo
bile, the same route can be covered
with case in three or four hours, Rep
resentative Heoch believes.
The rural mail carrier is_paid $2,300
a year and works only a few hours
each day. The farmers he serves, how
ever, work from dawn to dusk and
make not half that®sum, they contend.
In the west, it is said, the farmers
stand almost to a man for reorganiza
tion of the rural mail service.
Saving of Millions.
Mr. Hoch' estimates that if the rural
carrier force were reduced and the
fewer number of men compelled to
work eight hours a day to cover long
er routes with their automobiles the
government would save millions of
dollars a year. This sum, he says,
could be applied to the postal deficit
or to extension of the rural service to
sections it does not now reach.
Llamas are the baggage animals of
Bolivia.
| .
Home Town of Coolidge
Noted for Long Living
!38 of Its 400 Citizens Are From 80
| To 100 Years Old. °
~ PLYMOUTH, Vit.—This hamlet,
‘which is justly proud of having given
a president to the country, has anoth
er claim to fame.
It probably is one of the most salu
country.
Herb Moore and several old-timers
were discussing with Angus McAul
brious spots in this section of the
ley, guard at the home of the presi
dent’s father, John C. Coolidge, the
longevity of the inhabitants of Ply
mouth township.
Someone raised the question of act
uval numbers and in little more than
half an hour they named 38 men and
women whose ages ranged from eigh
ty to well over ninety, They declared
there must be at least half a dozen
others.
.The population of the township is
estimated at 400 and no man is con
sidered old who is not at least 70.
|
INHERITANCE TAX
REPRESENTATIVE RAINEY’'S
AMENDMENTS SWEPT ASIDE.
GREEN ROMPS ON FLORIDA.
WASHINGTON, D. C—~Amid a
display of oratorical fireworks the
house today accepted the modified in
heritance tax rates provided in the
non-partisan revenue bill,
Representative Rainey, of Illinois,
a democratic member of the ways and
means committee, which framed the
bill, after submitting several amend
ments, conceded he was *beaten” and
took occasion to chastise lcaders,
speaking some of the time to the dem
ocratic side.
“You think you can perpetrate this
outrage,” Mr. Rainey shouted. “Oh,
other leaders will rise! These puny
and little leaders who now control
will not control always.”
Chairman Green, of the committee,
paid his respects to Florida, which has
barred the inheritance tax through
amendment to the constitution, declar
ing to the “people of Florida you can
nevern make a really gftat = state
through colonies of tax, dedgers and
money grabbers, paragites and coupon
cutters, jazz tripper 1d booze hun
ters.”
HEARD NOISE IN YARD, SAW
THE FORM OF A MAN, AND
" FIRED GUN.
VALDOSTA.—~When Mrs, Magdgie
Gurganious, of [Lanier county, was
brought to Valdosta Saturday by La
nier county officers and placed in the
LLowndes county jail ‘details were
learned concerning a tragedy enacted
at the woman’s house on Friday night
kand which has led her to be charged
by officers with slaying Enoch Hall,
a white man living near the Gurgan
ious home.
According to the story brought here
by Sheriff Tucker, of Lanier county,
and Deputy Sheriff Courson they
went to the home of Mrs. Gurganious
accompanied by Enoch Hall, presum
ably to make a search for a suspected
liquor cache. It was stated that as
they approached the house occupied
by the woman and several of her
children gun fire was opened without
a warning and Hall fell fatally wound
ed.
When seen in the LLowndes county
jail today Mrs. Gurganious said that
she was the mother of six children,
three: of them being married. The
three younger ones, two daughters
and a son, reside with her. She said
that while she was cooking supper
after dark she heard a noise in the.
vard and went to investigate but
found nothing. A Tittle later, she said,
she heard the noise again and carried
her gun with her when she went to
investigate, although she saw nothing.
She said that she would shoot if
intruders were about. When she was
}returning she says she saw the form
of a man almost between her and the
‘house and she fired, believing he in
tended to seize her. The man was Hall
and he fell at the shot and died al
most instantly. :
Mrs. Gurganious declared that no
whisky had been made or sold about
her. place. She said she had been told
that Hall was mad with her about
something and intimated that she be
lieved he was responsible for the noc
turnal visit of the offaicers to her house.
Nebraska Town Largést
Alfalfa Market in U. S.
Commumity of 2,000 Ships From 1,100
To 1,300 Cars Each Year.
Cozad, a town of 2,000 persons in
central Nebraska, is the largest alfalfa
market in the United States.
Records of carload shipments of al
falfa from Cozad for the last seven
years show that from 1,100 to 1300
cars a year are dispatched. In. addi
tion the stations of Darr and Willow
Island, near there, each ship from 300
to 500 cars per year.
Dawson county, of which Cozad is
the capital, leads Nebraska in hay
production, while 1925 crop figures
show that the cornhusker state leads
the nation in acreage devoted to the
crop.
Merey
Christmasg
VOL. 43.—N0. 17
FORT GAINES HOST TO SEV
ERAL THOUSAND PEOPLE
FROM TWO STATES.
SLATON PRINCIPAL SPEAKER
Former Governor Delivers Stirring
Address in Which He Scores Pro
posal of Big State Bond Issues.
Holder and Others Speak.
FORT GAINES, Ga.—With the
air filled with martial music and the
thunder of oratory ringing in their
ears Fort Gaines entertained gpprox
imately 3,009 people Friday in celebra
tion of the opening of the new $lBO,-
000 steel and concrete bridge across
the Chattahoochee river, linking Geor
gia and Alabama.
John N. Holder, chairman of the
state highway department, received
the bridge from H. J. Slack, state
bridge engineer, and in turn presented
the structure to B, M. Turnipseed,
mayor of Fort Gaines, and also to the
members of the board of county com
missioners. Mr. Holder and Mayor
Turnipseed made short speeches at._
the ceremony. Little Miss Sallie Tur
nipseed and Master Clayborn King
chirstened the bridge
| Following the short exercises at the
bridge the members of the party went
to the Fort Gaines high school build
ing where the speakers of the day
were introduced, :
Former Governor Slaton, who deliv
ered the principal speech of the occa
sion, said in part:
Excerpts From Speech.
“The history of the bridge gives
me thought of deeper significance%han
mere iron and steel and physical en
ergy can give. The value of material
things consists not in themselves but
their spiritual memory. The greatest
structure that ever was built, the
pyramids of Egypt or the comossus
of Rhodes, was the product of hun
dreds of years ago and existed in a hu
mans mind before they were realized
in stone or marble. The things were
but symbols of courage, persistence.
The faith and the genius that realiz
ed them were the realities. This bridge
that you are celebrating today will
yield to the relentless wear of time,
but the unconquerable spirit, which
obstacles could not+daunt, will bless
forever your posterity.
“A hundred years ago the weary
traveler had the ferryman to carry him
cross the angry stream. The enter
prise conceived and constructed a
bridge which succeeded the strong |,
arms and brave heart of the old boat
|man, who has long since passed over
other darker waters. This bridge was
washed away and until after the civil
war the primitive transportation of
earlier days was adopted. Sherman
devastated the southern states with .
sword and torch; slaves had beén
freed and the south was in a state of
destitution never surpassed in human -
!history. But your gallant forefathers
\in the midst of it all with heads, heart
and *souls” unsubdued built another
bridge in 1867. Disaster happened to
it and agajg and. again it was recon
structed. But persistence was superior
to disappointment; courage triumphed
over difficulty, a self reliance which
{knew no defeat achieved the inevitable
victory and the mammoth bridge of
today is the gulminating triumph of
it all. The part that commands my
{admiration is that you did these things
| vourself, through legal channels pro
vided by the constitution and laws and
principles of our forefathers.
Built Without Debt.
“Connecting two states it is the sub
ject of interstate commerce and the
proper object of Georgia and Ala
bama. The highway fund of Georgia
provided without debt imposed any
where, its quota in association with
Alabama. How much more splendid
than the violation of constitutional
provisions against the incurrences of
state debt, learned by our forefathers
from hard experience of Georgia and
her histery. Highways are entitled to
unstinted praise in the service they
perform. They bring together com
munities, they aid the schools and the
churches in their enlightening scrvice,
they promote commerce in its myriad
| forms. But nothing will compensate
|for the loss of local independence. It
'is a classic that Hercules helped those:
'who helped themselves. Where money
lis spent by those who pay it, it will
'be spent economically, frugally and a
‘return may be expected from every
‘dollar expended. -No extra contracts
are made, excessive salaries paid, use
less or inefficient men employed or
defective material expected.
| * “What a source of pride should
‘Georgia be to every citizen. Her bond
ed debt is $6,000,000, unpaid for
fifty years. And yet there are those
who would wish us to imitate other
states with unbearable burdens. Most
wisely our forefathers wrote that
Georgia should never incur a debt but
it should pay as it went. Every dollar
of principal and interest must be paid
by the people, the poor people strug
gling to meet their obligations, by
the consumer in whatever walk of
life he may be and we are inviting
capital to invest with us, under the
assurance of fair treatment and stable
laws. How can we expect it with
threats of extra sessions of our legis
lature, the insurance of a heavy debt
and the necessary heayier taxation?”
The Central of Georgia band played
selections all during the morning ex
‘ercises, and led a parade through the
streets of the town from "the new
’tbridge to the school house.