Newspaper Page Text
PUBLISHED
MONDAY, WEDNESDAY
AND FRIDAY
Official Organ Ben Hill County and City of Fitzgerald
MRS. CUTTS NEXT MCVE FOR FREEDOM
~ IN DOUBT; BAIL HEARING TOMORROW
Three Defendants in Shepard
Poisoning Case Will Make
Fight for Freedom
John Hopson Goes to Macon
from Fitzgerald To Visit
" Mother, Mrs, F. E. Elmer
MACON, Dec. 6—At least three
defendants in the alleged poison con-l
spiracy, which the State is attempting
to show caused the death of Fred D.
Shepard, will be in court Tuesday
morning at 10 o’clock for the hearing
on the application of bail, it was
learned yesterday from an authorita
tive source.
These defendants are Mrs. F. Eu
gene Elmer, Mrs. lone Henry and
Ernest Hopson.
Attorneys for Mrs. Annie Cutts ap
pear to be undecided about the next
move to be made in her behalf. No
application for bail has been filed, but
they may spring a surprise at the lasts
minute. These attorneys are said to
be of the opinion that a writ of habeas
corpus is the best method through
which to seek the release of Mrs.
Cutts, and unless plans are changed
in conferences today, it is said, those
lawyers will await the action of the
hearing today, before making a move'
for their client. 5 |
With the appearance of at least
three of the defendats in court on
Tuesday, lawyers for the defense will
attempt to make the State show its;
hand. So far as'known Solicitor Chas.
H. Garrett intends to oppose the!
granting of bail on a showing made!
by affidavits, although there may l)(‘!
a witness or two, to take the stand. |
The arrival of John Hopson, son of
Mrs. F. Eugene Elmer, and his visit
to the County Jail yesterday, where:
his mother is held on a charge of mur-"
der, featured the events of yestcrday.'l
While at the jail Hopson is said to
have called at the cell of Mrs. Annie.
Cutts, with whom Hopson formerly
resided at Abbeville. He spent nearly
an hour at the jail. {
Hopson May Attend Hearing |
This is the Hopson, it is said, who
was shot by J. A. Turner, former ov-f
erseer on the Cutts plantation at Ab-:
beville, last May ana for which Tur-i
ner received a sentence of two years, |
the case being appealed. It is stm;
hanging fire in the courts. |
That Hopson will remain in Maconl
at least until after the hearing on the!
application for bail Tuesday morning
was indicated yesterday. He had!
nothing to say, however, in regard to;
the charges against those under ar-
Wt maintaining the same silence that
has characterized the attitude of law
yers for the defense since the first ar
rest.
Dr. F. Eugene Elmer, Jacksonville‘
physician whom many believed would|
arrive here Saturday and remain for,
Tuesday’s hearing, may not come to|
Macon at all. . |
Lawyers for Mrs. Elmer declined to!
state whether Dr. Elmer declined to|
state whether Dr. Elmer will be lu‘rci
for Tuesday’s hearing. |
Other persons interested in the out
come of Tuesday's proceedings for
bail, the numerolts Tatwyers for Mrs.
Annie Cutts, including her husband,
Eldridge Cutts, and his brother, E. A.
Cutts, of Savannah will arrive here
today. : i
DOLL FURNITURE DELIGHTS
HEARTS OF GIRLS
The beautiful display of doll furni
ture, just like real, in the Feinberg
Furniture store windows, is attracting
the attention of the little Misses who
hope for Santa Claus to remember
them.
Mr. and Mrs. C. F. Beanblossom of
Tift county, came over for a visit to
their pagents Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Cro
well and returned home with D. W,
Beanblossom, who has been ill at the
Crowell home.
THE ={, ) | " 1? THE e= X
=i, | EVERYTHING STILL ONE-FOURTHOFF [ I=~ .
This 25 per cent Discount Sale Continues
EVERY item of merchandise the Empire Store except groceries at ONE-FOURTH OFF. Hart, Schaffner and Marx, and
Styleplus Clothing, Boyden, Empire Special, W. L. Douglas, Dorothy Dodd, Grover, Educator and Star Brand Shoes----
Ladies’ Ready-to-wear and Millinery. Silks, Wool Goods, Cotton Goods, Hosiery and notions, Stetson and Knox Hats,
Manhattan and Nofade Shirts. This is a great saving If you will stop and figure what this really means and what the re
duction really is. |
Simply Take One-fourth From the Marked Price and You Have the Sale Price
perice | THE EMPIRE MERCANTILE COMPANY, | Meil Ocders
“ “A STANDARD STORE® :
THE LEADER=-ENTERPRISE
OR
At Meeting Friday Night Full
Investigation Is Made
FIFTEEN BOYS TESTIFY
Admit Blame for Breach of Dis
¢ cipline Last Tuesday
The school board at its regular
mecting Friday night entirely exon
crated Messrs. Carter and Barringer,
instructors at high school, from any
blame in connection with the disorder
at high school last Tuesday morning.
A thorough investigation was made
of attempting hazing of the instruc
tors and the subsequent injury of
15-year-old Stancil Turner, who de
veloped an acute case of peritonitis
from a kick by Mr. Carter. Young
Turner was slightly improved this
morning and was able to sit up in
bed for the first time since his injury.
Fifteen students, eye witnesses and
participants, had been requested to
attend the session in order that the
Board might arrive at the true facts.
President U. J. Bennett and all of
the members of the Board, Messrs.
Lon Dickey from the First Ward,
Scott Walker from the Second, G. A.
Jolley from the Third and Dr. W. D.
Dormincy from the Fourth, were
present with Superintendent Hall,
Principal Gainey and Professors Bar
ringer and Carter,
The student witnesses were almost
fully agreed in their recital of the oc
curence and the causes leading up to
it, manfully assuming ‘the blame for
the breach of discipline. All of the
young men showed a disposition to
give a truthful recital of the affair
and opportunity was given. by the
board to. parents of the boys, to ask
such questions as they deemed neces
sary to bring out all of the facts in
the case.
The Board of Education, after go
ing into&w details of the affair, went
into executive session and on motion
voted unanimously to exonerate the
teachers from any wilfull violation of
the regulations and sustained the ac
tion, of the faculty of the High School
in the interest of discipline.
The students who testified before
the Board were Hunter Johnston,
Reginald Dorough, Eldridge Powell,
Ernest Justice, Arthur Justice, Mark
Mayes, Marvin Whitley, Walter Mal
colm, Hartwell Mathis, Ranald Burke,
John Williams and others.
With Women Voting, Blind At
torney Goes in on Landslide
MAJORITY IS 251
Defeats Three Popular Candi
dates by Heaviest Vote Ever
- By a veritable landslide vote of 500
against 255 polled by all the rest of
the field, Fred M. Powers, Fitzger
ald’s blind attorney, was elected Jus
tice of the Peace for the 1537 Georgia
Militia District Saturday.
The election was the first in Geor
gia in which women had a genuine
opportunity to express preference at
the pells and it is estimated that more
than 200, perhaps half of the total
number of voters,. were of the fair
sex. Mr. Powers’' election is attrib
uted largely to the woman vote.
The election Saturday aroused
greater interest than any Justice elec
tion in years and more votes, 761,
were polled than in the general elec
tion in November,
FITZGERALD, BEN HILL COUNTY, GEORGIA MONDAY, DECEMBER 61920
Celebrates Her 92nd
@ °
Birthday Anniversary
Mrs. fietsy Paulk Honor Guest At
Dinner to Seventy-five Descendants
In honor of the ninety-second birth
day anniversary of his mother, Mrs.
Betsy Paulk, Mr. J. Y. Paulk Friday
entertained about seventy-five mem
bers of the family at a dinner, The
bounteous repast was served under
the trees on the front yard of the
Paulk home on the Ocilla road.
Following the dinner religious ser
vices were conducted for the guests
by three elders of the Primitive Bap
tist:church, of which the aged lady is
a member. The Elders were W. M.
Blackwell of Fitzgerald, R. H. Bar
wick of Cordele and J. M. Bali of
Ocilla.
Mrs. Paulk is one of the oldest
ladies in Ben Hill county and is said
to be related directly or indirectly to
more than a thousand people in this
section of the state. Relatives from
the first to the fourth generation of
the family were present at the birth
paty.
FIVE GENERATIONS OF i
PAULK FAMILY ALIVE
Great-Great-Grand Daughter of Mrs.
Betsy Paulk Born Saturday
The fifth generation of 'the Paulk
family in Ben Hill county was born
Saturday to Mr. and Mrs. Wm. M.
Bryan at their home on West Central
Avenuve. Mrs. Bryan is a daughter of
Mr. D. W. M. Whitley who is a
grandson of Mrs. Betsy Paulk. Mrs.
Paulk celebrated her ninety-second
birthday anniversary Friday.
Mrs. Paulk is believed to be the
only living Georgian with four gener
ations of descendants. The last ad
dition to the notable family is a girl
who has been named Mary Katherine
Rryan. ;
.
M:s. MacSwiney
Reaches The U. S.
Wife of Lord Mayor Who Starved
Himself Will Land Today
New York, Dec. 3—The liner Cel
tic bearing to America Mrs. Muriel
MacSwiney, widow of the Mayor of
Cork, who died on hunger strike in
an English prison arrived at Quaran
tine shortly before 5 o’clock today.
The ship arrived too late to be pas
sed tonight and will not dock until
tomorrow morning, It was announ
ced that no arrangements had been
made to bring Mrs. MacSwiney to
Manhattan this evening by the tug for
the reception planned for her here
by Sinn Fein sympathizers.
Mr. and Mrs. Sam Abram, Dr. and
Mrs. M. S. Cohen and Mr. and Mrs.
Jake Tatel motored ro Macon Sunday
to spend the day with Mr. Ralph
Cohen.
We offer for sale 190 acres of very fine farm land out of the
estate of H. M. Warren deceased, next Tuesday’s public sale at
Ben Hill County courthouse. This land will be shown by either
of the undersigned upon request. ;
The land in question is bounded West by original E. K.
Farmer lands, on South by Stokes and J. J. Dorminey lands and on
West by Warren lands, on North the land comes close to Fitzger
ald-Irwinville Public road.
Annie Warren and J. E. Turner, Joint Administrators.
AND PRESS
8
Community Play
Staged At Grand
Eighteen Groups of 386 People
Show Value of Community
Service
SMALL ADMISSION FEE
Rehearsals for the Recreational Ex
hibition to be given here on Wednes
day afternoon and night, December 8
under the auspices of the Fitzgerald
Community Service have been held
for the past two weeks. Although
the Thanksgiving holidays made an in
road on time, every number is ready
for the curtain call.
This exhibition is being offered for
the purpose of ‘portraying the part
which recreation and play should and
may have in the life of every individ
ual. It will show the relation which
properly directed leisure-time activ
ities have to the succesive stages of
child development, and to the adult
period as well. It will be a practical
demonstration of the use which may
be made of the thousands ot off-duty
hours which exist in every community
daily, and will show wherein leisure
time may be made a community as
set rather than a liability which is
often the case.
Eighteen groups totalling 386 in
dividuals, have been selected to put
on the exhibition. Ten of these come
from the grade schools, three from
the high school, ove from the mill
school, one from the Camp Fire (I-irls,l
one from the Boy Scouts, one from |
the Central Methodist Church, :null
one from the still smaller children who |
have not yet started to school. Mrs.
H. A. Mathis and’ Miss Agnes L.
Weed have been directing the rcher
sals daily. : .
During the past few months simi
lar exhibitions to that being offered
GRAND JURY PRESENTMENTS SUGGESTS
IMPROVEMENTS IN COUNTY ROAD WGRK
Find All Roads in Fair Condi
tion; Recommend Permanent
Convict Camp |
Presentments Infer Insufficient
Locks Blatnable for Recent
Jail Delivery
Fitzgerald, Ga., Dec. 2., 1920.
STATE OF GA., County of Ben Hill
To the Superior Court in and for Ben
Hill Co., Oct. Adjourned Term 1920.
We the Grand Jurors chosen and
sworn and serving at the above stated
term of Ben Hill Superior Court, beg
leave to submit herewith our gcneral‘
presentments. -
The committee agpointed to in-‘
spect the Chain gang, and public
roads submitted the following report,
which we as a body adopt and rec
ommend.
Exhibit —A— -
We your committee on public
roads,, Chain gang etc. respectfully
subunlit that we have gone through
°
Community Chorus To
N v‘
Start Carol Practice
—_— |
First Meeting Friday Night Attended
By Thirty-Five. Songsters
The second regular meeting of the
Fitzgerald Community Chorus will be
at 8 o’clock tonight at the Carnegic
Hall, it was stated today by Mrs. R.
G. Shannonhouse, president. She
urges all members to be present as
practice on the Christmas carols will
begin.
The first meeting Friday night was
attended by an enthusiastic group of
about thirty-five songsters and song
leaders. An interesting program of
singing was carried out. The chorus
will meet each Monday until Christ
mas eve to practice carols. On Christ
mas eve they will be carried over the
city in motor trucks. Homer Waters’
truck will carry one party. Other
trucks will be loaned for the evening.
here have been put on in various parts
of the country. They have always
served as pronounced Incentive to com
munity work through organized com
munity effort The Executive Com
mittee of the Fitzgerald Community
Service feels that this community is
vety fortunate in securing a demon
stration of this kind and are unamious
in their expression that this exhibton
is to be the greatest thing in the way
of community effért ever put on in
Fitzgerald.
The matinee is given especially for
children all of whom will be admitted
free at this performance, but not at
the evening performance, An ad
mission of ten cents will be charged
for adults at both prxfomances as well
as for children at night. This charge
is made simply to meet the actual
expense of rental for the house. |
County Chain Gang thoroughly; that‘
cages in which convicts are kept need
painting badly and that floor in onol
in which prisoners are kept 1
should be repaired at once to
prevent wholesale escape by very lit
tle trouble. We find no shed for im
plements, wagons etc. to be kept
under out of the weather. We find
night guard that needs repairing.
We find that county has 12 head of
mules standing in open lot and recom
mend that z she'ter be provided for
these at onca.
We find all roads running into the
City in condition ahove the average,
none of them being impassable.
We recommend that bridge near
Horace Paulk place south of the city
be repaired at once. We recommend
that double bridges beyond Farmeg,
place be repaired at once. We recom
mend that Bethlehem Bridge north of
the city be repaired at once.
We further recommend that rc-‘
(Continued on Yage 4, ‘
BEN ‘HILL FARMERS WILL ENLISTIN
COCPERATIVE MELON SALES MOVEMENT
BROWN'S REQUEST
No Need of Moratorium in Geor
gia, Says Chief Executive
WELLBORN SAME OPINION
RN \
Dorsey Assures “Stay Law” En
actment Will Not Be Considered
ATLANTA, | Dec. ' 6--Govertior
Dorsey announced today that the sug
gestion of J. J. Brown, Commissioner
of Agriculture, for enactment of a
moratorium law would not be includ
‘ed in any call for a special session of
‘the Legislature he might make. Com
‘missioncr Brown had suggested a
!moratorium because of the low price
‘of cotton and other farm products.
~ The Chief Executive said conditions
in Georgia did not warrant such ac
tion and Governor Wellborn of the
Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank de
!c]arcd that from a financial viewpoint
there is no necessity for a morator
ium. Banks of the State, he said, are
extending ample accommodations to
farmers and there are no reports of
collections being forced from agricul
tural interests,
Representatives of numerous busi
ness have protested there is no occa
sion for a moratorium, but in another
letter to Governor Dorsey today,
Commissioner Brown said he sug
gested an extra Legislative session “to
consider the. advisability and necessity
of a moratorium,” because such ac
tion had been urged upon him, “in
hundreds of letters as well as person
al calls,”
CITY COUNCIL WILL
: MEET TONIGHT
The City Council will hold its reg
ular meeting tonight and besides the
usual business will rececive the report
of the citizens committee appointed
by Mayor Pittman to cooperate with
the city council in framing a new
Telephone Franchise ordinance. This
;committcc will meet at' the Chamber
of Commerce at 7:30 this evening to
finally pass on the report to be sub
mitted.
o
iMacon Bids Sunday
| School Convention
Macon, Ga.,, Dec.2—At a meeting
held in Macon at the Hotel Lanier on,
the evening of November 299th, an‘
invitation was extended to the Georgia |
Sunday School Association to hold tl‘.c;
annual convention in Macon on April
19, 20 and 21. The invitation, \\'hich‘
was accepted on behalf of the Georgia
Sunday School Association by R. D.
Webb, Ceneral Supermt mdent, came
from a group of wtwewv-five of the
pastors, Sunday K School -up:rintend
entsand officers of the Bihl, County
Sunday Schoo! Associatior..
The Sunday School convention is
said to be the biggest religious gath
ering held in the staie. It 18 eéx
pected that at least 800 Sunday School
workers will be in attendance during
the convention. The convention pro
gram will be presented by the best
Sunday School specialists that can be
secured in Georgia and in other statcs.l
Sixty or more speakers will be on the
program. 1
A committee to perfect the neces
sary convention organization was ap
pointed with J. J. McKay as chairman
and the following members: Eberle
Swinford, J. Clay Murphey, F. T.
Vincent, W. H. Roper, R. L. Ander
son, J. G. Jackson, E. R. Middlebrooks
H. W, Pittman, W. P. Jones and D.
S. Wagnon.
Mss. Quarterman Lee has returned
from a visit at Beach, Ga.
FITZGERALD COTTON
Good Middling _____________l6¢c
Monday Receipts___.___ls Bales
VOL. XXV, NO. 144
Farm Bureau Secretary Writes
to Head of Ten County Mar
ket Association -
County Advisory Council To De
cide on Markets and Term
of Office Thursday
e e
Secretary C. T. Owens of the Ben
Hill County Farm Bureau Federa
tion wrote this morning to S. C. Hood,
field manager of the Southwest Geor
gia Development Association, fer par
ticulars of the association’s plans for
marketing watermelons on a mam
moth scale next season. It is expect
ed that information will be at hand
in time for the advisory council of the .
Farm Bureau to take action at its
meeting Thursday on the question of
Ben Hill county joining the move
ment, '
The advisory council meeting
Thursday will also decide on the dur
ation of new officers for community
councils will be called by the council
at the meeting Friday. The council
is composed of the chairman and vice
chairmen of the community councils
and the members consider it of prime
\mportance to have men and women
in these important positions who are
really interested in the work. . The
federation has been operating since
August and the members have had an
opportunity to find who among theip
number are sufficiently interested in "
the orgdnization ‘to work with diligen- |
ce and enthusiasm for its success, ‘
The program of work for the year
will also come up for action at the
meeting Thursday. Tt has been dis-+
cussed at two previous meetings.
Rhodes To Be o
"
Game Warden
ATLANTA, Dec. 6—One of the
first appointments Governor-Elect
Hardwick will make after he assumes
office next June will be to name_J.
Frank Rhodes of Athens State game
and fish warden, according to an
announcement made Friday. Mry
Rhodes will take office in Septew
ber. s
Mr. Rhodes served for many years
in the State Legislature and was
nominated as Democratic candidate in
the primary as representative of
Clarke County in the lower house
last summer but declined to make
the race in the general election be
cause of assurances he had received
that lie would serve during the Hard
wick administration as head of the
State Department of Game and Fish.
EYEGLASSES AND
SPECTACLES
Something Different and So Usefui
A Pair of Our :
Glasses
© As A
Christmas
Present
Have you thought of It?
Ask about our special plan for giv
ing glasses.
H. A. MATHIS
Optometrist and Optician
Davis Bldg., -:- Fitzgerald, Ga:?
