WEDNESDAY
EDITION
VOL. XXVI, NO 127
CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, STONE ISSUES STATEMENT
°
“No Turning Back”
° o
Says Trainmea’s Chief
Definite Plans To Be Laid When Big
Five Unions Reach Cleveland
CLEVELAND, O. October 17—
“There will be no turning back, We
are going ahead with our plans for
the greatest railroad strike in the
world’s history.”
This was the declaration Monday
morning of W_ G, Lee, president of
the Brotherhood of Railway Train
men, as officials of the “big four”
railroad brotherhoods and of the
Switchmen’s Union of North America
made plans for the conference of
the heads of the five big unions invol
ved in the proposed nation-wide strike,
affecting all railroads and scheduled to
begin October 30 at 6 a, m,
The hour for the beginning of the
conference Tuesday which will form
ulate plans for the conduct of the
strike depends upon the arrival of
Warren S. Stone, grand chief of the
Brotherhood of (T.ocomotive Engi
neers; W, S, Carter, president of the
Brotherhood of locomotive Firemen
and Enginemen: L. C. Sheppard,
president of the Order of Railway
Conductors, and T, C. Cashen presi
dent of the Switchmen's Union from
Chicago.
Busy With Details
Mr, Lee arrived in Cleveland Sun
day and was busy throughout the
day supervising the sending out of
last minute instructions to the gener
al chairmen of his organization by
wire and mail,
Headquarters of the Order of Rail
way Conductors, now located in Ce
dar Rapids, Towa_ and of the Switch
men’s Union now at Buffalo, will be
temporarily removed to Cleveland,
in order that all five of the executives
may be available for immediate coun
sel upon any development,
“We have abandoned hope for a
peaceful settlement.” Mr, Lee added,
There may be some man with power
enough to avert the conflict, but T
do not know how it is to be accom
plished, The railway executives have
rejected our proposals for a confer
ence and in the face of our appeal
have made plans for further wage
reductions ”
I for one would be glad to at
tend a conference of union leaders
and railway executives in Washing
ton to discuss means of averting the
nation-wide tie-up of transportation,
Peace is always desirable, and if
President Harding should see fit to
call the leaders of both sides to the
capital, T can see no reason why any
union man should refuse to attend.
We have nothing to conceal, Our
cards are on the table,
o ®
Women of Little River
@ L]
Association Meet Here
The First Baptist Church will be
hostess to the Woman's Missionary
Union of «the Little River Association
tomorrow, Thursday, October 20th,
The program begins at 10 a, m, and
will continue all day, The forty two
churches of the Associaitnon are ex
pected to each send representatives
which will bring several hundred vis
itors from this and our adjoining coun
ties,
Mrs, W. B, Owens of Rochelle is
superintendent and will preside, Miss
Maude Powell of Atlanta State secre
tiry and Treasurer and Mrs, C, F,
Cater of Quitman, Divisional Secretary
are amoung those on the program,
Mrs, I, L. Lamie will delight the au
dience with sweet songs during the
session,
Combining the annual business with
an inspirai;onal program will make a
full day but it is with the hope that
every delegate will be inspired to be
gin the new year with renewed zeal
to do big things for the Master in this
part of Mis vineyard in the months
ahead,
' he.local socicties have very satis
factory reports of the year’s work both
froni the First Church and the Ken
nedy Memorial, with 2 new and en
thusiastic one organized in Callie Gar
butt Church at the Cotton Mills, A
large delegation is expected from the
near-Yv :hoechest Arbor, Pethlehem
New Prospect, Mt, Olive, Englewood,
Abba and Mt, Zion,
GEORGE BROWN BACK \
FROM ADVERTISING TOUR
Mr, - George Brown returned this
morning from North Georgia and S,
Carolina, where he has been on an ad
vertising expedition. George saw sev
eral of our former townsmen on his
trip, including A, B, Cook and Willis
Smith, whom he reports as doing fine,
He expects to have some South Car
olina farmers down here this fall as a
result of his trip,
THE FITZGERALD LEADER
FITZGERALD CHICKENS
TAKE MANY PRIZES
A wire from Sam Willcox informs
us that his Rhode Island Reds won
second and fourth pens ont of nineteen
exhibited. '
W, R, Skinner the veteran chicken
fancier also has a fine exhibit of his
premium takers at the show at Atlanta
and reports have it that he has taken
a number -of prizes, but we have no
definite information from him,
The poultry exhibit of the South
eastern Fair is said to be the best this
year and style was added to the exhh
bit through the use of the Fitzgerald|
‘Fair Associations patented chicken
coops, which were rented by the Fair
Association to the Southeastern Fair,
Secretary Red Jones of the Fitzgerald
Fair Association is in charge of the
Fair's Poultry exhibit,
Chamber of Commerce
Is Always Busy Here
To Begin Drive For New Members
At Early Date
The question is frequently asked,
“What is the Chamber of Commerce
Doing?’ __“What good is it to the
Gty |
As a reply to that the following let
ters were received by the secretary
last week and which are being receiv
ed constantly and one evidence of the
good work that is kept going on con
tinually that the public is not general
ly aware of,
This is just one phase of the work
for as a matter of fact there are hun
dreds of things coming up monthly
that require attention and of course
are looked after by the officers,
Board of Trade,
Fitzgerald, Georgia;
Gentlemen:
What are prices on Farm Lands,
and what is your principal crops, What
is the population of Fitzgerald? Are
there many Civil War veterans in
Fitzgerald? Kindly mail me some lit
erature of your City and Farming
country. There are four of us who
are coming to your city this winter to
look it over, Please send all the in
formation you can and oblige,
Yours very truly,
W, J. Gilmore, Nevada, lowa,
Mr, W, A, Adams, Secy, Chamber
Commerce, Fitzgerald, Ga,,
Dear Mr. Adams:
As you have probably already heard
I bought 50 acres out by the shops,
and expect to move down later in
December to escape the hardest part
of the winter here,
I am trying to interest some of my
friends to come down with me and
I would like to have some of the book
lets describing the town similar to the
one you sent me and I am willing to
pay for them if you can tell me how
to obtain them,
T again want to thank you for your
kindness, all along, Thanks to the
Chamber of Commerce and am sure
they are doing a great work for your
city. A great deal more than is al
ways apparent,
With kindest regards, T remain,
Yours very truly,
A. H. Turner, Hartsburg 111,
Chamber of Commerce,
Fitzgerald ,Ga.,
Gentlemen:
Will you please send me some in
formation regarding your city and the
surrounding county, Would you also
refer my name to some Real Estate
Dealer, as T am interested in trying
to secure a place of about 35 acres in
a section of the State at a price not
exceeding $3,500 in a radius of 15 miles
of your city,
Thanking you in advance for any in
formation you may send me, T remain,
Yours very truly,
Herbert Foot,
507 West St
Wilmington, Del,
After reading the above can any one
see that the Chamber of Commerce is
not any good to a city?
'l'he annual drive will soon be on for
nev; members, If you are not already
a member come around to the Cham
ber of Commierce, room 121 East Cen
tral Ave,, and join today and help
build up your town into a city.
< .
New Service Station
Opened Here Today
The United Service Station is open
ing today for business at their new
station at the corner of Central Aven
ue and Sherman Streets, The estab
lishment is one of the best equipped
on the Dixie Highway, having two
visible tanks, conveniently located
Mr, E, R. Bragg, is managing the bus
iness and will give his patrons his per.
’sonal attention both day and night,
FITZGERALD, BEN HILL COUNTY, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1921
*
Superior Court
p °
Adjouy -d Tuesday
/ |
o |
Cases Of A.cuocu Strikers Expectedl
To Be Called In November
et |
Judge O, T, Gower discharged all
jurors for the prestn term of court,
after receiving statement of Solicitor-
General J, B, Wall, requesting a spe
cial term of court for the trial of the
men in jail accused of the murder of
W. T. Reed. Col, Wall stated:
“The evidence in these cases being
volumnious and intricate and having
been continuously engaged in court
since the grand jury started the inves
tigation I don't think it proper at this
time to call the cases for trial, but I
would suggest the court to call a spe
cial term for the sole purpose of try
ing these cases.”
Judge Gower has not yet announced
the dates of these tivals, it is thought
they will be held about the third Mon
day in November, Judge Thomas of
Jesup announced in court that he has
been engaged to defend Stubbs, Hen
drix, Cates Malcolm and Rozar, five
of the defendants charged with the
murder and stated that he could no ap
pear in court here in November on ac
count of important matters in his own
circuit demanding his presence in the
courts of Wayne and Ware counties,
It is probable that these defendants
represented by Col, Thomas will be
tried some time in December,
An alleged confession of Fairfield,
one of the strikers ot the road, and
upon which most of the indictments
have been returned by the grand jury
is thought to contain many mistate
ments as to persons involved, some
of whom will be able to establish well
authenticated alibis and is therefore
not considered of a damaging charac
ter by the attorneys for the defendants
Emmett Folsom Acquitted
Ben Hill county jurors have proven
themselves competent and willing to
give the strikers a fair trial, when the
case of Emmett Folsom a negro fire
man, former employee of the A. B, &
A, was tried Tuesday and found not
guilty, The case was one in which
the defendant was charged with at
tempting to shoot a strike breaker,
a negro who had taken employment
as fireman during the strike, Although
the case was strongly prosecuted by
assistant solicitor Jesse Grantham and
Sam Kassewitz, the jury declared him
free, McDonald and McDonald rep
resented the defendant
WILEY WILLIAMS, J. H. MAYS, J. KASSEWITZ,
President m_mY:_l_’_r_e_s;“ . _,__Ef’fi: El‘z“‘_Treas.
'Xtra! E
Extra! ’Xtra! Extral
Blankets and Comforts
A large and assorted line to select from---Special for
this week only, 200 $5.00 64x76 double Blankets
at $2.49
Other Blankets from $3.50 to $15.00
Comforts “ $2.75 to $7.50
-~ Furniture
Bed Room Suits, Living Room Suits, Dining Room Suits, Library
Tables, Rockers, Chairs, China Cabnets, Buffets, Stoves, Heaters,
ete. Also Iron Beds, Springs and Mattresses, at a Reduction of
=2O per cent
Fitzgerald Furniture Co.
Corner Main and Pine - - - . - Phone 49
ENTERPRISE AND PRESS
°
Prominent Attorneys |
®
Arrive Here Today
Judge A, C. Stone and Col, E, W
Roberts of Monroe accompanied Mr,
D, P, Malcolm father of J L, Mal-|
colm in jail here charged with the!
murder of W, T, Reed, to look after!‘
the interests of the accused, Judge
Stone and Col, Roberts are leading
lawyers ‘n their section and are well
known to the legal fraternity of the
State, having been connected with a
number of prominent cases in the
state.
The party motored through from
Monroe and report the roads in excel
lent condition, | Col, Roberts in speak
ing of their city's latest progressive
move in voting ta establish a munici
pal ice nlant in connection with their
City owned Water and Light plant,
stated that they will De ready to op
erate by January having purchased
their ice machinery and are erecting
the necessary additional building, “Tf
the private menopoly which now con
trcls our ice business in Monroe un
dersells our municipal plant”? says
Col. Roberts. we shall shut down our
plant, if we cannot make cheaper ice
than we can buv our ice, and buy it
from the private Lompz[ny‘ but so soon
as the mononciv tries to get back to
monopoly prices. we will he ready to
resume operation, What we shall ex
pect to do is tc save our home peo
ple tens of thousands of dollars-an
nually cither through ‘selling them
the city's produet at a low figure, or
make the moaenoly <o it for us.
In either event the people of our
town will reap Ihe Denefit and we
thall have estabiished a principle in
city government that ether cities may
foilow with profit_ *
We spent two dayve with Monfoe's
progressive citizens during the Press
Convention ard sized them up as the
“Salt of the Larth”
Case Agamst Mayor
*
Pittman Nol Prossed
Solicitor ], ‘B Wall, nolle prossed
the indictmenti%elwrging Mayor J.L.
Pittman with nterfering, intimidating
and’ conspiring against ythe present
employees of the A, B, & A | railroad,
there being no ecvidence produced to
justify the indictment,
Leader Want Ads bring lesults
Former Saloon Owner
.
Is Dry Officer Now
Such A Good One That W, C, T, U,
‘ Gives Him A Medal
| e
| TAMPA| Fla,, Oct, 17— Formerly
proprictor of a saloon here, U.S, Dcp-!
iuty Marshal John E. Cox is today |
Ilwcaring a solid gold badge presented
'him by the Woman's Christian Tem
‘pcrancu Union, The Tampa Woman’s
Club and the gencral secretary of the
'\’_ MG A |
| Cox's vigilance in running down
‘hootlegp:cr, liquor smugglers and the
moonshiners is what brought him the
| s &
inw(laL He is said here to have made
ymore arrests in the last two years
f!h;m any federal deputy in the South
:and last year to have run second in
:tlu- country
| Raids the former saloon keeper has
led in the past 18 months have cap
tured more than $lOO,OOO worth of
boats automobiles and other proper
ty used by prohibition law violators
and moonshiners,
| Cox is a native of Kv-ntll(ky and lis
noted as a dead shot
. |
Denmark Receiver |
|
For Perry Stables
A, 'H, Denmark succeeds \\'ilcyl
Williams as receiver for the Perry
Live Stock Company on order of
Judge O, T. Gower, who hecard the
application on permanent receivership
for the company in court this ‘morn
ing, Judge Gower offered to appoint
J. L. Perry joint receiver with Mr,
Williams, but to this Mr, Williams
demurred, stating that he would not
mind serving with Perry and Scar
borough both as joint receivers with
him_ but that he objected to being
receiver with Perry and assuming re
sponsibility of the Scarborough inter
ests, Attorneys for the contesting
parties not being abfe to agree on a
receiver, jointly or separately, Judge
Gower appointed A, H, Denmark with
the request that he advise with both
of the partners in the settlement ot
the assets,
GRAND JURY RECESSES
THIS MORNING
Court adjourned today until some
date to be fixed by Judge Gower lat
er, after the Grand Jury indicted Wil
liam Bell, for the murder of Judge S,
Paulk the old negro shot Sunday
morning at his home east of town,,
DIXIE HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION
REORGANIZED IN WAYCROSS
Ofricial notice of the reorganization
of the Dixie Highway “Short Route™
association at Waycross has reached
here with the information that Messrs
Wm, R, Bowen and I, Gelders have
been selected as vice-presidents,
A rally of Short Route Boosters is
to be held at Waycross Thursday at
which 150 Floridians from Jackson
ville and other points will attend, The
meeting will perfect plans to adver
tise the Short Route throughout the
country in order to maintain the pres
tige secured through the efforts made
principally by Fitzgerald, and espe
cially by the Leader-Enterprise, Mr,
'V, L. Stanton, that silver tongued or
-ator from Ware is President and G,
iR_ King of Waycross, secretary
Court Officers |
Hos eddin
t At A Wedding
The largest attended wedding cere
mony took place Tuesday morning at
the courthouse when Judge OT, Gow
er sentenced Roosevelt Welton, a col
ored Lothario to a life of matrimony
with Henrictta Fuller, a young neg
ress who had succumbed to the per
suasive wooing of Roosevelt, Roose
velt had been indicted by a recent
grand jury and his attorneys McDon
ald and McDonald suggested the mat
rimonial route for the best solution of
the case, Judge Gower agreed and
Rev, Amos Shaw, colored, was sent
for and tied the knot in open court.
The groom and bride immediately
;}lvfi the presence of the august court
and sherifi for a honeymoon on the
farm, The court house was crowded
with spectators,
.
First M. E. Sunday
. .
School Wins Prize
The First Methodist Episcopal Sun
day School was awarded the second
prize at the Southeastern Fair’ at the
Sunday School exhibit arranged by
the Georgia Sunday School Associa
tion, This poster was sent in by Mrs,
J. H, Burke from the Junior Depart
ment, In addition to this, several note
books from the Junior department
were sent in, The Sunday School ex
hibit at the Southeastern Fair is at
tracting considerable attention, and is
regarded as one of the most interest
ing and attractive exhibits at the Fair,
PUBLISHED ON
MONDAY, WEDNESDAY
AND FRIDAY -
Official Organ City Of ‘Fitzgerald
3
WHY THE STRIKE
AS AUTHORIZED
Mr, Stone Gives Interesting Facts 'i
Railway Controversy '5?
R i
CLEVELAND, Oct, 18—Chief. off
the Locomotive Engineers, Stone 13-3
sved the following statement in .regard}i
to the railroad controversy from his
office here today, giving the reasons
‘why the strike of the railway organ
izations was authorized, Mr, Stone
says in part: .
“When the Transportation act ofig
1920 became a law it was hoped by:
the employees that all disputes would
be adjusted, and decisions rendered
by the board would be complied with
by the carriers and employees, In
stead of complying with thedecisions;
of the labor board the railroads soon
began to disregard or flout it decisions
Flagrant cases of this being the ac
'fi(m of the Atlanta, Birmingham and
Atlantic the Trie, the Pennsylvania
lr:zi‘ru:u! and many other cases that:
;r:m be cited. 1
Statement Made Wilson '5
“It is well known and admitted by
all that the railway men were the last
to receive any increase during the war
period, During August 1919 the bro-"j
therhood of Locomortive Engifleers-%
submitted to President Wilson a state
ment setting forth that a decrease in
the cost of the necessities of life wa,sl
necessary or an increase in wages wa;é
imperative !
. : § 3 k
From that time on the question ofi
wages was discussed on different oc-‘}‘
casions and was finally submitted to
the labor board, In July, 1920 the:;
board handed down a decision which’i
based on all the facts they declareta
was just and equitible, and furthel"g
stated that their conclusions were ar-§
rived at after long consideration of alt{g
the facts as evidenced by the testi=
mony before that board,
Later Mr, Atterbury of the Penn{'«%
sylvania railroad, appeared before the
board and in a spectacular presenta
tion demanded an immediate reduc
tion of the wages of all railroad em
ployees notwithstanding the carriers
had been granted a material increase:'
in freight and passenger rates in orég
der to meet the increased wages that
were granted by the board. This was*
denied on technical grounds because
the carriers had not properly created
a dispute in accordance with the tran
portation act, :
Creating Dispute ;
The railroads then began serving no
tice on all their employees demand=-
ing reductions in pay thereby legally‘n;
creating a dispute which was referredl
to the labor board resulting in a 123
per cent reduction as of July 1, 1921,
To further aggravate the situation,
immediately following this meeting a
great number of railroads began serv
ing notice on their employees that
’thvy would revise 3 schedule and take
from them the rules governing their
‘scrvicc that had been in effect from
ten to thirty vears, Said rules were
‘oblaincd partly by the efforts of the
United States Board of Mediation or
IBoard of Arbitration, of which the
Jneutral members were appointed by
’thc representatives of the government,
The majority of such rules were the
result of negotiations across the table
with the representatives of the organ
izations and the managers of the in
dividual railroads acknowledged to be
fair and equitable,
A conference of all general chairmen
was arranged to be held in the month
of July in the city of Chicago, The
result of said conference was to in
struct the executives of the organiza
tions to meet the executives of the rail
roads some time prior.to September
Ist, for the purpose of trying to bring
about an amicable adjustment, This
was done and a committee of railroad
executives were met in the east, south
east and western territories their an
swers all being similar and denying
any kind of conciliatory measures,
Strike Vote
Following the refusal of the exec
utives of the railways to enter into any :3
agreement with the executives of the
organizations, there was nothing left
to do but refer the matter to a ref
erendum vate of all the workers which
were employed on the railroad and to
submit their decision in the matter,
In October the representatives of the
workers were convened in Chicago,
and a canvass of the vote was made,
which indicated that 94 per cent pluls{d
were in favor of withdrawing from tlle’é
service, Such a condition was ne,fi;flj
known before in the history of ail
road labor board, and no doubt
caused by the arrogant selfish att ude
of the railroad exccutives togethes
with their declination to be a party
to any kind of conciliatory terms;‘w;
After the vote had been canvasse
the chairman of the Railroad Owne
Association was notified by ii
result and the request for a ,”
(Continued on Page 2) i
