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The Pembroke State Bank
Small Enough To Know You
Large Enough To Serve You
Member FDIC
Official Organ Bryan County and City of Pembroke
Savannah Morning News “Pulls A Faux Pas”
jhbannab Corning
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
(Registered Patent Otficet
~ „ Publishers: THE MORNING NEWS, INC
Morn. ng News-Evening Press Building. Savannah. Ga Entered as Second Class Matter
at- the Post Office at Savannah. Ga., under the Act of March 3, 187#.
SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1957
Editor Miller Is Dead Right
THE few who defend arbitrary and
rigid traffic law enforcement
motivated by profit and fee-splitting,
which is the basis for charges that
speed traps are being maintained
along U. S. Highway 17 in Georgia,
Invariably seize the cause of highway
safety as an argument. Their unoffi
cial spokesman is Bryan County po
litical leader and editor, Frank O.
NLHer, mayor of Pembroke, who pub
lishes weekly newspapers in Pem
broke and Darien.
Th'' current series in the Savannah
Morning News dealing with alleged
srecd traps along U. S. 17 had barely
started when Mayor Miller struck
back, denouncing this newspaper and
its motives. “If the arrest of those
988 law violators saved just one hu
man life, then it was well worth the
price paid,” declared Mayor Miller.
We. will concede the mayor has a
point.
Later this week, on Thursday to be
exact. Mayor Miller stepped into the
role of editor to take the Savannah
Morning News to task in an editorial
appearing over his signature in the
Pembroke Journal. Again, we must
concede a point to Mr. Miller. We
quote from his editorial:
“The Coastal Highway, Route
17 has been pictured as the most
deadly highway in all this sec
tion. Only a few days ago we
came up on a wreck of a Savan
nah car in Liberty County, that
was totally demolished, killing
two people, and injuring others,
which was said to have traveled
through Bryan and on into Lib
erty at more than a hundred
miles an hour, until the fatal
wreck. Wouldn't it have been bet
ter had he (the driver) been ar
rested in Bryan or Liberty before
the fatal wreck and maybe the
wreck averted?”
* * ♦
MR. MILLER is right. He is dead
right. Had he investigated the acci
dent to which he referred a little
more fully, he would realize how
right he really is.
It would have been much better,
had the driver been arrested in Bry
an County and the fatal wreck avert
ed But, let's look a little more fully
into the wreck in question.
It occurred at a barricade near
Riceboro in Liberty County in the
early hours of dawn on Wednesday,
May 22, 1957. Two Savannah men
were killed instantly. A third miracu
lously survived, but was injured. Here
are the pertinent fragments of the
story of that fateful night of May 21
BOYS STATE DELEGATE
LEAVES SUNDAY FOR
RALLY AT TECH
Trey Curl will represent the
John Duggar Post 164 at the Boys
State rally held on the campus of
Georgia-Tech next week. The youth
has just completed the junior class
of the Bryan County High School
receiving several honors during the
year.
He was celected as the delegate
by the high school faculty because
of scholastic and extra-curricula
prominence.
He will go the Atlanta on the
Nancy Hanks and will return Sat
urday.
{Jcmbrohe Jour* J
and morning of May 22, in the words
of the sole survivor.
“We met at the Liberty Case
about midnight, me and (the
young man who was driving at
the time of the accident) had
been drinking about two hours,
. . . When we met (the third
man) he had four pints of whisky
and a car . . . we left about 12:30
in the morning (for Tybee) and
after we got in the car we started
drinking . . .”
The story goes on, spelling out de
tails of an evening that led to a de
cision to go to Brunswick to see a
girl. The trip started, according to
the survivor, with two of the men
drunk and the third "passed out” on
the back seat. Back to his story:
“I don’t know exactly where it
was, but a deputy sheriff stopped
us in Bryan County for speed
ing. He said we were going 96
miles an hour . . . (the driver)
was drunk but he was driving
fairly straight. The sheriff told
(the driver) to open the trunk of
the car and (asked) what he was
doing that speed for. I didn’t
hear any other conversation, but
(the driver) came back to the car
with a speeding ticket. The sher
iff drove off and so did we . . .”
* * ♦
NOW LET’S listen to the proprietor
of an all-night restaurant just north
of Midway, one of the last persons to
see the trio alive:
“These boys entered our place
(at 5 a.m. Wednesday, May 22) in
a very drunken state. They or
dered a coke, and began to tell
us they were stopped in the
county before us by a deputy
sheriff driving a new Mercury.
The charge was for speeding, not
drunk driving. They told us that
he released them, and told them
to send their cash bond of S4O,
because they didn't have that
much money on them . . .”
Editor Miller is absolutely right. It
would have been far better had the
driver been arrested and the wreck
averted. The story is the more tragic
because it need not to have ended in
tragedy.
* ♦ *
A THUNDEROUS crash at a barri
cade at Riceboro a few minutes later
—and all that remained was cold
statistics:
Two dead.
One injured.
One Bryan County deputy sheriff
waiting for a S4O cash bond that will
never arrive.
MRS. STUBBS IS
HOME AFTER VISIT
WITH SON
After a visit of two weeks wirn
her son, Lt. Col. Marcus Stubbs,
in Alburqueque, New Mexico, Mrs.
J. C. Stubbs has returned to her
home in Lanier.
While there Mrs. Stubbs and
hrer hosts made a trip to the Grand
Canyon and to Las Vegas, Neva
da, where they saw and heard sev
eral famous stars. Among them
were Joe E. Brown, Teresa Brewer
and Marie McDonald.
Mrs. Stubbs thoroughly enjoyed
the visit and seeing new places
and new sights, as well as being
with her son and his family.
SUPPER FOR BTU
WORKERS HELD
WED. -NIGHT
A discussion of the Training
Union of the Pembroke Baptist
Church was the purpose of the
supper meeting Wednesday night
at- the Highway 280 Restaurant.
In charge of the meeting was
D. E. Medders, Training Union
director, assisted by Richard Cates,
youth director for' the church.
Attending the meeting were
leaders and officers of the B. T. U.
Jimmy Mock, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Eugene Mock, spent a few
days this week in Statesboro with
Mr. and Mrs. Carlos Mock.
PEMBROKE, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1957
NOT WAITING FOR ANY $40.00
i • • i. •
W i"'
|j|L\
Monday, June 10th, 1957
To Whom It May Concern:
Saturdays Savannah Morning News carried an
editorial in which it stated that, "As a result that
there was two dead men, one injured man and a
deputy sheriff of Bryan County that had given them
a ticket and was expecting $40.00 that would never
come. lam the only Deputy on Highway 17 that
owns and operates a Mercury Car. I was on duty
the morinng that these men were supposed to have
been stopped in Bryan County, went off duty at 4
A.M. and I swear that I never stopped the car in
question, and on that date gave no one a ticket with
the understanding that any amount of money would
be sent me or the sheriff. I feel that not only my
self, the sheriff, but all the good people of Bryan
County have been hurt by this untrue publicity.
J. H. Gill, Jr.
Deputy Sheriff,
Bryan County, Ga.
Sworn to and subscribed before me,
this 10th day of June, 1957.
F. O. Miller,
Notary Public, State at Large
My Commission Expires 3-4-61
HOUSE PARTY AT
COAST
Mr. and Mrs. J. Gordon Bacon
entertained a group of friends and
relatives at their summer home on
the coast recently. They went
down the middle of the week,
members of their family and a few
friends joining them at intervals
during the weekend.
Among the guests were Mr. and
Mrs. P. E. Brannen and children,
Eric and Sharon, Mr. and Mrs.
W. C. Lanier, of Pembroke; Mrs.
G. W. Clanton of Meldrim; Mrs.
-R. B. Reed of Jacksonville, Fla.;
and Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Clanton
and Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Carter of
Savannah.
Citizens of Tomorrow
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In the top row are two attractive young Bryan County belles
to-be. Both daughters of Mr. and Mrs. G. C. Martin of Ellabelle,
they are Barbara, 9, and Janice, 5 years old. The good natured
youngsters in the bottom row are Stephen, 5 months, son of Mr. and
Mrs. G. Marion Hope, and Shelby Russell Strickland, Jr., 6 months,
son of Mr. and Mrs. Shelby Russell Strickland, Sr., all of Pembroke.
YOUNG MATRON
RETURNS FROM
HOSPITAL
The many friends of Mrs.
Marion Porterfield are delighted
that she has improved so rapidly
following an operation last week
and returned to Pembroke on Mon
day.
Mrs. Porterfield, the former
Miss Anne Sims, was in the Ogle
thorpe Sanitarium in Savannah
for several days, returning Mon
day to the home of Mr. and Mrs.
W. M. Porterfield. She is con
nected with the State Highway De
partment in Savannah and plans
to return to work next week.
In Their Effort To Show Up
Bryan County Officials They
Make A Charge That Is Untrue
In an editorial last Saturday,
which is reproduced herewith, the
Savannah Morning News made a
very serious charge against a
Bryan County Deputy Sherriff,
and one which they have had to
admitt in a paper four days later
that they were after Bryan County
about actually happened in Chat
ham County.
The Journal editor called on the
Morning News yesterday, with
proof that Bryan County officers
had not stopped the car and giv
en the man a ticket, and allowed
him to go on his way, although all
three occupants of the car were
’ drunk and exceeding- the speed
limit. We carried them a sworn
statement from the officer, car
ried his book of tickets also, which
showed that no ticket had been
' issued, and also told them who
did stop the man and where they
could get the record. We asked
that they straighten this up. They
. did, in away.
In the very same issued (today)
they carry a story from Judge
Little of Brunswick which showed
they were wrong in Glynn. They
carried this story on page one,
and carry an editorial, “We Apol-.
ogize and assume all responsibil
ity for the error.” Judge Little is
a “big wig” of Glynn, and Chat
ham and Glynn are two of the fav
ored counties in the series of
articles on speed traps, etc, which
the Savannah Morning News has
been carrying. Not so, with the
little deputy sherriff from the little
county of Bryan.
So eager were they to slap
Bryan and Bryan County officers
that they take the statement of
one of the men in the death car,
who was drunk, according to his
own statement at 10 o’clock the
night before the fatal accident
the next morning that killed two
of his companions. This man said
they were full at 10 o’clock, met
one of the men who had four bot
tles of whisky, and that all of
them were drunk. This is the man’s
statement that they took and made
such a story about, and has dam
aged the reputation of a fine
Bryan County boy, one we have
known for many years and have
never heard ought against, and
have held him up to ridicule all
over Georgia as a man that was
hungry for S4O, stopping a car
that was exceeding the speed
limit and giving them a ticket,
allowing them to go on, despite
the fact that all of them were
drinking and drunk, with the prom
ise that they would send the S4O
back.
They were given proof that the
car was stopped at 4:18 on the
morning of the fatal accident by
Officer R. L. Iler on a charge of
speeding 75 miles an hour on the
Ogeechee Road and allowed them
to go on their way with a ticket.
He is the man that is looking
for something.
Not only did they take the state
ment of this drunken man and
publish a story charging Bryan
County officers with failing to do
their duty, but in the story that
appeared in Wednesday’s Savan
nah Morning News shows that the
man who was in the fatal acci
dent, and whose statement they
grabbed in their eagerness to slap
Bryan County and Bryan County
Officers, is now a prisoner in the
Chatham County jail, where he is
being held for trial in Chatham
City Court on a charge of lar
ceny, and breaking and entering
parking meters.
Hinely admitted yesterday that
he could have been wrong.
Questioned by a reporter at
county jail, where the youth is
being held pending trial in City
Court on charges of larceny and
breaking and entering parking
meaers, he said:
“I guess I thought we got
stopped in Bryan County because
we were heading that way. It
could have been in Chatham
County."
The Morning News editorial
appeared after the proprietor of
a Liberty County restaurant wrote
the paper that the three men vis
ited his place shortly before the
280 RESTAURANT
Mr. and Mrs. Al Buhlar
2 Miles West of Pembroke
Next To Home—
The Best Place To Eat
Volume No. 56 No. 38
, I fatal accident and were "in a very
e | drunken state.”
a “They ordered a Coke,” he said,
1 “and began to tell us they were
> stopped in the county before us
’ by a deputy sheriff driving a new
Mercury. The charge was for
’ speeding, not drunk driving. They
■ told us he released them and told
them to send their each bond of
■ S4O because they didn’t have that
i much money on them.
" Hinely yesterday told a reporter
- he was unable to remember what
■ make of car the officer who stop
-1 ped them was driving. "I never
’ reallly got a good look at it,” he
1 said.
1 Chatham County police drive
Fords and Chevrolets.
1 Asked if he and his companions
were stopped more than once by
police that night, Hinely replied:
। “No. Just once. And it could
have been in Chatham County. I
don’t really remember.’’
Iler told the reporter he re
regretted that the trio had given
him no reason to bring them in
to jail “because it would have
saved their lives.”
Both he and Chief Mahoney
agreed, however, that there was
no reason to lock them up at the
time Iler stopped the car—almost
an hour before the accident oc
curred.
The Savannah Morning News
ought to be ashamed that their
editorial writers will take a state
ment from a drunk, who by his
own statements was drunk early
in the night, kept drinking all
night, and who is also now in the
Chatham County jail awaiting
trial on a charge of larceny, and
breaking and entering parking
meters, and publish a story about
an officer in a nearby county who
we know to be a fine young man
and then not be big enough to at
least say “that they are sorry.”
They did not hesitate to tell
Judge Little of Brunswick that
they were wrong and apologize
for their part in his story. But as
for the little deputy, he is not
from the favored county of Glynn
or Chatham, and he needs no apol
ogy nor does he need to be told
that they are sorry, for truly they
are not. They are only sorry that
they have been showed up, made
an error and in the wind-up are
not big enough to admit that Chat
ham County officers were the ones
to be criticized and not those of
Bryan.
But before the thing is over,
they probably will say that they
are sorry, for plans are now be
ing completed to enter a damage
suit for not less than fifty thou
sand dollars against the Morning
News. That will probably give
them something to think over.
Journal Staff to
Attend Press Meet
Thursday-Saturday
Members of the Pembroke Jour
nal staff will go to Augusta
Thursday to attend the annual
convention of the Georgia Press
Association.
Leaving Thursday morning in
time for the luncheon at which
Lockheed will be hosts will be Mrs.
Frank O. Miller and Mrs. Elisa
beth M. Medders. From then un
til Saturday when Governor Mar
vin Griffin gives his annual “state
of the state” address at the clos
ing luncheon event, many special
activities have been planned, as
well as business sessions and elec
tion of new officers. The closing
event is sponsored by the Augusta
Chronicle and Herald.
An estimated 300 Georgia news
papermen and women will be in
Augusta for the 71st annual con
vention which is held at the Bon
Air Hotel. Editor and publisher
Frank 0. Miller will be on hand
for some of the events during the
weekend.
The Pembroke delegates have
reservations at the Bon Air for the
convention.