Newspaper Page Text
The Pembroke
State Bank
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Ta Serve Yea
Small Eaaaqh
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Member F.D.I.C.
Vol. 64. No. 3, P. O. Box 36. Pembroke, Georgia 31321
p*—- - —
Wedd^;scrmonettc (
By JA&j, ARNOLD
Pastor Pembroke Methodist
Church
Does Your
Life Count?
I believe that there are three
qualities that can give a person
a life that counts.
1. His life must be person
conscious. Many years ago a
lady who did a lot of speaking
to youth groups made a speech
that impressed me a great deal.
She preached on the sixth com
mandment, “Thou shalt not
kill.”
She brought out how a lot of
young people murder fellow
young people and older people
by acts and attitudes of rejec
tion or contempt. She said that
murder of personality is just
as bad as murder of the body.
The person who lives the life i
that counts will be considerate
of other people. He will avoid 1
contemptuous names. He will
not act as though every one
else should step aside for him.
He will seek to encourage the
weak or the unlovely. My chil-.
hood was often made an agony
by two or three bullies that
loved to pick on me. They were
older boys of the community. I
shall never forget the year that
Wendell Willkie opposed
Franklin Roosevelt for the pres
idency. I was a third grader.
One afternoon after school,
there was a parade for one of
the candidates. This bully
overheard another boy and me
saying something against the
candidate he favored. He and
dragged me behind a building.
They twisted my arm and
threatened to take off my
clothes and throw them in the
river. They forced me to go out
on the street and cheer for the
man they favored.
That was a most humiliating
experience. It was among sev
eral others of which I was a
victim during my childhood.
Perhaps you have similar mem
ories of experiences when you
have been treated with con
tempt or disdain and share that
feeling of pain. The pain of
such humiliation can not be
matched, I feel sure, in the ex
periences of man.
To make your life count, you
need to be conscious of others.
2. Your life will be church
centered. Life, to count, must
be more than good. The church
doesn’t call good people. I guess
that's why so many people who
feel they live a good life have
no need of the church. Christ
came to save sinners. Os course
the person who says he is good
is the worst sinner of all. Jesus
continually forgive sinners,
while condemning sin. However,
he was also constantly con
demning the good people. “He
who would be greatest among
vou. shall be least.” he said.
The church is the refuge of
the sinner. When temptations
and lousy living press him
down, he finds new strength in
the church. The fellowship of
other redeemed sinners is a
blessing as well as the knowl
edge that Christ can be found
in a special way in church. He
also finds the church as the
way that, while he is yet sin
ning, he can also be doing
something good. Some people
would be calling this hypocrisy.
It can be, but not if while do
ing good, he admits his evil
nature. “I can’t control my sin
completely,” he may say, “but
I am capable of doing some
thing, so I may as well do it
and not wait around for my
life to get cleaned up. That
might not ever happen in this
life, anyway.”
The person who lives the life
that counts, lives a church
centered life.
3. The person living the life
that counts also lives a heav
en-controlled life. He is at the
same time overcome by the love
of God for a sinner such as he
and overwhelmed by the pos
sible dread results of his life if
he lives short of the Saviour.
Therefore he allows his life
to be controlled by his ulti-
•JOURNAL
Mrs. V. P. Bowers
Is Seriously 111
Following Stroke
We have just learned that
Mrs. Ella (V. P.) Bowers of
Pembroke is critically ill in
Statesboro, where she was car
ried following her recovery
from an operation for a fall,
breaking her hip, and the in
sertion of a pin in her hip by
i the physicians. Since then she
| has suffered a stroke and we
i understand that her condition
I has gradually grown worse, and
i it now looks as if there is very
little hopes for this fine little
lady.
Her loved ones are terribly
upset by her continued serious
illness, and are doing every
thing humanly possible for her,
but as we all know that there
comes a time whene there is
nothing that human hands can
do for people, when they reach
real old age, with many ail
| ments, some of which are be
। yond the power of doctors to
do anything about, still their
। loved ones keep on trying and
' hoping against hope that a
miracle will happen.
Former Citizen
Mark D. Dukes
Died On Saturday
Mark D. Dukes who lived in
' Bryan for many years died Sat
urday in the Griffin Hospital
• in Claxton after a short illness.
Just prior to his moving out
i of Bryan he operated and own
ed the place that is now own-
I ed and operated by M. L. Ful
। ton at Groveland, and he traded
, it to Mr. Fulton, who was a
citizen of Evans County and
Mr. Dukes moved to Evans
County.
For some time he had been
a deputy sheriff of the county,
and constable, he also was a
member of the Georgia Sheriff’s
Association.
He was a native of Liberty
; County and was a member of
the Daisy Methodist Church
and the Ezell Masonic Lodge
of Claxton.
Survivors are his wife, Mrs.
Thelma Coley Dukes of Clax
| ton, and four daughters, Mrs.
i i C. G. Tippins of Claxton, Mrs.
Otis Beasley and Mrs. Lois An
derson of Savannah, and Mrs.
H. L. Crebs of Suitland, Md.;
i two sons, Jerry D. Dukes of
i Nashville, Tenn., and DeLaine
i Dukes of Claxton; a sister,
i | Mrs. Eva Lanier of Savannah;
: 16 grandchildren; 10 great
‘ grandchildren and several
I j nieces and nephews.
> Funeral services were held
, on Monday morning at 11 A.M.
, at the Daisy Methodist Church,
conducted by Rev. Rudolph
! Dixon and Rev. David Aycock.
: Interment was in Groveland
cemetery with Masonic Rites.
f Pallbearers were grand sons.
3
1 *' —1
1 mate destinies. His fear of hell
f | and his love of God center his
i life in the things of God. His
- religion is a serious matter to
i him. He will fight for it,
> though he may not even be
> able to defend it before a secu
- j lar mind. He knows it’s true,
; though he might not be able to
> sit down and tell another why
. he knows it’s true. “It just
- is,” he will say. “It’s as plain
1 as the nose on your face.”
i His religion is simple and
t uncomplicated because it is
- translated into the very fibre
; j of his living. His family, his
' ; friends, his work, his pleasure,
: ’ his education, his culture are
> j all expressions of his faith. If
he falls, it is because he is hu-,
! man. If something works out
right, if he gets a moral victory
of some kind, if he gets a good
: feeling at church, it’s because
the Lord smiled upon him and
i let a little sunshine into his
i life.
: His life is heaven controlled,
so his blessings come from the
' heavenly regions.
Seek this life that counts. Be
! person-conscious, church - cent
ered, and heaven-controlled.
PICTURES BY ROVING
JOURNAL PHOTOGRAPHER
1 End of Dining Hall
2 Pat Hurst, Beth Appleby
3 View of Dining Hall
4 Broken Gas Main
4 Volunteer Fire Fighters
6 Glynn Harrison
7 Melted Window Screen
8 View of Dining Room
9 Damaged Dining Room
10 Chief Swabe
PEMBROKE, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28TH, 1965
75 Escape Explosion
In School Lunchroom
Richmond Hill Site
Os Gas Leak Blast
By JOHN CARROLL
News Staff Writer
RICHMOND HILL — Explosion and fire practically
wrecked a school lunchroom here Friday at noon but 75
students, teachers and workers escaped serious injury.
“It s a miracle none of us was hurt,” said Principal
Roger Jessup of Richmond Hill High School. “We were
lucky, just plain lucky.”
Escaping fumes from an undergound gas storage
tank were blamed for the blast which shook the wooden
structure and caused extensive
damage.
Jessup and the students said
a screaming noise from the es
caping gas shortly before the
explosion alerted them and
caused many to leave the build
ing before the blast. Some went
through windows.
The building caught fire but
the Richmond Hill volunteer
fire department chief Herbert
Schwabe and seven others came
almost at once from the station
half a mile away and extinguish
ed the blaze. The roof, a porch
and garbage bin were badly
burned.
Jessup said a delivery truck
had backed over a pipe leading
to the underground tank—one of
three. The pipe was sheared off
at ground level and the pres
surized gas escaped. It was a
meat delivery truck form Sa
vannah.
Thought It Was Air Raid
“I thought it must have been
an air raid and I dived beneath
a table while everyone else
seemed to be running,” ' said
Larry Black, one of the stu
dents. y
Student* in tiie lunchroom at
the time were Bth to 12th grad
ers, seated away from what
seemed to be the center of the
explosion.
Children from the lower
grades had eaten earlier and
had been seated at tables where
t appeared the explosive force
ffas greatest.
The principal, who was seated
■n the middle of the lunchroom
with five or six teachers, said,
“We heard some gas escaping
and the children stood up and
started to run out. I guess they
were panicking a little.”
“The teachers tried to calm
them, and they did to some ex
tent. But then there was this ex
plosion and that really excited
everybody,” he went on.
“The building moved upward
—a couple of inches at least,
and maybe more. It shook real
good. Somebody told me later it
could be heard over a mile
away,” he said.
Jessup said he shouted to
the students:
“Wait a minute. Some of you
are not going to get out if you
don’t.”
He said they slowed down,
and then left the building in an
orderly manner.
• Jessup said the lunchroom
would either have to be replaced
or extensive repairs made.
Although classes were sus
pended for the day shortly after
the explosion, Jessup said school
would be resumed Monday.
“All the warning we had was
the sudden whistling sound of
he escaping gas and in a minute
or so the explosion came,” said
Jackie Phillips, an 11th grade
student who was just sitting
down to a lunch of cheese bur
gers, salad, deviled egg, lima
beans, milk and ice cream.
Jessup said a few suffered mi
nor bruises and he complained
that his back was hurt slightly
during the confusion.
The most serious injury re
ported was a blistered shoulder
suffered by Craig Carpenter, an
Bth grader who was walking
Official Organ City of Pembroke
I Sway from the cafeteria wjien
I the blast came at 12:50 p.m.
I After the explosion the lunch
room was the scene of over-,
, turned tables and chains. A
I large stove used to heat the
building was turned on its side,
and the floor was buckled where
the underground gas pipe led.to
the building.
Food and milk littered the
floor and in the kitchen section,
pots, pans and dishes were scat
tered.
Two pans of cheeseburgers
were still in the large oven and
the electric wall clock had
stopped at 12:50 p.m.
Children' tn the lower grades
in the 400-studeßt school had al
ready eaten ah'd returned to
their classrooms. The smaller
children, who are fed between
10:55 and 11:35, had left the area
in the west end of the building
where damage was heaviest.
I Randy Smith, a 9th grade stu
dent, and Billy Hurst, a 12th
grader, ran to the main building
and turned in fire alarms at
each end of the hall. Dave Sut
|ton, a service station attendant
who was at his home for lunch,
heard the explosion and also
called the fire department.
Tommy Faircloth, a fresh
man, and Billy Hurst, a senior,
had just left the west porch of
the lunchroom, which was de
stroyed by the explosion.
The glass door was blown
from its hinges and a chimney
was divided into two sections.
Roland Harrison, deputy di
rector of civil defense for Bryan
County soon came to the scene.
He helped firemen in keeping
onlookers from lighting ciga
rettes in the area of the school
where heavy butane gas fumes
continued to spew from the un
derground tank. Gas company
employes had extinguished the
tank fire with a chemical spray.
Pat Hurst, Beth Appleby,
Maxine Jones and W. E. Whit
field, all students, were closest
to the tank and saw the delivery
truck snap the pipe to release
the gas. The four fled to safety,
but plastic pocketbooks left be^
neath a hickory nut tree where
they had been seated, were
melted.
Deputy Sheriff Carlos Jones,
who lives across the street from
the school, was one of the first
to reach the scene. He said the
delivery truck belonged to the
Roger Wood Packing Co. of Sa
vannah.
Jessup would make no esti
mate of damages in dollar cost.
He said that school will be in op
eration as usual Monday and
parents will be asked to pack
lunches for their children.
The lunchroom, built in the
19405, was one of two wooden
buildings that were left after a
boiler room fire destroyed the
Richmqnd Hill school about five
vears ago. The other wooden
building is still used for voca
tional training classes.
When the new school was built
no funds were available for in
cluding a new cafeteria.
After Friday’s explosion and
fire hundreds of students and
other area residents visited the
scene until darkness
Mrs. J. T. Shaw was admit
ted to the Central of Ga. Hos
pital last Saturday morning
where she underwent surgery.
Her many friends are glad
that her stay in the hospital
was short. She returned home
Sunday and is doing nicely.