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X^HATtOHAL fkc Mstxffoft Hofia Journo! QmnJifh^ PAGE 2-A PERRY, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, APRIL t. 1f72 i^—■—■ Legendary Church Bell To Be Replaced By Methodists The Perry United Methodist Church will soon have a new bell installed to take the place of the old one that is cracked and no longer works It was unloaded last week and rests on the side lawn of the church grounds until it can be installed The Perry Methodist Church used to have a bell County Tax Digest To Jump SBO Million Jimmy Rosenburg. chairman of the Houston County board of tax assessors, told com missioners Tuesday that the aggregate county tax digest will grow by S7O to SBO million in 1973 due to a revaluation program and new construction to be completed in 1972. Rosenburg said the board has revalued 5.527 parcels in the county, and the valuations of these pieces of property amounted to sl6 million more than that o i 1972 This is a 26 percent increase expected in 1973 over 1972 He said the assessors estimate that sl6 million will be added to the tax digest by new construction reported in 1972. There are 22.000 par cels of property in the county The aggregate tax digest (before homestead exemp tions) will increase by ap proximately 75 percent over the current tax digest total of $lO9 million, according to Rosenburg s report He told the commissioners that the state revenue department had advised Houston County that valuations in this county are 25 percent too low. and that if the county did not revalue toe property the state would step in and raise the value of each piece of property by 25 percent However, he said the county is not allowed to just add 25 percent to each Jpr J | I n m warn k w£ l * 4 PPg En ■ jy ly Hvt jP I HgK yr \Kf ■» ♦ Hfe Mgf Igi Jv m ■ I! ■ 9 a F HI .’■ • 1 ms. *?|BSI t I 1 I S 96 J .*,’,*? } >J Es^v* l 'A' 5? Sf. Z* f M:&-^;tw'?-.^|l£®$3fc •‘¥’^%S ; City employees and Coancilmen presented outgoing Mayor Malcolm Reese with a gas grill at a barbecue la his honor last Thursday sight at Uie Perry Fire Dept. From left, City Supt. Edward Warren, Councilman Henry Casey. Fire Chief Sir ah that rang out loud and clear, calling worshippers to church. Engraved on the bell was “Cast for M.E. Church, Perry, Ga., A. D. 1866 by Meneelys. West Troy, N Y. Meneelys Rotating Yoke, patented I 860.” M. E. was the abbreviation for Methodist Episcopal Believed to be the first bell of the local church, it parcel but must revaluate each parcel separately . The county tax assessors said the revaluation of property showed increases running from zero to 50 percent They also expect to review all inventory of businesses in the county because the total of in ventories has declined while the number of businesses is increasing, showing an obvious discrepancy. Commission Chairman Robert Byrd said the board will study the tax digest when the revaluation is completed. Gardner ffatson Improving At Medical Center Gardner Watson, partner in Watson- Hunt Funeral Home of Perry , is improving at the Medical Center in Macon, where he was taken last Wednesday after suf fering a gunshot wound at his home here. According to his son. Draper Watson, he will probably be removed from the intensive care section at the medical center soon He has remained in intensive care since he was hospitalized Watson, a long time prominent Perryan. is ex pected to remain in the medical center for the next several weeks. cracked in the 1930 s and didn't nng again during the past 35 or 40 years Several legends, none of them verified, have been widely circulated about the old bell According to one story , the bell was shipped to Columbus, Georgia, to be melted and used for cannon balls by the Con federate Army .Another legend is that the bell was taken down and buried so Northern soldiers could not confiscate it. A third legend concerns the origin of the bell. Ac cording to this one. Queen Victoria gave the bell to an English nobleman who brought it to South Carolina The W M Davis family of South Carolina brought the bell to Perry and gave it to the Methodist Church AU of these are romantic legends, and the old bell will be restored and preserved on the church property by a committee headed by Mrs Yates Green. It had to be rung by pulling a rope, and besides calling people to church it was used as a fire alarm in the early 1900 s. The new bell is powered by an electric motor and can be timed to ring automaticaUy. It weighs 400 pounds; shipping weight, with motor and crate, as 850 pounds The new bell is a duplicate of the old one, and was bought from 1, T. Verdin. Cin cinnati, Ohio, who had the bell cast by Petit and Fritxen, Aarle-Rixlel Holland It was financed by donations outside the church budget, and will be installed soon by Milton Beckham Although many others wanted a new beU for the church, everyone contacted gave credit for getting the new bell primarily to Francis Nunn. He is Chairman of the new bell committee, and his fellow church members expressed gratitude to Nunn for his tireless efforts to give Pern the clear, sweet sound of church bells again to give the call to worship. Lawhorn , Police Chief B. E. Dennard, Mayor Malcolm Reese, Mayor-elect John Barton, Councilman Dot Roughton, Mayor pro tem Dan Britton, Councilman Alton Hardy and Councilman Frank Leonard. ißiiiia ifc.i si S QK Hh 1 vi «KA ; V ■ • ■■» . ■ fB A .»/jdWI * *HgLl ”,\ •&■. ■'^Pv-;:. : ■■;• ME* I ■•••■?iHKmMk »f >■ jjp • f l *fl!FM*Tm*m " ■■■» JBfc&r * •'•V ; .' i)' ir v ' l|^^j.^l*>^B»: ■ w ’’ HJMF "* -.- ”^B' likLi IL & ' - rel: : ::';:P;i;® '. ®v.-.. JiB I HEL’ ■ wiBBP iiBlB^BBBBBBI^BHBHRBBBi^®^^B^B[^^^B^BB*^BiB!I^BBBBB^^^^^BBBBRB G. Francis Nunn, left and Dr. Leonard Cochran, pastor of the Perry United Methodist Church, examine the church's new bell soon after it w as uncrated last week. The inscription reads, “A. D. 1971. Cast For The First Methodist Church, Assault Warrant Issued Controversy Develops In Perry Juvenile Case Tension is mounting in Perry evolving from an incident two weeks ago between Kevin Sumner of Kenwood Drive and 5 juvenile boys. The controversial incident took place on Friday night March 24 when 5 juveniles were allegedly to have damaged Sumner's mailbox. Sumner claims the boys hit his mailbox with an in strument denting the lop of the box and knocking off the name plate from the top. The boys and their fathers claim the incident was an accident. The juveniles maintain they hit the mailbox accidentally with their car. Sumner says he has proof that it wasn't an accident The controversy seems to center around the alleged way in which Sumner ap prehended the boys. Ac cording to Sumner, be followed the boys in his car down the street to a point at which they had stopped because they were having trouble with the tran smission in their car. He alledgedly had the boys gel out of the car at gunpoint and held them until the police arrived to investigate the incident. Sumner made a complaint Perry, Georgia.” The bell will be installed soon in the charming white church in downtown Perry, and can be timed to ring automatically. Nunn is chairman of the new bell committee and receiving the bell is the culmination of much hope and effort. (Photo by Maxine Thompson) against the juveniles and the Pern police made a case of vandalism against them The case was later turned over to Houston County juvenile authorities. One of the fathers of the Perry boys look out a warrent for simple assualt against Sumner last Friday afternoon and he was arrested at his home late Friday by Deputy’ Jim West and GBI Agent Jim Hooks Sumner was taken to the Houston County Jail here and was released on SSOO bond around midnight Friday. Sumner refused to waive a committment hearing and it is expected a hearing will be held some time this week in the case. The case has turned into one of controversy here as two sides have entered corners. Sumner, an in surance agent, has been actively involved in local politics here for the past two y ears and has worked to gam a public recreation program in Pern . The Home Journal con tacted the father of one of the juveniles involved in the case who swore out the simple assault warrant on Sumner. He said his name appeared on the warrant but that all a fathers of the boys are behind the action. The father said he felt as though the action was necessary. He said that in his opinion Sumner's action against the boys at gunpoint was uncalled for and that such action should be taken against him. The father staled. We strongly feel the entire in cident was an accident and even had it been intentional we cannot see any reason why he pulled a shotgun on the boys.” Sumner strongly main tains the incident was not an accident. He said he invited the fathers to come look at his mailbox on the night of the alleged incident but they declined “If only they would have taken time to go and look at my mailbox," Sumner said, 1 believe they might have been convinced that it was not an accident” Sumner issued the following statement to The Heme Journal this week concerning the incident: “It is not hard for one citizen to obtain a warrant against another citizen. All you have to do is have a story to tell and a local justice of the peace who can fill in the blanks. Whether or not you can get the point alleged by the words in the blanks carried before twelve citizens tried and true is another transaction.” “I see this by the man who took out the warrant as an extension of the first act of intimidation. The first act was the deliberate and calculated destruction of my property by five juveniles and the second act was a series of threats by their parents which culminated in one of them being courageous enough to stick his neck out and come after me legally . I welcome his exposure because I have seen and know that which he is unwilling to face The pure and simple truth.” “Being I have been a Christian for twenty years. I take it as understandable and a very high compliment to me personally to have received that which was executed and served on Good Friday just prior to my departure for a memorial service in honor of a man who said. “Blessed Are Ye When Men Shall Revilie You And Persecute You .And Say All Manner Os Evil Against You Falsely, For My Sake.” I was incarcerated in the Houston County Jail for about six hours on Good Friday night because, upon the prior advice of an at torney. I refused to waive a commitment hearing and was thereby refused bail until they changed their minds. A commitment hearing is essential in those cases where there is serious doubt about the validity of a charge made by one citizen against another. Please dc not get the impression I minded being in jail because 1 met seven people whom 1 explained the significance of Good Friday. The only difference is that I got up for Sunrise Service Easter morning and they were still in jail.” “Personally, I love the people of Perry and the: children. 1 also realize that the man 1 have quoted also said,* Blessed Are The Merciful" and “Blessed .Are The Peacemakers However. I have a very capable and efficient at torney, good witnesses, and a deep yearning for justice 1 trust that the man who toe* the warrant and those people who have encouraged him to prosecute are equally prepared and adequately represented. I welcome them in any legal manna’ they desire to approach me Up to this point, I am significantly and totally unimpressed." The controversial case continues and tensions anc opinions on the case moun. ® Perry. Kevin Sumner says he was protecting property by his actions and the juveniles and their fathers say the mailbo incident” was an acoden-. Georgia law forbids the publication of names juveniles involved in sue- a case and on the advice of T» Home Journals attorney the names of the fathers of the youths were no. published. The Home Journal «*■ tacted Lt Sandy Harris »• the Houston County Juvenile office in Warner Robins m he said the vandalism a* had been filed m his hut that no action has > been taken in the than that, be said he hac comment" on the case