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The Houston Home Journal
"Georgia’s Number One Weekly Newspaper"
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THE WJr PAGE
BOBBY BRANCH
PRESIDENT - EDITOR PUBLISHER
PHIL BYRD Production Director
JOEL FERGUSON News Editor
JANICE COLWELL Office Manager
JANET McELMURRAY Advertising
DONNA BRYAN Computer Operator
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL THURS,, MAR 23, 1971,
Thanks To Max Poole
Two New Doctors
Two new doctors will be coming
to Perry and that’s good news for
this community.
Dr. Luther Vance Jr., a general
practitioner and a native of Perry,
will locate here this summer. Dr.
James R. Row, a surgeon and
general practitioner, will begin his
practice here with Dr. Charlie
Dean next week. We proudly
welcome both of these highly
qualified physicians to our com
munity.
We want to commend Perry
Hospital administrator Max Poole
On BB Violators
Police Crack Down
The Perry Police Dept, has had
numerous complaints in recent
weeks about the abuse of juveniles
and BB guns. Lights, glass signs,
and windows are being shot out and
at least one case of an elderly
woman being shot has been
reported to the police.
Police Chief B.E. Dennard said
this week “I am sick and tired with
the BB guns and we are going to
crack down on violators.” We
whole-heartily agree with the chief.
BB guns are dangerous and many
times juveniles misuse them
because they do not understand the
potential danger and there are
those juveniles who mis-use the
guns out of downright “meanness.”
We endorse the department’s
new policy of making cases against
BB gun violators. Under the law, as
A Right Step
Literacy Test Good
The functional literacy test is in
its third week in The Home Journal
and so far we have to rate it as
successful.
Parents, teachers, store
managers and others have called
us concerning the exam stating
they think it’s a good idea. Some
teachers even want copies so they
might administer part or all of the
the test to their students.
The test being so well received is
encouraging to us and should serve
as a consideration to those in the
state Department of Education.
Officials in the state education
department are now considering
the introduction of the functional
literacy examination as a
pre-requisite to seniors before
graduation. Some people view the
test as unfair to the students. In
fact, some have stated that a senior
in high school has “put in his time”
and should not be subjected to
rated performance to graduate.
We contend , however, that a
functional literacy test such as the
one published in The Home Journal
on page 16-B is quite the opposite of
unfair.
To turn a student out to the “real
world” unable to read or write is
the highest form of unfairness we
can determine. A person having to
for the genuine effort he has put
forth in recruiting new physicians
to Perry. Mr. Poole runs one of the
best 45 bed hospitals in the country
and that has been a valuable selling
tool to attract new physicians into
the community. We thank him for
his good work.
We look forward to the new
doctors arrival in Perry. We know
they will fit right into the com
munity and find continued success
here.
—B.B.
it reads today, parents will be held
responsible for damage done by a
juvenile up to SI,OOO. The police
plan to haul parents into juvenile
court along with their children and
we think this is a move in the right
direction.
Under the Perry City Code, it is
unlawful to fire a BB gun in the city
limits. So, watch out, you BB gun
violators, the police are watching
and waiting.
The important consideration, of
course, in this matter is that BB
guns are potentially very
dangerous when improperly used.
That is really what concerns us all.
We urge parents whose children
have BB guns to be aware of this
problem and take steps to make
sure nothing tragic happens as the
result of a BB gun incident.
—B.B.
make a living, support a family and
get by in our society becomes a
cripple and ends up hurting him or
herself.
The functional literacy
examination administered to a
graduating student would quickly
determine whether or not that
person would be able to balance a
check book, understand financing
terms in a contract, fill out an
employment application or prevent
himself from being swindled into
something unaffordable.
Cases of people being taken are
reported every day throughout the
United States. People who cannot
function properly because of
reading comprehension,
maihematics or writing handicaps
exist everywhere in our country.
The problem, which is not a new
one, is becoming more prevalent as
our population increases and a
solution must be found.
If it can be determined through
this series of tests, then educators
can backtrack on the problem and
help those students who have
problems.
We believe the functional
literacy examination is just one
part of a solution to the overall
problem. It is a step in the right
direction.
—B.B.
PAGE 4-A
HHJ NEWS EDITOR
County Cities V^*
By Joel Ferguson
It was good news to hear that
State Trooper Lt. Dozier
Blackstock is working out of the
Perry Highway Patrol office again.
After various assignments, in
cluding maintaining good order
and discipline among the tourists
and press personnel in President
Jimmy Carter’s hometown of
Plains, Lt. Blackstock is working
closer to home.
Home, of course, is Henderson,
and when I talked to Blackstock at
the Warner Robins trooper office a
couple of weeks ago, he said he
thoroughly enjoys operating his 30-
acre “hobby” farm in the South
Houston community.
Blackstock apparently is only
one of a host of persons who like
Henderson as it is today, and as it
was in the past. In an early history
of Houston County, approved and
inserted in the state archives by a
resolution of the Georgia General
Assembly on Aug. 23, 1933, the
community is described in the
following glowing terms:
“Henderson, always noted for its
hospitable, cultured and Christian
people, is located in the southern
part of Houston County. It is
surrounded by fertile agricultural
lands whose various soils are
adapted to the growth of every
known product of the state. The
original forests of pine and hard
wood are today supplying the
greatest markets in the world with
splendid quality of lumber.”
The report goes on to say the
place was named for Solomon
David Henderson who came to the
county as a trader among the In
dians. The document states Hen
derson was attracted to the
location by broad Indian trails
leading from the camps on the
Ocmulgee to the Flint.
Those trails, according to the
early history, were just as
Grovania and HawkinsviUe roads
now stand, and were used by In
dians on their hunting visits from
river. The 1933 history states that
Henderson soon had the full con
fidence of the Indians and white
settlers that were rapidly coming
in, and declared during his long
business career that he wore out
and had to build his third store.
In early life, he married
Got A Gripe?
Write The Editor!
Letters Are
Always Welcomed
Penelope Brown, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. William Brown. The
history states that Henderson lived
to be 98, and raised a large family,
all of whom had long since died.
The document states that
another early settler in the Hen
derson area was Henry Till and
“also his good wife Beckey, who
came into our midst after landing
from Ireland. The 1933 history of
Houston County says, “These good
people (the Tills) settled in the
woods near Henderson and each
morn, ere the stars had faded from
the blue sky, saw Mr, Till with the
baby cradle on one shoulder, his
axe on the other, while his good
wife carried the lunch basket and
the baby to the woodland that was
cleared for cultivation.
“This was their start in life but
when he died about the close of the
War Between the States, he owned
a large number of slaves and his
lands extended for more than two
miles along the National High
way.”
The early history also mentions,
“Mr. Fitzgerald, grandfather of
Dr. C.R. Mann and Mrs. C.E.
Gilbert of Perry,” who were also
among the early settlers at Hen
derson.
“This remarkable man (Fit
zgerald) and his wife purchased
land near Henderson and built a
comfortable home,” the history
reveals. “Mr. Fitzgerald, to teach
his own children, dragged down
briars and bushes with longs and
teams of oxen in order that the
children might have clear paths.
“So thorough was the foundation
for an education at this school in
the woods, that young Jones, a lad
of the neighborhood who attended,
won a cadetship at West Point and
ended his brilliant military career
as a Major General in the Con
federate Army; David Rumph
Jones.”
The early history of Henderson
concludes with this note; “The
lands were rapidly cleared by the
white settlers and the Indians
pushed southward until their
famous chief, Osceloa, made his
last stand in the Everglades of
Florida, where he was betrayed
into the enemy’s camp by the
notorious traitor, ‘Yellow Jake’.”
r “
c ßobby
'Bmucl' !?■ f
OUT ON A %y
BRANCH '***
I
Don’t Steal From Us
All of us on the staff of The HHJ work hard
each week to put out a good newspaper. Every
member of the staff is dedicated to doing the best
job they know how. It takes an awful lot of work
and skill to produce the newspaper each week
and when some “creep” comes along and drops
15 cents in one of our news racks and takes out
several papers, it is a direct insult to all of us who
work so hard to put the paper together each
week.
Home Journal stealing has gotten so bad over
the past few months that I honestly don’t know
how much longer the paper can afford to take
these losses. The majority of our 4,500 cir
culation is through the mail, but we serve many
readers each week through the news racks in the
area. At first, thieves were destroying the old
racks and stealing the money on Wednesday
nights on the day of publication. We stopped that
by investing a considerable sum in “armored”
news racks which are pretty much “crook
proof.” Now there are those among us who just
take what they want. Some people are taking
papers and selling door-to-door. We’ll catch
them soon enough.
The worst thing of all, in my opinion, are those
people who take 2 or 3 papers after paying for
only one. And there are a lot of folks like that
around.
It probably doesn’t make any difference to
those who steal the papers each week, but we
have more than 15 cents in newsprint costs alone.
By the time you figure production, labor and
other expenses, the 15 cents news stand price is a
real bargain for the reader.
It is heartening that those who steal the papers
are only a few of the many that look forward to
buying the paper off the news rack on Wed.
evenings. We have good, honest folks every week
come by the office and give us back a paper
telling us they got two out of the rack by
mistake. Others come by and give us 15 cents
they found in the coin rack that dropped out by
mistake when they purchased their paper. And
there are some readers who have taken out
several papers from the rack but have come by
the next day to pay for them.
You can help us. If you see someone take
several papers out of the news rack, especially at
the Post Office, please report it to us here at the
office or to the Perry Police Dept.
By the way, it is not just The HHJ that is hit by
the thieves. Macon and Atlanta newspaper
distributors have a tough time with this same
problem. Report any incident you see. After all,
stealing a newspaper is no different than walking
into a super market here and picking up several
items without paying for them. Thank you.
Give It All Back!
According to the vote the other day in the U.S.
Senate, it is goodbye Panama Canal. For the life
of me, I can’t understand this great feeling of
guilt some of our folks in high office have about
owning the canal. But there are those who feel
guilt for having succeeded in this nation for the
past 202 years.
If those folks are all that conscience stricken
about the canal, they ought to go all the way
down the line and give the canal back to
Columbia, which probably has the most
legitimate claim on the property.
Considering the precedent set by the canal
treaties, maybe we ought to give Louisianna
back to France, Florida back to Spain, Alaska
back to Russia, Manhattan back to the poor
Indians who sold it for about sl6 worth of junk
jewelry and California back to Mexico and so on
and so on.
We could go all out and give a lot of stuff back
to Britain, but they probably wouldn’t take it
because of the problems of their own.
Why not go all the way to satisfy those poor,
guilt-ridden folks up there north of Virginia, and
give the whole country back to the Indians. It
was theirs before it was ours.
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