Newspaper Page Text
UP AND DOWN GEORGIA
.
West Pomt--the‘
Place Where l
East and West |
-
MeetinH armonyl
By DUDLEY GLASS. |
WEST POINT, Feb. 6.—Really we
4re uncertain at this writing whether
we are in West Point, Georgia, or
Lanett, Alabama; as the office of The
News, “Fearless and Free,” straddles
the State line, informs, entertains
and elevates part of both States, and
the table Editor Trox W. Bankston
lent us in the exact middle thereof.
But what matters it. “Here is where
East is East Alabama, and West is
‘West Georgia, and the twain have met
(Kipling to the contrary notwith
standing) across a State line which
s purely imaginary, meandering
down the middle of Third avenue,
and under a building or two and
through neat front yards whose lawns
bear no outward evidence that they
occupy a strategic position for sheéer
iff-dodging. The Twin Cities are
one, to all intents and purposes,
though perforce they must maintain
separate administrations and police
departments dnd even postoffices. But
Uncle Sam has agreed to build a
twin-city postoffice building to cost
$65,000 straddle the State -line, and
serve both communities—the only
two-State postoffice in these United‘
States. §
A New Tale of Two Cities. |
So this new edition of the Tale of
Two Cities will deal with Lanett as
much as with West Point. It will go
further afield than that—miles down
the Chattahoochee River, in fact, to
the mill towns of Shawmut and
Langdale and Fairfax and Riverdale
—all in Alabama, but all children -of
West Point, and prospering with their
parent city. They are served by the
Chattahoocglee Valley Railroad, as
famous in this part of Georgia as the
horse-car line which used to extend
from Covington to Oxford, and by
nifty eleetric cars which operate by
storage batteries and run on the same
track as that used by the steam
trains. They are mill towns exclu
sively little cities of cotton spinners
and weavers and their children, and
hey all work for the group of indus
%}3l plants owned by Boston capital
and directed by the Laniers of West
Point. There are many corpérations,
with many directoratés, but they all
are owned by the same group of cap
italists, and their interests are iden
tical. They have their own stores,
their own community life, which ap
pears to be a very pleasant life, in
deed. But, nevertheless, West Point
~¥rroper drawe# a great deal of trade
om them, and the handsome stores
which border West Point’s well-paved
streets sell a l!trge volume of goods to
the mill folk in al' these towns. |
~ River Divides Town. {
The ' Chattahoochee River ap-‘
Lroaches the Georgia line at West
Point, almost exactly half-way down
the western border = between the
mountains ard the sea, but it does
not become the houndary until it
touches the corner of Harris County,
only a little way below the twin cit
ies. The river divides West Point‘
In its center,-and while the business
houses are on the west side, most ufi
the more handsome homes are on
the hills to the east, reached by a‘
big bridge which runs out of one of
the principal streets. Tha homes on |
the West side, too, have been hnilt‘
upon high ground, for the Chatta
heochee is given to rising every now
and then, backing up xhrm;szh'thn-‘
lowlands, and flooding the business
streets of the town with a foot er
two of muddy water. That's why
the sidewalks of West Point are
from two to three fcet higher than
the street level, and basements are
useful only for swimming pools. But
these floods are infrequent, the West |
Point folk tell us, never harm any |
one, and recede as quickly as they
come. There hasn’t beenl a real
flood since 18%6.
« Many Distinctive Features,
West Point has several distinctive
features-which ,stamp it at once as
different from other towns. One ob
gerves the first of them at once,
when arriving at the railroad sta-|
tion. and inquiring for the hotel. He
finds that the Charles Hotel is part |
of the station, the lobby adjoining
the ticket office, and the rooms being
Just above it, convenient to all trains,
of which something Jlike eleven mil
lion pass between 10 p. m. and dawn,
most of them with flat wheecls. But
it i 8 a very pleasant hotel for all
that, and no harder to sleep in than
one of those hostelries in a public
square used as an automobile repair
shop by a score of midnight mech
anicians.
City-Owned Auditorium. |
And next, you see the auditorium
and the clubs, and begin to take no
tice that West Point is an unusual
tewn, indeed, Here is a handsome
auditorium of brick and stone, own
ed by the city of West Point and
paid for by municipal bonds. It
seats 916 persons, cost $15,000 when
bufldingg were cheaper than now,
and is used for all forms of public
entertainment and uplift. Between
such public gatherings it is the the
ater, for it is completely equipped
wttix stage and curtains and scenery
representing palaces, hovels, the in
terfor of Lord Cavendish's drawing
room, and the garden outside the
ymansion of Lady Isabel. Some of
the same road companies which play
in the Atlanta Theater stop in West
Point to break the jump from Mont
gomery, and the ,city profits by be
ing in the show business, W. G,
Shaefer, who manages the audito
rium, told us that the receipts from
the shows added materlally to the
funds for conducting the building.
A Busy Young Man,
Mr. Shaefer is one of the busy
voung men of West Point, helping
materially in all the war fund cam
paigns, acting as general publicity
director for most of them, and run
ning his own business when he finds
time.” His own business consists of
two motion picture shows; one for
the white movie fans, and the other
the best negro movie house in Geor
gia * outside the fambus resort
on our own Decatur street. Mr, Shae
fer says the negroes are hzngr_v for
movies; there are no others open to
them for many miles around, and
they drive in, by Ford or buggy, from
points for forty miles around, to see
Doug Fairbanks climb a second-story
or Charley Chaplin walk down the
center aisle. There seems to be a
business hint here for other towns
outside Mr. Shaefer's reach.
“And now,” remarks our genial
guide to West Point, who 18 none
other than W. Trox Bankston, owner
and editor of the West Point-Lanett
THE ATLANTA GRORGIAN ‘e ° @ A Clea Newspaper for_Southern Homes ®© @ FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1919.
WEST POINT POINTS ' ' 4 ERINGE
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News, member of thé Legislature, and
man-about-Georgia, “and now we'll
stroll over to the club.” e
Whaddayamean Club. ~
“The Club?” we inquire. “Whad
dayamean, club’?”
“Come and see,” says Mr. Bank
ston. He escorts us across the street
to an avenue. which runs parallel
with the river, but on an elevation
high above it. Between the avenue
and the river hank is a trim build
ing, two stories in height, and with
a wide portecochere sheltering the
automobile from which two visitors
are alighting. \ )
“Welcome to the Riverside Club,”
says Trox. “Press that bugton,
please. Now what'll you have?”
“Why, a couple of high ——"
“We have coca-cola, ginger, ale,
etc,” says Trox, sadly. “Never mind,
Clarence. Just bring us something
to smoke.” '
Well-Appointed Place.
We remember that we still are in
Georgia, and take a look about the
club. There are pool tables, & rcad
ing room, a“dining room, and a broad
screened veranda for dancing, over
looking the river. Upstairs are suites
of bedrooms, with private baths, and
all that kind of thing, as well fur
nished as any private pome in Druid
Hills. These are for onut-of-tewn
guests, and we are urged to make
ourselves at home.
The club, we hear, is an outgrowth
of necessity as well as West Point’s
demand fop a center of social life,
The “big chaps” from Boston come
down frequently to visit the mills,
and even the best of small city ho
tels hardly would suit their tastes,
so they are put up- at the elub,
greatly to the profit of the cook and
butler. Tae smart set of West Point
has its dancés and card parties there,
and the business men gather in the
late afternoons for a game of Kelly
e ————— ¢ | e Greater Boys® S 01re”” s ————
$7.50 . $9.75 . $14.95 |
The best values possible for the money 1 l '
as you will agree once you inspect them !
This iy an advertisement you can read with profit. It is mother’s opportunity \
to provide the little fellow with a splendid overcoat for February and March \ /]
as well as next season at a great saving. ! o T
The Overcoats compriged in these groups represent broken lots. Not all sizes / J ,‘.'/5,/"4
in every style, but [»lt}lt_\' of styles in every size, We stand sponsor for their v'/ 1 W f'}
impeachable quality and conscientious workmanship. They look like Over W /%// "‘\\\ /'//M"
coats of a much costlier variety, and, as a matter of faet, they should be priced Y/ // i O g
several dollars more. A\ ,//// v \\ \ '
e L~ i ‘
Every conceivable pattern and color in durable worsteds, m’f’ 7:5’? Y
: . il [
cassimeres, cheviots, homespuns, etc. Only the very latest styles. e &
At $7.50 there are 65 coats in all sizes from !m’// 7R
214 to 10 years, Ml ’//
At $9.75 there are 111 coats in all-§izes ° 4 i / i
from 2% to 12 years. ///
At $14.95 there are,lls coats in all sizes e
from 3 to 17 years
Boys’ Cloth Hats Neat Serge Caps e
~ $1.25 75¢ =
A Special Boys' Suit at k 2
o $lO £
Others from $8.50 to S2O j 2
Splendid Blouses 4 Striped Madras Shirts - Official Boy Scout
SI.OO SI.OO Outfitters in Atlanta
pool and a chat over the cotton mar
ket, 2
Excellent Athletic Club.
* “Now, we’ll go over ‘o the other
club,” observes Mr. Bahkston.
Yes, sir, West Point has Ytwo
clubg! Or, to be exgct, two club
houses. When the iverside had
won success it was agreed that it
lacked athletic features. Instead of
enlarging ithe building, they put up
another, just across the street. TLis
contigs bowling alleys, a big gym
nasi and basketball court, and a
white-tiled swimming pool with wa
ter warmed by steam for winter
bathing. The swimming pool is used
liberally by the women and flrls. Dbut
it has never become popular with
the men and boys in the summer
time- -for there is the deep river a
lstone's throw away, and the high
bridge to dive from, after donning
bathing suits in the club dressing
rooms. There's no gels at West
Point yet, but Newnan, half-way to
Atlanta, has a prosperous <lub; La-
Grange, twenty miles or so away, is
planning one, and West Point will
not he 'left behind long.
Social Life Pleasant.
One can see that the social life of
West Point Is pleasant indeed. The
business life seems to be equally
worth ile. The town is filled with
:mra#«}e stores, retail and whole
sale, There is one department store
which sells «verything but some
thing te eat, and does an enormous
business. There are jobbers whose
trade =stretches far into Alabama.
There are four big “supply houses’
which provide everything a farmer
can use. There are four live stock
firms which sell 50 carlodds of mules
a year, and Trox Bankston says this
is a never-ceasing wonder to him,
for whvv ®n so many mules go,
for nobbdy ever saw a dead one!
IThere are two banks, and neat drug
stores and soda fountains, and the
uptown streets are paved with brick.
There are sidewalks everywhere
near~the center of town, except in a
few muddy spots, and these are to
be paved as soon as the contractors
can get 'round to them. For West
Point’'s public improvements, like
those of other cities, were interrupt
ed by the war.
It was at this point in our tour
around town that one of the older
citizens took us across the street to
the iron works building, to point out
an iron pillar or column, supporting
the corner of the building.
“‘See that colyum?” he inquired.
We admitted it. \
Has One Jug, Anyway.
“Well, sir, you ought to get a pic
ture of that there colyum,” he ob
served. “It's holler, an inside of it
there's a gallon jug of the finest licker
that's been known to mankind since
the Civil War.”
‘We inquired, naturally, as to such
a peculiar storage reservoir for pre
cious fluids. It was explained that a
workman had concealed said jug in
side the column while erecting the
building, and the column had subse
quently been put in place without
the builders knowing the jug reposed
therein, and it had been there ever
since.
“It would be right smart trouble
and expense to saw open that there
colyum or tear it out,” observed our
informant. . “And if the building—
and the colyum-—belonged to me, I
don't believe I'd take chances any
longer, These folks are going to come
down here some morning and find
that there colyum just naturally
vanked out by the roots.”
New Hospital Planned.
The citizens are ready to tell you
of the new hospital being plgnned for
the twin cities; of the library to be
built with the help of the late A. K.
Hawkes, of Atlanta, whose philan
thropy was so effective yet so unob
trusive. They will tell you of the
work done by the Red Cross Chap
ter, and the woman’s club. And then
they will tell you that West Point
was “first over the top” in every war
drive, even down to war savings
stamps, in which few towns or coun
ties reached their quota.
“ “It was easy,” explained Mayor
Mark MecCulloh, who is just begin
ning his administration, having suc
ceeded Mayor John T. Johnson, who
died in the service of the Y. M. C A,
“over there.” “We just put up a big
blackboard and engaged a brass band,
and invited everybody to come up
and subscribe--and they did it We
never failed to go ever the top at one
meeting. Of course, we went round
and dug up a lot more the next day.”
Ed"}(‘or a Good Cook.
We met the Mayor at the home of
Mr. Bankston, over on the east side of
the river—a big, old house which
once was the home of Senator Shep
pard, of Texas. We were invited to
tea, but it turned out a dinner, with
fried chicken and fixings that would
make Herb Hoover look twice—and
then ask for a second helping. Mr.
Bankston proves that he is an effi
cient assistant to Mrs. Bankston by
cooking the biscuit. At least, after
the ingredients are mixed and the
dough is just right, Trox turns a
switch and permits the electric cur
rent from the house wires to brown
the biscuit in a silver-plated dingbat
similar to an electric toaster—there
by putting one over on larger cities
than West Point. "We had been
brought up in firm faith that nothing
but an old-fashioned Dutch oven
could prepare biscuits like mother
used to make. But here is Trox
Bankston, pressing a button and get
ting the same results, in half the time
and with one-hundredth of the labor
~—and posing among his brethren of
the press as a downtrodden count(?y
editor just two jumps ahead of the
sheriff.
An Old, Old Town,
After dinner the talk wears on to
old times, though our host remem
bers no further back than twenty
years, and the Mayor dates his West
Point career from the same period.
But we hear that the #own was there
long before the war, even in the old
Indian days. And as we come grad
vally down to the Civil War, we learn
that the battle of West Point, or Fort
Tyler, was the last fight of the Con
federacy. It took place on Sun(\ay,
April 16, 1865, the fort then standing
on the high ground now occupied by
the handsome new home of Mrs, La-
Fayette Lanier. General Tyler was
killed in that fight, only a short time
after he had been presented a flag by
1
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Davison-Paxon-Stokes Company
Featuring for Saturday : Eventually you ™
. suns - will buy your
New Spring Millinery | Mgady | #esere”
That Will Ind Y SR | Why Not New
a ill Induce D ) 4 S| D
Every Well Attired ‘\\\\}.'.',.'M‘.',',ffi g;& sn‘,’i”"’_"%x
Woman in Atlanta S . y@-
toComeTomorrow N ‘
EVER before in Febru- Stylish *7,
N ary were we so well pre- ) AR _ty ts
pared to supply your Trimmed >
needs in well chosen, stylish Hats with :
Spring Millinery for immediate an appeal
wear., Do L all their @ |
- own
é“’ "
=y Wonder Hats on Sale Saturday
R All Stfraw and combinations, such as
i Satin and Straw or Georgette and °
,‘\ \f P~ Straw, in Off-face and Irregular Brim o
\,7 , " effects, Turbans, Side-Turns, Colo
e/ nials, Mushrooms, Pokes, Sailors,
l Tams, etc.
I 7 PR
-s%, Trimming
ARSI By :" 4 > “\':‘ :
N: > ."/ g/ :} Narrow ribhons, chrys-
S E Gk
-,A '~, X \\/“{j A( & anthemum and pineapple
! s . t N -
§ A 5 ___//’ e ;'\H“’ straw and lisere braids,
;; | h,4 % : ornaments, flowers, ostrich
“Liberty” Hats Go at and lisere fancies, hand
Hats that will sult the woman who wants $ 50 embroidery, steel, faney
to pay more than $5.00-—and they are well © : .
worth the extra money. See the assort- = ___ pins, ete., something to
ment tomorrow and note the superior quality, N it Ao ki
‘ 2 LR oot e s
‘Victory’’ Hats $lO
We doubt if Atlanta women /::\ ~
ever saw better or more stylish
ats « e price tha hey will
:j-o-'lu-ll':‘ Il’nnu,n'l"n\«"iln ltlhtt-s(-‘t::,ll,\' // \ CIGSS_V.’ -
exceptional values which we have ‘ g{'%@ . e ’
priced at 4 '&@ififi" " e jé“;"‘.‘. \
/ e 3 , ol G o
$ 00 Q G PN R<A )
T - \
@ ) S G ! 5. v
bt e 48 0% p
o 3 ’\—/
TR
Among These Hals Are Exquisite Originations & Clewer, ’u‘ ‘; N 3 You WE" Be Pleased
Stylish Adaptations of Neaw York and Parisian Models o |1 1P With Them
N N N I I A I I NNIN I N NP NAN AN NN,
L ;
Davison-Paxon-Stokes gom pany
A o ‘: TR T __;
an c7lt h\ . D,. ud' G
ariffin
a group of young West Point women.
One of the group was Miss Sallie
{Fannie Reid, afterward Mrs. W. D.
Grant, the mother of John D. Grant
and Mrs, John Marshall Slaton, of
Atlanta. The Grant family still owns
large holdings of land in West Point,
Once Trading Post.
We are told, also, of the days after
the war, whén West Point became the
center of a vast trading territory,
with “camping traders"” driving their
covered wagons many a long mile to
buy goods, And camping overnight in
the street, or on the shady road out
side the town. And then we drift
down to the coming of the cotton mill
indastry, which marked the beginning
of the new West Poini, and the birth
of her industrial progress.
Laniers Start Cotton Mills.
Lafayette Lanier—the “old” Lafay
ette Lanier-—~founded the industry, it
seems. The first mill was buiit at
Langdale by Kastern capital, started
badly, and failed. Mr. Lanier bought
it 4. He interested capitalists in Bos
ton, and they poured their money
into the industry. The mill flourished,
and another was built, and then an
other, Now they are five in five
towns, on the little C, V. Railroad
rlong the banks of the Chattahoochee
south of West Point. They are all in
Chambers County, Alabama, one of
the reasons for placing them across
the State line being that Alabama
taxes were more favorable to new in
“dustries than were Georgia’s. There
is more than §5,000,000 invested in
these mills now. There are 4,000 em
ployees, and other thousands in their
homes and at school. The Lanett
Mill, which is just across the State
line from the West Point station, has
the largest mill building in America.
Its spind{es number 83,000, and sev
eral of the average Georgia cotton
mills could be tucked comfortably in
¢ide of it. The group of mills con
sume 100,000 bales of cotton a year,
and the weekly pay roll is around
$60,000,
Three Lanier Families.
You will find, when you discuss cot
ton mills and other industries in West
Point, that the name of Lanier is a
‘magic one. The Laniers—there are
‘three families of them now—are the
financial overlords in industrial ecir
‘clefl. Their names appear as officers
and directors in all the five corpora
‘ tions which control the mills, the rail
road, the bleachery, and the several
‘a]lied enterprises. William H. Wel
lington and Horace 8. Sears, of Bos
ton, are the big figures representing
the Eastern capital, and the firm of
Wellington-Sears & Co., of Boston
and a dozen other cities, gells the out
put of all the mills. But at home, the
Laniers are the outstanding figures,
and it is a tribute to their way of do
ing business and handling human
problems, that all West Point and the
five towns seem to have a deep alfec
tion for the family. George H. La
nier, a handsome young man who
might in appearance typify the suc
cessful American business man, is
president of two corporations and
general manager of all of them. W,
C. Lanier is prekident of the First
Y RPN w 1
National Bank. BE. F. Lanier
of the West Point Investme
pany (net in the mill group J
conducts a big fron works,
planing mill and other indu .
the town. Smith Lanier is
the Interstate Tel ',,f%fi; 1
which is an institution worth & |
tex for itself, R R
’ g W
Welfare Work Extension.
In no other mills in the
“welfare work” for employees
carried to greater extent than {dni?
‘five cities” of the West Poii .
There are schools and kindergartes
bageball flelds, civic centers. -Th
are neat homes for the workers, |
paved streets, waterworks; and sews
erage. There is a nine-months’ Sche
for the children, though the State
Alabama provides funds for a mi
shorter time, and the mills pul !év
’money for the remainder. ere are
auditoriums and theaters, mming
| pools; tennis courts.’ And there are
churches of many denomfnations, =
’ We :wépd one of the West Point
folk abodt the downtrodden workers
in the mills, the terrible child labor
conditions which have ecau our
muckrakers Lo weep copious i
Workers Well Cared For.'
“These people come from the poor
farms of the back counties in most
cases,” we were told. “The¥ lived in
cabins a town dog would turn up his
nose s*, They come to the mlw
find neat cottages, with good -
tion. They put their children in
schools such as the backwoods never
dream of. They are cared for in hos
pitals when they are ill. They are
given new ideas of comfort; they
have their first taste of luxury. The
children go to school until they are
14 years old, and then they find work
in"the mills if they like, and the work
is usually light, I've never seen any
children stunted by work in the
mills.”
An Odd Phone Situtaion.
Let's get back to Smith Lanfer's
telephone exchange. It is housed in
a 4 modern building, near the River
side Club. And it is a strietly ::Cs—
pendent enterprise, not controlled by
the Bell companies. It connects wit &
the Bell lines, and one may use the
long-distance from his home, -as
in a Bell city, But Mr. Lanier had
it going and prospering before the
big corporation was reaching out for
everything, and it found West Point
80 well served that it stayed out of
Smith Lanier's territory so far as
local bisiness is concerned, and they
are excellent friends. 7
. Mr, Lanier is a “bug” about busi
‘)m-sa methods, as you'll learn in a
’.(i\'v-mmutv chat with him. It was
“he who conveived the foolish idea
’l'mt telephone subscribers could be
made to pay their bills in advance,
und on the dot. He proved it some
years ago, before the big companies
had discovered it, by informing
every subseriber that unless the bills
were paid by the third of the month
the instruments would be removed.
And on that fatal day he sent round
Continued on_Page 7.
3