Newspaper Page Text
UP AND DOWN GEORGIA
. "
West Point--the
Place Where
East and West
.
MeetinHarmony
By DUDLEY GLASS.
WEST POINT, Feb. 6.—Really we
are uncerfain 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
Fast is East Alabama, and West is
.. West Georgia, and the twain have met
(Kipling to the contrary notwith
standing) across a State line which
is 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 sher
iff-dodging. The Twiln Cities are
one, to all intents and purposes,
though perforce they must maintain
separate administrations and police
departments and even postotfices. But
g:lcle Sam has agreed to build a
in-city postoffice building to cost
$55,000 straddle the State line, and
serve both communities—the only
two-State postoffice in these United
Btates.
A New Tale of Two Cities.
8o this new edition of the Tale of
Two Cities will deal with Lamnett 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 ixre served by the
"fhatta.\oochee Valley Railroad, as
amous in this part of Georgia as the |
‘horse-car line which used to extend
from Covington to Oxford, and by
nifty electric 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
they all work for the group of indus
trial plants owned by Boston capital
and directed by the Laniers of West
Point. There are many corporations,
with many directorates, but they all
ere owned by the same group of cap
italists, and their interests are iden
tical.™ They hawve their own stores,
their own community life, which ap
pears to be a very pleasant life, in
deed. But, nevertheless, West Point
proper’'Jdraws a great deal of trade
from them, and the handsome stores
which border West Point’s wéll-paved
streets sell a large volume of goods to
the mill folk in all these towns. |
River Divides Town. |
The Chattahoochee River ap
rroaches the Georgia line at West
Point, almost exactly hal?—'wa& down
the western border between the
mountains and the sea, but it dovs‘
not become the houndary until it
touches the corner of Harris County,
only a little way below the twin cit
fes. The river divides West Point
in its center, and while the business
houses are on the west side, most of
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. The homes on
the west side, too, have been built
upon high ground, for the Chatta
heochee is given to rising every now
and then, backing up through the
lowlands, and flooding the business
streets of the town with a foot or
two of muddy water. That's why
the sidewalks of West Point are
from two to three feet 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 been a re:
flood since 1886.
Many Distinctive Features.
West Point has several distinctive
features which stamp it at once as
different from other towns, One ob
serves 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 like eleven mil
lion pass between 10 p. m. and dawn,
most of them with flat wheels. But
it is a very pleasant hotel for all!
that, and no harder to sleep In than
one of these hostelries in a public
square used as an automobile repair
ghop 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 storie, own
ed by the city of West Point and
paid for by municipal bonds. It
seats 916 persons, cost $15,000 when
buildings 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
with stage and curtains and scenery
representing palaces, hovels, the in
terior of lLord Cavendish's drawing
room, and the garden outside the
mansion 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 eity profits by be
ing in the show business. W, §&.
Shaefer, who marnages the audito
yvium, told us that the reccipts from
the shows added materiglly 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.
dircetor 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 famous resort
on our own Decatur street. Mr, Shae
fer says the negroes are hungry 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. Hhaefer's reach.
“And now,” remarks our genial
unnide to West Point, who is none
ihes than W, Trox Bankston, owner
nd editor of the West Point-Lanett
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN Bl A Clea Newspaper for Southern Homes o FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1919.
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= . Y SEORCA. Ty ey
News, member of the Legislature, and
man-about-Georgia, “and now we’'ll
stroll over to the club.”
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 bank is a trim build
ing, two stories in h:'ight. and with
a wide portecochere sheltering the
automobile from which two visitors
are alighting.
“Welcome to the Riverside Club,”
says Trox. “Press that button,
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, a read
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 home in Druid
Hills. These are for out-of-town
guests, and we are urged to make
ougselves at home,
The club, we hear, is an outgrowth
of necessity as well as West Point's
demand for 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,
s 0 they are put up at the club,
greatly to the profit of the cook and
butler. Tae smart set of West Point
has its dances and card parties there,
and the business men gather in the
late afternoons for a game of Kelly
e —— ¢, T Greater Boys® Soos S —
B { ts ] l'l G t G
$7.50 . $.75 . $14.95 -
The best values possible for the money I z /
as you will agree once you inspect them
This is an advertisement you ean read with profit. It is mother’s opportunity l
to provide the little fellow with a splendid overcoat for February and Mareh \ /I
as well as next season at a great saving. g \ b
The Overcoats comprised in these groups represent broken lots, Not all sizes 77 \7'
in every style, but plenty of styles in every size. We stand sponsor. for their |‘,,'/ /'t “};‘\" 7
impeachable quality and conscientious workmanship. They look like Over W\ W G \lm
coats of a much costlier variety, and, as a matter of fact, they should be priced o\ /) N\
several dollars more, Y / ,// ‘)
% Y £
Every conceivable “pattern and color in durable worsteds, mk! i //;3 w
::o | A S
cassimeres, cheviols, homespuns, etc. Only the very latest styles. g , ‘&//
At $7.50 there are 65 coats in all sizes from t”‘l W y
214 to 10 years, '\! /1 &8
\
At $9.75 there are 111 coats in all sizes \‘ //
from 214 to 12 years. 4
At $14.95 there are 115 coats in all sizes
from 3 to 17 vears Q
Boys’ Cloth Hats ' Neat Serge Caps g
$1.25 Ts¢ ;= . :
A Special Boys’ Suit at 2 .
$lO £/
Others from $8.50 to S2O - %
Splendid Blouses Striped Madras Shirts Z Official Boy Scout
SI.OO SI.OO Outfitters in Atlanta
pool and a chat over the cotton mar
ket, -
‘Excellent Athletic Club.
“Now, we'?] Zo gver to the other
club,” observes Ml& Bankston.
Yes, sir, West Point has_two
clubs! Or, to be exact, two club
houses. When the Riverside had
won success it was agreed that it
lacked athletic features. Instead of
enlarging the bulldipg, they put up
another, just across the street., This
contins bowling alleys, a big gym
nasium 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 girls, but
it has never become popular with
the men and boys in the summer
time- -for there is the deep river a
stbne’'s thm#w away, and_the high
bridge to dive from, after donning
bathing suits in the club dressing
rooms. Theré's no golf at West
Point yet, but Newnan, half-way to
-Atlanta, has & prosperous ¢lub; La-
Grange, twenty miles or soF/nway, is
planning one, and West Foint will
not be 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 while. The town is filled with
attractive stores, retail and whole
sale. There is one department store
whi®h sells e¢verything but some
thing to eat, amd 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 carloads of mules
a year, and Trox Bankston says this
is a never-ceaging wonder to him,
for where can so many mules go,
for nobody ever saw a dead one!
There 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 fook 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 colydm?” he inquired.
We admitted it.
Has One Jug, Anyway. .
“Well, sir, you ought to get a pic
ture qf 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.”
e inquired, naturally, as to such
a x:eculiar storage reservoir for pre
cious fluids..- It was explained that a
workmdn had concealed said jug in
side the columm 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
irformant. “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 flnd!
that there colyum just naturally
yvanked out by the roots.” :
New Hospital Planned.
The citizens are ready to tell you
of the new hospital being planned for
the twin cities; of the library to be
built with the help of the late A. K.
Hawkes, of Atlanta, whose ph!lnn-‘
'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 over the top at one
meeting. Of course, we went round
and dug up a lot more the next day.”
Editor & Good Cook.
We met the Mayor at the home 04
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 twrned 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, atter‘
the ingredients are mixed andy the
dough is just right, Trox turns a
switch and permits the electric vur-‘
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 Khe time
and with one-hundredth of the labor
—and posing among his brethren of
the press as a downtrodden country
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
yeags, and the Mayor dates his West
Point ecareer from the same period,
But we hear that the town was there
long before the war, even in the old
Indian days. And as we come grad
ually 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 Sunday,
April 16, 1865, the fort then standing
on the high ground now oceupied 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
5
“
Davison-Paxon-Stokes Company
Featuring for Saturday ?( ‘ Eventually you
will buy your
@ egge -
New Spring Millinery |MG | e
) = ’Why Not Now?
That Will Induce S _:u"' P & ‘_‘@;‘—, T ;
Every Well Attired R ‘,’%’ A\ ;fi;g}!‘.m{
’ \\\‘ 'Qg!, 3 " A -
Woman in/Atlanta "R & &
to Come Tomorrow ( Al ‘
‘ EVER before in Febru- , S ey b‘/
N ary were we so well pre- \., _tylwh
pared to, supply your Trimmed :
needs in well chosen, stylish Hats with
Spring Millinery for immediate an appeal
wear., i all their @ ‘g
- own
é“« ”
=y “Wonder Hats on Sale Saturd
il onder Ilatsondale daturday
B it
2%, All Straw and combinations, such as
AN Satin and Straw or Georgette and
(A X ' g i ®
\ \,\ [ P = Straw, in Off-face and Irregular Brim oo
\Y< / * effects, Turbans, Side-Tums, Colo
v, nials, Mushrooms, Pokes, Sailors,
/ Tams, etc.
{ st N . .
Tiy MR D Trimming
_;;(,\. 04 el e . i
& m ---.“, TR Narrow ribbons, chrys.
= % - ‘ “.‘* Ef,."b < anthemum and pineapple
- ™ R. v \ . {' O _ .
; A A )-“k«» 1. straw and lisere braids,
) h l/l % } orngments, flowers, ostrich
“Liberty” Hats Go at and lisere fflllf‘ipfi. hfl!’ll{
Hats that will suit the woman who wants 50 embroidery, steel, fllm?y
to pay more than $6.00-—and they are well 5 ; :
worth the extra money. See the assort- £ — Dins, ete, something to
ment tomorrow and note the superior quality, I ; ol b
e suit every w «is.
‘ 2 ’ 1 ———
“Victory’’ Hats $lO
We doubt if Atlanta women = . )
ever saw better or more stylish / X C[ ’ j
Hats at the price th they will !
.-u»:lnthm"z' mm(,:r;uw H’l”;h(‘:l"l::’lly / \ . / ‘
exceptional values which ‘we have « u""%‘ \ \/ ’
priced at 4 !"‘ o'9" "E". \‘\\j\ O \
" - . lf‘fi-f’ -
o \ 5™ s \
\ 4 7 1y P’ )‘:' 7 !
‘ .‘J' ey 3 / /
$ 000 A 7 9 e (N 1 )
— (7| B&E>, N\
N 2 V X LN e
. y [- 1 ¥ i
Among These Hals Are Exquisite Originations & Clewer, ’“\ I‘IZ \ You Wj“ Be Pleased
Stylish Adaptations of New York and Parisian Models /‘, , With Them
. . .
Davison-Paxon-Stokes Company
With ‘Dud’ Glass'
and Will Griffin
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 arg told, also, of the days after
the war, when szt Point became the
center of a vakt 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
industry, which marked the beginning
of the new West Point, and the birth
of her industrial progress.
Laniers Start Cotton Mills.
Lafayette danier-—the “old” Lafay
ette Lanier—~founded the industry, it
seems, ‘The first mill was buiit at
Langdale by Eastern capital, started
badly, and failed. Mr, Lanier bought
it in. 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
Elpong the banks of the Chattahoochee
south of West Poinf. They are all in
Chambers County, Alabama, one of
the reasons for placing them across
the State line being that Alabama
taxes were*fmore favorable to new in
“dustries than were Georgia's. There
{s 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 js just across the State
line from thd West Point station, has
the largest mill building in America.
Its spindles number 83,000, and sev
eral of the average Georgia cotton
mills could be tucked comfortably in
gide of {)t. The group of mills con
sume 100,000 bales of cottoa a year,
and the weekly pay roll is around
$50,000.
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
‘mmncial overlords in industrial cir
‘cles. 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
allied enterprises. William H, Wel
lington and Horace S. Sears, of Bos
‘lun, are the big figures representing
the Kastern capital, and the firm of
Wellington-Sears & C 0.,, of Boston
and a dozen qther cities, sells 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 affec
tion_for the family. George H. La
nler, a handsome young man who
might in appearance typify the sue
cessful American business man, is
president of two corporations and
general manager of all of them. W,
C. Lanier is president of the First
e
National Bank. E. F. Lanier is head
of the West Point Investment Com=
pany (not in the mill group) whieh
conducts a big iron works, ~oil mill,
planing mill and other ind Lrios i -
the town. Smith Lanier is head of
the Interstate Telephone Company,
Which is an institution worth a chap
ler for itself, k};
Welfare Work Extension. 4(
In no other mills in the South has
“welfare wor{" for employ‘fl‘;,_‘
carried to grbater extent than ,m;@?
- Dve cities™ of the West Point group.
There are schools and kindergartens,
baseball flelds, civie centers. hers i
are neat homes for the workers, win
paved streets, waterworks, and ¥il
erage. There is a nine-months' school
for the children, though the State of
Alabama provides funds for a mi ch
shorter time, and the mills put up Lhe '
money for the remainder. There are
cuditoriums and theaters, swimming
pools, tennis courts. And there are
churches of many denominations. =
We asked one of the West Point
folk about the downtrodden rs
in the mills, the terrible chlgd or
conditions which have caused our
muckrakers to weep copious tears. 'fi
Workers Well Cared For.
“These people come from the poor
farms of the back counties in flcs
cases,” we were told. “The# lived in
cabing a town dog would turn up his
nose at. They come to the ml.lw
find neat cottages, with good o
tion. They put their children in
gchools 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
& modern building, near the River
side Club. And it is a strictly inde
pendent enterprise, not controlled by
the Bell companies. It connects with
the Bell linés, and one may use the
long-distance from his home, just 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
so well served that it stayed out of
Smith Lanier’s territory so far as
local business is concerned, and they
are excellent friends.
Mr, Lanier is a “bug” about busi
ness methods, as you'll learn in a
five-minute chat with him. ' It was
he who conveived the foolish idea
that telephone subscribers ecculd be
made to pay their bills in advance,
ind ofh the dot. He proved it some
years ago, hefore the blg companies
had discovered it, by informing
every subseriber that unless the bills
were paid by the third of the month
the instruments would be renzvoi
And on that fatal day he sent round
Continued on Page 7.
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