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SECOND SECTION The Atlanta Georgian. SECOND SECTION YOL. 1. NO. 134. ATLANTA, GA., SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29,1906. T>T*Tfn?. On Trains FIVE CENTS. JriUVBt in Atlfftata TWO CENTS. MAYOR-ELECT Scenes and Incidents From His Home Life. Interesting Family of Atlanta*s Next Mayor. "CAP” JOYNER CLIO , JOYiVER- \ ONLY GRAND-7> Yi DAUGHTER OF )/ ATLANTA’S , //MAYOR-ELECT, J ( AND HER Arf [tv diminutive u ;a INS, NURSE n/Jr CAP' 1 JOYNERS INTERESTING STANDING - WCHAFKM/V.^RALPH, harrys., Fitting - mrs. Richard joyher, w.r joyner HOLDING HIS GRAND-DAUGHTER CUO ■ ■ > —^ MRS. W.R.UOVNER l X f You SuRE^ - \\ / CAU6NT ME / V THIS 'TIME J Boys > hello cap > HovnS CROPS, f*EAIK.OAItS r ' ssgjj The first Job young W'ulthnl Robert son Joyner secured was in n nowspn- per oillce. It ha* b»i*n a frequent re mark among newspaia’V men that no reporter ever went to the Are chief and was turml down. It** linn always b*en willing to give Information Insofar as bln duty would allow—nn example celver. He wound up the bu*inc»>* Alay I, 187*. Then began bln olllelal connection \vl!b th° city government. ♦hlth has never since been severed. In July, 1879, ho wan elected deputy city mar shal. Two years later In* wan electd Aral If has been the sort of advertising that baa helped. Some ••rlticisin wnn slung at him during nl.s recent campaign for the rural reveries By EDWIN CAMP. T O begin where all stories ahould begin, hla name la Walthal Rob ertson Joyner. To at leaat 149,990 of Atlanta'a 150,000 beauty aud chival ry this story will for the flrat time tell the real name of their next mayor. He has for 45 yearfe signed his nanle M \V. R. Joyner" and has been known as "Cap." And so it will continue for many years to come. "Your honor, Mr. Mayor," will hardly supplant the "Cap." To resume, Walthal Robertson Joy ner, now entering on his twenty-sec ond year as chief of Atlanta’s paid fire department, will in a short time re sign and leave headquarters to enter upon what has always been to him the ambition of his life—the mayoralty of his city. His desire for public life extends no further than this, he achieved It without undergoing first the disappointment of defeat, anti now he Is about to become the first citizen of Atlanta. As such, the public is Interested in the. personal Walthal Robertson Joy ner and his family. For 20 years he has to most citizens been a mere vision in a red wagon skidding and carom ing through the streets at a 2:10 gait, to the clamorous clangor of a brazen gong. The other Sunday a trio of newspa per men, chaperoning Artist Brewer- ton and Photographer Kelson, made a little informal visit up to Falroaks, the summer home of Chief Joyner's fam ily. It cun hardly be called Chief Joy ner's home. He Just drops up for a few hours Sundays during the sum mer. The newspaper men went with the avowed intention of getting n story and picture*; 'neath the grim determination written over their features lurked a foretaste of a gigantic, a Titanic, a mastodonlc dish of fried chicken. The cuisine nt Falroaks Is famed far and wide. Both story and chicken were got. NOT MAYOR-ELECT JOYNER, BUT FARMER JOYNER, BGOSH. As the newspaper men left the trolley car two miles this side of Marietta and executed a hike up the road ubout a quarter of a country mile, they saw In the distance, not Chief Joyner nor Mayor-elect Joyner, hut Farmer Joy ner, of Cobb county, b'gosh. A won drous hat, the major portion of whose sweeping brim had been chewed off by the late lamented Yaarub, and a pair of overalls that looked as though they had se*n active sendee in the corn fields, lent the rustic touch to the three-times president of the Interna tional Association of Fire Chiefs, and ns the newspaper men shouted, "Hey, Rube,” he smiled guiltily. Falroaks Is the name of Chief Joy ner's summer home and farm. It's two hundred-odd acres make one of the prettiest places in the state. The poet In the party said that the little cot tage was a pearl set In a sea of emer ald, though he didn't explain why a sen should have a setting. I7p at Falroaks on this Sunday were the entire Joyner family—Mrs. Joyner, the mater famiiius; four sons, Richard, "Little Cap,” Harry and Ralph; Mrs. Rlchartl Joyner, and lout and least yet greatest, the little grant!-daughter. Clio, age six months. Thl* was the story secured: Walthal Robertson Joyner was born June 30, 1854, from which It may be computed that he is still a young man. His father was Richard W. Joyner, who In 1*52 built five miles from Marietta on the Powder Springs road what was known as the "white house,” because of ttn impressive architecture and Its color. The house has now fallen sadly Into disrepair, but l hr beauty of its lines remain. The property on which It stands Is now owned by State Su preme Court JuHlco Samuel C. At kinson. The house Is occupied by J. D. Polsston, n farmer. HAS LIVED IN ATLANTA SINCE OUTBREAK OF WAR In 18*1, Just before the outbreak of the civil war, the Joyner family moved to Atlanta, young Walthul Robertson being then 7 years of age. He has lived In this city ever since. Ills father opened a drug store at the corner of ihe rnllrc ad and Peachtree street, at the pluce now occupied by Ptnktissohn's cigar store. The old Na tional Hotel, of profound memory, wAs at tha corner and Mr. Joyner's drug store occupied a part of the ground floor. When Sherman marched through the drug store was hauled out Into the middle of the street and was burned. When he moved to Atlanta Mr. Joy ner purchased two acres of land on Peter.? street, and Halted the build ing of a house which was finished Just In time to be mude the headquarters of General Sherman while In Atlanta. General Sherman occupied the parlor of the home and shmtly before trouble came he informed Mrs# Joyner that he feared a fight and urged her to leave tb» city. Jlc put soldiers at her dispo sition and the household furniture was packed up and the family ”refugeed" to Cuthbert. They 11%ed In the freight car carrying their goods and were three days on the road to Cuthbert. They remained In Cuthbert till the surren der, and then returned to Atlanta In 1867. after spending a year In Macon. Joyner street of jhls city 1* named for Chief Joyner's father. bln duty would allow—nn which othpjM in publh ojficc- do not always follow. TIk averagt servant of the people scents to think that the fall wag? the dog and that the public has no right to know its own business. Maybe Chief Joyner got his tip, from his nexvwpoper experience* even If that wus confined to a few months in the position of office b*-y on the Atlanta New Era, a "radical” sheet, edited by jjfotmifl Bard, who afterwaids got to be postmaster of Atlanta. The Repub licanism of the paper rt\nde It rather unpopular and pretty soon young Joy- net left to carry bundle.* fyr W. F. Peck & Co., dry goods merchants at 7 Peachtree street, where the Peters building now stands. For eight years young Joyner with Mr. Peck. A short time.after his going with the firm. John II. James built Atlanta’s first sky-scraper, a six story structure at the corner of- White hall and Hunter streets on the land now occupied by fhe J. M. High build ing. This was leased by the Pcck- DeSaulles Co.. Mr. Peek having taken In a partner Into his business. From carrying bundles young Joyner rapidly moved up the scale and he sold the first piece of dry goods ever handled at the Whitehall-Hunter street cor ner, now the center of Atlanta’s shop ping district. It was a calico dress. HOPPING THE COUNTER PROVED TOO IRKSOME. Hopping the counter proved Irksome to young Joyner and at the end of his eighth year he left Peck and went on the road for W. If. Patterson & Co., wholesale milliners. The senior mem ber of that firm is the present council man from the Eighth ward. For eigh teen months Joyner was on the road, traveling Georgia, South Carolina :tnd Alabama, at the end of which time he left and went with Jerry Lynch, the tai lor. After two years with Lynch, he went with C. W. Brunner & Co., mer chants, who came from Havannah. In a short time, the Brunner Com pany failed and Joyner was made re- been severed, vas elected deputy o year* later he was electd city mui.Yiial and hfld the ollice two terms. in 1*71 he bad entered fhe volunteer fire department, being a member of hook ami laddci No. 1 for twelve years. For tight years he was foreman of the company and In 1*77 and 187* was chief of the voluntftr department. 22 years old when first elected chief, and immedbit*-|> became membei the Fire Chiefs’ Association, being the youngest, member that organization Ims ever laid. Because of his ability in lire fighting. Marshal .Joyner Wits In 1**3 elected chief of the paid fire depart ment. which was organized in 'HI, but declined it, refusing to qualify for the position before the mayor. BECAME PAID FIRE CHIEF TWENTY-ONE YEARS AGO. Two years later, houVver, In 1885. he made the race for chief and was elected. Hr has held tile position ever since. Now here Is where one may apply mathematics to the work of Chief Joy ner has done. When he took charge of the Atlanta fire department there was a pink slip pasted on every fire insurance ftolfcy written here. That pink slip stated that owing to the Inefficiency of the tire department there was a 15 per centum Increase In the premium. .six months later that pink slip gore, and It has never reappeared here. Twelve months later, there was in augurated a general reduction of 10 per cent in all fire insurance premiums. Twenty-four months later another reduction of 10 per cent was effected. Atlanta’s fire Insurance rates are now as low as can be expected. Although he has always attended pretty strictly to his own buslnes of fire chief, the mayor-elect has always been at the forefront of any movement for the advancement or welfare of At lanta. He has always been one of the leaders of the Atlanta fairs and Inst vear was president of the association. as one of the few Atlanta fairs that have made money. By the organization of the firemen’s drum corps, he has advertised Atlanta effectively In many paits of the union. mayoralty because of his connection with the Atlanta Baseball Association. There are two reasons why he became president of the .Atlanta Baseball An* -o'latlon. One wa« that he has nl- wnys been a lover of outdoor sports, and has done nil he could to promote them. Tne other was tliat he believed, as do hundreds of*others, that n good professional baseball Rani, up at the top of the ladder, Is the best adver- ! t (semen t a town can have. He with j other* Txnight the Atlanta baseball ’ franchise from Abner Powell, of New ! Orleans. In order that the club might * be owned by Atlantans. They have sppnt money In effort to put the team at tlm top and have succeeded mighty well, although they have not yet won a pennant. HIS HIGHEST REPUTATION 18 IN HI8 OWN CALLING. Even if the old adage about the prophet, his honor and his own coun try can not be applied to Chief Joy ner and the esteem In which he is held by Atlantans, ft is true that his high- est reputation Is among men of his; own calling. Among the fire chiefs of I the world he stands at the very top. He* has achieved honors among them that have been given no other man. He has for three terms been president | of the International Association of Fire ' Chiefs. No other man has ever served more than two terms. On the authority of Hon. Clark How- ! ell. It may ho stated that Chief Joyner Is the only Georgian who has ever been honored with the presidency of an international association or convention. Mr. Howell has looked it up and feels certain that he Is right about It. Chief Joyner has been a member of the association for twenty-nine year* and, as said in the foregoing, holds the distinction of having been the youngest member. In 1887 he was first elected president In 1904 he was again elected and In 1905 was re-elected. At the taet con vention at Duluth he declined renomt- natlon. There is an Interesting story con nected with his election In 1904. The convention was held at Atlantic City, and there were four avowed candidates for ' the presidency. Edward Croker. chief of the New York city department, was seeking re-election, and Chief Can- terbery, of Minneapolis; Chief Humph- Continued on Next Page.