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About The Dade County times. (Trenton, Ga.) 1908-1965 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1954)
®J»e adc tjitito Dade County's Only Newspaper. VOLUME LIV scouts Hear Dr. Cooke on First Aid Dr. J. Kenneth Cooke gave a First Aid demonstration to the Boy Sccuts at their meeting Tue day evening. Besides ex¬ plaining to them some of the first things to do for an injur¬ ed person before the doctor ar¬ rives, he used the boys as “pa¬ tients” to demonstrate what he was telling them. Some knowledge of first aid is cne of the requiremnts for Boy Scouts in getting promoted from a Tenderfoot Scout to a Second Class Scout. j _ The _ Trenton . troop , . show- . t is ing much interest in scouting and at this week’s meeting there was only one absentee. The sponsoring organizations are also showing interest and have put up nearly $100 for the ! You Can Help— Dependent crippled children can become independent adults —WITH THE HELP OF EAST¬ ER SEALS. Georgia’s Seal cam¬ paign is sponsored annually by the Georgia Society for Crip¬ pled Children as part of a na¬ tionwide efofrt to help the handicapped. It is headed this year in Dade County by R. M. Morri- on, of Trenton. District chair¬ man is Gilbert H. Watts, of Dalton. Dates of the drive are March 18 through Easter Sun¬ day, April 18. Seal funds will be used three ways in Georgia: 1. Research to develop bet¬ ter means of coping with physi¬ cal handicaps. bixtii month’s School Attendance Report EnroUment A.D.A. % DAVIS HIGH................... . 93 67.45 93.68 NORTH DADE ELEMENTARY....... 279 227.60 92.95 RISING FAWN ELEMENTARY...... .234 172.35 91.74 DADE HIGH.................... .204 158.30 91.63 DADE ELEMENTARY.............. .511 382.40 90.95 DAVIS ELEMENTARY............ .589 467.45 90.67 NEW SALEM ELEMENTARY....... .162 123.50 85.94 1953-54 TOTAL............ 2072 1599.05 90.98 1952-53 TOTAL ........... 1744 1465.50 85.95 HOOKER ELEMENTARY — 1953-54. . 50 43.15 93.0£ 1952-53. . 46 41.90 91.09 WILDWOOD ELEMENTARY —1953-54. 41 25.00 91.74 1952-53 .. . . 116 13.40 DAVIS HIGH LEADS Davis High School is leading all the schools in the county this month with the highest percent of children in school each day Davis High has been in the top group each month but this month came out with a 93.68% average daily attendance which topped North Dade Elementary’s 92.95% and also the Hooker Co¬ lored School’s 93.09% Davis Elementary, however, is not doing as well as the high school. The big drop in New Salem’s attendance was due to the measles epidemic which hit the community dur¬ ing March. The average all ever the county is 5% better than last year and would seem to be fairly good for the winter months when there is so mu'-h sickness, but an average of 10%> of cur children not in school is still tco many absentees each day. (SEE BACK PAGE FOR PERFECT ATTENDANCE REPORT) Pretend Yon Are a Stranger to These Parts- Sometime soon, within the ext few weeks, after all the •ees have started budding, take drive up to either Sand or ookout Mountain. On your ay back, stop at the edge of ie bluff just before you start own. Now pretend you are a omplete stranger to these arts, and look down ipto the alley as if it rvere your first limpse of it. It’s rather breathtaking, isn’t ? You gaze out over the nar- >w little valley that seems tc ave been scooped out by a ant spade to separate the two Lountains. There’s the crooked ttle silver ribbon o f a creek lat runs through every valley his one is a little more wind- ig than most. The sparkling ater seems content to take its me along here as it winds awn its long way to the sea— > it hated to leave this pleas- at little valley. It’s better to Devoted to the Best Interests of Dade County and Georgia. THE DADE COUNTY TIMES, TRENTON. GEORGIA. THURSDAY. APRIL 1, 1954 sccut’s needed equipment. To date the troop now has enough’ tents for outdoor camping trips. j The meeting was opened with thc Scout Oath and a review of “Good Turns.” One of the ob- jectives of Scouting is for the scout to do a good turn for someone each day. The boys report of their progress at each! meeting. Helping the family doesn’t count, it has to be a good deed rather than helping with routine tasks. Adults attending the meet- , ing were Scoutmaster Spencer; Jenkins, Assistant Scoutmaster. 1 Coach Delmas Freeman and* Rev. R. L. Hiltcn, Pharmacist Bill Farmer, Dr. J. K. Cooke and Principal J. C. Billue. pled 2. children’s Treatment Centers given at through crip-j out the state. I 3 Training of therapists doctors and teachers to staff the Centers, through scholar-j ships. Funds are also used for| I equipment such as braces wheelchairs and crutches, and j for parental instruction so treatments may be continued at home. Georgia has 100,000 handi¬ capped children. YOU can help by sending an EASTER SEAL CONTRIBUTION TO Y O U R | LOCAL EASTER SEAL CHAIR¬ MAN, or simply to “Easter Seals” in care of your local postmaster. Won’t you do it today? linger awhile here—to skip and play over the cool smooth brown rocks and to drift lazily by the shaded bank and to stop in a deep pool to soak up the warmth of the April sun. ‘“And no wonder,” you think, “I don't believe I’d be in a hurry to es¬ cape from all this splendor.” Remember, you’re a newcomer here. Green Pastures aild Brown Patches Your eye tries to take in the rest of the scene, but it’s too much for a single glance. You see the multi-colored patches of land that you know are farms. Some are covered with a carpet of the greenest green you ever saw—the pastures— and others, brick colored, that will scon be green-striped as the robust young cotton or corn plants push themselves through the crust of the rich earth. Your gaze shifts now to the small clusters of white houses along the road that splits the valley. The largest cluster ap¬ pears to be more than just a village. You can see stores lin¬ ing the town square. Must be the county seat; that building on the square looks like a court . house. Must be a pretty place i that town. There don’t seem to i be any large houses, just dozen. 1 1 ! of small ones. It’s probably the I sort of place where one find.' I a lot of neat little cottages with close-trimmed lawns shade trees, a picket fence out front covered with a rose vine a hedge lining the driveway and maybe, if the yard’s big enough, a rock garden. The whole picture suggests warmth charm and neatness. Town Should Be Pretty Yes, that little town is prob¬ able the jewel of this* whole jjiit Lee Convicted—Gets Life Prison Sentence Tuesday the jury returned a verdict of guilty in the case of the State vs. Milford (alias Milt) Lee, charged with mur- der - Tim twelve-man body re- commended the defendant to the mercy of the court, which sentenced him to life imprison- ment. The foreman, Roy DeVries, announced the verdict after the J ur y had been out exactly one hour. Lee was being tried for the brutal beating of Junius, Nesbit which occurred October 23 1951 and which led t o the victim . s death the following nppp rr|h pr Thg drama tj c f r i a i thus b ht to a close one chapter Qf he state>s pr05ecution of, slaving and alleged a t- tempted robbery of the aged Nesbit who had lived in Dade County near the Cloveriale’ j community “‘^ tor ' ; a " number 7 ree oth rs hav been named a „ de f enda nts in the Neabit killing- Carroll Franklin (alias Jimmy) Lee> Paul Crane and clyde Crane . Nesbit Accused Lee The state’s case was built up- on testimony that Nesbit had named Milt Lee as one of his' assailtants when the old man had regained consciousness fol¬ lowing the beating inflicted on him a few days earlier. There was also strong circumstatial evidence presented by witnesses who testified that they had seen Milt Lee in the vicinity of the Nesbit residence the day of his attack. Lee’s defense, consisting of William C. Campbell and bert F. McClure of Rossville, objected to the admission of Nesbit’s accusations as evi¬ dence on grounds that it was nothing but hearsay. The tes¬ timony of witnesses who said they had seen Milt Lee and his truck parked near the Nesbit residence on the day of his as¬ sault proved nothing, they de¬ clared. Solicitor-G e n e r a 1 Earl B. Self and special prosecutor E. C. (Sandy) Clower, who pres¬ ented the case for hte prosecu¬ tion, sought the admission of Nesbit’s remarks while he was in the hospital as bona fide evidence on grounds that it constituted a “dying declara¬ tion.” Dying Declaration Invoked A dying declaration is recog¬ nized by law as an exception to the rule that no hearsay is ad- missable as evidence in a court of law. Such testimony can placed before a jury only if it can be proved that the victim was in a dying condition and that he knew that he was in a rased on the assumption that a man who is on the point of death will tell the truth. This gives such deathbed re¬ marks the same value as sworn Throughout the trial, the de- fense objected strenously to the that Nesbit had named Milt Lee as one of his attackers. They claimed that | the prosecution had not laid sufficient foundation for a dy- ing declaration, and that there- fore Nesbit’s alleged accusations j should not be admitted as evi- j derrce. Their objections subsequently over-ruled by Judge McClure. Mrs. Tatum Finds Nesbit The state’s first witness, Mrs Dan Tatum, who discovered Ne sbit muowing following his “ severe severe beat oeai- ing, ““ testified that ‘ she had gone to the old man’s house about 1:45 P. M. the day of his as¬ sault to take him his lunch, as was her custom. When she got no answer to her repeated and found the doors locked, she said she went around to a window to inves- t ® > ' te - Thereupon she saw he old man propped up against the foot of the bed, his head bleed ing Mrs. Tatum summoned Mrs - Ida Hawkin5 > and the two women entered the house through a window. There! they found Nesbit in such a broken and bleeding condition that suggested that he had been beaten. Mrs. Tatum remember- ed a severe cut above the vic- Mutt Crane Cited tor of Court The Dade County Superior Court, just about set a record for swift justice here Wed¬ nesday. Dan Tatum, star wit¬ ness in the state’s case against Milt and Jimmy Lee, was accosted and reportedly threatened in the court house on that day by H. J. (Mutt) Crane. The offender was quickly apprehended, tried and sentenced to 20 days in j<*ii and a fine of $200.00 dur¬ ing a full in court proceed¬ ings Witnesses testified that Crane seemed angry with Ta¬ tum, presumably because the testimony the latter had given in the Lee trials had impli¬ cated Mutt’s brother Paul in the Nesbit slaying. Tatum claimed that Crane had ask¬ ed for a knife as he threat¬ ened him. The incident occurred out¬ side the county clerk’s office tim’s left eye, so deep that it revealed his skull. Mrs. Tatum further statedj on the stand that she had no- ; ticed that the other room of the house was in a complete state of disarray. Two trunks; had been opened, she said and then contents strewn about the room. The piano top had been torn off and the door to a chif-; forobe had been wrenched off its hinges. When Mrs. Tatum began to tell what had happened in her visit with Nesbit in the hospi- tal several days afterward, the defease counsel entered an ob- jection as she began to relate the victim’s accusations against setting. People living here amidst all this splendor would naturally have been inclined to create more beauty as they built their town. Before you leave your perch, you take one more look at the whole vast magnificent panorama. You muse to yourself, ”God was really good to these people to have given them all this beauty to live in! I wonder if they realize it?” As you round the two hairpin curves on the road down the mountain and even when you drive into the town you viewed from above, don’t forget you’re a stranger; you’re still playing your little game of pretending Get off the highway and drive through Trenton’s streets and cast a critical eye all about the town. Satisfied with what you see? Does it live up to ycur expectations? Do you find your opinions which you form¬ ed up on the mountain con¬ firmed—or are you disappoint¬ ed? Do these man-made addi¬ tions blend with the naturally beautiful surroundings? Ha. 1 man’s work enhanced God’s work or detracted from it? You be the judge. Now you can begin slipping back into your old self again. If you are satisfied with what you’ve seen of Trenton, all right. If you’re not, your next thought should be: what can I do about it? Sure, it takes mo¬ ney to improve a home or a yard or a town. More import-! ant than that, however, is the idea of developing a sense of beauty—an attitude that will not tolerate ugliness and seeks to create beautiful surround¬ ings. S'iill in Pioneer Sta^e? Some Europeans have had Published Weekly—Since 1901 his attackers. The jury was excluded while the solicitor ex- rlnined that he had merely to show by Mrs. Ta- turn’s testimony that the old man was rational and knew the of his condition her visit to the hospital, Mrs. Ida Hawkins Testifies Mrs. Ida Hawkins was next called to the stand. Her testi¬ supported that of Mrs. as to the condition in they found the victim and the other room. Will Hawkins, who said he had come to the house soon after the two women had en¬ tered it, testified that he had a pocketbock lying on the floor and some papers which had apparently been burned. The state drew heavily on the testimnny of A J. Clark in making its case against Lee. Clark, who said he had employ- ed Milt Lee during the summer 1951, told the court that the defendant had mentioned to him and others that he believed had some money at his place, and that he would get the money. Clark stated that he had tried to discourage Lee, telling him that if the old man shortly after 5:00 P. M. while the jury was'attempting to reach a verdict in the Jimmy Lee case. In the hearing which followed a few minutes later, Tatum denied that he knew either Paul or Clyde Crane. W i t n ess Betty Blevins, about 17, declared she had seen Crane just before the incident. She said he looked “mad” and was “strutting up and down the hall like a pea¬ cock” with fists clenched. Albert Blevins testified he had also seen Crane stalking around with doubled-up fists. No witnesses besides Tatum reported having heard Crane ask for a knife. In sentencing Crane for contempt of court, Judge Me Clure declared he was giving the offender the maximum penalty and wished he “could give him more.” did have money, it would be hidden. He said that Lee replied that he “had a way of finding it.” Truck Parked Near Nesbi't’s Kathlecn Morgan njxt testmed that shc had seen truck d npar thp Nesbit housp around lfl;15 or 10;20 A M fchp day Qf the beating ghe reported having seen Jimmy Lee ln the truck as she rode along the Cloverdale Road with Mrs. Savannah Hawkins and Mrs. Zola Williams. She point- ed out the location of the truck on a photograph handed her by the prosecutor, The testimony of Dr. W. Houston Price, orthopedic sur¬ NUMBER 13 geon from Erlanger Hospital, who had treated Nesbit follow¬ ing his attack, revealed the vic¬ tim was improving from his in¬ juries when he contracted pneumonia. The doctor stated that although pneumonia was the cause of his death, his weakened condition resulting from his injuries probably brought it on. The doctor ex¬ plained that Nesbit had suffer¬ ed from a fractured wrist and thigh, burned hands, lacera¬ tions about the head and face, and bruises all over the body. State’s witness Mns. Savan¬ nah Hawkins next testified that she had seen Jimmy Lee in the truck parked near the Nesbit house on the morning in question. The questioning of Miss Mildred Pody, Nesbit’s nurse and life-time acquaint¬ ance, was interrupted by the defense on grounds that the tes timony she was giving was “leading to a dying declara¬ tion” and that the prosecution had not yet laid the founda¬ tion for such testimony. Miss Pody had earlier said that Nes¬ bit kept asking her for reassur¬ ances that he was going to re¬ cover. “Dying Declaration” Admitted It was during the testimony of Dan Tatum that Judge Me Clure finally ruled in favor of the admission of Nesbit’s “deathbed” remarks naming his assailtants, over-riding the ob¬ jections of the counsel for the defense. Tatum testified that he had carried Nesbit’s breakfast to him about 8:30 that normn- ing and later, around 11:00 or 11:30 saw from his own house four men approaching the old man’s house. He said he re¬ cognized one of them as being Milt Lee. Tatum said that he visited Nesbit at the hospital every day except one. He testified that the victim had named Paul Crane and Milt Lee as his at¬ tackers and said that Jimmy Lee had been there, too. .Ac¬ cording to his testimony, Nes¬ bit said “they ganged me, beat me, and burned me and tried to make me tell me where my mo¬ ney was. I don’t think they got it, for I had the key in my britches pocket.” Tatum said the key in question had been found in Nesbit’s bureau lock. He also testified that Nesbit’s • gold-filled front teeth were | missing. Miss Pody was recalled to the j witness stand on Tuesday. She j said that on several oocasionns Nesibit had told her in the hos¬ pital that Milt Lee and Paul Crane had tortured him to make him tell where his money was. Under cross-examination by the defense council, Mrs. Pody said she never remember¬ ed him mentioning either Clyde Crane or Jimmy Lee. Milt Lee Takes Stand Lee took the stand himself to make an unsworn statement In (Continued on 2nd page) this to say about America: while the beauty of the country side is abundant here, there are very few really charming towns or villages. There’s a reason for this; we are a young coun¬ try compared to Europe, and we have sc arce 1 y passed the pioneer stage of our develop¬ ment. We’ve been too busy carving a home out of the wil¬ derness and providing ourselves with the bare necessities to be concerned with such things as beauty and charm. There’s something to that, of course. Maybe that explains us here in Trenton. That may have been quite true during the first 10o years of our growth. Be we have passed the century mark now, and we’re on our scond hundred years. The pioneer excuse won’t hold much water from here on out.
