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"^TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1920. UNION-RECORDER A STATEMENT FROM MU. f E. PCNHER Milledgeville, Ga.. Dec. 27, 1920. Editor l nion Recorder: For information of my friends in and around Milledgeville, and as an explanation on my part, I will ap preciate it if you will carry in your next issue a part of my statement made for the public at large some days ago and sent to other papers for publication, but huv. failed to get them through so far fur some reason. This :; t;. ement in part is in answer to statements made to the Macon Telegraph by Mrs. Manson, a board member of the Georgia Training School, appearing in above paper on Dec. 10th and was not replied to fot several days on account of my hav in'- some other work to do at school t» id finding things so very unpleasant there, I, for the sake of thu boys. de cided to take all insults and'bold my mouth until I was through ’A?':>• realizing Mr:. Manson would tnake more unpleasant scenes if I had any thing further to ay in the paper. She as it was made all kinds of state ments to the boys and officers about me, stating I was a thief and a liar and told the boys she wanted me watched, and besides had the boys move practically rverything out of my office, making it hard to finish my work there, and in fact I have not yet been able to get all my papers and private letters. This was pretty hard to take, but I have taken lots for months to save the boys and offi cers from seeing and hearing too much. Mrs. Manson has made the state ment she could handle any man she knew except Governor Dorse?, stat ing he was so firm in his convictions she reached the school the Bonners When Mrs. Manson delivered this had moved out. Mrs. Bonner andmessage from from Mr. Paxon, how- rnyself were at the school when Mrs.' ver, there was no explanation in the Manson arrived, and Mrs. Bom.erletter from the chairman, spent he night there. I left the in- Mr. Paxon also tries to make it stitution about 9:10 p.m. however toappear there was nothing mentioned catch a train for Atlanta, asking or done as to the change of superin- Mrs. Manson to look after things un- tendent’s place before the board ■■ til I returned, p< i fectly quit I had all the boys t a"d ia rmitories x’orn Mrs. M.i is.m arrive !, rut when she heard what action th ■ boys bad taken as to running away, she seem ed very much disturbed at the'r at titude towards us and went to tno dormitories and told all the aov- if she heard anything they said about her, she would have Mr. Cochran give meeting. I happened to know, how ever, Mrs. Manson had the matter up with a good man of Savannah s me tune before ibis meeting, but stated to him it was a dead secret as only I one or two knew anything about the j change the first of December, in other words only she ;ujd Mr. Paxon know about it. I asked Mr. Paxon why the matter them one hundre 1 la ?hes. Thin was not dis cussed frank y with me as tater 'ent was not m nde o o.ui et the to V ranting a different type u man boys, hut seemed tn have ‘been made and a higgr : man instea ! of ha n tiling on m -ount of the d spos tion of the ns h e did. His answer mas he never bOJ towards us. I hop >, however. . X t) I lined such matters; 1 quoti risht Mrs. Manson will n ever have occa- here a part of the same letter to Dr. sion o enforce th: threa t, as I told Kill >r, w in eh explains his a t itude the boys then un i 1 ave to do and my po sition in the case, n fol* whatever they \vi re told by Mrs. low. : “Its a pity that we are no more Manson anil otlu r i fficer s for their fran k one with anothe • for 1 have own good. As to Mrs. B suer moving out her furniture'and etc., this is true and I advised her to do so, as it had been very unplea art for her and 1 had seen all I cared to of this. To be frank, Mrs. Bonner had taken lots but refused to take all that 1 had to take. Mrs. Manson had the advan tage V me and I told her so, she know talk ring I so pta he would stick to them if -it ruined him: 1 hope she is right as far as Governor Dorsey is concerned, for he recently made a statement to me, “That Mrs. Manson wj(fc,tfot the wo man to stay at the- Geofgia Training School.” Time will tell, if the governor is so firm I am wondering if she will continue to remain there, drawing a nice salary from the state's funds appropriated for the maintenance of the school, a board member. My statement in written some days ago, is as follosSw s “I wish to answer statememktjpade by Mrs. Manson, a resident board member of the Georgia Training School, appearing in Ma<on Tele graph Dec. 10th, undtj-r headlines, ‘Sheds New Light on Escape Plot.’ To begin with Mrs. Manson states she does not wish to make a persona! matter of the situation. 1 fully ap preciate Mrs. Manson’s position on that point, hut since the whole affair has been a personal one since about August 1st, why change it now. “However, since stating things as she has and so far has not corrected them, although she claims the paper did not publish her statement as phoned in some points, I am obliged to come straight from the shoulder. 1 was very mild in tne first state ment, and as I have stated in letters to two board members before this happened, ‘1 never intended to tell all.’ I have waited to 'make this statement for good reasons. I wanted some expression from board members and too I had some matters to look after at school, and with so much friction and unpleasant scenes at school I thought best for the boys’ sake to say as little as possible until I could be away for good. Mrs. Manson states the boys did not attempt to run away because the Bonners were dismissed. I hold a certificate signed by Miss Elorrie El lison, matron, and Miss Edna E. Raines, assistant teacher, who knew all about the affair and heard my talk to the boys as follows: ‘This is to certify that on the afternoon of Dec. 2nd a good muny of the boyB hearing of Supt. Bonner’s discharge did plan to run away. Such action on being reported to Supt. Bonner, he had all the boys carried to the living room on the third floor and talked to them, stating the wro-ig on their part in such action. The boys admitted they had planned to run away, stating they had heard that Supt. and Mrs. Bonner had been discharged and that they were not going to remain at the institution. ,&r After Supt. Bonner talked and plead with the boys to be loyal and stick like men for their own good, they promised to do so, stating to Supt. Bonner that he had always ad vised them right. This happened before Mr returned to school. The above certificate seems to me would make this point clear and I hope Mrs. Munson will not call these good ladies LIARS : - she did me for making the same statement. Mrs. Manson makes another state ment as to the boys always looking for an opportunity to run away. This is not fair to the boys as a whole, as I have been with them eighteen months and can safely say less than fifteen per cent of the average num ber handled eve- try to escape under any circumstances. Mrs. Manson also states that when I could not as a gentleman ainto her. But Mrs. Man- son in stating she had no bed to sleep on, should have explained that she had been for eleven months enjoying good bedding and etc. which belong ed to Mrs. Bonner as she did lots of things for Mrs. Manson’s comfort. Mrs. Bonner had the boys place a single bed in Mrs. Manson’s room that night after she returned;. Mrs. Manson states “Bonner was not dismissed.” The letter I receiv ed from Chairman Paxon stated my services would not be needed for 1921 and that I, with Mrs. Bonner was at liberty to get out immediately, as the new superintendent would very likely report at the school the early part of December. Mrs. Man- son, upon her return, knowing I had received this asked me what my at titude was. I stated very friendly to the boys and institution but that ’hi; I would let her know later as to get ting out immediately myself. Mrs. Manson then telephoned Mr. Paxon and later wired him and he replied, saying it was authority that Mr. Cochran take charge as superintend ent at once. This I considered a dis missal, knowing Mr. Paxon had given her authority to handle me just as she saw fit. Mr. Paxon fails in his letter .published in pnrt to mention this fact. Mrs. Manson states further that the servants (officers I call them > had been told they would be fired also. She also stated to me later while out trying to clear up some work, that she hoped 1 would noi keep coming out and trying to get her men to quit their jobs, and stated to the boys she wanted everything hidden from me, and wanted me watched. Mrs. Man- son-has madu a practice of discuss ing matters of this kind with the boys, all of which I am sure is not the proper thing to do, for the boys at the school are taught to look upon the officers and teachers as true and upright people, and I am honest in my belief that they made no excep tion in my case. What may the peo ple of Georgia axpect of a hoy with training at the Georgia Training School? I would prefer mine hang ing around the street alleys. As to trying to get the officers to leave the institution, as she charges, I call your attention to the following certificate which I hold, signed by E. B. Coch ran, acting superintendent; A. L. Ca liff, officer; John Black, teacher; Miss Florrie Ellison, matron; Edna E. Raines, assistant teacher, as fol lows: “This is to certify that former Supt. C. E. Bonner did not at time of receiving discharge notice or since suggest or mention in any way our leaving the Georgia Training School but on the other hand stated he hop ed we would be loyal to the institu tion as we had always been.” The above certificate is signed by officers at the mam building and the only officers I was thrown with after reviving notice exept to pass and speak. In Mr. Paxon’s letter addressed to Dr. I. H. Hiller,'a part of which was published, he explains to the public Manson j my appointment was purely experi mental and was so understood. This statement is untrue, as far as I am concerned and if understood by the board members, they must have been satisfied with their experiment, at least until the latter part of July this year, as I hold letters addressed to me from Chairman Paxon dated June 11th and July 23rd, in which Mr. Paxon commends me in every way and states he und the board as a whole were thoroughly satisfied with my management from every angle. I heard or knew nothing of this understanding until Mrs. Manson re turned from Atlanta on December 2. learned long ago a man I dislike is the man I do not understand, and I give him no opportunity of under standing me.” He tells it to a letter he. e, for he certainly gave me none. When he wanted to know anything about me or other things he asked Mrs. Man- son, not the superintendent. Mr. Paxon’s let’er further states he is afraid the people have the wrong impression, that I was discharged, or charges against me, or tha* there was friction with the resident board mem ber and myself, but says he is frank to say, that this was not true. This statement is untrue and Mr. Paxon knows it also; other members know there was friction for several months and know why. This friction came about by my stating facts as to Mrs. Manson’s work, the matter of boys records being kept in order, which was u part of Mrs. Manson’s work outlined and understood by the board «ts a whole but which had been neglected. Mr. Paxon wrote Mrs. Manson some one would be held responsible for this neglect of duty, but realizing it was Mrs. Manson’s work later apologized j to her and said he would write me a hot letter putting it on me, and for he and Mrs. Manson had arrang-1 to dismiss me at the September I board meeting, but did not at that time, changing their minds for some reason which I was unable to find out from them. However, Governor Dorsey stated to me a few days ago | he stopped this at that time, telling them they had better go slow, as he j thought they would make a serious mistake.. Mr. Paxon and one other board member knew all about the trouble before the September board meeting as I had written them and told one member at his request real facts as to Mrs. Manson’s work at the school, stating she did no real work at the school, but that I had nothing to say about her work as board mem ber and secretary and treasurer. I j also explained to this member my ■ embarrassing position and explained that I could not do my duty to the institution, as lots of the work had to be done jointly and that Mrs. Manson would not co-operate with me at all. I also told this member if I was criticized to remember they would criticise a man with his hands tied and that it was not fair, all cor respondence from Mr. Paxon, the chairman, was going to Mrs. Manson, nothing to me, and nothing discussed with me. I really had hut very little author ity left after Mr. Paxon gave Mrs. Manson most of mine as superintend ent and all of his. This statement is a true statement of facts and conditions at the school since about August 1st, th-- begin ning of our trouble. Mrs. Manson has stated she could handle Mr. Paxon and I now agree with her. I have tried to be fair with Mrs. Manson as well as the board. Have they been fair with me? I am will ing to let the public and my friends, be the judge. 1 shall back all sUtments made by me, and assure you I have the mater ial, and until I see the boys at the school rid of scenes that are in no wise educating 1 shall not hold up. I did everything in my power while there to hold down such for their «ake and did not talk much as Mrs. Manson said and agreed it was best for her to leave in October, when I had a frank talk with her about the situation. I still love the boys and will con tinue to help them m any way I can, although they are afraid to see me or Mrs. Bonner now *or some reason. C E. BONNER. Here’s wishing you prosperous new year. a happy and WOOD FOR SALE. Cord Wood at $5.00 per cord cash delivc-ed anywhci In the city. Tele phone 318-L. 11-30-tf J. F. MILLER. May the year 1921 be the best that ha“ ever come to you. Grand Theatre ONE NIGHT twwst?:. -jaannat,' "At last the theatergoers arc going to have an opportunity to see the greatest drama sensation of the cen tury, RICHARD WALTON TULLY’S wonderful Hawaiian love play, THE BIR[) OF PARADISE. For years this enthralling play of a woman’s soul with its tremendous emotional climaxes, its exotic dances, its allur ing music, its spectacular Settings, and its thrilling erupting volcano scope, has delighted thousands upon thousands of theatergoers all over the country. “THE BIRD OK PARADISE” was last year the outstanding success of the London season, and Mr. Tully returned from England this summer especially to rehearse and produce the presentation of THE BIRD OF PARADISE which will be seen in Milledgeville. “Mr. Tully guarantees, and I join with him in his guarantee, that the finest company which ever has pre sented the BIRD OF PARADISE will he here THURSDAY NIGHT, J^N. 6th and this presentation will he one of the greatest treats ever afforded Milledgeville theatergoers. M. M. FLEMISTER. 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