Newspaper Page Text
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THE SUMMERVILLE NEWS
DAVID T. ESPY, Editor and Publisher HERMAN BUFFINGTON, Advertising Mgr.
Published Every Thursday by the News Publishing Co.
Entered at Post Office at Summerville, Georgia, as Second Class Mail Matter
J
MEMBER
The News Publishing Company will not be responsible for errors in advertising
! beyond cost of the advertisement. Classified advertising rate, 3c per word, minimum
(75c. Card of Thanks, Memoriams, etc., same rate as classified advertising. Display
(advertising rates furnished upon request.
Subscription Rate $2.00 Per Year Plus 6c Sales Tax
Ao Time to Lone (hi Revaluation
Tax equalization has been under discus
jsjon in Chattooga County for months.
In fact, it has been under discussion
throughout all of Georgia. And already 32
(counties have applied for state loans to
karry out such a revamping of their tax
structures. Several other counties already
Ji^ve completed their equalization pro
jgfams.
We believe Chattooga County would do
|\^ll to undertake tax equalization.
I 'Die present inequities in the county tax
(structure are not the fault, of any of our
public officials, either elective or ap
mbintive, despite the fact that some seem
ho take offense at the idea of revaluating.
[We believe they are doing the county a
gjave injustice by taking this attitude and
(we believe they have nothing to lose
itinough a revaluation program.
There appears to be much sentiment in
Chattooga County for equalization.
The Summerville Lions Club, the Sum
tmerville Junior Chamber of Commerce and
'the Chattooga Board of Education have all
called for such a step. The Town of Menlo
lias announced plans to revaluate its area
on its own if the county doesn’t.
Gasoline Taxes Too IH<rh
A big hunk out of the price you pay for a
[gallon of gasoline 11.2 cents goes for
'taxes.
And the Hpuse of Representatives has
biassed a proposal to retain one gasoline tax
iwhich was to have expired this year.
The petroleum industry is making,a con
jcrrted effort to stop this move in Congress
and we believe the public should enthusias
tically join in.
32 Counties in Georgia Await
State Loans on Equalization
- State Revenue Commissioner
zDixon Oxford has released
• copies of approved regulations
Supder which Georgia counties
£may seek loans from the State
St| carry out property tax re- I
3 valuation programs.
•< tCopies of the regulations
Salong with contract and bond
“firms, specifications and coni- ;
1 igents. are being sent out by the '
lievenue Department to county
5 commissions or governing au
£tß<>rities throughout the state
• In a recent address. Governor
Ernest Vandiver commended the
J,32 counties which have already
i applied lor loans to study tax
^revaluation
r ’"This is further evidence, by
•Ideal government, that there
t must be broader sharing of pub
~lk service financing by county
t< tty. state and federal govern- j
-ments.'' the Governor said
- “1 am hopeful that we may be
“able to finance this contingent
Stgnd item, at least in part, when
“JBly 1 discloses the amount of
Estate surplus accumulated
« .When completed applications
Safe returned to the State Reve
gnne Department, approvals will
□b| granted for loans on a first
je|me. first served bas I s, as
B|in d s become available for
by a committee which in
■c&ides Commissioner O xf o r d
Slav President of Association
•<flinty Commissions of Georgia.
•<iid the President of the Geor
□g|i Municipal Association
J fThe latter commitlet was set
ruß under the 1961 Act which
■pfovided for the loans if money
fbFomes available
« fThe regulations point out that
IRmder the loan agreement, dis
%Qrsements will be made by the
Revenue Department directly to;
=5 lie contractor performing the
Kvbrk under an approved con-
Otipet with tin- county
• JNo disbursements will be madt
dfectly to the counties and no
Means will include any trim
rbirsements to the county for
Aiiyroll or other expenses in- .
etlrred in planning or for per
liiming a tax revaluation and
< ifualizatlon program, the regu
iations emphasize
Only those contracts with
qualified professional firms ।
Which have received prior ap- ;
proval of the State Revenue
Commissioner will be approved
Payments to the contractor :
Will be made on a quarterly i
basis, on January 15. April 15 ;
July 15 and on October 15.
JU payment of the loans is to i
The Summerville News
Is The Official Organ
Os Chattooga County
Address All Mall to
THE SUMMERVILLE NEWS
P. O Box 310,
Summerville, Georffta
6
be made, without interest, hi
five equal annual installments,
which are to be paid on Decern
. her 31 of each calendar year
until the loan is repaid, starting
i the year following adoption of
the revalued tax digest
The State Revenue Commis
; sioner is given specific authority
under the regulations to collect
payments in default.
Professional firms which are
approved to do revaluation work
will endeavor to promote uuder
: standing of the program by tax
payers by assisting in the prep
aration of news releases about
the program and by making
available suitable speakers to
acquaint groups with tile value
of the project
STUDENT MINISTER
SERVES EPISCOPAL
CHURCH AT TRION
st Barnabas Episcopal Church
i at Trion w ill have regular serv
ices during the summer, it has
been announced
Don Snyder, a senior in the
School of Theology. University
of the South. Sewanee. Tenn .
has assumed his duties as as
sistant to the vicar of the church
lor the summer
He will conduct services at 11
a m each Sunday
The Rev Erank Allen, rector
ot St Mark's. Dalton, will cele
brate Holy Communion at the
church at 11 am this Sunday
The Rev Mr Allen is the vicar
of St. Barnabas
Mr and Mrs Snyder and chil
dren Teresa. Rick and Lester
now occupy the Rutherford
home at 104 South Union Street.
Summerville.
The young minister invites
anyone needing his services as
a minister or anyone Interested
m the Episcopal Church to meet
with him at the church between
10 30 am and 12 30 pm Tues
days through Fridays or contact
him at his home He is espe
cially interested in young peo
ple, he states, and especially
wishes to serve them
Mr Snyder notes he and his
family are enjoying Summer
ville and Trion and that the
young Snyders are making the
most of the recreation program
in Summerville.
A Prize-Winning
Weekly Newspaper
NATIONAL EDITORIAL
L A # c 6 T 't N
Furthermore, County Commissioner John
Jones this spring asked the Chattooga
Board of Tax Assessors to consider the mat
ter of re-appraisal.
The assessors took no action, stating they
preferred to study the matter further. Each
of the assessors attended the tax workshop
held in Rome a few weeks ago in which ex
perts and officials of counties which have
nad revaluation spoke. It is presumed the
assessors are also seeking in other ways to
inform themselves about such a program.
They are correct to study the matter
thoroughly.
However, it should in all fairness be
pointed out that time is fast slipping by.
State funds to be allotted July 1 may have
already been exhausted by the 32 counties
which have their requests in.
But it is perhaps not too late for Chat
tooga to get in on next year’s allocation.
The loans will be dispensed on a “first
come, first served” basis, state officials
have announced, and as more and more
counties decide on revaluation, more and
more will get their requests in.
Chattooga if it wants revaluation
started even by late 1962— doesn’t have
much time to waste.
Use of the automobile is a necessity in
many phases of American life today and we
believe associated taxes should therefore be
kept at a minimum.
Instead, taxes on gasoline are at a higher
rate than on almost any other commodity.
We join tlie petioleuni industry and tluiu
general public in hoping that the Sena^” 1
will not follow the action of the House, but
will instead let gasoline taxes drop.
50% OF MENTAL
PATIENTS ENTER
UNDER NEW LAW
More than 50 per cent of all
mental patients now being ad
mitted to Georgia's Milledgeville
State Hospital, either on a vol
untary or involuntary basis, are
entering tile hospital under the
new 1960 admissions law.
Officials at Milledgeville and
in the Georgia Department of
Public Health report that the
new law' is being used at a
steadily increasing rate They
report that Chattooga County is
one of several counties which
has not used it.
Total admissions at the hos
pital. from July 1. 1960 to April
’ 30, 1961. totalled 2.177, an in-
crease of 22 per cent. Hospital
officials said the greater portion
of the increased admissions is
due to tiie use of the 1960 law,
particularly in the area of vol
untary admissions
More than 50 per cent of all
patients now being admitted on
either a voluntary or involun
tary basis are taking advantage
of this new legislation, the
health department reported
Dr John H Venable. State
Health Department Director,
said the new law. while pro
tecting the public and the pa
tient. puts the emphasis where
it should be on care and treat
ment.
Governor Ernest Vandiver
said the new law helps to re
move the age-old so wrongfully
attached to mental illness and
the resulting loss of dignity to
the patient and his family".
Among the attractive provi
sions ot the new law are the
preservation of the patient's
civil rights; providing that a pa
tient may not be detained in a
non-medical facility used for
detention of persons charged
with crimes, except in emer
gencies and the use of new
terminology
The new law uses the-words
'mentally ill persons" rather
than "lunatics" "hospitalized"
or "admitted" rather than
"committed" and examination
by an “examining committee"
rather than "lunacy commis
sion" as in the old law
During 1959 the pulp and
paper industry in the South
established at its own expense
92 Pilot Forests on privately
owned farms Today these Pilot
Forests are serving as living
laboratories to owners of sim
ilar tracts of land.
THF SUMMERVILLE NEWS, SUMMERVILLE, GEORGIA
-
/
Ld* - ’ t ■ I ; w
IL' J ’
FIRE SUPPRESSED— Two rooms in the
Eulius Kitchens home (above) were
gutted by fire about 5:45 a.m. Saturday.
Grandmother in Australia
'Very Happy' Over Visit
Very surprised and very happy.
That was the reaction of 78-year-old Mrs. Mary Hen
derson of Australia when she learned that her daughter
who married an American soldier and the 14-year-old
granddaughter she had never seen would soon pay her a
visit.
Mrs. Henderson wrote the [
daughter, Mrs. M. L. Pritchett’
i of Summerville, full of joy over |
| the news.
Mrs. Pritchett’s daughter,
Sandra, recently won a trip to
Australia for herself and her
mother. One of the first things
they did after learning of the
award was to write the folks in (
the land down under.
‘‘Grandmother Was at the hos- j
pital for a minor operation when I
Uncle Andy came and sat down
beside her,” said Sandra.
“She said she thought it was I
news from America and was :
afraid it was bad news. But then
Uncle Andy told her it was ‘good
news from America’—-We were
coming to visit.”
Mrs. Pritchett and Sandra
still don’t know for sure when
they’ll leave. However, the pass
ports arrived Monday and were
sent immediately to New York
where visas will be granted. As
soon as they are returned, the
Pritchetts will leave.
Sandra won the trip by writing
a letter stating why she would
like to win a trip to Australia.
In the letter, she noted that she
would like to be able to present
j the trip to her mother, a native
। of that country. Mrs. Pritchett.
a registered nurse at Chattooga
I Hospital, came to America in’
1946 jnd has never returned.
• Th*«d'ntest was held in con
junction with the movie “The
Sundowners," filmed in Aus
tralia.
4-H GROUP
< Continued From Page 11
In addition, state and district
council officers, district 4-H vol
unteer leaders and members to
be nominated for a state coun
cil office will attend.
The delegates will hear speak
ers on different subjects in gen
eral assemblies and will meet in
work groups to learn how to be
more effective in their 4-H work
Robbye Lee Hames
"Watch For Flying Skunks.” This sign beside the Stuart Marks'
mailbox on top cotton hill has caused many a motorist to take a
second look. A few drivers peered up into the tree tops, looking
for real flying skunks. One motorist turned around and came back
to be sure of what the sign said Others laughed and said that the
Marks' must have been bothered by hot rodders and their sign re
ferred to careless drivers Few of them ever guessed the truth.
Mrs Harry Marks' eight children had gathered for their family
reunion in the house Mrs Marks shared with her son, Stuart, and
daughter-in-law. Nellie For a few wonderful days the house was
filled with grandchildren and even gre; t-grandchildren.
"It's a family joke." one of the girls said about the sign, "I
don't know just how the skunks part got started." She gave a
little laugh. "Maybe because we re all such stinkers.
"We call ourselves The Flying Skunks' now because most of
us are pretty scattered." another explained, "California, even the
Fiji Islands Most of us have to fly to get home."
"Let me show you." Mrs Marks said, and she hurried into the
living room and back with a plywood shield On this was painted
a flying skunk, below were all the names Mrs Marks’ daughters
hud acquired, intercrossing her own name, which was at the top.
They resembled a crossword puzzle. "We like to play scrabble."
she said. "So we did it this way "
"This is our coat of arms." they said of the plywood Shield,
and they laughed because it was all a joke. But they had a de
cided fondness for the joke
"Such a little while to treasure," one said of the short reunion.
It may be three years before we can all be together again."
"That's one thing mama and daddy taught us." another said.
"To love one another and want to be together."
"This is the skunks' den" they said, leading the way into an
attractive den. "Those who come in here are almost never quite
the same again." they warned darkly, with hint of laughter.
The elder Mrs Marks paintings were featured in this room,
as well as the living room It must be wonderful to be able to ex
press yourself so well, and with j much talent She had painted
herself into a picture of pine trees and blue mountains.
But I seldom paint myself ii to my pictures." she said
One of the highlights of th< Marks’ reunion was the baptismal
service for William Stuart Marks babv son of Mr and Mrs Stuart
Marks They had put off this s. , -ament until all the family could
be present.
This is a very special baby His parents waited fourteen years
for him
That Sunday the Marks sen d dinner to over fifty guests. AU
of them were family except thn, special guests. One of these was
Mrs B F Neal, who taught <.. hos Mrs Marks children when
they were small Mrs Neal is :: * retired
"Have we managed to put a little dignity into this?” one
daughter asked anxiously She w s afraid that readers of the story
might think her family a little dd. because they announced their
reunion with signs and eelebr. :<d in their own unique way.
But there is dignity in love And laughter and lightheartedness
are vital parts of love, binding c. se—for a little while—one warm
hearted family.
Summerville firemen answered the call
and kept the blaze under control. Cause
of the fire was unknown.
B4CON T4X C4SF
(Continued From Page 1)
collection of taxes until an
equitable system of taxation is
set up.
In the meantime, the Floyd
tax assessors are sending out of
: ficial notices to property owners
I that their tax assessments are
: being raised. However, Attorney
; Vaughn Terrell, representing the
group of taxpayers who filed suit,
i said such an action — coming
; without an inventory of the
■ property concerned and without
a program of tax equalization to
insure fairness—“is only making
a bad situation worse."
In the Bacon hearing, the citi
zens’ group charged the Bacon
assessors recently hiked valua
tions on land from $7.50 to $lO
per acre. They said this was
done on an across-the-board
basis without regard to the land’s
value.
Farmers, workers in pulp and
paper plants, workers producing
pulpwood and people transport
ing these materials in the South
receive nearly a billion dollars a
year.
My Neighbors
m-W J
j B ZI'O
■
^cIL 7) \
“If anybody calls regarding
broken windows, Pop, I’m tak
ing the Fifth.”
PAULEYS TO
SPEAK SUNDAY
TO NAZARENES
■■■ I
* * W' ■' ’ 1
* a •
> -
m * ' $ *' *
THE PAULEYS
The Rev. and Mrs. A. K. Pau
ley, Chattanooga evangelists,
will be guests at the South Trion
Church of the Nazarene Sunday,
the Rev. Marshall Lambert, pas
tor, has announced.
They will be at both the 11
a.m. and 7 pin. services.
Mrs. Pauley will give a pro
gram for the youth in the eve
ning, using the flannel graph.
The evangelist is known as
“Modern Day Jeremiah.”
The Pauleys are outstanding,
the Rev. Mr. Lambert said. They
served as missionaries in Ken
tucky for five years and are now
full-time evangelists.
COUNTY COULD
SEEK STATE LOAN
(Continued From Page 1)
basis. Chattooga, of course, is
not among them.
Since the allocation of funds
likely will be limited, Chattooga
probably couldn’t get in on this
year’s allotment even if it ap
plied at once. How’ever, the gov
ernor is expected to make funds
available again next year and
counties which apply in the
near future could expect to be
served early in the next alloca
tion.
The money is repayable on a
five-year basis. Counties which
have already completed such
programs have found their reve
nue increased sufficiently to re
pay the costs within a year or
so.
In addition to Commissioner
Jones’ plea that the assessors
consider tax equalization, sev
eral civic groups have called
outright for such a program.
Among them are the Chat
tooga Board of Education, strug
gling under a heavy load of
debt: the Summerville Lions
Club: and the Summerville
Junior Chamber of Commerce.
In addition, the Town of Menlo
has announced plans to initiate
its own reveluation program if
the county doesn’t undertake
revaluation.
There has been discussion of
a county-wide referendum on
re-assessment, although so far
as can be learned, this hasn't
been the procedure anywhere
else. The law already requires
that property be returned at
“market value” and a revalua
tion program would merely be
a renewed effort to comply with
the law not the instigation of
a new law.
As for arguments against tax
revaluation. there don’t appear
to be any.
At least if there are oppo
nents. they are skittish about
saying so. The News hasn’t been
able to find a single person whe
would say he is opposed to it.
There has been some concern
however, about being sure the
public fully understands such a
program before it is initiated It
has been suggested that public
meetings be held over the coun
ty at which time questions con
cerning tax equalization would
be answered
Such meetings were held in
Murray County before it initi
ated revaluation recently and
officials were extremely pleased
with the results.
As the Murray County com
missioner noted, who can logi
cally oppose tax equalization
when he realizes that it simply
means one will be asked to pay
only his fair share?
Is anyone opposed to fairness?
he asked And no one was.
। YOUR CONGRESSMAN
\ I wk
^kjOH^UAVIS ?
Quite ofen I sit in the House
i Gallery with the home folks who
are visiting in Washington, and
on these occasions a keen inter
est has been shown in the per
sonnel and the personalities
which make up the 87th Con
gress. This gave me the idea of
collecting a few facts about the
people who make up this Con
gress and setting them forth in
this space.
There are 437 members of the
House of Representatives, which
total will be reduced to 435 in
the 88th Congress. This tem
porary increase was put into
effect to permit the new States
of Hawaii and Alaska to have
representation. The redistricting
process which is now going on
in several states will have the
effect of causing a net loss to
the original 48 states of two
members of Congress. In view of
the fact that some states are
gaining several seats in Con
gress while several states are
losing seats, it is impossible to
say which two states are giving
up Congressmen to Alaska and
Hawaii.
The following nine states
stand to gain seats as a result
of the new apportionment: Ari
zona, 1; California, 8; Florida,
4; Hawaii, 1; Maryland, 1; Mich
igan, 1; New Jersey, 1; Ohio, 1;
and Texas, 1.
The following 16 states stand
to lose seats: Alabama, 1:
Arkansas, 2; Illinois, 1; lowa, 1;
Kansas, 1; Kentucky. 1; Maine.
1: Massachusetts, 2; Minnesota.
1; Mississippi, 1; Missouri, 1;
Nebraska, 1; New York, 2; North
Carolina, 1; Pennsylvania, 3;
and West Virginia, 1.
Politically speaking, there are
261 Democratic Congressman and
j 176 Republicans. One seat was
undecided until this week when
Democratic Congressman J. Ed
ward Roush of Indiana was
i seated after a 5-month contest
Grey Mill Has 1 Million
Manhours Without Injury
Trion Grey Mill employees last
Thursday reached their one-mil
lionth man-hour without a dis
abling injury.
Rememoenng their outstand
ing safety record of slightly
more than a year ago, when this
same group of employees had
reached 7,000,000 man-hours,
everyone seems to be hoping
that this present achievement is
only the first milestone in their
climb back to a “place in the
sun” safety-wise.
HERMAN TALMADGE
'Hr ■
‘ ^^ e P° r fS P rom
? I
WASHINGTON
■iiM W ■ mi
A TWO-STAGE assault on
the right of Southern people to
run their own affairs is being
planned in Congress for this
year and next.
The strategy calls for action
this year further watering down
I the Senate rule
governing lim
itation of de
bate a n d en
actment next
year of an- I
other force bill
। in the field of
civil rights.
I The proposed
1
■mi
rule change would reduce from
two-thirds to three-fifths the
number of Senators required to
impose gag rule —a revision
which, with all 100 Senators
present and voting, would mean
that 00 instead of 67 Senators
could cut off debate. The likely
vehicle for new force legislation
is the six-bill package of anti-
South proposals introduced re
cently by Senator Joseph Clark
of Pennsylvania and Congress
man Emanuel Celler of New
York.
* • *
THE CLARK-CELLER bills,
if enacted as introduced, would
establish an absolute federal die
tatorship over every facet of hu- !
man conduct. They would re
quire all counties in the South to
submit school desegregation
plans and make the Secretary of
Health, Education and Welfare
a czar to approve and enforce
them. They would give the At
torney General unlimited author
ity to go into court and require
compliance with his notions of
civil rights and would establish /
a FEPC to tell every business ।
(Xot prtpartd w printed c
THURSDAY. JUNE 22,. 1961
with his Republican opponent,
George O. Chambers.
There are 29 state delegations
which have a majority of Demo
crats, 17 with a majority of Re
publicans, and four states (Ari
zona, Colorado, Montana and
Oregon) where the two parties
hold equal seats.
There are 17 women members
of Congress, one of whom is
Georgia’s Iris Blitch of Homer
ville. Two ladies have been
added to the number since Jan
uary, both of them having been
elected to fill vacancies caused
by the death of their respective
husbands. They are Mrs. W. F.
Norrell of Arkansas and Mrs.
Carroll Reecl of Tennessee.
There are four Negro members
of Congress: William L. Dawson
of Chicago, Charles C. Diggs, Jr.,
of Detroit, Robert N. C. Nix of
Philadelphia, and Adam Clayton
Powell of New York. One Con
gressman, Daniel K. Inouye of
Hawaii, is of Japanese extrac
tion; another, D. S. Saund of
California, is a native of
Amritsar, India; and South
Dakota’s Congressman Ben
Reifel’s mother was a Sioux In
dian.
There are 329 Protestant mem
bers of the House of Represent
atives, 88 Roman Catholics, 11
Jewish and one Sikh. Os the
Protestants, there are 77 Meth
odists, 60 Presbyterians, 53
Episcopalians and 48 Baptists.
There are 19 members who are
Protestants of an unspecified
denomination, 18 Congregation
al Christians, 17 Lutherans, and
8 Disciples of Christ. There are
five members of the Church of
Christ, four Christian Scientists
and three each members of the
Christian Church and of the
Mormon Church. There are four
members of the Unitarian
Church and a smattering of
membership in less well known
denominations.
t*
Employees on all three shifts
were served free cakes and soft
drinks in honor of the occasion.
; PRINCE RECOGNIZED
s FOR 20 YEARS SERVICE
i Frank N. Prince has received a
>, plaque from Western Auto head
g quarters for his 20 years service
s as a dealer in Summerville.
r Mr. Prince was also with the
e company for 13 years prior to
opening his own store here.
। in the country whom it could and
could not hire and fire.
The decision to aim the initial
attack against free debate in the
Senate is a recognition of the
fact that the only way punitive
and coercive laws requiring un
deviating conformity in human
relations can be enacted is
through short circuiting that
check-and-balance of constitu
tional government which stands
as the last safeguard of local
self-government in this country.
It means that those Senators
who believe the Constitution of
the United States means what it
says when it reserves to the peo
ple the right to determine their
own destiny in all areas not spe
cifically delegated to the Federal
Government must make a do-or
die stand on that point this year.
♦ * *
THERE CAX BE no further
compromise of the constitutional
power of Senators to protect
the rights and interests of their
states and constituents through
talking issues out before the
country on the floor of the
United States Senate if our re
publican concept of limited na
tional government with ultimate
power in the hands of the states
and the people is to prevail.
Unfortunately for the future
of our nation the ranks of those _
in the Senate who believe in that
concept have grown thin and
weary. The only promise which
I, as one of them, can make is
that it will not be thrown into
the discard so long as I can
stand on my two feet and un
hold it.
at government expense)