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VOLUME XCIV - NUMBEI gd* V
DOT ^helves Plans For
Widening Os Highway 27
By TOM KIRWAN
Georgia Department of
Transportation Commissioner
Tom Moreland has scuttled
plans to widen to five lanes a
4.3-mile stretch of U. S.
Highway 27 between Sum
merville and Trion, The News
learned this week.
"Because of a lack of local
support we decided to aban
don that project,” DOT Public
Information Officer Harry
Murphy said in a telephone in
terview Tuesday. “We just
got virtually no local support
for the project and that's
basically why the decision was
made. We have so many
transportation needs in the
state that need our attention
and resources that the com
missioner made the decision
to abandon that one (the pro
posed widening project).
When asked if Moreland
had considered modifying the
plan to incorporate only four
lanes, Murphy said, “We look
ed at the alternatives and he
didn’t think we could work
out anything.”
At Menlo Plant
Expansion At Best-100 New Jobs
The recently-announced
expansion of Best Manufac
turing Co. in Menlo will
translate into the addition of
at least 100 new employees, a
company official said Tues
day.
Best President General
Manager Roy Mann said that
''conservatively” 100 new
employees will be added to the
glove company’s payroll by
the end of next year if expan
sion plans go forward as ex
pected.
Preliminary plans for a ma
jor production and warehouse
expansion were announced in
August by Best Vice Presi
dent of Manufacturing Ray
Looper in an address to the
local Rotary Club. He noted
that the plans at that time
were not finalized and said
that announcing the effect of
the plans on company employ
ment would be premature.
Mann, in an interview with
The News Tuesday, sketched
out additional details of the
planned expansion.
The warehouse expansion
will see the warehouse and
shipping operations at the
Menlo, Summerville, Ar
muchee and Subligna plants
Invasion Os Pesky
Pine Beetle Misses
County, Say Officials
The Southern Pine Beetle,
one of the South’s most
destructive forest insects, is
on the attack again, in
Georgia, however, Chattooga
County has showed no sign of
them.
Tommy Mauldin, district
forester, said recently that so
far Chattooga County is look
ing “real good” as far as the
pine beetles are concerned.
"The area has been check
ed three times so far this year
from the air,” Mauldin said.
“It’s in real good shape right
now. They (tne beetles) seem
to be having no effect in this
county. The area will probably
be checked one more time
before the leaves fall to make
sure the beetles aren’t causing
problems.”
Beetle activity had been at
an all time low during the past
two years but began to in
crease drastically during the
late spring of this year in at
least five states.
The situation is considered of
epidemic proportions in 36
south Georgia counties.
The Southern Pine Beetle
is a small, reddish-brown or
black insect about the size of a
grain of rice. It breeds in all
species of southern yellow
pine and occasionally in
eastern white pine. Most
susceptible targets for the
beetle are damaged,
unhealthy or old pine trees.
Beetles bore through the
bark of a tree and build
©be ^ummerutlle New
The DOT, at a public hear
ing held in late August at the
Courthouse, unveiled its pro
posed design for the project,
which would have widened the
road by 12 feet on each side of
the highway, except for a
small segment in Summerville
where the widening was pro
posed to be done solely on the
west side. That long block is
located between Cleghorn
Street and the First Avenue
Bridge.
Strong vocal opposition to
the proposal surfaced at the
public meeting held by the
DOT. In all, only one of over a
dozen persons who rose to
voice their opinions on the
proposal said ne favored it.
Opponents to the plan,
which included both residents
and business people along the
route, said the five-laning pro
posal would see needed off
street parking wiped out,
cause noise and safety pro
blems, and in general be a
nuisance during construction.
Several of those in opposition
to the program said they
consolidated into one central
facility to be built on the
Menlo Highway on a 30- to
35-acre site. The $400,000
steel building’s footage is
planned at 65,000 square feet,
ne said. The building’s loca
tion, he added, is across the
road from Cox’s Country
Store.
Mann said a conveyor
system will be built to move
the company’s finished pro
ducts—coated work
gloves—in and out of the
building quickly. “It will be
more of staging area for our
larger customers, a consolida
tion of activities going on in
four or five different points in
to one point,” he said.
Although ground has yet
to be broken on the site, the
property has been surveyed
and staked out and construc
tion should begin soon. “By
year’s end,” Mann said, “it
should be completed.” Harold
Bishop is the general contrac
tor of the project.
Perhaps the most signifi
cant effect of the warehouse
and shipping changeover is
that it will allow the company
to free up space at its Menlo
plant where the production ex
pansion is planned.
galleries in the inner bark
where they lay their eggs.
These galleries encircle the
tree and kill it.
Landowners should watch
their timber closely for early
signs of the beetle. Lumps of
pitch, about the size of pop
corn, will extend up the trunk
of the tree and red ooring dust
will appear in bark crevices
and at the foot of the tree.
Removal of the infested
trees is the most economical
practical control method. In
tested trees should be cut and
sold and trees that cannot be
sold should be burned or
chemically treated.
Mauldin said any lan
downer who has a significant
number of pine trees that are
dying should contact the local
forestry office at 857-1213 and
the trees will be checked by a
forester.
Inter-Agency
Meets Today
The Chattooga County
Inter-Agency Council will
meet today, Sept. 20, at noon
at B’s Round Table restaurant
in Pennville.
During the meeting
representatives from the
agencies atten-
ding will be given a copy of
the new Community Services
Directory, which has just been
printed.
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA 30747, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1979
favored a less drastic plan tor
relieving congestion along the
route. A few merchants said
they would have to move or go
out of business if the DOT
adopted the plan.
DOT officials at the hear
ing countered that the DOT
already owned the needed
right of way for the project,
that five lanes were preferable
far and away to a four-lane
project, and that driveway ac
cess to homes and businesses
would remain open through
out construction.
In all, the DOT estimated
some 200 parcels of property
adjoined the highway along
the route. Cost of the project
was estimated at over $3
million.
Sixth District Engineer
John Wade said that
Moreland’s decision
“amounts to shelving it; the
decision was made not to pro
ceed with the project at this
time.”
Widening the road to four
lanes was considered as an
alternative to the proposed
“This will release some
space in Menlo,” Mann said,
“so that we can build new con
veyors which will allow us to
increase our end products pro-
A Summerville man was
found dead in a Chattooga
County Jail cell early Friday
morning. He had apparently
died of natural causes, a
report said.
Authorities identified the
man as John Ben Taylor, 51.
He was found around 6:54
a.m. Friday by a trustee who
was taking the prisoners their
breakfast. Coroner Earle
Rainwater was called and an
•I ।
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' ■
A group of Pennville Elementary
children and some of their mothers wait
patiently at a crosswalk near the school
on U.S. Highway 27 for a break in traffic
before they cross the street. A fifth
School Crosswalk At Pennville
Will Be Made ‘More Visible’
By TOM KIRWAN
Improvements at a Penn
ville crosswalk where elemen
tary and high school students
routinely cross a busy section
of U. S. Highway 27 will be
improved in the near future in
an effort to get motorists to
slow down there, according to
a Georgia Department of
Transportation official in
Cartersville.
“We have been contacted
and we are going back up
there to take anotner look at
it,” said Charles Monroe,
district traffic engineer for
this area’s DOT district.
“The problem there as I
understand it is that it’s open
roadway and it’s hard to get
design, he said, “but it was
felt a five-lane was necessary
to have a facility that would
serve the need. If you build a
four-lane project you have
spent almost as much as it
takes to make a five-lane road.
It amounts to spending the
money needed to make a five
lane road but you wouldn’t be
getting five lanes.” The turn
ing left-hand lane, he noted,
was needed “to give you four
lanes that are not impeded by
left turning movements.”
Jim Woodard, owner of the
Summerville Piggly Wiggly
store and one of the many op
ponents to the five-lane plan
at the public hearing, said
yesterday he was pleased with
Moreland's decision to scuttle
the project. Contacted by The
News, Woodard said, “I’m
pleased there won’t be a five
lane as it would have affected
a lot of people. There are peo
ple that would have been
made to move and a lot of
them wouldn’t have been able
to reopen their business. I’m
just glad it’s not going to be a
ductions capacity by 50 per
cent over all in a period of two
to three years.
The new jobs would be
created by the expansion, he
Man Dies In County Jail
autopsy was performed by a
pathologist in Rome. As of
Wednesday, the results from
the autopsy had not returned.
Rainwater, however, said
Taylor had apparently died of
natural causes, and there was
no signs of foul play.
Taylor was serving a
6-month sentence for public
drunkenness.
Survivors include three
sisters. Mrs. Roy Viall of Ac-
Waiting For Break In Traffic
cars to slow down as much as
some residents there would
like. We plan to add to that
crosswalk to make it more
visible, to add speed plates ad
vising motorists to slow
down.”
The crosswalk is located
near Pennville Elementary
School. Some high school
students must cross the road
to catch a school bus.
About 20 young children
cross the busy road on their
way to and from school each
day, according to a school of
ficial. Sometimes parents
walk with groups of children,
but according to one parent
such parental escorts aren’t
alwavs possible because most
five-lane.”
Herb Skelton, another :
vocal opponent to the plan,
said, “I’ve always stated I
think the widening of 27 to a
five-lane was a wrong deci
sion. 1 think, really, that if a
widening is needed a four-lane
would have been more of what
we needed. The widening to
five lanes would have had a
tremendous impact on several
businesses on the highway. I
think they need to do
something to the existing
facility—perhaps reline it or
make it four lanes. It’s hard to
say what needs to be done J
because I don’t know what
right of way would be needed.
I’m in agreement that
something needs to be done to
alleviate the congestion. The
Summerville Council’s deci
sion to put up a stoplight near
Piggly Wiggly will be a step
that will help in that area.”
The City, after years of
discussion, on Sept. 10 voted
to install a traffic light at the
intersection of North Com
merce, Sixth and Kelly
streets.
explained.
Mann said the proposed
expansion will “strengthen
our base, and I believe it’s a
good thing for the county.”
worth, Mrs. Ruby Nix of
Trion and Mrs. Romeo
Dipirima of Rome; one
brother, Howard Taylor of
Warner Robins; and a number
of nieces and nephews.
Funeral services were held
Sunday, Sept. 16, at 1 p.m.
from the chapel of Erwin-
Petitt Funeral Home with the
Rev. James Braddy of
ficiating. Interment was in
Summerville Cemetery.
grader was seriously injured last school
term wihle attempting to cross the busy
highway, although not at the crosswalk
shown here.
of the parents work.
She and other parents say
that heavy congestion on the
road and the fact that a dip in
the highway makes the
crosswalk hard to see from a
distance for motorists headed
south together form a lethal
combination.
Such fears were under
scored last school year when a
fifth grade Pennville student
was struck and seriously in
jured by a vehicle when she at
tempted to cross the highway.
At the request of County
Commissioner Pete Denson,
the DOT says it plans to try to
boost the visibility of the
crosswalk, but traffic engineer
Monroe says the DOT
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Several old bottles of patented medicine
from the 1920 s were found recently in
the back room of McGinnis Drug Com
pany by Eugene McGinnis. The bottles
all listed unusual directions. Some of the
bottles found included: Allan’s Gland
Capsules (L-R), Breeden’s Rheumatic
Old Nostrums Found
At Store Carry Odd
Directions On Labels
By PAM PURCELL
When was the last time you went into
a local drug store and purchased a bottle
of medicine off the shelf which listed the
following directions on the label:
“Take one pill before each meal during
day. Before retiring immerse the feet and
limbs to the knees in water as hot as you
can bear it, cover the entire person with a
thick quilt or blanket, and drink freely—a
pint, if possible—of hot ginger tea until a
profuse perspiration is attained, take one
more pill, go to bed and cover up well.
Continue this treatment for three days, or
until a satisfactory result is secured.”
It would have had to be some time ago
as these are the directions found on a box
of Star Brand and Tansy Cotton Root
Pills marketed some 55 to 60 years ago.
Eugene McGinnis of McGinnis Drug
Company in Summerville found 50-some
odd bottles of various old patent medicine
(a trademarked medical preparation ob
tainable without a prescription) in a box
recently while he was cleaning out the
back of the store.
The glass bottles are of various shapes
and sizes and still contain the medicine
that is described on their labels, even
though some of the contents have darken-
Water System Updating
At Cloudland Moves
Closer; Bid Accepted
Representatives of the
Cloudland Improvement
Cancer Society
TV Given Away
Sidney Cooper of Summer
ville was the winner of the
12-inch black and white televi
sion recently given away by
the Chattooga County
Chapter of the American
Cancer Society.
Tickets were sold for the
television at $1 each, and
SI,OOO was raised for the
chapter from the sale, a
spokesman said. TG & Y in
LaFayette donated the televi
sion.
historically has never install
ed blinking warning lights
which order motorists to slow
to 25 mph during the two
periods of the weekday when
students need to cross the
street.
Monroe said, however, that
if the county or county school
system can find funds to buy
and install such a sign, he is
confident the DOT would be
willing to issue a permit for its
installation.
“I think in a situation like
this there is a strong enough
need and that it would be ap
proved,” he said.
The DOT offices in Atlanta
issue the permits, he noted.
Old Medicine Bottles Found
Association opened bids Mon
day on a construction contract
for improvements to the
Cloudland Water System.
Jean Griffith, secretary of
the Cloudland Improvement
Association, Inc., received
bids from two contractors.
Jan R. Smith of
Alpharetta, submitted the ap
parent low bid of $69,606.70.
The bid includes the cost of
construction of 4,100 feet of
8-inch pipe to connect to the
Chattooga County Water
District, 4,700 feet of pipe to
serve 13 new customers, and
water meters for all customers
of the system. These im
provements will be funded by
a 50 percent grant and low in
terest loan from the Farmers
Home Administration, accor
ding to Robert L. Moss, pro
ject engineer from the
engineering firm of Williams,
Sweitzer and Barnum, Inc. of
Rome.
The project is part of a con
tinuing effort to provide an
adequate supply of water to
Cloudland, with the coopera
tion of the Chattooga County
Water Distict, noted County
Commissioner Pete Denson. A
new well has been drilled in
Shinbone Valley by the
District, with grant and loan
funds from the Farmers Home
Administration, State of
Georgia, and Commissioner
Denson's office.
Construction is scheduled
to begin within 60 days and
should be completed by the
spring. After the meters are
installed, residents of
Cloudland will be charged a
rate for the amount of water
used, rather than the flat rate
of $lO a month they presently
pay, Moss said.
Compound for Rheumatism, Allan’s
Star Brand Pills, Scott’s Ralgene for
simple headaches and neuralgia, Dr.
Hobson’s Improved Eye Water, Dr.
Hobson’s Improved Itch Ointment,
Creo-Pinus Blood Medicine, and Lax
ative Barker.
ed with age. Instead of the familiar screw
on tops people use today, these bottles
have cork stoppers. Most of the bottles do
not list ingredients contained in the
medicine as is required by law now.
Directions on the bottles tend to be
unusual, if not bizarre. And some of the
labels and directions do not even tell what
symptoms these medicines relieve. Here’s
a sampling of the instructions found on
the ola nostrums.
* Dr. Hobson’s Improved Itch Oint
ment: “Useful for itch due to itch mite
and for minor skin irritations. Take a
thorough hot or warm bath using Dr.
Hobson’s Compound Sulphur Soap with
suitable brush. Rinse the body
thoroughly, dry, apply Dr. Hobson's Im
proved Itch Ointment, and allow to re
main 24 hours. Repeat the bath and ap
plication of Dr. Hobson's Improved Itch
Ointment for three days then bathe and
use sterilized clothes. Rest one week and
repeat above treatment if necessary."
* Allan’s Gland Capsules: "A
gland tonic and stimulant. Prepared from
the fresh glands of healthy animals,
recently killed, combined with
stimulating tonics. For low vitality,
(Continued On Page 14)
CAROL ELLER
GBI Agent
Assigned
To County
Carol Eller has been
assigned «s the new special
agent with the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation in
Chattooga and Walker coun
ties.
Miss Eller, 26, is from
Calhoun. She holds a Bachelor
of Science Degree in criminal
justice from Valdosta State
College and is currently work
ing on a Masters Degree.
She has worked as a
special agent with the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation for
approximately four years,
spending three of those years
in the northwest Georgia area.
Miss Eller is currently work
ing out of the Calhoun
Regional Office. She conducts
criminal investigations at the
request of local law enforce
ment agencies.
When she is not working,
(Continued On Page 14)
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