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Mountain Echoes -
his baseball skills.
“Pot’’ was to pitch first because Dizzy
arranged it this way. He wanted the
young hillbilly to face ‘“Murder’s Row,”
who by all accounts would knock Sims
out of the box.
“Pot’’ said a small prayer as he walk
ed to the mound. The first batter ground
ed. Lou Gehrig popped out to first. Now
there he was. The one and only Babe
Ruth,
“Pot’”’ was not only nervous, he was
scared. The first pitch was wild and
almost took the Babe's head off. Ruth
walked out in front of the plate, pointed
his bat at Sims and told him that he was a
:ifi bastard who should go back to the
ills.
“Pot’’ wound up and threw the ball as
hard as he could. He cringed as he heard
the bat hit the ball, but it trickled back
toward the pitcher’s box. It went through
“Pot’s’’ legs and the crowd led by Dizzy
roared with laughter. A rally started and
“Pot”" was replaced. He was sent to the
minors.
Baseball, according to Sims, is three
hours of tense excitement. The rest is
hanging around and traveling.
“I hated cards,” he said, ‘‘and
managers didn’t want players to go to the
beach. You can only see so many cartoon
festivals before you go out of your mind
and the other players made fun of the way
I talked so I just stayed to myself.”
He met a lot of other kids though —
the sons of former major leaguers and a
guy who carried a gun.
There was one kid from Brooklyn who
carried a machine gun in the trunk of his
Letters To The Editor
Opposes Animal Cruelty
Dear Editor,
I have been shocked into thoughts of ac
tion by the number of animals that have been
poisoned, beaten to death and shot in our City
and surrounding communities in the past two
years. Our local pound has killed a great
number of our animals. There has also been
unnecessary criticism from a few residents.
We allrinow that a well-?lanned humane
society is absolutely essential before a pound
is started. This was not done in Summerville.
Instead, our Council and Mayor saw fit to
spend almost $7,000.00 of our tax money on a
pound that is going tc continue to use a large
amount of tax money. At the last meeting the
Council approved a $14,143 expenditure for
the city go pound which wilf) include the
salary of a gog catcher and janitor combina
tion: ¢
' Last November I requested a copy of the
October financial statement of the City of
Summerville. After my request was finally ap
proved by the Mayor, I obtained the state
ment for a cost of $6.00. For the month of Oc
tober 1981 the salary of the dog catcher was
8936.36. Cost of gas and vet was $96.66,
group insurance $77.48 and listed as other ex
penses the amount of $24.86. Total expen
ditures for the do%l pound was $1,135.36 and
was taken out of the General Fund account. I
assume this $24.86 was food for the poor
hungry animals. A very small amount, but I
understand from reliabi; sources within hear
ing distance of the pound that sometimes the
animals were seen brought in and a few
minutes later shots could be heard and upon
Foing to the pound immediately the resicfiant
ound dead dogs on the ground and some had
been shot in cages. We as citizens and tax
payers should not allow our money to be
wasted this way and the expense of the dog
pound will increase each year.
In February of this year, I wrote a letter to
the Executive Director of the Atlanta
Humane Society. In my letter I told him of the
animal cruelty in Summerville and surroun
ding communities. I also sent him several clip
pings of letters to the editor tellin% about
these cruel acts of inhumane persons. I receiv
ed a reply from him immediately along with a
;SJublication concerning Georgia Anti-Cruelty
tatutes applying to animals. I understand
that this information is sent to law
enforcement officials in hopes that it will help
them to eradicate animal cruelty in the State
of Georgia.
I was advised by the Director of the Atlan
ta Humane Society to continue attending
council meetings and seek to expand this at
tendance and try to rally community leaders
to attend such as ministers, politicians and
law-enforcement officers. He also suggested
that I write to an address in Washington,
D. C. I will do this soon.
Police Incident
‘Blown Out Of Preoportion’
To the Editor:
Last week you printed a letter from a
woman, who was all fired up about police cor
ruption, with facts that were supposedly
“first-hand.”’ In reading this I found that the
lady had a very bad opinion of a man, that she
didn’t even know. She used very harsh, very
incriminating words against him, but not one
time did she mention the other side of the
story, what would have made this policeman,
(Sft' Monroe Mathis) ill enough to break a
rule? Well Editor my facts are first-hand, and
if you could find it in your heart to hear about
the other side of this, I'd like to explain it to
f'ou and the county, if you'll please print m
etter. First of all this nice little town is a smafi
size Atlanta, and for the person who doesn’t
think so, then you've missed something I
haven'’t.
The word corruption in her letter stands
for (one policeman). How can a person judge
one person about police corrufition, and say
that he should be stgsped when our whole
legal system is crooked all the way down to
the president, but no ones trying to stop him.
Is tfle man taking the law to his advantage?
How could bein%suspended from his job be to
his advantage? First of all, legally he did not
need to take out a warrant (he is a policeman).
Officer Mathis was called out on a distur
bance, one which had started earlier in the
week. When Mathis’ daughter-in-law and
grandchildren were cominfi home on the
church bus, when the dauf ter of the other
man and one of the Cox children started argu
car. He met other Southern boys who
drank and caroused all night and hit
home runs the next day.
“Pot”’ learned how to save money on
his dollar and a quarter meal allowance.
He didn’t like spitballs, and he found
out that bench jockeys weren't vicious at
all. They just made noise so somebody
would notice them. He got into a lot of
fights because the manager demanded
that everyone run out on the field swing
ing after a bean ball. Anyone who stayed
out of the brawl was fined $25.
Sims learned that the bullpen is the
best place to meet girls. He met some of
his boyhood heroes and was shocked by
their skinny legs, pot bellies and empty
minds. He learned that baseball was a
business and not a national pasttime.
People turned out on days of milking
contests and hog callings, but when they
were battling for first place you could
count the house between innings. And the
fans. They would applaud and boo at the
wrong times. They want to socialize at
tense moments and just get emotional at
others.
There had been a lot of stories in the
Atlanta and local papers about ‘‘Pot”
Sims. Ralph McGill and Morgan Blake
wrote all kinds of stories about him. He
rode the train home after his first season
in 1934,
He got off the train with his suitcase
in one hand and a baseball bat in the
other.
Byrd Jones, the depot agent, looked
up from his checker game and said,
‘““Hello, ‘Pot.” Been somewhere?”’
The cruelty to animals must be stopped
and it can be i{ you and I as concerned citizens
will report any known cruelty to animals to
our law-enforcement officials. We must band
togziher and catch these law violators and
though many violators readily admit to the
owner of the pet that he or she killed the
animal, the owner is afraid to report it because
he is afraid that more harm will ge done to him
or his family. You do not have to actually
witness the cruelty to an animal. If you have
just a reasonable cause to suspect that any of
the provisions of law for the prevention of
cruefiy to animals are being violated in any
particular building or place, and magistrate
authorized by law shall immediately issue and
deliver a warrant to someone authorized to
make arrests. The violator will be dealt with
according to law.
Non-pet owners are usually unsympathetic
and will%e the first to criticize these o?us who
care about fieople and animals. Some people
just do not have enough love in their hearts to
care for the hungry and needy whether it be
human beings or animals. All persons that
perform cruel acts to animals are violators,
even the dog catcher.
Some people seem to be misinformed just
what cruelty to animals involves. It means
more than beating or shooting an animal and I
would like to quote some of t%xe Georgia Anti-
Cruelty Statutes that the Director sent me.
There are 10 very strong statutes in the cruel
ty to animals category. I will only quote a por
tion of a few as fo%lows:
26-2802 — Cruelty to animals: A person
commits a misdemeanor when his act, omis
sion, or neglect causes unjustifiable physical
pain, suffering or death to any loving animal.
26-7904 — Cruelty defined: Tfie word
“cruelty’’ shall be held to include every wilful
act, omission or neglect, whereby physical
paén, suffering or death is caused or permit
ted.
62-2003 — Abandoning dogs: No person
shall release a dog on any property, pu%fl!ic or
private, with the intention of abandoning the
animal.
62-2005 — Performing cruel acts on, or har
ming, maiming or killing dogs: No person shall
perform a cruel act on any dog, nor shall any
person harm, maim or kill any dog or attempt
to do so, except that a person may defend his
person from injury being caused by a dog. The
method for kilfing the dog shall be desifned to
accomflish the desired end as humanely as is
possible under the circumstances.
I urge you to report cruelty to animals as
soon as possible. Investigation is often suffi
cient to end cruelty. A person that is found
g:ailty of cruelty is more impressed b{l public
isapproval of his act than by the fine he must
pay.
Sincerely,
Ruby Gass
ing, Mrs. Cox took them both by the arm and
sat them both in their seats. When the other
child got home and told her mother it had been
slapped by Mrs. Cox, she (the mother) went
across the street and started a fifiht with Mrs.
Cox (never even considered asking the bus
driver).
The mother took out a warrant for Mrs.
Cox. The next day, Mr. Cox is pulling in from
the grocery store and the other man reaches
in, gets him by the hair of the head and knocks
him half crazy before beating him half to
death on the sidewalk. This was Officer
Mathis’ stepson, someone he raised and loved
very much. He did exactly what any parent
would have done. The warrant was taken out
by Mr. Cox, not Officer Mathis. Did she have
the right to refer to this man as crazy? This
man is someone whom I have a great deal of
resgect for and I would stake my life on his
stability. Officer Mathis is a very fair man,
besides, it means a lot when someone can ad
mit they were wrong.
Thank you very much,
Mrs. Gwenetta J. Padgett
RN
Grom The
.(/Du.[;[ia/)’.u 's Desk
: fly winston £. espy
Toward An
Understanding Of Cancer
The seemingly ordinary lives we lead —the conditions
we live, work and play under, the products we use, the
food we eat — all may increase our risk of developing
cancer. To learn what exactly in our lifestyle and environ
ment poses a health threat, we need to rely on research
studies like the American Cancer Society's current
Cancer Prevention Study 11.
This week marks the start of Cancer Prevention Study
II in Chattooga County and communities all over the
country. Members of the Summerville Business and Pro
fessional Women's Club are serving. Volunteers from the
Chattooga County Unit of the American Cancer Society
will be asking their friends and neighbors to participate
in the study by filling out a detailed health and lifestyle
questionnaire.
The Society’s first Cancer Prevention Study
(1959-1972) was instrumental in informing the American
public about the dangers of smoking. The study iden
tified cigarettes as the culprit behind lung cancer and
heart disease. This is a fact that we take almost for
granted these days, but documentation was still meager
until then.
At this time of great public concern over possible en
vironmental causes of cancer, there is a definite need for a
study the scope of Cancer Prevention Study 11. With
rumors flying that just about everything causes cancer,
the study will help to identify which factors really do pose
a serious threat to our health. Are x-rays safe? Can the
birth control pill do more harm than good? How
dangerous is that morning cup of coffee? These questions
and many others hopefully will get answered by the
study findings, and perhaps shed light on what can be
done to reduce our risk of cancer and other diseases.
More than one million men and women will take part
in the study, and if you're one of those asked to par
ticipate, we urge your cooperation. The study will take up
very little of your time — filling out an easy-to-follow
questionnaire for now, and responding to a few questions
from your American Cancer Society volunteer two years
from now. The study’s findings are difficult to predict,
but we share the optimism of Dr. Robert V. P. Hutter, na
tional president of the ACS, who hopes that Cancer
Prevention Study II “‘will help us plan a world without
cancer for all children.”
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JAY’S SURPLUS . Commerce St. ® Summerville —
Editor's Note: S§t. Monroe Mathis was
suspended from the Summerville Police Aug.
24 after a preliminary hearing by the ci 2' coun
cil that included 12 witnesses to the Aug. 21
incident.
According to Mayor Sewell Cash, Officer
Mathis called for an af;peal hearing Monday
night, when the council voted to suspend him
for 30 days without pay and requiring the of
ficer to do desk work for another 30 days after
returning to the force.
Defends Summerville Officer
Dear Editor,
We would like to respond to the letter that
was written last week concerning the alleged
police corruption in Summerville,
We have been living in Summerville all our
lives, and have known Sgt. Mathis for a long
time, and know that no one could find anyone
any nicer.
No man could say that if he was but in the
Eosition of Sgt. Mathis that they wouldn't
ave done the same.
Before Mrs. Bailey wrote the letter to the
editor, she should have had her facts straight.
Mr. Cox and his wife are the ones who took
out the warrant for assault and battery, and
not Sgt. Mathis.
This incident was blown all out of prog;or
tion by everyone sticking their noses in where
they were unconcemedg. This should be a
Berry College’s Office of
Continuing Egucation and
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nine short courses and
workshops beginning during
the first two weeks of
September.
Persons interested in par
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calling the Continuing Educa
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tion 2369, at least one week
prior to the program.
The programs include:
Introduction to Microcom
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part computer series, this pro
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layman’s terms, 1 to 4 p.m.,
TKursday, Sept. 9, Hoge
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Letters To The Editor
Berry Offers Short Course
The Summerville News, Thurs., Sept. 2, 1982 .
Building, Berry College, S2O
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Ballet I for Children — An
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of classical ballet, 3:30 to 4:30
g.em., 'l‘hursdags. beginning
pt. 9, Kathy Baird Studio of
Dance, 2407-D Garden Lakes
Blvd., sl6 per month;
Assertiveness for Health
Care Workers — A course
which introduces participants
to special techniques for
becoming more assertive, 3:30
to 5 p.m., Monday and Thurs
day, Sept. 13 and 16, Floyd
Medical Community Center,
sls;
Clogging Classes — Eight
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Mayor Cash said Officer Mathis did not
deny taking ;{ff his' gun while on duty and
cha%enging c¢Ginnis Circle resident Bill
Fletcher to a fight. Fletcher, Mayor Cash uic{
had finished fighting Terry Cox, Mathis' ctcfi:
son, prior to the arrival of the Summervi
Police at 6:20 p.m. Aug. 21. “'Fletcher and Cox
had a fight a /Zw minutes l;y’ore the patrol car
arrived,” said Cash. ‘“He (Si‘t' Mathis)
answered the call and challenged Fletcher to a
fight. He didn't deny that at all.”’
— The Editor
lesson to everyone to keep their noses out ot
other people’s business.
I'm not sayinsl there isn’t police corrug:tion
in the Summerville Police Department, but it
should be investigated properly. Instead, cer
tain people are taing to use Sgt. Mathis as a
sca&t]agoat since this incident happened.
e all believe that the incident concerning
Sgt. Mathis will be dealt with groperly. We
don’t believe Sgt. Mathis should lose his job
over this incident.
Thank you,
Lois Reed
Kim Panaford
Margaret Langford
Debra Love
Linda Cox
Madlane Edfieworth
of Summerville
sessions of American folk
dance, beginning, 6 to 7 p.m.,
intermediate, 7 to 8 p.m., ad
vanced, 8 to 9 p.m., I\gondays.
Sept. 13 to Nov. 1, Memorial
Gym, Berry College, S2O;
Role of the Legal Assistant
— The first in an eight-part
legal assistant prog;am. 7 to
10 p.m., Mondays, St. 13 to
Oct. 4, Trustees Hall, Berry
College, S6O per session or
S4OO for the entire program;
Chisanbop — A course of
instruction in the finger
calculation method, 7 to 9
p.m., Monday and Tuesday,
Sept. 13 and 14, Hoge
Building, Berry College, sl2;
5-A