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Che Summerville News
The Official Legal Organ of Chattooga County
WINSTON E. ESPY
PUBLISHER
TOMMY TOLES
EDITOR
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Address All Mail to: THE SUMMERVILLE NEWS, P. O. Box 310, Summerville, Ga. 30747
Editorials
Schooltime Caution
The new school year will begin Friday
for the Chattooga County and Trion City
schools. Teachers have been involved in
pre-planning since Monday so their *‘work
year'' has already begun.
Traffic is apt to be quite heavy
throughout most of the county Friday,
especially in the immediate vicinity of in
dividual schools. Weather permitting, a lot
of youngsters will be walking to classes.
Others will drive to Chattooga High or
Trion High, some perhaps in ‘‘new”
vehicles.
School buses will be plying the coun
ty's roads, streets and highways early Fri
day morning and again that afternoon,
beginning nine months of rounds five days
a week.
Motorists should exercise extreme cau
tion, especially when they are near one of
the local schools. Youngsters sometimes
A Tough Decision
Summerville's City Council faces more
than the usual problems in setting this
year's tax rate.
Mayor Sewell Cash has a valid point
when he says a city without property
taxes would be another incentive for in
dustry and business to locate within the
city limits. He wants to continue reducing
the millage each year until it is eventually
replaced with service fees, such as a sanita
tion charge. He feels everyone should
share the cost of government. 3
Councilman Ronnie Pilcher, on the
other hand, also has a logical argument
when he says residents on fixed incomes,
especially the elderly, might end up bear
ing a heavier financial burden with service
fees than they have with property taxes.
He also performed a valuable service in
pointing out an oft-overlooked fact —
Farmers Not Alone
It's during the toughest times of a per
son'’s life that he finds out he isn’t alone.
The same thing may be said of communi
ties.
All over the Midwest, farmers are get
ting together to send hay at cost or free
to their drought-striken brethren in the
Southeast. Generally, no level of govern
ment has been effectively involved. It's
been a case of individuals or private
groups banding together to help.
Some Chattooga County -cattlemen
have received hay from folks in Ohio and
Kentucky, already. In one instance, their
only cost was transportation, amounting
to $1.25 a bale. In at least two other cases,
FromOurEarlyFil
L 2
The following are excerpts from the Aug. 21, 1947 edition of The Summer
ville News.
* * *
SILVER HILL LIQUOR STILL DESTROYED BY OFFICERS ON FRI
DAY — A liquor still of an approximately 100-gallon capacity was destroyed
by county officers Friday morning in the Silver Hill area, west of Summerville.
The still, which was not in operation at the time of discovery, but had been
used shortly before, was steam-powered. It was of the *‘groundhog™ type. Ap
proximately 300 gallons of beer was found and this was also destroyed, accor
ding to officials.
* * *
SPANISH WAR VETS AWARDED PENSION HIKE — Georgia veterans
of the Spanish-American-War will receive a 20 percent increase in their federal
pensions effective Sept. 1. Instead of $75 as fore, they will receive S9O a month
according to word received by Director C. Arthur Cheatham of the state depart
ment of Veterans Service. The federal bill responsible for the increase, also raised
the pension of Civil War veterans — on the Union side. Confederate veterans
still receive only $75 per month because it is paid by the state. There are, in
cidentally, only six Confederate veterans still alive in Georgia, all of them are
100 years old or older. Due to the-fact that many Confederates married younger
women, however, there are still 862 widows of veterans of the Confederacy
receiving pensions of SSO a month from the state.
DAVID T. ESPY, JR.
GENERAL MANAGER
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Within County ... L e
Out-of-County Rates
Available On Request.
Published Evela Thursday By
ESPY PUBLISHING CO,, INC.
Second Class Postage Paid
At Summerville, Ga. 30747
PUBLICATION NO. SECD 525560
tend to become excited about the first day
of school and lose sight of safety precau
tions. Motorists must watch out for them
— not the other way round.
Local drivers should also watch for
school buses after having had ‘‘bus-free
roads’ during the summer months. Traf
fic tends to back up behind buses because
they have to make frequent stops and they
generally drive slower than cars and
trucks. Impatience sometimes results,
leading some motorists to take foolish
chances with their own lives and those of
our children.
So on Friday, especially, exercise more
than the usual amount of care while driv
ing. That care should continue throughout
the 1986-87 school term.
The life you save could be someone you
love.
renters do pay taxes in the rent to their
landlords. The landlords, whether
residents or absentee owners, are billed for
the taxes. But they are actually paid by
the renters.
Both sides have good arguments on
their sides. Perhaps that's why the Coun
cil has had such a difficult time with the
taxation issue this year. :
Residents of the city, property owners
and non-property owners, should contact
members of the Council to express their
views on this vital matter. They shouldn't
wait until a decision is made and then com
plain about it when faced with tax bills,
fees, or a combination of both.
The ultimate decision should be in the
best interests of the city, its residents and
its future.
the transportation and hay both were free.
Each farmer got about 32 bales of hay
during the first shipment and each receiv
ed around 40 bales the second time the hay
arrived in Chattooga. A like amount was
distributed from a third load.
True, 30 or 40 bales will feed 100 head
of cattle for only about a day.
But it did help. And at least two more
tractor-trailer loads may be on the way to
Chattooga County this weekend.
Farmers in Chattooga County and
other parts of the Southeast know they
aren't alone and forgotten. Somebody
cares and something is being done about
their plight.
WILLIAM T. ESPY
ADVERTISING MANAGER
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“N\\\ AN VICTORY GARDEN
Viewpoint
By Tommy Toles, Editor
The Wine Of Life
Just ramblin’ around:
Folks in Chattooga County continue to
treat me like the predigal son, welcoming
me to various events and expressing good
wishes for my efforts to ““come home.”
A recent visitor was a boyhood friend
I hadn't seen in about 20 years. He walk
ed into The News office with a grin on his
face, accompanied by a youngster.
Naturally, my mind went blank because 1
knew I knew him.
He knew right away that I didn’t
remember his name. He jogged my
memory by saying, *You used to stay with
me some at Chelsea.”” My memory reced
ed underneath a black, impenetrable
surface.
I tried to fake it, but my embarrass
ment had to be evident when he introduc
ed himself as Lewis Railey.
Lewis and I attended Menlo School for
10 years before it was consolidated in 1961
and were best friends. While he graduated
two years later from Chattooga County
High, I graduated from Gaylesville, Ala.
High. We lost touch until a couple of years
later when he returned from a tour of du
ty in Vietnam.
We had lunch — hamburger steaks
smothered with onions as I recall — at the
old Rome bus station across from the
newspaper office and Lewis left to visit the
Georgia Unemployment Office in search of
a job.
I didn't see him again until he walked
into The News office. He and his wife and
children reside on Reynolds Road near
On The Funny Side (
By Gary Solomon /
Up And At ‘Em
The two ugliest words in the English
language are ‘‘school lunch.” I'll say more
about that in a future column.
The three foulest words are ‘‘back to
school.” But the six-word phrase that tops
both of those is, **‘Wake up, it's time for
school.”
People often ask how I came by my
rise-and-shine phobia (fear of the hours
before noon). I tell them it was instilled in
me by heartless parents who insisted I at
tend school every day unless I was at
death’s door.
Every morning at 6:30, in came dad to
start our daily ritual. First he turned on
the overhead light, which in its former life
was a World War 11 searchlight over Lon
don. Even lying face down with my eyes
closed, I couldn't escape it.
When that drew no response — or I
should say no positive response — he
would waltz over (obviously a morning per
son), shake me on the shoulder several
times and ask, ““You asleep?”’
The Shaking of the Shoulder was
followed by The Chant of Cheer. For
reasons unkown, dad had a love affair go
ing with the phgase, “Up and at 'em.”
Maybe he earned royalties off it, I don’t
know, but he repeated it with gusto a hun
dred times every morning. I always
thought he could have made a nice second
income at the airport as a Hari Krishna.
I know I'd have donated a bundle to get
.
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Lyerly and attend Pennville church of
Christ.
As soon as I can get a couple of
weekend projects under way, I hope to
visit with Lewis and maybe we can catch
up on everything that's happened in the
last 20 years, that is, if I can remember it.
Quite a few old schoolmates (actually,
none of the ladies is “‘old”) has called or
come by since my return to Chattooga
County and I appreciate their kind words
of encouragement. The older one gets. the
more that friendship is appreciated and
valued.
One sage has accurately described
friendship as the wine of life.
A couple of weeks ago, I lost a good
friend when Rome attorney Everett
Anderson died of an apparent heart at
tack. He was known by quite a few people
in Chattooga County because of his in
volvement in the Democratic party and, of
course, in local court activities.
He was a trusted advisor and friend
and I was honored to be asked to be a
pallbearer at his funeral service by his
widow, Judy.
Everett was a gentle and talented man
with a flair for reconciliation. He was a
superb artist and he had a songwriting
knack.
He was ony 38. He'll be missed by
many of us who had the privilege of know
ing him and his father, the late George
Anderson, who was Floyd County at
torney for many years.
ride of him.
When The Chant proved unsuccessful,
dad played his trump card. After first
isolating himself in a sound-proof booth,
he would open the bedroom door by
remote control and let the strains of my
brother desecrating our piano worm their
way in. With six years of lessons behind
the boy, he was still banging out *‘Mary
Had a Little Lamb™ with one finger. If
that doesn't make your blood rurn cold,
nothing will.
It wasn't easy admitting defeat, but
that's better than being assaulted by
bungled Beethoven. I sluggishly rolled out
of the sack and felt my way into the kit
chen for breakfast.
Needless to say, marrying and leaving
home was the happiest day of my life. Ah,
to sleep again at will! Mom and dad took
it surprisingly well, I thought. The first
morning with my new bride, I learned why.
At 5 a.m. | was startled awake by the
whir of a blow dryer. There sat my wife
reading the newspaper and brushing her
hair.
“What are you doing?" I screamed.
“Can’'t you see it's still dark outside?”
“Oh, didn't your folks tell you?'" she
replied cheerily. *‘l've always been a mor
ning person. You know, up and at 'em, ear
ly bird gets the worm, and all that.”
Kids, get up and go to school. You'll
need the practice later.
Guest Column
By ROBERT H. ROWLAND
Tax Freedom Day
Those of us who believe in individual freedom have been
trying for years to educate our fellow citizens on the
destructive effects of excessive rates of taxation.
Finally, it appears, something may be done about our
chaotic and economically crippling income tax system. As
this is written we are informed a tax reform bill has been
approved by the Senate Finance Committee and now goes
to the Senate for approval.
As this is being debated in Congress and through the
media, we need to keep our minds on the need for personal
income tax reduction as taxes have continued to grow over
the years.
One organization that has served the public well in
helping to keep us informed on fiscal matters is the Tax
Foundation, Inc. of Washington, D. C. One of its most im
portant educational tools is “Tax Freedom Day."”
The Tax Foundation has calculated that the average
American worker this year has worked from New Years
Day until May 1 to earn enough money to pay his share
of taxes at federal, state and local levels. For this reason
May 1 has been dubbed “Tax Freedom Day."”
Looked at another way, what this means is that for four
full months, 120 days out of 365 this year we have work
ed just for government. It is instructive to compare this
year with past years.
Back in 1930, government took the average workers’
earnings only through February 13, just 44 days. Thus,
taxes for the average workers require almost three times
as much of his labor time as was the case a half-century
ago.
To provide another interesting and revealing way to
consider the amount we are taxed in 1986, the Founda
tion also calculated taxes on the basis of an 8-hour work
day. Let's assume you're an average American worker. For
the first two hours and 39 minutes you are working simp
ly to pay your taxes. Of that time, the first one hour and
44 minutes goes for your federal taxes and the remaining
55 minutes for state and local obligations.
Thus, we see that, assuming a work day beginning at
8 a.m., every day you work until 21 minutes before 11 a.m.
just for taxes. At 10:40 a.m. you begin working for yourself
and your family.
It is also interesting to note from the Tax Foundation
calculations that the work time required to earn food,
clothing and shelter is about equal to the time for work
to pay our taxes.
Does it seem reasonable that government should take
as much of our work time as that reqired to earn the basic
necessities of life? Or can it be that taxes have become con
fiscatory and unconscionably high?
There is considerable significance to this simile of the
Tax Foundation. in the study of economics, to know one’s
real wage or real income, it is not uncommon to translate
prices of goods and services into minutes of work
necessary to obtain them.
The Tax Foundation does a valuable service in
calculating this data so we can better visualize the
magnitude of our personal taxes.
(Roy Rowland is executive director of the National
Education Program, Oklahoma City, Okla).
News Clips
A MATTER OF TIME
The difference between a curve and a bulge is years.
— News Detroit
* * *
TRY IT
If you think fascism can rule America try telling your
wife that your first duty is to the State instead of her. —
Louisville Times
* * *
WHY?
Why be logical and reasonable, when it is a great deal
easier and ever so much more fun to be emotional and pre
judiced? — Atlanta Journal
£ 4
SO TRUE
An executive is a man employed to talk to visitors so
employees will have a chance to work. — New York Mirror