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V mu Cowtfa Courier
VOLUME XIX.
VRLINGTON.
ITS WONDERFUL P.ROWTH' Clerk
THE MEN RESPwiNOi-
BLE FOR IT.
Story of a Thriving South Geor¬
gia Town Which Has Steadily
Prospered Under the Influence
of Great Natural Advantages
and the Intelligent Efforts of a
Sturdy, Energetic, United and
Public Spirited Citizenship.
In last Sunday’s Macon Tele¬
graph there appeared a very cred¬
itable and lengthy write-up of
Arlington and some of its most
citizens. The article
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ARLINGTON HIGH SCHOOL.
is written bypJVIr. aliu John E. Gibson,
the clever hustling represent¬
ative of the Telegraph, who was
here some time ago in the inter¬
est of his paper. The Courier
reproduces the article this week,
and it is as follows:
The record of the growth and
development of a favored section
of country as a result of the care
and effort of an industrious and
progressive people always excites
the interest of the people of that
class. The history of Georgia
within the past ten years is in
a measure unique in that the re¬
markable inducement to industrial
effort along certain lines in some
sections has caused a widely vary¬
ing degree of change in the popu¬
lation of some counties.
Most of thej^junties which show
such a remarkable increase of pop¬
ulation in tho last ten years were
at tho beginning of even that pe¬
riod, to say nothing of several de¬
cades ago, very thinly populated
by reason to a great extent of two
facts, namely: First, that the
early settlers did not appreciate
the value of lands having an ex-
clusive t pine growth; and, second,
after their value was recognized
the facilities for industrial devel¬
opment and traffic afforded by
railroad was lacking.
This article proposes to treat iu
a general way of the county of
Calhoun but primarily of the
town of Arlington, The two
facts mentioned above, the lack of
appreciation of the value of lands
by early settlers and the facilities
for development and trade afford-
ARLINGTON, GA., FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 1901.
by railroads, have never at any
time affected the subject of this
sketch to make any sudden or
startling change in the popula¬
tion ; for the value of the rich,
loamy soil was so fully recognized
at an early date that the eounty,
though a small one, showed by
the census of 1860, the first taken
after the county in 1854, a popu¬
lation of 4,918. The increase
from that date to this has been a
steady, healthy growth of a desir¬
able kind. The census of 1870
showed the county to have a pop-
ulation of 5,508. The year of 1872
marked the beginning of a new era
of prosperity, for in that year the
county was given a closer and
more direct communication with
the outside world by the construc¬
tion of a railroad from Albany
across the southern part of Cal¬
houn county to a point in the
woods in the extreme southwest
corner of this county, since mark¬
ed by the l flourishing town of Ar¬
lington. The census of 1880 gave
the county a population of 7,024,
and the census of 1890 gave 8,438
to the county and 417 to the town
of Arlington.
From time to time the branch
of the Central of Georgia railroad
from Albany was extended until
at present the terminus of that
branch is Sellersville, Ala., some
miles below Dothan, the junction
of this line of the Central with
the Alabama Midland line of the
Plant System from Thomasville to
Montgomery, In 1897 the Geor-
gia Pine railroad from Arlington
to Bainbridge was constructed.
The Georgia Pine road opened a
magnificently timbered section of
country which added so materially
to Arlington’s trade that the pop¬
ulation last year, according to
the United States census for that
year, was 755, and that of the
county-was 9,274. This growth of
Arlington is the more remarkable
on account of the fact that at
three different times nearly the
entire business portion of the
place has been destroyed hy fire.
After the last fire, however, which
wa3 in 1898, and which destroyed
twenty stores and left only three
standing, the town was rebuilt
with a very substantial and pre¬
sentable class of brick structures,
so that now' there are very few
business houses built of wood.
The location of Arlington is
very desirable, not only on ac¬
count of its splendid railroad ad¬
vantages, but also on account of
its natural position. It is on a
slight eminence of just sufficient
height to afford good drainage
and sloping gently to the Chatta¬
hoochee river on the west and to a
large tributary of the Flint river
on the east. The town is beauti¬
fully laid, the streets are well
shaded and well kept, and a num¬
ber of pretty residences are to be
seen on the principal streets. The
town is w'ell lighted with electric¬
ity, is in close touch with the out¬
side world by means of a well
kept local and. long-distance tele¬
phone system, and it has in a cen¬
tral location an artesian well for
the use of the public. It is worthy
of note here that there are few
places in the county where a
strong natural flow of artesian
water of the finest quality can be
obtained.
The municipal affairs of Arling¬
ton are well guarded by an able
and conscientious set of officers,
as follows: Mayor, Hon. W. D.
Sheffield; councilmen, Messrs. W.
E. Clements, W. E. Bostwick,
Robert Riley, Z. L. Henley, J. B.
Lofton; clerk and treasurer, R. J.
Parramore; marshal, C. H. Parra¬
more; deputy marshal, C. A. Rob¬
erts.
These gentlemen are all young,
energetic, resourceful and enter¬
prising, and nothing wffiich tends
to the upbuilding of the town lan¬
guishes for lack of their support.
The honorable mayor is not on¬
ly equipped with those qualities
of vigilance, enterprise and execu¬
tive skill which should character¬
ize the executive officer of a grow¬
ing and progressive town, but he
is as w r ell a lawyer of legal and lit¬
erary .’earning v r bo wields a force¬
ful influence at the bar. lie re¬
ceived his literary training at Em¬
ory college and Mercer University
and studied law at the University
of Georgia. He also holds the
honorable and responsible posi¬
tion of solicitor of the county
court, having been appointed to
the place by Governor Candler
soon after having been admitted
to the bar. He is tho oldest son
of Hon. H. C. Sheffield, judge of
the Pataula circuit, and although
he is as yet quite young in years
as well as in the practice of his
profession he already shows in a
marked degree some ef the char¬
acteristics which have distinguish¬
ed the successful career of his
father.
Mr. Clements has shown by his
fitness for the position by the man¬
ner in which he has filled various
positions of responsibility which
require business capacity as well
as integrity. He holds the re-
sponcible position of tax collector
of the county which he fills effi¬
ciently and acceptibly, and he also
holds an important position with
Mr. J. S. Cowart.
Councilman W. E. Bostwick is
a gentleman of attractive person¬
ality who possesses business ca¬
pacity commensurate only with
his modesty. Ho is a stock-holder
and director in the Bank of Ar¬
lington and has various other in¬
terests which yield a good divi-
dead, but you would be scarcely
apt to learn these facts from the
gentleman himself. He has been
successfully engaged for* several
years in buying cotton. Any town
always has a rise for such citizens.
Mr. Riley is bookkeeper for the
Arlington Oil and Fertilizer Com¬
pany one of the Best paying and
most commendable enterprises of
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J. S. COWART.
General Merchandise, Lumber and Naval
Stores.
this section of the state. The
plant was established in 1895. It
runs about half of tho year and in
one season converts into oil, meal
and hulls about 8,000 tons of cot¬
ton seed. This amount of seed
usually yields about 120,000 gal¬
lons of oil, about 21,000 sacks of
meal and about 270,000 pounds of
hulls. A considerable portion of
the oil is shipped to Macon to the
McCaw Manufacturing Company
to be refined for export. As much
as GOO tons of meal have been sold
by this company to one customer
in one season, The capital stock
of the company is $80,000 and it
furnishes employment to a consid¬
erable number of operatives. The
position of bookkeeper in this bus¬
iness is by no means an unimpor¬
tant one and Mr. Riley fills it
most efficiently.
Councilman Z. L. Henley has a
thoroughly first-class and up-to-
date livery, feed and sale stable.
Having bought out the livery bus¬
iness formerly owned by G. L.
Collins he now runs an independ¬
ent business of his own, and he
extends a cordial invitation to all
his ft rmer friends and patrons to
remember him in the future with
that liberal patronage and consid¬
eration which they extended to
him while in the business at an¬
other stand, and in return he as-
sures them of service that will
satisfy the most exacting. Mr.
Henly is a successful young busi¬
ness man, and he bestows the same
care and thought upon the affairs
of the town that he gives to his
own business interests.
Mr. J. B. Lofton has won the
reputation of making a success of
whatever he touches, having been
in the town since 1888 and pros¬
pered every day since he cast his
lot with the destiny of the place.
Mr. Lofton is manager of the “Ar¬
lington Bargain House,” which
carries an $8,000 to $10,000 stock
of general merchandise, making a
specialty of buggies, wagons and
furniture. This firm is fully
abreast of the times in the style
and quality of its goods, every
man in every department is wide¬
awake and has an eye to business.
The result is a continual outgo of
goods and a constant influx of
new ones. This enterprising firm
also does an undertaking business
and is prepared to furnish any¬
thing in that line. Mr. Lofton is
a farmer as well as a business
NUMBER 14.
man. To wlmt degree ho succeeds
in that line of endeavor a few fig¬
ures will give an indication. He
has a five-horse farm one and a
half miles from town. Last year
he made on sixteen acres of land
seventeen bales of cotton which
averaged 600 pounds to the bale.
He planted for a bale to the acre
with the above result. This cot¬
ton was of the improved Peterkin
variety and ho sold the seed from
seventeen bales, 400 bushels, for
50 cents per bushel; bo that the
money from the cotton and the
seed produced on sixteen acres
amounted to about $1,000. These
figures are sufficient evidence of
Mr. Lofton’s skill as a farmer,
and they furnish equally as con¬
clusive proof of the fertility of the
soil and its adaptability to the
growth of cotton. Mr. Lofton
(jays that his land will grow fully
as well as cotton anything com¬
monly raised in this section.
Messrs. R. J. Parramore, C. H.
Parramoro and C. A. Roberts,
clerk and treasurer, marshal and
deputy marshal, respectively, are
gentlemen of integrity and high
purpose and fill their respective
places with credit to themselves
and to the town. Each is a use¬
ful citizen and enjoys the confi¬
dence and respect of his fellow
citizens.
An object of interest and pride
to every loyal citizen of Arlington
is the graded school. This condi¬
tion is necessary to the beginning
of a successful public school. In
the next place, the school has a
board of trustees composed of
gentlemen each one of whom is a
progressive, public spirited man
of business capacity who fully re¬
alizes the need of educating the
youths upon whoso shoulders is to
rest the duties of citizenship in
the coming years. The members
of the board are Messrs. J. S.
Cowart, G. L. Collins, H. M. Cal¬
houn, G. W. Riley, J. M. Johnson
and G. W. Harrison. The board
made a wise choice in securing the
services of Prof. C. L. Anderson
as principal of the school. Ho is
by nature and training a gentle¬
man of the highest type. His
mental capacity is of a high order
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G. L. COLLINS.
General Merchandise and Lumber.
and ho has the necessary equip¬
ment of thorough collegiate train¬
ing, having been graduated from
Emory college with the degree of
A. B. in 1898. His college course
was distinguished by close appli¬
cation to duty and polished, gen¬
tlemanly conduct, which bore the
natural fruitage of thorough schol¬
arship, numerous honors, and a
high place in the estimation of
the college authorities and his fel¬
low-students. Since the comple¬
tion of his college course he has
been engaged in teaching and his
career in that work has been a
successful one. His last teaching
before coming to Arlington was