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VOLUME 56
Non Real Estate
Farm Debts Hit
All Time Record
Non-real estate farm debts
owed by farmers in the United
States reached a record high
cf $27.0 billion on January 1,
according to R. Frank Mar
shall, general manager of
Mutual Production Credit As
sociation.
Non-real estate farm debt
accounts for nearly half of all
debts owed by farmers accord
ing to figures released by the
Farm Credit Administration in
Washington. On January 1,
1970, farmers’ total debts
amounted to $55.4 billion, an
increase of $3.4 billion over a
year earlier.
Mr. Marshall said non-real
estate farm debt is held by
institutional lenders (Produc
tion Credit Associations, com
mercial banks and Farmers
Home Administration) and by
merchants, dealers and indi
viduals.
On January 1, 1970, the Mu
tual PCA was serving farmers,
growers and ranchers with 60
percent of the total non-real
estate farm debt held by in
stitutional lenders in its ter
ritory of operations which is
comprised of Laurens, Johnson,
Treutlen, Telfair, Bleckley &
Dodge counties. The associa
tion currently has $13,445,968
outstanding to 699 members.
Production Credit Assobia
tions in the Third Farm Credit
District which is composed of
the Carolinas, Georgia and
Florida held 58.3 per cent of
the total non-real estate farm
debt held by institutional lend
ers on January 1, 1970, an
increase of 3.7 percent over a
year earlier, Mr. Marshall
stated.
There are 60 Production
Credit Associations in the Third
Farm Credit District with 185
complete service offices which
are provided leadership, super
vision and agricultural loan
funds by the Federal Inter
mediate Credit Bank of Colum
bia, South Carolina.
The 60 Production Credit
Associations are currently ser
ving over 41,000 farmers,
growers, and ranchers with
$593.8 million of operating and
capital investment credit on an
intermediate-term basis, Mr.
Marshall concluded.
Wheeler County
Takes Two From
Telfair Monday
The Wheeler County Junior
High Basketball teams defeated
Telfair in a double header Mon
day afternoon in Telfair County.
The girls game was a close
one from start to finish. The
Wheeler Junior High Girls team
managed to get one point ahead
the last two minutes of the
game, and they held the opposing
team to the end of the game.
The final score was 14-13 in
favor of Wheeler.
The boys had to fight to the
end to maintain a victory' over
Telfair. The score was tied
with three minutes in the fourth
quarter remaining and the
Wheeler Boys fired ahead to
an eight point victory. The lead
ing scorers for Wheeler Boys
were: Marion Alston—l7
points, Phil Clark—l 6 points.
The final score was 45-37 in
favor of Wheeler.
Coaching girls team is Joy
Cox and coaching boys is Comer
Moon.
Miss Wright
Named To
Dean’s List
Miss Patricia Ann Wright
has been named to the Dean’s
List for the Fall Quarter at
the University of Georgia, ac
cording to Dean H. Boyd Mc-
Whorter.
Miss Wright is a 1970 grad
uate of Wheeler County High
School where she was named
to Who’s Who Among American
High Schools, Salutatorian, Star
Student and Semi-finalist in
National Scholarship Awards.
She is the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. J. C. Wright.
Wheeler County Eagle
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Animal Talk
Whazzit? That’s what grown-ups ask when
they see animals peering through the
windows of the Athens Regional Library.
But children have a mysterious way of
knowing just what this and the other
friendly creatures are even though they
Treutlen County Woman Shot
And Killed In Robbery Attempt
The Macon Telegraph
A well-known woman country
store operator was shot and
killed Tuesday in a robbery
attempt, triggering a wide
search for possibly two men,
Treutlen Count}' Sheriff Lewis
Sheriff Johnson
Re Appointed To
State Safety Board
Governor Jimmy Carter re
appointed Wheeler Count}'
Sheriff Maurice Johnson to the
State Board of the Department
of Public Safety, Tuesday, Jan.
12. Sheriff Johnson had com
pleted a four year term to the
appointed position.
Immediately following the In
auguration, the Governor swore
in State officials and members
of the Department of Public
Safety Board.
A meeting was held and the
board confirmedthe Governor’s
appointment of Ray Pope as
Director of Public Safety.
Sheriff Howard Austin of Bar
tow County succeeded Sheriff
Virgil Bledsoe of Heard County.
The seven member board is
composed of the Governor, At
torney General, Adjutant Gen
eral, Comptroller General, the
Director of the State Highway
Department and two Sheriff’s
in the state.
WHAT IS IT?
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What is it? Well, it’s a head flip by a couple of young vaca
tioners during a warm week-end at Pensacola Beach, on North
west Florida’s Miracle Strip. Just as they flipped, the photo
grapher snapped the picture.
ALAMO, WHEELER COUNTY, GEORGIA 30411 - BOX 385
C. Jolins on reported.
Johnson and Georgia Bureau
of Investigation Agent Henry
Walden of Dublin, are spear
heading the investigation.
Walden identified the woman
as a widow, Mrs. J. B. Thigpen,
52, a well-known store operator
in the community of Orriana
in Treutlen County about eight
miles north of Soperton.
She was shot once in the
head, apparently with a pistol,
Sheriff Johnson said.
Indications are two men were
involved in the robbery
murder, according to Sheriff
Johnson, although he said “we
don’t know for sure what we’re
looking for.”
Johnson said he did not know
whether white men or Negroes
are involved.
Mrs. Thigpen was shot about
9 a.m. or 10 a.m. Tuesday and
her body was discovered by a
customer about a half-hour
later, the sheriff said.
In addition to the GBI and
Miss Lora Laine
Retires From
Extension Service
Miss Lora Laine, a native of
Twiggs County, has retired
from the extension service staff
of the University of Georgia.
Formerly, she taught in Ash
burn, Sylvester and Cochran.
She served with the extension
service in Telfair, Wheeler and
Jeff Davis counties.
don’t fit common molds. The animal fig
ures are from the imagination of Wayne
Bates, a University of Georgia sculptor,
who fashioned the far-out critters as a
graduate thesis project and then donated
them to the regional library.
the Treutlen County Sheriff’s
office, authorities are joining
in the investigation from nearby
I^aurens County and the cities
of Dublin and Soperton.
Dr. Larry B. Howard, direc
tor of the State Crime Labora
tory, was scheduled to come
to Soperton to conduct an au
topsy.
Treutlen County coroner Jack
Pournell said an inquest would
be held, pending the autopsy,
but no date has been set.
Services for Mrs. Thigpen
will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday
(today) in Rockledge Methodist
with burial in Thigpen Ceme
tery in Laurens County.
Among her survivors are a
daughter, Mrs. Bobby Hussey
of Adrian; and four sisters,
Mrs. Bess L. Grimes of Macon,
Mrs. Evelyn Graham and Mrs.
Norma Harris, both of Thomas
ville, and Mrs. Pat Bracewell
of Milledgeville.
Sammons Funeral Home of
Soperton is in charge.
Wheeler County
Jr. High Boys
Defeat Jeff Davis
The Wheeler County Junior
High boys defeated the un
defeated Jeff Davis Yellow
Jackets here Monday. The game
was close from start to finish.
- With eight seconds left in the
ballgame the Jackets led 44-42.
Phil Clark made a fantastic
long shot for Wheeler and knot
ted the score 44-44. The game
went into a three minute over
time and the “Bullpups ” were
victorious with a score of 52-
48. Leading scorers for the
"Bullpups” were: Phil Clark
-25 points, Marion Alston and
Charlie Mackey with nine each.
Watch Dog Guards
Flag Pole At
State Patrol Station
A wire hair Terrier has taken
up at the Georgia State Patrol
Station in Helena, and is known
there as the “Flag Pole Dog,”
as he will not leave the flag
pole and does not want any to
bother it.
The dog has been there since
before Christmas and is being
fed by the employees. If any
one knows who this dog belongs
to, please contact the Patrol
Station.
FRIDAY, JAN. 15, 1971
Development Os Rural Dreas Vital
To Ration, Talmadge Urges Dction
Calling rural development
“an idea whose time lias come, ”
U. S. Sen. Herman E. Talmadge
urged the new Congress to con
tinue to push for revitalization
of the nation’s countryside and
small towns.
“Rural renewal is a prime
weapon against urban decay,”
he declared. ‘‘Massive social
Provisions Os Feed
Grain Set-Aside
Program Are Listed
“The most important aspect
of the 1971 Feed Grain Set-
Aside program is that it pro
vides farmers much more free
dom than previous programs
have in deciding the kind and
amount of grains and other
crops they want to produce
on their farms. At the same
time, it is designed to put a
greater reliance on the market
place as the principal source
of farm income while assuring
equitable returns to growers
and sufficient feed grain pro
duction for domestic and ex
port needs,” according to Gene
Harris, Chairman of the
Wheeler Agricultural Stabili
zation and Conservation (ASC)
Committee.
“For example, the feedgrain
iase for a farm will be used
only to determine acreage set
aside and price-support pay
ment. The feed grain base does
not restrict a producer to a
set number of acres of feed
grains nor does it indicate to
him what crop or crops he
must or should plant,” Mr.
Harris said.
The general outline of the
new feed grain program has
already been announced, he
said, and full information on
all provisions are expected be
fore March 1, when program
signup begins.
“Our County Committee and
County ASCS Office—will make
every effort to see that all
farmers are fully informed.
Farmer meetings are planned;
newsletters and other material
will be mailed to producers;
and additional press releases
will be issued,” Mr. Harris
said.
The ASC Committee Chair
man provided this summary of
the 1971 Feed Grain Set-Aside
Program provisions to date:
Signup period will be March 1
through April 9 at County ASCS
Offices. The program is volun
tary and open to producers
with farms having corn or feed
grain bases. Barley will not
be included in the 1971 program.
Farm feed grain bases will
remain substantially the same
as for 1970.
A producer may sign up one
or more farms in which he has
an interest and not sign up
others, as he chooses.
When a producer signs up,
he agrees to set aside an acre
age to be put in conserving
uses. He also agrees to main
tain the farm’s conserving base.
The set-aside precentage has
been tentatively set at 20 per
cent for planning purposes by
the U. S. Department of Agri
culture, with actual set-aside
percentage to be announced be
fore signup begins.
By participating in the pro
gram, a producer becomes eli
gible for price support payment
on one half his feed grain base
and price support loan on all
his feed grain production.
It is not necessary that he
produce feed grain in order to
earn a payment. However, if
less than 45 percent of his feed
grain base is planted to feed
grains, his farm’s 1972 base
will be reduced by the amount
of the under planting up to 20
percent of the base. If he plants
no feed grains or authorized
substitute crops for three
successive years, the feedgrain
base could be removed.
Mr. Harris said these pro
visions will be publicized
through newsletters, meetings,
and letters to producers, as
well as through further news
releases to the press.
and economic problems that
now plague our cities can best
be met where they first begin—
in rural areas and in the small
town.”
The Georgia senator’s re
marks were made in the prin
cipal address at the dedication
cf Eatonton’s new sl.l-million
water and sewage treatment
plants. The facilities were fi
nanced through a Department
of Housing and Urban develop
ment loan of $900,000, a HUD
grant of $170,000, and a local
bond issue of $120,000.
“This is an excellent ex
ample of federal and local co
operation in community eco
nomic development,’’Sen. Tal
madge said. “These new facil
ities will be a tremendous asset
to the future growth and prog
ress of Eatonton.”
Referring to action of the
last Congress, Talmadge said
Congressional approval of his
rural development amendment
to the farm bill was a major
breakthrough.
“The Talmadge amendment
committed the government to a
postive policy of rural develop
ment,” he declared. “This was
a strong indication of mounting
national concern about this
problem and recognition of the
fact that what we now regard
as the urban crisis grew out
of a rural crisis of long stand
ing.
“The fact is, we are not
going to make much headway
toward alleviating city prob
lems until we devote an equal
amount of effort and resources
to country problems.
The rural development legis
lation, which requires a con
certed federal effort to achieve
a better population and
economic balance between
General To Rest
In Old Gin Bldg.
The General, the famous Civil
War locomotive captured by
Union soldiers, will be housed
in an old cotton gin building
at Kennesaw when it is returned
to Georgia, probably next
spring.
Plans to renovate the building
were announced by a spokesman
for the Big Shanty Historical
Society. Big Shanty was the
name of Kennesaw during the
Civil War.
The City of Chattanooga lost
a long court battle to retain
she General which had been
on display therefor many years.
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ALL AMERICA CAPTAINS - Grid stars Jim Plunkett of
Stanford, and Rock Perdoni left, of Georgia Tech receive
co-captain certificates from Kodak vice-president Wylie
Robson during a weekend of rest and recreation for the
Kodak AlLAmerica team in Miami Beach. Plunkett and
Perdoni were elected by secret ballot among the 24
members of the team, selected annually by the American
Football Coaches Association.
SINGLE COPY 5d
urban and rural America, was
“a great gain,” Sen. Talmadge
said, adding that he hoped the
new Congress “will keep the
move going.”
“We cannot stop here,” he
asserted. ‘’The Congress must
continue to push for better
schools, more health and hos
pital facilities, improved water
and sewer systems, increased
industrial development and
more jobs for every possible
action that will stop the drain
of human resources from the
countryside.
“We must reverse the mass
migration to already-over
crowded cities that find it vir
tually impossible to cope with
poverty, crime, pollution, con
gestion, and spiraling welfare
New Fire Weather
Service Available
To Landowners
Forestry interests, through
out Georgia, are the recipients
of a new fire weather service,
according to a joint announce
ment of Paul H. Hagerty, Super
visor, Forestry Meteorologist,
National Weather Service, and
Ray Shirley, Director, Georgia
Forestry Commission, both of
Macon.
Hagerty said the new service
is in the form of an Air Pol
lution Potential Advisory.
Hagerty emphasized that the
advisory, in no way, tells the
landowner to burn or not to
bum. Rather, it is a matter
of information for the land
owner to use, along with local
existing conditions, in deter
mining whether he will bum
or not, Hagerty pointed out.
Shirley said the purpose of
the advisory is to enable those
landowners who are engaged
in prescribed and control burn
ing of their woodlands, to ex
ercise judgement as to the im
pact of their activities on the
atmosphere in relation to the
air pollution problem.
An open letter, regarding the
Air Pollution Potential
Advisory, has been sent to all
forestry interests in Georgia.
The Forestry Commission will
provide them this service at
their request.
Shirley cited the addition of
the advisory service as giving
Georgia landowners the most
complete fire weather data
available.
NUMBER 41
costs.
“This is the challenge of
the 1970’5. For If we do not
act now, I shudder to think
of the consequence by the time
the next decade arrives,” he
asserted.
Grant Os M 3,740
Announced For
Heart Os Ga.
Senators Herman E. Tal
madge and Richard B. Russell
and Representative W. S. (Bill)
Stuckey, Jr., members of Con
gress from this area in Wash
ington, D. C., announced Wed.
that the Economic Development
Administration has approved a
grant of $43,740 to help continue
planning for economic growth
in nine counties of Central
Georgia.
Bleckley, Dodge, Telfair and
Wilcox are the Counties of the
Bth District which are included
in the EDA designated re
development areas.
The Heart of Georgia Plan
ning and Development Commis
sion, in Eastman, is the appli
cant for the funds which will
be used to help carry out the
planning functions of the Heart
of Georgia Economic Develop
ment District.
Heart of Georgia is providing
$18,760 to make a total of
$62,500 total operating cost for
the year. This funding will help
to further the growth of the
Floriculture industry in our
area and to create more jobs.
Barbecue Supper
At Qcmulgee
Academy Sat.
Ocmulgee Academy in Lum
ber City, will sponsor a bar
be-cue supper Saturday, Jan
uary 16, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Plates will be $1.50 each.
All proceeds will go to the
school.
New Law Benefits
Servicemen And
Wives And Children
President Nixon has signed
into law new education benefits
for wives and children of pris
oners of war, and for service
men who have served 181 days
of active duty rather than two
years as was previously re
quired.
The new benefits became es -
fective December 24, 1970, ac
cording to A. W. Tate, Director
of the Atlanta Veterans Admin
istration Regional Office.
The reduction in the active
duty requirement to 181 days
also applies to the eligibility
of servicemen for GI loan guar
antee benefits, Mr. Tate said.
This broadened eligibility
makes it possible for men and
women to use their GI Bill
benefits sooner while still in
military service, Mr. Tate ex
plained.
Under the new law, the wives
and children of those members
of the Armed Forces on active
duty who have been listed for
more than 90 days as missing
in action, captured, or “forci
bly detained or interned in the
line of duty by a foreign govern
ment or power,” are eligible
for educational benefits.
For apprenticeship and on
the-job training courses under
the GI Bill, servicemen are
required to take 120 hours of
training per month to receive
full training allowance, and a
lesser number of hours result
in a proportionate reduction
in the allowance.
Full-time training, Mr. Tate
explained, contemplates a work
week erf at least 30 hours unless
collective barganing has estab
lished a lesser standard.