Newspaper Page Text
The Camilla Enterprise.
VOLUME XXIV.
TOBACCO MARKET
TO OPEN JULY 28
DATE OF OPENING OF MARKET
IN GEORGIA POSTPONED
ONE WEEK.
The Camilla tobacco market will
open July 28th, with unexcelled facili¬
ties for handling the crop and with
buyers representing all the large com¬
panies as well as many of the inde¬
pendent buyers. The date of the op¬
ening of the markets in South Geor¬
gia was changed this week from July
21st, as first announced, till the 28th.
This action was taken by the United
States Tobacco Association, which
met in Norfolk, Va„ and was due to
the receipt of information that the
crop in the Georgia belt is somewhat
1 late this year and that a later date
for the opening of the market would
best serve the interests of the grow¬
ers in this section.
Arrangements for the opening of
the market have been practically com¬
pleted in Camilla and the earlier date
would have suited the warehousemen
here as well aas the later date. It is a
fact, however, that the crop is some¬
what later than usual and the growers
here will hardly be able to finish cur¬
ing their tobacco before the last week
in July. The crop around Camilla
is fine, some observers have said it
is the finest in the Georgia belt, and
the results of the first curings have
been very satisfactory. With contin¬
ued favorable weather conditions in
which to house and cure the crop, the
prospects are that the growers in this
county will make a record crop, both
as to quantity and quality.
Camilla's neve tobacco warehouse,
the second warehouse to be establish¬
ed at this market, has been completed
and is ready for the opening. The
contractors, Messrs. J. M.
& Sons, of Pelham, put the finishing
touches on the building this week and
it is now ready to be turned over to
the local stock company which financ¬
ed the project. The building is well
lighted and is constructed along the
latest ideas in tobacco warehouse
construction. It is located near
business section of town and
provision has been made for conven¬
ient access to the warehouse by wag¬
on and truck and for the prompt hand¬
ling of tobacco on the floor of
warehouse. The new
which will be known as the
Tobacco Warehouse, will be under the
management of Mr. Dan W.
of Wilson, North Carolina, an
ienced warehouseman who is
tomed to handling tobacco sales
the largest tob&ccp market in the
world and is well known, both as
his ability and as to his integrity
a business man, to old tobacco
in his home state and has
friends in Georgia who have
here recently from the
Mr. Taylor has made a very favorable
impression upon our own people and
he will begin his operations here with
the full confidence and support of
public.
The old warehouse, the
which was operated here last season
by Mr. S. W. Smith, will open again
this season under the same manage¬
ment. Certain improvements are
ing made to this warehouse that will
add to the convenience and
in handling tobacco. This warehouse
handled over a million pounds of
bacco last season and with the excepi
tion of two or three days was not
worked to capacity. Mr. Smith is ex¬
pecting to handle a much larger vol¬
ume this year. Those who sold to¬
bacco in Camilla last year will need
no introduction to Mr. Smith. His
manner in conducting the sales and
the good prices received for the tobac¬
co sold here impressed everyone and
many an old tobacco grower who
knows the advantage to be gained
through the services of an experienc¬
ed tobacco warehouseman will burn
an extra gallon or two of gas in or¬
der to let Bill Smith sell his tobacco.
Mr. Smith is the dean of warehouse¬
men ift Wilson, North Carolina, where
he has been operating a' warehouse
ever since the Wilson market was es¬
tablished. He knows the tobacco
business and he knows how to treat
the growers in order to merit their
confidence and hold their business.
The tobacco growers of Southwest
Georgia are invited to bring their to¬
bacco ,to Camilla with the assurance
that a full set of buyers will bid on
their tobacco and that they will get
a square deal and satisfactory ser-
Hog Sale Will Be
Held Next Tuesday
The regular monthly hog sale will
be held at Camilla on next Tuesday,
July 7th. Those who have hogs
ready for market are urged to bring
them in and sell them through the
sale, which will probably insure them
better prices than they can get oth¬
erwise and will help to keep up the
sales during the dull summer months
when very few hogs are being sold.
Prices are expected to be good at the
July sale.
NINE CONVICTED
OF CONSPIRACY
LARAMORE AND COXWELL GET 1
LONGEST TERMS WITH
HEAVY FINES.
The nine defendants in the con¬
spiracy case which was on trial in
United States court at Albany sev¬
eral days last week were all convict¬
ed by a verdict returned by the jury
at eleven o’clock Friday morning.
Seven of the defendants were con¬
victed on two counts contained in the
indictment, that of conspiracy to bribe
R. L. Hudson, of Camilla, a federal
prohibition agent, and to violate the
federal prohibition law. Two of the
defendants were convicted only on the
first count. Those convicted on two
counts were: Phil C. Coxwell, sher¬
iff of Lee county; Wade Laramore,
wealthy Lee county farmer, who was
charged by the prosecution with being
the head of the conspiracy; Epp and
Fred Moreland, of Terrell county;
Walter Womble and V. E. Slappey,
of Albany, and Roy Salter, of New¬
ton. Those convicted only on the
charge of conspiracy to bribe the pro¬
hibition officer were Jack Gordy, of
Richland, a former federal prohibi¬
tion agent, and Bart Moreland, of
Lee county.
The trial of the case began on Mon¬
day morning of last week and the
case was given to the jury Thursday
night about eleven o’clock. A num¬
ber of witnesses were called during
the trial and the government built
up a strong case against the defend¬
ants. R. L. Hudson, of Camilla,
whom it was charged the defendants
had conspired to bribe, was the prin¬
cipal witness for the government.
Hudson told of visits the defendants
made to his home in Camilla and of
money they paid him. He also told
about an understanding that existed
between him and Jack Gordy, who
was also a federal officer, whereby
they would not molest the parties
paying for protection except when
absolutely necessary and in such cas¬
es it was agreed that Hudson would
conduct raids in Gordy’s territory and
Gordy would do likewise in Hudson’s
territory. Other witnesses, federal
officers attached to the prohibition en-
1 forcement unit in Georgia, testified
j that they were concealed in R. L.
j Hudson’s home at the time he was
visited by the defendants and that
they heard the conversations and wit¬
nessed the payments of money. Fred
Dismukes, prohibition director for
the state, told on the stand of giving
Hudson permission to receive the
bribes in order that the guilty parties
might be brought to trial. The money
alleged to have been received by Hud¬
son was introduced as evidences in
the trial.
The defense made a strong effort
to discredit the testimony of Hudson
and the other officers testifying in
reference to the alleged bribes. The
defense charged that the government
agents had not started out with the
intention of involving the defendants
on trial but that it was their purpose
to “frame” Sheriff Tarver of Dough¬
erty county, George White, Deputy
Clerk of United States Court, and
District Attorney F. G. Boatright;
that it was in reality a fight between
elements of the Republican party in
Georgia in which it was sought to
have certain officials removed from
office so that others might be appoint¬
ed to the places.
The most damaging evidence from
the point of view of the defense was
given by Mrs. R. L. Hudson, who was
put on the stand just before the close
of the case. She corroborated the
statements of her husband and the
(Continued on Last Page).
vice from either of the two warehous¬
es which will be in operation here. If
you sell here once you will sell here
again.
CAMILLA, GA„ FRIDAY, JULY 3, 1925.
THREAT TO ENJOIN PAVING NORTHERN
END OF THE DIXIE HIGHWAY IS MADE
Camilla Is Charged With Fostering Movement To Enjoin The
Participation of The County In Street Paving Project At
Pelham. H. L. McDonald Says Pelham Is Ready
To Put Monkey Wrenches In Machinery.
A call meeting of the county com¬
missioners was held in Camilla last
Tuesday morning which was attended
by all members of the board except
Commissioner J. B. Miller, of Bacon
ton and Raiford districts. The meet
was called for the purpose of or
dering an advertisement for bids on
the Pelham street paving which is
being held up at present by a tempor¬
ary injunction secured by citizens of
Baconton and Flint. One of the
points made in the petition for an in¬
junction was that the commissioners
had entered into a contract to ex¬
pend approximately $15,000 in pav¬
ing certain streets of Pelham without
advertising the project as required by
law. Col. E. M. Davis, recently elect¬
ed county attorney, was present at
the meeting and stated to the hoard
that before the advertisement could
be drawn up in legal form a plat
showing the extent of the streets or
roads to be paved would have to be
prepared and specifications drawn up
and these filed in the office of the
board for public inspection. This
work, he said, would have to be done
by an engineer. The board decided
to have these prepared at once so
that the advertisement for bids can
be inserted next week.
The discussion of the injunction
proceedings waxed warm and it deve¬
loped that other injunctions are in
the offing and that the commissioners
are likely to have their fill of this
kind of proceeding, if indeed they
have not already had it, before the
issues involved in the Pelham paving
project are finally disposed of. Plain
talk was indulged in by Commission¬
er E. E. Wilkes in reference to the
origin of the present injunction and
by Mr. H. L. McDonald, of Pelham,
who was invited by Commissioner
Wilkes to come before the board and
state what the sentiment of the peo¬
ple of Pelham is regarding this mat¬
ter. The argument was entirely one¬
sided, there being no one present au¬
thorized to speak for those responsi¬
ble for the injunction against the Pel¬
ham street paving project. Commis¬
sioner Wilkes opened the discussion
with the statement that in Pelham
the general opinion is held that this
injunction was fostered in Camilla
and that the responsibility of taking
the initiative was “wished” onto the
citizens whose names appear on the
petition. He further stated that in
view of the fact that there is at pres¬
ent some disagreement among the
members of the board as to whether
the next paving project should start
at the Dougherty county line and
come south or should begin at the
north end of the present Mitchell
county paving and extend north and
that this might develop into another
lawsuit, he was disinclined to go fur¬
ther with this project until the Pel¬
ham matter is settled. He then call¬
ed Mr. McDonald into the room to
state the views of the people of Pel¬
ham on the matter. Mr. McDonald
stated that so far as he was able to
read the sentiment of the people of
his community it has reached that
point where, if a monkey wrench is
to be thrown into the machinery of
the county to stop the paving pro¬
ject at Pelham, the people of that
place are ready to throw some mon¬
key wrenches into the machinery to
stop operations elsewhere. He inti¬
mated that this might be done to stop
the paving on the north end of the
Dixie Highway unless the commis¬
sioners are allowed to carry out the
project at Pelham. Mr. McDonald
stated that Pelham people have reach¬
ed that point where they are deter¬
mined to fight for their share of coun¬
ty expenditures and that he, person¬
ally, was opposed to further comprom¬
ise in this connection. It was pointed
out by Commissioner Cox that to fol¬
low this line of action might mean
the “cutting off of his nose to spite
his face," to which Mr. McDonald
retorted that he was ready to “cut
it off and let it hang a while.” About
this point Commissioner A. T. Jones
“blowed up” and put an end to the
discussion by “bawling out” all parti¬
cipants for wasting a whole morning
with talk that was not petting the
board anywhere.
As a matter of public information
it may not be out of place for The
Enterprise to state the facts, as far
as we can, in regard to the Pelham in¬
junction case and the position taken
by those bringing the petition.
Before any move was made by the
county to let contracts for paving on
the Dixie Highway in co-operation
with the State Highway Department
through which arrangement the coun¬
ty was to be matched on a 50-50 basis
with funds from the federal govern¬
ment, the commissioners entered into
an agreement to pave as many yards
in the town of Pelham as was paved
in Camilla. The reason for this
agreement, as understood at that
time, was that there was no question
but that federal funds could be se¬
cured to match county funds for the
construction of the highway through
Camilla, but there was serious doubt
as to whether funds could be secured
to match the county for the paving
( through Pelham, due to the fact that
Pelham had over 2500 population, the
limit prescribed by the federal govern¬
ment for participation in road paving
through a municipality. The com¬
missioners recognized that it would
be unfair to Pelham to allow a few
hundred population to operation
against her in this matter, therefore
the agreement was" made that the
county would take care of the whole
cost of the paving through the town
of Pelham, if necessary. Later
through the revival of an old contract
with the State Highway Department,
which was entered into prior to the
taking of the last census, federal
funds were secured for the strip of
paving through Pelham, the same as
for the balance of the project.
The highway paving through Ca¬
milla was done in co-operation with
the city, which had voted bonds and
arranged to do some street paving
before any assurance was received
from the county that the highway was
to be paved. Not a dollar was paid
by the county, the State Highway De¬
partment or the federal government
for paving in Camilla except for the
width of the highway through the
city. The paving on West Broad
street and South Scott street was
paid for entirely out of city bond
funds and by assessments made
against abutting property.
When the contractor reached Pel¬
ham with the highway paving, the
point was raised that inasmuch as
the circle which represents the city
limits of Camilla is two miles across
and the circle which represents the
limits of Pelham is only one and one
half miles across, that the town of
Pelham would be entitled to some¬
thing like a half mile of paving over
and above that done on the Dixie
Highway if the commissioners car¬
ried out the agreement to do as much
paving in Pelham as was done in Ca¬
milla. The commissioners agreed to
carry out the letter of their agree¬
ment and to lay this extra yardage
on such streets of Pelham as might
be designated by the Mayor and Coun¬
cil.
The contention of the citizens who
brought the petition for an injunction
against the county commissioners to
prevent the carrying out of this
agreement, and which view is held
by a great many other citizens of the
county, all of whom do not live in Ca¬
milla and Baconton, is that the town
of Pelham ought not to have taken
advantage of this agreement to se¬
cure a special concession from the
county which has not been made and
will not be made to any other muni¬
cipality in the county The point is
made that the highway paving ex¬
tends entirely through Pelham in
both directions and the fact that the
city limits fixed by her own authori¬
ties do not take in as much of the pav¬
ing as is taken in by some other town
in the county in no wise operates to
her disadvantage and axords her no
excuse tb ask the county to partici¬
pate in a municipal street paving pro¬
ject.
The charge that the recent move to
enjoin the commissioners was foster¬
ed in Camilla is really a little too
broad. The citizens who signed
their names to the petition usually
“foster” their own movements, but it
would not be true to say that they
(Continued on Last Page).
Injunction Hearing
May Be Held Saturday
The hearing on the petition for an
injunction brought by certain citizens
of the county against the county com¬
missioners to restrain them from par¬
ticipating in the street paving project
at Pelham, will likely be held in
Bainbridge, according to County At¬
torney E. M. Davis. The petitioners
are represented by Pope & Bennett,
of Albany and the county is repre¬
sented by Col. E. M. Davis and Col.
J. J. Hill, of Pelham.
ROBTI. COCHRAN
PASSES AWAY
END CAME AT MILLEDGEV1LLE
SATURDAY. FUNERAL HERE
SUNDAY AFTERNOON.
The death of Mr. Robert Toombs
Cochran, long well beloved citizen of
Camilla and Mitchell county, caused
a deep and sincere sorrow here,
among his numbers of friends and re¬
latives. He passed away at noon Sat¬
urday at the sanitarium at Milledge
ville, after an illness of many months.
His wife and nephew, Mr. Atwood
Cochran, were with him when the end
came.
Funeral services were held at the
Baptist church Sunday afternoon at
2 o’clock attended by an unusually
large gathering of relatives and
friends. The services were conducted
by Rev. J. G. Graham, pastor of the
Baptist church, assisted by Dr. W. D.
Furry, of Rome, president of Shorter
College. Numerous and beautiful
were the floral offerings and the sim¬
ple services were made more sweetly
sacred by the use of favorite old gos¬
pel hymns, sung by the church choir.
The pal! bearers were all nephews of
the deceased, Messrs. J. A. Cochran,
B. H. Jones, C. M. Stripling and Roy
Stripling, of Camilla, G. M. Cochran,
of Flint and W. B. Cochran, of Thom
asville.
Interment was in the family lot at
Oakview cemetery. The Camilla Ma¬
sonic Lodge had charge of the burial
service.
Mr. Cochran was in his sixty eighth
year of age, having been born in 1856
in Baker county. He was a son of
Robert and Elizeabth Cochran and
was one of the younger of a large
family of thirteen children. When
he was a year old his parents moved
to Mitchell county to the old Cochran
home place near Flint, where the fam¬
ily was brought up. Mr. Cochran was
for many years one of the most sue
cessful farmers and livestock dealers
in the county. He came of a staunch
old stock of true manhood and pos¬
sessed also many distinctive traits of
Christian brotherhood and true friend¬
ship and kindness that have caused
him to be generally loved and appre¬
ciated in fife, and his memory to be
revered after he has passed on to his
reward.
A little less than twenty years ago
Mr. Cochran was happily married to
Miss Ada Davidson, of Moultrie, who
survives him, with their four daugh
ters, Miss Vera Cochran, a student
at Shorter College, and Misses Berta
Mae, Ada Jewel and Bobbie Glynn
Cochran.
Of the large family of brothers
and sisters, those now surviving are
one brother, Mr. G. B. Cochran, and
two sisters, Mrs. G. J. Stripling and
Mrs. Rosa Jones, all of this place.
A large number of nephews, nieces
and other near relatives abo survive,
more than a hundred of them being
in attendance at the funeral services
Sunday.
The tender sympathy of a host of
friends throughout the county, goes
out to the bereaved family and near
relatives in the sadness that has come
to them.
Winner of Northern
Tour Not Decided
As we go to press the winner of
the Northern Tour given by Camilla
merchants in a trade expansion cam¬
paign inaugurated several months
ago, has not been decided The con¬
test has narrowed down to two can¬
didates, Miss Lois Bennett and Miss
Arminta Culpepper. Messrs. B. H.
Hurst and E. J. Vann, Jr., have been
selected to count the ballots and they
are now engaged in this task. The
decision will probably not ta known
until Friday morning as ceniidepuble
time will required to CCHWt the bal¬
lots.
NUMBER 12.
FACTS DISCLOSED
BY FARM SURVEY
757 BALES OF COTTON GROWN
BY 20 FARMERS ON 1079
ACRES IN 1924.
A survey of farm conditions that
is now being made by the Vocational
Agriculture teachers of the county is
expected to disclose some interesting
facts that will be helpful in teach¬
ing agriculture in the high schools of
the county and form a basis for a
more accurate study by our farmers
of economic conditions with the view
of remedying existing ills and unpro¬
fitable ^methods.
Mr. J. F. Reid, Instructor in Voca¬
tional Agriculture in Camilla High
School, is now engaged in making a
survey of the farms in the territory
served by the Camilla school and he
has already brought to fight some in¬
teresting data concerning farm ope¬
rations of the past two years. The
information collected by Mr. Reid is
strictly confidential, so far as the in¬
dividual farmer making the report
is concerned and no names are made
public in connection with the data
he is collecting.
A survey of twenty farms in this
section of the county has just been
completed by Mr. Reid and he has fur¬
nished The Enterprise with some of
the facts disclosed which should be
of interest to every farmer in the
county. For instance, on the twenty
farms covered by this report there
were 1,079 acres of cotton grown dur¬
ing the year 1924 and from this acre¬
age 757 bales of cotton were produc¬
ed, or almost three-quarters of a bale
per acre. We have not seen the
names of the farmers covered by this
report but if they represent an aver¬
age of the farmers of the county these
figures would indicate that the boll
weevil was licked to a frazzle Th this
county last year and that the inten¬
sive methods now employed in grow¬
ing cotton in this county has more
than doubled the yield per acre under
norma] weather conditions. Mr.
Reid's figures also show that on the
twenty farms covered by this report
the cotton acreage is about fifty per
cent, larger this year, the total acre¬
age for 1925 being 1583 against 1079
last year.
A big reduction is shown in the
acreage of peanuts. In 1924 these
twenty farms grew 648 acres of pea¬
nuts, while this year the acreage is
464. The acreage of tobacco on these
twenty farms in 1924 was 41 acres,
while this year it is 113 acres. The
acreage planted in corn is practically
the same as last year, but the sweet
potato acreage on the twenty farms
reported from is increased nearly 100
per cent, the acreage last year being
28, whereas this year it is 43. In
1924 there were 45 acres in oats on
these farms, this year 40 acres were
grown. The watermelon acreage on
these farms dropped from 70 acres in
1924 to none in 1925.
Mr. Reid found one farmer who
made ap exceptionally good record
last year. This farmer wound up the
1923 crop $500 in debt. Last year he
paid this $500 and had left $1,100
above expenses. This fanner made
18 bales of cotton on about 18 acres
of land. He had no tobacco but pea¬
nuts and hogs helped materially in
swelling his profits on the year’s ape
rations. Mr. Reid states that the
sale of hogs formed an important
source of income on most of these
farms. •
By far the most valuable and inter¬
esting product of the twenty farms
covered by this survey, and in which
Mr. Reid is especially interested, is
a total of 34 boys between the ages
of seven and eighteen who go to
school and nine larger boys between
the ages of 16 and 20 who are out of
school but who have not finished
high school. Fourteen boys are be¬
tween the ages of 14 and 18 and are
eligible for Vocational Agriculture
training, but out of the fourteen only
three are enrolled in the agriculture
class. One purpose of the survey, and
the main purpose, is to seek out these
boys and try to get them interested
in the most important business of our
state—farming.
The other Vocational Agriculture
teachers of the county are conduct¬
ing a similar survey in their respec¬
tive territories and later on The En¬
terprise hopes to be able to give more
information derived from the county¬
wide survey.