Newspaper Page Text
The Camilla
VOLUME XXIV.
COMMISSIONERS IN
SESSION TUESDAY
OFFICERS URGED TO PUSH COL¬
LECTION OF ADVALOREM
TAXES FOR 1925.
The regular monthly meeting of
the County Commissioners was held
at the office of the board on Tuesday
of this week, with all members pres¬
ent.
Several people appeared before the
board to complain of errors in tax re¬
turns. Where it was shown that an
error had been made in the return,
the board made adjustments satisfac¬
tory to the taxpayer.
Dr. J. M. Spence, county convict
physician, appeared before the board
to ask that his salary' be reinstated on
a basis of last year, which was $50.00
per month. At a recent meeting of
the board Dr. Spence’s compensation
was fixed at $1.00 per month for
each convict on the county gang. Af¬
ter some discussion of the matter the
Commissioners agreed to fix Dr.
Spence’s salary at $50.00 per month,
provided that he designate some other
physician to act as substitute and to
be paid by him when he is out of the
county.
County Tax Collector W. H. Tay¬
lor, upon request, furnished the Com¬
missioners with a statement of out¬
standing ad valorem taxes for 1925.
It appeared that collections are not up
to the average of past years and the
Commissioners requested the tax col¬
lector to see that all tax fi. fas. are
put in the hands of the officers at once
and that the officers are instructed to
push collections with all possible
speed.
Chairman G. B. Baggs, Commis¬
sioner A. T. Jones and Warden A. A,
Maples were named as a committee
to act for the board in sub-letting the
contract for surfacing the Camilla
and Moultrie road. The county has
the contract for this work, which is a
Federal-aid project, but the scarcity
of men has made it necessary for the
board to sub-let this work in order
to get it completed promptly. The
grading on this project has been com
pleted and several concrete bridges
have been built by the county forces.
The surfacing material used is a clay
and gravel mixture which is procured
from pits along the right-of-way of
the road.
The Commissioners granted a new
road in the Baconton district which
was applied for at the December
meeting and which has been advertis¬
ed in this paper. The road runs from
a point on the Albany and Sale City
road to the Dixie Highway.
The Commissioners discussed plans
for meeting before the State
Highwey Commission in Atlanta on
January 29th, when a request will be
made to the Commission to complete
the paving of the Dixie Highway
through this county without delay.
All of the members of the Mitchell
lounty board are planning to attend,
together with delegations of citizens
from this county and from Thomas
and Dougherty counties.
An interesting report was submit¬
ted to the board by Capt. A. A. Ma
pies, County Warden, showing the
amount of concrete bridge and culvert
work completed by the county forces
during the year 1925, together with
an estimate of the cost of this work.
It appeared from this report that the
county has effected a considerable
saving by doing this work with county
forces rather than contracting it in
the usual way. The report gives a
list of the bridges and culverts con¬
structed during the year, with the
number of yards of concrete in each
structure. The total yardage was
1,487 which at $26.00 per yard, the
usual contract price, would amount to
$38,662.00 and with $5,000.00 for ex¬
cavations and $8,000.00 for the steel
placed, would bring the total up to
$51,662,00, representing the total cost
to the county if the work had been let
out by contract.
The cost of this work, as handled by
the county, is enumerated as follows:
8,916 sacks cement_________$6,687.00
800 tons sand____________ 2,056.00
1,070 tons slag------------- 1,626.40
Steel placed---------------- 8,000.00
Labor and supervision______ 8,000.00
Lumber, nails, tools, etc____^2,000.00
Depreciation on machinery.. 1,500.00
Total----------$29,869.40
Which shows a net saving for the
county of $21,792.60.
The report states ' that there has
been comparative economy in the oth-
Camilla vs. Albany
Game Here Tonight
Basket Ball fans have quite a treat
on tonight (Friday) in the double
header game to be played on the lo¬
cal court at the High School between
the boys’ and girls’ teams of Albany
High School and Camilla High. This
is the first game of the boys on the
local court this year and it promises
to be a real thriller. The girls teams
of both schools bid fair to show some
good playing also and both games
will furnish plenty of interest. Let
everybody come out and give them a
good crowd.
MEDICAL CLINIC
TO BE HELD HERE
NOTED AUTHORITIES ON MEDI¬
CINE AND SURGERY TO BE
HERE MARCH 2ND.
Dr. D. P. Luke, Secretary of the
Mitchell County Medical Society, has
announced that a medical clinic, which
will be attended by some of the most
noted authorities in medicine and sur¬
gery in the state, will be held in Ca¬
milla on March 2nd. Assurance that
the clinic will be held here comes
from V. P. Sydenstricker, of the Com¬
mittee on Medical Extension of the
medical department of the University
of Georgia. It is understood, how¬
ever, that representatives of the med¬
ical department of Emory University
and other state organizations will at¬
tend the clinic here.
The clinic will afford an opportuni¬
ty to any person in the county who
is afflicted or suffering from disease
to be examined by experts and receive
advice on treatment. This examina¬
tion will be absolutely free of cost.
The clinic will be held under the
auspices of the Mitchell County Medi¬
cal Society and the physicians of the
county will co-operate in making it
of the greatest possible service to the
people.
Mystery Surrounds
< Murder of S. M. Young
The murder of S. Morton Young,
prominent Brooks county farmer,
which occurred at his home near
Quitman on the night of January 2nd,
remains a mystery, although several
negroes who were arrested immediate¬
ly after the discovery of the crime
are still being held in jail. The offi¬
cers are convinced that one of the ne¬
groes committed the crime and are
hopeful of eventually learning the
identity of the guilty man. Mr.
Young was shot as he was about to re¬
tire for the night. It Is known that
he had a considerable sum of money
on his person and the money was mis¬
sing when the officers made a search
of his clothing and the premises. Mr.
Young was a brother of Mrs. J. D.
Gardner, of Camilla, and his wife is
a niece of Mr. J. P. Wade, also of this
place. The family has the sympathy
of everyone in this sorrow.
Singers To Meet At
Union Grove Sunday
The Mitchell Sounty Singing Con¬
vention will be held with Union Grove
church, three miles northwest of Pel¬
ham, on the third Sunday in January,
which is January 17th. Everybody is
cordially invited to come and bring
well filled baskets.
W. S. COOPER, Pres.
G. W. CROSBY, Clerk.
er phases of the county’s work, but
that reference is made to the above
because it represents a permanent in¬
vestment. Under the new plan of
consolidation and utilization of ma¬
chinery, the report states, another
saving of something like $4,000.00 on
bridge work in 1926 may be expected.
The report says: “The county now
has at this camp: 22 tons hay, 3000
bushels of corn, 500 bushels of sweet
potatoes, 1850 pounds of lard, 900
pounds of meat, 900 gallons of syrup,
65,000 feet of bridge lumber, 59
hogs yet to kill, which would average
150 pounds each. The only items
which must necessarily be purchased
during he year, will be oil and gaso¬
line, such items of food as flour, rice,
sugar, and coffee, tobacco for the
prisoners, and a small amount of
shoes and clothing.”
Capt. Maples was highly compli¬
mented by the board upon the show¬
ing made in this report.
CAMILLA, GA„ FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 1926.
ANNUAL ELECTION
HELD BY COUNCIL
H. A. LEDBETTER ELECTED CITY
CLERK. OTHER OFFICIALS
ARE RE-ELECTED.
At the regular meeting of the Ca¬
milla city council last Monday night,
the old council wound up its business
and turned over the reins of govern¬
ment to the new council, which was
new only in the sense that the mayor
and two of the members begun an¬
other term of office and one new mem¬
ber took his seat on the board. The
old officers recently re-elected who
were sworn in for another term were:
J. M. Spence, Mayor; E. J. Vann, Jr.,
Treasurer; B. H. Jenkins and A. J.'
Pinson, Aldermen. The new alderman
was Dr. D. P. Luke, who succeeds Dr.
F. L. Lewis on the board.
Following the election of officers
the council went into executive ses¬
sion for the election of a clerk, po¬
liceman and a water and light super¬
intendent to serve for the next two
years. The election resulted as fol¬
lows:
City Clerk—H. A. Ledbetter.
Chief of Police—W. H. Baggs.
Night Policeman—M. W. Maples.
Sanitary Inspector and Extra Po¬
liceman—O. D. Jones.
Superintendent of Water and Light
Plant—R. L. Hoggard.
Mr. Ledbetter is the only new mem¬
ber of the official family. He suc¬
ceeds Mrs. J. M. McNair, who has
held the post for city clerk for the
past six years. Mr. Ledbetter has
been connected with the Georgia Mo¬
tor Co. for the past several years. He
is an expert bookkeeper, a pleasant
and affable gentleman and has had
experience which fits him for the po¬
sition he has assumed.
Mrs. McNair, the retiring clerk, has
made the city a faithful and efficient
official and has added to the list of
her many friends since coming into
this public position. Mrs. McNair
enjoys the distinction of being the
first lady to occupy an important of¬
ficial post in Camilla or in this coun¬
ty
Chief of Police Wade Baggs, Night
Policeman M. W. Maples, Sanitary
Inspector Oscar Jones and Superinten¬
dent Bob Hoggard of the water and
light plant are all “old timers” whose
records for faithful service to the city
have merely been given another
okeigh by the city council. g
The salaries fixed by the council for
all city officials were as follows: May¬
or, $400.00 per annum; Chief of Po¬
lice, $150.00 per month, with an al¬
lowance of $200.00 per year for use
of automobile; City Clerk, $115.00 per
month; Water and Light Superinten¬
dent, $175.00 per month; Night Po¬
liceman, $110.00 per month; Sanitary
Inspector, $90.00 per month; Aider
men, $2.00 per meeting; City Attor¬
ney, $100.00 per annum, retainer;
Treasurer $200.00 per annum.
The council re-elected Col. J. D.
Gardner as city attorney. Alderman
A. J. Pinson was elected mayor pro
tem.
Messrs. Leon Perry, C. M. Strip¬
ling and T. G. Tyson were elected tax
equalizers for the year.
Messrs. C. E. Crow, M. H. Metcalf
and J. B. Lewis were elected city
registrars.
A resolution was passed by the
council forbidding any employe of the
city from leaving his duty without
permission of the mayor or mayor
pro-tem. A fine or suspension is fixed
as the penalty for violation of this
rule.
The policemen were instructed not
to employ day labor for longer than
a day at the time without authority
of the chairman of the street com¬
mittee.
The council instructed Superinten¬
dent Hoggard to get up an estimate
on the cost of laying a six-inch water
main from a point near the A. C. L.
depot to the corner at Mr. Leon Per¬
ry’s residence. The council is plan¬
ning to have this main laid right
away. It will afford much needed
fire protection to the rapidly growing
residence section east of the A. C. L.
railroad.
The clerk was instructed to write a
letter to Senator W. J. Harris and
Congressman E. E. Cox expressing
the thanks of the council for their ef¬
fort to get an appropriation for a
government building at Camilla.
The council adjourned over until
Tuesday night to complete the busi¬
ness license ordinance and to attend
to any other unfinished matters.
TOBACCO GROWER
GIVES HIS VIEWS
MR. C. F. EARP DISAGREES WITH
Pli ROOM’S ARTICLE PUB¬
LISHED LAST WEEK.
Mr. C. F. Earp, local tobacco grow¬
er, who with many others has been
reading the articles sent out by J.
M. Purdom, Assistant Agricultural
and Industrial Agent Atlantic Coast
Line Railroad, which have been pub¬
lished weekly in The Enterprise,
strongly disagrees with Mr. Purdom’s
advice given in his article of last
week, relative to the selection of land
on which to plant tobacco. Mr. Earp
has called the attention of the editor
of this paper to the statement made
by Mr. Purdom and he states that his
experience leads him in exactly the
opposite direction from the course ad¬
vised by Mr. Purdom in respect to
the crops which may be followed by
tobacco.
The Enterprise is anxious to carry
information that will be of service
to the farmers. Both Mr. Purdom
and Mr. Earp are successful tobacco
growers. Last week our readers had
Mr. Purdom’s views. We are now
going to give Mr. Earp’s views on the
subject, so that those, interested may
judge for themselves which is the
most practical advice.
Mr. Earp agrees with Mr. Purdom
on the character of soil which should
be selected, but disagrees with him
regarding the crops which should be
followed by tobacco. Mr. Purdom
names corn, oats, rye and velvet beans
among the crops which can be follow¬
ed by tobacco with the minimum dan¬
ger from certain diseases and cautions
against planting after tobacco, sweet
potatoes and cotton, Mr. Eai-p states
that his experience has been that to¬
bacco will not do well after corn, oats
or beans, while on the other hand he
has obtained the best results from
planting after sweet potatoes and
cotton. Mr. Earp also states that
where tobacco is planted after hog
weed stubble it is all right to plant
three crops of tobacco on the same
ground and that better tobacco will
be raised the second year than the
first year. His preference of crops to
be followed by tobacco, provided you
have no weed stubble land suitable,
is sweet potatoes and cotton and he
thinks it would probably be safe to
follow peanuts with tobacco where the
peanuts are pliwed up, as in the case
of Spanish peanuts.
Some of the questions involved in
this discussion, we imagine, will have
to be solved by the farmers of this
county through experience. The rea¬
son for planting tobacco after certain
crops and avoiding certain other crops
is that the tobacco plant is subject to
attack from the disease known as
blackroot in cotton, and also because
of the effect of certain fertilizing pro¬
prieties left in the ground by the pre¬
vious crop which interferes with the
production of good grade tobacco.
Appropriation Asked
For Public Building
Senator W. J. Harris introduced a
bill in the United States Senate on
January 5th which provides for the
erection of a public building at Camil¬
la. The senator will no doubt
strongly urge the passage of his bill
and if he succeeds in securing the
appropriation a new post office build¬
ing will be erected here. Senator
Harris’ friends here appreciate his
efforts in our behalf and hope that
he will be successful in putting
through this measure. At the same
time Senator Harris introduced sim¬
ilar bills providing for public build¬
ings at Pelham, Cairo, Arlington, Syl¬
vester, Donalsonville, Colquitt and
Edison, all located in this section.
The South Georgia
Tobacco Conference
A conference of the tobacco grow¬
ers of South Georgia will be held at
Tifton on Friday of next week, Jan¬
uary 22nd. Growers, demonstrators,
county agents, warehousemen and
bankers of South Georgia are invited
to attend. The meeting is arranged
under the auspices of the Georgia
State College of Agriculture and the
Georgia Plain Experiment Station. A
program covering subjects in connec¬
tion with the growing of tobacco has
been arranged and speakers will be
present who are competent to handle
these subjects.
Peanut Association
Moving 1924 Peanuts
It was learned here this week that
the Peanut Association has begun to
move its stock of 1924 peanuts stored
in Camilla. The Association has held
about 350 tons in storage in a local
warehouse for over a year. The fact
that these peanuts are now being mov¬
ed has encourage local growers to
hope that market conditions are im¬
proving. It is said that the Peanut
Associations officials are very opti¬
mistic over the outlook. A large ton¬
nage of peanuts is delivered to the
association in this county.
COUNCIL RAISES
LICENSE TAXES
SEVERAL “BOOSTS” NOTED IN
NEW ORDINANCE PASSED
TUEDAY NIGHT.
The annual business license ordi¬
nance was passed by the city council
at an adjourned meeting held Tues¬
day night and is being published in
full on another page of this issue. On
the whole the ordinance is the same
as last year, no radical changes hav¬
ing been made, but a number of
“boosts” on various businesses is not¬
ed. These increases range from $5.00
to $15.00. Automobile garages are
raised from $35.00 to $50.00; barber
shops with one chair from $5.00 to
$ 10.00, with a charge of $5.00 for each
additional chair; bathing pools from
$5.00 to $10.00; restaurants for white
people from $35.00 to $50.00; dealers
in coffins or burial cases from $25.00
to $50.00, when business is conducted
alone, and from $15.00 to $25.00 where
such goods are sold in connection
with another business; coal dealers
from $10.00 to $15.00; drug dealers
from $35.00 to $50.00; furniture deal¬
ers from $35.00 to $50.00; gasoline
dealers from $15.00 to $25.00, and
when in connection with other busi¬
ness, the raise is from $5.00 to $10.00;
ice plants from $50.00 to $60.00; oil
mills from $75.00 to $90.00; service
stations from $25.00 to $50.00; whole¬
sale grocers from $60.00 to $75.00.
These are the most important increas¬
es. Only one. or two reductions are
noted.
After passing the license tax ordi¬
nance, a new ordinance was intro¬
duced and passed second reading re¬
quiring property owners to lay side¬
walk paving in front of the old Cul¬
lens property on North Scott street.
This property is now owned by the
Union Supply Co., Mr. Jim Cullens
and Mr. J. B. Lewis.
The most interesting development
of the meeting Tuesday night was the
announcement of Alderman J. W. But¬
ler that he is planning to resign at an
early date. He made the announce¬
ment to his fellow members and ask¬
ed that they be considering some one
to fill the vacancy. Mr. Butler stat¬
ed that he felt like he had served long
enough and that while his service had
been a pleasure and gladly given to
the city, increasing demands of his
personal affairs now make it neces¬
sary for him to relieve himself of the
responsibilities and duties of council¬
man. He stated that he was in no
hurry to get out but that he wanted
the council to begin considering some¬
one to fill his place.
Mr. Butler’s decision to resign from
the council brought forth many pro¬
tests and expressions of regret from
the other members and many citizens
of the city will be likewise moved by
the announcement. Mr. Butler’s bus¬
iness experience and mature judge¬
ment have been of inestimable value
to the city during the twelve or fifteen
years he has served on the council
and a very large share of the credit
for the city’s present satisfactory fi¬
nancial condition is due him.
An effort will probably be made to
get Mr. Butler to reconsider his de¬
cision to resign and to secure his
consent to at least serve out his pres¬
ent term, which will expire at the
first meeting of the council in Jan¬
uary, 1927.
Union School To
Have Box Supper
Union School will have a Box Sup¬
per at the school house on Friday
night, January 22, for the benefit of
the school. The entire community
and friends of other sections of the
county are cordially invited to come
and enjoy the evening.
NUMBER 40.
COURT HOLDS THE
DOG LAW INVAUD
JUDGE BEN BURSON SUSTAINS
DEMURRER FILED IN FIRST
CASE BEFORE HIM.
The first case made under the new
Mitchell county dog law, a special act
passed at the last session of the leg¬
islature, resulted disastrously far the
enforcement of the law in this county.
The first case was heard by Judge
Ben T. Burson, of the City Court of
Camilla, and he sustained a demurrer
filed by the attorney for the defend¬
ant, holding the law unconstitutional.
Mr. Grover Jones, a popular young
farmer of Camilla, was the first vic¬
tim. The warrant against him was
sworn out by Chief of Police Wade
Baggs. Mr. Jones employed Col. M.
A. Warren to represent him and an¬
nounced that he would contest the
validity of the law. When the de¬
fendant was arraigned before Judge
Burson Monday, Col. Warren filed a
demurrer on the ground that the law
is in conflict with the constitution and
therefore unenforcible. City Court
Solicitor Chas. Watt, Jr., was present
at the hearing, representing the state,
and he advised the court that there
was serious doubt of the validity of
the law.
Judge Burson sustained the de¬
murrer of the defendant and announc¬
ed the holding of the court as follows:
“That dogs are recognized as per¬
sonal property under the laws of this
state and must be taxed ad valorem.
“That the county of Mitchell cannot
levy a tax on dogs for the purposes
named in the act of 1925, page 718
et. seq. for the reason that the Con¬
stitution of Georgia provides as fol¬
lows: Article 7, Section 6, paragraph
2, as codified in Parks Ann. Code, sec¬
tion 6562, to wit: ‘The General As¬
sembly shall not have power to dele¬
gate to any county the right to levy
a tax for any purpose except for edu¬
cational purposes, to build and repair
the public buildings and bridges, to
maintain and support prisoners, to
pay expenses of courts, to support
paupers and pay debts heretofore ex¬
isting, to pay county police and pro¬
vide necessary sanitation.’
“That the said act violates Article
7, Section 2, paragraph 1 of the Con¬
stitution of Georgia, which provides
as follows: ‘All taxation shall be
uniform upon the same class of sub¬
jects, and ad valorem upon all prop¬
erty subjects to be taxed within the
territorial limits of the authority
levying the tax, and shall be levied
and collected under general laws.’
“In view of the plain language of
the Constitution quoted above and for
the reasons set forth herein, the court
finds that the said act of the General
Assembly of 1925 which will be found
in the Georgia Laws 1925, page 718
et seq. is unconstitutional, null and
void, and therefore sustain the de¬
murrers of the defendant Grover
Jones, and directs that he be discharg¬
ed.”
What further action will be taken
toward enforcement of the law re¬
mains to be seen, but in the light of
Judge Burson’s ruling it is not likely
that the officers will undertake to en¬
force the law until some move has
been made to test the constitutionali¬
ty of the act in a higher court.
There is county-wide interest in the
new law, the passage of which was
not generally known until recently.
The opposition to the law brought
forth a card recently from our rep¬
resentative, Dr. J. M. Spence and Col.
O. B. McEIvey, in which they explain¬
ed their reasons for passing the act
and offering to have it repealed at
the special session of the legislature
soon to assemble, provided that it is
possible to take this matter up at
that time. If the law is not repealed
at the special session it probably will
be at the regular session in 1927.
While there are many people who
favor the law, it is claimed that a
large majority oppose it or are in¬
different, and in the face of such a
division of public sentiment it would
be very difficult for the officers to en¬
force the law with any degree of uni¬
formity and effectiveness.
Mr. and Mrs. Major Henslee moved
into town last Saturday from their
former home in Greenwood commun¬
ity and are occupying the residence
on South Scott street recently vacated
by Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Hughes. Mr.
Henslee has accepted a position with
the Standard Oil Co.