85 years ago: Bottling plant ‘completely renovated’

Dublin Courier Herald, Dispatch, and Press

Willie L. Holmes, secretary and treasurer of the Dublin Coca-Cola Co., is justly proud of the plant now that it has been completely renovated and made more modern in every detail.

Appearance of the plant is much improved, the entrance and main building being constructed of cream-colored structural glass with red trim. There is a space for parking of a number of automobiles to the right of the entrance, and every inch of the place inside and out is new and clean.

The change in the plant does not stop with the appearance. New machinery and complete sanitation facilities enable Mr. Holmes to turn out work during four days a week which he formerly had to have done over time and at night.

The office is beautifully paneled and furnished, and the bottling room is a very interesting place with its tiled floor, snow white walls and shiny machinery. Here it is that one of America’s most poplar drinks is made ready for sale.

The first step is the washing of bottles. They are put into slots and then go through various processes of cleaning. Then brushes making 900 revolutions a minute automatically give them a further inside cleaning after they are run through a maze of scrub brushes which clean the outsides of the bottles.

After that, they are deposited on a ledge, eight at a time, before an inspector who watches for any flaws in the glass and are then pushed on to a miniature escalator which carries them to a compartment where the exact amount of syrup is automatically pumped into each bottle.

With them still on the moving belt, the carbonated water goes in – again the correct amount – and the bottles move on under the capping machine and down a long line to the men who take them off the belt, hold them to the light for a shaking and final inspection before crating them.

There is a club room upstairs done in buff and cream, and there is also a room for the big syrup kettle.

There are many evidences of labor-saving devices and complete efficiency. At the rear of the main building are the garages for the salesmen.

THREE ALDERMEN NOMINATED

Despite the fact that Dublin’s city Democratic primary candidates for aldermen were running without opposition, voting wasn’t altogether like it is said to be in Germany, one observer at the polls said. When someone jokingly complained that there was no one to vote against, a man who had been sitting by, remarked that “one fellow didn’t see it that way.” This voter, he explained, got his pencil and “scratched” someone off the three-name ballot. He declined to say who made this futile gesture.

Although futile, those who heard of this dissenting gesture thought momentarily that it is good to live in a country where one can vote – and vote as fancy dictates and not at the dictation of anyone.

Running unopposed for re-nomination were E.B. Mackey, W.P. Tindol and Bruce Suggs, aldermen-at-large.

Voting was light, as is always the case in uncontested primaries. (Such primaries, however, are rare events in Dublin; hot fights generally are waged for council seats.)

Mayor D. Sessions and Aldermen M.Z. Claxton, P.C. Hutchinson, Milo Smith, and Martin Willis are the five other men composing the city government. 

Incidentally, four of these were also re-elected the last time without opposition.

USE TELEPHONE TO REPORT FIRE

Anyone wishing to report a fire or call the fire department will have to use the telephone and not the alarm boxes scattered over the city, Fire Chief Clarence Devereaux said today.

The fire alarm box signal system is still out of commission, suffering damage from the Sunday-Monday storm.

Those telephoning the fire department were reminded to be sure to give their name, street, and number of the building on fire.

SMALLEY GIVES MEAT REPORT

Two years operation of the city abattoir and sanitary inspection of meat offered for sale in Dublin has seen a steady increase in use of facilities of the abattoir that is rapidly building this city up as a meat slaughtering center, according to the report of Dr. J.L. Smalley, city meat inspector to the City Council last night.

A remarkable increase in the number of livestock slaughtered here from August 1939 to August 1940 is revealed in Dr. Smalley’s report. 

The figures below relate to the period from August 1938 to August 1939 and from August 1939 to August 1940.

August 1939/August 1940

Cattle          1,432             2,022

Hogs            2,963             7,484

Sheep/goats       114               762

In the first year, from August 1938 to the same month in 1939, the inspection service condemned, thereby preventing the sale to meat buyers, four whole animals.

During the next year, which ended the first of this month, seven animals were kept off the market because the inspection service found them unfit for human consumption.

Hog livers condemned numbered 8,405.

Dr. Smalley remarked that G.A. Jepeway, operator of the abattoir,is now working out a plan to build a smokehouse at which fine cured meats will be processed, thereby offering for local sale for the first time meat grown in this section in a processed state for the first time on a commercial scale.

A cold storage plant is, of course, already operated by Mr. Jepeway.

Modern equipment at the abattoir which will probably be of interest to the public includes a hog “dehairer” which automatically cleans hogs much faster and better than it can be done by hand. The abattoir, if run at capacity, has equipment to butcher and dress hogs at the rate of one a minute, Dr. Smalley said.

He added that the public is invited to visit the plant at any time. The public, he added, is welcomed as it is believed that the more people see it, the better they will like it and appreciate the sanitary butchering methods now in use here. 

The months of November, December January, February, and March are always the largest slaughtering months of the year in this section, and this is reflected in the slaughtering figures at the abattoir. During these months of “hog-killing weather,” slaughtering runs over 1,000 hogs a month at the plant. 

In the period August 1938 to August 1939, a total of 4,521 hogs, cows, sheep, and goats were slaughtered; in the second year, August 1939 to August 1940, this figure had risen to 10,268 head of hogs, cows, sheep, and goats butchered under sanitary conditions at the plant and passed by Dr. Smalley as the official inspector.

DUBLIN GUARDS O.K.

In spite of the high winds on Sunday night, Mrs. Brook Bryans and Mrs. Tennyson Coleman were able to talk over long distance telephone with their husbands, 1st Lieutenant Brooks Bryans and 2nd Lieutenant Tennyson Coleman, who are with the Dublin Guards at Camp Shelby near Hattisburg, Mississippi.

The Dublin officers reported that all is well with the local guardsmen.

Letters received here by families of the guardsmen relate interesting details of camp life, with plenty of rain making “warring” a pretty muddy mess.

They expect to leave on Thursday for manuevers in the Sabine Valley, going to Camp Beauregard as headquarters.

The Dublin companies, commanded by Captain C.H. Prince, 1st Lieutenant R.L.Webb, 1st Lieutenant Bryans, 2nd Lieutenant Coleman, and 2nd Lieutenant Robert Graves, will return here on August 25th.

Lieutenant L.C. Pope, Commander of the 121st Infantry, and Major C.F. Pope, Plans and Training Officer, are also with the men at Camp Shelby. 

GRATITUDE OF THOSE GETTING MATTRESSES

Three hundred mattresses have been made in Dublin by the people who will use them, Miss Nelle Robinson, Laurens County Home Demonstration Agent, said today. 

During the week of August 5 to 10, production got going full speed, and an average of 36 mattresses per day were turned out – a total of 180 for the week.

Mattresses cost only 50 cents, in cash, but those who get one must do the work themselves. There were 2,100 applicants who said they had an income of less than $400 last year. No one is allowed to hire someone else to make a mattress for them, as the ultimate main purpose of the federal program is education.

Miss Robinson said that needles used in the mattress making machinery come from England and that for a time it was feared the cost would go up because of the war, but that now it seems that this will not occur and that evidently the needles are being imported as usual.

Men, as well as women, are working cheerfully and proudly to get good mattresses for their homes, Miss Robinson said.

On alternate days Negroes and Whites work, limited machinery and floor space preventing all of them working at the same time.

G.H. Williams, local attorney, donated the building to the government to house the plant.

The entire family, or at least five people, are required to make one mattress. In some cases, these may include neighbors or relatives who learn how to make a mattress by helping some one else.

Several inquiries have been made as to whether or not a family will be permitted to hire some one to make their mattress. They will not.

In case of illness, the notice will be returned with an explanation as to why they can not do the work. Another notice will be mailed after the other mattresses for the county have been made, and the ones who could not come at their appointed time will be given another opportunity.

The purpose of this project is not to give mattresses as a surplus commodity. The ultimate purpose is education. By furnishing the cotton and the ticking and the supervision, it is possible for a family to have a mattress by making one themselves. In making it, they learn every step of how to make a good, comfortable mattress.

The attitude on the part of those families who have already received a mattress has been fine. They are not only grateful for the mattress, but also for the opportunity of learning how to make one, Miss Robinson said.

LAURENS PAYS GAS TAX

Laurens County got $147,187.20 from the state of Georgia for its share of gasoline tax money in 1939 which is not counting money expended on paving, grading, and upkeep of state highways in Laurens during the year.

This county, however, paid $187,854.54 in gas taxes during last year, according to the Petroleum Industries Committee. 

If the highway upkeep and work done is counted, this county got back more than was paid in.

RURAL HOUSING SURVEY BEGINS

Farm home owners in Laurens County appear to have decreased by about four hundred from 1935 to 1940, preliminary figures being gathered in connection with a survey asked by the Georgia Housing Authority indicate.

Walter Daniell, who has been asked by the Laurens County Housing Authority Committee to assist in preparing a survey of rural housing needs for Laurens, said that anyone with information which would be helpful to the county committee is asked to get in touch with him or with members of the committee.

The committee is composed of W.D. Parkerson,Jr., chairman; C.L.Thigpen, R.L. Hogan, H.D Joiner, and O.D. Cullens.

Mr. Daniell said that information already gathered indicates that there are now 909 farm home owners and 2,881 tenant farmers in rural Laurens County. The number of farms in Laurens was 2,959 in 1935; this has declined to 2,573 in 1940.

The average size of Laurens farms is 105.4 acres and crop lands average 57 acres. On an estimated 3,700 rural homes, one observer said that he believed that 10 per cent would be able to classify as eligible for rural housing loans.

Questions asked by the survey include the annual income of persons occupying the homes and how many members in the families.

People in the various communities can be of considerable assistance to the county committee by calling attention to people in their community who would possibly qualify for a rural housing loan.

“GOOD TIME BY ALL” AT RALLY

A good time was had by all seems to be about the way to “write up” the political rally on Thursday afternoon at Sessions Lake.

A crowd of 1,200, maybe larger, listened with what appeared to be more than usual interest to the candidates who spoke.

It was an orderly, well-behaved crowd, one that seemed just a little more attentive than at a great many such events. Mild applause greeted each candidate.

Representative candidates for Laurens County’s two seats were present, and spoke, as did J. Eugene Cook and W.W. Larsen, candidates for solicitor general, and R. Earl Camp, C.C. Crockett, J. Roy Rowland, and R.I.Stephens for judge. Judge J.L.Kent did not speak.

Carl K. Nelson, Dublin attorney, acted as Master of Ceremonies.

ROCK SPRINGS

     By Mrs Verle Gay

Friends of Mrs. Addie Snellgrove regret her illness and hope she will soon be out again.

Mrs. Zade Waller and children of Uvalda are spending this week with Mr. and Mrs. E.E. Bracewell.

Miss Verdie McLamb has returned to her home in Savannah after visitng her grandmother, Mrs. Kinchen.

Mrs. J.L. Mclamb of Jesup is visiting her mother, Mrs. G.J. Kinchen.

Mr. and Mrs. Tullie Harden were recent guests of Mr. and Mrs. E.E. Bracewell.

Miss Florence and Ralph Kaney have returned to their home after attending the singing school at Browning.

Mrs. J.O. Clarke and Mrs. G.H. Kinchen spent Thursday with Mrs. D.G. Robertson.

MARIE NEWS

     By Mrs. H.E. Hobbs 

Revival services closed on Sunday evening, after being held for a week. Rev. Maples brought some great messages, and Gilbert Short of Oklahoma gave great messages in song.             

Mrs. Vernon Chavous of Dublin was a visitor here on Monday.

Drew Wyatt of Griffin spent the week end with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. F.C. Wyatt.

Miss Vinelle McTier spent the week end in Scott.

George Brawner has retuned from Atlanta after a short visit there.

Miss Doris Tomlinson is visiting relatives in Alamo.

Mr. and Mrs. Bill Green spent Sunday with Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Bobbitt.

Miss Frances Wyatt is visiting friends in Monticello.

Mr. and Mrs. Curtiss Halle of Hollywood, Florida, spent Thursday with Mrs. R.H. Perry.

Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Wells had as their Sunday guests Mr. and Mrs. E.B. Wright, Mr. and Mrs. W.W. Wells, and Mr. and Mrs. Zack Ballard, the latter couple from Toccoa, Georgia.

NO LIVESTOCK LICENSE

First action against livestock trading and trafficking without a state license was announced today when Assistant Solicitor General Herschel White said that warrants have been sworn out against two men found dealing in livestock without a license.

Any livestock dealing requires a state license, and State Highway Patrolmen or other officers are authorized to halt anyone seen transporting livestock. If they are found without a license, they are detained for investigation. 

All licenses expired in June, and only a few of the many dealers in this section have bought new licenses, according to Laurens County Ordinary Wiley H. Adams.

4-H GIRLS HAVE HOUSEPARTY

Girl members of the Laurens County 4-H Clubs enjoyed a summer house party recently at Sessions Lake. Picnics, swimming, and other outdoor recreations were featured.

They were accompanied by Laurens County Home Demonstration Agent Miss Nelle Robinson, and Misses Frankie Calhoun, Ellen Perry, and Marie Derry.

Present for this event were Nettie Amerson, Lyween Sears, Joyce Lamb, Marjorie Parkerson, Louise Mullis, Ophelia Daniel, Lois Daniel, Dorothy Daniel, Orelee Thigpen, Uldine Howell, Nell Lord, Barbara Faye Bedingfield, Lyma Lord, Elizabeth Dominy, Marjorie Lord, and Doris Hester.

PLEASANT SPRINGS

     By Mrs. J.K. Beasley

Damage done in the home of Mrs. Henrietta Wilkes during the recent storm caused the kitchen to go down and china dishes were broken.

Miss Nell Shepard of Brewton visited Miss Opaldean Beasley on Sunday.

Mertice Wilkes has returned to her grandmother’s home near Scott after visiting her mother here.

Mr. and Mrs. Lofton Johnson visited Mr. and Mrs. Handel Thigpen last Sunday.

Mrs. Chester Wilkes visited Mr. and Mrs. I.H. Johnson on Sunday.

Murry Harding spent Sunday with Guy Hilburn.

Mr. and Mrs. Greely Graham are visiting Mr. and Mrs. Rex Miller.

Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Pullen and children of Winnsboro, South Carolina, are visiting relatives in this section.

Mrs. H.E. Stewart and children have returned home after visiting in South Carolina.

Mr. and Mrs. W.M. Jones of Mt. Vernon were recent guests of Mr. and Mrs. I.H. Johnson.

Grady and Lofton Johnson were recent visitors in Dublin.

Miss Bernice Watkins has returned to Adrian after visiting Julia and Dorothy Johnson here.