USA > Georgia > Floyd County > Rome > A history of Rome and Floyd County, State of Georgia, United States of America; including numerous incidents of more than local interest, 1540-1922, Volume I > Part 57
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The council is very fortunate in be- ing able to secure the splendid men who are now the leaders of these troops. There is being conducted a Scout Lead- ers' Training Course at scout head- quarters every Monday night for the benefit of the troop leaders and others who desire to know the scout program.
A total of 184 scouts registered and were on duty during the North Georgia Fair which was held at the fair grounds Oct. 11-16; 40 first aid cases were taken care of by the scouts; 20 lost children were found. The scouts acted as mes- sengers, assisted the police to handle the crowds at the races and at the fire- works at night, acted as ushers at the grandstand, and helped to inflate the balloon each day for the ascension. At the request of the government officials at Washington a squad of scouts were
on duty at the United States Agricul- tural Building every day. During the six days' work the scouts did hundreds of good turns and in every task as- signed to them they lived up to the scout motto: "Be Prepared."
Fifteen scouts were on duty one day putting up Red Cross posters; 80 scouts reported on Armistice Day to take part in the exercises conducted by the Amer- ican Legion; 20 scouts distributed liter- ature advertising the sale of the Red Cross Christmas stamps; 18 scouts as- sisted at the Christmas tree given for the poor children at the Auditorium on Christmas Eve. A number of scouts worked several days gathering bundles of clothing for the poor, to be dis- tributed by the Red Cross.
The scouts under the Cherokee Council have never failed to respond to the call for service, and always stand ready to be of assistance to the city or community.
On Dec. 11, 85 scouts under the lead- ership of Commissioner W. M. Barnett, Scoutmaster Rev. H. F. Joyner, and the Scout Executive, went on an all day hike to Black's Bluff and spent the day in scouting. This council is highly favored with being in the midst of such a wonderful country for scouting. With headquarters at Rome-Rome the beau- tiful-beautiful for situation, with her glorious sunsets, her majestic rivers winding their way through her borders as they hasten on their journey toward the sea, her surrounding green clad hills and mountains with their hundreds of sparkling brooks and gushing springs -all seem to have been designed by the Great Master Builder of the universe as an ideal place for our boys to go out and come in touch with the great out-of- doors and learn lessons that they cannot obtain from books. The scouts under this council are taking advantage of these opportunities and every troop has taken an average of one hike each month, either all night, all day or af- ternoon, in open air scouting .- Jan. 9, 1921.
HOW TO BE MEN-One of the most powerful talks ever heard in Rome on boy culture was delivered Tuesday night to an audience of 500 at the Auditorium by Prof. W. A. Sutton, principal of the Tech High School and Atlanta Scout Commissioner, and Prof. Sutton imme- diately received an invitation from G. E. Bennett, local scout executive, the Rev. H. F. Saumenig, who introduced him, and Robt. W. Graves, who also sat on the stage, to come back again in the near future.
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A HISTORY OF ROME AND FLOYD COUNTY
WATER SPORTS ON LABOR DAY, SEPT. 5, 1921
At top is Rex Culpepper's "Nell" passing under Second Avenue bridge, and bottom, Fred Hoffman's "A. M. L." winning race. In lower center, Ed. King's Boy Scout barge "Sequoyah" making knots. Lower center, right, the Daniel boat underway. Scouts and others are else- where seen in characteristic attitudes.
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Prof. Sutton's talk followed one he had made a few hours before at a lunch- eon tendered him by the Rome Kiwanis Club at the Hotel Forrest, in which his points were very much the same. He gave seven stages in the making of a man, saying that some boys pass through all and make great men, but that some people who pass for men never pass through any.
To the fathers he said they should know their Boy Scout sons, go on hikes with them and advise them throughout. "Two things are necessary to getting along with boys," he declared. "One is honesty and sincerity and the other is a sense of humor."
Mr. Sutton told the boys to keep their bodies clean, to have reverence and respect for their elders, to be industri- ous, to be mentally alert, to be helpful to other people, to do their best at every try, to love their Creator, and never to give up.
"When a good thought comes into your head, write it down, boys. Some people who don't know any better will say you are crazy. Pay no attention to them. Make something out of yourself if you die in the attempt. An English boy named Thomas Watt watched his mother's tea-kettle boiling. The top danced around when the steam lifted it. He poured a little cold water in, and the dancing stopped. Then he wrote in his note book, 'There is something in hot water that is not in cold.' Later he made the steam engine.
"Thomas A. Edison was a profiteer in the Civil war. He bought newspa- pers telling of the Battle of Gettysburg for ten cents and sold them for $5. From the boat that took him across the bay with his papers he would yell to the waiting people, 'I'm coming!' and his voice came back to him in an echo. He wrote in his badly-worn note book, 'There is something in the curvature of the earth that causes the human voice to rebound.' Years later he perfected the phonograph.
"When the Wright boys of Toledo saw a buzzard fly through the sky, they asked why human beings with more in- telligence than buzzards could not do the same. 'Let's fly' suggested Wilbur. 'All right.' agreed Orville. Their father mortgaged his farm so the boys could build a model. People of narrow vis- ion said all of them were crazy. The boys wrote the government at Wash- ington that they would like to give their device to their country, and the govern- ment wrote back that it didn't have time to bother with any more foolish
schemes. The letters are on file in Washington today.
"A man propounded the theory that the bite of the mosquito stegomyia fas- ciata caused yellow fever. He went to Cuba, let this type of mosquito bite him, and died, but his death caused millions to be saved. Needn't be afraid to die, boys, if you can give something like that to the world. Dare to do, boys. Don't be balked by petty objections from peo- ple too small to appreciate big things. Money does not make manhood. If a boy is good-looking and his father has money, he's got a poor chance to suc- ceed."
Mr. Sutton declared he enjoyed see- ing a little boy draw his biceps up into a hard knot and feel it to see if his muscles were growing. "That boy wants to develop and make himself into a man," asserted the speaker. "I believe in occasional fist fights to develop boys, but not as an every-day diversion. Where boys hold grudges against each other the best way for them to forget it is to pummel each other and shake hands. If you develop the physical you may never have to use it, but you are always prepared for a bully or one who wants to take advantage of you. If you are a good Scout you will never need to smoke cigarettes or drink whiskey or otherwise tear down your health. Keep yourself clean. Be a man.
The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts were entertained in this fasion for more than an hour, and their enjoyment was at- tested by the heartiness in their hand- claps, for they cheered Prof. Sutton a full minute when he concluded. Prof. Sutton complimented the youthful mu- sicians in the orchestra and said Rome is an ideal location for scouting.
The Pine Tree Patrol of Scouts went through a drill in the scout creed, con- sisting of a repetition of scout lines and the lighting of candles on a pre- paredness design by each scout on the stage .- Feb. 9, 1921.
TWO "WILD CATS" TAMED- Scout Executive G. E. Bennett told to- day of how he and a small group of Boy Scouts, including a visitor from Washington, D. C., Friday captured two gray cats which had been penned up in a house on West Fifth street, Fourth Ward, without food or water during the freshet.
"The house dweller had gone into town with his wife and eight-days-old baby and left the cats penned up," stated Mr. Bennett. "Man, they were wild. We had to catch them and they fought hard for nearly half an hour,
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A HISTORY OF ROME AND FLOYD COUNTY
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INDIAN CANOES GIVE WAY TO CHUGGING MOTOR BOATS.
A wag once remarked that if Atlanta had the Coosa at Five Points she would anchor a battleship there in a fortnight. Romans prefer smaller craft. 1-School girls ready for a motor boat ride. 2 and 7-Girl Scouts. 3, 4, 5 and 6-Boy Scout, "flagship" of "Snake-Doctor Fleet." 8-Holmes Smith's boat. 9 and 10-Annie H. 11-Steamer Cherokee of Rome.
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dashing desperately up the sides of the house, jumping and running into bureau drawers. Two fingers of a glove I was wearing were torn off and a rent made in the palm of the other."
After the cats had been caught they were taken to high land and left with a neighbor of the owner, who fed them and gave them drink .- Feb. 14, 1921.
TWENTY-FOUR ENJOY TRIP- Fifteen Boy and Girl Scouts and nine others went on a trip up the Oostanaula river on Frank
Capt. Holbrook's "steamer" Annie H, and returned at 7:50 o'clock last night. They all had a good time and no mishaps.
The boat left the Second avenue bridge at 3:30 p. m., half an hour after the sailing time, and arived at Whit- more's Bluff at 5:30 p. m. As the even- ing shadows were near, only half an hour was spent ashore, and this was taken up exploring the rocky bluff and eating picnic lunch. At 6 o'clock the little steamer shoved off for town un- der a canopy of stars and beams from a half moon that shone brightly on the water. Singing and guitar music kept the crowd lively going back.
On the way up, a motor boat man in the "Emmagene H." ran ahead of the steamer and shot several dive-dappers and ducks which he took ashore about five miles up and gave to some men camping on the bank. At the bluff the Scouts were greeted by more little boy "Brownies" who were camping out at that point.
The hosts of the trip were James Maddox, E. L. Wright, head-master of Darlington, and Geo. M. Battey, Jr.
The burden-bearing Boy Scouts were Robert Shahan, who makes fire by fric- tion; Joe Fickling, Alfred Spears, James Barton and Robert Norton. These boys made themselves useful about the boat in accordance with ship rules; carried the "plunder" on and off the boat and in many ways proved indispensable.
Mrs. James Maddox assisted Miss Adelene Bowie with the Girl Scouts, who included Dorothy and May Morton, Martha Porter, Sinclair Norton, Martha Ledbetter, Dot Harrison, Kathrine Al- len, Thelma Davis, Joy Shackelton and Florence Morgan. Other guests were Misses Allene Burney, Marshall Nor- ton, Lucie Daniel and Ethnel Morton, making a total of 24 on board.
Eleven Girl Scouts got left because three of them had to go home for lunch- es and the rest waited at Curry-Arring- ton's corner .- Apr. 15, 1921.
SECOND RIVER TRIP TAKEN- The second party of a series to points around Rome will shove off Thursday afternoon at 3 o'clock from the Fourth Ward side of the Second avenue (Land Company) bridge over the Oostanaula river, on the Good Ship Annie H., Frank Holbrook, skipper.
As on Thursday, April 14, the desti- nation will be Whitmore's Bluff, about nine miles up, and a group of Girl and Boy Scouts who did not get to go the first time will be taken. The girls are mostly Mrs. Holmes Cheney's and Miss Amelia Berry's Eagle Troop, and Miss Adelene Bowie's Hawthorne Troop, and the burden-bearing Boy Scouts will be chosen from several troops.
Names of the chaperones, the senti- nels and a few others will be announced later.
Whitmore's Bluff is a beautiful prom- ontory which projects a shaggy chin over the winding Oostanaula. Its face is gray with a mass of native boulders which contain shelves. and landing places. The top affords a fine view of the surrounding terrain.
At the base of the rocks is Mitchell's cave, from which issues in gay little cascades the purest spring water.
Daniel R. Mitchell, who named Rome, had a plantation of 2,500 acres on the Oostanaula. Whitmore's Bluff was part of it. In 1863, when the Civil War was at its fiercest, he was offered $60,000 in gold or $80,000 in Confederate money for it. The fortunes of the Confederacy were never higher. He took the Con- federate money. In another year his money was almost without value. Sea- born and Barry Wright now own Whit- more's Bluff and they have built an at- tractive cottage on it.
Other sights to see on this river are the "Chieftain's" the home of Major Ridge, Cherokee Indian chief, two miles up, and the mouths of Big and Little Dry creeks.
An hour and a half each way on the Annie H. is required, which gives the "Brownies" about an hour to scout and enjoy lunch on land, in order to be back in Rome before 8 o'clock.
Guitar and ukulele music and singing will again be a feature, provided the weather man is kind .- Apr. 25, 1921.
THIRD TRIP ON RIVER-The third of a series of trips on the rivers in Frank Holbrook's Annie H. was taken Monday afternoon by a group of Boy and Girl Scouts as the guests of E. L. Wright, headmaster of Darlington
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A HISTORY OF ROME AND FLOYD COUNTY
Jas noble N. M. Neal
Jih Coulter
William Hest
P. M. West
John WMayo CoStillwell
N. Yarbrough Y.B. Stohul 0 J. W. Meakin that & Still IR Towers. Al Panchen afin Frasell a. J. Julian Selina Laurie M. J. Hoyh
A J Hardon & He Bolclough. Non Ramey Those Watters Jubb .
James B. Hine MATONES Same tobe Mospiegelberg same M. D. Hoyh E. H. West
AUTOGRAPHS OF ROMANS, MOSTLY OF THE PERIOD AROUND 1870-'71-I.
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MISCELLANEOUS-SCOUT SECTION
429
WHERE THE BEAUTIFUL OOSTANAULA RIVER ENTERS ROME.
Upper Broad Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, about 1905: Extreme left, Bos- worth Block; left center, Martha Battey Hospital; house with white roof, old Wood home, where Henry W. Grady once lived.
School, and Geo. M. Battey, Jr. Mrs. Holmes Cheney chaperoned.
The party went to Black's Bluff, and on account of the close proximity of that point did not start until 3:56 p. m .; they landed at the Bluff at 4:45 p. m. and left at 6:30 for Rome, arriving at 7 p. m. The party spread lunch about 100 yards above the bank and a spring, and after feasting went back to the boat and had music and songs. No ac- cidents occurred.
The following others attended : Misses Tot Moultrie, Mildred Wilkerson, Mary J. Doyal, Ruth Maddox, Annette Stroud and Leila Hill Newsom, of the Haw- thorne Troop of Girl Scouts; Elizabeth McRae, Elizabeth Ward, Elizabeth Lips- comb, Helen McLeod and Maynor Mc- Williams, of the Eagle Troop of Girl Scouts; Miss Virginia Dixon, of Birm- ingham; and the following Boy Scouts : William and Lester Harbin, John W. Quarles, Jr., Riley McKoy, Otis Par- sons, Benj. Archer, Ben Grafton and Benj. Cothran .- May 18, 1921.
SCOUTS TO COLLECT FOR POOR -The Boy Scouts have another call for service on Wednesday. The committee that has charge of gathering the bun- dles for the poor of the city has asked the scouts to go with the automobile trucks and assist in the work of bring- ing the bundles of clothing to the Red Cross headquarters. All scouts that can assist in this work will report at scout headquarters Tuesday at 10 o'clock to receive instructions regarding the work and where to meet Wednes- day and territory which they are to cover.
North Rome is to have a new troop
to register before the first of the year. Troop No. 5, of which the Rev. Gordon Ezzell is scoutmaster, is full with 32 scouts, and a new troop is forming.
All scouts that have not registered in troops 1 and 2 and Lindale will reg- ister at headquarters before the first of the year in order to get the benefit of the special price of 25 cents each for 1921 membership.
The Boy Scouts of Rome had an oppor- tunity last Friday to prove their worth when called upon by the committee that had charge of the Christmas tree for the poor at the Auditorium to assist in mak- ing the affair a success. They dis- tributed song sheets, acted as messen- gers, helped the committee pass the children out of the building after they had received their presents, located a number of lost children and found sev- eral lost articles.
They demonstrated again that a scout is ready for service, and remembered the scout motto: "Be Prepared." The committee has sent them formal thanks. -Dec. 24, 1920.
HIKE TO ROCKY HOLLOW-Troop "Lucky Seven" of the Boy Scouts, R. B. Combs, scoutmaster, and Jerome C. Hen- son, assistant, will hike out to Rocky Hollow, near Rotary Lake on Horseleg Creek, Friday afternoon. They will cook supper and return by the light of the moon. Mr. Henson will accom- pany them and be in charge. The boys will meet at 3:30 in front of Nixon's Hardware store on Broad.
Several tests will be given the Scouts, including the preparation of supper by
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A HISTORY OF ROME AND FLOYD COUNTY
each boy, who will use only one or two matches and will cook quarter of a pound of steak and half a pound of Irish potatoes without the aid of cook- ing utensils .- Jan. 6, 1921.
"SNAKE DOCTOR" FLEET-Scout- masters of the eleven Boy Scout troops in Rome, representing 250 boys, will meet Monday night at 7:30 o'clock at headquarters, 3131% Broad street, on call of Executive Geo. E. Bennett, who will present to them a plan whereby each troop may own its own boat for use on the rivers around Rome.
Mr. Bennett will tell the scoutmasters that three motor boats can be purchased at a total cost of $400, which will be things of pleasure for a long time and will be useful in emergencies as they arise; also that this would represent a tax of less than $2 apiece if the 250 Scouts paid for it out of what they might save or earn.
He will suggest that each troop can obtain some kind of craft within two weeks by doing a little planning and work. The "flagship" of the fleet unit will be the motor boat already in use, known as the "Boy Scout," and the three other motor boats would be appropri- ately named. The four would be allotted to certain troop units for certain pe- riods of time, and seven batteaux or canoes would be bought which troops could use when not in charge of the motor boats. The allotments would be constantly changing, so that, for in- stance, Scoutmaster George R. Popay's Troop 7 would have charge of one of the motor boats for a week, and for three weeks would take a batteau or
canoe, and the fifth week come back to another motor boat. The power boats would tow the paddle craft often, so all could have fun.
Two of the troops already have craft which could be substituted for that many boats with paddles or oars. Troop 11 (Horace Gillespie, scoutmaster) has bought a batteau in the Fourth Ward, has painted it and is due by now to have shoved it in the water. Troop 2 (Ed King, scoutmaster) will meet in the Fourth Ward tomorrow afternoon at 3 o'clock to put finishing touches on their house boat, work on which was in- terrupted by the recent week spent at camp at Cloudland. Mr. King says the boys are going to launch their house- boat with all kinds of salty ceremony, including the selection of a fair young lady sponsor, the reading of passages from the manual and a speech or so, and free lemonade and all the sand- wiches anybody could eat.
It is unnecessary to say the "Snake Doctor Fleet" will take official recog- nition of the event and turn out in full array, and will sound their gongs and toot their whistles as the strange craft slips from the ways. The honor of pushing the house boat a piece up the Oostanaula will then be given one of the visiting host.
Mr. King's boys have built the house boat entirely without help. They laid her keel and sides, nailed on the cross pieces for the bottom, poured tar pitch on the outside and painted her with tar inside. The boat's length is 22 feet and her width 8 feet. She will be a scow for a while, because Mr. King said the patience of the boys would be
MODERN EXPLORERS ON THE PLACID OOSTANAULA.
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threadbare if he tried to put on the house part right away. So they are go- ing to slip her sidewise in the water and rig out some cross pieces for the 32 Scouts to perch upon.
Part of them will bail until the boat seems to stop leaking, then everybody will sit on the seats and yell defiantly at all passing craft. Presently the en- gine will be installed so she can kick along under her own power. Whether she will be fitted out with a propeller or rear wheel like a steamboat has not been decided. The Annie H. has a rear paddle wheel, and works with a motor forward.
The Scouts have two months of va- cation left and plenty of afternoons thereafter, and they seem determined to spend a good part of it on the water. -July 14, 1921.
SCOUTS LAUNCH HOUSE BOAT -An event in the life of the Boy Scouts of Rome, and particularly of Troop 2, Ed King, scoutmaster, will be the launching Wednesday afternoon at 4:30 o'clock of the "Sequoyah," house boat, at a point in the Fourth Ward, opposite the middle distance between the old Seventh Avenue cemetery and the city pumping station. A large crowd of Scouts will no doubt see the "Se- quoyah" slide from the ways into the Oostanaula River, for every member in the county has been invited by Troop 2 and Scout Executive Bennett, and there are 350 of them. The Lindale and Cave Spring Troops are also invited.
A tub of free lemonade and free sandwiches while they last will be served. Troop 11, H Horace Gillespie, scoutmaster, will probably launch its batteau at the same time.
All units of the "Snake Doctor Fleet" are requested to get under way at 4 o'clock for the scene of the launching. These include the Annie H., the Nell, the Katie, the Emmagene H., the Daniel Boat, the Boy Scout, other motor boats, and all the canoes and batteaux that can be made seaworthy by that time. The craft will land above the scene of the launching and prepare to toot their whistles and sound their gongs as the "Sequoyah" plunges in. After she is launched, the boys will man her and as many as she will hold will take a ride, and the other Scouts will be taken aboard the various craft for a grand parade.
The "Sequoyah" is due to have a fair sponsor and a dark blue flag with white stars and a white anchor on it. Her engine will be put in after the boys
have had their first ride in front of one of the motor boats. A short sketch of Sequoyah, who invented the Cherokee Indian alphabet, will be read during the exercises.
The Girl Scouts and the public gen- erally are invited and the boys will try to show them how a real boat should be launched.
As the fleet steams slowly up and down the river, past Sixth Avenue, it will be reviewed by city officials, and Jim D'Arcy, an old sailor, and "Chips" Berliner, the local navy recruiting agent, are invited to join them. The whole affair will probably break up in a swimming party on the Oostanaula .- July 24, 1921.
TWO SCOUTS RIDE 50 MILES- Boy Scouts Julius M. Cooley, Jr., 13, son of Julius M. Cooley, of the Rome Farm Equipment Co. and resident of 5 Butler street, and Ralph Jones, 14, son of H. L. Jones, traveling salesman of the H. B. Parks Co. and resident of Pennington avenue, South Rome, re- turned to Rome about 6:50 o'clock last night after a memorable quest for merit badges. They pedaled to Cartersville and back, approximately 50 miles, in 20 minutes less than 10 hours. Both boys are members of Troop No. 8.
Asked if his legs hurt like he had growing pains, Scout Cooley declared : "I'll say they do!"
The boys were told that it was a good test of scout ability to make it to Cartersville and back starting at 9:10 o'clock yesterday morning. That gave them until 7:10 last night. Neither had been there before, so the trip had an added zest.
Julius said :
"The roads were bad most of the way and we saw convicts working them near Cartersville. We took our lunches with us and ate them along the road at a stream, and had supper when we re- turned home. There were no accidents except that I hit a bump and fell once, throwing me off on my side, and Ralph's pedal struck me. I was not hurt but lost a little breath and saw a few stars. It was a great trip."
The boys reported to Scout Executive Bennett and are due to receive their merit badges soon. Part of the test had been completed before. This consisted of reading a map and repairing bicycle punctures and taking their bicycles apart and putting them together again. -Jan. 23, 1921.
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A HISTORY OF ROME AND FLOYD COUNTY
A GLIMPSE OF MOBLEY (DeSOTO) PARK AND LAKE
The hill to the left was where Philip W. Hemphill, one of Rome's founders, built his home. The park property has been acquired for the Greater Darlington School, and removal to the site will mark a new era in that institution's career.
GIRL SCOUTS HEAR TALK-At the Lindale Methodist church Sunday afternoon a large number of girl scouts with their captains and lieutenants as- sembled to hear Mrs. Juliette Lowe, of Savannah, an international figure in the scout movement, make an address on scouting.
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