Memoried Glances: 1941 — Square plans take shape
Published 12:00 am Saturday, August 13, 2016
Augusts past, 75 years ago.
From the LaGrange Daily News, 1941.
Front Page News
Plans Approved For Court Square Park In LaGrange — Representatives of the Chamber of Commerce met with LaGrange City Council members last night and approved plans for the building of a beautiful park on Court Square.
A total of $25,000 will be spent in building the park, which will make LaGrange a much more attractive city. Half of the sum is being furnished by Fuller E. Callaway, and the other half raised by public contributions.
The park, with an automatic electric fountain in its center, will be dedicated to the “Builders of LaGrange and Troup County” rather than to any specific individuals. The curb around the park will be squared up rather than its octagonal shape at present.
No parking of vehicles will be allowed immediately adjacent to the park curb.
A committee, composed of J.J. Milam, Henry Milam, Lewis Price, R.C. Swank and George Venable initiated the plans for such a park in LaGrange. A complete model of the future park will be placed in an undesignated display window today.
Troup Commissioners Forbid Sale Of Gas In County ‘After Hours’ — The Board of Commissioners of Roads and Revenues of Troup County met during the weekend and approved an order that no retail dealer in gasoline, or other petroleum products, shall, between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., give away or otherwise dispose of petroleum products within the bounds of Troup County.
The order is effective immediately, and county officers have been instructed to rigidly enforce the order.
Last week the City Council here passed an ordinance restricting the sale of gas in LaGrange “after hours.”
City Housewives Contribute 1,390 Pounds of Aluminum — LaGrange housewives contributed a total of 1,390 pounds of aluminum for the nation’s defense program in the recent campaign conducted in LaGrange by the members of the National Defense Corps, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, George O. Jones, LaGrange district Boy Scout chairman, said today.
Local Girl Scouts distributed handbills with information on the aluminum shortage and the urgent need to every home in the city. Local Boy Scouts collected the pieces of used aluminum in another house-to-house canvass and members of the local Defense Corps handled the transportation to the central point of collection, a bin erected by the Jaycees on Court Square plaza.
Later the Corps took the collection to Pine Mountain’s Scout camp where collections from the Chattahoochee area were weighed and made ready for shipment to a point designated by the Office of Production Management of the United States.
Course In First Aid Completed By Ladies Here — Twenty two ladies of LaGrange have completed a Red Cross First Aid Course, it was announced this morning by Police Chief J.E. Mathews.
The course, which took up various phases of rendering first aid in times of need, was started May 22 and concluded with final examinations on July 24. Twenty two local ladies passed the course.
Instructors were Chief Mathews, Officer D.H. Hunter and Troup County home demonstration agent Ida Bell.
Police Seeking ‘Meanest’ Person — LaGrange policemen are on the lookout for “one of the meanest persons in the world today.”
Some time last night the Log Cabin on Park Avenue was entered and looted of $5.75 worth of American Red Cross buttons.
‘Meanest’ Person Relieved Of Title — The News wishes to correct an error about the “meanest man” in LaGrange, who entered the Park Avenue Log Cabin recently and stole a large amount of Red Cross buttons.
The vile act of the unknown person has been shaded by another unknown person. During the weekend the First Methodist Church Sunday School department was entered and relieved of a small quantity of toys.
Police reported that the thug broke two window panes to gain entrance.
Editorial
Gasoline Rationing And The Tax Bill — We have just read about a few of the provisions of the new super tax measure which has just passed the House of Representatives.
We have also followed with interest the reaction of the public to the appeal of Mr. Ickes for voluntary saving of gasoline for defense, and learn with regret that the response to the appeal for voluntary cooperation has not been satisfactory.
It is stated from high authority that rationing of gasoline will undoubtedly be necessary.
Tish, tish, Mr. Ickes. Read the tax bill and you will know that a rationing law will not be necessary. The tax bill will take care of the rationing nicely. Who the dickens is going to have money with which to buy gasoline when the defense tax measure becomes the law?