The Petal paper. [volume], August 30, 1956, Image 1

About The Petal paper. [volume] (Petal, Miss.) 1953-19??

Image provided by: Mississippi Department of Archives and History

                
>>■ ' .. i ■ mu il ' i————
East Side
-By P. D.
Certainly seems that in the Cow Palace last week
there was a lot of Bull.
i
On March If, 1956,1 ran what has since been dubbed
“The Jackass Page.” On May 17th, because of requests
for additional copies of the page, I ran it a second time.
Today, for the same reason as of May 17th, I am running
it for the third time, both press runs of March 15tn and
May 17th being exhausted. The exact number cf states
from which requests have come fcr the page, I don’t
know, having not kept up with them, but my guess is
around forty. At any rate, I am indeed sorry to inflict
the page again on my regular subscribers, but it is my
hope they will understand . . . you know, anything to
make a dollar.
$1000 Reward
for anyone proving any connection between me
personally, or this paper, and any organization whatso
ever, with the exception of the Methodist Church, to
which I was at one time a member.
True, I don’t have a thousand bucks, but I can of
fer it safely because there is no connection, no subsidy,
no affiliation in any way with any person, place, or thing
and myself or my paper. The reason for this tirade is the
eternal accusation by some of being the local mouthpiece
for the NAACP, the Republican Party, certain monied in
terests, and God only knows what else. In the hope of
getting across (to a few at any rate) the fact that I do
not repiesent anything or anyone except myself, I would
like to print an exchange of letters between a gentlemen
at TIME and myself.
★ ★ ★
TIME
The Weekly Magazine
May 21, 1956
Mr. P. D. East
The Petal Paper
Petal, Mississippi
Dear Mr. East:
As a public relations consultant to the NAACP I get to
see many newspapers from across the country.
But never have I seen anything that startled me as much
as the March 15 issue of the Fetal Paper with its incredible
rediculing of the White Citizens Council crowd. I’m referring
specifically to the full-page ad I assume you wrote headed,
“You Too, Can Re Superior.”
I hope I am not congratulating a dead man. This must have
taken courage and I hope you are still with us.
I’m mighty curious to know what happened after you ex
ploded this blockbuster in vour community. There may be
material in your experience for a magazine article. Certaily
when a Southerner can stand up and tell the Councils off with
such wonderfully barbed language — and get away with it —
the rest of the country ought to hear about it (because, as you
know, the rest of the country holds the intransigent South in
greater awe and fear than you apparently do).
Although I’m not on the elitorial staff of TIME magazine
I’m sure I could, through my affiliations with people here and
in NAACP, get this story to the public, if it adds up to the kind
of story I hope it does.
Can you give me some details?
Cordially,
Don Gross
★ ★ ★
Petal, Miss.
May 24, 1956
Dear Mr. Gross:
Suh, what y’all mean by writing down here to a solid citi
zen of the South and indicating that he may not be appreciated
to the fullest by his fellow citizens?
Heavens! Etc.
I’d like y’all know, suh, that I was awarded the Corn Pone
Society’s Annual Medal, with four Magnolia clusters, for my
efforts in behalf of the Pure, White Citizen’s Councils of this
heah progressive state.
Seriously, Mr. Gross, your letter is appreciated greatly; it
was nice of you to take the trouble to write.
No, truth is, I’m not yet dead: After next week it may be
so, for I am running a rather praiseworthy editorial on our
beloved Senator James Eastland. As to the “Jack Ass Page
which ran on March 15th, I was not bothered as much because
of that as I have been for other things in the past.
For the most part I work at home, going to my office only
when necessary. And here at home we have something of a
telephone policy, especially on each Thursday and Friday. It
is this: I do not answer the telephone at all. Anyone calling is
requested by my wife to state their name before she says whe
ther or not I’m in. It is not that I’m a big shot, but is a simple
matter of good judgement. I do not argue with anyone what
soever, and from experience I’ve learned that a person calling
and refusing to state his name has a hankering to argue, an
I think it’s foolish to discuss anything with an anoymous cal
•lor*
At any rate, following the issue of March 15th, we had half
dozen calls, and not one would identify himself. I did not talk
with them. One person told my wife to tell me not to stick my
head out the house for at least six weeks. My wife said, You
sound like you’re about as big as he is, why don’t you tell
him7” The lady calling replied, “I won’t, but my husband is
going to.” To date I haven’t encountered the fellow. Another
person called, A LADY, and laid down the law to my wife for
my individual understanding, referring to me as a “nigger lov
ing bastard.” (My wife agreed with the latter reference.)
On the whole, Mr. Gross, not much was said. Of course,
a little something was done. Since March 15th I’ve lost over
two-hundred« subscriptions. Naturally, I can’t prove it, but I
have good reason to believe that there is something resembling
an organized effort to stop advertising with my paper As I
said, I can’t prove it . . . I’d be the last person who would know,
“o previous trouble with my fellow citizens relative to
my editorial policy, let me tell you about an experience last
summer. I stopped for a traffic light in Hattiesburg and a man
walked up to my car and invited me out, saying that if I d get
out he’d mop up the street with me. Naturally, being a coward,
I declined, telling him that he’d have to offer more inducement
than that. That’s one minor incident.
I have received unsigned letters in which I was called
(Continued On Page 2)
'
Local Schools Open Tomorrow;
Faculty For This Year Is Named
_——--—
John A. Johnson
Superintendent
For 1956-57 Year
The Petal Schools will officially
legin the 1956-57 school session
it 8:30 a.m. on August 31, 1956,
ccording to Mr. John A. Johnson,
Principal. All patrons and friends
jf the school are invited to be
iresent at the opening exercises.
All Juniors and Seniors are re
vested to register on Thursday,
\ugust 30 at 9:00 a.m. School
lusses will not operate on Thurs
lay, and Juniors and Seniors will
e expected to provide their own
ransportation for this registra
ion.
Classification and registration
or all other students will be held
.n Friday. A short devotional pro
gram will be held in the senior
ligh apditorium from 8:30 to 9:30
i.m. and all junior and senior high
chool students are requested to
ie present.
All bus drivers will cover their
oute in ample time so as to reach
he school by 8:20 a. m. on Friday,
\ugust 31 and will be requested
o remain on the campus until
■egistration has been completed
vhich should be about 11:00 a.m.
Attention is especially directed
o the fact that all beginning pup
ls (those that are enrolling in the
-.chool for the first time) must pre
ent i birth certificate as we can
iot enroll any student who will
lot be six years of age on or be
ore January 1, 1957; and all other
tudents must present their old
look cards before they can be is
ued a set of books for the next
chool session.
(Continued on Page 5)
Dr. Wimberly
Opens Offices
In Hattiesburg
Dr. M. N. Wimberly, chiroprac
or, has opened offices for practice
n Hattiesburg at 901 West Pine
St.
Dr. Wimberly is an Army vet
>ran, having served with the 36th
Division from 1940 to 1945. He is
i graduate of the Palmer School
jf Chiropractic of Davenport,
owa, having practiced for five
'ears in Oakdale and Alexandria,
La.
Dr. Wimberly served for two
years as president of the Louis
iana Chiropractic Association, is
former member of the First Bap
ist Church, Oakdale and Baptist
Temple Church of Alexandria,
past Worthy Patron of Eastern
Star of Golden Rule Chapter No.
78, past member of Athletic Asso
ciation, Chamber of Commerce,
Lions Club, Oakdale, and is pres
ently member of all Masonic
bodies including El Karubah Tem
ple A. A.'O. N. M. S. of Shreve
port, La., and is member of the
international Chiropractors Asso
ciation.
Dr. Wimberly, his wife and two
children, Mike, age 8, and Patsy,
age 12, reside at 901 West Pine
St. where they have established
offices.
(Continued on Page 7)
Letters
Pace Oil Co.
Magee, Miss.
Aug. 22, 1956
The Petal Paper
c/o Editor P. D. East
Petal, Mississippi
Dear Editor:
Please send us ten copies of
your August 23rd issue and en
close the cost of same.
It goes without saying that we
are grateful to you for this article
and the direct reference to my
father, M. M.Pace, who has been
in the Service Station business
only a year. However he seems to
have gotten off on the right foot
by the sound of your feeling ref
erence to the treatment you re
ceived in his station.
Articles like yours reaffirm our
faith in our fellow man.
Kindest personal regards,
Sincerely,
JACK PACE.
, v
TELEVISION: Not The Hand That Feeds Us —
But What Does It Take Away?
\ i
No doubt based on the ancient saying
that one picture is worth ten thousand words,
television and some newspapers appear to
be fighting a picture-word battle. That is,
TV shows ten thousand pictures and news
papers feel obligated to print a hundred
thousand words.
To us this has all the ear marks of high
humor. If television shows ten thousand pic
tures, it seems newspapers would do better
to print only one thousand words — the sti
pulation being, of course, one thousand
choice words.
When WDAM-TV entered business a few
months ago a newspaper in Jones County
did print something like a thousand words
— in our opinion, no so choice.
Obviously, in the eternal pursuit of the
dollar bill, the newspaper was'prompted by
ignorance or fear (And the two may well be
the same thing.) to print a brochure to be
given to their advertising accounts in which
they stated: “Here Are THE FACTS on what
your Advertising Dollar ACTUALLY BUYS
when invested in T-V.” In our opinion, with
some concrete evidence to support it, the bro
chure misrepresented the whole concept of
TV as a media for advertisers. (Here and
now let us make clear that we are not selling
TV advertising. We’ve got problems of our
own, which, incidentally, were not caused
by TV coming to town. But we feel that a
newspaper has an obligation to present facts,
and analyze them to the best of its ability.)
With reference to the newspaper printed
brochure under discussion, they presented
the number of homes, the nur *or of televis
ion households, and percentage of TV set£ to
household.
Two things seemed unfair about iheir
presentation. 1. The estimate was made in
June of 1955, over a year ago. 2. They present
6 counties in this area, instead of the 29 ac
tually served by the television station.
Now, with reference to the number of
homes in which television is present, we
have talked with dealers in Hattiesburg and
have approximated the additional sale of
TV sets since June of 1955. The estimate,
from the report by dealers, amounts to 3800.
And remember this, Hattiesburg is only one
town in bne county.
The brochure states that in the 6 counties
presented there are 10,000 TV sets. Actually,
in the 29 counties served by WDAM, the fig
ure in June of 1955 was 44,480. And with
the Hattiesburg sales estimate to base the
increase on, our estimate would be that in
the 29 county area there is somewhere near
60,000 TV sets presently.
The brochure is misleading in its pre
sentation of program ratings. The Trendex
TV ratings are, we understand, based pri
marily on televiewing in the East, which,
most certainly has more to offer a person in
the evening, which is the time of the greatest
audiences for television. Thus, with fewer,
indeed, practically none, attractions here in
Mississippi, the audience watching TV would,
it seems logical to us, be greater than in the
fftast, not necessarily percentagewise, but
more important, in actual numbers of per
sons.
The brochure hastens to point out that
with the presented percentages to the total
number of sets in the 6 county area there
would be 3940 persons watching the best
rated TV program. And in addition to that
misrepresentation, they point out that their
town has three stations to choose from, all
presenting good reception.
They ask: “Just how can you tell WHO is
watching your T-V advertising? Do they pre
fer the top shows or canned film?”
Admittedly, those two question deserve a
small amount of comment. First, let us ask
this question: “Just how can you tell WHO
is reading your ad in the newspaper?” Ad
vertising men, Dr. Gallup, phychologists, and
countless others have tried for years to ans
wer that question. Frankly, no one knows!
Too, we sort of resent a negative question
of that sort. It reminds us of a sign which
might read: Dr. Bohunk’s Baby Food Won’t
Poison Your Baby. That leaves the impres
sion that all other foods would bring im
mediate death.
As to the second question about what a
person prefers, that leads a person to believe
that the local TV station carries only canned
film programs. That, of course, is far from
true, as anyone who ever watched the sta
tion knows.
We conclude that the newspaper which
put out the pamplet is suffering from a rath
er common malady; that is, instead of adding
strength to their argument they have just
raised their voices.
It is our opinion that there is no compe
tition between newspaper and television. It
is our opinion that, generally speaking, ad
vertisers with an increased sales volumn in
creases their advertising budget. Too, it is
our opinion that newspapers and television
can work together 10 mutual advantage. Our
opinion is that each media supplements the
other, insofar as news coverage goes. True,
newspapers are out of the running insofar
as entertainment goes; however, by the same;
token, television is out of the running inso
far as editorial comment is concerned.
We believe, and this from experience,
that television has added to newspaper cir
culation. For example, we have watched TV
newscasts and gone out immediately and
bought a daily paper to get fuller details and
to see what editorial comment was made,
if any.
It is our opinion, too, that the brochure
printed to add a low blow to the new TV
station is the result of ignorance, which, as
we know too well shows itself whenever any
kind of change is coming about in our so
ciety. '
We have panned TV programs numerous
times in our paper. We are likely to con
tinue doing so when they stink. But, for Hea
ven’s sake, those of us in the newspaper
business should take a good look at ourselves
before we condemn TV. Commercial tele
vision is only 10 years old and it is far su
perior to most of the newspapers in the state,
some of which are a century old!
In conclusion we have only this to say:
Ignorance is the greatest enemy to progress
the world knows. We are aware of the fact
that TV is not the hand that feeds us in the
newspaper business. At the same time we
hold firmly to the conviction that we won’t
starve because of the coming of WDAM-TV
to the community.
Well, to be sure, we just sit back and en
joy it practically every evening of our life
— naturally, after we’ve read the newspaper
for the day.
J-■----- '
WHAT! And A Santa Claus, Too? —
f The Open Shop
“What is all this talk that’s in the papers
about the open shop?” asked Mr. Hennessey.
“Why, don’t you know?” said Dooley.
“Really, I’m surprised at yer ignorance, Hin
nessey. Whut is th’ ’open shop’? Sure, ’tis
a shop where they kape th’ door open t*
accommodate th’ constant stream of min corn
in’ in t’ take jobs cheaper thin th’ min that
has th’ jobs. ‘Tis like this, Hinnessey — sup
pose wan of these free-barn amerycan citi
• %
zens is wurkin’ in an open shop fer th’ prince
ly wages of wan large iron dollar a day fo’
tin hours. Along comes another free-bam
son-of-a-gun, an’ he sez to th’ boss, ‘I think
I could handle th’ job fer ninety cints.’
*Shure,’ sez the boss, an’ th’ wan-dollar man
gits th’ merry jinglin’ can, an’ goes out into
th* crool wourld t’ exercise his inalienable
rights as a free-bam Amerycan citizen an’
(Continued On Page 7)
Optimist Notes —
Committee Reports On Park Site;
J. L. Jordan Discusses 4-H Work
rs
Members of the Petal Optimist
Club heard a committee report
on the possible location of the
park at their regular meeting last
Thursday night.
Members of the Park Location
Committee, Burrell C. Young, R.
B Nelson, Jack W. Burks and E.
M. Carter, reported on an approx
imate 20-acre tract of land owned
by O. R. Mozingo, located a half
mile from Petal on the Old Rich
ton Road.
The club members approved the
purchase of the site. Plans now
call tor a' complete survey of the
area, with the placement of park
equipment in mind.
In addition to the committee re
port, Mr. James L. Jordan, Assis
tant County Agent of Forrest
County, spoke on the work he was
doing with 4-H groups throughout
the county. In his talk, Mr. Jor
dan pointed out the fact that Op
timist work went along with 4-H
work, both serving boys in the
county to the best possible advan
tage.
Club guests, in addition to Mr.
Jordan, wer^ David Swandt and
L. C. Guess. Dr. O. N. Ashcraft,
club president, presided at the
meeting.
Southerners
Getting Set
For Season
Mississippi Southern’s 1956 foot
ball hopefuls will begin two-a
day practice sessions when they
report on Sept. 1, Head Coach
Thad (Pie) Vann announced to
day.
Vann, who’ll begin his eighth
season at head taskmaster of the
Southerners, and his staff of
Clyde Stuart, Roland Dale and C.
J. Taylor expect “about 75” can
didates to report.
“We have close to 40 ‘old men’
coming back and we have invited
35 new' candidates.” Vann said.
“All of them have been told to
report in good physical shape be
cause we plan to get dowm to
hard work from the start.”
Pre-school practice plans call
for the working day to begin at
7 a.m., w'ith breakfast at the train
ing able. The day includes three
lecture-rocm sessions for squad
and staff, three separate meet
ings for the staff and tw'o work
outs on the field.
The aspirants will report Thurs
day, August 30 and will spend
Thursday and Friday drawing
equipment and undergoing phys
icals.
Of the 1955 squad-members re
turning, 16 are lettermen. Line
men in this group are Don Owens
of St. Louis, Mo., and P. W. Un
derw'ood of Cordova, Ala. (shifted
from guard); guards Dave Fitz
gerald of McKeesport, Pa., A1 Tre
(Continued on Page 5)
Ira Hall Opening
The Jewelry Shop
Saturday, Sept. 1
More indication of potent i;.J ,
Petal progress i* seen in the. an
nouncement this week by Ira P>.
Hall of the opening of his new
jewelry store here on Saturday,
Sept. 1st.
The Jewelry Shop will be locat
IRA B. HALL
ed next to Nelson’s Shoe Store,
in the new Mathis Building, on
Main Street.
The store is completely new in
every respect. It is air-conditioned
and will have a large stock of
nationally known names in the
jewelry business.
Ira Hall, the owner of the new
store, has been in the retail jew
elry business for the past ten
years. He besan his experience
with Joyce Jewelry Company of
Mobile. Ala., where he spent three
years. For the past seven years
Mr. Hall has been with The Dia
mond Shop in Hattiesburg.
A native of Alabama, Mr. Hall
is married to the former Inez
Jeter of Monroeville, Ala. They
have two sons, Larry, age 9, and
Gary, age 5. The Halls are mem
bers of the Baptist Church; Mr.
Hall is also a member of the Ma
sonic Order.
“For sometime I have watched
with interest the growth of Petal,”
stated Mr. Hall, “and to put in our
store here wasn’t a hard decision
to make. I have great faith in the
continuing growth of he town.
“The Jewelry Shop will carry a
complete line of merchandise. We
will featuie such famous names
as Elgin, Bulova, Gruen. Our
stock of diamonds will be com
plete. Also, we wall have birth
stones, costumes jewelry, Sun
beam household appliances and
complete facilities for all watch
repairs, major or minor.
“It is my sincere hope that our
store will add to the growth and
prosperity of Petal. And to every
one I extend a cordial invitation
to drop in and visit with us at
108 Main Street.” concluded Mr.
Hall.
Now That School Is Near —
Inexpensive Eye Test Program Can
Give Many Children Better Sight
4
Condensed from
Town Journal Magazine
Kansas school children are
about like school children any
where—and one out of every five
has some eye defect serious
enough to interfere with his
school work.
This fact was proved in a state
wide program that so far has giv
en nearly 400,000 school children
a real eye test— not just a run
through the old Snellen eye chart
with the big E at the top.
The test, which was started by
the Kansas Optometric Associa
tion in 1940, has saved literally
thousands of children from fail
ure, or near failure in school, life
long vision troubles due to neg
lected eyes, and even blindness!
I it could be duplicated here, in
iny state, or even in any local
school, for remarkably little
money.
The test is divided into three
parts: (1) A set of 12 cards, each
designed to show up a distinctly
different eye trouble; (2) the old
fashioned Snellen test, still one
of the best ways to detect near
sightedness; and (3) a personal
examination, by an optometrist,
to verify the “stereoscopic” find
ing and check for signs of disease
in each child’s eyes.
When the test was given in the
Yates Center, Kansas, high school
gym last year, more thad 300 of
the 1200 children tested showed
eye defects never previously diag
nosed; and another 60 showed
troubles serious enough to require
(Continued on Page 7)