Sunday, Oct. 28, 1962

Berry Vikings return 7 cage vets – minus height

The word “if” is very much in evidence, according to Coach Larry Taylor, as the Berry College basketball Vikings prepare for the upcoming season, which will feature a “revved-up” brand of hardwood play in the GIAC loop.

Despite the return of seven lettermen from last year’s squad, the rebounding department of the Vikings poses the biggest “if,” with the front line definitely at a height disadvantage, says Taylor. Back from the 1961-62 team that compiled a 7 won, 13 lost record, are Capt. Charles Wade, Russell Dickey, Charlie McDaniel, Jerry Swilling, Renny Bryner and Jerry Gatlin.

At the present reading, the probable staring lineup would include: forwards Capt. Wade, 6’2”, and Dickey, 6’3”; center will be 6’1” Jim Stidham, a transfer from Hiawassee Junior College; guards will be ably handled by a pair of vets with plenty of cage know-how, Bryner and McDaniel.

However, Coach Taylor said the “first five” are being pressed for starting positions by Gatlin (6’0”), and freshman Jimmy Harris (6’1”); Dan Kelly (6’2”) at center, along with freshmen guards Brendel Cox and Swilling, both standing in at even six-feet.

Regarding the Georgia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, of which both Berry and Shorter are members, Taylor said the league has improved greatly over last season. The Berry mentor said there will be better balance in the loop than in previous years, with the likelihood that Shorter and LaGrange College will battle it out for the championship.

Taylor rates Valdosta State a “dark horse” possibility. The first annual Kiwanis Tip-Off Tournament, scheduled Nov. 16-17, will also initiate play for both local teams. Memorial Gym will be the scene of the tourney. Three GIAC quintets will be in action in the tourney, along with one “offside” team. First-round games in the meet will have Valdosta going against Berry, while Shorter will take on Birmingham Southern.

Two games on the final night of the tournament will find the first-round winners vying for the championship, and the losers battling it out for the No. 3 spot.

Monday, Oct. 29, 1962

Negro student reaction slow in Mississippi

JACKSON, Miss. (UPI) — Negro James Meredith says any talk of his admittance to the University of Mississippi apparently has been declared taboo in the state’s Negro school system.

Meredith said in a telephone interview from Oxford Sunday, that he had received thousands of letters from students in other states but not more than a handful from Mississippi.

“Either students in Mississippi are being pressured, or they are against my enrollment, or they are insensitive to the situation,” he told United Press International. “The first reason seems the most likely.”

“I haven’t even received a single word from my old school, Jackson State College,” Meredith added.

The 29-year-old Air Force veteran said he recently got a letter from two Negro high school students in the state who added, “As you know, we can’t sign our names.”

Meredith said he checked with a teacher at the students’ school who told him faculty members and students were not “allowed to discuss his enrollment.”

Meredith said he had hoped his entrance to the school would have its greatest effect on Mississippi’s Negro youth.

“But, contrary to students the world over, Negro college students in Mississippi have been totally and completely silent,” he said.

Asked to comment on a claim by the Citizens Councils that he would never be able to attend Ole Miss without an armed guard, Meredith replied, “They would have more knowledge than I would about those things.”

Tuesday, Oct. 30, 1962

Boy Scouts distribute Civil Defense data

Boy Scouts of Lindale’s five troops are busy doing a public service on behalf of the Floyd County Civil Defense effort.

Placards, published by the Federal Civil Defense Administration, on which air raid instructions are given, are to be placed in every home in the county.

Members of the local Scout troops are responsible for placing the placards in homes in a wide area – from the east side of U.S. Highway 27, east to the Bartow County line, and form Betts Street, south to the Polk County line, including Lindale and Rosemont Park.

Approximately 6,000 placards were given to the Lindale scoutmasters late yesterday for distribution among their Scouts. The placards were printed by Post 42, B.S.A., at Georgia School for the Deaf at Cave Spring.

Wednesday, Oct. 31, 1962

Cedar Bluff producer uses ‘specs’ to half fights among 22,000 hens

An egg producer famer in Cedar Bluff, Ala., has learned to combat fighting among his hens by “specs.” R.C. McElrath, owner of the Cedar Bluff Poultry Farm, has put specs on his 22,000 hens – and has plans to add 20,000 more hens in January.

“At first,” said Mr. McElrath, “after I put specs on the hens, they slowed down their production. But gradually they began coming back to their capacity. I am getting 14,000 eggs per day and I feel they will reach peak production soon.”

The red specs, put on to keep the hens from seeing directly in front of them, are put through their beaks. The houses are kept cleaner, according to McElrath, for the hens fighting used to keep loose feathers about. The hens are now quiet.

McElrath has 20 acres in his poultry farm. He has one employee who lives in a five-room house on the farm. Each laying house is 40 by 300 feet. There are 7,000 laying hens to each house. The owner has recently constructed two more laying houses, making six laying houses.

There is a brooder pen in each laying house, where hens prone to brood, are put. They are kept here three days, then returned to the laying house.

Through the summer, McElrath, kept six electric fans running in each laying house. Lights come on at 3 a.m. and go off at 7 a.m. Cloudy days or rainy days lights are kept on all day.

McElrath has eggs gathered four times a day, which prevents both breakage of eggs and dirty eggs. Eggs are put in cases as they are gathered and a trolley carries the cased eggs to the cooling room, which is 12 by 24 feet, where they are unloaded.

McElrath’s eggs, even the cracked ones, are contracted for and a truck picks up eggs every day. McElrath purchases his chickens at 20 weeks of age. Laying hens are kept 14 months, then replaced.

McElrath has automatic water-ers and feeders. Hens are wormed through their drinking water every three months. McElrath’s laying houses are kept clean. In winter plastic sidings will be let down to protect hens from the cold.