MDJ Time Capsule: The Week of Dec. 9

This week’s Time Capsule looks at liquor busts, dust storms and Wesley Memorial Hospital.

100 years ago ...

The Thursday, Dec. 14, 1922, edition of The Cobb County Times reported that “a blind tiger chase” began on Dixie Highway a few miles south of Acworth the day before when deputies sighted a suspected “rum-runner.” The chase ended near Cartersville when the car, laden with more than 200 quarts of bonded liquor, was overtaken and confiscated. H.G. Williams was arrested for violating the state Prohibition Act and placed in the Cobb County Jail.

The end to the chase came about after pursuing officers shot a hole in the gas tank of the fugitive car. The vehicle was constructed specifically for the transport of liquor and had secret compartments to conceal the contraband. Williams told officers he brought the liquor from Savannah, but would not tell where he was taking it.

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A Ford car driven by Mrs. Rheba Bearden “ran amuck on Atlanta Street in front of the (Cobb County) courthouse” the Friday before. The vehicle struck and seriously injured Mrs. Charlie Cox as she was “mounting the sidewalk.” Mrs. Cox was taken to Nolan’s Sanitarium and improving. Bearden, who was charged with reckless driving, lost control of her car while heading north on Atlanta Street. After striking Mrs. Cox, the Ford ran up the sidewalk to an alley before coming to a full stop.

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A fire of unknown origin happened at Benson’s Bakery in Marietta late the Monday night before and resulted in several hundred dollars worth of damage to the building and contents. The fire was discovered in its early stages and extinguished before becoming more serious.

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The D.P. Butler Motor Company, the local Ford agency in Marietta, announced it was providing a 24-hour repair service by adding an extra shift to their mechanical department.

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Over 75 men from Marietta and Cobb County were reported as having attended the stag party given at the W.A. Florence Department Store in Marietta the Friday before. Music was furnished by a string band. “Smokes and refreshments” were served by the sales ladies throughout the evening.

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On the front page, the editors carried a blurb, titled “Tons of Flying Dust,” that said:

”According to estimates of an expert who has studied the remarkable phenomena of dust and sandstorms in the arid regions of the West, every cubic mile of the lower air during an ordinary ‘dry storm’ contains at least 225 tons of dust, while in severe storms of this kind as much as 126,000 tons of dust and sand may be contained in a cubic mile of air. Dust storms sometimes last 20 to 30 hours.”

The Dust Bowl, an almost decade-long period of severe dust storms that damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies, would begin in 1930.

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The Thursday, Dec. 7, 1922, edition of The Marietta Journal reported that the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co. opened a grocery store on Washington Avenue in Marietta, just below the Wikle Book Store, the week before. The A&P stores were known across the country with over 8,000 locations in operation.

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Sheriff W.E. Swanson and deputies, Sanders and Groover, captured a still on Mud Creek near Mount View the Friday before. The still, which had a 50-gallon capacity, and 300 gallons of beer were destroyed by the officers. Five men were said to have been working at the still, but they heard the officers in time to make an escape.

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A photo and a story ran on the front page about Wesley Memorial Hospital. The article said the hospital was established for three purposes — to care for and heal the sick, to train nurses and to furnish facilities for medical education. It was one of the hospitals being used for teaching students at Emory University and contributed to the promotion of medical science. Rich and poor alike were received with all getting the same food and attention. Offerings made in the congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, provide for the hospital’s charity work. The hospital was located five and a half miles from the center of Atlanta in a residential section that was convenient to street cars.

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In the “News of Interest Throughout the County” column, the following appeared:

♦The Blackwell section reported on the death of George Raines, 75. The correspondent wrote “the great monster death visited our community last Thursday morning and claimed the spirit” of Raines who had been suffering for several days with pneumonia.

♦The McAfee section reported that a lot of wells in the area were failing and that if it didn’t see a good rain soon, water was going to be scarce. While there had been showers almost every week, those were not sufficient enough to replenish the wells.

♦The Milford section reported Claud Paget cut his hand with an axe, but was under the care of Dr. L.L. Blair.

♦The Morris Crossroads section reported that Joe Brown was moving his saw mill to the farm that he recently bought from L.G. Hagood near this site and that it would give several men jobs for the winter.