100 Years Ago

As presented in the July 1922 editions of the Rome Tribune-Herald

Dr. L. A. Mallicoat, a prominent physician of Trion, was bitten by a rattlesnake when he ran his hand under a pile of wood after a chicken which he was trying to catch. The snake, which was a small one, having only two buttons, was killed. The injury is not considered serious and Dr. Mallicoat was able to continue his practice the following day.

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Rome is prosperous in the first place because it is the mecca for farmers and townsmen for more than 100 miles around, and because it is offering such inducements in the way of bargains and entertainment as will draw sooner or later all the delinquents and uninitiated of the territory within a radius of 150 miles from here.

As for evidence of prosperity, one only has to stand on any corner of Broad Street and watch people saunter by. Very few are in a hurry. The feminine quota of our population dresses in a style that has no peer anywhere in the United States, considering the size of the town.

The fact that so many Rome citizens wear hard, high-standing collars in this hot weather, shows that there are so many pleasant things in local life that heat, sweat, stench water, and soaked clothes are hardly noticeable.

Broad Street with its brilliant white-way, stores with their scintillating decorations, and restaurants with their good food at cheap prices, all indicate the splendor which is the result of prosperity and good trade.

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Miss Belle Bass’ hosts of Rome friends will be interested to know that she has reached New York City after a delightful trip from Honolulu through the Panama Canal. Miss Bass stopped at Havana and other points en route. She spent July 4 in Baltimore and the Santa Ana of the Pacific mail was due to reach New York any day.

Miss Bass expects to come to Rome near the end of this month.

Tuesday, July 11, 1972 Rome hosting state checkers tournament

To those uninformed spectators who connect the ancient and honorable game of checkers, or draughts, with country stores and cracker barrel philosophy, the threeday tournament currently in progress at the Rome Civic Center can be something of a shock.

For no tuneless, off-key whistling accompanies the play, and no one has time for philosophy, off-the-cuff or otherwise. Some 15 tables are set up across the breadth of the big, airy, well lighted room, giving every match plenty of privacy — and every table is busy.

According to information given by Fred Williams, current president of the Georgia State Checkers Association, the “three move restriction” is followed, a system in which each opponent draws an opening attack from a pack of tiny cards columned with cryptic rows of figures. These determine the first three opening moves to be played, forcing each contestant into a type of general play covering the entire board rather than restricting himself to a favorite game with which he has had long experience.

The Rev. Paul Harwell, pastor of North Rome United Methodist Church, is an active member of the association, taking part not only in the tournament play, but in its planning and arrangement. An informative little brochure written by him, listing winners of Georgia tournaments since 1915 and the sites of play, features a special checkers problem on its cover, as well as interior artwork by Ron Hicks and format by miss Birdilee Fincher, the Rev. Harwell’s church secretary.

Thirty contestants are entered for the tournament, president William says, coming from every part of the state. Current and defending champion is Leonard Bolden, while last year’s champion, E. T. Rolader, of Atlanta, wears the distinction of having emerged in ninth place from the 1971 national checker playing competitions.

All these entrants take their game very seriously indeed,

Williams says, to the extent of studying the game with its many variations and ramifications — not as comprehensive as chess, it still offers a wide field of possibilities — as closely as any professional golfer studies his game. Williams himself has a checker library of some 435 volumes, which he says comprises only a very small percentage of playbooks published.

A point system determines the eventual winner of the three-day match, which began at 9 a.m Monday and will finish on Wednesday. There are no “rise and fly” eliminations; a maximum of four points is scored for a win, or two points awarded each contestant in case of a tie. A “heat” of four games determines the winner of each session.

The Rev. Harwell, who has been an active member of the association, identifies the procedure followed as the “Swiss System.” A number of Rome entrants have competed already, he said, including C. L. Paris, R. L. Cole and J. M. Swift.

Wednesday, July 12, 1972 What a place to take a bath

Wesley W. Wiggins, 25, was “hot and tired” Tuesday, so he took off his clothes, stacked them in a neat pile, and took a nude bath in the fountain in front of the Georgia Power Co. on Atlanta’s Peachtree Street.

Police Sgt. G. J. Grecko said he was driving past when he noticed a crowd gathered at the fountain. He said Wiggins was splashing away, oblivious to the mass of onlookers.

Wiggins was charged with public indecency and creating a turmoil, and a hearing was set for today in Atlanta’s Municipal Court.

Friday, July 14, 1972 Roman pedals to Pensacola

Nolan Rice, 27, is not a pole-sitter, a goldfish-swallower, nor any other sort of incurable stunt man. Yet he spent four vacation days last week pedaling a 10-speed Schwinn Continental bicycle from Lindale to Florida.

“This is the first time I’ve ever done anything out of the ordinary,” he said. “I just wanted to see if I could do it.”

Rice and his traveling companion, Wayne Kahlbau, 24, an employee of a pharmaceutical outfit in Pensacola, quit the bicycles and called a car just short of Pensacola, their goal.

“Wayne had something wrong with his bike,” said Rice. “If we’d gone the whole way, we’d have gotten there late Thursday.”

The men began the trip Sunday, and arrived Thursday morning

The West Point-Pepperell accountant lost five pounds, “mostly sweated it off, I think,” Rice said. Kauhlbau, who rode a Schwinn Supersport, shed 10 pounds.

The itinerary carried the bicycle enthusiasts through Georgia and Alabama.

“We stayed on back roads and stopped at country stores and talked with people. Everyone was as nice as they could be,” Rice commented.

The men slept three of the four nights on the road.

100 years ago as presented in the July 1922 editions of the Rome TribuneHerald

Seventy-five cents a round and the privilege of keeping balls found was the demand of caddies at golf clubs as they went on strike in Mobile, Ala. Meanwhile golfers carried their own clubs.

A recent order obligated the boys to turn in the balls they found. Their present rate of pay is 60 cents a round. The boys met, voicing their demands, and then took seats along the golf course on fences to watch developments.