FIFTY & 100 YEARS AGO CONTINUED

The spokesman added that drunks are turned over to the sergeant-in-charge who either arrests them on a public drunkenness charge or denies them a test.

“If they have had only a beer or something like that, we send them home,” he said.

The concern of the directive is that state funds would be used to cash checks. And in effect, if a personal check was to be accepted as payment for a driver’s license, that would be using state funds to cash a check.

However, most merchants use checks to pay their state sales taxes.

Monday, Feb. 19, 1973 Wife of evangelist sets Rome address

Mrs. Ruth Bell Graham, wife of evangelist Billy Graham, will be the speaker at a meeting of the women of First Presbyterian Church at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the church.

Mrs. Graham is the sister of Dr. Clayton Bell, pastor of First Presbyterian.

Born in the mission compound at Tsing Kiang, Pu, North Kaingsu, China, in June 1920, Mrs. Graham was the second of four children. Her parents were Dr. and Mrs. L. Nelson Bell. Her father was chief surgeon at the Presbyterian Hospital 300 miles north of Shanghai.

At the age of 13 she enrolled in high school in Korea. In 1941 after 25 years of service, the Bell family was forced to leave China because of a communist takeover.

Mrs. Graham completed her high school education at Montreat, N. C., and attended Wheaton College in Illinois, from which she graduated in 1943.

The Grahams met while students at Wheaton and were married at Montreat the August after their graduation. Mrs. Graham became a minister’s wife for a brief period in Western Springs, Ill., where Graham was a pastor. Since then she has made her home in Montreat, where their children, Virginia, Anne, Ruth, Franklin and Nelson Edman were born.

All three of the granddaughters are now married and they have five grandchildren.

Mrs. Graham is the author of a book published by Thomas Nelson and Sons titled “Our Christmas Story.”

Wednesday, Feb. 21, 1973 Champions named in elementary play

The Rome-Floyd County Department of Parks and Recreation has concluded regular season play for the elementary basketball teams.

In the 12-under girls division, Model defeated a fine Garden Lakes team for the league championship, 26-18. Model, coached by Joan Jones, compiled a season record of 8-0. The runners-up, Garden Lakes, coached by Nell and Vincent Carver, had a fine record of 7-0.

In the 12-under boys division, the West Rome Hawks won over East Rome’s team for the league championship, 33-30. West Rome, coached by Parky Tarvin, recorded a perfect season of 8-0, while the runne-up, East Rome, coached by David Jones, compiled a season record of 7-1.

In the championship for the 14-under girls division, Thornwood emerged the victor by defeating a strong Cave Spring team, 48-21. Thornwood, coached by Sarah Risser, concluded their season with a perfect 8-0 record. The runner-up, Cave Spring, coached by Cathy White, compiled a season record of 7-0.

The 14-under boys provided some tough competition with two aggressive teams fighting it out for the championship. East Rome No. 1 won over a strong Garden Lakes No. 1 team in overtime, 65-61. East Rome No. 1, coached by Eric Bain, had a perfect season with a record of 10-0. Garden Lakes, the runner up, compiled a season record of 9-1.

All-Star teams will be chosen in each division, and these teams will advance to different areas to participate in district recreation competition.

Thursday, Feb. 22, 1973 Former POW looking to future

The listless appetite of returned war prisoner Paul E. Galanti was a source of concern when he arrived a week ago. Now hospital corpsmen call him “garbage gut Galanti.”

The commander’s attractive, blue-eyed blonde wife, Phyllis, laughed Wednesday as she described his progress — and appetite — at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital.

“He’s demanding thicker milkshakes,” said Mrs. Galanti, with a shake of her head.

She said Galanti, 33, has received extraordinary treatment since his return from six and a half years in a North Vietnamese prison, but he’s been most touched by the gift of a hospital corpsman.

“He’s really been noticing cars. And he was touched after he had expressed an interest in a sports car, when a hospital corpsman brought him a homemade painted model of it — wrapped as a gift,” Mrs. Galanti said.

When Galanti was captured in June 1966, the styles for men were white shirts and skinny ties, said his wife.

“He’s fascinated now by the change in styles, but he’s still not sure what’s up to date.”

He’s also been watching news film of different periods, she said of her husband’s effort to catch up with the lost years.

The Richmond, Va., woman, chairman of the board of the League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, said her husband has shown interest in women’s lib.

“He was kind of groggy from some tests, and he woke up and asked the nurses: ‘What’s this Ms. thing,’” Mrs. Galanti said during an interview.

“He knew in prison I was doing things on behalf of the men,” she said of her POW work.

She said her husband apparently had seen a picture of her taken either in Sweden or in Paris on one of her trips on behalf of the prisoners.

She said the league is considering having thousands of POW bracelets melted down and made into a commemorative statue and then presented to the Smithsonian Institution.

She said her husband has “no bitterness about having lost this time. He seems to be looking toward the future.”

100 years ago as presented in the February 1923 editions of the Rome TribuneHerald

“Just the prettiest and sweetest little wife in the world,” as she was termed by her husband, Dick Keys, a wellknown resident of Chattooga County, and speaking of her to Lee Langley, his attorney here, has the “marrying bug.” She seems to think it is all right to take husbands on trial and then “marry” others as often as the wind strikes her.

That is the peculiar situation that will face Judge Moses Wright when he hears the petition of Dick Keys of Chattooga County for annulment of his “marriage” to the little lady.

Mr. Keys told his attorney that he married her in good faith about two years ago but recently a husky Alabamaian came to their home and demanded his wife. The Alabamaian said she was his wife and the lady admitted it. After a cursory glance at the physical proportions of the Alabamian, Mr. Keys agreed to give her up and she left with a husky one. Naturally, now Mr. Keys wants the marriage annulled, more especially as he has found a girl he knows is not married that he wants to marry.

The petition was filed in the Chattooga County Superior Court but the hearing has been set for Rome and Mr. Keys says that he is prepared to show that the sweet one has the “marrying bug” all right and the number of her husbands is not fully known. Outside of that he insists she is very much all right — suite, alluring, tender, but — too often duplicating these qualities.

--Rome High bested the Aragon High team in a rather one-sided game of basketball at the local Y Court by the score of 49-17. Rome High did some excellent passing. The score at the end of the first half was 20-9 and, in fact, Aragon was making a very poor showing indeed with its original team, the most of its points being scored after a number of substitutions. The lineups were as follows:

Rome High — Hanson, forward, 22; Barton, forward, 5; Horton, center, 16; Hull, guard, 0; Wood, guard, 6 .

Aragon High — Whiteside, forward, 0; Eliot, forward, 13; Randall, center, 2; Gaston, guard, 2; Houchonty, guard, 0.