28 July 1899: "The tradition is too well founded to be doubted..."

On this day in 1899, the Weekly Banner noted the start of the dog days of summer:

RAIN TODAY MEANS RAIN FOR 40 DAYS.

This is the First of the Celebrated "Dog Days."

     According to superstition, if it rains today we will have rain for forty days.

     "Dog Days" begin today. This is a critical period of the year for it means abundant showers or excessive drought. 

     Farmers who are anxious to secure good rains should start early with their prayers today. The tradition is too well founded to be doubted and this, the all-important first of the dog days should not be passed by unnoticed.

-- Weekly Banner, 28 July 1899, p. 1, col. 1.

"Dog days of summer" have a long history. The ancient Egyptians associated the heat of mid-summer with Sirius, the dog star, rising with the sun, and believed it foretold the annual flooding of the Nile. The Romans believed the bright star Sirius combined its heat with the sun to cause the hottest part of summer, calling this period "caniculares dies," the "days of the dog." 


At the time, the "dog days" fell from early July into the middle of August. Due to a phenomenon called the precession of the equinoxes, the date when Sirius rises with the sun moves later over time. Eventually, it will no longer rise during the heat of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.


Though there was no newspaper surviving from July 29th, later that summer, Athens had quite a few harsh storms, including one near the end of the dog days that included crop-destroying hail, flooded streets, and even a woman, Mrs. Mary Echols of John Street, killed by lightning in her own home.




Learn More: 

• Weekly Banner, Aug. 1898 - Oct. 1899 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• The Old Farmer's Almanac Book of Garden Wisdom by Cynthia Van Hazinga in the general collection.
• Hogs on Ice and Other Curious Expressions by Charles Earl Funk in the Reference collection.
• Partly Sunny: A Weather Junkie's Guide to Outsmarting the Weather by Alan Fields in the general collection.
• Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, 2nd edition, by William and Mary Morris in the Reference collection.
• Zoo in the Sky: A Book of Animal Constellations by Jacqueline Mitton in the children's collection.
• Loose Cannons and Red Herrings: A Book of Lost Metaphors by Robert Claiborne in the general collection.
• Night Has a Thousand Eyes: A Naked-Eye Guide to the Sky, Its Science, and Lore by Arthur Upgren in the general collection.
• Ask an Astronomer web page, by the Astronomy Department at Cornell University.

1 September 1885: "Everybody Will Be Happy"

On this day in 1885, the Weekly Banner-Watchman published this happy assessment of the future of Athens:

Learn More:

• Weekly Banner-Watchman, July 7, 1885 - April 17, 1888 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• U. S. Census Bureau Reference Shelf web page.
• American: Beyond Our Grandest Notions by Chris Matthews in the general collection. 
• Redefining Southern Culture: Mind and Identity in the Modern South by James C. Cobb in the general collection.
• Athens, Georgia: The Classic City--Tradition with Progress by Donald A. Smith in the Heritage collection.
• Cities in Our Future: Growth and Form, Environmental Health and Social Equity, edited by Robert Geddes in the general collection.
• Occurrence and Availability of Groundwater in the Athens Region by Dean B. Radtke in the Heritage collection.
• A Postcard History of Athens, Georgia by Gary L. Doster in the Reference, Heritage, and general collections.
• Athens, Georgia: In the Heart of Expansion, A Very Pleasant Place to Live by the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce in the Heritage collection.
• A Modern Southern Reader, edited by Ben Forkner and Patrick Samway in the general collection.
• Athens: A Pictorial History by James K. Reap in the Heritage and general collections.
• Cathedrals of Kudzu: A Personal Landscape of the American South by Hal Crowther in the general collection. 
• Athens for All/Athens para Todos: A Bilingual Guide to Spending an Hour or a Lifetime in Georgia's Classic City by Paul Matthews in the Heritage, Reference, and general collections.

20 August 1862: Cook Brothers to Build Armory

On this day in 1862, the following bit of local business news was published in the Southern Watchman:

 

Ferdinand and Francis Cook were brothers who had a contract to produce 30,000 Enfield rifles "complete with sabre-bayonet, sheath and frog" for the Confederate military in 1862. However, they had to flee New Orleans when the city came under occupation by the United States military, and escaped with "most of their armory machinery and a schooner of iron and steel." 


Like many other refugees during the war, the Cooks came to Athens, seeking an out-of-the-way place in which to re-establish their business. They purchased 63 acres of land with access to water power, and began building their factory. The armory was estimated to be worth over $600,000.00 after just six months of operation. Their first inspection was in January, 1863, by General Benjamin Huger, and a follow-up visit in March, 1863, noted that their guns were "the finest I have seen of Southern manufacture."  


The armory made infantry rifles, artillery rifles, and muskatoons; horseshoes for the cavalry; bayonets; and non-military agricultural items such as sorgham mills. Though hopes had been high for the manufacture of 100 guns per day, the reality was that the war had caused a severe labor shortage, and over time, also brought about shortages in basic necessities such as food and clothing.  The armory suspended production in July, 1864, when the Confederate government fell behind on payments. They produced only about 4,000 weapons for the Confederate military. 


The workers at the armory formed the 23rd Battalion, Georgia,  Local Defense, also known as the Athens Battalion, the Enfield Rifle Battalion, or Captain Cook's Battalion. They were a separate force from the Athens Home Guard, Mitchell's Thunderbolts, though some residents were members of both, such as John Gilleland and Jack O'Farrell. They were called into action for the Battle of Griswoldville, Georgia, in November, 1864.


Ferdinand Cook was killed less than a month later during a battle in Hardeeville, South Carolina. Francis Cook tried to keep the armory running, but the war came to an end, and the armory campus was sold for $18,000.00 to Athens Manufacturing Company in 1870. It would later be known in Athens as "the Check Factory," and in 1897 would become the first factory in Georgia to run on electricity. It is now the location of the University of Georgia Physical Plant, Information Technology Outreach Services, Marine Extension Services, and Small Business Development Center.




Learn More:

• Southern Watchman, Aug. 1861 - Aug. 1865 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Transition to an Industrial South by Michael John Gagnon in the Heritage and general collections.
• Chicopee Mill History by Olivia Bloomfield Carlisle in the Heritage collection.
• Confederate Athens by Kenneth Coleman in the Heritage and general collections.
• Athens, 1861-1865: As Seen Through Letters in the University of Georgia Libraries by Kenneth Coleman in the Heritage and general collections.
• Annals of Athens, 1801-1901 by Augustus Longstreet Hull via Internet Archive.
• Fields of Gray: The Battle of Griswoldville by Gary Livingston in the Heritage and general collections.
• Griswoldville by William Harris Bragg in the Heritage and general collections.
• The Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare, edited by Geoffrey Parker in the Reference and general collections.
• Weapons of the Civil War by William C. Davis in the Heritage collection.
• Weapons of the Civil War by Ian V. Hogg in the general collection.
• Arms and Equipment of the Civil War by Jack Coggins in the Heritage collection.
• Confederate Service Records for the 23rd Georgia Battalion in Fold3 History and Genealogy Archive via GALILEO. (Fold3 is the new name for Footnote.)
• Confederate Citizen Files in Fold3 History and Genealogy Archive via GALILEO.   (Fold3 is the new name for Footnote.)
• British Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle on the Smithsonian Institution Civil War website.
• 1864 Cook and Brother Carbine Rifle on the Smithsonian Institution Civil War website.

21 July 1905: UGA Patron Saves Child from Drowning

On this day in 1905, the Weekly Banner noted that industrialist and University of Georgia benefactor George Foster Peabody had done quite a good deed during his summer vacation:

 

Recently, another person associated with the University of Georgia saved a child from drowning: former Bulldogs tight end Leonard Pope. Though usually he would have been at camp with his NFL team, the Kansas City Chiefs, the current lockout between the NFL owners and players meant that Pope was in his hometown and there to save 6-year-old Bryson Moore from drowning in an Americus swimming pool.

Learn More:

• Weekly Banner, Aug. 1902 - Dec. 1905 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• The University of Georgia under Sixteen Administrations, 1785-1955 by Robert Preston Brooks in the Heritage collection.
• History of Athens and Clarke County Georgia by H. J. Rowe in the Heritage and general collections.
• George Foster Peabody: Banker, Philanthropist, Publicist by Louise Ware at the Watkinsville Library in the biography collection or via PINES.
• Safety Smart in the Water! by Disney Educational in the children's DVD collection.
• Teaching Infant and Preschool Aquatics by Judi Cesari via PINES.
• The Fit Swimmer: 120 Workouts and Training Tips by Marianne Brems in the general collection.
• Water Safety by Dana Meachen Rau in the children's collection.
• Swimming for Fun by Andrew Willett in the children's collection.
• Waterproof Kids by Gaylene Anderson in the children's DVD collection.
• Swimming Past Fifty by Mel Goldstein and David Tanner in the general collection.
• Two Dogs Swimming by Lynn Reiser in children's fiction.

 

21 April 1869: Power and Potential of Water in Athens

On this day in 1869, the Southern Watchman published this inventory of horse power availalbe in the Athens area:

Water Power in and Around Athens, Ga.

   We are indebted to JAMES D. PITTARD, ESQ., for the following useful information, which we are assured is perfectly reliable: 

     Athens Factory Shoals, Athens, on Oconee River; 200 horse power; 100 in use.

     Georgia Factory Shoals, 4 miles from Athens, on Oconee River; 300 horse power; 125 in use.

     W. A. Carr's Shoals, Athens, on Oconee River; 125 horse power; none in use.

     S. J. Mays' Shoals, 3 miles from Athens, on Oconee River; 150 horse power; none in use.

     Cook's Armory Shoals, Athens, on Trail C'k; 75 horse power; 10 in use.

     Smith's Shoals, 6 miles from Athens, on Oconee River; 100 horse power; none in use.

     Wm. A. Carr's Creek Shoals, Athens; 10 horse power; none in use.

     Elijah Carr's Creek Shoals, one mile from Athens; 25 horse power; none in use.

     Barnett's Shoals, 4 miles from Athens, on Nocatchie Creek; 10 horse power.

     John Saye's Shoals, on Little Sandy Creek; 14 horse power.

     W. P. Talmadge's two Shoals, on Sandy C'k, 4 miles from Athens; 12 and 25 horse power.

     Wm. Patman's Shoals, on Middle Oconee River, 8 miles from Athens; 150 horse power; none in use.

     Fowler's Shoals, on Middle Oconee River, 7 miles from Athens; 200 horse power; none in use.

     Mitchell's Shoals, 4 miles from Athens, on Middle Oconee River; 150 horse power; none in use.

     Epps' Shoals, 2 1/2 miles from Athens, on Middle Oconee River; 90 horse power; none in use.

     Princeton Factory Shoals, 3 miles from Athens, on Middle Oconee River; 400 horse power; 40 in use.

     Simonton's Bridge Shoals, 4 miles from Athens, on Middle Oconee River; 100 horse power; none in use.

     Mar's Hill Factory Shoals, 7 miles from Athens, on Barber's Creek; 50 horse power; none in use.

     Epps' Shoals, on Barber's Creek, 4 1/2 miles from Athens; 50 horse power; none in use.

    Paper Mill Shoals, 4 miles from Athens, on Barber's Creek; 75 horse power; 50 in use.

     Colt's Mill Shoals, 7 miles from Athens, on Big Sandy Creek; 50 horse power, 25 in use.

     Jennings' Mill Shoals, 6 miles from Athens, on McNut's Creek; 30 horse power, 20 in use.

     Epps' Shoals, on McNut's Creek, 3 1/2 miles from Athens; 25 horse power; none in use.

     Barnett's Shoals, on Oconee River, 8 miles from Athens--two Shoals, 500 horse power each; 60 feet fall; none in use.

   It will thus be seen that there is a vast amount of water-power running to waste in the vicinity of this town.

Southern Watchman, 21 April 1869, p. 3, col. 1

James D. Pittard served as Intendant of Athens for two one-year terms, in 1867 and 1868, and was Mayor in 1873. (Athens did not have a mayor until 1872, when the state legislature granted Athens a city charter.)  He died in 1884 after a long illness, and is buried in Oconee Hill Cemetery.

Though still somewhat impoverished by the war, the Athens industry was growing and expanding rapidly throughout the 1860s. By the end of the century, water would power not just the local mills and factories, but would electrify Athens homes, businesses, government, schools, and transportation options.

Learn More:

• Southern Watchman, Jan. 1868 - Feb. 1871 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Transition to an Industrial South: Athens, Georgia, 1830-1870 by Michael J. Gagnon in the Heritage and general collections.
• Oconee Hill Cemetery of Athens, Georgia, Volume I by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections. 
• History of Athens and Clarke County, Georgia by H. J. Rowe in the Heritage and general collections.
• Annals of Athens, 1801-1901 in the Heritage collection. 
• Chicopee Mill History by Olivia Bloomfield Carlisle in the Heritage collection.
• Paper Town/Cord Mill: A 150 Year Old Community by Larry Parr in the Heritage collection.
• Scull Shoals: The Mill Village That Vanished in Old Georgia by Robert Skarda in the Heritage collection.
• The Power of Water: Four Early Mill Sites on Georgia's Oconee River by Karen G. Wood in the Heritage and general collections.
• Hydropower for the Future: New Ways of Turning Water into Energy by Allison Stark Draper in the children's collection.
• Producing Your Own Power: How to Make Nature's Energy Sources Work for You by Carol Hupping in the general collection.

2 March 1882: A Page in the Life of Athens

On this day, and many others, the Southern Watchman devoted the most of their third page of the newspaper to bits of news that either did not merit or had not been pursued as full news stories. 


Each column would often begin with short, one-sentence pieces that seemed more like small talk than news, then expand to editorial opinions, sarcastic quips about conditions or people in town, and, at times, corrections to stories previously run in the newspaper.


The first column of the page was called "Personal Mention," and devoted to what would later be published in other local papers as "Society Notes" or "News of Interest to the Ladies," and consisted of mostly gossip and the various travels and health situations of locals:

Holman thinks he has the swinney.

Prof. White has the prettiest team in the city.

Major Miller Lumpkin reached Athens this week and is sick.

Hon. H. H. Carlton has returned from a trip to Atlanta.

Joe Hodgson has a six months boy that weighs 25 pounds.

Mrs. Crawford Long has one of the handsomest homes in Athens.

A highly aesthete whisky-poker club has been organized in Athens.

Miss Emma Mell will assist Mrs. Crawford with her school.

Ed Potter can look in a chicken's mouth and tell its age to a day. 

A Hancock avenue belle will be the next victim to Cupid, so Madam Rumor says.

Miss America Carlton has returned from a pleasant visit to friends in Oglethorpe.

Policeman Arnold, the boys say, arrested a little contraband for appearing on the street with her shoes unbuttoned.

Frank Rhodes says he is thinking seriously of joining the church. When Frank reforms the devil will go into bankruptcy.

Tom Hampton gets excited every time a pretty girl enters his store and has been known to tie up a gallon of molasses in a paper sack and put a dollars' worth of sugar in a jug.

Policeman Pierson's mustach [sic} looks like some fellow had just "hollered" boo! and woke it up; while Ben Culp reminds us of a man who suffers with hereditary nightmare.

The second column was "A Bird's-Eye View of the City," and covered more general topics:

Mule trade lively.

Flower garden work progresseth slowly.

Athens needs about 1,000,000 pounds of paint.

The twittering of the blue bird is heard in the land.

A number of new buildings are contracted for in Cobbham.

Our Jewish friends have a large and flourishing Sabbath-school.

The Athens Foundry has four new apprentices. This is a fine business.

Brooklyn, a large colored village near the city, speaks of incorporating.

A number of our citizens have contracted for windmills, to pump water.

We have engaged the services of a first-class society editor, young ladies.

Col. Huggins says with $10,000 he will build a street railroad in Athens.

Mr. Gleason died at the house of his sister, and not in jail, as reported to us.

The students from the Agricultural College ought to pay frequent visits to Mr. Meeker's farm.

Manager Jones has lost money on the Opera House this season, which is a reflection on Athens.

An Athens gentleman is working on some Northern capitalists to get them to build another factory in or near our city.

What policeman was it that the other night listened for two hours to water dripping on a tin roof, under the impression that he had found a burglar?

The next three columns were short items that each had a short headline: 

A SECRET.

Our police force have been for several days working up a highly interesting and sensational case, but they want it suppressed until the affair ripens.

PRINCETON BRIDGE.

This work was completed last week and is pronounced one of the best in the county. Its cost is about $3,900. King, the builder, has a contract to build another bridge in Fulton county.

THE ROADS.

The roads leading to Athens are badly cut up, and it is almost impossible for wagons to travel them. Farmers are getting short of supplies and unless the weather breaks starvation will stare some sections in the face.

NO ACTION.

There was called a meeting of Council Monday evening to take some action in regard to the Oconee Cemetery; but owing to the absence of the Mayor no official action was taken. Council will doubtless take charge of this cemetery, and elect a regular keeper.

IMPROVING.

We are happy to announce that Mrs. Julius Cohen, who has been very low for some time, is somewhat better at last accounts.

MORE RAIN.

It seems like the very floodgates of heaven have been raised this winter. There has been almost continuous rainfall since Christmas, with very few clear days. It is injurious to business and ruinous to our farmers, who have no opportunity to break or prepare their lands.

MONEY SCARCE.

We never knew money matters so tight. The bad roads have quarantined our trade, and even some of our best men find it hard to collect enough to meet their monthly bills. There seems now, however, to be a break in the weather, and if it will only stay clear for a few days our streets will be filled with wagons and the blockade raised.

R. H. LAMPKIN.

In connection with his first-class bar Mr. R. H. Lampkin has opened a fine restaurant and has also nice beds for his patrons. This is the best equipped bar in the city, and only the purest liquors sold. The old Gibson rye and Maxey's corn specialties. His rooms have just been newly furnished, and the public will be well cared for. Now don't forget the place. The only ten-pin alley in the city.

SUFFERING.

There is no disguising the fact that there is great want and destitution in our midst. Not only many blacks, but even some whites, are actually suffering for the necessaries of life. Owing to the wretched weather they could not get work, and both their money and credit are gone. A gentleman remarked to us the other day that he had a load of wood thrown off at his door, and in less than an hour had seventeen applications to cut it up. And yet hundreds of negroes leave the farms to seek employment in the city.

THREE CHEERS.

On Monday last an unbroken schedule went into effect, extending over the Northeastern Railroad to Clarkesville. There is no change of cars between Athens and that point. This shows that the R. & D. intends to act in good faith toward our city and our people are joyous.

Learn More:

• Southern Watchman, 1882 - 1885 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Annals of Athens, 1801-1901 by Augustus Longstreet Hull in the Heritage collection.
• Strolls About Athens During the Early Seventies by Sylvanus Morris in the Heritage and general collections.
• Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, Georgia, Volume I by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections.
• Athens, A Pictorial History by James K. Reap in the Heritage, Reference, and general collections.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection on the Digital Library of Georgia website.

21 January 1890: "Shaking off the yoke of fogyism"

On this day in 1890, the following editorial ran in the Weekly Banner:

Learn More:

• Athens Weekly Banner, Jan. 1890 - Dec. 1890 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• 1889 Athens City Directory in the Heritage collection.
• History of Athens and Clarke County by H. J. Rowe in the Heritage and general collections.
• A Postcard History of Athens, Georgia by Gary L. Doster in the Heritage and general collections.
• Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World by Jill Jonnes in the general collection.
• America Enters the World: A People's History of the Progressive Era and World War I by Page Smith in the general collection.
• A Very Different Age: Americans of the Progressive Era by Steven J. Diner in the general collection.
• The Modern Mind: An Intellectual History of the 20th Century by Peter Watson in the general collection.
• Atlanta in 1890: The Gate City by the Atlanta Historical Society in the Heritage collection.
• The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters by Rose George in the general collection.
• It's Your Community! A Guide to Civic Development and Beautification by Henry Bond Raymore in the general collection.
  

27 August 1889: "Athens A Health Resort."

A Wonderful Health Record of Our City during the Present Summer.

Athens is the most healthful city in Georgia.

That's what the resident physicians say, and the statement is verified by the health record of the pass year. [sic]

One physician tells us that he has never, during his twenty years of practice in Athens, seen such a healthful year as this has been, and has never heard of its equal in any city the size of Athens.

Another physician syays he has known of but three cases of fever in Athens during the past year and they were induced by natural causes rather than by any defect in the city's sanitary condition.

The fact is, that no city in the South has a better climate, a better natural dranage [sic], a more healthful environment every way [sic] than has Athens and there is no reason in the world why it should not be a wholesome city.

We congratulate the city on its thorough sanitary inspection and watchfulness, and rejoice in the splendid advantages of health with which nature has blessed out [sic] city.

Southern Watchman, 27 August 1889, p. 1.

Learn More:

• Southern Watchman, Aug. 1888 - Dec. 1889 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• A History of Public Health in Georgia by Thomas Franklin Abercrombie in the Heritage collection.
• Under the Weather: How Weather and Climate Affect Our Health by Pat Thomas in the general collection.
• Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity by Eric Chivian in the general collection.
• Water by Sally Hewitt in the children's collection.
• The Water We Drink: Water Quality and Its Effects on Health by Joshua I. Barzilay in the general collection.
• Toxic Exposures: Contested Illnesses and the Environmental Health Movement by Phil Brown in the general collection.
• The Infectious Disease Sourcebook by Karen Bellenir in the Reference collection.
• Washing My Hands by Elizabeth Vogel in the children's collection.
• The Spa Encyclopedia: A Guide to Treatments and Their Benefits for Healing and Health by Hannelore R. Levy in the general collection.
• Fodor's Healthy Escapes by Bernard Burt in the general collection.
• The Road to Wellville by T. Coraghessen Boyle in the fiction collection.