Atlanta Daily World

By GEORGE COLEMAN

John Q the worker has been having his woes with income tax since the invention of that worthy ideal, but what's next when the rules say a parakeet has to pay to stay out of jail?

This the sad story of Jo-Jo Kay. the hard working little talking bird, who ran afoul with the revenue commission when he came back to town after a gay trip about the country showing people how smart he was.

Seized at the Atlanta Municipal Airport by State Revenue Commissioner T. V. Williams, the young parakeet learned that his arrest came for failure to file and pay Georgia state income taxes.

The attractive teal blue talking bird has been employed by a local jewelry firm at a salary of $15 a week since February, 1954. He was hired after winning an audition over other birds. The company had sought a parakeet who could loudly voice its slogan.

Jo-Jo did better than that. He showed he had a vocabulary of better than 60 words. The owner of the bird, Bobbie Lee Barber, received compensation for his bird, and Jo-Jo went to work.

Company officials declared that deduction of federal income tax and social security were made each week during 1954 from the bird's salary. However, Jo-Jo is described as the wealthiest Parakeet in the world. He has his own bank account at the Fulton National Bank and now has a total of $783.87 on deposit.

There is just one thing wrong.

He didn't file and pay his state income tax for 1954. Moreover, it was revealed, the Parakeet refused to answer notices sent him by the department.

Of course, Jo-Jo hasn't been idle He has actually been busy trying to get a refund on federal tax he has paid. He was taken to Washington, D. C., recently to find out about this, but the only thing he learned was that the company that hired him may be violating the minimum wage law.

Thus Jo-Jo found himself in trouble after a coast to coast tour of the U. S and this bird, who has been elected a member of the Columbus (Oh.) Zoological Association, went the way of all tax violators.

Of course he had a group of friends who are working in his behalf. The Atlanta Humane Society, whose slogan is, "We Speak for Those Who Cannot Speak for Themselves," tried to prevent the arrest But there was little they could do, for Jo-Jo had not paid his tax.