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X V V *v ESTABLtSIIED 1814 A The Press and Banner^ ABBEVILLE, S. C. t! 1 r Wm. P. GREENE, Editor. h ' J a The Pi ess and Ban nor Co. j ^ Published Every Tuesday and Friday (] Telephone No. 10. . \l Entered as second-class mail mat- n ter at post office in Abbeville, S. G. * I 1 erms or ouDscripnon; One year $2.00 r Six months 1.00 Three months .50 ^ Payable invariably in advance. ' * t TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1918. * A FIRE TRUCK. , ' ( We understand that certain members of the City Council have been j investigating the matter of purchas- i ing a fire truck to replace the present 1 fire-fighting equipment of the city, j It is stated that it is too expensive i to keep up the equipment now on : hand, and we suppose the claim is : being made that it would be cheaper for the city to buy a motor truck. i We do not believe that the present < is the time to invest in a fire truck, I or any other kind of motor driven I vehicle. Everybody knows that the i materials from which these trucks 1 are constructed are higher now than at any other time in the last fifty ; years. The war has made extraor dinary demands for steel products, and other things which enter into the construction of tlfese vehicles, and they are higher now than on a normal market. We are not enough of an expert to pass upon the relative values of the present equipment and of a fire truck in the matter of fire-fighting capacity. We are of the opinion, however, that it will not be cheaper for /the city to maintain the motor driven truck than it is to keep the , ' horses now owned by the city. We shall need as many men with the one as with the other, certainly we will have as many as we have been accustomed to have at the fire depart ment.' The truck will not eat, it is true, when it is not being worked, : but the interest on the money which will be invested in it, will buy a good amount of corn and fodder, as 1 well as other needed'things. i' But this is only a small part of the 1 expense of such a truck. At best it will not last more than five or six years, and then we shall be called on to purchase another. It costs five * thousand dollars in the beginning,j we shall have an annual depreciation of one thousand dollars, which is quite a loss for a city like Abbeville,1 / , J g and if it must be repaired occasionally there is still another story. Another question which naturally arises is where will the monev come ' from with which to pay for this fire truck. If it is taken out of current . r expenses, there will be little left *" with which to pay the city officers and the policemen, to say nothing of needed street work and other charges I? The city council certainly has no fi right under the decisions of the 8 court to pledge the credit of this city | for the purchase of property of this S kind without a petition from the g free-holders and a vote of the people. <2 It has, been charged that the city 3 council is spending considerable $ amounts of the money levied to pay ? off the bonds of the city eventually. B We can hardly think that they are R thus misappropriating the people's ^ money. They would hardly do this, | but when big sums of money are to R be raised it is sometimes suggested | that the money be "borrowed" from i a handy fund, when in fact there is s little chance ever to repay the sum. j? This is a way of doing indirectly | that which should not be done di- g rectly. We hope that the members 1 of the city council will not allow K themselves to be persuaded to "bor- j row" from the sinking fund for any 1 purpose of this kind. No graver J mistake could be made. We owe it I to the taxpayers of this city and to j the bondholders to have this money | on hands at the proper time to pay | these bonds. Good faith demands H that it be expended for no other I pvrpoM. HOUSES FOR RENT. The number of houses for rent in bbeville is growing smaller each j ear, and the number will continue j 5 grow smaller. Almost every dayj iere is a demand for a house. A1-, eady a great number of homes j ave two families residing in them, nd the demand for rooms for light; louse-keeping keeps pace with the' empnd for the houses themselves. \ Some of those who have not built louses for rent, but who have been iccustomed to rent from others, say! rom time to time that somebody j hould build more houses for rent;! hat the'rc is a demand for them' md the income fi-om the investment: s satisfactory. Only those people' vho have not tried the experiment: lave ever made this statement. The' ruth is that there has always been fairly good demand for goodi louses in Abbeville, but the amount 0 rent paid has always been so mall that thp investment has not ap-| ">ealerl to a man'who has tried it; >nce before. "\Ve will take a house of .six rooms! 'or an example. A lot in a desirable leighborhood will cost $300. To Duild the house, with outhouses, and nodern conveniences has cost in the ast enough to make the investment around $3,000. It has always been \ hard matter to rent a house in \bheville for as much ds $20.00 per raonth. At this amount the rent anly amounts to eight per cent, on the money invested. But this is not the true amount which the investment returns, because from it must tie deducted taxes and insurance; then repairs must be made; every year or so either the roof must be painted or the house must be painted; from time to time tenants move way, aird the house stands idle for two or three months, and when the new tenant comes he is indifferent about taking the house, but will probably consent to do so if all the walls are gone over, the whole of the inside painted, the house fumigated, new grates put in, a new bath-room installed up-stairs, and other things, not now thought of, are done. And after it is all done, and he moves in, it is impossible for him to stay unless the house is screened, and a building is erected in which he can operate a dairy. Some people will say that in individual cases the above statement is an exaggeration of the real facts about house-letting, but people who rent houses will recognize most of the demands fes former acquaintances. The result is that if lumber and building material should return to the prices prevalent before the war, and if labor and other things should do the same, nevertheless ents would be increased, because jeople may find better investments ;han house-building and house-let:ing, with less trouble v connected vith the investment. Besides the ost of building, building material! tnd of making repairs will not re-! urn to previous prices. What then must the people whoj iave been accustomed to rent "do?; rhere are two things to do. One is1 hat a man who rents must be pre-j iared to pay at least twice what he I J ~Whit* Beaaty jMWhWhfMprtf J STOVES ""R has been paying in order to obtain' comfortable quarters and must be j prepared to rent by the year or for a] longer term, obligating himself to! pay rent for the whole term. The] other alternative is for every man! to own his cwn home, which is the! vca.?onrble and proper thing for ev-' cry man to do. One or the other of these things is inevitable for the' man who has been accustomed to( rent. SKATING. I The children of the town had a; fine time skating 0:1 the square on| Thanksgiving day when the rain' held un. ASSISTANT DEMONSTRATOR. Miss Mary Lou Bowie has accept-1 od Ihe position as assistant Home! Demonstration Agent for Abbeville County and entered her field of duty I Nov. 1. Miss Bowie is a member of the 1917 graduating; class of Winj throp College, and was among the J few iii her class graduating with honors. Abbeville county is fortun-i ; ate in securing Miss Bowie's service in this work and with her splendid I help we hojpe to reach . all parts' of j the county next year. j i i ATTENDING THE FUNERAL. "' ' ' ' I Those who came from a distance ! . I to ^ttend the funeral of.Mrs. Statia Widftman Satiirdav. wpre Mr. and I I Airs. John Kerr, of Bradley, Mi$s Margaret Klugh of Columbia, Miss: Mary Klugh from Union, Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Bradley of Union, Prof. . Mark Bradley from Clemson, and Billy Bradley of Columbia. ' BOOK CLUB. I ' * I The Book Club will meet with Mrs. T. G. White Wednesday afteri noon at 4 o'clock. i RED CROSS SLOGANS. Our soldiers and sailors look to the Red Cross for comforts. They I have never been disappointed. I . ! When distress calls the Red Cross I answers "Here" "A dollar in the Red Cross is worth two in the bank." A soldier boy's second best friend I is his national mother?the Amerii can Red Cross. Red Cross dollars work while you sleep. From cities to cross roads, its banner unfurled, the Red Cross i t rtrt ?v? 4-It J | viicciiuiijf uivtucia tuc wunu. The Red Cross life line helped to! s^ve Belgium. Red Cross Canteens put the "pep", in the Marines. The American Red Cross is the greatest employer of labor in thej world. It has 8,000,000 volunteer^ woman workers in one department, j ' I ANGES w' HOME C STOCKHOLDERS MEETING. A meeting of the Stockholders < the Abbeville Ice, Laundry and Fu Company is called to meet in the o fice of William P. Greene, at Abb< ville, South Cai'olina, on Januai 3rd, 1919, at 6:30 o'clock P. M. I consider a resolution, authorizing tl proper officers of the said corpor; tion, to execute and issue one hui drcd fifteen (115) Coupon Bonds i tho said corporation, of the par v lue of One Hundred Dollars ($10C 00) each, making in the aggrega Eleven Thousand Five Hundred Dc Hirs ($11,500.00), which bonds a: to be dated January 1st, 1919, pa ;'.b!e in lawful gold coin of the Uni ed States of America at the Farme Bank of Abbeville, South Carolin I Save 1 ime a: n V rtnv TAnn IlSkJ 1 UU1 VVlli You will fine of goods suit i Useful Christi I GIFTS ;i: TABLE LINEN ! S . 'and NAPKINS TO MATC $ WHITE BED SPREA ? \ BLANKETS J . SILK HOSE h COTTON HOSE ^ KID GLOVES | HAND BAGS I CHIT PA5P5 i SWEATERS are a few of the many we have to offer. In doin Christmas shopping, don to give us a call. Haddoi smMimaMeM MSMgaaag 100SIE i . KITCHEN :AiBiNEi i SAVE MILES nr qtftpq vyi U x J-Ji OLD ONLY E Ce m MJTFITTERS >> on January 1st, 1923, which bonds | ; arc to bear interest at the rate of > eight per cent, per annum, payable j i j| semi-annually, at the place, on the' ^ I surrender of the coupons attached | ! to the bonds, the said bonds to be': e" ? i i secured by and subject to the pro-1 ! visions of a mortgage to be exe- j 1 cuted by the said Abbeville Ice,; ? ' Laundry and Fuel Company, to be j, a- I | dated Januai*y 1st, 1919, conveying and assigning to a trustee to be' (named, all of the propei*ty of the' a- 11; ^ j said corporation of every nature and: j. ! kind, including its real estate and machinery. re | The stockholders of the said cory. poration are notified to be present: ! at the said meeting in person or by rs; * , a, I Subscribe to The Press and Banner.1 J l_ nd Money? iter Shopping with I Z in our store a ci able for the comir nas SPECIAL h is called to \ DS many gobi we have in i patrons fn_ ncaujriuhas been a things t g your -we are sti 1't fail ditions to tl n-Wilson G ??anili iiiMimwiii?^? I I !Y Save T ! Worn 'fc>V. i/A * proxy to vote on the said resoluti<H By order of the Board of DirA tors: H William P. Greene, President,? T. E. Harrison, Secretary. H 12-3-5t. Tues. SB VISITING HIS SON. H Rev. W. A. M. Plaxco is here fr<H Tennessee on a short visit to his Rev. M. R. Plaxco The father cupied the A. R. P. pulpit Sabb^M morning and preached an interestiH ?c*r. u? to the congregation. H D. A. R. CHAPTER. H There will be a meeting of Abbeville D. A. R. Chapter in iH chapter rooms Wednesday afterncH at four o'clock. Q ^ I L ' I hoice selection I ig holidays..... fl ATTENTION I a few of the I i things that I i i? I t store tut uur m Wear Dep't I greai success I 11 making ad-1 his stack I ompany I jjl^J ime ana