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Press and Established 1844. $2.00 the Year. Tri-Weekly. Abbeville, S.,C? Monday, Jan. 10,1921 Single Copies, Five Cent*. 77th Year FIRST OF CLl DINNE SUCCESS 'AND EVERYONE PRES ENT VOTES TO HAVE SOCIAL MEETINGS SEMI-MONTHLY.? FIRST DINNER WAS AT THE EUREKA HOTEL FRIDAY EVE NING, JANUARY 7TH. The first of what promises to be come a series of delightful get-to gether meetings was the social meet ing of the board of directors of the Abbeville Chamber of Commerce and their guests hejd Friday, evening at the Eureka hotel. Only a few guests were invited to this, the trial meet- . ing, so to speak, in order to test out the sentiment of the score who were present. So generous were these twenty in their remarks of approval of semi-monthly social meetings be ing held in the future that "Hard Times," having" previously in the eve ning, been given a decent interment by Mr. M. R. Plaxcq, has small hope ' of a resurrection in wfe minds and sentiments of the boaj^d of directors and their guests. An elaborate turkey dinner with all the fixing was served, even to not over one and one-half per cent vint age being poured over the grape fruit, ' . which fluid was pronounced genuine by Brother Peele of the Wesleyan persuasion. Following Mrs. Taggart's delight * ful repast Major J. D. Fulp, who act ed as toast master in a few words explained the wherefore of the so cial meeting and called upon Mr. J. M. Nickles, president of the Abbeville County Chamber pi Commerce who cordially welcomed the guests to the nnH PYiiressed hoDe that as V-"e> ?r ? the social affairs were held from time ' to lime that every citizen of Abbe-j ? ville would attend one or more of the delightful meetings which have been planned to be held. Rev. A. J. Derbyshire, rector of Trinity,' responded happily to Pres. Nickles' welcome and incidentally gave his first impressions of Abbe , ville. Mr Derbyshire stated that he was three days coming from New York to this metropolis, having made the trip from New York to Charles ton by boat and from Charleston to ' Abbeville over the Southern railway. He stated that first after leaving New^York he landed in Charleston, which he found a bit smaller than his 'home town, then Cblumbia, which he I I found a bit smaller than Charleston, then Alston, a bit smaller than Col umbia, then Hodges a bit smaller than Alston. While waiting for the "Syfan Special" at Hodges he reach: ed the conclusion that Abbeville, if any smaller than" Hodges, mu^t be about the end of tKe 1 world. Mr. Derbyshire said that Mr. Lewis Per rin, the fir^t person he met" in Abbe ville, tells on him that the first ques tion he asked was "How far is it to New York?" But his first impression did not remain long with him. He has found that his lines have fallen j in a pleasant place, the people of Ab-1 uevjiie prvgxcsaivc auu mudt uvs?|iiba ble. Mr. Derbyshire took occasion during his response to make several rery complimentary remarks about the Abbeville high school with which he has been &?nnected for several months as instrtictor in French. Following Mr. Derbyshire's res ponse the toast master called upon Mr. Arthur Rosenberg who made a i witty response quite to the point. He . came near giving ine toast-masier away when he referred to some ex periences they had had at the reun + ion of the Wildcats in Columbia in September. 4 The next speaker was Rev. M. R. Plaxco, pastor of the Associate Re formed Presbyterian church of Abbe ville. Mr. Plaxco stated in the outset there were valid reasons why the subject "Hard Times" had been as signed him to respond to. He stated that he had had personal experience with many of the Hard Times family and that for this reason he had be come sufficiently interested in the family to give much time to tracing their genealogy, in an attempt to dis JB'S IRS SPLENDID / 1 v ? cover their origin. Mr. PlaxCo very kindly gave the assembly the results of his researches. He stated that all the Hard Times family are children of Old Father Time by the five Fool ish Virgins, old Father Time being a Mormon. He assigned logical rea sons for his deductions which were sufficiently plausible a"S to be adopt ed by the entire board. Mr. Plaxcoi stated that the reason the cotton stored by Ring Thomson, Uncle Jim Stark, Daip Barksdale, etc. in the Farmers Warehouse dropped from 44 to 16 cents was that some of the Hard Times children coming to Abbe ville by the Hodges road slept in the warehouse and wallowed all over the cotton reducing it from Middling to Poor StaiA. All together Mr. Plaxco's talk was full of excellent wit ancT sound philosophy. The next speaker was on^pf t^ie extemporaneous variety, no notice having been given Mr. A. O. Roche, previously, of being called upon. But Mr. Roche was fully equal to the occasion and responded splendidly, praising the efforts of the Chamber of Commerce and Abbeville in gen eral. He deplored the fact that city council had taken down the large electric* sign, "Welcome" on the Square and wants it put back and lighted every night. \ ^ Mr. C. E. Williamson, beirig next called upon gave some wonderfully pleading words regarding the higher price for cotton which he firmly be lieves will come by summer. He was generously applauded by all the city farmers present as well as by^ the other guests. Rev. C.E. Peele, pastor of the Ab beville Methodist church next res ponded to the toast, "1920," in a happy manner. Earlier in the eVening during Mr. Plaxco's speech, it was decided to havfe the speaker bury Hard Times before he concluded his speech and no reference was to be permitted to be made by the guests to the 'dead." Mr. Peele stated that | this put him out of joint as he nat urally supposed when assigned the subject 1920 that he was expected to deliver himself of an obituary of the year which ended so disastrously for the people in the cotton belt. Anyway he was glad that the subject Hard Times was forbidden and he certainly proved to all present that 1920 w&s a year of the greatest progress Ab beville has ever known. Rev. Louis J. Bristow, pastor of the Abbeville Baptist church was the L'AlIegro speaker of the evening in contrast with the II Penseroso speech which Bro~ Peele first thought was expected of him. Mr.% Bristow res-1 ponded to the toast 1921 and so well! did he handle the subject that much genuine meat was found in his re marks. He presented three subjects! which he hopes the members of the Abbeville County Chamber of Com merce will adopt, along with others, as tneir goal ior xyzi. iney were Enforcement of the Laws, A Sense of Civic Beauty, and* The Upholding of the Christian Churches by support and influence. Mr. Bristow wa3 at his best Friday evening and created a deep impression upon the minds of his hearers by his masterly address. Rev. George M. Telford, past&r of the Long Cane Presbyterian church and a, new comer to Abbeville, was the last regular speaker. Mr. Telford was asked to give his impressions of Abbeville from the viewpoint of a new resident. He stated that he did not believe that a preacher of any denomination ever saw the whole of a city and a city's make-up due to his isolation from commercial affairs by reason of his ministerial profes sion. Mr. Telford, however, was quite complimentary in his address to the people of Abbeville and sur rounding country, stating that his experiences the past year had brought with them the realization that Abbe ville was a progressive city, a city with a wonderfully valuable back (Continued on Page 4) SHARP ATTACKS MADE UPON RULING OF FEDERAL RE SERVE BOARD DENYING DIS COUNT PRIVILEGES TO COT TON FACTORS?AMENDMENT TO ACT URGED TO CORRECT EXISTING SITUATION Washington, Jan. 9.?Sharp at tacks upon the ruling of the federal reserve board denying discount privileges to cotton factors were mo/lo Ko-frvr*o f Vt o conafo "fi _ IfVUMJ 1/WlViW WilV A* nance committee by Southern sena tors who urged an amendment to the federal reserve act permitting such discounts. Senator Smith,of Georgia de clared that Governor Harding of the board, had "^interpreted the lan guage of the law to suit himself," and that his position with regard to factor's paper was "utterly indefen sible." Edward Stein, a cotton factor of New Orleans, told 1jhe committee that the plan suggested by Governor Harding, that the farmers negotiate direct with the country banks in fi nancing their crops was "impracti cal" because the banks would not take the farmers notes. He declared the plan would "create chaos in cot ton marketing." Senator McKellar, Tennessee, told the committee that-the factor's pa pers were gut edge, ana tnat iea-j eral reserve banks had never lost, one loan secured by the factor. He said one-fifth of the entire cotton crop was marketed ^>y factors who were compelled to . borrow large amounts, sometimes more than $30 000^000 in order to make advances to the farmers and aid them in fi nancing new crops. Paul Dillard, president of a Mem phis, Tenn., cotton firm testified that the action of the board, was "discriminatory." "Memphis wants their factors pa per handled on merit and not dis criminated aginst," Mr. Dillard said. "The ruling of the board last sum mer making these papers ineligible for discount was made under a mis apprehension. Until that time^ this class of paper was considered as ag ricultural and discounts permitted. Mnw. fnr no annarent reason it is designated as "finance paper" and held ineligible for discount.!' Mr. Dillard estimated that practi cally every farmer who prodded cotton last year lost from * $40lo $50 an acre and said large loans would have to be made this year in order for the farmer to plant. "They have used all their funds and Ve will have to finance them," he said. "We trust the factor's pa pers >may again be placed on the eligible list." Both Mr. Dillard and Mr. Stein declared the farmers were not hold ing' their crops to foster specula tions but were compelled to hold be cause there was no market. Asked by Senator McLean of Connecticut, /What the future pros pects were Mr. Stein said there was already a gradual recovery of mar kets -for low grades. "If the war finance corporation functions," he added,, "and access is possible to South America and Cen tral Europe, the prospefets should be good." CONSCIENCE MONEY COMES BACK AFTER S3 YEARS R?/;igh* N. C., Jan. 6.?W. C. Nanny, son-in-law of the late Martin Harris, Gilkey, Rutherford county, has received a signed registered let ter containing $135 from a man in Tennessee in payment for a borse stolen from Mr Harris 53 years ago. The repentant horse-thief said he sold 'the animal for $135 in 1867 and rir.ce he had become a changed man, and wanted to return the money. 10 MEET .11 FIRST MEETING OF NEW YEAR WILL BE HELD IN GRADED SCHOOL BUILDING SATURDAY JANUARY 15TH AT 12:30 P. M. TEACHERS AND TRUS TEES URGED TO ATTEND?IN TERESTING PROGRAM The teachers and school trustees of Abbeville County will hold the first meeting of the New Year in the graded school building in this city at 12:30 p. m., Saturday, Janu ary 15. Notices of the meeting have been rnkiled this week to every teacher and the chairman of every board of school trustees in the county with the expectation that many,?rf them will avail themselves of the benefits to be deriyed frdm a general meet ing together and an exchange of ideas. Already responses have ba|n received from several districts stat ing that the teachers and trustees are planning to attend this meeting. Moffatt, president of Erskine College, has written J. D. Fulp, president of the teachers' associa tion, that several of the professors of the college will meet with the pub lic school teachers. It is also .expect ed that the faculty of Due West Woman's College will be represent ed. * A varied and interesting program is being planned by the entertain ment committee. Immediately after convening tH)e association will oe j "divided into Sections aricl these sec-) tions will be invited to visit the class rooms of the graded school where bona fide classes of geography, writing, history, reading, arithmetic etc., will be in progress for the ob servation of the visiting teachers and trustees. The teachers who will have charge of the classes at this meeting will be TMiss Ruby Ander son, 5th. grade; IV^iss Niza Kilgore, 4th. grade; Miss Rebecca Jones, 3rd. grade; Miss Georgia Ott, 2nd. grade; Miss Clara Adams, 1st. grade; Miss Susie Lown> 7th. grade, A delightful luncheon will be served the teachers and trustees by the Abbeville Parent-Teacher asso ciation at the conclusion of class room observation. After the luri-j cheon recess there will be a general business session of the association which will be addressed by Mr. Paul Mann, county superintendent elect, by a representative of Ers kine College, ad there will also be short talks by different teachers and trustees. Before adjournment __ -1~-1.:__ _r 10G1 11 ail ClCCllWIl Ul UlllCCia 1V/1 xvui. nui be held. . The secretary of the Abbeville County Chamber of Commerce has undertaken to secure automobiles to fetch teachers in to the iheeting Saurday. This will be done when teachers Have no other means of at tending the meeting and so notify the president of the association. It will largely depend upon the condi tions of the roads as to the number of automobiles available. AT THE EUREKA Dr. and Mrs. B. B. Bailey, of Shelbyyille, Ky., arrived in Abbe ville Saturday and are stopping at the Eureka Hotel. Dr. Bailey is con ducting the series of services at the Baptist church this week. Mr. W. P. Martin, who has charge of the singing, is at the Eureka al so. THE WEATHER Sabbath was the "worst ever" in the way of weather. There were heavy clouds in the morning and a light rain and by mid-day the rain had settled into a steady down-pour which lasted until mid-night. A cold wind cleared up things by Mon day morning. BAPTISTS HO _ SEM] CHURCH ORGANIZED IN 1871. FIRST PASTOR, DR. R. N. PRATT PREACHES IN MORN ING?SERVICES IN EVENING _-ATTENDED * BY ALL THE CHURCHES OF THE CITY The observance of the semi-cen tennial1 of the Baptist church took place yesterday. Despite the rain, at the morning servicfe the church was filled with people. The rain <fon tinued all day, and seriously inter fered with the?attendance in the af ternoon and evening. <>s__ Dr Pratt Speaks At the morning service, Dr. R. N. Pratt, who was the first pastor of the phurnh. snr?lce relatintr mnnv in cidaots of the early struggle of the church. His references to dis tinguished citizens of Abbeville who have all passed. away were listened to with closest attention; Doctor Pratt's pastorate covered the first thirteen years 'of the church's Hfe and his story as related Sunday was replete with matters of deep est significance and interest. Other former pastors who had ac cepted invitations to be present could not be here. Two Deacons, Ordained \ At the morning service two dea cons were ordained, Mr. J. F. Ed monds and Mr. Otto Bristow. The scripture lesson was read by the Rev. B. B. Bailey, D. D., of Shelby ville, Kentucky, who is conducting aj revival meeting in the Baptist church this week. Doctor Bailey al so made the charge to the deacons. The ordaining prayer was made by the Rev."Mr. Pratt. Greetings From Others The afternoon service consisted of greetings from - the other churches of the city. The Rev. C. E. Peele, pastor of the Methodist church', spoke for his flock, fringing a very hearty message of fraternity and good will. The Rev. A. J. Derby shire, rector of the Episcopal church, spoke for that church. He is a recent 'addition to the ministerial corps in Abbeville, a New Yorker. He said he had never known a finer spirit of real fellowship to exist among members of different de nominations that he finds here in Abbeville?a condition which au gurs well *for the Christian cause. He was pleased to be able to speak for his people, whose hearts are deeply sympathetic with the work of the Baptists. Mr. Joel S. Morse, a member1 of the Presbyterian church, spoke for that organization which is now without a pastor. Mr. Morse's greet ings were brought in a most happy manner, in the way of a parable of two brothers, growing up together,1 one being two years the senior of, the other. In a charming story Mr. I Morse pictured the fellowship usual ly incide.it to boyhood, and the more serious relations of maturity, closing the narrative by saying these two boys were the Presbyterian and Baptist churches of Abbeville. Mr. Bristow playfully replied that there was something especially good about Mr. Morse, which he had found when he first came to Abbe ville ten years ago, and, turning ta him. asked Mr. Morse whether he ? ?' were not of Baptist 'blood, was his grandmother not a Baptist? To which Mr. Morse replied in the af firmative, much to the merriment of the congregation. The last speaker was the Rev. M. R. Plaxco, who spoke for the A. R. P. Church, the only one established in Abbeville later than the Baptist Mr. Plaxco referred to the fact that when he came here six years ago the first minister to call upon him was Mr. Rristow, and the first Sabbath he was here, he preached in the Baptist church in the evening. He spoke of the close fellowship which had- existed between himself and Fpstor Briatow, and of the fine spirit of unity among the denomina tions ; and bespoke for the Baptist LD [-CENTENNIAL church continued growth and influ ence. Fifty Yeara of History At the evening service Mr. Bris v*V tow read a. history of Abbeville Baptist church. The paper will be published in full in our next issue. ' Dr, W. J. McGlothlin, president of Furman university, spoke upon "Fifty Years of Baptist History," showing the remarkable growth of the denomination in all parts of the wona auring tne last naif century.^ He gave some striking figures, indi-v eating the development of the Bap tists in South Carolina. Fifty years ago, there were 25,000 white Bap tists in this State; now there are 180,000. Fifty years ago there were some 35,000 negro Baptists; while their figures now show about 250, 000. Fifty years ago the contribu tions of white Baptists in South Carolina to all missions and benevo lences amounted to $1,700; last year contributions to such objects by South Carolina white Baptists reached the sum of $1,750,000. BOY SCOUT NEWS V\ The Boy Scouts were a busy set last Saturday. This was the day set aside for a good hike to the country but on account of the rain and damp ground the hike was postponed. Mr. Rosenberg, has given the scouts the use of4he old dance hall near the Hotel as a place for their N meqtings and twelve of the re&lly energetic boys went do\vn to the hall Saturday' and gave it a good cleaning, 'so as to be ready for the scout meeting Tuesday afternoon at five-thirty. The scouts were ably as sisted by Frank Thornton. n Mr. Derbyshire wishes to make ' jthe hall as attractive as possible and he asks the people of the city for contributions of as many American ^ flags as they have to give away. He is very proud of the twelve >boys who worked so hard an'd will ar range a special entertainment for them to which tnose who did not * , help will not be invited. After the work Saturday there were many back-yard fires built up and the "wenies", intended ^or' the hike were cooked and enjoyed. / THE COTTON MARKET [ v^unwn auvaiiceu wuny 111 uum | the New York and New Orleans markets. January futures closed at j 17.65 against 16.65 Saturday, while I the close Saturday was at an ad vance of about 40 points over Fri day's close. Spot cotton in New York was up 125 points. } Little cotton was sold on the lo cal market. The best price offered was 17 cents. i The government giilners' report showing cotton ginned to January first was announced at 11,559,220. This was somewhat lower than had been expected. WILL. LOCATE HERE * \ N Dr. L. V. Liaenbee has been in tie r.itv for several davs looking: the town over and arranging for offices and a dwelling hoiifce. Dr. Lisenbee is an optometrist and will ycome to Abbeville to make his home and practice his profession. He is a na tive of North Carolina and a gradu te of of the North Western Univer sity of Chicago, and comes to Abbe ville fully equipped to look after the eye troubles of our people. Dr. Lisenlbee is a married nat and as soon as a suitable dwelling Will mAVP Wl'fp \sil UC yiVVUlVU Tt Hi utvtv MM# n?.v and three children to Abbeville. ' He will open his offices in the mu sic parlor to be occupied by the Vic tor people, notice of which will ap pear in the Press and Banner. Mrs. Henry Hagerman is in the city from Greenville and will visit until Friday with her mother, Mrs. John Harris, on South Main street. 0