PP^giippipppp^jPpif^iiy1'111"' I'HilP" " -* pi ' ihiiiiiiii^M 7t(\r f) if tori jfcmft / "7 ESTABLISHED IN 1895. DILLON. SOUTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 1909. VOL. ISSNOTZT' I fr 'ROUND UPPER MARION IN HORSELESS CARS. A Jolly Party as Guests of for. R. P. Stackhouse jpent Day Inspecting Crops of Upper Marion. Automobiling Through Garden Spot of the State. Record Breaking Crop* of Cotton and Com. Right here in upi>er Marion almost midway between the two PetDees is the garden sjx>t of South Carolina. When it is remembered that South Carolina lays just claim to some of the richest soil in the cotton belt this may be taken at first glance as a rather broad and unwarranted assertion, but if there be anyone who thinks the writer exaggerates on the fertility of upper Marion lands let them tnVp ;i flfiv tl"w* t crop is matured and see for them selves. Strangers traveling through this section marvel at the richness of the lands and one of the first questions they ask is "What makes these lands more feitile than those of adjacent territory?" It is because they lie on a ridge that begins somewhere uear the Horry line and ends in Marlboro county, passing through what is known as the famous Hebron section. The crest of this ridge is the highest point between the Pee Dees; it has a deep clay sub-soil nun uuiiiT) in in y and in wet seasons it sheds water , like a duck's back. In other sections less favored by the laws of nature drouths and torrential rairfs have almost completely annihilated crops, while in the memory of the oldest inhabitant this section has never suffered a crop disaster. It was through this section that a party, as guests of Mr. R. P. Stackhoiise, toured in automobiles last Thursday. In the party were Judge R. C). Purdy and Mr. ih Charles Rowland, of Sumter, . and Messrs. C. T. O'Ferral, J. S. Thompson and A. B. Jordan. Led by a big Reo driven by Mr. O'Ferral and followed by a Buick r*u,, t : I uauaici wiiu Vyimut'ui jiiriiiui; LeGette at the throttle the party left the A. C. L. station at 11.30 and the first stop was made at the Col. Stackhouse plantation now owned by Dr. Stackhouse and worked by Mr. L. Hubbard, one of the best farmers id Marion county. Mr. Hubbard was not at home, having gone to Campbell's Bridge to attend a fish-fry Dr. Stackhouse was giving to the managers of his several plantations. The party alighted, however, and spent several minutes looking over the plantation. Dr. Stackhouse has an excellent crop on this place and will make nearly a bale to the acre. Thirty years ago, it was recalled by Mr. R. P. Stackhouse, Col. Stackhouse made ever 700 pounds of lint cotton to ' the acre which is rather extraorI * dinary considering the fact that | cotton culture at that time was in a crude state of development. t aLAND lords and barons. ^Continuing the journey westWard toward Bennettsville a ride T of a few minutes brought the party into a zone of big landed j estates where the proprietors are "lords ofall they survey." Inthis > circle dwell the lords and barons L ' of the soil. Stretching out foi mile after mile and broken only here and there by thin strips ol fet pine forest forming beautiful and P.' picturesque sky lines are magnificent fields of cotton and corn burjn geoned and bending with the ' wealth of the soil. Add to the scene a number of beautiful country homes equipped with all the conveniences necessary to comfort- J able living and you have comple- I ted the picture of an ideal country i community. In this section which I , seems to have been doubly blessed 1 by a kind providence, dwell such < i substantial farmers as O. C. Hayes, I T. L. Manning, L. Manning, VV. 1 F. Stanton, and W. T. Huggins, i the last two managing plantations < for Mr A. J. C. Cottingham and ? Mrs. Josephine Stackhouse, while 1 further on live E. A. McCormack, 1 P. L. Bethea and others whose 1 names are not recalled at this mo- < ment. 1 Excessive rains had fallen dur- 1 ing the early morning and as the 1 roads were muddy .and choppy a ' short stop was made at Mr. Hug- 1 gins' place to attach mud chains ! to the automobiles. Here it was 1 discovered that Mr. Huggins had 1 a very sick mule and while Mr. 1 ()'h*erral adjusted the mud chains 1 the other members of the party 1 gathered round the sick animal ' and in their zeal to display a pro- ' found knowledge of veterinary 1 diseases, each suggested a remedy ' either of which, no doubt, would ' have produced fatal results the moment it was applied- Finally Mr. Stackhouse suggested that a quart of raw turpentine be applied to the stomach, and the animal , freeil to take the violent exercise which must neccessarily follow. * It was agreed that Mr. Stack- ^ house's remedy seemed to possess , more viture than the others, but j none of the party could be induced to linger and see the effect. ^ The next objective was the t plantation of Mr. Rod Jackson's to t inspect a field of corn, reputed to t be of such luxuriant growth as tc t excite the envy and wonder of all . who saw it. En route to Mr. ( Jackson's the party passed manv t fine fields of cotton, among which t was the plantation of Mr. J. L. , Bennett. Mr. Bennett lives at ^ Clio and his plantation is managed j by Mr. W. B. Horton, a most ex- t cedent gentleman and a splendid ' fanner, The crops on Mr. Ben- ] nett's place were looking fine and j will compare with any that were ( seen on the journey. Arriving ^ at Mr. Jackson's the party was ^ shown through the field of magnifi- ( cent com of which they had heard , such wondrous reports and at a | first glance there was unanimnity ] of opinion that the estimates on j 1 its yield had not been exasperated. Like other great men who do big j things quietly Mr. Jackson's car- ^ dinal virtue is modesty and al- , though he estimated the yieM at , 50 bushels per acre a bit of calcu- ' ation with pencil and paper proved that the yield will not fall short of i 76 bushels. With more tavorablp i seasons the yield would have exceeded that amount. Mr. Jackson is one of the best farmers in , the county and has cotton that will produce more than a bale to . the acre. He is progressive in his ideas and has given his fellow , farmers a splendid example of the value of rotation. He has recently purchased a handsome Buick automobile which will greatly shorten the distance between his home and the neighboring markets. There had been low3ring clouds . all the morning and at this junc 1UIV a uva? V lam IU1VXU UlC par. ty to abandon the automobiles [ and seek shelter in Mr. Jackson's . piazza where they spent a pleast half an hour. As the party re turned to their automobiles, t3ie jovial face of Jimpiie LeGette, driver of the Buick machine, was [ seen to emerge trom the hoase [ wreathed in smiles. Questioned . as to his absence during the rain . Jimme nonchalantly replied that . he "didn't know where this thing . would end'' and automobiles were . too uncertain in rainy weather to i refuse invitations to dinner. A heavy rain had fallen and on the return journey the swiftly moving machines ploughed through mud and water like naptha launches splitting the surface jf a placid lake. Driven by the throbbing engines they sped onward, down by the W. K. Allen plantation, through (iallavon, tnvned by Mr. J. C. Cottingham, md on to the plantations of Miss Lottie Stackhouse and Mr. Cade Sherwood, the objective being Mr. R.. P. Stackhouse's magnificent country seat two miles west of Dillon where a sumptuous repast iwaited the party. All through this section the crops are in ex:ellent condition and the yield this vcar will be far above the average. In fact all this section Forms part of the circle owned by the "lords and barons of the soil" referred to in a previous paragraph. Through here are found immense plantations, each in itself a kingdom of its own, ruled jver by sovereigns more independent in wordl y irossessions than were the feudal lords at~t he time of the crusades. FORDING A QUAGMIRE. The only rival of tht modern mtomobile when it comes to fordng quagmires and bogs is the ox. rhis fact was illustrated in the successful crossing of a swamp lividinc" the nlniitntiiinc r?f Lottie Stack house and Mr. Cade Sherwood's. Here a stretch of bottomless mud more than a liunlred feet long was encountered md the way the powerful Keo Allowed by the brave little Buick :ore through it was enough to put :he proverbial ox to shame. As he party approached this morass hey were stopped by the whiz/ tnd burr ol another automobile Iriven by young Mr. Britt as it ore it< way through mud that ouched the differentials of the nachine. The party alighted and vatehed the big Reo as it plunged nto the mire and fought ^ its way lirough with the energy of a Turkish warrior scaling a palisade, further up the hill the road had been freshly worked and the big :?r came to grief the first time by blunging into a deep hole that had been covered by a thin layer of iirt. This occasioned only a fe v minutes delay, however, and soon .he party was gliding over the highway again with the speed of :he wind. By this time the dinner hour lad long since passed and the party had to forego the pleasure if visiting the large plantations in this vicinity owned by Messrs. j. W. Hamer, Sam Britt, R. P. Hamer, J. H. Hamer, E. R. Hamer, N. A. Berry. L. O. Braddy, Brooks Hamer, D. McLaurin and others. However, any description of the wonderful fertility of the lands surrounding Little Rock would only be to re peat oft' told tales of agricultural successes that read like a page from "Arabian Nights." THE CASTLE; OF LORD RUDOLPH. Swiftly the cars sped through the historic town of Little Rock and out again into the open country. Crossing Roper's Mill they mounted the hillside as grace tuny as swallows fly and then the magnificent country home of Mr. R. P. Stackhouse, resting majestically on the crest of a hill with gently sloping sides, hove in sight. Arrived at their destination the party alighted and after a refreshing toilet were ushered intc the dining room where they did full justice to a most delightful dinner. There is no more beautiful or better appointed home ir Marion county than Mr. Stackhouse's. The land uoon which it rests and the broad acres surrounding it have been handed down through an unbroken line of an ccstry tor a period covering more 1 than a century. The present v beautiful structure with its broad h verandas and stately halls was re- b modelled from the home where o Mr. Stackhouse's father and a grandfather lived and died. Here li the present master, a most sue- s cessful buisness man and farmer, ii like the knightly Cedrie in Sir > Waltet Scott's charming "l?ran- /v hoe," live s the life of a quiety d country gentleman, entertaining p with hands wide open and healt responding to the pleasures of t evei y moment. s A part ot the afternoon /was f >pent inspecting the crops on Mr. a Stackhouse's plantation and A hose v of his neighbor, Mr. J. S. Tfionip- f son. Men who own such valu- 1" able lands must of neecessky be I good farmers and the crons on '1 t vv*i i fine eL/?juwl to none that were seen on\the s journey through the garden spbv. J of Marion county. Both have a large fields of cotton that will s produce more than a bale to the acre. (IKEATKR THAN JULIl'S CEASAR. i This feeble attempt at descrip- a tion of a trip through such fine ^ farming lands would not be com- c plete without a word about the j distinguished visitors who accom- ( panied tlie party. Judge Puriy ., is a Virginian by birth Ltit he has j. lived in this state so lonir that he I easily passes for a real South Carolina gentleman. He is one j of the most successful practition- j ers at the Sumter Bar, and how- c ever incongruous it may seem, he t is also one of the most successful a business men of the Game Cock a county. When Julius Ceasar re- s luctantlv pushed aside the crown v he was proclaimed the greatest e man of his day but Judge Purdy's r friends hold him in higher regard v than did Ccasar's, in that after a serving one term on the Bench s with marked distinction Judge a Purdy voluntarily retired and positively refused a second term. v H e is easy and graceful of man- f ner, charming in personality, and v best of all a sincere Christian and ^ a gentleman. p THE MORGAN OF SUMTER * V From the telegrapher's chair to the banker's office is a long jump in less than half a score of years, but this feat of financial acrobatism has been accomplished by Mr. C Charles Rowland. It was fi while Mr. Rowland was working t for the railroad that he took a C "flyer" into several business ven- r turcs. He was successful from t the first, and then fearful lest he t should soon own the railroad his t employers advised him that he t had better leave off the outside ii business and look after their aff- c airs more closely. Mr. Rowland's r, rejoinder was that he was making t three times as much on the outside and he "guess he'd better quit." It was not long before he had established himself at the j head of one of Sumter's banks. ] Other successes followed in rapid i succession and suddenly the rail- J road people woke up and found ^ out what they had lost. He was ( uuvi ^vi aiiuiuui ^aniuu will1. LUC v railroad with a large increase in i salary and plenty of time thrown in on the side to look after outside investments, but Mr. Rowland had got a taste of freedom : and he declined He has ac- t quired a lot of land and is at the ' > head of the Sumter Telephone Co., 1 the only enterprise of the kind in [ the south. His company reaches out for trade all over the i world and in addition to equipping the city of Sidney, Austrailia t with 'phones they have sold their , product in Japan and the Philip- 1 i pines. Their latest triumph is a contract from the government for l i * x ) \ . . ;.L 00 0 'phones. Mr. Rowlant /as born in North Carolina bu lis successes down here hav< een so great that people seem t< verlook this- The only thinj gains* his record is that he onct ivecf in Marion, but this has beet 0 Jong ago that only the oldes [habitants remember it. He is : frvial gentleman, bubbling ovei /ith wit, and the pleasure of th< lay was greatly augumented by hi 1 resenee It would be a pleasure to eon inue this article but ?itne ant pace will not permit. More ha: ?ecn told already than was origin illy intended. One regret is tha ye could not stop at all the fm< arms seen along the journey, bu lad we done so the trip wouh i ive extended into a weplr There was real pleasure it)^-f brains, and makes a pile c noney out of his farming opera ions. Brownie's Fine Record. In the summer races of the Pe Dee Circuit now about to clos Jrownie, the handsome little ba nare owned by Mr. J. B. Gibson i a s made a n enviable record rhis was Brownie's first seasoi jut she took to racing ' like a duel o water'' and made a record tha ;urpasses the most sanguine ex jectations of her owner. In lays she has been entered in < *aces and has trotted 19 heats she has been driven 116 mile icross tKe country from meet t neet and has traveled 74 miles oi :he train. She has never won les :han second money and her tota winnings for the 28 days are $247 50. She has increased her speei it every race and took a mark c L.fWK. in September she wi start on the Virginia-Carolina Cii :uit and will trot for purses wort (2,500. This is a fine record fo i horse that less than a year ag was looked upon as a pretty fai buggy animal. The'Dillon Herald $ 1.50 a yea idfrL,.aaU >.-a.. '3 i HOUSE ALMOST WRECKED li BUT INMATES ESCAPE. ? -Lightning Played Remarkable Pranks With Residence t of S. D. Jordan. No one i Seriously Hurt. r A very severe thunder storm, accompanied by a heavy downpour s of rain, passed over Diilon at midnight Thursday nijrht. The 1 i>^htTil n?r ctnn'L- til.. 1 \t nm ?.r \ I . L? T\ mil ^ oil 11 v ix vil v.- 11' I 1IV '^1 il lit 1 ' > . Jordan in the northeastern part of town, and while none of the s family, consisting of Mr. Jordan,' - wife, twj daughters atnf'niece, t were seriously injuixt,' thev were ^ all fearfully sl^akf-n up. The bolt struck the^eftinuu-v of one room. 1 demolished it. tore a great hole in ^ jj*r~foof, through the ceiling into f a closet. There it seemed to di. vide, one fork going tne piece of 'imber ' was driven across the room into il the plastering of the opposite wall t- with such force that it was withn drawn with c< nsiderable difficulty, jf Mrs. Jordan was asleep in a bed within a few incite* of the window, land while terribly shocked she was able to give the alarm to Mr. Jor0 dan that the house was on tire, a n tierce blaze springing up the side ,r of the window. A pitehe: of water in tile- room enabled them to 1 extinguish the llames before they n could make any headway. The h freakish fluid p'aved queer pranks, v All around, the silvered back of j the hall mirror shows the most . beautiful fern like traceries. A c metal handle of an umbrella was ? blown off and melted and the screen - window in its metal parts showed v the same effect of the great heat. t The escape of the family was simple miraculous. e m - Mr. John fiiruon Dies Suddenly. ] Mr. John Ilinson died suddenly at his hotre in east Dillon Sunt day afternoon at 4 o'clock. The ; cause of Mr. Hinson's death was s Iffcart disease from which he had . suffered for several years. It was while sitting on the piazza that Mr. Ilinson was taken ill and in a few moments he was suffering great agony. Dr. Badger, who . I was making a call at a house near 1 j by, administered stimulants and - did everything he eon Id t?? relieve e his sufferings, but the attack was b so severe that death ensued in a - few minutes. Mr- Hinson was born in Marly boro county and in early life he t followed the profession of a princ ter. Abandoning this profession 1 he engaged in various other vo'f cations, the latter part of his life i- being devoted to the saw mill business. He was a brave confederate soldier and served with great |distinction during the four year's ^ conflict. e e He was twice married and by y his first marriage there were born , to him several sons by whom he is survived. His second marriage ? was without issue. He is sur^ vived by his second wife, who was - a Mrs. Sanders. K Monday the remains were taken k to Maxton where they were interred by the graves of his ancestors. u The deceased was 67 years of age. As this is the season for many I social events and much visiting 1 The Herald wants its correspon^ dents to send in newsy letters ^ every week. The most interestU | ing feature of the newspaper is . , the news furnished by its corre^, spendents from the various secr tions and we want our correspon,o I dents to co-operate with us in the jr'effort to cover the territory in which The Herald circulates, : thoroughly. A fright, newsy letter every week wul do much r. toward attaining this end. CJ