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$2.00 Per Year in Advance. BAMBERG, S. C., THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1922. Established in 1891.
Branchville Wc
Bamberg; (
V
Branchville, Aug. 16.?Several petitions
are being circulated here petitioning
the governor to order an
election to allow Branchville township,
a part o^Cow Castle and a part
of Edisto township to annex themselves
to Bamberg county. These
petitions are being generously signed
v as a/ result of the controversy bethis
month, gtated Mr. Martin. Mr.
highway commission over the Do
range-Brancliville road. There is
? much feeling over the matter. If the
present plans carry the area involved
will amount to nearly 100 square
miles.
^ A delegation of more than 50 representative
citizens of the town of
Branchville, Biranchville township
and portions of Cow Castle and Edisto
township met with the Orangeburg
county highway commission
Tuesday afternoon to find out from
the latter "why they have deferred
building the Branchville-Dorange
highway.". After a presentation of
views by both sides, W. Claude Martin,
of Branchville, principal spokesman
for the delegation of citizens,
^ announced to the commission that
"we are not satisfied and will take
turther action."
The road in question runs from
Pitt's bridge at ithe Bamberg county
j line for two miles to the limits of the
town of Branchville and five miles
from the Branchville town limits to
Dorange on the Dorchester county
line. The Branchville people say this
is a link in the regular Augusta'
' Charleston highway and is the only
link not in good shape.
it was easily seen tnat tne citizens
i who came to meet the highway commission
are deeply concerned over
the matter. While the meeting was
free of personalities, those of the
delegation of citizens who talked
made their statements very plain.
Activities of the legislative delegation
were automatically drawn into
the controversy. Those of the citizens'
delegation who did not talk
backed up their speakers with applause
and close attention to everj'
word uttered and every development
at the gathering. Members of the
highway commission spoke with an
-evident desire to make the situation
clear to the minds of the citizens.
, . The meeting was held at the request
of the citizens made of the
highway commission and took place
in the court house. J. W. Smoak,
chairman, J. Fisher* Cleckley, J. L.
Shuler and C. F. Bergdorf, members^
, of the commission, were present. S. [
4 J. McCoy, the remaining member or
the commission, was not present, it
liaving been explained to those ro
questing the meeting at the time of
the request that unavoidable engagements
would prevent Mr. McCoy being
present at that time.
J. W. Smoak announced the purpose
of the meeting and cal'ed upon
Mr. Martin. Mr. Martin then told
the chairman that the citizens would
like to hear from the commission
first hand their reasons for their
^ position on the matter of the Branch
yille-Dorange road.
Mr. Smoak related the circumstances
of the first loan made by the
commission for roads with federal
aid and covered subsequent activities
of the commission and circum>
stances developing up to and including
the action taken by the commission
on'the Branchville-Dorange matter.
'Mr. Smoak stated that when the
? commission learned that $140,000
federal aid was available for roads
in this county under the usual provision
that if be matched with an
equal amount by the county, the
commission informed the OrangeV
burg county legislative deleg^Mon of
the situation and the legislative delegation
let the commission borrow
$150,000, and that later they got
more, making the total borrowed
around $163,000. The commission,
he said, then set out to build roads
as directed by the state highway commission
having no say so in the matter
as, under the conditions of al
?
lowing federal aid, the "sayso" of
what roads are to be built is left with
the state highway cammission.
After building the OrangeburgBamberg
road, the chairman stated,
the Springfield-Xeeses road was begun
and is now under construction,
the Bowman road to the Dorange
line has been about completed, the
(. St. Matthews road was begun and is
now under construction, and then
work was begun on the Ninety-Six
*
r -x. , /
-v.- v. . -
mid Annex to
lets No Roads
road and this latter road is now under
construction.
The commission began pushing
the Branchville-Dorange road building,
Mr. Smoak stated. He said the
road has been surveyed, that the
project has been presented for approval
and that it will be about
November 1 or 15 before it can go
through the regular channel.
Mr Smoak then stated that there
is $13,000 of federal aid left for the
Branchville-Dorange road, but the
county highway commission has not
the money with which to match this
$13,000, and unless the legislative
delegation gives the commission the
money with which to match this
$13,000 they can not build the
road. "If there is any other way to
get the money ta match this $13,000
for the Branchville-Dorange
road we will be glad to do it," stated
the chairman.
He told the citizens that the commission
thought they were doing
those interested a favor in pledging
to build the road by chaingang as
the road built by the gang would
be better than by contract. He explained
that the county, in building
roads has to pay for the right "of
way for roads, damages, moving
houses and other Hhings for which x
federal aid could not be used, therefore
making the cost to the county
more than the government's half.
Mr. Martin here asked the chairman
if the commission had estimated
the cost of the Branchville-Dorange
road, to which Mr. Smoak*replied,
"No." The state highway commis
sion, the chairman said, estimated
that it would cost $30,000 and later
said that it would cost more than
that. The Bowman road cost $12,000
or 15,000 more than the contract,
he stated, and the OrangeburgBamberg
road cost more, likewise,
the total cost of the latter road being
$114,000.
"What is the estimated cost of the
construction of a concrete road just
west of the bridge over the Edisto
river at the limits of this city?"
asked Mr. Martin, to which Mr.
Smoak replied, "$25,000 a mile."
Mr. Martin then stated that he understood
that the . bridge over the
river at the* foot of West Russell
street was to be moved to Rowesville
and replaced by a conrcete
bridge.
Mr. Martin, in'reply to the explanation
of Mr. Smoak, stated that he
appeared at tne meeting as tne mayor
of Branchville and \'representative
of the people in the communities
deeply interested in the matter
under discussion. ''Today there are
present representative citizens of
these communities, comprising doctors,
lawyers, merchants and other
lines of business and profession," he
said.
Mr. Martin stated that several
years ago Bamberg tried to divert the
the road under discussion for their
benefit, that a fish fry was given for
the engineers engaged to loflbk into
such diversion, but the engineers, ,
although partaking of the delicious
fish fry, told the Bamberg people
that from an engineering standpoint
the road "must go by Branchville."
"We were led by members of the
Orangeburg county highway commission
to believe that the contract
for the road would be let out about
tween this section and the country
Martin said he had no word of criticism
for the highway commission as
regards their activities as a whole,
but that he does condemn the present
legislative delegation.
T"1 T- - ?:a 1 T?
Dry.ij.cn vine, lit; &yiu, id ucai. iu
size in the county to the city of
Orangeburg, and is next to Orangeburg
in the amount of taxes paid, but,
he said, "we have never received one
cent of federal aid while other sections
have received such aid, and we
have saddled on us by the legislative
delegation a bond issue of $350,000;
then to hear about moving the
only steel bridge bridge in the county
to Rowesville and building about
two miles of concrete road just beyond
the limits of the city of Orangeburg
while* there are dangerous
bridges on the Branchville road and
elsewhere in that community and
other bad conditions exist?this is
awful extravagance." Mr. Martin
stated that Mr. McDonald, expert engineer,
said the steel bridge over the '
river here will last for 15 years.
"If you can build one mile of road,
or two miles, or five miles or 10
miles, it belongs to Branchville,"
vehemently stated Mr. Martin. Con4
eluding he said that "unless we get
these, our rights, we must, in selfdefense,
go to Bamberg county."
This latter statement was not made
as a threat, Mr. Martin told the commission,
but as the only means of
self-defense the citizens in the 100
square miles involved have if these
rights are not accorded.
Mr. Smoak then made the statement
that "if you can get the money
to match the $13,000 we will be
glad to build the road." He further
said the commission has contracted
out $175,000 of the original $300,000
bridge bond issue for bridges
and that concrete bridges are being
built throughout the county. The j
Branchville-Dorange road being v,ery i
good now while other roads are bad,
the commission decided to "fix-up" j
that road and build concrete bridges, |
stated the chairman. 1
The, relative importance of roads,
was brought up and Mr. Smoak remarked
that the roads to a county
seat are the most important, "And
let us starve to death," interjected
Mr. Martin. Mr. Martin said that
Branchville trade is going to St.
George, tWalterboro, Bamberg and
elsewhere on acount of the former
town having no road. Mr. Smoak
responded that it would be built by
the chain gang as soon as if it was
built with federal, aid. If built by
contract the laborers will spend money
in Branchville but none will be
spent by the chain gang, Mr. Martin
pointed out.
At this point Mr. Cleckley, of the
commission, told Mr. Martin that,
when he (Mr. Cleckley) told Mr.
Martin that the road would be built j
the statement was made in good faith
but the money ran out.
Mr. Smoak explained that the commission
had no sayso in the building
of the two miles of concrete road,
west of the city but that the legislative
delegation appropriated $25,000
and the state highway commission
$25,000 for this special use.
Mr. Martin asked why a new
bridge should be built now and stated
that the people of the city of
Orangeburg say they would rather
see Branchville get what is due her
than to get the bridge. Mr. Smoak
replied that that would not help as
the money for the bridge comes out
of the bridge bonds.
P. C. Dukes, of Branchyille, told
the commission that they have not
gotten one cent and wanted to know
xrh v
Mr. Smoak answered, "If the state
highway commission had said build
the Branchville road it would have
been built. In giving federal aid
they suggest the road to be built as
comes in their system."
''Doe's not the highway commission
of this or other counties say
what roads are to be built?" asked
Mr. Dukes.
"Possibly so, but we never have,"
answered the chairman.
Mr. Dukes then said it is strange
that bodies in Columbia, Greenville
and elsewhere dictate to this county
what roads are to be built. "Why
did the legislative delegation leave
out the most important town, next to
Orangeburg, in the county"/ we nave
been neglected and' we come to you
now for justice," Mr. Dukes concluded.
N. E. Byrd, of Branchville, wanted
to know why road money could be
swapped for bridge money but bridge
money could not be swapped ifor
road money, to which Mr. Smoak
answered that if the state highway
commission gives permission, the
$13,000 federal aid heretofore mentioned
can be diverted. "If thi? can
be done why don't you do it?" asked
Mr. Byrd.
Mr. Martin asked the question:
"Where does the money come from
for the road to be built running up
to the river at the Orangeburg city
line?" and answered it himself by
saying, "From the taxpayers, and we
i> " "\ft? Afortin tnlfl the
are laxpciveio. ..xw.. v.~ -
commission that "we are not satisfied,
and we will take further action,"
and the meeting adjourned.?Times
and Democrat.
Woodward-Padgett.
Last Saturday ni?ht about midnight
Probate Judge J. J. Brabham,
Jr., was awakened out of his slumbers
to issue a marriage license to
E. G. Padgett and Miss Velma Woodward,
both af Denmark. After issuing
the license, Rev. S. O. Cantey
was called over the telephone and
asked to be in readiness to perform
the ceremony. Mr. Cantey hastily
donned his clothing and performed
the ceremony at the parsonage at
12:45 o'clock Sunday morning. Both
young people are employees of the
telephone company at Denmark,
where they have many friends to congratulate
and wish the mwell.
RECORDS SUPPORT CHARGES.
Examination Shows Ex-Service Men
Were Discriminated Against.
Washington, Aug. 10.?In his efforts
to prevent the confirmation of
Joseph W. Tolbert as United States
' marshal for the Western district of
South Carolina, Senator Dial recently
i charged that Tolbert had invariably
recommended the appointment of
I others than soldiers as postmasters
| even when former service men made
the highest marks in the civil service
examinations, hence were entitled to
be named for these positions. The
charges were so startling that they
caused an investigation of the records
and enough has been disclosed
to verify the assertion made by Senator
Dial.
That ' many former service men
have been totally ignored by Mr. Tolbert
in a great tnany cases may be
dom.
seen from his action in some of the
South Carolina offices taken at ranFor
instance, take the following
named places:
Greenville: William F. Robertson
made 79, plus five for soldier prefer
n.i i m rnt_ rj o OA
ence; xtoueri 1. luumc, i^.ov anu.
Wiiliam C. Withington, 87.0, plus five
for soldier preference. In this case
both the highest and lowest or. the
list were soldiers, but Tolbert recommended
the second, who was not
a soldier.
Abbeville: John R. Tolbert, 76.40:
Thomas T. Tolbert, '72 and G. A.
Neuffer, 76.50, plus five for soldier
preference. Here fhe soldier was
rejected and Tolbert's nephew was
named.
Clinton: A. J. Milling made 83; W.
M. McMillan made 75.20 and R. H.
Blakely, 75.80, plus five for soldier
preference. In this instance, the soldier
Whs rejected and Tolbert's nephew
by marriage was appointed.
Kershaw: H. E. Estridge made
88.75, plus five for soldier preference;
George T. Truesdale, 78.05 and
T. L. Gregory, 76.80. Here the soldier
was rejected, although he had
done valiant service and made the
highest mark. The second named
was appointed.
McCormick: James E. Bell made
86.70', plus five for soldier preference;
J. W. Harmon, 84.80 and D. B.
Woodward, 85.85. In this case the
soldier was rejected and third named
appointed.
James H. Grauel Died Sunday.
James H. Grauel, popular boys'
work secretary of the Columbia Y.
M. C. A., died yesterday morning at
the Lake Shore hospital, Painesville,
Ohio, after being ill with typhoid
fever for about four weeks.
Mr. and Mrs. Grauel left Columbia
about three weeks ago for Lake
George, N. Y., where Mr. Grauel was
to attend a Y. M. C. A. conference.
They stopped over in Cleveland, intending
to visit Mr. Grauel's relatives
for a few days. There he was taken
very ill. He had not been well for
a week or so before leaving Columbia,
but went on any way as he
thought the trip would do him good.
Mr. Grauel had been boys' secretary
here for almost two years, taking
up this work the first of September,
1 920. Previous to that he had
been state boys' work secretary for a
year, coming to this state from Atlanta,
where he had been boys' work
secretary for about two year's. Mr.
Grauel gave up the state #ork in
South Carolina for the local in order
to be with his mother, who was in ill
health and who died in Colombia
just a little more than a year ago.
He was originally from Cleveland,
Ohio.
Mr. Grauel was 27 years of age and
was admired and loved by the boys
with whom he worked and by all
with whom he came in contact. He
was a splendid young man of high
character, clean and lovable, and his
life all before him?a life of unusual
promise. The news of his untimely
death has cast a shadow about all
those who knew him and loved him.
Mr. Grauel was married only seven
months ago to Miss Claire Kearse, of
Bamberg. Mrs. Grauel was witn mm
when he died.
The body will be laid to rest beside
| the other members of his family, in
j Cleveland tomorrow. He is survived
only by his wife, having lost his entire
family?both parents, a brother
i and a sister within the' last few
years.
Two Xew Wardens.
Governor. Harvey has appointed
R. W. Riley game warden for Allendale
county and 0. J. C. Lain game
warden for Bamberg county.?The
State.
Last County C
\ Meeting 1
j The sixth and last county campaign
meeting of the summer was
held Friday at the court house in
Bamberg. The last meeting was
well attended; there were probably
more men at this meeting than at
any other in the county; only a few
j women graced the meeting with
! their presence. This was probably
due to the inclemency of the day, as
rain fell intermittently during the
speaking. At the same time the rain
perhaps brought out nore men than
would otherwise have attended, as
farm work was at a standstill, and
many of them had little else to do.
The court house was comfortably
full. Every candidate was present
and every one had something to say.
Dr. J. B. Black, state senator, presided
over the meeting. After being
called to order, he called upon Rev.
T. A. Inabinett to ask the blessings
of the Deity on the meeting. This
Mr. Inabinett did in a most appro
priate manner.
Dr. Black welcomed the people to
Bamberg; a special welcome being
extended the ladies. He congratufated
the candidates for the high
plane on which they had pitched the
campaign, and asked for each one a
respectful hearing which he felt
sure would be given, as is always
the case with the people of this city.
Reversing the order of procedure
in the court house, the candidates
were seated in the petit jury box,
where they might be seen as well as
heard. While the record might not
be entirely accurate to say that they
were a handsome bunch of men;
nevertheless, there has probably
never been a more intelligent jury
drawn on any case than the bunch
of candidates who sat in the jury
space Friday. Whoever is elected,
the affairs of the county will not be
in bad hands.
Candidates for Magistrate.
The first speaker of the day was
Edgar Dickinson, offering for reelection
as magistrate .at Bamberg.
Mr. Dickinson said that it was unfortunate
that Dr. Black had not limited
the speakers, as he would probably
take all the time from the other
candidates. However, he contented
himself by thanking the people for
entrusting the office to his care, and
will appreciate the support of his
people on August >9th.
Thomas J. Rentz, the only opponent
of Mr. Dickinson, said he could
r . ... . , ' .v?
not make a speecn use ms wunuj
opponent, but he will promise to discharge
the duties of the office to the
best of his ability if he is elected.
He promises prompt and efficient
service, he has nothing against his
opponent, who is one of his best
friends. The office is one of importance
and resposibility, he said.
Uncle George Makes Home Run.
Treasurer George A. Jennings
made his first appearance Friday.
He has been so busy in his office that
he could not attend the meetings
heretofore. He was greeted with
much applause. "Here's your old
uncle; look at me," he started. He
has been in the treasurer's office
since 1912, and has always tried to
do his duty. Notwithstanding the
disasters, the county is getting along
well, he said, but "the. fuel," referring
to money, is getting short on
account of the failure of many to
pay their taxes. $40,000 is still
on the books in unpaid taxes, and he
urged everybody to try and pay up
to avoid their taxes going to execution
Sept. 1st. Uncle George wanted
it distinctly and unqualifiedly understood
that he is a ladies' man, and
j when it comes to judging good looking
women he- does not hand the
palm to any man, not even Senator
Mayfield or Barney Smoak; and he
added with a twinkle, that they are1
all good looking.
Supporting Only Self, Says Rowell.
Auditor Rowell said that every*
" * * TT. i-vl J
DOClv Knows mm. nt: turn ui cue
land assessment matter, and stated
in this connection that the impression,
reported to him, that he was
supporting Mr. Kearse for the house,
was entirely erroneous. ' I am for
W. D. Rowell? and nobody else," he
declared. In mentioning the land
assessment matter it had been necessary
to mention Mr. Kearse's name,
but he assured his hearers that both
Mr. Kearse and Mr. Riley were strong
friends of his, and he would have
quite a job in deciding for whom
he would vote on election day. In
connection with the land matter, Mr.
Rowell said that Attorneys Mayfield
i and Crum had told him to go ahead,
I
I
.ampaign
'~deld on Friday
in the event the tax commission did
not restore the assessment to the
old basis, and put it on his books
at $4.69 per acre and that they
would fight it out in the court free
of charge. However, this was unnecessary,
inasmuch as the commission
listened to the voice of the people
and let the assessment stand.
Supervisors Come Next.
Supervisor Smoak did not have
much to say at the meeting, preferring
to give most of his time to his
ODDonents. He told of building: the
road from Denmark to Bamberg with
the chain gang, which saved the
county a good deal and enabled the
county to go'into the building of the
Bamberg-Branchville road. He told
of his work on the roads of the
county since he has been in G--.ce,
and thanked the people for the vote
of two years ago, and for the vote
he expects on August 29th.
A. B. Hightower, also for super^
visor, made his usual brief speech,
in which he said he had nothing to
I promise except that he will do his
; duty to the best of his ability.
G. Victor Kearse, another opponent
of Supervisor Smoak, said that he
was no Stranger in Bamberg; he has
many friends and relatives here. As
a traveling salesman for several
years he had traveled over the important
roads of the state, and upon
observing them resolved that he
would like to. serve his county as
supervisor^- He stressed the import- . 1
ance of the roads, saying that church1
es and schools come first in importance,
and then roads. If elected he
promised to do his full duty, and
will see that the roads worked are
taken care of. In this connection
he stated that Orangeburg has recently
built 250 miles of sand-clay
roads; Aiken county 500 miles, and
Barnwell 150 'miles. This shows
..f
what our sister counties are doing.
In concluding* he said that the race
i, was compared to a base ball game;,
'you never know the result until th^
last ball is thrown in the ninth inning.
He hoped to be at bat on August
29th, and he hoped to knock a
home run.
Lower District Commissioners.
George W. Hunlter, for lower district
commissioner, said that at Olar
fki
and Denmark he had to say he was a
stranger, but he thanked the Lord
he was no stranger in Bamberg, . '>
which is his home town and had >J
. .
been for forty years. He came nere
with his father on a ''tumbling cart."
He had been asked six years ago to .
run for the office, but declined, because
he had been out of the county
three years, and did not think it was
right; again importuned four years
ago, but decided to wait a while loijger;
two years ago he resolved to run
this year. He said his section needs
a good commissioner, for the roads
are bad, though, he said, weather
conditions had prevented any road
work lately. He told of his experience
in road work, which had been,
extensive. He feels he can do as
much as anybody else in the office.
J. W. Zeigler, incumbent, said he
had heard no complaints about his
service, except from his opponents
; "jg
who want to make a little extra
change for gasoline; neither one, he
said, can beat him, and he does not
believe that both of them can. While
he does not consider that working
the roads is the main duty of the
office, still he has done work on the
roads that would stay there until
judgment day. He considers the
" 'i
main duty is to keep the finances
straight. If the roads get out of fix,
let somebody report it, and he will
see that they are repaired, he is no
road worker. He concluded by saying
that he was old and crippled in
body, needs the office, but his head
is as good as ever. "If my head
ever fails me I will withdraw from
the race." he said.
J. B. McCormack, another aspirant
| for th^s office, said "if you want a
i speaker for commissioner, vote for
one of my opponents, but if you want
somebody to work your roads and fix ^
your bridges, vote for me." He
thanked the people for their votes
on August 29th, and then something ^
occurred which broke all precedents
in this campaign. A lady walked up
to the judge's stand and presented
Mr. McCormack with a pretty bunch
of flowers. Mr. McCormack admits
he Is no speaker, but this loosed his
vocal organs, and he declared, waiv
in? the flowers in his hand, that he
(Continued on page 2, column 1.).