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Srtabliahed 1844. ij: The Press and Banner ABBEVILLE, S. C. p Wm. P. GREENE, Editor. f. Published Every Wednesday by The Press and Banner Co. Telephone No. 10. : Entered as second-class mail mattar at post office in Abbeville, S. C. Terms of Subscription: One year $1.50 Six months .75 Three months .60 Payable invariably in advance. Wednesday, Sept. 5, 1917. !' ? AFTER THE SOUTHERN. ~ Some days ago one of the good citizens of the city advised us that the time had arrived when we should get after the Southern Railway Company, and tell it of its , shortcomings. Well, we have a kindly feeling for the Southern, because we believe that it tries, in some matters, at least, to meet the requirements of the public, and to accommodate its trade. We recall that some two years ago when The Press and Banner insisted that the Southern da away with the long wait at Hodges, it got busy and made the necessary changes to accommodate our people. We should be thankful for that. But having torn the pocket off our Sunday coat on the old coach now! being used on the Abbeville branch, we were in position to sympathize with our friend when he said that1 the present coach is a disgrace to any j railroad and to any community. We' I< >- have an indistinct recollection that fat one time we had a new coach onj the Abbeville branch, but it must! have worn out or been borrowed by j some other "branch" as we do not have it now. The Southern has some very fine gentlemen in charge of its trains betweeji Hodges and Abbe-j ville. They are polite and obliging, ' and we know they want to make; everybody comfortable on the trips j between these points, and the stops at Stevenson, Pratt and Darraugh'sj as pleasant as possible. Nothing! would help in these directions as much as a new coach, so let us have it, Mr. Southern. And while we are on the Southern we would remark that "The Snail! 'Limited," a subsidtary line which carries the mail from the Southern Railway to the Abbeville Postoffice, under the direction of the Southern, sometimes takes more than its usual j half hour to run each hundred' yards. We suggest that an oil or; coal burner be put on this train, and that the present wood burner be discarded. The mails should be handled over this line with more dispatch. "GOOD ROADS." 15&v 1 In Greenville county, in Chester, nn/] nfliar AAlinflOQ tXrVlAT#* jjftUlCllo axiu vwiwi vvu<tv*vw) ft*.*.* it is proposed to build and maintain sand clay or gravel roads, which are stated to be improved highways, a Highway Commission, under one name or another, has been created to have charge of the building, and maintenance of these roads, at least for a season. In other counties where bond issues have been proposed for the building of these roads, there has been always a provision for a commission to do the work: In Greenwood county which has issued bonds, an Act has been sought taking .. the working of the roads out of the hands of the Supervisor. This indicates to us that the people are not satisfied with the present way of working the roads. It means that while the Suprevisor and his coworkers may be managing the finances of the county in a satisfactory manner, they are not working the roads in a satisfactory manner. It means that the people of the state have determined to have better roads, and that in the judgment of the people, the present officers are not the men to take charge of the road work. No doubt the several counties in the state in selecting the supervisors have selected honest men and capable men in their various lines as farmers, or merchants, or contractors, but as a rule the men at the head of affairs in the several counties are not men versed in road building, or in road maintenance, and therefore, while they may have worked industriously, according to the old way, in undertaking to keep up the roads, they have not met modern thought on the subject, stud" J on/4 fhav ara! lea muucm mcuivuo) auu v?v^ m? v not making the improvements which should be made on the public highways. We believe that the men who fill the offices mentioned will admit this much themselves. If we are correct in these deductions, and we believe that we are, it follows that as the building and maintenance of the roads is the most important work now assigned the su pervisor, a new and a better form of county government is needed in u the several counties. Just what that F form is we must ascertain. Every tl man will have his own idea as to the ti matter, and we do not claim to be d wiser than others, but we have u thought about the matter for a con- n siderable time and we make the sug- fr gestions which have forced themselves on us as wide and expedient. I We believe that the working and maintenance of the roads as well as|p other county affairs should be placed ^ in the hands of commissioners to be ^ named by the people of the county on salesday in .January of each year, or on some other convenient date, in a j( meeting of citizens representing ^ every school district, or township, of the county, on some plan securing c just representation, and that these commissioners should hire the neci, _1? j__ 1. iL. essary neip 10 worn tne ruaus. a In order to secure the best men in g the county and to keep the commis- v sion out of politics, it would be nec- v essary that these commissioners ^ serve without pay. The most ordii nary experience in matters of offi- n cers of this kind evidence the fact ? that a small salary- attached to an office of this kind always brings forth jr a crop of candidates for the office -j to get the pay, and the smaller the tl pay, the more mediocre is the business qualification of the average e] candidate for the office. On the vj other hand, the school matters in w the several school districts are man-j ft aged by trustees who serve without ijn pay, and in many of the districts, | p. especially in the cities, these trus-itf tees are selected by the people, and|SC in all cases so far as we have had a Uj. chance to observe, among the best d< men in the several communities, the p( most patriotic, and the most efficient f ij( business administrators, are found'ai on these, boards. Occasionally of st course, in scnooi matters mere is an 1S upheaval, and some men are turned out, and others put in their places, d< but the rule even in these cases is Ce that only good men are selected. Atjcc least a majority of the men so se- 01 lected may always be depended on'ci to do the best for the people whom ci they serve. In the management of^v large corporations, such as our[0t banks and cotton mills, directors m are elected by the stock-holders and or these men give of their time and. hi experience to the banks and other! corporations without pay. In this;ca way the commissioners of roads li\ should be selected. The office would M then be one which would not be "W sought after, but one which the pub- Y< lie should insist should not be de-jer clined. pc Having selected this commission, tu it should organize for business. The^er commission having charge of thejle roads should elect a competent road j at man to work the roads, and ne snouia: sa give his entire time to that work, b( being on the roads every day in the cl year when it is possible to work. The M salary now paid the supervisor would aj pay him for his services. Of course T] the roads should be laid out by a F< competent engineer, who might be bj hired for a month of longer, but who er need not be hired permanently, and bi the general nature of the work done on the roads should be under er his specifications, and according to re his directions, which a competent ca foreman might do. The work done 0; should be of as nearly a permanent tb nature as it is possible to build in fa this county considering our finances w and the material at hand. pj The commission having charge of ea the work, though the general super- tv visor or builder as he might be desig- ps nated, would be in position to pass in ;n+Al1icrontlv nn nil claims acrainst sh the county, and to order those paid which should be paid, and others re- of jected when this should be done, th Meeting once or twice a month for th the purpose of passing on these tr claims, the auditor of the county se could "do the necessary book-keeping w! and the salary of a book-keeper dis- In pensed with. G The affairs of a county need only to that business attention which the or- Ci dinary business man gives to his own business to put it on a better basis, w; The old ideas in farming employed ac i < - vrv Dy OUr iatners Hie ucmg untaiucu and better plans are being adopted, th The lands are being taken care of er where formerly they were allowed lil to go to waste while other lands tv were being cleared up. The farmers oi are making great progress in the a manner of cultivating the lands, and D in the great farming sections of the bi county, there is room for improve- fc ment in the manner of working d< roads. We must get away from what Ir is cumbersome and unprofitable and look forward to some practical plan which will ierve the ends of the people. It is a time to think about these b< matters. The present supervisor has a ~ TTftO ! ? 4-A ll >>uuietiling muic uiau uwJ^CMO W ti serve. He is entitled to serve out a< the time for which he has been elect- ni d. But this need not deter the peo- la pie from taking steps to improve tl matters when that time arrives. If si a different system is to be adopted Ii for our county affairs, it should be ir provided in advance. jr< Not being bound to any plan, nor " nder obligations to any person, The 'ress and Banner wishes only for he adoption of the best plan of acion. Looking to that end, we invite iscussion of the matter in our col mns by people who have given the I latter thought.^ and who are willing 1 a do so, to the end that we may sach a conclusion and go forward. President Wilson declines the 'ope's peace offer on the ground that hie German government cannot be rusted. That's generally the result rhen a nation or an individual does ot keep its promises. Other people >se confidence in them.?Gaffney <edger. GOVERNORS' SONS IN SERVICE. "The Governor of South Carolina nd at least two former governors of outh Carolina, Sheppard and Heyrard, have sons in the mliitary serice of the United States.'^?Columia State. Make it three. Capti Henry Tilllan, of Greenwood, has been rea.dy rom the first.?News and Courier. This * is interesting?particularly 1 Greenwood where Capt. Henry illman is in charge of home boys in le service. In connection with the general refrence to Governors' sons in the serice. The Index wishes to say that hile on occasion it has criticised le judgment of Governor Manning i some of his official acts, as to bis atriotism and that of his family lere can be no question. And this is >mething which the Govrenor, with ie excellent taste of a gentleman, >es not use as a political boost. The ;ople of the State generally, we oeeve, do not really know the facts id without his knowledge this plain atement of facts, in justice to him, presented. , ' He has had four sons to volunteer ;spite initial sacrifices and all acipted for the active service of their iuntry in this struggle to preserve ir lives and liberties from the merless hand of the Kaiser. Many cffials have a son in the service, some jrk n -few fViroo Hnt. ripi-finns nr? her high official has offered so any sons to the country as Govern Manning with four sons now be nd the colors. S When the trouble with Mexico ? me, William S. Manning, olcest Ej ring son of Governor and Mrs. ra anning, was earning his living as S ashington correspondent of a New ^ ark newspaper. Though depend- _ itirely on his salary for the sup- ? >rt of himself and family, he re- t rned at once to his native state and llisted as a private tfith the Charston Light Dragoons at a wage ^ ( >out one twelfth his Washington (jqj .lary. He served on the Mexican gu^ >rder in that capacity. When this j ash with Germany came, William ^ anning, above the age of the diaft, we iplied tor admission, to me umcers raining Camp. After training at j art Meyer, Va., he was designated ger r the government a few days ago to it^jr on special training at Cam- ^ idge, Mass., for trench warfare. an( Another married son of the -jov- puj nor, Bernard Manning, resigned a -t ^ sponsible and lucrative position as ishier of a bank and entered the ^eSteers' Training Camp at Fort Ogle- ^ lorpe. A few days ago this young ma ,ther returned on furlough to his gg Lfe to bury their only child. This ' -j? a?- rs 1.!^'.. itnouc young i>uruuiuuu, uavmg i. irned the honor of being one of the acc to men selected out of his com- ^ my for the position of instructor W?U the second training camp, returns ^ .ortly to assume that responsibility. Wyndham M. Manning, a graduate ^ \ West Point, married and the faer of two children, was Captain of ?j e Charleston Light Dragoons when jng. oops were needed in Mexico. He ^ rved on the border until March hen he brought his troop home. sen t the beginning of this war with ^ ermany, Capt. Manning was staned as Captain in the Training dre amp at Fort Oglethorpe. wjj. As if the father, with his duties as ma ar governor, and Mrs. Manning, . :tive among the women of South arolina, in preparing the State for le straiji of war, were not doing 1 iough,* still another son offered his we, fe. This boy, Burwell Manning, a(jj sro years below the requirements for : the draft, left college to become private in the Charleston Light goj( ragoons. There he waits, like his others, to give if need be, his life 1 ?r the name of the State, the free- rec >m of America.?The Greenwood ldex- boi AN INVESTMENT. "c Sta in We note that our esteemed neigh- his )r, The Abbeville PreSs and Banner, rep irries in large type at the head of wa: ie paper the announcement: "An He; Ivertisement in The Press and Baner is an investment?not a !5pecu- 1 ition." This is a good motto and the le principle is allright. No one pei lould want something for nothing, sev \ other words, if an advertisement j lar 1 a newspaper is not going to bring wii jturns, then, the newspaper should to ..." r~ Bos I ; i w j CO I j/ The Bo never la always licious fKom ATI (g STOVES*""I ; want it. It is not an object of irity, but a business proposition t is out to serve its customers and ?ive them value received for every lar spent with them, either for iscription or for advertising. .t is a healthy indication to see t newspapers all over the country MlaAinm fk^moAlvoa An a flinrnncrli : ^iaviu5 wt'iuoviTva VM M siness basis. It means a better r. not only for them, but for the leral public. It not only enables newspaper to have and maintain f respect, but it gives it a rating 1 a general standing before the >lic that it could never have were ;o be governed by any other prinle. There is nothing wrong in ng strictly business, not only in conduct of a newspaper, but in naging the affairs of even churchThere are churches all over the intry that have failed to accomih what they might easily have omplished had they not gotten intheir heads the idea that religion } inconsistent and incompatible h 1 business principles.?Greenad Daily Journal. )DDS AND ENDS OF NEWS. rhe National Red Cross is increasin membership at the rate of snty five to a hundred thousand mbers a day, according to notices t out from Washington. At the :inning of the year the memberp was something over two hund and seventy-five thousand, ile now it is past the three million rk. Illinois leads all the states point of members, with New York ond. * * U a recent meeting of the middle jtern session of the national food ninistration, plans were started the purchase and storing of a lion bushels of potatoes to be i after January 1st. * * * \.n interesting ceremony in France ently was the , preaentation to rshal Joffre of a handsomely md book of newspaper clippings ured during his visit to the United .tes. The presentation was made the presence of Gen. Pershing and staff, by John H. Duval, foreign iresentative of Harpers Bazar, and 3 the gift of William Randolph arst. * # * Last week in Albany, Ga., one iusand barrels of rare old scup nong wine was poured in the irer, much to the distress of a ge crowd of spectators. This le was that willed by J. L. Hand the University of Georgia and was e Oil A if ^ Uvyil Z A.J.JL 'U > OiltAirStove: ss is nevei zy, never ready. It c meals an* i the minut .SOLD ONLY BY Y&vi GANGES mr HOME/ , valued at forty thousand dollars. Th? prohibition laws of Georgia made the destruction necessary. '? * * The former emperor and familj are living in a fourteen room apartment on the second floor of an oldfashioned house in Tobolsk, Siberia according to reports reaching here, ! The only way of getting fresh air is : from a small balcony. * ' A large Cleveland bakery announced last week that commencing Tuesdav next it will sell the present 6 cnt loaf of bread, containing more than 12 ounces, at 5 cents and the present 12-cent loaf, containing 24 ounces, at 10 cents. * One of the interesting pictures ir the new school edition of Simms history of South Carolina is that oi the first college for women in Soutli Carolina, the South Carolina Collegiate Institute at Barhamville, neai Columbia, where President Roosevelt's mother, Martha Bulloch oi Geogia, was once a student. It was destroyed many years ago, but was a famous institution in its day. * ' * t ? Over 5,000 loaves of "bread like mother used to make" are produced daily by the marine corps bakers in their giant bakery at the recruit de; pot in Port Royal. * * * I fA^oAiflTifiAiio nki'flnfAra a/*nonfarl VV/UOWl^UVIVUi? Mvvwf/wv for military service were advised by Secretary Baker today to make no protest until assigned in training I camp to some particular duty violating their scruples. The opinion was given to a delegation of Mennonite leaders. nRAFTF.n MAN'S CHANCE. (Prom The Hartford Times.) According to an article prepared I by Babson's Statistical organization 'on the chances of mortality among drafted men, only about sixty men I in each thousand at the front are being killed and 150 in each thousand are being wounded. The normal j death rate is eight per thousand fo* the ages of men at the front. No mention of time is made in the article, but the assumption is that the I period covered by the statistics is | from the beginning of the war to ; the present. The article asserts that the drafted man who goes as an ordinary soldier is fairly sure to rejturn in better physical condition than when he left, and that, except I during the one or two days a month jwhen it is his turn to take part in a , - ; : II tove J | cranky, late. It is ooks de u serves i / . <j >*$ . : '- "4 e. OUTFITTERS |M;| I ?? i charge, he is statistically almost as ' s well off as in the streets of New York. The statistics contain much, | comfort. j 1 * ' . MAY INVESTIGATE 5 \ AMMUNITION CASE 1 ' . Soldiers Instructed to Be Careful ; in Opening, Magazines or N Rifles. Washington, Sept. 3.?Steps look- ' ing to investigation of the supplying; / { of defective cartridges to the Ameri-: can forces in France were taken today by Brig. Gen. Crozier, chief of ? | ordnance, and by the Senate military; ? committee. Gen. Crozier asked that a board on inquiry be named. /He said a hmmII n/ n.UInit V.A _ ) small quuiiut) ux uiuiuauc, vruiuu iv, tards fire for a fraction of a second, | had been found in about 2 per cent of the army's cartridges. Confidence . was expressed by the general that '.J the board would find that the defect r was unavoidable and not due to j negligence. * ?:. ( The Senate committee decided to call Secretary Baker before it ~\to- f morrow for an explanation of the , matter and will then decide, to the i purpose of holding an inquiry of its I own. _ Whether the inquiry suggested by Gen. Crozier shall be made will be decided by Secretary Baker when the II request reaches him tomorrow. Anv defective ammunition "which ! may have been supplied the navj by . the War Department Ordnance Bureau will be traced and returned for re-manufacture. , The danger attached to the ammunition is that the cartridge does not explode promptly and when a soldier opens the rifle magazine to ascertain the trouble, it may explode in his face. Soldiers have instruc- f tions not to open the magazine for f several seconds if no explosion oc! curs. The bromide in the potassium chlorate of the primers, Gen. Crozier explained, was not detected in sufficient quantity by tests made at the arsenal to indicate possible dan- ( ger. It was sufficient, however, to cause chemical action after the cartridges were made up. ON PLEASURE BENT. Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Mabry and their interesting family went up to Greenville Sunday and spent the day with Francis Mabry, who is at Camp ; Sevier in one of the Ambulance ; Corps. They report the big camp a , wonderful place to see. \