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ESTABLISHED 1844 mi The Press and Banner ** ABBEVILLE, S. C. th er Wm. P. GREENE, Editor. pr th The Press and Banner Co. lt Published Every Tuesday and Friday se sa Telephone No. 10. ki Entered as second-class mail mat- cc ter at post office in Abbeville, S. C. w at * ' gi Terms of Subscription: J sa One year $1.50 ai , u< Six months .75 Three months .50 Payable invariably in advance. bi __________________________ n< TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1918. r| tn , " fc / THE COST MARK. g( m Merchandising is the means of j P1 distributing the products of one sec-j el tion of a country amongst the peo-1 m pie of another section. It is defen-:^0 sible as a legitimate business only ar so long as it proves itself the most as economical way of making this distribution. When the people who wishj to buy in small quantities may secure what they want without trou-j ble and unnecessary delays by a;^ cheaper route, then merchandising' $a is no longer defensible. ca Therefore, we are of the opinion wi that the proposed law to have all di: goods marked in plain figures, both with the cost and selling mark, ca should become of force. It has been j m, tried during the present season in! the retail coal business, and is proving a success in every way. The i pr government has fixed the margin ati , which coal is to be sold at retail, J ag and a man who purchases knows, ca that he is is paying a margin of two1 dollars per ton for coal when it is' ca delivered by the retail coal mer-j 0f chant. This two dollars of course / must cover all losses incurred in tr weights, the labor of unloading and sjj .the expense of weighing and haul- 0f ing, and the cost of book-keeping to and collecting. j di We see no reason why the same re .plan might not be adopted with re- Hi gard to groceries, dry goods and ag furniture. The fact that the prices now charged by some merchants sii above the cost price is so heavy wl that a knowledge of it might lead to wi a lynching does not prove that the w< law should not be adopted. The ha people would not object to a reason-1 tii ahle nrnfit. Thev would learn that, wi ' r . 1 in order to obtain goods at retail, it at would be necessary for the mer-jhi chant to buy at wholesale, and go to dt the expense of handling the goods,: th for which he is to be repaid, and that interest on the money invested, cc clerk hire, losses ,and many other fr _ items of cost to the buyer would be w taken into consideration, as well as the fact that the merchant must pi ? himself live. But they would be en-; hi . .abled to say when the profits charged are so enormous to be unendur-: 01 able. . [he . The result would be that the dis-! pr .tribution of the products of one section by the people of that scetion,j ?* .and the purchase of these products ar by the people of another section .would be a matter of concern to both these peoples, and knowing the ng facts the people would begin to se study methods of cutting down the:to cost and expenses of such disposal ac on the one hand, and acquisition of m| such products on the other hand, so that in a little while we would find tl! commission merchants, or selling ru agents or buyers associations hand-| ling all these goods, and disposing ^ of them through certain agencies,! uT which would put them in the handsof the people who desire to buy ati m< the least possible expense. j The fruit business in the South is: O T1 avnmnlo mmm L _ .1 I ?*** ui vvuat v;an uc uone | when people begin to study their! own problems. A great many people' ar in this section started to raising' gc peaches for the markets some few se years ago. When the fruit was ready to sell they were forced to er dispose of it to the wholesale mer-jpr chants at a nominal price, or lose: the fruit. This happened for a year or two when the fruit growers decided to take hold of the matter at themselves. The result was that a. pu manager of the business was em-[ at ployed, and arrangements werej fiv \?r/'*V ' V . .V'V.'' I.""'' . 7. - ' ade to distribute the fruit on ev-' y market by men employed by the uit Association. From the day is plan was adopted the fruit grows began to obtain a reasonable ice .for their products. Other produce can be handled in e same way. And the things which is necessary for the" people of this ction to buy may be bought in the me way. If we could keep the >liticians out of business of this nd, the farmers might buy all their >rn, meat, and other products, as ell as all kinds of household goods, ; much lower prices and save a 'eat amount of money. At the ime time they might find a ready id a better market for the prodits they have for sale. It would result in the country )ing on a cash basis to be sure, at that is what the country has ;eded so long. When we can get d of the credit business in this seeon, and when every man trades >r cash and one man's dollar is as >od as the dollar of every other an, the country will begin to make ogress. We may have fewer mer lants, it is true, but we win nave ore farmers who produce products r sale. The people who produce e the only people who add to the sets of a country after all. THE EPIDEMIC. j There have been fewer cases of e influenza for the last several ;/s, but a greater percentage of ses of pneumonia as compared th the new cases of the former ?ease. On Friday morning eleven new ses were reported with no pneu-| unia cases. On Saturday morning, there were 'elve new cases with one case of ipumonia. On Sunday morning, there were :ain twelve new cases but five ses of pneumonia were reported, j On Monday morning thirteen new ses were reported, with one case pneumonia. ur. a. garrison, wno nas oeen eating a great number _ of cases ice he came here from the office the Surgeon General in Washingn and who was stricken with the sease some days ago, has so far covered as to be out on Sunday, e went to work among his patients ;ain on Monday morning. Only one death has been reported ice our last issue among the bites?that of Mrs. Gilbert, the ife of the gentleman whose death 2 chronicled some days ago. She is been desperately sick for some ne and on Saturday grew worse ith fatal results. She was buried Melrose on Sunday beside her isband. She has a sister who is ?sperately ill with the disease at' is writing. W. D. Barksdale has so far retvered as to be out again. His iends on traders row were glad to elcome him Monday morning. Weber Wilson continues to im ove and his friends hope to see m out in a few days. i Mrs. W. A. Harris has been seriisly sick for the past few days, but ;r friends hope she will escape leumonia. i Dr. J. C. Hill has had his leave 1 absence from the army extended lother fifteen days and he is doing le work in helping relieve the sick. Dr. J. R. Power is getting around :ain among his patients after a vere case. He has had to return his room two or three times on count of the recurrence of the n'adv. The friends of Mrs. Power ,11 be glad to know that she conlues to improve after being seriisly sick for several days. Miss Mary Lawson Link and Miss c.ry Quarles Link have been among ose attacked in the last few days. The number of cases to Monday srning reported is 880. *EENVILLE MAN NAMED AS FUEL ADMINISTRATOR B. E. Geer of Greenville has been . pointed fuel administrator for >uth Carolina to succeed B. B. Gostt, who recently resigned to accept commission in the army, the fedal fuel administration announced id ay. SALE OF WORKING OUTFIT Col. Dote Smith was the Busy Bee a sale of blacksmith tools on the blic square Saturday, promptly < 12 o'clock. The lot brought eighty 1 e dollars. ] Damage Follows j Piedmont Floods MUCH PROPERTY WRECKED IN GREENVILLE SECTION?RAILROADS ARE HARD HIT BY FLOOD. I Greenville.?Damage conservatively estimated at upwards of $100000 was caused to business and residential property in this city along i the valley of the Reedy River Friday (| afternoon when the river, swollen to' I a record breaking volume by unpre- I cedented rains in the upper section I nf ttiA rniintv. dashed in a mad tor-;| w* """ / 1 rent through the city sweeping bridges, railroad trestles and other structures before it. The Piedmont & Northern Railway is perhaps one of the heaviest sufferers. One section of 1,000 feetj of roadway was washed down or undermined by the waters, the yard offices just on the edge of the city J were washed away, and officials say> it will probably be two days before! any more trains can be operated.) The Greenville & Western Railway,' which operated between Greenville and Travelers Rest, was completely.fi put out of commission and the sta-jB tion in this city, which is near thei edge of the river, was completely j| surrounded by water, so that two of-j 9 ficials who were caught in one of the I offices on* the second floor had to I climb out by means of a ladder on E to a box car in the yards. A number of bridges along the course of the river were washed away completely! and others were flooded. Industrial Plants Suffer. Heavy damage was suffered by a number of industrial plants situated on three sides the rivers near Main Street, buildings of the American Machine Manufacturing Company,) the Acme Loom, Reed and Harness Works, Nuckassee Manufacturing' Comnanv and others were nartial-! ly flooded and machinery badly 11 damaged. A trestle which was partjl of a siding of the Charleston & Wes- ? tern Carolina Railway and which 'E crossed the river just under the [I Main Street concrete bridge was en-|l tirely destroyed and two box cars,|P one of them loaded with junk, were.turned over in the stream and wash- = ed down. Large numbers of small houses in; the upper section of the river valley,1 known as the "Meadow," were flooded by the rising waters and in some cases it became necessary to drive wagons into the area to get the people out of the houses so fast did the water rise. Throngs of people remained on the Main Street bridge until a late hour Friday night watching the mad rush of water. Old inhabitants declart that the Reedy has broken all.previous rec-! oris in the flood line. ine Dursung ur serious uaiiiagmg, of large water mains which pass through Reedy River as a result of the flooded conditions of the river,; left large sections of the city with-; oute any water whatever and reduced the pressure in the remaining sec-j tions to a very low point. The con-j ditions will be remedied, it is believ-! ed, as soon as the waters recede suf-; ficiently to enable repairs to be made but the indications are that considerable embarrassment and perhaps some actual suffering will result before this can be done. MARIA CHILES DEATH. . ? ! Wo nro i r? f r\rm orl V\\r r-if AT "R Gl Syfan of the Southern Railway, that I the reports current on the streets on I Thu^day last that Maria Watt I Chiles was killed while the crew of B the Southern Railway was making a flying switch, which report was published in this paper, were incorrect. Mr. Syfan tells us that the negro woman was run over by the engine, which was heading down the freight depot track at about the point where the passenger track branches off for the passenger depot.! Neither the engineer nor the fireman jl saw the woman before she was;B struck, and there was no eye witness ;l as to the cause of the accident so fi far as has been ascertained by those <1 in charge. B PASSING THE COIN. | Senator Christie Benet presided aver the Senate when the big six bil- I lion dollar urgent deficiency bill was I passed. ^ U11MUMM?I?I? Marie Tiffany singing in direct reprodl comparison with a re-creation of y her voice on the New Edison. rany S; ently ft the inst came a Though was hej . . ... tion of BUY? fromth WAR Jfa* SAVINGS STAMPS 22 CONSTANTLY IT Perhj ent. Ho at our s it a pri' STOVES ^RANGES 20-22-24 N. MAIN STRICT. Represents Ladies' Fall and W Wear..... The most fashionab iL /A V 1 tl/ l/ie SCUdUfl IUI 111*. and out cari be fow our stock READY-TO-WEA Take an unbiased i -I 7. tnrougn our reuui wear garments for la misses and children. It will cost you nothing helpful to bol HADDON-WII >11111 Dnly EDISON akes this TEST Edison proves that his phonograph is repro-perfect by comparing his Re-Creations with *inal voice. Last week he sent Marie Tiffany, oprano, to Abbeville to make one of his famous sts, in which The NEW EDISON "The Phonograph With a Soul" )jected to the severest test possible for a soundicing instrument. A Re-Creation of Marie Tiftvas placed in position on the New Edison. Prestarie Tiffany's rich soprano came forth from ;rument. Seeing her lips move the audience beware that Marie Tiffany also was singing. : the voice came from two courses but one voice ird, proving that the New Edison's Re-Creaa voice does not vary in the slightest degree. ie actual voice itself. rou notice the expressions of astonishment on as of the audience when thev discovered that uld not distinguish Miss Tiffany's voice from 9 v Edison's Re-Creation of it? They were truly H led that any sound reproducing instrument B o completely baffle their musically cultured H ips you were not fortunate enough to be pres- I wever, you may hear the New jjdison any time | 9| store or in your own home. We will consider H yilege to serve you. B vffihtoUbrt&Ce. I mf HOME OUTFITTERS I B ABBEVILLE, S. C. | ? f ll itive Lines? I I rU:J dies, fi *W AS I ... w M" I *. trmm to see our goods?It may be jgflfl th buyer and seller. SB .SON COMPANY |