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kVfe'V- . ggg ESTABLISHED 1844. .k t i The Press and Banner ABBEVILLE, S. C. ? / ' f--; ' |?: .- H. G. CLARK, Editor. The Press and Banner Company Pubisbed Every Tuesday and Friday. Telephone No. 10. Entered as second-class mail matter at post office in Abbeville, S. C. p . Terms of Subscription: One year $2.00 ' . Six months t 1.00 I; ;' Three months '.60 Payable invkriably in advance. | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1919. I ||> GOOD ROADS. {Three or four years ago, when the times jj|;. were uncertain, and when the people did not know what might come forth, from the conflict being waged on the other side of / the big waters, a movement was launched in this county to issue bonds to the amount of three hundred thousand dollars for the building of so-called good roads. While the Press and Banner then stated that we, along with everybody else, were in favor of good roads, we stated further that the time was not ripe for the building of these roads, and that the roads proposed to be built were' not in fact good roads. We opposed the bond issue^ It was defeated. We promised the people then that we would haVe something to say when the time for action arrived. It has arrived In our judgment. The intervening years have proved that we were right in our contention that dirt roads will, not stand the heavy traffic now being carried over them, least of all th&t 1,1 1 ~ ? ? ~ T* Koa hoon Hp/m Iwnicn IS liU ?;uluo ai XV UW"J **w?* Vw? , onstrated that it is false economy to build cheap roads just as it is to build a cheap house. Until a man can make up his mind 16 spend the proper amount of money to construct the right sort of house, he had / p- far better wait awhile. We have gained by waiting. We have profited by the ex- . perience of others. Just now when people are again talking good roads in this county we would like to offer a few suggestions. They are not j new. These and many other ^suggestions have come from people interested in roadbuilding in the state. From these sugges- ' tions we are able to make choice bf some* which in our judgment promise the best results. We do not favor a state system?of roads exclusively,, and we believe nqw that it is I not wise to make the county the sole unit in road construction. The demands of the times mak^it necessary that there be great thoroughfares through the length and breadth of the state. The county-to*county plan, as we understand it, has its merits, but uiis must be compromised with the merits of through roads. Our conclu1 siori is that we should have at least two great highways leading across the state from the East to the West, and froUi the North-west to the South-east, connecting fhe most important points in the state. Thfisft hichwavs would of' course go I through many of thecounty-seats.. Sup- ,..; plementing them, roads should be >un from eacli county seat to connect with te these at the most accessible points. For r instance, if a road'runs from Greenville, through Laurens, to Columbia and on to Charleston, we believe that a branch line, so to speak, should be constructed from Laurens, through Greenwood, through Ab- r Tjs\; ' beville, and to the Georgia line, and there V connect with a Georgia road, and thus all E county seats should be connected with thei ? main lines, so to speak. This would* inA~ ? "i?< nnnnrtnHnn ftp sure W) 6UUU uuuiity a juat jiiu|/ui?iuu wi the roads built, and would connect every : county-seat with every other county-seat f|fe ;- in the state by an accessible route. When j&\!^ these state, high ways are built, the counties should supplement the work done by '* building other roads within the county, & ' connecting with these more important . st'' highways; all of the county roads, however, to be built under surveys and specifl Syy?'- cations of the State Highway Commission, gjj? which should be a body composed of the Kv best engineering talent in the state, and with authority to do things. We are not. however,' discussing so much the county work. The first step in the work is the surveying and the planning of the state highway system. To that the people should jfe; (five their attention first. ife V And the matter which demands atten' tion in the very beginning is the wherep - withal for the. work. That is simple. Everybody will profit by the building of these roads. They tend to the - upbuilding of tine wnoi,c auixe,. ^uu, suuuiu uc ouppun^u in that vi&w by taxation accordingly as the general public is benefitted. A tax of four mills per year for ten years would make at present assessments something like eleven .1. million? of dollars available for the work in that time. But there are some who will i profit more than others by the building of co ! these roads. The people who are making the demand for the roads and who will profit chiefly by the ' building of, these roads are the automobile owners, the truck ( owners, and the owners of all kinds of f power driven vehicles. They should,' in me our opinion, shoulder the greater part of sec the burden. > - 'prc How may this be done? The most pa( equitable plan of which we have heard is pre this: let every automobile owner in the an] state pay as an annual license tax the fol- mu lowing amounts:,one per cent, of the cost - j ol his machine; one per cent in cash of its po( weight in pounds, and one dollar per no1 horse power. This would make the aver- shc age license tax on automobiles in the state !0f about sixty dollars, we imagine. This V pi0 would not be excessive in view of the great buj saving in fuel; dil and other things necessary to mkke the car go, in view of the usl saving to be had in the wear and tear on tires, and most of all in the saving of the cars themselves. The suggestion made in jSS some quarters that a car would run twice : An A?AnrI nnorlo o a' nn r\nrkT? ic IH US lung U11 tjUUU 1UUUO U.O Ull J^VVI I. vuuu *? h tenable, we believe. 9 With a license tax of sixty dollars per || ,car 011 every car in the state, we would W - commence next year with an income from mj this source alone of nearly four millions: of K dollars. With good roads b$ing built^the number of cars would so increase that the ja income from this source would quickly B grow to eight, and even ten millions of w dollars annually. But with the first year's jfja income from the four mills tax and the in- K . come from the suggested license tax alone, and not considering any Federal aid which B might be received, we would have five jSj millions of dollars for road building in B? 1020, a sufficient amount to build one of 31 the great highways suggested, and in. five. j| "years the four great highways across the || state would be 'completed. These roads y" B would be huilt of such road materials as to EB make them lasting. The roads should be built of either asphdlt\orof vitrififed bricks H as the engineers thought most advisable. I UutUhey should be built to stay. 0 In the next five years after the through highways are completed the connectirig roads to the county seats could be com- H plefcd. . The work cannot be done in a day, I and believe we should pay as we go. We do not believe that the state should be B bonded for an immense sum to build roads IS c.t once which may be built in- four or five ?g| .. years. But we are not opposed to the fl| counties themselves, (when the roads into ; I the counties have been surveyed)- antici- H pating the work to be done by the state : and building by bond.issues/parts of .this H highway system/with the understanding m that the license taxes and the property tax, as soon a- the through highways are com- H , piejad, shall be applied to the repayment K of the cdunties for ajl sums so^ expended, I the sums returned in this way to be used I in the building of fcther. roads of like per- Bj man en! nature in the several counties^ In . H this way- road work in every county might m commence at onde, and not be deferred. % If we.codld build in Abbeville county by I the plan suggested, and by a proper bond H issue, one hundred miles of paved rpads iti M ten years, by keeping ub the other roads tbS with the present levy for road building, the ' B roads in Abbeville, coynty would be all that R anybody could desire/ ^ But we are opposed how and we shall .continue to oppose any effort on the part H of anybody; to put a bond issue on the state \ B or on this county for the building of dirt H roads to be turned over to a political, of- 9 fice for Jheir up-keep. We must have ^ Vpaved. roads if they are7 to last, and%these roads should be built by engineers employed by a permanent highway commission ? of seven or nine men, co-operating with the State Highway Commission, and who . ?' should serve the county without salary, J and without even expense money. When it comes to the spending of vast sums of money for any purpose we want men to spend it who serve out of a spirit of pa- 11 triotism and not for a paltry salary, or a 8 3 per diem. Such men may be found. ,11 we stand lor progress wnen progress is progress and the people are sane. THAT ABBEVILLE CLtTB. Many anxious inquiries have been made about when the Abbeville Club will be formed in Spartan- l burg;. The suggestion that such a club would }>e i L organized was welcomed with many expressions of I approval, and in order that the movement be car- ! i ried forward in the best way, the further suggestion | is made now that a committee consisting of H. F. McGee, President of the: Chamber of Commerce; ' I TnVi-n fl riinlraMlM nf Wrtffnrd Pwll on I Thomas J. Arnold, President of the Kiwanis Club; 1 Thomas P. Quarles, for many years one 6f the leading merchants of Abbeville; C. P. Hammond, and L W. Perrin, arrange for a meeting of all Abbeville people now residents of Spartanburg and prepare a plan setting forth the objects of tbe club with the necessary constitution, by-laws, ritual, grips and , pass words to make it a unique association in tbe J brighter and better life of this community.?The Y Spartanburg Journal. -' S : * ,;kr -0.' 1?j||1|||Iff!! % BURN MINSTRELS PLEASE ATHENS AUDIENCE ' | (Athens Banner.) Doburn's minstrels which is lookec ward to each year by the amuse nt loving people of this city anc tion, appeared here yesterday isenting two performances, to ca :ity houses. This organization is i ? * . A i.1 J il' sat iavonte in Ainens ana men iual visits here are a source oi ch pleasure to the theater goers. Vfanager Coburn has never given i >r performance. While his show is ; as large as some of the minstre ?ws, yet he makes up for the siz( the show in the performance em ying only the best artists in th( siness. rhe opening or first part was un tally unique and the singing anc How to 1 , ; v" You're doubly pr< Kuppenheimer and' reputation for quali your complete satisf never have and nev ard always. We consider our q nnmnlofp fiVinwino %M VVA*AJJ/*VVW especially at $30 en PAR* 'V ' ' ' - v ; ' . ' .'-"'J / ' , v ''C u V ' ABBEVILLE 1 ONE NIGI IH^MHfeMi|j|||^^P|^B|fl|gri^BBjjj||^^^^I^^H^?<; r? mm- w fl \ .j^H I^B ih^M m. --*M '" . * H E J A B^J|^J^LH^L r AT I~MTW ~" Pll i~lUU A 1 Mmd f f M*TM. HEADED p|J, B' IHJ H m < PRICES:?*50c, 75c, Seats Now On Sale* ? above the average, many splendid hi ; voices, especially that of Mr. Edwin tl Clifford. f< The work of Charley Gano was in te j keeping with the brand of entertain-' B ment he has been giving the public ir j for years. He is one of the cleverest tl black-face comedians in the business 11 and he is a great favorite here. . B All in all the performances were a) ^ more than was expected by those ei ? present and .the reasonable prices fi caused everyone to feel that .they had 1 got more than their money's worth." ' ' ?r? This performance will be seen here f tonight, (Tuesday, December 2nd,?. n 1 prices,50c>v75c. and plus war r< "tat. - v , c ! . ' ' -V- .* Younff Hero in Amlorsonl hi Wardlaw Lyori, son of U. S. Mar- F. I shal . J. Lyon of Greenville* and n< , ' . ' , '' i ' J?e Sure of \v>. -:v , *v; . ?|H 1 t" i ^ ' ' ' v* -"A-''.1 ' " ' i .5 ' ? rtt*J - ' " rl rtected in the 'clothes you 1 Stylephu Clothes. You kr .<V and all-round goodness 'action. Despite condition er will vary in quality?tr selves fortunate indeed to 1 ; of good Clotiiea Some ij nd others $35 to $50. N t V| . ; ; ' 'S / M ' ' ! ' "" V ''' v : m* ' ' {T . : i j* ;t' i.-*t '.jr.*'1.-' V"-> .. ' * V - > -V mmmmmrns* EMM i m - -J. PERA TAH 11 ousE 1 Ul/A liK-lfll Ki^rr TTER THAN EVER. UMHLCANl UlLiLl UXliV ITREL YABPEVB $1.00. PIu? War tax. street Parade and Band Coj rother of Bill and Tommie Lyo* lis city, is in Anderson to spend a >w weeks and will make headgpaag^^H rs at the jewelry i;torc of ros. Young Lyon was shot to pieces l the world War, bulsia thankfo^a^^Sal iere is enough of him left to fe going. He has been awarded tmHH ritish medal, the American medal' nd a citation from the British gen- . ^ ral. He~ also received a citation "om General Pershing.?-Andersjjj^^H We regret to say that in a private ote from Mrs. M. E. Baniett, Carney; ^ ?n, Texas, she says:. ,utpe alvin Presaly fa very low and n*. JfSM ected to live." Mr. PreedHr.'oleBtiti^^B -w&M ^ 1^ ' ?^HS| ALL WHITE. 9 f\ BLACK FACE fl I KING OF ? ^ tUMLU X . LLE ACTS :'|g ... -,-v. yV icert, 4*30 P. M. p - .. O. ' . \