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(fdgcfiet? QAmimt. lEstaMiste? 1335. /. L. MI MS,_....Editor Published every Wednesday in The Advertiser Building at $1.50 per year In advance. Entered as second class matter at the postoffice at Edgefield, S. C. No communications will be published unless accompanied by the writer's name. Cards of Thanks. Obituaries, Resolu tions and Political Notices published at advertising rates. LARGEST CIRCULATION IN EDGEFIELD COUNTY. Wednesday, July 30 The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good act by stealth, and have it found out by accident.-LAMB. "0 Suffrage! Suffrage! how many crimes are committed in thy name!" South Carolina's militia muddle has made the state the laughing stock of the country. Some of the men in ranks could have handled the whole situ ation more satisfactorily than the ones who ?wear the epaulettes. It is practically certain that the Hon. John L. McLaurin will be a candidate for governor, but The Advertiser pre dicts that he will not be elected. The people are not as easily deceived now as they were in the nineties. The trend on Wall Street is toward .asier money and a lower rate of in terest, according to latest reports by Dun & Co. The scattering abroad of luch reports will tend to create a bet ter feeling by the time the cotton crop m ust be moved. The papers record the daring deeds of Mrs. Pankhurst and Miss Pankhurst but never say a word about old man Pankhurst. Perhaps the Fates have in mercy returned him "To the vile dust from whence he sprung Unwept, unhonour'd, and unsung." The government report on the condi tion of the cotton crop is eagerly awaited. Upon it the "bulla," and "bears" will lay their foundation for a campaign of speculation which will wax warmer and warmer as the heavy marketing season approaches. The internal situation is becoming more and more acute in China. Dis patches state that on account of the revolution there is an exodus of peo ple from Canton co Hong Kong. Be cause of the presence of our four mis sionaries, the people of Edgefield are deeply interested in the conditions that prevail in and around Canton. The differences that have existed for 3ome time between the United States and Japan on account of the alien land laws of California are about to be ad justed. It is well that this announce ment came before the cotton market opened. Had the matter been still pending, speculators would endeavor to create the impression that war with Japs was imminent. Meeting of School Trustees. Early in August the school trustees of Union county will hold a conference to discuss matters pertaining to the upbuilding of the rural schools. Not ?only will the trustees have their inter est and enthusiasm in the cause of ed ucation quickened by this conference, but it enables the state superintendent of education, who has been invited to address them, to get in closer tuuch with the public schools and rural con ditions in Union county. The planning of this conference of trustees, the first one of which we have had any knowl edge, was a very fortunate conception -an example which could be followed with profit by superintendents and trustees of all of the other counties. Conference for the Common Good. ' There will be held in Columbia next Wednesday and Thursday one of the most notable and most important gath erings that has ever been held in South Carolina. It ?3 known as the Confer ence for the Common Good, its object being just what the name implies. A month or more ago some of the leading citizens of the state, acting upon a suggestion made by Mr. W. K. Tate, held a preliminary meeting in Columbia, and the conference next week is the outgrowth of that initial meeting. At this conference some of the foremost specialists in the country will make addresses, discussing sub jects pertaining to the rural, agricul tural, social, religious and intellectual development of the people. The move ment is strictly non-political in charac ter. The railroads will offer special rates in order to induce the people from a'l parts of the state to attend the con ference in large numbers. It ?shoped that Edgefield county will be well rep resented at every session of the con ference. The cost of attending in time and mo ney will bring large returns. Aiken Needs Another Foreman. Matter*, seem to be drifting from bad to worse in Aiken county. The fore man of the grand jury wounded two white men and an aged negro last Thursday morning with a magazine pistol and steel jacket bullets. It matters not what the provocation was, the question naturally arises as to what a citizen of sufficient prominence and standing to be chosen foreman of the grand jury wants with a magazine pis tol? Even if the further facts were not prejudicial to his case, that alone, having in his possession such a weapon, is decidedly against him. Bad blood had existed between these i men for some time and that probably was the real ca-ise of the trouble. It appears, however, that the two white men who were wounded, acting un der instructions from the county com missioners, were in charge of a road working squad and that when they reached the land of the grand jury foreman he forbade their doing any further work on the public road, sta ting, it is alleged, that he would shoot the first man who raised a shovel of dirt. The men ignored his threats and proceeded co work the public road as instructed, with the result that the magazine gun was brought into play wounding the three men before the smoke cleared away. A bullet passed through the negro's leg. One of the white men was shot th rough" the groin the other through the chest. It should be noted that none of the balls lodged in the bodie3 of their victims, the guns being of such high power. Think of it, the owner of such a deadly weapon serving as foreman of the grand jury! Had he owned an ordi nary shot gun or some other mild man nered weapon, with which to protect his home, it would not look sobad. Again Reassert Our Claim to Seniority. We regret the necessity of again re fering to The Advertiser's claim to be ing the "oldest newspaper in South Carolina," this having been made nec essary by a challenge from the George town Times. We received a marked copy of The Times several days ago in which nearly a column was devoted to a denial of The Advertiser's claim and to an attempt to establish its own claim to this distinction. Briefly stated this is what The Ad 'vertiser claims and has the record to prove: Since February9, 1835, thedate of its founding more than 78 years ago, The Advertiser bas been published without interruption, not even missing an issue during the Civil war. Through out this long period of nearly three score and ten years this newspaper has always maintained its identity, never changing its name or consolidating with any other paper. Now. if there is another paper in South Carolina that has such a unique record and can prove that it was found ed earlier than The Advertiser, why we will gracefully acknowledge our er ror and withdraw our claim. But up to this time no paper, after carefully weighing the facts, has contended that it has such a record. The Advertiser does not want the distinction unless it is honestly entitled to it. According to The T'mes' own state ment, it has no such record as The Advertiser and is therefore rot enti tled to the honor in question. In the editorial above referred to The Times says: ' ' While it is true the name of the publication has changed several times, and there have been several hiatuses dh account of fire and war, the line of descent is direct." Accord ing to the volume and serial number published in each issue of the Times, it is less than 50 years of age. yet it refers to the founding of the George town Gazette in 1779 and then, through a "line ot descent," lays claim to be ing in its one hundred and sixteenth year. What it should have said was that had the old Georgetown Gazette continued publication all down through the years, as The Advertiser has done, it. (The Gazette) would now be 116* years of age. The Advertiser claims nothing by way or descent. It stands on its own record. There were papers published here before Th Advertiser existed but it makes no attempt to take the age of these old pioneer papers which for reasons unknown to the present gener ation discontinued publication, just as the Georgetown Gazette did. Unless The Times can make out a stronger case, The Advertiser must decline to withdraw its claim to being, the "oldest newspaper in South Caro lina." This question has come up re peatedly before, and several papers in commenting upon the matter have ac corded this distinction to The Adverti ser without question. A Remarkable Document. Generally reporta or presentments of grand juries are stereotyped in form and contain but little other than refer ences to routine work of [sub-commit tees. However, the presentment made by the grand jury of Barnwell county last week is a notable exception, and a portion of it should be read in every court room in South Carolina. Be lieving that the opening paragraphs of this presentment should be given the widest possible publicity, The Adver tiser reproduces them, as follows: To the Hon. Ernest Gary, Presiding Judge: "We, the Grand Jury of the County of Barnwell, submit the following pre sentment: 4,In the able charge of your Honor to our body, your Honor stressed the fact that crime was proven by our own docket to be rampant in the county, there being forty-odd cases continued from the March term of the criminal court, to which would be added fifty or sixty new ones, making the appalling total close to one hundred. "Now, we admit being ashamed of this record and acknowledge as citizens and jurors our share of the blame, though we do not take all of the blame; but we place a part and a large part on the whole Court, from the Honorable Judges on the bench down to the most obscure lawyer. Time and again we have plead and urged that cases be not continued, save for the best of reasons, -that punishment delayed would be justice defeated-buc our words have never been heard The lawyer still gets up with his excuse, flimsy or oth erwise, as the case may be. and so far as laymen can see the genuineness of the excuse is seldom looked into, and, no matter how heinous the crime, the case is continued from court to court until the witnesses are scattered, some even dying from old age, and when at last the trial comes the criminal gets off entirely and the people suf fer. "All over this land we are crying to the courts for help, asking them to think more of actual justice and the good of the country and less of their so-called forms, technicalities, etc., and, in our humble opinion, if the Honorable Judges continue to disregard this cry, the radical doctrine of the recall of the judiciary will certainly spread, it be ing our only redress. "We respectfully urge that your Honor will continue this Court and, if possible, clear the criminal docket; and if your Honor's health will not permit, that you communicate with the proper authorities, explain the situation in our county and ask that a special Judge be appointed in your stead." Conditions have become almost in tolerable in Barnwell county because of the failure of the court officials "from the Honorable Judges down to the most obscure lawyer" -to do their duty. Having borne and forborne for a long time, the citizens who composed the grand jury made bold to speak their minds plainly, and in our opinion they have not gone too far in criticis ing- the presiding judges. It rests sole j ly with them as to whether a case shall be forced to trial or a continuance granted upon some flimsy excuse de vised by some designing lawyer. It is unfortunately true that the people have lost tu a large degree that profound respect for our courts which they once had. the expression being quite com mon now-a-days that the lawyers run the courts and not the judges. If the pendulum swings much further toward looseness and laxness on the part of the judges, the "radical doctrine of the recall of the judiciary will certain ly spread." It need not be necessary for a pre si ding judge to err at all, but if he must err let it be in disregarding "le gal forms and technicalities" rather than err by granting continuance after continuance until witnesses scatter and some die of old age. Even with Edgefield's light criminal docket there have been cases here with in the past year or two that have been very unsatisfactorily managed. In stead of being forced to trial with a firmness and determination that would tend to suppress crime, they have been passed over from court to court with an indifference that virtually en courages crime. WAGONS. We are offering Wilber and Columbus Wagons for the next sixty days at very much reduced prices and on easy terms. Mowers and mower re pairs. We handle the im proved McCormick mowers and repairs and sell on easy terms. We also have the Disc and peg harrows on hand. We buy cot'con-seed for the Planters Cotton Oil Com pany of Augusta and always pay the highest market prices and keep hulls and meal al ways on hand and will make liberal exchanges. Adams Warehouse Co. July 29, 16i3. For Weakness and Loss of Appetite The Old Standard general strengthening tonic. GROVE'S TASTELESS chill TONIC, drives out Malaria and builds up the system. A true tonia and flore Apfttizer. For adulta and children. 60c, What Others Say Ths New Gowns. The trouble with some of these "fetching gowns'" is that they are apt to fetch the police.-News and Cou rier. Many Jobs Hunt Him. Thera a're so' many "opportunities" for the right man that the difficulty is to select the right one -one may be better than any of the others. The man who has character, stability, abili ty, and will work faithfully, has no need to hunt a job. Many jobs hunt him.-Farm and Ranch. Of Benefit to Producers. As we see it, the movement for the standardization of cotton as to packing and grades is entirely in the interest of the producer rather than the cotton merchant, and producers should not hesitate to give that movement all the support in their power. -Yorkville En quirer. Make a Calculation. If one knew what products of his farm were most profitable he would naturally produce most of them. For the sake of information, why not make some calculations along this line, and begin with the vegetable garden, the chickens and then the pigs. Compare these with any field crop, and the facts will favor the other products against the field crops.-Farm and Ranch. Railroads Join <n Fight. The railroads have joined in the fight against Postmaster General Burleson's order reducing parcels post rates. Their protest is based on the fact that they receive half the amount that is paid for express, and the result of the proposed reduction of parcels post rates would take $15,000,000 or 520,000,000 a year away from the railroad receipts. But the thing that worries us is why should the people of the country be re quired to pay two or three times the cost of carrying their packages? If the government is paying the railroads a fair price for carrying the mails, then why can the railroads not carry all mails'at the same price?-Yorkville Enquirer. Smile Provokers Fair Customer-I tell you that I wear a No. 2. Clerk-But, madam this shoe that you just took off is a No. 4. Fair Customer-Yea, I know; but it has stretched horribly. "An abstract noun is the name of something which you can think of, but not touch. Now Phillip, can you jrive me an example?" Phillip looked thoughtful for a moment, then his face brightened. ''Yea, ma'am, he said, "a red-hot poker."-New York Tribune. "Colonel Browns seems to ba very literary," remarked a visitor to the Brown household to the ne gro maid, glancing at apile of mag azines lying on the floor. "Yas, ma'am," replied the ebo ny-faced girl, "yas, ma'am, he sho ley am literary. He jes' nat'elly littahs thing all over dis yer house." "Why don't you buy something at my table?" demanded the girl at the charity fair. "Because I only buy from the homely girls," said the man. "They have a harder time making sales." The girl was not offended, and he worked this ris:ht down the line. Wife-Be sure and advertise for Fido in the mornina papers. Next day the wife read the fol lowing: "Two Dollars Reward-Lost, a mangy lapdog with one eye and no tail. Too fat to walk. Responds to the name of 'Fido.' Smell* like a monkey house. If returned stuff ed, $5 reward." "My dear," said the young hus band, "did you speak to the milk man about there being no cream on the milk?" "Yes. I told him about it this morning and be has explained sat isfactorily. I think it is quite a credit to him, too. "What did he say?" "He said that he always filled the jug so full that there is no room on the top for the cream." A Chicago lady had a Swedish cook, and she heard this conversa tion between her cook and the maid next door, also a Swede: "How are you, Hilda?" "I well, I like my job. We got cremated celler, cemetery plumbing, elastic lights and a hoosit." "What's a 'hoosit,' Hilda?" "Oh, a bell rings. You put a thing to your ear, and say, 'Hello,' and some one says 'Hello,' and yo? lay 'Hocgit.'" Summerland College For Women NEXT SESSION BEGINS SEPT 16th, 1913. Offers a liberal education under positive Chris tian influences. Expenses very moderate. Ideal location. Roc m s furnished with everything needed: bed, dresser, washstand, chairs, rugs, linen, electric lights, steam heat hot and cold water. For further intormation address P. E. MONROE, President, Batesburg or Leesville, S. C. Monuments and Tombstones I represent the Spartanburg Marble and Granite works tn this section and shall be pleased to show you designs and quote prices on all kinds of work. Write me a card if you are interested and I will call to see you. John R. Tompkins, Edgefield, S. Carolina WE CARRY A MOST COMPLETE LINE OF Galvanized aud black piping Elbows Ties Unions Reducers Nipples Valves Ejectors Injectors Guage glasses Asbestos packing Rubber sheet packing Saw teech Saw rings We cut and thread pipe to Stev art & Gandy belting, 2-, 4-, 5-, 6-t 8-, and ic-inch, 6 ply. Pump cyiinders Sinks Bath tubs Lavaratories Gas tanks Cypress tanks Gasoline engines Rapid Fire hay presses Sisal and Manilla rope Fifth chains Coil chains sketch. Write for prices. Kernaghan Hot Weather Garments You cannot control the mercury but you can suit your clothing to the weather. The "good old summer time" is here to remain for 4 months, so you had better provide the light weight gar ments that will insure comfort. We have light weight clothing in all of the popular colors and weaves. We have oxfords for men and boys that are stylish and dura able. Try a Crosset or a Selz-Schwab Oxford We have light weight underwear of all kinds, can r?t any size and satisfy any taste. We have stylish hats in straw? panama and felts. We have the largest assortment of hosiery we have ever carried. We aie sole agents for the Eclipse Shirts the best shirts on the market for the money. Dorn & Mims