Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Railroad Commission G Increase in Telephone R Rates in all exchanges i Southern Bell Telephone compj South Carolina will be increasi proximately 20.72 per cent in a ? ance with the terms of an ore sued yesterday afternoon b state railroad commission ag: to the company's proposed schedule. The various increas into effect April 1. ? . The Southern Bell Telephone pany filed its petition for a ra vision in South Carolina witl commission last October, th creases asked aggregating a gi raise of approximately 25 per The commission, after num hearings and an exhaustive stui the documentary evidence su ted, approved the company's pr ed rate revision schedule with two exceptions. The propose? crease for farmers' lines and i ers' exchange service was deni? was also the elimination of fre. terchange v service between ti the exchanges in which are less three miles apart. Charges were thorized, however, for this i exchange service between ti more than three miles apart, ] tically substituting for this free change service the long distance vice now employed in commui tion between the great majorit; towns in and beyond the border the state. The charges, author by the commission in its order terday, for this interexchange vice averages approximately one per mile, ranging from ten cent 25 cents. No increase in toll cha: has been authorized. The schedule of rates which commission's order puts into eff carries an aggregate increase of proximately 20.72 per cent, for exchanges of the company in state. This average increase is : however, to be applied generally, towns and cities served by the c pany being divided into- eight gro with the same rates applied to all changes in each group. In this ; the charges in at least one to Cowpens, which now has a rate of proportion with exchanges of s ilar size in the state, will be reduc The present charges in Cowpens one party line is $3.50, while un the group plan the rate for such li will be only $2.25. Increase for Columbia. Columbia and Charlestan lu been placed in the highest group w the following schedule of charg For one party business telephones, rates inceased from $5.50 to $6.( for one party inwards telephone fri $2 to $3.50; for one party messa rate, from $4 to $4.80; for four pai flat rate, from $3.50 to $4.20. I 1 tension telephones are scheduled i $1.50 for flat rate business telephor and for $1 for messenger rate phon The present rate on extension i both classes of business extensi telephones is $1.50. For residence, telephones the o party flat rste would be increas by the schedule from $3.25 to $3.9 the two party flat rate from $2.65 $3.30 and the four party fiat ra from $2.25 to $2.70. Extension tel phones for residences from any kii of telephone are placed at $1.25. For group one, including the Ble heirn, Cowpens, Jonesville, Pendl ton, Seneca, Society Hill, Walhal and Westminster exchanges, the ra will be: One party business lin< $3.25; two party business lines $2.71 four party business lines, $2.25; e: tension sets for business lines, $1.51 one party residence lines, $2; tv party residence lines, $1.75; foi party residence lines, $1.50, and fe extension' sets to residence line $1.25. The number of subscribers i the exchanges range from 20 to 5i Allendale, Barnwell, Blackvill Denmark, Hnoea Path,' Johnstoi Leesville, Liberty, Pelzer, Picken Piedmont, Prosperity, St. George an Whitmire are grouped together, wit the following rates: One party bus ness lines, $3.60; two party busines lines, $3; four party business lines $2.40; business extension telephones $1.50; one party residence lines $2.40; two party residence lines $1.80; four party residence lines $$1.50, annd residence extension sets $1.25. The exchanges in this grou] number subscribers ranging from 6' to 114 for a single exchange. The rates for Bamberg, Batesburg IBelton, Cheraw, Clio, Dillon, Easley Edgefield, Greer, Hartsville, Latta Marion, Mullins, McColl, Timmons ville and Summerville are: One partj business lines, $3.90; one party in ward lines, $2.50; two party business lines, $3.30; four party business lines, $2.70; business extension sets $1.50; one party residence lines, $2.40: two party residence lines, $2. 10; four party residence lines. $1.80, and extension sets for residence lines, $1.25. Subscribers in the exchange of this group range from 107 to 369. Rates for Group. Aiken, Bennettsville, Camden, Clin ton, Newberry, and Union are sched uled for the following rates: One party business lines,, $4.55; one par ty inwards lines, $2.75; two party business lines, $3.90; four party bus iness lines, ?3.25; one party residence lines, $2.90; two party residence lines, $2.60; four party residence lines, $2.25. Extension sets for busi ness lines are scheduled for $1.50 and for residence lines at $1.25. The number of subscribers in this group range from 362 for the smallest ex change to 664 for the largest. Group four, inwhich the subscrib ers range from 586 to 1,207 per ex change, includes Darlington, Flor ence and OrangeTburg and has the fol lowing rates: One party business lines$5; one party inwards lines $3; two party business lines, $4.35; four party business lines, $3.75; one par ty residence lines, $3.10; two party residence lines, $2.50, and four party residence lines, $2.15. Extensions for business lines are $1.50 and for residence lines, $1.25. The rates authorized for Anderson, which numbers 1,299 subscribers, are: One party business lines, $5.40; one party inwards lines, $3 ; two party business lines, $4.80; four party bus iness lines, $4.20; one party residence lines, $3\30; two party residence lines, $2.70,and four party residence lines $2.40. Extension sets are sched uled at $1.50 for business and $1.25 for. residence lines. The rates for Greenville and Spar tanburg, which number respectively 3,752and 2,727 subscribers, are: One party business lines, $6.25 ; one party inwards lines, $3.50; one party mes sage rates business lines, $4.80; two party business lines, $5.60; four par ty business lines, $4.35; one party residence lines, $3.75; two party resi dence'lines, -$3.75; two party resi dence lines, $3.10, and four party residence lines, $2.50. Extension set rates propos?e' are $1 for business lines and $1.25 for residence lines. Under the terms of the commis sion's order all other special rates charges and practices for telephone equipment and service now in effect will be continued without increase, among these being the additional charge for lines extending beyond the city limits of 42 cents for each quar ter of a mile or fraction thereof. To Retain Jurisdiction. The commission also retains juris diction of the case for the purpose of making such rate changes as further investigation may make necessary, requiring the company to file with the commission at semi-annual peri ods financial statements setting forth the results of the operation of the company's contention that improve ment of telephone service in the state was being delayed by the lack of funds, also orders "that a general improvement in the telephone service throughout the state shall be expe dited with all possible haste and such changes ,additions and better ments shall be made as well, with the greatest possible dispatch, supply telephone service to all persons who wish such service and that the service shall be brought to the highest pos sible state of efficiency." The company "n filing its petition for the increase offered in support of its prayer that it was not earning a fair return on its property invest ment in South Carolina. The return in 1919, the company stated, was on ly 1.31 per cent. The proposed rate revision schedule, which was adopted in part by the commission would, the company stated,, give a net return of 4.89 per cent on its South Carolina property investments. This, company officials said, was inadequate but would in some measure enable the company to obtain the capital neces sary to make improvements. The com mission's ordei*, which eliminated two sections of this schdule, will there fore hardly enable the company to make even this estimated return. The State. Lombard Foundry, Machine, Boiler Works and Mill Supply House AUGUSTA GEO!'G IA Cotton Oil, Gin, Saw, Grist. Cane, Shingle Mill, Machinery Supplies and Repairs, Shafting, Pulleys, Hangers, Grate Bars, Pumps, Pipe, Valves and Fittings, Injectors, Belting, Packing Hose, etc. Cast every day. GASOLINE AND KEROSENE ENGINES Pumping, Wcod Sawing and Feed Grinding Outfit?. WANTED: At once fifty head of young cattle. Will pay market price. W. G. WOOD. i By FREDERICK HART Picnic Lunch for Two (? 1021, by McClure Newspaper Syndicate.) Pretty Marguerite Stanley1 looked discontentedly out of the window at the slanting lines of the rain that beat the dust in the road to lathery mud and dripped musically from the gut ters around the broad piazza of her home. "Of course," she said to her moth er, who was sewing In the next room, "of course, it had to rain-on this day of all days! I believe nature has a special grudge against picnics. Yes terday was clear, and day before yes terday-and I'm sure that tomorrow will he. But today-" "Well, dear, if tomorrow is clear, you can have your picnic then." Mrs. Stanley's voice was absent. She yrcfc considering a problem in embroidery and was not just sure how to attack it. Her daughter's petulant voice re plied : "Well, if we put it off till to morrow it'll rain tomorrow-thafs sure." Mrs. Stanley made no reply and Marguerite turned to contempla tion of the dreary rain. Suddenly her face changed from an expression of woe to one of wonder. Through the driving min that ren dered objects indistinguishable at any distance ? figure, oilskinned and sou' westered, was beating its way like a schooner tacking against a strong gale. The figure carried something bulky under its arra, and it was coming up the sidewalk toward the house-yes! It was actually turning in at the gate. Who would come so early in the morn ing and in such weather? The figure vanished as it mounted the front steps, and an Instant later the doorbell pealed. Marguerite, in her haste to "You're Crazy! You Can Sltoy, of Course." see who it was, hurried to the door nhead of the maid, and in a moment was confronting a familiar figure who stood, grinning and dripping, on the porch. "Why, Billy Watson!" she cried. "What on earth are you doing out in such weather? You must be soaked your shoes! And what's that you have under your arm?" . Billy Watson grinned wider and shook himself. A process that caused Marguerite to retreat hurriedly out of range of the flying drops that shot from his oilskin. Then he spoke. "Today's the day of the picnic, isn't it?" he demanded. "And it's too rainy to go to Bogg's Woods. So I thought I'd come up here and have a little picnic of my own-wilh you." "Oh!" Surprise held Marguerite speechless. Billy went on. ' "Theif* some junk to eat In that bundle, and it didn't get wet, either. I brought sandwiches and cake, and there's coffee in a thermos bottle. I suppose you have something, too. We cnn have our own picnic right here in your house." "You're crazy! You can stay, of course-but why did you bring the things to eat? We'll have a nice lunch with mother, and get some one over in the afternoon to play bridge, and-" "We will not!" Billy's voice was very definite. "After I went t? all this trouble to lug this food and such over here-and you offer me lunch! I'm going home." He turned toward the step, bvt she caught his PITO ond dragged him inside. "Come in, Billy, and don't be an Idiot." she said. "We'll eat anywhere you want, only come In before you catch your death of cold." Mrs. Stanley greeted P.illy warmly, for she knew and liked him: hut she, too, seemed unimpressed at the idea of a picnic lunch. "I'll roll Dinah to lay another cover for lunch." she said, and vanished on her mission, despite the protests of her guest. Left to themselves, the two stared at one another fer a moment, and then Marguerite burst into laughter. "Your picnic isn't going to work. Billy," she said. "Even mother won't let you he have like a heathen. You'll have to eat a respectable luncheon, and play bridge in the afternoon, like a good boy." Billy Struck an attitude. "Xever!" he declaimed dramatically. "Nevor shall I be balked of me fell purpose! I have decreed a picnic, and a picnic there shall'be! In one second and a half, gentle maiden, you will find your self transported Into the midst of that rug'U do," he suddenly added, dropping his pose. "It's green. Come here." He caught Marguerite by the arm and made her sit on the rug. "You are now seated In the midst of a bosky dell," he announced. "This" dragging a fern from its place in the window-"represents the official boski ness. I now spread the clotll"-his handkerchief was laid flat on the floor-"and, dragging up the picnic basket, our hero and heroine fell to with a will !" He suited the action to the word, and opened his bundle, dis closing some discouraged-looking sand wiches and a huge slice of chocolate cake. "Hooked it from the kitchen when Sally wasn't looking," he an nounced proudly. "Eat, pretty crea ture,<eat!" Offering her a sandwich. "Ugh! They're all soggy!" Mar guerite was too weak from laughter to resist. "Sandwiches are always soggy at picnics-confound it ! ? knew I'd for gotten something!" "What now?" "I forgot to bring an ant. All pic nics are attended by at least one ant. I could have got one as easily as not. The party is spoiled. Why was I so forgetful?" "Billy-" Marguerite choked over her sandwich, "do you know you're an awful Idiot?" . "I'm always idiotic at picnics-have another sandwich? No more? Then we must consider the eating part fin ished.. We shall now recline on the rocks-those cushions will do nicely and consider the universe In its more p?rtparetic attitudes-let me help you over the fallen log to your niche In the cool granite." Escorting Mar guerite gravely to the pile of cushions he had thrown on the floor and sink ing down beside her. "What a won derful . view from here ! Your eye sweeps over the magnificent perspec tive and-" "Billy! Did I say you could hold my ha-nd?" "Everybody holds hands at picnics, and. anyway, I intended, on this par ticular picnic, to-I say, Marge!" She was looking away from him. ap parently absorbed in contemplation of the hearthrug. "Marge-dear!" "Wh-what is it?" Her voice trem bled. . "Could you-do you think-would you care a little bit for an awful Idiot? I've waited so long to say this that I thought I'd die if I didn't get it out." He was still clinging to her hand and she did not take lt from him. Slowly she turned her head, and in another moment she was look ing into his eyes. Her voice was low, but It did not waver. "Billy, I've cared for a long time. I do love you, Billy dear, and-oh !" It was a long kiss, and neither of jthem heard the tinkle of the bell an no-* .clng lunch. But when Marguerite's mother came Into the room they were decorously clearing up the lftter they had made. "For goodness' sake, what have you two children been doing?" exclaimed Mrs. 'Stanley. Billy grinned happily. "We've been picnicking," he an nounced. "And-I think we've some thing to tell you." ' WRITERS TOO SELF-CENTRED Err in Making Members of Their Own Profession Heroes, ls Charge Made by Critic. Someone is always explaining what ls the matter with American literature, American drama and even American poetry, and the latest diagnosis is that they are suffering from In-breeding. The critic who has made this dis covery says that the literary and dra matic world has become too self-cen tered ; is going around in a circle in a manner which produces wheels within wheels ; and for this reason authors and playwrights are forever flying off at an inartistic tangent and produc ing jazz literature and drama. The favorite hero of the novelist is the novelist, and he writes too much about his early struggles with a cold and hard-fisted world; the dramatist takes the poor, oppressed writer of plays, or for a diversion, the poor but gifted actor, as his hero and draws out their life story of discouragement and suffering and final tiiumph to a fearful length. The poet is even accused of prefer ring to write of a poet rather than of anybody or anything else on earth ; of the poet whose sorrows have pressed so heavily upon him that he is forced to cry out in sounds which, being inter preted, are poetry. To one who gives this criticism consideration there seems to be something in it.-May Stranathan in the Pittsburgh Dispatch. Alike. The head of one of the departments in a certain downtown store is in clined to bc plump. She spends a great deal of time and also money in re ducing, and as she calls it "grooming and dressing1 so that I look more slender than I really am.'* Now, the janitor of the store is a large, fat colored woman, who has never heard of reducing, anil whose dresses arc built on even more ample lines than her figure. Also she is very fond of the head of this 'department. The other day when she happened to he near her she noticed that she seemed rather tired. "Oh, Miss T-," the old janitor* exclaimed, "do sit down and rest a minute. Most of these people don't understand how you feel. It just takes us avoirdupoises women to understand each other's feelings.-. indianapolis News. ; Old Age Old age ia inconvenient enoogb, even if one is surrounded with the comforts that wealth wjU secure. It is possible to make provision -against needy and dependent old age, even if one can't avoid old age itself. Are you doing that? Have you an ac count at the bank? Are you preparing for the days when your earning powers will decrease or possibly cease altogether? That's something for every man and woman to think about. The Bank of Trenton, S. C. All checks drawn on The Bank of Trenton can be cleared free of ex change through the Federal Reserve Bank. '.Jr. l rx.: ?:< : >:<VS >:< I >:<. Z > < Z ?:? > < Z >-< ZrxZ iXZiXZ rx Z rxZ >:<. Barrett & Company (INCORPORATED) COTTON FACTORS Augusta.Georgia i ZJ? Z vxZ >< I )xZ M ZxxZ >< I >< : > ARRINGTON BROS. & CO. Wholesale Grocers and Dealers in Corn, Oats, Hay and all Kinds of Feeds Gloria Flour and Dan Patch Horse Feed Our Leaders Corner Cumming and Fenwick Streets On Georgia R. R. Tracks Augusta, Ga. YOUR PATRONAGE SOLICITED See our representative, C. E. May. . ' COE-MORTIMER QUALITY FERTILIZERS For Cotton, Corn, Tobacco, Grain, Peanuts and Track QUALITY in plant food content QUALITY in availability. QUALITY in mechanical condition. QUALITY in big yields. QUALITY in profitable farming. Dry and drillable goods. Analysis as guaranteed. Prompt, courteous service. THE COErMORTIMER CO., Inc. Subsidiary of Tho American Agricultural Chemical Co. Charleston, S. C. FOR SALE BY EDGEFIELD WAREHOUSE COMPANY Edgef ield, S. C. W. P. CASSELLS, Johnston, S. C. SAWYER & JONES, Ridge Spring, S. C. COTTON A. H. DEVAUGHN (Jr.) & COMPANY COTTON BROKERS 103 Jackson Street, Augusta, Ga. For Long Distance call us at the Cotton Exchange. Cotton handled in ten-bale lots. We solicit your business. Correspondents ROSE & SON, 81 Broad Street, New York