Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, July 21, 1908, Image 1
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l. m. grist's sons, publishers. J % dfamitg gemspaper: |for the promotion of the fotiticat, ?oeiat, Agricultural and (Commercial .Interests of the people. !TEs?nolecllrV wve centoVAM ^
? established 18557 ~ YORKVILLE, S. CTTUESIJAY, JULY ai, 19087 NX). 58.
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CHAPTER X.
At the Cape.
How was he to drive the miserable
WF affair from his memory.
Hume went home to his lodging's
that night pondering this vexing question,
and there he found another letter
from Jack Harold, urging him anew
to try a week at Cape Desolation.
The night was intensely hot The
great city lay panting under a breath^
less sky. Life therein had become a
burden. Hume closed his medical
books, put out his lamp, and went to
bed.
"I'll go." he said, recklessly. "At
any cost, I'll get this wretched affair
"41 out of my head?otherwise it will end
in a case of dementia. Since the air of
Cape Desolation can restore a man after
an attack of typhoid, it may also
be able to minister to a mind diseased."
The next day he locked the door of
his poor lodging room, and started for
^ the cape.
A lumbering old stage carried him
from the railway terminus over a long,
bleak, barren road, to the door of Berry's
grocery,
it That ancient building still stood as
on the night when it was first introduced
to the reader's notice?its
weather-worn front damp with the
spray of the hungry sea, its interior the
favorite gathering place of all the
gossips on the cape.
As Hume scrambled down from the
top of the stage, a small, fair young
man in glasses disengaged himself from
the group of sunburnt fishermen who
>, were lounging around Berry's door,
and rushed upon the new arrival with
a whoop of welcome.
"So you have really come, old man!"
he cried. "I felt sure you would never
be able to resist my eloquent pleading.
* Why. bless me! how rattled, and generally
used up. you look! Too much
midnight old. It Is plain that I did
not coax you from your books any too
soon."
^ The two gathered up the few traps
which Hume had brought, and started
m on down the village street.
"Let me look at you, Jack." said
TT " ?>" mnrvl vnn DTP VftStlV I
n unic. run injr j vw w. ? w
Improved. Twenty pounds heavier than
when you arrived here, eh?"
"Forty, man! Air Is charged with
ozone!" He threw back his shoulders,
Nfr"' and inhaled a long, deep breath.
"Didn't I- write you about the fishing
and shooting, and the abnormally pretty
girls? Now, whatever was the row
with the aunt? You've had one. I
noticed something wrong the moment
you got down from the stage. The old
dame has cast you out Pouf! Her
aristocratic soul could not forgive the
1 gaucheries of a raw student, maybe,
or you did not salaam enough before
her, or"?
"Nothing of the kind." interrupted
Hume, feeling strangely reluctant to
^ mention the truth even to his dear
familiar friend. "She asked me to do
something; I refused; a rupture was
the consequence."
"So! And you've just escaped inneriting
the Elllcott millions. I don't
know whether to pity or congratulate
you. Unlimited wealth might have
spoiled you. you know. Go in now,
and make your own fortune, Hume.
\You have the right stuff in you. Meanwhile
here we are at Widow Pole's
door, and the worthy soul Is more than
half expecting you."
^ Up a walk of beach stones he led the
m way to a tidy cottage. As the two
'W crossed the threshold an appetizing;
odor of fried fish and baked potatoes
gave them cheerful greeting. This
fare, combined with flaky biscuits and
irreproachable coffee, was served to
the friends in a clean low-ceiled room
lighted by oil lamps. Outside, the wind
was blowing in a way calculated to
sweep a feeble man off his feet, and
the surf roared ceaselessly. At Cape
Desolation the Atlantic was not the
plaything of a summer day, but a ravening
and terrible power.
Supper over, the two young men retired
to their own quarters to smoke
the pipe of peace together, and talk
f between the whiffs.
"Bless me!" said Hume, with sudden
recollection, "I have been in your company
a full hour, Jack, and you have
not yet mentioned the sailor girl?that
dangerous combination of beauty and
heroism. Are you very hard hit, my
boy?"
The blood rushed into Harold's
smooth, inoffensive face?he sighed,
like a furnace.
"Yes, Hume, I may as well confess
WF it?I'm quite done for."
"And do you mean to assume family
cares at once?" asked Hume, mocklngly,
"or will your ardor permit you to
wait till you are clear of the medical
PP school, and can hang out your shingle
in proper fashion?"
"Oh, bless you," answered Jack, with
a rueful grin. "I never spoke a word of
love to Miss Hillyer in my life. She
keeps a fellow always at arm's length.
She's beautiful and gracious, yet deucedly
forbidding, too. So I let concealment.
like a worm in the bud, feed on
my cheek. Tomorrow I'll take you to
% Caleb's cottage, and you shall behold
the sailor girl, with your own eyes."
"All right,' said numei iliiu me mrlble
case which you mentioned in
your letter?where shall I find that?"
"At Caleb's, also."
? * Presently the conversation took another,
and?to Hume?very uncomfortable
turn. Harold's pipe went out, and
as he was lighting it anew he remarked:
"When you come to think of
it, the death of your cousin, Lepel Ellicott,
was a dismal affair."
"Rather."
"I wonder if that statuesque creature.
Miss Fassel, has ever really forgiven
the poor beggar?"
"Who knows?who cares?" answered
Hume.
"At any rate, she doesn't go in for a
broken heart and an early decline."
4 "Humbug!"
Through a cloud of curling smoke
Harold beamed cheerfully on his friend.
"Let me see; all the society journals
V 4* 4* 4* 4*4*4*4*4*4* 4s 4*4*
& J
W. PIERCE. J
f4*f4*fasi4,f4#f8,f,#?a^44*?s9fi*^
call Miss Fassel a gTeat beauty?do
they not?"
"I never read that sort of twaddle,"
replied Hume, with grim disdain.
"They do. She is praised without
stint. Now, to me she has a frosty effect,
like December moonlight?it chills
a fellow to look at her. Still, some
men go down, like ripe grain, before
that kind of women. There is always
a fascination about the unattainable."
Hume answered not a word. By and
by Jack put down his pipe.
"Now that the aunt has cast you out
of her favor, dear boy, who will have
her money? Has she any more
nephews in the background?"
"NO; undoubtedly she will distribute
her fortune to public charities. Let ui
get to bed, Jack?we have talked
enough."
Hume's room adjoined his friend's.
Long after the two separated he heard
Jack moving about, singing at the top
or his lungs various love songs, indicative
of a disturbed state of mind.
There was one in particular which he
repeated again and again. Hume listened
:
"'Escape me?
Never?
Beloved!
While I am I, and you are you.
So long as the world contains us
both?
Me the loving, and you the loath,
While the one eludes, must the other
pursue."
"Poor fellow!" muttered Hume; "he
has taken the disease in its worst
form." And then he composed himself
on his pillow, and in the midst of the
amorous clamor fell asleep.
CHAPTER XI
An Accident.
"Halloo!" Through a wet blanket
of fog, Hume's voice was blown back
to his own ears in a depressing echo.
"Halloo yourself!" replied Jack Harold,
at a distance.
"I say. Jack, how long is this sort of
thing to continue?" shouted Hume.
"Where the deuce are your birds?"
"Blessed if I know!" replied Jack,
dejectedly, as he appeared on the rocks
beside his friend; "there's not a feather
fluttering anywhere. And now a
man cannot see the length of his own
nose in this vapor. We may as well
give it up and go home."
For hours the two men had been
tramping about the cliffs and the
wastes of sand and poverty grass,
searching for sea fowl, and finding
none.
The winged tribe had forsaken their
favorite haunts today. Moreover a
iiugiiiy lug w?? inning ^uiicuij wn
everything. Only a round, blurred
speck of yellow light, moving westward
through the sky. marked the declining
sun.
"Come on." said Harold; "this Is the
way back to the village;" and he drew
his friend into a narrow path?a genuine
sheep track, winding along the
cliffs. "By Jove! you should walk here
of a dark night, when the wind is on
a lark! You couldn't hear your own
voice then, even if it was pitched to a
shriek. Thousands of miles of'whitecaps
thundering in on these cliffs, tearing
and gullying a track into their
brown sides"?
"And what would a sane man be doing
here of dark nights?" interrupted
Hume, in disgust. "You don't mean
to insinuate. Jack, that you go philandering
about a place like this at any
unholy hour?"
"This, sir," replied Jack, calmly, "is
the nearest path to Hillyer's Cove. I
often go there to spend an evening
with old Caleb, and it sometimes happens
that the wind is blowing great
guns. Observe in what strange shapes
the few cape trees grow, and you can
get some idea of its force!?and the
? , ? . ,?
sea is a tremendous dui invisiuie presence.
Look sharp. Hume, and keep
your gun ready. We may meet birds
on the cliffs."
Even as he spoke both men heard a
soft swish, as of tried wings moving
near in the fog. Hume raised his fowling
piece, just as the white glancing
breast of a bird took shape and color a
few misty yards ahead. Bang! went
the weapon. A human voice answered
it. "oh!"
That small, frightened cry struck to
Hume's heart like a knife. He dropped
his gun.
"Greet God!" he cried; "it was not a
bird, but a woman!"
As he burst upon her, out of the fog,
she was standing in the cliff path holding
to one arm. in a dazed way. and
he saw a thin stream of blood making
its way through the sleeve of her jacket
down over the fingers of the supporting
hand. Harold, following on the
heels of his friend, uttered a shout of
horrified recognition.
"Bess!?Miss Hillyer! Heaven above!
are you hurt?"
"Do not be frightened." she answered.
calmly. "I dare say it is nothing."
"I saw that wing in your hat." said
Hume, in an agony of shame and re
morse, "and mistook you- for a bird.
Could anything have been more idiotic?
I'll never touch a fowling piece
again?at-least, in a fog! Lend a hand,
Harold. Is there any house on these
devilish cliffs? I mean, can we get
Miss Hillver under shelter? I ought to
bo shot myself, and in dead earnest,
too, for making such a monstrous
blunder."
Mi ss Hillyer smiled. She alone had
retained her composure. The faces of
the two men were pale with apprehension?her
own. blight, dark, beautiful,
had not changed a whit.
"Don't reproach yourself." she said
to Hume. "Your mistake was pardonable?in
this mist. Of course the gull's
breast in my hat made the mischief.
Fortunately for me. your aim was
bad."
With a profesional hand Hume had
already drawn the jacket from her arm.
ripped up her dress sleeve, and
stanched the flowing blood. To his unspeakable
relief he found that the bone
was uninjured, and the wound, after
all. but a scratch.
"Present me in due form, Jack," he
said to Harold; "and if you happen to
have any brandy in your pocket, a few
drops will not come amiss."
"Here it is!" cried Jack, promptly
producing a tiny flask. "Take a pull at
it, Miss Hillyer?it will revive your
courage; though, to be sure, there is
small need of that. In this blundering
fellow you see Nigel Hume, a friend of
mine, and a new arrival on Cape Desolation.
You can trust your arm to his
care, for he is well up in surgery,
though he knows nothing about birds."
Miss Hillyer declined the brandy, and
calmly arranged her jacket, preparatory
to moving on.
"I was returning from an errand at
Berry's grocery," she said to Harold,
"and I seemed to hear a voice?your
voice, somewhere in the fog"?
"My voice!" he interrupted, eagerly.
"How good of you to recognize it!"
"Oh, I did not feel quite certain," she
explained, "because the crows often
make a great noise over these wastes,
and confuse one in regard to sounds."
Hume grinned wickedly as his friend's
face fell. "Had I called aloud you."
concluded Miss Hillyer, "I might have
saved all this bother. Good-by"?
"No. no!" protested Jack: "pray allow
us to walk home with you. Miss
Hillyer. Hume must dress your arm
properly, you know, and we could never
think of leaving you to make the
rest of your way, wounded and alone."
"As you like." said Bess Hillyer. indifferently:
and the three started for
the cove.
The sailor girl, serene as a May morning.
declined all aid from her male escort
on the way, and behaved very
much as though nothing had happened.
It was plain that the young person who
had suffered shipwreck in the South
Seas, and brought her father's vessel
safely into port, with fever and other
horrors aboard, was equal to being
shot by a strange man, and preserving
her equanimity through the ordeal.
Two years had brought few changes
to Cfcleb Hillyer's cottage. The fish
flakes were still there?the little garden
patch, set with hollyhocks and
camomile?the weather-worn porch,
and the long, sharp seine boats on the
beach.
As the trio went up the cobble-stone
walk, in the fast-falling darkness.
Hume stumbled against some object
crouched on the step of the porch?a
man. with a needle and mesh block and
a heap of torn nets flung down at his
side. He was rv>t working, however,
but stooping forward in an attitude of
distress, his head grasped in both
hands. Hume recoiled. "Beg pardon."
he said, politely: but the man returned
no answer. Without being able to take
in the details of his appearance. Hume
was conscious that he stood in the
presence of something uncanny?repulsive.
Like lightning. Bess Hillyer
turned and laid her sound hand on the
bowed shoulder.
"Andy," she said, and her voice was
like a caress, "put by the nets now?
night Is falling?it Is time for you to
come in and rest your^aor head."
Still the man answered nothing?only
sat as before, with both hands clinched
in his hair. A look of unspeakable
pain and pity swept Miss Hillyer's
handsome face. She hesitated an instant.
then opened the door of the cottage,
and ushered her two companions
into Caleb Hillyer's living room
No lamp had been lighted there, but
the merry driftwood fire which always
glowed on the hearth, both in the chilly
summer and the intensely cold winter,
was now blazing its brightest. Flung
down on a mat before it, Hume saw a
young girl, in a simple blue flannel
gown, with dimpled hands dropped listlessly
on her lap, and large, lovely eyes
fixed on the red flame.
"Rose," said Bess Hillyer. soothingl\*
"rU-m't hp frie-htened. dear?I am not
seriously hurt."
The girl on the mat started to her
feet?turning on Hume and his friend
a small oval face, with a tinge of seashell
pink in either cheek, and long,
slumberous eyes shining through exquisite
lashes.
"Oh! what has happened. Bess?" she
cried, running toward her cousin. "Oh!
oh! Somebody has wounded you!"
"Yes," confessed Hume, remorsefully.
"by a stupid blunder I shot Miss
Hillyer out on the cliffs. I assure you,
I feel liko a murderer."
Rose began to scream hysterically.
"Hush, dear," pleaded Bess; "it is
nothing. You must not blame Mr.
Hume. He aimed at the gull's breast
in my hat. Be a good giil, and bring
some bandages and a basin of water?
he is waiting to dress the hurt."
But Rose sank into the nearest chair,
and fell to crying like a terrified child.
"I'll call Martha Bray," volunteered
Harold, who was quite at home In the
house.
From some neighboring room a serving
woman, answering to the above
name, came to Hume's assistance.
No sooner had the young fellow set
about dressing Miss Hillyer's wound
than Rose hushed her sobs and began
to watch him through long, dense
lashes. Suddenly she broke into a
storm of reproaches.
"You dreadful man, how could you
hurt Bess like that??our dear, darling
Bess! I hate you for it! Perhaps you
did it purposely. Take him away. Mr.
Harold. Who is he??why did you
bring him here? As I look at him, I
feel as though some one was walking
on my grave!"
"Good Heaven! Miss Rose, how absurdly
you talk!" said Harold. "Accidents
will happen, you know, especially
in a fog. He is my friend, and both
of us are heartbroken over the affair.
Xoiv hold up. child. You will only
complicate matters by fainting. I am
so upset that I have forgotten how
to bring you to. and Hume can't help
nie."
The binding of the wound was a
trilling task, for the bullet had simply
grazed Miss Hillyer's line, soft flesh.
Hume put the arm carefully in a sling,
assuring her that she would suffer little
from it. Rose, as he supposed, was
some petted, irresponsible child, and he
paid small heed to her incivility.
"You must not mind my cousin."
said Bess. "She does not mean to be
rude."
"I deserve all her reproaches, and
more," ho answered, in a tone that
seemed to melt the little vixen, for
straightway an April change swept her
enchanting face?she ran to Hume, and
held out a rose-leaf hand.
"Indeed. I have been rude!" she said,
penitently. "Pardon me. Mr. Hume?
I was too frightened to choose my
words. I do not hate you, and it was
very good of Mr. Harold to bring you
to the cove. We have few visitors"?
with a sigh?"and the place is horribly
lonely."
"Thank you," said Hume, holding the
soft, nestling hand a moment longer
than was absolutely necessary.
"As you all came bursting in upon
me just now, what do you think I was
doing here before the fire?" she asked.
"Waiting for the fairy godmother,
like another Cinderella."
"Wrong. I was wishing myself stone
dead."
"No!"
"Oh, I often do it?every day, in
fact."
"But consider," said Hume, "it is
very unpleasant to be dead."
Her charming face put on a pathetic
look.
"Is it? Are you quite sure? Some
of us find life unpleasant, too."
Bess, the handsome brunette, beckoned
to her cousin.
"Andy is still out on the porch,"
Hume heard her say, in a low tone,
m J V?? Wn n a a# Klu Kn onnllo f A_
emu lie nan uuc ui mo uau opvuo wnight.
Will you not go. dear, and call
him In?"
"No," replied Rose, frowning, and
shaking her curly head.
"Then I must," sadly.
"Pray, let me go," said Harold, who
was always on the watch to serve his
goddess.
"You can do nothing with him," re- I
piled Bess Hillyer; "he pays no heed
to strangers."
She vanished through the door. The
two men moved to follow her.
"Promise, Mr. Harold, that you will
bring your friend again," said Rose,
with a smile in her soft eyes, "and let
me atone for my unklndness."
"Certainly," cried Jack; "of course
he must watch the progress of his hapless
victim toward recovery; remorse
will be the 'spirit In his feet' forcing
him to this house at all hours. As for
me, since Mr. Hume has become so
dangerous, I must, in common decency,
constitute myself his close attendant."
Tho two friends stepped out into the
porch. A stiff breeze was now springing
up, shattering the fog. Beyond the
fish flakes and the boats the sea
emerged, dark and turbulent, from the
veil of vapor. Westward, a dull, coppery
afterglow palpitated low down in
the sky.
Or. the step the strange net mender
was still croucning, wun tsess oeruuug
above him, talking softly, pleadingly.
'In the name of all that's curious,
what creature is that?" whispered
Kume.
"The case which I mentioned in my
letter," Harold replied, in a low voice.
"Ah! Does he belong to the Hillyer
household?"
"Well?yes," was the reply. "His
name is Andy Gaff."
"What, may I ask, makes Andy Gaff
so uncommonly queer?"
"That's the very thing I would be
glad to know myself," answered Harold,
In an aggrieved tone. "It seems
simply impossible. Hume, to discover
any facts relating to him. The Hillyers
preserve a strict silence on the subject,
and I have not found a single
person on Cape Desolation, not even
the Widow Pole, who could be Induced,
by love or money, to te:l me anything
about the poor wretch. Over at Berry's
grocery the old fishermen will talk
from morning till night of everything
upon the earth, or in tho waters under
the earth, but once name Andy Gaff
to them, and they are all struck suddenly
dumb. One thing I do know,
however: Miss Hillyer?Bess?is the
man's guardian angel, devoted to him
?watchful always for his safety and
comfort. I fancy that life would go
hard with him at the cottage but for j
he.'."
"He Is probably demented," said
Hume. "Why did you call the case terrible?"
They were making their way past an
old fishhouse that stood up like a gray
ghost in the dusk, its weather-beaten
clapboards flecked with yellow lichen.
Harold's face grew pretematurally
grave.
"Because of the relations which the
poor wretch sustains to? Look here
Hume: you saw the little girl Rose tonight?"
jerking one hand In the direction
of the cottage. "She's a born beau|
ty, eh?"
"Well, rather,"
"And not a day past eighteen?poor
child! In the excitement of our entrance
into the cottage, you were not
properly introduced to Rose. How it
came about God only knows. I haven't
yet been able to clear up the mystery
?but that young beauty is Andy Gaff's
wife?tied to him forever, like life to
death. The man is not a lunatic, Hume,
but something even worse?a mumbling
idiot!"
To be Continued.
DIRT THAT'S GOLD.
Value of Property In London Compared
With New York.
A four-line cable dispatch in the
Sunday World said:
"The city of London proper covers
one square mile, and the capitalized
value of the property within its norders
represents $l,2.r>0.000.000, which,
it is claimed, establishes it as the
richest area in the world."
A comparison between London and
New York values is difficult owing to
the difference between lease-holders
in the one city and freeholds in the
other. But it may be questioned
whether a square mile of lower New
York has not passed in valuation
even the financial centre of the
world. Making a deduction for its
narrow streets and its public buildings,
the portion of London's 6 88
"city" acres actually occupied by private
property may be 4 1 7 acres, averaging
$3,000,000 an acre, nearly $70
a square foot.
For a small "key" plot in lower
New York, not on Broadway or Wall
street, a price as high as $28,000,000
an acre has been paid. For a plot of
considerable size in the best part of
Wall street $20,000,000 an acre
would eagerly be offered, but no such
plot has been sold in a generation,
nnrl mmp is on the market. The so
called sale of the old custom house
was so scandalous and exceptional, as
to form no criterion. As high as $11.000,000
an acre was paid even before
the recent real estate advances for
part of the Flatiron site, on Madison
square. A square mile of lower New
York, bounded, say, on the north by
Beach, Walker and Canal streets and
on the east by a line drawn from the
Bowery to Fulton Market, would contain
the most remarkable group of
business buildings in the world. It
would crowd old London very close
in the matter of capitalized value and
might, perhaps, surpass it.?New York
World.
iUiscfll,infou.s it'i-adiiui.
HISTORY OF SMYRNA.
Interesting Data Covering a Period of
Seventy-Five Years.
The following Is the Interesting
sketch of Smyrna church that was read
by Rev. J. L. Oates In connection with
the dedicatory exercises last Saturday
afternoon:
About the year 1832, William McGill,
Esq., removed from Crowder's Creek,
in '.he northern part of York county, S.
C., where he and his wife were members
of Bethany church, to King's
Creek, in the western part of the same
county. Not far from the same time,
three brothers by the name of Black,
removed from the neighborhood of
Diamond Hill, in Abbeville county, S.
C., to the country between King's
Creek and Buffalo in the extreme western
part of York county. These men
were sons of Joseph Black who was a
member of, and a ruling elder in Diamond
Hill Associate Reformed church.
These men and Mr. McGili, finding a
likeness in their church preferences,
agreed to join together in an effort to
secure preaching for themselves and
families, and to this end Invited the
Rev. Thomas Ketchen of the A. R.
church to visit them and preach for
them and baptize the children of one
of their number, Hon. James A. Black.
Mr. Ketchen appears to have compiled
with this request promptly, for we find
that in 1834 he preached at the house
of Mr. McGili. This was the beginning
of the movement which resulted in the
organization of Smyrna church. Soon
after this it was discovered that a number
of families belonging to Sharon con
huBk^ :- ^
THE NEW SM|
gregation, hut living between Clark's?
Fork and King's Creek and therefore I
at a considerable distance from their?
church, were desirous of co-operating?
with Mr. McGill and the Black's in se- I
curing Associate Reformed preaching I
at some point convenient to them all. I
Thomas Whitesides, Major Whltesldes, I
Robert Whitesides, Thomas Faulkner, I
Robert Nealands, Josiah Henry, and I
John Brown were the heads of these I
latter families. The result of this mu- I
tual desire was that in 1834 a stand I
was erected somewhere on the dividing H
ridge between Clark's Fork and King's H
Creek, under which services were held H
for a few times. But men like these I
^ o ehaii
were not sattsnea wun a ui uan ?w.,
and the next year, 1835 a small but
comfortable church was erected on the
site occupied by the present building';
the land necessary for this purpose
being donated by a generous Presbyterian.
John Darwin. From the build- |
ing of this church until 1843, preaching
was supplied at irregular intervals by
various ministers of the Associate Reformed
church. In the mean time,
about I840, it was found necessary to
enlarge the church building. This was
done by putting an addition of 12 or 14
feet to one end of the house. In the
summer of 1843, the congregation was
formally organized by the Rev. R. C.
Grler, there being probably forty-eight
members enrolled. The elders elected
and ordained at that time were Robert
Whitesides, Thomas Faulkner. Thomas
McGill, and Oapt. John F. Oates. There
is no record now of the communicants
of that date, but it is of interest to
know that of the children then living of
those who took part in that solemn rite,
the following four are alive today: R.
W. Whitesides, Alexander McGill, Mrs.
Martha White and Mrs. V,r. M. Kennedy.
In the summer of 1843. Smyrna
united with Sharon and Olivet congre*
" t>TJ A
gation in extending a can iu nc.i,.
Ross; Smyrna asking for one-third of
his time. This call was presented to
him at a meeting of the First Presbytery
at Hopewell, Chester county, and
was accepted. He was installed over
the charge at Sharon on the first Wednesday
in December, 1843. This pastoral
relation continued until April,
1S52, when it was dissolved by request
of the pastor. In lSf>4, Smyrna united
with Sardls, a small congregation in
Union county, S. C., and extended a
call to Rev. J. R. Castles. This call
was moderated by Rev, R. A. Ross, and
was presented to Mr. Castles at a meeting
of the First presbytery at Steele
Creek, N. C., March 8. 1854, and was accepted.
He was installed sometime during
the same year, Drs. Ross and Boyce
officiating. Smyrna took one-half of
his time. During his pastorate, the
congregation showed their zeal by discarding
the old church, and in its stead
erecting a large and well furnished
building, one which is said to have
compared favorably with any wooden
building in the country. Mr. Castles
served this charge faithfully until his
health so far failed him that he was no
longer able to preach. On this account,
in the fall of 1862 he resigned. In 1863
this congregation presented a call to
Rev. Monroe Oates, asking for onehalf
of his time, this call was accepted,
and he was installed sometime in the
year 1863, but the records fail to give
any information as to those who took
part in the service. In 1868 Mr. Oates
demitted this charge in order to go to
Arkansas, where in Pope county lie
soon became pastor of New Pisgah,?
a congregation very largely composed
of members who had removed from
Smyrna and Bethany, S. C., and Pisgah,
N. C. For about three years following
the pastorate of Mr. Oates, the
Smyrna -pulpit was occasionally filled
by supplies. In the spring of 1871, a
second call was presented to Dr. R. A.
Ross, for one-half of his time. This
call being accepted, he was installed in
May of the same year by Revs. E. E.
Boyce and Robert Lathan. In 1873, the
church building erected during the
pastorate of Mr. Castle3 was burned by
an Incendiary, but with old time zeal,
the congregation with some outside
1 1 ? ?... AfAAlfl/1 o nnfhor thnf ho.
cicucu anutiivi, t.iuw
ing the building that was torn down
last year to make way for the present
one. Dr. Ross continued pastor of
this congregation until 1890, when with
great reluctance in his own heart and
grief in the hearts of his people, he
resigned on acount of the infirmities
of age.
Again came a short period of supplies,
until 1891. In this year, Smyrna
and her daughter, Hickory Grove,
extended a call to Rev. J. P. Knox, and
this call was accepted. Mr. Knox was
installed at Smyrna, December 3, 1891.
Dr. R. A. Ross preaching the sermon,
Rev. R. M. Stevenson addressing the
pastor, and Rev. J. C. Galloway addressing
the people. This pastorate
continued until May 21, 1899, when Mr,
Knox demitted the charge which for
seven and one-half years he had served
faithfully and successfully, in order
to take up work in Columbia. Anotlfer
short season of supplies, and then in
1900 a call, made out for the present'
Btfur^SBirSlA fl JsMBk
YRNA ASSOCIATE REFORM
i
pastor, was accepted by him and on
March 14, 190<1, he was installed at
Smyrna, over the joint charge of Smyrna
and Hickory Grove, Revs. R. M.
Stevenson and J. S. Grier having charge
of the installation.
Looking back over the seventy-five
years that have elapsed since the first
nucleus of this congregation was formed,
we find the following supplies, pastors
and officers have served them:
from 1834 until 1843, Revs. Thomas
Ketchen, Eleazer Harris, James Walker,
John Pressly, David Pressly, Joseph
McCreary, T. C. Martin, R. C. Grier,
J. H. Boyce and R. A. Ross, were the
supplies. From 1843 until 1852, Rev. R.
A. Ross was pastor. From 1854 until
1862, Rev. J. R. Castles was pastor.
From 1863 until 1868, Rev. Monroe
Gates was pastor. From 1868 until
1871, Revs. Robert Lathan and R A.
Ross were the supplies. From 1871. until
1890, T>r. R. A. Ross was again pastor.
During a few months after Dr.
Ross' demission other pastors preached
a day or two at a time, among them
Dr. R. Lathan and Revs. R. M. Stevenson
and T. R Stewart. From 1891 until
1899, Rev. J. P. Knox was pastor,
and since 1900, the present incumbent
has been pastor.
The following elders have been ordained
at the times mentioned: Robert
Whitesides, Thomas Faulkner. Thomas
McGill and Capt. John F. Gates in 1843;
J. D. Wylle, J. L. Wylle and Calvin
Whisonant, about I860; near this timej
Thomas Whitesides was received as an j
elder from Sharon, and Dr. H. C. Castles
from Catholic in Chester county:
Moses White and R M. McAlister in
1 s72; R. M. Patrick was received as
an elder from Sardis in Union county,
in 1872; John B. Whitesides, R. M;
Plaxco and W. M. McGill in 1876; J. A.
McGill. James EI. Castles. W. M. Whitesides,
and J. W. Quinn in 1889; and A.
J. McGill and Robert Whisonant in
1906.
In 1873, J. M. Whitesides, R. G.
Whitesides, William White and W. J.
McGill elected deacons, and R. W.
Whitesides and J. D. Whitesides in
1890; and J. N. Quinn in 1895.
T. G. Wylie was clerk of session
from 1859 until 1873: L. M. McAlister
from 1873 until 1875; W. M. McGill
from 1875 until 1897: and J. W. Quinn
from 1897 until the present time.
J. N. McGill. H. T. Castles. B. F.
White and A. J. McGill have served as
treasurers, the last named still holding'
this office.
The following are the officers of the
church at the present time:
Pastor?Rev. J. L. Gates.
Elders?R. M. Plaxco, W. M. Whitesides.
J. A. McGill. J. W. Quinn, James
E. Castles. A. J. McGill and Robert
Whisonant.
Deacons? W. J. McGill. R. W.
Whitesides, J. N. Quinn and J. I).
Whitesides.
Clerk of session?J. W. Quinn.
Superintendent of Sabbath school?
J. D. Whitesides.
In 1907 it was decided that the house
of worship erected in 1873 did not meet
modern demands and was not worthy
of the present abilities of the congregation.
Therefore in the early part of
the ear, at a congregational meeting
the unanimous decision was expressed
that a new building should be erected.
Tlie following building committee was
appointed and given full power to
raise money, adopt plans and enter into
contract for the erection of a suitable
house of worship: J. D. Whitesides,
J. W. Quinn, R. T. Castles, W. J. McGill,
J. F. Faulkner and A. J. McGill.
This committee asked the pastor to
become one of their number and act as
chairman. The congregation responded
to the efforts of this committee so
liberally that in August, 1907, the contract
was let to Mr. W. L\ Wallace of
Yorkville, and in January, 1908, the
congregation worshiped in the new
building, and today we have met and
formally given it to God. There were
trials and sacrifices, but the people had
a mind to work, and God was good.
Thn trinlu nro fnrcntten the sacrifices
have already been richly repaid; and
in this hour of our joy and this day of
our 'blessings, with our lips and also
with our hearts we will sing,
"All people that on earth do dwell
Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
Him serve with mirth, His praise
forth tell.
Come ye before Him and rejoice."
REV. J. L. OATES,
Pastor of Hickory Grove and Smyrna
Churches.
The subject of the photograph reproduced
herewith Is Rev. J. L. Oates, one
of the best known and most highly esteemed
citizens of York county.
Mr. Oates was born in Gaston county.
N. C.. in 1873. His parents took him
to Catawba township in 1880, and he
grew to manhood as a member of the
Neely's Creek congregation. He was
educated In the common schools of the
Neely's Creek neighborhood, and at
Erskine college and seminary, and was
licensed to preach in 1897.
^
^ '^l
";V
flg
wafl
ED CHURCH.
After having held charges at Bartow,
Fla., and in Lancaster county, Mr.
Oates was called to the pastorate of
the Hickory Grove and Smyrna congregations
in 1900, and has been living
at Hickory Grove since that time.
Though still a young man, and a
very modest and retiring young -man
at that. Mr. Oates has establish
ed a reputation as a model pastor and
as a preacher of unusual ability and
power, and has grown in the love and
esteem of his people to such an extent
that he has come to be recognized as
one of the strongest members of the
First Associate Reformed presbytery.
Inquiry among the people of western
York, whether that inquiry be
REV. J. L. OATES.
merely casual or thorough, will develop
that everybody, regardless of denominational
affiliation, knows Mr.
Oates, and that nine individuals out
of ten will lay claim on him as a special
persona! friend. Without the
slightest compromise of the sacred
dignity of his high calling, he has a
wonderful faculty for making himself at
ease in the presence of whatever company
and of putting whatever company
at ease in his presence.
Several times during the past few
years, Mr. Oates lias had intimations if
not positive assurances, that he could
have some of the strongest and wealthiest
charges in his denomination by
the mere acceptance: but up to this
time he has not been able to see that his
duty demands, a change. As matters
now stand, he thinks and his people
think that he is located permanently,
and if this be true, the large scope of
country that lias already enjoyed so
much good through him is to be congratulated
on having in store still
great greater benefits for the future.
.t"-' We deceive ourselves oftener than
we are deceived by others.
X3' Speaking before thinking is like
shooting with your eyes shut.
X" The picture on the box is no sign
of the quality of the cigar.
S-;' It is usually the tnan who seeks to
do others that gets stung. Every
bunco game rests on this principle.
SENATOR CHRISTEN8EN'8 WORK.
"An Observer" Praises His Achievements
and Urges His Re-election.
To the Editor of The State:
In a recent Issue the Yorkvllle Enquirer
has touched upon a subject of
vital importance to South Carolina
and every citizen therein. It is a
warning to the people of the state and
especially of Beaufort county of the
possibility of the defeat of Senator
Neils Chrlstensen, Jr., who stands for
reelection. Doubtless The Enquirer is
a little over apprehensive of such an
outcome; nevertheless, the people
should realize the importance of retaining
Chrlstensen in the important
seat which he has so manfully and
capably filled for the past four years.
Few people of the state are really
familiar with the work of the young
representative from Beaufort while
occupying the seat In the senate and
the Important place on the dispensary
Investigating committee. Everything
that he has touched has revealed
to the public a desire In him to be
of service to his fellows and to his
state. Without fear or malice the Intrepid
young politician plunged beneath
all existing coverings of the nefarious,
graft-breeding institution in
which the commonwealth had been
writhing for ten years and unearthed
those crimes and defalcations which
startled every honest Carolinian and
caused those malicious, dare-devil
malefactors to squirm and wriggle
under the disgrace of criminal exposure
and groan In the hands of law
and Justice. With the one purpose of
investigating first and uppermost In
his mind, Chrlstensen proceeded without
regard for the rank or position of
his adversaries; he was no respecter
of persons. During the entire Investigation
he quailed under no difficulties
that confronted him and there
were many seemingly impossible barriers
which a man of less courage and
affability could never have surmounted.
Cool, deliberate, earnest and determined,
the fearless senator would face
the most derisive, profane reprobate
with a plea for testimony, when In
more than one Instance he was met
with angry outbursts of Insulting epithets
from his would-be witness. Did
Phrlofnncon Iaqa Vila torn nor o nH rnanrf
to violence where he received such rebuffs?
Never: on every such occasion
he met the distorted, angry face of
his assailant with a frank, mocking
smile that conquered more effectively
than would have the prison cell or the
club. The cowardice of the angry aggressor
revealed to him was the most
powerful weapon that the senator ever
resorted to.
Christensen's high sense of honor
and irreproachable character make
the boldness and Intrepidity of his actions
unusually Intense. Mr. T. W.
Kllngenberg, one of the foremost detectives
of the country and a man of
wide reputation and experience, said
that Nells Chrlstensen, Jr., is the most
remarkable man with whom he has
ever come In contact; that his ability
to approach men and carry his point
Is phenomenal. Kllngenberg was perhaps
more Intimately associated with
Mr. Chrlstensen than was any other
man during these moments that demanded
the utmost courage and calmness,
and he is doubtless more capable
of judging the sterling qualities of
the young senator than any one else.
When Senator Blease's bill was
j w r _ M am a a# a
passeu mr. ifurnneii nns one ui uic
first men to be appointed on the investigating
committee. After the full
committee was selected the body was
at a loss as to how to proceed. Mr.
Christensen came to the rescue with
the suggestion that the members be
divided into several subcommittees to
investigate the different branches of
the dispensary. Christensen chose Mr.
Lyon as his coworker. Lyon has made
a most unusual record in forcing the
grafters out of power. Still, he, better
than any one else, knows that the
courageous energy of Neils Christensen,
Jr., was the rock that supported
the committee and made possible the
ultimate success achieved.
In procuring testimony Mr. Christensen
availed himself of every advantage
in sight, making exhaustive
researches for nil data that had accumulated
during the rotten administration
of the dispensary. With this
zealous and aggressive comrade, Mr.
Lyon, the most persistent efforts were
made to give this band of thieves their
! just deserts. In order that the proceedings
of the' committee should be
(expedited, Mr. Christensen had soarranged
all the affidavits, records and
data that they could be immediately
referred to, and he occupied throughout
the sessions of the committee a
J seat beside Mr. Lyon, where he laid
before him these records and many
were the times that he came to the
rescue of Mr. Lyon with some valuable
suggestion or advice.
One need only read the testimony
brought out by these two men to ascertain
the value of their services. No
greater crime was ever unearthed, as
the testimony will show; truly they
have been too numerous for the peotho
ctoto tn (innaldpr other than
F'<= "? ? -
as one great crime, yet few officials
that have been in any way connected
with the vast organization have escaped
without the word "corruption"
imprinted upon a once clean record.
Xo one need fear that Christensen
is not making every effort to retain
his seat in the senate; he will get almost
unanimous support from the
town of Beaufort. One has only, to
spend a few hours in his office to learn
of the confidence that the people of
Beaufort have In his sound judgment
and conservative ideas. His friends
are too numerous and his clean record
too well established in his own county
for one to regard his defeat as by any
means evident. Yet the friends of the
heroic senator should guard against
the "silent tread of political yeggmen."
South Carolina cannot afford to
lose so able a son, nor can Beaufort
contend that she can produce a more
loyal and earnest representative.
While Senator Christensen has for
several years been active in state politics
he is even now in his 20's, and
has already rendered the state one of
the greatest services that any man
could have rendered. He deserves the
praise of the state and the loyal support
of every voter in his home county.
A more vigorous, determined and
able man sits not among the lawmakers
of the state.
An Observer.
Wedgefleld, S. C.. July 14, 1908.