Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, January 18, 1921, Image 1
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' ^5^ semi- weekly. ^
_____ .... ^l.t'1,11
l. m. grists sons. Publish. . Jt Jjamili) gfimspager: <?[or flic |lroniofioit of flte jOotiiical, Social, llgricuiturjat anil Commercial Jnterests of thi people. TER"f^Kcopi.E?vENcra??NC^,-:
ESTABLISHED 1S55 ~ YORK, S. C.? TUESDAY, J AN U ARY 18, 1921. ~~ NO. 5 |
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VIEWS AND INTERVIEWS
Brief Local Paragraphs of More or
Less Interest.
PICKED UP BY ENQUIRER REPORTERS
Stories Concerning Folks and Things
Some of Which You Kr.ow and
Some You Don't Know?Condensed
For Quick Reading.
"Speaking of poor collections." observed
the other day a well known business
man, "I started out January 1
with accounts totaling $3,000. Thus far
this month I have collected about $300.
And included, in the list of accounts
arc some against people who are plenty
able to pay; but who simply won't."
Mule Follows Ford.
"I've got a most unusual mule?one
who follows a Ford automobile," said
Mr. James Ashe of the McConnellsville j
section, who was among the visitors in j
Yorkville last Saturday. "The mule
got "out^of the stable a few days ago,"
Mr. Ashe went on to say, "and started
up the road behind a Ford automobi'e.
It followed the Ford for several miles.
f
NTiie mule is about sixteen months old."
Damage by Auto Trucks.
"There's no question but some law
ought to.be enacted whereby the automobile
trucks should bc> made to pay
for the great damage that they do to
the roads," observed Saturday Mr. J.
E. Lowry of Yorkville. "Just yesterday
two trucks heavily laden with cotton
traveled from Yorkville to Gaston in.
The roads were in a bad condition naturally
on account of the wet weather
and it is simply impossible to estimate
the amount of damage that those two
trucks did."
Invited to Wait a Little While. i
Here's a story that was going the j
rounds in Yorkville last week:
A collector approached a local man ;
with a bill.
"Man," said the one approached, "I '
have just been reading in the paperi
here about a man who committed suicide !
because he couldn't pay his debts. Why j
you ought not to be presenting' me with ,
any bills now. I migl^t be.tempted to;
^ fin lit-o thf> nthpr fellow did."
"All right," returned the collector: j
just pay mc and then use your own
pleasure about killing yourself."
Did the Army Do It?
Apropos of the arrest of live white I
boys in Rock Hill last week, on charges j.
of burglary, two of them ex-soldiers, j
Sheriff Quinn said Saturday: "It is ap- j
palling?the number ?>f young ni-n
charged with crime who served in tharmy
and it is hard to arrive at an explanation.
Whether or not that spirit j
of 'Anything that you can get by with j
in the army is all right,' had anything j
to do with it; or whether or not these ?
f
crimes are committed by that element ,
who were naturally criminally inclined :
is rather hard to determine."
Only Those Who Can Afford It. ,
The automobile mechanic was Idling
Views and Interviews about business in '
his line. *
"We are jollying along fairly wall." j
he said. "There arc lots' of people who '
own automobiles who can't really nf- [
ford to own them. They are not riding
much now and they are not having
much repair work done. My firm does
work on a cash basis only. The people
who come to us for work are people
who can afford to pay. There are
enough of these to keep us busy. So
v.*e are doing very well, u'l things considered."
'
Cold? Huh, Not So Bad.
"The sleet and slush of last Friday
and Saturday," observed yesterday a :
man who keeps pretty well up on
weather statistics, "recalls to mind the
fact that three years ago this section
experienced the coldest weat!ier?known
in forty years for this latitude. On
January 1-'. 1J1X. this wlmlc section was
bound by sleet and snow and held in !
Hit' mighty grip of tiie Ice Kin;v. During
tiie two opening months of ISMS J
snow fell a number of times. Numbers
of trees were blown down across
road:: and railroads and trees and telegraph
and telejihone wires groaned
under tin ir weight of ice."
Will Mean Much Work.
"If the general assembly pass: s a bill
which hn.s been introduced doing away
with the penalty 011 all taxes not paid
up to January 1, it will mean a lot of
extra work on county treasurers and
their assistants.", commented futility
Treasurer J lurry K. Neil tiie otln r
evening. "There will b a lot of people
appl.ving^for refund of penally. The
lensaltv on poll tax not paid by January
1. is 1 cent and no doubt there will be
a number t.> come hack for the penny.
I'.Utj of course." lie concluded, "if the;
hill becomes law we'll carry it out. A
little tiling like more work .'ocsn't really
matter."
CI053 to the Shore.
"1 am entirely able to handle my own
affairs." said a lletlie! township farmer
to Views .and Interviews the oilier day.
"hat T would not have you to understand
from that that I atn Indifferent
to the pinch that is now bcintr so n?*n1
rally felt.
"It is my observation that ton nianv
of us make the mistake of being unalde
to realize the futility of pelting anywlicre
by try in it to farm on en-dil. I
en me very mar being: ruined that way
years ago. and as tie- result of eNperienees
Ihrollffh which I passed I rea.lved
that never again while I live would i attempt
to hranch out beyond my own
means in raisimt crops. My that. I
mam I resolved to hnse my operations
r
an what I actually had and not undertake
to gamble on what I c::pccted to
have.
"No. I have no quarrel with anybody 1
? merchant, banker or anybody else. 1
realized, however, that when I undertook
to bore with a big auger beyond
my own resources, and using somebody
else's means, I was taking long chances
and stood to lose not only what I expected
to make; but what I already
had. Of course you have got to pay the
other fellow for the use of his capital
and his part of the proceeds is fixed.
Whether there is anything for you. or
not the other fellow muj* got his., and
you see it is you who arc carrying all
the risk. During all the years since I
gave up this kind of speculation J nave i
been kecuinp my head above water, to |
say the least of it."
Had Pleasant Christmas.
"We have had the biggest and the
best Christmas that this school lias
ever known. We have had a holiday
for nearly a week and not a boy that
wanted to be left out and there were
none." So states an article in the "Life
Buoy." a monthly publication issued by
the South Carolina Industrial School at
Florence, a copy of which has reached
the desk of Views and Interviews.
H. F?. Skinner is editor and I. D. Houck
is associate editor of the "Life Buoy,"
which is devoted to the doings of the
inmates of the state school for wayward
white boys. There are several
York county boys among the inmates
of the school, which is conducted under
the direction of the state board of public
welfare.
Proverbial Wisdom.
"Here," said one this morning, "arc a (
number of paragraphic proverbs that
contain a whole lot of good common
horse sense and which most of us could
put into daily practice to our advantage
r
Promise little and do much.
Sweet is pleasure after pain.
The sea and air are common to a'.l j
men. 11
Tic jests iit scars who never felt u ,
wound.
A civil denial is better than a rude '
grant. '<
Practice not your art and 'twill soon ,
depart. (
The praise of the fool is censure in
disguise.
The best cure for sorrow is to pity
somebody.
? There is not spite like that of a proud
beggar. '
lb- that spends without regard shall
want without pity.
An excessive number of shepherds
huims the flock.
Some tilings arc better praised by silence
than remark.
The best ol' the sport is to do the
deed and say nothing.
A nvm may sijTinft much*," even "oil
till* bi M III" subjects. !?
It is bard t<? track the path that the j,
ship fallows on the sea.
Praisy borrowed from ancestors is
but sorry praise indeed.
What is tiie use 01 running n iicii n v. |
arc nut on the right road?
A great many shoes are worn out before
a man docs what he says.
George Goccter Says.
Only the profiteers regard war as
glorious. |
Tiie Cork mayor Steeps bobbing into
print.
i
A full dinner pail keeps empty heads :
from radicalism. i
Linyd-Ooorgc seuns to be the only
perennial premier.
Easy sire-t is not easy to get on and
not easy to slay on. 1
i
Dealing in talking machines is one <
form of sound finance.
There is never any change of the
price mark of experience.
Laiulis is now autocrat of all the
busker a ; well as the majors.
i.i'niMtni'i'i J toll of the
I HU tfiin jiiv |'i w..,? . _
name Luyyues stems to lie Mud.
It siums as if nobody wants iiosivcr!
ill l!i" cabinet except the people.
?
No pi liver s.''. nw to have objection toi,
disarmament. by any of the others.
In heaven's hooklu cpintf. you nr.' |
debited, not credited, witii the money i
you make.
Ilardinir is K'iviiitr proposed cabinet;
timber vary tnueh more tlian the "once J
over."
V.'hsit a pity the prices charged liy |
proiiieers cannot fail as low sis their j
characters.
Q
LOOKING FOR HUSBANDS
Eroiioh Women Corrsirrj to America in
Ssarch of Them.
".hiekkss .Mils" arc emipratimr in
considerable numbers from Kiipr'aiid in
the hope of lindins; suitable ".iiii-icss
.f.:cks" for lmsbands in the railed '
> I. M ......11 i
St.i'i s. . irronunj; in
inf Seietiee. 1 1st rnnimetits
un Knyitt nil's ' !vi:uTi:i!ii,;i! ! women
\v!i i m:iy never r.itirry" In fore tlsc? Xsitionnl
iliri-i little feminist-tinn some
t'.tne :iun were widely dismissed in Iho
!t'*it:s!i press.
(InvcrtMiii-'it lijriin s slmw there is :i
surplus nl' :s million women. in Knyltiiid
whose only In | nf niiiiT.vinc <l?*|??*ih!js
i>:. their miirr:ti:n>; to sunn* port of lite
otirlii v.ieTe is :t tire.- rvm dtstrilitition
of the si xes. Aeenrdins; t i
.Miss .Mnroh. I!ntire lining it. She1
snys she is loei-ivinc letters front
Ant.Tien tlin! :ue "sii:nil'n-;iiit nl !!). !
|i?wlii:e s of some in -n's livs."
tire enterprising; tnil.iy."
; site tnlileil. ".Mtilsy tire i mitcrn!in,*; who j
ja few yenrs m;o would Irive fen red t>?
tlake tin- j.rrenl adventure."
THE NEED OF THE SCHOOLS
Case Presented by Superintendent
Swearingen.
COUNTY SCHOOLS AT DISADVANTAGE
i
Comprehensive Brief Outlining the
Policy of the Educational Department
ar.d Giving Reason'/; in Justification
cf More Liberal Appropriations.
Editor Ycrkville Enquirer: Through
the courtesy of a friend, I
have been furnished a copy of the issue
of your paper of January 7tli reporting
the York county taxpayers' con
vent ion. it was interesting to learn
the views and comments of so many
wealthy citizens. The criticisms cf the
public schools voiced by ' Honorable
Thomas F. JIcDow are my sole excuse
for addressing you in this letter.
South Carolina has woefully neglects
ed her public schools. The children of
the rural districts arc emphatically
the victims of this mistaken policy.
These boys and girls ought- to have
a better educational opportunity .and
better public school facilities. The
high schools at Rock Hill, Fort Mill
and York courthouse arc none too good .
for the pupils of these localities and are
properly striving to improve. The taxpayers
of Rock Hill have voted nineteen
mills for current support and five
and one-half mills for bonds. The taxpayers
of Fort Mill have voted fifteen
mills for current support and five mills
for bonds. The taxpayers of York
courthouse have voted nineteen mills
for current support and 110 mills for
bonds. The citizens of these three
towns can vote off these school taxes
for current needs at any time.
Rural districts have no banks, cotton
mills or railways to tax. Ts it too
much to ask that the state of Soutn
Carolina recognize and equa'izc these
conditions? The attached statement
explains the public school standard Im
endeavoring to secure in my capacity
as state superintendent of Education.
Yours respectfully.
J. E. Swcaringen,
State Supt. of Education. I
January 12. 1H21.
January 11, 1021.
Dr. C. A. Jones,
1301 Hampton' Street.
Columbia, South Carolina.
Dear Sir:- . ^
Tt was a* pleasure to meet tri'th you'
mil yiiur committee last night. Eni'1'i.seil
lien.-with please find a brief
summary of the objectives contemplat--i
t... ....Imnl.i fni-. tlif> ?lRS!Oll
L'(l ill uir j.iiMiiv. ,>c.4wv..? ~
ID2U-21.
1. Tilt first need uf the country
schools is a longer term. -As a working
basis a minimum of seven months
for the current year is desired. The
state course of study is planned for a
term of nine months. The work out- i
lined cannot be fully or satisfactorily!
completed i:i a shorter time. The ree- j
iinniendaiion of seven months Is submitted
merely because the schools!
must run seven months ' before they j
c:::i run eight months or longer.
Four-fifths of the white people of i
the state 13v in the country. The
Average term of the rural schools;
is now six and three-tent lis months.
The suggested standard would require
it ten per cent, growth. 11 is practical
und practicable. Anything less does
not taring to country boys and girls
even the approximation of an adequate
educational opportunity.
'1. For each classroom with an enrollment
of not fewer than twenty-five j
nor mare than fifty and an average!
monthly attendance of fifteen one;
teaclter should be provided. The salary
should average $1i)n.oo per month. The
annual out'ay for such a teacher would
in. of r.fiiii't'o M
U1US IK' vWU'l.WV a ,?V?|, ^ 'i v, -la
rife number of teachers tin and will I
receive nit mm*. A still larirer number da I
ami will continue to receive less, A |
trained competent leadline corps will!
it vcr lie secured <?:t ;t basis of $700.0'l. j
This standard should lie raised as soon |
as practicable.
To support such a term and to
provide such a salary the local district j
is retjiii/cd to pay an u-ddilionul school!
tax of eight mills. Incidental or unus- |
ital expenses it: the sell on I must he
supplio'l from a higher rate of local ;
taxation. A longer term or an increased
salary must also lie supplied from a !
still Inciter local levy. llricHy. then,
the standard contemplates a seven j
months' term, a classroom with an en- !
rollnieiit of not less than twenty-live j
nor more than lifty. an average tnotilh- '
ly attendance of fifteen, si salary of j
$1D').nil per nvmih and a local levy of all
least eight mills.
This is the harts of -the equalizing'
la w. so called because it guarantees the:
standard term, lite standard salary and
the standard classroom eonditions*iilroady
named.
This art Wits passed in ISMS. During:
iti ? ?c:*!oilas{:? vears 11'17-lS and 1!! 1S-1!?
it was impnssiido to induce tin- voters
miui taxpayers to levy ei;r!it mills. *Pln?;
hulk <>f lite appropriation durin;; those]
two yours eon hi not he tisoil. I >ut in'
lliL'n a veritable wave of school district
taxation swept over the state. Approximately
seven hand rod school districts
have ipialiiicd undi r the law anil siroj
expecting stat" aid i:i ti'O sprint; ofj
i:?L'l. Their contracts with teachers
have hoc n I tit.sod on the oi|inli;:inK act.
'i'iiis movement in March. April ami
May. Ill-'1', i-xhansli-il the eipia li/.int; a pprnpriat
ioii of $1 lii.tlOit.iti't for last yea r.
The appropriation was disbursed on tin*
basis of forty-seven cents on the dollar
to 41S districts. The deficit of
$170,000 is a moral obligation against
the state. The minimum required for
the operation of the equalizing law
during the current year is at least
$525,000. Thus $095,000 ought to be
provided for these country communities.
This is the single largest item of
public school expenditure.
4. South Carolina stands at the bottom
in the column of states with respect
to high schools and high school
enrollment. In 1920 the appropriation
for the salaries of high school teachers
was $175,000.00. In 1921 $500,000.00 will
be needed to carry out the High School
Act and the Act to Relieve the overcrowding
in the elementary grades of
high schools.
T ,.nl.i1v ovorv Viln.ii orlinTTl npppivtincr
state aid must enroll free any outside
pupil coming from the county or from
adjoining county. "Where the high
school enrollment exceeds fifteen pupils
per teacher, the state pays the tuition
of these outsiders at the rate of $3.00
per month. The advantages of this
program arte threefold. The strong
high school renders a fuller and better
service. The wealc rural school is relieved
of thin classes in its upper
grades. The pupils are afforded better
.opportunities and broader instruction.
Twenty-four hundred country boys
and girls were classified in this group
during the session 1919-20. The state
appropriation to pay tuition was inadequate
and had. to be scaled on the
basis of eighty-seven cents on the dollar.
Such scaling is detrimental to the
schools. Local boards of trustees cannot
'rely upon. the. sources of district
income. A repetition of this deficit
would be most' harmful.
The act to.relieve the overcrowding
in the elempntarv grades of high
school was put! on the statute books in
1920. Unfortunately, no money was
provided to put it into operation. This
act requires a local tax of ten mills for
salaries. The ninth and tenth mills
were added above the standard fori
country districts because high schools
wm nt least eight months and
preferably nine months. The average
classroom enrollment in the elementary
grades of high; school should be between
thirty-five and forty children.
To crowd these helpless little folk by
fifties, sixties and occasional}* seventies
into a single classroom defeats in a
large measure the purpose of the
school. The compulsory attendance
act forces.- children into the classroom:
Surely these children have the right to
a .sanitary- erygfeojpLent and competent
instruction in The school. An investment
of S(100,000.1)0 a year in secondary
education is cheap ccrnpared with
its benefits. The average high school
enrollment for the forty-eight states
limn lit for South
IS a oil!) It; out,..
Carolina. The- high school is the grift
of the elementary praties and the recruiting
ground for the college. Neglect
of (his pivotal point has too long
weakened our education system. The
high school enrollment of the slate
must be doubled as soon as possible.
5. To protect the large group of weak,
one teacher schools in sparsely settled
districts the term extension act carries
most libera! provisions. It has been the
starting point for the campaign of local
taxation among the nineteen hundred
districts. No one claims for a morqent
that these schools are efficient or desirable.
They are necessary and must
lie maintained until popu'ation growth
brings new conditions.
ii. Tile rural graded school law carried
$27."?.00ft.Ul) in 1D20. The fund was
disbursed among nine hundred thirtyfive
districts. The money reaches approximately
one hundred thousand
boys and girls. The rural graded
school act supplemented by the equal
izing net. guaranteeing ;i seven montns
term, is the only li??pe of the country
school.
7. Twelve specific nets now on (lie
statute hooks carry public school appropriations.
These laws have been
the basis upon which district levies
have been wrought and secured. The
gratifying growth in public school income
has resulted chiefly from local
taxation, I'pwnrds of fifty per cent of
the total is now derived from local
levies. To ca'T.v out these twelve lawn
and to continue the seven activities
heretofore authorized by appropriation
hut not governed by statute, a public
school budget of $2.000,000.OU has been
four and one-half or five mills, when
recommended. The raising of this sum
will necessitate a state school levy of
the local district votes eight mills and
when the county, tinder the three mill
constitutional tax, pays three mills, is
it too much to ask that the commonwealth
provide for its children by a
levy of live mills? The state, must become
the unit of school taxation before
a rev statewide standard of education
can lit* set up or maintained. If tlio
children of South Carolina arc not to be
afforded seven months' schooling and
arc not I" be offered high school advantages.
what chance will I hey have
in our democracy? If this standard is
too high, what is to be the standard for
the state?
Yours respectfully.
Stale Supt. of Education.
Paragraphic Summary.
The endeavor of the stale department
of education is to run every
country school at least seven months,
to provide every classroom having an
enrollment of twenty-live pupils and
an average attendance of fifteen pupils
a competent teacher, to pay such
teacher an average salary of ?]on.oo
I (Continued on Page l-lighi).
CLOVER NEWS BUDGET
Town May do Considerable Building
During Present Year. THE
MAYOR MAY BE UNOPPOSED
Many Roads Are In Bad Condition?
Farmers Still Holding on to Cotton?
Matters of Personal Interest.
(By a -Stall Correspondent.)
Clover, January 17.?Indications are
now that Dr. I. J. Campbell will be reelected
mayor of Clover without opposition.
Thr? name nf Mr. C. N. Alexnn
der had boon mentioned in connection
with the mayoralty; but information is
that Mr. Alexander has declined to
make the race for a number of reasons,
among them being the fact that he is
disqualified since he has been a resident
of the town only about eight
months, whereas a residence of twelve
months in the county and two years ill
the state is necessary to vote or hold
public elective office. Mayor Campbell
is now serving his first term and under
his administration Clover has made
good headway with all indications that
that progress will continue.
Still Holding Cotton.
An advancing cotton market during
the past several days has not wavered
farmers of the Clover community in
their determination to hold on to their
cotton, with the result that sales to local
buyers are almost nil. The warehouse
here is loaded to capacity and
hundreds of bales are stored away on
private premises throughout this whole
section.
Road In Bad Shape.
The recent freeze and wet weather
has put the Filbert-Clover road in the
worst possible shape, with the result
that there is little if any traffic over
that route. Many people from the Filbert
section coming to Clover are using
the road past the home of Mr. Robert
Lawrence, while numerous others are
taking the more circuitous route up the
King's Mountain road, turning eff at
the home of Mr. W. G. Adams. Reports
brought here by Bethel township
people are to the eHect that a number
of the roads in that township are in
very bad 'condition as a result of the
recent bad weather. The Clover-Gastonia
road is in pretty good condition.
Possible New Buildings.
Information coming to the correspondent
is to the effect that it is not improbable
that the year 1921 will see renewed
interest in building activities
here. At least two business firms, it is
understood, have had the idea of building
new quarters in mind for some time
and the step was not taken last year
for the sole reason that it was impossible
to get the necessary work done.
The residence shortage is still more or
less acute in Clover and people well
posted say that there never was a
greater demand for dwelling houses.
i'i"> no..- rrii-Mf Prt-shvterian church
building is to go forward this year; the
congregation of the First Baptist
church has for some time had plans
under consideration for remodeling and
enlarging the church edifice. Others
j here, it is understood, have embryo
building plans under consideration,
which they do not care to make public
just at this time.
Personal Mention.
Dr. .T. E. Thomas, who has been engaged
in the practice of medicine here
for some time past, has gone to Jefferson.
Chesterfield county, to resume the
j practice of medicine there. Mrs. Thorn!
as and children have joined him at Jef|
ferson.
j Mrs. V. Q. Hambright and little
j daughter have returned to Clover after
I a visit to relatives in Winnsboro.
M. S. Burnett, who has boon employ
ed at Reidsville. X. C.. for some time
! past, is visiting in Clover.
Mr. Sam McCa.ll. who has been working
in Greensboro, X. C., for some time
past, is spending some time in Clover.
Miss Johnsic Stacy is back at her
work at the Clover Drug Store after an
illness of several days.
Miss Bess Adams of Clover, recently
i visited her sister. Miss Ethel Adams, at
I .ii? rn-.o nnl.-r. Vn.
I \ ll^lliia *??'*?.....
Mrs. S. C. Price of Castonia, recently
visited relatives in Clover.
Justin Smith of Clover, lias matriculated
at Bingham school, Asheville,
X. C.
Dr. K. \V. Pres.sly of Greenville, was
I a recent visitor in Clover.
THE GUNMAN PASSES.
: Present Day Killers Arc Rapacious
Murderers of Defenseless Citizens.
The gunman has changed, writes O I
O. Mclntyre of New York city. When I
I came to this more or less populous j
island. Chick Trigger, Louie the Lump
and Big Jack Zelig were in their prime.
Their rendezvous was in Paul Kelly's
saloon in Chinatown. Their killings
were among themselves. If some rival
gangster "spieled" too often with his |
girl at an Last Eide racket, lie was
found pistoled at dawn hy. a passing j
cop. i
j At times the gangs plan tied batl'es at
j Coney Island, and would meet there j
and open fire. A bullet might acci-j
j dentally fell an innocent bystander, but'
ithat rarely happened, for the gunman
was a sure shot. Today that gunman
lis a rapacious murderer of defenseless
citizens.
i
Every New York newspaper has the i
j same description for tiie gunman?"a
istocky, handy legged, swarthy man
i who wears a cap." A few months ago
the mayor said there was nn crime
I wave, and now l\e issues a proclama
tion for citizens to arm themselves.
And yet if a citizen carries a gun he
is liable to a penitentiary sentence under
the anti-pistol law.
The daring of the three gunmen
who held up guests in their room at
the Astor shows to what length the
criminals have gone here. The large
hotel is as well policed as any city.
There i3 an armed watchman on each
floor, and house detectives are constantly
patrolling the halls and lobbies
on the lookout for suspicious persons.
In the old days this gunman, despite
his calling, was a romantic figure in
the life of the teeming East Side. Ke
wore the loudest cravats and the most
expensive silk shirts. He realized that
the present hour might be the last, so
he lived high and had many amours.
?.-J. . i? ? clinVIno
x oaay mi; guiiiuaii <* o.....?...D
cpward who brews his plans for murder
over the glass of poison whisky in
the Eighth avenue saloons. In almost
every case the gunman has killed his
man without giving him a chance. He
kills first and robs afterward.
The Bowery and Chinatown have always
been the most interesting spots
to me in New York and during my first
year I became a friend of Chuck Conners,
whose pearl derby and white box
coat are famous. Chuck was the
mayor of Chinatown. He said "d.is"
and "dat" and shot the words out of the
side of his mouth. He was a pbseur,
too, but at heart a good fellow. He is
gone now and so are Chick Trigger,
Louie the Lump and Big Jack Zelig?
the last three dying as they lived by
the gun.
Chunk used to take me to the haunts
of the gangsters an-d I knew quite a
number. They were mere boys?selfindulgent
and lazy. They fought for
the love of adventure and for the admiration
of the Molls.
.
PASSED BY SENATE
Nitrate Measure Now Goes so Lower
House of Congress.
By a vote of 34 to 29 the senate late
last Friday, passed the nitrate bill for
nai-mnnont federal ODeration of the
nitrate plants built by the government
during the war at Muscle Shoals, Ala.,
The measure, which had been fought
vigorously for about two weeks and
been made the subject of charges and
counter charges of lobbying and wastefulness,,
finally was put through with
the aid of a few Republican voters and
now goes to the house where its future
is uncertain. Radical, changes
were made by the senate in the measure
as reported originally from me
agricultural committee.
In last Friday's vote on the final
passage, 30 Democrats were joined by
four Republicans?Senators Capper or
Kansas. Gronna of North Dakota, LaFollette
of Wisconsin and McNary of
Oregon. Twenty-seven Republicans
and two Democrats, Senators Gore of
Oklahoma and King of Utah, voted In
opposition.
The bill was advocated, as a measure
both for the farmers' aid and as a
protection in case of war, the nitrate
properties being designed ior manufacture
of fertiliser in times of peace
and for nitrates, used in powder making,
in case of war. Opponents declared
that the plea of agricultural assistance
was "camouflage," that the
cost of making fertilizer would be excessive
and that it was proposed to
commit the government to developing
and selling hydraulic power from the
Wilson dam at Muscle Shoals, . now
partially completed.
As passed by the senate the nitrate
bill would create a government corporation
with $12,500,000 capital stock,
owned by the government and managed
by a board appointed by the president,
under'jurisdiction of the treasury
department. The senate today adopted
amendments by Senator Wadsworth,
Republican, New York, placing the
board under the treasury instead of
t^ie war department, because. Senator
Wadsworth said, it could be operated
better by civilians than by army officers.
Properties which the corporation is
authorized in the senate bill to taice
over are said to have cost the gov- i
crnment about $100,000,000 (luring the |
war.
WEASEL AND 'GATOR
Unusual Animal Story Comes From
Mississippi.
Paseagoula, Miss., Dec. 5.?As the
sun was dropping below the western
horizon yesterday, a party of hunters
in the Bayou Casotte neighborhood
noticed a weasel or ichuemon scratching
up the sand on the edge of Greenwood
island. Suddenly, a six-foot alligator
appeared and with wide-open
tn ntfnrU- the little ani- I
mal. "With remarkable alacrity the I
weasel leaped into the 'gator's jaws
and slid down into its belly. The
hunters wore much astonished and
waited results. Within fifteen minutes
they observed the weasel eating its
way through the entrails of the monster.
The fondness for eggs prompts
the slender animal to take his chances
into the alligator's inside. To the
scarcity of hen eggs at this season is
attributable these actions of the Icheumon.?Commerce
and Finance.
? ITugh P.rnmlett, Greenville contractor,
convicted last week at Greenville,
of the murder of his mother-In-law,
Mrs. 1j. C. Mcllugli, and sentenced to
life imprisonment, was refused his request
to be allowed to serve his sentence
on the clmingang rather than in
the state penitentiary.
CHARGED WITH BURGLARY 1
. *1* ' :
B c
Three Young WhiteCharged
With Stealing a Trunk. J
' ;V*
TWO OF THEM ABE EX-SOLDIERS I
?? ? ''r.4
Admit Entering the Store of Chester 'V.
County Firm, but. Deny . Theft of
Trunk?Talk Freely to Reporter and':'
Apparently Not Worried About Their
Plight. Charged
with the theft of a trunk, .: j
the property of Miss Myra Hunt olf '.v.Prosperity,
a Winthrop College student,
and with breaking into the store %
of Wostbrook & McNeai, near JL^anao,
Chester county, three young white men
arrested Thursday In the Blue Bucklb
Mill village near Rock Hill, were comt'.; i;
mitted to the York county jail'in ^
Yorkville, Saturday morning.'.They art ?
Corbett Hunt, aged 17, Roy Taylor),
aged 19 and J. H. McCluney, 23 who - ?
claims to live in the Eureka Mill viii
lage, Chester. Taylor and McCluney
are said to be veterans of the late
World War, Taylor serving in the 29th.
Motor Transport Corps and McCluney
in the 113th Field Artillery, 30th J5I- IK
vision. _
Talk Froely of Crime.
Two other young white men, alleged to
be implicated in the robbery /Of the " <:
store with the three in jail irt'"Yorit- ?
.-lllc, have been taken to Chester for
trial. The three here are held for^ne - 'v
alleged trunk theft
The three boys talked freely of their
thefts Saturday morning to a reporter
for Tljo Yorkville Enquirer who visited
the jail in company with Deputy
on em J. lum v^unni,
Hunt, the youngest of the trid.'dld- ?
most of the talking. ' . . ?
"Sure," he said,, "they found '"the V
goods from the young lady's trunk In ^
my house. I carried it there. ItWas
like this: I was passing along a plede
of woods near the Blue Buckle'^'Knit ?,
when I saw two men whom I didn't-*^'
know out there. They had' a^trunk" *
and when they saw me they ran!*'I i-f
went there and saw the trunk. Ivi'
knew if I told the officers about'itwliy
they would arrest me for it. So I^took
the stuff out and took it on. horned Mj g
never give none of it away or nothing;
bust just kept it there. I didn't^Steal ?
it, Cap'n. Swear I didn't." ' / '
"They've got me and the rest of us
right for going into that store though-.^;
I don't know-why we did it.""' Wd tvere
just crazy, i^t-eTcftcWrmis'going7?
down to Lando and we were riding in .
a Ford that belonged to Mrs. Wade,
mother of Harry Webb, who was with j
us. ?
Carried Safe Away. : . $
"Well, we got to this store. We- didn't. -;
break open the door; but just-pushed
it and it come open. Then we took out
the safe and some other little stuff and
started back to Rock Hill. We-didn't
open?the safe?couldn't open m wmie *
coming back to Rock Hill while" we i
were near Lcsslle, we got scared and
throwed the safe away.
"Then we come on to Rock Hill. I
could have got-away when the officers
came for us last Thursday. I Had a
start of 200 yards. But I knowed 1t was i
not a good idea to try to resist officers.
My father was an officer once; and - V*
know that you can't get away from offleers
for long when they are after
you."
The other two boys verified Hunt's
statement: '
"They ain't got nothing on. me about V
this trunk business," volunteered McCluney.
"They arrested me because I
was wearing a sweater that was gotten
out of the trunk and given to me by
Hunt.
Has Wife and Child.
"Hunt is my cousin," he .went on toexplain.
"I live in Chester, where I
have a wife and child at the Eureka mill.
I come to Rock Hill last Monday.'
I'd been around Rock Hill before a lit- 5
tic but most of the time I had been.:
1
there I had been in Jail."
"I've never been intff nothing but
once before," volunteered Taylor. I
was convicted in court here in. Yorkville
for forgery and a senten9e of two.
years is hanging over me. I never dlcrthe
forgery, though. Another fel- '
low who was with me did it I can't"
read and write.
"I've been around Bock Hill for
about ten years," he went on to say. "I hung
around New York about a month. after
I got back from overseas and
then I come back to Rock Hill.
"I've blowcd in $2,200 this year," he
said with a nonchalant air.
"This is my first time to ever get into
anything," said Hunt "If I get out
of this I won't get into anything else.
"This is a good place to keep regular
criminals, sheriff," he said to Deputy
Sheriff Quinn. \
"Pretty good place," returned-v>th6
deputy. ;
Not Worried About It. ' ;;j
Neither of the trio appear to be much
worried about their plight. Hunt<and
McCluney we? r a partial dress of army
clothes. Taylor has a neat brown suit
"What time is it?" inquired Hunt of
the newspaper man. "'j"A
quarter after 11," was the reply.
"Soon time for food," smilingly 'returned
the boy. "
"They don't feed you much in that.
Rock Hill jail, where we spent Thurs-:
day night and last nlgbt," said McCluney?"nothing
but a couple of-'haim-j
burgers at a meal." . g
"I'll say they don't," added the other
two hoys in chorus.
Why' '
j