Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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VOL XLVII NO 7 NEWBERRY S.C., TUESDAY. JULY 13. 19 TIE E.$ PARTSNRUOTIIOXSCOHOQL Under Auspices Clmeson College Will Be Held in Newberry August 2nd. Commeneing Augus 2nd, and con tinui,g for that week, there will be held at Newberry an extension school for the benefit of the farmers of Newberry county. This school will be held under the auspices of Clemson oollege. and the instructors are Clem son professors, assisted by men from the Unite& States department of ag rieulture. Actual practical instrue tion wil 1e given at a definite hour each d- v in some subject of vital in teres- to the farmers. This insiruc tion will be of such a nature that the mpn who attends the school can ~o ribt home and put it into practice, Among the various subjects that will be taught is butter-making. Those who attend this class will be ,iven the theory and practice of but ter-making-not by lectures, but by seeing the butter made. The school will be equipped, not with a lot of ex pensive apparatus, but with such that any ordinary farmer can easily afford to provide. Good butter can always be sold at a profit and many a dollar can be added to the revenues of the farms of this State by making a slight improvement in the quality of the butter. We feel sure that this feature will appeal to the farmers and especially their wives and that much good will result from this course. What soils are, and w'44t constitut es a fertile soil and how that fertility can be preserved and increased, is another subject on which much en lightenment isneeded and that will ap peal directly to the intelligence of our farmers. There is no question of greater importance than this, togeth er wi-Th that of commercial fertili zers. It is a well-recognized fact that there are hundreds of thousands of dollars lost annually to the farmers of them, and there will be no need of using of commercial fertilizers. This is due largely to a lack of clear un derstanding on the part of the farm ers as to just what commenial ferti lizers are and how to use them. These two subjects will be taught in a way that will give a clear understanding o fthem. and there will be no need of a farmer who attends evei being in doubt what to buy or how to use his fertilizers. It is a well-recognized fact among all breeders of stock that it does not pay to breed or raise scrub stock, and we -all understand at. least a few of the rudimentary principles of improv ing our stock and breeding up a herd. The same thing is true about our farm crops. If w e p)lan.t serub seed we must expe.: :oget scrub crops. How to relect seed so as to improve our eroos is. t Le re.e a very iniportant line of in.aracxtion: : .:t will be handl ed in a practiLl way et this school. It is a well-known and~ proven fact that we have p. neticalle no well bred seed in t.ie South and that' by one year's imelligent selection of seed at least jive busLels can be added to the yield of the average acre of corn. Like results will follow with other seed. It will pay the farmers of this county, then, to give close attention to this subject. No farm is complete or can expect to reach maximum results that has not its quota of live stock. But, in order to attain maximum results, this live stock must be properly liandled and fed, and we must learn how to raise feed for it in the best and cheap est way. T:hen, too, the work stock of our farms and all other live stock have troubles, accidepts and sickness. How many of these latter can be avoided, and how to treat the simpler troubles, is one of the very important subjects in which instruction will be given. An insect is a very small thing but these very same insects cost the State of South Carolina many a dollar in the injury they do to her crops. Much of this damage can be prevented, if we knew how to fight them. The hab its of some of the most numerous and injurious ins.eets and how to combat them-how to poison, how to prevent their multiplication and how and when to spray and how to make these sprays-will all be taught in a prae t%l way. Each nigh-t it is planned to have a lecur an some sub.iect of popular interest illustrated with lantern slid es. These will add very materially to the general interest. This extension school is thus seen to be intended as a. school indeed. If the farmers of this county are really anxious to learn something of use, this is their opportunity. In no sense is it intended as a picnic, and only those are wanted to attend who mean business. It is hoped that the farm ers will make up their minds and so arrange their business that they can attend every class. Remember these are classes, and not talks. Newberry will have the distinction of being the first place at which one of these schools has ever been held in this State. At present only one other has been arranged for. If these are sue cesses, it is hoped to hold others. The continuance of this work. therefore. will largely depend upon the interest shown by the farmers. Clemson college is anxious to do all it can for the farmers of the State, and it behooves them to show their appreciation by giving faithW and regular attendance. All who mean b4siness are welcome to attend. The Program. Following is the program of exten sion school work.: Monday, August 2nd. 9 a. m.-Lecture and demonstration on butter-making. 10.30 a. m.-The principles of soil fertility. 12 m.-Dinner. 1 p. m.-Inseets and their treat ment. 2.30 p. m.-Handling and treatment of farm animals. 4 p. m.-Practieal road work. Tuesday, August 3d. 9 a. m.-Dairy demonstration. 10.30 a. m.-Commercial fertilizers. 12 m.-Dinner. 1 p. m.-Insects and their treat ment. 2.30-Care of farm animals. 4 p. m.-Making and application of sprays. Wednesday, August 4th. 9 a. m.-Dairy demonstration. 10.30 a. m.-Improvement of plants by seed selection. 12 m.-Dinner. 1 p. m.-Insects and their ways. 2.30 p. m.-Feeding of farm ani mals. 4 p. m.-Practieal field work. Thursday, August 5th. 9 a. m.-Dairying. I 10.30 a. m.-Imnprovement of' plants. 12 m.--Dinner. 1 p. m.-Insects and their treat ment. 2.30 p. m.-Care of animals. 4 p. m.-Field demonstrations. Friday, August 6th. 9 a. m.-Dairying. 10.30 a. m.-Seed selection. 12 m.-Dinner. 1 p m.-Forage crops. 2.30 p. m.-The value of education to farmers. 4 p. m.-Demonst ration work. "Euint." Senator R. L. Taylor, of Tennes see was speaking in the senate: "Our country had been decimated by war, humiliated by reconstruction and weighed down by the highest tariff taxation this world has ever known and we were in a bad plight. We were in the condition of the good old praying member of the churdh who was afflicted all at once with every disease in the catalogue. He had rheumatism and aneruism and curva ture of the spine and was finally striken with paralysis; but after months of sufferings he got better, and went shambling one evening to prayer meeting. The old preacher rose and said: 'Now brethren, I want us to have a good time here tonight. I want every one of you to get up and tell w~hat the Lord has done for you. There is Brother Jones G od bless him; lie has been afflicted Iand hasn't been with us for many months. Brother Jones. get up and tell us what the Lord has done for you.' Brother Jones arose and -hob bled out in the aisle, and said: 'Well, Ihe 's about ruint me.' "'-Congress ioual Record. A man goes into debt because he ~thinks he can soon get out: a'e goes in deeper because he knows he never can getout * GOOD ROADS DEPARTMENT * * By the Good Roads League. * ********* * * * Will a levy of two mills pay the in terest and retire $300,000 worth of bonds in 40 years? The present levy is a little over $7.000,000 let it go at $7,000,000. Two mills will give $14, 000 each year. Suppose it takes 3 years to expend the $300,000 certaim lv it will not take less time. That means that we will have outstanding at t-he end of the first year $100,000 worth of bonds and the interest charge will be $4,500, leaving $9,500 to pass to the sinking fund. The second year we sell another $100.000 worth of bonds and tre interest charges Will be $9,000 leaving $5,000 to pass to the sinking funi. The third year the balance of the bonds are sold, the interest charges are $13,500. leaving $500 to pass to the sinking fund for that year and every year thereafter. Here then is your calcu lation after paying the interest each year. $9,500 compounded for 40 fears at 7 per cent. .. ...$142,500 $3,000 compoided for 39 years at 7 per cent. .. ... 70,000 $500 annually for 38 years compounded at 7 per cent. 92,320 'Total sinking fund end of 40 years .. .. .. .. ..$304,920 No account is taken in this calcu lation of the interest the banks will pay during the 3 years on balance left with them while the work is being done. This would swell the total. We have assumed that the assessed value of the property in the county remain stationary. We have assumed also that the sinking fund can be plac ed at 7 per cent. As to this last, let us say that the bill provides for placing this fund on real est.te first mortgages. Money here is worth 8 per cent. today. It has been com manding that rate for years. Several large college endowment funds are loaned at that rat-e. A number of for eign and local loan companies have placed many thousanids of dollars on first class paper in this county at 8 per cent. net. Why can't the county get 7 per cent.? This fund will be small to begin.with and will gradual ly increase, thus giving opportunity to place it properly. It is not unlike ly that 8 per cent. -can be had for this fund for years. The time may come when a lower rate may obtain but that will be more than made up for by the increased assessment. Assessed values in this cL.onty are increasing rapidly as is shown by the tax books. No one doubts that they will continue to increase. Even now an addit-ion to one of the mills is be ing made at a -cost of $250,000, and there are other things on foot. There can be no question, then, that a levy of two mills will prove sufficient to pay both interest and bonds in forty years. If the county keeps 'up her present rate of development two mills would pay for the roads..in less than 30 years. We have not taken into consideration the development that is sure to come because of the good roads themselves. This will prove to be the greatest factor of all in onur future development, unless Newberry proves an exception. Here is a praar:raph from a letter written by a residenL of Dodge City, Kansas, on the effect of a sand clay road. This letter wa.s written April, 1909: "A colony of Germans settled on the finest kind of wheat lan'd, were going to leave on account of the in convenience of travel in marketing their wheat, but now they have a road smooth enough for a race track. It has increased the value of their land at least 25 per cent. and they are well pleased to remain.' Consul Francis P. Loomis in re porting upon the road scystem of France, says, "The road system of France has been of far greater value to the country as a means of raising the value of land and of putting the small peasant proprietor in easy com munication wiih the market tb have the railroads."' The following is taken from an ar tiele by Logan Waller Page in the July. 1909. number of the World 's Wo... Th conty alluded to is Jackson county, Tenn.: "The bon'ds were issued. As soon as the construction of the roads be gan. the land values in the county be gan to go up-in some cases from 20 to 100 per cent. There are no house 'to rent' in Jackson; builders are busy, large t!acts of land are being subdivided, a'id prices are being paid which astonish the most far-seeilng champion of this now popular move ment. New families from adjoining counties and States are -constantly coming in some to mlake their h'omes im -he civ md others z.vtiw fac u on the 'good roads.' Still otlrs lo-)k ng ahead and anticipating prohts, :have made purchases five ant six miles back from these roads. paving largely increased prices." And this: The high tost of hauling is not the only burden which the American people are carrying by rea son of their bad roads. In traversing a country isolated by bad roads from the markets one is struck by. the wastes of untilled land and by the lack of variety of prolducts. This is a condition more frequently due to a lack of adequate transportation fa cilities than lack of industry and in telligence of the inhabitants. The point may be illustrated by assum ing a series of concentric circles to be dra-wn about a market town, consti tuting zones of production in all of which the roads are uniformily bad. Wihin the first zone ill pr>ducts can be delivered to market at a pro fit. Within the second zone, certain products must be eliminated because of the length of the haul. Milk, fruit and vegetables requiring quick delivery and careful transportation might be cited as examples. In the third zone still other products must be eliminated because of the prohibit ed cost of transportation. The fourth zone will include only those products which can be hauled long distances and solid at a profit. Beyond this zone the land must be left unprodue tive or utilized for grazing and tim ber. Every improvement of the roads leading from this market widens these zones, making unproductive land pro ductive and enables the farmer to exercise a wise discretion in deter raining the character of his -crops. The prosperity of the individual far mer becomes far greater, the traffic cf the raili-oads increases, the con sumer receives better supplies and thus the beneficial effects continue in an everwidening circle, like the rip ple produced by a stone cast into the water. "A comparison of the reports of the offices of publie roads with the report of the U. S. census for 1900 re veals the significant fact that, in 25 counties selected at random, possess ig an average of only 1.5 improved oads, the decrease in population averaged 3,112 for each county for the ten year period between 1890 and 1900. Contrasted with this showing, the records in 25 counties w;hieh pos sEssed an average of 40 per 'cent. im proved roads revealed an increase av eraging 31,095 to the county. And this: "Whether good roads cause good schools or vice versa it is true that they exist together aul that one of the most important reasons for good roads is their effect on school at tendance in the country. If the coun try schools are to have a maximum efficiency in training an'd instruction, the children must be afforded facili ties for reaching the schools with 'dry feet at all seasons of the year. Then the graded school can replace the lit tIe one-room, one-teacher school so prevelant in so many sections of the country." Let it be reported here that we are making this camp)aign on facts. How are we to get good roads? For New berry there is no way except by bor rowed money. This generation will pass away before we can reaoh one tenth of the county by any other plan. If we had a large city with a chaingang of several hundred and a large tax assessment we might not need bon'ds. Many counties situated just as New berry is has secured good roads by bonds. We can do the same thing in the same way but in not other. Peo ple who want us to pay as we go. ought to give us the figures and let us ee ow it r.an be done. * THE IDLER. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Mr. Idler: Did you vote for retain ing the old court house? If so, don't you regret that you did? Didn't the people in Newberry county who voted !against tearing it down expect that if it should be retained it woula b'e used for public purposes Ifreally, has the county any right to be renting a public building to private indivi duals as offices? I suppose the county has the legal right so to do, but isn't it somewhat beyond the function of the county to be in such business in competition, as it were, with her citi zens, and, in addition, taking away from the citizens of the county the use of public property which belongs to all the citizens, in exchange for a mere pittance Which the county re ceives as rent? Seriously, I don't care whether you voted for the reten tion of the building or not, but don you thing it ought either to be torn down or put to some public use, and kept in repair befitting a building which occupies the most central loca tion in Newberry? Inquirer. "Inquirer" has asked some perti nent questions. In the election last summer the old court house was re tained by a small majority, and the Idler believes that the great majority of t-hose who voted against tearing it down did-so in the belief that it .would be devoted to some public use. Ma jor James F. J. Caldwell suggested a plan in the Newberry newspapers for devoting the old building to use as a public library, but the matter was never taken up, and nothing has been done. The old building stands there today, with the upper floor in such condition that it is almost unfit for use, and with the lower story rent9d out as private offices. And, .I might add, with the -little portico on the north side of the building almost rot ted down. With the co-operation of a public library association, the build ing could very easily be devoted to the use of a public library, the library being placed up-stairs, and the down stairs could be used as rest rooms for the ladies from the county comi4 to Newberry. Or the library coulx be placed down-stairs and the upper floor used for conventions and public gatherings of various kinds. Tiiere are sex aral feasible plans, any of which would be better than the pres ent conditions. The Idler would mueh rather see the old building torn down than ffor it to be kept as it is being kept now. Better tear it do'n. anid make a min iature park, if we are not going to'use it for some public purpose. --- I don't see what people want with offices in the old building, anyway, with a wagon yard to the right of them, a wagon yard to the left of them, a wagon yard' in front of them, and a wagon yard all around them. I tried to get to: the old building Satur day, and I was forced to take a path ircuitous and almost as deeply as they tell us is the path which leadis to eter nal destr,uction. Some of the mules wanted to bite when I was at their front end, and others wanted to kick when I was at the other end of them, and, had I not been very brave, I think I would have turned around and gone back home. I didn't have rhueh business in the old cou'rt house, any way. Speaking of wag on yards makes me think of the next municipal. eletTion in Newberry. It is not very long off now, and already t-he Idler has heard several gentlemen mentioned for may or and aldermen. What the Idler wants to know, and what the Idler thinks a great many citizens of New berry want to know, is where these gentlemen stand on public improve-' ments. Are they in favor of spending a little money on the streets and sidewalks, or are they in favor of retaining the o'd grass biligade? Are they in favor of a wagon yprd in the heart of the city. or are they in favor of keeping up with the march of progress, to the tune of the eter nal fitness of things? The editor of Te Herald and News used to suggest sometimes, when I think he must have been in the depths of disgust. that it would do some people a whole lot of good if they could get off from home for a little while and see what the great, throbbing world without was doing. I believe that Charleston would be a more progressive city if some of her citizens would occasionally como a little -further west than Ashley Junction. I believe that Newberry would relegate her wagon yard at least from the centre of the business heart of the city if we could take some of our people on an exeursion to Abbeville, for instance. -O The new court house and city hall in Abbeville were finished only less than a year ago, and today in front of the court house and city hall they have cement walks and plots of ground parked off, and beautiful grass 'and flowers and evergreens. In the centre of the public square sirround ing the Confederate monument there is a miniatur park which -is the work of the Civic association. A citizen of Abbeville would be insulted if you. asked him if his town's wagon yard was in the centie of the public square. Newberry's grass brigade, unless reinforced, can't last much longer, and when the old brigade has fought its last battle and met its Waterloo at the hands of General Green, with his cohorts of horses and cows, then we won't have any street force at all. But unless Newberry takes some affirmative action, the wogan yard will be with us always. I have thought sometimes that it's a pity the grass on the new court house lot is not as verdant as on some of the sidewalks. But I started out to say that the Idler would like to hear some expres sions from our citizens who are going to be in the next munidipal primary as to their positions or platforms on municipal improvements. Let's hear from you, gentlemen. -0 I notice that Mr. Blease is against the bond issue, but would favorluild ing roads by an -anaual tax. Serious ly, does Mr. Blease think we could build roads as well and as cheaply with a two-mill annual tax stretehed out over forty years, as we could with a bond issue with a two-mill tax over forty years to take up the bonds? Mr. Blease surely knows that with the bond issue, with the same amount of money we could build the roads now, and be using them while we are pay ing for them, while with an annual tax stretched out over forty years it would take us forty years to build the roads, and then the 'likelihood is that we would have nothing but path-work. Would Mr. Blease have attempted to build the new court house with th.e same annual tax whieh is now being levied to take up the bonds floated by the act passed by Mr. Blease? Mr. Blease wants a commissioner from each township to handle the people's money, and that commission- ' er named by the people. Was there a commissioner from each . township to handle the bonds for the ereetion of the new court house, and were the commissioners named\by the people?.2 -0 Mr. Blease tells us that in levying bonds for building roads we kill be up against the same kind of propo sition we were up against in voting bonds for building some railrord which we have never yet got. Were we up against -that kind of proposi tion in building the new court hi>use? We have an elegant building, and Mr. Blease deserves gerat credit for going ahead and bonding the county for its - erection, even without a referendum o the people, and the commissioners gave the county one of the nicest court houses in the State. As the Idler said last week, howev er, the country people are the onles who will be benefited .most by the good roads, and it is up to the coun try people. Of course, if -the bonds are voted, No. 1 township will pay more tihan one-third of them, but I believe No. 1 is willing. If the coun try people want to vote against their y own interests, the Idler is willing. I couldn't help calling attention to some things, however. The Idler.