Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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E. H. AULL, EDj TOR. tered at the Postoffice at New berry, S. C., as 2nd class matter. Tuesday, August 10, 1909. GOOD ROADS AN INVESTMENT. There are some counties in this State which stand in such mortal dread of a bonded indebtedness that they will not go in debt for the pur pose of securing good roads. Their people admit the need of road im provement, but will not adopt the only means by which the necessary improvement can be made. They pre fer to go along spending money year by yeax in tempoiary repairs, which in the time that it would take a bond issue to mature will cost more than the principal and interest on the bonds, and then the roads will be in po better condition than they were at the beginning. A road tax is suffi &ient when applied to the mainte nance ana occasional extension of good roads after they have been built; but comparatively few Southern kounties can expect to establish a sys tem of good roads thus. Mecklenburg issued no bonds. but not all counties occupy so favorable a position finan cially; and, besides, Mecklenburg, starting as a pioneer, could better af ford to take its time. The people who are not willing to put a debt on their county in order to secure good roads lose sight of the fact that bad roads are a heavier tax on them in many ways, such as loss of time, wear on stock and vehi eles. retarding advance in price of real estate. etc., than would be the interest on the bonds and the sum annually put to the sinking fund for payment of the principal. Expend inc money in properly building good roads is not spending but rather in vesting it in a way which will be sure to bring good returns to the investors and to those who come after them. Charlotte Observer. The above is so well said and ap plies with such striking force to Newberry county that it would. seem that it was written with special ref erence to this county and at this par ticular time. Our people seem to stand in mor'tal dread of bonds. If we could have called the debt by any oth er name it would not have had near the terror in it. The money spent from year to year under the present system is almost absolutely thrown away. We are spending now something like $3,000 or $6,000 a year on the maintenance of a chain gang and in return we are getting almost nothing. Money put in good roads is an investment and not similar to other tax which goes simply to the maintenance of the gov ernment. We seem to lose sight of this fact. But what 's the use, our people are against this forward step. It is sure to come in a few years, but we did very much desire to see it come so that we might see the re suits. WHAT ABOUT IT, MR. FEAGLE? The Abbeville Press and Banner this week carries a very sensible edi torial on the subject of sign posts on our public roads. It says: ''The law of South Carolina pro~ vides that the Supervisor 'shall look after this as a part of the duties con nected with tlie building and keeping in repair the public 'roads.. "Abbeville county once had such sign posts. They were about -ten or fifteen feet high, and painted white with black lettering at each cross road. The arms of the post pointed to the, destination of t.he road with its destination printed on the arm. They have all disappeared now and nothing marks the direction for the stranger traveling in the country. We do not know why the, custom of marking the highways has fallen into disuse. It was certainly a great advantaze to the traveler who was a stranger in tihe country, and even to those who lived in oxne part of the county- and not well acquainted in another they were a help in piloting his pathway. "Sign posts. new and white, gives the country roads an air of dignity and importance that is pleasing. not to mention .their utility to the st-ran ger and so-journer within the coun ty'e gate." We agree with our contemporary and are glad that the question has been brought up. It would be small cost to each county in the State to mark its roads with suitable sign muzs. an the News would like to r,ronose to our supervisor that he see what can be done to bring~ about tile proper marking to the public high wam in Greenville county.-Green Speaking of is :.lbject we lind an edit orial i tlhe Union Provress on this same line and Progress quotes the law as to siga boards. The Herald and News has h- r-etofore called at leltion to t his same quIestio- 1)11 it mayo amis to qute tle lawi a(gain. If there is a s bi b)ard at any cross roaJ in iIs county We IaVe !1110I seei iT. There was a tinle Vhen there were sonie. There are a few mile posts that were put up before the war but in many cases the roads have been changed and they are not correct and in some cases you cannot tell to what point the distance is. There is a great deal more interest in the county roads now than formerly and the county that does not keep up with the procession will be left. But in this case we only desired to call attention to the law and to say that so far as we have been able to observe it is not enforced or com plied with. Here is the quotation from the Code of 1902 as published by Progress: "-See. 446. Any person or persons who shall cut down, burn or deface any mile post or stone, erected by the county commissioners or county supervisor of any county, he, she, or they, upon conviction thereof shall forfeit and pay the sum of ten dol lars, to be recovered by indictment or information before any court of com petent jurisdiction. "Sec. 447. If any person shall wil fully demolish, throw down, alter, or deface any guide-post, every person so offending shall, upon conv.iction thereof before any Magistrate of the proper county be fined in a. sum of not exfeeding ten dolla:rs and the cost of suit, or be sentenced to labor on the public works of the county for a term of not more than thirty days, and the money, when collected. shall be by the magistrate collecting the same, paid over to the county treas urer. "See. 448. The county board of commissioners of any county neglect ing to cause the public highways in their county to be posted and num bered and to have pointers erected at each fork of said .highways declaring the direction of such highways shall be liable two pay the sum of ten dol lars for eaeh and every said neglect, to be recovered by indictment in the court of General Sessions of the coun tv within which the same occurs, to be collected and paid to the treasurer of such county for the use of the coun ty. Provided, That no county com miissioner shall be liable to said pen alty who shall put said pointer at such times as he shall have his division 'of roads worked.'' The Civil Code of South Carolina has also a section. bearing upon this which gives the county commissioner authority to erect such sign boards and dharge the cost to the county, and the neglect of this can be con strued by the public to mean that they are indifferent to the convenience of the public. The section is as fol lows: "Sec. 1337. 'Each road overseer rithin his district may erect and keep up. at the expense of the county, at the forks and cross roads a post and guide-board, or finger board, con taining an inscription in legible let ters, directing the wy* and distance to the town or towns, or p)ublie place or places. situated on each road re spectively.'' ANTI-GOOD ROADS ARGUMENTS. Many and absurd are t'he argu ments made against the good roads bond issue. Some people are against the bonds because they don 't like personally' some man who favors the measure. - Some say they are against it be cause it does not provide that each township shall receive its proper pro portion of the fund, which is just what it does provide in clear and ex. plicit terms. Some are against it because they say all the work will be done around 'he city of Spartanburg. when the bill provides that more than the amount coming from the outside townships shall be expended in them. Some say the money will be spent on an automobile road when there is no such thing as an automobile road. Some people say half the money would be stolen when the commission already selected is composed of three as honest and capable men as there are in the county. Some say they are unwilling to vote such a "burden'' on their chil dren, when a tax levy of 13 cents on each $100 of assessed values will pay the interest and principal of the bonds in 22 years. More than half the families in Spartanburg county pay taxes on less t-'han $1l00 and only 3.000 of tihe 18,000 families in the county pay on as much as $200. ~I! fl,~ eI - Il, Ide Ufl1 bo flia( Human nature we presume is very nucli the same everywhere. The above sounds !o much like some of Ihe things we hear in this county that we tiiout' wien we lirst read it thiat it was0mellOdY Writin Ibout Newber F * j Xblit we tf1mild t"l at ill Spa rta nbuirg the same sort of stuff was being offer edi as argument and no doubt a zrea many people were taking it in as goo( and sound logic. It takes time to an swer such propositions. That is thE only remedy. There are about 100 automobiles ir Spartan'burg counfy, 4nd within E year there will be 200. There ar( several automobile factories in th< United States that are turning oui automobiles at the rate of 95 to 10( a day. The total output of automo biles in this country is probably aboui 1,000 per day. So don't vote againsi good roads with trhe idea that you ear stop the automobile. Furthermore, thE very people who are against gooc roads because of the automobile, will themselves be using automobiles i a few years not only for riding and traveling purposes, but for haulinE purposes. Don't try to, stand in thE way of progress. You may stall it foi a time, but it is irresistible in the end, -Spartanburg Jouiaal. You will recall that it has beer only about a year since the automo bile began to be used to any extent ir Newberry and now we suppose therE are only about twenty-five in thE county but being on the main %high way between Columbia and Greenville a great many nass this way and it i. only a question of a little time until there will be a great many more ir this county. And many of those whc are now prejudiced against the ma chine will be using them. It is herE to stay and will do a great deal ir stimulating an interest in good roads and to that extent at least will provE a blessing. BETTER PASSENGER SERVICE There is a work that should bi taken up by the combined Chamber of Commerce of Sumter, Columbia Charleston, Greenville, an.d othei ~places interested. It is the securing of chair cars on the various passen. ger trains. Day after day one trail rolls into Sumter and pulls out agair filled to standing room only and t< discomfort. There is no reason- wh' the Atlantic Coast Line should noi give us chair cars on t'he more im portant trains, and pressure should be brought to bear to make it do so Copying the above from the Sum ter Herald. The Newberry Herald ani News adds: "The Herald and News and th( Greenville News have been agitating this for a long time and we had about reached the conclusion that Sumtei and Manning were indifferent. We are glad to see that you have wakec up and we hope you will arouse youi ehamber of commerce. Concert of ae tion on the part of the patrons of the road from Charleston to Greenville will do much in securing the atten tioni of the railroad peop)le. Let rep. resentatives from the various cham-. hers of commerce zet together and do somethino.' If we could in some way sueceed in arousing the interest of Charleston and Columbia sin the movement t' have the passenger service on t'he A. C. L. and its subsidiary lines im proved we might be able to accom plish what we have been working for for two or three years.-Greenville News. Suppose you call a meeting in Greenville at the Ottaray hotel of representatives from the various towns interested and let us put in shape a formal request to the railroad to give this suggestion a trial. Ask a representative from Charleston, Main ning, Sumter, Columbia, Prosperity, Newberry. Clinton. Lauren3. and any others that are interested. Have a representative from the orga nized bodies of t.hese various towns and the newspaper men in the towns and put the matter right up to the ra.ilroad. We are going to join you in keeping everlastingly at it. In fact we be lieve we started after it before the News but we are not going to have any argument over that. We will pull right along with you. The thing is we want to see the service tried. We will not get it done until it is put rig'ht up to the authorities. The Observer wants to see a man in the gov-ernorr'5 office who will see do it.-Newherry Ob)herver. What 'lhe mat ter with G'1oV. An sel? We thought you thought he was a man after your own heart. And isn't the law being enforced .? The Observer sayi that t.hey ayv lilat tile 11i*1e of r'all Wk-m'ked 1ndel the (iIIectillI ()t Ile gover-1nenA ex pert Is iIIlwrse fix tiian it was be fore." it was worked. Who is "thev say?" And would it not have beeti much more in keeping with a spiri of fair discussion for the Observet to have gone out and seen that road for himself than to have taken th( word of "they say?" It is very clos( to the city. It would have taken very little time. But then it is not suppY:sec that any one will engage in a fail Idiscussion on t-he "bond'' question Our esteemed cotemporary th< Daily Mail carries sixty inches oj whiskey ads. Evidently he doesn', 1"take it out in trade''-not all oJ I it, anyhow.-Newberry Observer. The Herald and News is carrvini about thirty inches of whiskey ads and at our regular advertising rates If the Observer conscientiously think. it is wrong to do it then it is wronc for the Observer to do it. But if an. body else desires to carry such adi we do not see where it is any of tb Observer's business, unless it is em powered wit"h a press censorship Neither do we see where it is any oJ the Observer's business whethei those papers which carry whiskei ads "take it out in trade" or zet east for their ads. We see some other pa pers in this State besides the "Mai: that carry a pretty good line of whis. key ads. Had you noticed that? TheN reach your desek as frequently as th Mail, too. The News is heartily, yes, enthusi astically in favor of the Southeri railway operatipg a. through trair service between Greenville and Co lumbia via the C. & G. line. A fas1 Strain with good accommodation: would pay every month in the year. Greenville News.. Tihis is another opportunity for th4 Srailroad to show its interest in serv ing the people who keep the whee turning. Let the matter he put righi up to tihe railroad authorities. It i: a long ride from Columbia to Green ville or Anderson. A t-hrough traim with comfortable coaches would hell to shorten the distance very much. * *: * * * * * * * * * * * * * N 1* THE IDLER. I p1 ***** * * * * * ** T'he Idler noticed in the last issuw of the Newberry papers that one candidate for mayor was already an nounced. I suppose. there will be somebody else in the race, because ] have lived in Newberry a long tim( and I never yet saw any offices around here offered to people on silver plat. ters. There must be a great fascina tion in holding office and in serving the dear people. But what I had started to say in connection with the mayor 's race was that I would like to hear from the candidates as tc their positions on municipal improve ments. And t1his applies to the candi dates for aldermen from the various wvards, as well as to the candidates for mayor. Let's hear from you, gentlemen, as you get into the race. If you are elect ed will you try to keep down the weeds on the sidewalks with a bare *smattering of a street force? Or will you purchase some geese? Or wil] you bring in a .herd of Angora goats Or will you be willing to risk spending a little money on the streets. even if some fellow who never paid any taxes, anyway, and never had anything tc pay taxes on, and never will, raises a howl as long and as loud and as shrill as some of the uneart'hly noises that come from the various gatherings ol e-ats in certain sections of the city every night ? And how about that wagon yards Now, let 's not all talk at once, be cause too many people talking at one time always creates confusion, and that sometimes, as I have .heard it said. wets .worse confounded. But let' hear from you. Talking about too many p)eop)le speaking at once, I notie~ that no~~ hodyl( at all spoke ini regadrd toi my sug restIin as to' the .Johnstone park. I can't understand this, unless the edi * to (I TheHerld ad Nws frg il the :Intl en wlo constitite tlt .-1ine (ila non1. as the lawyers would say. Well. th'e town needs a park, and needs it much, and about the only tihin I see for the town to do is to go ahead and build one of its 'vn. The -.:oml?s around Ithe pwer house. On thje vreek. have been made a leasan: reSort. onl lare croNwds Io there evIrv evenin- and .pend an rr tw. Tis "s a 1tep i the ri.ht direetion. and SIperintendent Seitminpert and the eomunissioners of 1ublic works and all others who have aided in the work are to be commend ed. An "ocean wave''-not a marcelle wave, thank goodness-was put down there Saturday for the young folks. - It is a nice place to go to and spend an hour or two, and the num ber of people who take advantage of it shows the necessity for a park in t"he city on a larger scale. When I hit on that scheme about the Johnstone park I thought I had the whole ques- I tion solved. and that the making of the park would be well under way by this time. But you can 't sometimes al ways tell. as some fellow said about little Willie when it was suggested that he was safe in heaven. But w,'hat's the matter with making a park all the way up the creek from the railroad trestle to the Werber place? The land along the creek-i what land would be necessary-is not worth anything much for anything I else. The making of the park would improve the sanitary condition all along, and it wouldn't cost much, and it would be a great thing for the town, and it wouldn't be necessary to issue bonds for it, eitIher. What say you, candidates for mu nicipal honors, as to this suggestion? -o Talking about eats howling, I saw a very pretty dog on the street the other day. He was a bull dog-a bull terrier, I think, is the official name of him. He was strong, and well-knit, and his chest was broad. Of course, the expression of his face was not very pleasant, but, then, bull dogs. i you know, never have very pleasant expressions. This bull dog, though, I felt sorry for. He Lad a big collar on his neck, 'and a chain was attached to the collar, and attached to the oth - 'er end of the chain was a man. He wasn 't a blind man, either, who need ed to be led around by a dog, nor was he anl old man in need of assistance. He was a young man, who ought to have been able to get around by him self without any trouble. And cer tainly he wasn't in any danger of get Iting lost, because Newberry is not such a big town as all that. Now, don 't you think that was pret ty hard on the poor doggie? And he was such a fine specimen of the canine species. too,-if species is the proper word to use. It sounds all right there, but I really don 't know whether it is a good fit or not. But that is neither. here nor there. I sy'mpathized with that dog from the bottom of my heart,: and I certainly do hope that he lost that man. Don't you? I always did sympathize with dumb brutes. And I am glad to know that w'ben the automobilists build all those good roads they are' going to be c lever enou2gh to allow the ox and the mule and the ass and the horse to go along there, too. Won't tbat be fine for the poor ox and the mule and* the as3 and the horse? Especially the ass. You see, questions Giave been so much the order of the day here lately that I have unconsciously got into the habit. . But a question sometimes an-! swers itself in the asking, however. paradoxical that may sound, and such a question is all right, because nobody has to go to the trouble of answering it. and it can 't provoke any contro versies. -0 Youi know. I never did like contro versies, and especially newspaper controversies. And, while you may not believe it. I never did like any kind of notoriety. If I didn 't t-hink that my adlvice and my opinions were sadly needed around these parts I doubt if T would be writing for The Herald and News now. But the editor says that what I write is fine, and he doesn 't do that just to encourage me, either. because he knows I have too much sense to be fooled by a little compliment. I have been seriously thinking lately of getting a telephone so that I can keep in a little closer tonelb with goings on around town. Sometimes when I don 't get down town for two or three (lays I lose connection, as it were. and I not only lose connection. hut I lost five cents on that one-man eart business. I didn't mind that five cents so very much. thoug'h. because when it was grone I had the satisfac tian of knowing about that one-man But, talking about telephone-. I tink I vil have to ret me one. That is. if it is not a sin to use a telephone. If it is a sin t4) use a telephone, why, Jf course. the legislature will go to Work at it-4 neX! sessiw iP pr ibit ts use. and then I wil' be in a worse tix than I am now. bt-mx,se it is always harder to be deprived otf som.ti:nZg V01n have used than it is 10 1et along without ever using it at all. Except, I believe they say. in love. Seem- to me I have heard a remark somewhere that runs sometring like. "*Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." But I don't think that would apply to a telephone. -o I wanted to say some more about roads this time, but I got branched off on another subject. You have to talk about roads and bond issues and things like that now, if you want to keep in t1he swim. Of course, I am on the wrong side of the question to pose as a great leader, telling t-hem after the election about what great things you did for them, and what ~great 4mounts of money you saved them that would have been !squandered. But even if I am in the minority that doesn't keep me from talking. In this great American country of ours it's the piiceless privilege of every man to talk, and to keep talking. That's one of the things that makes t1his great country so great. -0 There is another thing, by the way, too, which in these latter times, es pecially, marks the privilege of the great American citizen. You can guess that, I opine. It is the privilege of regulating the conduct of individ uals by legislation and the little mat ter of attending to ot1her people's business. I told you last time I wrote about taking the mote out of your brother's eye. It is a great pity that all of us can 't always do just to suit other people. But I reckon it is alright- and I am not going to worry about it, but I am going to do just as I please so long as that does not interfere with the happiness or the property or any of the rights of my neighbor and I want my neighbor to go on and do the same. See0 -0 The following has just been receiv ed by The Idler and it is referred to4 Alderman Green with the suggestion that he tramp down this street as soon as he has time: Mr. Idler: You seem to have a great unseen influence on the people of the city, and I wish to ask you to bring that influence to bear upon a certain popular automobilist, who while learning to drive his machine some. months ago, came down Harrington street and broke down a bridge, and this same bridge has never been re paired. Now, I !have fallen down twice while trying to cross the plank sub stitute and maybe it will be cheaper to repair the bridge than to repair. broken bones. L. O. The Idler'. Mayor Langford in the Race. Editor Herald and News :-It is too early to begin a municipal campaign; but merely as a matter of public in formation. I desire to state that I shall be a candidate for reelection as Mayor of Newberry at the primary election in November. J. J. Langford. Notice of Dissolution of Partnership. The partnership heretofore exist ing between L. L. Forde and W. C. Wadrop, by and under the firm name of The Forde Motor Company is this. day dissolved by mutual consent. Mr. Waldrop will continue the bus ness at the same location and under the name of The Newberry Motor Company, and will assume all liabili ties and obligations of the former partnership. Persons 1ndebted to The Forde Motor Company will make pay ment to The Newberry Motor Com p.L. L. Forde, W. C. Waldrop. Newberry, S. C., Aug. 6, 1909. S-1 0-09. STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, County of Newberry. By Frank 21 Schumpert, Esquire,. Probate Judge. Whereas, C. P. Williams hath made suit to me, to grant him Letters of Administration of the Estate of and effects of Charles L. Williams These are Therefore to cite and ad rnonish all and singular the kindred and Creditors of the said Charles L. Williams deceased, that they be and appear before me, in the Court of Probate, to be held at Newberry, S. ,on the 25th day of August next4 ifter publication thereof. at 11 'elock in the forenoon. to ;how ause, if any they have. wby the said Administration should not be 2ranted. Given under my Hand, this 7th day of August Anno Domini. 1909.. Frank M. Schumpert.