University of South Carolina Libraries
- RR0 0 U crW K.. VO6L XLVIII NO. n NEWBERRY, S. (.. FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 18. 1910 TWICE A WEEK.S1. L - - COUNCIL AGREES TO HEP THE TRUSTEES VOTES TO BFA HALLF 01 EX pEaNSE OPENING STREETS. oh Condition That City Assumes No Legal iabity.-Matter Dis cussed at Length. After hearing Messrs. 0. Klettner and J. Ka'ion Davis, of the board of trustees of the city graded schools, city council on Tuesday iight ap . propriate4 $350 to aid in opening the,streets around the Pope proper ty now used for school purposes and putting them in first class condition, upon coudition' that the . board of trustees sign a witten agreement to hold the town free from liability in ease of -a law suit by Mr. Fred H. Dominick, Col. eorge johnstone, or Mrs. Y. J. Pope, who are ,adjoinng property owners. The tru2stees in their statements to council estimated .that it would cost $700 to open the .streets and: put' them in proper con dition, and asked the council to bear ihalf the cost. - Alderman Baxter's motion was gecondd by Ald~erman Rodelsperger, and was passed by a vote of four to two, the vote being: Aye-Aldermen Baxter, Cannon, Rodelsperger and Evans. - % %No-Maor Blease, Alderman lominack. In his statement to council , Mr. Elettner said he did not deeni it necessary to detain council from their d4liberations with any lengthy statement. These streets were offer ed to -council at a former meeting, Ife said, and action was postponed. "There are only two points I' would -like to call your attention to," he said. "-The first is, that there is an agreement that has%been formed be twee Col. Johnstone and a mzmber of the board; J.. . Wicker, of which agreement the mayor was aware, ;namely, that as soon as he has filled in the lot-of Mrs. Y. J. Pope, former owner of the school p~ropert , tfit then there, will-'be no objeef ion to using the dirt to fill in the street leading to College street. This was one of the objections. you had and now it seepns to have bedn set aside' 'The next objection was that there is .a'law that no streets be accepted un ter forty feet. wide, anid some of the' streets extended to you the other day were only thirty-five feet int width. :The ,board of trustees think that they have the right to add the other dilve feet for sidewalks, bring .ing the width of the streets up to.the :required forty feet. "A close estimate has been made," continued Mr. Klettner, "and Mr. Wicker states that $700 will be nec essary- to put these streets in proper shape. We ask you gentvlemen to ap 'ropriate the-suxi'of at least $350 to assis us in opening .these streets, because we feel that - in opening these streets there will be more property for taxation, because build ing lots wiU be opened, and you will get your money back. I dim 't know of a single instance where streets have been tendered to the town where the owiier has been called upon to pay part of the amount or the en tdte amount, to open those stAeets, ~because wvhen they are 'used for pub lic purposes they become of benefit - to all citizens.( The patrons of the school are citizens of the town, and the children who will .be benef'ed by the opening of these streets 'should ,be objects of care an i coni sideration to,*every citizen of1 the community. "It has been said, and it is true, 'that there has been forty thousand <dollars of bonds issued for the pur pos'e of enlarging the school facili ties of Newberry. You gentlenienm - may think that the board of trus tees have plenty of rmoney to open* the streets, but Ii wish to say to you that fla the first place we only re ceived $39,200, of which $12.500 was spent in purchasing the Pope prop erty, and $4,500 was used in putting th'e building in pro'per shape. In addition there have been other neces sar eens,the hard having inst .installed a new heating plant in the Boundary street school, and it was necessary to purchase another site for an additional building which will shortly be erected. I cite these e'penditures to show that we are hardly able to pay the $350, half of the $700 which is necessary to open these streets." I Mr. J. Marion Davis followed Mr. Klettner, saying there were two ways in'which the matter might be presented. It might be said the board was asking the city for $350 J to help open the streets, and it might t. be said with equal force' that the board was offering the city -$350 to 8 help the city open the streets. He 1 said there was very little," which. J could b added to what Mr/Klettnbr-P ha,d alre y so well said. 'b Mr. Klettner said Mr. Wicker had d already purchased shovels and hired P hands and was ready to begin work f -last Monday.- He said there was an e agreement between Col - Johnstone t and Mr. Wicker that as soon as Mrs. t Pope's lot was filled in there would b be no further objection on Col. John- e stone's part. He said Mr. Fred H. t Dominick had been very kind and - had not complained of the exposure b of the sewer pipe in the proposed street alongside his. residence, a*nd n the -board of trustees wanted to get t the work completed and this pipe p covered at the earliest possible mo- o men3t. V Alderman Baxter wanted to know. b if $350 from the city in addition to o $350 from the trustees would open l up all the streets and put them in 3 good eqpdition. a Trustee Davis said there was an- e other matter which he wanted to r say something about. He said Col. George Johnstone wanted some .dirt to fillAn Mrs. Pope's yard, and had c said that about fifty square yards n would be sufficient, and Mr. Wicker 11 had agreed to move the dirt for Col. Johnsfone'for fifty dollars, and the tj board of trustees had agreed to al- b low him to do so in order that there P might not be apy trouble of any y kind. "I think,'''he sAid, "that after s Col. Johnstone gets the dirt which & he requires that there. will be no more s trouble in opening up the streets, t provided we do not alow the water a to run over on his property. In this b work, of course if council should do it it would be up to coneil as to ij how it should be done, and if we do ,b it there would ,be no troulle for y council.'' t, Alderman Baxter wanted to know n if the trustees would sign an agree- p ment to the effect that- they would be responsible in case of any law 1j suits by Mr. F. HK Dominick or Col. e George Johnstone. .a Trustee Klettner s'aid that' at -first v it was .thought 'that to cover the sewer pipe fifteen or eighteen inch- h es, and .make r. drain underneath, s would be sufficient, but this met with some objection from Col. John- ~ stone, and a survey had since beein t: 2ade by Mr. C. C' Davis ;nd, Mr. J. H. Wicker, and that they had de eided that if the piping was covered I a twofeet that the water would then have a natural course to College I Id street and .not run over the side9 of said street. The attention of Col. C Johnstone had been called to the I' matter, he said, and that Col. John stne had said, Oh. well, if the water 2 rns its natural course it is .all b rght. i ~a Aldermar Baxter repeated his question. Mr. Davis said he thought the d trustees would be willing to enter n into such an agreement. Mr. K.lettner said that he had a t talk with Mr. Dominick and asked him, "how a.bout you?'' and IVr.1b Dminiek had said, "'Oh, well, you I cn get along all right with me.'' j "I told Mr. Dominick,'' continued! a Mr. Klettner, "that our Jntention ist to fill in his back yard if necessary, C and he said, You can fix it all right;t I have no apprehension at all.''" Alderman Baxter then made the I motion, stated above, to the effect that $350 be appropriated by the town to help open all ihe stst a arund the Pope property and put ii them in first-class condition, on con- r (Conindr on Page Two.) |UNClL ADHERES TO FIRE LIMITS RULFS 700DEN SHINGLES EOR RE GOVERING ARE BARRED. dscussion of Charges for Water and Lights.-rinancial Condition of the City. At the.meeting of city council on 'uesday night, Mayo'r Blease called ie attention of city council to the act that Mr. R. Y. Leavell had be un to' meover the building occupied y him with wooden shingles, and layor Blease said he -had notified fr. Geo. S. Mower, the owner of the uilding, that unaer the, fire-limit or inance the work must stop unless ermission was granted by council or it to continue. He said Mr. Mow r had asked permission to put back ae portion- of the roof that had been 3rn off, and he told him of cou.rse e could do that. He said Mr. Leav 11 had asked permission to continue e 'work, and he had- told him to rait until the matter was passed on y council There was some discussion of the iatter, Mayor Blease calling atten on to a recet decision of the s'u reme court, in,th.e case of the Town f Seneca vs. Cochran, in whi-ch it as held that the owner of a wooden uilding in the prohibited limits had nly the right to stop leaks and such ke ,matters in the way of repairs. ayor Blpase said he thought it was mistake to allow the wooden- liv ry stables in the fire limits to be ebuilt, and if he had been mayor it rould never have been permitted, After going into the matter fully, Duncil- decided, on moti'on of Alder ian Baxter, to adhere strictly to the itter of the fire-limit 'ordiance. Mayor Blease then called, attention ) the .water worlrs and electric light i'll for January which would - be resented to. the town. It had not et been presented, but Clerk Scurry tated that he thought it would be )mething over $500. Mayor Blease xid the.; commissioners had ignored be .question of .6uncil , recently sked them, arnd he did not think the ill for water and lights ought to be aid. He said it was his legal opin mn, and the opinion of one of the est lawyers in South Carohip'a, with rhom he had talked about the mat r, that no corporation owned by ; mniipality could make the munici ality pay for 'water and lights. Alderman -Baiter said it looked ke there was. going 'to be a fuss ev,~ ry time this bill 'was presented, nd -he thought the best thing to do .as to go ahead and pay it. Alderman Evans said it looked to im as if the plant ought to Be run ithout support from 'the ~town. Mayor Blease said it was the most travagant water works. system in die world. Alderman Baxter moved that the ill be paid the first of each month s heretofore. Aldermanl Rodelsperger said he idn't thinkthecomdissioners should harge the same .on moon-shine ights as on other nights. Alderman Baxter said the charge 'as by the mo'nth. If the lights urned every nights it was the same nd if they did not burn at all it as the same. Mayor Blease said aMi of them on 't burn any night all night, and tany nights .none of them burn. Alderman Rodelspyger said if the >wn had a bull it had to feed him. Aderman Lominack said the trou le was getting something to feed im with. Alderman Lominack see nded *Alderman Baxter's motion, ud it was carried by a vote of four > one, 'Aldermen Baxter, Lominack, annon and R'odelsperger voting in 1e affirmative, Mayor. Blease in the egative and, Alderman Evans not oting. New Arc Lights. On motion of Alderman Lominack new arc light was ordered to be istalled at the corner between the sideces of Dr. W. E. Lake and '(Enninned on Pag Seven.) 'MATTER OF DEFACING SCHOOL PROPERTY STATEMENTS BY THE MAYOR AND CITY ATTORNEY. Council Directs City Attorney to Draw Ordinance Including All Public Property. At- a meeting of city council on Tuesday night Mayor ..Blease said there was a ipdtter for which some peole had:. been prone to criticize him, and in regard to which he de sired to -make a publie statement. "Last Saturday a week -ago," said Mayor Blease, "I came down here to hold court, and the room and the hall-way were full bf little white lboys ranging from twelve. years of age up, and some grown men. I came into the clerk's office and asked the clerlIif he. had anything for trial. He said there was nothing on the docket. About that time Po:lice man Franklin came in. I asked him what all those child-ren were doing here. He said, .This is a .crowd of boys accused of breakimg in the Pope school building, breaking out glass, and writing vulgar things on the walls. I said; You have a pretty good crowd. He said, Y4s, sir. He pulled a paper out of his'pocket and said, I don't know how to dodket it yet-I don't know which ones to make defendants and which ones to make witnesses. I said, I haven't got anything to do with that,. - I would rather not discuss it with you; I have . to try these -boys if~ the Pase is brought and I don't want to say what -you should dQ and what you should -not do. He said, They say they. on't say anything unless they are put under oath, in which case -they say they will tell the truth, and I want to ask-you what to* do. I said, My advice to you is to go to the board of trustees of the graded schools and let them decide whom - they want to prosecute, and when they decide you arrest the,ones to be prosecuted, and bring them here in. the proper manner. He sa s, Well, -but we want ,some legal advice. I said, You have a city attorney, and that is -what he is paid for; go and cozifer with him, and wnen' you and he and the trustees agree as 'to which. ones you want to make defendants, you come to me and I kwill make out the' warrants for you, and we will have the ones to be made defendants arrested, and' subpoena the ones to be made witnesses, and until then you take no steps. He says, Then I can let these boys go home? I said, Yes, sir, you .ean make the annonnee ment ~that there is- nothi-ng. here against them. He went-out, and Al derman Baxter came in about that time, .and I rejeated to him as nearly as I could the conversation I had had with Polielman Franklin. ''Since that time I have bien in formed that certain people have said that I said that because certain peo pe's children were involved that the matter had been dropped. I have made no such statement, and don't know now who was accused of being in the affair, don't know one "thing about it, and haven't tried to find out anything, because if they are tried they will be tried before me, and I did not want my mind prejudiced for or against 'them. I have simply waited for the action. of the board of trustees and the city attorney. I have heard a good deal of severe criticism 'because something hasn't been done, and I want to make this statement, and I hope the represen tative of The Herald and News,,who is present, will publish it.'' City Attonney Eugene S. Blease sid that he' wanted- to state frankly in'c beginning the statement wh he desired to make, that if council called on him for any opinion he felt it his duty to 'give it. ''However,'' 'he said, ''I woiild advise council Ioftimes that thi:ngs which come with in the knowledge of the city attor ne should not be made public in the newspapers, . and oftimes should not even' be made public in council meet ing. I feel that way because in the prosecution of my . duties as city aorney T1 feel the same as if I were dealing with my own personal clients and I have found that there are some matters which can not be attended to well by letting everybody know what they are until the proper time comes. I have consulted with Mr. Wicker, who I understand is chairman of the dommittee on buildings and grounds, of the board of trustees, a number of times, and also with Prof. Dean, principal of the high school. I havent consulted fvith Prof. Dean quite ,recently, but I have with Mr. Wicker, and advised him as 'Vo the course i thought wise to pursue in the matter, and he agreed with me. Unless council should insist I would t prefer not to state the*course of ae tion which I have suggested. A number of names have ben present ed, against some ,f -whom there was absolutely no evidence w4en the matter- was investigatedc' and others i against whom there is ; some slight evidence. Up to this time I have t not seen fit to advise any prosecu- I tion in the matter. I want to stato I that I propose to do- my duty in the I matter, if I am furnisie- the evi- 1 dence, regardless of who may be t connected with it or who may be t hurt by it." ,Continuing his statement, - City t Attorney Blease said that in his I opinion the ordinances of the town I were not sufficient- to protect school t property and other public bui-ldingv, t and -after consulting with Mr. Wik- 1 er he had promised him to suggest to t counci'l that it. pass- an ordinance I whieh will protect school prperty, a and- the city attorney suggested that a it bd framed so as to include oher I public property, and forbid loafmg or loitiriagwround such property by those having no business there. On motion of Alderman Cannon, the city *attonney was asked to pre pye such ordinance as in his opin ion would meet the exigencies and to present it to council at its ,next meeting. Mayor Blease on Pope Property e Streets. - . Mayor Blease was seen yesterday 1 and his attention was called to the c fact that he had taken no part in the disefssian on the Pope school I property questiof at council m.eet- f ing on Tuesday :night, and he was t asked if he desired -to have anything. , further to say than he has* already. I said through the columns -of The t Herald and News. 'His reply was that he did nots i consider aziy verbal agreAment made i between Col. Johnstone - aid 'Mr. Wicker binding on either of them or Mrs. Y. J. Pope; the dee'd -'being in, writing would govern all' parties int the matter, and any ver.bal. agree- * ment was of' no'effeet' whatever. "In addition to this,'' said Mayor .i Blease, "the trustees have 'absolutely i n.-legal right to carry out Alderman Baxter's motion to 'sign a written j agreement to hold the town free from i liability, and if they had, the sakne i tax-payers who would have to pay damages if the town should be sued A and' judgment recovered, are the I same .tax-payers that would have to i pay a like judgment if the trusteeB 1 of the graded schools were sued and.g judgment recover g.' CoisequentAy, t the legal liability stil rests upoii the ,t shoulders of the 4x-payers of the < town of Newberry, whether you call ~i them citizens of the town or citizens k of the Newberry school district. f "Another thing, what difference ' does it make whetfier the council pays the entire $700 or whether the ~ town pays half ari'd' the board of f trustees half? Does not the entire D amount come from the same tax-' a payers, either way you put it? "I am s'till of the opinion that whatever amount couneil Ishould ap- d Ipropriate should be used on the .b streets that we already have, and S that the board of trustees should t: put the Pope property streets in o poper condition, ready.. for service, h and then turn them over to the town, ~ and for these reasons I stood by my h first vote, notwithstan.ding the fact a that I have the highest personal re- o gard for the board of trustees and b some of its members are among my b losest persona,l friends, and have E done as much or more for me than t) vanhdy else." In. B. IL ILLM , J. RECOVERS CHDREN TAB SUP REM COURT'S D3m CISION ANNOUNCED. Mmediate. Possession Granted to the Mother.-A Pase Which Has At tracted Wide Interest. Columbia, Fetraary .15.-Mrs. B. L. Tillman, Jr., by a &ecision of. the "apreme Court of South Carolina, ecures immediate possession of her wo little daughters, who ,were deed d u-nder an Act now declared uneoL4 titutional, to Senator and Mrs. B L Tillman, the pirents of the hus" and- of the young Mrs. Tillman. The decision n the case was hand d down by the- Supreme Court this aorning, the court'having considered he matter for two weeks. It cannot ie said that the Courr's orde* in the tabeas corpus 'proceediigs brought iy the mother of the chi4dren - is rholly - unexpected, foi it & was felt hat she would' get her daughterk if here was any law that would. war ant the action. On the other hand he statute appeared o-ive the-us iand -the right to deed the childeWd o .whomsoever he pleased iithout he- wife'e .bonsent. A contention lat seems. t- have had its .weight ras -tt.the*Act was intended as a estamtary statute, and that it ras eer the purpose of the en ralAssembly, to give a father the - ight to 4eed away childrei in bia ife time. A wider eaec4 than ever is maig o-day between those who were the hif *actors in this tr of reaof - fe. Around two young children enered a legabttle that brotught. mt ln the court room everything of the itter fight within the home and that. .atred of the two old. families rep esened on the one hand by the iroud young-mother and' on ihe 'othi r hand by the son of one whose po itical career in this State aid, in the nited States is kown the worla ver. Separated &most by fate, as t were, the young father and moth r' brought their troubles home a irst, and then when' the.father made hat step- which the mother coula io longer endure-the separation o ter fi-om her children-she came to ie highest tribunal in this State. And here{ she got what every nother in South. Carolina prayed for Ler-the possession of her, own chbri - r.en. To bring them up according o her .ideals had,been the fond wish f this mother, and .when 'she saw hat this hope was, apparently;, about o ibe nipedinthe bud,j by a.-law hat she could not .un erstand, 'des. eratey, she soughya ~oprt of Equi y. And, that Court listeiied to such plea ;as has never ~before .been laed 'before. it.s The whole~. mar age life ofMr.andMrs. B.RBTiil' nan, Jr., was laid bare before the tour Justices and those- within the ourt room, -letters of a private.pa ti-e were read. and effdavits toneh ng the most sacred tiigs~ 'in life, rere placed 'in -that' open book ad riven to the world.. It was only by. his means that the "mother could ell the.story of her yearning for her dughters with whom she wishes te *e in all their days.. Tke Court must ave been touched' by 'that -appesi, or, as some one said on that day %They are only human.'. But it- was t through sentiment that Mrs. Till ian is given her children;' the Court' ound that the 'laws of equity could> ot sustain -the position of a father iving away his children without a other's consent. ~o one would argue 'that the chil ren would -not have met with the. est* of attention at the hands of enator and Mrs. B. R. Tillman and ie contention as to the point of the ies "fit to care for them'' cou2i M ave had mo weight. Even those * prayed that .the mother should ave the children, admitted that Sen or and Mrs. Tillm'an were very fond E the two little girls and would have ' en good and kind to them had they een permitted to retain possession.. ut "a mother should 'have with her le hilren she bore'' was at ar ulment that met with no refutation