The herald and news. (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, February 18, 1910, Image 1
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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