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i fr? > The Fort Mill Times. ' Volume 19?no. b. fort mill, s. c., Thursday, may 12.1910. $1.23 per year " NO AGREEMENT WAS REACHED 4 AT MEETING FOR WATERWORKS ! Absence of Information as to Cost of System, No Bond Issue Was Suggested. A meeting of the citizens of this community was held in the town hall Monday evening, the purpose of the mteting being to consider the advisability of petitioning the town council to order an election for a sufficient amount of municipal bonds to erect a waterworks system for Fort Mill. The attendance at the meeting was not as large as had been honed for bv those who are behind the movement, there being only about 40 persons present, but, as someone remarked, three-fourths of the property interests of the town were represented, and what the meeting lacked in numbers was offset by the presence of the men who will necessarily have to bear the greater part of the expense of erecting the plant. Without a dissenting voice the agreement was reached that Fort Mill is greatly in need of a waterworks system, but there developed differences of opinion as to the probable cost of the plant and as to the advisability of extending the system to the residential sections of the town. If the conflicting views of those who expressed an opinion on this point are not reconciled, it is I certain that the admitted necessity for this public utility will be deferred longer than would seem a reasonable time to those who are anxious that steps be taken as soon as possible to afford the j town tire protection. Mr. J. W. Ardrey was elected chairman of the meeting and upon his invitation Col. Leroy Springs, of Lancaster, president of the Fort Mill Mfg. Co. and the Millfort Mill, was the first speaker of the evening. Col. Springs thought that a waterworks system for fire protection Jk was needed in Fort Mill, but expressed the opinion that the undertaking would prove burdensome upon the property owners ; if the system were extended to the residences of the town. Recently Lancaster has installed waterworks and the experience of that town is -that not more than one in five of the home owners has had water put in his residence. There was nothing upon which to base the hope that a greater percentage of the homes of Fort Mill could be depended upon to install water. Lancaster is otherwise nlt>?corl with the system and the town would not now be without it. j The Fort Mill enterprises of which Col. Springs is the head i would be pleased to see a waterworks system installed in Fort Mill, but he thought that the town should make a modest start by providing lire protection only to the business section of the town and the mills. During the | course of Col. Springs remarks the fact was brought out that Lancaster was forced to install an expensive filtering plant in connection with the waterworks. Following Col. Springs' remarks the opinion was expressed ^ that it would be useless to ask ^ the taxpayers of Fort Mill to V provide fire protection only for A Main street and the cotton mills. V Any such proposal would be W voted down. It is too much to ask the voters livine in the resi- I dential sections to agree to tax themselves unless they are to receive some benefits from the tax. Fort Mill is greatly in need of water and is as able to afford j l it as many other South Carolina ^ towns which have issued bonds for the purpose. No expensive filtering plant would lie necessary g|?in this town and the system ll|^r could be built without entailing a hardship on any property owner. The town does not owe ;* ' a dollar. But the undertaking was certain to he defeated, and not unreasonably, if the matter were submitted to an election ^ with the provision that only certain sections of the town be provided with the system. This view of the matter seemed to express the consensus of opinion of the meeting. The discussion as to the need of a waterworks system for Fort Mill was participated in by about L mm The Dismissal of a York Jury. The case of the State against W. H. Windle, a well known citizen of Fort Mill, who was convicted in the York county court some months ago of assaulting Editor W. D. Grist, has been settled by the payment of the fine of $500 which was imposed upon the defendant by Judge Memminger. The case against Mr. Grist has also been settled by the payment of a $20 ! fine to the Yorkville magistrate for carrying concealed weapons. ! It will be recalled in connection with the difficulty between these men, which grew out of a publi- ' cation of Editor Grist to which ! Mr. Windle took exceptions, that it was the purpose of the attorneys of Mr. Windle to take an appeal to the supreme court, i but the appeal was never perfected. One of the grounds upon which it was purposed to base the appeal was the alleged unlawful jury before which Mr. Windle was tried. Judge Memminger had dismissed the jury engaged in another case, thereby creating, as Mr. Windle's lawyers claim, an unlawful jury which heard his case. This opinion of Judge Memminger's action is shared by many prominent lawyers. The following is an extract from a letter written on the subject by a lawyer who is known to practically every citizen in the State: "Once it becomes known to the jurors throughout the State that they are liable to be held up to public ridicule and contempt through the whim or fancy, or even a conscientious motive, of a circuit judge for not reaching a conclusion in the jury room in accordance with the views of the judge, then we have indeed taken a long step to the prostitution of sacred political rights. The judge on a question of fact is not by any means as safe as a jury. Such is the experience and observation of the centuries, and the greatest support of the jury system as the best ever devised for the uniform and proper administration of justice as far as the same is based upon the determination of a question of fact. If this new system is to become generally in vogue in South Carolina there is nothing on earth by which its limits can be defined. If a circuit judge has the right to dismiss a jury in one case because the verdict is not in keeping with his views, then he has a right to dismiss the jury in all cases for the same reason. The result will be that when these circuit judges whoso think and act are holding court in any particular county the i jury will be, naturally, inclined to oay more attention to what | the judge thinks than the facts i of the case and to be more concerned with rendering a verdict in accordance with what the judge thinks than in accordance with what justice demands. I regard Judge Memminger's action in dismissing the York jnry as one of the most radical, most revolutionary and most dangerous attacks that has been made in this State on the jury system since we imported it from England." a dozen citizens, all of whom agreed that a Dlant should hp erected. Finally a resolution was submitted that the chairman of the meeting appoint a committee of three to secure signatures to a petition requesting the town council to order an election providing for a $20,000 bond issue for waterworks, the system to be extended as far as the money would permit. This resolution was amended by Dr. J. L. Spratt, who wished an additional $10,000 in bonds issued for street improvements. The amendment was killed, as was a second amendment limiting the bond issue for waterworks to $10 (MM) A motion was then made to adjourn, and the meeting came to a close without the committee being appointed or any definite steps being taken to secure waterworks. It is understood to be the purpose of those who are urging waterworks to secure an accurate estimate as to the cost of the system and to circulate petitions calling for an election on the bond issue for waterworks and, perhaps, street improvements. \ CHAS. S. NAY IS AGAIN TREE BY THE GOVERNOR S PAROLE Former Rock Hill Official Liberated From the State Prison?HI Health the Cause. Saturday morning Chas. S. May, former city treasurer of Rock Hill, was paroled from the State prison in Columbia by Governor Ansel. The parol of Mr. May was secured by influential York county friends of the man and was based upon the representations to the governor that the state of his health was such as to mean certain death for him if hp uprp held in prison much longer. It will be recalled that a shortage of several thousand dollars was discoveredin Treasurer May's accounts with the city of Rock Hill about two years ago and that he was arrested on a charge of embezzlement. When the case came on for a hearing in the general sessions court at YorkvilleMr. May pleaded guilty and was given a three-year sentence in the York jail. He served several months of the sentence in jail, but was transferred to the State prison in Columbia on account of the low state of his health. The case is one which attracted wide attention throughout York county and the following interview which Mr. May gave The State Saturday will be read with interest: "I am grateful to my friends for all that they have done for me. and espe| dally am I Indebted to Gov. Ansel," ! said May yesterday, as he was getting ' ready to return to his wife and little daughter at Rock Hill. "I shall go to Hendersonvllle. N. C., nnd try to get back my health, or at least my strength, and then 1 propose to come back to Rock rtlll and start all over again." The story of this young mun's humiliation Is Indeed unusual. His father. Tom J. May, was one of the most popular men of York county, but died enrlv In 11f followed to his grave by his wife. Charles fc.. May shared his father's popularity, and year after year was elected city clerk of Rock Hill. He had a very protltable tire insurance business also. He attended the meetings in Columbia of the South Carolina fire Insurance agents, und was popular with his fellow members. The public might never have known that he was a defaulter, hut for his own confession. His statement yesterday was as follows: "The American Audit company four years in succession checked by books (>. K." and stated that the books were well kept. The next year I was checked $100 short. I had been living too expensively. I had a dread of my health breaking down, and 1 got to drinking. "I decided to make a clean breast of the whole affair. To Mr. Cherry, chairman of the finance committee, I announced that I was short in my accounts. He replied that It was a small matter, only $100. When 1 told him that my shortage was over $6,000 and had coverej a period of several years during which my books had been audited and approved. Mr. Cherry seemed to think it impossible. "When I Convinced him, he asked what I proposed to do. I told him 1 would dispose of my home, pay the city and quietly resign. He stated he thought this would be adequate restitution but wnill.l bnve to <!..> matter to the other members of the I committee. Naturally a man in a pub- ! lie position has enemies, and so had I? j in council. "1 gave up my home, endeavored to i make full restitution, but this did not j satisfy some persons in Rock Hill, i They insisted upon a warrant for my arrest. As late ns 2 o'elock one night j friends and relatives were at my house begging me to leave Roek Hill, that 1 would be arrested the next day at noon. I told them that I would stay and take my medicine Maj. T. C Beckhum. the magistrate, came in person with the warrant- and was so full of tears, for he was my father's bosom friend, that I saved him the sadness and went to liis otflee and surrendered. I Very quickly a cash bond was raised. 1 almost feel glad for my troubles | sometimes, because they showed me htiw invnl Vfor.. rnv felnmle. "Matters rocked along for some time, 1 and my friends heard that Solicitor J J. K. Henry would push the case to ; tiie limit. Several of them went to Chester to plead with him that 1 had made restitution of every dollar. Hut i to one and all he turned a deaf ear. I feel 110 resentment toward Mr. Henry. He did his duty, and I honor and respect him for it. A responsible clerk in a Chester cotton mill had defaulted, and he had not been indicted, pending an investigation to see how much the shortage was. In the meantime the clerk ran away. Therefore, there was i some criticism of Mr. Henry, and he was not to blame for pushing my case for I was a public official. "My friends yet urged me to leave the country, agreeing to put up the money forfeited In my bond, but 1 I would not leave. When the case came I to trial in Yorkville, 1 refused to tight I it on technleu 1 or other grounds, alI though we might have kept it in the ' courts for years. My friends were amazed when I pleaded guilty, al though, after disclosing the sltuatloi to Mr. Cherry, I never withheld th< facts. "I was indicted for defaulting in th< sum of $10,000. The audit companj which I had deceived for five years re ported th*. slv rtage $10,000. I know it was but $6,100 and to taking this sum for my own use I pleaded guilty although I had sold my home and everything to pay the deficiency and die not owe the city a cent. "When I was sentenced, a great burden rolled from my shoulders. I had suffered. God only knows how I had suffered, in all those months of waitini? Tho four tho an vlnio tViA My health was not Rood, my little family needed me. and I saw my home go with many a pang, but restitution was a relief, and when the court pronounced Its sentence, I felt that I had Riven enough to expiate my folly. 1 never intended to take money which I could not restore. I felt that th? day would come when I could return It and no one would be the wiser. "And what hurt me was a lying statement, widely circulated, that 1 had Intended suicide. I have denounced to his teeth the man who would have made me appear a coward. But the enmities which I bear are all forgotten, so great has been the friendship showered upon me by the people ol Hock Hill. I am going away, but Juki long enough to get healing for mj lungs, unless my malady is too fai run. "At the State prison I was treated with the greatest consideration by th< superintendent and other officials, and I thank them. But the sherlfT of York county put me In a close cell and m> hemorrhages started. I believe I would now be dead but for the change to th? State prison. The sheriff might have allowed me small liberties, opportunities to breathe fresh air." Mr. May is very much saddened because his little daughter is said tc show symptoms of the same dread malady manifested in his family foi now the third generation. His sistei is in an almost dying condition ir Henderson vile. He says that his own case Is troublesome, but he hopes tr be hculed. Memorial Day Exercises. Wellnigh a half century has passed since the remnants of the once invincible armies of the Confederacy laid down their arms at Appomattox, but timt has not effaced the affection ir every true Southern heart for the men who wrought mightily, out alas! vainly, for the cause of our common country. Every year fitting evidence of this affection is shown in the beautiful custom of honoring the memory of the departed soldiers by placing flowers and wreaths upon their graves on Memorial day and in otherwise testifying to the appreciation of their heroic efforts to establish permanently the best government that the mind of men could devise. Tuesday was Memorial day and in Fort Mill, as elsewhere in the county, the exercises were in charge of the Daughters of the Confederacy. The programme as printed in The Times last week was carried out. It consisted of prayer, songs and addresses at the Presbyterian church and the trip thence to the cemetery, where flowers were placed upon the grave of each soldier. From York's Capital. Correspondence The Times. Yorkviile, May 10. ?The target shooting which has been in progress for the past two weeks at Sutton springs rifle range closed Tuesdav when thp mpn fmnn Spartanburg, Union, Clifton and Liberty Hill returned home. Both officers and men are highly pleased with the range. The regular spring examinai tion of applicants for certificates i to teach in the public schools of the county was held Friday, May 6th, in the court house. I The examination was conducted by the county board of education, consisting of T. E. McMackin, E. P. Castles and J. W. Thompson. There were 173 applicants, 86 white and 87 colored. The annual council of the Episcopal church of South Carolina, which was in session at Sumter last week, will convene in Yorkvilie next year, the first Tuesday in May. J. M. I). Mrs. Lula Collins Dead. Mrs. Lula Collins, wife of J. W. Collins, an operative of the Fort Mill Mfg. Co. died at her home in the upper part of town Monday afternoon. Mrs. Collins had been sick about a week. She O/l -I J l.\j oiu ana a member of the Methodist church. Mrs. Collins was a daughter of J. N. McAteer. The interment was in the town cemetery Tuesday afternoon. MYSTERY SURROUNDS THE KING I 1 WHO ASCENDS BRITISH THRONE j > C Subjects of George V Know Little of j r Him, But He !s Said to Be ' i Democratic. ' \ . The Prince of Wales, who r 1 emerges from the obscurity of a f . quiet domestic life at Marl- e i borough House to rule the c 1 British empire as George the ' | Fifth, is a man of whom his r , fellow countrymen know prac- t i! tically nothing. Probably no r 1 other British prince ever as- s ' cended the throne surrounded t [ with such mystery. \ i When Edward was Prince of r > Wales the nation knew his private c 1 as well as his public life, his i , weaknesses, traits, intimate c I characteristics. George V is an c i unknown quantity. He comes i ! reluctantly from a quiet life as j a country gentleman to assume s , the crown. Not one man in a j r hundred is able to tell anything t about the personality of the new c ruler. [ George V, who becomes the 1 1 ruler of the world's greatest ? empire at forty five, would | \ 1 rather command a warship or ? ; collect postage stamps than ad- t 1 minister the affairs of a nation, t ! He is today undoubtedly the e 5 saddest man in Great Britain, t " not only because of the death of < . his father, to whom he was > deeply and sincerely devoted, 1 but even more because he must [ put behind him his harmless fads , and hobbies to which he was c , hitherto devoted and plunge into 1 > the maelstrom of politics having > at the outset of his reign the 1 most perplexing and intricate \ crisis that has ever menaced J the empire. c In countless ways the new ( ! king differs from the late 1 - monarch. The latter was above 1 all a shrewd tactful diplomatist r s and a polished man of the world, ( 1 whose suave intercourse with his fellow monarchs of Europe ( did much to establish existing c cordiality between Britain and < ' neighboring nations. < > George, on the other hand, is 1 I r -t 1 i roruiy i and Youi Against the peskj laria-laden mosqi get our prices on Screen andWi I Let us furnish y copper grille guart They are more atl more durable. PI I or we will call an< urement of your d< IMills & Y PHONES: Dry Goods, 37. Fu ? _ duff and rather blunt, unversed n courtiership and averse to ?mp and ceremonial. Although :ompanionable when among his ntimate friends, he not always mpresses strangers favorably, ind apparently lacks his father's vonderful magnetism, which did nore to increase the friendliness or Britain abroad than the (fforts of half a dozen trained liplomats. Many characteristics of the lew king will appeal peculiarly o Americans. His aversion to ed tape, his desire to curtail tate functions wherever possi>le. and his preference for private carriages instead of royal oaches, all proclaim certain democratic simplicity which apiroaches nearer to the attitude >f tllP PVOmrfD Amnwnr." * _ ? ?.v.?iiiuciiv.au picailent than perhaps any sovereign n the world.. Certain of nis qualities appeal strongly to the British mind. For rears he has taken a conscienious interest in improving conlitions among the lower classes, )y visiting hundreds of slum lomes with the princess. If the king has one absorbing lassion it is his love for the navy, ind it may be certain that one angible effect of his reign will )e a constant, consistent influ;nce to maintain a British fleet he largest in size and the highest in efficiency. Boyd-Brock Row to be Investigated. The first meeting of the court >f inquiry appointed by Governor \nsel to inquire into the controversy between Adjutant General Boyd and his assistant.. Col. N. P. Brock, will be held on the J3rd inst. The members of the :ourt are Gen. Wilie Jones, of Columbia, president; Col. W. VV. -.ewis of the First regiment, Col. Sdwin R. Cox of the Second egiment, and Col. Julius E. Cogswell of the Second regiment. The court is appointed by Governor Ansel upon the request )f Col. Brock as the result of charges against the official conluct of the latter by General Boyd. .J( four sell I Family j flies and maiitoes. Call and several styles of Doors ndows xl uu wiin me new # Js for your doors, tractive and far tione your orders 3 take the meas oors and windows oung Co. rniture, 144. Grocery, 12. . ======= ? "