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.
.
======= ?
"