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m 1 ?? The Fort Hill Times. DEMOCRATIC. Published Th jrsdsy Mornings. B. iV. & W. R. Br> dford Publishers W. R. Bradford. Editor B. W. Bradfort Manac.er The Times invites contributions on live subjects, but does not air roe to publish more than 200 words on any subject. The right is reserved to edit every communication submitted for publication. Telephone, local and long distance. No. 112. Subscription Rates: One Year tl.25 Six Months - 66 FORT MILL. S. C.. MAY 19. 1910. A Prime Necessity. One of the first ear-marks of a progressive and successful town is its system of municipal waterworks. Can Fort Mill, with its admitted advantages as a business and residence town, afford longer to be without this improvement? The decision of the citizens is that it can not. That decision was voiced last: week at a mass meeting which represented about two-thirds of the taxable property of Fort Mill. There seemed no doubt in the minds of those present that a waterworks system was essential to the material welfare of the town. The sole obstacle 1 apparently was the fear of increased taxation. It were a reflection upon the business prospects of Fort Mill to allow that argument to triumph. The cost of waterv, . works would not be excessive. uouDtless a system could be constructed at a maximum outlay of $20,000. The interest on $20,000 amounts to about $1,200 the year. This could not bankrupt the town. A slight increase in taxation for the benefit of the whole community would be borne by the property owners, who, after all, would reap largely of the benefits of the enterprise. Such seemed to be the sentiment of the mass meeting. Unfortunately, however, nothing was done to put into effect the plans designed to increase at once the joy of living and the commercial advantages of the town. Steps should be taken immediately. Another mass meeting might be called. A committee might be apppointed to circulate petitions calling for an election on the proposition of issuing the bonds necessary to Secure the funds. That would be half the battle. Once a movement is started, it gains weight, like a snow-ball, with every foot it advances. Why Th*y are Grouchy. "Why is it that when a man has to wait for "Central" to answer him seconds seem minutes? Many a busy man will wait minutes for anything else and never turn an eyelash. But when he faces that formidable gutta percha ear on the wall, when he listens in vain for the "What number, please?" of the telephone girl, he loses all his patience. With his patience go his temper and his manners. Why is it? The reason is comparatively obvious to one who analyzes the problem. People are not accustomed to delay at the telephone. Custom has us all in its deadly grip. Any deviation from custom affronts those prehistoric nerve cells of ours which tell us that a discursior. from the beaten track leads us into unknown terrors. Of course, these world-old instincts are dying, but they still possess force enough to render a change undesirable. Men are used to waiting for others. Therefore delay in a bank or store causes no wrath. But men-and women, too?are not accustomed to delay in the telephone service. They are used to the quick, cheery inquiry from "Central," almost instantly following the first call. The unwonted delay thus makes the busy man wroth, leads him to needless expenditure of valuable temper and to equally futile venting of his anger in heated language. ML ? mm ' .V * ' ^ " '4t > A Disingenuous Executive. The latest developments in I the Ballinger-Pinchot row ?the Kerby charges, the- first indignant denial from the White House and the subsequent admission that there was foundation for the allegation?combine to produce one of the most discreditable ensembles in American political history. The break came on Saturday, i For some time previously Mr. Brandeis, attorney for L. R. Glavis, had been intimating tnat Mr. Taft's exoneration of Mr. Ballinger was prepared outside the executive offices and was presented to the president for his signature. Repeatedly he had failed to get the documents. Then, just when the BallingerPinchot investigation, with its weary, wrangling length, had begun to pall on the people, an obscure stenographer stepped into the centre of the stage. Frederic M. Kerby, employed in Seci retary Ballinger's office, made the statement that the "exoneration" of Mr. Ballinger had been drafted by Oscar Lawler, assistant attorney for the interior department, and had been signed and promulgated by the presi- j dent. As might have been expected, the White House promptly issued an emphatic denial. There was "absolutely no foundation," said the executive, for the Kerby charge. Very well. The country | was safe. Mr. Taft had purged ! himself. But, unfortunately for the good name of Mr. Taft, Mr. Wickersham, forced from his cover, presented to the BallingerPinchot committee the original draft. The two were compared. Two paragraphs of the Lawler draft, which the White House statement had declared non-existent, apparently had been incorporated almost verbatim in the official statement exculpating Mr. Ballinger. Yet there was "absolutely no foundation" for Kerby's charge that there had been such a draft. On Sunday Mr. Taft, after ! taking counsel, decided that a I phanorp nf fmnf liroo nnnnoon?n <rsx/ vk i.m. viit *? ao i itvtooai v . He wrote an open letter, in | which he admitted that he had directed Lawler to prepare a draft?which his previous statement had declared a figment of Kerby's brain?and that he had read this draft. Yet Kerby's charge was absolutely without foundation?so ran the first official statement from the White | House. Not content with this combi, nation of admission and denial? ; he declared he had not found the Lawler draft to his liking and had not used it -the president admitted further that the Wick-1 1 ersham memorandum on which j the exoneration was said to have been based was prepared subsequent to the issuance to Mr. Ballinger of an official credential to the band of the good and true. Further, Mr. Taft declared this j back-dating was done by his own j 1 direction. i Mr. Taft Stands in imminent danger. The denial of the existence of the Lawler draft and ' the subsequent admission that it was prepared, coupled with the confessed back-dating of the memorandum on which it was declared to be based, place Mr. Taft in the unenviable position of one caught playing tricks with the exact truth. It appears that Mr. Taft will be forced to coufess, to use a term recently made classic, that he has been "disingenuj ous." ?? THE PARTRIDGE. Probably the most interesting of the many interesting articles which James Henry Rice, Jr., State secretary of the Audubon society, has prepared for the press on the birds of South Carolina relates to the partridge. l nis article is in part as follows: Two things started the partridge toward extinction, for he was headed that way when the Audubon Society of South Carolina was formed and began its work by shutting down sale of birds. The first of these causes was the break-up of the large plantations into small farms, consisting mostly of negro tenants. The large planters valued and protected their game. Each negro ?? i X settlement became a separate ; centre of destruction. Families 1 that had moved to town often encouraged the negroes to kill birds or to catch them and their town neighbors followed suit. The second great cause was the sale of game, which became a sort of business throughout the State. There were other causes, but these two ranked first and accounted for thousands, where from other causes there might be reckoned hundreds. All this was aggravated by the introduction of rapid-fire guns of great accuracy and range, made more effective by smokeless powder and machine-loaded shells. Shooters multiplied amazingly; sportsmen increased slowly. This condition impressed itself on my mind ten years ago, but the remedy was not clear. So soon as I had time to study the one-dollar hunters' license, it was plain that a solution had been found for the vagrant man and for the vagrant dog. It met all the conditions. It lists the hunter; it forces the owner to confine his dog during the breeding season for birds; it provides revenue for enforcement and restocking. It has been tried and is now a success in every State of the Union but four or five. It is absolutely fair, putting every man on the same footing, taking away no man's privileges and increasing his legitimate pleasure. Our laws now provide every safeguard but that; the engine is set up, the machinery is in place; all that is lacking is steam in the boilers and the whole thing moves at once. In all the argument on the question no man has advanced a single reason against it; no man can, except some low appeal to passion and prejudice. The man who shoots the game furnishes the means of protecting it. The Piedmont section of the State, or more properly, the upcountry, was originally far better stocked with partridges than any other part of the State. It can be so again and should be. Multiplying farms multiplies partridges, for it multiplies feed. The small truck farms of Horry are even now filled with birds. The partridge does not love wildness and is never so numerous in wild sections for the simple A T14I ID' J. X Each E This ent Rememl We fur W a av*a V V/ MA V who says ^ ing" becau P. H. / ,, i reason that his natural enemies keep his numbers down. These enemies in the uncultivated portions of the State are the razor-back hog, that destroys thousands of nests; the wild cat, the raccoon, the snakes, the fox, the great horned owl and the sharp-shinned hawk and the Cooper's hawk, known to the country people as the "blue darter," and the chicken hawk, respectively. Stray house cats are also great destroyers of partridges. These homeless cats should be killed on sight. The roving, half-fed dog is also a large destroyer of young birds and eggs. A well organized, adequately paid warden force could manage^ all these thinge, except the razorback, and he will go with the I 1 _ - spreau 01 civilization. CHARLOTTE HARDWARE GROWS ___ Separating Wholesale and Retail Departments?New Building on Corner of Sixth and Railroad With 25,000 Feet Floor Space ?Increasing Salesmen From Four to Six. To keep pace with the extension of its business and the growth of Charlotte, the Charlotte Hardware Company is enlarging its stock of goods and separating the wholesale and retail departments. The company has been very successful during the four i years of its life and it has become necessary to secure more floor space and make an addition to the stock of goods in order to cope with the growing business. Mr. W. W. Hagood is erecting a building at the corner of Sixth street and Railroad 60x170 feet, two stories high with a basement which has been leased for the wholesale deparfr.ent of the concern. This building will be of mill construction and furnish 25,000 square feet of floor space. Being in close proximity to both the Seaboard and Southern tracks the shipments can be received and dispatched in short order without cost of drayage. This building will be devoted entirely to wholesale, while the office will be maintained at the retail department on East Trade street where it is at present. The business has outgrown the present quarters which has been used for wholesale and retail since its organization. When the change is made in the near future, the four floors in ; the present building will be given up entirely to retail trade. New lines will be added and the office enlarged. Four salesmen are now on the road traveling the territory within a radius of 100 miles in which the company has substantial patronage in its line. The number of salesmen will be increased to six and the present territory will be worked more thoroughly and enlarged to some extent, TV. - - /** ** ? ine omciTH are: Messrs. J. C. McNeely, president; R. L. Erwin, vice president; Robert Glasgow, treasurer, and J. S. Neely, secretary. T P. H. STAl SDAY, FRI )ay, 10:30 to 11:30 i :ire stock must 1 ber the hours 'nish the goods; selling at whole we are notsellin ise they can t m STALI (BRENNECKE & \ York Count] 212 1 Of course, he to< it was something o \ 'Ak r resist^nS P?' \AJ 1 . V stomach is somethi nothing compared JHT in force at this sto: Read over the fo GOODS FOR U Bleachings?the best 12 l-2c inch Bleaching at 10c per yard, for 8c per yasd. Trimmings?Swiss and Hamb sertion to match, at 5c to 25c p Torchon Lace: We are run Torchon Lace at 4c per yard. MUSLIN UNI Ladies* and Misses* Gowns, : of long cloth, trimmed with lac low necked, at 50c to $2.00. Corset Covers in pretty st; at 25c. Ladies* Underskirts with dee broidery, made up nice and full Children*s Underwaists and ] E. W. Kin B All A BUN 5 .LINGS' STORI DAY, SAT1 a. m. and 2:30 to 3:3( 3e sold by Satur< of sale and be ; you make the :sale prices and t ? - g cheaper must t eet our prices. LINGS, CO. IN CHARGE) f Boy Eats DiAn L ICS. )k 212 days to do it, but f a feat, nevertheless. wer of a healthy youngster's mg to marvel at, but it is to the cut prices that are re. llowing list: NDERWEAR i grade of soft finished, 36 A 10c, 36 inch Bleaching urg Embroideries, with Inter yard. ning a very special value DERWEAR made of excellent qualites e and embroidery, high and yles, very neat and fancy p flounces of lace and em, at 50c to $2.00. Pantb for 10c and 15c. ibrell Co. iuT t URD'Y 3 p. m. Jay night, on hand, price. he nerson >e "knockKOHT MILL, * S. C'. j I L