The Clinton chronicle. (Clinton, S.C.) 1901-current, August 11, 1955, Image 11
Thursday, AngartH, 1955
THE CLINTON CHRONICLE
Page Eleeea
By SPECTATOR...
COMMENTS
on
MEN AND THINGS
Mr. Sell, Mr. James C. _ Self,
well known industrialist of
Greenwood and New York, but
0 cherished by me as a friend of
the years, has gone to the Great
4 Beyond.
I regard Mr. Self as the great
est man ever born in South Caro-
« lina. This is no perfervid eulogy
of the moment; I have said and
« written that several years.
The man in uniform, with
golden epaulets, or astride a fine
horse, with material aspect and
glittering sword; he may catch
the eye, as a glamorous figure,
ttdting the imagination; or the
orator, in impassioned speech^
dramatically gesticulating, as his
deep voice s&unds the moving
sentiment, he may appeal tre
mendously; nor would 1 dispar
age either the heroic figure or
the political leader; both may
have their day, and both may
serve the state immeasurably.
* Mr. Self came into this world
in old Edgefield; son of a country
physician and a Godly mother,
both of whom Mr. Self commem
orated in the chimes and church
at the Mill, and the magnificent
hsopital in the city of Green
wood.
Japes C. Self was a man of
fruitful genius; he was capable
, of infinite pains, unwearied as
siduity, in carrying out the plans
of his practical imagination.
Someone else may give the
data of that remarkable life, but
I want to tell just what I know,
and how I was so fortunate as to
know Mr. Self.
* In the early thirties The Farm
ers’ and Taxpayers’ League was
organized to restore a measure of
fiscal sanity, at a time when
thousands of our people were not
able to pay their taxes; when
• thousands were in arrears ten
years; when, in some counties,
men promised to thwart any ef
fort to sell out a citizen for taxes.
Mr. Self was a liberal contribu
tor. No one knows how much,
or how often, Mr. Self contrib
uted to good causes; he was al
ways responsive, when convinced
of the merit of the appeal. But
Mr. Self did not indulge in spo
radic helpfulness; his mills, the
beautiful villages, the laundry,
the conditions of work—all told
v, of the master mind, whose heart
and head labored constantly for
* 1 the highest promotion of all his
many interests.
Let me relate a few incidents,
even disjointedly:
A few years ago Mr. Self
thought of building a textile
plant in Chile. Because of my
ten years in South America he
asked me to explore the general
field, including Mexico. I don’t
know from what sources Mr.
Self drew his information, but he
always sought the truth and act
ed when he had all the facts.
Mr. Self abandoned the idea of
a Latin American mill. Instead
of that I urged him to consider
Clarendon county, my home
county. Mr. Self sent me a sheet
from a study of our population
and said “In a few years the sit
uation there may be unfavor
able.” That was in keeping with
his thorough investigation; he
was always master, because he
always grasped all the factors
and all the implications from
them.
A year or two ago I told Mr.
Self of a proposed trip of mine
to New York. Forthwith Mr.
Self arranged for me to have
lunch at the Manufacturer’s club
(or was it the Manufacturer’s
Trust Company). He notified the
gentlemen in charge of his New
York sales office to look out for
me. To my fine friends, Mr. B.
M. Edwards and Mr. Self I owe
the invitations to lunch at sev
eral New York Banks.
Mr. Self had bought, modern
ized and air conditioned a build
ing on Worth Street for his sales
operations. A young man show
ed the building to me with much
pride, and told me a story. One
day Mr. Self visited the building,
just before renovating it. As
he talked to my young acquaint
ance Mr. Self said: “Young man,
where is North from here"? The
young fellow said, “About here,
sir.” To his surprise Mr. Self
pulled out a small compass and
said, “Not quite; North is there”,
slightly deviating. The young
fellow said to me: “I had lived
here all my life and he came here
and showed me up.”
One day I called at The Han
over Bank. One of the vice-
presidents is a very able man
from Greenville, South Carolina.
He was expecting me because of
a letter from Mr. Self. In a lit
tle while four of us .including
the president, were in conversa
tion. We talked about Mr. Self
all the time. The president said:
“I called on Mr. Self a year or so
Employment Service
Gets Jobs For 77,055
Workers During Year
Figures released today by the
South Carolina Employment Se
curity Commission showed that
its State Employment Service Di
vision located jobs for 77,055 un
employed workers during the fis
cal year ending June 30. Of
these, 32,583 were women and
13,380 were veterans.
The agency also found jobs for
2,794 handicapped applicants
during the same period, of which
331 were women and 818 were
veterans.
These placements were nearly
6,000 over those of a year ago.
Farm placements for the same
period totaled 92,362 which was
1,100 less than last year. This
total would have been much
higher except for the disastrous
freeze which destroyed the peach
crop and severely damaged truck
farming operations.
Every
con—- 1 '"v iie ;.,: c
G 00t>
'55 Death Toil Now
53 Above Lott Year
The 1955 traffic death toll
reached staggering heights as 19
persons were killed and 126 in
jured in 449 traffic accidents
from July 24 through July 30, ac
cording to the State Highway
Department’s weekly accident re
port The report brings the state
near the end of the most tragic
month on our highways in sev
eral years. During July South
Carolina saw hope for a new
safety record, such as the one set
last year dwindle. Now the 1955
traffic death toll stands at 53
above the 1954 toll for the same
period.
Laurens, county had six fatali
ties during the week, Abbeville
and Aiken had two each. Ander
son, Beaufort, Chester, Jasper,
Marion, Marlboro, Oconee, Or
angeburg, and Saluda counties
had one each.
Bring a Friend To Church With You
i boi truly Mid Aot Mm Church b Mm
Cradl* of Character. Wo hold on a Ana
foundation only a* wo grow In ipiriteal on-
richmant. Support fho Church of your choice*
« 6009 Ft*llq Out Sttn
# Along with the Church, the School and the
Home, tr icre is need in every community for ade
quate retail outlets. This fine pharmacy is proud
to dedicate its facilities to tne maintenance of
local health and welfare standards. You are in
vited to make this ymr Family Drug Store, and to
bring us prescriptions for careful compounding.
HOWAXOf
PHAKMACY
Savings Accounts
3% —DIVIDEND—3%
We invite savings accounts front the people ef^CHn-
friendly at ‘
ton and vicinity. Ton will like our friendly and eOdent
service, and you will receive your dividend promptly
each January 1st and July 1st. Any amount—from fl
up—opens an account.
Each account la insured up to $10,090 by the Fed
eral Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation. Two
people may have up to 930,000 fully insured.
Accounts by mail promptly acknowledged.
Chartered and Supervised by the
' United States Government
LAURENS FEDERAL SAVINGS
& LOAN ASSOCIATION
*
104 W. Main Street Laurens, 3- C.
Telephone 22271
W
ago and he took me to see his
mills in Greenwood and Ninety-
Six. The secretary (Mr. Adams)
was riding in the back, while Mr.
Self did the driving. I noticed
that the car'wobbled a bit and
one time I thought it was going
in the ditoh^ Mr. Self was feel
ing for something in his pocket.
At length he said: “Mr. Adams,
what is’ that truck yonder doing
here? According to the book it
hasn’t any business here.” That
was told to prove Mr. Selfs inti
mate knowledge of every detail.
So, far away from home, all the
conversation was about Mr. Self.
Mr. Self honored me with
many invitations to spend the
night in his hospitable home. My
last overnight visit was just af
ter the Harris Mill had been fin
ished. We went there; in fact we
tramped all over his mills. Then
Mr. Self wanted to show the in
terior of a new cottage. The
young housewife admitted us
and Mr. Self pointed out to me
features of each room. In the
kitchen his eagle eye detected
something wrong (like a leak) in
the ceiling. “Oh, Oh,” he said to
the young lady, “What is that”?
“You ought to know”, she said.
“You are the plumber, aren’t
you”? I thought I’d fall through
the floor, but Mr. Self didn’t
seem to notice it; so I whispered
to the lady, “This is Mr. Self,”
and then she nearly fainted.
Since “genius is the infinite ca
pacity for taking pains,” as Car
lyle says, or tne unwearied study
of detail, in grappling with big
problems, I may tell of my ride
with Mr. Self from his home to
his office one morning. When we
came in sight of the mill Mr.
Selfs acute perception saw a
practical detail at once. “Look,”
he said. I looked, but didn’t
know for a moment what he was
looking at. “See that thin smoke;
fine combustion.”
I have been singularly fortun
ate in splendid friendships; I
have been inspired by able men
of affairs in all walks of life; and
I have felt tleeply the loss of
many of those men, though I
have been favored beyond my
merits by new friendships. With
in two or three years I have lost
two friends whose gracious con
sideration made me forever their
debtor. One was William H. Reg-
nery of Chicago who became my
friend through the kindly offices
of the late William A. Moorhead,
himself a firm and fast friend.
Mr. Regnery was so quiet and
thoughtful one would not think
he was the dynamic spirit of
great accomplishment. But he
was. I never knew any man for
whom I had greater respect, ad
miration and affection; how won
derfully his life blessed thous
ands of our people; and now
passes James C. Self. Those two
men were alike in this: they
studied, they thought, and they
acted, always constructively, al
ways remembering the men and
women who operated their mills.
Someone has suggested that
towering figures blaze the path
of progress; an we lesser spirits
merely walk the path laid out.
William H. Regnery and James
C. Self! Supernal figures, un
forgettable men of rare quality.
Dr. Frtd E. Holcombe
OPTOMETRIST
(Mem at
iHjUkgte file
ZVU SOIRB DTOteO OS.
*mt» KM
•- .f 4
KNOW HIM ?
Juvenile delinquency was just a term until they sent the
boy down the street to what they politely termed a “training
school.” Then it became real, Decause this boy wasn’t just
a statistic but a kid who had played with your kids. Why,
only last Sunday you had gone fishing with his father.
So now ... you wondered why. The boy came from a good
home—or did he? There was money enough, luxury enough,
but it’s true that his parents sometimes left him pretty much
to his own devices. There were his mother’s clubs and his
father’s business, and they led an active social life.
You asked yourself why ... and in your heart you knew the
answer. It lay in those gaps that had beenjeft in his upbring
ing-great chinks, that should have been filled with faith,
spiritual guidance, and solid enduring values. Thinking about
it, you made up your mind to start taking your own kids to
church on Sundays without fail—no matter how good the
weather was for fishing. ^
n® CHURCH FOR ALL
t all FOR THE CHTJRch
<h.
h i« a storehouse ol
*>ronq Church net.her ‘ W " hoU, °
can survive There * r( . d * mocnjc T’ "<» av.luatton
-ery Person .hTuld o^end^^ ^
and support the Church Th^w*™ 0 **. r * 9uJart *
own sake (2) For hi* rh 1,1 ar * ; M For him
3 ake ol his community and*n^ MU ,3) For ,h *
sake of the Church itself which ^ **
and material support Plan J * d * hu moraI
af I y and r *ad your Bible da»ly 9 ° ' 0 ChurCh r *9 u '
Day
Sunday
Monday ...
Tu.aday ...
w »d*«»day
Thursday
Friday
Saturday...
Book
E Indus
Fialma
Luka
Galatiaag
Galatians
*amaa
I,
»nt»»
C-yrrurkt IMS. K«i»t»r A*-
V' ’ z’ \/ \ ✓ \ / V
TUa Series Of M—Is Beinf Published Keek Weak By the FoUewiuf Clinton Finns In the Interest Of Incrensing Church Attsndnnee
FARMERS FEED & SEED STORE
Phone 1025
Bank Of Clinton
Phone 121
Howard’s Pharmacy
191
Young’s Pharmacy
19
Todd Grocery Co., Inc.
Anderson Appliance Co.
927
Giles Chevrolet Co.
Phone 26
Farmers Feed & Seed Store
Phene 1025
Burriss-Harrison Co.
Phone 435
Clinton Tire & Recap. Co.
1200
L. B. Dillard
Phone 142
Carolina Service Station
Phone 514
i
Gray Funeral Home
41
Citizens Federal Savings
and Loan Assn.
PhoneS
T. E. Jones & Sons
Phone 131
McGee’s Drug Store
Phone 1
Gulf Oil Corp.
Phone 21
Cooper Motor Co.
PhmSlS
Sunahlne Cleaners
L
8
McMillan Service Station
Phene 3
Clinton Cleaners
Phone 948
D. E. Tribble Co.
Phone 94
Chandler’s Garage
Phone 71
H.D. Payne Co.
Phene 120
Johnson Bros. Super Mkt
Phone 239
Clyde Body Works
Phone 850
Industrial Supply Co. -
PfeOM 111
The Clinton Chronicle
74
Timmerman Motor Co.
m
Belle’s
S4
Baldwin Motor Co.
SM