Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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I I EditciioJU* FOOTBALL With the consolidation oi schools, prep football has been upgraded con siderably in South Carolina. There are more students from winch to pick a team. There is more competition lor the starting positions and a result is that there are some stomp-oown yood football squads around. Another re sult is that competition between the schools often is keener. Spectator interest apparently has picked up and that is good. However, at some schools, because of the in tense competition, some spectators "have let their emotions get the best— or worst — of them and there have been some unfortunate incidents w hich have involved the game otficials. We’re happy to report that none of these incidents have involved games in which Clinton teams were involved. Clinton has a good reputation among football officials. They generally feel they are treated with respect, accord ing to a local official who has discuss ed the situation with officials who have worked Clinton games. However, so that you will better understand the attitude and thinking of high school football officials, we re print below the comments of a Clin tonian who officiates high school loot- ball games. “Being an official in the S.C. High School Football Officials Asso ciation is the next thing to being a player. You have to love the game to be an official. “The only way you can be a good official is to work hard and constant ly study the rules. Officials meet regularly on a district basis to review rules and game situations. These weekly meetings start the first of July and continue until the end of the football season. We have to attend an annual clinic and take examina tions before we c a n oificiate each year. “On a game night, each official must arrive at the site of the game one hour and a half before game time. * In- all, an offictaCspends'Trrunnd'seven to eight hours away from his home from the time he leaves home until he reutrns after the game. “Beginning one hour and a half before game time, the officials go over the rules together until game time. OFFICIALS “Officials are human and are subject to mistakes while officiating but the officials are the ones who are most aware that a mistake has been made. At their regular weekly meet ings, these mistakes are brought out and taken care of before the next game. “Competition between the schools is beginning to get bigger and bigger. And so are the crowds. Without the fans, teams could not be financed. This also is true of the officials be cause without them the game would get out of control. However, some times there is constant abuse toward officials after a game. This is in creasing along with the crowds. “On numerous occasions, officials have been followed by fans who use obscene language and try to intimi date the officials. I used to play for a coach who once made this comment about the officiating: ‘Sometimes I might not agree with the officials but I have never seen one beat me yet.’ There is no way for an official to run the ball. “If a spectator gets upset enough to take it out on an official, he may think it will go unnoticed and nothing will come of his actions. However, such things are reported to the High School League office and action will be taken. There is a chance that nothing will happen to the individual involved. There is also a chance that the school he supports will be punish- ed for something he did. “Each school is responsible for the actions of its crowds. “The best way the fans can help their team is to give them their full cooperation and treat the officials af ter the game like you would want him to treat your son who might have been playing in the game. After all, the officials penalize players for using profanity but the parents of some players use this same language to ward an official after the game is --ovaiv — “And remember, the officials who are working the game involving your team were not just sent there through some pick-em-out-of-a-hat system. Your coach has requested them by placing them on his preferential list.” SEE FOR YOURSELF There have been many changes in our school system this year and parents of school children undoubted ly have questions about the facilities, faculties and general situation To answer some of these ques tions, all school District 56 schools will have “open house” on Sunday, Oct. 18. The “open house” will be held from 3:30 p.m. until 6 p.m. Teachers and principals will be at their respec tive schools to talk with parents and to show the school facilities to the parents. We urge you to attend and inform yourself about your school system. School officials and faculties are wo rk ing diligently to make this transition al period as smooth as possible. You can do your part by being informed and understanding. Every Time It Rains, It Rains ... They Got to the Bottom of It 2-C—THE CHRONICLE, Clinton, S. C., Oct. 8, 1970 Strike Against Nation NASHVILLE, TENN. — Any strike is a loss for the workers, company and community in volved—an act of waste in a society dependent on continu ing productivity. The strike the United Auto Workers called a- gainst General Motors Corpo ration is uniquely wasteful, for the company is the largest manufacturing corporation in the United States--a key com ponent in the country’s economy. When the UAW leadership ordered the strike, it idled 400,000 members of the union at 143 plants in the United States and Canada. It is esti mated that the decision of the union leaders will cost the rank and file $42.5 million a week in lost wages. The company will be deprived of an esti mated $30 million a day in lost production. The strike comes at a time when the buying public is eager to purchase new 1971 automobiles. In effect, the strike is not against G. M. but against the entire American economy. G. M. plants are located in 18 states and 69 cities. The fin ancial pinch is felt not simply by General Motors workers but by the employes of the com pany’s 39,000 suppliers. The impact of the work stoppage may be gauged by the fact that G. M. consumes more than 10 per cent of America’s steel production. The nation’s de fense effort also is critically affected by the U. A. W. strike SENSING THE NEWS By Anthony Harrigan IXfCUTIVt VICI MISIDENT Southern States Industrial Council inasmuch as G. M. hasalomost $700 million in defense con tracts. Obviously, this tremendous industrial activity is a major factor in the nation’s economy. A prolonged shutdown of the General Motors operations could have grave effects on the economic well-being of the country. Even a brief stoppage provides the economy with a severe jolt. What’s most shocking about the strike action by the United Auto Workers is that a hand ful of powerful union leaders can halt avital part of Ameri can industry and espose the country to a recession. To be sure, the UAW lead ers will say that the member ship wanted the strike. But it is common knowledge that there is no meaningful democracy in unions. Though : rank and file members may want to stay on the job and continue to get their weekly paychecks, they dare not oppose powerful union Maybe TV Is To Blame Dear Mr. Publisher: I went to a church conven tion last week. The high light was suppose to have been a speech by the Bishop, but un fortunately it never got off the ground. As soon as the Bis hop opened his mouth a group of young people started booing and chanting. The pore fella tried about 10 times, but he couldn’t be heard above the noise. I knew this was coming sooner or later, ’cause col lege speakers and politicians have had it as a steady diet. Some folks say that all this yelling and booing during a speech ain’t nothing but down right rudeness. I believe it’s a hole lot deeper than that - it's a mal-function of the gall bladder. The way I got it figured this mal-function is caused from watching too much tele vision. You see, most young people these days have grown up on T.V. From it they learned to talk, eat, smoke, drink, fight, lie, and make love. Years ago parents used to raise their kids. These days T.V. does it for ’em. The only problem is, that they’ve set in front of the box so long and listened to it talk, that their own vocal cords have been suppressed. This In turn has thrown the gallbladder off- balance. After a while all this stuff builds up inside like ato mic power until pretty soon the mouth springs a leak. The rest is history - out comes all this talk, mingled with gall. The bad thing about this is that there don’t seem to be any waytocut off the noise. With T.V. all you gotta do is turn the knob. Un fortunately people don’t come with knobs. Mr. Publisher, the thing that bothers me most is that the disease might be catching. If so, the day may come when everybody talks and nobody lis tens. And, when nobody listens, everybody will just turn up the volumn. Won’t the earth be a noisey place to live? Another danger in everybody talking is that if we don’t shut our big mouths, nobody will be able to see what our faces look like. Speaking of noise, I think I’ve rambled on long enough so ril close with this advice: "Be swift to hear and slow to speak”. Parson Jones SENATOR STROM 1 THURMOND M REPORTS TO THE PEOPLE WORLD TROUBLE SPOTS The death of Egypt’s Presi- | CUBA BASE dent Nasser brings to three the ^he second major threat to the number of crisis spots in the World i 8 developing in world where an increasing Soviet Q u b a . in recent months, the presence directly threatens the g ov j e 't s h aV e stepped up their security of the Free World. nava [ a ctivities in the Caribbean Despite Nasser’s leftward an d the Southern Atlantic Coaat. stance, and his long and close -j^jr 8 hips do not hesitate to relationship with the Soviet j 0 jt er 0 ff the port of Charleston Union, he was, on balance, a and the Virginia Capes. They moderating influence in the ex- mon jt 0 r our activities at Cape leaders. The leaders don’t have to worry about the personal impact of the strikes they order, for their salaries con tinue, while rank and file mem bers have to exist on meager strike fund payments. Any way you look at it, the UAW strike cannot be justi fied. The nation loses. The workers and the company lose. Affected communities lose. It is not as though the company refused to recognize the finan cial needs of its employes. The last G. M. offer, which the union rejected, provided for a 15.8 per cent wage increase and numerous fringe benefits. Something is very wrong with the nation’s labor law if ir responsible strikes of this sort axe allowed. The strike against G. M. shows the menace in herent in the union monopoly in the United States. No handful of labor leaders should have the power to deprive hundreds of thousands of Americans of their paychecks and cause widespread economic distress in many states and cities. Certainly, the first step to wards reform of labor legis lation should be a ban on strike action applied nationwide a- gainst one company. Labor- management discussions should be on a plant by plant basis, not along national lines. Union monopolists, of course, know that the success of their economic blackmail tactics de pend on the ability to cripple a company’s operation from one end of the country to the other. And behind every strike is a built-in union threat to employ roughstuff if employers seek to hire new employes who are willing to work. If the American people und erstand that they are paying for union irresponsibility and ar rogance — in terms of lost public revenues and private employment and profits, they may demand the overhaul of labor law that is essential to the continued economic pro gress of the United States. The understanding must develop rapidly, however, if serious damage to the economy is to be averted. Wish I’d Said] That plosive political situation in the Middle East. It was Nasser himself who made the decision to become dependent upon the Soviets for both military and peaceful tech nology and aid. There is no need to excuse his close collaboration with the Communists, who gladly supplied him with the wherewithal to become the mili tary leader of the Arab nations. But at the same time, his own position was sharply undercut by the extremist guerrilla groups, who were also being supported by the Communists. Nasser, therefore, knew that, in order to keep his power, he had to cooperate with King Hussein of Jordan in bringing about a ceasefire with the guerrillas. SOVIETS WIN His sudden death leaves the Soviets as the only winners. The Soviets have about 15,000 men in Egypt as technicians and as a garrison to guard the more than $3 billion worth of sophis ticated armament which they had shipped to Nasser since the six-day war in 1967. This mili tary force is the first time that the Soviets made such an exten sive commitment of troops into a battle zone outside the Soviet- dominated countries. We must not assume that the Soviets will easily give up their gains, which have been carefully nurtured over a long period. In deed, it is a distinct possibility that they may bring in even more military forces to protect their investment, and to ensure that a subservient pro-Soviet regime is installed in Nasser’s place. Such a regime could have a strong influence upon the whole Middle East, with a consequent threat to the Free World Egypt has little oil itself, but her sister-Arab states supply 85 per cent of the petroleum for West ern Europe and Japan. In the United States, cut-backs result ing from the current crisis have already doubled the price of the industrial-grade oil used by many U.S. electric generating stations and have restricted sup plies available to major public. and private heating plants. Kennedy, and they attempted to recover materials floating after the recent test launching of the Polaris missile in that area. At present, the Soviets have no submarine base in the West ern Hemisphere. There is little doubt that the construction ac tivity at Cuba’s major port means that a submarine base is under way. This base must be viewed in the same context as the installa tion of missiles in Cuba in 1962. Now that the Soviets have a fleet of Polaris-type nuclear submarines, land-based missiles in Cuba are less important as an offensive strategy against the United States. Soviet sub marines can and do come within launching distance of the East ern seaboard. The Cuban sub marine base will give the Soviets the added flexibility and cruis ing range necessary for an offen sive submarine strategy. CHILE ELECTION The third dangerpoint to the Free World is Chile. In the re cent three-way election for Pres ident, no single candidate re ceived a majority. The largest number of votes, a little over one-third, was won by a Marxist demagogue, Salvador Allende. On October 24, the Chilean Con gress will choose the winner. If Allende is made President, he has promised to turn Chile into what amounts to a Communist country. A Communist Chile, in con junction with a Communist Cuba, would present other Latin American countries with a se vere threat of subversion. The Soviets undoubtedly would get another foothold in the W’eatern Hemisphere, and be in a position to threaten both our coasts and the passage around Cape Horn. The United States should not discourage neighboring Latin \merican nations, or patriotic croups within Chile from tak ing appropriate action. The in tegrity of the Free World is at stake, as well as the freedom of Chile. i nnt itrrpartd <>r printed at government expmsr) Reasons Are Listed For County Phones “Government spending gives yon an idea why laws are called bills.” Many a man who is proud of his right to say what he pleases wishes he had the courage to do so.—Wm. R. Davis, The Three Forks (Mo.) Herald. Dignity is one thing that can’t be preserved in alcohol. —Fred W. Grown, The Ber gen (N. J.) Citizen. BY M. L. OUTZ COUNTY AGENT Why should the telephones be toll free in Laurens county? First, it would simply have a tendency to unify and bring our communities together and con tribute to industrial as well as human development 2. It would establish a more convenient relationship be tween labor and Industry. Those seeking jobs would be able to contact the personnel department of the industrial plants that are located over the county. 3. All county offices and services would be available to the Clinton area and other areas that are now covered by toll. 4. With so much interest in gardening and landscaping as hobbies and with so many new chemicals, varieties of plants, and new gagets com ingout each year, all citizens should have acess to all feed and seed stores in the county. 5. Machinery dealers are located in the Laurens area and fertilizer dealers are in the Clinton area. To open the telephone lines would be a great help to both Laurens and Clin ton areas. 6. Presbyterian College, Thornwell Orphanage and Whitten Village are three very Important institutions in our county, and employ a great many of our citizens from over the county. This would be very helpful at times to the insti tutions as well as to the em ployees. Think of the library at P. C. It Is available to the citizens of Laurens County. Students, in particular, needs this facility. 7. The hospitals, health de partment, docotors would in time give much better ser vice. 8. The merchants of Lau rens and Clinton stand to gain a great deal. Very often, when stores of Clinton do not have what it needs the citizens goto neighboring counties. The same is true with Laurens. I’m sure much more erf our money would stay in the county. 9. The many churches and affiliates in the county could have a much improved working relationship. 10. School district, athletic facilities, and recreational fa cilities would improve in time. Young people would be able to work together to the better ment of the communities. 11. The sheriffs office, doc tors, and all county services should be open to all citizens. 12. A toll free exchange be tween our larger cities would bring them in closer relation ship. This in time would bring much more progress to our county. The people would be the ones who gained. 13. Of course, there are many people with relatives that would like to call back and forth. I believe we will have to vote for progress for our county to get this through. If we fake a pure selfish view point it will hurt the cause. Frankly, I haven’t needed a hospital but I certainly want It there when I do need it I haven’t needed a fire depart ment, or a sheriff but someone does and things must be avail able. I personally don’t need a road between Woodruff and Fountain Inn, but the people who live there do and Pm willing to share as they are willing to share with me and everyone can progress and the things that brings progress can hap pen. Let’s help with this Im portant community Improve ment Changed His Name Henry Wilson, who was vice-president in the second administration of President Ulysses S. Grant was born Jeremiah Colbath. He changed his name to Henry Wilson at the age of 17. • • •