Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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DR. WHITTEN CAST A TALL SHADOW Another Campus Crisis 2-C—THE CHRONICLE, Clinton, S. C., Nov. 12, 1970 Some men cast their shadow be yond their immediate community. Dr. Benjamin 0. Whitten was such a man. He was a Clintonian and yet he wasn’t excusively ours. The impact of this man’s life, knowledge, experience and dedication extended beyond Clinton, beyond South Carolina, beyond the United States. In 1920, he started Whitten Village Training School for the mentally re retarded of South Carolina. As is reported in our Tricentennial edition, he started “with little but his own de termination and an appropriation of only $87,500.” He turned it into a a center of treatment and care which has served as a model and an inspira tion to others. A man of keen sense of humor, he fact that at first it particularly relished assistant superintendent at the S.C. State Hospital when he was asked to start the training school. It was a challenge, one which was almost over whelming, but being a man of pride, he rose to the challenge. Over the years, dedication and love replaced challenge as the motivating force. The fact that he succeeded is evi denced by the fact that the reputation of his work spread throughout the na tion and he was honored outside tin- boundaries of his own state. In 1981 and 1932 he was invited by the State of Utah to organize an institution similar to the Training School in Clin ton. He is the only person in the South who has ever been elected as president of the American Association on Mental Deficiency. wit and a dry didn’t hide the wasn’t a job he He had been Dr. Whitten accumulated many honors during his life but, rather than list them here, we think the sum of this man is better captured in this poem written by one of the students at Whitten Village. It was read by the Rev Alfred Bixler last Saturday morn ing at Dr. Whitten’s funeral. “Dr. Benjamin O. Whitten” —Hewitt J. Leonard Today we lost a man, A man that was really great, A man who was always friendly, A man who no one could hate. Aman that was really nice, A man who was really kind, And even if the world over, you looked, Not another like ham would you find. Now this man was very great, And this man was very grand, A large and helpful institution, He built on this fair land. His name was Dr. Whitten, And a very fine man was he. The Lord made only one of him, And a fine man he was made to be. He loved to help the children, Along their life’s hardened way, He used to stop and watch them, As they played from day to day. I know we all are grateful For all that he has done, And if he were winning medals, A roomful he would have won. So blessed Lord protect him, And please don’t let him roam, Watch o’er him as he travels To his eternal home. And blessed Lord we thank you, For sharing him with us„ As good a man there’s never been, A man whom we could trust. TRICENTENNIAL LESSON As we pored over old newspaper articles and pictures while working on our historical edition, we were re minded of how active people were back in the days before television. There were picnics and dunces I and games and stage shows and pa rades (at the slightest excuse) and people visiting each other. People did things together. They made their own entertainment. Now we certainly aren’t advocat ing a return to good old days” because we realize they really weren’t all that good. People lived in constant fear of diseases which are no longer existant. The average life span was much shorter than it is today. Life was harder in “the good old days.” People worked longer hours for much less pay. Ignorance led to some pain ful experiences. We probably aren’t all thal much smarter today but we do have more advantages. We have more time for leisure but we spend too much of that time in front of the “lK«>b tul>e” in stead of getting out and doing things ourselves. We live too much of our lives vicariously. One of the pleasures of our “Tri centennial Week” celebration is that the activities are capturing that old timey atmosphere of “doing some thing together.” Sunday was a beautiful afternoon and over a thousand people turned oul to tour Clinton’s new city hall. After the city hall tour, hundreds of people strolled through the downtown area, looking at the attractive window dis plays staged by ( linton merchants. We imagine Clinton’s viewing rating was pretty low Sunday. Of course, a lot of time and effort has gone into this celebration and we certainly couldn’t stage such events very often. However, this week’s ac tivities should serve as an example of what can be done when our people work and plan together. mm •T^rTT-BH leview Dr. Mixon Tells Winners- Make It County Victory LEFT HOLDING THE BAG An open letter to all newly elected members of Laurens County CouncthCongratulatlons on your victory! I hope that you will be able to make It a victory for all of Laurens County and if I may be of help In any way, you have but to call on me. I remember attending a De mocratic stump meeting In Laurens where each winning candidate said he was for schools, better water and sewage disposal systems, better solid waste disposal and other things that are needed In Laurens County. I also remem ber that the Democratic Party slogan was, “We deliver.’ I would remind you that when President Nixon was campaign ing in the South that he made some promises which have not been kept Democrats made political hay of this. Republi cans said that he tried, but was not able to do so because of a Democratic controlled House and Senate. Whatever the rea son, it appears that voters In Laurens County remembered that the promises had not been fulfilled and elected Democrats by a lop-sided majority. I am not being critical of your pro mises to work for the above and other things because I,too,pro- mlsed to work for practical education for our young people, county water and sewage facili ties, better collection and dis posal of solid waste, county fire protection, anddrugeduca- tion in our public schools, among other things. The question now Is how to accomplish these things without raising taxes sky high and it is with this thought In mind that I offer some suggestions. We should keep In mind that County Council is in a unique position to accomplish things for Lau rens County and indeed it Is their responsibility to do so. Let us also keep in mind that any federal assistance in the form of gifts and low Interest loans for any of the above mentioned things will not in crease your federal taxes any at all nor should it bring any more federal control than what we now haw u is a fact that at the present time the federal government controls where it wants to control whether or not there is federal aid Involved. It is also true that there is federal aid in the form of grants and low Interest long term loans for all of the above programs plus many, many oth ers. In fact, I have In front of me a ’Listing of Operating Federal Assistance Programs complied during The Roth Study* catalogue which briefly tells about the programs and where to write about them. It tells of so many programs that it takes 1,080 page:, exclusive of the Index. In fact, there ap pears to be over 3,000 of these federal assistance programs that we are presently paying federal tax dollars to support In my opinion, CountyCouncil should try to bring as many of our federal tax dollars back to Laurens County as possible. In some cases there are two, three or four programs for Just one project The above mentioned catalogue Is available from the ‘Superlntendant of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Of fice, Washington, D. C., 20402 at $4.50 per copy. I believe it would be a good investment for each member of the newly elected County Council. We have nearby an agency called the Upper Savannah De velopment District, whose manager Is Mr. Dan Mackay, who function is to help counties, towns and districts In planning for and receiving grants and loans for needed projects of all types. Laurens County Is a paid member of this agency which is located In Greenwood. They are there to serve all counties who are members. Would it not be a good idea for each member of County Council to compile a list of their objectives, call a meet ing as early as possible, Invite Mr. Mackay to attend this meet ing and advise hime of the objectives and get the ball rolling now so that delivery on campaign promises will come about at an early date? In closing, I would like to mention the faci that Laurens County is not In the Appalachian region and that due to this fact the percentage of federal as sistance for the programs needed here in Laurens County is not as great as it Is In those counties which are in the Ap palachian region. Certain pro grams may be funded by grants to about 909c of their total cost when a county is in the Appalachian region. There fore, I urge you to get De mocratic Senator Rollings to support Senator Thurmond’s a- amendment to Include the remaining counties In S. C. In the Appalachian region. This amendment will come before the Senate next year. I wish you much success In delivering to the people of Lau rens County. Very truly yours, Dr. David T. Mixon William Plumer Jacobs (1842-1917) By Lennart PeaAon Head Librarian Preebyterian College The atmoephere being redolent with history this Tricentennial week, it seems appropriate to mention several books which continue to be re warding reading for those who are interested in the early years of Clinton’s history. The first is the Diary of William Plumer Jacobs (1937), a remarkable journal spanning sixty years of activity in the state, most of it here in Clinton. Dr. Jacobs is remembered as founder of the Clinton Library Society (1872), Clinton High School (1872), Thomwell Home and School for Children (1875), Presbyterian College (1880), and Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church for forty-seven years. The diary begins in 1858 when the author was fifteen, in school in Charleston, and teaching himself stenography on the side, mastering it to the point of being able to report the Secession Convention for a newspaper at the age of seven teen. At seminary in Columbia during the years of the War, he came to Clinton in 1864 in time to see the town through Reconstruction, a period when only the most visionary citizens held out hope for civic survival. The diary de scribes with feeling the day to day struggles and satisfactions of those years as bank, railroad, and business brought new life to the town and its developing institutions. The record continues to within one week of the author’s death in 1917 —a rich source of information and a fine chron- incle of the times. The Life of William Plumer Jacobs, a biog- graphical (1942) is a miscellany of his thought and life, edited (as was the Diary) by his son, Thorn well Jacobs. Perhaps the most interesting part of this volume is the section entitled “Per sonal Recollections of Clinton,”—a surprisingly breezy account of manners, morals, and memora bilia of a century ago. This deserves to be re printed. The Life of William Plumer Jacobs, a boig- raphy written by his son, Thomwell Jacobs, two books mentioned above, along with personal recollection, includes pictures, drawings, and maps showing the layout of Clinton in its earlv years. This week, the personal library of William Plumer Jacobs, together with a display of some of his papers and effects, is open to the public as part of the Laurens County Tricentennial ob- servance. It is located just off the Rotunda in the College Library, and will be open through bunday. Library hours are: Mon.-Thurs, 8:30 a.m.-il:00 p.m. Fri.-Sat, 8:30 a.m.^:00 pm ; Sun., 2:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. Dear Mr. Publisher: I been reading a hole lot about these airplanes being hi jacked. Something like that reallv makes a fella think. There’s i:j Jack, money Jack, steeple Jack, lumber Jack, What Happened To Clinton? to relax in our fine churches, *Llle our neighbors go to hell, then we may have no Church to g) to If the% speakers be content to speak to these proud members, they may have no pulpit from which to speak. There are souls In jails. There are souls In the gutters, and even though they may not look as fine or smell as good, in God’s sight they are Just as Im portant There are battles out side the Church. There are principles to stand up for and there are laws that need to be taught again. Dear Editor: I have just returned to Clin ton after a few years'absence. I was born and raised in and around Clinton and have always thought of it as my home town. I spent several years in the Air Force, then returned for a short time and recently was employed outside the state for a few years. The sight that has met my eyes upon returning, is not the town I loved so much. The standards have dropped so low, I can hardly believe it We still have the beautiful Churches al though some have undergone some vast changes. We still have the great landmarks such as Thomwell Orphanage, and Presbyterian College. The can nonball still stands atop the old monument, but what happened to the morals of our town? I walk Into stores and the shelves and display racks are filled with filth. The trash that fills these shelves are not fit for the eyes of adults, much less the eyes of our precious children. I haven’t been In very many grocery stores and curb mar kets where Beer and Wine aren’t sold. Have you ever stopped to think what this does to the minds of growing children/ I know they think of themselves as mature adults, but.Sir, you know as well as I that they are only children playing grownup games and Monkey See-Monkey Do. I went to Grammar School at Reno and Mrs. Alice Copeland taught us songs of worship and paused each morning to read the Bible and pray with us before classes. Maybe we can’t do this any more but we can set for them an example. Sir, why don’t we as Christians, if we are Chris tians, stand and be counted and do something about the obscenity in our town? We can write our mayors and council- men and voice our opinion. You can use your newspaper. Let us remember this "Be not deceiv ed, God is not mocked Jor what soever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.’ Galatians 6:7. What we will do when our crop comes in? We go to church on Sunday and pride ourselves on our fine Church buildings and eloquent speakers, but if we are content This is not meant to be a condemnation of my fellow man and my neighbors. I cannot Judge, but it is a plea to get back to the principles of our forefathers and the laws of our God. This letter may never be printed, because it carries an unpopular message, but I thank you sir for your time. Sincerely: Bill Hamilton * * * Follow The Track Jack knife, Jack rocks, and hi Jack. Course there’s also an °nimal that troes by that name. Another thing this hi-jacking business made me think about was that railroads may not go outa business after all. At least a train is on a track and some nut can’t order it to take off through a wheat field to Cuba. I look for more and more peo ple to travel the slow but sure method. All this news about hi-jack ing also reminded me of some thing Jesus one time said, "Broad is the way that leads to destruction, but narrow is the way that leads to life.’ He was saying that following God’s way is more like travel ing on a train where the track Is laid out A fella ain’t apt to get confused and go wonder ing off In the wrong direction. The way of tne world is wide open like the sky and it’s aw ful easy for somebody to take you off course. The Devil can get you and hold you for ran- some out there In the hot de sert Mr. Publisher, that’s enough hairraising stories for now. I’ve got to go work in my shop for a while. I’m working on a machine that will bring people together without travel ing. If I ever get it done I’m gonna call it a telephone. It’U be a tough job for a jack-leg, but I’ll keep trying. Remember, sir, truth is stranger than fic tion. May all your progress be in a forward direcfion. Parson Jones THE SOVEREIGN ° STATE of AFFAIRS A W0RK1N6 MAM, WHAT t>0 YOU THINK IS THIS COUNTRY’S GREATEST DPOftl PfA? lNfUT|0N!! The prices YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THINGS ARE KlftULOUS!! Authorities have SUbbESTED WAGE AND PRICE CONTROLS AS A POSSIBLE SOUJT.ON. ^f<Se^p4r THE ^oVFRNfAENT CAN CONTROL \THfc PRICES.