Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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ik- the Camden Chronicle w?, VOLUME 45 CAMDEN, SOUTH CAROLINA, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 39, 1993 NUMBER 40 ? ' ' ' Man Admits Killing Of Columbia Youth Columbia, Dec. 26.?Robert H. Wilos, 49, ? jobless mechanic allegedly k confessed today ho felled lb-year-old Herbert 11. Harris, Jr., only son of Mr. H. H. Harris of 724 Pinewood Drive, with an iron bar and rained blows ypon the prone boy until he ceased to struggle. Police said Wiles udmitted killing the boy Saturday in a deserted farm house near Columbia. They said he then drove back tp Columbia, shook hands with the boy's father and . wished him a Merry Christmas. The killing first was attributed to a desire for revenge against the elder Harris, but the investigation so far V today failed to establish any motive. John Martin Rushton, a former nioat cutter for a grocery chain managed by tho boy's father, was held at the state penitentiary for further examination. He denied all know> ledge of the crime. Three men exploring the old house Christmas Day camp upon the body in the frorit rpom beneath the bloody remnants of a mattress. 'Several heavy blows over the temples had battered in the skull. The discovery ended a. 48-hour search motivated by the theory young Harris hud been kjjlnaped. No ran' som ever was asked1.' f Three department of justice agents joined the state, county and city officers in the ensuing investigation which resulted in the arrest of Wiles and Rushton. Officers said Eddie Dixon, negro bootblack, identified Wiles at the penitentiary as the man who got him to hand young Harris a note on lower Main street Saturday. Dixon said Harris' read the note and drove off with the man in an automobile. The note, addressed to "H. Harris and bearing the signature of an emergency relief worker, was believed to have lured Harris into the car underx"bh?__>jmprmfei(m Ke was to be given employment. Wiles allegedly confessed to writing the note and driving Harris to the abandoned farm Kbuso in an isolated section 12 miles from Columbia. J. M. Parker, truck driver, said he recognized Wiles as the man he had seen in a car with young Harris on a highway near here 'Saturday. Wiles, who was acquitted of a double slaying at 'Durham, N. C., in 1925, was quoted by police as giving the following account of the killing: The car came to a halt at the rear of tho house. The pair got out, examined the interior, and returned to the back yard. Young Harris, apparently growing suspicious, said "this is a devil of a place." Wiles answered, "we'll get along all right here." The boy, scowling- deeply,- stared at Wiles. He then struck the older nian a "hard blow" in the face and twisted away. Wiles, police said, admitted picking up an iron bar about 18 inches lor.g and swinging it in a horizontal arc to crush the side of the boy's head. The youth fell to the ground, but attempted to rise. Wiles was quoted *as saying he struck "again and again" but was uncertain whether two or three blows ton k effect. Wiles ended his purported confession by telling how he dragged the body into the house, cove e l it, and drove back to Columbia 'o wish the boy's father a happy Chn-t mas. Off. e!> said they had learned Wiles wa- t id and acquitted at Durham, N .a 1925, of killing his wife and Ra;:. H Gordon, of Columbia, friend of Mi. Wiles. A \ >rld war veteran who claims to r,u\ ! been gassed, he has four i children, two of them described as "youngsters" and two as "grown-up." w ? Banks To Observe Holiday The patrons of the two city banks *re n t.fied in this manner that they *>'i he closed in observance of New '-Year'.- Day, Monday, January first. The Commercial Bank of Camden ; Tin- First National Bank. Death of Mrs. Logan Roberts Mr.-. iJocia Roberts, wife of Logan ? Roberts, of the Lockhart section - ?f Kershaw county, died at the Cam* ?en ho-pital Saturday morning and buried in the cemetery at the f "?Ka!b Baptist church, following 'uneral services conducted in the , ^tirch by Rev. J. H. Hunter, of KerMrs. Roberts is survived by ; L ** bus band and several young chil- : Kershaw Era. , Spong Twins Both j Suffer Broken Leg j JErnest M. iSpong, Jr., nine-year-old son of E. M. Spong, 935 Grogg street, .broke his left leg ten days ago while playing at the home of hi.s grandparents, Judge and Mrs. E. 1). Blakeney, of Camden. I Rosalind Spong, twin sister, of Ernest, broke her right leg Monday when (she fell over a flower box at the Spong home on Gregg street here. Yesterday the Spong twins were both at home in bed. Ernest's leg is in a cast and toduy Rosalind will have , her leg put into a cast. Tho only difference is in the fact that Ernest suffered a fracture be-' tween the knee and thigh, while Roralihd suffered a compound fracture below the knee. L The twins are in no pain, their father said last night, and except for the fact that they are confined to 'bed are facing Christmas with great glee and anticipation of what Santa Cluus will havarto, styre ^or a little boy and little gi?l ht^bpeh good little children ali,^the year.' * For the past eight years, the Spong twins have spent Christmas with their grandparents in Camden. Mr. Spong, if the doctor, agrees, will take the children to Camden this Christmas, for the twins are anxious not to riiiss their annual Yuletide trip. Mr. Spong says that he will put the boy in the back seat of one car and the girl in the back seat of another car and thus make the trip to Camden. When Ernest broke his leg, he was the recipient of many presents of sympathy from members and friends of the family. When Rosalind broke her leg eight days later, Ernest told his parents, "Well, it is too bad, because I've already got all the presents and sister will have to wait until Santa Claus comes before she gets any." But she didn't have to wait. Both children are expected to be up and walking oWith perfectly good legs about the first of February. But, it is fe safe bet that the minute one of the twins walks with both legs, I the other is going to do the same or | "break a leg" trying.?The State of December 21. To Speak Over Radio Henry - Savage, Jr., well-known Camden attorney, will be the speaker over W.B.T. Charlotte this afternoon between five and six o'clock on a series of addresses sponsored by the South Carolina Economic Association. Mr. Savage, having recently written a book entitled "America Goes Socialistic," will use the title of his book for his subject. It is an interpretation of our governmental trend. Survey Cards For Each Farmer The county agent has just received a supply of Special Cotton Survey ! Cards which are to be distributed among the farmers of Kershaw coun ty as soon as possible. Every farmer j in the county who grows cotton is to j secure one of these cards. Every! farmer should get up the necessary i information and fill out one of these ! card^ whether he intends to sign a contract for acreage reduction or not. The information called for on these cards has to do with the acreages and I production of cotton during the past j six years. This card is furnished so that the information will be readily available when the farmer is contact-, ed later by a committeeman in refer- j ence to making an acreage reduction contract. These cards may be secured from 1 the Bank at Kershaw, Bank in Be- i thune, Post Office at Blaney and County Agent's office in Camden. Send Greetings To President The following telegram to President Roosevelt filed at Postal Tele- j graph office December 24th was: signed by fifty-nine of the lea-ding citizens of Camden: j "We appreciate the magnanimous' efforts you are making to put the; men of our nation back to work and I bring about prosperity again. We j join in good will Hashing the season's message of good cheer. .Merry Christmas anrj a Happy New Year." Report of The Gins There were 12,533 bales of cotton ginned in Kershaw county, from the j crop of 1933, prior to December 13, j 1933, as compared with 14,428 bales j ginned to December 13, 1932, according to O. R. S. Pool, cotton agent, Kershaw county. Notice To Local Merchants A. C. McKain, secretary of the Camden Merchants Association, has addressed the following notice to the merchants of Camden: "At a meeting of the Camden Merchants Association held Wednesday night it was unanimously decided to observe Monday, January 1st, ?s a holiday, albng with the banks. You are earnestly, requested to co-operate and make this one hundred .per cent." 1934-1935 Sign-Up. Is Now Organizing Clemson College, Dec. 18.?The sign-up campaign for the 1934-85 cotton adjustment contracts, which has been announced to begin January 1 in various cotton states, will not begin in South Carolina at that time, says Dr. W. W. Ixrng, director of the Extension Service, who states that organization for efficient operation at minimum exponse cannot be perfected by that time. Thorough organization is now under way, Dr. Long says, and when that is sufficiently advanced, the date for the opening of the campaign will be announced. Following the conferences held lust week with extension workers in South Carolina and other cotton states, an organization, under direction of the extension forces, is being developed around the volunteer workers who took part in the 1933 emergency adjustment campaign. Instructions to field workers and a manual of administrative rulings containing 'detailed information on tho program will be distributed soon from Washington. Approxiftiately $125,000,000 will be paid to cotton producers of't-he South next year yuder tho 19S4 adjustment progran^, producers wijl be offered a rental payment based upon the productivity of the land they agree to withhold from production, and a parity payment of not less than one per 'cent per pound on their farm allot-j ment. i In connection with the 1934-35 campaign "Chester C. Davis, agricultural adjustment administrator, says: I "Cotton farmers of the South who will be asked to sign these new contracts are, I believe, thoroughly familiar with the economic facts that make it necessa^ to continue the adjustment of cotton production. In spite of plowing up more than 10 million acres last summer, there is I still a surplus of cotton. This program is directed to the. elimination of this surplus. If all cotton farmers participate and actually restrict I planting next year to 25 million j acres, there is a definite prospect of a more nearly balanced cotton situation at the beginning of the crop year next August 1. & "I am advised of a vast improvement in conditions in the South as compared with those of last y^ar* We know that the cotton program of this past summer was one of the major contributing factors to this improvement. The South has already experienced to a considerable degree the beneficial results of a production control program and wo in Washington recognize that the first major attempt of the Adjustment Administration was successful because of the immediate and intelligent cooperation of the cotton farmers of the South. Tho administration is confident that the same spirit will characterize this second step in th<s. adjustment of cotton production." Dr. H. C. Morrison & This distinguished gentleman will be the guest of Dr. C. F. Wimberly for a few days neRt week. He is a world-wide known character. Built up a school 25 years ago, which was nothing, and now is one of the outstanding colleges in the land. Asbury College now has even in depression six or seven hundred students. Dr. Morrison is, the ed'tor of the Pentecostal Herald, a religious paper that covers the entire civilized world. William Jennings Bryan said he regarded Dr. Morrison as the greatest pulpit orator in America and this opinion is voiced by many other noted men. He will speak at the Methodist church Tuesday night, January 2. We invite the public to hear him. Baptist Church Services Rev. J. B. Caston, pastor of-the Camden Baptist ^Rurch, announces the following services for Sunday, December 31st: Student's night will be held at the-church at 7:30 o'clock; a splendid program has been arranged for the young people; 11:15 a. m., preaching by the pastor, subject, "The Impossibility of Retracing Our Steps." All are cordially invited to attend these services. Methodist Church Next Sunday The New Year message will be preached nt 11:15 by the pastor, Dr. C. F. Wimberly; theme, "What Will J The New Year Mean To Us?". X^'e welcome visitors with us. Theme at night, "Some Constructive Plans For The New Year." e Special musje-by the choir and violin by Newell Wimberly. ?Let ua continue to build up: the night congregation. w , i 111 1 News of Interest In And Near Bethune i * Bethune, Doc. 2Gth.?The following young women and men who are engaged in teaching spent the holidays at their respective homes hero; Misses Frances Severance, Morristown, N. J.; Mary Louise McLaurin, Greenville; Gladys Baker, GatTney; l)orothy Parrot t, Wadesboro, N. C.; Carrie Yarbrough, Baron DcKalb school; Lizzie Kate Davis, Jefferson; and Kirkland Wutts, Moncks Corner; Fred Josey, Georgia Military College, Millodgeville; Gordon Watts, Clemson college. The college students at for the holidays are: Misses Margie Parrott, Mary B. Ratclilf, Ruth Jones, Elsie Mae Hammond, Elizabeth Baker and Gladys Joyner, Winthrop college; Thelma Davis and Lorena McDonald, Boone college, N, C.; Margaret Truesdale, Qucens-Chieora; Mary King, Columbia college; and W, K. Davis, Jennings Watford, Mack Davis, Cochran, Ga,; Leander Helms, Clemson college; and John Edwin Williams, Furman university. Miss Annie Mae I/iuckaboo, of Williamsburg, Va., has'been visiting her sister, Mrs. Lonnie 'Waters. Miss Edith Tiller, of Durham, N. C., has been the guest of relatives here. Mrs. J. G. Richards, of Asheville, spent several days during the holiday season with her parents*the J. A. McCaskills. Mr. and Mrs. B. W. Brannon and children were week end guests of Mr. and Mrs. Wade Atkinson, Columbia. Miss Ann Rocker, of Atlanta, visited in the home of the D. M. Mays' during the holidays. George Sedley King, of Greenville, was also a guest of the family. Mrs. H. G. Hiers with her 'little son, of Bamberg, Mr. and Mrs. E. E. Austin, of North Carolina and Miss Do is Watts, of Richmond, Va., are visiting their mother, Mrs. Maud Watts, this week. Morrison Graham has gone to Smoaks to sj>end the holidays with his parents. Mr. and Mj-s. Dargan Clyburn spent several days recently with Mrs. Clyburn's parents at Easley. ,.Mtv and Mrs. A. L. Gardner, of Wagener, and Mr. and Mrs. Grier Gordon, of Charlotte, were week end guests of the Z. P. Gordons. Woodrow Seegars, of the C. C. C. camp near 'Conway, is .at home for the holidays. Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Evans and children, of Newnan, Ga., have been visiting the W. \V. Mungos. Mv. and Mrs. Loring Davis had as their dinner guests Monday evening Mr. and Mrs. Billie .McDonald, Miss .Marguerite Clyburn and Kershaw Jones, of Kershaw. Miss Edith Clyburn is spending the week end with Mr. and Mrs. Roy Neely, Hamlet, N. C. Miss Beth Terry, of Quitman, Ga., is visiting relatives here. Billie Best has .been the guest of his sister, Mrs. M. D. Marsh, Columbia, during the holidays. Raymond Clyburn, of Norfolk, Va., spent Sunday and Monday with relatives in Bethune. Mrs. W. E. Davis and children have I been spending some time in Darlington with Mrs. Davis' parents, the John McSweens. Mr. and Mrs. G. E. Brant, Bamberg, and Mr. and Mrs. Charles V. Rivers and little daughter, Katherine Ward, ; have been recent guests of Mr. and Mrs. M. O. Ward. ^ Production Credit Association Formed The Kershaw Production. Credit Association, destined to be a per; mnncnt set-up to take the place of 'the former seed loan heretofore j handled by the county agent has been formed with headquarters over the 1 Bank of Kershaw. I The association will serve the farj mors of all of Lancaster county and jail of Kershaw county, with the exception of West Wateree which will ! be served by the Richland and Fair) field association. The capital stock will be $250,000 'with the privilege of increasing. Ap: plication blanks for loans will be ; found later at all high school buildj ings and the offices of the two county agents and the association will be [ready to function by the first of Jan, nary. I' W. T. Redfcarn, of Camden, was elected president of the association, with E. J. Bailey, of Heath Springs, vice-president, and A. G. Clarkson, of i Camden, scrcetary. Directors are [Loring Da\is, of Bethune; W. H. j DrafTin, of Riverside; L. O. Funder; burk. of Camden; L. J. Jordan, of [ Westville; R. - S; Kirk.- of Heath J Springs; R. W. Parker, of Lancaster; W. C. Seagle, of Camden. Fire at Kershaw On last Thursday morning about five o'clock fire destroyed the two story residence just north of the Presbyterian church, erected by the i late W. W. Horton and occupied by [ the families of Hubert J. Mobley and Jessie M. Mobley.?-Kershaw Era. Police Working on Robbery Regarding the robbery of jewelry from my window last Sunday will say that the police are working hard on this case and it is hoped the robbers will be caught and be prosecuted severely. Dick Goodale. Conditions Show A Great Improvement A marked improvement in the Benoral business condition throughout Kershaw county has been evidenced in many ways during the past few months. Merchants in Camden, Kershaw, Hethune, Blaney, Lugoff and other points over the county report an appreciable increase in cash business, while farmers in every section of the county are in far better condition than they *-ero a year ago. The average farmer of Kershaw county is in far better spirits, is most optimistic, and is looking to the future with greater enthusiasm than he has for three years past.. Tno greatest stimulus injected into the recovery which >wc are now enjoying is the money paid cotton farmers for destroying approximately forty per cent of their cotton acreage during tho past season. Farmers and business men over the county realise that a great deal more money has been brought into the county due to the plow up campaign than would have been received for the entire cotton crotp had we not destroyed as much of it as we did. At this time cotton options are being disbursed among farmers who aro in turn borrowing four cents per pound from the government. This additional ' cash which will soon be distributed over the county will toe a great help to not only the farmers but tho business interests in general. Many farmers have been able to pay their delinquent taxes for the first time in three or four years. Many of them re-roofed their dwellings and. barns?some have even bought wire fencing, while others havo made various repairs on their furm equipment. A large number of young mules have 'been placed in the county. A general farm recovery is further evidenced by tho greatly; increased plantings by farmers of soil-improvement crops. This is especially encouraging when it is realized that farmers do not plant soil-improvement crops unless they are optimistic and looking to the future with considerable satisfaction. During the past fall farmers of tho county have planted over 50,000 pounds of Austrian Winter Peas and Vetch, and in tho spring they planted 15,000 pounds of Crotaluria Spectabilis. The plantings to Soybeans, Velvet Beans and other summer legumes were also greatly increased. Farmers and business men throughout the entire county huve manifested a most splendid spirit of cooperation, especially in the matter of working with the county farm agent in the Agricultural Adjustment program. Indications at this time are that there will be' a very heavy sign-up in the Cotton Acreage Reduction for 1034-35. Farmers who borrowed from the Government Crop Production last season are paying these accounts most splendidly and are cooperating closely with the Crop Production .Loan Office. To give an insight as to the volume of business being transacted in Kershaw County for farmers -during the year now ending, approximately $810,000 have been handled jointly through the Crop Production Loan Office and the county agent's office. This amount includes loans to farmers, cotton benefit payments in lieu of destroying cotton and cotton options. Body Found in Woods ^Charleston, Dec. 26.?The body of Merrill B. King, Kalamazoo, Mich., business man, who stepped from an Eastern Air Transport plane ^ on March 2, was found at 11 o'clock this morning in the Edisto river lowlands near Adams Run. The body whs identified by papers found nearby. It was discovered by a woodsranger of the Elbert preserve. Loan and Savings Paid 3rd Dividend Many folks, depositors in the late Loan and Savings bank, were made happy just before Christmas by receiving from Dr. R. E. Stevenson, receiver, their third dividend of ten per cent, making 30 per cent, in all since the clo.-e of this bank. Dr. Stevenson tells us that it represented around $0,000 that went back to the depositors. Ho says he hopes in time to pay back all the money, as the bank still holds property to offset all money lost to depositors. A Sample "And you don't know anything about religion?" queried the missionary. "Well, we got a little taste of it when the last missionary was here," replied the cannibal chieftain. A Gentle Hint Menagerie Keeper?Ma'am, please keep your children away from the bear cage. Woman?Why, you don't think my children would hurt your bear, do you? Keeper?No, but the last boy this bear ate, he almost choked to death on * knife the boy had in hia pocket. ?The Pathfinder. Mayor Kennedy Is Hurt In Fall I Robert M. Kennedy, Jr., Camden'* popular mayor, spent Christmas ait his home nursing: a badly hurt right ankle, which he suffered in a severe fall on Main street Saturday molding. ? K Mayor Kennedy was crossing on foot at the intersection of Broad and ./.? lV>Kalb streets when u car driven by a negro narrowly missed running him down. Mr. Kennedy called to him to stop in order to reprimand him but the driver continued on his way as if he didn't care. Quickly he boarded a passing car driven by George Bowers, and tbld him to follow the negro's car.?. Mr. Bowers thought Mr. Ken>nedy safely on the running board and put on speed, the fall resulting. The jmayof was carried immediately to ^ae' hospital and placed on the opciatmg tabic, where the injured member, which had been sprained before, was set and placed in a 'Cast. It will probably be some time before he is able to walk again. The Associated Press carried an account of the accident the following morning and since thon the popular nmjyV. who is widely known in .n?uranco Jnul cotton circles, has had many letters and messages of sympathy from various places. Two of them he prizes above all others?one is from the oldest insurance man in South Carolina and another from a tweiveyear-old Camden school girl. His home has been flooded with callers since his accident,- all wishing him a speedy recovery. Two C?rs Collide; Two Badly Injured While returning from a midnight service at St. Mary's Catholic church early Monday morning, Neal Parker and his sister, Louise Parker, of the Wateree mill village, were scveiely injured when their automobile was in collision with a car driven by Eddie Robertson, also of the mjll village. Both injured were carried to the Camden hospital where at first it appealed their injuries would prove fatal, but later reports are to the effect that they are improving and their recovery is expected. Robertson, driver of the other car, surrendered to Sheriff McLeod soon after the accident and has been held in tho county jail pending the outcome of the injuries to the two young people. Rotary Had Fine Meet The largest Rotary meeting ever held in Camden, with the exception of Ladies Night celebratidn was held today. All .former Rotarians, about twenty-five in number were special guests of the club and quite a few of them were called upon for short talks. Hughey Tindal had as his guests all the Citadel students, who are at home for the holidays. Mr. Tindal is an alumnus of the Citadel. All Rotarians having brothers, sisters or children in colleges, had these college students as their guests. And in addition, several Rotarians were accompanied by their wives or friend.s rpom was decora ed. with Christmas emblems and a holiday spirit prevailed at the gathering. There were two prizes given by Sam Karesh for the best programs put on during the past six months. I he first prize went to Dr. Robin Zomp, and it was presented to him by Dr. J. W. Corbett. Dr. Zemp had as his speaker Bishop Warren G. j ( andler, who made a masterful ad, dress during the time the Metnoost | Conference was in session* some time i?- ' The second prize went to David I Wolfe, and it was presented by uohn M. Villcpigue. Mr. Wolfe had Rabbi Sam Schillman, of Sumter, as guest orator of one of the meetings eral months ago, and he had a most inspiring talk. The secretary was instructed to write Rotarian R. M. Kennedy. Jr., a letter expressing hopes that he will soon be on his feet again. The Various song numbers during the meeting were led by Ernest Zemp, Vardell Walsh and Clifton McKa.n. Next week's progam will be in charge of Reuben Pitts. Before adjourning the club stood in a silent prayer for six departed Rotarians, who have died since the organization of the club. Posts Repainted The posts on Broad and DeKalb streets furnishing Camden's wnite way are now being given a cca of fresh paint. This will add further beauty to Camden's well-kept streets. Mrs. Edith Anderson, the new hotel inspector for this state assumed her official dpties on Wednesday. She is a traveling salesman living at i Marion. She inspects restaurants as well as hotels. A new bank in Marion, started i* April 19.?,2, is paying its stockholders a 4 per cent dividend out of earnings since thon. It now has deposits of $140,000. ?! a A marion man whose defense in magistrate court was that he forgot i to get a new license plate for his car i before December 16, had a mistrial before a jury and will be tried again after New Yeara.