LOOKING BACKWARD
Taken From the Filea of The Chronicle Fifteen and Thirty Yearn Ago
THIRTY YKARH AGO
June 2, 1905
The ('ttimlitn Hasobull and Amusement
Park AaaociatIon hits been givrsn
a commission. Capital slock will
be $1 ,000 and corporator*! arte John
H. Lindsay, W J. I*. Weeks and R. H
Clarke.
Mr. and M^. I* T. VilloplKue lose
Infant nop,'Paul Villeplguc. Funeral
services will he today, June 2nd.
Dr. and Mrs A. A. Moon* leave today
for New York to vlall their boii,
Dr. Albertus Moore,
Preparations are being made for a
musicale and drill at the Opera
House on June 27th. The best talent
of Camden will take part.
Or. Henry Cowl* Smith, prcHldeut
of Davidson College will be orator
at tilt; commencement exercises of the
Camden schools t.hih year
Inman Kldredge left Sunday for
Florida, where he has a position,
Tint Hummer Bwallows are making
ready for Hitting to cooler
climes. Am^mTihoHe who will soon
have are. Mr. and Mrs. 1). It. Williams,
Jr.. and daughter, Miss Man
ning ami I). It. Williams, Sr.. Mr. ofld
Mrs. K. (J. Whistler, Mrs. C. J. Shannon,
Jr. Miss l.ella Shannon, Mrs.
Frank Zemp and daughters. Mrs. J.I
W. Corhett and daughter, Miss Alice.
Corbet t.
Fdltoriul. "Open your heart and
your pocketbook and encourage money
making, labor employing, wealth
producing industries to come to your
town."
Oil Mill Assessments by Stiito
Hoard for the. Kershaw Mill is $27.0.00.
E. II. Auli, of Newberry, president
of the State Press Association accepts
invitation to Join the North Carolina
Association at Kenllworth Inn. AsheVllle.
Chief Henry L. Watkins was In Columbia
at a meeting or fire chiefs of
the state, for the purpose of forming
a state association.
Extract from Itock Hill Herald:
"Col. F. H. Harbor, says the wet'
weather is doing what the New Or-'
leans Cotton Convention adopted resolutions
to do?-reducing the cotton :
acreage 2.7 per cent.
FIFTKKN YKAKH AGO
May 28, 1920
Dig Springs, near liethuno to have
formal opening on J uric 4 th, with
banquet and dance.
Mrs Hroadus Thompson dies at her
' ho.ije In the Boykin community, alter
Hhort Illness.
JainoM VV. Plukenoy, wljo hag been
residing in Birmingham for the past
seven yours, baa been appointed Special
Agent of the 1'b'Melphla Underwriters
with Camden as his headi
quarters
The Ilea til Lumber Company, a
North Carolina concern bus bought
up rights on a large acreage in West
Watcree and will erect a mill near
I aigofT.
William 1>. Trantham, who has been
pained to succeed Charles J. Shannon
an postmaster In Camden, took charge
of the office thin week.
T. Kdmund Krumbholz, manager of
The Kirk wood Motel, announces an
addition of forty rooms will be* made
this summer, it. \V. Mitcham is architect.
.Iesse L. Lanky presents iloudinl in
"Terror Island" at The Majestic.
Mrs. Henry O. Strohecker and children,
of Charleston, are visiting Mrs.
Htrohecker's parents, Mr. and Mrs.
.I 1$. Wallace.
President Venustiano Carra^iza, of
Mexico, lias been killed, uudlntf' another
death to Mexico's stormy history.
12,000 of approximately 00.000
French brides of American soldiers
have returned to France. Cause most
generally given is "incompatibility of
Arnerieun and French customs."
"The wheat crop is 34 per cent
short. Help the situation out Mr.
Farmer. Plant more corn."
Winthrop College offers ten day
short course to Home Demonstration
women and girls. Those from Kershaw
county going are: Mrs Paul
Drown, Miss LCthe^ Howell, Mrs. Kuth
Morton, Miss Gertrude McLeod, Mrs.
K. H Watts, Kvu Sinclair, Julia Peak,
j Itessic Young, Kuth McNuughlon and
I Mamie Lou 11 ilton.
Typical!
Foreman: Hey? Want a job?
Loiterer: Sure, but I can only work
mornings.
Foreman Why ?
Loiterer: 1 have to carry a banner
In the Unemployed I'arade in the afternoon.
C. C. C. Camp For Lee
Washington. May 27.?Senator
Smith of South Carolina, today was
notified a civilian conservation camp
will be estahlished near Hishopville,
. S. for development of a state park
in Lee county.
/' EVERY
^ ONE!
* in
SPORT
DRES SES
$2-77
Lots of Style?Plenty
of Free Swing
Washable All Silk
Crepe ? Pastel shades.
Ideal for Sport wear in
hot weather.
Sizes 14 to 44
If you are planning
a vacation be sure to
take at least one of
these with you.
: I
Old Farms Now
Thing Of The Past
Albert M. Li rial, editor of The York
vllle inquirer, conducts a feature in '
his paper each week entitled "Just
A Rolling Along" In which he takes
up thingH and places of interest. What
he has to say about the farina in York
county applies the uahie to Kershaw
county uiul makes interesting reading.
His comments follow:
Almost every man or woman, fifty
years and over In age, can look backwards
a couple of generations and re
member the time when all over York
Chester. Fairfield, Union, Spartanburg,
Greenville and what is now
Cherokee counties, there were farm
homesteads peopled by a happy, contented
people who lived and enjoyed
life?every one of them a veritable
little principality.
There wus wealth, culture, Independence,
confidence, .Joy, happiness
to be found on our big plantations
Those people lived like lords proprietors.
Every plantation establishment
wus complete in itself. The owner of
these separate plantations could w#lk
out on his front porch, and looking In
uny direction he pleased, see spread
before him u couple of hundreds, &0b,
or a thousand acrea and say within
his soul, "Mine, and I am beholden to
no man."
'Today, how different the picture:
IMIng very familiar with the past history
of York county?and the same
condition exists in the other counties
mentioned above?I can see in all
sectipns of the county the remains of
once highly valuublo, prosperous estates,
now in ruins. Their once happy
and contented white owners have
passed away; their castles huve fallen
Into disrepair; their great establishments.
including barns, cribs, smokehouses,
granaries, carriage houses,
pasture fences and so forth, have disappeared
before the ravages of time.
The "big house" In many, many instances
is now all but in ruins?it
leaks, the buildings need repairs and
paintings; the foundations even have
deteriorated, and instead of well-todo
"white folks" the "mansion" is now
tenanted by negro families?and this
is ny jspecial reflection on the negro
tenants. It all makes a terribly d<pressing
picture.
* *
Even the remnants?descendants
of those once wealthy farm folks oi
two generations ago have disappear !
ed, have been swallowed up in "whit*- j
collar jobs" in nearby towns and dis !
tant cities, where many (if them ai< j
just managing to exist and wishing j
tor the day to return whv-n they j
could live as "grandpaw" did back on !
tlie old plantation
No. gentle reader, this picture is J
not overdrawn. Rather the plctun
is not as vivid, not as forlorn, as it
might bo painted were I more of a
word artist and could use my words
more effectively to make you see the
picture of happy farm and plantation
life in these counties half a century
and more ago, in contrast with many
of today.
?
I am more familiar with York county
than with the other counties mentioned.
but like conditions have existed
elsewhere and like conditions
exist today in the other counties, and
in tact all over South Carolina, the
proudest state with the proudest people
on the face of God's footstool.
In my mind's eye I can see back a
hair century ago plantation establishments
all over this county that were
veritable little principalities.
No need to call names, but in Bethel.
Bethesda. Broad Itiver. Bullocks
Creek. Catawba. Ebenezer, Fort Mill
Kings Mountain and York townships
were farm homes where their owners
enjoyed (he best of everything there
was to he had in that day-? comfortable.
commodious homes, carriages,
fine horses, sows, sheep, chickens,
barns filled with feedstuff for the best
mules that money could buy; fine cartinges
and buggies, good farm equip- \
tnent. The granaries were always
full of corn, the smokehouses packed
with hams and bacon and lard.
When "big meeting day" came
around at the neighborhood church
you could see a real turnout of people
?happy, social, intelligent, contented,
dressed In silks and satins and broadcloth
the equal of any like number
ot people to be found anywhere. Hospitable?
These people knew the
meaning of the word and practiced it
to the 'steenth degree. Their word
for an obligation was as good as a
government bond.
How different today! And what has
brought about the change.. Well, ttrst
I would say that our farm lands have
been worn out. The cureless, reckless.
wanton way in which our farming
has been done, has brought much
of the deterioration. Lands have been
recklessly abused. The idea seemed
to be that the land will always he
here, it will not yvear out What an
awful mistake!
The foundation of the land, the
subsoil, red, or black, gummy, stilT,
unproductive, will always tie there
perhaps?some of It will; but under
our system of taking everything that
the soil will give, without ever putting
anything back into the soil, and not
even knowing enough to try to keep
the soil in Its place; we have thrown
away our God-given birthright and let
the soil leech away, erode away, and
bo carried off from the productive
fields to the branches, and creeks,
and rivers and on to the sea. It Is
gone.
Naturally, and of course, when the
farms became unproductive because
of the loss of the productive soils,
great gushes und slushes appeared lu
(he fields, and owners begun to see
ihut the "rurin doe?n't pay"?that tt
would not support them In the Htyle
in which they supported "grundpuw"
ami "urandmaw," and they begun to
look lu other directions for uuetenutice.
Over the hill they hhw an eusler
exlMtonce. a softer place In which
to abide, and these places they are
still looking for.
A new kind of agriculture was born.
Men took over the farina, many of
them, and began a system of single
cropping?Cotton. That was the one
thing, as they saw It, that could be
produced profitably?that would bring
in the dollars. Tenants were put on
the lunds, high-pressure methods were
udopted, huge amounts of commercial
fertilizers were used to produce cotton?our
only Money Crop. Yes, It
was and is a money crop, but the fact
remuins that most of the money made
from cotton crops has gone to others
than the producers. Proof, There's
plenty of It. Cook ut the recorded
land mortgages In your county clerk's
office; turn your eyes toward New
York where 'tis said many millions
are invested in skyscrapers?millions
that have been made directly and Indirect
ly from Southern grown cotton.
* * *
Hiding over a section of the Fishing
Creek Soil Conservation area with
Messrs. Huff, Brissie and Brown, lust
week, as I passed by quite a number
of old time plantation sites, especially
in Hethesda, Fbenezer and Catawba
townships, It made me feel sad, as I
recalled the days of my youth when
these places were occupied and owned
by outstanding, cultured, prosperous
York county families, people who
were proud of their possessions and
wlio showed that pride by the way
they ordered things about their home
sites.
Yes, I was saddened as 1 saw many
of these stately old mansions gone to
wrack and ruin, their former owners
and their descendants gone from the
communities, and the "big house" occupied
by negro families, with rickety,
| rackety tenant houses here und there
over the old plantation.
Then, as 1 noticed the tremendous
Object lesson in the matter of rebuilding
and protecting the remaining soil
on the lands, the plans being made to
again rebuild the lands and protect it
from further devastation by their
qtiict, silent, persistent enemy, soil
erosion, the plans for bringing about
a new kind of agriculture?rotation of
crops, diversification?I looked down
the aisles of time not so many years
ahead, and I could see the time when
York county farms, and the farms of
other counties, benefitting by the actual
work being (lorn- by the Soil Conservation
Service and by individual
land owners using the methods of
Cntlc Sam's agency, the land will be
brought back to a state of productivity
that will again make farming, as a
business, a real business, paying as
big dividends on the money invested,
the tittle put in the work, as will any
other business?and if, and when this
comes to pass, we will see a happy,
contented, independent white population
on the lands again, not just existing.
hut realty living the lives of
people who will feel that it is good to
live instead of just exist.
* * *
The most valuable material asset
on any farm is the soil?that element
of the earth that really produces the
growth of the crops. No one will dispute
that fact. The only other element
entering into tlie production of
crops that is more valuable than the
soil, is the energy and brain of the
owm-r of the land.
Rut .with our Ostein of farming, in
vogue for the last fifty years or more,
of driving the soil to produce the utmost
possible, year after year, and
with no effort being made to retain
that soil on the land, or little effort
to add to it. we have impoverished
the soil to the point where it will no
longer produce crops profitably?certainly
not of itself?and it is doubtful
even with the aid of highly concentrated
and expensive commercial
fertilizers, applied year after year,
while the soil eroded away-?several
tons per acre per year.
An again I would emphasize the
fuel that the farms have not been
profitable and point you to the thousands
upon thousands of acres of
once valuable lands now under mortgage,
with the mortgagee fn many
Instances unable to pay the taxes,
to snv nothing of the Interest on his
borrowings.
* *
Given time, energy, work and the
adoption of a new and more modern
system of farming, added to the definite
plans now being demonstrated in
the Fishing Creek area of protecting
the soil against erosion, keeping the
water on the land by having crops
that will prevent erosion and nt the
same time prevent the water rushing
off down the hill, because there's nothing
there to make its progress slower,
and give it a chance to sink into the
earth to supply moisture for crop sustenance
in dry periods, a new day
will surely come to the agricultural
class.
This one-crop system is not peculiar
to the cotton growers of the old
or new South. The same plan has
been practiced by the wheat and-the
corn growers of the middle west and
the far west; the same applies to the
New Knglnnd and Middle Atlantic
states where they too are paying the
price, the terrific price, of lands eroded
away until productive soil has all
but disappeared from millions upon
millions of acres.
* +
Before me I have a bulletin from
the Soil Conservation Service of the
Department of Agriculture, that tells
me that In Pennsylvania there are
14,650,123 acres of farm lauds from
which sheet erosion has taken 50.9
per cent of the topsoil, and in that
state there are more than 8,000,000
acres affected by "occasional gullying,
severe gullying and destroyed by gullies."
All these things can be prevented
and if they are not prevented,
it is not so hard to believe that Secretary
Ickes of the Interior Department,
is nearly right when he predicts
that within 100 years most of
this country of ours?the whole
United States?will be a DESERT.
* * *
No, I do not want to be fanatical. I
dont' think that I am; but again I
will say, and I really believe it, that
this Soil Conservation Service, though
it. cannot possibly be carried to every
man's acres all over the land, is reallly
the greatest service that the federal
government has ever offered to
farmers and land owners, but to get
the most from it, every land owner
must cooperate with the service and
not put up his superficial knowledge
against the knowledge that has been
and is being proven by scientific study
and practical experience.
Up to Wednesday night President
Roosevelt had received more than 600
telegrams lauding his veto message to
congress. Only a dozen or so were
in opposition to his views.
i
I When Dennis Chaves, of New Me^B
co, was sworn in as the successor rfB
the late Senator Bronson Cutting tB
the United States senate, six seatlfl
liberals strode out of the chamber,>B
a scornful protest against the admitfl
11stration's efforts to drive Cuttiri|o<B
j of office following his election Itffl
! November. |
|
j A Belmont, N. C., man lost a tffl
! against the Cocoa Cola compufB
! which claimed damages for alleffl
| finding of an insect in a bottle,
NOTICE TO CREDITORS |
In the District Court of the UnflrfB
States for the Eastern District
South Carolina. In Bankrupt?*
In the matter of W. Sheora 4 &*B
Camden, S. C. Alleged Bankrupt fl
Notice is hereby given that flfl
above named bankrupt has
petition for discharge and thslj
hearing has been ordered to be 1H
upon the same" on the
June, A. D. 1935, before this Cs*
at Charleston, S. C., at 10 o'clock*
the forenoon; at which time
place, all known creditors and wjB
persons in interest may appear it"!
said time and place, and show <**
if any they have, why the p
tlie said petition should not beg?*
RICHARD W. JlUTi(?
9 10 sb.
/Both theue plots of tobacco received fertilizer of exa/tly the \
1 same analysis. The difference Is this! The mixture used at V
\ the left was made from old style natural materials; at the/ .9
( rlnht. from pure materials.,, J >9
LOOK...COMPARE I
Camera sees all... tells all I
... better than words J
This season more crops than for
many a year will be side-dreSSed
with Natural Chilean Soda. It came
from the ground; now it's going
back to the ground to give health
and vigor to your crops.
Once we believed crops needed
only phosphate, potash and nitrogen.
Now we know they require
many other elements. Once wc
thought of the old-time natural fertilizers
only as sources of phosphate,
potash and nitrogen. Now
we know they contain other equally
necessary elements.
All these years we
have been following
Nature's laws?and
only realized what that
meant after trying substitute
materials.
There was a difference.
Crops showed it.
"m
They did not deem to get what the; |
needed?what the old-time naturi \
fertilizers supplied.
What is the difference? Soot
people think it is the extra element!
?the "vital impurities." Othenbelieve
it is the natural origin, the |
centuries of blending and curing
Probably it is both. The main point
is that the difference is there, audit
means much to you. "J
Be sure to say "Chilean" whea 1
ordering your side dresser. Justthct 1
one word?but what a difference! |
See your dealer for Chilean Nat
ural Nitrate. Two j
kinds C h arnpioa |
(granulated), OldStyk
(crystals). They are |
both genuine. Bothsrt '
natural. And both girt J
to your crops tho*
vital impurities.
Chilean Natural Nitrate?the
only nitrogen
that comes from the
ground?the ideal side
dresser /or your crops.
Chilean
NATURAL
NITRATE
THE OLD ORIGINAL SODA
fv* got those
natural
IMPURITIES!
^HSKmooogHom iniff
31
Mil
I City Business Licenses!
I All 1935 City Licenses on Busi'B
I nesses not paid by June 15, 1935^^1
I will be subject to a penalty
I fifteen (15) per cent.
I J. C. BOYKIN, ; M
I City Clerk-Treasurer of Camden