Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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?tjr Bamberg ^eralb ESTABLISHED APRIL. 1891. A. W. KNIGHT. Editor. Published every Thursday in The Herald building, on Main street, in the live and growing City of Bamberg, being issued from a printing office which is equipped with Mergenthaler linotype machine, cylinder press, folder, two jobbers, all run by electric power, with other material and machinery in keeping, the whole equipment representing an invest - . ment of $10,000 ana upwards. Subscriptions?By the year, $1.00, or 10 cents a month for less than one year. All subscriptions payable strictly in advance. Advertisements?$1.00 per inch for first insertion, subsequent insertions 50 cents per inch. Legal advertisements at the rates allowed by law. Local reading notices 10 cents a line each insertion. Wants and other advertisements under special head, 1 cent a word each insertion. Liberal contracts made for three, six, and twelve months. Write for rates. Obituaries, tributes of respect, reso~ ^ J -ii lutions, cards or manas, anu ai> uv; . *. tices of a personal or political character are charged for as regular advertising. Contracts for advertising not subject to cancellation after first t insertion. Communications?We are always glad to publish news letters of those pertaining to matters of public interest. We require the name and address of the writer in every case. No article which is defamatory or 'offensively personal can find place in our columns at any price, and we are not responsible for the opinions expressed in any communication. Thursday, Jan. 26,1911. The State's temperate and fair discussion of the inaugural address of Mr. Blease is to be commended. Is Governor Blease going to devote himself to the task of reforming Al? on/1 fho ministrv? lUV lie v\ syayci o uuu nuv ? . Well, the newspapers are in mighty good company anyway, even if they are under the ban of his excellency. Too bad that new daily paper "which is to be started in Columbia . could not be issued in time to publish Governor Blease's inaugutal address. Governor Blease talks about economy in public affairs and high taxes. This is all right as far as it goes, fe but the governor failed to mention but one excessive appropriation? that of the colleges. If he will specify where taxes can be reduced his jpr. -words would have some weight, but thA neonle expect him to point a !> > remedy and not merely criticise. !In another column we publish Mr. A. W. Brabham's letter to the Walterboro Press and Standard, in which he advises the people of Warren township to stay out of Bamberg county. Mr. Brabham says he paid $20.00 taxes this year on 100 acres of land. Wonder how much he tfould take for this tract, or at least what he values it at in case it was v to be sold? From the report of Solicitor Byrnes we gather the facts that Bamberg county only, had twelve criminal cases last year, which is commented *\n hv tho vnrimiR nanprs of the sec ond circuit as being the best record of any county. Crime cost us little last year, and ff the absence of the dispensary caused this better state of affairs, we are willing to give the credit where it belongs. Now if this shipping of whiskey here from Augusta and Jacksonville could be stopped, we would be still better pleased. We all know that some mighty fine boys grow up in Bamberg, and the sad part of it is that too many of them go away to make a living and a consquent rise in the world. It might as well be admitted that there does not seem to be much fu- 1 ture for an ambitious young man in Bamberg, and the trouble rests with those who control the destinies of the town. How many of the young |;3;> : men in this town are getting a salary which will warrant them in devoting their life to the work they are doing, and what chances are there for promotion for young men in the various v.. A , lines of business nere: minK over these things for a little while, please, and you will see that our business men are holding down the young men o? this community, and it is no wonder that they go elsewhere in order that they may do better. If we want to keep the young men of 'Bamberg at home and encourage them to do their part in the growth of Bamberg, we must recognize their ability and trust and pay them accordingly. We do not like to make personal allusions, but nevertheless it is true that this newspaper is paying more salary to its foreman, a Bamberg boy, than nine-tenths of the business houses of the town pay to men who occupy positions of more responsibility. Merit should be recarifi thft bovs and voune men of to-day are those who will control the future of Bamberg. Keep them at home and recognize their merit. GETTING RIGHT. We cheerfully give our friend, Mr. A. W. Brabham, some more space this week. We note with much pleasure that he has at last seen his error in stating that taxes are six times higher in Bamberg than in Colleton this year, but, we say to him in all kindness, that he should have investigated this matter thoroughly before making such a statement, which did his county harm. He seems to have been talking about taxes paid in Colleton several years ago and comparing them with the present rate in Bamberg. Therefore we said he was mistaken, which we knew was the case, for the report of the comptroller general for the past year gives Colleton a higher levy than P q rr? Knrty Taxes are higher this year in every county which voted out the dispensary, and they are higher all over the State, in fact they have been increasing for several years. While the levy has not increased in some instances, the valuation of property has been raised. Horses and mules which cost $100 a few years ago now cost $200 and more, therefore they are returned higher for taxation. Real estate has doubled in valuation, both city and country property, therefore the valuation has been raised, and it makes taxes higer. Farming lands which could be bought for $10.00 an acre in Bamberg a few years ago cannot now be bought for $30 or $40 an acre, and, as is well known, this increase in values has been general, except possibly in some counties like Colleton where there is a large area of low land, uncultivated and unimproved, only good for pasturage, and of course in a case like this there a has been no increase in values. Mr. Brabham has been a reader of The Herald for many years, and he will no doubt remember that for all this time we have persistently begged our legislators to reduce appropriations for State and county purposes. New offices have been created by the legislature, salaries of county officers increased, and in fact the appropriation bill of the general assembly has been larger each year for the past ten years. This Is the reason for higher taxes. True, the yearly expenses of Bamberg county have gone from $12,000 to $17,000 or more, but we are not prepared to say there is any corruption or extravagance in our county affairs. We understand that the ex penses for last year were less than the year before, and we are glad to hear it. But there seems to be a general tendency to extravagance in public affairs, and our present Senator has been voting against these excessive appropriations in the general assembly for years. But we believe Bamberg county is as economi - * x? i_ xl cany managed as any county in uie State, and it is for this reason that our tax rate is no higher than it is. But we are with Mr. Brabham in a fight for lower taxes, and we agree with him that the burden is too heavy, but high taxes are not confined to Bamberg. It is a general condition all over the State, and the main reason for it is the excessive appropriations and new offices and new expenses created by the general assembly. Only one thing more, and then we can drop this discussion of taxes in Bamberg and Colleton. Will not Mr. Brabham now write a letter to the Press and Standard and say that he has not paid taxes in Colleton in several years, and that he was comparing what he paid then in Colleton to what he pays now in Bamberg? All we want is the matter set before the people in all its bearings. We don't want to throw any dust in the eys of the people of Warren township. Let them have all the information possible, but let it be correct. There is no fairness in comparing taxes in Colleton several years ago with this year in Bamberg. Take the year 1910 for Colleton and Bamberg and see if there is any difference. That is the only fair way, for the people of Warren township are not concerned in what was done years ago. They are interested in what is being done now and what is likely to be the case in the future. Frankly, Mr. Brabham has not been exactly fair to his own county in his comparison, but if he will now explain to those good people, why it will be all right. We'll drop this discusion and do all we can to aid Mr. Brabham in bringing about lower taxes for Bamberg county. The Orangeburg Times and Democrat, in a long editorial explains what was meant in the paragraph referring to the Jones case, and it says in effect that the verdict was a proper one. We hardly thought our usually level-headed contemporary meant to condone the conviction of Jones, and we are glad that the verdict meets with its approval. Fact of the matter is, from the evidence^ the case came very close to being downright murder, and Mr. Jones should and no doubt does feel that he got off mighty light. The members of the dispensary winding-up commission say they will welcome an investigation. I TAXES TOO HIGH. Something is Wrong Somewhere, Says Mr. Brabham. Editor The Bamberg Herald:?I have read with much interest your reply to my article on high taxes. You contend that taxes are as high in Colleton and Barnwell as in Bamberg. Not having paid in Colleton for four or five years, what you say I do not gainsay or dispute, for you should know. Now, I must infer that the whole State is paying high er taxes than ever known, and you say the voting out of the dispensary is the cause in all counties where it was voted out, of higher taxes. Granted, but there must be something radically wrong somewhere, and I am in the field to fight to a finish to know where the trouble comes in. High and burdensome taxes brought out Wade Hampton, and taxes were not as high during Radical times as they now are. \ve all know that Hampton entered upon his duties with the State bankrupt, no means to carry on the ship of State, yet the entire government was carried on in such a business-like manner that no one felt the small amount demanded to carry on the affairs of State, yet no State institution suffered for money. For years the State went on with a lower rate of taxes than almost any State in the Union, and no one missed the money paid for taxes. For several years Barnwell county, including what is now Bamberg county, did not get a cent revenue from the sale of whiskey for we had prohibition then as now, and there was no increase in taxes. If we could carry on the county's affairs at one time without the aid of whiskey money and no raise in taxes, surely we can do the same thing now. I know there is something wrong somewhere and somehow, and I shall, as time permits, ascertain where the trouble lies. I cannot pass what you say about not seeing my name connected with anything that helps or has aided the county, but that I am trying to tear it down. .1 ; i I have never entered politics, because I abhor them. I have led a quiet life on my farm, and if you will nardon this little piece of self upraise, few farmers in South Carolina have ever made a name as farreaching as I have done. Years of study and toil with nature enabled me to give to the world, or the South at least, the greatest forage plant known to man to-day. Farmers from Maryland to the Canal Zone, are sending me letters of praise which are too flattering for the public eye. And the highest authority on fine cotton, living, says the day is near at hand when my breeding of cotton is going to revolutionize the cotton world. The department of agriculture for V> n n rvoi'd mo fnr oooH nf S1A y ^(11D IDCIO paiu uiu JLvi wvvu vfc my own breeding the highest price ever known for the same class of seed. Their expert breeders, under my directions, are making experiments, and I am the only farmer in Bamberg county who has ever had an official visit from one of Uncle Sam's most expert scientists. "Done nothing for Bamberg county!" Ask many poor people around me, when last fall, with no crops and no means to supply the wants -of ap| proaching winter, what I did. Many families here owe it to me and my methods of business the money they spent on themselves and their families. Out of these poor people I could have made a nice sum for myself ,but had I done so my conscience would have gnawed a hole in my nearc. "Done nothing for Bamberg county!" Years ago I favored long cotton for the uplands. Everybody deemed me crazy. I lost money on the venture, but I held on somehow, and now, to-day, thank God! I am proud of my humble part. Upland long cotton is here to stay. "Done nothing for Bamberg counj ty!" Ask the bankers in the lower part of the county how I aid and assist my fellow-man each year when they (the people, not the bankers) need help. Ask the unfortunate who apply to me as such if I do not "treat each son of Adam as a brother of the dust!" A. W. BRABHAM, Olar, S. C., January 21, 1911. When a newspaper speaks it is the voice and thought of an individual, and therefore the writer of an editorial is very careful in what he says. In the first place he tries to be ab solutely sure of facts and in the second place-that his remarks are worth making and they are always meant to bring about good in the county. ? South Carolina could not do a better thing than spend a little money in co-operating with the railroads in bringing good people from the West to occupy our idle lands. Thousands of them are ready to come if they only knew where to come. The State is the proper party to furnish this information, and it should do it. - " v: -_.W. / * ~. , "STAY OUT OF BAMBERG." Mr. Brabham's Advice to People of Warren Township. Editor Press and Standard: ? Please allow me once more to warn the Warren township people to stay out of Bamberg county. When I paid taxes in Barnwell county, it cost me $4.00 on 100 acres of land. On the same land now in Bamberg county I am paying $20.00 for 100 acres, or five times as much. Warren township contains 100 square miles equal to 64,000 acres and would pay $12,800.00. If everybody in Bamberg county nn tr? ap taiiaIi nn T A A 4^ a lonrl to vac i'aJ,0 0-0 iUUV/U M A uu luc iauu laaoa alone would amount to $51,200.00. Let each and every farmer in Warren township count what he now pays to Colleton, then figure $20.00 for each hundred acres of land he owns, and see what the move would cost him. For a year or two, I own, the Bamberg people would be very easy on the Warren people, charging even less than they now pay, but in a few years they would find the Bamberg people "a relentless foe, with no pity for its victims." Friend Knight of The Bamberg Herald said I was mistaken in my first letter. I was not mistaken then, and am not mistaken now. I have kinpcople in Warren township and some good friends there, and'I know that they know I would not misrepresent facts in a newspaper. Every day some tax payer is complaining to me, they all say that their taxes are out of all reason, from 100 to 150 per cent, higher than last year, and want to know if any redress can be had. My answer to each and all is, "God alone knows where this extortion will stop, fiach year sees the taxes higher, and we cannot see where they are being used. There is something 'rotten in the State of Denmark,' and we must kpp whp.rp it. is." There are to-day more dissatisfied taxpayers in Bamberg county than any county in the State. And I take this method to warn ray Colleton friends to stay in Colleton. The taxes are lighter there, for I have paid taxes there, and God knows I could not, and would not lie when the records are behind me ?I cannot afford to He about any matter. A. W BRABHAM. Olar, January 11. CONVICTS WHO MADE GOOD. As a Railroad Man Once Notorious Burglar Earns $12,000 a Year. Two interesting things are shown hv tho ror?nrda nn file with the Dardon I clerlj at the State capitol. One is that there are many men in the great State of New York going through life with sinister past known neither to their^ wives nor children. The other is that men sent to prison for penal offenses can live down their evil ways and become useful and respected citizens. Most remarkable cases of this kind came to the attention of the officials during the closing days of the administration of Governor White. Names are not made public. It has [ always been the custom to shield j from publicity such persons as sought to have their citizenship restored, on the theory that publication might do them much harm by branding them as convicts. i Scores of applications for restoration were made to Governor White, and quite a few of them were granted. The most remarkable came from a man who is now a prominent railway man in the employ of the Pennsylvania railroad. He earns a salary of $12,000 a year and lives in fine style with his family. His petition to be restored to the full rights of citizenship was endorsed by a lawyer of prominence, who declared that he and the petitioner himself were the only living persons who knew that "the petitioner was at one time a burglar of considerable reputation." In the papers it was explained that the man served a term in prison for burglary, but that after getting out he resolved to "brace up and be a man." He went to a part of the country where he was not known and studied engineering. None of Ma aoanHatec nnH nr? member of his family knew anything concerning his dark past. Like practically all others who seek citizenship years j after being deprived of it, this man grew tired of making excuses to his wife and children for not voting. Another case which attracted considerable attention was that of a Brooklyn business man who was sent to prison for robbery in 1872. He reformed, married, and now has a family of grown-up children. His sons last fall expressed surprise that their father did not vote, and his explanation was a lame one. To the nfflniolo Viora Vi a cairl that hjjfl pl_ ViUViaiO UVA V UV WMAVfc VUMW MV aavwv* M? ways feared to swear in his vote lest some one who remembered the 1872 case would challenge him and expose his dark secret, which has always been kept from his wife and chlidren. His application to be restored to the rights of an American citizen was granted, as was that of the Pennsylvania railway man.? New York Herald. / " ' . . <" '* " ... . } ''' HUNTING IN THE PHILIPPINES. Sportsmen Shoot Where Ducks Have Not Heard Sound of Gnn. Not long ago, while stationed in the Province of Albay, P. I., Capt. Burt, 18th Infantry, and myself decided to take a trip to Lake Bato, | some forty miles inland. We packed all our duffle into an army wagon, and with four sturdy mules to draw it started early one morning for our long drive, arriving at the lake that night. The next morning we hired two cantamarans, threw our baggage aboard and crossed the lake. Then we made camp and cooked chow. Can you imagine a lake fifteen miles in diameter and literally covered with fowl? The report of a gun was unknown in the vicinity, and of course the fowl were not gun shy. i We took life easy until 2 o'clock the following morning, when our guides awakened us. Creeping out of our blankets we got into our baucas, or boats, and started down the lake shore. About three o'clock we reached a rushing stream some forty feet wide, and I can safely swear that each and every mosquito from tip to tip measured the same. Wow! We plunged into the marsh, sinking to our knees in many places, and waded some three miles. It was still dark and I had visions of horrible snakes and mammoth lizzards, in which this country abounds. After an hour of this "sort of travel we arrived at the edge of a little mud pond some hundred yards in diameter. One of the guides motioned for the captain to remain with him, and my guide, beckoning to me to follow, jumped into the water to his waist. In I jumped. Ugh! I'll never forget it as. long as I live; soft, slimy mud for the bottom and now and then a snake gliding silently along the water in front of me. We reached the other side and entered a little inlet. Passing throughthis we came out into another pond exactly like the first. The guide took me to a little clump of partly submerged alders, and we waded in and got among them as best we could. I was sitting in mud and water up to my waist. But the air was simply alive with ducks, as we knew from the whir of their wings. Daylight came, and I shall never forget the sight. Flock after flock came dropping down into the pond. I heard the captain's rifle and knew the shooting was on. It seemed like deliberate murder. Flocks of ducks numbering 500 would fly within twenty yards, and after being shot at would circle and come right back. At about 9 o'clock, gathering our kill, we went Dack to tne nrst yuuu. Between us we had ducks enough to give the battalion a Thanksgiving dinner. We shot them all with our rifles. Since leaving that station my field of labor has been changed to Allindanao, and while stationed on a hill on the shores,of Lake Lanoa I have been able to shoot wtild hogs by moonlight from the guard house. One night while returning from a 11 ?Ut. iU- 4,, +V, small scrap WILU trie iuuius, m tut Taraca valley, I shot several ducks, feeding in the rice paddies, the full tropical moon making it as light as day. At my present station, Misamis, I have good snipe shooting. There are monkeys everywhere, but they are too human to kill. If they are wounded they cry and sob like small children. The natives eat them and use their hides to make drum heads. For the big game we have the water buffalo, which, if wounded, will put up a pretty stiff fight, and in a good many cases it is the hunter hunted if he is not an excellent shot. The woods are full of deer, but they are very small, being about the size of a hound or shepherd dog. They are easily tamed and almost every American in the province keeps one or two tame deer.?Recreation. BOOZE SHOPS PAID WELL. Big Dividends on Aiken Dispensaries for Last Quarter. Aiken, Jan. 18.?The (report of the Aiken county dispensaries for the last quarter, which is the largest in the year, was issued yesterday afternoon, and shows the receipts from the dispensaries to be tremendous. The total net profits of the six dis-v pensaries in this county amounted to $27,026.10, $9,008.10 of which went to the schools of the county; county of Aiken for ordinary purposes, $1,008.70; town- of north Augusta, $1,210.68; town of Wagener, $1,310.70; town of Salley, $1,870; city of Aiken, $4617.32. This is an unsually large amount of revenue to come from the dispensaries, which will help the city and county wonderfully. It appears that the dispensaries are well managed, and in the dispensaries Aiken county has a well paying institution. The presidents of Converse college and the Greenville Female college in Greenville have had to appeal to the police of their cities to protect the young ladies from heing annoyed by rude and impolite young men of the town and the male colleges. r 'jy ' '' ' r : CLOSET HAS SKELTON. Startling Reports on North Carotin* ; Withheld. Washington, Jan. 19.?That Charles Nagel, secretary of the department of commerce and labor, has suppressed much of the reports of agents of the labor bureau because of their revelations concerning the pri- ? vate lives of people in North Carolina and other Southern States was assert ed in the senate to-day by Senator Overman. The statement was elicited in connection with an inquiry from Sena- as tor Beveridge as to the publication of the results of the investigation into the employment of women and children, made a few years ago by ^ 3 the bureau of labor. % Report Over I* ng. J/m Responding, Senator Smoot, chairman of the committee on printing, sad that owing to the. extended '.-II length of the report, publication would necessarily be postponed until the middle of the summer. . ~ Mr. Beveridge expressed impati- ' ence over the delay and, and while he was engaged in colloquy with the Utah senator, Mr. Bailey interrupted with the observation that if the information coming to his ears . ^1 was correct the report should never * be published. It was at this juncture that Mr. Overman made his statement concerning the course of Secretary Na- ..jl Had to Suppress Them. "I heard of the vile character of some of these reports," he said, "and went to Mr. Nagel about them. He told me that the revelations were such that he had felt called upon to suppress them. It would seem that ^ some of the agents had gone into ; the mountains and had taken it upon themselves to investigate the private affairs of the people when the law authorized an inquiry only into labor conditions." -"^38 "Just so," commented Mr. Bailey. 3 "Whenever we allow one of these meddlesome officers to get their noses into the front doors of the homes of the people, they are liable to go far ther than they should." The inquiry in question was made of o nt~ia+ nf 4 5 00 000 U V U wov V& y w v v I v v v ^ ^ 7^-jraQ Bits of Philosophy. Man shows his good behavior and , ;|p| gets his good loo?s by the sunshine ho scatters along the pathway of the sorrowing; man approaches perfection by giving peace and not pain. k Troubles always grow if much ado is made of them when coming, when here or when gone; troubles are lim- y^jWI ited in force and number by curtailing the number of people we tell them to. Man's mind is modeled after Godfe /V ^ and made subject to his laws; body is made to look as his mind "'SMM thinks and is therefore subject unto Man to be happy in his work, must do the kind of work that does not worry him; that man's soul doesn't sing while his hands and head work, : ^ somebody or something in out of tune. Your excuse for your failure will never make it anything else, than what it is?failure; your excuse for , yesterday, lost, is>an abuse of to-day's opportunity. , , Idleness must be the great curse, if work be the greatest blessing of "v ? life; there is nothing noble or divine in the wasting of the golden minutes which make up time. When you return evil for evil you must expect to get back for yourself ': a fuller measure than you give; you will get your own downfall when you . attemp to taae a ian oui 01 your enemy. 1 Flowery speech and saintly look may cover up the show of error and change the color of vice to that df virtue; seeming truth is a sham that good men will not believe in long. PUBLIC NOTICE. ? I positively forbid anybody huntor trespassing in any way on my land, h If any one should be caught doing what is hereby forbidden, he will be punished by the full extent of the law. MRS. P. W. SANDIFER. MASTERS' SALE. Pursuant to a decree of the court of common pleas made in the case of Edward R. Fishburne et al., vs. Claude C. Fishburne et al., dated November 23, 1910, I, H. C. Folk, Master, will resell at the risk of the former purchasers, at public auction, in front of the court house at Bamberg, S. C., during the legal hours for sale, on February 6, 1911, the same being sales day, the following described land to wit: ? All that tract of land, situated in Bamberg county, S. C., containing three hundred and sixty-five (365) acres, more or less, and having the following boundaries: On tbe Nortn 3 by Lemon Swamp; on the East by estate of R. W. Sandifer, L. N. Bellinger and W. H. Morris; on the South by D. D. Utsey; and on the hv lands of C. C. Fishburne, Mrs. Eliza Fishbuirne, and estate of E. H. Dowling. The said sale to be for cash, and purchaser to pay for papers. All bidders required to place in the Master's hands a cash deposit before bids will be considered. Witness my hand and seal this 18 th day of January, 1911. *3$ H. C. FOLK, (L. S.) i* Master for Bamberg County. WYMAN & HENDERSON, Plaintiffs' Attorneys. J?