The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, February 27, 1919, Image 1

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* ' ...... - - ^ . / - '"." : v V' ; ~~1 ' HOLD YOUR COTTON a -St f TP i \. REDUCE YOUR ACREAGE vt-twiszM (&h? Mttth'^rn wnuu wwmnm paper will be discontinued. V J U m Ppr Year in Advance. BAMBERG, S. C., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1919. . Established in 1891. ! ???_ I GREELYVILLE HAN * ' WRITES OF 30TH * ' EXTRACTS FROM DAIRY OF SERGT. THOMAS P. HOGAX. Over Top Many Times IJfi How th? Thirtieth Set Out to Make a Glorious Name and Succeeded, in Doing So. K " W Mrs. T. J. Hogan, of Greeleyville, sends The Sunday news a letter from ^her son, Sergt. Thomas P. Hogan, ? * Company D, 114th M. G. Bn., Fifty" * *?J- Tu?:?+;AtVi ^iricmn for Bintn Dngaue, 1 all uciu >. publication. In his letter Sergt. Hogan says: "As I have never given you much idea of my travels, will do * v .. so today. If you can get a large map of France you. can follow me. Will ( > - 'give it as it appears in my diary, or 9 the most interesting part of sam?." After detailing his trip across the Atlantic and the first few days over^ . seas, Sergt. Hogan gives the following interesting record, day by day, of the great part played by the glorious \ \ Thirtieth: "Torce, France, January 19, 1919. June 1, 1918?We have started in 3 on our final training, which is ten hours of good work each day. Was made corporal thife dfternoon. y "July 10?Our training being over ?.\ the. Thirtieth division started out to make a glorious name for itself. |ftv; ! "July 12?We v^ent into a reserve eamp at Watou, Belgium. Seemed wm - somewhat like an American town as| nearly everyone could speaK mngnsn. | Had a pay day here and the boys all had a good time. . "July 16?Started for the front, took up reserve gun positions in the line. I was put in charge of the second section of the second platoon. "July 21?Sunday night we left for the front-line trenches, arriving 'there and taking up gun positions ; r about 2 o'clock next morning. About ? * o'clock we received our first real r. \ baptism of fire. The boys seemed to . ^ Hke it fine, but lonely when the guns were quiet, w^n'.r'.v*, -Celebrates Birthday in Trenches. "July 25?My birthday, certainly' -V-- is a fine place to celebrate tme's birth- f day. We witnessed our first air bat: * 7 ' > tie, between JEL British plane anjl four j. German planes. The British was jj? < finally brough down after putting up ? a plucky fight. "July 27?At 12 o'clock tonight we started out for our.rest camp, af? ter being in the lin^s for twelve days. - i At 5 o'clock, the next morning we had walked twelve miles with full < ~ . field equipment, back to our rest - camp; sure felt fine to be out of the y f lines, where we could get a hot bath, , 7 ; clean clothes and go to the village j* and get something to eat. "August 1?Made sergeant today. "August 2?We left for the lines ^ again, this suited us fine as we would rather be up where the shells hum * * than to drill and hike so much. I-.- '; Twelve o'clock, noon: We have arrived and taken over our gun positions. mm- A British airplane fell by one of my | gun positions this p. m. Made my > . first examination of a plane, sure fixed up fine. Inspected by King Albert of Belgium. "August 8?A great day! Our V,.- company was selected from the bat-^ talion and with a company of British w. Tommies was inspected by the King and Queen of Belgium. I think if I ^ had to live under the rule of a king I would choose King Albert of Belt glum. He paid us a great compli^ ment: Said we were the finest bunch K. of fellows he ever saw. We left the " v lines after we were inspected and returned to our rest camp. This is our second trip to the lines, hope I will . always be as lucky. "September 6?We packed up and B loaded on a train. Where we were Bf going no one knew. We left Beigium and are now again in 'Sunny Prance.' 7 "September 7?We arrived at Hucler, Prance, where we stayed for a r few days, long enough for %' Bennett and myself to go A. W. O. L. and get confined for a few days. * "September 18?Well, we are on the move again. We have now been made into^a shock division. Guess this means we will be moving all 01 the time now. "September 22?Moved again, this time it was to the front again. We were loaded on motor lories this time and did not have so much hiking today. We unloaded near.Linv court, about eight miles behind the front line. This is the Somme front, between St. Quentin and Cambrai. ? "September 24?We moved up to ' ' ' I- / * FARMERS MEET FRIDAY. To Plan Campaign For Acreage Reduction in Bamberg Co. Every farmer in Bamberg county is requested and urged to attend a meeting to be held at the court house in Bamberg on Friday next. This meeting is called for the purpose of planning a campaign for the reduction of cotton acreage in this county by one third. All the other counties in the State are getting into line and it is strongly urged that Bamberg must not fail in this campaign, which means so much for the farmers. At the meeting Friday, the county will be thoroughly organized for an aggressive campaign, and it is the earnest hope of the county committee that every farmer in Bambera county will sign the pledge to reduce cotton acreage as the means of salvation of the crop this year. General March says the Argonne battle was well planned. But the way it was panned is nothing to the way it was fought and won, ach! the reserve line this p. m. Gee! 1 feel just like something is going tc happen. "September 24?Moved up to the front line to put on a stunt. Attack Started September 29. "September 29?After all-night work in getting all our guns and arms up at 5:30 a. m. we laid down a barrage with the artillery. Our infantry went over and smashed 'Jerry's wonderful Hindenburg line' foi him. Our company came out lucky only having five men wounded. "October 1?Moved back to the reserve camp. "October 2?Moved back near Peronne for a. rest. We heed it, 1 think, as our division was prettj cut up in the stunt on September 29, "October 3?I took charge of the second platoon as officers were scarce. "October 5?Thought we were out for a rest, but orders came in to move up for another stunt. "October 6?Moved back to the front. "October 1?At 5:30 a. m. the stunt started. Had Jerry on the rue by 6 o'clock., "October 8?Packed up our equipment and started to follow up the retreat. "October 10?Jerry is still running. We now have the country behind him. * Don't look like he is going to give us a chance to get close enough to get a jab at him,. "October?Our company was today attached to 103rd division. This means 'over the top' for the dougli boys. "October 16?My platoon was attached to Third ' battalion of the 103rd infantry. Moved up into position this afternoon for the attaci tomorrow. Here is hoping! "Over tjie Top" Again. "October 17?At 5:20 a. m. the barrage opened and we went 'ovei thp f-nn ' We met the most stubborn resistance of any time yet. By 15 o'clock we h^d gone about nine miles So far I had lost one out of my platoon, one man killed and two wounded. Had another attack tonight al 9:15. The moon is shining as brighl as day. "October 20?The division waj taken out for a month's rest, aftei staying in twenty-four days, making twenty-two attacks, capturing 4,00C prisoners, ninety-nine pieces of artillery, .450 machine guns and advancing thirty miles. Our division sur? has won a name for itself. "October '24?We arrived at oui resting "place, Merricourt, France, ? small French village. We lost som( of out best men this time, up the line But such things must be expected ir time of war. Armistice Celebrated. "November 11?Armistice signed A great celebration by all. "November 12?I left on my leavt for Paris and St. Malo, France. Ar rived in Paris. "Vrivomhor 14. Arrival at St Malo, crossed the channel and wen to Divard and am staying at the Ho tel Windsor. Some high life for i common soldier. "November 24?Left St. Malo anc came back to the company whicl had moved from Merricourt to i large chateau near Le Mans. A beautiful home, but a little crowded 'December 12?Not room enougl in the chateau, so we moved tc Torce, a nice little town. Here ] have a nice feather bed and an sleeping most of the time. "January 13?Here is hoping w< will move soon and that that mov< will be to the good old U. S. A. "Love to all. PRESSLEY." V I WOULD Am I BAMB \ ^^^ A rousing meeting of citizens ol 1 Blackville and community was helc last Wednesday night, the purpose of which was stated to be the formu'jlation of plans and the discussing oi ' i means of annexing a portion of Barn :, well county to Bamberg county ' i There appeared to be no doubt or 1 the part of those present of a stronf ' j desire to come into this county anc I the discussion was very free anc "! open on the subject. It was de ' j cided that a premliminary survej : i ho m a do a t nnfp. after whicl" ' | the necessary petitions will be' cir j culated calling on the governor U ' order an election. Those favoring the project state that at least nine ty-five per cent, of the voters of th< territory involved are in favor o | annexation to Bamberg, and then | appeared to be no doubt on theii part that the election, if ordered , will be carried overwhelmingly ii [ j favor of annexation. The meeting was held under th< auspices of the Blackville Chamber i of Commerce. Upon invitation o the chamber, a large number of citi zens of Bamberg and Denmark wer< ; present at the meeting, and it wa: [ the general feeling among the Bam L berg people present at the meeting . that if Blackville and surrounding . territory desired to leave Barnwell they would be received into Bam berg with a warm welcome. That Blackville is very much dis . satisfied with her present situatioi was very apparent. The people o: . the territory were very outspoken ?i [ regard to their grievances agains r the mother county, it being statec at the meeting that Blackville hac always received the big end of taxa ? tion and the little end of expend! |tures of county monies, and that i was not possible for any man :li 5 sympathy with Blackville's positioi to ever be elected to office in Ban ? well county. It will be recalled that a fev / weeks ago a very strong movemen i was instituted to have the couri house removed from Barnwell t< . Blackville. Blackville people sa] . that if the election had been held the removal would have been accorn . plished. The election was not helc . for the reason that Representativi . James E. Davis introduced In th< ? general assembly, and was instru mental in having the bill enacted, i . measure prohibiting the locatioi ; herea'fter of court houses withii i eight miles of a county line. Thi: 1 act bars Blackville from becoming . the seat of Barnwell, because th< ? Orangeburg county line runs with . in a few mil?s of the town. : Being blocked in this manner o securing redress for their grievances the citizens began to talk of som< i other method, and it was decided apparently almost unanimously, t< i launch a campaign to quit the olc county entirely. In accordance witl this plan, the Chamber of Commerct called a meeting for last Wednesday night, and invited Bamberg count: t to participate in the discussions, t The meeting was presided over b: Judge A. H. Nlinestein, who callet i on various citizens present, botl ! Barnwell and Bamberg people, t< discuss the matter freely, pro an( con. There were no remarks oppos ed to the plan, however. Col. J. C. Guilds, of Bamberg, wai first called on for an expression o his views, and he stated that Bam j berg would be glad to welcome j Blackville and territory into Bam berg county. Bamberg and Black ville, said he, are very closely con i nected by ties of friendship and re lationship, and had already man; things in common. He told of th< . good things of Bambreg county, ant said that with the addition of thi ? proposed territory this county woult - rank as the best in South Carolina That with the aid of Blackvilh . Bamberg could more easily work ou t the county problems to the mutua - j advantage of both sections. 11 Mr. J. A. Wiggins, in response t< I o n inTrifn f a f f V? a nil Air m o r? i a. ii in v itatiuii ui tiio Liiaiiiijau, 111 1 quired as to exactly what Blackvilli i wanted. That though from a stand t point of sentiment Blackville woul< k. be a most welcome addition to Bam .! berg, it resolve^ into a busines i j proposition. j j Mr. H. D. Still, of Blackville, stat [ j ed in brief what Blackville wantet i; and why she wanted it. He state< j that the people of that section wen 51 being taxed without representation 5; that about 40 per cent, of Barnwel had been cut off into Allendale, thu; taking away a choice section of th< JEX TO ERG COUNTY __ | I ] county. The tax levy in Barnwell, I! said he, is approximately 13 mills, i j and the returns for this money are -'very meagre He stated that the f county is not being run in a business - way, and that Blackville was ready . to leave as a business proposition, i Bamberg's tax levy, he said, is about ; 6% milis, or half that of Barnwell, 1 and that despite Barnwell's heavy I levy, the county has an overdraft i - each year. t B. D. Carter, Esq., said that the i people had come together to taiK ov er the matter and see what can be ) done for the common good. The I policy of Bamberg county, he said, - was to pay as we go, that the coun; ty never gets into debt, and that^ I there is always plenty of funds on' 3 hand for ordinary purposes, although! r Bamberg is the smallest county in , the State. We have four good towns, i and would be glad to add Blackville. There is no reason to suppose that > the property values in the county r would ever deterforate, rather that E they would be constantly increased. - Mr. Carter said that the people of! ; Bamberg countr have nothing 3 against Barnwell, but would like to 1 . have this territory, if the people inr volved care to leave Barnwell. With r this addition he felt sure that Bamt berg would be the banner county of . the State, and that it would be indeed a great addition. He stressed -7 the point that if Blackville was 11 ready to quit Barnwell, they were C! making a step in the right direction i by coining into Bamberg, t The chairman interposed to state i that the proposed trritory involved 1 all of the city of Blackville, and . about twenty miles of railroad; that . they had a good thing to offer. In t order to have the necessary surveys i made, the money is required to be i put up. He invited Bamberg to pay _ this bill m the event the elction is carried, otherwise to be paid by the 7 Blackville people. Ninety-five per I; i cent, of the people, he stated, are in t j favor of the project. )! The suggestion was here made that j; a steering committee be named to ? j discuss the matter at once. Nomina. | tions were made, and the following i were selected for this purpose, sev3 en being appointed from Blackville 3 and the territory, involved, and a - like number from Bamberg county: * Blackville?J. C. Mathis, tl. J. i i Fickling, Herman Brown, H. D. i! Still, J. W. Browning, J. M. Farrell,! *, C. S. Buist. >j Bamberg?J. Arthur Wiggins, 3; John H. Cope, H. B. Grimes, H. C. -jFolk, C. W. Rentz, Sr., F. V. James, | George F. Hair, f j The committee retired at once, and j ?; reported later in the evening. Dui-j s^ing this intermission, the meeting' ? was entertained by various extempo- J j i ? raneous speakers, among them be1; ing Dr. G. L. Wessinger, C. W. Rentz, i j J. K. IVJayfield, R. C. Hardwick, and j 2 i James H. Hammond, of Columbia, 2 ! ? j f former Blackville boy who has made 1 7 | good in his adopted home and whose ; j reputation as an orator and as a law7; yer is known throughout this region. 1 3 j Mr. Hammond told the audience-; 1 that the people had already gotten1 31 together on the matter, and that the! 3 Question that now concerned them - was that of gettin 5 apart?from. Barnwell. Blackville's grievance?, 3, he said, were two-fold: Tax on propf j erty and tax on. temper, and he cri-iticised the Barnwell delegation very 0 sharply, stating that they do not rep resent Blackville. Pebresentative - Davis Mr. Hammond characterized as - the greatest enemy Blackville ever - had/and he called on the people 0:! 7 Blackville to see that he Is defeat5 ed. He urged that sentiment be 3 crystalized in the rural districts in 2 favor of annexation. ,rVe like you/' 1 i he told the Bamberg citizens pres.. | ent, "and we want to go over with 2 j you." The interests of Blackville t had never been represented by those 1 elected to office in Barn well county, j he said, and further declared that d i Blackville had always been the back bone of taxation jind the tail end of b expenditures in Barnwell county. - "We are frank to say that we wanted 3 the court house; failing in that, the - next best thing is to go te Bamberg s county," ar d he urged the people to make it unanimous. After Black ville leaves Barnwell, "Lord help i those who stay in it," he admonished i the people. b The committee not being yet ready ; to report, Mr. Hammond further en1 tertained the meeting by reciting s | how Blackville came into being. This b j being quite an interesting bit of his- j MAKES GOOD ESCAPE. Officers Fail to Locate Barnwell Negro Accused of Murder. Barnwell, Feb. 22.?So far no clue has been discovered that would lead to the arrest of Herman Johnson, the 17 year old negro boy who shot and killed Jim Hill, a negro of about the same age on the streets of Barnwell on the night of February 1. The shooting occurred in front of the residence of B. W. Sexton, in East Main street, and was witnessed by several persons. It was brought out at the coroner's inquest the following day that the two negroes had a dispute on the day before the killing over a game of marbles and while walking home Saturday night Hill brushed up against Johnson, whereupon the latter stepped into the strppt and said that if Hill aDDroach ed him he (Johnson) would kill him. Thinking he^was joking, Hill approached the boy, whereupon, it is said, Johnson drew his pistol and fired one shot. The bullet hit Hill in the chin and ranged downward, coming out of his neck and entering his body, making three perforations. The wounded negro was hurried to a local drug store and given medical attention, but succumbed to his injuries about 3 o'clock Saturday morning. An inquest was held on Sunday following the homicide and a verdict returned to the effect that Hill came to his death as the result of pistol shot wound inflicted by Johnson. The latter took leg bail immediately after the shooting and so far the officers have been unable to locate him. When last seen he was going in the div ction of Blackville and it is presi med that he boarded a northbound tr i.in. m i?> c-Greek Meets Greek. "What's coming off out in front there?" asked the proprietor of the Tote Fair store in Tumlinville, Ark. "A couple of fellows from Straddle Ridge swapped a mule," replied the clerk, "and now each is accusing the other of skinning him." "Well, then, why didn't they trade back?" "I reckon they are both afraid of getting skinned again."?Kansas City Star. tory not generally known, it may be stated in brief as follows, according to Mr. Hammond, who says that he has looked up the records and vouches for the correctness of the story: When the Charleston and Hamburg railroad, the first in America, was being built about 1818, it was intended that the road should go by way of Barnwell. The road had been built as far as Orangeburg County, when the people of Barnwell heard that it was coming to that town. They immediately got busy and had a law passed by the general assembly forbidding the building of any railroad within ten miles of the town of Barnwell, the reasons stated being that it would scare the race horses, run over tnc pickaninnies and smoke up the town. In accordance with the provisions of this law, the line of the railroad was changed, running by what is now Blackville. A Mr. Black living there, who had invested in the railroad, opened a little store by the railroad, and this became the town of Blackville. Thus, said Mr. Hammond, Blackville owed her existence to Barnwell's old fogy ways, which he accused her of still entertaining. Blackville is ninety-nine years old, he said, and he hoped that she would celebrate her one hundreth anniversary by taking this step forward. The steering committee being ready to report, Mr. H. C. Folk, who had been made chairman, stated that it had been agreed in the committee meeting to have the preliminary survey made at once. The committee had agreed that Bamberg should pay the cost of this work, and that Bamberg was ready to do her whole duty in the matter and extend to the new territory the right hand of fellow ship. i A. H. Ninestein and B. D. Carter were requested to prepare the petitions, and a committee from Blackville will attend to their circulation. I This ended the meeting, which was full of enthusiasm and good fellowship. It may be stated that the territory involved embraces, so it was stated at the meeting, something like forty square miles, and is, without a doubt, the cream of Barnwell county. If the project is carried through it will take practically all of the surplus territory Barnwell has to spare, and reduce her to the statutory limit of 500 square miles. FAR FROM PRETTY BUT ON THE JOB EAGLE BOATS KNOW BUSINESS WELL. Work 'of Henry Ford IT J Not Motor Craft as Popularly lieved for Some Time in United _ States. Detroit, Feb. 22.?A long, narrow wedge, with a steel encased nose of solid concrete tapered to a knife-like edge, forming a considerable part of its total length of 204 feet, and declared to be capable oL crushing any submarine?such is the Eagle, built by Henry Ford and designed originally to help rid the seas of the menace of the German Uboats. Contrary to pupular belief the Eagle is not a motor boat, but an oilburning, steam turbine 'drivdh craft, with a cruising radius of 5,000 miles. The Eagle is not a thing of beauty; <beauty was not contemplated in its construction. It is a long, giant weap-" on of war, of all-steel construction - 1 * with the exception of the concrete nose. Another popular impression' that has been shattered is an idea that the Eagle boat is equipped with torpedo tubes. The submarine chaser was not intended to combat the major instrument of German ruthlessness witai its own weapons. It was designed to depend rather upon its maneouvering qualities, its powerful light guns, and a new American invention for directing its fire at un seen objects. Its crew including operating and fighting complement numbers approximately 80 men. To the observer, the first impress i sion of the Eagle boat is one of woni der that a craft so narrow can possess buoyancy sufficient to keep it upright in heavy seas. Despite its length of more than an average city block, the craft has a beam of only ! 25 feet, and draws when fully equipped less than ten ffeet of water. Its sea worthiness has been dem' + i? f V> /\ Affi ai nl f 7 ct n A_ | uuon aicu in tuc uuiv/iai ti iaxo, ov/~ i cording to reports to the navy, department. While it is admitted the Eagle does not make the speed of the aver age destroyer, it is claimed that it can outdistance most submarines and the razor-like edge of the bow, silently, but. eloquently tells what would have happened had it come in contact with the German undersea . ' pirate. ::.Sg Built with utility as its prime purpose. seemingly not an inch of space is wasted in the fitting of the ? vessel, and not an ounce of superfluI ous weight enters its construction. | When dropped into the water ^eady ; for the' installation of its engines, j guns, etc., less than 200 tons of ma- ? , terial have been riveted together to shape the Eagle boat. The plates that form the shell of the submarine chasers vary in thickness from to % inch, and not a i single forging or rolled beam eni ters their make up. Everything is I pressed from sheet metal, cold, by | means of machinery that cuts every i piece to an exact pattern, punches ! rivet holes and bends the interi6r part to required shape. Amidships rises the deck house, topped by the pilot house, with radio quarters and above all the conning tower with the crow's nest at the highest point. Except for this superstructure, the deck of the Eagle carries always the "stripped for action" appearance. The first Eagle boat was launched July 11, 1918, and when the armistice ended hostilities, early in November, eight had been completed and 22 others were under construction in various stages of completion. Some of these have arrived at Atlantic coast ports. Although the sudden cessation of hostilities deprived the Eagle boats / I of an opportunity to test their prow! ess against the German undersea ter; ror, they are nevertheless to become i a part of the American navy, the government having announced its intention to use them as gun boats in coast patrol -work and possibly in insular waters. The contract for the construction of the Eagle boats, which the gov: ernment has announced will be carried out, calls for 100 of the vessels ! for the United States government, and 12 for the French navy. ?