University of South Carolina Libraries
f ? S - - ' S*$s. & T" *; . . -* :'t V ' ,.'^'i >' -^y'V' ;V-'r''' . " ~' % ?hp Hamburg l? tralb n.r.T*Latt ttttvii itwi Established ia 1891 BAMBERG, S. C., THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1921. ___===?===_ $2.00 Per Year in Advance . SOUTHLAND STORIES BY LARRY GANTT TELLS OF THE MEN OF THE OTHER DAYS. Early Recollections t -Joel Chandler Harris, Creator of'"Uncle Remus," Started on His Career as a Printer's Devil. Wlhen Olivpr flnlfTcmith Ti-rnfp "Honor and fame from no condition rise," he stated a truth that has been demonstrated times without number. It is rarely a case where brains or eminent public service are inherent in a family, for the sons and descendants of great men appear content to live upon ancestral fame. Like unto the potato, the best part is underground. On the other hand, the intellect, eminence and leadership df every country must go among the plaiu 1? i, '' - ? in iae more ooscure waiK 01 life, and in the Old World, often its peasantry. Trace all the great leaders in Europe, for both good and evil, from Martin Luther to Lenine and Trotsky and you will find them belonging to what is known as the 'Tower class," but in our Republic as the "plain people." William the Conqueror was the illegitimate son of a . washerwoman: Catherine, who, after Peter the Great, created the Russian Empire, was the lewd daughter of an ignorant Tartar peasant, and Napoleon Bonaparte, a Corsican adventurer, whose boast was, ?"I am my own ancestor!" ' Then consider our own country! Daniel Webster was the son of a poor New Ergland farmer, who did not even ooast of descent from the Pilgrim Fathers; ,Henry Clay was known as the "Mill Boy of the Slashes;" Patrick Henry, born on a small Virginia farm and when an obscure young lawyer, reaped fame and honors in a day by his "Give me liberty or give me death!" John C. Calhoun descended from a family of poor Irish emigrants; the father of Jefferson Davis was a small bankrupt farmer of Wilkes county, Georgia, who moved ms iamny in a wagon lo iveniuuny a < couple of weeks before the president of the Southern Confederacy was born; Alexander H.^Stephens belonged to a poor but highly respected family, his father and mother's fam_ . ily (Grier) being small farmers; Nancy Hanks, the mother of Abraham Lincoln, was born and raised near the Chimney Rock section of Rutherford county, North Carolina, and Nancy was a house servant for a family named Enslow, and on account of the jealousy of her employer's wife she went to some kinspeople in Kentucky where she met and married Lincoln. Joe Chandler Harris ("Uncle Re<?ni.noH?t ond nnthnr whnsft JULIUS ) JUUiuuiiuv uuu , .. book has been translated into many languages and whose name is revered j by both old and young throughout the reading world?a plain Southern Democrat, whom a Republican President invited as his honored and especial guest to the White House? was a poor Georgia boy, born on a small, rocky farm in Jasper county. I don't suppose any boy ever started life under more trying or discouraging circumstances. He had only the rudimental smattering of an education obtained at a small and antiquated country school, and so he had to educate himself while earning a living. An old man who made hats out of rabbit skins printed a small paper on' his farm called the "Countryman." (He hired Joe Harris as a printer's - devil, and he also learned the boxes and "how to stick type. In due time . the "Countryman" suspended and Joe Harris found work on other weeklies in that section, and started to set up while at the case paragraphs for the paper; and fchey were so pointed and bright that he was encouraged by the editor to' continue the work. Harris's squibs began to attract attention from the daily papers and were extensively copied. They became the leading feature in every paper with which Harris was con-1 nected. It was (luring trie rranco-rrussiau | war. I was a young fellow working on j the Savannah Morning News, taking mv initial training in daily journalism. The editor of the News was Col. W. T. Thompson, author of a humorous book of that day named I "Major Jones's Courtship." J. H. Estill was proprietor. One night about 12 o'clock Mr. Es-, I i till came into the office piloting one of the most unprepossessing specimens of humanity my eyes ever rested upon. Were I an artist I could paint that picture today from memory. Mr. Harris could have passed for any age from IS to 30. He was a chunky-built, red-headed, freckledfaced young man, apparently weighing around 130 pounds and had he started to travel on looks would never have got beyond his front gate. But the most noticeable thing about "Mr. Harris" was his clothes and their fit, or rather their misfit. They were of homespun jeans, the wool spun just as sheared from a blackgreyish sheep. I should judge from their fit that the tailor spread out the cloth on the floor, laid Harris on it and then proceeded to cut out the garments with a dull knife. The pants ended just above the shoe tops, and it is needless to add that the pressing club was an unknown institution where the gentleman came from. And let me just here add that after Harris began to wear "store clothes" they always looked as if they were thrown on him with a pitchfork. I never saw a man further removed from a dude or a Beau Brummel than Joe Harris. After shaking hands around and Mr. Estill had escorted Harris downcfoiro T tnrnprl tn Clnlnnpl Thompson OWUAA M 4. vv wvr.VMV. 1 # _ and asked: "What species of critter was that Mr. Estill brought up?" "Why, Gantt," was the reply, "that's our new news editor and his name is Harris." "How did the boss catch him, In a fish-trap or net? Can it talk?" was my next query. "He certainly has an ungainly appearance," remarked the colonel, "but we have been watching his articles and he will surprise you. Estill got him from a paper in Forsyth. His work will be to paragraph the state news." The next night when Harris's copy came up, I knew that our paper had a rare genius in its paragrapher. Ev Vwiotlinor TTltVl hllTTlflr ery nut; was unouiug mvu and as pointed as a needle. Harris wrote a hand almost like copperplate, punctuated and every i dotted-and t crossed. Harris and I worked together for some seven years on the Savannah News and our friendship was unbroken to his death. Joe Harris was the most unassuming, yea, modest man I ever knew. This characteristic made him appear unsocial to strangers, but. with congenial friends he wtould unlimber himself and it was indeed a rare treat to spend an evening in his company. Harris was never much of a talker, preferring to sit back and leave that to others; but occasionally he would put in a word of witticism and whatever he said he was always germain to the point or brimful of humor. And Joe Harris never penned a line or spoke a word but it was worth reading or hearing. He was loyalty itself to his friends and they were bound to him with links of steel. No famous man ever oared so little for public applause at Joel Chandler Harris. He would hide from admirers hunting him up and Harris never made a public speech in his life. We have been together at public gatherings and banquets when the room would be ringing with calls for "Har-* TT Uo-rrJet '? "Rut .Tnft would TIS l narna namo. v smile and shake his head and if the calls were too persistent he would slip away and disappear. '. While in Savannah he met and married a Canadian lady, daughter of a sea captain and his family life was as beautiful as his social life. A tenderer or more devoted husband and father could not be found. As the years rolled by Grady employed Harris as editorial writer on the Atlanta Constitution and I besame owner of the Athens Daily Banner. It was at this time that Harris began to win fame as a literary writer. I do not think Joe Harris realized his talent until the world began to applaud his productions and clamored for more. When Harris started on his "Uncie Remus" stories he wrote me enclosing copies of several he had prepared and knowing my family had always been slave-owners, asked that I refresh my memory and send him all the old negro folk lore stories that I could call to mind. My old black nurse Tilda was pregnant with superstition and being of pure African descent, loaded my young mind with such narratives as recited by Uncle Remus and ?K/i+v, Srmiv believed. I WJLL1CIJ C uuui sent Harris several pages of these stories which he rewrote and published. It was thus that Harris collected I material for "Uncle Remus," and but | for his work, one of the most interestI ing recollections of slavery days in I * c NEGRO ACCUSED OF CRIMINAL ASSAULT WHITE YORK COUNTY GIRL OF EIGHTEEN YEARS VICTIM. Nnfifipc A 1 W bit AWW M1AVA AAA Alleged Attack Thursday?Says Assailant Threatened to Kill Her if She Told. York, July 11.?Jackson Darby, negro, aged 45, is in jail here, charged with criminal assault on the eighteen-year old daughter of a well known farmer of western York county. Darby will in all probability be tried this week, it is believed, as the court of general Sessions convened yesterday. He steadily asserts his innocence. According to the story told officers by the young girl the alleged assault occurred several days ago when a negro caught her while she was returning to her home from the mail box, dragging her into a clump of bushes, he telling her that if she told a soul he would "blow her brains out." Fear of the negro kept her silent until last Thursday when she had her sister write Sheriff Fred Quinn, giving'him all the details. The spot where tihe assault occurred still bears evidences of a struggle, according to officers. Darby was arrested yesterday after a search of several days and brought to jail here. He was not brought into the court house this morning, although there was no indication of mob violence. Darby has a wife and several children. He is alleged to have a bad reputation in this community. The alleged assault occurred in a sparcely settled section of the country. FARMER DROWNS. Loses Life in Chester Pond While Bathing After Eating. Chester, July 10.?Paul Dunlap, a well known young planter of Del-j phia, in York county, was drowned this afternoon in Guy's pond near Chester. He was 27 years of age. His wife was on the bank and witnessed the drowning. It is thought, that he went in bathing too soon after eating dinner and that death was caused by acute indigestion rather than cramps. He leaped intoi the water and swam about fifty feet and was coming back. When he got within about 15 feet of the bath house he screamed for help, wl ch was quickly forthcoming, but his helper could do nothing for him and he was nearly drowned in the effort to save him. Mr. Dunlap was highly ,->/3 fVirnncViftut (th&sfpr and CMCCU1CU IU1 uuguuui, York counties and his death has caused profound sorrow. He was a son of Thomas Dunlap, a prominent York county planter. DECREASE SHOWN IX FOOD COST. Charleston Heads the List With Three Per cent. Washington, July 10.?Reports from ten additional cities compiled by the department of labor showed Charleston, S. C., heading the list with a decrease of 3 per cent, in the cost of | food for the month ending June 15.; Kansas City and Philadelphia reported decreases of 2 per cent., while Atlanta, Baltimore, Indianapolis and New York showed reductions of 1 per cent. Reports from other cities preTfinnaiv mnrfp nublic showed declines of 2 per cent, in Manchester, N. H? I and Rochester, N. Y., and 1 per cent. I in Birmingham, Detroit and Jackson-j ville. Cities where an increase in food prices were noted in today's report! were Little Rock, Ark., with a 1 per cent, jump; Savannah, Ga., 3-10 of 1 per cent, and Washington 4-10 of 1 per cent. For the year ending June 15, Indianapolis led the field with a 40 per cent, reduction, Kansas City being next with 3S per cent. the Old South would have perished | with emancipation. And furthermore, | these Uncle Remus stories truly deI pict the kindly relations existing be tween the Southern slave-owner and his loyal and dependent DiacKs. When Joe Harris died there passed away a pure-minded, golden-hearted ' gentleman, whose mission in life was, j to brighten and cheer the world, j Peace to his ashes.?Larry Gantt in j the Yorkville Enquirer. SPARTANBURG COXFEREXCE. . Dr. Pell Urges Large Attendance ! ! Lpon Educational Meeting. ! One of the most important confer! ences of a generation in South Carolina is that to be held in Spartanburg on Friday. July loth. It is being advertised as a "Citizen's State Educational Conference." As we under istand it, the purpose of the conference I is to give calm consideration to South ! Carolina's situation in the matter of j education and to discuss ways and means of bringing about some improvements in the state's record along that line. The conference will be held under the augpices of the Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce, and. if we are not mistaken, will take place at Converse college, where dinner will be served on the grounds to the visitors. The chairman of the conference is Dr. Robert P. Pell, the president of Converse college. In letters addressed to the newspapers of the state and to various individuals most likely to be interested in this conference, Dr. Pell has ably and forcefully discussed the situation that is to be made the subject of this conference. In a letter to the Charleston News and in/\ f a o n nrllf oriel in VUUI ICi , in icsyuuoc tu an tin mi iu that paper in reference to the educational conference, Dr. Pell says: "I thank you most heartily for your very interesting and helpful editorial in Th$. News and Courier about the Citizen's State Educational Conference to be held in Spartanburg on July 15. "You are unquestionably right in supposing that marked improvement in our educational facilities in South Carolina 'has been made even since the statistics, derived partly from the Journal of the National Educational Association and partly from the United States Bureau of Education for 1918, were secured. It is also proper for us to remember, as you have suggested, that other states have also moved forward in that time, and that we have no reason to believe that the situation in South Carolina as compared with other states has changed very much. Those acquainted with the activities of the state department of education of South Carolina are fully aware that they are making good progress in every line, but they really need the hearty cooperation of the whole citizenship of South Carolina in order to realize oven a meager part of their ideals. "Mr. Hearon's remark, that the educational situation in South Carolina is probably as 'spotted' as the road situation, properly describes the condition. In North Carolina a few years ago the largest spots were in the western part of the state, whereas the reverse may be true of South Carolina. It makes no difference, however, where the spots are; they at least furnish fine targets for critics everywhere. Not only so, but while local self government is theoretically in line with true democracy, it may practically result in producing a large number of small democracies very varied in their complexion, and where a state is made up of a large number of these small democracies the entire commonwealth will acquire a general complexion determined by those that are most heavily shaded. This is one argument we are making in behalf of having a rigid and thorough educational survey made. We ought to reveal to every county in the state its own real educational condition as relater both to other counties and to the state as a whole. Then, each can take stock of itself and see clearly its own responsibility, in view of the interests of its own children and the children of the entire state. "State educational surveys have been conducted in several southern states, namely: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Alabama. It seems that Arkansas and Kentucky are also now having this done. In order that those who attend this Citizens' Conference shall have complete and up-to-date information concerning these surveys. Dr. George Frederick Cook, higher education expert of the United States Bureau of education, a recognized authority on this subject, will deliver an address giving the results that these surveys explaining how they are operated and making suggestions with reference to having one conducted in South Carolina. It is more than probable that such a survey will indicate strong points in our system for which we do not receive credit, and weak points j which we have not at all suspected. Such has been the case in other states, and this fact constitutes an additional reason for attempting one here. One of the most valuable of these surveys has been made by a state in which the legislature appoint WITNESS TELLS OF . ROBBERY IN COPE CONFEDERATE OF MEN TURNED 1 STATES' EVIDENCE. c I L Rendevous in Columbia. J 1 Says Gang Took Part in Several Rob- jberies in This and Otlier s States. r 2 Camden, July 12.?The case of the state against William Brawley, Alex Cartledge, Lloyd Lorick and Dewey Dennis, was taken up in sessions i court here this morninsr. Quite an array of witnesses, spectators and at- J torneys were present, including relatives of the young men charged with s robbing the Bank of Lugoff in this * county. Inspector Gregory who sue- a ceeded in rounding up the alleged 1 robbers is here to give testimony. The jury was completed after the 1 noon hour today with David Wolfe, * of Camden, as foreman and the case * was immediately begun. George Gunn, alias George Ganney, a alia? George Robinson, an alleged t confederate of the young men on v trial, turned state's evidence in his a testimony. Gunn claims he is from t Pennsylvania and gives an account of 0 the movements of the gang from the * l - time he claims to have joined it in 11 Columbia until he was taken off the v train in Richmond, Va. On instruc- y tions from Detective Strickland in * Columbia Gunn stated that the ren- e devous of the gang was a two-story h building at 715 Lady street in Co- c lumbia. In his confession he went c into minute details of the Lugoff rob- r bery and also stated that the same t gang took part in the robbery at a Cope, S. C., Heath Springs, S. C., and s also said that a job was pulled off e In a town in Pennsylvania. nm-vnvftR TV SUMMER HOME. f U V ? iiiui v*? ^ ^ C Reception at Greenville Pleases Chief a Executive. x t Greenville, July 10.?Governor a Cooper today is comfortably settled in i his summer home on Paris Mountain 0 and he expressed himself to newspa- s per men this afternoon as being high- 0 ly pleased with the place chosen for onmmor nanitnl ? Ultj 15 la LC O O um mvi aj When he arrived in his automobile a yesterday, the governor and his fami- y ly were met at the county line by a ^ committee of Greenville citizens who v 4 U escorted him to the city. v On the mountain the governor and v his family were guests of citizens at ^ supper and today he has received g numbers of friends who called upon j him. While here Governor Cooper D plans to devote as much time as pos- c sible to rest, in accordance with in- 0 structions of his physician. 1STATION7 AT FAIRFAX. a Department of Agriculture to Fight Boll Weevil. " o Washington, July 7.?For the pur- ^ post of fighting the boll weevil the United States department of agricul- ^ ture has established new stations as follows, it is announced today: Fairfax, S. C., Waynesboro and Americus, q Ga., Demopolis and Tuscaloosa, Ala., j Brookhaven, Miss., Victoria, Denton, c Tavlnr and San Benito, Texas. a The department announces that the infestation by the boll weevil is ^ heavier this year than ever before, e since the appearance of the weevil p with the exception of 1916. His Preference. * A Boston Artist relates that while n he was painting in an open field one r day a rustic came up and stood watching him. Presently the fellow re- c marked: "Purty clever, you be, mister, apaintin' two picters at wunst. But I like the one you got your thumb through best."?Exchange. The smart set in Paris have a new - * ? ?i?. C hobby?that or navmg suanea iv* pets. ' h ed a commission made up of its own ^ citizens to supervise the work, with <? the authority to employ such outside ? expert assistants as were needed. When this commission made its re- j port and the people recognized it as a revelation made not by aliens, but by its own citizens, they arose at once r and manfully attacked the problems t< ??ppnta] facts. This a i^IUWAll^ fut ui v. is what we can do in South Carolina t just as effectively if we are willing b to face things as they really are."? n Anderson Daily Mail. w ACCIDENTS AT SPRINGFIELD. 'Skeet*' Fulmer Injured ? Infant Nearly Drowned. Springfield, July 7.?The "Glorious rourth" did not pass without an acident, for as night drew near, news ame that Leslie Fulmer, star base >all player, locally known as "Skeet," lad been thrown from a "racer" and lad his skull fractured. Mr. Fulmer las been carried to a Columbia hos>ital, and the fractured part of his kull removed, with a fair chance of ecovery as reported. Only a few days ago, while bathing .t the power house dam, near Springield, Hamlin Gleaton, a small boy, hrew his wet shirt over one of the eed wires, and when he went to renove the same the power of the elecricity held him f^st until the power iad been turned off. He was not eriously injured, although for the ime being he was helpless to pull .way from the garment that simply ay across me wire. An act of unusual thought and iresence of mind, was that of little Srvce Gleaton, in saving the life of Sickling Fov, an infant child of less han three years, who was allowed to ;o with his somewhat larger brother o the power plant bathing grounds, rhere the small child was left in^he .utomobile with the usual injunction o remain where he was while the ilder boys bathed. Unseen, the small ot made his way to a deep pool be>w the dam, where he jumped in, and rhen seen was floating down stream rith his feet up. James Bryce Gleaon, a boy of 12 or 14 years, happend to be somewhere in the neighbored, and noticing the drowning ihild, succeeded in reaching him and arrying the child to the shore.. With are presence of mind, he caught the hen-unconscious child by the feet, nd by 'heroic shaking, emptied its tomach of the water it had swallowd, and thereby saved its life. Herbert Sanders, a negro laborer ?n one of the plantations of H. G. Jooper, was shot yesterday by R. G. hooper, Jr., while the negro man was ttempting to cut young Mr. Cooper nth a large knife, it is alleged. From he meager information at hand, it .ppears that this man had been givng the elder Mr. Cooper a great deal f trouble of late, and he sent his on, H. G. Cooper, Jr., out to one 'f his plantations to see this man. Vhile on the way to the farm he net Sanders in the public road, and .ttempted to reach some understandn? with negro, when, without warn -o ? ag, the negro drew a large knife, and iegan advancing on young -Cooper, pho retreated to his automobile, that pas standing near by, where he proluced his pistol, and as the negro landers again advanced on Cooper, le first knocked the knife out of the aan's hand, but before Cooper ould obtain possession of the weapon, the negro had jumped for the :nife, and as he again advanced on Ir. Cooper, Cooper shot him in the ,rm. As far as is known, he was not . hot otherwise, as he reached a near_ - ??? on/1 /Haannpnrpd. IJT JjWdni^J auu ~ ? fAXY SOLDIERS LEAVING CAMP. Lbout Fifty Per Cent. Asking For Discharge. According to an announcement.by !apt. Thomas C. Beck, personnel ad- ? utant at Camp Jackson, about 50 per ent. of the enlisted men of the post re applying for disenarge. Some organizations report a lessenng of around 20 per cent., while othrs run as high as 65 per cent, of its ersonnel requesting discharge. Major DuPont B. Lyon, camp adjuant, said that one organization comlander had intimated that of his egiment consisting of about 1,200 len, over 900 had applied for disharge, while a small detachment of $ had 16 left. All men serving a three year en[stment who entered the army prior o June 4, 1920, are receiving $100 onus. There will be a few sage soldiers ?ft, it seems, for at least some time, ine private confided yesterday that e was contemplating getting out, f ut wired home asking how things -ere and got the reply that the} were in the bread line." Therefore hp snldier decided to serve at least is remaining three months at Camp ackson.?Columbia State. Cope, July 9.?Newton M. Bull, ural mail carrier on route Xo. 1, ook holiday on the fourth of July nd surprised his friends upon his reurn by bringing with him a young ride. Miss Eunice Clark, of Heinelann, and they are now boarding 'ith Mrs. J. M. Brickie. %