The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, July 14, 1921, Image 1
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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.
%