Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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^' f THURSDAY. OCTOBER 28TH. It2fi. ROBERT A EASTERLING AND THE STORY OF HIS SUCCESS Starting With No Capital Total Invettment of Hit “Edisto-Savan- nah River” Section Plant U Now $1,000,000 By A. W. KNIGHT *, “ and your sons, and 'your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see. visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” This is the story of a young man with a vision agd energy, not nec essarily a close-up personal view of ,an individual but of his achievements. What has been done in the space of a few-short years seems to us who know of it almost impossible, yet neverthe less true. Robert A. Easterling was born in ‘the town of Barnwell forty—one years ago. He attsended Clemson College, taking an electrical {engineering course. After finishing school he was connected with the General Electric Go., at Schenectady, N. Y., for some years, a nd later returned to his native State at.d was in charge of the electric light .and water plant at Union, -fn X' aproxim^te* ore million dollars. The high power lir.es of Mr. Eas terling’s company will in a compara tively short time completely covc,r the territory of seven counties in the Edisto-Savannah River section, thia being.the territory lying-between South Carolina has been called the “Coastal Plain” and also “Coastal Carolina.” Two years ago the com pany offered a prize of $50 in gold for the best designation of this territory, and from the great number submitted the Judges decided on “Edisto-SaVan- nah River” section as the most ap propriate, and this name has been us ed in all the development literature of the company, k Development Bureau is maintained at 70 State street, Bos- —every prejrrfeaaiva movement. He has pergjeWitly encouraged di/ersi- fied farming, advertised the resources of the region, assisted in obtaining highways, and in all other move ments for progress and prosperity. Just now there is much discussion here as to planting tobacco, culti vation of which was begun to a great extent a few years ago but abandon ed after two disastrous seasons. With the price~of cotton* below the cost of production farmers are turn ing their thoughts to tobacco again, add Mr. Easterling has offered to personally pay the salary of an expert tobacco grower an# curer to teach the farmers here how to successfully grow thik crop. He is also bearing the total expense CdLa. hahd-book ad- ATTENTION. K. K. K. • There will be a regular mealing of -nwell Klan in the Masonic Hall every second and fourth Tuesday nights in each month. A full at* tendance is requested. NOTICE OF ELECTION. the Ec^isto on the North and the Sav annah on the South and West, reaching .. . x . ,, the coast on the E..t This part of - Vfrt ',' ,n *. the rMoorcM of thia region, 1915 he acquired the Denmark Lighfrf ton, Mass., where information is given and Power Co. and the ice plant locat ed in that town, which had been owned by the Carolina Public Service Co. 'Both concerns were practically bank rupt and were of small capacity, the light plant having only one 15 k. w. urit and the ice plant ten tons daily. These were combined a nd operated oy Mr. Easterling while he still remain ed at Union. But having been born in this section and knowing the pos sibilities of its. development in an in dustrial way, he gave up his position at. Union in 1918 and removed to Denmark, assuming personal manage ment of his light and ice plant, which he incorporated as the Edisto Public Service Co. From that time until the present the growth and develop ment of the enterprise hag been tru’y remarkable. • The present steam plant a t Den mark now has a capacity of 1,500 k w. with new and modem machinery, and a commodious brick building mo* which wil! be issued during the next few months. This publication will be devoted to the seven counties of this section, will have many illustrations of public buildings,school8, farms an4, other scenes of interest, the printing will be extra high grade on paper of fine quality, and the literary matter will be by the best informed and ablest writers who are thoroughly! familiar with the resourcea and pos sibilities of this section. The coun ties covered are Bamberg, Beaufort, houses the electih light and ice plan*. The Denmark kc plai t has been in- neared to 75 tons daily capacity, and the company a\*o owns six other plants in towns of this se-Hon. 4 he daily rapacity of all bring 150 tons. In 1921 the company erected a power line to Oiar, a town in Ham- berg County, ten milcj away, to for- vuah that community w**:i electeej lights and power. Later the nmnici-1 pally owned light p'ant at Blarkvillei was bought and a power line built to that town. In 1923 the light, plai.l owned by the town of \Vi!!ist..n , vas purchased, and soon thereafter company made ronrcction at Augttsta with the hydro-electrie tines of the super-power system of the South, a high voltage line being erected from that point as far East as Bamberg, the latter town having ertered into a contract during the year 1924 with the Edisto Public Sendee Co. for electric current. At thia time the poWer lines of Mr. . Easterling’s company, built and in operation, tot&l 125 miles and serve the following towns: Wiiliston, Blark- ville, Deamark, Bamberg, Olar, Fair fax, EstiH, Brur.son, Hampton and Vamville, in the counties of Barnwell, Bamberg, Allendale and Hamoton. The company has recently bought the water ar.d light plant at Beaufort, and work is now progressing rapidly on line extension to Yemassee and Beau fort. The light and water plants at Ehrhardt, in Bamberg "County has also been purchased, as we.ll as the light plant at Branchville, .and lines are now being built to these towns, also to Bowman, in Orangeburg County, thus giving present exteraion of eighty miles of high power lir.es, .with connections to other towns in prospect. The company has recently com pleted a handsome.. two-tory bfick building at Denmark, in which is located the general offices and the private office of Mr. Easterling, the remaining space being rented f61* of fices and commercial purposes. Of fices m* also m tirtained in all the towns served by the. company Elee- trcal goods of varous kinds tre slid to customers kt reduced prices and a complete line is carried in stock. The steam plant is to be enlarged in order that there may be no interruption of service, in the event of, trouble on the .- Joiain Hue 4rom-Augu»t*r--af.4- wiH be used in emergencies. Additional real estate has bem secured and plans are on foot for the erection of a large cold storage plant at Denmark. For the present the steam plants at Beaufort, Branchvile and Ehrhardt are being operated by the company, but these will be shut down wWn the power lines now being built to these towns are completed. The total in vestment of the. company at this time in regard to this section of South Carolina and co-operation is given to prospective settlers or industries. When one realizes that Mr. Easter- ling commenced operations with no capital a nd in the past three years has reached the point where the total investment of his company is one mil lion dollars, the record is wonderful. It must be remembered that this has been done during the worst deflation period this section of the State has evex known. The Great W’ar had passed and in its wake ha^l left the wreck and ruin of many of the sub stantial fortunes accumulated here. The boll weevils had destroyed the cotton crops for several years; much farm labor hud emigrated North and sewhere, and the fanning popu’a- tion had become well-nigh discourag ed. Farms were being abandoned and sold for taxes, and it is but simple tiuth to say that the future of agri culture here was the gloomiest in history. Many of the oldest inhabi. tants declared with emphasis that the condition of the people generally was cve/i worse than after the War Be tween the btates. But “Bob” Easterling wa*» u ira.\ with a vision. He saw a picture of the future, with industries utilizing the resource* here and brlngirg about au agricultural balanced with 4ndua- try which would makn possible p stable prosperity. Essentially an agri cultural section, he has not sought to supplant agriculture with industry. t h t .|but to encourage diversified fanning.} establish industries, though small, and thus tfcvelop the resources of thiq part of the State. He knew that if | industries were to thrive there must be an ample supply of cheap power, and sirgLv-handed and alone, for he is the company, although his efforts were met with mirth and derision by many here, he has been successful. Mr. Easterling says that he had noth ing but r.erve and faith in this section, and that -he has succeeded in impres sing hard-headed conservative capital ists to the extent that they have financed his plans jn the sum of a mil lion dollars at a time when this Barnwell, Allendale, Colleton, Hat ton and Jasper. Many thousand copies Hamp d copie! will be issued and distributed through out the entire country. Yet Mr. Eaa- terling is far from bmng a rich man, even as richer are counted here. "Where tljefe is no visfon the peo ple perish.” South Carolina needs more men of the Easterling type. Urunson-Bates. Blackville, Oct. 25.—A marriage of interest to a large number of friends was that of Norman Bates, of Black ville, and Miss Pansy Brunson, of Nor way, which occurred in Orangeburg Sunday, October 10, the Rc.v. George Davis, pastor of the First Baptist church of Orangeburg, officiating. The bride is a popular and atttrac- tive young lady and the groom is a spier did young business man. At present they are making their home in Blackville with the groom’s mother, Mrs. Easio Bates. Advertise in The People-Sentinel. State of South Carolina, County of Barnwell. , Notice is hereby given that the General Election for United States Senator and Representatives jp Con gress will be held at the voting pre cincts fixed by law in the County of Barnwell on Tuesday, November 2nd, 926, said day being Tuesday follow ing the first Monday, as prescribed by the State Constitution. The qualifications for suffrage are as follows: ‘ Residence in State for two years, in the County one year, in the polling precinct in which the elector offers to vote, four months, and the payment six months before any election of any poll tax then due and payable: Provided, That Ministers in charge of an organized church axxl teachers of public schools shall be entitled to vote after six months’ residence in the State, otherwise qualified. Registration.—Payment of all taxes, including poll tax, assessed and col lectable (luring the pre\fous year.' The production of a certificate or the receipt of the officer authorized to collect such taxes shall be conclusive, proof of the payment thereof. Before the hourNfixed for opening the^polls Managers and Clerks must take and subscribe to the Coratitn- tional oath. The chairman of the Board of Managers can administer the oath to the other Managers and to the Cerk; a Notary Pubic must ad minister the oath to Chairman. The Managers elect their Chairman and Ckrk. Polls at each voting place must be opened at 7 o’clock a. m. and closed at 4 o’clock p. m.. except In the City of Charleston, where they shall be opened at 7 a. m. and closed at 6 p. m. The Managers have the power to ftill a vaeaxey; and if none of the Managers attend, the citizens can appoint, from smor^ the qualified voters, the Managers, who, after being sworn, can condact the election. At tbs' close of the election the Managers and Clerks must proceed publicly to open the ballot bog and cOunt the ballots therein, and con tinue without adjournment until the same is completed, and make a state ment of the results for each office, ard sign the same. Within three days thereafter the Chairman of the Board, or some one designated, by the Board, must deliver to the Commissioners of Election the poill list, the box contain ing the ballots and written statements of the result of the election. Managers of Election.—The follow ing Managers of election have been appoirAed to hold the election at the various precincts in the said County; Barnwell—G. W. Halfogd, J. Caldwell and G. M. Buist. Blackville—L. C. Still, Willis Grubbs and H. W. Still. Smdling—R. R. Moore, J. J. Hill and H. M. Cook. . Robbins—W. F. Duncan, A. R. Levy and P. m. i—j. Dunt Dicks and B. F. Pleasant Hfll Chester Parker ai WlHiston—M. Rountree and Cecil j ' Elko—P. S. Grvere, 1f|jbe Hair and Charlie Hair. Hercules—L. B. Cl Creech and Maner Morris. XXX*■ Meyer’s Mil]—B. W. Peepfiu, C. a Meyer and Gary Cobb. The Managers at each precinct named above are requested to dele gate one of their number tg secure the box and blanks for the election at the Clerk e$ Court's office, Barnwell, & C., on Saturday, October 80th, 1028. J. W. BATES, 8. E. MOORE, J. B. GRUBBS, Commissioners for Federal Boo* tion for Barnwell County, S. C. October 12th, 1926., SAY ‘‘BAYER ASPIRIN” and INSIST! Unless you see the "Bayer Cross" on tablets yew arc not getting the genuine Bayer Aspirin proved safe by millions and prescribed by physicians 24 yean for Colds- Headache Neuralgia Lumbago * Pain Toothache Neuritis Rheumatism Accept only "Bayer” package which contains proven direction. Handy “Bayor" boars of 19 tabtata Al*o bottles of C4 sad 100—DfUflgMs. AaiOrta Is tfca trmda mart «< B«r«r Maaofactan #f M—*—UoartS—Mr ti A neu "Sumdard" Service Station opening at Mom and Clark Street i region was “dqa.'l broke,” shows what faith and energy can accomplish. The Edisto-Savannah River section will some time be a manufacturing center of, magnitude. ' The Conntvtion by the Edisto Public Service Co. nt Augu&tu is with a veritable super power system, and can supply cheap electric iiowfcr in practically unlimited quantities. This system embraces hydro-electric developments in North, and South Carolina, Georgia, Alaba ma, Mississippi, and Tejmessee,-with high power lines traversing these States, all connected, so that drought condition* in one section will not af fect the power supply. The center of the system is at Tallulah Falls in Georgia, one of the greatest hydro electric developments in the South. This is what otic mail, working alone, without the sympathy and co operation of hi? owVr people, been able to accomplish for lower Carolina. No doubt he w<u» often dis couraged and disheartened, but he did not give up. For years his small light and ice plant was rot Iftrgely remuner ative, he, was in debt, and the future looked dark indeed. At one time the sheriff of the cuurfty came turtose op the plant, but Me. Easterling says he talked him out of it. It takes courage ard faith to “carry on” through such experiences, but “Bob” Easterling had it. ’Little wonder it4s th?t we folks down here who know of his struggles and success appreciate him for the val uable arset he is to this section and to South Carolina. Through all the dark days ha has bean a coratai t booster, and has spent money and tif/j t’. * ^ Columbia & Tbint North, Bamburg tonjjeburjf A Tb WJHistons* Augusta Ga „ MBllABandak* Savannahs- Florida TVs Map showing location of the new “Standard” Service Station at Blackville. Jr s STANDARD NOW OPEN • * . *• * • * A new "Standard” Service Station Opens ; A PLACE where local motoruts may have their gas and oil needs attended to both courteously and quickly. The bright* clean surroundings, away from the rush of traffic, will appeal to men and women alike. Genuine " Standard ” Motor Fuels and Oils, too—the best obtainable anywhere. "Standard" Gasoline and Esso are the South’* best motor fuels. "Standard" Motor Oil embodies a new principle in motor lubrication. By "staying put" on m^tal surfaces regardless of the time the motor has been standing idle, it gives greater protection and means smoother operation for your car. More miles per quact of oil and reducedgasoline bills ar^ two of its many benefits* Crank case service will be a special feature at this new t !•'%:• Be sure to pu| it down for an immediate stop* “STAN DARD SERVICE STATIONS ^ Jki sjfci. J£g&