Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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"4f% -11 m f The Gaffney 1T\ A NEWSPAPill IN ALL THAT TH« WORD IMPLiZS. AND DEVOTED TO THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PEOPLE OF CHEROKEE COUNT/. ESTABLISHED FE3. 16. 1894. GAFFNEY, S. C-, FRIDAY, MAY, 29. 1908. $1.50 A YEAR. COffiM: HCESENT AT LIMESTONE. Carolina were there, and the address !: Dr. Whitsitt, in which he paid dress you on the subject,of dreams. Young people are often interested in' splendid tribute to South Carolina and | dreams, and some ladies keep a 1 South Carolinians, was especially ap-j dream-book, and they are apt to bring THE CLOSING EXERCISES ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT. Eloquent Address of Dr. Whitsitt. of Columbia, in Full—Other Exercises Which Took Place. The closing exercises of Limestone College commencement were held in the auditoaum of the main building Wednesday night. Forty-five young ladies received their diplomas, twenty in the literary department, three from the school of music, two from the school of art and twenty from the Winnie Davis School of History. Rev. William Heth Whitsitt, D. D.. of the College of Richmond, made the ad dress. Taking as his subject “Dreams” the eloquent man made one of the finest addresses heard here in years. President Lee Davis !»dge made a touching farewell address to graduates. The large auditorium, ■which seats one thousand, was filled to overflowing. Beside the addresses and the delivering of diplomas, a splendid program of music was car ried out and there was not a dull m< - ment from the beginning to the close of the exercises. The Organ Concert. The ne w pi,^. organ at Limestone College was presented to the public Tuesday night, a large and enthu siastic audience being present. The concert was one of the best ever given in the college auditorium, and tiios° who attended were warm in their uraise of the splendid new organ. The concert opened with two organ numbers played by Mr. Coring. These were well rendered and warmly ap plauded. The Choral Club then sang two pieces which were given a good interpretation under the baton of Mis 1 ? Higley. Miss Dew and Miss Churchill were then heard in a valse for two pianos by Von Wjlm. and tins piece Ac a splendid impression. This was followed by the song “Awake” by Pelissier. sung by Mrs. Charles Hames. This song made a decided bit, and Mrs. Hames graciously re sponded with an encore, singing a Japanese love song, which aroused enthusiasm. Mrs. Hames has a splen did voice and her singing was an en v • able feature of tho programme. Foliowing Mrs. Hames were two more organ numbers by Mr. l»ring. At the conclusion of these numbers Mr. I»ring wa s presented with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. He played the Schubert serenade for an encore. Miss Wilburne was unable to sing, so Miss Higley sang in her place, be ing heard in the same song Miss Wil burne was to have sung. "In Summer Fields,” by Brahms. She gave a splendid interpretation of the song, and the accompaniment played by Miss Dew is also worthy of remark. Miss Ixmlie Potter, one of the graduates from the music department this year, then played the second movement of the (1 minor concerto by Mendelssohn, with Miss Rlolse Potter at the second piano and Mr. I»ring at the organ. This was one of the best numbers on the pro gramme, and the playing of Miss Pot ter was excellent. Miss Dew next played a polonaise by Chopin, which was followed by the valse from Faust, sung by the Choral Club. The pro gramme closed with a march by Scot- son Clarke on the organ. This was altogether the best con cert of the season, and those who at- t/nfled were well repaid. Limestone College commencement is always a great occasion to people of upper South Carolina, but the com mencement just closed attracted pos sibly more attention and a larger .number of visitors than any in the history of the institution. Wednesday afternoon at 4:db o'clock ♦he students of Miss Dew and Miss Higley gave a recital, which was greatly enjoyed by a large audience of music lovers. Those taking part were; Misses Blanche Cole. Kthe! Hamrick, Kva Barle, Julia Surratt. Aurelia Lodge, Isabelle Free, Mary Lodge, Wfnona Phifer. Inez Wilburne and Marion Huggins. Bach perform ed her part well and received a son orous share of applause from the au dience. Wednesday was the night of all nights at Limestone College. I»ng before 8:30 every seat In the large au ditorium was taken and chairs placed In the aisles. The forty-five young ladies on the stage composing the graduating class, made a pretty pict ure. The flowe r and beauty of South plicable to the occasion. Dr. Whitsitt took as his subject “Dreams,” and in a splendid handling of the theme it forth on wedding,, commencement j and other important occasions, for the purpose of consulting the signs of 1 showed that the boy or girl whose ; the times, and I should be happy if you 1 life was filled with some noble aspira-j would give me leave to compare my I tion or dream would be the boy or girl i dream-book with yours, to inscribe their name on the death- j Governor Hampton and the men he' less roll of fame. lied have entered for the most parti The graduating class received diplo mas from the hand of the president. Dr. Lodge spoke feelingly when he made the farewell address. He dwe'r upon tiie pleasant relations that had **xist(*d between the faculty and the class for four years, and then pre dicted for them a bright and glorious future. The musical numbers or, the program were well rendered and most thoroughly enjoyed. The address of Dr. Whitsitt was patriotic to th»* core. The grand old soldier-teacher began by reviewing thq dark days of the fib’s, md retold t'he story of the South ising from the ashes of defeat be cause of the dream of such a man as Gen. Wade Hampton. He then pro ceeded to show that in all earth's great achievements there was the working out of some mighty dream Following is his speech: Dreams. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: i I have no words that are suitable to express the gratitude that I feel for the kindness of President Lodge, ami fog the opportunity which he has afforded me to make a visit to South Carolina to Limestone College, and to Gaffney. I appreciate such a privilege more highly than some other men, because I have a great affection for South Carolina. My personal con- into the land of shadows, but their | dreams were the finest item in thi :r record and achievement. They figur- 1 ed to themselves a better day. Their | dreams gave them iniiurtive and hope courage and perseverence. The enter prise they had taken in hand appear ed preposterous to many men. but they believed in it and clung to it with dauntless resolution. They of ten received the counsel of fear: they were assiduously warned of disaster. It was the dreams they cherished ITiat enabled them to stand firm. It was their dreams that saved the day and the State. “Dreams, idle dreams, I know not what tffey mean:” so sings Mr. Ten nyson, but all our dreams are not of that type. Dreams fill a large place in many countries. The dreams of Caesar cost the lives of thousands and altered the path ot empire. The dreams of Copernicus climbed the heaven and set the stars in their course. It makes much difference to you and me whether we possess dreams or are without them. In my boyhood clays i felt an amount of admiration for the family physician, who was a stately gentleman and a member of the legislature. One day when be was paying a professional visit, lie Stood nection with the Commonwealth last- I "l* an ^ recited to bis patient a speech that he had just delivered in the legislature. It was directed against the younger Andrew Jackson, lie- cause he had procured a bill to be brought before the body, for the sale of the Hermitage. General Jackson's ed lor thirteen years, beginning in the year ]8fi4 and closing with the year 1877. Fn 1805 I marched across the track of Sherman’s army with its miles of desolation. From a point in Abbeville District 1 forded the Sa vannafi river and surrendered with j l |onie pluc“. to the State of Tennes- niy regiment near Washington. Ga., j at a price that was considered on the 11th of May, I8fi5. I attended 1 to TwfrP f he value* of the land and the Theological Seminary at Green- improvements. I cannot recall the ville from 18fi7 fo 1809, and witness- "hob of the Phillipic. but l think the **(1 at close rang • the process of r-* i ,, ’ :i iu point of it was that young \n- construction. I returned to Gieen-1 ^ rf ‘ w Jackson was charging an extra ville* in 1872 as a professor in the I araoun t 'a consideration of the bones Theological Seminary, and remained h* 8 father. He denounced the* until August, 1877. In November, j fransaction because he thought it was 187fi. I voted fo r President Tilden and a sllam e that the bones of the hero Governor Hampton. The fourth of' (, f Ne w Oreans should be offered for May, 1877. was the day on which we! sa,p * al, d '»♦ particular that a son received notice at Greenville that the j s hould demand a price tor the ashes authorities at Washington had at iast | ^is father. formally recognized the right of ; The younger Jackson was endowed Governor Hampton to his office, and j with no dreams at all. His only it was was also the happiest day of 1 achievement in life was to spend and scatter the estate of his father. He was not disreputable; but he was my residence in the State. To niy thinking this epocn of thirteen years constitutes the most glorious that has yet appeared in the annals of South Carolina. If I have understood hei history correctly, nothing comparable to the deeds of that period has been enacted on this ground, since the first settlement was made. People who can accomplish results of that kind are worthy of dis tinction in any country, and in any age. and before any court of judg ment. Here were courage and wis dom and temperance and justice of tiie classic type, in my opinion this is the supreme feat of citizenship that has yet been performed anywhere in the United States of America. Of all on/ commonwealth, it appears to me that none has ever behaved so ad mirably a.s South Carolina in the day when she was clothed in sackcloth aruj sat down in ashes. It is well enough to sing the praise of Marion and Sumter, and the patriots of the Revolution; I have nothing to say against the splendid powers and ser vices of Calhoun; but it appears to me that history will reserve her selectest laurels for Hampton and the men who proved their greatness in the fires of defeat and humiliation. That is the view l obtained of South Carolina during the dark and cloudy days of my residence at Greenville. It is also the reason why I have ever since regarded the State with respect and reverence. I am proud of the fact that l was a citizen for a portion of that period, and helped as far as I could, to bring in the new and hap pier day. I have no skill adequately to interpret the spirit of South Caro lina in that splendid era. This task must be left to men who are better ••ndowed with gifts of insight and eloquence. To the hustling men of our time the story has become ancient history, and some of them may not fully appreciate the glory of It. 1 shall he proud if they In their day shall be empowered to adorn the Common wealth with a splendor equal to that which their fathers shed up on it. 1 beg that you will allow me to ad- inefficient. unsuccessful, without am bition, without enterprise. He never led a day of strenuous life. He was reared in the lap of luxury. He en joyed incomparable opportunities. He had been presented to all the chief men of the nation. His. opportuni ties were unexcelled. His adopted father was one of the foremost men of our history. No youth had walked in the light of a better example, none enjoyed finer incitements. Yet none of these things moved him; he never once lifted up his eyes, nor took any notice at all. The elder Andrew Jackson, though he wa s reared in the sternest pover ty, cherished from the beginning the bravest dreams of life, dreams that would not allow him a moments rest. He studied law; he committed him self to the toils of a soldier; he was prepared for any emergency that might show its front. There was an extraordinary difference between the two Andrew .lack-sons; and yet in the last analysis it resolved itself into a matte r of dreams. In the month of May, 1855, I had my first experience with a political debate. |t was the fashion in Ten nessee for candidates to meet each other face to face on the hustings. Candidates for the gubernatorial of fice would make engagements of that kind in almost every county of the State, in 1855, the candidates were Andrew Johnson and Meredith P. Gentry, and when tiie time came round for them to appear at Lebanon, in Wilson county, my uncle, took me with him in his carriage, and togeth er we went to hear the speaking. It was a notable day; a never-to-be-for gotten day. The boiling heat, the surging crowds, the lofty cedars, the shouting and the tumult, the first sight of Andrew Johnson. Know- nothlngism was the question of the campaign, and Mr. Gentry, an ora tor of the first magnitude, led the way. j belonged to a Whig family none oi whom had formally adopted konw-nothing tenents; but their op position to the Democrats was well established upon general ]>:'inciple&. Mr. Gentry had been a Whig leader of renown, and we were delighted with his flowing periods. But when Johnson rose up a change came over the spirit of our dreams. He was not an orato/ as Gentry was, but'he thrilled us through and through. Before he had spoken ten minutes it seemed apparent that Gentry was cut-classed. He was deliberate, in formed. loving, magnetic, the people hung upon every work. He was out of the ordinary. His manner excited apprehension. He seemed a man toj fear. Ten years from that moment' he was in the White House, ami J President of the United States. There was a man of dreams. While the debate was in progress my uncle called my attention to a handsome young fellow that was seat ed on the stand, and informed me that he was a son of Governor John son. The newspapers had spoken of him in flattering terms, assuring the public that he was a chip off the old block. I gazed upon him in imich ad miration. He appeared to me to be a superior person, for lii.s name had been published in the papers, and till then I had never seen my own name in print. It seemed that a brilliant future must lie before such a fortu nate young fellow. But he passed quickly out of sight. We never heard of him again. He was a stranger to the dreams thht stirred his father's breast. Among Southern leaders in the Confederate war. perhaps the two foremost, for native military genius, were Stonewall Jackson and Na than B. Forrest. I never saw Jack- son. but i had the honor to follow Forrest for a year, and perhaps h 3 was the greatest soldier that 1 ever looked upon. He possessed bound less resources; of initiative and cour age and skill and swiftness and thoroughness. No man in America, with the possible exception of Jack- son seems to have possessed such rare dreams as Forrest. His fame will grow and grow with the process of the ages. On some occasions, he was accom panied by Ids son, and it was enter- ♦aining to watch the two as they rode together at the head of the column. The lad was fair to see and faultless ly dressed. He seemed an unsophis ticated mother's son. gentle and graceful; a boy to be loved, heartily an | without reserve. But there was never a trace of his father’s fire and power. Shall we ever behold the like <♦' Forrest again? "One blast upon h!s bugle-horn, Wtas worth a thousand men.” It was but the other day at Mem phis that the son was gathered to his fathers, a worthy, friendly character, respected by all, but without anv touch of genius. His sole title to dis tinction lay in the fact that he was loved by the greatest cavalry leader of modern times. The existing situation in South Carolina seems to be exceptionaly fortunate. The martial temper of he r citizens was disciplined by mili tary operations waged upon a large scale. Then they were chastened by defeat and repress'on. Next they | were lifted up and strengthened by i the marvelous victory that crowned Lie era of reconstruction. For almost fifty years they have been trained in the noble school of poverty and hard toll and they h$ve never been more vLile and efficient than at the pre sent moment. Their exertions' in commerce have been well rewarded Mth success. They are prosperous to a degree, and they have not yet been weakened by luxury. Here are all the elements of a masterful edmmuni- t.”, fitted to play a large role in the affairs of the nation and the world. South Carolina appears to face a fair er future fhan any that has greeted her since the first foundation of her commonwealth. There is reason to anticipate that tiie Panama Canal will be completed and put in operation without serious dela>, and that promises To'Be a mo- mentious incident. The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 laid the em phasis of commerce upon the North ern section of our country. The open ing of the Panama Canal promises to transfer that emphasis of the South. The State of South Carolina, there fore, appears to have a better stake in the union of the States than she ever possessed before. It will likely be more manifest to her people every passing year that it is to their inter est to cherish and uphold the govern ment which they once resisted with so much courage and patience. The tides of modern immigration that have almost overwhelmed a num ber of our Northern commonwealths, have not yet reached as far as South Carolina. It has not been overwhelm ed b'y the migration of the nations of Europe and Asia. Its Anglo-Saxon civilization remains intact. It still possesses a homogenous ruling pojm- atiou. Whatever apprehensions may be rife in other States; these are not felt in South Carolina. Her people nave been welded together by gene rations of sympathy and sorrow. This is in many ways a fortunate situation which they share in common with other Southern communities. The time may-come when it will go far to promote their influence and- the value of the services that they shall be able to render to our country. We of the South may be called upon, to steady the ship 0 f State in some great emergency. We may be summoned to perform the patriotic part. We ap pear to have keen disciplined for some mighty day and labor. Providence may have ordained that the safety of the Southern seas, which are destined to become perhaps the most impor* taut waters in the world, shall short ly lie our peculiar charge and care. At Hebron, in tlu* land of the Lord across the seas, there arose long since c. country lad who had been endowed with dreams. "He dreamed a dream and* told it to his brethren and said unto them, ‘Hear i pray, for behold we were binding sheaves in tin* field. ed for the statesman and orator, who in the stress of emergency rises up to enlighten the understanding, support the purpose, guide the decis ions and shape the policies of the commonwealth. May the succession of these never fail to South Carolina, and may she ever bestow upon their genius and their toils rewards that shall be worthy of herself. Our Baptist people h|ive wisely in sisted upon the separation of the State from the church, but some of our youth have drawn from this posi tion unwarranted conclusions, to the effect that the State is incomplete and more or less imperfect. That seems to be a blunder. It is unfor tunate that our citizens should in any wise withdraw their sympathies from the civil government. The powers that be are ordained of God, ami they are worthy of the support and service of all the people. War s are still “abhorred by moth ers” as they were in the days of Horace, and Hannibal is still “abomi nated by parents.” But wars we have always with us. and in due season Hannibal will come and knock at the gates of Rome, and unless the Ro mans are prepared to defend it. the city with its cloud-oapt towers and lofty palaces shall be burned to the ground. Nobody has learned that and lo. my sheaf arose and also stood j lesson more bitterly than South Caro lina. Among her dreamers there, should certainly be a generous supply of sailors and soldiers. The millen nium has not yet dawnned. and in this present evil world, soldiers and sailors appear to he an indispensible guarantee of peace and progress. Let us hope that her admirals and gener als shall ever he men of genius and training and virtue, and success. There is an unparalleled amount of activity in the department of history. \Ve are striving as hi no previous period to discover the facts of our American histoiy. and to interpret the meaning of the facts. Some of our scholars get lost in the phenomena, •infi others get lost in the theories. Therefore tiie minds of men are often unsettled. Among the dreamers >f. the future some shall be endowed with sounder insight and trupr pa tience than their predecessors, and will upright; and behold your sheaves >r< ed /fnmd about and made obeisance T o ti’y sheaf.’ And he dreamed yet another dream and told it to his brethren, and slid. "Behold. I have dreamed a dream more, and behold the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obdisance unto me.”’ These dreams inspired his heart with aspirations that dominated his life, and se? lii"i apart from common men. His eleven brothers were so ber. practical people, solid citizens, who dreamed no dreams at all. Th 1 lad of seventeen years, however, be lieved in his dreams, and loved them devotedly. They entered into t'he marrow of -his bones, and fashioned the web of bis life; they stirred his energies and "wakened his initiative on every hand. His dreams brought him many pains and sorrows. They drove him into slavery in a strange land, and find the path for which we have transferred him thence to a prison where life was in jeopardy every hour. But they also supported his patience, shielded him from tempta tion, and delivered him from des truction. Thirteert years after h^ap prenticeship of sorrow had begun, he closed it in triumph, and stood before sought in vain. I congratulate you on the Winnie Davis School of History. 1 have sincere respect for the scholarship of women and I should lie rejoiced if there should arise historians among them, who would descend into the valley of vision, and speak unto the dry bones Pharaoh as the undisputed master of (there, and lay sinews upon them, and the oid Tgyptian State. Without his and cause breath to enter into them behest no man lifted hand or foot in that they may live. That w r ould be ail the land of Egypt. j a public service, indeed. That would Through his dreams Joseph had! be a blessing to the whole country, learned the lesson of obedience. It I And the historian said. “Let there bo had been impressed upon him every light." and there was light, day during the slavery in the house of potiphar, and during the perils of his imprisonment. Imprisonment was We are sometimes proclaimed as the greatest and wealthiest of na tions. but we have produced the wholesome expedient. When Joseph in turn had risen to the duties of command, no other man in Egypt was better able to fulfill them with credit. a painful measure, but it proved a smallest and poorest displays of poetry and philosophy of any other great nation. This is a capital defect, due perhaps to our youthfulness in part, and in part to the nature of our j environment; and it will shortly he It was likewise through his dreams j supplied. Many dreamers are rising that Joseph was delivered from the up to bear a part in that gigantic en- provincialism in which he had been ( terprise. and we may expect that trained at Hebron, and prepared to ; some of them will be found in South take a wise and skilful part in the af- Carolina. If our “masculine Sappho” fairs of a great nation. Slavery and should be one of the students of imprisonment both gave him profit- i Limestone College, the men of the able experience, and rendered him the Palmetto stock and of the whole most accomplished administrator of, country would receive her with an en- his time. Every year the handicap thusiasm and loyalty like that which of provincialism ruins the chances of was bestowed upon her predecessor capable men and women. It is worth in the island of Lesbos, almost any sacrifice if one shall be Art j s the greatest thing, and »he enabb*d forever to lay aside the limi- n)0s t beloved of our artists are those tation of provincialism. who dream in terms of painting and It is a memorable journey that music. May their tribe increase, and South Carolina has accomplished with- may their expression become more in the last half century. It began fa Render and sublime with the years; the valley of the shadow of death, more capable of embodying the joys where almost every field was dyed and sorrows, the faith and yearning with the blood of h^r sons. She has of our human lives, moved upward by slow degrees Horace says; “Wlhoever trusts through poverty and pain, and is now himself shall be a prince, and rule permitted to survey a wide and hope- the hive." But some men trust them- ful prospect. She has not reached selves who ought not to. and some, perfection, but she is marching for- w ho ought to trust themselves. lack ward with patience and good will., the needful courage. It is a happy Perils lie about her path; problems' consuma tj 0n when those who ought confront hep at every turn; but she to trust themselves are brave enough may well he brave and calm, for sh* to do it. I suppose that in this party is compassed about with an army of of graduates may be found one who her children who have been brought ought to trust herself to rise to the up in the simple life, and are equal to any task that may be assigned them. And among these she may al ways expect to find a competent num ber of dreame-s, men and women that loftiest bights, and fill the whole land with hep song. I wish that it were in my [>ower to predict, which one of them all might he this gifted dream- , er. Lift up your eyes, please, and -Ji.u. eoitfvate the Ideal with great, i 00 j( 0 h me. No I am not wise enough ^ ov ' j to divine who 1» to be the fortunate child of genius and toll, but I leave behind for you the blessing of an old man. and beg that you shall think on me in that famous, ifamous day when It shall be well with you. •"Deep on his front engraven, Deliberation sat, and public care.” That is Milton’s ideal of the states man and leader. Now God be thank-