The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, March 30, 1921, Image 2
L P GRAY O0
Editor The Advertiser:
I have read very carefully the ar
tiele on colunit 3, page 5, of your issue
of 1Nth Inst., written by Mr. Ovcorgt'
M. Wright, Secretary of Iaurens
County lI ighway Comiiission, asking
fie peopile of ILaurens county to vote
for the two bond issues on 5th of next
imonlith, and though 1I be what some
folks5 (Il "an ou tsider," still I hope
yotu will lbe 'ood enough to allow ime
Ito dkienss Ihe opposite side of Ihe mat
ter, and I take for granted that
Iither he iior alny other ollicial will
object. It might be 'that my le: ter
will really work into theli hand. If
so. they are 'wel come to it. of collrsc.
Let it he lunderstood at the outset
that there are i slurs of any kind in
tiended by me for anyolne, for I have
no -ueh thought whatevcr.
Of coirso .lr. Wright by vir tue of
his position is expected to boost for
tbe things his oflice is Concerned vith .
And if lie should lnot be at least wIl
in1g to (10 SO, thieni veiry likely someione
else would he liore acceptable in his
j;b. AndI my experience with such
men in his job i:, that they are etern
ally advocating increased expenditure.;
for "progre!s" and all kind of "for
ward looking" things, etc.. just like
soeii (if tile rpreseitatives of the
state colleges for insta nev, and also
like s;ome of the profcsiional and paihl
adveates of Various drives of Ihe dif.
ferent ('1urchles and Y. M. C. A.. et:-.
For instance, the Y. A. C. A., in the
war drivs, got a bi, ,hIare of (very
thing. But the Ited C'ross, sopportl
by the good voien of the land, and
the Salvation Ariy. too lowly for
"nice folks'" 10 Ie seen with it, really
did the stunts that Served the boys
everywhere and pulled them through.
But the Y. M. C. A. really got the lion'..
share of the money, seemingly, and
they s; ent it, too, believe me, and
would have spent more if they could
have gotten it. rheir paid .workers
made drives for the money, and they
got it, through appeals to sympathy,
county pride, and everything else. But
was it spent in a way to hell) the
greatest number of our men? Ask
any soldier. The very mention of the
Y. M. C. A. will make some of them
curse. And as to the state colleges,
they are right now -being run on the
most expensive basis ever known, and
their teachers are provided for "nobly"
to teach about three scholars for ev
cry thousand of our population. Where
as, oil the other hand. practically one
half of the ipeople of the whole state
aire in the public schools, but those
teachers (an simply no to tile devil
and get their money just when they
can. Isn't that so?
)o you sce the point? h'le.e "mai
rous" serv , wihin tleniselv es, abhi:1ut
a few pieoile as the "iaini colleges,'"
but still they atworb about all tiie
cash going. Iani'1t tiat true, too? iut
these "coiilon road.s" and "conmion
schools" that serve nine-teith i'.
evermy noo1k anld corneri of the coutilty
as a whole, ar'e simiply going to the
(logs. And Some of them have been
to the (logs for quite a while, too. Andl
these very conditions canme und~er the
adinilstr~ation of those .w ho iant
tihe loudes't ab~out. "progress" and
soliloquize most sweetly about 'look
lng forward and keeping abreast''
etc., etc. May the dleai' Lord help us!
The last sentence of paraagraph 31 of
that letter says: "Clintoni is certainly
entitledl to this road and we should1
ALL (10 otur best to see that she gets
it.'' Well, cir, er, why? Simpuly imak
ing such a statement is iio i roo(f of it.
It sinm:ly means that ('lintoii wants it.
Th'lat is all. Nothing nmoie nor less.
Whuat sc et ion las there that does not
wvan t a good ioad alIso? IIhtt rall e v
ery othier sectionl oif the coiunity is fqy -
eve r tweed~dieid out oif cash1 withi whilh
to) fIx ioads "aomc(where else"' Th'ose
in a uthiori ty inighlt be morei concerned(
with grandl l.ouleva:ds, fron Chari'e'
tou to I~endi'esonsiiile, but thle asr
age maii Is inoie conceined with 'being
able to travel firom his own house to
hiis neighborhood echurch and school
and( stor'e. Andl chiairity bleginis at
home11, you know, or should (d0 50. Pieo
ple are contendiing every day in ev'ery
section of Lauriiens tounlty ,with iroads
and( 'bridges almost impassable, but
which they are unable to 'get county
offlcials to fix. Some folks are not
a-ble to even see the Supervisor, 'muich
less get aniy relief. Still \ve are asked
to conltinuie to furin ish all the money
asked for "sommlrvher'e else." WVonder
fu.l state of affairs, isn't it ? And by
the way, is it t-he best to have the
highway funds1 a nd the common coiln..
ty funds in the hands of the samie
men ? WOuld( not 5deiariate 5ets oif men
lie bet teir Does the preseint arraiunge
ment produce -the best results? Tr'iavel
all thle roads oif thle countimy a nd then
look att your ever~ increasing tax re
cipit andi~ juidge tim for you rsel f. 1 )o
the countiles ariound you have suich a
plan? Inq1uirie a littIe. Foi' inis a nc,
Greenvllle county built 5t3 nuiles of
top soll, even Incliding those so hieav
Ily graded all thriough the 'mounta Ins,
at. a cost to the coun tv uf a boniu .a;.-,0.
BOND ISSUES I
000.00 and Mr. J. W. Norwood, chair
man of t-he highwvay commission of
that county, made a statement on the
lith of last July that "the Greenville
county highway commission has 1com
pleted its work and gone out of busi
ness." Of course since that time that
County has authorized other work, and
If it Is handled like the first part,
they will get their money's worth, . and
they won't 'he forever 'getting it,
either. iI as the Lauuren.; colinty high
way comillissioln Coiplet(ed their work
and gone out of businie-s? Not on your
life. They might he*l gone ou. of hu1.<
ness, so to speak. but they "sio' Alike"
do comnu ne to call for cash! .1. W.
Nolrwood and his solarate highway
conitlijsion have certaiily given ite
people of that Conity the worth of
heir money and every single section
of Greenville 'has gotten a square deal
from them as plain every-day bus
ness mn. Affair 's ill there Ite not
cluttered upl With courlt house politics,
nor. siould they be in LaurenM couinty
lit such is fhe case). No man invest
ilig in I:iiirenls coityv property wotl(l
lilild paying anything administered in
the ohei way. Ca't a set of plain
eve ryday busin0ess men011 be foniid ? Theni
the people wouhl be willmng to Ct be
hinld themIl sqiuare througph. Hutt for
Cod's sake hold u111p imn the m alter till
som('tlilg better is P-rov iled. Tile of
ticial figulCres from G reenville county)
indicnte ani average Cost per mile of
top-soil road there to be $1,731.12, cv
en including tle heavy costs of grad
ilg through the 1ou1taislls. whi are
not found in1 Laurens ('outy at all.
Whi:1t has been thl average cost per
milei( ili Laircnis colnty? Does any
body knoi w? )oes even the grand jurly
kill<-w? Ask them. They let last w(ek
(Iuring the r'letular ses sion of tile re
Cent court. Yes, ask them. If the
same15 economy and business had been
applied to Laaurel roads as to Green
ville roads then you -would have some
thing to be proud of. But aS it is, you
are not proud of theil. are you? Anid
why should yol voluntarily spend
more in the samie way?
I am1 remin(ded of an oliiial of Tau
rens county, a meilber of your high
way commiisslon, who wa- discussing
certain affairs with sever men o1 the
street of this town a go< while ago.
One man asked him wNvay certain
money had not .been smlcnt in a certain
place as .wns duile to have been spent,
and he replied: "I don't k now, nor d0
I care." Those hearing lhi; remark
'were almost bewildere(d and almazd.
Ilow 1s' could they have be1ell ? 0oes
such (hat and conduct in!lre coifi
d'il.-e? I :loulid say not' I told him
righi thn(-1 that I was sorry I ierdli
him mdao such a reiark. A nan
might not know, hut he :'-rtainly
rhould enre. I het n1o man,111 in that
crowd woild vote a s;ingit dollar for
bonds after hearing such talk.
In ':alagrapil 8 Mr. Wriht says:
"C-f'rtainly c'it izen s of ross Ilill,
Shoal1s, Pincii(etonl, and1 other ('om1
muitni ties whlo have got ten tihe beniefit
of irapllrovedl roilds should also give
thei!r unqualifleed endiorsement,"' etc. I
sayt3 so too. Of course. Why not? And
by the same logic, I reckon all of the
host of all the other pllaces all over'
the county that have never received,
andl never wIll receive, any "improved
b('net',ts" vwill v.ote againts it. And
evr unl;:ased man51 e'ven in these
illaeCs knows in his heart that1 those
sections are getting, and have 'been
gettin:g, an un falir pro poi tion of c'ouni
ty money. Shall it con itie? .\ir.
WrPkht also saysi: "'Anud should they
faili In do .o the(y w ill 'he openl to a
irng d eal of r1.ht:eoulS C itleism for
theri set ash a ttitud. Wei'' u tu-hmlit
sone of t hecse sect ion. 'i.'! Ibandl t
l'ther in a (clandellstine ma::nerCl en1
pult thIi i kind of tiling overi un:~less t hey
arie selfIsh. If suel Is done, then the
'C:'nking, pe&ople in the neglected see
il.a s I) ve wlie will :;ckI relif i.n
someW way, anid shculd (do /o.
In paragr'aph 9 Mr. WrIght says:
"And thlose sections not now.. benefitted
sooni will 'be." Tis is the same 0111
gag and rot yotu hear every election.
WVe ask "When shall these things be?"
There Is no sign of it niow, certainl,
and11 such a thling neveir has been since
tihe world stood, and such a thira 1/:
not in sight now. And jud~ging fr'c'
tile mianer county matters have I.
hlandledi in the ipast, the(re is no hopie
it will eveir 'he0 any bletter hiereafteir.
We all kno1w that - t of the m11n -y
has bcen sp~ent on r'oads -that were al
ready the besIt in tile county, and In
some places tile aba ndond roads are,
and11 hatve atlw'ays b)1eli, passle, anid
ill bhe .hetter' In a few mlonthls thanil
In s;piteC of tile 1money/) thlat is beingW
suink thiere. If Mr. WVright s pronikse oIf
glory land for the~ otheri ections oIf
thle coutiiy e/ver wVoul d come true, or
why, 'haisn't something hiapipeed al
ready!
Now let me give yoti somia facts,
(not "camplalgn plromises" that yotur
5('ntion "SOnan will ha imnuovd.H'
There Is not a single foot of "im
proved'.roads on any of the 'hi-g'hways
o0r byways or hedges leading to Mus
grove bridge, Yarborough bridge, Eno
ree cotton mill bridge (except less
than one mile as you go towards Lan
ford, which is said to have cost $13,
000.00, but people still had to 'be
prized out of the mud there in the re
(ent wet spell), EInoree depot bridge,
Kilgore bridge, liarris bridge, Wood
tilf brid-,e, Allen bridge, Wofford
smUals, Van Patten bridge, Fowler
brdge, Ford bridge, or Anderson
!rI-idg. This Comprises the whole see
tion of ile con y from the Newbe
ry vo'inty clear' through -to the G reen
ville liln. Tlere ae h 111111dreds of
Imiles of roads and paths in this
enormtilous 5 stretcl of territory but not
a fill] mile of the "imniA'roved" hintd.
SIwee promi ses have been held out
time and a.ain, Just a referred to in
Wr. right'; leter. llut I s:thmiit this
whiol 'ection is simply payinig for
1'oken pronises and not squ1ar'e deals.
TrIave the roads of this entire sectioni
imcltioned above, and see for your
self.
The feelng is abroad t hat the city
of Laurens will join with tle ot her'
"improvc(l" sections and sitinly runit it
over thIe rest of the coutnty. I hope
this is not ill.t east' and wont't helieve
such a thing a! possible, unless it
really dces happen. All I would care
to say of :uchjj a cotrse is that it v.oul'l
he unifair -nd unkind. to say tI kuast.
Ger'm'n "v ran the ho" lv r egil utim.
just Iecause she could and bause the
Other otrlit *'y was not strot enough
to help it. li't did that nake it riglt?
Did that promote 'ool feelings lhe
t% w Ven tho.4e couintrie's? MrIt. WrH_,igh. in
;aragro h 3 says it "will no doubt I(.
sult inl bringing at c.onsIderWbe atuoun1lt
of trade into our County." Germany
was "':eeking trade" -when site ran
ever othcrs just becautse she was oil
:tniiiizId aniid prepared to (10 so. Will
tile :ind People of these places make
hi istory repeat itself and thus outdo
the Kaiser's own organization?
Also, is this a time for anything that
wotild add to the burdens of people?
I say no. All over the country we hear
of cases where rich corporations are
being excused from making Improve
ments desired ;by certain communities
on account of money matters. Lau
rens is practically a farming county,
and the Lord knows the farmers are
lilt as hard as any corporation. Now
why excuse some rich concerns and
'turn right around and uit on your
own citizens 'burdens that are "griev
ous to be borne"? What set of men
were behind this thing to start with,
atnyhow? Sutch practice iwould be a
fnn1y way of manipulating things,
wolldn't It? And T stibilt that the
morality of sich conduct I; open to
:eriouts question.
in paragraph 12 .\r. Wright asks
till' POPle of the county to "continue
thoitr progressive polIcies." Now lis
ten. If you have paid your tax in the
last five years, then look at your re
veijts and take a mental inventory of
yourt comumunity andl see where these
"progre'ssive policies" have drag-ged
uts to. This r'eminds me of a lady
friend of mine .who Ilives in bautens
countty aind defends the 'iprogressive
Policies" of that county in season and
out of season. As to why she does
so, I cannot see, unless she has heard
somte other "nilce guy" or "good folks,
dlon't you know" defend it also, and
tr'ies to be like some other' "big folks"
andl say amen and "inc too" to It all,
to appiear' big thenmselves. She says
that of course the county muist pay
high for' "things worth whIle." IEr,
yes! Don't you know. Of c'ourse.
lurr'tah! I hlit there is not a foot of
such "'wor'th .uthle'" stuff' in her' 'whole
section of the coutnty, anid she never'
sees such an article tinless she goes
"'somi('eher else.'' That Is '"pro'
g:'ess'' wIth a 'vlii. It Is a lilty, and
almo1(st ai tragtedy, and this whole
iounmt ry is fillled w ilth j1 ust suchb cases.
S'ial I you add to thueIr hurdens ? Shall
',it take advantage of their weakness?
Ihil y111~ ou mock lthem in their helpleIss..
ness?
'Nuff' 5111(, except to thank you most
corrlIally for helpIng ime talk to the
"deat' lpeople" who needless to say,
ar'e very fond of paying taxes, and who
are now sImply bubbling over with
jute joy at. the very pr'ospect of be
lng allowed 'the hig'h prtivilege of pay
lng more. And if ClInton can build1(
;everal miles of cemnenit sldewalks out
of "'(itrrenit funds" and stIll rutn hot'
of hie-r (itv actIvIties Iin a busInesslIke
awl ' acceptable niananer'; amid If Gr teen
w'.ood can a'sstume the debhts of the old1
coun ties and pay her teachers and all
it her claI ims and1( pay all her gener'al
out sitnding dlebtsl antd also have
worlds of delight fut Iroads and not ev
enI needl to hortrow motiey for rut ntnng
exnse~"is, in slilte of slowu collectIon of
tax;ind if GreenvIlle county can
tuld, and maIntain at least from
thr"'- to five timies as much t'oadls with
r;mtn montey, besIdles hiavling heavIer
i ense oif doing so; anI If even Spar
tanhnuarg and Nowhberry countIes can
e'ven stay In sIght wvithi their cos~ts
generally, to say nothing of lUnton
county; then why, oh why, can't Lau.
renas conty onmcia with $en0 nro..
tax, and practically unlimited .property
tax, at least keep our roads In good
and qassa'ble condition? If you say
they can't (o any better, or.they are
doing -best they can theli that within
itself Is suffleient proof that no more
should be spent in the old way, and
that a halt should be called till bet
ter arrangements are made.
J. P. GRAY.
Woodruff, S. C.,
March 26, 1921.
31r.. Wright ]ii Reply
This being the last issue of The Ad
vertiser i before .the -hon1d election next
Tuesday, Alr. iWright was shown a
copy of Mr. Gray's letter and allowed
lie opportunity of making a reply to
it. lie has written the following:
Editor The Advertiser:
Permit me to thank yott for the op
portunity to reply to tile letter of Mr.
J. P. Gray of Woodrufft 'published in
this issue regarding highway work in
our county. inless \1r. Gray is a
prop'r"t' owner in Laurens County,
Uand I assum he is not from his let
ter. then it seens to me that he had
better ie finding out the cost of roads
in his owi (Spartanburg) county. lie
refers to the cost of roads inl Green
vil.' ('ounity, and compares the cost
'V. 1ovk 'le in 191-1 with the cost
of u ork done during the past two
years n hen lJabor anld material were
at their highest poitit. Mr. Norwood
is a personal friend of inie, and he
tlls me that at the tile hiIs ('0111
m)wiion were enigaged inl ro:1 build
Ing, their labor was cos.ting ole dollar
tper dvy, and teaims 42.-0 per day, lie
further tells ue that a ve* ry large
,0 mount of w\ork was contributed, frni
Cr'i' 'ndiig in their teamis at nto ex
lr 0i- to grade. and inl a great many
instancs thie lando'.wln' not only do
inated the top soil but hauled it on
Ihe road. Piturthrimore Greenville
ec(-uity had si1licnmt iu'ndi s at tile
a :rt to build considerable il cage,
and tLeir chevt:) roads have .heie av
traged inl with those inthat cost iot,
wihereas in Laurens county, the high
v.ay commission ifas built only the
roads carrying the greatest trallic and
have not had suficient funs to -build
c ' haper roads, which would material
lyI lower the cost per mile. In addli
tion to this. in Laurens county a 'great
deal of grading has had to -be done
(n account of poorly graded roads and
bad location. For Instance -the road
from Laurens to Clinton traverses a
section where there was no road at
all, and the saie applies to the i'oad
between Laurens and Madden station
as well. IRi so far as the L/aurens
County lighway Conmision's work Is
concerned, we can state that our cost
of work has compared favorably with
road work done In Chester, Green
wood. Anderson, Cherokee. and other
counties who have built roads during
the past two years.
1 (o not care to notice the many
insinuating reiarks directed against
our comilission by one who does not
ev\ei live in our county. Woodruff evi
dently thlinks if the road is built from
Clinton to .lsgrove bridge on FEnorce
river, Clinton will get considerable
trade now going to Woo.druff, and Mlr.
Gray is using a subterfuge in order to
beelould the ma1.24n issueo.
.v. Gray states that the funds for
impr-oved highway work and ordinary
couity funds should not be handled
by the same set of Rmen.1. 1 Ie in right in
this. as the highway commission has
nothing whatever to do with the or
dinary conity road work, which is in)
the hlandl.s of tile Supervisor and Coiun
ty Board of Commnissioners. It is true
that the Supervisor is all ex-olicio
mem'Rber of thle highway comiission,
the other' mlCdebr' having been ap
ipointedl by tile legislatIve dielegation.
He would Infer that 'we ai'e In poli
tics, and -want to hold onlto our job.
As .a malletr of fact none of .the menm
ber's oif the commission are in lioll
tics., We are paId the sum11 of three
dollars pier diem when atteniding tmeet
ings. For lmy own part I have prloh
ably spent foit the beneflt of the couin
ty myi own funds In the r'atio of thtree
diollar's to ever'y oneC receivedl. I am
nlot serving the counity for the money
ther'e is In it, whiih figures less thlan
$75 perl year.
.\r. Gt'ay further' stales that tile
hightway comilssionl spient $13,000
for a R1ile of r'oaid i eenl l'not'ee and1(
Lanford Stationi. Tis as absolutely
uintrute. As a matter of fact the whlole
rOUad U wsi survOeed and1 mappl led, and
one and one-iilarte'r miiles bult at a
cost of $6,000 per mlile. This was
ver'y hieav'y work coing upi fr'om the
river'. As to why this r'oad -wias 1101
built into haui'ens, the commlissIonl
found out thait If they butilt thIs R'oadn
ther'e .woul d not1 be 51illcIentt funlds to
bild hi e PIedmont highiiway fromi
I~autreniS toward Gretenville, anld the
county wouttld thei'eby sacrifice it coin
siliderabile atiounii of I"ede'ral aidl. A
few hiund~r'cd dollars spent1 (il tis
shoi't str'cteh of r'oadl 'will ,1put It in
first class conditionl.
TPhere Is conlsider'able critIcism In
Mr. Gray's letter regardinlg roadl woi'k
(lone 'by 'the Super'visor' thr'oughout tile
county. My owni opinloln is that the
r'eason the cross country r'oadls in the
past have not received better wor'k has
been ndue to the fauct. that it was nlecesl
sar'y to keep the chalin gang constant Ily
at work 011 the miaini highways, and
they :had niot timie to (10 good wvork on
the cross countr:y reandr. The~ situ::
tion for the past fewv motihtls has been
differ'ent; the m~inR htightwayse ate be
Inhg compllltedr by tile h i'hwa conun) (0111.
s1011; -thiese hhgibwey"s at' nifow 'bcinlg
inalntailnd hv the State, and~h tile
Super' Pil'r can tnow ('miploy h1)is chain
gang on cross5 'outrty loads. Fr'omt
miy ownl obsert''tIon, tihe eross coitn
tr!y r'oads ore now.'. gettI ig thle benerfit
of mor01e anld impr~loved work.
In conclusionlet m( ie siay that the
pe'opl e of Laitriens 'outiiIy arte P i'rfn't
ly comp~oeent to I'unI thet' own iffaiirs
withoumt outsIde adv Ice. Thiie ;people
of this county are mUore Interested~( ill
btulldling up and limprovinlg Laurlens
county than they are In Woodrtu ff. Of
course, we wish Woodruff wvell but not
at tile expiense of OuR' own coutly.
Voira vaCry trimly
FINAL SETTLEMENT duly proven or be forever barred.
Take notice that on the 28th day of C. A. P'WEA1,
March, 1921, I 'will rene(or a final ac- Adndnlstrator.,
count of iy acts and (loings as dinin- February 23, 1921.-ino.-A
istrator of the estate of Jim James de
ceased, in the office of the Judge of
Probate of Laurens county, at 1 No WVerms In a Healthy Child
o'clock, a. in. and on the sane day vill All chIldren trotiblcd with Worms have On un.
apply for a final discharge. from my healthycolor.wich licates poor blood. and may.
trust as Administrator. rule, there Is more or 1053 ctomnch distdibaam.
Any )crson Indebted to said estate GROVE'S TASTELE8S CHILL TONIC given regu
is notilled and required to make pay- larly for twoor three wceks will enrich the blood.
uncuton tat dte; auid i ~Improve tledlirestion,a'id act as a generalIStrength
mient on that date; anid all peroso n n ol otewoesse.Ntr ilte
having claims against said estate willt dselo wyrte. ate ill the
present thed ov or beforesaid dateb, In perfect health. Pleasauttotake. O(eperbott
IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE
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W ARE SPECIALISTS
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satisfy you.
WHETHER YOU KNOW
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hr o RDt d
ia a muuus$1.19 a Pair u
known 3 to us. wTe irs ou requeme.)
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IMPOR TANT NEWS
PUBLISHED BY COHEN'S
FOR THURSDAY, FRIDAY
AND SATURDAY ONLY
Men's Blue Buckle Overalls
$1.19 a Pair'
Sizes 32 to 42. (Three pairs to a customer.)
Men, why buy sub-standard overalls and pay more
than we ask for them.
Fruit of the Loom Bleaching
10 Yards for $1.59
The standard Bleaching of the world. Absolutely
no starch.
Cateechee Yard-Wide Bleaching
10 Yards for $1.19.
Good grade; formerly sold for 25c a yard.
Yard Wide Pajama Checks
15c a Yard
Ladies' Busier Brown Silk Hose
'69c a Pair
Black, Brown and White.
Not over 6 pairs to a customer.
Supply your needs for months in ad
vance, for the prices quoted in this ad
vertisement are good only for this
week-end. Next week they go back
to their former prices.
COHEN'S
DEPARTMENT STORE
"The Store of Better Values"
Laurens. . . . S.C