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TSU» ’RUE? SIOHHOKR OTTS COUNTSY AND OUS QOD. ♦ - 9 Forty-First Year established June 5, 1902 McCORMICK. S. C., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17,1942 Number 29 This Week in SHINSTON Washington, D. C. (NWNS)— During the short period between the November election and the Convening of the new congress on January 4, President Roosevelt has succeeded in setting up a dictatorship stronger than any which has ever been dreamed of under our democratic form of government. Whether he acted quickly in order to get the jump on the strong opposition which he faces in the new congress, or whether he simply felt that the time had come when he must make full use of the wartime powers which had been granted to him, is a question which could be debated by the hour, but what ever may be behind the timing, the people in this country, from now on, will have their lives dic tated by the President and those to whom he has delegated power. And it is generally agreed here that these moves were necessary for the best interests of the coun try. The greatest delegation of pow er has gone to Paul McNutt, who will have absolute control over manpower. He will determine who goes into the armed forces, what present civilian occupations are necessary, what men and women will be assigned to war production work and who will be trained for vital industries. Just how far Mr- McNutt will go in using his power to deter mine how each of us earns his livelihood from now on will de pend on the manpower needs, but there is no doubt that millions of men, whether they choose to or not, will be forced to work at an occupation picked for them by the Manpower commission. Although Mr. McNutt now has final control over selective service, there are certain limitations con tained in the President’s order on manpower. For the time being he is not to draft any man for the armed forces who is 38 years old, or older, and he is not to permit enlistments in either the army or navy of men between the ages of 18 and 38. The order ending voluntary en listments probably means that no man in this age group can here after have any choice in the branch of the armed forces in which he will serve and cannot take part in the war unless his draft boatd decides that it is his turn to go. It also means that commissions, formerly given pri marily to enlisted men, will now be awarded according to the com parative merits of the drafted men. Possibly, when a man is wanted by the army or the navy because of particular skills, a plan will be worked out by which he can be called by his draft board “by request.” The Manpower commission, in conjunction with the army, the navy, the department of agricul ture, etc., will determine whether a man can best serve his country by working in a war industry, by entering the armed forces or by working on a farm. * The com mission will have the right to assign men of over 38 to any oc cupation other than the armed forces and the men over 38 will still be able to enlist in the army and navy if they wish. One of the best features of the new control over the selective service is that the commission will have the power to issue manda tory regulations regarding what classifications of men will be taken first for the nation as a whole, rather than leave the final decision up to local draft boards. There has been much criticism in Walter M. Gilliam Claimed By Death Walter M. Qilliam, 45, died Mon- day night at the veterans hospital in Columbia, following an illness of several months. Funeral ser vices were conducted Wednesday at 3:30 p. m. at Sharon Methodist church, near Abbeville, where he had been a member since child hood. Interment followed in the churchyard. Mr. Qilliam was a native of Ab beville county, son of the late Tom and Eula Mann Gilliam, but had made his home in McCormick for the past three years; was vet eran of the World war 1, and members of the Thomas J. Lyon post of American Legion served as pallbearers. Surviving are his widow, Mrs. Bessie Powell Qilliam, of Calhoun Falls; two sisters, Mrs. G. C. Mc Kinney and Mrs. F. S. Robinson, McCormick. J: S. Strom, funeral director, in charge. -X- Birthday Party For Mrs. J. D. Cade Mt. Carmel. — On Friday after noon, December 4th, from 4 to 6, Mrs. W. B. Sharp entertained with a birthday party in honor of her mother, Mrs. J. D. Cade, at her home in Mt. Carmel. Mrs. Sharp’s home, always lovely, was made more attractive by the beautiful furnishings. Quite a nice crowd gathered, and a contest was enjoyed. A delicious salad course with hot chocolate was served by different ladies as sisting the hostess. Later, all were invited into the dining room to see Mrs. Cade cut the lovely cake, and every one decided it was as delicious as it was lovely. A very happy and pleasant af ternoon was enjoyed by all. The party was a surprise to the hon- oree. but it was a very pleasant surprise. HOLLYtM lUEAlffi McCORMICK, S. C. ^ r .|M , ' , . .1 FRIDAY and SATURDAY December 18th and 19th, 7:15 P. M. and 9:10 P. M. Matinee Saturday 3:30 P. M. JOHN WAYNE BINNIE BARNES m 641 ‘IN OLD CALIFORNIA’ Also i CHAPTER SIX OF SERIAL “PERILS OF NYOKA” and SELECTED SHORT SUBJECTS Matinee Saturday 3:30 P. M. Adults 20c, Plus Tax MONDAY and TUESDAY December 21st and 22nd, 7:15 P. M. and 9:15 P. M. BING CROSBY FRED ASTAIRE m 661 HOLIDAY INN (This picture has 13 song hits including “White Christmas.”) Also A DISNEY CARTOON “DONALD S GARDEN” and LATEST NEWS EVENTS ADMISSION: Adults, 28 cents; Children up to 12, 11 cents; Children 12 to 15. 17 cents, including defense tax. the past when General Hershey, director of the selective service act, would make a statement say ing that one group, such as mar ried men without children, should not be taken until all single men in a state had been drafted, and local boards would Ignore that statement. This was caused by the fact that General Hershey did not have the power to make such regulations mandatory. The next most important dele gation of wartime power is that given to Secretary of Agriculture Claude R. Wickard in his new role as food administrator. Under the wide powers given to him, he will have dictatorial authority over the production, distribution and con- 'umption of food. He will deter mine what all of us will eat, what foods will be rationed, how many men should be assigned to farm work, what quantities of each type if food will be produced and how transportation problems will be handled. In addition to his con trol of the food supply, Mr. Wick ard also will have control over other farm products such as cot ton and tobacco. As a result of the powers given to Mr. Wickard and Mr. McNutt, the people of this country can ex pect a period of regimentation in 1943 by which the activities of all of us will be guided from Wash ington. The President made another move, in this short period between election and the convening of the new congress, which probably would have been made by the new congress anyway—that of ending the activities of the WPA. This agency, set up when the na tion faced a grave unemployment problem, seemed to have no pur pose when the nation is now fac ing a manpower shortage, so the President has ordered that all of its activities be disbanded by Feb ruary 1. Thus was liquidated one j of the pet New Deal agencies! which, during its seven years of | existence, had over 8,000,000 men on its payroll and expended over lu billion dollars. Another Warning Issued By Post Office On Christmas Mailing The following has been issued by the Post Office Department: . Some of the public—but not e- nough—are heeding the warnings of the Post Office Department that Christmas gifts must be mailed this year earlier than ever before, if reports from seven of the largest post offices in the United States prove to be typical. Six of these offices, queried on Christmas mailings, reported that gift parcels had started moving through the mails from 10 to 12 days earlier than in previous years. The seventh reported some rise in parcel post but no broad gain in Christmas mailings. Christmas cards—one of the most difficult problems because of the public’s habit of mailing them in a last-minute deluge—also have started to move, but in only small numbers. But, postal officials warn, the early mailings are not yet in suf ficient volume to prevent delay in deliveries of gifts until after Christmas unless mailings are in creased sharply at once, and prac tically completed by December 15. Wartime burdens on transporta tion and on the postal service make it essential that the peak of mailings be far earlier than in normal times. Postmaster General Frank C. Walker, who has held repeated conferences with high officials of his Department on the Christmas mail problem, again called atten tion to the absolute necessity of public cooperation. “My Department is handling a variety of big wartime tasks, in addition to the distribution of civilian mail,’ he said. “We handle a vast amount of Army and Navy mail within this-eountry un til it reaches military and naval stations or embarkation ports where it is taken over for delivery by the Army and Navy. We write many millions of dollars’ worth of war bonds, sell immense numbers of war stamps, handle a huge volume of official correspondence and printed matter. Our service is burdened with war work and so is the transportation system that carries the mails. “There has never been a time in the history of the postal ser vice when there was more neces sity for the public to mail parcels and cards early if delivery is to be made by Christmas.” A factor now complicating the ■"'octal problem is tho vast mo™- ment of population caused by the rapid development of war indus tries in many cities. Unofficial estimates indicate that some fair sized cities have almost doubled ; n population. Detroit has grown •’bout 336 000 since May, 1940. according to the Census Bureau' ’Vashingtnn has grown 231.900• ^^’caao. 1^.009: Los Angeles. 131.- 000; and other centers of war ac tivity proportionately. In each of these cities, there is now the equivalent of another large •'it v -eaiuring postal service, and gift" are being mailed to many hun dreds of thousands of these per sons who are away from home. “Postal employees are going to do their best, as always, to se" f hat the Christmas mails are de- hvered on time,” said Ambrose O’Connell, First Assistant Post master General, in charge of post al personnel. “Postmasters al ready have done splendid work ir calling the unprecedented problem to public attention through news papers and radio, and in prepar ing to meet the rush of mailings. “But this year deliveries on .time are impossible unless the public mails its parcels earlier than eve r before. We have reduced the ago limit for extra personnel from 18 to 16, but the thousands of per sons being hired are inexperiencecl and relatively slow in handlin' mail. And there were ahead" many thousands of inexperience^ workers in the service, replacing men who have gone4nto the Army and Navy.” Some of 'he measures that are being taken to meet the holiday Tire Meeting There will be a meeting at the Court House Friday at 11 A. M. for the tire inspectors, tire dealers and trucksters of the county or every one who owns a truck. Mr. Roy Bass will speak and you are expected to be there. Any one who is interested may come. Farm Security Families Meet Saturday, Dec. 19 There will be a county wide meeting of all Farm Security fam ilies Saturday, December 19, at 10:30 o’clock at the court house. At this time certificates will be awarded families for their effort in producing Food for Freedom. A program has been arranged for this occasion. Notice Of Committee men Elections for 1943 The election of Community Committeemen and Delegates to the County Convention will be held in McCormick County on Decem ber 22, 1942, at the following places: Dowtin, Callison, Bethany, Re- hoboth '— Bethany School, 10:30 a. m. Mt. Carmel, Willington, Bor deaux, Bellvue, Clatworthy’s Cross roads — Willington Depot, 3:00 p. m. Plum Branch, Modoc, Parksville White Town, Clarks Hill, Meri wether — Washington School, 10:- 30 a. m., Chestnut Ridge, Young’s, Buffa lo, McCormick, Sandy Branch, Ce dar Hill — Court House, McCor mick. 3:00 p. m. You are urged to be present to help elect your Community Com mitteemen for 1943 and to select a Delegate to help elect the Coun ty Committee for 1943. Please attend the meeting for community in which you live. Myrtle Ruth Deason, Acting County Administrative Officer. George W. Bonnette, County Agent. McCormick, S. C. Learn How To Black out Friday Night Mr. Banks of the State Defense Council will be at the Court House Friday night at 7:30 to. teach the people of McCormick how and when to blackout. This will ter minate the training courses for the Civilian Defense committees. Every member is expected to be present. It would be a good thing for all the people to be there. We haven’t won the war by any means yet, and people who are in posi - tion to know, believe we will have need for all this training. You come and find out what will be expected of you in case of an air raid. No Window Service At Local Post Office On Christmas Day Postmaster J. E. Bell states that there will be no window service at all at the local post office on Christmas day which is Friday, December 25. Therefore, he urges all that have mailings or will need stamps to mail their packages and buy their stamps prior to Decem ber 25 because the window will not open and the safes will be locked on the above mentioned date. Sugar Notice Stamp No. 10 in War Ration Book One will be good for three (3) pounds of sugar between Dec. 16, 1942, and Jan. 31, 1943, in clusive. ✓ Rev. Halliday To Preach At Mt. Car mel Next Sabbath mail problem, and difficulties that still face the postal service are: Transportation — The railroads are re-equipping about 500 steel freight cars, to put them in con dition to handle mail on fast trains, Smith Purdum, Second Assistant Postmaster General, in charge of transportation, has been advised. But last year it took more than 21,900 cars to handle rush, and now the railroads are using their extra equipment o transport war materials and personnel. The Christmas rush therefore, must be spread over c* l.r'^gpr period so that available e- quipment can be used longer, if ie i;TT eries are to be made on time. Finance—A new task, which the ostal ^rvi^e is glad to hand!" but which also adds to its burdens is the issuance of war bonds and tamps. Ramsey S. Black, Third Assistant Postmaster General, in charge of finance, points out that a sharp increase in issuance of bonds, for use as Christmas gifts ’’atu^al. and this requires the time of experienced personnel Money order and registered mail business, involving much clerica 1 work, also usually rises at this season for the same cause. Equipment—The Army is lend Ing some trucks to the postal ser vice to help with the holiday rush but trouble is being experienced in getting ‘ the thousands of extra trucks normally borrowed or rent ed at this season, according ic j Walter Myers, Fourth Assistan- Postmaster General in charge of supplies and equipment. Lack o r I trucks may prove to be one of the greatest difficulties in handline the delivery rus: . Abr it 12.50C extra vehicles normally are need ed; but this year there are indiec tier's of a record volume of Chris' mas mail coincid es witk age of equipment. Rev. W. C. Halliday, a mission ary of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Mexico, will preach at Mt. Carmel next Sabbath, 20th instant, at 11 a. m. Rev. Mr. Halliday is a Mt. Car mel man, reared in the home of his uncle, Rev. A. L. Patterson; and his friends of the town and community will be glad of this opportunity to hear him. S. W. Reid, Pastor. Dinner Party For Mr. And Mrs. Wilder Mt. Carmel. — On Saturday ev ening, December 5th, Misses Mary Hardaway, Bettye Wardlaw, Sarah Curtis. Nita Curtis and Mrs. Cecil Gilliam complimented Mr. and Mrs. G. C. Wilder of McCormick with a dinner party at the Log Cabin. Those present besides the host- esses and bonorees were Mrs. Etta Lindley, Messrs. Eddie Covin of Ly man, S. C., Billie Gilliam of Green wood. Pfc. Courtney V. Perkins, Pfc. Freddie Lippner, Pvt. Alfred Ootthelf. Pvt. Peter Schadt and Pfc. Roland Overette.of Camp Gor don, Ga. Dancing was enjoyed throughout the evening. * Mt. Carmel H. D. Club Meets Mt. Carmel.—According to their ifnial custom, the Mt. Carmel Home Dem. Club entertained on their regular meeting time, Decem ber 8th, at 3:30 p. m., with the annual Christmas tree and an in teresting program. The room was decorated with branches tied with red and blue ribbons banked on the mantel and other places with the lovely little tree in the center of the room. Miss Lennie Covin, president, presided, and led the devotionals. after which interesting selections on Christmas, etc., were read, with song by the children, and all sang Silent Night. John McAllister act ed as Santa Claus, and distributed the presents, which were very nice. Refreshments of delicious cook ies, crackers and punch were served by the club members. A nice crowd was present to enjoy the afternoon.