Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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PAGE FOX’R THE NEWBERRY SUN FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 1943 »vw 1218 College Street NEWBERRY, SOUTH CAROLINA O. F. ARMFIELD Editor and Publisher One Year One Dollar Published Every Friday In The Year Entered as second-ekss matter December 6, 1937, at the postoffice at Newberry. South Carolina, under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. HORSE LAUGH OUT OF ORDER Euphonious titles for tax measures will not make it any easier for the taxpayer to pay the tax bills he owes. The only permanent relief he can ever expect will come from the eli mination of political waste in govern ment and from drastic pruning of the bureaucratic fungus that threatens to smother earnings and savings. In the meantime, the taxpayer can be helped by a new tax bill that will allow the easiest possible installment tax payments from current income for current taxes. Treasury officials should not give the horse laugh to ideas to aid the taxpayer. The bu reaucrats don’t pay the taxes. They should hump themselves to keep the taxpayer alive. HARD TO UNDERSTAND Recent anti-trust proceedings against several chain store systems have been mystifying. It has been generally understood that the anti- trust statutes were to prevent the suppression of competition, the crea tion of a “monopoly’ and the subjec tion of the helpless consumer to high prices. When the Department of Jus tice moves to apply the statutes to an industry obviously highly compe titive at all points, and with many and individually powerful competi tors, and which depends for its suc cess on maintaining low prices, the ordinary citizen is completely con fused. While the OPA fights inflation by- trying to curb rising prices, another agency of government attacks an in dustry which by efficient methods of operation, has done more to stabilize and hold down prices than any other single influence. INSULTING THE VOTER Initiative No. 12 before the Wash ington State Legislature would per mit the forming of super-super pub lic utility district commissions with out a vote of local communities af fected, to take over private powei companies, also without a vote of the people. This move of the Washington state socialists is in line with at tempts to give Federal power agen cies authority to condemn local pow er companies, without a vote of lo cal citizens. These endeavors to ignore or de stroy local self rule are amazing in their cleverness and brazenness and should be rebuked as they deserve. INDIVIDUALISM—SYMBOL OF VICTORY By an ironic twist of circum stances, modern war proves beyond argument that individual initiative is the key to victory and progress. Captain Eddie Rickenbacker says: “Once you put a boy in a foxhole, he is on his own. Once you drop a par achute trooper behind the enemy s lines, he is on his own. The youth : n the cockpit of a fighter, in a tank, on a commando raid, is always on his own. The ‘rugged individualist’, as a political symbol, may have few friends, but God help us if we can’t recreate him on the battlefield and ★ ★ WiuU you Buy ( WUk WAR BONDS the factory floor.’ The nation that does not have rugged individualism on its side will lose the war. This stark truth must come as a shock to the political sharpshooters who have been busy right here in our own country kicking the props from under a system that was founded on the supremacy of the individual. Captain Rickenbacker is a product of that system. He fought as a soldier, willing to give his life that the sys tem might live. He helped to pioneer the automobile and aviation indus tries. He has time and again taken chances, as a soldier and as a bus; nessman, because he could envisage a bright future, not just for himself, but for his family and all the other families of America. The future he has pictured through the years has not taken its lustre merely from the prospect of comfort and security. Eddie Rickenbacker is a typical rugged individualist. For him there is no future unless his right to take risks, to think up new ideas, to do things on his own hook and reap a fair reward, is safeguard ed and encouraged. The United States was built by men like Rickenbacker. They came across the plains in ox-drawn wagons fought Indians, dug in the earth fox gold, developed farms. They discov ered, invented and produced their way to the highest standard of living : n the world. At the present moment, they are the men and women who own, operate and work the coal and metal mines, oil wells, power plants railroads and factories that are turn ing out the weapons for other “rug ged individualists’’ on the battle front, who will win this wax-. Above all else, this war is being fought to keep the future bright for the descendants of these millions who believe in themselves as individuals Those who think and act otherwise are running contrary- to the charac ter and tradition of this country. CLTTING BAIT Many of the women of the Worn- in’a Auxiliary Army Corps are al ready overseas serving in various capacities to help win the war. The WAACS go through a strenuous training to fit them for the arduous duties they must perform. A uniform for a WAAC, complete, costs approximately $170.00. The quartermaster’s department must provide thousands of them. Your purchase of War Bonds helps pay for these uniforms. Invest at least ten percent of your income in War Bonds every payday through a Pay roll Savings plan at your office or factory. u. S. Trtainry Dtfarlmtnt The phrase, “social security for everyone,” is the new political bait being prepared to lure the voter. It is a fine sounding catch phrase. There is something even greater than full-stomach ' social security, however. There is individual free dom—the right to do things for one self. Political social security that makes xne a virtual ward of the state in re turn for a full stomach and a place to sleep, destroys fx-edom. Government can only “give’ to the people what it first takes away from them. It can tax or confiscate sav ings and redistribute them under the guise of equalization of wealth. But a nation will starve if a ma jority of the people do not have in dividual ambition and incentive to work, and save, and produce new wealth continuously to take cax-e of themselves and that small percentage of unfortunate individuals who will always be wards of the state, and who should be cared for much better than they now are. Political planning of the lives of all the people in a nation can be car ried too far, just as can parental planning of the lives of children— we face that danger in our country. The plannex-s and spenders are begin ning to outnumber the workers and the savers. TRAGIC COMEDY If the people of this country really wanted to control inflation, they could do so. The country is faced with rising prices. Why? Read the headlines in the newspapers of a single day. A million and a quarter railway work ers demand further wage increases. Hundreds of thousands of coal miners demand additional wage increases. One faction of shipyard workers an nounce they will withdraw their “no strike for the duration” agreement if a National Labor Relations Board de cision favors another labor faction. And then, labor leaders call on the President to reduce the cost of liv ing. They all blame the farmer who is short of machinery, short of farm labor, unable to pay war wages, but charged for everything he buys on a war-wage scale. Can the result be other than higher prices instead of lower? The situa tion would be comical if it were not tragic. Unless we, as individuals and col lective groups within the nation, show less greed and more love for our country, it is a total waste of time to talk about controlling infla tion—no power on earth can stop it, until the explosion comes. WORTH WATCHING The Federal Power Commission, on its own initiative, has been carrying on an exhaustive hearing as to rates charged a government aluminum plant in Arkansas by private elec-> trie companies located in Arkansas and surrounding states. A bombshell was exploded at the hearing when the Arkansas Depart ment of Public Utilities entered in to the case and charged it was “an unconstitutional invasion” of state boundaries and an encroachment on the functions of a state regulatory body for a Federal bureau to attempt to regulate intrastate rates, as it had no authority in that field. “Regulatory bodies of the states and nation should not under any pre text or guise whatever, attempt . . to extend their powers beyond the well-defined statutory and constitu tional limitations,” asserted P. A. Lasley, attorney for the Commission, in making the charge. Mr. Lasley said that the Arkansas Department of Public Utilities will ask th6 cooperation of all state regu latory bodies to prevent Federal bu reaucratic invasion of states’ rights: “Any attempt on the part of any agency to exercise power over state matters not clearly provided by statute and permitted by the consti tution, must be actively resisted by states; otherwise, local jurisdiction will swiftly become impotent and Federal encroachment the rule, not the exception.” As a matter of fact, the Federal Power Commission might as well at tack the State Public Service Com mission of Arkansas, as to attack the rates of the Arkansas companies, for the simple reason that the Ar kansas utility rates are all passed on by the Arkansas Department of Pub lic Utilities. If the peoplentede d an obect les son to open their eyes to the grow ing danger to states’ rights, as well as individual rights, from entrench ed,, centralized bureaucratic power, they have it in examples such as this in Arkansas and in every section where Federal power plants have sought to displace local companies. The minute a Federal plant goes in, local authority as to rate regulation, taxation, etc., goes out. This is not a case of private versus public ownership of the power in dustry. It is a case of local versus Federal control over local affairs. The Arkansas Department of Pub lic Utilities is rendering a public ser vice in bringing this issue to public attention. 1938 SLAYING IN MAYESYILLE EARLY LINK IN SCANDAL CHAIN COMMITTEE MEETING COLORED RED CROSS MEMBERS CALLED I am calling a meeting of all members of the committee of the annual Red Cross Drive for 1943 at my office on Nance street to be held on Tuesday, March second, at 8:30 o’clock p. m. All members are urged to be present on time. We must help put the campaign over and we need your cooperation to do so. J. E. Grant, M. D., Chan. Colored Committee APPLY FOR WAVES AT POST OFFICE Young women may now apply for enlistment in the WAVEs and SPARs at the local recruiting office in the Post Office building. The age limits are twenty to thirty-six years for enlisted personnel and twenty to fif ty for commissioned officers. The Navy is also enlisting young men between the ages of seventeen and eUrhteeu an d men between thir ty-eight and fifty. A Navy recruiter will be at the Post Office on Friday of each week. Men are dying for the Four Freedoms. The least we can do here at home is to bny War Bonds —10% for War Bonds, every pay day. ★ ★ WluU you Buy With WAR BONDS ★ ★ The Bofors anti-aircraft gun is de signed for greater range and heavier calibre than the average anti-air craft or rapid fire gun. They are mechanically intricate and more costly. The two-gun Bofors mount costs approximately $98,000 while a Bofors quad-mount runs up to $140,000. We want our fighters to have the best equipment possible and your purchase of War Bonds will help pay for these guns, giving them an ad vantage over our enemies. Buy Wax Bonds every payday. At least ten percent of your income, or as much as you can buy will help pay the war cost, provide you with a nest egg for the future, and pay you good interest. U.S.Trtasury Department Mayeaville.—In this small Sumter county town, situated ten miles from the county seat in the center of a fertile cotton-growing area, the celebrated Pittman case which led to a penitentiary scandal had its foun dation. Now all the principals are gone. Dr. E. M. Davis was slain by Redin Pittman over his alleged atttentions to Mrs. Pittman. Pittman, sentenc ed to life imprisonment, was par doned by the late Governor J. tflmile Harley as a reward for revealing Mrs. Pittman’s relationship with penitentiary officials. He now is reported to be in North Carolina. His wife, twenty-six-year-old, Mrs. Travis Goodman Pittman, is report ed to have gone to Washington and Pennsylvania,j after being pardoned by Governor R. M. Jefferies. One report is that Travis now is with her aunt in the Eeastern state. The small drug store and doctor’s office in the center of town, where Dr. Davis often saw Travis Good man, now in the postoffice. Farm- erly, it was next to the postoffice. Mr. and Mrs. Goodman, parents of Travis, brought their four daugh ters here from a nearby farm about 1930. In those days the road to Sumter was not paved and the high way department had not cut off the town from the main highway route Mayesville, then was not the com paratively “deserted village” that it is today. Travis enrolled in the Mayesville high school and was especially bright in her studies. She was the prettiest of the girls, well-manner ed and ladylike. She was tall, slen der and well-proportioned. She had auburn hair and large dark eyes. Later, the family moved to Flor ence. One of the girls married, and one died. Another was about to be married. They lived in a duplex apartment in South McQueen street. Their Florence neighbors, for the most part, had little contact with the Goodmans. Dr. Davis when he died, is said to have resembled Paul V. McNutt. In his late forties or early fifties, he had silvery hair. He was the best checker player in Mayesville, and a hunter and fisherman of skill. He was a civic leader, and took parti cular interest in athletic teams of the high school. His wife is a kindly lady, and the two were a de voted couple. Interning in a New York hispital, Dr. Davis had given early promise of success. He was handsome and popular with women. When he arrived in -Mayesville, the town was in its heyday. There were three other doctors, but he started his own private practice and almost from the beginning, fared well. He became one of Mayesville’s most popular residents. Travis Goodman often visited his office. This excited little more than ordinary comment. The Goodmans moved to Florence and, the story goes, Travis met him at inns in that neiglxborhood. Then she married Pittman, and they settled near Lake City, to operate a filling station. Th-avis met Pittman in Charleston, where he rescued her from some kind of scrape and took her back with him to his home near Lake City. On her marriage to Pittman, she severed relations with the doctor, According to her story. She was happily married, she said, but the doctor persisted in trying to see her. He wrote her notes and one of these in 1938 she showed to her husband. One night, late, the Pittmans drove to the Davis home, which was set back in a yard full of shrubbery and flowers. The house was cover ed with vines. It was near the end of a dead-end street. Mrs. Pittman remained at the wheel of the car, the motor running while her husband summoned Dr Davis to the porch. The doctor step ped to the door in his pajamas and robe. There were heated words, a scuffle, and pleas by the doctor for mercy. Mrs. Davis, awakened by the noise, arxived just in time to be nick ed by a stray bullet. Several bird dogs, which Dr. Davis usually allowed the fi'eedom of the yard, had been locked up that night. Pittman returned to his car unharmed, and he and his wife re- turned to Lake City. Putting together tire tracks and other evidence officers traced them and, a few days later, arrested the sleeping couple at their home be fore dawn. The two-day trial in Sumter was a sensation. The court room was packed, mostly milling around the square outside. Doubt has been cast on the story Travis told about being in the auto mobile when her husband killed Dr. Davis. Some law enforcemetn officers believe a man was with Pittman, but Travis refused to ctukgge her story. She admitted preparing the gun that was used to kill Davis, and disposing of Pitt man’s clothes, stained with Davis’s blood as he pleaded for mercy. Davis was shot once outside the house and killed as he fled to refuge inside the house, while his wife also pleaded for his life. Travis is said to have been turned over to Dr. Davis as a girl of thir teen in payment of doctor’s bills. For ten years the affair kept up and the killing resulted when she de termined to leave off the relation- DEFEAT FOR DRYS LOOMING By CHEVES LIGON * Defeated in two preliminary skir mishes, prohibition advocates in the eighty- - fifth general assembly now face the fact that their bill may be thrown behind general appropriations and the Santee-Cooper on the calen- 1 dar and lost in a final rush to ad-1 journ. No matter how unlikely it may be, such a parlimentary development is possible. The drys had a sample of it last week when advocates of Senator Edgar A. Brown's $6,800,000 debt funding bill got it on the house calendar ahead of prohibition and forced the dry leaders to admit in debate that there is a question whether the state’s finances can stand the loss of liquor revenue and the allolation of $6,800,000 for bond settlement at the same time. With th e money in hand, the house voted to make certain the bonds will be paid, and the house drys lost on two rollcalls which they at first were inclined to regard as test votes but which they now no longer believe to be true tests of prohibition strength. The senate finance committee is working rapidly on the general ap propriations bill it received from the house, and by the end of the week already had increased its total from $17,000,000 to $18,000,00o. Some drys were beginning to wonder whether this amended appropriation bill might reach the hoube ahead of prohibition on its return trip for concurrence in the amendments, and also whether the Santee-Cooper bill might reach debate before their measure gets out of committee. In the confusion of a free con ference on appropriations and hot debate on the question of whether the Santee-Copper should be per mitted to purchase the Lexington Water Power company and the South Carolina Electric and Gas ’ company, they acknowledged their measure might find tough going. When the senate reaches that por tion of its finance committee report on the appropriation bill which adds $274,000 to the $1,200,000 allocated for school transportation by the house, it, too, may pass quickly over the baffling question of fiow funds may be alloted to the counties. Statistics compiled by the state department of education show that Charleston county, which this year operates more bus routes than any other in the state, is tenth in the amount of state aid received. Orangebux-g school buses cover more miles daily than those of any ship and live only with her new hus band. In view of the circumstances the conviction and life imprisonment of Travis was regarded by some peo ple as a surprise, and must be ac counted for largely because Davis was killed at his home, traditioxxally a man’s castle and his stronghold. The Pittmans figure prominently in the 976-paje report of the mi nority of a spesial legislative in vestigating committee. The minor ity charged illicit relationships be tween prison officials and prisoners and dishonesty in the purchase of prison supplies. The Girls Indus trial school also was involved in the investigation. The maority had exonerated Col onel John M. Glenn, who was su perintendent of the penitentiaiTr; the Rev. W. A. Huey, superintend ent of the industrial school; L. H. Rourk, captain of the guards at the penitentiary, and J. B. Cantey, cap tain of the guards at the women’s prison. The Richland county grand jury, in a separate investigation, ordered the names of Glenn, Rourk, Cantey and Huey presented for indictment. Cantey now is believed to be at or near Camden. Rourk left Columbia with the announced intention of go ing to the Charleston navy yard. Glenn is reported to have returned to his farm rear Anderson. other county, but Orangeburg is seventh in the amount of state aid received. Spartanburg county ac tually transports more pupils than any other county, but it is second in the amount of state aid. Geographical conditions vary so much, and population centers are so distributed that it apparently is impossible to work out a formula which will effet a perfect balance in the distribution of funds so long as the operation of the machines, location of the routes, and all other cost factors are administered by the counties themselves, or their dis tricts. The proposed purchase of county and district-owned school buses by the state, it is said here, might help FREE! THU book- lot ohows howl# b«M modorn, I m- provod-lypo poultry houtot for oil dlmotot. Shows ttrvctwrol Housing your hens in a comfortable, sani tary, rat-proof concrete poultry house is a good way to insure bigger egg production. When built of concrete a poultry house will last a lifetime and its modest first cost will be practically the last Long-lasting concrete is the thrifty ma terial for feeding floors, dairy bam floors, milk houses, foundations, grain storages, manure pita, water tanks—improvements that help you raise more needed foodstuffs. Send today for “how to build” booklets. If you need help, get in touch with your concrete contractor or building material dealer. Potta on penny poital and moil j PORTLAND CEMENT ASSOCIATION ! Hurt Bldg., Atlanta, Ga. I n Pleat* tend me free booklet, "Improved j Poultry Housing with Concrete." | P Alto booklet on l (aama other improramaaU such an leading 9 floors,Bilk houaaa, dairy barn floora etc.) Name— P. Cri state onRoReV*- OTHER RED CROSS WAR FUND COMMITTEES On account of his school duties and the additional and heavy task of food rationing, Prof. R. M. Monts, Jr. will not be able to accept the chairmanship of the committee for the Red Cross drive for Pnoaperity, O’Neal, Stony Hill, Fairview, upper part of Midway, and nearby com munities. In the circumstances. Dr. C. K.' Wheeler has generously agreed to serve a s chairman and has been ap pointed leader by County Chairman L. C. Graham and G. K. Dominick, with tht following ag> members of his committee: Mrs. Willie Mae Young, Horace L. Shealy, D. H. Hamm, Sr., R. M. Monts, Jr., Mrs. L. C. Fellers, Dhent A. Bedenbaugh, Miss Eloise Bozer, R. P. Luther, and Mrs. J. V. Long. Newberry college committee for the Red Cross War Fund campaign is as follows: Prof. Phillip Kelly, Dr. Erland Nelson, and Miss Annie R. Kaminer. v/m aoubs ^ 1 irMifi TOP THAT MVvf Poultry Wanted The Greenville Poultry Company will have a truck in Newberry Every THURSDAY from 10 to 11:30 a. m. CASH PRICESJAS FOLLOWS: Colored Hens, pound 23c Leghorn Hens, pound 20c Roosters, pound 10c Turkey Toms, pound 25c Turkey Hens, pound 25c Ducks and Geese, pound 12c Loading Point at Lake’s Machine Shop This will be"a regular schedule,rain or shine Be on Time and Tell Your Neighbors Do Not Feed Poultry on Day of Sale Greenville Poultry Co.