The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, January 07, 1954, Image 5
THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 1954
THE NEWBERRY SUN
PAGE FIVE
Winds Up on S. C. Farm
Has Good Word For
And
Soil
Likes It;
Conservation
By VERNON GRANT
My name is Vernon Grant. I am
a Soil Conservation District Sup
ervisor of- the Catawba Soil Con
servation District, organized under
the South Carolina Soil Conserva
tion Districts Law on March 4,
1938.
I was born in 1902. When I was
six years old my parents filed a
claim on a government homestead
near the Black Hills in South Da
kota. I remember the day we ar
rived. We had two wagons load
ed with our household things,
plow, drag harrow, hand tools,
seed and supplies. We were pull
ing the surry behind one wagon
and leading the cows behind the
other. Two hogs were in crates, as
were the chickens, high on the
lead wagon.
It was spring. As we pulled up
on this plateau and stopped the
wagons, dad held his arms out in
a gesture of finality. This was it!
‘There was no sign that a civilized
human had ever been there before,
hut lying in the tall prairie grass
were the carcasses of buffalo left
behind by the retreating Sioux.
We built a one room sod house,
barn and corral. As more home
steaders came we pitched in with
the neighbors and built a sod
-school house.
I saw the virgin prairie sod
plowed up and barbed wire cut the
range into private farms. The top
soil was deep and the land was
rich. We knew nothing of con
servation practices and we hadn’t
"heard of commercial fertilizer. Our
farm implements were few, crude,
and horse drawn.
With our four horses dad could
plow but two acres per day, but
by the end of each day he had
exposed two more acres to the
dust storms and erosion.
By 1916 my older brother was
ready for high school. There was
no high sdhool within 75 miles, so
we sold out and went west, into
the San Joaqiun Valley in Cali
fornia.
Here again we found virgin soil.
~We hacked out the sage brush and
developed an alfalfa dairy farm.
We sank deep wells and pumped
water for irrigation.
Then came World War I. The
cry came out for more food to feed
our army, so we cleared more land,
planted more crops and pumped
-more water. During this time we
saw the neighboring mountains
ruthlessly stripped of moisture
holding timber.
As a result, the water level went
down and when the agriculture
bust hit, we were caught between
high water costs and low farm
prices. So again, we sold out, dad
going into business and my broth
er and I going off to college. .
I chose commercial art and 1932
found me safely entrenched in a
professional career in New York
City. But the spirit of the soil was
still in my blood and with my first
financial success, I bought a farm
within driving range of New York
-on the Eastern Shore in Mary
land.
Now, agriculture was changing,
from drudgery and toil to tech-
| nology and management, from hay
.to gasoline, and from kerosene to
rural electrification. The CCC pro
gram was underway and there was
talk of terraces, strip cropping,
and reforestation.
The great movement of soil and
water conservation was being
born.
I took an automobile trip
through the South and Midwest.
Here the new era had not yet
caught on. Mile after 'mile of de
pleted soil, gully after gully, pov
erty, undernourished children, de
serted farms, schools and
churches. The very strength of
America was, through erosion,
going down the river. I could see
the great challenge which lay
ahead.
I took a trip around the world
and saw the results of ages of ig
norance, erosion and depletion
taking its toll of human life. In
China and India I actually step
ped over starving children, lying
dying in the streets—civilizations
rubbed out by this very neglect of
which we, in America, were being
guilty.
America was alerted in time.
As the clouds of World War II
were gathering, it became appar
ent that a gigantic program of
conservation and production must
sweep the country. The job could
not be done in Washington alone.
It was a problem that must be
recognized and met in each state,
county and community—yes, on
each farm and each field.
Federal money was made avail
able but how was it to be best
used! It was one of the most gi
gantic tasks ever undertaken by
any people. Wherever the Ameri
can flag waved, the surface of the
land was to be rebuilt. Fields and
fences had to be replanned to con
form to the contour of the hills.
Water must be held, as far as pos
sible, where it fell. Forests had to
be protected and replanted and
wildlife given protection and
cover. Land depleting crops were
to be rotated with soil building
crops; steep, eroding hills covered
with grasses and legumes. Erosion
must be stopped.
From time to time we have had
some pretty smart boys in Wash
ington. This was one of those
times. They passed legislation en
abling each state to tackle its in
dividual problem.
State Soil Conservation Com
mittee were formed. The various
states passed laws under which
any section of a state could, by
majority vote, organize itself in
to a Soil Conservation District.
These Soil Conservation Districts
were, and are, self-governed by
five local ,farm leaders, two of
which w'ere appointed by the State
Soil Conservation Committee and
three elected by the local people.
This was so right. It put control
and responsibility out into the Dis
tricts where the job was to be
done.
By 1946 I had married a red
headed southern girl and we had
two fine kids, a boy and a girl. We
had built and paid for a home in
New York, but we didn’t want our
CHARLESTON—Here in the historic City-by-the-seat is
one of those Old South landmarks that still serves a use
ful purpose—the City Market Hall.
This fine, temple form building stands on a high open
basement. Its lofty portico is reached by a double flight
of stone steps. Its exterior cornices are ornamented ap
propriately with bulls’ heads.
Behind the building are the markets, consisting of a
row of long sheds supported by brick arches. The sheds
have divisions for large and small meats, vegetables and
fish. Stalls are arranged on each side of the sheds with
broad walks between.
The open-air arrangement is ideal for the Southern cli
mate and is most convenient for shoppers, as well as color
ful for tourists.
City Council has given the use of the Market Hall proper
to the local Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy,
which uses it as a relic room. Many interesting war relics
.are now housed in the building.
children to grow up on the streets
of the big town. My wife, too, had
country in her blood. So, again we
sold out and took a depleted cot
ton farm in South Carolina, her
home state.
Now it was different! Instead of
virgin soil we were working with
land, long worn out by years of
cotton. The place was deserted,
the fields grown up to broom
sedge and briars.
The place had some advantages.
It was on good farm to market
road—a power line made rural
electrification possible—the gul
lies had been stopped to a large
extent by the terraces of the CCC.
There were several plots of
Government pines and springs
bubbled up all over the place.
One of our first callers was Earl
Glasscock, a local Soil Conserva
tion District Supervisor. He was
a neighbor. He invited me to see
his dairy farm and took me, with
other farmers, on pasture tours.
He told me about “Farmers Week”
at Clemson, our land grant col
lege. He took me to the Soil Con
servation Experiment Station and
explained the purposes and pro
grams of all agricultural agencies
and he introduced me to Jim Bran
non, a local Soil Conservation’ Ser
vice technician. I was shown the
advantages of and invited to join
the Catawba Soil Conservation
District.
From that day on this poor
tired farm began to take on new
life. Jim Brannon took soil
samples, measured slopes, survey
ed drainage ditches, surveyed ter
race lines and staked out a farm
pond. In a few days he came back
with a soil capability map. By ref
erence to this may I could find out
what each acre was capable of
doing, what to plant and how to
fertilize and care for it. With this
map before us, we sat down and
drew up a farm plan, a construc
tive program for the years to come
—plans for cover crops, crop rota
tions, pastures, and wood lots—
a program, while paying its own
way, would, over a short period of
years, rebuild the fertility of the
soil. These were the things I
needed to know. I was willing and
able to go ahead, having this tech
nical information at hand. This
data was all free to me. All I had
to do was to agree to do the best
I could toward bringing this pro
gram to a conclusion.
As my conservation program de
veloped and time passed, I was
asked to submit my name for pos
sible election as a Soil Conserva
tion District Supervisor. I was
proud when my neighbors through
out the district elected me to that
position.
It was not until I sat in on my
first supervisor’s meeting that I
began to understand the wisdom
of this District program through
out the nation.
Here’s what I learned and here’s
what I want you to remember;
A. The Soil Conservation Serv
ice is a governmental program of
research and technical informa
tion, made available through the
states to the local Soil Conserva
tion District.
B. The Soil Conservation Dist
ricts are local sections of states,
people democratically led by local
Soil Conservation District Super
visors who serve without pay. It is
their job to see that this technical
know-how is put to work to the
best advantage right on the land.
C. The Distrct plan of work is
an ever, changing, ever enlarging
program of progress, revised year
ly by supervisors and technicians
working together.
In a great Democracy such as
ours one doesn’t push people
around. You don’t force people to
do things. Explanation and educa
tion are the first steps. Through
demonstration and local pride the
individual is prompted to act. So it
becomes the job of the supervisors
and technicians working together
with all agencies, civic organiza
tions, radio, press and schools to
stimulate this desire to act.
Through the Program of Greater
Service all these democratic forces
are put to work pointing the way.
The biggest talking point, and
proof of the pudding, is the simple
fact that soil conservation pays
off. It pays off for everyone—the
merchant, banker, implement deal
er, fertilizer manufacturer and es
pecially the cooperator.
Take a trip for yourself, any
where in America, and decide for
yourself if the job is being done.
And, on your trip drop'past my
little part of America and sit with
me on my back porch. We will
watch the kids fishing in the pond
at our feet. We will try to count
the cattle as they graze across the
way. I’ll take you to the creeks
that flow through my place—the
water w r ill be so clear we can take
a drink anywhere along the way.
We will walk through water-hold
ing grass to the top of the highest
hill. There, as we look across the
valley to farms beyond. I’ll show
you results of Democracy at work
in my Soil Conservation District.
SIMMONS
Mr. and MrA E. C. Simmons of
Columbia, are receiving congratu
lations upon the arrival of a six
pound seven ounce son, Emory
Charles Simmons, Jr., born on
Thursday, December 10th in a Co
lumbia hospital. Mrs. Simmons, the
former Jean Wicker, daughter of
Mrs. Ruth D. Wicker of Newber
ry, and infant son are doing
nicely.
Rev. Robert H. Harper
Jesus Uses His Authority.
Lesson for January 10: John 2:
13-25.
Golden Text: John 4: 24.
The temple that stood in the
time of Christ, like the buildings
that had formerly stood on the
sacred spot, was one of the most
magnificent structures of all time.
It was to be house of prayer but
Jesus found it the den of thieves.
Everything, to be sure, had been
arranged for the convenience of
those who came to worship. They
did not need to bring sacrificial
animals a long distance—such ani
mals were offered for sale within
the temple, enclosure, in the Court
of the Gentiles. It was made to
resemble the present-day stock
markets. And, as offerings made
in money had to be in the sacred
shekels of the sanctuary, there
were money-changers at their ta
bles, ready to exchange the money
the pilgrims brought into the
sacred shekels, at a good rate.
“Concessions” were made to the
livestock men and the exchangers,
and a rich sum was received, as
the temple authorities thus traded
upon the piety of the worshippers.
The soul of Jesus burned within
him as he saw the traffic, the din
and confusion, and he drove ani
mals, both the lower and the hu
man, out of the temple, and he
overturned the tables of the money
changers, scattering the money
upon the pavement. The marvel
is that no force was employed to
resist him, as he attacked the
stronghold of special privilege and
swept the temple clean. But none
resisted him, and many people be
lieved in him. But Jesus saw the
fickleness of many who professed
belief and he did not trust them
Let us welcome Jesus into the
temples of our souls to cleanse
them.
LYN CONNELLY
M ARIE WILSON, the scatter
brained secretary of CBS Ra
dio and TV’s “My Friend Irma.”
was recently named the “most
glamorous career girl of the year”
. . But she got that way, she
explains, by working three times
.harder than any man, and acting
four times as stupid . . . She plays
a dumb blonde on her radio pro
gram and tries to carry out the
illusion in real life as well .
“If you act too bright, men are
afraid of you,” she explains . . .
“1 don’t want to frighten men . . .
They have enough problems with
out being terrified by girls with
brains.”
If her wisdom exceeds that of
Neanderthal woman. Miss Wilson
is careful never to let it get in
the way of her personality . . .
She created the role of Irma on
CBS Radio one momentous eve
ning in April 1947 . . . The written
lines came out funnier than any
body expected . Even today,
six years after the program’s first
success on the air. nobody can
anticipate what the audience is
going to hear when Marie Wilson
steps up to the mike i . Some
times Miss Wilson herself is taken
by surprise . . . She is amazed
at the number of awards she has
received as one of radio’s most
gorgeous as well as one of its most
sub-mental blondes . “What I
can’t understand, though.” she
comments, “is that I’ve won
awards for many things but no
body ever says anything about my
brains. ’
IDOL CHATTER
There’s a project afoot to film
“The Bing Crosby Story” In the
manner of “The Jolson Story”. . .
Der Bingle would do the vocals
on the sound track . . . Among
those being considered for the role
of Crosby as a young man to Gary
Crosby . . .
Sidney Miller, Donald O’Connor’s
TV partner, will write a night club
act for Marie Wilson who plans to
tour when her TV show goes off
. . . Lew Ayres will sing in “No
Escape.”
Sociarsecurity
At the end of 1953—the 17th
year of Federal social security—
old-age and survivors insurance
payments of about $167,261 in
monthly benefits were going to
5090 persons in the area served
by the Greenwood office accord
ing to Miss Martha Pressly, mana
ger of the Greenwood social secur
ity office.
For the entire nation, including
Alaska, Hawaii, Peuerto Rico, and
the Virgin Islands, estimates show
an increase of approximately one
million beneficiaries with the year
ending December 31. The 5-mil
lionth person was awarded pay
ments just over a year ago. early
in December 1952.
In Septemeber of 1950 the Con
gress enacted an amendment to
the law which greatly expanded
the scope of the program. At that
time only three million people
were getting benefits. The num
ber has just about doubled in the
last 3-year period, she pointed out,
having reached 5,970,000 by year's
end, according to preliminary
estimates made in December.
Since the program was original
ly designed to give a measure of
protection to the nation’s aged
people. Miss Pressly says it is
significant to note that about 40%
of all aged persons who are with
out income from employment or
self-employment are now getting
old-age and survivors payments.
The number of such beneficiaries
nationwide shows an increase of
almost 600,000 since the close of
1952. Self-employed people and
regularly employed farm and
household workers 65 or over are
among those who started getting
payments in 1953. The kind of
work in which they were engaged
did not count toward old-age and
survivors insurance before 1951.
Other advance estimates releas
ed to The Sun by social security
headquarters: Nearly three and
one-quarter million retired men
and women workers, aged 65 and
over, are now receiving' old-age
benefit payments. Tn addition,
monthly payments based on the
accounts of retired insured work
ers .are now going to 885,000 wives
and dependent husbands 65 or
Towns Vie for Record Per Capita Contribution#
To March of Dimes with Auctions and Socials
The March of Dimes was $7,600 richer as a result of this Melba, Idaho
auction featuring everything from sacks of corn to the kitchen sink.
The money to fight polio through
the March of Dimes comes from
all over the country—from small
towns and counties as well as
the big cities. While several of the
largest cities contribute over a
million dollars each, it is the small
communities that set the records
for per capita contributions. With
the national contribution averag
ing 34 cents a person, here are
some outstanding achievements of
the last March of Dimes.
Melba, Idaho, with a population
of less than 200, claimed the na
tional record by raising almost
$50 for every man, woman and
child in the community. A day
long auction of contributed dtems
ranging from cakes to calves en
abled Melba to raise this high
amount.
Oregon Town Beat Melba
The spur that aroused Melba
to new heights also worked in
Izee, Ore.—population 43—when
this village beat Melba’s 1952
March of Dimes record of $27 per
capita by raising $34 apiece at a
basket social held Jan. 10, 1953.
Basket socials used to be a way
of courting or raising funds to
hire a teacher for a new rural
school. Now they have joined the
fight against polio.
As small towns and villages set
commnnity records in the March
of Dimes, sparsely populated coun
ties also made per capita con
tribution records.
Mineral County, Nev. won the
national title with a per capita
contribution rate of $2.53 a per
son. Over $14,000 was raised
among her 5,560 inhabitants. Jeff
Davis County, Texas came in sec
ond with contributions averaging
$2.21 a person.
Other Leaders
Other counties in the 10,000-
and-under population class that
made outstanding records were:
Kiowa, Colo, with $1.75 per per
son; Mono, Calif, with $1.61;
Sioux, Neb. with $1.53; Cameron.
Fa. with $1.49, and Ida, Iowa with
$1.48.
These are just a few of the
small counties that raised over a
dollar per person to aid in the
fight against polio. Whether small
communities have bigger hearts
or more intimate knowledge of
the disaster of polio is not meas
urable. But their high per capita
contributions are vital weapons
in the battle to wipe out the
disease.
During the 1954 March of Dimes
it is a sheer necessity for the
National Foundation for Infantile
Paralysis to raise 50 per cent more
than last year. This increase can
come only from greater contribu
tions from everyone, in small
communities and big cities alike.
New Prevention Program
In stressing the need for a hig
her March of Dimes than ever
before, Basil O’Connor, president
of the National Foundation said:
‘The new polio prevention pro
gram will be the hardest blow
against polio we have ever struck.
Wide-scale validity tests of a trial
polio vaccine this year and the
expanded use of gamma globulin
as a stopgap protective measure
in 1954 mark a dramatic advance.
Like all advances, it is expensive
but the fight dare not be weakened
when victory seems almost in
sight.”
Mr. O’Connor added, “No one
knows just which community and
county will wind up as 1954
March of Dimes champions in
size of per capita contributions.
But judging from past heart
warming performances, I predict
it will be a town or village under
a thousand and a county under
ten thousand.”
pver, or wives, regardless of age,
with retired workers’ minor chil
dren in their care. The number of
such beneficiaries throughout the
naton increased 146,000 during the
year just ended. During the same
12-month period, the number of
children under 18 getting pay
ments because an insured parent
over 65 had retired, increased by
16,000 in 1953.
A far greater number of child
beneficiaries are getting payments
as survivors of a deceased insured
parent, Miss Pressly declared. The
number of children who were get
ting survivors insurance payments
because they had lost a working
parent was 100,000 greater at the
close of 1953. The total of children
now receiving payments is now
1,055,000 throughout the nation.
About 45% of all children under
18 whose father has died are now
getting monthly survivors bene
fits.
Still quoting national figures,
Miss Pressly said that the num
ber of aged widows, widowers and
aged dependent parents getting
monthly payments increased by
87,000 in 1953. The number of
such beneficiarfies was 563,000 at
the end of the year. Widowed
mothers now getting payments be
cause they have 4;he deceased in
sured father’s minor children in
their care now number. 252,000.
Monthly benefits are payable to
such widowed mothers regardless
of their age.
The old-age and survivors in
surance program is financed from
social security taxes paid by em
ployees, their employers, and self-
employed persons whose trade or
business is covered by the law.
Tax contributions amounted to 4
billion dollars in 1953. All social
security taxes go into a trust
fund which is kept separate from
all other tax collections of the
Treasury. The only expenditures
which can be made from this fund
are for paying social security
benefits and the cost of adminfs-
-tration under the program. Bene
fit payments for the 12-month
period ending December 31, 1953,
totaled 3 billion dollars; admini
strative expenses for the same
period were $90 million. The as-
(continued on page eight)
The State Building and Loan Association
Statement of Condition As of
DECEMBER 31,1953
ASSETS
FIRST MORTGAGE LOANS $ 884,111 90
Well Secured Newberry Loans
being Retired in Monthly Pay
ments. First Mortgage Loans
Only, the Unpaid Balances of
which now Average $2917.86 per
loan.
LOANS ON PASSBOOKS 13,520.33
/ These Loans are Secured by Sav
ing and Investment Share Ac
counts of the Association.
MISCELLANEOUS ASSETS 19,801.69
This Item Consists of Stock of
the Federal Home Loan Bank,
Furniture and Fixtures Owned
by the Assjpciation, and Certain
Expenses prepaid.
CASH ON HAND AND IN BANKS 190,649.36
This is the Association’s Work
ing Funds.
$1,108,083.28
LIABILITIES
SAVINGS AND INVESTMENT
SHARE ACCOUNTS .--- $1,002,065.16
Funds Paid into the Association
for Savings and Investment.
ADVANCES FROM FEDERAL
HOME LOAN BANK 50,000.00
Funds Made Available to the As- *
sociation through Membership in
the Federal Home Loan Bank
System.
LOANS-IN-PROCESS - --- 27,358.09
Undrawn Balances on New Build
ing Loans.
RESERVES AND UNDIVIDED
PROFITS - --- 28,660.03
This amount has been set aside
for Contingencies after Paymeht
of Dividends '
$1,108,083.28
HOME LOANS
INSURED SAVINGS
Each Savings and Investment Share Account Insured Up To $10,000.00 By the
Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, Washington, D. C.
3% Annual Dividends Paid On Member Share Accounts Since Organization
In 1947 •
Funds received here for savings and investment on or before the 10th of each
month will receive earnings from the first of that month.
OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS
R. B. BAKER, President J. DAVE CALDWELL, Vice-Pres.
* PINCKNEY N. ABRAMS, Secretary-Treasurer
THOMAS H. POPE LOUIS C. FLOYD R. AUBREY HARLEY