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It’s funny how a tree will stand in one place for years— and then suddenly jump in front of a lady driver. In his examination for the police force, the candidate was asked: “If you were alone in a scout car and were pursued by a desperate gang of criminals in another car doing 60, what would you do?” Replied the candidate promptly, “Seventy!” VOLUME 18—NUMBER 18. NEWBERRY, SOUTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1955 + $2.00 PER YEAR By The Way By DORIS A. SANDERS NOT REALLY LAZY Mrs. Herman Wright met me on the street the other day and chided me for “oeing lazy” a<nd not writing a column last week. I assured her there was a column of sorts, but must admit that it wasn’t as verbose as these col umns usually are, once I get start ed writing. Sometimes I don’t seem to have time to write on By The Way until just at press deadline and it is not always easy to think of something that late. Bear with me, though. I do ap preciate the many nice comments received since the column started back and will do the best 1 cam with the limited amount of time I have to work on it. EVERYTHING QUIET I w T as talking this w T eek, after echool opening, with Superinten dent of Education James Brown, who tells me there was no diffi culty encountered in the opening of schools this year, referring of course, to the possibility of Ne groes trying to enter w r h i t e schools. There were no cases of this sort in Newberry county, xMr. Brown said, and he doesn’t feel that there will be. He believes, by and large, that the Negroes of our county are well satisfied with the new' schools which have been constructed and are now being “ constructed for them, w'hile many of the white children of the coun ty go to school in old buildings which are adecjnate, but w'ithout the modern conveniences of the new r structures. While I agree with Mr. Brown about the atti tude of our Negro citizens, I also must agree with Spectator, who writes elsewhere in this issue, that the Supreme Court’s order cannot be evaded forever, so we might as well go ahead and do something about it now and not wait until we are forced to act. NEW REQUIREMENT Now here is something that should be of interest to almost everyone of car driving age. This was called to my attention by the Auditor, Ralph Black. It concerns an Act passed by the General As sembly during the 1955 session and requires that before a license tag will be issued, the owner of the car must sign a statement that 19-54 taxes have been paid on the car; and if the car was bought after the tax books closed last year, a certification must be given that the car has been re ported to the county auditor for assessment purposes during the present tax period. The Act sounds simple on first reading, but after talking with Ralph I have decided that it makes no sense at all. Anyway, you read it for yourself and per haps you may be able to figure It out. I just bet, though* if you think you know what it says, then talk to the Auditor about it, you will be as confused as I am—and as he is right now'. However, he Is seeking clarification and maybe by time you get around to talking to him, he will know more about it: “That for the calendar year, 1955, the department (S. C. state highway) shall not register and license a vehicle, as required by this chapter, unless the applicant therefor shall first present to the department a signed statement certifying that county taxes on the vehicle concerned for the preceding year have been fully paid; or in the event such vehicle is acquired subsequent to Janu-' ary 1, 1955, that the same has been duly and properly returned for 1955 county tax purposes. And should any of the facts so certi fied subsequently prove false, the department shall forthwith sus pend the driver’s license of such applicant for six months.” PUBLIC THANKED John T. Norris, manager of the South Carolina National Bank said today he was “overwhelmed” at the response of the public to the Open House invitation of the bank. More than a thousand per sons attended the occasion last Thursday, said Mr. Norris, who wished to thank the public for the interest shown and the fine attendance. The bank building was quite a scene of activity during the Open House. Much interest centered on guessing the amount of money in a bowl. Lucky guess- er was Strother Paysinger. Hys guess, $224.50; actual amount was $224.26. He was presented with a $25 savings bond. Tying for sec ond place in the guessing game were Mrs. Sophie Way Long and Preserving Law And Order Is Job of Sheriffs Office SHERIFF TOM FELLERS* at his office in the Court House, makes a call to one of his deputies in a county patrol car by way of the two-way radio system which is opera% ed jointly by the county, city, and Town of Whitmire. (Sunphoto.) Sheriff Tom Fellers and his four deputies maintain constant vigilance to keep the county as free of crime as it is possible for five men to do. The twx> county patrol ears and the sheriff’s car average about 150.000 miles a year —patroling the county, investigat ing the crimes that occur, and answering calls of every descrip tion. The sheriff and his deputies are on 24 hour duty. They make a check on every rural home and community at least twice a week. The radio network consists of a peace officers are equipped with 2-way radio. “In this modern age” said Sheriff Fellers, “it would be impossible to render efficient ser vice without the radio system.” The three cars operated by the main unit in the Newberry City Police department, units in the Sheriff’s office and in the police chief’s office in Whitmire. and radios in two city cars, three coun ty cars and one police car in Whitmire. At night and at all times when the sheriff’s office is closed, calls are switched to the City Police department. The police desk clerk gets in touch with the county pa trol cars by radio. In the event none of the county cars can be reached, the police notify the sheriff or his deputies of any calls at their homes. “We don’t keep any record of the calls we answer unless they result in a person being jailed,” said the sheriff, “but we answer calls of every kind—domestic troubles, family disturbances, law violations, propeny disputes. When we run into a crime, we prosecute. If someone’ else makes the complaint, they sign the war rant if they wish to press the charges. If 'they don’t, and it is a crime we can’t ignore, such as assault and battery with intent to kill, or burglary, we sign the war rant of arrest. After a person is -committed to jail, the warrant is turned over .to the magistrate who hears the case if it comes within his jurisdiction; otherwise the pierson remains in jail or is re leased on bond until the next ses sion of criminal court.” One big undertaking of the sheriff’s force is the locating and destruction of whiskey stills.Since the first of January, the sheriff estimates that 40 stills containing some 9000 gallons of mash have been destroyed. Few of the oper ators are caught. Deputy L. L. Handerson explains that the rea son the bootleggers are hard to catch is that several persons in the same community operate stills at the same location and can Bill Boozer, both of whom guess ed $225.00. The, lovely congratulatory flow ers sent to the bank were, during the weekend placed on the graves of all former officials and em ployees of the bank, deceased in recent years. keep one another advised when they see the county officers in the territory of the still. The dep uty says this also explains the reason so many barrels are found at one still; usually eight to 12, whereas in. the past most stills consisted of only two or three (barrels. “W$ still don’t have them all,” said the sheriff. “We know more are operating and we hope to locate them eventually.” The sheriff’s office handles the “most unfortunate” of cases, as Mr. Fellers terms it; those who are mentally ill. Papers are prepared by the Probate Judge for committing a person, to the State hospital, and those to be committed are most often carried to Columbia by the Sheriff and his force. In both civil and criminal court the sheriff is responsible for no tifying jurors to attend; and sub- penaing witnesses. During court, he has charge of jurors and jury panels, appoints bailiffs and ar ranges for the needs of juries, such as food and housing in the event juries are “locked up” or kept segregated from the public, during the trial of a case, office must also search for sons who fail to appear in court and for whom a bench warrant is issued by the presiding judge; and must see that all defendants who are housed in the county jail are at court on time. In this connec- tin, Mr. Fellers explained, every effort is made to dispose of the jail cases first during a term of (Continued on page 5) Holiday Closing The postoffice will be closed on Monday, September 5th in observance of the legal holiday, Labor day. Mail will be distri buted in the post office boxes, but there will be no city or rural deliveries. The stamp and Registry windows will not be open. The Merchant’s committeee of the Chamber of Commerce has recommended that all stores be closed in observance of this holiday. Two Contracts Awarded At Special Council Meeting Swim Trophies Given Saturday Donna Rook, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Don Rook and Lewis Hawkins, son of Mr .and Mrs. Roland Hawkins, won the swim ming cup trophies at the city wide swim meet held Saturday night at the local pool. Donna and Lewis accumulated the most points of the 30 partici pants. There were three divisions, with members of each division participating in various events to accumulate points. Donna aJid Lewis were both in the junior di vision. Wife Is Held By Coroner’s Jury A coroner’s jury found Friday night that Ford Springfield, of near Whitmire, came to his death “by gunshot wounds at the hands of his wife.” Mrs. Wil lie Mae Springfield has been re leased on bond from the New berry county jail where she had been lodged since the shooting last week. Building Permits August 24—Perry and Perdue one five room brick vemeer house on Henry Avenue $12,000. August 25—J. C. Sandford, re pairs to porch, 1102 Hunt street $50.00 August 25—R. E. Summer, gen eral repairs to Gilder and Weeks drug store building $850.00. August 29—Lewis M. Lipscomb, general repairs to dwelling and add one room on ChapYnan street $2500. GRADE 3-B, taught by Miss Sfcrah Boozer at Speers Street School last school session, had, the following stu dents: Left'to right, first row: Patricia Saville, Claire Dominick, Barbara Willingham, Phyllis Eddy, Elizabeth Turner, Joyce Wicker. Row 2: Phillip Marshall, David Sease, Alice Price, Linda Belcher* Mills. Row 3: Ronald Staub, Susan €bok, Jane Shannon. Row 4: James Inabinet, Jerry Mills, Gene Morehead, Dan iel Chandler, Peggy Chapman, Sharyn Swindler. Row 5: Earle Davis, Bobby Oxner, Barbara Rinehart, Eddie Bel cher. Row 6: Mike Craven, Dennis Carroll, Wayne Stew art, Stanley Baker. Row 7: Miss Sarah Boozer, teacher; Ronnie Fulmer, Claude Callaway, Bruce Oxner, Terry Hawkins, Moultrie Roberts. Absent when the picture was made were Donnie Williams, Stella Evans, Linda Sey^ more. (Photo by Nichols.) Negro Author Frowns On Court Decision By Nora Zeal Hurston, Distinguished Negro Author In Letter to Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel I promised God and some other responsible characters, in eluding a bench of bishops, that I was not going to part my lips concerning the United States Supreme Court decision on ending segregation in the public schools of the South. But since a lot of time has passed and no one seems to touch on what to me appears to be the most important point in the hassle, I break my silence just this once. Consider me as just thinking out loud. The whole matter revolves around the self-respect of my peo ple. How much satisfaction can I get from a court order for some body to associate with me who does not wish me near them? The American Indian has never beesj spoken of as a minority and chiefly because there is no white in the Indian. Certainly lie fought, and valiantly for his lands, and rightfully so, but it is inconceiv able of an Indian to seek forci ble association with anyone. His well-known pride and self-respect would save him from that. I take the Indian position. Now a great clamor will arise in certain quarters that I seek to deny the Negro children of the gouth their rights, and therefore I am one of those “handkerchief- head niggers” who bow low' before the White man and sell out my own people out of cowardice. How ever, an analytical glance will show that that is not the case. If there are not adequate Negro schools in Florida, and there is some residual, some inherent and unchangeable quality in White schools, impossible to duplicate anywhere else, then I am the first to insist that Negro children of Florida he allowed to share this boon. But if there are adequate Negro schools and prepared in structors and instructions, then there is nothing different except the presence of White people. For this reason. I regard the ruling of the United States Su preme Court as insulting rather than honoring my race. Since the days of the never-to-he-sufficient- ly-deplored Reconstruction, there has been current the belief that there is no greater delight to Ne groes than physical association with whites. This doctrine of the white mare. Those familiar with the habits of mules are aware that any mule, if not restrained, will automatically follow a white mare. Dishonest mule traders made money out of this know ledge in the old days. LEAD A WHITE MARE along a country road and slyly open the gate and the mules in the lot would run out atod follow this mare. This ruling being conceiv ed and brought forth in a sly po- litioal medium with eyes on ’56, and brought forth in the same spirit and for the same purpose, it is clear that they have tafken the old motion to heart and acted upon it. It is & cunning opening of the barnyard gate with 1 the white mare ambling, past. We are ; expected to hasten pell-mell after her. it is most astonishing that this should be tried just whem the na tion is exerting itself to shake off the evils of Communist penetra tion. It is to be recalled that Moscow, being made aware of this folk belief, made it the main plank in their campaign to win the American Negro from the 1920s on. It was the come-on stuff. Join the party and get your self a white wife or husband. To supply the expected demand the party had scraped up this and that off the park benches and skid rows and held them in stock for us. The highest type of Negro were held to be just panting to get hold of one of these objects. Seeing how flat that program fell, it is astonishing that it would be so soon revived. Politics does in deed make strange bedfellows. BUT THE SOUTH had better beware in another direction. While it is being frantic over the seg regation ruling, it had better keep its eyes open for more important things. One instance of govern ment by fiat has been rammed down its throat. It is possible that the end of seggregation is not here and never meant to be here at present, but the attention of the South directed on what was cal culated to keep us busy while more ominous things were brought to pass. The stubborn South and the Midwest kept this nation from being dragged farther to the left than it was during the New Deal. But what if it is contemplated to do away with the two - party system and arrive at government by administrative decree? No questions allowed and no infor mation given but from the admin istrative department? We could get more rulings on the same sub ject and more far-reaching any day. It pays to weigh every say ing and action, however trivial, as indicating a trend. IN THE RULING on segregation the unsuspecting nation might have witnessed^ a trial balloon. A relatively safe one, since it is sectional and on a matter not likely to arAuse other sections of the nation to the support of the South. If it goes off fairly well, a precedent^ has been established Govennment by flat can replace the Constitution. You don’t have to credit me with too much intelli gence and penetration* just; so you watch carefully aud think. Meanwhile, personally, I am not delighted. I am not persuaded and elevated by the white mare tech nique. Negro schools in the state (Continued on p»6« 5) Two contracts amounting t o $132,148.90 were awarded by city council at a special meeting call ed- Tuesday night by Mayor Jas. E. Wiseman. Those receiving the contracts were the two firms list ed as apparent low bidders in last week’s issue of the Sun on por tions of the additional water sup ply system for Newberry. To Crosby Cbnstructlon Com pany of Union went the contract for construgtion of the raw water . pumping station on the Saluda river. This amounted to $86,900. Ballenger Paving Company ot Greenville was low bidder and was awarded the contract for con struction of water and sanitary yewer distribution system. This project will cost $46,248.90 , and will extend water and sewer ser vice within the city. A contract for the most costly portion of the new *water supply system—construction of a main from Saluda river to Newberry, has not yet been awarded because * of indecision on the part of coun- ^ cil as to whether to use steel, cast iron, or lock joint cement- steel pipe. Kahn and Jackson, of Columbia was low bidder for , both steel and cast iron, price ot; the former being $331,899.96, the latter $390,683.70. A. Stanley Mun- dy & Co. of Woodbridge, N. J. waa low bidder on lock joint cement steel pipe, $336,340.60. Another special meeting of council will be held Monday night of next week to further discuss awarding of the pipe line construction contract. Council gave the city manager and city attorney authority to en ter Into agreements with the Newberry Electric Coperative, Inc. to furnish necessary electric pow er at the Saluda river Pumping station, and with Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Com pany to furnish control circuits between the Newberry water plant and Saluda River and River pumping stations. %y ■m HA •M Attends Reunion Of Service Unit i Mrs. J. H. Jackson, superinten dent of nurses at the Newberry Memorial hospital, recently re turned from Washington, D. C. where she spent several days on a sight-seeing tour and attended, on August 20, the first reunion of the 103rd Army Gene al hospital unit of which she was a member during the war. Mrs. Jackson entered the army nurse corps as a second lieutenant and was discharged after four year’s service as a captain. She saw service as a surgical nurse and anesthetist with the 103rd in England and in the States. While serving in England she met Mr. Jackson and they were later mar ried. After receiving her discharge at Port Benning, Ga. in 1945 she .served in Columbia for a year, tea^chtaig in the Nurses’ ’Training school before coming to Memo rial hospital here. She is presently a member of the Student Nurses organization and is on the Board of Duties for Nurses in district 6. BIRTHDAY GREETINGS sm m THESE YOUNGSTERS, who were too young to enter public school this year be cause of the age limit deadline, are now the students of Mrs. Margaret Welborn Tyson, who is conducting a private first grade just for such children. Reporting the first day of school were, seated at the front table, left to right, Jo Tyson, Sammy Price and John Eddy. Alice Youmans is in front of the door, and at the back table are Leon Nichols, Bobby Davis, Jim Bill Smith, Rickey Gordon and Charlie Coleman. (Sunphoto.) September 2: Betty Ann Ranger, Geneve Graham, Mrs. E. K. Counts R. C. Hunter. , Sept. 3: Mrs Sloan Chapman, Mrs. Sam A. Cook, Mrs. H. O. Counts, Wyman Williams, Mrs. J. |S Taylor, Bobbie Oxner, Ruth Rogers, Kate Cousins, Mrs. C. H. Alewine, Roy Singley, Griffin Langford, Alice Faye Koon. Sept . 4: Mrs. P. B. Ringer, C. E. Berley, Mrs. Ira Gibson. Sept. 5: Miss Marguerite Burnt, Mrs. L. M. Graham, Mrs. Mary i Hawkins, Larry Edward Graham, Mrs. George Hentz. Sept. 6: Miss Mary Wheeler, Bobby Lominack, Heyward Davit, Mrs. Ralph Waldrop, Elizabeth Cromer, Mrs. C. K. Brown, J. W. Timmerman, L B. Bedenbaugh, Prosperity Route 3, Larry Beden baugh. Sept. 7: Mrs. Stanley F. Baker, Miss Betty Floyd, Wallace Mich-, ael Dawkins, Charles E. Cromer, Mrs. Howard K. Bedenbaugh. Sept’. 8: Rev. Cam D. Wallace, J. D. Wicker, Frank H. Ward, Mrs. Ace Watkins, Mike Harmon., V