The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, December 22, 1955, Image 1
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MERRY
CHRISTMAS!
MERRY
CHRISTMAS!
VOLUME 18—NO. 34
24 PAGES
NEWBERRY, SOUTH CAROLINA, (HURSDAY, DECEMER 22, 1955
+ $2.00 PER YEAR
'?*] i
By The Way
By DORIS A. SANDERS
PATCHED TROUSERS
My little girl recites a poem
which is in the form of a letter
to Santa Claus, and one of the
lines is as follows: “I’m sure I
can’t be happy this bright gay
Christmas morn, if anyone’s best
trousers, are badly patched ^ ° r
torn.” There are peo.pl e in New
berry who are trying to see that
this condition doesn’t exist.
Among those people are the folks
up &t the Department of Public
Welfare, who make every effort
see that the unfortunate chil-
j in the county are properly
_ied. If you have clothes that
you or your youngsters have out
grown, won’t you take them by
the department of PW today or to
morrow, so they may be distribut
ed before Christmas?
YES, THERE IS
Because I feel that the V ir-
ginia Letter,” as I call it, is as
much a part of the Christmas tra
dition as is the Christmas tree,
Pm giving over the remainder of
this column for that this Christ
mas Week. I hope you will enjoy
re-reading it as much as I do
each year; and May I wish for
each of you the happiest Christ
mas and best New Year ever.
In every American community
there are some children who are
skeptical of the existence of San
ta Claus. It was many years ago
that Virginia O’Hanlon, pig-tailed
little New York girl, wrote a
now-famous letter to the New
York Sun asking if her little
friends were telling the truth
when they denied Santa’s exist
ence.
What The Sun wrote in reply
has since become almost as fami
liar to Americans as this little
girl’s simple faith in Santa. The
editor affirmed far more, as he
said: “He exists as certainly as
love and generosity and devotion
exist, and you know that they
abound and give to your life its
highest beauty and joy.”
These classic lines never grow
old or outmoded, just as Christ
mas itself grows more vibrantly
alive and meaningful with the
passing years.
Here is what Virginia wrote:
"Dear Editor:
"I am eight years old.
"Some of my little friends
9fy there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says if you see it in
The Sun, it’s so. Please tell me
the truth, is there a Santa
Claus?
•"Virginia O’Hanlon, 115 West
69th St., New York."
The editor replied in this man
ner:
"Virginia, your little friends
are wrong. They have been af
fected by the skepticism of a
skeptical age. They do not be
lieve except what they see. They
think that nothing can be which
la not comprehensive by their
little minds. All minds, Vir
ginia, whether they be men’s or
children’s, are little. In this
great universe of ours man is a
mere insect, an ant, in the in
tellect, ai compared with the
boundless world about him, as
measured by the intelligence
capable of grasping the whole
of truth and knowledge.
“Yes, Virginia, there is a
Santa Claus. He exists as cer
tainly as love and generosity
and devotion exist, and you
know that they abound and give
to your life its highest beauty
and joy. Alas! How dreary
would be the world if there were
no Santa Claus! It would be as
dreary as If there were no Vir
ginias. There would be no child
like faith then, no poetry, no
romanoe to make tolerable this
existence. We should have no
enjoyment, except in sense and
eight. The eternal light with
which childhood fills the world
would be extinguished.
“Not believe in Santa Claus!
You might as well not believe
In fairies! You might get your
Papa to hire men to watch all
the chimneys on Christmas Eve
to catch Santa Claus, but even
If they did not see Santa Claus
coming down, what would that
prove? Nobody sees Santa
Claus. The most real things in
the world are those that neith-
' or children or men can see. Did
you ever see fairies dancing on
the lawn? Of bourse not, but
that's no proof that they are
not there. Nobody can conceive
or Imagine all the wonders.
Co-op Electric
Rates Reduced
The Newberry Electric Coop
erative, Inc., has reduced rates to
its customers. In a notice to con
sumers, the Cooperative’s direct
ors made the following statement:
“Your Board desires to inform
you that due to the greatly in
creased consumption of electric
energy by the consumers, and
other contributing factors, the
financial condition of the Cooper
ative Is now snoh that a rate re
duction to its Farm and Home and
-Rural residential consumers is
possible The new rate will be
come effective with the January
1956 billing"
Calvary Baptist
Church Dedicated
The Dedication Services of the
new Calvary Baptist Church, Col
lege street extension, Newberry,
was held on Sunday. December 18.
The all-day celebration began at
tan o’clock in the morning. The
pastor, Rev. Dan Norris was in
dharge of the services. There were
a number of guest s^peakers.
Rev. D. W. Satterfield, pastor of
the Hunt Memorial Baptist Church
of the city was guest speaker at
ten o’clock. The dedication service
was held at 11 o’clock with Rev.
James M-cGill, retired minister of
Columbia, bringing the dedicatory
message. During the afternoon
service at three o’clock. Rev. Har
old B. Sightler, pastor of Taber
nacle Baptist Church of Green
ville, was speaker. Other guest
speakers participated during the
day.
Contract Signed
To Enlarge Mill
The Sunpaper Staff wishes for each of its readers a Christmas as happy as is anticipated by these youngsters as they
hang up their stockings for Santa to fill. Our sincerest wisnes for a New 1 Year of happiness are extended to all of
our friends, together with our appreciation for our friendships of the past. (Sunphoto by Doris A. Sanders.)
T
Christmas Happier For Many Because Of D P W
(By DORIS A. SANDERS)
A little five-year old girl this
year will know the real meaning
of Christmas—the meaning that
it has for most five-year olds—
for the first time in her life,
thanks to the Department o f
PU/blic Welfare. Little Jane is the
unfortunate offspring of a broken
family, with a mother and father
who cared little or nothing for
her, her sister or her two broth
ers. The children have never
known about visits from Santa
Claus. They only knew the horror
of being put to bed and left alone
“while mama went out with her
boy friend,” as little Jane put it.
Mrs. Ruth Mathis, child welfare
warker in the DPW, took the lit
tle girl two weeks ago and found
a foster home for her. When she
awakes on Christmas morning she
will find that Santa had been
there during the night. Her little
sister is also being cared for in a
faster home and will have Christ
mas this year; however, her two
brothers are not so fortunate. Mrs.
Mathis, through DPW, is trying
to find a suitable place for one
of the boys, a victim of a crip
pling, incurable disease. The other
lad will be placed in de la Howe
home in McCormick as soon as
there is a vacancy. Meanwhile the
mother has disappeared and the
father, a reportedly worthless sort
who spends the salary he makes
on liquor, has asked the court to
take custody of the children. The
relative with whom they stay is
anxious to get rid of them.
This is one of the many cases
of this kind handled by the DPW,
through its child welfare divis
ion.
“There are many families in
Newberry county who will have
no Christmas this year," said
Mrs. Edna Feagle, county director
of the DPW. “People find it hard
there are unseen and unseeable
in the world.
"You tear apart the baby’s
rattle and see what makes the
noise inside, but there is a veil
covering the unseen world
which nol; the strongest men
that ever lived could tear apart
Only faith, farcy, poetry, love,
romance can push aside that
curtain and view and picture the
supernal beauty and glory be
yond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia,
in all this world there is noth
ing else real and abiding.
"No Santa Claus! Thank God!
He lives, and he lives forever. A
thousand years from now, Vir
ginia, nay, ten times ten thous
and years from now, he will
continue to make glad the heart
of childhood."
to believe that there are really
poor families in the county, but
there are many of them, where
the breadwinner has had a long
illness and is unable to dare for
his family; where death has
claimed the father and the mother
is unable to work and take care
of the children; where broken
homes leave children neglected.”
“There are also many older
people who are alone at Christ
mas, with no family, no one to
care for them,” said Mrs. Feagle.
“They are unable financially to
take part in the Christmas season
and those are the kinds of people
we try to help a little.”
The Christmas cheer to these
latter people is in the form of
Christmas baskets, prepared by
the fire department of Newberry
from funds derived through the
Community Chest. The DPW fur
nishes the names of families
which need help, and the firemen
deliver the packages. This year,
there will be over 100 such bas
kets delivered in the county.
Also cooperating to help make
Christmas more joyful for the
needy are the DPW and civic,
social and service clubs of New
berry, which gather food, cloth
ing and toys through members of
their organizations. Some of the
-clubs deliver their packaged' idHjfng to
rectly to needy families; most of
them, however, are delivered
through the DPW.
Mrs. Feagle pointed out that
the families to whom the gifts
are given are not just picked at
random. “They are carefully sel
ected,” she said. “They must be
in real need. There are certain
policies which govern the distri
bution of these gifts. Our visitors
are in these homes often; they
know the families that are most
in need."
The assistance rendered to the
needy at Christmas is just a
special program for the DPW
workers. Their regular job is the
handling of about 1100 crises of
service to the aged, blind, par
tially and totally disabled, and to
dependent children, also to de
linquent and neglected children.
They try to do preventive and re
habilitation work, as far as pos
sible, thus making persons self-
sufficient rather than being de
pendent on taxpayers for an ex
istence.
Another way the DPW is work
the taxpayers money
is through the “uniform depend
ency law.” Under this law, a man
who leaves his wife and children
without supporting them may be
tried at any place in the United
States and when sentenced must
make regular payments for the
support of his dependents, through
money sent to the Clerk of court.
Before the passage of the Uni
form Dependency law, it was nec-
essiary to bring a defendant back
to Newberry county, lodge him in
jail until a term of court and try
him in the county before he could
be sentenced.
The Newberry DPW has an ex
cellent record in carrying out the
Intent of the law, and Mrs. Fea
gle gives much credit to Judge
Steve C. Griffith for this success.
Alter seeking information at sev
eral sources as to how the law
might be enforced, Mrs. Feagle
went to Judge Griffith, who ex
Five-year-old Jane is shown here with Mrs. Edna Feagle, director of the County De
partment of Public Welfare, just before leaving to spend Christmas holidays in a foster
home. This will be Janes first real Christmas. Details may be seen in.the story on this
page. In the background are packages which will be delivered by the DPW to needy fam
ilies at Christmas. (Sunphoto by Doris A. Sanders.
plained the law, gave instructions
as to how to go about enforcing
it, and even made up sample cop
ies of the papers necessary to
send to other courts in order to
enforce the law. "This has kept
many mothers and dependent
children off the public assistance
rolls, who would otherwise have
been cared for by the taxpayers,”
said Mrs. Feagle.
In the Division of The Blind,
funds are furnished to those who
cannot pay for eye examinations,
hospitalization, 'surgery and glass
es. During the course of an inter
view with Mrs. Feagle, two such
cases came up and were discussed
with an opthomologist. One was an
aged man who was receiving old-
age assistance. He was unable to
do any steady work, but ’ ‘while
clearing a ditch he stuck a thorn
in his eye. He was treated by the
opthomologist and needed hospi
talization.
Since he was unable to pay for
hospital care, authority was se
cured from the Division Of The
Blind at the State DPW to hos
pitalize the man and give him
treatment so he could be reliev
ed. He amd his wife were both
more than 75 years of age.
During the same call, Mrs. Fea
gle discussed with the doctor
another man who has been sick
for- over a year and unable to
work. He was cutting stove wood
for afire for his family and was
struck in the eye by a piece of
wood. According to the doctor,
the sight in that eye was gone.
Plans are in the making, how
ever, to give treatment to the
man to save the other eye and
prevent total blindness. While he
is disabled, his wife and three
children will receive help from
the DPW.
The DPW child welfare worker
handles any problems x relating
solely to children, finding foster
homes for unwanted children,
placing children in clinics and or
phanages, making arrangements
to take the children back home
for Christmas when desired, and
handling many other problems of
this nature. In this connection,
Mrs. Feagle stated that foster
homes were urgently needed on
a temporary basis for neglected
children.
The “visitors” in the depart
ment work on all phases of as*
sistance. They investigate charity
patients for hospitals, patients for
free cancer treatments; Mid pa
tients to be sent to the State hos
pital, Whitten village for white
mentally retarded children, and
Pinelahd, school for negro men
tally retarded children, near Col-
(Continued on page S)
State B & L Buys
Office Building
The •building at 1117 Boyce St.
now occupied by the State Build
ing and Loan Association, has
been purchased by that firm, ac
cording to an announcement by
Pinckney N. Abrams, secratery-
Treasurer of the Association. The
building was purchased, accord
ing to Mr. Abrams, to provide ad
ditional space needed to accom
modate the rapidly growing firm.
“Our business is to make loans
for the purchase of homes, and
to provide a convenient and prof
itable place for savings, and we
are making every effort to better
serve the public,” Mr. Abrams
said.
In pointing up the rapid growth
of the company, the following
figures were listed in summariz
ing the activities of the firm for
1955:
Net savings increased by over
$370,000.00, bringing total savings
to $1,850,000. Dividends to be
paid to holders of savings ac
counts during 1965 will total over
$49,500.00. The number of savings
accounts has increased over 200.
Home loans have increased in
both number and amount, the to
tal amount now outstanding being
$1,700,000.
State Building fand Loan’s as
sets amount to oven $2,000,000.00.
'• *:>%
The name of the owner of Mys
tery Farm No. 14 was inadvert
ently omitted from last, week’s
issue, but most people seemed to
know it was the farm of J. Thad
McCrackin on the Greenville high
way.
Last week’s Mystery Farm was
also well knowtn, the J. F. Haw
kins farm in the Hartford com
munity. Winning gueasers last
week were: Free TV Service call
courtesy George N. Martin Radio
and TV, Mrs. B. P. Ringer; one
ticket to Wells Theatre to Mrs.
Griffin Langfoj-d, Mrs. Claude
Lester, John B. Hannon, George
Lominick, alnd Floyd Dennis. One
ticket to Ritz theatre to Tommy
TindaU, David Parr, W. E. Tur
ner, Olin Lominack, and Mrs. Ad-
ella Summer.
Others who correctly identified
the farm were Bobby Hannon,
Betty Bowers, Ralph Mitchell, Ace
Watkins, Beth Boulware, John
Wesley Sligh, William Heller, Mrs.
Ira Gibson, S. C. Altman, Ann
Bowers, Silverstreet, Ann Bowers,
Newberry; Gerald Dominick, Cor
bet Gibson, W. F. Hughes, Mrs.
J. O. Dunston, Ruth Cannon, Hen
ry Glasgow, Mrs. A. P. Salley,
Garner-Robles, and Mrs. Betty
Shealy.
Winners are asked to pick up
their tickets at The Sun office by
noon, Tuesday, December 27. The
Sun office will be closed Monday,
December .26.
The proposed million dollar ex
pansion at Newberry mills, Inc.
became a reality last Friday when
James E. Britt, vice-president and
general manager of the company
announced that contracts for the
expansion had been signed t and
that work was expected W begin
on the new addition in February.
Contract for, the ccmetniction
went to G f
Whitmire aW^Wbist of $185,000.
Project enkflaVHv' Are McPherson
and Company of Greenville.
The addition, to be located on
O’Neal street betwsMi^ what is
known as Mill No. l iOMTMIll No.
2, will contain approximately 40,-
000 square feet of floor space in
a four-storey structure. The ad
dition of 366 looms will increase
the plants loom count to 1616 and
will increase production by some
30 per cent over the present
With the addition, expected to
be completed in August of next
year, Mr. Britt stated that jobs
would be available for over 126
persons, and expressed hope that
the plant would be in full opera
tion by October.
Word of the signing came from
William R. Beuret, assistant to
Sarkis Diabekirian, president and
owner of Newberry mills, Inc. Mr.
Britt explained that the factors \
taken into consideration by Mr.,
Riabekirian and other officials of
the company in deciding to locate
the expansion in Newberry, were
the loyalty of the workers at the
West End plant and the harmony
existing between local manage*
ment and labor.
■v —
Brother Of Local
Woman Passes
Norman Martin, 60, prominent *
farmer and lumberman of Sum- ( ‘
merton, died enroute to Tourney
hospital in Sumter Tuesday after ■****■
suffering a heart attack earlier at
bis home. He Was a brother of ‘
Mrs. V. C. Martin of Kinards.
Survivors include his widow,
3 daughters, five sons, one bro
ther, five other sisters, eight
grandchildren and a number of
nieces and nephews.
Funeral services weire conduct- .
ed Wednesday from the Summer-
ton Methodist church by his pas
tor Rev. W. R. Parker. Interment
was in Evergreen cemetery, at
Summerton.
ree
Earn lers Listed
Four Newberry county farmers
were certified as tree farmers re
cently by the South Carolina Tree
Farm Committee, according to
Vera H. Cutler, of Hardeville,
chairman of the Tree Farm Com
mittee.
To be certified as a tree farm
er, a landowner must demonstrate
ability and willingness to manage
his woodland under good forestry
practice for continuous produc
tion. The ttee farm prograpi is
sponsored by the South Carolina
Forest Industries Committee with
cooperation of the South Carolina
State Commission of Forestry
the Clemson College Extension
Service.
Certified! in Newberry were:
T. B. Amis of Rout 2, Kinards,
2,660 acres in Newberry; Mrs.
Annie Laurie Sutherland of New
berry, 606 acres in Newberry; Al
bert G. McCaughrin, 38 acres in
Newberry; B. Hardin Keitt of
Charlotte, N. C., 874 acres in New
berry.
sons Greetings from The Newberry
Children Story
Hour Canceled
Children’s Story Hour at the
Newherry- Saluda Regional Libr—y
will not be held during the Christ
mas holidays. The story hour will
be resumed Monday afternoon,
January 9th, at 3:30 to 4:30 with
Miss Jackie Atkinson, student at
Newberry College, in charge.
birthday
GREETINGS
Dec. 23: Rev. C. A. Calcote,
Mrs. Pinckney Abrams, Mrs. H.
O. Chambers, Claude Buzhardt,
Frank. Lominack, Jr. f James
Henderson, Martha Jean Long-
shore, Mrs. Clay Balfentine,
Jackie Shealy.
Dec. 24: Benjamin Anderson,
Mrs. Mary C. Long, Ed Senn,
Mrs. Ellen Abrams.
Dec. 25: P. d. Johnson, Jr„
Mrs T. B. Jacobs, Mrs. Ernest
Bennett, Roscoe Coppock, Fred
rick Hodges Dodkin, Mrs. R. C.
Hunter, Frank Senn, Thomas
Shaver, Mrs. J. W. Timmerman,
Miss Verna Lane.
Dec. 26: Mrs. Griffin Coleman,
Mill Moore, Harold L. Pitts, J.
R. Bedenbaugh.
® ec * 27: J ,h. Bedenbaugh,
Linda Jane Lominick, Berlin
Stuck, Mrs. David Ringer, Mrs.
Fred Summer, Larry McCul
lough, Ronald Chapman, Berley
Shealy, Mable Darby, Louise
Sessions, Mrs. G. B. Sessions^
Mrs. A. J. Wilson.
Dec. 28: Mrs. James Smith,
Jr., Mrs. Elbert Dickert, Lisa
Lominack, Fay Murray, Mrs. F-
Scott .EHIott, Mrs. Oscar Mayer,
Brenda Summer, Dale ' Eargfe,
Gates Beckwith.
Dec. 29: Mrs. Dave L* Hayes,
Mrs. Frank Stewart, Mrs. J. AI- „
vin Klnard, David Langford,
Margaret Watkins.
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'•ewi
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