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Some men are incapable of thinking for themselves; and so they get married and thereafter don't need to think Assurance makes a man pros perous, and prosperity breeds assurance. i VOLUME 25; NUMBER 36. By The Way AN OPEN LETTER To the Mayor, Council and Resi dents of Myrtle Beach: Next week your city will begin to function under a new type of municipal administration, the council-manager form of govern ment. The success or failure of such a system will depend in large part on the person who occupies the all-important post of City Manager. About 12 years ago, Newberry residents voted by a laige major ity to inaugurate council-manager government. In a test of the system this past summer, the citizens of this city voted overwhelmingly (1735 to 610) to continue the system. While many voters may not have realized it (and some would n’t admit it if they did) they were actually casting a vote of confi dence for the city manager him self, because only one man has held the position, and the efficien cy with which city affairs have been administered during the past 12 years convinced the majority of voters that council-manager is the best type for the city. The man responsible for the confidence placed in the form of government is Ed L. BlackwelL In a few days he will become city manager of your city. You are to be congratulated on the choice you have made. Because of a few selfish people in Newberry who put their own personal interests (and personal grudges) above the interests of their city, Ed. Blackwell resigned his position as city manager. There were many in Newberry wbc urg ed not to resign; w r ho would have willingly fought to keep him in Newberry because these people knew what a valuable employee the city had. He felt because of the activities of these individuals with their personal grudges, the form of government itself might be jeopardized were he to stay on the job; and w ? hiie I am sure that the decision to resign was a hard one for him to make, he sacrific ed his position in the best interest of the people of Newberry, fearing that the rumormongers with their malicious mistruths would defeat the form of government were he to remain. You are getting a city manager who will do exactly as he is in structed by council—who will fol low policies laid down by council —and who will do it with great NEWBERRY, SOUTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1961 * $2.00 PER YEAR - By DORIS A. SANDERS pi/ As we come again to that traditional time of hope, the beginning of a New Year, may we take the opportunity to extend a word ^ of “thanks” to our many friends in the community. , ' a jpiiil m pMpii fV* v # t > ‘ v V ; f! vx-x* i • P Mill?: iit ••••• •••-. • : ' * i mm mmm III r sil M -a I s-v !•> v’. .j VttfV , '• I '. City Manager and Mrs. Ed Blackwell will leave today (Thursday) for Myrtle Beach, where Mr. Blackwell becomes city manager effective Janu ary 1, 1962. (Sunphoto.) efficiency. You will find, I am sure in a short period of time that your city services will have been great ly extended and improved, while the funds to run your city will NOT be greatly extended. You will find that Mr. Blackwell will do the job he is employed to do. He might make some people unhappy—there are some people who aren’t happy unless they’re unhappy about something. But I would urge the City Fathers and the residents of Myrtle Beach that when and if protests arise, ob serve carefully the source and the reason before you give more then passing notice to any com plaints about your city manager. Being connected with the Sun for most of the time Mr. Blackwell has been city manager in Newber ry, I have followed closely the activities carried on by the city. 1 can say—and anyone who has worked closely with him can say— that Mr. Blackwell is going to be a mighty hard man to replace. So, again, I congratulate you on your choice. I sincerely hope that Newberry will be able to find a man who is somewhere near as capable as the man we are losing, but it is going to be hard to do that. I know that Myrtle Beach will benefit not only by the ser vices of Mr. Blackwell, but by hav ing as residents Mr. Blackwell and his charming wife, Bert, and the rest of his family. Needless to say, we add our most sincere wishes that 1962 will be a happy, prosperous and peace ful year — for our community, the nation and the world. HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! Elections, Polio Outbreak News Stories Of 1961 | City Attorney R. Aubrey Harley administered the oath of office Tuesday night to the seven men who will govern the city during the coming two years. They are Ernest H. Layton, Mayor; and Councilman Frank Armfield Jr., Ward 1; George W. Heller, Ward 2; Clarence A. Shealy, Jr. # Ward 3; Jimmie B. Davenport, Ward 4; Cecil E. Merchant, Ward 5; and E. F. McCutcheon, Ward 6. The term of office for these men will begin after midnight December 31 > During the short meeting, . at which time the oaths were ac istered. Mayor Layton, Attorney Harley and several members of council spoke highly of the serv ices which have been rendered dur ing the past 12 years by City Manager Ed Blackwell, and ex pressed regret at his departure. Mr. Blackwell expressed his appre ciation for the cooperation given by council members during his time in Newberry, and offered his services in the future* if needed. Mayor Layton stated that he was looking forward to the “best two yean He mentioned for the 1 the new members of any complaints received be channeled through the manager who will see that are handled according to policy. In the Sunphoto above are, ed, from left, Councilmen Si Armfield Mayor Layton, Coi man Merchant; standing, the coming members of council: W. H'.Jer, E. F. McCutcheon Jimmie B. Davenport. Elections and an epidemic of. when, on the night before the im- poliomyelitis topped the news pic- munization, a young Newberry ture in Newberry during 1961. (man, Bobby Yochem, was strick- Several cases of polio were re- en with a severe case of paralytic ported during the early summer months, one of which was fatal. As the weeks went on the out- break grew more serious, finally reaching the epidemic proportion of 21 cases, and culminating in a mass immunization program with Sabin oral vaecioe. Between 22 and 23 thousand doses of the vac cine were given in a two-day per iod, to all school children in the county and to as many adults as were lucky enough to get a dose | represented a majority of polio. He died the day following the immunization program at the Respiratory Center in Augusta, Ga. Only one case of polio has been reported since the oral vac cine was administered. Early in the year, several em ployees of Newberry Mills, Inc., petitioned the National Labor Re lations Board to hold an election at Newberry Mills, Inc. to deter mine whether Labor Union 120 before the supply of vaccine was exhausted. Newberrians were spurred on to get the vaccine Newberry Mills, Inc. this week ave clear title to property on hich two churches in the West nd community are located. In *47 the property was deeded to rest End Baptist Church and to [ayer Memorial Lutheran Church ith a reversion clause; it would ; the property of the churches aly so long as the land was used «• the sole purpose of divine wor ship, otherwise the property would be returned to the Newberry Mills. Tuesday afternoon, L. E. Gatlin Jr., general manager of Newberry Mills, Inc., presented to Dr. Clar ence K. Derrick, representing the cci.gregation of Mayer Memorial Lutheran Church, the new title, the purpose of which was to re move any and all conditions and restrictions. The property now be longs to the church, “lock .stock and barrel.” The same is true of West End Baptist Church, w r hich received its new deed from Mr. Gatlin on Wednesday afternoon. Gathered for the occasion Tues day at Mayer Memorial were, from left, front row, Dr. Derrick, Clyde Amick and Mr. Gatlin; back row. Howard Cook, A1 Whitehead, Ger ald Taylor and Bryan Livingston. (Sunphoto.) employees of the plant. After a number of delays a hearing was held, and following more delays, the date for the election was fin ally set for June 22. The union won the election. 311 employees voting to retain the union. 267 voting against. The union’s con tract with the plant terminated in August, at the time employees were on vacation. While negotia tions have been carried on since that time, there is still no union contract at the plant. The com pany has recently announced it will immediately begin a moderni zation and modification program at its plant. Also early in the year, a peti tion was presented to city coun cil requesting an election to de termine “whether the City of Newberry shall adopt the Mayor- Council form of Government.” The petition was an admitted move (by some of the signers) to force the firing or resignation of City Manager Ed Blackwell. It was first decided by the mayor to call the referendum following the city primary in August. However, in a surprise move, Mayor Layton isued a proclamation calling for the referendum on the same date as the city primary. In July, City Manager Blackwell resigned, stat ing that he wished all personalit ies removed before the isue was voted. Newberrians, on August 22, overwhelmingly showed their approval of Council-Manager gov ernment, voting to retain the sy stem by 1735 to 610 votes against. On the same day, Mayor Layton easily won renomination over two opponents, Charlie Altman and Howard Cook, Jr. Frank Armfield, Jr. offering for renomination as alderman from Ward 1. also defeated two oppon ents Dave Laird and S. W. Miller in the first primary. In Ward 2, George W. Heller defeated incum bent C. A. Dufford, Sr.; Clarence A. Shealy, Jr. was returned to of fice from Ward 3, defeating S. D. Paysinger; Jimmie Davenport ous ted Clarence DeHart in Ward 4; Cecil Merchant was returned as alderman from Ward 5, defeating Cecil Kinard. In Ward 6, D. W. Jones, incumbent; E. F. CcCut- cheon and Jim Todd were in the first primary. In run-off prim ary, McCutcheon defeated Jones to take the Ward 6 seat on coun cil. Council named Clarence Wallace who is city clerk and treasurer to act as city manager following Mr. Blackwell’s departure until ano ther city manager is named. D. O. Carpenter, who retired December 31, 1960 as manager of the Oakland Plant of the F.endall Company, was replaced ir that position by L. Hart Jordan. Several new ministers have been More Production, No War 1962 Is Forecast By Babsoi will not underwrite the building of i ually be reorganized during Roger W. Babson 1. I am hopeful for 1962; it called to churches in Newberry, should be a better year for my among them Dr. Clarence K. Der rick replacing Rev. D. M. Shull at Mayer Memorial Luthei’an Church, and Rev. Robert E. Long replacing Rev. Cannon McCreary at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Members of First Baptist Church | weapons readers than 1961. Industrial pro duction will exceed that of 1961. 2. There will be neither a nuc lear war nor total disarmament in 1962. Considerable progress may be made toward a ban on atomic were sorrowed by the announce ment that their pastor < Rev. Ken neth B. Wilson i had accepted a call to become pastor of the First Baptist Church of Mt. Airy, N. C. on January 15. St.* Mark’s Catholic Church was dedicated on May 21 by Bishop Hallinan, Bishop of Charleston; and Mayer Memorial Lutheran Church burned its mortgage af ter paying off a ten-year debt in four years. Yeargin Construction Company of Greenville was awarded con tracts to construct the new Bound ary Street and Speers Street Ele mentary school buildings. In De cember, students and parents were given the happy news that the buildings would be ready for oc cupancy following the Christmas holidays, with open house to be held Sunday afternoon, December 31st. Ralph E. Watkins, Jr. of Abbe ville was named administrator of Newberry County schools, replac ing P. K. Harmon who retired af ter many years of service to the county schools. (Continued on Page 2) private shelters for individual families. 9. Good real estate must rise in price as the population increases. Elementary mathematics deter mines the price of suburban real estate. This is notwithstanding the claim of the “space companies” which are said to be interested in selling rights on the moon. There probably are crazier speculations. 10. While the land on which your house now stands should in crease in value during 1962, the building itself depreciates from the moment when it is first occupied. A possible exception would be cer tain very attractive ranch houses painted in color. 11. Automobile production will be the most important statistical indicator during 1962. This applies to both the number of automobiles and their sales value. We now have no reliable figures for the latter. 12. we will gradually approach an average of two cars for every family. The life of automobiles should gradually increase. The per- 3. Some thirty stocks may reach centage of automobiles annually an average of 1000 during 1962, although these will not necessarily be the thirty Dow-Jones stocks. 4. Retail trade will make new records during 1962. Increased newspaper advertising, especially in colors, will be a great boon to merchandising. 5. Commodity prices will act er ratic during 1962. Agricultural prices will be held up by legisla tion, but many metals will sell for less. 6. The official cost-of-living figure will rise slightly in 1962, but there may be a scandal in Washington over how this figure is calculated or adjusted. The real increase in the cost-of-living will be due to increased wages demand ed. 7. The only certain shortages during 1962 will be in land suit able for parking places and wat erfront property readily accessible to building lots; also for automo bile “graveyards” near cities which have been zoned. 8. The building of shelters will look silly before the end of 1962. Certainly the Federal Government destroyed will decrease in 196?. 13. Automobiles and gasolines will be_ increasingly, sources for years ahead. Schoolhouses will built as places to “park the kic while the parents are at wc New schoolhouses will be built as not to be over one story high, with lots of sunshine. 17. Owing to the lack of airpoi facilities and to inadequate eqoi] meit, there will be increasing air’ll plane accidents during 1962. 18. With all the above change plus increased public improveme (Continued on Page 4) BIRTHDAY GREETINGS Dec. 31: Mrs. Nat Gist, G. V. Clamp, Mrs. L. H. Miss Emily Boozer, Mrs. O. Graham, Sne Stone, Brooks, Clyde E. Minick, D. B. Dawkins, (Leesville), J. C. ly, Elberta Coleman. Jan. 1: Jonn Harrison land, Mrs. G. W. Kinard, Young, Grace Reddick J Rachel Werts, George B. Bri Jan. 2: Mary Fulmer We raising money by taxation. These Ben Pressley Stewart Jr. means will be extended to include an additional assessment on the manufacturers of automobiles. 14. Taxes, as a whole, will con tinue to increase in 1962 for every family. Business net taxes, how ever, will decrease in 1962, through the granting of deprecia tion refunds which can be done by executive order. The manufac turer may greatly increase his deductions for past investments and new machinery, plant, and equipment. Douglas Dillon feels that such tax reductions will in crease the purchase of new equip ment, develop greater efficiency, and result in a net improvement in the employment situation. This is good news for 1962. 15. Speculation in real estate and securities will be active dur ing 1962; but good children will gradually be recognized as they will be married earlier and will want to have large families. 16. Public education will grad- Kir- Mr*. Hawkins,| Mamie Smith, David Stone, bert Wicker. Jan. 3: Carter Abrams, E. by Lominack, Dick Neel, ette Walton, Sam P. Bo’ Charlie S. Cromer, Mrs. Ringer. Jan. 4: Howard Clark, John Pappas, Murray Claude Sheppard, Elaine Brown, Paul Shealy, Mrs. Wilbur J. Ringer, Debra Smith, Sten Fuller. Jan. 5: Miss Juanita Hitt, Johnson Hagood Clary, Cli ine Livingston, William K. throp, Joanne Livingston, Jim mie Bowers, Horace Lee “ Jr., Jerome Havird, Mrs. line L. Sheely, J. J. Ennis, D.‘ Ruff. Jan. 6: Henry Edward G ins, R. T. Feagle, Mrs, Ballentine, Mrs. Gladys Ri M. O. Fulmer, Branders Dessie K. Keeler, Evelyn D. vis, Sally Berry. Boozer, p. n - H