The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, May 20, 1965, Image 3
THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1965
THE NEWBERRY SUN, NEWBERRY, SOUTH CAROLINA
PAGE THREE
Letter from
elder to a
minister
COLUMBIA. — Miss Pamelia
Senn of Newberry has received a
$2,500 scholarship grant from the
South Carolina State Library
Board to attend the University of
North Carolina Library School at
Chapel Hill, N. C., for graduate
study in Library Science next fall.
Miss Senn, a senior at Win-
throp college, is the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Edward
Senn, of Route 1, Newberry.
She is majoring in Library Sci
ence at "Winthrop, with a minor in
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( English. She i sa Taps Leader, is
on the Dean's List a,nd is a mem
ber of the Helicon Club and the
Winthrop Christian Association.
Miss Senn’s graduate study is
being sponsored through the S. C.
State Library Board by the Lex
ington County Library. She will
work at this Library upon com
pletion of her studies at UNC.
Miss Senn served as a library
intern in Lexington County Lib
rary during the summer of 1964
S.he has been a student assistant
at the Winthrop college Library
since 1962. This summer, she will
work as assistant in the R. H.
Smith Branch Library in Lexing
ton.
The South Carolina State Lib-
( rary Board provides scholarships
i for graduate study in librarian-
ship as part of a continuing per
sonnel training program. For in
formation on scholarships, or on
the Board’s summer intern pro
gram, write the South Carolina
State Library Board, 1001 Main
street, Columbia.
Building and
Loan Association
1117 Boyce Street
Newberry, S. C.
Dial 276-5660
DIRECTORS:
Ralph B. Baker
J. Dave Caldwell
Pinckney N. Abrams
Louis C. Floyd
Thomas H. Pope
R. Aubrey Harley
Seeks men with
prior service
The U. S. Air Force has recent
ly announced a drastic overhaul
of its prior service enlistment pro
gram, giving many former mili
tary men a chance to return to
the Air Force at or near their
former rank, reports local Air
Force Recruiting sergeant Bill
Knight. Immediate enlistment for
base of choice or to technical
school for retraining into criti
cally needed Air Force skill are
but a few of the benefits now
being offered former servicemen
who enlist in the Air Force.
One of the most pressing rea
sons for increasing Air Force
needs for ex-servicemen is the
fact that many experienced air
men have now reached eligibility
for 20 year retirement. As a re
sult, manpower shortages are oc
curring in the Air Force that can
not be filled overnight with young,
inexperienced personnel. Men and
women already qualified in Air
Force skills by reason of previous
experience are required to help
fill the gap. With increasing num
bers of top Air Force supervisory
personnel retiring from active
duty, promotion opportunities are
now better than ever, the sergeant
noted.
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make sure you are paid promptly and fairly.
But make certain your agent is strictly inde
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sonal attention and service that you deserve.
6^
"YOUR PRIVATE BANKERS"
1418 Main Street Phone 276-1422
(This is the second of two “Let
ters from an Elder to a Minister”
by Woodbury S. Ober, business
man and Elder in the Orange, Va.,
Presbyterian church. The letters
were originally published in the
Presbyterian Journal, of April 21.)
April 1965
Dear Sandy:
In my last letter I said I thought
continued agitation in the political
arena by our Presbyterian Assem
blies, presbyteries and sessions
will lead to theocracy or some
sort of theocratic state, and re
grettably, to schism and further
splintering among our Presbyter
ian brethren.
Because of your national, even
international, reputation as a
'nccessful dominie in the realm
^f “social action” by the church
in order to conquer the sins of
society, you are helping to achieve
this theocracy and schism. I
cant’ believe you want to turn
this Republic of ours into a theo
cratic state which will ride herd
on our worship of God, and His
Son Jesus Christ.
The extent and impact of polit
ical action by churchmen can be
measured by the fact it is receiv
ing increasing attention on the
front pages of the secular press.
A daily paper the least likely to
carry such news, unless it were
vital to our business laity, is the
respected Wall Street Journal. I
quote from the front page of its
issue of March 5, 1965:
“Churchmen roam far and wide
in their politicking. Criticism
mounts. More than ever lobbying
by religious groups strays from
the church-state issue to embrace
welfare measures. Examples: med
icare, immigration reform, poverty
fighting, voting guarantees, help
for migrant workers—Church
‘missions’ flock to Washington.
More than two dozen Protestant
denominations now have offices
there—But critics speak out ,too
—The rising criticisms begin to
worry churchmen. The National
Council of Churches studies how
far it can go as a non-profit re
ligious organization before it
must register as a lobbyist.”
Ponder carefully the latter part
of that, Sandy—churchmen are
worried. One might think they
were zworried as to the propriety
of their actions, or as to the ef
fectiveness of their work, perhaps
even as to whether or not they
were helping to bring men to
Christ. But no—they are worrying
because they might be required
to register as lobbyists, and this
might have a bad effect on their
non-profit status.
Christ took it upon Himself to
drive the money-changers from
the temple, to cleanse the sanctu
ary. I wonder what He thinks of
His modem shepherds stomping
the legislative halls recommending
that the police power of the state
be exerted to take money from
the pockets of Prosperous Peter to
pay the medical bills of Penniless
Paul .
Has the Good Samaritan gone
into limbo?
I‘m sure these men of the cloth
think what they do is right, be
cause, by their lights, they are
attempting to improve the moral
climate in which we live. That’s
the way you feel, isn’t it? But
who sets the moral thermostat?
Will the moral regulator, this
thermostat, be man through leg
islation or will it be God through
the Holy Spirit?
It can’t be legislation. The col
lapse of the enforcement of the
18th Amendment proved this be
yond argument—unless a police
state is envisioned.
The political power of our
parsons today is far greater than
it was during Prohibition in the
Twenties and the early Thirties.
Today they are roaming the land
assuming control of powerful
church bodies, handing down dicta
one after another—castigating
those who disagree with them.
One of our religious publications
quotes an official of the NCC as
follows—“We don’t need need to
cringe or run when a bigot shouts
his racist views, every time an
antediluvian economic dinosaur
croaks, or whenever some Phari
see deplores our concern for the
wine-bibbers and the publicans.”
(The gentleman who said this
was a recent speaker at Newber
ry College.—Ed.)
The quotation itself spells out
appropriate comment on it.
The truism of Lord Acton gene
rations ago, “Power tends to cor
rupt and absolute power corrupts
absolutely” still holds. The suc
cess churchmen currently are en
joying in the political field feeds
on itself. It snowballs. We may
be sure our parsons are unlikely
to retire modestly from their la
bors. They will push hard; and,
truthfully, I don’t blame them or
you, feeling as you do. That does-
not mean those of us who disagree
with you must stand idly by.
You and I are Protestants, the
ological descendants of Luther.
We reject ecclesiastical authori
tarianism. That’s precisely what
you and your friends are seeking
to impose on us. Shouldn’t you
doff your Protestant robe and don
the Roman garb? The Roman
church is the church of authority.
Not ours.
History sheds a clear light on
what happens to religious liberty
when the Church becomes the
handmaiden of the state. There
are scores of Christian examples,
both Roman and Protestant. Per
haps the most definitive in Christ
ian history is Spain in its heyday
when Phillip reigned. His muscle?
—the Holy Office of the dreaded
auto-da-fe. Or, if you prefer a
modern non-Christian example, ob
serve Communism, which is state
and church wrapped in one pack
age.
Do you recommend either of
these for this nation of ours?
How long does it take to pro
gress from non-violence and pul
pit polemics to the rack or the
OGPU ?—not long apparently;
for, since natural man seems to
have an inbred gretd to gain pow
er and use it, he soon cries “ the
end justifies the means!”
When this country, then a con
glomeration of colonies governed
by Britain, Spain and France, was
first settled, the Church exercised
great temporal power. This didn’t
appeal to our Founding Fathers
who went to great pains to write
a Constitution which would keep
the Church separate from the
state. Those Fathers were close
enough to actual events to under
stand that temporal power so ex
ercised led only to infringement of
religious liberty, restriction of in
dividual liberty and to countless
other undesirable ends.
The drive for Ecumenicity goes
hand in hand with that of politi
cal action. If the Protestant po
litical parsons can achieve the
success they have (and it’s con
siderable), it follows that they
can join together theologically and
form one gigantic church.
For the myriad Protestants who
don’t care too much about their
theology, or who are prepared to
make an accommodation along
these lines in order to sit in the
seats of the mighty, it is not too
important if they must shuck pal
lid dogma. There’s a gray area in
theology—and they’re comfortable
in it. You? I? Others like us?
We’ll have none of it. Perhaps we
should adopt the slogan “I’d ra-
then fight than switch”—or is this
too reminescent of Peter and the
ear?
There are a vast number of
Protestants who still believe that
the Gospel of Jesus Christ alone
can cure the ills of this world—
that it won’t be done by legisla
tive fiat. Change will come only
as men’s hearts are changed by
the Holy Spirit. It’s up to you
(and to me) to be sure this Good
News is preached near and far.
Let’s do that Sandy, Let’s for
get the legislative whip. Let’s
remember that God is Lord, not
Man—and that man cometh to
Him, not by legislation, but by
Jesus Christ alone.
Always affectionately yours,
Ron
engage shows which played cities
as large as Columbia. Newberry
probably had the only theatre be
tween Greenville and Columbia;
and in those days traveling long
distances for entertainment was
not commonly done.
This company became Earhardt
and Wells; and eventually Henry
Wells took over the entire man
agement and leased the Opera
House. In 1931, the auditorium
was remodeled to a theatre-style
arrangement and operated by Mr.
Wells and later his son, Fulmer
Wells. By the middle forties, the,
Opera House was no longer used;
as a theatre.
Thus there has been no real
cultural center available to New
berry people since the doors ' of
the Opera House were closed.
With the completion of the New
berry College Theatre, the com
munity will again have a center
for the arts.
The theatre, to be located on
the ground floor level of the cha
pel, will include a proscenium
stage for use in all dramatic pro
ductions of the college and for
a visiting symphony orchestra or
a musical show. Located on the
ground floor with the stage will
be an adequate fly gallery and
orchestra pit. The theatre is to
be equipped to provide profession
al quality theatrical performance
in staging and lighting. Seating
300 persons, it will make available
to the community, as well as the
Whitmire No. 4
J. S. Gleason Jr., Administra
tor of Veterans Affairs, to Grady
L. Arrowood, one lot and one
building $3300.
Lenora Williams Jeter Under
wood to Paul Gilmore Jr. and Etu-
lia G. Gilmore, one lot and one
building on Gilliam St., $10.
J. W. Riser to Joe B. Riser, one
lot and one building on Main St.,
$10.00.
Whitmire No. 4 Outside
William R. Whitmire and Irene
T. Whitmire to James E. Barber,
Jr. and Rita W. Barber, one lot,
$10 love and affection.
Joseph F. Cox and Mary K.
Cox to Alvin E. Cox and Betty B.
Cox( one lot, $10 love and affec
tion.
Little Mountain No. 6
J. Carroll Amick to Jeanette A.
Hipp and Harmon Hipp, 1.08 acres
$ 51ove and affection.
Earl Shealy to J. Carroll Amick
36-100 of an acre $5.
L. C. Shealy to A. W. Shealy,
5.38 acres, $5 love and affection.
Prosperity No. 7
J. E. Grant to Herman C. Ferry
Jr., one lot $5.
J. E. Grant to Hemphill Pnde^
one lot $5.
J. E. Grant to Oscar E. Preo-
lean, two lots $5.
Ethel Mae H. Shealy to Berley
Edwin Wicker and Jane Shealy
Wicker, one lot and one building^
$10.
J. K. White to Richard O. Koon,
2.2acres $5.
Mabel B. Bowers to Larry Cur
tis Shealy and Nancy M. Shealy*.
2.95 acres $5.
Carpenter’s
Newberry, S. C.
UPSTAIRS
dresses
dresses
hats
$5.00
1-3 off
$5.00
(and many other bargains
. .)
college, a valuable facility for
multi-purpose.
PROPERTY
DOWNSTAIRS
«'”* f v . ** ■;
TRANSFERS
handbags
$1.00
(a table fall)
Newberry No. 1
Caroline G. Bishop to J. Roy
Felker, 10-foot strip on Highway
76. $65.
Blair Taylor to Eugene Benson
and Mary Ella Benson, one lot
and one building on Snowden St.
$5 and assumption of mortgage.
Newberry No. 1 Outside
Walter B. Wallace to James E.
Wise man Jr., 93-100 acre $5.
Gertie B .West to Robin M.
West, 5.67 acres, $5 love and af
fection.
J. L. Tinsley and Savannah Tins
ley to William H. Carter, one lot
and one building $5.
lingerie
BACK DOOR
$1.00 ir-:; "■>- . ■ ■ : s
(a table foil)
SHOP
>- =". • - .. i ^
* •
slacks
shorts
skirts
shirts
all, Vz original price
■■ -■ iyf ■
Silverstreet No. 2
swimsuits
$1.00
Marguerite S. Moseley and Ger
ald W. Scurry to Jeff A. Banks Sr.
and Lois M. Banks, one lot, $750.
tickets, tokens arid door prize, too .....
Bush River No. 3
' r-MV.-. » v X: • A v<
’ref ’ > *- ’•
B. F. Adams to Heyward Duane
Riddle, 3.82 acres $5.
M
Mt
New theatre be
successor to
old opera house
Newberry’s 81-year-old Opera
House, once the pride of the town,
will have a logical cultural suc
cessor in the theatre to be built in
connection with the A. G. D.
Wiles Chapel soon to be erected
on the Newberry college campus.
The old Opera House on the
southwest corner of the square in
downtown Newberry, now used
exclusively for city offices, has,
in its, day been the scene of some
of the best stage productions on
the road. But today, it stands as
a reminder that these attractions
are history
Many old-timers remember see
ing Lionel Barrymore on the stage
in “The Devil,” witnessing the
“Birth of a Nation” which brought
with it a huge orchestra and its
own picture machine and opera
tors, attending the showing of
the first talking picture in New
berry, seeing a donkey on the
stage in “The Trail of the Lone
some Pine,”—all at the Opera
House. Elaborate musical come
dies and all of the big minstrels
came to the Opera House.
The stately old building was
constructed in 1881 by Osborne
Wells and a Mr. Cline at a cost
of $24,000 to the city. It is a two-
story structure topped with a
tower which houses a bell and the
present-day town clock. When the
building was erected, the first
floor held offices of city officials,
the guardhouse and police and
fire departments. Brick had to be
cut out on both sides of the door
so that thefire truck could pass
through.
The second floor contained the
auditorium which featured several
seating arrangements—a parquet
where choice seats cost $2.50, a
dress circle on either side of the
parquet, a horseshoe balcony,
known as “buzzard roost,” which
extended around the room, from
one side of the stage to.the other,
and a general admission section
under the balcony. “There was al
ways a mad rush at the box of
fice for balcony seats which sold
for only 50c,” one Newberrian re
calls.
A team of three Newberry men,
J. W. Earhardt, Sr., Dr. Eberhart
and a Mr. Phifer, were able to
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