Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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SOrM) BARRIER We'd all need ear plu<rs if ]ieo]'l«.' made as much fuss o\er prn>i>erit\ as they do over adversity. ON THE NOSE Although the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, that's still the best way to bet. VOLUME 30 NUMBER 11. NEWBERRY, SOUTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, JULY 28, 1900 $2.00 Per Year BY THE WAY T A L K I N (i T l R K K V Turkey was the King <>f the Roost when the Ocoma hoods groundbreaking took place the other day. The hug*' white tur key, brought to the occasion by Gene Mathis, added just the right touch for the official la ginning of this plant, which will provide a market for all turkeys grown locally as well as all others grown over a vast area of several states. This is indeed an industry which will have tremendous im pact upon the entire economy of Newberry county. It is far more than adding a payroll ol some 800 people to work at the plant. As someone at the groundbreaking said, “we are going to put the farmers to work.” Payrolls will be ex panded in many different, places as the result of this plant. Diversification is what New berry has long needed. While Newberry no doubt would have completely dried up without its fine textile industry in years past, the threat of suen a disaster was always in the air; in unionized plants, pro duction can be stopped at the drop of a labor leader s hat and what would have happened in Newberry had this been the case ? Now, in addition to our tex tile industry—which ranks a- bout 12th in the state, inciden tally, in looms, we have the Shakespeare plant which man ufactures antennae and fishing rods, among other things; we have Owens-Illinois which manufactures corrugated boxes and next year, we will have Ocoma, a food processing plant. The Waldrop-Senn egg indus try continues to grow and will be in a new building before long. More building is evidenc ed—residential as well as commercial—throughout the city. The progress which was so long in coming to Newberry is now underway and picking up steam. But with it all, there is a slight nostalgia—for the “good old days.” Not that I would stop progress; it is needed to provide the young people of our community chances for their future. I only hope that in our efforts to accomplish that aim, we won’t tax their future beyond their ability to pay. By DORIS A. SANDERS hardly supposed it would put his Republican opponent in so favorable a light as it did in an editorial the othei day. The Independent seems to realize, j whether Mr. Dorn does or not, that he has serious opposition 1 be-| in the November General Klee- School Board told integration for next year not sufficient tion. John K. Grissc not a NATIONAL GUARD Some 500 or so men from the Newberry National Guard units will be rolling in Sunday from Fort Stewart after their annual summer encampment. Incidentally, this is another nice little “industry” for the city. I never remember just what the payroll is annually but it dumps a good amount of cash into the registers of New berry merchants. The guardsmen this year had their toughest assignment —“in the field”—at the very beginning, and should be tak ing it a little easier this week back at the base. From their arrival on Sunday, until late Thursday afternoon, they were maneuvering somewhere out in the swamps about 35 or 40 miles from the main camp. One of the units found them selves directly under fire of the big guns and the men got out of there in a hurry. There had been few casualties—other than the traditional “Swamp Stewart” mosquito bites—at the end of the maneuvers in the field. Col. Jerry O’Quinn, Col. Lew Hoyt and Adjutant General Frank Pinckney were kind enough to invite me down for the General’s “Visitor’s Day” .—to look over the training, at tend the special parade and the General’s reception. I regret very much that it was impos sible for me to make it this year. I have enjoyed these trips to Fort Stewart previous ly, also to Fort Gordon when the local units were training there .. . . and I’ll be looking forward to a trip again next year, if the General is kind enough to invite me again. person to be laughed off. And Mr. Dorn has done a number of things which did not help him politically in his district. | Perhaps the foremost of these j was the fact that he felt it I necessary (along with Gover- . nor McNair) to jump on the i Lady Bird Special at a time— as he was later to see—the vot ers of his district were not in a mood for Lyndon Johnson or any of his family. The Independent editorial, concerned Mr. Dorn’s about- face concerning the federal and private steam projects on the Savannah River. The contro versy over this matter has raged for a long time now— with the Congressman adam antly opposing a federal pow er project. As you know by recent headlines, he has now introduced a bill in Congress to authorize both projects. Here is the way the Independ ent sees the action in an ed itorial entitled " Dorn Sees The Light; He Also Sees Grisso! ": At long last, Mr. Dorn has come out for both the Trotters Shoals and Duke steam pro jects on the Savannah river. What ;i switch! No longer does he rant and rave and threaten to bring 50,- 000 people to Washington to prove his point. The projects are compatible. They r both can be built. Trot ters Shoals will not doubt be constructed in due time; Duke Power, if it wants to build a big steam plant near Iva, can do so. This is the true solu tion to the. problem. Mr. Dorn has seen the light. There was never any merit to his position. He also has taken note of changes taking place (politically) in the Third District, where John K. Grisso, an aggressive Republican, is out to unseat him—and may well do so. The Thhd District went Republican tw’o years ago. Even in the Democratic pri mary over 17,000 voters were cast against Mr. Dorn. Now, Aiken County (over 40,000 reg istered voters, the home of Republican Chieftian Strom Thurmond, and so powerfully Republican that it could easily be the balance in the Congres sional race) has been put into this district, which is giving Mr. Dorn many sleepless nights, as he counts GOP sheep. Mr. Grisso has indicated that he will have something to re veal about the unpopular action of Mr. Dorn in naming Rich ard Copeland, Sen J. B. Law r - son’s son-in-law, acting post master in Anderson, over the many qualified persons in the postal service here. This has already defeated Sen Lawson. There is other handwriting on the wall for Mr. Dorn, too, such as the protests filed with him by veteran employees in the local Post Office, and the congressman’s unwillingness to call an examination to fill the vacancy—which is considered a scheme to put Copeland int<y the $10,000 plus job perman ently by thus shutting the door in the face of everybody who would like to try for the job in a competitive examination. Mr. Dorn sees these things. He knows he is in the battle of his political life. His “shoo-in” days are over. His position is so critical that he may have to send for Judge Smith, of Vir ginia, who has helped him block Trotters Shoals for so many years. The County Board of Educa tion spent most of its meeting Tuesday night reviewing details of a $247,444 federal grant which was approved for the school district on July 21st. Ralph Watkins, county direc tor of education, was authoriz- *’il to begin purchasing neces sary equipment, and employing additional teachers, secretaries, librarians and coordinators im mediately. The grant is for the purpose of upgrading educational op portunities for county students from low-income families. Wat kins said the county is among i the first to receive approval of a project under Title I of the federal Elementary and t Secondary Education Act. 1 Most of the personnel auth orized by the current grant were employed last year under a similar grant, and their em ployment will be continued un- j der the new grant. This includes i a coordinator, assistant coord- inator, two supervisors, eight teachers, five secretaries, five librarians and one nurse. Supplies allowed under the | grant include Reading Labora- ' tories for all “high priority” schools, and instructional ma- ! terials, consisting of filmstrips and visual aids. Also provided are funds for student lunches and textbook rental for grades ! 5-8 in “high priority” schools. Schools receiving the benefit of these funds are Carver, , Drayton, Garmany, Reuben and i Rikard elementary schools. The Board approved final de tails of the 1966-67 budget, which shows anticipated income at $1,973,554 as balanced against expected expenditures for the year of $1,909,825. The Board reviewed a letter of July 11 from the Office of Education, Department of Health, Education and Wel fare, which stated that the school district has not satis- facorily complied with establish ed guidelines for desegregation, and warned the Board to take immediate action to do some thing about it “or else”. The Board authorized Director Wat kins to reply to HEW that the “freedom of choice” plan pre scribed by that Department was follow'ed to the letter, and to review all actions taken by the Board toward desegrega tion of the school system. The letter from HEW stated that the report of anticipated enrollment submitted by the district indicates . that the an ticipated enrollment of Negro students in previously all- white schools for next year “falls substantially short of the increased enrollment ex pected for your free choice plan to be considered effective in eliminating the dual school structure. ” The district reported that 1.8'< Negro students attended school last year on a desegre gated basis and that the per centage anticipated for next year is 4.9H,~142 of 2853 ex pected Negro students. The letter noted that all of the white students will be attend ing schools originally estab lished for white students only. “We do not believe that your desegregation plan . . . can reasonably be considered ade quate to accomplish the pur- Private school to be talked tonite A meeting will be held at the Community Hall tonight (Thursday) at 8 p.m. to de termine how many students will be interested in going to the Newberry Academy, a pri vate school being formed here. Calling the meeting are Eu gene Griffith, W. W. King, Jr. and E. Maxcy Stone, directors. A meeting was held several weeks ago, at which about 100 persons heard T. Elliott Wan- namaker of Orangeburg tell of the success of other private schools, “not only financially but especially the high acad emic standing and the excel lent quality of education.” The directors stated that a good deal of work has been done toward the establishment of an Academy in Newberry, under the name of Newberry Academy, Inc. Newberry Mills has given permission for the corporation to use, and even tually own, the old West Ena school building, which reverted to the mill after the public schools discontinued use of the building. It was stated that the building is in “fairly good repair” and suitable to the needs of the Academy. It is believed that the Academy could open as many as six grades in the building in Sep tember and possibly more if there is sufficient demand. The directors urged that all who were interested attend the meeting tonight. “We are hope ful that as manv people as possible can co. will be there,” they said, as this meeting is very important to the first year of operation of this school.” poses of the Civil Rights Act . . . As such, under the De partmental Regulation, the plan w'ould no longer provide a basis for continued participa tion in Federally assisted pro grams, unless the lack of prog ress can be remedied.” the let ter continued. The letter suggested means of making “progress” toward desegregation as follows: “. . . reopening of the free choice period (although if your community does not give the free choice plan more support in the future than it apparent ly has in the past, giving stu dents and their parents a fur ther opportunity to make a choice of schools would prob ably be a futile gesture), meet ings wdth parents and civic groups, further arrangements with State or local officials to limit oportunities for intimida- ton, and other further com munity preparation. Another method which may be utilized is the amending of the deseg regation plan p-.-esently in use to include a provision for min ority transfer.” The letter suggested that further faculty and staff de segregation beyond the mini mum required might be a most practical means of achieving additional student desegrega tion, since staffing practices identify a school as being in tended for students of a parti cular race. “Should the Com missioner conclude that a free choice plan is not operating fairly, or is not effective to meet constitutional and statu tory requirements, he will re quire substantial further qhanges in staffing patterns to eliminate such identifiability, in addition to such other steps as he may require to further de segregation,” the letter warn- j ed. j Other plans suggested by the i letter which “may” be accept- | able were closing of schools which were established for children of one race and assign ing all teachers and students to desegregated schools; reor ganization of grade structures so that schools are fully utiliz ed on a desegregated basis; es tablishment of non-racial at tendance zones. The HEW requested notifica tion within ten days of “Addi tional steps which you feel may be profitably undertaken in your school district.” With a white turkey, supplied by Gene Mathis, to remind spectators what this new industry means to the future of Newberry County, groundbreaking ceremonies for Ocoma Foods were held Saturday morning at the plant site. Lending a hand to get things underway were, from left. Dr. A. G. D. Wiles, president of Newberry College; James Richardson, president of Ocoma Foods; Mayor Ernest Layton and John F. Clarkson. (Photo by Nichols.) Turkey symbolizes future at Ocoma Plant ceremony Friends of Rev. Gilbert B. Goodman will be interested to learn he has moved to Boone, N. C. and is now pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church. His address is Route 2, Boone, N. C. Friends of Dr. R. A. Good man will be interested to learn that he celebrated his 85th birthday on Saturday, July 23. DIDN’T BELIEVE IT While I know the Anderson Independent has had no love for Bryan Dorn in the past, I Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Crum and son, Alan, and Mr. and Mrs. George Crum of Charlotte, N. C. spent Sunday with Mrs. Crum’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. George F. Scruggs on College street extension. Mr. and Mrs. Dick Duffy and children of St. Petersburg, Fla. are visiting Mrs. Duffy’s par ents, Mr. and Mrs. “Skipper” Harmon. Residents of Boys Farm, Inc. were guests of the Exchange Club for the Club’s annual “Sunshine Special” at the Lake Murray Clubhouse last Tuesday. The boys had a chance to swim and id ay games before being served supper. Shown here in the chowline being given supper by Exchangites are three of the boys who enjoyed the occasion. With them are left, Carol Hipp, president, Jim my Kyzer and Rusty Wilson. (Sunphoto). Former county senator dies in Whitmire WHITMIRE—Marvin Eugene Abrams, Sr., 82, died early on Wednesday morning following a short illness. Mr. Abrams was a native of this county, a son of the late Thomas W. and Josephine S. Abrams. He had made his home in Whitmire for the past 62 years and was a merchant, farmer and funeral director. He was a graduate of Newber ry college and had served as a member of the House of Representatives from Newber- ry County for four years, and was Senator from Newberry county for 20 years. He was a former member of the Board of Directors of the Santee- Cooper Authority. Mr. Abrams was a life mem ber of the Masonic Lodge; a member of Whitmire Methodist church, where he served as superintendent of the Sunday School for a number of years and was a former chairman of the official board. He was twice married; first to Miss Fannie Mae Hender son, who died in 1946 and sec ond to Mrs. Dewey M. Abrams, who survives. Also surviving are three daughters, Mrs. Karl D. Lorick of Whitmire, Mrs. J. Carl Gibson of Richburg, and Miss Josephine Abrams, a mis sionary to Argentina; three sons, T. W. and J. H. Abrams of Whitmire and M. E. Ab rams Jr. of Douglasville, Ga.; one step-daughter, Mrs. Paul R. Lunsford of Rome, Italy; one brother, T. J. Abrams, of Whitmire; eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be con ducted this (Thursday) after noon at 5 p.m. at the Whitmire Methodist church. Interment will follow in Whitmire ceme tery. Mr. and Mrs. Glenn A. Fite have moved to 1608 Evans street. Mr. and Mrs. F. G. Johnson are now residing at 2013 Forest Drive. The climax of two and one- half years selling effort on the part of city, county and state officials took place Saturday morning, as ground was broken for the Ocoma Foods plant in Newberry. John Holbrook, vice presi dent of Consolidated Foods, parent company of Ocoma, said that the double-bladed shovel, used to break the ground, typ ified the teamwork among all those who had worked with Ocoma in locating the plant in Newberry. “The sincerity you showed us,” Mr. Holbrook said, “made it easy for us to recommend Newberry as a location for the Ocoma plant ... I would like to name the street which runs by this plant “Sincerity Boule vard’ ”, he said. John F. Clarkson, member of the State Development board presided during the ceremonies. He told of all of those whose efforts made the occasion pos sible. Heading the large group, he said, was Newberry’s may or, Ernest Layton. Mayor Layton issued a “warm and hearty” welcome to Ocoma and Consolidated Foods officials. “We feel had you searched the state or the Southeast over, you couldn’t have found a finer city,” he said. Rep. D. P. Folk welcomed “our new corporate citizen” on behalf of the county. “I think they have found the friendliest city in the Southeast,” he said. Rep. Folk noted that South Carolina has been short in the area of food processing ■ plants. “I hope this will be the break through,” he said. “I hope there will be an Ocoma turkey on every table.” He predicted “When you find how good we are, I’m sure you’ll move your headquarters here.” Jim Richardson, president of Ocoma Foods, told the gather ing “There is more to this investment than brick and mor tar. We recognize our respon sibility to the community.” He said that only three or four persons would be transferred to manage the plant. “We are looking to the community for young executives,” he said. “We thank you for your kind hospitality, and on April 1st we’ll be down in force.” Also present and introduced by Mr. Clarkson were Harold Wendt, vice president of Oco ma; Gerald Mannamum, who will be plant manager, and Mrs. Mannemum; Joe Kelly, public relations director for Ocoma; Tony Anthony of the State Development Board;; of ficials of Lockwood Engineers and Kahn Construction Com pany; Dave Morrison of the County Development Board; Walter Hamm, vice chairman of the local Development Board; and Charlie Risher, Clemson Turkey specialist. The president of Ocoma said that the new plant will employ 400 local workers when it be- (Continued on page 4) BIRTHDAYS July: 30 Bill Hawkins, May- belle Yates, J. C. Counts, Mrs. C. S. Hr.zel, Mrs. Lillian N. Werts, Mrs Hugh Balen- tine, Lillian Vancerford, Cile Purcell, Kenneth Cook, Mrs. Joe Bedenbaugh, Beverly De Hart, J. Chesley Abrams. July 31: Mrs. Danny Pay- singer, Mrs. Robert Lee Ruff, Mrs. E. B. Carlisle, C. E. Bauknight, Roy Bedenbaugh, David Folk, Dr. Ralph Ba ker, Mrs. Walter Summer. August 1: Tommie Len Henderson, F. A. Longshore, Ann Stewart, Mary Boozer, Mrs. C. E. Long, Nathan Culclasure, Gordon Clarkson, August 2: Rev. Louis Pat rick, Debra Jane Bowers, Mildred Chapman, Ann Bow ers Neel, W. P. Lathrop, B. B. Leitzsey Jr M Willie Gra ham, Nancy Bouknigh/t, Mary Ellen Gist. Aug. 3: Mrs. W. C. Schenck, Hugh Turner, Mrs. A. D. Haltiwanger, Mrs. T. H. Neel, Furman Wright, Mrs. W. L. Hitchcock. Aug. 4: James S. Price, Susan Senn, Mrs. John F. Clarkson, Sadie Mae Graham, Gary Lee Ringer, Frances B. Boozer, Thomas Cromer, Mrs Bennie Burn, Mrs. B. G. Langford, Harry and Larry Longshore, Sandra Smith, Jimmy Koon, G. S. Parnell Jr., Elise Chaney. August 5: Mrs. C. T. Sum mer, Mrs. Pearl Smallwood, Jerry Graham, Leon Clark, Mrs. J. W. Davenport.