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V
We wish to
and Walking H
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f SF YouC
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tree, and our pr
,? OUR GOODS A
INTERESTING LETTER"
FROM "POOR CONRAD."
ANNIVERSARY OF THE "CRATER"
EXPLOSION AT PETERSBURGVIVID
DESCRIPTION OF EVENT.
Editor County Record:?
I am going to mention a few more
of the old men of Williamsburg, but
while I was about to date this letter
I called to mind (although it is Sunday)
it is the anniversary of the
mine explosion at Petersburg, Va, in
1864. I was present and saw the
' -n 1 ~ O lorrro mnrtflr nvpr
sneu urtru Hum ? mi6v ?
>
in the Yankee lines that was the
signal for the blow-up of the mine
and the great charge of the Yankee
soldiers at that place. It was not
t v.- ?
quite daylight and I watched the
fuse burning in its shell as it passed
high over our lines and burst somewhere
in the city. The words I used
at that moment as I saw the shell on
its mission of death were these:
"Boys.the devil'sto pay." Presently,
before the words had scarcely left
my mouth,a sheet of flame and white
smoke belched from every cannon,
mortar, battery and small arm along
'y
the whole Yankee line that surrounded!
Petersburg, Richmond and the
handful of ragged, war-worn veterans;
but those were men, readers,
those- were men. The roar of three
hundred cannons that hurled solid
shot and shell was terrific, but they
stood their ground. That was an awful
day; the ground was open and
the sun was hot, very hot; the roar
of the battle shook the ground like
an earthquake and South Carolina
can ever boast that two of her regiments
held that part of the line. Mr
Robert Wheeler, uncle of Mr Press
Wheeler of Kingstree,was killed that
day. In the fight our battery was
masked about 300 yards on the rear
line,about 400 yards to the right; we
r>no ohot I saw the whole
Ill CU 1/UV VA?V k/tkv ?.
affair as well as the- charge of
Wright's brigade which recaptured
the line that was broken at the mine.
A brigade of negro soldiers led the
charge and white soldiers behind
them, one line after another, rushed
for the crater that was made in the
* , earth by the explosion. They crowded
in until the hole was full of completely
demoralized men, and their
officers could not make them fight.
There they were in that hole like
cattle. Small mortar batteries that
had been placed about one hundred
yards in rear of where the Confederates
expected the explosion would
occur managed to drop their shells
among the seething mass of human
beings in that hole.
Havoc was played with them, the
breastwork was blown up and by
some means the dirt was thrown
back and made a high wall, behind
which the Confederates fired. Bayonets
were fixed on the guns and
pitched over on the men in the hole,
killing and wounding many. Hand
grenades?very deadly weapons?
were also tossed over upon them.
The hole was packed full of dead and
wounded. Readers, imagine! The
30th day of July,the hot sun steaming
down on the poor wretches on both
sides,famishing with thirst; but there
was no let-up. It was strike, strike,
strike, strike. The next day a flag of
?v
t,
k
Special
call the attention o
ats for Fall and Wii
hats, medium=sized
annul Afford to Bn
j us; you will be pies
ices are as low as tl
lND PRICES WILL
i
truce was hoisted up by the Yankees c
asking leave to take up the wound- b
ed. I went down there and stood on f
the breastwork while the dead were o
being buried and the wounded re- p
moved. It was a sad and sickening C
sight; men piled on one another v
dead; some crosswise of each other; fc
some with faces turned down,others h
with faces turned up to the blazing
sun. I saw one poor fellow that lay \
' helpless on his back trying, with a f
small piece of tent cloth on the ram- a
rod of his gun, to shade his face a
from the hot sun until relief would t
come, or death. s
Some of those dead and wounded t
were Confederates, as a few were r
taken prisoners,and while they were t
being rushed across the ground be- 1
tween the two lines, were killed by Y
our own guns. Behind and in the t
wall of dirt made by the explosion r
many of the Confederates were bur- t
ied. I saw some who were complete-, v
ly covered, except the hands sticking v
out; some, you could just see the p
tops of their heads. I saw one with I
only the back exposed, head, feet t
and hands buried too deep to get
out, and many others smothered in Y
different positions. The line was re- 1
taken by the Confederates about 2 i
o'clock after the explosion. The t
Yankees lost about 5,000 men, the Y
Confederates 700?a most uncivilized 5
kind of warfare and should be a
shame and disgrace to the Union
forces and to General Burnside and
also General Grant, who gave Burn- *
side his consent to undermine and
blow up a single line of almost worn
out, half-fed, ragged soldieps. Rut s
these were Southern men who went 5
there to stay, come what might: |
Ragged, few, but undismayed.
Marched into battle as blithely as on a
holiday parade. I
Some would ask why the Confed- j|
erates did not countermine. Wells ^
had been made in front of our lines, t
but were said to be not over fifteen fi
feet deep, two men in each, a stake
placed upright with a candle burn- ^
ing on the top to detect any jarring ^
of the earth, but the Yankees tun- neled
30 feet from the top of the
ground and the continued booming
of cannon and rattle of musketry
day and night made it impossible for
the sentinels to hear the work going
on below them. The firing of small
arms was day and night at our front, j
from the time the positions were I
taken by the two armies, which was I
from June till the following April, an |
incessant pop, pop, pop, and more J
and more as it became dark. To |
give an idea how much shooting
went on during those weary days
and nights, during the hoisting of a
flag of truce one day James Murray
and myself went out in the rear of 1
the mine to pick up the rifle bullets i
that lay about over the ground, as |
i lead and powder found ready sale in I
Petersburg, and during the two '
hours of the truce I picked up 200
; pounds of rifle bullets and Murray
| got 225 pounds. That will show what
! amount ??f shooting was done at that j
j place. It was like picking blackber- j
i ries, but not so pleasant; you could ;
; " '
not pick up the smallest stick or!
! anything on the ground that did not |
have the mark of a bullet. Our bat- j
tery was posted in an apple orchard,!
the trees about as large as a good- j
sized walking stick, and every one j j
had small bullet marks,some cut off]
to the ground.
One thing more I want to relate is !
I Ani
f the trade to our ;
nter. A veritable
I hats and turbans
ly Your Dress or
ased because we h
ie manufacturer's
, SAVE YOU MOP
J. s. :
W I M W" VU
oncerning a small chicken that had
? ? ? 1- ?L- 1?J
een leit ny me peopie wnu uau ncu
rom the house near which we had
ur guns. One of our men took and
etted it until it was quite tame.
)ne hot day the little chicken'was
sallowing near in the dust when a
>ullet fired by the Yankees cut its
lead off.
It was close work in that place.
Ve had made strong "bomb proofs"
rom 10 to 12 feet deep with oak logs
ibout 12 inches in diameter laid
.cross and 10 or 12 feet of dirt on
op. We remained in these pits for
afety until we would be needed in
ime of attack. I had charge of one
ifle cannon we captured at Gettyslurg
and sometimes I would slip a
0-pound shell in and fire at some
lorseman galloping across over in
he Yankee lines, then I would get a
eturn salute from all the Yankee
latteries on our immediate front
without doing us any harm, as we
rould all go down into the bombiroof
pit and laugh and talk until
Jncle Sam's bullies got what they
hought was satisfaction.
No more at present, Mr Editor;
lope to give you and the readers of
Phe Record something on the old
nen next time. I wish to say also
hat no one has had the courage to
land me a dollar for you to send
'our paper.
Yours truly,
Poor Conrad.
P S~Not so brave as some old
rets."
No Need To Stop Work.
When your doctor orders you to
top work.it staggers you. "I can't,"
rou say. You know you are weak,
un-down and failing in health, day
>y day, but you must work as long
s you can stand. What you need is
Electric Bitters to give tone.strength
,nd vigor to your system, to prevent
ireakdown and build you up. Don't
? weak, sickly or ailing when Elecric
Bitters will benefit you from the
irst dose. Thousands bless them for
heir glorious health and strength.
Yy them. Every bottle is guaraneed
to satisfy. Only 50c at M L
illen's.
^malariaY
I headache, biliousness, in- ?
I digestion, rheumatism, I
pimples, blotches, yellow
complexion, eta, are all m
1 signs of poisons in your E
B blood. These poisons M
should be driven out, or I
I serious illness may result m
8 To get rid of them, use 1
I Thedford'f I
[Black-Draughtli
B the old, reliable, purely fi
I vegetable, liver medicine. B
i Mrs. J. H. Easier, of 1|
3 Spartanburg, S. C., says: fl
fl " 1 had siclc headache, for fl i
S years. I felt bad most of M
the time, I tried Thed- ?|
n ford c Black-Draught, and H
| now I feel better than Kg
B when I was 16 years old." I!,
[a. Your druggist sells it, in V; t
25 cent packages. M
k Insist oil Thedford's S '
t
r\ounc
superb line of Ladies
wonderland of beaut
i, which are popular
Walking Hat Until 1
ave the biggest line
. You will become <
<JEY.
ERON.
S. THOMA<
257 KINO !
CHARLESTON, S(
Mail orders receive prompt attei
gravers Stephen Thomas ? Broth
v
t . I
? *
hildren's Dress ?
i great variety I
ror this season.*:?
ed Our Stock.,.
1 H A
own in Kings- ,,
convinced that , ;
t |
>V'.' ?^l ' H VU' M Vb?-H ^
ji=<? wiy > .T->mf store n
nf hiTrc
j tTtT'rf you wh
F ^ " T\ to servi
H . 1 . will be
szzz^^y^?k:.zz^r. us of tY
beHnefi1
:--Ji%{ZX Talk ov
fc:==cci.^ - ??*;-?.: 1- rt?uvre:
^ ,........ able to
'"-'^i-j<?'vrV--'^-*? ?' ' call tod
BANK OF WIL
Kingstrc
C W StoLL, President.
F Rhem, Vice-President.
MIST/
ARE EASY
You will not make one if 3
vou want in the line of
JEWELRY, WATC
Silver and Silver Plated Wan
Glass and Cutlery, Spectacles a
WATCHES AND JEWELRY R
Wntrh Incnertor for Southern 1<
THE THHICE-A-WEEK EUIIIUH
OF THE
New York World.
Practically a Daily at the Price of a Weekly.
*o othe- Newspaper In the world gives so
macb at so low a price.
The great political campaigns are now
at hana, and you want the news accu- n
rately and promptly. The World long
since established a record for impartiality,
and anybody can afford its Tnricea-weelt
edition, which comes every other
day in the week, except Sunday. It
will be of particular value to you now.
The Thrice-a-Week World also abounds
in other strong features, serial stories,
humor, markets.cartoons; in fact,every- '
thing that is to be found in a first-class
daily.
THE THRICE-A-WEEK WORLD'S
regular subscription price is only $1.00
per year, and this pays for 156 pajiers.
We offjr this uneaualed newspaper and
The Co inty Record together for one year
for $1."5.
The regular subscription price of the
tron nn ipra io JK? 00.
. ::: ^
yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ?
\ Paini Your Buggy! \ r
4
I We can make it look like J
new. Any Buggy, Car- J
riage, Wagon orother Vehicle J
I can be improved One Hun- J
I dred per cent in appear- J 1
t ance by painting. j
I J ] j
j
Also Wheelwright, Horse^ j *
shoeing and General Repair 5 |
Work on short notice- 4
Bring Ut Your Work <
I W. M. VAUSE & SON. 1
>liaAAAillAiHAUiAiiAiA?
O
FOE SALE. ?
Brick In any quantity to suit piirchaN ?
er. The Best Dry Press Machlne-toade ?
emeni
>\ Misses' and CI
:y and styles. A
and in good fa\
(ob Have Inspect
of hats ever sh
)ur friend and be
EDITOR COUNTY REC
Too much praise ca
Continental Fire Insure
represented by the K
Real Estate Co., for the
of the claims I had agai
struction of my dental
brary by fire, on June \t
had expired when the>
check for full amount
slightest demurrage.
Hurrah for the <
Kingstree Insurance &
Respectfi
Kingstree, S. C., 7-4-U1
r?ioe=
WHAT n
A Bank's
Is the fund along with the G
Profits that protects the de]
fore the larger it is, the g
positor has. This Bank
Capital Stock of.
Surplus Fund of
Undivided Profits of
Additional Stockholders
i
Total
This means that this Bank mu
of its depositors could lose a
for you. Do business wii
never lost a Dollar.
The Bank o
D. C. Scott, President.
F W. FaTRey, Cashier.
Wm. W. Barr,
yfVfVTfVVVfffVfVVVTTVffV^
Protection c
Xv |?
Special shapes made to order. Corre- ?
pondence solicited beiore placing you; ?
orders. W. R FUXK
***^r?rr?
irmteirmm. \
sfSB&s. Kinjstrer [
CAMP NO- 27. r
WAMr ?.vdu IMriiH MEBTlNSa P
l*t and 3rd Monrla
BBSflreZj/' Vlftiting chopper* cor .
\^\^K9^X^w// diall? invited to c-ora> #AJ
^J^ctti>q^y up and sit on a stum; ?
or hang about on th>
ilm??.
Philip H. Stoll, *
M 12m. Con. Com
%z. of :e=
Kingstree Lodge f
No. 91 |
Knights of Pythias t
Regular coiivent'otis r.very x
2nd and 4th Wednesday night* ^
Visiting bretliren always welcome, ^
-aatle Hall 3rd story Gourdin Building.
J Wesley Cook, C C. C
W Boswell. K of R & S.
0
" "
Receipt Books, Blank Notes, Mortgages and ;
ill Legal Blanks in demand, for sale at
The Record office. If we have not tha T
form you wish we can print it on short T
notice. +?4
:ORD:- If
rinot be accorded the j
ince Co., of New York, J
ingstree Insurance dr"* Ifl
ir prompt adjustment I
inst them for the^le- || I
office fixtures and U* 1
>. Just fourteen days I
' turned over to me a fl
of loss without the
Continental and the
Real Estate Co!
ully yours, ^
A. M. SNIDER. IM
MB 1
'MEANS?1J
Surplus I -jj
ipital Stock and Undivided I
positors from loss; there1 J m
reater protection the de- II
; has a 11
m 000.00 11 a
20,000.00 JI ]
^ 8,279.77 &II M
' Liability . .. 30)000.00^
279.76 |a
ist lose $88,279.76 before one I
i cent This protection is H
th The Bank that has O I
f Kingstree I
J. A. ItfcLLflY.Vice Pres. 1 \
N. D. Leses^S, ApsI.; Cashier.
, Jr., Teller.
>Ty??Tyyy?yTTm?y^^^B
>f Our Safe
u have money about your home
you the protectiou of our safe
places of security that are buil^^^^^H
loney where it will be out of
lars and fire, and always read^^HHHH
en wanted. We want you
is bank is for your use and
are for your u4e>j^9
te your account. It i9 OkV
sthe people. The servi|%^
of advantage to you.
leir satisfaction. Thism3Q H
at vou also will receive sS
ts from a bank connecwt
er the.situation with us,i?/
rnents you may have wegf
supply your demands. *5 |fl I
LIAMSBURCS H
>e, S. C. q
ft u ftpps, Lasnierj
C YV Boswell, Asst. Ca?
A1 B
VRES u
TO MAKE JmH
ou to
Clocks and I
nd Eyeglasses,
5 & bf
)UTM CAR'
er