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J| ibe touts Bccorii J vol. :>A KINGSTREE, SOUTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1919. ."shooting affray "costs three lives DR. J. H. PRATT, JNO. BELL, AND j ROYAL COTTON PARTICIPANTS IN TRAGEDY A triple tragedy occurred at St i Stephens about 9 o'clock Sunday j night/when Dr. J. H. Pratt, n promi- ' nent physician, his brother-in-law, j John Bell and Royal Cotton, of Charleston, \yere killed in a pistol I fight. The shooting occurred at the! country home of Mrs. J. T Bell, about j ? one from St. Stephens. The facts in the case as reported here are to the effect that Dr. Pratt, upon returning home from preaching found young Royall Cotton at his house with his mother-in-law, Mrs. Bell, and her young daughter. Pratt, having warned Cotton to stay away from his house, shot at Cotton and went to his room upstairs. John Bell, i . brother of the young woman Cotton' was calling on, heard the excitement! in the parlor and came downstairs. ^ Upon opening the parlor door Cotton, j the report states, thinking it was j .Pratt, fired at Bell as soon as he open- j ed the door. The ball entering the heart and killed him in the doorway. ? Pratt then returned to the scene of the shooting and again fired at Cotton mortally wounding him, but before Cotton died he fired four shots at Pratt, who fell dead in the hall- j * way. The young Miss Bell was wounded in the arm, it is supposed by the bullet fired at Cotton through the window. Dr. Pratt was a native of this State and came to Williamsburg county soon after being graduated, ocating in the Nesmith neighborhood, where j he built up an extensive practice. About five years ago he married Miss Katherine Bell and for several years thereafter made their home at his old home comunity at Ninety Six. He then returned to St Stephens and 1 lived with his brother-in-law, John J Bell, and the tatter's mother and sister.. It'seems that there was ill feel-j TW Pratt and vnune Cot lUg WVfTVVU ?/? * *? *? - ^ o . ton, who was a son of Conductor Cot- j ton of the Atlantic Coast Line rail- j road. For some reason Pratt had warned him to stay away from the I Bell home. John Bell and Cotton,' however, are said to have been (rood friends. I All the parties concerned were, prominently connected, highly esteem-! ed, and a pall has been thrown over the entire St. Stephens community by the shocking tragedy. The body of Mr. Cotton was sent to Charleston Monday morning for ; interment, Dr. Pratt's was taken to Ninety Six Tuesday and Mr Bell was * buried at St Stephens. C> Operator and Plant Captured ga Rural Policeman W. L. Altman of j " the Suttons community arrested and brought to town this week a colored j man by name of Bradley. Along with i Bradley he brought in a lot of crude J looking distilling paraphanalia which: * the said Bradley had been using in ; such close proximity to this police-! man's own home, that he "had to | think twice to determine whether he, was a partner in Bradley's business | t or not." He decided that he was not,; % that Bradley had only .been "pulling i s ' one over him" said Mr. Altman, so he arrested Bradley and his outfit and turned them over to Sheriff Graham ' and jailor Cockfield. Bradley lives within a few hundred yards of Mr. Altman's home and operated his little beverage plant in a very quiet and >4?^nnpretentious manner, for a while being above suspicion. ., Ki& -' 0 ' Community Tree Qiristmas Night j The Shriners of Kingstree are go? ? * - ?? Clilnllfmiio fws trt t VtP E iUg W gl>c a VIUUIUUMS ?w ?v children of the community on Christmas night, December 25th. Every Q^L'ctfld in the community below the ' sfventh^school grade will be remem& "5 be red and will receive of the generos* ity of the local Shrine club. One member of the club will preside as aft Santa Claus. The tree will be erected at the monument on Main street Spe- I i cia^ music and Christmas carols by the children will be rendered. ^ - A committee of ladies, wives of . Shriaers have about completed the purchase of gifts for the children, ex- j oapt fruft, nuts and candy, these will Qfalflrtrt after l|y the ladies next. ( ? FED UP ON DRIVES Anderson Man Express Himself Freely on Campaigns. A gentleman who used to be considered a philanthropist came into the , Daily Man office recently, sat down , and "spressed hiself." He spoke flu- , ently and flippantly on the subject of giving and showed a form letter he . has for use in reply to additional re- ( quests for donations, says the Ander- : son Daily Mail. His letter reads: ( "For the following reasons I am un- ( able to send the check you asked for. "I have been held up, held down, sandbagged, walked on, sat on, flattened out, and squeezed. "First, the United States government for federal war tax, the excess profit tax, Liberty bond loans, thrift stamps, capital stock, merchants license, auto tax, and every society and organization that the inventive mind of man can construct to extract what I may or may not have in my possession "From the society of St John, the Grand Army of the Republic, the woman's relief, the navy league, the Red Cross, the Black Cross, the Purple Cross, the Double Cross, the children's home, the Dorcas society, the Young Woman's Christian association, the Young Men's Christian association, the Boy Scouts, the Jewish relief,every hospital, in town, welfare association, tag days, and all kinds of soliciting. "The government has so governed my business that I don't know who owns it I am inspected, suspected, examined and reexamined, informed, required and commanded so I don't , know who I am. where I am or why I am here. All 1 know is that I am , supposed to be an inexhaustible sup- j ply of money for every known need, desire or hope of the human race, , and because I will not sell all that I have and go out and beg, borrow or steal money to give away, I am cussed, discussed, boycotted, talked to, talked about, lied to, lied about, held up, hung up, robbed and nearly ruined, and the only reason that I am clinging to life is to see what in hades is coming next" The gentleman who left this mas-j terful missive with the Daily Mail I was in former times a man of con-! genial spirits, a man who loved hu- j inanity and who breathed joy and ra-1 diated life where'er he went He is rwlnv n rhAneed man. o i Interesting Social Event An interesting social event of the 1 season was the reception given by Mrs. Theodore Gourdin Wednesday afternoon of last week, at the historic old Boyd home in honor of Mrs. Marion McCabe, whose marriage to! Jl DeS. O'Bryan will take place on: Wednesday December 31. To most of the guests the chance to see the old mansion of the well j known Boyd family was itself a rare ti'eat. The old home-is about 10 miles from Kingstree and is one of the oldest in the county. On account of the spacious dimensions of the rooms and the height of the ceilings, present clay conditions have forced the owners of the place to seek more modem dwellings, and the old home is only opened for social gatherings. On this occasion the walls were festive with smilax and autumn leaves, while great log fires burned in the wide open fireplaces. When the guests had all assembled they were given booklets, upon which were written the two names, Marion McCabe and Des-1 sie O'Bryan, and were told to make j as many words as possible out of the letters in the two names. At the concusion of the contest it was found that Mrs. T. S. Salters had been most successful, and she was presented *ith a dainty pink crochet boudoir cap, which she in turn presented to the bride-elect. Mrs. M. F. Heller won the booby prize, a cake of soap, and to the guest of honor was given an exquisite piece of pink silk lingerie. The guests were then invited into the dining hall, which was as large as the entire floor of a modern dwell- j ing, and where antique mahogany I *- '* 1? -e - 1 .. A ! iumnure spun.e ui u uayyj F<*ov. delicious salad course with salted nuts was served. Coffee was poured by Mrs. McCabe and Mrs. Isaac Boyd. o Hodge-Ashbuni r i ^ In Charlotte, N C., Wednesday, December 10, at noon, Miss Ethel j Yola, oldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. H. Ebdge, was married to Mr. J.?, L. Ashburn. ' ^ j I OF INTEREST TO FARMERS. j Edited by T. M. Cathcart j The sweet potato can be grown M successfully in Williamsburg County, and will be one of the crops to t&ke C Lhe Dlace of cotton. It hasn't been ?ro\vn to any great extent due to the n fact that nearly every year over half h of the crop decays during the winter t< months, but with the erection of five n or six large storage houses over the d county by the Williamsburg Market- d ing Bureau, and the building of many a smaller houses by individual farm- * f?rs, we won't have to worry about s loosing our potatoes. The loss due to tl rot in Jthese storage houses is very k small, provided the potatoes are han- f< tiled corectly % and are grown from a disease free potatoes. The Williams- tl burg Marketing Bureau will have a tl bulletin on growing sweet potatoes w ready for free distribution by the p first of January. Be sure to secure a C copy of this bulletin. The following statement, showing p expenditures and receipts, on four si acres of potatoes for the past season, a has been furnished me by Mr. J. L. w rhomas, of Cades, Mr. Thomas is the C largest grower of sweet potatoes in tl the county, and has the best managed tl sweet potato storage house in South h Carolina. f< Expenditures u Rental value of land $ 80 00 ti rurning and harrowing 25 00 n Bedding and appling fertilizer 7 50 h 1500 lb C. S. M. and 1500 r lb 8-3-0 82 11 tl 300 lb Nitrate soda 12 00 d 10,000 plants 100 00 o '?Q 00 e DCbUll)^ piaiivo v v Hoeing 2 00 ti Plowing and turning vines 17 00 Harvesting and hauling n (team) 17 00 h Picking and grading 62 60 h Fuel and curing 15 00 e Rent on storage house 64 00 f 1214 hampers 242 80 b Hauling to Depot 60 70 g Freight 619 14 e v Total $1417 14 n Returns * 1158 bushels No. 1 potatoes f @ $2 25 $2 605 50 h 56 bushels culls and cuts J1 <5> .50 28 00 t) f I Total returns $2633 50 j n Less total expenditure 1417 14 n jf Net profit $1216 36 u Can you make a net profit of over v three hundred dolars per acre on cot- t ton? Not under boll weevil conditions P at any rate. Plant more potatoes and e less cotton and then you won't have s to worry next fall when the bills k come due. a O ]j Preaches Farewell Sermon e F The Rev. J. G. Hemdon, for sever-1 n al month's past the very able and' ^ popular pastor of the Presbyterian ; t church here, preached his last or fare-1 r well sermon to his congregation last j c Sunday morning. Mr. Hemdon ten-1 j, dered his resignation-as pastor of the ^ church, several weeks ago, on account e of his wife's health. During his short e stay here Mr. Hemdon has proven g himself to be a preacher of unusual a ability, and has made many warm friends in the community who regret e his departurre. ; a ?o? if p Masons Elect Officers c At the regular meeting last Thursday night, Kfngstree Lodge A. F. M. No. 46. Officers were chosen as follows for the ensuing year: 'E. L. Hirsch, Worshipfulmaster; J. )' D. Britton, Senior Warden; H. U. " Kinder, Junior Warden; H. L. Prosser, Secretary; L. H. Mcintosh, Treas- n urer; Virgil Kinder, Senior Deacon; n Zeno Vause, Junior Deacon; L. F. a Swails and T. B. Patrick, Stewarts. li o Important Notice a v All patrons of the Kingstree high and graded school and all other citi- a zens interested in the general welfare $ OX llie insUlUUOJI air ramrowij tc- j quested by the Board of Trustees to j] assemble in the courthouse at 7:30 o'clock Friday evening December ^ 19th, for a consideration of the present and future needs of the district, a and for an open discussion of any 0 means or methods w^ich might be proposed for improving the present tl conditions and providing for the/fa- ' tore. i; J - ii i hi b m m i NEAR EAST RELIEF ! (By W. Banks Dove.) j [y dear Readers: I wish you to regard this little hristmas story as a personal letter. It happened one cold, crisp Christlas Eve five years ago. I was standlg in front of a brilliantly lighted jy muh; m a tiw) nut ncwcooai y tu j ame. Within was arranged in splen-1 id masses every type of toy to glad-1 en the heart of childhood. Coming I nd going in eager, anxious haste 'ere mothers and fathers clad in i tylish, as well as comfortable clothes, leir faces smiling because they new the joy they were making ready | 3r the coming morrow. There were j lso little ones in that throng who in tieir childish cunning knew full well' lat many of tftose self same toys j ould hang on their Christmas trees, j laced there by a mysterious Santa! 'laus, and they were* glad. But all seemed to fail to see a oor, thinly clad mother, whose face bowed that she had known brighter nd better days. Clinging to her hand -as a little girl of six, whose only Christmas joy would be the view of le toys which tomorrow would be & actual possession of thousands of appy children. I watched her for a ew minutes and realized that this j -as only too true. Presently a man at- j ired in his everyday working clothes lodestly slipped into the mother's; and a crisp Five Dollar bill with the equest that ^he spend it for the lit-1 le one's happiness. 1 then ana mere iscovered that there is no eloquence | n earth to compare with a tear drop listening in a mother's eye, placed i here because of gratitude. Now, my dear friend, as this Christ-! las season approaches there are two undred and fifty thousand .hungry, omeless and helpless orphans, whose yes are filled with tears?not tears or Christmas toys, but, tears for read to satisfy the gnawings of huner and to keep their starved and maciated bodies from falling by the wayside and becoming dry bones to lingle with the thousands of others ?ho have already fallen. There is no ather to hear their cries because he' as been killed by the cruel Turk. Jeither is there any mother, nor will! here be, to wipe away their tears, or they have been scattered into the lountains and deserts, in many cases ever to see their loved ones again, 'ifty thousand of these mothers are nwilling victims in Turkisfl harems ? * ? ' ktiMWAfl i?f A u uruuu iiaa utxn uuiucu mw heir flesh and the threat of death laced over their heads should they scape. How many of these will ever ee their little ones again, God only 310WS. Now, my friend, I call upon you to ssist in bringing Christmas to these ittle ones. I call upon you in the lame of Him, Who made Christmas , wssible for us all and said, "Inas-! nuch as ye have done it unto one of; he least of these ye have done it uno me." I call upon you whether you j ecognize Him as the Christ or not I; all upon you in the name of sufferng humanity. You may not see the 1 ear drop of gratitude come into their yes as I saw it come into that moth-1 ris on that Christmas Eve, but their j latitude to you will be far greater nd you shall not lose your reward. Simply fill out your check for what-: ver amount your heart may prompt, nd forward the same to W. Banks )ove, State Chairman, 211, Liberty National Bank Buildjng, Columbia, | !. C. o With Our Regular Advertisers Several of our merchants are adertising Christmas and holiday goods i this paper today. The Hyman Supply Co., of Willington, N. C., dealers in engines, lachinery, Diamond tires etc., have 1 n advertisement in this paper. B. F. Patrick has a Christmas ad fi this paper. The King Hardware Co., advertises big line of Christmas goods this reek. The Kingstree Hardware Co., have ] nice line of Holiday goods which hey advertise in this paper. McGill Bros, have a change of ad j i this paper. Note the big "Reduction Sale" ad j y C. Tucker in this paper. Alderman's-20-stores-in-one have n attractive page ad in this number f The Record. The F. S. Royster Co., advertise heir products in this paper. Abe Goldstein, advertises Christ-' las toys half price in this paper ANARCHISTS TO BE DEPORTED Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman Await Ship for Russia New York, Dec. 5.?Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman, his companion in 30 years of anarchistic activities, were sent from the mainland of the United States last Friday, probably never to return. Ordered deported for urging overthrow of the government by violence, they were taken by ferry from the tip end of Manhattan to the immigration station at Ellis Island where they will be held until a ship is available to send them to Russia, whence they came. Their liberty on bail expired when they were surrendered by their counsel at the demand of the department of labor. Berkman's-career in America came to an end while Henry Clay Frick, whom he once attempted to assassinate, was being buried in Pittsburgh. A stones throw from the statute of Liberty the two most notorious anarchists in this country probably will spend their remaining days in the United States, of which Berkman never became a citizen. Both will make a last legal effort to avoid deportation. o SUGAR CONTROL War-Time Powers of Government Are to Be Retained Washington, Dec. 16.?By a vote of 246 to 34 the House late today passed the Senate bill continuing the sugar equalization board through 1920. * ?Mtlamino1 in TVIWP1* tVlP .niiidiiuiiciivo itwMuiug ?M war-time powers of the government for controlling prices and movement of sugar were approved, necessitating the sending of the measure to conference committees of the two houses. While the only disputes to be settled in conference are the continuance of the war-time powers permitting licensing control of the sugar business and the requisitioning of stocks of refineries, leaders in Congress were doubtful whether an agreement could be reached before the holiday recess. Ac nassM hv the Senate the bill re pealed the license control and contained no reference to the requisitioning power. Opposition of the bill's supporters to the repeal of these powers, and the unanimous critism of the sugar equalization board that the Senate bill would serve no useful purpose, were placed before the House committee before it decided earlier in the day to recommend continuance of the powers. The board declared it should be vested with these powers, as well as the power to place an embargo on exports. The House interstate commerce committee began hearing today on the proposal to place an embargo on sugar, but deferred final action until Friday. Several members of Congress I appeared before the committee to urge favorable action. In the House j debate, however, Representative Fordney, Republican, of Michigan, declared "this embargo talk is nonsense," as under an agreement of the equalization board with Great Britton. France, and Italy, to keep them out of the Cuban market, the United States was compelled to export some sugar to these countries. House action on the bill resulted from a "speed-up" program adopted by leaders late in the day. Earlier the agriculture committee unanimously had recommended passage of the bill, and as soon as its report was completed the bill was called up under a suspension of rules. A two-third vote of the members present thus was required to pass the measure. Debate on the measure was largely an attack by Republicans on President Wilson because he had not ordered the purchase of the Cuban crop last fall by the government. ?~ Not A Candidate Declares Gerard > New York, Dec. 16.?James W. Gerard, formerly ambassador to Germany, announced today that he would not be a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President, if President Wilson should seek a third term he has so telegraphed to friends in South Dakota, where a minority Democratic nominating petition has been filed in his behalf. o Carranza Will Be Candidate , Mexico City, Dec. 16.?President] Carranza probably will be a candidate' for Governor of his native fistate of j LANES TAKES ONSl FORWARD MOiIi ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW TERPRISES NECESSAR* TO? KEEP PACfc Lanes, situated about 53 miles n<y*ur of Charleston, on the main line of ti* Atlantic Coast Line and at the innfak V3 tion of the Coast Line's branch fr&nt Lanes to Columbia and also Of the; Seaboard Air Line's road from Lanej| to Georgetown, thereby being one or 1 the best located towns for rariroad facilities in lower South Carolina; is *,< the center of a rich and prosperous v&k' community. Growth and development is being^^S evidenced in many ways. New homes are being erected and several places ^ I of business of the most modern style of building have just been completed. ? ; A long felt want has recently been * ? supplied by the establishment of the j* Bank of Lanes. The success already . achieved and the growth of the busi- ^ ness of this institution so far obtain* \ ed bids fair for bigger and better ' # things. |. The new building of the mercantile . firm of J. A. McCullough and Company is one of the most modern and complete in the lower .part of the-. State. Their business has steadily, grown and has now reached enormous' proportions. The hotel facilities at Lanes, are adequate to provide for a large transient population. , V The farm lands of the section arnnnrl Tjtnpa nrp (TP n pro LI 8 in their yield. Crops of great diversity are *! raised in super-abundance Tobacco culture has become one of the most, successful of the money crops, and while cotton to a great extent has been the chief dependence of the "farmers in the past they are in a position to meet the oncoming aovance of the boll weevil with a courage undaunted! Lanes has schools and churches sufficient to meet the educational and. religious requirements of the community. Their teachers and ministers*.- 1 are doing a work of undoubted merit. With the foreign foresight and leadership of the men who are at the head of affairs in this progressive community nothing should impede the progress of a people who are industrious, thrifty and progressive. ' fl The people of Lanes welcome to their community anyone that is will-, ing to work, God-fearing and willing to take an active hand in the development of the resources of this section. Anyone wishing to make a home and win success would do well to investigate the advantages in and around Lanes. V MAY DISPOSE OF STOCKS Can I "so Steamship Lines From Southern Ports Louiseville, Dec. 16.?A way out apparently has been found for distillers caught With large stocks of liquor on hand by the Supreme Court's decision holding war-time prohibition constitutional. A plan was presented to distillers here today by representatives of steamship lines operating service out of Charleston, Brunswick, Jacksonville,Savannah and Washington to Cuba, South America and Europe. It contemplates immediate shipment of liquor stocks in Kentucky estimated at 39,000,000 gallons in bonded warehouses, largely to Cuban ports for storage and subsequent resale in cuba, or shipment to other foreign countries. The freedom of southern ports from ice, their adequate storage facilitiespending loading en board ship, their* nearness to Cuba and the large num ber or steamsmp lines operating wthe island were pointed to as evidencethat with railroads and the United" States shipping board cooperating, the whiskey stocks could be moved before January 16, the time the internal revenue department has placed on export shipments. Southern ports, it was declared, are , from 600 to 800 miles nearer Cuba than any North Atlantic port, thus effecting a considerable saving in time which is regarded as, ^,?tal } ? element fln o?' Reports, which were*given little y credence