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?ljc fomrtfi ilefttfi). VOLUME 36?NO. 25 THE COUNTY RECORD, KINGSTREE S. C., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1921. PRICE $1.50 A YEAR IN ADVANCE ????????m STRAWBERRIES IN WILLIAMSBURG SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON THE CULTURE AND THE BEST VARIETIES The strawberry' is probably the ^ most certain small fruit that can be grown in this state; it is rarely injured by frost, and if properly fertilized and cultivated, a good crop may be secured annually. While the straw-, berry grows well on almost any type of well drained soil, a sandy loam is the best. Fall planting is better than spring . planting, as there is less danger of the plants dying when transplanting in October and November than in March or April according to the Clemson horticulturists. When planted in early fall strawberries will produce a few berries the following spring, but not enough for marketing to any extent; when planted in the early spring they will produce very few berries that spring, but the following spring a maximum crop will be produced. It is customary to allow the strawberry field to stand from three to four years, three or four crops being harvested. If the plants are properly cultivated and kept in single crowns, the field will remain in profitable condition longer than it will if the plants are aii/vuro/4 frirm in masses along the row. Select land that is well adapted to strawberries, plow to a depth of 8 to 10 inches, and harrow repeatedly until absolutely free from clods. Lay off rows 3 feet wide. Apply fertilizer in the drill, 600 to 800 pounds per acre, and mix with the soil. Then set the plants eighteen inches apart in this farrow, taking the greatest care to see that the buds are not placed below the general surface of ^ the soil. But in order that the plants be placed deep enough in the ground | to prevent the roots irom arvmg- out, they should be placed one-half to one inch deeper thah they stood in the nursery row, and the soil should be firmly packed about the roots. If the soil is moist when the plants are set out, there is no necessity of watering; in case water is applied, about one pint to each plant will be suf-j ficient, the wet soil being immediately covered with dry soil in order to prevent baking. A good fertilizer for strawberries on sandy loam soil is one that will analyze 8 per cent, phosphoric acid, 4 percent nitrogen, and 4 percent pot. ash. Cultivation should begin about two weeks after the plants are set in order i to destroy any fall weeds that may appear. The strawberry grows well during the fall months and for that ' A reason it is very necessary iw during October and November. It is at this season that the strawberry produces embryo fruit buds, which appear in the early spring and produce terries. In March or early April a side application of an 8-4-4 fertilizer should be made, the amount depending upon the growth the plants are making?the usual amount being 400 to 600 pounds per acre. Cultivate absolutely clean through-out the spring, summer, and fall. For local market the Excelsior is probably the best extra early berry, A. and the Lady Thompson the best general purpose berry where a heavy yield is desired. The Excelsior ripens about ten days before the Lady Thompson, but the berries are smaller and the yield is not so large. For commercial purposes, where the berries are to be shipped to disant markets, the Lady Thompson is probably the best variety to plant, on account of the fact that it stands shipment better than other varieties. There are a great many other good varieties, but the ones mentioned above will! meet all requirements for home use, local market, and shipping purposes, i TWrt fliah'nrt methods are Dracticcd | in growing berries. One is to remove the runners as fast as they appear, leaving only the original plants; the other is to allow the runneis to form new plants along the row, gradually forming a narrow matted bed. If berries of the highest type are desired, the former method is best; if quantity rather than quality is desired, then the narrow matted row should be employed. Most growers make the mistake of allowing their beds to grow up in weeds after harvest, greatly re\ duces the quality of the next s?ason's crop. k When strawberries arc grown on a comparatively small scale, it will pay to mulch the plants heavily with pine t FARMERS START NEW PROJECT Organize Trucking and Co-Operative Marketing Association at Salters Salters, Aug. 30.?Quite a number of the most progressive farmers, representing all sections of the county, met at the town hall here Friday afternoon to discuss the planting of truck as a means of fighting the boll weevil and of forming a farmer's cooperative marketing association. County Demonstration Agent Madison called the meeting to order and after a short talk advised the forming of an association at once, with officers to press forward in the work. The loiiowing omcero were men elected: H. N. Shepard, president; T. E. Salters, vice president; J. D. McCullough, secretary-treasurer. William Stafford, W. S. McCullough and C. W. Boswell were elected as a board of directors. The officers were instructed to draw up by-laws, rules and regulations governing the association and take care of any other matters that should come before it for the advancement of the farming interests. Mr. Hoffman, of Clemson College, was called upon and made a fine talk on the planting of truck, the most suitable kind to plant and when to plant. Much interest was shown in his talk by the number of questions! asked along this line from all parts of the audience. He was followed by Dr. W. W. Long, of Clemson College, who addressed the audience along the line of co-operative marketing, showing the advantages to be derived from such an organization. Excellent talks along similar lines were made by Messrs. E. C. Epps and F. W. Fairey of Kingstree. It is the intent of this movement to organize other associations in various parts of the county and later to form a county association. This is a step in the right direction and will doubtless be of much benefit to the farmers in helping them to market their crops more inteligently. o NEGRO WOMEN BEATEN Returned to Jail After Severe Chastisement by Mob. Two negro women charged with making a vicious assault on two white women and a white man who came to their rescue, were taken from the city jail at Greenwood Monday night and severely beaten by a mob who overpowered The police. After whipping the negroes the mob brought them back to the jail and placed them in tfte cells from which they had been taken, all being done in less than an hour. The negroes are Jessie and Julia Valentine, formerly Greenwood residents, but late of Reading, Pa. They are said to have returned to Greenwood on a visit The assault with which they are charged took place on the streets, 3 short distance from the business section Monday afternoon. It is alleged that the two white women attacked were pushed from the streets, and one of them was slapped in the face by the negroes, and beaten over the head with her own umbrella. A white man, a grocer from a nearby store, who attempted to rescue them, was also beaten. Approximately 160 men composed the mob which took the negroes from the jail. They placed the prisoners in an automobile and took them to a vacant farm house about two miles from the city. When they had whipped them, they brought the women back and after placing them in jail, quickly dispersed without further disorder. straw, or partially decomposed leaves oat or wheat straw. This material should be scattered about three to four inches between the rows, leaving only the tops of the plant3 exposed. " * * -*- * - 1? XV.*_ .1 -V. J? ine oest time to appiy uua iuuiui is in the fall immediately after cultivation. The mulch will conserve the moisture and prevent the berries from becoming gritty after rains. The yield of first class berries from an acre of mulched berries will be approximately one-third more than from an unmulched area. An acre of strawberries properly cared for, will produce on-an average 3,000 to 4,000 quarts twelve months after planting. Williamsburg farmers are going to put out this fall thousands of strawberry plants, among other things, as a means of coping with the boll weevil. The following valuable informa tion is given for their benefit: Misses Bessie and Jennie McCutchen of Indiantown were the guests of Miss Ellen Hemingway last week at Hemingway. THE HORN SNAKE | IN SOUTH CAROLINA THE QUESTION IS, DOES THIS REPTILE EXIST HERE?EDITOR HOITT SAYS IT DOES There seems to be a season of snake ; stories. Editor Hoitt of the Pickens Sentinel published one recently about the horn snake that was killed in Pickens county and among the other State papers that either copied or commented on the Sentinel's story, was the Columbia State, which ridiculed the idea of a horn or hoop snake having been seen in South Carolina. ] Rather than be made a "goat" of the I Sentinel editor produces some interesting data on the subject from the J early history of upper South Carolina, which clearly indicates that there was such a snake in the State then and says further that "Most everybody has heard of the horn (or hoop) snake, but few have actually seen them. The ; belief that there is such a snake is so 'general and tales of it so numerous that there is bound to be some foun dation for it. However, in this attempt to prove that there is a horn 'snake, The Sentinel is using no hear! say evidence at all, but all statements made can be proven by some of our most reputable and hojorable citizens. "The snake referred to in the recent news item was killed in Rocky Bottom by Messrs. Frank Stewart, Charlie and Homer Gravley. We jhave seen one of the Messrs. Gravley and he tells us the snake was nearly nine feet long and as large as a man's thigh. The snake's head was in the j wagon track of the road when first i seen and was shot. When shot it ?? * *- i 1-* :* - K.?l, violently urougm its tan u?? iw ?<?.& and struck it into the ground. An j examination of the snake proved that jtwo or three inches of its tail was a hard, horny substance which tapered to a sharp point and in the end of this point was a pin-like "stager." ! It is supposed that the snake puts out its poison with this stinger. "For the past several years many Seattle in the Rocky Bottom station have been found dead and no ?use for death could be found. It is now thought by the people up there that the large horn snake recently SriTed 'in that section was the cause of the I death of the cattle. There is no proof ; of this, but it is a likely supposition." Logan's History of Upper South Carolina, in speaking of the snakes of {this section, says: I "Betram met with a reptile which :he calls the horn snake in his travels ! in Carolina, and sperks of it as follows: " 'The pine or bull-snake is very large and inoffensive, witn respect to j mankind, but devours squirrels, birds, ! rabbits and every other creature it can take as food. They are the largest | snake yet known in North America, ! except the rattle snake, and perhaps exceeds him in length; they are pied [black and white. They utter a terrible loud, hissing noise, sounding very ! hollow, and like distant thunder, when j irritated, or at the time of incubatio n, i when the males contend with one j another for the desired female. | These serpents are also called hornsnakes, from their tail terminating with a hard, horny spur, which they . .. . ?ij-i_ ?i J VIDrate very quicuy wiicu uiobuikrcu, but they never attempt to strike with it. Ihey have dens in the earth, whither they retreat precipitately, when apprehensive of danger.' "Lawson, who traversed the same region about seventy jiears earlier than the botanist (Bertram), describes another under the name of the hornsnake serpent, of a totally different character. 'Of the horn-snake,' he says, 'I never saw but two that I remember. They are like the rattleI snake in collor, but rather lighter. They hiss exactly like a goose when | anything approaihes them. They ! strike at their enemy with their tail, | and kill whatsoever they wound with it, which is armed at the end with a [horny substance like a cock's spur. 1 This is their weapon. I have heard it creditably reported, by those who said they were eye witnesses, that a small locust tree, about the thickness of a man's arm, being struck by one of these snakes at ten o'clock in the morning, then verdant and flourishing, at four in the afternoon was dead, and the leaves red and withering. J Doubtless, be it how it will, they are very venomous. I think the Indians do not pretend to cure their wound.' "This singular statement of the old ! surveyor, in relation to the locust tree, could scarcely have ever come to the knowledge of the good, but plain peo TOWN OFFICERS ELECTED TUESDAY I MAYOR, COMMISSIONER OF WATERWORKS AND ALDERMEN ? CHOSEN TUESDAY ] The municipal primary election held . ! Tuesday was a very quiet affair. Only , about one-half of the qualified voters j had signed the club roll and conse- ' quently only 124 votes were cast. 1 j W. R. Scott, candidate for Mayor, , without opposition, received 120 votes. ] W. H. Carr, candidate for reelec- ( tion as Commissioner of Waterworks, , had no opposition and received 124 , votes. ( The following is the vote cast for j ail i _ iVA AJaermamc canuiua^ea, uic ouw icceiving the largest number of votes are declared the nominees, which is equivalent to election: L. D. Rodgers 106 H. A. Miller 100 F. W. Fairey 100 W. E. Jenkinson 92 T. E. Arrowsmith 86 E. F. Martin 83 T. E. Baggett 67 1 E. H. Harrington 55 ? C. H. Singleton 55 1 The new members elected are W. E. Jenkinson and T. E. Arrowsmith. They 1 will succeed W. K. Mcintosh and Thos. 1 McCutchen, who declined to offer for t reelection. It will be noted that L. D. Rodgers lead the ticket for alder- < man. 1 The newly elected officers will assume their respective duties October 1. i < pie living on Coronaka and Wilson's } creeks; yet there is still extant in that ? region a tradition in which it is relat-1 ed that many years ago a man in the; ] lr.wpr nart nf the district or in Edflre- i field, being closely pursued by a horn ( snake, took refuge behind a tree, when j the enraged serpent, rolling swiftly ( after him like a trundled hoop, plung- j ed its horny sting deep into its trunk, j where it was made fast, and so dif- j fused its venom into the circulating j sap as to destrop in a few hours the ( vitality of the tree. "Bertram, with all his acuteness and ] enthusiasm as a naturalist, has cer- ( tainly confounded the names of two i distinct native serpents of Carolina.) The bull snake, as he describes it, was \ well known in the upper country at the period of his visit and long after; j but the old people had seen and talked 11 much of the horn snake as well, whose: sting they dreaded as the visitation of ? death. Hewit informs us that the, 1 horn snake was found in Carolina and owea lis name nuu to a uum; , cresence growing upon its head, as 1 some have supposed, but to the horn-1 like sting at the extremity of its tail, with which it defended itself, striking 1 it with great force into every aggress- i or. It was also deemed exceedingly i venomous; and the Indians when stung by it did not resort to their us- t usi antidotes, but instantly cut out the j 1 wounded part as the only safe pre- 1 ventative of the deadly poison being 1 infused through the system. Mills, in 1 his Statistics, enumerates, among the indigenous reptiles of Carolina, both t the horn and bull make. The former, 1 however, must have been exceedingly1 rare; for at a ccmportively early 1 period it had already become a crea- i ture of curious tradition. Lawson, it 1 ? t- -i. a -4 has been observed, saw out iwu them as early as 1718, not withstand- i ing no white man of his day enjoyed i better oppotunities for making such!* discoveries in Carolina. Among the 1 innumberable facts that may be gath- j 1 ered from natural history illustrative < of God's goodness, there are few more i deserving of notice than this rareness [ of a reptile so fierce and deadly as the js horn snake must unquestionably have!; been. Had it been as abundant as the t other venemous species the I.idians z even, though furnished with their ,c potent antidotes, could hardly have t inhabited the country. The imagina- t tion is taxed to conceive of an object j more repulsive or truly terrible. It 1 a possessed scarcely a single redeeming 1 feature; there was nothing of the ad- t mirable craft of the eye?nothing of c tne Deauuxui ciuuigmg ui v> ? charteristic magnaimity of the rattle- j 1 snake?but with dull eye, insensate t skin and vengeful spite, ready to dart \ its dreadful sting into every approach-' c ing intruder, it lay a horrible com- s pound of all the hated qualities of its a race?the incarnation of death. I \ "On an afternoon, nearly forty t years ago, a party of gentlemen were t riding from Abbeville village towards r the Calhoun settlement, and when ap- j j proaching the place now known as the . a Cabins they passed a dwelling near v COTTON OUTLOOK BAD AT LEO Farmers Expect Small Yield?Corn Crop Appears Good. Leo, Aug. 27.?The tobacco season seems to be rapidly drawing to a close, about all the weed held by the farmers having been sold. Prices have been nothing like satisfactory and complaint has been heard on all sides, yet the quality of tobacco offered this year has been very low. rhe number of pounds per acre is far aelow former crops. Here and there and they are far between, you may aear of a farmer who has sold some good tobacco with about the usual veight. The cotton crop is showing in miaaI ir on for oo +VlA 1* Q /wn? JLy UiVtljr OV a ?o ?uv nvvu 10 vvm :eraed, but when it comes to fruit it .? only twenty-five to fifty per cent of the usual crop made. A great nany farmers will not be able to realze enough from their cotton to pay :or the fertilizer used under it. We ire thankful for a fairly good corn :rop and the forage yield will be good. Personal Mention From Hemingway Hemingway, Aug. 30.?Mr. and Mrs. tf. M. Venters left last week for rohn's Island to visit their daughter, Urs. Jim Grimble. Mr. Winston Eaddy, after spending lis vacation here with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. G. B. Eaddy, has reurned to West Point. Mrs. A. B. Hemingway of Rome and laughter, Mrs. J. M. Clyde, spent Friday with Mrs. W. C. Hemingway. Miss Edna Davis of Georgetown spent Friday with her sister Mrs. jJeorge Chandler. Mr. Lincoln Haselden and family eturned to unariesxon rriaay aiier i visit to relatives here. On Thursday evening Mr. Bertie iuggins donated the door receipts of lis movie show to the Methodist diurch. Before the opening of the jicture show the audience was enterained by the "Dixie Quartette" and dr. Gordon Hall. After the show a >ox and barbecue supper was served 'rom which about $200.00 was realzed for the benefit of the Methodist ihurch. Mr. C. C. Campbell spent Sunday in Florence with his brother, Mr. Alex Campbell, who is undergoing treatnent at a Florence infirmary. Mr. and Mrs. John Giles spent the veek-end in Charleston with friends. Mr. Jack Griswell of Little Rock, \.rk., is the guest of friends and relates here. Dr. and Mrs. W. C. Hemingway spent Sunday with relati\ es at Cenenary. Miss Bettie Rivers of Mt Croghan a spending some time with Miss Elcn Hemingway. Messrs. A. E. Hill, D. G. Huggms, T. B. Bushardt, E. L. Rogers and Dr. IV. C. Hemingway attended the meetng of the truck growers association it Salters Friday. Dr. H. L. Baker gave a fishing par;y for the tobacco buyers of our maicet and a few of the men of the town Saturday. They made the trip in Dr. Baker's launch, caught quar.t;t."es of ish and everyone enjoyed the day. Mr. Charlie Huggins of Spartan>urg spent Sunday with relatives lere. Miss Louise McCutchen and Master /ictor Stoll of Kingstrce are spendng some time here with their aunt, drs. Geo. S. Hemingway. Miss Ellen Hemingway gave a pea mt boiling at her heme rnaay nigni n honor of her guests, Misses Bessie uid Jennie McCutchen and Bertie itivers. Quite a number of the young ,'olk were present and enjoyed the svening, which was spent in games, rtiisic and dancing. Miss Victoria and Mary Thames ipent last week in Columbia. he wayside, just at the moment when i little girl, whom they had seen to :ross the road some distance before hem, gave a piercing shrink, and ran >ack into the house in an agony of >ain and fright. Perceiving that lomething serious had occurred they ? ? 1 ? J ftn-tAwfam fV ?% Mflf. uisuiy <uigwiicu w oov,ciuuu <u?* er; and entering the room found the :hild stretched upon a bed and already i corpse. She had lived long enough, towever, to whisper to her mother hat a snake had struck her while she vas in the act of gathering firewood >n the roadside. The party instanly ought the spot and there discovered l large specimen of the horn snake ehich they dispatched. The skin of his serpent was stuffed and preserved iy an intelligent gentleman cf the ieighborhood; and it was long an obect of great curiosity at his residence, md afterwards at Oid Cambridge, ihere it was last seen." WOULD RUN STATE at Dpnnrrn tact /II 1YLI/ULLU WJl _________ * SENATOR CHBISTENSEN'S COMMITTEE THINKS MUCH MONEY MAY BE SAYED Appreciable relief for the taxpayers of the State, running probably into thousands of dollars, as a result of the investigations now in progress by the joint legislative committee of economy and consolidation, of which Senator Niels Christensen is chairman, is forecast in a statement issued by the committee, following a conference last week' in Columbia with its engineers, Griffenhagen & Associates, Inc., of Chicago. About half the state departments have been investigated by these ingineers, and the statement regarding the possible result of the work is based on the findings so far. The legislative committee is composed of Senators W. Fred Lightsey, of Hampton, and F. A. Miller, of . Hartsville; a>?.d Representatives J. K. Hamblin, of Union; J. E. Anderson, of Tiramonsville, and E. T. Hughes, of Marion. The savings which can be effected, according to the estimate of the legislative committee, would, says the statement, be possible with ut crippling or hampering any legitimate state activity now being carried on. As one illustration of saving that might be effected, the committee refers to the control of the capitol and its grounds. These are now under the direction of the commission on state house and grounds, the state electrician and engineer, ana tne sergeant-at-arms of the House and Senate with separate porters for all departments, the salaries of porters running to |3,450 a year. This, the committee, believes could be handled at a saving of about $4,000 a year by having' one agency in charge, with a staff of workers. Bad organization in almost all of the state institutions investigated has been found by the committee, and variations as to heating plant costs, over-burdened pay rolls, excessive purchase of supplies and the like have been found. The committee reports several flagrant cases of well-paid employes with little to do, and says there are also cases of hard-working state employes who are under paid. High rents by certain state departments for space for storing records are also scored by the statement of the committee issued Saturday, xne committee says there is space in the basement of the capitol which can be used for the storing of records, where some departments are paying rent for such space. The committee says that much worse conditions have been found in other states than in South Carolina, in regard to government efficiency, and its ingineers attribute the good showing to the high class of men filling public positions in the State government The faults found are blamed on poor organization and lack of central management, rather than to individual inefficiency. The committee states that it hopes to present to the legislature in January of next year plans for giving the managing officers of state institutions expeix assistance with their technical problems, in order to effect further savings. Mrs. J. M. Godwin Passes Away Mrs. Maria Godwin, wife of J. M. Godwin, died at her home at Rhems > Monday afternoon after an illness of three weeks. Mrs. Godwin was a daughter of the late J. W. Walton of this county and was born in November, 1850, in the community where she passed away Mnn/iau affpr a useful and beautifully spent life extending through nearly seventy years. The deceased is survived by her husband and ten children, five daughters and five sons: Mesdames A. 0. Holliday and T. C. McClary of Georgetown, G. M. Thomas and W. J. Haddock of Rhems and J. T. Register of Greelyville, Messrs. J. K. and E. M. Godwin of Greelyville, J. J. Godwin of Andrews, W. 0. Godwin of Rhems and Robert Godwin of Kingstree. Funeral services took place Tuesday, following which interment was made at Union church cemetery in the presence of many grief-stricken relatives and friends. On Labor Day, September 5, there will be an exhibition horse-raring at the fair grounds in Fbrence. The Vfeflj best horses in the Pee Dee section, it *^**3 is said} will participate in the races. .