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I^':,.'..v3$e. Sumter Watchman was founded y tii 1850 and the T?v& Southron in iS??. ?i^&e Watchman and Southron sow has the combined circulation and influence both ol the old papers, and is mani the best advertising medium in The Orangeburg Times and Dem? ocrat is clearly of the opinion that ^j&r J Billy Stokes bas lost his grip i on ?at county. editorial correspondence in the i ville News under the date of 31st is the clumsiest bit of >icg we have ever seen- Editor Bali should baye come down cleverly. ^The thousand and more Piedmont scattered broadcast over sr Comity did little for Irby thirty>five votes, if everything credited to Lar ry Gantt's editorial fulminations. - There is now no further need of the versatile and accomplished Col. ??T: Larry Gantt in South Carolina. I^He should collect a few testimonials l^&o? Col. J. L. M. Irby and others 'kwbo are familiar with bis peculiar abilities, and seek some other field. -^The women in some of the North? ern States are taking the Klondike 5ver. Hundreds of them are wild to the new Eldorado, but it is Sf gold they would go in seach of, husbands. If the gold standard causes wheat sell at one dollar a bnshel why not cotton sell at ten cents per ? That should be an easy one ;the gold bugs to answer-to their satisfaction. . Will Irby use his barlow knife on ian? A great combat it would -pitchfork end a one-blade barlow e. \ ::< - The removal of the Charleston ? metropolitan police is the next thing order. While in the business of t>tm Qpv. EHerbe should restore rale to Charleston. ? COUCB mill in Sooth Carolina ftbat pays 69 per cent in dividends ^dnring the first four yeaTs of ita ex? istence is better than a Klondike in Alaska. , ; A nigh license ey aten will have to <s3*Be. Prohibition ia impossible, the <5apeasary system bas had the fife kcocked ou: of it. ?nd the people will not very long submit to free liquor by the original package route. Tbe cotton crop in Sumter County is 1,;;ii?ftOjrt? very much shorter that any one : expected five weeks ago, and it will be a? gathered and harvested early io the Reason. Heavy rains, succeeded by hot weather, knocked oct the finest crop ; gffoapect the COOCTJ baa had in years. f^he reporta of tbe CDumiercial agen cies ail iodieato a fall trade of immense raagpitade, and the wholesalers are ja : bilan (over the great prosperity that has *.t last, apparently, come to them. Prosperity'is a good thing, aid the country cannot have too u?oeb of it, (bat a prosperity that torces lUe farmers of a great section of the eoun- j try, like the South, to pay much more for everything they buy to eat and wear, while reomcg no more for ?heir pro- ? duets, is no? the sort of prosperity rb at , does good The Gafircey silt is one of the most ancessful cotton factories io tbe state. It was established io 1893 acd has paid ?ts stockholders 69 per oeot. io divi? dends doricg itu first foor years. The j capital stick* bsa been increased from $160,000 to ?700.00J, sod to day the mi'.ls operates 51,116 spindles aod 1, 700 Draper loom?. There ia evidently money io a well eqaipprd aod well managed cotton mill aod it is high time '". thai Sumter had ooe. With a big mill paying ont a large amount of money io wages there would be leas oomplaiot of bard times an i dull trade during tbe seamer months. Unless the city it to remain at a standstill, factories must be built that will render tbe town not en? tirely dependent apon the farming io terests of the enanty for support. 4 English papers are giving great prominence to the news from tbe dis? tricts of India where an uprising of the natives against British authority is in progress, bot very little is being said of tbe districts where millions are perishing from famine. The re? ports that reach the outside world ?through independent channels reveal a condition horrible and appalling be? yond comprehension. Tbe SaTannah riflemen are showii the New Jersey folks how so mai Yanks happened to get killed b tween '61 aud '85. William J. Bryarj epitomizes t; prosperity wave very aptly when ] says that when the protections claim credit for dollar wheat th< must also assume responsibility f the famine io India and crop failur elsewhere. The failure of the Edwards heirs recover from Trinity Church sixt acres in the heart of New York Cii sho aid be a warning to the thousanc of credulous people io all parts ? the country who imagine themseiv* heirs to millions. The Edwards hs apparently a good case but they loi it and all they had expended in lit gation. These vast, pre-revolutioi ary estates are good things to h alone. It is asserted that the annex?t io of Hawaii would confer America citizenship upon all of the inhab tants of the islands Nine-te nth s < the populatiou is made up of a mor grel mixture of Chinese, Japanese Malays, Hawaiians, Portugese an other undesirable people. The Be publicans who are pushing the annej atiou scheme so vigorously must no be satisfied with the mongrel fellow citizens they now rub political nose with S^.V.-vf: ... .'.-:v We believe the municipal authori ties of each and every town in th< State will rigidly enforce the lav against the illicit sale of liquor, ant that the police will be given stric and explicit instructions to eearcl out, apprehend and bring to trial al sellers of liquor other than dispen sere, and the original package deal ere, who are under /the special pro tection of the United States Court and therefore cannot be molested Blind tigers can be stamped out bj the police, aud it should be done. We have contended all along that the constabulary was unnecessary and accomplished little if any good, that the police of the towns could do more effective service than the con? stables, and we hone to see this con? tention proven true by tangible re? sults Gov. Eilerbe has disbanded the dispensary constabulary and the sup? pression of the illicit sale of liquor will be left to the police of the cities and towns of the State. Thus the common sense of those who have op? posed the "constabulary from the first ls made manifest After several years of trial, during which in the neighborhood of two hundred thou? sand dollars have been expended, a half dozen men killed without rea sonable excuse, and innumerable out? rages perpetrated by the insolent and irresponsible constables, the system is abandoned. These constables have done more to render the dispensary odious to the people at large and to excite hatred toward it than any other one thing They committed outrage after outrage, unprovoked and inexcusable, caused bloodshed and committed a6 red "banded mur? ders as recorded in the annals of the State, and have gone unwhipped of justice for all of their misdeeds. The Slate is happily delivered from an incubus of the worst description, and for this deliverance thanks are due Gov. Ellerbe. This single act en? titles him to rank above either of his immediate predecessors, who chose to make their rule as rigorous, op prese i ve and unjust as possible They endeavored to govern by coercion and to make the weight of authority bear as heavily as the laws gave them power to make it upon ali who enter? tained opinions different from theirs Gov. Eilerbe prefers to have the sev? eral communities to govern them selves, and to leave to the local au? thorities the enforcement of proper police measures against violators of 'the dispensary law. He has acted wisely, and we are satisfied that the people of the State will show them? selves worthy of the confidence he reposes in them. THE DAILY ITEM ENLARGED' On last Tb o ?sd ay the Daily Item appeared, enlarged to six columns to the page, and a proportionate increase io length. The following is the editorial an? nouncement that was made of tbe I obange : The Daily Item appears to-day ?D j an enlarged form, an improvement that ; has been contemplated for a long time, and decided upon several months ago. The enlargement is made in order that a greater amount and a greater variety of reading matter may be given. Dor* j ?og tbe three years of the existence of j The Daily Item it has beea our en- j deavor to give the people of Sumter ' the very best paper that their patron? age warranted, and at times, HS is no secret, the patronage not only has not i warranted the publication of a better j paper than The Item bas been, but has ! been insufficient to support any paper i at all. Bot that time has passed, j The Item lived through it and we now believe that the time b?s come for a large and better paper. It will be more expensive to publish a paper of this size than it was to issue it in it's old form, more work will be necessary in every department and to maintain it an increased income is necessary. Of a larger patroaage we have received sub? stantial assurance, but we have room for all. We want more advertisements and more subscribers, and we expect the support of everybody io Sumter. The Item has never been a suppliant for favor, but has given full value for every dollar it has received, besides all that it had done for the pub'ic good without r?mun?ration or expectation of reward. GOOD EOADS, GOOD COUNTEY. _i_ The d?termination to build macadam? ized roads io Richland county bas taken practical shape and work wiil be commenced within a week. Tbe coun? ty commissioners have purchased a road machine and . a rock crasher, and the work will be prosecuted systematically. Tbe expense of the work will be paid out of the general road fund and the progress in road building wi?l necessa? rily be slow on account of the limited amount available each year. Bat tbe work once inaugurated and a few miles of really first class road brought into use, the people will not be slow in making the comparison between a good road and the many bad ones they are using, and" the building of good" reads will be pushed onward with an ever in? creasing., momentum until all public highways will be converted into Mac? adamized turnpikes Richland County will be repaid ten fold for every dollar expended io grading and Macadamiz? ing tbe highways, and it would be j worth miQre to the State than ten or ten J hundred cottoo factories were it possible j to convert all of the publie roads io every county into wei! graded, well drained. Macadamized roods Until one bas spent sometime io a country where good roads are the rule and not tbe exception, if nor- wholly unknown, as io this State, it is impossible to con? ceive how inestimably valuable they are. The expense of baoliog is re? duced to a minimum, and the time saved, fbe greater amouot of work a team is oapable of performing with less strain and tbe greatly decreased wear and tear bo vehicles aod harness are oot imagioed by those accustomed to tbe sort of roads to be found ito Sooth Carolina Good roads must come io time to keep pace with the improvement aod progress the country u making, and now that public sentiment is be? coming eoitghreoed and is erystaliziog in favor cf systematic road improve ment, we hope and believe that tbe time when this great aod permanent im? provement will be coosumated is not very far distant. A start has been made in several counties already and tbe leaven is working. The example of Richland County will be influential for good, (specially after the work bas been carried forward sufficiently for io's beneficial effects to be seen by the mem? bers of tbe Legislature and others who visit the capital city from time to time We are glad indeed th?t road building bas been undertaken in Richland County for no more accessible or better place could have been selected for an object leeson in road building. It will he seeb by more people from every oounty in the State than if anywhere else, and the good influence will be oiorc widely aod more rapidly diffused throughout the State WEATHER AM) CROPS. The Condition of the State's Farming Interests. The following weather and crop report for the week past has been issued by Director Bauer of the local observatory : TEMPERATURE The temperature conditions during the past week were slightly above the normal, but the departures were small on any day. The normal mean i temperature for the State will decline ? during ^ihe present month at the rate j of 2 degrees a week, caused, chiefly, by cooler nights The mean tempe? rature for the week was 79, and the normal is about 76 The highest re? ported was 100 on the 29th of Aug. at Beaufort, and the lowest 59 on the 30th of August at Cheraw. At a few j stations the maximum temperatures ? reached to ot above 90 on sevei days, and the minimum temperatur randed generally between sixty ai seventy. The rainfall for the week was ge erally light and confined to scatter? showers over various portions of tl State during the first part of tl week, the latter portion being wit out rain, except a light shower on tl coast. Rain is needed over tl greater portion of the State. Twenty-oue peaces reported mea ureraents of less than 1 inch, ten from 1 to 2 inches, and one mo than two inches, the later beir Kingstree with 2 48. The approx mate normal for the week :s 1 30, ar the mean of all measurements 0.6 The greater portion of the State n ceived no rain or merely light ar insufficient amounts Hail accompanied the rains of th 20th over much of Berkeley, Co letou Charleston, Hampton and Bea fort counties, doing considerable ir jury to cotton and rice. On Augu; 30th hail fell at Blackville, Greer ville, Hope Station and Liberty ; o the 31st at Camden. There occurred few high windi but they did no material or wid< spread injury. The sunshine was generally in ex cess of normal and averaged 82 pei cent of the possible, but clondines increased over the eastern portions o the State during the latter portior of the week GENERALREMARKS The week under review gave favor able weather for harvesting maturing crops, especially making hay am picking cotton, but was too dry ove the greater portion of the State fo growing crops and iall plowing of which but little has be*i done. Worms of various kinds hav< ceased to do any damage except ti corn in Beaufort CROPS Ir is the unanimous opinion of a ] correspondente ?hat the cotton crop wi', be much ?maller tban tbe condition ol tbe plant daring Ju y sod the first twc weeks of. August promised. The lot? ru condition is greatest over tbe central and eastern counties wbere the August squares and ycucg boils nearly all dropped off, and wbere the plant is, for tbe most part, apparently dyiog, with no appearance of a top crop, and wbere rust was most prevalent There is, however, less shedding and mst this week than last. Over rbe western counties, the injury to the crop was not so marked aod many fields continue to bloom aod put on irait to a limited ex? tent, especially oo late oottoo. Cotton is openiog rapidly aod picking is gene? ral, with labor enough available, gene? rally, to keep cotton picked ont as it op ?os, except io places wbere laborers are scarce, aod tbe Hot is liable to damage from storms should any ocoor. A. heavy raio io Union coco ty dam? aged opeo oottoo materially. The Sep? tember picking will be large and io places include about balf the crop on the stalks. Sea Island cottoo con? tinues to look very promising with com paratively little shedding during the last weet. Corn-is maturing rapidly and late corn is turning out better than antici? pated. As yet no corn bas been housed. Fodder puiliog is about finish? ed except from very late coro. Tbe weather favored coring and boosing the fodder in the very be&t condition. Catting pea-vine hay made favorable progress and the crop is a heavy one generally, although in places the leaves are falling off excessively. Catting grass for hay is also well under way aod large yields are roported, ot good quality and oicely cured. The rice harvest is being pushed and much of the carly orop is cot aod stacked. Some report rice ripening irregularly with macy unfilled beads, bot OD the whole the rice approximates a fall average. First new milled rice received at Charleston on September 2nd from the Georgetown district. Where sweet potatoes have beeo dug, the yield is large, and generally this crop looks very promising, with some exceptions. Grapes are about over, but scopper nongs are ripening fast and are plen? tiful In the trucking districts the fall vegetables are growing nicely, and plowicg bas begun for the winter pl&Dt* j ings. Sorghum grinding and boiling sap is I still underway wkb some good yields and . some poor ooes reported. Sugar oaue is ; maturiog rapidly Much rye is being sown in Chester for winter pasture. -- i Base ball seeds at the Book Store.-H. G. J)sT.een & Co. ESTABLISHED REPUTATION The buying of a bicycle is a matter of serious importance. Ali yow pleasure in cycling depends on your wise choice. In choosing the Crescent you run no risk. The unanimous testimony of Crescent purchasers-70.000 of them in J896-should convince you that Crescent quality has no superior. Western Wheel Works Catalogues Free C"-' ~~ "T Agents Everywhere ^- - ' ~ Country Mere WE ARE DOING A LARGE usines Exclusive from our Retail Business, and can compete with the prices offered by any large house in or out of the State. Our prices are lower because we have no Traveling Salesmen, which is a big expense, and at the same time we save you your FREIGHT MONEY. OF WHOLESALE GROCERIES AND CANNED GOODS we have a large supply, and you caa always replenish your stock. TIIN" WAEE. 1 qt. Tin Buckets, 40 cents per dozen 2 qt. Tin Buckets. 60 cents per dozen 3 qt Tin Buckets. ... 75 cents per dozen 4 qt Tin Buckets, - - 90 cents per dozen 6 qt Tin Backets, - - ?1 20 per dozen OTHER TINWARE IN JPROPORTJOX. IN SHOES WE LEAD, Many who have compared our line with those of other cities, say that ours is cheaper and better. The same applies to Clothing, Hats, Shirts, Handkerchiefs, Dry G-oods and Notions We have an immense assortment of Fancy Jewelry, Pins and Notions, exactly what is wanned in small stores. Pay us a visit before buying and you will be convinced. Yours for business, J. Ryttenberg & Sons. SHEPHERD SUPPLY CO 232 Meeting Street, Charleston, S. C. STATE AGENTS FOR SALE OF Wholesale Stoves, Tinwares, House furnishing Goods, Oii Heaters. Tin Pitt-, Sheet Iron. Tinner? Supplies. Galvanised Gutter ace Pipe. Over 200 different styles of Cookiua and Heating Stover. Also Oil Cookers a?d Heaters. We want the leading marchant in every town in the* State to sell our lines of Stoves We ruaraotee full protection in bis territory to each agent we appoint If not sold in your town seud direct tu us for cuts and prices. Oct 27, Machinery. SEE THE LAXEST DEERING BALL BEARING MOWING MACHINE Buy none but the Deering ; it is the best up-to-date Mower. MACHINERY OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS. H. M. Bloom. Sumter, S, C,