Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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6000 ROAOS. The following is the address of Mr. J. Arthur Banks delivered before the Good Roads Convention, in this - city, on Saturday, July 25fch : Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of Sumter coonty: The value of good roads has been recognized by thoughtful minds in ail ages. The two most ancient cen? ters of civilization, Memphis and Babylon, were connected by a com? mercial and military highway over which passed with ease and dispatch the commerce and the armies of those people in the early dawn of history. Information comes down to us of roads built by the Cartha? ginians, that great people who caused the warlike nations of Greece and Italy to tremble in the time of Hannibal. History tells ns that "all roads led to Borne," and the explanation of bow she "sat upon her seven hills and ru?ed the world" may be found in the fact that from her gates ex? tended twenty-nine magnificent highways through all portions of the . then civilized world, mighty arteries' of trade through which poured a con? stant stream of wealth, and over . which her legions moved with ease and rapidity to her most distant frontiers. The most magnificent road per? haps of all time was the Appian way, so named from having been project? ed by Appius Claudius, a celebrated Roman 312 years before the begin? ning of the Christian era, and com? pleted 282 years later. This road was 350 miles in length, and for a dist? ance of 30 miles from Borne was decorated on either side by splendid mansions, temples and tombs. These edifices are mostly crumbled to dust, but so perfectly was this road con? structed that it still remains, many sections unimpaired, by the ruthless hand of time, a silent, hut enduring -monument to the greatness of the people who built it. It is a significant fact that tbe .greatest people have ever been the greatest road builders. That might-1 iest intellectual giant who has ever lived in the-"tide of times," Napo? leon Bonaparte, was the greatest in? dividual road builder of ali time. Soon after his French battalions had brought Europe to his feet and bis word had become law over all civil? ized people except the . sturdy Britons - and the glorious Ameri? cans, his transcendent energies were turned toward the civil, industrial, and commercial problems of France, and the greatest and most enduring work accomplished by him in the short intervals of peace which he en? joyed was the building of roads. The ?Simpl?n Pass, a road 300 miles long, ? built across the Alps at a cost of three and a quarter million dollars, and connecting Geneva, Switzer? land, with Milan, Italy, stands to? day a silent witness to bis great? ness. But the question arises, if road building is an evidence of greatness, j why is it that we Americans, who combine the qualities of the Greek and Romans, with all that is best of every other people, have such a slight appreciation of good roads. The question is all right, but the as? sumption upon which it is based is not true. No people ever lived who had anything like the appreciation of good roads aa we, we are the moat persistent and indefatigable road builders of all ages,. but we' don't build them of earth or stone. -"We hear no more of clanging hoofs And the stage coach rattling by, Por the steam king rules the travel? ed world, And the old pike's left to die." We have moved forward on the road of progress, our roads are built of steel, our ?teeds are the rushing locomotive, with breath of flame and speed of the wind, onr means of com? munication is the lightning's flash. We have learned the value of time and almost annihilated space, it is only 22 hours to New York, about 10 hours across the continent? and three or four days across the Atlan? tic. It requires but the fractional , part of a second to speak to a person in any part of this vast country. Events transpiring in the most dis? tant part of the world to-day will be read in our newspapers to-morrow morning. The wonderful forces of sature being dally revealed by scientific research are giving enor? mous impetus to the world's develop? ment and hastening the time wheo communication will be instantan? eous and universal. And while this is all true the stern face remains that you are as far away from your school house, your church, and your market as your grandfather was a hundred years ago. Progress has been made in all departments of human effort except ene-the department of our country roads. We will not take time to d is? cuss why this is true, but will state some practical and. simple reasons why it should not be allowed to con? tinue. The value of good roads financial? ly, educationally, socially, and re? ligiously is apparent to any one who .""Se subject thoughtful consld The matter is one that is ?l?ir? ?**f'gerate, forjthe farther peg into it the more value he HF I will only consider the flnan ^Hraspect cf the subject. What good roads will cost you and what they will pay you in dollars and cents, and let you decide whether the margin of profit is sufficient to tempt you to invest. There are two classes of good roads being built iti the south to-day. One, the macadam, built of crushed rock at a cost of anywhere from two to ten thousand dollars per mile; the other is what is known as the sand and clay road, which can be built at a cost of two to three hundred dol? lars per mile. The macadam road is very desirable immediately adjoin ing large cen ters?of trade where the travel in all weather is constant and the loads heavy, but on 95 per ceiit. of the roads in Sumter county I be? lieve that the sand-clay roads, such as are being built in Richland county, and which haye made that county famous everywhere in this country where good roads are being considered, would serve just as good purpose as the more expensive macadam or crashed rock road. One who has never seen these Bichland county roads can hardly form an adequate conception of how firm and smooth a road cati be built skillful misture of sand and ?Mr. Owens, the Richland c< supervisor, who by the way 'father of the good roads move in his county, and so much a ciated for his work that he see hold a life tenure of his office, i me over a section of his roads ! two years ago which had been three years; it was almost as and smooth as a brick pavemen he told me that the cost of ke< it in repair was almost nothing, also told me that the property i that road had doubled, and in i cases quadrupled in value di those three years ; that farmers I ed wood into Columbia over it a tance of twelve and fifteen m that where two bales of cotton considered a load through the beds as they existed before impi ment, a load of six bales was ha wish more ease and in less time, that now ten miles an hour horse and baggy was ordlnary^trf ing when before to drive four to miles was good traveling. . Shortly after my visit to Rich the Business League of my t raised $200 to build a Band-clay : as an object lesson, and hayio farm three miles from town wit \ heavy sand road intervening, I posed to add $100 if they would b the experiment in my direct j Thia was agreed to and the i baiit. It is not an ideal road,b built three miles long at a cos? $600.00 or $200.00 per mile, whe perfect road weald have cost ai $900.00, but it is so infinitely sape to the sand that I am abunda pleased. I invested $300 on the tl miles of road and it is paying ra better .dividend than any other vestment which I have. It ss time, and time is money. I h hauled five bales of cotton, in [ seed co the gin in St. Matthews c it on one load. On a hot sam: evening I can drive to my farm twenty min?tes with more ease t I could before in an hour. I am s that it has added a thousand dol to the value of the place to whici leads, and I speak only the sin: truth when I tell you I would have it transformed into the Si bed as formerly for twice a thoasi dollars. Please bear this fact ' mind: .while! spent $300.00, if road had been built by an eqaa system of taxation the cost to would not h?ve been one-te nth that arnon nt. The subject of good pnblic road being considered to-day more tl at any time since our stage coac gave place to roads of steel ? steeds of flame. Everyone who i taken thought of the matter agr as to their importance and econoi cal value, but differences of opin arise as to the ways and means. '. plan is for the different counties borrow money and build the rca Ali classes alike enjoy the bene let ail classes bear their proper p portion of expense. There is question of pnblic good which nearly touches all classes alike this. Our school honses are for straction, oar churches for worsh pers, oar jails for criminals, our p< booses for panpers, oar theatres pleasure seekers, oar court hom for litigants,.but onr roads are i all-men and women, old and youi rieb and poor, sick and well, m< chan; and farmer,hanker and ms ufactarer, landlord and laborer ea and all are benefited by good roa< Experience has proven that the m< satisfactory plan to raise money 1 public use is to issue bonds and s them in the markets. When o national government needs mon it sells bonds, when oar state nee money it sells bonds, and when o municipal governments need mon for street improvement, water worl lights, etc., they sell bonds, sehe districts sell bonds, for baildii school houses, railroads and o th monied corporations sell bonds, ai my plan is for Sumter county to i sae $300,000 worth of 5 per cei bonds. If you can sell at 4 per cei or 3 per cent, so mach the better, ai right here let me say that Mr. W. 1 Moore, president of the Nation Good Roads Association, stated in speech at Birmingham, Alabam that he was working on a plan to g money for this purpose at 3 per eec which will, if he succeeds, and have no donbt bat he will, redui the taxation figures that I will gr yon 40 per cent. There are 1,0 miles of pnblic roads in Samt couoty. $300,000 will be ample build good sand-clay roads on evei mile and good macadam roac wherever necessary. The yearly ii terest on these bonds at 5 per cen will amonnt to $15,000. requiring tax levy of jost a little less than 3; mills to meet it. Bm some one asl how about the money to retire thes bonds? My answer is, let the bone be refunded when they reach matu ity; the roads are for all future tim< let the future bear its part of the ea pense. Let us make an application of thi idea as it affects the individual prop erty owner. We will suppose th case of a farmer living say ten mile from market. We will suppose tha he owns 200 acres of laud, thre mules, wagons, a cow or two, an other farm and home necessarie and that he returns this property fo taxation at $1,000. His proportion o this tax for good roads would amoun to a year. Now, for this $3> which he pays out, what does he ge in return? Everyone will agree i he didn't get a cent in return tha the pleasure of having a good roa( to ride over whenever he goes ti market or elsewhere would mon than compensate him for the $3? But this is not all ; he saves time aiic time is money. Ev?ry progressive man knows th< money value of time, and my brother if you do not, it is time you were learning, for life is a success just it: proportion as you value the truth ol this great principle, that time is the creative and not the creatied princi? ple of life, that you can turn nothing into time, but you can turn time into everything that is valuable. We will "suppose that this fanner plants with his three plows 50 acres in cot? ton aud 50 acres in other crops, a total of 100 acres; that he uses 200 pounds of fertilizer per acre making: ten tons in all, and snakes 80 bales of cotton. My observation shows that an average load of fertilizer over the roads in their present Condition is seven to eight sacks and the average load of cotton hauled to market is three bales, taking in ail twenty-four days to haul his fertilizer and mar? ket his cotton. Now I submit that a pair of mules and one hand is worth $1.50 per day on a farm every da the year. Of course they are ofi time's worth many times I amount, but never less. They worth more than that to haul st: on a rainy day, and sometimes wc that much or more to give then day's rest, and in this day of d plowing and thorough tillage dur fall and winter there is no tell how much they are worth; $1.50 day for 24 days makes $36.00. K on a good road, such as $300 per n will build, one and a half tons of ; tilizer and six bales of cotton is light two-horse load. So the sav to this individual farmer OH th two items alone is 12 days, or $18 Out of this saving he can pay his $ tax and have a balance clear of $14 Can anybody tell me where anot investment can be fonnd that \ paya yearly dividend of 300 ] cent? I have mentioned only t items, the hauling of cotton and f tilizer, nothing has been said afr the hauling of cotton seed to the mills and the meal given in i change, nothing about the half di which may be saved in the wee! trips to market with peas, chicke eggs, water melons, peaches, and I varions other surplus farm prod ni which all live farmers make to greater or less degree. It is not a question as to how mu the good roads will cost, the gr< consideration is, what are our b roads costing. The cost of gn roads is a mere trifle, the cost of b roads is a serious obstacle to hum progress. A stretch of boggy roa often costs broken harness, damag vehicles and sometimes the stri and injury of a valuable horse. It is said that when Henry Cl; was a boy living in Hanover count Va., he was swinging on the gate front of his home one morning wh a stranger accosted him and ask the distance to Bichmond. The d tance was given, and being at t forks of the road the stranger ask whieh road to take. The fntu statesman replied: "The distance the same and it makes not t slightest difference which road y take,.for before yon get half way y< will wish you had taken the other And the same condition prevails our country to-day; the roads are bad as they were in the boyhood da; of Henry* Clay. It matters n which road you take, before you g half way you will wish you had taki the other. In a speech delivered before a go< roads convention at Greenvill Tenn., Nov. 12,1901, Mr. M. O. E dridge, assistant director of tl office of public road inquiries of ti United States government made th statement, referring to Mecklenbei county, N. C: "This county" hi made more progress and h a built more miles of road under th system than any other county in tl TJ: S. Twelve bales of cotton can I easily drawn over the stone roads i this county where formerly two bali was a good load. Since the goc roads have been built farm lane have advanced in value from $12 an $15 per acre to $75 and $100 per acr and I notice from a recent dispatc that the county is soon to issue ai other $200,000 worth of bonds to boil more roads. Why have they doc this? Because it pays to do it." All experiments in road buildin have without exception been attenc ed with tliis significant result, a enormous increase in the value c real estate. In Bich land count lands along some of the improve roads have doubled and in som cases quadrupled in value. In Meet lenburg county, N. C., lands along certain road have increased in vain from $12 and $15 to $75 and $100 pe acre. Now it is reasonable to sur pose that results which have bee realized in Bicbland and Mecklec burg counties may also be realize in Sumter county. Butweneednc have such enormous profits, an in crease in value of 40c. per acre wo ul be sufficient to pay the entire es pense of building 1,000 miles of goo roads at a cost of $300 per mile. There is another pnase of thi economical question that it may nc be amiss to mention. If our count should seir$300,000 worth of bond this money would be used her among us, it would be paid out fo labor, provisions, material, etc. flowing into the channels of trad and benefiting all classes. Senator Jno. W. Daniel, of Va., ii a recent speech, to a good roads con vention in Lynchburg used thes< words: "I never meet with a bod: assembled to consider any qaestioi in which transportation is involve( in which I do not feel like quoting this flashlight sentence of humai wisdom. "Man can create nothing he can only move something." No all the conquerors of earth frorr Darius down to the latest military hero, not all the giants of earth tha lived before or after Goliath, not al the scientists and skilled mechanic: of the world, not all the greates: brains that ever evolved humar thought can create even an atom. We have all got to deal with thinge as our Creator made them without adding one single atom to them.' "I therefore lay down the broad gen? eral proposition that transportation is the basic .art of human develop? ment and progress." And following this thought of Senator Daniel we might add, the highest expression of this basic art of human development and progress is facility of movement, "We can create nothing," we only move created things, move them from one place to another, from the wrong place to the right place, changing the relation of things and bringing order out of confusion, har? mony out of discord, strength out of weakness, truth out of error. This is the work of the world, transportation the basic art in all departments of human activity and ease of move? ment its highest expression. Can we, the people of Sumter county, .permit these slow, tedious, heavy roads of ours to stand forever an awful obstacle across our path of progress? Let us instead of being last in this greatest of all move? ments, be first; we are first in almost all things else, let us be also first in roads. For if a system of good roads such as we have uutlined were built this would be the most attractive State in all this beautiful south land. With our fertile lands, our splendid rivers, our salubrious climate, our good water, our fruits and flowers, our birds and trees, our babbling brooks and flowing streams, our fair landscapes and blue skies, our noble, intelligent, enterprising and friendly I manhood, our pure, brave and beau- I tiful women and our splendid high ways stretching their generous length through field and forest, over hill and dale, we would indeed be that happy people whose ways are ways of pleasantness and all whose paths are peace. EMBARRASSING THE GIRLS. Illinois Church Festival Show to Display Their Pictures as Un? clad Babies. A dispatch from Harrisburg, UL, to The St. Louis Globe-Democrat says: Frank W. Havill of the Mount Carmel (UL) Register is authority fora bit of information, which, he says, is caus? ing considerable uneasiness among the young ladies of that town, and that when the event comes off it will shake the old place from ?kin to core. Ac? cording to Mr. Havill, one of the lead? ing churches in that city is greatly in need of money and so is the pastor. The members held a meeting recently to decide upon a means of raising the necessary money for running expenses and the plan finally adopted was to give a stereopticon exhibition, and the enlarged pictures' to be thrown upon the canvas were to be photos supplied by the members of the church and their friends. Due preparations have been made and all is in readiness, ex? cept the date for holding the exhibi? tion has not yet been decided upon, and until a few days ago the mem? bers-and especially the young ladies -were very anxiously urging an early date. "But a change has come over them, " says Mr. Havill. "It has been learned that one of the graceless participants, by going through the old rubbish of local galleries, bribing little brothers and the hired help, has succeeded in getting photos of a dozen of ; the pret? tiest girls in town, taken when they were clothed principally in smiles and dimples, and at an age when they were not big enough to protest against such a lavish display of their charms. These pictures he has mounted in a group and proposes to exhibit them under the title of1 Beauty Unadorned. ' There isn't one on the group that has enough duds on to make a night gown for a canary bird. In the center of the picture is a fat little roly-poly gob of simplicity, lying upon her back, trying to swallow her plump little foot" The coming event is creating no small amount of amusement, and it is the general opinion that this one fea? ture will be the means of bringing to? gether an assemblage larger than has been seen in Mount Carmel in many a day, and it is needles to say the young ladies whose pictures make up the group will be there also. TWO ROADS FIGHTING FOR IT. Southern and L. & H. Contending for Rabun Gap, it is Said. A special to the Atlanta Constitu? tion from Knoxville says : "It now appears here that the Southern and Louisville & Nashville railroads are to engage in a fight foi the right of way through Rabun gap, the mountain pass on the Georgia State line that forms the only practical route into South Carolina on a direct line from Maryville, Tenn., to Wal? halla, S. C. A corps of engineers of the Southern railway, headed by Chief of Construc? tion W. H. Wells, went out from Maryville yesterday in the direction of Rabun gap, and this corps is said to be making a location survey. The report is current here that the Louisville & Nashville has airead; made a survey through the gap from the eastern side of the mountins. The next move that is expected is that con struction forces will be put into thc field, and perhaps a battle for possess? ion of the gap will be inaugurated bj the two railroads. The Southern has for many monthf been talking about building through Rabun gap, and now it is believed thc line is assured. Premature Age, Sometime a Young Man Feelf Like an Octogenarian-Mr. Reynolds7 Receipe. Sometimes a young man, who should be vigorous feels like a maa of 80. kidney dis? ease will do it. They will weaken the bael and make the step drag. Doan's Kidney Pilli make weak backs strong and lighten the steps. Read what a Sumter man says aboul them. W. S. Reynolds, dealer in sporting goods al 10SS. Main street, residing at 214 Hamptor Avenue says : "I can recommend Doan'; Kidney Pills as I procured them at Dr. A. J China's drug store and used them for back? ache and kidney trouble and found them al! that they are claimed to be. They cured mi of backache which had been troubling me for quite a while. The pain across my loin? was sometimes so severe as to make me feel like a man of eighty. My back seemed tc give way with me and I had no strength ir it. The kidney secretions were unnatural in appearance and very scanty. I used reme? dies and wore plasters but might just as well have saved my money for nothing did me any good until I got Doan's Kidney Pills. They produced a noticeable change for the better in a short time and since using them my back has not ached and is as strong as it ever was while the kidney secretions have regained their natural color and are regular. I can recommend Doan's Kidney FiHs as a most reliable kidney medicine," For sale by all dealers. Price ")0 cents per box. Foster-Mil bum Co.. Buffalo. N. Y., sole agents for the United States. Remember the name-Doan's-and take no substitute. 4 WANTED. TO SELL-or exchange for Southern Bjoks or Magazines published before 1868: History of the Reformation-Daubigne. Several different Church Histories. Annals of The Persecu tions in Scotland. Sir Walter Scott's History of Scotland. The Huguenots, "by Samuel Smiles." Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire. The Writings of Washington, 12 vols., nicely bound in calf. Many other good books. Address T. E. RICHARDSON, P. O. Box 74, Sumter, S. C. June 9 ?Vcgcl able PreparatiortforAs? similating the Food andBeguia ling the Stomachs and Bowels of J5^NTS[/CHILDKEN Promolies Digest?on.Cheerfui nessandRest.Contains neither Opium.Morp??ne nor>?ineraL >TOT NARCOTIC 7?eetpeorOU?rS?KUELP?TCHER Jfaiyafatt- Seed" .. 8ul*Us Setts- j Ante Seed *? \ WnpSetd Cta*/vd Satgr mibryrmttriaror. J ) . Aperiect Remedy ferCons?pa [ Tion, Sour Stomach,Diarrhoea Worms ^Convulsions Jeverish ness and LOSS OF SLEEP. Facsimile Signature oF NEW 'YORK. For Infants and Children. EXACT COPY OF WRAPPER. The Kind You Have Always Boughs In Use Over Thirty Years THC CENTAUR COMPANY. NEW YORK ?TY. M?GGN2 GA. SUMTER] S. C. ROCKY MOUNT, N. C. Art ope & Whitt Co., G. E. RICHARDSON; - - Manager. Marble and Granite Monuments, Head? stones and Iron Fencing* Large Stock Finished Work on Tard. You ^mLl find our prices much lower than you have been paying. Investigate, call or write for designs and prices. Special discount for the next thirty days. Office and works 33 E. Liberty Street, Sum* ter, S. C. Aug ll Corn, Oat?9 Hay, Ship StinC Hulk and C. Seed Meal, Carolina R. P. Seed Oats at HARRY & CONSTARLES. Also full line of standard grade Wag? ons, both one and two horse, Buggies, Harness, Carriages. We also have on hand a full line of building material, such as Lime, Cement, Plaster Paris, Hair, Laths, Fire Brick, Terra Cotta Pipe, Stove Flues, &c. We wani to give you prices when you need any of above, and we wm get your patronage. Yours truly, HARBY & CO. Aug 8