COUNTY CORRESPONDENCE. LETTERS FROM OUR SPE? CIAL CORRESPONDENTS. of Interest From all Parta of and Adjoining Counties. NOT1C1 TO CORRESPONDENTS. Mail your letters to that they will this office not later than Man when Intended for Wednesday's and not later than Thursday 4ar Saturday's issue. Tnlt, of course, appllot only to regular oorreepond la case of items of unusual Talus, sand in Immediately by telephone or telegraph. Such st?rt?? ara acceptable up to the of folag to press. Wednesday's la printed Tuesday afternoon Saturday's paper Friday after STATEBURO. Stateburg. July 4.?Miss Anne M. ?wall, of Wilmington. N. C, Is on a atiort visit to her parents. Rev. and i. W. H. Barnw?dl. Mra. C. L. Boyte. after a pleasant It to her mother. Mrs. W. R. Flud. raturned to her home in Hender awatilla. N. C. Mr. Frank P. Burgess has lately returned, after a stay of several days with his sister. Mrs. James O. Simons, at Butawvllle. Mr W. H. Barnwell la spending a Ca? daya at "The Rectory." Mr. Alex Norria. of Columbia, la tha guest of his parents. Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Norria Mr. Frank P. Burgess spent Friday la Manning. Mr. Frank B. Harrla. of Thomas ?ilia, Oa.. li expected here tonight. While In the neighborhood, he will tap the gueat of Mr. and Mra. E. F. Holmes. Mr. Barnwell, of Greenville, la a>ending a few days with Rev. and Mra. W. H. Barnwell. Mrs. A. M. Lee, of Charleston, has been the guest of Mr. and Mrs. It. Q Richardson. Jr., for several days dur? ing the past week. Miss Sarah Moore was In Sumter on Friday. Mr. St ott. who has been spending aome time with Mr. and Mrs. W. J NorrK has returned to his home at Kastover. Mr. Murray Moore, of Statesvllle. N. On has been on a visit to his both or. Mr Screven Moore. The dally showers continue with ainabated res' and though not as co? pious as those of the preceding weeks, are quite enough to interfere eerloualy with farm work. This la aapeclally unfortunate Just now, *? the farmers are trying to "lay by" their cropa in good ahape and need stry weather, and plenty of sunshine to enable them to do it. UAGOOD. Ifagood. July S.?Rains have been very frequent In this section and far aaers aeem very much worried about their crops, the cotton being small tor this season of the year. Several families are beginning to go away for the summer months. Mra. T. P. Sanders and children are at Suttlvan'a Island, where they ha-e a cottage for a month. Mr. and Mra. Crawford Sanders are occupying th^ir cottage at Providence Springs. The Miss** Ellerbe will leave in a fow days for Waynesvllle, N. C, where they will spend the summer. Mra. Julian Sanders has as her guests, her sister, Miss Agnea Becker, of Spartanburg. and Misses Willie and Lillian Delgar, of Sumter. Mrs. Sanders entertained delight tally at cards, complimentary to these young ladles, on Tuesday of last week. Miss Sarah Sanders also entertain? ed Mrs. Julian Sanders' guests at tsrd? last Monday afternoon. Misses Helena Weinberg and Ida Dwight. of Wedgefleld, who have Keen \i.-IMng Miss MotHa Ellerbe, hate let Wed b<>me. Mr*. Alvn .I. ll. tt Is in Wedgefleld for the Mellett-McMlllan wedding to? night \\ BMBfUUh Wedg.tb'd. July t;.._The Fourth waa a day of disappointment to our peoph> from a weather standpoint. On aceount of the pienlc gotten up by the Boy?' Corn Club, and ball game arranged between Wcdgehehl and St. ?'harles. everybody looked forward with a gn it ?!***? of pleas? ure to the day. After Ho address by Mr. Singleton Dwight. Messrs. II L. Scarborough, 8. D. Cain and J. Krank Williams, who has <-harg| of the y am'. Monday with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Geddings at Wedgefleld. Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Barfield and little daughter spent Monday In Biumter. Mrs. J. M. Fogle spent Monday with Mrs. Wells. Mrs. W. F, Maker and children spent Monday with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. J, Hatflold. Mr. W. R. Wells and son Ric hard. went to the picnic at Wedgeflel I Monday. Mr. .1. M. Fogle and little son I mo i attended the pi< ni<- of the K. of P. at Pocalla Springs. Mr. Fred Geddings, of Wedgefle'd, is visiting his sister. Mrs. K. R, Ar? dis. RKMBKRT. Remitiert, July ?Tie many ' ii? ruls of lion. A, K. Sanders are glad to know he will make the ra- ? f< r State Senator this year. He la no stranger to the people of Bunter County, He is a cultured gentleman, a man of marked executive ability, which shows his fitness for the man? agement of* the affairs of all business pertaining to the interest of all class es throughout the entire county He Is a logical man. a friend to the poor, and a farmer- friend, and 1 trust the roten of Bunter Count) will support him this year, as It Is time now for a c hange. ?' dton has Improved some and Is growing nicely. Still our crops hero are three weeks late. Very lit tie grass, and with good seasons from now on, we will yet come to the front. Corn is not so good, badly spot? ted. Mr. H. C. McLeod has the finest I have seen this year. HOW TO AVOID FIRE. A Few "Don'ts" To Prevent Catas? trophes. From Good Housekeeping. Attics and closets are the breeding places of many tires. An attic Is generally the asylum for all sorts of inflammable material, and as it nev? er is properly ventilated Is becomes a fire incubator when the summer sun strikes the roof. Among the odds and ends that make up the contents of the average attic are old varnished furniture, dry as tinder; rags, many of them greasy and ripe for spontaneous combus? tion, painting oils, liable to take tire when the sun beats on the roof; broken toys and old cloths, the pock? ets of which may contain matches. Attics and garrets often have a tem? perature of 110 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the Ignition point for matches. Floor sweepings under furniture or in a closet are liable to take Are spontaneously or from a Aying match head. Sawdust used In sweeping floors, if left in a corner where there is no current of air to carry off the heat it generates, is very likely to become hot enough to light itself. A preparation advertised for sweeping carpets is composed of sawdust, sand and a mineral oil to give it color, together with tincture of benzine to give it odor. Fires have frequently started spontaneous? ly from heaps of this material. Greasy overalls kept in a light ward? robe have been known to Ignite. The most dangerous closet is that under a stairway, because inflam? mable materials may hide there, and if a fire starts in It the best avenue of escape from the upper stories is cut off. Furnace ashes in the cellar have in them so much fine coal and litter that they are liable to spontaneous combustion if an open window per? mits them to get wet by a rainstorm, mits the yto get wet by arainstorm. The tine coal from the winter's sup? ply may ignite if wet. Playing with the fire and matches by children Is a prolific source of (ires in residences. One's ability to extinguish a start? ing fire depends on intelligence and self-control. If the blaze is just starting throw water on the burning material, not on the blaze. One buck? et of water will do more good if thrown on by handfuls or with a broom than if dashed on at once. A small fire may be smothered with a rug or blanket, or beaten out with a wet broom. If you cannot put out the fire In a minute then give an alarm at once. Do not leave a door open when you run out to give an alarm. If the doors and windows are closed when a fire starts you may c able to get the firemen there In time to put it out while It Is In only one room. The fire soon consumes all the oxygen In a closed room and may die out If it gets no fresh air. I>cxiine of Lying. (From the Louisville Courier-Jour? nal.) Nowadays the line is fairly well drawn between tact and fiction, be? cause It has to be. In the good old days when there were no telegraph, and when transportation facilities were indifferent, the credulity of the audience could be safely trusted to anyone with a penchant for pictures-, qus narration. Marco Polo adhered to the truth pretty closely because he actually saw more surprising things than even the vivid imagination of an untraveled man could picture, but many Invented interesting detail, !'? oling sure that their readers or hearers would not find out for them selves the falsity of their narratives. A modem explorer In Africa set it down In his book that the gorillas car? ried torches t<> guide them when they wcnl on midnight foraging expedit? ions, and libraries are full of books with yellow leaves that show a simi? lar carelessness of truth based upon a similar feeling of security from ex? posure. Nowadays everybody reads and mi ny persons travel, and the monumental liar cannot hold an audi? ence even at a crossroads' store, it has become dangerous to describe the superior ragout to be had in an OUt of-the way restaurant in Paris, a roast ? be f??iind in a certain Inn of an? cient appearance In London, or the Mood pudding that one gets in a minor German city. One must stick to tiie verities in anticipation of suc? cessful contradiction at once or In future through tiie medium of a souvenir postcard. Do you need printing of any de? scription? Come to headquarters? Oateen Publishing Co. For nearly fifty years OMecn and good printing have meant tho same thing in Sum ter. ALL AT COST BI G COST SALE Everything At Cost Beginning Monday, July the 11th For Four Days About $30,000 WORTH OF Dry Goods, Notions, Shoes, Matting, Rugs, Trunks, [House Furnishings, Etc. = ALL AT COST? S Nothing Charged at Sale Price. ^ SHAW 6 McCOLLUM MER. CO. 13 S. Main St. Phone 68 Sumter, S. C ON ASTRONOMY. By Bill Nye. There is much in the great field of astronomy that is discouraging to the savant who hasn't the time nor means to rummage around through the heavens. At times I am almost hopeless, and feel like saying to the great yearning, hungry world: "Grope on forever. Do not ask me for another scientific fact. Find it out for yourself. Hunt up your ovr new laid planets, and let me have a rest. Never ask me again to felt up at night and take care of a new-born world, while you lie in bed and reck not." I get no salary for examining the trackless void night after night when I ought to be in bed. I sacrifice my health in order that the public may know at once of the presence of a red hot comet, fresh from the fac? tory. And yet what thanks do I get? Then, again, you take a certain style of star, which you learn from Pro lessor Simon Newcomb is such a distance that it takes 50,000 years for its light to reach Boston. Now we will suppose that after looking over the large stock of new and sec? ond-hand stars, and after examining the spring catalogue and price list, I decide that any one of the smaller slse will do me. and I buy it. How do I know that it was there when 1 bought it? Its cold and silent rays may have ceased 49,000 years before 1 was born and the Intelligence be still on the way. There is too much margin between sale and delivers'. Every now and then a new astrono? mer corns to me and says: "Profes? sor, \ have discovered another new star and Intend to file it. Pound *t ? last night about a mile and a half south of zenith, running loose. Haven't heard of anybody who has lost a star of the fifth magnitude, about thirteen hands high, with light ranne and tail, have you?" Now how do 1 know that be has discovered : brand new star .' Mow can 1 discover v hether he is playing an old thread bp. I star on me for a new one? \\'e are told that there has been no 1 e.voptible growth or decay In the Star business since man begin to roam around through space, in his mind, and make tigures on the barn door with red chalk, showing the ce? lestial time table. No serious accidents have occurred in the starry heavens since I began to observe and study their habits. Not a star hifs waxed, not a star has waned, to my* knowledge.. Not a plan? et has season -cracked or shown any of the injurious effects of our rigor? ous climates. Not a star has ripened prematurely or fallen off the trees. The varnish on the very oldest stars 1 find on close and critical examina? tion to be in splendid condition. They will no doubt wear as long as we need them, and wink on long after we have ceased to wink back. In 1860 there appeared suddenly j in the northern crown a star of about I the third magnitude and worth at least $250. It was generally conced? ed by astronomers that this was a ! brand new star that had never been used, but upon consulting Argeland er's star catalogue and price list it I was found that it was not a new star at all, but an old faded star of the ninth magnitude, with the front breadths turned wrong side out, and I trimmed with moonlight along the seams. After a few days of phenom? enal brightness it gently ceased to draw a salary as a star of the third magnitude, and walked home with an Uncle Tom's Cabin Company. It is such things as this that make the life of an astronomer one of con? stant and discouraging toil. I have long contemplated, as I say, the ad? visability of retiring from the field of science and allowing others to light the northern lights, skim the milky way and do other celestial chores. I would do it myself cheer? fully if my health would permit, but for years I have realized, and so has my wife, that my duties as an astron? omer kept me up too much at night, and my wife is certainly right about it, when she says If 1 insist In scan? ning the heavens night after night, coming home late with the cork out of my telescope and my eyea red and swollen with these exhausting night vigils. 1 will he cut down in my prime. So I am liable to abandon the great labor to which 1 have in? tended to devote my life, my dazzling genius and my princely income. 1 hope that other savants will spare me the pain of another refusal, for my mind is fully made up that unless another skimmist is at once secured, the milky way will henceforth re? main unshaken. The Wide, Wide World. An old dweller in the hills of Ar? kansas who had lived all his life in one township, recently took a trip to Little Hock, forty miles away, anil was full of his subject on his return. "By ding," said ho, In voicing his impressions, "If this hyar world's as big crossway8 as hit is f'm hyar to Little Hock hits shore a whopper!" ?Success. LINEMAN ELECTROCUTED. B. C. Graves Killed in Colombia To Day. Columbia, July 7.?Lineman B. C. Graves, of the Bell Telephone Com? pany, who came here four montha ago from Harriman Junction, Ten? nessee, was electrocuted today by coming in contact with an arc light? ing circuit. He was twenty-eight years old and unmarried. KSPOBT Or THE CONDITIO* OF THE FIRST NATIONAL BARI? OF 8UMTER, At Sumter, in the State of South Carolina, at the close of business. Jane 30th, 1910. RESOURCES. Loans and discounts, $478,784 60) Overdrafts, secured and unse? cured, 6,276 38 D. S. Bonds to secure circula? tion, 26,000 06 Premiums on U. 8. Bonds, 500 00 Bonds, securities, etc., 8,000 00 Banking house, furniture and fixtures, 3.000 00 Other Real Estate Owned 3,499 06 Due from National Bank* (not reserve agents), 8,178 13 Due from State and Priv te Banks and Bankers, T n-t Companies, and Savings Banks, 128 62 Due from approved reserve agents, 11,692 91 Checks and other cash items, 2,633 3ft Notes of other National Banks, 1,H80 00 Fractional paper currency, nickels and cents, 1,225 9H Lawful Money Reserve in Bank, viz: Specie, 16,800 30 16,360 30 Redemption Fund with D. S. Treasurer, ^5 per ct. of cir? culation,) 1,260 00 Total, |8