Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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nkml MMm WATCHMAN. Establt Consolidated Ahr. 2,1 600B ROADS BALLY. MF. HS KS. \ V. SNFIJ., F. 11. COL ' <XX K AND R. B. BKL^KK s|?F.\K ON FF.ATl HKS. RepmtentatUc Audience of Farmer* From Dal aril Providence, llagood . and Reratx-rt, Hear Good Road* Speakers et Providence on July FVmrtfa. The audience that ItsWned to 'he road* apeaaere at Providence >n wu not a large one. but t an attentive one and those win m stayed or came to listen seemed much Impressed by what they bad heard on this very Important subject. The speakers for the occasion were Mr. A. V. Snell, secretary of the Chamber of Commerce; Prof. F. Horton Col cock, dean of tho department of en-1 Aflneertng and mathematics of the uMversity of South Carolina and Hon. R. B. Baiser. member of the boaae of representatives of South Carolina, Mr. J. C. Dunbar of Providence ju-ted ae chairman of the meeting (which started off In the pavilion with a very fine audience of beaut i ; tul young ladle.* and gentlemen of all aces. After the preliminary speech? es bad bean made the music for the dancing arrived and the good roads speakers tnd audience had to ad t^Durn to ttw? nearby grove, dancing and music being called for by the young folks In preference to speech? es on good rcaos. which one of the young ladies said everybody wanted and for Iks', reason there ought to be ao difficulty In securing while one could ^Laot get music to dance by every day. Vr. Snell was the first speaker. He spake on the Inter-relation of town and county In the matter of good roads The dependence of one upon the other. Trmf. Colcock folowed him with a III on the value of good roads from an economic and social stand pilot. Mr. Belser told about the In the county and why the rat em was the best method for th?* good roads which were* rh needed. He gave some gov 1 tie arguments to show that Sum mty was lagging behind other lea because of Its lack of the Mlty to a prosperous com Ity?good roada J. C. Dunbar In his lntroduc stated that Sumter county had good roads, but It needed more sjC them and that the county could not afford to continue to go on In the ssane old way. fixing up roads when H became necessary and letting them remain In their natural state. The ( county wanted to go forward and this ( reads moveaaaafl Mi tiuj kaM od of showing that the people to get In the line of prog He then Introduced Mr. Sn. r. flr?t speaker of tho occasion. Mr. AiteU's address whs short and Wei', resolved by hla audience. Ha stated that he had come to Sumter ^recently as secretary of the Chamber of Commerce and that he spoke as the representatives of that body. He said that tO per cent of all of the produce of the country was carried over the public roads rnd to enable a those carrylns thla pffgd tot QssMI IlM ? place It WaS pr?.<Jn< . ?I t . market at the leiat possible cost and with the preateat aavlng of time the roads mu?t be good. The co'inty and tho t >wn were wo ? losely connected that ?me could not grow withont the oth l er growing. The building of t(ood roads wss one method ?f getting the country more thl? hly settb?; and at the seme time of InTeostng the pop? ulation of the town. There had for several yearn been a great exudua of the young people of awi south to f the west and efforts wer. belnir rnndc now to create another a'ich exodu.??, but *uch a thins could r-.t be brought about should the tinners h.?vo goal roads here. Th" bulMins of good roada waa a means of javl-.e to the farmer whereby he r ?u'd use that . money saved In building up Ms farm ' snd Its appurtenancea He stated that one objection that had been offered to having ir???i roads was that It would draw the trade from the small towns In the county to the larser ones. He <>M L that thla was not the case el r*snd he did not why would l?e s.? here. He said that In his own State ?N*w York?there were a number it towns not more tb^i lea ? \< I apart and thut all of Iheai Wi r< d^ log a good tunliieH and In n?? vav i conflicting *lth that of the othei town-*. Tin? eounty wanted more town* In f.o t as that wan a means of getting mar? tai i and with the la sea the roads saw Id be bnlH wttk Isaa cost to lho??*? in ib ? country. Prof. ''..b <?ek u is the next speak - I er. He stated that he ti >,[ h. en ask t?att sued April, ISM. -Be .lust an 381. od to apeak on the subject of good roads from an economic standpoint, but that he couid not well do so with? out first taking up the social side of the question. He said that Ly means ..f good roads the social intercourse I in the country' would he as easy as ?r the town and that this would tend to > keep people in the country. He said that all farmers on well conducted farms would In a few years be ob? liged to have their automobiles jujt as much as they are obliged to have their horse and buggy now. He sal % that he was not interested in Sum? ter or Sumter County, but that he wan deeply interested in the State of Souh Carolina and in everything con? nected with her welfare and for this i reason he was Interested In what tfetl people of Sumter county had In th? way of good roads, as it was an In? tegral part of the State. ?himter County stood far behind other counties In the State which were not near so well adapted to farming and provided with the same facilities for good roads as was 'his county. The present condition of the roads was a disgrace to its people. The advantages of good roads in? creased in the ratio of fellowship with others and this was as the square of the distance covered by the good roads. The opportunities for lncreas- j ing one's social relation, with his fei- I low* were greater w'th good roads I and the advantages Vom this stand-] point alone were mony. The binding of food roads cost I money, but at the tame time It was I a saving of money for it put the pro-1 ducer nearer to the consumer and de- I creased the cost of transportation I and Injury to one's farm vehicles. He aald that Sumter county was for tunately situated with respect to the J building of sand-clay roads, for it could get both the sand and clay ut I most points easily, at a small cost. I The bond Issue has been tried and had always worked out successfully and was in the opinion of many the I beat methed of getting them. I He stated that unfortunately the I fronts* was a man who had a dls-1 ! i,tlon not to Incur tfehT. WHen the] f imera thought of the paying off of! 4 debt of $200,000 he did not think of what It would cost him, but of the J big debt which was Incurred. In J moat cases the debt would be 8carcely I fet by the farmer, who paid $1.00 out I of every $1,000 of taxable property! that ho turned in. The Improvements I Is the road would In all cases morel than pay for the Increase of taxes. I He said that when he first went to I Columbia several years ago that a| frl r.d of his came to him and told j him that he could make his fortune I in real estate If he bought up all I of the land he could, borrowing j money from the banks to pay for it. J He did not like to Incur any debts ol refused to take thla adviee. Hlsj friend went ahead and borrowed all I of the money that he could and bought all of the frhjd that he could. Today his friend was c orth half til million, because he realized that it was a good thing to go Into debt at I the right time. Thla was a good time for Sumter county to go into I d.-ht to get the good roads. He stated that $14,000 a year was I now Mod in keeping the road.. In re ? J pair, but with all of the roads Inj food Shape that not more than half! of that amount should be needed 101 P 'lorn in good condition, It id that this system of putting In al ill pleeo "f good road here and there and letting that In between re- J main to get along as It was, was the worst lyatom in the world. That tin patent ought to be extended gradual-1 ly nnd that one road should be com plated before another one taken up. He m xt took up the matter of ditches and said that they were the mest I dangerous feature and most uselessI feature that he had ever seen any-I where. Hi lid not see how anv per* I son Who was building the road could j under any olreurostnces 'he wining t > leave such death traps right along bv the roadside, Many of the roods In the county which wefs now supposed to be good roads WOfS not good roads and would be condemned by any road engineer who should Inspect them. He then laid stress on IhS fSct that it was ahoalutely nsceesnry to have a road angine? r Is oversee the work, should the bor.d Issue be passed and it ><>' decided to have the good roads, No one but i person who had seen ? great deal of good roads and had much experience In building them should be allowed to hnvs Ihs work In charge and with this efficient super? vision it "..is more than probable that the roads would last and would be what they OUgtlt tO OS, He ittCII entered Into s comparison of the sand-clay and muCUdam roads, show? ing that the sand-elay rends w % bet? ter f ?r this county the I tin- macadam' id Fear not-?Let ell the ends Thon ALnr SUMTER, 8. C, SATU and much cheaper. He said that from what he had observed on hU two trips to this county that the gradings were had, the crowning was had and the ditches were a mystery to a sane man. He said that one roud could he built at a time, or if the labor was sufficient, several could be built at the same time. The builders must be sure however that they secured the right kind of clay' and sand before they started to build. He concluded his speech by tell- . ing of an incident that had happen- j ed in a neighboring county. He said that he had been the supervising en- | gineer in having a steel bridge built that cost one-third of the total bond ( that this county was trying to get for good roads in the whole county. He was looking over the bridge one day when an old man passed and slop ped to look at the bridge. He enter? ed Into conversation with the man who stated that It was a beautiful bridge, but the debt for it foil heavy . on the taxpayers. He asked the old man what property he paid taxes on and found that the amount of taxe* caused the old man by the bridge was four cents, a saving of something over a dollar and a half to him should he go by the ferry. He said It was this way with too many farm era. They thought about the few cents or dollars that they had to pay for taxes but did not consider the several hundred dollars that the taxes were a means of saving. Mr.'R. B. Belser came next with a prepared speech on "The Neces? sity of Good Roads," and "Why the Bond Issue is the Best Method to Se? cure Them." He said In substance: I We have in Sumter County a little less than 600 miles of public road, of which, approximately 100 miles have already been clayed or Is naturally good road. This leaves about 400 miles which will need to be improved. It is recognized that the only prac? ticable surfacing material for a coun? ty-wide system of public roads for this county is the sand-clay mirtvtre. By the sand-clay mixture we do not mean all clay, but the proper mix? ture of sand and clay In the correct proportions. Sand-clay roads, prop? erly built, have proved very durable and give as low cost of transporta? tion as macadam or any of the other commonly used road surfacing. The transportation over both a well grad? ed sand-clay road and macadam road being given in recent Government Bulletins at 8 per cent per ton mile ?that is to transport one ton one mile. The average over the present system of roads in the county Is not less that 52 cents per ton mile. This mean.* that a perfect system of sand clay roads would cut down the cost of transportation over our county roads to one-third the present cost. Now from statistics gotten from a number of counties in which the sand-clay road system haj been ex? tensively used. and the opinion of food engineers who have been over the ground, I am satisfied that the n?ads of the countv can be built on an average of $500 per mile. This meani that to complete our system of highways WS would need $200,000. $50,000 of thU hai already been an? thorised by tin- Act of iolo provid? ing for an ISSUS "f $."0,000 in bonds for good roads to b<? Issued at the rat.- of $li>,oou a year. The remain? ing 1150,000, on which we arc to vote, is to carry out the plan to give us a complete system of county high ways, if theae bonds are voted, and UMUed BJ provided at the rate of $.to.non a year for tin- next five years, this will supplement tin* $10,000 a year provided for in the Act of mio, which together make tip the fund - 100,000 estimated as necessary to live us a complete county system <?f Improved muds. After theae bonds are all issued, it will take $'.?,000 a year to pay the interest at i i-j par cent, which li tin- rate of interest the bonds arc ex peeted to bear- and $6,000 put up as a sinking fund each year to retire the bonds at the end of L'O years. Note that it is Intended to r< tire tlte bonds at tin- end of 20 years, and that the Act authorizing tin vote on tin- bond Issue provides that a fund shall bo s.-t aside annually to pro? vide a sinking fund to nth. the bonds at maturity. 80 years from dat< of issue. Now we are spending on the road system of the county about $14,000 a year at pn sent, <?f this $ i 1,000, probably one-half goes to maintain the present road system and the re? maining half something like $v, . is spent in new Improvements. i! a fund were provided to build tl rotnplete system for the county, thli latter item would not longer be nee ? vary and could be used as a pari of tile fund of $110,000, needed to take ? irs of tin linking fund and Inter ist at be thy Country'3, Thy God's ai RDA.Y, JULY 8, 1911. est on the bond issue. It \/ould re? quire a 1 mill levy on the $7,500,00 taxable property in the county to pro? vide the rest of the $15,000 neces? sary to take care of the bond issue. Furthermore, it is shown that a well graded and pronerly built sand-clay road can be maintained at a much smaller expense that the ordinary dirt road. Reports from a number of the Georgia counties and Rich land county indicate that this ma n tenance of properly built sand-clay roads, by use of the split log drag and other Improved method3 of ma n tenance, varies from $5 to $10 a year for one mile. Taking the maxi? mum maintenance given, of $10 per mile, we ought to maintain our ?00 miles of road for $5,000 per year. Allowing $2,000 for maintenance of of bridges, we would still have at lea^st $7.000 left over for the pres? ent $14,000 we are spending for tho maintenance of dirt roads and the building of a few new sand-clay stretches. As stated above, the additional h-vy necessary to take carj of the l <>nd issue for a complete road system ought not to exceed 1 mill, which means $1 on the thousand, of prop? erty as assessed for taxation. The man who has $500 property returned for taxation will pay 50 cents, the man who has $1,000 worth of prop? erty will pay $1; and the man who has property assessed at $10,000 will pay $10. It is safe to say that this system of good roads will save each of these parties more than ten times the amount of taxes he will have to pay. His team will be able to haul larger loads; his team will be able to make quicker time; he will have to spefi'd less time on the road hlmseif; ho will have fewer broken wagon wheels and strained mules, and In general be able to do greater hauling at less expense. Such a system of good roads as proposed would mean more for the development of Sumter County than anything else we can possibly do. It will mean that more people will come into the county to make their homes, t<t develop it* land, and add to th?? wealth produced from its fields and manufacturing plants each year. It will mean more people in the coun? try districts; larger and more effi? cient schools in the cour^fry com? munities; more farm owners living on their farms, better homes and more attractive country places throughout the county; and generally a more attractive county In which to live. The more people we have in the county and the more we produce in the county, the more people and the more wealth we will have to pay the taxes and to pay for the road Im? provements and other county expen? sea, It can safely be estimated that such a system of roads as we are striving for will add 25 to 50 per cent to the value of ;he real estate of the county. This alone would be at L ast $5,000,000 In enhanced values. Does it not look like a good dividend on an Investment of $200,000? And this enhancement in value is due, nut tu artificial causes, but to the very practical fact that u greater variety of profitable crops can he produced profitably on farms 1 long a system of good public roads; and thai the sav? ing in transportation cost amounts to a very substantial dividend on the enhancement In value, Take for Instance, the fruit crop in tlie Stateburg section of Sumter County, There is no section of the State that ean raise better peaches and other fruits than this seetioi of ioir county, but owing to the rough and heavy roads, the people "f this sei lion are unable to deliver their peaches <>n the market in salable con? dition, for by the time they have been jostled over the rough roads thes are so bruised and damaged as to be un? salable. There is no more profitable class of farming than fruit growing, yet this section, naturally adapted to this lndustry( Is debarred from en gagllng in it on account of bad roads. And this only illustrates one of a great many lines of profitable farm? ing which <>ur present system <>r roads make Impracticable, Let us. therefore, all pull togeth? er for a county-wide system of good roads, and place Sumter, as she Is wotu to be, in the foro-fronl of the progressiv?' counties of the State. What i- lame. Judging from the number of news? papers that have published Mr. W. P. Fit ard's challenge of r. B. Felder, of Atlanta, it is fair to assume that our townsman, by single act, has made himself fatuous. Governor Blense has had no groater evident ? of friend? ship, from anybody, Ihan that of ? tnan's h ing willing to put hlmscK up as a target to be shot at.?Abbeville Tress and Banner. id Truth'*." THE TRTJj THIS STATE srTTS THE PACE. others Request Information About Damaged Corn Test. Columbia, June 30.?'We are in re? ceipt of your favor of June 2? and I merely write now to thank you very kindly for sending us the information regarding the acidity test. We are glad to tell you we will be able to make these tests in our own labora? tory and will u.ke a great deal of in? terest in making such tests at fre? quent intervals." This is a copy of a letter received I this afternoon by Commissioner Wat? son from one of the largest meal and grits milling concerns at the gateway of the south. A few days ago, at the request of this company, detailed in? formation as to the acidity test intro? duced i . the South Carolina de? partment laboratories for .spoiled 1 corn was sent forward and the above letter shows that honest millers are already beginning to realize the ex? treme value of the methods employed for testing the quality of grain which is shipped to them for manufacture into meal and grits. Mr. Watson was also advised today that several prominent men in New York State, who have been watching the handling of this matter in South Carolina with a great deal of interest, have already taken sto^? to bring the methods employed for the testing of corn and corn products to the atten? tion of the public health commission of the State of New York. In their let? ter they express both surprise and gratification that tee State of South Carolina should b* the first State in the Union to adopt and put into prac ties the only exact method of test ins; damaged corn and corn products yet known to science. TWO FIRES MONDAY NIGHT. Houses Belonging to W. J. Andrews j und Netty Gass Bnrn at Same Time. Two fires came off almost simul? taneously Monday night putting the tire department to some hard work in order to keep them from spreading to nearby buildings. The house be? longing to Netty Gass was burned down completely while that of An? drews had all of the back and upper portion destroyed. Shortly after eleven o'clock the hose wagon and the steamer were called out to a fire which originated in the kitchen of the Andrews house. The tire spread rapidly and when the wagons arrived all of the kitchen was almost burned down and the roof was a mass of tire and smoke. The steamer was set to work and soon had two good streams on the tire while one extra stream from the hydrant was also worked with ef? fect. It was not Ion? before the fire was under control, but the kitchen had already been burned to the ground and the top story was a wreck. Tho total loss was estimated by W. J. Andrews to be something 'over two thousand dollars, while the Insurance on furniture was $500 and on the building $1.00(i. The fire started in the kitchen of the building win re Andrew s had built a tire to prepare his supper. He later left to >jo to church and was at church win n the fire started. At the time that the Are <>n the Andrews building was at its height and w hen the fire boys w ere doing all In their power to bring it under con? trol another fire was discovered ju^t across the railroad on Manning Ave? nue, This time the fire was at the aouse of a neuro woman n imed Netty Gass, There wa re a large number of small negro houses all around the building and it looked for a while as if tin-re was to be a big conflagration. However, enough of the hose was taken up from the ground at the An Irews tire where it was in use and carried over to where the new lire was burning. Tin- hoUse was only a small one ami was about burned down when the water was turned on, but the work of the fire department nipped in the bu.l the chance for a greater fire by putting out two of ihe neighboring houses which had caught ami then the bouse which had burned down. . . The steann r worked fine at the fire and seni two good streams on for ov? er an hour, bul the two fires ?i one time sbow.d the necessity for more hose, for with every fool of hose in use the re t of the tewn was left en tlrel> to the mercy of any fire ? hieb might have sprung up, for ? would have taken so long to take up the hose and put it In the wagon and car? ry it to some other pari of the city ihn! the tire would have hod time t? ftpw id over a large area. E SOUTHRON, Established June, lMt Vol. XXXII. No. 40. QUAKES FRIGHTEN FRISCO. PANIC-STRICKEN CROWDS FEAR ANOTHER DISASTER, People Leave Beslness Places and Larger Buildings, Seeking Safety in Streets?Shocks Heaviest Since Great Earthquake of 190??Trem? ors Extend to Other Parts of Cali? fornia and Nevada, but Only Triv? ial Damage Reported Vom Any Point. San Francisco, J\ . i Two earth? quake shock.-?, th > .est since the bis shake of 1 jf id separated by only a few s' ^. jarred the central portion of rnia and Western Nevada _ & The first sharp shock exper' * at 2:'01 o'clock, was fol low v ain a few seconds by one of h r intensity, each lasting about five seconds. Only trival damage has been re? ported from any section, but in San Francisco and other cities in the af? fected area as panic seized upon crowds in stores and restraurants and there was a pell-mell exodus from the larger buildirgs. One feature of the earthquake was that it did not appear to follow the old "fault" in the earth's crust, which has been the playground of tremors in the past, but extended from the seacoast, eastward. It was felt to the northward of Sacramento and Includ? ed hitherto exempt territories. Some slight damage was done to buildings In San Francisco. Heavy stones In the cornice of the Me? chanics* Bank building were mo"ed slightly out of alignment, superficial cracks were made in several large of? fice buildings, cornices of the new postoffice building were disarranged and minor damage was done to the interior walls of a number of other buildings. Within a few seconds after the j first shock many down-town buildings were depopulated in a rush to the streets. Telephone and telegraph service was suspended by the oper? ators during the shocks. On? woman I fell dead of fright and several be? came hysterical. Santa Rosa, which suffered the greater disaster in proportion to its size than did San Francisco in the catastrophe of 1906, scarcely felt to j day's shock. j San Jose, another heavy sufferer |s 1906, reported that the shock to? day was the severest experienced since ; that time, but ft did no serious dam? age. Stockton and Frensno people i were frightened by the jarring, but there all public buildings were de? serted in a trice. The damage at thi3 point was trifling. j At Reno the quake was scarcely felt. The Federal Court was in ses? sion in the Nevada Capital and Judge, I jury and attorneys rushed to the I street. j At the Santa Tiara College Obser | VStory both reels were thrown off I the seismeograph, and although 1m ' mediately replaced, the record was I not marked. I The deep booming reverbreation, which usually marks disturbances of a widespread < harncter, accompanied i the first tremor, in San Pr?natal so the j groaning and ? racking of the steel j structures played ft largo pan in i frightening people than did the tre mors. AGED NEGRO PARDONED. I Columbia. July 3.?On a showing j made by a petition supported by statements from Judge Beans and Solicitor Bonham, Gtov. Blease today pardoned an aged Anderson County negro found to have been wrongly con? victed of forgery. The ease was called to public attention recently by the Hel? ton Times. The check in question was shown to have been received and cashed by a white man instead of the old negro. The maker of the cheek was L. O, (Min-scales and the money was intended, as shown by the endorsement on the face of the check, "For Preacher." In a speech yesterday at Summer land Springs, Lexington County, Jno. B. Swearingen, State Superintendent of Education, de< i t d lie was not a candidate for Governor and did not expect to run for that office. He die cussed the text-book Adoption also. Congressman Byrnes delivered an ad? dress, About one thousand persons were preaent from Lexington and Be? lli da Counties, l ive Krt* of Twins In H Ycar?.. Gulfport, Miss, lune ft.- The a'orld'a record Is believed to have I.n broken bj Mrs. Plfarlo'a fifth set of twins In eight years. Her bus hand weighs only pounda All the < hlldren are living.