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SHIM COHGUTUUTEB. INSPEt Toll II V WHARTON s\\s MM Ml HBO mi i H improvement. Letter to Coiiiinl-vdoiier McMaster from Mr. Wlairtou and to Mr. Jen? nings fit tin Mr. Mr Muster?IVw Fires R?<ccntly. ^ Im uI I n to the fact that the ?-Ity of Sumter hag been visited by vsry few tiros recently, the people now #have cause to congratulate themselves over the fact that they axe gradually eliminating the tire risks and getting rid of those things which tend to make disastrous tires. The following letters from Mr. H. A. Wharton. deputy Insurance commis? sioner and lire Inspector, to Commis? sioner McMaster an4 from Mr. Mc Master to Mayor L D. Jennings will prove of unusual Interest to the peo? ple of Sumter. Hon. F. H. McMaster. Insurance Com? missioner. Columbia, S. C. Dear Sir. I have this date mode a careful and thorough Inspection of the buildings and premises at Sum? ter. I am delighted to be able to re? port conditions at Sumter good. Much Improvement over all former inspec? tions. I wish to congratulate the people of Sumter on the tidiness of premises. Sumter Is free from rub? bish and waste accumulation in back lota Mayor Jennings is having good work done along this line. Yours very trul/, B. A. Wharton. Deputy. July 22nd. 1M2. Columbia. July 30, 1912. Hon. L. D. Jennings, Mayor, Sumter, \S. C. Dear Sir: It is very gratifying to be able *.o enclose so favorable a re? port as Mr. Wharton has given on his inspection of buildings and premises in your city. You are certainly to be congratulated on the good work you are doing for 8umter In this re? spect. Very truly, F. H. McMaster, Insurance Commissioner. GRACE WILL SPEAK IN SPARTAN BURG. Charleston Mayor Will Speak Satur? day Night?1 cadlug Business Men or-.-nilse for Jones. Spartanburg, July 31.?Mayor John P. Grace of Charleston, who is spend? ing his vacation at Glenn Springs, to? day accepted the invitation of a com? mittee of cltisens to make an address at the opera house Saturday night on the political situation in South Caro? lina. Supporters of Gov. Blease made no secret of the fact that they in? tended to creat such an uprour that Mr. Grace could not he heard. Mayor Ol L, Johnson agreed to assign police? men to the meeting to keep order. Mr. Grace *ald he did not fear being ' howled down" a* he was accustomed to turbulent audiences. To those who attempted to dissuade him from speaking by suggesting that he might be* violently handled, he replied that he had no fears. He said he would rather speak to an audience of Bleas Ites than to one of Jones supporters since his principal purpose In speak? ing was to make votes for Judge Jones. Working men will be especial? ly Invited to the meeting, as Mayor Grace 1? familiar with their wants and needs and Is accustomed to ap ? pesl to them. An enormous audience will unquestionably attend the meet? ing. Leading business men of the city to? day formed a Jones organization ami will at once fast Ig OssVtC and estab? lish a bureau from which to distribute literature. J. T. Wtlhud. ablerman and real e?tat>- broker, will be elt> mamto-r U*d I \-S?nator K. I.. Archer will be county manager. A supply of Jones buttons was distributed Supporters of Bleuse obtained a num? ber of the buttons ?.y a subterfuge and Pfaaeatted to gtg th.-m on ne? gro. i, t \n taatyals oi BavaneaajM? u'.i? m Bleaeelem? Ws propose to discuss tills gasetloi not from the standpoint < i Bleaee's eaemles; not la the Utcht of revelations of *cr?ft that Is being I 'Heeled by hi* chief lieut? enants; le t on informal Ion recorded by UM dt tagr.ipb; n ?t through the up* of gtfffSj revealed by Bleaee's frb-nd.? and associate! wbile .bunk. \\'e win discuss it upon the basis laid down by BteaOS himself, u-nim as a text the platform which be has I lapted. as foiio\? - That he will stand bv his Ha nds though the. k? to the penitentiary; thMt he will s|?n aa commission and show no f?i\or to anv who vote against him; that he will use all the power of his oftio. to reward Ws supporters and punish bis opponents. Suppose thh whob' govaronenl 'a ? r.- run upon that prim iple" Suppose that should be the platform Of the judges who eondllet out Courts" Hueh a Judge would place the lowest p >sslb|e sentenee upon a political i i nd, ,i ui the heaviest upon those who oppoMki hin? Hi would ulwayi rul ? In favor of Uli lawyer Who voted f"' him and against the lawyer who vot? ed against him. Hi would instruct :In? juries to hud no verdlet against hli iru-nd, and the hanlaal poMlblc ver? dict against his enemy. And it <i jury should have Independence enough to disregard his laatrootiona, hi would dismiss them and order a new Jury, till ho got one made up of his friends. If they did not do his buhl ng, he would call them ?'liars.'* "Coward-"' and "guttersnipes." A solicitor on the Blease platform would MO] pros all cases against any? body who helped to elect him, and prosecute to the fullest extent, le? gally or illegally, those who, happened to vote for somebody else. A sheriff who did business on the Blease plan would not arrest a man who voted for him, and if a deputy should by mistake put one of nls friends in jail, he would turn him cut that night If he should happen to catch a man who voted for somebody else, he would put him in chains in the felon's dungeon. A county treasurer, operating his office on the Blease platform, would make no effort to collect taxes from blr frknds. If it did not suit them to pay he would never turn over toe executions to the sheriff. An auditor, doing business ig Ble tse does, would assess the property of -, U hi* political opponents as hlgo at- he could, and put that of his triMids down next to nothing. A county supervisor, working on the Blease plan, would build splendid roads in the neighborhood of those who voted for him, and would nt v er touch a road near a man who voted against him. He would openl> threat? en that if any precinct should vote against him, he would give them no more road work, but would spend all the county's money in the townships that gave him majorities. He would allow iio opponent of his to draw a cent of money from the county for any purpose, but would give everything to his political friends. He would even have men drawing salaries from the county on pretence of being de? tectives, but who would be working in the interest of his re-election. A superintendent of education, working a la Blease; would appoint no trustees unless he knew they voted for him. N'o other qualification would be considered. No teacher could get a school who did not, or whose fam? ily did not, vote for him. And the school district which did not give him a majority, would receive no favor at his bands. A magistrate, on the Blease plat? form, would dismiss every -tse brought against anybody, or an em? ployee or friend of anybody w ho voted for him. And he would send up to court or sentence to the limit of the law, all who happened to hive voted for or signed somebody else's petition. And so with every other officer, in the county, state and nafion, if this government were run on the Blease plan. Every officer would be using his of? fice to build up a powerful machine and further his own interests. We would not have a 'government of the people, by the people and for the people," but every officer WOUld try to make It a government 'of nie ami my friends, by me and my friends, and for me and my friends." We would have the kind of govern? ment that is presided over by the Sul? tan of Turkey or the Czar of Ruifthv We would be turning back in civiliza? tion a thousand years, to the lark ages, when the Vandals o\ erran hu rope and destroyed their en em lei, be* cause they had the power, We would have the same kind Of government that 'he Indians had before this Country was settled by the white man. Whan a chieftain and his friends took evt-rthlng in sight and drove his ene? mies out of the domain. Is that the kind of government the people of South Carolina want? If they do not want the whole gov? ernment run upon the Blease plan, why should they want the highest Oflies In the State so conducted'.' Suppose the principles of Dleaselsm should control every office in Houth Carolins, from Governor to rural po I teems n T Oe home and think about that.? Pee i >ee Adoente. t at Mothers Bight lints, Columbus, Ohio. July '2.'..?An ofH? etul report of tin- assistant actuury of the state liability board t*?day de? ctares he has discovered ? e;it at lh? Uoodman plant In Hamilton iiiti hni adopted neat of eight young r.its. The mother i at had ? '< en killed b> employees of the plant, Tin- report sayi the cat is mother ing the rat* juxt as if the) were her own offspring. Mr< J? Ji Rose, who ii i near rtt. Pauli has a Held oi cotton r< id) to be picked - Manning Tino v. Why Not Ask to Be a Cipher? "Oh, |n be a bridegroom," warbles the parngrapher of the Milwaukee Sen? tinel. Thai in an must be pining for oblivion. BEST NON-STANDARD FIRJ ALARM SYSTEM. By L. V, Wharton, Chief Cnion Eire Department i Unlon( 8? C, Juno 24, 1912. Mr, Chairman and Fellow Firemen: We are here assembled t? discuss the many issues In thll our eighth an? nual Firamen"i Tournament and As lOCiation, and it has been placed upon me to address you on the "liest Xon Standard Fire Alarm System." Now, Mr. Chairman, you will tind just about as many method! of giv? ing the alarm of lire as you will rind J localities and small towns and vil? lages. From the old way of the night | Watchman and day police of shooting j ofl! fire arms and in this way giving j the alarm, to the bell being tolled and the fire whistle being sounded. So it would be hard for any one to ?ay exactly what would be the best ard most effective method as you will tind just as many different opin? ions as you will lind methods of giv? ing the alarm. Hut what is meant by the best alarm system is the one that will prove the most effective and will give the alarm in the shortest time and get the tiremen on the spot with the very least delay, also when the alarm is given to locate the ward aitd as near as possible where the Are is that when the fireman starts out he may have some idea where and in what direction to go. Now this is simple enough to all places where they have a standard alarm, but it is where this standard alarm system is not in use that I am to deal with. Now, according to my way of thinking, we have a pretty good sys? tem in our town, Union, and 1 will tell you of this, and then say in what manner I think it could be improved upon. The alarm is sent in from near the place where the tire starts or by whoever first discovers the fire and they call up the lire house and tell the driver just where the fire is and enables him to know exactly his destination before leaving the fire house and then we have a private connection with the water works by which the driver pulls a lever and that rings a gong at the water works and as we only have four wards it shows to the man on duty at the water plant in what ward, and then he in turn sounds the fire alarm by means of the whistle and he blows the whistle to indicate exactly what ward and that gives the general alarm and in that way gives the pub? lic as well as the fireman that 13 not at the fire house in what v ard the fire is in. Now the only trouble with this Is owing to some misinformation given by a telephone central down in Geor? gia. The telephone company was sued and found liable for this Wrong information, and they will not give [any information at all concerning the location Of a lire and some private Individual has to call up the fire de? partment and tell them, when this could be avoided if the telephone central could be allowed to give this Information. So i think wlo-re there is located a telephone exchange it should be obligatory on them to ring in the fire alarm and should be laid down as one of the conditions that they get their charter upon. Say. let the indi? vidual, whoever he may be. call up the telephone central anl tell them to ring in the alarm, for Mr. Sc id !o'e house is afire, and then they call up the lire department and the water works and tell them the Information they have com . thing the lire and also they should call up the chief and the other tiremen and tell them where the Are is. Now I do not mean by this that the telephone should answer all questions asked at these times, but if properly handled there is no reason that within five minutes after a fire is discovered the alarm could not be given and the tiremen on their way to the scene of action, It is a great pity that when the alarm of tire is given it could not be given to the tiremen alone and not t., the public for you seldom have a lire, in a small town especially, that the firemen are not hampered by the public getting in the way and in their efforts to help and be of some as? sistance detard the proficiency of the real tire fighters. And then you will Und always among this crowd the town knockers, men who never do anything themselves and never see an\ thing good in their town or any one who lives in It?thoy will surely b,- at ail tins and can tell you ex? actly h ?w it caught ami. if Insured, why it caught, and they will stand around in the way and give advice In each fireman, and especially the chief, ami if he falls to do ;is advised he win come in for sharp criticism. This is what the firemen have to con? tend with when the general alarm Is sounded, N..W wheie \oii have no standard alarm I can think of no way in which the alarm of tire can be giv? en without a public alarm and one thai will itirely bring the old crowd it round. To h.iv?- tin.- alarm sent by the tele phone central would In my opinion be tiu- quickest way. hut until an ar? rangement could be effected between the telephone company and the places where the centrals are located that would bring around the desired ef? fect, then the next and only way left to give the alarm with as little delay a:s possible li to adopt the sys? tem n<>w used by, as I said before, the town of Union, where the party giving the alarm calls up the tire de? partment and tells them of the Are and they then call up the water works by means of either phone or by the private wire connected to a gong at the water plant and tell them to send in the alarm and give them the ward. The reason for notifying the lire de? partment first and having the alarm sent in afterwards is to enable the firemen to get their wagon on the ground before the crowd begins to gather and run the risk of running over some one. Now the places too small to have a telephone central would not likely have a tire department any way, and the only places we can deal with is the towns that have a volunteer fire company. The other places m jst be left alone to work out their own methods as best they can and which the most effective methods and the one most employed is by a general halioing and giving the alarm of fire by calling out in a very loud tone the one awful word "fire." This one word goes farther to stir a man to action than any other, and the man that can stand idle and hold his hands when he hears that awful cry of fire is a freak in the way of man? hood surely. Now Mr. Chairman and fellow fire? men I might have made this consid? erably shorter and have answered the purpose just as well it I had only said the best Non-Fire Alarm System is the system that each and every fire department can employ to get them on the ground the quickest for it is not in the peculiar system or method employed if by whistle, bell or other? wise that the alarm is sent in, but the object is to get the real fire fight? ers on the ground at the earliest time possible and as 1 before said it makes no difference what system or method is in use for what would suit best at one place would be found in? effective at others and the kind of ap? paratus you are going to use and the methods used in getting to the fire all have to be counted on and taking all into consideration it would be very hard to say what would be the very best system for what would suit one town and one location might not prove to be the very best in another. Hut one system that would suit all is practice in getting the alarm sent In and getting the company out not wait only when you have a fire, but 1 really think we should have the alarm sent in and practice in getting out and in that way we can detect the defects in the method employed and improve on :t. If this was done and the time calculated on each time that: the alarm was sent in from the time it was first sent in and the time the company would have been ready to put a stream of water on the fire and studied out you would lind that many Improvements would be made. It WOUld be that the real test of each system would come, but as it is no one pays any attention to anything but getting there and does not know whether the situation had been sys? tematically handled or not. The one great trouble is that these thil ? are never tried out until too late, and the advantage that you brothers have in a large town and cities is that you get more practice and thereby have more system but do not think that the rest of us envy one bit of your training for I assure you that there is not a man in this hall that would not be perfectly wil? ling for you to have all of the prac? tice and that the only practice that we of tho smaller towns want is the practice for the tournament. In conclusion i thank you all for the honor you have bestowed upon me in selecting me for this duty and for tiie respectful hearing you have given me. Ami acre is to the perpetuation of our association ami for the better methods for dealing with each ques? tion US well as each tire that may fall to our lots to deal with in the fu t are. Ami may this meeting prove to bind us more closely together ami bu tlu means of helping each ami every one of us to he better suited tor the duties d "olved upon us. And again thanking you one ami all for your attention. 1 am, etc. No Satiety of Knowledge. We see in all other pleasures there Is BAtlety, and after they be used their verdure departeth . . . Ihn of knowledge there is no satiety; satis? faction and appetite are perpetually Interchangeable and therefore it np? Bcareth to be good in Itself simply Without fallacy or accident?Francis Bacon. ABIG FAMILY RE-UNION. l\ rtj Member* of Purroi I Famil) Held Held Re-union at Mr, U I. Parrott's Farm Wednesday. Wednesday Mrs. Bather P. Parrott, i" rlaekell street, held a reunion of her descendants at Mr. L I. Parrott'i fa several miles west of town. There were forty-one in the gath? ering of sons and grandsons and granddaughters at the big reunion which v as held, and ?.t that eight o' Mrs. Parrott's descendants were ab? sent, being unable to attend for va? rious reasons. The party was treated to a big din? ner by Mr. L. 1. Parrott and the re? union was in every way a most en joyable event. A peculiar circum? stance connected with the reunion was that all of Mrs. Parrott's six sons were present, of these six, three of them are candidates for public office, one for clerk of court of Darlington, one for sheriff of Darlington county and one f ?r clerk of court of this county. THE NECESSITY OF INTER CHANGEABLE COl PL1ngs. By T. O. S. Dibble. Chief Orangebiug Fire Department. The great strides now being made in our State in all branches of in? dustry, the increased population of cities, towns and villages, the accu? mulation of wealth and consequent enhancement of values on all sides, especially in manufacturing and com? mercial districts, together with the general prosperity of our people is a source of gratification to all Caroli? nians. Fach citizen has his part to perform in the up-build of our be? loved State and "by their fruits ye shall know them." In the front ranks of those who have contributed in a very large de? gree to conditions above mentioned are the Firemen of South Carolina. Always on duty, night and day, win? ter and summer, rain and sunshine, they stand as a solid phalanx when destruction threatens the lives and property of their fellow citizens. By their brave and prompt response to the call of duty millions of property are annually saved from the devour? ing elements and valuable lives; pre? served. Without them prosperity would be short lived and instead want and distress would prevail. Uneasy would be the sleep of our citizens did they not know that one cry of "Fire" or one tap of the bell brings imme? diate assistance when life, home or other property is about to be given as a prey to the relentless flames. There? fore it is essentially necessary that our firemen be supplied with modern and up-to-date equipment and appa? ratus with which to successfully com? bat our common enemy. To me has been assigned the dis? cussion ( f a very necessary addition to the equipment of all fire depart? ments; namely, The necessity of in? terchangeable ouplings. Unfortunately our cities and towns when Installing water works and later on fire hose seldom give any thought to the thread of their hydrant and hose connections leaving that detail with the manufacturers from whom they purchase, failing to remember that at some future day they may be called upon to help some neighboring tjbwn or may themselves need assist? ance, then, at very great cost to property holders the failure of out? side help to make connection owing to difference in thread is very appar? ent. In order to avoid this very unfor? tunate condition of affairs an inter? changeable coupling, one side of which Corresponds to thread Of local de? partment and other side to that of neighboring city, should be part of equipment of all towns and cities. With tins coupling there is no trou? ble in making immediate connection when necessary. No lire chief can tell when he may have to call lor help from his neigh? bors; most of us ate Inadequately equipped to battle with conflagration and when aid is called for we want to be in position to use them, but if they cannot couple up their coming is in vain. Prom the above, the necessity of interchangeable coupling is very clear wlore neighboring towns have not the .same hose connections and the department is very deficient in equip? ment without them, it is to my mind very essential that Fire Chief? in ad [jacent towns at once adjust these I differences of couplings where neces Isary and by this means be in position to aid each otln r when trouble <?. mes. Has Made Good llready. Spartanburg Journal. if Underwood makes a safe and good leader In the house, the man will have to possess gome running qualities to get ahead of him in l?16. There ire tire,' Kinds o( poll tlclans those who have offices, those win. want offices, and thus,, whe \\..uld take any Office they COUld get. Wilmington star. HoWs rOTTO.N o| i :..h POXT8. onditioii ?* i I*' i ?" 1?' ?;i 11.5 .In!) 24. N? v Vork July 31.?Bum ?1 ?n the report of 1,8(3 special cotrespondentl i' tu.- Journal oi Commerce and 'ommerclal Bulletin, of average data July |4, that pi par r/Ui tomorrow make the condition of cotton 77.5, against 81.3 <> m nth ago. or a decline of 3 I points. Tins comparej writ! 89.*; u year ago. . 7:.!< in Itlt, .it thlf time, and 7:5.1 inf l ?et. ah states showed deterioration with the exc eption of Missouri; North Car? olina losing 1 polnta, South Carolina ti 7 polnta, Georgia 3.2 point.- Alabama, t.l polnta, Mississippi l.l points, Lou- i lalana 1.1 ponte, Tema t.4 points, Ar kanaai 0.8 points. Tennessee 6 points and Oaklahoma o polnta. Condition! by States, with compari sna, follows: 1912 1911 1910 190? Aug. July A No Car.. . .82.0 86.0 87.4 74.3 75.7 So Car. . . .7H.3 83.0 82.1 71.3 77.0 Georgia.. . .71.7 74.9 91.0 68.4 78.7 Florida.74,f 7.'.0 92.0 66.2 83.0 Alabama. . ..73.4 7?.5 92.3 72.4 69.0 Miss. 71.7 73.0 82.6 69.2 64.8., Louisiana . . .74.7 7.1.0 77.2 66.3 64.t\ Teas.83.1 86.5 87.4 80.9 70.3 Arkansas . . .77.7 78.5 90.6 74.5 78.0 Tenn.73.0 79.0 91.1 73.7 76.4 Missouri. . .75.0 73.2 87.2 78.2 85.0 Oklahoma . .79.3 85.3 8S.J 87.7 82.5 Aerage. . . .77.5 81.3 86.) 74.9 73.1 Conditions have generali:' been un-^ satisfactory throughout the belt. With the exception of Texas and Oklahoma> all States sustained more or less injury from excessive rain. Considerable grass resulted, and insects have been active. Boll weevils are becoming numer-j 0U8 In Mississippi and Louisiana and the army worm was working in South Carolina and Alabama, while in Okla? homa and Arknasas the web worms were very numerous. The plant is generally small, but healthy. and wel pointed. Except^ where grass has taken possession of fields, cultivation is good and the plant healthy, and well pointed. Except three weeks backward, as a rule. In Texds the chief causes of deterio? ration are drought and high tempera? tures, and since the date of these re? ports, July 24. no relief has been'af^J forded, but the plant Is generally in such good condition that it is thought it may withstand the drought. Dark Corner News Jottings. i Dark Corner, July 30.?It's hot and pretty dry in this corner at this time. A good shower of rain would be very acceptable just now. Tbe corn crop is needing rain, but cot? ton is doing fairly well yet. We had some nights last week as hot as I ^ most ever felt. There Is no fever here as yet that I have heard of, but there has been lots of fever around Pinewood. Mr. Joe EL Griffin had eight down at one time last week. Mr. H. F. SUekhousc had four and Mr. O. D. I Eiarvtn and son had the lever la?t Friday. Mrs. W. It. Lackey and Mrs. A. S. Weeks of this place have been sick, but are better. Mrs. EL C. Scott, of Brogdon. was on a visit to relatives here last Sa*-4| urday. f Mr. and Mrs. Lee Geddings, of Pinewood. visited at Elml ill last Sun? day. J. T. Childers visited 1 is brother in-law. Joe H Geddings, at Pine? wood last Sunday. Mr. and Mrs. Joe H. Geddings), of ^ Pinewood. made a call on W. J Ardis at Klmhill hist Saturday even? ing. Well, tin- political pot lias begun to simmer a little in this corner, but it is not boiling yet and would to God it was cool all over 'he State. 1 told the late Col. J. lb Graham once that when they got to having civilized state meetings that l erould attend the campaign meetings, but i have never attended one yet ami l thina they get farther from being civilized than ever. i am really ashamed of, niesen. Jones. Evans and all of those mud Stingers. What is our State c?>m Ing to? The way the candidates get along is a shame ami how much bet? tor are things ov.>r la Georgia? I can say 1 have never raised my hand to strike a woman and if 1 ever should so far forget myself to do so. i hope r.od win paralyse my arm and let m<' ever go with the si^n. He tried to strike a woman." Sticking out. "Hard Time- " Hcaih of \n Infant Mayosvtlle Aug. l.?Man Eleanor the fourteen months old daughter el Mr. and Mrs s. w Pringle, died this afternoon about 2.30 o'clock, after an Illness of several Weeks, The funeral services will be held tomorrow morn* ing .it ib.- residence and interment made in tin Moves* lie cemetery. The grief-stricken parents have the heart? felt sympathy of their many friendi in the l ?<s of th< Ir youngest child.