Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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CJit^latt^Kaiai? Stroit Published Wednesday and Saturday ?BY? OSTKfiN PUBLISHING COMPANY S?M12ER, S. C. Terms: 91.50 per ammo?in advance. Advertisements. One Square first insertion ,. ..$1.09 Every subsequent insertion.5u Contracts for three months, or longer will be made at reduced rates. All communications which sub serve private interests will be charged for as advertisements. Obituaries and tributes of respect urill be charged for. The Sumter Watchman was found er in 1S50 and the Trur Southron n W66; The Watchman a.id Sout^ro: now has the combined circulation am influence of both of the old paper. and is manifestly the best advertis. ? medium in Sumter._ OIL FROM COAL. The gasoline supply, as everyborty in the business admits, is getting to be a problem. There is still enough gasoline to fill the demand, at fairly reasonable prices. But the use of this explosive fluid is increasing so enor mously and the aavilable petroleum stores are decreasing at such a rate that in a few years there is pret;> sure to be a serious dearth?unlessi new sources of raw material are dis covered. It is commonly said that the mx. source of supply will be the oil-bear ing shales, of which there are vast deposits in some sections of the coun try. The exploitation of this re source has already begun. It is si-n ply a process of pressing the crude . oil out of the shale and then refin ing it in the usual way. Xow, however, a new resource is hinted at that few people have giv en any thought to. It is coai, es- j pecially the kinds of coal that are of j little value when used as fuel in thef ordinary way. Chief among these is the sub-bituminous variety known as lignite?a soft, brown coal, about half way between peat and the or dinary soft coal. It is full of water when dug, and crumbles when dried Heretofore it has been thought Oi chiefly as a source of gas and "bri quettes." Recently the United States Geo logical survey has been experimenting with lignite mined near lone, Cali fornia, to see if it would not yield oi on "destructive distillation." Tht \ tests show that "he coal is remark- j ably "fat." and actually gives 62 gal j Ions of oil to the ton, along with cer ) tain valuable by-products. The cost of the process is not giv ! en. The department seems eonvinc j ed, however, ./that it will be pra<-1 ticable before long to develop it on a j commercial scale. The importance of this discovery j may be seen from the fact that the] greatest coal deposits in the United States are the lignite veins in North Dakota and Montana, which contain billions upon billions of tons of such coal, easily accessible and as yet scarcely touched. If oil can be got out of that fuel as it has been in the California tests, there need be no fear! of a lack of mot.ve power for auto mobiles, trucks, tractors, motorboats, I airplanes and sationary gas engines for generations to come. I PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE. The assurance of early independ ence, given to the Philippine mis sion at Washington, represents of course no new policy or sudden chant; ? of opinion on the part of the United States. Repeatedly, by executive statement and by resolution of congress, in both Republican and Democratic ad ministrations, it has been declared that the United States never had any intention of keeping the Filipinos in subjection and that the only purpose behind the authority exercised over them by the United States was to train them for political independ ence; That purpose was given formal ex pression in connection with the act of August 29. 1916. which created the Filipino congress and placed the is lands on about the same plane of self government as that of Canada with relation to Great Britain. That act contained the following preamble: "Whereas. It was never the inten tion of the people of the United States in the incipiency of the war with Spain to make it a war of conquest for .territorial aggrandizement; and "Whereas. It has always been the purpose of the people of the United States to withdraw their sovereignty over the Philippine Islands and to recognizes their independence as soon a.s a stable government van be es tablished therein: and "Whereas. For the speedy accom plishment of such purpose it is de sirable to place in the hands of the people of the Philippines as Luge a control of their domestic affairs as can be given them without, in the meantime, impairing the exercise of the rights of sovereignty by the peo ple of the United States, in order that, by the us and exercise of pop ular franchise and governmental pow ers, they may be the better prepared to fully assume the responsibilities' and enjoy a'l the privileges of com plete independence." It is hardly conceivable that tlos policy, so explicitly declared, would have been repudiated under any cir cumstances. The United States is not a pledge-breaker. The only ques tion has been, and is. whether the Fil I ipinos are yet ready for independence. {President Wilson evidently thinks ? they are. or will be by the time Amer i -can authority in the islands can be wound up and the necessary steps taken to set them free. There is no question that the Filipinos have made ! much progress in the last few years. _a , i : LANE AND HIS SOLDIER FARMS. i _ j There is one man who. however he i may fee] the importanc of questions j now pressing in Europe, has allowed j neither his .anxiety nor his curiosity ? to interfere with faithful attention to his job at home. Thr.? man is Frank lin K. Lane. Mr. Lane has been perfecting his scheme for soldier farms, and has a j plain, practical, workable outline, j Included in tne plan for furnishing the and is a provision for the first j necessary buildings and for breaking enough land to enable the man to start his planting at once without the discouraging delays incident to most pioneer farming. After the first stain [ the work is up to the man himself. [The only repayment demanded is for i the buildings and the cost of getting j the land ready, and that on long time and easy installments. ; There should be no objection to ! Mr. Lane's plan. He contemplates [ purchasing land in every part of the country, so he is entirely free from the suspicion of regional favoritism. lie has recognized the crying necessity for providing real opportunities for the men returning from Europe. He proposes turning to productiveness' great areas now unproductive bec\us i j they are too wet or too dry or need clearing. And more than all. he has formed a concrete plan of campaign. We have had so much of high flown declamation, and so little con structive suggestion that when a man presents a living cause and a practical plan together he deserves support. SPAIN WANTS! IN. One of the most significant events touchim? the League of Nations of late has been the step taken by the Spanish government. King Alfonso, -hrough the Spanish ambassador at Paris, has notified President Wilson 'hat Spain is pleased with the plan as it has been developed so far, ant: "is happy to bo able to give its ad hesicn to this covenant so far as the essentials are concerned." Its ap proval is based on the expectation the new draft in process of preparation ?'will not be changed in its genera outlines." This action was taken as a cons * quence of meetings of the feprescnta lives of neutral governments in Paris on invitation of the committee. th;r drafted the document, at which th? various articb s were thoroughly dis cussed and explained. The Spanish government professes its pleasure tit the statement of l^ord Robert Cecil the British delegate who has had much to do with, the plan, to the ef fect that the allied government! would welcome into the League ot Nations all the neutral countries rep resented at those meetings. It is a cause for satisfaction that [Spain, the largesf of European neu trals, and in many respects the mo;-: important neutral State in the world i should be the first to seek member j ship in the League. Many other neu i trais are said to have shown them selves friendly to the idea, and it is expected that before long nearly all of them will have followed Spain's example. Such a development is. of course, highly desirable, and necessary to the full success of the plan. ?lf the League were confined to the prcs?n; Allies and the nations aligned will them, it would fail of its purpose. GERMAN CANNON. j _i_ Seventy-seven captured Germ tn J camion have arrived in this country ! and are to be exhibited all over the I United States during the Victory Loan i ; campaign. i The patrioti ' people of the United ! Slates do not have to see German S guns to induce them to finance dth ? er war or peace for the good of (heir [country- Still, there will be no heart j [..but will experience its thrill of pride if the owner of i: can say truly to ? himself as he gazes on the silent ; monsters: '*] too helped to silence them, and l have given freely that j they may be kept silent in years to CLEAN AND BEAUTIFY. Not only the rake and the bonfire should be the weapons in the clean-! un campaigns. Paint and white wash, flower seeds, hammer and nails j all should come into play; for the "leaning operation should be a beau-J idying one as well. There is health in e'ean!'lu.'^x but here ?s happiness and pride \v\ beau ry, and the ash pile which turns ::<v a nasturtium bed is an influence in lehne jiff not to be lightly esteemed. j To make needed repairs to build j ings and fences, public and private. {is a step in the right direction, but ' the addition of a little paint is a j whole line of march. [ It is no unusual thing for civic gov ernments to purchase needed food j supplies in quantity in hard times. [and sell them to the citizens. Why I :iot lake up the cleaning and beau tifying process on the same plan, so that not only Main Street and 'irst Avenue may have the moral ind physical stimulus of improve ment, but the back alley which needs it far more may pro/it also? "For the gods see everywhere." ?'RED" MONEY. If money is any criterion, the Bol shevik regime is rolling in wealth. The Soviet workingmen are paid big wages. But how much good that does them may be inferred from thei following facts: Last month beef was selling in j Moscow for $42.50 a pound and pork! and lard for $65 a pound. Bread was' $15 to $23 a pound, and poor stuff at that. Potatoes were $1.50 apiece. Butter was $85 to $100 a pound, and sugar about the same. The result was that the working man, no matter how big a "wad" he had in his pocket, could hardly buy enough to eat. Other necessaries of :Ce were nearly as prohibitive. The ituatlon is said to be no better today; Thfs is due only, in part to the scar ?ity of food. The main cause is the ?ncrmous inflation of Russian cur ency by the Lenine government. Gold tnd silver disappeared from circula tion long ago. These prices repre sent the paper currency printed by the Bolshevik presses. The way the country has been flooded with this cheap paper probably has no parallel except in the paper currency issued a few years ago by Mexican revolu tionary governments. Count ilya Tolstoy, the son of Le: Toltsy says: "Everybody has lots oi aoney. The Polsheviki shin it or. Vom the cities In shorts as big as be< heets. All a man hes to do to mak money is to cut it apart. The Bplshe viki print the sheets, but they are to busy to cut them apart." All of which sheds new li.uht o: Bolshevik economics and finances The only possible outcome of such a "maneial policy is economic ruin. Many Slovaks Starve Bitter Misery and Despair Pre vailed in Czecho- Slovakia Paris. March IS (Correspondence ? The Associated Press)?Utter mis ry. starvation and despair prevailed n the new republic of Czecho-Slova kia before the allied governments be <ran to ship food supplies to that country in the latter part of Febru i ry. It is not known here whether this situation has been relieved to any large extent but large shipments of flour, milk and other supplies have since been forwarded to Prague and additional foodstuffs were in Triest awaiting transportation to the Czecho Slovaks. An appeal by Dr. Alice G. Masaryk. laughter of President Masaryk, and head of the Czecho-Slovak Red Cross, written on February 20. pictures the conditions in her country as a ter r bic on'-. American. British and French authorities ore endeavoring to respond. It is stated that, unless help ar rived quickly, a million children under six years were doomed to die; that '.000,000 children up to 14 years were weak from underfeeding and that the mortality among the old and feeble was appalling. Separated from the allied terri :ories on thro.- sides by Germany and Yustria. the ('echo-Slovak republic was, even before it's birth, ruthlessly imi systematically denuded by the Austrians of all foodstuffs and sup plies. When hostilities were suspend ed, there was in Czecho-Slovakia no corn, meat, clothing or medicines, "he scanty weekly ration of a pound of flour to each person in Prague, the capital, ceased on February 20. j Two-thirds of the cattle and pigs of the country already have been slaugh-j tcred and tin.' lack of fat is extreme.; The supply of milk was only ore thirtieth of normal. More than SO per cent of the babies of Prague! were rachitie. anaemic or consump tive. More than half the patients in j the children's hospital died of con sumption. I In the mining districts the position! as reported here, is still worse. At Kladno. 116 of the 165 babies born in 1918 died of consumption. Births ?hroughout the country have decreas ed otv-ha'f ind deaths have increased 50 per cent. j Almshouses, maternity hospitals; and other charitable institutions can no longer feed their inmates. Nine teen per cent of the infants und**r i ne year in Pilsen, the formerly lourishing city of breweries and arse-j sal workers died las; year from hole <? w.n Prices Of household commodities have risen 700 to S00 !?. r cent while wages have increased 200 to 300 per cent. Clothing costs n times more than formerly and * win;,' cotton !?- !00 tine s dearer than ' efore the war. (These reports show ihat Professor Thomas Masaryk. ?he ijr. t president of the new Czecho slovak republic, who went from N'ew York last winter to assume his dn t'OS. fees a h: r< u'< .-.n task. Wri - ing to Lady Muriel Paget on February 10. the president's daughter told her. ?v.-p..,. he heped you would v>mc. Do come and help us.") Lady Paget h-1 obtained from the French 'Y' CIS) Cw^?^ AtiiC? 00IT0N10 FERTILIZER MEROHINTS If vou have cotton to sell, see us, it v/ill pay you. s If you have fertilizer or fertilizer materials to .buy it will pay you to see us before you buy, Cash or approved collateral. 9 West Liberty Street i [government, 10 trucks which tlv American tied Cross has tilled with ! medical supplies fcr the Czecho-Sio vaks. and plans to take To Bohemia 20 ions of rice. Recent information. ! however, slates that freight traffic ! to Bohemia is disorganized and the [ fear is expressed that the Austrian I threat. "if we are to lose Bohemia. I we shall lose her as a corpse," may become a terrible reality. i Profesor Masaryk was in the United States in October last when he was elected president of the new repuolic of Czecho-Slovakia. On re ! ceiving the notice of his election he went to Prague and was inaugurated president late in December. In the latter part of March it was reported that he had resigned, but this was ; officially denied by the Czecho-Slovnk 'Mission in "Washington. Newsboy Wanted Picture Printed. - ?*Kls picture in the paper was the I neentive which inspired a small icwsboy of Nashville, Tennessee, to rrnmzc the newboys of the State to I buy bonds of the Fourth Liberty I Loan. He was standing at the pub | icity chairman's desk watching her w?m;- the Sunday news and (????mpsJe the photographs of prominent Lib t erty Loan workers of the State. He said to the chairman. '"If I buy a bond can I get my picture in?" She I assured him that the purchase of a I bond would produce the desired i*e ! suit, and suggested that he buy one on ! the installment plan. He rushed <.\M ; of the ctnoe immediately, came oacii I with five dollars and a friend who also desired a kind word from the press. When the picture was pub ; Itched the small newsie became cue of the most enthusiastic loan workers of Tennessee. He aided the woman's committee in organizing the news boys of the State who bought $200. 000 worth of bonds, with no individ ual subscription over $100. President Visits Queen Official Gail Mads on Queen of Roumania Mrs. Wilson and Rear Admiral Gray son called upon Queen Marie of Roumania. at her temporary residence here before this morning's session of the council of four. 2.2'0 Nurses Needed for Permanent The prospect of a sustained need of 2,2H0 nurses in the permanent army establishments is seen by Surgeon General Merritt W. Ireland, U. S. A., Reviewing the experience of the American army in the World war, i Gen. Ireland, writing in the May number of the Red Cross Magazine, : says: "If the army is reduced to half a million men and we make the usual aliowt;nee for a sick list of four and pone-half per cent the army will re quire in its Nursing Corps 2.2">0 nurses in addition to the necessary enlisted tuen. At present large num j hers ol army nurses procured through the Red Cross are being re ; lieved from service with the military [ establishment. In New York and ; Newport News they find that the Red ? Cross has many opportunities for them, if they are properly equipped, to enter, or to re-enter, public health I work. The numbers available even now. 1 am told, are hardly adequate * for the demand already existing. And; ! the demand is certain to increase as; . rapidly as our civilian population be- j i comes educated to the need of the: I public health nurse, as rapidly as It j comes to appreciate how large a proportion of our young men failed to qualify physically in the draft.! largely because of defects due to the ' lack of proper and adequate com munity health provisions, and in cth- : er directions." ,: Army. Revolt Against Soviet Copenhagen, April 10.?Dispatches from Kissingen report that citizens and officials of Wuerzburg have struck against the Bavarian soviet republic and the town is now in the hands of government troops. ( apt. J. W. Llkin, of Columbia, who is visiting his son. Rev. J. W. Elkin, Oswego, spent the morning in the city, and paid this office a visit. Capt. Elkin and Mr. N. G. Osteen are probably the oldest printers in the State, and both worked in the Daily [Carolinian office in Columbia during : the War Between the States when that paper was owned by Dr. R. W. \ Gibbes and later by F. G. de Fontaine, Henry Timrod and others. Road and Poll Tax Notice. Road and Poll taxes due to the County of S?mter for 1918, are now payable at my office in the Court House; or to the Rural Policemen. !The Treasurer is required to issue [warrants for the arrest of persons jliable for these taxes, unless payment 1 is made as above stated. All men between 21 and 60 years j old. are liable for Poll tax. All men I between 21 and 50 years, unless ex ; empt by law, are liable also for Road Tax; except those who live in towns, and pay Street Tax. This applies to those who did not make returns, as well as those whose nam<-s are on the tax books. ; Prompt settlement will save trou ble and expense. C. M. HURST, Sheriff. Sumter, S. C, April 25, 1S19._ BEESWAX WANTED?Any quantity large or small Am paying best cash price. See me if you have any. N. G. Osteen._ , ? ANNOUNCING the OPENING Aetna Life Insurance Company of Hartford, Conn. We have the safest and best OLD LINE IN SURANCE/ and offer the most attractive policies 10 be had. Business solicited anywhere within the State, except in counties on the coast. We wiil be glad to show what we have to anyone in terested. Our office is located in the Shaw Motor Com pany building, corner of Hampton Avenue and Sumter Streets. ;-; of the :-: Agents of the G. W. SHAW, P. W.SHAW, Sec'y and Treas. Manager L. C. BRYAN, Assistant Mgr.