Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER I, 1909. Tt.s Sumter Watchman was found ad la I860 aad the True Southron in lit*. The Watchman and Southron low hae the combined circulation and Influence of both of the old papers, and le manifestly ths best advertising Ilium In Sumter. liAW AS TO SIGNBOARDS. I Last Kaaalre? That All Public Bonds shall Bo Pouted. There has been some discussion In several newspapers lately as to the law requiring the public roads to be posted with signboards at all forks or crossings. The law Is very clear but It 4? not generally enforced. Fol? lowing is the law on the subject "Sec. 448. Any person or persons who shall cut down, burn or deface any mile post or stone, erected by the county commissioners or county supervisor of any county, he, she or fhey. dpon conviction thereof shall forfeit sod pay the sum of ten dol? lars, to be recovered by idlctment or information before any court of com? petent Jurisdiction. "Sec 447. If any person shall wil? fully demolish, throw down, alter, or deface any guide-post, every person SO offending shall, upon conviction thereof before any magistrate of the proper county be fined In a sum of not esceedin* ten dollar* and the cost of seat, or be sentenced to labor on the public works of the county for a term of not saere than thirty days, and the money when collected, ?hall be by the magistrate collecting the same, paid over to the county trees "gee. 44$. The county board of ?oomsasssloners of any county neglect tn? W cause 'the public highways In their county to be posted and num? bered and to have pointers erected at each fork of said highways declaring the direction of such highways shall be liable to pay the sum or ten dollars for each and every said neglect, to he recovered by Indictment In the court of general sessions of the county within which the same occurs, to be collected end paid to the treasurer of tuch county for the use of the county. Provided, That no county commis? sioner Shall be liable to said'penalty who eh ?n put said pointer at such times sm he shall have his division of roads worked." The civil ooe'e of South Carolina has also a section bearing upon this which gives the county commissioner authority to erect such sign boards ant ch wge the cost to the county, anil the neglect of thla can be con? strued by ths public to mean. that they are Indifferent to the conveni? ence of the public. The section is ss follows ' Sac. 1.98T. Bach, road overseer within his district may erect and keep up, at the espense of the county, at the forks and cress roads a post and guide-board, or finger board, contain? ing an inscription In legible letters, directing the way and distance to the town or towns, or public places, situated on eech road respectively." Bpurtanhtirg Journal. Canned More IVaehes Tills Season TTmm Any Other tannery In Georgia. Mr. Frank Bouse, manager of the Augusta I snning factory, reports thst the fsctory la doing a most successful s> business Since It has been stabllsh ed a short while ago. the factory has put up 146.OOS cans of fruits and veg? etables. Of this amount 48.&00 cans were of peachea. This Is believed to be the record for peaches this year for Georgia canneries. A United states Inspector who re? cently visited and inspected the plant pronoun ! ,t the most up-to-date In the State The factory is equipped wlh the lateat machinery. One of the machines being uaed haa been patent? ed only ten months This Is a ma? chine for sealing cans without \he use of acid or aolder. The potato ?eason will will open In about thirty day a and the factory ex? pects to can a great amount of them. <? Augusta Herald. "Spartanburg has voted down a bond issue for good roads allowed its note given the C, C. & O. railroad to go to protest, seen Its police de? partment disgraced, and permitted its Chamber of commerce to die. It takes a mighty good town to stand that punching Hut it is nevertheless the best yet in this part of the country." The MeraM. from which this com? ment is taken, neglected to include Ita Ill-fated ball team.?Greenville Nsws. Mrs. Mary Sophia Fa rbanks. daughter of Dr. Charles Cotton, who. as a aurgeou on the Hornet, a United States ahlp. in the war of 1S12. re? ceived a testimonial from the ItritUh government for gdg treatment of 31 English ambus after the battle be Ifjggg the Hornet ami the British sloop of war Peacock, died In Hrook ? am Farmers' Union News ?AND ? Practical Thoughts for Practical Farmers (Conducted by E. W. Dabbs, President Farmers' Union of S unit er County.) The Watchman and Southron having decided to double its service by semi-weekly publication, would Improve that service by special features. The first to be inaugurated is this Department for the Farmers* Union and Practical Farmers which I have been requested to conduct. It will be my aim to give the Union news and official calls of the Union. To that end officers, and members of the Unlen are requested to use these columns. Also to publish such clippings from the agricultural papers and Govern? ment Bulletins as I think will be of practical benefit to our readers. Ori? ginal articles by any of our readers telling of their successes or failures will be appreciated and published. Trusting this Department will be of mutual benefit to all concerned, THE EDITOR. All communications for tl Is Department should be sent to E. W. Dabbs. Mayesvllle, S. C. NOTICE. . Members County Union will please bear in mind the Sept. 3rd meeting at i Oswego. I have a card from Dr. S. C. Mitchell from Lake George. N. Y., promising to be with us that day to deliver his lecture on "Community Life.' I trust we will also have with us President Perrltt, of the State Union. > E. W. DABBS. Pres. Sumter County Union. CONOVKR KNOWS! The Farmer Has Not Time to Solve All the Problems Pressing for .solu? tion, and the Idea of Sending Train? ed Specialists to the Farm to Help Him Is One of the Best Yet Put Into Practice. The other day Dr. Hartman, from the State Agricultural Department dropped In to look us over, and be? fore he went away he promised to send Conover down. I looked In the latest bulletin 10 get Conover located, and discovered that Conover is the dairyman. The doctor gave me several suggestions as to whut might be done before Con? over would be most properly due, and when he left the place I got to think? ing along a new line. Xow. I never saw Conover. But I can understand that what we want on the farm Is Conover. and more of his kind. If Conover will not blush from be? ing singled out as an illustration, it is permissible to go on to say that he represents one type, while we who are on the farms stand for another. Con? over l as been trained along-a special line, with the benefits of the experi? ence of other persons, and he knows. Those of us who have been grubbing along depending on our own limited j experience, manage to pick up a lit? tle practical knowledge, but it is lit? tle and in thinly scattered over the whole horizon of farm work. How the Specialist Can Help the Farmer. It was a great Innovation when the State and the United States set on foot the custom of sending trained men out to give the farmers practical instruction right on the farm. A thousand things arise every season to perplex the farmer. He reads the bulletins (although many do not read them half as much as would be de? sirable) and be gets theoretical ideas of the subjects. But the trained man gets at the meat of things. Dr. Hartman leaned over the fence looking at a sow. "Too short for a good breeder," he said. That is enough. But the average farmer does not get that Into his head, because he it familiar with the sow from the time she was a little pig. "When you build a silo, bevel the Inside of your staves," a neighbor suggested. That seemed wise. "When you build a silo, don't bevel the Inside of your staves, and the hoops will craw the inside corners tighter and make a better fit," said Dr. Hartman. We see these things when they are poln'.ed out, but It is the trained spe claliut who has them at his Anger ends and can suggest them. \\v Haven't the Time to Solve All Our Problems Ourselves. I have bought some machines that Conover would hsvo told me not to buy. I have bought some too small, some generally no good, and some that do not apply. Conover, when he comes, will tell me what is the matter with the field that has too much clay, and what to do with the one that has too much sand. Conover knows. I will be too old before I get this ail ciphered <>nt by ilow am laborious experience. Kxperlenc ?? Is a costly school, which In this modem day few can afford t<? patronize. Conover is learning from the experience of skillful men whose exp rlencc is specialized along defi? nite lines. His mental action hits the lost motion thrown out. What the men about him do Is done with In? telligent and definite alms In view. His kind of people do not experiment blindly, but from some intelligent basis to start with. Let Us Welcome the Help of the Trained Man. I was candid enough to confess to Dr. Hartman that ignorance Is the long suit at our farm. We try this and that and something else, but what one short life provides time to try Is only an Infinitesimal portion of what we ought to know. We cannot on the fcrm experiment to the same profitable and satisfactory end that men at the stations can, where all instruments and all previous experi? ments are available. We need many fhtngg on the farms of North Carolina and on the farms of the whole United States, and prob? ably nothing is more Imperatively needed than more of Conover to help us see things, and more of the farm bulletins, to tell us what has been done by others In digging out the sim? ple facts of agricultural theory and practice. When I hear that a man from the Experiment Station is heading my way, he can be assured that the dog will be promptly tied up and an ex? tra handful of meal put into the mush pot the minute he heaves in sight.?Bion H. Butler in Progressive Farmer. THE FARMER WHO LOVES THE SOIL. The Possibilities of the South Yet Un? realised by Southern People. Messrs. Editors: How many things there are to be seen from a car win? dow that are of interest to the farm? er. To one who loves his soil?as all farmers should love the soil?will come moments of discouragement as his train rushes past abandoned hills and galled hillsides. But directly come into the picture a beautiful lit? tle piece of grass and well-kept fields of forage crops. ? The hills will be clothed In living green and cattle will be seen grazing there. A moment I more and the white cottage will ap ) pear hovering at the foot of the hill, and in that cottage lives a man that we know loves his soil. With that man lives a woman who loves him as he loves her. They are living togeth? er here in this little Eden as God or? dained they should, loving their God, their children, one another, and their little piece of land; and as we pass along we thank the Creator for giving us this glimpse of this typical Amer? ican farm home. I am writing this as our train is passing down out of the mountains of Tennessee Into the rich Piedmont sec? tion of Alabama where men have not begun to realize what riches and hap? piness await the farmer who will plow and cultivate these deep, red soils as he should, who will sow acres and acres of cowpeas, clover, and al? falfa, who will feed these rich legume hays to good cattle and sheep, save the manure carefully and apply to other fields where he will plant king corn. When the time comes that he will do this, we shall hear less of hard times (as we have heard many times today) because of the crop far? mer having to purchase dollar-and-a quarter corn with which to feed his mules while making the cotton crop. ?A. L. French in Progresssive Farm? er. Making Pea Hay. Let the peas grow till the pods turn yellow, and then there is no hay more easy to cure well than cowpeas, not? withstanding all the talk about the difficulty In curing them. They will cure If you Just let thm, and do not go to monkeying with all sorts of con? trivances to spoil them. 1 had a letter today from a farmer who said that lie would not have hat n room for his pea crop and wanted to know if they would keep well stacked. He really answered Iiis own question, as lie said that a neighbor had Stack? ed some when well wilted and limp, and they heated and Steamed, Hut to his surprise, he found that they cured perfectly. If he had opened the stacks and tried to cool them off, he would. I doubtless, have had modly hay. Mow the peas in the morning, and. i if possible, put a tedder behind the | mower to keep them tossed up and halten the wilting. Rake the morn- j ing mowing into windrows that after- | noon. Turn them the next morning and let lie till afternoon while cutting more. Cock them that afternoon, and when the hay in the cocks can be taken and twisted hard, and no sap runs to the twist, haul them in. If to go into stacks, make the stacks well, and rake down the sides, but cover the tops of the stacks with straw or dry hay. This hay will cure, even if the stacks heat. Put some rails under the stacks to keep the hay off the ground and prevent its absorb? ing moisture from the ground, and you have as good hay as in the barn. ?Progressive Farmer. SHOO FLY SCHEDULE MAY BE CHANGED. Effort May be Made to That Effect? Have Train Make Stop of an Hour In Sumter to Make Connection With Trains Into That Place. That there may be a change in the schedule of the Shoo Fly train on the Atlantic Const Line which runs be? tween Orangeburg and Florence is now very likely. It Is believed that the change which is contemplated will mean much to the city of Orangeburg and there will be an effort made to have the change made. As the schedule now stands, this train leaves the city In the morning a little before 8 o'clock, and returns to the city a little after 10 o'clock. The change which Is proposed, Is to have the train leave the city in the morning at 8 o'clock, and returning, make a stop in Sumter of about an hour, and reach this city a little later than at present. This change will mean more busi? ness for the train, and also will mean more convenience for people coming Into this city, who are now forced to spend the night In Sumter or Florence, on account of the fact that the Shoo Fly leaves those places too early for them to make connection. By the stop In Sumter of an hour, persons coming into that place from Darllng to, and from the Wilmington side, who desire to come on to Orangeburg will be given an opportunity to do so. As It is now, they are forced to re? main in Sumter or Florence until the next morning. The schedule as It now stands is all right, so far as the morning time is concerned, but as the winter comes on, it will be rather early to leave the city, and the 8 o'clock schedule for leaving this place will be more appealing. There will be a little delay in the arrival of the train in this city at night, but tfltere be no kick on the part of the crew as to this, as it is stated that the road bed and rails on this run are in excellent condition, and that the hour delay in Sumter could be cut down by half on the ar? rival of the train here, as It Is bellev ed that a half hour could be made up in the run, making the train reach here not more than 40 minutes later than It does now. At any rate there will be a trial to have this change made, and it is be? lieved that the officials will take some consideration of the proposition.?Or? angeburg News, Aug. 27. Counterfeit vs. Genuine. But the worst enemies of religion are not those who turn away in dis? gust from its perversions. "Not they are profane who reject the gods of the vulgar, but they who accept them," says Lucretius. Yet it may be partly a question of words, it will not do to conclude that they hate music. They may love it all too well to listen. And, if I hold up some the? ological daub, and tell them that It is a portrait of Deity, will it be strange if they take me at my word, and cry out, "Then we are atheists?" Yet when did men ever deny or doubt the reality of the universe, merely because science gave absurd of inadequate ex? planations??Charles G. Ames. In France a law has been passed directing how aeroplanes shall dis? play signal lights at night. That cer? tainly looks as if aerial navigation had passed the purely experimental stage. Only one-fourth of the New York soldier boys who fought in the mimic war around Boston returned with their commands. The rest were not killed, but knocked out principally by John Barleycorn. Let us hope than the census will not be "kept out of politics" in the same way that the tariff was "revised downward."?Kansas City Star. Don Jaime is described by a Paris correspondent is a near-king. Is this a tactful euphemism for "knave"?? Lou is vi lb- Courier-Journal. Thasa foreign governments thai want to borrow millions would be in bard luck were there no J. P. Mor? gan.?Philadelphia Ledger. IM 1*1 tOV EM EXT ( ) P WATERWAYS. Washington. Aug. 28.?Since the passage of the tariff bill a tremen? dous quickening of interest in national needs is noticed and this in? terest is not likely to wane as time passes. Already there is noticeable changes going on throughout the country on the subject of Improving the inland waters of the United States and the utterances of those great railway kings, Harriman, Hill, Yoa kum and others, who state that the railroads cannot transport more than 50 per cent of the freight at the time it should be carried, has emphasized the needs for a broad and compre? hensive waterway policy on the part of the Federal government, to the end that the great natural thorough? fares of the country may be made to do their share of transportation. A much greater interest Is shown by Senators and Representa? tives in Congress than ever before in the subject of waterways and their 1 iprovement. Congressman Henry T. Ralney of the Twentieth Illinois dis? trict, is among the leaders of the House to unreservedly favor a bond fssue of liberal proportion to carry on the work of improving the inland waters and canals of continental United States, one of the cardial planks in the platform of the National Rivers and Harbors Con? gress, whose Sixth Annual Convention in Washington next December, gives promise of being the biggest water? way Convention ever held. "The Waterways of the country." said Mr. Rainey today, "have fallen into disuse for two reasons: First, railroads have been Increasing their carrying capacity, building larger engines, building larger cars, laying heavier rails, and double-tracking their lines until now the limit of de? velopment seems to have been reach? ed. Nothing has been done for water? ways while this remarkable railway development has been in progress* Rivers have not been dredged to any considerable extent, the banks of streams have not been regularized, and as yet, no comprehensive system of waterway development has been entered upon. In the second place, railways paralleling rivers and reach? ing cities along our rivers have pur? sued the policy of making cheaper rates to river points, rates often as cheap or cheaper than river steamers of the present capacfty can make. Railways have been carrying freight to river points at a loss in order to de? stroy river traffic, and have been com? pelling inland towns and cities to pay higher freight rates than they ought to pay in order to make up for loss. There has been for half a cen? tury a fl?ht of the railroads against the rivers, with no organizations until a comparatively recent period fighting for the rivers. "There is only one way to meet the situation and to restore to railroads the competition they ought to have, and that is by Improving our rivers, connecting them where necessary with artificial canals, depending upon the electric lines reaching our rivers and extending out now into the interior of the country to furnish in connection with the improved rivers, the compt i it ion w hich a gigantic railway com? bination must have. Improve our riVCie and you will have furnished to i-Vbty man a great free national high? way upon which he can launch Mb boat anc" carry his goods, free of all charge, to the ocean highways of the world. "The building of the Panama canti meets with the approval of the coun? try, and yet it will fail to accomplish the results for wqiich it is Intended unless we improve the 16,000 miles of navigable rivers lying within our mountain ranges; unless we improve rivers and harbors between our moun? tain ranges and the seas in order to enable freights to be transported cheaply from the interior to th" world's ocean highways. The time, it seems to me, is here when the coun? try would approve a bond issue of large size for the purpose of improv? ing rivers on a comprehensive basis. The development of the country now depends upon it. "By a majority of nearly 500,000 votes the State of Illinois has declared itself for this proposition, and has voted in favor of a bond issue of twenty million dollars in aid of the Lakes -to-the-Gulf-Deep Waterway. The ?tate of New York has voted one hundred and one million dollars In bonds to deepen the Erie canal. The waterway from the lakes to the gulf is an Inter-state waterway. The Ohio river Is an Inter-state waterway. The Missouri, the Tennessee and the Arkansas rivers are all great inter? state waterways. The Atlantic Coast Deep Waterway is an inter-state scheme. Illinois and New York have done their part towards creating effi? cient waterways within their boun? daries connecting our interior lakes with the sea. The time has come for the national government to Issue bonds for the purpose of carrying on the cieat work of river Improvement and canal building upon which th future prosperity of the country de pends." I Send us your Job work. ALL EYES OX MAIIS NOW. Siar Gazers Have Fine Chance To Study the Planet. (Special Dispatch to the Baltimore Sun.) Washington. Aiy?. 27.?Mars has the centre of the stage just now. At the Naval Observatory the big 26 inch equatorial telescope is turned ev? ery night toward the eastern heavens for a look at Mars, the most attrac? tive planet for star gazers. Mars is just%now on its closest visit to earth since the early eighties. Once every three years Mars swings into what the astronomers call close prox? imity to the earth, although on its nearest visit it has been about 40, 000,000 miles away. About once ev? ery 25 years Mars comes a few mil? lion miles closer to the earth, prob? ably to give terrestrial mortals a chance to revive the mystery as to whether the planet is inhabited by in? telligent beings. Mars now rises above the eastern horizon about 11 o'clock every night at a point a little to the north of east and at about midnight becomes brilliant. Its size and red color render it easily discernible to the naked eye. It will grow brigh? ter until about the last of September and will grow dimmer until It gets back to normal the early part of No? vember. The big 26-lnch equatorial telescope has been for several nights past turn? ed on Mars every evening and held there until dawn. It was through this same 26-inch equatorial, then the largest lens in the world, that the late Prof. Asaph Hall in 1877 discov? ered the two liliputian satellites of Mars. There is added interest because Prof. Asaph Hall, Jr., son of the man who discovered the Martian satellites. Is now on duty at the observatory and is looking through the same 26-inch equatorial at the midgets which his father was the first to find. These satellites are very small. One is 7 miles in diameter, the other 14 miles through its centre and the smaller of the two is a chirpy little fellow, who does considerable mara thoning on his own hook, as he trav? els around Mars once every 7 hours and 30 minutes. Some of the scien? tists have an idea that the Martians are queer little individuals of the Brownie type with cross eyes. Other scientists, with a sense of humor, say this may be true, as the swift and continuous circuits made by the smaller of the awo satellites must keep the Martians spinning around like tops and knock the spots out of their eyes. On account of their small size the satellites are not much larg? er than pin-heads in the telescope, and Professor Hall is making a spe? cial study of the satellites rather than of th? larger planet. Others, like Dr. Perclval Lowell, the most eminent upholder of the theory that Mars is inhabited, are directing their atten? tion to the Martian canals and other markings of the planet, which they are inclined to believe indicates the existence of life there. Rising at 11 o'clock Mars passes across the heavens and sinks in the west after the sun rises. Its moment of rising is several minutes later ev? ery evening, and Professor Hall spends every clear night at the eye? piece of his telescope pursuing his observations, his assistants being Messrs. Epps and Friedrichsen, of the observatory force. They work all night and sleep in the daytime. The work of installing the water? works system at Bambe g Is being pushed rapidly this week. Some ma? terial has been delayed and has just arrived. It is expected that the work on Main street will be completed in a short while. Arrangements will be made, probably this week, so that the entire business portion of the town will be protected from fire, although the hydrants have not been placed as I yet. A 75,000 gallon tank will be erected at the power house and this, together with the additional water which will be available, will give a good part of the town ample fire pro? tection. Some of the newspapers are very much concerned about the precedent which Mr. Taft will establish when he crosses the national border line and sets foot upon Mexican soil. There is at least an unwritten law to the effect that the president during his term of office must not go beyond the national boundaries. But we beg to call the attention of the craft to the fact that Mr. Roosevelt visited Pana? ma during his administration. True, he sailed on an iron-clad which flew the national colors and to this extent was constructively on home ground, but the evasion was duobtless one which the fathers little contemplated.?Atlanta Georgian. A lawsuit over Hying machine pa? tents may be regarded as conclusive proof that aviation is a practical pr< position.?Washington Star. They are planning to ship 25,000 car loatis of oranges out of Florida this year. None of thte spokesmen j toi that State is looking for an early ; t n si. Brooklyn Eagle.