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VOL XLV NO 100 NEWBERRY, S. C.. TUTT6DAY, DECEMBER 15,.1" 's. TWICE A WEEK. $1.50 A YEAR * * * IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS? ** By Rev. W. B. Aull. * ......*.*.....*.*..*..*.*..* * * * * * The letter of the little 8-year-old girl to Mr. Dana, editor of the Sun, asking this question, "Please tell me the truth. Is there a Santa Calus?" has gone the round of the press sever al years. and with it the distinguished editor's reply, which is as follows: "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as generosity and love and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas,-how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no child like faith, then, no poetry, no romance, to make tolerable this existence." If this were a real little girl asking a great man a real question, it was done in all earnestness. "Please tell me the truth. Is there a Santa Claus?', In her ehildlike way she puts him- on his oath, and he affirms to her earn est, trusting heart that th-are is a real Santa Claus. Did he deceive that child? Does he wish to convey to the child mind that there is a real invisible being who is in reality the source of all good cheer that comes at Mristmas time? If he does who is that being,- and by what authority does he possess the devotio: of a child's heart? Does he wish to take us back to Greek and Roman mytho logy? Does his theory teach trusting childhood the childhood of a Christian people, who is the author and source of all earthly goodness? These are not idle questions. Deceptions are langerous things. When truth is more wonderful and mysterious than fiction, why use fic tion instead of fact? "The night shall be filled with musie,'" if we could have ears to hear it, and the gentlest zephyrs are laden with ange lie voices to ears touched by the Pi vine finger. An omnipresent God is more wonderful than a fantastic un real Santa Claus. Why not lead the ehild to a profound truth, through an entraneing mystery, built on fact, rather than to seek to do this through goblin stories, whieh smack of heath en mythology?i Is there anything more wonderful in all creation than the story of the Christ-child whose birth we celebrate? Is there anything more beautiful than the thought that this Christ Child comes in'to the ch~Ia life at Christmas time with materia1 joys? Who is more worthy of the ehIld's love and worship? To whom do you think it is due? What answer can the children of God give to this? The 'stor'; is no less wonderful that the Christ-Child comes with His good gifts, than it is that -Santa Claus brings them. The greatest distinction is one is a fact and the other a false hood. Some children are taught to speak first a ''gibberish jargon'' and the task is left to the teacher to root out a false language and instil a true one. They educate through falsehood into fact, supposing a chila cannot reeiee the truth. -Virginia shall have her question an swered. She has been on the ''anx ions bench'' a long while. There is no Santa Claus, Virginia. but there is a Christ-Child to whom you can speak in whispers up in the twinkling stars, and He will hear all your wishes. He it is who gives ''every good and per fect gift" of whom the angels sang on the first Christmas night. and who ~brings all the blessedness on Christ mas day. He is a real, live, loving King, who ha?s a beautiful home for you in the skies, Virginia. Ohina Grove, N. C., Dec., 1908. Amity Lodge, No. 87, A. F. Md. An extra communication of Amity Lodge, No. 87, A. F. M., will be held next Friday evening at 7.30 o'clo--k in Fraternity Hall. Visiting brethrei ordially welcomed. Installation of officers. The F. C. degree will be conferred. Van Smith, W. M. H. M. Kinard, Ste retary. will arrive just before the Cihristmas holidays. comine from Bryn Mawl. A letter received from Mr. Taft asks that lie be allwx-e( to spend die first I'Cw das n ( I CIomplete resi. as he LZ -reatly tatigued. In derere-nee to his wishes his hosis announce that there will be no funetions. formal or infor mal, until he shall have oecupied the Territt eottage. after his sojourn with Mr. and Mrs. Thomas. A Card. To the Publie: I It having come to our knowledge that the Board of Registration for Newberry County. S. C.. has. as a board, been severely eritisized for is suing fifteen registration certificates to Variou persons on the evening be fore the primary election for the nomination of town omeers for the Town of Newberry. S. C.. which pri mary was held in the said Town on the 24th day of November, 1908, we de sire to state that we were not parties to the issuance of said certificates of registration -and had nothing whatever to do with the matter. E. Lee Hayes, J. W. Wertz, Members of the Board of Registration I for Newberry County, S. C. Advertised Letters. Letters remaining in postoffice at Newberry, S. C., for week ending Dee. 12, 1908. Mr. W. J. Baker, Mr. Manths Bau ford, Mr. R. T. Bobb. Miss Mamie Clark, Wash Cossing, Mrs. Anner Cooks, Charley Cumbee. Mrs. Joicy Graha.. Mr. Jno. C. Griffin James Kennedy. ] Frank Mays, C. M. Martin, Miss Mary Martin, Mrs. Jane Mitchell. Mrs. M. J. Perry. Mr. P. Rodgers. Mr. J. T. Stallings, Mrs. Amanda Stallings, Mrs. John P. Sligh, Mr. H. D, Smith, Miss Alice Sligh, Mr. J. P. S. Summers. Mr. H. C. Williams. All persons calling for these letters will please say that they were adver tised. C. J. Purcell, P. M. Got the First ilow. An Irish horse owner whose horse J] had been prescribed for by a vetert nary surgeon ran into the latter's of fice and, with tears in his eyes and his face the "ipiethutr of bad luck," I cried: "Oh, Dr. Moriarity, I 'm poorly!1 The powdher 's kilt me entoirely!" " The powder!'' cried Dr. Moriarty.2 "Wihy, I didn't tell you to take the powder. I told you to place it in a paper fube and put onie' end of iti n the horses''3 mouth anid blow hard." "Yes, sort," said Pat. "I put th'e I powdher in the chuibe, and I put the end of it in the horse's modnth, with the other en& in my own; but, begor-' ra, he blew first!"' Tihe Niervy Young Man. Tit-Bits. ''Sir,'' said the nervy young man, coming into the rich merchant's of rice and ta.king a sea-t near the head of the firm. "I would like to ask you for your daughter's hand!" '"Why, I don't even know yon,a sir. '"Oh. don't let that bother you at , all, sir. We'll soon get acquainted."'' "So you, a perfect strantger, ask for my daughter's han', eh' " said the rich merchant, gazing in am'aze ment at his caller. "Which daughter do you mean? I have thr e."' ''I mean the one with the gofden iar,'' imparted the young man, uni- I abashed. I "'I am still in doubt, young man. Twp of my daughters have golden' hai'r. Do you mean Ellen or Ma raia?" "Can''t say which, sir. I had only I a momenf's view of your daughter, and have never met her to know herj name. Blut the moment 's sight of her It was enough to tell me that I love her t sir. "And vou come here to zet my de cision without consulting or even I seekingr an acquaintance with my dachter?" "TYes. You see, sir, the time isI shor. Yestray T came across vours. 'rRAND ENSE;ABLE ''TIH L E A' N1~ GAHI* laughter and a young inan in the ark. Just as I had made up my nin d that I loved her, I heard the roung gentleman t-2ll her that he was ming ?here today to ask for her iand in ma'rriage; so I hurried righlt long to get in my bid ahead of Eim.'' I 'Young man gasped the fond )arent, uit's a foregone conclusion :iat you wil accomplish what yoa ;art out to do. And you've certain Sgot the nerve! So go ahead and btain an introduction to the daug r of your choice and do the rest! ou've got my consent!e Hang the Cost. iverpool Mercury. "You know, George," she -said oughtfully, as they sat together on he rustic seat in the quiet eventide, 'it seems such a solemn thing to mar y. Hav;a you counted the cost?'" A manly, ringing laugh shattered e nerves of the birds roosting in the )ranches overhead to a complicated iash. I - .. _, . - 1 ~ ,''Cost! The cost! Bless you, Evan ,eline, don't you worry about the >ost. I've got a cousin who's a .lergyman, and he's promised to fix is up absolutely gratis!" [iEETING OF THl VARMRS UN - The Farmers' Union of Calhoun >unty met Saturday in the eourt >use, a pretty full attendance of the elegates and a number of visitors ing present. The regular business of the Union as transacted and the report of essrs. Geo. W. Fairey and James . Holman, the delegates who were nt to New Orleans to represent this unty, were heard. Both these gen emen gave glowing 'accounts of their rip and showed very plainly that the isiness men of that city were will g and ready to cooperate with the lon in fina-ncing the cotton if nec sarv. Mr. Fairey gave an account of the ish and energy of that city which ras shown him and others in refer nce to the preparatsion being made or the business which will come this a when the Panama canal is fin shed. They were shown more than mile of concrete r'ud !ron wharf ge, at whi:ch mu'4t '' business is peted to be de Their account ifthe trin was full of information id interest, and the union felt repaid sending these representatives. . Matthews Advance. A LOVE LETTER. Dislaiming at the very outset any nowledge or experience whatsoever nerning the gentle and wining art fwriting Love letters, we wish to tate that the beautiful effusion re )roduced below is from the pen (of 2t-her. But so weJl does it express r sentiments regarding a few of mug admirers that the use of it is ustified. ''They say'' that love let ers are very effective sometimes, that hey prodluce pleasing results. So rwte it be! Here it is: "Dear d.irlin~g delinquent ! Our recious subseriber in arrears! You r so shyv! Do you think we have 1d out and gone? No, little sngar um, we co.d not get away if WA tante to &~ ae stil at the same POR A DAY" AT THE OPERA H OU old stand dishing out the news on ti sweet promises and bright expecta- y, tions. They make an excellent diet, t( darling, with a little pudding flavor ed with a word of encouragement to V -serve as dess.ert. We are waiting and iz watching for thee, our turtle dove. bi We long to hear your gentle footsteps q on the stairway below and to hear thr ring of the happy dollars within our office. Dear one, we feel unusu ally sad and lonely without you, dear. p Now, little pie-crust, will you come? si Do we hear you answer in a voice so. e: sweet and beguiling, 'I'm coming,' or ei is it only the winds that around our o: office roar? We pause! for. further ii developement." I And in this same connection we are constrained to say with another: "Lives of poor men oft remind -us e honest toil don't stand a chance; the f more we work we leave behind us big- n ger patches in our pants. On our c pants once new and glossy now are f patches of different hue; all because b sul3eribers linger and won't pay up m what is due. Then let us all be up n and doing; send in your vdit be it ever so small, or whem the blasts of winter strike us we shall have no pants at all.''-Dallas New Era. tj THE COP"1 PRIZE CONTEST. hi The raising of from 61 to 88 bush els of corn on an acre may not be n< considered an extraordinary achieve- ti ment in 'the light o.f records from 120 bushels on up to 250- bushels and ov. tU er: but still, as we'see !t, the~ peopleb who have so generously backed the I contest instituted by the Farmers' iti Union of York county have cause for much satisfaction over the result. 1c It is true that this competition was not instituted until late in the season, Much corn had already been planted before the contest was thought of,! and all of the contestants were at a disadvantage so far as the making of R record yields was concerned, but still e the contest has been well worth while, re not onlh from the standnoint of the s actual bushels p.rodticed: but from l the standpoint of the valuable object J lesson that has .been furnished on this most important subject. i in a country where the corn aver are is less than fifteen bushels to the acre and were six and eight bash are common yields. from 60 to 80 bushels to the acre at an average net cost of -only fifteen or twenty cents a bushel is somethinie certainly worth IA while. It not only shows what a tre mendous amount of room there is foe improvement: but it shows how easil.y that improvement can be made. and at what a great nrofit to every corn grwer who is willing to put forth the N sall. addit-ilmal necessary effort. jN But easily the best and most en- 'y voraging devel-o'ment of this ex- N periment, is the fact that the Far-; mers' Union is not willing to cease its efforts on what has been accom plished. Fully appreciating the prae tical value of what has been done, it has determined to go on with the good1 work and reap all the add'itional bene-! fits that have been so clearly brought to view. While. as has been stated, the con- p~ testants in this year's contest havep reason to he "roud of their achieve- . ments. it is safe to rerdiet that it will take a great many more bushels than wre nrequre to carry off the parizes E WEDNESDAY, JAN. 27. is year, to carry off the prizes next a-ar. And as the result of the in rest this contest has awakened and ill awaken, we believe that there ill be a great deal more corn raised L York cuanty next year than has en raised this year.-Yorkville Eu airer. To Utilize Cotton Stalk. Ten thousand d)l3r3 will be ap ropriated by congrei to enable the cretary of aoeultur-i to couduet Kperiments to .deterinlne the piacti bality of making pap,.r material out F cofton stalks, if a bill introduced i the house by Rep':c<eotative Shep ard of Texas is pa.3ied. It is to be hoped that practically very farmer in the county will try >r tlie Farmers' Union corn prizes ext year. The competition is to be Dnfined strictly to uplands. Every irmer who goes into the contest will e the gainer, and if enough of them re into it the couty will gain tre endo4sly,-Yr'kville 4nqui.rr. Probablj She Meant td Lucile, a carefully brought up lit e girl of five years, returned from r first party In great glee. '11 was a good girl, mammna," she an unced, "and talked nice all the me." "Did you remember to say some ing pleasant to Mrs. Townsend just ~fore leaving?" her mother asked. "Oh, yes, I did," was the enthusias creply. "I smiled and said, 'I enjoy Imyself, Mrs. Townsend; I had a ts better dinner than I thought I'd tve.' "-Delineator: IHRISTMAS HOLIDAY RA&TES. The Charleston & Western Carolina ilway will sell excursion tickets ae unt of the holidays at very low tes for the round trip. Tickets on le December 18, 19, 23, 24, 25, 30, 31, 08, and Jan. 1, 1908. Final limit nuary 6, 1909. For further information apply to ~ket agents, or, Ernest Williams, General Passenger Agent, 807 Broadway, Augusta, Ga. NEWBERRY UNICN STATION. rrival and Departure of Passenget Trains-ffective 12.01 A. M. Sunday, June 7th, 1908. Southern Railway: . 15 for Greenville .. . .8.57a.m. . 18 for Coluwbia .. . .1.40 p.m. . 11 for GreenvilJe .. . .3.20 p.m. . 16 for Columbia .... .8.47 p.m. C., N. & L. Ry'. To. 22 for Columbia .. . .8.47 a.m. 2. 32 for Greenville .. 12.56 p.m. . as~ for Columbia .. . .3.20 p.m. 70. 21 for Laurens .. . .7.25 p.m. *Does not run on Sunday -r- rirr ':WY <boaws the t'o:es at ieb trai ni ay be expected to d-a rt fr"om this station, but .their de rture ie not guaranteed and the ce shown is subject '> han-'e with it not ic. G. L. Rohinson. HOW TO IMPROVE PUBLIC SCHOOLE I Mr. 0. B. Martin Summarizes Hi; Views as to the Needs of the School System in South Carolina. News and Courier. Columbia. December 13.-Statt Superintendent of Education Martir has summarized under ten heading the recommendations in his final annual report to the general ass2m bly as follows: "(1) A commission should be ap pointed to revise the school Code and submit the same to the general as sembly at its next session. ''(2) Our system of county super vision should be improved by making county boards elective by the people and the superintendents elective by county boards. "(3) Our system of county super vision should be improved by making county boards elective by the people and the superintendents elective by county boards. "(3) There should be a State tax or State appropriation to raise the per capita per child in each county to at least $4. Weak counties should be aided first. Such an appropriation would tend to give us a State school system. "(4) The legislature could well af ford to make an appropriation to aid rural schools which run for eight monfhs, and which Irave eight grades. There should be at least tw( teachere and forty-five pupils in such schools. Such action would encourage consoli dation and local taxation. Many com munities cannot meet the require ments of the High School Act. "(5) The High School Act should be amended so that small towns can comply with .its requirements, so that the number of schools in large couit ties may be increased, and so as to give the State h-igh snoo'l board more discretion and authority in passing upon the merits of each individual case. It will be -necessary also to in crease t:he high, school appropriation as the demand increases. " (6) I believe that the time has come when thte legislatu-e should es talblish agricultutral high schools. Ot'her trade and vocational school will follow within a few years. ."(7) It will be necessary to make better provision for suunner schools for teachers if this work is to be kept up as heretofore. "(8) The method of conducting teaehers' examinati.o should be changed at once so that greater a.ni formity and efficiency may be secur ed. "(9) The field agent of the cam paign committee should be made an assistant in this department and a salary provided for her services. The State board of edueation should be allowe'd to- make a small 'appropria tion to encoura~ge schools to get pie tures and chest of tools. "(10) This office should be provid ed, at the ea-liest possible conven ience, with sificient tamars, furniture, files a-nd fixtures.'' TOOK PORTER AT HtS WORD. Four Countrymen Leap from. Fast Going Train After Hearing "'All Off for Baton Rouge!'' Baton Rouge, La., December f. Four men from the country who liad' never before ridden on a train, leap ed from a train tr-avelling thirty miles an hour near here today. Asked why they jumped, they said because the porter called out "All off for Baton Rue.'' They were not seriously in jured. TAFT 00MTNG SOVTH FRIDAY OF TEIS WEEK Announced That President-elect Will IArrive in Augusta on the 18th of the Month. Augusta. Ga., Dee. 10.-It is an nonced today that President-elect Taft and family, with the exception of Miss Helen. will a.crive Friday of next week and wUfl be me~ guests of Mr. and Mrs. i1anann Thoma~s until the+'ollowing Monday. Miss Helen