The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1853-08-09
Of their fellow citizens without asking

to eXtort an extensive patronage ev-
en- from q people so prone os we are
to preferences of everything foreign.
The new fire proof building in the
State house square is going up, and
is built of native granite, Of beautiful
color and fine quality.
Alongside of those gate posts of
the capitol, which have been char
acterized as "enduring monuments of
our shame"-bcing Of Quincy gran
ite, we have now similar ones of
native granitc--thc massive iron
railing having been extended from
the capitol garden to the corner of
Bridge street, and they are of such
beautiful appearance as to contrast
most triumphantly with the North
ern stone. May we not hope that
the building now going up will
prove but the beginning of State
house on such scale as will chal-
lcngc as much our future admiration
as the existing one does our pres
cnt cXccration.
I must now beg to be induIgcd in
carrying your readers with me on
a visit to one of the most complete
and promising little manufacturing
establishments to be found anywhere
either within the State or out of it.
| alludc to the chair factory and
turncry Of DR.. Pcrcival, q few
miles from the town. 1t is most
clarmingly located in the sand hills,
region that knows no unhealthy
season. The water power is supplied
from u beautiful lake which, like ma.
ny others, hcrcabouts finds its
source in the sand hills whence
cones a never failing supply of wa
ter. 1t is as true as it is surprising,
Of these collections of fresh water, that
they are in nowisc detrimental to
the health of the inhabitants. Is
suing out CT the white sand, beds, a
number Of minor tributaries conccn-
tratc in sand bottomcd beds, aud so
slight is the deposit Of vegetable mat
ter that their beds preserve almost
their primitive whitcncss. Their
surfaces seem to subscrvc the cooling
exhalation without evolving any of
their miasances, which are so gen,
orally characteristic Of fresh wa
ter bayous or lakes, whilst the
clear, pure and deep mass Of wa,
ter-f:ce Of anything harmful, and
with bank and bottom Of the most
inviting character-presents in the
heat of summer an invitation to ba-
thing which can hardly DC resisted
1t is perfectly true that earth pre-
sents scarcely a spot where nan
may more easily pick up a living than
in these same sand hills, and yet
the Inhabitants for the most part are
the most wretchcdly inert, and there.
fore continually stintcd people 70
be found anywhere. This is owing on
the one part to the absence of that
stimulation which the State is bound
to furnish in public schools, and on
the other to the heavy drag upon
their morals which the State elections
bicnnially impose on them by means
of corrupt practices.
Frccmcn arc here, as with us in
Charleston, openly and shamclcssly
bartered for, or bought up like cat,
tie in the market, and whilst the
politician perjnrcs their souls, the
whiskey seller pcrishes their bodies.
But amongst the sons Of the desert,
civilization is creeping in. Oasis are
springing up everywhere, and by tho
infusion of mechanical enterprise, we
may yet hope to sec these SO much
to be pitied sons Of Carolina render
ed virtuous, happy and useful pco.
pie. Almost every mechanical cs,
tablishmcnt in and about Columbia
gives employment to some Of the
sand hill boys, and in the Factory of
DR.. Percival, we arc pleased to
learn, arc several energetic and re,
spectacle young mon, natives of
these diggins, who were at work, and
exhibiting all the skill and aptncss Of
their more experienced mechanical
tutors. But to the factory itself. It
is not on very large scale, but as
complete as it can be for all the
purpose contemplated by tho enter
prising and well managing gentleman
who projected it. Turning in all its
varieties is done here, with the great.
est precision and niccty, and with
almost incredible rapidity. In the
manufacture of chairs, when the cir.
cnlar and vertical saws have answer
Cd all the demands that may be
made on them. there is but little re
quired which the lathe cannot ac
complisb; and here it is done to per
fection. Chairs Of beautiful and
varied patterns, somo Of them orig