The Sumter watchman. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1855-1881, 1870-07-13
F1RSxNIakENr or T1n- 0RANn
5UHH OF DAHAIHGToN COUNTY.

4 'ft.l .
,WespdB,ish9 beloy ap extract ! from
kss'the presentation Of TIE grand jury for
the Jupe Term Of Court for Da,lins,ou
conuty. II is, in truth, the present.
Ii Spens. OF . colored grand jury, a. The
ypapel wss composed offeelrs colored and
fopt white persons.
Thh unanissous presep.ment is un-
in it's denunciations Of ,viIlainy
yaDd exposes the peculatiops and thefts
Eofstle ,CouatY Commission ors 10 plain
land uumistakable language. It shows
Esthat the colored man, when Withdrawn,
from the infamous white influence to
(which he. has been subjected, is not the
S|scOuntenancero Of such rascality nor the
friend Of rascals. It inspires hope for
;. the future, and encourages the expecta-
y tion that ere long tho administration Of
&sgovcrnment will pass into tho hands Of
q those who arc both morally and lncu.
E,tally competent. 1t indicates that tho
esrule Of mean white mcu is drawing to
4 scloso.
H. Let tho colorcd people consider
The exposures therein made, aud let
B them resolve to make honesty one
,of the prerequisites for Office in tho fu-
turc.
4 We have, IN the discharge of our
duty, visited the Jail, which we Gnl is
/ not kept as clean as it should be. The
6 prisoners are without blankets; the
3 we'll is unfit for use, aud the Kitchen
is iu mos. filthy condition constituting
d in our opinion, nuisance. The
Saprisoners are allowed to indulge in
s loud singing, obscene aud profane
language, aud other noisy demonstro-
k tions.
Il We have visited the poor house by
u committee and have to report That wo
A. find twenty inmates at this SO called
Y asylum for the destitute and HELPLESS.
h Tho inmatee are allowed corn and meat.
d the corn has to be carried by them one
mud a half miles to mill, or if they are
Il unable to do SO, which is tho case with
many, they have to pay for having it
sent with portion of tho corn itself.
II The inmates arc almost naked and have
q lew worthless blankets. Many of the
n poor people are in most horrible con-
q dition-in one case maggots were actu.
/ ally crawling from the feet Of one who
was frost bitten last winter. The house
itself is kept in an extremely filthy
n condition the stencil is almost unens
Il durable. There is no medical attention
E VI medicines fdrnished, and the poor
L have to dispose OF their scanty allow
ances to supply themselves when sick.
I We consider the poor house Of this couu-
| ty disgrace to humanity and reflec.
j. tion upon the civilization of the aec.-
y We recommend that this institution,
established and pretended to be mai,-
Ii tanned ut heavy expense to the county,
Il ibe dispensed with, and that tho County
II Commissioners be held to a strict legal
Is responsibility, as we'll for the money
E,squandcred by them in its so.called
+ maintainance as for their cuIpable neg.
E let of duty. The committee found
II woman OF notoriously bad character
resident Of the poor house.
II We beg leave to report many Of tho
II bridges in bad condition and many of
/ them unsafe. Hoods Bridge and the
II "Thrcc Bridges" it seems. were let out
+ verbally BY the County Commi ;oners
Ito j, A. Smith, one Of their mum. g ,, for
3srebulldius, as reported by the commits.
sioners in their book. For this rebuild
|E ing they have given the said Smith
$3.50 for Hoods Bridge and $3.50 for
the "Thrce Bridges" besides mileage
aud per diem as a IN embcr of the Road
Of County Commissioners, for visiting
his Own work, which he had contracted
TO do Tor certain sum, and that too,
at SUN fixed by himself without com,
NJ petition, no bids having been advertised
for. The "Thrcc Bridges" We have re-
\ ported in bad condition, though Smiths
work has been recently Gnished. We
beg leave to bring TO the attention Of
the court that while these verbal con-
tracts'purport to be for ,rJuih1tw these
II lSbridses, very insignificant repairs have
been . t,at on them ; but they have been
,rsccxvtd, the accounts audited, and
check given in payment. Besides all
TINS, competent witnesses assure u that
the work aud material OH Hoods Bridge
is not worth more Than S75 or SlUO.
The work OIL tho "Threc Bridges" ia
worth much ess-iu fact has proven to
be almost worthless. The roads
Esgenera'y are rcr ortcd in bad conI,
tion.
|. We have endeavorcd to fa,hom the
mysteries of'he County commissioners.
and trust that our labors have not been
entirely in vain, Notwithstanding the
d'tiicuIirs and distractions iutcrpos. d
I by the Commissioners and their Clerk,
~ u. Ga'lin, to Il fair free and full in
vcs''gation OF their public acts by the
grand inquest of the county, charged
Especially with this as one OF their most
|simportant duties. Not only have such
difficulties and distractions bccu inter-
|sposcd, but VIC have been treated with
4