The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1881-01-05

Comes up to take MS OWN
How hard lie brea.hes! over the snow
I heard lust now the Growing COCK.
The shadows flicker to and fro;
The cricket chirps the light burns ow:
Tris nearly twelve o'clock.
Shake hands before you die.
Old yenr, we'll dearly rue for you:
WHAT'S 1t We csln do for your
Speakout before you die.
His face isgrowing sharp and thin.
Aiackl ou' friend is gone,
Close up hi eyes: tie up his chin !;
That stands,h there alone,
And waieth ut the door.
There's new foot on the floor, my friend,
And O new fnce at the door, my friend,
A new fne at the door.
The Press.
PROPOSED ~ ELLIS @. GRAYDoN, ESQ.
M, presidoat, Ladies and Gentlemen: In rls.
ing 70 propoeea toast to the Press 1t IL not my
purpose togo into a detailed account Of Its or.
frIn and Its growth and development. II
seems tabe conceded that 1t had its beginning
in the N:Dsletef which reached only a favor
/ been muse for many centuries, perhaps. The
:. first peTspaper. however, was published not
, mors maj about two hundred n NIFTY years
!. ago tut 1t was soon followed by inahy others.
: Tcgive some idea OF their growth In numbers
i it's sufficient TO say that In the United States
e aone there are now over six thousand news
Lrapcrs, with a circulation OF not less than
/ thirty millions and IN average annual issue
nre devoted to Religion. to Politics, to LItera-
y ture. TO Science, to Art. to Law, to Medicine.
Yin fact, we might say TO utmost, II not quite.
every subject within the range OF human
10 every village and hamlet, yen, to almost
every fircside In the land. But. MIR. President,
their growth In owe aud influence has not
been less remarkable. Any one may we'll
| court thor ia vpr M nne Cnn Gff0rd IN tncnF
their dlspleasure, for while they can be Of in
valuable assistance to their friends, they are
able TO crush and grind 10 powder those who
throw themselves against them. All enlisht-
around the liberty Of the Press. Hence the
founders OF our government with wise fore
sight. declared In the same instrument which
guarantees the security Of the citizen In his
life, his liberty, his property, and the pursuit
Of happiness, that the liberty OF the Press
should not be abridged. While this liberty
this provision Of our organic aw is duo much
Of the sterling, manly. patriotic character OF
our Press. Mny 1t ever continue TO be whatit
IL now,a rs a general rule. the dlsseminator OF
OF the masses, the champion II virtue, and the
defender Of civil and religious freedom.
RESPONDED TO BY Mr.. h. T. wARpLAw.
Ar. President, Ladies and Gentlemen! 1t Is
gssslssss sa 5eS Pc -. Is X hS NF' aoRS eoo III
nSptpCiS LiidG " CNcT enteTeu my Ulluu "
conceive; but I must thank him for the
handsome manner In which he has toasted
the profession. ! have have made my calling
for life; my, diffldencc asa novice in the pro-
names In South Carolina, and Abbrvilie
county connected with the Press, alt remind
me OF my inability and unworthiness TO rep
resent them on this ocsasiOn. Mr.. President,
none know better than yourself that II iS a
profession. the newest and youngest, but not
the least powerful and Influential: for years
II was denied the dignity Of being a profes-
the front ranks OF the most honored. The
tens Of thousands engaged In 1t. from tho most
humble devil In the composing room, to the
formidable and terrible OF all the interviewer.
the indefatigable and bruve reporter, stand
Ing In Imminent deadly pc II for news, bear
Ing the hardships Of the tented field for inter.
to keep the world informed from the front; n
profession whose representatives have tiat.
lied through Africa ttnd Siberia and gone to
the very North Pole itself. entities 1t to tho
province or inclination. Mr.. President, 10
"magnify mine office" but I do verify believe
that the position OF nm editor, il the most re-
fuences for good, so great are they .for evil, il
misdirectcd. ale should be unawcd -byJt.iu.
cncc md unbrihed by gain, hew to the Tue,
let the chips fall Us they may"
The Merchants.
PROPOSED BY ]. F. LYON, ESQ.
Mr.. President, Ludie, dnd Geiifenien: We
have heard with rnhch pleasure from sn1l
Il .srnrd psHfeSshnS Iy1 ]. DOW arise In my
place and In my turn, to Introduce Il class OF
gentlemen, who really need no introduction
at my hands. u class who are not strangers to
any one Of this presence, q class n nre ~.
miliarly and favOrably known to each and all
Of us, that class known az the merchants, the
merchants OF the " OF Aooeville. who are
q 4 Nra ,,t,1 tr1,n - rho nFNNffnpl hnQinH9x
men, who the past year have sold In our
midst, aEd to us goods to the almost In
credible amount OF half O million d0llafs'
sdH w nape,,v wt,' p in sesir fl place ,h se'S 1a ssn:
ers OF this county worth somewhere between
six and seven hundred thousand dollars: an
Increase Of soy " hundred and my thou;
sand dollars over any previous year. And
while they are not called professional men,
they are more. Upon their shoulders, upon
their honesty, capacity, and fidelity TO the
a large measure, the future prosperity Of this
county for years to come. AS success isdolht'
less the true standard OF merit In q considera-
ton OF this kind, and as nothing succeeds IKE
success, and having q desire common 70 US al
to hear from q successful man, I Will give
place 10 one OF the merchnnt princes, II nos
the merchant prince, Of Abbeville. In con-
clusiun ALLOW inc TO offer q health to the mer-
eddy popular and successful In the past, may
they attain Mt IN early period that success
which their merits bespeak for them.
RESPONDED TO BY A p L. W. WHITE.
In essayIng a response to the toast proposed
by my friend who has just taken his seat, am
forcibly reminded Of those famous words OF
Apollos-''Ne sutor ultra creptdana.' Wnatev-
er therefore, I may say, which may seem 70
have an cir OF egotisIn. / trust Will be accept
ed, not rs violative. Of the properties of this
OCCASION, but rather as q demonstration OF the
fact that the shoemaker is only sticking to
his last. Nearly one hundred and seventy
years ago Joseph Addison wrote "There are
not more useful men In n community than
merchants. They knit mankind together IN
q mutual intercourse Of good offices, distrlo-
add wealth TO the rich and masnifcence to
Now If these words were true Of merchants
at the beginning OF the Eighteenth century,
how very much more applicable are they 10
merchants at the close Of the Nineteenth Gem
fury, Since Addison wrote, franklin has
"grnsped the lightning's fiery wing" me
manufactures and or the %or Ei
Whitneys invention OF the cotton GIN, Of
which Lord Macaulay said, what Peter thc
Great did to make Russia dominant, Ell
more than equallsd in It's relation to the pro
gross and power OF the United States: Robert
Fulton has successfully employed steam In its
application to p W '1s s1 OF na IN s'ead Of 50 be ENG
any longer regarded as watery wastes. are the
grandest and mightiest auxilliaries 70 trade
and commerce. Morse has achieved the won
der of applying electricity 10 Geographic COM
mucatIoli 10 t6ut now the entire globe is ri:
most begirt by this grand agency OF national
intercourse. Since Addison's time have ilved
Watt, Stephenson, Wyatt. Arkwright and
Crompton, men 10 whom we owe the greatest
commercial and social revolution in the en-;
tire history OF the world. BY the help OF aii
these great men, and the still greater instru-
mentaIities OF which they were the discover.
ers, the commerce of the world has magnihed
an hundred fold In the last century, ana the
business Of the nations OF the earth which
was counted by thousands two hundred years
ago, Is now reckoned by as many millions;
While the nat OF the Almighty which orlgi'
nally rested upon the guilty pair not yet eT,
PEELED from blissful Eden, that man should
eat bread In tho sweat OF his face. remains un-
>, repealed, we yet recognize the beneicence OF
an all wise Being In providing that all men
should not be restricted to the same means OF
securing bread. If VIC CONSIDER the different
callings and avocations into which men enter
Or n nvolihnnl fhprc Is perlnDS no one OF