The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1885-11-24
Communication.

MEssRS ED1ToRs SO much has been
said in two or three Of the County pa-
pcrs lately about "R. 5. CPS" letter on
his trip T." Aiken, and the impressions
on his mind OF men and things while
there. that one feels inclined to wonder
and inquire how Impressions are made.
notice that "R. s. G." asserts very
little of his own knowledge. May not
he suffer from Misrepresentation by
those who review him rs much if not
more than they think he m~isreprcsents
things about Aiken No one that
knows that correspondent can believe
for n moment that he wilfully misrcp-
resented any body or any thing. lie is
incapable Of such a thing.
Our Impressions Of a place are the re-
suit Of what we see and hear. This
correspondent visited tho town in cues
ton ut an u~nfavorable time to hear as
kindly things spoken by one citizen of
another as doubtless are generally spo-
ken there. Still he heard them. they
were spoken on the streets, and from
phbtic rostrums. He was not bound to
secrecy and is surely not guilty Of all
the sin.
Let us examine the review made
Of him by the Aiken Recorder of 10th
Instant on the question of house build
in5. The correspondent says he did
not see a single house being built" He
does not say he hunted all over the cor
porte limits. 1t is likely he saw princi-
pally the business part. The Recorder
charges him with blindness from "par-
t%izanship." There nre hard words for a
writer to use. especially under the de-
claired fact that he desires to deal very
gently with "R. Sc" They make an
impression just az other words spoken
in Aiken on ''R. S. g." Notice that tho
$45,5W worth of buildings and repairs
are stated to have been built within the
past year.. Surely "R. s. G." could not
be expected to see houses being built
after they were finished. Of the $l3,-
800 worth Of houses not yet built, some
are only under contract, and may be the
lumber is not eveA in sight of a visitor.
If not, how could it be seen
The Recosrler does not say it is.
There is still n balance Of the $l3, 800 to
%accoun. for, and which might have been
seen by the correspondent as this part
is "in process Of erection" 1t is not
said. however,' what proportion Of the
$4,000 is thus in view. 1t may be very
small. 1t may be on the outskirts Of the
town where visitors are not likely to be.
1t is not located by the Recorder.
Wherein then, did "R. s. G." sin in not
seeing what is not claimed as being in
sight? True. sometimes things that
are not in sight, and which one would
like to see, make Impressions by their
absence. An illustration is ut hand in
what the editor Of the Recorder did
not see in tho State Fair at Columbia q
week ago. In his issue Of 18th inst,
he says (speaking OF the Fair). I'VE
regret, however, that in all the depart
ments We noticed but tro exhibits
from the progressive and wide awake
county Of Aikcn.' The writer italicised
the word two" to show that sometimes
the fewer we sec Of the things we
would like to see, the deeper the i'm
preston. No wonder that an the whole
county Of Aiken whose territory is
broad, and whose soil is generous, a
county with three splendid cotton mills,
and n paper mill, besides other public
public industries, made only two ex-
hibits. 1t should make a very deep i'm
preston on any friend Of progress
whether he live in the county or out Of
it. | have no doubt if "R. S. e." were
there, and thought Of the matter at all,
it made an impression on him. He
would certainly be at liberty I 0 write
about it or what others said about it,
when he returned home. No doubt it
just happened SO this year and may not
occur again in q score Of years. Still,
for the time being. the fact cannot be
changed.
These racy correspondents are no
doubt at times indiscrete in what they
say but that is too common TO justify
such an o%ut-pouring Of wrath on this
correspondent for this hastily written
letter, that asserts remarkably little
when you examine it closely.
OBSERVER.