The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1889-04-18
vERMoST'S WHITE SLAVES.
Halls-A Pitifnl Account Of More
American Labor.
New York World

one, sits on an eninence overlooking in
adisdainful way the struggling, rock
bound, cherries village of Proctor,
with its Proctor quarries, Proctor
Offices, Proctor mills, ssProctor stores,
Proctor railroad, Proctor tenement
houses and Proctor slaves. AS far as
the Governor can see when be stsnds
on his lofty veranda the soil and its
overworked, discontinued people are
his. Long flights of steps lead up from
the roadway..snd %aork-a-day world at
the GoverzaFg Feet and neet close
shorn laaFn girt all around by . prim
hedgesow. Further down the slope the
heraaocks have grown to lusty height
and hide the rugged rocks. The cupalo
ofthe barn, where Proctor's well-bred
horses and shiney carriages are kept,
lust rears itself above the green
branches. A few rods up the picturesque
road, with its long rustic bridge espan-
ming the stream that runs the Proctor
mills, is the residence Of Proctor's son
Fletcher, handsomer house, if pos
sible, than that Of the sire, and built,
as was bis, out Of the tariff on marble.
THE NABoB's STORE.
Proctor's store, where the quarry
men have to do all their trading, is a
regular Macy's. There isn't thing
the quarryman in his impecuniousness
can have any use for that the four
floors of the enormous building do not
contain. And it is all run for 8 profit.
There is no such thing as slow pay to
this store-keeper.MHe turns his ac-
counts in to the main Office, and they,
along with rent and fuel bills, are de-
Quoted from the wages. It is the cid
company-store system carried to
state Of perfection unequalled. In a
basement of it is the railroad station
and telegraph Office; on its first floor
the postofice There Is nothing in
Proctor that does not pay tribute to its
potentate. Vain have been mems
efforts in years past to run stores in the
village of Proctor vhere the worknen
could get goods at prices to suit their
beggardly earnings.
I talked with = man who for four
years was in the Proctor employ. II
have seen old Proctor himself" he
stake new men to one side and
tell them: Now, we've got store
here. We run it for your benefit and
expect you to buy your goods there
They knew what it meant. They never
had to be told but once" 1t is even
said in Proctor that Powers store
used to be watched by the company's
people to see who Of the men dared go
and trade there. At last young Powers
gave it up as bad job. The men were
afraid to trade with him.
BUYING UP The PAss-BooKs.
Since Powers abandoned his store,
where be tried in vain to sell for S. rub
Der boots that the Company charged S.
for efforts have been made to get hold
of the old pass-books the vorkmen
carried to Proctor's emporium But it
seems that some time ago the COM
pany offered 81 piece for them and
harvested the whole crop. Powers
fruitless effort to do business there had
one good effect. though. It brought
attention to the matter and forced the
Company to charge less exorbitantly
for its goods. To-day the rates are
respectable compared with what they
used to be. Oil has reached its noml-
nal price in the Proctor stores. And
still the workmen stand no show to
save dollar. They are sorry LOOK
ing lot when at night, spent and
dragged out, they come trooping from
the ousrries and the great Sle0, 600 mill
which Proctor has reared but Of solid
marble. Grimy, and With weary gait
after their eleven hours Of toll, they
drag themselves up the endless stairs
which lead from the damp, vretehed
pits. horne to hard fare and sleep that
sect;an-S stimulates for another day OF
endurance.
There is settled air Of gloom and ce-
pression over the whole village. All
day long, while the men are buried IN
the mills and euarries, you never hear
sound save from passing train or
some farmers wagon. 1t is as il the
place were deserted. And st night
when the whistles blows the laborers
steal awav home without so much
as a whisper. The presence OF proctor
is over it all and spirit is lost IN the
fatigue of toll.
The Proctor marble deposit, they
say, is giving out, and the Governor IS
gathering in pieces Of quarry property
all over the country. At Brandon, on
the north, he has bought new quarry;
another at double Roads Crossing, TWO
miles to the east, and so on. He IS
everywhere. He has his FARMS stocAeo
with blooded horses, and dalrles
whence his milkmen furnish milk TO
tenants. driving competition out OF
that business, too. He has his trout
ponds up on the hill, and enjoys them
as a king should. No town ever meriteo
its name more than Proctor does the
name of Proctor.
WEST RUTLAND'S wEITE SLAVES
But West Rutland, four miles away
ia oven more cherries to the laoorer.
That is where you see Proctor's wnl1e
slaves in all the hopelessness of his e1-
istence. Along the side OF the noun
-,. flor ouarry has been sunk