The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1893-11-29
THE MT. TABOR SCHOOL.
Trouble About New Districts and their
Location-Mt. Tabor to be Destroyed
as q Public School-After Mr.. keitt
for Reversing his Decision-The
Centre No: the Centre.

There is a little affair that has
been developed ia this community that
has some interest in it and that is not
known by the general public. 1t is
concerning the Mt. Tabor school.
This school was organized some
thing like eight or nine years
ago into a highschool. 1t was
organized from simple necessity.
The school moved on and prospered
with over one hundred students, sup
porting from two to three teachers. All
Of these students lived near the school,
none Of them having to come over
three m!les-iG fact the great majority
Of them lived within q radius of less
than two miles of the school. There
are as many children within the same
radius to-day as there was then. The
school enjoys the same natural ad-
vantage, being as near as it ever was.
But Little Mountain grew aud
wanted a school of her own So she
applied to the Legislature OF 1892 for a
school district and it was granted.
Nobody blamed her nor did anybody
kick. This district was to be y mile
square with the depot at that place to
be the center. Mt. Tabor is little
more than mile from that center. The
lines were run leaving her outside of
that district. But there were people
who had set their hearts ON the de-
sGGlction of Mt. Tabor so they were
not satisfied. They wanted Mt. Tabor
to be included-in the Little Mountain
district. So a question of au illegal
survey was raised by persons, who
should, if they would have had the in
terest Of their school at heart have
been satisfied with what had been
done. A new survey was made. In
this survey the corners were so made
as to include Mt. Tabor in one of
them.
Now the object of, all this was not
for the benefit of Little Mountain but
to take away the advantage of Mt.
Tabor's situation and make it unable
to run a public school, that is to take it
out of the regular Mt. Tabor school
district SO that few selfish parties
might secure the school for the district
near themselves. AS you may readily
see Mt. Tabor was robbed of her rights
to run school for the simple reason
that there cannot be two public schools
in the same district.
Of course the School Com missioner of
our county ordered the trustees of
this district to relocate the school.
The board wishing TO do the right
thing after a great deal of hard study
and work, located directly over the
Little Mountain line. This they did
on the conviction, from a knowledge
of the district and from the survey,
that it was the center of the district,
very nearly, and decidedly the practi-
cal center. The facts in the location
are these: That when the Little Noun
tain district was made, it cut directly
into the Mt. Tabor district, thereby
leaving the corner Of that district
unchanged.
But this did hot satisfy ''Sir Oracle"
and others, for they wacted in the first
place to get the school as far away from
Mt. Tabor as possible, and in the Sec
ond place they wanted the school at
their own place of business.
Thus a lively fight commenced in
which Mr.. Keitt was consulted and
appealed to very occasionally. He de-
cided that the trustees location was
near enough the center and that it was
the practical center. But it is fact
that our honorable School Com mis-
siouer is so kind and of such gentle
nature that be allows hinself to be
dictated to by certain powerful bosses
of our county. So after hehad been
dictated to, accompanied by many
gentle reminder of past favors in a
7 1cro n
commissioner took back all that be
had decided and decided altogether
another thing, viz: that the center was
not the center and that the school
should be located where it should not
be located, and at the said place it was
located-at the f1ourishing and mag
nificent city of Siighs. All this was
done despite the appeals Of the trustees
of. the district. On what authority /
know not.
The old trustees, being ignored and
disregarded, resigned and another set
was appointed, which by the way are
men after the manner of their master.
The people Of Mt. Tabor probably
have the best school building and fur
niture in the county. SO in preference
to being harapgued and countenancing
a wrong, they opened an independent
school at their old place on last Mon
Gay. This school now numbaers over
thirty students and will probably reach
forty. All of this has been done with
out the loss Of any blood and very few
personal compliments. Yet some of the
parties engaged have not acted in the
most honorable way, and they are, I
dare say, ashamed of their victory.
These are the unaduiterated facts in
the case and cannot be denied. n.