The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1900-06-14

washes and rltS as soon rs made, and
from time to time 90 over their roads and
see what improvements can be made in
them to make more perfect highways
I intended to say something about
peaches and Irish potatoes this week, but
I've spun my letter out to nearly the full
limit, and I'll have to defer a discussion
of these subjects until another time
GEORGE WOLsEY SYMONDs.
DENMARK, June 12
Mail communication between the shire
town and the lower part of Bamberg
county is so ridiculously inadequate that,
had my last letter been mailed in New
York city, it would have reached you in
time for publication in last weeks paper.
There ought to be reform along this
line, and if the citizens in the Ehrhardt
section will bestir themselves and get up
petition, will use my humble influence
and guarantee that of THE BAMBERG
HERALD, to secure for them adequate
postal facilities.
This is not only a greasy" country, but
it is a great fruit centre as well. We are,
if no accident happens, going to have a
great fruit crop this year, particularly of
peaches and plums. Every farmer down
here has an orchard, and the orchards are
"fruited Deep" Ours is good fruit
country, and I am hopeful even for the
apple, because our forefathers raised this
fruit in abundance, and there is no reason
why we should not. All we want is a
tree that is acclimatized, and your own
Bamberg nursery, l am told, can supply
trees of native growth. / stopped re-
Gently at the hospitable home of Mr.. L.
A. Bikle, near Ehrhardt. His two fads
are fruit and fighting chickens, and he
can make a notable exhibit along both
lines. Of his game chickens, and of poul-
try in general, I shall have something to
say later on. Of his fruit, which lasts
from June till October, can only say
that every farmer has an equal chance,
and all should take advantage of their
opportunities and set out an orchard. 1t
would pay you royal per centage OF
profit.
In previous letter spoke of the mul-
berry tree as an excellent pork raiser.
Mr. J. G. Copeland believes in the plum,
and he has this fruit in such abundance,
of all varieties, that when visited him,
he had about twenty head of porkers,
gorging themselves on the "windfalls'
from his plum trees. By the way, Mr..
Copeland lives in the Oldest house in
Three Mile Township, if not in Bamberg
county. 1t is (the original building) of
hewn logs, and was built by his grand
father, old Jacob Copeland, who was a
mighty hunter in his day. The original
settlers in the Ehrhardt section built all
of their houses of logs. Most Of them
fitted the frame together and set the logs
up unhewn The drawing down was
done after the walls were erected. Old
Jacob Copeland had every log hewn be-
fore he began the erection of his home.
The corners are all nicely joined, and
the structure is of such substantial char
acter that when the big earthquake con-
vulsed this country, and one of Mr. Cope
lands daughters, alarmed at the first
shocks, cried out:
Let us run, papa! The house will be
down about our ears"
BE replied, having full confidence in
the stability of the structure:
Never fear, daughter; it would take
twenty earthquakes like this to shake this
old house to the ground"
And, so saying, he turned over and
went to sleep, slumbering peacefully
through the successive tremors
Old Jacob Copeland, as before men
toned, was mighty hunter, a genuine
Deitcher Nimrod. Originally he settled
in the Folks Mill section, where he owned
600 acres of prime land. There was not
much game there, though, and he traded
his estate for $50 acres about two miles
west of the present town of Ehrhardt.
Game was abundant here. There was a
deer trail passing through his place, be-
tween two bays, and many was the ant
lered buck that fell beneath his long
smooth bore rifle
There is lots of grass in the country,
and the farmers will have to bestir them
selves to get the better of General Green.
Crops as an usual thing look well, partic-
ularly corn. Cotton has been in many
parts afflicted with lice, but the late show
ers have washed them off, and the staple
will grow now like green bay tree
Speaking of showers reminds me that the
river has been swollen by the recent rains,
and Fish Detective Charles D. McLendon
is off duty for day or two. He is the
right man in the right place-brave, fear
less and fully determined to do his whole
duty. He has patrolled the river between
Hickman's and Waters's landings, and
has already cut up twenty-seven tlsh
traps. He will prosecute without mercy,
and trust and hope that every trap and
dynamite fisherman will be frightened
into strict observance of the law. You
know how I stand, MIR. Editor, on the
fish question, and my voice will always
be raised in protest against the illegal
taking of fish from the greatest piscatory
preserve in the world-the Edisto river
Right here / want to mention matter
that has given me a great deal OF worry
and concern in my swinging around the
circle, which has your town as its centre
While riding through the Denmark and
Lees sections came upon several isolated
punches of that dreaded pest, the Canada
thistle. Wherever l have found this
growth l have invariably rooted it up,
built fire and destroyed it. Several
years ago it cost taxpayers IN some OF the
Northern States hundreds Of thousands
of dollars to rid their sections of the
dreaded thistle A stitch in time saves
nine, and it should be the duty of every
citizen to do as do, and stamp out this
noxious pest wherever found. Speaking
about the thistle reminds me that nut and
joint grass is getting good foothold in
certain sections of the county. The two
grasses mentioned are pests, and give the
farmer a great deal of trouble, but they
are not soil-robbers like the Canada
thistle, an influx of which would do more
harm than an army of grasshoppers or a
horde of any of the vegetation vermin
that good farmers dread and are con-
stantly on the alert against.
At two or three places in the county l