The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1902-01-29
AS AN ADVERTISEMENT.

O'~S~
which has an exhibit at the Exposi-
ton visited The News and Courier
Office yesterday. Some of his observa-
tions and reflections, after spending
some days on the Exposition grounds
are worth noting for the considera-
ton of people generally in the counties
which have not done, and are not
doing, much towards making exhibits
for themselves.
The burden of his remarks was an
earnest and oft-repeated expression OF
regret that the people of his own
county did not better understand the
value of the opportunity presented to
them to advertise" its resources and
attractions in their own interest, and
to their own profit. Most of them, he
said, really had no idea Of what the
Exposition was; he had but an made
ouate idea himself until he had seen
it. Having seen it, he was sorry and
ashamed to see the small exhibit
made by his county, when he knew
what it could have shown for itself
With little effort, and with inconsid-
erable expense, compared with the
benefits to be dreived from a full eS-
hibit. And his own county was not
alone at fault. He was painfully i'm
pressed with the appearance made by
the collective exhibits of the counties
represented, as compared with the
splendid showing made by the State
of Missouri, especially, in the same
place.
His county had done something for
itself, and with known good results
already. After looking at its partial
exhibit of its agricultural products
fruits, grains, vegetables, etc-which
contains some really fne specimens, if
few in number and representing only
few varieties of hundreds that could
have been shown, a visitor from a
Northwestern State said that it was
almost incredible 20 him that such
wheat, barley, rye, oats, rice, pump
kins, pears, peaches. and so on, could
be grown in South Carolina, as he
supposed the soil and climate were IN
favorable to such products, and asked,
sswhat was the price of lands that
would;yield such crops?'' The point OF
his inquiry and of the whole matter con-
sists in the fact that, when he was told
that it ranged from tenIto twenty dol
lars an acre, ne started negotiations at
once for the purchase of large farm
in the county making the exhibit,
which are now practically closed. He
preferred, he said. to farm on such
soil. in such conditions, to working
land in his own State, costing $50 to
800 an acre that would not yield such
ret1rns, and whore the work had to
be done half Of the year under all the
drawbacks and trials of a rigorous
wiater climate
md. said the representative of
the South Carolina county, in telling
the story. if we had expended little
more labor and money and thought to
make an exhibit truly worthy OF the
coun9y, We could have impressed all
home seekers far more deeply and
effectively, and have filed the county
with suca farmers in short time.
The sale CT some Of our unemployed
acres. at fair prices, would alone pay
tho ccst of ar exhibit many times over
If we rad spent s., 900 On it He was
gc;ag horne, ne added. to try to
iRduce his regabors, The business
men among them, at any rate, to
retrieve tie mistake they had made,
and employ tie opportunity presented
to them rs well rs they could in tie
Sis2a remaining to them. The Exposl-
tier would continUe until July. There
were "stiII five months for work, .
and tie great body Of the visitors from
the North and West were yet to come.
He proposed to urge his county to have
something to show that was better
worth their seeing-to have it do jus
tice to itself, in It's own interest. 1t
could fli all the space allotted to it,
and more, VITA specimens, in some
form, of the nearly unlimited variety
of field crops, pasture grasses. orchard
fruits and vegetables, which are grown
in ita list Of which would fill a
cclumn Of prin5-and such an exhibit
would amaze and greatly interest all
strangers to the possibilities of this
region: most visitors to the Exposi-
tor being such strangers. To the
strictly agricultural specimens would
be added, if his counsel prevailed,
c ,vcJ1. manufacturers of