The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1907-08-28

! advisable. in other WORDS, II IN very
neat way told the citizens Of Sumter
that the City Council knew more
about what the citizens wanted than
the citizens did themselves. And
there the matter rested; there it lay.
4 direct appeal by the citizens abso-
lutely unheeded. And why? Simply
because it was such a wonderful i'm
provement, with very little outlay OF
money, that it would be marked i'm
provement and enhance the value Of
all the adjacent property, and there
by ado to the city's revenue in taxes,
etc. And so it lay. In the mean
time, however, large expenditures
were carried on in other less populat-
ed, but more highly favored, sections
o1 the town; improvements which
will not be used for years to come
if ever. In this way the will Of the
people Of Sumter was deliberately set
aside by the City Council. The whole
thing seemed a concerted effort to
bottle the property up, and I con-
gratula4e the aldermen who engineer
ed it that for a time the scheme was
! highly successful, and it looked as
| though I was beaten, but along in
June Of this year the writer learned
that the negro Baptists Of the State
had acquired property in Sumter on
which it was their intention to erect
a school; he made inquiry as to
where it was and found that it was
an lily located tract just on the south
western limits of the town; he then
learning that the college Or school was
already a certainty, set about to in
duce its promoters to locate the
school on his tract Of land, little
| dreaming that, inasrnuch as it lay re-
mote from the rest Of the town there
could be the slightest objection of its
being located there, even from the
most fastidious;, after considerable
effort the transfer was made and the
school located on the tract to the
north Of Sumter, beyond the limits OF
| the city, remote from the residential
section, remote from the highway,
and at least quarter Of mile from
the waterworks Absolutely isolated
from everybody.
! Now there seems to be in our midst
a small coterie Of self-appointed
guardians of our city; sort Of grand
| tribunal men who hold a mortgage
over pretty much the whole Of this
part Of the universe, and for this rea-
son are gentlemen Of great inf1u-
ence,'' who have brought themselves
to feel that hey should be consulted
about all matters Of any prominence
in the community, and very naturally
they stood aghast at the very ande-
city Of any one having the tegleiity l,i
| aking a ceal Of al.y &ind witaett
consulting thenn, and Sa ti1ey nave
! SET about to t4y and create . sent;-
(, r1.ei., ABOUT something ABOUT which
they absolutely are not concerned, for
the property under discussion is we'll
without the city limits and remote
| from any habitation whatsoever. They
have endeavored to convey the idea
that the presence Of this school (Which.
by the way, will cost but $4,000,
and will not be provided with water
fixtures, plumbing, etc.) will con-
taminate the city's water sup
ply, which is located about a quarter
Of a mile away, and the water strata
running in a contrary direction from
| this property. A prominent member
Of the Board of Health visited this
/ property along with the writer and
when he was shown where the
property was located declared in his
opinion that it would not be a source
| OF COQIrdnlQal.OU. 1\ON IlIe "AiSSi' ,
who flatters himself that he has this
city's interest at heart just as much as
the 'sself-appointed guardians; whose
loved ones and friends drink from the
same source of supply that these gen
tle1.an and their families do, would
not for all the wealth Of the town do
eny thing that would in any way con-
taminate the water supply of Sumter,
for it is something that Sumter should
be justly proud Of and thankful for.
but he will say that inasmuch as the
property above referred to is the iden-
teal property which, he is informed,
it was proposed that the city buy and
present to a college, which the city
endeavored to get located here two
years ago, it is passing strange that
the presence of little $4,000 school
building there now, will contaminate.
when a large and pretentiouS college