Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-06-21

editor yielded or even wavered. They
had stood to their people sturdily In
the dangerous Ku Klux times when
the shadow Of the Federal peniten-
tiaries lay across every home and In
the path Of every citizen who dared
to speak--for perjured testimony was
abundant and the spies were many
skilled and reckless of results. In the
time Of the uprising Of the white peo-
pie in 1876 they were unit. Never
in all the history Of the world has
there been a clearer demonstration OF
the qualities which make the white
man and will keep the white man
master Of the world than was given In
South Carolina that year: With a
plain fifty thousand majority against
them, established by the census re-
turns and the records Of previous
elections, with the state and county
governments and organizations and
the United States government with its
unlimited powers Of wealth and bay
onets, men and bullets behind them,
they dared and urged and demanded
the fight, they courted the struggle to
the very act and agony Of death. In
all these years never have forgotten
that In the stiffness Of late night In
September of that great year heard
through the windows the muffled
sound Of the hoofs of a horse gallop-
ing through the sandy main street of
Sumter and the defiant shout Of the
solitary rider as If singing his own
thought regardless Of who might hear,
Hampton or h-l!" That voice
sounding from an unknown and astray
man from the darkness was the voice
Of South Carolina and of the great
ever conquering white race-"win or
die-be master or a formidable men,
ory!" That was the spirit Of the South
Carolina newspapers. AS a strange
boy I watched them as they came to
me in that old Office In East Bay, at
the corner Of the alley swing into line
from the leaping headwaters Of the
mouth Of the Santee.
The News and Courier Stood Alone.
The News and Courier stood alone.
It's voice was for compromise and the
denomination Of Governor Chamber
lain with Democratic endorsement.
Looking back now we can see that its
logic was unanswerable. Numbers
were against us, the laws were against
us. The governments were all against
us. Chamberlain had a record Of hon.
esty, was fighting the thieves, murder
ers and plunderers and seemed to have
a strong following in his own party
offering us supremacy by gradual and
easy and bloodless approaches and
degrees. Capt. F. w. Dawson, the
strongest and most brilliant man who
ever conducted South Carolina news
paper, exhausted all the resources OF
rhetoric and reason in behalf Of COM
promise. His news and editorial COL
umns were alike vivid. Column after
column and day after day. six days In
the week--w6 had no. Sunday papers
IthenAhe poured out the ffches OF 9
magnificent mind, persuading, threat.
ening, urging, arguing, demonstrating
With vitriolic ana tremendous force ne
denounced the Shotgun Democracy
and there is reason to believe that the
National Democracy, nominating TIL
den for president that year, was
with him. We Of the straightout fac
ton had not only the Republican par
ty, with it's vast and various powers
but our own party and all reason
against us. On our side there was
nothing but instinct-no visible hope
no reason or resource, nothing but the
white mans deathless impulse to fight
and to do his own fighting with the
means at his hand and by the meth
ods nearest and most available. and
to rescue himself and establish his
own supremacy or die trying to do It
On our side, over in the Journal OF
Commerce office, the directors were
busy and anxious and fumbling as am
ateurs will. They swapped horses In
the stream, displaced Trueheart and
called in Col. r. Barnwell Rhett as
editor. They were possessed with the
idea that a name, writer and fight
er could make q newspaper. Colonel
Rhett had the name-a name justly
revered in South Carolina-and could
write and fight on occasions, but as
managing editor of a newspaper as we
know ii now, he was not even an at
tempt. Day after day he would moi
be at the office at all and would send
down his editorials by a messenger
He had the old-fashioned contemp,
and disregard for the news end.
doubt IL he ever in his life checked VI
to see what his sub-editors and re.
porters were doing or gave the slight
est attention to the mechanical depart
ment. We had some curious expert
ences. In Colonel Rhett's absence
have beheld with wondering eyes the
entire editorial and Typographical
force unanimously drunk at O'Clock
in the evening, and the paper they go,
out was a weird wonder. Those were
the days Of hand type, when each
printer could keep a bottle under his
case and refresh himself at discretion
When a reporter too inebriate to ar
ticulate or a city editor helpless and
sprawled asleep in the office were
passing incidents.
Father of Constitution and Edsefield
They were times which seem strange
to us Of now. The first time I ever saw
Gen. NJ. C. Butler was when he stump
ed into the office to consult Colonel
Rhett on the phraseology Of a chal'
lenge he bore from General M. w
Gary to Captain Dawson. The cap
tain in one of his fiery editorials hao
indicated his readiness to meet Gener-
al Gary, who, as one of the Shotgun
Democracy" had denounced him as
coward. The challenge came per Gen
eral Butler on the next train. Captain
Dawson was a man of his own ideas
He was not averse to fighting and was