Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1908-07-22
THE CANDIDATES AT ToKEENA,
Large and Orderly Crowd Greets Nh.
merOus Office Seekers.

DeInocrat1c party appointed the 18th
1ay OF july as campaign day at To-
keena, and later the citizens of the
community determined to set apart
the same day as day for an educa-
tlonal rally, and prepared bounte-
GUS picnic dinner for the revival OF
the physical man.
The village of Tokeena is situated
III the very heart Of that section
Iamed for Its progress. The enter.
prise, intelligence and progress of the
cltlZensh1p here Is prominent with
every one who knows this people.
Ihey have, kept pace with the best
and most progressive of the South.
Here In this section are many of
Oconee's best and most progressive
men. The broad fields of corn and
cottSif witness to the industry of this
pedsle; the commodious and beaut,-
ful homes bespeak their tastes and
prosperity; their well-built school
houses testify to their appreciation
or education; their churches show
forth their love Of God and aprrecla-
ton of his goodness. The good wo-
men are not remiss in their interest
IN public affairs, and they take q
lively interest in all that goes to the
development of their homes aud
neighborhood and makes for the bet
terment of their people. While all
this is true, the young bellies and
beaGS of the community are in e>i-
dence on every occasion for that
which Is good and true .,
BY 1880 a. m. in this lovely little
village there had gathered some
twelve or fifteen hundred people,
botP men and women, to pay honor
to- the occasion. All sizes and ages,
from tha lode an1 70 o1J
men and women, were out in their
best manners to cheer and help.
A stand had been erected for the
speakers, and Immediately in front a
table one hundred feet long had been
improvised, as If to warn all that ,elo-
quence was not all for the day, and
we were thereby admonished against
prolixity.
w. P. Mason acted as general man
ager for the day, and we'll did he con-
duct his part. He requested w. N.
Bruce to open the meeting with
prayer, after which he called on
w. M. McCraw, who delivered an ap-
propriate address OF welcome. After
few remarks by the County Chair
man, he introduced as the first
speaker
+. A. Smith,
a candidate for Superintendent of Ed
ucation. He said it afforded him
great pleasure to be present; was
thankful for past support given him.
He said that he was now called on
to speak on that hackneyed subject,
Education, upon which nothing new
could be said. II elected he would
devote his whole time to the admins
tration Of its ONCE. He had been
teaching in this county seven years,
and had had only one visit to a
school taught by him by the Supcrin-
n stendent Of Education in that time
1&&e was for better teachers and better
SCHOOLS.
j. l.. McWhorter
said he hardly knew how to begin,
but did want to say that the citizens
ought to put their very best men in
this office. He was not opposed to
county high schools. We all believe
in better education, but the effort to
teach everything in common schools
ought to stop and teachers ought to
devote more time to reading, writ
ing and arithmetic
j. III. Cantrell,
too, was happy to be here. Your
vote, he said, must have put me in
|f&2SP second race two years ago. We
80 all deeply interested in the edu-
cation of our children. For fifteen
years he had given his best effort in
teaching. Teachers are born, not
made. The school room is kind Of
experiment station, and the various
stations all over the county need the
care and supervision Of a practical
teacher.
w. G. Hughs
followed Mr.. Cantrell. He said that
in the last few years the material ad-
vancement Of our country has been
such that many of our people are
overlooking their intellectual devel-
opment in their mad rush after
wealth. On account of this our lit
erature, which Is our only means Of
Identification in future years. Is fast
going to decay. With the death Of
Joel Chandler Harris few days ago
the last figure Of any prominence In
Southern literature passed away. Ii
We are not to be lost sight Of as a
literary people in the next few dec
AIDES, We must raise up some one to
uphold our standard. Before the
Civil War we had slaves to provide
the necessities Of life, and the white
people could give their time and at
tention to pursuits Of culture and re-
flnement. Since the war we have
had n PROSTATE and devastated coun-
try to raise and upbuild, but that Is
done and we should now turn to the
cultivation of our intellectual and
spiritual natures. The plastic period
OF youth is the time Of deep impress
sions and We should begin in our
public schools to lay the foundation
for an intellectual development which
will make our Southland a place
among the nations of the earth in the
field Of letters. If such foundation
Is laid In the public schnols 1t should