The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1913-08-28
CLARENDON editor
lAUDS KINGSTREE.
RAPID STRIDES IN GROWTH AND
PROGRESS--GENIAL, HOS
PTTABLE PEOPLE.

Represented dI AtiS@siSS oN N~'
last Thursday by delegates from Man.
ming, Summerton and Foreston-the
occasion was the laying of the corn
er.stone for the Kingstree Baptist
church, new brick edifee now in
course of construction, which, when
completed, will be one of the incest
places of worship in this part of the
State. The attendance at the cere-
monies was large, the addresses of
the Most Worshipful Past Grand
Master, Hon ] L Niche, and the Hon
Charles A Smith were excellent, the
former spoke on Masonry. and the
latter spoke on the mission OF the
church, paying a handsome tribute
to the unity of spirit which brought
about the accomplishment of the pur-
pose to erect the magnificent build
ing. Metz's famous band from Char
lesion furnished the music for the
notable occasion. and the local quar-
tette did the singing.
The audience was large, made up OF
people from the community and the
surrounding country; all through the
ancient ceremonies the most rapt at
tention was given. 1t indeed was a
great Masonic day, and the visitors
were most delightfully."- entertained.
The hospitality of the citizens OF
Kingstree was great, everybody
seemed to feel it duty to make the
STAY of the visitors pleasant-they
succeeded admirably. The dinner
was served on the outskirts OF the
town, in a grove at the home of Mr.
DJEpps, and, by-the-way, the pine
bark stew and the barbecue were pre-
pared under Mr. Epps' personal sup
ervision; we would wager dollars to
doughnuts there is not a chef in the
United States who can excel the stew
and barbecue prepared for this occa-
sion. Everything was in abundance,
YES, abundance is the word, and serv-
ed as only a whole-hearted people
can entertain. The writer keenly
enjoyed every moment of his stay in
the hustling town. He was deeply
impressed with the spirit OF unity
80 manifest on every hand; the i'm
preston created was that everybody,
even father, was working for the in
terest of Kingstree; there did not
seem to be the dog-in-the-manger
spirit 80 frequent in other commun-
tiles; everyone seemed to be possess
ed with the idea that to make Kings
tree grow selfishness and antagon-
isms must be removed, all must pull
together for the common good, the
handicapping of one is the Gripping
of the other; therefore, it is good
business to help each other and
make all succeed.
Kingstree has made rapid strides
within the past few years; it is an
old town, one among the oldest IN
the State, in days gone, its citizen
ship was content to keep what it had
for me and my wife, and my son,
John, and his wife, US four and no
MORE" with the result, the commun-
ity lay dormant for many, many
years, but at last there came a quick
ening. the shell of selfshness was
broken, the scales removed from the
eyes of those who had the town chok-
ed into a comatose condition, a new
spirit took hold of the people, they
began to look about them for posi-
bilities, they lifted the screws OFT
from their holdings, so others could
have a look in upon them; new life
was infused into an almost lifeless
being with the result that all realiz-
ed the efficacy of unity of purpose
and action. This unity was not to be
of the hot-air kind, but that it must
be put into actual practice by the
business men of the community. The
result we'll demonstrated the wisdom