The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1916-04-01

He Is Pledged to Law Enforcement.
educational Advancement and Eff
cheney Other speeches.
From Tho Daily Item. March 90.
Tho annual meeting OF the Cham
Der o. Commerce which was held last
night In hall Of the Eagles Club was
IN all respects az sucoessful, asl In
spring and az enjoyable an event Of
the kind an the organization has ever
held. Tho hall was filled almost to
lts canscity and there were few va
cant places ct the tables, which had
been laid Tor two hundred. At 8:30
O'Clock, when the members of the or
gapization and q few guests had gath
cred around the tastefully decorated
tables the chicken stew supper was
served, the blessing being asked by
Rev. J. Hentham Walker The well
prepatcd and abundant. though sim
pie repast waS enjoyed by all and
when the. cigars were passed every
body was In the frame OF mind to
eiye receptive attention to the
sptakers Of the evening.
PrScldent r. b. Belser who presid-
Cd. gave q brief hut interesting re-
view OF the activities Of the organiga-
tlon durinr the past year. He said
that the work Of the Chamber of
CommAfcel had turned more and moro
toward the development and improve
|ment Qe the agricultural resources Of
th4 territory tributary to sumter. for
y upon this rich but largely utilix-
"a soNtce of wealth that the prosper
lty pf the I!eople Of the county ard
.oS the town alike depends During
the past year the Chamber OF Com
merce had endeavored to encourage
crop liberalization and its efforts,
supplemented by the work Of Clemson
College and allied sgencies. aad very
lergely Increased the grain acreage
IN county. No take care OF large grain
cron e9orts were directed toward th,s
abllsAment Of q dour mill In this
city to convert the wheat into -four
and 10 create q market for other grain.
crops. While the attempt to establish
q neur mill d, the city last year had
not met with success. the interest
aroused had resulted In the esta ablish-
mont Of several flour mills In the
county. To strengthen and popularixe
tho tobacco market several booster,
trips were made through the county
and the beneficial effects had been
spparNnt not cnly in tho tobacco mar
ket, but in other lines. The plan to
build another tobacco warehouse had
not been carried out lasti year, but
thAt = has not been abandoned. A.
great deal Of valuable week had been
done IN the promotion OF the propos-
Cd Suntar- 0ianta railroad--the sur
ycy had been made. maps and esti-
mates PREPARED and practically all the
rights OF iyay secured The ROAD aad
not been built. largely a. result OF
tho financial depression. hut there is
aubstantial reason to believe that the
CONTAMINATION Of this undertaking. Is
not far or. Tho Chamber OF Com
merce has also interested itself active
ly In the dcveh,pment OF the live
stock industry and the general inter-
est manifested has already brought
results. For the next year the or.
ganixation was pledged to work for
the establishment Of a -four mill in
this ctty---aand this 10 already prac-
tically assured. The next and prob
ably the most important item on the
program is the establishment OF a
creamery In Surnter county. II may
not be possible to accomplish this
immediately. but 1t is feasible to
arouse sufficient interest In dairy cat
tie 20 develop several cream routes
which will pave the way aud create
the need for local creamery. The
Chamber Of Commerce Will continue
Its fostering interest In crop DIVERSE
fication and especially will L. use its
influence and resources to further de-
|velop the local tobacco market and
az q supplement- to this a grain and
produce exchange TO provide ready
and certain market for the surplus
grain crops Of this section. The pro-
motion. OF the Sumter Olanta railroad,
which Is necessary to round out Sum-
ter's transportation system and de-
velop the city's natural trade terri
tory. will be actively prosecuted to
success In conclusion Mr.. Belser
urged all members to attend the
monthly meetings Of tho organization
to the end that there may be greater
cooperation and better team work for
the good of the entire community.
Mr.. Mazyck OF the Columbia Cham
ber OF Commerce. was introduced as
a community worker who accomplish
ed results by having definite ideas
coupled with energy and persistence
In working to make his dreams come
true.
Mr.. Mazyck said that he had come
prepared to use the rake. but that he
was surprised and charmed to find the
people here SO united and working SO
well together. He gave many good
hints for work along further lines of
usefulness. one being to make the
town better known and to let the
Northern trayeling public know what
Sumter had to offer In the way OF an
attractive resort. He advised making
every county dweller an honorary
member OF the chamber and inviting