The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1917-07-04
Roads and Other Things.

hOuuS anu
lone half of the world does not
know how the other half lives" 1t is
usually the better-kept half that is
at all curious to know, not that the
other half would be bettered by such
knowledge.
Misery loves company" chiefly be-
cause it finds others whose state is
worse than it's own, and takes COM
fort from that fact.
Crops in and around the peninsula,
particularly cotton, are a bit dis
couraging, but just leave here and go
into Kershaw especially beyond the
river and they are nearly if not quite
disheartening. and the people feel it
and show it,
We have thought to say a word
about our supervisor more than once
but have deferred till now. We have
good man on the job and We have
no reason to be ashamed Of the Job
he is giving us. If one could see the
roads in west Kershaw, it would
hardly be putting it too strongly TO
say disgrace to the county, he would
feel the force of the above remarks
We have had a somewhat intimate ac-
quaintance with it's lower section for
more than a score of years and must
confess we see no improvement in
its roads whatever. You travel them
in a car at the peril of your life, as
1 felt from actual experience, an ex-
perience / don't want to repeat. With
no great stretch of imagination one
can easily see in the old wire road to
Columbia from the river to the Rich
land line, the way OF weeping. 1 have,
gone over its entire length and was
disposed to think that some such road
must have been in the mind Of the
Progress, for out OF the depths of re-
pentance one emerges to meet fresh
with slight encouragements, with no
great hope. AS he approaches Spear
creek things go fast from bad to
worse and the luckless wayforer
brimful of dire forebodings, scarce
ly daring to think what the next mo-
ment may bring forth, finds himself
in what one would term today "The
place of prayer and a tempest Of fire
and birthstone" Why a place of
prayer? Because when difficulties and
dangers unheard of, unthought of, be-
gin to multiply thick upon him he
will pray to the saints or anybody he
thinks can help him. And he will
need it before he gets it bad enough.
Why place of a tempest of fire and
birthstone? Because he's going to get
stuck bad, in such fashion as will
enable him to remember to his dying
day what that phrase means, and
when he does he is going to exhaust
his vocabulary of cuss words on the
devoted head of Kershaw county and
it's supervisor. At Spear creek poor
pilgrim enters the valley of the shad-
ow of death and almost despairs OF
reaching the celestial city, Columbia,
but the good angels, in the person of
nearby farmers, help him and encour-
age him as that by dint of persever-
ance at length he reaches higher
ground whence in the dim distance he
beholds the faint outlines of the
celestial city (Columbia) and forth
with forgets all his sorrow, travail and
trouble.
This road can easily be put in first
class shape because from end to end
the clay is there and near the surface
and it should be done. if for no other
reasons, because it is the most direct
road to Columbia an because of the
cantonment where forty thousand of
our boys will be encamped. There are
other and good reasons but time and
space forbid their notice.
"Hagood"
Rembert, June %, 1917.