The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-12-20
THE PAXVILLE
ROAD QUESTION
Mr.. H. D. Tindal Discusses the
Pocalla Meeting and the Ad-
vantages of the Proposed
New Route

Editor Daily Item:
In the issue Of Daily Item of the
18th instant appears an account
Of a meeting at Pocalla Of what
are denominated in the article as
| "CitiZens Of Pocalla-Tindal-Pin
wood sections" to discuss the route
Of the road through that part of
| the county Tnasmuch as in the
article much is said about the "Pe-
tition of Mr.. H. D. Tindal." I feel
called upon to present to your
readers some of the facts Of the
| situation
In the first place, it is difficult
to understand why the Pinewood
peopl. are included in the de-
nomination of the citizens who
met at PocaTla. Going through
the list of names published as hav-
ing been present, I find no name
appearing which properly belongs
to the Pinewood section. The par
ties listed are all Sumter-Pocalla-
Privateer people; and a little ex-
planation. of the geographical sit
uation will make it clear that they
are the only kind Of people affect
ed. and that the Pinewood section
is not at all involved, unless some
partisan is, nursing in his breast
the fond hope of diverting this
road. from its natural objective,
Paxville, Summerton, and the new
bridge to Charleston over Santee
at Murray's ferry, Notwithstanding
Pinewood is already served by a
hard surfaced road by way Of the
/ S. A. Harvin place. and notwith-
standing that such diversion would
remove this road entirely from
some of the people whom it is
most designed to help, those re-
siding on and near the old road to
Manning by way of Providence
church.
/ Any reader who has travelled
from Sumter past Pocalla for a
little distance will recall that
aboat quarter Of mile or so
after passing Pocalla the road
forks. The right hand Of the fork
from there on is the part that the
Headers of this meeting desire paw
7 ed. The left hand fork passes
under the railroad (Northwestern)
to Manning. Of course, those re-
siding on that fork would like
that paved. The route proposed
! in the so-called ''Tindal petition"
lis a happy compromise between
!; the two. a dead straight line
alongside of the railroad track,
over easy ground for engineering
purposes, and clipping off a consid-
erable distance to reach the same
point arrived at by the old, crook
! ed road, thereby insurins saving
| to the taxpayers Of thousands of
dollars, while giving practically
the same service as, and more
central than, the other route. This
lis true because practically all Of
1.-THE property owners on the pres
tent route along there own land on
{the proposed railroad route, and 1t
merely involves different position
ON. their same land, and is nearer
! to serve the people along the old
Manning road under the railroad.
Some OF those who live along
that old Manning road, however,
| have been induced to believe that
they should support the conten-
ton Of the gentlemen led by Mr..
Beck that the right hand fork
should be paved under the. hope
/ held out to them that by doing so
the commission might be induced
! later on to pave the left hand fork
| (Manning road) also~ If that could
i be practically done, our petition
ers are with them, and have so
stated in our petition; that that
! is plainly a chimera. AS several
of the commission stated when the
kmatter was heard, there would not
lbe chance TO pave both roads IN
ia hundred years. We must be
practical. There is already an
other road being paved to Manning
(via Alcolu); and it must be ap-
parent to the most superficial that
the commission can not pave two
roads towards the same place and
leave other points neglected.
While the gentlemen who met
at Pocalla were no doubt well
advised by the legal counsel they
/, had at hand, / am not aware that
the gentlemen of the bar who were
present are property owners in the
J the affected section. Likewise
many other names appear in the
published list who are. not free
holders there. Mr.. Beck's plan Of
campaign seems to be to carry the
iday by sheer weight of numbers
instead of so much regard to
property interests or the reason
and logic of the situation. He will
have the road by his place regard
less of where it is put after it pass
es his place. Then; again, many
of the gentlemen present live in
Sumter, and not in the affected ter
ritory. For which reason. among
others, 1 feel justified in challeng-
ing the statement in the account
of their meeting that the proposed
,oute along the railroad would help
only about five families, and cause
hardship to about fifty or more.
AS against five white families con-
ceded by them to be living along
rho 20 ;Iroa6 route there iS 0plV