This lien hereby given is executed and to be enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of South Carolina.
I, the said ............, in consideration of the foregoing, do hereby agree to advance to the said ........... ..... dollars, as above stated.
Witness the hands and seals of both parties.
In the presence of ............, L. S.
.................. ............, L. S.
This is then recorded in the County Court as is an ordinary mortgage.
On this island considerable money has been saved and is now deposited with a firm of merchants in whom the people have confidence. In July, 1902, there were about 100 individual depositors having some $4,000 to their credit. The money can be withdrawn at any time, all debts to the firm being first settled. Interest at five per cent. is allowed. Some of this money comes from pensions. There are round about Beaufort a considerable number of U. S. pensioners, as the city was headquarters for Union soldiers for a long time. The effect of the pensions is claimed both by whites and blacks to be bad.
A great deal of the credit for the good conditions, relatively speaking, which prevail on St. Helena is given to the Penn School which for years has come into close touch with the lives of the people. The Negroes have also been in touch with a good class of whites, who have encouraged all efforts at improvement. Wherever the credit lies, the visitor is struck by the difference between conditions here and on some other islands, for instance, Lady's Island, which lies between St. Helena and Beaufort. Even here it is claimed that the older generation is more industrious.
In the trucking industry, which is very profitable along the coast, the Negroes have only been engaged as ordinary laborers. On the main land, wherever fresh water can be obtained, is the seat of a considerable rice industry. In recent years, owing to the cutting of the forests in the hills, the planters are troubled by freshets in the spring and droughts in the summer. The work is done by Negroes under direction of white foremen. The men work harder on contract jobs, but work by the day is better done. Women are in better repute as laborers than the men and it is stated that more women support their husbands than formerly was the case. Wages range from $.35 to $.50 per day, varying somewhat according to the work done. They are paid in cash and the planters have given up the plantation store in many cases. All work must be constantly supervised and it is said to be harder and harder to get work done. A planter found it almost impossible in the winter of 1901 to get fifty cords of wood cut, the work being considered too heavy. When I left the train at Beaufort and found twelve hacks waiting for about three passengers it was evident where some of the labor force had gone.
In this county there is a great development of burial and sick benefit societies. The "Morning Star", "Star of Hope", "Star of Bethlehem" are typical names. The dues are from five to ten cents a week. Many of the societies have good sized halls, rivaling ofttimes the churches, on the various islands, which are used for lodge and social purposes.
Beaufort and the other towns offer the country people an opportunity to dispose of fish and any garden produce they may raise, while it is not uncommon to see a little ox dragging a two-wheeled cart and perhaps a quarter of a cord of wood to be hawked about town. During part of the summer a good many gather a species of plant which is used in adulterating cigarettes and cigars.