SOUTH CAROLINA: Joint Mayors

New York City has only one mayor, and a little fellow at that. Sandy Springs, S. C. has two—as tall as tamaracks and as quick after quail as anybody in Anderson County. W. K. Moore is 6 ft. 5 in., and wears a Southern statesman’s hat. Sam Smith weighs 275 pounds, towers almost as high.

Moore and Smith have hunted and fished together all their lives. Sam lived on one side of Sandy Springs’ main drag, Moore on the other. This year the two sides of town decided to join under one government, and Smith and Moore were both put up for mayor. After two Lincoln-Douglas debates (“once on the depot platform and the other time down at the spring”), each got 100 votes. The election committee knew better than to hold another ballot, so Smith and Moore became co-mayors.

They take turns presiding over council, which ponders its business on the bench in front of D. L. Reid’s general store. Knottier problems they solve by flipping a coin. Their work is strenuous, for “nearly 300 people live in or near Sandy Springs,” says Moore. So neither has much time left for farming. They are not making much money out of their joint job. Said Co-Mayor Moore last week: “Our policeman collects the taxes. What is left after he is paid is divided equally betwixt Mr. Smith and me. But up to now we have not got anything, and the policeman is due $14 in back pay.”