Lynches Lake Historical Society

Andrew Poston
(1829 - 1916)
Left-Handed Cup Secured
For Resident of Pee Dee
Since the advent of the penciled eyebrow type mustache, as featured by Clark
Gamble's upper lip, the mustache cup is
about as useless as galoshes to a
mermaid.
Mustache cups are relics of a more
mgged age when men were men and
mustaches covered the mouth like an
awning and draped gracefully into the
coffee.
Time was when all masculine faces
were completely covered with plumage
or at least the mouth was covered with a
shaggy fringe, and mustache cups were
standard equipment in every home. They
were a facial necessity, for without the
special attachment at the rim of the cup to
displace facial adornment, it would be
well njgh impossible to get close enough
to the cup to drink. The possession now
of such a cup is an oddity in itself, but
the oddest cup in the state or probably
anywhere else is a left-handed mustache
cup in Florence County.
The origin of the cup was told to an
American Guide writer by Fred Wilcox,
a Florence attorney and volunteer
consultant for the
Federal Writers'
project.
Andrew Poston, a leading citizen and
Confedrate soldier, was wounded in
battle and lost the use of bis right hand,
which put him to no end of inconvenience. It was difficult to use a right-hand-

Winter of 2024
ed mustache cup with his left hand
and he refused to dispense with bis
beard.
Mr. Poston
consulted
traveling salesmen
men far and wide in an attempt
to get a left-handed cup. But there
wasn't any such a11icle.
"Finally J. L. Barringer, then a
leading merchant in the Pee Dee
section, had a cup, such as Mr. Poston
wanted, made to order in France and
shipped to Florence. When the cup
arrived Mr. Barringer had Mr. Poston 's Confederate service record
painted on the side. A delegation of
leading citizens met at the Pee Dee
river bridge and took a steamer down
to what was then Savage or Godfrey's ferry where they dined with
Mr. Poston after the presentation
ceremony."
Recently Robert L. Ridley made
an effort to obtain the cup, but Owen
Poston, in whose charge it is now,
was not willing to part with it even to
the extent to permitting it to be sent to
New York.
Columbia Record
November 14, 1936
Editors note: Andrew Poston, a son
of Hugh Poston,founded the town of
Poston on the Pee Dee Rivet; which
is now a ghost town.

Sawmill Burns At
Lake C~ty
LAKE CJTY, May 18 - Twenty
Lake City firemen saved a threatened
lumber yard from total loss tonight as
wind-swept flames destroyed a
sawmill of the Moore Lumber and
Trading Co.
The loss will run into thousands of
dollars, a mill employee said and at
least 21 men will be out of work until
the mill is rebuilt.
Ttsorigin unknown, the fire quickly
spread through the sawmill and
flames were leaping up I 00 feet when
firemen arrived at 7: 15 p.m.
Some 20 Lake City rural and city
firemen fought the blaze. The firemen
laid more than 1,100 feet of hose to
bring water from a pond in the
lumbre yard at the southeast city
limits.
The firefighters saved the planer
mill and the yard where stored lumber is stacked. Practically destroyed
was a boiler room.
Night Watchman Willie Jenkins
first spotted the fire and gave the
alarm at 7:10.

Page3
The sawmill has been closed since
Friday for repair, mill foreman Scott
Lowder said.
The lumber yard is owned by R. M.
Moore Jr., who was out of town
tonight.
Keels Brockington, president of
the rural fire department, estimated
flames were l 00 feet high when he
and his men began laying lines to the
pond.
Four trucks from the rural and city
fire departments were used to fight
the fire with another parked on
Highway 52 as a standby.
Flore11ceMoming News, Florence, S.C.

May 19, 1955

Thieves Rob
Lake City Store Safe
LAKE CITY Sept. 17 - (Special)
Safecrackers entered Belk's Department store here last night and stole
between $2,000 and $3,000 in cash.
The theft was discovered when the
store was opened this morning.
The robbers tore a small hole
through the roof to gain entry to the
second story, came down a flight of
stairs. They knocked off the
combination and proceeded to pry off
the door setting off the tear gas bomb
inside.
Store officials today were still
trying to ascertain exactly how much
cash was taken. Employees on
entering this morning found checks
scattered over the floor about the
broken safe. Apparently the thieves
took no checks.
Members of the Florence County
sheriff's office, members of the Lake
City Police Dept., headed by Asst.
Chief Joe Veal, Harry Miller of the
Florence
County
identification
bureau and members of the State Law
Enforcement Division are investigating the crime.
News and Courier, Charleston, S.C.

September 18, 1956

A group of 40 men in Williamsburg District, who had associated
themselves together for the purpose
of hunting and destroying the
enerrues of their stock and crops,
counted on the 9th inst., upward of
fourteen thousand scalps, including
those of bears, wolves, wild cats,
crows &c.
Winyaw intelligence, Georgetown, S.C.
January 13, 1819

When the stock market is "quiet"
money talks in whispers.
County Record, Kingstree, S.C.

Februaty 13, 1908