NAMES IN THE NEWS : Thurmond Wants His $25 Back

LEXINGTON, S.C. — Sen. Strom Thurmond wants a $25 refund--even if the money might be water over the dam.

The 87-year-old Republican from South Carolina has requested a refund for a water deposit he paid in 1938 to the town of Lexington for some property he sold last year.

The senator’s staff mailed a letter, including the original receipt for the deposit, to the Lexington County treasurer seeking a $25 refund.

The letter arrived last week, Mayor Eli Mack said Tuesday. Lexington is a town of 3,000, 13 miles west of Columbia.

“I was real amused. How in the hell can anyone save a receipt for 52 years?” Mack said. “This is the first request to go back that many years. I think it’s rather cute.”

Thurmond, whose net worth is more than $2 million, believes he is entitled to the $25 because he sold the property, said his spokeswoman, Pam Montgomery.

“He needs money like anyone else,” she said.

Mack said Thurmond will have to live without the $25. Water deposits cannot be refunded, he said.