The news in this publica
tion is released for the press on
the date indicated below.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
NEWS LETTER
Published weekly by the
University of North Carolina
for its Bureau of Extension.
FEBRUARY 24, 1915
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
VOL. I, NO. 14
Editorial Board* E
C ^Bi-anson J. G. del?. Hamilton, L. K- Wilson, Z. V. Judd, S, K. Winters, L. A. WiUiains. Entered as sccond-claSH matter Noveiii>)er 14, 19U, at the postoffice at Chapel Hill, N. C., under theact of August 24. UU3.
CAROLINA CLUB NOTES
Greetings
The University of (rcorgia ;md tin-A.
iV M. C'ollefit' ;it lialoijrli liave recently
hiw'un til issue refiiihir cUl'-slieets d1' news
items.
S(i ]'ai' imrs is a suiali news|>aiH'i' fra-
U'lniiy. ill tlie Snuth. Tlie I iiivetsity
of Xdi-tli Caniliiia News Ix'tter exteniis to
Ihe ueuiMiuiers a heai'ty greetin.ir.
live
First la Home Ownership
Jt seems to be easier for a man I
in his iiwn home in (rreensliom than
hiany ni the other large cities of North
Carolina.
In this |>articftlar they rank as follows
in Ihe 1910 census:
1st, (*reensi»ori, home owners 38 per
cent; 2nd, Charlotte, Asheville. Wihning-
ton, 34 i>er cent (>acli; 3rd. Raleigh, 30
}>er cent: 4tli, Durham, 29 per cent;
mill Sth, Win.'^ton, 28 percent.
hi Neu York City only 14 |ier cent of
the population dwell in their own homes.
Ing(‘neral as cities gri>\\ in population and
prosperity tlie fewer are the home-owners
iind tfie more numerous are the renters.
2nd ill ini]iro\ed road niiit'age in 1913.
393 mile.s.
2nr| in Girls Canning (Hub enrollment
in 1914, 90.
2nd in total farm property in 1910,
$15,000,000.
3rd in per capita wealth of country'
[lopulation, $456.
6th in Boys Corji (!lub enrollment in
1913, 148.
7th ill total crop ^values in 1910,
13,364,000.
11th in church memhersldp, in 1906, 53
j>er cent.
13th in cattle per thonsand acres, 36.
28tli in per-acre crop production. 1910,
fl8.S8.
41st in school ta,>; hiii'den per $1000,
$8.33. ,
65th in swine per 1000 iicres, 27.
89th in farm tenancy. 64.2 pi>r cent.
94th in per capita food ])rodiictioii in
1910, ?24.00.
Solving The Market Problem
The I'ofid and feed consumed hy man
and bi^si in .Alecklenliurg in the run of
a year is four million and siN hundred
thousand dollars more than the fanners
of the county |>rodu(t('.
The fiirmers are missing a chance and
the consumers are paying a penalty.
LABORIOUS TRIFLING
Arnold of Rugby
Wliat is, or perlui|is what used to
1h', called a mere scholai-, cannot pos
sibly coniuiunicate to his pupils the
niaiu advantage.s of a cUissii'al educa
tion. ^
.\ knowledge of the past is valual)le,
because without it our knowledge of
the pre.sent and of the future must l>e
scanty. l!ut if the knowledge of the
|iast lie coiitinecl wholly to itself, if in-
st(‘ad of li(‘ing made to hear ujioii
things around us, it be totally isolated
from them, then indeed it becomes
little lietter than laliorious trifliiig.
cei'cd $235.27 for 115.5 days of woi'k.
Jf the teaching was not supplemented by
any otlier work, such t('acher received for
each of the 300 wotkiiig days, 78 cents.
.[.f that is all the tO‘acher is w«>ith we
have no business to iMVtrust our children
to her for training. If we think well
enough of her to put our children in iier
charge she is worth at least the wages of
a commfin laborer.
^'ord
Disquieting Figures
Mr. (i. 11. Coopi'r. of the Kowan Coun
ty Club at the I'niversity, is^working out
the problem of .mill villaj^' illiteracy in'
North Carolina, county by county.
In the State-at-large, 'native white illit
eracy was 12.3 per cent in the census
year; 5 per cent in the towns and 13.5
|ier cent in the country regions.
Mr. (V)oper tinds 19 per cent ..of illit
eracy among the mill villagers of Kowan
in 1914. Th‘ rate is excessive and sig
nificant
The Uses of Adversity
ICleven Sriuthern states rejiort a 33 i«er
'Cent incri'ase in fall-sov\ n wheat,-anl 102
per cent increase in fall-sfiw n oats.
South Carolina has trebled her acreage
in wheat and has more than doubled her
■acreage in oata.
In North Carolina our increase in
"wheat acreage is 75 per cent and in oats
.56 per cent.
Ladies First
les to tli(‘ I'niversity News
The tfreater Charlotte Club proposes to l-etter that .lacksoii County is just about
help the farmers .‘^olve this jiroblem of ' cutting in half Tts averag(-expenditure
local sujiply and demafid. pei' high school pupil tor this cm'reiit
But also the time has Come for Cliar- year. How this is bi'iiig done .Miss
lotte to .sfilve this problem in her own Charlotte'I fmng. Principal of the \\('b-
self-defense. It will lie solved only when ster High School, does not write,
farmers get more for their products and : She does say that the (wo State-aided
UNI\ ERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
LETTER SERIES NO. 16
consuiiu'fs get inoiv for tlicir nicn‘y.
SCHOOL NEWS
A Noteworthy Visitor
■Dr. .lohn K. Mott, a .world-power
laniong ct>IU*ge students, was with the
young men at the 'Univ(‘rsity last W(‘ek.
Virile, clear-thinking, forceful. Dr, >lott
deeply stirred tlu' mental life of his lis
teners. World-wide experience with fa
mous people contributeil to the inti'rest
and power of his ad(h'esses.
A Co-Operative Good Time
At tlie .laiiuary nieethig of the teachers
of Columbus county two song selections
w'en* rendercKi by pupils ol the \\ hite's ille
High School.
The ladies of the conuiuuiity showed
their interest by providing and serving
luncheon to the assembled teachers.
There is no valid reason for this to be
the one county where the keynote ol
such meetings is co-operative effort.
high schools (y Jackson county have a
woman principal and a man assistant in
each. , She further states that the only
lady dentist in the Sta(^ lives in this
county and also that its two largt'st post-
oftices are managed by women.
Ladies (irst, if yon plea,si\ in .lackson
conntv1
A County School Bulletin
Superiutend(int S. I’>. Cnderwood of
I’itt County is sending out a weekly bul
letin to his teacliersfull of live sugge.stions
and directio.M's. Some of tho.sc' in the
first issue are too good to iiave pa.ss from
human ken in I’itt County, they apply to
any teacher in the State. Ilei-ethey are. •
Do They Bead?
Can youi' children read? Of couivse
they can call the words, but do they ap-
jireciate and a.ssimulate what they read'.’
|)f) you (lay any atlentioii tv tlie ciiutents
of the reading h's.soii? Do they gi't id('as I
as well as words? Do you lead them to
think about what they rea'l? i>oes it en
ter int«' the warp aiul woif of tlwir lives?;
Does till' reading lessou k'ave them hun-
.gering for more? .\re they getting the
habit? [’resident Payu(‘of (ieorg(' Pea
body (Vjllege ,s;iys that he is not so much
concernwl about how many of a givvn
.trroup of people can read as about how ,
many do read. There is a world ol
thought material here.
The Concrete in NumbW Work
,\ lot
Material Easy to Get
Jt is extremely easy to get this iiumj'er
material. The room itself is a ricli
source of supply. How manj' boys in
this room? Ilow manj' girls’ How
inaiiy pu)iils in all? How many people,
counting the boys, girls, and the teach-''
er? How I'hany desks in thi^ room? ,\t
two in each desk how many. childr(>n can
linil seats? We have , seats for 44 chil
dren. Only 38 are on I'pll. How many
more can be accommodated? llovv many
windows in the room? I low many panes
in each? How many ]ianes in all? How
many planks in the floor? The list may
be extended almost indetinitely.
Outside the room, there is a jierfect
wealth of material. Twigs, pi('ces of
broom-straw, grains of corn, Ix'ans, etc.,
may be had in jierfect abundance for
actual counting, and for working ulit the
various numlx'r facts.
In the Upper Grades Too
Kiglit on iiji through the grades it is
po.ssibl(' to do this objective work. For
in.stance, ask various children to bring
ditt'erent measuring units—ipiart, gallon,
f time is wasted in attemptuig peck, etc,, and uii’asure sand at nu-ess.
Rural School Health Clubs
lu connection with the work of Dr.
Utley the whole-time health officer in
•lohnstou County, says the Smithfield
Herald, there have been u-ganized about
tiftv Healtli CluVis in.jhe rural schools.
Our Corn Club Boys
Tlu' 966 Corn Club Boys in North Ca
rolina reporting in l'9M raised an average
of 58.2 bu. of coi-n at an average cost of
41 cents p(>r bushel jicr acre.
The total a[)proxiiuate yield of all the
boys was 56,000 bu. and the net profit
some $30,000.
Sixty-oue boys inad(‘ 100 bu. or more
111 the acre; a^id 14 made 125 bu. or
more to the acre.
A splendid yeai’V lecord for Mr. T. E.
Another School Paper
Last week the rniversity News fx'tter
received two copies of the Blue and
\Miite,i a ,s,chool paper jiublished jointly |
by the two J/iterary Societies in the
.laniestown High School. |
The object of the publication is admi- j
rably stated in the initial editorial. We!
have come to realize that the publii' at
large would a]ipreciat‘ our .school very
much more if it could know uKire ol the
.school’s daily iiappenings and about the
progress we are making. x,
Clongratulations to .laniesto.wn for its
deep insight into public .sentiment.
The Way They Work
Two lle.-ilth Officers in eacliofthe.se
clubs are electel by their schoolmates
who are members of the Health Club of
the .school.
The bii.siness of the.se ottict'rs is to lead
the club in sanitary and health work in
the school; to reiiort coiulitions to the
County Health Ofhcer; to I'/'ceive and
supply literature to the club; to. know of
and report unsanitary conditions and
contagions dis(‘ases in their comiyiuiiity;
in .short, to l«‘com(‘ educated themselves
and to eilncate others in health work.
to teach chiklreii number facts liy mere ,)ud tinil out by actual operatiins the
abstract nu'thods, ,^n abstract mimher , ,|f jj] „ j„.ck. Lettheboy,s
is hard foi' any mind to comprehend: Hicasure the length and width of the
doiihli' hard for a child’s mind, (iive school room and calculate tlu> floor area,
him some objects to handle, develop a ]^ct them tind the exact dimensions of the
coucreti' situation for him ti work out, .school grounds. Measure the sj)acecpvcr-
and the thing is \ astly sirn|i!ilied. .'-'even (>(1 by some of the Ixiys at one step, get
in the atistract is jiractically without (liem to count the steps taken from their
meaning. Seven sticks, or )>encils, or home to the school, and calculate the
chilh-en—that is vastly dificrent. Seven distance. l,et oju“ of the classes meastin?
and foiu- nial*,' eleven. _\ child , the height of all the children
grasp this. If you let him count seven
children iji one row of seats anil
four in
ol
111 the school and calculate the
average and aggregate height. Try some
of tliese ex]K*dients and others that will
another, he is almost sure to suggest themselves to you, and sw how
grasp
it.
vour arithni'etic becomes vitalized.
A DEBATE OUTLINE
The citizens of a democratic govern
ment are continually asking each other
and theni,selves the ipiestion: How can
we be.st govern ourselves? \\ hile ailniit-
ting that a direct democracy is inmossi-
l^e for a state having a large iiopulation
or a great extent of territory, they never
theless (piestifin if the necessary repre
sentative government cannot be imide
le.ss indirect thmit is. Oni- of the ivieans
proposed to bring the rei)resentative
Negative Arguments
J. The evils of bossisni are not inher
ent in the caucus and ’onvention ays*
t^m, for
■\. If they were, no gixid candi
dates wotilil ever have been noittinated.
II. The proposed system would notdo
away with the evils complained of in the
present system, for
■ Tlije bosses would simply
‘"transfer their activities to pre-primary
organization.
^ B. Di.shone.st men would be just,
as harmful w hen they dealt with the in
dividual voter as they are in dt“aling with,.
Browne, the State Ag»'ut, and his county 1 gent sUidy
.n'presentatives. deticiem.
Note To High School Teachers
Hundreils of boys now in the high
schools will wish to (“liter college next
September. They will ^ i.sh to enter with
out conditions. It is important to them
and to their teachers that they prepare
now to meet the.se rei|uirements by dih-
of the snbject.s'in which they
in otlice neai-er the citizefs whom he rep
resents is th(‘dii'ect nomination. Many delegates,
men think that an ottice-holder feels him- ('. The argument that men do
self more responsible to the leaders in noi take enough interest to vote is just
the convention, than to the citizens who as valid against the [iroposed system,
give those leadei-s their power, and that i
a system of direct nomination would
bring the ottice-holder and his constitu
ency into closer contact.
The following jioints on the (|iiestion.
Results
.Already the results of this work may
be .seen by the most unconci'rneil on
looker. .More attractive rooms, better
veiililatt'd and more attractive than ever , Resolved, That North Carolina should syste
before. This is all good, and yet it is
for it is not the system that arouses the
interes^and leads men to vote, but the
importance of the issue,
IL The present caucus and convention
system is much better than the proposed
The Corn Club King
Dudley Hall, a Kowan County boy
living live miles out from Salisbury, is
the Corn Cluli Chami>ion of North Caro
lina in 1914,
His record is 148.5 busheLs per acre at
a cost of 9.5 ccnts a bushel.
^ The Jirst Belgian Colony
Twenty-seven experienced Belgian far
mers have been settled near Tullahomd,
Tennessee, as land owners upon easy
iterins,
♦Good for Tennessee! (’olonies of this
sort ought to besettle(\ in North Carolina.
Mr. Hugh McRae has an agent abroad
arranging for a Belgian colony. We
have vooin for a million or more honie-
oSvning fanners upon our 22 million
waste acres.
not to be coniiiared with the lasting good
that iiiust result from a citizenship train
ing in yotuli to regal’d the mil's of good
health.
Since writing the above we learn that
|)r. I'tley has been jiut on |>art-time
Teachers of .students who exi>ect to | s(>rvi-ee. We bi’licve the Commis,sioners
enter the l^iiversity Xhotikl w rite for the | of Johnston Coujity have made a mis-
catalogue at once. They should note the | take.
fact that slightly detiisent students may
get additional prejiaration in the .'Summer
School, June 15 to July 3^--
u, toi'
adopt a system of direct primary A. .Vs it is leprcsciitative it is in
nominations, are furni,shed liy the cla.ss ImruKmy with the gjiveniment itself,
in'Public Speaking 3, in the University which is organizc'd on a representative
ba.sis.
How Mecklenburg Banks
1st in total taxable wealth in 1914,
^30,581,702.
1st in income taxes paid in 1914, $6,301.
2nd in illiteracy among native whites
an 1910, 4.6 per cent.
Extension Lectures
On Friday night, FeBruary 12tii, Prof.
M. C, S, Noble, Dean of the School of
F.ducation, addre.ssed the teach^'rs and
citizens of Statesville. On the next morn
ing he attended and addre.ssed the meet
ing af the Teachers’ Association of Ire
dell county.
Prof. L. A. Williams, of the dtVart-
ment of School AdministratioK', on Sat
urday, February 13th, attended the group
meeting of teachers at Meadow township
and later spoke to the teachers, i>atrons,
and pupils on The (io(Kl Citizen.
Prof. Collier Cobb is to speak at Ked
Springs on March 5, and Prof. W. C.
Coker at Jamestown on March 9. Both
of the-se lectures form part of a series.
A Pitifal Wage
111 the year 19l4 the average white ru
ral school teacher in North Carolina re-
FRANKLIN COUNTY’S PLAN
Below are two reasons subndtted by
Superintendent Best why his teachers’
meetings pro^■e^l a succ(‘ss durin.u: the past
I year:
! I. They were held before Chri.stnias,
i one each Saturday in succession.
(a) The teachers could attend, as
the weatht'r was good and the roads in
splendid condition.
( b) By havuig the meetings close to
gether the wfirk was connected.
(c) The teachei-s hai over half of
five .school year to put into jiractice what
they had learned.
H. Definite work was accomplished.
(a) A'ery little time in the.se meet
ings was takeii up in making announce
ments. AVe decided, says he, on twV sub
jects to w’ork on, language and geogra
phy. We also made a gootl beginning on
our Reading ('ircle Course.
On the last day an examination was
given on the work done in these meetings
and over 85 per cent of the teachers .se
cured eertittcates issued from his of^ic^^
B, It is educative, for men and
measures are discusseil in ojien conven
tion, and good platforms are adopteiland
party responsibility is assui'ed,
I\'. ITnder the j)i'oposed system it is
of North Carolina.
Affirmative Arguments
I. The jiroposetl system will do away ■
with the evils of "bo.ssi.sm,” for
A. With the people voting direct
ly for the candidates there will be no op- , probable that the best men will be
portiinity for the bosses to make the noniinateii, for
trades u|.on which their sticce.ss depends. ^ Without 4>arty backing a can-
I!. AVith the candidates owing didate will have to pay his own exjienses;
their success directly to the people, the | thus it will be impossible'for a poor man
bosses will have no hold over the candi- ! to run.
dates, and conse()uently will lose their B. 'I'he voter will be [^obliged to
power. j vote for the man who ha« circulat*^ a.
H. The proposed systi-m will insure ! petition—for a self-nominated man.
more active and interested citizens, for ===^=
Under the Qonvention system, I Harnett And Columbus Neck And
the citizens know that their wishes will ; Neck
count little, hut Superintendent Kzzell of Harnett re-
B. Under the direct prhnary they ;
know that each man’s vote counts the
same as every other man’s vote, and
C. As each feels that his vote will
count, he will be much more apt to vote
and to take an active intere.st in the nom
ination.
III. The proposed system has been a :
sucifess wherever tried, for
.\s a rule better candidatt«
have been secured.
B. A larger proportion of success
ful candidates have come from small'
towns, thus showing a more real repre-
.sentation.
ports 10 moonlight schools in his county.
Superintendent Wooten of Columbus
reports the same number (10) iii- his
i county.
Both men declare they will soon have
! as many more. Just now the two coun
ties are neck and neck in the race.
Grove School Has The Honor
The tirst moonlight school to be or
ganized in the State was at Grove School
No. 4 in Harnett County, March, 1914,
not at'the [.eaflet School as previously
stated.
.1,