North Carolina Newspapers

The news in this publica tion is released for the press on the date indicated below. UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA MEWS LETTER Published weekly by the University of North Carolina for its Bureau of Extension. SEPTEMBER 22, 1915 CHAPEL HILL, N. C. Editorial Board* E. C. Branson, J. Gr. deR, Hamilton, L. R. Wilson, L. A. Williams. VOL. I, NO. 44 NORTH CAROLINA CLUB STUDIES MORE THAN 1000 STUDENTS | NEW HANOVER LEADS J)uriilg the first week of the University jear 1051 students were registered at tlie XJniversity'of North Carolina. Thi' num ber is 32 .more than tlie entire registration la.st .year. The Freshman class numl)ered 325 or 40 more than iu 1914-15. It looks like 1250 Universitj' stucients this year. This number taxes to the limit the dormitories'and the mess hall', along with the boardinghouse faeihties of the village. -More dormitories are tiecessary. A $1000 CHECK Mr. W. T. Shore of ('harlotte, Treas urer of the ("lass of 1905, placed in the hands of I’resulent tlraham the other day a certified check for 11000: a unique gift from his class to their ahiia mater. Its value to the University as an ex pression of loyalty far outweigh.s its value in coin of the realm. Kvery country school in New Hanover county lias a sanitary closet with a con crete tauk. Moreover every country hoine in Jla- souboro and New Hanover tojvnships has toilet facilities. In the United States less thau half of ti\e country homes have sur face closets; in Orange county, less than a third. ■ And now Wilmington has provided ^i50,000 to lend home owners at 6 per cent upon easy terms of repayment, to abol ish surface closets and to install flush closets conne(^ted flith the city sewerage system. In attention to public sanitation, New Hanovei leads the state, the South and [iroliably the Nation. THE COMMUNITY FAIR a. ..ecoud-class matter November 14,1914, at the postofSoe at Chapel ni!'. N.C.. u. icier the act of August 1912. A GIFT TO THE NEWS LETTER Mr of Durham, ■Class of 1889, has sent iu liis check for $100 to forward the purposes of the I'ni- wersity News Letter. 'How to get the News Letter into the hands of the people who want it and Tvrite for it, has come to i»e a [lerplexiug probleni, in view of the slender sum at our disposal. Mr ’s generous check and Ins let ter of abounding good cheer are timely iind helpful beyond measure. the greatness of a COLLEGE President E. K. Graham The greatness of a college depends upou its ability to satisfy the supreme human need of the people and time it serves. The life and health of a college are not mysterious. Colleges have a way of dying and going to seed; they have a nay, as the years go'by and take toll of their vitality, of losing their Irultful impulse, and becoming a set of more or less worthy and digni fied Ijy-laws. ^The great college is the college that supplies the civilization that it serves with a pr(jgraui of guidance—a waj^ out of the difficulties through which the people are trying to find their way, and equips its students to be. ropresontativt' men iu the ei'ci yi vvhicli they live. Colleges have riswi to greatness as they have done this, and they have fallen away as they have merely re peated in mechanical routine tradition al exercises that are off the key of the master note of their own time. GIFTS TO THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY The l^niversity Libi’ary has been great ly enriched ))y a gift of books from the library of Dr. Ebeii Alexander; by bound volumes of The Greensboro News,- The News and Observer; and The Char lotte Ot)server, (jresented by Jlr. A. B. Andrews of Raleigh; and by the Bain Memorial Collection, given by twenty- five members of the faculty. This collection consists of some 700 classic legends in Latin and Greek. At the same time Mrs. Bain pre.sented the •card index and annotations in his special iuv'estigations in Latin and Greek, and in liis editi.irial work upon classical texts. Macon over in AVarren county will have a Comniuuity Fair in eai’ly October. The prize list lays emphasis mainly up ou vegetables, grains and domestic ani mals. The purjtose is to stimulate a larger measure of live-at-home farming in War- j ought to send at once for the ^\'eekiy ren. And what more sensible end could | U. S. Department of Agri-' any farm community have in -view? I September S; or vvrite to .Mr. W. A self-feeding conmumity is soon a self-1 Co-operative Market financing community, on tlu'high road to , Kaleigh. ]>ermanent farm prosperity. . a rule, the nearby merchants prefer In 1910 tlie people of AV'arren sent out. Western corn because it comes of the county in cold c.nsh $1,131,000 for ! bulk and in such quan- farm anil paiitry ^supplies more thun the tinie as their local markets UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION LETTER SERIES NO. 44 TELLING THE FOLKS ABOUT THE SCHOOLS The County newspaper occupies one of the most .strategic points in the firing line against illiteracy and ignorance, and it goes straight from the press Into the Country Homes that too often ar(> never entered l y tl:e larger papers. The recent educational iditions of “The Wilkes Patriot" and “North- ilkesboro Hustler” came from the press some w'ceks ago with .suggestive and stimulating accounts of the work of the pitblic schools during the past year. It was A Fine Service to bring out this edition in the mid-sum- mer when people are too ajit to forget their schools, and to remind them of what has been done for the education of their children. Some Things Done in WilKes Teachers IMeetings held regularly. Practically every teacher enrolled in State Teachers’Reading Circle. Many supjilementary libraries placed. Mauy new buildings and mnch ad- ditioiud equipment ijrovided. Three local tax elections carried. General improvement as shown at tlie County Commencenieni—by the fact that 143 pupils in the coumy had not mis- sjielled a word during tiic year. Six I.r.ndred and foiiy-seven had per fect in their attendance record. Wilkes county pupils won seven of tweh'e prizes at State Fair. Huudreds of debates, spelling match es, and entertainments were held during the year, and these were well attended by parents ami the public generally. Letters From Teachers A special feature of these educational editions « as a large number of letters from the teachers telling about their schools, about what had been done, what they hoped to,do next year, how' the buildings and grounds might be im proved and beautified, all written in good spirit and with sjilendid enthusiasm. farms of the county produced. This vast sum held down in the county by home-raised farm supplies would in four years-double the farm wealth accu mulated in 131 years. demanil. They will take our home-rais ed corn, if it comes to them under sim ilar market conditions; otherwise not. KNOW YOUR COUNTY TAX LIST Know-your-home-county is a familiar PROFITS IN PASTURING LIVE-STOCK RAISING VALUES AND LOW ERING TAX RATES It is possible to raise tax values and to lower tax rates, doubting Thomases to the con trary notwithstanding. Georgia did it last year under her new tax reform laws. Barring one year only, lier state tax rate in 1914 was the lowest in 24 years. Ohio’s tax values rose to six billion two hundred million dollars in 1911 un der lier ueu' tax laws; and her state tax rate decreased 62 jier cent or more than three-fifths. Larger tax revenues are sadly needed in North Carolina. They can be secured without punishing honest taxpayers, if only tax dodgers can be brought to book in every towiislup and if unfairnesses can be removed or lessened within and among the counties of the state. Not only can larger tax revenues be se- 'ured iu this way, but tax rates can be lessened. No honest taxpayer has anything to fear in i>roper tax reforms. A low tax rate attracts investment cap ital and prouiotes industrial development, as Georgia and Ohio are discovering. It pays to pasture live-stock on farm crops. There are larger profits in-the sale of live stock and animal products phrase at the University. Among other than in crop sales. ■ things it means, know your home county | On a South Dakota farm they have I recently been trying this proposition out And so for several weeks, ]\Ir. J. Clyde , with scales, bushel measures and arithme- Ray, a member of the Orange County ' tic. Club at the University, has been studying : l^or 121 days they [lastured hogs on al- the recently fini.shed Tax List of the falfa, at the rate of 1815 lbs. of live county; comparing the townships w ith weight to the acre, and in addition they one another and noting tlie changes in fed 2 lbs. of corn per 100 11 >s. of live total, average, and per capita values since stock. The hogs were sold at 7 cents a poinid He is blazing the way for asimilar sim-, on the hoof, and the clear profits were pie analysis and comparative study of the >41.44 per acre. Alfalfa hay worth $4.50 tax digests of other counties in the state. ' a ton in the local market brought $11.23 It is direct discipline in important mak- a ton when fed to hogs. The corn fed to ers of citizenship. | hogs brought ^1.17 a bushel. The-Bible alone excepted, there is no | Pasturing hogs on sweet potatoes and more important book 1n any county than ' peanuts and hardening them up with a the tax book; and no other book that the ' people in general know so little about in detail. If its contents from year to year were familiarly known to the general public ita unfairnesses would speedily disappear and tax payei-s everywhere would have less and less to complain about. It is good to know what is on your tax list! AVhat changes have been made and why! It is volume of facts varied by interest ing romance. arbor DAY PROGRAMS The observance of arbor day in our schools is now required by law in North Carolina. Teachers and \Vomen’s Clubs can ser cure excellent programs by writing to Dr. Joseph Hyde Pratt, at the University, apel Hill, for Press Bulletins, Nos. 49 and 148; or Dr. J. Y. Joyner, State Su perintendent of Public Instructioir at Ral- fiw Bi'lletin No. 22 issued by his of- LONG LIVE KING CORN Our corn crop in North Carolina this year will be 59,600,000 bushels, according to the last estimate of the Federal De partment of Agriculture. That is to say, our corn crop is worth some ten million dollars more than our cotton crop, and forty million dollars more than our tobacco crop. It is two niilliou-hushels more than we raised last year, and twelve nullion.s more than the crop of 1909. It is a tremendous stride forward to ward independence. A Dwindling Deficit. The corn and corn products we need in North Carolina is around 72 million bush els a year, or about 12 miUioii bushels more than we are raising this year. That we have little corn to sell is shown by tlie fact that only 4 per cent , or less of our corn is sold from year to year outside the county in which it is raised. In every community there are good farmers who have corn to sell locally. Marketing Corn If they have larger quantities this-year to turn into the general trade currents little corn in the fall is a better propo sition in the South than the alfalfa and corn proposition in the West—far better! There is a great future for Eastern Car olina in pork production. tures, 200 acres in grain and forage crops, and one animal unit to every three and a third acres, he had little food and feed to buy, livestock to sell the whole year around, no idle land, steady occupation for Iiands and work-stock week bj week, larger per acre crop yields than his neighbors, abundant ma nure from his farm animals, and land getting richer and richer every year. We Need More of His Sort He is a self-feeding, self-supporting, self-financing farmer; and we must have an immense increase of such farmers all over the South, We have a few in_ every county; we must have more. 3Ir. Himelick learned from Ihe Farm Practices Survey in his county (1) the value of high bred seed (2) the value of orchards properly pruned and sprayed, (3) the value of good farm animals, and the economy in proper feeding (4) the profits in poultry as a side-line and (5) the value of silos. He has learned so much that he has just begun to farm, he says. TheFederal Government is conducting a Farm Practice Survey in Orange colm- ty. What will our farmers get out of it? Much or little? GETTING RICH FARMING In every community there is a farmer or two who prospers, accumulates wealth and lives comfortably, with a snug bal ance iu the bank; while his neighbors live from hand to mouth, at a poor, lisp ing, dying rate, as the hyum says. They oftentimes work as hard as the other man or harder maybe; but they have ‘pore jedge-ment’ as Senator Joe Brown used to say with fine scorn. AVe shall probably always have such fanners with us everywhere, but the farm ]iractice surveys of the Federal Govern ment are spelling out the reasons why. For instance, in one farm community a farmer was found who paid from $45 to $100 an acre for his 263 acres, before the land was cleared, ditchecl, and otherwise improved $54,000. In 1913 STORES IN ORANGE COUNTY There is everywhere need for dealers in merchandise of all sorts, or they could not exist. But the number of stores is surprising. And still more surprising is the number of stores in Orange engaged in the an cient business of barter. That is to say, the farmers must take i)ay for their prod ucts in trade, instead of cash. As a result, the farmers go out of the county in large numbers to trade in Dur ham and elsewhere, because they can get cash for their products—less perhaps, but cash. For- instance, our Orange county sur vey discloses 178.stores, as follows: in tlie country regions 45, in Carrboro 23, iu Hillsboro 52, and in Chajiel Hill 53. That is to say, in Hillsboro there is one store for every 17 inhabitants; in Chapel Hill one for every 22 inhabitants; counting University students one for every 29 people; in Carrboro one for every 39 inhabitants. One Store for Every Eighteen Families For the town population of the county. To-day his farm is worth ! there is one store for every 30 people; in ! the country regions, one for every 267 his clear profits were five and ' ]->eople; in the county-at-large, one store a half times the average profits of his 64 for every 9(.) people. ■ The ])rofits of a store in Orange, as a whole, must conie from the trade of tlie Post Office lollars to test rural carrier is .novi' being I FOUR MORE ALERT I COUNTIES sixteen miles of iuiproved roadway are being constructed iu McDo\sell county by the Federal hig-liway engineers; and 48 miles of sand-clay and top-soil road in Forsyth, Davie, and Iredell counties. The Federal (xovernment supplies one- third of the construction fiuid and the counties two-thirds. In 1912 Congress gave department a half-million the value of ini])roved routes; and 61,500,000 spent for this purpose. ^ Four '.vide-awake counties in North Carolina jumjied at the proposition and 24 counties in other states. FORWARD MOVING CITIES The city authorities of New Bern em ploy a trained nurse whose special duty it is to visit, instruct, and assist in the care and treatment of tuberculosis cases. Goldsboro and' Statesville also have visiting community lurrses. Why leave a beneficence of this sort to civic authorities or secular organizations? What lovelier thing could the churches of all denominations in any city do than to unite in supporting a trained nurse or two for the free use of families who can not afford $25 a week fora jirivate nur.se? Ourchurches may differ upon doctrines, but they can be one foundation in deeds of social service. Why not? MAKING GOOD In less than a year more than 40 students have registered for correspondence courses at the State University. This work will begin again in (')ctober. So far the stu dents have all done excellent work.. Be- ginning'Tn October further lessons will be sent iu fulfillment of the i>lan. The current year ought to see not less than a hundred students taking advan tage of the college credits offered by these courses. The Bureau of Extension, Chapel Hill, N. C., will send full information about these courses, upon receipt of a post card request. neighbors. — How He Does It Why does- he prosper more than the rest? Among other reasons, mainly be cause he is a livestock farmer. To be sure, 200 acres of his land were sown to crops, but his crops were fed to his own livestock. His crop sales amounted to on ly $552; but his receipts from livestock sales amounted to nearly $7,000. More thau four-fifths of his income was from this source alone. With 50 acres or so iu permanent pas- 118 families upon an average, j The average is larger in the country regions, because the farms furnish abun dant food and fuel. I The trade in groceries for the average family on the farm in North Carolina is around $72 a year; for the average family in the town it is around $402, while the. entire expenditure of the average town family is around $769. There is food for reflection iu these facts. A PRESSING NEED ;V bill has recently been introduced into the New York Legislature providing that the state constitution shall be so changed as to require all voters to read and write the English language. Great opposition has developed as was expected, but indications jjoint to a favor able outcome. The most ardent oppo nents appear to be hyplienatcd Americans. The illiterate and the foreign-tongued voters are doomed. If we are to have sane, intelligent, efficient laws and con stitutions the makers must be able to read and write the English tongue intelli gently. A chance to learn reading and writing must be given every citizen of our com monwealths. That chance must be pro vided and supported through public taxes.