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The news in this publica-
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THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA '
NEWS LETTER
Published weekly by the
University of North Carolma
for its Bureau of Extension.
lY 19,1920
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
VOL VI, NO. 26
orial Board ■ B. C. Branson, L. R. Wilson, B. W. Knight, D. D. Carroll, J. B. Bullitt.
Entered as second^laas nn^tter November 14,1914, at the Postoffloe at Chapel Hill, N. C., under the act of August 24, 1912
BETTER COUNTRY SCHOOLS
$24,000,000 MORE
le families of 2,784 North Carolina
iers, sailors, and marines, killed or
bled in the Great War, are now being
I $24,322,160 in war risk insnrance
ms by Uncle'Sam, according to advi-
from Washington. This, by the way,
larger total than the value of all the
)ol property of every sort whatsoever
forth Carolina. The average policy
ied by these 2,784 men was $8,740.
disabled soldiers, as well as the
Dws and children and dependent par-
of those wlio have died, are being
le comfortable by the government,
he compensation claims to residents
forth Carolina number 1,157. In ad-
in, to the insurance and compensa-
claims now paid in North Carolina,
4 claims of these two classes are un-
investigation.
BILLION DOLLAR STATE
n the current issue of the News Let-
published by the Extension Bureau
he University, there appears, under
head of A Billion Dillar State, some
y encouraging figures relating to tlie
le of North Carolina products. The
d value of the crops, farm animals
[ products of 1919 and the nianufac-
^d products of 1914 (statistics as to
r years not being available) was $1,-
,000,000. The figures of the 1919 cen-
of manufactures, which have not yet
Q made public, will probably bring
total up to considerably nearer two
ion dollars, as onr manufacturing pro-
ts have enormously increased in the
five years. And we are even richer
n we seem, because the $1,072,000,000
sn above does not include the value of
lumber, fisheries, cottonseed, or the
put of our mines and quarries,
uch a record means that North Caro-
is at present in tlie greatest period
■rosperity which tlie State has everex-
enced, and that our wealth is increas-
yearly, for the years from 1914 have
Q marked by very rapid gains. Tlie
vs Letter says:
Ve are now producing greater wealth
me year than we have been willing to
on our tax books in two hundred and
/ years—more by a hundred million
ars.
his rapidly increasing wealth should
jre the possibility of larger expendi-
es for such public improvements as
id roads, education, and health. We
unquestionably prosperous; whether
Qot we arc progressive as well depends
m the use we make of our money.—
(VS and Observer.
three scores of these young people have
been the beneficiary of Mr. Vann’s be
nevolence.
It is not expected to be able to get the
new school building erected in time for
occupancy this fall, but it will be ready
a year from now. Mr. Vann’s instruc
tions are to maxe it all that a sohoolfiouse
ought to be and prepared for every de
partment of work.
Tlie gift of Mr. Vann will enable the
trustees to erect what will possibly be the
most complete school building in the
State for a town of this size and further
more it will be free of all debt. -Raleigh
News and Observer.
THE COTTON FARMER
For the last sixty years the price of
cotton has been based on slave labor.
Once it was negro slave labor. Now it is
white slave labor. The price has always
been below the cost of production. Is
that fair?
The Southern cotton farmer has lived
on wages lower than those of the laborer.
He has received nothing by way of profit.
He got nothing for his ability as a farm
manager. And yet he supplied essentia)
raw material to tlie rest of the world.
Low-priced cotton has kept farmers
and their families in slavery. Cliildren
have been kept out of school to work in
the cotton fields. It has meant bad roads
and undeveloped natural resources.
The only way the farmer could meet
his problem was to make more cotton,
even though at a low price. Volume
helped him at times to barely live, but
he was always in debt. You know that’s
true.
Today the debtor farmer is still in the
majority. His children, from six to six
teen years old, are usually out of school,
barefooted, and at work chopping and
picking cotton.
The injustice, the unfairness, and the
misery of it cry aloud for remedy.
Tlie American Cotton Association is
the remedy.
With Southern cotton grower.^. South
ern business and professional men. South
ern merchants, and Southern hankers—
all the Southern South—dovetailed and
interlocked in this organization and work
ing for Southern interests, it will be easy
to apply the remedy.
Will you help us fight your fight?
Sure, you will. Why wouldn’t you?—S.
G. Rnbinovv, Raleigh Times.
VANN A GREAT CITIZEN
rhe best piece of news' that has come
this community in a long time was an-
inced to the teachers and pupiks of tlie
;ded school yesterday morning by i\Ir.
H. Vann, the chairman of the board
trustees. He simply stated that his
her, iVIr. S. C. Vann, had offered to
e to the town the sum of $100,000 for
1 purpose of erecting a modern school
ilding for the town. The only condi-
n to tlie gift is iliat the Brewer prop-
y, just in front of the Baptist Church,
d the lot on which stands the diasonic
mple and a strip off of the back of Mr.
W. Henderson’s lot be secured at a
isonable price for .school grounds, and
it the school he made up-to-date in
sry respecti
Mr. Vann is a wealthy cotton mill
mer and Franklinton’s foremost citizen.
3 came to this place a little more than
years ago a young nian just entering
e with no money of consequence and
red to a merchant as a clerk for about
2 per month. By hard work and fru-
lity he soon was able to enter business
r himself. This grew under his leader-
ip and soon became one of the largest
ercantile establishments in this section
the State. Later on he, with a few
isociates, established the Sterling Cot-
n Mills, which was a success from the
iginning. He is now sole owner of the
tablishment, and it is one of the most
'osperous ’ of tlie cotton mills in the
ate.
A few years ago Mr. Vann establisheJ
e Bettie Henly Vann educational loan
nd for the purpose of educating the
lildren that finish at the Methodist
tpha^ge. Up to the present two or
CHURCH STATESMANSHIP
Officials of the Christian Church from
Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Flori
da met at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the other
day to perfect plans for tlie education of
ministers at the State University.
The church proposes to erect a $300,-
000 building for the use of theological
students. Professors will be added to the
faculty of the university for tlie church
courses and the whole educational plan
involves the expenditure of one million
dollars.
BETTER RURAL SCHOOLS
It seems coir.monplace and trite to re
mark again that the rural schools do not
compare faVorably with the urban schools.
But the differences between the educa
tional advantages offered the country
child and those offered the city child
have not made a deep impression on the
public mind. And until the real picture
is seen and the public’s imagination is
fired by it, the inequality of educational
advantages will continue to hinder the
wholesome development of the people at
large. For the city child is now a favor
ite, and we liave somehow come to think
of him as deserving a larger and better
educational opportunity than is afforded
the country child. This condition re
mains even in the face of increased talk
about the right of all children to an equal
chance in life. The plain truth is that
such a right is not now guaranteed in
North Carolina or any other state.
It is generally recognized that through
out tlie country at large the city school
is superior to the rural school, in available
school funds, in buildings and equipment
in length of term, in organization and di
rection, in supervisihn, in teacliing ef
fectiveness, in salaries paid teachers, in
the courses of study, and in almost every
UNSUNG HEROISM
For more than twenty-five years,
says Elizabeth D. Abernathy of Pulas
ki, Tennessee, I taught a country
school because I wanted to teach a
country school. I had made a reputa
tion as art teacher before the call came
to me from the rural district. Other
positions opened to me year after year.
Once I refused $100 a month in order
to stay in my district school for $40.
All these years I have been studying
the rural school problem from the
country teacher’s standpoint. I have
read and thought—and worked.
In my rural district, in my county
institutes, in the state school journal
in wliich I conducted a department
called Onr Rural Schools, I fought for
the country child, often feeling tliat I.
fought a losing fight single-handed.
When I appealed to my patrons for
help they would say: We know you
are doing the best you can for the
children. We leave it all to you.
And they did. They let me pick up
underbrush from the hillside for the
winter fires, scour the scliool house,
replace broken window lights, and so
on. With the help of the children I
did what I could for my country school
and community.
“When I went to teachers’ meetings
the town teachers talked and the coun
try teachers listened. During inter
missions the town teachers always ask
ed us why we stayed in the country.
During the sessions they taught us all
about rural problems.
After thirty-five years of heart
breaking work I find that we have no
country schools, nor money for them,
no cliildren of school age, no leaders,
no communities, —and nothing but
derelict and stranded churches.
Our landholders have gone to town.
They had to. Every fall the man
with children to educate realizes that
he has no other recourse.
COUNTRY HOME CONVENIENCES
LETTER SERIES No. 10
FARM HOMES—OLD AND NEW
It is very interesting to compare the
way household tasks were performed in
the farm home a few .years ago and to
day.
Farm help was easily and cheaply got
ten a few years ago, but even with this
help everyone was kept busy from morn
ing until night trying to finish the daily
household tasks. At the end of the busi
est day, however, a great deal of the work
was still unfinished. There was the end-
le.‘is sweeping with a heavy broom and
the pumping and carrying of endless pails
of water. The milk had to be skimmed
and the butter churned by hand. Then
there were the dirty and dangerous lamps
to fill and their chimneys to clean. Long
hours were spent at tlie wash tub and the
ironing hoard, beside the hot stove, and
finally after supper the darning and
mending was done by a dim, flickering
lamp.
Today it is almost impossible to get
hired help, but with electricity in the
home the farmers wife does not need so
much help in her work. By simply turn
ing a button the room is flooded with
bright light. The cleaning can be done
with a vacuum cleaner, the clothes
washed in an electric washing machine
and ironed with an electric iron, while
many other tasks such as churning, dish
washing, cooking, and sewing can be done
with simple and reliable appliances. The
same electric plant will pump water un
der pressure to any room in the house
and all that is needed is obtained by
simply turning on a faucet.
With the aid of these electrical servants
the work can be done much more thor
oughly, easily, and quickly, but best of
all, at the end of the day the farmer’s
wife is not all tired out. The work has
become a pleasure instead of a drudgery.
Which is better, the old way or the
new?—A. N.
other respect. So long as this condition
is permitted, it seems both idle and bad
faith to talk and write of the charms
of rural life and the glories of the country
side,—a subject that has been done to
death by cant and twaddle.
Disgraceful Contrasts
Differences in the educational oppor
tunities offered in North Carolina are
very pronounced. According to the
latest published report of the state
superintendent of public instruction, for
the school year 1917-1918, approximately
eighty percent of the state’s entire school
population of 846,000 is rural. Approx
imately twenty percent live in towns and
cities.
For the school year in question the to
tal available school fund for each of the
rural children was $7.71, as against
$16.23 for each of the town or city chil
dren.
The value of the school property
provided for the education of the
eighty percent was $7,800,000, or about
$11.50 for eacii rural child. But the value
of the school property of the twenty per
cent was $6,500,000, or about $38.00 tor
each city child.
The annual salary of the teachers of
the eighty percent was about $244, as
against $186 for the teachers of the twen
ty percent.
The rural child was provided with 113
days of schooling. The city child was
provided with 165 days.
More than twice as much was expend
ed for the supervision of the twenty per
cent in the city as was expended for the
supervision of the eighty percent in the
country.
Nearly three times as much was ex
pended for the operation and mainten
ance of the schools of the twenty percent
as was expended for the operation and
maintenance of the schools of the eighty
percent.
These figures were not unlikely some
what changed for the school year 1918-19
and they will of course show some change
for the present year, 1919-20. But the
big difference between expenditures for
rural and for urban education for both
these years will probably show little
change from that of 1917-18.
Th% rural school in North Oarolina,
therefore, presents itself as a difficulty
that challenges the best of the state’s
attention and effort, for it can never be
overcome until it is faced seriously and
solved properly. And it will not be prop
erly solved until the rural school is
made to approach and attain in effective
ness the best standards of public educa
tion now furnished the children of urban
communities. The schools of towns and
cities are not perfect, of course, but they
are in many respects two and often three
times as good as those provided for the
country children. The question is clear-
cut: Should eighty percent of the state’s
children he longer denied educational ad
vantages approximately equal to those
now furnished twenty percent of her
children?
While these contrasts are disgraceful,
it is well to remember that the fault lies
mainly with our country people them
selves. Good schools depend primarily
on the willingness of communities and
counties to tax themselves locally. The
750 thousand dollars contributed out of
the state treasury in 1917-18 to the coun
ties for school support will not solve the
problem. It could not be solved indeed
with a state appropriation ten times that
amount. Our country counties and ru
ral districts must invest more liberally in
their own children. There is no other
way out in this or any other state.
Consolidating Schools
Consolidation of schools and the trans
portation of pupils offer the chief and
only practical means by which the school
advantages now enjoyed by the twenty
percent can be brought to the eighty per
cent of oar children. And the opportu
nity for this rural educational improve
ment in North Oarolina is now' at hand,
because coincident with the policy of
building good roads, to which the state
has recently committed itself with in
creased vigor, and with the expansion of
modern agricultural practices, there ap
pears a most promising and wide-spread
interest in the betterment of school fa
cilities for the masses of our children.
The advantages of town or city school can
in the main be put within reach of most
of the rural communities of the state.
The poor type of building; poor equip
ment; ineffective teaching; the tendency
towards idleness and other evils which
appear when children are not properly
supervised and directed but forced to
spend a large part of their time aimlessly
at their desks; the lack of professional
contacts for the teacher; the lack of in
tellectual stimulus in the one-teacher
schools; and the lifeless existence so often
observed of the children in such schools,
—these and other harmful features can
be eliminated by the union of the small
schools and the maintenance of good
consolidated schools. The purpose of ru
ral school consolidation is to furnish the
country boy and girl a larger opportunity
for effective education and training for
happier and more useful lives, but this
opportunity can never be afforded the
majority of our children until consolida
tion has become accepted practically in
stead of merely in theory.
The Advantages
By means of consolidation . and trans
portation the advantages of the urban
school Can be placed within reach of
most of North Carolina’s rural children.
Among tlie advantages that can thus be
brought to the rural children are:
1. More comfortable, convenient, at
tractive, and better equipped school build
ings can be had. Experience shows that
such buildings can be erected at no great
er cost, sometimes at less cost, than that
of the several small buildings of the com
munities which are consolidated. In such
modern buildings the health and morals
of the children are safeguarded to a great
er degree than is possible in the smaller
one-room schools. Are not the country
children entitled to better buildings and
equipment than are now provided for
them?
2. Because of the more nearly adequate
salaries and the opportunity afforded for
more systematized work, the consolidat
ed school insures better trained teachers
who are willing to remain for long terms
in the same communities. Are not the
country children worthy of the best train
ed teachers?
3. The consolidated school makes pos
sible a more complete course of study,
including the high school subjects, agri
culture, domestic science, industrial arte,
drawing, music, etc., which are always
found in the best type of urban schools.
Are not the country children entitled to
as good course of study as that now pro
vided for the city children?
4. The consolidated school shows a
larger enrollment and better attendance,
because of the social stimulation afforded
by larger numbers.
5. Better grading and classification of
pupils and a general standardization of
the work are found in the consolidated
school. More time can be given to each
recitation, thus increasing the opportu
nity of the individual pupil for thorough
ness of work. Better organized class in
struction such as that found in the con
solidated school becomes a source of in
spiration and assists in the development
of leadership.
6. Opportunity is afforded for a closer
and more helpful form of supervision.
This improves the effectiveness of the
teachers and furnishes the professional
contacts now denied the teacher of the
small school.
7. The consolidated school affords the
country child the chance to secure a high
school education near his own home, an
opportunity that is not now within easy
reach of most country boys and girls.
Larger numbers of such boys and girls
would then enter the high school for the
simple reason that the consolidated school
would prepare them for it.
8. By means of the adequately equip
ped consolidated school a great saving is
possible in the expense of sending chil
dren away from home for high school
training or preparation for college.
9. The consolidated school stimulates
and develops a more wholesome and at
tractive community spirit and interest,
which are reflected by church, social,
and other community organizations and
activities.
10. The consolidated school enriches
and strengthens the lives of boys and
girls and the men and women of the
community which it serves.—E. W. K,