The news in this publi
cation is released for the
press on receipt.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
NEWS LETTER
Pubiisiied Weekiy by the
University of North Caro
lina Press for the Univer
sity Extension Division.
JANUARY 10, 1923
CRAFU.. HILL, N. C.
VOL. IX, NO. 8
itorial Board . E. O. Branson, 8.H. Hobbs, .Tr., L. B. Wilson, B. W. riuiKbt. D. D. Carroii, J. S. Bullitt, H. W. Odmn. Knierea as second-class matter November 14.1914, at the Postoffir,- at^lhapel Hill, N. O., under the act of Angrust24, 10W
WARRENTON LEADS
If any one wants to know just how
far the public can safely go into the
ownership of public utilities, let him
ask Judge John H. Kerr, of Warren-
ton. Judge Kerr says we can go a
long way and he knows.
Judge Kerr hails from the town of
•Warrenton, the county seat of the lit
tle county of Warren. Warrenton is
given a population of less than a
thousand by the census of 1920 but
Warrenton owns its own railroad, its
own water and sewerage, - its electric
light service, its ice plant and its ho
tel. And now Warrenton is thinking
of building a municipal laundry, to be
followed by a municipal bakery. Why
shouldn’t a town feed and lodge its
guests, wash its own clothes and bake
its own bread, as well as manufacture
its own lights and water?
Warrenton learned to do things for
itself after the Seabord Air Line Rail
way ran through Warren county and
left Warrenton three miles away from
its tracks. Back in 1884 Warrenton
issued $26,000 in bonds and built a
railroad of its own, from Warrenton
to Warren Plains. The distance was
only three miles and you could build
and equip three miles of railroad some
how, in those days, for $25,000.
The Warrenton Railroad, as it was
called, wasn’t much of a success at
first, but the bonds were paid off some
how and then the railroad began to pay;
it is and has been a regular little reve
nue getter for the past twelve or fif
teen years just handling freight be
tween Warrenton and Warren Plains.
Owns her own Utilities
Having made a go of a railroad of
its own, Warrenton was ready for al
most anything and the town bonded
itself for $90,000 and built its own
water and sewerage plant. It put in
its own electric distribution system and
bought its current from a big cotton
mill outside the town, because it could
buy power as cheap as it could make
it.
Next thing, the town needed a good
ice plant and Warrenton built its own
ice plant.
Then traveling men who came to
town kicked about the hotel accommo
dations and private capital could not be
induced to build a modern hotel in so
small a town. Again Warrenton got
busy and built a modern little hotel of
40-odd rooms and hired a manager to
run it. They paid their hotel manager
a salary of $1,800 a year with board for
the manager and his family thrown in.
The hotel, started in 1920, has been
such a success that Warrenton is now
contemplating an addition of 26 rooms
to its hotel. The laundry is coming
next.
Besides its electric lights, water,
sewerage, ice plant, hotel and railroad,
Warrenton has a handsome town hall,
$150,000 worth of street paving, a
modern school plant and almost every
thing a town ten times its size would be
proud of.—Elizabeth City Indepen
dent.
Through the efforts of the Associa
tion a cafeteria has been successfully
established in the school.
A dormitory is needed for the girls
from the'country who attend the Chap
el Hill High School. The Association
expects to secure such a home by Sep
tember of next year.—Louis Graves.
WHITE PLAGUE VICTIMS
Seventeen deaths last year from
tuberculosis in Orange County is just
that number too many, but it repre
sents a saving of five lives over the
previous yeair, and to that extent we
are to be congratulated.
Fifteen out of every hundr=‘d who died
of Tb. in North Carolina last year were
farmers. In actual numbers there were
888 farm people who died of this di
sease. This is, perhaps, not startling
to a great many people who believe
that, like the poor, we must always
have tuberculosis with us. The fact i
is, however, that each and every one of
these deaths was preventable, and such |
an enormous loss among our farmers
should stir us to action. '
Another significant fact is that more
death from Tb. occurred among the
farmers than among the people engaged
indoors, such as teachers, stenograph
ers, bookkeepers, clerks, mill workers,
etc., the number of deaths among those
engaged in such occupations being 310.
It would seem that the farmer is not
as vigilant in regard to his health as he
should be. A periodic medical exami
nation is not a cure-all but it would
have been a life saver in a great many
of these cases.
The North Carolina Tuberculosis
Association, an organization which is
supported by the sale of Tuberculosis
Christmas Seals, continues to hold free
tuberculosis diagnostic clinics and will
gladly send a specialist to any point in
i North Carolina where the people are
interested in finding the cases of tuber
culosis in their community. Finding the
cases is, of course, the first step. Then
if the people really mean business, ar
rangements should be made to give
proper treatment to those cases which
are curable.—N. C. Tuberculosis Asso
ciation.
COMMUNITY CLUB EFFORTS
The Parent-Teacher Association of
Chapel Hill has decided to experiment
with what is known as the grade moth
er system.
Under this plan, instead of frequent
meetings by the entire association,
there will be meetings of the mothers
of the children in each particular grade.
For example, the first grade mothers
will organize as a subdivision'M)f the
main body, the second grade mothers,
and so on through all the grades.
It is thought that this will stimulate
a keen personal interest in each parent,
and will bring about an eagerness to
attend meetings.
The Chapel Hill Association has
found a school circus an effective means
not only of raising funds but also of a-
rousing interest in the work of the or
ganization. Under the direction of
Harold D. Meyer, professor of public
welfare in the University, a big show
was given in the school building this
fall. The talent was supplied by the
school children. Admission to the
main show cost five cents and to each
side-show one cent. Despite the light
charge $91.00 was realized.
BEST BOOKS FOR CHILDREN
The following table represents tne
vote of thirteen of the leading children’s
librarians of the country as to the best
books published in the year of 1921 for
children, the vote being based on a
tentative list selected and presented
by the book selection section of the
New York State library. The titles are
given in the order of number of 'favor
able votes received by each.
Hawes, C. B. The Great Quest. (At
lantic Monthly.)
Tyler, A. C. Twenty-Four Unusual
Stories for Boys and Girls. (Har-
court.)
Van Loon, H. W. The Story of Man
kind, (Boni and Liveright.)
Moses, M. J., ed. A Treasury of Plays
for Children. (Little.)
Colum, Padraic. The Golden Fleece.
(Macmillan.)
Mathews, F. S. The Book of Birds
for Young People. (Putnam.)
Porter, Jane. The Scottish Chiefs.
Ed. by Kate Douglas Wiggin and
Nora A. Smith: ii. by N. C. Wyeth.
(Scribner.)
Lamprey, Louise. Days of the Dis
coverers. (Stokes.)
White, E. 0. Peggy in Her Blue
Frock. (Houghton.)
Patch, E. M. Bird Stories. (Atlantic
Monthly.)
Smith, E. S., ed. Heroines of History
and Legend. (Lothrop.)
Crump, Irving. The Boys’ Book of
Railroads. (Dodd.)
Wright, H. S. New Plays from Old
Tales. (Macmillan.)
Perkins, L. F. The Puritan Twins.
(Houghton.)
Bowen, William. The Old Tobaci O''
Shop. (Macmillan.)
Marshall, Bernard. Cedric the For
ester. (Appleton.)
Tarbell, I. M. The Boy Scouts’ Life
of Lincoln. (Macmillan.)
Hawksworth, Hallam. Strange Ad
ventures of p Pebble. (Scribner.)
Turner, N. B. Zodiac Town. (Atlan
tic Monthly.)
KNOW NORTH CAROLINA
A Georgia Verdict
The road system in North Caro
lina is only one evidence of North
Carolina’s general prosperity that
appeals to thepeopleof other states,
and particularly to the people of
Georgia, whose natural conditions
of living are practically the^same.
North Carolina’s public school
system is maintained more progres
sively than is that of Georgia,
through no fault of Georgia’s most
excellent department of education.
The higher educational institu
tions of North Carolina are ade
quately maintained, while those in
Georgia are admittedly starved. The
state contributes more to the uni
versity systoui In IhaL state in one
year than Georgia does in four.
The same can be said of the other
institutions—the eleemnsyngrv, the
correcHve
Why is all tins?
North Lflrnima has relatively a
quarter cf a millicn less population
than Georgia.
All of the five largest cities com
bined will scarcely exceed in popu
lation the one city of Atlanta.
Wilmington, the seaboard me
tropolis, is a much smaller city than
Savannah.
Charlotte, the largest tr&ding cen
ter, is not as large as Macon.
Neither Winston-Salem nor Dur
ham nor Greensboro, her great tobac
co manufacturing cities, is as large
as Augusta.
And yet it is a state of small
cities and towns, each filled with the
stacks of industry, and each the
center of prosperous rural commu
nities.
The reason for it all is—not that
North Carolina has any better peo
ple than Georgia, for there are no
better; not that North Carolina has
any more natural advantages than
Georgia, for in these both states are
practically blessed alike—but that
North Carolina has revised her old
and antiquated tax system so that
the state is provided with funds
sufficient to carry on the functions
of government in keeping with the
demands of a progressive age—
And the people of the cities and
the towns and the country have
prospered as the state has pros
pered.
North Carolina is thus an object
lesson that the Georgia legislature
should heed. —Atlanta Constitu
tion.
Dasent, Sir G. W. East o’ the Sun
and West o’ the moon; il. by Edna
Cooke. (McKay.)
Aesop. The Herford AesopL
(Stokes,)—New York Libraries Bulle
tin.
NEGRO SCHOOL POLICIES
Director Newbold, of the State De
partment of Public Instruction, de
clares that North Carolina has kept
faith with the colored people and made
good in its state educational program,
involving $935,000 for Negro schools, in
its local educational program, involving
$1,525,000, and in its Negro public-
school teachers’ salary program, in
volving $],500,000.
Some of the important outlays in
North Carolina’s Negro education pro
gram, carried out during the past year,
follow: ,
1, Construction of two dormitories
at the Slater Normal School, and a
combination building to be used as a
gymnasium and auditorium, together
with industrial classes—cost $134,000.
2. At Elizabeth City Normal School
an administration building—cost, with
equipment, about $125,000—nearing com
pletion; also a principal’s home, a three-
teacher practice school, together with
heating, water, and sewerage system,
costing $40,000—total spent at this
school about $170,000.
3. At Fayetteville Normal School an
administration and class-room build
ing, a dormitory for girls containing
seventy-one rooms, and a water-sewer
age system—all nearingcompletion-
cost $166,000.
The small balance of only a little
more than $11,000 on the $600,000 state
appropriation for the three colored nor
mal schools will be used within the next
sixty days, said Director Newbold. The
General Education Board has appro
priated $125,000, which will be used in
equipping these three normal schools.
All the state’s appropriation will be
used for construction. These three
schools are using annually the mainte
nance fund provided; namely, $75,000.
4. New building being constructed
at the Agricultural and Technical Col
lege, Greensboro, cost $116,000.
5. Hospital building for tubercular
Negroes, now building, cost $100,000.
6. Division of Negro Education, with
eight workers, is now a component part
of the State Department of Fublic In
struction-cost $15,000.
7. Teacher-training organized in
nine private schools—cost $16,000.
8. Teacher-training in summer
schools and for high-nchool and voca
tional education—cost $60,000.
9. Eighty-one Rosenwald Schools—
total cost $330,387.—N. C. Newbold,
State Director Negro Education.
LIVESTOCK VALUES PER FARM
In North Carolina in 1920
Based on the 1920 Census of Agriculture, covering (1) the total value of
livestock on farms in each county, (2) divided by the number of farms in each
county.
The average livestock value per farm in North Carolina is $413, against
-$1,243 in the United States, and forty-six states make a better showing. Fifty-
nine percent of the livestock values of the state is represented by horses and
mules, and only 20 percent by dairy cattle. We had 56,000 fewer cattle than in
1910, but 112,862 more mules and horses. The decreSse was mainly in beef
cattle and calves since the 1910 census of livestock is of April and the 1920 cen
sus of January.
Livestock values per farm vary, (1) according to the number and quality
of farm animals, and (2) the number and size of farms.
The high rank in North Carolina of some Coastal Plains counties is due al
most entirely to their large numbers of mules and horses on cotton and tobacco
farms, not to dairy and^eef cattle as in the mountain and hill counties.
S. H. Hobbs, Jr.
Department of Rural Social Economics, University of North Carolina
Fillmore, P. H. The Laughing Prince.
(Harcourt.)
Beard, D. C. The American Boys’
Handy-Book of Camplore and Wood
craft. (Lippincott.)
Fabre, J. H. Animal Life in Field
and Garden. (Century.)
Morgan, A. P. (A. M. Powell, pseud.)
Boys’ Home Book of Science and Con
struction. (Lothrop.)
Prescott, D. R. A Day in a Colonial
Home. (M. Jones.)
Parkman, M. R. Conquests of Inven
tion. (Century.)
Adams, Katherine. Midsummer.
(Macmillan.) /
Heyliger, William. High Benton,
Worker. (Appleton.)
Irving, Washington. Rip Van Win
kle; il. by N. C. Wyeth. (McKay.)
Meigs, Cornelia. The Windy Hill.
(Macmillan.)
Brown, E. A. Silver Bear. (Lothrop.)
Phillips, E. C. Black-Eyed Susan.
(Houghton.)
Bailey, Margery. The Little Man
With One Shoe. (Little.)
Mathiews, F. K., ed. The Boy'Seouts’
Book cf Campfire Stories. (Apple-
ton. )
Rolt-Wheeler, F. W. The Book of
Cowboys. (Lothrop.)
Rank Counties
Livestock
Per Farm
1
Alleghany
$736
61
Halifax
399
2
Haywood
633
62
Camden
396
3
Ashe
582
62
Orange
.... 396
4
Edgecombe
620
64
Duplin
894
5
Watauga
610
64
Northampton
394
6
Mecklenburg ....
604
66
Bladen
.... 393
7
Greene
603
67
Catawba
.... 392
8
Sampson
600
68
Tyrrell
390
8
Gaston
600
69
Granville
.. .. 386
10
Wayne ..
499
69
Henderson
386
11
Cabarrus
491
69
Moore
386
12
Transylvania ....
482
62
Macon
383
13
Buncombe
480
62
Onslow
.... 383
14
Martin
479
64
Montgomery
. ... 382
16
Jones
476
64
Wake
382
16
New Hanover....
476
66
Madison
378
17
Chowan
471
66
Pender
378
17
Lenoir
471
68
Carteret
375
19
Richmond
465
69
Lee
.... 373
20
Harnett
461
69
Vance
373
20
Rowan
461
71
Pamlico
370
22
Alamance
457
72
Hyde
367
23
Pasquotank
455
73
Bertie
366
24
Nash
451
74
Caldwell
363
26
Guilford
460
76
Yancey
362
26
Pitt
446
76
Columbus
368
27
Cleveland
442
77
Polk
367
28
Wilson
435
78
Davidson
365
29
Lincoln
432
79
Caswell
.... 353
30
Hertford
430
80
Yadkin
.... 350
31
Cumberland
429
81
Rutherford
348
32
Iredell
........ 428
82
Washington
346
32
Robeson
428
83
Brunswick
.... 344
34
Union
427
84
Rockingham
342
35
Jackson
426
84
Swain
342
36
Forsyth
423
86
Burke
... . 340
37
Hoke
422
86
Franklin
340
38
Davie
420
86
Mitchell
340
39
Craven
418
89
Cherokee
337
40
Johnston
416
90
Durham
336
41
Stanly
415
90
Person
336
42
Chatham
412
90
Warren
336
43
Beaufort
....... 411
93
Gates
334
44
Graham
409
94
Stokes
832
45
Perquimans
407
96
Avery
330
46
Currituck'
404
96
McDowell
323
46
Randolph
404
97
Alexander
315
48
Anson
402
98
Surry
314
48
Scotland
402
99
Wilkes
280
60
Clay
400
100
Dare
241
Rank Counties
Livestock
Per Farm