The news in this publi-
I cation is released for the
press on receipt.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
NEWS LETTER
Published Weekly by the
University of North Caro
lina for the University Ex
tension Division.
MARCH 26,1924
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
THH UNIVEKSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
VOL. X, NO. 19
Editorial Soardt B. C. B.-aaBon. S. H. Sobbs, Jr., L. R, Wilson. B. W, Bjil*ht, D. D. Carroll, J. B, Eallitt. H. W. Oduim,
Bntared a* ■•cond-class noattar Norembar 14. 1914. atthePostafflcaatChapalHIll, N. C., imder the actof Aoirast 24. ItU
MOTOR CARS IN NORTH CAROLINA
A MOTORIZED ST.4TE
There is a motor car-in North Caro
lina for every two families in the state.
That does pretty well for a southern
state with a big majority farm popula
tion, nearly half of whom are tenants,
and nearly a third of whose total popu
lation is negro. At the rate we are
buying motor cars‘today there will
soon be a motor car for every family in
the state. It may sound impossible,
but who five years ago, even, would
have predicted 279,155 motor cars in
North Carolina on March 8, 1924? We
have nearly trebled the number of our
motor cars during the last five years.
We need only to double*-the present
number to have a motor car for every
family in the state, with a few cars to
spare.
History of Growth
There is nothing in* the economic
history of North Carolina that paral
lels the increase in the ownership of
motor cars. The wildest flight of the
imagination a decade ago could not
have foreseen the present almost uni
versal ownership of automobiles. In
1915, which was not so long ago, there
was a grand total of 16,410 registered
motor cars in North Carolina, or one
car for every 140 inhabitants. It was
freely predicted that at the rate we
were buying cars then we would soon
be a bankrupt people! In 1919 we had
109,000 motor cars, or one for.every 23
inhabitants, representing an invest
ment of about 90 million dollars. In
March 1922 we had 150,312 motor cars,
or one for every 17.2 inhabitants, rep
resenting an investment of about 120
million dollars. On April 13, 1923, we
had 204,600 motor cars, or one for
every 13 inhabitants in the state, rep
resenting an investment, at $800 per
car, of $163,600,000. On January _1,
1924, we had 248,414 motor cars, or
one for every 10.8 inhabitants. From
January 1 to March 8 the Secretary of
State reports that 30,741 new licenses
bad been issued so that on the latter
date we had 279,165 motor cars, or
one car for every 9.7 inhabitants.
Twice as many motor cars have been
registered since January 1 as were
owned in North Carolina in 1916, and
we are not broke yet.
And here is something which is hard
to believe, yet the registration office
at Raleigh assures us it is correct—that
from January 1 to March 8 of this year
80,741 new licenses have been issued,
or an average of 460 licenses a day,
counting Sundays. During the year
1923 automobiles increased by 60,634
yet during the first 68 days of 1924
there has been a gain of 30,741 auto
mobiles. Perhaps this is the year in
which we will go broke buying motor
cars. •
The motor cars on January first were
distributed as follows: automobiles
226,288, trucks 21,324, and non-resident
cars 802. On March 8 there were 246,-
813 automobiles and 32,342 trucks, or a
total of 279,165 resident motor cars.
In 1923 the number of motor cars
registered in the state increased 36.8
percent and the percent gain was lar
ger in only five states. The average
gain for the United States was_ 23.9
percent. During the first 68 days of
this year there has been a gain of 12
percent in the number of motor cars.
Eighteen states had more motor cars
on January first of this year than
North Carolina, while 13 states had a
larger population. We are still below
the average for the United States in
the number of people per motor car,
but at the rate we are going we will
soon have our share of automobiles, in
spite of racial ratios, farm tenancy,
and our excessive number of children.
Leaders in' Ownership
Automobiles are fairly well distrib
uted over the entire state. Because
of sparse population, poor roads, and
lack of annual cash income, the extreme
Tidewater and Mountain counties rank
poorest in the ownership of motor cars.
Yet even in the poorest of these coun
ties automobiles are fairly common.
However, the bulk of the cars in North
Carolina are owned by a solid circular
^up cff 36 counties lying between
Edgecombe on the east and Clevcbrd
on the west. Within this group there
are only three counties that rank be
low the state average in the ownership
of cars, while outside of this group
there are only three counties that rank
above the state average of one car for
every 10.8 inhabitants. The western
Coastal Plains and the central Pied
mont counties own the^majority of the
state’s motor care.
Guilford Leads
Guilford county retains her leader
ship, both in the total number of motor
cars, with 13,790, and in the rate of
ownership, with one car for every 6.2
people. Guilford has a car for almost
every family in the county. There are
enough motor cars in Guilford to take
the entire population for a ride, with a
fair .degree of comfort. Davidson ranks
second in inhabitants per ;.motor
car, while Mecklenburg ranks second
in the number of cars and third
in inhabitants per car. Other ^high
ranking counties are Rowan, Alamance,
Forsyth, and Lincoln, all Piedmont
counties with an industrial foundation.
Urban Leadership
Contrary to assertions which are
fairly common, farmers do not lead in
the ownership of motor cars. A.^study
of the table which appears elsewhere
in this issue of the News Letter reveals
the facts about the distribution of cars.
For instance, consider the prize agri
cultural counties of North Carolina,
Robeson, Johnston, and Pitt. These
three counties have twice the popula
tion of Guilford, yet Guilford has as
many motor cars as the three com
bined. The twenty-six counties which
come at the end of the table are all,
agricultural, yet Guilford alone has as
many motor cars as these twenty-six
counties combined.
The fifty counties that rank last in
the ownership of motor cars comprise
one-half the area of North Carolina,
yet there are five counties, all mairrly
urban, in which there are more motor
cars than in these fifty rural counties
combined. These five counties own
more than one-fifth of all the motor
cars in the state and pay more than
one-fifth-of the automobile license and
gasoline taxes. Yet the state of North
Carolina is erecting and maintaining a
state-wide network of 'modern high
ways, financed entirely by automobile
license and gasoline taxes, in which
the poor and rich counties are served
alike, irrespective of the ownership .of
automobiles or the volume of taxes
paid. The influence of this liberal and
praiseworthy program is already seen
in the rapid increase in the ownership
of motor cars in our remote counties.
These sparsely populated counties
have great natural resources which
would have remained undeveloped for
years without state aid in highway
construction. It is -a long-time invest
ment that will repay the state many
times over in the years to come. Dur
ing the last year these counties have
bought many thousands of motor cars
and shortly they will be paying their
part of the state’s road bill, and mil
lions of dollars of new wealth will be
produced annually in regions formerly
undeveloped through lack of transpor
tation facilities.
With the opening up of new territory
by the Highway Commission the field
of usefulness of the motor car is being
extended and thousands of families are
buying their first car. The effect is
seen in the growth in automobile regis
tration. During the 13 months from
March 1922 to April 1923, motor car
registration increased by 64,188. Dur
ing the eleven months from April 18,
1923, to March 8, 1924, motor car reg
istration increased by 74,655. The in
crease during the last 68 days, during
which time 30,741 new licenses have
been issued, is without parallel in our
state. If North Carolina is not in a
healthy and prosperous condition then
the purchase of motor cars is no longer
a suitable yardstick for measuring eco
nomic conditions.
With nearly 300,000 motor ears run
ning around over 6,000 miles of well-
maintained state highways we will
soon Know North Carolina, even if we
do not see much of our neighbors.—
S. H. H., Jr.
BUILDING HIGHWAYS
During the year 1923 the State
Highway Commission completed
1,044 miles of good roads at a cost
of $21,840,000, and the state led the
Southin highway construction. Only
two states in the Union spent more
on highways in 1928 than North Ca
rolina. The southern states ranking
in order next to North Carolina are:
JTexas with 1,000 miles at a cost of
$20,000,000, West Virginia with 928
miles at a cost of $13,200,000, Ar
kansas with 767 miles at a cost of
$7,260,000, and Georgia with 600
miles at a cost of $4,000,000.
Almost exactly one-third of the
road mileage completed in 1923, or
336 miles, is of hard-surfaced types.
We led the southern^^ states in
the miles of hard-surfaced roads
completed, with 200 miles more than
Missouri, which ranks next to us.
At our present rate we will soon
surpass Maryland, and rank first in
the South in hard-surfaced roads.
At the present time five miles of
good roads are being finished each
day in North Carolina by the State
Highway Commission. More than
two and a half miles of hard-sur
faced highways are being completed
per day. The year 1924 will prob
ably be the record year in highway
construction in this state. Chair
man Frank Page will soon be able
to attain his ambition of a daylight
motor trip from Murphy to Curri
tuck courthouse, if the traffic cops
don’t spoil it.
COUNTY HOMES
Conditions in the county homes in the
state, according to a paper read to the
North Carolina Club of the University
by Miss Lucy F. Lay, are such as should
have the immediate attention of every
thinking citizen of the state. While
in many cases conditions have been
bettered since the various counties
have cooperated with the State Board
of Public Welfare, and while there are
some very excellent county homes,, it
was shown that the inmates are not'
getting the attention aYid treatment
they need due to poor equipment, poor
management, and a general attitude
of laissez faire.
There are over fifteen hundred in
mates in the ninety-two county homes.
The homes are, of all sorts and condi
tions and range from miserable wood
buildings to modern brick homes. A'
few have modern conveniences and
proper facilities for the segregation of
the races and sexes, as the homes in
Chatham, Vance, and Guilford.- Out
of the ninety-two homes, thirty-three
have fewer than ten inmates. The
average number of inmates is sixteen.
In Massachusetts, 'the average is over
twenty-five. The average per capita
cost of maintaining an inmate in 1922
was $302, whereas-the average at a
large institution like the State Insane
Asylum at Raleigh is only $220.
The plan which ^ has been sug
gested as - the most practical and
efficient remedy for this excessive cost
is one by which two or more counties
would combine their county home.s into
district homes.
The last legislature passed an act to
enable any two or more counties to es
tablish a district hospital home. So
far no counties have done so. The
counties seem to be afraid to cooperate
in this. The same plan has been Jried
in Virginia, and has been approved by
such authorities as Prof. G. Croft Wil
liams of South Carolina and Mr. Roy
M. Brown of the Board of Public Wel
fare of North Carolina.
If eleven counties in the eastern sec
tion of the state would combine their
interests and form one district home,
by selling their equipment and farms
they could build with the proceeds a
plant of the proper type, providing
proper medical attention, segregation
of the sexes and races, and comfort
able arrangements for the inipates.
Out of the money spent formerly for
maintaining eleven homes, it has been
estimated that the running expenses
of the homes could be paid, and that
*an efficient whole-time superintendent,
a matron, two practical nurses, and
the services of a gO(»d physician, could
be secured. The average per capita
coat would be less than it is under
present conditions.
Insane and Feeble-Minded
Since over eighty-five percent of the in
mates of the present homes are distinctly
mentally abnormal, it' was urged that
the state increase the cajiacity of the.
Caswell Training School to 1600 in order
to care for the five hundred feeble-minded
inmates of the county homes, and that
the capacity of the State Hospital for
the Insane be increased to care for the
insane inmates. If this were effected,
then those inmates left would come
under the district Home for the Aged
and Infirm, which is the proper title for
the homes.
In stressing the fact that the feeble
minded should be put into institutions, it
it was brought out that there are over
130 feeble-minded women of childbear
ing age in the homes, and some in
stances were related of women with
the mental ages of four and five years
who had given birth to illegitimate chil
dren while in the homes.
The poor management of the homes
was attributed largely to the fact that
the salary paid is so very small and
the equipment so poor that very few
who are capable of running such an in
stitution efficiently are attracted to the
position. Generally the keeper has had
to run a big county farm in connection
with the home. In most cases the
superintendents are willing and anx
ious to do all they can for the inmates.
Often the length of the term .of office
is very short, due to the fact that the
superintendent changes with the party
administration. The commissioners
find it hard to inspect the county hom^,
and, since it is usually situated several
miles from the county seat, most of
the citizens of the community are like
ly to forget its existence.
Bad Sanitary Conditions
The sanitary conditions at the homes
are bad as a rule. A large number of
them use open wells and springs, and
in 1921 67 percent used the coromo*
drinking cup. Yet over eighty of the
inmates are sufferirf^ witn tuberculo
sis, or with venereal diseases. More
than fifty percent of the homes have
bath tubs and showers, and most of
the homes report that a bath once a
week is the rule. But in one home,
hens' nests were found in both the
tubs.
_ These unsanitary conditions are
mainly due to the fact that the super
intendent has no paid assistants. Gen
erally the wife of the superintendent
serves as matron without pay, cook
ing the food for the inmates and at the
same time taking care of several small
children of her own. If the counties
will adopt this district hospital home
plan, it was asserted that we might
then have suitable management by per
sons who have had training in public
welfare work. It is fairly easy to di
agnose the case and suggest remedies;
the hardest thing to do is to get
the people interested in the conditions
and to get the counties to cooperate.
The women’s clubs of the state were
suggested as the best organizat'ons
through which interest could be aroused.
The program of their social ser
vice departments should include work
with county homes. The belief was
expressed that if the conditions are
given publicity and the people aroused
to the needs, will soon have a well
organized system of district hospital ‘
homes, the insane will be removed
from the homes to the State Hospital,
and Caswell will be given a capacity
great enough to enable us to remove
every feeble-minded inmate from the
county institutions.
MOTOR CARS IN NORTH CAROLINA
Inhabitants per Car January 1, 1924
Based (U on adjusted population by counties as reported by the Census
Bureau, and (2) on the number of motor cars by counties January 1, 1924, as
reported by the Secretary of State.
Total number of motor cars on January 1, 1924, was 248,414, of which 802
were non-resident. Resident motor cars were distributed as follows: automo
biles 226,288, trucks 21,324. Motor cars on January 20,1923, numbered 187,880,
so the gain was 60,534 in less than twelve months.
On March 8, 1924, the registered cars numbered 279,166, or a gain of 30,741
since January 1.
Guilford county ranks first with 13,970 motor cars o'r one car for every 6.2
inhabitants. State average, one motor car for every 10.8 inhabitants.
W. S. Tyson, Pitt County
Department of Rural Social Economics, University of North Carolina
Rank County Total Inhabs.
‘ Number Per Car
1 Guilford 13,790 6.2
2 Davidson 6,179 7.2
3 Mecklenburg 11,626 7.3
3 Rowan - 6,302 7.3
6 Alamance 4,329' 7.8
6 Forsyth 10,808 8.1
6 Lincoln 2,213 8.1
8 Wilson 4,827 8.2
9 Moore 2,742 8.3
10 Wake 9,445 8.4
11 Scotland 1,828 8.6
12 Gaston 6,622 8.8
12 Iredell 4,442 8.8
12 Randolph 3,660 8.8
15 Cleveland 4,041 8.9
16 Montgomery 1,617 9.0
16 Buncombe 7,697 9.0
18 Catawba 3,913 9.1
18 Cabarrus 3,977 9.1
20 Richmond 2,960 9.3
21 Durham 4,682- 9.6
22 Lee 1,459 9.6
23 Rockingham ' 4,811 9.7
23 Edgecomffe 4,137 9.7
25 Cumberland 3,762 9,8
25 Orange 1,924 9.8
27 Johnston 5,195 9.9
27 Nash 4,410 9.9
29 Davie 1,347 10.1
29 Pasquotank I»7,p0 10.1
31 Hoke 1,203 10.2
32 Anson,... ^ 2,809 10.4
32 Harnett 2,918 10.4
34 Stokes 1,972 10.6
36 Henderson 1,764 10.7
36 Surry 3,047 10.9
36 Pitt 4,458 10.9
38 Chowan 962 11.0
39 New Hanover 3,864 11.3
40 Wayne 4,067 11.4
40 Lenoir 2,806 11.4
42 Yadkin 1,443 11.6
42 Stanly 2,614 11.5
44 Rutherford 2,790 11.6
46 Bertie 2,036 11.9
46 Vance 1,988 12.0
47 Chatham 1.988 12.1
47 Halifax 3,784 12.1
49 Beaufort 2,584 12.2
Currituck 693 12.2
Rank County
51
1,571 12.4
1,396 12.4
12.4
17.6
Total Inhabs.
Number Per Car
Union 2,983 12,4
151 Person •
;61 Greene
61 Hertford 1,331
166 Caswell 1,363 12.6
166 Caldwell 1,620 12.6
167 Alexander 978 12.7
|58 Northampton ... 1,828 12.8
168 Robeson 4,474 12.8
160 Sampson 2^950 12.9
;60 Camden 417 12.9
j62 Granville 2,069 13.1
j63 Perquimans 834 13.3
:64 Martin 1,604 13.6
j66 Craven 2,181 13.8
jee Duplin 2,246 14.2
167 Franklin 1,892 14.4
168 Warren 1,491 14.8
169 Gates 706 14.9
70 Washington 770 16.1
71 Burke 1,671 15.2
72 Haywood 1,379
73 Tyrrell
74 Onslow
76 Columbus 1,684 18.3
76 Bladen 1,106 18.4
76 Pender 802 18.4
78 Pofk 497
79 Pamlico 481
80 Transylvania 529 19.0
81 Jones 629 19.6
82 McDowell 866 20.7
83 Alleghany 362 21.0
84 Wilkes 1,469 22.9
85 Watauga 613 26.9
86 Brunswick 646 27.6
87 Jackson 481 28.1
88 Carteret
89 ilyde
90 Cherokee ”... 465 33.6
91 Clay 146 33.7
:92 Madison,...' , 661 35.7
‘93 Macon 363 37.2
;94 Ashe 577 37.6
96 Avery 272 38.9
96 Dare 106 49.1
97 Swain '. 273 52.1
! 98 Graham 82 69.9
i 99 Yancey 241 67.1
1100 Mitchell 159 7l6
273 1 7.7
834 17.8
18.6
18.8
661 28.4
289 29.0