North Carolina Newspapers

The news in this publi 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. MAY 27, 1925 chapel hill, n c. THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS VOL. XI, NO. 28 Ediforial Boards E. C. Branson, S. H. Hobbs, Jr., L. R. Wilson, E. W. Knight, D. D. Carrol!, J. B. Bullitt, H. W. Odum. Entered as second-class matter November 14, 1914, at the Postoffice at Chapel Hill, N. C., under the act of August 24, 1912 THE VIRTUES 0? POT LIQUOR “Learn to love your liquor,” advises Philander D. Poston, writing in the Washington Post. He hastens to ex plain that this may be done without violation of the Volstead Law, for he refers to “pot liquor,” or water in which; vegetables have been boiled— once a staple of Southern food, but now, he charges, too often poured down the sink. Col. Henry Watterson, he tells us, claimed that “pot liquor” made the Confederate soldier the best individual tighter and the finest type of hardy manhood the world has ever seen. He insisted that, without “pot liquor,” the Southern Confederacy would have fallen within six months, instead of holding out against over whelming odds for four long years. Mr. Poston-continues: “ ‘Pot liquor’ is just plain vegetable essence, or the water in which vegeta bles are boiled, which nearly everyone pours down the sink. It’s that sturdy stuff, dear to the heart and stomach of the real negro ‘buck,’ that tower of strength and endurance who wins o^ admiration when we watch the play of his brawn and bone in the happy ex ecution of his hard physical tasks. ‘Pot liquor’ is quite foreign to the frail and educated ‘colored gentleman,’ but just mention it to a real sturdy, downright negro, and watch him smile. “Evolution works from the ground upward. The earth is composed of certain minerals, such as iron, lime, soda, phosphorous, iodin, etc. These same minerals are found in seawater; in the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and in .physical man. Nature, always responding to the eternal cosmic urge, causes the vegetables to eat, digest, assimilate and deposit in the cells of the plant these minerals from the soil After being- so treated, they are ad vanced to the next higher plane of life — the vegetable kingdom. Now they are refined and made ready for another up ward move and similar process in the animal and human body. “Vegetation receives from still an- («ther source another power—tremen dous in its strength and eternal in its vitality. That power is solar energy. It comes to the earth In the form of sun-rays, and vegetation, exposed to these constant rays, absorbs this vital power and locks it up tight in the vege table cells along with the minerals from the earth. There, in the leaf, which is the chemical laboratory of the plant, in the pod, in the fruit, and in the grain, are blended and bound to gether the Almighty powers of sun and of earth. “But, right here, man steps in and spoils it all. He destroys or throws away practically all value in the vege tables he cooks and eats. In the hard, long boiling, the vegetable cells are broken open and the mineral wealth and vitamins liberated into the water and steam. This great wealth is then drained off, or pressed out, and poured down the sink! “Millions of people in the United States face actual starvation, not for lack of food in quantity, for our har vests are bountiful, but because, through commercial processes and further destructive treatment wher ever food is served, little remains the form of minerals and vitamins.’' Mr. Poston goes on to instruct the modern wasteful cook how to insure copious and toothsome supply of the liquid that once made the Sunny South strong. He advises: “In boiling vegetables they should be started with a moderate amount of water, more water being added from time to time as cooking proceeds, to the end that a moderate amount of es sence remains when the vegetable is done. This essence contains what remains of the minerals and vitamins, and should be served along with the vegetable, in a bowl, and drunk, with a spoon, or separately as a broth. “Boiling should be at a high tem perature and for a short period rather than at a lower temperature for a longer period. Quick cooking saves much 0? value in food. A moderate amount of bacon may be boiled with vegetables where appropriate and de sired. Too much meat will cause the essence to be greasy and unpalatable, for drinking. Milk and butter may be used in seasoning, after cooking of vegetable is complete. Flour thick ening should be avoided. “The rule in every home, cafe, club, boarding-house and institution is to dump the vegetable essence down the sink, then to ‘cream’ with deadly white flour the even more dead and deadly bodies of the vegetable cells from which the life has fled, and add ing condiments in a vain effort.to put some semblance of life or taste into this muddled mess.- “Leave in your vegetables this vital life fluid, wasting not a drop. Soon you will form a taste and thirst for this rare stuff. Take it often and in vol ume and start now the replacement in your body of the life elements for which it has for years starved, giving it an abundance of this building and vitaliz ing material that will mean to you a new life and a better mental order. When you drain this essence down the sink, with it goes from 75 to 90 per cent of the money value you pajd for the vegetables. This monetary loss is as nothing compared with the irrepar able loss to you in body and in mind through such a silly act. “To ‘pot liquor’ there’s a powerful kick, but no backfire. It gives you headway, but not headache. It will keep you within the law, but without a doctor or bondsman. It’s the safest, sanest, surest way to good health and good time. •‘Learn to love your liquor and take it daily, but take it from the pot.” — Literary Digest. DECLINE IN LUMBER CUT For some years North Carolina has been declining in importance as a lumber state. Practically every year for the last decade a new state has forged ahead of ours in the amount of lumber cut. If we continue to decline as within recent years, it will not be long before North Carolina will have become an unimportant lumber state. And only a decade or so ago she ranked among the first three or four states of the Union in lumber cdt annually. A recent report issued by the Federal Department of Commerce gives the amount of lumber cut by identical re porting mills for the years 1923 and 1924. For North Carolina the identical mills reported that they cut eighteen percent less lumber in 1924 than in 1923, the largest decrease reported by any state. It is likely that the report ing mills give an indication of the -general condition for all mills in the state. The lumber cut in North Caro lina annually is now only about half as great as it was a decade ago. Cur Timber Possibilities Among the greatest of North Caro lina’s resources are her potentialities in the production of timber. Perhaps there is no waste in the state so great as our failure to utilize properly our natural possibilities as a timber state. The climate of North Carolina is conducive to the rapid growth of trees—long warm growing seasons with plenty of moisture, and short winters that give firmness to the wood. A tree grows much more rapidly in North Ca rolina than in the states to the north of us. In fact it is doubtful if there is an other state that possesses a better com bination of natural resources conducive to timber production. Abundance of Land 'And what about our land area? There are around 23 million acres in North Carolina that are not used for agricultural purposes. Of our total land area, only about 26 percent is under cultivation. It is reported on the highest authority that of the land area not under cultivation at least 19 million acres are potential forest lands even under present conditions. Millions of acres in North Carolina, how many nobody knows, are lying absolutely idle. There are additional millions of acres now growing timber whose yield could be increased by^he application of improved methods. It is estimated that an average acre of land in North Carolina will grow at least 300 board feet of timber per N. C. CLUB YEAR-BOOK The 1923-24 Year-Book of the North Carolina Club of the Uni versity of North Carolina is off the press. The title of the book is What Nexc in North Carolina? The book covers fourteen subjects of immediate concern to North Caroli nians. As long as the limited edition lasts a copy will be sent free to North Carolinians who write for it. The price to those outside the state is seventy-five cents. For a copy ad dress The University Extension Di vision, Chapel Hill, N. C. ran twice as many hours as the average for Massachusetts. If activity is any indication of rela tive prosperity, our mills are better off than the mills of any other state. year, not counting fire-wood and the like. There are about 20 million acres of land in the state that are potential forest lands. Thus it appears that the state could grow six billion board feet of timber per year. We are now cut ting only about one billion board feet with smaller cuts in sight for the years to come. A few million dollars spent by North. Carolina on forest conserva tion would yield enormous dividends. The State is now spending only a few thousand dollars a year developing and conserving her forest resources! Not much can be done on our meagre ex penditure beyond paying the salaries of a small office force, and not much should be expected. We are doing too little to conserve and develop our forest resources, and we shall be sorry for our negligence in the years to come. We must do more to develop and conserve our wonderful natural resources. And of them all our forests should receive first consideration. PEDIATRICS COURSES Instructors for the summer post graduate medical courses in Pediatrics, organized for the physicians of the state by the extension division of the State University, have just been an nounced by Chester D. Snell, director of the division. Dr. Jean V. Cooke and Dr. Alexis F. Hartman, of Washington Univer sity Pediatric Hospital, will have charge of the circuit classes in the ' northwestern part of the state. Both 'of these physicians taught in the suc- i cessful courses of last summer. On I this circuit the work is being offered j to nine towns from which six will fi- ; nally be selected. The towns are North] 1 Wiikesboro, Mount Airy, Winston- I Salem, Reidsville, High Point, Gr>^eens- j i boro, Lexington, Salisbury, and Bur- j lington. According to the announce- • ment, the first six centers which pro- ' duce 16 or more signatures to the ap plications sent out recently will be chosen and the other three dropped. I The centers where the groups ; will meet on the Tidewater circuit are: Selma, Goldsboro, Tarboro, and Rocky [ Mount. The instructor for this circuit j will be Dr. Wayne A. Rupe, of ; Washington University, Dr. Rupe has been for two years chief resident phy sician in the St. Louis Children’s Hospi tal, and at present is in charge of the ^ Pediatrics out-patient department of the- Washington University Dispensary and is associate visting pediatrician to the children’s hospital According to the announcement by ^ Director Snell, 60 applications from ; physicians have already been receive4, and there is keen competition between the various medical societies which desire a class to be located where they can conveniently attend. ' ( URBAN AND RURALCHILDHEN Which have fewer physical defects, city children or country children? The advantages seem to be in favor of the city child, according to tables recently published by the Division of Research, National Education Association. Some Of the findings derived from their investigations are as follows. It. was found that 2.1 percent of city chil dren have defective breathing, while 4.2 percent of country children have de fective breathing. Ear defects were found to exist fori.3 percent of city children and 4.8 percefft of country chil dren. Two and seven-tenths percent of city children had enlarged glands, and 6.4 percent of country children. It was found that 7.66 percent of city children, and ,16.6 percent of country children suffered from mal nutrition. Eye defects were found in the case of 18.4 percent of city chil dren, against 21 percent of country children. Only half as many city chil dren have adenoids as country children, 12.6 percent against 23.4 percent. Nearly twice as many defective tonsils were found for the country children as for city children, 28.14 percent against 16.42 percent. One-third of city chil dren had defective teeth against half of all country children. - Country children have more fresh air but not as much medical attention. With the ^ame medical care and atten tion country children would be healthier than city children for countrv en vironment is more conducive to health than city environment. TOE URBAN DKIFT Ten years ago a little more than 45 percent of the population of the United states lived in cities. Now the urban population is more than 60 percent. The trend is especially marked in New York. Of the entire population of the state, about 83 percent is found in the cities, an increase of more than 6 per cent in the last decade. Nearly 70 percent of the population of California is^ound in the cities and the proportion is about the same in Illinois. The highest percentage is found in Rhode Island where 97,6 percent of the population now lives in cities. Massachusetts has'the next largest urban population in proportion to its total population, with nearly 95 percent urban. . North Carolina is one of the highly rural states of the Union, yet few states are urbanizing more rapidly. In 1910 seventy-five percent of our people lived in the open country, while by 1920 the rate had dropped to 71 percent, and it is much lower today. In a few more years half the population of North Carolina will live in towns, at our present rate of urbanization. I DEATHS PER 1,000 POPULATION j In North Carolina for 1923 I In the following table, based on the Annual Report of the Bureau of Vital ! Statistics of the State Board of Health and the Census Estimate of Population for the year 1923, the counties are ranked from low to high in deaths per 1,000 population. The table also shows the total number of deaths per county for , that year. j state total of deaths 32,396 12 deaths per 1,000 population; United ^ States, 12.4 deaths per 1,000 population. Graham county had the lowest death rate and the fewest deaths. Bun- \ combe led in the number of deaths and in the rate, due to her numerous j hospitals'for tuberculosis and other ills. A few other counties rank low for similar reasons. j C. H. Yarborough, Franklin County j Department of Rural Social-Economies, University of North Carolina Rank County Deaths ACTIVE COTTON SPINDLES If activity of cotton mills is any sign of relative prosperity, then North Ca rolina mills are more prosperous than those of any other state, with South Carolina next. For a good many months the mills of this state have led the Union in the activity of their spin dles. For March 1926 the average spindle in North Carolina ran 311 hours against 227 hours for the entire Nation and 156 hours for Massachusetts. In aggregate active spindle hours—active spindles multiplied by hours in opera tion—North Carolina leads the states of the Union. Massachusetts has near ly twice as many spindles in place but her aggregate spindle hours fall short of North Carolina’s. North Carolina had 18 percent of all spindles in place in the United States, but nearly 22 percent of the total spin dle hours of the Nation. During March 97.6 percent of all spindles in North Carolina were active, against 88 percent for the United States. The average spindle in North Caro lina ran 37 percent more hours than the average for the Nation, 311 hours against 227 hours. The average North Carolina spindle 1 Graham 16 2 Yancey 88 3 Avery 70 4 Hyde 64 6 Transylvania .... 78 6 Cleveland 279 7 Yadkin 131 8, Anson 240 9 Madison 172 9 Catawba 308 11 Swain 127 11 Gates 95 13 Stanly 274 14 Caldwell 193 16 Davidson 348 15 Alleghany....'.,. 69 17 Iredell 373 18 Polk '88 18 Caswell 153 20 Ashe 211 20 Alexander 121 22 Stokes 205 22 Pamlico 89 22 McDowell 177 22 Lincoln 178 22 Haywood 241 27 Union 369 27 Dare 52 29 Jones 104 29 Carteret 161 31 Sampson 889 31 Robeson 667 31 Moore 233 31 Macon 133 35 Wilkes 344 36 Harnett 313 37 Granville 284 38 Mitchell 119 38 Brunswick 168 40 Davie 149 40 Rowan 607 40 Franklin 300 43 Onslow 165 43 Chatham 268 43 Cabarrus 401 46 Surry - 377 46 Rockingham 627 46 Montgomery .... 165 46 Johnston 584 60 Cherokee 177 Per 1,000 i Rank County Deaths Per 1,000 Inhabs. Inhabs. 3.2 51 Randolph .. 369 11.4 5.4 '“51 Duplin ., 366 11.4 6.6 51 Currituck .... 83 11.4 7.6 64 Watauga .. 166 11.5 7.7 64 Rutherford .. . 376 11.6 7.7 64 Bladen.. .. 233 11.6 7.8 67 Jackson .. 162 11.9 8.1 68 Columbus .... .. 372 12.0 8.6 69 Halifax .. .. .. 667 12.1 8.5 60 Henderson ... 233 12.2 8,9 60 Clay .. 60 12,2 8.9 62 Richmond .... . 341 12.3 9.0 62 Edgecombe .., .. 496 12.3 9.2 64 Person ., ., 243 12.4 ’ 9.3 66 Northampton 296 ■ 12.5 9.3 65 Cumberland .., . 487 12.6 9.4 67 Nash . 633 12.6 9.5 67 Gaston . 711 12.6 9.6 67 Bertie . 308 12.6 9.7 70 Perquimans.... . 144 12.8 9.7 70 Hertford . 213 12,8 9.8 70 Burke . 308 12.8 9.8 70 Alamance . 439 12.8 9.8 74 Mecklenburg... 1,1*9 12.9 9.8 Guilford 1,116 12.9 9.8 Craven . 402 13.2 9.9 77 Pender . 197 13.3 9.9 77 Camden . 72 13.3 10.0 79 Warren . 300 13.5 10.0 80 Tyrrell 66 13.6 10.1 80 Scotland . 214 13,6 lO.l 80 Lenoir . 437 13.6 10.1 80 Greene . 237 13.6 10.1 84 Orange . 264 13.9 10.2 84 Beaufort . 433 13.9 • 10.2 86 Martin . 307 14.0 10.3 86 Lee . ]98 14 0 10.6 86 Forsyth 1,239 14.0 10.6 89 Pitt . 704 14.3 10.9 89 New Hanover.. . 623 14.3 10.9 91 Wilson . 678 14.4 10.9 92 Vance . 359 14.9 11.0 93 Chowan . 160 16.0 11.0 94 Wayne . 708 16.2 11.0 96 Wake 1,226 15.4 11.2! 96 Pasquotank.... 284 15.7 11.2 ! 97 Hoke . 190 16.2 11.2 : 98 Durham . 742 16.6 11.2! 99 Washington .... . 196 16.9 11.3 100 Buncombe 1,309 18.8