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 5, 1926
CHAPEL HILL, N C.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
VOL. XII, NO. 25
Editorial Board: E. C. Branaou. S. H. Hobba. Jr.. L. R. Wilson, E. W. Knight, D. D. Carroll. 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
NORTH CAROLINA DOCTORS
A physician was calied one • winter
night to attend a woman in a town
eight miles away. She was suffering
from earache. A wild blizzard was in
progress; the wind roared down the
valley and the snowdrifts were deep.
“Can’t she wait until morning?” the
doctor asked. ‘‘No, you must come at
once,” was the answer. “Then meet
me halfway, for 1 may not be able to
get through alone.” “Gosh, doctor!
Meet you halfway? I can’t even get to
my front gate.” Needless to say this
was not in North Carolina, but some
where in New England.
How Distributed
One of the topics at present in the
forefront of public attention is that con
cerning the distribution of physicians,
especially for the rural regions.
North Carolina has nearly 2,300
licensed doctors. This number, how
ever, includes the names of many retired
physicians and others not available for
general practice, so that we have actu
ally only 1,700 visiting doctors. These
would figure out one medical man for
every 1,500 people throughout the state,
Where do the doctors locate and why?
How old are town physicians as com
pared with country physicians? Are the
country regions adequately cared for?
Other questions such as these arise, and
at the present time nation-wide atten
tion is being focused on the rural-urban
medical and health problem.
The Cityward Drift
A few years ago a careful study was
made by North Carolina medical authori
ties which showed that for the seven
years 1916-1921, inclusive, one-half of
the total number of doctors licensed
during that period located in the six
most populous counties, namely. Bun
combe, Forsyth, Mecklenburg, Guilford,
New Hanover, and Wake. The total
population of these counties was about
one-sixth of the State’s population. It
is evident that there has been and now
is a definite trend cityward for the pro
fessions, especially in medicine. More
over, fewer country boys are preparing
to become physicians; the financial cost
is too great.
We have just arrived at figures which
show that today seven large North Caro
lina cities constituting about one-tenth
of the State’s population have one-fourth
of all the physicians. Asheville and
Charlotte have a total of 240, or one
medical man for every 312 people. The
remaining two ^nd one-half million
North Carolinians' have one physician
for every 1,217 inhabitants, counting all
licensed physicians, active and inactive.
Other figures giving further proof of
the situation might be given.
Let us take courage. Such figures
as these would indicate a far more
serious situation than actually exists.
Dr. Bonner of the State Board of Medi
cal Examiners reminds us that,
“The shortage in medical service in
the rural sections of North Carolina is
not so acute today as it was a few years
ago. Several factors have contributed
to the cfelief of the situation. The pro
gressiveness of the State has attracted
many experienced men from other
States. A good many of these, having
practiced for years, have learned that a
quicker self-supporting practice could
be obtained in the rural sections than
in the city where competition was keen.
Many of these came from boll-weevil
infested cotton-raising regions farther
south, and, finding themselves in financial
straits, were compelled to select a loca
tion offering an immediate income. The
modern, reliable automobile and our
good roads have made it possible for
the doctor to live in the larger centers
of population, to do at least three or
four times the amount of work of former
days, and to cover a radius of territory
multiplied many times. The superior
social and economic conditions offered
by the city have undoubtedly been a
tremendous factor in attracting phy
sicians cityward.”
Age Distribution
As to the distribution of physicians
according to age, the younger men and
those in the prime of life and ability
tend to move into the larger towns and
cities, while, as might be expected, the
older men are more frequently found in
the smaller towns. In towns of less
than 500 people one out of every three
doctors is over 56 years of age, while in
towns and cities exceeding 2,500 popula
tion only one man in every five has
passed the age of 56.
It is not possible to give satisfactory
figures on the number of rural people as
compared^ with the number of urban
people for each physicikn, because our
modern facilities of transportation and
communication have broken down the
old barriers of isolation in the majority
of our counties. Many of our town and
city doctors call on country patients,
or country patients come to town for
treatment and advice. While we still
have plenty of mud in places, this is not
to be compared with snow and frigid
weather which hinders the doctor and
temporarily isolates the country folks
in some of the northern states. Little
information is available as to the medi
cal attention received by people located
on back-country and mountainous roads
Reluctance to call the doctor and too
much reliance on largely worthless
patent medicines doubtless have more
to do with infrequent medical visits
than unwillingness on the doctor’s part
to endure a little hard travelling. It is.
reasonable to assume that calls from
these regions would have more complete
and prompt response by the vigorous
young physician than from the older
man whose spirit is willing but whose
strength is limited. It is obvious that
more young men between the ages of
30 and 40 are needed in our rural
regions. ''
Why City Is Chosen
Why do recent graduates from medi
cal schools settle in the cities? Because
modern medical education is emphasiz
ing diagnosis, which involves elaborate
equipment, such as X-ray apparatus,
radium, microscopes, laboratories, and
clinics, and is developing graduates who
depend on these things in their practice
and who locate for their work in cities
where such aids are at hand. Many of
our far-sighted medical authorities re
gret the present tendencies, and feel
that too much of the modern medical
course is given to pure science, to the
consideration of diseases foreign to our
immediate environment and everyday
needs. They believe that the function
of the medical school should be, first to
train men for the general practice of
medicine, and then let the exceptional
students specialize and go into research
work. Suggestions in a similar vein
are to be found in Bulletin No. 1485,
issued in March, 1926, and published by
the U. S. Department of Agriculture.
Who can deny that the young doctor
has the right of it in settling where his
ambitions for successful service can be
aided by laboratories and hospitals, nOt
to mention the social and economic
assets promisei in the urban environ
ment?
As mentioned before, fewer and fewer
country boys are taking medical courses.
The cost in time and money has been
increasing steadily. In the period
1916-1920, the yearly average cost in
the medical schools of the United States
increased more than 60 percent, and the
expense today is still higher.
Some Suggestions
Among the suggestions which are be
ing made for the betterment of the
rural health situation are these:
1. Subsidize, if necessary, a compe
tent young doctor. If a single com
munity cannot afford to do this, let two
or more neighboring communities com
bine to this end. Why not, the medical
“circuit rider”?
2. Organize hospital centers, com
munity health stations, and Jaboratories
in rural districts.- This suggestion,
properly carried out, woul^ go far to
ward a solution of the problem.
3. Revise the system of medical edu
cation so that it will be within the reach
of more country boys who may have
the vision or be given the vision of
service as general practitioners of medi
cine in the rural regions.
In conclusion, the cities and towns
have more than their share of the total
number of physicians. Far-seeing lead
ers of the medical profession not only
deplore the lack of doctors and hospitals
in rural communities but are actually
attacking the problem. Let us all, city
folks, town folks, village folks, conutry
FLATTERING CAROLINA
The May issue of the National
Geographic Magazine contains an ex
cellent article, profusely illustrated,
on Motor-Coaching through North
Carolina. The article is written by
Melville Chater, of the Geographic
staff, and the photographs are by a
special staff photographer. Mr.
Chater spent about three months in
the state, travelling about two thou
sand miles, by motor bhs largely, in
preparing the article. A special
feature of the issue is a reprint of
the Boyhood of Sir Walter Raleigh,
by Sir John E. Millais. Every Tar
Heel should have a copy of this issue.
folks, give every bit of encouragement
and help possible to the end that the
country regions may be an attractive
field for good physicians rather than
the happy hunting grounds for the
patent medicine shark.—L. M. Brooks.
AUTOS AND EDUCATION
Says The University News Letter:
The State Department of Revenue re
ports that during the year 1925 the
people of North Carolina spent $71^561,-
400 for new and used automobiles.
There were 66,596 new cars sold in
North Carolina at an approximate cost
of $64,116,700, and 49,842 used cars at
an approximate cost of $17,444,700.
The money we spent on purchasing
motorcars amounted t(\almost as much
as the value of the entire tobacco crop
of the state for the year 1926. We
spent more than three times as much in
purchasing motor cars as we spent on
public education. We probably spent
more on automobile repairs and spare
parts than we spent on public educa
tion.
It is, of course, no reflection on North
ing industry. Perhaps, though, an
equally promising approach to the solu
tion is in the field of marketing. What
is especially needed is a more effective
control of the movement of agricultural
products into consumption. This means
that adequate marketing organization,
storage and credit fa.cilities must be
available with which to carry on sys
tematic distribution and provide for
more adequate carrying and disposing
of the surplus. This provision for
orderly flow of products to market, in
my opinion, should be performed prima
rily by farmer-conjrolled agencies, and
legislative action therefore should aim
to create and enlarge such agencies and
supplement their efforts.—W. M. Jar-
dine, Secretary of Agriculture.
MEDIAN AGE LOWER
Much has been said and written lately
concerning the tendency of youth to be
come more criminal. Two research
students have just completed tabula
tions showing the median ages of all
offenders tried in the Superior courts
of the state during the years ending
June 30, 1924, and June 30, 1926. Data
for earlier years have not been tabu
lated, so we have only these two recent
years to indicate the trend. We do not
know how ^much the median age of
criminals has been reduced within re
cent years, nor whether the following is
an indication of the trend toward more
youthful offenders. It is submitted for
what it is worth.
The following table shows the median
ages of persons indicted in the Superior
courts of the state for the fiscal years
indicated. ^
Median
Section ages
1923-24
State 29.2....
Tidewater, 26 cos 32.1
Coastal Plains, 26 cos... 29.1....
Median
ages
1924-25
...28.3
..30.4
,.-.28.1
..27.6
...28.6
Carolina that she spent more than $71,- j Piedmont, 26 cos 27.7.
000,000 on her automobiles in a year.! Mountains, 26 cos 30.6,
It is, on •the other hand, a demonstra- j It will be noticed that the median age
tion that she is using for transportation [ of offenders was lower in 1926 than in
and travel the most up-to-date vehicle. : 1924 for the state and for every geo
The point is that, if efee can spend so graphic division of the state. In the
much on automobiles, she can spend more rural sections, the tidewater and
more on education. mountain counties, the median age of
She can and she should. Her achieve- ofienders is higher than in the more
ment in educational progress in the last urban ar^as, the piedmont and coastal
tages of electricty will be doubled in
the next five years. That this predic
tion is not exaggerated may be seen by
glimpse of the growth of the electric'
power business during recent years, say
the General Electric Company. There
are now 18,000,000 customers of the
electric light and power industry in this
country, which isia gain of 1,800,000
over 1924.
Among farmers there has been a
growth correspondingly large. Trans
mission lines bringing electricity within
reach of the farmer are constantly be
ing erected; newer and more efficient
uses are being found for electricity in
the great research and engineering
organizations, and, most important of
all, the farmer himself is being taught
by means of the radio, free reading
matter, lectures and practical demon
strations in all parts of the country the
immense economies which electricity
can bring him.
In the past he did not realize that with
electricity he could churn, light, thresh,
milk, saw wood, cut ensilage-' and, in
fact, perform electrically practically all
the difficult and laborious tasks of farm
life, and at a tremendous saving over
the cost of manual labor.
That the time when every farm of
any consequence will be wired to take
advantage of cheap electricity is com
ing is the opinion of scientists and
economists the country over. —New York
Times.
A BETTER FUTURITY
There are men who, in the face of all
history, of the great changes wrought
in men’s condition, and of the new prin
ciples which are now acting on society,
maintain that the future is to be a copy
of the past, and probably a faded rather
than bright copy. From such I differ.
Did I expect nothing better from human
nature than I see, I should have no heart
for the present effort. I see signs of a
better futurity, and especially signs
that the large class by whose toil we all
live are rising from the dust. —William
Ellery Channing.
fifteen years has been marvelous. But
it must be taken merely as her recogni
tion of the value of sucP spending. It
is the finest investment she could make
from both a material and an idealfstic
standpoint. As Dr. E. C. Branson once
remarked, ng state will ever go “broke”
by spending money for education, good
roads, and public health. The dividends
on these investments always more than
justify them.
And it is a patent fact that North
Carolina is not spending enough on edu
cation. Neither the state nor the cities
can be credited with keeping pace in
school facilities with the growth of
population and the needs of that popula
tion. Asheville, for instance, is right
now woefully handicapped by lack of
school space and the resultant number
of part-time classes. The citizen who
wants to keep school expenditures and
school facilities at a stand-still is trying
to throttle progress.-Asheville Citizen.
plains.
ELECTRICITY ON FARMS
As a result of increased cooperative
efforts in fifteen states between farm
organizations, agricultural colleges, fed
eral departments, and various national
electrical organizations, it is predicted
that more than a million farms will be
receiving the benefits of electric light
and power service by 1980.
The gist of this prediction is that the
number of farms enjoying the advan-
BANK GIVES PRIZES
For the third successive year, notes
The Manufacturers Record (Baltimore>,
the First National Bank of Laurel, Mis
sissippi, announces a series of prizes for
farmers and farmers’ wives for achieve
ments in the production of cotton, corn
and chickens, the total this year run
ning to $700, as compared with $600
last year and $600 the year before.
These competitions, it is stated, “have '
resulted not only in increasing yields of
crops and of chickens, but. also have
assisted in adding 1,200 new farmer
customers to the bank, increasing the
deposits in a few years over $1,600,000.”
FARMER CONTROLLED
It is now generally recognized that
improved marketing of the products of
the farm and the control and disposition
of agricultural surpluses is one of the
major problems with which agriculture
is faced. The returns to the farming
industry are, in no small measure;
diminished by ineffective marketing and
the returns are often far below what
they should be because of the influence
which surpluses have upon prices. I
believe there is general agreement that
something can and should be done to
meet this situation.
So far as I can see? there are two
general avenues of approach to the
solution of the problem. One is through
a better adjustment of ’ production to
market requirements, by which burden
some surpluses can be at least reduced
and oftentimes entirely avoided. The
other is through more effective market
ing of surpluses when produced.
I, of course, recognize the difficulties
of controlling production, but I am also
convinced that through organized and
well directed efforts much more can be
done than we have hitherto done to
eliminate these recurring surpluses
which prove so detrimental to the farm-
RADIOS ON FARMS JANUARY 1,1925
The following table, based on the 1926 Farm Census, ranks the states accord
ing to the number of farms per radio on farms. The accompanying column gives
the number of radios on farms for each state.
Civilization is a product of communication facilities, says Professor Branson.
The radio is the newest agency of communication, and seems destined to become
one of the most important.
Rhode Island leads with one farm radio to every three farms. Alabama
ranks last with one farm radio to every 321 farms. North Carolina ranks forty-
fifth with one farm radio to every 208 farms.
U. S. total of radios on farms on January 1, 1926, was 284,053, or one radio
to every 22.4 farms.
Department of Rural Social-Economics, University of North Carolina
Farms
Number
Farms
Number
with
farms
Rank States
with
farms
radios
per radio
radios
per radio
1
Rhode Island ..
1,246...
3
26
Colorado
2,426...
24
2
Massachusetts
. 6,434...
: 6
26
Montana
1,941...
24
2
New Jersey ....
. 6,266...
5
27
Nevada
154...
26
4
New York
24,620...
7
27
Wyoming
623...
25
5
Illinois
27.434...
8
29
Washington
2,691...
27
6
Connecticut
. 2,688...
9
30
Delaware
342...
30
6
Iowa
.23,646...
9
31
Arizona
302...
36
6
New Hampshire 2,366...
9
32
Texas
11,732...
40
9
California
.13,264...
10
33
Idaho
805...
60
9
Nebraska
.12,740..
10
34
Virginia
3,716...
62
9
Vermont
. 2,778..
10
34
West Virginia.
1,741...
62
12
Kansas
.13,189..
12
36
Utah
386...
67
13
Pennsylvania.
.14,933..
13
37
Oklahoma
2,707..
73
14
Maine
. 3,493..
14
38
Kentucky
2,878..
90
16
Missouri
.17,592..
..! 16
39
New Mexico....
286...
no
15
Ohio
.15,917..
16
40
Florida
606..
117
17
Minnesota
.11,779..
16
41
Tennessee
1,970..
128
17
North Dakota.
. 4,729..
16
42
Arkansas
1,244..
178
17
South Dakota.
4,866..
16
43
Georgia
],300...
191
Df)
Orf^gon
. 3,261..
17-
‘44
South Carolina
867..
200
21
Maryland
. 2,779..
18
45
North Carolina
1,363..
208
21
Michigan
.. 9,()28..
18
46
Mississippi
928..
277
23
Indiana
.. 8,666..
;.23
47
Louisiana
. 448..
295
23
Wisconsin
.. 8,242..
23
48
Alabama
. 739..
321