■ ., ,S'>- ’
^ OF NOi
The news in this publi-
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
Published Weekly by the
cation is released for the
University of North Caro-
press on receipt.
NEWS LETTER
lina for the University Ex-,
tension Division.
AUGUST 1. 1928
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROUNA PRESS
VOL. XIV, No. 38
Editorial Boardi B. C. Branson, S
; H. Hobb», Jr.. P. W. Wassr. L. E. Wilson. E. W. Knight. D. D. Carroll. H. W. Odum. Entorod as second-class matter November 11. 1911,
t the Postoffice at Chapei Hill, N. C., under the act of Au^nst 24. 1911.
NORTH CAROLINA HOSPITALS
A STEADY GAIN
The recent report of the Hospital
Section of the Duke Endowment con
tains a wealth of information about
hospitals, physicians, and the condi
tion of tlie medical service generally
in the Carolinas.
We are reprinting a part of one
table showing the distribution of hos
pital beds in the counties of the state.
Forty-four counties have no general
hospitals at all and sixteen others^.have
less than one bed per 1,000 population,
in only five counties—Cumberland,
Durham, New Hanover, Mecklenburg,
and Buncombe—are there as many as
four beds per 1,000 population. Seven
teen other counties have at least two
beds for each 1,000 people.
Altogether there are 102 general hos
pitals in the state with a capacity for
3,763 white patients and y4d colored
patients. Of these hospitals 72 are
private and 30 are public. The public
hospitals are classified as follows:
14 community; 11 religious; 2 county;
8 municipal. The two county hospitals
reported are in Rutherford and Vance
counties. Since the report was made,
however, a county hospital has been
established in Haywood county. The
three municipal hospitals are located
at Raleigh, Winston-Salem, and Shelby.
In addition to the 102 general hos
pitals in the state there are 36 tuber
culosis sanatoria, ten of which are
public, and 14 special hospitals, seven
of which are public institutions—that
is, supported wholly or in part by the
public. This number includes the
state tubercular sanatorium at Sana
torium and the state orthopedic hos
pital at Gastonia. The nine counties
having tuberculosis sanatoria are
Forsyth, Buncombe, Guilford, Mecklen-
b'urg, New Hanover, Edgecombe, Hali
fax, Henderson, and Moore.
North Carolina is still deficient in
hospital facilities, but the deficiency is
gradually being overcome. The gener
ous assistance rendered to public hos
pitals by the Duke Endowment is re
sulting in both a larger number and a
higher quality of such institutions.
With the establishment of a thorough
ly equipped medical school on the
Duke University campus further
impetus will be given to the hospitali-
.zation effort.
Hospitals Essential
No field of knowledge has made more
progress in the last two decades than
the science of medicine and surgery. But
the larger knowledge of disease and of
disease control are of little use to a
physician unless he has the equipment
with which to work. Much of this
equipment is very expensive —too ex
pensive to be owned personally. Some
of it is too complicated to be operated
by any except a specially trained tech
nician. Thus thp general practitioner is
dependent on a hospital. Furthermore,
modern medical practice demands a
degree of cleanliness that only a hos
pital can provide. Hospitals have thus
become an indispensable part of the
medical service and no community can
expect the best results from its doctors
unless it supplies them with a hospital
through which to work. Indeed with
out a hospital it may not be able to
attract a well trained doctor at all, for
a doctor, like any other workman,
will insist on having tools.
A few extracts from the report
referred to above follow:
“Medical personnel with the right
proportion of nurses snd technical as
sistants and with adequate hospital
ficilities means medical personnel with
P tteniial service doubled, quadrupled,
multiplied many times.
“Nurses save the time of physicians
which would otherwise have to be
given to such essential services in the
care of the sick as the taking and
recording of telmperature, pulse and
•■espiration, the bathing of the patient,
c itheteriziog patients, giving enemas,
i»»u!tic4ng, bandaging, etc. Technicians
save the time of physicians that would
be given in large measure to simple
laboratory tests. Hospital facilities
eliminate distances between patients
aod time consumed in travel and make
one visit to patients grouped in a hos
pital do where many would be required
with patients in scattered homes. A
physician in a rural section with his
practice scattered over a large ter
ritory, given the assistance of hospital
facilities, nurses and technicians, may
accomplish from three to six times the
work that would be possible in the
absence of such facilities and as
sistance.
“Medical service rests on a tripod of
services, medical personnel, nursing
and technical personnel, and hospital
facilities, and the weakness or absence
of any one of the supports results in a
service breakdown. The three, doctors,
nurses, and hospitals, are interdepen-
dently related, and any complete and
satisfactory consideration of the care
of the sick must think of these' three
services not fractionally but as a
whole.”
COOPERATION
Whether we like each other or
not we all have to live together in a
world which is becoming smaller
every day—and we must either
fight each other or cooperate. The
basis of cooperation must be under
standing.—Dennett, America in Asia.
Cooperation is the device which
enables the small-bolders of Europe
to keep their place side by side with
the capitalist farmers. —Irvine, The
Making of Europe.
social puzzles and problems of the
state, their causes, consequences, and
remedies. Together the departments
of history, economics, and sociology
are concentrated upon the rearward,
the roundabout, and the forward look;
upon the North Carolina that was, and
is, and is to be.
The vital study of a county will con
cern county history, but also county
economics and sociology. Such a study
can hardly fail to be both vital and
vitalizing.—E. C. Branson.
HOME COUNTY STUDIES
Denmark is a conspicuous modern
instance of local patriotism as a nation
al asset. The thing that most impresses
a visitor in the Danish Folkschulen is
not the agriculture or the home econ
omics, but the local folk-lore, the home
bred myth, song, and story, the chroni
cles of Danish heroism, patriotism, and
achievement that fill the teaching of
literature and history to overflowing.
Denmark is recited and sung in every
class every day. Her agriculture is
wonderful, but her blazing national
consciousness goes further toward ex
plaining her rise into greatness in the
last half-century. Danish patriotism
is not narrowly parochial. It is intense,
but it is broadly intelligent.
Be it said to the honor of North Caro
lina, there never was a time when a
North Carolinian could be a gentleman
and be ignorant of the history of his
mother state. Familiar, loving ac
quaintance with the home county and
the home state is a necessary founda
tion for effective citizenship.
The Rearward Look
The vital study of a county is the
study of what is vital in a county. It
is a study of the big, main things,
the causal, significant, consequential
things in commun'ity life. Things that
are trivial and superficial, incidental
and inconsequential have small place in
such a study. If so be they indicate
the characteristic mood, humor, or
temper of a people, then they have a
very large place in an interpretative
study; but not otherwise.
First of all, it ought to begin with
the rearward look. What the county
was day before yesterday is related to
what it will be day after tomorrow.
What lasts on and on in any com
munity grows straight out of the
nature of human nature in that com
munity.
An understanding of the economic,
social, and civic life of a country or a
county calls for acquaintance with the
historical background, with origins,
racial strains, resources, advantages,
obstacles, occupations and industries,
noteworthy events and achievements,
localities and memorials, with com
munity-building leaders, with notable,
noble personages and their contribu
tions to the industrial or spiritual
wealth of the county. The field under
survey ought not to be cluttered up
with trifles light as air, however inter
esting or appealing to family pride.
The Roundabout Look
But the vital study of a county also
calls for the roundabout and the for
ward look. It is a homespun study of
community forces, agencies and in
fluences, drifts and movements that
have made the history we study today
and that fatefully are making the
history our children will be studying
tomorrow.
It is examining the economic and
social forces that operate in the small,
familiar area of the home county.
They are forces that have something
iike’the steady, fateful pull and power
of gravitation or any other natural
law. They are creating opportunities
r obstacles. They are makir,g or mar
ring community life>They need to be
definitely known and to be harnessed
for beneficent uses, as we harness
.■lectricity for traction, light, and
warmth.
It means a study of community re
sources and their development; of
populations and occupations; of econ
omic classes and conditions; of factors
in the production and retention of com
munity wealth; of the economic surplus
and its relation to the self-sustaining,
self-protecting, self-elevating abilities
of the community; of market and credit
conditions; of organization and coopera
tion; of facilities for communication
and transportation; of homes and home
conditions; of public health and sanita
tion; of recreations and amusements; of
school, church, and Sunday school
conditions and problems.
It is a study of the near, the here, and
the now; of the everyday, workaday
problems of life. Many of them are
persistently nagging, harrying, and
harassing. Every minute of every day
they call for solution.
It is not only a vital but a vitalizing
study. Intimate, competent knowl
edge of the home community, county,
and state means real education and
culture, stimulation and preparation
for effective citizenship. It quickens
social conscience and civic courage.
The right of suffrage—the careless
reverie of voting, as Gerald Stanley
Lee calls it—is not the essence of
citizenship; genuine, generous concern
about community welfare and well
being is.
Charles Edgeworth Jones, once upon
a time, wrote about The Dead Towns
of Georgia. It is a significant title.
Every state has its dead towns and
dead counties; dead as Dickens said
Mr Marley was—dead as a door nail.
Other counties are half-awake, half-
asleep, half-alive, half-dead. Others
are building prosperity upon insecure
economic foundations. Others are win
ning a prosperity that is substantial,
safe, and abiding.
Is the home county marking time,
moving forward, or lagging toward the
rear? What are the causes? W’hat
are the consequences? What are the
remedies? What means and measures
are worth proposing to check decline
and decay, or to promote real progress
and prosperity?
The vital study of a county finds
answers to these and many more ques
tions of similar sort. They are impor
tant, worth-while problems, and a com
petent grasp of them makes for ef
ficient social service and effective civip
effort.
Compare a county with itself during
the last census period, in the important
concerns of economic and social develop
ment, and rank it with the other coun
ties of the state, and the results are
arresting—sometimes startling. But,
also, the response makes every social
nerve tense and taut—that is to say, if
the student be capable and worthy of
real citizenship.
The Method
Bulletin No. 9, issued by the Exten
sion Bureau of the University of North
Carolina, is entitled Home-County Club-
Studies. It shows in brief, definite
detail how to make a vital study of the
home county. The County Clubs, and
the North Carolina Club at the Uni
versity, are studying the state as a
whole, and county by county. They
are following the outlines of this little
bulletin. Seventeen county bulletins
are already in print.
Correspondence courses in home-
county studies are offered by the Uni
versity for a trifl ng registration fee.
Extra-campus clubs and individual
students here and there in the state
are undertaking these studies.
The vital study of a county leads into
a new field of learning. In the Uni
versity of North Carolina the state
itself has become a distinct curriculum
concern, and occupies the entire time
and attention of a department head.
The history of the state has always
been explored and exploited at the
University. The work of the new
department concerns the economic and
CANNERY FOR SURPLUS
Operation of a cannery in Rocky
Mount to care for the surplus fruit and
vegetable crop of the section is being
planned, it was learned today, by the
Farmers’ Mutual Exchange in coopera
tion with the home demonstration and
farm agents of Nash and Edgecombe
counties. Under tentative plans, the
cannery will be operated at the Holt-
Cobb warehouse, where the Rocky
Mount curb market is held.
Farmers and farm women of the
section will bring their fruits and
vegetables to the market and all not
sold will be canned under the super
vision of the home demonstration
auents. The products will be properly
approved and will have the well-known
label of the 4H clubs.—Selected.
Beach is said to offer the best swim
ming and boating opportunities of any
place in that section of the state and
promises to be a favorite resort during
the warm season.
So far as we know Harmon Field is
the only county park and playground
in the state. What a fine thing it
j would be if every county had a picnic
' ground and recreational park belonging
to and available to the entire citizenry.
In these days of good roads and auto-
! mobiles it is easy for the people of a
j county to assemble for a day’s festiv
ity. And it is good for a county when
its people know each other better and
mingle together in holiday mood.
' When people learn to play together
! it is easier for them to work together
and vote together for the upbuilcing of
their county.
A COUNTY PARK
A county-wide gathering of more
than 1,000 persons assembled at the
county playground, Harmon Field, in
the Pacolet Valley, Polk>K County, for
sn Independence Day celebration.
The festivities included races, Rotary-
Kiwanis ball game, singing, swim
ming, dancing, and a fine display of
fireworks-
Harmon Field was dedicated in the
spring, an initial gift of $2,000 from
Wm. E. Harmon, of New York, hav
ing made its purchase possible. It is
in charge of the Park Commission of
Tryon, and gifts from citizens of the
county and visitors have aided in its
development and equipment.
The new sand and pebble beach at
Lake Lanier and the dance pavilion on
the edge of the lake were opened on
July 4th. They are situated in the
third basin, which commands a beau
tiful view of the mountains with the
water in the foreground. Lanier
A COMMUNITY ASSET
The importance of health as an
element of primary importance in a
community’s prosperity is emphasized
in a bulletin issued by the insurance
department of the chamber of com
merce of the United States.
An annual saving of at least $1,200,-
000,000, the Department points out,
has been effected by the reduction of
the tuberculosis death rate since 1900.
General Gorgas's sanitary program,
a part of the project for the construc
tion of the Panama Canal, saved the
United States Government, it is said,
$80,000,000.
The advantage of proper sanitary
conditions is of no less importance,
from an economic viewpoint, to every
community.
“The ability of a man to work,” the
bulletin continues, “depends in large
measure upon his health. Whatever
reduces his earning capacity in any
way reduces the assets of the com
munity. Any decrease in earning
power is naturally reflected in reduced
purchasing power with the result that
every case of illness or premature
death involving a loss of wages has an
effect upon the community. This may
not be noticeable in individual cases,
but the total sum is tremendous. Ac
cording to an eminent statistician, the
average workman loses seven days a
year due to sickness, a loss of about 2
percent of bis earning capacity. This
amounts in the aggregate to at least
$2,000,000,000 for ihe entire country.
Premature death accounts for an even
larger loss, conservatively estimated
by the same authority to be $6,000,
000,000 : "
Record.
NORTH CAROLINA HOSPITALS
General Hospital Beds, by Counties, December 31, 1926
The following table is adapted from a more comprehensive one which ap
pears in the annual report of the Hospital Section of the Duke Endowment fer
the year 1926.
In the 100 counties of the state there are 3,763 general hospital beds for
white patients and 949 for colored patients. This is an average-of 1.7 beds per
1,000 people or one bed for each 595 people. There are 30 counties which
exceed this average, 26 counties which have fewer hospital beds than this
average, and 44 counties which have no general hospitals at all. Of these 44,
Moore county has a tuberculosis sanatorium with 72 beds and Mitchell county
has a special hospital with 20 beds. The other forty-two counties have no
hospitals of any description. y
Cumberland, Durham, New Hanover. Mecklenburg, and Buncombe are the
only counties in the state with at least four hospital beds per 1,000 people.
Hospital authorities consider this ratio fairly adequate. On the other hand,
sixty counties of the state- have less than one general hospital bed per 1,000
people, which is considered the minimum of acceptability.
Department of Rural Social-Economics, University of North Carolina
General hos- Popu-
Rank County pital beds lation
White Colored per
bed
1 Cumberland 161 34 197
2 Durham 136 93 206
3 New Hanover 142....rf 63 226
4 Mecklenburg 342 52 229
5 Buncombe 273 38....;, 237
6 Nash 133 46 267
7 Forsyth 291 80 262
8 Lee 48 8 264
9 Macon 44 6 268
10 Guilford 275 43 289
111 Wake 166 114 298
I 12 TTansyiv&nia 30 6 306
I 13 Iredell 104 21 323
! 14 Pasquotank .1 43 12 333
j 15 Vanck 47 22 364
ilG Lincoln 47 3 368
I 17 Richmond 60 30 369
^8 Wils.-.n 80 20 426
19 Lenoir 67 22 432
20 Surry 65 6 4^
21 Henderson 34 6 4S0
22 Burke 39 11 492
23 Rutherford 54 10 623
24 Stanly 47 16 624
25 Gaston 100 15 ‘ 628
26 Carieret 26 6 532
27 Avery 19 1 540
2S Union 46 23 657
General hos- Popu-
Rank County pital beds lation
White Colored per
bed
29 Craven 43 13 661
30 Robeson 87 16 630
31 Beaufort 45 5 622
32 Wayne 60 16 653
i 33 Mct)owell 25 3 676
' 34 Polk 13 1 686
I 36 Swain 20 0....... 766
'36 Anson 22 18 768
I 37 Rowan 50 10 807
I 38 Cleveland 38 8 816
I 39 Granville 20 10 933
I 40 Halifax 41 9 968
41 Cherokee 16 0 1,000
42 Madison 20 0 1,004
43 Edgecombe 30 10 1,060
44 Davidson 37 0 1,067
46 Catawba 36 0 1,080
46 Watauga 12 0 1.174
47 Alamance 26 4 1.180
48 Pitt 42 0 1.231
49 Harnett 26 0 1,246
50 Cabarrus 30 0 1,290
51 Ashe 17 0 1,312
62 Randolph 21 2 l.:-183
63 Caldwell 13 2 1,392
54 Wilkes 20 3 1,487
65 Johnston 25 10 1,646
56 Rockingham 24 6 1,643