The news in this publica-,
tion is released for the press on
the date indicated below.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
NEWS LETTER
Published weekly by the
University of North Carolina
for its Bureau of Extension.
JUNE 9,1915
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
VOL. I, NO. 29
Kditorial Boardi B. C. Branson, J. G. deR. Hamilton, L. R. Wilson, Z. V. JuSii, S. R. Winters, L. A. Williams. Entered as seco’.id-class matter November 14,1914, at the postoffloe at Cliapei; Hill,| N. C., under the act of August 24,1912.
NORTH CAROLINA CLUB NOTES
THE BIGGEST OF ALL
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
LETTER SERIES NO. 31
Tlie High School Debating Union of
Korth Carolina which for the past three
years has been carried on with much suc
cess will be continued next year.
The Ifnion is conducted under the aus-
])ices of the Dialetic and Philanthropic
Literary Societies and tlie Bureau of Ex
tension of the University of North Caro
lina.
Letters have been sent by the commit
tee to all the school superintendents and
principals of the State, and suggestions
for next year’s query have been received.
It is the plan of the committee and the
school men of the State to make the con
test for 1916 the biggest contest of all.
THE LOCAL WHEAT PROBLEM
In the census year, Orange was one of
the 15 counties in Korth Carolina that
raised wheat sutficient for home con
sumption.
Indeed our farmers had a surplus of
nearly 20,000 bushels to n\arket outside
the county. What is more, Orange grows
a sufierior wheat for milling purposes.
And yet our farmers raise wheat sur
pluses in vain. They must be marketed
beyond our borders, while the flour we
need nuist be imported from abroad.
And this, with wheat selling at fl.60 a
bushel and flour at $8.00 a barrel.
It is a curious situation. But also it is
a business opportunity for our wheat
growers, business men, and bankers.
In order to see what sensibly can be
done about it, a conference of these
various interested parties was held in
the dire.(-tors’ room of the Bank of
Chapel Hill on Wednesday afternoon,
May 27th at 3 o’clock.
Similar conferences are in order in the
other fourteen wheat-surplus counties of
the state.
A GREAT CITY
The greatness of a city does not depend
on its size. Athens in the days of Pericles
was not a big city, but it was a great city.
Chapel Hill is not likely ever to be a
big city, but it can be great in uuder-
standhig and vision. It can invest gen
erously in community welfare and well-
lieing—which is the heart of the matter.
Atlanta people, business luen and even
the ministers of the city, have been known
to scrap like tiger cats over purely per
sonal or denominational dift'crences; hut
whenever the future c>f Atlanta as a com
munity is at stake, Atlanta people bunch
up and stick together closer than broth
ers.
This is what they call Atlanta spirit.
It was Henry Grady’s spirit and Atlanta
caught it.
Chapel Hill neixls it. And every other
city big and little needs it—needs it sorely.
RURAL LIFE CONFERENCE
At the University Summer
School
Dr. William A. IMcKeever, of the Uni
versity of Kansas, will deliver a series of
t.ui lectures tefore the Rural Life Con
ference July 5--10. Dr. McKeever’s sub
jects will be as follows:
1. A Philosophy of Elucation as Ap-
l>lied to Rural Life.
2. The Preparation for Rural Lt'ader-
sliip.
3. Play and Recreation in the Country.
4. Inexpensive Home-made Play
ground Apparatus. (Models).
5. A Co-operative Social Union in the
Country.
6. A New Democratic Plan for Boys’
and Girls’ Club Work.
7. Some Welfare Work for Country
Women.
8. The District School as a Source of
Eural-Mindednes.i.
9. A Better Race of Men and Women,
(livening Lecture.)
Among others who will address the
Rural Life Conference and participate in
the discussions may be mentioned Presi
dent Graham; Hon. W'illiam A. Graham,
Commissioner of Agriculture; Dr. H. Q.
Alexander, President of the Farmers’
Union; Mr. T. E. Browne, Director of
the Boys Corn Clubs; Professors E. C.
Branson, Z. V. Judd, L. A. Williams,
K. W. Walker and others.
NOT ALIENS AND STRANGERS
The U. S. Public Health officials who
are going into the 2,000 homes of Orange
County in the sanitation survey that is
now ill progrress are Southern men, all
of them.
Drs. I\ i;. Herrington and Quintard
Taylor are Virginians; Dr. S. R. JNIcKay
is a North Carolinian; Dr. W. K. Sharp,
Jr.Js from South Carohua and Dr. C. C.
Applewhit(‘ is a IMississippian.
They are greatly pleased with the Orange
County people, and the Orange County
people are greatly pleased with them.
A GOOD COUNTY MARKING
TIME
In 1890 the population of Little River
and Hillsboro townships in Orange Coun
ty was 6,364; in 1910 the same area (now '
Little River, Eno, Hillsboro, and Cheek’s
townships) had a population of 6,597; a
gain of t)iily 233 in twenty years.
Hillsboro absorbed most of~ this in
crease, 150, INleantime llebane which
lies on the line between Orange and Ala
mance grew from 218 in 1900 to 693 in
1910; a more than three-fold increase in
ten years.
Naturally the country population of
these townships suffered corresponding
decreases.
Cedar Grove township during these two
decades lost in population, 45 in all; and
Bingham 161. '\\^hich is to say, during
tlie last quarter century every townshi]i
in Orange decreased in country popula
tion, not excessively but gradually and
certainly. All told, there were 116 fewer
people in Orange in 1910 than in 1890.
The Penalties We Pay
Inevitable results follow: (1) fewer peo
ple need farms to li\’e on and cultivate,
(2) less farm land is cultivated—1,559
acres less in 1910 than in 1900, (3) until
we now have 172,000 uncultivated acres—
good land but no ready market for it at
fair prices, and (4) Orange county farms
go begging for purchasers at prices entire
ly too low, the prices elsewhere con
sidered .
It is a static, not to say stagnant, con
dition that a good county like Orange
can cure.
DURHAM COUNTY FEED AND
FOOD DEFICITS
Based on the 1910 Census
The food and feed consumed by man
and l)east in Durham county in the cen
sus year-1910 was 12,559,000 more than
the famis of the county produced.
Some details of this deficit are as fol
lows :
Corn, 1,292,000 bu.; wheat, 119,000
bu.; hay and forage, 1,700 tons; meat,
3.595.000 lbs.; poultry, 303,000; eggs,
445.000 doz.; and butter, 1,403,000 lbs.
Here’s the local market demand for
supplies needed by jieople living within
the county, in excess of what the farms of
the county produced in the census year.
Here’s the local market problem reduc
ed to a minimu; becaunise it does not in
clude the sale of supplies to people living
beyond the county limits.
The Local Marhet Problem
Here’s the chance ofi'ered to Durham
county farmers—a two and a half mil
lion dollar chance. They are not likely
to take it, because the business people of
Durham city have not made it possible
for the farmers to turn feed and food
stuffs into ready instant cash, as they
do the tobacco and cotton that come into
town.
As a result two and a half million dol
lars worth of bread and meat, grain and
forage, must be shipped in from long
distances'; and consumers must pay the
immense overhead charges.
Living will be cheaper in every city
when the Boards of Trade help the farm
ers of their trade territority solve the
local market problem. When it is solved
the farmers get more for their produce
and the consumers get more for their
money.
This is the acid test of success every
where.
BIGNESS AND GREATNESS
President E. H. Graham
All industry that is worthy of ab
sorbing a man’s life is in the grasp of
world relations and under the grim
test of world standards. Any work
that evokes a man’s full faculties in
mastering its relations is worthy work.
So it is the function of the Univer
sity, not mer('ly to bring its resources
to bear in solving the problems of in
dustry and discovering through its in
ner relations the field of Southern in
dustry as a field of statesmanship, but
in discovering thereby the further
truth that iiPperfecting its relations
it becomes a liberal vpcation in saving
the man and all of his higher faculties,
not from business, but through busi
ness, Salvation will come therefor
nowhere.
The question for Soiithern industry
is whether in the world opportunity
that opens ahead, it will attempt the
futile experiment of becoming big
through superficial and selfish efficien
cy, or whether through a mastery of
all of its relations, while becoming big
it will also become great.
SCHOOL NEWS
WORTH WHILE PLANS
A thousand dollar prize is ofi'ered
through the American Social Hygiene
Association of New York City for the best
original pamphlet for boys and girls be
tween 12 and 16 years of age on the prob
lem of social hygiene.
Schooling in Thrift
The school savings bank of Public
School No. 77 of Borough of Queens,
New York City, has had |4,300 deposited
in it in the three years of its existence.
More than half of this amount is still on
deposit either with the school bank or
\rith a State Savings Bank.
Parent-Teacher Associations
In every one of the 54 grammar schools
of Portland, Oregon,, there is a Parent-
Teachers Association. Men as well as
women are members of these associations,
and three have business men as presi
dents. School excursions form an im
portant feature of the work. Brick
yards, lumber yards, and chair factories
are visited by the pupils. A committee
of 16 men have special charge of this
work, one of whom accompanies the
cliiklren on every trip.—U. S. Bureau of
Education News Letter.
The Prize Cup Award
The Prize Cup in Orange county will be
awarded to the country school that
makes the greatest improvement next
year in the following particulars:
Sanitary condition of building,
grounds and out-houses 20
Interior ornamentation and decora
tion 15
Beautification of grounds; lawns,
flowers, tree, shrubbery 20
Equipment, school library, etc.... 15
School club displays, corn, garden,
canning, cooking, pig, poultry clubs,
etc 20
General artistic appearance of
grounds and buildings 10
Total 100
FINE RECORD FOR WILKES
Probably no county in North Carolina
has a greater record for progress during
the last fourteen years than Wilkes coun
ty. The big factor in this progress has
been Supt. C. C. A\'right. Supt. Wright
is constantly going before his teachers and
committeemen with clear-cut propo
sitions.
Following are some of the subjects of
special letters to his teachers; school li
braries, teachers’ reading circles, im
provement of houses, grounds, equipment,
local taxation, teachers’ honor roll, and
so on.
It seems that Mr. Wright is the only
Superintendent in North Carolina who
has a teachers’ honor roll. Those inter
ested in this activity should write to
Supt. C. C. Wright, Hunting Creek, N.
C. for his score card.
Leading educational journals through
out the country have made favorable
comment on this work of Supt. Wright.
IMPORTANT CHANGES IN OUR
SCHOOL LAWS
The Educational Omnibus Bill of 1915
contains several important changes rela
tive to school administration in the
State.
The School Census
Sub-section (f) of section 1 amends the
present law relating to the school census.
The essential changes it provides for are
as follows: The school committee of
each township or district is required to
take the school census, or cause it to be
taken, annually and to furnish the same
to the (county superintendent and the
teacher by the opening day of the school
term. Heretofore the census has been
taken annually by the attendance officer
appointed under the compulsory attend
ance act. This section requires also that
a report shall be made by the committee
or other person taking the school census,
giving the names of all persons between
the ages of twelve and twenty-one years
who cannot read and write, and of all il
literates over tv» enty-one years of age.
High School Support
Sub-section (c) of Sc«tion 4 changes
the minimum and maximum amounts that
may be apportioned under la\^, reducing
the minimum from $250 to |200, and in
creasing the maximum from 1500 to $600.
VANCE COUNTY SCHOOLS
A long time ago the University News
Letter received a copy of the Biennial
Report of the public schools of Vance
County. Pressure of duties has made
comment impossible until now.
Considering the white schools alone for
the year 1913-14 it appears that while
there are 1640 children 6 to 21 in the
rural districts of the county, only 1453 of
them were enrolled and only 1055 were in
daily attendance. The average daily at
tendance was 72 per cent of the enroll
ment. This is a little above the state
average.
Henderson Compared
In the city of Henderson it appears
that there were 1497 \\ hite children 6 to
21 years of age. Of these 978 were en
rolled in the schools and 666 were in
daily attendance. For the city the aver
age daily attendance was 68 per cent of
the enrollment; 4 per cent lower than
that for the rural districts.
The rural schools of Vance County
have done well. They will continue to
do well under able leadership.
ADVANCING BACKWARDS
According to Mr. J. Tucker Day of
Forsyth county the public state-aided
high schools in his county are not hold
ing their own. In fact they are not keep
ing pace with high school growth in the
State. Is Forsyth advancing backwards?
The Facts
The facts as found by Mr. Day are: At
the end of the first five year’s trial (1911-
12) of the public state-aided high schools
in Forsyth county there were 39 fewer
pupils, or 31 per cent fewe^ in the first
year class than in 1907-08. During these
same years the State had gained in this
particular 52 per cent.
Again, while in 1913-14 the State as a
whole gained nearly 5 per cent in the
total number of students enrolled in these
schools, Forsyth county lost nearly 13 per
cent.
AVhat is becoming of the seventh grade
pupils in the rural schoolsDf Forsyth?
PROGRESS IN DURHAM
COUNTY
At a recent meeting of the Durham
county teachers Dr. E. C. Brooks dis
cussed the work being done in the various
literary clubs of the teachers and showed
how very beneficial the work done in
them has been. The reports of the secre
taries showed a truly healthful increase
in membership and interest manifested
in this w'ork.
Supt. Massey discussed the work of the
various clubs among the boys and girls in
the schools, and pointed out the progress
This provision is newssary in order to
provide for this developing system of
schools.
How Apportioned
Sub-section (c) of Section 5 provides
that high schools receiving State aiil un
der the high school act shall maintain
an a\ erage daily attendance of at least
twenty students, and it provides for the
distribution of the high school fund on a
trii>le basis; namely, attendance, num
ber of teachers, and grade of work done.
Certification
In Section 7, Sub-section (a) authorizes
the present State Board of Examiners to
issue certificates to applicants for the
fivt^-year State certificate who make on
examination an average of 75 per cent in
stead of 90 per cent, as is now required.
Sub-sections (b), (c), and (d) author
ize the present board of examiners to
allow applicants for State certificates cer
tain credits for academic and profession
al work done in approved institutions,
and also to allow certain credits for suc
cessful experience. It also authorizes the
renewal of such certificates as the board
now issues, and further provides that on
their second renewal—that is, after six
years or ten years of successful exper
ience—these certificates u\ay be converted
into life certificates in the discretion of
the board.
made as well as the benefits derived from
this work. According to the reports of
the teachers the introduction of the pig
and poultry clubs has done much to re
awaken intt^resfin the club work and
the jiromise is for the most succesful year
this W'ork has ever had.- '
Towards the Van
It is interesting to note, by the way,
that Durham county has been steadily
moving toward the van in educational
progress during the last ten years. The
value of school buildings has increased
from $22,000 to over ?il25,000; the num
ber of teachers has nearly doulfled; the
average salary paid has increased about
33 1-3 per cent; the number of volumes
in the libraries has nearly doubled; the
numl)er of high school pupils has increas
ed from 0 to 4.S4; the number of white
illiterates in the county has been reduced
from 132 to 25.
School Market
The county can be depended upon to
push progressive ideas in education. The
Farm Life School movement has a strong
hold in the schools and there is now con
templated a new idea in connection with
this work. According to a recent an
nouncement it is proposed to establish a
co-operative system of marketing farm
and dairy jiroducts from the Lowe’s
Grove school. The proposal is to have
the students bring to school each day
such farm products as the farmers v\ ish to
be marketed, but which in small quanti
ties would not pay for the expense of
transportation to market, and by com
bining the products get enough of a sup
ply to pay for their being carried to town.
Such products as eggs, chickens etc.,
will be brought direct from the farm.
The milk is to be brought to the school
and under the direction of the teachers
it can be cared for, the butter made and
prepared for market, thereby insuring a
uniform product in a uniform style and
package. So would the farmer, the
school, the community, the town market,
all be benefited.
The Need for It
That there is a need for some such form
of enterprise in Durham county is evi
denced by the facts of its yearly food defi
cit. The 1910 census shows that for one
year Durham county had to buy from out
side its borders 303,000 fowls
445,000 dozens of eggs; 1,403,000 lbs, of
butter. Here is a serious market prob
lem which it is the plan of the teachers
at Lowe’s Grove school shall be solved by
co-operative marketing. If a Farm Life
School cannot help to solve such pressing
problems of the communities it is failing
in its purpose. Thus are the forces of
education, commerce, and business lining
up to meet the onset of the high cost of
living.