Newspapers / The University of North … / Sept. 13, 1916, edition 1 / Page 1
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The aew8 in this publica tion is released for the press on the date indicated below. ^ UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA NEWS LETTER EPTEMBER 13, 1916 Published weekly by the University of North Carolina for its Bureau of Extension. - aiori«l Boardt B. C. Branson, .J, G. deK, Hamilton, L. K, Wilson, L,. A. Williams, R H CHAPEL HILL, N. C. Thornton, C». M. McKie. Entered as seoond-olass matter November 14, 1914, at the.postofflce at Chapel Hill, N. O., VOL. H, NO. 42 under the act of Augast 24.1918. NORTH CAROLINA CLUB STUDIES N INCREDIBLE DEATH ROLL The annual death roll of litile children iiider two years old in the United States s around 300,000, , We have reasons to elieve that tliree-fiftha of them die from reventable causes—causes which it is -our duty and mine to i^revent. This loss of 180,000 little lives each year eems incredible and inexcusable. The ifault lies in the homes of American fath- -rs.md mothers.—Dr. Frances Sage Brad ley. IGNORANCE AND DEATH In six years San,^Erancisco has decreas- d the death rate fn a group of found ings (the most difficult of all babies to ave) from 58.5 percent to 2.8 per cent, “his fact shows how children’s lives can e saved l>y intelligent, faithful eare and ttention. The infant death rate in American citr ies has been greatly lowered, but not so n the United States as a whole; which hows that the high death rate of infants ’u the country regions remaijis unafi'ect- .—Dr. Frances Sage Bradley. EXPENSIVE MARKETING The fact that pigs sold on foot demand earby stockyards was well illustrat- d by the experience of Mr. George A. Holderness, who shipped 93 young hogs the other day from Warreuton to Rich- in Olid. Seven died on. the way. The others lost in weight an average of 12 pounds ach. The total loss in weight was a- round 2,220 lbs. The expense of marketing, to say noth ing of freight charges, was around 5^220. Unlike cattle, hogs cannot be safely shipped over long distances to far-away stock markets. They quickly get over heated in car load lots, and if a stupid trainman cools them off with a hose they die in large numbers. ITTENDETH TO POVERTY While thinking of our small per capita investment in all public school property ouly 13.88 according to the last report), our small expenditure upon the education of all the children of all the people ("only 412.88 per inhabitant in 1913-14), our ap- j)alling total illiteracy rate (18.5 per cent in 1910), our meagre per capita country wealth in farm properties (only $322 in the census year), and our low rank in per capita wealth, all properties consid ered in 1912 (Only Mississippi was poor er)— We are rendnded of these words; There is that scattereth and yet hath increase; there is that withohfeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. And of Jlosea’s curse. My people, said lie, are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgot ten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. WHY MEAT PRICES SOAR yince 1900 between two and three mil lion cattle have died each year from dis ease and exposure. The annual loss of «heep has been relatively even greater. The annual loss of hogs from disease and ■other causes has ranged from two and a ■fifth million in 1904 to seven million in 1914. During the last two years cattle on iiarms and ranges have been increasing. 'On the first of last January they number- ed 61,441,000, but they were eleven mil- Uori fewer than in 1907, and our sheep were three million fewer than in 1910. Meat production falls behind tlie in- •orease of population in the United States. Meanwhile there is an increasing de mand for meat products in the markets flf the world. During the year ending "■ith last June, we shipped abroad meat animal.=, meat and dairy products amounting to nearly $443,000,000. These details appear in a recent report of the Federal Agricultural Department. Of course meat prices to consumers at tome have skyrocketed into the upper ether. And equally of course livestock producers ought to be getting better pri ces. But are they? And if not, why not? These are the things the western farmers ^re demanding to know. ON THE ONE HAND llie total deaths from infantile paraly sis in Greater New York are at this writ ing 1,260. And the city i.s, profoundly exercised about this dread scourge. The public schools will not be opened on time in Septeuil)er. Their doors have been shut in the faces of 600,000 pu[5ils and teachers. Here is a tragedy—massive, mysterious, spectacular, and appealing. Everybody’s attention is arrested Ijy it. On The Other Hand On tlie other hand, the death roll of litt'e children under two years of age in North Carolina in 1914 from various causes was 8,311, and in 1915 thejnumber that died under one year of age was 6,807. The stroke of the clock every hour of the day and night tolls the death of a helpless little child in North Carolina. And the horrible thing about it is that three-fifths of these children died from preventable causes or from diseases that could have been-cured by prompt, intel ligent care and attention. The blood of these children cries a- gainst the ignorance of devoted but un trained mothers and fathers in loving homes. King Herod and King Ignor ance Doctors Rankin, Cooper and Booker in Raleigh, and Miss Lathrop and Dr. Bradley of the Cliildrenfs Bureau are fighting like tightiug fire to center at tention upon the needless death of little children; but this heart-breaking tragedy in North Carolina and the country at large fails to be massive and spectacular like the sinking of the Titanic or the Eastland in Chicago or the epidemic now raging in Greater New York. They die, one here and one there, in the lapse of the year; that’s all. The public mind is quite undisturbed about it. King Herod slaughtered fewer than twenty infants in Bethlehem, and the world is still shivering with the horror of it. But King Ignorance slaughters some six thousand little children under two years of age every year in North Caro lina. The Lord took them, we say. Yes, but. We sent them, says Crosby. ADAM SMITH SAID IT Nearly a century and a half ago Adam Smith said in the Wealth of Nations: A man must live by his work and his wages must be at least sufficient to sus tain him. They must be even more on occasion; otherwise it would be impossi ble for him to bring up a family, and the race of such workmen would not last be yond the first generation. LONG-TAW PASTORS Dr. Archibald Johnson No country pastor can do his work at long taw. He must be on the spot not twelve times a year but ail tlie time. A pastor is said to be a she]i- herd, but who ever hearl of a sliep- herd living forty miles from the sheep- fold, and going to look after his sfieep once a month! - The pioneers who rode from county to county and from state to state sow ing the seed of truth deserve our ever lasting gratitude. They did the best they could, and in their day it was the proper thing to do.. They were estab- li.shers, and with fidelity they did their work. But we are living in another day. Our pastors now are notestab- lishers, for that work lias been done. They are trainers. Their business is to nurse the tender plants. To watch, counsel, guard, defend. Can a man do this who lives in another county? The trouble with our country churches is the lack of vision. They are blind to the beauty of Christian service and deaf to its imperious call. They have neither been watched nor tended. They have never known the joy and exceeding value of pas toral oversight and visitation. They have missed the things of highest val ue and deepest meaning in church life. They will never have the vision and never res]iond to the call until some mail of God stands by their side day by day and points the way. COTTON AND BREAD STUFFS This year’s cotton crop in North Caro lina was estimated on August 8th by the Federal Departmet of Agriculture at 698, 000 bales; or some 1,500 bales fewer than the 1915 crop. These figures mean that we are now producing only about 5 per cent more cotton than in 1909. Also, that we are producing less raw cotton than is now consumed by our own textile mills. In the half century between 1860 and 1910,our cotton crop increased in a six fold ratio, while our food and feed crops fell off sadly. But since the census year our cotton increase has been small, while our gains in food crops and farm animals in 1915 amounted to $49,000,000. Seven Fruitful Years Our most significant gains in agricul ture have been made during the last sev en years; due toefconomic pressure large ly, but also to the services rendered by ou’r State Agricultural Department, the A. and M. College, the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs, the Home and Farm Demonstrii- tion Work, and the Stat^ Experimei t Station. _ In the table presented this week Mr. G. W. Mann, a University student from Macon, ranks the counties according to the cotton produced in 1915, and shows the per cents of increase or decrease since 1909. ' . ..K . VI Only sixty counties appear in the tabk. Forty counties raised less than a thousand bales each, or no cotton at all. They rais ed all told less than 10,000 bales last year. SIX-YEAR INCREASES IN COTTON Thirty-eight of our counties show gains in cotton preduction betw'een 1909 and 1915. These increases range from 1.2 per cent in Vance to 60.7 per cent in Bertie. Thirteen of these counties increased their cotton crop by more than a third; six of the thirteen by more than a half; ' and Bertie by more than three-fifths, ; during this six-year period. I Except Moore, all of the counties I showing increase are in the tidewater j region, arrdall except Northampton rais- j ed fewer than 10,000 bales in tha census I year. They lie alongside the 25 counties I that produce nearly three-fourths of the ! total crop of the state and that consti tute our main Cotton Belt area. I These increases show the steady march of cotton culture eastward and south ward into new cotton territory—aterri- ^ torj in which cotton has always teen ' grown, to be sure,but where it now be comes a prominent and important crop. Cotton and Accumulated Wealth In I860 Edgecombe and Halifax were our leading cotton counties. Anson stood third and alone of all the counties bordering South Carolina raised any great amount of cotton. But a half cen tury or so later the 44 counties that now raise more than nine-tenths of our crop, reach from Cleveland to Robeson along the South Carolina line and from Robe son to Northampton in an area along the falls line and east of it. If now, the farmers that are raising more and more cotton in thirty-eight counties are also raising more and more bread and meat, they are headed to wards prosperity. If otherwise, they are fooled by fox-fire prosperity during the market months, when they handle large sums of money, only to find that they have little or nothing left when the year’s balance sheet is struck. If counties could accumulate farm wealth by buying farm supplies with cotton money, Edgecombe, Halifax and Anson could have done it. In 1860 they wore ('ur three leading cotton growing comities, and in 1915 they stood as fol lows: Halifax 7th, Edgecombe 8th and Anson 11th in this particular. But in per capita country w'ealth in farm properties in 1910 they ranked Edgecombe 14th, Anson 57th, and Hali fax 83rd. UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION LETTER SERIES NO, 90 THE CASE OF STOVALL A little town is ne\-er too little to do its best for its public school, and it never knows how much it can do till it tries. Some little towns in North Carolina do things for the education of their children that might well be imitated by many of the larger towns in the state. The little town of Stovall in GranviUe county is a splendid example of progress, of earnestness, and of action in the cause of education. Although its public school is not one of the state high schools, it has a tw-o-year high school course that meets the re quirements of the public high school laws Inadequate Equipment The population of Stovall is about 300 and last year it enrolled 106 children, 34 of whom were in the high school depart ment. At the beginning of last session the e(juipment was inadequate, and it was necessary to seat two high school pupils in each of the single desks. And more— there was no money at hand with which to buy additional desks, chairs, a coal scuttle, an axe, charts, and many other necessary articles of equipment. But better than money, the scliool had for its principal a man of tact and ini tiative, and the town had in it some! men and women who wjinted the children of Stovall to have an equal chance with the children of any other town. Ways and Means An oyster supper for the benefit of the school was given at Thanksgiving, and although it was poorly attended yet the sum of three dollars and fifty cents was cleared. The oyster supper was soon followed by an entertainment gotten up by the teacher and the children, and in the place of an admission fee a collection was taken up with the result that about ten dollars was made for the school. In a few weeks a box party was given at the school and fourteen dollars w'as realized. Making Friends A wealthy friend of education who owned some moving pictures contributed to the pleasure of the town by giving a a free show after whicli a collection for the benefit of the school was takon up and twenty-seven dollars was realized. By this time other friends came to the • help of the school and contributed a- mounts ranging from five or six dollars up to twenty-five dollars. Net Results At the close of the session a final en tertainment was given and the sum of, twenty dollars was cleared. Thus by persistent effort more than one hundred dollars was raised for school equipment in a little town where many had thought that it was impossible to do such a thing. But better than the money is the spirit that has come into Stovall and ' will stay in Stovall till its children shall have a, chance equal to the best in the land. How about your community? Is there anything for it to learn from Stovall? in 1915 than in 1909. These decreases range from seven-tenths of , one per cent in Iredell to 36.4 per cent in Granville. Fourteen counties produced more than half the cotton of the state laet year, with crops ranging from 20,182 bales in Cleve land to 45,535 bales in Robenson. Six of these counties decreased their cotton crop during these six years, the decreas es ranging from 1.1 per cent in Anson, 7 per cent in Edgecombe, 8.5 per cent in Halifax, to 14 per cent in Robeson, Cumberland and Hoke. Other large decreases in our main Cot ton Belt counties during this period were Johnston, 3.6 per cent, Mecklenburg, 4.6 per cent, Franklin, 14,7 per cent, Gaston, 26 per cent, and Wake 28.4 per cent. What These Decreases Signify Undoubtedly,- intelligent, prosperous farmers in the main Cotton Belt area of North Carolina have always known the advantages of bread-and-meat farming along with cotton grovying. They have always raised cotton, but their barns and bins, smoke-house and pantries have been kept well filled with home-grown farm supplies. The war prices of cotton in 1914 convinced less alert farmers in this region tliat liye-at-home farming was the only wise and safe farming. While sheer distress in this area forced stupid farmers to raise poultry, pigs, peanuts, potatoes, grain, hay and forage in larger abundance. All told, the prductlon of farm sup plies in 10 of our largest Cotton Belt counties has tremendously increa.sed since the census year, and the fijirm-sys- tem now in vogue is greatly in advance of the all-cotton plan of earlier days. They Lead All the Rest .But the most significant group of counties showing six-year decreases in cotton production is composed of David son, Rowan, Iredell, Catawba, Lincoln, Gaston, and Mecklenburg. This is a region of lively interest in beef cattle, dairy farming, grains, hay and forage, winter cover crops, silos, creamery routes, butter factories, credit unions, and other cooperative farm enterprises. The three southern counties of this group are moving forward slowly in some of these essential matters; but the four northern counties are perhaps the most promising farm area in the state. OUR 1915 COTTON CROP G. W. MANN, Macon County University Summer School 1916 .State total 1915 crop 699,494 bales. SIX-YEAR DECREASES IN COTTON Cotton is of decreasing importance in 22 counties. They priDduced fewer bales Rank Counties Bales Pr Ct Inc. Rank Counties Bales Pr Ct Inc. 1 Robeson 45,535 — 31 Warren 8,383 —12.8 2 Johnston 33,538 — 3.6 32 Rutherford 8,215 22.8 3 Wayne 27,341 11.3 33 Bladen 7,829 46.1 4 Mecklenburg 26,183 — 4.6 34 Columbus 7,731 23.3 5 Scotland 26,162 — 8.5 35 Stanly 7,336 14.7 6 Union 25,575 14.4 36 Rowan 6,786 —14.7 7 Halifax 24,952 6.5 37 Jones 6,111 22.4 8 Edgecombe 24.891 — 7. 38 Perquimans ;5,903 57.9 9 Pitt 23,636 30.8 39 Craven 5,888 52.3 10 Nash 23,186 29.9 40 Chatham 5,732 —19.2 11 Anson 23,126 — 1.1 41 Catawba 5,572 — 12.2 12 Wilson 21,026 11.4 42 Lincoln 5,569 —13.9 13 Sampson 20,367 25.9 43 Pamlico 5,508 11.4 14 Cleveland 20,182 29.6 44 Onslow 5,119 55.6 15 Wake 19,678 —28.4 45 Lee 4,920 14.9 16 Cumberland 15,729 — 46 Montgomery 4,211 14.8 17 Harnett 15,656 32.4 47 Pasquotank 3,938 35.8 18 Northampton 14,411 36.6 48 Chowan 3,865 48.6 19 Richmond 13,671 2.5 49 Hertford 3.508 — '6.2 20 Carbarrus 11,986 22.9 50 Gates 3,372 38.9 21 Lenoir 11,499 2 33. 51 Washington ■ 2,851 11.8 22 Franklin 11,122 —14,7 52 Vance 2,790 1.2 23 Hoke 11,107 — 53 Camden 2,784 26.7 24 Greene 10,974 33. 54 Moore 2,700 59.3 25 Bertie 10,205 60.7 55 Pender 1,670 31.4 26 Duplin 9,408 49.1 56 Davidson 1,658 —30.4 27 Iredell 9,233 — .7 57 Davie 1,480 12.3 28 Martin 9,139 53.2 58 Carteret 1,442 5.2 29 Gaston 9,046 —26.2 59 Polk 1,140 —34.3 30 Beaufort 8,802 — 1.3 60 Granville ”****" 1,013 —86.4 Note: (1) The minus sign indicates decrease, and (2) Robesonjand Cumber land in 1909 were Robeson, Hoke, and Cumberland in 1915. In this area the de crease in cotton production between 1909 and 1915 was 11,925 bales or 14 per ceat*
The University of North Carolina News Letter (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 13, 1916, edition 1
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