The news ia this publica-
boo is released for the press on
the date indicated below.
the university of north CAROLINA
NEWS LETTER
CTOBER 4,1916
Published weekly by the
University »f North Carolina
for its Bureau of Extension.
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
VOL. n, NO. 45
aitorial Bo-rd. B.C. BraoBon, J. G. deR. Hamilton. U B. Wilson, J. H Johnston, R. H. Thornton, &.
M. McKie. Entered as seoond-elasa matter November 14,1914, at the.po3tofflce at Chapel HIU, N.C., under the act of August 24,1913.
NORTH CAROLINA CLUB STUDIES
THE SECOND GIFT
Tlie other day the hearts of the editors
ere lightened by a check for $100, sent
n by a generous University alumnus
pon University News Letter account.
£t is the second gift for this amount
oin tliie source. We do not mention
lis name because the giver objects to
ubiicity. However, he lives in Durham
a center of very unusual public spirit
nd private generosity in a score or more
irectiona.
It ia now costing around 25 cents to
-ud The News Letter to a reader for a
ear. The gift enables us to add 400 new
aines to our mailing list.
[SAFER THAN LEGISLATION
The general level of things in any de-
ocracy ia raised by the folks themselves,
ainly by tugging at their own boot-
traps. Salvation by education—of the
ort that really educates, mind you—is
afer than salvation by legialation. And
lis .proposition is just as true for organ-
;edibig business as it is for producers
nd.Gonsumers of all economic classes.
Until the democratic multitudes know
armore tlian they know at present about
II the problems proposed for study in
ur ilome-County Club-Study Bulletin,
^pital and business will be menaced by
eriodic frenzies, and the people them-
elves will be honeyed and hounded,
attered and hoodwinked, and at one and
he same time, by clever tricksters.
The North Carolina Home-County
tudieeare an attempt to set our people
t work upon large economic and social
roblems within small familiar areas. If
e cannot distinguish and interpret the
orces at -w ork at home under our very
■oses, liow can we hope to whittle a
tick and regulate the whole universe?
LOCAL SCHOOL TAXES
In 1900 there were in North Carolina
nly eighteen local-tax school districts
at present there are sixteen hundred,
ourteen hundred of these are rural dis-
ricts or incorporated villages of not more
han five or six hundred inhabitants. All
he cities, larger towns, and most of the
arger villages of this state have adopted
ocal taxation. These local-tax districts
re scattered from the seashore to the
ountains, and are to be found in every
ounty of the state.
No town or district, after having given
ocal taxation a fair trial, has, so far as
e know, ever abandoned it permanently,
few that abandoned it temporarily re-
liopted it after a few years. The com-
unities that have adopted it will be
ound to be as a rule the most progres-
've and prosperous.
These progressive communitiea, some
f which hare been bearing this addition-
burden of taxation for more than
wenty years, would not continue
oluntarily to bear it if they had not
ound that it paid financially, intellectu-
lly and morally. Local taxation would
ot have spread so rapidly among a con-
ervative people hke ours if the success of
it had not been
ing the young timber on the ground,
together with sufficient seed trees to re
stock the open places. The contract
further called for close utilization by cut
ting the stumps low and using the trunks
to small diameters in the tops, the
lopping of tops for cordwood and the
scattering of the remaining brush.
—U. S. Farmers’ Bulletin, 715.
How About You?
Mr. Farmer, how do you sell your lum-
: full value for your
A SOUND PLATFORM
ber? Are you gettin:
lumber lot? Can you afford not to ask
someone who know's? Do your cedar
logs and your crosa-ties bring you in a
reasonable price? Better ask someone
and find out for sure!
WHAT CAROLINA FARMERS
EAT
Upon 55 farms in (iaston county m
1913, the food
consumed
per person in
the run of a
year averaged aa
follows.
according to a report of the Federal De
partment of Agriculture;
Coffee
6.8 lbs
worth
$1.77
Sugar
62. lbs
(
3.37
Flour 313.0 lbs
U
8.80
Pork raised
122.0 lbs
13.44
Beef raised
2.0 lbs
(
.20
Meat bought
{ (
1.12
Poultry
11.5
I
2.87
Milk
33.5 gal
8.36
Buttermilk
85.8 sal
(
8.58
Butter
41.0 lbs
I
8.26
Eggs
27.0 doz
i
5.50
Apples
3.0 bu
i
2.66
Peaches
2.16
Irish Potatoes
1.8 bu
2.13
Svv’t Potatoes
3.8 bu
(
3.85
Total
173.47
These figura? show that the Carolina
farmer is abundantly fed, but ^also that
his diet is ill-Lalanced. There is too
much pork and too little beef. Also his
consumption of butter is below the aver
age in the United States.
Fortunately he consumes more vege
tables and fruits than the Iowa farmer,
say. Indeed, in Gaston county nearly a
full fourth of the food of farmers comes
from their gardens and orchards.
J. E. Ed^erton, Nashville, Tenn.
There is no interest in this country
that should be looked after with more
zeal than that of the manufacturing
industry. It produces more wealth
for the country than does any other
industry and is more vital to the con
servation and development of all other
interests. About eight millions of
men, women and children feed direct
ly from the hand of the manufacturer,
and many are disposed to feed upon
it. Other millions are directly de
pendent upon those. Twenty per cent
of our population is a conservative
estimate of the number which traces
its subsistence to our industry.
The Only Safe Policy
Under all the circumstances, there
is only one safe policy for a manufac
turer to pursue, and that is the policy
of absolute honesty with himself, his
employes, the government and the
public. When he does this, he is for
tified against everything except in
dustrial extinction, and that is insig
nificant in comparison with self-re
spect and other things which consti
tute the summum bonum of life. Then
when he is called on to fight, he can
fight with a courage generated only by
the consciousness of a righteous cause,
a courage that knows no defeat and
counts no cost. When even a major
ity of the patriotic, honest manufac
turers in our country get solidly to
gether upon a platform of this kind
and thus present an unbroken front
to the forces of discord and destruc
tion, they will soon come’ into the
inheritance to which enterprise and
virtue entitle them; and can lie down
without fear of the world, the flesh,
’or the Devil. —President Tennessee
Manufacturers Association.
OCCUPATIONAL DEATHS:
WHITE MALES
In 1913, the deaths of whites, from tu
berculosis of the lungs, in towns and
cities in North Carolina having a thous
and or more inhabitants, were ten per
cent of the total deaths.
In the same area the same year, the
same disease caused 13 per cent of the
negro deaths.
These tuberculosis d«ath ratios cover
all occupations; but the average ratio of
deaths in certain specified occupations
ran up to nearly 21 per cent for white
males, to 23 per cent for white females;
to nearly 24 per cent for negro males and
to 28 per cent for negro females.
Note that in these indoor occupations,
the ratio of deaths from tuberculosis of
'ommnnities that have adopted it.
, the lungs is higher (1) for negroes than
demonstrated by the -^^j. whites and (2) for females than
for
males.
Now note tlie ratios of deaths of white
males in North Carolina in these occupa-
A LUMBER SALE
A' woodlot owner in Maryland received j ™ j
n offer of ^1,500 for a tract of timber, I Average all occupations named.. .. ..21%
hich he was inclined to accept as a fair | Mill and factory operatives (textile,. 39
price. Before the sale was made how
"ver, he requested'the advice of the State
iforester as to tlie amount and value of
he.timber. As a result theState forester
ade an examination of the tract, esti-
Personal fervice 33X
Professional ^3K
Merchants and dealers 28
Agriculture, transportation, outdoor 26
Clerical and official 24
aae an exammaiiou ox mo naoi, 1 - , ^ oa
vala. of .be
ad furnished the owner a list of timber
‘Operators who might be prospective buy
ers. The timber was then publicly ad-
ertised, with the result that the man
'ho had previously made the Jl,500 ofler
waiaed his bid to $4,500, and the sale was
•finally made to another person for about
$5,500. Only three months elapsed be
tween the date of the first ofi'er and the
iinal sale.
More Too
Not only was the original ofi'er in
creased by nearly 270 per cent, but the
^'oodlot was also left in excellent condi
tion. This was accomplished by having
Cigar makers and tobacco workers.. 22
Mercantile and trading 20
Public entertainment '-^0
Book-keepers, clerks, stenographers 19
Draymen, hackmen, and teamsters 18
Carpenters and joiners 16
Farmers and farm laborers 15
Laborers and servants 13
No occupation stated H
When conditions of indoor toil increase
the ratio of deaths from tuberculosis of
the lungs nearly four-fold for white males
and nearly seven-fold for white females,
it is time to ring alarm bells.
Studies in the 1913-14 Report of the
State Health Board by Mr. G. H. Cooper
University of
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
LETTER SERIES NO. 93
THE RURAL SCHOOL TERM
♦he trees to be cut selected and marked j of Rowan County, in
fcy the State forester with a view to leav- North Carohna.
PLENTY TO DO
Some time ago, an intelligent citizen of
this state, a physician by the way, said
to me, I am opposed to=whole-time coun
ty health officials; there is too little for
them to do.
When a doctor has a notion of this
sort it indicates that the popular mind
has still a long way to go in its thinking.
June Activities in Sampson
Dr. E. R. Harden, the efficient health
officer in Saulpson seems to find plenty to
do. Here are the details for June:
People receiving first inoculation
against typhoid 28
People receiving second inoculation
against typhoid 41
People receiving third inocula
tion against typhoid 27
People vaccinated against small pox 12
Visits made to cases with otbe?^ doc
tors for diagnosis 3
Visits made to small pox patients.... 4
Cases of small pox reported., 1
Hookworm treatments given free 17
Physical examinations made 15
Public health letters written 40
Pamphlets distributed on typhoid
fever and babies 155
Baby Clinics in different communities 3
Diet Lists on baby feeding given to
mothers in Baby Clinics 120
Dressings (surgical), done at office 3
Lectures given in Baby clinics and
elsewhere 4
Miscroscopic examinations made 2
Complete urinalyses made 2
Examination and commitments of
insane . 1
Public Health articles for the local
papers 3
Visits to the County Home 6
Visits to the County Jail 7
Miles traveled 410
During the month I have put into prac
tice the idea of holding free Baby Clinics
in^the different communities of the Coun
ty, to teach the mothers how to feed and
care for their babies, to prevent the
dreaded summer complaints or infectious
diarrhoeas, and other unnecessary dis
eases. The Clinics I have held thus far
have been a success, the mothers showing
great interest in the lectures.
Not a Square Deal
One thing to be remembered in con
nection with the rural school term, as
concerns the country at large, is that
farm boys and farm girls have a school
term of 46.6 days shorter than that of
their city cousins. In every section of
the United States there is a discrimina
tion in our public school policy against
farm boys and farm girls. For example,
this discrimination costs the country pu
pils of the South Atlantic States 59.2
lays, of the South Central States 56.4,
of the North Central States 31.4, of the
Western States 35.7, and of the North
Atlantic Division 28.8 days. In the lan
guage of 0. W. Neale, Professor of Rural
Education, State Normal School, Stevens
Point, Wis., “The further we go into the
study of the rural school term the more
evident it becomes that the country pu
pils are not given a square deal in free
school privileges,”
Rural Indifference
In effect and for the country at large
the rural school term may be increased
without voting another day of school or
levying another mill of school tax. How
can this be done? Improve the average
daily attendance of the pupils actually
enrolled ii^school by a better enforce
ment of the compulsory attendance laws
in those states having such laws, and by
securing compulsory attendance laws at
the next session of the legislature in those
states without such statutes, and by a-
rousing public sentiment throughout the
country for a better average daily attend
ance in our rural schools.
The enrollment of pupils in the rural
schools, according to the latest available
data (1910) on rural - school enrollment,
was 11,100,553, with an average daily at
tendance therein of 7,509,558, making
the average daily absences in the rural
schools alone 3,590,995. These figures
are appalling. The average daily attend
ance in rural schools for the country at
large is only 67.6 per cent—an average
daily attendance of 11.7 per cent lower
than that in urban schools.
It is evident that rural pupils are pen
alized in this matter of free school privi
leges not only by the general policy of
the various States but also by indifferent,
ignorant or selfish parents who fail to do
their duty by their own children in al
lowing them to remain out of school
while school is in session.—J. L. McBrien,
School i:xtension Agent, Federal Educa
tion Bureau.
DEBATE SUBJECTS
We are constantly b'-*ing importuned
for debate subjects by high school pupils
and teachers.
The following subjects have been sug
gested by the discussions that are con
stantly appearing in the papers of the
state.
1. W'omen should be given the right
to vote on an equality with men.
2. Municipalities should own and op
erate their own water and light plants.
3. The crop-lien law should be re
pealed.
4. In land ownership the races should
ije segregated by law.
5. The tax system in North Carolina
lays unjust burdens on the small tax
payer.
t>. Our tax system discourages indus
trial development.
7. There should be a progressive land
cax is North Carolina.
8. Rural communities should be in-
:orporated by law.
9. North Carolina should adopt the
legislative initiative and referendum.
10. North Carolina ought to adopt the
jhort ballot law for state and county
offices.
11. School books should be fumislied
free in our public schools.
12. Papers advertising patent medi
cines do not deserve confidence or sup
port.
13. The state should derive larger rev
enues from inheritance taxes.
14. Capital punishment should be
abolished.
15. Stock laws are desirable.
16. There is more money in live stock
farming than in crop farming mainly.
17. The absentee-landlord is a menace
to community development.
18. The high cost of living is mainly
the cost of high living.
19. Commission government is prefer
able to government by city councils.
20. There sho'iild be closer censorship
of moving picture shows.
21. City managers are preferable to
Council government.
22. The commission form of govern
ment should be adopted by counties.
23. Rural schools should be consoli
dated.
24. Foreign immigration should be re
stricted by an illiteracy test.
25. County accounts and annual state
ments should be uniform.
I 24. County finances should be audited
' by state accountants.
; 27. Military training should be re
quired by law in the United States.
28. The state ought to have a pardon
board.
29. Farm tenancy is the greatest hin
drance to country civilization in the
South.
30. The state-wide 20 cent tax for
schools should be doubled.
31. North Carolina ought to have
stronger compulsory education law.
32. The church ought to be a social
as welt aa a.religious center.
A CO-OPERATIVE PLAN
Realizing the ever-broadening interests
of the women in the Women’s Clubs of
the state and in a desire to help direct
those interests into channels of construct
ive influence, the Bureau of Extension at
the State University is co-operating with'
the Federation of AVomen’s Clubs by of
fering Club Study Courses in the study of
Latin-America, Browning, and the Nine
teenth Ctentury Novel.
These Club Study Courses are arranged
specifically to help meet the needs of the
programs for the Women’s Clubs and
are made into divisions and sub-divisions
for papers and reports.
Method of Worh
The LTniversity furnishes study out
lines, questions and aid in answering
lifficult questions as they arise. Reports
>n the work are desired from the clubs
vhich will serve the University as a guide
n knowing how to aid the members still
urther in their work. The intention is
:o serv'e the needs of each club individ
ually and not in the mass.
Through correspondence with the sev
eral secretaries, assistance is rendered
in making out yearly programs as well as
in studying any one of the particular
topics as given above.
Approved and Adopted
The work has the approval of Mrs.
Thomas Lingle, President, and of the
other officers and leaders in the Federa
tion. Several clubs have chosen one or
another of th^e Club Study Courses and
are at work with the University planning
their year’s program. There is a small
fee of ten dollars required to help pay
postage and stenographic assistance.
Fuller information may be secured by
writing to Miss Nellie Roberson, Secre
tary, Chapel Hill, N. C.
FIRST IN HISTORY AND
INVENTION
From a most interesting bulletin called
What the South May Claim or Where
the South Leads, by Miss Mildred L.
Rutherford, Athens, Ga., we copy the
following North Carolina items:
First blood shed in the American Rev
olution—Alamance, 1771.
First declaration of independence—
Mecklenburg, May, 1775.
First Woman’s Patriotic Society—^The
Daughters of Liberty, Edenton.
First victory of the Revolution—Moore’s
Creek Bridge, Feb. 27, 1776.
First to suggest wireless telegraphy—
Joseph Henry.
First to make practical use of the X-
Ray—Dr. Henry Louis Smith.
First to suggest the type-setter—Fenton
B. Foster.
First to invent a machine gun—Richard
Gatling.
First armed resistance to British am-
thority—refusal for The Diligence and
The Viper to land in 1765.
First to have public schools at the
State’s expense, 1776.
The only state to have hiddenite and
monazite—Alexander county.
First to invent the acetylene light—
Dr. F. P. Venable, Ohapel Hill.
The list for North Carolina was sent in
by Mise GJeorgia Hicks of Fai^n, and
Madames J. W. Faison and J. A. Fore
ot Charlotte,