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 Caxo-
lina for the University Ex
tension Division.
SEPTEMBER 28, 1927
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
VOL. XlII, No. 46
Editorial Board:
E. C. Branson. S. H. Hobbn. Jr.. L. R. Wilson. E. W. Knight. D. D. Carroll. J. B. Bnllitt. 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. 1918
MINERAL PRODUCTS
The nation’s mineral output has a
value of five to six billion dollars a
year. In 1926 the value was $5,677,-
630,000, and nearly half of this huge
total was produced in five states, Penn
sylvania, Oklahoma, California,. Texas
and West Virginia. In the table which
appears elsewhere in this issue the
states are ranked according to the
value of their mineral products. In
this table iron ore, not pig iron, is
taken as the basis of iron valuation and
in the case of other metals the recover
able content is the basis of evaluation.
Pennsylvania, with its wealth of
coal, natural gas, cement and clay
.products, is the leading mineral pro
ducing state. Oklahoma and California,
■with their extensive oil fields are second
and third in rank. Texas, in addition
'to its petroleum and gas wells, has
Tich sulphur deposits. West Virginia is
rich in both coal and oil. Ohio and Illi
nois both produce coat, petroleum, gas,
cement and clay products. These seven
states produce over three billion dollars
worth of minerals annually.
Minerals in the South
Not only are there three Southern
states among the leading five mineral
producing states, but several others rank
among the first half. Kentucky ranks
ninth, Missouri sixteenth, Arkansas
seventeenth, Alabama twentieth, Louis
iana twenty-third and Virginia twenty-
fourth. These six states produce, how-
ever^ less than the single state/of
Oklahoma.
North Carolina has a great variety
of minerals but few in sufficient quan
tity to make commercial mining profit-
able. According to the United States
Bureau of Mines North Carolina's total
mineral output in 1926 was only $9,604,-
063. This is in disagreement, however,
with the report of the State Depart
ment of Conservation and Development,
its estimate being $10,699,442. Even
if we accept the more favorable report
the total is not large, Qor would it
affect North Carolina’s rank of thirty-
seventh among the states. The encour-
agiog thing is that North Carolina s
mineral output is increasing rapidly.
Its products' include building stone,
' sand and gravel, clay products, feldspar,
mica, coal, and some iron ore.
Asbestos
According to State Geologist R. J.
IBryson, there are a number of deposits
■ of asbestos in the western part of the
■ state, probably the largest and most
promising one being in Avery county.
In 1919, North Carolina held third rank
in asbestos production in the United
States, but at that time all of the
material was shipped out in crude
form. Mr. Bryson reports that in
recent years deposits of the mineral
have been found in Ashe, Yancey,
Avery, Caldwell, Macon, and Jackson
counties.
An asbestos plant, which is a new
industry for North Carolina, is being
erected at Minneapolis, Avery county,
by the National Asbestos Company.
It will have, according to newspaper
reports, a daily capacity of thirty tons
and the outlook for the success of the
venture is promising. The asbestos
found in Western Carolina is not of as
fine quality as the Canadian type,
nevertheless it can be used for many
purposes. The principal uses of the
North Carolina variety are asbestos
cement products, asbestos shingles,
heat insulating cements, ingredients
for paints, filtering, and packing.
Brick and Stone
'There is an increased interest and
-development in the clay and stone in
dustries. This is especially true of clays
'Of the slate belt for brick and tile pur-
^poses, of granites and rhyolites of
Orange and Moore counties for build
ing and road work, and of the marble
quarries in Cherokee county.
North Carolina leads all other states
in the production of feldspar, and, ac
cording to the report of the state geol
ogist, has produced from thirty to
■fifty percent of the total output for
several years. North Carolina ranks
relatively high in the production of
mica. There are scattered deposits of
gold in the state, though the seams
have been too deep or the content too
slight to make gold mining commercially
profitable. There is a great varier.y of
precious stones in the state, but not i
extensive enough in amount to warrant,
commercial mining. North Carolina’s
minerals have been characterized as
nature’s sample case, and that is a
very satisfactory description.
I The brick and terra cotta industry
could perhaps be further developed,
and also a greater use be made of the
native building stone. JThe construe- :
tion of the Greater Duke University ;
from native stone offers a demonstra-,
tion of iis possibilities. North Caro
lina has no great mineral wealth, but
it has a variety of mineral products i
whose exploitation may develop local ,
industries of importance.— Paul W.
Wager.
THE FARMERS FEDERATION
The Farmers Federation of Western ■
North Carolina has now been in ex-;
istence seven years. Throughout this
period it has continued to expand in
the range and ‘ usefulness of its ac-.
tivities. It has been responsible for
bringing hundreds of thousands of
dollars of additional wealth to the farm-:
era of Western Carolina. The seventh
anniversary number of the Farmers
Federation News contains an article
from which we have chosen the follow
ing extracts:
■‘The Farmers Federation was organ
ised to serve mountain farmers in the
purchase and distribution of farm
necessities and in the marketing of
mountain farm products...The Federa
tion is a capital-stock organization and
operates a chain of eight distributive
warehouses, two of which do a whole
sale business. ,
■ ‘The Farmers Federation is operat- (
ing under a sound economic policy |
when it combines its production and
marketing projects. This is especially
important in Western North Carolina
where there is a diversity of produc
tion, consisting mainly of perishable
products.
“There is nothing more apparent
than the fact that enlarged dairy pro
duction in the mountain counties de
pends very largely upon group organi
zation for collective bargaining. Milk
and cream sales organizations must be
firmly and closely knit together so that
collective bargaining may be the po
tent power for obtaining profitable
prices. Without collective bargaining
in the sale of dairy products there is
very little prospect for making West
ern North Carolina the leading dairy
section of the South, as it should be,
and will be, when dairymen become
strongly organized.
The Poultry Yard
“The goal of the Farmers Federation
is to make Western North Carolina the
poultry yard of the South,
tribution of approximately
baby chicks from the Federation
hatchery is a big step toward this
achievement. For the last twelve
months the poultry industry in the
territory served by the Federation has
grown by leaps and bounds. Since
small farm flocks of 60 to 200 hens
are more profitable than large com
mercial poultry plants, the Federation
is seeking to establish the poultry in
dustry on every farm in its territory.
This industry in the mountain coun
ties is second only to the dairy indus
try. and in many communities it ex
cels the dairy industry as a source
of income.
“While dairy and poultry farming
represent the major production proj
ects in the mountain counties, there
are vast undeveloped opportunities for
supplementing the payroll that comes
from the sale of dairy and poultry
products in the production of vegeta
bles for the markets daring the hottest
summer months, when southern low
lands do not produce many vegetables
for consumption or for fall storage.
The mountain coves and slopes offer
practically a northern climate and they
are near to the fast-growing manu
factoring and mercantile markets oi
the Southland.”
AN INVENTOR’S BELIEF
The smooth and steady motion of
the piston in the boiler-room, assist
ing the trained hand of man in the
factory; the roaring furnace flames
in the foundry announcing the birth
of beautiful castings; the radiating
chaos of our central star, the sun,
sustaining the ceaseless terrestrial
cycles of coordinated energy move
ment; the messages transmitted to
man by the galaxy of stars, pro
claiming the lavish expenditure of
their inexhaustible store of energy
as a preparation for higher forms of
creation; all of them tell the same
joyous story 'which Tyndall first told
me fifty years ago, the story of
transformation of the primordial
chaos into a cosmos, a universe of
beautiful law and order. This is
also the story of the universe of
organic life. The truth which this
story reveals was recognized intui
tively by man since the very begin
ning of civilization and, guided by
the power of his creative soul, he
began to dream of a social cosmos
which makes life worth living. The
awakening of this beautiful dream
is the birth of Church and State,
guided by the love of God and of fel
low man these social coordinators will
certainly give us a social cosmos,
the realization of the highest aspira
tion of the human soul.
From this point of view science,
religion, and the fine arts, as ex
pressions of the intellectual, spiritual,
and esthetic coordination of the
creative power of the human soul
are three inseparable parts of a
single science, the Science of Crea
tive Coordination. —Michael Pupin,
Columbia University, in Scribner’s
Magazine.
There are approximately 160,000 one-
teacher schools in the United States.
The number is decreasing steadily.
More than 10,000 of them were closed
in the biennium 1922-1924. They are
growing into larger schools, or are
being united with other schools to
CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS
In the states organized on the town
ship basis the schools are directed by
township boards of trustees. There is,
however, no adequate provision for
establishing schools on community
rather than township lines. The town
ship is often too small a unit ter-
Deing unicea wicn ocner scuuois tu snip la uiccu wu aman a
form central graded village or open ritorially and financially for the estab
country schools. These larger rural; lishment of satisfactory schools, and
schools gain in number as the smaller j particularly for high-school facilities,
ones diminish in number. More than 1 In several states organized on the
with the beginning of the fiscal year on
July 1 and others preparing to inau
gurate the system, the ensiling twelve
month period is setting a record in the
state.
The largest area in the history of the
State Forest Service is now under the
protection of organized forest fire pre
vention systems. 1
Provisions have been made in the
budget for this year for the work in 34
counties and from the interest that is
being manifested in a number of coun
ties there will be no difficulty in filling
the allotted quota.
Figures of the Forestry Division
show that the counties have provided a
fund of around fifty percent more for
this fiscal year than for the preceding
twelve-month period. This year the
cooperating counties have made avail
able $21,800 to match State and
Federal funds, while last year only
$14,600 came from these sources.
Quickened interest in forest fire pre-
I vention has not been confined to the
olina the ' jg manifest in individual
’ cooperation from large landowners and
400,UUO! which have more than
doubled their previous appropriations,
with $6,600 as compared with $2,400
for the previuos year.
The individual cooperation for this
fiscal year is featured by the organiza
tion of two large associations, covering
an area of approximately 120,000 acres.
One of these is located in Moore County
and the other in the Great Dismal
Swamp area. The Moore County As
sociation area is to consist of approxi
mately 60,000 acres, while there are
70 000 acres in the North Carolina
protective section of the Great Dismal
Swamp.
An outstanding development in
forestry in North Carolina for the
present fiscal year is the organization
of the fifth forest fire district m thr
northeastern section of the State.—
Natural Resources.
2,000 were formed during the biennium
1922-1924. At the present time there
are approximately 16,000 consolidated
schools in the United States. They
have long been recognized as a means
for providing rural children with edu
cational opportunity equivalent to that
provided city children.
Consolidated schools, or districts, are
; established in various ways. The most
common method is to proceed under
detailed laws by which the patrons of
the schools start the movement and
vote upon it at a regular or special
election. If a majority of the votes
cast in each district, or better, a
majority in all the districts or territory
included, are in favor of the consolida
tion, it is effected. Each of the unit
ing districts gives up its district
boundaries and school board and be
comes part of the one large district.
The advantages of such a procedure
are that it arouses the interest of an
entire community; the consolidation is
thoroughly talked over, and if the
school is established it is fairly sure to
be a strong one.
Union high schools are established
under laws which permit a number of
districts to retain their own elementary
schools, while all join in maintaining
one central high school. The laws re
sponsible for such schools, most common
in the western states, have resulted in
the establishment of some very fine
schools. In small communities and
sparsely settled regions such schools
are not feasible, but in more densely
populated areas the union high school
: serves well.
I In some states independent, special,
^ and consolidated school districts are
created by special acts of the legisla
ture. The procedure is generally un
satisfactory. It postpones the develop
ment of the organization of larger
areas, tends to create many small sys
tems, and generally acts to interfere
with equalized educational opportunity.
township basis there is a movement for
change to a larger unit. One reason
for the change advanced is the pos
sibility of securing thereby more ef
fective consolidated units.
Among the important state laws
relating to consolidation are those
which provide for the following:
1. ■ The establishment of minimum
limits of area served, enrollment,
average daily attendance, and length
of term below which a school or dis
trict may not be created, or if crested
may not continue its existence.
2. An effective, quick way of unit
ing schools or districts, preferably in
response to local demand, retaining
for the united institution the full
amount of apportionments the separate
units would receive, arranging for an
equitable assumption of any indebted
ness, and providing for the proper
disposal of any unnecessary school
property.
3. Centralized authority for the
planning and carrying out of programs
of consolidation over large areas, there
by insuring equitable distribution of
resources and school facilities, and
adequate consideration to schools in
isolated or backward strips of ter
ritory.
4. The authorization of the junior
high school with a view to centralizing
the work of the upper elementary
grades when full consolidation is not
feasible.
6. Restrictions on the number of
senior high schools established, ade
quate to insure strong, schools, with
tuition and transportation, or board
and room, provided for those students
who do not have easy access to such a
school.
6. Permissive transportation of pupils
at public expense to and from all
schools.-United States Bureau of Edu
cation.
MINERAL PRODUCTS
The States RanKed According to Output in 1925
In the following table the states are ranked according to the value of their
mineral products in 1926. In that year the total value of minerals amounted to
$6,677,630,000, ,
Pennsylvania, with its huge output of coal, natural gas, cement and clay
products, ranked highest as a mineral producing state. Its mineral production
lor the year amounted to $867,196,142, or 17.40 percent of the nation’s output.
Oklahoma, with its great oil fields, ranked second. The small seaboard states
of Delaware and Rhode Island were the two lowest in mineral production, their
outputs being $689,261 and $1,161,867, respectively. North Carolina, with
minerals to the amount of $9,604,063, ranked thirty-seventh. Its mineral
products include building stpne, sand and gravel, feldspar and clay products.
The facts here presented are based on'figures supplied by the Bureau of
Mines, United States Department of Commerce.
Paul W. Wager
Department of Rural Social-Economics, University of North Carolina
FOREST PROTECTION
With thirty counties already active
a forest fire prevention work starting
FIRE WASTE
The national fire loss from ail causes
mounts into hundreds of millions an
nually, and the great bulk of this waste
is preventable. Flimsy construction, the
shingle roof, the carelessness of Work
men and the carelessness of the
smoker-these things destroy many
fortunes in a year. The carelessly
placed match and fhe smouldering
mgarette end cost America thirty mil-
^’’GraduaUy, perhaps, the United States
is ovtrcomlig^he fire demon. But not
until we have developed a national
nntinathv to waste, the waste that
besetting economic sin of the coun-
trv can we hope to banish the monster
entirely.-Kinston Free Press.
Value of
Percent
Value of
Percent
minerals
of total
minerals
of total
in 1926 (in
Rank State in 1926 (in
-
millions)
millions)
1
Pennsylvania .
..:.$867.2...
..17.40
26
Tennessee 38.9...
.. .78
2
Oklahoma
501.8...
..10 07
26
Iowa 38.4...
.. .77
3
California
496.9...
.. 9.97
27
Idaho 31.6...
.. .63
4
Texas
361.2...
.. 7.06
28
Nevada 26.6,..
. .63
6
West Virginia
333.6...
.. 6.69
29
New Mexico 26.6...
.. .61
6
Ohio
247.6...
.. 4.97
30
Washington 22.4...
.. .46
7
Illinois
231.7...
.. 4.66
31
Maryland 21.6...
.. .43
8
Kansas
142.9...
... 2.87
32
Wisconsin 19.2...
.. .39
9
Kentucky
131.2...
... 2.64
33
Massachusetts 16.8...
.. .34
10
Michigan
122.2..
... 2.46
34
Florida 16.6...
.. .33
11
Arizona
114.2..
... 2.29
34
Georgia 16.6...
.. .33
12
Indiana
111.8..
... 2.24
36
Vermont 14.4...
.. .29
13
Minnesota
110.3..
... 2.21 .
North Carolina 9.5..
... .19
14
New York
102.0..
... 2.06
Is
South Dakota 8.0..
... .16
15
Utah
100.3..
... 2.01
38
Oregon 7.8 .
... .16
16
Missouri
92.6..
... 1.86
40
Connecticut 6.8..
... .14
17
Arkansas
87.2..
... h76
41
Maine 6.8..
... .12
18
Montana
79.3..
... 1.69
42
South Carolina 3.5...
... .07
19
Wyoming
78.8..
... 1.68
42
New Hampshire ... 3.4..
... .07
20
Alabama
77.1..
... 1.66
42
Nebraska 3.3..
... .07
21
New Jersey...
76.8..
... 1.54
45
North Dakota 2.7..
... .05
22
Colorado
63.1..
... 1.27
46
Mississippi 2.2..
... .04
23
Louisiana
60.5..
... 1.21
47
Rhode Island 1.1..
... .02
24
Virginia
41,0..
... .82
48
Delaware 5..
... .01