Newspapers / The Mount Airy News … / July 19, 1917, edition 1 / Page 1
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INDUSTRIAL ROMANCE OF MT. AIRY GRANITE The following article appeared a* I {•age advertisement in the (irwni born Daily New*. July "■ Within the border* of thi* State naar tha littla city of Mount Airy. t> ona of tha largest granite induatriai of thi* country, an antarpriaa employ ins at all timea aix to Mvan hundred ■killed workman. At tha praaant tlnu tha working area tha Mount Airy Quarries, a panorama of which ia ahown above, cover* approximately ahrty acrea, which, looking at it from a distance, owing to it* light grey color, cloealy resemble* a field of anow. The atory of the development of thi* gigantic plant constitutes one of North Carolina'* moat interesting induatriai romance*. The beginning of thi* enterprine date* back to the year 1HM9, at which time tha property waa acquired and the Mount Airy Granilo Company waa organised, with J. A. Odell a* Presi dent. Aaaociated with him in the un dertaking were J. Van Lindley, J. W. Fry, Juliua A. Bray, Thomaa Wood ruff*, Sr., J. M. Odelt, Judge John L. Cochran and M. Kaufman, the five last named now dec „>a.«ed. Shortly after the company waa organized, ad ditional property wax purchaiied. plana perfected and contract* entered into for the construction of a two-mile branch railroad into the property, and for the equipment of the quarry. A month* Inter, upon the com pletion of these improvement*, actual quarrying and the work of finishing the granite wan begun—in a very modest way, but enough to attract the attention of aome of the granite pro trade. Immediately a movement wax set on foot to discredit the use of so called Southern Granites; and for years thereafter this opposition was continued. In spite of this concerted opposition, however. Mount Airy Granite continued to grow in favor, due to its very excellent quality; and finally it was discovered that the more "knocking" it received, the better ad vertized it became. Today, after be ing on the market for twenty-eight years, it has become a standard the country over, and many of the lead ing architects everywhere are specify ing: "Mount Airy granite—or it* equal." Ita "equal" is exceeding hard to find. At the time this enterprise wu or ganized North Carolina was not rec ognized as a granite producing state. Today, however, it occupies sixth or seventh place from the top as a pro ducer of this excellent material. Another important fact worthy of mention just here is that during the period of twenty-eight years tollowing the organization of this industry there has been no single suspension of operations, although several changes have taken place in the management. The first of these changes came when the Mount Airy Granite Com ( pany leased its holdings to Thomas Wood ruffe & Sons for a term of years, During the period of this lease these gentlemen acquired the entire hold' ings of their associates, by purchase •nd, in tarn, sold to a syndicate, form ed to organize The North Carolini Granite Corporation, with head offices in Philadelphia. That was in the yeai 1 '.104; and it has been under this re gime that the greatest developmem of the industry has taken place. Kxtensive improvements were madi in the quarries to enable an economii quarrying and handling of the granite and a large finishing and power plan was erected, equipped with thorough); modern machinery—Cross Compouni Corliss Air Compressors, Klectr* Traveling Cranes of powerful rapacit] for the handling the large M win a atone, weighing many tons each, Foi i thing Machines, Turning Lathes fo large and small columns, and othe ite equally rv»r««>>ary and e*pen*iv« equipment. Upon the completion of (h.« plant the Corporation entered actively inUi competition for tha better clas* of buildinf and monumental work throughout tha country; and, aa a ra •ult, among tha notable structures in which tha Mount Airy granite ha* been uaad may ha mentioned: Tha i National Muaaum Building. Da part merit of tha Jntarior Building, and Union Trust Building, ' Washington. D. C.; Municipal Building. New York City, (the moat important building of Ita kind in tha country); Land Titla Building, Philadelph la; Fir it National Bank Building, St. Pan!, Minn.; Win ona Bank Buibfing, Winona, Minn.; German Saving Bank Building, St. Louia, Mo.; St. Nichoiaa Church and I Pariah Hour* Houaa, Atlantic City, lN,J'' : — On tha Battlefield at Gettesburg, Pa., the Pennsylvania State Mamoruil and the Monument to tie Union dead erected by the Federal government are of Mount Airy Granite; and on the Vickesburg, Mm., Battlefield the Minnesota and Mmaiaaippi State Me morials are of the name material. It ia likewise worthy of note that many of the larger cities of the coun try are building "Community Mauso leum*;" and Mount Airy Granite haa been (elected and used in the conatruc tion of the two largest thus far erect ed, one in Rose Hill Cemetery, Chicago, III., containing about two thouaand | crypts; the other in Lancaster, Pa. Hundreds of private muasoleum* in , various parts of the country are built j of thin material. For yearn past Mount Airy granite has been used in the construction of Postoffices, prat tically from coast to coast. Many to this granite and magnificent work manship to which it is adaptable. In-' eluded among these is the one of Peter G. Thompson, K*q., of College Hill, Cincinnati, O., one of the finest in the New World. < ompro -imI air play* an important I art in the economic operation of the Mount Airy quarries, it being employ ed extensively in spliting out the granite. In order to avoid the accumulation of waste, such an i* to be seen in and around many of the eastern plant*, | several year* ago a large crushing plant wa« erected, equipped with the !>e.'t machinery obtainable for the pur pose—-Cc-rlUa Engines, Gyrator cruah 1 em, Reduction Hulls, Screens, Kleva ^ tors, etc.—ami now the entire waste ' produced from the quarries and finish | ing plants is conveyed to this crush ! ing plant and converted into a mark | etable product. The Corporation discontinued its i finishing plant several years ago, leaving this branch of the business to be handled by the several independent finishing firms located upon and near , by the premises. The largest cutting and finishing plant owned by the Cor poration is operated under a lease by the J. D. Sargent Granite Company, I Inc., which does an extensive finishing business, and at present is furnishing the dressed granite for the Court House at Washington, D. C., and other important structures. The Corporation is the sole producer of Mount Airy granite in the rough, ,»nd it sells annually from two to three thousand carloads. North Carolina Granite Corporation, sole producers of Mount Airy Granite. Mount Airy, N. C. | Onyx—My wife burst into a flood ol tears the other night. ilronyx Did she cause any trouble? Onyx I should say so. Swept sway 143 fur a new hat in the first II torrent. , We confess that long retirement hai f resulted in a losv of sabre skill, bui , shortly we shall practise with the no t bl« blade—just as soon as the water r melons are big enough to fence with f THE FOOD PROBLEM. Raleigh, July 1#.-- Finding an in icltnation Munf some people to rm ' rard the Government prop estimate t> tantamount to an announcement that tha food situation ha* haan fully mat, John Paul Lucas, Executive Secretary 'of tha North Carolina Food Conaarva tion Commission, haa lasued a slate mant showing that, whila tha Ameri can farmer ia responding nobly to tha 'rail of patriotiam and humanity, tha food situation remains critical. "Outside the one (re*t fact of tha war itself," declares Mr. Lucaa, "tha food situation is tha greatest problem is the greatest problem liafore tha civ ilized world today, and it ia the <*uty obligation ami privilege of America to -loiva the problem. Every farmer, every man with a garden, and every consumer must keep this fact con stantly in mind and remember that it is the aggregate of individual effort and sacrifice that must be raliad upon to meet the demand.- of the situation. "Tha Government crop estimates, indicating a total food crope produc tion of 1,000,000,000 bushels, including 3,124,000.000 bushels of com, gives oa every reason to he encouraged and In spired, but the light has juat started. The first 'drive' has been a success, but other great drives will be neces sary before the war ia ended. Any relaxation of interest or lagging in effort upon the part of the producers of America might result disastrously. "Wheat of course is the greatest crop for human ronnumption. {hiring the last three years before the war be (ran the United States, with an aver-1 age production of more than 700,000, (K)l) bushels, exported an average of only 118,000,000 a year. The balance our Allie* and neutral Kurope wn' supplied by Russia, 200,000,000 bush-j els; Canada, 121,000,000; Argentina, 100,000,000; Australia and New Zea land, .12,000,000; British India, 50,- j 000.000. "One of the most serious phases of the international fix*! situation ii th. problem i<f trari-jx»rtation. With the world's available shipping decimated to an undreamed of degree by the Ger man submarine campaign, sufficient -hip» are not available to carry wheat from Australia and the British Indies to England and the other Allies, and it In to lie doubted if the export* from Argentina can be increased. Farther, there is no way to transport Russia's usual 200,000,uu0 bushels to the Allies. •This means that the wheat demands of our Allies and of neutral Europe must be supplied almost altogether by the United States with the aid of Canada. Thi.\ demand in normal times was ,650,000,000 bushels. Today, because of the withdrawal of millions of pro ducers from European farms, the de mand it probably considerably in ex !cets of those figures. "The wheat production in the Unit ed States m 1014 was 891,017,000 bushels, and in 1915 was 1,011,505,000 bushels; and yet, with these tremen dous crops, we ware able to export in the fiscal year 1914-15 only 332,000, 000 and in 1915-16 only 243,000.000 bash«ls. If we continue to use *heat 'in the same amount* as we have lieen ' accustomed to we would not lie able to export this year 100,00i,000 too sup ply a demand several times that amount. "In aggregate acreage and produc tion corn is the greatest food and feed 'crop in the United States. The total production of 3.124.000,000 indicated : for this year ii no greater than the re ' cord production of 1912, and is leiu than 400,000,000 bushels atiove the 'average for the last Ave years. Wt have been accustomed to consumi practically our entire com production our export* befurt the war averaging lee* than 50,000,000 fushela a yeai against the 128,000,000 bushels ex 'ported by Argentina. The demand) of our Alliea, formerly approximate!: IM),000,000 buahela, are probably not much if any lea* than three ttmaa i hose Afuran today. Bwmm of the transportation d I lit cultlaa already mentioned A rgentina will ha unable to inrraaaa Kar export* and iKa United Htalo- will ha called upon to supply ■ (ha entire demand. Thia aa ran raad ily do. "To mini up: While wa have large rropa of all food product*, except wheat, practically aaaurad, the da manda of our Allte* are ao tremen 'loua that rf wa fully aupply them, aa we muat do, w* will have laaa of all of oar exportable food crops left than we were accustomed to hava under nor mal conditions before the war. Not withstanding tha great crops being grown hy a detarminnd and patriotic people and vouchsafe# by a kind Pro 1 rtnee. we muat yet economize to tha 1 greatest extant poasihla in tha uaa of those food atulTs suitable for export and muat substitute for tham to aa great an extant as passible other pro ducts which are laaa auitad for export or to which our Alllaa a ra lass aecua tomed. "North Carolina ft playing well her part in the movement for increased food production and of food conserva tion. A 14 per cent increase in our corn acreage, a 100 par cant increase in our garden products and a larva! increase In the acreaga of potatoes,' bean*, pea* and other food crops show that the farmers of North Carolina as' a general thing are aroused to a keen ' «n»e of their duty and opportunity. "Every North Carolinian ahold look about himself or herself to find mean.* j of increasing anj conserving the food supplier. Every pound of surplus veg etables from our ten* of thousand* of | garden* should be conserve all wed to go to waste. Plans ahould' he made for a fall and winter garden to take the place of every summer garden. Every field that has been planted in corn, beans, potatoes or other food crops should receivc the m oat thorough cultivation possible and | m made to yield the utmoxt pound of their product*. Cotton should re ceive >"|ual attention because the staple is of equal importance with food stuffs and t!ie seed may be class ed as a food product. Every pound of hiy and other forage possible should be saved." THE ITALIAN SOLDIERS CAUSE MOST ARRESTS. Home, July 14.—One of the most frequent causes of arrests of soldier* of the Italian army is not for drunken or disorderly conu let but for violation of the order that w.i*n given leaf of absence to visit their hi>mes, they shall ride on slow and not e.^res-s trains. .Sold ers exert all their ingenuity to evade the order. They are always in a hurry to reach their homes, after many months absence, and as they generally reserve but a narrow mar gin of their leaf for the return trip, they are in ahurry to arrive at their posts before it expires. Since the reduction recently of fast trains on the railroads, as a coal sav ing measure, the policemen have been stationed on each fast train to pre vent soldiers, who ride free, from traveling on them. Recently on the Kome-Florence express a policeman found a big, healthy looking soldier who of course had no paid ticket. "What are you doing here?" de manded the policeman. "I'm going home from the hospital," answered the soldier. "You don't look as if you had eyer I seen on the inside of one," the other retorted The soldier silently threw !*ck his cape with his left hand. Ills entire right arm and shoulder blade were I missing. "I guess you've earned the right to i ride on the cxpreasee," said the police i man and passed on. SEVERAL YEARS LONGER THI9 WAR MAY CONTINUE A. A. EWmU, Return* From Austria Talla of Y. M. C. A. War Work Ainu. Blue Ridg*. July 14.— Fresh from hi* work In Austria among the | RuMian and Seboan priMiwni, and after having left Auatria, traveling with the American embassy on the special train Ju«t after the break be tween Germany ami America, A. A. Ehersole, associate war work aarre tary of the international committee of the Young Men'* Christian associa tion, gave the following interview at Blue Ridge, North Carolina, at the close of hi* addre** laat night to the Army Young Men'* Christian associa tion school and to the secretarial' aummer school of the city Young Man's Christian association, number ing in attendance 200 person*. "You are asking me what ia the aituatior. in Europe and how long ia the war likaly to last. I answered that oft repeated question, one who ha* just come from Europe hesitates, because there are so many factor? that enter into the situation. If I were to Judge entir»<y trom what I saw myself and heard in Austria, I would say that it would seem impossi ble that they could hold out another year. I am betraying no secret when I say that Austria la becoming de pleted, not only in her supplie*. but in everything et*e tthot I* e**ential to carry on the ordinary activities of a rountry's life. Stores are empty, many of them being closed permanent ly and others opening only for certain hours of the day. simply because they Have nothing to sell. Every avail I r if»w www j—»»—» w i 'iuihi It, rirrr^- 1 uiry to rail in mm pant the age of I SO, farmer* who have never carried a i icun, to act a* guard* in the various | amp*. It was almost pathetic to «ee these men try to do their duty, and yet one could not help hut feel that they were utterly out of place, and many of them brokenhearted men. be raute for the first time in their life they have been torn away from home relation*, and having to do military service. Just what Austria's military strength i* at the front, of course even those of us who spent the better part of the year moving bark and forth across the country from one of the prison camps where we worked to another, it is impossible to tell.1 What we do know is that the supply, both of men and material throughout the country is being completely ex-I hausted. "But, having said that much, one • immediately must add that Austria has already endured so much and held out against overwhelming odds so long and so bravely that it is hard to say how much longer shfc may endure, and then, too, it must not be forgotten that Austria, at every point where she is about to break, is immediately rein forced by Germany, with her seeming ly inexhaustible resources. Germany, the marvel of the age. Who can es timate her power? I simply stood in ;imar.ement, as I often tl-id, and watch ed trainload after trainload passing through Austria to one or the other forts on the *outh to see the stalwart men in the rank and ftla of her army, .wall fed, cheerful, hopeful, optimistic, every last one of them. In this re spect, one noticed a marked contrast between the armies of the two coun tries. The Germans seem to continue : to be in better condition than the Aus trians. Somehow, we can hardly con ceive it, Germany still succeeds in pro viding adequately for her troops and over and over I was assured by tho^e who seemed to speak with authority that even with her tremendous Iocs, 1 she is able to muster in each year enough men who have just come to 'military age to replace all of the men that she had lost, so that she has to day, after three year* of war, as large ind h efficient army a* «he hut at tfc* l«rlnniii(. " How l«n( will >l» war last? Per sonally, I do not ntiauu to give aa anawer, but K ia my raMIH and lit nermoet opinion that it ia likely to laat aoveral yeara, amf aa f ratarn to Ilia homeland .after an abaenra of near ly a year, it la with minified emotion* that I *ee what ia taking place bar*, l.ittle did anyona auppoae a yaar ago Americawould ha compelled to take her ahare in winning thin war, hut it coma* to nna ua ml aurpruM to »aa tha wonderful reaponae that one aoaa on avary hand nn the part of tha American people. I would not hava believed it if f had bean told in Kuropa that in an ahnrt a time the whole coun try would be no thoroughly arouaad and ao completely devoted aa tha American people now aeem to be tha great taak before them. "One of the moat encouraging aa pect* of tha kind abroad in the coun try to me ia the wonderful reaponaa which the Young Men'* Chriatian aa aociation ia meeting in ita andaavor to take over the taak aaaigned to it by President Wilaon—the taak of pro viding suitable educational aocial and religioua activities at all the variou* training ranter* here at home where the men are aoon to lie gathered in thousands, and where they are to ha put in shape for the great fight that they are to help the leader* to make, and in the training renters that are being gotten ready for the troopa in France, where they atill will hava •omr month* of waiting and prepara '.iona before they actually go to tha Front. •'*•"» w «»i et men arui money to Jus work >ii just the beginning. The immediate and moat important task ir« to do through the Young Men's hristian association in the various nilitary ramp*. I was more than de ighted to learn upon my reaching SVw Yorlc that already training ichooU had been organized for the jurprme in different part* of the coun :ry. It was with great pleasure that I accepted the invitation to visit on* ■>f the largest of the** training schools here at Blu* Ridge, which I under hand to t>* the center of the Young Men's Crristian assooiation workers for the southeastern district, under the command of Gen. Leonard Wood, and 1 want to express my thorough appreciation of the splendid work that I found in progress here. As for lo cation and equipment, it seems to me that Blue Ridge equals, if not sur passes, any of the training schools that it has been my privilege to visit. When this term of school is over there should be a second group of young business and professional men, who seeing the great opportunity which this form of ««rvic» offers, will have offered themselves to their coun try in this capacity. While a large number of men have volunteered, there is as yet a lack of men of ma turity who can be at once put into these centers as executives, and whom we shall have to send in even larger number than we yet have into France to properly command our work in the centers there. The international com mittee is turning to this training cen ter for the south to furnish its quota of thes* more mature men, and we be lieve that in this, as in all other times of tasting, the southland wi.l not b* found wanting." There are a great many people who would I* very much benefited Dy tak ing Chamberlain's Tablets for a weak or disordered stomache. Are you one of them? Mrs. M. R. Seal, Baldwins ville. N. Y„ relates her experience in the use of these tablets "1 had a had spell with my stomach about «tr mar h* ago, and was troubled for two or three weeks with gas and sever* pains in the pit of my stomach. Oar ilruggist advised me to take Cham berlain's Tablets. 1 took a i>ttie home and the first dose relieved Ha wonderfully, and I kept on taking them until I was cured." Thes* t a Mela de not relieve pain, bat after Ar paia has been relieved may prevent lie re currence.
The Mount Airy News (Mount Airy, N.C.)
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July 19, 1917, edition 1
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