The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-10-25
Especial Correspondence.)

Especial Ccrrespondence.)
Raleigh. ". c., October %.
The state labor commissioner today
completed the chapter on cotton mills
for his annual report. North Carolina
is in point Of production OF cotton goods
n yarns and I'm number OF spindles
far ahead Of any other state in the
south n V South Carolina. which is
second. and Georgia. hic is third.
The latter state has 500. 900 fewer spin
dies than North Carolina Only four
other states. all in New England. ex-
coed North Carolina as 10 this indus
try. North Carolina, which now occ,i-
pies the fifth place. in iSso held tao
ninth.
The number OF spindles as reported
actually in operation October LIST. is
l.0so.0O0. These are in 225 mills. all OF
which manufacture cotton goods exclu-
sively, including spinning and weav-
ing and hosiery mills.
During the year two mills were burn
I'd. one OF these being at Elizabeth
City. The Crown mills at Greensboro.
which operated old machinery, went
OUT bL buSinGSS because business MAS
not profitable with such "A plant.
Twelve new mills were granted char
ters during the year. and work on
these Is in progress. They are the Lip
pard x Shealey, at Concord; the Eden
ton. at Edenton. the Williamson.
at Fayetteville; the Durham hosiery,
at Durham: the Glenn. at Greensboro:
the kinston, at kinston: the Shelton &
Smith, at Charlotte: the ~Smitherman.
at Troy; the Pee Dee No. .. at Rock
fngham: the Nantucket. at Spray; the
WisCassett. at Albemarlc; the Nor
wood, at Norwood. Several Of these
have begun operation. The Kinston
cotton mill has installed its plant with
in the past thirty days. The Coleman
cotton mill. at Concord. which is TO be
operated entirely by negro labor and
most of the stock in which is owned by
negroes, is installing its plant and will
begin operations by or before the end
OF the year.
OF the mills reporting % per cent.
furnish their employers dwellings free
OF cost, 3 per cent. charge nominal
rents and 81 per cent. charge regular
rents. The general average OF wages,
including all classes OF labor. skilled
and unskilled. adult and child. is 67
cents a day, an increase OF , cents over
last year. One mill reports a decrease
in wages. 81 per cent. an increase and
rs per cent. no change.
The average humble of hours consti-
tuting a days labor is ia. ON an av-
erage the mills were in operation 293
days during the year. The sanitary
condition OF the mills is good, Z per
cent. very good and 4 per cent. fair.
The figures as to the sanitary condi-
ton Of operators houses is about the
same.
Ninety-ive per cent. OF the mills re-
port sufficient educational and reli-
gious advantages, 2 per cent. fair adj
vantages and 3 per cent. no advant-
ages. Usually in this state the mill. the
church house and the school house are
found together. Thirteen per cent. of
the mills have free libraries for the
employees, n q per cent report moral
Improvement Of operators. As To finan-
cial condition of opertives. s per cent.
report it rs very good, "a per cent. as
good, 80 per cent fair. and only / per
cent. that it is not good. As To i'm
provement of financial condition OF OPP
eratives no less than 90 per cent. re-
port it, while 3 per cent. say IL Is sta
tionary and 5 per cent. No improve
ment. There are free school at &c per
cent. of the mills.
During the year, as reported, there
We're only 81 accidents, one of which
was fatal. This is a remarkably small
percentage and speaks highly for the
management OF the mills.
One chapter of the report Is devot-
ed to the lumber mills Of eastern North
Carolina. This has been summarized
already in this correspondence. A
chapter just completed gives "A list OF
209 important lumber mills Of the mid
die and western counties. The mills In
this section have never before been
t~abulated. The minor mills. OF which
there are hundreds, are not included
in the report.
AS to the kinds Of lumber In most
demand 90 per cent. Of the mills re-
port pine, 30 per cent. oak and 5 per
cent poplar. Wages are low. averaging
for engineers So cents. firemen 10 cents,
sawyers s1.0S. laborers co cents. ON
an average the mills were in operation
141 days during the year. No figures
as to the total output could be secured
in time for this years report.
+. a. OLDS.