The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-06-21
The Spirit of Progress in
North Carolina.
NV Col. ]. B. KilIebrew.l

written for the Manufacturers Record)
a recent visit to the Old North State
impressed the writer with the rapid adj
vance in public sentiment regarding all
those matters that go to build up dura-
BILE prosperity. Everywhere the spirit of
Improvement is rife, In industrial mat
tiers, and especially III the manufacture of
cotton goods, tobacco and furniture, no
other Southern State has made such graf
flying progress. Cotton mills enliyen the
banks of every stream that affords suf-
fcient volume Of water to be utilized DOR
driving machinery. Many of the towns
have built up mammoth tobacco factories,
which employ hundreds of operatives, and
the products of which go to every part
of the world The furniture factories,
for which the valuable forests Of the
State supply abundant raw material. are
in most flourishing condition.
The number of textile mills in North
Carolina. according to the latest figures,
is 260. There are certain centels IN which
this special industry is most pronounced
These are Charlotte, Burlington. Gas
tonia, Raleigh, Rockingham, Randleman.
Mount Holly, Concord Greensboro, Kings
Mountain. each of which has five or
more cotton mills of some kind. either
spinning or knitting. OF the 1,376,960
spindles added to the cotton mills of the
United States during the past two years.
/ ,051 1853 are in the South. South Carolina
takes the lead IN the number of looms
and spindles. North Carolina comes sec
ond. though first in the number OF mills.
Georgia stands third The high prices of
raw cotton just at this time are having
depressing effect upon all the cotton
mills in the State The heavy goods and
heavy yarns which for the most part are
manufactured require a much larger per-
centage of raw cotton in proportion to the
prices of the manufactured products The
mills for the making of finer goods scarce
ly feel the effects of a rise of a few
cents in cotton. while the mills for maxi
ing coarser goods which are sold at lower
prices are quickly and powerfully affected
by such rise. The only remedy is to
make higher-priced goods that consume
smaller proportion of raw cotton in pro-
portion to the value OF the goods. Several
mills will suspend operations unless the
price of cotton falls or the price of goods
advances.
The influence of example was never
more forcibly shown than in the building
up of the cotton mills in North Carolina.
A few successful mills erected twenty-four
years ago made investments in the manu-
facture of cotton popular Fortunately
for the State and for the people, this tex
tile industry was Managed with skill.
conservatism and honesty. Each sue
cessful venture was the fruitful parent
of others, and so mill after mill was
built, and almost every wen-to-do citizen
was animated with a desire to become a
stakeholder. In 1870 there were only 81
cotton mills in the State; in 1880, 40; in
1856, so; in 1894, 1877; in 1897, 207, and in
1902, 26O.
The same thing was exhibited in the
growth of the furniture factories. High
Point became the center of this indus
try, and Durham of tobacco These two
manufactured products have a ready mar
ket. The furniture is shipped mostly to
the Southern and Western States, much
Of it going to Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska.
and even as far as California. The high
est styles of furniture are not manufac-
tured at present. The products are of
useful rather than of an ornamental type.
There is no reason, however, that the
great profit The white-oak forests in the
Piedmont region OF the State furnish lum-
ber of the very highest quality The
grain is close, the wood dense and bears
the highest polish The saw-mills OF that
region have not yet begun to make quar-
ter-sawed lumber, though it would be
worth much more than the Straightforward
lumber. The white-oak lumber used in the
manufacture of furniture sells for $17.50
to $40 per thousand. If quartersawed it
ought to bring from $40 to $50.
1t is surprising to find with what rapid
ty the manufacturing establishments of
North Carolina have been built up in the
absence OF supply of cheap coal. Wood
is mainly used for the making of steam.
and many of the water powers have to be
supplemented by steam-power during the
summer months. All steam-power is used
i'll many of the furniture factories. Wood
for making steam coal, per cord. deliver
ed in summer, $3.50; in winter. SITS. In
many parts of Tennessee and Alabama
steam coal is laid down at the cotton
mills at $1.10 per ton. Taking the relative
values OF coal and black oak as steam
producing fuels, we find that 1850
pounds of blackjack wood is equivalent
for steam-making purposes to 1900 pounds
of coal. The cost of 1900 pounds of coal is
slxty-four cents, and an equivalent of
wood fifty three cents (wood $3.50 per
cord and the weigh per cubic foot at
72.15 pounds.) Then f1fty-three cents
worth of wood will make as much steam
as sxty-four cents worth of coal But
wood is by no means such a reliable fuel
for generating steam as coal. 1t is more
bulky, harder to handle and store. and
this additional labor of handling and stor-
ing makes it more costly fuel. and this
is especially so in winter when it is
to be hauled over muddy roads.
The public opinion in favor Of building
good roads is growing very fast. Only a