The gold leaf., 1904-12-08
PROGRESSIVE HENDERSON.


A Prosperous and Growing Town
Whose Business and Manufacturing
Enterprises Have Assumed Large
Proport,ons-Its Development as a
Cotton Manufacturing Ientre-Ihe
Corbitt Buggy CompaDy-Splendid
System of Graded Schools, Etc.
Mr.. Josephus Daniels, editor OF the
News and Observer, was Il Henderson
visitor last Thursday, coming to look
in upon the Conference and take note
OF the growth and progress of the
town since he was here last. In Il
lengthy article i'll his paper Sunday
among other things he said this:
How Henderson has grown! 1t was
prosperous and rapidly growing town
when it was my good fortune to visit 1t
for the first time in 1888, when the
whole county turned out in homage to
Senator Vance, in whose honor the
county had been named. Henderson
was then about One-third as large as
now, but it was on the crest OF the wave
of progress. Tobacco was high, new
factories were being built, and it looked
like tobacco was going to make Hender-
son another Durham. But that was be-
fore the blight OF the Tobacco Trust fell
upon this section. When the trust, by
virtue Of its monopoly, sent tobacco
down from thirty cents a pound to SIX
cents pound Oh this market, Henderson
staggered under this blow. Its growth
was checked and it looked like it was
doomed to remain a small village. Prop
erty went down and down, the postotfice
receipts fell Off, and population decreased.
But something like eight years ago the
progressive men of Henderson. seeing
that Henderson could not grow to large
proportions without factories that give
employment to labor, began to build
factories. There are two here now-the
Henderson and the Harriet. TO show
how great factors they are i'll Hender-
sons growth. it is but necessary to say
that they give employment to one thous-
and people and it requires twenty thous-
and bales each year to keep them going.
They mark the present southern and
northern boundaries of Henderson, but
the growth OF the town is steady and if
the town continues to grow these fac
tories will soon be in the heart Of the
town
One OF the most successful OF Hender-
son 5 newest industries is the Corbitt
Buggy Company. 1t was organized only
few years ago on d small scale. Intel
ligent management caused the business
to grow and last year one thousand
buggies We're manufactured. The stock
Jf the company brings l.JI. Not many
years ago Henderson and adjacent points
were good places for drummers for Gin
cinnati buggies They now give this
country the ''go-by." The Corbitt bug
gies are so good and so popular the
people will Use no others. The success
n this company shows what Southern
Drains and skill can do. The South will
never get rich until it makes what it
needs and utlizes IS own skill for turn
ing out the finished product.
Speaking of the SOuth's own skill re-
:alls the fact that in the Henderson cot
con mills no Northern superintendents or
iOremen have ever been employed. The
management started out with the policy
of giving all these places to home men ii
Chey could do the work. They have
shown that they have rs much skill and
genius in machinery and management as
che trained Massachusetts spinner. and
they understand "Nof Caliny ways"
much better.
Whenever the progressive men who
own the cotton factories have desired to
enlarge the withstand they have more
than doubled the capital in the last four
years-lt has been easy to get all the
money needed. Some Northern money
mas gone into the mills, and not long
ago when it was decided to enlarge one
OF the mills. the Northern capitalists
were anxious to take the additional
stock, but the home stockholders would
not permit it-they wished to take
1t themselves Nearly all the money in
vested i'll these mills is home capital, they
are run by home talent from top to bot
tom, and managed so wisely that they
have paid dividends when other mills |
nave had hard shedding. That's what
North Carolina brains and North Caro-
lima skill has done here And it is what |
can be done all over North Carolina and |
is being done more and more every day
The institution that is the chief pride |
OF Henderson is its graded school The !
people here tried a long time to get along
without Il public tax for schools. \ few
years ago they started Il graded school |
and We're fortunate in getting Mr.. J. T. |
Alderman as superintendent. After ALL |
how much there is in u man, And how
important it is to have the right man in
the right place! The Henderson graded
school is as good as the oldest graded
schools because it has the right man as
and the right men as trus-
teer. Mr.. ID. \. Cooper showed me. framed
and hung up in his office, a picture of
the graduating class. The people here
all take deep interest in the school rs
this fact shows. The trustees have pur-
chased an eligible anI central site for the
new and modern brick building that is
to he erected
The next step Henderson will take is
to pave its streets 1t will then have ali |
the essentials for growth and progress.
The growth in the past eight years has
been steady and marked along all lines.
1t stands second to no other town as a
tobacco and cotton market, no longer
depends upon one crop or one interest.
and its people are of the sort that know
how to utilize their advantages. Its
business and its industries are on a
sound bottom and Henderson will con-
tlnue to grow upon solid and substan-
tial lines
A Frightened Horse,