The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1907-10-10
HENDERSON. n c., THURSDAY OCTOBER TO- 1907.
Cotton Mills Of the South.

The Baltimore Sun speaks truly OF
the wonderful progress in the growth
Of the cotton mill industry OF the
South i'm the following:
IF the seats of Pullman car were
30 feet higher" says the Square
Deal, "a passenger would hardly be
out of sight of Il cotton mill from the
time he left Danville, Va, until he
reached Atlanta, Ga.-a distance OF
400 miles. 1t is one long mill village"
Our contemporary thus in striking
way depicts u great change that has
taken place in Southern industry in
the last thirty years. In the Pied
mont region of the Carolinas and
Georgia is one of the worlds great
cotton manufacturing districts. and
some of the largest mills are farther
South. A factor in this new develop
ment Of manufacturing industry is
the utilization of water power. Great
dams have been built upon the rivers,
and the power thus obtained is either
used in loco or wired to distant
mills At Whitney, N. C.: for exam
pie, IL dam 333 feet long across the
Yadkin river will, with the help of a
four and one-half canal, give a fall, it is
stated, two thirds as high as Niagara
and generate 145,OO horsepower.
Charlotte, Greensboro and Concord
large mill centers-are expected to
receive this power by wire, not to
mention numerous smaller towns less
remote. At other points like engin-
eering feats are creating additional
power for use in mills. furniture fac
tories, ETC., with the result that from
Danville to Atlanta and beyond into
Alabama new industrial era is
dawning. More mills are being built,
q large proportion of the people are
learning the charm and comfort OF
ampler income, and the agricultural
interest ceases to be the greatly pre-
| dominant one. This means an altered
type OF social organization, more
schools, wider intellectual activity.
diversified interests and generally i'm
proved culture. A great and benefi-
cent achievement of recent years is
the provision of attractive work and
brighter outlook on life for the
mountain folk. These have been at
tracted into the mill country by the
wages offered, gladly abandoning
their one-room cabins and dreary
mountain existence for the compara-
tive luxury Of the factory village.
Their present incomes spell affluence
in comparison with their former
earnings The children have good
schools, habits of industry are ac-
quired, and all around the social and
economic situation is ameliorated.
| The attitude OF employers toward
t'child labor is commendable. ''All
the larger mills in Spartanburg
county, says the Square Deal, "main-
tains free schools for the children in
their villages A mill president is
quoted as saying, "Some time ago We
may have had child labor because it
was cheap; but considering what they
do, the children that work now are
the most expensive help that we
have. The best place for the children
is in school, the next best place (for
those over the legal age) is in the
mill, and the last place for them is
running loose in idleness." Capital
is being accumulated. employees
deposit in local banks and the money
is used for building more mills. The
situation is accordingly one of thrift
and growth. "Such," adds our con.
temporary, ''has been the rapid
transformation OF the Piedmont re.
gion that the railroads which a few
years ago served this section with
ease are now, in spite of tremendous
improvements in rolling stock, unable
to handle the freight that originates
along their lines The story is one
OF prosperity in widening curves-a
prosperity on which the Sun heartily
congratulates its Southern friends.