Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-25
MILLIONS IN MILLS
Cotton |ndustry's Growth in
South Carolina.
WATER POWER UTILIZED
Generation of Electricity From the
Rivers.
COMPARISON WITH THE EAST
Operatives in the South Supplied
With Better Homes and More
Healthful Surroundings.
WITH THE EAST
BY WILLIAM r. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM +. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence OF The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
SI'MMERVILLE S c. March II 1905
We are not in the habit of considering
South Carolina as a manufacturing state.
| although she stands second and next to
| Massa Chusetts in the amount of capital
| invested in cotton factories. in the num-
Der of spindles and in the value OF their
product. She stands fourth in the manu-
| facture of commercial fertilizers fifth in.
| fruit and vegetable canning. and fifth in
| the manufacture of hosiery and knitted
goods.
| There were cotton factories in South
Carolina as long ago as 1887, but they did
not amount to much. In 1910 there were
fifteen mills. with a capital of a little
more than S6O0,OOO and an annual prod
uct of about S459.OOO. In 1860 and at the
outbreak OF the civil war there were sew
enteen factories. with capital of $500 600.
a product worth q million a year Al SS4
| spindles and 1911 employees. In 1850 the
industry had practically doubled and
| then it began to grow. Its rapid develop
ment from that time on has been largely
due to the activity of the Charleston
News and Courier. the Columbia State
and other newspapers, which started the
| CRY. Bring the mills to the cotton. in
| stead of taking the cotton to the mills,
and save the transportation charges
/ Mills Drawn to the State.
| The gospel preached on that text i'm
pressed many men of capital and enter
| prise. and the consequences may be seen
in the mill villages scattered all over
the state. which have done SO much to
develop the character improve the morals
and promote the material welfare of a
| large portion of the population as we'll as
| multiply the wealth To the farmers
especially have the mills been beneficial
| They have afforded a home market to the
| cotton and for everything in the way of
| food products they could raise Take
| Spartanburg county, for example, which
! used to be lonely and dreary waste,
without anything that makes existence
! happy or profitable. The waterpOWer
| that nature supplied caused thirty-seven
| cotton mills to be built in that county,
! which annually consume 2!OOOO bales of
| cotton. which is five times as mush as is
| raised In the county. and produced So
100000 in actual money last year, The
mill villages are composed of comfort
able frame cottages, neatly painted white
or some other color. with five or six
! rooms: and they rent for 81 n room per
month TO the mill hands. Each cottage
! mas quarter Of acre of ground,
where the family can make a garden and
encourage their tenants in producing
the best display OF flowers or the greatest
value in vegetables.
These cottages. situated i'm the high
| lands in the Piedmont country, in a mild
climate. are infinitely more comfortab bic
than the crowded tenements of the fac
tory towns of the north, and although
the wages paid down here are considera-
bly, lower. the cost of living corresponds
and the operatives are enabled to save a
good
thrifty and economical. The fact that they
do so is indicated by the eight million dol
lars Of deposits in the banks of Spartan
burg county. But all that money does
not belong to the mill families At least
half of it was deposited by the farmers.
Cotton Sold for Cash.
About 10000 bales of cotton are pro-
duced in Spartanburg county which Is
carted directly to the mills and sold for
cash. The money goes into the banks
Before the mills We're built cotton was
sold to local commission me rchants to set
tie debts for food and clothing, imple
ments and fertilizers, that had been in
CURED in making the crop. Upon s,,cb
advances the farmer paid from to 10 per
cent. and often more. interest Now. in
stead of paying interest to his commission
man. he sells his cotton for cash and
draws interest upon his money from the
bank Cotton is high just now Ten-cent
cotton used to be considered better than
any gold mine: today cotton is selling at
more than II cents a pound. and the crop
of Spartanburg county is worth from
81. 10000 to S:;.UOO.OO To complete their
supply the mills buy four times as much
more from the farmers of the adjoining
counties. and all roads in that section
of the state lead to Spartanburg
In addition to their cotton CROP the
farmers dlave to supply food for a popula
ton of 10000 which has been drawn into
the towns and villages around the mills
The pay roll is regular and certain. and
about one-half of the wages of the oper-
atives are spent for what the farmer can
furnish. He has steady, certain mar
ket. and when he carries q wagon load Of
garden truck. eggs. poultry. butter and
meal to town. he gets cash for it,
That is what the cotton mills have done
for South Carolina and other parts of the
south. for Spartanburg is type of
twenty mill towns that have sprung I'D
down here since 1856.
The Cotton Industry.
If you want to read the figures that
show the growth of the cotton industry in
South Carolina during the last seven wears
here they are:
1900. 1907
Number corporations so $50
Number spndies 1.43l.;43 :i.6GS 7il
Bales consumed annually 4S5.O2i 774'G5
Value of product 500, 723..l1 $40, 5000
Number employs 3O.2Ol n. 1851
Mill village popuat I'll .+GS 12S 2SS
Number children employed S,1l0 SIol
In addition to the above cotton factories
already in operation. eighteen new plants
with a,GA spindcs and representing an