The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1909-02-04
SOUTHERN MILLS.
A Review of Achievements
and Conditions in the Caro-
l~inas---Carolina Operatives
Equal to Any.
American Wool and Cotton Reporter.


In a textile sense as Massachu-
settes and Rhode Island are to the
North the banner manufacturing
States, so the Carolinas are to
the South, and some entertaining
statistics are prepared, showing
them to be the centres of textile
industry in that section of the
country. In the matter of capt.
talization, North Carolina mills,
352 in number, including those
devoted to cotton, wool, silk and
knitting, are capitalized at $54,-
1872, 300, and they operate 3, 1O3.-
O79 spindles. tits estimated that
the average dividend paid by
these corporations will equal 6
per cent, the normal return
from a mill share investment, so
that share holders in North Caro-
lima mills received about S 1921,
538 during 1908.
There are about 5000 looms
and $500 knitting machines in
North Carolina and 1872, 961 horse
power is necessary to drive the
mill equipment, and electricity is
the most popular driver in both
Caroiinas. There are about co.
600 operatives employed in North
Carolina mills and the fact that
rs per cent can read and write is
an Indication of a good order of
intelligence in the mills. Ninety
per cent. of the manufacturers
oppose employment of children
under IL years of age, and 70 per
cent, favor the compulsory school
law, which rather upsets the
pictures painted by some of our
yellow journals, and about as
yellow magazines, of the child
slavery in the South, and the
hard-hearted manufacturers who
are the slave drivers.
The average days work in the
North Carolina mills is 10 7-8
hours, and the highest average
wage for men is $3.50 a day,
with the lowest average 70 cents
a day. The highest average for
women operatives is $1.30 per
day, and the lowest &c cents a
day.. The average for children
is 81 cents.
South Carolina leads the South
in spindleage and is second in
the limited. States, ranking next
to Massachusetts. There are 1872
textile manufacturing corpora
tons in the State, operating B.
TIC, 981 spindles, and 81, 744
looms on a capitalization of $685.
1872, $50, and the average dlvl-
dend disbursements are about
6 per cent, or So, 419, 523 on the
capital stock of the mills. About
go, 600 operatives are employed
in producing SIT, 900, 600 worth
of finished fabrics from 300, 600
bales of cotton, and the value of
the product is materially increas-
Ing, which shows expansion and
production of finer grades of
goods. OF the cotton manufac-
turing States operating as many
as one million spindles, Mas
sachusetts comes first with about
9. 500. 900, South Carolina second,
with 3,713, 900, North Carolina
third, with 2, 944, 404, Rhode Is
land fourth, Georgia fifth, New
Hampshire sixth, and the time
has arrived when the Carolinas
rank fully as high as the North
in the quality of help, and the
result will be an increase in fine
goods production from those
States in the future.
Considering the condition of
business in all lines during 1908,
the results reported by the mills
in the Carolinas are gratifying
and creditable to the manufac-
turers in those States, and it
signifies their ability of meeting
adversely as well as prosperity,
and overcoming all difficulties
and at the same time showing
progress.
Fine yarns and fine goods
should be. the slogan of the Caro-