The sun., 1910-05-05
SOUTHERN MILL CONDITIONS
BgTTER THIN ~ THE NORTH.
NlIS D. PATTERSON.
He. Interested In Plants a. RssnsEs
Rapids, y. 4. Child IAbsF OuIcry
unreasonable Grateful There Are
NoI nIons and Na HAlklnE DeleEales

.',"n years ago at tho rapids Of the
u.4r.a" River m North Carolina stood
rr1l0g cabins To-day ON the same spot
trarc > a busting town u between 1900
and 5uOJ inhabitants. living in model
cottages. each OF which has a garden at
uclei The reason Tor the town Is two
b.s cotton mills. aud a third has just been
J4.f
samuel = Patterson. who is largely
responsible Tor the existence Of the town
OF Roanoke Rapids. ~ G.. is az the I'm.
rerll Mr. Patterson Is treasurer and
general manager u tho Roanoke Mills
Company. the Rosemary Mills Company
ani the Patterson Mills Company. He
Avs hat tho persons who picture deplor-
able conditions attendant upon child
LABOR ot the south either know nothing
about what they attempt to describe or
else deliberately misreprOssnt the facts.
'Ours are not like the mills up North.
vhch do not have practically 20 adopt
their help said Mr.. Patterson yesterday.
In the North mill hands ara worked like
machines. and IN many cases are treated
~ such. In most cases the mill com
panss do not have 10 own the houses in
which their operatives live They pay
their hands and there their obligations
Ceass. Of course there are exceptions TO
It's but am speaking Of the rule.
In the South when We are building a
mill We ara compelled 90 provide houses
!or 'ur help. We do not send North for
k.rHa E,a.satsa thaza -, ...,,,lN - III
cone down with their heads filled with
labor union and strike notions. What we
DO Is to get out into the haCkwoOds and
upon the plantations and get the native
whites There - no oolorsd hbOr EN-
pioyed in the mills down there
There has been a great hue and crv up
here about child labor down there. and
manv exaggerated pictures have been
d-Awn. ANY one Who u familiar with the
s4bject Will tell YOU that the children
vorElng IN the mills IN the south are very
nuch better oh than those on the farms /
The latter are 50 far from the public I
schools IN most instances that they can |
never attend them. In Roanoke Rapids !
a. the children up 70 the age Of 10 20 70 /
school regularly.
The articles published about unhealthy .
cundIions IN the mills are criminally /
exaggerated. As matter OF fact. the /
modern mills OF the South are more 10 .
70 date in construction than is imagined. |
and atmospheric conditions In the build |
ngs are really better than in nine-tenths
n the residences OF wealthy persons In I
heating mills IN the South hot air il al
noe, universally adopted. and in connec-
ton With this there u an apparatus for /
molstenIng the air. Every cubic foot OF /
ar Is displaced every half hour In the 1
sumner the same apparatus Is used for /
cooling
The condition Of our help after leav-
ma the farms ls tremendously improved .
10 a great many ways besides that OF .
schools. Better houses are provided than .
tbev have been accustomed To. and each .
family has tue Use Of garden plot Every .
room IN each house II provided with cleo .
trIc light. These houses cost including
and au4 that IN large lots about O.. 100 20 /
build and the rent amounts only 10 about I
81 a room a month. Most Of them are sin
glshousss and every hOuse - two stories
Moral conditions among our mill EN-
rlovees are very much better than thos.
mat exist for the shop girls IN many
- our large cities Wages ia the south
have increased tD such an extent that
hetWeen them aud tnU-s' UaId Iu New ing
and and the cost ot living Is a lot less .
lhe average girl over ~ can make from
81 ~ 20 g. dav
Articles have been written which /
asserted that oar employees were re- |
ouiT,-d a. deal 1 siHr,.z run by rhe COIN I
panisz This b. false In almost every
Instance M our town thor. are more
than twenty stores 100 which the mill I.
-.
The companies however have an interest .
in one store. but 30 j. ~ On account II .
the fact that the other merchants com
hined % raise tho prlces - the uauesstri-s .
~ life. ~ We had ~ buii q store 10 B
protect ourselves and our employees from
,Nfortion.
We have improved the health ~ tha
town by closing up all f1" shallow wells
and allowing the employees the u@a II
water from deep wells The water We have
snaiyzed by a chemist before We permit
10 ~ ha used
We have never had any labor trouble
2 anv kind with one exception. The
4wz ~ the STATE allow ~ % work sixty
. hours a week We v0luutHr.Iv Iv reduced
'ns number - hours to sirty-fhrae and
then our hands struck for sixty hours
After about week they came back ~
work with the exception - those We
W1Illu not tAhe Oafk. ms vas Two wears
20 and We have had no trouble since
There IL no labor organization of any
and IN Roanoke Rapids and II We can
seNp walking delegates out w. aniiciuata
00ne Some Of the@e gentry have ven
? rrd down there but ! understand that
a''Nr they had made the acquaintance of
ne chilling waters % tho Roanoke they
as' ~ hack for whence they had come
Our woTkmen are perfectly satisfied.
~ have never closed for a single minute
'.r lack n orders and We have never ,
2 81 n pay IN cash every week
There is a large and excellent graded
srt1ol with = big attendance and therp
arc five churches. No property V owned
.g negroes. the only negroes m the town
beng employed for domestic purposes
--1 f1r handling freight They do not ,
make good skilled labor The houses
he town are about ninety FIVE feet ,
apart and the streets ara lighted by
sar'urity There are two power com
par as m the town. which Use the water
- '-a Roanoke. and We get power from
.-'r In the mills and IN the town We
-a r1e merit system a. far M possible
-ar-g fpr efficiency and giving prizes
= no hest kept gardens The result ~
.~'-n"rous and happy little COM ,
r.rfv