The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1910-06-12
SOUTH CAROLINA
COTTON MILLS
THE WONDERFUL GROWTH OF
THE INDUSTRY IN THAT STATE
IN PAST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS.

from the southern Cotton NILS DlTcC-
tory, which gave the names and loca-
tion and capital stock of some of the
capital stock OF these mills which are
all in operation today; and all of them
having been erected in the last TWEEN
ty-five years and two-thirds of them
have been built within the last fifteen
years; is $76.3S455OO0.
inquired particularly into the bus
mess of one of these mills and found
that this bill company was organized
in July 1895 and commenced opera
ton in 1896 with 24O looms and 7jO
spindlcs This was gradually Increased
until today the mill has 1900 looms
and 1900 spndles.
The great bulk of the goods manu-
facJured by this mill is cloth which Is
sold and used for overals in all parts
of the United States and in many for
eign countries. The capacity of this
mill and the amount of goods manu-
factured is SO,OO0O00 yards annually,
they use 10000 bales of cotton per
annum. they employ 5000 operators,
who with their families live in cot
tages owned by the company and lo-
Gated on its property adjacent to the
mills. Each cottage occupies lot 10
by 100 feet and rents to the opera
tor at $3.50 to $500 per month per
hause, varying in accordance to the
size of the house. The front yards are
used for flower gardens; the seeds,
bulbs flowers and shrubs being fur
nished free by the company and prizes
offered each year for the one showing
the best flower garden. The rear of the
premises are used for truck gardens,
most of the people raising their own
vegetables
The power to run this mill is de-
veloped a. a power station which is
equipped with four large steam engines
connected with electric generators
having a capacity of 10000 horse pow
er. This mill is one OF the biggest
mills in the Southern States, having q
floor space of 16 acres. the weave flooi
is 904 feet long by $50 feet wide,
nearly four acres in one room, and mas
roof consisting Of one vast skylight;
the cotton ware house having a stor-
age room with capacity of 30,OOO
bales of cotton.
The children of the three thousand
operators are given free education
by the company. School houses are
built and kept open nine months III
the year, employing twenty-three
teachers, educating more than SIX
hundred children. Beside the rtgular
Graded school work the children are
taught music. cooking and sewing
Every Christmas the children are re-
ouired to write letter to Santa Claus
who responds with huge Christmas
tree at each school house containing
bags of candy. nuts, raisins and many
other Christmas gifts for eve"y child
in school, 1t also brings to every fam
ilv in the village, numbering moIe
than one thousand, fat turkey
Besides the graded schools the com
pany maintains kindergarten for the
| little fellows too young 20 go toI
school For those who work in tie
mills and cannot attend during the
day. classes are held at night and on
Saturday afternoons, as the mills only
run a half day on Saturday.
In n separate cottage in charge OF a
Young man employed by the company
there is a club house for the boys ana
voung men. Here reading and game
rooms are kept open until nine o'clock
at night and on Sunday afternoons.
On the 4th of July the employees OF
the mills and their families are given
a picnic by the company. Stages and
stands are erected for the bands,
]
and an enormous feast is prepared for
more than eight thousand people.
Some idea of the size of the picnic Can
he had from the following items OF the
1909 bill of fare, to-wit:
10000 hot frankfurters.
$4,000 boiled eggs.
1000 water melons.
10000 bananas.
And many gallons of ice cream.
As stated before this mill works
2 600 hands and these operators make
on an average of $4,000 per month and
is run principally by young women
and boys over fourteen years of age.
You find among these operators. a ma
iority Of them being among the best
people of the country. Ninety per
cent of these operators come from the