The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-12-12
ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW.

Conditions in cotton mills in the
South are not ideal. Are conditions
ideal anywhere? We permit children
OF too tender an age TO work In the
mills and sometimes the homes rent
ed 10 the operatives are not as youl-
Portable as they should be. Waves
are not hiah and girls WORK too long
hours. These drawbacks are being
remed!ed. But. admittin1 tn. ae,d Of
improvements which are being made.
the truth Is that most II the MAGAZINE
articles have drawn a wholly unfair
picture Of life in Southern mill COM
munitles and made the reader have A
wholly untrue conception OF the real
conditions. southern newspapers n
reply have told the truth. shown the
in the welfare OF those employed in
the mills and the kind relations sub
sIstlng between employer and en-
ploye. Generally the mill owner and
his family live in the same village
With the operatives. and in sickness
and trouble there has been reciprocal
sy mpathy and help.
The time has come for a story that
will illustrate actual life il n mill VIII
lage. With 4 fair statement Of The atti-
tude of Southern cotton min men -
illustrated in the daily life of the
people. That story has been written
by Mrs. Margaret Busbee Shipp. Of
HGl1ioh who InNac 70 IaT,rE Iar ...i,
people when not truly represented.
and whose story is the result Of study
and knowledge Of conditions ut first
hand. Mrs. Shipp has won a high
place among the writer's of short sto-
ries and her many friends will watch
with interest for the forthcoming #
this story, which will appear in the
February umbe of Smiths Maya
zine. As showing the appreciation OF
her story by the editor of Smiths. in
the January issue just from the press
in the What the Editor Has to Say
department is this reference to the
forthcoming story:
we wish to call special ana en-
phatic attention to a story by Mar
garet Busbee Shipp, which appears IN
the mex issue of Smiths. II is the
story Of some of the people engaged
in a Southern textile mill. We have
read stories n articles about these
Southern cotton mills for years Of
and on. They We're almost withou
exception written from one point ~
view. The cotton mill was an iniqui-
ty, it fostcrcd child labor and a thou-
sand other crimes against humanity.
The owner, the manager, the stock
holders were fattening OF the lie
blood OF the people. AS q matter OF
fact. this is by no means true. AS a
matter of fact, also. a great deal of
the stock of these Southern mills is
held by good conservative Church-Eo-
ing people in the North who are not
ashamed to take their dividends or
to complain if they fall below eight or
ten per cent. Mrs. Ships story in
the next issue is not written from
holds W the other side Of the shicld
for inspection. There are two sides
to every question in the world. You
will find his side at least interesting.
You may rest assured that the story
lit is called The Bottom Rung"-
is a faithful transcription of actual
events, q portrait of real characters,
a piece of life as it actually is in "A
Southern town. Mrs. Shipp IS a
Southerner herself, and knows where
of she writes. Moreover, she has the
ability to UaFe living people live for
US again on the printed page. The
Bottom Rung'' is an unusually good
short story, one Of her best. You al
remember 1.-THE Palace Of Truth
But Half a Man" and other work
of hers. We want you TO be sure TO
read this
Mr.. $. II. Hobbs. a successfal farrn-