The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-09-23

during which it is available. The
shorter period will run. say six
months, during the season OF foods in
the wet months. The mills buy tina
cheaper surplus during the months
when it is to be had. and the rest OF
the year they use coal. Coal is not
expensive at Greensboro, as the mines
OF the West Virginia coal fields ara
scarcely more h a hundred miles
in an air line from the town. With
coal SO convenient on the other hand.
and water power on every side. on the
other hand two important strings for
the bow, fortify the Gunford county
factory against any excessive cost for
power.
Bearing on Social Economy.
The student Of social can
find some interesting lines of specula,
ton in Greensboro. When cotton
manufacture commenced or a broad
entng scale in the South, hands fitted
for the work were not available.
Growing mills have become vast
training schools for operatives The
technical schools have been turning
out capable superintendent and man
ayers. At q rapid pace the people Of
the mill communities have been learn.
ing to run cotton mills and make cots
ton products. In the beginning
wages were low, because the opera
tives could do but the cruder kinds Of
cotton mill work. But the change
has come. A high degree Of skill
characterizes the mill hands Of North
Carolina now. Hands have grown up
in the mills, and they have become
efficient. The weaveS of the Southern
mill are as good as the product Of the
Northern mill or the English mill.
Wages are as high in the South az
in the North and higher than in he
o11 y-nr1I nnffnp mill lahnr of
ability and reliability has been
credited. The mills Of North Caro-
lima can undertake any class Of cot
ton mill production and in any
quantity. Those problems are solved.
But the finer cloths are not mad
to any extent In the State and pos
sibly may not be for a long time. A
broad trade is built up in certain
makes of goods, as the denims OF
Greensboro, Or the f%lannels, and there
is no reason to change to another
elias of goods. Greensboro is thriving
on denimS and flannels, just as High
Point is thriving on hosiery, Durham
or tobacco sacks, cotton, etc, and
with these lines becoming more
firmly established every day, it is
likely that the tendency will be to
broaden in the one thing rather than
to drift to others.
+ My first thought at Greensboro was
Of Greene and his continental troops,
and the Carolina and Virginia militia
But the dream of revolution days
quickly passes as it is realized that
Greensboro is more thar merely a
memory Of the early historical days
with which the town Is SO closely
associated. The past Is written in
the pages of u country's story, but
the future is bigger here tina the
past.
Has Markings OF Great Capacity.
Greensboro is almost !wo hundred
miles from the nearest considerable
city, which is Richmond. It is over
three hundred miles from Baltimore.
Atlanta, Cincinnati, or PittSburg,
which constitute the line of cities that
are nearest. 1t does not require a
very skillful hand at figures to cipher
out that with capital automatically
increasing. with industries growing
OF their own expansive vitality, with a.
vast territory turning this way to
market its cotton, with the energy
Of the awakened community and the
wide expanse Of country making
Greensboro it's commercial capital
this town within the next few years
VIII be a city Of magnitude from its
W. momentum. Growing slowly.
substantial character, adding weight
as it developed, it's motion today is Of
that forceful character which drives
everything before it.
l noticed a certain good-natured
rivalry between Greensboro and the
other live towns up this way. But
there need be none Each is moving
along on its a carried by the parti-
GUAR FACTOR which it serves. and each
IS gong TO move ahead swiftly in its
oWn peculiar direction. But one does
mot conflict with the other. From
durham to Winston-Salem the field
Is Dig, and each town has its task
aheao or 1t. and its field with its tasks.
one OF half a dozen Of these towns
nay ultimately be bigger tina the
other, but they will ali he big in 2
te" years, bigger than l would like to
De tell YOU. for you would either be
surprised or doubtful, and l do not
iike TO surprise folks. I will tell you
nus tnough in confidence. Il YOU