The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1925-02-06
MORE IN AUTOS
THAN SCHOOLS
Pasquotank Has Investment of
$l,704,0O0, Three Times
More Than Schools

1000 automobiles, has an in
veStmcnt in this property OF
Sl.I04,OOO, or three times as
much as its investment in
school property, according to
fiourcS recently COMPLIED by
students OF the University OF
North Carolina. Its invest
mcnt in school property is "iv-
en- at $5SS,OOO.
PaSquotank' ratio Of investment
in schools to automobiles is better
than the state average. which Is
shown by these figures. The states
Investment in automobiles is nearly
four times as great rs its investment
in public schools.
In the five counties of Currituck,
Camden. PaSquOtank. PerquimanS
and ChOwan. there are J,6OG auto
mobiles. licensed according to fig
urcS given this newspaper by Will
liam II. Gather. Treasurer of the
Auto Il Gas Engine Works, local
Ford dealers. PaSquOtank has p
O6O of these cars. says Mr.. Gather.
or 3 Ippr cent of all the ears in
the five counties. and one and one
half percent of all the ears in the
State. The five counties mention
ed above. own 3.S per cent of all
the cars in the State. Seventy pcr
cent Of the cars in PaSquotank are
FOrdS.
1t is Interesting 10 note that Mr..
Gather says from 65 to - pcr cCnt
of the cars placed ia this section
are sold on Il time. or credit basis.
and thar p to ~ per cent are trad
ed. If all the ears. to which his
company now holds title were plac-
cd in line. they would reach for Il
mile or more.
Some Startlin" Information l.
given out in thc findings of Edgar
+. Thompson. the University stu
dent who complied the figures for
the state. He says:
Cummon-<chool and public ligh-
! school properties in North Carolina
now represents II total Investment
| Of u little more than 60 million dol
/ lars. 1t is sixty times thc amount
. invested in publir-School properties
! Twenty-Five years ago.
/ But since 1911 the automobile
: owners in North Carolina have i'll
vested little more than S2iO,Om,-
I 600 in motor cars. Which iS Ia say.
around three hundred thousand peQ-
pie in North Carolina have invest
/ cd four dollars in motor ears for
: every dollar twemty->evcn hundred
/ thousand people have invested III
| public school buildings.
The simple fact is that it has
come to bc Il disgrace in this state
for Il community To- have shabby
SchuolhouSc for the children. and
almost equally il disgrace for man
on any level of life To bc walking in
stead of riding an automobile.
The plain people of North Caro-
lima are not povcrty->trickcm on the
one hand. neither are they rich on
the other. At any rate, they are
rich enough to invest in motor ears
in amazin" mullitpdc>-all sorts
of people white. black. blue. and
green,
The wUrkmrn on the buildings of
the University park more ears on
the campus every day than the
fac,llty members are able to do.
The farmers aud factory workers
of Europe own no cars. but the
farmers the factory workers. and
the day labOrcrS of North Carolina
! own cars in multiplied thousands.
Startling Contrasts
The table elsewhere in this issue
presents in alphabetical order III
parallel columns the investment iI
motor cars and in public-schOcl pro
pprtiC< county by county. y few
of the poorer counties like Clay and
: Dare have two dollars invested in
automobiles for every one dollar i'll
vested in schools. ON the Other
} hand. Pcndcr and LcnOir have
more than nine dollars in motor
cars for every dollar in schools.
Graham. IL county set in the clefts
of the Great Smokey Mountains, en-
joys the unique distinction of being
the only county in the state Will
greater wealth in schools than il
motor cars.
, SiXty-Scvcn counties in NOrtl
Carolina have each moro than :
million invested in motor ears. il
amounts ranging from Sl.OT,0OL
, in IIokc. to $14,OO0.OOO in Gull
: ford but only sixteen counties have
, more than Il million dollars invest
: cd i'm public-schOols properties.
f In Ten Counties
Here are the figures. represent
= ing the estimated investments il
. automobiles. and in public schools
| i'm ten northeastern North Carolina