The E. S. C. Quarterly
VOLUME 5, NO. 4 (FORMERLY UTHE U.C.C. QUARTERLY") FALL 1947
NORTH CAROLINA HAS RAW MATERIALS, WORKERS, NATURAL AND FINANCIAL
RESOURCES FOR MORE, BETTER AND LARGER RURAL INDUSTRIES
MACHETES, brush
axes, jungle hooks,
are also used for box-ing
trees for naval
stores, turpentine
HOOKED RUG mak-ing
is an important
and remunerative
home industry in
rural areas of
North Carolina
PUBLISHED BY
Employment Security Commission of North Carolina
(Formerly "Unemployment Compensation Commission of North Carolina") __
KALtlGH, N. Q. mml uKIVlRSITYT LIBRARY
PAGE 82 THE E. S C. QUARTERLY FALL, 1947
The E. S. C. Quarterly
Volume 5 ; Number 4 Fall, 1947
Issued four times a year at Raleigh, N. C, by the
EMPLOYMENT SECURITY COMMISSION OF
NORTH CAROLINA
Commissioners : Mrs. W. T. Bost, Raleigh; Judge C. E. Cowan,
Morganton; C. A. Fink, Spencer; R. Dave Hall, Belmont;
Marion W. Heiss, Greensboro; Dr. Harry D. Wolf, Chapel
Hill.
State Advisory Council: Capus M. Waynick, Raleigh, Chair-man;
Willard Dowell, Raleigh; H. L. Kiser, Charlotte; Dr.
Thurman D. Kitchin, Wake Forest; Robert F. Phillips, Ashe-ville;
Mrs. Dillard Reynolds, Winston-Salem; Mrs. Bmil
Rosenthal, Goldsboro; W. Cedric Stallings, Charlotte.
HENRY E. KENDALL Chairman
R. FULLER MARTIN Director
Unemployment Compensation Division
ERNEST C. McCRACKEN Director
North Carolina State Employment Service Division
M. R. DUNNAGAN Editor
Informational Service Representative
Cover illustrations represent typical North Carolina
industries under the unemployment compensation
program or related activities.
Cover for Fall, 1947—Two activities representative of the
numerous types of rural industries in North Carolina.
Top—Hooked rug making is engaged in by members of
many rural families in their homes and yards. This scene
is in a home on US Routes 19-25 in Yancey County. Sold
to summer visitors and by contract to retailers. Bottom
—
Machetes are made by Council Tool Co., Wananish, pro-ducers
of several kinds of hand tools. They were used
extensively in jungle operations of U. S. marines and sol-diers
in World War II. Yes, that's K. Clyde Council, pres-ident,
on right. These and most of the other pictures in
this issue were made by John Hemmer, State News Bu-reau,
Dept. of Conservation and Development.
Sent free upon request to responsible individuals, agencies,
organizations and libraries. Address: E. S. C. Informational
Service, P. 0. Box 589, Raleigh, N. C.
CONTENTS PAGE
Rural Industries Committees 82
Balanced Economy Demands More Rural Industries 83
By Dr. L. D. Baver.
More Rural Industries to Boost State's Income 8 4
By Paul Kelly
Materials, Labor, Capital, for Rural Industries 86
By W. C. Guthrie
Rural Electric Power Adds Impetus to Industry 90
By David D. Barber, Jr.
Many Types of Rural Industries Now Operating _ 91
Water, Surface and Ground, Vital to Industries ._ 93
Surface, By W. H. Riley; Ground, by M. J. Mundorff.
Garment Making Plants Should Increase in State 97
By Milton M. Croom.
Investigations of 85,000 Claimants for Benefits 98
By Hugh M. Raper
Industrial Opportunities Abundant in This State 99
By Marshall L. Shepherd
Employment Increasing and Shifting in the State 102
By Silas F. Campbell
Employment Service Tests Aid State's Industries 10 4
By Lois Clarke
State-Community Planning Needed for Employment 106
By Ernest C. McCracken
Facts on All Types of Industries for Prospects .. _107
By Philip Schwartz
Industries, If Sound, Wanted by All Communities . „109
By Paul Kelly
Small Firms in Small Communities Gain Rapidly 110
By Silas F. Campbell
RURAL INDUSTRIES COMMITTEES
Governor R. Gregg Cherry has appointed two spe-cial
committees to promote and aid in the extension
of rural industries in North Carolina. One is the
Operating Committee of eight members, all but one
located in Raleigh, and the General Committee, com-posed
of 100 members throughout the State, with
three or four, all railroad officials, residing outside
the State.
The Operating Committee consists of Dr. L. D.
Baver, N. C. State College, chairman; Paul Kelly,
Dept. of Conservation and Development, secretary;
Dr. Clarence Poe, T. E. Browne, Dan E. Stewart,
Randall B. Etheridge, Dean I. O. Schaub, State Col-lege,
and T. V. Rochelle, High Point.
The General Committee of 100 members includes
the following: Lt. Gov. L. Y. Ballentine, Miss Ella
Stephens Barrett, W. K. Beichler, William C. Book-er,
J. Melville Broughton, G. W. Coggin, Miss Kath-erine
Dennis, Clyde A. Dillon, Dr. J. S. Dorton, Col.
A. L. Fletcher, E. Y. Floyd, Fred Greene, H. G. Isley,
W. B. Logan, M. G. Mann, Gwyn H. Price, L. L. Ray,
W. Kerr Scott, Dr. J. L. Stuckey, Paul S. Vecker, Dr.
D. S. Weaver, all of Raleigh; George Ashford, Red
Springs ; W. B. Austin, Jefferson ; John C. Baskervill,
Lenoir; S. W. Black, Jr., Charlotte; Tom Bledsoe,
Greensboro; Joseph H. Bryan, Greensboro; C. S.
Bunn, Spring Hope; James W. Butler, Goldsboro;
Harry B. Caldwell, Greensboro ; Fayette Cloud, Liles-ville;
George S. Coble, Lexington; Dr. R. E. Coker,
Chapel Hill; G. D. Conant, Wilmington; K. Clyde
Council, Wananish; Brice T. Dickson, Gastonia; R. S.
Dickson, Charlotte ; W. W. Eagles, Macclesfield
;
Alonzo C. Edwards, Hookerton; B. B. Everett, Pal-myra
; James S. Ficklin, Greenville ; J. H. Fields,
Wilmington ; C. A. Field, Wilmington ; E. K. Garner,
Charlotte ; L. Lee Gravely, Rocky Mount ; C. D. Gray,
Gastonia ; Dr. I. T. Haig, Asheville ; Robert M. Hanes,
Winston-Salem ; Leo H. Harvey, Kinston ; S. T.
Henry, Spruce Pine ; W. H. Herndon, Sanford ; Miss
Harriet L. Herring, Chapel Hill ; George Watts Hill,
Durham ; Dr. S. H. Hobbs, Jr., Chapel Hill ; Mr. Hol-brook,
Statesville ; Josh L. Home, Rocky Mount ; Joe
Howard, Greensboro; Gordon C. Hunter, Roxboro;
J. P. Jobb, Wilmington ; Millard F. Jones, Rocky
Mount ; W. L. Jones, Goldsboro ; Mose Kiser, Greens-boro
; Marshall Lake, Charlotte ; John Paul Lucas, Jr.,
Charlotte ; Wade Marr, Elizabeth City ; James G. K.
McClure, Asheville; H. A. Morgan, Smithfield ; R. E.
Nance, Lumberton ; Reeves Noland, Waynesville
;
Lass Nowell, Ahoskie; Carroll Overton, Salisbury;
Roy A. Palmer, Charlotte; Mayon Parker, Ahoskie;
Thomas J. Pearsall, Rocky Mount; J. Hawley Poole,
West End ; S. T. Proctor, Fuquay Springs ; D. Hiden
Ramsey, Asheville ; R. Grady Rankin, Gastonia ; Reu-ben
B. Robertson, Canton ; Carroll P. Rogers, Tryon
;
Fred S. Royster, Henderson ; J. T. Ryan, High Point
R. Flake Shaw, Greensboro ; Frank O. Sherrill, Char-lotte
; H. H. Singleterry, Albemarle ; Miles J. Smith,
Salisbury; J. Brantley Speight, Winterville; Charles
H. Stone, Charlotte ; Harry H. Straus, Pisgah Forest;
(Continued on page 105)
FALL, 1947 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 83
Balanced Economy Demands More Rural Industries
By Dr. L. D. Baver, Dean, School of Agriculture and Forestry, N. C. State College,
and Chairman, State Rural Industries Operating Committee
The soundest economy that a state can have is a
balanced industrial and agricultural life. Agricul-ture
should provide the products of the soil that can
be processed into articles of commerce. It should
provide for the food that is consumed by its popu-lace.
Industry should provide the opportunities for
the employment of labor that will serve as a market
for the products of the farms and for the transforma-tion
of the raw materials from the soil into economic
wealth. Industry, to be effective in a stable economy,
should be widely scattered throughout the state and
not concentrated in just a few areas. Industries may
be large and small. Contrary to the opinion of many
people, it is not a small number of larger industries
that makes a state great. It is the distribution and
strength of the smaller industries that play the sig-nificant
role. True, a state cannot get along with no
large industries. Likewise, it cannot make progress
only with the larger ones.
North Carolina is noted for its textile, furniture
and tobacco industries. These three industries have
added wealth and strength to the State, particularly
in the Piedmont and adjacent areas. Interestingly
enough, all of these industries process the products
of the soil and of the forest. The soil and the forest
happen to be our major natural resources. But, the
industrial pattern of the State does not present a
picture of maximum economic stability. At the pres-ent,
most of the industrial plants are concentrated in
a few cities and urban communities. For example,
95% of all the industries are located west of Raleigh.
Only 5% of industrial North Carolina is in the east-ern
section of the State. Ten counties with only 21 %
of the population are responsible for 46% of the
industrial employment. In spite of the fact that the
soils of North Carolina produce a wide variety of
crops that lend themselves to processing and manu-facture,
only 15% of the industries of the State are
engaged in activities outside the fields of textiles,
tobacco and wood.
As one looks into the future, he is impressed great-ly
with the necessity of having more industries scat-tered
throughout the rural areas of the State. This
is particularly true of eastern North Carolina. The
need for more industries is there. The opportuni-ties
for meeting this need are there.
Let us look at the employment situation in agri-culture
in the future. Farm mechanization is already
here. Cotton pickers are picking cotton on farms
in the State now. There will be more of them. The
other phases of mechanical cotton production will be
put into operation rapidly throughout the State. This
is the one important way that production costs can
be cut down so that we can afford to grow cotton.
What will this mean? Less labor required in the
cotton fields. Research rapidly is solving the prob-
NOTE—Dr. Baver resigned, effective January 1, to become Director of the
Experiment Station of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association at Honolulu.
lem of mechanizing the peanut crop. What will
happen when the labor requirements of peanut har-vesting
are materially reduced? More labor avail-able
for other purposes. There is even cause at this
time for suggesting that less labor will be required
in the future in the growing of the tobacco crop. All
of these statements simply mean that the large num-ber
of persons now on the farms of the State will
not be required in the future to farm the lands of
the State. What will we do with them? They must
seek industrial employment someplace and that place
is in the respective communities in which they are
displaced from the farms. In other words, we need
rural industries just to solve a sociological problem
that lies ahead,—just to give employment to people
that will no longer be needed to farm.
But there are other reasons why we need rural
industries. We need them to increase the overall
per capita and per family income in the State. A
state that sells the products of its soil at wholesale
prices outside the State and then buys the processed
goods back at retail prices is losing money. It is not
the money that is paid for the production of the raw
material that adds up large income figures. It is
the money that goes into the wages of skilled and
semi-skilled workers who process the raw material
that counts. North Carolina is sending too many
of its raw materials outside the State for processing
for its own economic good. Let us use one glaring
example—peanuts. North Carolina is second in the
nation in the production of peanuts. But, where are
the peanuts processed into peanut butter, peanut
candies, peanut crackers and the like? In North-ampton
County, the number one peanut county in
the nation ? NO ! In Chicago, Cincinnati, Philadel-phia
and other cities where the only contact of the
Granny Donaldsen, of Marble, Cherokee County, created and
makes "cow blankets'', one of the unusual products of Southern
Highland handicrafts. A humane activity, but the poor cows
get little benefit. The blankets are used largely as wall
ornaments.
PAGE 84 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY FALL, 1947
average citizen with a peanut in the shell is at a
baseball game. Last winter I went into the grocery
stores of Elizabeth City, which is at the very doors
of the peanut belt, to look for processed peanut
products. All of the peanut candies, except an in-expensive
peanut bar, and all the peanut butter
came from outside the State. Even small bags of
shelled peanuts offered were put up in Philadelphia.
Other similar examples could be cited for other
products of the soil. Similar examples could be
given for the mineral resources that are so abundant
in the mountain area of the State.
Then we need rural industries to help us develop
a balanced system of agriculture in the State. North
Carolina has been primarily a one-crop type of agri-cultural
State. This is especially true in the tobacco,
peanut and cotton belts. Nearly everyone is agreed
that what North Carolina agriculture needs most is
diversification. This means livestock and poultry,
fruits and vegetables. But livestock needs feed
crops. Livestock and poultry producers need mar-kets
for their products. Fruit and vegetable farm-ers
need markets also. These requirements of agri-cultural
diversification can only be met by feed mills
strategically located throughout the farming areas
so that the farmer can market his grain and also
purchase his concentrates. There must be cold stor-age
plants for both animal and horticultural prod-ucts.
There must be more freezer lockers and quick-freezing
plants. There must be marketing facilities
for grading and packing. Now, none of these plants
will require a large labor force to run them. How-ever,
in their total aggregate, they will give employ-
( Continued on page 112)
More Rural Industries To Boost State's Income
By Paul Kelly, Assistant Director, N. C. Dept. of Conservation & Development
A higher level of living is one of the most natural
and worthy objectives of any community or state,
and such an attainment depends, to a major extent,
upon the incomes of the people.
North Carolina has gained national acclaim on
her progress record, in many respects, during the
last several decades. However, in spite of this
progress, the State has lagged in the per capita earn-ings
of her citizens. Records compiled by the U. S.
Department of Commerce ranked North Carolina
in 42nd place in the per capita income of $316.00 in
1940, compared with the national average of $575.00.
Although the per capita income for North Caro-lina
for 1945 had increased to $732.00, the national
average had jumped to $1,150.00, and the State drop-ped
to 44th place among her sister states. By com-parison,
the earnings for the average New Yorker
for the same year was $1,595.00.
One of the most logical means of increasing the
earning capacity of the people is through the process-ing
of more of our raw materials into finished man-ufactured
products. Almost without exception, the
most prosperous states are those where industrial-ization
has progressed to the greatest degree.
Greater industrialization means not only a better
and a surer income for the producer, but, in addition,
provides more employment opportunities and usually
some profit for the developer.
See Need for Local Industries
For some years, the State has worked through a
systematic advertising program and a vigorous fol-low-
up campaign through the Division of Commerce
and Industry of the Department of Conservation and
Development toward inducing manufacturers to
establish new plants in North Carolina. These activ-ities
have been carried on in cooperation with Cham-bers
of Commerce, railroads, power companies, and
other civic and promotional agencies. During all
this time the need has been felt for more adequate
facilities for encouraging and promoting what are
called home or local industries. At the same time,
those concerned with the development program rec-ognized
the desirability of greater diversification in
industry.
About the middle of 1945, Dr. Clarence Poe, editor
of The Progressive Farmer, called the attention of
Governor R. Gregg Cherry and a group of State
leaders to the urgency of a rural industry program
in North Carolina. He cited, in particular, the accom-plishments
of a movement of this nature in Georgia
and the fact that with increased mechanization of
the farm that larger numbers of laborers would
need to seek employment elsewhere as machinery
continues to reduce the requirements for manual
labor on the farm.
In November, 1945, Governor Cherry called to-gether
about 100 business, agricultural, and educa-tional
leaders from all sections of the State and a
number of State officials at Raleigh, in a two-day
conference to discuss plans for rural industries. In
calling the meeting, Governor Cherry said that North
Carolina needed to expand industrially to assure
full employment and a more balanced economy.
Special committees were appointed and met in
individual sessions. Definite plans were discussed
and suggestions were submitted by the various com-mittees
on forestry, crop processing, food processing,
minerals, dairy products, repair services and mar-keting
services. Governor Cherry then appointed a
committee of nine men known as an Operating Com-mittee
to assist more actively in carrying out the
rural industries program in the State. A Rural In-dustries
Branch was established in the Division of
Commerce and Industry of the Department of Con-servation
and Development.
Governor's Operating Committee
The General Rural Industries Committee appoint-ed
by Governor Cherry includes representatives of
all State agencies concerned with agricultural and
FALL, 1947 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 85
industrial development in North Carolina, farm or-ganizations,
industrial promotional agencies, public
utilities, transportation companies, trade groups,
and business and professional organizations working
toward the development of the State. The Operat-ing
Committee is made up largely of officials repre-senting
the State agencies concerned chiefly with
industry and agriculture and business leaders. Mem-bers
of the Operating Committee are Dr. L. D. Baver,
director of the Agricultural Experiment Station and
Dean of the School of Agriculture and Forestry, N. C.
State College, Raleigh, Chairman ; Dean I. 0. Schaub,
N. C. Agricultural Extension Service, N. C. State
College, Raleigh; T. E. Browne, N. C. Department of
Education, Raleigh; Felix A. Grisette, director of
the then N. C. State Planning Board, Raleigh ; Ran-dall
B. Ethericlge, Division of Markets, N. C. Depart-ment
of Agriculture, Raleigh; Dr. Clarence Poe,
publisher of The Progressive Farmer, Raleigh ; T. V.
Rochelle, president Globe Parlor Furniture Co., High
Point; Dan E. Stewart, assistant to the Vice-Presi-dent,
Carolina Power and Light Co., Raleigh; and
Paul Kelly, Assistant Director of the N. C. Depart-ment
of Conservation and Development, Raleigh.
A series of eleven regional meetings was held
throughout the State, beginning November 18 and
ending December 11, for the purpose of discussing
both the need and the opportunity for small indus-tries
in each section of North Carolina, utilizing the
products of each community as well as the surplus
labor, and the available financial resources. Each
meeting took in a number of neighboring counties,
thereby covering every county in the State. These
meetings were attended by bankers, business, civic,
agricultural, industrial, and educational leaders and
State officials.
The type of industries and services discussed would
create more jobs, increase the per capita earning
power, raise the standard of living, decrease the
exodus of labor from the State, utilize the available
financial resources in the State, and thereby con-tribute
to the stabilization of the farm population,
and make North Carolina a much better balanced
State from an economic standpoint.
Although the term Rural Industries has no strict
classification, it usually applies to small enterprises,
located in rural areas, utilizing nearby resources,
and developed by local interests.
Local Meetings On Program
Since the eleven meetings, the program has been
pushed along vigorously and the first results are now
in evidence. The Rural Industries Branch chose to
follow what appeared to be the most logical proced-ure
in prosecuting the program; and that was to
determine, through its own studies and with the
advice of experts in the cooperating agencies and
elsewhere, various lines of manufacturing which
appeared to offer the best opporunity for immediate
development. These ideas have been passed along
to interested potential developers and the general
public.
Truckloatl of vegetable shipping baskets from the plant of the
Corbett Packing Co., Wilmington, near which port city is
located one of the best truck growing areas in the eastern part
of the State.
The basic form of these suggestions is a series of
briefs presenting a few logical reasons which seem
to point out a demand for manufacturing plants of
a certain type and proposing that interested devel-opers
give mature consideration to their possibilities.
To date, five of these briefs have been prepared and
circulated generally throughout the State. They
have also received publicity in the press and by radio.
Among the new types of enterprises suggested for
development in the first five briefs are food and
vegetable processing, small wood-using industries,
potato processing, feed manufacture, and projects
related to the poultry industry. In some instances,
the briefs are contributed by experts in other agen-cies.
Plans are to continue the issuance of these
briefs as long as logical opportunities for new indus-trial
development are apparent.
Another group of publications under the title of
Resources-Industry Series has been initiated. These
bulletins elaborate on opportunities and give some
specific suggestions concerning procedure in setting
up a certain type of manufacturing plant. Some of
the publications in this series are prepared by the
Department and others by cooperating agencies.
Bulletins Give Information
Three bulletins in this series have already come
from the press, one on the preservative treatment of
fence posts, another on the roofing manufacture, and
the third on opportunities in dehydration. Two man-uscripts
were furnished by cooperating agencies. The
response to the publications was immediate and wide-spread.
Results from the suggestion of fence post treating
plants have been most pleasing. Since the issuance
of the publication, six or more plants have been
brought into operation, more are under construction
and probably a score or more are under consideration.
The Department had no previous record of the exist-ence
of a plant of this nature in the State.
Although the roofing industry bulletin has been
off the press only a few weeks and the cost of a plant
(Continued on page 114)
PAGE 86 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY FALL, 1947
Materials, Labor, Capital, For Rural Industries
By W. C. Guthrie, Division of Commerce and Industry, Dept. of Conservation and Development
North Carolina has a population of 3,571,623 ac-cording
to the 1940 United States census. The
average density of population is 68 persons per
square mile. Approximately 70 percent of the popu-lation
are whites and 30 percent are Negroes. The
greatest portion of her people are native born, and
spend most of their lives within the boundaries of
the State.
The State has a total area of 52,286 square miles,
comprising 100 counties. There are 48,666 square
miles in land area. The greatest length of the State
is over 500 miles, and the greatest width is 188 miles.
There are three main physiographic regions in North
Carolina, namely, the Mountain Region, the Pied-mont
Region, and the Coastal Plain Region, thereby
presenting a wide variety of natural resources, agri-cultural
and industrial development, as well as beau-tiful
scenic and fine recreational opportunities.
During the war years North Carolina formed
plans to develop within the State new and enlarged
commercial and industrial enterprises. Much thought
was given to the utilization of raw materials, labor,
and the available financial resources that would
enable these plans to result in the actual establish-ment
of such industries and enterprises. These plans
are now being put into effective peacetime use, and
are beginning to show tangible results in many sec-tions
of the State.
In 1945 the State Department of Conservation and
Development announced that 387 new industries and
expansions, involving an investment totalling $84,-
000,000 were recorded in the State. Some began
construction in 1945, and others have been delayed
due to the critical shortage of building materials.
Of these, 225 were new plants located in the State
in 1945 involving an investment of $47,000,000, em-ploying
16,000 workers whose annual payroll was
estimated to be $21,000,000. Industrial plants num-bering
162 and already operating in the State, an-nounced
plans to invest $36,000,000 for expansion
purposes, thereby employing an additional 18,000
workers who would receive an additional $25,000,000
per year in wages.
Heading the list in North Carolina was the textile
industry followed by other industries in numerical
order, such as food and kindred products, furniture
and finished lumber products, stone, clay and glass
products, paper and allied products, chemicals and
allied products, tobacco manufacture, and other
classified industries including non-ferrous metals,
machinery, lumber and timber basic products, and
miscellaneous industries. With the expansion of in-dustrial
activity comes the expansion of small busi-ness
enterprises throughout the State. (Mecklenburg
County leads the other counties in the State in new
industries, followed by Guilford, Wake, Durham,
Gaston, Buncombe, and Alamance in that order).
Special attention is being given small rural indus-tries
for the purpose of utilizing the available raw
materials in the various communities throughout the
State, as well as the available labor supply. The
banks in the State have credit resources of nearly
$2,000,000,000, and are most anxious to see North
Carolina expand industrially and commercially; and
are making more small loans today than ever before
since their establishment.
Average Income Too Low
There is a definite need for North Carolina to fur-ther
develop rural industries in each county through-out
the entire State in order to produce a better over-all
economy for the State as a whole. This is shown
by the following figures released in a special report
of the United States Department of Commerce giving
the per capita income of individuals according to
states for the year 1945, the national average being
$1,150.00:
New York, $1,595.00; California, $1,480.00; Con-necticut,
$1,449.00; Washington, $1,407.00; Dela-ware,
$1,381.00; New Jersey, $1,373.00; District of
Columbia, $1,361.00; Illinois, $1,360.00; Massachu-setts,
$1,321.00; Rhode Island, $1,200-$1,300; Ohio,
$1,200-$1,300; Michigan, $1,200-$1,300; Nevada,
$1,200-$1,300; Oregon, $1,200-$1,300; Pennsylvania,
$1,100-$1,200; Indiana, $1,100-$1,200; Wisconsin,
$1,100-$1,200; Iowa, $1,100-$1,200; Kansas, $1,100-
$1,200; Nebraska, $1,100-$1,200; North Dakota,
$1,100-$1,200; Montana, $1,100-$1,200; Colorado,
$1,100-$1,200; Maine, $1,000-$1,100; Vermont,
$1,000-$1,100- Minnesota, $1,000-$1,100; Missouri,
$1,000-$1,100; South Dakota, $1,000-$1,100; Wyom-ing,
$1,000-$1,100; Utah, $1,000-$1,100; Idaho,
$1,000-$1,100; Florida, $900-$l,000; New Hamp-shire,
$900-$l,000; Texas, $900-$l,000; Arizona,
$900-$l,000; Virginia, $900-$l,000; West Virginia,
Edwards Printing office is located deep in the hills of Yancey
County and does a big mail order business in all the eastern
states. The presses and linotype machines are run by steam
boiler power. His only help is tico children.
FALL, 1947 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 87
$800-$900 ; Oklahoma, $800-$900 ; New Mexico, $800-
$900; Tennessee, $800-$900 ; North Carolina, $700-
$800; Alabama, $700-$800; Georgia, $700-$800
;
Louisiana, $700-$800 ; Kentucky, $700-$800 ; South
Carolina, $600-$700; Arkansas, $600-$700; Missis-sippi,
$500-$600.
The average per family income for North Carolina
in 1940 was $1,386.00. The average for the nation
was $2,133.00. The per family income is less than
the average for the State in 80 counties of the 100
in the State. The most direct means to increase the
standard of living is to increase the per capita and
the per family income. In 1940 the per capita farm
income was $181.00. The average for the nation was
$388.00. The counties that are more industrialized
are the counties that have the largest per capita in-comes.
Also the standard of living in these counties is
higher than in counties having few or no industries.
The wide difference between individual income in
North Carolina and other parts of the nation can be
due largely to the greater industrialization in states
of the north, east, and middle west. Sections of the
nation, as well as sections of the State, have the
largest per capita income where there are industrial
and commercial industries.
Many Counties Lack Industries
The North Carolina State Planning Board obtain-ed
the following figures showing that the majority
of all industry in North Carolina is too highly con-centrated
in a few urban communities : 46.5 percent
of all industrial employment is concentrated within
only 10 counties. These counties contain only 21.4
percent of the total population. Only 34 counties
have as many as 25 percent of total employment en-gaged
in manufacturing. Sixty-six counties are thus
under-industrialized. Only 37.7 percent of all in-dustrial
employment is in these 66 counties. In these
66 counties, industrial employment accounts for only
16.4 percent of all employment. There are 60 coun-ties
which have no city containing as much as 5,000
population. There are 61 counties in which there is
no Chamber of Commerce. Recent surveys of loca-tions
of newly established industries and expansions
of existing industries are in those same communi-ties
which are already highly industrialized.
The above facts and figures show there is a definite
need in North Carolina for the establishment and
the development of rural industries and services in
each county throughout the State. They would
create more jobs, increase the per capita earning
power and income, decrease the exodus of labor from
the State at its age of greatest productivity, and
thereby contribute to the stabilization of the farm
population of the State. It should be the purpose
and desire of the people of the State to establish and
develop industries and services so as to dispose of
every product and raw material we have in the form
of merchandise and products as purchased by the
consumer, thereby utilizing the raw materials and
surplus labor in each community in the State. This
m %
iPfTl i
:****l^^
"Largest in the world" is the claim of the proud owner of this
overshot waterwheel, which no longer operates a rural in-dustry.
However, it is used to attract visitors to the tavern
at Gay, Jackson County, in the Cherokee Indian Reservation.
would make for a much better and well balanced
economy throughout all of North Carolina.
Farming operations in the south will be almost
completely mechanized during the next few years,
which will bring larger family-size farms and greater
diversification. This will reduce the number of farm-ers
in the population and will make available workers
for employment in rural industries. This will bring
drastic changes in farming operations.
Industries Develop Community
In August, 1944, the Long Island Star Journal pub-lished
an article about people and stated "A FAC-TORY
MEANS THIS : Thousands of you now work-ing
in factories around the borough will be interested
in the following findings of the Queensboro Chamber
of Commerce anent the importance of a manufactur-ing
plant in your community ... A factory employ-ing
150 will support from 1,000 to 1,200 persons and
cause 300 homes to be built. It will fill a 22-room
schoolhouse using 18 teachers. In normal times this
factory will put 320 autos into the community and
support 33 stores with total annual sales of $500,000.
It will enable 24 professional people, priests, rabbis,
ministers, doctors, dentists, lawyers, teachers, musi-cians,
and others to live in the community
Further it will pay about $533,600.00 annually for
transportation and buy the products of 6,600 acres
of land which involves the farmers' output. And it
will provide a payroll of between $190,000.00 and
$200,000.00 a year and establish a tax foundation of
$2,500,000.00 .... No wonder we want to keep
our factories and little industries and our business-men."
Dr. Paul W. Chapman, Dean of the College of
Agriculture of the University of Georgia, had the
following to say in an address he made on April 24,
1946, at Edgewater Park, Mississippi : "Anyone who
cares to investigate how the consumers' dollar is
divided will perhaps be surprised to discover how
small a part of it goes into the pockets of the farmer.
Of the cotton goods dollar, the farmers gets 7.5 cents.
PAGE 88 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY FALL, 1947
The grower gets 11.6 cents out of the tobacco dollar.
Farmers get, on an average, 35 cents of the fresh
fruit and vegetable dollar and 40 cents of the milk
dollar. When all food products are lumped together,
the division of the consumers' dollar is as follows:
producer 37 cents, processors 27 cents, transporters
7 cents, brokers 1 cent, wholesalers 6 cents, and re-tailers
22 cents. The point in citing these figures is
not to consider whether the farmers gets a fair share,
but to point out that more pennies out of the dollar
the consumer spends for farm products go to pay
commercial and industrial workers than are paid to
the growers of the products. The conclusion of this
observation is that the south should render more of
the services and earn a larger part of the sum which
consumers pay for farm products and raw materials
produced in the region. One of the most significant
observations which can be made about a program
for the development of rural industries and services
is, however, that there are virtually no other income-creating
possibilities open to the rural community."
Since the initiation of Governor R. Gregg Cherry's
program for the promotion of industries located in
rural sections, utilizing nearby raw materials and
labor, and financed by local capital, the Division of
Commerce and Industry has participated to the full
extent of its facilities.
The raw materials and products that are in exist-ence
and found throughout the mountain, piedmont,
and coastal plain regions may be divided into four
main classifications, namely, (1) Forestry Products;
(2) Agricultural Products and Services, Seafood,
Livestock Products—Dairy Products—Poultry Prod-ucts;
(3) Mineral Products; (4) Textile Products.
Under each of these groups are listed some of the
industries and services that are vitally needed and
should be developed, thereby utilizing the raw mate-rials
in the State and make for a better balanced
economy in North Carolina.
Forestry Products Sufficient
North Carolina has more than 100 tree species. It
is not advisable at this present time to establish in-dustries
using softwoods above the rate already
scheduled for the pulp and paper industry, excepting
hemlock and Virginia pine. Any industry that will
use the less sought-after hardwoods is in a good po-sition
to obtain raw materials. It is not advisable to
establish industries using the better hardwood spe-cies.
There are exceptions such as small plants
using favored woods, both hardwoods and softwoods,
for more highly valued products than do present
industries. They will likewise meet stiff competition
in obtaining raw materials.
There is a good supply of cheap stumpage of scar-let,
chestnut, water oaks, hickories, black gum and
similar species, also short length and narrow width
lumber that is obtained from the sound portion of
cull trees. Industries utilizing foresty products may
be grouped into six classifications as follows
:
(A) Woods work industries.
1. Logging
2. Pulpwood cutting
Pickle packing assembly line runs 80 feet, to left JfO feet and
left again 18 feet to pasteurizer and labeling machine. Twenty-four
packers deftly fill jars, supplied from behind them, place
filled jars on conveyor belt to go 200 feet to packing cases.
At right is row of pickling tanks. This is the plant at Mount
Olive. Another big plant is at Faison.
(B) Primary industries starting with the wood—lumber
plants and sawmills, thus well adapted to rural com-munities,
and producing such items as:
1. Lumber (including sawn ties)
2. Veneer
3. Shingles
4. Hewn ties
5. Poles and piles
6. Fuelwood
7. Pulpwood
8. Fence posts
9. Dimension stock
10. Extract woods and bark
11. Cooperage (baskets, hampers, barrels, crates)
12. Handles for tools and vehicle parts
13. Shuttle blocks
14. Excelsior
15. Picker sticks, bobbins, hickory splints, insulator
pins, turnings, crating
16. Fiberboard
17. Smoking pipes
(C) Secondary industries starting with the wood after it
has passed through one of the primary plants.
1. Furniture—household—novelty—souvenir—toys,
sporting goods
2. Boxes, baskets, crating
3. Planing mills
4. Car construction and repair
5. Caskets
6. Dowels and skewers
7. Fixtures
8. Flooring
9. Sash, frames, doors, and other mill work
lo! Woodenware and novelties—toys
11. Preservative treatment of fence posts
12. Building materials—all types not specified else-where
13. Venetian blinds
14. Farm implements
(D) Industries utilizing logging and manufacturing wastes,
such as the unutilized part of cut trees, wood left on
the ground, high stumps, tops, butts, short or cull logs
and bolts, logs split in felling; trees ruined in logging
and trees soon to die; utilization of primary manufac-turing
wastes such as slabs, edgings, trims, veneer
cores, shavings, and sawdust. Sawdust is the largest
single item of unused manufacturing waste.
1. Wood flour (produced from sawdust and shavings)
2. Plastics—woodfilled and lignin bonded (produced
from sawdust, lignin, waste pulp and other mill
waste).
FALL, 1947 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 89
(B) Other industries that offer opportunities for small rural
industries :
1. Small charcoal plants using forest waste
2. Plants producing wooden plugs tor paper rolls
3. Wood turning plants
4. Plants producing essential oils from cedar, pine,
gum, etc.
5. Plants producing prefabricated farm buildings
6. Laminated flooring—TVA process—use of wood lot
cuttings and low grade hardwoods
7. Construction of small boats
8. Broom and mop plants
9. Organic chemicals—resins, rosin chemicals used in
manufacture of rayon (from destructive distilla-tion
of wood)
.
(F) Plants using hickory as primary source of raw material
1. Agricultural implements
2. Boxes, baskets and crating
3. Car construction and repair
4. Conduits, pumps, wood pipe
5. Dairy, poultry supplies, etc.
6. Dowels and skewers
7. Electric equipment
8. Furniture
9 # Handles
10. Scientific instruments
11. Ladders
12. Machinery
13. Patterns and flasks
14. Tobacco pipes
15. Sash, doors, general millwork
16. Ship and boat building
17. Shuttles, spools, bobbins, looms
18. Sporting and athletic goods
19. Toys
20. Motor vehicles
21. Woodenware and novelties
2 2. Hickory block flooring or paving blocks could be
made from waste wood
23. Dimension stock for sale to other plants
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, SEAFOOD,
LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS—DAIRY PRODUCTS
—
POULTRY PRODUCTS
5. Cold storage plants
6. Quick freezing plants
7. Egg grading stations
(C) Seafood products
1. Quick freezing plants
2. Cold storage plants
3. Canneries
(D) Food plants
1. Community food preservation center
2. Canneries
3. Freezer lockers
4- Cold storage plants
5. Syrup mills
6. Grist mills
7. Flour mills
8. Pickle making plants
9. Kraut plants
10. Vinegar plants
11. Bakeries
(E)
(F)
(G)
(A)
(R)
Dairy products
1 Creameries
2.' Milk plants
3. Ice cream plants
4. Cheese plants
5. Condenseries for milk (condensed milk)
6. Powdered milk plants
Poultry products
1. Egg and poultry marketing centers
2. Dressing plants
3. Hatcheries
4. Egg drying plants
Sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes
1. Packing sheds
2. Curing houses
3. Shredding mills
4. Dehydrators
5. Starch plants
6. Freezing plants
Fruits, vegetables
1. Curb markets
2. Wholesale markets
3. Canning plants
4. Grading and packing sheds
5. Cold storage houses
6. Freezing plants
7. Dehydration units
8. Juice extraction plants
9. Jelly, jam, glazed fruit plants
Field crops
1. Seed cleaning plants
2. Warehouses
3. Grain elevators
4. Seed treating plants
5. Dehydrators
6. Potato chip plants
7. Storage facilities for cotton, feed, grains, hay,
(H)
seeds, and sweet potatoes and other crops
Peanut, pecan, soybeans
1. Shelling plants
2. Waxing and grading plants
3. Butter making plants
4. Candy factories
5. Oil mills
6. Salting plants
(I) Cattle, sheep, hogs
1. Sales barns
2. Packing houses
3. Abattoirs
4. Meat curing plants
5. Freezer locker plants
6. Cold storage plants
7. Wool grading centers
8. Rendering plants
9. Feed mills
10. Leather working plants, shoe manufacturing plants
(J) Farm supply plants
1. Feed mixing plants
2. Legume dehydrators
3. Fertilizer plants
4. Farm machinery plants
5. Farm tool plants
6. Spray equipment plants
7. Rural repair services for household and farm ma-chinery
and equipment—such as machine shops, etc.
8. Storage batteries—wet and dry
9. Guano plants
Drying seaiveecl at Beaufort, used in the production of agar-agar,
a gelatinous substance or in the form of white powder,
used as a soldifying agent in administering cultures (bacteria).
In great demand during the war period.
INDUSTRIES AND ENTERPRISES RELATIVE
MINERAL AND CHEMICAL RESOURCES
(A) Plants producing the following:
1
# China clay
2. Dinnerware
(Continued on page 113)
TO
PAGE 90 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY FALL, 1947
Rural Electric Power Adds Impetus To Industry
By David D. Barber, Jr., Principal Engineer, North Carolina Rural Electrification Authority
Prior to 1935, benefits from electric power lines
in rural North Carolina were limited to those few
rural people who had the foresight into its possibili-ties
and the money necessary to underwrite the ad-venture.
At the beginning of the year 1935 our rec-ords
show that 1885 miles of rural electric lines serv-ing
11,588 rural consumers were in operation. This
represented electric service to approximately 3.2%
of the farms in our State. The national percentage
at that time was 10.9%.
Through the public clamor for electricity in the
rural areas of our State the legislature created the
North Carolina Rural Electrification Authority as a
service organization to assist our people in their
quest for rural electric service.
With the combined efforts of the other State agen-cies
together with the agricultural leaders both on
the State and county levels and the federal govern-ment,
this office can now report that as of July this
year our records show 38,800 miles of rural lines
serving 234,000 rural consumers, which means that
54.2% of the farms in our State now have electric
service, the national percentage being 61%. This
is a far cry from the situation as it existed in 1935,
and it shows the forward strides being made in our
State as well as efforts being made to keep abreast
of the national progress.
This rural electrification advancement was accom-plished
through the construction programs of the
rural electric cooperatives, financed through the fed-eral
REA loan funds, the privately owned utility
companies, cities and towns who operate electric
systems and other local public agencies.
All of us who are directly or indirectly associated
with rural electrification should not relax for a mom-ent
on the splendid progress to date for it is only
half completed. The remaining half will be even
more difficult to accomplish than the first half since
in the remaining are included the remote and less
populated regions. However, through the rural elec-tric
cooperatives full area coverage program which
is already well under way and the general tendencies
of other agencies in the State furnishing electric
power in rural areas to lean towards a broader cov-erage
the job ahead can be done; although it will
require complete coordination of all these agencies
into one unselfish aim—that being to see that all
rural areas are electrified.
(Continued on page 92)
Exhibit at State Fair,
Raleigh, of rural indus-tries
on rural electric
lines of N. C. Rural
Electrification Authority
cooperative associations.
Ribbons are from points
where cooperatives are
located to placards on
margins of map. Items
in exhibit are made on
lines of eight of the 32
cooperatives in the
State. (Most of them are
listed on opposite page.)
FALL, 1947 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 91
Many Types Of Rural Industries Now Operating
Types of rural industries now operating success-fully
in North Carolina are indicated by a partial
list of those picked up by representatives of the
North Carolina Rural Electrification Authority on
rural electrification cooperative lines, on lines of
electric public utilities companies in the State and
on city and town electric lines. Many others are
operated by water power direct and by steam boilers,
and some by hand and by horsepower. The incom-plete
list follows
:
On REA Cooperative Lines
D. & P. Pipe Works, Sparta, Processing roots into
smoking pipes.
Farmers Package Co., near Burgaw, Processing
veneer into vegetable baskets and hampers.
A. J. Hatcher, RFD, Selma, Manufacturers of wheels
and axles for tobacco farm gathering wagons.
Henry Brown, RFD 3, Hillsboro, Woodworking shop
turning out tables of various kinds for the home.
Cecil Bell, Rt. 2, Statesville, Hay drying operation.
Smith Upholstery Co., RFD 2, Mocksville, Upholster-ing
furniture.
Clinard, RFD 1, Harmony, Artificial flowers.
Charles D. Boger, Hide and Tallow Co., Processing
greases and tallow from animal parts.
Wade Smith, RFD 2, Mocksville, Processing animal
feeds.
Carolina Pyrophyllite Co., RFD, Staley, Mining Py-rophyllite
and processing talc for cosmetics and
other uses.
Bare and Sons Broom Works, RFD 2, Staley, Manu-facturing
brooms of various types.
Glenn Art Pottery, RFD 1, Steed, Produces all kinds
of pottery.
Currie Mills, Highfalls, Manufactures cotton yarn
and twine.
Richland Roller Mill, RFD 2, Ramseur, Processes
flour and feeds.
Garland Allred, RFD 1, Franklinville, Cement blocks.
Richardson Brothers Cabinet Works, Woodworking
shop producing kitchen cabinets.
Coleridge Bending Plant, near Coleridge, Furniture
plant producing straight chairs.
North State Pottery, RFD, Sanford, Produces all
kinds of pottery.
House of Wakefield, RFD, Sanford, Producers of cos-metics.
Oscar T. Barham, RFD, Wake Forest, Operating a
cucumber grader.
Moore County Casket Works, Glendon, Manufactur-ers
of caskets.
J. H. Perry, RFD, Creedmoor, operating peach grader.
Maxwell and Maxwell, RFD, Wadesboro, Woodwork-ing
shop to produce mouldings, window and door
frames, screens and other specific jobs.
Case G. Westergreed, RFD, Pantego, Cold storage
facilities for flowers and bulbs.
Carolina Flower Farms, RFD, Plymouth, Cold stor-age
facilities for flowers and bulbs.
A. D. Swindell, RFD, Pantego, Operates Irish potato
grading machine.
S. W. Wilkinson, RFD, Pantego, Operates Irish po-tato
grading machine.
L. H. Johnson, RFD, Pantego, Freezer locker plant
and meat packing.
J. P. Bailey, RFD, Wake Forest, Machine shop—re-pair
work.
On Public Utilities Company Lines
Council Tool Co., Wananish, Manufacturer of hand
tools.
Mathis Fence Post Treating Plant, RFD, Clinton,
treating fence posts.
R. H. Curry, Derby, Miller, grinding grains.
N. K. Wood Preserving Co., Wade, preservative treat-ment
of woods.
W. R. Bonsai Co., RFD, Lilesville, reinforced hollow
concrete floor and roof slabs, sacked dry ready
mixed concrete.
Maxwell Insecticide Co., RFD, Cary, processors of
insecticides.
Mt. Croghan Mfg. Co., Mt. Croghan, Manufacturers
of tool handles such as axes and hoes.
Taylor Food Company, RFD, Cary, Peanut butter,
salted peanuts, potato chips, cracker sandwiches.
William Holding, RFD, Wake Forest, Hay drying
operation.
J. C. Smith, Bear Creek Road near Asheville, Manu-facturers
of shuttles.
Mr. Foncis, RFD, Waynesville, Cold storage facilities
for apples.
J. H. Brodie, RFD, Henderson, Hay drying operation.
Semi-Rural Industries
Dockery Laboratories, Rockingham, Processors of
insecticides.
Mt. Olive Pickle Co., Mt. Olive, Processing cucumbers
into pickles.
Millikan & Thomas, Asheboro, abattoir and chill room.
Cannady Dehydration Co., Four Oaks, Dehydrating
sweet potatoes into feed meal.
Charles D. Roberts, Canton, Cutting dogwood blocks
for shuttles.
Henderson Wood Products, Henderson, Garment
hangers.
C. A. Royston, Maxton, Manufacturers of baby cribs.
Southland Shirt Co., Candor, making shirts.
Candor Handkerchiefs, Candor, making handker-chiefs.
Marmoc Inc., Aberdeen, making table cloths and
aprons.
Roxboro Mattress Co., Roxboro, Manufacturers of
mattresses.
The J. C. Edwards country store five years ago is noio the
Edwards and Gaddy feed and seed cleaning establishment, the
first rural industry started after cooperative rural electrifi-cations
came to the Wadesboro area.
PAGE 92 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY FALL, 1947
RURAL ELECTRIC POWER
ADDS IMPETUS TO INDUSTRY
(Continued from page 90)
Going Into Isolated Areas
The picture would not be complete unless we look
into the future. Reports indicate that there are still
approximately 130,000 farms without electricity,
Information received from the various agencies fur-nishing
electric service to the rural areas indicate
they now have under construction or authorized for
construction an additional 11,700 miles of rural lines
to serve an additional 47,500 rural consumers of
which approximately 34,000 would be farm connec-tions.
This construction is hoped to be completed
within a year. However, due to material deliveries
it may take longer than expected.
Farmers are finding out through electricity on
the farm how they can make their family living con-ditions
as modern and convenient as their city neigh-bors
and how rural power on the farm will make
their farming operations more profitable so that they
may enjoy these farm home conveniences to the full-est
extent. This is resulting in never before heard
of electric power requirements which necessitates
system improvements to heavy up the rural power
systems to meet these unprecedented demands. These
system improvements are being accomplished where
necessary as quickly as materials become available.
I have heard the remark made several times that
rural power lines being built would light up the farm
home and possibly run the motor on the electric
water pump or refrigerator, but were too light for
operating heavy equipment on the farm or power
loads for rural industries and could not be utilized.
This is not true, since a line so designed would surely
not fill all the needs of rural electrification. On the
other hand it is true with rural electric power lines
as well as most any other thing built by man, there
are limitations. However, the engineer can plan the
changes and additions for system improvements
necessary to provide the power requirements when
that limit is reached, on existing rural power lines,
for most any type of rural industry.
Power for Rural Industries
The production of raw products, which our State
is blessed with, should be handled through local pro-cessing
and manufacturing plants into finished con-sumer
goods to a much greater degree than is being
accomplished at present. The widespread construc-tion
of rural power lines will prove an adequate and
long awaited facility by which rural industries can
now be given impetus by individuals, groups of indi-viduals
or corporations.
In addition to being a source of power, rural elec-tric
lines are also a means by which the proposed
rural industry can be located near the source of the
raw product or located on basis of other considera-tions
affecting its feasibility rather than as hereto-fore
at usually just one spot and that being where
electricity was available in or adjacent to a town.
As examples, grading, waxing, packing and load-
Dogwood Blossoms, made of silver in a process discovered and
developed by Stuart Nye, are produced in quantity in his back-yard
near Asheville, where he has a nice little plant. Nye
became a silversmith by accident, when lie bought the tools of
a fellow hobbyist. He has a payroll of $40,000 a year and his
silver dogivood blossoms (North Carolina's State floiver) go
all over the country.
ing of agricultural products. Through rural electri-fication
these can now be accomplished in local com-munities
rather than loaded and hauled into a dis-tant
town. Also associated rural industries, at these
points, might be sweet potato shredding mills and
dehydrators.
Local millers can set up small local rural indus-tries
for grinding and processing grains for human
consumption or processing grains into feed for ani-mal
consumption right in the area where the grains
are grown and required. In the past the location
was determined usually by two main items, a stream
of water which could be utilized for power or a
town where electric power was available.
Rural electric power is gradually increasing the
farm income through the establishment of grade A
dairies. Through rural power other rural industries
pertaining to dairying are made possible such as
local milk collection routes and processing stations,
which could include creameries, pasteurizing plants,
milk plants, ice cream plants, cheese plants, conden-series,
and possibly powdered milk products for
human consumption and when surpluses occur for
animal feed supplements.
Can Develop Many Industries
Peanuts and pecans are produced in abundance
in our State. Rural electrification provides possibili-ties
for rural cracking and shelling plants, waxing
plants, butter making plants, candy and cracker
plants, oil mills and salting plants.
To those rural people who raise flowers and bulbs
commercially rural electricity provides unusual op-portunities.
Through rural power, cold storage fa-cilities
can be made available right out on the farm
whereby flowers and bulbs can be definitely control-led,
when gathered, assuring the producer that his
product will reach even the far distant market in
excellent condition to demand the top market prices.
Rural power has only started in opening up the
way for unlimited possible rural industries in the
(Continued on page 111)
FALL, 1947 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 93
Water, Surface and Ground, Vital To Industries
SURFACE WATER
By W.H. Riley, Principal Engineer, Water Resources
and Engineering Division, Department of Con-servation
and Development
The State of North Carolina is blessed with a
bountiful supply of good water. Throughout the
whole State we find an abundance of water that is
very low in dissolved solids. For this reason indus-tries
have been attracted to North Carolina for water
that will be suited for their particular needs. This
State has been very fortunate in having this great
natural resource and should take every precaution
to use it wisely. With wise planning water can be
made man's best friend, but without wise planning
it can be man's greatest enemy. The Division of
Water Resources and Engineering of the Department
of Conservation and Development is doing every-thing
in its power to see that the water of the State
be used to the advantage of the greatest number of
inhabitants.
Water, unlike coal and other minerals, is fluid in
character and cannot be saved by hoarding. Unless
water is used by man the greatest resource is being
wasted. Herbert Hoover once said, "True conserva-tion
of water is not the prevention of use. Every
drop of water that runs to the sea without yielding
its full commercial returns to the nation is an eco-nomic
loss and that loss in all its economic implica-tions
can be computed in billions."
Highest Uses of Resources
It is generally agreed that the highest uses of
water resources are:
( 1 ) For source of supply for water-works serving
the public for domestic and municipal purposes.
(2) For purposes of sanitation by the conveyance
(Continued on page 94)
Water, uncontrolled, can be a very destructive element. Scene
is flood condition of Cape Fear River, near Lillington. Two
lines, center, are sidewalls of highway bridge, almost com-pletely
inundated. Bridge spans normal body of water, indi-cated
by space between rows of trees. Highway is completely
covered on near side.
GROUND WATER
By M. J. Mundorff, Associate Geologist, Ground
Water Division, U. S. Geological Survey, Coop-erating
tvith N. C. Mineral Resources Division
Ground water is one of North Carolina's most val-uable
and important natural resources. Most of the
rural population use water from wells or springs and
more than 300,000 people in 175 municipalities de-pend
upon ground water. Thousands of industrial
establishments in every section of the State depend
partly or entirely upon ground water supplies. It is
estimated that about 40,000,000,000 gallons of ground
water are used yearly in the State. The actual value
of the ground water used in North Carolina, calcu-lated
at rates paid by consumers in cities, probably
is about $20,000,000 a year.
Ground water, unlike mineral and rock deposits
which in time are mined out, is continually being
replenished by rainfall. If the rate of withdrawal
does not exceed the rate of replenishment, ground
water can be withdrawn year after year and there
will still be as much left in the ground as there was
at the beginning. Only a small fraction of the poten-tial
ground water supply is now being utilized.
In order that ground-water supplies might be more
effectively utilized, the North Carolina Department
of Conservation and Development began a coopera-tive
project, in 1941, with the U. S. Geological Sur-vey.
The purpose of the project is to determine the
nature and extent of the aquifers, the quantity and
quality of water obtainable from them, to develop
criteria for choosing locations for drilling and dig-ging
wells, to determine the chances of increasing the
yield with increasing depth of well, and to ascertain
the areas capable of supplying large quantities of
water for industrial development.
Several reports giving results of the investigations
have been published by the North Carolina Depart-ment
of Conservation and Development. They are
as follows : Information Circular 3, "Selected Well
Logs in the Coastal Plain of North Carolina"; Bul-letin
47, "Progress Report on Ground Water in
North Carolina" ; "Hydrologic Data on the Neuse
River Basin, 1866-1945"; and Bulletin 51, "Ground
Water in the Halifax Area, North Carolina."
Several other reports are in the process of being
published or are being prepared at the present time.
Importance of Ground Water to Rural Industry
Rural industries, because of their generally small
size, usually cannot afford the expense of installing
a filter plant required when surface water is used;
therefore most of them depend upon ground-water
supplies. Although the total amount of ground water
available in the State is enormous, and large supplies
are available at many places, there are numerous
other localities where the supplies are definitely lim-ited.
A complete understanding of the possibilities
of a prospective industrial site is necessary to insure
(Continued on page 95)
PAGE 94 THE E. S. C QUARTERLY FALL, 1947
SURFACE WATER
(Continued from page 93)
of sewage and industrial waste after suitable treat-ment,
when and where needed.
(3) For water for manufacturing and industrial
purposes, for development of power, for agriculture
and for navigation.
The use or uses for which any particular stream
or body of water lying within a drainage area should
be reserved, depends partly on the economic activi-ties
of the people living therein; the physical char-acteristic
of the country through which the stream
flows, and the prevailing climatological conditions.
Hence the problem of conserving our water resources
through judicious development has been and will
continue to be threefold in nature. It is necessary
to determine not only what prevailing economic con-ditions
dictate as the purposes a particular water
resource can best serve, but also, the characteristics
with which the stream has been endowed by nature
;
and then by engineering processes, to bring it under
control of man for the realization of that benefit.
The first two steps in the subjection of these fluid
resources are governmental functions; the third is
in the realm of private operations except where the
use is of a municipal nature. North Carolina has
not, as yet, awakened entirely to a consciousness of
the need for the rational utilization of her streams,
but a large part of the work of the Water Resources
and Engineering Division are related to the second
step, namely, the determination of the natural char-acteristics
of her surface streams.
North Carolina is developing rapidly into an in-dustrial
state. If this State is to prosper in the
future it must grow industrially, since industry is
the backbone of our civilization. Without data on
the quality and quantity of the water, industry can-not
be attracted to North Carolina. With the growth
of industry can be expected the growth of munici-palities
; and with the growth of municipalities can
be expected a greater demand for water. Life and
civilization cannot exist without water. Already a
number of towns and cities in North Carolina have
outgrown their present water supplies and are look-ing
for additional supplies. Requests are being re-ceived
constantly for data on streams for domestic
and industrial use.
Stream Gaging Records Floiv
In virtually all phases of water resources use, a
knowledge of the day-by-day variations in the quan-tity
of water flowing is the basis upon which must
be predicated any sound procedure for allocation or
development. To be of greatest value, observations
of flow must be continuous and carried on for a long
period. This work is still comparatively young in
the State, but its growth can be seen in the following
table
:
Flow of water pumped from a 400-foot deep toell drilled in 1946
to supply water for the town of Taylorsville. A test of the
amount of supply showed a flow of 120 gallons over a 24-hour
period.
No. of Automatic
Year Stations Recorders
1920 .___ 8
1925 45 8
1930 75 45
1935 _ . 84 80
1940 131 127
1942 124 122
1946 132 132
This program is carried on by a cooperative agree-ment
with the U. S. Geological Survey, U. S. Engi-neers,
Tennessee Valley Authority and other agen-cies.
The drop in the number of stations in 1942
was caused by the war time curtailment of funds
from one of the cooperating agencies. Having re-covered
from this loss it is now hoped that a con-tinual
growth can be maintained. The demand for
information of this nature is constantly increasing
and must be supplied if North Carolina continues to
grow as it has in the past.
The value of automatic recorders cannot be stress-ed
too much. With the use of automatic recorders
a complete picture of the rise and fall of the stream
can be obtained, and from this all information in
regard to the flow can be more accurately obtained.
Streams are constantly changing the elevations of
their surfaces, so that a continuous record is the
only possible means to arrive accurately at the max-imum,
minimum and average flow of any stream.
Not only do streams change in their elevation of
surface but often they change in the amount of dis-charge
at any given elevation. This change necessi-tates
a continuous program of discharge measure-ments.
To maintain a good record requires a num-ber
of measurements each year at as many different
elevations as possible. Several branch offices are
maintained throughout the State to reduce the cost
as well as to have a man near enough to reach the
stream when measurements are needed.
FALL, 1947 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 95
Chemical Water Analyses
If North Carolina is to compete with neighboring
States in presenting data to attract new industries,
a thorough investigation of the chemical character
of its streams must be undertaken. An investment
of this sort pays very large dividends through in-creased
tax income from industries, and added em-ployment
to local people.
Many industries require water supplies of specific
quality suitable to their particular processes and
needs. Several industries have located in North Caro-lina
because they were able to find water suitable for
their processes within the State. If the State is in
a position to supply data of this nature upon request
industries will be attracted to the State and will in
turn increase the tax income and give employment
to local people.
The need for this data has been felt for a long
period, and steps have been taken to secure the data.
In the past these analyses have been made by several
organizations working in cooperation with the Water
Resources and Engineering Division. The majority
of these were made by Dr. E. E. Randolph of the
Chemical Engineering Department of State College
and the U. S. Geological Survey in Washington, D. C.
Others were made through fellowships to students
in college and some by chemists employed by the
State. These analyses have been a great help; but
with increasing demands and the desire to be of more
service to the State better arrangements had to be
made. In 1943 an agreement was made with the
U. S. Geological Survey whereby a laboratory was
established in the State. Under this agreement we
are now getting a continuous study of the chemical
character of the streams of North Carolina.
GROUND WATER
(Continued from page 93)
selection of a site where adequate ground-water sup-plies
can be obtained.
Ground, Water in Piedmont and Mountain Sections
On the accompanying map, hydrologic unit areas
5 to 9 are in the Piedmont and Mountain sections of
Map or NORTH CAROLINA
DROLOCIC UNIT-AREAS
1. Sand and clay, with shells, shell
rock, and marl. Miocene and pliocene
age. Chiefly the Yorktown formation
but also includes the Castle Hayne and Trent marls near the south-ern
boundary of the area. Large amounts of water from wells 100 to
400 feet deep. Water is hard, at places contains objectionable iron.
Deeper water is brackish.
2. Sand, clay, shell rock, marl, and limestone. Includes Peedee,
Castle Hayne, Trent, and Duplin formations and Pliocene deposits.
Very large amount of water available in most parts. Wells yield up to 1000 gallons a minute. Water usually hard. Brackish
water at depths of 200 to 600 feet below the surface.
3. Sand, clay, and marl of the Yorktown formation of Miocene age. Moderate amounts of water from sand lenses. Water
frequently hard, (b) Sand and clay of Cretaceous age beneath the Yorktown formation. Also some Eocene deposits in eastern
part of area. Large amounts of soft water available except along western margin of the area. Yields of 300 to 60 gallons
a minute at many places.
4. Sand, clay, argillaceous sand and sandy clay; some limestone and marl in eastern part of area. Includes Tuscaloosa,
Black Creek and Peedee formations of Cretaceous age . Large quantity of water available except in extreme western part.
Yields of 500 gallons a minute possible at most places. Water soft, low in dissolves, solids, sometimes high in iron.
5. Sandstone, shale, mudstone, conglomerate, rareky limestone. Commonly lenticular, cross-bedded, arkosic. Triassic age.
Rock are bedded, dip horizontal to 4 5 degree. Small supplies of water at most places (5 to 2 5 gallons a minute). Moderate
supplies (to 100 gallons a minute) in some places. Water generally moderately hard to very hard, sometimes contains objec-tionable
amount of iron.
6. Schists, phyllites, slates, shales, and metamorphosed volcanics. In part of igneous and in part of sedimentary origin.
Generally moderately small to moderate (10 to 15 gallons a minute), occasionally moderately large supplies (to 300 gallons
a minute). Water frequently contains objectionable amount of iron.
7. Albite-chlorite schist, quartzite, slate, shale, and limestone. Chiefly derived from sedimentary formations. Bedding us-ually
distinct. Pre-Cambrian and Cambrian age. Generally moderate supplies of water. Wells yield from 5 to 50 or more
gallons a minute. Water usually soft, except from wells in limestone.
8. Gneiss and schist, chiefly feldspar-biotite gneiss and schist included in the Carolina gneiss. Derived principally from
sedimentary rocks. Pre-Cambrian age. Moderate to moderately large amounts of water. Industrial and municipal wells
average about 50 gallons a minute. Best supplies obtained in coarser phases where dip is fairly low. Water soft to moderately
hard.
9. Granites and gneisses, slight to severe metamorphism. Includes Cranberry granite, Henderson granite, Blowing Rock
gneiss, Bessemer granite, Whiteside and Yorkville granites and similar rocks of igneous origin. Generally small, sometimes
moderate, rarely moderately large supplies, of water. Best supplies are from more highly metamorphosed rocks. Only a few
gallons a minute from wells in unsheared rocks. Water moderately soft to hard.
PAGE 96 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY FALL, 1947
the State. Ground water in these sections, the cen-tral
and western part of the State, occurs chiefly in
consolidated rocks. The rocks are principally igneous
and metamorphic rocks but include two belts of con-solidated
sediments, the Deep River and the Dan
River belts of Triassic rocks. Water occurs in, and
moves through, the rocks in fractures, joints, cleav-age
and bedding planes and similar openings. Where
such openings are plentiful, larger supplies are found
than where the openings are few and small.
Granites that have been sheared and fractured
are fairly good aquifers. Horizontal joints are im-portant
to the occurrence and movement of ground
water in these rocks. Industrial and municipal wells
in such rocks yield an average of about 40 to 50
gallons a minute. Wells in massive granite will yield
little or no water. The fractures and crevices in
granite become fewer and smaller with depth so that
drilling beyond 250 or 300 feet is rarely justified.
At some places the slates and schists and some
gneisses are the most prolific aquifers in the Pied-mont
and Mountain sections, but at other places
these rocks yield only small amounts of water. It
seems that the coarser textured rocks in which the
cleavage planes, planes of schistosity and bedding
planes are closely spaced, dipping moderately to
rather steeply, are the best. Quartz veins are im-portant
in some of the slates and schists and some of
the wells intersecting such veins yield large amounts
of water. Many wells drilled in favorable locations
in these rocks yield 50 to 100 gallons a minute, and
a number of wells yield 100 to more than 300 gallons
a minute. At less favorable locations, where the
cleavage and schistosity are poorly developed and
where the angle of dip is very low, the yields are
much less. As with granite, the openings in these
rocks decrease with depth, so that the quantity of
water entering a well below 300 feet generally is
small. Water from most wells in schist and from a
majority of the wells in gneiss is soft, but some wells
in slate yield moderately hard water. Some wells in
the schist and slate yield water containing consider-able
iron.
The Triassic sedimentary rocks generally do not
yield as much water as the igneous and metamor-phic
rocks. Although yields of as much as 100 gal-lons
a minute have been obtained at several places
relatively few wells yield more than 25 gallons a
minute. Yield of wells in these rocks are prone to
decline greatly when the well is pumped steadily.
The coarse-grained strata yield more water than the
fine-grained strata, and locations near diabase dikes,
which have fractured the strata, generally are more
favorable. Of the Triassic rocks, the Dan River belt
appears to be somewhat better as an aquifer than the
Deep River belt.
Diorite and gabbro generally yield only a few
gallons a minute, and yields of 25 gallons a minute
or more are unusual. The water at many places is
hard.
When selecting sites for rural industrial establish-ments
which are to use ground water as a source of
Fontana Dam, a rural industry groivn up, built in Swain
County by TVA to control flood waters and supply cheap water
power to rural and urban communities and industries. Fourth
highest dam in world, J/51 feet high, with 117-foot fluctuation
in water level. Shore line is 215 miles long. Power house at
high. This is a reservoir dam to fill lower dams,
'village, converted, is popular mountain resort.
Construction
supply the geology should be considered as outlined
above. Areas of massive granite, and of flat-lying
slate, schist, or gneiss should be avoided if possible.
Areas underlain by diorite or gabbro are especially
undesirable.
In selecting locations for drilling wells, the follow-ing
factors should be considered
:
Texture: Coarse-grained rocks generally are bet-ter
aquifers than fine-grained ones.
Jointing and fracturing: Places where the rock
has many joints or is otherwise fractured are most
favorable.
Schistosity, cleavage, and bedding planes : Places
where these planes are closely spaced and prominent,
and where they dip at moderate angles are preferable.
Quartz veins : These are usually considerably frac-tured
and are important in the movement of ground
water. Some of the best wells in the Piedmont ob-tain
their water from quartz veins.
Dikes: The rocks adjacent to many dikes have
been fractured by the injection of the dike and wells
drilled into these fractured zones at many places
yield more water than the undisturbed rock. This is
particularly true of the Triassic strata. The dikes
themselves at most places are poor aquifers.
Thickness of weathered mantle: A thick layer of
residual weathered material overlying the bedrock
is an indication that the rock has interstices through
which ground water can circulate. Furthermore,
this weathered layer serves to store and feed water
into the fractured rock below.
Topographic location : At many places the rock is
so deeply covered by soil and subsoil that little can be
seen of the structure and texture of the rock. At many
of these places topography gives clues as to the con-
( Continued on page 114)
FALL, 1947 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 97
Garment Making Plants Should Increase In State
By Milton M. Croom, Assistant Industrial Engineer,
Division of Commerce and Industry, Dept. of Conservation and Development
Opportunities now existing in the garment manu-facturing
field in North Carolina can be envisioned
by comparison with the situation which faced manu-facturers
of cotton cloth in this State at the end of
World War I, when the production of Southern cot-ton
mills was overshadowed by that of the well en-trenched
cotton manufacturing industry of New
England. At that time North Carolina mill owners
were faced with weighty problems, such as labor sup-ply
in traditionally agrarian communities, inadequate
power sources, and marketing difficulties, for the
opinion prevailed in some quarters that Southern
workers could not make quality materials.
Today North Carolina has more cotton mills and
produces more cotton cloth of a higher total value
than any other state in the union. Much of this
cloth is bleached, dyed and finished in the State, and
shipped to garment manufacturers in many parts of
the nation. Only a small part of this production is
fabricated into garments within the State, however.
Factors Favor Expansion
A number of factors favor the expansion of the
ready-to-wear garment industry in North Carolina.
The most important of these factors are
:
1. A potentially large supply of high type workers
is available.
2. Nearness to sources of raw materials.
3. Managerial "know-how" exists, and is being
developed.
4. Availability of capital.
5. Nearness to markets.
Each of these subjects is discussed briefly below:
1. Labor. Large areas of North Carolina are still
predominantly agrarian in nature. Ninety-five per-cent
of North Carolina's industry is located west of
Raleigh, chiefly in the Piedmont section of the State.
The villages and towns of the farming sections offer
very limited employment opportunities, particularly
for women. Thus a potentially large labor supply is
available. Practically all of these women, who are
potential employees of new garment factories, al-ready
possess some skill in the sewing arts, and only
a short period of adjustment would be required to
enable them to become competent operators in a gar-ment
factory. A number of women living in towns
which do not now have clothing plants have expressed
an interest in obtaining this type of work in their
home communities.
2. Raw Materials. Fabrics of great variety are
produced and finished in this State and shipped to
distant factories. Many of the garments made by
these out-of-state factories are shipped into this State
to be sold. North Carolinians pay for these needless
handling and shipping services, and lose the income
from processing the cloth into garments to other
sections of the country. Located as it is in the very
heart of the nation's cloth making industry, North
Carolina's position with respect to sources of supply
for a growing garment industry is unparalleled. This
fact greatly enhances its competitive position in re-lation
to the existing garment making centers of the
nation.
3. "Knoiv-How." North Carolina already has a
number of clothing factories. Some of them are
very large, integrated corporations making nationally
known products ; others are small concerns. Well
qualified, ambitious employees of these older com-panies
welcome opportunities to assume positions of
leadership in, and to grow with, new enterprises.
Garment Fabrication Instruction
The growing importance of the garment industry
in this State is recognized by the faculty of the N. C.
State College School of Textiles. The writer is in-formed
that new courses in garment fabrication are
to be introduced in the curricula of the textile school
in the near future. Growth of the garment industry
in the State will be furthered by this excellent train-ing
offered by one of the world's best textile schools.
4. Capital. The garment industry is adaptable to
small factories of relatively low capitalization. These
factories are organized on the assembly line princi-ple.
From about 15 to 40 people are required to
perform the various operations on a single asembly
line. A factory may have one or several assembly
lines. Therefore, the number of people employed in
clothing factories varies from a score to several
thousand. However, a great many clothing factories
have less than 100 employees.
The capital required to start a small clothing fac-tory
is capable of being raised by almost any town
or village in North Carolina, provided only that there
is an earnest desire on the part of the leading citizens
to accomplish this purpose. A small plant employing
16 to 20 people making a single garment such as
children's dresses might be started with a capitaliza-tion
of $10,000. This would take care of all items
except the building, which could be rented. Larger
concerns employing from 100 to 150 people would
require a minimum capital of about $60,000 to $100,-
000. These larger units should enjoy a better com-petitive
position than the very small ones, due to the
excessive burden of overhead which handicaps small
enterprises. It should be pointed out, however, that
many of the largest manufacturing enterprises of
the State, and of the nation, started as very small
concerns which grew to their present size and emi-nence
due to their owner's ingenuity in keeping over-head
to a minimum, and the assidious manner in
which the profits of these concerns were turned back
into the business.
(Continued on page 112)
PAGE 98 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY FALL, 1947
Investigations Of 85,000 Claimants For Benefits
By Hugh M. Raper, Supervisor, Reports and Analysis, UC Division, Bureau of Research and Statistics
More than 85,000 special investigations were made
by the Employment Security Commission, or its
deputies, in connection with claims filed during the
fiscal year 1946-1947. These investigations were of
claims under both the Employment Security and the
Readjustment Allowance Programs. There was an
average of one investigation for each sixteen periods
compensated.
The conditions that led to these investigations
sometimes arise at the time the claimant files his
initial claim, but the investigations are frequently
made as a result of circumstances arising during the
weekly reporting in a claim series. At the time the
initial claim is taken, sometimes it is found that the
claimant has been separated from his employment
for reasons, such as misconduct, voluntary quit, and
other causes, which may be cause for a disqualifica-tion.
Or, it may be that in the claims-taking process
a question may arise with regard to the claimant's
ability and willingness to accept suitable employment
which has been tendered. This condition, when in-vestigated
and found as a fact, results in his being
disqualified for benefits for a period of four to twelve
weeks with a like reduction in potential benefit rights.
In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1947, there were
23,982 investigations completed by the Claims Dep-uties
involving claimants filing claims for unemploy-ment
compensation. In the same period there were
54,035 investigations involving veterans seeking Ser-vicemen's
Readjustment Allowances. This means
then that the nineteen Claims Deputies set for hear-ing
78,017 cases, and from the facts developed at each
hearing prepared a determination either allowing
the claim, disallowing the claim, or imposed a dis-qualification,
i.e. postponement of benefits and possi-bly
a reduction in the potential benefit rights. The
following table classifies the results of these determi-nations
into three categories
:
DISPOSITION OF CASES BY CLAIMS DEPUTIES
DURING FISCAL YEAR 1946-47
Percent
All Determinations 100.0
Allowed—No Penalty 43.2
Claim Disallowed 40.3
Disqualification imposed 16.5
All
No.
78,017
33,713
31,542
12,852
Program
Emp. Sec. Readj. Al.
23,982
9,629
9,472
4,881
54,035
24,084
21,980
7,971
It can be seen that the majority, 56.8 percent, of
the claimants investigated were found to be ineligible
for benefits at the time of filing or were subject to a
disqualification which postponed and reduced their
potential benefits.
The Employment Security Law makes provision
for the claimant or other interested party to appeal
any determination made by the Commission or any
of its deputies.
In the fiscal year 1946-1947 less than one percent
of the Claims Deputy determinations were appealed.
Under the E. S. Program there were 2164 cases
appealed with 1933 of the appeals being made by
the affected claimant; 222 by the employer (s) ; and,
9 by the Commission itself. Under the Readjustment
Allowance Program there were 4705 appeals filed by
the veterans involved.
The effect of the Appeals Deputy's review was that
under the E. S. program 1552, or 92 percent, of the
claims deputies determinations were affirmed while
612 cases were modified or reversed. Under the Re-adjustment
Allowance Program 4700 decisions, 68
percent, were made which affirmed the Claims Dep-uty's
finding. The issues involved in the 2164 ap-pealed
cases decided by the appeals deputies under
the Employment Security Program are as follows
:
All Decisions __ 2164
Ability, Availability, and Unemployed 1744
Voluntarily Separated 252
Misconduct of Worker 100
Suitability of Work 59
All Other Issues : 9
(Continued on page 105)
Dehydrating eggs is verging on dig business, but the little
black hen definitely conducts a rural industry, and many of the
operations are rural. Dehydrated eggs from the plant of the
Coble Dairy Products Co. at Wilkesboro supplies many bakeries
with the egg siibstance needed in cakes and other bakery
products.
FALL, 1947 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 99
Industrial Opportunities Abundant In This State
By Marshall L. Shepherd, Former Asst. Industrial Engineer
Division of Commerce ad Industry, Dept. of Conservation and Development
Much can be done about our State's low per capita
income. Something is being done about it, but it is
necessary that a much, much more unanimous and
sustained initiative come into the North Carolina
picture before the State's 1945 average of $726 can
reach that of the nation, which was $1,158 that same
year.
The native Carolinian reacts with a characteristic
Southern pride in the industrial achievements of his
State when he hears that 432 new and proposed
manufacturing enterprises decided to move into, or
were created within his State in the last half
of 1946. His pride becomes even more pronounced
when he realizes that those new industries will have
employed more than 12,000 additional North Caro-linians
at an average annual rate of $1,765. It
fascinates him also to know that these plant invest-ments
of more than $20,000,000, after operating for
only one year, will have returned to the communities
in which they are located about $20,000,000 in pay-rolls
alone and notwithstanding the values added to
the processed products through manufacture. The
capital returns to the investors in these plants are
of major consideration to these stockholders, whether
out of State or domestic, and are of greatest value
to the State when under resident ownership.
The national industrial picture reached its highest
degree of expansive development during and immed-iately
following World War II. The latest U. S. Cen-sus
data (1939) showed 184,230 manufacturing in-dustries
in the nation. Then North Carolina's indus-tries
totaled 3,225 or 1.75 ft of the total number in the
country. This gives an average of 3,838 industries
for each of the states. This state had 613 industries
less than this average. There was only one manu-facturing
enterprise per 1,107 North Carolinians;
while in the United States as a whole, there was an
industry for each 715 people. This may be an answer
for those who bear the concept that North Carolina's
population won't justify industrial expansion suffi-cient
to increase the per capita income of its people
to the national average without creating an abnormal
competition in the labor market.
This State's government is doing more in the field
of industrial promotion than in the past, through its
agencies such has the Division of Commerce and In-dustry.
This enlarged emphasis is based upon the
basic needs of our people, sound purposes, and the
challenge of unprecedented opportunities to which
the State's citizenry is becoming more enlightened.
To discuss in the abstract, this State's industrial
opportunities, is somewhat futile indulgence. This
practice is most frequently observed in print and
oratory. Its greatest achievement is to stimulate
general interest. Industrial opportunity is an ex-ceedingly
relative combination of opportunity fac-tors.
A pattern of factors when logically exploited
by "know how", adequate capital and enlightened
management should result in a profitable industrial
enterprise. One of the State's greatest single ob-stacles
is the shortage of industrial "know how" as it
applies to the specific industries in which the State is
least developed, some of which seem to offer the
greatest opportunities.
The following tabulation, deducted from the U. S.
Census of 1939, comprises some of the industries
which are not developed in North Carolina
:
INDUSTRY
TOTAL NO. ES-TABLISHMENTS
N.O. U.S.
FOOD & KINDRED PRODUCTS:
Baking powder, yeast and other leavening com-pounds
None
Chewing gum _.
Chocolate and cocoa products "
Corn sirup, corn sugar, corn oil and starch __
Macaroni, spaghetti, vermicelli and noodles ..
Malt "
Oleomargarine, not made in meat packing estab-lishments
Preserves, jams, jellies and fruit butters ._
Quick frozen foods "
Sausage casing, not made in meat packing estab-lishments
"
Special dairy products
TEXTILE MILL PRODUCTS AND OTHER
FIBER MFG.:
Artificial leather & oil cloth
Carpet yarn, woolen and worsted
Cloth sponging and miscellaneous special finishing _.
Dyeing and finishing woolen and worsted ..
Felt goods, wool, hair, and jute (except woven felts
and hat bodies and hats)
Finishing of men's and boy's hats of fur felt, wool
felt and straw
Hat bodies and hat fur felt
Hat bodies and hat wool felt
Hats straw
Hatter's fur
Knitted gloves
Knitted outerwear (except knit gloves) contract
factories
Lace goods
Linoleum, asphalt felt base and other hardsurfaced
floor covering, not elsewhere classified _.
Processed waste and recovered wool fibers—con-tract
factories
Silk broad woven goods—contract factories
Silk broad woven goods—regular factories or job-bers
engaging contractors
Silk narrow fabrics
Woolen & worsted manufacturers—contract factories
APPAREL & OTHER FINISHED PRODUCTS MADE
FROM FABRICS & SIMILAR MATERIALS:
Children's infant's wear, not elsewhere classified
—
made in contract factories
Children's infant's wear, not elsewhere classified
made inside factories or by jobbers engaging
contractors
Children's coats—made in contract factories ..
Children's coats made in inside factories or by job-bers
engaging contractors
Children's dresses made in contract factories
Children's dresses made in inside factories or by
jobbers engaging contractors
47
27
39
35
328
52
18
171
36
37
51
36
18
112
63
37
151
43
12
i i
37
20
233
63
17
27
37
82
100
76
22
103
45
108
114
182
PAGE 100 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY FALL, 1947
TOTAL NO. ES-TABLISHMENTS
INDUSTRY N.O. U.S.
Clothing, leather and sheep lined 97
Coats, suits, and skirts (except fur coats) made
in contract factories 846
Coats, suits, and skirts (except fur coats) made
in inside factories or by jobbers engaging con-tractors
" 1.120
Corsets and allied garments " 272
Curtains, draperies, and bedspreads, contract fac-tories
75
Dress & semi-dress gloves and mittens: cloth, cloth
and leather combined " 49
Embroideries, other than Schiffli machine products,
contract factories " 357
Embroideries, other than Schiffli machine products,
made in regular factories or by jobbers engaging
contractors 54
Embroideries: Schiffli machine products 398
Fur coats and other fur garments, accessories and
trimming " 2,175
Handkerchiefs made in contract factories 20
Hat and cap materials; trimming, etc. " 55
House dresses, uniforms and aprons made in con-tract
factories " 255
House furnishings (except curtains, draperies and
bedspreads) " 472
Men's and boy's hats and caps (except felt and
straw) —
-
270
Men's and boy's suits, coats and overcoats (except
work clothing) made in contract factories " 1,078
Men's and boy's underwear made in contract fac-tories
10
Men's neckwear made in contract factories 34
Millinery ____ " 1,050
Raincoats and other waterproof garments (except
oiled cotton) 76
Robes, lounging garments and dressing gowns " 264
Trimming (not made in textile mills) stamped art
goods and art needlework contract factories " 395
Trimmings (not made in textile mills) stamped art
goods, vast needlework made in regular factories
or by jobbers engaging contractors " 227
Trousers (semi-dress) wash suits and washable
service apparel " 297
Women's and misses' blouses and waists made in
contract factories _ " 132
Women's and misses' blouses and waists made in
inside factories or by jobbers engaging contractors 170
Women's and misses' clothing not elsewhere classi-fied
made in contract factories " 100
Women's and misses' clothing not elsewhere classi-fied
made in inside factories or by jobbers en-gaging
contractors — " 231
Women's & misses's dresses (except house dresses)
made in contract factories __ " 1,490
Women's and misses' dresses (except house dresses)
made in inside factories by jobbers engaging
contractors _ - 1,426
Women's neckwear, scarfs, etc " 107
FURNITURE AND FINISHED LUMBER PRODUCTS:
Cork products — "
Laboratory, hospital and other professional furniture "
Casts and related products "
Matches "
Mirror frames and picture frames ._ "
PAPER AND ALLIED PRODUCTS:
Coated and glazed paper __ "
Pie cut paper and paperboard and converted card-board
"
Pulp goods (pressed, molded) "
Wallpaper _. ..__ _.__ __ "
PRINTING, PUBLISHING, AND ALLIED INDUSTRIES:
Books, publishing and printing "
Books, publishing without printing "
Electrotyping and stenotyping, not done in print-ing
establishments "
Gravure, rotogravure and rotary photogravure (in-cluding
preparation of plates) "
Greeting cards (except hand painted) "
35
82
48
28
182
140
121
14
46
150
556
234
24
109
TOTAL NO. ES-TABLISHMENTS
INDUSTRY N.C. U.S.
CHEMICALS AND ALLIED PRODUCTS:
Ammunition " 13
Bluing " 13
Bone black, carbon black, and lamp black — " 53
Coal tar products, crude and intermediate " 49
Colors and pigments "
89
Essential oils
" 14
Explosives _ _ "
80
Glue and gelatin "
80
Grease and tallow (except lubricating greases) " 310
Hardwood distillation and charcoal mfg. ._-
" 43
Linseed oil, cake and meal " 25
Lubricating oils and greases not made in petroleum
refineries " 232
Mucilage, paste and other adhesives, except glue
and rubber cement "
64
Plastic materials "
38
Salt " 40
Soap and glycerin " 264
Writing ink "
15
PRODUCTS OF PETROLEUM AND COAL:
Beehive coke " 29
Fuel briquets " 32
Oven coke and coke-oven byproducts " 83
Petroleum refining " 485
Roofing, built-up and roll; asphalt shingles; roof
coating (except paint) ~. " 129
RUBBER PRODUCTS:
Reclaimed rubber "
10
Rubber boots and shoes (including rubber soled
foot-wear with fabric uppers) " 13
Tires and inner tubes " 53
LEATHER AND LEATHER PRODUCTS:
Leather gloves and mittens " 233
Leather goods not elsewhere classified
" 160
Leather: tanned, curried, and finished, contract
factories " 111
Small leather goods " 118
Suitcases, brief cases, bags, trunks, and other luggage " 329
Women's pocket books, hand bags and purses " 286
STONE, CLAY AND GLASS PRODUCTS:
Abrasive wheels, stones, paper cloth and related
products —
-
" 124
Cement " 160
China firing and decorating (for trade) " 24
Clay products (except pottery) not elsewhere
classified
" 99
Clay refractories, including refractory cement (clay) " 165
Flat glass _ " 37
Floor and wall tile (except quarry tile)
" 49
Glass containers " 77
Gypsum products — "
. 68
Hotel china .-_ " 17
Lime ._ " 269
Mineral wool " 58
Natural graphite, ground and refined "
6
Porcelain electrical supplies " 42
Sand lime brick bldg. tile _ _ " 27
Statuary and art goods (except stone and concrete)
factory products " 126
Steam and other packing, pipe and boiler covering....
" 134
Tableware, pressed or blown glass and glassware
not elsewhere classified _' " 115
Terra cotta 12
Vitreous china plumbing fixtures
" 25
Whiteware "
31
IRON AND STEEL AND THEIR PRODUCTS,
EXCEPT MACHINERY:
Automobile stamping " 90
Blast furnace products " 81
Bolts, nuts, washers and rivets made in plants not
operated in connection with rolling mills " 155
Cold rolled steel sheet and strip and cold finished
steel bars made in plants not operated in con-nection
with hot rolling mills " 43
Doors, window sash frames molding and trim
(made of metal) ,_.
" 205
Enameled iron sanitaryware and other plumber's
supplies (not including pipe or vitreous and
semi- vitreous china sanitaryware) " 259
FALL, 1947 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 101
INDUSTRY
TOTAL NO. ES-TABLISHMENTS
N.C. U.S. INDUSTRY
TOTAL NO. ES-TABLISHMENTS
N.C. U.S.
Enameling, painting and lacquering ..
Files —
Firearms
Forging iron and steel made in plants not operated
in connection with rolling mills
Galvanizing and other coating carried on in plants
not operated in connection with rolling mills
Heating and cooking apparatus except electric, not
elsewhere classified _.. ._
Malleable iron casting _____
Nails, spikes, etc., not made in wire mills or in
plants operated in connection with rolling mills ....
Sates and vaults
Saws
Screw machine products and wood screws _.
Springs steel (except wire) made in plants not
operated in connection with rolling mills
Steam and hot water heating apparatus (including
hot water furnaces) _ __
Steam fittings regardless of material
Steel barrels, kegs, and drums
Steel casting _
Steel works and rolling mills
Tin cans and other tinware not elsewhere classified- ...
Vitreous enameled products including kitchen,
household and hospital utensils
Wire drawn from purchased rods ,___
Wrought pipes welded and heavy riveted work in
plants not operated in connection with rolling
mills "
NON-FERROUS METALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS:
Alloying and rolling and drawing of nonferrous
metals except aluminum "
Aluminum products (including rolling and drawing
and extruding) not elsewhere classified
"
Aluminum ware, kitchen hospital and household
except electrical appliances) "
Clocks, watches and materials and parts (except
watch cases) "
Collapsible tubes "
Electroplating, plating, polishing "
Engraving on metal (except for printing purposes )~
Gold and silver leaf and foil
"
Jeweler's findings material "
Jewelry (precious stones) "
Lapidary work "
Lighting fixtures "
Silverware and plated ware _._
"
Tin and other foils (except gold and silver foil)
"
Watch cases "
Automotive electrical equipment "
Carbon products for the electrical industry and
manufacturers of carbon or artificial graphite "
Communication equipment "
Electrical appliances "
Electrical measuring instruments "
Office and stove machines not elsewhere classified
"
Oilfield machinery and tools "
Electric lamps "
Radios, radio tubes and phonograph "
Wiring devices and supplies "
X-ray: therapeutic apparatus and electronic tubes ....
"
AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY (EXCEPT TRACTORS
Blowers; exhaust and ventilating fans "
Cars and trucks, industrial "
Construction and similar machinery (except min-ing
and oil field machinery and tools) "
Internal combustion engines ___ _ "
Foundry equipment, domestic "
Machine-tool, and other metal working machinery
accessories, metal cutting and shapping tools and
machinist precision tools "
Machine tools "
Measuring and dispensing pumps "
Measuring instruments, mechanical (except elec-trical
measuring instruments, watches and clocks..
Metal working machinery and equipment not else-where
classified __ _ "
Mining machinery and equipment — _ "
):
80
22
23
207
83
138
83
36
16
87
345
53
68
181
64
164
253
248
55
95
49
188
162
32
74
14
643
94
26
82
886
90
568
150
12
42
84
31
227
138
59
123
223
55
224
146
84
77
55
199
74
42
954
200
38
68
178
65
Paper mills, pulp mill, and paper products
machinery __
Scales and balances
Sewing machines, domestic and industrial
Steam engines, turbines, and water wheels
Stokers, mechanical, domestic and industrial
Tractors __
Vending, amusement, and other coin operated
machines
AUTOMOBILES AND AUTOMOTIVE EQUIPMENT:
Automobile trailer (of attachment to passenger
cars)
TRANSPORTATION EQUIPMENT EXCEPT
AUTOMOBILES:
Aircraft parts including aircraft engines
Locomotives (including frames and parts; rail-road,
mining and industrial)
Motorcycles, bicycles, and parts
MISCELLANEOUS INDUSTRIES:
Artist's materials
Beauty shop and barber shop equipment
Buttons
Carbon paper and inked ribbon
Children's vehicles
Costume jewelry and costume novelty jewelry other
than fine jeyelry
Dental equipment and supplies _
Dolls (except rubber)
Fabricated plastic products not elsewhere classified..
Fire extinguishers, chemical
Furs dressed and dyed
Hair work ___
Hand stamps, stencils, and brands
Jewelry cases and instrument cases
Lamp shades
Models and patterns (except paper patterns)
Musical instruments, parts and materials not else-where
classified _
Needles; pins, hooks and eyes, and slide and snap
fasteners
Ophthalmic goods, lenses and fittings
Organs
Optical instruments and lenses
Pens, mechanical pencils, and pen points
Photographic apparatus and materials and projec-tion
equipment except lenses
Piano and organ parts and materials
Pianos
Professional and scientific instruments (except
surgical and dental)
Sporting and athletic goods not elsewhere classi-fied
Surgical and medical instruments
Surgical supplies and equipment not elsewhere
classified
Tobacco pipes, cigarette holders _
Umbrellas, parasols, and canes —
Wool pulling _
Yes, talk about opportunity to the young "Tar
Heel" or the native capitalists, or the educator. This
challenge is yours. Please accept it now before the
distant exploiters of our North Carolina oppor-tunities
arrive. It might even be profitable for our
State to give more weight to these specific oppor-tunities
in planning the technical education to which
its youth shall be subjected for this and the next
generations. The pinnacle of that higher average
per capita income for North Carolinians is indeed
dimly seen unless we take our opportunities and
make our own future.
99
56
39
18
61
30
51
79
125
15
36
42
72
316
58
44
289
131
84
216
28
145
42
289
132
128
663
101
58
91
.",4
30
7(1
160
23
35
218
350
50
360
32
90
17
PAGE 102 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY FALL, 1947
Employment Increasing And Shifting In The State
By Silas F. Campbell, Director, Bureau of Research and Statistics, ESC
Even of more interest than the industrial distribu-tion
of changes in employment since the war is the
change in the geographic distribution of employment.
It was known that there was a considerable intra-state
shift in the active labor force during the war
which it was felt might bring serious consequences
in the process of readjustment and result in depress-ed
areas which would find it impossible to employ
dislocated war workers or to induce the necessary
population reshift.
Feiv Depressed Areas in State
Native North Carolinians, as a general rule, dis-like
moving from place to place within the State,
although thousands annually accept readily employ-ment
in other states because of what they believe to
be better opportunities and better wages. However,
when it comes to choosing a place within the State
Peanuts definitely are big business, but many of the operations
are rural and many rural industries are being and can be built
around the lowly goober. These are extra large peanuts being
sacked after cleaning and grading. Processing plants are
located at Enfield and Edenton and numerous plants for
further refining are being established in the State.
to live, even a brief residence in a new location is
calculated to create ties which one is reluctant to
break.
While there are some of those depressed areas, the
effect of war contract cancellation on employment in
the State was greatly restricted. Only a few coun-ties
had less employment in 1946 than in 1945. These
are mostly areas in which war production meant
new structures, machinery and equipment which
could not be turned to civilian production. Such
establishments were represented by munitions plants,
shipyards, air craft plants, modification plants, air-ports,
and some types of military bases.
As a product of reconversion, interest attaches to
the disposition that has been made or is being made
of plants established in the State for war produc-tion,
as well as the increase in privately operated
manufacturing plants as a result of the war.
Information published by the Federal Reserve
Bank on "Capital Augmentation in the War Period"
discloses that 164 plants were added to North Caro-lina's
industrial facilities, exclusive of public utili-ties
and government operated plants, an increase of
5.1 percent over 1939.
Disposition of War Plants
As to the disposition of publicly financed war in-dustrial
facilities, of the three sold in North Carolina,
National Carbon Co. of Charlotte, Wrights Auto-matic
Machine Co., Durham, and Floating Concrete
Dry Docks at Wilmington operated by the Loftis
Tidewater Construction Co., the first two were
bought by their war-time operators, and the last by
Robertson Chemical Co. for warehouse and storage
yard.
One war production plant, the Fairchild Engineer-ing
and Aircraft plant at Burlington, has been leas-ed
for five years to the Western Electric Co.
Only one war plant in North Carolina has been
declared surplus—The National Carbon Co. of Mor-ganton.
Three plants remain on which no disposal
action has been taken. These are the Newport News
Shipbuilding Co. plant at Wilmington, The Ammuni-tion
Loading Plant at Charlotte, and the Carbide
Carbon Chemical Co., Fire Control Equipment plant
at Winston-Salem. These three plants represent an
aggregate cost of more than $37,000,000.
Increase General Throughout State
The only counties in which employment in 1946
was less than in 1945 are Dare, Forsyth, New Han-over,
Onslow, Pasquotank, and Yancey. In all except
Yancey the decline is fully accounted for by cessa-tion
of war production. In Yancey there were only
51 fewer workers on the average than in 1945.
The gains in employment are fairly well distribut-ed.
The Mountain Region experienced the greatest
relative gain, 11.1 percent, with an increase of ap-proximately
6,000 workers; the Piedmont Plateau
FALL, 1947 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 103
Black Rock Sawmill, operated by the Davie Tree Go. on Soco
Gap Roar! in Swain County, near the edge of the Cherokee
Indian Reservation, Qulla Boundary. Most of the workers are
Cherokee Indians. Notice the many homes and business houses
in the embroynic lumber stacks.
10.0 percent with an increase of about 36,000 work-ers,
and the Coastal Plain 1.5 percent, with an in-crease
of little more than 1,000.
There were no outstanding gains in any area.
Guilford County led with a gain of 5,813 workers.
Mecklenburg was next with an increase of 4,877.
Gaston was third with an increase of 3,953; Cabar-rus,
fourth with a gain of 3,440, and Buncombe fifth
with a gain of 3,428.
New Hanover suffered the greatest loss with a
drop of 6,247 workers, and Forsyth was next with
a loss of 2,066.
Nearly all counties had more covered employers in
1946 than in 1945, indicating, not merely an expan-sion
of existing industries, but the entry of new firms
in all sections of the State. Only Dare, Onslow and
Yancey had fewer employers than in 1945 and the
total decline for the three counties was only nine,
Onslow County losing seven of these.
Wages Increase In Most Counties
There was also a wholesome gain in total wage
payments in nearly all counties, the total being less
only in Dare, Pasquotank, Onslow, and New Han-over.
The grand total increased by 23.8 percent and
exceeded one billion dollars for the first time in the
history of the State.
Individual wage increases were also general
throughout the State, with an average increase of
11.4 percent, bringing the average weekly wage from
$31.10 in 1945 to $34.64 in 1946.
The average was less than in 1945 only in the
counties of Swain in the Mountain Region, and Dare,
Pasquotank, Craven, Pamlico, Brunswick and New
Hanover in the Coastal Plain.
Stability of State's Industry
That covered employment in 1946 was more than
93,000 above the pre-war level, and nearly 60,000
above 1945, and that, of the 356,000 veterans who
have been released in North Carolina, only 4,568
were registered for work on June 30, 1947 with local
employment offices, speaks not only for the stability
of North Carolina industry, but for its capacity to
expand and meet the opportunities of a promising
future.
That these opportunities are attracting new cap-ital
and managerial ability is shown by the fact that
between December 31, 1945 and December 31, 1946
3,503 establishments were added to those already
operating under the Employment Security Law. Al-lowing
for consolidations, transfers and suspensions,
the average number of firms reporting in all four
quarters of 1946 exceeded the number for 1945 by
1,799.
State Labor Turnover High
It is true that during this year there was a great
amount of labor turnover as returning veterans and
war workers sought a proper readjustment to fit
their occupational skills. No figure is available as
to the actual number who were hired in order to
attain this 60,000 increase in non-agricultural em-ployment
over 1945, but some idea may be gained of
the size of the turnover by the fact that the Employ-ment
Service Division during the year found jobs for
123,128 non-agricultural workers and 59,095 agri-cultural
workers, making a total of 182,223 place-ments
of which 57,236 were veterans.
Not all the traffic comes through the Employment
Office. Of the total number of accessions, the Service
places on an average between 15 and 20 percent of
the total. On a basis of the total non-agricultural
placements in 1946 this would mean that in order to
obtain a net increase of 60,000 in covered employ-ment,
more than 800,000 persons were hired during
the year in covered or non-covered employment.
This, of course, is high and does not lend support
to the claims frequently advanced for North Caro-lina
as to the stability of its industries. However, in
this case it was a problem of readjustment rather
than of instability of industry, for, as the record
shows, total employment was at a high level through-out
the year.
Furthermore, a large portion of this turnover was
in non-covered employment such as domestic or pub-lic
service, also seasonal tobacco processing, and can-not
be said to reflect turnover rates in industry.
According to the United States Department of
Labor's "Monthly Labor Review," the average acces-sion
rate in manufacturing industries during 1946
was about 7 percent, as against North Carolina's 8.9
percent for all types of industry as calculated from
the above estimate of turnover.
State in Fortunate Position
It may be concluded from the foregoing that one
year of reconversion in North Carolina has put the
State in a specially fortunate position. It has almost
unlimited natural resources and home grown raw
material ; and, despite temporary dislocations, its
facilities for manufacture have been materially ex-panded.
Its labor force was never so great, and the
demand for its products never so strong. Full util-ization
of its manpower and completed manufacture
of its raw materials should crown the achievement
of this decade.
PAGE 104 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY FALL, 1947
Employment Service Tests Aid State's Industries
By Lois Clarke, Feature Writer, in The Raleigh (N. C.) Times
A relatively new, though a highly beneficial and
vitally necessary, Tar Heel project is the aptitude
testing and trade testing service rendered by the
Employment Service Division of the North Carolina
Employment Security Commission.
This testing service was begun about ten years ago
after a number of years of developmental work. The
Employment Service's occupational analysts now
have the job of training personnel in local offices to
administer tests, score and interpret them, and to
assist in selling employers on the idea of using test
selected workers. The analysts also must see that
conditions are proper for administering the tests.
Of the 70 employment offices in the State from Eliz-abeth
City to Murphy, 43 have aptitude tests, 27 have
stenographic tests, and all have oral trade tests.
Use of Tests Time-Saver
The tests are used in staffing new plants and in
transferring workers within or between industries.
For example, when one department in an industry
folds up, workers there are tested to see if they will
fit into another branch. Results of the tests have
cut down labor turnover, have reduced learning time
and have increased production. Individual employ-ers
have written that they are "delighted to find
competent new workers," that the devices are great
time-savers; that the use has "cut down training
time 30 percent and that the tests have increased
production 35 percent" over that turned out by non-tested
applicants.
One employer wrote that he had been skeptical,
but he had found after a number of years that the
services proved their worth. Another said enthusi-astically,
"not one worker has been considered for
employment until he has passed these tests."
Miss Lancaster is timing and testing two stenographers. Miss
Geraldine Gay and Miss Fyne, on their aptitudes in the Paper
and Pencil Tests, one of several used in the local offices of the
Employment Service to test the aptitudes of applicants for
certain types of work. They are in the State office of the
Employment Service.
Aptitude test on the Peg Board. The speed with which the
applicant can transfer the pegs from one hoard to another gives
a good idea of finger dexterity and the aptitude for certain
types of jobs. C. C. Love, occupational analyst in the State
office of the Employment Service division, owns the fingers.
In developing a test, the job involved is first ob-served
and thoroughly analyzed. Then a group of
experienced workers, from 15 to 30 in number, are
given tests to determine which they can do best.
Scores are taken, and the tests approved when there
is a high degree of correlation between scores and
the production rate of those tested.
Over 200 Test Batteries
Two to five tests are usually combined for one
job—this combination is called a test battery. Then
the device is put on trial to ensure its value. This is,
in general, the way all the tests are developed, so
there is little element of uncertainty in them.
There are over 200 test batteries for individual
jobs in such industries as textile, hosiery, garment,
machine shop, retail trade, radio manufacturing and
clerical work.
Types of devices vary from the finger dexterity
board tests to the high speed typing and shorthand
tests. Finger dexterity tests are given to select
sewing machine operators, aircraft riveters, knit-ters,
loopers and radio manufacturing workers. In
addition to the tweezer dexterity, pencil and paper
tests are used for weavers.
Probably the most minutely accurate tests are
those for typing and stenography, because they are
prepared with a time limit on each line of dictation.
Each test is uniform and there is accurate timing on
each. Dictation tests are scaled to 80, 96 and 100
words per minute. Typing tests are scored as to the
number of strokes, with deductions made for errors.
Color Blindness Test
One of the most fascinating of all is the Ishihara
color blindness test, issued to aid in selecting weav-
FALL, 1947 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 105
ers, rug hookers, and electricians. The test is so
named for Dr. Shinobu Ishihara, a professor of
ophthalmology (the science of the eye and its dis-eases)
at the Imperial University of Tokyo in Japan.
The test has been used by the Army and the Navy,
and by optometrists throughout the nation. It has
proved one of the most reliable in existence for test-ing
color blindness.
Oral Trade Questions are particularly useful in
testing workers in the skilled trades. They are de-veloped
by asking hundreds of questions of skilled
workers on the job and then verifying the answers
in other localities. Bricklaying is a good example of
a trade for which these questions are used.
mm
m iiiiiiiimi
Finger board aptitude test, to determine linger dexterity and
aptitude for certain jobs in which efficient use of the fingers is
important, is being given by Miss Blanche Lancaster, chief
occupational analyst, to two members of the office staff, C. G.
Love, occupational analyst, and Miss Lemoine Fyne, steno-grapher,
in State office of the Employment Service Division.
General Aptitude Test Battery
The General Aptitude Test Battery, known in the
Service Division as the GATB, is the most complete
group of tests the service has. The purpose is to
assist in counselling people with placement problems —those who have not decided on a life's work. Re-quiring
two and a quarter hours to administer, it
measures 10 basic aptitudes, such as, numerical or
verbal ability, motor speed, aiming, clerical percep-tion,
form perception, finger and manual dexterity,
and spatial perception—this last indicating the abil-ity
to "visualize" objects of two or three dimensions.
The GATB has received nationwide publicity in
trade magazines and in some of the large newspapers.
Its fame has also spread through the use for service-men
who have disabilities sustained while in the
Armed Forces and who are forced to change their
work.
Although the test battery has been in the experi-mental
stage for four years, and still is, it can be
interpreted in 20 broad types of work. Some exam-ples
are accounting and related subjects, plumbing,
heavy metal structure work, routine clerical work,
creative writing and translating, inspecting, com-puting
and general recording, artistic drawing and
related jobs, and drafting and similar jobs.
Tests Indicate Efficieficy
Total results of the tests in the GATB are known
as a profile. The tests are graded and the minimum
scores which have been arrived at are set up. Each
person's score is recorded and compared to the min-imum
; anything above the minimum indicates a po-tential
in the field.
A person tested can be strong in more than one
field, or (though this is exceptional) he can be strong
in every field.
The evidence is not conclusive, all it does is show
a person's strong points. Other factors must be
considered for him to make a success in any field,
such as willingness to work and desire to succeed.
The person himself must, of course, make the final
decision as to his course of action. He alone can
determine the results of his action.
Despite the fact that the GATB is still in the expe-rimental
stage, the Employment Service Division is
undeniably filling a great need in North Carolina.
No testing device can be perfect but constant ex-perimenting
and improvements have brought tests
of the Employment Service Division to the point
where some employers cannot do without them and
where praise from others has been widespread.
INVESTIGATIONS OF 85,000
CLAIMANTS FOR BENEFITS
(Continued from page 98)
Under the Employment Security Program only 240
cases were reviewed by the Commission itself. Not
all of these cases were the result of appeals from
claimants or employers for in some cases, such as
strikes, the Commission renders the decision based
on the record developed for it in a special hearing.
The Commission has a right to be proud of the
record of its deputies for rendering determinations
which are for the most part accepted by the claim-ants
and other interested parties, and from the fact
that at each subsequent review stage the prior de-cision
is usually affirmed.
RURAL INDUSTRIES COMMITTEES
(Continued from page 82)
B. B. Sugg, Greenville ; Glen Swicegood, Kinston ; A.
L. Thompson, Greensboro ; J. G. Thornton, Wilming-ton;
J. E. S. Thorpe, Franklin; C. W. Tilson, Dur-ham;
T. B. Upchurch, Jr., Raeford; Isaac Van Horn,
Asheville; Ralph Van Trine, Durham; E. H. Wasson,
Charlotte; Lionel Weil, Goldsboro; J. V. Whitfield,
Wallace; J. E. Winslow, Greenville; Dallas T. Daly
and J. F. Dalton, Norfolk Va.; Gilbert T. Wood,
Roanoke, Va.
PAGE 106 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY FALL, 1947
State-Community Planning Needed For Employment
By Ernest C. McCracken, Director, North Carolina State Employment Service Division, ESC
Prior to and immediately following V-J Day vari-ous
economists, statisticians, and others who pro-fessed
to have an intimate knowledge of labor market
and employment conditions, filled our newspapers
and magazines with scholarly predictions of employ-ment
conditions which we might expect during the
years following the war. In both industrial and
employer groups the estimates of future production
and predictions of employment levels were subjects
for considerable discussion in the airing of wide
differences of opinion.
As we look back over our experiences here in North
Carolina it is very evident that those who predicted
mass unemployment were seriously wrong and yet
at the same time there have been sections of our
State where there were not jobs for the civilian
workers or the veterans who returned seeking em-ployment.
It is somewhat remarkable, in the short
period of time since the Army, Navy, and Marine
Corps began demobilization of the men and women
who served during the last war, that at the present
time less than four percent of the 400,000 North
Carolinians who served during this war have failed
to find employment. At the same time there is danger
that we might allow ourselves to be lulled into a
sense of false security by conditions as they pres-ently
exist and fail to examine employment problems
that may have serious effect on our entire economic
structure during the next few years. One of the
most important of these problems is the location of
possible areas of unemployment in the State and
determining through careful analysis what solution
can be found to these problems.
Both Surplus and Shortage
During August and September 1947 when, through-out
the greater part of the State there was reason-ably
high employment, it is difficult to believe that
in some of the western counties, and in some of the
eastern sections where workers were attracted dur-ing
the war by shipbuilding, camp construction, and
other military activities, there are unusually large
groups of unemployed workers. Potentially, these
workers are available for transfer to other sections
of the State. Actually, however, they are to a great
extent anchored to their present locations because
of the lack of housing facilities in those areas where
there is a demand for employees.
A second problem that must be considered is the
possible displacement of workers now employed in
industry or agriculture by the introduction of new
methods of production or technological changes
which now seem inevitable. In agriculture alone re-duction
in acreage in certain crops in the State may
displace hundreds of workers now employed in the
growing and harvesting of those crops. In addition
to reduction in acreage, further mechanization in
the entire agricultural industry—which should gain
momentum with the availability of new machinery
—
will displace numerous workers for which no accu-rate
estimates are available.
The third problem that must be faced directly
during the next three years is the location of em-ployment
for veterans and other persons who are
now attending the various colleges and universities.
It is well known that every college and university in
the State is filled to its maximum capacity with stu-dents
who expect jobs to be available for them when
their education has been completed. Unfortunately,
in the past, many of the native young men and women
who have graduated from our universities have found
it necessary to migrate to industrial centers in other
states to find employment. As a result we have lost
not only the investment the State has in their educa-tion
but have also lost the earning capacity which
they might have brought to this State, as well as the
contributions they might have made to the develop-ment
of our economy.
Seasonal Employment Problem
The fourth problem which we have faced for years
we will continue to face. It is the problem of finding
additional employment for the thousands of persons
who, during the year, are engaged for only short
periods of time on jobs of a seasonal nature. Obvious-ly,
it would be impossible for industry of this nature
to continue to operate if this labor supply were not
available, but if we expect to maintain reasonable
levels of income for this group of people a great deal
of emphasis should be given to the problem of addi-tional
seasonal employment for the periods of time
when they are presently unemployed.
These problems are of vital interest to the Employ-ment
Security Commission because of their effect
upon the economic structure of the State. We will
continue studying and evaluating the scope and na-ture
of these problems and will work with individual
organizations, other State departments, and private
enterprise in seeking to find their solution.
While employment and employment conditions are
necessarily both statewide and national problems, it
becomes very evident that they are also very vital
community problems. While State organizations
and national organizations may provide impetus to
and assistance in, solutions to these problems, they
cannot be effective without interest and participation
on the part of community groups.
In areas where there is serious unemployment or
the prospect of unemployed workers it appears that
at least one step can be taken to alleviate this condi-tion.
New enterprises which can offer employment
must be brought into these localities.
Civic organizations, governmental organizations,
and employer and employee groups of every com-munity
should ask the following questions
:
FALL, 1947 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 107
1. Does our area have a place for expansion of em-ployment
opportunities?
2. Have we, as a community, given adequate atten-tion
to the study of the immediate future for our
area?
3. Does our area have plans for further develop-ment
and diversification of our agricultural areas
to provide a more stable agricultural economy
and a more stable income for our farm popula-tion?
4. Do we, as a community, know where additional
industry is needed, and the types of industries
that could be developed, based on the characteris-tics
of the labor supply in the community, and
the natural advantages of the area?
Community Planning Program