The Men Who A
the Face of Nort
1951 Ik going' down in the roc»
of the most aggressive constrn
in flie history of North Carolii
By CARL GOERCII
IT*
He directs largest Contractors Associa¬
tion — Bob Patten, managing director
of the Carolines Branch of the As¬
sociated General Contractors of Amer¬
ica.
North Carolina is going through a
continuous process of face lifting.
This has been true practically ever
since Sir Walter Raleigh's colonists
settled on Roanoke Island and built
their homes.
Wherever you travel within the
boundaries of the state these days you
see construction work of all kinds in
progress — new homes, business and
ollicc buildings, hospitals, schools,
factories, power plants, bridges, roads,
water and sewage facilities and many
other items. They all add up to mak¬
ing North Carolina a wealthier and
more progressive state, resulting in the
employment of many tens of thousands
of people, the production of vast
quantities of goods, improved trans¬
portation and better living conditions
in general.
Face lifting usually is referred to
in connection with the appearance of
our lovely women who wish to make
themselves more lovely in appearance.
The cosmetologist is responsible for
this change. When you apply the
expression to North Carolina, however,
it's the general contractor who is re¬
sponsible. If you wish to be more
explicit, you might say that it's the
Carolinas Branch of the Associated
General Contractors of America, for
this one agency, above any other, is
responsible for the success of the con¬
struction work brought about by the
progress being made in both Carolinas.
to
Carolinas Branch of the AGC is the
recognized trade association of the
construction industry in North and
South Carolina, with 328 regular con¬
tractor members and 697 associate
members. These associate members
include equipment, supply and material
men. sub-contractors, insurance and
bonding people and other individuals
or concerns interested in various phases
of the construction business.
The Carolinas Branch has now be¬
come the largest chapter of AGC.
having recently overtaken the Southern
California chapter, which heretofore
has been in the national lead. This
fact speaks mighty well for the mem¬
bers of the group in this part of the
country, for it shows their willingness
to co-operate and abide by the high
principles which the association has
set for itself.
But, despite the tremendous amount
of construction work that has been in
progress during recent years, and
despite all of the successful projects
accomplished by the contractors'
organization, their work is beset on
every side by a host of pressing prob¬
lems. Attention to these was called
at the annual convention in Pinchurst
this fall, when retiring president H. S.
Crain of Durham said:
"We cannot help but bring to mind
these words of Charles Dickens in the
opening chapter of his ‘Talc of Two
Cities.’ These words were written in
the year 1859 concerning the year
1788. Perhaps you may recall them.
Here they are: •
" ‘It was the best of times, it was
the worst of times; it was the age of
wisdom, it was the age of foolishness;
it was the epoch of belief, it was the
season of darkness; it was the spring
of hope, it was the winter of despair;
we have everything before us, we have
nothing before us; we were all going
direct to heaven, we were all going
direct the other way. In short, the
period was so far like the present
period that some of the noisiest author¬
ities insisted on its being received, for
good or evil, in the superlative degree
of comparison only.'
"We could, without exaggeration
(continued President Crain) say that
Dickens' words constitute a prophetic
masterpiece of understatement as ap¬
plied to the times of 1951.
"We are at war. and yet we are
not at war; we are in the midst of
plenty, and yet millions arc sorely
pressed to make ends meet; there arc
acute shortages of some things, but a
serious over-production of others; we
arc geared for war. but yet we must
maintain a normal civilian economy;
wc arc given full speed ahead one
minute, but before wc get started the
orders are rescinded; wc arc within
the law this morning, but wc arc in
serious, withal innocent, violation of it
this afternoon.
"We are required by government
edict to pay one set of labor rates on
the north side of a street, while wc
pay another set on a private job on
the south side of the same street; wc
One of the most interesting and important c,
the Moreho fcj
THE STATE. December 29. 1951
