North Carolina has become one of the leading manufacturing states in the union. And this is due to the fact that such cities and counties as Durham have made rapid progress towards this end, which leads her state to the topmost rank.
Aside from the fact that Durham is the leading educational center of North Carolina, it ranks second in manufacturing industries, manufacturing such products as cotton and tobacco, of which it has become famous.
North Carolina leads all southern states in the manufacture of cotton goods, and ranks second only among all the states of the union. Durham ranks alongside the leading cotton manufacturing centers of the state. Durham and Durham county has seven cotton mills under such organizations as the Golden Belt Manufacturing company, the largest tobacco-bag manufacturers in the world, Pearl Cotton Mills, Durham Cotton Manufacturing company, which operates 10 cotton mills, Lawrence Cotton Mills, Erwin Cotton Mills No. 1, Erwin Cotton Mills No. 4, and Laura Cotton Mills, Roxboro, N.C.
The capital stock of the aforesaid mills is $6,390,000. Ther are 145,992 spindles, 3,541 looms and 398 cards. The approximate amount of raw material used per year is 12,393,938 pounds.
There are 1,406 male employees, 545 females and 484 children, making a total of 2,435. The highest paid men receive $4.84 per day and the lowest $2.16 per day. The highest paid females receive $3.13 per dan and the lowest $1.94 per day. All of the employees are paid weekly, 4,900 people are dependent upon the mills.
Tobacco manufacturing is the most important industry of the various groups. It is exceeded only by the cotton goods industry. The two combined represent more than 40 per cent of the total value of all manufactured products reported for the state. Winston-Salem is the center of the industry, and Durham ranks second, and has become widely known for the manufacture of smoking tobacco.
The American Tobacco company and Liggett & Myers Tobacco company control the tobacco industry in this county. They manufacture cigarettes and smoking tobacco. The plant value of the American Tobacco company is listed at $1,379,877, the yearly output is $31,863,262 and the yearly pay roll is $1,168,427, while that of Liggett & Myers company is not listed.
The number of employees for the American Tobacco company is 1,430 and that of Liggett & Myers Tobacco company is 2,838, making a total of 4,268; 75 per cent can read and write.
The highest paid males in these factories receive an average of $7.40 per day and the lowest $1.65 per day. The highest paid females receive $4.12 per day and the lowest $1.7 per day.
There is great improvement shown in the financial condition and the general proficiency of the wage earners in these factories.
The yearly pay roll of the 38 factories referred to is $3,155,987, with a total average of 271 days in operation during the year. Sixty-two per cent of the factories are driven by electricity. The average day’s work is nine hours, with 55 hours constituting a week’s work. The total number of employees is 447, with only 75 females and no children. Eighty-seven per cent of the employees can read and write.
The highest paid males receive an average of $5.95 per day, and the lowest $2.10. The highest females receive an average of $3.24 per day and the lowest $2.35. Ninety-nine per cent of the wage earners are paid weekly. The financial conditions of the wage earners has shown practically no improvement, and the general proficiency has made some marked changes.
The total capital stock of the manufacturing industries in Durham and Durham county is $66,144,504. This does not include Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company, American Tobacco Company and Erwin Cotton Mills No. 1, which are not given.
The plant value of the industries is $2,310,623, with Liggett & Myers not given.
Yearly pay roll: $3,669,554.
Number of employees: 5,142 males, 3,321 females and 577 children, making a total of 9,040.
The hosiery and knit goods industry is second in importance of the textile groups. Manufacture of knit goods has more than doubled in the past 10 years. The industry is an outgrowth of the remarkable manufacture of cotton goods in the state.
Durham has 10 knitting mills, with a capital stock of $10,594,000. The principal class of goods manufactured is hosiery. The 10 mills have 30,825 spindles, 315 ribbers, 3,570 knitting machines, 155 cards, 307 loopers and 150 sewing machines.
The approximate amount of raw material used per year is 7,435,749 pounds. the estimated yearly output is $5,582,171. Ten hours constitute a day’s work and 55 hours a week. There are 777 male employees, 1,055 female employees and 68 children, making a total of 1,900.
The highest paid men receive $4.66 per day and the lowest $2.12 per day. The highest paid women receive $3.29 per day and the lowest $1.54 per day.
Ninety-four per cent of the employees can read and write, and 6,975 is the estimated number of persons dependent upon the mills.
Durham also has 34 miscellaneous factories, manufacturing such products as lumber, flour, brick, metal, fertilizers, window shades, etc. The 34 factories have a capital stock of $49,134,604. The total value of these plants is $930,746, with the value of the Virginia-Carolina Chemical company not given.
From page 8 of the Durham Morning Herald, Sunday, Sept. 9, 1923
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