The following information was excerpted from Mill News. The Great Southern Weekly for Textile Workers. Devoted to the Textile Industries (Vol. XXII. No. 16, Charlotte, N. C., Thursday, October 14, 1920). The parts below pertain to Leaksville, Spray and Draper...
Entered as second class matter at the Post Office at Charlotte. N C $2.00 A YEAR
Carolina Cotton & Woolen Mills Co.
Spray, N. C.
Draper, N. C.
Leaksville, N. C.
A great deal of work is being done by the Carolina Cotton and Woolen Mills in the villages of Draper, Leaksville, North Spray and Spray, where there are a number of mills owned and operated by it.
There are ten mills in the chain comprising the Carolina Cotton Mills. Their names and the products made at each mill are as follows:
Draper, N. C.: Draper-American Mills, cotton blankets; Wearwell Sheeting Mill, fine sheetings.
Spray, N. C.: Spray Woolen Mills, wool blankets; Rhode Island Mill, cotton blankets; Lily Mill, fine gingham; Nantucket Mill, ginghams and outing; Spray Bleachery, bleaches and finishes sheetings and narrow goods, and also makes up pillow cases, sheets, etc; American Warehouse finishes blankets, outings, ginghams, etc., and does the shipping for all the cotton mills.
Leaksville, N. C.: Athena Mills, ladies' and children's underwear; Wearwell Bedspread Mill, satin and crochet bedspreads.
Carolina Heights comprise a suburb for the employes of the mills, of which any city might be proud. The entrance is through a grove, which is being developed into a park. The streets are graded, and cement sidewalks made. Stone pavement will be placed upon the streets through the village. The village consists of a number of splendid bungalows. Now these homes are "real" bungalows. They are the kind that the better class in the large towns build as homes for themselves. They are modernly equipped and very attractive. Flowers and shrubs will be planted when all the work of grading and street work has been completed. It is the intention of the company to make one of the prettiest cotton mill residential sections in the state, and some of the other mills will have to make a big jump to head them in the race.
Road building committees of the various towns and counties
No Mill Company Lays More Stress Upon the Musical Feature Than the Carolina Cotton & Woolen Mills. A Few of the Many Musical Clubs Organized in the Musical Department and Not Confined to the Employes of the Mills Alone.
would do well to visit Spray and observe the streets. The people there believe they have discovered a better road system for mill communities. First the roadbed is graded. Then it is laid with limestone chips about four or five inches deep. This is all the labor required. Travel pulverizes the stone and rain cements it. It does not wash. The road already built has been in use for 18 months and there are no signs of wearing. These stone roadways will be laid in several of the streets now being built in North Spray, Carolina Heights and Draper.
In the village of the woolen mill at North Spray, the residential section is undergoing an almost complete change in the grading of streets, laying of cement sidewalks and improving of yards and cottages. When all the work has been completed in grading, etc., flowers, shrubs and grass will be planted around the homes.
Draper also is receiving a share of the village street improvement. Several miles of streets and sidewalks will be laid in all three of the villages. In front of the Draper Y. M. C. A. Building, the street is being widened and new sidewalks will be laid. A limestone street will be made with a center of flowers and shrubs.
A new Y. M. C. A or community hall is being completed in Leaksville, which will make the social and educational development of that place much more convenient than here-tofore when the people attended the entertainments at the "Y" halls in the other villages.
Views on This Page Handsome Bungalows in Carolina Heights--A Modern Residential Development.
The textile courses inaugurated by the mills have developed into very important factors among the men and boys. Last winter the class at North Spray had 65 members, and several promotions have been made among the men who took the courses. There was a sum total of 13 classes in all the mills, with an average of 150 men and boys. The courses pursued were in carding and spinning, beaming, weaving and cloth designing. The classes lasted from 12 to 20 nights, and met twice a week. The work was done in co-operation with the State Board of Vocational Training and the Federal Board. Trained textile men were employed to teach the classes, and during the spring there were ten classes in textile arithmetic. The members of the classes were very much enthused over the work, and many of them asked for the courses to be pursued during the summer months.
The musical clubs and various pursuits of study in this branch comprise one of the big things in the life of the people of these towns. A musical director is employed at the expense of the Carolina Cotton and Woolen Mills Co. Classes are conducted in practically any line of music desired. He has in his employ several assistants. The lessons are not confined to the employes of the Carolina Cotton and Woolen Mills exclusively, but anyone in the town or the other mills may attend the classes and receive instruction. This branch of work is now about two years old and has made rapid strides in growth of membership. Here are some of the things taught in this branch: Band music, violin (65 members now), Hawaiian guitar clubs, mandolin clubs, guitar clubs for girls, glee clubs, three male quartets (and splendid ones).
Views on This Page Handsome Bungalows in Carolina Heights--A Modern Residential Development.
There are 1,000 people taking voice, in class or group singing. The children are taught in community "sings" of from 500 to 800. Group singing is one of the features upon which stress is particularly laid. The people are urged to come and sing. And they are taught simple old time songs, classical selections, religious songs, and jazz tunes of the day. The same methods are taught in group singing as are used in public schools. In the violin classes the same methods are used as are taught in the New York city public schools.
Views on This Page Handsome Bungalows in Carolina Heights--A Modern Residential Development.
Page 74
Upon arrival in Spray, a traveler finds he is in the midst of an industrial center with a population equal to some of the "big" towns or so-called cities of the State. There are really four towns, Spray, North Spray, Leaksville and Draper, and the mills are scattered through all four of them. In all of the towns except Spray, the mills are owned by the Carolina Cotton and Woolen Mills Co., and the welfare work in those places is strictly under its supervision and at its expense.
There are several interests in Spray: The Carolina Cotton and Woolen Mills Co.; the Spray Cotton Mills; Leaksville Cotton Mill, and the Morehead Cotton Mills Co. These companies have co-operated towards the development of the town and the improvement of the people. And a splendid work is being done for the health and welfare of the community.
Good business judgment has been used in the plan of the welfare work as in the management of the big mills. First of all is the head of the welfare and health department. Everything comes under his supervision. He has the general superintendency of things, from the building of employes' homes to street work and social activity.
The Y. M. C. A. hall is the center of practically all activities, for it is through this organization that all the welfare work emanates. The secretary has a number of workers for social, physical and educational work. Nurses are employed to look after the sick and teach sanitation. There is a department for women, and a young lady is in charge of this. There are sewing classes, games and various forms of entertainment and home training. It is through the "Y" that many clubs have been organized. There are Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, baseball and basket ball teams, volley ball, billiard games, gym classes and Bible classes.
One of the best schools in the state is located at Spray. It is up-to-date in methods of teaching and modernly equipped. An unusual feature is the system of baths with hot and cold water.
Spray has splendid streets and paved sidewalks. Between the towns of Leaksville and Spray an asphalt road has been constructed.
Spray has a park on the river, and here the people enjoy such summer sports as boating, fishing, picnics and band concerts.
A "Production Class" was the outgrowth of the textile
Gingham Dress Party, Spray, N. C.--An Economical Movement of the Young People of Spray.
During the past season the company leased the Phospho-Lithia Springs and hotel, up in Virginia, and about six or seven miles from Spray, for the benefit of the employes of the mills. The hotel accommodates about 75 roomers, and thus was provided a summer resort that the employes could visit at small cost.
Production Class, Which Was Composed of Overseers and Superintendents of the Mills of Spray, N. C.
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Source Description:
(cover) Second Peace and Prosperity Number.
(caption) Mill News. The Great Southern Weekly for Textile Workers. Devoted to
the Textile Industries.
82 p., ill.
Charlotte, N. C.
Mill News Print. Co.
1920.