March 1953 page 8

Carolina Boom

Industry discovers "nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina"

[Column 1]

Carolina is a big slice of earth held in place by the Cavaliers of Virginia, the Volunteers of Tennessee, and the Crackers of Georgia. Due to restrictions imposed by these three tribes--- in conspiracy with the Atlantic Ocean--- the total land area of this pleasant piece of real estate has remained stagnant for quite a few years.

But the number of square miles (82,921) is probably the only stagnant statistic in the whole of Carolina. Any census taker in his right mind knows that the two states which make up most of the Middle South have been growing at a swift pace ever sicne the close of World War II. In the ten year span between 1940 and 1950 the number of people who proudly call themselves Carolinians grew from 5,472,000 to 6,146,00.

In some things---like land area and population---its relatively safe to lump North and South Carolina together... for, after all, they do have a strong community interest. It's even safe to discuss combined statistics on fullness of the Carolina Moon, how much cornbread and grits are consumed each day, and the number of boll weevils per acre of cotton.

[Title] United? Well, not always
There are some statistics, though, that when lumped together are likely to make an explosive mixture. These concern industrial development---the number of industrises which have built and expanded plants in Carolina. In this field of endeavor there are no

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sweet words of encouragement exchanged between Raleigh and Columbia. In a perfectly normal way the North and the South of Carolina are intensely competitive in this business of attracting new industries within their borders. They are almost as competitive, in fact, as two ladies with designs on the same gentleman. And that is the way it should be because both states have active development agencies which are constantly seeking out and helping new industry.

[Title] Danger! High Explosives
But at the risk of an explosion, here are a few Carolina industrial development statistics: In 1952 the two states together counted 201 new manufacturing plants within their borders and 110 major expansions of existing plants. That's an industrial plant or expansion for every day of the year except Sundays. This tremendous industrial growth involoved an investment of an estimated $149,000,000 and created approximately 30,000 new jobs.

In South Carolina the names of such nationally known firms as J. P. Stevens & Co., du Pont, Owens-Corning Fiberglas, Celanese, Textron Southern, Deering-Milliken, Julius Kayser, Greenwood Mills, Singer Sewing Machine, Pacific Mills, Springs Cotton Mills, and dozens of others loomed large on the list of new and expanding plants.

The big du Pont Orlon plant at Camden now employs over 2,000 people and is still growing; Deering-Milliken

[The bottom left corncer] March, 1953