Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-09-29
A NEW ENTERPRISE.
A Cotton and Wooden Mill to be Es-
tabIished on Big Creek.

I ABOUT Twelve LnllGHH NUN a.
( we found about fifty gentlemen OF the
surrounding ountry who had assembled
Tor the purpose OF interchanglnB views
and setting on foot a movement TO build
a cotton and wooden mill and lanyard, on
a large scale, at or near the debouchment
of Big Creek, thus utilizing the splendid
water power which at present Is idle.
Among those present we noticed Doctors
lrbv, Peyton, Brown and Lewis, Capt
1. L. Douglas, ]. ]. Hines, Mai. Vaughan,
NJ. Isaacs, James Coleman and several
other property owners in that immediate
neighbOrhOOd.
After an old fashioned country dinner,
the object of the meeting was briefly
stated by Mr.. Rembert, who dwelt upon
the necessity Of some such enterprise as
that proposed in order to populate and
build IN that garden spot Of Shelby which,
though the most fertile portion OF the
county, was the least d. capped. Tn
hopes of those living in that region which
had been built upon the Mississippi River
Railroad had been dashed to the ground
by h removal of the line of that road
farther eastward, and he saw nothing for
them to do now but to build factories and
bring a population to that section mat
will draw a railroad to them.
Col. A. H. Douglas was then called
upon to address the assemblsge, which he
did at length IN al eloquent speech,
in which he sci forth in glUwing
words the i~nexhaustible agricultural
wealth of that beautiful region. He
described the advantages of the sit
uation for manufacturing purposes
and gave some most interesting statistics
of the productions of theimmediate coun-
try around, which even this season, with
all its drawbacks, has produced three
quarters OF a bale of cotton to every acre
planted in that staple. Being thoroughly
posted as to the country around, Col.
Douglas described the situation whore it
is ~proposedto erect the mills. 1t is at a
point on the creek where there was once
a lumber and grist mill, the re-
mains of which still stand. Here quite
a number of perennial springs, some of
them of great volume, pour into the creek,
and it is the opinion of scientific persons
who have examined the matter that there
Is power enough in them lone to to drive
the machinery for a very large factory,
besides supplying a hundred tan watts.
During the course of his remarks
Col. Douglas detailed a very re-
markable fact which is OF great
importance TO psychologists, and
especially those who are interested
in the early history of this portion of the
State. About a mile and a half from the
mouth of Big Creek, it makes a a horse
shoe " bend, the neck of which is several
hundred yards in width. Across this there
are vet to be seen very distintly the re-
mains of an ancient canal or huge ditch,
of the origin of which there is 40 tradition
extant among the oldest settlers. In adj
ditiOn to this there is, for several ya.d DIS
along the stream, the remnant of
a wall OF solid masonry, built
with a view to prevent the washing
of the Sank, probably by the same hands
thai dug the canal. Col. Douglas elabors-
ted on these relicts of an ancient civiliza-
ton In an eloquent manner, specializing
as TO bv whom they were built and for
what purposes, suggesting that possibly
they were for the very purpose for which
the present crowd had met in council,
At the conclusion of Col. Dopglas' re-
marks a call was made on Gen.
Wallace, who spoke with usual elo-
quence and happy effect for three
quarters of an hour. He took up the his
and by him illustrated what could be
done in the way of manufactures with a
small beginning, by the aid of patience
and perseverance,. 4 few years ago Gen.
Wallace said Pratt went TO Alabama, q
joumeyman carpenter with his chest of
tools as his sole possession. He was am
ployed by a planter to put up a cotton gin,
and he did the jobso satisfactorily that the
planter aided him with a little capital
and he set up a mandatory of cotton
gins. To this factory was soon added one
of sash and blinds, and other wood work,
which was again increased by a cotton and
wooden mill. What vas a pine barren,
away from the river soon became a flour
ishing town of neatly built cottages, in
habited by hundreds OF intelligent work
men. Churches and scho0ihouses sprang /
up, and to-day Daniel Pratt, the poor me-
chanio of but a dozen years ago, is, in de-
spite of losses entailed by the war, worth
from a million and a halfto two millionso t
dollars, and has given his name to one of
the largest and handsomest OWN in Ala
bama.
Gen. Wallace gave a very concise and
clear statement OF the amount of money
lost by the cotton growers by sending the
off to Old and New England 70 DO
manufactured, contending THAI cotton
and wooden cloths can be manufactured at
home for one-half what we are compelled
to nav for them. Ike dwelt on the
fact that by establishing factories owe the
land employment can be given to hun
dreds and thousands of widows and or
phans who now have no support save
from the cold hand OF charity 0
At the close of Gen. Wallace's remarks
Col. Douglas prepared the necessary doc
uments for forming a joint stock company
to "erect and put in operation q cotton
and wooden mill and tan yard" at.some
point on Big Creek, near its confluence
with Hatchie river, 10 be chosen
by the stockholders after proper
scientific examination by competent en-
gineers. On calling for signatures about
i've Thousand dollars were subscribed in
less than five minutes, and other names
were being added when we lett. The
meeting then adjourned TO meet Mt the
same place one week from next Saturday,
when il Is thought that a permanent or
ganization will be effected.
Mr.. Rembert's place is on the Big Creek
plank road, and is one of the lOveliest
in the world. The country around
him for thousands of acres is AS rich as
any In the United States, and must
soon be brought nearer to US
by either rail or turnpike. The road
is in a wretcbed condition at pres-l
ent, and the ferry privilege Y Hatchie
outrage on the community. Our party
was in a carriage, and although at the
present stage ofthe water the ferry boat
is slung across the stream, making sim
ply q bridge, we were charged one dollar
for crossing. This we understand is some
of little general w. j. Smiths rascality.
We hope the Legislature viii take some
cognizance of this mstter as 0 0 as they
meet.