Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1874-10-18

D years before the war (3, 600,OO0 bales)
and this comparison il quite fair, be
cause during that period before the wa
e cotton production was increasing verl
> slowly, that Of 1855 Sc being very nearly
equal to the average of the siI
!, years ending with lS60-6l. The aver
: age Of the four years succeeding the
= war, when the country was impOver
: ished and labor was utterly demoralized
Z was only 9, 300, 600 bales. Probably ther,
Z is not SO great profit now as before tn,
war; still the increase in the rate of pro
duction would seem to indicate as much
as it is quite as rapid now as for seveTa
years before the war. AS we have sale
: before, there has been quite a revolution
: in cotton transportation since the ante
: war days. Then the numerous naviga
: BILE streams interesting the eOttOI
= States maintained fleets Of steamer
! which brought the largest part OF thu
: crop to the seaboard. Now, except OIL
the Mississippi ana its tributaries, tn
steamers have mostly disappeared, anC
the railroads take all the traffic. 1t is
traffic which they ought to be able Il
command, TO be sure, the staple beinl
valuable in proportion to its weight
! and its distance from seapOTts being usu
y ally less than three hundred miles We
have said that its weight did not of it.
5 self make this an important staple o.
1 transportation, and il certainly does not
compared with many other agricultural
products, to say nothing of minerals,
Last years crop, for instance, had a
weight of about 100000 tons, which
would have made 100000 full
carloads. Now the wheat received
during the last crop year at either Chi
no or MfluTuH1lran nrainhaH "a rixr
as much as this, while wheat is a subor-
dinate staple in the district which ships
at one of these cities. The lumber re-
ceived at Chicago would much more
than balance the cotton OF the whole
country; and these articles, as well as
other grains snd live stock, are carried
average distances much greater than
cotton goes. AS an article Of export,
however, cotton takes q higher rank
The statistics show that a little more
than two-thirds Of the last crop was ex-
ported, while nothing like so large q
proportion Of any other leading staple
produced here ever leaves the country
To the ocean vessels, therefore, cotton
is nearly our most important cargo
Last years exports of wheat exceeded
it in weight largely, however, but last
years exports were unusually large.
Although the railroads have succeeded
so well in absorbing the transportation
of cotton from the plantations to the
seaboaTd, they have as yet made only
tolerable progress in carrying it over
long rail routes from the cotton States
to the home consumers or the distribut-
/ ing cities near them. Nearly one-third
of the last crop was consumed in this
country, but the shipments direct to
] s.sfrr N,r-,Nhs,r
| the rail receipts reported at Baltimore and
ports further north, were but liz per
! cent. of the crop, which, however, is
/ yet AZ per cent of the northern con-
sumption. In view of the high value
| Of the article, and especially consider
/ ing the fact that the Dulk Of the traffic
on roads to the south is southwark, it
! would seem that there is room for
/ great expansion of this Traffic, as there
has been of the grain traffic from the
/ northwest to the eastern States. But
the habits of trade have q great deal to
do with this. The interior corn buyer
in the east is able to order carload of
| corn in central Illinois, and have it de-
| livered at his door. The cotton manu-
| facturer, we presume, would continue to
( buy his stock in New York and Boston,
even if all the cotton came by rail. A
uniform and rigid inspection and clsssi-
| ticatiOn Of cotton throughout the south
might change matters, perhaps, and per-
NIT the making Of the exchange be-
tween the planter and the cottOu-spin-
ner with the minimum of handling and
middlemen; but this is q matter in
which the railroads can do a very little.
1t is conceivable that cotton might be
bought and held at the station nearest
ha nile H.
Office, and that these, receiving an order
for a definite quality from the
mill in Massachusetts, would order it
shipped through, SO that there would be
but one loading and unloading of the
bales between Mississippi and Massa- /
chusetts. The break OF gauge on the !
southern border is something of an OBJ |
stacle, but in these days of transfers |
from trucks to trucks, not very serious |
one. The reports for the past two years /
show q considerable increase in the pro- |
portion OF this through rail traffic In /
1S72-73 it was So per cent. Of the north |
ern consumption aud 50 per cent. of the /
total crop; the last year il was AZ per 4
cent. of the northern consumption and /
liz per cent. OF the total crop. The
crop being larger last year, the increase
in amount Of the cotton transported in
this way was even larger than these
figures indicates, the numbers of bales
being 37S, 273 in 1S72-73 and 4S9, 534 in
1874, showing an increase OF nearly so
per cent. The receipts of the different
ports are likely to vary greatly from
year to year with the condition of the
crop in the districts which supply them.
But there are no very great variations
in the prOpoTtiOns-Of the crops received
during tho fzsyn flrl,.,z !
took q trifle less than 80 per cent. last
year and about 81 per cent. the year be-
fore; Mobile less than Z per cent. last
year and more than 81 per cent. the year
befOrei Texas ports Chiefly Galveston
and Corpus Christi), 81 per cent. last
yesr and 81 per cent. the previous year,
the gulf ports together receiving
about 10 per cent. in 1874 against
ash in 1S72-73. The great bulk of
their receipts go abroad. Savannah,
Charleston and Norfolk are the other
chief receiving ports, and the report
shows that Is per cent. of the receipts
in 1874 and 154 per cent. in IS72-73
were at Georgia ports, which is q little u
more than two-thirds of the receipts last
year; TO- per cent. in 1874 and 80 in
lS72-73 st South Carolina ports, which !
something more than half of !
It's receipts last year; Y per cent. of the J
receipts last year and II per cent. the '
year before at Virginia ports, which last :
year exported only per cent. of its Te- I
seipts. This shows that the supply for ,
domestic consumption and for export / 2
rom northern ports aside from the rail :
receipts, comes almost entirely from the J
Atlantic receiving ports. The exports !
)f northern ports Were $50, 900 bales. I
which = Dn ~ -, - 4
PORTS. 1t appears from this that the p
sulf States sell very little of their cot .
on in this country, and that they ex- q
)ort it from their own ports. 1t is natu- q
al, Of course, that our mills should get o
heir supplies from the cotton districts p
nearest to them. As the only part of h
be country where cotton production is 81
Increasing rapidly is in Texas-most a
istant OF all from the northern mills a
We may perhaps expect to see q larger 81
nd larger proportion of the product of o.
be Atlantic States to be consumed by n
hem, rs their consumption increases, 2,
which will have a tendency to h,
estroy the exports of these States, 4.
ot by diminishing their trade, but n
iverting the subjects Of it from foreign n,
D domestic consumption, while the rest r.
{ the world viii more than ever go to n
he gull ports for Its cotton. The rail- mn
pads may modify this condition of 4,
-ade somewhat, but there is not the 81
anne room for them to progress in cot M
IN as in grain transportation, from the 1s
vet that most Of the cotton must go TO hi
ne sea for export, and that the sea is nj
ardly anywhere more than three hun ~
red miles from it. The railroads have 81
-ork enough before them ia securing IN
he carriage of cotton for domestic con- m
lmption, in which they have good de
nance Of success; that for expectation 20
i'll always be likely to seek the nearest m
'apoFt where there Is good market, k
Mess rail transportation becomes very ht
lesp, when a slight advantage in 3 di
arket may divert il. on
ANEW MOTOR PROMISED. "a
WI
1t Is Well-known TO professional men pc
at by applying heat to water, or other Sc
lid. y nrpssIIrn NAV ba iavaionod nv "a