The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1881-01-13
WONDROUS WESSON.
A Live, Pushing Mississippi Manufactur
ing Town and Its History.

ing Town and Its History.
SOUTHERN MANUFACTURES a SUCCESS
PRODUCTS TURNED OUT AT wEssoN
MILLS.
Correspondence of the Courier-Journall
| WEssoN, Miss. = Amongst the many
manufacturing towns in the South, WessoI
takes a prominent position. This little vii
| lage is situated on the \. o., c. and st
| Louis railroad, about 125 miles from New
Orleans, nearly due north, and in the cen
| ter of fine cotton-growing country. Co
piah was, in the old days very wealthy
| county, and its county-town, Brookhaven
was the seat of culture and refinement a.
well as of great wealth. With the loss Of
negro property many of the grand old
estates were broken up and divided into
small farms.
At this time, in the bright dawn of a
happy renaissance, the small fairness are
doing we'll and working maofully, bringing
their cotton to Wesson and selling it to one
of the grandest institutions in the State.
allude to the Mississippi Mills of Richard
son & Oliver, at the new manufacturing vii
lage named after its founder, j. NJ. Wesson,
who in 1867, organized company for the
manufacture of cotton and wooden goods.
At that time, the site of the present village
was dense pine forest. Now, in place OF
wilderness, are seen magnificent pile of
buildings, three and four stories high, cap
ped with Mansard roofs and modern win
dows, a commodious warehouse, dozen
stores, elegant modern villas, fine hotel
building, and a very tall pole that tioated
from its summit splendid Democratic flag
bearing the names of Hancock and Esq
fish.
The factory built by Mr.. Wesson Ian
guished until 1871, when he sold 1t to
New Orleans firm-John L. Hardie and
William Oliver. This was an Incorporated
company and worked successfully until
1873, when new and improved machinery
was introduced. During this year the
building and machinery were burnt to the
ground and the place left bare. John /.
Hardie then sold his interest in the grounds
and whatever was left to Mr.. Ed Richard
son. one of the clearest-headed men in the
country, and possessed of more foresight
and sagacity than any man of his day. He
is a member of the firm of Richardson &
May, cotton factors, of New Orleans, owns
ten or twelve cotton plantations, and makes
on them annually $4,000 to $4,000 bales of
cotton.
Mr.. Ed. Richardson is the largest cotton
planter in the world, and is
THE COTTON KING OF AMERICA
He has worked hard all his life, and is
still working. He is popular with the mass
es and especially SO with his negro laborers.
He is generally believed to have accumula-
ted from ST., 900, 900 to $40, 900 600, all made
in the South-the poor South.
The Mississippi Mills have been construct
ed by Southern capital alone, without the
aid of one cent from other sections. All
through the South those who have worked
hard and judiciously have accumulated for
tunes, and to>day the South, in her prosperi-
ty, is more the object of hate and Jealous
than in her days of gloom and prostration.
In illustration of this fact, an English |
gentleman from Manchester, England, and |
in intimate relationship with great manu-
interests, and with whom | have |
been travelling, told me to>day that he had |
heard Northern men III Boston discussing |
the possibilities and probabilities of South |
ern manufactures, and ridiculing the idea |
of such an enterprise. He told me emphati- |
cally that it was not a question of POSSIBLE |
ties or probabilities, and no longer matter
of theory, but their success is an assured |
fact. The evidences exist everywhere; they
are found at Wesson, Atlanta, Macon, Angus
tn, Natchez, Miss. at New Orleans in the
large and elegant mills of Lehman, Abrams
& Co., and various other places. His obser-
vations had led him to believe that the
South would, in a few years, lead England
and the North in the manufacture of all |
the coarser cotton goods, such sheetings
and shiEtiness- aFaa ultimately all the inner
goods, both cotton and wooden. He thinks
the climate in the South much better adapt
ed to the working of the thread than the
North, where the extremes ofcold will oxid-
ize, as it were, the thread and cause it to
Snap" and that the moderate dampness
that prevails both in winter and summer
will produce a more uniform texture and |
a beauty of surface not obtained in the
Northern looms Every body is familiar
with the swapping" of thread in extremely
cold weather, which IS caused by a sort of |
oxidation. This gentleman says the South |
will be the future manufacturing country of
the world, and that our native labor can be |
fully utilized as at Wesson, and is perfectly |
adapted to such labor. He thinks that the |
North is ridiculing and belittling all enter
prises of this kind through jealousy and ri
valry.
Out of this idea springs the conviction
that this jealousy will be the motive power
in the North to disturb our labor system, to |
produce turbulence and civil commotion and |
excitement in politics if possible; to cause
-he capital of the world to abandon the idea
Of investment in the South, to revive carpet
baggery in order tc provoke resistance and |
to evict our member of Congress on frivo-
Ous pretenses, and to get up reign of ter
ror within the next four or five years This
would brighten away all timid capital and
squelch growing prosperity as a wet |
blanket puts out fire. There is a method
in all their attacks on the South, and they
make their approaches slowly and surely.
Immediately after the burning of these
mills in 1873 the new firm of Richardson
& Oliver rebuilt the mill No. l on a much |
larger scale than the former, and in 1875 |
built mill No. 2, more than twice the size
Of No. l. These mills are three and four
story structures, and are very imposing in
appearance. They are built of brick, have
slate roofs, and are fire proof
THE MACHINERY
is the latest and best improved for cotton
and wooden manufactures. The mill No. |
is fifty feet wide by $50, and the annex |
building is a two story house, and 1O0x90 |
feet. The lapper building between the two
mills is three stories high and 40xl00 feet |
The mill No 2 is grand four story build |
ing, Mansard roof, and 50x3I2 feet The /
whole front elevation is impressive and |
The buildings and machinery cost $780,
900, no little sum to invest in country in |
which capital is not safe, according to |
Northern statements.
They employ 800 hands, three-fourths of
whom are women, gathered from the sur
country, good, faithful, industri-
Gus and Intelligent. The remaining fourth
are men and boys, gathered from various
places, a few from the North and few from
England and Scotland, who work 400 looms
and $4,000 spindles. In cotton these mills
daily from eighteen to twenty
I,oIas hasidas an cuarnouS oI1aDtifxy of rryor,I