The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1881-12-22
THERE'S MILLIONS ~ IT.

urged the people of Anstin to en-
gage in manufacturing enterprises,
and especially has it held that cot
ton and wooden mills, erected here,
in the midst of cotton fields and
sheep herds, would pay as well as
establishments of the same sort do
anywhere in the world. There are
reasons. in fact, why such mills
ought to be made to pay better here
than in the northern states and even
in some of the southern states,
where they have returned such
handsome dividends ON capital in
vested in them. The magnificent
cotton mills at Columbus, Georgia,
the Eagle and Phoenix mills, had an
unpromising beginning fifteen years
ago, and now they represent some
where between three and five mil
lions of dollars, upon which large
dividends are paid, while, annually,
large reserve funds are held out of
the profits to increase the business.
A few energetic and plucky Geor-
gians have grown rich upon small
sums put into these mills, and the
prospect is that within the next
ten years their present fortunes will
thereby be doubled. At Augusta
the mills had a similar beginning,
and now that city is becoming the
Lowell of the south. Graniteville,
little town in Edgfield district,
South Carolina, seventeen miles
from Augusta, boasts its two
magnificent cotton mills, these
mills having made the town
and given it a population of
5000 souls, all drawing susterance
from the work of its looms.
Going farther north, into the
treasured precincts of the Old Do
minion, beneath the very shadows
of Monticello, we find one of the
most magnificent mill properties in
the world-not so large as some of
the others named, but having gained
a reputation from the product of It's
looms second TO no manufac turing
community ON this continent. Be-
fore the war q little rock mill stood
on the east bank of the Ravannah
river, from which were turned out
small amount of coarse wooden
goods, annually, used mainly
on the slave plantations of
Virginia. These goods, however,
were honest fabrics, composed
the warp of cotton and the wool of
wool. The owners of this mill
practiced no such deception, as is
resorted to so much elsewhere. 1t
was known as the Charlottesville
Wooden Mill, and still it bears the
same name, producing to-day an
honest class of goods, as in the years
long ago, that can not be surpassed
by any mill in America, and by
but few, if any, in France. This
mill uses the finest Mcrino woods
and turns out genuine Merino goods,
the counterparts of which are
made only in France, from the fine
mills of which country this one
is patterned. We refer to this
mill, simply to show what can be
done here at Austin. The Ravan-
nah river is but little more of a
stream than Barton creek, but the
waters have been walled in by a
magnificent dam, aud their power is
utilized with great profit. As stated,
this mill, before the war, was small,
and manufactured only common
goods, but it was a nucleus, and this
is what we want at Austin. 1t can
be more clearly demonstrated that
Austin is the point for a wooden
mill, or mills, than Charlottesville,
and yet there it required only the
venture to lead to increased invest
ments, until the owners OF this
mill conceived the idea of ordering
the finest machinery from France,
and placing it under the supervi-
sion of the most experienced
weavers. The Charlottes-
vile mill turns out duplicates of the
finest French goods. and a demand
has grown up for their use among
well dressed men all over the coun-
try. Even here in Austin, many of
the most Hastily dressed appear
wholly in suits made from the pro-
duct Of the Charlottesville mills.
These easimeres are made of the
finest wool; they have softness of
finish and durability of colors,
unsurpassed by any goods made in
the United States. Messrs. james s.
Pillow, merchants, of this city, the
sole agents for the sale Of these
goods in Texas, have ON hand a
most elegant assortment of the
goods of this mill, and those who
doubt what we say about the capa-
bility of wooden manufacture in the
south are referred to these evil
dences of what we assert. Such goods
as these may really be manufac-
tured at Austin and, were wooden
mill established here, we do believe
it would not be ten years before it
would compete, in quality of pro-
ducts, with this celebrated Virginia
mill. Texas has as fine sheep
as are grown, and the demand
for fine goods is growing beyond
the ability of a dozen such mills
as this one at Charlottesville to sup
ply. Why not meet this demand
here? Mr.. James tells us that
his firm is unable to supply one
fourth the demand for these goods
even in the city of Austin. He tells
us that the Virginia mill never
a yard of cloth that is
not sold before the wool goes to the
carders. The demand for such
goods makes this so, and we see no
reason why some ofour people, who
have the money, should not
engage in a similar enter
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