The Aberdeen examiner. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1866-current, 1884-07-10
One GfGar Coast villages.

miles over good road found ourself
in that busy hive, the town of Moss
Point, on Dog River,
We had often heard of the place
but were hardly prepared to find a
town of over three thousand inhabi-
tants, including eleven hundred en-
ploYees, representing property worth
more in dollars and cents than the
entire county Of Jackson is credited
with in either the reports of the Audi
tor or the census gatherer.
Just think of it: Thirteen saw
mills, and some of them among the
largest and finest in the South; three
huge planning mills; foundry and
machine shop that would do credit to
any city; large boot and shoe fac
tory; a tannery; a merchant grist
mill; glass factory; two ship yards;
two single factories; brick yard,
numerous stores and all the lesser in
dustries; and what was more surpris-
ing, two of the saw mills and one
planning mill are Int by electric lights,
and run night and day without cessa-
ton. a
The glass works represent a at"plant'
Of o> er twenty thousand dollars, al
though the buildings are cheaply
constructed of unplaned lumber. The
sand used in these works is of the
choicest character and brought from
the neighboring islands, while the
fuel, wood, is obtained at a mere
nominal cost. Under these circum-
stances the company was able from
the first to compete advantageously
with any glass factory in the land
and found not only ready sale for its
product but had demands in advance
of its working capacity when orders
from the head quarters Of the "glass
blowers unionp caused a strike of
operatives all over the country. This
strike resulted in most Of the lacto-
ries shutting down" and the one at
Moss Point followed suit as it was
believed that the strike for ten per
cent. advance in wages was to be tie
precursor of still heavier demand
which was likely to be aggravated by
IA reduction in the import duty on
glass. We were told, however, by
Judge O. Randall, who has the man
ayement Of the business of the com
pany, that they expect to resume
work as soon as affairs become settled
and the market will Justify it. Judge
Randall has &greed to make an exhi-
bit in the Mississippi Department of
the New Orleans Exposition Of pro-
duets of the works, In the way of
plate glass, glass cylinders, ingots,
etc, and the sand from which these
fabrics are made. This will be in
teresting, as Moss Point can boast
the only fully equipped glass factory
in the Southern States.
The press dispatches some weeks
ago announced the suspension Of
Emile De Smet, the owner of two
great saw mills and a planning mill
at Moss Point. This failure is curl
Gus affair and has little to do with
milling in the abstract-lt seems that
DeSmet N order to be assured of
water transportation for the immense
output of his mills, made charter
contracts with perfect fleet Of
steam and sail vessels; that the low
water in the logging streams delayed
him in getting in the amount of
"stocks" that he had engaged for his
spring work, while on the other hand
the vessels that he had chartered at
high freight rates came South in
ballast and most of them arrived
weeks and months before they were
expected. dn the mean time freight
rates had declined immensely; .he
lumber market had lost its bulge,and
the supply of logs would not enable
the mills to make full time, yet the
great fleet of ships at Horn and Ship
Island anchorages were ready for
their freights and demanded their
''pound of flesh" According to the
terms of the several charter contracts
each ship was to be loaded as soon as
her ballast was discharged, and to be
gwen certain number of thousand
feet Of lumber, and to be paid for
that number Of feet whether
fully laden or not; and to receive so
much per day, as "demurage," for
every day lost in waiting for cargo
after the charter took effect. This
left poor De Smet in a bad predica-
ment: He could not load half the
vessels in the stipulated time, and the
Hdemurrage" account was eating him
up at the rate Of from fifteen hundred
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