St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-12-23
KELLEY IN THE SOUTH.
The Pennsylvania Congressman
Surprised at Dixiess Great Pro.

BALTIMORE. Ma, Dec. 22.-Hon. Will
lam j. Kelley. of Pennsylvania, who has
lately made an extensive trip through the
South, contributes to the Baltimore Manu-
facturers' Record of Dec. 25, a lengthy
article reviewing the progress of that sec
ton, in which ne presents some striking
facts as to the developments now in progress
there. Referring to his visit to the South
in 1867. Judge Kelley says:
1.-The South was Il land of desoli ton. Her
fields were fenceleSs and uncultivated and
her people were without reproductive stock,
or that with which to impel modern agricul-
tural implements had they been bestowed
upon them gratuitously. They were, numer-
ically speaking, without seed for food crops,
except what was bestowed upon them by
personal friends, or the government through
the freedmen's bureau and the agencies of
the agricultural department" Contrasting
this with What ne SIw on his late trip, he
says: ''Fhe progress in wealth, in the means
of individual comfort and productive power,
has been marvellous, and ti q. the change
wrought from then until now III the immense
development of the coal and ilo ore of these
states and the increase IN number
and extent of industrial centers
NAV Justly be regarded as the
work of Titans. The systems of railroad that
now traverse the South are as perfect in the
construction of road bee, track and bridges
and in passenger cars and the means provided
for the transportation of freight as those of
the North. Lateral roads branch from them
to such sections as are known to be Specially
rich. not in iron, alone. zput in other minerals,
some of which are found in such profuson
and juXtapOsition as to seem TO defy geologic
laws as elsewhere illustrated. Prior to the
war" Judge Kelley writes. 1.-The South neither
had nor desired to have grcaT cities. 1t is
aIC fFua hat that
the ships that exported Their products and
brought them commodities should be built and
owned by foreigners" In this respect the con-
trast is most striking Nashville he found to
be Il beautiful city, which surprised him By
the extent and variety of its manufactures
and the ma0nificence of its buildings. Chat
tanooga and Birmingham are each marvel
in its own Way. In the former he visited the
great industrial enterprises that are in opera
tiOn there, and it was here that his attention
was first attracted to the neat, commodious
and well painted homes OF the negro IabOrers
in mining. smelling and mechanical pursuits.
The mechanical skill Of the cOlOred
labOrerS in some Of these enterprises
surprised him and convinced him that with
an industrial art school they would soon pro-
duce gratifying evidence OF the adaptation OF
negro labor 10 mechanical pursuits requiring
a high degree of skill Referring to the
proximity of coal. iron ore and limestone at
B rmingham, he said that it is not surprising
that the over Sanguine men of that CITY really
believe that the, will be abe to make iron SO
cheaplv as to soon close up the works of
Pennsylvania and force her iron masters and
the employees TO establish themselves at Bir-
mingham. This. he states, has produced
speculation in town lots that may retard the
immediate growth of Birmingham, and time,
By various processes, will determine the act
ual value of corner lots in city where sue
cess is to eXtinguish the furnace fires of
eh.rrr Tyrod InhnS%nuyp
and generally throughout Penns, lvania. At
Admission he spent ten days, making
thorough Investigation of the resources of
the country tributary to that place. Here he
found extensive iron works, machine shops.
rolling mills, car works and other industries,
besides u large cotton mill which ships con-
siderable part of its product direct
to China. The company which plan
ned and built the town of Admission.
owns sc, 900 acres of land in which are i'm
mense deposits of brown and red hemat.le,
fossiliferouS. sbecular and magnetic ore,
mountains of limestone and seemingly mex
haustible supplies or wood and cokiug and
gas coal. They have just completed Il sixty
mile railroad. aud will build another sixteen
miles in length, besides two furnaces and
other enterprises. He predicts that though
Admission has never had & bottom" and
though its planting and development have
been managed so quietly that its name is
hardly recognized by the popular era, it wil
before two decades shall have passed, be one
OF the most remarkable centerS of iron, steel
and kindred industries to be found in these
wonderfully endowed states, Georgia. Ala
bama and Tennessee. The growth OF Atlanta
surprised him. In 1867 he found it in ruins
aud ashes. Now it has over $4,000 inhabi-
tants, whose prosperity is attested b., every
thing seen there In closing, he said: II
have given bur faint intimations of the re-
sources of the m inera regions of the South
OF the impulses that now animate her, on
trolling the people, and of the rapid strides
with which the spirit of the nineteenth CEN
tury is changing not only the aspect OF the
country but the purposes and aspirations of
the people of the new South