The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1888-05-18
BLAZING FURNACES!
THE ENTERPRISES AND PEOPLE
OF TIE s'MAGlC CITY.'
Birmingham, il it Continues to Grow a. |
it Has in the Last Zen ears, will Soon |
be the Queen City of the South.

Birmingham, il it Continues to Grow as
it Has in the Last Ten ears, will Soon
be the Queen City of the South.
Especial Cor. STATE CHRoNICLE.1
So much has been written and spoken of
this new and populous city that our friends
viii be loath to spend a lew moments with
Us, in our observations OF business enter
prise aud customs amidst our Southern
cousins. Some of this though May prove
Of interest and especially since many
harsh represe utatlous have lately gone
abroad concerning Birmingham. do not
intend any minute description or fine sta
lstical representation. only in a cursory
n!*nner give my lmpre s>iola If the coun-
| trs. people, algN industries.
In tie iron belt of north Alabama, with
lis b undie~S Gopo>lt- Of ore a.id coal, is
! this industrious and thriving city, stretch
| Ing uut tor mlts along the valley being
| between ;he low ranges of ked Mountain,
| the city hes tlu.dCH beneath the oytrhaug
! nag ranges: CAPPED on eith leigh t> The
picturesque res fdences Of those 50 i.,leiy
grown rich off lne developments and en-
ttrpriseS Of what was but Il few years ago
coLsit4er.d almost a barren waste, The
city dates back 10 1872 as the Year of its
origin, bat not till about Is or 80 did any
great future loom up for this C ,untry.
| From the very beginning IA system of
incorporated stock companies was rlgi-
mated tor the development Of this section
and thoroughly has this early precedent
been adhered TO. | shall give a short his
tory of The oldest and most successful one
1t was known to scientists that along the
| mountainous section OF Alabama lay hid
vast mineral deposits, but little thought
was given to them, since the ore district
| of Pennsyi yivania, Ohio and West Virginia
supplied The demands of the country;
| hey a fey of
kind was lii progress prior to '76. In 1872
a syndicate of enterprsig men conceived
the idea of the future that must necessa-
rly arise out of the growth of the South
and the demand for mineral stores. This
section promised the most favorable site
for such enterprises, and accordingly a
city was laid out ou the present site of
| Birmingham. This company, entitled the
Elyton Land Company, was organized
| with view to future enterprise and ac
cOrdingly they wasted no time in purchas-
ing all available real estate aid mining
properly in aud about the vicinity of the
present prosperous CITY. The company
Was ct.tr,erv;i Atu capital of $3.50, 600.
wAic' a.s r,prtte t'h at the "a scr by
nothing ht,f ~ft,.tt.ptlN barren time stone
ans! clay telt,> auu Uiuuuttlil otopeS For
s-Ntiai years t'.sy i.!et VII !ittle success.
and s,h NJ 1S fu.nl :'.sin-riyts Ii, ayily
!
So d k : h o.tIr,k jti..t the p incipa
stoch Ia, ,dtrS We're ttesfnti,. - Set,tug out
at almost any sacrifice. i Mas It; j;l', ~
Just ten years ago trtI nui:,crc;te capital
ISIS det.irfnl:.ci to l., cdio -Ild dove rp he
HIinIng rtsOuic-s aHoui.d krl Mu-l.;.!H il
the vicinity OF Birmingham. My cofpo
ratlOns were forE3ei, tXt- n>ive mines were
opened, furnace built al't :, gene r;el ait Of
Improvement began 10 defslop- The
EiytOn Land Company contracted new
debts, erected substantial buildings for
! business, and numerous dwellings for the
employees in the lately opened industries.
Property increased in value-more de-
mand was made for accommodations, SO
that IN two years more they found the
company not only free, but paying hand
somey. Much I. al estate immediately in
tue city sold, the new acquires i'm
proving Same greatly y so that now the
company's stock is worth thirty dollars for
every dollar invested, after having paid in
cash dividends during the pat three years
the sum total of twenty five hundred per
cent on the original capital. Their prop
erty consists of highly improved real es-
| tate, local railro I'd lines, city steam street
| Car lines and suburban town lo,s. The
t unequalled success of this enterl ise gave
rise to the formation of numerous other
land and Improvement companies. and
real estate III every direction OF the city
wa purchased and stock issued to repre-
sent the same. Wild aud eXtlavagant
schemes of speculation became the enter
prise of the day and for a time promised
t., injure the rapid developments of the
section. but soon and readily that impedi-
meut overcome hy the more shrewd
and farseeinS Cal italists SO that at present
the ely is more prospe. Gus aud on firm
er basis than ever at Il prIOr date
The Tennessee Coal, Iron and K. K Co,
the most powerful syndicate to-day in the
South, has become greatly intert sted in
r mines, furnaces and foundrles located in
, this section. These new furnaces, located
e | at Emsley, a small suburban town to Bir-
e | mngham, are about ready for work and
: comprise the handsomest and most exten-
V | sive plant of this character in the world
: This company control and work the Plat
: Coal Mines, than which there arc no more
: exteI sive of this nature.
The stores of coal, iron and lime stone
so conveniently distributed are inexhaustl
ble The city is substantially built anc
equipped with the general necessaries save
a good sewerage, and this is now being
rapidly pushed. SO rapid has been IT.
growth that improvements in the way Of
s Streets parks and the like are much be
> hind, but a few years will prove it to bt
|
: cities in the South. Enterprises are daily
. inaugurated for every manner OF iron ant
e steel manufacture and the quality of the
IL ore is steadily increasing in value Th'
e greatest impediment to the city is tn
scarcity of water, but this will readily b.
; remedied by adequate works of this na
, 5 ture The speculation fever that rage'
l. so during last year did something to re
IS tard work and make money scarce ca
every available dollar found some sourc
IS for investment. Such a state of affair
- always brings some catastrophe, and con
- seuuently failures in different lines wer
i the result, though not as much harm cam
y from it as might have been expected.
:! The social status is much the same a
ot our own. Hospitality and culture aboun'
on every side. Courteous men, refine
y and educated women grace the walks Q
~ life in this new South.
~ The political parties are OF course tn
70 same AS elsew here. but the tariff questiO
~ has divided them greatly, much lnteres
u being taken in the movement Of the Nat
1e ional Congress on the subject.
Ut AS is the case with new towns the il
fiux of labor has been very great, an
IN owing to he money crisis of the past fe
" MONTHS much IN excess of the deman'
IS 1t is undoubtedly the moneyea man
-