The Asheville citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1885-1889, 1888-03-01

that you have seen is excellent in
its way and necessary to the con-
duct of society, it is however con,
spicuous but relatively unimpor~
tant go out with me and in one
half hour / will show you the true
secret of Massachusetts [
will present to you more instructive
examples of common welfare and
Of the promotion of the COM
monwealth than you have witnessed
in the great factories and yet can
not at this moment tell you where
we shall go."
We passed out into the street, up
into little court opposite the Old
South Church, into a beehive, the
walls of every building covered with
a multitude of signs indicating the
diversity OF occupation of the ten
ants. Glancing around l saw on the
door of half basement the sign Of
a "gold- -beater." Entering we found
two men busily engaged in beating
gold into thin sheets of leaf We
stayed there about five minutes ; in
fact, l could hardly get Mr.. Brecll-
enridge away, and then passing out,
on the next door I saw the Sign of
cutler. We went inside, where we
saw one man at the forge heating
the blanks, while another was using
little trip-hammer, forging fine
razors. Both men looked up to see
what we wanted, but as we did not
speak to them they did not speak to
US, nor did they stop their work
they had no time to waste. Again
passing out into the court | saw a
sign up half-story, reading "Indian
Clubs" Here we found five men
occupied in making Indian clubs.
baseball bats and other athletic I'M
plements. After few moments
conversation with these men we
passed again into the open air, and
it was time, for my friends to meet
their engagement tor lunch. asked
them if they had seen enough to
reveal to them the secret of Massa-
chusetts, adding that they might
spend month in the city of Bos>
ton, and in that month would more
fully disclose to them this secret
by devoting a half hour every day
to visiting some little workshop
where men were being developed
while the goods were being made.
Gentlemen, l watch with the
greatest care the records of the
progress of Southern industry. |
pass by the building OF factory ii
which it costs 1000 of capital to
set one operative at work, as Of the
least significance: l pass BY even
the construction of Il great iron
furniCe, OF the opening Of mine,
in which again 1t costs $1,000 or
more to see one man at work. |
watch for the evidence that the
thousand arts, each insignificant in
itself, each calling tor but little capi--
tai: each depending upon the capac,
ity OF the individual by whom it is
being established am developed,
for the trac evidence of that indus
trial progress which is born Of lib
erty. l find evidence Of this prog
ress beginning to show itself in the
new South on every side.
DIVERSIFIED PRODUCTS OF THE
SOUTH.
Do not th:nk that l underrate the
factory, the furnace or the great
workshop. The imperial deposit OF
iron for the world, as it was rightly
called by the late Sir Isaac Lothian
Bell, lies down among the fields of
Alabama, f1auhed wi h coal on one
side and with limestone on the 9th
er. In no other place in the world.
1 believe, can the materials of which
iron is made be brought to the fur
mace at so small cost of labor,
measuring in time or hours Of work.
You cannot hel p making iron if
you would and you would not if you
could.
We welcome every success in the
construction of cotton factory in
the South ; the world is mot yet
half clothed, and there is enough
work for all of us in providing the
cloth. The wonderful supplies of
your oak bark will draw to you the
hides for tanningiwhether you will
or no, until, through the diversity
even of agricultural labor, which is
born Of liberty, your home supply
of hides will make your exports o
finished leather. besides supplying
your own wants.
OF what should we build our fac
tories except we had the abundant
supply of Southern pine You
wealth of hardwood timber compels
you to develop all the arts of the
woodwork, sending the partly fin
ished material for the present to the
North to be completed, until t
men in the workshops of the S. IL h
have learned tins fine art which a3-
companeys The comprehension .
the difference between a cent and
nickel.
Yet more do rejoice when l
hear that the market garden has
been established alongside the COT
ton field, whether it be rose gar
den, a caDDaSe Sarden or NY gar
den. l recall the six acres OF tube
roses which the little German had
planted near. Charleston, S. c., and
the yet larger field of June roses
which was soon to come into bloom.
The man who planted the few acres
of cabbage alongside of his cotton
plantation, near Mobile, and found
that he had made more money on
the few acres than on the many,
served his State well and himself
also.
Central New York used to be the
great center of the wheat produc
ton. Its production has increased
but little, if at all, but modern Sc
ence and invention have so reduced
the time and work required in the
production of wheat that the farmer
can eadd a great variety of other
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