The Big Stone post. (Big Stone Gap, Va.) 1890-1892, 1891-04-24
STEADY. a. GROWTH
OF the south's Industrial Developments
And Brilliant Prospects for the
Future.
Manufacturers Record.)

supreme natural advantages alc pSot
shown in times Of depression 1t is then
that the South commands the worlds at
tcnton, for it is then that its business
interests move right along less affected
by panics than any other section. In
1928 when Birmingham first commence
cd TO draw public notice to its iron making
possibilities, the skeptics ridiculed its
claims, and said that its furnaces must
inevitably stop al the first chilling touch
of dull times and low prices. Soon after
wards Grant & Ward failed, and Il panic
temporarily upset the business interest OF
the country. Iron dropped lower and
lower, and one furnace after another in
the North went out Of blast. But Biz
mingham furnaces kept on running to
their full capacity, and commenced to IN
wade Pennsylvania markets. Then the
cry went up that this must be the last
desperate resort Of their owners to carry
themselves along even by selling iron be-
low the cost of production, for, said the
Northern expert cities, ''it is impossible
to make iron at prices that will leave any
profit in shipping North and selling at
these figures" They convinced them
selves of this, and then tryed to convince
the public. Every day they looked tor
ri In n
whole Birmingham iron business, but IN
stead Of this the Birmingham iron makers
pursued the even tenor Of their way and
kept on building new furnaces. in 1859
the depression in iron was so great that
the total production in the United States,
outside of three Southern States, was
234 400 tons less than five Years before.
Or in 1880; but in the three States of Ala
bama, Virginia and Tennessee there was
an increase of 314,4l3 tons, their output
in 1885 having been 552,il9 tons, against
,006 tons in 1880 SO surprising to
the country were these facts that in 1856
capitalists and iron-:nakers from the
North, convinced By the logic of events
of Alabama's great advantages, crowded
down there and commenced work OF de-
velopment that created Birmingham
great boom, that founded Besscner,
started Admission on Il new career OF pros
peritv, revived Sheffield, which had been
projected before the panic, and built doz-
ems of furnaces, some big rolling mills,
car works and hundreds of other enter
priscs.
Again in 1893 iron was low, and many
Northern furnaces was forced out OF blast.
But the South pressed light on ard
III that year turned out .l3!.oJS tons OF
iron. an increase Of 20j. i22 tons oVcr
1887, while in the rest OF the country
there was decrease OF III Gee tons. The
rcsul; was the same as ia IcS1-6. y ne"
Southwark movement started. and En-
glish and Northern capitalists cro"Icd
one another in going South to look for
investments, and Middicsborongh: Bucna
Vista, johnson City. Roanoke, Salem,
Basic CITY, Radtord, Pulaski ana dozens
of other places, some new anu some o!d,
felt the influence of this great wave OF
activity, and 1855 and 1890 witnessed an
unprecedented growth throughout the
whole South.
Once more Il panic came. The great
house of Barring Bros. failed, and il took
the united strength OF the Bank OF Eng
land, the Rothschilds and other financial
powers to prevent an almost universal IL
nancal collapse. In less than week the
Manufacturers Record. having studled
the history OF the past and knowing the
foundation of Southern development. pre-
l;.t b,t 81, Ia N
be temporarily upset, the final result
would be the heaviest investments o! cap
ital in the South ever known. Suddenly
checked by the almost unprecedented
monetary stringcncy, the South halted
for few weeks, looked over the situation
and started ahead again. Its business
interests stood the strain as those OF no
other section, and the financial world was
amazed at the reserve strength and power
of the South in such crisis. The result
is seen everywhere. II scarcely needs to
be pointed out. Slrcwd capitalists
in Europe and America arc planning for
gigantic operations; for developing tue
South 5 foreign trade and the advance
ment to the front rank of the world 5 sea
ports OF number of Southern towns; tor
building steel works and ircn works; for
purchasing hundreds Of thousands oil
acres Of mineral lands; for utilizing hlth-
crto wasted water powers; for building
new cotton mills, new iron works ana
kindred enterprises for developing, on an
enormous scale, the vast phosphate de
posts OF Florida These are but few of
the signs that indicate the coming of
Il period OF activity that shall surpass
everything that has yet been done. AT
the very moment Of writing this the Man
utacturers Record receives private ln!or-
nation in one mail of the closing OF q
long pending deal with English capital
lists for the investment of over $l0,000,-
600 in the purchase and development Of
upwards of l00, 600 acres OF coal and iron
land: the subscription Of 81 230,G00 in
England to another iron and steel enter
prise, based on the visit OF one OF the
leading members Of the British Iron u
Steel Institute to the South last year, OF
the Investigations that will doubtless end
in purchase, as the reports are satistacto-
nv, of over 900 acres OF timber, coal
and iron land stretching over several
counties, and of satisfactory progress in
the organization Of the largest English
company ever formed to operate in Amer
lean iron, steel Or town properties all OF
which will be united in the work Of this
giant corporation.
Such is the outlook for the coming
summer. The record OF the last three
months, as compiled from our Construc-
ton Department, shows that despite the
panic and the wet weather, which has al
most stopped all outdoor operations IN
construction work throughout the coun-
try, the South has pressed forward, or
ganizing new enterprises and charging