The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-11-24

Atlanta, of which even a detailed state
ment fails to convey any adequate concep-
ton. Fifty years ago there were not more
than a dozen families residing within the
circle of min miles that forms the city linn
its. Today there is a population Ct 120,O 200
souls living within that area, and it is the
boast of Atlantans that a larger proportion
of the citizens are handicraftsmen than in
in any other city in the south.
Atlanta was not Atlanta in 1913. 1t was
Marthasville and was so called in honor of
the youngest daughter of Governor Wilson
Lumpkin. The name was changed four OF
five years later when the town was reincor-
porated, having oEtgrown its village char
ter.
From the outset. Atlanta's record has
been n of progressive growth. At the be-
ginning Of the wal she was a busy city OF
perhaps 10000 inhabitants. At the close OF
the war she was a scene of desolation and
ashes. But she never put on any sack
cloth nor did any wailing. She just went
to work, and the splendid city of today,
with its imposing architectural piles of
brick and mortar, stone and iron, churches,
schools, public buildings, and above all,
its business edifices, is the to
her success.
The historian and the historical student
of future ages will find few problems more
perplexing than the rapid growth of Amer
lean cities of the present day. The co-opera-
tive enterprise that has created simultane-
ously several scores of magnificent centers
of civilization cannot fail to remain a mat
ter of wonder. The history of Atlanta will
not be without its effect on the general
problem, for it will be remembered that
the city of today is practically the out
growth of but a quarter of a century of un-
interrupted peace, progression and pros
perity. 1t will seem as marvellous in its
way as the story of Chicago after the great
ffre-more marvellous when it is recollected
that It's due to the recuperated energies of a
v~anquished people for whom nothing seem
ed left but hopelessness and oblivion. The
optimist of the future will find in it the
text for many a sermon. The pessimist
must look elsewhere for his illustrations.
Atlanta derives many advantages from
her peculiar geographical situation at the
foot of the mountains in the heart of the
Piedmont region. 1t seems as if nature
had intended the site for a railroad center
and distributing point, and the result is a
trade extending all over the southern Unit
ed States and indirectly all over the best
parts of the world. Her trade in cotton
alone this year will amount to upward of
s., Goo, 900, and she has violated all southern
antibellum traditions by establishing mills
of her own to work up a considerable
amount of the staple. Other manufacture
ing industries have added their impetus to
the general prosperity, and the chimneys of
her factories vie with the steeples of her
churches in marking the location of an en-
ightened community.
No doubt the general salubrity of her
climate has had it's effect on the enterprise
of Atlanta's citizens. Healthy men have
healthful thoughts, and active brains are
potent with creative energies. The climate
of her neighborhood is delightful through
out the year. 1t is never too cold in winter,
and seldom too hot in summer for comfort,
and the city is removed from the belt OF
those contagious diseases that sometimes
devastate other cities of the south. Her
healthfulness has attracted progressive and
energetic men from many other places, and
ever cautious capital has not been afraid
to invest in her enterprises. The taxable
valuation of her property was increased
during the past year over 81, SOC, coo.
Her educational and religious institutions
are Atlantn's pride, as they are the pride OF
every American city worthy Of the name.
Twenty thousand pupils are enrolled in her
public schools, and every religious denomi-
nation has a house of worship in the city,
and some of them more than one. All OF
these structures are intellectually credita
BILE, and many Of them Of surprising beau
ty. Since the reconstruction period in 1868,
when she became the state capital, some
handsome public buildings have been erect
ed, and she has an opera house of which she
may well be proud, while her newer bust
ness structures rival in altitude and APP
pointment these Of many cities of larger
population. Taken all in all, it may be
said that Atlanta has don her full share
In the creation of that new south Of which
her lamentea Grady was the apostle.