Birmingham age-herald., 1894-12-23
INDUSTRIAL NOTES.

A bushel of corn is worth 50 cents, but when 1t is sold over the bar as whisky it brings S2i. You can't afford to sell cotton at cents and pay $24 per bushel fer corn.
 There are 215 cotton factories in North and South Carolina. These have sprung
 up in the last three or four years. The fact
 is, the census of 1890 is out of date. When the census of 1890 was taken there were 254 cotton mills in the south, representing an investment of j6l ,0C0 000. Nowhere are 495, with capital of So7 ,0G0 ,000.
 According to Superintendent Stump's statement in a letter to Boston society the emigration from this country at present exceeds the immigration. From November 1 to December 8, 1894, there were 25, ,544 persons who left thIs country, taking the steerage passage, as against 12 1886 who came by steerage. The superintendent has made the useful change of distinguishing the arrivals Of immigrants from those of tourists and visitors.
 The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railway company has sold three months product of iron ahead-about 130 ,0O0 tons. The fur naces nearly all sell their product for month or two in advance. The manufac- turers, in making a bid on machinery, must know what they can get iron at, and hence they buy for future delivery. The output of iron in the United States will be about 5000 GOO tons for 1894, which is about double the rate of last summer.
 Tennessee will erect state building on the Atlanta exposition grounds. It will be of marble, of which the state has many varieties. It is said Tennesseans have taken hold of the plan with wonderful en- thusiasm. The business men are strongly in favor of an extensive state exhibit, and recognize in the Atlanta exposition a fine opportunity to show to the world the splendid advantages of that state. Ten nessee is q state rich in minerals, and af- lords fine advantages to the agriculturlist. Then this marble house can be brought to the Baltimore exposition, where still greater publicity can be given to the products and attractions of Tennessee. The Newborn, N. J.. Journal says: Mr. R. w. Humphrey of Cataret county, in recent communication to the Beaufort Her aid, calls attention to the great increase in value between raw cotton and manufac- tured goods of the same material, even at the low price of the latter. He says that take yard of common calico, weigh 1t and calculate what a manufacturer gets for bale when manufactured into calico, and set against this the cost of the bale and the cost of manufacturing and it will show profit ot over $100, and that if made into fine lace one bale of cotton will give net profit of nearly 5000. He invites any doubter to weigh the calico and the lace, and make the calculation for himself.
 That our protective tariff on iron and steel is not needed is shown by the declara- ton of the Bethlehem Iron company of Pennsylvania that they have been awarded the contract for supplying armor for Rus sia's new battle ships, the amount to be supplied being over F, QUO tons and worth $4 ,000, ,000. The contract was awarded, it is stated, in spite of the fact that tbe Beth lehem company had fourteen competitors, comprising the manufacturers of armor in England, France, Italy and Germany. The
 'pauper laborp of these countries failed this time it appears to enable them to un- derbid the American producers. The cheapness of American armor when com peting abroad cannot fail to interest our navy department when it makes it's next contracts.
 White labor is the rule in the southern cotton factories, especially those which deal :n the fabrics. Negro bricklayers and to some extent negro carpenters build the factories, but white operatives stand at the looms. The explanation is given by mill superintendent and it is curious one.
 at isn't,' said he, "that the negro has not the intelligence to, make good oper utive. Nor is it because we find it neces- sary to bring skilled labor from the north. Most of our mill people are southern born whites. We take them into the mill and teach them the workings of the spindle and the loom. We could teach negroes just as quickly, perhaps easier. But the trouble IS the natural drowsness of the negro. The whir of the mill machinery is irresistible to tue negroes. It lulls them to sleep. Then follow accidents to machinery and to operatives. We have DO prejudice against the negro, but our experience has shown us that white labor is better fitted for this kind of employment and cheaper, even if 1t calls for higher wages.'
 And thus does the hard logic of business deal with the race question.
 Three large cotton factories have been located in Alabama and Georgia in the last few days, namely: the Dwight at Alabama City, near Gadsden, the Massachusetts at Gadsden, and the Whittier & Butler near Macon, Ga. The first two will erect plants costing s600, ,000 each, and the latter S400,- QUO. All three will be branches of the home plant in Massachusetts. Each one of these three companies sent personal representatives to Birmingham and fully investigated the advan tages of this district and declined to locate here. They said the cotton grown contiguous to the Birming- ham district was short staple, while they wanted the long staple. They said further that the labor obtainable in the Brming- ham district was not as cheap and as easily controlled as desired; the workingmen of this district made Such good wages tn;.t they would not allow their wives and daughters to work in a factory. And for this and other reasons they desired to locate their factories more remote from populous center. They seemed to think that the labor they could obtain from an agricul- tural population was more suited to their purpose. The logical deduction from these statements IS that If Birmingham wants cotton factory she must build it herself; there is no hope of getting others to build it. Perhaps, after all Birming- ham should devote her energies to building up her iron and steel industries, in which sne can excel the world.
 WEDDED AT MOUNT PINSON.
 MOUNT PINsoN, Dec. 22.-LSpecial Cor
 respondence. Ion Wednesday after noon last our vii lage was upon tiptoe to sec the loss we were about to suffer in order that another might gain. One of the most popular young maidens was transplanted