The Forrest City times., 1897-11-26

eoentiy that cotton was king the ~
ness OF fruit, berry and truck orovin,
'an DE made more profitable thai 1,
Ton raising, if diligently and 49,.
49, pursued. A false notion pre-
Cl 70 some extent abroad that the
ooe'on belt region is included in the
go no" section of the Mississippi river.
anu Is SUBJECT to inundation. While -
Is true that the location of IN. rod :.
generally level, covering MANY lone
OF what appears to be fat
IL Is true also that most of the
me follows ridge which declines
gently toward the Mississinn; and ;s e.
Jim mom the overfowed districts. A
speciai attraction which the country
'a'ersed by the Cotton Belt route nre.
seh's' aud which for lack of develon.
inent is not widely known at home or
abroad Is its mineral features This
statement has no reference to iron or
Ta "hen all the mineral deposits
winch underlie the roadbed of this
route are considered it will be seen that
IL might properly be called
The Mineral Belt Route.
NO section of the country is more
pientifully supplied with beds of com.
.nerc,ai ochres, aluminium CLAWS, marls.
.iie Gays, etc, than the territory en-.
oraced In the Cotton Belt route. Re-
ginning at Crowley's Ridge in st
frahels county, these beds in various
forms extend southwark to the Texas
line No feature of the Arkansas
department at the Worlds fair ex.
clted greater interest or caused mora
favorable comment than the claws and
genres presented by the southwestern
counties OF the state. 1t has been
stated by experts who have carefully
examined the commercial clays of the
section referred to that a thousand
specimens would not exhaust either
one color or variety of the plastic
material that can be collected in the
territory contiguous to the Cotton Belt
route. In many localities sufficient
tests have been made to demonstrate
ehe utility OF these clays in the manu-
tacture of pressed BRICK, drain tile
vitrified brick, sewer pipe. terra Gotta
ana earthen-ware. At Carlisle. in
Lonoke county, a mandatory will
soon be in operation for making tile
pipe to be used by the farmers of Grand
Prairie. 1t is thought that much of
the land of that region, now lying idle.
may be rendered the most fertile and
profitable of any in the state by
proper system of drainage. The south
western part of the state has been
recently brought into prominence bv a
product known as the Portland cement.
manufactured by the White Cliff fac
tory, an institution which is owned bv
syndicate composed of St. Louis and
chicago capitalists. The plant repre-
sents an investment of 81, 900, 900, includ-
ing 5000 acres of land, furnaces, kilns.
etc. Time is not far distant when pot
terles, tile factories, aluminium plants
and many other industries will rise on
these beds of shales and claws. while
manufactures of the forest product
Will increase ten fold. 1t is seen at a
glance that the region traversed by
the st. Louis Southwestern is prolific in
material for the Omaha exposition if
the proper effort is put forth to make
the display. AS means of spreading
the information regarding the natural
supplies OF raw material, the industrial
activities and posi- bilities of the state,
| its various opportunities for occupation
and its latent cape Utilities, the Omaha
| exposition presents an opportunity
| which the people of Arkansas cannot
afford to disregard.
Every specimen to be placed on ex-
hibition, from a crude walnut knot to a
| vessel of dull bauxite, will have its at
| traction and prove valuable adver-
| tisement. The collection of walnut,
oak and cypress logs which adorned the
Arkansas department of the Worlds
Fair was commonplace sight to thous-
ands of visitors, attracting no more at
tention than a pile of driftwood on a
sandbar, but it caught the eye of lum-
bermen and proved profitable to the
state. The effect of such exhibits on
the outside public is not appreciated by
a large majority of citizens Many peo-
pie go to fair to be amused, the same
as at a circus. while others are prompted
by very different motive. The ambi-
ton of every public spirited citizen of
Arkansas is to place before the eyes of
the western world the industrial pro-
gress of the state, with view of adver-
vertising its resources and correcting
erroneous notions respecting the meth
| DDS, habits aid character of the people
of the queen state the southwest. 1t
| is difficult to find tizen who is not in
favor of more industrial activity. All
agree that the crying demand of the
state is capital, immigration, manu-
factories. 1t is generally thought, too,
that the ives is no longer an Quite. for
the redundant energy of the east, and
| that the DRIFT must soon turn south
ward. With these facts established, it
| follows that the most desirable class of
homeseekers will gravitate to the south
ern state which presents the best field
| for investment, both in natural re-
sources and social conditions. Large
sums of money are lying idle in north
ern banks awaiting an opportunity for
| safe investment, and thousands of