The Forrest City times., 1897-10-01

to full stop. In this era of improve
 rnent and advance it is almost impossi
 ble for the masses to keep pace with
 the rapid changes to which the broad
 land of the republic is subject. The
 report of new iron foundry establish
 ed in Alabama or a new cotton mill in | Arkansas, does uot seriously impress | the citizen of Wisconsin or New York
 who happens to read it in the miscella-
 neous items of news iu his morning paper. It is difficult, indeed, for the
 average citizen to keep fully informed
 as to the changes occurring in the state
 in which he lives. For this reason
 Many Industries in the South
 have sprung into existance unknown
 to the busy masses of northern and
 eastern states. In Arkansas, IT years | ago there were only 1,204 manufactur- ing establishments, employing 1000 per | sons, while seven years later they had
 increased to 2,400, employing 16,o00. The capital invested in 1880 was 8, ,000.- | 900; in 1881 it was SIG, ,OO0, 900. Today it is probab bly, s40,000, 900, though small com
 pared with the vast quantity of raw ma | terial lying within the limits of the state Farm products and real estate are always lower where manufactures do
 not exist, while interest on money is higher. These facts were pressed upon
 the attention of the people of Arkansas
 many years ago. Bitter experience con
 vinced them that it is impossible to buy
 manufactured articles of other states, paying high prices for them with low
 priced agricultural products, and at
 the same time prosper in the same ratio | as the states which furnish the manu- factured goods. The fact that cost of production impoverishes the agricul- l turist in the proportion in which it en- riches the manufacturers has set the people of Arkansas, as well as those of other southern states, to studying the problem of how to utilize the raw material and at the same time enhance the value of lands Farms and farm lands in Arkansas are worth s to $15
 an acre while the same quality of land in either Wisconsin or Michigan is worth $50 to $50 But greater dispar- ity exists in mineral lands. Take for example those of Pennsylvania, rang ing in value from $500 to 5000 an acre, while in Arkansas they can be bought for s2. 50 to S35 an acre. An increase of railroads and manufactories will place
 the lands of Arkansas at parity with those of Pennsylvania, or at least greatly reduce the disparity, and cause an increase in mining activity. Unim- portant as the manufactories of Arkan-
 sas may seem to people of the east where the hum of machinery is never ending, glance over the field shows a
 great aggregate of
 Capital Invested In Manufactories
 notably in cities and large towns Boards of trade and business mems leagues, composed of public spirited
 men who give special attention to mat | ters pertaining to improvement of local conditions, have been instrumental in attracting men with capital to estab- fish mills and factories. The people of | Fort Smith have displayed ceaseless ac. tivity in this respect and their efforts have been crowned with success, while | other cities have not expended time and money in vain in the same line of effort. | There are now in operation in Fort | Smith S4 manufacturing plants, with aggregate capital of sf ,02s,00O. The | total output from these in 1885 amount ed to s1, ,673, ,220. They employ over 300 men, with a monthly payroll amount | ing to Sl0,00c. Nearly all these estab- | lishments include in the list of stock
 holders local capitalists, showing that | the citizens are eager to invest in such | xto.~ ln., 1a1 Q dence in the city's future. Little Rock
 too, has blaming mills, barrel stave | factories, foundries, machine shops, | cotton gin and elevator shops, cotton congresses, oil mills, etc, in addition
 to lumber mills, supplying the home
 market with many kinds of manufact-
 ured goods, besides sending many pro | ducts both north and south. Other | cities and towns throughout the state
 have manufacturing plants and in all
 parts efforts are being made to increase
 the number, but as yet the field is com l paratively unoccupied, when the unex- celled advantages are considered. Fuel
 is cheap, water abundant, timbers and
 minerals in endless variety and exhaust
 less quantity are available to different kinds of manufactories, with facilities I for transportation fair, and prospect of more railroads being added to those
 now in operation. Local capital and
 state influence, supported by popular demand for more roads, have melted a spirit of railroad building which will
 not subside until hundreds of miles are
 built. At present there are many lines | projected, besides old lines are to be | extended which lack but few links, as | it were. to connect them with systems having important terminals. Farm
 territory alone invites, if it does not | indeed necessitate, the extension of old lines and also the projection of new
 ones through the undeveloped mineral | fields of Arkansas. But the mines must
 be opened. The United States pro
 duces more minerals than any other
 nation, in fact. the bulk of the worlds
 supply-one half of the copper, one third of the iron, coal and zinc, besides
 large per cent of other metals, and HH.., T T.