The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-10-08
PUTTING IT VERY PLAINLY.
WHY CHARLESTON DOES NOT
GET MORE COTTON.
Statement From an Experienced Buyer
OF the Staple Which shows h Superior
Advantage of Wilmington.

10 Ilt GlEltA % Ailt -NENS d.fA "a
AS you seem to be much interested
in the subject Of why Charleston does
not get more cotton. and appear to be
sincerely DESTROYS Of having more lighz
thrown upon the matter. ! viii endeav-
or TO add to the store of your informa-
ton upon his much vexed subject. I'm
order TO found some claim to the pos
session OF such adequate knowledge OF
the matter in hand as would entitle me
to the expression of an opinion, I will
years experience as a cotton farmer
and shipper and seller OF cotton. and for
years past have had active employment
as a cotton buyer at Wedgefeld and
other stations. My first experience in
the latter capacity was with "a Charles
ton house, but for the last three years
l have been in the employment OF a
large and prominent exporting firm in
the city of Wilmington, \. c. In all
probability i; is the same house which
gives employment to the gentleman at
Elloree, to whom recent allusion was
made in your paper.
-NoN iOI TIE ldiH dutSlioI. IL pbt
the whole matter in a nut shell Char
lesion expects and takes too much tax
from a single bale of cotton. Ship
ments have to run the gauntlet of too
many charges before being finally
placed on s~hipboard for export. AS a
matter of course the sum total of all
these charges must necessarily be re-
tiected in the limits which can be given
by any Charleston concern to its buyers
T. l. ,~, I--,s1 H. 1900
are made in this respect Charleston
with other cities, whose facilities for
handling cotton rapidly and economi-
cally are so much greater.
Hoping that l will not be charged
with an attempt to work in a Surrepti-
tious advertisement i will mention that
the house by which the writer is en-
ployed probably has the most complete
and extensive plant for the handling
and shipping Of cotton that can be found
under n management between Nor
folk and New Orleans. They lay
their own capacious warehouses, fitted
up with two frst-class powerful COM
presses; they have their own whaTves
and also own OF charter their own
steamers. And all Of this immense
business is comprised and transacted
within a comparatively small area.
The cars bring their cotton directly to
their warehouse doors. n after being
compressed it has to be moved but a
distance to the wharveS from
which it is loaded on their vessels. All
of this work being done within them
selves, it naturally follows that ex-
penses can be reduced to the minimum
point consistent with a reasonable pro-
fit on their investment. A concern
having such facilities as these possesses
the same relative advantage over
smaller houses hat John Wanamaker
with his immense department stores
has over the ordinary retail dealer.
Consequently the buyers employed by
hat house are generally provided with
pretty full limits, and. other things
being equal, il they have level heads on
their shoulders, can usually capture
two-thirds Of the cotton offering at any
given point. Occasionally they may be
turned down temporarily by the wild
cat buying OF some speculative house,
but in the long ruiz the steady influence
of sound and solid business methods
brings them to the front again.
Another thing which initiates against
the cotton business of Charleston is its
system Of grading, which, with it's new
tangled nomenclature, seems to lay
been specially devised for the confusion
of the ordinary mind. Many a buyer
has been fooled by the "fullies." and
when one has a shipment reported upon
and n d his strict midling'' metamor-
phosed into a bare "midling," and his
few bales Of good middling changed to
fully middling," he feels himself grad
ed out Of the market and begins to
have that tired feeling" which makes
him either doubt his own sanity or else
suggests to- him the propriety of con-
sulting some oculist for q suspected
failure Of eyesight. Although no x
perts in classifying rice, a good many
Of us think that we know good cotton
from 'dogtails." Under the circum-
stances, is it my wonder that country
buyers will do better and more active
work for cities where cotton lis accept
ed on it's merits n where grades are
not made to conform to the fluctuations
in the market?
Charleston Is a Bourbon in it's con-
servatism and has man, things yet to
learn as we'll as to forget. The palmy
days Of yore when cotton factors pros
pered and waxed fat, are gone, never
to return, and new and advanced ideas,
involving the investment and expendi-
ture Of much capital, will have to be
adopted if our "Old City by the Sea"
wishes to establish such an increased
business as her natural advantages
would seem to warrant. The cotton
former, on the other hand. although he
"waxeth not fat" yet 10th he kick
vigorously against shipping his cotton on
consignment il by any al he can
help himself. On the contrary, he fnds
it much to his interest to sell his crop
to the nearest local buyer. and to the
one who has such limits as will enable
him to offer the highest cash price, and
that is the main reason why SO much
cotton goes to Wilmington which geo.
graphically and periodically should
belong to Charleston.
In these unitarian days We are
taught the value and Importance Of
small things. We are not only learn
ing that dollars are composed OF a GER
tain number of cents, but We are really
ing that it now takes more sense to
make hat dollar than was formerly
required. There is an old saying that
LOCKERS on see most OF the game"
and ii would seem to an old-timer like
nvSolf that II 10 obsnrrf 4ipnn Tor CLa-