Birmingham state herald., 1897-05-26
THE GAVEL CHANGED HANDS President M. V. Joseph of the
 Commercial Club HE TRANSFERS HIS CHARGE To President W. ]. Mner-0ther Officers h. staIIed-Report of the Retiring Pres-
 dent Shows Great Prosperity


 Commercial club was called to order.
 The secretary announced the election of the following officers:
 Presiden,--W. J. tMilner.
 Viee-Presidents-F. Y. Anderson, B. Steiner, J. K. Mcdonald, Rufus N. Rhodes, J. Morgan Smith, J. A. Rountree, s. E. Thompson, J. A. Tucker, R. S. Mun- ger, c. T. Rainbow, J. A. VanHoose, T. c. Thompson.
 Directors-M. V. Joseph, J. W. Tomlin~ son, James A. Roy, B. B. Conner, Robert Jemison, Joseph Beitman, Robert liar vey, w. B. Phillips.
 Treasurer-W. B. Leedy.
 Secretary Boles rad his annual report, showing that during the past year fhe club had prospered and had been instru- mental in the achievement of a number of progressive movem5 nts for the good of the city. The total revenues of the club amounted to over $2,000, and bail ance was on hand in the treasury.
 President Joseph arose and spoke as follows:
 Gentlemen of the Commercial Club. Ofr-
 cers and Members:
 A year ago you honored me by bestoW- ing upon me the highest office in your gif., and at the expiration of my term | take pleasure In presenting to you a brief resume of the work which has been dccOmpllsTeu uurlng my lncuHDeHcy. Through the efficiency of your various committees and the generous support of the public great work which will re- dound to the benefit of our community has been achieved. Through the untiring energy of our cotton mill committee, who laDored daily for an entire year, and despi the great depression which our whole country was undergoing, succeed ed in making the first great step for ward in the direStion of diversifying the manufacturing industries of this district, h the es.a s.ablishment of an extensive print cloth mill in our midst the capital stock of which Is S500.000 having 32, ,000 spindles and 1000 looms, will employ about 800 people, mostly women and girls, and add an annual pay roll to the community of nearly $1750 900.
 Again, through the valuable assistance of your s.eel mill committee, the requi- site money necessary to ablish steel plant of considerab ble proportion was raised, and by the early fall steel upon large scale will undoubtedly be success fully made, the benefit of which is too apparent to require any further mention by me.
 Now, again, through the manufactur- ing committee a powder mill giving em- ployment to fifty hands representing an investment of s50,000-$25 900 in machin- cry and building and $25,OOO for operating capf al-has been established. In addi- ton to the above, many smaller enter prises of similar importance to the com munl1y, which the secretary's report will thoroughly cover, have been loca ted dur ing the year. I will also incidentally mention, without detracting from the work of the public-spirited gentlemen who are also members of our club, that through the aid of The committees of the Commercial club valua ble financial as- sistance was rendered in the successful building of the Auditorium and making E faI. assert since the locating of the industries named, that this community has already been more than fully repaid the amount they invested, and before the humming or spindle Is heard or a wheel is turned it will come back both directly and in directly ten-fold.
 or greater fmportancs, however than the establishment of the various enter prises mentioned above, has been the welding together of the many interests of this community into one compact body working harmoniously for one grand common purpose-the upbuilding of Bir- mingham and Jefferson county. Through the spirit of cooperation so successfully started, and which will be maintained under the guardianship of the new ad- minstration, we can vrk forward to greater results yet to be accomplished and the oft-quoted fact that ''the Bir- mingham district is the richest in the world'' will unquest ionably be practically and fully monstrated and car.iei to it's fullest fruition.
 The past year has been to the club prosperous one. From a deficit last year we have attained a surplus this Our membership also shows a steady in crease. The secretary's report will show as follows:
 May 1, 1896, deficit, $22975.
 May 1, 1897, after all debts are paid, surplus cash on hand, $4262
 May l, 1896, membership, 204
 May l. 1897, membership, 240 net gain of 36
 Thanking the members and the various committees for their untiring devotion to the interests committed to them, and feel ing assured under the leadership of Pres ident J. J. Miner the Commercial club wills steadily grow in influence and strength, and the coming year will ac- complish still greater results to the ma terial benefit of not only Birmingham and Jefferson county, but to our entire state.
 Gentlemen, have the honor as we'll as the pleasure to present to you our pres ident, w. J. Milner.
 Maj. Milner assumed the gavel and said in substance that he was not an orator that he was accustomed to allow others to take the foremost seats, that he preferred to be quiet worker that this honor had come unsought, and that he would do his best for the club and for
 
 board of directors, and hoped this year would be more prosperous than the last. We have the best town in the world and our growth is only limited by our ener- gieS.
 He told an amusing anecdote of the early settler who said that the good Lord had started a wagon loaded with the best things of life and drawn by ele- plants, and that the wagon had broken down at Birmingham and scattered these blessings all around. He said we had the best people in the world here but they should get better acquainted. This the Commercial club was doing-it was bringing them together Our people were now learning to work together, as the past years record proves.
 As President Milner took his seat he was greeted with enthusiastic applause.
 MT. J. A. Rountree offered the follow ing resolution, which was unanimously adopted by a standing vote and ordered spread on the minutes:
 Whereas, MT. M. V. Joseph, the retiring president of the Commercial club. has brought to bear to the GischargeS of his duties, the utmost zeal, energy and ad- ministrat ability. uniting with these