El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-11-15
Industrial and
Commercial.
Hopeful Signs In the South.

Hopeful Signs in the South.
Dallas News.
The Age of Steel declares that q
great industrial awakening has taken
place in the sisterhood of the southern
states. ''Their resources" the same
paper saw. ''are being exploited, and
NATURES rich endowment OF raw ma
terial in the way of iron ore, coal etc,
ia being vigorously appropriated, while
It's sugar and cotton INDUSTRIES are be-
ing persistently and intelligently cul.
tivated. In furnace and field, forest
and mine, and in mill and workshop,
we see the aroused energies Of
what is yet to be an industrial
empire If these facts are not mis-
leading and the signs of the times are
not at fault, the commercial destiny of
the south is practically assured. The
forces working to this end are in mo-
plish their purpose. Moreover, the
circle of opportunity widens as the
capacity of production increases. The
road opens as the foot pushes forward.
The south has it's hands on the key of
foreign trade in China, Japan and the
far east. In the Pacific trade it will
be an important factor, and the
more distinctly so when
Reconsideration canal becomes a fact.
Foreign traders and shipowners are
already forecasting southern import
the report of the American consul
general at Bangkok, plans are being
already laid to secure the commercial
plum when it ripens. The cotton OF
the south will find new markets in
China and Japan, while in the ex-
change of commodities such southern
ports as Norfolk, Savannah, Galveston,
Charleston, New Orleans, Mobile, ETC.,
will be important points of i'm
kets in reach, and with q plentitude of
products, both raw and manufactured,
to meet their demands, and the coin
cidence of geographical advantages,
no sane man can question the POSSIBLE
tiles of southern commerce." On the
same line the Philadelphia Record
says: THE people. who are now in
vesting their money in southern pro-
perties are doing SO intelligently, and
there is every reason to believe that
they will receive good re-
south is rich in minerals of all
kinds. and her progress in develop
ment within the past ten or fifteen
years has been rapid; but even so, the
surface OF her store OF mineral wealth
has scarcely been scrached
| - y
ure most prominently in this re-
cent development; but there are gold
fields in Georgia and elsewhere which
were formerly operated successfully,
and which, though now long neglected,
are certain again to yield up their hid
den treasures as soon as
the capital shall be forth
coming for their operation under
modern methods. There are several
rare minerals found in the south which
are even now being proftably mined
Among those are the refractory ele-
ments from which iucandescent gas
mantles are made, and also the mineral
called bauxite, frem which alum and
aluminium are obtain ed" To show
that the southern ports are maintain
ing their record of regular progress az
handlers of exports of merchandise the
Manufacturers Record gives the follow
ing figures of the past fiscal year, com
pared with those of 1s97;Southern porte
1897, 1915. 4S7 800: 1898, $440, 9O5. $50; in
crease, $50, All. 999; gain per cent
17.42. Other ports, 1897, 1875, sos 1855
1888, $3.50 ,424, 061; increase, STA, 918,
395; gain per cent, 17.01. Total for al
ports, 1897, s1,O5O. 993, $3.50: 1898, ST,
231 1929, $50; increase, $3.50, 1886 1874; gair
per cent, Ills. The people of the
south have had heretofore many diff
ficulties and disad vantages to contend
against, but they have today many
chances and prospects to make then
hopeful.