The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-09-03

demands for manufacturing purposes there
| may reduce the volume of coal to be sent
| down the Mississippi river to New Orleans
as such coal would seek the most remuner-
alive market. In that case the ability to
| send lows of coal around from Mobile to
New Orleans by the inside passage would
be protection both as to volume of sup
| ply and price to be paid by the New Or
leans consumers and shippers.
y cannot imagine that the railroads
which have done SO much to promote the
prosperity of Birmingham would impose
any objection to this development. If the
output OF coal and iron should be greatly
increased by reason of reduction in tho
sovt 70 lide WAFER dhd the consequent err
iargement of the available market this
would correspondngly reduce the costs per
eoli OF these materials at Birmingham. AMI
WOUND enhance the prosperity of all direct
~ or indirectly concerned In their produce
ton. whether landowners, miners, mer-
chants or railroads. The lower cost OF pro-
auction OF crude ma terial would be an In
creased fnducement to the location OF Gon-
sumers, and the rolling stock of the rail-
roads would be more probably employed,
for instead of hauling coal or pig iron at
rates of approximately four mills per ton,
1t would be available for passenger an
merchandise traffic and for the trans pos IT.
ton of great variety of manufactured er-
ticles produced from these raw materials,
as to which I will write you in a separate
! letter.
! This is evidenced by the great prosperity
or the railroads traversing and supplying
the coal and iron districts in the midland
counties of England where the canals IRE
tuiy and constantly employed and do not
initiate IN any way against the greatest
prosperity of the London and Northwest
ern railway, and the Midland. and the
Great Western railways" Yours truly.
JAMES BOWRoN."
Mr.. Bowron is the vice-president and
treasurer of the Tennessee Coal. Iron and
Railroad company AS everyone knows, it
Is very ricn ami mammoth concern. It
mas been The gre atest factor ir The Ipbui.tl-
ing of this district. 1t may be said las
Tar as 1t has advanced) to have only begun.
Other 1--WE may say innumerab.e, enter
prises will come in. ami their waste water
will swell the volume fer the use OF the
canal from McAdo.ys TO Five Mile creek
or Birmingham. Then there Is an immense
spring that can be made available, as l
understand. for this upper canal Certainly
there must be great fore in the statement
from such an eminent authority as MIR.
Bowron in favor of tie las named carol
that II cannot doubt that if the govern
ment engineer were authorized to make
revised survey and calculation as to the
feasibility of thirty-foot canal between
locks he would recommend it as a feasible
project" The report is based on a canal
at least six feet deep and fifty feet wide at
the water line.
l think the feasibility and advisability of
the canal from McAdory's mill to the War
rior are convincing, after the above 1t is
a mere matter of cost. The report of the
engineers simply vindicate the opinions OF
various eminent men delivered at the
rivers and harbors Improvement conven-
ton held at Tuscaloosa, Ala, in December,
1897. Among the speakers was General
Wheeler. He made the excellent point
that in the appropriation of the govern
ment for improvements of rivers and har-
bors Alabama had. up to that time, only
had two-thirds of 1 per cent. apportioned
for her benefit, the other go Ia per cent.
having been apportioned for other states.
But this canal has reach in its benefits
lar outside of Alabama. I have just
learned from ex-Mayor Van Hoose, by
way of illustration that the trade dis
tricts of the country are very sympathetic
toward the construction of this canal, be-
cause it will relieve the home market from
the competition of the Birmingham dis
trict. through facilitating export, leaving
the home market to them in large meas
ure. This is a strikingly wise and COM
nonsense view, and shows that this canal
is not an Alabama scheme, but national
one. If. by this canal. coal, pig iron steel
finished products of the latter Ga thousand
and one things) can be greatly chea pened in
transportation to the seaports of New Or
leans, Pensacola and Mobile Just so much
more they do, the less competition does the
Birmingham district offer to these things
produced elsewhere. The promise of this
canal to the export trade of the above
named ports is immense. The saving to
the government vro,il1 20 ---ot O-a could
hat Engineer Ripley says ana make
a most interesting commenrar.. on 1t: 1.-THE
betterment of these transportation facli-
ties will be far-reaching In the economies
of the United States" Far-reaching In the
economics of the United States is very
broad and very striking expression. The
apprehension of this will dawn on the
country at large ere long, and will assure
the canal
AS I have noted. steed and iron men see
it now, as an outlet for competing Bir-
mingham, by way of export
But to get at the magnitude of this
canals possibilities of benefits one must
take dry figures and large and even long
views. The other day in one of my letters
said that in few years Alabama would
mine II 100000 tons of coal per annum-now
something above 100000 But build this
canal and in few years It would be 20
100000 tons per annum. This may sound
immense, but it must be remembered that
Alabama may be said to have no export
trade in coal The coal trade now Is vir-
tually nothing but a supply to the iron
trade, the railroads and fuel PhiIadeI-
phia Baltimore and Newport News (mafn-
lv of late) get the trade of the West Indies
Central and South America. Suppose you
could put coal at Mobile and Pensacola at
fifty cents per ton or less, and to New Or
leans at a trifie more. AS a fact learn
that coal comes to New Orleans from the
Pittsburg district for less than that but
1t is sought to be concealed. Now, Mr.
Bowron says that alabama coal is trans
ported by rail 275 miles and placed along
side steamers at Mobile or Pensacola ton
for ton and quality for quality dollar for
dollar against English steam coal, put on
boardship at the shipping ports of the
north of England, Newcastle-on-Tyne,
Sunderland, ETC. This being So 1t is evil
dent that a saving of fifty cents a ton on
the cost of getting to tide water
would give the Alabama coal field point
of advantage in ministering to foreign
trade which could not be gainsaid or sue
cessful1y resisted by any other country
Reduced to its last analysis, and this about
means that onysby this canal can Alabama
beat the world and monopolize the coal
trade to the south of usyands contributory
to the coming isthmian canal. In fact
see no other chance for Pensacola Mobile