The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-12-19
SOUTHWEST GEORGIA IN LUCK.
GOOD PRICES ron EVERYTHING
AND THE PEOPLE ARE HAPPY.

mas haO much 10 DO WIN rms
Pleasant state of Anairs-Syrup
Now Bringing Nearly Twice the
Prices of a Year Ago and in Great
Demand-Savannah Travelling Men
Tell of the Prosperous Condition
of South Georgia and Florida.
With Good Crops and High Prices
for Cotton, Lumber, Naval stores
and Syrup the People Are Well
OF.
Mr.. Daniel Hecht, of Frank & Co.. has
just returned from a trip through South
west Georgia. Mr.. Hecht is one of Savan-
nah's veteran statesmen, and is probably
as familiar with that section of the state
as any man living in it, South Georgia,
and particularly Southwest Georgia, Mr..
Hecht says, is now in a very fiourishing
condition and a large part of the prosperity
there is due to the high prices which the
farmers and country merchants are recev-
ing for their syrup A year ago syrup was
a drug on the market at 10 TO IA cents per
gallon. To-day it is in great demand at
p to 26 cents per gallon.
81 have been travelling in this section for
eighteen years" said Mr.. Hecht, and l
have never before seen South Georgia in
such a fiourishlng condition. Prosperity is
now the order of things, especially in
Southwest Georgia. The people have had
good crops of corn and cotton; they have
plenty of provisions at home, and every
thing they have to sell is bringing a good
price. The syrup business is largely re-
sponsible for this revolution in South Geor-
gia. Heretofore when the travelling repre-
sentatives of the wholesale grocery people
called on the country merchants the first
question asked was "Can you take my
syrup??' Usually the reply was that the
house already had more syrup than 1t
could dispose of. The merchants were glad
to have the grocers take the syrup at prac-
tically their own prices and give them
credit for it in trade. To-day all that Is
changed. The first question the grocery
drummer asks the merchant now is Have
you got any syrup, and what will you take
for it?' He not only does not ask the
merchant to take it out in trade. but he
is willing to buy the entire stock at twice
the market price of year ago ana gives
a sight draft in payment. The conse-
quence is that there is plenty of money
In the cane growing counties.
THE long drought cut the cane crop
short somewhat and the planters are bank
ing a great deal for seed next year. Never
theless, enough syrup Is being sold to put
many thousand of dollars In cash In cir
culation. In fact, syrup has proved al
most rs good money crop this season as
dong cotton. The whole country seems TO
have found out that Georgia syrup is
good thing and the demand for 1t is not
accounted for simply by the shortage in
the crop. Now that the farmers have
found a market for their syrup they are
preparing to engage more heavily in the
business next year. They are making
frequent inquiries about that sugar refin-
cry at Savannah, as they believe the re-
finery would furnish q constant demand
for the product. The leading planters have
awakened TO the fact, however, that the
sugar mills and the cane fields must get
close together"
The price of syrup does not alone ac-
count for the prosperity which reigns In
Southwest Georgia, Mr. Hecht said. With
8 cents a pound more for cotton than was
received last year and lumber and naval
stores bringing high prices, the section
could hardly be otherwise than prosper
GUS There are hundreds of saw mills In
that section, all of which are now in full
blast, and the mill men are receiving the
highest prices in years for their product
One evidence of the prosperous condition
of the farmers, however is the large
amount of corn which they have to sell
and which finds a ready sale in the towns
at As cents a busflel. There is a good home
demand for all the corn the farmers can
produce, because of the large amount re-
quired for their stock by the saw mill
and naval stores men.
Mr.. Max Krauss, who has just returned
from an extensive trip throughout all Of
Northern Florida, reports the same salts
factory condition of affairs there, that Mr.
Hecht found in South Georgia. Syrup has
Il III
the better prices for cotton, lumber and
naval stores and the large amount OF
money put in circulation by the phosphate
business, the country is more prosperous
than in many years. Merchants are buy
ing for cash and discountlng their bills
and business generally is in very healthy
condition. Savannah is doing a very sat
isfaetory business with Florida, Mr..
Krsuss states. Many of the people of the
state feel an attachment for Savannah be-
cause of long sustained business and 50
cial relations.
"A wholesale grocer, speaking of The con-
dltion of affairs in the syrup business, sad
that while a wider market has been open
ed to Georgia syrup this season than ev~r
before there are other things which have
played part in bringing about the higher
prices.
1.-THE cane crop, both in Georgia and
louisiana" said he, SIS short this year
because OF the drought, the shortage be-
ing especially marked in Louisiana where
the grinding season is already about over.
The consequence is that many Northern
and Western houses which have been OBJ
tanning their supplies of syrup from Louis
lana have turned 90 Georgia. There are
houses in The North and West which do a
large business in manufacturing and man.
ipulating syrup, combining the residuum
from the louisiana sugar houses with glu-
cose and other chemical and vegetable pro-
ducts and putting the article en- the mar
ket as maple syrup golden drip and other
favorite Northern tabe delicacies. The
Georgia syrup hes been found to give a
good flavor to this compound and vii h the
shortage in the Louisiana crop is being
largely used for this purpose The short
age in the Georgia cane crop and the fact
that the farmers are banking a large
amount Of cane in order to plant more
largely next year also accounts in part for
the scarcity Of syrup and the high prices"
Nearly all the syrup now sold at the
North is said to have glucose as a basis.