The age-herald., 1899-11-05
NO NEED FOR ONE
 TO GO UNEMPLOYED
Few Cities Are So Prosperous
 As Birmingham.
RAILWAY LINES 0VERTAXED
Merchants Doing Big Business, Smal Industries Increasing, Bank Clear ings Show Great Gains-Many
 Other Signs of Growth

This is Birmingham's golden year. Bus mess is prosperous from one end of the country to the other, but it may well be doubted if many cities are enjoying quite so full measure of prosperity as Birming- ham. Everybody finds employment, prices jump, wages have been advanced, the out put of the mines and the furnaces have been increased, the railroad lines are over taxed the small industries have multiplied, the bank clearings show great gains, the wholesale merchants are extending their trade, and the retail merchants are busy from the time their doors open until they close.
 Statistics are not needed to prove that the Birmingham district is having a healthy boom, for every one sees it and feels it. And tine best of it is this era of thrift will con- tinue through the next year. The orders ahead make this assured.
 The iron output in the district this year will reach something like l,30O,000 tons, an increase of several hundred thousand tons as compared with last year.
 The coal output last year was little over 6,OCO,O0o tons. This year it will reach 7Ooo,~ 900 tons. and but for a scarcity of cars it would amount to 7,5OO,0OO.
 The Tennessee Coal and Iron company's new furnace, No. 5, at Ensey, is nearing completion, and the great steel works and the rod mill at Ensey are about ready to begin operations.
 The Sloss-Sheffield Iron and Steel com- pany is extending its operations and will In the near future begin the construction of new buildings.
 The Alabama Consolidated Coal and Iron company is building extensive coke ovens, and within the next six months will have expended between four and five hundred thousand dollars in the development of it's valuable properties. This is the com pany in which Abram s. Hewitt, John D. Searles and John Skelton Williams are largely interested, and of which T. c. Bush is president. It will put it's Mary Pratt fur mace in blast just so soon as supply Of coke can be had.
 Within the past five years a large cotton business has been built up here, so that now Birmingham ranks as the second cot ton market in Alabama, handling nearly 900 bales per annum. This will be fol- lowed by larger cotton millisg interests.
 Since last fall eight small industries have been established in Birmingham, including the pipe works at North Birmingham The value to this city of a variety of small man. ufactories cannot be overestimated While eight have been located here recently, this number should be d0uDled or treDleu Wlunln the next twlve months, for here Is the field above all others for this class of enterprise. Almost everything can be manufactured here which is used in the south: and now that we have the steel works there should be great business in the manufacture of machinists' tools, agricultural and horti- cultural implements, household utensils and all sorts of novelties.
 Birmingham is the very place for knitt- ing factories. The products that knitting factories would turn out would find ready market right here in the district. All these things will come. As a progressive me- chanical engineer remarked yesterday: "I have been living here just five years, and in that time there has been decided advance fn work relating to foundries and machine shops. But In the next five years the de- velopment is going to be simply wonder full One won't recognize the place, so great will be the strides in my line."
 WILLIAM RYAN,
 Secretary Board of Trade.