The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-12-10
A LIME TRUST IN PROSPECT.
EFFORTS BEING MADE TO GET THE
ALABAMA COMPANIES TOGETHER.

President Cobb of the Admission Lime
and stone Company, in Which Sn-
vannah Capital Is Interested, Says
That His Company Controls the
Largest Limestone Properties in
Alabama, and That They VIII Not
Go Into the Trust-Lime Now
Largely in Demand for Fertilizer
Purposes.
The trust promoters seem to be turning
their attention to the industries of the
South generally. While work is still in
progress in New York on the proposed ma
val stores combine to be organized at Sa-
vannah, efforts are being made in Ala
bama to organize lime and stone trust.
In fact, 1t has been announced that this
trust has already been completed, but the
statement is strongly contested by the head
of the largest lime and stone company in
Alabama
Lime is not only used in large quantities
in the manufacture of pig iron, but ii is
now coming generally into use as ferti-
lizer, With the advance in prices of COM
mereial fertilizers, the production of which
is also largely controlled by a trust of
comparatively recent organization, the i'm
portance of plentiful supply of lime to
the farmers of this section is of greater
moment than ever before.
MIR r. H. Cobb, president of the Annis-
ton Stone and Lime Company when in
Savannah some time ago, gave the Morn
ing News an interesting account of the ex-
tent to which lime is now being used as
a fertilizer and the results which have
been achieved thereby. Savannah capitai
is largely interested in the Admission Lime
and Stone Company, and besides a large
demand has been developed here both for
agricultural and domestic purposes. 1t Is
this company which has declined TO so
into the trust, and which objects TO the
statement that its properties have been
included in the recent combination Mr..
A. NJ Baldwin, president of the First Ma
tional Bank of Montgomery, Ala, is at
the head of the so-called trust, and re-
Gently gave out a statement including the
properties of the Admission Lime and Stone
Company among those which had gone
into the trust Mr.. Cobb asks the Morn
ing News to deny this report, and in adj
dition gives some interesting information
| concerning the lime business and the prop
| critics of his company in particular
las president of the Admission Lime and
| Stone Company said Mr.. Cobb, Il am
| prepared to state that the extensive in
terests of my company are not included
| I'm this deal. 1t is true that we discussed
| the matter with Mr.. Baldwin, and with
| Messrs. eager and Mccoy, experts of the
banking house of Sperry. Jones & Co., of
| Baltimore, who are assumed to be the
| financial hackers of the enterprise, but we
| distinctly stated to them that we hold the
| key to the situation, as our combined prop
critics are in point of excellence and rail-
| way facilities, more important than the
| g of all the limo interests g0llf
| of the Ohio and Potomac rivers. At Cobb
| City, where our present plant Is located,
we own properties containing forty mill
ion tons of limestone. including beds of
iron ore, and water sufficient to permit the
use of steam power. Our quarry is located
in mountain of limestone, 400 feet high,
and one mile in length, eX
| tending north as far as the prop
| erty of the Woodstock Iron Company,
| Our stone is of the highest quality, aid
| superior to that used in other lime works.
| This plant is at the present the most mod
ern in the South. 1t consists of four fur
! naces, and we are contemplating a consid-
cradle increase in capacity. The use of
| steam and other improvements and other
| natural advantages, enable this plant to
| produce lime cheaper than any other in
| the so-called trust. From there we can
| supply all the trade to be reached through
| the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and
| its tributaries. We also own one-third
| undivided interest in the Martin & Chris
TOPPER quarry, located two and one-half
miles from Cobb, and which, it seems, the
Lagarde Lime and Stone Company are
seeking to operate in the face of pending
| litigation. We also own options on the
| other interests in this quarry, and when
the final decision of the courts Is render
ed, we have every reason to believe we
shall be the sole owners of this quarry
which furnishes stone of high grade. We
also own the largest individual interest in
the Admission Lime and Coal Company
which was operated under lease by the
Lagrade Lime and Stone Company, until
recently damaged by fire. Last but not
least, we own over fifty million tons of
limestone at Tredegar, Ala, fourteen
miles from Admission.
Continuing Mr.. Cobb said: II was the
pioneer of the introduction of lime for ag-
ricultural purposes in Alabama and the
Southern states, shipping train loads in
stead of carloads. l was the first one TO
interest the sugar planters of Louisiana
and the. state officials of Alabama in its
use as a fertilizing agent, and now that
the cost of fertilizers is high, lime, which
10 the planters and farmers is indispensa-
BILE in cultivation, will be used in enormous
quantities firmly believe the Admission
district will as certainly become the lime
center of the Southern states, as the Bir-
mingham district is the iron center of the
world"
Mr.. Baldwin deserves a great deal of
credit as prime mover of the undertaking,
and no doubt, as a conservative business
man, will wisely recognize that more Is
to be gained by policy Of harmony than
by aggressive competition. Yet, as prac-
teal lime man, 1 do not agree with all
of Mr.. Baldwin's ideas regarding the for
nation of a trust. The Admission district
contains more lime furnaces than any dis
trict in the Southern states, and is the
only district where they are operated in
proximity TO iron furnaces, and where the
cost of quarrying the stone is so low that
the latter are enabled to use it as fiuxing
stone. The lime manufacturers who have
visited this district do not question its su-
perior limestone and other natural advau-
tages. The formation of ia2.o trust TO
control prices of lime in the Southern
states without controlling the leading prop