The age-herald., 1901-06-14
The Great South.

c. F. z. Caracrisd. c. F. E. NJ, one of the most noted civil and mining engineers in this country, is spending few days in Birmingham, looking into the oil and natural gas resources believed to be abun- dant under our mountains and valleys. MT. Caracristi has been for the past fif- teen years engaged in many great en- gineering enterprises in Europe, the Unit ed States and South America. He made a favorable report on the Beaumont oil field as far back as 1890. He is now en- gagged in writing a series of articles on petroleum and natural gas for the Balti- more Manufacturers Record
 You ask my opinion of the south, :" said Mir. CaracrisH yesterday. Why should you, when you have lived here so long and know of self experience of its majestic power for boundless good in the commercial, manufacturing and mining worlda And yet. perhaps the fact that you have seen 1t all grow up in magniff- cent splendor, progressing day by day from It's infancy to a powerful, healthy development, may have kept you from realizing it's resplendent value as seen by outside optics.
 "The question reminds me of a father who from her infancy nursed his loving daughter on his knees, always looking up- on her as a baby When the ardent lover asked for her in marriage and told him of her beauty and grace, her intellect and charms, he said: Well, my boy, what you say Is true, but d-d if ever knew it before! fa,',
 "The south Is really the bountiful daughter of America, and when old Un- cle Sam was about to lose her, he, like the old father, realized her virtues and fought like Gen. Joe Wheeler's tomcat to keep her. ,tss 1
 Since then she has not grown old and weak, but more beautiful and powerful. until she has worked into an empire of her own virtues; not in separate political iso- lation, but as a powerful factor in the up- lifting of this independent fatherland of which every American citizen should be proud.
 T have been occupied in looking over the South for many years, determining the mineral wealth of your mountains and lowlands, but never before have I been so much Impressed with the possibilities of it's resources as I am today.
 Your coal, your iron, your steel and your petroleum industries although not fully developed, can be made equal to the vast demands of the worlds inhabi- tants.
 Petroleum, that element which, like electricity, the origin of which is un- known, is going to revolutionize shipping and the supply will probably be derived from the South. If found in large quan- titles, it will be the fuel of the future merchant marine of the world, and on the water will be to the ships of this century what steam was to those of the last.
 Birmingham is surely going to be a great iron and steel center of the world. It needs, always, cheap transportation to ing better than induce the United States to improve the Warrior River sufficiently to allow barges and boats with draught of at least six feet to reach the mineral belt and connect it with the gulf. All things considered, however, your fregh, rates to the seaboard are more than fa- vorable.
 About gas and oil? We'll, am not in a position to say much. I will tell you all about 1t when come back in a few weeks, but I must study the situation first. Ask Captain Lucas or any of the United States Geological people; they can tell you all about oil, but I am just a little unfit for publication on oil at pres ent. It is a pretty slick proposition, though. and don't want to get my foot in it."