davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
Alabama's Rank in the South.

The value of manufactured products
is the test of States standing in the
census industrial tests. Tried by this
standard Alabama is losing ground.
In 1890 she was the twenty-seventh in
the rank; now she is the thirtieth.
She has lost three points, while Vir-
ginia, Louisiana, Texas, North Caro-
lima, West Virginia and South Caro-
lima have been advanced.
This State is outranked by Mary
land, Kentucky, Virginia, Louisiana.
Texas, Tennessee, Georgia and North
Carolina in manufacturing. The States
in the South that produce less than
Alabama are West Virginia, South
Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi and
Florida. Eight Southern States out
rank Alabama and FIVE do not.
Our loss of three points in rank is
the more distressing because of our
unrivalled mineral resources. West
| Virginia has an abundance of coal,
but lacks the iron ore that we pos
sess. In no State, North or South,
are all the materials that make up q
burden at the top of stack found
side by side In inexhaustible quanti-
ties as they are found in this State.
And yet we have lost three points in
the last ten years. We are now No.
80, when ten years ago we were
No. 81
This result is largely due to two
things, namely, the want Of cheap
transportation from the mineral dis
trict to the sea, and secondly to the
want of enterprise in cotton manu-
featuring. We permit Georgia and the
Carolinas to excel us in the building
of cotton mills, and today one-half of
our counties have not single spindle.
These thirty-odd counties have not
done their duty. This district cannot
do much more than it is doing until
the Warrior is opened, but there Is
not county that should not hold at
least one cotton mill. There Is not
one that cannot do as Talladega has
done. There Is not one that should
4 not send delegates to Talladega to
study the mills built there and the
manner of their building. If every
county would do this the State can
by 1910 be lifted out Of a rut and
put on the upgrade, and she can per-
! haps regain the three points lost in
the last decade.
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
AeJ1,raee~

Men hurried forward on foot; men
dashed up in carriages; disappointed men
slow-paced walked away; disappointed
men slow-paced drove elsewhither. Not
one stopped to listen to the birds, not
one TO look at the flowers, the trees, the
sky.
There was one old reaper there cutting
the new-grown clover in front of that
door which for hundred years has clos
ed behind vain seekers after place. Every
now and then the reaper paused in his
reaping and lazily sharpened his scythe,
speaking contentedly to me the while. He
seemed to me to be the spirit of time.
and the clover the place-seeker. One
would rather be the reaper than the
best of the disappointed ones stumbling
out through the door of a century of
disappointment. Alas the century has
been the reaper that reaped the bearded
grain at breath and the flowers that
grew between.
How vain 1t all seemed-that utter in
dinerence of the Presidents visitors to
the birds and the flowers, the trees and
the blue sky, and the utter hopelessness
- SANSS "iiOhl Tie 1TeSlQent turned
with mere shake of the hand! Together
IN the throng quitting the house of power
were man and woman. They were mis-
erably downcast. AS they walked slowly
toward the outer gate he looked steadily
at the ground; she looked steadily at
him. Both were in AFFECT grief. They
had been denied what he had asked for.
AT that moment the hymn of the birds
was clearest, tenderest, sweetest.
Listen, listen. llsten-see, see see!'
one had the impulse to cry to the man
and the woman.
And so to all who are disappointed, who
are grieved, who are downcast and With
out hope, such of us as hear the birds
and see the flowers and the trees and
the blue sky may call in the dark hour of
the grieved:
Listen, listen, listen-See, see. seer
LUCIEN JULIEN WALKER
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
NOT HARMoNIziNo.

From the Newton Harmonizer.
The almost universal demand among
the people In all parts of Alabama. for
the White Primary plan Of nominating
officers. is causing the perpetual office
seekers, the political gamblers, tho par
tiscn vagabonds. the Convention manipu-
!ators, the election thieves and the polit-
ical-boodle pirates to ''tremble In their
boots" and even have might sweats''
over the situation. The people are pre-
pairing to take charge OF the reins. and
drive some themselves. The politicians.
and political organs in Alabama that are
opposing the White Primary plan. or IL
It be adopted to restrict same, so as to
defeat the will of a majority of the
white people in Alabama, II you will no.
tice, are those who are now feeding out
of the public trough themselves. or try
ing to get in over the will Of the people,
or who have some special person or pet
measure to boost and are afraid to submit
the matter to the white people of the
State. except through q medium Of man
ipulation.
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
State Primary in Florida.

Florida has joined the primary pro-
cession, and Tennessee is preparing
to do likewise, and Alabama will then
be completely surrounded by primary
States, with a strip of the Gulf thrown
in. Alabama will then be politically
isolated, an Ishmael among States.
The Florida Democratic State Execu-
tive Committee met last week, and its
primary plan was tremendously form
ulated, and the Peninsula State will
soon have a State primary, the first
in its history.
The Florida State primary includes
the domination of an United States
Senator as we'll as of State officers,
and 1t is. to be held on July 15. The
rules for conducting it, adopted by the
State executive Committee, fill nearly
two columns of the Florida papers,
and they seem to be admirably adapt
ed to the purpose in hand, namely, to
give the Democrats of the State an
opportunity to express their prefer
ences. The Florida Democrats evil
IDENTIFY believe in action of the people
by the people for the people, instead
of action of the bosses by the bosses
| for the bosses.
All candidates of the party in Flor
ida, federal. State and county, are to
be nominated on July Is, but If no one
receives a majority vote for an office
a second primary is to be held August
IL, when the two highest" candidates
are alone to be balloted for. Ample
provisions are made for consolidating
the vote, and the Alabama State Ex-
ecutive Committee would do well to
study the Florida rules, for something
similar will soon be needed in this
State
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
st. Vincent's.

MANY of the physicians who came to
Birmingham to attend the meeting of
the State Medical Association, had seen
St. Vincent's Hospital on the occasion of
former visits, but m ajority of them saw
It this week for the first time" said one
of the local M. DIS.
"They had heard much of this great In
stitution but they marveled at the large
ness of the building and still more at the
thorough system and up-to-date appoint
ments and hospital appliances that they
found there.
Those who had visited hospitals in the
East soon appreciated the fact that here
in Birmingham was an institution That
would compare favorably with the best
In New York and Baltimore. And one
advantage that st. Vincents has over
similar institutions in other cities i'm
pressed the visitors. namely its command
ing site. There is not another hospital
in the United States that is SO beauti-
fully situated"
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
Bessemer GROWING,

while one hears a great deal about
Ensley's rapid growth. comparatively lit
tie is said about Bessemer, and yet the
latter city is going ahead too" said a
man whose business takes him nearly
every day to both of these places.
New buildings are all the while going
up in Bessemer. Not less than fifty have
been built within the past few months
and many more will be built before next
winter.
IF the Alabama Steel and Wire Com
pany decides to erect its new furnaces
and its steel mill near Bessemer, this
big plant will give fresh impetus to the
city. Capt. John C. Brain has already
decided to build the Standard Fertilizer
Works at Bessemer. and that alone will
add several hundred to the population. .
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20

poses, and IL the High School Library
were made the nucleus of a free pub
lie library, 1t would not be long before
that space would be filed with the
books needed in this community. 1t
is useless to wait, hat in hand, upon
Mr.. Carnegie. His benefaction, il 1t
come at all, will be apt to take the
form of techno.egical school, and
the people will be left with the task
of organizing a library on their hands.
This task can be ally accomplished
if the city will grant the space in the
city hall that the marketmen have
practically rejected and that no one
else wants.
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
NED BRACE TALKS ABOUT WHAT HE SAW
AND HEARD in THE BLACK BELT REGION

hay grow In abundance there. No fer
tilIzer is needed. The soil is several feet
thick and is as rich as cream, so to speak.
Tt is likewise fairly we'll watered and
naturally blossoms almost like Garden
of Eden.
Artesian wells are abundant In this sec
tion of Alabama. Near Greensboro there
is a spouting well eighteen inches in d.
ameter which furnishes a flow OF water
sufficiently strong to operate a turbine
wheel furnishing the power for gin
merry, a press and a saw mill. indeed IL
Is one of the wonders of Alabama. 1t Is
owned by Col. w. C. Tunstall.
Down in Marion 1 met red-headed
Irish genius by the name Of r. A. wynn.
He edits and prints a weekly newspaper
known as the Marion Democrat, and like
wise conducts the only barber shop In
town. He shaves and cuts hair and is
proud of his profession. While indulging
In his tonsorlal duties. he gets news from
his customers, writes 1t up at nights, and
turns it over to his printer-assistant who
puts 1t in type and prints the paper.
This, perhaps, is the only combination
of it's kind on the face of the globe. I have
known editors who did a little of every
thing and occasionally everybody, but
have never known one to combine the bar
Der trade with that of the editorial and
business end of a newspaper.
BY the way, was more impressed In
my travels last week with Demopolis than
any other town l have yet visited. 1t Is
the neatest and cleanest town in Ala
bama. 1t has a genuinely prosperous air
about it. Its streets are well cnerted and
Its sidewalks are of cement. While 1t
has only 5000 inhabitants, 1t receives 3d.
600 bales of cotton annually, has river
navigation to Mobile on the south and up
to Tuscaloosa on the north. 1t Is not only
the center of one of the great cotton
producing sections Of Alabama, but Is in
a profitable hay field, and about 1t. great
quantities of vegetables and fruits are
raised for shipment to northern and west
ern markets. One man, Col. John Cox
Webb, Is making a mint Of money out OF
growing alfalfa and Johnson grass hay.
He has thirty-five acres adjoining the
town on which he has averaged twelve
tons of alfalfa and Johnson grass hay
per acre, and he tells me that he is max
ing an annual net profit of more than
500 per acre on his land He has 200 addi-
tional acres in hay two miles from town
on which he is making equally as large
profits annually. Indeed he says there Is
no comparison between the amount of
money one can make in growing hay as
against cotton. and he is giving others
a practical demonstration of his teach
ings.
By the way, few people in Birmingham
know that Colonel Basil Manley Allen is
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20

N travelling about South Alabama,
as l have been doing during the
IL past week. one observes much of
interest. Down in the black belt,
where have been, the people are Of par
ticular interest. They make money easy
and they live well The farming lands
are the richest in Alabama, and perhaps
richer than any other on the American
continent, but the people do not till them.
L mean by the people, the white people.
They own tho lands and live in the
towns They lease their lands to negroes
Tor so much an acre or for a portion of
the crop, and In this way they get large
revenue without the work or the annoy
ance of conducting the farm.
The people who own these farms and
lease them out, call themselves planters
man who tills the soil, and the farmer of
the black belt Is as a rule. a black
man.
Greensboro, for instance, is one of the
wealthiest towns in South Alabama. 1t
is charming residence city. Its people
are refined and educated, and they are
perhaps the most cultured people of
Alabama. yet very few of them actually
labor. They own lands which are opera
ted by tenants, and they only inspect
their lands several times a year, gather
ing their rents, when the crops are mar
keted.
The merchants of Greensboro are pros
he hon he ,o1,
Greensboro has but $500 inhabitants it has
three banks and they all do a good
business. These banks advance to the
farmers, taking mortgages on the live
stock, crop and utensils, together, of
course, with the notes of the farmer. In
consequence, the farmers buy for cash
from the general store, and the banks
make the profit which in former days
was made by the merchants.
With rare exceptions, the black belt
section of Alabama is far behind the
times of the present day agriculturally.
Almost everything is given over to cotton
and corn. There are few diversified crops.
One rarely finds a farmer who INDUCES
in specialties. Some raise hay in a desul-
tory sort of way, and few in the Cuba
and York section raise fruits But these
Industries are yet generally in their in
fancy, although those who have been
progressive in an agricultural way have
made money.
The average land owner holds fast to
the old cotton crop, because it is an easy
way of making an ordinary living; and
he allows negro tenants to operate his
land year after year for a proportion of
the crop.
l don't know section of all this coun-
try where intelligent white farmers could
make more money than by cultivating
lands in the black belt of Alabama.
Fruits and vegetables and grains and
-. = . . . . I. . = = |. |. = = - = = -
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
Chance to Get Ahead.

~ hear 1t said now and then that In
this age of great trusts and combines a
young man has little or no chance to get
ahead in the world. but that is not So
said thrifty merchant on Twentieth
street.
II came to Birmingham fifteen years
ago with only 50. 1 had no acquaintance
here and l had no way of raising dollar
that did not work for got clerkship
at $40 a month. continued on salary
which was increased from time to time
until 1 had saved enough to set up for
myself. am not yet wealthy, but nave
got ahead and have ample capital TO con-
duct large business. I do not tell OF
my success in a spirit of boasting, but
only to correct the erroneous idea that
seems to possess many people touching
opportunities now as compared sith
those of other days. What l have done
can be done by any man who perseveres."
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20

as good farmer as he is a lawyer. He
Is indeed more famous in South Alabama
in the black belt-than he is right here
In Birmingham. He has railroad sta
tion and a side track named for him
1t is called Allenville and is just East
of Demopols. Allen owns all the land
about this station and he is raising a
productive crop of grass. He bales the
hay which nature produces with the aid
of negro and mule and sells the
same at profit in competition with his
neighbors. Allen operates his farm by
proxy. He goes down once OF twice a
year to see how 1t is getting on and to
sell the product, and he is really making
money out of it. He is getting som ething
like four or five tons of JolS son grass hay
to the acre "a is getting fairly good
price for his product. II he gave 1t bet
ter attention he would probably realize
even more profits than the Birmingham
law affords.
One of the most profitable industries
to be found in South Alabama is the
stave or barrel factory at Demopolis.
which is operated by j. A. Cary former
ly to GRANVILLE, Ill. Mr.. Cary was maxi
ing barrel slaves and headings for bar
rels in Illinois up to several years ago
when he moved down here and establish
ed this factory, using the sweet gum and
the black gum which grows in such pro-
fusion along the Warrior river for the
purpose He makes barrels for flour
nd
classes of barrels except those which are
used for liquids. He tells me that he
can buy wood and make the barrels for
half what 1t cost him in illinois, lie
makes the slaves and headings and hoops
for several thousand barrels a day, and
ships his product throughout all sections
of the South and throughout the middle
and western states. He is m alxing money
and lots of 1t, and he says 1t is only a
matter of time before many of the great
barrel manufacturing concerns Of this
country will be located in South Alabama,
where gum woods are abundant and
cheap.
Those of us who live in Birmingham and
know only of the mineral wealth of this
section, do not realize what tremendous
native wealth of all kinds exist in this
vicinity which is susceptible to profitable
development. The Northern or Western
man surrounded with the undeveloped
wealth of Alabama, soon makes great
wealth for himself. Knowing a good
thing, he makes it realize much for him
self On the other hand. the native Ala
bamian who has been raised within the
sphere of natural wealth rarely realizes
the full virtue of that which surrounds
him.
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
THE PIKE COUNTY DISGRACE.

From the Covington Star
The lynching of the negro, Zeigler, in
Pike county few weeks ago, has caused
The arrest of several men and one
woman in the neighborhood of Tarentum,
Were the lynohing occurred. 1t is said
that the little girl on whom it is claimed
that Zeigler committed his assault, was
hired to make the charge against zeigler.
which resulted in the negro's lynching.
Tho better class of people, says report
from there, are rejoicing that steps are
being taken to bring the lynchers to JUS
tice. and the community is almost terror
lied.
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
Did Not Like Wall Street.

"Mr. Milton H. Smith, president OF the
Louisville and Nashville Railroad, is
known as one Of the ablest business men,
and one of the best all round railroad Of
ficials in the United States" said a
Louisville man at the Morris.
when Mr. Smith was elected president
of the company the directors decided that
he must have his office in New York
where he could watch the financial side
of the railroad At the end of about
six months he told the directors that If
he was to look after the physical condi-
ton of the line and operate 1t
as 1t should be operated he
must go back to Louisville He offered
to step down to vice presidency, so
that f1nancier might be chosen presi-
dent who would find 1t convenient to live
in New York.
"But the directors approaching the i'm
portance of having man of Mr.. Smiths
character, mental calibre and railroad
experience as president, agreed that he
should make Louisville his headquarters.
They created the position of chairman of
the board, whose headquarters should be
in New York. Mr.. August Belmont was
elected to fill the Office. Mr.. Smith was
right from his point of view in insisting
on being located in Louisville. But had
he remained in Wall street, l think 1t is
safe to say that the control of his great
line would not have been picked up by
Mr.. Gates and passed over to Mr.. Nor
gan"
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
Lecture Tonight.

The lecture of Mr.. Leo Oberdorfer at
Temple Emanuel tonight under the au-
spices of the 1. o. B. B. promises to be
Of more than ordinary interest. A young
lawyer of brilliant mind, Mr.. Oberdorfer
will bring to the discussion of his theme
THE Nineteenth Century-the Century
Of acknowledgements processes and
helpful inductions along the lines OF
synthetic philosophy.
This lecture will be the last of this
seasons course and the attendance will
doubtless be very large The officers of
the order extend a cordial invitation to
the public.
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
GRATITUDE.

This life is not so sad as we
Do sometimes seem to take 1t,
For, whether bright, or whether shade,
Ills often what we make 1t.
The road is not hedged with thorns.
But daisies look up smiliag;
And music floats from unscen harps.
Our raptured souls besui.ing.
The birds and flowers and laughing brook
Are musical with gladness.
And human hearts ungrateful prove,
When weighted down with sadness.
The smallest flower that ever bloomei
Beside the tiny river,
Is grateful for the sun and rain,
And praises God. the giver.
So let Iife's chorus ever be
Hosannas and thanksgiving;
'Twere wiser for to laugh than wsep.
And scatter joys while living.
The love that fashioned earth and sky,
And caught sweet nature how TO slug,
Like sunlight from a cloudless sky
Will warmth and truth and gladness
bring.
MARY WARE
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
A MATTER OF THINKING,

From the Greensboro Waterman.
The people are demanding straight
white Democratic primary for the nomi-
nation of State officials this year, but the
politicians. many of them. don't seem to
like this method. They are not saying
much, but they are thinking great deal.
and all their thoughts are directed to-
wards the question as to how they can
circumveDt this demand of the masses for
an honest straightforward primary.
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
AND ELSEWHERE
The Old Vets.

THE great crowds OF Confederate vet
Grams on their way to Dallas to attend
the reunion show that thousands of the
brave and true men who wore the gray
are not only in the land of the living but
are hale and active" said railroad Off
cial
There will be an unusually large gath
ering at Dallas. The reunion next year
will probably be held at Richmond, when
the Jefferson Davis memorial arch will
be ready for unYeiling'
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
FROM THE SOUTH.

From the New York Tribune.
Never since the Stock Exchange was
first opened have railways below the Ma
son and Dixon's Line been the subject of
30 much eager and excited interest in
Wall Street as they have been in the last
few days. The frigid gales Of Great
Northern and Northern Pacific are felt
no longer, and the warmth of Southern
suns makes balmy the April breezes.
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
The Shrlners,

The mobiles of Zamora Temple, Ancient
Arabic Order of the Mystic Shrine. are
preparing for a trip to Montgomery on
Friday, the 2sth. They will travel by
rail but the camels will go afoot and
will start several days in advance.
The Shriners will give street parade
in Montgomery, and during their stay
in that city will conduct a large number
of candidates over the burning sands.
Mr.. Charles r. Westcott of Montgomery
is the illustrious potentate of Zamora
Tempie.
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
The ONLY ONE.
the Conecuh Record.

From the Conecuh Record.
The Birmingham Age-Herald ranks
among the best newspapers in the South.
Its columns of news are always filled
with the latest intelligence from every
section OF the United States and from all
nations of the world. 1t Is the only
morning newspaper in Alabama published
seven DAYS in every week.
The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
Good for Dallas.

with the reunion of Confederate vet
Grams at Dallas this week and the gen.
eral conference of the NJ. E. church.
South, there in May, the hospitable and
progressive Texas city will be well adver-
tised," remarked a travelling man.
Most large towns are doing well II
they get one big gathering in the course
of year. but Dallas bestired itself and
not only got two bodies, but two of the
best in point of social prestige"