Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1902-03-22


can not Woodville develop some
source of wealth production outside
of the farming interests of the sur
rounding country2 Surely with
the very handsome deposit account
of our progressive Bank, there is no
lack of capital. Our moneyed men
tell us that we can not make a sue
cess of any large enterprise, as we
are isolated ON branch railroad
that is narrow guage-in manage
ment-and burdened with Excess
sive freight rates; and their argu-
ment is true and sound. But, Mr..
Editor, if we can not have the
Moon, let's be up and doing to get
little more of this worlds wealth
by small means. Why not start
some enterprise, the products of
which will be consumed by local
trade, for local needs; then we elm
mate the freight rate question. AS
I said before, this letter is in the
main suggestive; and 1 leave the
working out of figures and details
to the REPUBLICAN.
Why could not a small Ice fac
tory be made successful and prof.
tablet Woodville uses a great deal
of ice, at a high price(I cent per
pound retail, rs cts per hundred. }
The price is made high by the rail
road haul from Bayou Sara and the
loss by melting, incident to SO much
handling, and poor storage. I un-
derstand that ice can be manufac-
tured and sold at profit for rs cts
per hundred; a handsome profit at
IS cts. With ice in Woodville at
So cents per hundred, l believe that
the consumption would double or
quadruple. Then a small factory
ought to pay.
I think that it is the whole truth
when say that Wilkinson county
buys from distance 95 per cent Of
the axe-handles, double-trees, sin.
gle-trees, plow-handles and beams,
spokcs and other wheel fixtures,
solid wooden chairs, barrels, buck
cts, etc., etc. 1t is truth that we
should be ashamed to acknowledge
A few weeks agoI saw at the depot a
carload of oak slaves, to be shipped
to some factory, possibly to come
back to us as spokes, and we pay
both freights. Few of US who buy
the aforementioned articles stop tC
think that they are paying as fol
lows: 1st. The freight on raw
material to some factory as the oak
slaves mentioned, I'd. Manufac,
turers profit. sd. Freight from fac
tory to the wholesale dealer. 4th
The wholesale dealers profit, 5th
Freight to Woodville. 9th. Last
but not least, the home merchants
100 per ct. profit, as per the Dutch.
man. Now, with our forests full
of hard wood, and easy of access.
why would not a factory, to pro
duce for home consumption these
essential articles, pay, and pay
well2
I am not an authority on the OF
mill question, but to a man up &
tree, it looks a small oil mill, com
bined with a fertilizer mixer, would
pay. The people of Woodville ant
the farmers would use the meal anc
bulls, leaving only the oil to ship
Woodville now uses a good many
cars of meal and hulls, i'll spite O
excessive freight rates. Every tor
+ of fertilizer that is sold in Wood
vile pays freight rate of 81 u
per ton, in carload lots. Enough
seed are shipped out of Woodvillc
to supply all the meal needed Il
supply the Woodville fertiIizer
trade-the acid phosphate could b.
mixed i'll at the mill. Cheap mea
and hulls would mean better cattle
better cattle would mean betteI
milk and butter. Cheap cotton
seed meal would mean cheap fer
tilizer, and hence better crops; ant
to follow it further, better crop,
would mean more money for tn,
r country man to spend in your town
Lastly, abolish the wire fenc,
r clothes line, to the ladies delight
: and havea steam laundry.
All hands help to push the move
: ment for progress and improvement
4 and in few years we will shov
ourselves that this is Cod countr,