The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-21
SOUTHERN PROGRESS
SITUATION REVIEWED BY THE
 MANUFACTURERS RECORD.
Some Details Regarding the Cotton Mill Combination-The Merger One of Most Important in
 History of the South.


 Baltimore, Feb. a0-(SpeciaD-A corre- spondent of The Manufacturers' Record writing from New York gives some de- tails regarding the Southern cotton mili combination. This has been organized on the basis of ssOo0,0O0 of bonds, N,ooo,ooo of preferred stock and sTOoO.Ooo of com mon stock, and at present includes about seventy mills, but the plan or organlza- ton Is made sufficiently elastic to pro- vide the money to take in large number of additional mills, a good many Of which are now under Investigation The com pany will have $2000,000 cash in its treas ury, and contemplates the establishment of finishing plants and the handling or the entire business on such basis as to reduce the cost of production ana the marketing of cotton goods as much as possible, thus eliminating many or the expenses which have heretofore burdened mills that lacked ample working capital. AS thIs combination puts about sS.OO0,Vo of fresh capital into the cotton mill in- terests of the South. and at the same time leaves the control of the mills in South ern hands, 1t is regarded by many as one of the most important steps which have been taken in the broadening of the tex tile development of the South. The Man ufacturers' Records correspondent. refer ring to this, says:
 From a commercial and industrial point of view, this merger may be con- sidered the most important Southern transaction that has up to this time been closed. It means the removal of some of the main obstacles in the way of profit able cotton manufacture in the cotton growing country; it means the introduc- ton of modern, economical methods, ac- tIo rfd n we'll as labor-saving and money-saving mechanism, reaching the worlds cotton goods markets, and, what Is of more im- portance, ability to employ the best busi- ness talent afforded by the worlds best brains markets. Everyone at all familiar l with the history of cotton spinning at the South know that the greatest difnculty that many Southern cotton mills have had to contend with has been lack of working capital. Many mills that on their merits were entitled to all credit | they required in buying raw material and carrying stock have been unable to obtain it except at exorbitant rates of interest, by reason of remoteness from the money centers, and another great difficulty has been that in hard times the isolated mills were absolutely at the mer- cy of the middlemen in finding markefft for their output. That the Southern mills, handicapped by all these difflcuities, have | with few exceptions been able to pay divi- dends, is a demonstration of the extent | of these inherent and inalienable adyaI1- tages which natural conditions vouchsafe. l While this first important step in the | modernization of Southern industrial methods will bring highly beneficial re- suits to cotton growers In the vicinity of the mills affected by this consolida- ton, for it goes without saying that when the final balance Is struck every charge upon cotton and it's products fall large ly, if not wholly, on the grower. There fore, every saving inures in greater or less degree to the growers benefit
 The financial plan Is very simple One | of its features will be to add several million dollars, all immediately available | to the working capital of the mills con- cerned This will come into the South from New York and other Northern cities leaving the properties intact and In act ual possession of the original owners who will continue to control the majority of the companies securities. A strong un' derwriting syndicate, in which may b' found names that are seldom found out side of the very largest enterprises. stands pledged to provide all the cash required in perfectlng the organization"
 
 oil territory by reason of decreasing stocks of oil throughout the country, con- | sumption for some time having been largely in excess of production. a core spondent of The Manufacturers Record | writing from Barboursville, Ky, tells of the rapid expansion of activities in four fields in that State and of the establish ment of another field in Tennessee. He l writes:
 '.The Bob's Bar field in Tennessee and | the Wayne County, Ky, fields were the first developments to be made, and these were rapidly followed by the discovery of oil in Bath and Knox Counties. The Wayne County field and the Bob's BaT field have been producing oil steadily for | some time, and, consequently, these sec- tions have been proven. These two de- velopments have yielded up to date 2SO,OO( 1 barrels of crude oil which Is In storage J tanks at Somerset awaiting the compile ton of the main pipe line. Nearly one hundred wells have been drilled in both sections with capacities ranging from ten | to 200 barrels daily. The Knox County field has made more .apid strides than l any other in the State. Although scarce ly year old, nearly 300 wells have been drilled, and new wells are coming In at 1 the rate of twenty a month. Most of the | wells in the Knox County field were drill  | cd into a shallow sand. and many opera tors doubt their lasting quality. Bath County developments have resulted in 1OC wells. In most of these wells the grade of oil is different from the other oil pro- duction of the State. The Bath output Is a heavy. black grade more suitable for lubricating purposes than Illuminating | and the prices paid for it is only 55 cents | a barrel Near the Bath County field Is | situated the new field of Morgan County which has been attracting a great deal of attention recently. Here the deepest | producing well in the State Is located and the capacity shows up to be not less than one hundred barrels daily. Cumberland | County is also attracting, great deal of | attention recently. Here about twenty | wells have been drilled, most of which are good producers. At present about 3O( wells are in course of drilling in different | sections of the State and in Tennessee a gl eat deal of wid-cattlng is going on 1 Nearly fifty counties are being operated