The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-02-29
MARION HAS HAD
 PROSPEROUS YEAR
Perry Farmers Preparing for
 Large Acreage.
IS THE CITY OF SCHOOLS
Merchants Are Enjoying Excellent Trade and the High Price of Cotton Has, Been an Im-
 portant Factor.
BY FRANK v. EVANS.

.--%''ft - SfftN0s
 Marion, February 2-tspecial 1.-The only matter of political thought and talk. outside of local affairs, in this section is the railroad commission, and one can easily find friends of each of the contest ants here. Lowe, Conner, Smith, Kolb and Donnar each have strenuous friends, and the race promises to be close and spir- ited.
 A number of democrats entertain the opinion that Lowe is we'll equipped for the position, entitled to some practical recognition of his services to the party, and will support him; a number feel that Conner will lift the burden of high freight rates and remove the pressure; others think that Smith is proving a wise and impartial head of the commission. And then again by some it is said that Kolb must have something on account of past grievances.
 None, however are more enthusiastic than are the friends of Mayor Frank M. Donnar of Selma, a practical railroad en- gineer and an old Confederate veteran, who knows d railroad track when he sees it. and claims the working voters of the state. He has many friends among all classes and is a good talker and can vasser.
 Interested in Material Affairs.
 But Marion is not so much interested in politics as it is in the material affairs of the day. To say that Marion Is happy and contented hardly expresses the con- dition of the people here. They are more than this; they are jubilant The high price of cotton has placed Marion and Perry county once again on the high road of prosperity.
 These farmers, upon whom the town much depends, not only received a high price for their cotton, but they planted abundanty of corn and the other food crops, and these yielded more abundant- ly than any year since 1S9S So it happens that these farmers, with their pleteoric cotton purses will have to buy but little during 1904; and they stand today, in Perry county. on the credit side of the ledger.
 Much Blessed County
 Perry is a much blessed county" re- marked an old citizen today. "Our people have passed through many trials and tribulations, but they always land on their feet There was first the freedom of the slaves, and Wilson's raid: then the low price of cotton and the Birmingham boom. The latter took $2,0000O0 and from 15OO to 2000 people, black and white, out of Perry county; but we stood all of this and still prosper"
 Marion received between 5000 and 10000 bales of cotton this season. The farmers in this county made enough corn and hay to supply them, and much to sell. Speak ing of hay, the farmers of Perry and the adjoining counties have been and are now shipping thousands of tons of hay John ston grass) to the markets of the coun- try; and they find 1t a most profitable crop.
 Marion Junction, just fifteen miles from Marion, in Dallas county, has already shipped between 200 and 300 cars. Each car holds about twenty tons. and it read fly sells at S10 per ton fob. at the sta tion. Other railroad stations in this sec tion ship as much or more, and the in- come is an item of no small proportion. This is quite unlike the conditions which once confronted this section, when the farmers here actually bought their forage from the west.
 Many Bales Shipped.
 fact most impressive Is that many bales of this home product or hay have been shipped this season to Tennessee, to say nothing of supplying the cotton and timber belt of the south. The writer Is lnIOfmeu that dIteF lne eidss ID oiSo sown on this soil 1t readily takes root, and the sowing is not repeated An oc- casional blowing and narrowing not necessarily every year, encourages rlch and rapid growth Then the cutting, cur ing and bailing finishes the work Hence the enormous profit.
 Observation from the car window as one rides through the "black belt or Alabama indicates that the farmers throughout this entire section are making preparations for heavier planting this year than at any time during the past decade New ground is being cleared, much additional stock has been purch- ased, labor is well organized Encouraged as 1t is by the present price of cottonO, and these splendid prarie fields present scene of activity which portends boun- tiful harvest The writer notes that work is well advanced in every direction. The only serious question is, will there be neglect of the food crops?
 Many Modern Improvements.
 Marion is the same goodly old town she has ever been, except that there Is some building, and many modern improvements in the way of public utilities. Marion owns her own water works, which sup ply an abundant flow of pure water. The town is lighted by electricity, and has a good telephone service.
 Two newspapers the Marion Standard, edited and published by that we'll known journalist and public spirited citizen Charles II. Greer; and the Marion Dem- ocrat by Editor R. A. Wynn.
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