The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-09-07
BIG FERTILIZER
PLANT PROBABLE
ARMOUR COMPANY BACKS 1T.
EXPENDITURE OF s25OOOO WOULD
RESULT FROM LOCATION.

ID. b. Osborne. Southern Manager OF
Company, Here to Confer With
SeabOard OHciaIs Regarding LO-
cation On HutchinsOn's Island.
Savannah Offers Many Advantages,
Especially in, Freight Rates-As
Plant Will Not Be Built Until Next
Year, Final Decision is Delayed.
Negotiations for the erection of a
S250,OOO plant by the Armour Fertili-
ger Company in Savannah are in pro-
gress. Mr. D. B. Osborne of Atlanta,
Southern manager of the company, ar
rived yesterday morning and is icon
ference with officials of the Seaboard,
on whose property on Hutchinson's
island it is proposed to erect the plant.
While nothing definite has been ar
ranged as yet, there are many reasons
why the plant will in all probability
be located in Savannah. AS the plant
in Atlanta is on the line of the Sea-
board, this is an additional reason for
placing the factory on Seaboard prop
erty here, though this is not absolutely
essential to the establishment of the
industry.
Should the plant be located here it
would give employment to from 400 to
500 men, with a monthly pay roll of
from $4,000 to $4,000. The capacity of
the proposed plant would be about 80,
600 tons per year. which is as great as
the one at Atlanta.
Savannah Has Advantage.
AS the situation now stands, the
Armour company has need of a plant
farther east than Atlanta, and as no
other point offers the same natural
advantages there is every reason to
believe that this city will be selected.
1t will be perhaps three months be-
fore the final decision is announced
by the company, and in any event
work would hardly begin on the build
ings before the early spring. This
would enable the company to complete
the plant in time for the fall season.
Conspicuous among the advantages
offered by Savannah it that of freight
rates by ocean vessels A large portion
of the iron pyrites used by the plant
at Atlanta comes from Spain through
the Savannah port, as does also kainlt,
or potash. The railroad freight from
this point to Atlanta would of course
he saved by using the ingredients here,
while the shipping charges of the
finished product to territory which
could be supplied from Savannah
would be less, or at least not above the
rate out of Atlanta.
Considering New Plant.
At the present time the fertilizer
company has a small mixing plant
at the wharVes of the Ocean Steam
ship Company, but no attempt at man
ufacturing the fertilizer is made.
Our company has been considering
the building of a plant in Savannah,
said Mr.. Osborne, though the nego-
tiations are still in progress. There
is no hurry, as the plant could not
be established in time for business
this winter. The company needs a
factory in this section of the coun-
try and Savannah seems to me to of
fer many natural advantages. 1t
would supply a large eastern terri
tory which can be reached from Sa-
vannah much better than from At
lanta.
Should the factory be built here
it would mean a very material in
crease in the amount of wages dis
bursed, and would mean much for
the city, it seems to me. My part
is to present the situation as I find
it and the company will make the
decision
Vice President E. F. Cost of the
Seaboard has been in the city in con-
ference with Mr.. Osborne and other
officials regarding the location of the
proposed factory.