The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-09-01
WHOLESALE TRADE
MONTGOMERY's PREslEMfNENCE IN
 WHOLESALE GROCERIES.
Stands Above All Alabama Cities and is Exceeded by only Memphis and
 New Orleans.

J Stands Above All Alabama Cities and
 is Exceeded by only Memphis and
 New Orleans.
 Montgomery Is the third wholesale grocery point in the South. New Or leans is the first and Memphis IS the second.
 If future years bring on the same increase in business that the years ol lsoS-o4 did to Montgomery, Memphis and New Orleans will have to ster down from the dizzy heights they now occupy in the grocery trade.
 A visitor from a neighboring city that brides itself in its industrial pro- gress was in Montgomery few days ago. He had occasion to visit one of the big wholesale grocery houses swhy, there is more stun in this house" he was heard to say. than in ell the grocery stores in my town"
 ..Yes, and more stun goes out of this house" he was answered" than out of evert grocery store in your town"
 And statistics prove this assertion.
 It has been truthfully said that the tonnage of freight brought in and out of Montgomery Is greater than the tonnage taken from and in Birming- ham proper.
 This statement would at the first sight seem preposterous The Magic City exports an immense quantity of coal and iron. Gan 1t be possibleT' one reason that the cotton shipped into and out of Montgomery would counterbalance this" It is not possi- bIe unless the cotton was aided by the great excess of Montgomery groceries over Birmingham groceries.
 Railroads are good indicators of the business of. a city. If a community does only a small amount of shipping business, 1t is not likely that four or this small freighting.
 Railroads like every other private enterprise are doing business, not for the accommodation of the people, and not for the honor of being the pioneers of civilization. Railroads are out for money.
 It is a we'll known fact that no rail- road makes money on its passenger service, but on the freight business the shareholders of a railroad depend to draw their dividends.
 If large amount of freight was moi being shipped out of Montgomery would there be seven railroads and their several branches. striving to dc the DublueSs OI udulinS the ITelBnt ol Montgomery.
 And a great part of this freight i. for the wholesale grocers of Montgom. cry.
 The grocery business done by Mont gomery merchants can hardly be ap- preciated by passing through the wholesale houses. The hum of business is, there. There are few Idle people about a Montgomery wholesale groce- ry house and every person connected with every wholesale grocery in the Capital City from the proprietor to the office boy is generally keeping busy al something else that person would not be there. Wholesale groceries ir have business to do.
 But 1t Is nevertheless hard to realize by going through the busiest of these busy stores that more groceries are be- ing shipped out of Montgomery than are shipped out of Mobile, which city in addition to its Alabama grocery field ships quantities of groceries to the West Indies and Central American points.
 Alabama is undeniably a great and growing state. It is naturally perhaps the best endowed State in the Union and Montgomery grocery statesmen pierce to every point in Alabama and to many points in her sister states, and where these salesmen go, they do busi- ness.
 On the South and North division of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Montgomery groceries control the trade as far up as Calera, selling large bills of goods in all of the growing commu. mites between.
 On the Mobile and Montgomery divis ion, the Montgomery salesmen go a. far into the Mobile territory as Flo, maton, taking in practically every i'm. portant trade center on the division.
 On the division leading to the ran. idly opening up country around Anda 1usia. Opp and terminating at Grace ville, Fla, the Montgomery grocer, houses are selling big buls of goods The Alabama line does not stop then on this division, but the drummer penetrate to the very terminus of tn road. Graceville, Fla.
 Five years ago, thIs country in bus mess way practically amounted t, nothing. The few country stores fl the midst of the timber lands, totall, unopened, were hardly worth the tim and the travelling expenses of a drum mer.
 But this country opened up and open ed up rapidly and now there is no bet ter neld for the labors of Montgomer, statesmen than that section of Alabama At recent meeting of the Commercial and Industrial Association, a promi nent wholesale merchant in urging tn necessity or trade excursion to thi section of Alabama. said, "Montgomer IS now doing the business of this sec tion and owing to its rapid progress. behooves the wholesalers of Montgom cry to double their efforts to keen tn merchants of this section alive to tn fact that Montgomery is after tbei business. Every effort that Mont gomery expends in making these peo pie our friends Is an effort well spent
 On the Western of Alabama, Mont gomery wholesale grocers sell good as far east as LaGrange, Ga. Co tb central of Georgia, the trade extend as far as Batesviille. Ala. On the At lantic Coast Line 1t extends to Don aldson, Ga On the Mobile and Ohio t Blocton and on the Union Springs an Northern to Union Springs.
 In addition to this, Montgomer wholesale houses do an immense bus iness in the sections of Alabama no touched by any railroad The wago trade extends far into Coosa and Tal lapoosa Counties, and no small ouantj ty of groceries are shipped to point along the Alabama River by rive steamer.
 There are ten big wholesale eroce ries, doing business in MontEomer | nns7 7ETTEne