The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-28

liVely Duslness section maue Dy the
 two big blocks and the cross streets that run into 1t, lies the two residence halves of the city, each almost equal In size and importance and each hav- ing it's own complement of fine homes. The city has its own manufacturing enterprises. enterprises which have In themselves become typical of Southern elites, for in them the fertilizer nanu- the cotton min interest scoring as sec ond The latter industry in Opelika Is embodied in the Opeiika cotton mills, a
 m1dern snd efficient af Plant 3bs c S Tor The most important enterprise, how ever, which is a part of Opelika's in-- dustrial life, Is an immense chemical side the city limits along the line of the Western Railway. This plant some time ago changed hands and is now Supposed to be one of the many
 fertilizer factories. controlled by the great corporation known as the Vir- ginia- Carolina Chemical Company. In | addition the town has two other cot city boasts. too. of modern, up-to- | date variety works as well or fac
 compress. electric lights and water
 The City's Fine Schools.
 More than of anything Opelika Is l proud of its nne school. The building 1 Is perhaps the finest grammar school building in the State. It Was erected
 
 | of S41.000, fact which may Indicate how high education stands m the es- | teem of the people or opelika. The l head of the school Is Professor G. w. | Brock, late a member of the State Board of Examiners. The fine public school has a daily attendance of 40o | pupils. In the sumRer vacaeon the | school building does not stand idle. 1t l is used as summer school for pros | pective applicants for teachers license | before the State Board. Young men and young women who come to Opeltka | to brush up before tackling the State examination questions.
 There is another institution here in which the whole city takes just io- School of the First Methodist Church, l over which Superintendent J. B. Green 1 presides. This is said to be the largest Sunday School in Alabama and one Of 1 the very largest in the whole United | States. Each Sunday 1t has an aver | age attendance of some 6OU pupils. The | school for years past has attracted the | School workers of Alabama. Many of | them come to Opelika to investigate i the school, to watch it's workings and | to study the methods which have | made 1t great The Superintendent at all conventions of Sunday scnoal | workers is called upon always for | some sort of paper or address for the | instruction of his associate workers, As to public buildings, as to quarters for it's county officers. no county of the State is better equipped than Lee. In | the past two years fine $4O,O0O court house as well as a $io.000 jail has been completed. Unlike some of the court houses of Alabama, no onense against architecture or good taste was com | mitted when the courthouse was built | It is as harmonious and as tasteful as | one could wish to see.
 The steady growth of its wholesale trade is one of the most noticeaole de- velopments in early or recent years | fFihIlfAd l development. In the first place, the class of citizens who live on the fertile 1 hills which surround Opelika for miles and miles are of the very best class of | farmers They are the sort of people who make money and who have sui ficient education and culture to have
 wants the less well-to-do farmers do not know, wants that they are aple ana In the second place. Opelika was sev- eral years made competing point by
 the Interstate Railroad Commission There was no little adantage to Ope- lika business in this. It gave her much
 better freight than her neighbors and
 competitors enjoyed: Rates enjoyed and Mobile. These rates alone enabled the city to undersell her competitors In the strive for the business of the hill towns of East Alabamha. And because of them, Opelika has become a great
 Jobbing center.
 Inducements to Manufacturers.
 A little thought will show. too. that this last competition offers great hope
 to manufacturers: The town IS slowly
 ates fully the necessity of having new
 enterprises o fthis sort installed. Ma
 tural conditions, fine surrounding
 cheap and peaceful labor are induce
 ments that could be well considered by
 manufacturers.
 This, in brief. is a glance at an im-
 al nf A lo ha aY11 tO
 was settled as far back as 1887 or 1888. At that time the Indians had just left Alabama. The Georgia settlers, whose encroachments upon the territory of trouble time after time, continued to come m great numbers. They had now an undisputed field. a new country: rich and promising. It was fine and high-class of citizenship which crossed the Chattahoochee River and came from Georgia into Lee. Chambers, Randolph and other counties of East Alabama. It was said that Georgia had given her very best people to Alabama.
 The men who came over bringing foortune. sometimes the heritage of a family for two centuries. were people of culture and of intelligence. They were the slave holding planter. the man who bought an immense planta- tion, butt Sine, imposing home on the highest hill on his place and surrounded 1t with the quarter of his negro slaves. Many of these magnificent homes en- throned upon the hills of East Alabama in ancient and oftimes decayed glory.
 We do not seek to draw any inVldi- ous comparisons" said Capt. T. D. sam ford, when we say we believe that we have, if not the best rural population, at least equal to the best in the State, around our city of OpeIika. Our lands are still largely in the hands ot tho descendants of the original settlers who bought them and brought their fami- lies to Alabama. These families have always been good farmers and friends of education. They have raised good crops, they have beautifed their homes. and they have sent their sons and daughters to college. They are good people for any section to have and we are proud of them"
 In spite of their age, counting from the time they were cleared. the lands about Opelika are productive and fruit full The country is rolling, but the hillsides are rich and responsive to ble to a fertilization to a high degrees They are largely of clay and as such they have a strong foundation which treasures up all fertilizer that may be entrusted to them.
 It is a beautiful city on the Alabama hills, a restful. inspiring place when one comes to its districts of home and leaves the hustle of it's business streets For much more than a mile its tree bordered streets stretch over hill after hill until the cemetery eminence is reached, where a magnificent shaft of Vermont granite marks the resting place of William J. Sanford. the we'll beloved, and the one Governor that Opelika has contributed 10 the State of Alabama.
 Fire works again tonight At EIec- fPfe Park. He sure to 20.
 NEWS OF DEMOPOLIs.