The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-22
nv WILL T. sHEEHAN.

HN tbHAA Eufaula, Sept 21--(SpeciaI Corre- spondence )-Eufaula has found her. self. She has learned to seize the op- porunities of new conditions when the older conditions through no fault of her own, vanished and carried with them the advantages that had made the Bluff City the commercial. politi- cal and educational center of East Alabama.
 She has resained her grasp upon her commercial confluence, which was slowly slipping away decade ago. n preyentable developments. To the northward the old Savannah, Americus and Montgomery, now the Seaooara of alr her ehoi Old hfI Plant system, now the At iantic Coast Line, had been run through, the Central of Georgia had been extended three ways ana every rsi, faula's trade territory.
 When such things are done tns town at interest wherever II IS iocatsu more towns and cities in Alabama might be named, which have had these things to happen to them; Lney were yer, towns which. were probably ae rne s,rasd aisI in that section of the State. con dition which acted as a bar to new railroad builders, for 1t Is easier to rich % enough, and to have new towns spring up along the road than it Is to 20 into the small city, which mas had the trade of that same territory and lock horns with the first conner
 Moreover, railroads like govern meats, have certain spheres of tnflu- that the laynsn daes dess mot mot hsow what sort of an agreement, II there IS an agreement, exists between the raii- roads to prevent the first conner rom being disturbed in his right or possess sion.
 wherefore. 1t has been the custom In Alabama at least, except in the min eral district to cut across the new railroad country to make new trade certers in the richest part of the con- trihutory trade. center; The building of Alabama railroads through suah une iika the work of a farmer who in dram ing his farm cuts trenches near tne roots of an oak. close enough 10 ,ar ar- tile enough on the edges to have new trees spring up and thrive as the old oak languishes for t nourishment it 0Hh Tn such such a circumstance when rail- roads have been cut about the roots of its trade the older town may go one of two things, t may n. c.. lasngglsn sormsr sreatness gre with it's older people cling Ing to it. or 1t may wake up to a new future. learn new ways y ana ,xon, M,n unfamiiiSr nnW nde conditions.
 This latter thing is what Eufaula has done. It looks today better tal snah 1t has eyer looked & in its long n{ ana 1aeont non store in the whole city. It has per haps 5000 people and in all Aiapama there Is perhaps. not a city or that class which has in the past two years put out as much money in improving, in beautifying and in winning. trade as has Eufaula The winning of pros perity, of new trade is. somehow, hard inc newer towns which have nothing to unlearn and, which have only to take that which comes to #. So mufh more credit to the town that does It.
 Time was when Eufaula had every bit of the commerce of that pro verbally rich agricultural section no railroads through there then. Abbe- ville. Ozark and Geneva were the on- ly towns of consequence. The thlnSs that were sold from tne ,srn eSuntebs5 eb5nga 1a that had been bought in the whole sale and general stores of Eufaula' The village storekeeper or tne tarm- arm these stores and indirectly from Eu- faula had to buy them directly from the city. All roads lead to Eufaula.,
 The Gulf of Mexico ,rass was the tsrStory SGS5n The big four mule wagon, the can vas covered prairie schooner of the west was the freight car of Southeast
 Alabama and Northwest Florida. These freighters came to Eufaula in trains, sometimes fifty and sixty wag- ons long Three. four and sometimes five time a week the wagon trains moved into Eufaula to barter for her trade and sue for her favor. Wagons weighted down with Eufaula business again and again crossed the Florida line And there are merchants in Enfaula who can recall the time in the. years soon after the war when they loaded wagons with their goods for the store- keepers in Troy.
 The Older Days.
 Those were rich days for the city