The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-20
ny WILL 1T. STEPHAN.

uK WILL 1kaMBka&Ns respondence 1.-TWO fountain heads there are two sources of the stream or the States commerce. And they diner as one star differs from another tn
 The mine and the farm are the heads of the two streams which unite further down, and make the volume Of tns more and mere Important t Iaoins, up larger each day Time win be when the factory will be as vital to the c9m- mine, but that time Is not now. There be millions and millions of dollars turn- CT over each year in AIabaaa's eanar merce, but most of these millions are turned ever in business streams that flow forth from mine and farm.
 There must be ridge, watershed, ssasE these eR sE9 eaasrSSs sianas gsgsad ana
 In the rejuvenated town of Andalusia a good many miles away from here ths ii public HSSSs ssSsre. ss H is the crest crest of tbs dividing ridge between two Watersheds. The Apdaluaian visitor 10 inyarlably the water which runs of one side of the roof flows to one Eiver and makes t way to the sea, while the water which iiows Giw to i another not river and takes snotR.
 The Mine sad the Farm.
 A short distance from Centerville, q distance so short that Centervtlie itself mind, Is the crest of the ridge whlch divides mineral and agricultural Ala bana. To the north Is the mine. to the spot mine and farm dove tail intss each other. It Is all within the County of Bibb and CenteTville Is all but upon
 North of this. the county seat. within the County of Blob, Is the astonishing be called huge mine. A dozen mines epsf svs toTn r~o 6f fEsS or are 9 SRd PraetIoallS one town There are pPeopIe iiyiSg s1 fn io or around ths minins
 It is famous for the excellence of its fuel coal. the Rlocton and cahaba made 1t and the outcroppings of these same Cahaba coal fields have run down to within six miles of Centerville and the veins and seams come even closer to
 The cahaba River runs along the coal seams. past and close to Centerville, through Dallas County. into the Ala terviile and alongside Of the cahaba EYsr TeS farms Srs the A 9 ers asan ad %s ton of the hills. one can stand upon the farm of the hill dwelIer and sweep land owner as 1t slopes gradually to the river. Here again is found the source for speculation upon the strange natural law which leads the small his home and'th establishment of hts small farm; the law which persuades the planter with means to. dwell upon the plains and widen his holdings through the years until in time he be- comes the holder of thousands of acres,
 The Plains and Hills.
 It is not to be considered strange that in the younger days of the State hardly to be doubted that on the cot ton plantations the richer and the he, full cayed in later years In the same pro- portion as the white men left It. Tn agriculture. supposedly the strong suit 1 of the negro, he has only partially met The SIT . farms of the white man have grow, faster than the plantations have increased. The small farm and it's white owner have always been prosper ous The small farmer has not only | widened the field he formerly occupied, but he has pitched hls camp In the new counties the. new section.
 | It is deeply significant that the big | plantations. with the negro tenant sys- tenn are unknown in the new, sec | 1 bsnoa which have so developed, and whieh have become so prosperous, such as the wiregrass county and the coun- | ties to the south of the Black Belt,
 Put here Is Centerville with the men | of inc hills and the mines on the one bard and the old. but ever rich and sertiie plantations on the other. And l in the best in trade that IS In the two | eoiI,1 oriI,o1,+erville if 1t wasn't in Alabama, r,toht he an Alpine village. 1t is that hiiv There is no way to get to TTtnln1tervjlie except to go up and down
 SSHs The site of the town itself
 l,,1d nlii11 have been the citadel of an am
 Snnt oUur fortress If It were a time of rlsreu5ers. cIe,a trouble breeders and fight
 nns lirs sbe [ bfll on which Centerville stands eonId be fortified for any sort of de-
 fense. q. Ia staan ana i. ts t,,st
 round with other pine covered emlnen- ces. cooI ana Iron.
 | ,r1oro is A world of coal In Ala
 m me hocause the Appalachian chain of
 ,,,,+sins pai,,n come to an end within the
 totn sioVn They break on rather suddenly
 Rirmingham and Gadsden dis-
 tl,ets IF ts' and according to thstF gseloGis