The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-17
Oldest Mill i'm the
 State of Alabama
By Will T. SheehAn

| could be easily set forth from the standpoint of a man who had dollars | and cents in the mill and who expected | to receive dollars and cents from the | earnings of the mill. and who was not | forced out when the change was inau- | gurated. A company controlling fifteen | mills has a wider market. and 1t might l be said, too, 1t has a better grasp upon l the market. With offices not only in | Baltimore but in New York, and with | q vast output to sell by men who are | familiar with every cause that affects l the supply and demand, for cotton | goods, 1t could be argued that the pro duets of the mill could be sold to bet | ter advantage. On the other hand it | Is contended that if there has been any | change so far as the operatives aie
 concerned. the change has been to | their advantage.
 The officers of the big company are Charles K. Oliver. President, and | Charles W. Woods, Mills Manager, both | of Baltimore.
 These officials, however, are practi- cal1y unknown to the operatives and | to the people of Alabama. The officials who run the mills and who are known l to the operatives of the mill and to l the people of Alabama are T. R. Wal lace, Superintendent, and w E. EI.s~ berry, Secretary and Treasurer. MT. Wallace succeeded Superinten- dent Milstead some four years ago. The new Superintendent has been with the mills for over thirty years. He
 came to the Tallassee mills as far back
 as 1872 and has since that time been identified with the miYis.
 MT. Ellsberry belongs as much to Montgomery as to Tallassee. He suc- ceded as Secretary and Treasurer some years ago the late William H. Micou. who died few days ago in New York. An Unlimited Water Power. The mill has unlimited water power: 1t has had unlimited water power since the building of the first mill in the re- mote year of 1899. At that time a lit- tie coffer dam was built at the brink of Tallassee Falls, a little dam which ran the mill year after year. So rich In industrial power were those 'natural falls, the Tallapoosa River pouring
 over a ledge of granite rocks that the falls alone supplied sufficient water for all the mills for sixty years
 It was only within the past five years, at the construction of the new
 mill, that the big granite dam was built from bank to bank of the river. This was done to give storage power, to assure the mills of power Tn case the river should run low In fall or sum mer.
 The crest of the dam is only a few feet above the yellow tide of the river Near each bank of the river the crest of the dam is cut down and through
 these sits the yellow tides pour over until they strike the rear of the stone dam and break into white frayed sheets of water. It is for the world as if a huge bolt of ribbon was being
 drawn rapidly over the dam to break into a travelled white sheet below. And between these two wide travelled
 sheets the largest of the granite is- lands rears its dark head thinly crust
 ed with green springtime trees And on either side through narrow tunnels
 cut through the rocks the power which the dam was built to give rushes on TO it's destiny at the mills. When it's ap pointed work is done the water emp
 ties from it's pent up quarters to min- gle again with the sedate river below
 the dam and below the rocks.
 In this way 1000 horse power is dai-
 ly used at the mill. It is not half the power the big dam gives. There is an
 additional 5000 horse power that pours futilely and idly over the dam of ma- sorry. Beyond doubt the time will
 come when this splendid power will not go to waste, but that time Is not now.
 But the dam. the river and the rocks
 are not the only picturesque and beau tful thing about the stone buildings
 of the mill. The hill that lifts itself
 from the brink of the river and which supports the town of TalIassee, Is a mountainous hill covered with verdure
 Through the heavy leaved trees a broad
 road winds in elliptical curves around
 the projections of the hill from the lit-
 tie railroad station to the expansive
 streets of the town. The road is bor-
 dered with rustic wooden railings and
 granite retaining walls, while rustic
 cottages show here and there among
 the vines and trees.
 The whole is a thing that would de-
 light the eye of an artist.