The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-17

Thus the Decaturs will have two separate and distinct long distance telephone com panies reaching to the outside world.
 Three rural mail routes have been es- tablshed from New Decatur and two more will be established in the near future New Decatur will have free city mall de- livery commencing February 1, 1906. The New Decatur postoffice has but recently been moved to more commodious quar- ters and is now fitted up with the fastest improved cabinets and combination lock boxes and every convenience of the offices of the larger cities.
 The buildings of the two Decaturs have been numbered and the street names put on every corner. A city directory of both towns has been printed, the first they have ever had.
 Large Pay Roll.
 The two Decaturs pay out something like $250,OO0 a month, about $3,00OOo0 year. in wages alone. for skilled and un- skilled labor. The lowest price paid for common labor is $1 q day.
 The great shops of the Louisville and Nashville railroad, employing 25O0 men, are located in New Decatur. The Amer ican Oak Tanning company and the Amer ican Oak Extract company are located in New Decatur also. This is the largest sole leather tannery in the world. Most of the hides used chome from China, Japan and Brazil. These hides used on ac- count of their great thickness.
 A large cotton compress, handling about 100000 bales annually, and several ma chine shops, foundries, furniture factories, basket factories, cabinet shops, saw mills, lumber yards, slave factories, handle fac tories, blaming mills sash, door and blind factories, etc. are located in the Decaturs and all are doing thriving business
 The Decaturs are today the greatest wood manufacturing cities in the state of Alabama and this business is constantly growing. Vast quantities of hard timber can be had almost at the very gates of the city.
 Another industry which Is growing rapidly here is that of cedar telegraph, telephone poles and fence posts. Cedar timber for these purposes is shipped from here all oyer the United States and to some of the foreign courxries.
 Thousands of feet of quarter sawed oak is shipped annually from Decatur to Eng land and to several of the countries of continental Europe.
 New Railroad Line.
 There is talk of a new line of railroad being built from Decatur to the southwest and on to the gulf coast This road would open up iron and coal fields and timber lands which have ever been disturbed by the miners pick or the woodsman's ax.
 Some gas and petroleum have been found near Decatur, but not in paying quantities. However, a fair test has never been made. Experts say that both petro- leum and gas exist here in paying quanti- ties and can be easily found If the drill only sinks deep enough down into the earth.
 Today the Decaturs have a population of something like 15,0O0 people. They are strictly cosmopolitan cities. Her citizens represent every state and territory in the United States and almost every civilized country on the face of the globe. Not withstanding this great mixture of races morally speaking, the Decaturs are quiet her citizens are peaceful, sober law-abiding people and a result the percentage of crime is very small compared with other cities.
 Some one has called the Decaturs "the Gate Way to Alabama" On account of their geographical situation this is an appropriate name. The Decaturs lie in the extreme northern portion of the state on the south bank of the mighty and pic- turesque Tennessee river and at the june ton of the Southern and the Louisville and Nashville railroads. With this mighty river and two great trunk lines of rail road with raw material of every kind at the very doors of the city the Decaturs are destined to become one of the leading cities of the south within the next few years.
 The climate of this section is fine, the water of. the best and the death rate ex- ceedingly low.
 The valley of the Tennessee, In which the Decaturs Is situated is one of the most fertile and picturesque sections of the fair southland. The extreme southern peaks of the blue Appalachian range of mountains lie but a few miles to the south west of Decatur.
 Gem of the Universe"
 In ante-bellum days the Tennessee val ley was known as the gem of the uni-