The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-28

has urged on its advancement in re. cent years"
 The lonesome olden days of the county made a deep impression upon all of those who knew the county be. fore progress and the railroads came in. It was then wide, raw country with but few breaks in the pine for. ests and the wiregrass.
 sheriff J. T. Bradshaw, who for twen- ty-one years has been citizen of Gov ington County, spoke of the old con- dttions as a basis for contrast with the county as it is today.
 When first came to Covington County" he said, the lumber busi- ness was the most important business. It did not as 1t does now consist of great corporations employing hundreds of men. but It was made up of small saw mills employing few men with a modest investment and situated far apart from each other. All the land a man wanted in those days, no matter whether he wanted timber or any other kind of land.' could De bought for the outside price of s1.50 an acre.
 There were but few farmers throughout the county. I was much given to hunting in those days and the county was full of big game. We would drive out of Andalusia on a
 
 the break of day and then for miles on miles we' would sometimes neither see nor hear anything to indicate hu- man habitation. I have travelled for a day at atime without finding any break in the pine forest except the little shack of a cattle or a sheep man.
 Sheep and cattle raising were more important enterprises in those days than they are now, although consider El ~ a kav. fo v,afA x< this county especially in the lower por- tion. The cattle were driven through to country to Pensacola where they were sold to the Government officials at the navy yards. Practically the en- tire output of cattle for foreign use raised in Covington County was sold to the Government at Pensacola. The wool from the sheep was brought to Andalusia as it is to this day. The wide pine forests. the large stretches of wire grass afforded a fine range for cattle and sheep.
 s '@The real development of the county began about ten years ago when the farmers began to move in. The lvm- Der men were clearing up the pine woods and they were selling these lands from which the pine trees had been cut at a very cheap figure. The farmers therefore came in close be- hind the lumber people. And then the railroads came. Both Andalusia and Covington County then went forward in leaps and bounds"
 County's Important Corporations.
 Speaking of Andalusia J. M. Snead, a real estate man. said of the town:
 The most signal evidence of the growth of the town is the rapid way in which the town has been supplied with brick stores. Six years ago when l came here the only brick building in the entire town was the jail. In the past five years all the brick buildings you see were put up. They now num- being constructed With our wide ex- panse of territory, our cheap lands and our fine railroad facilities we have in my opinion a better field for develop ment than any other county of South Alabama"
 Judge Robinson, the handsome young judge of probate, spoke with pride of the number of wealthy enterprises that are doing business in the county.
 Look at our banks" he said, there are i've of them in Covington County, where only few years ago there were none. Two of them are located at An dalusia, one of which has a capital stock of $100,000, one at Opp. one at Red Level and two at Florala. Then we have six or eight big lumber con- cerns to say nothing of a score of tur- pentine stills scattered throughout the county. All of these enterprises repre- sent large investments. and all of them employ many hands and all of them distribute considerable money each week in meeting their pay rolls.
 These very enterprises suggested A. R. Powell. editor of The Covington County News, are what gives Coving- ton County an advantage over most of the other counties of South Alabama We are not a one-crop county. The fatlure of the cotton crop would not spell destruction to the business in- terests of the section. Our business does not suspend in the summer. The crop from the big saw mill and turpen- tine industries are gathered every month of the year and in every month of the year their employees are paid off and they distribute the money in various ways throughout the county"
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