Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-22

about forty small cotton mills with total
of 100000 spindies9g tbs largest mill has
75,0O0 spindles. TAfrtyrAve Of the sixty
seven counties have n0n mills at all, all
though nearly every one OF them produces
cotton and has large numbers of unem-
ployed and available operatives among the
white women and .gfrlsn There might be
a mill in every county. The needed facfli-
ties are offered by feserH one Of them, and
the people row have to sand north for their
cotton CLOTH Lastryear. out Of 1.106. $40
bales Of cotton produced only 1S9 $50 bales
were consumed in tbe stste; am told that
every local mill p2ys good dividends. al
though many of them are old-fashioned.
Devastation Of the Forests.
According to the, calculations of the geo.
enough to last twenty years longer at
the present rate of cutting. which averages
l,1O0oOO.OOO feet per year. Great fortunes
have been made In this industry, but as
now handled It Is only temporary source
OF wealth. The forests are being utterly
devastated. and not only the timber. but
the naval stores, turpentine and rosin, go
with them. 1t may be said, OF course, that
the cleared timber lands may be devoted
to agriculture, and It Is true that they are
being sold in small tracts to. incoming
farmers from the northern states. Several
counties Of southern Alabama are being
rapidly settled up in that way. But, ac-
cording to the best estimates, not less than
20 per cent, and some say 20 per cent, OF
the timber Is wantoniy wasted The for
ests might be conserved and become
source of permanent wealth and perpetual
revenue
w. l.. Henderson. Industrial agent of the
Southern Railway Company. who is one
Of the best-posted men in this section tells
me that Is per cent of the timber and the
mills belong to northern people He gave
me a list of seventeen mills owned by
northern men within 100 miles of Mobile.
lace hon af
number now in operation. The average
amount of money invested in lands and
mills is about half million dollars. and
the average number of acres Of standing
timber per mill is about thirty Thousand.
Mr.. Henderson estimates the pine timber
now remaining in Alabama at 20,0O0,0O0
acres. and says thatsat the present rate 1t
will require about thirty years TO- cut It
large acreage of white and red oak. hickory.
gum. cypress and other varieties of hard
wood.
Highways for Commerce.
Alabama now has 1888 miles of railroad.
with three new lines under construction.
The river system is, perhaps. more ex-
tepsive and convenient than that Of any
other state. Two-thirds Of the sixty-seven
counties are accessible by navigable
streams. and the government of the United
States has expended millions of dollars to
afford the people transportation facilities
by water but very few Of them are utilized.
AS told you In a letter from Tuscaloosa.
the cargoes carried are often smaller In
value than the cost Of these internal i'm
provements. - -
The supply of coal and iron in Alabama
is practically unlimited. Red Mountain. a
solid mass Of iron. the western slope OF
which touches the city of Birmingham. IS
nearly one hundred miles long; and the
biologists say that the ore Is from LOCO to
2,0OO feet deep. 1t lies on the surface and
There Is an equal quantity of coal-enough
to last for thousand years. No state has
richer natural resources. either In mines,
agriculture timber.
There are now in Alabama fifty-three ma
tional banks and III state banks. Most of
them are small institutions compared with
those in the nortff.9 The national banks
have an aggregate capital of $4,000 eco and
nearly S25OO0.000 OF deposits. The state
banks have capitaEaggregate of 5000, 600
and s17,0O0,G00 of deposits.