The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-07-07

day. 1t rsmiuds the twentieth century
 that about sighty-f five years ago the
 wo were nos' ios ons skies. The first settlement made in
 5ys coony Sy 'ns Ma. msSe within xns she corporate limits of Demopolis. Some of the colonists were people who had moved from France to America in years before they came to Alabama. others were French whose fortunes
 nad been 1ss fortunes ssn of ,s Napoleon ana from san Domingo when the negro slaves rose and black rapine and mur-
 der stalked through that unhappy
 Bu the colony was 2 failure. Eyen
 mopolis was . mistake. for the land
 aveS them noy the the
 ment of the United States. Nor were the high class. Frenchmen and trench
 women suited to undertake the exhaus-
 tive day labor in the fteld whien Ac- companies tbe ttlling of the soil. The
 Wine and Olive Colony as a colony
 disappeared from the face of the earth.
 only material memento of 1t in De- mopolis, Is an olive tree In the yard
 of Captain John C. Webb and the fruit suitable for any commercial purpose. showing that the colaiy was destined from first to failure.
 But there are other memories of the Is itself is of the Napoleonic era, even as Linden. Arcola. Marengo recall upon Alabama soil the vanished giories like the English. They haven't the pa tience. the dogsedness of the English
 den" The noble born FrHnch, Nihe French gentry. who came to Demopolis remained as eolonists but few years Mexico, many moved to Mobile, where their descendants are still living and others became ysanters or citizens of day day contain a sPrinkiing of the de-
 The French InAueAce.
 ure, the French who came influenced and in a way influence today the life of the western portion of the Cane- an influence for culture and gentleness. In the old names. in the family tradi-
 tons tons' the memory Of the colonists
 with marble and scattered throughout
 the Canebrake, a few of the strange
 trees with the old olive tree in De-
 mopolis are the only visible reminders
 history of the State. the chapter of the Vine and Olive Colony."'
 There are remaining in Denopolis monuments of the rich order that sue ceeded the pioneer days, the order that was built upon slavery and upon rhe great returns from the plantations There Is for instance near the heart of the city the ante bellum home of ! Francis Strother Lyons. one of the
 Mhem a6ies, aI1 men ihs of 6s, his day s and man
 rendered invaluable service to his
 state in one of the most dangerous
 crises, crises in it's history. It was he who
 insecure foundation of the system of
 State banks crumbied and the whole
 fabric collapsed. Another relic of
 George Lyons. 2 kinsman of the for
 mer. and in his days one of the wealth.
 lest citizens of the Calebrake. SaSRns in has it's aitncsSn too
 been called by expert architects. the
 finest Colonial home in the South" Such Is considered "Gaineswood," the and now occupied by his descendants. It has been called too, perhaps the PSseaf frnytps typs 1s Grscian in all portions of the country have visited Gaineswood to inspect 1t and obtain suggestions and 1t has been the sub architectural journals of the country
 put Of magazines and other publica-
 tons.
 | ue HtdTt OI DemOpOIlS IS line public square. shady and pleasant. with tinkling fountain and flowing ar | tesian well. It was a present to the
 town tSs n,ns in the % old Cays, h Is said; from
 ment. The sidewalks which enclose the square are being paved with ce- diaSonally cross the square are the subject O. the same improvement. The adjacents stveets are being improved Wxri ant t.-fA I these Improvements in the heart of the city are tllustrating the great factor in the development of Denopo- lis which has come into being in the The Cement City.
 pemopolis Is b/.t upon an immense & ped 9t cen cement rock. For deeade alter posit. which are sad l. b0 tho finest in the world, laid, undisturbed Only in recent years has the exploitation o' the city's rtch underlying treasure been undertaken. &.n Enslisn company two miles out has estnDiisned splendid cement plant and Is reported to be
 making an annual dividend of over 1vO per cent.
 The presence of this cement plant has given Demopolis a distinctive and
 ments that have come to 1t from ce- ment dressing are not coifined to the public square; Hundreds of yards of a number of stores are being built of hollow blocks made of cement and in imitation of, stone.
 The magnificent prosperity of De- | mopolis was conyincinsly explained by Captain John c. Webb.
 Tn the past year," said Captain Webb. "Demopolis has grown tremend- ously, and the population has increased at a remarkable rate We not only have good agricultural section sur rounding us. as most of the other West Alabama towns have, but we have our river rates, which give us just as good | a chance to do good jobbing business our manufacturing interests have In | late years increased at a remarkable rate. The works of the Alabama Port land Cement Works at Spocare, the big lumber plants of the Black Warrior Lumber Company close by. cooperage plant, compress and fertilizer plant, an electric light and city water plant and the Bessie Minge cotton factory help the city's progress. The pay roll or
 these concerns In themselves looses support city the size of Demopolis. Moreover. the Government works at the lock here on the Warrior River has put considerable money in circulation In something over SSD0,000 on the con struction of this lock. This has its weight in influencing the volume of the city's business.
 .l~ city the size or p-mopolis in Ala bama does anywhere near It's volume ot business. Our merchants get trade from as far north as Pickens County. They even draw trade from out of the State of Mississippi Our retail trade reaches nearly to Greensboro, and our jobbing trade embraces the smaller towns of Jefferson, Spring Hill, Fork
 land. Perryvibe, Gallon. Faunsddle, Hall Creek York station and others, GR I ai iant