The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1905-11-28

oi the south.
An Increase in Numbers.
r IS to be noted in this connection
that while there has been slight de-
crease in the capital invested lii INDUS
trial enterprises during the past year:
Sompared with the year preVlous'
there was such an increase in the
number of such enterprises, exceed
inc the record for 1904 by 90, OF IS
ner cent This is consistent with the
fact frequently pointed out by the
Land and Industrial Department, that
the south IS proving an inviting tleld
for the manufactures Of comparative
" small means. and in no line OF IN
dustry is this fact more notlceaole
than in furniture making and general
woodworking. Indeed, industrial de-
veloDments OF every class, not except
;no the cotton mills, are very gen.
erallv growth from small begin
nines in this section of the south'
ev earn their means of growth from
wear to year. Illustrative OF tn,S
are the very large investments IN ao-
ditions, previously alluded to. FOR
example, in 1908 such lnvestne"'s
amounted 70 nearly S16,ooo,ooo, equa'
TO more than half the amount OF ne"
or original capital invested in INDUS
tries that year, while for 1904 II was
onlv slightly less than half. While
Nh q investments in additions last year
WAS comparatively small the expla-
nation is found in the peculiar econo-
mic conditions associated with the
cotton situation in the early part OF
1oon having their origin in a wide
snread misapprehension touching the
south's capacity to produce sufficient
ROW. cotton to meet the worlds needs.
This misapprehension which was not
formed of the enormous cotton crop
of 1904. had the effect OF staying Inc
construction of many proposed mills
and postponing the installation OF
much additional equipment which mao
heen planned by millea ana other
interests related thereto. This sl1ua-
t;on was Of course reflected IN the IN
drstrial record for the year cioseo
on Tune 3o-a situation which was ta-
ken note of by the Southern Field III
the issue for November. 1901.
The Investment in Cotton Mills.
During the past year there was IN
vested in cotton mills and related IN
dustries the sum of So,o73,o5o. These
n1ants included cotton mills, cotton
warehouses, cotton seed oil mills
knittine mills. hosiery establishments,
comnresses, etc. In 1904 the invest
ment was s12,o53,5oo; in 1908 S1o'-
2261 and in 1902, $7,514,S5o, max
;no a total for the four years OF $780,
ooo-a truly remarkable showlng'
st;11 fureher emphasized when the re-
sr1ts are measured by the number OF
so;ndles which this great investment
has put in motion in the cities ana
mill towns reached by the lines OF the
Southern Railway. With the addition
Of soindles installed since January l.
1oos-on which date the last yearly
record of mill equipment for this ter
r;torv was closed-there are at the
present time 6,77S,1S6 cotton splndles
Immediately tributary to the Southern
Railway line. which is about 2o per
rent Of the total number of splndles
in the United States and S2.5 per cent
OF the spindles of the entire soutn
There are some 300 establishments III
the southern states which consume
raw cotton, and of this number all
but o5-less chan half the number 10
Gated in North Carolina alone-are
established in Southern Railway
states This number includes SPIN
ming mills and those establishments
which use raw cotton in the manu-
facture Of mattresses, batolng, telt'
ETC. The number of active and Idle
snindles in southern mills. as conpll-
ed bv Mr.. Hester is S,6S5,393; the
number as compiled by another att