The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-04-25

ment paid by the produce men in
meeting in Wilmington each year; that
they were practical business men, ard
that they met here because it was the
center of the trucking belt Of the
South.
Ir. Taylor stated that he wished to
tell those present a little something
about Wilmington. not what we have
been or expect to be, but what we are.
The last census, the speaker said, gave
Wilmington 21,OOO, and that the new
directory being got up would show the
population to now be 10000. This
lgrowth, he stated had been principally
IA good class of citizens and that this
!class of citizens coming in had greatly
reduced the percentage of negro pop
lulation.
Mr.. Taylor spoke of the money de-
Iposited in the Wilmington banks, the
,amount 1T the present time being over
iS6,OOO,OOO and said the average value
Iof the bank stock was S22o and the
savings bank stock S:333 The increase
Iinr the deposits i'm the savings banks
last year was S45O,0O0. Real estate,
the speaker said. had increased III
VALUE 100 per cent. during the past five
iyears. The volume of business done,
last year by Wilmington exceeded $40
Zoo, 900: this city has an annual pay
roll of over three and One-half million
dollars, and during past year 100000
was expended in erection of buildings.
He spoke of the government having
Ispent Over three million on improving!
this harbOr and that at the mouth OF
the river was Il fort with o men, and
lit was II of the finest forts on the
Atlantic coast. He said an army Off
Ger recently stated that Fort Caswell
|cOuld successfully resist any fleet in
the world. This port. he said, was the
fourth cotton exporting market in the
world. and he said also that the farm
Iers were said to have been holding
their cotton, but still 10000 more bales
of cotton would be shipped from this
port this year than ever before.
In days gone by, the speaker
Isaid, North Carolina was put down as
being the tar, pitch and turpentine
Estate, which, he said, showed to the
world that North Carolina wanted
ito pitch" her ambition high and stick
to it. Now, he said, the state was
known rs the great truck growing
Estate. Mr.. Taylor stated that owing to
the graduation of the rainfall in this
section that truck grew better in this
immediate section of North Carolina
than anywhere in the United States.
He spoke of it taking only Is hours to
reach New York and of Wilmington
Having a freight rate which placed her
in q position that no other town in the
lSOuth could compete with her. This, he
said, was due to the enormous amount
|of business done by Wilmington. He
asked those present when they left
North Carolina and went out into other
Estates to tell the people of the wonder
full advantages TO be found in Eastern
CarOlina and he asked them to say that
Wilmington was the only free port on
the South Atlantic coast, and the only
free port south of Maine. Today, he
said, vessels could be chartered for
this port for less than any port in the
lSOuth. And he asked them to also say
that at he mouth of the Cape Fear
was Southport with the finest harbor
in the South, not merely called the
finest, but recommended as being the
best by one of the government engi-
lneers sent out to visit the different
lpOrts of the South. At Southport, he
Isaid, a cOaling station was going to be
Established.
In conclusion Mr.. Taylor said he
WELCOMED the produce men in the mime
lOf 10000 Wilmingtonians and five
years hence he hoped to welcome them
iin the name of 10000.
Mr.. Whitehead then introduced Col.
-. q. Thompson, of Philadelphia, the
veteran and warhorse of the associa
ton as he termed him, who replied to
the address of welcome.
Mr.. Thompson said in part:
MI TOastmaster, Fellow Members
and Gentlemen:
Nothing could afford me greater
pleasure than responding to the very
cordial and generous welcome accorded
the members of the American Fruit
and Produce Travellers Association
here tonight by the wide-awake and
Ipublic-spirited business men Of the city
of Wilmington. | should have prefer
red that this honor had fallen upoIl
more worthy shoulders, but the increas.
ling years of usefulness for our organ
IlZation, and the warmth and welcome
lOf your greeting furnishes fresh inSDi-
Iration for me tonight.
Any city might feel proud and con.
lgratulate itself upon being so geo
graphically located as to make it the
logical meeting place each succeeding
year for an organization whose mem.
ibership extends from Boston Harbor tt
the Gulf of Mexico, and l assure yor
that each and every member of thi:
organization which l represent here
tonight appreciates to the fullest thu
lopen handed hospitality we have eve
lheen wont to receive at your hands
not only on this OCCASION, but on pre-
;viOus occasions"
while you are not so much inter
tested in Pacific coast and western
!prOducts, it will no doubt be interest
ting to you to know something as t
the figures and volume of business i,