The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-07
SHEFFIELD Is FULL OF ALABAMA SPIRIT Tri-Cities are Proud of Their
 Growth GREAT FUTURE LOOMS UP In Sheffield Especially the Industrial Activity Is Greater Than at Any
 Time In the city's
 History.

roneous impression prevails in certain
 parts of the state that the "Tr-Cities, D of which Sheffield is d goodly portion,
 are not as Alabamain in their sympathies
 as other localities in this commonwealth. Sheffield may be somewhat isolated from
 other parts Of the state on account of its railroad facilities, but nowhere
 throughout the width and breadth of this
 state is there found a more intensely
 Alabama sentiment than obtains among
 the people that make up the "Tri-
 Cities"
 Industrially the three towns are in ev- cry respect a part and parcel of the great | mineral center of the world. Nowhere
 do the people resent more keenly the dis
 position to question that state patriot | ism
 It is a lamentable fact that we Ala
 bamaians are sadly deficient in our l knowledge of the great Tennessee val ley which constitutes so important a part of the geography of our state Many
 students who study geography in the schools of our commonwealth have had
 great difficulty in separating Sheffield, Ala, from Sheffield, England. If, how ever, the present indications can be re- lied upon as a pointer to future events
 Sheffield will become a household word in this state, equally as prominent as Birmingham.
 Nowhere in this world has an all-wise Providence more richly endowed a sec tion of this material universe than has He provided for the Tennessee valley.
 Is Barely 21 Years Old.
 Sheffield is barely twenty-one years old. Like other mineral sections of our state, it has experienced adversities. The panic that invaded the country in the 9Os was sharply felt by the ''Tri-cities." The early boom proved a decisive dlsadvan- tage to this section in weathering the financial storm that swept over the coun- try. The vicissitudes of fortune has only tended to make Sheffield a sturdier and
 harder town, as has been evidenced by
 the miners strike last year. which forced the closing down of several of it's blast furnaces, which has scarcely affected Its industrial development.
 Today Sheffield stands on the thresh-
 hold of greater things and broader op- portunities
 The location of the town Is ideal. Situ- ated near the southern banks of the Ten nessee river on commanding bluffs, it's altitude and excellent drainage insures perfect health to it's inhabitants. The first impression that one gets on
 landing in Sheffield calls to mind the thriving and prosperous towns of the
 west Better, however, 1t wildly reminds
 one of Birmingham in the early sos. To
 use a time-frazzed phrase it is town of magnificent distances. The streets are
 wide and spacious. Scarcely two struc-
 lures are built adjoining each other. The
 streets are cherted and well-kept. and
 nearly all of the sidewalks are paved. Although the buildings are erected far apart they are all substantial and inn posing They have been builded with a
 view to permanency. In fact, there is not
 a business house in the city built of
 wood Stone and brick are the most popular materials
 Town of Churches and Schools. Sheffield is a town of churches and schools Nearly every denomination Is represented here and recently the several congregations have erected handsome and
 modern houses of ..orship
 Sheffield has five blast furnace, each
 of which has daily capacity of between
 200 and 250 tons of pig iron. The ore
 used by these furnaces is brown hematite and is shipped from the ore fields of
 Franklin county, distance of some twenty miles. The city is also in close
 proximity to the vast Warrior coal fields. This city boasts of one of the most
 modernly equipped rolling mills in the
 south. The mill gives employment to q large number of skilled workmen and rolls between 10 and 100 tons of steel per day, all of which Is shipped from Pittsburg The mill manufactures steel
 hoops spikes and cotton ties.
 The latter product, by the way, has proved great success, this being one of the two plants in the south to manufac- ture cotton ties, a commodity which is used only in this section. Several years
 ago ex-Governor Rufus Cobbs of Wood
 lawn constructed cotton tie plant at
 Helena The plant proved an unqualified
 success until the price of steel billets be- came so high that the profits realized from the ties did not justify shipping the raw products from the north. That was before the manufacture of steel had been attempted in the south. Governor Cobbs. who can be classed as one of Alabama's grand old men, has all of his life been active in the pursuit of work. Although having retired from the gover- norship over twenty years ago he Is still engaged in constant work. His latest diversion and experiment IS d goat farm on Shades mountain.
 New Industries Established. During the past two years the follow
 ing industries have been located in this
 city: A furniture factory, operated by S. l.. Stansell & Sons the Colonial Column company. Berkheiser Wood Flaming com pany. the Radell Hub manufacturing
 plant, Gibb brass foundry. Tuthill and
 Patterson hardwood and veneering plant.
 Among the other industries are the large
 Southern railway shops. which were re- moved from Memphis two years ago and which give employment to several hun dred skilled workmen. The large cotton compress and the cotton oil mill add ma teriallv to the industrial prosperity of the city.
 Sheffield, like all other cities that have gained industrial prominence has it's pro- moter. J. w. Worthington, for years one of the prime movers in the industrial de- yelopment of Birmingham. has probably contributed more than any man to the industrial upbuilding of Sheffield. With his wide experience gained by several years of work in the Birmingham district as a promoter he was eminently qualified to lead in the development of this city. Born in Trussville, village in east Jeff ferson county and reared in the midst or the industrial section of the south, MT. Worthington was prompt to see the needs of this section. He is a close student of industrial development and his success in this section has demonstrated his ability as an organizer and promoter. He heads the Sheffield company, the !