The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-16

as would be necessary should an at- tempt be made to discuss many desir- able locations that might be pointed out
 In The Birmingham District
 Tn the Northern part of Alabama, that part lying around and north or the Birmingham district, Is found an abundant supply of material admlfapiy adapted to the uses or the cement man ufacturer. Analysis of these mate rials show them to be practically iden- tical with material which has been use successfully and profltaply m other States. At present there IS Tn course of construction at Leeds, plant which will be put In operation m . few months. This plant 1t is reported will represent the expenditure of some eOO.OOO and doubtless under good man agement will prove to be an excelleht investment. Many localities Tn thls portion of the State are splendidly To- cated with reference to trahspoo,rts DO, tstioh facilities and fuel supplies. Througn this section running East and west is the Tennessee River, and in close proximity the lines Of the southern Railroad Among other lines traVers- ing this district will be found the Louisville and Nashville, Noftnern AisF 4-.iFT hattfa. Alabama Great Southern, Moplle agSa eitao, Ransas City, Mamphls and 5siysfa3R cham and Central Of Georgia, effordinr ample means of transporta- tion to such excellent markets as Men- nhis Birmingham, Chattanooga, Atan- ta. etc. . o,.s- sibilityl of fuel In this locality as the vast i3eIds of coal of the Birmingham district can supply abundanty ,I, ana cheaply the needs of the industry. Ihe next few years should bring forth rapid advance of the cement industry i'm this section of the State.
 The Chalk Formations.
 The Selma Chalk formation is very extensive throughout the central DOT tiou of the State, beingRfound in large quantities in Greene, Sumter, Hale Ma renRo. Perry, Dallas, Lowndes and Montgomery counties, and in thickness es varying in depth from 200 to 1'zOo feet As to the quality of this ma terial detailed information can be had by referring to Bulletin No Z4S' or the | United States Geological. survey on | "Cement Materials and Industry of the United States" by MT. Edwin c. Eckel and to bulletin No. 8, of the State Geo | logical Survey of Alabama on The Ce- ment Resources of Alaabma," by pr. Eugene A Smith of University of Ala bama.
 | this locality on page "A, of Bulletin No 243. of the United States Geological | Subvev on "Cement Materials and h. dustry of the United States" says;
 ''Inasmuch as Suitable material for cement manaHacture can be had In | practically dhniimtted quantitles all l along the outcrop of pure limestone | in the middle division, the location Tor l the plants for the manufacture of this | product will be determined by other | considerations than the quality of the rock. .,.-
 The cost ofSmining and grinding the l material should be much less on ac- | count of it's soft composition than that | of the hard limestone used in many To- l calities The work of excavating this i material for footings for concrete lock walls has been pursued successfully by | the government on the TompIgpee oy means of pick and shovel. This sin | gle item of the soft condition of the | material should be considered as an l important factor towards reducing the cost of production.
 Hts Transportation Facilities.
 The transportation facilities through this section to the coal fields of North | Alabama and to the Gulf ports and Panama are uneXeelled by any local ity where cement material exists. At nresent the government has under | course of construction, a system of | locks and dams on the Warrior and | Tombigbee rivers, which, when comple- ted will give an open waterway with a minimum six foot channel from the | coal fields of Alabama to the sea, pass | ing directly through the great cement | fields This system when completed will represent an expenditure of about | s6 OOO. OOO. Four million dollars has | already been spent and 1t is confident lv expected that at the coming session | of Congress, the appropriation for the completion of this system, will be made
 These locks are of concrete construc- | ton. and it might be noted that of 1 some 20 900 barrels of cement bought l of the Alabama Portland Cement Com many. during 1905, for use on this work | not A single barrel has failed to pass inc government requirement. With the | completion by the government of this l system at a cost of seven million dol | lars a careful conservative estimate
 shows that coal can be placed in this district at a transportation cost of
 about thirty cents a ton and that ce-
 ment can be placed in Mobile at cost l of ten cents or less a barrel. Addi- I tional transportation facilities are the lines of the Southern and Alabama
 Great Southern Railroads. Several
 good locations can be secured on both
 railroad and waterways, thus afford
 ing ideal facilities for shipping.
 Rig Plant for EpeS.
 The plant of the MinOna Portland Cement Company promises to be one
 of the most successful industries of it's
 kind located in the South It will be
 located at Epes, Alabama, on the Ala
 hama Great Southern Railroad and the
 Tombigbee River, and has been pro-
 noted by Southern capitalists, who