The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1906-01-25

q CldI mas Deen worked up TO a nlgn
pitch. The following notice recent
~ appeared in the Courier:
The we'll of water ON Jeff Pow
ellis place two miles from Magee,
which has from week to week Of late
been showing more and more evidence
OF oil, has begun to present new and
strange phenomena in the way of q
dark substance in the water. This
dark coloring and substance, which
resembles the sediment from coal or
the part Of coal that always goes with
oil, made Its appearance in this we'll
Of water only a few days ago and
many have visited it since this new
condition to examine and get speci-
mems of the water. The water still
contains about the same amount of
oil as it did before 1t was darkly col
ored, also still retains the strong odor
Of oil which it had heretofore given
off. This strange phenomenon was
hard to understand at first and some
suspicious were aroused over the con-
lecture that the water was being tam
pered with, but after close examine
ton of the latter and some investiga-
ton, it has been decided That the con-
tinual rising Of gas coming in contact
with the air has produced this color
ing. Mr.. R. A. Drummond has been
busy for several weeks securing OPP
tions on the lands surrounding this
well, until now, nearly three thous-
and acres have been tied up. The Ma
gee Oil, Gas & Mineral Co., expects to
have a meeting Of their directors and
stockholders about the middle Of JAN
uary to settle upon plans OF boring
and to make every preparation neces-
sary to begin work. 1t has been
estimated that $4,000 will sink the
first we'll, and it is stated that the
money is forthcoming
It is to be sincerely hoped that the
pioneers of oil prospecting in our state
will be successful and that In very
few years we will not have to contend
with John D. and the other magnates
that have weakening for every thing
that is oily. Who dares to predict
how soon this state Of affairs will be
present in old Mississippi?
Labor troubles for the large plant
ers have already begun to show on the
surface for the present year. Agents
in the hill sections Of the state are
laving troubles with the planters
who object to having their labor car
ried away and SO on. This brings to
the front again the final adjustment
Of the problem of working the land
in Mississippi. It seems that the rem
edy for this is in the importation OF
white families seeking homes who will
buy 80, 40 or 60 acres Of land, work
it themselves and earn a sustenance
therefrom. There are thousands OF
just such families that would come
here and make this their home if they
knew of what our state had to offer.
IF they knew that the death rate IN
Mississippi was less than the general
average in the United States and that
with the whites alone was only 11.6O,
that lands are cheap here, that the
climate is unexcelled, that our people
are law-abiding and hospitable, that
Mississippi spends more on education
according to taxable values than any
state in the union With the exception
Of Massachusetts, that man can live
here cheaper than anywhere IN the
union, and other pertinent matters OF
interest. to prospective home seekers.
BY all means the legislature should es-
tablish that department of Agricul-
|ture, Commerce and Immigration tor
just such work as outlined.
Work was begun in Jackson last
week on new $4,000 power plant
and several miles of additional street
railway lines, a new freight depot for
the Illinois Central which is the first
step for the removal Of the cid one
and the final building Of a 100000
passenger station, a $4,000 cold stor-
age plant by the Armour people and
several industries Of smaller note.
Work was also commenced upon a
new brick and stone department
store that will be the largest in the
Estate by one-fourth and Eve story
office building. The year just passed
has seen the completion Of several
buildings four, FIVE and six stories in
height and as many more are under
construction and contract for the
present year. Two hundred and fifty
residences are being built at the pres
ent time and verify the Capital City
is prospecting as never before. The
citizens claim that fully $4,000 people
will be here to enumerate when the
census takers roam again ip 1910, and
the prospects are excellent.