The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-11
ALABAMA MAT.
High Compliment Paid to State by Gee OlOHfcal Survey.

nlkh GOhnpAltuemH EGbu tO SkAte ny AG~
 OlOgieal Survey.
 Washington, Dec. Especial )- | The U. s. Geological Survey has issued the following statement in. reference to a map of Birmingham special Quadran- gle, Alabama:
 Birmingham. "the Pittsburg of the south.'' has given It's name to quad rangle which topographers of the Unit ed States Geological Survey have re- gently mapped. The greater part of | the city, with its numerous suburban | towns Is shown In the lower right hand corner of the map. The system of cleo | tric car lines by which these outlying towns are connected with Birmir gham | Is one of the best in the country. The varioHs trunk lines represented on the map together with the shorter railroads that tap adjacent coal, ron and timber | lands, indicate the importance of Birm- | ingham as a railroad center.
 Railroads are not the only public utility of which Birmingham nay just ly boast. It has a bountiful suuply of water. and with the neighboring l towns lays claim to numerous slnelt- CTS. rolling mills, steel plants. coke ovens and wire and nail factories, That pJrt of the ana 1raa@la rorth of latitude Ss degrees S5. represents two distinct topographic features. hrse are broad, flat ridges, breaking ahi opt
 
 greatly eroded. The broad ridges make fine farming lands of which the prin clpal product is cotton. PeaJhoS also afford bountiful and profitable crops and, indeed, the cotton and peaches may be grown together, thus doubling the revenue from the land The narrow ridges are wholly unfit Cor agrIclal il ural purposes, In, both broad and narrow ridges outcrops of coal are found. Some nf she mines opened here are drifts" and drain themselves, while a few are shafts" and have to be pumped,
 Most of the marketable timber in this region has heen cut. All that re- mains Is young growth of pjne which is used extensively for props in the mines. The roads of this section are naturally good. and slag from the furnaces used as macadamizing mate rial is rapidly improving them.
 South of parallel 33 degrees, 35, and to the west of Sand Mountain Is Q country of less rugged topography, It also is an important coal field and a good farming district. Sand Mountain stands out as a prominent landmark separating the "oal field from broad, well waterad limestone valley where enormous crops of corn are grown and fine limestone QUdrries are worked. Though the center of this valley and parallel to Sand Mountain runs low ridge composed )f Inert and esnc ally adapted to the growing of cotton. sThe roads in this vicinity are mae1damized with chert taken from this ridge and It's stream beds and they are unsur- passed in quality.
 1 To the a5rsh If Sand Mu1ntatn ant. abutting against it are immense coal | fields Sand Mountain, as the name im- plies. yields quantities of sandstone. South of it. Opossum Valley and Jones Valley contain splendid limestone auaries and deposits of fine clay. still further south lies Red Mountain, which abounds in rich deposits of iron ore. It is thus aparent that all the minerals used in the manufacture of steel may be obtained within distance of three miles from the city of Birmingham
 The topographic work on this map was done by Messrs. H. B. Blair. Os- car Jones and Carl ClaTkson. The map sells at the usual retail price of cents copy, ana may be obtained on appli- cation to the Director of the United States Geological Survey, Washington
 Alfred ', Stofer.