Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-02-23

The commission hopes tndt propei
freight house accommodations will
have been provided before that time.
A MOST FAVORED SECTION.
Talk is cheap, and speculation as to
what might have been or may be Is
generally more or less idle" said
level headed Yorkville business man In
conversation with the reporter a few
days ago. but If the section Of South
Carolina north of Columbia and be-
tween Catawba and Broad rivers. does
not soon begin to take the lead OF the
whole state in industrial, commercial
and agricultural development, what l
think is good hard sense is only an abb
surd fancy"
The reporter asked for an explana-
ton Of the gentleman's speech, and he
continued with some speculations
which, to say the least, are interesting
"In the first place." he commenced,
"this territory is filled with no ordi-
nary people Back from the earliest
settlement Of the country, they have
shown themselves to be possess
ed of progressive ideas, and equal to
every demand that might be made up
on them, no matter how trying that de-
mand might be. You know they con-
ouered the wilderness, and had estab-
lished a high degree Of civilization
even before the breaking out OF the
Revolutionary war. When the war
came they played their part like men,
and acquitted themselves with credit
unsurpassed either in prowess or re-
suits by the people Of any other sec
ton of the Union. This Is a general
statement; but you know very well
that l can give you scores Of SPECIFIC
acts and deeds to prove the assertion.
again after the war for independ-
ence, they resumed their work of agri-
cultural and Industrial progress as II
there had been no interruption and
made the whole territory blossom as
the rose. This continued for seventy
five years until their work was inter-
rupted by another war, sufficiently de-
vastating to have broken the spirit OF
almost any other people forever; but
which, in this case, resulted only In
temporary setback, and which Is now
all but forgotten. .
This Is the. people. Now take a
hurried look at what they have done,
at what they are doing. and of the
prospects that are beginning to come
into view. It was not until within the
last twenty years that the country as
whole mean this section up be-
tween the two rivers began to get its
proper bearings again; but within
that period it has made progress the
like of which has been surpassed In
Ibut few localities in all America. Look
at the progress that has been made In
agriculture. lcok at the commercial
development lhat has become so ap-
parent, look at the cotton mills that
have been built, and at the scores OF
varied industries that have sprung up.
| All this has been the work Of our own
people, the natural trend Of the same
Old spirit of growth, progress and stirr-
| ing for better things that character
lied the aspirations Of those who first
made their homes here.
But now what Of the future? Don't
you see the possibilities, or rather the
certainties that are to be the outcome
| of the developments that are now go
ing on along both rivers. Every fall
in these streams that is capable Of
producing power is steadily and surely
| being converted into electric energy,
and this electric energy Is to be dis
tributed at least over all the territory
between and perhaps for long distances
| on either side. The power is being
used some, 1t Is bound to be used more,
and the more it Is used the greater the
industry that will be developed. AS
| manufacturing industries multiply,
Horticulture and kindred pursuits be-
come more profitable, and people OF
enterprise. energy and progress are at
tracted by the resulting opportunities
lust as surely as the needle Is at
| tracted to the pole.
"I would not like to say that any
particular locality in the territory l
mention is to be favored over any other
section. I would not like to say that
we are going right on to unparalleled
prosperity, without an occasional taste
of hard times, etc.; but will say, that
the growth and development of this
section within the past twenty or thir-
ty years, is child's play as compared
with what may be expected In the ten
years Immediately ahead, and If this
section, especially York county, does
not more than double in population be-
fore the year 1916, then I am taking
into consideration lots of seemingly
good indications that do not really
count, and my calculations are all at
70 ,,lt "