The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-01-06

road center. In fact it Is a much more inportant railroad center than either the people of Alabama or the people or the city. itself. understand and appre- ciate. A railroad map shows Montgom- cry and it's territory. looking ike wheel. with the city the hub and witn every spoke great railroad Eacn railroad. too, is commerciai ar.s,s. along which flows the red and vital life blood of trade, a redblooded circuia- ton which gives Montgomery and Middle Alabama business vigor and business strength.
 "Montgomerys natural advantages alone make 1t one of the finest. if not the finest distributing point of the i South," said Henry M. Hobbie of tee | firm of Hobbie and Teasue. one of the large copcerns of the city, and of which Hon. w. M. Teague. Mayor. Is part ner.
 ."It is surrounded by the richest | farming lands of the South. In the consideration of the wholesale grocery business, tho comparison between Att lanta and Montgomery is natural. When you go out of Montgomery you find that the country is made up of the thick black lands. the rich and fertile prairies. some of the best lands that you could find anywheres. About Atlanta you see red and sterile hills ! aAtiQS ftaidA CatitlOt otkin t0 G0AhPdA . with the farming lands of Middle Ala hama- Montgomery, moreover is To- cated on navigable river which enti- | ties her to river rates. By reason of | these river rates she can and does sell heavy goods cheaper than Atlanta. There is one important fact that | should not be lost sight of in consid- ering the wholesale grocery business of l Montgomery. The plendid trade which | she in enjoying was built up by home | capital. The men who founded and built up the big wholesale businesses 1 ere principally men who were native
 born Alabamians. and who. In most
 cases. came out of the Confederate
 army without dollar and built | their present big business from the | ground up. On the other hand Att
 lanta has forged ahead In many lines i becaus it has had such liberal backing from Northern capital, but Montgom-
 ery--well it's capital first and last has
 been home capital"
 In Georgia and Florida.
 "Montgomery's wholesale territory l is by no means confined to the rich az ricuitural section of Middle Alabama Her wholesale groceries are sold in South Alabama. in West Alabama and they are sold in the Alabama's sister States of Florida and Georgia as we'll
 Such has been the result of the contin- ued policy of being wide awake. en- ergetic and dealing fairly. Of course the new railroads which have been built in Alabama in the past fifteen years. especially those in Middle. South and East Alabama have fed her trade ] Tn discussing this feature of the city's wholesale grocery trade Mfr. Hob
 bic said: The Atlantic Coast Line when it was built as the Plant System proved to be an excellent feeder to the
 business of Montgomery. Do you know that it opened to the city the best ter. ritohy that 1t has? I have no hesitan- Is the best market Montgomery has
 Wo sell goods north of the city. south of the city west of the city, but the
 country which takes the biggest pro- portion of Montgomery's wholesale
 groceries. is the rich and fertile sectior
 of the State which has grown up 1T and around the Wiregrass Section oi Southeast Alabama. The development
 of that section brought 70 Montgomery it's greatest single development of thu
 wholesale grocery trade.
 ''The new lines built by the Louis.
 vile and Nashville from Selma tt Flomaton. and from Greenville tt
 GracevilIe, Florida, both in the pas five years, have likewise proved to b.
 good feeders to the trade of Montgom
 cry. They have contributed largely tt
 the development of the business of thu
 city in the past five years And tha
 same increase has been very decided very marked" The Alabamu River.
 tN The Alabama river has proved a val
 uable adjunct to the wholesale trad,
 of Montgomery. the grocery trade al we'll as all others.
 This Is made sufficiently clear by al interview with w. F. Vandiver, of tn
 large firm of w F. Vandiver and Com pany. None is better prepared t, speak upon this subject than Mir. Van diver, for he has been in the forefron of every endeavor to develop the rive trade both in the matter of financing 7 steamboat transportation and in tn work of keeping the river clear fo 5 navigation.
 'In the remarkable development o
 the wholesale grocery trade in the pas
 few years said Mir. Vandiver. 9Th , Alabama river has played no unimport { ant part. The recent appropria l ton by Congress of s100.00C e is now being expended in improvinI . the Alabama river. Congressman A.