The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-02-04

Ing more diversified every year, and which Is destined to dominate the lumber trade
 The opportunity in this district for glass making, both window and bottle, are 80 obvious that they must In time make this the seat of the southern glass industry, We have the cheap fuel, the mild climate, and we have sand enough to make a srystal globe to envelop the world.
 Birmingham is the center, excluding the state of Texas, of the cotton belt Draw q circle having a radius of 600 miles, with Birmingham as tho center, and within that belt seven and one-half million bales Of tweve-nillion- bale crop are pro- duoed, There s no other city in the south of the siSe and importance of Bir- mlngham occupying such an adVan- tageous geogra phlcal location In refer enee to the south's chief staple. The dai will come when a large proportion of the cotton crop will be financed from Bir- mingham. &g
 Our railroad facilities are already large and varied. but they must increase lin- der the allurlng Influence of the ponder ons tonnage of this district. Within few months three new railroads-the llll- nois Central, the Mobile and Ohio and tho Atlanta. Birmingham and Atlantie-Will enter the city, making Birmingham tho
 
 south. with more Independent lines and with more connections than any other southern city-and tho cry will be: "Slill they come" Additional railroads will open I'D new ore and coal regions: they will pierce new timber tracts, they Will traverse new cotton fields, new villages will spring up and villages will grow Into towns and towns will blossom Into cities nll 10 pay tribute to Birmingham.
 Visions of Future.
 Sometimes in a vision I see Birming ham as she Is to be, her population oyeI- flowing the confines of this valley and spreading to Shades mountain. l see great canal giving her waterway to the gulf, bearing upon its surface the product of Birmingham labor and genius, destined to make it's way through the Panama canal to administer to the needs of the Orient, just now upon the eve of tremendous development. l see her city of beautiful homes and upon every side the evidences of wealth and luxury. Her fame for industrial greatness has cordoned the world. Her people have risen to the full measure of her material possibilities and reward has blessed their toll and treasure has answered to the call of industry. A glorious and splen- did destiny
 But there is more to the making of
 
 the erection of houses, the multiplying of manufactories, the extension of com- merce, the increasing of population and the accumulation of wealth. There is more to city than its pay roll, its trade and its tonnage. As a man has a soul so a city has it's spirit, the incarnation of its aspirations How despicable sight Is that man upon whom fortune has smiled. who has had the clever touch of transforming all of his ventures into gold who reckons his dollars by the mil- lions, but who in the process of accumu- lation has stunted his spiritual growth who has sacrificed every better longing of his being upon the altar of Mammon, who has mangled every kindly impulse toward his fellow-creature, who has sur- rendered his soul to greed, his heart to avariee. his mind to profit, and whose maxim is, Get money honestly if you can, but get money"
 city may become like this. All un- consciously it may adopt the dollar marx as it's coat of arms; 1t may set up trade upon a pedestal and fall down and wor- ship it. It may lul itself into the belief that money making is the highest exhi- bition of human endeavor; it may learn to reckon the existence of a factory of higher consideration than the existence of the men who toll in it; it may learn to listen in rapt adoration to the jingle heard at the money counter and become deaf to the cry of humanity. Like it's in- dlvidual prototype I have described, 1t may become rich bloated, coarse, over fed, arrogant avaricious incarnation Of greed unworthy of the respect of decent men. A den of iniquity with golden door.
 The Other Picture.
 Fortunately there is another picture we sometimes see. We see man with the money making gift, who by intelligence and industry accumulates vast treasure, but who does not permit the pursuit of gain to lure him from the ideals of his better nature, from whose heart beneYo- lence Is not banished, in whose soul there lives and breathes desire to better his kind, who uses his riches, not for osten- tation nor self-ndulgence but who is ever keenly alert to the needs of others; to whom wealth has brought an oppor- tunity, not for display, but has opened an avenue of service; not bringing an h. crease of Yulgarity, but affording eager ly seized opportunities for refinement; not stimulating his aVarice until 1t reels in drunken riot, but summoning to ac- ton the charitable impulses of his heart to arm them with potent instruments for the succor and uplifting of his fellow man. And thus, too, a community may be. In such a city prosperity opens wide the door for the cultivation of the higher arts. Splendid though it's achievements, marvellous though it's growth, uncount- able though its wealth, humility and not arrogance, rules it's council. A place where justice prevails. where the laborer is regarded as worthy of his hire, where ltindlness Is the keynote of human inter course, where courtesy blossoms like a fewer in every heart, where the city s | welfare is the handspring of public ac- ton, where, though the dollars are piled | mountain high, the man sits enthroned thereon. where kind hearts are more than coronets and simple faith than Nor man blood" Under which flag, Benzon- ian?'
 In the Formative Period. If Birmingham is to rise to the full measure of her possibilities, she must look well in the formative period of her career, to the influences that make for the moral betterment; refinement and cul- ture of her people Vast are our posslbili- ties pressing, also. are our needs. It is a misfortune that in this city there is no free public library, where all of our people may have access to the best thought and learning of the world. It Is true that in the city hall there is a col lection of books well selected and presid- ed over by a competent librarian. but the collection is entirely inadequate to our needs, and most of all the library is not free I hope the day is not long distant when we shall lay the corner stone of a free public library in keeping with the growth, importance and demands of this city.
 It is unfortunate that our opportunities are so restricted for the cultivation of the musical taste among our people. The oc- casional visits of highpriced artists like a1ls hal 1eas.a Ft