Evening journal., 1907-09-06
Friday, September o, 1907.
PROGRESS OF THE SOUTH.

PROGRESS OF THE SOUTH.
THOSE who fancy that the South is still
4 sleeping should read fine booklet issued
by an enterprisng firm of Charlotte, n. c., telling
OF the industrial growth of that city. The book
let is very we'll prepared and it presents pretty
picture Of the North Carolina city. The booklet
declares that the population of Charlotte has in
creased from 800 in 1880 to 1880 in 1907, The
census of 1900 gave the population as 1880, and
judging from the photograph of the city, the
population must be somewhere near those figures.
The development of the South as a cotton manu-
featuring country is revealed in the booklet There
are 10 Of these mills in Charlotte alone, and in
the State there are a4s factories, with 2,o23,o4S
spindles and AVIS looms In South Carolina
there are ia mills, with a,67I4Io spindles and
65SS3 looms The city has many handsome struc-
lures and building boom is in progress. A new
hotel costing S25o,ooo was recently finished, the
money being raised by the people of the city The
finest opera house. it is asserted, in the South is
located in Charlotte, and one of the realty COM
panies has a twevestory building. A new Y. NJ,
c. A. home, TO cost 100000, is to be erected A
Presbyterian hospital, TO cost 100000, and an
Elks' temple, TO cost $4,000 1t is the boast of
buildings all came from Charlotte The city has
fine new municipal county and Federal buildings
and handsome school houses.
The good roads movement has made great
progress in Mecklenburg, the county of which
Charlotte is the capital. There are $50 miles OF
stone roads in the county as the result of a road
builders congress.
The way the roads are constructed is told in
the booklet as follows
The result of the work outlined here has been
TO lift Charlotte out of the mud, and TO make il
city OF very clean streets and attractive appear
ance In the county it has greatly increased the
accessibility of markets to the farmers. besid,
furnishing attractive drives for the people of both
city and country All this has been brought about
within few years, without any appreciablc bur
dens upon the people, in section where FROM
time immemoral, the roadbeds might have been
compared to the tempering-pits of brick yard.
The stone used in matchmaking is mostly fur
nished by the farmers after they have finished
cultvating their crops. The price paid To them
is 40 cents per cubic yard The stone is delivered
by them and stacked up at convenient points ON
the road. As has already been said the working
of the oonvicts on the roads is regarded with
great favor, The reports OF the road authorities
show that the cost of feeding, clothing and guard
ing convicts amounts TO something like 2S cents
PNA tog ioi NdNh NDlANlCL II mas Decn found that.
by buying provisions at wholesale, the convcts
may be fed and guarded while at work on the
roads at less cost than the county pays for their
board with the county jailer The convict camp
is moved three or four times year. In summer
canvas tents are used. In winter the sides OF the
barracks are boarded up, leaving only the cover
OF canvas camp is located about midway in a
stretch Of four miles of road to be built Thus
the greatest distance to and from work for the
convicts is about two miles. The average dis
tance is about one mile At present it is regarded
as more economical to have so to 90 convicts in a
camp as that number is all that is needed to man
age one road-making outfit
The macadam roads that were built in Meclxen-
burg IS years ago cost between S2,7oo and $4,000
per mile, according to the amount and kind of
grading required. The roads now cost from
81, 1000 TO 800 per mile, exclusive of bridges
The present county road tax in Mecklenburg IS
I8 cents on the SIoo taxable property. This
raises nearly 10000 each year This fund IS ex.
pended in building macadam roads by working
convicts, as explained above. In addition 10 this
tax, each township leyies special road tax. us,,-
ally cents on the SIoo worth OF property. Bui
some of the townships levy more than this. not
ably Steel Creek, Berryhill and Providence which
levy IS cents, and Paw Creek, which ieyies Ie,E
CENTS. All the road funds Of the townships are
expended under the direction OF the TOWNSHIP
trustees in improving the roads within their sew.