The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-07
EDMONDS TALKS ON
 DISTRICTS FUTURE
Mining Engineers DiSappointed d
 In Missing Birmingham
PREDICTIONS OF YEARS AGO
Urges South to Be Friendly Toward Capital to Insure a Continuance or Development of States
 Great Resources.

Richard H. Edmonds editor and gen. eral manager of the Baltimore Manufae- turer's Record, is in Birmingham. He came here from Chattanooga where he at tended the meeting of the American h. sttute of Mining Engineers.
 Mr. Edmonds said that while the ses- sions of the institute were full of interest and while the members were greatly pleased with Chattanooga the geologists and engineers present were disappointed that Birmingham as 1ne place of meet ing originally planned for this year, had to be given up account of the recent miners strike He said that a number of the engineers would come to Birming- ham this week to look over the district. Mir Edmonds will be i'll the city until to- l morrow.
 Twenty years or more ago when MT. Edmonds was so consistently and un- ceasingly proclaiming to the world the mineral wealth of Alabama, few peo- pie in the north or south believed that his statements were correct or that his pre- dietions as to the future of this district would be realized. But unlike many prophets, Mir Edmonds has lived to see to see the financial and geological world admit that his statements were really ultra conservative and to see his predic- tions more than fulfilled. Regardless of adverse criticisms, needing not the views of those who regarded him as an op- timist whose opinions were not founded on facts, Mr. Edmonds pursued the even tenor of his way and the Manufacturers Record was never more optimistic as to the final outcome than during the dark days of 1S93-6
 Discussing these things last night, Mir. Edmonds said:
 Appreciated Fundamental Conditions.
 There are certain fundamental con ditions which necessarily produce certain results. Knowing that Alabama had cer- tain geological conditions, that it had ore, colxing coal and lime stone in vast quantity almost within rifle shot of eacn other, it did not take any special gift of prophecy to know that the ultimate outcome would be great iron and steel development here.
 Ut has been easy enough during the last quarter of a century to see that the world had entered upon new era. The steam engine and all that it typifies of modern Improvements had 25 years ago commenced to make such an impress sion upon world affairs that continued marvellous expansion was easily foreseen as inevitable. Many of our people do not yet seem to fully grasp how these mod ern improvements have doubled and quad- rupled and quintupled mans productive energies insuring an increase in the growth of wealth unknown to any former period.
 "Knowing some of these things l knew that Sooner or later Alabama's mineral skill for their fullest utilization. And by the same token it is easy to see that our progress will be far more rapid in the future than in the past. Periods of temporary depression may come and go but in broad, general progress the worlds advancement is to be on a scale of stupendous magnitude.
 Industrial expansion, railroad expan- sion, the reclamation of overflowed lands, the irrigation of semilarid lands, the building of cities, the construction of good roads, will all go on at such a pace as to fully tax all the powers of man to measure up to the situa- ton.
 Days of Big Things. Because the Steel corporation Is spend ing several million dollars in this dis