The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-05-13
STORY OF COAL AND
IRON SOON READY
Toe Much Cussing" in Some
Places
MEN COMMENT ON WORK
Sources of information Will all Be
Compiled and Presented to State
Department. of Archives
and History.

truman Ii. Aldflcn, chairman or the
committee on publication of The Story
of Coal and Iron in Alabama, by Miss
Ethel Armes, has returned from Wash
ington. There will be an announcement
of Importance relating to the coal and
iron history to be made at this coming
meeting of the Commercial club said
he. although but little has been said
recently concerning the work it has
been, of course, going steadily on. One
particular item of interest is that a large
portion of the source material of this
work, consisting Of the personal letters
relating to the history from many quar-
ters OF the country. will be gathefed to-
gether by Miss Armes after the book has
gone to press and given to the public
through the columns of The As Herald
Notes from each county will be sys-
tematlcally arranged, and the entire col
lection will then be presented to the de-
partment of archives and history Dr.
Ovens interest In the work has by no
means lessened. and as director of the
department he is naturally interested in
having preserved all the original sources
of information relating to this history
which appears to have stirred the interest
of the people of Alabama to such re-
markable degree. The letters keep COM
ing from all quarters, and I am receiving
Inquiries daily. Very few seem to bear
in mind that the history of an industry
that has been almost a century in its
making takes a little time to be properly
| recorded. There are so many concerned
in this work especially, and so many
are reading various portions in manu-
script form that delays in publication are
unavoidable.
"A matter of special qualification to us
all has been the enthusiasm manifested by
several of the prominent women of the
state. The widow of the late I. T. Hill
man. and Miss Mary Noble of Admission.
sister of the ironmaster Samuel Noble,
have been particularly active In helping
along the project. Mrs r. G. Bush, Mrs
James w. Mcqueen, Mrs. Sarah Pickens
Mcqueen, Mrs. Giles Edwards, Mrs. Hor-
ace Ware, Mrs. Henry f. DeBardeleben,
Mrs. Edwin Ball. Mrs. w. 8. Lowell, Mrs.
| Oscar Underwood, Mrs. Webb Crawford,
| Mrs. ]. A. Weatherly, Miss Keiser, Miss
| Janet Ramsay, Mrs. Frank Fitch of
| Brierfeld, Mrs. L. NJ, Rocket of Fort
| Worth, Tex; Miss Miner, Mrs. James
| Bowron and a number of others have
shown particular interest in the compila-
| ton of these records
"Mrs. 7. A. Weatherly, a daughter o.
the late John T. Miner, is taking a spe
cial interest in having her fathers rec
| ord placed in its true light before tn,
public. The real history of the founding
| of Birmingham has never yet been told
nor the proper credit ever yet given IL
4 Mr.. Miner"
| The fact that the men concerned in this
enterprise are the representative business
men of the state, and practically the
most successful and the most progressive
men in the south, gives to the work al
added Importance, and eclat. The presi.
dent of The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Rail
road company, George Gordon Crawford
! is one of the men most interested in the
undertaking. George b. Mccormack
! president of the Coal Operators associa
| ton, and of the Pratt Consolidated Goa
company, has been active in gathering
| cata from the time the work began, ant
/ has, together with Mr.. Aldrich, Erskint
Ramsay, and a few other members of the
| committee, been. engaged in again reading
the manuscript for the past several weeks
Guy R. johnson, vice president Alabama
| Consolidated; Frank Hearne Crockard
vice president of the Tennessee company
and Edwin Ball, manager of ore mines
have also been reading the portions OF
/ the work relating to their company
Among other prominent men now inter
| ested in the work are Senator Joseph +
Johnston, w. T. Underwood, Gen. Louis
| V. Clark, Frank Nelson, Wilson X
Brown, Robert Jemson, Jr., l.. b. Mus
| grove, +. NJ. Jackson, Col. A. NJ. Shook
| of Nashville, Joseph Fl. Hoadley, Fred
Dimmick, Grafton B. Grove, j. w. Nc
| Queen, Maj. e. NJ. Tutwiler, Gen. Rufus
| Shook. James Bowron, j. b. Darlington
OF Admission. j. A. Weatherly Henry w
Miner, c. II. Hillman of Pittsburg, Nat
Baxter, Jr., of Nashville, John Fl. Adams
Don IL. Bacon of New York, Glenn
Brown, John A. Topping. w. p. Pinckard
f. b. Keiser, Frank p. OBrien, r. II.
Pearson, Eugene A. Smith, state geologist
and many others.
AT an informal meeting of several
members of the committee not long
since various criticisms and suggestions
were made pertinent to the style en-
! ployed In certain chapters 1t has been
the authors plan to give as near as
| possible exact transcripts of life out
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