The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-07-18

Eufaula is to Alabama what Berwic
b to Scotland-its eastern gate of COM
merce. The town is destined to play
an important part in Alabama COM
mercial history. for it is at the AL year
around" nayigable head-waters Of the
Chattahoochee River.
Eufaula is on the Central Of Georgia
Railroad. headquarters for three branch
Is Of the road. that tap. or connect with,
every part of the state. The Central
Of Georgia Railroad is the connecting
link between the Atlantic Seaboard
States Of North America and the great
trade of the Orient. and Western South
America. that will come through the
Panama Canal.
Possibly the founders Of Eufaula did
not foresee this. but the fact remains.
They put the town on the direct line
OF commerce with the greatest market
for American manufactured goods the
Twentieth Century will know.
Much has been said about the "open
door to China" but the door will not
be really opened for the United States
until the Panama Canal is built, then
it win be wide open. for instead Of haul
ing goods manufactured in the Southern
and Eastern states to San Francisco,
across a continent. they can be manu-
featured in the South and from towns
ike Eufaula. be hauled on the rivers
like the Chattahoochee to the Gulf and
so freight rate on railroad hauling will
be saved that will enable the manufac-
turer having his plant in the South to
undersell every other competitor.
Eufaula is built on the bank Of the
river and the railroads pass through it.
A more desirable site for factory is no.
to be found in the Southern States.
Above Eufaula. the Chattahoochee
river is not navigable all the year round,
and so, to make the river navigable
twelve months. the government would
not object to a lock dam at Eufaula.
and such a dam would mean for the
constructors the materialzing of 5 900
horse power of hydro-electric drive.
In the vicinity Of Eufaula. both in
Alabama and Georgia. for the town is
on the dividing line, there is great
quantity of hard wood. three great kao-
lin deposits. a deposit Of ochre that
promises great things when it is devel-
oped. plenty of yellow pine for backing
in lighter hard wood manufacturing
work, and more than fifty thousand bales
of cotton pass through the town every
year.
Barbour County does not claim the
richest soil in Alabama. but it has soil.
in the vicinity Of Eufaula, that is adapt
able for the growth of almost every
plant raised in the Southern States.
AS the fad crops Of the South
have been introduced and made profit
able. Eufaula has followed suit and
made money. By fad" crops. are
meant cotton. indigo. upland rice, truck,
etc., for as each was introduced its pre-
decessor was left entirely out. no matter
what it had been bringing before its
particular coterie of devotees glutted the
market with the then staple"
Indigo was planted and fortunes were
made from it. then cotton came. and be-
cause the price of indigo had depre-
ciated because of the crowd" it was
neglected. and so on with the others.
Hundreds of tons of indigo are being
sent into the United States annually from
Sumatra. Mexico and Java, transport
tation for thousands of miles paid on it.
import and export duties. and yet it is
sold with a profit. There is not one