The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-11-22
WINSTON SHERIFF
 PRAISES COUNTY Remarkable Strides Made In
 Past Ten Years AMENDMENT SENTIMENT Although Williams Will Vote for tt, He Believes Amendment Will
 Lose In Winston by at
 Least One Hundred.

w. T. williams, sheriff of Winston l county. was in Birmingham last night.
 He talked interestingly of the rapid de- velopment of his county, which mp to 10 years ago was considered probably the least promising of any in the state. Sit- uated as 1t is in the rough foothills of north Alabama and far removed from the principal avenues of communication, it attracted but little attention except for Its rugged wildness.
 But Winston promises to become one of the richest and most populous in that section of the state It is surprisingly rich in timber, mineral and natural water supply, and 1t has been recently discov- cred that the lands are wonderfully pro- ductive.
 Lands that sold 10 years ago at 50 cents per acre are now selling all the way from s5 up to s16 and s9o. Some of them are not for sale at any price Large timber interests have come into the county during the last few years and extensive developments are under way. Two railroads now touch the county on the extreme west side, the Northern Ala bama and the Illinois Central. When the latter road extends It's own line into Br- mingham it will pass through the south ern part of the county and will open large area of fine timber and agricul- tural lands.
 MT. Williams Talks. MT. Williams said: NO county in the state has had more rapid or surpris- ing growth than Winston during the last 10 years. The county was a standing joke in north Alabama up to about that time. The few adventurous farmers who first moved into the hill country of Win ston were ridiculed, but they went to work on their farms, which were bought so cheap that 1t looked like shame to take them. They were surprised at the crops and sent word back to their old neighbors. Others came and found that the land was good Not only that, there was plenty of water and the climate was healthful. There was a world of tim Der and any industrious man could soon own a home.
 I From this the county has grown by I jumps and bounds. The population has doubled two or three times In a decade. 1 The best agricultural lands are in the
 eastern part of the county though the 1 hill lands in the west are strong and very productive. The greater part of the soil | is a sandy loam, and is finely adapted to potatoes, fruits and almost all kinds of l the principal crops.
 One Good Farmer. "One small farmer near Double Springs this year. with two mules and his own i family raised 12 bales of cotton and enough corn for his family and stock. l This was an off year for both corn and cotton.
 "As an illustration of the rapid ad- vance In price of farm lands I paid $500 for $50 acres of land four years ago. I sold it this year for $400O cash. Ten years ago I bought land in Winston county, good farm land, at 50 cents an acre. Some of this I have sold, none of 1t for less than s4 an acre. All of 1t is worth more, but thought I was making enough on it. When I bought 1t I was not sure but that I was making a bad trade.
 There are a number of important tim Der interests in the county. A number of large sawmills and two stave mills have been put in operation in various parts of the county.
 Coal Mine Interests.
 "The coal mining interests in the west part of the county are important and are being steadily increased.
 Being well supplied with small streams of water in every section the county is admirably adapted to cattle raising. and this promises to become a leading indus- l try in the near future.
 "The people of Winston county are very much interested just now in the proposed amendment to the constitution. Both sides are working hard in every beat in the county. While favor the adoption of the amendment am certain that it will be defeated by at least 100 votes in the county. Practically all the officers of the county favor the amendment" -.e--s- v