Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-06-23
HOW ELECTRICITY Is DEVELOP.
ING THE SOUTH.


- -------
HOW ELECTRICITY Is DEVELOP.
ING THE SOUTH.
Economical manufacturing demands
that the industry shall be taken to the raw
material whenever possible, instead Of the
reversed process which has Handicapped
American Industries IN the past. In the
good old days the South was content TO
ship its raw cotton to New England. its
logs to northern ports and its coal and
iron ore to the middle West where 1t could
bc worked up into the various products.
One-thirh of the standing timber Of the
United States, one-half OF the soft coal
fields Of this country, tho greatest ro-
naming deposits Of iron ore and the great
fields which produce three-fourths of the
cotton of the world are In the South.
Through this country so rich In raw ma
terials, flow number Of small rivers with
extensive falls, making them Ideal for
hydro-electric development, and It is not
strange that this cheap power had been
the magne, to draw the northern indus
tries southwark near raw material. In
the past, cheap power and transportation
| facilities were lacking to develop in full
these extensive natural resources, but ths
condition Is fast being remcdied by the
Transmission of electric energy from the
rivers. to run the railways, work the
| mines and drive the wheels Of industry.
, 1t was only few years ago that the
, transmission Of electricity derived from
water power was begun In the South.
| but so rapid has been the development
| that some Of the greatest hydro electric
| installations in the world are TO be found
! there.
While a good start has been made In
several sections of the old South toward
he supplying Of manufactures with hydro
electric power. It Is safe TO say that only
a minor part of the total requirements at
the present time are met In this way,
though It has been estimated that the
rivers represent 100000 horsr power for
development
The demand for raw materials alone Is
rapidly forcing up their production in the
old South. and in the elementary pro
cesses of mining. quarrying. the saving
OF lumber and the transportation of prod
ucts 70 the steam railways, IA large
amount Of hydro-electric power can ind
a market Probably 10 section of the
United States with equal population Is so
|
railways as this old South, and the trans
portaton of cotton and other products to
the steam roads would yield a substantial
revenue item in some localities.
! In 1870 tho production Of cotton in the
nited states was So million bales, or
more than in any previous year but in
1903 1t 1875 million bales and the
major part of this crop came from tho old
South. Starting again with 1850, the south
produced 26 million tons OF pig iron.
mined 21,2 million tons Of coal, and cut
timber TO the value Of 90,7 million dollars
| For the year lH5. the corresponding fig
ures were. for pig iron 81 million tons. for
coal 20 million tons, and for lumber prod
ucts value Of 20 million dollars.
With this increasing production of raw
Materials the old South is turning greater
percentages into the finished products.
Comparing tho year 1890 with 1905 the
number of cotton oil mills In the south in
creased from li9 TO 10 and the capital in
vested in them from 70 10 u million dol
lars During This same period. the num-
her OF cotton spindes in Southern mills
rose from IL million 10 80 million. and the
consumption of cotton in these mills from
% million to 81 million bales. That much
room for expansion Of southern cotton
mills still remains is evidenced by the
fact that tho consumption OF 81 million
bales there was only one-fifth of the pro-
duction.
In the single State of North Carolina,
from lss9 to 1915. tho number of cotton
mills increased from 2l5. with equipment
of 81, Az horse power, to 49,, with equip
ment. Of 1881 horse power For the
earlier year the spndles numbered LIS. 92l
and the looms IS ai3. while In the latter
year there were S.l10o99 spindes and
b4.Sl2 looms. All the factories of this
State numbered Al and wcre equipped
with 6Ser9 horse power IN 1900. and the
number had increased TO 1858 with 263. l2l
horse power IN 1908
In the Piedmont section OF North and
South Carolina, there are now more than
400 textile mills with an estimated equip
nient Of fully $4,000 spindles. and more
than 100 of these mills arc operated with
hydro electric power.
In n section of Georgia. including Macon
and Atlanta, and not over lU miles
square. there are now completed and un-
der construction about 30 cotton and yarn
mills, and these mills are operating more
than cnocU spindles and nearly 800 looms
driven by electric power over 800 textile
mills III the United States have been cleo
trically equipped by the General Electri,
company, using 500 motors and over
100 electrical horse power
From this brief review of the natura
and industrial conditions IN tho al,
South. 1t is evident that the water powc
is there, tho raw materials are there. ant