The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-03-19
GIVE ENDORSEMENT ID ARMIES HISTORY Members Laud Value of Coal
 and Iron Story DR. PHILLIPS SPEAKS Chairman lAtdrich of Chamber of COm- mcrce Publication Committee Sub
 mits Report on the CompIe-
 tion of the Work
DIR. PHILLIPS SPEAKS

Tlsa Chamber of Commerce last night heartily indorsed the work of Miss Ethel Armes on Coal and Iron in Alabama" in no uncertain terms when President A. H. Ford announced it's completion, and on motion of Robert Jemison, Jr., a vote of thanks was extended to both MT. ing effort and splendid work
 '1rhere has been completed he said "a work which deserves the hearty, earnest support of this whole community. It is a creditable production and should have the indorsement and backing which will make it a financial success"
 Secretary Joseph B. Babb read letters of indorsement from men who had read and made a study of the book, touching upon it's comprehensive scope and fine dietion-T. H. Aldrich, G. B. McCor- mack. H. l.. Badham, Capt. Frank P. O Bren, J. S. Lowell, J. W. Bush, L. ". Clarke, Major Tutwiler and others.
 Chairman T. H. Aldrich of the cham ber's committee. appointed three years ago, made this report;
 The writer was appointed chairman of the committee for the purpose of as- sisting Miss Armes as author of the above work in the spring of lso7 under the presidency of MT. Sterling Wood, and has served from that date until the pres ent time.
 "The committee found that it had two things to do. One was to provide a reasonable sum for the expenses of the author, and also fund for the purpose of getting facts connected with this his tory. It was supposed at that time that there would be no trouble in getting up the details from the lives of the men who were especially active in Alabama during the rise and growth of the iron and coal trades. But the author and the committee discovered, to their sorrow, that hardly a line or page was in ex- lstence describing the trials and difficult ties or the work performed by some of Alabama's s greatest men. l have in mind particularly the real founder of Birming- ham, Col. John T. Milner. His labors and his professional work deserve to be written in letters of gold upon the pages of Alabama's history, and yet the author was over three solid months in digging out the actual facts connected with his history and life work. The research and the amount of work grew enormously. Sometimes a week would be spent in running down a statement only to dis cover that it had no basis in fact. Through the Kindness of the railroads their old records were gone over. The libraries and the records preserved in Montgomery were looked into, and yet so little was published or preserved that weeks were spent where it was sup posed that only days were necessary.
 Underestimated Cost
 ''Your committee found that the cost of the undertaking would be much greater than was at first supposed By 1, 19OS, s105o had been collected. and nearly all of this was used to cover expenses of preparation alone. The au- thor was then taken sick and for five months was unable to go on with this work. Finally, however, in the summer of 1909 the manuscript was finished and had been gone over by several members of the committee and others qualified to pass upon the same The question then of publication was before us, and your committee started to work, and through the generosity of some of the great cor porations and many members of this chamber S21G0 was subscribed for books, to be paid upon the completion of the same and a small amount was also raised toward the expenses of the author. however, would not pay the printer. Therefore, three or four members of the committee borrowed from one of the banks here $500 to cover the first payment. Your committee desires to say that this note has been paid in full We also raised part of the money to book and see it through to completion. Three members of the committee were obliged to guarantee to the publishers about s1CO0 deficiency in the contract price. In addition to this sum the cost of the book grew, as 1t was prepared by reason of indexes, photographs and other items not reckoned upon. about $500 more. and express charges and other expenses have added another $500. So that your committee now to the present time, with the book fully published and ready for sale, faces a deficiency of 5000. 5000 of which it is necessary to meet in about two weeks time. The author has had fs. 1ao ct fhran r e not enough to pay bare living expenses And as chairman of your committee can testify to her faithfulness, persis- tency and grit in bringing this work to a successful conclusion. I lea \ to others to tell you about the book from a liter- arv standpoint. Your committee believes the task is we'll done and that the au- thor deserves financial success.
 .crhis book is a most remarkable tribute to Birmingham. The difficulties of thu
 pioneers who fought the good fight are SC out graphically and clearly in this volume
 The lesson of 1t all is that natural advan tages are of little value till the touch O
 master groups them together and show
 us how to utilize them.
 This chamber is a center from whicl
 the people expect concrete action, and i
 we wish to let the world know what WI can do we must tell something abou what we have done."
 pr. Phillips' Endorsement | In giving his indorsement to the book
 pr. J. H. Phillips said
 "'The Story of Coal and Iron in Ala
 bama' is a book of more than local O.
 temporary significance.
 ''The first fact that impresses the reade