The Washington herald., 1910-04-03
'.The story of Coal and Iron in Ala
bama."


To inject an element Of romance into
an exploitation Of commerciaIism requires
the faculties Of a genius, and Ethel
Arnes demonstrates that the use OF high
literary attachments in placing before the
public the story of great business achieve
ments as valuable an art as is its use in
the expression Of the romantic alone
After glancing at the title. 1.-The Story OF
Coal and Iron in Alabama" one would
expect to meet with page after page or
dry statistics and business memoranda.
but il is not so. Every remnant OF Indian
legend. every incident OF exploitation.
and every adventure of first settler that
seems 10 have been procurable has been
brought into play. In fact, the whole
romantic history of the State has been
explored, and there is placed before US
history OF the State equaling in literary
value anything in current literature Per-
haps in no other manner could the bust
ness advantages Of this section have been
so signally advertised, for her story be-
gets exceeding interest. and the stirring
Of interest toward a great enterprise is
one of the surest ways OF attracting other
things-capital. traffic. and men. What
this region needs is further development.
and the first step is TO convince people
that there is something TO deyelop.
Miss Armes has gone about it in this
manner. She begins with the early his
tory of the State. a most interesting cpl
sode being the discovery by the Indians
of the red pigment which they used for
face paint, the pigment which early dis
closed TO the discerning white man the
presence OF mineral wealth She relates
the story Of the establishment Of the first
furnace in the State. the first slow
growth of the iron trade. its seeming de-
cline for a while. its revival, its lmpor-
lance during the war 10 the Confederacy.
and finally its upbuiiding during the last
twenty-five years, until now the coal and
iron industry of Alabama has grown TO be
potential factor N he industrial prob
lem Of the country. This result was &C
complished by the patience and intelli-
gence of succession OF Industrial. heroes.
most of whom have long since gone TO
their last account, out their places have
been supplied by a present contingent
equal IN tenacity of purpose and intellect.
Turning aside from Miss Armes' liter
airy attainment. the consideration of the
basic question has powerful aIlurements.
The hills of Alaba ma are teeming with the
finest grades of coal and iron, and there
are live men down there aiding in the
development. What is wanted is en-
couragement as regards increased capt.
tai employed judiciously in such an
the patronage Of trade. There is magnifi-
cent opportunity in this section yet, for
Miss Armes describes the great business
men Of the State not TO be a mere col
lection of land and mineral grabbers, but
a group of men with the systematic and
equitable upbuilding Of the South at
heart There seems no reason why capt.
tai employed judiciously in such an en-
enterprise should not be rewarded
nor should a man of energy. casting
his lot with these people. despair
OF making an honorable living and par
tieipating in the glory of the final result,
for by virtue alone of the mineral gifts
with which nature has so lavishly en-
dowed her, Alabama is destined TO be one
of the great commercial and industrial
centers of the country within a compare
lively short period of time. published
under the auspices Of the Chamber Of
Commerce of Birmingham, Ala