The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1912-04-19
THE NEWBERRY COTTON MILLS.
One OF the Pioneer Manufacturing En-
terpriSeS OF the New South.

The Newberry Cotton Mills furnish
a concrete example Of the progress the
South has made in the industrial lines
in the manufacture OF cotton goods
and establish the fact beyond question
that the day is not far distant when
the gin, the spindles and the loom
will cooperate closely, and therefore
economically, in the territory where
the great staple is produced and Wnlcn
territory is destined Dy tie very prln-
ciple Involved in the survival CT the
fttest" to becomethe worlds source Of
supply for cotton goods of every variety
delivered in the cloth. Such progress
as the NewEerry Cotton Mills and 9TH
ers of its kind typify heralds the per-
maent prosperity Of the New South
and their importance can not be over
drawn or exaggerated. 1t was with
this feeling that a group Of Newberry's
substantial men in 1888 organized q
company to operate the first steam
cotton mill in the State, if not the en-
tire South. The place to manufacture
the raw material seemed to them, OF
all places, to be at thc very source OF
supply and within sight OF the cotton
fields. They wondered why capital
had been so heavily invested in cottcn
industrial operations in the New Eng
land States and throughout the coun-
try generally, when the best Of 0uslv
ness reasons could be advanced for
manufacture in the cotton growing
section. The people Of the cot,0n So
ton saw the labor opportunities leav-
ing the country with every bale Of cot
ton shipped out. They saw prosperity
leaving them By railroad trains year
after year, and being unloaded in
thriving cotton manufacturing centres
all over the county, but they needed
men with money, nerve and business
ability to stop this loss to all Of the
Teorle in labor opportunities and in
the power CT deve. .cpIlent generally.
Here and there individuals more cour-
ageoUs than TIE rest Undertook to
put an end to this unnatural and Un-
just state Of affairs. and in many in
stances against even the kindllest ad-
vice Of their friends, Solicitious for
their welfare, invested their money in
spindies and looms and knitting ma.
chimes, and led the way, the only way
to the prosperity 50 long withheld, the
only way TO secure that tranSf0rma-
ton. hitherto referred to, in which the.
town has been developed from the
hamlet, home ownership introduced for
the waee Garner, end in which thrift,
industry and progress are the fea-
lures Of the hour. Looking over the
entire cotton section comprising sew
eral States, the men to be among the
first to engage in the manufacture of
cotton into a finished state ready for
the uses Of the consumer form dis
tinguished group who will always
merit the gratitude Of future genera
tions, for in installing the loom and
the knitting machine beside the cot
ton field and the cotton gin they in
troduced conditions which could be
nothing else but progressive along
substantial and permanent lines, and
to this group of energetic and enter
prising citizens belongs the honor of
being the founders Of the new South
land and, in the last analysis, the au-
thors Of its present prosperity.
In the fall of 1884 the Newberry Cot
ton Mills began operations and every
day since that time they have proved
q valuable factor in the development
of this entire section, reaching that
point today where they manufacture
$4,000 bales of cotton annually, and