The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1914-01-16

plain: and the parched ground shall
become a pool and thirst" land
Syringe of water; in habitation of
wild beasts, where each lay, snail BE-
srass: the wilderness and solitary
place Shall be glad for them: the des-
ert shall rejoice and blossom as the
rose, and a highway shall be there and
a way Isaiah 40:4.
Isaiah was one of the greatest pro
phetS that ever lived Moses was one
of the worlds greatest leaders. If
Isaiah were on earth today, he would
undoubtedly be a great engineer, and,
lif he and Moses could compare notes,
they would be obliged to confess that
the constructive work forecast by the
one would bring the greatest returns
for the benifit of mankind if exerted
in the goodly land pictured in the
wilderness, and that the south most
aptly fulfIs the description of that
goodly land.
! Both prophets and engineers are
seers. Every prophet is not necessari-
ly an engineer, but every successful
engineer must be a prophet. Unto
some prophets it is not given to have
the JOY of making good the prophecy.
That was the fate of many a far
sighted southerner of the old regime.
Tho a0Cipaor bOu-ax,ar mot arIv hac
the vision, but he will not be satisfied
until all his energies are concentrat-
ed upon its realization
Men of the old time grasped the
promise Of the south. They knew in
a broad way its essential potentiali-
ties for production and planned to
make facts Of them. No fundamental
project in southern progress today
was not thought out by the grand
sires Of the generation now to the
front in that progress.
They were the prophets. Their
plans were perpleyed and postponed
by the working out of political and
social destinies But the postponment
was not without it's compensations;
it placed freely at the disposal of the
south after nearly generation of
compulsory fallowness the facilities
that had been perfected at great cost
in other parts of the land.
Even now the prophecy has only
begun to be fulfilled. But the proving
Of it is we'll under way and the engi-
neers have been given notice. Evil
dence of the sOundness Of the prophe-
cy and of the urgency of the engineers
have been massing with steadily in
creasing speed since 1880 the year
generally held as marking the begin
ing of the revival of southern activi-
ties in material affairs that had been
rudely interrupted by the shock of
war. The proving includes the wonder
full record Of definite facts accom-
plished by the south since 1880
sketched as follows:
1,790,O00,O00 tons of coal mined
132,000,00O tons of iron ore mined.
100000 tons of phosphate rock
mined
SS5,ooO,O00 barrels OF petroleum
produced
$4,000 100000 bushels of corn. wheat
and oats harvestedN
320,0O0.0OO bales Of cotton market
ed.
100000, 100000 feet of lumber cut.
150,000,000 tons of coke made.
100000 tons of pig iron made
100000 spindles and 245,000
looms added to equipment of cotton
mills
$500 miles Of railroad constructed.
$S,20O, 100000 agricultural capital ac-
cumulated.
$3,50O,O0O,OOO manufacturing CAPT
tai accumulated
$1.963, 100000 of National bank re-
sources gained.
$2,21O,O0O,0OO added to the individ-
udI UCpOSIlS III uuduCIdI iISllluIIOIl5.
9,000,0O0,O00 increase in aggregate
wealth.
In the course OF making this record
the south has increased the annual
volume of its production in many
fields. Involving some Implications.
the value of it's aggregate output on
four main lines is $8,3O0,O00,000. from
the following sources:
Factories, $3,90O,00O,O0O.
Farms, $3,3O0.000.0O0.
Forests, $70O,OOO,0oO.
Mines, $4OO,OO0,o0O.
The aggregate is more than Ave
times the aggregate of 1880. The chief
increase in annual production has
been:
In manufacturers. from 1922, $40.
900 to $3,90O,O00,0O0.