The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1918-03-31
Frank Willis Barnett Gives
His Impressions After
Visit to This Great
Community
PAYS TRIBUTE TO
PIONEERS AND MEN
WHO DO BIG THINGS
Visit to Sheffield Never
Fails to Inspire Visitor
With the Enthusiasm
Of It's People
BY FRANK WILLIS BARNETT


Sheffield, March 30.-(Spe
pial. Most cities are but
overgrown towns; that is, they
have their beginnings in a
small way.
A few families accidentally
gather around a spring, on the
banks of a stream or at cross
roads, and, like Topsy, grow
up iii a haphazard manner, but
Sheffield is a city that was
built to order.
1t was begun in this wise: Capt.
Alfred H. Moses was interested in a
railway project which took him to
Florence, and while there was per-
suaded to make a trip to the mineral
lands of Franklin county. g
Crossing the river. he was charmed
with the rolling plateau and the pictur-
esque bluffs overlooking the Tennessee.
and on his return entered into negotia-
lions with Col. w. S. Gordon. one of his
companions of the journey, by which
they became joint owners of property
then estimated at few thousand dollars,
but which 1t would now require millions
to purchase.
know there are some who smile when
ever the name or names of a promoter
or promoters are mentioned, but to me
they are our modern knights, the men of
commercial daring and adventure, in
whose blood flows the same red blood
which sent Englishmen around the world,
picking up stray islands and loose con-
tinents.
STRONG FOR PIONEERS
/ am strong for the pioneer type of
men, the kind who ehafe whenever things
settle down into the humdrum, for the
bold spirits who are always looking Tor
new fields to conquer, the descendants
Of those who kept pushing the frontier
further west until at last it was buried
in the broad bosom of the Pacific.
The men who in this generation have
fired my imagination more than any other
two We're James J. Hill, who conquered
the great northwest, and Cecil Rhodes,
who added an empire to England ana
placed it in the lap of his gracious Queen
as a gift worthy of an Emperor.
u
built, a city with a foundation that was
thought to be based on the very bedrock
Of having ore Now, it is not my purpose
II go back to May, 1854, when the hrst
lot in Sheffield was put up at auction and
sold for a thousand dollars, or to retell
the story of it's boom and then the lean
wears 1t is all matter OF history 4
do applaud the men who had the courage
to undertake to build city out in an
open field.
Sure, the dark days came and fortunes
were wiped out and many men left IN
desuair, but a few had faith that
would not be shaken loose, even IN the
face of disaster after disaster. l am
glad they are now coming into their own,
for know Sheffield, like Birming nam.
has gstten her second wind and tnat
nothing can ever stop her In her race
toward the final goal of success
Men perish for lack of vision. and CIT
;es die for lack of faith. and nations are
DESTROYED for lack of courage. ThanK
God. the pacifsts were wrong when they
banked on Americas lack OF grit Pralse
be the Lord that the fighting spirit OIL
Uncle sam was not dead, but only DOR
mant. and that he has made up his mind
that If anybody Is to be wiped or the
MAJ, or forced to pay tribute. 1t Will NOT
be the U. 8. A.
THE TRUE PROPHETIC EYE
p,,t what has this got to do with Shelf
ASIDE "a whole lot. just wait minute
and will show you. There was one man
a. the town who, in spite of every dis-
coura cement, in the face OF every op-
stacle. refused to be beaten. With true
nrophetic eye, he had looked Forward 70
the day when the city of his love, tne
town he had helped to build, the pace
~ had stood by through thick and tnin
;ptr itG
for all time. - -.
pe will not like my saying this, put
on, Going to do it anyway, for It's
q story which ought to put heart 'ilo
every man who refuses TO run at eno
frst warning of danger, or give up
before heyhas done his best. Inc o.hes
day sat in his office and laushinsis
said -. 80.
colonel. when did you first get
water on your brain:"
/ was talking to Col. ]. W. WORTH
inrton He got up and walked over
to a man hanging in the private oi-
lice in his bank which showed the
mineral deposits AMI underneath IL
were the names of the men VINO had
pioneered and built Sheffield on Their
belief that its prosperity was hidden IN
the ores in the district.
Il got it, said he. ION the day
when l first really understood what the
noise of the falling waters of Muscle
Shoals meant not only to my city but
to the south"
"But." said I. you had the vision.
I had always put you down as bust
ness seer. but the thing l fall to ua-
derstand. how on earth did a dreamer
have the bulldog capacity to hold on
and refuse to be shaken loose when
the money powers got cold feet and
even the government Itself seemed To
have turned Its back upon the whole
scheme or development?"
1t was then that he looked me
equarely in the eye and l know why
no had held his grip. for with THE sim
plicity OF a trusting child he an
swered: II knew that the proposition
had merit and nothing could stand in
its way
EXPECTING TO BE BORED
Now. confess that went to the
Tri-Cities with no real love for tho
Job of writing a mere boost" story.
but before had left Colonel Worth
inEton 1 knew that so far as being
able to tell it could only touch upor.
its outermost fringe, for it's too big