The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-11-24
FOrGOOd of the
 Community
NO Thanksgiving Day has ever ap-

Alabama will not be a boy with a sore toe, whose present slight ailment makes him forget all the good things that have heretofore been heaped on him by gen. erous parents
 The year began with the launching of the first of the great ChickasaW freight ers The ChickasaW yards and the Fair field mills were in harmonious and CO., operative operation marking new and broad flights in Alabama destiny. Six of these ships have been completed and have borne Alabama goods and her fame to the four quarters of the earth.
 This spring two new and large by-prC, duct works were completed and the T. c. I. added extensively to it's own until this one great industry now consumes 6,000,- 900 tons of coal and produces 4 ,500,0O0 tons of coke per annum. The S15, 100000 invested there and the greater amount i1l- vested in the mills at Fairfield and the ship yards at Mobile are as nothing com pared to the permanent strides in prog ress that they represent
 Our sanitary pipe shops here doubled in number and in iron-melting capacity Not all are busy now but all were busy until a short time ago. Each of these new shops adds to the home consumption of our pig, iron and renders it that much more independent of the competitive field.
 Early in the year, when the people were grateful for the blessings that Providence had showered on them, they voted the S25,00O,0O0 state highway bond issue. We have found it difficult to dispose of the bonds but they will be sold and we will have the neighborly highway The big, ness of this is not in the money voted for roads but in the intelligence that saw the benefit.
 The Alabama cement industry took great forward strides during the year. The Atlas company took over the wonder fully successful plant of the Standard company at Leeds. The idle plant at Demopolls was Overhauled, enlarged and : placed ln operation by the Gulf States Portland Cement company The other idle plants, that of the Coosa company at Ragland, was purchased by the Na- tlonal Cement company, rehabilitated and IS Tn successful operation The Le- high Portland Cement acquired 25O acres out at Tarrant City and is about to begin construction of a ,000,0O0-barrel plant there.
 So, we see that remarkable progress has been made this year in several basic industries, steel, ships, cast iron pipe man. ufacture, cement and coal by-products. These mean employment for thousands of men at good wages, the consumption of an enormous amount of raw material at home and the turning out of an equally enormous amount of finished product for the markets of the world.
 We have witnessed this year the ap- proach to finished form of the Wilson dam at Muscle Shoals. Before we realize 1t, Alabama will be receiving 3OO,OOO of :. horse power there for the operation of it's industries This also is basic. This is not a monument tucked away in corner of the state for the edification of that part of Alabama, but it is for service of the en- tire state all the time.
 When the underlying and the sfunda- mental are being cared for, the details are a matter. of small consequence They naturally flow out of that basic. They fol- low automatically.
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