El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-04-17
South PrOsperS
With Cotton IS
To 4OcA Pound

Savannah. Ca. April 17.-With the
price OF middlinE cotton ranging from
IS to'fo cents a pound. and Sea island
cotton selling at the fabulous price OF
a dollar a pound. Savannah is enjoy
{ ing some OF the most prosperous days
in a long and. on the whole. remark
ably prosperous history. Her harbor
is filled with shipping-and she now
has sips for no less than % vessels
Her streets are crowded with motor
ears and with drezsed-up. prosper
Gus looking people Her merchants
are doing a record business. Every
body seems 10 be chock fun Of money.
municipal pride, and confidence in the
future.
This condition in Savannah is
typical OF the wonderful recovery
which the whols cotton producing
south has made since the dire days
OF 1914, when cotton was down TO six
cents a poHnd, and couldn't be sold
at that price Those were the days
when president Wilson called upon al
good citizens to buy a bale OF cot
ton" and relieve distress in the south
A good many did IL and sold the bale
again. just as soon as they could One
man here in Savannah, who bought
two bales at that time for about $50
a bale. forgot about them, and did not
sell them until a few days ago He
received $500 a bale FOR his cotton.
And so far as ". II. Teasdale. secre-
tary- OF the cotton exchange here, Is
aware, he is the only man who bought
cotton when it was down. and held FOR
the present rise. After all, nearly all
really great speculative chances are
missed. ANY man who who had sense
enough 10 put a few thousand dollars
in cotton in 1914, and 10 hold Il IN
til this year. could have more than
tripled his money A few may have
done 10. but II was not at all gener-
ally done
beats Cost Of Living.
savannah's great prosperity is eE-
planned by the simple fact that, while
the cost OF living has gone up so 10
100 percent. the cost OF cotton has
gone up about 800 percent in the same
length OF time Hence everyone hav-
ing to do with cotton Is far ahead CT
the game. Dealers have made big
money. and so have growers The
countrymen are all riding around IN
cars. The ship building here has also
been a considerable factor IN the i'm
provement OF conditions
Things here were. perhaps. at their
worst in November. 1914. when. ac-
cording to Mr. Teasdale. ordinary
middlinE cotton sold for about six
cents and sea Island cotton for about
10 cents a pound. with a market hard
70 find By the first OF the following
year trade was brisk. and IN Febru-
arys 1915 Savannah shipped more cot
ton than In any other month in her
history. nearly a third OF a million
bales OF upland cotton and lintels
I leaving the port, and over a thousand
bales OF Sea Island cotton This cot
ton was rushed 20 Europe 10 get In
ahead OF the blOckades which were
then becoming tighter and tighter.
Sweden. Holland England. France
and Spain got most Of it. A good part
OF that which went 10 Sweden and 10
Holland no doubt found its way ulti-
mately 10 Germany At this time some
OF the last direct shipments 20 Ger
many were made from this mort. and
Il is said that they were made at
prices far in advance Of the market
and brought enormous profits TO Ger
tain dealers. The market prices for
these largs shipments. just before
shipping was tied NJ, were from eight
to nine cents for good middlinE cot
ton. The fact that there was a great
rush TO sell at such prices shows that
none anticipated the rise that was
coming
Nevertheless that rise began I'm
mediatly, as an inevitable result Of
war conditions and continued stead
lily uD 10 this year At the end OF 1915
middIng cotton was at 70 cents q
year later It was around 19 cents; in
late 1g il was at IS snts- Sales were
free and steady at all these prices
Cotton sales Now Small.
Mr. Teasdale reports that al pres
ent. sales OF cotton are abnormaliy
small There is plenty OF tonnage IN
the harbor, but a lack Of buyers at
the current very high prices. A great
many people seem to think that cot
ton prices have reached their peak
and are going TO come down, though
no sudden or disturbing descent Is
looked for. The exchange rate, which
makes the price still higher. for all
foreign buyers. IS also a factor in the
present dull market. Nevertheless. I
everyone here is confident and salts
fled. for Il is clear that the dmand
VIII keep cotton at a relatively very {