The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-01-19
FRISCO OFFICIALS VIEW INDUSTRIES
 OF THE DISTRICT
Annual Meeting Becomes More of an Introduction to Bir- mingham-Impressed By
 ViriIe Development

The high officials of the Frisco system and the represen- tatives from the important feeding centers of the country
 are enjoying the annual family gathering being held here. They will spend today first at Fair
 field and Ensley. taking in the steel
 works out there and then they will go big raw material and producing plants there.
 A. Hilton of St. Louis vice president,
 heads the delegation and is especially confident of the mutual benefit to- be de- rived by Birmingham and the Frisco the latter to locate manufacturing plants along the Birmingham Belt line, which is controlled by the Frisco.
 The first meeting was held yesterday morning in the auditorium of the Cham Der of Commerce. Addresses of wei come were made by O. l.. Bum. general manager of the chamber; F. Wilkinson of the Birmingham Traffic bureau. and Dr. c. B. Williams president of Howard college, who is also the founder of the Birmingham School of Foreign Com rnerce
 The entire personnel given in The Age Herald of yesterday was present and the day was spent in discussing various conditions in different parts of the coun- try and matters of special interest to the officials and the representatives. WELCOMED
 The Frisco officials came to Birming- ham in order that those not familiar with the district and it's importance in the Frisco scheme might realize the part which it is playing. Speaking of this MT. Hilton said:
 Our coming to Birmingham for this conference is prompted by desire to give all of our traffic representatives both on and off the line--a closeup view of the vast business interests of this city and district. and in particular give theme a more intimate knowledge of the possibilities in future development in which we are so intensely interested. Ut is only by personal visit and a closer inspectaion of Birmingham that one is able to grasp the future and prop erly equip himself to take part in it. In this we are somewhat selfish, as we know if we can bring a dollar to an in-
 
 sure of collecting a portion of it, and for that reason it is our policy to be con- stantly building for the future MIR. HILTON'S VIEWS Our Birmingham Belt property offers exceptional opportunities for industrial development and our representatives are giving particular attention to the rela- tion of this property to the further de- velopment of Birmingham. With over 5 GOO miles of track within the states of Alabama, Mississippi. Tennessee, Arkan- sas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas we are constantly trying to estab- fish a closer relationship between the different sections with the view of in- creasing the use of our manufactured product in the large consuming territory served by our lines and in this we expect that Birmingham will enjoy it's full share of prosperity"
 Referring to general conditions in the country, MT. Hilton did not seek to cover up the inactivity at this time prevalent in many lines of business, but he was equally candid in expression of optimism with resnect to the future saving: BUSINESS IMPROVING "Our observation in the last two weeks shows quite an improvement in condi- tons. Grain is again moving to the markets of the world and domestic mill ing has been resumed. Lumber mills are resuming operation in anticipation of the spring demands. Building permits throughout our territory are increasing Labor is rapidly adjusting itself to changed conditions and the discrepancy between the price of farm products and manufactured articles is diminishing We are looking forward to a return to normal conditions in the very near flu ture and are quite optimistic as to con- ditions generally for the balance of the year. By normal conditions don't mis- take me Conditions in this country have been abnormal for the past four years., Following the forenoon session Mir. Bum had as his guests at the Kiwanis luncheon Mir. Hilton, G. R. Green, in- dustral commissioner; W. L. English, superintendent of the agricultural de partment; John N. Cornatzer, passenger traffic manager, and G. r. MacGregor, general freight agent.
 The visitors will leave for their various homes this evening and in the morning