The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-08-29
For Good of
 the Community
Birmingham's Spirit of Optimism Echoed By the Manufacturers Record In Call to
 the South to Be Up and Doing

clSo, provided the blower pauSoS once m while to catch the echo. The echo will teach him the quality of the sound he makes It will come back true or false, according to the tone of its issuance.
 The Manufacturers Record is regarded as al thoughtful and reliable exponent of the south and conditions in the south There has been much of optimism in this column Here is a mouthful from the Manufacturers Record of August IS:
 We have reached the limit of low prices unless
 all signs fail-and are likely to many prices ad-
 vance. The man who wants to build whether it be
 chicken coop dwelling hotel office
 structure can, believe, do 1t to better advantage
 today than 12 months hence
 Now is the time to begin work Now is the time
 to put aside pessmism. Now is the time for every
 man who has red blood in his veins to go ahead and
 do things Time for the buyer to begin to stock up.
 Time for the stacker in business to become aggres
 sively active.
 Time for the manufacturer whose plant needs
 any new equipment to buy 1t at and be ready
 for the boom when 1t comes Time for the pushing
 of all highway construction; of all municipal inn
 provements.
 Time for cleaning up and painting up. Time for
 doing the things which can be done now and there
 are thousands of them, at lower cost of labor and
 materials than will be possible year two hence.
 These inspirational sentences followed the statement that never before in it's history was there such activity as now pervades the south in the building of churches and schools"
 This followed: These new structures are but typical of the power of the south to dol things which make for the welfare and the edu- cational and religious advancement of the peo- pie. They could not be built if in the south there was not a great amount of money avail able for such work
 u,. f concludes: 'The same spirit turned into busi- ness channels can be made to quicken the life of all the business activities of the south.'
 Truth is, none of us was hurt as bad as he thought he was. A prominent wholesaler said Saturday, "The mistake of our house has been over-caution. We did not lay in sufficient stock to care for our trade. The result is that we have lost lot of business this month that we should have marked up because we did not have the goods in the warehouse"
 The man who waits for ideal conditions gets nowhere. He who wants it all and refuses to budge unless all is in sight, is a confirmed pes sinnist because he never arrives. The glutton, who wants the plenty in the others way while his own is full, will suffer the same fate as the dog who dropped his bone to grab that in the mouth of the dog mirrored in the stream.
 Birmingham has built churches and schools and homes simultaneously She has led the south in the building of homes. This could not have been done unless her people had the money; unless they had been thrifty in days of plenty. Just little chastened, that is all. More fit for business than ever. More trim and taut, more safe, sound and staunch.
 We entered the month with our Big Ben," the T. C. l. operating at 50 per of capacity in its finishing steel mills. We come to the close with these mills at 65 per cent gait
 Other steel mills came to August with intermittent op- erations. Now these continuous. We came to Au- gust with declining iron market We out of Au- gust with that has set its face about and started the other way.
 Must go Baltimore and sit at the feet of the Man. ufactrers Record in order to get bearings? Is not the music of higherprced cotton ringing in ears? Have not the farmers taken in cash for side crops this entire year? Has not the dairying industry gone by leaps and bounds? ~
 We have blown own horn bit. The echo comes sweet comforting, encouraging. The note of optimism