The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-08-30
M D N w O M E N
 A ND HIN C. s

do not know when I have men two
 men who impressed me more by their
 unaffected manner and sterling worth than the Stokely brothers of Newport, Tenn, and for this reason l am go- ing to briefly set down here some
 thing which they have done.
 The outstanding feature of the trip
 of the members of the Anniston Chamber of Commerce party was the great canning factory at Newport.
 owned and operated by W. B. and
 John M. stokely, who more than a score of years ago began in a shed on the farm to put up tomatoes for the market.
 1 dsresay that the bankers, mill CTS, merchants and farmers of that day paid little heed to the new indus try which had made start in the community, but by hard work, push and brains the humble little cunning factory has grown into plant of such size as to overshawod the other manufacturing interests of Newport and to be known as the greatest of its kind in all the south.
 
 The canning season is now on, and all over the south busy housewives are at work putting up vegetables and fruits, and the experts from the colleges are abroad in the country telling the interested ones the best way to do 1t. Canning clubs are in full swing. The agitation for more commercial canneries is always on, but unfortunately too many in the past were organized only to be short lived and prove q disappointment, both to the men who put their money in them, and to the farmers who grew stuff to keep them going.
 The canning industry like any other large enterprise Is surer of final suc- cess when it was born in a small way and grew instead of being ush amounts of money have been sunk in canneries, although the plants were modern and at first everything looked suspicious. Too often they were brought into being by promoters who knew more about organization and stock selling than about the practi- cal operation of plant
 These pitfalls were avoided by the Stokely brothers who feeling their way, learned the art and the business from the ground up; and what they | know after 90 years was bought in the practical school of experience and 1 they are now enjoying the benefits of years of patient study and arduous Dor until the plant itself in which | they put up the various articles for | the ever widening market cost more than s2oo,eoo and is the very last word in canning.
 I'll not go into the details of can | ming save to say that there Is nothing l which money can buy to save and | conserve which has not been in- | stalled. They even make their own tin cans. The thing which interested | the Calhoun county farmers was the 1 way in which. tho corn which was being put up on the day of their visit | to the factory was utilized. The green | shucks and cobs were carried by ma | chinery after having been properly | cut and mangled to the top of two | huge cement silos to fatten 500 head | of cattle and the same number of hogs.
 1 was tremendously impressed with | this fact. the Stokely brothers had | actually converted their farms into a great manufactory. We went to see the vegetables growing in the river bottom, we saw the waving corn fields, and then we witnessed thei. | ttoSress from the fields to the plant. It meant that so far as the StokeIys | are concerned they have learned how to get the most out of what they
 uf course it takes money md | experience to operate on such q large scale but they began with almost no capital.
 The farmers of Calhoun county | were saving on their way back to Knoxville. I've need a canning fac tory in Anniston so that we can have a constant market for what we | raise" The best way to meet the | need in my opinion will be for the business men of Anniston to organize a stock company in which the shares will be distributed amongst the best | and most reliable farmers in order that they may grow the vegetables needed and feel that in selling them | they are getting reasonable price. The thing to succeed must be in the hands of practical men and not | worked up by mere promoters. It must be community affair.
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