Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1921-10-10
ALABAMA CITY
TOCELEBRATE
5OTHBIRTHDAY
Birmingham, South's Great
est Steel City, Will Have
! A Pageant


BIRMINGHAM, Ala, Oct. 10-The
chief feature of Brimingham's ceIe-
bration Of her fiftieth birthday dur
ing the week of October 24-29 will
be the historical pageant depicting
the half century of development from
a group Of cornfields in 1871 to the
South's leading industrial center in
1921.
Since the first house was built in
Birmingham only so years ago, the
pageant can present only half cen
tury of the history of the city itself.
The early history Of Alabama, colo
nial days and the Civil war period
and reconstruction will be grouped in
a prelude. The main pageant will con-
sist of series Of separate episodes
showing the various periods in the
building of Birmingham.
Fifteen hundred persons will take
part, including a chorus Of 500 spe-
cially trained voices. and several
hundred young people who will take
the dancing parts. Orchestras and
bands will provide the music.
The pageant was prepared from a
mass Of data compiled by local his
torians. The episodes to be presented
will show the discovery Of coal, iron
and limestone in large quantities in
sight Of the present city Of Briming-
ham, the construction Of the first
small. crude iron furnaces, the open
ing of coal mines in what are now
the limits Of the city, the growth Of
the city from a crude, rough. lowless
mining camp, the boom period fol-
lowed by the financial disaster Of
the sos, the period of deflation and
then the launching OK Birmingham
on sfirm foundation.
Then will come the experiments
in steel making. which were finally
attended by success, the entry Of
the United States Steel Corporation
into Birmingham, following the ae-
QUESTION Of The properties Of many
steel mills, the passing Of the city
from the raw material to the finished
product era.
The closing episode will deal with
Birmingham Of today, city of 200,-
600 people. 1t will show coal, iron
and limestone, the three requisites
for steel making found side by side
within sight Of the many furnaces
where pig iron Is made, at the side
of the giant steel plants where fin
ished steel il made and then convert
ed into all kinds Of steel products,
where il is loaded on barges made
of Birmingham steel. floated down
o river open to perennial naviga-
tion to the ports Mobile and New Or
leans. where it Is loaded into steel
ocean liners made of Birmingham
steel by a Birmingham CORPORATION
and then sent TO every civi viized ma
tion Of the world.
One part of this episode will show
the opening Of the Warrior River to
navigation after the government had
constructed Lock II, which has a
dam 63 feet high. and two locks with
a lift Of 81 1-2 feet each. more than
three feet more than Gatun locks on
the Panama Canal. This dam created
Lake Bankhead which backs up wat
er more than go miles, enabling Bir-
minghham to tow her products to the
gulf ports.
Other episodes will depict the pro-
gress of Birmingham along education
nj. social and civic lines from the ear
ly days when lawlessness WIS ramp
ant until today when the city lays
claims to attractions as a home city
second 10 none.