Evening star., 1923-01-01
INDUSTRIAL BOOM
MAKES NEW SOUTH
Remarkable Advance Noted
in Manufacture of Tex
tiles and Furniture.
GREAT MINERAL WEALTH
Textile Plants Now Number las.
Birmingham Called Magic
City of the South"

The greatest industrial development
that this country has even seen Is
taking place today i'll the south, an
arromplishment of a scant quarter OF
a century and by men who are alive
and active today, according to the
Boot and Shoe Recorder. Few men
realized before the civil war, Whlch
was 50 destructive to the agriculture
of the south, that it possessed MN
eral resources and industrial posi-
Lilities infinitely greater than any
return which agriculture could give
The south never lost courage, even
after the war, when the balance ol
her thousands of young men Went
west in search of wealth. her SONS
and daughters fought on dosseulS
against obstacles and lterallE pdhh
rupt; the first steps toward recoNtis
were necessarily confined to the res
fDration of her agriculture ana thiiS
wears had passed before sne was aple
10 accumulate a financial reserve
which would enable her to develop
thn vast Industrial wealth which had
UP to that time lain practically ldle.
1,146 Textile Plants in South.
There are today LAG textile plants
In the south, and North Carolina
alone has 513 textile mills win
532l45O spindles. Many Know tne
name and fame OF Iranu tbere
Mich, but outside of the south there
IS probably not one person In thou
sand who realizes that High Point, n.
=. is the second greatest 1urhltuIe
manufacturing city IN the coulIiy =,
nor that 80 per cent of the country
irnn resources are in Alabama; lhaS
the largest damas6 mills IN the Woriu
and the largest tire fabric mills ~ ~
the world are in the SouIh' tnat u
nor cent of the country'S oVerallS anu
about IL per cent of the SOFT "oou
lumber and 80 per cent or the entire
lumber output of the country Is pio
duced there; that the coal area "
the south is twice as great as lnaI =.
All Europe, including Russia, and tndt
She south has developed 2,5VV,oVV
horsepower from its streams an
rivers out of an estimated maAlIlu lulll
water mower of 100000 horsepower,
y.bfcb she can harness in the future
-or the use of her rapidly expdhuils
Industries Southern mileage mas
uuadrupled in thirty years, ana on III (
south will spend this year S4Oo'ooV'-
coo in highway improvements
Sweeping Changes in 20 Years
"If traveller says the Boot and
Shoe Recorder, Ignorant of what mas
r.I<en place in the south in intervening
14ars. should revisit it today ne Woulu
have difficulty III realizing tnat 1t WdS
The same territory ne hao traEeIGu l;,i
twenty years ago. The scores OF Iihll
towns which stud the southern states
are models for the entire world. Wen
paved and we'll lighted streets' pros
uerous school buildings, community
6ous,s and recreation centerS all 1oTIli
. :. nucleus from which radiate avenues
uf model cottages equipped with ever!
modern convenience and eacn SlalluIn6
in it's we'll cultivated plot. Inc
old, struggling village, with us
unpaved streets souodr ana ond diidpiIaod tbe mod
rrn mill town of the south represents
the last word in civic planning anu
development. ,,ao,,.
.'The south labored under tremendous
handicaps when she started her great
tight for life following the civil war
and one of the greatest was the pre1u-
dice that the southern man and woman
:lre indolent and lack the ablllty LOT coli COLI
rantrated or sustained effort NolnllIs
,ouId he further from the truth. II
was at one time a commonplace TO dep-
1ccate the south's efforts by aSsertiIlS
fatty that while coarse SneetlnSS anu
orher low-gradc fabrics might De pro
,I1crd successfully in southern mills
the south could not possibly produce
the finer tissues. fancies ana hoeI1les
because she lacked the experience anu
skilled labor. ,, o,o-
ruent of truth in this assertion Wnen
II was first made. This oDStacle mas
been overcome by an energy ana or
yanizfng ability which would astonish
those Who idly repeat the silly fiction
about the Incidence of the SOUTH IN the
work of training and educating inc
wage-earning population. Schoois rose
within sight of every mll' texture an9
1echnical institutions were created ana
generously financed, and within very
few wears these efforts began 70 pear
a boIIntiful harvest in the form OF tens
of thousands of young men ana women
-.aIN E-lr TS.
int whose standards of life and IDEAS
of conduct had been actually raised
above the level of any similar CLASS III
he country. The south today Is pro
,Iucing as fine and beautiful faorics as
IRE to be found in the world.
Rapid Growth in Textiles.
"The rapid and phenomenal advance
NJ the south's textile industry, While
II oyershadows in extent and dra-
matte interest other phases. OF her
activity, represents after all but one
of several mighty weapons Win
which she is fighting her way to an
assnred position as one of the wealth
lost and most prosperous sections or
The earth. Second only in Importance.
and with conceivably even greater
possibilities for the future, comes the
deyeIopment of her vast coal, iron
and other mineral wealth. The coal
area of the southern states is twice
as great as that of all Europe, in
.luding Russia, and In close proximity
lie huge deposits of iron ores, which,
for all practical purposes. are un-
limited in extent. The United States
geological survey after surveying the
territory. reported that the Alabama
fields were greater in extent and
richer in possibilities than those of
the famous Pittsburgh district.
The center of the giant industry is
birmingham. The magic citv of the
south Thirty years ago Birmingham
was a little struggling country town
of about 5000 population. Today
she is a great city of close to 100000
nOpulation, metropolis of stately
buildings, broad thoroughfares, mag
nificent stores and beautiful homes
secure in the knowledge of the i'm
mountains that surround her and in
the ability of her sons to wrest that
wealth from mother earth, she is
pressing on with sure step to hel
destiny as one of the worlds greatest
and richest cities.
Lumber Now Great Factor.
THE third big item in the tally
sheet of the south's inexhaustiblt
natural wealth is lumber. A huge
portion of her territory is still GOV.
cred with virgin forest. forming the
last great timber reserve of the ma.
ton. Under such conditions it wa.
inevitable that sooner or later the
furniture industry should find one o.
its principal homes below the Masor
and Dixon line. and the inevitabl,
has already happened in High Point
y. c., the second greatest furniture
manufacturing city in the country.
"As in the cottons goods situation
detractors of the south predicted tha
southern mills could never produc,
anything but cheap soft wood furni
ture. Skilled furniture workers wer,
asarare in the south thirty-five year.
ago as Were skilled textile operators