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4 For Woman’s Work. • W*' ■ I W a r ‘ ** I ■ ■ _ ’>" > r 5 ■ •" * .hi U—t a, - ! \ •< • - v- ; I **• - IHiH /Uh .•■ ONE scarcely connects the idea of a big, busy, bustling cottou factory with a mental picture of wide, shaded streets, pretty modern cottages, artificial lakes, commodious bath-hous es, beautiful churches, schools, library buildings, and well-kept parks; yet such a combination of industry with artistic beauty and healthful conditions is found in Alabama City, a thriving factory town, located at the southern base of Lookout Mountain in North Al abama and among the numerous mills located in the cotton states, the Dwight Manufacturing Company holds a very prominent position. Alabama City is situated about fifty six miles northeast of Birmingham, ai d midway between Gadsden, a growing and prosperous town of ten to twelve thousand inhabitants, and Attalla, a town with a population of twenty five hundred. The three towns are within a very few miles of each other, connected by four railways, and by an electric rail way, with cars running every thirty minutes. The Alabama City plant is modern in every respect. It is equipped with 65,- 000 spindles, 2000 looms, and is oper ated by steam-power, Corliss engines of 3000-horse power being used. The com pany owns its electric lighting plant, and also the water plant for mill and village. Twelve hundred operatives are * Vdß mtCTBSw W 1 Wm», W >;.S ® 4 .. ■_. ; I I w w* gag iM I ■ employed in the mill, and the village contains a population of 3.500. All these facts are true of many other industries, but the Dwight Manufactur ing Company is unique in its policy of liberal provision for the welfare, com fort and pleasure of its operatives. Some ten or twelve years ago, in seek ing a site for this plant, a large, level tract was selected, covered with a virgin forest of oak, and sheltered on the north by Lookout Mountain. In the construc tion of the village, not a tree was un necessarily destroyed, and as a result, to-day there is not a street unsheltered from the sun in summer, not a cottage that does not boast its shady lawn. The two lakes in the heart of the town, fed by mountain streams, are tree-bor dered,with grassy banks, and the park— despite its dancing pavilion and rustic seats—is a woodland scene in itself. In fact, the village presents more the ap- MMMA @DTYo Along the Lake, Alabama City. An Attractive Walk, Alabama City. pearance of a pleasant summer resort than that of a mill town. Os the three or four hundred cottages there are no two alike, no dreary mo notony of cheap tenements, but beauti ful little homes of from three to six rooms, on lots seventy-five feet front by one hundred and seventy-five feet back. Room for flower gardens and vegeta bles; room even for a great number of the mill workers to keep cows. There are thousands of acres of free mountain pastures on which grass grows luxuri ously for eight months of the year. The Alabama City people do not deprive themselves of the luxury of fresh milk and butter daily, and it is a common sight to see droves of well-kept cows re turning in late afternoon from the mountain ranges. People who come from other mills to Alabama City are amazed at the advantages, even luxu ries, enjoyed at so little expense by the people of this unusual village. The attractive and comfortable houses have three-ply walls, making them warm in winter and cool in summer. The rooms are w’ainscoted up four feet, the remainder of the walls being plas tered and tinted with kalsomine. All of these cottages belong to the mill, and are rented at one dollar per month per room. The streets have stone gutters, are broad and level, and are lighted by electricity. The domestic life of the mill workers is made pleasant and wholesome by good homes, good churches, good schools, and good wages. No intoxicating liquors are allowed to be sold in Alabama City, con sequently there are no habitual drunk ards. Here, a mill hand may bring up his children in a clean, wholesome at mosphere, making good and useful citizens of them. There is a flourishing Baptist Church, with large membership and a regular minister. There is also a beautiful Union Church which is used by other denominations—Episcopalian®, Presby terians, and Methodists all holding ser vices here. The Company contributes very generously to the support of the ministers, besides furnishing each, rent free, a comfortable six-room residence. The education of the children is lib erally provided for. There is a modern public school building, well heated, well Woman’s Work. An Id?al Mill Village. afternoon holidays. Among the men of Alabama City, there are Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Red Men Juniors, etc. Each order has a separate property-room in a large building which contains a lodge room 25 by 65 feet, and also a smoking room, toilet, and large ante-room. There is a splendid town hall in which lyceum entertainments are given throughout the season, also a bowling alley, and a club room free to all the mill people. One of the most beautiful buildings in the village is the Howard Gardner Nichols Memorial Library. Mr. Nich ols, a son of one of the large stock holders, undertook the building of this mill and village in 1895, when he had just graduated from Harvard. Full of enthusiasm and energy, young Nichols did not confine his efforts to mere super intendence, but lent a willing hand wherever his services could be of use. It was in an act of this kind that he was caught under a piece of heavy falling machinery, and received injuries from which he died. Since then his father erected to his memory the beautiful library which bears his name. This building is of pressed brick, with marble trimmings, and is set in a fresh, green park, beautiful with flowers and lighted, well ventilated, and equipped with modern furniture and excellent teachers. This school has not even an incidental fee, being absolutely free. Amusements and recreations are also provided for old and young. There is a modern natatorium on the bank of one of the lakes, where women and child'en may learn to swim in water graded from two to five feet deep. The bathing houses contain forty-five dressing rooms, with hooks, racks and comfortable seats. Baths are free to the mill people, and frequently in summer time one may see one hundred or more swimming in their neat bathing suits, a Tera day’s work in the mill. The park, another place of frequent resort, is well kept and attractive, with its beautiful trees close-cut grass, dauc ing pavilion, rustic seats, and swings for children. The Mitchell Cornet Baud, equipped with handsome instruments and uniforms, gives free concerts every Thursday evening at the band pavilion on the lake, and on Sunday afternoons sacred concerts are given in the park. In addition, there are large base ball grounds for the boys, who take great pleasure in this sport on their Saturday a JI M Wi [H ’III L fc ■ sjJI ”* **“ ** rlr ‘if if i . I b I r MM—■ View in Howard Gardner Nichols Memorial Library. ■ . i-• •' ■■ • ’ • h ' . ; . • ■ ■ -•• ■ . 4 {•WP? * Main Factory, Alabama City. shrubbery. There is a paid librarian who keeps the library open every eve ning from seven to nine, and from one to three o’clock on Sundays. A profuse supply of papers, magazines and good books are thus of free access to all the mill people. In regard to the mill rooms, they are well lighted and ventilated, ami thor oughly sanitary. The ventilating sys tem blows cool air into the mill in sum mer, and warm air in winter In sum mer a ton of ice is supplied free every daj- for drinking water in the mill. The operatives are paid off every two weeks in cash, and they trade where they like, there being no commissary run in con nection with the mill. On Saturdays the mill is stopped at 12:30 o’clock giving the operatives half h diday. No city license is charged on country produce, and the mill people get the benefit of low prices on eggs, chick ens, vegetables, etc., brought in by the farmers. In addition to these advantages, the climate is mild and healthful, the mountain air bracing, and within one half mile of the factory there are fine springs of sulphur, lime aud chalybeate water. In fact, taken from every view point-working, educational, moral and social—the conditions of life in Ala bama City are most remarkable for their ease and attractiveness. And yet there are no drones. An air of hustling activity pervades the whole town. Au immense business is done, and large profits are made. The mill owners of the Dwight Company are no less prosperous because of their expen ditures in behalf of their hundreds of employees. In this utilitarian day it is not often that we find the golden thread of loving consideration for humanity woven into the history of a great manu facturing industry. Young Gardner Nichols had cherished many plans for the construction of a model village in which the mill people could be happy and contented, and, since his untimely death, these plans have been conscientiously worked out, as he had intended—every feature of the village bearing testimony to his gener ous heart and high ideals. That Alabama City is to-day the most beautiful mill village in the South, pos sibly in the whole country, is simply the fruition of plans to which he devoted so much thought and energy, and in the accomplishment of which he finally lost his life. Mathilde Bilbro. MA Y, 1909.