Newspaper Page Text
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THE SUNNY SOUTH.
THIRD 'PAGE
JULY9, 1904
Commercial Montgomery Makes Large
^Strides Toward Municipal Greatness
Sunny South’s Southern Municipal Series
New Mabson Hotel.
Merchants and Planters’—Farley National Bank.
Exchange Hotel. " Moses Building.
COURT HOUSE SQUARE, THE HEART OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT OF MONTGOMERY. HERE IN THE EARLY DAYS, IN THE CENTER OF THE SQUARE, STOOD THE COUN
TY COURT HOUSE. A BEAUTIFUL FOUNTAIN NOW OCCUPIES THE SITE. THE VIEW IS LOOKING NORTHWEST DOWN COMMERCE STREET. THE EXCHANGE
HOTEL IS ONE OF THE HISTORIC BUILDINGS OF THE CITY.
By MARIE BANKHEAD OWEN.
w—Wr- for Sunny South
HERE are five good
rsr
■ output of 180.000 brick, which find a operand! of this oil-making- enterprise i
ready market in the city of Montgomery I may not fail to interest those thou- '
rea
son why Montgomery is
growing industraily:
First, the Alabama riv
er, which is navigable the
year around from this
point (where bills of lading
are ino'e frrr any point fn development,
the world) to Mobile bay,
insures reasonable freight
confidence in
its surplus at
rates.
Second, being surrounded
by tile fertile black belt it
is the beneficiary of agri
cultural prosperity.
Third, local capital ha:
its future and is investing
home.
Fourth, foreign capital, which always
puts its coin in dividend paying quarters,
is proving its faith in Montgomery by
Its works.
Fifth. The plentiful supply of raw ma
terial. intelligent and ample labor, salu
brious climate, health giving water ana
favorable laws granting tax exemptions
on new industries for a number of years.
A summary of a few of the leading
Industries will give an idea of their scope.
There are three cotton oil mills here, hav
ing a total investment in plants of nearly
a half million dollars, and giving em
ployment to five hundred men. Another
oil mill is in prospect, with a grist mill
adjunct, which will add $125,000 to the
total, and give employment to over a
hundred men.
THE TEXTILE FACTORIES.
There are two textile factories here, in
which are invested S400.000. giving em
ployment to 500 operatives, running 16.-
000 spindles and 470 lor-.-.s. A cordage
factory represents an additional $40,000.
and is operated by state" convict labor.
The Montgomery brewery, established at
a cost of $240,000. employs 125 men.
Tie Kohn Distilling Company and two
separately organized bottling works rep
resent atygther handsome sum.
The value of the red clay about the city
has already been appreciated by onter-
priring citizens and four prosperous brick
plants are in active operation, repre-
and Its vicinity. Tills one fact is in itself
q, gauge of Montgomery's building growth.
There are a nuaiher of ginneries here.
The three cotton compress companies
represent over a quarter of a million dol
lars, employing 200 men and a daily ca
pacity of 3.000 hales of cotton.
The lumber business here, as in tile
entire south. Is just coming into its full
Jntiguous to tin's point
are to be found hickory, poplar, ash,
sweetgum. cottonwood, elm. sycamore,
beech. Cyprus and pine. Already a num
ber of hardwood and veneering factories
are in operation here, as well as cooper
age plants, making headings, hand!/’ and
baskets ,>J ail kinds, factories for turning
out sash, doors and blinds, and planing
mills, of course, whose plants represent
a total of half a million dollars, giving
employment to a thousand men and hav
ing markets all over the worst.
Here are also several establishments
devoted to carriage building, represent
ing a iiand-ome aggregate of local cap
ital.
The adjacent coal and iron district has a
generous patronage 'from Montgomery
foundries, boiler work* nr.a r -.nv.
shops, enterprises of great promise to the
local capital which founded them.
The ice factories are numerous an.l
prosperous, ;is well as cold storage estab
lishments.
Here are also a number of candy fac
tories .me of which has a hundred em
ployees.
Among the lesser industries, of which
there are a hundred and fifty not in
cluded in those already particularized,
may be mentioned cracker factories,
broom factories and an evaporating en-
terprijg-s.
la Montgomery is located the largest
of the twelve oil mills
district belonging to tli
Oil C >mpany, which
posed principally of
holders, the nephew
being president. The company lias also
forty ginneries jn the Alabama district
from which the seed in part supply
the oii mills. The Montgomery plant
represents an investment of nearly $200,-
000, and employs 200 men.
It is situated among a great number
of industrial establishments and railroad
sands of people who grow cotton and
|consume the numerous compounds made
from the oil as well as the other by
products of the mill. From the car shed
beside the plant where the cars are
sidetracked, the seed are hoisted and
distributed by means of cup-elevators
and distributing conveyors. The first
step after localization is delinimis the j
seed. This cotton or "linters,” when j
baled is put in the ware house of the j
plant, and becomes the first marketable
item of tliis manifold industry. 3 lie j
seed are then run through a hopper
equipped with rollers and blunt-edged
knives, where the rapidly revolving ma- j
cliinery crushes the hulls in such wise. ,
that when thrown into perforated sift
ers called “separating tables" or “shak
ers.'' the kernel passes below and the
'husks are thrown aside and become
“hulls" for cow food, or article No,
2 ready for tile market.
EXTRACTING THE OIL.
The kernel, or, to speak technically, the
' “meat'' is then run through powerful
rollers and comes out in sheets as thin
as paper. It is then put in steamers
and cooked with a .212 temperature, i
From the heater the meat goes into
press cloths, and thence into the oil put a r- i ■
press, where, under a hydraulic press- remains
ure of 4.000 pounds, the oil is
extracted. The cake is laid on
scraping tallies or “cake strippers,
an.l from there it goes into a
dbk-eqtiipp'd pulverizer, where the cot
ton seed m* al is manufactured, automat
ically weighed into 100-pound sacks.
:,im1 now is become article No. 3 of
the by-products. The crude oii. the
e lor of red claret wine, goes through
the old Exchange hotel gives place to a
modern, up to elate successor, Montgom
ery will become a winter resort for a
great number of ihese tourists. Inade
quate hotel accommodations have been
one oi the main deterrents to the city’s
advancement. That defect is soon to \i
overcome by the investment of local cap
ital in the proposed new hotel, the name
for which j* giving the non stockholding
citizens numerous “Ideas,” and great
pains. “Hotel Historic,” “The Exchange,”
ftlie present cognomen), “Ecupchatte,”
the old Indian villn.g#. the city’s pre
decessor, are among; some of tile most
plausible-suggestions. The stockholders
have reserved their views until the chris
tening occasion. The modern power util
ity known as “nlagnlcs.” has been adopt
ed for the motive power with which to
generate the electricity that supplies the
i city’s lights, street cars, and a number
! o£ Industries. Tl«e Tallasee Falte. and a
dam across the Tallapoosa river, thirty
miles from the city, creates the current,
having five thousand horse power con
veyed to the city by copper cables.
f'otton and corn are grown on the
black prairie lands around Montgomery,
wlille the red land with clay subsoil ts
used extensively for numerous truck
farms and orchards supplying the local
market. The third kind of soil, the pine
lands denuded of their forestry, when
properly fertilized, produce almost any
kind of crop. The river bottoms and
lowlands contiguous to the several creeks
near the city furnish pasturage for
stock an Item of industry rapidly de
veloping In dairy farms and grazing pas
turage. for cattle intended for the .'-laugh
ter pen.
A prospective investor will find Mont
gomery a favorable site from every point
of view, for while the material advan
tages have been somewhat stressed In
these lines, the intellectual, philanthro
pic and religious life of the city are
equally as noteworthy.
HOSPITAL AND CHURCHES.
St. Margarets, the handsome and ex
cellently appointed Catholic hospital,
erected at a cost of a hundred and fifty
thousand dollars, is conducted by the
Sisters of Charity, while the city infirm
ary, a free hospital, doing a wonderful
I Christian kindness among the destitute
and suffering, is maintained and con-
I ducted through the heroic efforts of a
zealous band of young Protestant wo
men and girls under the organic title of
the “Infirmary Aid.” The annual "Don-
nebrook fair,” which these young women
hold for a week each spring, is Mont
gomery's social affair par excellence. It
is inaugurated with a bal poudre. which
the beaux and belles of Pirmtngham and
Mobile attend in numbers.
The public schools of Montgomery are
patronized by all sorts and conditions or
citizens, the child of the humblest fruit
vender having equal opportunity for life's
educational equipment with the sons and
daughters of the most affluent capital
ists. There are also a number of pri
vate schools for giris and also for boys,
whose certificates admit holders to the
great eastern colleges without examina
tion; business colleges whose alumni go
into responsible positions by the score.
There are in Montgomery musicians and
artists of a wide sphere »? reputs.t’CtV-
The beautiful Carnegie library tjas —-
May 2d thrown open to the public ana
is meeting universal approval under the
modem library methods t^ith which it
is administered. This library cost $50.-
000, and is to be maintained by the
city at a cost of $5,000 per annum.
The social life of Montgomery bears
the hall-mark of gracious security. The
patriotic societies of the Colonial Dame.-,
Daughters of the American Revolution.
Ladies' Memorial Association, and Daugh
ters of the Confederacy have each flour
ishing chapters here. The society of the.
Sons of the Revolution in Alabama har
recently removed its headquarters to thv
place.
Possibly the club organization with its
dual functions of social and intellectual
exchanges is the most popular social
vehicle. The half dozen women’s clubs,
three stag clubs and one authors club
have about annihilated the old custom oi
Individual social exchanges, and the
questionably convenient “day Rt homo
In addition to the strictly social clubs
mentioned the city is wellnigbt top-heavy
with military, fraternal and social clubs,
many of which have luxurious homes.
The Masonic temple, state headquar
ters for that order, is an imposing struc
ture, built of yellow brick.
The Elks own the beautiful old Murphy
homestead, and the Beauvoir Club owns
the equally handsome ante-bellum home
stead of the Knox family.
The Standard Club, a Jewish organiza
tion, during the past season moved into
Its imposing and spacious new home on
the corner of Montgomery and Moulton
streets.
The religious organizations have either
recently built handsome new edifices or
are planning to do so. or improve their
present possessions. It was proposed
within the past week from the pulpit
of St. John, that that church ought to
he located in a suitable uptown section
Allis historic old Gothic building of sand
stone, with its beautiful stained glass
windows and immovable associations,
must eventually yield to iconoclastic ex
pediency.
Montgomery has an historic past, a
prosperous present and a future of limit
less possibilities.
Men Who Trade in Death
PI
mi*
N Jamaica, the most beau- bred in a rotting hitter cassava. These
tiful of the TVest Indian were dried and then reduced to p-wder.
Islands, there slumbers be- His confession revealed the fact that
neath the smiling exterior dmong his clients were numbered several
of the most respected planters of the
island. He had a large collection of jew
elry and watches, all given him, he as
serted, in payments for obeahs and pois
ons.
Equally dreaded with the ob'-ahmen aid
th» “mial people.” or the “fan-eyed.-
The mialman is believed to injure his
own op his clients' enemies hm depriving
them of their shadows. It is believed
the shadow of anyone is tak< n
Court House of Montgomery, Aia.
of things a volcano of
dark superstition and sav
age fanaticism, which oc
casionally becomes active
with deadly results. The
high priest of Obi, or the
obeahman, as he is more
commonly called, wields a
power in the land that the
stringent measures adopt- that one
cd against “him by the’ British govern
ment have been unable to put down.
0*0 may rend in the Jamaica papers
five separata
trainer cloths. This is invested $300,000 1
for the purpose of
he can never he healthy, and in tie- event
of his falling to recover it j he must in
evitably pine away and die. >The shadow
, j. r ,, when taken is supnosed to talSlSs' 1 " Vv *
tuite frequently of the Imprisonment, habitation in the giant cotton
and. where trump
in the Ai.ib.’tmu
aoing rrndy for
its p.i rticuiar m:
Southern Cotton
iHM-oinos ;irticlo X
i). 4. The Mi.ntgt
ompiiny Is corn-
mill is th«! only
one in the Ain
northern stock-
district belonging
to the Southern
f J. I’. .Morgan
tun <>il Company
equipped with a
renting an aggregate Investment of near- j shops, whose smokestacks have given
ly a hundred thousand dollars, employing this part of north Montgomery the fip-
a total of 200 men and averaging n dally \ pellatlon of “Vesuvius.” The modus
and
rerm-
Tho crude oil is run into a tank which
j- furnished insid* with coils of steam
pipes. Into a given quantity of crude
oil a given proportion of liquified caus
tic soda is poured. After tliis mixture
becomes heated to a required point,
which is ascertained witli thermometers,
it is left standing for twenty-four hours,
nfter which time the top is pumped off
and clarified by passing through thir-
■, a fifth article. There still
the sediment of the refinery
tank Which is sold to manufacturers for
“soap stock."
Inside the mill are three huge tanks
holding each twenty-five thousand gal
lons. In the yard is one hold ins
gallons, another holding 2C0.000
and two more with a 75.000
each.
Tile season embraces about live months,
during which time the daily output
amounts to from $20,000 to $30,000. Tee
York
sales are r
agent, and t
the states. .
The cotton oil compar
to $15 per ton for cott
farmer practically “thr
a half dollars worth <
every ton of seed is a
■ of lint which the o/i
’’linters.'’
Despite the short staple it is sold at
cents a pound.-for the German market
where if. is spun into yarns and manu
factnred into hats.
The Virginia-Carolina. Chemical Com
pany, employing two hundred men, lit
niiinuf
phatos.
The Alabama Phosphate Company is
erecting a tremendous establishment here
at a cost of a half million dollars. The
economic argument for I ills class of en-
tiiis point is that the local
consumption of product makes a big
freight saving between the row material
and the finished article.
The same economic reason, local market
for finished product, will cause a large
number of cotton factories to remain in
the east, despite the fact that rhe new
ones are being built in the cotton pro
ducing centers.
ho gianf. cott
los- Of some member of the deadly £ ^ ^
I 00.000 11 rprist
'a lions,
»paoity
fifty pounds
regins with
proved, the
turing fertilizers and acid
brotherhood of Ob
The practice of oheah is said to have
fi"st arisen in Egypt, taking its name from
1 he idol t lb. From t here it spread over
the whole continent of Africa, and with
the importation of slaves from the Guinea
coast to the West Indies was transplant-
(.’■* to a soil in which it flourishes with
ever-increasing virulence. The old plant
ers were well aware of the deadly char
acter of the obeanman, and, as it was
supposed that he carried his magic, or
oheah, under his hair, all slav
sliaved before* being landed.
One of the most noted men of Jamaica,
Judge Joseph Hurlhurt. in sentencing an
obeahman convicted of the poisoning ot
an entire family, to death recently, said;
“It is my belief that a special statute
should be put into effect against this
baleful practice. I do not doubt that
many men quite as dangerous as this pris-
■ >■ ,„ - , are at large today. Oheah is the chanting:
r s t a _ most serious problem the modern West In- I
dies have to face. No man can he said
to be safe from sudden death until tin's !
tiling is stamped out by the most strin
gent measures.”
Outwardly there is nothing to distln- !
g’tish the obeahman from the ordinary j
villager, unless It is perhaps his sinster i
look and peculiar slouching gait. as. car
rying in one hand a long stick and in i
the other a cotton bag containing bits of (
broken bottles, eats’ or dogs' teeth, nails,
bones, pins, bits of cloth, etc., he shuffles
along the country roads or back trails
on some deadly mission. Besides his
nlargements will most likely as- | morP sinster trade of death t*ie obeah-
form of wings on either side | m3n deals in love philters and charms.
It is, too, a well known fact that in cases
of lawsuit an obeahman is retained as
well as a lawyer. T’suaily he "works’*
at home on the case; but occasionally he
accompanies "nls client to court for the
purpose of casting spells on the prose
cutor and his witnesses and influencing
the judge and jury.
Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Ala., Looking East, with the State Capitol Crowning the Hill In the Background. Principal Retail Street of the City.
The Atlanti” Coast Line, the Louisville
and Nashville railroad, the Mobile and
Ohio railroad, and the Western Railway
i.7 ATTah7Ti.i have shops here, giving em
ployment to over a thousand mechanics,
and well nigh three hundred men in
their transportation departments. There
are fifty passenger trains released and re
ceived daily at the union passenger
tion. which was erected a few years ago
at a cost of a quarter of a million dol
lars. The fast mail service and cannon
bull trains leading directly to the gulf,
the Atlantic coast and all points, putting
Montgomery in rapid transit communica
tion with the wo rid, giving it unequalled
railroad facilities.
Tile state house crowning the historic
eapito] Hill is soon to he enlarged and
greatly improved, although the authori
ties arc determined that the present
building ziiall in no wise be molested.
The enlargements will most likely
sume
with porticos supported by gothic col
umns to conform to the central build- i
big.
The federal government building on
Dexter avenue is also being enlarged to ;
meet the requirements of the federal
court, and other federal utilities housed
in tliis building. The Advertiser, the 1
leading morning daily of middle Alabama,
has recently built and newly equipped
a $50,000 plant. Few newspapers in the
south are so handsomely provided with
all modern appliances of the craft as is
The Advertiser, whose entire three story
building is ramified with its own offi- ;
ees. presses and operatives. There are
two afternoon papers here also, both of
which are prospering.
There are two publishing houses and
a number of printing establishments In
Montgomery.
The Alabama Rankers' Association lias
just held Its annual meeting ip Mont- i
gomerv arid elected Mr. Bonis B. Farley, i
a young banker of this city, president
for the ensuing year. Here there are five
l urks with a. total capitalization of SI.- |
-Tafl.OOO.
POSTAL RECEIPTS INCREASE.
The postoffice receipts for 1903 were
£84.960.15, an increase over 19C2 of $6.-
805.90.
Montgomery Ss the healthiest place in
the south having 50.000 inhabitants. Mor
tality rate, 12.3. Is surpassed by only ten
e.ther cities of like population in the
United Slates, those ten being located on
the Pacific slope and the middle west.
While the equlble climate, the thermom
eter in winter going below zero only
onee In its history, and the summers
tempered by the gtlf breeze, is one rea
son for this’ sii'endid shoving, the ar
tesian weil water Is the chief factor.
These wells, seventeen in number, vary
ing in depth from 250 to 650 feet, have
a combined capacity of five million gal
Ions per day. When analyzed chemically
the water shows that it is composed of
salts and calcium sulphates, calcium ear-'
bonates, magnesia and sodium. Many
northern tourists, bound for the furthe-
south, .stopping in Montgomery for a
day’s visit to its historic spots, have
tarried through the entire winter on
account of this crystal clear, health giv
ing water.
It is confidentially believed that when
sac
rifice;: are offered at its roots to appease
the wrath of the “duppies’’ or evil spir-
So great is the Jamaican venera
tion for the cotton tree that r.~re •■= rm-.-er
cut down, it being the belief that in
such a ease "the deaths” dwelling in
Its huttresslike roots, would enter the nx-
wielder’s soul.
The ceremony of recovering the “taken”
shadow is very curious. Tim “shadow
catchers’’ are known as “angel men.”
They charge exorbitant prices for their
work and are the aristocracy of their
profession. The person desirous of re
gaining hts shadow must neither drink
nor smoke for several weeks.
CHANT OF THE “ANGEL MEN.”
When he is declared “fit” by the “an
gel man.” the whole village troops to the
nearest cotton tree, and. forming a ring,
dances about the “worker” and his client.
“Lord, have mercy, oh I
Chris* have mercy, oh!
OheaTT pain hot. oh!
Lord we come fe (for) prill he. oh!
A no v#e put he oh!
A pirit tek he. oh!
An* we came fe pull he. oh!
Shadow, you fadder want you. oh!
Bwoy, you fadder want you. oh’
Rwov. vour muddor want you. oh!”
CULTIVATING DEADLY PLANTS.
Faster and faster the ring circles till
many fall exhausted. When the “angel
man” concludes things have gone far
enough he gives the signal to stop and do-
clrvoiF his client restored to health. Then
the cotton tree is pelted with eggs and
newly killed ehirkens placed .at its roots
to compensate “the deaths” for the lo-s
of their shadow
A most curious test is still applied in
the ease of a death in whi *h obeah is sup-
po-ed to have played a part. A member
of the funeral party carries the lid of
the deceased's coffin on his head while he
dances through the village singing or
howling a mournful dirge, in which every
Tile obeahman la well versed in all the minute circumstance of the late lament-
vegetable poisons of. the island, and some- ed’s life is recited. It was supposed that
timt« cultit ates in some remote valley in the coffin lid would impel its hearer to
the mountains a pateli of deadly plants.
He knows that the presence of vegetable as
poison .is much harder to detect than that to
of mineral. One of his favorite methods
of poisoning, which is dfctholieal In its
the guilty person, who was regarded not
murderer, but a personage entitled
onsidcratfon and respect. a full-
fledged obeahman.
However childish the obeahman and
ingenuity, is to soak the undergarments his devices may qpnear to the enligMen-
of an intended victim in a strong de- ed American reader, lie is a very real and
eoction of poisonous herbs. The poison very serious menace in the West Indies.
is of course absorbed by the perspiring
body of the owner of the "doctored" -nr-
ments and his mysterious death soon fol
lows.
A -notorious ohenhman named Ebenezer
Shelley, who was recently executed al
Mkmtego bay, confessed to employing
this means of ridding his clients of their
|enemie t s. He also revealed a curious se
cret of his craft. His most deadly poison.
With a compound of the fine fur front
the inside of the bamboo he inoculates
his white enemies wit It the seeds of tu-
becculasls. With ground glass placed in
their food he prepares the way for an
agonizing death. So .skillfully does he
work that the victim, while conscious of
feeling ill. does not realize till too late
that he has incurred some servant's hat
red for some probably fancied ’njury and
j fit* said, was compounded from maggots that the obeahman has been t 'led in.
$21,00 PRICE EXPLAINED
FOR $21.00 TO $23.00!$r4.ooV$i7m
TOP BUGGIES.almllar leant Illustrated. SURREYS at
HAVE BEEN WIDELY ADVERTISED.I$34.,QQ 10 $38.00.
HOW BUOOIKS can fee after** at these prices and why wo ran
•ell buggleB and all other vehicles at much lower prices than any
other house Is all fullv explained in our Faur Rim Free Yehicte
Catalogues. Cot this ad. out and send to u- *
you will rereive hr return mail. Free. Postpaid
Four Big Vehicle Catalogues showing the mos#
complete line of everything In Budgie*. Road
Wsgony, Carts, Surreys, Phaetons, Carriages,
Light and Heavy Wagons, Vehicles of all kinds,
also everything in Harness, Saddles and Sad
dlery, all shown in large handsome halftone
illustrations.fell Ifierlptlou mmd all prlcrdatprlcN
aiaeli lower thaa any other ban* caa possibly ar.k«.
WITH THE fOUR FREE CATA-
I AfillCC fau will racalve «tia moat aaton-
LUUUE* Ishlnt Bum? Oflar aver Itcard of.
anew and astonlahioz proportion. How pf-hora
can offer top baggies at ttl.OO ti UN and why wo caa sell at much lower prices than all other, will be
folly explained. We will explain why we ehlp so as to make frrlgt ‘ —
We will explain why we are the only makers or dealers In the wortd th
-TOUT order. OUR FREE J-RIAL OfPt* OUR RAY APYER RECEIVED
IStE* ARE ALL EXPLAINED WHEN' WE SENI
HAVE YOU AMY USE FOR A BU66Y?
icb lower prices than an otnera win do
dffht chargee amount to next to nothin;?,
that can ship buggies the day we receive
IEIVED TERM. OUR RlNOlNO GUAR-
* WWW A HlWIa Was Bw -VwR rS I srn»n HKVwIVKw V KHMW* WH WlWWIIatP w wmn
EXPLAINED WHEN WE SEND YOU THE FOUR FREE CATALOOUES.
If yea here, den t fall ts cat this ad. eat Wdar and mall
teas. Ilyea can't aaa A TOP SUOOY AT AHY PRICE.
call roar neighbor's attention to this announcement. Don’t bny any kind of a buggy until after you
cot this ad. out and tend to na and get THE POUR RIO FREE CATALOOUES. THE HOST LIBERAL
^,^Vr^^7^M“wrTr; r T^‘ SEARS, ROEBUCK ft CO., CHICACO. ILL.