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i 4 IIIL. t L-WWH VOLUME XLIII—NUMBER FOUR. Atlanta, Ga., Week Ending March 25, 1905. 50c PZff YEAR—SINGLE COPY 5c. 8 | Wilming'ton, N. C., Fourth American Cotton Port; j I i? ^ ^ How tHe Staple Is Handled for Export ^ f ^ j By G. W. BRUNSON, JR. Written for 6/7ff Sunny South HE average American has has some Idea of the amount of cotton that is shipped to foreign countries each year. He knows that V# the south raises enough -JlL. cotton to supply the €9B iia» world’s demand. He knows ’Sr that cotton is shipped from / j{ a number at American yak ports, chiefly in the south. .if on freight or “tramp” steamers, as they are call ed. Those of us living in the south know the full process of culti vating cotton, from the time the seed is planted until it is packed in bales ready for market. We are familiar with the bursting of the sprout through the earth, the cream and pink blooms, the form, the boll and the open cotton are all famihai. The picking process is known to aTT, as is the ginning, pressing and hauling to mar ket. But how many people are there who know anything about the preparation of cotton for foreign export, except in a limited and vague way? Comparatively few. To those who have never seen a bale of cotton compressed and hauled oyer the side of a ship and lowered into the great hold this article is intended to be of in terest. and perhaps Instructive. Wilmington ranks fourth among Amer ican ports in exporting cotton, Galveston, New Orleans and Savannah ranking this port in the order, named. In Wilmington i wo distinct compress plants are located— the Champion Compresses and Ware House Company and the Wilmington Compress and White House Company, The former is the most important and com plete in its equipment of any in the world. It was founded in 1866 by the well-known lirm of Alexander Sprunt & Son, who owns and operates it to the present day. The senior member of the firm died in 1884. but the enterprise Has been ever since continued by his sons. James and William H. Sprunt. without - change of title. The firm is among the largest exporters in the w’orld, shipping cotton from this port to Liverpool, Bremen, Ghent and other European cities. They have agencies in various places abroad, and their own offices and staff at Liverpool, Ghent and Bremen, in this country they have an army of buyers scattered all over the Carolinas. Georgia and, in fact, throughout the cotton grow ing belt. All tho staple bought by the firm is shipped to Wilmington and ex ported from here. Last year the firm bought over 320,000 bales, and the whole of that amount was shipped to f Europe. Already this cotton year they have .bought more than a quarter of a million bales, and most of it has been sent across the Atlantic to England and the continent. The value of the cotton exported by the Sprunts during the year ending. August 31. 1904. approximated S20.000.000. STEAMSHIP PIONEERS. Alexander Sprunt & Son W’ere the pioneers of the steam foreign trade of Wilmington, having chartered. Hie first steamer, the Barnesmore. in 1881. Prev ious to that time all cotton exported from tiiis port was shipped in sailing vessels. The Barnesmore's draft was 13 feet and her cargo consisted of 3.458 bales. In November of this year the same firm cleared the marnmo.th British steamship Anglo-Saxon, for Liverpool, with 17,300 bales, and the vessel went to sea drawing more than 22 feet of water.. The develop ment and growth of Wilmington as a cot ton port may be judged front this lone comparison. The firm frequently load at their compress five steamers simultaneous ly. and the present class at boats employ ed by them average a.capacity of 12,000 bales. During tiie past twenty-five years the firm has compressed several million bales of cotton. g.0-*’ 0 0 0 0 ••• 0 0 0 ••• 0 0 ••• 0 -m- 0 ■ 0 •«.9m.0u,.0 0'M-00...0.a .-o Q 0 0.«•••*.• OC# k:; Vyr- Bale of Cotton Just Before Being Placed in the Press. British Steamship Tolosa, with a Half Million Dollar Cotton Cargo, Just As She Is Leaving Port. The Messrs. Sprunt are necessarily busi ness men of gigantic proportions. They are complete masters of. their business, and every part of it is worked with won- lerful system and precision. The pro prietors are at the helm from the first to the last part of the season, and the men employed by them have only the minor parts to perform. It is an acknowledge! fact that their system of loading vessels is not equaled anywhere, and through It they have gained the reputation of storing more cotton in a given amount of space in a ship's hold than any other concern in tiie cotton exporting business. This is an important factor in their success, the util ization of every inch of space in a vessel. All that has gone before is simply in troductory to what I started out to say. The compressing plant of the firm of whom we have been speaking is the most comipieite and convenient of its kind in the United States. The ware house buildings cover two city blocks, the whole property giving 420,000 feet of floor and dock space. The storage ca pacity permits of the storing and han dling of 25,000 bales of cotton at one time. There are in operation three pow erful and most efficient compresses. They are the latest Improved character, viz.: one 2,000-ton hydraulic compress ,and two 2,000-ton direct steam - com presses. The docking and loading faciiL ' ties could not be improved upon. As has already been stated, the docks can accommodate five steamers at one time, and all five may be loaded with as much ease as one. The whole establishment is perfectly systematized, and even in times of pressure, in the height of the ship ping season, the work is carried on, as it were, automatically. No one is al- (CONTINUED ON LAST PAGE.) Wards of Fortune f East of a Series of Humorous Stories by aCO Gelett Burgess and Will Irwin • ..'•-•••-a. O'** *'*'*'*'*'***'*'*'*'***'*'*'9 **'*'"'* " jjj r l^OOTHED by the drone of the Retired Car Conductor’s ** I narrative, and wearied out I with the continuous per- — ■ formance of the night’s ad ventures, the Harvard Freshman fell asleep on the wooden bench in his cell at the Tanks; and it was not until a heavy hand was laid on his shoulder that he awoke. A bluff policeman was standing over him. “Your order for release has come, and you can go now! You and your pardner was asleep, and I clean forgot you.” The officer had a similar word for the Conductor, and led the two prisoners out into the corridor. While they were wait ing for their property to be taken from the boxes in which it had been stored, Eli Cook felt idly in his pocket and drew out a torn scrap of red paper marked with Chinese writing. “That's all they left on me when I was searched.” he said with a feeble grin. “Want it for a sourvenir of a happy evenin'? It dropped out of a Chinaman’s pocket yesterday up to Dupont street, and I picked it up.” The Freshman took it. In the same spirit of mockery, and stuffed it into his own pocket to keep company with several pawn tickets. As they went together into the street the city bells were striking 2 o’clock. The youngster mused. “I shall now en deavor to give the correct imitation of a thousand-dollar sport in the act of starv ing to death. I am wondering, in my simple Japanese way, whether that gentle Ivlondyke with my prize money in tow will ever swim into my ken again. It’s a good deal like trying to find a pet oyster in a mud flat, but TO try niy best. Angels, they say, can do no more. Selan!” With that be walked up to Gunschke’s cigar store and found the young man who had assisted at the smoking orgy of the riight before. The clerk, however, knew nothing of the IClondyker’s whereabouts, having never seen the father of the Kutakoolanat previous to the debauch. The Freshman was in a quandary. "Say, has your luclt changed yet?” the salesman asked. **Last time I heard, the curve was still rising.” ”By Jove! I had forgotten all about that.” cried Coffin. “Let’s see. I won my hundred at the wager, then I lost my thousand, more or less. In the Chinese lottery, but then I was pulled, and dropped the hundred at the Tanks. The grand psychological query is, Do I get that thou’? If I had a nickel to my name I’d put the delicate question to tiie Oracle of tiie slot and find out how 1 stand on Fortune’s Golden Rolls.” “Oh, I’ll stake you; here you are.” the salesman answered, tossing out a nickel. “I’d like to know myself. Tf you’re still winning I’ll take you out to the race track and let you do my betting.” The Freshman pushed the coin down the slot of the poker machine and jerked tiie handle. Three treys appeared behind the wire. “Bully!” cried the salesman. “Here, you draw four cigars!” “Nay, nay, Pauline!” Coffin exclaimed in disgust. “I wouldn’t eat another cigar to be crowned King of the Barbary coast! I can never endure the smell of tobacco again without being as seasick as a cat in a swing. Much obliged for your charity, but I’ll call it square for the good omen.” Irrationally cheered by the portent, James Wiswell Coffin, 3d. wandered out aimlessly and floated with the throng down toward the cheaper end of Kearney street. The cool, green, grassy square at the Old Plaza attracted him, and he entered the little park. Meanwhile, 'the plot hatched by the hero of Pago Bridge, and the deserter of the Philippines had gone forward without a •hitch. Drake and Maldslow had met Maxie at the Biograph theater and she had consented to visit Colonel ICnowlton and represent Drake as her missing hus band, that Maldslow might be safe from being recognized and apprehended by the secret service men as a deserter. Both husband and wife were affected at this meeting after so many years, and it was evident to the hero that a reconciliation would be easily arranged. Both were lonely. Maxie had worked so hard and Maldslow had lived so adventurously that the prospect of settling down to a peace ful married life attracted them equally. This was now possible if the legacy of old Max could be collected safely from the colonel. Their scheme was nothing less than conspiracy; but, after all, Maidslow, her real husband, would he the one profited, for he would receive the money. Maxie’s conscience was assuaged by this consideration. At 10:30 o’clock that morning Maxie and Drake called upon the colonel at the army headquarters and passed the ordeal successfully. The officer was too busy to spend much time in investigation, and. knowing Maxie as well as he did. it did not occur to him to suspect fraud. At any rate, the check for SI5.000, which he passed over to Admeh, made payable to Harry Maidslow, would not be cashed with:#*! proper identification, and the bank would relieve the colonel of this necessity. How Maidlslow was to cash the check was now the question. It was easily solved, at a meeting of the three-princi pals in tiie plot, by the decision that old Dietrich, the proprietor of the Biograph Theater, could identify the payee. He would undoubtedly believe Maxie's intro duction of Maidslow as her husband, at this time, at least, she would be speaking the truth. They left Admeh Drake on the sidewalk while they proceeded to this next step. The old Dutriaman was canny, how ever. “How do I know dat dis man is your huspant?” he said. “You say so, Maxie, put I nefter seen him before! See here, didn’t you say Harry Maidslow hat a tattoo mark on his arm alreatty? He hat a girl’s name, ‘Dotty,* you .tole me once. Lemme see dat mark, and I vill identify him, sure. Den I know It’s all right!” This was easily proved. Maidslow stripped up his sleeve and exhibited the tattoo mark, and old Dietrich was con vinced. He put on his hat to accompany them to the bank. Excusing himself for a moment, Maldslow slipped out and spoke to Admen Drake. “It’s all right, Drake, we’re going right down to cash the check. You get away before Dietrich sees you and gets suspicious, and I’ll meet you with the thousand dollars at Lotta’s fountain in half an hour!” Drake walked down Market street. In a few minutes he saw Maxie, Maidslow and the old Dutchman approaching. He kept out of sight while they passed him, on their way to Montgomery street, where the bank was located. Then he commenced his vigil at 'Lotta’s fountain. When Admen Drake looked up .to the clock tower above his 'head he was sur prised to see that it was already a- quar ter to 12. He had waited nearly an hour. He began to be impatient, nerv ous suspicious. Maidslow. should have returned with Maxie long before this. Something must have happened, or else— he grew frightened at the thought—they had given him the slip, and would avoid •paying him the thousand dollars as his share of the plot. He waited now with less hope. Surely, if they were coming at all, they would have returned before this. He lost interest in the passers by and watched only for the two who were to bring him his reward. Thie clock struck noon, and the throng was swelled by clerks and business men released for their lunch hour. One o’clock and the tide poured back again. Two and he grew weary with standing and sat upon the pedestal of the foun tain. Three, and he gave up all hope. The excitement which had kept him up all night relaxed. He was faint and limp from lack of food and sleep. So he. too, joined the human current and drifted along Kearney street with no set plan at action. He turned into the Old Plaza, at Ports mouth square, his eyes caught by a spar kle of light from the gilded sails of the little bronze ship on the Stevensov me morial. He walked nearer to see what It was, and as he approached he perceived a young man In a red sweater reading the inscription on the marble shaft. It was the Harvard freshman. “To be honest, to be kind.” Coffffin was reading, “to earn a little and to spend a little less, to make upon the whole a family happier for his presence”—and then he turned away with a bitter pro test in his throat, to see the hero of Pago bridge looking over his shoulder. “Pretty, ain’t it!” said Admeh Drake, and he, too, looked at the immortal quo tation from the Christmas sermon. Had It been written for him alone it could not have stung him more fiercely. “—To renounce, when that shall be nec essary, and not be embittered, to keep a few friends, but these without capitula tion-above all, on the same grim condi tion, to -keep friends with himself—here Is a task for all that a man has of fortitude and delicacy.” He turned to Coffin with despair in his eye, all that was best in him writhing a t these graven words, “Say, what the hell did that, man stick that up .here for, right where: every man that has fallen can read and eat otlt his heart?” Coffin slapped him on’the back in sym pathy, for even the- irrepressible fresh man seemed for the moment to he touch ed by the admonitory legend. But he was not one to be serious for long, and after that one swift glance into his soul, his customary spirit asserted itself. “See here,” he said, “this is the way I look at it. You can’t have good luck with your consciencce all the time, any more'n you can with your purse. Moral: cultivate your forgettery! We meet un der the shadow of the good ship Bona- venture, aforesaid ship being full of buc caneers, and sailing over a Sublime Moral Precept, by R. L. S. I doubt if he would claim he was always such an angel him self if anybody should drive up in a chariot and ask him. Lastly, my breth ren, why be phazed at a dozen lines of type? Discard your doubts and draw to the glorious flush of hope. Amen. Let’s have a drink.” They pledged each other somewhat for lornly in Spring Valley water, and then Coffin remarked: "By the way, what did you do with the dime Coffee John gave you? Made a fortune yet?” "I made a thousand dollars, but I’ve got it to get. I’ve roped her, but I can't throw her yet.” “A thou’?” Coffin exclaimed, "the devil you have! Jupiter, but that’s queer! Why, that’s my fix, precisely. I got it on the hook all right, but I could n't haul it into the boat.” Exchanging confifidences over the night's adventures, the two wandered up to the top of the sloping plaza, where the back of the Woey Sen Low restaur ant arose, three stories high, an Iron balcony projecting from each tier of windows. “Let’s come up to the chink’s Delmoni- co,” suggested the freshman. “You can get a great view of the city from up there and you don’t have to spend mon ey if you don't want to.” They wenl* round to the front entrance, ascended the stairs and filed past empty tables, gaining the balcony. As they stood gazing over San Francisco they heard steps approaching from behind and .two persons came into the nearest room. Coffin, who was standing with Drake, out of sight of the new arrivals, peeped round the corner of a porcelain lantern “It’s a woman,” he whispered. "And a peacheriooloo of the first degree, too, by Jove! Nigger or Kanacker blood, though. Let’s go through and have a look at her.” Drake assented. They entered the open doorway and passed carelessly through the r.jom. A man at the table looked up and noddfd. “Whittaker!”'said the Freshman, when they were out of sight, “the medium, as I exist! I wonder how he ever got into a friendly mix-up with that chocolate-color ed fairy. There was no heroine with raven looks in mine.” At this moment Vango appeared and stuck a dirty finger in Coffin's bottonhole. The medium’s hair was ma*»gd and stringy, his clothes wrinkled and spotted in a shocking disorder. “Come.in here,” he said. “I want to make you acquaint ed with a lady friend,” and he escorted the adventurers where the Quadroon sat, already clad in widow’s weeds. "Mrs. Moy Kip, let me introduce—Mr.”— here he hesitated, and was prompted— "Mr. Coffin and Mr. Drake. Set down, gents. This here lady has suffered a re cent sad and tragical bereavement. I was just about to console her when you pass ed by, and I hoped you might help distract her mind from gloomious thoughts and re flections. The party what has just passed out, you understand, was a Chinee, but he is now on the happy side of Jordan, in the spirit sphere, and we are some in hopes of having the pleasure of his society tonight in astral form, if the conditions is favorable.” Here he nudged the freshman under the table, and Coffin passed the hint to Drake, neither of them Knowing exactly what was expected of them. “Do you speak Chinese, madam?” In quired the freshman, at a loss how to be gin the conversation. “I've often wonder ed about these signs In here. I suppose they’re mottoes from Confucius. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind translating some.” He pointed to several long, narrow strips of colored paper which hung from the walls. “Oh, I only know a little Chinese, just about enough to read a common business letter in the Cantonese dialect,” said the quadroon. Coffin recalled tbe scrap of paper given him by the retired conductor in the Tanks, and he drew it from his pocket to show to her. The sharp black eyes of the ex-medium, sharpened by long prac tice, fastened upon it. and he darted a skinny hand. “Here you are!” he cried, excitedly to the quadroon. “I told you I’d find it, and I done it. Look at that. Mrs. Moy Kip, and see If It ain’t the very samg identical piece of paper you was a-searchin‘ for. Oh, I felt it a-comin’ just now when this CONTINUED ON LAST PAGE.