With the good railroad connections that we have with such points as Louisville, Cincinnati and Chicago, and advantage in rates by being two hundred miles nearer to these markets than the Gulf coast, the Montgomery gardener is favorably situated to make his business successful.
LUMBER AND TIMBER TRADE OF MONTGOMERY.
Montgomery is favorably located for being one of the largest lumber marts in the South, owing to her close proximity to the immense body of long leaf pine in South Alabama, which, with good rail connections in operation and in course of construction, will enable her to control any amount of splendid yellow pine lumber for manufacturing into sash, doors, blinds, etc. On all the rivers and streams in this section abound hard woods of every kind, suitable for manufacture into furniture, wagons, tool handles and for every variety of wood working. These can be laid down in Montgomery at such a low cost that she is destined to become a great center for wood working establishments.
COTTON FACTORIES.
As a financial investment, cotton mills in the South, under proper management, offer as good promise of dividends on capital invested as any industry or branch of business. The average profits from cotton mills South, for years have been fully equal to those of other business, and in many instances, far greater. In selecting a site for a mill, there are localities that offer greater inducements for such an enterprise than others, and among those cities that offer the greatest attractions is Montgomery. We believe a careful review of her facilities will convince capitalists that she is the most available city in the South for operating a cotton mill, and that she must become sooner or later the center for cotton manufacture. In counting the cost of a plant, the question of a site would not have to be considered, as a good railroad site will be donated by either the Riverside or the Highland Park Company. Building material, and skilled and unskilled labor required to convert it into mill buildings, can be secured at a very reasonable rate. The proximity of the city to the Alabama coal fields settles all questions as to the cost of fuel for power. Coal at a little over $2 per ton affords power to propel a cotton mill, which under the ordinary natural conditions attached to water power, makes it impossible to compete with steam. The city is a trade center for the distribution of large quantities of staple goods of every kind over a large territory, which in turn supplies her with the raw material, and in such quantities that she enjoys great prominence as a cotton market. The supply of cotton for the mills could be readily obtained, and many of the goods produced would find a ready home market, while the competing lines of railway and the Alabama river insure low freight rates for the products and for all material and supplies used in building and running a mill.
Fully 80 per cent. of the operatives of a cotton mill are females and minors, and Montgomery has a large class of this population who are now practically without employment, the majority of the industries now in operation here being unsuitable for such labor. In many families the adult males are compelled to support by their labors the remaining members of their households, owing to the difficulty of the class mentioned above finding suitable and profitable employment. For this, at present, surplus labor, there is no fixed value. It seeks employment wherever there is an opportunity, and is satisfied with very moderate pay. Should a cotton mill be built in Montgomery, an ample supply of this labor would be certain to volunteer before the completion of the building.
