c::.acx: «ccc cc c_ v,^ ■^43^'-c:cxc-.v<3:cc:; c<3*g;-^ c^ 3cr^o C.CC. ■ic ex: C^^crC v«c ex: <:c cc:^ cc _ c^C c^, xijC. -< cf cjc <::<: caiC: • <3c:co cc. ^ <3CC «CC oC_ C^^~ CC^ - X cac^ cc <^ jgcr <::c^ ^ " xc ^^d. c^ cc ' ^.'~'cxr:' c<£.c.cc. c<"^:;< c <3:r ■ :^,:c::'C:: dc.^ <3^C^C/ " ;^^^- c:cxc:.ci:: x- ^ S ^^ X-<^XX ■< ^•rr. r^^^^ •<^^- <^-- c'<:r_ <:.xxz^/ x^:M^.. '<:i / H / FOR THE JOINT COMMITTEE Of tlie Board of Traile and the Cotton Exchange By Erwtn Ckaioiieap. Mobile Datly Register Print. 1883. Iqbile and her Trade Territory. THEEE are few cities situated so advantageously for commercial purposes as is Mobile. Like New Orleans, she sits at the gate of many rivers and many roads, facilitating the business of the in- terior country, and being paid in turn a moderate fee for the service ren- dered. Mobile river may be compared to a whip stock, and the wide- spreading tributaries, the Tombigbee, the Alabama and their branches, to the lashes. This immense whip spreads out over the whole State of Alabama, and reaches into Mississippi on the one hand and into Georgia on the other. Radiating east, north and south are four lines of railroad, all of which are sources of wealth to the Gulf City. The Louis- ville and Nashville road, that vast and ever increasing corporation, ex- tends a branch to Pensacola, and there connects with the Pensacola and Atlantic, which runs through a rich and promising country of western Florida, and brings in direct connection with this port the business of all southern and eastern Alabama. The main stem of this Louisville and Nashville runs northeast, making tributary to Mobile the fertile region lying between this city and Montgomery. Northward runs the Mobile and Ohio road, Mobile's own railroad, which commands the great trade of eastern and central Mississippi, and brings Mobile into direct connection with Cairo, Chicago, St. Louis, and other markets of the great West. Lastly, there is the Mobile and New Orleans road, running along the lovely coast of Mississippi Sound, and aiding the Mobile mer- chants in disposing of their goods to within forty miles of the metropolis ■of the South, the Crescent City, of Louisiana. Mobile always dominated this great region, but for a while, during what are termed the "dark days" of the reconstruction era, business was so disorganized and new methods were so slowly adopted, that it began to look as if the city was doomed. Rival after rival sprang into the field and divided the trade, and at length heroic measures alone could be relied upon to bring back to the Gulf City that trade and com- merce which had been hers in the old days before and just after the war. It is pleasant to add, that these heroic efforts were made. The rail- roads which, with the exception of the Mobile and Ohio, worked against Mobile, were taught that the better policy is to help build up all stations and not to work for the exclusive benefit of terminal towns only. Equal rates were established, equal rights accorded, and very soon the emis- saries of the Mobile merchants were scouring the interior country in search of custom. This is a matter of but a few years, yet so successful has been the effort that it is claimed and not contradicted, that the wholesale and general trade of Mobile is now of greater extent and value than before the war. All things considered, the victory has been one of magnificent proportions. Mobile's steamboats penetrate far into the interior : thev take and receive goods for the distance of three and four 4 . MOBILE AND HER TRADE TERRITORY. hundred miles distant, while on the rail lines shipments are made and supplies delivered into Mississippi as far west as the great father of waters, and into Florida as far east as the capital of the peninsular State. This is the work of Mobile alone and is very encouraging, but the record of progress is not complete. It remains to tell of the jiresenta- tion made last year of another seaport to the world. Not a decade ago the shore of the Gulf of Mexico had but one deep water port upon all its wide curve, and that one was in the neighboring republic of Mexico. Galveston, New Orleans, Mobile and Pensacola, were^ closed to every- thing in the shape of vessels, except coasters and very light-draught seago- ing vessels, and the expense of making shipments by sea amounted almost to an embargo upon the export trade. The National Government, how- ever, took charge of the great work of improving these barred harbors, and so well has the labor progressed that year Ijy year has come the announcement of the opening of port after port. Last year the first stage of the work in Mobile Bay was concluded. Seventeen and eigh- teen feet of water were obtained, and, immediately, the river in front of Mobile's wharves was filled with shipping. For years and years the ves- sels for Mobile anchored twenty-five miles down the bay and every bale of cotton had to be conveyed thither by the^costly process of lightering. Even the light-draught timber shii^s could not be loaded to their capacity at these wharves, and the better part of the^ cargo had to be towed the twenty-five miles before it could be put aboard. The change has been so sudden and so complete that it seems magi- cal. Full rigged ships and ocean steamers now come sailing up the bay and east out their lines to the pier heads. Business houses, the wharf lessees and owners rejoice ; the sound of the hammer and saw, the thud of the pile driver, are heard on every hand. The daily cry is, " AVe have not room enough ! More wharves! We must have more wharves ! " It is indeed a croaker who cannot see in all this the march of material pro- gress. There is no man wise enough to define the limits of Mobile's hastening prosperity. FROM THE VISITOR'S POINT OF VIEW. LE AVI N G this wharf front where even now the army of workmen is busy construetinff vast rows of piling and erecting immense barriers along the water line so that commerce may be benefitted, the visitor passes up Government street, and, turning to the right, goes along Eoyal. Here he finds the theatre on the right and the quaint old Span- ish tower of the municipal guard house on the left. In this theatre a series of the most interesting performances are given in the season. A little further on he comes to the corner of Dauphin, the principal retail street in the city. Passing still beyond, the wanderer reaches the Battle House, an ante bellum hostelrie of fame, which has long had its period of rest and has now shaken itself together again for a grand stride forward. The Battle House is now owned by a company, the majority of ■whose stock is in the hands of northern capitalists and railroad men. These men are determined to make the building complete in all of its parts and are resolved to have as popular a hotel as any in the country. The work of improvement began on the twentieth of last July and has been pushed forward until the change is thorough and in every way satisfactory. The rows of stores on the first floor, which have always been unsuitable for the transaction of retail business, owing to the lack of modern conveniences, have been renovated, supplied with tasty- fronts of plate glass doors and windows, set in massive wood work. The interior have been freshly painted and in the rear has been constructed a wide corridor into which each store opens, and through which guests of the house can easily reach the ticket offices, barber shops, furnishing goods stores, etc. Up stairs and down, inside and out, the wood work and plastering of the hotel has been scraped and painted. The carpets have been re- placed, the furniture renewed, and the service overhauled, so that every- thing is now fit for the entertainment of the best who may come there for hospitality and entertainment. The hotel in itself is very large and can accommodate such a number of people that when the harbor became closed and the railroads ran away with the greater part of Mobile's cot- ton trade, the building grew too large for the town. With the revival of Mobile's general business, however, and with the growth of the lumber trade and of truck farming, the prospect has brightened gradually but surely ; and at length to cap this happy climax, there comes a sudden and unexpected flow of Northern visitors hither— visitors who find Louisiana too damp and Florida too sandy and desert like. These discover that Mobile is the true and only tropic city in the Union, and are now coming hither in so great a crowd, that there already promises to be some difficulty ex- perienced in providing proper accommodations at this the principal hotel. Naturally where there is so much custom, there is a desire on the part of Mobile property holders to show an appreciation of the good for- tune showered upon them. The Battle House is the first to spread its wings to a new fiight, and it may be asserted that year by year it will be enlarged and improved until it will be cited by travelers as the best and most comfortable hotel in the Union. FROM THE ^VISITOR S POINT OF VIEW. 7 Of course the overflow of visitors must And houses among the green shade trees of the jewel city of the South, and there have in consequence sprung up in the last few years a number of small hotels and first class boarding houses. When the best of food and the cosiest of lodging can be had for from twenty-five to forty dollars per head, per month, the trav- elers know they have found at last the place where they can get the full value of their money. Enough has been said on this subject however. Whole pages can be filled with such information, but the object of this pamphlet is more general in its nature. The visitor must be asked to continue his morn- ing's walk. Just opposite the Battle House is the granite Customhouse of the United States. It is an imposing structure, three stories in height and of the Etruscan style of architecture. Within is the post office, the money order and registration offices, and the customs and internal revenue ofiQces, all managed by polite gentlemen and efficient officers. The third floor is mainly devoted to the United States court and the clerks rooms. After inspecting this building and noting its many beauties, the visitor goes further down the street, passes the Western Union Telegraph office, the Telephonic Exchange, the Daily Kegister building, and the Mobile Board of Trade, and then turns to the right and enters the whole- sale quarter of the city. The first place of importance is the Southern Express office ; then comes the Cotton Exchange. Here he meets the foremost men of the city, and here, as in the Booms of the Board of Trade, the visitor may find every item of commercial and industrial in- formation properly prepared and kindly furnished by the polite secretary or his equally courteous assistant. Commerce street is ever busy. It is the forum of pork, corn, bran, oats, cowpeas, potatoes and cabbage. Here the rattle of the dray is ever heard, and the chow-chow of the mighty locomotive is never quiet. Up and down this wide and spacious street may be seen the enacting of the busy scenes of commercial life. This is the centre of Mobile's wealth, of her influence and of her grandeur. We go to the right, and turn into Dauphin street. We leave behind us the steaming cotton com- presses ; we abandon to the left the long rows of stately ships which lie at the wharves receiving cotton and lumber, and march straight up the street, passing store after store, occupied by merchants whose names are household words in Mobile. We pass across Boyal— having doubled on our track. We notice the beautiful and live oak embowered Bienville Square on the right. The Athelstan club house looks down upon this beautiful spot. Around the corner is the Manasses club, an organization of older heads. There also is the venerable Bank of Mobile, an institution founded nearly seventy years ago when Mobile was an extremely small but even then a promising town, having for its rival the pretty town of Blakely on the other shore of the bay— a town of which to day nothing- whatever remains, so completely have its fortunes died away. But why protract this stroll V There are other parks, there are other clubs, there are other banks. The most noted alone are mentioned by name. The visitor will not fail to ride out Dauphin way and, returning, come down the whole length of Government street. He can be prom- ised a view which is uniciue. Nothing like it exists in this country. AGRICULTURALLY SPEAKING, IT would be a pleasant experience but require much valuable time to go further in the tour of the city. There is much to see in the way of public parks, private gardens, smooth, well-shaded avenues, elegant residences and imposing buildings, erected for civil, religious, educational and correctional purposes. It may be said, by the way, that no city in the South is better supplied with ])ublic schools, public and private hos- pitals, more imposing county and port buildings and finer churches. It was Talmage who called Mobile "the City of Churches," and truly does the title ajiply. This branch of the subject must, however, be hurriedly and regretfully dismissed, the hope being expressed that time and space may be found later on for its consideration. The visitor is asked to go into the suburbs and surely, if he has the idea that the beautiful old city is asleep, he will find very soon that the idea is based upon fancy. Even in Mobile, the citizens have only lately awakened to the knowledge that they possess a source of almost inex- haustible wealth located at the door and ready to be taken up by those ■who are courageous enough to make the proper venture. While they have been crying and wringing their hands, a class of scientific farmers has grown up in this neighborhood and performed a miracle, turned a desert into a paradise and filled their pockets with wealth, every dollar of which stays here, gives additional stability to the banks, and con- tributes to the prosperity of the place. If the visitor will go with the writer upon a short drive in the sub- virbs, he will find that every word of this statement is true. There every- thing is in a state of prosperity ; people live in new and handsome houses, have strong fences, excellent roads, broad acres, producing three and four crops per annum, thoroughbred stock, and, in fact, everything a farmer can wish. The trip wi'll take the visitor through a country where for miles and miles farm lies up against farm, leaving barely room for a roadway between, where cosy cottages crown the eminences, and sleek, well-fed cattle graze down in the meadows along the creek side; such a scene reminds one strongly of the arable land of southern England, and it is very difficult indeed to realize that this same land was a few short years ago covered with pine and chaparral and regarded as entirely unfit for cultivation. A journey of several days' duration would hardly suffice to make an inspection of this farming district which extends, crescent-shaped around to the north, west and south of Mobile. Let us, however, call upon and interview one of the practical farmers and learn what he has to say upon the subject. Who better for this than Mr. Cleve Prichard, who, after five years of industrious labor, has crowned his place with plenty and achieved a reputation as a successful farmer. Let us ask him why the country around Mobile has become so thickly settled with farmers. He replies : "The reasons are many and sufiicient. People can make money AGRICULTURALLY SPEAKING. 9 here with less labor than any where in the United States. This is a fact. The soil is sandy with a clay subsoil about a foot and a half below the surface. This soil has all the ingredients necessary to the produc- tion of crops except phosphates, and these we supply by using cotton- seed meal. Properly dressed with this fertilizer, the soil produces much better than soil' esteemed natui'ally richer. Even the best bottom land soil cannot compare in productiveness with this land after it has been fertilized. "Then the climate is very favorable. We pay no attention to the threats of winter, but go on planting and harvesting tlie year ai'ound. We plant one crop, harvest it, and plant another, thus getting from three to four crops yearly from the same piece of ground. We are thus saved from failure also ; for if one crop does badly, we put in the other, and can always make expenses. Drouth liills one planting, perhaps, but it is just the thing for another; there is nothing that can happen which will prevent our making some crop or other. At the North this is not so. If a farmer loses his corn crop or his wheat crop there, he is done for. He cannot make another crop before winter. Here we sow, gather and plant, winter and summer, and the return is very valuable. There are farmers here from Ohio who say they can make ten times as much here as up in their country, and I have no doubt that they speak the truth. " Then again, our land drains naturally. After a heavy rain on these farms, the water sinks through the sandy soil until it reaches the clay and runs off that as off a shed into the ravines, and so quickly that within an hour the ploughman can go into the field and do a day's work. In other farming countries heavy rain puts a stop to ploughing for days at a time. Another great advantage we possess is the quantity and quality of the drinking water. It is cool, so cool that we never use ice, -and is plentiful. A well twenty feet deep taps the underground foun- tains, and from that time on you have enough water for yourself and whatever stock you may choose to keep. It is a great thing to have such an abundant supply of clear, cool and pure water. "As for business, it is flDurishing with us. We get our crops ready for the moment when we thinli the market will be most favorable. Some- times we miss it, but not often, and what we lose on potatoes we make up in cabbages. We ship to St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati and else- where, and get very remunerative prices for our truck. Cabbages, pota- toes, snap beans and tomatoes, are the chief products, while we raise corn and hay for our stock, all the vegetables we eat, besides hog meat and mutton. The most of the farmers hereabout are well to do, as well off as the people of their class in any part of the country. They have good horses and buggies ; their wives have their carriages ; their children go to good pay-schools, and they themselves have large cash balances in bank. You never hear of any of these men asking favors of the bank or of the merchants. They buy for cash and get the best of everything. Now what do you think of that? And the farms will not average more than twenty acres each. Does not that speak well for the productive- ness of the country? " MORE UPON THE SAME SUBJECT, RECENTLY a gentleman traveling: from Minnesota said he had asked everywhere two questions : Can a white man work in the field in theSonth? and, secondly, Will a Northern man be well received by the Southern people? He said that in reply he learned that white men can work everywhere in the South during the hottest weather of summer. The idea that the temperature of this region is so hot that no one but a negro can stand it, is not based on fact. To the second question he received but one answer : The people of the South need help to reap the full benefit of the agricultural and mineral resources of the country, and as it is a question of dollars and cents, the Southern people are too Amer- ican to take notice of a political difference of opinion. In the South there is but one political issue : the rule of the intelligent classes, and if a Northern man comes South to work, and not simply to try and rule the people by the aid of negro votes, he is sure to receive the most friendly greeting. The Southern people have a well-founded admiration for the Northern laboring man and farmer. Such an one has, generally, a good common school education, some knowledge of the science of farming, and, besides,. brings to his aid energy, love of order, truthful- ness and politeness. There are many such Northern men in the South and the Southern people want more of them. In this neighborhood are many large farmers who employ white labor almost exclusively. They find it higher in price than negro labor, but better in every respect. One farmer, in the writer's acquaintance, declares he will have nothing to do with the colored man, and that he must have white men from the Northwest or he will not be satisfied. These laborers come here without money and with very little but their honest intentions in the way of a recommendation. They go to work seriously and profit by their advantages. Presently an opening occurs and they become managers and then owners of farms. From that mo- ment their prosperity for the future is assured. It is not a question of long time either, for there are many such men here who are well-to-do in this business, and yet improved farming is a very new thing in this section. Ten years ago the scientific farmer was not known here at all. Of course, the man who brings capital and farming experience will suc- ceed more quickly, and in what manner and to what extent he will suc- ceed, can best be told by examining into the success achieved by those who have been the first to occupy the land. It will not be necessary to describe the farm house and pleasure grounds of Captain H.'s fine place on the Mobile and Ohio Eailroad, a few miles out of town. To come at once to the farm proper, there are some thirty-five acres which have for three years past been systemati- cally cultivated. A portion of this land has been opened and planted some six and a portion over ten years, but scientific principles have been applied during the three years only. The farm is cultivated with im- MORE UPON THE SAME SUBJECT. 11 proved machinery, and time and labor saved thereby is almost sufficient to pay the first cost of the plant. Leaving the fields to the right and left, the visitor enters the barn- yard which is surrounded on all sides save one with buildings. One- building contains the feed room with grain bins and hay cutter, plough room filled with one and two-horse i^loughs, subsoilers, cultivators, ex- tension harrows, mowers, hay rakes, grain drills, and other large and useful agricultural implements. Another building is stored with har- ness, and still another building is a stable divided into a series of well- ventilated box-stalls for horses. Another house is for cattle, and yet another for forage, consisting of oats, millet and corn fodder, all baled. The mill for grinding feed for stock stands in the centre of the yard and next to the boi'ed well, with force pump and water troughs. A number of sheds, all floored, serves as protection for numerous wagons and carts. . Everywhere is to be seen the evidences of thrift and success in farming. A promenade through the orchards of peach, pear and pecan trees, and a run through the poultry yards where Light Brahmas, White Leg- horns, Games and Houdons thrive, each breed in a separate enclosure, brings the visitor to the fields, which surrounded by substantial and neat five-bar fences, and cultivated to the extreme of care and skill, are a joy to look upon. In one plat are oats, in another winter rye, to be used for grazing for cattle during the winter and early spring, while in still a, third is the second crop of Irish potatoes, now, in November, in process of being harvested. " It is naturally a poor soil," says the owner of the place. " Where you see oats and rye there was three years ago a worn-out peach orchard, filled with the stumps of the original pines. These I had taken out myself. I began by seeding down oats, giving about 1,200 pounds of fertilizer to the acre, consisting of 300 pounds of bone meal, 500 pounds cotton-seed meal and 400 pounds cotton-seed hull ashes. The oat crop was followed by cow peas which was turned under to give vegetable mat- ter, humus, to the soil. Next year oats again, fertilized as before, fol- lowed immediately by German millet, also fertilized, and this by cow peas, to be again turned under. Now the amount of fertilizer is being lessened for each hay crop, the peas furnishing enough for one hay crop alone. I thus bring up my land, adding stable and barn-yard manure as far as it reaches in aid of the peas and commercial fertilizers, so that I now get fine hay and corn crops, and get fine cabbages where, three years ago, oats would not grow without fertilizing six inches high. Of corn I made about sixty bushels to the acre, and of oats and rye about three tons of each to the acre. The cost of commercial fertilizers is now annually from $17 to f 18 per acre. "The average of this field of one-and-a-half acres of yams," con- tinued the Captain, "is five hundred bushels to the acre. Were all the rows to produce like the ten just in front of you, the average would be about six hundred bushels to the acre. Potatoes are worth now about fifty cents a bushel wholesale ; this is $250 to me now ; but, you see the potato banks near the store house V Each one contains forty bushels of the best of the crop, and there they will remain until I get my price, and my price is above a dollar per bushel." MOBILE AND HER RAILROAD FACILITIES, ALLUSION has been made in the introductory cliapter to the in- fluence the railroads had in changing the tide of trade and bringing a season of torpidity to Mobile. What this change amounted to can be but feebly described. Mobile's only competitor for the trade in the in- terior was New Orleans, and everything bought in that city had to pass a,nd pay toll at the water-gate of Mobile. The mail-line of steamers ran daily along the sound, and the hours of arrival and departure of the hand- some steamers were events in the local history of the place. Freight was piled house-high on the wharves, commissions were many and bulky, storage a handsome revenue and money was plentiful. This was not the sole source of wealth, of course. The rivers were filled with well-built and powerful side-wheel steamers, and the planters as far as 203 miles up each of the four streams and tributaries transacted all their business, and spent a great portion of their money in Mobile. After the war the tide of the trade surged higher than ever, and this people waxed fat with the wealth poured into their laps. But presently there came the steam trains and the locomotives. Mobile built two of the roads, and helped to build another. Suddenly she discovered that she was cutting her own throat, so to speak, and at once ceased operations in this direction. The capitalists and railroad builders came marching on, however, and soon Mobile found goods from New Orleans going into Alabama by rail and marked "through freight." At the same time the Eastern and Western lines cut across her rivers, and absorbed for inland towns and Northern ports the cotton and supplies trade which Mobile had always considered peculiarly her own. Then came the collapse of the enormous business. The mail-line •steamers were sent elsewhere, the wharves rotted down, the blocks of great wai'ehouses losts their tenants, the enterprising merchants moved to New Orleans and grass grew in the streets. The reaction was all the greater because of the suddenness of the downfall, and many citizens fled, influenced purely by the example of others. It was indeed the time to stand up in the mart and curse the railroads which had accomplished all this ruin— this sharp and bitter season of adversity. It was yet another example of the misery caused by the introduction of improved machinery. It would have been idle at that time to have suggested that the railroads would iiltimately confer a benefit many times the value of the trade and wealth lost by their introduction. What good to tell people sinking into poverty that after they were ground down the wheel, there would arise another and hardier generation which would ziiake Mobile a mighty city In the land. "What good will that do us ?" would have been the answer. They would have told you blandly that the railroads have ruined Mobile. It is the same cry the wool carders of England raised when steam and water power machinery was introduced into the mills of that country. The history of Mobile does not differ from that of any other place in this regard, and this is beginning to be realized by everybody, but the MOBILE AND HER RAILROAD FACILITIES. " 13 few people above alluded to. The railroads have opened up the country, and reach into the vast iron and coal fields of northern Alabama and have at one stroke made Mobile the cheapest and best coaling station upon the Gulf of Mexico. It is true the roads have taken a third of Mobile's cotton business, but in this Mobile is suffering a little ahead of other Gulf ports, and is not suffering alone. The wise recognize that the cotton business of this country is seeking the shortest way to the north- ern and European markets, and that even New Orleans, must, in time, lose her cotton supremacy. In exchange for this so called "robbery," the railroads have given Mobile cheap and good coal, coal as good as that which cost from twelve to fourteen dollars a ton five years ago, and which now retails for five dollars and is put on board ships at four dollars. Coal will be profitably put on board vessels here at two dollars and fifty cents a ton during the next ten years. Take this fact in connection with the Isthmean canal and Eads' ship railway, and the full advantage Mobile will enjoy as the coaling port of the Gulf States is seen. This is not all : The Upper portion of the State is being peopled with iron men and new furnaces are being almost daily added to the list of those already established and coining money. Whatever enriches the people of Alabama enriches Mobile, Alabama's chief city. This will not be dis- puted. Given a State full of energetic workers, bread winners, the cities must reap the benefits. To bring the matter directly home, however. Mobile is triumphant in the new industry of truck farming. It has been shown that, by the aid of commercial and other fertilizers, the worthless pine lands of this State, and especially those supremely worthless lands around Mobile are made to produce luxurient crops of vegetables. Owing to geographical posi- tion. Mobile can always secure a handsome price for this truck in the Cincinnati, St. Louis and Chicago markets. In fact the people of Mo- bile, one and all, look to this new interest for their financial salvation and begin already to compare it favorably with the old time cotton busi- ness. It may be asked at this point: what would this truck business be without the aid of railroads ? How could these valuable resources be utilized without the assistance of improved machinery ? In fact it must be conceded that the same railroads which seemingly destroyed Mobile, are now the greatest factors in her present and future prosperity. It is a question of dollars and cents with the railroad corpo- ration and so long as there is a mutual interest, there will be a mutual agreement and accommodation. To descend into particulars, however, it must be noted, that the Mobile and Ohio railroad has placed its trains at the disposal of the truck farmers and has gradually built up such a business that the mighty Louisville and Nashville corporation has been compelled to turn its attention somewhat from the transportation of coal from the Alabama mines, and make extra exertions to capture some of this profitable vegetable freight. Both roads have now their vegetable stations, their vegetable cars and their fast freight trains to Northern markets, and both roads exercise wise caution in seeing that the busi- ness is transacted rapidly and carefully, and that every thing is done to satisfy those lords of creati,- n, "nature's gentlemen," the farmers. The ventilated vegetable and fruit cars are specially constructed lor the transportation of the perishable crops and are handled by efficient train men who have much experience in loading them both S 13 MOBILE AND HER KAILROAD FACILITIES. 15 ^ promptly and securely. These freights are delivered in prime condition in St. Louis, Chicago, Nashville, Louisville, Cincinnati and intermediate places, and at so small a charge as to leave a handsome profit in the hands of the shipper. These fast freight trains are usually not more than twelve hours behind the express trains in reaching Cincinnati and St. Louis, and the shipper can count with considerable certainty upon the arrival of his consignment in market at the time desired. This fact permits him to consult prices current and market quotations and to se- lect the market for his various crops where he can get the best price. He is no longer at the mercy of a local merchant or subject to the exac- tions of commission men at distant points. He is well treated because it is known that he has the privilege of seeking his own market at his own time. In truth, the Mobile truck farmer is the most independent being on the face of the earth, and his independence has a solid basis of fact to support it. The following figures concerning freights have been furnished by the railroad managers to Mr. John 8. Elliot whose pamphlet upon "The Profits of Vegetable Farming in Mobile County," should be read by every one who looks with interest toward this southern country : Fast freight, car load of 22,000 pounds, in packages or in bulk, per hundred pounds of cabbages, potatoes, onions, melons, etc, 35 cents to Cincinnati, 30 cents to St Louis, and 40 cents to Chicago. Less than a car load 10 cents more per hundred pounds. Freight on cucumbers, squash- es, beets, etc., placed at 45 cents to Cincinnati, 35 to St. Louis, and 50 to Chicago, per hundred pounds. For less than a car load, 10 cents more to Cincinnati, same increase to St. Louis, and 15 cents more to Chicago. Freight upon tomatoes, green beans and peas etc, 60 cents to Cincinnati, 50 cents to St. Louis, and 65 cents to Chicago. The tenderer varieties of vegetables, such as haye been last named, the tomatoes, beans and green peas, are generally sent by express and reach Cincinnati and Louisville twenty-eight and thirty-two hours after shipment. There are two express trains daily and the facilities offered are the very best. The rates are per hundred pounds, three dollars to Cincinnati, and two dollars and a half to Louisville, St. Louis and Chi- cago. Adjuncts of the railroads and express companies are the street railway lines which traverse the city and reach into the vegetable dis- trict on every side. These subsidiary lines are of great benefit to the farmer who thereby can easily and cheaply deliver his goods at the depots and stations. MOBILE A LUMBER CENTRE. ANOTHER new and growing interest in Mobile is the manufacture, sale and export of lumber and timber. As many as a dozen years ago there were very few mills in this eounty and these did little more than supply the local and near country demand for building mate- rial. Pensacola was recognized as the lumber port of the Gulf, and this was the result partly of the energy of Pensacola's merchants and partly of the good harbor and moderately practicable channel, while Mobile had no such merchants and very little, if any, channel ; being, in ad- dition, too busy watching her cotton business waste away, to turn the attention to the source of great wealth which lay within her grasp. As one industry shrank by force of circumstances, the monied men of Mobile noticed that there was growing up under their eyes another one in addition to the truck farming previously mentioned. Saw mills began to be erected here and there thi'oughout the section immediately tributary to Mobile, and log booms were to be seen lining the shores of the rivers and the large creeks. They knew what this meant. Over in Baldwin county, on the other side of the bay, they had known men to grow very rich by the use of such machinery, and they had heard that the ambitious and well-to-do town of Pensacola owes all her prosperity to industry of this sort. They enquired and found that Mobile was backed by an almost virgin forest of the best and most desirable yellow pine in the country— a wood that is sought after by ships and bridge- builders, by furniture-makers and by house-flnishers, showing the variety of uses to which it can be put. Moreover, they discovered that the swamps along the coast and back fi'om the rivers, contain cypress of the best quality— a wood which is almost everlasting, is white, hard and easily worked. For many styles of work it excels any other kind of wood. Seeing these things— -which were, of course, not entirely new, but were presented in a new light— the capitalists here got themselves into the line of march and profited by the gifts of nature. It will waste time to tell in detail of the progress of events. It is enough to say that the Mobile lumbermen and manufacturers have had no set back since the beginning. They have made more money some years than others, but have always made money. The number of mills has increased four-fold and a trade with foreign and northern ports has been built up which, though still behind that of Pensacola in size, is yet more reliable in its nature and more remunerative to the manufacturers. That this is cer- tainly so is shown by the fact that Pensacolians are turning their atten- tion in this direction, and one of Pensacola's richest lumbermen and ship owners will, this season, establish himself in this port and reap so much as he can of the benefits in store for him. The country is full of mills, and the product is sold as fast as manufactured. The fancy of the present turns more especially to shingle mills, the market beginning at MOBILE A LIIMBEK CENTRE. 17 length to demand sawn instead of drawn shingles, and the demand being ■so great tliat it can be supplied by improved machinery only. Now comes the practical question : What is offered to the reader of this pamphlet? The answer is that here are thousands of acres of un- occupied timber lands within three, five, ten and fifteen miles of railroad or navigable stream which are for sale at between one dollar and a half and five dollars an acre, and that these lands are covered with the variety of yellow pine timber most desired. The only reason land is so cheap is that there is so much of it. One firm purchased in July last 750,000 acres in one lot, but this was a mere riffle on the surface ; the other tim- ber and lumber men were not shut out by such a gigantic operation. Even were they, the 750,000 acres are not occupied and no doubt the firm will sell such of the land as cannot, on account of the location of the firm's mills, be used by it. Land sales are common and especially to lumbermen of Michigan and Minnesota and the Northwest. The lumber supply of those regions is very nearly exhausted and a good site is worth from fifty to one hun- dred dollars an acre. What an opening hei'e presents itself when good well-timbered lands— lands which can be profitably cultivated, as hereto- fore shown — can be bought at prices ranging from a $1.50 to $5.00 an acre, and these lands located in a district easily reached and in close proximity to the market, both by rail and river ! The opportunity is so fine an one that the woods are quickly filling up with western and northern men. They say it is as good a thing as they want. They come, some without money and some with everything they can get together. The moneyless man comes and works as a timber getter or a turpentine distiller ; he is sure of his $1.50 a day from the start. His expenses are nominal. Lodg- ing costs him nothing, food is simple and cheap, while, owing to the mildness of the climate, clothing is but little needed and fuel not at all. The laborer can work all the year round, and can make by his exertions at least $200 more per annum than he could possibly make in a climate where the demands for fuel, clothing and stimulants are greater, and the interruptions of work by the elements more frequent. The rich man, the well-to-do lumberman, comes with money and friends. He has sold out his mill and machinery in Michigan, leaving it in the midst of a well used up tract, and here he is ready to establish a saw mill, in a spot where he will have to cut down $20 worth of trees to make room for his mill building. The change is refreshing, and, better still, it is more profitable than it looks to be at first sight. Tliere is plenty of testimony confirming this, but it will be proper to cite but one instance. Messrs. Stoutz & Bro., whose mills here have been greatly admired because of their compactness and availability, suffered the loss of the whole concern from fire. The firm was its own insurer. The writer met the head of the firm the next day after the fire, and expected to see him greatly distressed. Instead of complaining, he smiled, and said: " I have ordered a double sized plant of machinery this morning and am having plans for a new mill drawn up. It won't do to be idle when there is so much to be done. I am one man wlio believes in Mobile, and you can make a note that I back up my opinion by my act." THE ONLY FREE PORT IN THE UKION. HAVING spoken of Mobile's advantages by land, it is appropriate to turn the attention to her advantages by sea. Mobile, like New Or- leans, has been snatched from obscurity by the strong arm of the National Government ; like New Orleans, her pathway to the deep water in the Gulf was closed to deep draught vessels, and her lumber and cotton ex- portations had to be lightered twenty-flve miles down the bay to a point where the water was of sufficient depth to float the ships. She had only one advantage over Galveston ; the ships visiting the bay could anchor inside the bar and not be compelled to risk the storms outside ; but the wide and shallow bay between what is known the "Lower Shipping" and Mobile, was filled with deposits of clay and mud from the upper rivers, and no vessel drawing more than thirteen feet could, even at the highest tides, come to the wharves. It is not strange that the people of Mobile grew despondent. Cut off from interior trade by the east-and- west railroads, and shut out from the sea by an ever-increasing bar of mud, they naturally felt that the place was doomed and that the sooner they sought another home the better. It has been shown how the railroads became at length a blessing and not a curse; it has been shown how the immense resources of the State are being developed by the capitalists and the railroads of the vast monied corporations, and how every Alabamian and every Mobilian is thereby enriched and put in the position to increase his riches ; and it has been shown that what benefits the State at large most benefits Mo- bile. It remains now to show that the last obstacle to her advancement has been removed, and that Mobile's future prosperity. is assured. It will not be necessary to go into details. The National Govern- ment, upon the recommendation of the State's Senators and Eepresenta- tives in Congress, approi)riated several hundred thousand dollars for the digging of a canal or channel from Mobile to the deep water in the lower shipping. This work was begun four years ago and pushed vigorously and with such success that the new channel was declared open October one year ago. The cut is seventy yards wide, eighteen feet deep at low water and nearly twenty-three miles long. It is carefully staked and lighted, and can be used with safety by the largest vessels which have so far sought this port. The canal is dug through a kind of blue, sili- cious clay, which is tenacious in character and preserves the shape of the cut. The side walls of the cut are as firm and regular to-day as when first carved out of the surrounding deposit. The bottom, too, is kept scoured by the tides, and measurements show that there has been no fill any where throughout its length. The improvement will not stop here, however. There is another ap- propriation ready, and the United States engineers have planned to widen the channel to 200 yards. After this work is completed the third and last stage of the work will be performed. The widened channel will be deepened to twenty-two feet. To determine if a channel of this depth G TJ I. F ^ ' * O F M E X I C O i-AUre/V t-NO.C9 U'a:,lici,ylc,u,/J.C 20 THE ONLY FREE PORT IN THE UNION. would maintain itself without artificial aid, a cut twenty-two feet in •depth was made in September, 1882. In his report made this Septem- ber, the United States Ens^ineer says of this experimental cut : "It was sounded October 2i, 1882, and again in June, 1883, an interval of about seven months. A comparison of these soundings showed less depth on the sides and ends of the cut with about the same average depth along the centre. The filling from the sides and ends was from the natural slope, but the cut showed no filling duo to other causes." The importance of these operations can be appreciated only by those who have lived in Mobile a length of time, and have seen the city fade away under the devastating hand of Isolation. Of course, there has not been a complete regrowth in a twelve-month, but there has been such improvement that the pro))het will have little trouble in correctly fore- casting the future, although he will bo unable to detine the limits of the coming pi'osperity. Here are the figures showing the immediate change, and it will be remembered that in the list of 1881 all the ships and barks and some of the brigs had to take their cargoes below the city at the " Lower Shipping," while all named in the list of 1882 came up to Mobile wharves and loaded at a trifling expense compared with that caused by the use of lighters. One large ocean-going steamship figures in the 1882 list. That vessel drew seventeen feet six inches when loaded and going to sea. The list of VESSELS IN PORT DECEMBER 2-1 : 1881. 1882. Steamships Steamships 2 Ships 4 Ships 1 Barks 13 Barks 8 Brigs 3 Brigs 1 Schooners 5 Schooners 12 Total 25 Total 24 Cleared for Mobile same date : Ships 3 Ships 5 Barks 7 Barks 19 Brigs Brigs 4 Schooners 3 Schooners 8 Total 38 Total 60 This exhibits an increase of 22 vessels, and the channel had at that time been open two months only. A month later the list of vessels in port was greater by one half than that of vessels up and cleared. The channel is now deep enough to float vessels loaded with 5,000 bales of cotton, and, perhaps, during the coming year even larger vessels will be able to enter this port. In addition to this improvement, the Port authorities and the merchants have made great reductions in charges, and Mobile to-day is not only the cheapest loading station in the United States, but is practically the only free port in this country. The only actual charge to vessels here is pilotage, and that is, in com- parison with the pilotage of New Orleans and other ports, very light. THE ONLY FREE PORT IN THE UNION. 21 Let the figures be set down in detail— they will prove to be interesting reading: A vessel, say of 1,200 tons, drawing 12 feet entering, and 17 feet leaving port, pays, AT MOBILE, THE CHEAPEST PORT OK ALL : Pilotage not compulsory. Inward, 12 feet draught, at §1 50 $51 OJ Outward, 17 feet draught, at $4 50 76 50 Quarantine fees, not required in winter Wharf charges 0— $130 50 XT WILMINGTON, DEL. : Pilotage compulsory. Inward, 12 feet, at $4 10 $49 92 Outward, 17 feet, at $4 50 76 50 Wharfage, 20 days, at $2 25 45 00— $171 42 AT SAVANNAH : Pilotage compulsory. Inward, 12 feet, at $5 50 $66 00 Outward,. 17 feet, at 5 50 ;)3 50 Wharfage, 20 days, at 75 15 00— $174 50 AT PHILADELPHIA ; Pilotage compulsory. Inward, 12 feet, at $4 GO $ 48 00 Outward, 17 feet, at 3 00 5100 Wharfage, 20 days, at 5 00 100 00— $199 00 AT WILMINGTON, N. C. : Pilotage compulsory. Inward, 12 feet, at $5 50 $66 00 Outward, 17 feet, at $5 50 93 50 Harbor Master's fee 3 00 Wharfage, 17 feet, at $4 50 76 50— $239 00 AT CHARLESTON : Pilotage compulsory. Inward, 12 feet, at $3 33.^ $40 00 Outward, 17 feet, at $7 00 120 00 Wharf charges, 20 days at $4 00 80 00 State tax, amount not given — $240 00 AT BOSTON : Pilotage compulsory. Inward, 12 feet, at $4 50 $54 00 Outward, 17 feet, at $4 50 76 50 Wharfage, 20 days, at |c. per ton 120 00 State tax, amount not given — $250 50 22 THE ONLY FREE PORT IN THE UNION. AT NEW YORK : Pilotage compulsory. Inward, 12 feet, at $G 37 $76 44 Outward, 17 feet, at $G 78 115 26 Quarantine fee G 50 AVharfage, 20 days, at ^c 120 00— $318 20 AT NORFOLK : Pilotage compulsory. Inward, 12 feet,. at $6 00 $72 00 Outward, 7 feet, at $8 65 147 00 Quarantine fee 3 00 Wharfage, 20 days, at J $120 00 State tax, 2i per cent 8 55— $350 55 AT BALTIMORE : Pilotage compulsory. Inward, 12 feet at $4 00 $48 00 Outward, 17 feet, at $5 00 85 00 Wharfage, 20 days at Ic. a ton 240 00 State ta>:, amount not given — $373 00 AT NEAV ORLEANS : Pilotage not compulsory but invariably accepted be- cause of the difficulties of navigating the river. Inward, 12 feet at $4 50 $54 00 Outward, 17 feet, at $4 50 76 50 Towage up and down the river 220 miles 80 00 Quarantine fee 20 00 Wharfage ISO 00— $410 50 AND AT SAN FRANCISCO : Pilotage compulsory. Inward, 12 feet, at $5 00 $60 00 Inward, 4c. per ton 48 00 Outward, 17 feet, at $5 00, 105 00 Wharf charges, 20 days, at $17 50 350 00— $503 00 Comment upon these figures will not be required. The facts speak so strongly in favor of Mobile that there is no doubt that when they are sufficiently known the port will be crowded with vessels. It is the policy of the ])eople of Mobile, however, to extend welcome, and to offer inducements to shipowners to visit the port, and they hope that such treatment will be extended that all who come will long to return. The port is sure to become the coaling station for the gulf as well as the repair shop of all the vessels which sail the Southern waters. It is known that coal can be put down here in better quality, and cheaper, than at any point in the Union, and it is equally known that the marine ways and dry docks are of such capacity, and so economically managed, that the owners can underbid New Orleans and Galveston for all classes of work in their line. These facts account for the coaling of all the gulf-coast revenue cutters at this point, and, also, the sending of the cutter McLean all the way from Galveston to Mobile to have her hull and machinery repaired. COTTON AND WOOLEN MILLING INTERESTS. TH E interest in Soutliern cotton factories grows year by year greater and greater, and in no part of the United States do sucli enterpises flourisli so uniformly successful as in tlie States along tbe Gulf Coast. The remarkable example of the Eagle & Phoenix Mills at Co- lumbus, tends only to show that, under favorable circumstances and with wise management, cotton maaufacturing in the South is not only successful, but successful beyond any other milling industry either in this country or in England and France. It is well known as a fact that while even the most carefully man- aged mills in the New England States have been forced to shut down and some of them to close for good, owing to the conditions surrounding the business in that section of the country, there is not a single instance where a well handled, properly capitalized concern of this sort in the South has failed to make money. The dividends of Southern mills aver- age 14 per cent. Those of the New England mills, scarcely seven. The reasons for this are evident. The manufacturer is nearer the raw ma- terial, he is nearer his market, he enjoys the advantage over the New England mills of cheaper lands, of cheaper building materials, of longer working hours, of cheaper transportation of the raw material, of less loss of weight by handling of cotton, of lower prices, of a better oppor- tunity to select flrst-class staple, of a mild climate where factories can be run at a less expense the year round, and where there is less loss by reason of sickness of employes and interruption of business in con- sequence. The Southern labor, although unskilled, at first, is cheap and faithful. These advantages, which may as a general thing be said to belong to all the Southern States, are possessed to the greatest extent by the State of Alabama. One other advantage not named above is of special mo- meat — namely, the cheapness of the motive power. Since the successful working of the vast fields of Alabama coal, fuel has dropped from the extraordinary price of eleven to fourteen dollars a ton down to three dollars and a half to five dollars a ton, and is transported to almost every portion of the State by railroads radiating from the coal centre near Bir- mingham. Where coal cannot be easily obtained, there is an abund- dance of pitch pine, ash, oak and other fire wood. Better still, even when both coal and wood are abundant, the water ways of Alabama, es- pecially all through the southwestern portion of the State, provide mo- tive power which is cheaply handled, and at the same time inexhaustible. There have been several individuals and companies of individuals who have put these assertions to the test, and have embarked in the cotton manufacturing business in, and in the neighborhood of Mobile. Some of these have succeeded — notably the Cherokee mills, of Mr. L. F. Irwin— and some have failed, but in every instance the failures have been caused by a combination of inexperience and poverty. The people who undertook the manufacture of cotton goods in competition with the New England spinners, knew nothing whatever about the business, and were -^3 1 's--^ I ,r ■■■■ '' ''' ''' COTTON AND WOOLEN MILLING INTERESTS. 25 at the mercy of the men they chose to run their business for tliem. Often the men so chosen were incompetent and visionary and soon had the enterprises well into debt. Then again, the amount of capital was always ridiculously small considering the work i)roposed to be per- formed, and unless a profit was made from the first turn of the wheel, the whole enterprise went by the boaixl. As a general thing, also, tlie enterprises were too small, the concerns too insignificant, to earn a respectable dividend, even if successful. No allowance was made for waste of time in getting the machinery u[) and to work ; no provision was made for the payment of expenses until the goods had found a place upon the market; no individual or individuals watched the small econ- omies and hunted for the small profits. It was in nearly every instance a game of the purest luck, with all the chances favoring failure at th& end of a few months. It is claimed that even the misfortunes of the Southern people who have engaged in cotton spinning serve to show where and how other" people can make a great deal of money. It is hardly necessary to repeat all the arguments. The intelligent reader will see them and feel their force. It is natural that cotton spinners should seek the place where the staple is produced. There alone, surrounded by the broad fields of fleecy cotton and backed by the forests of inexhaustible fuel, or the streams which give him many hundred times the power he needs, he will turn the fibre into yarn and cloth, and will grow rich while his Northern competitors are becoming involved in bankruptcy. The merits of this region for cotton milling are equally patent for woolen milling. The country is peculiarly suited for the growth of sheei>, and the finest wool can here be obtained at a rate which gives the Southern spinner a great advantage. Since the change in the tariff more than twenty-five Northern woolen mills have shut down, and these depressed industries cannot revive in that country. The only hope is for the capitalist to come South, where the expenses are much lighter and the raw material less costly. The wool comes from Alabama, Florida and Mississippi. The mills at Ulrnan, Miss., take about fifteen thousand pounds, and those at Wesson, a great deal more. More attention is paid of late to the quality of the wool, and wool is better assorted now than ever before. There is money in wool at eighteen and twenty cents, and the average price in this county is twenty-five cents, thus showing that there is a good profit for the sheep raiser, while the spinner can get the article at a price which permits him also to gain something. The wool industry in this and the adjoining State of Mississippi, is of older growth than that of vegetable farming, and has always been remunerative, owing to the character of the climate. Sheep sell at from $1.25 to $3.00 a head, and a merino ram can be bought for $18.00. Any one who has anything to do with sheep can calculate the increase. The expenses, where sheep range at will, are very trifling, including only the cost of collecting them at shearing time, and the cost of shearing them and baling the fleece for market. The sheeii will range all winter. Of course where attention can be given them, and better food supplied, and pro- tection against cold wind and rain be afforded, the character of the flock will improve and the value be materially increased. As a general thing, however, the sheep receive very little attention, and the handsome profit made by the owner is almost all pure gain. OYSTERS AND FISH. ONE of Mobile's permanent and rising industries is tlie cultivation and sale of oysters. The original Mobile oyster is found upon shell banks and bars in the bay and is termed a " reefer." Bedsof these reefers extended in the times past up the eastern shore of the bay as far ■as Howard's, and there are many now alive who have eaten bivalves taken from the u]n>er locality. It is only recently that the beds between Point Clear and Mullet Point have been exhausted. There are beds of varying quality and quantity at the mouth of Fish River, on the Eastern Shore, also near Collins' Bay, and between Dauphine and Mon Louis Islands. These beds of reefers are regarded by the oyster getters as practically inexhaustible. There are other and very rich beds in and about the waters of Chandeleur Island, off the Mississippi coast, " Reefers " are taken by two classes of people : the natives and the sloop owners. The former live along the bay and sound sbore and gather the oysters with rakes, and keep them for sale to such of the sloop owners as do not care to catch for themselves. Reefers are furnished to the sloop owners at prices which are governed by the market— generally at fifteen cents per box. The sloop men run down to the shell banks and lay off shore with signals flying to indicate the price they offer for "reefers." When a supply is obtained, it is conveyed either to the city and sold to dealers and shippers, or is taken into the flats of Bon Secour and Hei'on Bays, and planted in the mud. From this last process comes the ''plant " oyster, said to be the largest and finest oyster in the world. These planted oysters remains generally one season in the mud, at the •end of which time they have nearly doubled in size and delicacy. These " plants " are much sought after by the restauranteurs and bon-vivants of Mobile and New Orleans. The "reefers are of a fair size, some of them being as large as can be desired, but as a general thing they run to low grade and are sold at retail at 40 cents a hundred, while "plants" bring from a dollar ten to a dollar twenty-five cents. Around each goodly sized lolant oyster clings a number of smaller oysters, and these .are called "cuUings" and are classed with the "reefers," although they bring retail some twenty cents per hundred more than the "reefers," and cullings form the bulk of the shipments from Mobile to Northern EA.LEK^S IN STOCKSHEBONDS. ON MOETGAGES AND OTHER SECUEITIES. Send for Catalogue. Correspondence Solicited. 46 ADVERTISEMENTS. ADVERTISEMENTS. 47 GULF CITY OYSTER DEPOT F. -A.I^IDO'X'ITO \VI10L,KSAt,E \ ^VX/'O TP ff^ B^ r^" ■ / AT WHAKF. NDKETAll.^ llY^lrKHl footot Dealer in ^ ^J M. ^ M. Ead JL 1 W# ■ ) St. Francis St., r». O. Oox 3^4. 3IO BILE, ALA. ^^Oysters in Barrels and Cans, hermetically sealed. Country Orders solicited and promptly attended to. I take pleasure to inform the travelling public that I have established a H -A. I=t 3VC Ji^ G -''Sr , UNDER THE BATTLE HOUSE, MOBILE, where I keep a line stock of PURE DRUGS, MEDICINES, CHEMICALS, TOILET ARTICLES, PERFUMERY, and everything kept in a flrst-class Drug Store. P. C. CANDIDUS, Pharmaceutical Chemist. FERDINAND SMITH, Successor to Smith & Dumas, RESTAURANT ^ OYSTER SALOON. FIRST-CLASS LODGINOS- Nos. 32 and 36 N. Royal Street, Bar with the best Liquors at No. 36, MOBILE, ALA., Ladies' Private DINING SALOON Ui3 Stairs- TOWLE'S INSTITUTE FOR BOYS, N. W. Oor. Government and Hallett Streets- The Curriculum embraces an English and a Mathematical course of eight years; a ■Classical course of four years; and a Commercial course of one year. A. TO'WLE, Principal. J. E. KOOFEPt, Wholesale and Retail Packer and Shipper of Oysters and Fish. lO, 13 «& 18 CONTl HTKEET, P. o. Box 920. XWIolailo, .AJXek,. ^^ MY PERSONAL ATTENTION GIVEN TO ALL ORDERS. 48 ADVERTISEMENTS. MOBILE DOOR, SASH AND BLIND FACTORY. .C0X,TuKNEF\8cClOyy MOULDINGS, SCROLL SAWING> AVOOD TUKNING, Brackets, Mantels, TVindoiV and Itoor Frames, Builders' Hardware, WIINDOW OLASS, AND PURE MIXED PAINTS. Sample Cards Furnished. AND p. F. McKAY. THOS. T. KOCHE. IVI.9KAY $t ROCHE, SUCCESSORS TO R. DANE, 3F»I1.C>:E»H.IETC>I=I.S. Nos. 39 and 41 Royal Street, near the Battle House, and 58, 59, 60 and 61 St. Michael Street, and 15 and 18 St. Joseph Street. These Stables are the most elegant in this country. They have the largest and best selected stock of Carriages and light vehicles that can be found in any stable in the South. They employ none but the most polite and experienced drivers, who dress in livery when desired. Their stock of road Horses are equal in speed to the best in the country, and perfectly gentle and reliable. They have also an Omnibus and Baggage Transfer connected with their Stables, with Office in the Battle House. Passengers and Baggage called for from hotels and private resi- dences at all hours. Orders for Carriages and IBuggies left at our Office in the Battle House, will have prompt attention. No pains will be spared to please all who furnish us with their orders. THOMAS JONES, ^ WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEA.LER IlSr OYSTERS, Betifveen St. I^ouis and St. IMEicliael Sts. My facilities are unsurpassed by any dealer in this city and my personal attention is given to every order. THE BATTLE HOUSE, MOBILE, ALABAMA. Having been improved and altered during the past season jand thoroughly repaired, repainted, recarpeted, and in great part refur- nished AT AN EXPENSE OF OVEE THIRTY THOUSAND DOL- I LAES, this well-known Hotel can be recommended to the attention of the traveling public. I I UNUSUAL FACILITIES OFFERED T^ WINTER TOURISTS Terms as reasonable as those of any other flrst-class hotel in the South. 1^. O. I^OBBIlSrS, LESSEE AND PEOPEIETOE. a-ellnnnl. ^^^„t^^ ^and I. 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